Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The enormous Spritely God-Temple was filled with a sea of people.

They were the most important and influential Spritefolk, and they were gathered in the most important temple of their people. This was where the Spritely Sage Grail had originally been housed, and as such, it was a most holy of locations, that had existed since primeval times.

Countless Spritefolk in the god world would look in this direction and long to lay eyes on the Spritely Sage Grail, no matter how long and dangerous of a journey it involved. And most Spritefolk would do anything to defy death if they hadn’t yet made the pilgrimage.

The temple existed as an independent entity within the Spritefolk, and was almost like an empire of its own. However, there were only priests there, no commoners, and the sacrificial resources they gathered came from the numerous other empires that existed.

The handful of high-ranking priests wielded immense power and influence. Technically, Sprite Susu was supposed to be the leader of them all, but the truth was that originally, she only had the loyalty of a few of the priests.

However, with the help of the twenty-eight Dragonfolk experts, and her own command of the Sage Grail, she had brought the entire priesthood under her control. She now had complete control of the temple, and all of the divine authority that came with it.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi had subjugated six of the top empires, which meant she was now benefiting from royal authority as well.

It was already causing a sensation among the Spritefolk near and far.

The day had come in which Yang Susu was planning to officially combine the divine and royal authorities. Millions of high-ranking members of the six empires were present, and there were countless priests and priestesses praying. Meanwhile, Yang Susu sat on a throne, the Sage Grail floating above her head.

A tree grew from within the grail, spreading out to obscure heaven, and casting dazzling sagelight down onto the Spritefolk.

Flanking Yang Susu were the twenty-eight Dragonfolk patriarchs, who were imbuing her with additional power that allowed her to catalyze the Sage Grail to an even greater level. After all, the combined might of those twenty-eight Dragonfolk could be considered second only to Proud Heaven. Everyone present could sense the splendor and might of the grail.

Their eyes brimmed with tears of excitement as they looked at it and realized that the time had come for the Spritefolk to be rejuvenated.

In addition to members of the six major empires, there were representatives of countless other smaller empires as well. Seeing the trend of events, and knowing they couldn't do anything to change it, they had come to join. With the six major empires united, what could the smaller nations do?

Seeing that all the preparations had been made, Yang Susu rose to her feet and said, “I hereby declare the founding of the Grand Sage Monarch Spritefolk Empire!”

RUMBLE!

The millions of members of the six great empires all joined their voices together, announcing in a booming voice, “For the glory of the Spritefolk!”

Yang Qi immediately sensed a huge surge in destiny coming from all directions.

Although the initial destiny couldn’t compare to that of his Dragonfolk kingdom, as time went on, numerous smaller nations would flock to the new Spritefolk empire, and the destiny would continue to grow.

“Sage monarch magistrates!”

Ten million sage monarch magistrates flooded onto the scene, much to the shock of the leaders of the various smaller nations.

“These thrall troops have been provided by the Sage Grail!” Yang Susu announced. “With this army, no one can do anything to harm our empire. Starting today, these thralls will be the ones to accept the loyalty of any Spritefolk who wish to join us.”

Ten million sage monarch magistrates made for a virtually invincible force.

They had previously been tasked with bringing the dragon kingdom under control. That task had been completed, and the kingdom now existed in a state of peace and calm. For now, it could govern itself for a few hundred years without the intervention of the magistrates.

And the Spritefolk empire definitely needed their help now. Yang Qi also planned to bring Dragonfolk into the Spritefolk areas and take some of the Spritefolk into the Myriad Dragons Lair, slowly integrating the two peoples into an even larger empire.

Yang Qi’s destiny was increasing, and as it did, his psychic scale and godhood rating were climbing higher and higher. In fact, they were already at the level of thirty billion.

Cultivation base improvements were just that simple now. Now that he had his Sage Monarch Dragon Kingdom and Grand Sage Monarch Spritefolk Empire, he really was a truly important ruler.

Thanks to his cultivation base improvement, the sage monarch magistrates had added a million to their number. As soon as they began governing the Spritefolk, Yang Qi sensed the destiny stabilizing and increasing.

One day. Two days. Three days....

There was already an immense net of law formed by destiny, spreading out from the temple. And Yang Qi was already creating minor god worlds, causing explosions of preheaven treasures. Of course, the Spritefolk thought it was happening because of the Spritely Sage Grail.

Meanwhile, Spritefolk continued flowing into the empire, and all of them felt like they were wandering vagabonds who were finally returning home.

Destiny was building with every moment that passed.

Yang Qi nodded. His effort to create the fourth major power was finally starting to come to fruition. And it would soon be time to announce the foundation of the Sage Monarch Empire.

The news of the unification of the Spritefolk was still not very widespread, and many people who heard of it just assumed that it was a situation of chaos.

But then the Spritefolk armies and the Dragonfolk armies started combining, and under the direction of the sage monarch magistrates, they started marching out to conquer surrounding nations.

There were many races in the god world, such as the Mechfolk, Magefolk, Giantfolk, Seerfolk, and others. In the end, they were all humans. As for the Spritefolk, they were known for being proud conquerors, so it was little surprise that they would be doing this, especially considering they had the help of the Dragonfolk.

Yang Qi nodded in satisfaction.

His plan was working, and he was already so strong that none of the other three major powers would dare to act against him alone.

More sage monarch magistrates came to exist every day, and thus, his cultivation base constantly advanced. At the same time, he took efforts to excise all disloyal people.

A few dozen days passed, and the empire was more stable than ever.

At that point, Yang Qi slipped away alone, heading back to the House of the Invincible. He wasn’t afraid of anyone now, not even the nine patriarchs of the House of the Invincible. They couldn’t hurt him. His cultivation base was at the level of thirty billion, and he now had incredible destiny to draw on. Not even the nine patriarchs had access to anything close to what he had.

Based on his calculations, it would be somewhere between three and five years until his psychic scale and godhood rating would reach the level of fifty billion. Of course, he had no plan to simply stop at fifty billion. Right now, he wanted to see what was going to happen in the House of the Invincible. He wanted to subjugate more experts there, preferably including Dugu Yunkong. If he could get the House of the Invincible under control, then they wouldn’t be a threat to the Spritefolk. And then he could proceed with the next phase of his master plan. He wanted to enter the halls of heaven and take the resources there. If he could, his psychic scale and godhood rating would climb to a much more acceptable level, such as a hundred billion. At that point, he would be approaching the level of King Immortal-Slayer.

Besides, it was likely there was another piece of the Mahātmā Jade in the halls of heaven.

Upon arriving at the House of the Invincible, he immediately sensed that the atmosphere was different. Everyone seemed tense, as though war might break out at any moment. Obviously, they were bracing for conflict with the Spritefolk.

When news struck that Yang Susu had left the Cloud Palace and suddenly founded a Spritefolk Empire, everything had changed.

There was no way the House of the Invincible would simply let things proceed. No, they would dispatch an army to take care of the troublesome situation.

“Dugu Hong, take me to see Duke Nine Cauldrons!” Yang Qi ordered. Dugu Hong didn't hesitate to comply, and the two of them flew into the depths of the House of the Invincible.

He was currently in the middle of a very tense meeting that had already been underway for several days. Once Yang Qi announced himself, he was called inside.

Hurrying in, he saw that there were tens of thousands of top experts gathered for the meeting, all of them viceroys with ten or more lands. All of them were respectfully listening to the instructions being given by Duke Nine Cauldrons, and other top figures like him.

Obviously, those people were the ones who led the major interest groups in the sect.