Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

If Proud Heaven took over the Invincible Dynasty, the Invincible Dugu would fall into his vicious hands.

Perhaps in the beginning, he would have placated the Dugu Clan by claiming that he wouldn’t. But as his strength and influence grew, his true ferocity and ambition would have shown through.

The Invincible Dugu wasn’t actually dead, and his body contained immense power. He was also a half-Annulled expert, and that made him very valuable. It only made sense that Proud Heaven would drool over the prospect of acquiring him. Assimilating someone like that would ensure that Proud Heaven could deal with the High Priestess much more easily. And if he made it into an out-of-body incarnation, he would become completely invincible.

Obviously, there was no way Yang Qi could let any of that happen.

Looking around at the leaders of the Dugu Clan, Yang Qi said, “Proud Heaven is an immensely ambitious individual, and he doesn’t just want to unify the three dynasties. He wants to profane Master's corpse. I'm sure all of you realize that.”

“You’re completely exaggerating things, Yang Qi! Proud Heaven might have a lot of nerve, but he wouldn't dare desecrate our patriarch’s corpse. Don’t you think he’d be worried about us fighting back?”

All of a sudden, Dugu Yunkong let out a howl of rage. He had hoped to marry Yang Susu, but those plans had been foiled by Yang Qi, giving birth to an immense animosity. Although few people present had anything but hatred for Yang Qi, Dugu Yunkong hated him down to his very bones.

“You think Proud Heaven wouldn’t dare? He devoured his own father! So why wouldn’t he dare to do the same to Master? As for you, Dugu Yunkong, what trouble do you think you’re going to start here? Do you want to drag your Dugu Clan into the damnation of myriad tribulations?” Yang Qi’s gaze caused Dugu Yunkong to stagger backward, blood spraying out of his mouth.

Reaching out and steadying Dugu Yunkong, Heaven-Reaching Dugu said, “What? Proud Heaven devoured Proud Central? Yang Qi, this is Dugu Clan territory, so you’d better not act out of line. Do you have any proof that Proud Heaven actually devoured Proud Central?”

“Proof?” Yang Qi said with a cold chuckle. “What more proof do you need than what already exists? When Proud Heaven declared his intention to be the emperor of the combined three dynasties, Proud Central didn’t have a thing to say. Do you think he's a complete moron? No, Proud Central’s aura is no more. And how could that be, if he wasn’t devoured by Proud Heaven. Did he commit suicide?”

The Dugu patriarchs had already considered this possibility, but Yang Qi was the first to say it out loud. Proud Central had to be dead, and that meant Proud Heaven had devoured him. In turn, that also meant the Central Dynasty was thoroughly under Proud Heaven’s control. And when the three dynasties were combined, he would be the emperor.

“Why did you come here today, Yang Qi?” Heaven-Extinguishing Dugu asked. “To get us to join you? If that’s your plan, you’ve completely miscalculated. Our House of the Invincible is completely at odds with you and your deceitful behavior. We have no desire to join Proud Heaven, but we most certainly don’t want to be on your side. Nobody has any idea what you plan to do next. You used the God Legion Seal to subjugate Dugu Sheji, and plenty of other God-Lords. You also killed a lot of people in our army. If we joined you, we’d turn into cannon fodder. You think we don’t know that?”

“That’s right, Yang Qi!” Dugu Yunkong said. “No matter how bad you make Proud Heaven sound, you’re a thousand times worse. Maybe even ten thousand times worse! At least he wouldn’t use the God Legion Seal on us and turn us into the walking dead, with our thoughts under your control. And the High Priestess is around to keep him in check. After the three dynasties are united, as long as we work with the High Priestess, he won’t dare do anything to us. And we’ll get plenty of benefits. So why would we possibly want to join up with you? Come on, everyone. Don’t let this guy fool you. Draw on our destiny and crush him! And notify the High Priestess and Proud Heaven right away!”

The atmosphere was very tense.

Everyone wanted to crush Yang Qi, but none of them dared to make a move. They knew that if he unleashed his might, many of them would die. And obviously none of them were keen to end up dead.

“Your arguments do make sense,” Yang Qi said. “If you join Proud Heaven, you can work with the High Priestess against him. But if you join the Sage Monarch Empire, you’ll answer to me. However, I didn’t come here to get you to join me. In fact, I didn’t come here for you at all. I'm here as an apprentice, hoping to save his master. To bring him back to life.” He snorted coldly. “But since you brought up the subject, I’ll point out that you joining me won't exactly help me a lot. I don’t have a population problem anymore. Furthermore, I have a whole host of Ascendants that are part of my empire now. My Everlasting Aegis is constantly expanding, and using primal-chaos paleo-energy to create preheaven treasures. So wouldn’t you people just be a drain on my resources? Furthermore, I know how ambitious you are. You’d only cause problems for my empire’s destiny. It would probably be better just to let you be combined with the other dynasties, then sit and watch as you fight it out with Proud Heaven.”

Yang Qi’s grave and stern demeanor made everyone even more hesitant to do anything to him. At this point, many of the leaders of the Dugu Clan were starting to come around, and they were shocked.

“You really want to save our patriarch?”

“Don’t tell me that he can really be brought back to life.”

“Don’t be fooled!” Dugu Yunkong said loudly. “This guy is just like Proud Heaven. He just wants to turn our patriarch into an out-of-body incarnation. We can't let him do it!” Dugu Yunkong hated Yang Qi so much that he would stop at nothing to interfere with him.

“Hmph! Dugu Yunkong, you unfilial bastard!” Yang Qi swept his hand out, and the others present felt like they were in a dream as he simply grabbed Dugu Yunkong and hoisted him into the air by the neck like a duck.

“What do you think you’re doing, Yang Qi?” people shouted.

“Oh, nothing,” he replied. “I'm just showing you what I'm capable of. You see, you can’t fight me. That said, I'm not interested in hurting my Master’s progeny. So don’t force me to. I've already assimilated the Halls of Heaven.” His words caused the members of the Dugu Clan to shiver in terror, and none of them dared to take any action whatsoever. “I’ll make this simple. As I said, I'm not here for you. If I was, I would’ve just subjugated you immediately, then used you to strike a blow against Proud Heaven. Think about it. If I was really a threat to you, wouldn’t Patriarch Invincible have done something to interfere?”

They exchanged awkward glances as they considered the truth of his words. He was far stronger than the last time they had seen him in action, and if he really had assimilated the Halls of Heaven, they knew that he was definitely strong enough to fight half-Annulled experts, assuming he used destiny.

“Do you really want to help our patriarch, Yang Qi?” Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu asked. “If so, then give us a show of good faith by releasing Dugu Yunkong.”

“Of course, no problem!” Yang Qi said, tossing Dugu Yunkong to the ground as if he were an insect. “However, this unfilial bastard has to pay for his actions. He was actually opposing my effort to help my Master. I just used my Devil-God Seal on him. For the next twenty-four hours, he won’t be able to move, or even think.”

“I'm not interested in wasting words with you people. If you try to stop me from saving Master, you’ll have to take responsibility for your crimes. And when he wakes up, he’ll surely show you what true punishment is.” Yang Qi flicked his sleeve, and a stream of sagelight shot out and landed on the Invincible Dugu.

The Invincible Dugu was huge, as if his body contained numerous universes. With each exhalation, they would collapse, while each inhalation would cause them to swell.

Right now, Yang Qi was calling out to his thoughts, hoping to see how powerful he was.

“Nobody move,” Yang Qi said. “I'm sending sagelight into Master to assess his injuries, not hurt him.” Seeing the other members of the Dugu clan fidgeting anxiously, Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu said, “In years past, the Sovereign Lord used sagelight in that way to help certain God-Lords.”

They settled down and focused on watching Yang Qi work, hope starting to tug at their hearts.

Next, Yang Qi sent his divine will into the Invincible Dugu, where he sensed a boundless power pulsing, resisting him.

‘Master, in order to save you, I'm going to have to do something a bit blasphemous. I'm going to summon your will from the impure lands.” He threw his head back and howled, whereupon a tiny version of the Invincible Dugu appeared behind him, perfectly similar to how he had appeared in the impure lands. There, he had been the society chief of the Invincible Society, the very same one who had taught Yang Qi the Prodigious Proto-Epoch, Invincible War-Steppe. [1]

Yang Qi hadn’t seen him since then.

He had hoped to find him in the immortal worlds, and even in his travels in the god world. Of course, Yang Qi knew that he was a pawn his Master had put in play as a desperate move. But Yang Qi didn’t mind. After reforming the image of his Master from the impure lands, Yang Qi sent him into the body of the gigantic Invincible Dugu.

As a result, the Invincible Dugu didn't instinctively resist, allowing Yang Qi to get a glimpse of the chaotic universes inside him.

It was as if there was a labyrinth of universes within him, all of them constantly changing in a very confusing way. Apparently, the Invincible Dugu had made his body similar to the god world itself, and his insides were as complex as the Halls of Heaven.

Yang Qi began searching for his sea of consciousness in the hopes of restoring his lost will.

1. Well, isn’t the Prodigious Proto-Epoch, Invincible War-Steppe a blast from the past? It was originally mentioned in chapter 449, and was last mentioned in chapter 598.