Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Shocking news had just been revealed to the King of Godmammoths, Demon Master, and High Priestess. The essence of the god world was going to take human form. They weren’t even sure how to react.

The god world wasn't a person. It was more like an animal, except its true existence was something that people couldn’t truly comprehend. After all, it could take anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of years for it to form a single thought.

There was no way to change that.

The god world was so large it defied imagination. It was like a combination of innumerable half-Annulled experts.

Everything it did happened slowly. It wasn’t like ordinary gods, who could experience billions of thoughts in a single moment. That was why it had to operate through a representative.

Even that was only possible through great effort.

If the god world had been able to directly interfere with the Sovereign Lord, he would have died much earlier. Although the King of Godmammoths was said to be the strongest, that wasn’t taking into consideration the god world itself. The main difference was that the god world had never taken human form.

But if it did, that would change everything. If it could think that much faster, then no one could possibly be a match for it. Not even the combination of the King of Godmammoths, Demon Master, and High Priestess would be close. They would be killed in an instant.

It didn’t matter how impressive Yang Qi was. If the essence of the god world could take human shape, then he would be wiped away by its power like an egg encountering a rock.

“I don’t believe you, boy,” the Demon Master said. “The essence of the god world simply can’t take human form.”

“Believe me or not. Your choice. I've said what needs to be said. I just don’t want to see you die. You see, we're all like ants on a string right now. Forget about the god world taking human form. Even just Yang Qi is a big threat right now. Do you really think that you’re strong enough to deal with him alone? If so, you’re crazy. The only way we can handle him is if we work together. And if we don’t, we’ll just end up subjugated.”

“In other words, you want us to join you,” the Demon Master said. “Come on, we’re no fools. We know what you really want. You’re more ambitious than a wolf! In fact, why shouldn't we just go join Yang Qi?”

“It's true that it probably makes more sense for you to join Yang Qi than me,” Proud Heaven replied with a sinister smile. “Anyone can see that his empire is bringing about a new age. Although my empire is growing rapidly as well, there’s no way it could ever catch up to Yang Qi’s. However, if you side with Yang Qi, that means you’ll eventually face the essence of the god world. So you decide. You can already see the punishment the god world has meted out to the Sage Monarch Empire. They're clearly enemies. In fact, the god world directly told me this. War will break out soon, and there can't be a third major power. The god world won’t allow it. So let me summarize why I came here. First, to recruit you. Second, to warn you. Neither the essence of the god world nor Yang Qi will allow another major power to enter the picture. However, you have to wonder why Yang Qi hasn’t already come to take care of you. The reason is that he’s not worried about you. He’s trying to uncover clues leading to the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil. He wants to force them out and get rid of them so they won't cause unexpected problems later.”

“What?” the High Priestess said in astonishment. “The Sovereign Lord and the True Devil are still alive? Doesn’t the essence of the god world have some clue about where they are?”

“What's there to be surprised about?" the King of Godmammoths said. “We three survived the great tribulation. And those two were the top figures in the god world, far surpassing us. Yang Qi’s doing the right thing, tracking them down. After all, his success is built on the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade. Those two things contain the will of the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil, respectively. He has to find them and wipe them out, otherwise they could spring on him unexpectedly and try to possess him.”

After hearing the King of Godmammoths’ analysis, Proud Heaven laughed heartily. “You’re absolutely right, King of Godmammoths. So now do you understand? Think it through. If you join Yang Qi, you’ll enrage the essence of the god world even further. And you might even end up clashing with the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil. Surely you don’t want to fall into his hands again. You could try to form a third power, but that would result in you dying. In the end, your best bet is to join my dynasty, which is really run by the essence of the god world, not me.”

They understood their options.

Joining Yang Qi would be extremely risky. None of them could possibly deal with the essence of the god world, nor were they sure about the ramifications of the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil. Forming their own power structure seemed foolish. It seemed the third option was the best.

After a long moment of silence, the Demon Master said, “It seems siding with the essence of the god world is the best choice. But how exactly do we go about doing that? For example, I suggest I bring all of my Demonfolk with me. Otherwise, the power of your destiny will turn us into nothing but slaves.”

“Absolutely not,” Proud Heaven said. “This is a simple matter. The Demonfolk won't be allowed in, otherwise everything will descend into chaos. There are ten times as many Demonfolk in the god world as there are humans. My empire would collapse.”

Even the Demon Master had to admit that it was true that bringing so many Demonfolk into a human empire would lead to disaster.

“What if we just bring the Demonfolk God-Lords,” the King of Godmammoths said, “and you ordain us as nobility. What do you say? And of course, you have to promise not to harm us in any way.”

“That’ll work. All three of you will have the same rank. Agreed? Furthermore, I don’t have the right to execute you, nor randomly expel you. I can only deal with you as the essence of the god world wishes. Truth be told, this is all what the essence of the god world wants. For me to ordain you with titles will involve a big expenditure of destiny. In other words, it won’t do my empire much good. But the essence of the god world has convinced me to do it.”

“In that case, why don’t we discuss which God-Lords to bring? The total number will definitely be at least twice what you currently have. And we also need to come to an agreement about the titles of nobility.”

“What about the other Demonfolk?” the High Priestess said.

“Other Demonfolk?” the King of Godmammoths said mercilessly. “Hmph! We continue to force them to pray, building up the power of Operation Demon Destruction. That can be our trump card to use against Yang Qi.”

As long as he could transcend safely, he didn't care if all the other Demonfolk in the god world were wiped out.

“Agreed,” the High Priestess said. “With a deadly trump card like that, we won’t have to worry about unexpected opposition.”

Operation Demon Destruction was a destructive plan that involved having the Demonfolk constantly pray, building up immense curse power. It would twist the hearts of the Demonfolk who prayed, turning them into vengeful spirits that would be absorbed by the altar itself. When the power was unleashed, it would be enough to slaughter half-Annulled experts.

Proud Heaven didn’t dare to allow himself to be infected by that rancorous energy.

Of course, he knew that the “unexpected opposition” the High Priestess had mentioned referred to him.

That said, he had his own plans, and knew that if he said anything to oppose these three experts, they wouldn't join him.

‘These three have a very vicious plan in their Operation Demon Destruction. They plan to force all the Demonfolk to use a curse that turns them into rancorous spirits. When they unleash that power, it could damage the god world itself, let alone some empire. Of course, the price is the sacrifice of countless Demonfolk lives.’ Proud Heaven could see the process happening in the Demonfolk Empire even now.

The final weapon would be deadly. Proud Heaven wasn’t going to do anything about it now. First, he had to deal with Yang Qi, then the essence of the god world. After all, he had no sense of loyalty to the god world. He actually wanted to devour its essence.

“Of course you can go through with your Operation Demon Destruction,” he said. “I’ll even help you with it. Call your God-Lords into a meeting to explain what's happening, then carry on with your plan. The god world doesn’t want a bunch of Demonfolk in it anyway, so wiping them out will be good. And it will save a lot of resources.”

Thus, a master plan was hatched.

The King of Godmammoths and Proud Heaven sealed the deal, and countless Demonfolk God-Lords were summoned. Titles of nobility were handed out.

To Proud Heaven’s surprise, they didn’t even try to negotiate. Of course, the Demonfolk feared the essence of the god world, so there was no way they would make demands.

Several days passed before the process was complete.