Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Fiend-devils began pouring out of the Hell Portals, all of them immortal marquises or immortal paragons. As they organized in ranks, they seemed to stretch on without end.

In the Titan Emperor Heaven, people that strong were always top officials who lived lives of luxury and would never risk getting into deadly fights.

But a fiend-devil army was a different matter. They would slaughter anything they could, fighting without regard for their own safety. They would even self-detonate without hesitation if Yang Qi wanted them to.

Joining their voices together, they said, “Milord, you will conquer the universe and rule the immortal worlds for all the ages!”

The imperial city violently trembled, and many of the soldiers, ministers, and officials present for court very nearly passed out. Even the most elite troops would tremble at the sight of so many fiend-devils.

“I can summon armies like this without end,” Yang Qi said. “So as you can see, we can easily devastate any low-level immortal world we want. You civil and military officials need to support Empress Jadefall with all your hearts. And if I see any signs of disloyalty, I’ll destroy you with a wave of my hand. Understand?”

“Yes, yes of course….”

Countless grand princes dropped to their knees to kowtow, still unsure of whether to be happy or grieve. With armies like this, it definitely did seem possible to conquer other immortal worlds, which made them happy. But at the same time, they were being oppressed in the most vicious and decisive fashion, which made them grieve. Obviously, it would be little more than a joke to claim that there was someone more powerful than him.

Yang Qi nodded. “Excellent. As it turns out, you people are fairly sensible after all. Henceforth, anyone who betrays the throne will be executed immediately, along with everyone related to them.”

“We’ll support Empress Jadefall with all our hearts!”

Everyone gave voice to similar determinations as they kowtowed deeply.

He waved his hand and the fiend-devil armies retreated back into the Hell Portals. Everyone present looked back at Empress Jadefall sitting on the throne, feeling almost like they had just dreamed the whole incident.

In the briefest of moments, the Titan Emperor Heaven had experienced a most dramatic transformation.

As of now, Yang Qi was confident enough to bring people from the Sage Monarch planetary system up to this immortal world, and at the same time openly send resources down below and make his foundation stronger than ever.

But then war drums began to sound within the depths of the imperial city.

Boom, boom…. Boom, boom….

Apparently, enemy forces were approaching!

Jadefall rose from the imperial throne and said, “Immortal emissaries from other locations are coming. Let’s see what their purpose is. Open the teleportation portal.”

Creak. Crack.

The enormous teleportation portal opened and shafts of dazzling light spilled out, along with a booming voice.

“Our coalition of emissaries from the Hanging Heaven, Coiling Arc Heaven, Black Sand Heaven, Megaplexus Heaven, Five Blooms Heaven, and Kestra Mural Heaven, have come to discuss matters.”

Next, numerous powerful auras spread out into the open, six different varieties. They were followed by a group of hundreds of thousands of individuals, all of them bursting with terrifying killing intent.

Emissaries from six separate immortal worlds had arrived in a completely unexpected fashion, for reasons unknown.

The ministers and officials present were all completely terrified.

“Sovereigns of heaven! They’re all ninth stage Dao-Demolishers!”

“You’re right. That’s Sovereign Black Hand from the Black Sand Heaven. I heard that he has a godly-class energy art called the Black Hell God-Imprisoning Hand. He’s incredibly famous in the armed forces there, similar to Proud Warpatience here. Except he’s actually a lot stronger than Proud Warpatience.”

“Look! That’s Reverend Five Willows, one of the genius Dao-Demolishers from the Five Blooms Heaven, and a grand prince there. He has an amazing Five Skhandas Many-Voids Grand Dao Fruit and is rumored to be extremely powerful. He once went to the Hell of Suras and killed a whole bunch of asura fiend-devils. Nobody even knows everything he's capable of.”

“And over there are Mammoth Ninetruths, Coiling Peak, Plexus Jade, and Mural Child-Ink. They’re all incredibly famous in their immortal worlds, fierce fighters and top officers in the armed forces. Each and every one of them is probably strong enough to take out our entire immortal world.”

Although their specific goals were unclear, it was obvious these unexpected visitors had not come with good intentions.

Empress Jadefall looked the group over with flashing eyes, then said, “Might I ask why so many famous individuals from other immortal worlds have come to visit?”

The eminently formidable Sovereign Black Hand from the Black Sand Heaven stepped forward, laughed heartily, and said, “What happened to the old ruler, Emperor Titan? We heard that there was a rebellion here in the Titan Emperor Heaven and that the traitors murdered a whole bunch of people. We came to do the Titan Emperor Heaven a favor by executing the rebels and restoring balance to his immortal world. Considering that you're sitting on the imperial throne, Princess Jadefall, am I correct that you’re the one who seized power? Did you harm the old emperor? That’s a high crime! Please, confess your sins. Our small alliance of six immortal worlds has a huge army outside, just itching to take action. If we invade, then within three months we can conquer the entire Titan Emperor Heaven and imprison everyone here.”

“That’s right!” Mammoth Ninetruths said. Waving his hand, he caused a mirror to appear, which provided a view of a host of troops amassing on a certain asteroid. The soldiers seemed as numerous as locusts, and they were all chomping at the bit to invade the Titan Emperor Heaven.

“Did you really have no idea this would happen, Jadefall? You invaded our Hanging Heaven and killed one of our princes, Mammoth Dharma-Heaven. Did you think we would just let that stand? No. The time has come for reprisal, and we're going to wipe your Titan Emperor Heaven out of existence!”

Another ninth stage Dao-Demolisher stepped forward, a general from the Coiling Arc Heaven. “That’s right. Our six-world alliance has your Titan Emperor Heaven surrounded. Your position is as precarious as a pile of eggs. Understand? As for all you ministers and officials, we’ll give you one chance to surrender and join us.”

Yang Qi found this all very suspicious. He had literally just deposed Emperor Titan and installed Jadefall in his place, only to have an alliance of six immortal worlds show up a moment later. It seemed likely that someone was feeding them information—but who?

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “our emperor abdicated, and that's our personal business. What the hell are you doing here meddling in our affairs? And who are you working for?”

Mammoth Ninetruths stepped forward. “Are you that brat they call the Prince of Military Security, the upstart who killed Mammoth Dharma-Heaven? Well, you’re not going to escape this time.”

“So what if I killed him? Who cares? Now that we have a new empress, we were just planning to go conquer all of your immortal worlds anyway. But you’ve made things a lot easier by coming to us. I’ll kill the lot of you and wipe out your armies. Your six immortal worlds will make a great foundation for my new alliance.”

RUUUUUUMBLE!

Yang Qi waved his finger and the Glad Tidings of the Lord rolled out.

“Return to your original form,” he said. All of a sudden, Mammoth Ninetruths, the grand and famous general, looked like he was in pain. Dropping down onto all fours, he transformed into an actual megamammoth, his skin covered with complex designs and flowing magical symbols. The fabled megamammoths were said to be able to pluck planets out of the sky with their trunks, and cause stars to fall like rain.

Mammoth Ninetruths was a famous person in the Hanging Heaven, a megamammoth with godmammoth blood. But all it took was a word from Yang Qi and he was forced to return to his original form.

“Come here,” Yang Qi said.

Without hesitation, Mammoth Ninetruths shuffled over to him.

“Lie down.” Yang Qi waved his finger, and Mammoth Ninetruths prostrated himself on the ground. Then, without another word, Yang Qi waved his hand, causing a throne-like saddle to appear on his back. Flying up, he sat on the throne, having successfully turned Mammoth Ninetruths into a mount.

Mammoth Ninetruths was a ferocious general, and one of the top figures from the Hanging Heaven. He was a ninth stage Dao-Demolisher whose dao heart had at least two or three lineaments. But now he was a mount, and it hadn’t taken Yang Qi any effort all.

Terror gripped the hearts of everyone present.

“What?”

All of the uninvited visitors began to back up, their eyes flashing with fear as they looked back and forth from Yang Qi to Mammoth Ninetruths.

Yang Qi’s abilities obviously surpassed any sort of daoist technique that any of them had ever seen or heard of.

“W-what… what sorcery was that?” Sovereign Black Hand stammered, his knees knocking together.

“Sorcery?” Yang Qi chuckled. “Why did you scum dare to come here and pick a fight? Were you feeling suicidal? I have the most ancient and mysterious of all godly techniques, something that you couldn’t possibly understand. Anyone under the Godmyth level who dares to come to the Titan Emperor Heaven is just looking to get killed. Now it's your turn. Kneel.”

Sovereign Black Hand dropped to one knee, but managed to hold back from fully kneeling. “No!” he shouted. “I refuse! I'm Sovereign Black Hand and I have the legacy of a god, the Black Hell God-Imprisoning Hand!”