Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Now that Yang Qi was a ninth stage Dao-Demolisher with a fateless dao fruit, many of his energy arts had reached a more miraculous level. For example, he had just extracted the constitution of a Fraudulent One and added it to himself, giving him a host of new abilities.

And now, the former Fraudulent One that was Goddess Treasure had lost her most valuable asset, which instantly struck a blow to all of her various ambitions.

“Well, what do you think, Goddess Treasure? Now you’ll slave away for me, making magical treasures. Perform well for a few hundred years and I’ll make you an ordinary citizen. Remember, though, you have to work hard. If you don’t, I won’t give you your freedom.

By the way, I'm well aware of how you deceived me about the situation with the seal on the heart. That said, I already made a deal with Brahma, and now no one will open that seal. In any case, considering how you plotted against me, the fact that I'm not making you the lowest of the low among women is actually quite a kindness.”

Eyes bulging with rage, Goddess Treasure shouted, “Forget it! I'm an Incarnated God! I should have a high position!”

Yang Qi snorted coldly. “Well, if you refuse to do things the easy way, we’ll do them the hard way. Eldest Brother!”

“Here!”

Yang Qi’s Eldest Brother from the Invincible Society appeared. He was now a Dao-Demolisher with nine lineaments, just on the verge of becoming a Godmyth. He had been entrusted with watching over the Cruiser of Civilization. Grabbing Goddess Treasure by the neck, he lifted her up and said, “I’ll teach this woman a lesson. She's a grandmaster of treasure-forging, so if she doesn’t produce plenty of magical treasures on a daily basis, I’ll make sure she lives a life worse than death!”

“Good,” Yang Qi replied. “Also, assimilate the Glorious Treasure Heaven. I'm leaving everything in your hands. I'm a Dao-Demolisher now, and have the nine sub-levels to handle.” Eldest Brother vanished into the depths of the spacecraft, and Yang Qi put a bit more thought into his upcoming plans. Then he headed in the direction of the Dao Defense League.

He had just spent about a year in his session of cultivation, and much to his surprise, the war between the Dao Defense League and the future world had actually widened in scope. Now it seemed like it would be even easier to infiltrate the Dao Defense League and wait until the right moment of chaos to seize the advantage for himself.

By now, Yang Qi realized that he was a portent of evil for any organization he joined. Whatever new group he joined always seemed doomed to be destroyed.

In the mortal world, it had started with the Rich-Lush Continent’s Demi-Immortal Institute, which ended up thoroughly eliminated. Later, it was the Titan Emperor Collegium, which he wiped out of existence. Even the Titan Emperor Heaven as a whole was no more.

He was now very familiar with the process of joining some group as a lowly, unimportant individual. If he started out by attacking from the top in an overt grab for power, the leaders would obviously resist him and make things hard. But by slowly improving his cultivation and winning the approval of higher-ups, he could consolidate power and eventually overthrow the leadership.

‘Time to get started!’ He sent the Cruiser of Civilization into his God Legion Paradise, where it would continue to power up and become more miraculous. Soon, it would be far more useful than any god item.

Yang Qi flitted along through the planes of the universe until he saw numerous immortal worlds linked together in alliance. There were worlds in the twentieth rank, the tenth, and even some in the fifth or sixth, all strung together to create a line of defense like an enormous ocean.

It was impossible to say how many there were. But they stretched for trillions upon quadrillions of light-years, creating a defensive bulwark that not even the future world could break.

In fact, the Brahman Immortal World and the forces of the future world were actually surrounded on all sides.

Unfortunately, they formed such a colossal monster of an organization that its expansion still couldn’t be stopped. Even twentieth ranked immortal worlds were not safe from being attacked and destroyed, and that was not to mention the lower-ranked worlds.

Yang Qi could sense the baleful energy caused by the fiery destruction of such places, and it was so intense it was almost liquid.

He reached out and vital energy converged on his hand, seemingly oozing with blood.

Up ahead, he caught sight of numerous battleships from the future world. They were manned by future warriors, who were locked in combat with experts from the immortal worlds. Perhaps in the beginning, these experts had all started out as cannon fodder. But thanks to the training of actual combat, they were becoming top fighters.

Yang Qi adjusted his aura so that he seemed like an ordinary ninth stage Dao-Demolisher, then headed toward the rear lines of the forces of the Dao Defense League. Thanks to the year of intense fighting, the forces of the Dao Defense League were now much stronger than before, able to hold the line as their top experts took on the top experts from the future world.

‘Wow, now that I’m approaching the front line, the divine will of tens of thousands of experts is scanning me. It’s a good thing I can hide my identity.’

Sure enough, the divine will of numerous experts kept the entire area under strict lockdown. It was terrifying how seriously they took the defenses.

Of course, the divine will didn’t even pause upon reaching Yang Qi. He was a measly ninth stage Dao-Demolisher, not even a Godmyth. There were so many low-level individuals like that flocking to join the Dao Defense League that they could hardly be counted. By now, the conflict with the future world had come to affect countless immortal worlds, thus, many immortals were stepping forward to fight the encroachments of the future warriors. After all, cutting down a Future One in battle would provide immense benefits. One’s quintessence energy would improve dramatically, and the constitution of a Future One could improve one’s own genes and cultivation level in an unmatchable fashion. And that wasn't to mention the mechas to be had, all of which were precious treasures of science and technology from the future. Acquiring a mecha was an easy way for cultivators to defend themselves against even the most dangerous of heavenly tribulations.

The benefits were immense.

Yang Qi saw immortals everywhere, including immortal officers, generals, marquises, and ancestors. Many of them had excited expressions on their faces.

“Did you hear that after joining the Dao Defense League, so-and-so ended up fighting a fiend-devil from the future? He killed the thing and took a powerful mecha as loot. He also got the constitution of a Future One. Afterward, the Dao Defense League decided to groom him for leadership!”

“Yeah, I heard! There was some punk kid from our sect who joined as cannon fodder, but by some bullshit fluke, he managed to come across a future fiend-devil and an immortal expert who killed each other in the final blow of a fight. That punk swooped in, took their quintessence energy and magical treasures, and instantly got promoted. Now he bosses us around constantly, and I couldn’t be more pissed off!”

“Come on, let’s go. We need to join the Dao Defense League too. Just imagine all the loot to be had on the battlefield.”

Streams of immortals headed to join the Dao Defense League. Furthermore, the area far behind the front lines was filled with countless cities devoted to trade. Everything was bustling.

Because of the war, the alliance of countless immortal worlds had suppressed the spatial tempests, and driven away or killed any roving fiend-devils or beasts. Traveling was now very safe, as long as one stayed away from the front lines.

At a certain point, Yang Qi checked his legacy medallions and his heart pounded with the realization that Young Master Leaf was somewhere in the Dao Defense League. Yang Qi knew he had to remain fully on guard. Young Master Leaf was from the thirty-third ranked Tusita Heaven, and would obviously have a very high position in the alliance. Most assuredly, he had stood out in the fighting with the future world and been taken in by some almighty entity. Perhaps he had even become an elder in the Dao Defense League by this point.

As Yang Qi entered the sea of immortal worlds, the vital energy and magical laws grew stronger and he saw powerful and deadly spell formations everywhere. The immortals who manned the spell formations wore a variety of outfits. Some were clad in immortal robes, others wore armor, and some were even bare-chested. But they all had a golden magical symbol glowing on their forehead that read “dao”, indicating that they were official members of the Dao Defense League.

“Halt!” someone shouted. “Who goes there!?”

Nine low-ranking members rushed forward to block Yang Qi’s path, bristling with killing intent. Their captain had eight lineaments on his dao heart, and considering that Yang Qi had none, the man obviously ranked much higher according to the general way of doing things. Because of that, the man seemed full of mettle as he glared at Yang Qi and said, “Who are you? Here to check in? Want to join the Dao Defense League? First you need to undergo a background check to make sure you’re clean.”

“Hello, friends. I’m from the Dragonfolk. The name’s Dragon Proudheaven. I've heard about the famous Dao Defense League, and how you’re fighting the fiend-devils from the future world. I came here for training, and hopefully some good fortune that will help me reach the Godmyth level. Friends, could you perhaps give me some advice on what to do? I'd really appreciate it.”

As soon as Yang Qi made up the story about being one of the Dragonfolk, he thought of Proud Heaven for some reason. Thus he decided to call himself Dragon Proudheaven, which sounded like a very mighty and domineering name. Before the captain or any of his men could react, Yang Qi reached out with a flourish to produce a wrapped bundle, within which were nine magical treasures that pulsed with virtual godhood. “These nine magical treasures were created by a Tempered God patriarch from my clan. They’re nine Heaven-Dragon Devil-Subduing Swords. They’re powerful, but honestly, I can’t use them. I’d like to offer them to you nine as a gift.”

“What? Magical treasures made by a Tempered God?”

The captain took the bundle and pulled out the nine swords, which glittered and pulsed with virtual godhood. Considering that he was only a Demolisher, he was vastly weaker than any Godmyth, so treasures forged by such an individual would be the kind of things he could only dream about.

Instantly, a smile broke out on his face and he looked over at Yang Qi as if they were close friends. Laughing heartily, he said, “Brother, you’re obviously an extraordinary individual to give out spectacular items like this as gifts. And you actually come from an ancient and respected clan! No problem at all. Welcome to the Dao Defense League. We’d be happy to help you find a place here.”