Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“You’re right, Elder Brother,” one of the novice disciples said ingratiatingly. “These people aren’t gods. They’re basically on the same level as us, they just got lucky along the way by passing the Bloodgore Trials. Out here, we fight demonlings and disciples from the dao of devils. We also have to keep the vicious miners under control. We have to use wits and strength alike, and that’s worth a lot more than the Bloodgore Trials.”

“That's right,” another disciple said. “The people who make a big fuss over these official disciples are really idiots. We're all Quasi-Gods, nothing more, nothing less. And it's not as if the gods are actually going to come out here to do anything. We actually have great lives here, and it's all thanks to you, Elder Brother.”

“True,” Huang Weilong said, “but we still don't want to offend the foreman. He is an official disciple, after all. In the end, we still have to follow the rules, and we have to treat him politely. If he plays nice, we’ll share a bit of our loot with him. But if he doesn't... we’ll teach him a lesson!”

“If he doesn’t play nice, we’ll make sure he ends up dead!” another disciple growled. “Elder Brother, haven't experts from the Ghost King Church been trying to work out a deal with you? They want a cut of our share of godstones, right?”

“Yes. As long as it benefits us, there’s no harm in doing business with them. And if the foreman causes any problems, we can have him killed by the Ghost King Church. If we lend someone a knife and have them do our dirty work, we won’t be implicated....” At this point they reached the foot of the mountain, whereupon a host of young women hurried over and clustered around Huang Weilong.

“You’re back, honey! We’ve been waiting for you!”

Huang Weilong burst out laughing, causing the hairs on his birthmark to quiver. “The new foreman is very reasonable. He’s basically gonna let us do whatever we want. He's mostly worried about us teaming up against him. Hmph! My cultivation base is already at the peak of the Quasi-God level, which means I could very well become a god soon. And I make a lot of godstones in my position here. With the resources I can get, I’ll definitely break through soon. What’s the point of the Bloodgore Trials for a person like myself? Look at the foreman—he went to the Bloodgore Trials, but he ended up here just like me!”

“Yes, that’s right, honey,” one of the charming young women said. “You’re definitely amazing. Even the foreman dispatched by the sect has to listen to you. Either that, or he’ll die! We’ve prepared food and alcohol to celebrate your successful return.”

“You’re too kind!” Huang Weilong said. “Lead the way!”

“Of course!”

The other disciples respectfully watched Huang Weilong and the woman walk away and then began talking amongst themselves.

“Elder Brother really has it good. Whenever they send new women to be miners, he picks the prettiest ones and we just get the leftovers.”

“A few days ago, a new woman got sent and Elder Brother took a fancy to her. But I heard she refused him. I wonder what happened in the end.”

“She refused him? How dare she! Have you forgotten what happened last year? Remember that rich girl whose sect got wiped out by our House of God Ordainment? She got sent here to be a miner, and Elder Brother grabbed her and tried to have his way with her. But she fought back and tried to kill him. Remember what he did?”

“Ai! That was tragic. Elder Brother tied her up and gave her to the miners. They took turns with her for seven days and seven nights until she finally died. I can still hear her screams echoing in my mind.”

“Tragic. Very tragic.”

“Well, it’s only natural that people like us are vicious and merciless. And in the end, as long as we follow Elder Brother, we’ll be fine. We all know how he does things. He has his fingers in everything. He's connected to the Ghost King Church, and some of the disciples there even call him daoist brother. And he’s friends with the leaders of the demonlings....”

“Although, all the mines have gang leaders like him. And in a few days, they're going to meet to size each other up. I wonder how Elder Brother will end up ranking.”

“Who knows? In the meeting last year, Long Dehai from Mine One took the top spot, which is why we've been forced to pay him tribute ever since. Ai. I hope that this time Elder Brother can come out on top and share some of the spoils with us.”

“Come on, let’s head back to our own caves and enjoy the night with our women. We can worry about everything else later. We’ve been so worried the past few days about the new foreman that we came up with all sorts of plans of how to deal with him. But in the end, he turned out to be a worthless loser.”

With that, the novice disciples went their separate ways.

As for Huang Weilong, his mansion grotto was luxuriantly decorated and seemed almost like the residence of a king or emperor. He had rugs made from the hides of icefire demonlings that were so soft that walking on them felt like walking on clouds. And because of the icefire energy, it didn’t matter what the temperature was outside, it always felt comfortable inside. That rug alone would be worth a lot of godstones on the outside. In fact, most experts would have turned it into a garment, yet here, Huang Weilong was using it as a rug.

“Did the new girl finally give in?” Huang Weilong said, haughtily sitting down and looking around at his collection of concubines. They were all women who had been sentenced to work in the mines, which meant that by sticking with him, they could have relatively nice lives.

The alternative was to have a miserable existence in the mines, which none of them could accept.

“Not yet,” one of the women said. “She refuses to eat and mostly just sits around crying.” This particular woman pulsed with devil energy, which indicated that she was a disciple of the dao of devils. The god world was huge, with too many continents to count, far more than the number of immortal worlds in the Immortal Dao Age. Not even the boundless Sovereign Lord had actually known how large the god world was. Because of that, it was a given that it was a hodgepodge of good and bad people. And when a powerful organization like the House of God Ordainment went on the warpath, it went without saying that they would take all sorts of people captive, men and women alike.

It was even said that the House of God Ordainment’s mines had gods who had been enslaved and forced to be miners.

Slapping the table angrily, Huang Weilong said, “Hmph! If she refuses to do things the easy way, we’ll do them the hard way! Take me to her immediately.”

Soon they reached an extravagantly decorated back room in the mansion grotto. Inside was a bed, atop which a beautiful woman was bound. She was as delicate as a peach flower and had clearly led a pampered life. She had a beauty mark on her forehead and was weeping profusely, her tears falling down like raindrops.

As soon as she saw Huang Weilong walk in, she said, “Let me go, Your Majesty! I'm just a weak woman. My family was all killed by the House of God Ordainment, and I'm the only one left. Please, have pity on me....”

Huang Weilong chuckled darkly as the killing intent within him transformed into a licentious smile. “I like your cute look, darling, which is why I didn’t just force myself on you right from the beginning. Why exactly are you refusing to give in? Your life is in my hands. With me, you can have nice meals and live in comfort. If I throw you down into the mines, it’s only a matter of time before you get raped to death. It’s hard to say how many women suffer that fate every year. Do you think you’ll be any exception?”

“Just let me go!” she cried. “If you show some grace and mercy, I’ll remember it for all eternity! Please, have mercy!”

Eyes gleaming viciously, he said, “If you refuse to do things the easy way, we’ll do them the hard way! If you don’t give in willingly, I’ll just rape you! Listen, do you know what happened to the last girl who refused me? The other concubines can tell you. If you don’t hurry up and give me what I want, I’ll send you down to the mines, and those deviant miners will make sure you die in torment!”

The young woman was so terrified that she was weeping.

“Nobody’s going to save you! Your only choice is to follow me.” He suddenly burst out laughing. “I'm the most important person in this mine! Even the new official disciple is a useless weakling who plans to give me everything I want. Before long, I’ll take over as foreman, and if he doesn't go along, he’ll die! I can think of a hundred ways to make sure that happens.”

With that, Huang Weilong prepared to pounce on the young woman.

“Oh really?” someone said, and a figure stepped forward to stand between Huang Weilong and the woman. It was none other than Yang Qi! Smiling, he said, “I was just doing some meditating when I sensed some rancorous energy, so I came to see what was happening. Imagine my surprise to find this. Ah, Huang Weilong, I never imagined you would talk about me like that, or do things like this behind my back. You're embezzling godstones to use in business deals with disciples from the dao of devils? And you even claimed that if I didn’t do what you say, you’d have me killed? Do you really care so little for the rules of the House of God Ordainment?”

“Yang Qi?!” he blurted, leaping backward. “You're a godpower incarnation, aren’t you? And you snuck into my mansion grotto?! You've got a lot of guts to do that.”

“I’ve got guts? I think you’re the one with the guts. I'm an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment, and you’re nothing but a novice disciple. The difference between us is like the difference between night and day. You oppress the common people just like a local thug, and even dare to act impudently in my presence. Get on your knees!”

Huang Weilong’s expression flickered, then settled into a vicious smile. “You might be an official disciple, Yang Qi, but you know the rules of this mine. Yeah, I'm a thug. But even a mighty dragon won’t attack a snake in its own haunts! If you stick to your place, I won’t bother you. Otherwise, you’ll die a miserable death.” His eyes narrowed. “Oh, I see what's going on. You took a fancy to this girl, right? Fine, you can have her.”