Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Looking at Dragon Floret, Jadefall said, “As I said, I don’t see how this is for the benefit of the sect so much as you, personally. And I don’t care if you have a dozen faction leaders here. Even if you had hundreds, it still wouldn’t do you any good. Do you really think there aren’t rules in this sect of ours?”

“Oh, there are rules,” said Wang Xiantian from the Preheaven Society. “In fact, I seem to remember a sect rule about what happens when our sect comes across an important item. Remember, we’re all children of primeval chaos. So we have the right to call a Primeval Chaos Assembly.”

“Primeval Chaos Assembly?!” Jadefall said, her expression flickering.

As was explained in the Great Classic of God Ordainment, the children of primeval chaos were few in number but extremely important. They were considered the future hope of the House of God Ordainment, and they had the right to call assemblies to discuss the future of the sect. As long as at least thirty-six or more of the children of primeval chaos agreed, a Primeval Chaos Assembly could be held. And if all of the children of primeval chaos in attendance agreed about a matter, not even the houselord could oppose their decision.

After all, the children of primeval chaos all had the potential to be the future houselord. When they joined forces in a common cause, they could definitely change the future of the sect.

However, the children of primeval chaos all belonged to different factions, so it was generally unlikely that they would all work together. It was for that reason that a Primeval Chaos Assembly hadn’t been called for many, many years.

But now the subject was being brought up. And it wasn't a coincidence that there were more than thirty-six children of primeval chaos present. In fact, there were forty. And they had all come because of Dragon Floret’s promise of a blessing of power.

Whenever the houselord wanted to go into an extended period of seclusion, he would retire, and a new leader would be selected from among the children of primeval chaos. When that happened, the leaders of the various factions in the sect would campaign for support in their bid for the position. The position of houselord in the House of God Ordainment wasn’t handed out by appointment, nor was the position hereditary. Every disciple in the sect who had reached godly ascension was allowed to vote.

Usually, it came down to which faction was the strongest, and could bring in the most votes.

Competition was fierce, as that ensured that only the most powerful people would end up coming out on top.

It was a method that was actually quite popular among the large organizations in the god world. Of course, there were a lot of unwritten rules regarding the process. For example, in the House of God Ordainment, the largest faction was the Mystery Society, which was said to have been founded by the junior houselord. When the old houselord retired, it was a given that the junior houselord would be considered the top candidate to take over.

But there was no way the other children of primeval chaos would just allow that to happen. They would obviously do their best to change the overall situation in the sect.

However, there was a belief in the House of God Ordainment regarding the Mystery Society: “It doesn’t matter what faction you talk about, it definitely has members of the Mystery Society in it. The person standing right next to you could be one of them!”

The Mystery Society lived up to its name. It was huge, but so mysterious that few people knew much about it.

In any case, if the children of primeval chaos called an assembly here today, they could make a decision to force Jadefall to give them the blood of the purrling.

“What do you say?” Dragon Floret said. “Should we call a Primeval Chaos Assembly? I'm sure that everyone present would agree to take the blood of the purrling. And Patriarch Deva even provided a talisman that can be used to capture the thing. So don’t even think of telling it to run away. Don’t worry, considering you're a princess, we won't do anything to you. We’ll just take some of that blood and use it to make some medicinal pills. Alright? The alternative is for you to hand the purrling over to the sect.”

“How brazen of you!” Jadefall spat. Looking around at everyone else present, she said, “Don’t tell me that all of you are going to shamelessly stand with Dragon Floret in this. You're going to steal my pet? All you have to do is refuse to call the Primeval Chaos Assembly, and I’ll be very much in your debt. I’ll definitely repay you for a kindness like that.”

Wang Xiantian chuckled darkly. “And what repayment will you give, Jadefall? If we get the blood of that purrling, we can become Perfect Gods. And maybe we’ll even acquire Unbounded will. Don’t tell me that you can provide a reward as good as that?”

Many of the faction leaders were nodding in agreement. When it came down to it, compassion, familial love, and friendship didn’t really count for much. In the very end, power was the only thing that mattered. Without power, everything else was empty.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Dragon Floret said, “the reason I called this banquet is because the time has come for a Primeval Chaos Assembly. Shall we cast our votes about whether to take the blood of the purrling? It's a simple matter. I have this talisman from Patriarch Deva, which can be used for that very purpose. The resulting medicinal pills will be shared equally among us all. Of that, you have my word.”

“I vote yes,” said Wang Xiantian. He had long hated Jadefall and the purrling, so it was a given that he would be quick to agree.

“I also vote yes,” said the leader of the Brilliant Radiance Society.

“I vote yes as well.”

“I also vote yes.”

One by one, the voices rang out. As it turned out, all of the faction leaders present, who of course were also children of primeval chaos, approved of the idea. After all, Yang Qi hadn’t been in the House of God Ordainment for very long, so few of them had interacted with him or knew what he was capable of.

Some of it was because Yang Qi hadn’t built a truly solid foundation in the sect yet. If he had, these people would have been more inclined to give him face, perhaps even by abstaining from voting.

But for now, none of them cared a whit about Jadefall and Yang Qi. The only reason any of them had shown even a bit of respect to Jadefall was because of the purrling, and now that Patriarch Deva had provided a talisman to capture it, even that modicum of respect went out the window.

Jadefall was a mere Common God, while they were all Consummate Gods. To them, even Greater Gods were nothing more than yes-men who wouldn’t dare to argue with them.

“Very well,” Dragon Floret said to Jadefall. “When the Primeval Chaos Assembly makes a decision, Jadefall, not even the houselord can countermand it. According to the rules of the sect, you must give us the blood of the purrling. Now.”

“You might as well quit dreaming!” Jadefall said icily.

Wang Xiantian chuckled in sinister fashion. “So you’re openly rebelling against the sect? The Primeval Chaos Assembly has made a decision, and you’re defying it. That’s outright treason! We have every right to arrest you right here and now. The only reason we're giving you a bit of face is that you’re the adopted daughter of an imperial concubine from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty. Otherwise, we wouldn’t show the least bit of mercy. Do you know what the penalty for treason against the sect is? You should be thrown into Heaven Penitentiary and ravaged day and night by the savages there!”

“Enough with the wild talk, Wang Xiantian,” said the leader of the Brilliant Radiance Society. Obviously, he didn’t want to go too far in offending Jadefall. “Jadefall, the decision has been made by the Primeval Chaos Assembly. Not even the houselord has the power to go against it, much less you. Besides, you may have that purrling, but there are enough of us here to join forces and keep it under control. Furthermore, we have the talisman from Patriarch Deva. Even if your purrling were stronger than it is, Patriarch Deva is ten times stronger than any of the other patriarchs in the sect. If he's created something to keep the purrling in check, there’s no way anything could possibly overcome it.”

‘These assholes,’ Yang Qi thought. It was a tricky situation. Any of these faction leaders acting alone wouldn’t be worth worrying about. But they had joined forces, which was a different story. Even worse, they were in the middle of Mount Dragon Head, and had to deal with the talisman provided by Patriarch Deva.

He could sense the power of that talisman on Dragon Floret, and could tell that it was strong enough to destroy god kingdoms. It was something Yang Qi knew that he couldn’t quite handle.

Rumor had it that Patriarch Deva was a Paramount God who had been around since the Sovereign Lord’s Age. It was a given that he would vastly surpass any Paramount God that existed in modern times.

‘If this Patriarch Deva is from the Sovereign Lord’s Age, his nascent divinity should be contained in the God Legion Seal. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal that I have the seal. I wonder what the purrling thinks about all this.’ Plans and ideas flitting through his mind, he looked over at the purrling.

He knew that the purrling was intelligent, and that it was enlightened regarding the profound mysteries and invincible secrets of the god world. There was no way the purrling wouldn’t understand what was being said around it.

Sure enough, its ears were locked in a forward position. However, its eyes glittered with a look of pure ridicule. When Yang Qi saw that, he relaxed a bit.

Up to this point, he still wasn’t sure exactly how strong the purrling was, and was very interested in further demonstrations.

Purr. Purr....

All of a sudden, the purrling purred... at Yang Qi. And a tremor passed through him as he realized he understood what the Purrling meant.

“What did it say?” Jadefall asked.

Meanwhile, all of the faction leaders had gone completely silent and were looking at the purrling, wondering what it was trying to say. Obviously, none of them understood it.

“The purrling wants me to translate for it,” Yang Qi said. He wasn’t sure if it was his understanding of the Purrfect God Art, or his God Legion Seal, but he really could decipher what the purrling was saying.

As of this moment, everyone was staring at him. Moments before, he had been a nobody that they hadn’t even bothered looking at. But in the blink of an eye, he became a very, very important person!

Purr. Purr-purr-purr.... The purrling emitted a string of purring sounds, and the faction leaders looked on as if they were hearing an imperial edict. Eventually, Yang Qi nodded, then looked around at the faction leaders.

“You dumbasses want some of my blood? I could crush all of you with a single move.”

The translated words of the purrling boomed like a stentorian bell.

“Did I translate that correctly, purrling?” Yang Qi asked.

Purr. Purr....

No one needed a translation of the final two sounds. Yang Qi’s translation was correct.