Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

An army of ten million peak Greater Gods and a host of peak Consummate Gods were gathered, creating a convergence of immense power.

It was a threat that could easily crush the puny House of God Ordainment.

In the blink of an eye, the pulsing aura of the army reached such an incredible level that it inflicted serious damage on the surrounding god kingdom. In fact, the damage was so severe it was impossible to say how long it would take to repair.

“Alright everyone, put the troops away. We’re not supposed to be fighting a war today. Just punishing Wang Xiantian. How could we remain part of a united sect by waving our weapons in the face of the houselord?” It was Yang Qi. He was clearly giving the orders, yet in his attempt to not show the mountain and not reveal the water, he was still pretending to be a mere Consummate God and wasn’t letting anyone see his Unbounded will convergence.

However, the moment the words left his mouth, all of his subordinates immediately complied. The enormous battleground that had just appeared, as well as the armies that filled it, were sucked back into the Battle Armlets. The only thing that remained was a gentle breeze, making the entire thing seem almost like a dream. Only the damage to the god kingdom provided any evidence of what had just occurred.

A single Greater God wasn’t anything noteworthy. But a force of ten million was nothing short of terrifying, and could definitely stand firm against an Unbounded expert for a short time before being wiped out.

Silence reigned.

The leaders of all the factions were looking on with wide eyes, confused at how Yang Qi and his people had acquired such an immense force of troops.

“My apologies, Houselord,” Jadefall said. “You see, I recently came across the treasure trove of an ancient Paramount God, who left behind an army of ten million peak Greater God holy beasts. Even if the House of God Ordainment were ten times as large as it currently is, I doubt it could produce a force like that. So what do you think? Do we have enough soldiers? Is the Sage Monarch Society strong enough to dominate the other factions? Don’t tell me you’re displeased with this. You should be rejoicing! With the Sage Monarch Society as strong as this, the sect is more powerful than ever.”

The houselord looked around at the shocked onlookers, then pulled himself together. He was the first one. “Well, well, well. Very impressive. I really did underestimate the Sage Monarch Society. Who could’ve guessed that you’d have so many thralls? And it's all thanks to some ancient treasure trove. Impressive. Unfortunately, seizing power isn't going to be that easy! You think you can make a big scene because you have an army like that? You’re right, all of those soldiers working together could cause problems for our top experts. Sadly, you’ve forgotten something. The House of God Ordainment has a secret reserve power!”

“Secret reserve power?” Jadefall nodded. “Yes, I’m interested to see what that’s like. Incidentally, Houselord, you’re wrong. I'm not interested in seizing power. I just want to help our sect.”

“Help?” the junior houselord spat, his voice filled with hatred. “You want to help us the way wolves help a flock of sheep! You’re trying to force the houselord to abdicate, but sadly for you, you jumped the gun. If you’d waited until the tricentennial election, maybe you could’ve pulled this off. But you just couldn't wait, could you? Father, you don’t need to waste words on these people. Just summon the secret reserve power. Wipe out their armies and take them all captive. Enslave them and seize their resources, and the House of God Ordainment really will reach a higher level.”

“You really are evil-minded, aren’t you, Junior Houselord?” Yang Qi said. “I can’t believe you want to mount an insurrection. Do you really want the House of God Ordainment to be damned by myriad tribulations? Regardless of who comes out on top, us or your reserve power, the sect will be severely damaged in the process.”

“What’s wrong, are you scared?” the junior houselord said. “Ten years ago, you weren’t here, and the House of God Ordainment was doing just fine. After we get rid of you, we’ll be doing just as fine.”

“I never wanted to use the secret reserve power, Jadefall,” the houselord said coolly. “Sadly, you’re so arrogant you tried to force me to abdicate. In the end, I have no choice. Now you’ll see why the House of God Ordainment has stood strong for so long without an Unbounded expert or a Paramount God. War God Commander’s Tally!”

WHIZZZ!

An aura of battle rose up that surpassed anything from before, filling the god kingdom. This time, it didn’t damage anything, but rather repaired the damage from earlier. At the same time, the god kingdom seemed to be rising to a higher level and transforming significantly.

In the depths of the god kingdom, a bright light erupted like the rising sun, shooting out like a dragon to create a complex image.

It was a paper talisman, or more specifically, a commander’s tally from ancient times, something left behind by a mighty war god.

In the depths of the commander’s tally, Yang Qi could see troops lined up in formation, all of them thralls.

This was the secret reserve power of the House of God Ordainment, the War God Commander’s Tally, filled with an army of tens of thousands of ancient thrall soldiers, all of them trained to fight in formation. They were all war gods, and they were in the peak Perfect God level, clad in armor and bursting with a baleful energy of pure battle.

Their aura surpassed the ten million Greater Gods by many times over, and was majestic beyond words.

“This is the War God Commander’s Tally, which was originally used by the great general of the Sovereign Lord, the Paramount God called Army Slaughterer. This commander’s tally contains forty-eight thousand war gods, all of them elite experts in killing and slaughter, and each one as strong as a peak Perfect God. In the face of these war gods, those ten million holy beasts of yours will be defeated in a single move. After all, the war gods have the combined will convergence of a half Unbounded expert, which means that they can crush even Paramount Gods. You want to force me to abdicate? I'll use our secret reserve power against you!”

‘I can’t believe he has so many peak Perfect Gods at his command!’ Yang Qi thought, shivering inwardly as he realized the level of might that was on display.

The House of God Ordainment only had a bit more than a hundred Perfect Gods, most of them in the early and mid level, making them a far cry from late or peak Perfect Gods.

Only the houselord, junior houselord and a handful of others were peak Perfect Gods. Of course, none were even close to the Unbounded level in terms of will convergence.

In other words, these forty-eight thousand peak Perfect God thrall soldiers were the equivalent of hundreds of the top members of the House of God Ordainment put together.

The War God Commander’s Tally was a treasure similar to the Battle Armlets, containing an entire immense army kept in a state of stasis. It didn’t matter how much time passed on the outside, the forces inside the commander’s tally would remain in the same state, and would come out as peak Perfect Gods, ready to fight.

Not even the Nacrelight Sageland or Eternal-Life God-Dynasty had forty-eight thousand peak Perfect God experts to send into battle.

Summer Vastcold and Summer Soundfyre were both leaders of domineering factions in their sect. It was simply impossible for their sect to contain countless similar individuals.

“Perfect caliber godstone!” the houselord said, and in shocking fashion, he produced exactly that type of godstone to activate the War God Commander’s Tally, causing dazzling light to spring up from it.

A war god kingdom immediately sprang up around him, causing him to laugh heartily. “Your thrall army is like a collection of dolls compared to ours! Now I’ll show you what a real army is supposed to look like. You fool. Prepare to be crushed!”

RUMBLE!

The houselord made a grabbing motion in Jadefall’s direction, and the forty-eight thousand peak Perfect Gods’ energy surged. The clink of armor could be heard as they shifted formation, becoming a huge hand with the character “army” imprinted on the palm.

“You villains from the Sage Monarch Society are going to see what a real army is capable of! You might have some early Paramount Gods, but I’m going to slaughter you nonetheless!”

The crushing power of this force, filled with the fate of a nation, was what an army was truly meant to be.

All of a sudden, everyone in the Sage Monarch Society felt death weighing over them. This reserve power was nothing to be taken lightly, and was something that, while it couldn’t destroy Paramount Gods, could crush anyone beneath that level.

“Kill them!” the elder kings and chief elders howled. “Crush the Sage Monarch Society out of existence!”

The enormous hand crushed down toward the Sage Monarch Society with seemingly unstoppable force. But then a stream of will appeared to stop it.

“Unbounded will convergence?!”

The houselord’s face fell as he watched the enormous hand being stopped in its tracks. He had no idea where this expression of will came from, but it was definitely an Unbounded expert, and as it slammed into the war god kingdom, the army was relentlessly shoved backward.

“Psyche of the Army: Augment Me!”

Blood sprayed out of the houselord’s mouth; his cultivation base actually wasn’t high enough to properly control the entire army.

As for Yang Qi, he was strong enough to vanquish an early Paramount God, which meant he was essentially as strong as that level.

Right now, his plan was to simply take the War God Commander’s Tally for himself. If he did, he would have taken the reserve power of the House of God Ordainment, meaning that the sect would be his!