Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The Lord of the Chiliocosm, the nine patriarchs from the House of the Invincible, and all of the other top experts had originally anticipated negotiating matters for a matter of months. Maybe even a year. But now they saw that it wasn’t the time to bicker over trivialities.

Acting as quickly as possible, they signed the agreement.

All of the leaders and ministers then swore oaths.

It only took three days to handle all of the particulars. That alone went to show how anxious everyone was about the matter.

If Yang Qi had hidden the fact that he got the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade, and continued to operate in secret, they would have continued to argue and haggle. However, operating in secret wasn’t particularly effective.

So he chose war.

It was a foregone conclusion that it would happen eventually, so there was no need for delay.

RUMBLE!

Dramatic transformations were occurring everywhere, and the destiny of the god world was changing. Meanwhile, the citizens of the Invincible, Chiliocosm, and Central Dynasties all heard the news that they would be going to war with the Sage Monarch Empire.

In the shortest amount of time imaginable, the god world was set abuzz.

After all, it was an official announcement, not just scuttlebutt. The leaders of the three dynasties had sworn blood oaths and signed an agreement, outlining all of the details.

The very substructure of the god world was going to change.

“We three empires shall work together to conquer the Sage Monarch Empire. All members of the empire will be slaughtered, down to the chickens and dogs. Only those who surrender before the fighting begins will be spared. Those who refuse, and proceed to fight, will be killed, and will not be allowed to surrender.”

The declaration was chilling.

As word spread through the god world to all the innumerable planes of existence, the people who heard it shivered in fear.

The true intentions of the three dynasties had been made very clear.

Of course, considering all the channels of communication the Sage Monarch Empire had open, they got the news almost immediately. Yang Qi was making a similar announcement. “We’ll fight to the death. When the three dynasties come, we’ll wipe out their armies. The Sage Monarch Empire will unify the god world, becoming unparalleled under heaven and achieving a level of glory that only the Sovereign Lord has ever had.”

The people in the god world who heard his announcement couldn’t help but be impressed.

Not only was the Sage Monarch Empire going to fight back against the invasion, but they were also going to unify the god world and bring back the glory of the Sovereign Lord? It seemed crazy. What kind of statement was this? What kind of confidence backed it?

It was almost as if they weren’t worried at all about the other three dynasties.

Numerous factions and peoples were watching with keen interest. Of course, many people were moved. After all, Yang Qi was a Leading One, as were all of his sage monarch magistrates. Down to their genes, they were adept at leading people and convincing them with logical arguments.

As the god world buzzed with all the news, Yang Qi released another statement.

“I am Yang Qi, bearer of the God Legion Seal. The Halls of Heaven are mine, and the resources in the Sage Monarch Empire are from there. Those who join my Sage Monarch Empire and help crush the three other dynasties will receive treasures from the Sovereign Lord. Furthermore, those who join in crushing the other three empires can also join in looting their treasure storehouses!”

Immediately, a crazed frenzy broke out.

The God Legion Seal had once belonged to the Sovereign Lord, and whoever held it commanded the mandate of heaven!

Innumerable civilizations in the god world had information about the God Legion Seal, but most people thought it would never be seen. After all, it had fallen into the impure lands.

The shockwaves created by the announcement were unprecedented. Thankfully, Yang Qi wasn’t worried that he would be like an ordinary man who possessed great treasure and made himself a big target.

In the impure lands, a random farmer who found an emperor’s jade seal would be considered a criminal. But if a powerful noble acquired the same thing, he could take over the empire.

Numerous powerful entities knew that he had the God Legion Seal, yet none of them even dared to think of stealing it. After all, the three main dynasties had already set their eyes on the Sage Monarch Empire. Anyone who tried to singlehandedly take on forces like that would get killed, even if they had a psychic scale of a hundred billion.

No single person would dare to take on an empire.

It was similar to how the Central Dynasty had always been the only ones to print godnotes. Although many people were completely envious over the magical treasure they possessed to do that, no one had ever attempted to steal it. It was just too dangerous.

The Sage Monarch Empire’s dynasty was growing so rapidly that it finally outpaced that of the Central Dynasty.

In the Central God-Palace, Proud Heaven remained as cool as ever, as though he wasn’t under any pressure at all. Standing directly in front of him were Yang Voidprime and Hailan.

Although they weren’t consummate patriarchs, they were some of the most enigmatic people in the entire god world, and there was obviously more to them than met the eye. And now, they were all looking at each other with mysterious smiles on their faces.

“Proud Heaven, do you think we can win this war?” Hailan asked. “Even back in the impure lands, Yang Qi was clever and decisive. And virtually invincible. He’s worked hard to reach this point, found his empire and establish order, and even create a net of law. His tentacles are spreading out everywhere. Although our three dynasties combined are stronger than his, even ocean waves won’t crush a reef. Besides, he definitely has reserve powers he can call on.”

Proud Heaven looked back at her. “I’ve always wondered, Hailan. You had a divine will projection in the impure lands. Did you have some sort of relationship with Yang Qi there?”

“I only ever got scattered bits of information from my will projection, so not even I can be sure. However, I do know that, considering Yang Qi is an expression of fateless energy, he definitely caused strange things to happen. He’s different from you, Yang Voidprime, isn’t he?”

“It doesn’t matter who he is or what strange transformations he provoked. He’s worthless, and he's going to die, no matter what. I must get his fateless energy to become a complete Fateless One. He might seem strong now, but it’s a facade. Just wait until he’s past his zenith and on the decline, and he’ll die for sure.”

“Are you that confident you can kill him?” Proud Heaven asked with a smile. “The House of the Invincible and the House of the Chiliocosm have both left to prepare their troops. Once they’re ready, the Central Dynasty’s army will join them and go on the warpath. We’re going to destroy his empire, and there’s going to be a lot of bloodshed.”

“Yes, there will be blood,” Hailan said. “But remember, in addition to Yang Qi, we’ll also have to deal with the Lord of the Sword Dao, as well as his mob of followers. There’s also the Second and Third Devil Generals, the Dragonfolk, and the others like them. They’re trash who haven’t accomplished anything in the past hundreds of millions of years. But what I'm truly worried about is that there might be some powerful entity lurking out there, waiting to strike at the moment we attack. For instance, there’s the will of the King of Godmammoths. Furthermore, none of the seventy-two monarchs have shown up, either.”

“If one such person shows up, it won't be a problem,” Proud Heaven said. “And do you really think they’ll be teaming up to do anything? None of them understand the power of destiny, and none of them ever established empires, not even King Immortal-Slayer. They were famous, yes, but not worth worrying about now. With the destiny we command, even an enemy with a psychic scale of a hundred billion wouldn’t do anything other than die in front of us.”

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, everything started trembling.

“What’s going on here?” The three experts looked around in shock.

“This is bad!” said an expert from the Central Dynasty. “Exalted Proud Heaven, it’s really bad! The armies of the Invincible Dynasty and the Chiliocosm Dynasty were just preparing to leave for the rendezvous point. However, even as they did, the two marshals, Yang Primal-Chaos and Dugu Sheji, suddenly turned and left. They rebelled! They went to the Sage Monarch Empire, where they were received with open arms. This is going to be a huge blow to our destiny!”

“What did you just say?” Proud Heaven blurted, his face turning ashen.