Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The twenty-eight potentates had created an alliance that made them a world of their own. They were rivals to Yang Qi, and to some extent, their attempt to stave him off had worked. Thanks to the pressure he had provided, they finally came to understand how to distribute resources, unite their people, and converge destiny. Although they still had competing interest groups, their nations weren’t filled with as much chaotic infighting as before.

Now that Yang Qi was attempting to exert full power in the Myriad Dragons Lair, he finally discovered this alliance of twenty-eight kingdoms that he couldn't penetrate with magical laws.

Of course, they weren’t truly united. They were a loose federation, each part of which had its own interests at heart. Most of their destiny was wasted, and they had no hope of actually escaping.

He would crush them eventually, although now wasn't the time.

Initially, Yang Qi’s kingdom definitely wasn’t as strong as the alliance of twenty-eight. But after the hundreds of years that had passed, things were different. Furthermore, Yang Qi could bring resources in from the outside, while the alliance of twenty-eight could do nothing. And as the saying went, just sitting and eating, one can deplete even a mountain of wealth. They couldn’t leave, and they couldn't attack Yang Qi, who was growing stronger all the time. Because of that, Yang Qi saw that their people were in a state of unease.

Eventually, they would submit, whether they wanted to or not. Not even impassioned resistance would do anything. However, Yang Qi didn't want to turn things into a life or death battle. He viewed those twenty-eight kingdoms as his own, and didn’t want them significantly damaged.

‘Those old-timers don’t want to give in. But at the same time, they’re scared of me. I wonder how long they’ll hold out.’ He smiled and examined their destiny, which revealed how unstable they were.

Although they had created a net of law, there were impurities within it that came from the anxiety of the people as they watched the situation play out. And it was obvious that those circumstances would only get worse.

Worst of all, they had absolutely no hope. It really was a bitter situation.

“Wait another hundred years,” Yang Qi said, “and we’ll see what mood they’re in. All the while, we’ll continue to build our forces and get stronger.

The days ticked by.

The years ticked by.

With every year that passed, the minor god worlds produced more preheaven treasures, which enabled everyone to grow stronger. Eventually, the destiny valuation of the Sage Monarch Empire reached a level of so many tens of millions it was closing in on a hundred million.

He had five million sage monarch magistrates who could all subjugate peak Paramount Gods, even people with psychic scales and godhood ratings of over a billion.

Normally speaking, a nation like this couldn’t form in thousands of years, let alone hundreds.

Jadefall and the others were growing stronger as well, thanks to all the blessings available. If national destiny could be used to make a Quasi-God into a peak Consummate God in the blink of an eye, what could hundreds of years of cultivation do for people like Jadefall?

The hearts of the people remained peaceful and calm.

Jadefall and all of Yang Qi’s other friends and family were now in bottlenecks, having reached the level of nine hundred million nine hundred and ninety thousand. Soon, they would reach one billion. And considering they were Ascendants, once they became peak Paramount Gods, they would be elites among the elites.

By the House of the Invincible’s reckoning, Yang Qi had so much destiny that even viceroys of a million lands would cower in front of him.

Another hundred years passed. There were now seven million sage monarch magistrates, and the burgeoning empire’s destiny had reached a plateau.

Normally speaking, a kingdom would eventually reach a point where its destiny had passed its zenith and was on the decline. The hearts of the people would decline, and the nation would never return to its former glory.

But with the sage monarch magistrates, Yang Qi could always stay at the peak.

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi looked up and saw that the net of law was complete, and the power of his kingdom had reached the highest point it could at the moment. Now was the time to make his move.

It was time to face the twenty-eight dragon kingdoms.

After gathering his friends and family, he first took another chance to closely observe the twenty-eight kingdoms. Their nets of law were even more impure than before, and there were even areas of direct conflict.

Obviously, people were struggling over resources inside.

Hundreds of years had passed for them, and resources were getting lean. And since they didn’t dare to invade Yang Qi’s lands, they had to fight amongst themselves. As a result, their destiny was on the decline, and infighting was abounding.

In the end, Yang Qi didn’t want to watch them crumble into nothing. Therefore, he decided to act.

“Third Devil General. Second Devil General. Yang Jian. You three come with me. We’re going to pay a visit to this alliance of twenty-eight dragon kingdoms. The time has come to negotiate.”

“Yes sir!”

Figuratively rolling up their sleeves and cracking their knuckles, they prepared for a day that had been long in the making.

They stopped at the border. Although Yang Qi could teleport into any location in the Myriad Dragons Lair, this place was blocked off.

“Come out, you twenty-eight potentates,” he said in a booming voice that he bolstered with the power of the Dragon Compendium. “I'm here to chat. I have the Myriad Dragons Lair completely controlled and closed off, and you're just sitting there running out of resources. That's not a very good plan. There is virtue in sparing life, and I don’t want to see you destroying each other. Therefore, I’ll give you a chance to get out of this situation. As you can see, my kingdom is well established, and my destiny has reached a peak. I'm ready to open up the Myriad Dragons Lair and turn it into a full minor god world. If you don’t acknowledge allegiance to me, I’ll have to use force.”

After his voice echoed out, it was obvious that the people in these kingdoms had been deeply shaken, as the destiny immediately grew more turbid.

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, an enormous world appeared in the air, which was a gigantic meeting hall. The twenty-eight potentates were there, emanating the power that came from a godhood rating of ten billion. They were seated on thrones as they stared at Yang Qi, the Second Devil General, Third Devil General, and Yang Jian. One of them, an old-timer in a long white robe, said, “As they say, each generation will produce talented individuals and also heroes come from among the young. Who could have guessed that we would end up as the old-timers, even as a new era had come for the youngsters? Your name is Yang Qi, am I right, child? Please, come in and talk things over.”

“This could be a trap,” the Third Devil General said. “That right there is Paragon-King Sage Dragon, who was born directly out of the Dragon Compendium. He's even older than me, and he's definitely the backbone of this alliance.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yang Qi replied. “Let’s go in. Crafty plots and machinations aren’t going to do anything to me.”

They flew into the meeting hall, whereupon four thrones rose up for them. Immediately, Yang Qi could sense the difference in this place, as he couldn’t use the powers of the Dragon Compendium.

Without any pretense of courtesy, Yang Qi plopped down in one of the thrones and looked around. All the old-timers present were at the level of ten billion, and some were even higher than that. In fact, the white-robed Paragon-King Sage Dragon was beyond twenty billion, which made him stronger than the Third Devil General.

In fact, he was so high that Yang Qi couldn’t completely assess him. But it didn’t matter. If he wanted to be the rightful ruler, he had to get everyone to acknowledge allegiance to him.

There was no other option.

As soon as he sat down, the doors slammed shut, and the magical laws locked down the entire world. Yang Qi and his subordinates were now trapped like turtles in a jar.

One of the Dragonfolk old-timers, a man clad in a suit of armor, grinned viciously, slapped the table, and said, “You’re really arrogant, aren’t you? This is our meeting hall, got it? It's called the Myriad Dragons Holy Hall, and it’s a magical treasure that we jointly created. You fell for our trap! You thought our destiny was in decline, and that we were just letting our resources waste away. The truth is that it was all to get your guard down. And we're not here to negotiate. We're here to end you forever!”