Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had come in prepared, so how could he possibly fall for any sort of trap? The twenty-eight Dragonfolk old-timers thought they could pull a fast one on him, but instead, he turned the tables. Just when they thought they were about to seize victory, he exploded into action and caught them completely unprepared. These Dragonfolk simply had no way to assess what level of power he was truly capable of unleashing.

They were quick to react to the blast of the Tribulation Monarch Cannon and the unleashing of the Dragon Compendiums. But they were still thrown into chaos, and that was all the opportunity Yang Qi had needed.

One important aspect of the situation was that the old-timers weren’t working together. As soon as the situation turned dangerous, all of them immediately resorted to protecting their own heads.

That was how Yang Qi seized the upper hand.

In contrast, Yang Qi and his people, including the sage monarch magistrates, were all so in sync that they were essentially thinking the same thoughts. If they weren’t, there was no way Yang Qi would have succeeded like he just had.

In the blink of an eye, he had seized both Buddha Eastprime and Buddha Fiercemurder. And from there, it was a snowball effect.

Swish. Rustle.

Moving in a blur, he and his five expert allies targeted the next Dragonfolk old-timer. This one resembled a young man, and had a sinister bearing that revealed how twisted and distorted his heart was. He looked more monstrous than an actual monster.

His name was Buddha Detestation, and he commanded all the energies of hatred and detestation in heaven and earth, making him extremely dangerous. Although he hadn't spoken this entire time, his eyes were filled with malice and loathing, and it was clear that he had been concocting a plan to kill Yang Qi. Obviously, there was no way Yang Qi was going to risk letting this person get away.

RUMBLE!

Primal-chaos paleo-energy flowed out of Yang Qi’s mouth, and the energy of the Halls of Heaven swept about like tidewater. The Dragonfolk experts were all falling back from the big bang explosions and focusing on their own lives. Meanwhile, as the explosions continued rippling out, the Dragon Compendiums swirled together to form an even larger version of the book.

Dramatic transformations struck heaven and earth as Yang Qi closed in on Buddha Detestation. The evil dragon immediately prepared to fight back, thrusting out a claw in a martial discipline unique to the Dragonfolk.

Sadly for him, Yang Qi didn’t even let him complete the move. After all, Yang Qi had already built up immense momentum, not to mention the five top experts at his side.

“Dragon Compendium!” he growled, and the enormous book opened, unleashing a massive gravitational force that caused all of the Dragonfolk old-timers to feel as though their souls were about to be ripped out of their bodies. Buddha Detestation couldn’t fight the force, and was sucked inside the book, where Yang Qi quickly subjugated him.

It really was a snowball effect.

“Attack, everyone together!” In three short breaths’ worth of time, Yang Qi had subjugated Buddha Detestation, Buddha Eastprime, and Buddha Fiercemurder. Adding in the Second and Third Devil Generals, Yang Jian, and himself, he had seven top experts, all of whom could power the Dragon Compendium.

All seven of them had psychic scales of ten billion or more, and because of that, the Dragon Compendium unleashed tornados of such incredible power that the nearest three Dragonfolk experts were instantly sucked in.

One of them was female. She was the weakest of the group, having only just recently reached the level of ten billion.

“Save me, Paragon-King Sage Dragon. Save me!” she screamed.

“Join forces, otherwise we’ll all get sucked in!”

“Hurry and do it!” Of the group of three who were being most affected, one was an old man named Buddha Greenpeak, and the other was a middle-aged man with a confucian aura, a scholarly and refined man named Buddha Cunfucian-Immortal. The third, the woman who had just screamed out, was Buddha Lady.

They were all fighting hard in their various ways, but simply couldn’t stand up to Yang Qi and his allies.

“Heaven and Earth Explosion!” Yang Qi growled. “Sage Monarch Magistrate Power!”

RUMBLE!

Seven million sage monarch magistrates unleashed their power, empowering Yang Qi so much that he didn’t even need to do anything. The pages of the Dragon Compendium erupted with even more power, and the three experts were sucked inside, whereupon the book slammed shut.

Crunch. Crack!

The book opened, and the three experts emerged, glowing with halos from the God Legion Seal as they knelt before Yang Qi. They had all been subjugated.

All of these dramatic events had occurred in only five breaths’ worth of time.

Six Dragonfolk experts had been subjugated, and were now loyal servants of Yang Qi.

Buddha Eastprime. Buddha Fiercemurder. Buddha Detestation. Buddha Greenpeak. Buddha Lady. Buddha Cunfucimmortal.

Yang Qi’s power was surging beyond anything from before, and he had also experienced a big uptick in destiny.

“Stop!” Paragon-King Sage Dragon shouted angrily, using a Dragonfolk secret magic called the Sweeping Voice of the Dragon. “Everyone stop what you’re doing and pool your power. We have to join forces and forget our former enmities. Otherwise we’ll all end up enslaved!”

Paragon-King Sage Dragon was the most influential among the group, so as soon as he uttered the words, people began flocking to his side.

Of the original twenty-eight, Yang Qi had subjugated six, leaving twenty-two who were still free. And now they were standing united against Yang Qi.

For the moment, Yang Qi just stood there smiling coldly at Paragon-King Sage Dragon. “I came here with good intentions to negotiate with you, Paragon-King Sage Dragon. But you were plotting against me the whole time. What’s surprising is that you thought a trick like that would work. You made a grave mistake, and now I'm going to teach you a harsh lesson.”

One of the other Dragonfolk old-timers, seeing that they had the advantage of numbers, shouted, “You think you have the advantage, boy? There are twenty-two of us, which means we completely outnumber you. If you refuse to back down, both of us are going to be severely hurt in the fighting.”

In response, Yang Qi laughed loudly. “You just had twenty-eight on your side, and now you only have twenty-two. Meanwhile, I’ve gained six. If you couldn't deal with me when you were at full strength, what makes you think you can do so now that you're weaker and I'm stronger?”

In their hearts, the old-timers knew that Yang Qi was absolutely right. In the shortest of moments, he had enslaved six of their number and was now stronger than ever. Their confidence was crumbling as they realized that Yang Qi was an unbeatable monster.

“You just caught us off-guard, Yang Qi, that’s all,” Paragon-King Sage Dragon said. “Now that we’ve pooled our strength, we’re no weaker than you. It's true that we were plotting against you, but let’s set that aside. How about we split the Myriad Dragons Lair between us? Fifty-fifty. And we enter a nonaggression pact. You make your empire, we have ours. The other possibility is that you open the Myriad Dragons Lair and let us free. Allow us to move our empire away.”

Yang Qi snorted coldly. “You love wishful thinking, don’t you? I'm building something called the Sage Monarch Empire, and the Dragonfolk are part of it. You think you can just walk away from that? As you know, the three top groups on the outside are the Invincible Dynasty, the Central Dynasty, and the Chiliocosm Dynasty. Well, I’m making a fourth. And nobody is going to harm its foundation. So be good little dragons and acknowledge allegiance to me. If you don’t, I’ll use force.”

“He’s right,” the Third Devil General said. “Don’t you see the situation here, Paragon-King Sage Dragon? If you don’t surrender, the Sage Monarch Empire will just continue growing stronger and stronger, and we’ll harvest more power from the Halls of Heaven. Meanwhile, you’ll sit here just sitting and eating, depleting your mountain of wealth. Eventually, things will fall apart for you. Probably within a few hundred years. But if you join us, things will be different. My lord Yang Qi has the God Legion Seal, and his cultivation base is unfathomable. He can unite the Dragonfolk, creating a fourth power in the god world. It's a given that he’ll control the Halls of Heaven, and once he does, what will the other three dynasties count for?”

The Second Devil General chuckled darkly. “Actually, I’d prefer to eat a few of these dragon patriarchs. I've heard they’re delicious. I hope they continue to be stubborn, that way I can truly be vicious and merciless. Look, I’ll put it simply. Acknowledge allegiance. Or die!”

“You’re pushing things too far, you three!” one of the old-timers shouted angrily. Yet he didn’t move a muscle. They all knew that if Yang Qi unleashed another explosive attack, the resulting chaos would be extremely dangerous for them.