Sage Monarch

"We have some influence, but nothing along the lines of the Dragon Society. If they're at the top of the House of God Ordainment, we can only be considered to be in the middle. After all, we've only been here for a year, while the Dragon Society has been around for millions upon millions of years.

Doom and the others were all shaking their heads.

They were far beyond any ordinary person, and had accomplished amazing and extraordinary things. But they had only just started walking this path. They lacked reserve power, and even though they were advancing by leaps and bounds, they still couldn't acquire the full trust of the sect so easily. Perhaps if they stuck around for a thousand, or even tens of thousands of years, they could establish a solid foundation and earn merit in the sect.

But after having only been around for a year? It was just impossible to have much power after such a short time.

"We have a long way to go before we can deal with the Dragon Society," Proud World said. "For now, the only thing we can do is try to avoid getting crushed. Complaining about it won't do any good. Back in the impure lands, we were apex entities. But here in the god world, we have to be very careful. We might have a bit of power and influence, but there's plenty of people above us who could crush us. Now just isn't the time to stick our necks out."

"The god world is where things really happen," Yang Qi said. "Before, we were like hegemons in a country village. If the Dragon Society as a whole is plotting against me, it's not something I can just stand by and let happen. Maybe I am a weakling in the god world, but I'm still a bearer of the God Legion Seal. How could I possibly let myself be picked on by some random faction?"

"What do you intend to do?" Brahma asked. "Their leader, Dragon Floret, is at about the same level I was at my peak, and won't be easy to deal with. Of course, we've been by your side since the impure lands, so we'll do anything we can to help. What if we just leave the House of God Ordainment?"

"Yeah," said the Shepherd. "Let's just leave. We never planned on staying here permanently anyway. Considering what we're capable of, we could just go to some other continent and continue growing there. I've learned of some devil churches that are roughly on the same level as the House of God Ordainment. In fact, if we killed some people from the House of God Ordainment to serve as blood tributes, they'd probably welcome us."

"We'll only do that as a last resort," Yang Qi said, waving his hand. "If we openly betray the sect like that, we'll be hunted down wherever we go. You already have good positions in the House of God Ordainment, so let's not give that up just yet. The longer you stay here, the better your prospects for cultivation. As for me, it doesn't really matter if I'm in a sect or not. Besides, if the House of God Ordainment really does treat me badly, you could stay behind as informants and moles. Then we could work together to destroy the entire organization!"

"That would work," growled Meng Shafan. "Maybe I should change my name from Meng Shafan to Meng Shashen!"

Doom, Proud World, and the Shepherd had once been Yang Qi's enemies, but had long since turned into friends. Having risen to the god world together, they knew how impressive Yang Qi was. And there was nothing any sect in the god world could do to wipe out the feelings that had developed in their hearts since their time in the impure lands.

They all knew that sticking together was their best chance to accomplish big things.

"Have a seat, everyone," Yang Qi said. Setting up a defensive aegis, he continued, "How about I inspect all of your godhood? I learned a lot after I acquired Paramount will, and I've gained more enlightenment of the fundamental nature of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic. I should be able to help you solidify your godhood and push your psyches to higher levels. The stronger you are, the more you can help me, and the better we can deal with the Dragon Society."

They felt their psyches trembling as Yang Qi's Paramount will entered their seas of consciousness. Immense godpower swept over their godhood and they felt true flame burning at their souls, cleansing their impurities. Meanwhile, the Flame of Hope burned in their seas of energy, causing their godpower to become sturdier and tougher than ever.

When the process was over, they rose to their feet and exchanged shocked glances. "Your cultivation base is beyond any of our Masters'," Doom said. "I don't think even a Greater God could do anything to you. If you complete your monarch godhood, exactly what level will you be at?"

"Good question," Yang Qi replied with glittering eyes. "In addition to assessing your cultivation, I called this meeting for another reason. I established a small business here, called the Sage Monarch Consortium, which I would like all of you to support. I recently went on a mission to the Pill-King's temple ruins and acquired some medicinal ingredients that are all extremely rare and precious. Have a look and take anything that you need. Whatever is left over, I'll deliver to the Sage Monarch Consortium to be put up for sale."

The group left the god kingdom and traveled to a desolate mountain area. There, Yang Qi tapped his bottle gourd and produced a whole host of uncharacteristically rare medicinal ingredients.

"Dear lord!" Brahma said. "These ingredients will all fetch astronomical prices! In fact, if they all went to auction at the same time, people would go crazy! Yang Qi, these things might actually cause problems for your Sage Monarch Consortium!"

"That's why we won't sell them all at once," Yang Qi replied. "Take a look and find any that'll help you. It seems most of you have good positions, but are strapped for cash. Also, I want you to work with the Sage Monarch Consortium to identify and groom the top geniuses. Here are seventeen sword pellets you can use to reward loyalists. Incidentally, I have a loyal follower who's reached godly ascension, named Zhang Jufang, as well as some demon-gods who can be converted into puppets at any time. I want to grow the Sage Monarch Consortium as quickly as possible and make sure we have the funds necessary to get Paramount God god pills. With one or two pills like that, I should be able to achieve full success with my monarch godhood."

"We understand. We've been wanting to start a business, but it seems you've beaten us to the punch. Of course we'll help out. With us working behind the scenes, we'll make sure no morons try causing problems for the Sage Monarch Consortium." With that, they began selecting specific medicinal ingredients that could help them.

Afterward, the remains were sent to the Sage Monarch Consortium.

By now, the Sage Monarch Consortium's headquarters was located in a thriving city near the House of God Ordainment's headquarters, a place called Goldtreasure. It was a hodgepodge of good and bad people, with gods, devils, demons, and monsters to be found everywhere. However, the House of God Ordainment strictly enforced the rules, ensuring that things operated in orderly fashion.

The business had been operating very smoothly. Thanks to the godstones and godnotes Yang Qi had supplied, they were able to purchase a large building that functioned well for doing business. So far, their trade with the Demonfolk focused on medicinal ingredients and fur clothing. It was profitable, but not wildly so.

Now that Yang Qi was providing medicinal ingredients from the Pill-King's temple ruins, the Sage Monarch Consortium could truly start doing good business. They were slowly building power and influence that they could tap into at any time.

Of course, Yang Qi didn't handle the day-to-day affairs. Instead, he helped Zhang Jufang get even stronger, giving him a sword pellet that would make him very dangerous in a fight.

Yang Qi spent his time in seclusion on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, working on his cultivation and seeking enlightenment of monarch godhood. Thanks to having Paramount will convergence, he could use the God Legion Seal to draw in even more godpower from the void.

At the current rate, he was fairly certain it would only take twenty or thirty more years to finish the monarch godhood.

As it turned out, the elder from the Missions Sanctuary brought some books over a few days later. Yang Qi knew exactly what was going on, so he let Bai Yin handle the situation. Of course, that completely flummoxed the conspiracy, considering that the elder had come hoping to cause problems for Yang Qi, not Bai Yin.

With their first plan having failed, they resorted to their second plan: provoking a fight between the Yue Clan and Yang Qi.

In response, Yang Qi simply refused to make an appearance. No matter how Yue Tianlin challenged him, he didn't respond. In the end, Yue Tianlin was like a dog trying to bite the hedgehog.

Over the course of the following months, they tried more ways to get to Yang Qi, but he didn't respond to any of them. After all, both Yue Tianlin and the elder from the Missions Sanctuary had devil embryos in them, making it easy for Yang Qi to keep an eye on them.

Yang Qi had even infected Meng Guo with a devil embryo.

Back in Demon Master Valley, it had been difficult to infect the ox god with a devil embryo. But after achieving Paramount will convergence and consuming the Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pill, he became much more powerful. As such, it was easy to implant devil embryos even into Common Gods.

Because of all that, dealing with plots and conspiracies was an easy thing.

During the month that the battle of wits played out, Yang Qi had never let them get the upper hand even once. Meanwhile, the Sage Monarch Consortium was slowly growing stronger and more powerful. By sending the medicinal ingredients to auction, they earned a lot of godnotes, and even managed to buy a few Paramount god pills. With them, it would be much easier to finish his monarch godhood.

With the help of his friends and family, the Sage Monarch Consortium was able to overcome whatever small obstacles came up. It was obvious that within only a few years, the consortium would be a huge force to reckon with.

"Milord," Zhang Jufang said, kneeling in front of Yang Qi, "We managed to buy three Psyche-Gathering Origin Pills. They're early Paramount god pills, and should be of some help to you."

Nodding, Yang Qi took them and consumed them.

1. His name 'Shafan' literally means 'kill mortals', whereas 'shashen' would mean 'kill gods'.