Sage Monarch

'They might be made via Paramount will convergence, but sadly, they're not very impressive. The medicinal efficacy is probably only ten percent of the Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pill.' As easy as blowing some dust off his shoulder, Yang Qi threw the three medicinal pills into his godhood and extruded the impurities, which became a black ball of filth.

How could pills with such impurities possibly measure up to the Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pill?

That said, the godpower in them would save Yang Qi three months of ordinary cultivation. Right now, every single day of cultivation brought immense benefit, so it was obvious how much it would help to jump ahead by three months. And as he furthered his cultivation, he became more and more aware of the vast power of monarch godhood.

Thanks to the God Legion Seal, he was able to constantly draw on the essence of the god world and turn it into quintessence vitality, something no one else could possibly do.

Most ordinary disciples would have to rely on medicinal pills to gain quintessence vitality, which they would then convert to godpower. It was similar to how people in the impure lands would eat food to be converted into nutrients, which would then become power within them. Being able to directly take power from one's surroundings would be marvelously helpful.

For that reason, most people could spend thousands of years working on their cultivation without forming monarch godhood. Who knew how many medicinal pills would be required to succeed that way?

"How is business doing lately?" Yang Qi asked after consuming the pills.

"Very well," Zhang Jufang replied. "We have branches opening up everywhere, and money flows in every day. Of course, we're following your instructions to not expand too quickly. From the perspective of any outsider, we're just doing good business. At the moment, we're earning about a hundred godnotes a day in net profit, and we usually auction a single medicinal ingredient every day. Furthermore, Milord, some of your sworn siblings have been helping us deal with certain plots and conspiracies. The downside is that they have to dip into some of the profits to do so."

"That's fine. What's mine is theirs. Besides, they need to get more influence in the sect, which requires a lot of godnotes. And they need medicinal pills to improve their cultivation bases. By the way, be careful. The Dragon Society might very well cause problems for the consortium."

"Yes sir!" Zhang Jufang said. He was a god now, and was working on a way to become an official disciple, and after that, an elite disciple. That would place him in a higher position in the sect than Yang Qi currently was in.

Power always made it easier to accomplish things.

For all intents and purposes, Yang Qi didn't have anything to do with the Sage Monarch Consortium; it was completely run by Zhang Jufang.

"Head back," Yang Qi said. "From now on, minimize contact with me as much as possible. If you have any issues, get in touch with Brahma or one of the others."

"Yes sir," Zhang Jufang said, leaving.

Yang Qi closed his eyes and began focusing on his breathing exercises, working on his monarch godhood and causing dramatic transformations within himself.

**

BAM!

In the mountainous countryside, Meng Guo slammed his fist into a boulder, shattering it. "What exactly is going on here?! It's been more than a month, and you still haven't succeeded? How many treasures have you wasted so far?"

"Er...." The elder from the Missions Sanctuary looked very miserable. "It's not as if I'm not trying! I've done everything I can think of. Yang Qi just can't be fooled. It's almost like he knows all our plans before we carry them out, and sidesteps them all. He never even shows up in our presence! How are we supposed to do anything to him like that?"

"Think of something. Anything!! I refuse to believe that our Dragon Society can't deal with a measly official disciple."

"Sir, you're definitely strong enough to just take him captive. But if we play by the rules, it's going to be hard to get at him."

"So when you take books over there, Bai Yin is always the one that meets you? Not Yang Qi? Does that mean Yang Qi is hiding from you?"

"That's right. It's as if Yang Qi knows we're coming. And when Yue Tianlin goes there to challenge him, he never shows his face. But after we're gone, he comes out. He's got to be hiding from us."

"Bribe Bai Yin! Bribe the grand elder from the Scripture Pavilion! I refuse to believe that he can use the Scripture Pavilion to hide from our Dragon Society!" Meng Guo chopped his hand out, causing the mountain peak to burst into flame and sending rubble popping and hissing about in all directions.

"Okay.... I never thought of that. You're as impressive as ever, Grand Elder. But if I'm going to bribe Bai Yin and the grand elder, I'm going to need something to bribe them with...."

"Don't worry about that," the grand elder said proudly. "You think the Dragon Society is poor or something? Go handle it right now. First talk to Bai Yin, then the grand elder. Understand? I'll wait here for you. See what they want, and we'll see what the Dragon Society can provide. Any price can be paid when it comes to ensuring our leader reaches the Unbounded level."

"Yes, yes of course...."

The elder from the Missions Sanctuary hurried away.

A few hours later, whooshing sounds could be heard as two figures arrived on the mountaintop. One was a stooped old bald man whose eyebrows drooped all the way down to his shoulders. He seemed elegant and refined, but at the same time was clearly incredibly powerful. He was a Common God!

The other person present was Bai Yin.

The elder from the Missions Sanctuary introduced all of them. "This is Meng Guo from the Dragon Society. And this is Grand Elder Hong Lie from the Administration Vault of the Scripture Pavilion."

"It's an honor to meet you at last," Hong Lie said. "Might I ask why you summoned us here in the middle of the night?"

Although everyone present was from the House of God Ordainment, the sect was enormous and not everyone knew each other. It was very much how, in the impure lands, government officials in a huge imperial dynasty might not know each other. And of course, the House of God Ordainment was much larger than any mortal dynasty.

Of course, the Dragon Society was famous among all the disciples, so there was no way the grand elder from the Scripture Pavilion would dare to speak disrespectfully.

"It's simple. Our Dragon Society wants to frame Yang Qi for a crime! Name your price, whatever it is."

Bai Yin shook his head. "Frame Yang Qi? The Dragon Society is powerful and influential, and Yang Qi is just a kid. Nothing more than an official disciple. Is he really worth expending that much effort to frame?"

"You don't need to worry about that," said Meng Guo. "It's part of our leader's plan. As you know, Yang Qi has a close relationship with Jadefall. But although Jadefall asked you to take care of him, it's not as if she compensated you, right? Besides, do you really think she can compare to the leader of the Dragon Society?"

"Er...." The old man from the Scripture Pavilion was clearly thinking the matter over.

Meanwhile, Bai Yin casually said, "I have a good relationship with Yang Qi, but it's not as though we're best friends. If the price is right, I'm in. How about ten Paramount god pills, the kind that are full of godpower? I recently gained some new enlightenment, and I've decided to just form my godhood now. I'm giving up on monarch godhood."

"What?" the elder from the Missions Sanctuary blurted. "You want Paramount god pills? Aren't you being a bit too greedy? You know, when the Dragon Society gives orders to people like us, we don't even ask for a reward. You should be scrambling at the chance to earn favor with the Dragon Society! It's for your own good!"

"Bah!" Bai Yin spat. "Unless I get paid, I won't do anything. Even if the emperor of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty begged me, I'd still say no."

"You!" the elder growled, and he had to restrain himself from starting a fight right then and there. After all, he and Bai Yin were on roughly the same level. And considering Bai Yin had been pursuing the path of monarch godhood, he obviously wasn't the kind of person who could be easily pushed around.

"Very well, let's hear what Grand Elder Hong Lie has to say," said Meng Guo, sparing nothing but a cold glance for Bai Yin.

"This would involve offending Jadefall," Hong Lie said. "And her Master is a Consummate God, not the kind of person to be trifled with. I need to think this through. Bai Yin, are you really willing to sell out Yang Qi for some medicinal pills? I thought you got along well with him."

"So what if I am?" Bai Yin replied. "I'll do anything for enough money."

"Don't worry, Bai Yin," said Meng Guo. "After you take care of the matter, you'll get your ten Paramount medicinal pills."

"After I take care of the matter?" Bai Yin said, his eyes wide. "Are you trying to get something for nothing? Since when does anything work like that? I'm taking a risk by offending Jadefall, and I'd better be compensated for it. Look, it's simple: pay up now, or forget it. I'm not interested in offending the Dragon Society, either, but don't think you can treat me like a tool. I don't have powerful backing, so if Jadefall comes asking what happened, I would be the one on the hook."

"You want it now?" The grand elder shook his head. "You really are greedy."

"In that case, I guess we'll go our separate ways from here." Bai Yin turned to leave.

"Hold on. How about I give you half now, and half after? However, before we can finalize the deal, I need to know what Grand Elder Hong Lie here is thinking. Although you might be able to help a bit in this effort, his stance is the most important."

After some thought, Hong Lie said, "Alright. We can look for a way to pull a fast one on Yang Qi, and get him in a deadly trap. After all, the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion is managed by the third floor. As for the fourth floor and higher, they're run by people so important they wouldn't care about low level circumstances like this. That said, the risk of offending Jadefall is going to cost you. We want the same kind of medicinal pills. Except a hundred! High quality! I need them to become a Greater God!"

1. Hong Lie: Hong is a common surname which also means, "flood, great, grand". Lie means "ardent, intense, fierce, stern, fiery, harsh".