Sage Monarch

The white-haired young man was incomparably vicious, and hadn't hesitated to simply execute Meng Guo, a Common God. After all, the young man was a Greater God, so he had every right and authority to kill someone like Meng Guo who had broken the law and 'resisted arrest'.

The matter was settled just like that. By shifting all blame to Meng Guo, then executing him, the white-haired young man ensured that the Dragon Society wasn't implicated. After all, without Meng Guo there to provide testimony and evidence, there was nothing linking his actions to the society in general.

The students present exchanged awkward glances.

"Elder Brother, you didn't really need to execute Meng Guo. He might be a murderer, but you're definitely going to be punished for this. He should've at least had a trial."

"All of you saw what happened when you tried to arrest him. He immediately started fighting back. And if he'd taken a hostage, things would've been even worse. Thankfully, I executed him before that could happen. I might be punished for it, but in the end, it won't be anything to worry about."

Not even Greater Gods could just kill people without facing any consequences. That said, the past couldn't be changed. Therefore, he would just accept whatever punishment he was dealt.

"Yes, of course," the disciples said, leaving with Meng Guo's corpse.

Looking down at the bloodstained ground, the white-haired youth smiled faintly. 'There's no way that elder was killed by Meng Guo,' he thought. 'He wasn't gutsy enough to do something like that. If my suspicions are correct, it was actually Yang Qi. Unfortunately, I doubt there's any evidence to be found. He obviously wanted Meng Guo blamed for the murder of that elder. With the evidence coming in, there was no way Meng Guo would ever have been able to explain his way out of the situation. And someone as useless as that is only fit for death! Not only did he screw up his mission, but he got himself wrapped up in tricky complications. If the council of chief elders investigated, and he blabbed about the Dragon Society trying to frame Yang Qi, things would get really bad. Better to make him a scapegoat. Ah, Yang Qi. You really know what you're doing. A mere Quasi-God like you ran circles around a Common God from our Dragon Society....

'I really have to meet you and see what you're like. You've offended the Dragon Society, and for that you'll die. Did you really think you could just mess with us and not pay the price? If so, you've made a big mistake. Perhaps if you'd just fallen in line and done what the Dragon Society wanted, you would've lived through this. But instead, you tried to be clever and frame us. For that, you'll die, and no one will possibly be able to save you.'

He was really in a killing mood.

The Dragon Society had suffered an unexpected failure in this venture.

**

Later that night....

Yang Qi was on a mountain attached to the Scripture Pavilion, using the God Legion Seal to work on breathing exercises and refine his energy. He was slowly working on his monarch godhood, and was closer than ever thanks to the fifty-five Double-Nines God-Dragon Starry-Sky Pellets.

Although his requirements grew the further along he was, he was still confident that, because of the God Legion Seal, he would ultimately succeed.

WHOOSH!

A few figures flew up to meet him, including Brahma, the Shepherd, and Doom.

"You really did something remarkable this time, Yang Qi," the Shepherd said. "Not only did you win a bunch of medicinal pills, but you also got the enemy to slaughter each other. We heard about the drama today. That was your doing, right?"

"That's right, it was me," Yang Qi replied. "However, it won't be possible to keep the truth from the upper echelons of the Dragon Society. It won't be long before danger comes my way. The Dragon Society won't just take this lying down."

"With your monarch godhood, you're completely domineering," Doom said admiringly. "Who would dare to cause problems for you? Although, according to what I heard, the person assigned to deal with you is the White-Haired Boxer King from the Dragon Society."

"The White-Haired Boxer King?" Yang Qi said, his eyes widening slightly. "Who's that?"

"A Greater God, who also happens to be a powerful person in the Law-Enforcement God-Palace," said Brahma. "Not only is he tasked with enforcing the law in the sect, but he's also one of the eight primary leaders in the Dragon Society. He's virtually invincible, and completely ruthless, having executed too many people to count. He's a natural-born martial arts genius, and when he fights, he's a horror to see. It would be hard to find another Greater God who could stand up to him."

Yang Qi smiled. "Oh? That just makes me want to try him out and see what his cultivation base is like. By the way, how are things going with the Sage Monarch Consortium?"

"Business is doing well," the Shepherd said. "We started putting those medicinal ingredients to market, and they're fetching astronomical prices. Unfortunately, it's impossible to do that without attracting at least some attention, and we don't have any truly powerful experts to keep us safe. Once you complete your monarch godhood, Yang Qi, you'll soon become an actual god. If we could have a Lesser or Common God as an official leader, it would make things a lot easier. Even better, a Greater God. If we had a Greater God, then no one would dare to cause any trouble for us."

"That's easier said than done," Yang Qi said. "Even after forming my monarch godhood, I'll only be a Lesser God. I'll have immense fighting prowess, but each rise in level requires immense godpower, and by extension, a big collection of medicinal pills."

"What exactly is monarch godhood like?" Doom asked. "I'm curious to learn more about it. And what will the God Legion Seal be capable of when you're a god? Right now, it's hardly at one ten-thousandth of its full potential."

"You'll find out when the time comes. Suffice it to say, when I become a god and unleash the true power of the God Legion Seal, I'll dominate everything under heaven. By the way, there's something else I need you to keep an eye out for. Mahātmā Jade. It's a boundless magical treasure that can improve psychic power that was broken into pieces many years ago. Once I complete it, it will complement the God Legion Seal. I'm currently in the early Paramount level, but if I could get another piece of the Mahātmā Jade, I could rise to the mid level. If I get two pieces, I'd reach the late level or even the peak. In fact, I might even be able to break into the Unbounded level."

"We'll try to get you some leads on the Mahātmā Jade," the Shepherd said. He knew more than anyone that even if they got pieces of the jade, they wouldn't be able to do anything with them. Yang Qi was now their destined owner.

Yang Qi wasn't particularly interested in magical treasures, the exceptions being the Mahātmā Jade, Great Necropolis, and Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Other than them, everything else was superfluous and could be discarded.

After discussing some daoist techniques and other matters, the group dispersed.

Returning to the Scripture Pavilion, Yang Qi found Bai Yin flipping through a book. Looking over, Bai Yin said, "Those important people outside just now... were they your brethren?"

"Yes, they were," Yang Qi replied. "Actually, I wanted you to catch a glimpse of them."

"Impressive. I couldn't even assess them. Your brethren are all gods! The lot of you will definitely accomplish some amazing things in the future."

"You flatter me," Yang Qi said. Reaching over, he pulled a book off one of the nearby shelves, a jade-bound tome describing research into pill concocting. It was entitled The Calcifying Methods of the Exalted Celestial's Dao of Alchemy.

By now, Yang Qi had read through more than half of the books on the second floor, yet he was still interested in continuing his reading.

After reading through the book, he picked another, this one a scroll made from human skin that was taken from a bookshelf filled with content from the dao of devils. It was a record of ancient devil items, as well as techniques of devil alchemy, including ways of devilizing humans.

Yang Qi read it, and suddenly had new inspiration. Without hesitation, he sent godpower pouring into this godhood in a novel form of cultivation from the book.

Next, he found a devil record bound in bronze, with the title Book of Mahātmā: Volume Three Thousand Nine Hundred and Sixty.

"Book of Mahātmā?" Yang Qi murmured.

"Yeah," Bai Yin said, "It's like an encyclopedia of the dao of devils, similar to the Great Classic of God Ordainment. There are a total of five hundred and forty thousand volumes, describing just about everything you can imagine from hell. I'd say it would be pretty difficult to acquire a complete collection. Our sect has destroyed a lot of devil churches, but despite that, we only have a few thousand volumes. Sadly, there aren't any interesting techniques in the volumes we have. That's why they're relegated here to the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion. See that bookshelf over there with all the bronze books? They're all part of the collection." He pointed at a bookshelf some distance away.

Heading over, Yang Qi started searching through it until he found the first volume, the opening chapters of which discussed how the True Devil had created hell to begin with. Subsequent content went into history and warfare, written in the form of an epic saga.

Yang Qi began skimming through it, until he happened to notice a reference to the Mahātmā Jade.

"The Mahātmā Jade was created by the boundless will of the True Devil," he murmured as he read. "It combines heavenly transformations, earthly death, quintessence vitality, godly punishment, sage tribulation... and all sorts of other almighty concepts. It is neither corporeal nor psychic, neither of the void, nor of thought.... It represents the quintessence of the dao of devils, and surpasses actual devils. It can contend with the God Legion Seal and can only be controlled by truly great sages and mahātmās. Any others who try to use it will die...." After some further details regarding the exact process by which the Mahātmā Jade was created, the text continued, "The god world was thrown into chaos, and the seventy-two monarchs joined forces with the True Devil and the Demon Master to fight the Sovereign Lord and the Heavenly Court. During that time, the Mahātmā Jade and the God Legion Seal were both shattered, and subsequently scattered into the god world. Only someone with immense destiny can collect either of them and make them whole again. The complete Mahātmā Jade represents the passage of countless tribulations, after which comes rebirth, and then an entirely new level. Thus are the tribulations of this magical treasure.

"What a pity," Yang Qi said. "The Book of Mahātmā doesn't say exactly where the different pieces of the Mahātmā Jade ended up."

"What, you're interested in the Mahātmā Jade?" Bai Yin said, walking over. "That's a precious treasure from the dao of devils, and is considered very inauspicious. I've heard that someone in the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty has a piece, but even after immense research, nothing ever came of it. Anyone who has contact with it is cursed and ends up dying. That said, it's still considered an invincible treasure. Like it says in that book, it's on the same level as the God Legion Seal. If I had to pick between the two, I would definitely go with the God Legion Seal. That thing would be worth dying for."

"You know about the God Legion Seal?" Yang Qi asked.

"Of course I do! Who in the god world doesn't know about it? It's the identifying mark of the ruler of everything. Supposedly, whoever has it will become the next lord of the god world. Of course, nobodies like us could never hope to have a treasure like that."