Sage Monarch

The purrling had spotted Yang Qi's monarch godhood.

Yet again, he was convinced that the beast was simply too strong and invincible. Yang Qi was tens of thousands of times stronger than he had been in the impure lands, but he still didn't feel superior to the purrling.

As he and the purrling looked at each other, he suddenly felt that he could hear its voice, praising him for his monarch godhood.

The exchange made him feel as though his energy arts had advanced again, all because of the aura of the purrling. After all, the reason he had been able to combine the Unspoiled Body and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was because of the Purrfect God Art. Of course, enlightenment of the Great Necropolis God Art had something to do with it as well.

Those two remarkable abilities were the main reasons he had reached his current state.

"You're finally here, Yang Qi!" Jadefall said in delight. She rose to her feet and glided over to him. "Two years! It's been two years since I saw you last. You've reached godly ascension, I see. I also heard—"

She winked.

Obviously, she had been talking with Brahma and knew that Yang Qi had achieved Paramount will convergence as a Quasi-God. And that meant he had started forming monarch godhood. Although it looked like his godhood was weak and unimpressive, she knew the truth.

She understood more than almost anyone just how amazingly powerful and strong Yang Qi really was.

Jadefall had changed a lot in the past two years, and met some very important people. She knew more than many people exactly how terrifying monarch godhood was. For example, there were many top young ones from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty who sought to form it, yet none had ever succeeded.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was assessing Jadefall and could see that she was an early Common God. However, her godhood had undergone some special tempering, which meant she was definitely above average. She actually had one large piece of godhood surrounded by numerous smaller pieces.

'That comes from a unique technique, and is called child-mother godhood.' Yang Qi recognized it from some of the ancient records he had perused. Although it couldn't compare to monarch godhood, it was still something very difficult to cultivate, and required going through numerous transformations. There were actually eighty-one different trials to be passed before one could succeed with it, but the result was godhood that surpassed the ordinary kind by many times over.

There were many types of godhood, and while monarch godhood was considered the strongest, there were other impressive versions, including child-mother godhood, seven-apertures godhood, myriad-colors godhood, shapeless godhood, spirit-communion godhood, and more.

Normal cultivators would have ordinary godhood. But by cultivating special techniques, one could alter their constitution and form unique types of godhood.

It was similar to how, in the impure lands, there were people who cultivated the three thousand unique constitutions.

In that respect, people with monarch godhood were like Fateless Ones.

The other kinds of godhood were like the Eternal Ones, Fortuned Ones, Reincarnated Ones, Devouring Ones, Slashing Ones, Leading Ones, and so forth. And they were all superior to the ordinary type.

Neither Yang Zhan, Brahma, the Shepherd, or even Doom could form special types of godhood. It wasn't because they weren't unique and special, but because they lacked the proper resources. That said, you can still mend the pen after the sheep are lost. If they got the proper resources in the future, it was always possible for them to form a unique type of godhood.

Monarch godhood required one to take action in the Quasi-God level, but other types could be formed over time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is my good friend, Yang Qi," Jadefall announced. "And now, I'll introduce all of you to him. This is Princess Shan Luo from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty."

"Greetings," Yang Qi said. The woman being introduced to him was a Greater God who glanced at him as though she were vastly superior to him, obviously viewing him as little more than an animal.

She nodded, barely looking at him. After all, he was a mere Lesser God, so to a Greater God, he was like nothing. And she was a princess from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty. Even Greater Gods from the House of God Ordainment would treat her with respect, and wouldn't dare to do anything other than treat her as an equal.

Jadefall went around and introduced everyone to Yang Qi. They all nodded without much fanfare. Obviously, they were giving face to Jadefall, otherwise they would have just kicked Yang Qi out.

It was a real disappointment to have a measly Lesser God ruining the banquet like this.

Yang Qi didn't care. He wouldn't make a big fuss over a minor situation like this, nor would he do anything impolite.

After the introductions were over, the festivities continued and Yang Qi sat down near Jadefall. Delicacies and alcohol were served, the latter being god liquor, which was brewed with special medicinal ingredients from the god world. In fact, most types of god liquor were actually created in pill furnaces and were very aromatic.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere in the room was now different. It was a bit tense and awkward.

It was like a case in which a group of royalty were having dinner only to have a beggar come in and start stuffing his face.

The tense atmosphere continued for about an hour before someone finally couldn't take it anymore. It was a Greater God from the House of God Ordainment, a person on roughly the same level as the White-Haired Boxer King. He wore a black robe and was fiddling with a silver dagger as he looked at Yang Qi and said, "Jadefall, this friend of yours is an elite disciple, right? Where exactly does he currently work?"

"The second floor of the Scripture Pavilion," Yang Qi said. "Although, I've been thinking of looking for a position somewhere else."

"Oh? The second floor of the Scripture Pavilion isn't particularly impressive. And it's definitely not suitable for an elite disciple. I have some friends in the Law-Enforcement God-Palace I could talk to. Why not go work there? You could earn a lot of extra profit, if you know what I mean. What do you think?"

From the haughty tone of the man's voice, it seemed like he was offering to give charity.

He wasn't exaggerating about the 'extra profit'. Disciples in the Law-Enforcement God-Palace could make a lot of money, and could even randomly arrest people 'on accident', only to release them for money under the table. All disciples gave them face, because they knew that causing problems for them was a good way to get arrested.

The House of God Ordainment had strict rules, but there were always ways to game the system.

Most ordinary disciples just wanted to avoid trouble, so if they were arrested, they would rather pay a bit of money to get off the hook.

Of course, it wasn't easy to become a disciple in the Law-Enforcement God-Palace. Most applicants weren't necessarily very strong, and had to rely on powerful backers to make any headway. There were also faction struggles to deal with, as well as blackmail.

Yang Qi had considered trying to join the organization, but didn't feel like he had the proper backing. And considering this black-robed fellow was offering him help like charity, it was obvious he wouldn't accept.

"That won't be necessary," he said, making sure to keep his tone neither servile nor overbearing. "I heard there's a test you can take to join the Law-Enforcement God-Palace, if I want to, I'll just apply that way."

"Is that so?" said someone sitting next to the black-robed man. It was another important person from the House of God Ordainment. "You're very confident, boy. Do you know how many people take the test to join the Law-Enforcement God-Palace? And do you know how many people get crippled during the process? Some disciples even die! That test is so hard that it makes the Bloodgore Trials seem like nothing."

Another expert from the House of God Ordainment laughed and said, "Come now, Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger, you're a holy child of the Law-Enforcement God-Palace. You even serve as a proctor on the test. If this boy wants to take the exam to become a law enforcement disciple, why not just administer it right now? If he passes, he's qualified to join. If he fails, well, he'll just have to deal with the embarrassment."

All of the experts from the House of God Ordainment were Greater Gods, and would normally outrank Jadefall. It was only because she was now a princess of the House of God Ordainment that they were forced to try to get on her good side. But brownnosing aside, they were all disgusted by Yang Qi and wanted to see him put in his place.

"That should work," said the black-robed Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger, nodding. Looking back at Yang Qi, he said, "As it happens, I'm one of the proctors of that test. Why don't I assess your skills right here and now?"

Even as the words left his mouth, he sent a stream of silver energy flying out of his finger, which converged into the shape of several tiny silver daggers that then clumped together into what looked almost like a swallow that flew back and forth.

"What kind of a test is it?" Yang Qi asked casually.

"It's simple," Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger said. "This swallow is made from a stream of blade energy. It's a manifestation of the Thirty-Six Stances of the Sweeping Silver Swallow. If you can block it, you pass the test. I have the paperwork to sign you up right here. Alright?"

"Sure. Let's begin." Yang Qi didn't seem at all concerned about what was coming.

"The ignorant are often brave." That was what everyone was thinking. Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger was a holy child from the Law-Enforcement God-Palace, and everyone knew what people from the Law-Enforcement God-Palace were like. They specialized in killing and warfare. And Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger's weapons had surely killed innumerable devil-gods and experts. When people spoke of his skill with his daggers, they would often say, "When gods see him, they fret. When ghosts see him, they cry."

A single scrap of that blade energy would be enough to slaughter countless Common Gods, and likely even kill an early Greater God.