Sage Monarch

Seeing that so many people were watching the events played out, Yang Qi said, "That's some pretty shoddy blade energy, Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger. In fact, it won't even be able to hurt me."

His words caused an immediate stir. The visiting nobility from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty and the top experts from the House of God Ordainment were all visibly stunned. Now more than ever, they despised and hated Yang Qi, and thought him to be a cocky and arrogant punk who deserved to be violently put in his place.

"Shoddy?" Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger said, his eyes widening with rage. For someone to call his blade energy shoddy was an outright insult and humiliation. "I'll show you some shoddy blade energy!"

Rotating his finger, he caused the silver swallow of blade energy to beat its wings and whoosh right over to Yang Qi, giving him no chance to dodge or jump out of the way.

"Purr. Purr...."

A bubble expanded out of Yang Qi, and when the streams of blade energy hit it, their momentum vanished as surely as the statue of an ox tossed into the sea. Then the blade energy remained stuck in the bubble like a fly in amber.

Purr!

The bubble rotated, shrinking down until it was the size of a hand. And right in the middle of it was a conglomeration of blade energy that looked like a swallow, sitting there completely unmoving.

Yang Qi shook his head. "As I said, very shoddy blade energy."

"What?!" Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger blurted, leaping to his feet and glaring at Yang Qi. "That wasn't your power. That was the power of the purrling!"

The people from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty were first shocked, but then they looked over at Jadefall and came to the conclusion that it really wasn't Yang Qi defending himself, but rather the purrling. After all, only the purrling could have negated Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger's blade energy so easily. Otherwise, there was no way a measly Lesser God could have done anything other than be slaughtered.

"Jadefall," said one of the people from the House of God Ordainment, "Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger was just administering a test. It's not appropriate for you to secretly help out. It's a good thing this is just an informal banquet. If we had been in the Law-Enforcement God-Palace, you would be in big trouble for breaking the rules."

"If the purrling had done anything, it would've been a lot more impressive," Jadefall said. "Yang Qi learned that ability from the purrling. Not even I've been able to do that. The truth is that Yang Qi was the one who helped the purrling hatch from its godspore, and got some of its quintessence in the process. What happened now was all him, and I had nothing to do with it. Besides, I can't order the purrling around. It's my friend, not my pet."

Purr, purr....

Even as the words left Jadefall's mouth, the purrling looked over at Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger and let out two purrs, as if to say, "You think I would waste any effort on a loser like you?"

The derision in its eyes couldn't have been clearer.

Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger was furious, but didn't dare to make a move on the purrling. He knew that if the purrling wanted to, it could kill him without any effort. After all, it was the reason why Jadefall had such a powerful position now.

"I never would've guessed that a puny elite disciple would be able to do something like that," Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger said, glaring at Yang Qi. "Apparently I was mistaken. However, if you think you can use tricks like that to join the Law-Enforcement God-Palace, you're mistaken. Next month, we'll be holding the yearly test to enter the Law-Enforcement God-Palace. If you have what it takes, then you should participate. And now, Jadefall, I'll take my leave."

Swish!

He turned into a stream of silver light that shot into the air and vanished.

"Apparently, Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger is quite a sore loser," one of the princesses from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty said. Looking at Yang Qi with an intrigued expression, she said, "Your name is Yang Qi, right? Your energy arts aren't bad. Please, allow me to offer a toast."

She waved her finger, and a cup of alcohol lifted off the table and floated through the air toward Yang Qi. It seemed like a very casual move, but Yang Qi could see that the cup was no ordinary object. It was like an ancient mountain of immense size and weight, and it nearly overwhelmed his senses with the pressure it emanated.

This was the result of a secret magic of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty, something called God-King Mountain-Range Suppression.

However, all Yang Qi did was send out a pulse of psychic power, and the immense pressure vanished. Then he flicked his finger, sending out a bubble that caught the vessel and pulled it over to his hand. Taking it, he drained it in one gulp, then nodded. "That's some nice liquor. Many thanks to you, Princess. I'm eternally grateful."

With the wave of his hand, he sent the cup flying back to the table, encased in a bubble. When it settled down in front of the princess, it actually sank down into the table, causing her expression to flicker. Then, she smiled radiantly. "Well done! You're very impressive for a Lesser God. Considering how strong you are, I'd say you're on the same level as the geniuses we produce in the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty. Jadefall, this friend of yours is amazing. No wonder you want to keep him safe. This was a wonderful banquet. For now, we'll leave. When you have a chance, why not bring this young friend of yours over to the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty for us to entertain him?"

"Absolutely," Jadefall said, her eyebrows raised with delight. "Allow me to see you out."

The banquet was over, and before long, things quieted down. Although many of the guests had already come to view Yang Qi in a new light, there were others that were still convinced he was only impressive because he could use the power of the purrling.

Of course, that was intentional on Yang Qi's part. He didn't want to do anything that would attract too much attention. If he had wanted to, he could have crushed Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger into a bloody paste with a single move. But killing him like that wouldn't have been of any benefit at all.

Instead, he would wait until he could further refine his monarch godhood, and also acquire another piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

Jadefall's mansion was now peaceful and quiet. Looking very excited, she led him into a private chamber where they sat down to converse.

"Did you really form monarch godhood, Yang Qi?" she asked.

"I did. No joke." He smiled faintly. "You can tell it's true from how the purrling reacted to me."

Having heard his confirmation, Jadefall sucked in a breath of surprise. "You're really amazing. We absolutely, positively must not let word of this get out. It would bring absolute disaster. At a certain point, a genius cultivator will become so valuable that he becomes a treasure that people want to take for their own."

"Trust me, I know," Yang Qi replied. "It's similar to the purrling. The purrling has attracted a lot of attention, even from the higher-ups in the House of God Ordainment."

"You're right. There's one particular old-timer, a Consummate God, who wants to take the purrling away from me to study it. When I refused, he got very angry. But I had no choice other than to offend him. In fact, he's Exalted Celestial Silver-Dagger's master. His name is Exalted Autarch Martial-Apex. He's extremely powerful, just on the verge of reaching Unbounded will convergence."

"Exalted Autarch Martial-Apex? A Consummate God?" Yang Qi nodded. "I could beat an early Consummate God in a fight, but it would be a lot more difficult fighting one in the mid level. And if I faced one in the late or peak level, I would have no other option but to flee. If I ran into a Perfect God, I would definitely end up dead. In any case, don't worry. I think the purrling would be able to handle a Perfect God. And although it looks on the surface like the purrling hasn't grown in the past two years in the god world, I think it has."

Purr. Purr....

The purrling's reaction to Yang Qi's assessment seemed to be, "You do understand me, boy."

"Jadefall, it seems to me that you're not strong enough. Although, it's not as if improving one's cultivation base is something that can happen overnight. Thankfully, I happened to explore a very dangerous location recently, and I got some good treasures. If I can refine them, they'll make great secret weapons for you and the rest of my people."

"What exactly is it?" Jadefall asked.

"I have some hypertoxic crystalline skulls, infused with undying psyches and toxic spatial nodes." He pulled out a necklace of beads, each of which looked like a black, thumb-sized skull. There were thirteen in total, and they looked completely terrifying.

"Each skull is equivalent to an early Consummate God, and is infused with deadly toxins. It was very difficult to seal them like this. Next up, I want to use a grafting magic to try to convert them into hypertoxic puppets. Everyone who has one will essentially have a Consummate God as a bodyguard. You watch me work, and pay close attention to the godpower fluctuations. It'll be very beneficial to you."

"Alright," Jadefall said, watching him closely.

Yang Qi plucked at the necklace as if it were a stringed instrument, causing tiny sound waves to roll out and enter the skulls. They contained spatial profundities that Jadefall, despite being a Common God, had difficulty understanding.

Obviously, Paramount will was required to do something like this, but Jadefall was still in the peak Terrifying level.

Those sound waves were from multiple sources: the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse, the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body, and the Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

The spirit controls the psyche.

The psyche controls the soul.

The soul controls everything.

In the briefest of moments, Yang Qi's spirit fused with the undying psyches of the skulls, and in that moment, he could sense the brutal, vicious, and deadly emotions that existed within them.