Sage Monarch

"An emissary is here to see me? To bless me?" Yang Qi's heart was starting to pound. Whoever this emissary was, they would definitely be an important person. And if they planned to bless him with power, it was going to be something dramatic. Dream Daylily was a Consummate God, so if she treated this emissary as more important than her, they were definitely a Perfect God at the least.

"The emissary is one of the crown prince's valiant generals," Dream Daylily said. "God-King Ruthless. He's a Perfect God, so make sure to be extremely respectful, alright? You absolutely, positively must not do anything out of line. If you do, I won't have any way to help you out."

"Got it," Yang Qi said, and he meant it. There was no question that Perfect Gods were incredibly powerful, and he knew he wasn't in the position to defy one.

That said, not even a Perfect God would have any way to pick up on the truth about him. So as long as he was careful, he would be fine.

With that, Dream Daylily led Yang Qi into another room.

He immediately felt the atmosphere turn extremely tense. The air seemed to fill with a ruthless feeling, as though he were entering the presence of a despotic tyrant.

He saw a middle-aged man clad in a suit of armor, with an aquiline nose and glowing green eyes. He had long, bushy sideburns, and seemed like the picture of a mighty warrior, a ruthless person who had killed too many people to ever count. It was even possible to see souls drifting around his person, and he pulsed with the rancorous energy of his uncountable victims.

Yang Qi instantly realized that even if all of the Consummate Gods in the House of God Ordainment teamed up, they would be killed by this man. Of course, the House of God Ordainment had secret reserve powers that would likely enable them to fight someone like this.

"Greetings, God-King Ruthless," Dream Daylily said.

Yang Qi dropped to his knees to kowtow. "Your humble servant offers greetings, oh exalted God-King. Congratulations on your Unbounded will; I'm sure that you'll become a Paramount very soon!"

This person was so incredibly powerful that the slightest slip-up on his part would lead to a huge disaster. Normally speaking, he would never even have a chance to associate with someone like this; he was only able to now because of what had been happening with the Sage Monarch Society.

Of course, Yang Qi had hidden his true nature from the Lord of the True Void, so doing the same for God-King Ruthless wasn't anything too difficult.

"Well spoken, boy," God-King Ruthless said. Even as he just stood there, his armor clinked as though he was prepared to start fighting at any moment.

"Exalted God-King Ruthless, this is Jadefall's most trusted adviser, and he's also a member of the Crown Prince Society. He's done much for our society since joining, and has recruited a lot of new members. Thanks to him, we have quite a bit of influence in the House of God Ordainment now." Dream Daylily was talking Yang Qi up, in part to highlight her own accomplishments, considering she had recruited him.

"I'm well aware of everything he's done," God-King Ruthless said. "There's no need for you to embellish matters. You have a lot of important tasks at hand. For example, turning the Sage Monarch Society into a part of the Crown Prince Society, like a cicada sloughing its skin. What do you say?"

"That's what we've been planning to do," Dream Daylily replied. "That said, it's not going to be easy. As you can see, Yang Qi isn't exactly very strong...."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," God-King Ruthless said, a cold smile playing out on his face. "Come to me, I'll provide a blessing of power."

"Many thanks, oh exalted God-King." Looking like the picture of gratitude, Yang Qi stepped forward. Of course, inwardly, his killing intent was swirling. He had worked hard to build the Sage Monarch Society, and to think that they wanted him to make it part of the Crown Prince Society was infuriating. Furthermore, it ensured that they would eventually meet the same fate as Dragon Floret.

He would take that piece of the Mahātmā Jade and make sure the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty suffered a grievous blow in the process.

"Let's first see what potential you have," said God-King Ruthless.

He reached his hand out and sent some godpower deep into Yang Qi, which was actually quite a painful process.

'He's so incredibly strong. Thankfully, I learned a lot from King Immortal-Slayer. If I hadn't, I might not have gotten through this situation safely.' Yang Qi simply endured the pain, using the Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning to keep the God Legion Seal well-hidden. Furthermore, he also made his monarch godhood seem like the ordinary godhood of a Lesser God.

A moment later, God-King Ruthless nodded. "Not bad. You actually endured the intense pain of my Ruthless Soul Examination. Even Common Gods who experience that technique will often pass out, or even be reduced to a vegetative state. But you maintained clarity. You definitely deserve a blessing of power."

The pain vanished.

"Many thanks, exalted God-King!" Yang Qi said fawningly. "Your abilities are world-encompassing! You are a peerless hegemon of—"

"That's enough," said God-King Ruthless. "I'm not interested in empty platitudes, so cut it with the brown-nosing. I slaughtered my way to where I am now. I've commanded millions upon millions of troops in battle, and have sent so many heads rolling that nobody can count them. I only care about services performed on the battlefield, so if you want my support, you need to earn credit in battle!"

"Right. Credit in battle. I'll definitely make sure the Sage Monarch Society becomes part of the Crown Prince Society, and that the entire House of God Ordainment falls under the control of the crown prince. I'll go through hell and high water for the crown prince's sake!"

"Very good," God-King Ruthless said. "Although you've earned some merit points lately, they don't come close enough to pay for a meeting with me, much less a blessing of power. But the crown prince ordered this. He's paying close attention to the House of God Ordainment, and he wants to see results! He even gave me some treasures you can use to recruit more members. We especially want Jadefall. As for that junior houselord, he's refused the crown prince over and over again, so for that, he'll die."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qi thought, 'This is really a dog-eat-dog situation. That said, it's good for me. They're the sandpiper and the clam, whereas I'm the fisherman waiting to step in and catch both.'

"How exactly do you plan to bless me, oh exalted God-King?" Yang Qi asked. "I've been stuck in a cultivation bottleneck recently, and am having trouble breaking through. It seems to be mostly related to my will convergence."

"Don't concern yourself with that. That said, during the process of blessing, you need to be careful. I'll draw on a spell formation of battle and slaughter, which will be used to imbue you with godpower, remold your body, and strengthen your psychic power. Because of the rapid speed involved, there could be side-effects. You have to reach the Consummate God level to continue your cultivation, otherwise you could explode. The crown prince gave me a medicinal pill to use. It's a Nation-Fate God Pill, one of the most valuable pills in the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty, which contains the destiny of the entire dynasty. You're lucky to get something like this."

With that, he produced a medicinal pill.

It was the size of a fist, and red, making it reminiscent of the red dust of the mortal world. It seemed to contain blood, slaughter, benevolence, righteousness, enlightenment, law, tactics, trickery, and warfare. It was as if an entire nation had been combined into a single medicinal pill.

A Nation-Fate God Pill.

Yang Qi was inwardly shaken. He had never heard of any type of pill like this. Apparently, it took the destiny of a nation and put it in the form of a medicinal pill designed to boost the psyche and improve one's power. It was an Unbounded god pill, and would obviously be extremely valuable.

He knew that he couldn't assimilate that pill, but apparently, God-King Ruthless planned to use a spell formation to help him. There was no doubt it would cause serious side-effects.

"Exalted God-King," said Dream Daylily, "Nation-Fate God Pills are very rare and powerful. Considering how weak Yang Qi's cultivation base is, can he really consume it? I don't think even I would dare to try."

God-King Ruthless looked at her coldly. "Obviously he can't. If he consumed this medicinal pill, there would be many harmful side-effects. The pill is just too strong. But with me to help, what does he have to be scared of? As long as he follows my instructions, I'll take care of everything. The power of the crown prince can overcome any type of side-effect. Now remember, when I give you this medicinal pill, I'll be using my spell formation at the same time. It will set up a permanent sealing mark within you that will make you impervious to any magical treasures or wretch arts. It will limit your actions, but at the same time, will improve your power to carry out slaughter. Can you deal with that?"

"I understand!" Yang Qi blurted. "Please, exalted God-King, do as you wish!"

"Very gutsy. I like you! You're going to accomplish a lot in the future."

Waving his hand, he said, "Warfare Destiny Vortex!"

Then he grabbed Yang Qi, even as an enormous outpouring of killing intent surged around him.

"We can't do this in the city, it would cause too much of a scene, and would surely attract the attention of the House of God Ordainment. I'll take you to a distant aspect of space-time where I can set up the spell formation. It's a place where I waged war over a hundred years ago, slaughtering countless experts that I then used to form an army of souls capable of unleashing endless killing energy. It will stimulate your psyche, but the process will be very dangerous."

With that, he vanished into the spatial tempests, taking Yang Qi with him.