Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had efficiently defeated the houselord and taken the sect's reserve power. Going forward, nothing in the sect would pose any threat to him, and the Sage Monarch Society would be free to rise to new heights of glory.

The Shepherd and the others were now leaders in the Law-Enforcement God-Palace, which meant they had immense power in the sect and the authority to execute dissenters. Of course, no one would dare to defy them.

It was obvious who was in power.

The factions in the sect were now required to act together, making them a much more effective force. Also, the Bloodgore Trials were being expanded to involve more distant continents.

After all, Yang Qi wasn't particularly interested in the current crop of experts in the House of God Ordainment. He wanted to recruit new geniuses through the Bloodgore Trials. He wanted fresh blood. The morphlings and holy beasts he could create were useful as killing machines, but they couldn't be used as administrators, nor did they provide any flow of destiny.

Furthermore, the House of God Ordainment had a lot of interests outside the sect, and as long as they were properly invested in, they could provide healthy profits.

Yang Qi went into seclusion to contemplate the profundities of the War God Commander's Tally. Wanting all forty-eight thousand peak Perfect Gods to be in top fighting condition, he infused them with the power of the God Legion Seal, making them even more powerful than before.

Also, he could take advantage of the various auras within the commander's tally, including the boundless secrets of Army Slaughterer, to learn quite a few helpful things.

"Ancient Traceback; Unbounded Will!"

Yang Qi exhaled some true energy onto the War God Commander's Tally, simultaneously drawing on the God Legion Seal to provide perfect caliber godstones to imbue into it. Then he tapped into the genetic systems of the Cruiser of Civilization, as well as its heavenly workings calculations systems.

The war gods in the tally were all peak Perfect Gods, and at the moment, Yang Qi was limited to being able to create peak Consummate Gods with the Cruiser of Civilization.

But once he was a Paramount God, that would change.

Unfortunately, that was going to be a very difficult task. Although having monarch godhood meant that developing Unbounded will convergence had been a foregone conclusion, the power he would require was still astonishing.

In fact, it would likely take tens of thousands of years via normal cultivation methods.

However, the commander's tally pulsed with the aura of a Paramount God, which he could study and imitate. Eventually, the power flows relaxed as Yang Qi sank into a deep trance.

At the same time, the Cruiser of Civilization flew outside of the House of God Ordainment's god kingdom, where it grew in size, becoming like a heavenly net covering everything below.

Yang Qi was slowly merging the War God Commander's Tally into the Cruiser of Civilization, making it more impressive and durable.

Meanwhile, a big purge was going on in the House of God Ordainment.

The Preheaven Society was being dismantled, its members secretly arrested and brought in for questioning. Those who offered loyalty to the Sage Monarch Society were made members, and those who refused were given the death penalty.

Then, Jadefall and the others started using other tactics, such as control over business and resources, to put pressure on the members of other factions. The best and most profitable positions were given to members of the Sage Monarch Society, while the worst positions went to members of other factions. And the leaders of groups like the Brilliant Radiance Society and the Honorable Glory Society were forced to either give tribute, or face arrest and punishment.

The vicious disciples of the Sage Monarch Society would even trump up false charges if they had to, as long as it resulted in control. Months passed in which, slowly but surely, the Sage Monarch Society became the top force in the sect. Of course, membership soared.

Normally speaking, circumstances like this would have weakened the House of God Ordainment. But Yang Qi could create godstones and godnotes. Furthermore, business on the Heaven-Wretch Continent was soaring, and resources poured into the sect through the teleportation portals. There were also rogue cultivators, such as the White Clan brothers, who were working hard for the sect. Because of all that, the House of God Ordainment was actually growing stronger on all fronts.

The Sage Monarch Consortium had captured numerous wretch-gods and experts from the dao of devils, enslaving them and forcing them to renounce the darkness and seek the light. That also provided a source of many new disciples for the House of God Ordainment.

Slowly but surely, the Sage Monarch Society took control of the Law-Enforcement God-Palace, the Missions Sanctuary, the Hall of Promotions, the Thrall Camp, the Treasure Palace, the Medicinal Pill Shrine, and the Scripture Pavilion. And not a single chief elder dared to speak up about it.

The chief elders and other leaders of the Thrall Camp were actually furious over how the Sage Monarch Society had taken control of the thralls, so much so that they came up with a plan to attack some of the disciples of the society. However, those disciples somehow learned of the conspiracy and crushed the chief elders, imprisoning them in some nameless hell where they experienced torment that made them wish they could die.

After that incident, none of the chief elders dared to offer any resistance.

In fact, they all just went into seclusion on Mount God Ordainment, ignoring outside matters and relinquishing any power they had previously possessed.

It was obvious that resisting the Sage Monarch Society was futile.

Their only hope was that the chaos that resulted as the Sage Monarch Society took over the House of God Ordainment would be an opportunity for them to make a comeback. Sadly, they were left disappointed. A year passed, in which all of the factions in the sect were absorbed into the Sage Monarch Society. Whether it was the Honorable Glory Society or the Brilliant Radiance Society, their leaders were brought under complete control.

All disciples in the sect now offered loyalty to the Sage Monarch Society.

Meanwhile, business boomed for the House of God Ordainment. The treasure storehouses were filling up with magical treasure, building materials, medicinal pills, and resources of all kinds. Also, more and more experts were joining, ensuring that the destiny of the sect surged to levels dozens of times higher than they were before, perhaps even close to a hundred.

Not a single member of the Sage Monarch Society ever lacked godstones. Before, the sect had tightly controlled godstones, making them very difficult to get. But now they were gathered into mountainous piles.

Godstones were used to power spell formations and provide energy.

Also, the god kingdom itself was growing larger and stronger, and more spell formations were set up to bolster it.

Before, the houselord and chief elder could have set up more and more spell formations, but it wouldn't have done any good without godstones to operate them.

The sect was replacing hunting rifles with cannons, and the disciples were all bursting with excitement about it. It also made recruitment efforts a lot easier.

As time went on, the members of the Sage Monarch Society realized what was going on. The older generation was being pushed aside. If the chief elders and others like them wanted cultivation resources, they had to apply for them from the Sage Monarch Society.

In the depths of Mount God Ordainment....

BAM!

Destroying the table in front of him, one of the chief elders shouted, "This is preposterous! Absolutely outrageous! I need thirty-thousand nine-headed stalks of blood ginger that have grown for ten thousand god world years! But the disciples running the storehouse actually said I needed permission from the leader of the Sage Monarch Society! What exactly is going on here!? Has the House of God Ordainment really been taken over? Are the millions upon millions of years that went into growing it being thrown away? Has the sect really been given over to rebels and traitors?"

"Yeah," another chief elder said, "I went to request some medicinal pills, but the disciples in charge said I had to ask Jadefall first! Since when did famous chief elders like us get relegated to such a low position? In the past, we could go take whatever we wanted from the storehouse!"

"Houselord, what do we do? We can't just sit around and wait to die! The Sage Monarch Society has only grown stronger and stronger over the past year, and you haven't done a thing about it. Don't tell me they have someone that powerful backing them? What Unbounded expert did you end up dealing with?"

Generally speaking, none of the chief elders had given loyalty to the Sage Monarch Society, feeling that they were too important, so it would be too much of a loss of face. Yet the houselord wasn't doing anything, and they were essentially trapped in Mount God Ordainment.

"Father," the junior houselord said angrily, "I've been trying to get out and pass word to the third prince of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty! But I'm not allowed to leave. It's ridiculous! The sect is sealed tight and the way to the teleportation portals is blocked!"

"We might as well be in prison!"

As the chief elders simmered like beasts in a cage, Yang Qi was in the middle of a session of cultivation when he received a message from the leaders of the Crown Prince Society.

'At long last, they're reaching out to me. Have I hooked the big fish?' Yang Qi smiled coldly. 'It seems that after a year, word has finally spread of what's been going on in the House of God Ordainment. The crown prince has finally taken an interest.'