Sage Monarch

"Mister Second is here...."

"Mister Second."

"Only Mister Second could preside over this meeting."

Some people rose to their feet out of respect, and of course, they were the people from the Deva Dynasty. Again, they were acting on the orders of Patriarch Deva to show him respect.

Despite their outward show, they secretly despised him. After all, he hadn't done a single impressive thing after joining the Deva Dynasty. As far as they were concerned, important people like them shouldn't have to show respect to something like this.

But in the end, they had to put on a show.

"Please have a seat, Mister Second," said a tall, burly young man. "It's good you're here to preside over this meeting." This man was a mid Paramount God with a mid Unbounded will convergence. He was one of the chief elders of the imperial clan, and although he looked young, he was actually very old. He was Grand Prince Yi.

He had a lot of power in the military, and commanded a secret division of clairvoyants that could interpret the workings of heaven to divine information about the past and the future. And that enabled him to control the present.

In the past, he had often presided over various diplomatic meetings, so he was not at all pleased that Mister Second had been given that honor in this meeting. However, he was a wily old fox, and knew how to control his emotions. Therefore, he didn't do a thing to violate Patriarch Deva's orders, and readily offered the seat of honor to Yang Qi.

The people from the Nine Dragons Court and Sumeru Temple were clearly surprised that someone like 'Mister Second' would be put in charge.

In fact, one of the young ones from the Dragonfolk glared at Yang Qi with piercing eyes and said, "Grand Prince Yi, you're usually the one in charge of meetings like this. Why have things changed? Who is this person? How come we've never heard of him before?"

Smiling, Grand Prince Yi said, "Er, Young Sir Buddha Tyrant, please meet Mister Second. He's a chief elder king here in the Deva Dynasty. Patriarch Deva himself ordered that he be in charge of all important meetings. It just goes to show how much respect the Deva Dynasty wants to show you."

"Respect us?" Young Sir Buddha Tyrant chuckled coldly. "Your cultivation base isn't very impressive, Mister Second. You're only a mere early Paramount God! In the god world, the strong have the power. How could an early Paramount God possibly preside over a meeting like this? This is supposed to be a show of respect?"

Instead of reacting with anger to what was clearly a provocation, Grand Prince Yi smiled and said, "Mister Second, sir, it's obvious that these Dragonfolk experts aren't very pleased. I don't see how we can continue the meeting, given the circumstances."

He was obviously putting the ball in Yang Qi's court, and waiting to see how he would handle the situation.

"This is a diplomatic banquet relating to national affairs," Yang Qi replied casually. "It's only natural for there to be differing opinions. Do I understand correctly that this brat is challenging my dignity? That's a crime punishable by death. In fact, normally speaking, I would have all of these Dragonfolk executed. Considering my relationship with Patriarch Deva, I don't want to cause trouble like that. However, to sate my anger, I'll definitely take the life of this slanderous brat."

He was being arrogant, domineering, cruel, vicious, and seemed willing to defy all laws and principles that existed. At the same time, he unleashed a powerful aura from the dao of devils. After all, he was supposed to be the Second Devil General, so he couldn't allow himself to be perceived as being weak. And there was no way the Second Devil General would tolerate members of the junior generation being sarcastic to him.

Thankfully, his cultivation base had advanced a lot recently. The months of cultivation after his fight with Patriarch Deva had involved pushing the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade to newer heights of perfection. He had also remolded his own body. Although he might not be able to beat Patriarch Deva in a fight right now, he would at least be able to hold his own for a while.

It was a level of power that gave him the confidence to act domineering.

WHOOSH!

As the words left his mouth, a sinister stream of sword energy shot out, piercing through everything, filled with killing intent as it closed in on Young Sir Buddha Tyrant.

Young Sir Buddha Tyrant could ever have guessed that this person would just attack him. Even as he realized that his instincts had betrayed him, space and time seemed to vanish, and he found himself in the middle of an empty universe, looking at sword light as it headed right toward him.

There was simply no way he could avoid this blow.

It was actually a combination of the sword techniques of King Life-Killer and Star Swordlife, and it contained the power of both life and destruction. Backed by Yang Qi's psychic power and monarch godhood, it was definitely enough to slaughter Young Sir Buddha Tyrant.

Young Sir Buddha Tyrant was only an early Paramount God, so how could he possibly fight with Yang Qi?

"Stay your hand!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Die!"

The sword moved with indescribable speed, yet the Dragonfolk experts were no slouches. One of them, an old man, simply blinked his eye to summon a host of god dragons that spun into the image of an undulating blue sea.

The sea, filled with ten thousand dragons, intercepted the sword energy before it could reach Young Sir Buddha Tyrant. However, the energy slashed the image in half, causing it to collapse.

Without a moment of pause, the sword energy continued onward and slammed into Young Sir Buddha Tyrant.

He shrieked as he was sent flying backward, blood spraying out of his mouth. He had been hit so hard that he immediately reverted into his true form, which was a buddha dragon. Landing onto the ground with a thump, he lay there panting, blood streaming away from him in all directions. His godhood had been shattered!

"What just happened?"

The monks from the Sumeru Temple looked over, shaken, but also secretly delighted at the misfortune that had befallen the Dragonfolk. Yang Qi had attacked with such a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering force that not even one of the Dragonfolk old-timers had been able to stop him.

That old-timer was named Buddha Lawtongue, and he was a mid Paramount God with mid Unbounded will convergence.

He was the leader of this diplomatic force that had been sent to investigate why the Deva Dynasty had experienced such an increase in destiny. He cultivated something called the Myriad Dragon Image, which was supposedly capable of blocking all types of attacks, and repelling all sorts of evil. Yet he had completely failed to protect Buddha Tyrant with it.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"The Deva Dynasty is pushing things too far!"

"Is this a diplomatic meeting? Or an ambush!?"

"Fight! If they want to start attacking people in a meeting like this, that means they don't care about the rules. That's intolerable! The Deva Dynasty had better compensate the Nine Dragons Court for this, otherwise it's going to lead to war!"

"To battle! We're the supreme Dragonfolk! We're not afraid of the Deva Dynasty! We'll slaughter all of them!"

In a very short moment, everything had changed. The experts of the Dragonfolk were rising to their feet, glaring angrily at the people from the Deva Dynasty. Some of them were even preparing to attack and kill Yang Qi.

At the same time, Patriarch Buddha Lawtongue flew over to heal the injured Buddha Tyrant.

"Is he okay?" said one of the Dragonfolk experts as he headed over to check on Buddha Lawtongue. "What happened to him?"

"His godhood is shattered," growled Buddha Lawtongue, "and his divine will regressed. Even if he survives this, he's crippled. He won't make any further cultivation progress, and he'll never be the same level of Paramount God again. Right now, he has Paramount will convergence and is only a Perfect God. Brutal! Ruthless! I can't believe they would harm his life force in this way!"

Buddha Lawtongue had been injured so badly that he might as well be dead. Among the Dragonfolk, strength was everything, so as far as they were concerned, someone who couldn't recover from an injury was useless.

Rising to his feet, Buddha Lawtong stalked through the hall, his eyes blazing with such anger that everyone from the Deva Dynasty backed up, allowing him to walk right up to Yang Qi.

"You're a vicious person, Sire. But can you put your money where your mouth is? Your despicable act just now has made you an enemy of all Dragonfolk. Neither the emperor of the Deva Dynasty nor Patriarch Deva can do anything for you now. So you'd better take a long moment to think about what exactly you're going to do next."

From the energy that pulsed off of Patriarch Buddha Lawtongue, it seemed he was preparing to rip Yang Qi to shreds.

"Maybe a few billion years ago, I wouldn't even have wasted words on you. I would've just exterminated the Dragonfolk. Don't you realize that talking to me that way is suicide?" Yang Qi wasn't afraid at all, as he knew he could kill Patriarch Buddha Lawtongue with almost no effort.

The man had mid Unbounded will convergence, the same as Yang Qi. However, their godhood couldn't have been more different. Buddha Lawtongue had high-level godhood, but how could it possibly compare to monarch godhood?

Yang Qi could fight people levels above him.

He had terrified Patriarch Deva into submission, so what did he have to fear from these Dragonfolk?

"Just who are you? What do you mean 'billions of years ago?'" Buddha Lawtongue was hesitating. Yang Qi's words seemed to indicate that he was some sort of almighty being who had lived billions of years ago, which would be the age of the Sovereign Lord.

In those days, heroes abounded, as described in the great myths and epic sagas.

"Hmph! Back down right now, otherwise you won't leave this place alive. Patriarch Deva! Why haven't you shown your face yet? I'm not in the mood to haggle with these brats. If you want my help to deal with the Sumeru Temple and the Nine Dragons Court, fine. I'll help you. But if things get out of hand, you'll have to deal with the consequences."

RUMBLE!

At that point, Patriarch Deva appeared. Smiling, he said, "There's no need to get angry, Mister Second."