Sage Monarch

The sneak attack worked!

Buddha Testimony pulled off the move perfectly. Yang Qi had not only healed him, but had also given him some of the power of the Tribulation Monarch Cannon, allowing him to unleash attacks that a Paramount God just couldn't dodge. Perhaps outside the Bastille of the One God, Dibarra might have been able to get out of the way of the attack. But inside the bastille, the limitations on him were too great. His aura was suppressed, and he constantly had to be careful about attracting the attention of angels and soul conglomerations.

In terms of both speed and power, he was very limited, and the results in this specific circumstance were tragic.

That said, despite the ambush having worked, Dibarra wasn't dead. Instead, he simply found his godpower impeded.

"You animal, Buddha Testimony! What do you think you're doing? Don't tell me you're trying to cut me out and take everything for your own?"

Dibarra was obviously furious.

However, Buddha Testimony only took advantage of his moment of weakness to press the attack, unleashing even more deadly attacks, seemingly without concern for his own safety.

It was as if Dibarra was his most hated archenemy.

"Blood Sacrifice to Myriad Dragons; Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner!"

SPLAT!

Buddha Testimony spat out a spray of blood that floated into the air and took the shape of a dragon banner, its surface covered with a host of fanged, clawed dragons fluttering in flight. This was a forbidden art that required a huge drain on one's lifespan in order to use it.

In the blink of an eye, the banner wrapped around Dibarra.

"Are you crazy?! You're actually using the Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner? That's a forbidden art among you Dragonfolk! Are you looking to be killed? Since when did you have such a big grudge with me? You're really willing to fight to the death over this Mister Second?" Dibarra was convinced that Buddha Testimony had gone insane.

Not only was the Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner a huge drain on one's life force, but the Bastille of the One God was also a very dangerous place. Not even the most confident person would risk using a move like this in such a dangerous place.

Yet it was happening right in front of Dibarra's eyes.

As the banner wrapped around him, he unleashed a buddhist light of protection, filled with three thousand chiliocosms of worlds. Then, he and Buddha Testimony were trapped together in the Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner.

This move was a true trump card, and was so dangerous that he hadn't even resorted to it when fighting Yang Qi. It would reduce one's lifespan by a third, and when its effects ended, it would leave the user extremely weak and sometimes even injured.

The fact that he was using it on Dibarra showed that he truly intended to destroy him.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was fighting with the "wooden-faced young man" who was the imperial uncle.

BAM!

Yang Qi's palm slammed into the imperial uncle's, and the latter staggered backward. To him, it felt like Yang Qi's power was unending and infinite.

Then he saw the Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner wrapping around Dibarra and a look of shock filled his face. "What's going on here?! You're not even wounded?"

"It couldn't be easier to explain, boy," Yang Qi said. "I lured you here into the Bastille of the One God, to a location you couldn't flee from. I already forced Buddha Testimony to acknowledge allegiance to me. He works for me now. What, did you really think I'd fallen victim to that soul conglomeration? Look and see how strong I really am!"

All of a sudden, the God Legion Paradise exploded out.

This time, it was thousands of kilometers in diameter and filled with a host of buildings and palaces. As it sucked in more souls, angels, and clouds, it sent their power into the godtrees, and through them to the sage monarch magistrates.

The sage monarch magistrates took the power and split into new versions, growing stronger at the same time. In the blink of an eye, their numbers swelled to three thousand.

"You—" the imperial uncle said.

"What about me?" Yang Qi interrupted. "Take a look at my two godtrees, one of permanence, the other of impermanence...." The two trees sprouted on either side of him, one flourishing with vegetation, the other withered and leafless. The former seemed to sway and rustle in the wind, while the latter was as solid as truth and the great dao, and like iron, completely unmoving.

The transformations of withering and flourishing had appeared within the God Legion Paradise. Permanence and impermanence. The power of karma flowed through the pure land around him, and Yang Qi's every move was filled with the dynamics of heaven and earth. Winds and clouds screamed, causing fluctuations to roll out everywhere.

It created the momentum to crush people, suppress them, awe them, and subjugate them.

"Be subdued!" Yang Qi said, unleashing the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse.

Instantly, a god script of enchantment swirled out from him, a string of text like a horde of locusts, which flew directly toward the imperial uncle.

"Hmph! Parlor tricks!" Unafraid, the imperial uncle suddenly erupted with energy, causing numerous white rainbows to blossom above him. "White Rainbows Stab the Sun; Void of the Northwest!"

RUMBLE!

It was a dhāraṇī god curse that caused the white rainbows spread out and become a heavenly net, which then slammed into the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse.

However, as soon as they entered, they faded into nothing, as surely as snowflakes falling onto hot ground.

Then, the omnicurse pierced the imperial uncle's defensive empyrean energy, stabbing into his body and making him squeal like a pig being led to the slaughter.

Crack. Snap. Pop.

Numerous popping sounds rang out inside him, and he writhed as though he was being stung by a colony of bees.

To him, it felt like his soul was being stabbed over and over again by the curse, which was obviously vastly more painful than it would be if an ordinary person were to be stung by bees.

Meanwhile, the God Legion Paradise spun rapidly around him, creating a tempest with Yang Qi in the middle. At the same time, the vital energy, soul conglomerations, and angels in the area were sucked inside, converted into power, and fed to the sage monarch magistrates, whose numbers blew past three thousand.

Yang Qi's godhood rating was already past eighty million, but he was still an early Paramount God. He lacked the bit of power he needed to climb to the mid Paramount God level. After all, the requirements of monarch godhood surpassed that of ordinary godhood by many times over.

Gasping for breath, the imperial uncle said, "Stop! Don't curse me, Mister Second! I know you're an almighty being from ancient times. I was a fool to think I could beat you and steal from you. For the sake of Patriarch Deva, please let me off the hook just this once. I'm an important leader in the Deva Dynasty! If you harm me, Patriarch Deva will be furious."

"It's a bit late to start begging for mercy now. And why did you think I would do anything for the sake of Patriarch Deva? Hmph! He can't even defend himself! Once I return, I'm going to crush him just like I'm crushing you. I'm curious to see why he thinks he qualifies to plot against me." Yang Qi continued pouring the power of the curse into the imperial uncle, until the fluctuations were so intense his clothing exploded off of him.

There he stood, naked within the pure land. Then he dropped to his knees and prostrated himself on the ground. The text of the curse flowed across his skin, looking almost like ants, causing him to simultaneously writhe and shine with radiance and light.

"You're now my slave, and I am your lord." Yang Qi activated the God Legion Seal, then tapped the imperial uncle's head. Instantly, another gold throne appeared in the seal.

The imperial uncle had a godhood rating and psychic scale of ninety million, but even he was forced to acknowledge allegiance to Yang Qi.

Off to the side, howls of rage could be heard as Buddha Testimony and Dibarra fought with deadly abandon within the Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner. Dibarra had come to hate Buddha Testimony so much that he was resorting to his most deadly moves.

However, that was when Yang Qi drew on the God Legion Paradise and pulled the Blood-Tainting Dragon Banner into its depths.

"You help too, Imperial Uncle." The imperial uncle attacked, joining Buddha Testimony in the fight. At the same time, Yang Qi again released the omnicurse. As a result, Dibarra's shining buddhist light shattered, and he was sent flying into the air, where Yang Qi quickly bound him.

Then, Buddha Testimony and the imperial uncle forced him onto his knees. "Oh exalted Sovereign Lord, we've captured Dibarra!"

"Excellent! Henceforth, you three will follow my instructions and do exactly as I wish."

"No!" Dibarra blurted. After all, he hadn't yet acknowledged allegiance. But unfortunately for him, he was completely immobilized. "Who exactly are you? How could you subjugate Buddha Testimony and the imperial uncle so quickly? Buddha Testimony, Imperial Uncle, you're both consummate experts on the verge of becoming top patriarchs and taking over leadership of your own sects. How could you kneel to him? Have you no sense of dignity?"

"No, we don't," Buddha Testimony said. "And in short order, neither will you."

Yang Qi reached out and put his hand on Dibarra's head. The man screamed and fought, but moments later, the power of the God Legion Seal pierced into the buddha power in his mind.