Sage Monarch

As the white-robed individuals stared in shock at the flowing destiny, a voice reached their ears. It belonged to a young woman.

"Why have so many of you destinors gathered here today? Has something big happened?"

She wore the garments of an imperial princess, as well as numerous jewels and pearls in her hair. She seemed elegant and refined, and her garment draped behind her as she walked, like a dragon flitting in the clouds.

The white-robed destinors all bowed their heads and said, "Greetings, exalted Priestess."

Priests and priestesses were common in any dynasty. They officiated over rites and ceremonies, manipulated destiny, adjusted yin and yang, and helped spread civilization throughout the many heavens.

Back in the days of the Sovereign Lord, the High Priestess had occupied a position similar to the King of Godmammoths. She had administered cultural affairs, and he, the military.

The High Priestess had controlled the rites and ceremonies, and was thus like an imperial adviser, while the King of Godmammoths had been entrusted with suppressing hell, and was the generalissimo of the armed forces.

As for this young woman, she obviously wasn't the High Priestess, but rather an ordinary priestess. That said, in the Palace of Destiny, she had a lot of power and influence. Of course, her cultivation base was anything but ordinary; she was a peak Paramount God, and was about twice as strong as Marquis Three Realms. Marquis Three Realms had only just broken into the level of about a billion, whereas this woman was nearing two billion.

When the Second Devil General had just emerged from being sealed, and was at his weakest, he had been at the level of three billion. By now he had recovered a lot and was so enigmatically powerful that few experts in existence could compare to him.

In the Invincible Dynasty, the Palace of Destiny had a unique structure.

The destinors were very important, and were similar in rank to the imperial censors. The priests and priestesses occupied higher positions and could be compared to the Three Preceptors and Nine Ministers.

"Exalted Priestess, we were just observing some changes in destiny to the various viceroys. We noticed a good sign. It seems that the destiny of a place called the Land of Dreamvoid has grown dramatically. Please, have a look."

The destinors operating the mirror were all late Paramount Gods with psychic scales of two or three hundred million. Bowing and scraping, they presented the mirror to the priestess.

Some time ago, the destiny of the Land of Dreamvoid was comprised of a host of white beams of light that connected into the net of law, then pulsed through the House of the Invincible like blood.

In the past, it hadn't been anything impressive. But in recent months, the Land of Dreamvoid had experienced a big boost in destiny. The beams were much bigger than before, and actually looked golden, making them almost like mighty dragons that flowed into the net of law. Furthermore, they were stronger and purer than the destiny from any of the other viceroys.

In fact, the destiny contribution from the Land of Dreamvoid was now equivalent to what would normally be provided by a viceroy with dozens of lands under his control. And its level of purity could only be encountered by chance, but never searched for and found.

Other viceroys had white or silver beams, while his were golden. Normally speaking, that was considered impossible.

If all the viceroys could provide destiny like this, the House of the Invincible's overall destiny would increase by numerous levels, and the idea of crushing the Central Dynasty and the Chiliocosm Dynasty wouldn't be a mere fantasy.

When the priestess looked at the mirror, her eyes went wide. "What's going on here? Look into the matter! Find out exactly what's happening. For pure destiny like this to be provided to the sect is going to be extremely beneficial! That said, conduct the investigation secretly, and keep the information under wraps. Also, summon the viceroy to me for a meeting. I want him as one of my personal subordinates, and definitely don't want anyone snatching him away from me."

"Ma'am," one of the destinors said, "we already compiled some information about the viceroy in question. A few months ago, he was an ordinary police chief in the Land of Flowerhill, under the tutelage of Dugu Hong. Apparently, some of Dugu Hong's followers acquired a treasure trove in the Bastille of the One God, including godstones that surpass perfect caliber. They've been doing business with them lately, which has caused quite a stir. Dugu Hong was appointed as an arch minister, after which he went into seclusion to try to break into the peak Paramount God level."

"So that's how it is," the priestess said. "This increase in destiny is all thanks to some treasure from the Bastille of the One God? That's good. Call the viceroy to me immediately."

"Yes ma'am." Several of the destinors immediately flew off in the direction of the Land of Dreamvoid.

**

Back in the Bastille of the One God, Yang Qi opened his eyes as he awoke from a meditative trance. He had sensed the fluctuations in destiny that occurred because of the priestess' words, and knew he'd attracted the attention of the upper echelons of the sect.

He had used his own personal resources to improve the destiny of the House of the Invincible, but that had benefited him as well. It gave him a much deeper understanding of destiny and the net of law. And because he was now personally linked to the destiny, it would make it easier for him to use the God Legion Seal to seize the sect's destiny for his own in the future.

He was really usurping state power.

Of course, considering how strictly the House of the Invincible's net of law operated, it would discover him if he tried to take the destiny unlawfully. But Yang Qi wasn't worried about the situation. He knew that he would eventually run into a situation in which he and the House of the Invincible would become enemies.

At that point, he would attack, simply taking all of the destiny and using it to achieve a breakthrough.

Before that, though, he had to come to a much deeper understanding of the sect's net of law.

Aaaaoooooo!

Heaven and earth trembled violently.

'People are looking for me. I suppose I caused a big stir among the leaders. I wonder what they're like.' It was a given that he would interact with them eventually. His overall plan was to make contact with them, then slowly improve his influence and control. When he had enough of them working for him, and enough control over the destiny, he would be able to pierce into the deeper mysteries of the net of law.

WHOOSH!

Using the teleportation portal, he whisked himself back to the House of the Invincible, and the viceroy's mansion in the Land of Dreamvoid.

Shortly thereafter, a host of destinors descended onto the mansion. Finding Yang Qi, they said, "Viceroy of the Land of Dreamvoid, after assuming leadership of these lands, a large amount of destiny has been added to the net of law, provoking profound transformations. Your contributions are immense, therefore, the priestess in charge of the Palace of Destiny has summoned you for questioning and a reward. Hurry and come with us."

"Yes sir," Yang Qi replied, trying to look both obedient and overwhelmed. His demeanor was very pleasing to the destinors.

The group flew into the depths of the House of the Invincible, and before long they were nearing the Palace of Destiny. It occupied a very important position in the sect, and was just as influential as the army. At a mere glance, Yang Qi could see how the place was responsible for balancing yin and yang, and managing the flows of destiny.

'Very impressive,' he thought. 'The Palace of Destiny controls some of the most important aspects of the sect. I can learn a lot from this place.' Of course, he didn't dare to do any spying, as his cultivation base was just too low.

"You may enter, Viceroy. Don't keep the exalted priestess waiting for too long, otherwise you'll be punished."

"Many thanks to all of you. Please, accept a small show of respect in the form of a gift." He handed dimensional sacks to all of them, within which were heaps of perfect caliber godstones. They weren't heavenly caliber, but they were still extremely valuable. Destinors were very important, as they inspected the contributions of destiny that the viceroys provided to the sect. Although they were prohibited from causing mischief, it was always possible for them to take advantage of their position and cause problems for people.

When the destinors examined the contents of the sacks, broad smiles appeared on their faces.

"You're too kind, Viceroy."

Smoothing out his garments, Yang Qi entered the Palace of Destiny and found himself in front of a young woman clad in imperial garments that seemed to fuse with the surrounding void.

'Impressive! Even outside of the sect, I couldn't defeat this woman. She's far stronger than Marquis Three Realms. Even if I got her into the Bastille of the One God, I'd only stand a fifty-fifty chance of winning.' Yang Qi was shocked, and could see that his plan of subjugating the leaders of the sect with the God Legion Seal might not be that realistic. This priestess was strong. Very, very strong!

On the surface, she seemed unimpressive.

But underneath, she obviously existed on a different level. She might not match up to the Second Devil General, but compared to her, Marquis Three Realms was like a toddler.

"My respects, exalted Priestess," Yang Qi said, kowtowing dramatically.

"On your feet," she replied. "You shouldn't put on such a show of humility. You're a viceroy, which is a very high rank. An ordinary salute is more than enough in my presence. Dramatic kowtowing should be reserved for the emperor alone. Understand?"

"Right, of course," Yang Qi said, doing everything possible to make sure she couldn't read his cultivation base.

He had already decided that he needed to work with the Second Devil General to subjugate this woman. She was extremely important, so if he could get her on his side, his work in the House of the Invincible would progress dramatically.