Sage Monarch

The diplomatic group from the Central Dynasty wasn't large; there were only three people in it.

They were all men, without a single woman present. The leader was a middle-aged man with white hair at his temples, whose mere voice had caused Yang Qi to tremble down to his soul. The second was an old man who had such a profound air to him that he must surely have experienced all there was to experience in the world of men, and had come to understand all of the transformations of gratitude, grudges, and karma.

The third member of the group was young, yet was clearly on the same level as Marquis Three Realms.

All of them were peak Paramount Gods, which made sense considering they were in the middle of the Myriad Dragons Lair. Only people like that could resist the power of true dragons, and prevent themselves from being dragonized.

"Is that supposed to be a threat, Proud Mindtravel?" Buddha Shockheaven said, his eyes flickering with killing intent. Of course, he didn't dare to make a move. Although he was in his own mighty kingdom, he knew full well that the Central Dynasty viewed him as a juicy morsel to be devoured.

In fact, they probably thought of the entire Myriad Dragons Lair as a juicy morsel.

"It's not a threat at all," Proud Mindtravel replied. "Everyone with eyes can see how mighty and grand the Central Dynasty is. And you're no exception. We control the distribution of godnotes in the god world, and we have the best godstone mines. We also have the most powerful magical treasures, and the most abundant destiny. The House of the Invincible and the Chiliocosm Dynasty will fall to us eventually, and the only reason your Myriad Dragons Lair has been able to survive in such peace is that we're currently in the process of conquering the Demonfolk, Devilfolk, Wretchfolk, Mechfolk, and other peoples. For now, we don't have time to deal with you Dragonfolk. All of the other races are yielding to us, and before long, you'll be the only ones left out. And if you don't surrender, we'll have to send our army here to sort things out."

Although Proud Mindtravel's words were a clear threat, they were backed with such might and grandeur that even the top experts from the Dragonswarm Society were actually chilled to the bone. It was obvious that the Central Dynasty had come to do business.

Dragonfolk were inherently arrogant and obstinate, but the Central Dynasty was just too powerful. After all, they were the top organization in the god world.

Although they often clashed with the House of the Invincible and the House of the Chiliocosm, the Central Dynasty had such impressive destiny that they could always hold their own. And everyone had to acknowledge that they were the strongest.

Of course, one of the big reasons for that was that the Central Dynasty was the only dynasty that could distribute godnotes.

In other words, even the House of the Invincible and the House of the Chiliocosm had no choice but to use the godnotes from the Central Dynasty. Although other currencies had been introduced over the years, they weren't used. It actually stemmed from rules laid down by the Sovereign Lord himself.

That was another factor that improved the destiny of the Central Dynasty so much. And it was why the Central Dynasty always had an advantage in their struggle against the House of the Invincible and the House of the Chiliocosm.

"What do you think, Buddha Shockheaven?" Proud Mindtravel said. "You Dragonfolk have a lot of top experts, but we've already recruited some of the other kingdoms here in the Myriad Dragons Lair. Those who join the Central Dynasty first will get the best rewards. And those who insist on being pigheaded will have to deal with our army, and either ground to dust or enslaved. Surely you know the reputation of our dynasty. Truth be told, Generalissimo Proud Longday is already preparing troops to invade the Myriad Dragons Lair."

"Are you serious?" Buddha Shockheaven blurted, clearly taken aback.

He knew full well that if the Central Dynasty launched a full-scale invasion, his own kingdom would fall into ruin. The Dragonfolk were as disunited as a dish of loose sand, and simply couldn't unite against an invading force. Furthermore, even if their top experts did fight side by side, they still wouldn't be strong enough to halt the advance of the Central Dynasty's army.

Everyone knew that their army had the reputation of being unbeatable. When they went on the warpath, they would leave behind mountains of corpses and seas of blood. And they would wipe out their enemies down to the last man.

"It's up to you, Buddha Shockheaven. I just came here today to explain what the Central Dynasty is thinking. And now I'll take my leave. I hope that in three months' time, you and all the other top leaders of the Dragonswarm Society will come to the Central Dynasty to offer fealty. Understand?"

As the words left his mouth, Proud Mindtravel suddenly exploded into dust, as did the other two of his fellows.

No one had any idea what technique they had used to leave.

"What do we do?" the Second Devil General said to Yang Qi. "Do we chase those three down and subjugate them? Or do we take on Buddha Shockheaven and the Dragonfolk first?"

"We start with Buddha Shockheaven. Those three from the Central Dynasty are too mysterious and unpredictable. And the fact that they seem completely capable of coming and going as they please in the Myriad Dragons Lair, without any fear of old-timers from the Dragonfolk causing problems for them, seems to indicate that taking them on directly would be very dangerous. Besides, look at the things they left behind. There are official letters of surrender, banners and flags, and other tokens from the Central Dynasty. We can use those to track them down when the time comes. Let's subjugate Buddha Shockheaven and take control of this entire kingdom. Then I'll use him to create a spell formation we can use as a surefire trap against those three emissaries."

The Second Devil General couldn't help but sigh in admiration of Yang Qi's methods, and also muse that, if he really helped in the effort to conquer the dao of devils, the plans would surely succeed without a hitch.

Unfortunately, he also knew how profoundly ambitious Yang Qi was.

"Fine, let's do it," the general said. "What's the plan? Are we going to snatch up all the officials in the court in one fell swoop?"

"No!" Yang Qi said, shaking his head firmly. "Causing a huge scene won't do us any good. Attacking openly would lead to a very dangerous fight, and likely damage the destiny here. Besides, for all we know, those three emissaries are actually hiding nearby, observing this place and waiting to see what will happen. If we reveal ourselves to them, it could cause big problems. I suspect that, considering what the Central Dynasty is trying to do, Buddha Shockheaven is probably going to announce his resignation as emperor. Then he'll sneak around and try to get the help of other Dragonfolk old-timers. The fact that he has an amazing kingdom like this, in the middle of this sea of blood, indicates that he has powerful backers. Throwing ourselves out in the open with people like that in play would just be suicide."

"Then what do you plan to do?" the Second Devil General asked quizzically.

Before their conversation could continue, Buddha Shockheaven raised his voice and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, all of you heard what just happened. The Central Dynasty is being very overbearing, and unfortunately, they have the strength to back up their threats. They're probably stronger than our Myriad Dragons Lair, and that's not to mention that we're completely disunited. That said, simply rolling over for them would be far too much of a stain on the honor of us Dragonfolk."

"Let's put everything on the line and just fight them!"

"I refuse to believe that the Central Dynasty would truly dare to launch an invasion. Aren't they worried that we might ask for help from the House of the Invincible or the House of the Chiliocosm?

"Hmph! There are plenty of secrets to our Myriad Dragons Lair. For instance, we haven't opened the Dragon Compendium. Once we do, the true guardian of the Dragonfolk will be in play, and there's no way the Central Dynasty could deal with such fury."

"I have orders," Buddha Shockheaven said. "A moment of life or death is upon us, and any conflict of interests between different factions needs to be set aside. We have to work together, train our troops, and arouse the passions of the entire kingdom. As far as I'm concerned, this is an opportunity. For too long, we've stayed hidden in the middle of this sea of blood, living comfortable lives. But now, a catastrophic war looms on the horizon. And perhaps that's all we need to finally achieve some unity.

"Our destiny will improve by ten times over. I'll be leaving to recruit help from the outside, and consult some of our most senior members. I hope that by the time I return, our destiny will have improved, and we'll be united! If there's no unity, then don't blame me for taking some heads!"

"Yes sir!" The officials knew that now was definitely not the time for infighting.

Almost as soon as the announcement was made, Yang Qi could sense the destiny shifting and growing more consolidated.

Outside pressure could definitely cause a temporary unity, while lives of comfort and peace could do the opposite. When things were too peaceful, competing interests could actually cause so much disunity that the destiny could collapse. According to the ancient saying, life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death comes from ease and pleasure.

Of course, Yang Qi's Sage Monarch Empire didn't have to worry about that. With the sage monarch magistrates to control everything, there were no competing interest groups to cause problems.

After making his announcement, Buddha Shockheaven vanished.

"Damn, boy, you really guessed exactly how it would play out. I guess turning the Cruiser of Civilization into your brain was a good idea."

With that, the two of them shot out in pursuit of Buddha Shockheaven.

At a certain point, where the terrain was favorable, the Second Devil General assumed human form and jumped out to block Buddha Shockheaven's path.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was setting up a spell formation.

"Who are you?" Buddha Shockheaven said, his expression flickering. He nearly attacked, but could sense that this person was incredibly strong, so he held back.