Sage Monarch

The fact that Proud Heaven was an extremely important person in the Central Dynasty explained how he was able to descend to the impure lands in search of the God Legion Seal.

Although Yang Qi had ended up with the seal, Proud Heaven managed to snatch the Great Necropolis, with King Immortal-Slayer sealed inside. He had actually profited immensely.

Proud Heaven and Yang Qi were mortal archenemies. Every day that passed in which Proud Heaven existed was one in which Yang Qi couldn't live in peace. Furthermore, Yang Qi was constantly worried about the possibility of Proud Heaven somehow opening a passageway back to the immortal worlds, and exterminating his friends and family there.

The immortal worlds were unified under the leadership of Yang Qi's friends and family, so they were generally safe there. But if someone from the god world went down, it could easily lead to a bloodbath.

That was another reason why Yang Qi was constantly on the lookout for a way back to the impure lands. He very much wanted to bring all of his brethren to him. Given how powerful he was now, it was entirely possible that he had enough destiny to instantly ordain them all as gods.

"So you're saying you've never met Proud Heaven? What's your status in the Central Dynasty?"

"I'm a third-ranked duke, which is a fairly impressive rank. Please, let me go, Milord. Don't kill me."

"I have no intention of killing you. From now on, you work for me as a double agent in the Central Dynasty. Got it? Keep me informed of any developments there, especially any important individuals that suddenly leave the dynasty. I want to subjugate as many as I can."

"Milord, now that I've been subjugated by you, my soul no longer belongs to the Central Dynasty. If I go back, the destiny will reject me and likely even kill me!"

"It won't. The God Legion Seal is too profound for that. The destiny of the Central Dynasty is strong, but not strong enough to surpass the Sovereign Lord. Otherwise, they would've already eliminated the House of the Invincible and the House of the Chiliocosm. Furthermore, I can use you to further study the profundities of the dynasty's destiny. How do you infuse it with such righteousness? Is it by means of some sort of magical treasure?"

"That's right, Milord. In the past, Patriarch Central subjugated the Lord of Righteous Justice and imprisoned him in the imperial city, ultimately refining him into a magical treasure. Afterward, our destiny was filtered through the Lord of Righteous Justice, causing it to be filled with an incomparable dao of righteousness that perfectly conforms with the god world's dao of heaven."

"Lord of Righteous Justice?" Yang Qi looked over at the Second Devil General. "How come I've never heard of him, Second Devil General?"

"He was one of the founders of the confucian colleges, and was responsible for producing the energies of righteousness and justice that filled the god world. You see, in the beginning, there were two primary flows of energy in the god world. That of righteous justice, and that of wretched evil. The Lord of Righteous Justice commanded the energy of righteous justice, while the True Devil used the energy of wretched evil to create hell. The Lord of Righteous Justice wasn't part of the halls of heaven. The halls of heaven belonged to the Sovereign Lord, and although they shine with radiance and light, they don't represent righteousness and justice. They represent power."

Although some might find it confusing, radiance and light weren't necessarily righteous or just.

"Later, the Lord of Righteous Justice vanished. Because his cultivation base was superior to that of the Lord of Radiance and Light, we assumed he'd been killed by the Sovereign Lord. Who could have guessed that he was actually subjugated by Proud Central and turned into a magical treasure? This Proud Central really was a clever schemer. I'm starting to think that I might not even be a match for him, even if I was in my prime." The fear that glittered in the Second Devil General's eyes was very telling.

The Lord of Righteous Justice was superior to the Lord of Radiance and Light, yet he had been defeated by Proud Central. And after the Sovereign Lord died, Proud Central had gone on to found his own dynasty, which had been around for hundreds of millions of years, and possessed immensely profound destiny. Meanwhile, the Second Devil General had been imprisoned for all that time, constantly growing weaker. It was obvious the two of them weren't on the same level.

It made sense that the Second Devil General would fear him.

Yang Qi gave an enigmatic smile. "So, you're finally afraid of something, eh Second Devil General?"

"Me? Afraid? You're underestimating me, boy. I'd love to fight with this Proud Central. Unfortunately, he has a powerful dynasty, and I don't. That puts me at a disadvantage. But I know you always like to do things differently. I'm waiting for you to finish conquering the Myriad Dragons Lair. Once you have the Dragonfolk under your command, you'll have some incredible destiny."

"I might not have enough time. Even if I get all the destiny of the Dragonfolk, the House of the Chiliocosm, and the House of the Invincible, I still might not be strong enough to oppose the Central Dynasty. They're really the top dogs."

"Why do you say that?" the Second Devil General said, seemingly confused.

"The Lord of Righteous Justice represents the power of righteousness and justice in the god world. What are righteousness and justice? Legitimacy. The fact that the Central Dynasty captured the Lord of Righteous Justice and took his destiny means that it has legitimacy in the eyes of the god world. It's like how, in the impure lands, someone with royal blood and an official stamp of the dynasty is the legitimate ruler. Just look at the Central Dynasty's destiny."

Yang made a grasping gesture, and the destiny of the Central Dynasty flew out in a pure white stream of light, flawless and without any impurities. At the same time, he produced the destiny of the House of the Invincible, which despite being so powerful that it rumbled like thunder, clearly contained corrupt auras. He also pulled out the destiny of the House of the Chiliocosm, which was different, like a river of stars, but at the same time nowhere close to being as pure as that of the Central Dynasty. Even Yang Qi's personal destiny, despite being clear, wasn't flawless, nor did it have the pure white of righteousness and justice.

"Why is it like this?" the general asked. "You'd think the Central Dynasty would also have a problem with corruption. But their destiny is absolutely, positively pure."

"It's because of the legitimacy provided by the Lord of Righteous Justice. Because of that, the dao of heaven in the god world recognizes the Central Dynasty as being legitimate. Furthermore, the corrupt energy of the dynasty is filtered out by the Lord of Righteous Justice, making it pure. No dynasty in the god world could possibly compare. Not even the aura of the Sovereign Lord's halls of heaven could compare to this destiny in terms of righteousness. The Sovereign Lord's organization was larger, and he was more powerful, so he could purify his destiny to a certain extent, making it incomparably mighty. That's why Proud Central never dared to establish his own dynasty in the past. He knew that it would be doomed to fall to the Sovereign Lord. However, despite being weaker than the Sovereign Lord, Proud Central was far more cunning. He realized that there would eventually be a rebellion against the Sovereign Lord, and that afterward, whoever earned the true legitimacy of the god world would be able to create the ultimate dynasty. Impressive. Very impressive." Yang Qi had to admit that Proud Central was extremely clever, and was profoundly worthy of admiration in that regard. But at the same time, Yang Qi's heart went cold at the thought of facing an opponent like him.

Would it actually turn out that King Immortal-Slayer couldn't break free?

If Proud Central was the one opposing him, which seemed entirely likely, that meant Proud Central was obviously going to be extremely difficult to fight.

The Second Devil General obviously understood everything Yang Qi meant. "So what do we do now? It's too bad the Sovereign Lord didn't kill him back in the day. Damn it all. When the tiger is away from the mountain, the monkey becomes king. The True Devil is dead. The Sovereign Lord is dead. The King of Godmammoths is dead. The Wretch God is dead. And the Demon Master is dead too. As for King Immortal-Slayer, he's trapped in the Great Necropolis. Proud Central is the most domineering figure there is. Who could possibly be a match for him?"

"Perhaps my Master can help. Except, I don't know how to awaken him. He's the Invincible Dugu, the top patriarch of the House of the Invincible. King Immortal-Slayer could probably do it as well, except that Proud Central is trying to assimilate the Great Necropolis. He's going the same thing the Sovereign Lord did, and if he succeeds, we're all dead. Years ago, the Sovereign Lord lacked that legitimacy, thus he couldn't destroy and assimilate the god world. But things are different now. Proud Central has everything he needs. I wouldn't be surprised if even a resurrected Sovereign Lord couldn't defeat him."

"Damnation!" the Second Devil General said.

"Calm down. I'm foreordained to destroy his fate. I can sense that. The Central Dynasty can't destroy the House of the Invincible, most likely because of my Master, the Invincible Dugu. And there must be someone in the House of the Invincible that he fears. Unfortunately, I still can't confirm with absolute certainty that my Master is the same Invincible Dugu from the House of the Invincible. And even if I resurrect him, will he remember me? So, for now, my main target is still the House of the Invincible."

"Alright, enough jabbering. Let's get to work. We'll conquer more of these dragon kingdoms, unite them, and get your cultivation base as high as possible. And we need more sage monarch magistrates. Once you're really in the peak Paramount God level, you won't need my help anymore. Furthermore, at that point, you can remove me from the constraints of the God Legion Seal. You can't go back on your word in that regard! Otherwise, I'll get really pissed off."

"No problem," Yang Qi said, although inside he was laughing coldly. He knew that the Second Devil General was diametrically opposed to him. There was no way he would casually free him of the God Legion Seal. The Second Devil General had repeatedly gone back on his word, so there was no reason for Yang Qi to feel obligated to do anything other than the same.

"Proud Mindtravel, let's head back into this dragon kingdom. Call all of the warlords, ministers, and other leaders in one at a time so I can subjugate them. There's no time to lose!" Yang Qi was keeping the Everlit Godlamp under tight control, and doing everything possible to prevent that fact from showing on his face. And the more he kept it under control, the more violently it tried to break free.