Sage Monarch

The alliance of twenty-eight dragon kingdoms had been a mighty force, but it was crumbling into nothing. Its citizens were deserting like mad, and even the most loyal members could tell that it was time to start making plans for the worst.

Once the citizens of a nation lost their heart, it would be impossible to get back. A massive empire collapsed in no time at all.

Yang Qi himself was simply focusing on making more minor god worlds. The sage monarch magistrates were handling everything else.

The government officials from among the Dragonfolk were also a lot of help, and were very orderly considering they had been trained by the sage monarch magistrates. Although they weren't perfect, they were far better than, for instance, the viceroys from the House of the Invincible.

Yang Qi's destiny burned like the sun, and was so intense that the remaining twenty-two old-timers couldn't possibly stand up to it. He now had the upper hand in everything.

"You've completely lost the initiative," Yang Qi told them. "So what do you have to say for yourselves? It would be foolish for you to just let yourselves die. Your only option now is to acknowledge allegiance to me. Become like the ancient God-Lords who acquiesced to the Sovereign Lord."

"No!" Paragon-King Sage Dragon shouted bitterly. "I won't acknowledge allegiance to you! The Sovereign Lord couldn't force me to do that in ancient times, so how could you possibly do it!?"

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. Just because the Sovereign Lord couldn't do something doesn't mean that I can't. Furthermore, maybe the Sovereign Lord just wasn't really interested in having you as a servant. Look, this is a simple matter. Either acknowledge allegiance, or die. You choose. I'm not a very patient person. I want destiny, and you have a lot of it. And your refusal to surrender is harming the destiny. So if you don't change your mind quickly, don't blame me for being vicious and merciless."

He clenched his hand into a fist, which pulsed with killing energy. Above his head, it was possible to see countless devils, gods, buddhas, demons, and wretch-gods swirling about, slowly merging together until they formed a huge megamammoth.

"No!" one of the old-timers blurted. Lunging forward, he dropped to his knees in front of Yang Qi and started kowtowing. "Stop! Don't attack me! I surrender. I'll acknowledge allegiance! I'll join the Sage Monarch Empire."

"Excellent!" Yang Qi reached out and placed a palm on his head, sending the power of the God Legion Seal into him. This particular old-timer had only recently pushed his cultivation base to the level of ten billion. His name was Buddha Sectduke.

He wasn't an expert who had been around in ancient times, but rather, was a newly-risen genius among the Dragonfolk. Considering he had only just reached his current level, he had absolutely no desire to die, and was already convinced of Yang Qi's superiority.

Another top expert had been subjugated.

Buddha Sectduke.

Yang Qi's cultivation base was again rising, and considering the flows of destiny from the Myriad Dragons Lair, and the net of law, there was no way anyone could possibly resist him. Once the net filled the entire lair, and connected completely with the essence power of the place, he could transform the world with a single word.

Buddha Sectduke's surrender was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The other twenty-one old-timers were now completely crushed, and in the blink of an eye, four of the younger ones flew forward to acknowledge allegiance.

Yang Qi quickly dealt with them using the God Legion Seal.

These were people who weren't so proud that they would rather die than surrender.

"You little bastards!" Paragon-King Sage Dragon shouted. "Have you no spine? Dragonfolk are supposed to be proud! You're not even fit to be dog food! You should be putting everything on the line right now. Self-detonating! Using your secret magics to destroy everything around you! Everyone, join forces. Let's use the most ancient Dragonfolk primal-chaos curse to end this in mutual destruction!"

"Shut the fuck up," one of the old-timers said. "That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard, Paragon-King Sage Dragon. You think that we'll use the power of that curse to blow ourselves up and give you a chance to escape? We've all been in the Myriad Dragons Lair for hundreds of millions of years, do you really think we're that stupid? Following you was a mistake. I should have known from the beginning that this alliance of yours was a bad idea. Brothers, ignore Paragon-King Sage Dragon. Let's join Yang Qi. Even the Second and Third Devil Generals are on his side. If we follow him, maybe we can bring back the glory of the Sovereign Lord."

This particular dragon had been on the receiving end of a lot of pressure from Paragon-King Sage Dragon, and in this critical moment, he chose to turn traitor.

Flying over to Yang Qi, he said, "Exalted Yang Qi, this Paragon-King Sage Dragon is too pig-headed and stubborn. If you imprison him and torture him a bit, maybe he'll acknowledge allegiance to you. But truth be told, I think you should just execute him. His flesh and blood will taste delicious, so as long as I get a mouthful or two, I'm willing to serve you for life."

"Very good." Yang Qi reached out and touched the old-timer's head, subjugating him so that he couldn't offer even the least bit of resistance.

"I'll surrender as well. I'll acknowledge allegiance!"

One by one, the other old-timers were all surrendering.

Yang Qi smiled coldly at how these Dragonfolk feared death. The dragons he had tried to subjugate early on were obviously extremely proud and arrogant, which was why they had resorted to self-detonation. These higher-ranking dragons had apparently manipulated the younger ones into risking life and limb, but when it came to their own life or death, they did things differently.

Before long, only Paragon-King Sage Dragon was left. He was the strongest of them all, and was even superior to the Third Devil General. But for him to be all alone facing Yang Qi made him seem quite lonely and pitiful.

"You're all alone, old man," Yang Qi said. "Why don't you just give in? Are you really going to throw your life away? Dying isn't going to do you any good, and besides, I'm strong enough that I could make it a hard task for you to actually die."

Paragon-King Sage Dragon's face was as white as his robes, and at first he seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, he said, "Oh, how tragic. If I'd known things would happen like this, I would've just joined the Central Dynasty. Then none of this would have happened. I can't believe that I, Paragon-King Sage Dragon, elite genius of the Dragonfolk, would fall to a youngster like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang Qi asked, clasping his hands behind his back. "Are you saying you want to die? In that case, fine. I'll give you that as an option. Your fellow dragons seem interested in devouring your flesh and blood, so maybe I should give you to them as a reward. Go ahead and commit suicide."

In response, Paragon-King Sage Dragon trembled and let out a bitter moan. "I can't believe things are ending like this. We Dragonfolk are proud! Does our honor mean nothing? In the Sovereign Lord's Age, we dragons kept our freedom. Now that the Sovereign Lord is dead, we should be stronger than ever. But with no pressure and no enemies, we've grown weak. Why? Why is all this happening?"

The other old-timers' hearts were thrown into chaos by his words. What he said was right. The Dragonfolk had no true enemies, and no pressure. Instead of advancing by leaps and bounds and taking over the god world, they had ended up in this situation.

"You fought among yourselves like fools, with every dragon out for himself. In the end, you're like nothing more than animals. Look around the god world! There are plenty of animals that have survived for billions of trillions of years, yet haven't changed. Because they're not human. Don't think that just because you can take human form, it makes you human. True humans form groups, spread order, build up power, and create new things. That's what it means to be human. You might look human, but inside, you're animals. Because of that, you can't grow. The Dragonfolk that join me are no longer dragons. In their souls, they've become human."

His words crashed in their ears.

They were weak because, in the end, they were still animals.

That was why, no matter what they looked like on the outside, they could never truly conquer the god world. It was similar to how, in the impure lands, there were plenty of animals that were stronger than people. Yet those animals couldn't create kingdoms or empires. In the end, humans would always be able to wipe them out.

That was the power of order. And of destiny.

"Paragon-King Sage Dragon, I'll give you one last bit of honor. Kill yourself and give your flesh and blood to your companions so they can become true humans."

"No!" Paragon-King Sage Dragon blurted, staggering backward. "Don't eat me. I'm willing to join you! I'll become human."

Thump!

A Dragonfolk old-timer that was as strong as the God-Lords of old suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed.