Sage Monarch

Of course, Yang Primal-Chaos was under Yang Qi's control, and was speaking at his behest.

In response to his words, faint changes of expression could be seen on the faces of many of the experts present. If Proud Heaven really did get the God Legion Seal, and could use it easily, it would be problematic at best.

"What do you have to say to that, Proud Heaven?" The people from the Dugu Clan weren't giving Proud Heaven even an inch of wiggle room. The truth was that nobody really trusted him. In fact, nobody had ever trusted him, other than trusting that he would be deceitful and cunning.

Meanwhile, Hailan looked over at Yang Primal-Chaos with a piercing gaze, as though she suspected something strange was going on.

That gaze caused Yang Qi's heart to turn cold. This ruthless Hailan was obviously trying to speed things up as much as possible, with the goal being to kill him. Furthermore, she was obviously working together with Yang Voidprime. And if she was the woman from the Nacrelight Sageland that Yang Voidprime had pursued, it meant there was definitely a grand conspiracy afoot.

Of course, even if she was suspicious of Yang Primal-Chaos, it wouldn't do her any good. And she couldn't criticize what he had just said.

"It's true that I once had a piece of the God Legion Seal," Proud Heaven said. He made an innocent-looking gesture by spreading his hands, then continued, "But Yang Qi stole it from me way back in the impure lands. And now he's combined all three pieces. Whatever I do remember of it won't be of any help with the completed version. In any case, we're going to be working together to create a spell formation to trap Yang Qi. It's not as if I can pull any tricks under those circumstances."

"That is true," Hailan said. "We'll be working together to make the spell formation, so he won't be able to do anything tricky to take advantage of us. None of us will."

"Why are you defending Proud Heaven so much, Hailan?" Dugu Sheji said. "This is going to be a major undertaking, and if anything goes wrong, we two smaller dynasties could be wiped out. If Proud Heaven gets the God Legion Seal, he'll definitely use it against us. We have to take precautions."

Eyes flashing coldly, Hailan looked over at Dugu Sheji and said, "Who the hell are you? How dare you talk to me like that?"

"I'm a generalissimo from the House of the Invincible. Dugu Sheji. I honestly can't believe you would dare to insult me like that, floozy." Dugu Sheji was sowing chaos by being intentionally provocative. And while Yang Qi was hiding on Dugu Sheji's person, he wasn't worried about Hailan attacking. If she did, the patriarchs of the Invincible Dynasty would definitely intervene.

"What did you just call me? A floozy?! In all my years no one has ever dared to use that word on me. Alright. Considering you've used such language, you're going to die. And nobody will be able to save you!"

WHOOSH!

All of a sudden, a scepter appeared in her hand, which she swept out in his direction.

Instantly, a glittering blue stream of light shot toward Dugu Sheji, moving with such incredible speed that no one could even track its movement.

"How impudent!" the Heaven-Reaching Dugu said, flicking his sleeve to send a stream of golden light out in front of Dugu Sheji, which took the shape of a bridge that blocked the attack from the scepter. When the two lights clashed, a lamenting clang echoed out.

"I said nobody can save him, Heaven-Reaching Dugu!" Hailan said icily. Then she flicked her finger, causing the scepter to rotate rapidly, boring into the bridge amidst a shower of sparks.

The Heaven-Reaching Dugu immediately staggered backward.

"Very presumptuous, girl," the Heaven-Conquering Dugu said. He waved his finger, and a divine saber appeared, slashing down toward the scepter. When the two connected, a huge shock wave spread out through the Central God-Palace.

"Enough!" Proud Heaven growled. He swept his hand out, and all of the vital energy went still, separating the scepter and saber. After all, he was presiding over the meeting, and this was his territory.

Putting her scepter away, Hailan glared at Dugu Sheji and said, "There's something very suspicious about you, boy. I'm working hard here to smooth out the situation between the three dynasties. But with a single word, you've caused all this trouble. Could it be that you're a spy sent here by Yang Qi?!"

"Like hell I am," Dugu Sheji shouted. "Everyone in the god world knows that Proud Heaven is treacherous and can't be trusted. You're the one who keeps pressuring us to form this alliance, no matter what anyone says. Didn't Yang Voidprime say that Yang Qi is a duck in a cage, with nowhere to run to? We were still in the middle of discussing how to split the profits, but you're rushing everyone to make the final decision. That's what's suspicious. Let me ask you this: what if we do capture him, but his subordinates, who are all under the control of the God Legion Seal, decide to fight to the death? Then what? Do you have some way to control Yang Qi's thoughts? Also, how exactly are we supposed to split up the sage monarch magistrates? Even if Yang Qi is taken captive, as long as he still has the God Legion Seal, how do we control them? We need to talk all of these things over and make smart decisions. Only then can we take action.

"At least, that's my opinion. Obviously the patriarchs here can make their own decisions. But I have years of experience at war, and I can tell you that the bigger the battle, the more you need to plan things out ahead of time. You need to consider all the possibilities, and come up with contingency plans for all of them. As the saying goes, thorough planning defeats cursory planning. If it were up to me, we would draw up a formal battle plan that everyone would swear oaths to follow. Anyone who deviates from the plan will suffer the full wrath of all the patriarchs. Patriarchs, please consider this option!"

Everything Dugu Sheji said seemed to make perfect sense. Important matters shouldn't be rushed.

Even Yang Chiliocosm was nodding in agreement.

"We can't make such an important decision so quickly," said the Heaven-Extinguishing Dugu. "First let's come to an agreement of how to split the profits, and sign a contract with all the details written out. We can even swear blood oaths. That will ensure that things are binding, and nobody can cause mischief. The only way this whole venture will succeed is if we're all working together honestly. If we take the matter lightly, then trouble could result."

Swearing oaths with words meant little.

But having an oath in writing, signed with blood, would ensure that natural laws were part of the matter. Someone who violated an oath like that would find their own blood reacting against them as a result.

"I suggest we also use destiny in the oath," Yang Chiliocosm said. "That way, anyone who violates the agreement will weaken their dynasty's destiny. This tripartite agreement is going to involve all of us using our destiny to full effect. We have to take this matter very seriously! It's much more effective to spend a bit of time upfront than to tackle the matter as a disorganized mob."

"Alright! The Invincible Dynasty is completely willing to use our dynasty's destiny to swear an oath of alliance. After all, we have no intention of stabbing anyone in the back." The nine patriarchs of the Dugu Clan had been worried all along that Proud Heaven would cause mischief, so they were more than willing to go along.

Swearing an oath with destiny would be very effective. Everyone knew that breaking such an oath would cause a decline in their dynasty, which could lead to their ultimate ruin.

That, coupled with the blood aspect of the oath, would ensure that it was stable and trustworthy.

Upon hearing all of this, Yang Qi chuckled inwardly. He had bought the time he needed. These were matters of national security, and the debate over them would definitely take a long time. And by the time they finally reached an agreement, it would be too late for them.

"If we sit around negotiating, Yang Qi is just going to get stronger," Hailan said.

"So what if he does?" said one of the patriarchs from the Central Dynasty. How strong could he possibly get? Once our three dynasties have come to a formal agreement, and are truly united, we'll be strong enough that we could overthrow the old Sovereign Lord if we wanted to, much less this puny Yang Qi. Our dynasties have been around for billions of years, whereas his just popped up. How could he possibly surpass us? Miss Hailan, you really seem to be anxious. Is it that you want to foment discord between us? Or could it be that you're trying to lure us into Proud Heaven's trap? Are you out to harm our two dynasties? Regardless, we're willing to put an oath in writing. This matter is just too serious."

Virtually all the other experts present were nodding their heads in agreement.

The God Legion Seal was at stake, so nobody wanted to be careless. Forming a temporary team and just leaping into the action wasn't the right choice.

"Proud Central needs to sign the oath as well," Yang Chiliocosm said.

"Of course," Proud Heaven said, nodding. "Let's iron out all the details, then we can write up the agreement and sign it." With that, the true discussion began.

'The perfect opportunity!' Yang Qi thought as he listened to the buzz of conversation. Taking advantage of the moment Proud Heaven had unsealed the hall and made contact with Proud Central, Yang Qi turned into a blur and shot out of the meeting hall.

'Now I can finally start looking for the Mahātmā Jade. Although, if it's in Proud Central's hands, that's going to be a big problem. He might even be using it to deal with King Immortal-Slayer. Perhaps that could be an opportunity. If I can take advantage of the right moment, I might be able to free King Immortal-Slayer from the Great Necropolis.'

Now that he was outside of the hall, he cast his senses out to try to identify the location of the jade.

Soon, he had locked on to its aura. However, he didn't blindly rush toward it. After some consideration, he decided to track down the Great Necropolis. Simultaneously, he started building an expression of energy that resembled that of Proud Central.

He had never even seen the man, so it wasn't an easy task. However, Proud Central had made a fatal mistake in allowing Yang Qi to get the Heaven-Burying God Pill. His will had been inside that pill, and although it had been destroyed by the Lord of the Sword Dao, Yang Qi had taken advantage of that moment to absorb some of Proud Central's aura.