Sage Monarch

Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka had appeared, surrounded by magnificent golden light and zen chanting. Buddhist dragons swirled around him, and the convergence of faith and destiny around him caused flowers to rain down constantly. He was surrounded by dazzling white light and made everyone want to look at him.

Sadly, to the people from the Sage Monarch Empire, he seemed as laughable as a child playing house.

They had all been born again through fire recently, reaching a level that made Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka seem like little more than a toy.

"Buddha-Lord," Yang Susu said, "we didn't bring the armies of the Sage Monarch Empire here to listen to bullshit. So enough of your games. We want more experts to strengthen our empire, so don't even think of trying to take advantage of us. Did you think we didn't know how many Demonfolk, Devilfolk, and wretch-gods you've purified? That's how you expanded your destiny and prestige. Sadly, the Sage Monarch Empire can't permit you to grow any further. So I'm going to count to three. If you haven't surrendered by then, we'll grind you into powder."

"Oh Boundless Buddha. You people are really pushing things too far. Our buddhist kingdom is no threat to you. We've pledged our life to spiritual pursuits!"

"We've pledged to spiritual pursuits! We've pledged to spiritual pursuits! We've pledged to spiritual pursuits!"

"We've pledged to spiritual pursuits!"

Countless buddhist believers all started chanting, creating a thunderous roar.

Destiny surged, making it obvious they weren't going to back down.

"Well, I guess we have no choice, then," Jadefall said, shaking her head. "You people really are just too stubborn. I can't believe you'd profane the majesty of the Sage Monarch Empire this way. We defeated the three dynasties and shook the god world! Our armies defeat anyone they face. It seems we're really going to have to wipe you out of existence. Prepare the Tribulation Monarch Cannons!"

BUZZ!

The sage monarch magistrates revealed their cannons, then massive waves of white light rumbled forth, slamming into the golden destiny of the Buddhist Empire and shattering their defenses.

Shouts of rage rose from the buddhist believers.

"Kill them!" Yang Susu said coldly, and the army flooded forth.

From high above, the Buddhist Empire looked like an enormous golden egg, while the army of the Sage Monarch Empire was like a long sword slashing toward it.

"You people are being intolerable bullies! Compassion cometh from Buddha, but we also know how to slaughter devils!" Expression twisting viciously, Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka extended his arm and shouted, "Disciples, get into the Mandala Formation. Summon the aegis!"

As they got into various formations, flower petals appeared, forming together into the shape of an enormous lotus flower. Then, countless buddhas appeared on the flower, shining with golden light as they muttered enchantments that flowed forth to meet the incoming army.

"Flowers Bloom to Reveal Buddha; Buddha Chants Dhāraṇī Incantations!"

"What kind of crap is this supposed to be?" Expressions of disdain could be seen on the faces of Jadefall, Yang Susu, the Shepherd, and others. This was far less than they had dealt with when fighting the three dynasties.

"Sword of the Dao of Heaven; Exact Punishment!"

Whizz!

Backed by destiny, the army took the shape of a huge sword, which slashed into the dhāraṇī incantations, destroying them. Then, the sword changed into the shape of a boat that looked exactly like the Halls of Heaven.

It was yet another formation.

The Halls of Heaven could conquer every obstacle!

As the army slashed into the lotus flower, wreaking destruction along the way, countless buddhas were sucked into the boat and were taken captive.

"Hand of the One God!"

By using the formations, the soldiers in the boat were able to summon a huge hand that could grasp universes, much less this Buddhist Kingdom. Wherever the hand went, the buddhas became streams of golden light that were sucked inside and bound captive.

"Damn you!" Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka shouted. "How could this be happening?! We can't even stand up to a single charge? Is my Buddhist Empire that inferior to the Sage Monarch Empire? I refuse to believe it! The buddhist schools are foreordained to conquer the god world! Even the essence of the god world trusted in us!"

Sadly for him, he couldn't stop the Hand of the One God from grabbing him.

He struggled, but it was completely useless, and he immediately felt like everything around him was spinning dizzyingly. He had a psychic scale of a hundred billion, yet it didn't do him any good. Not even the half-Annulled High Priestess had dared to risk tangling with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire. And now that the destiny had been bolstered by the Sovereign Lord's ocean of faith, it was vastly beyond anything an ordinary empire could handle.

As of now, the three dynasties couldn't do anything but hunker down and wait. They couldn't attack, and the High Priestess couldn't risk going out and being ambushed. If she got captured or killed, it would be a huge disaster.

Twenty hours later, the Buddhist Empire was completely conquered.

Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka was tightly bound, his face a mass of despair. Even after being dragged before Yang Susu for an audience, he still couldn't believe what was happening. "Twenty hours? It only took twenty hours for my entire Buddhist Empire to be taken over? There wasn't even a bloodsoaked last stand? Why? Is the Sage Monarch Empire really that strong? What happened to the High Priestess? She should've shown up to do something! I can't believe you weren't worried about her."

As it turned out, he thought his empire was as safe and stable as Mount Tai. He had assumed that because the High Priestess and the three dynasties had clashed with Yang Qi and the Sage Monarch Empire, there would be time to develop while everyone licked their wounds.

But now this had happened.

"The High Priestess?" Jadefall said. "You think she's omnipotent or something? Our Emperor Yang Qi controls the Halls of Heaven, from where he can look down on the whole god world. Even the almighty entities of ancient times are nothing compared to him. In fact, we can use the teleportation portals in the Halls of Heaven to go to any location in the god world! Not even the High Priestess can deal with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire. If she tried, she would only end up dead and buried."

"I submit. I submit!" Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka shrieked. He knew had no other choice than to accept his fate.

"Go. Take the buddhist captives back to the Sage Monarch Empire." With the command given, the army took the captive buddhas and left. The Buddhist Kingdom had disappeared just like that. However, there were now new kingdoms popping up in the Sage Monarch Empire.

Everything had proceeded very smoothly.

The Sage Monarch Empire was now truly on the path of conquering the god world. They needed a bigger population, and they were going to take it by force. After all, they needed more destiny. With more destiny came more nobility.

In fact, the nobility represented the destiny, and no one could face the nobility of the Sage Monarch Empire without their hearts pounding. Even the top old-timers knew that this was probably the best time to join the Sage Monarch Empire.

In the past, they had been waiting to see how things played out with the three dynasties. But now it seemed obvious. They all wanted to be an official who follows someone's rise from a lower rank to that of an emperor, so they needed to act before it was too late.

Yang Qi's friends and family were in the middle of discussing what to do now that the Buddhist Empire was taken care of when people came with a report.

"We have news! A large number of confucian colleges have come to join us. They are all groups that have lived in seclusion for many years. Now they're coming in waves. They have a population of roughly five quadrillion. Should we ordain them as nobility, or do something else?"

"Five quadrillion confucians?" Yang Susu said. "And they're all powerful old-timers? I wonder how many God-Lords they have? You take care of the details. We'll wait for His Majesty to return and make a decision. Tell them that he's in the Halls of Heaven, breaking through to the half-Annulled level. Once he succeeds, not even the Sovereign Lord would be a match for him. The nobility are like weapons, and we don't have the right to make decisions in that regard. Besides, we can't just appoint newcomers as nobility. They'll understand. Just give them some gifts in the meantime."

"Why don't we go meet them personally," Jadefall said. "You know, treat the virtuous men courteously and the scholars with respect. If we give them some gifts from the Halls of Heaven, it'll earn their trust and loyalty."

"That's fine. But first we need to see how many God-Lords they have. How many are there?"

"They have a total of eight hundred, as well as three with psychic scales of a hundred billion."