Sage Monarch

"Stop right there, Proud Heaven!" Hailan said. Sadly, the High Priestess wasn't here to step in and interfere. Proud Heaven had picked the perfect moment to violate her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

He was like a bear pouncing on a helpless rabbit, and in the blink of an eye, Hailan's clothing was being ripped off.

Proud Heaven chuckled evilly as he prepared to satiate his primal desires, and simultaneously force Hailan to become loyal to him. In his belief, the best way to seize the loyalty of a woman was to control her body.

"You're completely shameless, Proud Heaven!" Hailan shrieked.

But in the end, she had to give in....

**

'What's this?' Yang Qi murmured. He had been studying the destiny of the Deathless Heaven Dynasty, and noticed that it suddenly started bubbling madly as it became more united than ever.

He frowned. 'What just happened? The destiny of the Deathless Heaven Dynasty used to be split in two, thanks to Proud Heaven and the High Priestess opposing each other. So why is it united now?'

After examining the destiny more closely, he picked up on some clues.

'The High Priestess' faction was being run by that vicious schemer, Hailan. And the High Priestess just left to see the King of Godmammoths about overthrowing Proud Heaven. Hailan remained behind. Wait, does this mean Proud Heaven somehow subjugated her?'

As Yang Qi looked on with the cool eye of a bystander, he became convinced that that was what had just happened.

If Proud Heaven had subjugated her, the destiny could be united, and the High Priestess would be forced into a dead end. And it would even be possible for Proud Heaven to work out a deal with the King of Godmammoths.

Of course, Hailan was no simpleton. She had a wicked heart, so for all Yang Qi knew, she might have manipulated Proud Heaven for her own advantage, and was now waiting to take everything away from him.

In the impure lands, Yang Qi had dealt with Yun Hailan, who was a will projection of Hailan. Yun Hailan had been crafty and murderous, causing immense trouble for Yang Qi on numerous occasions. If anything, Hailan had to be even more treacherous and deadly than Yun Hailan. So if Proud Heaven was 'subjugating' Hailan, it seemed entirely likely that he was actually falling for her plot.

'Well played. Very well played. Well, while you people are fighting amongst yourselves, I'll have my sage monarch magistrates working on getting stronger and stronger. And my Ascendants will also be working on their cultivation. It won't be long before we surpass the Deathless Heaven Dynasty, and I'll be in a position to conquer everything.'

**

Laughing, Proud Heaven crawled off of Hailan and said, "Now you're my woman. In short order, we'll go through the ceremony to make you empress. Then, we'll take stock of the situation in the empire and put all the resources in order."

As Hailan put her clothes back on, her pupils glittered. "Once I'm the empress, can I use the destiny to step into the half-Annulled level?"

"There isn't enough," Proud Heaven replied. "I'll use the essence of the god world, instead. Now get out of my way so I can make the announcement."

Soon, word was spreading that the emperor had decided to take an empress.

Many eyes went wide.

Hailan was a major enemy of Proud Heaven's faction, and was the representative of the High Priestess. And a lot of people knew that she was Yang Voidprime's woman. But now she was with Proud Heaven? What was going on?

Many people realized that Proud Heaven was striking the High Priestess right in her weak spot. The High Priestess had given control of the faction to Hailan, and now Hailan had switched sides. That meant the High Priestess was now a general with no troops to command.

But why hadn't the High Priestess done something to prevent this? Where exactly was she?

The announcement caused a huge stir as preparations were made for the wedding and coronation.

It only took a day for everyone to hear the news, and for an immense stage to be set up in the middle of the empire. There, Proud Heaven and Hailan appeared, wearing extravagant garments. With the essence of the god world there to bear witness, they were wed.

Everything trembled as numerous supernatural signs appeared, thanks to the essence of the god world. Streams of energy converged on Hailan, surrounding her with dazzling light that seemed befitting of an empress.

"Let the essence of the god world bear witness to the fact that I, Proud Heaven, and Hailan, are now a married couple. Let everyone know that Hailan is the empress, and that together, we rule all creation by means of the Deathless Heaven Dynasty."

RUMBLE!

As the words left his mouth, a deathless energy settled onto Hailan, and her cultivation base rose. Dazzling light shone from her, making it seem like she might well rise all the way to the Annulled level.

However, in the end, she didn't even reach the half-Annulled level. The power she received after becoming the empress left her just shy of that benchmark. That said, she could sense that she now had hope of making that final breakthrough. And her cultivation base was already three times as strong as it had been before.

In the past, it wouldn't have mattered how she tried to further her cultivation, she would never have reached the half-Annulled level. But things were different now.

There was a huge difference between having no hope at all, and having immense hope.

Seeing Hailan's psychic scale rise, Proud Heaven couldn't help but smile. "Hailan, there's only one thing you lack. One thing preventing you from reaching the half-Annulled level."

"And what's that?" Hailan asked, her eyes glittering coldly. The truth was that being violated by Proud Heaven hadn't left her with any feelings at all. On the contrary, it was a humiliation that she would repay with thousands of times the fury she felt right now. She would make sure that Proud Heaven lived a life in which he longed to die! However, for the time being, she had to go along to get what she wanted.

"Simple. The High Priestess' soul. If you get it, you'll definitely reach the half-Annulled level. For now, the High Priestess has no idea that we're working together. But she'll be back, sooner or later. Once she steps inside the borders of the empire, she'll be living on borrowed time. The two of us need to work together to kill her, then you can devour her soul to break through. We're in a dangerous spot right now. If word spreads, and she finds out, it could ruin everything. So let's strengthen the empire while we can. Call a meeting. Have all the old-timers you're connected to come talk about joining me. The stronger the empire's destiny gets, the mightier we'll be. And the essence of the god world will support me more as well. As I fuse the destiny with the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the essence of the god world will provide more and more resources. For some reason, the essence seems more and more determined to get rid of Yang Qi. Apparently, his Everlasting Aegis is a major threat to the god world."

Hailan nodded. "It is. The god needs to absorb primal-chaos paleo-energy to expand. And the Everlasting Aegis does the same thing. They're basically predators competing for the same prey. They're obviously enemies. That said, if the god world can provide more resources for our empire, that's good news. We definitely need to kill the High Priestess as quickly as possible. If she forges an alliance with the King of Godmammoths and the Demon Master, it'll make things difficult for us."

"Don't worry. They're all dead! The essence of the god world supports me, and when the moment comes, it'll help me crush all my enemies." Proud Heaven laughed. "Alright, let's begin."

Streams of energy coursed through the dynasty with sky-obfuscating, land-enshrouding force. One by one, all of the various factions were coming under Proud Heaven's control. Apparently, forcing Hailan onto his side had been a good move, and Proud Heaven was very pleased with how things were playing out.

**

'So, he's starting,' Yang Qi thought as he observed the changes to the destiny in Proud Heaven's empire. 'Now I just need to wait for Proud Heaven and the High Priestess to clash. There's no way the High Priestess can come back from this. She's a general with no troops to command, and once the fighting breaks out, one of them will die for sure. If the High Priestess really doesn't know what's happened, then Proud Heaven will definitely come out on top. Meanwhile, I'll be waiting to take advantage of this battle between a dragon and a tiger.'

Yang Qi could tell that Proud Heaven was getting rid of the factions in his empire just by observing. Yang Qi could also see the aegis forming there, and how it connected to the essence of the god world to create resources.

The Everlasting Aegis could produce resources, and now Proud Heaven was accomplishing the same thing. In fact, it could produce even more resources than the Everlasting Aegis.

The god world wanted to get rid of the parasite that was Yang Qi, thus it was giving immense power and help to Proud Heaven.

Yang Qi chuckled. "The essence of the god world is giving Proud Heaven a lot of help. Apparently, it doesn't realize how much of an ungrateful and vicious person he is. When the time comes, he's definitely going to use the Great Necropolis to devour the god world. Now to see how things work out with the High Priestess and the King of Godmammoths."