Sage Monarch

'So, this is the universe the Joyflower Palace created here in the Great Necropolis?' Yang Qi was shocked by the endless universe of flowers and petals. When he inhaled, he sensed the fragrance of seemingly infinite flowers and could feel surging vital energy flowing through him.

The Cruiser of Civilization immediately reacted.

[Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. Heterogeneous power detected. Soft and feminine power from the god world, perfect for use by female cultivators but unsuitable for males. Males who absorb this vital energy long-term will transform physically and on the level of their soul. They will become neither male nor female, and will likely never be able to recover.]

'Oh? This Myriad Flowers True Energy is pretty incredible. Thankfully, King Heaven-Devourer's talismans can refine any type of true energy into something I can use. So this stuff shouldn't affect me at all.' He immediately called on the talismans to devour the incoming true energy and transform it into Heaven-Devouring śarīras, each of which seemed to contain a myriad of flowers. Yang Qi then used the fire of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to melt the śarīras, causing an immensely powerful type of true energy to fill him.

A moment later the power assessment systems chimed in.

[Having been converted, this true energy is now mild and peaceful, and can be used to neutralize even the most powerful yang-type true energy.]

'Perfect. It seems I'll really be able to flex my muscles in the Joyflower Palace. Do these women really think they can outdo me?' He chuckled coldly in his heart, now more confident than ever that few people in the Joyflower Palace would actually be a threat to his life. Of course, the legendary empress was obviously high on that list.

Carefully sending out some of his will, he could tell from the fluctuations emanating out of the palace of flowers that there were many experts with power indexes of five hundred or greater, perhaps even above a thousand. Unless he planned to make a getaway with the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, it would be dangerous to directly search for the palace's treasure storehouse.

"We've arrived," one of his escorts said. "This is the Joyflower Palace, located in the very center of the Universe of Flowers. That's the central palace up ahead, but of course you don't qualify to enter it. Understand? Men aren't allowed there, and any found inside are executed!"

Yang Qi nodded to show that he had heard, and even plastered a look of terror on his face that seemed to please the two women.

"After you've officially been appointed as a god-general," the second escort said, "you can't just go wherever you like in the Universe of Flowers. In fact, you can't go anywhere until you receive orders. For now, we'll take you to the planet of flowers occupied by the god-generals. Someone there will tell you what to do going forward."

She pulled out a spirit talisman that directed them to a thrumming teleportation portal. After stepping onto it, they were whisked away to one of the many flower planets.

It was enormous, at least as large as a twentieth ranked immortal world. It had rivers, oceans, and other beautiful scenery. However, what was most noteworthy was how the surface of the planet featured numerous enormous prisons, all of them filled with men.

The men were clearly incarcerated, but somehow didn't look like prisoners. Most of them sat around chatting, clad in suits of armor. However, when they saw the two women approaching, expressions of fear flitted across their faces.

"These are the god-generals," one of his escorts said. "They handle minor affairs here in the Joyflower Palace."

"Uh…" Yang Qi said, looking surprised. "Are they prisoners?"

"You could say that. The god-generals are all men who refused to follow the commands of the Joyflower Palace out on the Ancient Road to the Gods, or even fought against us. Technically, it's a barracks, not a prison. Anyway, this is where you'll live from now on, got it?"

Apparently, the women expected him to get angry, but instead he cringed and said, "But why? Why do you do things this way?"

The two young women exchanged glances, and they were both thinking the same thing. 'This guy is such a weakling! He's never been on the Ancient Road to the Gods, so upon seeing truly powerful people, he's scared out of his mind. How did he ever become the league-lord of that so-called Dao Defense League? Well, his true energy is impressive. Although, why did the Cipher-Devil Sword Sect ever agree to work with him? In any case, it will only be a matter of time before we get the chance to suck his true energy dry.'

"It doesn't matter," one of the escorts said. "You're a god-general now, and you rank higher than most of the people here. In fact, your quarters are a bit larger." Smiling coldly, the two women led him to a rather large building just in front of the main barracks.

There were other men there, all of them with power indexes of fifty or higher, and a few who were over a hundred. All of them were famous people on the Ancient Road to the Gods, but now they were essentially prisoners of the Joyflower Palace. As for the men in the other 'barracks', they all had power indexes of less than fifty.

When the two women landed in front of the building, a host of men flew out from inside, all of them pulsing with incredible auras. They wore brightly-colored robes, and not a single one of them had any facial hair. In fact, they emanated strange auras that smacked of both yin and yang, indicating that they were probably eunuchs. For some reason, Yang Qi got the impression that they were all twisted individuals.

The eunuchs approached, and as Yang Qi looked over them, he identified one of the higher-ranking ones who had a power index of over two hundred, which was roughly the same level as himself.

The high-ranking eunuch stepped forward and offered a respectful salute. Obviously, his high power index hadn't done anything to change the fact that he had a very low ranking compared to the two young women. "Young Ladies, are you here on the orders of Her Majesty, Flower Goddess Purity?"

"That's right, Eunuch Tian," one of the women said. "This is the league-lord of the Dao Defense League from the mortal world, who received a blessing from the Cipher-Devil Sword Sect. He has incredible true energy and fighting prowess. Elder Sister Purity ordered us to escort him here for you to instruct and teach. He's a god-general, and will soon be promoted to the position of court eunuch. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Eunuch Tian replied. "Your humble servant will follow all of your orders down to the last detail, Young Ladies. Incidentally, here are a few gifts that I hope you can pass along to Miss Purity. Of course, we've included gifts to you two as well, to thank you for all your hard work."

Eunuch Tian waved his hand and two of the lower-ranking eunuchs rushed forward with arms full of boxes, all of which pulsed with such immense godliness that it was obvious they contained a host of valuable items.

The two escorts nodded. "Since you understand how to be tactful, we won't nitpick. Just don't forget that, with a single word from us, you'll suffer the misery of soul absorption."

"We know full well that when you lead the god-generals out into the Great Necropolis, you always find plenty of valuable loot. In the future, you need to share more with us. Elder Sister Purity is working on an important task, and when she's finished she'll definitely earn a lot of favor in the eyes of the empress. In fact, she'll likely be promoted. The more you curry favor with her, the better things will turn out for you. Understand?"

"Yes, yes of course!" Eunuch Tian said. "We'll do our best to curry even more favor!"

Suddenly, a silver key appeared in his hand, which he used to open the gate of the main barracks. Smiling viciously at Yang Qi, he said, "Since Miss Purity has ordered me to take care of you, I'll do just that, boy. As a god-general, make sure you work hard and fight well on your missions, understand? Eventually, you'll become a court eunuch working for me. If you stick close to me, we can rise through the ranks of the Joyflower Palace and eventually earn a high position in the god world."

As the words left his mouth, he flicked his sleeve, causing a stream of energy to sweep out and send Yang Qi into the prison barracks. Then the door slammed shut.

"Stay put and follow orders," one of the escorts said to Yang Qi. "You'll get a mission soon enough. In the meantime, use that Myriad Transformations Energy Pearl to absorb the Myriad Flowers True Energy of this universe. If you don't, you'll end up in immense pain and will be unable to expel the energy."

"If you serve the Joyflower Palace loyally," the other escort said, "you'll benefit greatly."

Yang Qi made himself look crestfallen and completely at a loss for words.

Chuckling, the two women flew away.

Afterward, Eunuch Tian looked back at Yang Qi and simultaneously addressed one of the lower-ranking eunuchs. "Little Wang, it seems to me this punk is being a bit defiant. Have some of the other god-generals teach him a good lesson! Make sure he fully acknowledges allegiance! Just make sure not to kill him. Furthermore, he looks like he might be a good 'cultivation vessel,' so it's entirely possible he might catch the eye of some of the other flower goddesses. That's only further reason to be careful with him."

"Understood," the lower-ranking eunuch said. "Don't worry, this isn't my first time handling situations like this." Long ago, this lower-ranking eunuch had been a Grand Emperor on the Ancient Road to the Gods, but after being captured and dealt with by the Joyflower Palace, he was now quite servile.

Yang Qi immediately understood the situation.

Obviously, the empress and her people were freaks, and were using practices common in the mortal world to deal with mighty Grand Emperors. It was clear that they must hate men in general, otherwise they wouldn't use these methods.

However, as the saying went, if you can't do anything about the situation, you might as well sit back and enjoy it. And in the end, he could always escape with the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart if he absolutely had to. He could also use the Cruiser of Civilization to create a power double to remain behind as a decoy.

The prison was huge, a veritable continent, and there were a lot of men populating it, all of them Grand Emperors who had been captured on the Ancient Road to the Gods.

After all, the population of the Ancient Road to the Gods surpassed that of the Present Age, the Future Age, and the Primeval Age all put together. It was a true battlefield, a complete hodgepodge of good and bad people.

As soon as the gate closed behind Yang Qi, plenty of people looked over at him. Some of them simply glanced at him and then went back to meditation and breathing exercises. Some glared at him malevolently, as though they already wished to give him a vicious beating. Others were clearly interested in killing him and absorbing his cultivation base. Some seemed genuinely interested in befriending him.

Just about every attitude possible was present.

These were the god-generals, each and every one of them a prisoner.

He found a place to sit down, whereupon a group of people approached. "Brother, how did you end up here? The prisons of the Joyflower Palace are very dangerous places!"