Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had subdued four deadly monsters.

However, their oaths would only temporarily bind them. There was no way creatures like them would ever willingly serve a human, thus it was only a matter of time before they went back on their word. Monsters in general couldn’t be trusted, at least, not unless he summoned them via his Hell Portals.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi could not yet summon nightmarish experts such as them.

His current limit was Chaos God fiend-devils. And even with the Chaos Gods, he couldn’t summon any fiend-devil that had progressed past the third or fourth minor stair. The four suzerains were so far beyond that level that their auras already resembled that of the Deathless Heavenly Stairway. So it was obvious that Yang Qi couldn’t summon them through his Hell Portals.

He would have to wait until he reached a higher level for that.

Perhaps when he reached the next level, he would even be able to summon fallen wretch gods. Unfortunately, the wretch gods likely didn’t even exist anymore. After the tribulation had struck in the Primeval Age, all of the gods either died, entered nirvana, or vanished.

Although the god Brahma still existed, his godhood was shattered and he was gasping on death’s door like a candle flickering in the wind.

Having sworn his oath, Devil Lord Wave Wind was much more respectful. “Young Sir, what orders do you have for us? Should we just go take out the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court right away?”

Of course, in his heart he was already plotting and scheming against Yang Qi. Not that Yang Qi didn’t realize that.

“We don’t do anything for now. Wait until the day comes for me to duel Sectlord Nine Yangs. Then, in front of all the important people in the Dao Defense League, we’ll crush the four emperors. That’s when I’ll seize ultimate control.

“I don’t want to take out the emperors in the dead of night when no one knows what's going on. What would be the point of that? I want to make a big impression. Put on a show! Utterly defeating them will make sure no one dares to set themselves against me going forward.”

“Your machinations are beyond comprehension, Young Sir,” the suzerains said in what was obvious flattery. They were fiend-devils who had climbed mountains of corpses and swum through seas of blood to reach their current level of power. They knew how to be flexible, and how to focus fully on their own benefit.

“What do we do now, Young Sir?” Patriarch Annalist said, not bothering to even look at the fiend-devils.

“We leave,” Yang Qi replied coolly. “There’s not much time, and we need to further our cultivation. I have a very important technique that I haven’t pushed to the consummate level. Once I do, I’ll be strong enough to think about walking the Ancient Road to the Gods.”

“What about the four suzerains?”

“Leave them here for now. But keep an eye on them and report to me if they do anything noteworthy. If they try anything funny, I’ll kill them all, even if they run to the Ancient Road to the Gods to try to escape me.”

With that, Yang Qi and Patriarch Annalist vanished.

After they were gone, the four suzerains exchanged wry glances and began transmitting a conversation.

“What do we do?” Suzerain Mahānata said hatefully. “Do we really have to follow his orders like slaves? Or do we just figure out a way to take him out?”

“No, he’s too strong,” Devil Lord Wave Wind said, frowning. “Even if we were to join forces with the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court, we wouldn’t be able to deal with him. And working with the emperors would be too dangerous. Besides, it’s not as if we really like them anyway. We were planning to kill them sooner or later.”

“But at least when we were still working with the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court, we had the option of serving our own interests. Right now we’re like slaves! We’ve never been in this position before! It’s a total shame and humiliation!”

“When you stand under low eaves, you have no choice but to bow your head. But we’ll have a chance to make a comeback. For now, we go along with Yang Qi. Follow his orders. Who knows, maybe when he fights the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court, we can strike a blow on all of them and turn the situation to our advantage.”

“I doubt that. Yang Qi is too clever. He’ll definitely make us take the lead in the fighting.”

“Well, we can still turn on him at any time. So let’s just wait and see what happens. Go through the motions and hold back any true aid.”

“I agree. Go through the motions, nothing more. Then, in the critical moment, we stab him in the back!”

Outside of the Unrestrained Heaven, Patriarch Annalist said, “Young Sir, why didn’t you just kill those four monsters? I refuse to believe we can trust them. Turning traitor is part of their nature.”

“Of course I want to kill them. Just not now. My Engine of the One God is running low on power, which means that I could probably only have taken down one of them, leaving the other three alive to cause problems. At least for now I have their nominal support, which puts the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court at a disadvantage. After I handle the emperors, I can put an end to the suzerains.”

Yang Qi chuckled coldly. “It's the four emperors I'm most worried about, considering that my energy arts are less effective against them. Plus, I know that they’re all working on an important energy art, and if they succeed in cultivating it to completion they’ll be extremely powerful. In fact, I might not be able to beat them in a fight at that point. Of course, neither would they be able to do anything to me. At least I would then be viewed as the top expert in the Dao Defense League. That would earn me the loyalty of more of the top factions, making me even more powerful overall. With loyalty comes destiny, and destiny is the greatest power there is. Win the hearts of men, and you can be unparalleled under heaven. Right now, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven is the league-lord, but he hasn’t won the hearts of the people. As for me, I could already feel destiny inching toward me when I created the Army of Radiance and Light.”

“Ah, no wonder I can sense your destiny burning so hotly, Young Sir,” Patriarch Annalist said. “My All-Eternity Spring-Autumn Annalist God-Dao Scripture makes me particularly sensitive to such matters.”

Destiny came from the hearts of men, and the hearts of men mirrored the heart of heaven.

“Come, we need to go back and prepare for whatever the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court are planning.”

“By the way, Young Sir, do you want me to spy a bit on the four emperors? I know the location of their lair out in primal-chaos. If you want, I can go get some information. You know the saying: if you know yourself and know your enemy, you’ll always be victorious.”

“Oh?” Yang Qi nodded. “Yes, I would be interested in that. However, I have to go into seclusion right now to combine the might of the Engine of the One God, the Aeonic God Temple, and King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans. Otherwise, I'm going to have problems drawing on the full power of my cultivation base.”

With that, he headed into the depths of the Sage Monarch Heaven and went into seclusion.

As for Patriarch Annalist, he began gathering disciples in the Sage Monarch Heaven and teaching them about his great dao. Obviously, people would flock to learn from him, considering he was essentially on the same level as the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court.

Although Patriarch Annalist was doing his best to keep his identity secret, word quickly spread that Yang Qi had recruited a powerful old-timer. The aura of the Army of Radiance and Light weighed down with mountainous force, and people quickly came to the conclusion that this new recruit was someone as powerful as the four emperors.

There were even other old-timers who joined the Army of Radiance and Light.

Meanwhile, out in primal-chaos, the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court had gathered together. Despite being the league-lord, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven wasn’t able to keep on top of everything that went on in the Dao Defense League and had no idea about the latest developments.

The other three Grand Emperors were also there working on their cultivation: Grand Emperor Myriadmagic Heavenspan, Grand Emperor Ninelimits Paragon, and Grand Emperor Heavenearth Vastocean.

The four Grand Emperors sat in spots corresponding to the four cardinal directions, and in the middle of them was a corpse!

It looked both human and beastlike, yet was neither human nor beast. And although it was dead, it emanated a powerful energy field. The primal-chaos around it continued to be absorbed by the corpse, as though it were some innate function of the creature.

The four emperors’ hands flashed with magical signs, and red energy constantly flowed above their heads, pouring into the beast-like corpse.

“Keep going!” Grand Emperor Myriadmagic Heavenspan said, “Pour all of the universal fortune you can into this beast king corpse that tumbled out of the Ancient Road to the Gods. Once he awakens, we’ll strike like lightning and take control of him. With the power of a Lesser God at our disposal, we can dominate all the immortal worlds! We’ll be invincible! It's taken us years to reach this point, and now thanks to you, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, we have much more destiny to work with!”