Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

By producing an imperial caliber godstone, Yang Qi had immediately seized control of the situation. Worst case scenario, he could just kill everyone who opposed him and replace them.

The disciples present all exchanged awkward glances. They realized that they had miscalculated. Yang Qi wasn’t worried at all about the output of the mine, which meant their threats were completely empty.

Things had gone from bad to worse for them.

They had no trump cards, and thus, what were they to do? Even worse, Yang Qi was obviously so strong that not a single one of them was a match for him. He could clearly kill anyone who opposed him.

So what needed to be done next?

No one had any confidence in their ability to control the situation.

After a long moment, one of the disciples dropped to his knees and said, “Oh exalted Yang Qi, foreman of Mine Thirteen, a person of great moral stature such as yourself will surely overlook the crimes of a scoundrel like me. Please forgive me. I would love to atone for my crimes by performing meritorious acts!”

“Hmph! You fickle bastard!”

One of the nearby disciples, obviously a friend of Huang Weilong, immediately raised his saber overhead to kill the kneeling disciple. Considering how many years Huang Weilong had run things in this mine, it was a given that he had a lot of friends.

However, before the disciple could even finish raising his saber, his head flew off his shoulders.

“Good choice,” Yang Qi said. “Considering you’ve chosen to be loyal to me, there’s no way I’ll let anyone hurt you. The situation here is simple. Follow me and live. Oppose me and die.” He made a beckoning gesture, pulling the disciple toward him. Then he placed his hand on his back, sending a burst of godpower into him that immediately increased his energy levels and pushed his cultivation base to new heights.

The disciple burst out laughing. “My energy arts! I've achieved a breakthrough! Many thanks, Elder Brother, many thanks!” Suddenly baring his teeth, he spun to face two disciples who usually bullied him. “Huo Qin. Lin Sen. You two always pick on me, but now the time has come for me to teach you a lesson! Prepare to die!”

Crash!

An enormous hand of godpower shot forth, crushing the two disciples to death.

“Whoever dares to oppose me and Elder Brother will be killed by me! Elder Brother’s godpower is unmatchable, and he can kill anyone he wants to! What prospects did you have following Huang Weilong? Following Elder Brother Yang Qi is the proper path. All of you need to surrender. Did you see how easily he helped me? He instantly cleared my blocked meridians and restructured my sea of energy. My interior is like a furnace of godpower now, constantly absorbing the vital energy of the godpower for my own use. It’s like I have a never-ending supply of energy! Any of you who refuse to surrender are going to die!”

More clanging sounds could be heard as more disciples dropped their weapons and got on their knees. “Spare us, Elder Brother. Spare us! We deserve to die for our crimes. It was all because of Huang Weilong!”

Huang Weilong’s severed head still had a bit of life left in it. “Spare me, Elder Brother!” he blabbered. “Spare my life! I was possessed. I can work with you! I can—”

RIP!

Yang Qi waved his hand, wiping Huang Weilong’s body out of existence.

“You can’t do this, Yang Qi! Things won’t end well for you if—” Then he screamed as Yang Qi mercilessly set his head on fire and watched as it burned out of existence.

“You’re unparalleled under heaven, Elder Brother!” the other disciples called.

“Hmph! Over the years you embezzled resources and made deals with the disciples of the dao of devils. But that stops now. We're going to work hard to get this mine working at top efficiency, understand? If that doesn’t happen, I’ll execute all of you. Henceforth, everything the mine produces comes to me. I’m going to personally check every bit. I’ll inspect the mine tomorrow. Henceforth, fighting isn’t allowed, and anyone who treats the women badly will be instantly executed. Your concubines and female slaves will all be sent up here to serve as handmaidens. From now on, everyone follows the rules. Got it?”

“Yes, yes of course,” the disciples said. “We’ll send any good looking women to you, Elder Brother.”

Yang Qi declined to comment on that. “Presumably you know where Huang Weilong hid most of the minerals? Hand them over. Now!”

“I know where he hid them,” said the disciple who had been first to surrender. “They’re off in a cave guarded by demonlings he hired. But considering you helped me get stronger, Elder Brother, I should be able to go get them myself.”

“Alright, what's your name?” Yang Qi asked.

“I'm your humble servant Zhang Jufang,” the disciple replied respectfully. [1]

“Do it,” Yang Qi said. “Now that Huang Weilong is dead, you’re in charge. You represent me, and bear my authority to issue orders. Your first task is to go retrieve Huang Weilong’s stash of minerals. If you succeed, I’ll make sure you’re well rewarded.”

“Yes sir! Many thanks for your patronage, Elder Brother!” Turning to some of the other disciples, he raised his voice and said, “On your feet, you lot. We all know that you were close friends of Huang Weilong, so you know his secrets. Take me to the stash and maybe you can atone for the error of your ways. Otherwise, I’ll inflict strict punishment right away.”

Everyone knew that Zhang Jufang was like a dog relying on the influence of its master. But there was no question that he represented a power that no one could defy, so no one dared to defy him.

With that, Zhang Jufang led the group away.

Afterward, the rest of the disciples headed back down the mountain to put the mine in order. Already, Yang Qi could sense the destiny in the mine shifting in his favor.

The destiny here surpassed anything from the mortal world, such as the destiny of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, or even the Sage Monarch League. But that was little wonder. Destiny in the god world was true destiny, whereas that from the mortal world was vague and illusory. It was only when experts became Quasi-Gods that their destiny became truly powerful.

Although there were mid Terrifying experts who were sent to the mines, they generally died fairly quickly, leaving behind only the Quasi-Gods. The mines were simply too dangerous, whether because of demonlings or the environment itself.

Only Quasi-Gods were truly cut out to survive in these mines, and although their lives were miserable, it was better than being dead.

As Yang Qi stood atop the cliff looking down at the mine, he decided he wasn’t interested in making any changes to the overall situation for the miners. They had earned their karma. Some were vicious monsters and criminals, and some were probably innocent. But if he were to just start freeing people, it would likely cause problems of such a large scale that the House of God Ordainment wouldn’t tolerate it.

He was part of a larger system, and the first rule in situations like that was to play the game according to the rules, at least until you were strong enough to dismantle the system and its rules without getting hurt in the process.

Huang Weilong and his people had acted without the slightest scruple, and had broken all sorts of rules. Truth be told, the House of God Ordainment wouldn’t do much about people who challenged their superiors. In fact, if an inferior killed a superior, they would probably praise that person. No one would care if an official disciple killed even ten thousand novice disciples. But if a hundred thousand novice disciples managed to kill even one official disciple, they would pay with their life.

Three days passed, and Zhang Jufang returned triumphantly. He had infiltrated the demonling lair and brought back Huang Weilong’s treasure trove, which contained all sorts of amazing items from the mines.

Generally speaking, fighting was prohibited in the mines, and any who violated such rules were executed. Because of the brutally strict laws, fighting wasn't common. But miners would still occasionally get killed in private duels. The society of the miners was a complicated and brutal one in which people hardly viewed each other as humans. The powerful miners would lord it over the weaker ones, stealing and robbing from them, and occasionally murdering others for profit.

But after Yang Qi took charge, he put an end to such things.

After making all the necessary arrangements, he went back into seclusion.

He was mostly finished reading the Great Classic of God Ordainment. He had studied the rules and regulations of the House of God Ordainment, as well as its history and notable members. It also gave him a deeper understanding of the thousands of continents in the god world. As it turned out, the House of God Ordainment was in a group of the largest several thousand continents. Yet that was just the tip of the iceberg, as far as the god world went. The Great Classic of God Ordainment also contained information about the allies and enemies of the sect, and Yang Qi committed all that to memory. It even mentioned the Proud Clan.

According to the information, it was a very mysterious clan.

‘Supposedly, the original founder of the Proud Clan emerged from the void, and was born out of a shapeless universe. He was a follower of the Sovereign Lord, and was his most mysterious official. When the Sovereign Lord perished, the Proud Clan’s founder went missing. However, his blood ran strong and the clan prospered. The current clan lord is a Consummate God, and will likely break through to become a Paramount God. The Proud Clan has outposts on two thousand continents, but their headquarters is hidden in a mysterious location.’

There was more information that Yang Qi studied, ensuring that he had a very good foundational understanding of the Proud Clan. However, he didn’t see any mention of Proud Heaven.

The Great Classic of God Ordainment contained details about what rewards would come if the foreman surpassed the assigned production quota. If he could hand over high-quality godstones to the sect, he could receive mysterious martial arts manuals, medicinal pills, spell formation techniques, or pill formulas.

‘This is basically the same as in the mortal world. The rewards you get are based on what services you provide.’ From what Yang Qi could tell, sects were the same wherever you went. Whether you were dealing with gods or immortals, the basic rules still tended to be the same.

1. Zhang Jufang: Zhang is a common surname. Ju means “giant, large, enormous” and Fang means “house, room”.