Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi and the Second Devil General were working together to intercept and defeat Buddha Shockheaven.

His Dragonfolk kingdom was already a thriving place. It had amazing destiny that Yang Qi knew he could use to create fabulous magical treasures and amazing sage monarch magistrates, not to mention significantly improving his cultivation base.

As he got more sage monarch magistrates, they not only provided purer and more powerful godly might, but could also be used to create destiny. The magistrates were his government officials, and since he used them to shape and control destiny, they were crucial to everything.

His current plan was to subjugate Buddha Shockheaven, then slowly take over his kingdom. By taking control of the explosive destiny, he was certain he could push his over one hundred thousand sage monarch magistrates to the level of two or three hundred thousand or more.

Not only that, he could improve the magistrates’ cultivation bases.

Right now, each magistrate was an early Paramount God. It was only logical that, while godly might could be used to produce more of the magistrates, it would take destiny to improve their overall level.

So in this case, he was really killing two birds with one stone.

There was nothing that would deter Yang Qi from taking advantage of his situation. He absolutely wasn’t going to waste time on the Second Devil General’s “Dragon Compendium”, or his original plan of slowly conquering various Dragonfolk kingdoms. In fact, it was entirely possible that he could use this destiny to directly vanquish the general.

“Who are you people?” Buddha Shockheaven said, staring intently at the Second Devil General while simultaneously waiting in combat readiness.

“The reason I’ve blocked your path today, Buddha Shockheaven,” the Second Devil General said, “is that I want to help you. I know the Central Dynasty threatened your kingdom. They say they want you to join them, but the truth is that you’ll be nothing but a slave. And if their army comes, they’ll chop you to mincemeat. That’s why you've gone to seek the help of other Dragonfolk experts. You want to form an alliance to fight the Central Dynasty, don’t you? Unfortunately, such efforts are pointless. Even if all of the Dragonfolk old-timers stand up to the Central Dynasty, you won’t win. The only chance you have is to join me in opposing them.”

The Second Devil General spoke in such a supercilious way that anyone would get pissed off just hearing him. And of course, Buddha Shockheaven was already enraged past the boiling point.

“Looking to die?!”

RUMBLE!

He launched an attack that caused wild winds to whip everywhere, and sent blinding light out along with deafening rumbling sounds.

“God Dragon Sunders Heaven!”

It was a fiery fist technique of the Dragonfolk, and it was designed to kill the opponent without mercy. It created an enormous god dragon, shaking its head back and forth with rage as it shot forward with the power to sunder heaven.

This move was considered a quintessential expression of what it meant to be Dragonfolk, and it was one of Buddha Shockheaven’s rare, consummate arts.

However, the Second Devil General simply flicked his finger.

Twang. Strum.

A sound thrummed out like a devilish zither, accompanied by musical symbols from the Devilfolk. They shot toward the god dragon, which subsequently exploded, having been completely wiped out of existence by the Second Devil General.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Buddha Shockheaven staggered backward, his eyes gleaming with shock. Never in his wildest dreams could he have guessed that, given the level of his cultivation base, his attack would be defeated as easily as blowing some dust off the shoulder. What cultivation level would it take to do that?

“You...” he said, looking astonished. “Who are you?” He was even considering just running away. However, before he could, a net appeared, an overlapping of radiance and light that contained some of the complex destiny of the House of the Invincible.

“Trying to run, Buddha Shockheaven?” It was Yang Qi. He had finished setting up the spell formation, which meant that flight would now be very difficult for Buddha Shockheaven. Everyone knew that to catch brigands, first catch their chief, and now Buddha Shockheaven was stuck like a turtle in a jar. With him captured, conquering his kingdom was going to be very easy.

“You're from the House of the Invincible?” Buddha Shockheaven said, having sensed that energy.

“Yes,” Yang Qi replied. “We’re from the House of the Invincible. But at the same time, we're not. Precisely speaking, the House of the Invincible belongs to us. In any case, congratulations, Buddha Shockheaven. You’ve won the grand prize. The person who blocked your path is the magnificent Second Devil General. He wants to join forces with you to conquer the Myriad Dragons Lair. So get on your knees and offer him your allegiance. It’ll be much better than working for the Central Dynasty.”

“Second Devil General?” Buddha Shockheaven looked over at him, even more astonished than before to have a fiendish monster from the past standing right in front of him. “Second Devil General, sir, you shouldn't be opposing us! The original devil-dragon patriarch of the Dragonfolk was the—”

“Cut the crap and surrender!” the Second Devil General interrupted loudly, making it more than obvious that he was trying to hide something. Of course, Yang Qi knew full well that the Second Devil General was worried Buddha Shockheaven might reveal the fact that the Third Devil General was a devil-dragon.

“Devil Souls Fill Creation!”

Clearly unwilling to leave anything to chance, the Second Devil General launched a deadly attack filled with devilish soul projections that almost immediately blotted out the sky. And he wasn’t done.

“Devilish Specters; Ghost Imprisonment!”

“Heaven and Earth Create Devils!”

“Original Sin of Ancient Devils!”

“Lack the Devil; Lack the Heart!”

“Lack the God; Lack the Ghost!”

He unleashed a whole succession of attacks, finally giving Yang Qi a good idea of what a boundless and invincible king among devils was capable of. His every move thrummed with devil energy, and combined, they created a complicated web that seemed to lock Buddha Shockheaven into a position of certain death.

“Dragons Dominate the Nine Prefectures!”

“Dragons Soar over Four Seas!”

“March of Dragons in Heaven and Earth!”

“Dragons Devour the Sun and Moon!”

“Dragons Guzzle the Ocean!”

“Dragons Return to Myriad Worlds!”

“Dragon Coiled around a Thousand Mountains!”

Buddha Shockheaven wasn’t going to just give in. He howled with rage as he unleashed the most consummate battle abilities and martial disciplines contained in the genes and instincts of the Dragonfolk. Such things were not to be looked down on.

However, when it came to substructure, random dragons couldn’t possibly measure up to the Second Devil General.

The general’s devil abilities crushed Buddha Shockheaven’s Dragonfolk arts, and devil energy raged about in the surrounding parts of the Myriad Dragons Lair.

“Devil Heart!”

The pulsing heart of a devil appeared, negating any effects of dragonization. In fact, the devil energy was so incredible that Yang Qi knew it could devilize even him, if he didn't have the Mahātmā Jade to protect him, as well as the God Legion Seal to back it up.

The Second Devil General was obviously capable of some amazing things.

BAM!

The enormous devil heart crushed down onto Buddha Shockheaven, who was so overwhelmed he couldn’t do anything, not even think.

In that moment, Yang Qi drew on the power of the Mahātmā Jade, sending it out to seal the devil heart. Then he stepped forward and sent the power of the God Legion Seal stabbing into Buddha Shockheaven’s head.

“Damnation, boy! The only reason you don’t fear my devil heart is because of the Mahātmā Jade! It can negate any devil technique! It was created by countless mahātmās from the dao of devils, and now I can see how truly terrifying it is! Not even my billions of years of attempts to assimilate it did me any good.” The Second Devil General was obviously furious that he had failed in his attempt to take personal control of Buddha Shockheaven. After all, he wasn’t in the House of the Invincible, so it should have been an easy task. Except Yang Qi interfered.

A moment later, Buddha Shockheaven sagged weakly.

Chuckling darkly, Yang Qi said, “You tried to use your animadestiny devil heart to control him, eh Second Devil General? What level has that ability of yours reached? The Eternal level? Deathless level? Undying level? Dao-Equalization level? World-Creation level?”

There were many types of devil hearts, and they came in all sorts of levels and grades. And because Yang Qi knew all about the dao of devils, it made it easy for him to make fun of the Second Devil General. [1]

“So, boy, you've subjugated Buddha Shockheaven. Well, you must have some plan up your sleeve. Hurry up and get working on it!”

The Second Devil General obviously wasn’t interested in a debate.

“Alright!” Yang Qi sent his will piercing into Buddha Shockheaven, who then rose to his feet in shock.

“So, it’s you. You’re the bearer—”

“No jibber-jabber,” Yang Qi interrupted. “I have work for you. Go back to your sect with us at your side. Call the ministers in one by one and say you want to have personal discussions with all of them. We’ll subjugate them and take control of the destiny of the Dragonswarm Society.”

“Yes, of course,” Buddha Shockheaven said. He had fallen completely under Yang Qi’s control, and couldn't do a thing to defy him.

Thus, Yang Qi took the Second Devil General and Buddha Shockheaven back to the Dragonswarm Society’s kingdom.

There, a great purge began.

The officials were surprised to see their leader back so soon. Then, he immediately started summoning them to secret meetings. They eagerly lined up outside his study, certain that they were going to be rewarded in some manner. And that in turn led many people to believe that there was now hope for their situation.

1. To be clear, the levels of devil hearts mentioned here have never been mentioned before, nor will they be again.