Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The King of Godmammoths and the Demon Master had both made their debut. Unexpectedly, they had managed to unify the Demonfolk.

They had done it without anyone the wiser, similar to how Yang Qi had secretly spent years building the Sage Monarch Empire. Both empires had popped up like bamboo after a spring rain.

Creating a Demonfolk empire was no easy task, what with their enormous population. Even for two top experts, it would be difficult. Normally, it would involve tracking down all the great sages among the Demonfolk, then using them to instruct the masses in ways to become human and embrace order.

In the beginning, the Demon Master had done things that way.

He had taught the Demonfolk new ways, in an effort to reach the peak of existence. But in the end, he failed. Demonfolk were Demonfolk, and getting them to become orderly and abandon their brutal nature was impossible. The law of the jungle was built into their life force and genetic structure.

But the Demon Master was attempting a comeback. He had obviously thought the matter through, gaining new enlightenment of the Demonfolk, and somehow instilling order into their instincts. And the combination of the Demon Master and the King of Godmammoths was obviously an unstoppable force.

Now that the grand Demonfolk Empire had been set up, they wanted to use Proud Heaven to make a demonstration of military force. That way, the other human empires would know that the Demon Master and the King of Godmammoths were a serious force to contend with.

Obviously, they wanted to control heaven and earth, and in the process, take all power away from humans.

It was obvious that an age of transcendence had arrived.

**

Around the time Proud Heaven had been planning to invade the Invincible Dynasty, the Demonfolk emissary arrived at the Sage Monarch Empire.

Yang Qi had watched as Proud Heaven combined the Central and Chiliocosm Dynasties into the new Deathless Heaven Dynasty. Although the resulting destiny was amazing, it was still a hodgepodge. There was no true unity, and the only way Proud Heaven was able to keep control was because he had the backing of the essence of the god world.

Next, he waited for Proud Heaven to launch the invasion, whereupon Yang Qi would unleash all of his various preparations in all their destructive glory.

Yet things developed in a way that he could never have anticipated.

The Demonfolk Empire had suddenly risen up out of nowhere.

All of his previous plans were now useless. And of course, the situation was obviously not ideal. He had hoped to use the Invincible Dynasty to win a big victory in battle, and at the same time, ensure that its people experienced a rebirth through tribulation.

But now Proud Heaven was holding back, and the transformation via fire that the Invincible Dynasty was supposed to experience was obviously not going to happen. That was bad for Yang Qi.

Worse, there was now a third major power at play. Yet again, the god world had a tripartite balance of power, and there was nothing Yang Qi could do about it.

Hurrying into the throne room flanked by numerous experts, Yang Susu said, “Yang Qi, there’s an emissary from the Demonfolk here. Are you going to receive him? This is really an unexpected development. Proud Heaven isn’t attacking, and now this powerful group of Demonfolk has shown up. Normally speaking, you’d think that Proud Heaven would simply slaughter whatever Demonfolk caused problems for him. But he’s obviously afraid of them. Who exactly is behind all of this? Don’t tell me the Demon Master has been resurrected.”

“It absolutely is the Demon Master,” Yang Qi replied. “However, Proud Heaven is currently no weaker than the Sovereign Lord, so even if the Demon Master was resurrected, he could still defeat him. That means there’s another powerful Demonfolk expert involved.”

“But who, exactly?” many people asked.

“If my speculations are correct, it's the King of Godmammoths.” Yang Qi smiled faintly. “Things are really getting complicated here. For the first time, I haven’t been able to manipulate things to turn out as I want. Oh well. When soldiers come, send a general to stop them. When flood waters come, use earth to block them. I'm not too worried. Let’s see what this emissary is like.”

“Yes sir!”

“Bring in the emissary!”

Before long, a passageway opened up and the Demonfolk emissary entered. This emissary wasn’t the man that Proud Heaven had dealt with, but rather a young woman.

She wore palace attire, and looked very cold and arrogant. That said, she was so pretty that most men who looked at her would have trouble keeping their composure. She was the kind of beauty that could case nations to fall without exerting any effort at all. Her cultivation base was unreadable, but seemed close to the level of three hundred billion. She was a peak God-Lord, similar to Yang Qi before he had assimilated the Halls of Heaven.

She wasn't as aggressive as the young man who had dealt with Proud Heaven. Upon entering the meeting hall, she faced Yang Qi and offered a curtsy. “I am your humble servant Ruo Chen. Greetings, Young Sir Yang Qi. My father sent me here to negotiate with you. Might I ask if you’d like to start out the discussion in any particular way?”

“Ruo Chen. If my guess is correct,” Yang Qi said, “you’re the firstborn daughter of the Demon Master, who was sentenced to death by the Sovereign Lord years ago. The Demon Master’s original form was that of a preheaven spirit fox from primal-chaos. He was so clever that he rose above the masses, tapped into the dao of heaven, and became invincible even before the god world came to be. Somehow, he gained enlightenment of a way to bring order to the Demonfolk and wants to lead them to prominence again. Am I right?”

Ruo Chen smiled faintly. “You make me sound more impressive than I am, Young Sir. Although the Sovereign Lord did indeed sentence me to death, I was very low on the list. Truth be told, yes, the Demon Master is alive again, and he’s put the Demonfolk in order. And now he's turned his attention to the human empires. Although Proud Heaven has the support of the essence of the god world, my father believes him to be of the old guard, while you are of the new. He represents antiquity and decay, whereas you’re the true representative of humans in the god world.”

“Oh?” Yang Qi laughed. “Now the Demon Master is the one making me sound more impressive than I am. All I did was found my Sage Monarch Empire, and I'm not even as strong as the Deathless Heaven Dynasty. Furthermore, I'm not even in the half-Annulled level yet. For someone as powerful as the Demon Master to offer me praise is frankly overwhelming. Miss Ruo Chen, why not just directly tell me why you’ve come. There’s no need to beat around the bush.”

“My reasons are simple. We hope that the Sage Monarch Empire will join our Demonfolk Empire. My father will give you a high position as a government official. In fact, he’d like your help in governing the Demonfolk. What do you say? Given your skill and ability in that regard, you should be able to bring true order to the Demonfolk, which will be an achievement of boundless beneficence.” Ruo Chen’s clear, sparkling eyes seemed capable of piercing all the way to the soul, and entrancing any man upon whom they gazed.

However, Yang Qi was unmoved. “So that's how it is. Miss Ruo Chen, please head back and explain that even if the Demon Master himself had come, it would’ve been in vain. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Demonfolk Empire or the Deathless Heaven Dynasty, any who oppose me will face me on the battlefield. I’ll even end up fighting the King of Godmammoths, eventually. My empire and my dao are both born of fire, war, and tribulation. You see, any dao that doesn’t come about that way isn't real. I'm sure the Demon Master will understand that. He founded the Demonfolk Empire to conform to his dao, and I'm the tribulation that he has to face. If I join him, it wouldn’t work out well for either of us. Ah, what a pity. Rivers of blood are going to flow when the Demonfolk Empire, Sage Monarch Empire, and Deathless Heaven Dynasty clash. Countless souls are going to end up in hell. It's foreordained, and can’t be changed.”

“It seems I won’t be able to persuade you to change your mind, Young Sir,” Ruo Chen said. She sighed. “The truth is that my father the Demon Master told me that I wouldn’t be able to change your mind. Now I know he was right. Consider this your notice. Over the course of the next year, the Demonfolk Empire will be launching successive attacks on the Sage Monarch Empire, Deathless Heaven Dynasty, Invincible Dynasty, and any other human empires that exist. The Demon Master and the King of Godmammoths have formally announced that the Demonfolk are to slaughter any humans they find. Eventually, humans won't exist at all.”

“I assumed that's what you were doing,” Yang Qi replied calmly. “We humans always talk about ridding the world of devils and demons, so it’s only natural that the demons and devils want to get rid of us. War between the races is inevitable. There’s no right or wrong in it. It's about survival. And in the end, it boils down to who is stronger. That said, although you Demonfolk have the advantage of numbers, and finally managed to found your empire, have you decided who is going to command the army? I ought to explain, Miss Ruo Chen, that I already control the Invincible Dynasty. If you're interested, you could invade them and test out your military.”

“Is that so?” Ruo Chen said, visibly taken aback. However, she quickly regained her composure. “Truth be told, I suspected something like this was going on. It seemed very premature for the Invincible Dynasty to suddenly withdraw from the triple alliance. That said, we Demonfolk get bored following all of your human drama. In any case, since you’re rejecting our offer, there’s nothing I can do. I just hope you don’t regret it when we come to destroy you and your brethren.”

“I hope that when the Demon Master and King of Godmammoths are ultimately destroyed, they don’t regret today’s events. Men, escort the emissary out.”

A passageway appeared, and she turned, vanishing without a trace.

“The Demonfolk obviously don’t care about us at all, Yang Qi,” Jadefall said. “Why not just take the girl captive and subjugate her? She's powerful, and could be a good tool at our disposal.”

“The subjugation powers of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth come from the God Legion Seal. And if the King of Godmammoths is working with the Demon Master, it obviously wouldn’t work. Besides, why would I want to subjugate someone as useless as that?”