Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
chapter-1588-30041322

Hailan had revealed the Soul of the Ancestor God.

It wasn’t a person, but a conglomeration of preheaven vital energy that had been born out of primal-chaos big bang explosions before the existence of the god world. According to the stories, it was the foundation of the gods, and contained the ultimate expression of godliness.

The original ancient primal-chaos hadn’t contained any gods. However, the weak entities that had existed within it, upon making contact with the Soul of the Ancestor God, could instantly become gods.

However, after enough time went by, and a certain number of gods were created, the Soul of the Ancestor God disappeared. Who could have ever guessed that Hailan would track down what remained of it? It was something that could make the weakest of people into Lesser Gods.

That made it like the key to the civilization of the gods, and incredibly important on a symbolic level.

Furthermore, it could have a catalyzing effect on the God Legion Seal. The seal contained the combined wisdom of the legion of gods, placed there by the Sovereign Lord. It was the quintessence of the civilization of the gods.

And the Soul of the Ancestor God had allowed the legion of gods to come into existence. So if the God Legion Seal touched it, it would release such an incredible force that the God Legion Seal would become completely different from before.

“I bet you never dreamed this would happen,” Hailan sneered. “I've been plotting for a long time to get your God Legion Seal. In fact, I even sent that stream of will down into the impure lands to get it. Apparently, some trouble cropped up, as the will projection foolishly sided against you, and ended up getting killed. Well, she deserved it.”

“You... y-y-you...” Yang Qi stammered.

“I’ve been plotting all of this for a very long time. Of course, it all came down to the High Priestess recovering the Soul of the Ancestor God. It disappeared for a long time, and no one thought it would ever be found again. In fact, the Sovereign Lord actually created the God Legion Seal in the hopes of finding it. But sadly for him, it was the High Priestess who succeeded. And that's how she broke free from the bounds of the God Legion Seal. Now, I can use the Soul of the Ancestor God to push the God Legion Seal to a higher state than before, a state in which the Sovereign Lord won’t be able to find it. You see, that’s how I, Hailan, do things.

“There’s no way you could’ve known any of this, Yang Qi. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have just freely handed the God Legion Seal to me. Instead, you would’ve struck quickly to subjugate or assimilate me. Sadly for you, I'm not so easily fooled. Starting to regret your choices yet? You see, the Sovereign Lord isn’t going to do a thing to me. The High Priestess predicted a long time ago that you’d come for me, and she helped me set all of this up. Of course, not even the High Priestess could’ve guessed that, instead of having to track you down, you would walk right into my arms.”

“No!” Yang Qi said, staggering backward.

“Tremble in fear as I break through, Yang Qi!”

RUMBLE!

She exhaled a stream of energy that locked down the entire area. “You can’t run away now, Yang Qi. I bet you thought you were going to subjugate me here, but in the end, the reverse is happening. And now, I’ll use the Soul of the Ancestor God on the God Legion Seal!”

Even as the words left her mouth, she produced a talisman and shoved it onto the God Legion Seal.

However, when she did, something unimaginable happened. The God Legion Seal transformed into a magical symbol.

“W-what... what’s going on?” Hailan said, her eyes widening in shock as the magical symbol entered her body and sealed her. At the same time, the Soul of the Ancestor God popped out of her, completely unaffected.

“Did you really think I’d just give you the God Legion Seal, Hailan?” he said, shaking his head. “You made a huge mistake just now. You see, I'm still connected to the seal. In fact, it’s more appropriate to say that I am the God Legion Seal, and the God Legion Seal is me.”

“But what about the God Legion Seal you gave me?” she cried, struggling in vain to free herself. “It was real. I could tell! There’s no way it was a trick!”

“That was a duplicate I created. By the way, I'm already in the half-Annulled level.” All of a sudden, he revealed his half-Annulled energy. “I was playing you this entire time. You see, I’ve made many copies of the God Legion Seal, and given them out for my people to use. Although the copies aren’t even close to being as powerful as the original, they still provide immense benefits. And I just used one of them to seal you. I had to do it this way to make sure the process didn't alert Proud Heaven. After all, if you got the empire’s destiny involved, it would have alerted him. Now, prepare to be crushed.

“You started out with Yang Voidprime, and then became Proud Heaven’s. But in the end, you’re going to be mine. I guess it was just foreordained. Now, give me the Soul of the Ancestor God.”

“Stay away from me, Yang Qi! Stay away!”

To her terror, Hailan realized that she was the one who had been fooled.

She was actually dealing with a half-Annulled expert, someone vastly beyond her ability to handle. And he had complete control of the God Legion Seal. It was like a nightmare.

“Come! Soul of the Ancestor God!” Yang Qi made a grasping motion, and the Soul of the Ancestor God flew over into his hand.

“Be sealed!” He instantly sealed it and threw it into the God Legion Seal. He wasn't going to take the thing lightly, and would definitely study it later when he had the time.

As usual, he would make detailed plans before taking any action.

Upon seeing Yang Qi simply take the Soul of the Ancestor God, Hailan crumbled into despair. She had hoped that if he took it, he would try to assimilate it immediately, and some sort of dramatic things would occur, allowing her to escape. Sadly for her, Yang Qi wasn’t the type to give in to temptations like that.

“Don’t subjugate me, Yang Qi,” she said. “Don’t use the God Legion Seal on me! I don’t want to become like the walking dead. How about I become your woman instead? I’ll do anything you want me to, I swear!” She forced a smile onto her face. “I know that you always regretted losing me in the impure lands. But now you can have me all for your own!”

Yang Qi burst out laughing. Looking at Hailan as if she were a complete moron, he said, “Have you for my own? You’re nothing but a pawn for me to use as I see fit. And you think I want you as ‘my woman’? Are you crazy?”

“What?! You don’t want me?” Hailan seemed stunned.

Scoffing, Yang Qi said, “Enough chit-chat. Get ready to be subjugated. Me using the God Legion Seal on you won’t turn you into the walking dead. But I will be able to monitor your thoughts.”

He reached out and clamped his fingers onto her head, then unleashed the power of the God Legion Seal into her.

Crick. Crack.

All of a sudden, Hailan’s power levels skyrocketed. But at the same time, her thinking came under Yang Qi’s control. After becoming a half-Annulled expert, his understanding of the God Legion Seal had reached even higher levels. As such, there was no way Hailan could do anything to resist him.

Dropping to her knees, she said, “I kowtow in salute, Milord.”

It wasn’t that she wanted to do that. Rather, her thoughts were telling her that she needed to. It nearly made her vomit blood. In her mind, she was telling herself that she wouldn’t let Yang Qi get away with this, but he instantly detected those thoughts and destroyed them.

“Alright, enough, Hailan. Stop cursing me in your heart. I'm going to find a way to help you reach the half-Annulled level. But let me tell you this: the process isn’t going to be easy. Maybe seeking enlightenment of the Soul of the Ancestor God will do the trick. Only time will tell. For now, you stay here as my agent. Be ready to follow any instruction I give regarding how to deal with Proud Heaven.”

WHOOSH!

With that, he turned and vanished, leaving her sitting there alone. ‘Why did this have to happen? How is Yang Qi so strong? I planned everything out perfectly. But I ended up seeming as foolish as a child. There’s no way Proud Heaven can match up to him. He's already a half-Annulled expert? Terrifying! No. I can’t give in. I refuse to accept this! I have to fight back!’

However, even as she howled in rage, Yang Qi’s voice echoed in her sea of consciousness. “Stop the temper tantrum, Hailan. I can hear it all. Your only chance to escape is to become a member of my empire. None of my people have their thoughts monitored anymore. So follow orders and you’ll be fine.”