Back on one of the planets of flowers, a group of god-generals had been gathered by Grand Eunuch Tian.
“Excellent,” he said, “Those of you who accomplished your missions have done remarkable work. In fact, some of the flower goddesses want to see you!”
Over the course of the past few months, there had been a variety of missions handed out. Some of the god-generals ended up dead or wounded, but there were always newcomers to replace them. There was a constant influx of forces from the Ancient Road to the Gods who entered the Great Necropolis, especially experts from smaller sects and organizations that were easy pickings for Joyflower Palace.
After all, there were now more people in the Great Necropolis than there were planets among the immortal worlds. And many of those people were domineering figures, even on the Ancient Road to the Gods.
As a result, Joyflower Palace was only growing stronger and more powerful. When Yang Qi had first arrived, most of the god-generals had power indexes of twenty or thirty, with only a few reaching the level of eighty or ninety.
However, over the course of the past several months, the quality of the prisoners had increased. Yang Qi had seen quite a few with power indexes of over two hundred, and even a few who were as high as five or six hundred.
Obviously, as Joyflower Palace grew more powerful, they were able to capture even more powerful prisoners, to the point where the forces of the god-generals were proliferating like grass after a spring rain.
As Yang Qi furthered his cultivation in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, his power index rose and he grew stronger and tougher. He was now so strong that not even experts much more powerful than him would be able to see through his true abilities. Even his power double had meridians and true energy that gave him a power index of over a hundred.
Even as Grand Eunuch Tian was making his speech, a group of eunuchs appeared off in the distance with a new group of prisoners.
“Go! Get inside, you obstinate and unruly lot! If you piss us off, we’ll execute you immediately!”
The prisoners were bound and gagged, but their eyes burned with fury. Although they seemed to glow with golden light, they were tightly sealed and couldn’t access their true energy. Even so, the boundless baleful energy and murderous auras they possessed were shocking to the extreme.
‘Such incredible power indexes!’ Yang Qi thought. Even the weakest member of this group had a power index of four hundred, and one of them, a young man, was over eight hundred.
Despite that, they had been captured, turned into god-generals, and were now being thrown into the prison.
“Those are experts from the House of a Hundred Battles. According to the rumors, that’s an organization no weaker than the Joyflower Palace! How did those people end up in a situation like this? Look, that’s one of their junior houselords, the Hundred-Battles Monk! He has a reputation as being not only beautiful, but also highly skilled.”
“Ah, what a pity. From what I heard, Houselord Hundred-Battles fought with Empress Joyflower over some godhood and ended up being thoroughly defeated. In fact, she killed him! Afterward, she marshaled armies from the Joyflower Palace to attack the House of a Hundred Battles, and even took their signature god item, the Hundred-Battles Heaven Dome. And now these people from the old House of a Hundred Battles are nothing more than prisoners. That said, I suggest we don’t make fun of the Hundred-Battles Monk. He’s definitely going to end up as a consort, which means that he’ll soon outrank us.”
“The Hundred-Battles Monk is a very proud person, how could he possibly agree to become a consort? Well, when you stand under low eaves, you have no choice but to bow your head. Whatever honor and glory he enjoyed before are nothing but a thing of the past.”
“Let’s wait and see who the flower goddesses pick to become new consorts.”
“There are women other than the flower goddesses who can pick consorts, you know. Eldresses, emissaries, and even their holy daughters. Being a consort to any of them would be better than being a god-general prisoner, and definitely superior to becoming genderless eunuchs. Ai.”
“That’s true. Make one mistake, and snip, you’re a eunuch. I’d rather die than have that happen to me.”
After overhearing the surrounding conversations, Yang Qi learned that the new prisoners were from the House of a Hundred Battles. Obviously, the Joyflower Palace’s luck and destiny was on the rise.
Yang Qi quickly used the Son of Heaven’s Horoscopy, which he had picked up from the Five Hegemons of the Heavenly Kingdom, to assess the situation. He immediately caught sight of the invisible, auspicious cloud that existed above the heads of the members of Joyflower Palace. In fact, all of them had such incredible destiny that they would obviously benefit wherever they went.
It was similar to how government officials in the mortal world were protected by their position and power. Even bandits would think twice before making a move on someone with a powerful position.
BOOM!
As the new prisoners from the House of a Hundred Battles were arriving, flowers erupted in the sky as a host of holy daughters appeared, as well as some flower goddesses.
“Respectful greetings, Flower Goddesses!” the eunuchs said, bowing low.
The holy daughters and flower goddesses landed and looked over the group of god-generals as if they were shopping at the supermarket. To Yang Qi’s surprise, he saw Flower Goddesses Jade Nightqueen and Snowlotus in the group, the very same two he had spied on as they met with Proud Ethics.
‘Oh, right. I wonder if the empress will check on King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallion and that message. If she does, she’ll realize what’s happened in the treasure storehouse! Hopefully she thinks to blame Leaf Dao-Denier.’ Yang Qi was still disappointed that he hadn’t managed to take fuller advantage of the treasure storehouse.
Turning to Grand Eunuch Tian, the spectacularly beautiful Jade Nightqueen said, “Have the people we arrested from the House of a Hundred Battles arrived yet?”
“Yes, oh exalted Flower Goddess,” he replied. “The prisoners from the House of a Hundred Battles have just come, shall we bring them out?”
“Yes.”
He waved his hand and some of the lower-ranking eunuchs led the newly arrived prisoners over, forcing them to their knees in front of the flower goddesses. Upon looking them over, Jade Nightqueen dragged the Hundred-Battles Monk over and ran her fingers down his cheek.
“So, we meet again, Hundred-Battles Monk,” she said. “Back on the Ancient Road to the Gods, you were quite famous and domineering. A real elite among the young experts. But didn’t I say back then that you would eventually end up in the harem of Joyflower Palace? And now here you are, a lowly prisoner.” She chuckled. “I think I’ll have you as my consort. A male bitch, of sorts. What do you think? A pleasing fate, wouldn’t you say?”
“Bah! You women are all evil villains!” The Hundred-Battles Monk was virtually twitching with hatred, but unfortunately for him, his power was completely sealed, making it impossible for him to do anything. “I’d rather die than submit to you. Don’t worry, I’ll eventually get my revenge, and wipe out your entire sect!”
Laughter erupted from the holy daughters, as well as Snowlotus, who said, “Not bad! Not bad at all. He hates you, that’s for sure. But a bit of torture will fix that. If they don’t struggle, what’s the fun, right?”
“Grand Eunuch Tian,” Jade Nightqueen said, “have this fellow bound up and sent to my mansion. I’ll personally teach him a lesson or two.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Grand Eunuch Tian replied. “How else can I serve the two of you?”
“We heard there’s someone in the prison named Yang Qi. Bring him out and have him sent to my palace too, got it?” Flying up into the air, Jade Nightqueen turned to the holy daughters and said, “Take your time picking whatever consorts you want. Remember, the right consort can be of immense benefit to you.” Looking back to the prisoners, she said, “Follow orders and acknowledge allegiance, and things will go well for you. The alternative is death!”
The delicate and beautiful holy daughters beamed with delight as they began pointing out the various god-generals they were interested in.
Meanwhile, some of the eunuchs tracked down Yang Qi, tossed him into a black sack, and had him taken away. Some time later, the bag was opened and he tumbled out to find himself on the stone slabs of one of the interior palaces.
In front of him were two thrones, upon which sat the flower goddesses Jade Nightqueen and Snowlotus. The eunuchs who had carried him here were bowing to them.
“Flower Goddesses, here is the person you requested. Do you have any other orders for us?”
“Nothing. You’re dismissed.”
“Yes, ma’am!” the eunuchs chorused, then quickly hurried away.
As Yang Qi crawled to his feet, Flower Goddess Jade Nightqueen walked over and looked him up and down. “So, you’re Yang Qi? From the Dao Defense League?”
Normally speaking, any man would tremble fearfully in her presence, but Yang Qi didn’t.
“Yes, that’s me,” he said with a faint smile.
“You’ve got a lot of gall to look straight at me!” she said icily. “Get on your knees! Do you know who I am, you despicable prisoner? I’m a flower goddess! With a mere thought, I could have you thrown into a bottomless abyss of suffering!”
“Oh, really?” Yang Qi said, examining her just as thoroughly as she had looked at him. “Two flower goddesses, huh. Well, I’m going to assume you called me here for a reason, right? And I doubt you’ll get what you want if you throw me into a bottomless abyss.”
“What was that?” Jade Nightqueen blurted. Killing intent flaring, she said, “How dare you talk to me like that! What backing do you have to give you such gall? Aren’t you worried I might execute you? I could kill you as easily as stepping on an ant!”
“Come on, Flower Goddess Jade Nightqueen,” he said, smiling even more broadly. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that I’m just a power double. Why would I care if you killed one of my power doubles?”
“What? A power double!?” Flower Goddess Snowlotus blurted in shock. She rose from her throne and walked over to look at Yang Qi, her eyes flashing like sabers.
“You want a demonstration?” he asked. Snapping his finger, he summoned a throne, upon which he sat. Then he snapped his finger again, summoning a table, upon which sat a brewing pot of tea whose fragrance stirred the spirit.
“Come, Flower Goddesses. Let’s have some tea. It’s illusory, but I doubt you’ll be able to taste the difference.”
