Eunuch Sunflower had made his debut and prevented Yang Qi from acquiring the godhood.

That said, the godhood was still there for the taking, meaning that Yang Qi theoretically still had a chance to get it. Right now, his feelings could be summed perfectly up by the old saying

the plans of men are superseded by the plans of heaven

. Eunuch Sunflower had completely frustrated all of his complicated plans to win the godhood from the hand of Zilin.

It was just the way his luck had played out.

Unfortunately, he had been having enough trouble just dealing with Zilin, let alone Eunuch Sunflower. Eunuch Sunflower was roughly as strong as Zilin, therefore, fighting both of them together would obviously be a huge challenge.

Zilin was like fine jade, beautiful and carefree, a person who never got flustered or exasperated, and didn’t fly into rages. He was not the kind of person who dominated an opponent in a fight, nor did he resort to crafty plots and machinations. In fact, he was the kind of person who others would plot and scheme against.

Eunuch Sunflower was different. He was like a needle, sharp and incisive, even malicious, the kind that could kill someone before they realized what was happening.

Zilin looked like the type of person who would be a majestic, righteous administrator in the imperial harem of the mortal world, whereas Eunuch Sunflower seemed like a deadly, villainous schemer who would control the court from behind the scenes.

In the end, a needle was much more deadly than a piece of jade.

The fact that Eunuch Sunflower was now a factor left Yang Qi feeling very frustrated, especially considering all the work that had already gone into trying to deal with Zilin.

However, he wasn’t ready to give up yet.

Even if things got more difficult, he would still do everything possible to succeed. And deep in his heart, he truly believed that he was the true Sovereign Lord, and that in the end, victory belonged to him.

Thus, the face-off continued.

Eunuch Sunflower’s gaze swept over Yang Qi from head to toe, then focused on his eyes. “I've seen quite a few people on the Ancient Road to the Gods,” he said, “but never anyone like you. Who exactly are you? And why, pray, did you choose to set yourself in opposition to the Joyflower Palace?”

“This kid is nothing short of amazing, Eunuch Sunflower,” Zilin said. “Once the fighting resumes, make sure not to kill him. I want him alive. The empress will definitely find him delightful, and I plan to give him to her as a gift.”

“Ah, Zilin,” Eunuch Sunflower replied, “as always, your thoughts are completely focused on the empress. From what I can tell, this boy is both crafty and treacherous. Look at how badly you're hurt already! He definitely can’t be left alive. If you capture him and hand him over to the empress, then considering how cunning he is, he would definitely curry favor with her and end up harming both of us afterward. After all, it's not as though he’ll simply forget the events of today. He’ll try to pit the two of us against each other, and possibly even strike at us secretly. Trust me, I know all about this kind of thing. In fact, the same thing is already starting to play out with that Leaf Dao-Denier, don’t you agree? It was Eunuch Floodwater who captured Leaf Dao-Denier and offered him to the empress. Now he's a favored consort and has started using his influence against Eunuch Floodwater. For instance, in past years, Eunuch Floodwater was never punished for mistakes. But now, thanks to the slanderous advice of Leaf Dao-Denier, he's been imprisoned in the torture chambers, experiencing endless torment. Sadly for him, I don’t think he’ll ever make a comeback.”

“I'm not worried about that sort of thing,” Zilin said. “As long as I faithfully offer service to the empress, she’ll definitely take care of me. Besides, perhaps this kid could be used 

against

Leaf Dao-Denier. From what I can tell, Leaf Dao-Denier has high ambitions, and although it's impossible to say why the empress dotes on him so much, it’s only a matter of time before he defies her or does something to harm her interests. Right now, I have no freedom to speak on the subject, and can only do my best to earn more favor in her eyes.”

At this point, Zilin raised his voice and said to Yang Qi, “Has Your Majesty heard everything we've been saying? Unfortunately, we can’t split this godhood with you. It’s ours now, and you have no choice but to abandon any thought of taking it. If you agree to stop fighting, I can give you a chance to earn great honor and glory. If you can earn the favor of the empress, then perhaps it would be possible to give you some godhood. What do you say?”

Eunuch Sunflower nodded. “I agree. The empress has entrusted Zilin with leadership over the six imperial harem palaces, and even I have to follow his orders. What he says, I do, so if he tells me to leave you be, I will. Of course, the premise is that you stand down.”

Yang Qi chuckled involuntarily. As far as he was concerned, Zilin might as well have experienced cultivation deviation. He was only a consort, yet he seemed to think of himself as the empress’s husband, to the point where she was the only person he cared about.

“I'm going to take that godhood today,” he said, “and there's nothing you can do to stop me!”

Even as the words left his mouth, he blurred into motion and reached out toward the godhood.

WHOOSH!

Eunuch Sunflower shot forward with such impossible speed that he seemed to rival Yang Qi’s Freedom Wings. Before Yang Qi even realized what was happening, Eunuch Sunflower was right in front of him, fingers stabbing toward his eyes.

“

Two Dragons Snatching Pearls!

”

Yang Qi was completely shaken. Eunuch Sunflower had moved so quickly that it was almost certain he was using a godly-class energy art associated with speed. His attack was so swift it seemed impossible to block.

Yang Qi jerked his head back so that Eunuch Sunflower’s hands snatched nothing but air. However, it wasn't like Eunuch Sunflower would just give up after that. He stretched his fingers out and curled them into claws, which he shoved toward Yang Qi’s head as if to crush it into pulp. As the energy flowed through him, he emanated the air of a demon; shockingly, he was using a Demonfolk energy art that was created by a greater demon god.

Yang Qi quickly shoved his own hand forward to meet the incoming attack, using his own claw move, a consummate technique of one of the seventy-two monarchs. It was none other than King Hookslaughter’s famous Thirty-Six Soul-Hooking Claws.

It was consummate among claw techniques and was designed to snatch souls from hell and send them to the god world, where they would be used to sow chaos and disorder.

The sight of this technique caused Eunuch Sunflower to stop his own move halfway through.

“Well, well,” Eunuch Sunflower said. “The Thirty-Six Soul-Hooking Claws, a consummate technique created by King Hookslaughter.” Eunuch Sunflower was obviously quite experienced and knowledgeable, as he immediately recognized what was being used against him. Instantly, his clawed fingers transformed and he attacked with a variety of different techniques, including flicks, pokes, direct strikes, jabs, stabs, pulls, and pushes. They were all hand techniques filled with countless variations, and they made Yang Qi feel as if he were being attacked by millions upon millions of needles.

Eunuch Sunflower's every move was like a rain of needles made of true energy, that could pierce through all obstacles, even Yang Qi’s defensive empyrean energy.

Luckily for him, after the needles entered his meridians, they would be melted by his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Any other person would have been pierced through with countless holes, and already incapable of fighting. But thankfully, Yang Qi’s energy arts could negate all sorts of baleful and sinister energy, making it impossible for them to truly harm him.

Eunuch Sunflower was inwardly marveling. The energy art he was using really was from the Demonfolk, called the Heaven-Demon Sinister-Baleful Bone-Piercing Needles, and had been created by a demon-god in the ancient past. It featured a unique convergence of demon energy that could be focused into tiny points like needles that most people would be incapable of blocking. And they would inflict devastating injuries.

He had used the technique to kill so many powerful opponents that he had long since lost track of how many he had defeated.

Yet even though his needles were piercing his opponent’s defenses and entering his body, they didn’t seem to be having any other effect. ‘Don’t tell me this brat has some technique that perfectly counters my own. Hardly anyone can deal with my Heaven-Demon Sinister-Baleful Bone-Piercing Needles.’

Raising his voice, he shrieked, “Zilin, hurry up and take that godhood! I’ll keep this brat locked down for you.”

“Good idea!” Zilin said, throwing his arms out to once again unleash his Megaplexus Tusita True-Pagoda God-Net.

‘Damnation,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘This eunuch is really proving hard to deal with. And thanks to all the distractions, I can’t grab the godhood.’

After all, taking the godhood wouldn’t be just a simple matter of laying hands on it. Even a flower goddess with a power index of five or six hundred wouldn’t be able to exert enough force to do that.

As Zilin flew toward the godhood, a ferocious expression overtook Yang Qi’s face. “Fine!” he said. “If that's how you want to do things, then don’t blame me for being vicious and merciless!  

Grief of Heaven and Earth; the Final Elegy; End in Mutual Destruction!

”

BOOM!

Energy from the seventy-two monarchs erupted within Yang Qi, causing him to rapidly grow larger. The combined techniques of all seventy-two monarchs could shake the god world and be used to fight the Sovereign Lord. And he was now using a suicidal attack, damaging his own nascent divinity to unleash a mutually destructive power.

WHIZZZ!

As his divine will shot out, projections of the seventy-two monarchs appeared, joining forces to unleash a deadly god curse.

Immediately, unsightly expressions were seen on the faces of Eunuch Sunflower and Zilin and they were slammed backward with the force of a sledgehammer, their faces turning ashen and blood oozing out of their mouths and noses. Obviously, they had been seriously injured!

“Not good!” Eunuch Sunflower said. “He’s putting everything on the line. He’s damaging his own nascent divinity to end this fight in mutual destruction! By damaging his own mind, he’s unleashing one of the most powerful attacks of the seventy-two monarchs of yesteryear! Why are you killing yourself just to acquire some godhood, boy? Are you stupid?! Or just crazy?!”

Eunuch Sunflower really couldn’t understand why Yang Qi would do something so drastic. Godhood was a very valuable and important thing, but 

as long as the green mountains are there, one should not worry about firewood

. If someone was dead, it wouldn’t matter how much godhood they had, it wouldn’t help them.

Even as Yang Qi’s soul seemed to be fading away, leaving behind nothing but an empty husk of a body, a tuft of god grass appeared. The magical laws of three separate gods appeared, which then combined and caused the grass to vanish without a trace.

It was the three-headed god-origin grass!

Eunuch Sunflower and Zilin couldn’t have been more shocked to see a tuft of grass that came from the god world and had been raised to maturity by the legion of gods. Any person who was under the level of a god, and died, could use that god grass to return to their previous peak state. It was a life-saving treasure that was extremely rare, yet Yang Qi had it.

Once used, the grass would vanish, but the magical laws of the three gods were completely domineering! In the blink of an eye, Yang Qi recovered. Then he reached out and a primal-chaos elder-snake appeared, which gobbled up the dazzling, shiny godhood.

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