Chapter 1011: Great Li Invades (I)

Several figures hovered in the air next to the black-robed priest. A strong, muscular man also stood next to him. Animal furs draped over him and golden light burst from his body. He was three meters tall and Great Li’s king.

His power came from the gods!

There were gods in Great Li. In contrast to the gods of the western Divine Nation, there was another kind of god in Great Li—those of Initial Martial!

They were far more ancient and powerful compared to the divine spirits of the Divine Nation. These gods hailed from the age of the nine emperors and four sovereigns, a time that produced the Sun God and other unparalleled beings.

However, the gods of Initial Martial were nearly hunted to extinction during New Martial and the age of the nine emperors and four sovereigns. There were some that survived to have a chance to swear fealty to the Human King.

It was said that Great Li was founded by a god of Initial Martial. That was the god that they worshipped. As for who it was, the current Great Li king had completely forgotten who they worshipped. Or rather, some modifications had been made so they no longer worshipped that original Initial Martial god.

Rumor had it that the strongest among those gods was the Sun God! That was an existence that still surpassed the Human King after the latter united the world. It was a being that walked the chaos and stood on the same level as the master of the world.

Great Li didn’t actually care who they worshipped, just whether their god could give them courage. The Sun God could grant them such confidence. It had been the only existence during New Martial that could rival the Human King.

Several powerhouses stood next to the Great Li king. Of them, some of them wore black robes, but their black robes differed from that of the priest’s.

The million strong army started crossing Ash Mountain after the priest gave the order. Their king hovered in the air with his formidable body and looked into the distance with a glint in his eyes. “Does Skystar really possess that mine?”

“It does,” responded a black robe next to him. “That great mine holds hundreds of millions of energy stones. Now it is in Li Hao’s hands. We warned Your Majesty before that the heir of New Martial’s Sword Sovereign is not weak. He is rolling out a new martial dao within Skystar borders these days. Once he succeeds, it won’t be long before Great Li becomes his first target!”

The mine was of secondary importance, the primary importance was the dissemination of the new dao. There would be plenty of new martial masters in Skystar Dynasty soon and Great Li might become its primary target.

The king of Great Li didn’t actually care. In his eyes, Skystar had long ceased to be the great dynasty of yesteryear. That was his opinion even though the black robes said not to underestimate Li Hao.

Indeed, these people didn’t wish to hoodwink or lull the king into a false sense of security. That would make him easy pickings for Skystar instead. They reminded him numerous times that he must be prudent and cautious.

He had to be on guard against the young man!

But clearly, the Great Li king didn’t pay much attention to their words. It was quite aggravating to the black robes. Those of Initial Martial... were still as arrogant and conceited as ever! That remained true even though they only possessed Initial Martial heritage and weren’t strictly from that time period.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Initial Martial had fallen to the nine emperors and four sovereigns, as well as the Human King...

Defeat after defeat, yet their inheritance could still be found today. It was a difficult outcome to achieve and it would be highly undesirable if they lost again due to taking Li Hao lightly. Even if they were to fail, they needed to demolish some of the young man’s strength in the process.

Just as the black robes stood around with a lack of a proper response, the priest’s gentle voice rang in their ears. “Don’t worry, everyone. The great king will not underestimate the enemy. He is just expressing absolute confidence in order to boost the army’s morale. We are keeping the threat well in mind and will not take brash action.”

The other heavyweights were much reassured by his words.

“There are several existences close to Great Li that are similar to the revered ones,” the priest continued. “And there are quite a few of them. We hope that the revered ones will help us in this matter...”

“Don’t worry!” rumbled a black robe from an ancient city. “Those core origin replicas were sent out early on—their strength is mediocre as a result. We’ve already eliminated some in recent times. The ones that remain are not worthy of concern!

“We didn’t do away with them all out of concern that Silver Moon would learn what we were up to. Eradicating just a portion of them can be chalked up to accidents or other factors. Killing them all would notify the ancient powerhouses that change is afoot.

“Our people are also hunting those other guys down. They will not make it back to Silver Moon!”

“It is the revered ones who have immense strength,” the priest spoke warmly. “I see that the enemy numbers a fair amount, yet the revered ones did not have to send too many to eradicate them. I hope that our partnership will result in what all of us wish for.”

“It will. We have reached out to not only Great Li, but all of the countries in the other directions—Divine Nation in the west, Barren Dynasty to the east, and Watercloud Dynasty to the north. It is only due to losing the nine base stations that there is a lack of communication between us. We are making enormous efforts to conquer Skystar in one campaign!”

“Skystar is indeed strong,” nodded the priest. “Their population is so large that the dynasties of the four directions do not amount to one-tenth their number even when added together. They hold sway over the central plains and the heart of the world. With their multitude of experts, Great Li will not take them lightly.”

As the powerhouses conversed, the Great Li king roared up ahead, “We pass through Ash Mountain! Those who stand in our way will die!”

He was so domineering that even the void was shattering. Its pieces bit into his physical body, but did not tear him to pieces.

“What immense strength and an unparalleled physical body,” an ancient black robe sighed with appreciation. “The king of Great Li looks to be on par with the mid Apexes of New Martial and Immortals of this age!”

The king didn’t seem to be restricted by the world too much. The void only offered token resistance against him, an outcome quite envied by and baffling to the others. Their primary bodies weren’t weaker than this king, but they couldn’t walk around in the world.

“My king is the resting place of heaven’s will!” the smiling priest said softly. “He possesses the dao of a king and is bolstered by heaven’s will. He naturally holds some advantages because of it.”

The group nodded. They could tell as well that the king of Great Li might have drawn attention from heaven’s will and corresponding boons. He led the nation and oversaw hundreds of millions of citizens. It was the advantage of being in home territory!

Not only did Li Hao possess these advantages, but so did the kings of the four nations. It was because of this that the Great Li king felt invincible, and also because of this that the ancient black robes didn’t think that this army was courting a death wish. A true Immortal of this age was so much stronger than the Sun and Moon that the young man spoke of.

In that case, Great Li stood a chance of conquering Skystar Dynasty and shattering Li Hao’s heritage!

The priest looked at his king and chuckled, “Everyone, let us proceed together. There are some major monster spirits in Ash Mountain that we will need your help with. Many ranges adjoin it and thus, there are many monster spirits within them. If they can be subdued and brought over to our side, they will be a great help. Coordination with Great Li’s warriors can create an exceedingly strong monster spirit calvary out of them!”

The black robes understood that they were being treated as free labor. But since this was a partnership, there was nothing they would say in return.

“Don’t worry, we will help Great Li capture the monster spirits in Ash Mountain!” declared a black robe. “In addition, if we may be so bold to ask, does the body of the god still rest in the divine temple?”

No one knew which Initial Martial god was being worshipped in Great Li’s temple. The Sun God? That was absolute nonsense. How was that possible?!

The Sun God simply didn’t care, or he couldn’t sense the utilization of his name with the Star Gate being closed. Otherwise, with these guys calling themselves his believers... He would’ve smashed a fist through the world barriers a long time ago and killed them all.

“Of course there is, but the world does not tolerate the god’s presence at the moment,” smiled the priest. “It will take some time before the divine one can descend upon the world.”

The black robes didn’t ask further; it was clear that the priest didn’t wish to be more forthcoming. It didn’t matter to them if there really was a god in that temple. When the world was able to tolerate it, it would also be able to operate them. It was difficult to say who would be stronger then.

The various primordial gods were mostly eliminated during Initial Martial. The most premier existences such as the Sun God or Earth Emperor were not interested in propagating their faith in Initial Martial. The most that Great Li contained was the heritage of Initial Martial survivors that the Human King had spared from the Initial Martial continent.

Of that, only a few Empyrean Kings possessed ultimate battle strength. If these Great Li people wanted to break through to exalted emperor... that would be almost impossible!

The black robes kept these thoughts to themselves while the priest smiled gently. He was the only one who knew if there was such a presence at the temple or not.

The great army advanced, causing upheaval at Ash Mountain. Countless monster spirits sensed the immense pressure and the arrival of a god-like powerhouse. An overbearing presence swept through the mountain, startling incomparably strong beast spirits out of its depths.

They hovered in the air, looking into the distance with alarm. How could the world tolerate such a level of heavyweight?? The one hundred experts that’d swept through the sky in recent times had been panic inducing enough. Who would’ve thought that so many more would come today?

Was this the Great Li king??

He lived up to the rumors in the mountains that the king was blessed by the heavens and unmatched in ability. A glimpse of the man today indicated that he more than lived up to expectations!

Major monster spirits backed away, not daring to clash against the king. He had innumerable heavyweights under his command. As much as Ash Mountain monster spirits might bully others in normal times or even depart from the mountain to fight Great Li powerhouses, they didn’t dare provoke the combination of its army, king, and priest.