Chapter 1040: Unparalleled Battle Strength (IV)

Stellaris ripped through the void utilizing the coordinates set by the ‘dao’ character. Li Hao stood beneath the sword; a vast strength shook the weapon while the unique energy of the Hao Cosmos flowed through Stellaris and into Li Hao.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Are you proud of a strong physical body?” Li Hao absorbed the energy using Stellaris as a medium. Inside the ‘dao’ character were the coordinates of the dao universe and it was the connector to the Hao Cosmos. All of Skystar Dynasty could sense a tremendous pressure in this moment.

Li Hao’s physical body was as resplendent as the stars. He barked with laughter and delivered a punch of his own!

The spirit of a ferocious tiger threw its head back with a roar!

A tiger manifested with the punch. Although the Great Li king waved his fists in return, the palms inside his gloves were injured and bleeding after a thunderous collision!

Oscillations from the impact traveled through the air. Li Hao seemed to carry the power of the universe on him. That single punch flung the king through the air—he’d been posturing fiercely moments ago, but now spat out blood in utter shock!

“This is the Tiger Punch of the Five Styles!” Li Hao chuckled, then hooted like an ape. His giant form swung through the void like a primate, at times darting around happily like a little deer.

He instantly closed the distance to his opponent.

One more punch!

The void crumbled! The young man hung upside down, like there was a monkey’s tail anchoring him in place. A massive foot kicked the Great Li king across the vicinity; the man was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t react.

He... was no match for his opponent!

As the king struggled in the throes of shock from his realization, a robotic voice sounded from an unknown location.

“Leave this place.” The voice was aloof. “Li Hao can only deploy invincible strength near Stellaris. He does not have the ability to traverse the dao universe yet. You cannot continue to fight him within the area enclosed by the sword. The only outcome will be your death!”

The Great Li king jerked awake!

He promptly turned around and fled, breaking the starlight barrier with a punch. It collapsed with a rumble, but also gave time to Li Hao to hit him from behind.

The king didn’t stop to check the injuries to his back; he fled through the void.

“Just you wait!” Li Hao looked coldly in a certain direction and bared his teeth. “I don’t care if you’re the Zheng patriarch or what, or Li Daoheng of the Lis—it’s a tremendous taboo in Silver Moon and the martial world to interfere in other people’s matches! The entire world is the martial world. I will kill you after the second awakening!”

There was no reply. The voice seemed to have disappeared.

No one knew who the speaker was. Various powerhouses in the ancient cities sent out their mental strength to sweep at maximum range. Shock flickered over people’s faces. Li Hao had said Li Daoheng of the Li family and the Zheng family patriarch...

Were they the traitors? How... was that possible?

Li Hao summoned Stellaris back to him with a wave. The ‘dao’ character also flew back to reenter his body. It was on the verge of crumbling and this was only supposed to be an experiment. He wouldn’t have been able to hold on for much longer.

The supernatural character would’ve collapsed first if the Great Li king had persisted for a little while longer. Li Hao would not permit that to happen and could not ensure that he would kill the Great Li king during this period of time.

There was no need to say anything else now.

Sky canopies rose with a wave of his hand. “Demon Hunters, attack en masse! Charge!”

Silver Moon, Silver City.

The assembled blinked at the command; Li Daozong understood it in the next moment. “Everyone charge! Kill! Great Li’s king has been defeated. Kill our enemies!”

Everyone had witnessed part of the fight that had occurred. One hundred thousand soldiers erupted with war cries of increasing fervor and sprinted into the distance!

“Attack!” Jiang Li roared with wide eyes.

Two waves of soldiers crashed into each other; shouts and cries soared up to the heavens. Morale was exceedingly high on Li Hao’s side because their leader had shown himself to be invincible and defeated the Great Li king! The king had chosen to run!

He’d probably already be dead if it wasn’t for an ancient’s interference! The Great Li king was terrifyingly strong, but their leader had defeated him all the same!

The Skystar army was in peak form, whereas the Great Li soldiers were morose and despondent. Not only that, but their king had taken a portion of the elites with him. He wasn’t in the camp at the moment, so although Great Li possessed numerous powerhouses, they were still firmly outmatched by the Battle Heaven vanguard.

Sounds of war shook the world!

It wasn’t until the Great Li king arrived in a ray of golden light that battle paused. Dawn was breaking and the Great Li army showed signs of collapse, but his angry roar stirred up the troops. They counterattacked with renewed passion!

Li Hao flew through the void to return to Silver City.

“Withdraw!” His laughter rang in the wind.

The Skystar army had almost reached the enemy camp, but they retreated when they heard Li Hao’s command.

“King of Great Li, stay here and train your troops with me!” Li Hao stood in the air over Silver City and grinned brilliantly. “Don’t go running around the rest of the dynasty! My Skystar Commander Office has an army of several million. We’ll need Great Li to help us hone a troop of elites!

“If you’re unwilling to accept that arrangement, have the ancients come out. Send as many as possible, I don’t mind collecting more core origin energy!”

The Great Li king regarded Li Hao with an arctic stare. Next to him, Jiang Li also had a complicated look in his eyes. He was reminded of the Initial Martial bones that he’d lost when he saw Li Hao. A spasm of pain ran through his heart at the reminder.

Li Hao ignored his opponents and chose to address the four cardinal directions next. “This world belongs to me, Li Hao, before the second awakening! Feel free to come out if you don’t accept that! The ruins and darkness are yours, the world and light are mine!”

Although he was exceedingly cocky, all of the ancient cities were very quiet. In an age that did not accept their primary bodies, who could use a replica to defeat Li Hao?

The Great Li king was someone who could also break the world’s limits, but even he could not triumph over the young man. How would their replicas be any different?

Li Hao’s words immensely excited the Skystar army. Their leader had outright said that the Great Li soldiers were here as practice targets! This was... such a bold statement of unparalleled dominance!

The Great Li king looked at Li Hao and returned to his tent, ignoring his counterpart. Slight cracks appeared over his body when he sat down. Having followed his liege into the tent, Jiang Li gasped with horror at the sight.

“My king!”

“I’m fine.” The king shook his head. “I just didn’t expect Li Hao to... have so many methods to call upon. I had thought that there was no one in this world who could fight me...

“Li Hao is just putting on airs,” he sneered. “So he’s cowed a few ancients. Do not actually think that he’s better than me.”

Jiang Li was skeptical of the king’s words, but didn’t say anything.

......

At the same time, Silver City.

While excitement frothed in the city, Li Hao returned to the Inspectorate. His body crumbled as soon as he set foot through the doors and blood flowed freely from his wounds. Yuan Shuo and the others were stunned at the sight.

“I’m fine, it’s just that my body isn’t strong enough,” Li Hao smiled reassuringly. “The impact from the Hao Cosmos is too great. I haven’t cleared enough acupoints—there won’t be much of an issue with a few dozen more in the bank. The Great Li king is a surprise. Who would’ve thought that he’d be so fierce!”

Li Daozong rushed back from the battlefield just in time to see the young man falling apart.

“Such is the Li family’s way...” he breathed out heavily. “This is our curse. Our bodies always collapse after battle...”

The crowd blinked with surprise, as did Li Hao. He started laughing loudly the next moment.

Just listen to him!

He suddenly waved Stellaris and obliterated all of the blood on the ground. The young man raised his head at the sky and frowned slightly.

“That damned thing!” he couldn’t help but curse. “It’s trying to steal my blood qi!”

The diagram of the eight trigrams was clearer than before. There seemed to be something else in it.

“Director General Zhao, make a trip to the Great Li camp and tell their king that the three great organizations may be raiding his home. Of course, pretend I didn’t say anything if they’re in cahoots with each other!”

The director general’s eyes widened, but he nodded without a word. Li Hao returned to frowning at the diagram. It was clearer than before after all this time, but dimmer at the same time. That was not a good development!

“Continue drilling the troops,” he said instead as he looked at the group. “I’m going into closed door cultivation for a few days to digest my gains of the day. The Great Li king has enabled me to experiment with many new battle methods—that was very nice of him. If he’s willing to be my sparring partner after I beat him, I think I can spare his life for the convenience!”

“......” The group was utterly speechless. These words were certainly the height of arrogance!

“A lot of troops might die with these exercises...” Li Daozong said after a beat of silence.

“This world is not mine alone, it is everyone’s.” Li Hao looked quizzically at him. “I do what I should do and everyone does what they should do. Only then can they follow in my footsteps and maintain the strength of this new age. The Ninth Division leader is a formidable leader of the army. Why these gloomy sentiments?”

He wasn’t willing to see people die either, but he could not be everyone’s savior. The world belonged to everyone. Only when the people were independent and helped themselves could the new era thrive and prosper.

Otherwise, it would turn into New Martial—everyone seemed to have lost their souls when powerhouses such as the Human King and Sword Sovereign left. They ran around like headless chickens, not knowing what they fought for.

Li Hao was of the opinion that there were many advantages to New Martial, but also many disadvantages. Only when everyone was strong would an age not swiftly decline after losing key figures. A strong era was when everyone was strong, not just himself.

Li Daozong said nothing more; he simply sighed to himself that as expected, there were differences. Li Hao was not the Human King.

Li Hao was Li Hao.