Chapter 1090: Making Every Minute and Second Count (I)

“There are many possibilities.” The black robe was silent for a while before he named potential entities sealed near the moon. “The Star Gate for one. An exalted emperor from another world, for second. And Sword City for third.”

“An exalted emperor?”

“When the Sword Sovereign left with his people, they were ambushed by Red Moon major world after they left the minor world. Red Moon is the reason why the Human King wished to conquer the universe. They are so strong that they wished to attack the main world through Silver Moon.

“We’re not sure what happened outside the Star Gate, but the end result was that someone tried to barge in from outside...” The black robe paused at this point. “Sword City retaliated against the would-be intruder. The city made use of the various defensive measures left in the eight main cities and grievously harmed the enemy exalted emperor. That person was then sealed near the Star Gate.”

“An exalted emperor...” repeated the queen. “I see! So if the exalted emperor could break through the Eternal Sword Sovereign’s defenses, that means there might have been a grisly battle outside the Star Gate?”

“That’s possible!” said the black robe.

“But it’s not necessarily the fact that they’re strong,” sneered the queen. “Your side was instrumental in this matter as well. If my memory serves correctly, the formation assembled by the eight main cities is extremely formidable. It is not that easily dismantled by others.”

The black robe didn’t say a word. It had indeed been a joint operation of aggression within and without. It wouldn’t have been that easy to invade Silver Moon otherwise.

Of course, there was no need to say that much.

“So now you wish to unseal that one?” frowned the queen.

“No.”

The queen blinked and looked at the ancient.

“We have our own goals! That one is everyone’s enemy because he is the strongest! I speak of him because the primary body of the Moon God is within the seal. The Moon God suppresses that powerhouse, so if his people come to rescue him, they might attack the god.”

“They have more on their side?”

“Yes,” nodded the black robe. “Red Moon major world is a unique one. A group of its inhabitants entered Silver Moon minor world before the Star Gate closed. When battle broke out, the exalted emperor used a unique energy to convert a batch of local inhabitants into Red Moon denizens. He did that despite being sealed. It was possible that this action was feasible because the world’s energy hadn’t been fully depleted yet.

“When the first awakening occurred twenty-one years ago, he exuded more energy to infect another batch of people...”

“Infect?” asked the queen.

“An invasion of energy, but he didn’t have much effect at first because the eight families’ seal was still there!” The black robe paused for a bit. “The spokesperson for Red Moon major world in this age is Ying Hongyue of the three great organizations. He was in contact with us before and was a bridge of communication between our two sides in the past.”

The black robe was willing to divulge some minor secrets at this point in order to warn the queen that she needed to be on guard against Red Moon.

“I can... resurrect again if they kill me,” frowned the queen. “I may not necessarily die and the action may not affect my primary body...”

“No!” The black robe shook his head. “Your Divine Grace, you may not have a chance to revitalize if you are killed this time! That exalted emperor might be awake. Once you die, he may have a chance to break your primary body and even extract the energy of the moon to break the seal. Your Divine Grace... might not have another chance to resurrect.”

The queen frowned in silence. Put this way, her circumstances weren’t any better than Li Hao’s.

“Li Hao is the spokesperson of the heavenly dao, but he can do nothing to me. The same goes for that fellow!”

It wasn’t as if an exalted emperor was here in person. Not to mention, she’d already fought an exalted emperor before—the Sword Sovereign.

Granted, she didn’t have many memories left of that battle. She had not awakened by much after her reincarnation—most of her energy resided with her primary body. She also knew that her primary body was hard to control not just because of the seal, but also because the Star Gate was inside her primary body.

It was an incredible hassle!

The Sword Sovereign had exterminated her divine spirit and seized her primary body to craft the Star Gate that could pierce through the world barrier. He’d departed for too long after that and the Star Gate sealed itself away. Now that she’d resurrected, she could more or less control the moon.

Since she could triumph over even the spokesperson of heavenly dao in this age, she had nothing to fear about outsiders from Red Moon world.

“You must still be careful,” repeated the black robe after momentary silence. “The lord does not wish for anything to happen to Your Divine Grace either. In addition, given that Red Moon’s exalted emperor has awakened again, he won’t be completely without preparation. He’s conjoined with the Star Gate, moon, and even the seal.

“He might have claimed some aspects of heaven’s will as well and be able to influence it. It may not be out of the question for another spokesperson of heaven’s will to appear from his side, much like the Moon God, Li Hao, or the Great Li king.”

If another such character appeared, they would be able to break the limits of the world. As for how thoroughly they could shatter that barrier... that was difficult to say at present.

The Moon God frowned and broached another topic. “What kind of plan have you formed against Li Hao?”

“When the Great Li king returns, the lord wishes to conduct a parley of all five sides,” the black robe quickly responded. “Any one side that marches against Li Hao will suffer grave losses. The lord knows everyone’s reservations, but there isn’t much of a problem if we ally together.”

“Did you not see the temple priest among those attacking Divine Nation?” the queen asked coolly. “And you hope for the Great Li king to partner with us?”

She found the idea ludicrous because Great Li’s main priest had just helped Li Hao attack them a short while ago. She’d seen that with her own eyes!

“The Great Li king is the sovereign of a nation himself. He condoned that course of action simply because he felt he couldn’t handle Li Hao. Added to that some problems developing within Great Li’s borders... it’s normal that they temporarily eased up on their hostilities.”

“Trouble within Great Li borders?”

“Yes, the three great organizations have entered Great Li.”

The queen frowned at the new knowledge. “How are you to conduct a parley of five sides? I am aware of the situation with Barren Dynasty, but what is the matter with that Watercloud woman? Apparently she obtained heaven’s favor after one match with Li Hao? Why does heaven’s will share its love so liberally in this age?”

She wanted to rage at the sheer thought of heaven’s generosity!

She could accept Li Hao and the Great Li king, whereas she was a divine spirit of the world. What right did Watercloud Dynasty have to stand on equal footing with Li Hao?? Did the heavens find favor with so many? Had its will not fully developed yet?

There was an entire host of people that it graced. Perhaps the existence from Red Moon major world was a similar case. Just how many did the heavens like??

“We’re not certain about the particulars.” The black robe was equally speechless about the state of affairs. “This one might have obtained a terrifying heritage. Of course, it’s difficult to say whether it’s real or not.

“The parley of five sides will be held as soon as possible. Not only is Your Divine Grace in a hurry, but neither is milord willing to give Li Hao too much time.”

The queen nodded and suddenly thought of something else. “You seem to fear us and the connate divine spirits less than you do Li Hao! You are willing to cooperate with the desolate beasts, divine spirits, Initial Martial, and even Red Moon major world, but not Li Hao. But in reality, it might be easier to help him eliminate us.

“Is it because he discovered the new dao? Yet in my eyes, it might’ve appeared long ago. The divine spirits should be representatives of the new dao, but we were yet to discover its true uses. Li Hao’s demonstration of the dao universe gave us some inspiration, so why do you seek his death?”

She looked at the black robe with a bright gaze. This group of fellows were very bold—they had to be, in order to betray New Martial. Yet, such a daring group of people seemed to be scared witless by the young man. To the queen, Li Hao was... alright. He would’ve fallen to Divine Nation in their first engagement if he hadn’t borrowed some strength from New Martial.

Her personal strength was greater than the young man’s. Hence, current circumstances rankled.

Even if Red Moon is partnered with you, Divine Nation should be your greatest threat. But here you are, working with us to destroy Li Hao. It’s strange that you aren’t willing to approach him.

“Your Divine Grace should not underestimate Li Hao,” sighed the black robe. “Anyone who can discover the dao universe is a frightening individual! The strongest of the powerhouses who discovered the dao universe in New Martial was the Heavenly Emperor. He once united the world and ruled over it!

“That Li Hao can find it means that his potential, fortune, and opportunities are all first rate. The Lis have held sway over Silver Moon for many years. It represents a lot when he wields Stellaris.

“And second is Stellaris—the sword is pivotal and even the key to mastering the world. The Sword Sovereign ruled over Silver Moon for thousands of years and the sword is intricately tied to the Star Gate. Not even the exalted emperor could break the Star Gate, a clear sign of how special the sword is.

“Third, there is the matter of a transition between new and old. According to our calculations, the favored geniuses of the new age are more frightening than the old guard. The geniuses of this era are those such as Li Hao, the Great Li king, and Ying Hongyue. Your Divine Grace... is not among their ranks.”

The queen frowned, but did not deny the assessment. Did she count?

Perhaps not.

“We have endured similar experiences before,” the black robe said softly. “During New Martial, those of the old guard as strong as the Heavenly Emperor fell to the Human King all the same! The Human King was roughly Li Hao’s age when he killed the Heavenly Emperor.

“It is because of this that we find Li Hao a much greater threat than everyone else. He is not just a threat to us, but to everyone! The superseding of old with new means that the old guard are usually the ones eliminated.”

“Is that possible?” the queen said coldly. “Apart from some New Martial powerhouses, the strongest on Li Hao’s side is Li Hao himself. But based on battle strength, he is only the equivalent of modern Immortals and ancient Apexes. An Apex can overthrow all of the old guard?”

“You cannot look at it that way.” The black robe was immensely calm. “No one thought that the Human King could overthrow the nine emperors and four sovereigns either. The results show that... anything is possible.”

The queen frowned and fell silent. Was Li Hao that terrifying? She didn’t feel much of his supposed threat, even after suffering a minor defeat at his hands. The young man wasn’t worth much in her eyes. There would be no place for him without Zhang An at his side!

He was middle-of-the-road when it came to battle strength and had not demonstrated an ability to kill those higher than his cultivation level. While he had many abilities at his command, they were just the commonly seen ones.

His strength was mediocre and when it came to his character, he’d almost collapsed when he lost the first engagement. There wasn’t much to speak of when it came to his mentality either.

While the god of prophecy said that the young man possessed a good character, the queen didn’t think much of it.