Chapter 1172: Fear (III)

Chao Baisheng didn’t carry on the conversation and quickly departed when he saw Li Hao ignore him. He was both agitated and apprehensive by the abrupt developments. He’d come in search of treasure today, and while he didn’t find it, the gains he’d received instead absolutely rivaled a treasure.

He’d leapt from initial Mountain and Sea to Sun and Moon! Even though the strength didn’t belong to him, what did that matter?

Chao Baisheng capered with excitement and left in giddy delight.

Meanwhile, the look in Li Hao’s eyes deepened with meaning. He looked at the departing man, then turned in another direction. There was a major monster spirit to be found there, the Kui Mountain snake king that’d become an Arcanus a long time ago.

It’d received pointers from a heavyweight sometime in the past and swiftly progressed to Arcanus after Li Hao gave it a bit of advice. It’d been a long time since they last saw each other, what level would the snake king be now?

Mid Mountain and Sea? Or even late?

Anything was possible!

Chao Baisheng had gone to gather the villains of the world for him; perhaps it was time to visit Kui Mountain as well. Li Hao was in the area, he could meet the snake king again. How had it executed his instructions of recruiting the monster spirits in the four directions?

The passageway of great dao in the air was much more stable. Li Hao had consumed a lot of treasures for it, but he didn’t mind in the least.

There were more secrets to be uncovered in Silver Moon world, such as who’d given the snake king pointers. Was it the Zhengs that’d created the folk song? And why had the Li family been able to leave the sealed Sword City with Stellaris to enter Silver City?

Additionally, why had the Human King Consort left her heritage here? Silver Moon was just a minor world. Why were there so many special heritages present, including even one from the Tyrant Sovereign that was in the Great Li king’s hands?

It was rather overlord Sword Sovereign who didn’t leave any treasures in his territory. Even the Exalted Blood Emperor that’d visited just once had left two characters behind, as well as others.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

What might Li Hao find at the so-called Tranquil Star ruins?

As the young man stabilized the passageway, he looked to the far reaches of the north. He seemed to peer past Ash Mountain as he murmured to himself, “Gan Wuliang’s over there. It must be quite a show when he runs into Ying Hongyue! Gan Wuliang can read hearts and pit heart against heart. And with the presence of the Great Li king and Jiang LI...”

With Ying Hongyue’s level of cunning, he was certain to pull out of Great Li. And in Silver Moon world, Skystar Dynasty was a region that Ying Hongyue would avoid at all costs. Where would he go then?

Barren Dynasty was too dangerous. There was no one left in Watercloud. Therefore, that left only Divine Nation!

Could the Moon God defeat Ying Hongyue? Li Hao also firmly believed that there must be more people from Red Moon major world somewhere. Maybe they’d gone off to hunt the Moon God. Now that would be interesting indeed.

It would be best if all of my enemies can be gathered in one place and not run around...

The world was too chaotic these days! He needed to tease out the threads one by one and organize them in a painstaking manner, much like how he’d organized the great dao. He needed to put them in an orderly array.

Whether it was monster spirits, modern humans, or ancient humans, all of them needed to be shuffled together for easier management. Even if they found strength in numbers, that was still better than them hiding in the shadows, plotting this way and that.

Li Hao wasn’t afraid of strong enemies, he was afraid that these fellows would hunker down and refuse to emerge into the world. That was the greatest trouble of all.

He flew through the void and reappeared at the familiar grounds of the Kui Mountains. When he pinpointed the location of a massive presence, he vanished on the spot and rematerialized in a massive canyon.

The snoring snake king suddenly opened its massive eyes; a dangerous light glinted in them. Its heart trembled when it saw its visitor and it reared up to coil on itself. Its massive body was slightly bent over as it transmitted, “The Kui snake greets the Revered One!”

Li Hao smiled and inclined his head at the snake. “A carp has leapt over the dragon gate. You’re much improved after setting foot past Arcanus. You are the equivalent of a seventh level Mountain and Sea now. It is quite impressive to possess such strength without having opened any dao meridians!”

“The Revered One praises me far too highly...”

“Have you recruited many monster spirits?” Li Hao looked around the premises.

“Yes... the Revered One wanted me to create a sacred land for Kui monster spirits. With the unrest in the world, many more monster spirits have come to seek succor in the Kui Mountains. It is said that Sky Sword and Tyrant Blade are clearing the seven divine mountains these days and eliminating the factions of the world. Another batch of monster spirits have come to me because of it.

“There are now almost ten thousand monster spirits in the Kui Mountains! But... there aren’t many powerhouses...”

That was a very large number already!

“Not bad!” Li Hao nodded after he sensed the surroundings. “Identify all of the monster spirits that have ever eaten humans and in a few days, use them as the vanguard against the Sacred White Sect at the foot of the mountains.

“Tell Chao Baisheng that these orders come from me! He’ll know what I intend and so should you. I don’t care how you guys fight, so long as both of you retain the ones I need. The reason will be easy enough—Chao Baisheng’s strength has greatly increased after obtaining an ultimate treasure. Does the snake king understand me?”

Could it not?

“This little snake understands!” The snake king quickly bobbed its head. “Don’t worry, Revered One, I will not let you down!”

“You said there was a powerhouse who gave you pointers back in the day,” Li Hao changed the topic. “Resulting in your massive increase in strength. Can you recall more now that you’re stronger? Do you have other clues to share?”

The Kui sank into deep contemplation and said after a long moment, “I was too weak and ignorant that year and did not sense much. Now that I think about it, perhaps... perhaps he was the same as the Revered One in the sense of being a sword dao cultivator?”

A sword dao cultivator?

Li Hao raised a mental eyebrow. Now this was interesting, since that couldn’t be the Zheng father and son. Only extraordinary characters could walk the world in those days as the various ancient cities were asleep. He’d previously suspected that the Zheng duo had passed by the area and casually left the snake with a word or two.

That would be a very ordinary occurrence. Although they were the enemy, that didn’t mean they would be unwilling to teach others, especially in a moment of interest. Anything was possible.

However, the Zheng family did not walk the path of sword dao.

Another person came to mind—Li Daoheng! The Ninth Division leader’s brother! He’d been the one to personally persuade Sun Xin to turn on New Martial, but seemed to have been sealed away after Sword City vanished.

And yet, would an existence that was aware of Red Moon and of turncoats in the minor world be sealed away like that? Would he permit himself to be sealed near the Star Gate with the Red Moon exalted emperor and Sword City? Did he not know that the current layout of the world was a possible future of his actions?

The Zheng father and son had become the leaders of the traitors, so what of Li Daoheng? It was said that there were even more Li family members involved—had none of them made any preparations whatsoever?

The Li family was the first to come to mind when the snake king spoke of sword dao. Except, no one ever seemed to mention them and there was no sign of the family to be found in any ruin.

Did the Zheng duo really lead the mutiny that year? There was apparently more than one Empyrean King involved, Sun Xin mentioned another. But as of now, only the Zhengs have stepped forward with one!

The number of Saints on the board also did not match. Sun Xin had said that there were many Saints that overran Skystar Town. The figure was absolutely more than the Saints that he’d met thus far.

The waters were deep on Silver Moon minor world!

But Li Hao took an open-minded view of everything now. At the very least, he found Capsize Sea’s words to be very correct. Someone who’d plotted for one hundred thousand years and made no significant progress was designed to not amount to much!

Whether it was the Lis, Zhengs, or the Red Moon exalted emperor... None of them had been able to consolidate their grasp over a minor world after one hundred thousand years. A lofty exalted emperor had been easily suppressed by a seal that lacked an exalted emperor and was championed by only the Sword Sovereign’s shadow. This kind of figure would only be a minor character in New Martial.

You suck so much even when the guy’s primary body isn’t here. With what do you fight New Martial with?

Li Hao said nothing more and looked at the snake king again. “Then the snake king should be more active lately and spend less time in hibernation! Winter is about to pass, spring is here. All things are coming back to life. The air is warm, flowers bloom, light radiates the earth... Great changes are about to descend upon the world!”

The snake king only half followed along. Li Hao seemed to be speaking of the weather, but also not of it. Although it didn’t quite understand, it bowed its massive head all the same. “Be at ease, Revered One. This little snake will immediately mobilize the Kui Mountain monster spirits.”

“Mmhmm, and if possible, head to Ash Mountain as well. There are several strong monster spirits there—you can mention my name when conversing with them. The Ash Mountain monster spirits cannot fall into disarray.”

"This little snake understands!” The snake king didn’t ask further, but it remained baffled all the same. Why had Li Hao thought of coming here today to give it missions?

The young man disappeared, giving the snake king room to relax with relief. This one... was growing ever more frightening.

......

Li Hao flew through the world for a bit, then darted into the Hao Cosmos and continued traveling through the void utilizing the brand that he’d left behind previously. When he next ripped through the firmament, he disappeared.

Battle Heaven.

Li Hao had returned. The energy ripples within the city were much weaker now. Everyone had spent the last couple of days cultivating, consuming countless energy stones in the process. The presence of the living had greatly increased in the city.

When they sensed the young man’s aura, several powerhouses swiftly arrived at the city lord manor. There were more in attendance this time.

The old turtle, General Pagoda, Capsize Sea, and the Ninth Division leader were all Saints. Li Daozong had reached this level as well, but his presence was slightly unstable. Apart from them, two other division leaders had also awakened—those of the Third and Sixth Division.

The Eighth Division leader had revitalized previously, as well as Director General Wang and the new Eleventh Division leader.

In addition, Redwood Mountain and Imperial Guard also rushed to the scene. Redwood Mountain was yet to set foot into the Saint level. It was very hard for plant spirits to make the leap, but its presence was much stronger than before.

These were all New Martial existences. Li Hao was not planning on bringing anyone from Silver Moon this time. After taking down Boundless, all of them were currently in a state of fast-paced development. The world was at peace for the moment, so the young man did not wish to immediately summon them for battle.

“How is everyone recovering?”

“Everything is well!” nodded the old turtle. “Apart from us, several thousand more have awakened in the Battle Heaven Army. We have additional troops of twenty thousand at our disposal now, but some of them are just lingering obsessions as opposed to truly awakening. The Ninth Division is already present in the city, making for thirty thousand troops in total for the Battle Heaven Army!”

“All is ready with the plant spirit army,” Redwood Mountain quickly reported. “We are ready for milord’s commands!”

“Then let’s make haste,” Li Hao decided. “Guardian Turtle, Sea Pacification Envoy, General Pagoda, and others shall sever a replica. I will also create a supernatural character replica and give all the appearance of heading to the Tranquil Star ruins!

“As for our primary bodies...” The young man thought it over. “I’d like to bring everyone through the Hao Cosmos, but all of you are so strong that I’m worried I won’t be able to consolidate your positions. I’ll need some help...”

The group looked at each other. What kind of help?

“I would like to... activate Battle Heaven and move it into the Hao Cosmos!” Li Hao said slowly.