Chapter 1179: Plotting Together (II)

Would it not be the same to you ancients if you kill the Saints of my desolate beasts, overturn Barren, and force the second awakening to take place?

The horse desolate beast brooded.

In your eyes, it would be even better if you killed Li Hao and toppled Barren at the same time!

Having maintained a footing in the world for many years, desolate beasts were well aware of the ancient traitors’ agenda. It was to negotiate with a tiger for its skin to partner with these people.

But if the desolate beasts did not cooperate...

Although there were multiple Saints among the desolate beasts, they might not easily defeat Li Hao even with the continued expansion of the chaos domain. The young man’s side was so strong that the desolate beasts might incur significant losses and still not win. This was what the Saint level beasts were most concerned about.

“We... have seen no sign of Li Hao over the past few days,” raised the desolate beast.

“He may be in closed door cultivation, or he may be plotting something. Perhaps he’s already entered Barren territory!”

“Impossible!” The horse desolate beast shook its head. “All Barren descendants bear the presence of desolate beasts and the chaos. We immediately detect the intrusion of outsiders such as you. We will know at first light if Li Hao is present in our territory!”

The Black Armor nodded. The desolate beasts did indeed possess keen senses. Otherwise, it would not be just him here to liaise with the desolate beasts. Galewind would have sent many more. The desolate beasts had reacted swiftly upon encountering him and instantly severed the connection between the ancient city and chaos domain.

The ancient city could shift its location, but there was no use in moving if the other retracted chaos from the vicinity of wherever they relocated to. It would place them in Barren’s encirclement instead and prevent them from being able to leave the city. That would be the greatest trouble of all.

The desolate beasts were in command of Barren territory. They had let him in because just one Saint was not a threat to their rule. There were many Saints among the desolate beasts—six, and those were only the ones that the ancient counted.

Were there more?

Who knew.

The most ideal circumstances would involve a fortuitous killing of Li Hao. If not, then they still needed to identify a way to permanently eliminate the Barren threat and revitalize the world.

Barren had invaded the world. If the ancients eradicated them, it wouldn’t be as simple as securing the second awakening. Even the heavenly will would favor them after the deed and bestow more conveniences upon them. After all, Barren was a tumor in the world’s side at the moment.

......

As the ancients and desolate beasts faced off.

Li Hao had already arrived in the area. He looked across at where the teeming mass of Barren soldiers exuded both Barren and chaos presences. It was obvious that the soldiers were intimidated by their Skystar foes, but they were forced into charging again and again.

Each soldier’s death emitted a bit of chaos presence into the void. Desolate beasts subsequently charged out and wafted more chaos presence into the surroundings. Chaos territory continued to expand slowly.

If no one halted it, it might soon blanket the entire eastern continent.

“Your Lordship!” Several powerhouses rushed over. Director General Zhao’s presence was particularly noticeable in its ferocity. Li Hao assessed it with a glance—the man might soon set foot into seventh level Sun and Moon. It could be the work of a single moment of inspiration.

Seventh level Sun and Moon meant at least twenty-eight meridians. Director General Zhao should’ve opened twenty-seven. He might be only one or two acupoints away from his twenty-eighth.

Light Sword and other familiar faces were part of the group. Light Sword hadn’t been part of the batch of ten strengthened by Earthflare. She was also fourth level Sun and Moon now. Those that’d undergone forceful enhancement at Earthflare’s hands—Hou Xiaochen, Yuan Shuo, Kong Jie, and others—were all fourth or even fifth level Sun and Moon.

Silver Moon’s side was much stronger compared to when they marched on Boundless.

Lin Hongyu and the rest were not present because Li Hao instructed them to remain focused on the dynasty’s reforms.

It was then that Li Hao noticed the female general in gold robes on the back of a white horse. He knew who that person was—the daughter of the Barren King was also said to be a formidable cultivator.

Barren Dynasty elites encircled her, a force that matched the Demon Hunters in skill.

Li Hao looked to their rear. Barren territory appeared rather dim, dusky, and slightly indistinct. It wasn’t that night had fallen, but that chaos presence wafted through Barren territory and made it impossible for one’s line of vision to extend into it.

“Has the Barren king shown himself?”

“No.” Director General Zhao shook his head. “Apart from that Princess Jun, we haven’t even glimpsed a single Barren official worthy of note. If there are no surprises, the desolate beasts look to have imprisoned or even killed the Barren king!

“Well, they probably haven’t killed the king because they still need Barren’s army to fight for them. However, it’s very likely that the king is held in custody. Desolate beasts have appeared in person among the Barren army. It seems to me that the soldiers are being forced into the field. The desolate beasts probably have control of Barren Dynasty now.”

Director General Zhao was a dragon among men and had easily derived the overall situation from a few hints. “Does the marquis wish to contact the Barren king?” He shook his head after his own question. “It will be very hard and very dangerous to. Also, their king may be irrelevant to the bigger picture.

“Barren Dynasty’s foundation is these desolate beasts. Even if their king has some battle strength, he is fourth or fifth level Sun and Moon at most. He can’t possibly be any stronger.”

Conversing with the Barren king wouldn’t change anything. Hence, Director General Zhao didn’t wish for Li Hao to take the risk and enter enemy territory to speak with their king. At the same time, the young man had his own ideas in mind.

“Do you think there's anyone from Red Dust’s side in Barren territory right now?”

Director General Zhao paused at the question and quickly nodded. “Very possibly! Those people won’t easily back away after the failure of their previous revitalization plan. Moving against Barren Dynasty will help them quickly recover. Although it won’t resolve the problem posed by Barren, they would dearly love to see both of us and Barren sore and limping... These people might be furtively goading Barren into taking the offensive.”

Tyrant Blade tch’ed irritably at the conversation. He lacked his usual aloof remoteness, leaving behind only annoyance. “Then we throw ourselves against them!” he roared. “Barren may be strong, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t fight them!”

“If we do, that will result in a lot of deaths.” Li Hao flicked a glance at Tyrant Blade and shook his head. “How many deaths will it take? There are at least five Saints among the desolate beasts, as well as Red Dust waiting in the wings. Even if Silver Moon brings its full battle contingent and kills a few Saints, that’s still a pyrrhic victory at best. And today is only the beginning...”

“Are we to hold our tongue and bide our time again??” Tyrant Blade paced restlessly, his blade intent flickering with frustration. “The marquis said when we slaughtered Boundless that the sky had brightened. Silver Moon no longer needs to adopt a humble attitude and put up with the intolerable. It no longer needs to compromise out of consideration for general interest! Do we need to give way again?”

These people were much more willing to go on the offensive than before. This was both a good and bad development.

“Of course we don’t.” Li Hao shook his head. “The times now are not the times then. I have already killed a Saint, there is no need to be afraid of anything! Why do we need to be patient and ask for peace? It’s just that high casualties is not the ending I wish to see. Be at ease.”

“Tyrant Blade, we can just wait for the marquis to make his decision,” Sky Sword stated. “What are you in a rush for?”

Tyrant Blade was normally a very quiet person. But these days, he could no longer hold his peace. Everyone struggled with an urge to trample through the world and execute every single last one of their enemies.

“Can we contact Princess Jun?” asked Li Hao after thinking it over. “I’d like to see if it’s possible to enter Barren territory.”

“Your Lordship...”

“It’s alright.” Li Hao raised a hand. “These guys won’t be able to do anything to me even when I’m in their land! The Barren king certainly won’t accept being a puppet or confined by the desolate beasts. He’ll be pained at the thought of one million elite soldiers becoming stepping stones for desolate beasts to invade Skystar.

“The intentions of these desolate beasts are very clear—they want to use the chaos presence from the soldiers that die to encroach on the eastern continent. Therefore, we have room to negotiate.”

“Negotiate?”

“A mere Barren Dynasty is not worth mention!” Li Hao nodded with a smile. “The key lies with the desolate beasts and Red Dust...”

The young man turned to Director General Zhao. “I have a risky idea that requires coordination between the two armies and everyone here. There are plenty of benefits if we succeed, and if we fail... Forget that!

“There is both victory and loss in war,” the young man grinned. “But if we succeed, we may reap unexpected gains!”

“Please go ahead, my lord,” Director General Zhao quickly gave him the floor.

“I need an army of one million to erupt in unison and fill the world with their cries. They need to obscure the skies and blot out the sun! The goal is to fool enemies on two sides and misdirect them into thinking that the other is the enemy they seek...”

Li Hao spoke in vague terms, but Director General Zhao vaguely understood what he meant. The young man wanted the two armies to meet in battle, erupt with blood qi and send out their presences as interference, blocking the skies and sun.

Did he want to do this for Red Dust’s side?

Did Li Hao want the ancient in Tranquil Star to mistake Red Dust as reinforcements for the desolate beasts, and for the desolate beasts to think that Red Dust’s side was Li Hao’s reinforcements?

“This is a very risky undertaking as we speak of premier powerhouses!” the director general proclaimed. “Once any side recognizes the other, that would result in incredible trouble! It is a good idea to have one million soldiers flare their blood qi and chaos presence in unison to distract the world, but once either side encounters the other or communicates...”

“They will not brashly communicate with each other!” Li Hao shook his head. “Make no mistake, this is a gamble! It is an enormous victory if we win the gamble, but if we lose... we still have a path of retreat available.”

Their backs were not against the wall this time. Battle Heaven had already moved close to the passageway to facilitate escape at any moment.

This plan was the reason why Li Hao had set up a round of smoke and mirrors with Yu Hai beforehand. However, it required cooperation on both sides. Barren Dynasty’s army had to take to the field and interfere with the heavens by a combined outpouring of blood qi.

Otherwise, there were premier powerhouses on both sides and even Empyrean Kings. How could they not recognize each other when they stood face to face?

One side’s flaring of strength would not have much of an effect. It required action from both sides.

Meanwhile, Red Dust’s side was accustomed to a peculiar way of handling matters. Even if they sent people, Li Hao foresaw that they would hide in the rear and not rush to the frontlines. Red Dust himself was ninety-nine percent likely not to be within Barren territory.

He was an Empyrean King—the desolate beasts hadn’t given their brains over to chaos. They would never permit an Empyrean King into their domain. Such was Li Hao’s speculation, albeit an educated guess.