Chapter 1207: What Was Left Behind (I)

Li Hao waited for a while, but did not detect the presence of any living beings inside the Tranquil Star ruins. He frowned and said after a long pause, “Members of the Lis may have once visited this place!”

“Surely not!” exclaimed Capsize Sea. “This looks to have been built before the world changed. Zheng Hongyuan should’ve entered it after the great changes and never left. Powerhouses were unable to walk through the world outside when everything was shifting. How could those of the Li family visit?”

Unless... they’d done so after the first awakening. Maybe their replicas had been able to walk out of the ruins twenty-one years ago. Faces twitched when thoughts traveled here.

What did that indicate?

It meant that those of the Li family freely roamed the world after the first awakening. Was it Li Daoheng?

Li Hao also pondered the implications with a deep frown. The snake king had said that the person who gave it pointers possessed sword intent. There were also marks inflicted by sword intent in the Tranquil Star ruins. That meant to say that there were indeed Li members outside the seal traveling through the world.

The sword intent might not have come from the Lis, but Li Hao felt that there shouldn’t be any other sword dao powerhouses in the world apart from his family. In particular, Li Daoheng bore the brunt of suspicion.

He was the only one in the family known thus far who’d betrayed New Martial. He’d also persuaded many to turn traitor with him. But why was there no trace of him in the world?

There were hints to each of the main cities—even Zheng Hongyuan had appeared. Why not Li Daoheng?

Various ideas ran through Li Hao’s mind. Why had this mysterious person come to the fake Tranquil Star ruins? It looked like there was indeed something important that’d been left here.

Li Hao looked at the throne. Perhaps some answers would be forthcoming if he sat down in it.

......

The Hall of Discourse.

Li Hao sank into deep thought as he considered the eight thrones. Zheng Hongyuan had gone to a great deal of effort to build a massive city in the semblance of the original Tranquil Star. Perhaps he was fishing for important prey, but that wouldn’t be his only intention. If that was the case, then he had entirely too much time on his hands.

The separation point... eight sectors of the world... eight thrones... eight families...

There must be something special about this place. If Li Hao could think of that, then so could the others.

“Do not brashly sit down on it,” Capsize Sea intoned. “There might be something unusual about it, such as extracting the bloodlines of the eight families or similar...”

It was easy to venture an educated guess. This had likely been Zheng Hongyuan’s intention in inviting everyone here. It might be a treasure trove accessible only through the joint efforts of the eight families.

What had the Exalted Blood Emperor left behind that could make the outlandish claim that it was the bane of the Red Moon exalted emperor? Li Hao was very curious.

“If it’s a treasure left by the Exalted Blood Emperor, I don’t think it will cause our deaths!” said the young man after some thought. “If it’s a trap set up by Zheng Hongyuan—well, we’ve extinguished even his primary body. Would we be afraid of a trap he left behind?”

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

If the Exalted Blood Emperor had stored a treasure here, then the process to retrieve it would not be meant to kill them. There could be tests or trials, but outright killing a member of the eight families did not fit the character of an exalted emperor.

While Li Hao made sense, this was still a very dangerous undertaking. Capsize Sea opened its mouth to say more, but the young man interrupted the golden cow.

“The Sea Pacification Envoy once said that constantly shrinking away was the reason why some people were unable to rise to new heights all this time. Are we to stop and stand in place, or just give up after reaching this place? Do we forgo our investigation just because we’re afraid of the unknown?

“Then we would be no different from the Zheng father and son,” Li Hao laughed. “Not to mention, I enjoy heaven’s favor and control the Hao Cosmos. There won’t be an issue! The two Saints can stand guard for me. If anything happens, or if it seeks to devour my bloodline or kill me... then destroy my physical body!”

“What??” The two monster spirits blinked.

Destroy your physical body?

“I’m concerned that I might be caught in a trap then and be unable to extract myself. Destroy my physical body, but spare my supernatural characters. The characters can enter the Hao Cosmos and create another physical body!”

The two powerhouses thought for a bit and didn’t protest further.

“Then... take me with you,” said the old turtle after further consideration. “I am just the soul of a weapon, a weapon shouldn’t count as an external object. You can’t be expected to go at it with nothing at all...”

It turned into a set of armor when it finished speaking. Li Hao picked it up without a word. It swiftly covered his body, providing an additional layer of defense.

“Arf arf!” Panther called, also worried.

“It’ll be fine.” After some thought, Li Hao chose to head to the throne that was marked by sword intent.

Bam!

Sword intent flared as soon as the young man sat down, preventing him from completing the motion. But it was just lingering remnants of sword intent, after all. Li Hao grunted and burst forth with his own sword intent.

Boom!

The fragments of sword intent shattered after a loud collision. The young man smoothly dropped into the seat.

Bam!

Another loud impact rang out the moment he touched the seat. The throne flared with piercing rays of light as the world spun around them. An illusory space seemed to appear in front of him. A tremendous suction force blasted out of the seat.

Just as he thought, there was more to this throne than met the eye. It seemed to be devouring the bloodline power within his body.

“This item... is a premier weapon...” The old turtle’s voice rang in his ear. “This could be the weapon of an Empyrean King... Zheng Hongyuan... certainly had quite the ambition!”

The throne was an Empyrean King-level weapon!

A tremendous restraining force billowed out from it, keeping Li Hao confined to the chair. Not only that, but an even stronger force appeared, bleeding the young man dry.

Li Hao maintained a calm expression. This was within expectations, so was there a need to be surprised? He was just curious what Zheng Hongyuan’s goal had been after investing so much time and effort in this place.

Many people were extracting the bloodline of the eight families. Ying Hongyue was doing it, the Red Moon exalted emperor seemed to be doing it, and the Zhengs were also doing it.

There was actually nothing special about the eight families. Their strongest representative was only the Sword Sovereign.

The Li family wasn’t actually a direct descendant of the Sword Sovereign either. Therefore, those of the eight bloodlines really were just ordinary people. Could it be that there were other secrets at hand that the eight families themselves were unaware of?

After the Sword Sovereign, the strongest among the eight families had only reached Empyrean King. Was the bloodline of an Empyrean King precious? And one from a descendant untold generations later?

Therefore, Li Hao was indeed curious why the bloodlines of the eight families could withstand the exalted emperor’s Red Moon power. What did it contain so that they could fight an exalted emperor?

“The eight families...” murmured Li Hao. “Guardian Turtle, release your restrictions and let it pull from me! I’d like to see why this thing is absorbing the power of my bloodline.”

“But...” The old turtle was stunned. Was’t the kid afraid of death? Although the Empyrean King was dead, some of the traps that he’d left behind might still kill a Saint. Was Li Hao... not worried at all?

It wasn't that the young man wasn’t worried, but that he needed to get to the bottom of certain things. Only then would his heart rest easy. Any danger that one could see was not a danger. The unknown was the truly hazardous.

The world seemed to spin around as Li Hao fully let go. The suction force from the chair grew as currents of blood surged out of his body. The young man’s presence dimmed as he lost his bloodline power.

They traveled through the void and appeared in another locale. Where were they?

A keen light sparkled in Li Hao’s eyes. This seemed to be an open expanse of land and the surroundings too murky to make out. The other seven thrones manifested, but no one sat in them. They came together in a circle and continued to draw close to the center.

Suddenly, a surge of pressure came into being. This kind of pressure reminded Li Hao of someone—the Red Moon exalted emperor!

He’d seen the man through the seal last time and the latter had exerted formidable pressure. It’ been so strong that it was suffocating, and the same was happening now. It wasn’t the kind of pressure that came from the Red Moon exalted emperor, but the level of pressure from an exalted emperor!

Was it the treasure left by the Exalted Blood Emperor?

Li Hao pierced through the void with eyes shimmering gold. He looked at the center of the land, at where another space and world seemed to be located. Where was that?

Panther and Capsize Sea had vanished, only the turtle armor on his body still remained. The throne continued to devour Li Hao’s bloodline.

As the throne absorbed his blood, it drew closer to the center of the world. The other seven thrones stood where they were, unable to advance!

Plainly, the other chairs lacked the maintenance of bloodline power and could not continue forward.

“How interesting...” Li Hao’s presence weakened further and his blood started to run thin. However, that did not prevent the seat from drawing on his blood. He permitted the throne to bring him forward, flying through the air.

The young man drew closer to the dimly lit area in the center!

“Huh...?” Li Hao looked into the distance. The turtle armor trembled violently, fear and reverence emanating from its bones. It poked out some mental strength and looked into the distance, at where the might of an exalted emperor reached outward.

It could barely see... something floating in the center. The old turtle couldn’t see clearly; every attempt brought with it the sensation that its mind would shatter.

It couldn’t make out what it was, but Li Hao could. It was a blade, a blade the color of blade. It was unusual in that it seemed to have eight sides—the edge was split into eight and one of them faced Li Hao.

A bright light shone from the young man’s eyes. Was this the blade of the Exalted Blood Emperor?