Chapter 1237: Wrestling on All Sides (II)

The Divine Nation queen and rest of her group were highly wary of the Initial Martial god about to join the battlefield.

At the same time, the Barren wasteland.

A sky canopy hovered in the air. Li Hao watched the battle proceedings on it. He was very familiar with the premier powerhouses on both sides, so he wasn’t curious about them. It was the Initial Martial god that he couldn’t wait to see.

This would have to be an extraordinary person who dared to use the Sun God’s name. Their boldness was incredible!

Also, they’d kept such a low profile all this time and barely showed themselves. What were they after? Did they just want to be able to rest comfortably in this world? Was the peace and quiet of the Great Li territory all they sought?

In addition, all divine spirits sought to gather more faith to their name. The god of Great Li was a bit strange—its citizens believed in the god, but since the divine spirit borrowed the Sun God’s name, that meant that the people worshiped the Sun God instead.

Thus, any power of faith that developed from their glorification dissipated, as opposed to being absorbed by the god of Initial Martial.

This was very interesting indeed!

Could the Sun God really have laid claim to this power of faith? So did he regularly cross the universe to absorb this energy?

Li Hao was quite curious about this one. Also, divine spirits were resurrected through the power of faith. The one of Initial Martial had likely been alive all this time. Those of the Initial Martial system either possessed strong physical bodies, blood qi, or mental strength.

One of those cultivation systems must be enormously powerful!

It looked like the Initial Martial god had been absorbing energy all this time. It’d just awakened and was so poorly off that it didn’t know what’d happened to it or the world. It didn’t dare reveal its true identity to gather the power of faith, so those of Great Li had nothing to show for their devotion.

Li Hao watched raptly, wanting to see what would happen. Would that god show itself?

Ultimately, the Initial Martial god did not partake in the power of faith and so might not care if Great Li worshiped it or not. This was very strange. The young man hadn’t paid much attention at first—it was until he returned from the west and compared their situation with Great Li that he was suddenly interested.

So there was a god in the world that didn’t care about how much faith it received? Then what was that temple for? To sleep in?

Li Hao was naturally very interested in this god from Initial Martial. How would it change the situation? Someone else stood beside him.

Panther was currying favor with the white horse and Princess Jun was watching the battlefield curiously. She was even itching to join the action. The princess wanted nothing more than to be part of a battle like this; it was a pity that there weren’t many chances to do so when it came to Barren Dynasty.

“Is the Sea Pacification Envoy still around?” Li Hao suddenly sent through the armor as he toyed with some supernatural characters on his fingertips.

Capsize Sea appeared in the void. The young man was asking a question that he knew the answer to. Didn’t he know that the golden cow was still around?

“You sent for me, my lord?”

“Not really, I’m just curious why Great Li was permitted to exist when the eight main cities established themselves in the world. Did the Sword Sovereign know about the nation?”

“He did.”

“And he didn’t do anything about it?”

“No.”

“Did he ever mention their god from Initial Martial?”

“No.”

“And that god has always been in Silver Moon world?” Li Hao was growing confused.

“They have been!” Capsize Sea gathered its thoughts. “They were here a very, very long time ago! The god has just never shown itself. We didn’t pay attention to Great Li and neither did the Sword Sovereign. We thought that perhaps the Sword Sovereign wanted to find a viable path with a future for Initial Martial.

“We killed a lot of Initial Martial divine spirits in our time. When the Human King later revitalized the world, he did not resurrect that many Initial Martial powerhouses. If it wasn’t for a couple being brought back to life out of consideration for the Sun God, Initial Martial would’ve ended up in even worse straits! It’s also because of the Sun God that people won’t easily antagonize Initial Martial.”

The Sun God commanded a great deal of respect, so much that even the Sword Sovereign showed him face. This was an exceedingly carefree and dashing fellow, someone who traveled through the universe of chaos by himself.

Li Hao had once heard the Human King mention him when the young man studied the ‘Battle Heaven’ characters. During that flashback, the Sun God was said to have been injured by the master of Red Moon world.

But to be able to walk away with only injuries after facing someone who dared invade New Martial world... it was clear to see from that just how strong the Sun God was. One had to know, there were many exalted emperors in a world. Escaping under those conditions and being able to deliver a report on enemy intelligence... the Sun God’s might went without saying.

“Did the divine temple exist then?” Li Hao nodded.

“Yes.”

“Did it go by the Sun God then as well?”

“...no,” the Capsize Sea responded after a beat. “Back then, it used the moniker of the Tyrant Sovereign!”

“......” Li Hao started. “The past self of the Exalted Hard-Headed Emperor?”

“Yes.”

“Who would be so bold?”

“It’s also because none of the Exalted Blood Emperor and others admitted to being the reincarnations of their past identities. They lived their own lives. So unless you purposefully insulted their past selves, no one would say anything if you borrowed those identities.

“Battle Heaven was the personal name of the War Sovereign’s, but the Exalted Blood Emperor himself bestowed it to Battle Heaven city. No one said anything when he undertook those actions.”

“No wonder the Tyrant Sovereign’s boxing gloves are located in that temple...” Li Hao murmured. “Can the Initial Martial god actually be the Tyrant Sovereign?”

“No.” Capsize Sea shook its large head. “That’s impossible! The Tyrant Sovereign is dead—truly dead. There would be no one we know from New Martial if he didn’t die. Not to mention, if that one truly is the Tyrant Sovereign, he would be so strong that he could obliterate the Red Moon exalted emperor with one blow! He would never fall asleep.”

Alright then.

But anyone who dared call their temple by that name during New Martial, an age that wasn’t completely isolated from its previous age... would not be an ordinary character. Li Hao was even more interested in this god now.

An illusory figure appeared on the sky canopy hovering in the void. Its features were indistinct, like it came with its own visual barrier. Its voice was very calm and androgynous.

“Since you wished to witness the might of the Initial Martial god... then I will demonstrate it for you!” These words seemed to be both meant for the Great Li king and Li Hao.

Capsize Sea widened its eyes, trying to identify the person, but also seeming to recognize the voice. Li Hao couldn’t be certain if the golden cow knew the speaker or not; Capsize Sea didn’t immediately pronounce a name.

The young man fixed his eyes at the screen.

......

On the battlefield.

The god of prophecy’s expression shifted as he appeared at the same time alongside the goddess of luck. They seemed to be able to foretell the trajectory of their opponent’s moves. The god of prophecy materialized in a corner of the battlefield while the goddess of luck murmured, “Luck and fortune... are fickle!”

Boom!

The world spun as everyone on the battlefield sensed their destinies being rewritten. It was an irreversible change and felt like they would die in the next instant, caught in the crossfire of powerhouses fighting.

Terror, unease, dread...

Panic shook the hearts of the soldiers as everyone saw their deaths and destinies...

Just as a harrowing mix of emotions gripped everyone, the illusory figure punched without a word!

The firmament split open, the world split apart! Destiny was shattered—fortune and prophecy had no place here!

The god of prophecy could see the fist ahead of time, but he couldn’t evade it. He thrust out his palm with a determined howl!

Bam!

His palm split open; the goddess of luck vomited mouthfuls of golden blood. A massive millstone manifested over the Initial Martial god’s head, as if wanting to rewrite his destiny.

“The strong can alter the fortunes of the weak, but the weak... cannot do anything to the strong!” the god snorted. “Trying to force changes is just to ensure your own destruction!”

KABOOM!

The goddess of luck exploded; the god of prophecy jerked with horror. A scepter broke through the air as the solemn queen rushed over. This god was so strong!

They were all Saints, but his strength surpassed all of theirs!

The Initial Martial god didn’t care about the reaction and punched again!

A golden fist broke through the world, the domineering blood qi proclaiming that this was an ultimate existence that’d trained its body and blood qi to the maximum. It was like a tyrant sovereign of the world as a punch blasted the scepter to smithereens!

“Gods that depend on faith... are also divine spirits... but you are the weakest kind of divine spirit! The gods of Initial Martial did not rely on faith, but ourselves! You beg for sustenance from the heavens—we rip it out of their mouths! Do you understand the difference?”

These words revealed some of the secrets of heaven, but the divine spirits were more stricken by the implication! Begging for sustenance versus ripping it from the heavens! This was perhaps the greatest difference between them!

Silver Moon’s divine spirits were born strong, but that was not the case for Initial Martial gods. They built their strength step by step through struggle and effort. They sought their own daos and claimed their divinity!

Boom!

A fist overshadowed the battlefield after these words and sent the divine spirits reeling back. The Ninth Division leader and redwood were shocked; they took shelter as well. The gods of misfortune and disaster appeared at the same time, helping their queen withstand the blows.

Bam!

Punch after punch. The Initial Martial god was unbelievably fearsome.

“Initial Martial cultivates the self, not the great dao,” his voice reverberated throughout the world. “That is

our

core origin! So whether it is core origin dao or the new dao, it has nothing to do with Initial Martial!”

These words seemed to be meant for Li Hao’s ears.

I am not your enemy. There is no need to test me or target me.

“The Sword Sovereign once held hopes to trace this world back to its roots, to follow core origin back to Initial Martial and reverse his destiny. He wished to incorporate a myriad of daos into his being, which is why he tolerated Initial Martial...”