Chapter 1283: Supreme Audacity (IV)

So there were indeed multiple Empyrean Kings within Thunderblast. Five was no small figure. There were also at least a dozen Saints and one hundred Immortals!

The city was enveloped by Red Moon power. One could say that even an Empyrean King that entered would stand no chance of survival. They would first be infected by Red Moon power, then mobbed by five Empyrean Kings!

“If you can’t do it, pick the one with the weakest presence!” Li Hao took a deep breath. “Of the five Empyrean Kings, the one in the city lord manor is very strong, as is the tree outside the city. The remaining three are weaker... so pick one!”

Zhang An couldn’t be bothered to respond to that, nor did he send his senses out to probe the vicinity. “I’ll take the one in the city lord manor, you choose whichever one you want. Also, how are we to move the city into the dao universe after we successfully kill our targets? Do you have a plan?”

“Don’t worry, that’s a trifling matter!” Li Hao laughed.

The two were unbelievably brazen to chat and laugh in enemy territory while being surrounded by a group of powerhouses. Zhang An flicked a sideways glance at the young man, unexpectedly full of emotion.

This was the little guy that he’d toyed with at Evenround. He’d really grown up, and at an utterly terrifying rate!

Li Hao said nothing more as he absorbed some Red Moon power and covered himself with it. Shimmering in and out of sight, he walked straight out of the city!

He was going to cut down that tree!

The Empyrean King-level tree stabilized Thunderblast. It was hard to shift the city with it present. Only after he killed it was there hope of smoothly moving the city into the dao universe.

Black armor covered Li Hao’s body as he walked, giving him the appearance of an Ancient Guard. He didn’t bother concealing his presence by the time he reached the city gate. He openly walked toward the big tree without reservation. A few Ancient Guards walked around in the distance, but no one gave Li Hao a second glance.

Such temerity was absolutely insane! But Li Hao was confident that no one would pay attention to him. If there were guards on duty in such a secure location... then that would be truly making light of Empyrean Kings!

Li Hao strode toward the tree at a steady pace. It was his first time seeing an Empyrean King level plant spirit. That red fruit on its branches was unbelievably tempting even when he was so far away!

What kind of tree was this and what effects did the fruit have?

Li Hao lifted his head to gaze upon the towering tree—a look of greed appearing in his eyes. This gaze was blatantly visible to the tree, but it didn’t mind.

Here, greed was normal. Everyone was greedy beyond compare after being blanketed by Red Moon power! There would be a problem if one wasn’t greedy.

The greed in Li Hao’s eyes deepened when he took a deep inhale of Red Moon power.

Little fellow, you don’t know the meaning of death!

thought the tree.

Absorbing too much Red Moon power will further stoke your appetites. That’s not necessarily a good thing. You should constrain yourself a bit.

Of course, this also had nothing to do with the tree! It didn’t care what happened to these weaklings.

Absorb the power if you want. People that can’t control their greed... can die!

Seeing the guard walk toward it, the tree snickered to itself. There was too much greed emanating from the man. Did he even want to pluck a fruit?

That had happened more than once since people took up residence in the city. The earlier incidents had become fertilizer for the tree. There was nothing Ying Hongyue could do about it even if he learned about the happenings, and neither would he interfere. Someone who couldn’t control their inner desires and was killed by the big tree for them had simply wasted their life!

It was some Ancient Guards that noticed Li Hao’s movements. Some frowned, others wanted to sound a note of caution. But when they saw him head straight for the tree and the tree’s branches sway in response... the guards left.

Even the red fruit emanated a delicious fragrance; this was another kind of temptation. Clearly, the big tree had also discovered Li Hao and was enticing him so that it could have a fresh meal of flesh and blood. Therefore, no one paid further attention to Li Hao. That guy was dead if it was meant to be; they didn’t lack personnel.

Li Hao could barely contain the red light in his eyes! He almost drooled when he looked at the tree

—this is a damned nice tree!

An Empyrean King level tree! Empyrean King level fruit! There weren’t many of these around even in New Martial, right?

“Can we... eat the fruit? What kind of effects does it have?” Li Hao murmured.

The tree responded with notes of gentleness, “This fruit is called the Heavenly Aroma Fruit! One fruit will prolong your life and preserve your appearance! Two of them will ensure that you are undying and your life will blaze without end! Three will turn a mundane into an Apex, sending you to the heavens with one step!

“I flower once every thirty thousand years, taking another thirty to form a fruit, and yet another thirty for maturation. That means the fruits ripen once every ninety thousand years. It’s been one hundred thousand years since the Silver Moon minor world was sealed away, this is the first ripening after that. Ninety-nine fruits have been produced, would you like a taste?

“If you eat ninety-nine, becoming a Saint in one day would not be difficult!” The tree’s voice was laced with beguilement. The greater one’s desires were, the more delicious the fruit would taste.

But the fruit here referenced Li Hao, not the fruit on its branches.

“A Saint in one day? Then will I become an Empyrean King if I eat the entire tree?”

The big tree paused.

I’ve seen those with raging desires who wanted to strip me of my fruit, but this is the first time I’ve heard someone ask if they can eat me as well, if that would propel them into Empyrean King.

What... degree of greed was this?? It’s incredible that such a person has appeared among the Ancient Guard!

“Per... haps?” smiled the tree.

“Really?”

“Why don’t you give it a try?” The tree continued to tempt, shaking its fruit. They looked so delicious!

Li Hao licked his lips as well, they looked so delicious! He couldn’t break the fruit in the fight as they looked too good!

A sword materialized in his hand and he said bashfully, “Then... I’ll start cutting the fruit. I hope this doesn’t hurt the senior!”

“......” The tree felt that this person wasn’t greedy, but crazy!

Hurt? What a joke!

The tree focused on the sword instead. It looked like a nice weapon and even a bit familiar.

Familiar? Is this an imitation of some powerful weapon?

The tree opened some of its branches wide. It was about time for the little guy to feed it!

Li Hao stabbed forward with his longsword, wholly without fear!

What a cute little tree! It’s completely defenseless and even opened its branches wide for a hug. I’ve never met such an easy to kill powerhouse in my life.

The longsword pierced through the trunk!

The body of a Fused Dao cultivator or even Sun and Moon was not so easily injured, not to mention one that belonged to an Empyrean King. But in this moment, the sword passed through the Empyrean King level body like it was cutting through tofu and ran through a blood-red heart of life!

A face materialized on the tree, one with a look of confusion. Had it been run through?

...it’d been run through!

Confusion morphed to incredulity and disbelief! How could it have been run through?? It couldn’t collect its wits!

Am I not an Empyrean King?!

The body of an Empyrean King, particularly the heart of life, was the most durable! How could a weapon have pierced it?? What a joke!

“By the way, does this sword look like Stellaris?” Li Hao’s voice rang out next to the tree. He pulled out the sword with a smile and reached out with his hand, puncturing the bark with a palm of blood and grabbing the heart of life that was on the verge of shattering.

The heart of life disappeared. It all happened in the blink of an eye before a ghastly wail split the air.

“My heart... is gone!!” The desperate keening shook the ancient city and the world itself!

My heart of life is gone!

Wham!

A formidable presence erupted, but it was a bit unsteady. The big tree took human form and looked on incredulously at the bloody mark piercing its chest.

An ambush!

This was the first attack they’d suffered in one hundred thousand years!

Grisly screams rang in the four corners of the city as the blood-red tree simply could not believe what was happening.

It’d been one hundred thousand years!

Just as Li Hao had said, these people who’d never suffered attacks or weathered battles had long forgotten their instincts of battle. Suffering tempered survival into a person, while blissful ease lulled one into death!

This was the result of one hundred thousand years of easy living!

The Empyrean King tree was still lost even when its heart of life shattered. As an Empyrean King, this kind of reaction doomed one for failure!

Stellaris ran the tree through. As the tree shrieked with agony, Li Hao gently lopped off the entire upper portion of the tree!

This was an Empyrean King level tree with insurmountable defenses! But it put up no fight beneath Li Hao’s sword because these Empyrean Kings were just fake Empyrean Kings. Apart from that, it was also because Stellaris was too sharp.

Most critical of all was Li Hao himself. His primary body was nurtured by the river of stars. How could one begin to define how strong it was?

That was his replica in Great Li. Well, it couldn’t be discerned who was the replica and who was the primary body. But for the moment, this physical body was stronger!

The other one in Great Li had opened ninety-nine dao meridians; this one hadn’t opened a single one.

It didn’t need to as it continuously absorbed power from the starry river. It cultivated a myriad of daos in the true sense of the phrase.

I meld my physical body into dao and treat myself as dao!

The entire treetop crashed to the ground after Li Hao finished his slash. He reached out, stowing it and the ninety-nine Heavenly Aroma Fruit!

The fruit of an Empyrean King plant spirit... Only one such tree had possessed any since New Martial till now—the cat tree!

The imperial guard’s father had once swallowed a fruit shaped like a cat. The tree was very, very strong and neared the exalted emperor level. Its background was very illustrious.

There were many Empyrean King trees apart from that one, but they didn’t bear fruit! So no matter whether this tree was a real or fake Empyrean King, the fruit were an incredible treasure.

One stroke pierced through the heart of life and the second chopped off the upper portion of the tree. Only after two strokes passed did the city awaken.

“Who dares?!” an angry yell boomed through the world as presences shot into the sky.

Who dared be so bold as to attack an Empyrean King in the Red Moon headquarters??

Shadowy figures appeared alongside a book. As its pages turned, tremendous powerhouses walked out of them. These were the figures of the most premier existences in New Martial.

Some wielded long blades, others bore bloody bows on their back. One punched through the heavens while another broke the will with a sweep of the spear!

The book of great dao!

It was the book that Zhang An had created after taking a selection from various premier heavyweights.