Chapter 1296: Entering Sword City (II)

At the same time, the west.

The queen was absorbing lunar strength to enhance herself. She abruptly opened her eyes when two figures appeared in the distance. Ying Hongyue’s face was a bit pale; he was accompanied by the Celestial Sword Immortal, who looked the same as usual.

“Your Majesty the queen...”

BAM!

Lunar strength ripped through the world. Sword intent flared in response and also pierced through the land, but the Celestial Sword Immortal stumbled back a few steps nonetheless. She coughed up blood without stop and Ying Hongyue’s face paled further.

“Your Majesty, I...”

“Piss off!” snorted the queen. “Get away from me, you’re bad luck incarnate! If it wasn’t for Li Hao wanting to kill you with his own hands, this queen would slaughter you right now! Be on your way!!”

This omen of bad luck had sought her out!

Does he really take me for a fool??

The queen couldn’t be bothered to listen to anything Ying Hongyue had to say. She only knew one thing—Li Hao had his eyes set on this guy. Li Hao wanted him to be deserted by his followers and left all alone, so that Ying Hongyue would spend his days paralyzed by fear. That meant that whoever fell in step with him was destined for death!

Just look at who was left by Ying Hongyue’s side after so many years of scheming!

There was only the Celestial Sword Immortal, and there might be something wrong with her. It was unknown if she was even alive or not.

Who wanted to run with this guy?

“Your Majesty, I have a way to help you take another step forward and replace the real Moon God...”

Boom!

A bright moon illuminated the earth and endless lunar strength swept their way. Ying Hongyue promptly made his escape when he saw the sight!

Lunatic!

I haven’t even finished speaking, but she doesn’t give me a chance to finish!

The man disappeared, giving the queen room to sigh with relief when he was gone.

Why is Ying Bad Luck coming for me? He needs to stay as far away as possible!

The further away he is, the safer I am. It’s too dangerous to be around him!

The queen cast a complicated look at the central continent. She’d grown stronger, but she still couldn’t fight those guys. Was she to meander around the world for the rest of her life?

It was an aggravating situation, but there was nothing she could do about it. She continuously grew stronger, but...

Also, there was an increasing number of dao meridians in her body. Some of them were growing stronger. She hadn’t paid attention to that before, but now... this wasn’t a trap, was it?

A trap in the dao universe?

The mere thought of it made her tremble. Was Li Hao plotting against her this very moment?

Li Hao should’ve drawn near her the first time she met him, but she hadn’t known that she’d encountered the young man. Now that she thought about it, she’d felt a close kinship to Li Hao then. That was plainly abnormal.

Li Hao might control one of my dao stars.

She hadn’t considered this before, but it was highly obvious now how wrong the situation had been. Li Hao might have controlled everything about her from a long time ago, possibly even her life or death, and maybe even the plots against the real Moon God!

If the real Moon God was to descend upon the world and take possession of me, would Li Hao arrive in the next second and kill me too?

The more the queen thought about things, the more resigned she was.

What a bunch of bastards!

While she was more thoughtful than before, it felt that she was always living under these people’s shadows. The more she looked at Silver Moon world, the dimmer the future appeared. Would there ever be a day in which she walked out of this cage?

......

The disturbances in the layout of the world didn’t affect Li Hao much. He didn’t keep any of the battle spoils for himself since he didn’t need them. His best gains were made during battle, such as the enhancement of will and aura. He’d killed Empyrean Kings, seized an exalted emperor’s blood essence, and successfully schemed against various sides...

This battle resulted in an immense qualitative improvement for him, whether in terms of confidence or strength.

Passively waiting for further development was not his style. The world was revitalizing at a faster rate. It wouldn’t be long now until half step emperors could take their place in the land. If he continued to be so passive, when would he be able to withstand half step emperors?

None of those who accomplished grand enterprises would sit back and wait. Only when they took the initiative to attack and vie for opportunities did they stand a chance of success. Opportunities came by through one’s own creation, not through waiting.

Rumbles echoed from five ancient cities as Li Hao moved them into the dao universe. They hovered in the air as a river flowed swiftly below them. Of course, no one paid attention to that.

Li Hao’s job was finished once he moved the cities into the dao universe. He disappeared once more, setting forth on his own.

......

The ruins of Tranquil Star.

They were very empty as no one came here anymore.

Li Hao arrived in this moment. The throne passed through the void and seemed to bring him to another spacetime. The blade was still there, emanating the overwhelming pressure of an exalted emperor.

He couldn’t approach it!

Even now, when he was unquestionably powerful, Li Hao still could not approach it. It was only in moments like these that he sensed how weak he was and how strong exalted emperors were.

The might of an exalted emperor!

He wasn’t here to seize the blade, but to withstand the pressure of an exalted emperor and familiarize himself with it. That would give him some mental preparation in case the Red Moon exalted emperor abruptly flared his presence!

This was Li Hao’s true goal for this visit. His blood qi agitated as he sat down cross-legged, clenching his teeth against the pressure. All sorts of major auras appeared.

He would cultivate here for the immediate duration until he was so familiar with the pressure that he was no longer afraid and dared draw his sword. By then, he would dare attack the Red Moon exalted emperor even if he truly met the man outside the seal!

It didn’t matter if he could emerge triumphant or not. What was most important was overcoming the fear within his heart.

Li Hao opened his eyes and stared at the blade. The blood-colored blade hovered in the air; there seemed to be a slumbering cat inside.

A cat...

The Green Emperor?

Probably not.

The Green Emperor’s descendant?

Probably not either!

He didn’t know what the details were—the only person who might in Silver Moon was that god of Initial Martial. The power of faith also flourished in Great Li, but that power continuously disappeared.

Li Hao guessed that it might come here! The people didn’t worship that one, but this one! The power of faith was being devoured by someone else—by this blade and this cat.

The young man had a vague idea that Great Li’s faith was to revive this cat. The Initial Martial god may have a mission of standing guard over the cat until it awoke.

It should have something to do with the Exalted Blood Emperor!

The Sword Sovereign was likely aware of this, but didn’t intervene. He chose to quietly permit it and even allowed this party to carve out a piece of Silver Moon territory for themselves, so they could collect the power of faith.

One had to keep in mind that divine spirits had been exterminated by then. The power of divine faith was not permitted to exist.

The personal sword and heritage of the Human King Consort, as well as the boxing gloves and heritage of the Tyrant Sovereign... Are they all here for this guy?

What purpose did these heritages have? They didn’t seem all that strong at present, so what was the point of leaving them behind?

Just to prove that the wielders had once been here? Or... were these not heritages after all and their wielders had just been on a vacation in Silver Moon world?

Li Hao rubbed his throbbing temples. Would he start to go bald if he thought too much? He couldn’t help but continue to muse over whether there was any hope to occupy the first mover’s advantage once he entered the seal. It would be an exalted emperor that he faced!

In actuality, slipping into Galewind was a safer proposition than entering the seal. However, Galewind was under heavy security, particularly after Thunderblast had been taken over. Zheng Yu would never permit Li Hao to have such an opportunity.

If I want to turn the situation on its head... my only chance is that star. But I kinda lied to it before and summoned it when there wasn’t much of a change to the river and stars. It wasn’t interested in what it saw, so if that happens again... I may never be able to find the star again.

Perhaps he would gain something if he visited Sword City. The Sword Sovereign had lived there for many years, so he might be able to find a few of the Sword Sovereign’s personal comprehensions.

Also, what was his own identity if all of the Lis had been slaughtered?

Li Hao temporarily set the questions to the side and focused on the pressure from the exalted emperor again. Immense pressure levied so much stress on him that he was forced to back away. It felt like his blood qi had been depleted!

Li Hao took out two characters—Battle Heaven! They’d been left behind by the Exalted Blood Emperor.

As expected, the pressure abated somewhat after the two characters appeared. He could even continue approaching the blade.

Boldness being his middle name, Li Hao decided to envelop his body with the two characters after some thought. He continued to draw near the sword, stopping only when he was so close that he could clearly make out the cat.

The slightly chubby cat seemed to be fast asleep. Li Hao lost himself in thought after one glance.

The blade... seemed to be its bed.

Using the blade of an exalted emperor as a nest was certainly the actions of an extraordinary being.

The Battle Heaven characters vanished—he’d put them away. An immense pressure intermixed with blade intent spontaneously erupted. Li Hao’s body immediately crumbled away as he was sent flying!

Blood streamed out of his wounds!

The throne appeared, instantly taking him out of the area. This was precisely the effect he wanted. Perceiving the exalted emperor’s pressure and enduring its impact at close quarters... The blade struck without killing intent, making it the best way for him to grow familiar with the might of an exalted emperor.

......

Li Hao repeatedly entered the Tranquil Star ruins, ignoring the injuries he suffered. He sought to draw into close quarters with each attempt and even tried to touch the blade. His boldness knew no bounds!

Thanks to his brazen actions, he attained valuable enlightenment.

If there came another detonation of exalted emperor blood essence, he would at least be able to collect his wits. He wouldn’t need to rely on the river like he had last time, utilizing the faint power of time to weaken the exalted emperor’s blood essence.

Li Hao, or rather this particular body, had opened 105 meridians by now. Third level Fused Dao was right at hand!

While this level of strength might permit him to do battle against false Empyrean Kings, he would still be going to his death against true powerhouses.