Chapter 1322: Placing the Pawn (IV)

Somewhere in the distance, a deranged person screamed with agony. There was no trace of his usual gallant grace to be seen.

“Li Hao!!” Ying Hongyue clutched his head and coughed up blood. He shrieked with anguish!

The power of eight bloodlines manifested over his body and Red Moon power furiously surged over him. The Celestial Sword Immortal appeared nearby and grabbed him, running away with Ying Hongyue!

Lin Hongyu and the rest were still in pursuit, but their eyes widened at the development.

“Stop chasing us!” Celestial Sword Immortal called back sternly. “Li Hao is destroying the formation that seals the exalted emperor! Attacking us from inside and out will ensure that the seal breaks. Is that what you want to see?!”

She looked in the direction of Galewind and exhorted, “Is there really no one who will stop these people?? Will you have an easy time of things if Lin Hongyu and her gang kill us? Li Hao has led these people down the wrong turn, they’ve all gone crazy!”

There was no one stopping Li Hao. Or rather, no one had the ability to stop him.

When she saw how everyone was reacting, the Celestial Sword Immortal had no choice but to set course for the queen. The queen jerked with dismay when she registered the change!

What are you coming to me for?! Although I’ve gotten a lot stronger lately, these New Martial Saints have been chasing me as well. I’m not any better off than you! The sight of Li Hao being inside the seal and breaking it also horrifies me!

The queen darted away without another word when she saw the two heading her way.

“You should rein yourself in, Lin Hongyu!” Her voice trailed from the bright moon rising in the sky. “It’s not that this queen is afraid of you guys, I am an Empyrean King now! If we really do fight, there’s no advantage that you’ll hold over me!”

Saints appeared to the rear. No one said a word as they waited for orders from Lin Hongyu.

Lin Hongyu raised her head to the sky and looked at the vague outline of the giant. He was still hacking away at the seal, so she chuckled softly, “My husband is surely one hundred percent confident if he seeks to break the seal. We will lend him a helping hand and kill Ying Hongyue to break the seal both within and without!

“Everyone, follow me to exterminate the enemy at the roots!”

Saints soared through the air!

Boom!

Battle erupted once more, threatening to break the world into two. Gripped in the Celestial Sword Immortal’s grasp, Ying Hongyue’s presence was in disarray. Hate and despair dawned in his eyes.

Li Hao! Have you guys... really thrown caution to the wind?

Despair had truly taken root in the depths of his heart.

Is this what you want, Li Hao? Here I am, scurrying around like a rat in the streets with nowhere to run to!

“Li Hao!” Ying Hongyue howled at the sky. “So what if you manage to kill me?? Do you think you’ll have your vengeance after I’m dead?!”

He roared at the sky, as if railing against the injustice of destiny. He’d paid such a steep price for his success, one steeper than Li Hao could imagine!

But today... it all seemed to be for nothing!

Behind him, Lin Hongyu broke through the air with her blade.

“A clever rabbit has three burrows,” she said crisply. “There’s no need for this act, Ying Hongyue! The Celestial Sword Immortal is still the Celestial Sword Immortal, you haven’t fully revealed everything. Do you think we believe you?

“Whether you keep up this miserable act or break down in tears, my husband said that only when either you or the Celestial Sword Immortal dies, or becomes one, that is when you are truly at the end of your rope. Do you honestly think that you’re the smartest person in the world?”

Not only did she want to kill him, but she sought to crush his spirit!

“You have eight meridians assimilated as one, my husband is only breaking one of the bloodlines,” Lin Hongyu laughed softly. “But you seem to be in such agony over it. The Celestial Sword Immortal is completely unaffected... so I’m very curious, which corner of the eight trigrams does she correspond to? Why don’t you enlighten us today?”

Several Saints rushed out!

Ying Hongyue glowered and turned to the group chasing him. The look in his eyes grew harsh once more. He then lifted his head to the sky, grit his teeth, and grabbed the Celestial Sword Immortal. It was his turn to run with her in his wake!

As I thought!

Lin Hongyu didn’t even bother checking the condition of the seal in the sky.

“Keep after him!” she commanded. “The seal will not break even if Ying Hongyue dies. The Celestial Sword Immortal is crucial to him! Zheng Yu is well aware of this too, which means that the Celestial Sword Immortal might represent the Zheng corner in the diagram...”

Zheng Yu tilted his head from far away and laughed softly. “You guys like blaming me for everything!”

BOOM!

The seal shook violently and something snapped; the seal seemed like it would completely break apart!

Galewind and Star River shook violently. Zheng Yu remained unconcerned and simply watched the proceedings.

Zhang An’s face grew graver and the rest watched with their hearts in their mouths. Was the exalted emperor about to break free? What should they do?

......

Within the seal.

Li Hao swung stroke after stroke, severely oscillating the seal. The shadow that belonged to the Hongs shuddered, ready to break apart at any second.

The other shadows had wanted to come over to help, but when the ‘Battle Heaven’ characters flashed from the sword, it gave them pause. This was just a formation, after all, not actual representatives of the living. The shadows were unable to determine what they should do.

Light flashed through the exalted emperor’s eyes from his position beneath the Star Gate not too far away. An extremely feeble wisp of Red Moon power began wafting in all directions. Emotion was beginning to stir in his heart.

No one is stopping him!

I... might really break free today. Who would’ve thought!

No one from Li Daoheng and Zheng Yu is coming to stop this child. Li Hao is really going to break the seal!

Cruuuunch...

There was already a fissure in the great formation. The exalted emperor had originally wanted Li Daoheng to appear so that he could give that upstart a good beating. But now, he ardently hoped for that guy to stay away.

You guys can continue your squabbles elsewhere, don’t come out here! Li Hao certainly has a trap somewhere set up against you guys, don’t come here!

I’m sure I can break out if given some more time.

The Star Gate over his shimmered with light, as if sensing something. It flared with starlight, wanting to suppress the exalted emperor!

But as the seal loosened, the Star Gate lost its restrictive power.

Li Hao continued to hack away!

Boom!

The shadow that belonged to the Hongs shattered from the last blow!

The Red Moon exalted emperor, despite his lofty strength, waited with bated breath!

Almost...

Crack!

The void broke. It split open, disgorging a man with a longsword on his back. His expression was remote and he slashed at Li Hao as soon as he saw the young man!

“I thought you really would dare to stay away!” Li Hao howled with laughter. “But you didn’t dare! Oh how you disappoint me, Li Daoheng!”

Boom!

Li Hao held Stellaris and pointed it at the firmament. “Are you still not taking action, exalted emperor of Red Moon?!” he shouted angrily.

The Red Moon exalted emperor cursed to himself.

Damn it, damn that abomination!

He raised a fist without a word and punched the void. The man with a sword turned around, slashing his sword against Stellaris in Li Hao’s hand!

BOOM!

Unbounded killing intent enveloped Li Hao, the massive recoil so strong that it pulverized his arm and traveled up his body!

“Have you thrown enough of a tantrum, Li Hao?” the man denounced coldly. “End this farce if you’re done with your fit! This person cannot be released at present. There will be people who come along after a while to end him, even without you releasing him. Don’t always use this piece of trash to put on the act of going down in flames with your enemy!”

The Red Moon exalted emperor’s expression shifted drastically. The extremity of his humiliation was made clear to him!

Clearly, whether it was Li Daoheng or Li Hao, they all treated him as a tool!

The exalted emperor punched out, extending beyond the seal with this blow. The world overturned with the blow and the universe threatened to fall apart!

The man turned around and cut through the world with one blow! The firmament split apart and countless stars crashed down!

The longsword and massive fist collided together!

An enormous collision rang out as the fist crumbled, the longsword shattered, and the man coughed up blood. His face was impassive as before as he materialized another longsword and slashed through the world again!

The towering giant that was Li Hao was nailed into the void. The longsword erupted with unparalleled killing intent and blew the giant apart!

The man frowned as he looked at the exploding Li Hao, once more sensing a special sort of strength. A longsword appeared in his hand again, as did a giant fist to his rear. His eyes widened and he whirled around to deliver another blow!

BOOM!

Incomparable strength once more crashed into each other and swept in all directions. The sword broke and the fist vanished.

The man looked at the hole in the void, his frown deepening. He could not stay here for long! Once he did and the exalted emperor locked onto his position, the seal would be rendered useless.

“You’ll burn yourself if you play with fire!” He bit off at the location where Li Hao had blown up. “You better think hard about what you’re doing!”

Clearly, he knew as well that Li Hao wasn’t dead!

He even understood that Li Hao had done all this to force him to appear. But... could he not appear? Li Hao really had been ready to break the seal.

The man darted back into the dao universe; a ray of sword light erupted from the dao universe at the same time. It blasted an imperceptible surge of Red Moon power to smithereens!

The Red Moon exalted emperor didn’t react. He simply watched quietly as the dao universe disappeared. He smiled with some regret, but soon recovered his calm. The exalted emperor looked at where Li Hao had detonated—a longsword hovered in the void, but Li Hao was gone.

After a while, he abruptly heard the sound of trickling water.

An incredibly weak Li Hao appeared in the air. He grinned the next moment and swung his longsword,

boom!

The void exploded, crushing a surge of Red Moon power!

The exalted emperor raised an eyebrow; Li Hao opened the passageway to the dao universe the next second. A thunder tribulation raged out as soon as he did so and vaporized the Red Moon power in the surroundings!

The exalted emperor’s jaw dropped and he made to speak, but Li Hao soared through the void with Sword City in his hand.

“Our joint opponent is Li Daoheng, so don’t scheme against me...” he said weakly. “I’m so feeble and fragile, take pity on me! I’ll come find you next time!”

The young man darted into the void and disappeared!

The Red Moon exalted emperor frowned slightly, still not saying a word. It wasn’t like he’d lost anything from the exchange, but whether it was Li Daoheng or Li Hao... they all deserved to burn at the stake!

They used him and were terrified of him breaking free. But...

The exalted emperor smiled again. The seal was much weaker than before! It looked like his freedom was at hand.

If they come a few more times... I won’t need them to do anything. I can just force myself out of the seal!