Chapter 1350: Aftermath (II)

“As of present, the exalted emperor poses the greatest threat to us all,” said Zhang An. “He also comes from the Red Moon universe! It will be very, very hard for any singular party to kill him—whoever does so will have to worry about the other two taking advantage of a temporary weakness in the aftermath.

“Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng might be willing to team up with you to kill the exalted emperor first. That would take out the strongest competitor, clearing the field for a showdown between the three of you.”

The numerous powerhouses in the vicinity quieted with Zhang An’s analysis. It was sound. If an opportunity presented itself, the three sides of Li Hao, Li Daoheng, and Zheng Yu could kill the exalted emperor first before fighting each other to the death. Not only would this ensure the biggest chances of eliminating the exalted emperor, but they would also be able to eliminate an enormous source of disaster.

An exalted emperor was too strong!

Even Li Daoheng couldn’t be fully assured of killing an exalted emperor, and that was before Li Hao ruined his plans time and time again.

“We can think about that later,” Li Hao laughed. “I need to reach seventh level Fused Dao first before entertaining ideas like these. Otherwise, any random half step emperor can kill me in my current state. Wouldn’t I be the sheep entering the lion’s den if I partnered with them?”

There was nothing wrong with Zhang An’s idea, just that it was unfeasible at present. Li Hao was the weakest out of the three, but he controlled the corporal dao universe. This was something that both Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng wanted.

If the star of time eluded their grasp, then they would be even less inclined to go easy on the young man. Only Li Hao stood a chance of luring the star out of hiding. They had no idea how to do so, and it was becoming ever harder to tempt the star.

It would remain unmoved even if Li Daoheng brought out a river of stars or sword of time because Li Hao had showcased all of them before. The star would not present itself if it wasn’t interested. It’d even seen the bodies of past, present, and future now. No one would be able to catch sight of it if it decided to stay in hiding.

Li Hao dropped the topic and looked at the void with a smile. “Alright, let’s make use of this opportunity to quickly switch over everyone who wants to shift to the new dao. We’ll make it snappy. If we delay, those guys might come for me when they’re done fighting each other!”

The world was unable to sustain the presence of half step emperors at present. They’d been able to walk through the land before only because the dao universe was so close to the world. Now with the mental world being retracted, the corporeal dao universe would close off as well. It would be very hard for half step emperors to emerge now.

Of course, the Red Moon exalted emperor didn’t care about that!

He might outright set foot into the world if he wanted to. He probably wanted nothing more than to break the seal himself. However, the other two wouldn’t give him a chance to do so. At least, Li Daoheng wouldn’t.

None of that had anything to do with Li Hao. He wanted to quickly finish the latest conversions and seal off the corporeal dao universe. It would indeed hugely benefit him if a group of Saints joined the new dao.

With that, he set everything aside and focused on the task at hand.

......

The immaterial dao universe.

As expected, the three heavyweights were too preoccupied to pay attention to Li Hao at the moment. They chased after the star, which kept up a frenetic pace as it seemed to have been spooked by the happenings. It sped ahead infinitely far each time it darted ahead.

If it wasn’t for all three being half step emperors, they would be hard pressed to keep track of their quarry.

“We know full well that Li Hao did this on purpose... but we still set foot into his trap!” Zheng Yu sighed. “This star is difficult to chase down! Exalted Emperor of Red Moon, why don’t you eliminate Li Hao and get rid of a hassle first?

“Li Daoheng and I may not catch up to the star. If we lose it, the three of us will end up with nothing and all of it will benefit Li Hao!”

Behind them, the replica of the Red Moon exalted emperor drifted with his hands behind his back. He was in no hurry as he leisurely followed the duo. His attention was more on his surroundings and familiarizing himself with the dao universe.

Thunderbolts gathered in the air, but the level of Red Moon power within the replica wasn’t overly dense. Thus, while the tribulation was strong, it was bearable to the exalted emperor.

“This emperor has given it thought, but why should I be bothered?” he responded impassively. “It should be you two who are anxious about killing Li Hao! This emperor is unable to control this dao universe and my primary body cannot emerge at the moment. None of this has anything to do with me, so why should I eliminate your opponent for you?”

“The exalted emperor is afraid of losing to the one in Great Li, aren’t you?” Zheng Yu chuckled.

The two exalted emperors were both replicas, but one was just formed and the other had been created one hundred thousand years ago. The latter even wielded the Exalted Blood Emperor’s blade. It was more than likely that the one from Red Moon would lose any engagement.

The Red Moon exalted emperor kept his cool, rather than lose his temper at the disrespect. “Zheng Yu, you have to work on your skills if you wish to provoke this emperor! Also, Li Daoheng poses much more of a threat than this emperor’s replica. It should be you and I working in tandem to get rid of him!”

This was the immaterial dao universe, after all. Li Daoheng was stronger here and more familiar with the surroundings.

The exalted emperor was right as well. Here, Li Daoheng was the greatest danger. It would be more appropriate for the exalted emperor to ally with Zheng Yu.

“Your primary body will break free of the seal if he’s taken out of the picture!” Zheng Yu laughed softly. “The seal is much weaker now compared to before, so it’s not like the exalted emperor cannot force your way out of it. You just need to pay a small price.

“You do not do so because you still have some concerns and reservations. Would those still exist if Li Daoheng is dead?”

The Red Moon exalted emperor smiled and didn’t respond. The three powerhouses continued to slice through the void—the dao universe seemed to be limitless.

If this had been Silver Moon world, they would’ve long reached the world barrier. But here, even they couldn’t identify where the end of the world was. It was very likely that half step emperors could become lost if the chase continued.

Up ahead, the man with a sword on his back frowned. A river of stars churned ahead of him, resembling the one that Li Hao owned. It was tracking the star. He turned around and looked at the two hot on his heels.

“This star is the heart of great dao,” he said coldly. “We lack something of interest for it, so it refuses to stop! It is futile to continue chasing it—the key is Li Hao. Perhaps he can lure it out again...”

Keeping up the hunt was too much effort!

“Does Brother Li think that Li Hao will summon this star again for you?” Zheng Yu gave a bark of laughter. “Just keep chasing it. Perhaps it’ll stop when it reaches the end of the universe. The dao universe is a newly born one, after all. Can it really be infinitely vast?”

Li Daoheng tilted his head and sneered, “Zheng Yu, you don’t seem to be worried about Li Hao growing stronger. You’re even more at ease than me and the one from Red Moon! It seems that you still have tricks up your sleeves...”

“Brother Li thinks too much.” Zheng Yu shook his head. “I just think there’s no need to worry about anything. If we can win, then we’ll win. If we lose... then we can think of this as our tribulation to break through to exalted emperor!

“A heavenly tribulation is a tribulation, but so is a human one! Since a heavenly tribulation is inaccessible to us at the moment, then we can weather the human one. Perhaps we’ll be able to advance at the end of it!”

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

A human tribulation!

Li Daoheng flicked a glance at him, but said nothing else. This was not hearsay. The heavenly tribulation of the exalted emperor cultivation level was to temper the heart. A human tribulation served a similar purpose.

If they had the ability to endure a human tribulation, then they wouldn’t fear a heavenly tribulation if one truly existed!

The three didn’t seem to be enemies at the moment as they chatted while they flew through the immense dao universe. After all, their lives up to this point had been too lonely!

One had been trapped in Galewind, another lived on the moon, and the third was sealed within the world barrier. They’d been awake for one hundred thousand years, but had no opportunity to interact with others. They could only sit back and watch the world change.

Today, they had a rare opportunity to occupy the same space at the same time. Whether they were enemies or had outstanding feuds to address, they could converse while they chased down the star and alleviate one hundred thousand years of boredom.

It was a very relaxing time.

......

Silver Moon world.

Avenues of core origin dao materialized, crossing through the world. Li Hao promptly smashed through them without missing a beat!

Those were the great daos of the Empyrean Kings!

They weren’t fully dead yet, but Li Hao wouldn’t show them any mercy. It was best if they were completely dead!

The core origin energy they emanated would greatly replenish the world and resupply the New Martial cultivators switching to the new dao.

This instance of transfer differed from the previous ones. Li Hao used to start from the beginning with reforging the physical body. This time, he skipped that step since Saints were very powerful. He threaded their great dao through the dao universe and coalesced the dao star that they needed.

Just one! Which meant they only had one dao meridian!

They were on their own if they wanted more. It wasn’t too hard for a Saint to form dao meridians. Li Hao did this not only to save time, but also because creating physical bodies consumed too much energy and resources.

However, this meant that the latest batch faced some drawbacks compared to those who possessed new bodies. The newest transplants were less aligned with the new dao universe, so it would require some time to forge an affinity and be one with it.

The other point was that due to the presence of just one dao meridian, the newest recruits could not cultivate methodically like Wang Ye and the others. They needed to fill in their dao meridians before they could take another step forward.

All of that would be up to the newcomers. Li Hao only connected them to the new dao.

There were a lot of Saints in this batch—Capsize Sea, the Ninth Division leader, General Pagoda, the old turtle, the spurge tree, the Zhang Saint, the two elders of Martial Alliance, and the redwood.

The remaining Saint under Zhang An’s banner remained mysterious as ever and did not opt to convert to the new dao.

Li Hao glanced at him and didn’t mind the refusal. What remaining Saint? That was Zhang An himself, the Zhang An that cultivated core origin dao!

The Zhang An they saw now cultivated the new dao. Li Hao had long grown used to the New Martial powerhouse habit of creating multiple replicas of themselves for cultivation.

After the Saints completed the change, the Immortals and Apexes started as well. Plant spirits were also part of the mix. The new dao was unstoppable!

Those who saw clearly could tell that the new dao far exceeded core origin dao, at least in this world. Li Hao’s strength had ballooned today and when the star of time appeared, even Zhang An felt that the new dao universe might have more potential than core origin dao!

Not even Li Hao understood why the star of time had appeared within the new dao or why it’d been born. But that didn’t stop everyone from thinking that the new dao universe possessed astronomical potential!

New Martial cultivators who hadn’t been in a hurry to switch to the new dao were now very much feeling the urgency. Li Hao continued to grow stronger, if they didn’t seize the opportunity now, would he agree to let them in once his strength was incomparable to theirs?