Chapter 1369: One Popping Up (I)

Zheng Yu watched as the Red Moon exalted emperor drifted away. He smiled at the man’s back, but didn’t say a word. Were they in the range of Red Moon universe?

That wasn’t out of the range of possibilities!

It was just difficult to determine. What if they were located to the rear of New Martial instead, and New Martial hadn’t come looking for them because they couldn’t be bothered to? There was no immediate danger if they were located to the rear.

Who could say?

Zheng Yu took another look at the immaterial dao universe. Stars aplenty twinkled in the distance, falling into the mortal world. It looked like they might enter Silver Moon world soon. Was Li Daoheng growing anxious? Did he want to get rid of Li Hao that badly?

“Perhaps... he’s including me in the mix.” Zheng Yu laughed and closed his eyes, returning to cultivation. There was a lot of immaterial dao strength in the vicinity, making it a good location for cultivation.

A brilliant moon reappeared far away, brighter than before!

The Moon God had recovered from multiple severe injuries and didn’t seem to have suffered any lasting effects from them.

Desire wafted through the void from a spot even further out, resembling Red Moon power. Zheng Yu knew whose dao it was—Gan Wuliang!

It looked like Li Daoheng was well aware of Gan Wuliang’s presence and possibly even plotting around it. Would Gan Wuliang become Li Hao’s weakness? Or would the young man mount an ultimate counterattack through the man?

Who knew?

Silver Moon world had become ever more interesting ever since gaining Li Hao!

......

Silver City.

This was where Li Hao chose to create his world in the end. He had been born here, grew up here, and if unlucky enough, he would die here. That was a sort of returning to his roots.

The exalted emperor was sealed here, the eight ancient cities stood here, all opportunities and fortune in the world happened to be here. Another key was that many battles had taken place in Silver City, of which Li Hao always emerged the victor. This was his city of luck and fortune.

He’d killed Ying Hongyue and Empyrean Kings here. This place contained his destiny. While he was willing to discard the heavenly will, who said that fortune had to be tied to the heavens as well?

The Skystar army had withdrawn, leaving seven ancient cities hovering in Silver City airspace. They filled in for the seal, suppressing the exalted emperor’s primary body. There were powerhouses in place at all of them.

Li Hao walked through the land, studying the seal and contemplating something.

The primary body of the exalted emperor!

The eight cities themselves were immensely powerful weapons. They were able to obstruct Empyrean Kings when wielded by Saints. Granted, it would be a sign that the seal had broken if they were down to having to activate the ancient cities.

There were Saints and Fused Dao in residence in all of the cities. Did Li Hao not suspect any of them?

That wasn’t the case.

While the saying went that one did not use people they suspected, and did not suspect the people they used, there was a wide variety of people under his banner. They had a complicated mix of backgrounds, so it wasn’t possible to not take any precautions at all.

Anyone that careless would’ve died a long time ago and been scattered upon the wind.

It was one thing for Li Hao to say that he trusted everyone and to give the impression of doing so, but he’d also established safeguards against people such as Dao Sword, Gan Wuliang, and some New Martial Saints. He assigned a variety of Saints and Fused Dao from different factions to each city. He wouldn’t let any one faction dominate the ranks of personnel.

After Ying Hongyue’s death, it was up to the eight main cities to maintain the seal’s integrity. If any problems developed, that might spell the end of the seal. Li Hao surmised that both Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng didn’t include the Red Moon exalted emperor in their plans and wouldn’t want to release the exalted emperor. Otherwise... none of the personnel that he’d assigned to the ancient cities was a wise choice.

Thankfully, he, Zheng Yu, and Li Daoheng shared the same goals at the moment. Half step emperors could walk through the world, but not exalted emperors. Therefore, he could somewhat be at ease even if there were plants among his people.

The young man didn’t know if they’d infiltrated his ranks, or if this was more deception. Regardless, he kept some core knowledge and plans to himself, telling very few.

A cursory inspection of the seven cities showed that the powerhouses in residence were very much at ease. They were either in closed door cultivation or comprehending the new dao. Nearly complete ignorance of a change in the master of dao was the common consensus.

Li Hao’s mental world still held the dao stars of a few people. This was just in case the corporeal dao universe fell to the enemy, so he hadn’t returned the stars even though he’d relinquished the dao universe. The young man was mostly concerned about Hong Yitang being too careless and falling to the enemy.

......

In Silver City airspace, beneath the seal.

Li Hao didn’t go to the effort of evading everyone’s scrutiny and appeared to be cultivating like normal. He sat cross-legged in the air and appeared to be considering something.

The mental sea roiled and energy from all sides gathered to him. Heads raised within the cities, but no one paid particular attention to the developments. The young man always raised a fuss when he cultivated. People didn’t mind that he hadn’t notified them ahead of time.

With the enemy in the immaterial dao universe, Silver Moon world was very safe these days. Although there was still the half step emperor Celestial Pole in the north, the Empyrean King queen in the west, and the heavenly will to contend with, none of them posed much of a threat to Li Hao, apart from the one in the north.

In the distance, Zhang An took a few more glances at Li Hao. He’d entered a critical period these days as well, officially stepping into the Empyrean King level.

The cultivation level that he sought wasn’t as simple as the one that the Great Li king or western queen had attained. If that was the case, he could’ve ascended long ago. What Zhang An wanted was the assimilation of the core origin and Hao Cosmos daos. He wanted one book of great dao that could encompass everything and combine the two daos.

Being the grandson of the supreme, it was humiliating for him to be only a half step Empyrean King even now. Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng were his juniors and possessed a lower status and position. And yet, they were now half step emperors who dominated the world.

Zhang An spent these days comprehending the new dao and consolidating core origin dao.

Li Hao continued to absorb energy from all sides. Countless energy stones spontaneously shattered; a large sum had been collected from Galewind. Large numbers of energy stones crumbled away, covering Silver City in a drizzle of energy rain.

The seal in the sky seemed to sense something and faintly sparkled with light. Although the seal was mostly on the same level as prior due to support from the eight cities, the formation itself had been pierced through.

The tattered formation was no longer as strong as it once was; a faint surge of Red Moon power seeped out as Li Hao cultivated. It was like how things had been when he was a child!

Rain sprinkled from the sky, just like the rainy season of Silver City in the past. That rain had contained power to strip the eight bloodlines from its bearers. It was an action that Ying Hongyue often undertook and was related to Red Moon power.

On this day, it started raining again as Li Hao cultivated. Water pooled in Silver City!

Tendrils of Red Moon power were intermixed with the rain and formed a human face in the void. There was no hostile intent within it, just a bored exalted emperor wanting some fresh air.

Li Hao could smash through it anytime, but he didn’t. He permitted the raindrops to gather and grow larger until a face was fully formed.

“Li Hao!” An august voice sounded in the ear. Li Hao continued to operate his mental world and watch each star blaze with vitality. He opened his eyes to see a face that was much bigger than him.

The Red Moon exalted emperor smiled to see the young man regard him silently, instead of slapping his projection out of existence. “The world has been divided into four these days and you are the weakest of the bunch. It’s those other two who are strong, so have you considered working with me?”

“Are you selling rat poison?”

“......” The exalted emperor blinked. What did the young man mean by that?

“You try to sell yourself to every person you meet. Is an exalted emperor worth so little?” Li Hao responded calmly. “You tried a strong sales pitch in the immaterial dao universe, didn’t you? You view everyone as a buyer! Is this how low an exalted emperor has sunk to? Or is this your pickup line? It’s not constructive at all, it’s just empty calls for cooperation.”

The exalted emperor frowned with displeasure.

“What can you offer for a partnership?” The young man remained coolly composed. “Be more practical, do you

have

anything to offer? Or are empty promises all you got? Do you think I’m an idiot? Or Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng are idiots? Any of us three are smarter than you!”

The exalted emperor reddened with anger!

“Alright, we both have too much time on our hands, which is why I let you out for a chat,” Li Hao smiled. “I was thinking we might talk about something useful, but it turns out that you don’t know how to do anything but run your mouth, and you run it with complete insincerity!”

“How am I running my mouth? Do I not speak the truth?” The exalted emperor frowned at him. “What qualifications do you have to contest the state of the world? Whether it is Zheng Yu or Li Daoheng, neither of the two are simple characters! Don’t dismiss them for being half step emperors, they have ambitions to devour the world! They may very well verify their dao as an exalted emperor in crucial moments!”

“Actually, does one still need to undergo an exalted emperor tribulation to reach that cultivation stage?” Li Hao suddenly asked with immense curiosity. With even the core origin dao universe gone, was that still a requirement? If not, could they instantly become exalted emperors?

“It’s hard to say!” the exalted emperor said after some ruminating. “Core origin has vanished, New Martial has vanished, so perhaps the exalted emperor tribulation has vanished as well! Granted, this logic might not follow since the Human King and others artificially created the tribulation.

“At the same time, Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng have always followed the path of core origin, so they might still have to face the exalted emperor tribulation. If it still exists, it might seep in through the Star Gate or break straight through it. Therefore, these two guys won’t easily attempt the breakthrough, just in case that breaks the seal as well.”

Li Hao pondered the response. “Therefore, the tribulation might still exist?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve finally said something useful,” Li Hao smiled.

The Red Moon exalted emperor looked wordlessly at the young man.

“Why did Red Moon universe wish to march on New Martial? New Martial is not weak.”

“You don’t understand!” growled the exalted emperor. “There are innumerable worlds in the void—devouring chaos can strengthen a world, but devouring a world is the equivalent of one hundred million years of absorbing chaos!

“The Red Moon universe is dominant and unparalleled. Having experienced endless years, all of our neighboring worlds have been toppled! It’s survival of the fittest in any place. The stronger New Martial is, the better! Once we swallow New Martial, we will be even stronger for it!”