Chapter 1454: Setting Out (II)

“Now that Silver Moon has connected to the chaos, your jobs are much easier.” Li Hao looked at Hong Yitang and Gan Wuliang. “You only need a bit of time to become an exalted emperor—you don’t even need to cultivate! The people are breaking through en masse, the world is breathing chaos qi, and Silver Moon is ascending as a whole. If one can become an exalted emperor in a minor world through natural processes, then a mid world will certainly produce multiple exalted emperors!”

These people were fully benefiting from Silver Moon’s rise in status. It was only a matter of time before the master of dao in a mid world became an exalted emperor. There was no difficulty involved in the task.

The problem facing them now was that it was difficult for the rest to become exalted emperors, including Yuan Shuo!

Li Hao cast a sidelong glance at his teacher. Yuan Shuo had exceedingly strong potential, but it was hard for him to verify his dao because he’d died once, come across too few opportunities later on, and now the dao universe had been divvied up by others.

Since Yuan Shuo was skilled at the five elements, he stood a chance of becoming an exalted emperor of the five elements if he fully controlled them. But right now... it wasn’t only masters of great dao who were exalted emperors.

Only when they ascended would the river of chaos grow stronger and those cultivating the five elements be fortified as well. That would be how Yuan Shuo could become an exalted emperor of the five elements after the two masters of dao.

But in this vein, he would be unable to surpass them, just as Lin Hongyu was unable to surpass Li Hao. No matter how strong the auxiliary branch, it could not contend with the main branch.

“Ah, yes, can Senior Zhang sense the existence of the core origin universe?” Li Hao suddenly asked.

Zhang An blinked, then shook his head. “No!”

The young man nodded slightly. It looked like there were limits to the emanations of a dao universe. As strong as the core origin universe was, it could not extend to this portion of the universe.

However, he’d sensed the core origin universe on the other side of the world barrier once. Did that mean that New Martial had been nearby that time?

Surely not. If it’d been nearby, why hadn’t it come in search of Silver Moon?

Based on Li Hao’s understanding, that should not be the case. However, what he was unaware of was that the Human King had circled around Red Moon’s perimeter for several decades. That translated to almost thirty thousand years for Silver Moon. He’d passed by the minor world a few times, which enabled the core origin universe to reach the world.

It was a quick crossing-of-paths for the Human King, but an effect of several hundred years for Silver Moon. Now that the world had emerged in the chaos, they couldn’t sense core origin anymore due to the Human King’s departure.

Zhang An’s old dao remained weak in the absence of its dao universe. He was unable to perfectly blend the old and new daos either, so it was even harder for Zhang An to set foot into the exalted emperor level compared to Gan Wuliang and the rest.

Li Hao ran some quick calculations. Based on Celestial Pole’s words, a mid world should contain anywhere from three to five exalted emperors. Currently, Silver Moon was less than a regular mid world.

He would have to wait for the two masters of dao to ascend, Panther, himself, and Lin Hongyu to break through if Silver Moon wished to be a bonafide mid world. It’d also be best if he could advance to second rank exalted emperor. Otherwise, their strength wasn’t much different from a minor world.

Silver Moon had risen in status too quickly.

“Panth!” Li Hao called out. “Look for any signs of life and approach any lifeforms you find—but only ones that aren’t too strong! Stay as far away as possible from those that are strong!”

“Arf!” barked the enormous chaos beast. The giant chaos beast was beginning to look slightly different from before—Panther was modifying it to resemble more like a dog. However, it hadn’t been in control for long, so it was far from reaching that goal.

......

The giant beast roamed through the chaos. Meanwhile, a powerful existence appeared on the spot where Li Hao and the rest had weathered the tribulation. It took stock of the chaos presence and frowned into the distance.

Silver Moon had vanished.

Someone had either seized it or devoured it. Should he keep up the chase?

He could sense some faint presences lingering, so he might be able to catch up. However, given the lack of clarity in the situation, he might be in trouble once he exited Red Moon territory. While he’d still be able to call upon his great dao, he would not have home ground advantage and reinforcements would be hard pressed to reach him.

In reality, Panther hadn’t traveled too far with Silver Moon. If the exalted emperor went after his quarry, he had a chance of quickly catching up.

The fourth rank exalted emperor hesitated.

New Martial had just taken down two major worlds, exerting a great deal of pressure on Red Moon. Their Human King might be loitering nearby. If the fourth rank exalted emperor struck out on his own and encountered this personage... The Human King had killed a seventh rank exalted emperor! What would he care about a fourth rank?

After some thought, he decided not to step out of Red Moon territory. Instead, he looked further away, to the north of Red Moon. There was a major world there as well.

The cardinal directions of the chaos were not randomly plotted. There was no direction, save one. The further north one went, the more disorderly the universe was. However, regular people wouldn’t be able to determine north either.

The current locality was actually safer and calmer in comparison. Only the war between Red Moon and New Martial had broken the peace.

Had Silver Moon headed to the north?

......

At the same time, Yin and Yang major world.

A massive cat bigger than Panther flew through the chaos. New Martial chose to leave after toppling Elysian Fields. They would soon face a concerted response from several masters of major worlds if they stayed.

New Martial had fully drawn back the curtains of war this time. They’d killed two masters of the world in a day, levying untold pressure on nearby worlds.

Although a major world could move, it was very difficult for it to be mobile. And with how vast the chaos was, who knew if shifting around randomly would result in greater danger instead?

There were countless threats in the universe.

When a world was born and camped in a spot for endless eons, they would not drift through the universe if they could help it.

Yin and Yang, within an enormous palace.

A very conflicted exalted emperor looked at the person seated in the place of power.

“Celestial Pole, only you have a replica within Silver Moon these days,” said Supreme Zhang. “Only you can lock onto Silver Moon’s position!

“The world has just opened the Star Gate and connected to the chaos again. The situation is unclear. Under these circumstances, the best decision is to bring Silver Moon back into the fold!”

Celestial Pole was highly torn. That was such a dangerous proposition! He could vaguely feel where his replica was—it was very, very far away! With his strength as a newly risen third rank exalted emperor, who knew how long it’d take to catch up to Silver Moon?

The chaos was too big!

The slightest misstep would take far too long to correct. And the key was, he needed to pass by several major worlds. Wasn’t he just courting death then?

Everyone was out for New Martial’s head these days!

“Supreme...” Celestial Pole was resigned. “Can I not go? It seems to me that Silver Moon keeps moving around, it’s not in a fixed location. My replica’s position is continuously changing! Perhaps... it’s been swallowed by a chaos beast.”

That thing kept moving. It would be easier to find if it stayed put; moving around made things difficult!

Supreme Zhang looked at him with a half smile. Celestial Pole’s resignation deepened. There was never anything good in it for him when this one smiled at him like that!

His head hurt!

If possible, I’d really like to sleep until the next era. When can I be free of these troublemakers? So what if I’m strong? It’s better to live for a long time.

The Heavenly Emperor was strong. Look at him, he’s dead. All of the people from that age are dead, but I, Celestial Pole, have survived until now. I’ve weathered age after age...

It’s too dangerous to go after Silver Moon now.

“It’s so hard to get you to do anything!” laughed the supreme.

“It’s not hard...” Celestial Pole was immensely innocent. “I’m not refusing either. It’s just that the world is too far away. I think I’ll have to cross through Red Moon territory! It’ll take me a few decades to circle past it. I’m not the Human King, to be able to cross the chaos at will.

“Silver Moon might be long obliterated by the time I reach it...”

“We just razed the Elysian Fields major world and dao universe,” the supreme said after some thought. “If you are willing to go, you can have one-tenth of the world’s origin! You are a third rank exalted emperor now. One-tenth of a major world’s origin is the equivalent of a mid world. You will soon set foot into fourth rank exalted emperor then!

“But it will be harder than reaching the heavens if you miss out on this chance!” Supreme Zhang looked at Celestial Pole. “I’m not fixated on making Silver Moon rejoin us, but there are many New Martial citizens on that world! Silver Moon was isolated from the chaos for a while, so a lot of years have probably passed. I can’t say how many, just that they’ve been away from home for too long!

“We’ve tried looking for them these fifty years as well, but the world was sealed, obscured, the chaos too vast, and strong enemies on our flank. That is why we couldn’t find it...”

More like you were looking for your grandson,

Celestial Pole thought darkly to himself.

Don’t speak in such righteous tones! Your grandson’s on that world, isn’t that right?

“I’m not doing this for Zhang An either,” the supreme said at this time. “If Zhang An dies, he dies. The key is that Number Two is there! Don’t make me have Lazy ask you to do this. Otherwise... you know the consequences...”

Celestial Pole colored with alarm.

Stop scaring me with that damn cat! It’s not gonna work every time!

“Meow meow...” A voice sounded in his ear. “Little Celestial Pole, are you going to look for Number Two?”

“......” Celestial Pole didn’t know what to say.

What will you do if I say I’m not going?

Eat me?

Probably... not. The supreme won’t let that happen, but... you’ll probably turn me into a little fish, hang me up to dry, and then bat me around for many years. That’ll definitely happen.

Well, that’s not the worst. I can pretend it’s a nap. The key thing is that the cat can be pretty forgetful at times. When it’s drowsy or half awake, it sometimes eats the fish it’s created. I’ll be in trouble then!

This is so unlucky! I don’t want any part of it!

Celestial Pole wasn’t terribly interested in making the trip, even with the supreme tempting him with fourth rank exalted emperor.

“Fine fine fine, I’ll go, alright??” he capitulated. “But I travel very slowly...”

“That’s alright,” laughed the supreme. “The Forge Emperor happened to craft a long distance chaos warship a few days ago. What a happy coincidence! It flies very fast—roughly the speed of a fourth or fifth rank exalted emperor.

“You’ll be much faster in it and won’t need to take your bearings within the chaos. Just fly toward your replica. You’ll find it within three years at most!

“You don’t need to come back if New Martial’s at war with Red Moon then. It’ll be safer for you to stay away. If battle hasn’t broken out yet, then you can come back with them.”

“I can do that!” Celestial Pole nodded with newfound enthusiasm.