Chapter 1457: A Horse Off the Reins (III)

“If there are nine ranks to exalted emperors... does that mean the New Martial Human King is a ninth rank exalted emperor?” Li Hao couldn’t help but ask.

“No,” Zu An shook his head. “Just because the category exists doesn’t mean there’s someone occupying it. The area that we’re in actually has a name—the Red Moon Region! For purposes of identification, we usually name a region after the strongest world within it.

“The strongest world in this locality is the Red Moon major world. It’s said that the Red Moon master is an eighth rank exalted emperor. Who knows if that’s true or just legend?

“The New Martial Human King should be a premier existence of seventh rank. He would find it difficult to kill the Utmost Dark master if not!”

“The New Martial Human King... isn’t the strongest?” Li Hao found it hard to believe. The Red Moon master was even stronger?

And neither of them are ninth rank? I thought these two were the strongest existences among exalted emperors!

“It makes no difference to us,” Zu An laughed. “Whether it’s seventh or ninth rank, we’re no match for them at all. Those ranks might remain out of reach for us our entire lives. Fellow daoist might not understand this since you’re a newcomer to the chaos universe. There is a great gap between exalted emperors.

“One must fulfill at least two conditions to become a seventh rank exalted emperor. First, their world must attain major world status. Second, their great dao has been perfected and even in prime condition! Lastly, they need to be both master of the world and of the great dao to stand a chance of breaking through. There’s no hope for us just based on that alone!” Zu An shook his head.

“I see... Li Hao nodded dazedly. “Then why... did New Martial attack a major world?”

“Now that’s a long story. New Martial and Red Moon should be the two strongest worlds in the Red Moon Region. Red Moon prepared to attack New Martial a few decades ago to devour it, but New Martial struck back instead.

“War is yet to commence, but everything’s turned into a mess. It should be the New Martial Human King behind the destruction of Elysian Fields and Utmost Dark. He knows he can’t measure up to the Red Moon master, so he’s swallowing other worlds in an attempt to make it to eighth rank!”

Zu An wasn’t fully aware of the situation either, this was just his speculation. He pointed ahead next.

“Red Moon Region is not safe at the moment. Everything is a mess with the war! Skyward major world up ahead is a bit safer. Although it’s also a mess there, it’s been a mess for so many years that it’s an organized mess now. There are more chaos wanderers there, which also makes it more secure.

“I would advise you not to go over there if this was in times before. Exalted emperors often die in that region! But now with even seventh rank exalted emperors dying in Red Moon Region... At least this level of conflict won’t develop around Skyward.

“I’ve been in Red Moon Region for many years,” Zu An sighed with emotion. “I’d thought that it was safe there. But it’s like they collectively lost their minds all of a sudden! Nether Moon started moving without a word and almost smashed me flat. The other major worlds have followed suit and it’s all a huge mess. I think it’s better if I head to Skyward for a bit.”

Li Hao nodded, understanding a bit more of the chaos. However, his knowledge was still piecemeal.

Zu An smiled at seeing the other nod and suddenly said, “But... if it’s possible for the fellow daoist, you should stay away from Skyward.”

“Why is that?” Li Hao was confused. “Didn’t you just say it’s safer there?”

“Comparatively speaking!” Zu An explained. “And that only applies to me. It’s not a matter of strength, but that the fellow daoist comes with a chaos beast and a minor world. It easily puts others in the mindset that fellow daoist is traveling with your minor world!”

Li Hao blinked, then nodded. “That’s true.”

“The fellow daoist probably doesn’t understand the problems inherent with that! Although a minor world lacks a dao universe, it itself is a treasure. Anyone can strengthen themselves if they swallow it or refine it into an ultimate treasure!

“A mid world is fine enough in the universe since it possesses many powerhouses, but a minor world typically has only one exalted emperor among its ranks. There’s nothing they wish more than to hide their world in the depths of the chaos, so that no one can discover it!

“But if you carry your world around with you, even a mid tier exalted emperor will have certain thoughts in mind. But for higher ranked exalted emperors, a minor world isn’t worth a second look...”

My crime is the treasure I carry?

Li Hao nodded thoughtfully.

“But even if they completely devour a minor world, it’ll be hard for a first rank exalted emperor like me to reach third rank, no?”

“That’s right, it’ll be hard!” Zu An nodded in agreement. “But for some peak second ranks, they might enter third rank after swallowing the world. If a peak third rank swallows it, they might enter fourth rank. Even if it’s just a hope of doing so, it still represents an enormous stroke of fortune to many!”

“Second and third rank shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Li Hao frowned slightly.

“......” Zu An glanced at him and smiled.

It is truly the young and naive who are afraid of nothing!

“It’s not hard for some people and a portion of minor world masters won’t think much of it at first either. After all, who isn’t a little smug about becoming a master of a world?

“But the reality is, in the absence of great fortune, it may take a first rank a thousand years of roaming the chaos to become a second rank. It might take ten thousand years or even longer for a second rank to become a third rank!

“As for a third rank becoming a fourth rank, that is harder than reaching the heavens. It’s almost impossible without any great opportunities! It’ll have to take your minor ascending to a mid world to accomplish that, and

that

is a lot harder than your own cultivation!

“Or perhaps you can join the side of a major world, thanks to some enormous stroke of luck. The dao master of that world can personally guide you into the dao universe and give you enough space within it for you to attain a breakthrough!

“Or perhaps you’ll conquer a major world and seize its dao universe, becoming the master of dao yourself...

“In conclusion, you’ll need a dao universe if you wish to become a mid tier exalted emperor! But since dao universes are exclusive to major worlds, that poses another problem!” Zu An shook his head. “Therefore, wanderers in the chaos are nearly all first, second, and third rank exalted emperors of minor to mid worlds. Or they’re chaos beasts!

“Those stronger than third rank are either the powerhouses of major worlds or exalted emperors that were fortunate enough to devour a minor or mid world. The latter group won’t be able to ascend otherwise.”

I see!

In that case, a dao universe really was very unique.

Li Hao knew that powerhouses might not care about a minor world, but one with a dao universe, and a twin dao universe at that... might draw even the attention of sixth rank exalted emperors.

The young man ran through some quick calculations. Panther was a second rank in the body of the chaos beast. The Red Moon exalted emperor that they’d killed before might have been a third rank. He hadn’t gone through a metamorphosis yet, which meant that Silver Moon stood a chance of handling a third rank exalted emperor.

Fourth rank was likely beyond their capabilities!

“My thanks, senior!” Li Hao said with sincerity.

“There’s no need to be this polite,” Zu An laughed. “I’m simply sharing some common knowledge that only newcomers are unaware of. Any chaos wanderer will know what I speak of. You and I are both exalted emperors, we are peers. Just call me fellow daoist. People would laugh at me if they heard you call me senior!”

“Then... I shan’t stand on ceremony. Thank you, fellow daoist!” Li Hao responded. “I know more about the chaos after your tutelage and am better able to protect myself. So does this mean to say that everyone will think I have a minor world in tow since I’m traveling with a chaos beast? And that will attract attention from some heavyweights?”

“Under normal circumstances, those third rank and below might set their eyes on you. Fourth rank... has no need for a minor world!” Zu An explained. “When an exalted emperor reaches fourth rank, a minor world—especially a new risen one—isn’t that very useful for them.

“Of course, some petty heavyweights or those in desperate need of a weapon, or perhaps their descendants, might need a minor world for their purposes. They could seek to seize one then.”

“Then why does the senior tell me all of this?” Li Hao suddenly asked. “If...”

“Having one thing more on my plate is less desirable than having one thing less,” Zu An grinned. “I’m only a second rank exalted emperor. Even if I do get other ideas in mind, I may not be able to take down this chaos beast.

“Not to mention, none of this will have anything to do with me if someone else comes along and takes everything. In fact, they might kill me as well to avoid future trouble!”

That would be the normal development.

For example, if he found a fourth rank exalted emperor as a helper, the other would kill Li Hao, seize the minor world, and then decide that killing Zu An as well would be for the best. Or he might decide on a host of other decisions, any were possible except for giving the minor world to Zu An!

Giving this young master of the world a word of caution would forge friendly relations instead. And the caveat to that was that this young man knew the meaning of gratitude.

The young man had also said that there were some New Martial heritages in Hao Moon. Who the hell knew if this world had something to do with New Martial instead? As infamous as New Martial was, it truly was strong beyond compare.

An existence that could smash two major worlds in one day meant that the Human King and Ash Emperor were likely both seventh rank exalted emperors. They were also the very strong type of exalted emperors.

Added to their number was the greatly known Sun God, someone who could escape from the Red Moon master’s hands. He was either peak sixth rank or seventh rank.

Supreme Zhang was also a sixth rank exalted emperor.

If so many powerhouses were truly related to the young master of Hao Moon... Zu An didn’t think he could afford to provoke them. And of course, there was no need to go into detail about his concerns.

In the meantime, Li Hao had mentioned New Martial at the very beginning just so he could avoid any sources of trouble like these. His dao heritage and all of the cultivation paths that Silver Moon walked had much to do with New Martial.

It would be easy for heavyweights to determine that they had something to do with New Martial. In that case, they might as well be upfront about it. There were many New Martial citizens in existence and quite a few of them were heavyweights. It wasn’t unusual for them to have let something behind after visiting a place.

All Li Hao needed to do was to prevent anyone from finding out that Silver Moon was a New Martial vassal world.

“Fellow Daoist Zu, can you tell me more about Skyward major world?” Li Hao felt it best if he stayed far away from Red Moon—there was an eighth rank exalted emperor in residence there! That was much too dangerous.