Chapter 1464: Dauntless and Fearless (II)

Taking only ten thousand years to ascend from second rank to fourth rank was a miracle in the eyes of most exalted emperors. When it came to New Martial producing multiple seventh rank exalted emperors in less than one thousand years of existence, that was the stuff of legends.

Of course, New Martial benefited from a deep foundation. It’d experienced the ages of Initial Martial and Core Origin prior to its formation. Core origin dao had been perfected by a group of unparalleled geniuses who’d worked on even the heavenly will. That was how the civilization had gained the foundation of a major world in its infancy!

In comparison... Silver Moon’s foundations were much weaker.

The Human King had been a mid rank exalted emperor when he walked out of Yin and Yang. He set foot into the high ranks in just one thousand years. If one wanted to know how he’d done it, they could only ask the Human King himself.

“I’ll first take the senior to where the previous senior gained his enlightenment. There should be other exalted emperors there at the moment. It’s also where the most number of exalted emperors have gathered in the last eight thousand years...”

Li Hao inclined his head. The two swiftly crossed the void and flew in the relevant direction. The young man looked down over the land—the pit of yellow dirt seemed more like a massive dragon hovering over the ground.

There were no dragons in Silver Moon, only a massive snake. The snake king of the Kui Mountains wasn’t all that strong and was yet to metamorphose into a dragon. Therefore, apart from the dragon on top of the Skyward southern gate, Li Hao had never seen a dragon before.

Dragons made frequent appearances in many legends and myths. Their stories were present even on Silver Moon. Could a gigantic dragon of seventh rank really train the blood qi and body daos?

Li Hao didn’t sense any remnants of dao as he scanned the ground. He and Big Claw landed on top of a moderately sized dirt hill. There were multiple exalted emperors on top of it. Two of them matched Li Hao, the third was a second rank exalted emperor.

There were two males and one female. One of them looked to be humanoid, but Li Hao could tell from a glance that it was a monster spirit in human form. He wasn’t certain which exact monster spirit it was and it wouldn’t be polite to probe further. He simply swept an eye over that exalted emperor, nodded at all three of them, and didn’t stay a word.

Of the three, the second rank exalted emperor flicked a glance at Li Hao and ignored the young man.

“Our apologies for disrupting the seniors,” Big Claw greeted the trio with utmost care. “I am Big Claw of Dragon Observatory and have brought this senior here to observe and learn...”

The second rank exalted emperor ignored his words, as did the woman. It was the first rank man who looked aloofly at Li Hao. “So you wish to observe and learn. However, this place is a gathering site for exalted emperors. Do you not know how to walk?”

Li Hao looked at the man. Normally speaking, exalted emperors rarely picked a fight. But perhaps this place was different and people like to stir up trouble instead.

“I am newly arrived and am not too familiar with the situation... I am embarrassing myself before the fellow daoist.” Li Hao’s tones were calm and he smiled slightly. “Big Claw is more familiar with this area and I am just here to take a look. I will not be disturbing anyone.”

The other two continued to ignore him.

“Don’t you understand the logic of first come, first served?” grumped the exalted emperor who’d spoken before. “This place can host only three exalted emperors. There isn’t enough space for more...”

Li Hao was confused.

There is usually at least some sort of conflict of interest between us if you want to make trouble for me! Not to mention, we’re both first rank. It’s not like you’re noticeably stronger than me, so... what gives?

The young man was puzzled. No one who’d reached the exalted emperor level was an idiot. This first rank exalted emperor was picking a fight for no reason at all. The other two exalted emperors hadn’t said a word, but that one didn’t find it a hassle to create an issue.

What did he want?

Does he think he can crush me or something? This is a rare situation!

Li Hao was baffled.

I would understand it if the second rank exalted emperor wants to cause a scene in order to rough me up, seize a drop of blood essence, and see if he can activate the site.

But... it’s the first rank barking at me. I really don’t get it.

“What does the fellow daoist mean by this?”

“What do I mean? I mean that we don’t have enough space!” sneered the other. “I also sense a ray of sword intent from you. You are a sword cultivator?” The look in his eyes chilled. “I don’t like sword cultivators!”

Li Hao arched a brow.

What, did sword cultivators steal your girl?

“Senior, this person is a cultivator from Suncloud. Suncloud was a mid world with a peak fourth rank master of the world. Unfortunately, the master ran afoul of New Martial’s Sword Sovereign a few years ago and was cut down!

“The two exalted emperors of Suncloud fled to Skyward after that. Apart from this one, there’s another third rank exalted emperor on the major world!”

The Sword Sovereign!

Li Hao’s heart trembled. This was a... laughable and wordless situation! He was in another region entirely, but he could still learn of the Sword Sovereign’s legendary exploits!

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The Sword Sovereign had brought down a peak fourth rank exalted emperor who was the master of a mid world. That made him nearly fifth rank! This level of strength was a force to be reckoned with, and the Sword Sovereign was not the strongest on New Martial’s side...

Based on Li Hao’s thoughts, the Sword Sovereign could actually be a bit stronger. Silver Moon’s dao universe was deeply tied to the man. Since his dao universe could entice the birth of powerhouses, then the Sword Sovereign must be near sixth rank.

Or he might already be sixth rank already?

No wonder this guy’s not very friendly toward me. The first reason is because he senses my sword intent. The second is because he has a third rank exalted emperor as his patron. The third is that I cultivate the sword dao.

In the absence of a particular dao strength present on Skyward, most cultivators of a dao universe would bear echoes of that specific great dao. Red Moon cultivators, for example, wielded Red Moon strength.

To put it simply, Li Hao was passing himself off as a random cultivator. He didn’t have an impressive background or was part of a major world. In that case, it was normal for another exalted emperor to fling some verbal barbs his way in a fit of bad mood.

The most critical was that this person might bear an innate dislike of Li Hao because the young man’s sword dao was highly correlated to the Sword Sovereign’s sword dao. After dismissing the power of time, his sword dao wasn’t that much different from the Sword Sovereign’s on a fundamental basis.

There weren’t many exalted emperors in a mid world like Suncloud. With even their master of the world eliminated, they were likely done for as well. This exalted emperor was a refugee.

Various thoughts rose in Li Hao’s mind. Since this guy’s boss had been taken out by the Sword Sovereign, he was obviously at odds with New Martial. Since he was at odds with New Martial, then for the moment, he was an enemy.

Few were the friends Li Hao had encountered on this trip, but he’d certainly met a lot of enemies. New Martial was quite adept at making enemies!

“Fellow daoist, there are countless sword cultivators beneath the heavens. You can’t hate all of them just because your world was destroyed by one, can you?” Li Hao spoke with a sincere expression. “And as an exalted emperor, it’s not a good mindset to bully the weak and fear the strong.

“Since the Sword Sovereign of New Martial has destroyed your world, you can go to him for revenge. Why drag in innocents with your blood feud? I am an exalted emperor too and have not antagonized the fellow daoist. I am here only to comprehend the great dao, nothing else. We should help one another when we travel outside our home, that is the way of survival for exalted emperors. Why create trouble for ourselves?”

His words made sense, but they drew looks from the other two exalted emperors.

You’re listing someone else’s faults in front of them. Although you make sense, why does it sound like you’re purposefully provoking him as well?

These two knew a bit more about Suncloud being destroyed.

To mention the Sword Sovereign in front of one of its survivors, and being a first rank sword cultivator at that... was there a show in store for them?

Sword intent and death qi wrapped around Li Hao, giving the impression of a massive gap between his cultivation and the methods of the Sword Sovereign. They weren’t of the same discipline, so why mention the Sword Sovereign at this time and cause trouble for himself?

Although the two in the field were both first rank exalted emperors, there was a third rank exalted emperor supporting the one from Suncloud. Third rank exalted emperors were premier powerhouses and when they reached fourth rank, they weren’t in the habit of traveling around to seek their fortune.

Mid rank exalted emperors were either the master of a faction or interacted with others at a higher field of existence. These sites of dao foundation were not suitable for them.

The Suncloud exalted emperor’s expression froze over. He wasn’t... purposefully making trouble for this newcomer. He simply felt that Li Hao’s sword intent was very uncomfortable. He’d been nearby the day Suncloud fell—the Sword Sovereign hadn’t paid attention to the rest of the people after he killed the master of the world and destroyed the major world.

That was how this exalted emperor had survived. He recalled the Sword Sovereign’s sword intent and somehow felt a wave of hateful disgust when he saw the young man. For some reason, there was a constant scent from the Sword Sovereign in the premises.

Although the newcomer seemed to be from another type of sword discipline since he brimmed with death qi, and there was no heir or disciple associated with the Sword Sovereign... so anything was possible. The Suncloud exalted emperor couldn’t help but utter a few hateful words.

How dare this newcomer respond in kind when he was fully aware of the situation!

Damn it!

Suncloud might have been toppled, but it still had a third rank exalted emperor! Apart from the region masters on Suncloud, a third rank was a peak level existence on Skyward!

“I generally do not seek out trouble, but you... I suspect you of being a New Martial spy!” He looked coldly at Li Hao.

Both exalted emperors looked at Li Hao, as did a surprised Big Claw. Li Hao also started—

I’m a New Martial spy? I guess... you could actually say that?

“I’m... a New Martial spy?” laughed the young man. “Fellow daoist, are you intent on picking a fight with me? I am newly arrived and have been prudent, deathly afraid of putting down a toe wrong. But that doesn’t mean you can levy wild accusations at me!

“Yin and Yang is fighting Red Moon, that’s a place with eighth rank exalted emperors in residence! Aren’t you condemning me to death with your words? How can you be so malicious when we’ve just met?

“I do not wish to attract trouble for no reason. You have a third rank exalted emperor left of Suncloud that I cannot afford to provoke. What can I say about your baseless claim?”

The others didn’t believe the Suncloud exalted emperor; they simply felt that the newcomer was bold and continuously seemed to be poking at another’s scars.

“I have no desire to be enemies with anyone,” Li Hao said with resignation. “Since the fellow daoist does not welcome me, I’ll switch to a new spot...”

“I was only saying, but you’re in a hurry to leave.” The Suncloud exalted emperor glared frostily at him. “Are you afraid? Did I hit upon the truth? I

do

feel a hint of that bastard’s presence in your sword intent! It’d be one thing if you defended yourself with logic and reason, but you choose to withdraw instead. I suspect you even more now!"