Chapter 1487: Emerging From Seclusion (I)

Bridges of life and death once more formed in the void—one after another! Li Hao had saved quite a bit of energy from the fourth rank. The Exalted Skyriver Emperor had also left behind a few treasures.

The young man ignored the water-attribute weapon and tossed it to the Firmament Sword to eat. Nearly any treasure he came into possession these days went to the sword.

The bridges gradually built up to one hundred and fifty in number. He should be able to make it into third rank at two hundred and forty. Three hundred and sixty would place him in fourth rank. But at that level, he would still be oblivious when it came to the path of yin and yang.

While the young man was in closed door cultivation, Big Claw diligently stood guard outside. Although he was incredibly weak in comparison, his heart burned with enthusiasm! He was serving a powerhouse who could kill a fourth rank!

Big Claw was also surprised by the Exalted Void Emperor’s tone. Normally a nondescript member of Dragon Observatory, the man spoke so loftily that it was hard to believe. High ranks didn’t seem worthy of mention to him, which quite shocked the Empyrean King.

Void tended to blend into the background of the faction and was a very hushed member. But ever since his conversation with Li Hao, Big Claw realized that both of them spoke with great aspiration!

Where would their futures lie? New Martial, Red Moon, Skyward...

On this rare occurrence, Big Claw seriously considered for the first time just how the future would unfold in the chaos. What kind of role would these two play in the upheaval?

For the moment, the New Martial Human King and Red Moon master were the overlords of the chaos. It was because of the war between their worlds that the universe had been seized by such pandemonium.

......

At the same time, Silver Moon.

A chaos beast crouched in the void, the world in its belly continuously breathing in and out energy. Silver Moon was constantly changing.

It’d been approximately three months since Li Hao left. The two masters of dao grew stronger by the day after interfacing with the chaos. The ten billion inhabitants of the world were all cultivators.

As they grew stronger, so did the great dao. By now, the corporeal dao universe had reached incredible peaks. Countless dao stars were present and the river of chaos was gigantic. Churning waters thundered against the world.

There were also increasing numbers of cultivators familiarizing themselves with immaterial dao. Gan Wuliang benefited heavily from it. Although the immaterial dao universe was still a cut below the corporeal dao universe, it was steadily improving as well. Gan Wuliang was infinitely close to the exalted emperor level.

There was no precedent for a master of great dao in a mid world. Typically, only major worlds possessed dao universes. A master of great dao was usually at least fourth rank. There were almost none weaker than fourth rank, with even sixth ranks being considered weak.

Seventh rank was the usual level for a master of great dao. And if a major world’s master and its master of great dao were the same, then there would be at least one high rank exalted emperor.

It was far more common to see the two not being the same person or there being two high ranks, or two sixth ranks. That was the average level of strength of powerhouses in the chaos.

As Li Hao’s departure dragged on, more powerhouses appeared with Silver Moon. On this day, some of them were gathered together.

......

Only a handful of people were qualified to attend this meeting. The two masters of dao, Li Hao’s master Yuan Shuo, Li Hao’s titular wife Lin Hongyu, Panther in the form of the heavenly will, the Great Li king, and the western queen.

Apart from Yuan Shuo being at fourth level Fused Dao, the rest were all qualified to be exalted emperors.

Celestial Pole and Zhang An rounded out the group—they’d always represented New Martial.

“I’ve recently sensed some powerhouses searching the void near us,” Gan Wuliang said heavily. “The strongest among us in the marquis’ absence is Panther. Panther is now a second rank exalted emperor, but those searching around us match him!

“Panther is also the only exalted emperor in Silver Moon thus far...”

Their defenses had noticeably declined in Li Hao’s absence. They were confident of taking on a third rank before, but after the young man left, they likely wouldn’t be able to match a stronger second rank. Panther had reached its level through taking possession of another, after all. It hadn’t cultivated its way to its strength.

Everyone looked at Gan Wuliang. The focus of their attention bowed only to Li Hao and no one else. Even Panther was no exception.

Gan Wuliang was probably the one who feared Li Hao the most among them. He had the greatest ambition, but also didn’t dare let Li Hao die. In fact, he felt that the young man was undying.

In other words, Gan Wuliang was a very complicated and mentally twisted man.

“Dao Master Gan, you can speak frankly of whatever’s on your mind!” Lin Hongyu flicked a glance at him. He was the one who’d called for this meeting. Gan Wuliang had the right to do so as the master of immaterial dao.

“Only after emerging in the chaos do we understand that our internal conflict is just as His Lordship says, not worthy of mention!” Gan Wuliang coughed gently. “The chaos is too big—infinitely big with an infinite number of powerhouses!

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“A dao universe would be an incredible temptation to many powerhouses. It would be so alluring that I cannot describe it. After all, they only exist in major worlds. Thus, we would be exposing ourselves to our doom, even if we had nothing to do with New Martial!”

Nods abounded through the group. They knew more of the situation in the chaos now.

“The marquis left us with instructions to adjust to changing circumstances when he left,” Gan Wuliang continued. “We’ve been hovering in this area—it’s only a matter of time before those wandering cultivators find us. I even think that Skyward is placing more emphasis on us these days because of His Lordship’s presence.

“The major world might be looking for us too! My thoughts are that we can’t just sit here and wait for His Lordship. We’ll only drag him down this way! In addition, I have another idea that I’m not sure if Headmaster Hong will agree to.”

“Speak of it!”

“You and I both have a ways to go until the exalted emperor level,” Gan Wuliang said seriously. “That cultivation level is a metamorphosis, an opportunity that both of us lack at the moment!

“On the other hand, there is no rush for Commander Lin. It is only a matter of time before there is a chance to reach the exalted emperor level through the path of life and death!”

Hong Yitang inclined his head, having a hunch of what Gan Wuliang wanted to speak of next.

“Therefore, my thoughts are that you and I should combine our strength and help another person verify their dao!” Gan Wuliang concluded.

“Hmm?” Hong Yitang blinked.

I thought you were going to say help you. But... this doesn’t sound like it? Are you thinking of Yuan Shuo? But... Yuan Shuo is only fourth level Fused Dao, he’s too far removed from being an exalted emperor.

“Not Professor Yuan either, but the Exalted Celestial Pole Emperor!” Gan Wuliang cut to the chase and looked at Celestial Pole’s replica. “The senior is currently a half step emperor, and you’re not far off from becoming an exalted emperor! Senior is from New Martial and walks the path of core origin. Your dao still exists, you just lack dao strength!

“If the corporeal and immaterial dao universes combine forces and help the senior break through, then the senior will be an exalted emperor. It would be easy for you to verify your dao!”

“No!” refused a wary Celestial Pole.

I’m not doing that! It’s nice to ascend, but also bad because that means I’ll be the first to head into battle whenever anything happens. And that’s not it either.

Whatever, it’ll just be a hassle if you guys help me to exalted emperor now. I don’t want that opportunity! You guys can enjoy it yourself!

“Either one of you can relinquish your power and facilitate the other’s ascension,” he immediately suggested. “It’s not hard for you to reach the exalted emperor level either!”

“We can’t do that.” Gan Wuliang immediately shook his head. “Neither Headmaster Hong nor I can relinquish the control of a dao universe without the marquis’ approval. Without that, some problems may appear during the process.”

To put it simply, whether it was him or Hong Yitang, they were both just stewards for the dao unvierse. Once the corporeal and immaterial became one and benefited either of them, then whoever became an exalted emperor would’ve truly stolen the dao universe.

What if Li Hao still cared about it? That would just be creating trouble for themselves! It was better to facilitate the rise of a third person. It wouldn’t impact anything as all they needed to do was supply a large sum of dao strength. They wouldn’t need to hand over control of the dao universe.

Zhang An... was a good candidate as well, but his ascension might have other troubles involved. His understanding of the combined new and old daos didn’t run as deep. On the other hand, Celestial Pole was certain to find success!

“I’m just a replica, not the primary body!” It was Celestial Pole himself who wasn’t willing. “If I become an exalted emperor and so is my primary body, then who would be primary and who would be secondary?”

“Senior Celestial Pole, it’s been so many years,” Zhang An reminded softly. “Your primary body should be at least at third rank by now, no?”

Would there be confusion over who is the primary self?

Just come out with it if you don’t want the trouble!

“Senior, there will be some hassle either way,” Zhang An continued. “You know a bit of New Martial’s current situation as well. I think that our home won’t give up on us. It’s only a matter of time before they seek us out.

“We’re in a lot of trouble before they find us. Li Hao is out searching for opportunities, we can’t just rely on Panther, can we? The dog is the heavenly will, not a real exalted emperor. Once it’s defeated, the entire world will fall apart...”

Just accept it. What are you shying away from at a time like this?

Celestial Pole was rather resigned. It was easy for them to say! This was not an easy task to tackle.

And I feel... that my primary body is on the way. I hadn’t felt like that before, but these days I’m finding the distance between me and him seems to be shortening.

This was what Celestial Pole found most troublesome of all.

His primary body was himself, so he wouldn’t seek out his replica for no reason at all. The only reason why he was coming closer was that he’d been forced to take this action.

And who’d forced him?

Naturally Supreme Zhang and the rest.

Since his primary body was coming... he might come with a great deal of trouble.

If I become an exalted emperor, won’t my primary body easily sense my precise location?

Celestial Pole had absolutely no desire to be in contact with his primary body. Nothing good would result from it, for one.

For another, it also meant that if Panther wasn’t at liberty to take care of any future trouble, he would have to step up.

So that means I have to fight those exalted emperors!

Hells no!

Everyone was looking at him. “If the senior isn’t willing, I am!” declared the Great Li king.

Celestial Pole was quite speechless at the man’s reaction.

“That will be hard!” Gan Wuliang coughed. “Your Majesty is almost a half step emperor now, but you still have a ways to go to exalted emperor...”

Even if the process was that easy, it wouldn’t be your turn. If it was, Hong Yitang and I would become exalted emperors first. Why would we need to approach Celestial Pole? We’re doing so because we think we need to create some time for ourselves.