Chapter 1532: A Cultured Gentleman Killing People (IV)

“......” Ming Hao was dumbfounded.

The fuck? The fuck does that kid mean?? We’re going to hunt New Martial powerhouses, but now you say that you want to recruit us? What kind of joke is this??

Mo was likewise flabbergasted. She stared at Li Hao, unable to understand what the young man meant.

“Everyone understood me, no?” Li Hao quickly repeated himself again.

An ugly expression dawned on Ming Hao’s face.

The fuck?? My head’s about to explode. We have a New Martial spy among us!! Fuck me!!

And this guy doesn’t come with an ordinary background! My head’s seriously gonna explode!! This involves Light major world! The kid’s good friends with the Light crown prince!

They’re all crazy!

We’re just working for pay and haven’t even encountered the New Martial powerhouses yet, but this kid wants to bring us into the fold! It looks like whatever this power struggle involves is far more than we anticipated.

Killing Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King was a minor matter. But clearly, Li Hao’s side didn’t just involve low rank exalted emperors. Even the Light crown prince was involved!

Not only that, but the young man seemed to represent another major world entirely that was neither New Martial nor Light.

What in tarnation was all this?!

Despite knowing that the young man might be a spokesperson for New Martial, none of the eleven exalted emperors dared make a move at present. No one twitched, even though their opponent was only a first rank!

“Surely the fellow daoist jests!” Ming Hao said stiffly. “We’re... just going to hunt the two New Martial exalted emperors. This is no laughing matter. If the fellow daoist is... unwilling, you may leave if you wish! I will not stop you!”

“You’re just working for someone else’s pay and taking care of trouble for them,” Li Hao chuckled. “In that case, why not join New Martial instead? Is there a difference?”

Ming Hao didn’t know what to say.

Is there a difference? The difference is... I don’t think highly of New Martial’s prospects!

Why?

Because New Martial doesn’t have any eighth rank exalted emperors!

But... what if Light Major world is involved?

There’s rumors that Skycloud is also interested in New Martial...

The group rustled with confusion. New Martial had never recruited outsiders or offered an alliance, so no one had ever thought of joining New Martial. Here came along someone who wanted to take them in under the New Martial banner. What was this, if not a joke?

“Fellow daoists, my time is limited and I am very busy!” said Li Hao. “What I’m worried about now is that there are more people behind us. They might not be nearby, but they might rush over for a look if we raise too much of a fuss.

“Therefore, I hope we can settle this in a peaceful manner. Let us refrain from fighting if we can.” He looked at the group with a serious look. “If you don’t want to settle this peacefully... then... you should know that I’ve surrounded you guys!”

“......” Ming Hao felt that this guy was barking mad. Completely crazy. Utterly insane.

Mo’s jaw dropped. What was this kid blathering on about?

“I mean it, I’m very short on time,” Li Hao emphasized. “Fellow daoists, we’ve become acquainted with each other along the way. I wouldn’t ask twice in regular times, but I’ll give you a second chance.

“I’d wanted to look for Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King with you guys, but now that’s out of the question. I’ll ask you one final time, are you guys willing to march under my banner?”

Everyone stared blankly at him. They were one fourth rank, four third ranks, three second ranks, and three first ranks. But a first rank was asking if they wanted to be recruited? And if they weren’t, he had them surrounded?

This was the biggest joke in the universe since the dawn of time, wasn’t it??

“Fellow Daoist Cloud Cotton, I know you might be a spy from another faction.” Li Hao pointed at one person in particular. “But it’s fine, spies have no human rights that they can exercise. I am willing to accept you if you are willing to join me! But... don’t try to get up to anything, it won’t work. I won’t show you mercy if you get up to no good!

“I’ll give everyone one final minute to consider.” The young man was as serious as before. “Either you agree, or you die!”

I’m seriously short on time. It’s best if I can bring all of you guys in because that will keep the uproar contained. Even if there are people following us, they won’t sense anything.

This is the chaos, after all, there’s no place to hide. Whoever’s following us won’t be nearby, that’ll be too obvious. And if these guys aren’t willing... then I’ll have to kill them. Silver Moon’s already fighting!

“Hao Moon!” Mo couldn’t help herself. “Don’t lose your head and don’t sprout random stuff. How can you be a New Martial cultivator...”

“I’m not a New Martial cultivator. I already said that I’m a New Martial ally!” Li Hao explained. “Big Sis Mo, are you willing to surrender?”

He sighed as he looked at the rest. “It looks like just dangling a carrot isn’t enough, I have to swing a big enough stick as well! That makes sense, I’m just a first rank, so my words aren’t worth much. I was just thinking that we have a bit of shared destiny since we traveled together for a month...”

The young man made his move. While Ming Hao was still stunned with shock, everyone else saw light flash before their eyes. The premises dimmed and the passage of time stuttered for a split second.

It was tough for a third rank Li Hao to stand against powerhouses, but he faced a bunch of weaklings. Even the fourth rank wasn’t that strong.

Apart from Ming Hao who retained a smooth flow of thoughts, the others paused for a moment. A sword manifested and the strength of life and death appeared. A second rank tried to create some noise in response.

A treasure appeared in her hand, possibly for communication. It was similar to a firework—a mode of communication through the chaos.

A sword stabbed into her before she had a chance to finish pulling it out!

Three hundred and sixty stars blazed with light. Life and death appeared, sucking vitality out of the woman and covering her with death qi.

The light dimmed in the second rank’s eyes and her seal of great dao collapsed within her body. Just as she was about to explode, a long river swept through the void!

Li Hao was a cultivator of life and death, and wielded something akin to a dao river. He also had the power of time as a supplemental tool. Even though he didn’t dare use too much, a third rank cultivator of great perfection could instantly eliminate a second rank!

This was the exalted emperor that he’d spoken to earlier, but the spy hadn’t listened to him.

And so, she was gone.

The other exalted emperors came back to their senses with dramatic changes in expression—Ming Hao was the first to react. A second rank had spontaneously died!

The person in front of them was not a first rank! Absolutely not!

Not even a third rank could kill a second rank so smoothly, to say nothing of a first rank. That had been so fast that no one had a chance to respond!

There were only ten left of the other eleven in the blink of an eye.

Li Hao’s river vanished and he turned to the rest with a stern look. “I had to kill her since Fellow Daoist Cloud Cotton wouldn’t cooperate! The death of an exalted emperor is inconsequential in the depths of the chaos. A minute is almost up, fellow daoists! You can make your decision!

“Fellow Daost Ming Hao is included as well. You can try if you think you can take me on. I’m just great perfection of third rank, not a mid rank exalted emperor!”

Screw you! How are you only third rank??

“Are you... really a New Martial exalted emperor?” Ming Hao intoned.

“No, I already told you guys that I’m an exalted emperor aligned with the New Martial alliance!”

Ming Hao didn’t pay attention to the response. There was only shock and unease left in him. This meant to say that New Martial was aware of the joint effort to hunt down their powerhouses! They were in trouble now!

The look in his eyes shifted for a moment; Li Hao didn’t wait for the man to speak. “Let me put it this way. I’ve killed all six exalted emperors from Utmost Dark, two with internal worlds, and four from Skyriver Region!

“I’ve already killed a lot of exalted emperors and don’t need to add more to the list. I’m thinking fondly of the time we spent together in offering you guys this chance. Otherwise, I wouldn’t bother saying anything! You have ten seconds left!”

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Li Hao waved a corpse into existence; it still emanated tremendous pressure.

Ming Hao stiffened. He recognized that body! And it wasn’t just him, but everyone else. The uproar created by the Utmost Dark powerhouses joining Dragon Observatory lately had been significant.

This was Drouth! A fifth rank!

Oh my heavens!

It took only a split second for the exalted emperors to sweat profusely. Li Hao wasn’t being too explicit, but his words were horrifying all the same.

Six exalted emperors of Utmost Dark, four from Skyriver Region, two from Skycloud... That was twelve total exalted emperors! One fifth rank, one fourth rank, and the one just now for thirteen exalted emperors!

The others were still grappling with the unexpected developments, whereas Mo and the other second rank—Cicada—looked at each other with alarm. They were suddenly reminded of a certain scene a year ago, when a first rank called Suncloud stepped out for a moment and then... vanished.

He was never heard from again!

They hadn’t thought much then, but now they understood. Li Hao had killed him! It’d taken him only the blink of an eye to do so, just like he’d done so today. The young man needed only a heartbeat to kill a second rank, he was terrifying!

Li Hao hadn’t moved that quickly, all of them had seen what he’d done. However, no one could do anything to stop him. It took only one sword stroke to kill his opponent. Was he killing exalted emperors?? How could a third rank kill a second rank so easily? And he said that he’d killed fourth and fifth ranks before!

There was the body of a fifth rank floating in the void right in front of them!

Um...

Mo swallowed hard and looked at Cicada. The man’s cheek spasmed before he said, “I surrender!” He was so afraid that he didn’t wait for Ming Hao to say anything.

“Fellow Daoist Hao Moon, we were just carrying out a paid gig,” Mo quickly said. “We haven’t received Red Moon’s payment yet, we’re just wandering through the chaos. We’re not enemies with New Martial, so I surrender too!”

Two exalted emperors had chosen to surrender. Staying alive was the only thing that mattered. Apart from the mid rank Ming Hao, who wasn’t terrified? This young man was too frightening!

“I surrender!” the other seven quickly chorused.

“......” Ming Hao looked gravely at Li Hao. He was the only one who hadn’t expressed a stance yet. This trip had been... catastrophic. What the hell was all this, huh??

“Are you... really a third rank?”

“I really am a third rank!” Li Hao nodded. “I’m an exalted emperor of life and death, so I can just about hold my own with fourth ranks. Exalted Emperor Ming Hao is very strong, so it won’t be easy for me to take you down!

“However, I’m in a hurry. I’d be willing to spar with you in regular times, but now, if Exalted Emperor Ming Hao doesn’t agree to join me, I can still pull out a few tricks to instantly eliminate an exalted emperor!”

“......”

Oh for fuck’s sake, do I believe you or not? I’d think you’re blowing hot air if it’s any other third rank.