Chapter 1534: Unparalleled Massacre (II)

The group of eleven quickly vanished from the spot. A while after they left, a shadow hovered where they’d stopped. It looked into the distance with a frown. Some explosive ripples could be detected here, but had there been a fight?

A disturbance hadn’t otherwise been detected. Or had these people tested out some moves while they traveled? The scene shouldn’t look this peaceful if a fight really had broken out between twelve exalted emperors.

The shadow looked in the direction where the group had left, then scanned the premises. Ming Hao was leading a selection of exalted emperors to hunt New Martial powerhouses. Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King were not the targets—they were just bait. It wasn’t just them, but the exalted emperors being sent to pursue them that were also bait.

However, as one of the exalted emperors that followed the group, the shadow hesitated. There was an Exalted Hao Moon Emperor among them, one with some ties to Light major world. Now that was very troublesome!

The shadow hailed from Skycloud major world. Although Skycloud wasn’t engaged in official hostilities with Light, the two sides had had some clashes with each other.

It’d be one thing if Hao Moon was involved with one of Skycloud’s minor characters, but he was friends with the Light master’s only son—the heir of Light!

If two worlds not at war ended up going to battle over this... this was not something that he could bear responsibility for!

The shadow put these concerns out of his mind. They needed to take care of the New Martial problem first. He quickly caught up to the group, but didn’t follow them too closely. He just needed to ensure that they were within a certain range. New Martial wasn’t populated with idiots. If he got too close, he might be the one lured into a trap instead.

He just needed to ensure knowledge of Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King’s location. He couldn’t afford to lose track of them.

......

Li Hao continued to pick up speed, trailed by Ming Hao. The young man guessed that someone was following them. If possible... or if he trusted Ming Hao and the rest enough, the best course of action was to split the group and have the others head off in another direction. He could take Ming Hao and a select few to alleviate the pressure on Silver Moon.

What a pity that none of these people were trustworthy.

He could only fly full speed ahead, end the battle quickly, and leave with Silver Moon. As for whatever faction their pursuers belonged to, it was either a Skyward faction like the Dragon Observatory or powerhouses from major words in Skyward Region.

They’d be sixth rank at most, not high ranks!

High rank exalted emperors were highly valuable tactical resources. They were kept in reserve on major worlds until the final moments of battle. They rarely ventured out as, if they fell victim to an ambush outside the range of their world, they might die if they were not in peak condition from a world’s enhancement.

That would be a waste and a complete tragedy.

Regardless, their pursuers would absolutely be stronger than Ming Hao. Li Hao didn’t even need to think twice about that possibility. As he made good time, he contemplated the situation at hand.

It wasn’t bad that they were being followed, but he was unable to take on a sixth rank at present. Even if he borrowed strength, he could only borrow fifth rank Drouth’s strength. He still wouldn’t be able to stand against a sixth rank. That would elicit untold trouble instead. He wouldn’t have needed to handle fifth or sixth ranks when traveling with this group, but now it looked like he needed to somehow shake off their pursuers.

Li Hao flicked a glance behind them. It wasn’t a good idea to keep Ming Hao with him... He might be able to discard the man when Ming Hao was no longer valuable and use him to redirect their pursuers.

Whether that guy would return from that trip or not, Li Hao didn’t care. He also didn’t care what he might expose or reveal with this operation. The only person he was close to in Skyward was Void. That was the descendant of an eighth rank—

go pick a bone with him, if you guys can!

A variety of thoughts abounded in Li Hao’s mind. Meanwhile, Ming Hao was a bit nervous. He could sense the young man’s gaze on him. Although he was a fourth rank, he felt that the young man in front of him was too mysterious.

Who was this person?

He said that he wasn’t from New Martial, but he was allied with that civilization. Yet if he wasn’t from New Martial or Light, then what major world was he from?

And he said he was half a master of dao? Did that mean he was a second generation like Void? The descendant of a master of a world?

That river-like thing was very fast for travel. Was it derived from a river of dao?

Ming Hao was well versed and highly experienced, but he was unable to identify the river. As for Hao Moon being the Silver Moon king, that did not cross his mind.

It might if Li Hao had been a first rank. But a third rank? Forget about it.

The Silver Moon king had just left his world for a year and the vassal world had disappeared for only fifty years. Where was a third rank supposed to come from?

The exalted emperors that’d been traveling with him were also turning over the same thoughts. Some wanted to run. Some willing to take a gamble were wondering if they should see this through.

No one had bet on New Martial before because New Martial did not accept anyone. Otherwise, there would be some willing to bet on world masters who could destroy Utmost Dark and Elysian Fields in one fell swoop. That was two major worlds in one day!

Personages like those were absolutely worthy of a gamble!

But for those so inclined, they had no way of expressing their intentions. And now that New Martial was involved with the eighth rank major world of Light, they were even more worthy of placing a bet on!

These exalted emperors were quite complicated at the end of the day. Their previous surrender was simply the most prudent action they should take, given the situation. Other arrangements could be thought of only after survival was guaranteed. At their level, so what if they were enslaved for a thousand or ten thousand years? They just needed to remain alive.

Any exalted emperor that survived many years of journeying through the chaos possessed faces that were thicker than city walls. Staying alive was the most important of all!

An exalted emperor said hesitantly as they continued forward, “Based on what I know, a group of people have set out in search of Silver Moon after the minor world reappeared in the chaos. They invited me, but I declined since I’d already agreed to Exalted Emperor Ming Hao. I think they were headed in this direction too...

“I even know one of them. The Exalted Dusk Wind Emperor is part of their numbers.”

Were they headed for Silver Moon?

Destroying Silver Moon would reward one with a mid world. Since Silver Moon was a New Martial vassal world, was Hao Moon taking them to rescue Silver Moon?

Being quick of wit, these exalted emperors had guessed at certain things as well. As they thought, Li Hao turned back with questions.

“Dusk Wind? What level?”

“Third rank!” responded the first speaker. “They’re a small group similar to us. However, we’re more close-knit and number more than them. They don’t have anyone as strong as Senior Ming Hao either.”

“Oh, Dusk Wind’s group?” Ming Hao seemed to know a bit more. “I actually know a thing or two if it’s them. It’s a group of four exalted emperors—two third ranks, one second rank, one first rank. I don’t know if they’ve found more helpers than that.

“I invited them when we were recruiting for our group, but they turned me down. Those two probably think they’ll get less of the spoils if they work with me. They’d rather do it alone, and since Silver Moon isn’t that strong, they set off on their own...”

Four exalted emperors, two of which were third rank!

Li Hao furrowed his brows, but felt something was amiss with those words. Logically speaking, Silver Moon could not stand up to that force. But based on Lin Hongyu’s star of life and death, she was yet to reach the end of her tether. Were third ranks that useless?

Or was there another reason preventing the enemy from bringing their full strength to bear?

The dao universe? Internal discord?

Now that was possible!

Li Hao’s shoulders dropped down with ease. So they were just facing low ranks, no mid ranks. That was good. However, they weren’t far from Red Moon. He’d killed a Red Moon exalted emperor after opening the Star Gate. Red Moon must have sent someone to investigate in return. Would they still care after a year?

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

If they did care about losing a third rank, then it’d be a mid rank lying in wait all this time. That would be troublesome!

Red Moon...

Li Hao thought rapidly. Could he redirect the Red Moon exalted emperor to those following his group and create some conflict between them?

Probably not!

Those pursuing the group were here for New Martial. They would be allies of a sort with Red Moon. It also wasn’t that easy for exalted emperors to quickly determine a victor when they met in battle.

In that case, it would be hard to create conflict between the two sides.

Whatever, let’s get back to Silver Moon first!

Li Hao picked up more speed, subtly employing the power of time to enhance his journey. He didn’t need to worry about inciting a chaos tribulation because he dipped into it very shallowly. Both sides of the river were blocked and he wasn’t using the power in a large range.

The young man traveled faster and faster! Ming Hao watched him with a grave look from behind. This guy’s speed could rival a fourth rank! Was he really a third rank??

A third rank was different from a fourth rank, just like a second rank was different from a third rank. While there seemed to be only one rank of difference between initial and mid rank, there was a very large gap between them. For Hao Moon’s speed to rival his was simply incredible.

Ming Hao had wondered before if the young man really had killed fourth and fifth ranks, but now he was swiftly becoming a believer. That wasn’t out of the question if Hao Moon had more tricks up his sleeves.

......

At the same time, the void of the chaos.

The great dao was thrown into disarray as powerhouses clashed against each other. Two third ranks looked at each other through the air, frowning.

Although Silver Moon had two masters of dao, they were just first ranks. They were only a second rank when coming together, which meant the two third ranks respectively faced a second rank. The second rank attacker faced a first rank, and the first rank faced a half step emperor!

Their strength crushed the Silver Moon contingent’s level, but they were unable to dominate their opponent!

The reason for this failure was quite evident to the quartet. Each of them had too many ulterior motives running through their mind!

“Stop holding back, everyone!” transmitted the exalted emperor suppressing Panther. “Trouble will come to us if we drag this out for too long! We’re too close to Red Moon. If their people come, we won’t be walking away with anything!

“This dao universe is newly born and not that strong, but it can accommodate us. At most it’s the difference between being masters of dao and not being masters of dao. We can discuss that later!”

If everyone sought to keep some cards to themselves, this would only turn into a battle of attrition. And as time dragged on, others might arrive and beat them to the prize.