Chapter 1539: Frightening (III)

As Li Hao thought, chaos wanderers were unreliable in the end. They weren’t that dependable to begin with, but reality proved that forced allegiance and participation did not lead to good outcomes.

The two fourth ranks instantly blasted through Li Hao’s sword intent. The chaos tribulation also rumbled threateningly with immense strength. It was nearly fully upon them and seemed to brew with fifth rank force. The tribulation continued to build as Lin Hongyu verified her dao.

The presence of a sixth rank could be vaguely detected from the rear.

Li Hao’s side had shifted from being able to crush his opponent to being at a severe disadvantage with Ming Hao’s betrayal.

“Smart!” Li Hao said as he took a step back. Was Ming Hao’s decision a wise one?

It was!

Whether out of reason or emotion, Ming Hao’s group had been hired by Red Moon in the first place and they were currently in Red Moon territory. It would be abnormal if he didn’t turn traitor after sizing up the situation. If he hadn’t, he would be a gambler through and through, one betting that Li Hao had more trump cards to play.

Ming Hao was bizarrely afraid after his decision; he couldn’t explain why. But there was no time to consider that!

“You forced us into this!” he growled through grit teeth. “We’re just chaos wanderers working a paid gig! We’ve taken a Red Moon mission against New Martial, but you forced us to work for you! There’s nothing in it for us but to be your slaves!

“Who do you think you are?? Hao Moon, your strength as a fifth rank is fake. You won’t maintain it for long! You might have a chance of survival if you retreat now...”

He didn’t want to fight to the bitter end with Li Hao; he was slightly afraid of the young man.

“Retreat?” A cold snort came from Fu Bi. Li Hao was yet to respond to anything. “Work together and keep him occupied. Give me some time, even if you can’t kill him. Powerhouses from my world will be here soon! There is nothing but death in store for those who dare throw their weight around in Red Moon territory!”

He postured with renewed confidence. Fu Bi had only wanted to run before, but all was well after Ming Hao turned traitor. One fifth rank wouldn’t be able to do anything against them.

The nine exalted emperors behind Ming Hao hesitated, but some immediately came back to their senses.

“You’re dead meat, Hao Moon!” yelled one of them. “You threatened us and treated us like slaves. You deserve death!”

These guys turned on a dime faster than one could blink. Such was the chaos!

Whoever was stronger called the shots. Being a fairweather ally was everyone’s true nature. Not to mention, what they spoke of was the truth. Li Hao had indeed forced them to join him.

Of the remaining nine, six of them instantly switched to the other side. Mo, Cicada, and another third rank hesitated.

They were equally afraid of Li Hao.

Mo had spent a long time in conversation with the young man—she felt that the Exalted Hao Moon Emperor came from an impressive background. He was not someone to offend. If he didn’t die from this engagement, wouldn’t they be in enormous trouble then?

Li Hao turned back for a look; he truly did sense an exalted emperor’s presence rapidly drawing near. He would be out of time if this dragged on any longer.

He faced eleven exalted emperors, eight of whom were charging him. It didn’t matter that three were hesitating; it didn’t change the grand scheme of things. Their strongest was only a third rank, and it wasn’t like the trio was guaranteed to help him.

Li Hao didn’t have high hopes for them! It would be too childish to expect a group of people he’d forced to surrender to lay down their lives for him.

A frosty expression gripped Li Hao’s face. He didn’t say a word as the river of life and death materialized. The star of time hovered into the air. Two other rivers appeared near the river of life and death, making the rest pull up short!

A dao universe!

Its ripples were too obvious this time.

With the star of time as the center, the two rivers and star came together in one completed entity. The star of time was the core of the dao universe to begin with, it was just that Li Hao had stripped it out of the dao universe.

The three rivers became one, bolstering Li Hao’s presence. Not only that, but he reached out and compressed the massive chaos beast. It shrank to the size of a red dot and landed in the center of the young man’s forehead.

The world!

Silver Moon world!

The strength of a world emanated from the young man. He was the master of the world and the master of great dao!

Li Hao chose to reintegrate with Silver Moon and the twin dao universes in this moment, become their king and master again.

“All people are to fortify me!” His voice tolled through the land, exciting the general population.

The Silver Moon marquis!

He was back!

They had been sending their energy toward those who needed it before, but lacked some fervor since they weren’t helping Li Hao. Now that they heard that familiar voice again, even those setting up the grand formation such as Yuan Shuo stirred with renewed excitement.

“We are willing to die for the marquis!” the people roared.

Boom!

The power of a myriad daos exploded much more ferociously than before. Panther swept through the world in the form of the heavenly will, taking everything from Silver Moon and melding it into Li Hao.

The master of a world and the master of great dao often clashed with each other. But on Silver Moon, Panther would not do so.

It poured out all of the power of the heavenly will and Silver Moon without reservation. The two masters of dao did the same.

Exalted emperor bodies started burning in the rivers. The exalted emperors that’d just died, as well as the second rank that Li Hao had killed before, went up in flames. Their physical bodies and dao strength were immolated in the three rivers.

Eyes widened among Ming Hao and the group! Li Hao was much stronger than before! The power of great dao and a world was on him—he was a true dao master!

“Kill him!” snarled Ming Hao. There was no point turning traitor yet again at this stage. He could do so once or twice, but to keep doing so would mean that no one on any side would believe him.

Fu Bi’s expression changed drastically as well—a universe seemed to hover over his head. The power of desire rose in the surroundings. He joined hands with the others, crossed the void, and rushed Li Hao!

He just needed to hold the young man off for a little bit! Two Red Moon fourth ranks had sensed the proceedings here and were rushing to them from a distance, as evident by the presence coming their way. They should be here soon.

“Ming Hao, this is your choice and destiny!” Li Hao’s tones were cold.

Destiny?

What a joke!

The star of time appeared, freezing the premises for a short moment. The two fourth ranks weren’t much affected, but the other exalted emperors were immensely affected.

Li Hao had reached peak condition. He wasn’t any weaker than when he borrowed strength from the water envoy. How could low ranks stand against him?

The power of time was too overwhelming for low ranks. The world was frozen!

Ming Hao had witnessed this strength before, but he was still stunned at seeing it again.

“What kind of strength is this?!” he roared as he swung at Li Hao.

Just what was this to be so frightening, that it could imprison six other exalted emperors at the same time? He and Fu Bi were moving slower than usual as well.

“This is... the power of time!” Li Hao tilted his head back at the sky. Tribulation clouds had gathered there; the resulting tribulation seemed to be stronger than before.

That was because he’d utilized the power of time on a large scale.

The rivers swept in all four directions. A high density of supernatural characters was visible; they suddenly transformed into a massive domain that shrouded the rivers with a thin layer of energy. Li Hao and the rest were enveloped inside.

The domain was present!

This method that’d fallen by the wayside a long time ago had been updated by Li Hao’s reflections in Demon Summit. He’d gained more understanding after entering dao chess. He summoned it now not to kill people, but to weather a tribulation!

The young man had utilized this technique before when he was the heavenly will. Wherever he’d enclosed with his domain had become his world. He was the sovereign in his world!

These two fourth ranks won’t be able to break my domain, so they can weather the tribulation with me!

Boom!

A massive rumble shook the world!

A chaos tribulation had erupted because Li Hao continued to employ the power of time. It infuriated the tribulation, enhancing its might to sixth rank.

In the distance, an exalted emperor stopped with a shocked look on his face. A chaos tribulation!

The strengthening clouds were a terrifying sight to behold. Although rumors had it that chaos tribulations would not harm anyone but their intended, the sixth rank still came to a halt. This thing was too intimidating!

Kaboom!

Within the crowd, a first rank—one out of three if including Mo—was instantly obliterated. Only eight of the eleven exalted emperors had been included within Li Hao’s domain. Two fourth ranks, three third ranks, one second rank, and two first ranks.

The sixth rank thunder and lightning had instantly annihilated one. The rest couldn’t move!

They couldn’t resist or defy their circumstances; the power of time had blanketed them. All of them were going to experience the tribulation together.

One sixth rank blow had caused the rest to cough up blood, stagger with injuries, or in the case of the first rank, outright die! Only the three mid ranks were able to stay on their feet.

“How is this possible?! This is... a domain??” Fu Bi was immensely taken aback. “And a domain of dao... This is the domain that only a master of dao would possess!”

They were enveloped within a domain!

“Break the domain!” roared Fu Bi. He’d been injured in that blow as well. Although his wounds weren’t severe, they were a blow nonetheless. They needed to escape from the domain!

Ming Hao quickly recovered himself as well. The two furiously crashed against the domain!

Boom!

Massive rumbles rang through the area. Their attacks arrived at the same time as the thunder and lightning. Li Hao’s domain began to crumble. When the second bolt landed, another first rank was erased from existence!

The other exalted emperors were heavily injured and their physical bodies were falling apart. Ming Hao and Fu Bi were also limping. Li Hao had suffered slight injuries as well.

The young man looked on with cold eyes; his domain seemed ready to break. Another blow from the two might do it!

But... would they have a chance to strike again?

The third bolt of thunder and lightning was upon them; Li Hao ignored it. He slashed out with his sword and raced for the two fourth ranks. The two fourth ranks were faced with an exceedingly difficult choice. Did they defend themselves against the thunder and lightning, defend against the sword intent, or focus on breaking the domain...

They quickly came to different decisions.

Ming Hao whirled around to punch Li Hao’s sword intent. Fu Bi slammed his palm at the domain. Both of them ignored the tribulation. It was strong, but it was only the third blow. It had not yet reached the point of striking them down.

It would be enough to break the domain and stop Li Hao’s attack.