Chapter 1548: Entering Skyward Again (I)

All sides were tracking Silver Moon and tracing where Celestial Pole’s primary body was. No one believed or considered that Li Hao might turn back at this point and make for Skyward.

Without the enormous target that was Panther, it was difficult to locate the Silver Moon exalted emperors. The dog with the world in its belly was the most difficult existence to conceal.

Supreme Zhang of New Martial was still brainstorming ways to save Li Hao, but the young man didn’t want them to rescue him at all. Supplying him with some reflections on the dao of extreme yin would be the greatest help they could give him.

If those from New Martial joined the battlefield... that might give rise to further trouble.

On the other hand, the young man stood a decent chance of counter attacking his enemies if he found a suitable dao foundation site on Skyward. The major world would be the springboard through which he struck back at various powerhouses.

......

At the same time.

Celestial Pole suddenly frowned aboard a warship. “My replica has veered off course and seems to be purposefully staying away from me...”

“They’ve probably encountered danger and don’t wish to immediately meet up,” the Pagoda King said thoughtfully.

“Correct.” Celestial Pole nodded after some thought. This was likely it. “In addition... my replica has entered second rank.”

“......” The Pagoda King didn’t know what to say.

Holy shit. This means Silver Moon must have given birth to a dao universe. Where would they get so much dao strength from otherwise? My guess was right!

“My replica means for me to wait,” Celestial Pole abruptly said after a while.

“Hmm?” blinked the Pagoda King.

How do you know that? You can’t directly communicate with your replica.

“My replica seems to have gotten smarter,” Celestial Pole commented with surprise. “He’s starting to use his brain! I can sense the route that he’s taking. He seems to be writing a word—wait!”

A word?

The Pagoda King’s eyebrows rose.

So this guy’s replica is sashaying his way through the void, changing his direction here and there to write out a word?

It was a good idea, but location was hard to determine in the chaos. One would have to write an enormous word for it to be obvious enough to sense. It looked like the normally lazy Celestial Pole would be huffing and panting after a prolonged sprint.

“The senior is truly amazing!” complimented the Pagoda King.

“Indeed,” Celestial Pole agreed emotionally. “Not bad at all. How has my replica gotten smarter? Tell me, do you think I should let the replica’s consciousness be the main consciousness after we reintegrate?”

“......”

What the hell? You’re probably the only one who’s ever considered this! I’ve never heard of someone willing to let their replica replace themselves. Although it’s the same person, your life experiences have differed.

Celestial Pole stroked his chin in serious thought. If his replica could do it... should he let his replica be the primary body instead? He was being driven up a wall with recent events!

Look at how capable my replica is! He has to cover a lot of ground for me to sense a word through the chaos. He’s willing to run around such a large area, which means he’s much more diligent than me. Even if I thought of this idea, I might be too lazy to carry it out.

Celestial Pole dropped the topic; this was just a wild fancy. He could determine, however, that something was amiss at Silver Moon. Hopefully, their arrival wouldn’t be the start of trouble.

......

Skyward major world.

A loud hustle and bustle could be seen in the world these days. The matter of the Silver Moon king was an unexpected footnote. Skyward had been preparing to march against the New Martial powerhouses for a while. Hunting down the Sword Sovereign was the plan that they’d laid long ago.

Of course, certain preparations needed to be made before one could kill a sixth rank. Not to mention, the Sword Sovereign’s movements were more concealed, which meant that they’d yet to get a lock on him.

Figures appeared on a massive screen on this day; one of them was the Dragon Observatory leader.

The powerhouses of Skyward had convened for a discussion.

......

Dragon Observatory.

The Dragon Observatory leader didn’t obscure his features or hide his presence. “The Silver Moon king killed Ming Hao’s group and took his world away,” he said to the screen. “His goal is very obvious—to gather with Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King!

“Everyone knows full well that New Martial has tossed out those two pieces of trash as bait. They want to see who takes it!

“The exalted emperor that is most closely tied to both Silver Moon and New Martial, and with energy and time to spare for their matters... can only be the Sword Sovereign! The assembly knows this just as well as I do!”

The Observatory leader’s analysis made sense. In reality, such was the truth as well.

“Hence, Celestial Pole’s side is the key. Both Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King are present and the Sword Sovereign might appear at any time. The Silver Moon king might also be nearby...”

Killing powerhouses was not their target; accumulating wealth and fortune was. They wanted the resources of a major world, a spot as one of its exalted emperors, and the hope of reaching seventh rank...

Those were their goals. They weren’t purposefully targeting anyone. If New Martial could offer them enough resources and benefits, they wouldn’t mind going after Red Moon exalted emperors either.

“Dragon, it’s said that Silver Moon might have given birth to a dao universe. Is that true or not?” someone asked.

“I’m not sure... it might be true and it might also be false.”

“We’re all well aware of where you’re coming from. Are you going to tell us or not?” grumbled the speaker. “According to what I know, the Silver Moon king might very well be the Exalted Hao Moon Emperor. In that case, he’s part of your Dragon Observatory. Do you really not know?”

Do you take all of us for fools?

“It’s only speculation,” Dragon frowned. “I had my suspicions, so I tested him before. To be blunt, I would’ve taken him out a long time ago if he possessed a dao universe. Would there be any chances left for you guys?

“Some sincerity has to be on the table considering our partnership. I really do not know. Or should I lie and say something different, thereby creating more issues for myself when the truth turns out otherwise?”

He really hadn’t discovered traces of a dao universe on Li Hao. That wasn’t false. He could say he had, but if there really wasn’t one, who could he look to for help when these people sought to lay responsibility at his feet?

“Alright now, this is not the time to talk about that.” Someone interrupted and changed the subject. “The situation as it stands is that Red Moon is also searching for this Silver Moon king. They probably have eyes on Celestial Pole as well. If the Sword Sovereign appears in the vicinity... do we still go?”

“Of course!” responded the Dragon Observatory leader. “Red Moon’s offering resources because they wish to pare their losses. The Sword Sovereign is no weakling. How many Red Moon sixth ranks would dare fight him in single combat?

“It’s better if people from Red Moon are present because they’ll certainly take action if a high rank appears. That gives us a safety net.”

That was true enough.

“Then we can’t delay any further, we need to set out right now!”

“Yes. Based on what I know, Celestial Pole isn’t too far from where the Silver Moon king previously vanished. There must be powerhouses searching along the way, which will delay him for a period of time. But the two sides will absolutely meet up.

“Therefore, we need to get there as quickly as possible. We’ll miss out on this chance otherwise. I think it’s likely that Silver Moon has given birth to a new dao universe. How would the Silver Moon king improve so rapidly otherwise?”

“That’s right, I think the same way!”

“......” Heated discussion erupted from the exalted emperors. The Dragon Observatory leader didn’t say much else. All of this was speculation that he wasn’t certain of for the moment. His world master had guessed similarly before, but the Observatory leader hadn’t been able to test for a definitive conclusion.

“Then everyone should make their preparations. We should act together since this involves a major world. We need to be careful.”

“Alright!”

“Ah, one more thing,” someone suddenly said. “Dragon, what is the situation with Void?”

Many turned to look at the faction leader; the man frowned slightly. “What do you mean? You guys know just as well as I do that I can’t say anything anymore. Anyone in my position wouldn’t dare provoke him, no?”

The group fell silent. That was true. Void was the descendant of an eighth rank and Light major world was at peace right now. It was difficult to fish in muddied waters.

“Then don’t bring him!”

“But he wants to go,” the Observatory leader said with resignation. “He keeps pressing me on the issue, yet how would I dare bring him once his identity’s been exposed? It’s too much trouble and too dangerous!”

It wasn’t just dangerous for Void, but for his own people as well. Many in the outside world were guessing that Hao Moon was the Silver Moon king. Void had said in front of a lot of people that Hao Moon was his friend. If it wasn’t for his relationship with an eighth rank, Void would’ve been arrested a long time ago.

Even if Hao Moon wasn’t the Silver Moon king, people were also guessing that Light had allied with New Martial. That would be equally troublesome. If he included Void in the group and the man betrayed them at a critical moment, wouldn’t that just be creating trouble for himself?

He couldn’t kill the man, and it wasn’t like he would let Void kill him, no?

“You can’t bring him!” someone else said. “We can ignore him, but we can’t keep him with us. That’s just creating trouble for us! Not to mention, he’s pretty strong at fifth rank. He comes from Light major world and that world doesn’t lack for troops, at the very least.

“He was a fifth rank five hundred years ago and reached fifth rank again after cultivating from scratch. We can’t view him as an ordinary fifth rank chaos wanderer!

“His true strength may rival a sixth rank. That makes him extremely terrifying! Therefore, you have to appease him well, Dragon. If you want to bring him... we won’t travel with you!”

The faction leader was equally wordless.

I don’t

want

to bring him! You guys make it sound like I’m insisting on it. Most people don’t know my background, but you guys know a little bit of it.

He knew some of their backgrounds as well.

Skyward was portioned into four sections. Apart from Dragon Observatory, the other three sections had sixth ranks in residence as well. Almost all of them were backed by major worlds. How would Skyward be so easily occupied otherwise?

There were only two eighth rank major worlds in Skyward Region, but innumerable seventh ranks. Their world masters weren’t at liberty to come themselves, so they’d made certain arrangements.

Many sixth ranks and masters of small regions on Skyward, the fourth and fifth ranks, were spokespeople of the major worlds.

Skyward was considered the territory of chaos wanderers, but what were chaos wanderers really worth? How many chaos wanderers could make it to sixth rank? It was very hard to do so without support from a major world.

Even fourth rank was as hard as ascending the heavens!

“We are so decided,” the Observatory leader quickly concluded. “Everyone has some time to prepare. We’ll assemble in the southern region after ten days and set off together!”

“Agreed!”

Ten days wasn’t long for them; arrangements did need to be made. Travel time needed to be factored in as well. They would gather in the southern region to exit the southern gate and travel to Red Moon Region.