Chapter 1551: Entering Skyward Again (IV)

“But if the senior thinks that maintaining your real form will intimidate enemies, then that’s just as well...”

“Are you daft?” Number Two grumped before Gan Wuliang had a chance to finish. “It’s seventh and eighth ranks that want to kill Big Cat. Any one of them will stomp me flat! Who will I be intimidating then?”

Scaring off the weaklings would result in stronger ones coming in their place. It wasn’t doing that!

Li Hao smiled and didn’t say anything. Number Two quickly changed form. Although it was still a cat, it also... somewhat resembled a pig.

The young man covered his mouth to refrain from laughing.

The group rushed toward Skyward; they traveled much faster now that they didn’t need Panther to drag Silver Moon along. While Number Two had swallowed the world, its speed didn’t drop because of it.

If they’d hidden Silver Moon in this manner before, it might not have been exposed so easily. But the cat might not have agreed to do so.

It’d agreed now because it sensed that Li Hao had indeed encountered a bottleneck and needed some help. Only when the young man ascended would time be gathered again.

Number Two didn’t care about the livelihood of anyone else. It didn’t even care about Li Hao’s survival. It stayed with Silver Moon only because of the power of time. Otherwise, the young man wouldn’t be able to prevail upon it to do anything.

Li Hao knew this just as well, that time was the reason why he was able to compel the cat to take any action. After he regathered time at a future date, he’d have to spend some of it satisfying the cat’s desires.

......

The Dragon Observatory group would leave in ten days. It would take longer than that for Li Hao to return to Skyward. That meant the group would set out before the young man arrived.

Li Hao was unaware of these plans. Even if he was aware of them, there was nothing he could do about them. Not to mention, it would be good for him if these heavyweights left.

They would return sooner or later when upheaval rocked Skyward.

......

Li Hao’s group traveled at the pace of a first rank for roughly a month. He was much faster on his return, but still delayed by Silver Moon. Despite it being in Number Two’s stomach, the cat couldn’t quite catch up to the young man.

It took fifteen days before Li Hao set eyes on the enormous Skyward once more. He didn’t encounter those from Dragon Observatory because he purposefully avoided the usual routes and took some detours. If not, the two sides might have truly run into each other in the chaos.

He settled down Number Two near Skyward, then headed to the major world with Gan Wuliang, Panther, Yuan Shuo, the queen of the west, and the Great Li king. These people all had hopes of verifying their dao, with the Great Li king and western queen standing a higher chance.

They posed as followers of the three exalted emperors. The group was formed of three exalted emperors and three non-exalted emperors. It was one follower to one emperor, which presented a nondescript sight. They might raise eyebrows if there were more people in their entourage.

Some exalted emperors were in the habit of bringing one servant on their journeys. It eased the inconveniences of travel.

This time, Li Hao decided to forgo the southern gate. He spent several days circling around Skyward, entering the world through the western gate.

......

The western gate.

There were people on guard here, just like at the southern gate. They subjected the group to a cursory questioning upon seeing two human exalted emperors, one chaos beast, and three attendants. When the visitors indicated that they didn’t need a guide, the western gate guards didn’t dare say anything else.

With their faction’s mid ranks having departed Skyward, it would be difficult to recruit these third and second rank visitors. Li Hao and Panther were showcasing the presences of their ranks without reservation.

And so, Li Hao quickly entered the western region.

Similarly to the southern region, this region was split into ten minor regions. The strongest was Drift Light Region, likewise helmed by a sixth rank. Its main city was Drift Light City and the Exalted Drift Light Emperor was the ruler. He wasn’t in residence at the moment.

The arrival of three exalted emperors raised some attention, but since the overlord wasn’t present, a Drift Light first rank quickly greeted them before rushing off again.

These three looked very standoffish and didn’t seem inclined to join Drift Light. Hence, the first rank wasn’t at liberty to say much else.

......

Since Li Hao wasn’t traveling by himself this time, he took things at a more leisurely pace. Instead of leading the group to Drift Light City, he randomly located an uninhabited area and utilized his supernatural arts to create a temporary living space.

No one dared run afoul of them. Instead, some stories started circulating through Drift Light territory that a few exalted emperors had arrived in this area. They might be living here for a while.

Although it was temporary lodgings, the area was sizable. Li Hao and the others could relax a bit from the rigors of travel.

Inside the hall.

“Our goal this time is to raise an unholy disturbance!” Li Hao cut straight to the chase. “Panth and Gan Wuliang, your goals are very simple. Try to communicate with Silver Moon and establish a connection. It’s best if you can summon the dao universe at any time.

“Great Li king and the rest, including my teacher, your goal is to verify your dao! There are a lot of opportunities to be found on Skyward. If you’re lucky, you’ll stand a great chance of ascending to the exalted emperor level!

“As for me... I might need some help. I’m going to look for someone and see if I can rustle up some support.”

Who?

Void, of course. It would be nice to have another person to help him cause trouble.

“Are they reliable?” Yuan Shuo frowned slightly. Li Hao had stayed here for a year, was that enough time to make dependable friends?

“He should be!” Li Hao laughed. “Creating an uproar will also be a stroke of fortune for him!”

It was all smoke and mirrors, who knew what the final results would be? What if they really could poke and prod the Skyward dao universe into activity? Wouldn’t that be Void’s opportunity too then?

“So long as you think they’re dependable.” Yuan Shuo inclined his head. “Apparently there’s a lot of dao foundation sites here similar to the ruins on Silver Moon. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited a ruin, so I’ll set out on my own this time!”

Li Hao frowned.

“What are you frowning for?” Yuan Shuo laughed. “You weren’t even born yet when I was digging up graves!”

“Teacher, these are the dao foundation sites of exalted emperors...”

“So what? I was only a Sunderer back in the day, but I still dared dig up everything in sight. I’m a Fused Dao now, what can the ruin of an exalted emperor do to me?”

“......”

Fine then! So long as you’re happy.

Li Hao turned to the Great Li king and western queen. “How about you guys?”

“I’ll set out by myself too!” grinned the Great Li king. He shot a glance at the queen. “You’re not allowed to come with me!”

She was a walking plague!

The queen couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Who wants to go with you? You’re a complete brute and a fool. You’ll be the death of yourself soon enough out there! I’m not traveling with you!

“Marquis Li, I’ll go off on my own too...” She smiled sweetly.

“You won’t take advantage of the opportunity to run, will you?” Li Hao flicked a glance at her.

“......” The queen stared speechlessly at him. “How would I ever?”

“You can run off if you want,” laughed the young man. “Just don’t leak word of my plans before they’re done! I don’t care if you want to stay in Skyward or anywhere else.”

He really didn’t mind if she disappeared. He’d suppressed her so harshly in Silver Moon that it was normal if she wanted out.

“If the marquis is so ill at ease about me, why are you willing to let me leave?” the queen asked with resignation. “Doesn’t it create trouble for you if I leak word of your plans?”

“You’re not really a fool,” laughed Li Hao. “If word gets out and I die, aren’t you next?”

“......”

Fair enough!

The queen didn’t say anything. Just as Li Hao said, there was nothing good in it for her if she betrayed Li Hao. She wasn’t even an exalted emperor. No one would believe a word of what she said.

“Not to mention, you’ll learn firsthand how grim the conditions are for wandering cultivators when you strike out on your own. At least you’re part of a dao universe at the moment. When you leave, you’ll see just how many people want to join a dao universe, but don’t have the chance to!”

The queen nodded without a word.

I‘m going to take a look outside first. If there’s no chances for me out there, then I’ll come back. Life is too hard under Li Hao in Silver Moon.

Since everyone had to come to a decision, Li Hao didn’t hesitate. He left their temporary quarters and sped for the southern region.

He’d heard that many exalted emperors had departed from Skyward, possibly to join the hunt for the Sword Sovereign.

I wonder if Void is still at Dragon Observatory? It’ll be a lot more work if he’s not.

As for the opening created by the departure of the exalted emperors, this would be his chance.

......

Drift Light to the west was slightly removed from Dragon Observatory in the south. A first rank Li Hao would need several days for the journey. But now, he just needed one day. However, the scale of Skyward was evidently enormous if a third rank had spent a full day traveling anywhere.

There weren’t that many people in Skyward. Much of its territory was uninhabited, filled only with dense energy.

Strictly speaking, there weren’t any native inhabitants in this world. They were almost all transplants.

......

One day later.

Li Hao reached the southern region and Dragon Observatory territory. Regions were separated by small barriers. They were so weak that exalted emperors could easily pass through them.

The young man slightly modified his looks, shaping his features to be a bit more manly and crude. His clothing style was also quite different from Silver Moon fashion.

Dragon Observatory might host the largest number of exalted emperors in all the regions. While the faction leader had taken some mid ranks with him, there were a lot of low ranks left. There were more low ranks here than in Drift Light.

A first rank floated over not long after Li Hao set foot into the region.

“Might I ask which fellow daoist has come to Dragon Observatory Region?” The exalted emperor landed gracefully.

Dragon Observatory exalted emperors were similar to their leader in that they always presented a smiling face, no matter if the visitor was known or not.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“White Light of Vast Frost world!” Li Hao said curtly. “I’m here in search of my fortunes. Please excuse the intrusion!”

Vast Frost world?

The Dragon Observatory exalted emperor was puzzled, but didn’t mind his lack of familiarity with this world. There were too many worlds in the chaos. Major worlds were one thing, at least those were renowned, but some of the mid and minor worlds were almost unknown. They had too little to do with the outside world and too few exalted emperors.

He hadn’t heard of Vast Frost before, so clearly it wasn’t a major world or one of the famous mid worlds. In that case, it meant Dragon Observatory had nothing to fear. A faction with a sixth rank in residence had no need to fear from these unknown worlds.