Chapter 1572: Fog Mountain (III)

“The fire cultivator... did not kill Crimson Cloud in a split second. They fought for a while, so he wasn’t a seventh rank. He was a fake seventh rank!” murmured Fog Mountain.

A false seventh rank, hmm?

There were some characteristics of Flamefire’s strength in the residual fire energy. Was it a cultivator who’d inherited Flamefire’s heritage? Or had he utilized a special method to borrow some strength?

How could one borrow Flamefire’s strength?

Dao methods abounded within the universe, so anything was possible. Or perhaps it was an imitation, that wasn’t out of the question either.

Fog Mountain looked up at the sky. Unique great dao ripples were present there, as if emanated from a dao universe. Dense dao strength wove through the surroundings.

“The dao universe... Crimson Cloud... Dragon Observatory... Flamefire... Skyward...”

Was there a connection between all of these? Had Skyward’s dao universe truly appeared?

Fog Mountain looked around, sensing a disorderly burst of spatial power when the world overturned.

“Is it spatial dao or a dao domain?” He murmured with a frown. Whatever it was, this was a tricky situation.

If the phenomenon was a result of spatial strength, then that meant the Skyward dao universe had truly materialized. If it wasn’t and was the domain instead, then that meant a seventh rank was involved. Only seventh ranks could utilize domains!

The domains of dao!

Regular exalted emperors would not understand the sensation of controlling the world with a domain. But as a seventh rank, Fog Mountain knew it all too well.

“Someone triggered an eruption at the volcano and lured Crimson Cloud here. They killed all of the Dragon Observatory exalted emperors and Crimson Cloud... and possibly caused the Skyward dao universe to present itself.

“The dao universe is still in a state of stillness, so this dao strength might not be from it. It could be from those who were killed...”

If that was the case, then that meant whoever had killed Crimson Cloud and the others didn’t want this dao strength. What did he want then?

But the Skyward dao universe might truly be awakening at the same time. Except, there were some manmade factors within.

What was this person’s goal?

Reviving the dao universe through killing people?

Fog Mountain’s heart skipped a beat as he looked around, thinking of how previous intelligence reports had indicated signs of a dao universe appearing near Skyriver Region.

With that in mind, Fog Mountain was off.

......

After a while, Fog Mountain manifested where Skyriver had once stood. Its dao foundation site of water had been obliterated.

“Destroying a dao foundation site to summon a dao universe... Using the remnants of old power here to summon the dao universe... Is there a special technique involved?

“Last time they said that it was the New Martial Sword Sovereign killing people here. But whoever killed Crimson Cloud might be the same person!”

It was the same method, that of borrowing the strength from a dao foundation site. When Skyriver died, people later said that the Silver Moon king had done so. How about this time?

Was it still the Silver Moon king?

The Silver Moon king was likely still in the chaos at the moment, but the possibility couldn’t be ruled out.

Li Hao hadn’t thought that someone would connect the last appearance of the dao universe with this instance. The dao universe had been a very hazy image last time—it was a completely different display from this occurrence.

Fog Mountain didn’t care about that. No matter the differences, both of them had taken place at a dao foundation site. That was the commonality between them. The only thing to confirm was whether it was the Silver Moon king behind them.

He didn’t care if it was. Red Moon wished to capture Silver Moon, but he didn’t feel the same way. Whether it was the Silver Moon king or someone else, they were all the same to Fog Mountain. Whoever it was, they existed!

It didn’t matter what their identity was, so long as they weren’t from Light. Otherwise, this would herald the beginning of a war between Skycloud and Light.

Fog Mountain waved a hand, erasing the tattered ruins on the scene. With these new thoughts in mind, he returned to the volcano and erased everything there as well. He wanted to eliminate all traces of whatever had taken place.

Was it the Silver Moon king?

It didn’t matter if it was, that wasn’t important.

The important thing was that this person was special and could utilize the strength of the dao foundation sites to access the dao universe. Skyward’s dao universe was indeed revitalizing. It might not be fully awakened yet, but it had been brought out of the shadows.

All of this had much to do with the unknown murderer. If Fog Mountain could locate him, he would be able to summon the dao universe again!

“Borrowing the strength of the dao foundation sites and from Skyward... how is he doing it? Skyward’s strength has dispersed for millions of years. No wonder the dao universe can materialize again... the strength of a million years ago...” The seventh rank thought of something else—

Demon Summit!

Fog Mountain disappeared once more, reappearing inside the Dragon Observatory palace, then inside Demon Summit.

The Hall of Darkness.

Void was in closed door cultivation when his face twitched and his eyes opened. He floated to his feet and vanished from the Hall of Darkness, reappearing at the foot of Demon Summit. There was someone waiting for him at the bottom.

“Greetings to the Exalted Fog Mountain Emperor!” Void inclined his body. This was a seventh rank exalted emperor! They were powerhouses no matter where they went and incomparably strong existences. Even if Light and Skycloud did not get along, at least they weren’t at war right this very moment.

“Crown Prince Ming Tang.” Fog Mountain nodded back. Ming Tang was Void’s real name.

As one of two eighth rank major worlds in Skyward, of course Fog Mountain was familiar with Void. He just hadn’t met the man often before. The last time they encountered each other was six hundred years ago.

Void had broken through to fourth rank then, joining the cohort of mid rank exalted emperors. The Light master had been so delighted that he held a grand feast for everyone to attend. That was when Fog Mountain had met this person.

Void had brimmed with the power of light then, a vastly different sight from how he was now.

Fog Mountain looked at him with a smile. “The crown prince is quite something to have relinquished light and welcomed something akin to darkness. Is this emptiness? Or something else? You’ve returned to fifth rank in a very short period of time. It seems that you are not far from sixth rank. And... there is even a sense of death about you? How interesting!”

“Senior Fog Mountain is wise and of a keen eye!” Void knitted his brows together. He and Li Hao spoke candidly about these topics and they didn’t feel like there was anything to hide.

However, Fog Mountain was a senior and half an enemy. He’d seen through Void’s status with a single glance and spoken freely of it—not to discuss dao, but to intimidate the listener.

Fog Mountain didn’t say much else and switched to assessing the other. “Has the crown prince ventured outside lately?”

“What does the senior mean by that?”

“Does the crown prince know of the developments in the outside world?”

“I do not know of them!”

“Well now, isn’t that interesting?” Fog’s smile widened. “Your friend, that Exalted Hao Moon Emperor, rushed back from the chaos and killed all of the other Dragon Observatory exalted emperors. He also killed Crimson Cloud of Skycloud. Does the crown prince know about this?”

“Surely the senior jests. My friend is only a first rank.” Void frowned.

“The crown prince knows better than me if I jest or not,” Fog Mountain responded faintly. “The crown prince is unparalleled in strength and potential to be able to continue and advance after forsaking the dao of light and to take up another dao.

“However, this Hao Moon is too closely tied with New Martial and New Martial is too deeply related to Red Moon. Be careful of creating a formidable enemy for the world of Light.

“Hao Moon is very bold to dare kill an exalted emperor of my world.”

Void’s frown deepened. Fog Mountain was convinced that it was Li Hao behind the deed. That was strange. It should be speculation, but he was insistent that it was Li Hao. It was an unusual attitude to take.

What was the reason for it?

“Do not misunderstand me, crown prince of Light. I bear no malicious intent!” Fog Mountain continued. “As for evidence or anything else, I have none. I’m just certain that it is Hao Moon behind it!”

“So you’re pinning it onto him?” Void laughed softly.

“I am if you think I am, I am not if you think I am not!” laughed Fog Mountain. “I have no desire to be enemies with Light major world, that is the prerogative of the world master. Even if the crown prince is behind Crimson Cloud’s death, I would only take you into custody and not kill you. That is up to the world master!”

“Don’t wrong someone, Senior Fog Mountain. I am not someone that the senior can easily frame!”

“Is that so?” chuckled Fog Mountain. “There is some power of emptiness lingering near the southern gate. Is that not the work of the crown prince? Some power of emptiness might have appeared there before, why is that?

“It’s said that the Exalted Hao Moon Emperor elicits a chaos tribulation every time he utilizes strength beyond his capacity. That is normal. It would be abnormal if a newly ascended exalted emperor could employ strength beyond his means and not be punished by a chaos tribulation for it.

“Therefore, if it was him, there is certain to be a chaos tribulation as a result. However, there are no signs of tribulation damage within Skyward. Then that means it took place only in the chaos. But if there was a tribulation within the chaos, the disturbance would be enormous. At the same time, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who saw anything, which means that it was hidden from sight.

“But who can conceal a chaos tribulation?” laughed the man. “I was very confused who could do so before I saw the crown prince. After I’ve seen you, I know of one person who can—an exalted emperor of emptiness nearing sixth rank!”

Void didn’t say a word, but he sighed to himself. This was Fog Mountain. He parted the mist and scanned everything with a keen eye. Being a seventh rank, he was one of the main pillars of Skycloud.

The Skycloud master had sent him clearly because he believed that even with Crimson Cloud dead, Fog Mountain would be able to handle many issues.

“Has the Silver Moon king gotten away?” The seventh rank looked toward the Hall of Darkness. “He can’t be here, can he? Also, how did the might of a ninth rank erupt prior? Could it have... something to do with this place?”

Void didn’t say a word. Anything he did or said would be a mistake. He’d advised Li Hao to do a few less things, that they could smoothly cover most things if they had enough time. But since they hadn’t, a lot of things should be off the table. If they still moved forward with it, the seventh rank was bound to discover a lot of things.

“If the Silver Moon king suddenly caused great fanfare in Skyward and created immense commotion... doesn’t that mean he wishes for Red Moon’s line of sight to be redirected to Skyward?”

“......” Void was still silent.

“It looks like Crimson Cloud died an unnecessary death,” Fog Mountain chuckled. “Well, it’s not entirely unwarranted since Dragon and the others had left to attack New Martial. The Silver Moon king’s actions would also bring them back, but his main goal was to draw Red Moon’s attention.

“They said before that he was going to convene with Celestial Pole. It looks like he turned back to Skyward instead and raised a ruckus, hoping that Red Moon would no longer pay attention to Celestial Pole. So he still wishes to meet up with New Martial, yes?”

“Is there a point to the senior saying all this to me?” Void looked at Fog Mountain.

“Whyever not?” The seventh rank smirked. “You can record my words and send them to the Silver Moon king when you get a chance to!”

Void didn’t make a sound. A seventh rank was different alright. He was indeed secretly recording the conversation through special methods. He wanted to show them to the young man to demonstrate how high ranks were different, particularly someone like Fog Mountain. He was known for his sharp eye that saw through everything.

His dao also seemed quite unique. Void couldn’t make out what precisely it was.