Chapter 1587: We Are Not the Same (I)

The trio of newly joined exalted emperors was dead silent; the awed shock in their hearts gradually subsided. As dominating as the Sword Sovereign was, he was a bit too cocky to take on a Red Moon high rank! Not to mention, all of them were in Red Moon territory.

It was unwise to pick a fight with someone on their home turf. With New Martial’s rise in prominence, many learned of a unique fact—that the Sword Sovereign was a hero of only one stroke.

Perhaps it wasn’t as exaggerated as one stroke, but he did have issues with endurance. He erupted with so much force that he could not last long in a fight. But that was also to be expected. If he could sustain such a heavy strain on his energy, then he wouldn’t only be at sixth rank.

No one dared say anything, they desperately made for Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King. Reconvening with the New Martial duo and escaping to safety was the priority. Li Hao being here wasn’t all that useful. Last time the young man borrowed strength, he only reached fifth rank.

Fifth rank would be cannon fodder in this situation. It would be good enough if he could get away.

Both sides approached each other as quickly as they possibly could.

It’d been a year since Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King set out from New Martial. They’d spent a lot less time drifting through the chaos than they’d thought. This would be their first official contact with Silver Moon.

It was also the first time that Silver Moon and New Martial powerhouses were officially meeting with each other.

Li Hao’s previous journey to New Martial didn’t count and meeting Li Zhu along the way didn’t count either. Not to mention, they weren’t certain if that person was Li Zhu or not. It was only now that the two sides met each other in the true sense of the word.

It was a highly anticipated meeting; both sides traveled at a very fast speed. There was also a battle with a seventh rank to consider. No one knew how long the Sword Sovereign would hold out either, so they didn’t dare move too slowly. Everyone darted forward so quickly without concern for exposing their whereabouts.

Moments later.

The battle was still raging, a warship had appeared in the void. Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King swiftly walked out, surprised by what they saw.

Lin Hongyu, Hong Yitang, Celestial Pole’s replica, Zhang An, and three other exalted emperors stood across the way. There were six total exalted emperors, if they counted Celestial Pole’s replica.

That was a lot!

Hong Yitang, the surrendered Cicada and Xun Re were all second ranks. Celestial Pole quickly looked at his replica, then at the others. He was slightly mystified because he could sense a unique presence from Hong Yitang. A master of dao?

That would naturally be the Silver Moon king then. A second rank?

That wasn’t too weak. It hadn’t been long since the world had unsealed, after all, but... he didn’t seem as exemplary as one might have thought. That was only second rank, for one. The other was that... he seemed rather old.

Not in terms of actual age, but that typical kings and sovereigns rose to prominence very quickly. Celestial Pole would have estimated that kings of isolated minor worlds would only be twenty or thirty at most.

But this one was fifty, sixty, or maybe even seventy or eighty, wasn’t he? He really did look a bit old...

Very well, young exalted emperors were a rare sight. All the same, Celestial Pole was rather disappointed that the isolated Silver Moon had permitted a fifty or sixty year old to be their king...

The third point was... hard to put into words. This fellow... lacked a bit of a kingly presence. He wasn’t like the Human King, one that induced worship at the sight of him.

The Human King was so tyrannical that even if he didn’t measure up to you, one knew that he wasn’t someone to provoke upon merely seeing him. He was someone to contend with!

But Hong Yitang gave Celestial Pole the first impression of... being quite genteel and scholarly. He was more like a teacher and belonged in the halls of academia...

There were no other impressions apart from that.

Celestial Pole was let down that the Silver Moon king wasn’t a young fellow. The Pagoda King took a quick scan of the group and rushed up to say, “We need to go! Everyone get aboard the ship!”

Hong Yitang and the rest darted in without another word. The warship was so fast that it could rival a mid rank when pushed to full throttle. The ripples of the explosions behind them were swiftly approaching them.

“Everyone erupt with full strength and defend!” shouted the Pagoda King. “We need to stand strong against the energy ripples and protect Zhang An!”

Zhang An was the only non exalted emperor among them. The two knew Zhang An and were very worried that he would die to the onslaught of backlash. That would be the worst outcome of all.

The surrendered exalted emperors looked at Hong Yitang; he swiftly ordered, “Defend!”

A great quantity of earth energy appeared over him; the Pagoda King propelled the ship out of proximity. Celestial Pole’s replica looked at his primary body, but the primary body was too preoccupied to pay attention to him.

Celestial Pole’s primary body scanned their pickups and transmitted to the Pagoda King, “Are we going to meld with his great dao?”

“No!” responded the Pagoda King.

“......” Celestial Pole was rather surprised. Wasn’t that the plan?

“I’m disappointed that he’s only second rank!” came the Pagoda King’s second transmission. “I thought he’d be third rank at least. New kings like him should improve very quickly after leaving their world, but he’s only a second rank. That’s not in line with my expectations!

“In addition, the Sword Sovereign is still fighting. This guy doesn’t even offer a polite courtesy after convening with us. He doesn’t seem that reliable. Not to mention...”

Here, the Pagoda King hesitated before continuing, “He seems to be affected by women. When we asked him questions, he looked at the first rank female exalted emperor first! That won’t do. Someone who lusts after women and is afraid of his wife will not do. He’ll too easily be entrapped this way!

“Hurry and absorb your replica. It’s a second rank now. While I won’t say that you’ll be able to make it to fourth rank, grand perfection of third rank should be no problem. Helm the warship and take us out of here!”

The Pagoda King decided to discard the original plan as soon as he saw the Silver Moon group. The main reason was that these people did not meet his expectations. While he wanted to lay back and depend on someone else, he had to choose the right candidate for the role.

Everything was still up to them!

It wasn’t that these people weren’t outstanding—who wasn’t when they were an exalted emperor at such a young age? It was that... they didn’t give him an enormous shock upon seeing them. In that case, he would not become part of their dao universe.

If they did, they wouldn’t be able to extract themselves from the situation.

If we’re going to latch onto someone’s thigh, it has to be a reliable thigh. Reliable doesn’t necessarily mean dependable, it could mean a certain degree of madness, self assurance, or berserk fervor. It could be heedless of consequence or downright battle madness. Whatever it is, those traits will do.

I don’t actually want responsible—responsible people aren’t reliable at a time like this.

Being an honest man, Hong Yitang was a very reliable person. One could determine that with a single glance, and that he would be easy to get along with.

But... it’s hard to believe that a stable and steady person can turn the tables.

Let’s run!

Celestial Pole immediately grasped the Pagoda King’s sentiments. He looked at the group again and didn’t say anything. He simply looked at his replica, a bit doubtful. His replica was strong enough, did he really want to absorb it?

These people went to a lot of effort to raise my replica to second rank, didn’t they? Won’t I owe them a favor if I absorb it?

Just as Pagoda said, we’re here to search for a patron, but it’s more like they’re treating us as their backer. Dang, I’ll have to take a stand for them if I accept this favor. I’m not doing it!

I’d rather discard my replica instead!

The two instantly thought through a lot of matters; Celestial Pole couldn’t even be bothered with his replica anymore.

“Not doing it, we’re not joining their dao universe,” he transmitted to the Pagoda King. “We’re here to find someone’s banner to join, not offer ours to them! That’s too much trouble. If it can’t be helped, I’ll send my replica to die. All debts will be cancelled when it dies, it will have nothing to do with me!”

“Stop thinking random thoughts,” his replica transmitted to him at this time. “Primary body, are you afraid of having to take on additional responsibilities?”

“......”

Can my replica hear me?

Celestial Pole abruptly realized that

damn it, I forgot to conceal our transmission. We’re the same entity to begin with. We’re not one normally because we’re so far apart, but now that we’re in close proximity and our thoughts are the same, we’re basically the same person. It most definitely might be able to hear me, to say nothing of anything else.

“Cut the bullshit, replica. You’re me and I’m you. Aren’t

you

afraid of taking on additional responsibility?”

“I am!”

“Then that’s settled. Both of us are done for if I absorb you. If I don’t, you can die in battle with the favors you owe. When you’re dead, that will settle all of your debts. And at least I’ll still be alive!”

“......” Did this count as talking to himself?

Meanwhile, the Pagoda King looked wordlessly at both of them.

This guy...

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“Cut the crap,” the replica quickly transmitted. “You’ve got the wrong idea. This isn’t the Silver Moon king.”

“......” How was that possible?

“You’ll know when you absorb me. Hurry, what are you waiting for? The Sword Sovereign is still fighting and I can’t be bothered to explain. Hurry up and absorb me!”

“......”

Not doing it!

The primary body felt that this was a trap. The replica didn’t want to bear responsibility for anything, but neither did he. He wouldn’t absorb his replica on pain of death!

The Pagoda King ignored the two—er, one man show behind him. Fleeing to safety was of paramount importance. Who knew when the Sword Sovereign might lose?

They needed to get out of here!

Boom!

The warship trembled as a massive shockwave washed over them; the vessel was breaking apart. It was horrifying and the exalted emperors went pale. These were just the aftershocks of the fight and there were multiple exalted emperors here, but their defenses were nearly overwhelmed all the same.

This was beyond terrifying!

“Accelerate toward the north!” Lin Hongyu suddenly said.

“......” The Pagoda King couldn’t be bothered with her.

“Listen to her,” Celestial Pole’s replica abruptly concurred. “Head north, we have people there!”

“......”

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