Chapter 1590: Smoke Clears and Dust Settles (I)

The Pagoda King shook to his inner core. Holy hell! It really was what he’d thought before!

His earlier speculations were verified in this moment and he hastily said, “It’s too dangerous here. Of course, we’re not familiar with your strength, Silver Moon king, but out of interest for your safety, Senior Celestial Pole and I can immediately become part of your... your... dao river! That will conceal our core origin presence and strengthen you at the same time!”

Li Hao’s dao river was now the one those two masters of dao wielded. The Pagoda King decided that they needed to fight for it! This was a thigh worth latching onto!

A fourth rank dared to hunt down a seventh rank! Just this point alone meant that the Silver Moon king was worthy of the two taking a risk. They could grab onto this thigh! Perhaps it would make their fortunes!

As for dangers within... when were their lives not dangerous?

Was New Martial not dangerous?

Was the chaos not dangerous?

Who cared about that?

If all of it was dangerous, then the potential return was the most important!

Li Hao blinked, then shook his head. His river did not accept anyone else. The Pagoda King was disappointed by the response. What a pity!

“Then we’ll become part of the dao masters’ rivers to eliminate our presence of core origin. That will prevent others from discovering us while we’re hiding!”

“......” Li Hao stared, first looking at him, then at Celestial Pole. “Whatever you guys wish. We’ll be on our way first, you guys be careful!”

He promptly vanished with Void. The domain and world of emptiness materialized. Void couldn’t wait; he didn’t have the effort to spare for these people.

The light in Celestial Pole’s eyes flickered as the Pagoda King looked in the direction of their departure.

“The two of us should come together!” Celestial Pole looked at his replica. “Right now, hurry up! And then we’ll become part of the dao river!”

The replica continuously rolled his eyes.

I knew it, damn it! You didn’t think much of Hong Yitang and Gan Wuliang before, but now that Li Hao is here... You didn’t make a sound at first and wanted them to handle the seventh rank.

Were you that confident that they would succeed?

No, of course not!

All the same, becoming one with the dao river now was extending a helping hand in a moment of need. If they waited until the trio successfully killed the seventh rank, that would not be rendering timely aid then. It would be a show of shameless brazenness!

Since Li Hao wasn’t willing, then Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King could retreat to their second best option of the twin dao universes. That sounded just as nice, didn’t they?

It would do!

That counted as having made themselves part of the Silver Moon faction, and this was the perfect time to do so. There weren’t many local Silver Moon exalted emperors yet—the other three new additions were outsiders and less than the New Martial duo. The latter was from New Martial, after all!

Celestial Pole’s replica had also been here all along, making for closer ties with the new Silver Moon king.

Apart from the Silver Moon locals, it’s just me and the Pagoda King who count as being well qualified and with a high status. We’ll become part of the dao river first before anything else!

......

The outside world, inside the chaos.

Void was slightly nervous, as was Li Hao.

“Are you going to borrow strength?” Void looked at Li Hao.

“There’s none to borrow!” The hell could he borrow from in the void? He’d even assimilated Crimson Cloud’s body in his bid to ascend to fourth rank.

Void furrowed his brows. What should they do now? Li Hao’s fourth rank strength wouldn’t make a dent in a seventh rank.

“It’s fine, let’s just watch!” Li Hao laughed. Void said nothing else.

The two set their jaw against the detonations of surplus energy and shot towards the battlefield. The domain and world of emptiness shook unendingly. At the same time, the dao of hiding operated continuously to cover their tracks.

......

Even further in the distance.

The Sword Sovereign breathed heavily and looked at his opponent across the way—the seventh rank. Although fractures riddled the latter’s body, the man smiled. This wasn’t enough!

The Sword Sovereign was very strong. The Red Moon seventh rank would not be a match for him if the Sword Sovereign was also a seventh rank. That was an undisputed fact.

But even if you’re not a hero of one stroke anymore... this seems to be the best you can do. You’re dead, Eternal Sword!

The Sword Sovereign knitted his brows together in a frown and looked into the distance.

It’s only been a short period of time... can those guys get away from this place? I’ve expended so much energy—I really can’t fight a seventh rank!

What a pity. There’s no helping it, I have to run. If only I had a bit more strength... or a bit of recovery time... I’d wear you down sooner or later!

As much of a pity it was, he was truly out of options. This was a rare opportunity to kill a seventh rank, but missing it was missing it. They could try again next time. He was going to run!

Ole Zhang’s replica needs to self-detonate as soon as possible and create some opportunities for me. I won’t be able to get away so easily otherwise.

Outside the battlefield.

An old man hobbled forward, ready to create a disturbance to help Li Changsheng escape.

If I don’t, Fang Ping will come back and hack me into two with one stroke when he comes back!

The replica abruptly turned around and blinked when he saw a domain approaching him.

Who... are those two?

“Senior Supreme Zhang, we’re going in for a look!” Li Hao smiled.

The Silver Moon king?

The replica immediately understood.

Are those two going inside?

“Kill!” came an angry yell from within.

This is the signal! Why isn’t he self-detonating yet?? I can’t hold on!

The supreme’s replica looked at the two and quickly nodded. “Be careful... the young are different, alright!”

So cocky! Alright, well, I’ve seen cockier. Since they’re that confident, go ahead and try. It might be three running in the end instead of one, that’s no big deal.

“If this is beyond your abilities, run without hesitation! Follow Li Changsheng’s lead. He’s skilled at getting away and can burrow through even the chaos...”

Li Hao and Void had already darted inside.

He can burrow through even the chaos... is that a compliment? New Martial... is really different, huh!

......

Sword light!

Innumerable rays of sword light!

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The circle of fighting seemed to be ensconced in a sea of swords. A myriad of daos collected and the swords looked to be alive.

It was at times darkness and at times light. The broken sword domain and shattered Red Moon domain of desire had melded together. They were a world of unique desire-infused sword intent.

The swords were alive with greed and desire!

What Li Hao saw was a battle between swords. A portion of the swords had been corrupted by desire and turned on their master. The other portion of swords remained stalwart defenders and clashed against the traitors.

There were two dao domains gathered in this area. Battle raged ferociously within it—the sixth rank Sword Sovereign was unparalleled as he cut through the battlefield. However, the Red Moon seventh rank wielded unique abilities to turn untold sword intent against the Eternal Sword intent.

It was a battle between two people and a turbid mess from the outside, but it was another story entirely after one walked in.

It was completely different, like there were two armies throwing themselves at each other. So much was contained within—betrayal, valor, treachery, indestructibility, and an omnipresent heart of desire.

“Kill the Sword Sovereign!”

“You will win fame, fortune, women, strength, and immortality!”

These thoughts warred for domination of the mind. Li Hao’s thoughts briefly sputtered to a halt—a sign of a seventh rank’s influence. If the faint of heart or weak of strength ventured inside, they would soon be overtaken by desire and become a Red Moon puppet.

Such was seventh rank might!

If a regular mid rank was present, they might be lost the second they set foot inside. They would then lose their own thoughts a moment later and become the seventh rank’s puppet and tool. This Red Moon power didn’t only change one’s body and thoughts. It was infused with the power of dao, which meant that it modified a cultivator from their core nature.

Great dao itself would betray them!

Was there anything more serious for an exalted emperor?

This wasn’t Li Hao’s first time exchanging blows with a Red Moon exalted emperor. Bone Eclipse had been trapped at Silver Moon for a very long time, and then the young man had killed a third rank as soon as he exited the Star Gate. There was a fourth rank not too long ago as well.

He’d killed three Red Moon exalted emperors in total, but it was his first time encountering a high rank Red Moon exalted emperor. This was when Li Hao fully understood why Red Moon was a major world, and a premier major world at that.

There didn’t seem to be anything special about Red Moon’s dao. Its offensive power seemed ordinary and it didn’t seem particularly profound.

Or rather, he just hadn’t sensed its mysteries before.

Today, Li Hao realized that Red Moon strength infiltrated one’s great dao and reached even the dao universe, attacking one from that origin point. A cultivator was turned into a puppet and enslaved on a foundational level. Was this kind of dao not unique enough?

If a powerful enough existence invaded a dao universe, it could outright transform the entire dao universe into Red Moon territory!

Was such a dao not strong?

Desire was something that no one could run with. To possess desire was to make it possible for Red Moon’s great dao to permeate you. Such was the primal instinct of all living beings. Even if one was completely dispassionate due to the great dao, one would still have desires.

It was unavoidable!

Here, Li Hao stopped in his tracks, as did Void. The two cultivators were enveloped by the domain and the power of emptiness emanated from them, turning the surroundings into a tiny field of nothing.

Red light had appeared on both of their faces—the influence of Red Moon power. The seventh rank was already teaching them a lesson before they fully entered the battlefield.

You weaklings need to retain your basic courtesy and respect when facing high ranks.

......

At the same time.

The seventh rank facing the Sword Sovereign drew his brows together and looked outside. The Sword Sovereign also tilted his head for a look.

Both powerhouses had sensed that someone had intruded on their battlefield. It wasn’t someone terribly strong, but there was something special about them. Their fight was no different from one between two seventh ranks, yet someone was still bold enough to barge in.

However, even the slightest moment of inattention would ensure that a sixth rank exalted emperor wouldn’t be able to enter this core area. They would be pulverized before they could set foot inside and turned into fertilizer for the dao domain.

Who was it?

The Sword Sovereign actually had a few guesses because he sensed a unique presence. It felt like... sword intent.

Sword intent from the bones.

This was something that those of Silver Moon were naturally equipped with. Their dao meridians were the shape of a sword and the ultimate form of their dao universe was also that of a sword.