Chapter 1632: Battle Spoils (IV)

“Fellow Daoist Myriad Dao, this is Exalted Emperor Yan Fang of Orchid Forest,” Heaven Rite quickly introduced. “He is a great senior of Orchid Forest...”

“Long have I heard your name,” Yan Fang laughed heartily. “It was quite an eye-opener today to see the fellow daoist kill two fourth ranks in one blow! I have no other business to attend to, I simply wished to meet the fellow daoist and deliver the promised bounty!”

Countless dao crystals appeared with a wave of Yan Fang’s hand; Li Hao hastily caught them.

There weren’t that many, just sixty million. That was the bounty for two third ranks.

A spatial vortex then appeared in Yan Fang’s hand, gradually producing a moderately sized ball. It hovered in front of everyone, as if a star. In reality, this was a world!

It was a compressed world. Li Hao was startled by the glance he took at it—this was a mid world! This was some really high efficiency!

“This is the reward as promised by the world master,” Yan Fang smiled. “It has been compressed. If the fellow daoist wishes to refine it, it’s best to refine it outside! It’s much simpler if you do not and just outright devour it. There is no need for you to go off-world if you don’t want to!”

“I understand, many thanks to the senior and world master...”

“No, you deserve this!” laughed Yan Fang. “The fellow daoist and your friends have made significant contributions toward safeguarding Orchid Forest. This is what you deserve! Orchid Forest is weak and unable to give the fellow daoist more support.

“But there is one thing that the fellow daoist can rest assured, and that is those from Orchid Forest will participate in critical moments!

“Do these guys really think that Orchid Forest will not dare kill anyone?” The expression on his face chilled. “Do not worry, fellow daoist. Since you fight for Orchid Forest within our borders, we are still willing to take a stand when death stares at us in the face, even if we are not as brash or as fearless as those from New Martial!”

Disregarding whether or not his words were true, this declaration of intent was properly done.

“But of course,” Li Hao hastily said. “Orchid Forest is populated with heavyweights. Who dares say that Orchid Forest is weak and cowards after you were able to become a major world from the limit of a sixth rank?”

“The fellow daoist praises us too much!” smiled Yan Fang. The world slowly floated toward Li Hao.

The young man stretched out his hand, materializing the power of fire. He suppressed the void and caught the drifted world. Li Hao swiftly suppressed it, transferring the world into his body.

Yan Fang was surprised by these actions. Suppressing a mid world was much harder than it seemed. He could do it as a sixth rank, but this person was only a fourth rank and a newly ascended one as that. That he could do the same... meant that he was no weakling, even without the dao domain and weapon.

“Then I shall not disturb the fellow daoist any further, be careful in the days to come!” Yan Fang then switched to transmission, “We will let you know ahead of time if Red Moon sends people. We have ways of probing the area around the world! The fellow daoist does not need to meet the enemy head-on.

“In addition, the world master would like for me to convey that so long as those from Red Moon are unable to articulate who they are or directly say that they are from Red Moon, then I will coordinate with the fellow daoist at opportune moments. As long as there aren’t large sums of powerhouses present, I will stand by your side and kill Red Moon invaders as well!”

Li Hao’s eyebrows rose and he nodded, indicating his understanding.

Yan Fang laughed and floated away. Meanwhile, a jade pendant appeared in Li Hao’s hand.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“This is a transmission pendant that is effective within Orchid Forest borders. It will reach me directly. If the fellow daoist needs me, you can come to me anytime!”

“My thanks, senior!”

Seeing as the other had already left, Heaven Rite hastened to follow in his footsteps. However, he also took time to transmit to the young man, “The fellow daoist might be unaware that there are two factions within Orchid Forest. One supports the world master and the other supports the dao master.

“The death of the dao master has to do with New Martial, so some say there is a death feud between Orchid Forest and New Martial. That’s wrong. To the world master, the dao master well deserved his death!

"He nearly doomed Orchid Forest for his own arrogance! If not for him, what need would there be for us to be involved in Red Moon Region’s conflict? As arrogant as New Martial is, it does not go on the offensive against neutral worlds. They only attack when a world expresses the intention to ally with Red Moon!

“Now that the master of dao is dead, there are many exalted emperors of the dao master’s faction that continue to spread word of how dangerous New Martial is. To be honest, what does the conflict between New Martial and Red Moon have to do with us? The world master and dao master have never gotten along. With the dao master dead, this is a chance for the world master!”

They were gone after these words. Li Hao blinked, grasping the other’s intentions a moment later. The look in his eyes changed—

are they guessing that I’m from New Martial? And want to tell me that the feud between New Martial and Orchid Forest is with the dao master’s faction, that it has nothing to do with Orchid Forest itself?

Can it be that the Orchid Forest master doesn’t care about the dao master dying and might even think of it as a job well done?

Where else would he get the chance to integrate Orchid Forest as one, if the master of dao wasn’t dead?

So were these Heaven Rite’s words or the world master’s? The latter had not mentioned any of this to Li Hao and the sixth rank Yan Fang hadn’t said anything either. It was the fourth rank Heaven Rite who’d gone into all of this detail. Was it speculation, or had they found some clues about his identity?

How interesting!

The light in Li Hao’s eyes flickered. Were they telling him that Orchid Forest would not make trouble for him, even if he was from New Martial?

Now that would be very interesting indeed!

So there are two factions on Orchid Forest...

The young man set these thoughts aside after a while. He investigated the mid world within him and brightened with joy. Li Hao immediately tossed the dao crystals to the rest.

“Half of them will go to Mo. Mo, you’re almost a second rank. Hopefully this pushes you over the threshold. The remainder will go to Senior Celestial Pole’s replica. The replica only lacks energy to ascend. We’ll think of something else if this still isn’t enough to propel you to third rank!”

The rest had just broken through and were focused on stabilizing their cultivation level.

Li Hao hadn’t kept any of the sixty million dao crystals for himself, choosing to give them all away. The rest looked at him with a complicated mix of emotions. He was the true firepower behind their operation!

But he hadn’t claimed much of the dao crystals from their two ventures. The mid world had come by his own efforts. Just these dao crystals alone were sufficient to make many people fight to the death in the outside world!

“Cicada and Senior Pagoda King are both peak second rank. Entering the dao universe is your chance to break through, so you won’t be receiving a share of anything this time. Also, we need to weigh the costs and benefits. We should seek to maximize our profits. I hope everyone can keep up!”

The two he mentioned naturally had no opinions otherwise. This was already very good!

Mo was beside herself with excitement. She’d been at first rank for a few years, but also counted as a young exalted emperor. She’d even comprehended a seventh rank’s dao foundation before, albeit one that Li Hao had falsified.

But having meditated in Coiled Dragon Well and experienced several important battles, entering the dao universe now meant that second rank wouldn’t be too hard for her to obtain. The bestowment of thirty thousand dao crystals would be enough!

Mo was confident that she could advance soon, so she was highly agitated. She might finally have a chance to set foot into third rank!

One had to know that under normal circumstances, the maximum limit for a wandering cultivator was third rank. It would take a large degree of fortune for a wandering cultivator to set foot into fourth rank, or be backed by a significant patron.

Mo was in tears with her gratitude. Li Hao ignored her; it was Hong Yitang and the rest who took a second look at the woman. She was the second female exalted emperor among the Silver Moon faction.

You should be careful of Lin Hongyu seeing how much you revere Li Hao... and adjust your behavior accordingly. Thankfully, she’s been cultivating in the river lately and hasn’t come out.

......

Li Hao once more sent his projection into the river.

“Senior Number Two!” he called out with excitement. The cat lazily floated out of the depths of the river and stared blearily at Li Hao. “Your fish is here, senior!”

The young man was noticeably excited—a rare occurrence for him. It hadn’t been long since the cat made the request, but he’d completed it. Hence, he was very happy.

“Fish?”

“Yes! The senior said before that you wanted ten small fish. I don’t have small fish, but now I have a mid world. That’s a mid-sized fish, isn’t it? Can one mid-sized fish count for ten small ones?”

The cat had been napping all this time and hadn’t given much thought to its request; the development took it by surprise.

So fast? I just brought it up, didn’t I?

A world slowly floated toward the river and entered the waters, quickly magnifying to the point in which the entire river seemed to briefly slow!

“You really brought it...” said the startled cat.

“The senior wishes to eat fish, how can I not satisfy your request?” Li Hao grinned.

The cat’s eyes rolled around and it looked at Li Hao. A smile crossed its face and its whiskers twitched. Its fat cheeks squeezed into a wide grin. “Not bad, it looks like I can eat a major world next time!”

“......” Li Hao’s smile froze.

Don’t joke about that! Getting a mid world was a surprise already!

“A mid world is not bad!” the merry cat remarked. “It’s a good thing to both you and me! I can eat the world origin and you can dismantle the world to complete your myriad of worlds!

“A mid world is one step away from a high rank world. Other than lacking a dao universe to be a filter, its dao methods are very complete. The world itself is a complete dao region!”

A dao region?

Li Hao turned over the new concept in his mind.

That’s right, my minor worlds are made of dao regions.

“Your understanding of the great dao is insufficient,” said the cat. “If it was, you would be able to directly produce a dao universe in the mid world. Li Hao, if there ever comes a day when you feel that you can create a dao universe yourself, that is when you are a high rank!

“That is the level that Li Changsheng resides at. He now wishes to enter high rank and seventh rank, but requires a vast sum of energy to do so. He needs the strength of the dao rules. If sufficient, he’d be able to spontaneously set foot into seventh rank!

“That would be the equivalent of a sixth rank master of the world accumulating energy. It is inevitable for someone like that to set foot into seventh rank, they just need time.”

“Then how much dao strength does he need?” Li Hao nodded again.

“A lot, quite a lot. Devouring a world like Orchid Forest might be enough... and it might not be!”

It might not be enough??

Li Hao blinked. Orchid Forest was not weak and could support the world master’s advancement into seventh rank! So even this world wasn’t enough?