Chapter 1642: United Opinions (III)

Peak sixth rank... could only refer to the Red Moon group. Of course, it could be more than those from Red Moon. Perhaps Myriad Dao’s group wanted to capture all of the sixth ranks at Orchid Forest in one fell swoop.

But what did they want??

The Orchid Forest master’s head ached with incredible ferocity!

“I do have one necessary request that I would like the world master to adhere to,” continued Li Hao. “If someone kills large sums of sixth ranks, that might result in an eighth rank coming in person!

“When that happens, the world master must ascend. Not only that, but you have to show every inclination to flee! It will be a newly advanced seventh rank on one side, one that can be recruited. The other side will be someone who just killed a sixth rank. Will the eighth rank choose to stay and take the seventh rank under his banner, or will he chase the killer?”

“Um...” The Orchid Forest master’s mouth was dry. “Regular sixth ranks cannot escape from an eighth rank’s chase. They will die soon enough.The situation that you speak of will not appear.”

“Then... what if it’s not an ordinary sixth rank?” Li Hao smiled.

How about a sixth rank that could kill seven thanks?

The Orchid Forest master immediately had a guess in mind—the Sword Sovereign!

Damn it!

The possibility of the Sword Sovereign hiding within Orchid Forest was enough to make his head explode. Despite repeating to himself

don’t think, don’t ask, don’t care...

he couldn’t help but mutter, “Who... who killed the one... before?”

Who’d killed Clarity?

“I don’t know.” Li Hao shook his head with a blank look.

The Orchid Forest master inwardly cursed up a storm!

You bastard! Is the New Martial headquarters here, or is it only the Sword Sovereign here?

He turned over Li Hao’s words in his mind—these people must have a plan in mind.

But, it would be nice if he didn’t need to do anything to kill those sixth ranks, including the Red Moon sixth rank. After a while, the world master took a deep breath.

“Five, I only need five sixth ranks. Or... perhaps four will do too! I am certain to break through then! And I won’t need to accumulate any strength, I can do so spontaneously!”

Four sixth ranks were the bare minimum. Perhaps he could eventually do it on his own with less, but he would need a great deal of time that no one was willing to give him.

“Just four?” Li Hao questioned skeptically. That wasn’t much.

The Orchid Forest master didn’t know what to say!

Isn’t that a lot already? That’s a lot!

“There’s more than four sixth ranks within the world, isn’t there?” asked Li Hao.

So what are you waiting for? Just start killing!

“It’s best if they are sixth ranks from major worlds.” The world master shook his head with a frown. “Sixth ranks of wandering cultivators... possess jumbled energies and dao strength!

“There are indeed more than four sixth ranks within the world, but many of them are from mid worlds. There’s quite a few wandering cultivators as well, with not many sixth ranks truly from major worlds.”

So you need Red Moon to add fuel to the flames? And it’s best if they send four sixth ranks?

Li Hao raised a brow.

“I will need Senior Yan Fang to keep the others in line for me.” Li Hao had a new idea in mind. “In addition, I will look for helpers against these New Martial exalted emperors! We need to kill the two fifth ranks first and leave the sixth rank alive. Have them feel the pressure and know that those beneath sixth rank are useless. It’s best if they send more sixth ranks...”

Look for helpers? The Sword Sovereign?

If that’s the case, it won’t be sixth ranks that come!

“If you’re speaking of...” The world master’s head truly hurt. “Then he won’t be able to conceal his identity after he makes a move. It won’t be a sixth rank that comes then, but a seventh rank!”

Don’t forget that Red Moon still has a seventh rank in its roster!

“I’m not speaking of that one!” Li Hao shook his head, refuting the claim.

Then who?

Void, of course!

The Orchid Forest master stiffened.

What the hell?? Just how many of your people have snuck into Orchid Forest? Judging from your confidence, you sound like you have at least one more sixth rank with you. They are able to kill fifth ranks right under the nose of a sixth rank, which makes them very powerful.

Can it be that the Exalted Blood Emperor and other New Martial premier exalted emperors are in the area?

Both sides were speaking rather candidly at this point, but neither of them mentioned New Martial or the Sword Sovereign. They understood at heart, but expressed nothing.

The world master quickly weighed up the pros and cons.

I’ll be able to enter seventh rank without having to kill Red Moon exalted emperors myself. If what Myriad Dao speaks of comes to pass after I become part of Red Moon, then I can extract myself if the Red Moon master is preoccupied by others or cannot return.

I will flee this place with an independent Orchid Forest.

There didn’t seem to be any downside involved for him, just upside. The key was that if he agreed to this, he would be able to resolve some of Orchid Forest’s bad blood with New Martial. There weren’t any grudges between the two, just that their master of dao had tailed the Human King and been hacked to death by the latter!

Did that even count as a grudge?

“I am unaware of any of this,” responded the world master. “Please do as you see fit, little friend! In addition, do these fellow daoists truly wish to become part of Orchid Forest?”

“They do!” Li Hao nodded.

How can they join Red Moon if they’re not part of Orchid Forest? How is the rest of the plan to proceed if they’re not part of Red Moon?

The young man had a complete plan in mind. He needed the Sword Sovereign and Void to work in tandem with him, as well as Orchid Forest. He also needed Skyward’s cooperation if he, a fourth rank, wished to chip a chink in the armor of a massive entity as Red Moon!

He was still one promise short when it came to Skyward; he needed to fulfill what he’d promised Fog Mountain. Once the Skyward dao universe was open and Fog Mountain entered it, would the Red Moon master really be able to sit aside and watch a seventh rank have free rein in a ninth rank dao universe?

If possible, Li Hao could even send the Human King inside. How delighted would Fog Mountain be? By that point, the Red Moon master would likely give up a major world in order to stop the Human King.

It will be hard for the chaos to be thrown into disarray if I do not open Skyward’s dao universe. I need to make a stop there!

Li Hao plotted quickly.

I need to loot Red Moon down to their floor tiles this time. Only then will that satisfy the needs of both me and the Sword Sovereign. Otherwise, this sixth rank world is so damn poor that it’s not enough to be an appetizer!

“These three will become part of Orchid Forest! But there’s one thing—if anything happens to me, I hope that the world master can save these three...”

The Orchid Forest master looked expressionlessly at the young man.

I can’t say that I’ll protect them if they’re from New Martial!

“Don’t worry, their identities are simple. Mo and Cicada were only forced to join me, and this one...” Li Hao pointed at the Pagoda King with a smile. “He’s a second rank that vanished from Red Moon Region and comes from someplace...”

Second rank, vanished, New Martial...

Damn!

I get it, it’s the Pagoda King!

It was the infamous New Martial exalted emperor! That opened the Orchid Forest master’s eyes to new possibilities. If it was this one... then there wouldn’t be much of a problem. His status within New Martial wasn’t high and he was a renowned fair-weather ally. One could even obtain insider secrets through him...

And even if his identity was exposed, Red Moon most likely wouldn’t kill him. There was no point in doing so and it would help New Martial eliminate an infamous member instead. The world master was reassured at learning of the Pagoda King’s identity.

“If I really do ascend, then I will be able to lead a dozen exalted emperors as a seventh rank. Keeping them safe will be no problem!” He’d even guessed at Li Hao’s identity at this point—the Silver Moon king!

And here I was wondering where so many unknown exalted emperors came from! Silver Moon has convened with New Martial!

Everything made sense now. This was the Silver Moon king, the exalted emperors born of Silver Moon, and two exalted emperors from New Martial. There were also the exalted emperors that came from the perished Ming Hao’s team...

That fully explained everything!

In the surroundings, Gan Wuliang and the rest were very nervous as they listened to Li Hao converse with the Orchid Forest master. This was putting everything on the table! If the world master had other ideas in mind...

But there were also those immensely calm and certain that the Orchid Forest master wouldn’t dare think of anything else. The man didn’t know where New Martial was and wasn’t sure who’d killed Clarity. He was also aware of how dangerous the situation within Orchid Forest was...

So he wouldn’t dare do anything to Li Hao’s group. It would be immensely troublesome if he caused the Sword Sovereign to appear—and there might be more than the Sword Sovereign forthcoming!

This was indeed the case, the Orchid Forest master was not tempted by any other thoughts. There was no need to take the risk! He would offend New Martial while being uncertain of his chances of success.

He wouldn’t be confident if it was only the Sword Sovereign present, not to mention that the other seventh ranks of New Martial might be nearby.

Where was the Sun God? How about the Ash Emperor? The Orchid Forest master would be courting death to attack the Silver Moon king!

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

“Then it’s settled. The three of you will stay here to join Orchid Forest!” Li Hao raised a cupped fist salute at the world master and left with the rest of his group.

The man fell silent as seeing the young man depart; he only opened the dao universe when Li Hao was gone. He’d been hesitant if he should open the dao universe while Li Hao was here. All was fine since the young man was no longer around.

“This way, fellow daoists!” said the world master. Three initial ranks posed no threat whatsoever.

The Pagoda King and rest no longer hesitated when they saw the development. Their great dao surged forth, their dao marks materialized, and they flooded into the dao universe to become part of it.

......

“Whew!” Xun Ruo heaved a sigh of relief when they walked out of the mountain.

“Kid, you’ve got quite some nerve...” Celestial Pole transmitted. “Weren’t you worried at all?”

“He wouldn’t have dared!” Li Hao shook his head. What had there been to worry about? The Sword Sovereign was here. The man was most likely keeping an eye on things as well. What was there to be afraid of?

If it wasn’t for wanting to scheme for more and needing to collaborate with the Sword Sovereign and Void, Li Hao might not be afraid of the Orchid Forest master even if the latter reached seventh rank!

Celestial Pole grumbled over Li Hao’s audacity. The kid appeared genteel, refined, and completely harmless from head to toe. He hadn’t shown any signs of losing his temper just now either, but Celestial Pole really had wiped off some sweat from his brow!

Li Hao ignored them and began emanating a faint surge of emptiness. He didn’t know where the Sword Sovereign was, but knew that the man must be paying attention to things. A peak sixth rank really might be able to hoodwink the Orchid Forest master.