Chapter 1644: How Long Will This Arrogance Last? (I)

Li Hao didn’t explain himself. The Orchid Forest master had projected himself to the young man on multiple occasions. Although those weren’t his primary body, it didn’t matter as Li Hao had comprehended some things prior to this endeavour and dismantled two dao nets. He could locate other dao universes now.

Added to that, sending three of his people to become part of the Orchid Forest dao universe... and the purposeful spot that he’d caused the Orchid Forest master to materialize at...

All of that had been a precaution!

One would be an absolute idiot to fully trust someone like the Orchid Forest master. The man might think it more worthwhile to sell Li Hao’s group instead once he hit seventh rank. Whatever cooperation they’d agreed on before would all be a joke.

It was normal that the Sword Sovereign was worried about the Orchid Forest master turning on them. The possibility had occurred to Li Hao long ago. If that came to pass, the young man would ensure that the world master immensely regretted his actions.

Of course, their partnership would go even smoother if the world master didn’t decide to betray them. This was what Li Hao most wished to happen. Otherwise, his plan of robbing an eighth rank world blind might fail.

The Sword Sovereign heaved a slight sigh of relief upon hearing Li Hao’s arrangements. There was one good point about this fella, and that was he always had a plan. He had a plan for everything.

He’d thought that Li Hao was similar to the Human King, apt to taking risks in impulsive fits. If that was the case, then his results would depend on luck. If his fortunes ever ran a bit lower, then he would be doomed beyond salvation.

The Sword Sovereign was unconsciously comparing the two. In reality, the fourth rank Li Hao had no right to be compared to the Human King. The Human King was about to set foot into eighth rank and a true tyrant of the chaos.

The Sword Sovereign, however, was different. Strictly speaking, these two both had close relationships with him. While the Human King wasn’t his disciple in the true sense of the word, the outside world all saw him as the Human King’s master.

Meanwhile, Li Hao stemmed from Silver Moon and bore a Li surname. Based on the way he talked, he likely had ties to the Li family. His sword methods were also similar to the sword intent of the Eternal Sword. The Sword Sovereign could also sense the presences of the sword tree, sword seal, and sword stone on the young man...

In addition, Li Changsheng could also see that Li Hao’s Firmament Sword had much to do with his own Stellaris.

The young man shared a deep connection with the Sword Sovereign.

Granted, the man didn’t speak of this since they were both exalted emperors. Li Hao was even an overlord. Was he supposed to walk up to the young man and say

hey, I’m your ancestor? You’re a descendant of endless generations from my grand-niece. You need to pay respect to me as your ancestor. Your sword method, sword, and even your world has much to do with me...

Wouldn’t that be inviting humiliation?

While the Sword Sovereign was unfamiliar with Li Hao’s personality, he was all too familiar with the Human King. All overlords who’d emerged by themselves from a world were similar. Anyone who dared treat the Human King in such a manner, someone who entered New Martial from the outside world and wanted to treat the Human King as a grandson far removed...

They’d be beaten up so thoroughly that they wouldn’t have a chance to make a peep for the rest of their lives!

The Sword Sovereign quickly set this aside when a multitude of thoughts ran through his mind. “The Orchid Forest master will be easy to handle if all proceeds according to your plan. There is something else to keep in mind around the three major worlds on the perimeter. Even if the Orchid Forest master ignores them, there is another seventh rank at Red Moon.

“We can join hands against one seventh rank, but there are two seventh ranks just within Skywave out of the three! That means to say that there are four seventh ranks nearby, and they are currently allied with Red Moon...”

Adding the Red Moon seventh rank would make for five. Even if the eighth rank left, the New Martial contingent would find it difficult to escape.

All of this needed to be within the range of consideration.

“Teleport!” responded Li Hao. “If we can’t run, then we can try teleporting ourselves out! I’ll head back to Skyward first. When I open the world domain, I’ll reach an accord with the dao chess and have it give me another transport chance...”

They could avoid danger if they spontaneously teleported to Red Moon from Skyward.

“Will the dao chess agree to it? Even if it does, this weapon of a ninth rank may not be that trustworthy. Death will immediately find us if it takes us to the Red Moon master!”

“We can give it a try!” Li Hao transmitted. “The dao chess was quite supportive the first couple of times. It helped with transport when Void came. In my view, we do need to take risks. We can forgo a teleport if it’s possible for us to outright escape from Red Moon. If not... we’ll have to take the risk!”

He was a gambler, but also liked to minimize risk as much as possible. Nothing was perfect in this world. How could one become an exalted emperor if one wasn’t willing to brave any danger whatsoever?

Anything with more than a fifty percent chance probability was not a gamble. In Li Hao’s eyes, ten percent was putting one’s life on the line. Fifty percent or above was a fortuitous opportunity!

And now, according to his plan, they did stand a fifty percent chance.

“How will you return to Skyward?” transmitted Void. “There’s no way to transport yourself back now. You’ll need a long time to travel between Red Moon and Skyward—at least a month...

“Also, there is a certain disturbance when the dao chess is in use. If the Red Moon master is near Skyward at that time or passing by, he might detect something if he encounters the transportation ripples.”

That was very dangerous as well. Li Hao was unaware of these latent threats. He didn’t know that transportation maneuvers came with ripples, but Void seemed to be aware.

“Are the ripples noticeable?”

“Decently so, but not overly noticeable. However, premier powerhouses will be able to sense them to a certain degree. When I was transported over, I might have encountered such an existence. It was terrifying—I felt the presence of death then! They could’ve broken off my transportation passageway!”

Void hadn’t mentioned it before because there wasn’t much to talk about. He might seem like he was trumpeting his own merits if he mentioned it. Danger was common in the chaos. Specifically bringing it up could be aggrandizing himself.

But since Li Hao wanted to use the same method again, he decided that a reminder was in order. He’d sensed before that the transportation wasn’t a split second teleport through space. It utilized a unique formation to travel through the chaos so swiftly that one rivaled a ninth rank’s speed.

Only then could one spontaneously reach the other side of the formation.

There weren’t multiple planes of existence within the chaos and one could not rip apart the void to layer it over itself. Transportation simply compressed the process.

If one encountered a heavyweight, the process could very well be disrupted...

Li Hao’s eyes widened. Now that was a very strong encounter. One had to remember that the dao chess was refined from an eighth rank dao universe itself. The shadow had also said that if it encountered a seventh rank, it could shift Li Hao away so quickly that no one would be able to catch up.

However, did that also mean that Void had met an eighth rank along the way?

“The Human King...” Li Hao blinked with sudden realization. “Did you come across the Human King?”

He’d known of the matters in Skyward while being at Orchid Forest. The Human King had suddenly appeared and killed a Red Moon seventh rank. Based on the timeline... the most premier heavyweight around Skyward then had been the Human King.

A peak seventh rank.

Someone like the Human King might be able to detect the dao chess’ ripples, especially as their routes were similar. He was headed to Skyward from Red Moon, whereas Void was coming from Skyward to land near Red Moon...

“It’s very likely!” Void transmitted after thinking it over. “But if it was the Human King, then he should be as fearless as the rumors paint him out to be. Wouldn’t he have struck me down when he sensed me?”

The Sword Sovereign didn’t say a word.

Do you think Fang Ping’s an idiot? He’s not!

Transportation, the chaos, ninth rank...

The Sword Sovereign was rather certain that Void had encountered Fang Ping. But given the circumstances, Fang Ping would absolutely wonder if it was a ninth rank behind the teleportation.

Rumors in the outside world were just rumors. In the Sword Sovereign’s eyes, the Human King was simply unwilling to think too much. He would’ve died a long time ago if he really was an idiot. Stopping the transportation of a suspected ninth rank was the hallmark of a true fool.

He must have stayed his hand after running through all of these considerations.

Added to that Clarity dying not long after the teleportation, he would certainly guess that the transportation had something to do with the dead Red Moon seventh rank...

“It’s fine, don’t worry about the Human King,” transmitted the Sword Sovereign. “He should know that it had something to do with us. He won’t ask too much even if he isn’t certain of the details.”

Li Hao and Void were even more certain now that Void had come across the Human King earlier. The latter didn’t say anything; he was just startled that the Human King might truly be only one step away from eighth rank. The man’s battle strength was formidable and he knew both the yin and yang daos. He might really be able to fight an eighth rank!

New Martial had truly improved very quickly.

“I understand the situation, I’ll be careful!” Li Hao quickly said. “Uncle Li, you can leave first. The only thing you need to do at the moment is keep your eyes focused on Orchid Forest! When there are more than four sixth ranks in the major world, that’s when you should make your move!”

There needed to be at least four of them!

“Be careful, then!” The Sword Sovereign didn’t offer other words of advice. These two in tandem, as well as some other exalted emperors by their side meant that four sixth ranks might not be able to do anything to them.

It was a similar case to how Li Hao didn’t ask if the Sword Sovereign could kill four sixth ranks.

Could he?

Of course he could!

The Sword Sovereign was invincible among his peers. If he couldn’t fight one against four, then he wouldn’t be the Sword Sovereign.

......

The Sword Sovereign quickly left, no trace of him to be found. Void silently appeared next to Li Hao’s side. His appearance slightly resembled the Pagoda King. The real Pagoda King and two others were busy integrating with the Orchid Forest great dao.

No one noticed Void’s appearance. When they finally did, they jerked with surprise.

Celestial Pole’s primary body sized up Void, then shuffled away. This guy gave off bad vibes. He appeared without making a sound. Everyone knew that the dog that bit did not bark. Celestial Pole didn’t want to associate with characters like these.

It was very troublesome!

Neither did Void pay attention to anyone else—he seemed rather standoffish in this regard. Everyone was bestowed with a general remote aloofness.

Rich second gens, genius rich second generations, those that were willing to start their own company... were very proud people. If it wasn’t for this group being Li Hao’s friends, he wouldn’t think much of any of them. Even the two masters of dao, since they were so weak.

As for Li Hao, they happened to click when they first encountered each other. The young man had been a bumpkin then. Void had taken an interest in chatting with him a bit more, which became the start of their connection.

Li Hao was the same. Despite being only a fourth rank, he didn’t think much of regular exalted emperors either.