Chapter 1679: Emerging from Seclusion (I)

“Milord,” the Pagoda King hastily continued. “New Martial has disappeared. Both Celestial Pole and I were bait cast by the New Martial supreme, but New Martial did not appear when we... we... killed Sir Clarity.

“This means that they have abandoned us, that they have a bigger target in mind that is more important than a seventh rank! New Martial is certain to be Red Moon’s greatest threat!” the man said doggedly. “Its current problem is that it has numerous heavyweights, but too many are unable to make it into seventh rank.

“it isn’t that they’re not strong enough, lack sufficient dao foundation, or other personal foundations. These New Martial guys have incredible potential!

“It’s because too many died when they fought the Heavenly Emperor. The Human King resurrected them through reversing yin and yang, which resulted in an imbalance of yin and yang. They are in severe lack of yang qi, resulting in some of the exalted emperors lacking yang qi...

“Since New Martial has disappeared and ignores even the Red Moon main world... If things were as they were before, then... please pardon the offense... then Red Moon might have been in a much worse position than it is now!

“So whether it is Skyward or the three major worlds, I think that both sides are opportunities. Meanwhile, New Martial is just dangerous!” The Pagoda King swallowed hard. “What milord should do is investigate the four regions and see which of them contain major worlds of extreme yang.

“That is most likely what New Martial is after. The other possibility is that they’ve gone to Skyward in hopes of seizing that world! These are the only two possibilities.

“Either of these two can enable New Martial to enter eighth rank!” The Pagoda King raised his head with a look of unease. “Those of New Martial are horrifying!”

“You’re frightened out of your wits, aren’t you?” sneered someone in the assembly. “How come I can’t tell that those of New Martial are so frightening?”

He looked at the Pagoda King with utter contempt.

Aren’t you from New Martial as well?

The Pagoda King ducked his head with humiliation. “Milord should be well aware that those of New Martial are exceedingly difficult opponents! I do not represent New Martial, I simply count as an exalted emperor of Yin and Yang.

“I do not even count as a New Martial exalted emperor! The real New Martial exalted emperors are people like the Human King, Supreme Zhang, Sword Sovereign, and Exalted Blood Emperor. They are not those such as me or Celestial Pole.

“I can promise that New Martial must be making plans for its ascension, and that they view that goal as more important than Red Moon!” The Pagoda King looked at the Red Moon master. “Milord seems to have... overlooked this point! Or perhaps milord has long made preparations and I am unaware, due to lack of knowledge.

“Milord must thoroughly investigate where New Martial’s whereabouts are! The Sword Sovereign and others were just at the right place at the right time. They do not represent the movements of the New Martial army...”

A light glinted in the Red Moon master’s eyes. New Martial... was plotting after a world of extreme yang!

The Orchid Forest master also flicked a glance at the Pagoda King and raised an eyebrow. One had to say, this likelihood was very large. It was just that everyone had been distracted by the Sword Sovereign and Human King previously. They were only certain that New Martial wasn’t located within Red Moon Region.

After hearing the Pagoda King’s words... it was very likely that this was New Martial’s true goal!

“A world of extreme yang?” murmured the Red Moon master. “That is difficult to confirm. But according to what I know, there aren’t that many worlds of extreme yang in the chaos. The eighth rank Blazing Sun is one. There is also another seventh rank Flaming Sun within the same region.

“There is a seventh rank Vajra in Dragon Region, and the world of Light that follows the dao of extreme yang...”

Did New Martial have its sights set on those worlds? The Red Moon master furrowed his brows. The Pagoda King did make sense—he made a lot of sense!

They could not overlook New Martial’s own movements!

The Human King and Sword Sovereign might be bait thrown out by the main world as well. Although the Human King was the leader of New Martial, it was very normal for him to be bait in the pursuit of the world’s ascension.

The Red Moon master had been ready to put this matter aside, but now his interest was newly piqued. “So you mean to say, Pagoda King...”

“Milord,” the Pagoda King swallowed hard and said carefully, “All parties think that we only have two choices available to us! Either we go to Skyward or we bring the three major worlds into the fold.

“My thoughts are that we should lay an ambush on one of the worlds of extreme yang. An eighth rank is likely out of New Martial’s reach at the moment, so a seventh rank is much more likely. Therefore, why don’t we choose one out of Blazing Sun or Vajra! We can lay in wait on one of them. Once New Martial attacks the world, we can attack them in return!”

“......” The entire hall was utterly quiet. Sheer contempt showed in the eyes of many exalted emperors; even some of the newly joined Orchid Forest exalted emperors sneered.

Traitors were often more vicious than outsiders! This Pagoda King was truly ruthless to the core.

He was of New Martial and knew New Martial well. He wanted Red Moon to ignore everything else and attack New Martial instead. If they succeeded, the New Martial home world would be no more. There wouldn’t be much the Human King could do by himself outside.

“Milord, we should not act on the Pagoda King’s words!” Griefstricken bit off at this point. “There’s too much uncertainty in them! And another thing—one of the worlds is in Blazing Sun Region, the other is in Dragon Region.

“We must travel to them from Red Moon Region and might not choose the correct world when we set out. In that case, it’s better to choose from either our options of the three major worlds or Skyward!”

It didn’t matter whether the Pagoda King’s words were true or false. There was much more of a gambling element to his proposal. And everything was just his speculation at the end of the day!

He was a New Martial low rank, but was somehow able to determine New Martial’s exact plans. To be frank, most didn’t believe him. They even thought there might be a trap in what he said!

The Pagoda King possessed very low credibility!

The Red Moon master had been briefly tempted, yet saw that not only was Griefstricken in opposition, but that other exalted emperors were highly contemptuous of the Pagoda King’s proposal.

“Then what if New Martial’s goal is Light major world?” asked the world master.

“Then... we need to look to Skyward!” the Pagoda King said nervously. “Of course, I think it’s unlikely to be Light major world...”

“Why is that?”

“For one, Light is an eighth rank world! For another, the Light crown prince is on good terms with the Silver Moon king Li Hao. There’s a chance that they might be swayed to New Martial’s side. The two have a close relationship.

“From what I know, it might be the Light master who personally sent his son to Red Moon Region for the purposes of killing the Exalted Clarity Emperor. Otherwise, he couldn’t have arrived so quickly. I even vaguely sensed an incredibly strong presence that day!

“According to my knowledge, the Light crown prince was originally on Skyward when the Sword Sovereign encountered Clarity. It should’ve taken a seventh rank some time to rush to Red Moon Region, but he came so very quickly! Can it have been the Light master who sent his son over?”

“......” Some exalted emperors that’d dismissed his words out of hand blinked. This was true! Their intelligence reports had put Void in Skyward on that day.

On the other hand, two wandering cultivators in the crowd shifted with surprise. Had the Pagoda King... not betrayed them? They were all too familiar with this matter and how Void had joined them.

This was actually a point that Li Hao had overlooked. Both he and Void had forgotten about this matter, that Void had shown himself in Skyward that day, but then appeared in Red Moon Region in the blink of an eye!

How had he done it, and so quickly?

Although no one recalled this matter or detected the abnormalities, the Pagoda King now raised the matter alongside a bold proposition, that the Light master had personally sent Void over! His speculation smoothed that detail over!

“I hear that the Light master cares deeply about this son,” continued the Pagoda King. “Void is his only son and he hopes to have Void inherit Light major world.

“However, eighth ranks are undying existences! If Crown Prince Void continued to stay at Light, his limit might be seventh rank. It would be very difficult for him to continue to break through to eighth rank.

“But if they form an alliance with New Martial and eliminate Red Moon... there is a chance... that New Martial will give up Red Moon...” The Pagoda King grew nervous. “These are just my speculations, they’re not necessarily true. Perhaps Void has other methods to quickly travel to a destination, or perhaps it was his replica at Skyward and this was all smoke and mirrors. All of this is up to milord’s judgment!”

The Red Moon master laughed and looked meaningfully at the Pagoda King. “All of you had hopes of breaking through when Orchid Forest ascended. Do you resent me for suppressing you?”

“No no no!” protested the Pagoda King. “Staying alive is my greatest desire!”

“Hahaha!” The Red Moon master laughed uproariously. He waved a hand and sent a surge of dao strength toward the Pagoda King. “You’re a very interesting character, as expected of someone who survived in New Martial till present day.

“You are one step away from third rank... I shall grant you that favor today! Enjoy your stay in Red Moon, Pagoda King. We have need for marvelous people like you!”

How very interesting! What did it matter if the Pagoda King wasn’t that strong? The Red Moon master wouldn’t dare keep around someone who was too strong. Meanwhile, a second rank rising to third rank wasn’t much to be concerned about.

The Pagoda King’s presence billowed as he broke through the barrier of second rank, setting foot into third rank. He’d stood a chance of attaining that improvement in the first place, so this wasn’t difficult to achieve.

“My thanks for milord’s favor!” The overjoyed Pagoda King quickly sank to the ground in a bow.

“Hahaha, you deserve it for being so interesting!” laughed the Red Moon master. “But we are unable to confirm New Martial’s movements and the worlds of extreme yang are in other regions... that is fine. We may not be able to march on New Martial, but how about the Human King?”

He chuckled, having come to a decision. Based on what the Pagoda King said, if Light wasn’t New Martial’s target, then the New Martial main world wasn’t at Skyward. That would leave only the Human King on Skyward!

Even if the two sides were working together, a partnership was just a partnership. Since New Martial’s home world wasn’t at Skyward, then there would only be the Human King at Skyward!

So what if they were cooperating?

The Red Moon master had come to a decision. He would set the other three major worlds aside for now and make plans for Skyward. He’d been hesitant before, but now fully made up his mind!