Chapter 1719: New Master of Skyward (IV)

“What is the point of you holding down the fort in Skyward when its dao universe is yet to revitalize?” snorted the Light master. “You simply took the four regions off guard today, is all. Everyone will come back again soon after this defeat. What are you staying here for—to court death?”

“I know how I should choose, father! Please go back home first or Light will not be safe either. There is a pack of greedy exalted emperors running around and the invincibility of eighth rank dao universes has just ended with Red Moon’s demise! Light will be in enormous danger if you don’t go back!”

Fuck!

The Light master wanted to curse out loud. He was both enraged, helpless, and a bit touched.

This is my son! How wondrous is he!

Whether it’s Li Hao, the Human King, or the Sword Sovereign, none measure up to my son! He took on a seventh rank while being a sixth rank!

The Light master hadn’t witnessed Li Hao’s efforts, just that Waterpeak had fallen as soon as his son took the field!

It would be dangerous for the Light crown prince to remain at Skyward after that.

“You...” The Light master wanted to yell at Void, but thought better of it. He didn’t wish to create more reasons for the Human King to speak to him.

“I’ll leave you behind then, since you don’t wish to leave!” The Light master transmitted. “Remember that you do not represent Light! Light does not belong to me alone, so watch yourself! I’ll wait for the day in which you cry and beg me to take you home!”

The void shattered as the Light master left with Flare Sun. The Human King looked at him and grinned. “Ole brother Light, we should chat more when we get a chance to. I’ll take care of your son and my grand-nephew!”

“......” The Light master ignored him, vanishing on the spot.

The Human King laughed uproariously and abruptly sagged when everyone left. The Sword Sovereign quickly helped him up, nagging as he did so, “Look at you acting tough again! I knew that you were empty as soon as you opened your mouth. They say that I deplete myself with one stroke, but you’re the same as me now!”

“Like calls to like,” the Human King roared with laughter. “Congratulations, old man! You’re a seventh rank now, hahaha!!” The smile dropped from his face when he tilted his head toward Li Zhu. “Seventh rank huh, Ole Li!”

“......” Jaws dropped throughout the crowd. The Human King changed attitudes like he did flipping the pages of a book! Wasn’t Li Zhu also a New Martial powerhouse?

Li Zhu was used to the difference in treatment and said faintly, “This is all thanks to the Human King!”

“Don’t give me that!” snorted the Human King. “I didn’t want you to reach seventh rank! Nothing good will come from you growing stronger! But it’s fine, I’m almost eighth rank, so it’s useless for you to be seventh rank! I don’t have an opinion otherwise if you want to beat Ole Zhang to death, but I’ll beat your old man to death if you hit anyone else!”

“......” An immensely resigned Li Zhu fell silent, then disappeared. He couldn’t be bothered to engage the Human King in conversation. It was a... very tiring prospect.

The Human King spoke of west when one spoke of east, then spoke of hitting one’s father when one spoke of the west! If one’s father wasn’t an option, then it was one’s big brother, second brother...

In other words, it was impossible to communicate with the man. One could at least exchange a few words with the Martial King.

“Hahahaha!!” the Human King roared with laughter as he watched Li Zhu disappear into the world barrier. He then looked at Fog Mountain and inclined his head with polite acknowledgement.

The Human King then considered Li Hao...

“We need to settle our debts!” he laughed after a while. “Old Man Li’s set foot into seventh ranks, so that cancels out you wanting me to hold off Red Moon for you here! Li Zhu ascending doesn’t count, he’s my rival. I don’t owe you anything for his breakthrough!

“I demolished a world for you that day, a seventh rank world. When it comes down to it, you owe me a seventh rank world!

“Of course, you worked with the old man to take down a Red Moon exalted emperor, which gave me a chance to kill a Red Moon seventh rank. And then you breached Red Moon major world... So that cancels our debts as well!”

Li Hao nodded at the man. The Human King maintained a clear ledger of who owed him what. This was quite a remarkable character.

“However...” continued the Human King. The young man looked at him; he looked back at Li Hao. “Silver Moon split off from New Martial, it is now yours! It was the old man’s territory before, but we don’t want it anymore. It’s a marvelous place!”

A complicated look entered the Human King’s eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. “It is your fortuitous opportunity that you were able to become the Silver Moon king! But that is an exceedingly special world born from New Martial. Therefore, I can relinquish it, but you must trade a seventh rank dao universe for it!

“Is Silver Moon worth a seventh rank dao universe?”

Li Hao nodded. It was, just by the virtue of the fact that it possessed time!

“Very well, then sign this!” The Human King produced a document out of thin air and handed it to Li Hao with a merry chuckle. “Both you and Orchid Forest owe me a seventh rank dao universe. We’re clear once you pay it off!”

He then tossed out a large amount of dao strength. “This is from Skywave and this bunch is from Deepsea. It’s all trash that I’m not interested in. All of it together doesn’t add up to a seventh rank universe!”

The Human King was very clear when it came to his debts and had people sign memorandums that clearly delineated who owed what...

Whether it was Li Hao or the Orchid Forest master, both were immensely at ease. This was good! It was best when everything was clear. They liked people like the Human King the most. Clear-cut, decisive, and frank with everything.

However much one owed was however much recorded. Since he’d saved the Orchid Forest master, it was right and proper that the Orchid Forest master owed a seventh rank dao universe in return. Such was the value of a seventh rank master of the world!

The Human King had given Silver Moon to the Sword Sovereign, but the Sword Sovereign didn’t devour it. It ultimately went to Li Hao instead. The young man had thought of returning Silver Moon to New Martial and taking the people with him through the universe, but the Human King put a price tag on Silver Moon instead!

Li Hao found it well worth it after running some calculations. This would do! This was fantastic.

Therefore, he signed with aplomb and asked, “Does this need to be notarized by the great dao?”

“Nope!” The Human King was so straightforward that one could scarcely believe it. “Just the document is enough. I’ll add on interest if you don’t pay up and if you still refuse to pay after a while... Hah! We’ll see about that!”

He roared with laughter and looked at the rest of the crowd. “So you want to seize and control Skyward? And then do what with it?”

“We want to nourish Silver Moon with Skyward!” answered Li Hao.

“I see...” The Human King nodded. “I should stay and help you, but I don’t think I can do so now!

“I had my eyes set on Light for a while, which is why I hung around,” he said with regret. “But Old Zhang’s gone off to fight Blazing Sun and it’s a bit difficult for New Martial to officially enter eighth rank at the moment. Perhaps we’ll need Blazing Sun’s energy as well! I must convene with them.

“You and Li Zhu should stay,” he looked at the Sword Sovereign. “There is no need for you at the moment. I will gather with them first and see who else can set foot into seventh rank this time. If we’re strong enough, we’ll take the fight straight to Blazing Sun!

“It’s time for New Martial to set foot into eighth rank!” A cold look entered the Human King’s eyes. “We’re lambs to the slaughter if we’re not of eighth rank. It’ll only be a matter of time before we’re all dead!”

He was particularly domineering at the moment.

“Three seventh ranks will not be able to hold Skyward!” The Human King looked back at Li Hao. “Skycloud is now colluding with Red Moon, which will result in a lot of trouble for you. New Martial can only stir up things in Blazing Sun to the point where the Blazing Sun master cannot come in person.

“Red Moon Region is half crippled, but there are still many powerhouses in Dragon and Skyward Region. They won’t let this opportunity pass them by!

“Red Moon will need some time to recover and find new allies. Your time here is limited! Three seventh ranks would be sufficient in ordinary times...” The Human King laughed and looked at Void. “It would be a lot less troublesome if the father of my good nephew could make a move. You guys can do as you see fit!”

Finally, he looked at the river. “Number Two, come out for a chat!”

The cat floated out of the river. The two had met each other before, but Number Two was still uncomfortable at seeing the Human King.

The man roared with laughter and grabbed the cat’s head, squishing and rubbing it. “You’re a bit skinnier than Big Cat now, you’ve lost weight over the years! Big Cat’s like a pig these days, but you’re much skinnier. Come spend time with New Martial anytime. Big Cat’s waiting for you and has prepared all the fish you can eat!”

“I don’t want any,” grumbled Number Two.

“Pfft!” snorted the Human King. “What cat doesn’t like fish? Stop thinking about that one, Number Two, there’s no point doing so. He wanted to die, none of us forced him into it. He was such a princess, y’know! He’s the only one who found all of this meaningless. I find there to be a lot of fun in being alive!”

“How dare...” Number Two bristled and prepared to yowl, but was cut off when the Human King smacked its head.

“Cats eat fish, cats sleep, cats fish, and cats shit. That’s all normal. It’s not normal for cats to think about this and that. Ole Wang didn’t revive you for you to do that. Since the Silver Moon king has inherited that thing, why don’t you just keep being a cat under a new master? What’s so wrong with that?”

Smack smack smack!

The Human King seemed much amused after pounding the cat for a bit. “You guys are a fun bunch! You’re really interesting! I like making friends, but I have a certain bar you must meet. As things are, even Fog Mountain falls a bit short!

“It’s not that I’m arrogant...” The Human King threw his head back with laughter. “Nah, I’m just that arrogant!

“Anyway, keep working hard, everyone! The chaos is too big and the four regions too small. They say that I’m used to getting lost—they’re wrong! The four regions are just that big, how can I get lost in them?

“It wasn’t that New Martial didn’t have a chance to attack Red Moon...” He looked meaningfully at the group. “But that we haven’t done so all along! New Martial is stronger than you think and Red Moon isn’t the key. Skyward is a very interesting place! Keep comprehending the dao here, perhaps you’ll gain something!”

This forthright, brash Human King suddenly put on mysterious airs. Li Hao glanced at him, but the man didn’t give him a chance to ask questions.

“I’m off! The chaos is vast, but also very small. We’ll run into each other anytime!” He waved at the Sword Sovereign. “You can stay here for a while, but come home soon!”

“I know,” nodded the Sword Sovereign. “Be careful on the way back and don’t start anything along the way...”

“I know!”

“And...”

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“You talk a lot and blather on the older you get! Am I still eighteen? I’m a thousand years old! Bye!” The Human King was gone!

Li Hao looked at the Sword Sovereign, suddenly admiring their relationship. The young man abruptly let someone out—Yuan Shuo.

The old man looked around blearily.

What hey now? I was in closed door cultivation!