Chapter 1761: Farewell (IV)

The sixth rank that’d volunteered to head outside the four regions beamed with joy. He was being given pure Blazing Sun strength from the dao origin! Whether it was studying or absorbing it, both would be good uses of the strength.

As for the risks involved... staying behind was equally risky. In fact, it might be even more dangerous!

it was clear to see that New Martial would not stop until they took Blazing Sun. Whether it was fighting New Martial or seeking reinforcements, both were the same course of action.

“Be careful to keep your movements a secret and avoid discovery!” reminded the Blazing Sun master. “Red Moon and the others that run with him may not be keeping an eye on matters outside the four regions yet. They’re all waiting to pounce on us and have a lot of schemes in mind. If we can secretly bring a few powerhouses into the region to help us, we’ll take down Red Moon and his ilk in one fell swoop if they dare attack us!”

“Understood, my liege!” The sixth rank didn’t dare say anything else.

The Blazing Sun master directed some dao origin strength to the sixth rank. Pure Blazing Sun strength would not only strengthen the man, but it would also help him weather a chaos tribulation and walk out of the four regions.

The exalted emperor soon left.

The Blazing Sun master watched his subordinate leave, then mulled over the situation. “It’s rare for the chaos pillars to enter a period of tranquility. It happened during the advent of Skyward’s revitalization. That almost seems to be encouraging outsiders to enter Skyward...”

Was it a coincidence? Or was he thinking too much?

A portion of the chaos that was typically inordinately dangerous was suddenly much quieter when a ninth rank world was about to revitalize. Did the chaos want nothing more than for everyone to fight over it at the same time?

And for a ninth rank to be born in the universe outside... were there more in the chaos?

The Blazing Sun master did not know, but he knew that there were definitely no ninth ranks in the outside regions bordering the four. If there were, they would have come to Skyward Region a long time ago.

The ninth rank outside was rampaging through the universe and conquering worlds to proclaim himself the sole sovereign. Meanwhile, the four regions were also in massive disarray.

The chaos had been muddled before, but not to this degree. The Blazing Sun master’s temples pounded with a headache. Perhaps... he needed to identify a way to devour Skyward so he could set foot into ninth rank. Only when he was a ninth rank himself did he have the right to call the shots in the chaos.

“Turmoil is about to commence... This will be a chance for everyone. The chaos has been quiet for many years. All of this upheaval indicates that a war between ninth ranks may be about to break out.”

......

The attention of the powerhouses had switched from the four regions to the universe outside. However, all of that was too far removed for Li Hao.

The young man was yet to make his way through the four regions, he naturally wouldn’t consider anything outside of them. A map of some of the worlds outside had been among his spoils from Red Moon. It illustrated that the four regions were a special, prohibited circle within the chaos.

The circle was labeled as the Thunder Region, a detail that Li Hao did not look into. He wasn’t prepared to walk out of the four regions yet, in any case.

The young man was currently making fast time to Dragon Region. The biggest differentiator between Dragon and Skyward Region was a change in atmosphere.

As Skyward was dominated by mankind, the chaos atmosphere there was much more calm and placid. Chaos beasts and monster spirits abounded in Dragon Region, which resulted in a much more tumultuous chaos strength. There were often random crackles and pops of dao energy, which often caused a period of discomfort for those entering the area for the first time.

The dao strength here agitated too much for comfort. Not only that, but encounters with roaming chaos beasts were frequent in Dragon Region. Chaos beasts were much more brazen and unrestrained here.

There was no need for Panther to further maintain its dog form. It returned to its original form—a chaos cow. Meanwhile, Li Hao and Void hid themselves under one of Panther’s ears through the dao of hiding. It was a perfect observation spot.

A cow that was hundreds of meters long didn't raise an eyebrow in a place like this. It was fifth rank, at the end of the day!

A third rank had been wandering through the area near them moments ago. It was thousands of meters long, and that was after compression. Panther was much smaller compared to it.

“Panth, get close to a chaos beast world and see if you can strike up a conversation!”

The dog immediately moved out after peering around. There were many chaos beasts here, which made the surroundings quite comfortable for it.

Li Hao closed his eyes to perceive the great dao in this region. Chaos dao was jumbled and confused anywhere, but to an even more heightened degree here! Yet upon close perception, he identified some small discoveries and gains.

As tangled as the chaos dao was here, its dao strength seemed to be natural and powerful. Perhaps the abundance of chaos beasts in this region strengthened the local chaos dao in comparison to the other regions. It was also more fiery and irritable.

Apart from chaos dao, Li Hao could also detect some vague hints of more peaceful dao strength in the void. That might be the great dao of the monster spirits.

Not all worlds kept a low profile in Dragon Region. Some blazed with vitality and some even had their massive chaos beasts hovering in the chaos.

This was in stark contrast to the other three regions. There, not even eighth rank worlds were this conspicuous. They were only marked by slightly more robust auras.

Territory also seemed to be more fiercely guarded in Dragon Region.

There seemed to be a dragon in the far off distance, one that sat coiled beneath the heavens. That was likely where the Dragon major world was. It was said that it possessed a bevy of seventh ranks, and not solely ones born within the world.

Chaos beasts did not require a dao universe if they wished to set foot into seventh rank. Thus, the Dragon master was rumored to have recruited some seventh rank chaos beasts to his banner. The veracity of those rumors were yet to be proven.

No matter what the situation was, Dragon major world might be the strongest eighth rank world within the four regions.

There were very few humans who set foot into seventh rank without the aid of a dao universe. High rank wandering cultivators were a rare sight. And yet, all chaos beasts were wandering cultivators.

Li Hao was starting to anticipate meeting some strong chaos beasts. It would be best if they were seventh rank. That would provide a fantastic specimen for him to observe on how they’d set foot into seventh rank.

A seventh rank domain would contain at least several thousand great daos. Even an existence like the Sword Sovereign would find it difficult to set foot into seventh rank. Could it be that high rank chaos beasts held more potential than the Sword Sovereign?

Li Hao didn’t believe that.

So that would mean chaos beasts had their own unique ways of ascension. Perhaps they didn’t require thousands of daos to form a unique dao domain. In that case, this would be immensely worth studying!

Hence, Li Hao viewed this foray into Dragon Region with great expectation and not the slightest hint of nerves.

......

Dragon Region, Dragon major world.

There were many giant dragons in this locale. Although dragons were chaos beasts, they’d come to settle upon this world ever since the Dragon master seized this world. It was typically very difficult for chaos beasts to produce offspring, but the Dragon master had utilized special methods to help the sparse dragon race thrive and prosper in numbers on this world.

Not only that, but the Dragon master was a personage of great resolve. The dragon race had formerly practiced chaos dao as well, but were now capable of a myriad of daos.

These days, Dragons could cultivate any dao. They were starting to convert to local monster spirits, as opposed to pure chaos beasts. Very few members of the senior council retained their identity as a chaos beast.

There were pros and cons to being a chaos beast. One could devour worlds and cultivate the chaos, but find extreme difficulty in propagating their bloodline. It was common to see only one offspring after ten million years, which meant that chaos beasts were a dwindling species.

There were one million dragons on Dragon major world alone!

That was an incredibly endangered species in the context of an eighth rank world, but to chaos beast... Could a species that numbered one million still count as chaos beasts?

It was absolutely astonishing!

At the moment, the Exalted Red Moon Emperor walked through Dragon major world, nodding as a seventh rank dragon showed him the sights. The latter smiled proudly when he saw Red Moon look at the dragonlings.

“The great dragon is all-knowing. Dragons were an exceedingly sparse race in the chaos to begin with. And while they say that the fewer the members, the stronger the race... We are now first among chaos beasts not only in terms of strength, but also in terms of numbers!”

Red Moon smiled, scanning the world and looking at the living beings in the surroundings. He inclined his head and raised an eyebrow. “The Dragon master is quite the sage, alright! I can see that each dragon has enslaved numerous humans... Does this mean that the Dragon master is employing some manner of grafting?”

“The dao sovereign has a good eye!” smiled the seventh rank, but didn’t answer the question.

Red Moon was human, at the end of the day. While this didn’t matter in the chaos since he was only the leader of the humans on Red Moon major world, it was true that the dragons had enslaved a high number of humans.

Many, many of them!

Humans were born on almost all worlds and reproduced at a pace so fast that it was unbelievable. There were too many of them to be counted, but so few of them with potential. Meanwhile, all dragons possessed potential.

Red Moon continued looking around him, deep in thought.

How interesting!

This was his first visit to Dragon major world. Something very interesting he’d discovered about this world was that the dragons had turned themselves into divine totems and myths. They collected the power of faith, separating humans into different groups that focused on one cultivation method.

That meant all of humanity was supplying dao origin and methods to their respective draconic masters. And ultimately, they became fodder for the dragon their village worshipped.

The method of faith was a common sight in the chaos, however... Red Moon took another look around. Being an eighth rank, he could identify many things with a quick scan.

“The scent of blood is a bit heavy...” he frowned. “It’s fine for dragons to be keeping humans like livestock since this is Dragon major world, but while I don’t mind excessive bloodshed, some of the hypocritical human exalted emperors will take offense. Conflict might develop as a result.”

“Conflict?” snorted the dragon. “Who would dare start that?”

“Light!” sneered Red Moon. “That guy is a sanctimonious fraud who likes to posture as holy and sacred!”