Chapter 1762: A Troubled Heart (I)

The seventh rank dragon stopped sneering when he heard Red Moon mention the Exalted Light Emperor.

“It isn’t that we often kill humans,” he explained. “But that some draconic disciples have been practicing the methods of slaughter and blood qi lately. They need to conduct large-scale slaughter to facilitate dao comprehension.

“Our world actually needs high numbers of humans since one million dragons need to gather sufficient dao strength from them. Very little bloodshed occurs on a normal basis.”

He wasn’t explaining himself to Red Moon, but keeping in mind that their doings might arouse the distaste of so-called human leaders if word got out. This was why he offered a palatable reason, that it wasn’t a regular occurrence. It’d just been needed for the past couple of days.

And clearly, the human visitor didn’t think much of what he’d observed. It was just a few people.

The chaos lacked everything but humans. A minor world easily held ten billion, a major world could have one hundred billion. The figures were staggering [1] and so large that if countless worlds were destroyed and hundreds of billions of humans died, it wouldn’t matter at all.

There were too many humans in the universe.

Even the so-called leaders of humanity wouldn’t say anything; they’d simply offer a few words of condemnation at most. Would they really declare war on a major faction like Dragon major world for unrelated people?

The dead weren’t even of the same world, so who cared about them?

No one would protest so long as it wasn’t humans of major worlds, or large numbers of them on major worlds suffering.

“Still, it’s best to exercise prudence,” nodded Red Moon with a soft chuckle. “Granted, no one comes by in ordinary times. People like Light present a prim and proper demeanor, but have destroyed countless worlds in private. And yet, he likes to style himself as a leader of humanity. In reality, he just pursues his own interests. It’s quite laughable, really.”

“The Exalted Light Emperor does not have a good reputation among the worlds,” laughed the Dragon exalted emperor. “He isn’t qualified to be the leader of humanity!”

Red Moon grinned. That was true. Of course, Light’s reputation had much to do with certain people’s machinations. After all, the power of light did look holy and sacred. The Light master was also an eighth rank.

If his reputation improved and he stabilized his footing in the capacity of humanity’s leader... that would be the greatest trouble of all.

None of the eighth ranks—Red Moon, Skycloud, and Light—were portrayed on the side of good among the stories of the human worlds. Some of that was the work of local exalted emperors and some was that was from off world.

Whatever the reason was, humanity had never truly had a leader since time immemorial. Everyone was focused on their own territory. Those such as Light couldn’t be bothered with anything else—it was too tiring, troublesome, and complicated.

Ruling over other regions would entail countless worlds to administer. It would not be a worthwhile endeavor unless one sought to conquer the chaos.

Absorbing the power of faith, however, was a useful exercise. However, it was very difficult to get others to place their faith in you.

A thought occurred to Red Moon and he smiled. “Oh, yes, I encountered an interesting minor world on the fringes of Dragon Region. There were two human cultivators there propagating the dao of faith. They wanted worshippers to believe in the Sky God...

“They killed the monster spirits and chaos beasts of that world, leveraging those feats to obtain the faith of the humans that were enslaved...”

That quickly brought the draconic exalted emperor to a halt. “Faith? Liberating humans? Dao sovereign, could you pinpoint their exact position and strength?”

“Two half step emperors.”

“Oh...” The dragon immediately lost interest. Half step emperors? What a joke!

This was Dragon Region, a zone with infinite chaos beast exalted emperors, monster spirit exalted emperors, and high ranks. Where did two half step morons come from to liberate the humans?

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But one had to say, this was a prime location to foster the dao of faith. Humans here were enslaved by countless monster spirits and chaos beasts. That made them easy targets to be converted so that they would worship their savior.

The two morons had picked a good place, but their strength, or lack thereof, spoke for itself.

They were too weak to raise any sort of fuss! The dragon would’ve been slightly worried if a high rank was involved. But half step emperor...

While there was ‘emperor’ in the title, that type of cultivator wasn’t worth shit.

Dragon major world was an eighth rank world. The seventh rank had thought that someone was setting up for an invasion. But once he heard the duo’s cultivation level, he couldn’t be bothered. This was just a minor blip.

There were exalted emperors in residence at all of the minor worlds. They would quickly take out the interlopers. Other exalted emperors would be in the vicinity even if they truly fell to the two morons.

Those below the exalted emperor level weren’t worth a second look.

Red Moon didn’t think much about it either. He’d just paused for a moment to watch the show when he passed by. Many were those who walked the dao of faith, but to kill chaos beasts and monster spirits in Dragon Region to collect faith... Even he wanted to applaud them for their boldness!

Others had once shared such grandiose thoughts, even some high ranks.

There were countless worlds in Dragon Region that were dominated by chaos beasts and monster spirits. The ones under monster spirit control were better off since monster spirits were born of the world as well. As lowly as humans might be in those worlds, at least they could live normal lives.

Most chaos beasts, however, treated humans as food. The humans of those worlds were of a lower status than monster spirits in human worlds. The chaos beasts fed when they were hungry or bored...

Humans in those worlds were most easily satisfied. Faith was generated so long as someone was willing to save them and give them some status and strength. This wasn’t just a matter of one or two people, but a world of ten billion humans. That was mind-boggling!

Saving just one-tenth of the humans in such a world would produce enough faith to propel one to the ranks of premier exalted emperors!

A seventh rank had attempted to do so several hundred of thousands of years ago, but had created too great of a disturbance thanks to their greed. The Dragon master scattered their mind, body, and soul in the end, leaving nothing behind.

Chaos beasts in Dragon Region were a more united group compared to the human exalted emperors of the other three regions. The same went for native monster spirits. This was also why chaos beasts could occupy a region, despite their scarce numbers.

“Old fart Light once mentioned something similar,” Red Moon chuckled softly when he saw that the dragon exalted emperor didn’t think much of what he’d seen. “He wanted me, Skycloud, and a few others to jointly attack Dragon Region and free the humans here.

“The power of Light is most useful for dissemination and collecting faith. Once we succeeded, he would have a chance of becoming the second ninth rank among the four regions...”

He was doing all he could to sully the Light master’s reputation! Everything bad had to be tied to the man!

A dragon croon sounded through the world at this moment and a human form appeared—not a dragon. He was stately, majestic, and unquestionably domineering.

“Do you want Light to die that badly, Red Moon?” he rumbled.

“I speak the truth, Dragon master!” laughed Red Moon. “The power of light is indeed most suited to be spread elsewhere. When it comes to mundanes and the ignorant, they can only see through to the most shallow level.

“They think that whatever is bright and white, or whoever looks holy, is good! But what difference is there between the dao of light and the other great daos? It just has a pretty shell! In private, who is better than anyone else? If that old fart really wants to collect the power of faith, Dragon Region will be his first stop!”

“He’ll have to possess the requisite level of strength first!” The Dragon master laughed dismissively, his hands behind his back. “There aren’t many powerhouses in Dragon Region, just one eighth rank and a dozen seventh ranks! But they are all willing to fight if this king gives the word.

“Chaos beasts have wandered through the chaos for so long and finally have a place to call home. What, are humans so rankled by it?”

“Hahaha, I didn’t say anything of that sort. I don’t mind...” Red Moon waved the other off. “I’m all by my lonesome now. I don’t have a world of my own anymore, so what do I care about? I’m speaking of Light.”

“You keep mentioning Light instead of New Martial,” laughed the Dragon master. “Are you guys planning on killing Light first?”

“And why not?” snickered Red Moon. “He keeps mucking up our plans and is a threat that needs to be handled. What if he stabs us in the back when we fight New Martial with full force? It’s best to eliminate Light first if we wish to destroy New Martial. Only then can we concentrate our full attention on New Martial!

“Speaking of, do you not have any thoughts about the Human King’s title?”

“He is New Martial’s Human King, not the chaos’ Human King,” snorted the Dragon master. “What, are you trying to use this point to drag me into a war with New Martial?”

So what of the Human King? The Human King would only say that he was New Martial’s Human King. Would he claim that all of mankind throughout the chaos was under his protection?

Fang Ping would never do so!

It wasn’t for lack of courage, but that he’d never thought of rescuing a bunch of unrelated people. It wasn’t like they knew each other or were from the same world. So they all had two eyes, two ears, and one mouth...

So... what?

Red Moon was aiming too high if he wanted to use this point to convince the Dragon master to march on New Martial. Seeing that he couldn’t convince the Dragon master with this line of reasoning, he said, “New Martial is a grave threat...”

“So long as my people do not leave the region, we are much more dependable as we have more than a dozen high ranks. No matter how strong New Martial is, can he break into Dragon Region?” the Dragon master responded indifferently. “I simply require one region, I do not seek to conquer the chaos. I am unable to do so even if I wish it.

“You humans have much bigger ambitions than that of chaos beasts! That is why you feel your survival is being threatened, but we are not that affected.

“As for qi of ultimate yang, will they care about a seventh rank world after taking down Blazing Sun major world? While Vajra major world is also suffused with extreme yang, the Human King will turn his attention to Light, not here after he takes Blazing Sun!”

“And Skyward?” Red Moon raised an eyebrow. “If the Dragon master isn’t willing to join us today, you can’t fault us for not showing the chaos beasts face when Skyward major world opens for business later on!”

He would employ the stick if the carrot didn’t work.

If you insist on sitting back and watching us duke it out, then the exalted emperors of humanity might unite against you when Skyward is open to all.

1. And ridiculous xianxia numbers lol ☜