Chapter 862: Observing the Characters Again (III)

Li Hao returned to Battle Heaven after traveling around Silver Moon for two days. He was here for more than the Water of Life this time.

After greeting General Pagoda, he went to the city gates. He’d been too weak on his first visit to gain much from studying the two characters of ‘Battle Heaven’. The young man wanted to make use of this rare visit to comprehend them again.

The two large characters hung dimly over the city gates. Li Hao forced out a drop of blood and melded it into them. The projections of General Pagoda and the old turtle manifested in the air—so did the Ninth Division commander as well. They watched Li Hao from a distance away.

The old turtle was surprised by the actions, but didn’t say anything. Li Hao had acted extremely carefully last time, so no one had sensed anything. This time, he openly demonstrated that he wanted to meditate over the characters.

“Those are characters left by the exalted emperor.” General Pagoda was rather surprised. “Is he trying to gain more enlightenment through them?”

No one knew. These two characters were very sacred to Battle Heaven. The Wang clan that oversaw the city hadn’t dared to touch them. The city’s greatest treasure were these two characters. It was a treasure of the ink left by the Exalted Blood Emperor on a rare visit.

When the eight main cities were established, the city of the Lis was filled to the rafters. Although the Wangs had some relationship with the Exalted Blood Emperor, the connection wasn’t that close. No one anticipated that the exalted emperor would visit in person on that day and personally bestow the name of Battle Heaven for the city. From then on, Battle Heaven became a faction directly affiliated with an emperor.

If Li Hao had dared touch these characters back in the day, he would’ve been crippled for his audacity despite being a member of the Lis. He would have to be the Sword Sovereign’s son to avoid that kind of punishment.

But the times were no longer what they were. The Lis were still present and only Director General Wang from an auxiliary branch was left of the Wangs. He stood in the distance, simply watching and showing no signs of expelling Li Hao.

If the director general didn’t stop the young man, then neither would the rest of them.

......

Li Hao didn’t know what his audience was thinking of. He’d incorporated his blood into the characters—they turned into the illusory realm once more. A different sight presented itself this time; there was more than one person.

One person wore a longbow on his back and a bloody blade at his waist. Li Hao had seen him before. Although he couldn’t clearly make out the man’s features, he knew that it was the exalted emperor behind Battle Heaven. His name seemed to be the Exalted Blood Emperor.

There was more than one eminent person present—there were many. The Exalted Blood Emperor was only one august personnel, not all.

Li Hao turned in another direction, at where sword intent agitated. The sword intent that would destroy everything reminded him of someone—his ancestor, the Li Sword Sovereign!

There was another person whose spear intent shot straight for the heavens. Li Hao’s heart quailed; it bore hints of the Broken Will Spear. It was so powerful and unbounded that it might be the investor of the spear method that had been passed on to Hou Xiaochen.

There was another person who exerted unbounded pressure despite the untold generations that separated them. Instead of being seated at the head of the table, he was sat below the Exalted Blood Emperor. His physical body seemed unparalleled and could crush the void through its existence alone. Who was this?

There was another shadow at the head of the group that seemed very ordinary. It exerted no pressure whatsoever.

Only five people were present, but they made Li Hao’s heart palpitate. Were these... all exalted emperors? The one at the head was the ancient Human King, right? What were they all doing here? What kind of enlightenment would he attain this time?

He couldn’t see their faces clearly, just some of their accoutrements. For example, the longsword that might be Stellaris was being firmly gripped by the Sword Sovereign. He seemed ready to erupt in a sword thrust at any time.

A voice echoed in Li Hao’s ear, one that seemed to travel from the distant past. It was the Human King’s voice.

“I move not against people if they do not offend me! I care not for the vastness of the universe and have no desire for far-flung journeys. Long and arduous journeys do not interest me. Hundreds or one thousand years is required for every trip through the universe. One thousand years pass in the span of a single head turn, life is fleeting, and seas change into mulberry fields!

“I am not the Sun God with a drive to see the multiverse. And yet, these lords of their worlds go beyond the pale and take advantage of my kindness to invade us! I am a kindhearted man who hates killing...”

The rest of the group stirred skeptically at his words, drawing the Human King’s ire.

“Do I not speak correctly? I am a goodly person forced to kill. The heavens can bear testament to my kind nature! I only wanted to raise cats and walk dogs, but we cannot live according to our wishes. The Sun God has returned heavily injured and tells me that the enemy’s army has already forded the void. They have come to seize our Yin Yang world. There is no need to show them any courtesy!

“We raise our armies today to march on the worlds! The exalted emperors of the four sides will summon your armies today and run them through drills so they can follow me. We will defeat all enemies and bridge the universe to bring war back to their homes. We will crush the firmament, destroy their seed, seize power, and sweep through the multiverse. We will let these guys know that they can provoke anyone but the Fangs!”

Killing intent shot to the skies! Li Hao found himself in a confused haze when he heard the sword wielder—possibly his ancestor—declare in ringing tones, “Then we execute them all! I will return to Silver Moon Territory at once and assemble our troops to follow the army!”

“Silver Moon is newly formed and as such, unstable. Your efforts should focus on building cities and towns!”

“......” The various powerhouses immediately engaged in heated discussion. Numerous ideas were thrown out on how to travel through the universe, eliminate their enemy, trample their home, and seize their seed of power.

Li Hao didn’t understand everything, but he grasped the gist. This group of unyielding characters were going to start a war that ended worlds simply because an enemy wanted to invade them. The enemy was yet to arrive on their doorstep, but they were already discussing how to fight back, eradicate the enemy amid the chaos universe, and trace their trajectory to exterminate their homes!

The scene grew foggier around Li Hao and the voices faded away until there was no one in front of him. One person materialized in front of him a long while later. It was the exalted emperor who’d named Battle Heaven. He had changed locations; another person appeared next to him before long—the Li Sword Sovereign.

“Teacher Li, although we are unafraid of anything when traversing the universe, we will be amid the chaotic void after leaving the Yin Yang domain. Unexpected developments can easily happen, particularly to Silver Moon Territory. It has broken free of the main world but is intricately tied to it. It might easily fully break free and seize world power...”

“I know,” answered the Sword Sovereign after prolonged silence. “So do you mean to... cut off communication between the two?”

“Not quite, I wish more for Teacher Li to incorporate it as your inner world and make Silver Moon your own. I understand your concern of weakening the territory once you strip its world power away. He will not mind, however. He wouldn’t have let the teacher continue to suppress the territory otherwise...”

“I will consider it!”

“Understood. I know that the teacher has your own thoughts, but just... consider it, please!”

The scene changed again before Li Hao could make sense of what he’d heard. He was still with the Exalted Blood Emperor; they stood in familiar surroundings—Silver Moon! It differed from the Silver Moon that he was familiar with.

The exalted emperor stood in the void and looked out over the land.

“I hereby suppress Silver Moon with the Formation of Heaven and Earth to prevent this land from giving birth to its own consciousness and becoming the next seed world. It will not break free of the main world’s control!” murmured the Exalted Blood Emperor. Light flashed in front of Li Hao’s eyes as the man unsheathed his blade and slashed downward!

The skies and earth fractured as fissures appeared in the world. Eight pieces dissected Silver Moon Territory, which were then stitched back together via a series of complex movements. Nothing remained in Li Hao’s incredulous gaze, just that incomparable stroke!

That singular move had split heaven and earth, dicing the world into eight pieces. The Exalted Blood Emperor seemed to have left something in each of the eight continents. Li Hao didn’t have a chance to see it before the world was whole again.

Li Hao was shell shocked. Was this... what was meant by an exalted emperor? The world cracked from a single blow! Although he’d once seen his ancestor rip through the universe with a single stroke, that was just a feeling. This one really had split apart the world right in front of him!

Incredible!

That domineering blade intent and unending blood qi... The shattering of the world and spontaneous mending rooted Li Hao to the spot. The strength that he was so proud of seemed like nothing in this moment.

The Exalted Blood Emperor suddenly turned back and seemed to glimpse Li Hao—or was he simply flinging a casual look back?

“The myriad of worlds out there exist well in their corners of the universe. We have waged campaigns for many years, and now fighting is about to start again...” he sighed softly. “Those of New Martial are not afraid of battle, but peace is to be broken again. You were born of the fading remnants of New Martial strength. I was unwilling to deliver more slaughter than necessary and thus did not eradicate this world of life.

“Do not harbor intentions you should not possess in the future! I have suppressed this world with the Formation of Heaven and Earth. If it breaks and the world is completely separate from the main world... Then you will have to fare well for yourself!”

Who was he talking to? Li Hao floundered in a mental haze again. All of the illusions abruptly vanished. He was drenched in sweat and his eyes blank. After an indeterminate amount of time, he opened his eyes to see some old faces and a set of golden armor peering into his face. The young man stared at them, not saying anything like he’d completely gone lifeless.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“What’s happened to him?”

“His mind and spirit have suffered a grave blow. Is he scared witless after witnessing an exalted emperor’s move?”

“Probably!”

“Now what? Do we intervene?”

“......” The group chattered to each other until the Ninth Division commander suddenly said, “There is no hope in training such a weak mind and spirit! The new recruit division is about to recover its functions. Throw him in there for training. He’ll be a decent soldier after a year or two!”

“Don’t!” Li Hao immediately sprang awake.