Chapter 904: Battle (II)

Li Hao closed his eyes, thinking back to the scene he’d observed from the Battle Heaven characters. Even the Green Emperor was afraid of the Exalted Blood Emperor. On that day, he’d seen the exalted emperor slice through heaven and earth with one stroke. The young man hadn’t understood then why he’d witnessed that occurrence, but today... some understanding glimmered at the edges of his consciousness.

The heavens were not to be feared!

They were just a muddle-headed consciousness. Human effort could overcome the heavens! That was what the Exalted Blood Emperor wanted to tell later descendants and those who witnessed that scene. There was nothing to be feared about the heavens; the consciousness of the world was inconsequential!

Blade light irradiated the premises. Li Hao used the sword as a blade and slashed it forward!

“Break!”

Boom!

Large numbers of mirrors shattered after a loud collision. Hong Tu was very surprised, but more mirrors immediately appeared and locked onto Li Hao. Meanwhile, there was still no trace of Hong Tu to be found.

“Resistance is futile, Li Hao!”

Multiple copies of the young man suddenly walked out of the mirrors. Just as Li Hao struck with his sword, so did the countless Li Haos charge him. The same sword intent and blade intent crashed down on him, as if he’d been copied many times over.

“You’re just one person, but you face innumerable people that are all you. It’s the hardest for someone to triumph over themselves. You may be able to win one of you, Li Hao, but what of endless ones?” Hong Tu’s laughter echoed through the hall again. “Such is the foundation of the Hongs! It is not something that a new human like you can replace even after countless years!”

Li Hao could feel death close in around him; there also seemed to be ghastly screams traveling in from outside the hall. Battle had erupted outside as well. The scene outside the door abruptly appeared in the mirrors—a massive tree suddenly ran through He Yong and caused his instant death!

The young man’s expression shifted. The mirror then changed to another angle and reflected Director General Wang. While the world cracked at his move, the massive tree transformed into an old man with flowing white hair. His gentle palm strike forced the director general back with cracks fissuring his body.

“You’re counting on this person, aren’t you? But you’re wrong, Li Hao. Revered White is a Saint and this person is but an Immortal!

“I will not kill you so long as you’re willing to hand over everything, including those peculiar words. It is your honor to be able to work for the Hongs...”

Li Hao looked at the mirrors, at the endless copies of him charging him from all sides. This Hong Tu was trying to interfere with him again. It was immensely irritating to watch the various Silver Moon martial masters die in the mirrors. The young man suddenly roared and erupted with rays of blood light before Hong Tu could react!

Countless supernatural locks manifested and at least a dozen snapped in unison!

“Everything is an illusion! Do you really take me for an idiot?!” Li Hao’s presence rose with his shout and his body started breaking apart, but he was promptly enveloped by an endless supply of Water of Life. In fact, he was bathed in it.

“You’re afraid. You were afraid from the very beginning and tried to break my martial heart for it!” Li Hao sneered. “You’re a fake martial master that wants to pretend otherwise!”

He broke the supernatural lock hidden deep in his head and seemed to explode right after!

Li Hao didn’t mind, he’d long foreseen this outcome. His plan was to break his supernatural locks as soon as he met with danger. There was no hesitation on his front.

His presence increased explosively the second he broke the lock of the head; a peculiar mind intent wafted instead. Li Hao seemed to see the cosmos!

The mirror fragments in front of him shattered. Stellaris struck!

BOOM!

A mirror was sent flying with a loud collision. Hong Tu flew backward, a mirror in his hand and blood in his mouth. He stared incredulously at Li Hao. This wasn’t possible!

“Impossible!” Hong Tu didn’t believe it.

Li Hao panted heavily, a steady stream of Water of Life surrounding him to repair the wounds that kept opening up on his body. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at his opponent. “I see!”

He smiled—he’d fallen into Hong Tu’s illusory realm from the very beginning. The other’s mental strength was so strong that it captured Li Hao within the mirror. But now, he had broken free of it!

The mirror dimmed as it’d consumed a lot of energy. Hong Tu paled and exhaled softly, “I’ve underestimated you!”

“You underestimated more than that!” Li Hao summoned his supernatural characters and assembled them into a longsword. He struck!

BAM!

A ray of light erupted from the mirror to crush all of the characters!

Hong Tu looked urgently into his mirror when Li Hao vanished. He saw the young man hovering invisibly over his head and struck without second thought!

Bam!

Li Hao came into view as he crashed into the roof. He coughed up blood with a frown and looked at Hong Tu. With that mirror present, there was no way he could stay out of sight, whether he hid himself physically or in the void.

Why?

His spiraling thoughts struck on a possibility—life force!

Indeed, Li Hao had seen through things. He was being tracked because he was alive. This thing would capture him no matter where he was because he possessed life force, particularly as he was shrouded with Water of Life at the moment. It made his movements even more apparent. Hence, his reflection in the mirror was even more clearer to the eyes.

Hong Tu himself didn’t seem that strong, but his mind was very capable. Li Hao couldn’t draw near him at all when the man was armed with the mirror. He was instantly discovered whenever he tried to approach.

Li Hao suddenly took a few steps back; the void shattered in front of him when Hong Tu punched it. The latter was surprised that his punch didn’t find its target, but he didn’t mind.

“Surrender, Li Hao!” he smiled.

“Were you already setting in motion plans to lure me to this place when the Wind and Cloud Pavilion appeared at my inauguration ceremony?” Li Hao frowned, suddenly wanting to know if this fellow had purposefully provoked him into taking revenge, or if everything had developed naturally.

“I didn’t go that far,” Hong Tu laughed. “I just felt that you might be an existence of the new age and that you were improving too quickly. I set some preparations in motion for it. My mind’s actually been a bit foggy these years, but I didn’t think that much. I can only say that this is all fate.”

Fate? What bullshit fate?

Li Hao cursed to himself as his opponent was proving difficult to get a handle on. He’d shatter his supernatural locks, but these locks were all very weak. Their breakage didn’t help him much. It was only a matter of time before he was defeated if the situation continued.

My life force is so strong that he can continue to see me, find me, and even lock onto me!

Li Hao had also realized that his opponent’s body wasn’t very strong. The situation might turn out differently if he could draw near Hong Tu.

The young man abruptly dismissed all of his Water of Life—his physical body started crumbling as a result. Li Hao operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles, brought his five supernatural characters together, and created another Li Hao in the blink of an eye!

It happened so quickly that it appeared like he’d spontaneously duplicated himself!

“Eh?” Hong Tu jerked with surprise. There was only one Li Hao in the mirror, but two in front of him. And now, both of them vanished!

Hong Tu remained staring at the mirror, seeing one of the Li Haos rush for him and the other remain invisible. He didn’t hesitate to punch with a burst of supernatural energy!

Boom!

A thunderclap exploded as the void trembled. Another Li Hao appeared, stumbling backward with blood flowing out of him.

“How interesting, this is a very special technique...” Sword intent exploded next to Hong Tu’s ear as he appreciated the new move.

BAM!

Mirror and Stellaris collided. Hong Tu raised the mirror to withstand the blow, resulting in the erasure dimming once more. Hong Tu rapidly backed away and looked at his treasure, not seeing any sight of Li Hao.

His eyes widened with this development! How could this be? Which one of them was real? There were two Li Haos! The Mirror of Wind and Cloud could capture life force and reflect it. Whichever one it displayed had to be the real one, but why couldn’t it grasp the one wielding the sword?

Another blow swung for Hong Tu’s head as he thought wildly! Soundless, it was an assassin from the shadows. Hong Tu manifested a thin sword with a shout and stabbed at Li Hao of the five elements. It didn’t matter which one was real, killing one would grievously injure the other!

Li Hao of the five elements transformed into a ferocious tiger, his roars shaking the world and swiping at him with a large paw!

......

The two fought without pause inside the great hall, but no one heard anything of their disturbance outside. The powerhouses of the two sides didn’t make a move—it was just the martial masters of Silver Moon and the Eight Legions charging each other.

In the void, the white tree constantly looked behind it. Director General Wang was locked onto it and the two puppets eyed the guardians. Panther and Deputy Zhou were also tracking guardians.

“You are the guardian plant spirit of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion,” Director General Wang suddenly said as he frowned at the white tree. “The very same one that followed Pavilion Master Hong Tu, no?”

Startled by the identification, the white tree took human form and nodded at the director general. “This old tree is slow to identify this noble one. Which New Martial general might you be?”

“Wang Ye, thought you may not know me...”

“I do,” the white tree interjected. “You are the genius of the Wangs at Battle Heaven. It’s said that you later became director general of Security. So you have resurrected?”

“I am surprised to catch the eye of a Saint!” Director General Wang smiled. “But... it’s strange, why... do you look so weak for a Saint? It even seems that your core origin has been exhausted. You do not wield the strength of a Saint at the moment.

“Li Hao has always been a cautious person.” The director general looked behind the tree. “He’s alone, but walked off with your pavilion master just like that. Your master obviously has the strength of an Apex. How would the kid be so bold?”

He also sensed how inappropriate the situation was.

“Is he Hong Tu?” Director General Wang suddenly asked.

“Yes.” The white tree didn’t deny it.

“He’s reincarnated!” exclaimed the director general. “Reincarnating in this world is to nurse a death wish... No, I see what he wants to do. He’s bold and quite decisive. This is territory that the Human King gave to the Sword Sovereign, but Hong Tu schemes after it!”