Star Gate

The Great Li king blinked, his thoughts running wild. He didn't immediately know how to respond. The Forbidden Sea... was indeed a land of treasure. It was also very dangerous as the corrosive properties of the seawater were very strong!

But there was a cornucopia of treasures within its depths, including the most often seen Goldensky Lotus. Li Hao had eaten a petal before—it was a treasure that improved mental strength and the aura. There were many lotus fields to be found within the Forbidden Sea.

As the world awoke, so did many mysterious locales and obscure paradises. But when it came to treasure, it was the Forbidden Sea that produced the most.

There was a dense concentration of energy within its waters. If it could be compressed within Great Li's borders... then Great Li's energy density would spontaneously increase severalfold. Energy concentration would also continue to grow as time went on.

"That's not all, either," Li Hao continued. "The Forbidden Sea... the current Forbidden Sea is just a projection from the main world. It seems to have its own spirit now. All things in the world, be they living beings, mountains, or rivers, possess their own spirit!

"If you can capture the spirit of the Forbidden Sea, you may find it to rival the heavenly will. The Forbidden Sea is far from ordinary. If it can be compressed within Great Li and even be demarcated by Ash Mountain... We'll have to cross the Forbidden Sea in the future if Great Li and Skystar wish to do battle or have a difference of opinion!

"If Great Li does not wish to fall under my jurisdiction, then relying on Ash Mountain alone is not enough. The mountain is easy to cross, the sea is hard. That is a true natural barrier!"

"......" The Great Li king didn't make a sound.

Was he tempted?

He was tempted.

But he also knew that things couldn't be so simple! Since when was Li Hao ever so kindhearted?

The king remained quiet, but he knew that Li Hao made sense. Great Li wasn't willing to surrender and wanted to remain independent.

Ash Mountain was no longer the impassable natural barrier that it once was. In that case, what if they made the Forbidden Sea the barrier? It would take a premier powerhouse to cross as even Apexes would be completely eaten away if they'd entered it during New Martial.

"Since the Forbidden Sea is so important, then the Silver Moon Marquis may claim it!" responded the Great Li king when his thoughts traveled here.

"That's not out of the question—I'll take it if the Great Li king doesn't want it," Li Hao laughed. "Since it originates in Great Li, I thought it inappropriate if I took it without a word, given that we are brother nations. But since the king does not want it, I will take it."

"Hold!" the king immediately reacted. He frowned slightly at Li Hao.You'll take it if I don't want it?He paused, conflicted. "Jiang Li!"

Outside the hall.

Jiang Li appeared once more.

"Did you hear everything the Silver Moon Marquis said?" the king said slowly. "Do you think Great Li needs another natural barrier for protection?"

"......" Jiang Li was also very conflicted. They did, but it was Li Hao telling them about this barrier. They couldn't trust what Li Hao said.

"Marquis..." Jiang Li turned to Li Hao with resignation. "Are there any problems lingering from when the three great organizations once entered the Forbidden Sea? Since you say you wish to help us compress it, then you may as well be frank with what the risks might be. It would make it easier for us to make a decision as well."

"What problems can there be?" Li Hao smiled. "It's just that Ying Hongyue's ambitions are great and he wants to refine the Forbidden Sea! I said that there's a spirit in it. Once it's refined, the entire sea might become his replica, or even primary body!

"Things will be very troublesome then! He's only just begun, so everything should be fine once we expel whatever part Ying Hongyue's refined!"

So the shoe drops!

The king was about to speak when Li Hao continued, "You can also choose not to expel his influence. If he fully refines the Forbidden Sea and takes it away, then all of Great Li will instantly turn into a desolate wasteland. All of its ambient energy will be spontaneously extracted!"

The Great Li king blinked and refrained from responding.

"There is hope for Ying Hongyue to succeed. For one, he's very strong! For another, he's been permeating the Forbidden Sea with Red Moon power all along. You guys don't really think that he was just exhausting his stores of Red Moon power, was he?

"He really wasn't!" Li Hao laughed. "He did what he did in order to pollute the entire Forbidden Sea with Red Moon power. He wanted to contaminate the whole thing to assimilate it! He's not afraid of Red Moon power—would he continue to draw on it if he was?

"He gives people the feeling of using the bloodlines to withstand Red Moon power, but he might've integrated the two a long time ago! Once he succeeds, Ying Hongyue will be very hard to stop!

"Great Li will be the one to bear the brunt of his ravaging because the source of the Forbidden Sea is in Great Li!" Li Hao suddenly spoke of a lot.

The Great Li king was silent for a while before saying slowly, "Ying Hongyue is refining the Forbidden Sea... and it can be refined into a replica..."

"If even the world can be devoured, why not the sea?" Li Hao grinned. "To powerhouses, anything can be devoured and everything can be refined!"

True enough!

Even a world could be refined, to say nothing of a sea.

"What cultivation level is Ying Hongyue right now?" frowned the Great Li king.

"Initial Saint, but he might be able to reach late Saint if he erupts at the limit of his abilities. If he refines the Forbidden Sea, he might be able to break all of the restrictions and become an Empyrean King!

"In addition, he's still absorbing some of the heritages of the eight families," Li Hao reeled off lovingly. "Once he succeeds, he might be able to take yet another step forward! He can also absorb Red Moon power... This guy has a lot of trump cards!"

The look in the king's eyes changed and Jiang Li also greeted Li Hao's words solemnly.

"Does the marquis mean what he says?" the priest asked.

"What would I lie about this for?" Li Hao laughed. "In addition, if the Great Li king can refine the sea, you'd grow noticeably stronger. Although you don't have the heavenly will anymore, the Forbidden Sea is part of the world as well—and a very important part. This would count as you being enhanced by the heavens, and you wouldn't have to deal with interference from the heavenly will.

"Once you succeed, reaching the Saint or Empyrean King level is only a matter of time! Don't all powerhouses seek to grow stronger? How can the king safeguard Great Li without strength? Are you pinning your hopes on the Initial Martial powerhouse? Nowthat'snot a good idea!"

The Great Li king was still silent. He'd wanted to ignore Li Hao... but now it didn't seem possible.

Did the young man make sense?

He did!

Everything he said was right and aboveboard, the kind of logic that no one could deny.But... this little bastard just wants me to fight Ying Hongyue, doesn't he?

"If the Great Li king wants to pursue this course of action, then you'll need to suppress and expel Ying Hongyue from your territory!" said Li Hao. "But we don't know much about the Forbidden Sea. The heavyweights of Initial Martial should! And only that level of strength will be able to remove Ying Hongyue from your nation."

I get it! You want to kill an enemy with a borrowed blade!

The king's eyes narrowed slightly. "Does the Silver Moon Marquis wish for me to call upon our god so that he will kill Ying Hongyue?" he asked coldly.

"It's not that I want you to call upon your god, but that you must put in some effort if you want the Forbidden Sea. I can't just give it to you, can I?" Li Hao chuckled. "I can actually do it myself, but why would I give it to you once I succeed? The world is newly revitalized, so there aren't that many opportunities around. I have some because I control the dao universe.

"Therefore, I ask the king of Great Li, what great stroke of fortune do you possess that will enable you to set foot into Fused Dao in one day, and even the Empyrean King level? Do you have any? I do, Ying Hongyue does, Zheng Yu is one to begin with, and the Red Moon interloper is an exalted emperor. You're the only one at seventh level Sun and Moon. What opportunities do you have?"

"......"

Fortune? Opportunities? Do I have any?

I don't!

There weren't that many fortuitous opportunities in the world and Great Li was short on them. It didn't have that many ruins, so what chances did it have? Li Hao's words made a great deal of sense upon close consideration. If the king didn't vie for his future, what opportunities would come his way?

I'm only seventh level Sun and Moon... Li Hao and the rest have their own ways to grow stronger, but what about me? I wish for Great Li to be independent, but how will we manage that in the absence of strength?

Various thoughts entered the king's mind; Jiang Li immediately realized that his king was tempted when he took a look at the man's expression. Li Hao had truly come with devious intentions!

"My king!" the priest quickly coughed. They'd already discussed beforehand that they would concentrate their fire on taking Li Hao down a peg. But here the young man was, three minutes and a short conversation in. Was his king about to be the young man's spear again?

Hot damn, it only took Li Hao three minutes to convince the king to put his life on the line again! Ying Hongyue is Li Hao's greatest enemy!

The king jerked awake, his mouth twisted in a sour expression. Damn that Li Hao! His words always carried limitless temptation. But if someone really fell for them, they would discover that it was a poisoned lure!

"Li Hao!" The king tamped down his impulses and spoke steadily, "It's not as simple as this, is it?"

"Ying Hongyue is a very difficult opponent!" Li Hao nodded. "He might have some more aces up his sleeves, so there's a certain degree of inherent danger in what I propose. I detected that he was refining the Forbidden Sea a while ago—the Red Moon power had even contaminated the Sea Pacification Envoy who oversees the Forbidden Sea.

"That's one point. The other is the awakening of the sea itself. According to New Martial, their Forbidden Sea was created by the deaths of premier powerhouses. So then, why does the Silver Moon one have corrosive properties? How is there so much energy within it? Is it all from the world?"

Li Hao spoke freely of his speculations. "My hunch is... and it's just an unverified hunch, that there may be the corpse of a premier heavyweight within the current Forbidden Sea. If they're not an exalted emperor, they're at least a half step emperor!"

"How is that possible?" The king blinked. "There is only one exalted emperor in Silver Moon—the Sword Sovereign!"

This was complete bullshit!

"I don't know, perhaps the god knows!" Li Hao laughed. "The source is in Great Li, which means that if there is a corpse within, it might have come from Great Li. Don't ask me, ask your god if you can!

"The Forbidden Sea wouldn't have corrosive properties for no reason at all, and it wouldn't revitalize for no reason at all. There must be something in the sea!"

A light glinted out of the king's eyes as he looked incredulously at Li Hao. The body of a half step emperor, even exalted emperor? Was that even possible??

There was only the Sword Sovereign in all of Silver Moon world. Perhaps they could just barely throw the sealed exalted emperor in the mix. That one was alive and well. If a half step emperor or exalted emperor had passed away, that would've alarmed the entire world, would it not?

But he'd never heard of anything like that taking place, and there were no records in history! But such was Li Hao's speculation, one that he'd derived from the Forbidden Sea of New Martial. That one had formed because a premier exalted emperor had died. Their blood had splashed over the sea and the corrosive properties were from their lingering obsessions.

Nothing of the like had ever occurred in Silver Moon world, so how could the same sea be born? And with the source in Great Li?

There happened to be an extremely mysterious god of Initial Martial in Great Li.