Star Gate

Li Hao wasn't interested in engaging with those in the seal. He looked at the Star Gate again and suddenly said, "Senior exalted emperor, can you leave if I open the Star Gate? You can go anywhere you'd like, just leave Silver Moon world. I won't have to keep worrying about you then."

The Red Moon exalted emperor blinked, taken aback for once. He laughed softly, "You won't be able to open it! Don't listen to those guys' ramblings. There is almost no hope of opening the Star Gate again after it has shut, not unless you become the master of Silver Moon world. Even Stellaris won't be able to open it!"

I see!Li Hao looked around and ahead into the distance. The vast universe seemed very empty. Apart from what could be glimpsed—the Star Gate, Sword City, Star River, the moon itself, and the Red Moon exalted emperor... there seemed to be nothing else.

Li Hao walked toward a certain direction, a corner of the eight trigrams. It was the corner that belonged to the Hongs!

He was about to approach when the exalted emperor addressed him, "Descendant of the Lis, what is your goal in coming here?"

The voice was a bit ethereal and Li Hao's mental strength froze for a moment. His footsteps paused. It was similar to his first visit—the exalted emperor had interfered with him then!

Three characters flashed through his mind—battle, heaven, and dao. Li Hao understood. There might be something amiss with the Hong corner of the eight diagrams.

This was one of his goals for this trip. The others included seeing how Zhang An and the others were. Li Hao cast another look in that direction and did not continue forward.

"I've come to ask the exalted emperor if you have any good ideas to help me kill Zheng Yu. I'd like to be the exalted emperor's final opponent, not these guys. What does the senior think about that?"

"It's a good idea." The Red Moon exalted emperor nodded with a smile. "But Zheng Yu is strong and my strength has dissipated after so many years of being sealed away. There is no Red Moon energy present to offset my loss. I am not confident of killing him even if I walk out of the seal myself! You may as well think of a way of breaking the seal. Perhaps I can figure out how to increase my chances of killing him then!"

Li Hao seemed to be contemplating his suggestion. In Star River, an unfamiliar Saint rose with a loud shout. "Li Hao! As the descendant of the Sword Sovereign, you cannot believe this person's wild claims! That would be an affront to the Sword Sovereign's dignity!"

There was no need to look at the speaker; Li Hao knew who it was. It was most likely the Saint of the Zhangs, the one that'd been in Steadfast Sky.

Zhang An raised a hand, interrupting the man before he launched into a speech. Zhang An was still familiar enough with Li Hao. The boy was young, but his mind took twists and turns. How would he easily do something like that?

A temporary truce was called in the seal after Li Hao's arrival. Everyone was waiting for his reaction, like the young man was more difficult to handle than the exalted emperor.

In reality, Li Hao was the weakest one here. Everyone was present in their primary body and he was only here in the form of mental strength.

"I know, how would I dare release the exalted emperor?" Li Hao laughed. "An exalted emperor is invincible! If a Fused Dao like me dares release him... wouldn't I be just courting death?

"I don't have much in mind for my visit. I just wanted to encourage everyone to stop fighting each other and coexist peacefully. I also wanted to visit the exalted emperor. As a cultivator of the new age, an exalted emperor is the heaven to me. It is my great honor to see the true face of an exalted emperor!

"Also, Dean Zhang should be fine, but Your Majesty the queen can visit me once you leave. The exalted emperor's left a great deal of Red Moon power on you. I can clean it for you, the concentration's so dense!"

"Child... why do you always love doing such irritating things?" chuckled the exalted emperor.

"My apologies to the exalted emperor," Li Hao responded merrily. "It's just that the queen doesn't think too clearly most of the time. I worry that she'll cause trouble for me. I'm not scared if she wants to make a move against me, but I'm terrified if she wants to make a move against my enemies! Now that she has the real Moon God in her sights... What if she goes and offers herself up on a silver platter? Ai!"

"......" In the distance, the queen was livid. This was the greatest insult of all!

Li Hao wasn't afraid if she attacked him. In fact, he'd be delighted instead. But if she attacked the real Moon God... that was when he would be worried!

How could anyone say such things??

"Li Hao!" the queen snarled. "Don't keep thinking that I'm the same person as I was before..."

"I know you're still the old you by the simple fact of you still spouting off these words!" Li Hao rolled his eyes. "I never viewed you as an enemy. The more you hate me, the happier I am. The less you hate me, the more worried I am!

"I hope you keep on hating me! Leave the difficult business of facing the real Moon God to me. I'll thank you just for not adding troubles of your creation to my plate!" The young man looked around and glanced at Sword City again. "Alright, I've had my look and chatted with everyone. I'll be off, seniors! In addition...

"Dean Zhang, you should break through to Empyrean King as soon as possible! You may have already set foot onto the new dao... but surpassing the limits is not impossible! I will revitalize the world as soon as possible so that it can tolerate Empyrean Kings again. The future will be difficult for you if you do not set foot into Empyrean King!"

Li Hao turned and left, melting into the Sword Sovereign shadow and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The universe was quiet in his wake. Whether it was Zhang An or the queen, both had suddenly lost interest in fighting.

"Since this is the case.. then I shall not continue to force the issue," Zhang An laughed softly. "But you should keep an eye out. Just as Li Hao says, this moon is a very complicated entity! It's hung here for one hundred thousand years, and while I used the book of great dao to cleanse it of many impurities, there are still many things hidden within. Don't do anything brashly!"

With that, he steered the ancient city into the seal. He'd come to seize the moon, but Li Hao's visit somewhat changed his mind. Star River began melding into the seal after the young man's departure and vanished as well.

The exalted emperor twitched to move, but the previously still Sword Sovereign shadow abruptly drew his sword. The exalted emperor frowned and slammed his palm out. A thunderclap echoed through the universe. He looked at the seal, his frown deepening.

The queen's face shifted through a variety of expressions.

"Are you leaving through your original path, or through the seal?" the exalted emperor suddenly asked.

Her eyes widened in shock!

"What, are you going to stay and keep me company? The moon is the core of Silver Moon world. As strong as the world barrier is, it cannot contain the moon."

"Why don't you just shatter my primary body?" The queen clenched her teeth. "They're all gone and the mark on the moon has nearly been worn away. The times now are not what they were before. You might be able to break the moon..."

"You're an interesting one," chuckled the exalted emperor. "Say hello to those guys for me when you see them next!"

He waved his hand, sending the moon rolling through the void. It pierced through the universe and vanished without a trash!

"Kill you? Why?" laughed the Red Moon exalted emperor when he was alone again.How interesting! Li Hao might be able to use you as bait for the real Moon God so he can kill her! You're just a peak Saint who's suddenly come into power. Who cares about you?

After sending everyone away, he looked toward a corner of the eight trigram diagram. Li Hao had been interested in that a moment ago.

The exalted emperor sank into deep thought as he turned over numerous possibilities. He smiled, sat down cross-legged, and ceased to think about it more.

Li Hao had come for this, hadn't he?

......

At the same time.

A bright moon suddenly appeared in the world, then vanished just as abruptly. The moon had become the queen; she disappeared irately.

Another moon quietly appeared in another locale and a sculpture sighed within the temple. "What a disaster to be trapped for a month! Do you think Li Hao did that on purpose?"

"Perhaps!" said the man with a sword on his back. "The second generation has left with the rest of the moon's primary body. That is indeed troublesome. The key is, she's never had much when it comes to brains, but she made it into the ruins this time. Do you think... this is karma?"

He was wordless about the situation!

"This... really... Li Hao, Zhang An, and that Red Moon exalted emperor are all helping her seize the moon!" the man laughed. "It looks like you and I have become the public enemy!"

"I need to retrieve that part of my body as soon as possible, or she'll really be the death of me!" sighed the Moon God.

"That's true. It's never a worry about the enemy being strong, but more if someone supposedly on our side is even more frightening than the enemy!" The man inclined his head.

Everyone was quite dejected when they thought of the queen. If the enemy was strong, then they would fight. But if one's teammate was the cause of one's misfortunes... then one would rather trade her for an enemy!

The Moon God sculpture suddenly grimaced with pain and utmost resignation. "That... that idiot!"

Endless power of faith had suddenly disappeared once more.

A bright moon suddenly rose in the sky and a magnificent voice boomed throughout the land, "I am the Moon God, undying and indestructible! Disciples of Divine Nation and the faithful around the world, demons have seized half of my body and tarnished my name! They consort with Li Hao and are all evil!

"From henceforth, the name of the Moon God shall cease to exist! The times have changed and I will now walk the world as the Sky God! If the Moon God appears again, they are certain to be the Moon Demon! The flames of evil burn brightly. I will cleanse the world of this filth and return peace and tranquility to the world!"

A bright wheel of lunar radiance illuminated the land, shooting through the firmament with resplendent brilliance. It was like a true god had descended upon the world!

Everything that'd taken place before was the conduct of the Moon Demon and had nothing to do with the now Sky God! The few remaining temples in Divine Nation spontaneously crumbled away, untold sculptures collapsing.

Some believers who still cherished their faith were completely overjoyed! So this was the case! The Moon God had been a demon in disguise! No wonder she continuously failed and even abandoned Divine Nation in the end!

So the true Moon God showed herself today—no, not the Moon God, but the Sky God!

......

"Hahaha!" Newly returned to the world, Li Hao couldn't help but throw his head back in laughter. The queen... seemed to have gained some brains! Did the real Moon God feel as nauseated as if she'd eaten poop?

The second generation had done so many things that brought shame upon the gods, but now the queen cast all that aside and had the Moon God take the fall! She emerged looking clean and pretty, and was now known as the Sky God!

How very interesting!

The Moon God therefore became the Moon Demon that'd insulted the Sky God in the eyes of their worshippers. To them, the gods were invincible. How could they lose again and again? It must be the Moon Demon behind all of the wrongs!