Star Gate

The river of stars connected with the star that was the heart of the universe. The star had been attracted by a previous agitation of dao strength, so this instance was no exception.

However, it was disappointed by the lack of anything new or interesting. It rolled over Li Hao's body and vanished. It might not come next time if there was nothing fun!

The star disappeared, but the entire universe was still frozen in place. Li Hao raised a hand, unsheathed his sword, and stabbed it into an Empyrean King's heart!

The Empyrean King seemed to want to scream. He jerked awake with abject horror when Li Hao's personal domain enveloped him.

What'd happened?

He'd just caught sight of a star and then... awoke to Li Hao's sword in his heart. It churned through his organs and then shattered his head with a crunch!

A lost and uncomprehending look filled the Empyrean King's eyes. How had this taken place? Everyone had frozen so suddenly and he... was dead? Just like this?

But I'm an Empyrean King!

Mental strength immediately extended out of the body, forming a blood-red giant. Perhaps this was the correct method of utilizing Red Moon power. The giant looked to the side and was stunned to find that the others weren't moving either. He understood!

Maybe it was time to awaken them!

He screeched at a high pitch, but the entire universe seemed to be quiet. The power of a myriad daos had assembled into a domain that completely enveloped him!

"You can make noise all you want in my domain!" Li Hao said softly.

His sword struck!

The longsword was without form as it pierced through the giant.

"The blood pearls of Red Moon were very popular back in the day," Li Hao laughed. "No one was willing to eat a person, but they were happy to eat blood pearls! I'm going to refine all of you guys into blood pearls!"

Indeed, blood pearls!

These Red Moon cultivators were the same as the scarlet shadows that Ying Hongyue once employed! Scarlet shadows could be refined into blood pearls, as could the mental strength of these guys!

An Empyrean King level blood pearl!

Who would've dared imagined this before?

The bloody shadow seemed terrified, but Li Hao had already pierced through it. Stellaris trembled violently, some of its cracks instantly repaired by the blood-red energy!

As the bloody shadow continued to be compressed, it threatened, "the exalted emperor won't let you off the hook for this! He'll know that you killed us! Li Hao, you'll be setting yourself against the exalted emperor if you kill us..."

"It's best if he knows!" Li Hao interrupted with a smile. His compression efforts did not stop. "The exalted emperor is a good man, one much better than the queen. There's so much Red Moon power here that I scarcely believe it myself! I'm going to make use of this opportunity to compress it into a blood pearl, then use the thunder tribulation to baptize it. A blood pearl purified by the great dao's thunder tribulation... will make it an ultimate treasure! This will be an Empyrean King level treasure!"

"Li Hao!" Agonized shrieks continue to ring out until the bloody shadow was completely pulverized.

Stellaris devoured the energy and cleansed it, soon producing a blood pearl.

The thunder and lightning raging across the universe had come to a halt. Li Hao was in no hurry, they would recover in a few moments. Once he sent the blood pearl through the tribulation... it would become an ultimate treasure in Silver Moon world. It would definitely be better than those Heavenly Aroma Fruit. The fruit was coalesced by an Empyrean King, after all, and divided into ninety-nine pieces.

This blood pearl, on the other hand, was the full collection of an Empyrean King!

Was this a cruel undertaking?

Perhaps!

But Li Hao... wouldn't care. After the thunder tribulation baptized the blood pearl, it would become the best kind of pill. Red Moon cultivators were not human medicine. They could be more accurately described as scarlet shadow puppets.

Li Hao had disposed of an Empyrean King in the blink of an eye. Added to that the two that'd died before... that suddenly left only two Empyrean Kings. His eyes darted around and he frowned slightly. The surge of strength that affected time seemed to be disappearing with the vanishing of the star. It didn't linger forever!

There were many powerhouses present, as well as a great deal of thunderbolts... One of the Empyrean Kings shook—he might be awake soon!

That couldn't be permitted!

The personal domain clamped down over the trembling Empyrean King. Li Hao stabbed out once more with his sword. The Empyrean King awakened as soon as the sword touched him, but... it was too late!

His expression changed drastically and he looked around with shock. "Was I... suppressed for a split second?"

He realized what'd happened. There must have been an incredible strength that froze him in place for a heartbeat. That was why he didn't feel the flow of time after awakening, but there was suddenly one less Empyrean King by his side.

Something had gone wrong and there was no point in awakening only now!

The Empyrean King's expression shifted rapidly; endless blood-colored energy surged toward him. He was going to self-detonate!

Damn that Li Hao! The man was going to awaken everyone with his explosion!

Li Hao furrowed his brows and promptly transformed into the river. He encircled his target, drowning the man in the river and directing limitless dao strength at the Empyrean King!

The man howled and roared, but it was too late!

Stars smashed into the river one after another, pounding the Empyrean King to smithereens. His physical body was quickly broken apart; a bloody shadow appeared in response. An eager Stellaris leapt forward and stabbed into the scarlet shadow!

"Ahh!!" An agonized scream split the void again. Having once more activated compression mode, Li Hao recollected his human form from the churning river. His face was slightly pale—it wasn't easy to eliminate Empyrean Kings!

Although the surge of strength from the star was strong, it was receding. The Empyrean King had awoken before the longsword pierced his body. This meant that Li Hao would have to utilize his personal strength to keep his targets under control.

Thankfully, they wouldn't awaken so long as he didn't touch them. That meant he could handle one at a time! This maneuver would be slightly difficult otherwise.

Loud rumbles broke out of the sword as it swung down and compressed the scarlet shadow. Soon, another pill the color of blood appeared. An exceedingly formable presence wafted out of the blood pearl. It was the same as the other one—an Empyrean King level blood pearl!

Li Hao looked at the third Empyrean King; the latter's entire body was trembling. It looked like he would awaken soon!

The young man rushed over!

The Empyrean King abruptly opened his eyes when Li Hao arrived. His eyes shot wide open when he saw that the longsword was right in front of him. The man quickly backed away, wanting to disengage from Li Hao's ambush range!

This level of disturbance raised attention in other sectors as well. Some unexpected developments happened. Zhang An abruptly opened his eyes and jerked his head in Li Hao's direction. The look in his eyes changed drastically!

Weren't there two more Empyrean Kings apart from the one that the young man fought? What was going on here??

BOOM!

The thunder tribulation roared back to life as well, smiting down with fury. The retreating Empyrean King suffered a direct hit from a thunderbolt. He was nearly thrown off his feet, but a sword appeared to finish the deed!

The longsword ran the Empyrean King through!

Li Hao shook his head.I've got the advantage of fortuitous timing, terrain, and people. Your fates were sealed the moment you entered the dao universe. You may have woken up, but that means the same went for the thunder tribulation. There's only one Empyrean King left, so almost all of it's gathered here.

You're lucky enough to survive even that blow from the tribulation!

RUMBLE!

Thunder and lightning fell in never-ending succession. Li Hao slashed stroke after stroke, leaving a deep mark on the other's body each time. After countless strokes, the Empyrean King could no longer endure the two-pronged attack and exploded!

A scarlet shadow shot upward, wanting to flee!

How would it have a chance to?

A sword swung down to corral it and the 'dao' character appeared. Another boom sounded out to suppress the shadow. The longsword stabbed into it, delivering limitless power of devouring. The contained shadow shrieked with fury, "Li Hao..."

"The exalted emperor won't let me off for this, I know!" Li Hao spontaneously appeared with longsword in hand and erupted with tremendous great dao power. "Someone threatened me with the same words before you!"

"You..."

"I won't die a good death, I'll die without a burial place, or I'll be sent to keep you guys company in the underworld soon enough... I've heard many similar claims before, but I've still yet to go find you guys!"

"AHHH!" The Empyrean King was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "I..."

"You won't let me off even if you're a ghost, yadda yadda. What a pity that you won't be turning into a ghost either!"

BOOM!

A tendril of deeply bitter resentment snaked out of the ensuing explosion. It was too much to bear!

Sword light flashed through the void and extinguished the resentment.

"That was all you could take? You had such a weak mind!" Li Hao said calmly. "New Martial would've fallen a long time ago if this was all that Empyrean Kings amounted to. False Empyrean Kings really are a cut below the real thing!"

Five Empyrean Kings were all dead and three blood pearls hovered in the air. Li Hao directed them into the thunder tribulation with a casual toss. Rumbles and collisions rang out as the blood-red pearls slowly bloomed with a golden sheen as they were suited again and again!

Off to the side, Zhang An had killed a few Saints in the blink of an eye because he awoke faster than them. But with the rest of the Thunderblast cultivators awake now, he was finding it difficult to fend off the horde.

Suddenly, his opponents paled with horror.

"Run!" someone yelled and turned. Li Hao had killed all of the Empyrean Kings! This was unbelievable!

"And where do you think you're going after ending up here?" Li Hao cackled. A Saint was pierced through when his longsword stabbed through the void. The ensuing scarlet shadow was suppressed nearly the second it appeared, compressed, and turned into a blood pearl!

A Saint level blood pearl!

Zhang An's eyes widened at the sequence of events; he opened his mouth to say something.

"They're just enemies," Li Hao said. "Those of Red Moon major world are not humans. Humans eat monster spirits, monster spirits eat meat, big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp. It's just a food chain!"

Zhang An shut his mouth and looked on sternly, directing the book of dao to suppress everything that moved!