Star Gate

Li Hao spent a long time comprehending the exalted emperor's might—a full month! He was starting to spend more time in cultivation as his strength grew—a baseline of one month at least.

Time marched toward the seventh month of the year. It'd been almost one year since he officially set foot into martial dao and four years since he started practicing the Five Styles.

......

Silver City.

An eerily quiet city.

Devastated ruins clung to the ground. After continual wars in its vicinity and eruptions from powerhouses, there was nothing alive here any longer.

Galewind also did not seem to be stationed here any further. Zheng Yu was not concerned about Li Hao's actions anymore.

Ying Hongyue was even less likely to come here. He was being hunted to the ends of the world, how would he dare flee back to Silver City?

Just as all things were still and silent.

Li Hao returned.

The young man strode into a tattered residence, all inanimate objects still located in their usual places, but no part of the living was the same. It'd only been a month, but felt like countless eons had passed here.

Dust covered the furnishings and the roof had fallen in. His teacher's little training yard had become rubble.

Li Hao entered the house—it was equally a complete mess. Only a few traces hinted at how widely learned its owner had been. Books were strewn over the ground, as if someone had searched through them.

Trespassers had likely been by after Yuan Shuo and the rest left, probably to search for the original Five Styles Method.

The young man collected the scattered books and contemplated the empty residence for a moment.

"I'm going to take a look in the seal..." he murmured slowly after a long moment. "I might be able to win if I can come back, which means I'll be able to revive you! If I cannot return... then there's no helping it. You once said too that nothing can be forced, we simply need to follow our hearts in martial dao.

"Zheng Yu's faction might be easier to take down, but they're on high alert. Only through surprise or unusual tactics will I stand a chance! Wish me luck, teacher!"

Li Hao raised his head at the sky—the seal was still there. It was weaker than before and the eight lines of blood were becoming a tangled skein.

It was easy to imagine how difficult it will be to sneak into the close proximity of an exalted emperor!

The young man took a deep breath.Perhaps only time will permit me to slide in so smoothly that even the exalted emperor is unable to detect it.

"Keep in close contact with me. Attack Ying Hongyue the moment you can't contact me!" Li Hao sent a message.

"Alright!" Lin Hongyu's response swiftly arrived, as clear and concise as ever.

"Be careful!" The communicator showed two more words when Li Hao was about to leave.

The young man smiled and didn't respond. His body disappeared with a flash, while an illusory figure appeared beneath the seal. A bloody line extended from it.

Li Hao wrapped himself with the sword after a moment of thought and vanished on the spot, leaving only a sword hovering in the air.

The sword slowly became part of the seal. Battle promptly erupted in the distant west—multiple Saints attacked one person.

Ying Hongyue!

......

Ying Hongyue was ashen-faced as he fled for his life. Red Moon power increased in his body at a constant rate. He looked back while coughing blood, the look in his eyes despondent. "Lin Hongyu! Li Hao would've killed me a long time ago if he could! You've chased me all this time, but dare you actually kill me?!"

"We'll seal you away if we can't!" Lin Hongyu wielded her curved blade in a composed manner. "Or we can suppress you! It's nice making you scurry around like a dog on the streets! This is the only way you can pay for the torment that you've inflicted upon my husband!"

"Your husband? How ludicrous!" Ying Hongyue spat out another mouthful of blood with a cold sneer. "You're just a pawn in his eyes! Li Hao simply wants to have you control the world for him. Deep down, he's more heartless and callous than me!"

"So what if I am a pawn?" Lin Hongyu laughed softly. "I'm happy to be one! At least, I have power over the entire world and everyone knows me! I have power, influence, dignity, and everything else that I want.

"How about your women, Ying Hongyue? Where are they now? Even in death, they'll be synonymous with being fools and disdained for eternity!"

This was the height of taunting mockery!

Ying Hongyue's expression darkened and he continued fleeing instead of responding to Lin Hongyu. Powerhouses were hot on his trail from all directions.

"It sucks to be on the run, doesn't it?" Lin Hongyu's voice caught up to him. "You might as well kill yourself if you feel any sense of shame. This will prevent you from leaving a ruined reputation behind. You'll free yourself from this misery once you die!"

Ying Hongyue ignored her, yet he burned with rage.Damn it!Since when had Lin Hongyu dared insult him so?

Another Saint blocked his way up ahead. "What do you want with targeting me like this?!" raged the man. They must have a goal in mind, they must!

Damn it all to hell! They wouldn't be acting like this otherwise. Don't Li Hao's powerhouses have other things to do in their day?

Ying Hongyue wouldn't have gotten away that day if Li Hao really wanted to kill him that badly. Although the Celestial Sword Immortal had taken action, Li Hao wasn't wholly without opportunities. But hadn't he refrained from doing so because he was worried about the seal?

The seal...

Ying Hongyue whipped his head back when a new thought occurred to him. "Are you guys chasing me because of the seal?"

"So you've guessed it?" Lin Hongyu's heart shook, but she smiled through it. "Impressive! You really plan for everything! You're right, we're doing this for the seal. We're going to break the seal and attack that exalted emperor..."

Fuck you to hell!Ying Hongyue nearly screamed back at her.No, wait! That's an exalted emperor she's talking about, so that shouldn't be their goal. So, then, what is their goal?

"Alright, we can stop playing around, this is boring!" Lin Hongyu chuckled dismissively. "It's a waste of time for a loser like you to be guessing like this. I'll let you off the hook once we extract the eight bloodlines!"

"Tranquil Star!" Ying Hongyue immediately understood. He snorted, "Don't even think about it!"

That blade! So this is the case!

Li Hao nursed delusions of grandeur about the eight bloodlines in Ying Hongyu's body so that he could seize the blade.I wondered why this guy is so intent on keeping tabs, but refuses to kill me. So this is why.

It all makes sense now!

"If you don't do this the easy way, then we'll do this the hard way!" Lin Hongyu sneered. "Kill!"

Boom!

Powerhouses appeared on all sides; thunder and lightning roared in response. Someone struck with a sword of thunder from the shadows to prevent everyone from reaching Ying Hongyue. This hidden heavyweight was also very formidable!

However, the firmament split open at this time and the five cities bore down on the scene.

"Li Hao!" Ying Hongyue's expression changed drastically. Li Hao was here! He was the only one who could access the dao universe. So he'd been here all along, keeping tabs on the eight bloodlines!

Ying Hongyue didn't dare devote further thought and effort to the situation. His blood qi erupted, the eight bloodlines became one, and he pulled violently on Red Moon power. It covered his body, facilitating his escape. He expended all of his blood qi, not daring to linger any longer.

Lin Hongyu raised an eyebrow at how quickly the man ran. She raised her eyes to the sky and shouted, "Keep up the chase!"

......

At this moment, in the seal.

The Red Moon exalted emperor frowned slightly; a dense current of Red Moon power wafted through the air.

"The little guy seems to be quite heavily injured," the exalted emperor murmured. "Is he still unwilling to fully accept me?"

He laughed softly to himself. However, this was also a good development. The more Red Moon power Ying Hongyue extracted, the more trouble he would be in as the harder the power would be to expel. It looked like his suffering was enormous lately, given how he furiously absorbed energy.

To be able to withstand temptation and the encroachment of Red Moon power through all these years was an indication of how resolved and intelligent Ying Hongyue was. But now, it looked like the person who'd conquered Thunderblast had Ying Hongyue in their crosshairs.

Red Moon power continued to flow to Ying Hongyue. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the man became part of the exalted emperor. This was wonderful!

Shadows on all sides trembled slightly. Each instance of Red Moon power disturbed the formation. These ripples were a normal phenomenon, so the exalted emperor ignored them.

A tiny sword inched along the edge of the formation, as minuscule as a speck of dust. Each movement was very faint, nearly unnoticeable. It even emanated an iota of unique strength with each of its maneuvers to conceal itself. Li Hao was extremely careful, despite facing an opponent that was sealed away. This was an exalted emperor, after all.

He was inside!

The young man was reassured that the Red Moon exalted emperor hadn't discovered his entry. Lin Hongyu had an excellent sense of timing. While she possessed significant ambition, she was reliable enough when conducting her affairs.

Just like Gan Wuliang, ambition was no problem so long as they could competently carry out his orders.

An ancient city hovered silently in the distance. This was Li Hao's first goal; he wanted to explore Sword City.

The city might be able to cover his tracks once he was inside, he wouldn't need to be so prudent then. There might be something special about the city if neither the exalted emperor had occupied it nor Li Daoheng taken it.

There might be some contingency plans left by the Sword Sovereign that dissuaded them from brazenly touching the city.

The tiny sword shifted very slowly, taking as much care as possible. No amount of caution was too much when one was trying to sneak into a city under an exalted emperor's nose. Li Hao was here for the exalted emperor, not the primary body of the moon like Zhang An had been.

The young man didn't know how much time he spent slowly twitching along. The little sword was vibrating minutely.

The closer they drew to Sword City, the more the little sword agitated. Perhaps it recognized their surroundings and missed its home. It was back!

The little sword suddenly jerked—Li Hao felt that he was losing control. It darted into the massive city in one move!

The ancient city shuddered; Li Hao cursed up a storm in his mind.

Damn it, you shitty chunk of metal! I'm going to throw you into a volcano! You'll be the death of me!

Sword intent was even erupting within the city, like it was awakening.

In the distance, the exalted emperor suddenly turned back with a gleam in his eyes. "Everyone's gone and that's only a city. What can you do, even if that's your homegrown?" he sneered.

He didn't find anything amiss about the sudden sword light. Clearly, this wasn't the first time that the city had agitated in the past one hundred thousand years. It often flared with sudden life.

Thus, the horrorstricken Li Hao was not met with a devastating blow. The Red Moon exalted emperor seemed unwilling to draw too close to the city, setting him at ease. There was room for dejection to return—damn Stellaris! I'm going to break you down into component pieces later on and reforge you! You're so rebellious!