Star Gate

The most critical key to Sword City was the Sword Sovereign in the end. Li Hao nursed a bit of hope, but not too much. Anything valuable should've long been claimed by Li Daoheng. How would there be anything left for those who came later?

At the same time, there were certain things that Li Daoheng couldn't take—such as the cultivation sites that the Sword Sovereign had comprehended dao at. Perhaps some of the Sword Sovereign's true sword intent lingered there. That couldn't be removed, could it?

The city also still stood. Maybe the congregation of the eight main cities would be able to unseal the world!

Sword marks could be seen everywhere in front of him. Li Hao stooped down and caressed an abrasion that still bore lingering sword intent. The sword intent erupted and stabbed into the young man's hand. A golden light sparkled in his eyes, reading through time and space to peer at the original eruption of the sword intent.

A scene flashed through his mind—a swordsman unsheathed his weapon and cut down everything in sight! Mind and strength became one with his stroke. People died when he brandished his weapon!

An indelible mark was left on the premises!

"A Saint!" Li Hao murmured. That had been a true Saint whose core origin dao was still intact! The stroke came from the depths of space and time. He was certain that Empyrean Kings of this age would not be able to withstand it. They might be shredded as soon as the blow connected!

"Mental strength is depleted with one blow. That level of strength is sufficient to slay an Empyrean King of this age or those even stronger. This is... the sword dao of the Sword Sovereign!"

There was a severe flaw with the sword technique of the Lis—one could not fight for an extended duration with it. If one did not immediately kill the enemy with the initial blow, the wielder would be the one who died. Even the Sword Sovereign had been so.

His sword had been known throughout New Martial, but also the fact that he was doomed if he didn't kill his enemy with one move. That move wasn't any casual move from his repertoire, but one that truly depleted his mental qi and strength.

"The Saint counterattacked, but did not harm the enemy..." Li Hao could read the outcome from the sword mark that showed it had landed without being blocked or parried in any way. The mark was very complete!

This meant that the other had easily avoided the stroke. If the enemy had been Li Daoheng, then he was roughly at the Empyrean King level one hundred thousand years ago. Those were frightening implications!

An Empyrean King one hundred thousand years ago did not make him one of the modern age. Only that level of Empyrean King could easily avoid such an attack.

Li Hao was very familiar with the sword of the Lis—it could lock onto the enemy. They would not be getting away if they weren't much stronger than the wielder.

The young man caressed the deep gouge one more time and went on his way. He could sense despair and resolution in the blow, as well as fury and lamentation. This meant that the wielder had recognized the butcher of the city. It had indeed been an internal conflict within the Lis.

This was the city lord manor... so it should be offices or the work area in the front and living quarters in the back.

A massive residence was present in the rear section of the manor. Innumerable sword gashes and grooves covered the entryway. A grim defense had once played out in front of the doors!

Li Hao touched every single scar upon the city, sensing a surge of sword intent and a shadowy figure each time he did so. There were elderly, youngsters, women, and even toddlers wielding swords!

Everyone in the Li family practiced the sword!

"What an amazing family of sword dao!" Stellaris shook violently in his arms and the look in Li Hao's eyes sharpened. If Li Daoheng was behind all this, he had been so remorseless and cruel!

The man had exterminated the Li family, even the babies! Why??

What had he wanted? To enjoy a mass murder? It was one thing to kill his enemies, but why eradicate his own family?

"The Sword Sovereign should've treated him well, but he butchered the sovereign's entire family after the man left. This guy is... diabolical!"

This wasn't unfeeling—the great dao was unfeeling. That was also simply a frame of mind. It alluded to a fair and impartial great dao, a lack of the self and anything in relation to it. There being no one who was intimate with or removed from the cultivator didn't mean that one would randomly kill people.

That made one sadistic, not unfeeling.

More marks covered the residence as Li Hao proceeded further. However, he very quickly noticed something amiss—there was no sword intent from Li Daoheng. Or rather, there was no sword intent from whoever had attacked the Li family.

Perhaps it had been erased after the fact, or the guy's sword intent had been so horrifying that he could dedicate just enough to kill each of his targets. The sword intent was perfectly depleted after he cut down each person.

The first possibility was nothing, Li Hao could do so as well. If it was the second possibility... the implications were terrifying if a cultivator could control his sword intent so precisely during battle. How could he ensure that he utilized the perfect amount, so that the sword intent and energy dissipated after killing the other?

"The first possibility means that he is a powerhouse, the second means he's not only that, but one with a very high level of sword dao comprehension!" Li Hao continued forward after pausing for analysis. The first house came into view.

It was very simply laid out inside—a bed, some decorations, a table and chairs...

There was nothing else. The residents might have fallen in battle or left a long time ago to answer the call of war.

Most of the Li family had probably marched into battle. It should've been their elderly, infirm, children, and women left behind.

Li Hao frowned. "The Li powerhouses must have followed the Sword Sovereign into battle. I can understand an Immortal like the Ninth Division leader remaining within Battle Heaven. If Li Daoheng was a powerhouse, even an Empyrean King... could the Sword Sovereign not have realized it? Why would he leave Li Daoheng behind?"

Could the strongest person in the world really not see how powerful Li Daoheng was? Then why... if the Lis had sent out all of their heavyweights, would Li Daoheng remain? It was understandable if a few Saints stayed to defend their home, but an Empyrean King?

The questions were increasing; Li Hao continued forward. He frowned again after he finished a walkthrough of the entire Li living quarters. There didn't seem to be a residence for the Sword Sovereign.

Logically speaking, the residence of an exalted emperor should not be so ordinary and sparse, assuming it existed. And yet, there didn't seem to be anything special in the area.

The young man's frown deepened.

Not only that, but their library was empty, as were their vaults. Everything had seemed to be empty when he poked a head in—they'd been picked clean.

"There's nothing here!" Li Hao smiled ruefully. He really had gained absolutely nothing apart from sensing a variety of sword intent. What a mystifying situation!

The most important sectors of the vast Sword City should be here. But there was nothing to be found. Was he to have made this trip in vain? He'd risked being killed by the exalted emperor to slip inside!

He'd been hopeful to find something that could be used against the exalted emperor, but there was absolutely nothing here!

Could the Sword Sovereign have resided elsewhere? Li Hao sank into deep thought, abruptly taking to the air. Sword intent wafted through the city; there was a dense concentration in one other part of the city. The young man quickly rushed over.

It was said that there was a sword tree here as a guardian plant spirit. It must have been left behind to stand on guard. Had the tree been killed as well or suffered something else? The tree should've solidly been in the Saint level.

......

Li Hao dared fly through the air because the city itself was on the move and the exalted emperor could no longer be seen. He could be much bolder and zipped through Sword City to land in a new location.

The young man raised an eyebrow and backed out of his destination. It seemed to be a school!

"Demonic Martial University, Sword City campus!" Li Hao read at the entrance. This... school didn't seem to have been well known since it was rarely mentioned.

Demonic Martial!That was where the Human King had attended and the Sword Sovereign taught. A high number of exalted emperors had graduated from the institution. Zhang An had studied there as well. Many heavyweights were its alumni.

But there was apparently a Silver Moon campus?

No one knew of it!

Li Hao knew of the Silver Moon Martial University since that was where the eight families raised their descendants. Evenround Martial University was where imperial descendants enrolled. If a prestigious university such as Demonic Martial had a campus elsewhere, it should be decently known. Not to mention, it was situated in Sword City.

None of the eight main cities had their own martial university. Their only one was Silver Moon Martial. Apart from that, there were no other martial universities within the eight cities. There were quite a few middle and elementary schools, however.

"That's strange, I've never heard anyone mention this. The Ninth Division leader never did so either. If there was a martial university in Sword City, why did he have to attend Silver Moon Martial University?" Li Hao was puzzled.

The Sword Sovereign once taught at Demonic Martial, so it was normal for him to start another campus here. But why was it so unknown? He'd also never heard of any famous graduates from this campus.

The front gates were massive, hinting at a sizable campus as well. The second densest concentration of sword qi within the city was found here.

The surroundings were very spacious as there were almost no buildings present. The characters upon the gates seemed particularly eye-catching. Had the Sword Sovereign written them himself?

Li Hao swiftly drew near the door when the thought occurred to him!

He could sense some sword intent when he studied the doors. But when he reached out a hand to touch them, a character exploded and left bloody marks on Li Hao's hand!

"Damn!" he sniffed with widened eyes. The sword intent was very strong, as was the character, but someone had dug up the character. Only a shadow remained behind.

Clearly, these characters were very likely written by the Sword Sovereign, just as the Exalted Blood Emperor had written Battle Heaven.

Sadly, Li Daoheng had taken them with him.

"That's ten characters! A full eight more than Battle Heaven! Li Daoheng!!" Li Hao grit his teeth. This would've been his greatest gain from this trip! That old bastard had taken them all!Damn him to hell!

After one shadow blew up, the rest detonated before Li Hao had a chance to touch them. A myriad rays of sword intent exploded, forcing the young man to back away and draw his sword!

Bam bam bam bam bam!

Li Hao cut down all of the rippling sword intent. If a regular Saint or someone with insufficient strength came, they might be killed by these characters. Were they a warning left behind?

The previously magnificent doors became a bit lackluster once they lost the characters. Li Hao strode into the campus.

There were no signs of fighting here. Perhaps it'd been empty back in the day. The school seemed to be newly built.

Could it have been built later? Maybe it hadn't even accepted applications yet before battle broke out. Perhaps it was abandoned before it had a chance to spread its fame?

That was possible. If that was the case... Li Hao found it a pity. A school not yet open for enrollment would have only those characters as its greatest treasure. With them gone, that meant there was nothing else to be found here.

But since sword intent drifted through the air, fighting should've broken out here as well.