Star Gate

Li Hao dodged to the side; he didn't make a move. Sword shadows filled the air. There was more than just sword intent here; there was also a ray of familiar Eternal Sword intent. It was because of this sword intent that the surroundings weren't damaged, even with multiple Saints fighting in it.

This was the true dojo of an exalted emperor!

And with that signboard present, not even a battle between Empyrean Kings would be able to damage this location.

The sword shadows came for the young man—four against one! This was absolutely the battle strength of an Empyrean King.

When the longsword split the air, Li Hao shuffled his feet to avoid the countless sword shadows. Upon seeing its target evade the attack, the longsword shot out even more sword intent that was interspersed with a cruel, brutal, and solemn killing intent.

It sealed off all directions around Li Hao, seeming to rage over why the young man wasn't engaging with it!

The three powerhouses within the yard shouted continuously, but there was no response from the sword. No sound traveled out of it—it was like there was no soul within it and it could only erupt with sword intent due to the formation.

Bam bam bam!

Shrill collisions rang out of the yard.

Standing outside the yard, Li Hao's eyes sparkled with light. He peered into the house and noted a sword emanating golden light, perched upright on a seat cushion! It was... it was cultivating like a human!

Li Hao's heart quailed. The sword on the seat cushion flared with severe killing intent, as if it'd opened its eyes upon sensing Li Hao's prying eyes.

The young man's expression shifted slightly. Could... this sword... have been turned into another one of Li Daoheng's replicas?

"Retreat!" grunted the young man. He broke through the void with his hand. Inside the house, the longsword lashed out!

It seemed to have sensed something and wanted to strike down Li Hao with one blow. Unbounded sword light seared the eyes. The young man immediately grabbed the three powerhouses and burst with a peculiar surge of strength that paused time for a split second.

The longsword split the air, but Li Hao already had his hand around the trio and vanished on the spot. He was out of the formation.

The longsword completed its swing when he disappeared. Unbounded and indomitable, even the incredible durable residence shook briefly from the blow. The weapon quickly disappeared and a thin, frail young man walked out.

The soul of longsword!

Sword light stabbed out of the young man's eyes and he looked outside, contemplating something.

......

Outside of the formation, bloody holes spontaneously appeared in Li Hao's arms. Blood spurted out of them!

"I underestimated it!" Li Hao looked inside the formation with wide eyes. "Well, not really. I just didn't expect the sword to be able to cultivate on its own. It isn't just passively cultivating in reaction to you guys. So apparently this is possible for a sword as well?"

The three tattered survivors were a bit lost. They'd sensed how formidable Li Hao was when he yanked them out, but for Li Hao to be so wary...

"What do you think?" the sword tree quickly asked.

"It's very strong!" Li Hao looked at the formation again. "But it didn't follow us out..."

This formation wasn't designed to obstruct enemies. It was simply to conceal the residence.

The longsword hadn't come out after them. Why?

"Is it really that strong?" asked the stone while Li Hao was deep in thought.

"Yes, very!" Li Hao's expression shifted again when a new thought occurred to him. "This doesn't feel good... Can this sword be devouring Stellaris?"

Why hadn't it come out in pursuit of them? Was it swallowing the city? If that was the case, then things were very dicey indeed! They were much more tricky than he originally anticipated!

"It's at least late Empyrean King and possibly even peak Empyrean King!"

The trio shuddered at the estimation. That strong?? Although Li Hao had postulated such levels before... could it really be that strong??

"Then what should we do?" Despite having known Li Hao for less than a day, the three now treated him as their leader. It was an interesting change in mentality that the trio didn't realize. The young man didn't pay special attention to it either because he was used to this reaction by now.

He quickly ran through some calculations. The sword should be absorbing Sword City's strength and the Sword Sovereign's residence was connected to the core of Sword city. His sword intent filled his residence, but the enemy had probably collected most of it.

The longsword possessed far more than a weapon soul, it could probably count as Li Daoheng's replica because it could cultivate on its own. It was very difficult for weapons to do so... Or rather, Li Hao had never seen one that could actively cultivate, including the old turtle!

The only way for the old turtle to grow stronger was if it was reforged. Once its materials were set, one would have to find a premier refiner to craft its body anew. After that, it would have to swallow a large quantity of core origin energy or others for a hope of ascension.

"It's a wonderful treasure!" Li Hao murmured to himself. "A weapon that can evolve by itself. This is the treasure of dreams!"

The three tattered survivors were almost out of their minds with urgency.Tell us how to handle it, not just compliment it! What's the point of that??

Can you compliment them to death??

Li Hao licked his lips and laughed slightly manically. "It's a tough opponent, very tough! I've underestimated it... Are you three afraid of death?"

"......" the sword tree grew urgent. "Be serious!"

"It'll be very hard to fight it, but also very easy. It's just... we might die!"

"Speak of it!"

"Suppress the exalted emperor!"

"......" The three powerhouses blinked with astonishment. They understood! But their bodies trembled from the implications. Did they face another madman?

"We can try on the exalted emperor for size!" Li Hao laughed. "That's one thing. The other is that the longsword will be very difficult to take down! It might even be one with Sword City—I suspect that it's invaded a large portion of the city. Only through severely damaging this sword and the city do we stand a chance of separating them.

"We need to be quick about this because it's discovered my presence. Although I look very weak, it might rush out to kill me to stave off future trouble!" Li Hao grew animated in his excitement. "We need to quickly decide on a plan of attack and execute on it. I'm very curious... what kind of strength will the exalted emperor possess now after being sealed away for one hundred thousand years?"

"You're absolutely crazy!" bawled the sword tree. "This will be the end of us! A real exalted emperor is unfathomably strong! He would have died a long time ago if he was so easy to handle. Why wait until today?"

"No... I want to give it a try." Li Hao licked his lips. "I'm not crazy, I just want to experiment if this weapon really is a replica. If it is... then this will be fun.Someonemight personally rush over!"

A light danced in his eyes. "We only dealt imperceptible damage to him before. But if this sword is destroyed... he might really be unable to contain himself!" The young man turned to the trio. "How can we manipulate the city and direct it back to where it stood before?"

The three spirits looked at each other, headaches brewing.Stop joking! That's an exalted emperor you're talking about!

"I can't fight the sword!" Li Hao said bluntly. "I would give it a try if it was initial, mid, or even late Empyrean King. But judging from the looks of things, that was just a small show of its strength. It might truly be half step emperor, which puts it out of my reach! I wouldn't take this risk if I could take care of it myself!"

"Must we do it this way?" the sword tree asked painfully.

"Yes."

"Ai!" the tree sighed. "The sword seal can still control the city for now. But... won't it fly out to stop us?"

"Probably not," Li Hao shook his head. "But of course, there's always a small chance that it might. The weapon may have entered a critical time period for devouring the sword!"

The young man looked at the seal without further ado. "Time is of the essence, we need to be quick and go back to where we were before. Let's move closer to the exalted emperor! Once we're close, we should enter the range of the diagram of the eight trigrams and throw ourselves at him in a suicide charge!"

"......" The seal trembled before the city abruptly flew back from where it'd come from!

Sword City had been flying to the depths of the universe after Li Hao's arrival. But now, it returned to what it'd been fleeing from!

......

The small yard.

The young man that the longsword had taken shape from frowned slightly, sensing the change in the city. Immense sword intent emanated from the bottom of his feet. He wanted to walk out... but hesitated when he took a look at the little house.

Leaving this place now would be wasting his previous efforts. He'd finally touched upon the core after so many years... And the city itself was defying him! Damn it!

Who was the person who'd stopped his power for a split second? What kind of energy had that been?

While that final stroke of his hadn't been at full strength, it possessed the force of an Empyrean King. His opponent had easily stopped it and the void itself had frozen.

"There is someone new in Sword City..." murmured the young man. Someone who could visit now, and with Stellaris... He knew who it was. But it'd been a long time since his primary body had last visited and the longsword was unaware of the happenings in the outside world.

All he knew was that it was probably that experiment, or someone born of an experimental family.

They'd actually made it into Sword City!

"For this to occur at a pivotal moment... Is this a counterattack from the world? Or the lingering echoes of the Sword Sovereign?" Anger brewed in his tone.

Everything had been still and quiet for so many years, but this had taken place at the most critical moment. And now the city was moving again. Where to?

Where else could this place go? To the exalted emperor's seal?

Was that the case?

If so...do they want to go down with me?

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. This longsword was as if a real person, its intelligence on par with a real human. Should he walk out to kill these people... or continue to stay and conduct his plan, betting on the fact that they wouldn't kill him?

The exalted emperor was the strongest entity in Silver Moon. If Sword City rushed in and fought the exalted emperor, there may not be a good end in store for the city. There was hope for the exalted emperor to change his fortunes if he devoured the city...

But the young man quickly thought of another possibility. Would Sword City be easier to devour if it was gravely injured?

At the moment, it struck back fiercely! He'd only invaded a small part of it after so many years and was yet to fully control it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be moving at present.

The longsword suddenly smiled as these thoughts ran through his mind. His smile was similar to the one that Li Hao had displayed before. Somewhat crazed, somewhat fanatic like a gambler.

If... they really ram the exalted emperor and I don't die from it... the city will be heavily damaged. Can I take advantage of this to swallow the real Stellaris?

He stood a great chance of doing so, as well as facing tremendous danger!