Star Gate

Bam!

The city lord manor immediately turned to dust. Li Hao's body was pulverized—even the longsword in his hand broke. When the three spirits materialized, they were promptly annihilated.

"I thought we would see some sort of result at least," murmured the sword tree shadow. "But... we really were on a suicide mission..."

I overestimated you!

Li Hao was slapped out of existence with one palm strike and Stellaris shattered as well. It was plain to see from that that the sword... wasn't all that powerful.

The city lord manor was a gaping hole in the ground. Sword intent could be detected down below.

"Dead?" murmured a young man. Well now, that really had been a suicidal charge!

Incredible!

This person convinced the three tattered spirits to commit suicide with him. Was he that intent on killing me? I'd wanted to see if the master of Stellaris had other tricks up his sleeves, but... who would've thought that he would fall to a single blow?

He was very strong—that last move of his even left a scratch on the exalted emperor's hand. A very faint one, but one that looked to have broken the skin nonetheless. If Li Hao had been any stronger, he might have even inflicted a tiny wound. Regardless, this achievement was already incredible!

Exalted emperors were the limits of the world. And... this one had swatted the greatest genius of this age out of existence with one slap.

The Red Moon exalted emperor smiled. That child had been out of his depth. He hadn't dared approach when he visited the seal before, but was so exceedingly bold today! Clearly, he'd sensed something as well.

"It looks like he wanted to trade his death for your death!" The exalted emperor grinned. "Nowyou,you do have some ability to your name!"

His giant palm descended with a loud boom, obliterating all of the structures in Sword City!

The Sword Sovereign's residence that no one was able to damage was demolished in the blink of an eye when an exalted emperor attacked it. Even the formation obscuring it broke. The true appearance of Sword City was revealed to all!

It was indeed the shape of a sword!

At the moment, a small residence stood on top of the gigantic longsword. A signboard over the front door sparkled with light, blocking the effects of the devastating blow.

The exalted emperor looked at it, his eyes glinting from what he saw. Li Hao hadn't seen anything, but the exalted emperor seemed to see a person who was the height of arrogance.

The Human King!

The Human King of New Martial!

The longsword erupted with scintillating radiance as a young man brandished the sword with a yell. This was the true Stellaris!

"Kill!" He swung at the exalted emperor like Li Hao had!

To see an exalted emperor was to see a god. Regular Saints wouldn't and couldn't dare to lift a hand against an exalted emperor. But today, two of them had dared draw their swords on an exalted emperor!

This blow was much stronger than the one that Li Hao had brought to bear. Two rays of sword light erupted when the sword slashed down. They crashed into the massive palm, inflicting a small cut in it!

"Is this all that's left of you after being sealed away for so many years?" snorted the young man.

"Not bad." The Red Moon exalted emperor looked at him with a smile. "But is this all that you are capable of?"

A second palm materialized!

Boom!

It came down over the world and blotted out the universe. It clenched, encompassing all of Sword City in its grasp.

"I am indeed less than the Sword Sovereign, but... this is just a discarded sword," the exalted emperor said softly. "Do you really think this can kill me?"

You think too little of an exalted emperor!

BOOM!

The enormous Sword City became distorted from the hand clenched around it. Crunches and pops sounded from it as countless rays of sword qi exploded. Apart from the area around the small residence, cracks formed everywhere else.

Impassive, the young man that was the longsword erupted with another surge of sword intent. He stabbed through the world, inflicting another cut on the palm!

"Hmph!" sniffed the exalted emperor. He was growing angry at his opponent's temerity! That sword qi was very strong!

He withdrew his palm and clenched it into a fist, punching at the young man. Countless rays of sword qi dispersed before it arrived at its destination. An exalted emperor was an exalted emperor after all. The young man was no match for it no matter how strong he was!

It took only a moment before the young man wavered, his body crumbling away. He shed no blood, just countless rays of sword qi fading into the void. "You are still so strong after so many years... Ah... to be an exalted emperor..."

This was indeed a cultivation level that he could not measure up to. It placed one among the heavens!

Although the young man was incredibly strong and could make use of Sword City, although he flared with countless rays of sword qi, although... he'd depleted everything that was him, he still could not withstand a single punch from his opponent. This was what was meant to be an exalted emperor, an exalted emperor that had been sealed for one hundred thousand years!

The young man fell apart and returned to being a longsword. Innumerable cracks snaked through the blade, but the longsword didn't seem to mind. That was because innumerable cracks had also appeared in Sword City!

This was a fantastic development! He would be able to refine the true Stellaris if he survived this encounter!

However, he wasn't able to block an exalted emperor's blow.

Bizarrely enough, the longsword didn't seem concerned at all. On the contrary, it trembled slightly with some excitement.

"I knew you would come," the exalted emperor laughed at the same time. "You've got quite the nerve to come!"

The universe split open, producing a man with a sword on his back!

In contrast to the sword tree's words, he wasn't prevented from entering the seal again after the primary body of the Moon God disappeared. His method of access was just a bit more complicated than before.

He'd sensed it the moment that the longsword attacked and knew that it was possibly battling the exalted emperor. Thus, he had come.

The man drew his sword without saying a word. A blow descended from above, illuminating the entire universe!

The universe seemed to shatter when it landed!

A giant fist and sword light crashed against each other, soundlessly!

There were no sounds of a collision, just a silent impact that collapsed countless patches of the void and turning them into a black hole. The faint recoil smacked into Sword City, flinging it backward and out of the seal. It shot outward and vanished into the universe!

The man's longsword spontaneously crumbled away. The exalted emperor's giant fist disappeared, but a deep cut had appeared on his hand.

The unmoved exalted emperor threw another punch!

Bam!

The firmament was ripped apart and the dao universe trembled. The man with a sword on his back had come from the dao universe! Another longsword appeared within it and landed in the man's hand. He swung it again!

Boom!

The longsword shook violently, transforming into countless stars that shattered. The man shook as the exalted emperor swung his fist again!

"You're not weak, Li Daoheng, but... you're no exalted emperor in the end. You are unable to measure up to this emperor even though I have been sealed away for one hundred thousand years!"

There was no need for fancy tricks or techniques at their level. Direct, frontal combat was all that was necessary!

One punch transformed into thousands of punches along its trajectory. The man vomited blood as his body fell apart. He swiftly backed away. The dao universe shook incessantly and swiftly closed off!

The exalted emperor's eyes darted to it and he shot forward, seeming to want to rush into the dao universe. He hung back at a critical second, his eyes widening when he did so.

Behind him, the Sword Sovereign's shadow seemed to have been biding his time all along. He suddenly lifted his sword to swing it down!

Boom!

Incredible might exploded when the swing completed. The exalted emperor frowned and punched behind him. At the same time, a door suddenly dropped down from above—the Star Gate!

When the Star Gate descended, the exalted emperor shook from the suppression. The Sword Sovereign's shadow slashed downward!

The exalted emperor stumbled a few steps back, the massive fist having disappeared and blood dripped from a deep wound in his hand.

The dao universe began to close in the void. While the man with a sword on his back was drenched in blood, his expression remained aloof. "You are simply the worst kind of exalted emperor, that's all. The Star Gate... the Eight Trigrams Suppression Formation... This seat will come for you again when I have perfected the Lifeless Sword. I will slay an exalted emperor as celebration for my ascension!"

The Lifeless Sword!

The exalted emperor looked on with an unpleasant expression. The dao universe was shut by now and it vanished. He roared with fury and slammed a fist at the firmament. It shattered with an explosive rumble!

However, the dao universe was still gone.

"You've got a sharp tongue," sneered the exalted emperor. "Who knows if you'll be able to resuscitate that moon!"

The dao universe had come about through the Moon God. The gravely injured Moon God had acted as coordinates once more to lock onto this location and pierce through the world barrier. It was an enormous question if she would survive the exertion or not.

The exalted emperor looked down at his hand and then at the Star Gate in the void. Finally, he glanced at the eager Sword Sovereign shadow, then frowned into space. His actions... might have benefitted that guy.

Lifeless Sword?Was the one who'd swallowed the Sword Sovereign's sword intent called Lifeless Sword? Had he... really succeeded?

The exalted emperor raised an eyebrow. He'd slapped Li Hao to death with one palm strike, but was the young man actually dead? He knew a little about Li Hao. It was too easy to think that he could just kill the young man with one blow.

Although it was to be expected since he was an exalted emperor, this was not in line with the Li Hao that he was familiar with.

"There was... another surge of power... somewhere. But a pity that Li Daoheng made his move too quickly. There wasn't enough time to investigate." The exalted emperor snorted at the firmament. What was the point of Li Daoheng creating so many replicas?

The man might've detected something if his primary body had been present. But since he wasn't, would that longsword of his really succeed?

What a joke!

Regardless, the Red Moon exalted emperor didn't think too highly of the longsword replica. He also felt that Li Hao wasn't dead, he was just pretending to be!

Granted, it didn't matter to him. Whether it was Li Daoheng or Li Hao, it didn't matter who won. Both of them were vile. It was for the best if they ended up heavily injured or going down together.