Star Gate

Within the dao universe, Li Hao breathed out in relief and grabbed Stellaris. He kicked Panther back in the direction where the dog had come from. "Go back and don't leave the dao universe for a while. Have Lin Hongyu get more Red Moon power so you can be baptized a few more times..."

Innocence and incomprehension filled the dog's eyes. What was going on here now hey?

You grabbed me as soon as I opened my eyes and told me to devour the void. Then I was smacked around by thunderbolts for a while, and now you won't let me go out. Plus, you want the smacking to continue! Who did I piss off?

Li Hao left without a word. He couldn't frequently access the dao universe here—the exalted emperor might lock onto it if he did!

The great dao was everywhere and could be accessed anywhere, but once he did it too often and the exalted emperor identified the coordinates, he might be able to force his way in!

The current dao universe would not be able to withstand an exalted emperor.

Li Hao next appeared over Sword City. The three tattered spirits were still reeling with shock!

Was it over?

That incomparably strong Lifeless Sword was dead, just like that?

They suddenly felt... that everything had been very easy and not all that dangerous!

Li Hao smiled without a world. Had it been dangerous?

Just moderately so. He would be the one dead without a full corpse to his name if he hadn't had the power of time to utilize.I've finally witnessed the palm strike of that exalted emperor. It's so much weaker than the blows from those premier existences!

......

Over Sword City.

Li Hao breathed out gently. Everything had gone smoothly at the cost of revealing some of his aces. The Red Moon exalted emperor had likely sensed something, to say nothing of everyone else.

The young man had returned from the dead! And from the hand of an exalted emperor at that.

Li Hao contemplated his recent happenings, then turned his thoughts to the power of time. It would appear that so long as this power existed and the river flowed unbroken, then he stood a chance of reversing time.

No, wait, that was the wrong conclusion.

He could reverse certain things that happened to him, not what happened to others!

He couldn't reach that level because each instance of this power depleted some of his lifespan. This wasn't an ability to be employed at random.

"Li Daoheng... is really impressive!" the young man suddenly sighed. "A replica of a half step emperor and a replica of sword dao... Is the body of new dao his replica or primary body? Does the guy feel like he has too much mental strength because he's continuously failed to set foot into the full emperor level, and so decided to cut himself into pieces for fun?"

One didn't just wake up and decide to make a replica. Li Daoheng was creating so many because he was stuck at half step emperor and unable to complete the leap. Or perhaps he felt that ascending to exalted emperor would make him too weak at the moment and that he needed to be stronger before completing that step.

Thus, he continuously split his mental strength apart to create a variety of replicas. They were all formidable!

If it hadn't been for Lifeless Sword suffering a blow from the exalted emperor, then being cut off from Sword City through Li Hao's actions, the longsword would've been at least peak Empyrean King.

The Li Daoheng that previously appeared to take an exalted emperor's blow head-on was likely a replica as well. A replica with the strength of a half step emperor!

While Li Hao didn't know how strong Li Daoheng's replica of the new dao was at the moment, it should be Saint level at the very least. Or perhaps even stronger. Its only limitation was that it could not set foot outside the dao universe for now.

Apart from that, were there any other constraints on it?

An Empyrean King of one hundred thousand years, an unparalleled genius, had been unable to break through in all this time. Who knew how many replicas Li Daoheng had created?

It was a nauseating thought when one dwelled on it!

"Li Hao!" The sword tree rushed over. The stone was on its left shoulder and the seal on the right. All three were in their worst shape yet.

"Have you... won?" The sword tree's shadow flickered.

"I'm standing right in front of you, what does the senior think?" Li Hao chuckled.

"You won, just like that?" The sword tree was still in a daze. It didn't feel much, only that the victory was a bit mind-boggling. Li Daoheng had been the crafter of the longsword, but hadn't the trio also visited the exalted emperor's territory?

"Weren't we smacked to death with one blow from the exalted emperor?" the tree couldn't help but ask.

"Mmhmm."

"......" The sword tree murmured, "To suffer an exalted emperor's palm strike... We... we are just Saints, and Saints of this age. How can we survive after such a clash?"

An exalted emperor!

That level of domination placed them at the top of the hierarchy in any age. There was only one such existence in all of Silver Moon world. The exalted emperor had slapped the three spirits out of the world of the living, yet here they were, alive again.

What did this mean?

It wasn't as if the sword tree was young and naive in the ways of the world. It'd been with the Sword Sovereign all this time and met many premier existences. This Red Moon exalted emperor didn't amount to much among exalted emperors, but he was an exalted emperor nonetheless!

The sword tree didn't understand what kind of power this was that could bring everyone back. It was still baffled even after experiencing the power for itself.

Of course, this was no time for questioning. It looked at the vanished Sword City—they were all standing on a massive longsword at the moment. This was the true form of Sword City, a sword!

It was a gigantic sword that stretched on for dozens of kilometers!

"So this is Stellaris..." murmured the tree. "I've never seen the real Stellaris before."

It'd been transplanted to Sword City only after the city itself was present.

"Do you mean that you're very young and count as a later generation among plant spirits, not an existence from the earlier days of New Martial?"

The sword tree nodded. It wasn't that old to begin with.

"That's right. Why else would I keep studying the Sword Sovereign's dao... If I'd been present in the early days of New Martial, I would be Empyrean King at least!"

Who was the kid looking down on!

Li Hao couldn't help a smile, then looked at the residence that still stood close by. This was the only perfectly preserved structure left within the city.

Calm Tranquilly!

Although there was no particular meaning in the Human King's characters, just their presence and the keenness of Sword City's edge ensured that the little residence remained standing. The exalted emperor hadn't fully enveloped the small house with his might either.

Of course, there was another possibility in play. Perhaps the Red Moon exalted emperor had been worried that another Sword Sovereign shadow would emerge from the yard if he broke it.

While the likelihood was low, who knew?

The Sword Sovereign was in the outside world, as was the Human King. The former might not care if his house was obliterated. But if something did pop out in response... the Red Moon exalted emperor would absolutely have to bow his head first.

That was no ordinary exalted emperor, that was the Human King!

The New Martial world was known throughout the chaos universe, and so was the Yin and Yang major world.

The Human King was not well known in Yin and Yang major world, but that major world was familiar with the strongest powerhouse from Initial Martial—the Sun God. The latter journeyed through the chaos on his travels and dared to challenge the masters of the worlds he came across.

One one occasion, he managed to survive an encounter with the master of Red Moon and fled back to New Martial, living to tell the tale.

Due to his exploits, the Yin and Yang world was well known in the chaos.

The Sun God also commanded some fame in the chaos. While it wasn't to the degree of the most powerful masters of the world, some of the weaker ones could not stand against him!

One would still be less than the Sun God even after swallowing a minor world like Silver Moon. Granted, anything was possible after the emergence of the new dao universe.

......

Li Hao didn't have time to dwell on these matters. He stood with Stellaris in hand, light shimmering over it. This had been an enormously profitable venture. Not only that, but he'd swallowed some peculiar power of time. This had been a deeply fruitful trip.

Stellaris had devoured Lifeless Sword, as well as some unique energy of time. This was too wondrous to be quantified.

Having absorbed all that, Stellaris was now fast asleep to digest its gains.

"Seeing the real Stellaris now... it seems inappropriate to call you Stellaris as well," Li Hao murmured. It might be time to give his sword a new name.

"Are you... going to swallow Sword City?" the sword tree couldn't help but ask.

The young man shook his head, allowing the tree to relax. "I wonder... if the eight heritage weapons actually point to the eight main cities instead"

"Huh?"

"I'm questioning whether the real heritage weapons are the ones we see and know now, or is it the eight cities that are the weapons?"

"Surely not...?" the sword tree said blankly. "It's possible for the Sword Sovereign's personal weapon to become Sword City, but how could the other eight cities be the same?"

"But the eight main cities can withstand the compression of the world, a feat that even half step emperors find hard to accomplish. Have you guys never thought about this?"

"That's because... that's because..." stammered the tree, but didn't have an answer.

"Perhaps the eight main cities are the real heritage weapons! But outsiders may be unaware of this, even the eight families. Since the eight main cities suppress the world, that clearly makes them incomparable treasures! The ones my Stellaris devoured before were only Saint-level weapons, not even Empyrean King!"

They were too weak! That did not conform with the significance of the eight heritage weapons.

"But... the patriarchs of the various families back then... were Saints..." the sword tree said with confusion.

"Fair enough, so how could they create treasures as powerful as the main cities? So perhaps they themselves are unaware of what the true heritage weapons are. To the Sword Sovereign and the rest of his level, maybe it's the eight main cities that are the weapons!

"The cities are so powerful that Saints can barely control them. Each manipulation is a suppression of heaven and earth. And another key point—the eight main cities are connected to the world and can absorb the world's strength...

"That likely has something to do with the Exalted Blood Emperor," laughed Li Hao. "His blade can be found at the intersection of the eight sectors of the world. The eight main cities hold down the fort in their respective area...

"Ah, I think I'm starting to get it. The ground of the eight main cities can all absorb energy because they are absorbing the dissipating blood qi of the eight main cities...

"People are devoured when they die. The fading blood qi and energy are all absorbed..." Li Hao shook his head with understanding. "This has been quite the painstaking undertaking! Using the eight main cities to suppress the world is one aspect, the other is to resurrect what is inside the blade. Why is the Exalted Blood Emperor going to such effort to resurrect a cat?"