Star Gate

"It wouldn't be a bad deal for the exalted emperor either," Li Hao said with all seriousness. "I ask for just one drop of blood essence to use it against your enemies, people like Li Daoheng and Zheng Yu. It's only one drop of blood to you!"

"......" The exalted emperor's tone was as before. "Do you want to come inside to extract it?"

Dare you come inside?

Li Hao had spoken so noncommittally of this matter, as if the exalted emperor was helplessly laid out on the chopping block. What a bravely arrogant little fellow!

Not to mention, would you dare use the blood essence if I gave it to you?

"I won't be heading into the seal, we can do it out here! I've coalesced a move over these days, one of the Eternal Sword intent. I'd like to see if I can extract one droplet of the exalted emperor's blood essence with it. It'll be a happy ending all around if I can, if not... then I apologize for my actions!"

"You talk a big talk, just try it." The Red Moon exalted emperor stood up with his hands behind his back. He neared the perimeter of the eight trigram formation; the Star Gate overhead moved with him. Unbounded pressure emanated from his being.

A cocksure Saint was strutting around in front of him today, declaring that he would take a droplet of the exalted emperor's blood essence!

He would beat the kid to death with one punch if it wasn't for the seal; there wouldn't even be dust left of Li Hao. Where did the brat get his confidence from??

Li Hao reached out without a word—Sword City transformed into the longsword that was Stellaris. Rays of Eternal Sword intent swirled over it.

He was not going to take the city with him when he left. There was something special about the eight main cities. It might be better for Sword City to remain here; it could maintain the operations of the seal. Unexpected developments might occur if he removed it.

In that case, in order to prevent Li Daoheng from venturing in again and taking Stellaris, Li Hao might as well deplete the sword intent within it. Stellaris would still be a sword, but there would be nothing in it for Li Daoheng.

There was no fortune to be had in crafting another sword. Hence, Li Hao could not waste this opportunity!

He wanted to try on the exalted emperor for size with the Eternal Sword intent that he'd gathered. He also wanted to see just how strong the Sword Sovereign was.

Li Hao gathered his blood qi as sword qi wafted from his body. Dao meridians constantly appeared from his body and circled around him until there were 144 visible in the air. They subtly formed three circulatory loops.

He was about to set foot into fourth level Fused Dao!

Not only that, but his mental sea shook and the Hao Moon sword intent melded into Stellaris as well. The power of time flowed and the sword intent of the Eternal Sword manifested.

The Red Moon exalted emperor remained calm. In this age, he was invincible. Whether it was Li Daoheng, Zheng Yu, or Li Hao... None of them had what it took to stand against him. He would've died a long time ago if they did, why drag things out to present day?

No matter how much outside force Li Hao borrowed and utilizing the Sword Sovereign's personal sword to collect the Sword Sovereign's sword intent, he was not the Sword Sovereign in the end. It was impossible for him to kill an exalted emperor.

The child wouldn't even be harming such an august personage.

Li Daoheng's sword dao replica had been a half step emperor and left a small mark on his fist at most. He hadn't come close to seizing a droplet of blood essence. Li Hao was far too cocky for his own good!

The young man continued to erupt with strength, his blood qi brewing and mental strength coming together as one. The two characters of 'Battle Heaven' appeared in his mind. They also seemed to pulse with energy.

The entire eight trigrams formation trembled.

Li Hao closed his eyes and thought over not the Sword Sovereign's sword intent, but the moment when the Exalted Blood Emperor split the world into eight with one move! That was his first time seeing such an exalted being take action in the illusions.

It was also the strongest blow he'd witnessed thus far in his life. While the Sword Sovereign's shadow once demonstrated sufficient sword intent to break through the firmament, it did not deliver the same shock value as this blow.

Li Hao was bolstered by the two 'Battle Heaven' characters and the Exalted Blood Emperor's formation stood in front of him. The key was, this formation was intimately tied to the eight heritage weapons. Where had all the energy that the formation absorbed gone to?

The answer whispered at the back of the young man's mind. It'd gone to the blade!

It'd gone to resurrect the cat!

Therefore, the end of this formation was connected to that blade!

His talk of wanting a droplet of exalted emperor blood essence was just an excuse. It might not come to fruition even if he managed to harm the Red Moon exalted emperor. The young man just wanted to see if he could utilize some of the strength behind the eight main cities and bring the blade forth.

Stellaris trembled in his hand, as did the formation!

Not only that, but the five main cities under his control vibrated in the dao universe. The firmament split over his head, revealing starry splendor. Li Hao was equally concerned about being locked on by the exalted emperor, but there wouldn't be a problem with summoning the dao universe for a moment.

The five cities suddenly erupted with faint radiance. Rays of light shot out and raced for the eight trigram formation. The Red Moon exalted emperor frowned inside the seal.

The Eight Trigrams Suppression Formation!He'd been entangled with it for one hundred thousand years.

At the same time, Li Hao's accumulated strength reached a peak. His form swayed, as if the Sword Sovereign's shadow had attached itself to him. In reality, the Sword Sovereign's shadow did momentarily disappear, like it'd melted into Li Hao's body.

Six rays of light erupted from the formation. Only Galewind and Star River remained relatively unmoved. A blade the color of blood seemed to appear as Li Hao's shout echoed throughout the world!

"Kill!" Sword light enveloped the illusory blade, breaking through the void!

The Red Moon exalted emperor frowned, raising his hand in reaction! The punch was incomparable in ferocity. Just the pressure from it alone subjugated the universe!

The Star Gate overhead shimmered, exerting its might over the premises. The exalted emperor fought one against two, defending himself against the strength from the Star Gate and punching outward at the same time!

Soundless, breathless!

Fist shadow and sword light met, resulting in a powerful rush of strength sweeping all directions. The immense recoil shattered Li Hao's body in the blink of an eye. No matter how strong the young man was, he could not hold his ground against the backlash!

But... the exalted emperor's fist shadow also broke at the same time. A ray of sword light—Hao Moon, not Eternal Sword, rose from the broken sword intent and pierced into the man's fist.

Pfft!

The exalted emperor retracted his hand, inspecting it to find the faintest hint of blood. He raised his head in Li Hao's direction. A long river snaked into the dao universe, as if a massive dragon.

Li Hao appeared once more, walking away in the air with a sword in his hand. It wasn't Stellaris, it was the Firmament Sword!

There was a faint trace of golden blood on it—the blood from the exalted emperor's fist.

The man frowned and watched silently for the next development, but Li Hao sighed without looking back.

"To think that an exalted emperor would be so strong... I've absorbed the sword intent of the Sword Sovereign and the will of the Exalted Blood Emperor, but only barely managed to leave behind an imperceptible wound on the exalted emperor. This level of strength is so immense that it makes one despair!"

"You know I want to explore the dao universe, but take a tendril of my blood with you," the exalted emperor suddenly said softly when the young man was about to disappear into the dao universe. "Li Hao, are you so bold that your determination knows no bounds, or do you have ulterior motives in mind?"

Li Hao's blade had taken some blood with him, but it wasn't blood essence. There wasn't much use to that amount of blood, but... why did Li Hao do so, knowing full well that the exalted emperor wanted to invade that dao universe?

Perhaps the young man was here this time precisely for that bit of blood.

What did he have in mind?

Li Hao was no idiot, he clearly had a plan. If there was anything different about this blood compared to the blood essence... the greatest difference was that this blood was fresh and contained a bit of the exalted emperor's boxing intent. But that wasn't of great use either.

Did Li Hao want to comprehend the exalted emperor's dao?

Now that would be the greatest joke of all!

The dao universe was about to close. Li Hao turned back, looked at the Red Moon exalted emperor, then at Stellaris he was leaving behind.

"I bear you no ill will, exalted emperor," he chuckled. "I just wanted to see if this blood can create a descendant for the exalted emperor. If you die here, that will at least create an heir for you after staying here for one hundred thousand years!"

The Red Moon exalted emperor laughed softly as the dao universe closed. A descendant? What an interesting little fellow.

That response had been nonsense, he didn't know what Li Hao intended. But... for the guy to dare claim some of his blood right beneath his nose and access the dao universe...

Do you know that I stand a high chance of identifying the entrance to the dao universe from your actions? If I do, you'll be in trouble!

......

Within the dao universe.

Thunder and lightning began to gather. The Firmament Sword stirred in preparation to receive a thunder tribulation. That tendril of blood could contain unending Red Moon power!

It also seemed to be coming to life after entering the dao universe.

Li Hao laughed and vibrated his mental sea with the power of one hundred rays of sword intent. The tiny world was visible within the dao universe.

Would the star come? This was something new!

The mental sea revealed itself!

As expected, a star bounded over from the end of the universe, excited by the prospect of something new. This was the heart of the universe, the heart of dao.

The entire universe spontaneously quieted when it appeared. Even an outside object, the artificial world that was the mental sea, froze!

Not only that, but the vibrating Firmament Sword also stilled. The tendril of blood that seemed on the verge of becoming a living person also paused. The cities in the distance grew quiet without movement.

The world was silent!

The star appeared as if a curious child, making a circle around the world of the mental sea and suddenly darted inside.

Li Hao brightened, this was what he wanted!