Star Gate

"A half step emperor is very strong!" Zhang An felt compelled to issue a reminder. "Both of us have numerous Saints under our banner. However, all of them combined are insufficient to kill a half step emperor. Instead, a half step emperor can kill us all!"

"And that is just a half step emperor in an age without core origin!" he sighed softly. "In the age of core origin, a group of Empyrean Kings mobbing an exalted emperor would die without inflicting a single scratch on the exalted emperor.

"We tried to do so during the early days of Initial Martial—a bunch of powerhouses joined hands against a sovereign—an exalted emperor. They didn't even snap one of his hairs!"

This was very blunt speech for Zhang An; he spoke only the truth.

Li Hao inclined his head in acknowledgment and stroked his chin again. Perhaps... there was another way!

He could lure over the star again and face the illusory side to his passageway. Once Zheng Yu enters, he would rush straight into the immaterial universe!

And there was also another way—the world of the mental sea!

It was connected to the barrier around the immaterial universe. If Zheng Yu thought he was headed to the corporeal dao universe and forced his way through, he would enter the immaterial universe once he succeeded.

Whatever the idea was, Li Hao had options. Granted, they were all very risky. The safest method was to have the queen be a good guy for once and bring Zheng Yu in. It would be the safest and most peaceful way to handle the situation.

He didn't share these thoughts with Zhang An. It was better to keep a card close to his heart in all things. It wasn't like Zhang An was telling him everything either.

"I'll think of a way to seize Galewind!" Li Hao said after consideration. "Dean Zhang, there's something else I need your help with, apart from Star River."

"Speak of it."

"The god of Initial Martial!" replied the young man. "He's probably here for the Exalted Blood Emperor's blade and the cat that's reviving inside the blade. Perhaps he's here to protect it, or maybe to kill it. I don't care what his end goal is!

"Once I seize the eight main cities, he might be worried that I'll ruin his plans and make a move against me instead. That will cause quite a bit of trouble for me. Dean Zhang is the grandson of the supreme, so can I trouble you to be my envoy?

"Please take a message to this one in a critical moment and tell him that I have no desire to ruin the Exalted Blood Emperor's plan. He doesn't have to worry about me, so I hope to avoid any misunderstandings and conflict."

"A cat?" asked Zhang An.

"There is a cat sleeping inside the blade," Li Hao nodded. "The eight main cities and formation all exist to resurrect it!"

Zhang An was quiet for a long moment. He didn't know about this before and rummaged through his knowledge to measure the impact of this revelation. After a long while, he nodded. "I understand."

"Does the dean know about this?"

Zhang An hesitated before nodding again. "I did! Well, not to this level of detail. I knew about the cat before. The cat... is not alive as it doesn't have a spirit, but... you could also consider it a living being! It's a very complicated story!

"The Exalted Blood Emperor likely wishes to revive it because he feels that he owes a debt to it. The cat is a projection of the Green Emperor and once lived with the projection of the Exalted Blood Emperor's past self for countless eons.

"It is a very simple cat. When the War Sovereign shot the Heavenly Emperor, the sovereign died in battle with the cat. It was a definitive end!

"To think that the Exalted Blood Emperor would still be exerting himself for this matter..." the dean said with emotion. "Even the Human King was unable to revive the cat because it doesn't count as being alive. There is no core origin mark within it. The Exalted Blood Emperor wouldn't have to go to such trouble otherwise!"

"A projection?" Li Hao blinked.Not a living being?

"That's right, a projection!" Zhang An nodded emphatically. "There was an illusory realm, a massive illusory realm that enclosed the projections of countless powerhouses. They lived there for untold years like it was a real world. They have memories, sentience, and intelligence. But a dreamworld does not exist in the real world, so when you mentioned a cat, I immediately understood!"

"A projection... paralleled worlds... illusory worlds..." Li Hao murmured to himself.

Zhang An nodded in confirmation, but Li Hao continued muttering.

"For projections to become living beings... Based on what you're saying, a projection can draw back on a bow to shoot the Heavenly Emperor. This means that the projection is also equipped with infinite power. How is that possible?"

"And why can't it be?" asked Zhang An. "If you are powerful enough, what of a projection? It can transform from the illusory to the tangible! It simply didn't reach that level back in the day."

From the illusory to the tangible?

The look in Li Hao's eyes changed. "A projection... existing in another dimension... past... future... time..."

Zhang An frowned—what are you thinking about?

Li Hao was debating that if a projection could be so strong and transform from the illusory to the tangible, then could he scoop out a future projection from the flow of time and incorporate it into his body? Theoretically, it seemed possible if his projection in the next second loomed with unparalleled strength. That would strengthen himself!

But... where would he get such power from? Who would supply energy for this split second in the future?

The law of conservation of energy was at play! It wouldn't randomly strengthen someone for no reason at all!

The past, the future...

The notion of resurrecting a projection caused endless ripples in his heart.If a projection can come back to life, then isn't it very normal for me to borrow strength from my past and future?

"Dean Zhang, if the War Sovereign reincarnated into the Exalted Blood Emperor, how did he still have so much power to shoot the Heavenly Emperor? The Heavenly Emperor was the strongest opponent of New Martial, which means the projection must have dominated in terms of strength, right?"

"That... is hard for me to say," Zhang An shook his head. "That level is too high for me to comprehend! My grandfather did mention briefly a few times that it should be the strength of willpower. Although the War Sovereign is dead and reincarnated, he was too strong in life and as such, his will continues to live on!

"Utilizing willpower to summon the power of one's past life is also a kind of depletion. So when that day happens, he is certain to completely fade away! He will disappear no matter if he shoots the arrow or not..."

The strength of willpower!

Another thought occurred to Li Hao and he sank into silence once more. Zhang An did not understand what the young man was considering. He simply found the reaction a bit weird.I was just sharing some past happenings... What are you thinking about now, kid?

Li Hao was thinking about quite a lot, but he kept it all to himself.

"Then I'll set this aside," the young man said after a long moment. "Based on what everyone's said, the Exalted Blood Emperor isn't the sort to skulk around in the shadows and be up to no good. He's probably doing all this just for the cat, but didn't have enough time to see his plan to fruition before the Red Moon matter erupted. He was forced out of Silver Moon because of it.

"The dean also thinks that the Exalted Blood Emperor wouldn't have been hiding in Silver Moon all this time and not have left, right?"

"......" Zhang An was so speechless that he wanted to roll his eyes. "You think too much, don't always think so badly of everyone! The Exalted Blood Emperor is so strong that he is unparalleled. Even the Red Moon exalted emperor sealed over us wouldn't last three minutes against him! The Sword Sovereign wouldn't care at all if he really wanted Silver Moon world. Do you think he has a need to lurk in the shadows here?"

Just what is going on in that mind of yours?

Simply speaking, these people operated at such a high level that if it wasn't for the cat, Li Hao wouldn't even be bothered with formations and the rest.

It was a happy coincidence that they could be used to seal away an exalted emperor. Otherwise, without these formations and the eight main cities, it would be impossible to easily seal away an exalted emperor.

Upon further thought, Li Hao quite agreed. "Then does the dean know who the god of Initial Martial is?"

"That's hard to say." Zhang An pondered the topic. "If someone stayed here for one hundred thousand years to oversee the cat's safety, then... there's three most likely candidates. However, it's difficult to determine which one of them it is!"

He frowned slightly. "The weakest of the three is infinitely close to exalted emperor. The strongest is an exalted emperor of long tenure!"

"......" Li Hao's jaw dropped open. "So... you're saying... that one..."

"It's just a guess." Zhang An furrowed his brows in thought. "The greatest likelihood is an exalted emperor who also lived in that illusory realm all those years ago—the War Sovereign's pageboy.

"That one was so unparalleled that he ascended to exalted emperor before the final fight! But if it was him... he would've long taken action to defeat the Red Moon exalted emperor. He has the strength to. He would not permit the situation to develop to this point!"

A few more likely candidates came to the fore. "To stay out of the situation and let it develop to this point seems more like the style of another exalted emperor. But... he shouldn't be here! When war broke out between Red Moon and New Martial, he shouldn't be here since he was an exalted emperor."

"Who?" Li Hao was in the mood to gossip.

"I'm just guessing..." Zhang An shook his head after being silent for a while. "It may not be him!"

"The dean can try me. I'd like to see if I've heard of this person in the New Martial legends."

"The son of the West Emperor... In the age of core origin, he was one of the invincible heavyweights of the nine emperors and four sovereigns. He later ascended to exalted emperor, making for two exalted emperors in his family!

"This situation is a better match for his personality, but he shouldn't be here!" Zhang An shook his head. "If an exalted emperor was here and didn't participate in the battle with Red Moon... The Human King would've beaten him up a long time ago!

"The Human King could tolerate weaklings not taking the battlefield, but the one I'm thinking of was a bonafide exalted emperor. He would've been smacked to death a long time ago if he refused to enter the fray!"

"Was the Human King this... strict?" Li Hao couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not that he was strict, but that he could not put up with one shirking the duties demanded of their strength! This exalted emperor... was not a courageous one and he... would always rather there be one thing less on his plate. If there was something he could stay out of, then he would stay out of it.

"That's why I say this Initial Martial god's personality is a bit like him. But with Red Moon invading and an exalted emperor being trapped, the Human King would strike him down with one slash if he still continued to dodge the problem!" Zhang An chuckled. "He quite feared the Human King, so if it really is him, this is probably just his replica.

"A replica would not possess the strength to kill an Empyrean King. Therefore, he was negligent for the past one hundred thousand years. Meanwhile, Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng are connected to the exalted emperor. One is related to the Sword Sovereign and the other to the exalted emperor of Tranquil Star. It makes sense if he decided to leave them alone because of that.

"You know what, it probablyishim!" Zhang An broke out into full-fledged laughter. "I can think of no one else who could stay put for one hundred thousand years! But it can't be his primary body. Even if it isn't, he shouldn't be all that weak. He's probably a half step emperor!"

"Then can the dean..." New inspiration struck Li Hao.