Star Gate-Chapter 1629: Battle Spoils (I)

The furiously fleeing Yu Ce abruptly felt presences rise behind him. The two dao masters had drawn on their great dao and broken through some barriers with a rumble!

They ascended at nearly the same time, reaching third rank. Third rank was just an accumulation of energy, so the breakthrough was simple to achieve. Once they did, Celestial Pole’s primary body kept himself in check for only a split second before his presence erupted and he set foot into third rank as well!

Xun Ruo clucked his tongue. Damn that was fast! He’d been a third rank when he joined Li Hao’s side, but demoted to first rank due to the limitations of the dao masters. When they reached second rank, he rose to second rank. He’d thought that it’d take a long time to return to third rank...

But how long had it been?

Boom!

His presence shifted as he set foot into third rank as well!

Four third ranks had appeared in the blink of an eye. The exalted emperors watching on the ground were pale with shock. Although third ranks did not measure up to mid ranks, they were the peak of the lower ranks.

The entire group must have been on the cusp of breaking through, hence they produced a fourth rank and four third ranks in one go. This level of force would give them a fighting chance in even a mid world.

Li Hao was overjoyed at the spontaneous appearance of four third ranks. His longsword swept through the air and created a domain of fire dao to envelop the fleeing Yu Ce.

Highly alarmed, Yu Ce knew that he wouldn’t be able to identify himself to avoid certain death. The Orchid Forest master wouldn’t permit him to do so.

“You may not kill me,” he swiftly transmitted instead. “I am from Red Moon. The deaths of multiple Red Moon exalted emperors will surely summon a sixth rank...”

That was the truth!

Four Red Moon exalted emperors had died in a split second, as well as one of the two mid ranks. That made for five dead exalted emperors in Orchid Forest. Red Moon would absolutely be sending a sixth rank in response this time!

“If I live, I’ll...”

Boom!

“Work together now to kill him!” Li Hao yelled, slashing his sword. That summoned the rest of his exalted emperors to him. They were much stronger than before, considering the plethora of new third ranks among them. Their joint force stood a chance in killing Yu Ce even without Li Hao.

As a dozen exalted emperors mobbed Yu Ce in the eyes of a stunned crowd on the ground, a brilliantly red moon appeared in the sky. Li Hao’s sword crashed through it!

The young man directed the enormous dao strength into Panther’s body. The dog howled!

Boom!

The black dog’s body swelled noticeably as dao strength erupted within it. The surge of a third rank’s presence oscillated through the air.

A fifth third rank!

While the crowd was stunned, they weren’t too surprised. Myriad Dao had integrated the strength of two fourth ranks into those of his group. Since the others had been on the cusp of breaking through in the first place, this result wasn’t unusual.

It was just... a group of one fourth rank, five third ranks, three second ranks, and one first rank was exceedingly terrifying to consider.

Mo furiously absorbed dao strength. She was the weakest of the group right now and wanted nothing more than to take in everything she could and break through to second rank, so that she was no longer the weakest!

“Everyone should swiftly withdraw from the world.” Li Hao’s voice rang through the land with another imperious sweep of his sword. “No outsiders are permitted to run rampant in Orchid Forest territory. If you do not retreat, all of you will become ghouls beneath my blade!”

“......” A ringing silence answered him! Faces grew grave. This was... too incredible!

A fourth rank exalted emperor had been born right in front of them, one equipped with a domain and a fourth rank weapon. He was a powerhouse even among fourth ranks. Fourth ranks were an intimidating force to begin with, not to mention that this one was a lunatic with no reservations in mind. He’d outright killed multiple Red Moon exalted emperors—he was batshit insane!

Yan Fang vanished from the distance, shock in his eyes. There was a seventh rank behind Myriad Dao... Orchid Forest had truly drawn many wolves out of hiding this time.

Myriad Dao killed Red Moon exalted emperors with abandon. Red Moon had lost five exalted emperors this time! They were in trouble!

The man looked at the void, wondering what the world master had in mind. The Red Moon master was likely in a towering fury from these events!

......

Rage swept through the lands of Red Moon. Its world master was well and truly incensed. He was already wrathful at New Martial killing three seventh ranks, but five more had died in a tattered major world on his doorstep in another few days! This was maddening!

Red Moon had lost more than ten exalted emperors altogether in a few short days. The dao universe was much emptier than before.

The look in his eyes was severe, as if he’d seen something in particular.

“Head to Orchid Forest as soon as possible and bring me that Myriad Dao’s head,” he snarled. “This seat would like to see who stands behind him to give him so much confidence!”

Even if it’s someone from Blazing Sun, that Myriad Dao will die without a complete corpse to his name after killing five of my exalted emperors right in front of me!

Damn it!

It was his first time being in such a temper toward a non-high rank, not including the New Martial Sword Sovereign.

Well, also not including the Silver Moon king. The Red Moon master didn’t know much about the Silver Moon king. While that one had killed a few Red Moon exalted emperors, he’d done so in a surreptitious fashion.

This Myriad Dao was a right bastard, however. He knew full well that he faced Red Moon exalted emperors, but chose to kill them nonetheless. Where did he get such confidence from??

......

Another four exalted emperors.

Orchid Forest.

It seemed that the entire world was silent. It’d only been a few days, but another four exalted emperors had died—all from Red Moon!

It’d taken less than a month for Myriad Dao to kill eight exalted emperors. And the key was, the three wandering cultivators he’d ended were also fringe Red Moon members. Was this guy purposefully targeting Red Moon or not?

In addition, general suspicion was circulating that these people were here for bounty. All of them had resided at a critical cusp in their cultivation. Many envied their achievements after one battle—almost all of them had broken through after that one battle. Myriad Dao had even ascended to fourth rank from third, the stuff of dreams for untold exalted emperors!

News quickly percolated through the land.

Orchid Forest had many barrier cracks and information flowed freely. There were numerous worlds nearby, so even neighboring worlds received word. Red Moon’s delegation to Orchid Forest had died to outside forces in an exceedingly quick fashion!

The Exalted Myriad Dao Emperor was a fourth rank with a seventh rank heritage and wielded a fourth rank weapon. His weapon came with a dao domain. Unless an orthodox high rank also wielded a domain, he was nearly invincible among fourth ranks.

That held true even though he’d just ascended!

The appearance of a domain flabbergasted regular fourth ranks. These things were useless against high ranks, but were devastating toward others unless they were a world master or a master of dao!

......

Heaven Rite, being the Orchid Forest exalted emperor most familiar with Li Hao’s group, looked on with a complicated expression. The wandering cultivator had ascended!

The young man wielded fourth rank fire dao, a seventh rank heritage, a fourth rank weapon, and the dao domain. With that arsenal, Heaven Rite may not be a match for Myriad Dao, despite having home advantage.

It was with a mix of emotions that he watched Myriad Dao set foot into fourth rank from third. But given that he was part of the world master’s faction, he was excited as well as being frightened.

Well done!

Orchid Forest didn’t really dare kill those brazen Red Moon curs, even if the world master said it was fine. The rest of them... couldn’t muster up enough courage to do so.

But now, Myriad Dao’s group loudly proclaimed that they dared! How nutty was that?

Orchid Forest underwent some changes as a result.

Wandering cultivators had gathered together, but now fell silent and no longer spoke of eradicating Myriad Dao’s crew. Some of them even drifted off from the pack and looked for a new banner to associate themselves with.

Not only thought, but various powerhouses on duty at other cracks looked around unsteadily. Just as Orchid Forest denizens stirred with shock, the powerhouses stationed in the barrier cracks overseen by Skywave, Cold River, and Nether Moon started congregating at one particular fissure!

These three factions were from major worlds and had fourth ranks overseeing their cracks. But with Li Hao killing two mid ranks, they decided to convene!

Almost all of them had one fourth rank and one third rank in residence at their fissure. Six exalted emperors had gathered together in the blink of an eye, three of them third rank. They were strong, but remained on high alert nonetheless.

In another area, a wandering heavyweight oversaw the barrier crack. A domineering presence suddenly descended near that fissure and an old man with white hair appeared next to it.

He was going to hold down the fort himself! A sixth rank!

That comforted the wandering cultivators on duty. They’d been terrified that Myriad Dao would lose his head after killing so many Red Moon exalted emperors and turn his sword on them. Thank goodness that their leader was here as well!

This also indicated that wandering cultivators were wandering cultivators in the end. They didn’t possess much of a foundation and couldn’t gather too many mid ranks. They could only come here in person, just in case.

Li Hao now controlled two out of eleven barrier cracks. Orchid Forest controlled five. Two had been abandoned by their previous factions, leaving only two in another party’s control.

Just as people wondered what to do, the two abandoned cracks slowly closed together. Many faces twitched with shock as they looked at the sky.

There was no one there!

But those two barrier cracks had indeed just healed. That meant that the Orchid Forest master had strengthened his grasp over the world domain and was repairing these cracks. When all of the fissures were repaired and only the world gates left, that would also mean that exalted emperors could no longer freely come and go from Orchid Forest.

They could only pass through the world gates, which were naturally within the grasp of the world master!

There were suddenly only nine barrier cracks left out of eleven.