Star Gate-Chapter 1653: Capture at Last (II)

“There’s a more dangerous possibility that we need to take into account,” said Li Hao. “What if the Red Moon master chooses to come to Orchid Forest after we kill the sixth ranks, but focuses on us instead of the Orchid Forest master? How do we escape from an eighth rank?”

He held no hope for an answer to come from the others and looked at Void instead. The man’s head hurt.

What are you looking at me for? Do you want my father to come?

But it’ll also be troublesome if his father did, this wasn’t Skyward Region, it was Red Moon Region. He’d be landing right beside someone else’s base of operations. Setting aside whether or not he’d be willing to come, was he actually supposed to fight a berserk eighth rank if he did?

“New Martial!” said Void. The answer could only be New Martial.

The pensive Li Hao nodded. That was right, only New Martial could induce fear in Red Moon...

“Then we need another layer of arrangements!” said the young man. “There’s only the Sword Sovereign out of the New Martial heavyweights here. We might need another one to attack the Red Moon main world when the Red Moon master comes! Or they might be able to intimidate him through the void, so that he doesn’t dare give chase!”

They needed to create another imposter! But how?

Li Hao immediately thought of the supreme’s replica from before and of Number Two...

If Number Two posed as the Ash Emperor, who could pose as Supreme Zhang?

Zhang An!

But Zhang An wasn’t even an exalted emperor, he was too weak. Even if he pulled off the act in absentia for a split second, he would be hard pressed to stop the other scanning him. Number Two, on the other hand, could do it. The cat was very mysterious.

Regular exalted emperors were not able to scan it. So Number Two might be crucial to their plans of intimidating the enemy into inaction...

This would also give the Red Moon master some further ideas and speculation after the fact. Perhaps he would speculate that what’d warned him off before wasn’t actually New Martial heavyweights, but imposters. Only then would he be willing to leave Red Moon major world.

Otherwise, the guy might never leave if New Martial didn’t reveal itself.

Li Hao wasn’t certain when New Martial might take action next. Various possibilities ran through his mind, coalescing into some calculations and plans. Number Two might have to be put to work, whereas Zhang An... was too weak. The man continued to fail an advancement to exalted emperor; Li Hao hadn’t even dared let him appear in public lately.

All battles were between exalted emperors these days. Any random exchange could kill him. Li Hao would be hard pressed to explain himself if the supreme’s grandson died here.

Zhang An’s book of dao most resembled the supreme’s, but his was too weak! What if... a myriad of worlds manifested within the book? Would it still be weak then?

Surely not!

Even if it seemed weak, Li Hao was confident of creating a fake through manifesting the myriad of worlds through the book of dao.

Then, the situation would be the Ash Emperor with Yin and Yang on one side, and an easily conquered Orchid Forest on the other. The Ash Emperor might borrow the Human King’s strength and be able to fight an eighth rank, whereas the Red Moon would certainly be strengthening his own world if he devoured Orchid Forest.

In that case, the Red Moon master wouldn’t easily chase after Li Hao’s group, no matter how irate he was.

“I’ll go chat with Senior Zhang An before the Red Moon exalted emperors arrive!” Li Hao looked at Celestial Pole. “Does the senior wish to come with me?”

“Why would I go see him?” Celestial Pole almost rolled his eyes. What’s the point of doing that?

Li Hao was puzzled. Do you not like Zhang An or something?

I’m annoyed by even the sight of his grandfather. Celestial Pole couldn’t be bothered to explain himself. I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist the urge to beat up his grandson. It’ll be so troublesome if I accidentally kill or maim him. One thing more is subpar to one thing less. I can’t be bothered to meet that kid.

......

Within the dao river.

Zhang An was still in seclusion. Was he feeling anxious?

Very!

The path to the exalted emperor level was too hard.

Or rather, it could be said that the regular path was very easy, but his ambitions had swelled after seeing so much of the world. First it was the accomplishments of his grandfather and the Human King, next it was Li Hao and the others. They were either masters of dao, the world, or of life and death at the worst.

So was Zhang An satisfied at becoming an ordinary exalted emperor?

He was not!

If he was, he would’ve made the leap long ago. But he was not, so he neither relinquished the book of great dao nor Silver Moon’s dao. Thankfully, the two dao universes were more or less compatible, or issues would’ve arisen long ago.

But at his current stage... it was too difficult to combine the two daos. He was already a half step emperor, yet stuck here. There was no progress that could be made. It was a very depressing situation!

Am I wrong?

I don’t have my grandfather’s potential or the opportunities of his friends. I’m not as decisive as them either. I insist on walking such a complicated path—can I really succeed?

Many New Martial exalted emperors were mid ranks now, and quite a few of his former classmates and colleagues were exalted emperors. What of him, as the supreme’s grandson?

He still dawdled at the half step emperor stage!

Despite having left Silver Moon, he seemed as inconsequential as he’d always been.

Dejection, disappointment, and reluctance gathered in his heart. When Li Hao saw Zhang An, the young man blinked with astonishment.

Zhang An... seemed on the verge of a cultivation deviation. Something had gone wrong with his cultivation!

“Senior Zhang!” A shout echoed through the river.

Zhang An saw Li Hao when he opened his eyes. The look in his eyes changed and he rose to his feet with a sigh. “I must be quite a sight.”

“The senior has always been reserved and composed in my eyes.” Li Hao furrowed his brows at the man. “What... what is the reason for this?”

Combining two dao universes... no, the daos of two different worlds, was too hard. Li Hao felt that Zhang An possessed quite the potential. He himself would think twice about devouring a world, but never consider integrating the daos of two different worlds together.

Zhang An remained silent.

Li Hao looked at him until the man laughed sardonically. “I just feel... that my potential is less than many people and that I’m much weaker than them. How am I supposed to catch up to everyone?

“Therefore, my thoughts are that perhaps... I should walk a more unique dao. In that way, I might quickly make it to fourth rank and even seventh rank!”

He was rather agitated when he mentioned seventh rank and somewhat excited. There was... even a strange light in his face.

“Seventh rank?” Li Hao blinked.

“That’s right, seventh rank!” Zhang An nodded meaningfully. “A seventh rank is a true overlord!”

Overlord? You want to be an overlord?

No, that’s not the type of person you are.

Li Hao’s brows knitted together even more tightly. He studied the man, rummaging through his memories of when they visited Zhang An’s past.

Understanding dawned!

The Human King’s younger sister spoke often about her brother. She admired, loved, respected, and was her brother’s biggest fan...

The seventh rank Human King!

Li Hao seemed to grasp something and he looked at Zhang An with some pity. The Human King’s younger sister was very wild due to her proximity with the Human King. What about her captivates you so?

And... her brother often beat you up. Did you get addicted to that?

It was only now that he truly understood some of Zhang An’s thoughts. How was he to catch her eye if he followed the prescribed path? Her brother was the unparalleled, arrogant overlord Human King!

Whether it was the supreme or Sword Sovereign, both of them doted on her. The Ash Emperor was her pet—or rather, the Ash Emperor treated her as a personal chef.

Being around so many exemplary people and having such a fine brother, she would naturally compare any potential partners to them. But how many in the vast chaos could compare to the Human King?

No matter how one belittled the Human King, he was an indisputable tyrant!

It was... quite a brazen idea that Zhang An harbored, to be that one’s brother-in-law.

Li Hao understood Zhang An’s internal struggle. The Human King’s baby sister wouldn’t think highly of anyone who followed the mainstream path, but it exceeded Zhang An’s abilities to create something unusual and think out of the box.

Combining the daos of two worlds might be his only chance. So although he knew that there was almost no hope of success, he doggedly kept on.

Even though he knew that he could become an exalted emperor as soon as he gave up on this notion, he was highly unwilling to do so.

And so time dragged on, possibly until his eventual death!

Zhang An was well aware of the true nature of the situation. He himself was a teacher, a teacher at Evenround Martial and its dean of education. How could he not understand?

He understood everything. He just wasn’t willing to accept it. Such was the tragedy of a pathetic supplicant... ahem, a lovestruck man. The most tragic of all was that the woman was stronger than him too.

“Does the senior wish to become a seventh rank and rival the Human King?”

“Not rival him, I’m aware that I’m much less than him,” Zhang An said sheepishly. “I’m just thinking that if I become a seventh rank, I’ll become a pillar for New Martial as well! I won’t be known as simply the supreme’s grandson.”

In other words, no one would say that he possessed a title and background without the appropriate strength and status.

And in other words, when a certain someone spoke fondly of their brother, he would have the right to respond noncommittally, “Indeed, the Human King is very strong. Just yesterday when we discussed dao...”

He would no longer be inexplicably anxious or fearful when he heard the Human King’s name. He didn’t expect himself to surpass the Human King, but at the very least he would have some dignity in front of the man...

Li Hao smiled wryly. Um... this was a maddening situation as the problem was very difficult to resolve.

What kind of person was the Human King?

Not even Li Hao dared say that he would surpass the Human King one day. How could he possibly help Zhang An with that goal?