Li Hao didn’t say anything. Moments later, a tiny star-like object hovered in front of him. It was as bright as the moon and sparkled with an incomparably mysterious luster...

The old man stared fixedly at it, then glanced at Li Hao. Probing someone’s dao origin was absolutely taboo, but at the moment, he truly wished to investigate it further. This dao origin seemed to be the convergence of a lot of great daos and was much purer than chaos dao.

It was like the type distilled by a dao universe.

There was also more than one within it—there were some mysterious daos part of it that made the entire dao origin appear profoundly mystical.

“The Exalted Black Dog Emperor... is not bad,” smiled the old man.

“He is a good talent,” he transmitted to Feng Yan. “He doesn’t cultivate only the five elements, but there is no need to delve further into his dao origin. This is indeed a fifth rank dao origin and tied to Black Dog. It seems to me that ordinary sixth ranks might not have a dao origin as pure as Black Dog...”

“Is he the Heavenly Dog?” Feng Yan transmitted in response.

“No. The Heavenly Dog focuses on the dao of devouring, which can be identified with a single glance. The Heavenly Dog would have to completely change its dao to appear this way, which would be impossible. If that was the case, the Heavenly Dog would’ve long set foot into seventh rank!”

Feng Yan heaved a sigh of relief. It was enough for her recruitment target to not be the Heavenly Dog. “Revered elder, does Black Dog have a strong chance of entering sixth rank?”

“No, because the stronger and more mysterious his dao is, the greater his consumption. One sixth rank world might not be enough...”

No wonder!

Feng Yan understood. No wonder the guy kept saying that he could agree to more terms if they could promise him sixth rank. How devious! How slippery!

“So the revered elder means that it’s not because Black Dog doesn’t possess sufficient potential, but that his potential is too good and his consumption rate so large because of a stronger dao that... he is unable to make it to sixth rank?”

“That’s correct.”

“That’s good...” Feng Yan’s smile broadened and hesitated no longer. Fiery power rose from her body and a dao universe manifested in the background.

A flame of tongue appeared in the void and coalesced into a ball of light. Li Hao and Phoenix major world’s dao origin melded into the book of dao contracts.

But that wasn’t enough.

Feng Yan grunted, summoning a world and immolating it as the sacrifice for signing the agreement. A slightly imperceptible pressure appeared on the premises; it felt like another chaos tribulation was about to descend...

Li Hao looked around. This was his first time signing a dao treaty. He could truly sense the faint presence of a chaos tribulation. How interesting. So the chaos tribulation really could bear witness to these proceedings. Why was that? Was this another kind of rule in the chaos?

He’d never paid attention to it before.

A faint presence swept through the area, toward Li Hao and the Phoenix princess. The chaos seemed to be telling them that they could not break the agreement after signing it. Violators would be punished with a chaos tribulation!

The princess smiled and huffed, sending her presence into the air. The dao treaty in front of her broke apart, scattering through the land and vanishing without a trace!

“Fellow Daoist Black Dog!” The princess smiled radiantly. This guy had officially become one of her subordinates. She’d lucked out on finding a fifth rank with good potential!

“This is the world that you wanted.” A mid world appeared in her hand, the raging water energy within completely under her control. “However, some of its world strength has dissipated and there are no inhabitants...”

“That’s enough!” Li Hao nodded.

“In addition, if you don’t mind, will you let an elder into your inner space to take a look?” smiled the princess.

Li Hao nodded again. This was what they’d agreed on. He opened Panther’s jaw without saying a word, permitting a Phoenix elder of fifth rank to fly forward. The elder glanced at the princess before darting into the massive mouth!

He passed through space and saw a world come into sight. It brimmed with vitality.

The elder stayed outside instead of landing on the world. A peculiar force appeared in his hand, one tied to a dao universe! Utilizing energy from another dao universe was a common method of detecting the existence of other dao universes.

At the same time, a very faint power of emptiness shrouded all of Silver Moon. It suppressed all of the dao strength present. Void cursed to himself as he operated his method, this was so annoying!

Within the world, a cat had its gigantic mouth open and was swallowing the twin dao universes. It was starting to choke as there was too much to keep down. It rolled its eyes. When is this going to be over?

......

Outside the world.

The fifth rank looked around and did not detect any strength from a dao universe. Not only that, but there wasn’t a single exalted emperor in the entire world!

This was a fifth rank mid world at the end of the day! Black Dog was truly a vicious overlord.

But it was to be expected as some chaos beasts didn’t like other exalted emperors being born in their world. New exalted emperors were either eaten or killed. It was normal to not find any exalted emperors in their worlds.

The Phoenix elder quickly returned after observing a bit more.

......

When the elder emerged from Panther’s mouth, he shook his head at Feng Yan. “It is indeed a fifth rank world that is very lively and young. However, there are no exalted emperors within. Black Dog probably killed them all! It’s a world of humans that was likely devoured in the three regions.”

“Black Dog refined the world?”

“Yes, I sensed some heavenly will in it. There seems to be a lot of potential in this world, no wonder Black Dog came with it. It looks like he’s prepared to stay in Dragon Region and become a local overlord.”

Feng Yan was completely at ease now. This was good! She had been highly on guard during this process of recruiting the fifth rank. Perhaps her mother would not have made things so complicated. But this was just as well. It was her first time operating independently and recruiting someone to their banner herself!

“Black Dog, the agreement is in effect!” Feng Yan smiled brilliantly. “You can head to Phoenix Pavilion and pick up what you need, including some basic knowledge about the world and our culture.

“In Phoenix major world, exalted emperors are not just a moniker for killing and bloodshed, but also for entities of great wisdom!”

A reluctant look spread across Panther’s face; it didn’t seem to like this suggestion.

“You must know that chaos beasts have found our footing here not just because of might,” Feng Yan chuckled, used to the reaction. “There are many more things that you do not know! Phoenix Mountain, take Black Dog to receive some of our heritage.

“Black Dog, you can head to your territory after that or stay at Phoenix to devour your world. I will come to you if there is need.”

“My thanks, Your Highness!”

A fourth rank walked out and took Li Hao down to the metropolis beneath them. He displayed a much warmer attitude compared to before.

“Senior Black Dog,” he transmitted. “You are the first exalted emperor that Her Highness has accepted in many years! Congratulations!”

“I’m just getting by,” Li Hao smiled and transmitted back. “Of course, making it to sixth rank is my goal of a lifetime. I don’t like being tied down...”

Phoenix Mountain smiled and didn’t say a word. You’ve signed the dao agreement, nothing is up to you anymore! You’ll have to put in some work for all of the resources you’re getting!

The exalted emperors of Phoenix major world wanted nothing more than for more exalted emperors to be recruited. They would be the vanguard, which would greatly lessen the danger for local exalted emperors.

Hence, he was completely unmoved by Black Dog’s indifference.

If battle really breaks out, we’ll be so much safer with you guys around. You’ll be the cannon fodder!

......

Phoenix Pavilion.

Following the lead of the exalted emperor known as Phoenix Mountain, Li Hao once more entered the world’s dedicated trading storefront. This, however, he was shown to the backyard and entered another internal space.

The young man wasn’t surprised by the smoke and mirrors. As an exalted emperor in charge of a world, he’d seen more than his fair share of unexpected developments. He was just a bit curious why they’d created this tiny space here.

But he soon understood. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Oh?”

An incredibly dense dao strength swam through a river of dao. Exalted emperor presences wafted through the air.

“This is the Foreign Affairs Office of Phoenix major world.” Phoenix Mountain explained upon seeing Panther’s expression.

“Foreign Affairs Office?”

“This is where outsiders normally come to rest and cultivate. Not every nonresident exalted emperor has their own world like the senior and shares a portion of Phoenix territory.”

Li Hao understood. So this was where the recruited exalted emperors came to stay. There seemed to be many of them and quite a few were chaos beasts. They hovered in the surroundings, with some humans and monster spirits to be glimpsed as well.

Everyone resided in a tiny world domain, similar to artificially created rooms. Any powerhouses that could be seen were on purpose; the occupants wished to demonstrate their might. They would not be visible if they retracted their presences. A detailed scan would have to take place before they were revealed.

“So there are... a lot of exalted emperors here?”

“That’s right,” chuckled Phoenix mountain. “Phoenix is the only major world in Dragon Region that is open to the public. We have been open for more than one hundred thousand years. The entire region’s... no, almost ninety percent of the chaos beasts in the four regions have visited our world and many have chosen to stay.

“Some of the monster spirits in the other three regions, some wandering cultivators, or those down on their luck come here as well. There are many of them, and some have enemies.”

Due to Black Dog joining them and signing the dao agreement, such an outsider was trustworthy in Phoenix Mountain’s eyes. This was one of the very few visiting exalted emperors to do so. That made him more trustworthy than most other exalted emperors here.

Other exalted emperors might betray them, this one... would not.

Not everyone was worthy of signing a dao agreement. Each instance required sacrificing a minor world. Some first ranks weren’t worthy of such an investment.

“Whew!” Li Hao sighed. “So that means there might be... more than one hundred exalted emperors here?”

Phoenix Mountain smiled without a word; Li Hao didn’t ask further. All he knew was there were a lot of exalted emperors here!