Li Hao waited a while longer.

Gemini’s dao universe eventually collapsed with a rumble. The dao chess walked out, its shadowy form more tangible than before. It could take the shape of a cultured gentleman now, one who wore a smile on his face.

“My thanks!” He raised a cupped fist salute. He’d finally recovered after so many years. Eighth rank!

He might be the only weapon spirit to ever make it to eighth rank. All the same, it was puzzling why the Skyward master had left him behind when the man chose to leave.

A million years of attrition had caused the treasure’s cultivation to descend to seventh rank from eighth, with even a slide to sixth rank after the earlier fights. After devouring two dao universes, he’d finally made it back to prime condition!

Li Hao’s group had killed a large number of powerhouses during this campaign, which all served to benefit the dao chess. It was inconsequential that the queen had entered fifth rank, Panther set foot into sixth, and Li Hao had become a seventh rank. It wasn’t hard for the young man to break through. He’d simply reached seventh rank with one dao.

“You’re too kind!” Li Hao smiled. “I’ve paid off another debt today. That’s less pressure on me. I’ve paid back the senior and the Human King... and don’t actually owe anything to anyone anymore.”

He only owed Skyward now. Li Hao had once conversed with Coiling Dragon, Flamefire, and Water Spirit. He owed them a bit, but now those debts seemed minuscule in the greater picture of things. They’d seemed horrifying overwhelming back in the day.

“Let’s go back to Thunder World for now...” Li Hao laughed ruefully. “I’d planned on taking a look in the south, but here we are, having to head back not long after coming out.”

The Thunder master had been exposed. If the Silver Moon contingent headed out, that would land the Thunder master in trouble. Not to mention, the Thunder master had killed an eighth rank from Reincarnation.

Reincarnation major world had suffered a major setback from this conflict. They were down three eighth ranks and four seventh ranks. However, they had remaining a premier eighth rank and ten seventh ranks. They were still a major faction that the Thunder master could not withstand.

It might be time for Thunder World to move before the rest of the outer region factions had a chance to join hands.

......

Thunder World.

The Thunder master was equally dejected by the aftermath of the battle. His world needed repairing and he’d exposed his presence. What should he do now?

After seeing so many eighth ranks in action, he fully understood that he was nothing among eighth ranks. Whether it was the Dragon master, Human King, or Reincarnation master, all of them outclassed him. Even Earth Yang and Reincarnation were beyond his reach.

They were dead and he’d exposed himself. He was even the first to kill an eighth rank. Trouble would be coming for him.

It was then that Li Hao returned.

The Thunder master was overjoyed by the young man’s return! His anxious heart was able to settle back down.

......

The palace of Thunder World.

A group of people who hadn’t left the world looked at Li Hao with equal parts excitement and resignation. Hadn’t the young man said that he wanted to keep a low profile? Why had he raised such a furor as soon as he left?

Whatever happened to keeping a low profile?

You say that the Human King is a troublemaker, but honestly, you’re right on par with him...

“The layout of the chaos is very complicated,” Li Hao exhaled. “It will be difficult to execute on my idea of sharing dao...”

The group exchanged wordless looks. You should’ve realized that early on.

“I came back because we have some problems to take care of...” Li Hao remarked. “Ones that I need everyone to weigh in on!”

The group looked quietly at the young man. Who did he want to beat up now?

Li Hao collected his thoughts before beginning, “There is great unrest in the chaos these days and we can... count as partners with each other. We have the eighth rank dao chess, Fog Mountain, and Thunder master on our side!

“For seventh ranks, we have me, Void, Number Two, Orchid Forest, and the combination of Gan Wuliang and Martial Uncle Hong.

“Three eighth ranks, five seventh ranks, and more than one hundred exalted emperors. We sound powerful, but are weaker than Reincarnation when it comes down to it, right?”

Thoughtful nods abounded throughout the group. Indeed, they were weaker. They might be on par with one another if they didn’t count the Reincarnation master, but once they did count the world master, then the three eighth ranks were far behind.

“But Reincarnation doesn’t even count as an overload in the chaos and was almost easily toppled...”

“That was them being unlucky,” chuckled the Thunder master. “It’s because we just so happened to attack at the same time...”

“That wasn’t misfortune, that was preordained!” Li Hao shook his head. “If it wasn’t us, then it would’ve been Spring Autumn of the south, Five Elements of the north, or Chaos Sky of the east. All of them are stronger than Reincarnation.

“Since the chaos is already in turmoil, the flow of the times demands that either these secondary factions bend the knee to a stronger one, or be destroyed for their refusal!”

Was there any other way out?

No.

Neither could one easily recruit another, for fear of betrayal.

“I wasn’t that familiar with the outer regions before this,” Li Hao breathed out. “Now that I know about them in greater detail, our strength is sufficient only for the eastern region. We won’t be able to survive in the other regions, not to mention that our reputation has been ruined after this occasion. At the very least, it’s not good in the outer regions anymore!

“There are wolves ahead of us and tigers to the rear. This wasn’t worth it just to eliminate Gemini. Not only did we lose out in the deal, but we’re a public enemy now... It’ll be hard for us to go to the other three regions or return to the four regions!”

None of the rest had considered the ramifications of this campaign. They blinked at Li Hao’s analysis.

“So do you mean that... we are in more difficult straits... than we were before?” the Thunder master asked hesitantly.

Surely not?

“Yes!” Li Hao nodded after some thought. “Think about it. If we go to the three regions now, no one might believe a word we say unless we sign a dao treaty with one of the three overlords. And since my power of time may have been completely exposed, do you think they’ll still trust us?”

“Should we ally with New Martial instead and build a new faction?”

“The Human King is strong, as is the Ash Emperor, Supreme Zhang, and Light master,” responded Li Hao. “We can form another strong faction and perhaps conquer the eastern region through it. We’ll be the overlord of the east and vie with the other three regions!

“But we will still be less than others in the core nature of things. Working with New Martial might not go that smoothly either. We’ve partnered with each other before, but things won’t look this way if we truly reach an alliance.”

“That’s right... it would be very hard,” Fog Mountain piped up as the crowd turned over his words. “Partnership is partnership, but an alliance or even integration...

“That would feel less comfortable!” the man concluded with difficulty.

Everyone had thought well of killing Earth Yang and the Thunder master killing an eighth rank. It seemed that everything was on the right track and the future was bright. But after Li Hao’s analysis, they discovered that nothing seemed to have taken a good turn.

They were in more difficult circumstances instead!

How had things turned out this way?

There were wolves to the fore and tigers to the rear. The three overlords blocked the way ahead and the Dragon master loomed behind. The four regions might count as the true eastern overlord.

They and New Martial had left the four regions, but seem to have gotten stuck instead.

“Then we might as well collude with New Martial and strike back at them!” Fog Mountain proposed. “We’ll fight our way back to the four regions and eliminate the Dragon master’s faction. They only have Long Zhan who’s a bit stronger. Black Tiger and Red Moon don’t count for much. The dao chess has entered eighth ranks as well now. If we join hands, we’ll be able to take them down...”

“The Dragon master is very strong,” Li Hao shook his head. “And there are many chaos beast exalted emperors in Dragon Region. There are numerous seventh ranks as well. We can fight them, but it would be a pyrrhic victory. Do you think that will go unnoticed by the rest?”

What should they do then?

“I have an idea,” Li Hao said frankly. “We should create our own chaos! But there are a couple points of difficulty with that. The origin of life is one and a suitable location is another.

“In addition, there’s also the issues of the stability of the chaos, creation of rules, a vast sum of energy... But this might be a chance for us to overtake the rest!” The young man looked at the crowd. “We can establish it together, melding our spirits into the dao rivers and create a universe! We’ll truly establish a new frontier. This will enable us to take in a large number of dao rules—real dao rules...

“We’ll start from scratch! We’ll make our preparations and perfect this venture! That will take care of some of our other problems, such as the countless beings within the divine nation. Thunder World, Silver Moon, and Orchid Forest can temporarily become part of it and hide within it.

“That will hide the worlds from prying eyes. If not, they’ve become a burden upon us!” Li Hao exhaled. “Of course, this will help me, but I trust that everyone will profit handsomely from it as well! Since the Human King is out and about, kicking up a fuss wherever he goes, then we should keep a low profile. Whether it is the Human King or Dragon master, one of them commands five thousand dao rules and the other almost seven thousand.

“To be honest, none of our eighth ranks will be able to take them on if meeting them in battle!”

Even the weakest of Human King had had a difficult time against Drifting Life. Granted, the Human King had killed four seventh ranks prior to that fight, so he was tired before taking on Drifting Life.

If encountering each other in single combat, the Human King would’ve absolutely quickly destroyed Drifting Life.

The Human King was weaker among the trio of the Dragon master and Reincarnation master, but he was much stronger than any of the eighth ranks on the scene.

“Building a domain of dao rules is the path that all powerful eighth ranks take!” said Li Hao. “The Thunder master and the others have fallen immensely behind after entering eighth rank. Thus, I think that you guys should still have some ambitions and goals in mind. Eighth rank is not the end, but the start!

“Building a false chaos is still creating a chaos!” Li Hao thought of another idea at this time. “If we hide this false chaos within the chaos dao, similar to the false pocket of space that the divine nation is, will that cover it up more?”

Everyone’s interest was piqued by the idea. No one made a sound as they turned it over in their minds.

One trip to the outside world had enabled Li Hao to feel the pressure and understand the difference between himself and the rest of his opponents. He felt that a simple exchange of dao would not necessarily be useful.

Traveling around outside also easily created friction. He wanted to walk a different path.

Since the Human King was making his way around the chaos, he wouldn’t undertake the same course of action.

The Dragon master was building his empire in the four regions to the rear, which left no space for Li Hao. He was of no mind to do something similar, anyhow. In that case, why not create a new chaos?

It was a bold idea!