Star Gate-Chapter 1498: Each With Their Own Schemes (III)

“This is strange.” The Dragon Observatory leader looked at the board of light in front of him with puzzlement. A unique situation was playing out across it. Some black pinpricks were attacking a few dots of light. That meant that the dark puppets were attacking some of the exalted emperors.

This didn’t normally take place.

Typically, the dark puppets would stir to action only after exalted emperors spent a month in the dao foundation site. That was why some danger occurred after a month and cases of missing persons developed.

But this time, it’d only been three days.

Why was this happening?

Of the seven dots of light, the strongest had almost reached the hall. However, there was also a building amount of black pinpricks in that vicinity. This meant that the dark puppets did not welcome the arrival of these visitors.

Is there a feud between Utmost Dark and the Skyward dark envoy? wondered the Dragon Observatory leader. That had to be the case. Otherwise, why the difference in treatment?

As a dark-attributed faction, Utmost Dark had existed for a very long period of time. The Utmost Dark master had also been alive for many years. Perhaps there were some grudges between him and the dark envoy?

But with the disappearance of the Skyward powerhouses and the demise of the Utmost Dark master, there was no one he could ask anymore.

These thoughts occurred to the Dragon Observatory leader also due to the situation around Li Hao. There weren’t that many dark puppets around the young man and the two exalted emperors outside the hall hadn’t seemed to come in contact with each other. This obliquely proved that anyone not from Utmost Dark would not be targeted.

......

The reality of the situation was that Li Hao was completely enshrouded by the ‘dark’ supernatural character. The strength of darkness emanated from his body, a power that came from the energy present within the surroundings. Hence, the dark puppets hesitated and did not attack the young man. He felt like part of the scenery.

While Li Hao had paused for three days, his rate of improvement was quite fast. He suddenly heard some sounds in the distance. Was that... someone fighting?

Fighting? How could that be?

Of the seven exalted emperors on this trip, six of them were from the same faction. If any fighting broke out, they should all be targeting Li Hao instead.

A wary look entered the young man’s eyes as he continued forward. Sound was the only thing that travelled a little further in this place; presences and energy ripples were almost impossible to detect. If even sound was obscured, then no one would know if fighting occurred and someone died as a result.

Li Hao flitted forward like a sprite in the night; the scene he sought wasn’t too far away. It came into view about ten thousand meters ahead.

An exalted emperor fought roughly one thousand meters in front of him, but his opponent wasn’t another exalted emperor. It seemed to be either a strange monster, a wild man with overly long hair, or a puppet.

The wild man was exceedingly frenetic and part of the darkness. A chilly light glinted off claws or razor-sharp nails when his hands flashed by. It took only a glancing blow to leave a bloody mark on the second rank.

The body of an exalted emperor seemed to be but ordinary flesh and blood to these claws! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Li Hao was familiar with the exalted emperor; there were only two second ranks in the delegation that’d entered Demon Summit. He wasn’t aware of the man’s name, but knew that this was one of the weakest among the six.

The Utmost Dark exalted emperor was taken aback by his opponent’s ferocity and starting to panic. He occasionally shouted warningly, wanting to scare off the other and perhaps hoping that the other heavyweights would hear the disturbance and come rescue him.

He seemed to be able to see further into the distance as well. When Li Hao appeared in his line of sight, disappointment first dawned, then hope. “Is that Fellow Daoist Hao Moon? Some undead creatures have appeared in this land for some reason and focus on us. They are very dangerous!

“Has the fellow daoist encountered the other exalted emperors from my world?”

Li Hao didn’t make a sound.

“These undead creatures are strong and have dogged my footsteps until now,” the exalted emperor said urgently. “I am unable to break free. However, it’s not much stronger than me. I would be able to kill it if the fellow daoist could give me a hand.

“There is dense energy of darkness within this being that can all go to the fellow daoist after it’s dead. Or if you are unwilling to help, could I impose upon you to help search for the others with my group...”

He moved toward Li Hao as he spoke. Exalted emperors seemed to lose a lot of their abilities in these surroundings. They were even unable to tear through the void and escape in that customary way.

The wild man that resembled a beast remained as before, flashing in and out of sight to attack without displaying signs of intelligence.

Each attack left marks on the exalted emperor and a smear of power lingered upon the man, devouring the energy within his body. They were both of the dark attribute, but the energy within the site was clearly of a higher level.

Li Hao took a step back, making the other become more frantic. “Fellow Daoist Hao Moon, we are both of Dragon Observatory. No matter if you are willing or not, at least give me an answer. I will not force you to help me if you are unwilling to take the risk!”

Li Hao ignored him and increased the distance between the two, assessing the situation in detail. He cocked his head to the side to listen, having quickly come to a few conclusions. The wild man seemed to lock onto the Utmost Dark exalted emperor through sound. Perhaps it was the exalted emperor’s movements that caused him to draw the other’s attention.

If the young man responded, he might be targeted as well. Not to mention, the other exalted emperor didn’t have good intentions at heart!

They were so close to one another, he could just transmit his words. What was he yelling for? Did he want to demonstrate that he had a loud voice?

Who knew how many more of these beings existed in the gloom?

It looked like the Utmost Dark exalted emperor had been backed into a corner as well. Otherwise, he would just keep quiet.

Li Hao ignored the man; he wasn’t interested in staving off disaster for someone else. Instead, he took a look at the wild man. It did seem to be a person, but one without intelligence.

The wild man appeared to be out of control and another dark attribute cultivator. He was entangled with the energy within the land and had become a wooden puppet of the darkness.

So the energy here can control powerhouses? Wasn’t that another form of possession?

Li Hao carefully studied the situation. The second rank continued to fight back, occasionally leaving marks on the wild man’s body. But just as the second rank said, this entity seemed to be undying. Injuries spontaneously healed and didn’t affect the wild man at all.

This was not an easy obstacle to overcome! Why had it suddenly appeared?

“Fellow Daoist Hao Moon!” Some more wounds crisscrossed the exalted emperor’s body, ones that did not close. That was supposed to be impossible to happen to an exalted emperor, yet happen it did to this one.

His blood dripped on the ground, heightening to his unease.

“Fellow daoist, you only need to hold this thing off for me for a little while. I have my methods to eliminate it once I have the space to maneuver with! I am willing to pay you three thousand dao crystals if the fellow daoist helps me!”

One dao crystal was sufficient for a day’s worth of cultivation for a first rank. Obstructing the wild man for a moment would save Li Hao ten years of hard work. It was a very worthwhile transaction. This part of their cultivation was when first ranks needed this resource the most.

“Five thousand? Ten thousand?” The Utmost Dark exalted emperor urgently raised the bid when he saw that Li Hao was completely unmoved. “If that still does not satisfy the fellow daoist, I can tell you that there should be a dark crystal within this creature’s body! It’s not just a crystal of energy, but of dao foundation as well.

“These creatures should be dark puppets, which makes them puppets of the great dao. They were probably caught in the backlash of the dao remnants in this place and controlled by it, turning them into puppets.

“A chunk of dao foundation crystal is sure to appear if you kill this creature. It will contain some of the rules of dao from this site’s master! This is an invaluable treasure to dark attribute cultivators!” the exalted emperor spoke rapidly. “Even if the fellow daoist has no use for it, you can trade it with others. It will be worth at least several tens of thousands of dao crystals! With several of these dao foundation crystals, you can even purchase a minor world to devour and set foot into second rank!”

Dao remnants?

Li Hao raised an eyebrow. Now these words might not be false. He looked at the wild man and took a close glance. The source of the being’s energy did seem to come from a single place within its body. There were also some dao remnants swirling over his skin.

Perhaps... it was like what the Utmost Dark exalted emperor had said and a chunk of dao foundation crystal did exist in its body.

One chunk was worth tens of thousands of dao crystals? Last time Li Hao asked, a minor world cost ten million dao crystals. It was the equivalent of a first rank coalescing twenty to thirty thousand years of chaos qi.

Was such a transaction worth it?

Some people thought so.

And dao foundation crystals were worth tens of thousands of dao crystals. For a first rank, killing one of these entities was on par with killing a second or third rank. Would they be short on that amount of dao crystals if they could manage such a feat?

The dao remnants of darkness.

What a pity that it wasn’t the dao of life and death or the five elements. Even the dao of light would be immensely useful once Li Hao brought it back to Silver Moon. It was only the dao of darkness that saw very few cultivators in Silver Moon, and not a lot of powerhouses either.

The remnants of dao... the backlash of dao... These dark puppets might have suffered recoil when they were comprehending the great dao!

Could it be that these puppets had all once touched the core of this small world, the time that was similar to a supernatural character? And were hit by backlash in return because the item was so strong that the cultivators could not endure the invasion of energy?

The second rank panicked when he saw that not only was Li Hao not answering, but he was lost in thought instead! Anger brewed—how dare the kid refuse to respond!

Just as Li Hao theorized, so was the second rank speculating that these things were drawn to sound. If Hao Moon spoke up, it might draw the beast away from him.

And yet, Hao Moon didn’t say a word. The second rank would die if this continued! Even though his life force was fierce and unbounded, he would die from attrition if he wasn’t able to recover from his wounds in a place like this.

There was likely more than one dark puppet present. Their commotion was so large that it was only a matter of time before more were attracted to them.

The second rank looked at Li Hao with newfound viciousness. Since you’ve come to me... don’t blame me. You don’t seem to want to help me, so I’ll help myself!

He flashed toward Li Hao. Since you’re not going to make a sound, I’ll help you make a sound! He was going to drag Hao Moon down even if that meant taking a blow from the puppet!

Dense energy billowed and swirled toward Li Hao. Can you stay quiet even in battle??