Star Gate-Chapter 1524: Peace of Mind (III)

“Hao Moon, you’re newly risen to the exalted emperor level, so you should focus on observation,” Exalted Emperor Ming Hao suddenly transmitted from the front. “It’s best if you stay out of battle!”

“Thank you for your care, senior!” Li Hao laughed. “But don’t worry. If I die, Fellow Daoist Void will not make trouble for everyone, unless I die to our own. He will not be an obstacle in everyone’s way, but our reinforcement. We can even borrow the name of Light major world in a critical moment of need if we must. The fellow daoist is easy to talk to, he won’t mind.”

Bullshit!

Everyone cursed to themselves. Borrow the name of an eighth rank major world?! That’s how we die by a thousand random cuts!

Easy to talk to?? Void?!

No way! He never bothered with us before and was too proud to even look at us. We didn’t understand it, but now we do. He’s the crown prince of an eighth rank major world, of course he’s proud!

And he’s a fifth rank himself!

Ming Hao knew a bit more than the others. Void was said to have reached fifth rank a long time ago, but now did not cultivate the power of light. And yet, he was still a fifth rank nonetheless... that was the most terrifying of it all.

He’d thought before that he could go toe-to-toe with the other, but now Ming Hao was fully aware that if Void was who he said he was and a fifth rank nonetheless... that changed everything. He no longer used the power of light. Would he just be a fifth rank upon reaching that level again?

He was probably even a sixth rank!

Ming Hao didn’t say anything as he needed to defend his authority in front of the other exalted emperors. He couldn’t be noticeably affected by knowledge of Li Hao’s patron. However, he did need to look out for the young man when appropriate!

Therefore, he was even traveling at a slower speed in order to accommodate Li Hao. Being a newly ascended exalted emperor, there was no way the young man could keep up with them.

For exalted emperors of their level, they could only rely on themselves to travel through the chaos. There was a scarcity of weapons and treasures to go around. Any they did have wouldn’t be used on travel, but to kill someone else.

Anything that could travel through the chaos was a great treasure. Who would want to waste it on such mundane efforts?

A group of exalted emperors didn’t travel slowly, even at reduced speeds.

It’d taken Li Hao about a month to reach Skyward from Silver Moon’s original position. In the absence of a world dragging down his footsteps, he returned to the same place in less than twenty days. This was where Silver Moon had once stood!

A year had gone by in the blink of an eye. Time really did fly after one set foot into the chaos. Was he twenty-four now?

It’d taken less than two years to conquer Silver Moon. But a year had passed since he set foot off the major world and he had nothing to show for it. Damn, I did so much with a year in Silver Moon. But now look at me, I’ve done nothing in the past twelve months other than go from first rank to third rank!

No wonder someone like the Human King had improved so rapidly in Yin and Yang, but only progressed from sixth rank to peak seventh rank after one thousand years in the chaos.

One thousand years is such a long time. If I don’t cause trouble or pick fights, I won’t be able to reach seventh rank after a thousand years, right?

Li Hao’s thoughts wondered to dao chess again. I gotta say, I do stand a chance with that treasure. It should be able to propel me into seventh rank within a thousand years, even if I don’t pick a fight.

He made fast time with the group while keeping tabs on the inherent strength of another star within the river—the star of life and death. Lin Hongyu’s star.

He could determine his distance to them through it. Thus, he knew that he was getting closer to Silver Moon because the star’s presence was growing stronger. Clearly, Silver Moon was going to reconvene with Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King.

......

At the same time, within the chaos, aboard a flying ship.

Celestial Pole looked on hopelessly. I can sense it! I can sense my replica getting closer to me. Closer and closer. The hell are you coming to me for?

We’re one and the same. You know me, I know you. Knowing what you know... why would you get closer to me?! Are you even my replica anymore??

Are you being forced to approach me? Is the new king of Silver Moon making you to do this? You wouldn’t be getting close otherwise!

This is so troublesome!

The Pagoda King was aware of the situation when he saw Celestial Pole’s expression. “It’ll be fine,” he sighed. What else could he say apart from that?

Celestial Pole rolled his eyes and didn’t respond. There’s nothing I can do about it either. We’ll probably actually run into Silver Moon in two to three months. So long as nothing unexpected happens, we’ll be reunited in less than two years altogether!

And here he’d been hoping that it’d be another three to five years!

I was going to them while they kept running, but they suddenly stopped running! I’m still running at the same pace, which means the time separating us has abruptly halved. Someone just kill me already.

As much as Celestial Pole cursed up a storm and rued life, he still made the preparations he needed to make.

“If my thoughts are correct, then Silver Moon has seized the body of a chaos beast,” he sighed. “The world should be within the beast’s body. That’s good news, that means they can freely move around. Otherwise, it’ll be tough for us to leave with the minor world unless we swallow it. That’s not an issue anymore!

“In addition, Silver Moon and my replica should be in danger if they are coming to us. Someone must be chasing after them, but not someone too strong. Silver Moon and my replica would already be gone, in that case. It might be a second or third rank after them, and of unknown numbers.

“In addition, we might encounter each other again within Red Moon territory. That will be key!” Celestial Pole frowned slightly. “We are not the Human King and cannot afford to act as impudently as he does. We also can’t imitate him and treat the chaos as our home to randomly walk through it as we would.

“We need to avoid Red Moon and travel through the borderlands! Otherwise, Red Moon will easily come for our heads if we come in range of their dao universe!”

The Pagoda King nodded. There was no problem with these arrangements. Prince Celestial Pole was Prince Celestial Pole alright. His arrangements are the most thorough. Although the same idea’s also occurred to me, I wouldn’t speak of it.

“So they’ve taken possession of a chaos beast, but is it through the actions of one person or the heavenly will?” Celestial Pole flicked a glance at his compatriot. “No matter how they’ve accomplished it, they have at least one exalted emperor now. There’s also the Silver Moon king, who’d be the last person to take possession of a chaos beast. And with my replica in the mix... that means there might be three exalted emperors at present on their side!

“You and me make for five, but the three on Silver Moon might all be first ranks. You’re a second rank and I’m a third rank... This level of strength is good for low rank exalted emperors, but we’ll be in trouble if we encounter a fourth rank!”

“Do you have a chance of setting foot into fourth rank if you integrate the replica back into yourself?” asked the Pagoda King.

“It won’t be that easy!” Celestial Pole shook his head. “Fourth rank isn’t that easy to achieve!

“This ship’s speed is fast enough at about mid rank. Our only hope is to meet up with Silver Moon and take it with us. Mid ranks will find it difficult to catch up to us—I mean fourth or fifth ranks. Sixth ranks will definitely be able to catch up!”

“The road ahead is tough!” sighed the Pagoda King. “Our return trip will also be an issue. I don’t recommend heading straight back to New Martial. Not to mention, where is New Martial at the moment? The Ash Emperor keeps moving around, so I think we should run towards Skyward when we reconvene with Silver Moon!

“There are many chaos wanderers there and the situation is more disordered at Skyward. There’s been some friction between Light and Skycloud. Skyward is supposedly very unorganized. There are many exalted emperors on that major world, so it might be a better choice for us to run there!”

“We’ll also be bigger targets that way!” Celestial Pole said after momentary thought. “Let’s discuss this after we come in contact with Silver Moon again. I wonder what their king has in mind.”

The Pagoda King nodded continuously.

“And you? What are your thoughts?” Celestial Pole couldn’t help but ask.

“The senior can decide,” smiled the Pagoda King. “I’m just here to keep the senior company...”

Celestial Pole rolled his eyes. Screw you, buddy! You’re such a devious and sinister guy that you’ve got to have some more tricks up your sleeves.

“Just be straightforward about it. Our lives are at stake here. Will I throw mine away just because I don’t like what you have to say?”

That was true enough. While the Pagoda King felt that he needed to be more reserved in front of other New Martial exalted emperors, he could... speak his mind a bit more in front of this one.

“Senior, I think that we need to save ourselves!” he said softly.

No shit!

“Someone might be keeping watch on us right now,” continued the Pagoda King. “It’ll be hard for us to save ourselves when we’re too big of a target. I have an idea. Since Silver Moon might have produced a new dao...”

Celestial Pole stared at him. Why do you think that?

How the hell else would your replica have risen to exalted emperor? The Pagoda King didn’t explain his comments. That would’ve required a huge infusion of dao strength! And how could they seize a chaos beast’s body without a new dao?

It must be the Silver Moon king that’s a lot stronger than regular first ranks. If it’s the heavenly will behind the action, then that means the vassal world’s heavenly will is stronger than a first rank. That’s... not normal.

Anyhow, it’s very likely that there’s been a new dao born on Silver Moon.

“Our New Martial presence is too strong at the moment, it’ll be hard for us to hide!” transmitted the Pagoda King. “We also smell of a major world, that’s too dangerous! Once we make it to Silver Moon, I say that we can’t charge at the front if the danger is too great. If there’s a new dao on the world, we should... become part of it!”

Celestial Pole sucked a sharp breath. Hot damn! You want to betray New Martial??

“Ahem... don’t misunderstand, senior. New Martial and Silver Moon are one family. I mean that if the Silver Moon king is the master of the new dao, then it’ll be difficult to kill him. If you as a third rank and me as a second rank integrate ourselves into the new dao, it will spontaneously strengthen the Silver Moon king. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“He’ll be able to stomp on some powerhouses then and we’ll be able to fulfill our mission! There must be a lack of powerhouses within the new dao for the moment. Our accomplishments in core origin aren’t that impressive either. If we join a new dao universe, we might be able to establish ourselves as veteran exalted emperors.

“Once the new dao universe grows stronger, we might be able to make it to mid rank. High rank isn’t out of the consideration either if we’re lucky enough!” The Pagoda Kind smiled meaningfully. “We’d be traitors if we joined another major world, but that’s not the case with Silver Moon! New Martial and Silver Moon are one and the same, and we are tailoring our actions according to the circumstances. What do you say, senior?”

Celestial Pole sucked in a sharp breath. Hot damn! That did make some sense.