Was there a heavenly will in the chaos?

Director General Zhao didn’t know, but the queen’s presence expanded dramatically as she became an exalted emperor in the blink of an eye. Countless humans were moved into the divine nation.

They could set foot into it with a single thought, the caveat being that they had placed their faith in the queen. Most people had.

The little world emptied in short order and the queen, in the form of a silver moon, swallowed the entire world. She swept up Director General Zhao and the Great Li king before the two could react, then vanished on the spot!

Moments after they left.

The Dragon major world that had just been with Li Hao manifested where the trio had been. The Dragon master’s eyes widened when he stepped forth.

“The power of faith?” he snorted. “How dare they! Someone’s verified their dao as a god of faith in Dragon Region!”

He frowned—had he sensed the power of faith earlier?

It didn’t seem like it!

But he’d followed his senses to find an extraordinarily dense concentration of faith. Someone had verified their dao here. Most importantly was that they practiced a very peculiar kind of faith. He’d seen his fair share of exalted emperors who ascended through faith in regular times, but this one... seemed different.

Different, how?

The Dragon master probed the surroundings for a while. It... didn’t seem like a pure dao of faith. He frowned as he traced the power into the chaos. Had he encountered a lunatic?

The other... seemed to have verified their dao through the void of the chaos. He didn’t know what made it special, just that the cultivator might be completely crazy as that might lead them to being devoured by the universe!

The great dao needed to be grounded somewhere. That person had grounded their dao in the chaos, which made them more of a chaos beast than a chaos beast!

“How odd...” The Dragon master looked into the distance and didn’t pick up the trail. They should’ve already gotten away—he was shaken by that realization. Had they known he was about to come?

He’d come very quickly!

But that was all the time they’d needed to verify their dao. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’d only notified the four seventh ranks of his intentions, he would almost suspect a traitor in their midst!

The Dragon master had simply mentioned to the four seventh ranks that he was going to stop by this location. The unknown cultivator had run off during this time. What a coincidence!

He flicked a glance at the four massive dragons, but quickly suppressed his suspicions. That was impossible. These four were the cornerstones of the dragon race. They would never betray him, nor did they have the time to.

He could only mark it up as a coincidence. Or perhaps the dao of faith was unique and could sense impending danger?

The Dragon master decided to capture a few faith cultivators for some questioning later on. For now, he set the escapee out of mind and looked around. They were on the edge of Dragon Region, but someone swallowing one of his worlds was still a provocation.

“Send word to be on the lookout for an exalted emperor who verified their dao through faith. Take them alive!”

The rest could wait until later. He was leaving Dragon Region and didn’t have time for an unexpected detour.

A god of faith hmm... It looks like they have their eyes set on the countless humans in my region!

Clearly, a human had verified their dao.

......

On the edge of Dragon Region.

A first rank world had been devoured by another and the culprit had verified their dao of faith through the chaos. The Dragon master would be interested in exploring this further on a normal day, perhaps even capture the offender for study.

But at the moment, he had more important matters at hand. He sensed certain things—someone was coming!

Thus, he set the situation aside after ordering his people to capture the oddity. Instead, the Dragon master swiftly directed his four exalted emperors and the world through the territory barrier and into Skyward Region.

......

Skyward Region. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Two eighth ranks had come in person to welcome the Dragon master in an immense showing of face. They were Skycloud and Red Moon!

They exchanged looks the moment Dragon major world appeared, smiling to see that the Dragon master had joined them. That meant all of the eighth ranks in the four regions would be participating in this unrest. There would be no need to worry about an eighth rank sitting on the sidelines and benefiting from their efforts.

All-out war would be hard pressed to commence if the Dragon master was not here.

“Dragon master!”

“Welcome!” The two eighth ranks raised their hands in greeting.

“I’d thought that some more time would be needed, but the Dragon master is here so swiftly!” the Skycloud master laughed in clear tones. “As expected of the Dragon Region overlord! You are so decisive!”

The Dragon master smiled without a word. He wouldn’t have come so quickly if he hadn’t sensed that unusual presence. What was the hurry?

These two presented the very picture of brotherhood and harmony to him. The Dragon master smirked to himself. They looked like best friends, but who knew what they thought about each other in private?

Everyone in existence knew that it was only a matter of time before they became enemies again. At least, they weren’t enemies for the moment.

“I’m not late, am I?”

“You’re not!” grinned Skycloud. “But you would be if you came later! Skyward is showing signs of revitalization lately. Our thoughts are to eliminate New Martial first, then divvy up Skyward according to everyone’s abilities. Otherwise, if New Martial occupies a reawakened Skyward, that will make them difficult to deal with!”

“Is Skyward really about to revitalize?”

“It’ll be soon!” The Skycloud master was frank. The dao star that he’d obtained had begun to shimmer with light as of late. He’d thought that it’d need some more time at first, but now it seemed that it might not be much longer before the Skyward dao universe fully recovered.

In that case, they needed to take care of New Martial first.

Although New Martial was just a seventh rank world, the more time they spent with this faction, the more they could understand what a thorny opponent the civilization was. The eighth rank worlds had coexisted peacefully before without any troubles, but those New Martial bastards attacked and killed in all places.

More critically was that they focused on the major worlds!

When others devoured worlds in the past, they only swallowed mid or minor worlds. Who would focus on a seventh or eighth rank world?

Everyone killed only the weaklings in tacit accord. The strong grew stronger as they swallowed the weak. This was the natural order of things. The law of the jungle reigned in the chaos, but someone had broken that unspoken rule today.

They dared to devour Red Moon in a show of extreme insubordination. Skycloud might be next on the menu!

Guys like them that broke the rules needed to be eliminated, regardless of whether or not there was a grudge between them!

“If Skyward is about to revitalize... then we should indeed eliminate New Martial before that takes place...” The Dragon master inclined his head.

“I sensed Dragon major world pausing near the border for a moment,” Red Moon suddenly said. “Did the Dragon master find something of interest?”

“Nothing much, just a newly ascended exalted emperor...”

It was nothing major, and since the one that’d verified their dao was a human, the Dragon master didn’t wish to say anything else. The two in front of him were both humans.

Although race wasn’t a consideration at their level, particularly for Red Moon, that was because humans were the dominant force in the chaos. They naturally had no need to keep race in mind and could just focus on strength.

“A new exalted emperor? Based off faith?” Red Moon was unexpectedly persistent.

The Dragon master raised an eyebrow. What was this fellow being so proactive for?

“It’s a world where a little rat is, right?” asked Red Moon.

“What is Fellow Daoist Red Moon so interested in a minor world for?” smiled the Dragon master.

Surprisingly, the Red Moon master wasn’t reacting like this to be ornery. He replied hesitantly, “I didn’t pay it much attention before the Dragon master, but remembered when I saw you also lingering there. I was drawn there once before...”

The Dragon master blinked, then slowly looked at the Red Moon master. Can it be... that this guy also sensed the unique strength?

Those special ripples were very special and profound. They were difficult to detect under normal circumstances if one did not have a deep enough understanding of the great dao. Had Red Moon been hiding his true strength all along?

It didn’t occur to the Dragon master that an eighth rank might be drawn to a first rank world by anything else. What could it be, if not for the unique ripples he sensed?

And yet, that oddity truly wasn’t on the Red Moon master’s mind. He’d been attracted to that world due to the power of desire that he sensed. He hadn’t felt any strength of time at all. The two of them were talking about wholly different concepts, but they had both felt a pull to the first rank world.

It was obvious that something was amiss if two eighth ranks noticed the same first rank world.

“It looks like Brother Red Moon has also sensed something awry?” the Dragon master chuckled softly. “The same goes for me, but the other got away. I sensed the two of you waiting here for me and didn’t wish for you to wait in vain. Hence, I came here without investigating further.”

“I’m now suspecting... if it has to do with Silver Moon?” nodded the Red Moon master.

Silver Moon? And what does this have to do with Silver Moon?

The Red Moon master had to consider the possibility due to the power of desire that he’d sniffed out. He hadn’t pondered too deeply on the matter before, but now that he saw that it also attracted the Dragon master, he naturally thought back over it.

He suddenly felt that... he might have fallen for a trap again. That might’ve been where the Silver Moon king was residing! Damn that brat!

If that was the case, then he’d missed a prime opportunity to kill the kid, more’s the pity!

“Silver Moon?”

“Yes, Silver Moon!” repeated the Red Moon master. “The Silver Moon king took advantage of my absence and led the Sword Sovereign on an ambush of Red Moon major world. I suspect that they’ll repeat their old tricks this time.

"With Dragon major world out of the region... while there are numerous seventh rank worlds as well, I recommend that the Dragon master stay on high alert. It’s best if you leave a seventh rank exalted emperor behind to chase after them, or even two seventh ranks...”

“Thank you for your suggestion,” smiled the Dragon master.

It was a good suggestion, one filled with a great deal of personal motive. He was here with four seventh ranks and Red Moon didn’t have a single one. Skycloud had two, which meant that Dragon major world held an unquestionable advantage in the field!