You Finish Your Song, I Take the Stage

The world had turned upside down. The Queen's gambit had caught everyone completely off guard. The Moon God was slain, Heaven's Will shattered, and the Queen had broken entirely free of her entrapment. Even Li Hao had been factored into her calculations, unwittingly serving as an accomplice who aided her escape. The Red Moon Sovereign had met the same fate, losing a clone for nothing. Yet the Queen herself had suffered no loss in strength. Previously, she had hovered near the late Heavenly King realm. Having now fully devoured the Moon God, her cultivation remained roughly at that level. Her strength had not advanced, but the nature of it was worlds apart. Before, every shred of her power had belonged to someone else. It could have been stripped away at any moment. Now, however... things were completely different. She had replaced the original with her clone! This thoroughly upended Li Hao's plans. He had originally considered that if Hongxiu truly were the Moon God's clone, he could use the River of Time to sever past and future, substituting clone for original as well. Instead... the Queen had beaten him to the punch! Having reaped every possible benefit, the Queen slipped away, and the eyes of the realm once more converged upon Li Hao. There was no helping it; the disturbance on Li Hao's end was far greater than anything the Queen had caused. More importantly, even with the Queen breaking free, she was powerless to deal a fatal blow to the half-step Sovereigns or the Sovereign. At most, a small fish had leaped out of the pond; ignoring her made little difference. Li Hao, on the other hand, could not be ignored. At this moment, Li Hao had actually gained some benefits as well, though nothing too immense. Whether it was Heaven's Will or the Red Moon Sovereign's clone, he had channeled the brunt of their energy into the Chaos River—which was, in truth, Hong Yitang. Li Hao had absorbed only a small fraction. Now, in the midst of battle, he was continuously merging stars, causing the commotion around him to swell until it could no longer be concealed. Earlier, the clash with the Queen had served to mask his movements to some degree. With her gone, however... concealing it was no longer possible. *** Inside the Illusory Dao universe. The sword-bearing man watched in silence, then suddenly turned to look at Zheng Yu. He had suffered substantial losses this time; even the Moon God had been slain. She was supposed to be his key to devouring heaven and earth, yet the Queen had snuffed her out. Zheng Yu had spoken of going all out... but had he? Where were his subordinates? Over so many years of laying schemes in Silver Moon, their preparations had primarily targeted the Sovereign and attaining the Sovereign realm. But had they truly prepared no measures against Li Hao? Noticing the gaze, Zheng Yu shook his head. "Sending anyone else to obstruct him now would accomplish little! It would only gift him resources for nothing. You should focus on finding a way to descend upon Silver Moon first." As he spoke, Zheng Yu looked back at Li Hao and glanced at the nearby Chaos River, his brows knitting slightly. "The Chaos River, the River of Time... why did Li Hao deliberately separate them? "Wouldn't it be far better to wield chaos through time?" Carrying a trace of doubt, he murmured softly, "Furthermore, what kind of anomaly triggered the emergence of the chaos lightning tribulation? Could merely relying on the Great Dao to devour the world of Silver Moon truly conjure a chaos lightning tribulation?" He muttered a few words to himself. Not far away, the Red Moon Sovereign's clone had recovered from his earlier displeasure and said coldly, "You two are hailed as the Peerless Pair of Silver Moon, and you certainly had your tricks when scheming against this Sovereign. Yet now, you are repeatedly outmaneuvered by Li Hao and that puppet of the Moon God. Complete wastes, utterly helpless!" Zheng Yu gave a faint laugh. "Sovereign, you are too formidable. The strong only scheme against the strong. What meaning is there in scheming against the weak? Who would target a swarm of ants... Even if an ant grows extraordinarily robust, it remains an ant. Before these ants rose, could you ever have imagined an ant devouring an elephant?" Scheming against the strong was a necessary part of cultivation, and an enjoyment in its own right. Scheming against the weak, however... when one possessed the strength to crush them directly, why bother with schemes? These words held true. The two had laid very few plans against the weak. Even where arrangements existed, they were not meant to trap upstarts like Li Hao, but rather to counter Heaven's Will, attain the Sovereign Dao, and fend off the Sovereign. They had never intentionally targeted weaklings like Li Hao. Yet this very group of weaklings had repeatedly jumped off the chessboard, delivering one blow and provocation after another to their pride. As they spoke, Li Hao's aura in the distance suddenly surged with ferocity. Above his head, the dark clouds of lightning spread until they blanketed the entire sky! The Red Moon Sovereign frowned slightly. "That fellow is definitely doing far more than simply swallowing land! If we do not descend now, things may spin out of control!" At this moment, none of the three was blind. All of them could see it! As for the Queen, they could spare no thought for her, nor did they care. Even if she reached the late Heavenly King stage, it meant little. Li Hao, however, possessed formidable combat strength despite his currently modest realm. If he made further gains now, he might truly possess the power to contend with a half-step Sovereign! Having an additional opponent of that caliber would be troublesome indeed. "Just a moment longer!" The sword-bearing man glanced at the heavens. "The chaos lightning tribulation has not yet descended, which means he has not yet succeeded! There is still time!" There was still time! With those words, the other two fell silent, watching on in stillness. *** Meanwhile, the world within Li Hao's sea of consciousness churned with mad intensity. By now, he had fused nearly one hundred stars, yet he remained some distance from success. Frowning slightly, he glanced in all directions. Those people were no longer sending anyone to stall him. Having them send subordinates to delay him had actually been advantageous. On one hand, it masked his commotion; on the other, he could eliminate several troublesome figures to avoid future complications. Now that they were standing idly by, it was far from good news. With the three supreme experts suspended in the sky simply watching him in silence, the pressure weighed all the heavier. The instant the Illusory Dao universe descended, he was certain to face a thunderous strike. He could also discern that Li Daoheng was in the process of bringing down the Illusory Dao universe, and it would not take much longer. "He was probably preparing to descend all along!" Li Hao muttered to himself. Otherwise, the moment he made his move, the other party would not have been able to descend so swiftly. Of course, even without the Illusory Dao universe descending, the moment Li Hao began his attempt, they would likely have appeared in the world before long anyway. With Heaven's Will dead and the Moon God slain, the entire realm was trembling violently. Countless wisps of energy spilled out, permeating all of Silver Moon. If this continued, it would not be long before heaven and earth could accommodate the presence of half-step Sovereigns. *** Time ticked away, breath by breath. A universe was on the verge of fully descending upon the mortal realm. At that moment, within the Illusory Dao universe, Zheng Yu suddenly spoke: "I may have discerned something. Li Hao might be using his own false Great Dao Universe to fuse with the real Great Dao Universe... That false universe carries a sensation somewhat akin to the Illusory Dao universe. Merging the illusory and the real... Li Daoheng, do you think my assessment is correct?" "It is quite possible!" Across the void, Li Daoheng's voice drifted over, largely concurring with the deduction. "Merging illusory and real, one true and one false... A real Chaos River, a somewhat false River of Time. Did he split them in two precisely to facilitate this fusion?" "Very likely!" As the two conversed, the Red Moon Sovereign's eyes flickered. "Can such a method succeed?" Zheng Yu replied, "Hard to say. The false Dao universe is too weak, while the true Dao universe is exceedingly strong! With an imbalance between strong and weak, an instability should easily occur, potentially causing him to tear himself apart. Perhaps he possesses other methods... For instance..." He gazed into the distance, looking deep into the cosmos. "The Time Star might appear!" At those words, the hearts of all three stirred slightly. Zheng Yu spoke no further. He merely watched the far distance in silence, glanced down at Li Hao below, and finally cast a look toward the north, his gaze turning ever deeper. This was growing more and more interesting! If the Time Star truly manifested... could they capture it this time? *** Rumble! Heaven and earth trembled as thunder detonated. Faint arcs of lightning had already begun to drift down. They were very faint and did not attack Li Hao, seeming to still be gathering power, allowing a portion of the lightning's might to scatter into the void. The firmament cracked open! At this moment, even the fleeing Queen was watching in secret from afar. While absorbing the Moon God's energy, she observed the commotion on Li Hao's side, lost in thought. Could Li Hao... contend with half-step Sovereigns this time? She and Li Hao were not allies. Yet right now, Li Hao was her shield. If Li Hao fell, she would fare no better. In essence, these Silver Moon experts were bound to the same fate. If Li Hao could not weather this crisis, then even having escaped her previous predicament, she would swiftly be dragged into a new one. While the Queen pondered, Li Hao's aura in the distance surged with ever-greater majesty. It seemed as though colossal dragons were coiling about his person! Li Hao had returned once more to the vicinity of Silver City. Looking up at the sky, his expression was grave. It was close—not that he was close to succeeding, but that... the Illusory Dao universe was close to descending. What a coincidence! Before he could succeed, the enemy would descend first... This timing was perhaps a trial from heaven and earth, a trial from the chaos, or perhaps even a tribulation in and of itself! Fusing a counterfeit Great Dao Universe was inherently an act of defying the heavens. This time, everything depended on whether he had any hope of turning the tables. As Li Hao contemplated this, he looked toward the three figures above... His expression darkened slightly. Li Daoheng... seemed somewhat less formidable than expected, yet Zheng Yu had revealed nothing from start to finish. That only made Li Hao all the more wary of him! Zheng Yu... this seemingly foolish fellow had repeatedly suffered setbacks at Li Hao's hands. Not only that, he had lost nearly all his foundation, ultimately entering the Illusory Dao universe all by himself. This half-step Sovereign... apart from his formidable strength, his intellect genuinely appeared quite ordinary. Yet... why did Li Hao find him utterly unfathomable? Even an ostensibly foolish woman like the Queen had managed to play him. That served as a wake-up call for Li Hao: If I were Zheng Yu, what hidden cards would I still hold? Of course, even if Zheng Yu had cards left, they were almost certainly not meant for him. They would be aimed at Li Daoheng and the Red Moon Sovereign. Li Hao knew that these figures had never treated him as their primary target from the beginning; their true foes were only each other. Li Hao cast his gaze toward Zheng Yu. When this fellow had sent out his clone before, calling himself Hong Chen, he had acted as though he had truly seen through the mortal world. Li Hao had killed his second elder brother and his father... yet he had only shown anger in that single moment, rarely causing trouble afterward. The more Li Hao thought about it now, the more uneasy he felt. Could it be... that he wants me to help him shake off certain restrictions? If that were the case... he was ruthless and terrifying indeed. Yet Li Hao could no longer afford to overthink it. Man proposes, but Heaven disposes! He had pushed himself to the absolute limit. If he still failed... there was nothing more he could do. Boom! His mind felt as though it were tearing apart, the world tilting and overturning as his entire sea of consciousness trembled once more. Amid the violent shockwaves, roughly 140 of the 180 stars in his mental sea had now fused. Li Hao's aura began to climb, and at this moment, his strength officially reached the sixth tier of the Dao Integration Realm. To reach the sixth tier of Dao Integration through physical and Dao meridians alone required opening at least 216 meridians. The sixth tier was the authentic late-to-peak Heavenly King stage. One step further, and he would begin crossing into the so-called half-step Sovereign level. Li Hao exhaled softly. The steady rise of aura within his body brought a sliver of reassurance. Soon, however, his expression turned grim. Heaven and earth shuddered as a universe seemed to officially descend upon the world. Three figures exuding towering auras manifested. The Red Moon Sovereign bristled with eager anticipation, while Zheng Yu stood with his hands behind his back, looking thoroughly composed. Li Daoheng bore a long sword on his back, a river of stars unfurling behind him. Though it held fewer stars than Li Hao's Chaos River, the stars glittered with radiance, making him look like a heavenly deity. The three mighty experts stared down at Li Hao simultaneously, their boundless pressure rippling outward. Within the seven main cities, every living soul felt a suffocating weight. In the distance, even Zhang An's aura hitched slightly. He looked up at the sky, his face profoundly grim. Three half-step Sovereigns... were about to make their formal descent into the mortal realm! Gazing at Li Hao from afar, Zheng Yu suddenly spoke: "Li Hao, while there is still a sliver of time, I wonder if it is appropriate to ask, or... whether you might be willing to resolve a doubt of mine?" Li Hao raised an eyebrow. "What does Senior Zheng wish to ask?" Zheng Yu smiled. "I once told you that by nearing the four poles of heaven and earth, one could perceive a faint wisp of origin. Did you ever perceive it? Is the origin universe still near the four poles?" Li Hao's eyes flickered. What did he mean by that? "Senior does not know yourself?" Zheng Yu shook his head. "I am long past the stage of perceiving origin. I merely once sensed a faint breath of origin at the four poles, but whether it was a remnant of the past or the actual origin universe enveloping the four quarters of Silver Moon... even I cannot say. It is just that after I told you that day, you seemed to attempt perceiving it to connect with origin. I wish to know: did you truly make contact with the origin path?" Thoughts raced furiously through Li Hao's mind. What did this signify? Nearby, the Red Moon Sovereign glanced at Zheng Yu and remarked coldly, "Zheng Yu, you don't actually believe Silver Moon is still within Neo-Martial's reach, do you? Although a Great Dao Universe is boundless, it still has limits! Origin has vanished completely from Silver Moon; clearly, Silver Moon has long since drifted beyond Neo-Martial's domain!" Zheng Yu laughed. "Sovereign, I am merely asking Li Hao, not you! If origin is not nearby, my mind is at ease, for the Sovereign Tribulation will not appear. Having cultivated all my life, I find it difficult to cross the Sovereign Tribulation; I can only see whether there is a shortcut to becoming a Sovereign without facing it." Was it for the Sovereign Tribulation? Li Hao weighed the thought, yet dared not conclude so easily. Perhaps... it was not merely about the Sovereign Tribulation. What did he truly want to know? Why had he not tested it himself? Even if he had passed that stage... surely he could have sent someone else to probe. As the thoughts flashed by, Li Hao replied, "It may still be there, separated only by a barrier. That day, when I comprehended force, it caused the power of origin to tremble. Had that barrier not stood in the way, perhaps... I would have stepped onto the origin path!" Zheng Yu looked thoughtful and asked no further. Rumble! Just then, heaven and earth convulsed. A wave of Illusory Dao universe power flooded the entire realm in an instant. The three supreme experts, previously somewhat ethereal, seemed to materialize fully before all eyes. Three terrifyingly potent auras swept across the entirety of Silver Moon! Even the dark storm clouds in the sky trembled slightly. Countless cultivators felt an overwhelming majesty crash down from every direction. They had arrived! The Illusory Dao universe had officially descended upon Silver Moon. *** At that moment, in the north, Tianji's heart stirred. Danger! Or rather... it was virtually hopeless. Whatever Li Hao was doing, had he succeeded, he might have withstood a half-step Sovereign. Yet he had clearly not finished. And now, three half-step Sovereigns had arrived. Unless internal strife broke out among them... Li Hao had zero chance! Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, the King of Dali—who had just been battered until his head was covered in lumps—suddenly let out a breath. He bared his teeth in a grin, the void rippled, and he vanished from where he stood. Tianji reached out, about to say something. The King of Dali's voice drifted back faintly: "Senior, even the Queen could leap out... this king wants to jump off this chessboard as well! You have been the chess players all along. After playing for a hundred thousand years, aren't you tired of it? "No need to stop me. At worst, it is just death!" Without looking back, the King of Dali forged ahead. He had been apprehensive before, but now that the moment was here, he was remarkably calm. Moreover, having witnessed the Queen break free, his own ambition had been stoked. I am hardly inferior to her! "I wasn't stopping you!" Tianji sneered. "I only wanted to say: before you get there, make the lumps on your head disappear so you don't embarrass yourself!" The King of Dali stumbled, the void rippling. The lumps covering his head vanished instantly. In the next moment, the King of Dali was gone entirely. Beside Tianji, Jiang Li looked full of worry. Tianji said indifferently, "Everyone has their own path; what is there to worry about? In every era, someone is bound to rise! Seize the opportunity, and it is a chance; fail to seize it... and it is death! Many attained the Dao in Neo-Martial, and many rose to greatness, but countless people perished along the way. Survivorship bias leads everyone to believe they will be part of that tiny minority... yet the outcome is always hard to predict. "Of course, if you don't fight for it, you have no chance at all!" Jiang Li said anxiously, "My God, our King... is too weak." "He is at least a Heavenly King... how is that too weak?" Tianji replied flatly. "He walks the path of Early Martial, tempering his physical body. By all rights, he shouldn't be weak to begin with. Those men don't possess origin either; so long as Li Hao has the means, the king might not actually fall that far behind a half-step Sovereign!" Even as he spoke the words, his brow furrowed slightly. Even if... there truly were means, would a single King of Dali be enough? What about himself? One thought after another surfaced in his mind. *** At this moment, the three supreme experts had fully descended into the mortal world. Simultaneously, a river unfurled across heaven and earth. Li Hao knew this was unavoidable, so he cast all other considerations aside. He had summoned the river at the very last moment because time was limited and the future was ephemeral; if he summoned it too early, the King of Dali and the others might not hold out long enough. The river materialized. At that exact instant, a figure stepped forth from within the main cities, brandishing a long sword. Lin Hongyu walked out, floating into the air. Stepping onto the river, she looked at Li Hao, then turned to the three half-step Sovereigns and chuckled. "To be blessed with the chance to participate in such a high-level battlefield is truly a fortune earned across lifetimes! "I possess a past, but know not my future! Yet, I firmly believe that the realm of Silver Moon can only be held by the people of Silver Moon! My husband holds this realm, so I must have a future... The future is ever-changing, holding tens of thousands of possibilities, but there will always be one where we, the people of Silver Moon, emerge victorious!" A long sword manifested between heaven and earth, radiating boundless brilliance! "I, Lin Hongyu, use the Stream Sword to bridge the future and bear it within my flesh!" Time reversed, heaven and earth ground to a halt, and the river surged with rolling waves. In that moment, from the endless void, the sound of flowing water rippled forth, a crisp babbling like a mountain stream echoing through the cosmos. Having just made contact with the mortal realm, the three half-step Sovereigns felt the void freeze around them. In this instant, even time seemed to stall. All three sensed something different—the River of Time before them was far more formidable than the last time they had seen it! "The sword of the Queen of the Human King..." Zheng Yu murmured. Right then, at the far end of the river, a figure seemed to emerge, shrouded in an overwhelming aura of death, like someone walking out of hell itself. Lin Hongyu watched in silence, momentarily dazed. A dead person? Indeed, at that moment, what walked out seemed to be a corpse, striding forward from the future, crawling out of the abyss. The suffocating death qi wrapping that figure was stifling. None of her current radiant beauty remained, replaced only by boundless cold and lethality. In that future, she seemed to have truly died, and now she was climbing out of an endless abyss, step by step, traversing space and time. I died? Lin Hongyu looked upon that future figure with an indescribable feeling. Even in death... I can still walk out? Meanwhile, Li Hao, in the middle of fusing his Dao meridians, turned his head and was similarly stunned. She died? Her future self... was slain as well? Even knowing this was merely one of countless possibilities, Lin Hongyu's death... what did it signify? In that future timeline, had I been defeated? Moreover, a deceased Lin Hongyu could still step forth... what did that imply? Amid his shock, the river surged violently, and a voice resonated through the world: "With the Fists of Hegemony, I summon my future self! In the realm of Silver Moon, only the people of Silver Moon are the masters of this world!" A domineering, peerless figure emerged from the heavens, wearing a pair of gauntlets. At this moment, boundless brilliance flared from the twin fists. The river threw up colossal waves! Upon the gauntlets, an overwhelmingly domineering silhouette faintly appeared, yet it was not the King of Dali's future self. At the end of the river, someone seemed to want to step out, yet no figure ever materialized. The King of Dali froze, then let out a self-deprecating laugh. "This king... doesn't even have a future?" Lin Hongyu had at least produced a death incarnation! Yet he didn't even have a future at all? How bitterly ironic! It seemed he might die very soon—perhaps even today. That was why he had no future! How utterly mocking! The King of Dali laughed. In the next instant, he abruptly smashed both fists into the river and roared, "Even without a future, so what? I draw upon the power of the past!" Boom! The river churned as the heavens fractured and the earth split. Above the twin fists, a towering phantom slowly solidified. The King of Dali's eyes flashed with icy resolve: "Since I have no future... I will forge one with my own hands! Be it Emperor Batian or the Iron Sovereign... merge into my flesh, and I shall be my own future!" Boom! A phantom fully emerged, instantly flowing along the massive fists and merging into the King of Dali's body. A peerlessly domineering aura shook the entire realm in the blink of an eye! Meanwhile, Lin Hongyu also stepped forward, touching that death incarnation through the sword. The bone-chilling aura caused her body to crack, countless wisps of vitality seemingly drained in an instant. As the death incarnation merged into her, Lin Hongyu laughed. "To walk out of hell and slay a half-step Sovereign... doesn't seem like a bad trade!" The auras of both figures erupted simultaneously. In the span of a breath, they surged to an absolute peak! However, their foundations were somewhat tenuous. Everyone watching was utterly shaken. Could this truly be done? The two Rivers of Time vanished in an instant, as though they had never existed. Not far away, Li Hao's face went deathly pale, the power of time on his person seemingly spent. Not only that, but at this moment, Li Hao suddenly aged at a terrifying speed. Without the Chaos River and its myriad Dao energies to replenish him, every invocation of time's power consumed his lifespan. In the blink of an eye, Li Hao took on a weathered, aged appearance. Everyone froze. Even Zheng Yu and the others were momentarily stunned as they looked at Li Hao. In this state, he looked... remarkably like the future Li Hao they had seen before! Astoundingly alike! Though Lin Hongyu and the King of Dali radiated potent auras, why would three half-step Sovereigns fear them? Yet Li Hao... seemed aged to the absolute extreme, bearing almost no difference from the future Li Hao they had encountered previously. Could it be... that the future Li Hao had fused with back then was not far off, but was precisely this day? The Chaos River coiled around Li Hao. Inside it, Hong Yitang's heart skipped a beat. He knew a bit about the circumstances! Drawing upon the future always came with a great calamity. He had thought it would occur after Li Hao became a half-step Sovereign... but the Li Hao of today was far too similar to the one from that day. Did that mean... it was today? Moreover, if Li Hao succeeded today, he might very well reach the half-step Sovereign realm. However... Li Hao had not grasped the Thousand Dao Sword, which differed somewhat from that occasion. Yet the future was never fixed; could it truly be this day? If so... Li Hao might lose all his strength at the critical juncture! The three half-step Sovereigns regained their wits. The Red Moon Sovereign looked at them and sighed in admiration, "Impressive, what brilliant methods! Connecting to the past, summoning the future... Yet the power seems far too unstable. Furthermore, the drawbacks appear immense. Still, formidable nonetheless!" He revealed a faint smile. "Gentlemen, it seems this will be far more interesting and difficult than we previously anticipated!" In the next instant, he flickered and vanished from where he stood. He did not go after Tianji! Instead, he materialized directly above one of the ancient cities. He had no desire to seek out Tianji right now; his aim was to test whether he could breach the eight main cities directly. If so, his true body might break out on the spot. If that were possible... why bother fighting a half-step Sovereign's clone? Li Hao remained silent. Yet in that very instant... Lin Hongyu, the King of Dali, Zheng Yu, and Li Daoheng all materialized above the ancient city simultaneously, glaring at the Red Moon Sovereign from all four directions. The Red Moon Sovereign's expression shifted slightly, tinged with anger. "What... is the meaning of this?" Zheng Yu said softly, "Sovereign, I believe it would be better for you to go play with the fellow in the north. Even if you do not fight, even if you merely go there to join the excitement and chat, it would still be better than staying here! Sovereign... what do you think?" Not far off, Li Hao said nothing. He merely continued fusing Dao meridians. He was not worried about the eight main cities being breached; at the very least, no one present wished to see a true Sovereign walk out at this juncture. That being the case... he was not the one who needed to feel anxious. The Red Moon Sovereign's expression was exceedingly unsightly! He had thought that with two experts emerging to summon the past and future, an opportunity had presented itself. As it turned out... not one of these people was decent; none of them would permit his true body to be freed! Of course, this was only logical. Still, deeply unwilling, he said coldly, "Lin Hongyu, King of Dali... think carefully. Your power is unstable, and you are certainly no match for these two. Once this Sovereign steps forth... they will be my opponents! You only need to delay them for a while and voluntarily release the seal of the eight main cities... and perhaps you will be the ones to reap the fisherman's spoils!" He looked toward Li Hao. Li Hao opened his eyes, which were sharp as swords, and met the Red Moon Sovereign's gaze. "If the Sovereign does not wish to participate, then stand back and watch the show! If you wish to join in, whether to kill me or kill them, make your choice! If you wish for your true body to emerge, wait until a victor is decided among us, or until you truly can reap the spoils!" The Red Moon Sovereign glanced around, then let out a sinister chuckle. "Fascinating! Li Hao... you are truly arrogant. Relying on two makeshift half-step Sovereigns to contend with two seasoned half-step Sovereigns who are only a step away from advancing to the Sovereign realm... it seems your brain isn't working too well either!" There was not even a need to defeat those two; simply waiting would cause their borrowed strength to dissipate on its own. Did Li Hao truly expect them to hold off Zheng Yu and his peer? Or did he believe that, given enough time, he could resist two half-step Sovereigns on his own? With a cold sneer, the Red Moon Sovereign vanished once more, the void rippling as he shot directly toward the north. Since the four experts would not let him attack the cities, he would simply step aside for now! Yet his journey north was not truly to seek out Tianji... A resolution would likely be reached here very soon. If these people tore each other apart, why bother with Tianji at all? He could simply shatter the eight cities directly! In the north, Tianji merely watched in silence. He knew that for the Red Moon Sovereign to break free, the eight cities and eight meridians had to fall first, and the blood saber on his end would be crucial. However... so long as the other party did not come looking for trouble, he would not interfere. If the Red Moon Sovereign did not act, Tianji would not actively provoke him. Besides... it was merely a clone; what would killing it achieve anyway? *** Four terrifying auras erupted in an instant. The King of Dali could hardly wait. He felt his own immense, boundless power; in this moment, he felt capable of defeating even a Sovereign! Thus, showing no courtesy, he was the first among the four to launch an offensive! Twin fists shattered the sky! He struck straight toward Zheng Yu, bypassing Li Daoheng. Li Daoheng was a swordsman, while Lin Hongyu used a saber—and right now, she was channeling the blade of the Queen of the Human King, possessing mastery over both sword and saber. Pitting her against Li Daoheng was the proper course. Zheng Yu would be left to him! A punch flew forth, shattering the world! The void seemed to collapse in an instant, and the King of Dali felt an unimaginable potency in this strike! Boom! The colossal roar and shattering blast gave the King of Dali the illusion that Zheng Yu would die beneath this single blow! What Queen, what Moon God, what Li Hao... beneath this fist, none could stand! All the lingering doubts and insecurities they had inflicted upon him vanished in that instant. Rumble! The void fractured. While the King of Dali was still immersed in wild joy, his expression suddenly shifted. He spun around and threw another punch, for Zheng Yu was no longer in the collapsed void ahead, having reappeared to his right. Right now, Zheng Yu was merely watching the King of Dali in silence. As the King of Dali turned to strike, Zheng Yu said softly, "The power is immense! But borrowed power, after all, is not your own. King of Dali, had Emperor Batian or the Iron Sovereign stood here, killing me with a single punch would have been effortless... As for you... you fall far too short!" With a gentle flick of his hand, what seemed like the crack of a nine-section whip rang out. A single lash whipped across, causing the void to shudder. The King of Dali's fist phantoms shattered instantly! The boundless, berserk aura was unraveled by a single strike. Zheng Yu loomed like a god and demon, his smiling face branded deep into the King of Dali's mind: "You... cannot do it!" Boom! The King of Dali was sent flying, blood splattering as his vitality roiled violently. Beneath that single lash, a deep, bone-exposing bloody gash was torn across his formidable physique, even fracturing the bone beneath! The agony was excruciating, biting straight into his soul! The King of Dali grimaced in pain, blood spraying as he stared in disbelief! He had felt his aura was in no way inferior to the other's, yet... a single lash had dealt him a crushing defeat! How was this possible? While he suffered a crushing defeat, Lin Hongyu, resembling a god of death, cleaved through heaven and earth with a single saber strike. Across from her, Li Daoheng's sword light blazed like a scorching sun; with one strike, heaven and earth shattered, the saber glow dispersed, and the death qi was annihilated! A sword scar materialized across Lin Hongyu's body in an instant, yet no blood flowed, only boundless death qi billowing outward. Lin Hongyu actually laughed. "So... being a corpse has such advantages!" The King of Dali glanced over. In the next moment, the crack of a whip tearing through the void sounded by his ear again. Scrambling into a roll, he pierced through the void and vanished from his spot. The instant he emerged—bam!—the whip landed squarely on his head! Crack! His head broke open, bathed in blood! That immense power seemed merely to have augmented his defenses; as for everything else... he had not improved in the slightest. Facing a true half-step Sovereign, not only had he failed to land a hit, he could not even evade the enemy's attacks! "Li Hao, are these two your trump cards?" Zheng Yu chuckled softly. "A bit on the weak side. If this is all... you look down on us a bit too much!" Against ordinary peak Heavenly Kings, these two would have fared fine. But who were they? The two most talented, most powerful individuals in the world of Silver Moon. To dream of defeating them using a sliver of borrowed power from the past and future was pure delusion; even stalling them seemed an insurmountable task. At that moment, in the distance, Zhang An's aura shifted, faintly crossing into the Heavenly King realm. He strode forward across the fractured void with a grave expression, looking at the King of Dali and saying in a deep voice, "Your power is too hollow, and you are not skilled in the Great Dao. How could you hope to match him? Focus on defense; simply intercept his attacks, and I will battle him!" The King of Dali's expression twisted, his teeth grinding in fury! I... focus on defense? You, a newly advanced Heavenly King who might not even be stronger than I was before channeling Emperor Batian's past—how do you plan to fight him? Zheng Yu's expression, however, shifted slightly as he looked toward Zhang An. A Great Dao Book manifested, unfurling streams of Great Dao power as Zhang An's aura surged. Simultaneously, several illusory figures merged into Zhang An's body. In Zhang An's hands, a book, a ferule, and a saber appeared. The book blanketed the sky, the ferule held in his left hand, the saber in his right. He looked at Zheng Yu, his expression calm. "I possess neither my grandfather's power nor their talent. In the early days of Neo-Martial, I was thoroughly mediocre; had it not been for my grandfather and the others supporting me, I wouldn't have even matched the contemporary students of martial universities! "I learned much, but it was wide and cluttered, varied but unrefined..." Having said this, he smiled. "Yet I possess at least one merit... In a world you have never witnessed, I once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Human King, once stood alongside the Sword Venerable to resist foes, once stepped into other universes to fight across all directions... Though I remain a failure, I... have seen a world you have never known!" In an instant, the Great Dao Book engulfed heaven and earth, suppressing all four quarters! Countless Great Dao powers swept forth, causing Zhang An's aura to skyrocket. He let out a low shout: "Those who betray Neo-Martial deserve death!" The ferule struck down as the long saber materialized—the ferule struck the head, the saber severed the spirit! Zheng Yu's eyes narrowed, and he lashed out with his whip! Yet right at that moment, a figure suddenly flashed forward and seized the long whip. Blood poured from both arms in an instant, yet the twin gauntlets erupted with brilliant radiance, sending out shockwaves of concussive force! The King of Dali roared, his teeth gritted: "This father may be no match for you, but don't you dare dream of harming anyone before my eyes!" In that moment, he had regained his wits. His anger aside, he had come to terms with it: since he couldn't defeat this bastard, he would... play the role of a meat shield properly! Dammit all! To think that he... was actually inferior to two women! That Lin Hongyu could at least trade a few blows with her opponent, whereas he had been routed in an instant. It was utterly humiliating! *** Meanwhile, Li Hao paid them no heed. Star after star continued to merge, waves of towering aura spilling outward incessantly. The entire world was saturated with Great Dao power, and the lightning in the sky began to churn. By now, the tribulation lightning had nearly finished gathering its might. Faintly, it was poised to descend! Li Hao sighed. Lightning... a chaos lightning tribulation was something he had not anticipated; after all, he possessed zero experience in such matters. A thousand calculations were still no substitute for raw strength! Lin Hongyu and the others... would likely not hold out until he successfully crossed the tribulation. Boom! A colossal bolt of lightning shot directly toward Li Hao. Li Hao vanished in an instant, reappearing near Li Daoheng. Yet the lightning paid no heed to Li Daoheng or anyone else; despite its massive girth, it tracked Li Hao with pinpoint precision, barreling straight for him! Boom! A deafening thunderclap echoed, and Li Hao's physical body fractured with a sharp snap. A terrifyingly immense force detonated, tearing Li Hao's flesh to shreds. He looked up at the sky in disbelief! With a single strike, he—a peak Heavenly King expert—had nearly been blasted to death! Crucially... his attempt to use the lightning's power to redirect disaster toward his enemy had actually failed! At that moment, someone in the far distance sighed: "You think too much. What did you take chaos lightning to be? Read too many novels, have you... You really thought you could drag others into it? This is your tribulation... aimed solely at you. It doesn't matter who steps in!" It was Tianji's voice! Seeing Li Hao attempt to redirect the peril, he could not help but speak up to warn him. The lightning was targeted at him alone! He should abandon all thoughts of using the tribulation to wipe out his enemies. If chaos lightning were so easily manipulated, it wouldn't be called chaos lightning! In that instant, Li Hao's expression changed. Targeted only at me? His lack of experience had once again led to an error in judgment. Or rather, almost no one possessed such experience; Tianji only knew because he had lived for so long and witnessed such occurrences before. Li Hao had originally thought that this formidable lightning might serve as his trump card. As it turned out... that was impossible! Tianji's voice sounded again: "Lightning tribulations are generally based on nine strikes—at least nine times, and in extreme cases... infinitely many! It won't rest until it blasts you to death... You'd best figure something out!" Boom! In an instant, the second bolt of lightning descended. In a single breath, Silver City vanished entirely, yet no one else was caught in the blast. Only Li Hao was struck, vanishing in an instant as though turned to ash! That overwhelming might left everyone shaken! How could this be? Right at that moment, a river slowly materialized. Pale-faced, Li Hao strode out from the river's end, his expression filled with disbelief. This... was far too strong! I am merely fusing a false Dao, not a true Dao. I am not even a half-step Sovereign, yet that second strike absolutely carried the might of a half-step Sovereign! Damn it! Why is it like this? Had he not used the power of time to reverse thirty seconds, he would have been blasted to death right then and there! In the void above, the third bolt of lightning was already taking shape. This time, it was even more terrifying! It seemed poised to obliterate Li Hao in a single strike! Li Hao was infuriated. Looking up at the heavens, he bellowed, "I cultivate my own Dao! What does that have to do with the chaos?!" His fury was uncontrollable! A vicious resolve hardened in his heart: If there comes a day when I survive and walk out of Silver Moon... I will split open the heavens once every day, throwing the chaos into utter turmoil just to soothe my wrath! Bastard! This chaos lightning tribulation actually wants to blast me to death!