Plans Never Keep Pace with Changes

Before the battle with the half-step Sovereigns had even truly begun, the lightning struck! Lin Hongyu, the King of Dali, and Zhang An could each hold out for only a brief moment. They were there merely to stall the half-step Sovereigns, not to decide the outcome. Yet before Li Hao could turn the tables, the lightning descended. Two successive strikes had fallen. The second had already reached the power of a half-step Sovereign, shattering Li Hao’s body. Now, the third struck in rapid succession, granting him no recovery period in between, nor taking any time to brew. Because this lightning had already brewed for long enough. Along the way, it had only one objective: strike Li Hao dead. "Damn it!" Li Hao cursed furiously, his calm completely shattered. As expected, plans never kept pace with changes. Who could have foreseen that opening his own internal little world for a bit of fun would draw the attention of a chaos lightning tribulation! What kind of nonsense was this? He was already no match for the half-step Sovereigns, and now this was kicking him while he was down. He was truly... at his wit's end. The third bolt arrived in the blink of an eye. It gave Li Hao practically no time to recover. Sure enough, those ancient books he had read were full of lies! Boundless resentment welled up in Li Hao's heart. It was said that during a tribulation, one could redirect the lightning to outsiders to strike them dead. It was also said that after surviving a bolt, one could temper themselves, forge their body, and break through their limits amidst the tribulation... Bullshit! With only a few seconds between strikes, how could anyone break through anything? Besides, this lightning was purely meant for destruction; it had no intention of tempering him at all! Its sole purpose was to strike him dead! *Boom!* The third bolt cleaved down, just as peerlessly fierce as before—downright frenzied! *Boom!* Li Hao’s newly reformed flesh shattered in an instant. Limitless destructive power erupted, grinding him into dust. In the next moment, a faint wisp of temporal power surfaced. Yet... the lightning was ruthlessly executing him, relentlessly annihilating that very temporal power. Once the power of time was broken, Li Hao would be completely dead. Evidently, the lightning seemed to know that this was the very essence of Li Hao. Countless surges of destructive power detonated. With a rumbling crash, a river between heaven and earth was torn to tatters, cleaved straight down the middle! Three strikes of lightning! In just three strikes, Li Hao’s River of Time was nearly wiped out entirely. Only a small fraction remained, having barely neutralized some of the destructive power. This time, a full twenty seconds passed before Li Hao managed to step out from the horizon of heaven and earth with great difficulty, haggard and weakened beyond measure! All around, the experts garrisoning the eight cities turned pale. They felt it—they felt Li Hao’s boundless weakness, and they sensed that death might be arriving for him! At this moment, even Zheng Yu and the others were surprised. Such terrifying lightning power? Although it fell short of a Sovereign Tribulation, what level of strength did Li Hao actually possess? The tribulation he had drawn was so formidable that even a half-step Sovereign could be injured. And this was only the third strike. If, as Tianji had said, nine was the baseline, Li Hao might drop dead on his own without them even having to lift a finger! Never mind nine strikes—Li Hao might not even survive a fourth. After just three strikes, combined with channeling future incarnations for two people, his River of Time was already on the verge of collapse. If another strike came... and if it grew any stronger, it would inevitably annihilate him. ... Meanwhile, Lin Hongyu, the King of Dali, and Zhang An felt their hearts grow heavy. They were resisting the half-step Sovereigns here because they believed that once Li Hao succeeded, he would be able to contend with them. If he could contend with the half-step Sovereigns, they had nothing to worry about; even if they died, they would have a chance to be brought back to life. But... what if Li Hao died first? The King of Dali roared, "Li Hao, your schemes are supposedly peerless! Whatever hidden cards you have, bring them all out!" *Crack!* The long whip tore through the air, drenching him in blood with a single lash. The King of Dali wanted to weep, but had no tears to shed! Weren't you supposed to be a master schemer? Time and again, you made your enemies suffer... This time, this king finally resolved to join the fight, and you're really going to cut off my future? No wonder I had no future incarnation... If Li Hao dies, what future is there to speak of! In the void, Li Hao stepped out once more and looked up at the sky, a spark of fury burning in his eyes. Hidden cards? Peerless scheming? I’ve never experienced this before, so how the hell was I supposed to know this existed? No matter how well one plans... it has to be built on an existing foundation! How can you plan for something that has never appeared in history and targets only you? Plan against thin air? Seeing that the fourth bolt of lightning was about to descend, Li Hao gritted his teeth and let out a furious roar that shook the void! At this moment, he could no longer afford to hold anything back. A world emerged! A world of spirit. The moment this world appeared, both Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng narrowed their eyes, turning their gazes toward it. Within this world, the great stars hovered between illusion and reality. More than one hundred and sixty of them were already fully fused, while the remainder were in the process of merging. "As expected!" The fusion of virtual and real! Still, would fusing the virtual and real trigger a chaos lightning tribulation? They watched in silence, faintly feeling that this differed from the fusion of virtual and real they had envisioned. Moreover... the boost to Li Hao's strength was not particularly massive. Even if he currently possessed the power of a peak Heavenly King... it still did not seem overwhelmingly strong. The spiritual world manifested. At this moment, a seal, a stone, and a tree appeared in sequence. The three experts also looked up at the sky, beholding the apocalyptic chaos lightning tribulation. All of them felt shocked, experiencing an inexplicable tremor at this force of utter destruction! How on earth had Li Hao provoked such a thing? Meanwhile, displaying his spiritual world, Li Hao forcefully merged several stars in an instant. He wanted to swiftly complete the fusion of all one hundred and eighty stars to see if it would bring about a breakthrough. This lightning had detonated prematurely without even waiting for him to finish the one hundred and eighty stars... Talk about an absolute bully! If it had waited until he successfully fused them, he should have undergone a transformation. Yet it refused to give him the chance—shameless to the extreme! For the first time, Li Hao realized that a tribulation could be this shameless. When someone underwent a Sovereign Tribulation, it would wait until the person was on the verge of breaking through to Sovereign, descending at the very final moment to test them, still offering a slim chance of survival. In truth, a Sovereign Tribulation was meant to temper, not necessarily to kill. This thing, on the other hand... was genuinely meant to kill, not to temper. Under normal circumstances, any peak Heavenly King would have been turned to ash after three strikes, without the slightest chance of survival. At this moment, Li Hao clenched his teeth and barked in a low voice, "Lend me a hand, you three! Use the spiritual world to block one strike... I... I need a moment to recover!" The three experts' expressions shifted slightly. This lightning... looked far from weak. Because this world was Li Hao’s spiritual world, it was considered a part of him, so it could indeed be used to block... But in doing so, the foundation Li Hao had worked so hard to build might be directly obliterated by the lightning. He had given up the Great Dao Universe and abandoned everything else... leaving only this spiritual world. If it was destroyed, even the River of Time would collapse. The three experts had no time to deliberate. Watching the lightning plunge straight down, they let out a thunderous roar. The spiritual world transformed into a massive seal, shooting forward to meet the lightning! The instant it drew near the lightning, Li Hao bled from all seven orifices! Meanwhile, the three Saints let out piercing, agonized shrieks! The entire spiritual world shook violently. Had the three Saints not served as the world's cornerstone, they would have been obliterated in an instant. At this moment, every star within the spiritual world flared with dazzling power. *Rumble!* A deafening roar reverberated through heaven and earth. Stars began to dim, some even cracking apart. All the effort Li Hao had spent merging them for half the day seemed to have been rendered completely useless, vanishing into nothingness. The entire spiritual world instantly fell silent, like a realm of the dead. That colossal bolt of lightning continued to pound away with thunderous booms, and the world showed signs of collapsing! Right at that moment, Li Hao swung his hand, unleashing a sword slash! The Cangqiong Sword tore through the void! A single sword strike to cleave heaven and earth! *Boom!* The fourth bolt of lightning extinguished, but... the longsword showed hairline fractures. Inside the spiritual world, the three powerhouses fell utterly silent as well, leaving the entire world looking like a dead zone! Bleeding from his seven orifices, Li Hao looked up at the sky. The spiritual world plummeted, vanishing between heaven and earth as it sank back into his mind. The stars that had not yet merged ceased their fusion. Li Hao stared at the sky, where the fifth bolt of lightning was already preparing to fall. It gave him almost no time to restore himself. The River of Time remained frail, and his spiritual world was practically destroyed. This lightning was bent on cutting off all hope, yet he had only blocked four strikes so far! At that moment, Lin Hongyu let out a shrill, furious roar in the distance. Slashing her saber through the void, she charged directly toward the thunderclouds! She wanted to cleave open the storm clouds! Strangely, Li Daoheng did not stop her, merely watching with a pensive gaze. Coughing up blood, Li Hao yelled, "Get back...!" *Boom!* A single saber strike shattered the firmament. Yet... Lin Hongyu’s blade passed clean through the dark clouds, as if they did not exist in the same space as her. She... had failed to touch them. In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent. In the distance, the Red Moon Sovereign froze. "This lightning... is actually... not in the same space as us..." In other words, no one could take the hit for Li Hao! Except for himself! The spiritual world belonged to him, which was why it could block a strike. But now, though Lin Hongyu had struck at the clouds with resolve to die, she couldn't even make contact. This meant that even if they wanted to shield Li Hao, they were powerless to do so. The lightning existed in an entirely different dimension from them. Further away, Tianji sighed. "It's useless! The moment this lightning appeared... I knew we were in deep trouble! Aside from Li Hao himself, no one can touch it. The lightning won't harm anyone else—it will only strike to kill Li Hao!" "I thought... it was merely a pseudo chaos lightning tribulation. To think it's the real thing!" He sounded somewhat wistful and melancholic. "In the era of Neo Martial, someone once triggered the chaos lightning tribulation! However, I never looked into it deeply. All I know is... it is exceptionally perilous, far more troublesome than a Sovereign Tribulation!" He had no solution either. Truly none. He had never undergone a chaos lightning tribulation himself; he merely knew someone who had, and that person had survived. At this moment, the King of Dali roared, "How did that person survive it? Spit it out already!" *Crack!* With that distraction, he was pierced once again by the long whip. Zhang An slashed out with his saber, knocking the whip slightly off course. Zheng Yu paid it no mind, turning his head toward Tianji as well. To be honest, everyone was curious at this moment. Could a human really survive this tribulation? They had no idea who in Neo Martial had ever survived a chaos lightning tribulation. Right now, killing Li Hao... seemed to require no action on their part. Li Hao would likely die under the next strike. Once he died and his temporal power dissipated, the King of Dali and Lin Hongyu... would probably lose their borrowed strength and be slaughtered instantly. At this moment, Zheng Yu was curious as well. How was one supposed to overcome this chaos lightning tribulation? Tianji’s divine sense fluctuated. Though he had no desire to get involved, he transmitted his thoughts quickly, "The one who underwent the tribulation was the Human King!" Everyone froze. The Human King? "The Human King once encountered a chaos lightning tribulation... I don't know the exact reason, only that he ran into it once. As for how he survived it... it seems... roughly... the Human King drew it into his internal world, and then handed it to the Cang Emperor to swallow!" "In other words, the Human King and the Cang Emperor joined forces to resolve the chaos lightning! Ordinarily, outsiders cannot intervene, but the Cang Emperor was unique, ruling the world together with the Human King as two sides of yin and yang. Thus, they could join forces, and the Cang Emperor could swallow all things! Even the chaos lightning, once trapped by the Human King, became rations for the Cang Emperor!" Silence fell over all four directions. Not a sound was heard. Was this method... a joke? The Human King trapped the lightning, and the Cang Emperor swallowed it. That was a problem only those two supreme, invincible world masters of Neo Martial could solve. Mentioning it now was utterly useless. Tianji was also bewildered. "You must have done something. Why would fusing the virtual and real Dao draw the attention of the chaos lightning? Li Hao, if possible, abandon all of it. Perhaps that will make the lightning disperse!" Perhaps this was Li Hao's only way out. As for the method he knew... how could Li Hao replicate it? Did he have the Human King's might? Did he have the Cang Emperor's assistance? The lightning those two world masters faced was undoubtedly vastly more powerful than what Li Hao was experiencing, but even so, it seemed the Human King could not resolve it entirely on his own—though perhaps the Human King had intentionally brought it back to feed the Cang Emperor. Regardless... this was clearly not something someone at Li Hao's level could touch. ... "Abandon it?" Li Hao looked at the sky, feeling helpless. Abandon what? His spiritual world was on the brink of extinction, yet the lightning showed no sign of dispersing. Clearly, even if he truly gave it up, it had already arrived—would it just leave? What a joke! Without striking him dead, why would it leave? At this moment, a River of Chaos swirled around him, and Hong Yitang’s voice echoed in his mind: *"Let me try to block the fifth strike! I am a Great Dao, not a human, and the Dao is formless. I should be able to block it once... Recover your temporal power as quickly as you can. As long as you can revive, there is hope of dragging this out through nine strikes!"* Of course, these were words of comfort. Even if there were only nine strikes at minimum, five remained. Even if Hong Yitang blocked one, Li Hao could never endure the remaining four. A dead end! The half-step Sovereigns had not posed the greatest threat to Li Hao; instead, this inexplicable lightning had backed him into a corner. Li Hao looked at the sky and sighed softly. "They say heaven never seals off every path. Could it be retribution for slaying Heaven's Will?" He laughed at himself. At that moment, Li Hao stood up. Not far away, Lin Hongyu's aura of death erupted as she looked toward him with despair and powerlessness. "Since there is no way out... unseal the Red Moon Sovereign's true body! Let this Silver Moon... let these bastards be buried with us!" She roared, her voice laced with reluctance, fury, and grief. How had it come to this? Before this, Li Hao had shared certain plans with her, and she had firmly believed that once he succeeded, the two half-step Sovereigns would be powerless against them. But... this lightning was completely absurd! In that case, they might as well smash the seal of the eight cities and plunge the world into total chaos! Let these Sovereigns and half-step Sovereigns tear each other apart! Someone was bound to die! Let them be buried alongside Li Hao and everyone else. Whether the Red Moon Sovereign slaughtered them or they slaughtered the Red Moon Sovereign, it would be no loss. At this moment, Lin Hongyu’s aura was wildly turbulent. Glancing at the sword-bearing man and then toward the seven main cities in the distance, a morbid light flashed in her eyes, as if she were truly prepared to shatter the seal of the eight cities! Both Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng grew wary. They felt somewhat helpless! Truth be told, they were genuinely worried that this woman would act recklessly and break the eight cities' seal. Further away, the Red Moon Sovereign's clone seemed eager, looking forward to it. An opportunity! Li Hao was practically doomed, and Lin Hongyu and her companions had nowhere left to run. Under such despair, it was only natural for them to break the seal. He could take advantage of the chaos to free his true body! A great thing! Was today his lucky day? So what if he had lost a clone earlier? Yet at that moment, Li Hao suddenly smiled. "Targets only me? Not in the same void... not in the same dimension as the others? The Human King was able to capture it..." At this moment, an idea seemed to strike him. He looked around at Lin Hongyu, the King of Dali, Zheng Yu, and the others, and smiled. "So that's how it is!" Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. What did he mean, 'so that's how it is'? Li Hao gazed up at the fifth bolt of lightning gathering in the sky, muttering, "The lightning cannot harm others, only me... That really is bullying taken to the extreme!" Grinning, he looked around in every direction and ground his teeth. "I originally intended to let you fight amongst yourselves; I didn't care about any of it. But now... let's enjoy this together!" What did he mean? While their minds raced, Li Hao suddenly let out a fierce roar, and his spiritual world manifested once again. At this moment, the spiritual world was battered and torn. Li Hao looked at it and murmured, "In that case... let's all have some fun together and see if this lightning is truly invincible!" Suddenly, the spiritual world began to expand, stretching out boundlessly! The entire Silver Moon realm seemed to be enveloped in an instant. With a cold sneer, Li Hao stepped into the void, where a Time Star flickered faintly with light. "If a spiritual world can block it, and an internal world can envelop and trap it... then what if the entire Silver Moon becomes my internal world?" Li Hao laughed. Looking up at the sky, he roared, "Then what if I, Li Hao, become the Heaven's Will of this world? Heaven and earth are me! Strike me dead if you can!" *Boom!* The Time Star abruptly shattered at that very instant! The entire world expanded outward in a flash, and the ocean of spirit churned madly! Covering the sky with one hand, Li Hao shattered the void and seized someone. The Queen merely looked at him in silence. The one he had seized was none other than her. Li Hao looked back at her and said calmly, "Lend me the power of the Silver Moon, and lend me the remnants of Heaven's Will. Today, I become Heaven's Will to take command of heaven and earth. If I succeed, I will return it to you!" The Queen showed none of her past rage or terror. She merely frowned slightly and nodded. Wisps of Silver Moon power drifted toward Li Hao's shattering world! At that moment, a small sword coalesced between heaven and earth. Before the lightning could strike from above, Li Hao sneered, grasping the faint little sword, and muttered, "In the end, I still couldn't escape this tribulation... Then... let's all play together!" In an instant, his physical body collapsed, transforming into massive stars that rained down across heaven and earth! *Rumble!* Countless giant craters were smashed into the world as star after star detonated. Over there, Zheng Yu’s expression shifted. "You..." Becoming Heaven's Will! This madman Li Hao was actually trying to refine the entire Silver Moon—or rather, merge himself with the Silver Moon realm to become its Heaven's Will! When that happened, he would be Silver Moon, and Silver Moon would be him! This had never been Li Hao's plan! Nor had it been anyone else's. It was a desperate move born of pure helplessness! Li Hao wanted these people to endure the tribulation alongside him. Once he became Heaven's Will, everyone living within heaven and earth would count as part of him. When that happened, the lightning might even become Li Hao's weapon to strike everyone down! Yet for Li Hao, this was hardly the outcome he had desired. He had set out to forge an internal world, a world of the physical body. Now, forced by circumstance, he had to become the Heaven's Will of Silver Moon, binding himself inextricably to the realm. Cutting ties with Silver Moon was not the primary issue, nor did he care excessively about that, but doing this... would complicate many things down the line! Yet to survive, to fight for his life, he had no other choice! He had not yet decided what to fuse the Time Star with. Now, he had made up his mind. Fuse it with himself! I am time, I am Heaven's Will, I am the core of my own Great Dao, and I am the key connecting the virtual and real Daos. "Fuck!" Li Hao cursed, looking up at the sky. He had once said that what the Sword Venerable and the others discarded, he would not want either. Yet today... he had to do it. Whether he would succeed remained to be seen, but right now, it felt utterly miserable. The path he had mapped out was broken once again. The most absurd part was... regarding Silver Moon's Heaven's Will, he had previously said he would let the Black Panther take it. Damn it all, in the blink of an eye, he was rushing to take it himself, stealing even the dog's position! "My body becomes heaven and earth!" *Boom!* Blood rained across the realm, his flesh blew apart, and stars plummeted! In that instant, Zheng Yu, Li Daoheng, and the Red Moon Sovereign... all three experts charged toward the falling stars in the surroundings! They could not let Li Hao succeed! If it went as Li Hao claimed and he became the Heaven's Will of Silver Moon... wouldn't that mean they would all have to face the chaos lightning tribulation? At the same time, Lin Hongyu’s eyes lit up, the previous deathly despair vanishing as she shouted furiously, "Kill!" *Boom!* Boundless power erupted from within her, seemingly restoring her to her peak in an instant as she charged toward Li Daoheng. In the distance, the King of Dali and Zhang An erupted simultaneously. Frowning, Zheng Yu manifested a long whip and shattered the Great Dao Book with a single strike! Ignoring Zhang An, he threw a punch toward a great star in the sky! Li Hao was actually going to embody Heaven's Will! This was outside everyone's calculations; Li Hao himself had never considered it, let alone them. At that very moment, a River of Chaos emerged, instantly blocking his fist. Zheng Yu’s punch struck out, cracking the firmament and shaking heaven and earth as if hundreds of millions of stars were falling! At this moment, countless stars manifested. Meanwhile. Just as the Red Moon Sovereign was about to smash several stars to pieces, a figure suddenly appeared before him. Tianji looked up at the sky, blocking the Red Moon Sovereign's path. Without glancing at him, Tianji merely looked at the sky and raised an eyebrow. "This time... you owe me!" At this juncture, he actually intervened. Turning around, he threw a punch! He did not use the blood saber, throwing a simple punch that collided with the opponent's fist. The void collapsed, and the Red Moon Sovereign’s expression shifted as he snapped, "If he truly succeeds, the lightning won't target this Sovereign alone—you will be swept up in it as well!" "And so what?" Tianji replied calmly, "I only have a clone here; if it's destroyed, so be it! Besides... if he truly becomes Heaven's Will, your true body might be engulfed too. Would you really fear a few immature bolts of chaos lightning?" He chuckled. "Who knows? Taking the lightning might even help shatter your seal. Zheng Yu and the others are panicking, but what are you panicking for?" The Red Moon Sovereign froze slightly. Those words... actually made sense. Tianji ignored him, glancing at the sky once more and muttering, "Becoming Heaven's Will... Once he is thoroughly bound to Silver Moon, his future achievements will be limited!" Limited achievements! Coming from him, it sounded as though being the Heaven's Will of a minor world was utterly negligible. Li Hao had truly taken a massive loss this time. Having summoned the chaos lightning, his prospects should have been boundless! Yet if he became Heaven's Will, for now, his highest achievement would merely be the master of this single world! Still, even Tianji could not think of a better solution. For Li Hao to come up with a countermeasure at such a critical moment was already exceptionally impressive. In this life-or-death crisis where every second counted, thinking of becoming Heaven's Will, enveloping Silver Moon, and dragging everyone along to face the tribulation together was truly top-tier adaptability. Nevertheless, Tianji couldn't help feeling a tinge of regret. He had thought very highly of Li Hao! Unfortunately, the young man was cursed with terrible luck to encounter this thing. Unable to face it head-on, detonating his physical body, turning into a Great Dao, merging into the realm, and becoming the meridian of heaven and earth... It sounded grand, but a tiny Silver Moon world might very well shackle his future. Even if he won this time... it was still a great pity! Furthermore, Tianji could faintly tell that Li Hao had withdrawn from the Great Dao Universe. Thus, he wasn't even a Great Dao Master anymore, merely a World Master. That made his future achievements even lower! At most, he would be an ordinary Sovereign. To others, that remained an unattainable height, but for a darling of the era... it was deeply regrettable. The chaos universe was hardly short on Sovereigns; the Red Moon Sovereign was one, and so was he. If Li Hao’s highest potential was merely an ordinary Sovereign... what did that amount to? In that instant, great stars continued to crash across the land, merging into Silver Moon. A towering surge of power rose from every corner of the world, while Li Hao’s blood and flesh scattered across the four directions! For a moment, the lightning seemed to lose its target and did not fall, though it remained locked on. A bright moon surfaced in the void, instantly transforming into the Time Star. Li Hao’s River of Time slowly emerged, and a figure stepped out from it—Li Hao himself. He took a step into the Time Star, which suddenly exploded with a roar, merging into one with him! A small sword swirled around Li Hao, and in an instant, he fused with it as well. The entire realm was filled with Li Hao’s aura, and his voice echoed slowly, "Severing my future... The enmity of severing my Dao is hateful, damnable, and unforgivable!" Laced with deep resentment, countless phantoms of Li Hao manifested across the world, fading into the void. The power of heaven and earth emerged, flowing into Li Hao’s body. In the sky, one hundred and eighty stars rose once more. Just like the spiritual world! Yet everything had changed. The spiritual world no longer belonged to Li Hao alone; it belonged to all living beings, to everyone. The spiritual world had merged into the land of Silver Moon. Stars surfaced, each reignited one by one. The stars that had dimmed earlier shone with brilliance once more! One, two, three... Soon, more than one hundred and sixty stars were lit again! Only at this moment did the lightning in the void seem to fully lock onto Li Hao. The fifth bolt struck straight toward the Time Star where he resided! Yet at that exact instant, Zheng Yu, Li Daoheng, and the Red Moon Sovereign... all frowned. In the void, Li Hao transformed into a star that enveloped the entire land, radiating light like the god of the Silver Moon. He gave a soft chuckle. "Let's do this together!" *Boom!* Countless bolts of lightning manifested. Above the heads of everyone Li Hao had locked onto, a bolt of lightning materialized, radiating destructive power. They all cursed inwardly—how had this brat become Heaven's Will so quickly? Of course, it was also related to the previous Heaven's Will being slain. At this moment, it wasn't just them. In various places, lightning appeared above several other people's heads as well. In the Central Continent. A young man stared at the lightning above his head with despair in his eyes, muttering, "Damn it..." Beside him, a woman’s face changed dramatically. "Why would the lightning target you?" The young man smiled bitterly, his aura suddenly surging. "Senior Sister... I... am also someone favored by Heaven's Will. I wanted to avenge Master, so... so I accepted Heaven's Will. Besides, I didn't have the power to resist it... Heaven's Will was slain, but remnants remained. Now that Li Hao has become Heaven's Will, everyone favored by Heaven's Will is a target for the lightning to destroy!" To the side, Sun Hongxiu, who shared the same name as Hong Yitang’s wife, looked at her junior brother in despair, gritting her teeth. "You idiot! Do you really think you can beat him? You dared to accept the olive branch of Heaven's Will... Everyone knows that in this Silver Moon, he is far more terrifying than Heaven's Will!" A disciple of Eyebrow Staff. At this moment, this youngest disciple of Eyebrow Staff felt bitter. "I know, but... I wanted to grow stronger. Sky Sword gave Master’s inheritance to you, not to me. I thought... I could do it too..." When Heaven's Will was slain, he had rejoiced that Li Hao hadn't discovered him, and that the Ninth Prince had served as a guinea pig. Yet now, he was locked onto by the lightning! And it was far from just him; many others were locked onto at this moment as well. ... Several highly talented youths, several ambitious individuals who had sought to accumulate strength in secret, and several people who had received the favor of Heaven's Will were all locked onto by the lightning! Far away in Silver City, Li Hao paid no heed to these people. Their being targeted was not his deliberate doing. Rather, by forcefully becoming Heaven's Will and merging with it, those people were now linked to Heaven's Will as well... Naturally, the chaos lightning would target them all. It could only be said that they had chosen this path themselves. When Heaven's Will attached to someone, they were aware of it. If they had truly wanted to resolve it, the Heavenly Star Governor-General's Office had been searching for such individuals back then, publicly announcing that anyone favored by Heaven's Will could seek help from the office. Yet they had never gone. Their refusal to go meant they had their own ambitions. Meeting this end now was their own choice. Li Hao certainly had no intention of caring about them! He could barely save himself, so how could he spare the energy to care about people who weren't of one mind with him? *Boom!* Countless bolts struck down, far weaker in power than before. In an instant, Zheng Yu, Li Daoheng, the Red Moon Sovereign... and Li Hao himself were all struck by lightning! Even dispersed, the formidable lightning remained overwhelmingly powerful. Zheng Yu spat blood instantly, the whip in his hand turning to ash. Not far away, Li Daoheng’s sword shattered to pieces. The lightning power swept through him, causing his sword-dao clone to show signs of collapse. Over there, the Red Moon Sovereign roared, throwing a punch that was engulfed in destructive power, reducing his fist to cinders! If even half-step Sovereigns had it this rough, the others fared far worse. Those lesser figures locked onto by the lightning were reduced to ash almost instantly! Li Hao was also struck by the lightning. With a deafening boom, his star flickered. However, compared to earlier, he was in far better shape. A smile appeared on Li Hao's face. "That's five!" At those words, their expressions changed! Bastard! Earlier, they had thought this lightning couldn't possibly aid Li Hao, but now... What rotten luck! The Red Moon Sovereign couldn't help roaring, "You two useless fools! Did you really let him become Heaven's Will that easily?" Even though Heaven's Will had been slain earlier... for Li Hao to envelop the world and become Silver Moon's Heaven's Will with zero resistance was utterly infuriating! What on earth had those two been doing all these years? This was only the fifth strike! Zheng Yu raised an eyebrow and looked up at the sky. Seeing that the sixth bolt was already gathering, he shook his head with a bitter smile. "Heaven's Will is merely a tool in our eyes. Who among those seeking true transcendence would ever deign to become Heaven's Will... Besides, Heaven's Will was already there, and we were preparing to capture it. Sovereign, you cannot blame us for this. Moreover, Heaven's Will was originally under our control... Now that it has changed hands, what does it matter?" He chuckled. "No matter. With all of us joining forces, the lightning power is dispersed. It most likely won't strike us dead. Let's just treat it as a congratulatory gift to Li Hao for becoming Silver Moon's Heaven's Will!" He took it in stride, making light of the situation. At the same time, another Li Daoheng suddenly manifested within the Illusory Dao universe. This Li Daoheng was far more wondrous than the sword-bearing man, seemingly composed of hundreds of millions of stars. Standing at the entrance of the Illusory Dao universe, he looked at the crowd, at Li Hao in the sky, and then at the River of Chaos in the distance. He chuckled. "Interesting. A pity it was broken by the chaos lightning tribulation. Still, it serves as a reminder... one must not do things that defy the chaos! Li Hao, you truly dare to think and dare to act!" In the void, Li Hao said nothing, merely watching the sky in silence. In the next moment, another bolt crashed down with boundless speed! *Boom!* One powerhouse after another was struck by the lightning! This time, they weathered another surge of lightning power. Li Hao’s great star shattered, then swiftly reassembled. Countless energies from across the land were drawn toward him, until the entire world seemed to form Li Hao’s face. His voice boomed like a bronze bell: "Gather again!" *Rumble!* Several stars in the sky lit up in an instant. Giant dragons rose from the earth, soaring toward the stars above. Even now, Li Hao was continuing to fuse them! Even after becoming Heaven's Will... he had not abandoned his plan. In an instant, one hundred and seventy stars were completely fused and ignited, faintly laced with lightning and destructive power. At this moment, the Red Moon Sovereign grew thoroughly frantic. "Damn it!" He was furious! The sixth bolt had struck him directly, ripping his flesh apart. Though this was a clone, it was no different from a flesh-and-blood body. The strike nearly forced a shriek from his lips. In all his years as a Sovereign, despite being sealed for so long... this was the first time he had ever been struck by lightning. The pain was excruciating, and having to endure it on someone else's behalf made him utterly livid! Yet before he could even think of retaliation, the seventh bolt arrived right on the heels of the sixth! This one was even stronger! Li Hao gasped inwardly. If he hadn't embodied Heaven's Will... even if he had somehow survived the fifth and sixth strikes, the seventh would have killed him outright. It was vastly more powerful! This chaos lightning... truly would not rest until Li Hao was dead! He only hoped there were just nine strikes! Any more, and everyone would be blasted to death... Then it really would be game over. *Boom!* Another deafening explosion rang out. This time, even the half-step Sovereigns could barely endure it. Just then, Li Hao’s voice suddenly rang out, "Senior Tianji, you... you should join in too!" Tianji froze. In the next instant, as the eighth bolt prepared to fall, he discovered that a bolt had formed above his head as well. His face fell, and he cursed furiously, "I just helped you!" Li Hao sounded utterly helpless. "I'm afraid... if you don't share a bit of the eighth strike, everyone will be blasted to death, and the entire Silver Moon will be shattered! Then we're all finished... Right now, we're all on the same side, grasshoppers tied to the same rope!" Tianji roared in fury, "Your woman and Bei Wu have half-step Sovereign strength too...!" *Why don't you share it with them?* Nonsense! Li Hao couldn't be bothered to explain. Their half-step Sovereign strength was borrowed and false; a single bolt of lightning would probably obliterate them. Of course he had to share it with a genuine half-step Sovereign like Tianji! *Rumble!* The eighth bolt of lightning detonated. Before anyone else could cry out, Tianji let out a shrill, earth-shaking shriek that rattled the entire realm. "It hurts!" "It hurts so much!" "Li Hao, I'll fuck your ancestors...!" Tianji roared and bellowed, completely beside himself! Li Hao didn't respond. He hadn't wanted this either... but backed into a corner, they had to shoulder it together. He truly hadn't wanted this! "Senior... pray that there really are only nine strikes. Otherwise... if we fight tooth and nail only to be struck dead by this thing, it won't be worth it. I really wonder, how on earth did this thing come into being?" Li Hao was just as helpless! *Boom!* At this moment, a colossal bolt of lightning manifested across the entire realm, seeming to blanket all of heaven and earth. Dark clouds churned wildly in the sky. The ninth bolt appeared to be the final strike. The entire world was engulfed in lightning! At this moment, if one were standing outside the Star Gate, they would see the entire Silver Moon realm shrouded in dark clouds. Vast masses of dark clouds gathered within the chaos universe. Had the Silver Moon realm not been sealed, and the Star Gate shut—allowing only a fraction to seep inside—the clouds blanketing the realm would have been enough to strike any powerhouse dead. Once chaos lightning was born, how could it be so easily overcome? Within the obscure darkness of the chaos, as the final strike cleaved down, the dark clouds outside the Silver Moon realm gradually dispersed, as if acknowledging the uniqueness of this place. Soon, the storm clouds began to melt away. At that moment, the Silver Moon realm actually expanded slightly. It swallowed up a portion of the chaos domain. ... Inside the Silver Moon realm, the colossal lightning crashed with deafening roars, altering the very colors of heaven and earth. Countless phantoms of Li Hao were born and destroyed, destroyed and reborn. In the starry sky, stars shone with brilliant light. The number of illuminated stars leaped from one hundred and seventy to one hundred and seventy-nine. The final star was none other than the Time Star housing Li Hao. At this moment, this star was wrapped in countless arcs of lightning. In the distance, the Red Moon Sovereign's clone cursed violently, half of his body destroyed. Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng were in similar states, their entire bodies wrapped in lightning power! Tianji cursed even more frantically, "Fuck!" "Li Hao, this isn't over between us!" His strength was formidable. Had he not taken part, Li Hao and the others might very well have perished. In this moment, they were truly bound together in endurance. Li Hao had wanted to take the opportunity to finish off Zheng Yu and the others, but the power was shared roughly equally among them. If they died, Li Hao would likely perish prematurely, which was why he had been forced to drag Tianji in as well! Seeing the dark clouds begin to disperse in the sky... While the powerhouses were still painfully enduring the destructive power, an aura of death and a fist intent erupted simultaneously! Having waited for this moment, the King of Dali and Lin Hongyu charged straight toward the two half-step Sovereigns without a word! Strike while they're down! A rare opportunity! If they didn't kill them now, when would they? Their borrowed strength was rapidly waning. If they didn't kill these two before they recovered, Li Hao would be in grave danger. Even though he had embodied Heaven's Will, his strength still did not seem to have reached the level of a half-step Sovereign. Yet at that very instant, Zheng Yu suddenly snapped his eyes open, forcefully suppressing the destructive power within him. With a muffled grunt, he vanished, shooting straight toward the horizon where Li Hao’s Time Star resided. He didn't attack anyone or care about anyone, heading straight for Li Hao! A flash of delight appeared in his eyes! It was as though he had achieved the exact result he wanted. Surprising though it was, the Silver Moon realm felt different now. Having undergone the baptism of lightning, and with a supreme talent like Li Hao embodying its Heaven's Will... the potential of the entire Silver Moon realm had effectively increased. This small world was entirely different from what it had been moments ago! Now, by seizing Heaven's Will and devouring the world, he would certainly attain the Dao and become a Sovereign! Furthermore, its potential would far surpass what it had been previously. The lightning Li Hao had drawn was no less effective than a Sovereign dying and fully merging into the world. In this way, he didn't even need to deal with the Red Moon Sovereign's true body first! He would deal with Li Hao first! Not only him—at that instant, hundreds of millions of stars surfaced in the Illusory Dao universe, and Li Daoheng emerged, instantly merging into the sword-bearing man. A formidable power swept through heaven and earth! Li Daoheng said nothing either. Instead of charging at Li Hao, he headed straight for the River of Chaos! The two of them actually had different targets. One had his sights set on Li Hao, while the other was targeting the River of Chaos. At this moment, the two seemed to have reached a tacit understanding: you take Li Hao, I take the River of Chaos, and neither interferes with the other. Their previous weakness and helplessness had seemingly been nothing more than an act. The Red Moon Sovereign's clone, on the other hand, was truly weakened to the extreme. Seeing this, he cursed inwardly! Those two bastards! Behind them, the King of Dali and Lin Hongyu roared in fury, tearing through the void as they charged after the two men. Those two hardly seemed weakened at all. The Red Moon Sovereign's clone was practically crippled, yet those two had retained such formidable strength! Further away, Tianji’s shrieks continued, though his cries sounded remarkably full of vigor. Seeing this scene, he frowned slightly, and his shrieks ceased. Allowing the destructive power to wash over him, he looked up at the sky. A blood saber quietly surfaced in his hand as the Red Moon Sovereign’s cold sneer sounded in his ear. Tianji suddenly turned his head and slashed down with his blade! "Noisy!" *Boom!* The battered clone was cleaved to pieces by a single strike. With a tremor of shock, the Red Moon Sovereign's clone collapsed entirely. Tianji frowned, hesitated for a moment, and then shot toward the great star in the sky! The River of Chaos might no longer belong to Li Hao, so he couldn't be bothered to care. But the great star in the sky was definitely Li Hao. He decided he had better step in. That kid from the Zheng family was no simple figure; Li Hao might not be able to defeat him on his own.