Peerless Slaughter

Kill one to terrorize the rest, then press the survivors into service. Li Hao was already well-practiced in this routine. His reason for enlisting them was twofold. On one hand, his current strength was limited. He could kill a fourth-rank Sovereign, but doing so risked triggering Chaos Tribulation Lightning and alerting the powerful pursuers trailing behind them—it simply was not worth the cost. On the other hand, just as Li Hao had considered earlier, these people were merely rogue wanderers, not his true mortal enemies. Keeping them around might prove useful. As for the eighth-rank imperial armament imprint, whether Ming Hao believed it, chose to flee, or attempted a counterattack was entirely up to him. The imprint was actually useless. It was nothing more than an empty bluff. The real imprint remained with Li Hao. How could he casually hand over something so valuable? Used properly, it could save his life and help him comprehend the Dao. For a mere fourth-rank Sovereign, he was hardly willing to part with it. Having brought the group to heel, Li Hao wasted no more time on pleasantries. A battle had surely broken out back at Silver Moon. Every minute wasted could spell the difference between life and death. Yet the distance was vast… How could they travel faster? "Senior Ming Hao!" Li Hao said with utmost sincerity. "The place I need to reach is quite a distance away. I must trouble you, Senior, to manifest your Dao traces and carry us on our way!" "..." Ming Hao was struck speechless. In the chaos, the weak often dragged down the speed of the strong. Why, then, did the strong not simply carry the weak? For no other reason than face—both sides were Sovereigns. The weak felt humiliated, while the strong felt as though they were being ridden like beasts of burden. They would rather travel slowly! Naturally, if one possessed a high-grade imperial armament designed for transport, there would be no issue. The crux was that rogue cultivators could barely acquire offensive imperial armaments, let alone travel-oriented ones. What Li Hao had said… effectively meant, *Senior, manifest your Dao traces and let us ride you.* It was intensely humiliating. Unless a stronger powerhouse took the initiative to offer a ride, a weaker cultivator had no right to make such a request. Yet now… the circumstances were different. Sovereign Ming Hao was thoroughly reluctant, feeling his pride wounded. He wanted to refuse, but he feared being struck dead on the spot. Was face more important, or his life? In the end, the fourth-rank Sovereign made his choice. His Dao traces coalesced into a small boat, floating in midair. Li Hao turned to the other Sovereigns. "Everyone, get on!" The Sovereigns looked at one another with strange expressions, but none dared speak up as they filed aboard. Li Hao, however, did not board the vessel. Instead, he took the lead, saying, "I will lead the way. Follow behind me." As a third-rank Sovereign, his speed was by no means slow. Moreover, he was no ordinary third-rank Sovereign limited strictly to the Dao of Life and Death. The next instant, a long river manifested. The moment it appeared, Li Hao traversed from one end to the other in the blink of an eye. His speed was astonishingly swift, scarcely slower than Sovereign Ming Hao. Aboard the boat, the Sovereigns' expressions shifted slightly. Why did this thing… look so much like the legendary Dao River? Indeed, a Great Dao River! A powerhouse from a great world would have recognized it instantly. However, these men were rogue cultivators with little understanding of great worlds. Furthermore, a Dao River was typically wielded only by a Dao Lord, who was usually at the seventh rank. None of them had ever interacted with a seventh-rank Dao Lord. Though they had heard rumors, they had never seen one in person. Li Hao was merely a third-rank Sovereign, and while suspicions swirled in their minds, they dared not inquire, keeping their doubts buried deep within. Sovereign Ming Hao was fast enough to keep pace. Though Li Hao moved swiftly, Ming Hao followed without appearing to exert his full strength. A fourth-rank Sovereign was, in the end, still stronger than Li Hao. Li Hao might hold his own in a fight, but without external assistance, defeating or killing a fourth-rank Sovereign remained exceptionally difficult. At the Sovereign level, standing invincible within one's own rank was already an incredible feat. To fight across ranks—especially across the divide between the low and middle tiers—was something virtually no one could accomplish. Those who did had invariably relied on external power. The group of eleven flew swiftly, vanishing from the area in the blink of an eye. *** Some time after their departure, an illusory silhouette phased into existence where the group had lingered. The newcomer gazed into the distance, frowning slightly. There were traces of an explosive fluctuation here. *Did a battle take place?* Yet no major commotion had been detected. Or was it simply that someone had tested a technique while traveling? If a true clash had erupted among twelve Sovereigns, it would not have ended so quietly. With these thoughts, the figure looked in the direction the group had gone, then scanned their surroundings. Ming Hao's group had set out to hunt down Xinwu powerhouses. In this hunt, killing Tianji and King Huai was not the ultimate objective; it was bait to lure out bigger fish. Naturally, Ming Hao's band was not the only party involved. In the eyes of certain figures, they were merely the worm on the hook. Naturally, someone was trailing them! Only… at this moment, the trailing powerhouse hesitated. A Sovereign Haoyue had joined the group, and this newcomer was entangled with the Bright Light Divine Realm. That complicated matters immensely! The watcher hailed from the Yunxiao Great World. While Yunxiao was not locked in an open war with the Bright Light Divine Realm, friction between the two was constant. A minor figure would not have mattered, but Haoyue was connected to the sole son of the Bright Light Divine Lord—the heir to the Bright Light World! Once such figures became involved, if the two worlds were provoked into an all-out war because of this, the tracker could never bear the responsibility. After brief deliberation, the figure pushed the thought aside. Dealing with the Xinwu trouble came first. Before long, the powerhouse resumed following them, keeping a measured distance to ensure the targets remained within range. Getting too close would be dangerous; Xinwu was no fool, and a careless approach might allow the Xinwu powerhouses to turn the tables and spring a trap. As long as he could confirm the location of Tianji and King Huai, the trail would not be lost. *** Meanwhile, Li Hao continued to accelerate. Behind him, Ming Hao ferried the rest of the group along in pursuit. Li Hao suspected someone was tailing them. If it were feasible—or rather, if Ming Hao and the others were trustworthy—the best course of action would be to send the rest in another direction while he took Ming Hao and a few others to resolve the crisis at Silver Moon. Unfortunately, these people could not be trusted in the slightest. At present, his only option was to bring them along, rush to Silver Moon, eliminate the adversaries as swiftly as possible, and escape together with Silver Moon. As for the stalker behind them, they could only belong to a Tianfang faction like Huilong Temple or powerhouses from a great world in the Tianfang Region. In terms of strength, the pursuer would not be in the high ranks—at most the sixth rank. High-rank Sovereigns were strategic pillars tasked with guarding great worlds. Unless an ultimate decisive battle had arrived, they rarely left. Outside the perimeter of their great world, stripped of its amplification, they risked falling into enemy ambushes and perishing while weakened, leaving their faction in despair. Even so, the stalker was definitely stronger than Ming Hao. Li Hao did not even need to think twice to deduce this. As he flew, his mind raced. Being tailed indefinitely was not a viable solution. Yet he had no way to deal with a sixth-rank Sovereign right now. Even if he borrowed external strength, he could only tap into the fifth-rank power of Xunhan, which would fail to overcome a sixth-rank foe while stirring up endless trouble. He had originally planned to travel with this group precisely so he would not have to face fifth- or sixth-rank Sovereigns. But now, it seemed he had to shake the tail off regardless. Li Hao glanced back out of the corner of his eye. Keeping the fourth-rank Ming Hao around indefinitely was not ideal either. Perhaps he could discard them after they served their purpose, having them draw the pursuer away. Of course, whether the man would run off never to return was something Li Hao did not particularly care about. Nor did he worry about exposure. In the Tianfang Great World, the only acquaintance he held on decent terms with was Kongji. Kongji was the descendant of an eighth-rank Sovereign—let them go pick a fight with him if they dared! Thoughts flashed through Li Hao's mind in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Ming Hao felt increasingly tense, sensing Li Hao's gaze upon him. Even though he was a fourth-rank Sovereign, he could not shake the feeling that the young man before him was far too enigmatic. *Who exactly is he?* When asked earlier if he was from Xinwu, he had claimed he was not, calling it an alliance. Apart from Xinwu, he did not belong to the Bright Light Divine Realm either. Which great world did he hail from? A "half-master of a Great Dao"… did that mean he was a scion of a world master, just like Kongji? Was this river-like phenomenon an offshoot of a Great Dao River? Ming Hao was knowledgeable, yet he could not definitively judge phenomena related to a Dao River. As for the Silver Moon King, the thought never even crossed his mind. Had the young man been at the first rank, Ming Hao might have entertained the idea. But third rank? Impossible. The Silver Moon King had left the Star Gate barely a year ago, and the entire Silver Moon World had vanished for only fifty-odd years. How could a third-rank Sovereign emerge from that? The Sovereigns beside him were harboring their own thoughts as well. Some contemplated flight. Naturally, there were also true gamblers wondering if they could seize this chance to make a bet. Previously, no one bet on Xinwu simply because Xinwu did not accept outsiders. Otherwise, when the Xinwu Human King slew the Lord of Extreme Darkness and the Xinwu Cang Emperor annihilated the Bliss World—destroying two great worlds in a single day—would that not have been worth gambling on? Of course it was! Unfortunately, even if one wished to pay homage, there was no door to knock on. Now, the Bright Light Divine Realm—an eighth-rank great world—was also involved, making the gamble even more enticing! The Sovereigns were torn by conflicting thoughts. As for their instantaneous surrender earlier, that had merely been recognizing the situation to stay alive. At their level, as long as one survived, what did serving as a slave for thousands or tens of thousands of years matter? Any Sovereign who had roamed the chaos and lived to this day had skin thicker than a city wall. Only the living had opportunities! As they pressed forward, one Sovereign in the crowd spoke up hesitantly. "As far as I know, the Silver Moon World recently surfaced, and a group went tracking after it. They invited me before, but because I had already promised Sovereign Ming Hao, I declined. It seems they were heading in this direction as well… One of the pursuers is an acquaintance of mine; Sovereign Xunfeng appears to be in their crew." *Are we heading to Silver Moon?* Destroying Silver Moon would yield a medium world, and Silver Moon was an affiliate of Xinwu. Was Sovereign Haoyue leading them to track down and rescue Silver Moon? The Sovereigns were not fools; they had begun to deduce the truth. Sure enough, Li Hao turned back. "Xunfeng? What rank?" "Third rank!" the speaker answered hastily. "They have a small crew, similar to ours… but our bonds are tighter, while their numbers are fewer, and they lack a powerhouse like Senior Ming Hao." Ming Hao possessed more information and chimed in, "Xunfeng's group? If it's them, I know a bit. That crew has four Sovereigns: two third-rank, one second-rank, and one first-rank… As for whether they've added more hands, I cannot say. When we began our operation, I actually invited them, but they refused. Those two fellows likely thought cooperating with me would dilute their share of the spoils. Believing Silver Moon was weak, they preferred to act alone…" Four Sovereigns! Two of them third-rank! Li Hao frowned slightly, sensing something amiss. By all logic, Silver Moon should not have been able to withstand them. Yet judging by Lin Hongyu's life-and-death star, things had not reached a point of total collapse. Were third-rank Sovereigns really that incompetent? Or had something prevented them from going all out? A conflict over the Great Dao Universe? That was quite possible! With that realization, he felt somewhat relieved. They were only low-rank Sovereigns, with no middle-rank powerhouses among them. That was fortunate. However, this region was not far from the Red Moon World. When Silver Moon opened back then, he had slain a Red Moon Sovereign. Unsurprisingly, Red Moon would dispatch someone to investigate. A year had passed, and it was unclear whether Red Moon still cared. If they did, having lost a third-rank Sovereign previously, anyone waiting here in ambush would be at least a middle-rank Sovereign! Troublesome! *Red Moon…* Li Hao pondered whether he could pit the Red Moon Sovereign against the pursuer trailing behind them. It would likely prove difficult. The pursuer was also here for Xinwu, making them potential allies with Red Moon. Powerhouses of the Sovereign realm would not easily fight to the death upon crossing paths, making it hard to orchestrate a clash between them. Setting that aside, returning to Silver Moon took priority! Li Hao accelerated once more, even faintly channeling temporal acceleration. He kept it minimal; because both ends of the river were sealed, using it on a localized scale would not draw the immediate wrath of Chaos Tribulation Lightning. His speed climbed higher! Ming Hao's expression turned solemn. This fellow's speed had genuinely matched a fourth-rank Sovereign! Was this truly a third-rank Sovereign? The divide between the third and fourth ranks was fundamentally different from that between the second and third. Between the low and middle ranks, what seemed like a single rank was actually a vast chasm. Yet this young man's speed could rival his own—it was incredible. Earlier, Ming Hao had harbored doubts about whether Li Hao had truly slain fourth- and fifth-rank Sovereigns. Now… he was beginning to believe it. If the young man held other hidden trump cards, it might not be impossible. *** Meanwhile, in the void of the chaos. Great Daos clashed in turmoil as powerhouses fought to kill. Two third-rank Sovereigns exchanged glances across the distance, their brows furrowed. Although Silver Moon had gained two Dao Lords, they only possessed first-rank power. Even when merged, their strength barely reached the second rank, falling short of the third. Currently, the two third-rank Sovereigns were each confronting a second-rank opponent. The enemy second-rank Sovereign faced only a first-rank foe, while their first-rank Sovereign fought a mere half-step Sovereign! Yet despite holding an overwhelming advantage across the board, they had failed to crush their opposition. As for the reason, every Sovereign present knew it in their hearts. Everyone harbored too many private calculations! The Sovereign suppressing the Black Panther sent a swift voice transmission: "Everyone, stop holding back! We've dragged this out too long, and delay breeds trouble! We are too close to Red Moon. If Red Moon's powerhouses arrive, we won't get a single scrap… This Great Dao Universe is newly born and not overwhelmingly powerful, but it can comfortably accommodate us… At most, it's the difference between being a Dao Lord and an ordinary member. We can negotiate the division afterward!" If this continued with everyone withholding their full strength to let the others suffer mutual destruction, someone else would eventually arrive and snatch the prize from under their noses. Third-rank Sovereigns were formidable. Having spoken, the Sovereign stopped holding back and unleashed his full might. A fierce tide of flames surged forth, scorching the void and instantly setting the Black Panther's colossal form ablaze! Seeing this, the other third-rank Sovereign's eyes flickered, and a tempest of astral wind swept across the expanse! The two merged Great Dao Rivers convulsed, torn apart by the tempest. At this moment, the two third-rank Sovereigns presented a united front, reaching an unspoken agreement: *Finish them off first!* Witnessing this, the remaining two Sovereigns weighed their options and unleashed vicious strikes of their own. Lin Hongyu suffered the most. Not yet a true Sovereign, she faced a genuine Sovereign alone; when the opponent held back, she could manage, but once he exerted his full might, the gap was colossal! Under normal circumstances, five or six half-step Sovereigns could hardly rival a single Sovereign. On the other side, Tianji cursed incessantly, his voice ringing loudest across the battlefield. "You're all courting death! I am Tianji of Xinwu! My father is the Western Emperor of Xinwu! I am merely an avatar, and my true body is nearby! If you dare destroy my avatar, you lowly low-rank Sovereigns are finished—no matter where you flee, you are dead!" The second-rank Sovereign fighting him frowned slightly, his strikes growing ever more ruthless! They were all rogue wanderers of the chaos; who feared whom? Once you were dead, they would simply flee! Xinwu was formidable, but Xinwu was not the undisputed overlord of the chaos. They had to deal with Red Moon first. Besides, they knew about the Western Emperor—a fifth-rank Sovereign. But so what? Whom was he trying to scare? Furthermore, the Western Emperor's battle record was notoriously dismal. Hailing from the Tianfang Region, they had limited knowledge of the Red Moon Domain, but they knew the accomplishments of the top figures. The Western Emperor's greatest feat was supposedly defeating a fourth-rank Sovereign—merely defeating him, nothing more. He did not even seem to have a confirmed kill to his name! Given that, what was there to fear? Besides, this was only an avatar, not his true body! Tianji shouted for a while, only to take another severe beating. Feeling helpless that his father's reputation was so useless, he roared again, "If you don't fear my father, what of the Supreme? The grandson of Xinwu's Supreme is here! Once the Supreme is enraged, the Xinwu Human King, Yang God, and Cang Emperor will never let you go…" *Boom!* A tremendous crash resounded as the second-rank Sovereign struck him with a bolt of lightning, charring his body. "Let Xinwu deal with Red Moon first!" the Sovereign said coldly. "Tianji, your true body is at least a third-rank Sovereign. Is there any point to this childish bluster?" The battle had already escalated to this point; who cared about his backing? Before the clash, they might have shown some wariness, but now… such words only hardened their resolve to leave no witnesses. *He's third-rank already?* Tianji thought, unbothered by the blow. He had only been shouting for effect and never truly expected them to spare him. But this was good news—his true body had reached the third rank! Not bad at all! In any case, a hundred thousand years ago—no, fifty-odd years ago—he should have only been second-rank. Now his true self had actually entered the third rank; clearly, his main body had seen plenty of action over these fifty years! He just didn't know whether he was an early third-rank or at the peak. Even in this dire situation, he still found time to let his mind wander. The next instant, another bolt of lightning struck, fracturing his avatar. Still, as a Sovereign-level entity, he could endure the assault. Lin Hongyu, however, was already battered to pieces, death energy leaking from her body as she turned halfway into an undead spirit. Even so, she could barely fend off the assault of a true Sovereign. The first-rank Sovereign struck with mounting ferocity, saber intent radiating from his form—he was a weapon cultivator. A single slash tore the void apart. Lin Hongyu could scarcely evade; the blade nearly cleaved her in two. Though she remained in one piece, countless fractures spiderwebbed across her body, and she teetered on the verge of collapse. Over on his end, Qian Wuliang erupted frantically. He was even more terrified than Lin Hongyu! *Damn it, if they kill us, so be it, but if Lin Hongyu dies…* Regardless of how Li Hao viewed his relationship with Lin Hongyu, everyone in Silver Moon treated her as the Marquis's consort. If the battle concluded with everyone else surviving while she perished… how could Qian Wuliang face Li Hao when he returned? That young man was a ruthless monster through and through! Yes, to others, Li Hao appeared refined, elegant, and gentle. But in Qian Wuliang's eyes, he was an absolute demon. Across the vast Silver Moon, Li Hao had once faced countless enemies. But now… could you find a single one? Not one remained! From top to bottom, from strong to weak, hardly anyone harbored animosity toward Li Hao. In a casual, almost unnoticed manner, he had eradicated every single opponent! Anyone who held even a sliver of malice toward Li Hao had been trapped and slaughtered back in Silver Moon, without exception! The weaker malcontents had been lured out by the White Saint Sect, and then… the White Saint Sect was wiped out. That was true ruthlessness. How could Qian Wuliang dare watch Lin Hongyu die? Driven to desperation, he resolved that even if others fell, Li Hao would at most punish him upon his return. But the people close to Li Hao could not be allowed to die! The next moment, this Sovereign—who had merged with Hong Yitang to barely reach the second rank—did something astonishing! In a flash, boundless vitality surfaced within the Great Dao River. Hong Yitang's voice immediately rang out: "Stop!" Qian Wuliang ignored him entirely! In that single breath, he siphoned away a portion of vitality from countless cultivators. Wielding the Great Dao, he possessed this authority. He did not take much from each of Silver Moon's hundreds of millions of beings, just a tiny sliver from each person. Yet gathered across countless living souls, the harvested vitality amounted to a staggering sum! Boundless lifeforce surged forth in an instant. Hong Yitang's voice sounded again: "You…" "Shut up!" Qian Wuliang paid him no heed. In that same instant, thick death energy billowed outward, and untold numbers of people perished across the Silver Moon World. Those clung to by death energy—perhaps elderly, perhaps nearing the end of their lifespans, perhaps terminally ill—all possessed death energy, though some might have had a chance of recovery. Yet Qian Wuliang cared for none of that. In the blink of an eye, boundless vitality and death energy converged, fusing completely before shooting straight toward Lin Hongyu in the distance. Lin Hongyu, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly felt an overwhelming convergence of vitality and death energy surge into her body. Her prior injuries mended instantly. Her expression shifted slightly, and she glanced toward Qian Wuliang. He was already locked in a bitter struggle against the third-rank Sovereign, paying no further attention to her side, inwardly groaning, *I've done my best! If word of this gets out, I'm done for. But… it's better than watching Lin Hongyu die.* Beside his ear, Hong Yitang merely let out a sigh, saying nothing more. Could a Great Dao Lord truly remain fair and just? Evidently not. In Qian Wuliang's eyes, no matter how many people died, as long as those close to Li Hao survived, it was enough. And while Hong Yitang felt it was improper, he held his tongue. This maneuver caused his opponent, the third-rank Sovereign Xunfeng, to narrow his eyes. The next moment, delight washed over his face! *Is this the power of a Dao Lord?* Even in a newly born Great Dao Universe, a Dao Lord could manipulate all Daos and gather life and death! A Dao Lord was practically immortal, bound by no lifespan limits, for when death approached, they could simply extract vitality from all the Daos under their sway! *This is a Dao Lord!* In his excitement, the third-rank Sovereign grew wild with fervor. *** Meanwhile, in another corner of the void, a long-haired Sovereign looked in that direction, his brow furrowing slightly. *There are Great Dao fluctuations… Is someone fighting?* Li Hao was not here; even if he were, he would not recognize the man, though he would recognize the Great Dao power on him—the power of Red Moon. When they fled previously, a fourth-rank Sovereign from the Red Moon World had arrived, though he had not pursued beyond Red Moon's domain. Although Silver Moon had vanished for a year, this fourth-rank Sovereign had not returned to Red Moon. His primary mission was to capture Silver Moon's powerhouses and seize the Silver Moon World, so he had remained stationed in this sector for the past year. Sensing the tremors, he deliberated briefly before moving rapidly toward the source. While that area lay on the periphery of Red Moon, it was still within Red Moon's sphere of influence. He felt relatively bold; had it been outside Red Moon's domain, he might not have ventured out, given that Xinwu had recently intensified its assaults against Red Moon and its allies. *** Li Hao's brow furrowed tightly. Within the river, the life-and-death star flickered. What had shown signs of extinguishing suddenly surged with abundant energy once more. This meant Lin Hongyu had nearly died, only to recover by drawing upon vast amounts of life-and-death power. It also signaled extreme danger! The situation was slipping out of control. He was still some distance from the Silver Moon World. The chaos was simply too vast; even though it felt close and his speed matched a fourth-rank Sovereign, he was still falling short, unable to arrive in time. Arriving at the final, desperate moment… was a scenario Li Hao despised. He preferred planning ahead, ensuring victory was ten parts certain. With a shift of his will, a corpse materialized. In a fraction of a second, the corpse partially liquefied, enveloped by the power of time as the aura of a fifth-rank Sovereign began to awaken within it. The next instant, Li Hao slipped inside the corpse. Reaching out with a hand, the resurrected corpse scooped Ming Hao and the others into its massive grasp. Li Hao's voice echoed, "Follow me!" Ming Hao's face drained of color! *Fifth rank?!* How could he wield the power of a corpse so effortlessly? This was clearly a dead Sovereign. Normally, one could at most absorb the residual energy of a dead Sovereign, not deploy their full might as one's own. The two were worlds apart! If anyone could carry the corpse of a high-rank Sovereign and instantly possess their strength, high-rank Sovereigns would be everywhere! Ming Hao found it unbelievable, yet a chill of dread and relief washed over him. The young man truly might have possessed the ability to slay him instantly. If he could manifest fifth-rank power, what about sixth-rank? Seventh-rank? He dared not contemplate it further. With fifth-rank power surging through him, Li Hao's speed skyrocketed. Yet above his head, dark clouds began to gather; drawing upon fifth-rank power was beginning to stir the Chaos Tribulation Lightning. Li Hao did not look up, nor did he care. Even if tapping into this corpse depleted its power and rendered it incapable of activating the Dao Chessboard… so what? Weren't there several Sovereigns waiting ahead? Were the corpses of those Sovereigns not enough? If not, he would kill more! As long as he killed enough, why worry about lacking the energy to activate the Dao Chessboard? Empowered by the fifth rank, his speed was vastly superior. A normal person would never act this way. Fifth-rank power was a life-saving trump card, yet here he was revealing it before even seeing the enemy… But was Li Hao a normal person? He considered himself perfectly normal, though in the eyes of others, he was anything but. He tore through the void at blinding speed. With fifth-rank perception, he faintly sensed that someone was indeed trailing them far behind. The pursuer might have sensed him as well, though likely without certainty. Li Hao paid it no heed, pressing forward relentlessly. Since he had already provoked the Chaos Tribulation Lightning, he held nothing back. Within the River of Life and Death, the Time Star surfaced once more—temporal acceleration! His speed multiplied! In a single bound, he pulled away, leaving the tracker in the dust. Ming Hao swallowed hard, his throat dry. *What kind of power is this? Is this also a Great Dao? Speed? Or something else?* He had no idea. All he knew was that Li Hao's current speed was unfathomably swift, surpassing any fifth-rank Sovereign he had ever known—perhaps even rivaling the sixth rank! If even he was this shaken, the other Sovereigns were utterly pale with horror. Just what rank was this man? *** Li Hao pushed his speed to the absolute limit. Far ahead, Lin Hongyu was battered down once more, but her eyes suddenly brightened. That familiar sensation… was drawing closer and closer. He was almost back! He must have sensed their peril. As expected, that man never disappointed them. No matter how difficult, no matter how distant, whenever they fell into danger, he would always be the first to appear before them. "He is almost back!" Lin Hongyu shouted at the top of her lungs! In that instant, the battered and dispirited Sovereigns felt their morale surge! Li Hao was returning! It was as if they had regained their backbone. Even though Li Hao had only been a first-rank Sovereign when he left, Qian Wuliang, the Black Panther, and even Tianji were galvanized with renewed vigor! He was returning! Their earlier despair vanished, replaced by immense joy as they erupted with renewed power. Their sudden shift startled their opponents. Sovereign Xunfeng, who was suppressing Qian Wuliang's Great Dao River, sneered coldly. "Who are you trying to intimidate?" Qian Wuliang, however, laughed wildly. "You're dead! The Silver Moon King is returning!" "..." Xunfeng froze. *What nonsense is this? Aren't you the Silver Moon King? You command the Great Dao Universe—if you aren't the Silver Moon King, who is?* He was completely baffled. To his mind, either this man or the two of them combined was the Silver Moon King, or perhaps that chaos beast was the Silver Moon King as the world master while these two were Dao Lords. Any of the three would make sense. But with the Dao Lords here and the world master here, where could another Silver Moon King come from? He would sooner believe the Xinwu Human King was coming than this supposed Silver Moon King! "The Silver Moon King?" Sovereign Xunfeng laughed mockingly. "Are you joking? You aren't the Silver Moon King?" "Of course not!" Qian Wuliang roared, unleashing his Dao of Desire in full fury. "We are merely ministers of Silver Moon! You blind fool, our King is about to return!" "..." *Are you insane?* Sovereign Xunfeng repelled him with a blast of astral wind and sneered, "You don't mean the Sword Venerable, do you?" "Naturally not!" "Hahaha!" Xunfeng threw his head back in laughter. He had momentarily worried they meant the Sword Venerable, but if it wasn't him, it was just some newcomer. The Dao Lord was only first rank, and the world master was second rank… If this Silver Moon King was neither the world master nor the Dao Lord, could he be someone who wasn't even a Sovereign? He could not help laughing. In everyone's understanding, the strongest figure in any world was either the world master or the Dao Lord. In small or medium worlds without a Dao Lord, the world master was absolute—this was an ironclad law! Now, this newborn world of Silver Moon supposedly had another king? When even their Dao Lord was a mere first rank, this was nothing short of a joke! Yet in the distance, Tianji snorted coldly. "You're all dead meat!" Lin Hongyu added in a frosty voice, "Once he returns, not one of you will escape!" Even knowing Li Hao had only been a first-rank Sovereign when he departed, what did it matter? He always defied expectations! Since he was rushing back with such haste… these people were doomed. Such unconditional faith was something outsiders could never comprehend. Just as the people of Xinwu believed in the Human King—though they also trusted the Supreme, the Cang Emperor, and the Yang God—in the eyes of Silver Moon's people, there was only Li Hao. He was the sole anchor of their peace of mind. The enemy Sovereigns could not be bothered to reply, Xunfeng sneering, "Good! Let him return, so we can wipe you all out in one fell swoop!" At that moment, Lin Hongyu's expression shifted. Li Hao, moving at a speed exceeding the fifth rank, was already in the immediate vicinity, liable to arrive at any second. Xunfeng's brow furrowed slightly as he glanced back into the void behind him. He saw no one, yet an unsettling premonition gripped his heart. Looking again, he froze. In the distance, a patch of dark clouds materialized out of nowhere in the void. *How could dark clouds appear in the chaos? Strange!* His expression shifted, while Tianji and the others were overjoyed! Seeing those familiar dark clouds, they knew Li Hao had returned. Naturally, he brought the Chaos Tribulation Lightning with him. His entrances always seemed so uniquely distinct: while others arrived quietly or descended with imposing pressure, his tribulation lightning always arrived before he did! At that moment, a light chuckle echoed across the void: "Wipe us all out in one fell swoop?" The enemy Sovereigns' expressions warped! Right then, Li Hao's figure emerged, accompanied instantly by Ming Hao and the others—over ten Sovereigns suddenly appeared in the expanse. Sovereign Xunfeng recognized Ming Hao's group, his face draining of color. "Senior Ming Hao…" Ming Hao and his companions swept their gazes across the battlefield, their expressions altering drastically. *What is going on?* Xunfeng's opponent… why did he feel like a Dao Lord? The manifestation was far more obvious than Li Hao's, a genuine fusion of myriad Daos forming a Dao River. Only… it was far too weak. *A newborn universe!* The phrase flashed through their minds simultaneously. If Li Hao's river had seemed ambiguous, Qian Wuliang's was unmistakable. Ming Hao and his group were stunned. *A Great Dao Universe? Silver Moon! Half a Dao Lord…* Instantly, they recalled what Li Hao had said earlier, piecing the puzzle together. Li Hao wasted no words. With the fifth-rank power still coursing through him, a great river instantly coiled around the heavens and earth. Li Hao's voice rang out: "You have cost me dearly… even forcing me to waste the corpse of a fifth-rank Sovereign… You cannot afford the debt!" In a flash, ten thousand stars surfaced within the river. A longsword coalesced from the starlight in an instant. Infused with boundless sharpness, the life-and-death star merged with the Time Star. Before the shaken Sovereigns could react, the first-rank Sovereign among them felt his thoughts freeze before he could even attempt to flee! The next instant, he watched helplessly as a sword pierced through his physical body and severed his Dao traces. The river swept over him, and he vanished from existence. Fifth-rank power! Augmented by the power of time, against a first-rank foe, it was absolute annihilation. The sword mirrored across the void. A second later, the second-rank Sovereign facing Tianji went pale with terror as he stared at the approaching blade. The result was identical—in a single breath, the sword impaled his flesh and severed his Dao traces! The River of Life and Death swept across, and he too was gone. Two Sovereigns snuffed out in the blink of an eye. The remaining two third-rank Sovereigns, including Xunfeng, were paralyzed with terror. *How can this be?!* *This is the Silver Moon King?! And what is Ming Hao's group doing? Weren't they supposed to hunt down the true bodies of Tianji and King Huai? Why are they with the Silver Moon King?!* Ming Hao was equally shaken, blurting out hastily, "We will handle these two…" Terror gripped him. This Haoyue had unleashed a slaughter with unfathomable speed; even as a fourth-rank Sovereign, Ming Hao had barely recovered his senses from the sight of the Dao River. He rushed to prove his loyalty, but Li Hao looked into the distance, frowning slightly. "No need. Head south. A fourth-rank Red Moon Sovereign is approaching from that direction. The ten of you, go slay him! Bring back his corpse! Otherwise… consider your own fates!" Ming Hao's face tightened. *A Red Moon Sovereign?* Gritting his teeth, he replied, "Understood! We shall do our utmost!" In an instant, he swept up the other Sovereigns and flew south. A fourth-rank Sovereign? He was fourth-rank as well. Though he did not hail from a great world, he had nine other Sovereigns backing him. Yet what on earth was happening? Silver Moon had birthed a new Great Dao Universe! It was utterly inconceivable! Both Xunfeng and his fellow third-rank Sovereign turned pale. Xunfeng roared desperately, "Senior Ming Hao! A newly formed Great Dao Universe is right here! We are willing to help you seize it and support you as the Dao Lord! You will surely ascend to the seventh rank…" To be truthful, for a single heartbeat, Ming Hao's heart wavered. Allying with two more third-rank Sovereigns, plus the nine behind him and himself… perhaps they could take the gamble. A Great Dao Universe! Yet the very next moment, cold sweat drenched his back. Li Hao seemed to have been waiting for those exact words. The instant Xunfeng finished speaking, an even more terrifying power of time surged. A star rose directly out of the river! Just like before, the Time Star manifested, freezing all creation. The weaker Sovereigns felt entirely paralyzed. Though Xunfeng and his companion could barely manage to struggle, a longsword pierced through them in the blink of an eye! This strike was almost indistinguishable from the Sword Venerable's blade, differing only in the added power of destruction. As the sword struck, the dark clouds overhead seemed to be drawn in, unleashing explosive destructive force. With a deafening boom, Sovereign Xunfeng's body shattered into pieces! A single slash decapitated him! As the Great Dao manifested, Li Hao brought his blade down violently. Even before Xunfeng was completely dead, Li Hao materialized before the other third-rank Sovereign, his hand tearing into the man's body and ripping him limb from limb! A third-rank Sovereign was torn apart like paper beneath his grip. "Black Panther, eat!" Li Hao barked. The Black Panther opened its maw wide and inhaled with terrifying force, unleashing a devouring vortex that swallowed the mangled Sovereign whole, Great Dao power and all! Rumbling echoes resonated from within the beast's belly. Li Hao's longsword had already descended on the other side, cleaving Xunfeng's Great Dao into fragments. "Qian Wuliang, devour it!" Qian Wuliang dared not hesitate. His river surged forward, consuming all the shattered Great Dao power. Li Hao reached out and grabbed Lin Hongyu. "Tread the cycle of life and death and attain the Sovereign realm! The tribulation lightning has arrived just in time—undergo your tribulation alongside it!" Without a word, Lin Hongyu stepped directly into Li Hao's River of Life and Death, initiating her breakthrough! The entire sequence transpired with unimaginable speed. Ming Hao had momentarily paused his steps… but the next second, he bolted toward the south with all his might. Terror consumed his heart. *Damn it all!* Even for a fifth-rank Sovereign, slaughtering several Sovereigns—including two at the third rank—should not have been as effortless as butchering chickens. This man was truly terrifying. In his panic, any thoughts of seizing a Great Dao Universe vanished completely; surviving came first! He could practically feel a pair of cold, dark eyes staring into his back, and he fled with desperate haste, eager to find the Red Moon Sovereign and tear him apart. Where in the world had this monster come from? Li Hao merely watched them leave in silence. Just moments ago, he had genuinely considered slaughtering them all along with the Red Moon Sovereign to recoup the loss of the fifth-rank corpse. However, Ming Hao had harbored no overt rebellious intent—or rather, Li Hao had snuffed out any such thoughts before they could even form. Li Hao wondered whether killing them so swiftly had been the right choice. Perhaps he should have waited a moment longer. That way, he could have slaughtered them with a clear conscience. Why did he always feel the need to justify himself? Setting the thought aside, he surveyed the others, then cast his gaze toward the rear, frowning slightly. The trailing Sovereign would likely arrive soon. The crux of the matter, however, was the Chaos Tribulation Lightning. What a nuisance! Did time cultivation offend the cosmos that much? Appearing every single time he used it—did it never tire of the trouble?