Every person's comprehension of the Great Dao was unique.
Li Hao did not truly understand the life and death Lin Hongyu had comprehended, but he sensed that her aura had stepped into rank two in that very instant.
Rank two was nothing extraordinary.
Yet she had broken through directly into rank two without absorbing much energy, which meant her understanding of the Great Dao had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Using comprehension of Dao principles to drive an increase in cultivation realm was something countless Sovereigns could only dream of.
"Congratulations!"
Li Hao turned around, a smile breaking across his face.
Rank two was a solid start.
The Sovereigns who had emerged from Silver Moon were all making progress now. Black Panther and the others had stepped into rank three—though in their case, that was largely due to the influence of their divine positions. Lin Hongyu was neither a world lord nor a Great Dao master, so advancing quickly to rank two was truly commendable.
Lin Hongyu smiled as well.
Rank two!
Reaching rank two had only been a matter of time. She knew that reaching rank three would not be difficult either. What was truly daunting was stepping into the middle ranks, and then into the high ranks... Without a deeper comprehension of Dao principles, reaching rank four would be an impossible hurdle.
Now, however, she had gained deeper insights into life and death.
Life and death!
In that moment, she raised a hand. A faint wisp of vital energy flickered at her fingertips—life and death born from a single thought.
A fleeting blossom!
Li Hao froze. In that single instant, among the Dao webs that had just collapsed, one Great Dao faintly reemerged, as though time itself were flowing backward.
Before long, deathly qi swirled around the Dao, and with a crisp crack, it shattered once more.
Lin Hongyu stood dazed. Her earlier joy faded, replaced by regret. "I was wondering if I could resurrect these Great Daos, but... it failed."
Resurrect?
Li Hao stared at her in disbelief. Was she joking?
The Great Dao was already destroyed, and she wanted to resurrect it?
Could that even be possible?
Still, Li Hao felt a stir in his heart. "You brought a dead Great Dao back to life for an instant, allowing it to unleash one final, brilliant burst..."
"You could say that." Lin Hongyu nodded, though regret still lingered in her voice.
It was only for an instant.
What was the use of a fleeting blossom?
Once again, she had fallen short of her expectations.
Li Hao was lost in thought, gazing at her in silence for a long time.
After a while, he spoke. "Hypothetically speaking... if we battle other Sovereigns and kill one while others are still around, could you revive the dead Sovereign for an instant and unleash a fleeting moment of brilliance?"
Lin Hongyu paused, sinking into contemplation. After a long while, she replied, "I don't know. I'm not even sure how long this momentary resurrection can last... nor do I know whether it can resurrect people, what conditions are required, or what limits exist on the target's strength..."
Li Hao fell into deep thought.
Lin Hongyu had managed to revive a shattered Great Dao for an instant... That was fascinating.
A Great Dao often represented the level of a Sovereign.
This meant that if a Sovereign died, Lin Hongyu might be able to bring them back for a single instant within a certain window of time. Of course, whether that instant would be useful remained unknown.
Whether the resurrected person would possess consciousness was also unknown.
Whether they could be controlled was equally unclear.
Everything remained untested.
And testing it would be no simple feat. Where was she supposed to find Sovereigns just to kill, resurrect, and experiment on?
Yet if what Li Hao envisioned was possible... in a situation where multiple Sovereigns laid siege to them and their side managed to kill one, who would suspect a dead ally? At that point, bringing them back in an instant would be ideal if they could take orders; even if they couldn't, detonating them on the spot would be devastating.
It might just save their lives in a crisis.
"This method of life and death of yours..."
Li Hao felt puzzled. He gave it a try himself; he also practiced life and death, and Lin Hongyu's Dao had grown alongside his.
He attempted it... Resurrect? Not a damn thing.
The shattered Great Dao didn't budge an inch.
Bizarre!
Li Hao's thoughts raced. The Great Dao was truly strange. Though both practiced life and death and walked the same path—with him at rank four and Lin Hongyu only at rank two—she could pull off something he couldn't replicate at all.
His Dao of Life and Death was mainly oriented toward his own recovery.
On others, its effects were minimal. Naturally, it could provide vitality or wield deathly qi. As Li Zhu had put it when they met, Li Hao's life and death was only good for replenishing vital energy and the like.
When it came to more profound applications, Li Hao came up short.
Seeing Lin Hongyu about to explain, Li Hao waved his hand. "Dao principles come down to individual comprehension. It isn't that I don't know life and death, but since I can't use it, my comprehension differs from yours. There's no need to explain it in detail."
Even with a detailed explanation, he might not be able to learn it.
Li Hao smiled. "Dismantling this house was a failure... All that's left is an empty shell. We'll feed it to Black Panther later."
"..."
Lin Hongyu couldn't help but chuckle.
Feed it to Black Panther.
To many Sovereigns, this empty shell was a treasure. What Sovereigns devoured was primarily the shell and the world source.
As for the Dao web... only Li Hao found it useful. To other Sovereigns, who could neither trace back time nor see the Dao web clearly, trying to dismantle it would only make it explode. The Dao web was virtually useless to them.
Something considered extraordinarily precious was treated like an empty husk in Li Hao's eyes, as if Black Panther were only fit to eat trash.
In truth, plenty of Sovereigns would fight over such "trash."
"Let's go dismantle the medium world!" Li Hao chuckled. "With one attempt under our belts and your breakthrough, this next attempt is bound to yield different results. We'll dismantle parts of it and use them to refine my minor worlds! Even if entering rank five is difficult right now, I can at least push further along rank four."
"All right."
Lin Hongyu said no more. The ruined minor world was tossed aside like rubbish, and the two quickly headed toward the medium world.
Li Hao activated time retrospection once again.
As for the accumulation of tribulation lightning... he had nothing to fear.
Tribulation lightning didn't necessarily have to be dumped onto enemies, nor did it require Stealing the Sky and Swapping the Sun... Li Hao had recently been pondering a notion: constructing a world of destruction modeled after Chaos Tribulation Lightning!
Centering it on the power of destruction would allow him to capture the lightning directly in the future.
Eventually, Chaos Tribulation Lightning might become his personal tonic.
Flinging it casually at enemies was a waste.
Of course, Li Hao had not yet begun constructing a world out of the power of destruction; it was relatively complicated. He had tested it once before, and the domain had easily collapsed, self-destructing in an instant.
A world founded on destruction... with destruction as the dominant force, the world itself would naturally be destroyed.
Stabilizing the power of destruction was a monumental challenge.
How Chaos Tribulation Lightning formed and how it maintained a steady output were insights worth learning. Were it not for his busy schedule and endless complications, Li Hao would have summoned tribulation lightning a few times just to play with it, observe it, or even trace back its history through time.
Chaos Tribulation Lightning was born specifically to target the Dao of Time, yet Li Hao had never applied time retrospection to it. Doing so might invite immense trouble, but it might also produce fascinating results.
At times, he even wondered: the main drawback of using time retrospection was the tribulation lightning.
What if he kept rewinding time on the lightning itself?
The lightning strikes down, he rewinds time. It strikes again, he rewinds again...
In the end, would it spawn a tribulation powerful enough to destroy chaos, or would the lightning be rewound until it completely vanished?
Naturally, such an experiment was far too dangerous.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, he would end up killing himself. It was a chicken-and-egg paradox, and more likely than not, his lifespan would run dry before he could endure it.
...
The Dao web of the medium world was far more complete.
This medium world was not dominated by the Fire element, but by a rarer Dao principle that Li Hao defined as Elasticity.
Capable of expanding and shrinking, stretching and contracting at will.
It was an exceedingly rare Dao principle, but also a rather useless one. With this principle as the core of a world, combat prowess was hardly impressive; in the chaos, such a world would struggle to survive.
To Li Hao, however, it was intriguing.
In his view, this principle was somewhat close to space... At the very least, spatial compression bore some resemblance to it. The art of elasticity could compress a world, akin to an infinite universe in a sleeve. Cultivated to the extreme, Li Hao could even imagine shrinking an enemy infinitely in an instant... though it might not suppress their power, rendering it rather impractical.
It was a fascinating Dao principle. Li Hao studied it further, then began dismantling the Dao web alongside Lin Hongyu.
This time, the process went far more smoothly.
With prior experience, the dismantling proceeded with much greater ease. Not only that, but as Li Hao dismantled the Great Dao principles, he channeled some of them into various domains to refine his minor worlds.
For a time, he had a grand time playing around.
Cultivation was not always about solitary closed-door meditation; learning through play made cultivation, as Li Hao now understood more clearly, an enjoyable journey of exploration.
Any Dao principle, when cultivated to the utmost, was bound to be extraordinarily interesting.
Even those that seemed utterly useless!
...
At this moment, for instance, Li Hao condensed a Dao principle that outsiders would deem completely useless.
He went so far as to condense a minor world centered on this very principle.
Above the Great Dao River, Li Hao, Lin Hongyu, and Er Mao squatted together like children, two humans and a cat, staring with boundless curiosity at the tiny domain slowly coming into being.
Er Mao was drawn in as well, its eyes filled with curiosity and doubt. "What's the point of condensing a domain out of this kind of Dao principle?"
It seemed entirely useless.
A trash Dao principle!
It had heard and learned a great deal, but under normal circumstances... wasting energy to open a domain like this was utterly pointless!
Lin Hongyu was equally curious, but said nothing.
She simply enjoyed this carefree moment. Though it felt somewhat useless... seeing Li Hao dismantling and building like a child, it felt like building sandcastles on the beach—childish, yet fun.
"You don't understand, do you?" Li Hao laughed. What he had condensed was not an elasticity domain, but another type he defined as the Dao of Attachment.
Attachment was a rather peculiar Dao principle Li Hao had discovered.
It was present in the medium world, though very weak. However, it possessed a unique property: it could attach itself to other Great Daos, and even assimilate other Daos or be assimilated by them.
It was a bizarre Great Dao principle, neither powerful nor particularly practical.
Against a stronger opponent, it couldn't assimilate them at all and would only be assimilated in return.
Against a weaker opponent... killing them directly was far simpler than bothering to attach to their Dao.
That was why Er Mao felt Li Hao was wasting his time and energy.
Er Mao asked, "I don't understand? Then tell me, what's the point of building a domain like this?"
It was completely meaningless!
Li Hao smiled. "Of course it has meaning! Attachment could also be called assimilation, or passive assimilation! It's a special Dao that either assimilates others or gets assimilated... What if—and I'm just saying what if—my nascent myriad realms truly evolve into a myriad of worlds, into a miniature chaos? The materials and creatures born from this world could assimilate others or be assimilated by them!"
"..."
Still completely pointless!
Er Mao looked bewildered.
Exasperated, Li Hao explained, "Senior, in other words, this is a resource-type realm. Everything born in this realm can be absorbed, ingested, and digested by anyone... regardless of Dao attributes, race, or cultivation path. It's a resource realm capable of satisfying all cultivators!
"For example, if living beings are born in this world, their flesh and blood would be treasures... directly refinable by cultivators, and perfectly suited to them, because it can attach itself to their Great Dao."
Er Mao froze, then seemed to draw in a breath. "Then it better never become a true realm! Otherwise, based on what you're saying, wouldn't this realm become a piece of fat meat in everyone's eyes?"
This wasn't the Dao of Attachment; it should be called the Dao of Fat Meat.
Anyone who saw it would want a bite!
"The moment such a realm is born, wouldn't it be wiped out and butchered to extinction in no time...?"
Li Hao smiled faintly. "All Daos exist for a reason! If a supreme expert can truly emerge from the Dao of Attachment, it would be an overwhelmingly formidable principle. As I said, assimilation and being assimilated are two sides of the same coin. In the eyes of others, this is a prized delicacy, but to someone from the Dao of Attachment, if a true powerhouse emerges... everyone else becomes the delicacy! It's completely reciprocal. If you master this Dao, though everyone covets you, you can covet everyone in turn. Others can only covet your single realm, but your realm can covet all of them..."
Thinking about it that way, Er Mao nodded its large head, finding some sense in it.
Its interest piqued, it stared at the tiny domain... Calling it a realm was generous; it was only about the size of a human head. It was just a tiny domain Li Hao had whipped up on a whim.
"Fascinating!" Er Mao's whiskers twitched upward. "Every one of the myriad Daos truly has its own uniqueness! If life can genuinely be born... this realm will either become prey hunted by other worlds, or... an overlord ruling an entire region!"
Li Hao smiled and nodded. "Precisely! But... that's all just talk for now. In my entire lifetime, I might never be able to bestow life upon a world. It's too difficult. Forget rank seven; I doubt even rank eight or nine could achieve it."
"That's hard to say," Er Mao said, shaking its head. "You're different... You possess the Dao of Time!"
Li Hao started, then nodded.
Perhaps!
He said no more. Everything today was merely a small diversion in his cultivation. This Attachment domain sounded impressive... but in reality, it amounted to very little.
Li Hao's attempt to create a world from this Dao was driven by the thought that a principle with the properties of assimilation and attachment might alter the attributes of other Great Daos.
Take the power of Red Moon, for instance. After hunting Red Moon Sovereigns, the energy wasn't a good match for anyone to absorb—except Qian Wuliang.
If the Dao of Attachment could successfully attach to this Red Moon power and invert it into another attribute... that would be tremendously useful, an incredible feat!
For example, it could attach to the Red Moon Dao, convert it into attachment power, and then attach to someone else's Great Dao... thereby transforming it into Dao power suited for them. This would ensure high compatibility and prevent any waste of resources.
This Dao was purely a support Dao, a perfect support Dao.
Of course, if some defying monster managed to cultivate this Dao to its zenith and assimilate every Great Dao, that would be unimaginable—it would truly be a universal Dao.
Still... Li Hao glanced at the head-sized domain and shook his head.
Forget it.
Expecting this tiny thing to give birth to a heaven-defying life-form?
What a joke.
If living beings ever did emerge in the future, they would most likely become prey for other experts, hunted down so their flesh and blood could be stripped and fused directly into the hunters... That would be the ideal outcome.
The thought flashed and vanished. Li Hao looked around at the domains floating in the surroundings. Each was considerably larger than before, and several were far more stable.
A smile crossed his lips, filled with satisfaction.
This time, his cultivation hadn't advanced much, and another vast heap of resources had been consumed—two worlds thoroughly ruined, amounting to over a hundred million Great Dao crystals...
For anyone else, even a rank four Sovereign, that would have yielded considerable progress.
Li Hao had barely progressed at all!
Yet he was thoroughly satisfied and joyful.
He felt this was far more worthwhile and profitable than simply absorbing Great Dao crystals.
Only then did Li Hao turn to Er Mao. "Senior Er Mao, about the purification you mentioned earlier..."
Er Mao flicked its short tail. "I know you're getting impatient!"
It sighed, looking at the Great Dao River, then at the surrounding domains. "I advise you to comprehend a Dao of Purification on your own in the future. Focusing on the power of purification will allow you to cleanse the river's energy! That will make your Dao power purer, and you'll discover... a whole new world!"
Is that so?
He hadn't experienced it yet!
Er Mao said no more. The next moment, it opened its maw wide, unleashing a terrifying devouring force. It had told Li Hao to comprehend purification, yet it wielded the power of devouring.
The two were fundamentally different, but achieved a similar effect.
What it devoured were all the impurities.
In an instant, the Great Dao River surged!
Li Hao looked toward the river and saw countless specks of light wildly emerge, swallowed into Er Mao's mouth.
The Great Dao River's power had originally been quite pure.
Li Hao had refined it every single time!
Compared to ordinary rank four Sovereigns, if anyone dared claim his Dao power lacked purity, Li Hao would have smashed their head in. Yet in this moment... Li Hao felt utterly bewildered.
Countless specks of light were voraciously devoured!
Wisps of Great Dao power vanished from the river. The flowing water abruptly stalled, and in the blink of an eye, nearly a third of the Great Dao water seemed to disappear!
Er Mao kept devouring!
Li Hao's jaw dropped... If this went on, wouldn't his Great Dao River be left with only half its original energy?
Would he... drop in rank?
"This..."
Li Hao wanted to say something, but held back in the end.
He couldn't measure Er Mao's intentions by petty standards. Er Mao definitely wasn't doing this just to gorge on energy...
Li Hao muttered inwardly.
Just then, Er Mao seemed to have eaten its fill. With one final gulp, it swallowed all the remaining specks of light in one go.
The Dao water suspended in midair crashed down with a roar.
The river resumed its flow.
In that instant, Li Hao's aura seemed to dip slightly.
Yet... in the next breath, his heart jolted!
Lightness!
He felt only one sensation: profound, boundless lightness. The Great Dao River had previously felt like a burden, a heavy load weighing on his shoulders, but now, that burden had vanished entirely.
The entire world, the entire river... the Dao principles suddenly became crystal clear.
The chaotic Dao principles of before now appeared exceptionally distinct before Li Hao's eyes, and he felt as though his entire being had been thoroughly washed clean.
It felt like taking a bath for the first time after decades of never washing, scrubbing away every speck of grime.
Invigorating!
Exhilaratingly refreshing!
Within the Great Dao River, the water ran far clearer, and the individual Dao principles manifested with absolute clarity. Li Hao stared, utterly stunned!
This... was purification?
He was dumbfounded. Lin Hongyu glanced over, equally dazed. She saw her Life and Death star... slightly smaller than before. She remained at rank two, but felt her internal power had diminished considerably.
Before, her star had felt somewhat obstructed within Li Hao's Great Dao River.
Now, the star dove into the river like a joyful fish, flowing blithely along its currents.
She, too, felt that the world before her eyes had changed.
If the entire river had been cloaked in dense mist before, it was now clean and untainted.
Er Mao gasped for breath, looking rather exhausted.
Evidently, such devouring was a strain on it as well, far from effortless.
Panting, Er Mao muttered tiredly, "Once we're out of the Senlan World, find a spot in the chaos... This cat needs to fart and purge some of the waste accumulated inside..."
"..."
Li Hao and Lin Hongyu, still immersed in their transcendent state, were instantly snapped back to reality.
Li Hao blinked, caught between tears and laughter.
At a time like this, you mention that?
Could you spoil the mood any more?
How vulgar!
A Sovereign who still needed to fart... truly... Well, with too many impurities, they probably had to be expelled. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't the Cang Emperor need to do that?"
"Big Cat eats anything, but I won't!"
Er Mao couldn't be bothered to explain. Of course Big Cat didn't need to; Big Cat was even more shameless than Black Panther!
Black Panther was somewhat picky, but Big Cat... Big Cat devoured everything!
The filthier something was, the more delicious Big Cat found it. Disgusting... Er Mao thought to itself, though it felt helpless. Big Cat was fundamentally the source of all filth.
To Big Cat, if it didn't eat filth and devour all things, its existence held little purpose.
Li Hao said nothing, silently savoring the sensation. The physical and mental lightness made him feel completely integrated with the Great Dao River. Previously, an invisible barrier had always seemed to stand between him and the river.
It had nothing to do with the Sky Sword or anything else; there had simply been a subtle obstruction.
Now, that obstruction was gone.
The feeling was so intoxicating that Li Hao lost himself in it for a long while.
Finally, Li Hao opened his eyes and looked at Er Mao. "Thank you, Senior!"
This time, Er Mao had done him an immense favor!
His comprehension of the Dao principles within the river was clearer than ever.
Er Mao offered no pleasantries, simply saying, "I'm going to sleep... resting for a while. Don't wake me anytime soon!"
"Understood!"
Without another word, Er Mao plunged into the river, drifting along the current until it vanished from their sight.
Li Hao turned to Lin Hongyu. "Now that you've reached rank two, it's time to head out!"
An extra person appearing would raise few eyebrows.
Everyone already knew another Sovereign had accompanied them, and it was entirely normal for a Sovereign to conceal themselves somewhere to cultivate.
Emerging now would only lead others to assume Lin Hongyu had been cultivating inside a treasure or a minor world.
Lin Hongyu nodded.
...
Soon, the two emerged near the fissure.
As Li Hao's true body materialized, he suddenly realized the entire world seemed much clearer. He looked up; he couldn't see the Dao web, as he hadn't merged into the world—a privilege reserved for world lords.
Even so, Li Hao could distinctly perceive certain things.
Dismantling worlds truly had its benefits.
In this moment, he sensed... deep within the world, at its farthest reaches, a massive web seemed to blanket everything. This web... might well be the barrier of the Great Dao Universe!
Li Hao's heart stirred. If that was the case, and the Great Dao Universe was the ultimate form of a Dao web, did being able to detect the web mean... he could locate the Great Dao Universe at any time?
If he could uncover the underlying patterns, wouldn't he be able to slip into the Great Dao Universe whenever he pleased?
Back in Silver Moon, he had never dared expose the location of the Great Dao Universe.
Once locked onto, powerful experts could easily force their way in.
Back then, Li Daoheng and Zheng Yu had tried every means to pin down the Great Dao Universe's location in order to breach it... In other words, the Great Dao Universe they sought... was actually the world behind the Dao web?
Thoughts raced through his mind once more.
Meanwhile, the others stared in disbelief. Lin Hongyu was already rank two?
So fast!
Qian Wuliang's eyes flickered. Though they had all reached rank three, they were Dao masters, and Li Hao had poured countless resources into them. Their advancement to rank three was hardly surprising. Lin Hongyu, on the other hand, had merely rooted herself in Li Hao's Great Dao River; she was neither a Dao master nor a world lord, yet she had swiftly crossed into rank two.
By comparison... old seniors like King Huai ought to die of shame.
King Huai was green with envy.
This was the true meaning of riding someone else's coattails!
When one attained the Dao, even their dogs and chickens ascended to heaven.
Back then, as the Human King became a world lord and Great Dao master, his lover and sister had overtaken others over the years, stepping into the middle ranks of Sovereignty one after the other.
One had to remember that in Xinwu, not everyone was a middle-rank Sovereign; several veteran experts from the older generation remained at the lower ranks even now.
Naturally, this also proved Li Hao's terrifying capability.
For a rank four Sovereign to propel so many people quickly into ranks two and three was simply miraculous.
Logically, their progress shouldn't have outpaced the Dao master himself.
...
Just as Li Hao emerged, a message arrived through the jade pendant Yan Fang had given him.
"Sovereigns from the Red Moon World are about to arrive! Three Sovereigns in total, led by the rank six Sovereign Shihun! The other two are rank five: Jingpo and Tansheng!"
"A rank six Sovereign from a great world... is exceptionally formidable! Sovereign Shihun hopes to seize this opportunity to step into rank seven. Red Moon lost three rank seven Sovereigns, and under current circumstances, the power of Red Moon's Great Dao can support the birth of another rank seven. Red Moon possesses many rank six Sovereigns—nine on the surface alone, and likely several more in seclusion, hoping to break through!
"Now, these rank six Sovereigns are all scouring for opportunities to perform merits, hoping to earn the favor of the Lord of Red Moon and soar to the heavens in a single bound!"
The gap between rank six and rank seven was monumental.
Ascending from rank six to rank seven was truly reaching the pinnacle.
Yan Fang's message was also a warning to Li Hao: in their hunger for merit and advancement to rank seven, these newcomers would show no mercy whatsoever, and might even strike against Sovereigns of the Senlan Domain when the moment came.
Li Hao frowned slightly.
One rank six, two rank fives.
This force was formidable indeed.
However...
Li Hao sent a reply: "Senior Yan Fang, with Red Moon's rank six entering the fray directly... is it possible that a rank seven will descend, or that the rank eight World Lord will appear in Senlan in person?"
"Not for now!"
Yan Fang replied swiftly: "Presently, Xinwu's whereabouts are unknown. With Sovereign Xingshen slain earlier, their forces might still be lurking nearby. Thus, the two high-rank Sovereigns will not lightly depart Red Moon!
"Even if they leave, they must return quickly. Therefore, unless Red Moon can guarantee taking Senlan in one fell swoop and seizing the Great Dao Universe immediately, they will never easily show themselves in the Senlan Domain! Otherwise, should Senlan resist and stall them even for a brief moment, a surprise raid from Xinwu would spell catastrophe for Red Moon!
"Furthermore, they must consider the stance of the other great worlds. Red Moon needs allies right now... The Lord of Red Moon prefers to pressure us into surrendering voluntarily rather than suppressing us by force, lest he provoke wariness from the other three great worlds."
In other words, unless forced by absolute necessity, they would not leave in the short term.
Either that, or they had to confirm Xinwu was not present.
After Xingshen was killed, the Supreme had set up a diversion, using his clone and Er Mao to pose as his true self and Big Cat, intimidating the enemy and leading the Lord of Red Moon to believe Xinwu was lurking within Red Moon's sphere of influence.
Otherwise, they couldn't have breached the Great Dao Universe to enter.
One had to admit, Xinwu's Supreme... whatever his actual strength might be, his methods were brilliant. A single deception had made an eighth-rank world lord hesitate to mobilize.
Unless Red Moon could produce another rank seven Sovereign or two, he would not dare leave easily.
"Understood! How long until they arrive in Senlan?"
"Soon. Half a day at most!"
That meant they were very close indeed.
At this moment, Senlan was not the only one with intelligence; experts from the neighboring great worlds seemed to have received word as well. In the distance, at the fissure jointly suppressed by the three great worlds, six Sovereigns appeared to be waiting for something.
Red Moon had dispatched reinforcements!
This time, three middle-rank Sovereigns, led by rank six Shihun.
With a rank six present, unless Senlan intervened, Wandao and his group were finished.
Yet if Senlan intervened and Yan Fang made a move, it might provoke the other factions to act in unison, forcing the Senlan World Lord to show himself... When that happened and the Great Dao Universe was revealed, the Lord of Red Moon would likely descend in person!
A wave of tension rippled through many onlookers.
...
Elsewhere.
At the fissure guarded by rogue cultivators, Sovereigns gathered in large numbers.
Several middle-rank rogue cultivators turned toward the rank six rogue cultivator stationed near the fissure, awaiting a reaction.
The young-looking rank six Daoist glanced at the crowd and said softly, "Our hopes of seizing the Great Dao Universe by coming here... are slim. In truth, I'd rather see the Senlan World Lord show some backbone. If Red Moon truly descends... he should detonate the Senlan Great Dao Universe directly. That way, we might reap some scraps."
"..."
The crowd fell silent.
Was that... even possible?
If the Senlan World Lord had that kind of backbone, he wouldn't have let experts from every faction enter as they pleased; he would have prepared for mutually assured destruction long ago.
"Senior Yu Xiu, now that Red Moon has sent people, should we claim a share of the spoils?"
A rogue cultivator spoke up, looking into the distance with a glint of ferocity and greed. "Over there, they have more than ten Sovereigns!
"Moreover, rumor has it that every Sovereign they slay earns them bounties from Senlan. They must be carrying countless Great Dao crystals!
"And then... there's that incomparably powerful Sovereign weapon!"
Yu Xiu was the title of this rank six Sovereign.
At this moment, he said softly, "It's not impossible, but... only on the condition that the rank seven backer behind them is flushed out, or... that the rank seven has already fallen or cannot come. Otherwise, are you sure you want to risk it?"
His words fell like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the greed in their hearts.
True enough!
It was still impossible to confirm who the rank seven backer was, whether they had come, or whether they were nearby...
Unless Red Moon forced them to reveal their hand, it wouldn't be worth the risk. But if no rank seven intervened, it would definitely be worth a try!
After all, there were over ten Sovereigns!
The rogue cultivators grew eager once more.
One chuckled softly. "If the Red Moon Sovereigns strike and this group has no countermeasures, Senior, we can divide more than ten Sovereigns among ourselves and get a hearty meal. The Sovereigns of the great worlds might look down on them, but as chaos wanderers struggling to get by, we certainly won't!"
"I heard a rumor—not sure if it's true! Sovereign Wandao killed two rank four Red Moon Sovereigns, and Senlan gifted him an entire medium world!"
"Really?"
"Not confirmed, but most likely true."
"Hiss..."
Gasps echoed as greedy glints flashed in their eyes.
To ordinary Sovereigns, a medium world was far out of reach.
For a rank three Sovereign, devouring a medium world offered a massive chance of stepping into rank four. Yet rank three Sovereigns lacked the strength to conquer a medium world; world lords of medium worlds were typically rank four, and even the few rank three world lords were no weaker than a rank four within their own realm.
Now... an opportunity might have presented itself!
Yu Xiu, the rank six Sovereign, glanced at the crowd and said nothing.
Who didn't harbor some greed?
Without it, none of them would be here in Senlan.
Still...
His expression turned slightly grim. This might not be an opportunity; it could very well be a crisis. Once high-rank Sovereigns intervened and an all-out battle erupted... even as a rank six, he would face the risk of death.
What was the true background of Sovereign Wandao's group?
Could they draw out the powerhouse behind them?
And what was the Senlan World Lord planning?
Continually supporting Sovereign Wandao and letting them slaughter Red Moon Sovereigns with impunity... Was he truly not afraid that the Lord of Red Moon would attack in fury, abandoning all caution?
Xinwu...
Whether Xinwu was nearby remained an unknown.
At the very least, the Human King was absent.
Without the Human King, would Xinwu truly dare launch a full-scale assault on Red Moon's home territory?
Yu Xiu couldn't be certain. Furthermore, he couldn't be sure how many rank six Sovereigns were currently hidden in Senlan, all aiming for the Great Dao Universe just like him.
He had merely been the first to reveal himself. He was certain that Senlan harbored several other rank six Sovereigns, perhaps including the lords of some medium worlds.
All of them were biding their time.
...
Within the Great Dao Universe.
The Senlan World Lord was frantically refining the entire Great Dao Universe.
A cold glint flickered in his eyes.
Red Moon had sent more people?
Looking around at the Great Dao Universe he was on the verge of fully refining... he frowned slightly. He was still a bit short; the previous Dao Lord's demise had caused a vast amount of accumulated Great Dao power to scatter!
The Human King's blade strike had not been easy to endure.
"I'm still missing quite a bit... A few more rank sixes might do the trick! Wandao... whoever you are, if you can kill Shihun... perhaps Red Moon will send even more rank sixes..."
Even if Red Moon didn't, the other rank sixes would likely become restless!
Did a rank four like Wandao possess such capability?
It would be difficult!
Yet what if... Senlan lent a hand!
Thoughts surfaced one after another, and a smile touched the corners of his lips. As long as he successfully crossed into rank seven this time, he would be in a position to advance or retreat as he pleased. Right now, the sole and most critical factor... was hoping Xinwu's hidden presence could deter the Lord of Red Moon a little longer!
He could only pray that the Xinwu World would not suddenly appear in another region. If their whereabouts were exposed and it was confirmed they were nowhere near the Red Moon World... he would be in deep trouble!
Xinwu remaining hidden was the greatest check on Red Moon.
Everyone couldn't help but suspect they were biding their time for a strike against Red Moon.
Otherwise, given Xinwu's temperament, how could they have stayed silent for so many days without revealing a single trace or rumor?
Xinwu's covert operations against the Zhiyang Great World had led everyone to believe they were lying in wait, and this had become Senlan's lifeline.
For a time, everyone was waiting for the arrival of the Red Moon Sovereigns.
Meanwhile, Li Hao's group... abandoned the fissure entirely. Leading his people, Li Hao swiftly vanished from the spot.
Chapter 480