Slaying a Seventh Rank

The Thunder Lord's overwhelming pressure blanketed the expanse, issuing a direct challenge to the Fire Phoenix Realm Lord! Over by the Dragon World, Li Hao and his companions waited in silence. At that moment, a smile broke across Li Hao’s face. It worked! Eight hundred million Great Dao crystals. A fourth-rank world was worth only one or two hundred million at best, meaning that sum was equal to several medium worlds, but at this moment, it was worth every penny. “Move out!” With Li Hao’s command, Kongji, Er Mao, and the Black Panther followed close behind, flying toward the sixth-rank worlds in the distance. Their first target remained Tianhuang World. As for where that seventh-rank expert was hiding and whether it truly was Earth Dragon World, there was no rush. If all else failed, they could simply sweep through every single sixth-rank world in this place in one fell swoop! …… Tianhuang World. The Lord of Tianhuang was currently stationed near the boundary gate, gazing into the distance toward the region where that world-shaking pressure emanated. It too was thoroughly shaken. The Thunder Emperor was truly bold; the Fire Phoenix Realm Lord was not someone to provoke lightly. Strong as the Thunder Emperor was, everyone knew the fellow was currently in a deeply weakened state. This was courting death! It was practically handing over his world for nothing. For a moment, the Lord of Tianhuang felt a pang of envy. It wondered who would benefit from the Great Dao universe of the Thunder World. If the Fire Phoenix Realm Lord took it down, it would very likely end up in the hands of Princess Feng Yan. To reach the seventh rank at such a young age... what an enviable prospect. As for itself, it had no idea when it would ever manage to nurture a seventh-rank universe. While lost in thought, its giant eye suddenly flickered. In the distance... was there a living being? It peered into the gloomy chaos, slightly puzzled. It vaguely seemed to see something. Was someone passing by? It felt no particular unease. Before the Thunder Lord’s outburst, it might have worried whether the Thunder Lord had shown up, but now... what was there to fear? Just as that thought crossed its mind, in virtually the next instant, two colossal beasts materialized before it. A cat and a dog. In the chaos, the most famous cat-and-dog duo was naturally Cang Mao and the Heavenly Dog, but these two clearly were not them... This peak sixth-rank Sovereign felt suspicious. Not recognizing them, it was just about to speak when the dog spoke up: “We are emissaries of the Fire Phoenix, conscripting sixth-rank Sovereigns of the four directions to encircle and suppress the Thunder World!” As soon as the words fell, a stone bearing the origin aura of the Fire Phoenix appeared on the dog’s paw. This was indeed the method the Fire Phoenix Realm used to contact external Sovereigns. It was likewise proof of identity. The Lord of Tianhuang froze, quickly recognizing it, and immediately said, “I am a vassal of the Dragon World and take orders only from the Dragon World...” Even as it said that, doubt lingered in its mind. Had the Fire Phoenix Realm obtained a secret decree from the Dragon Lord? Encircled suppression of the Thunder World was expected. However... wasn't the battle supposed to happen a month from now? Do we sixth ranks also have to take part? Such thoughts flashed through its mind. Should I go or not? If I go, might there be an opportunity for me? The thoughts flickered by, and in the next instant... the surroundings plunged into absolute, silent darkness. The entire chaos seemed to instantly lose all connection. The Lord of Tianhuang had never imagined that in the very core of the Dragon World's territory, two chaos beasts aside from the Thunder Lord would make a move against it. More importantly, I am a peak sixth-rank, while these two... Just as that thought arose, the Great Nirvana erupted in an instant! In a single breath, the colossal lizard seemed completely frozen. Nirvana! The Nirvana of Myriad Daos! Only at such a moment could one truly appreciate the gap between the likes of Kongji and Li Hao and ordinary sixth ranks. Not every sixth-rank combatant was capable of fighting a seventh rank! A single breath! A standstill! A single sword strike beheaded it! The massive head severed and plunged instantly. Under the joint strike of the two, this peak sixth-rank Sovereign possessed no ability to resist and was slain virtually in the blink of an eye! Dao traces manifested, resembling the giant lizard's true form. The moment they surfaced, the power of Nirvana erupted once more. Life and death intertwined, and in an instant, all the Dao traces degraded into deathly energy. In the blink of an eye, the chaos quivered, and it perished! Whether it was the Black Panther, Er Mao, or the Silver Moon Sovereigns who had been watching the battle... All of them fell into a slight daze. Was this their true strength? Most of the opponents those two had faced previously were seventh ranks. Battling them had always felt impossibly arduous, requiring bursts of time and repeated resurrections just to barely contend with a seventh rank. They all knew this fallen opponent was a peak sixth-rank Sovereign! Yet... it had died in a single breath. It was utterly shocking! Only now did they understand that those two no longer belonged in the realm of ordinary middle-rank Sovereigns. After slaying the enemy with a single sword, Li Hao swiftly probed the world. Frowning slightly, he shook his head, looked at Kongji, and transmitted his voice: “Only this sixth-rank, along with a few low-rank Sovereigns!” There was no trace of the alleged seventh rank. Evidently, that figure was not in Tianhuang World. Kongji exhaled, feeling slightly detached. It turned out that killing a peak sixth-rank no longer brought any sense of accomplishment. Only then did he nod and say, “They shouldn't be here. So do we subdue this world first, or keep searching?” They had to uproot that seventh-rank fellow! As for whether only one or more than one remained behind... it was currently impossible to determine. However, with the Dragon Lord marching off to war against great worlds like Xinwu, it was impossible for him to leave behind too many seventh-rank powerhouses. There was most likely only one. Having reached this point, they could only gamble. “Keep searching! Leave a few Sovereigns here to mop up those low-rank Sovereigns...” Li Hao swiftly released several Sovereigns, among whom were the middle-rank Tianji and King Huai. Li Hao sent a voice transmission: “Clean up the Sovereigns in this world! We will continue searching for that seventh-rank Sovereign. Keep quiet and low-key until that one shows itself!” Tianji and King Huai exchanged glances and instantly nodded. It was safe here. The sixth-rank Sovereign was dead, leaving only small fry. If they followed to hunt for a seventh-rank Sovereign and an accident occurred, it would be extremely dangerous. Both of them were secretly delighted. See? The Silver Moon King truly understands us and knows we fear death. It looks like establishing that persona was quite effective after all. …… Li Hao did not linger in Tianhuang World. The top priority was to eradicate the lingering seventh-rank nearby. The Thunder Lord had previously mentioned that it was most likely in Earth Dragon World. It was said that the Earth Dragon Sovereign of that world had reached peak sixth rank many years ago and might have crossed into the seventh rank. Seventh ranks generally did not appear out of thin air. It certainly had considerable foundation. From the look of things, it was most likely over there. Earth Dragon World was not too far from Tianhuang World, but for Li Hao and his group, crossing the distance would still take the better part of half a day. “Let's go over there!” Kongji nodded, brimmed with confidence at this moment. For the first time, he felt he was remarkably powerful. A seventh-rank Sovereign? What of it? The two instantly traversed the void, flying toward the distant Earth Dragon World. In truth, that world was visible from here, but reaching it still required time. …… At the same time. Earth Dragon World. Unlike other realm lords who either roamed the chaos or hovered near their boundary gates, this world seemed to develop somewhat naturally. Its world lord, the Earth Dragon Sovereign, had not shown itself in a very long time. It was rumored to have been slumbering continuously. Inside the empty space beneath the boundary wall, a massive earth dragon beast lay prone, asleep. While called slumber, it dared not truly sleep soundly; previously, it had been keeping an eye on the vicinity. However, once the Thunder Lord unleashed his aura... it closed its eyes in relief. It had remained here instead of marching out with the Dragon Lord for a single purpose: to guard against the appearance of the Thunder Lord and entangle him. Now that the Thunder Lord had shown up in his own world and was openly challenging the Fire Phoenix Realm Lord, it no longer had anything to do with the earth dragon. It could finally resume its sleep. Its mission was practically accomplished, which was splendid; there was no need to fight the Thunder Lord. Otherwise, even outside the Thunder World, the Thunder Lord remained extraordinarily fierce, and the dragon might not have been his match. After snoozing peacefully for a while, the giant earth dragon suddenly opened its eyes. The might of a seventh rank and the potency of its Great Dao allowed it to sense something unusual. Its colossal frame reared up instantly. Eyes resembling blazing suns abruptly cast their gaze into the distance toward the boundary gate. Because it had been slumbering here, it had paid no mind to the gate, unafraid of anyone trespassing through it. As a seventh-rank Sovereign and a member of the chaos race, it feared no such perils. Yet right now, the earth dragon beast sensed an underlying crisis. In a single breath, it saw them! The Tianhuang Sovereign had seen a cat and a dog, but the Earth Dragon Sovereign saw past them entirely. Ignoring the beasts, its gaze instantly locked onto the two inconspicuous humans standing beside the dog's ears! Humans? At that moment, the Earth Dragon Sovereign was taken aback. It was not that the Dragon Domain lacked humans, but how would any human dare casually enter a sixth-rank great world? The moment Li Hao and Kongji entered, both were slightly startled. The creature was right beneath the boundary wall. This fellow belonged to the dragon race? It resembled a dragon... yet Li Hao had seen dragons before. Unlike ordinary dragons, this one looked rather grotesque. Was this an earth dragon? In an instant, he knew this was a seventh-rank Sovereign. What appeared in his vision was not merely an earth dragon beast, but an unimaginably thick Great Dao—a Chaos Great Dao, seemingly rooted deep within the chaos. Unlike human seventh-rank rogue cultivators who cultivated Dao Domains—for without a Dao Domain, no human could achieve the seventh rank—chaos beasts were different. A chaos beast merely anchored its Great Dao into the chaotic myriad daos, drawing upon the power of chaos. As long as a single Dao was sufficiently robust, it could step into the seventh rank. It was simply that human physical bodies could almost never endure that violent, disordered power of chaos. The difference between a chaos beast with a seventh-rank universe and one without lay in the fact that the former could purify its own chaotic power while the latter could not. The former appeared more refined, while the latter was far more savage. In the next instant, the Nirvana Realm manifested, blanketing the entire world. Yet the moment the power of Nirvana reached the earth dragon beast, it was instantly snuffed out! The massive earth dragon beast also recovered its senses. Staring at the two beasts and two humans before it, its gaze instantly turned icy: “Humans?” What audacity! It did not care whether they were human or not; it was simply shocked that these two dared enter its world! Clearly, neither was an upper-rank Sovereign, nor were they the Thunder Lord. As for where they came from, it cared little. What puzzled it was that upon seeing it... the two did not flee immediately, but instead... took the initiative to strike! One unleashed the Nirvana Realm, while what Li Hao did was even more baffling. Li Hao suspended the Time Star directly in the void, the long river of the Great Dao coiling around the entire world. Miniature worlds materialized one after another, virtually wrapping the entire sixth-rank world completely! This... concealing the heavens and earth? What was the meaning of this? The earth dragon was momentarily bewildered. Four middle-rank Sovereigns had entered its world and, upon seeing it, neither fled nor hesitated, but instead... hurriedly concealed the world. It felt genuinely baffled. Could it be that these two had failed to discern its strength? Their eyesight seemed rather poor! In the next instant, the earth dragon beast moved. Li Hao barked, “Kongji, go!” Without a word, Kongji charged forward to kill! Meanwhile, Li Hao continued weaving his boundary Dao web. He had to seal this place off completely; otherwise, once full-scale battle erupted, the all-out clash of a seventh rank could never be hidden by the Nirvana Realm alone. Only by suppressing it with the River of Time would it suffice! Not only that, but the two Dao Lords also surfaced instantly, their Great Dao universes cloaking the periphery, on the verge of wrapping the entire sixth-rank world inside. Densely clustered miniature worlds embedded themselves on all sides, instantly sealing the sixth-rank world airtight. Ahead, Kongji was already clashing with the foe. In a single breath, the battle exploded. The seventh-rank might of the earth dragon beast was no illusion. An awe-inspiring, boundless wave of chaotic power surged forth. With a deafening boom, a mere sweep of its tail shattered the surrounding space and cracked the world barrier itself! Its might was unbelievable! Kongji had been brimming with confidence earlier, having gained the upper hand alongside Li Hao against the peak seventh-rank Thunder Lord. Seeking a head-on clash, he thrust a finger forward, light and dark emerging as life and death erupted! Boom! A thunderous roar echoed through heaven and earth. His finger shattered instantly, and Kongji's entire body shuddered violently! His Great Dao power scattered slightly in that moment, whereas on the giant tail, only an almost imperceptible streak of blood remained. Kongji was dumbfounded! The earth dragon beast was likewise taken aback. How... was this possible? Although only a tiny scratch of blood had been left on its tail, as a seventh-rank chaos beast, its greatest strength lay in its physical body, which was impossibly tough. At the same seventh rank, human powerhouses wielded profound and marvelous Daos, but chaos beasts possessed an absolute physical advantage. That was their most formidable asset! The offensive methods of chaos beasts were generally similar: They relied primarily on physical might, disregarding all Dao arts to tear their opponents apart directly. Naturally, certain chaos beasts also excelled in specific Daos, such as fire power in the Fire Phoenix Realm, or earth power for the earth dragon beast, which provided formidable defensive strength. In such a state, a sweep of its tail would cause an ordinary sixth rank to explode in an instant! Yet... this person had merely suffered a shattered finger and had actually wounded it. “Mingtang?” In an instant, it seemed to realize something. Its eyes turned cold as it glared at Li Hao and Kongji: “I wondered who it was, but it turns out to be the two of you! What gall! Do you truly think yourselves invincible after slaying Qishui?” It knew who the intruders were. It also understood why they were arrogant enough to seal the world right from the start. A sneer appeared in its giant eyes. “Then you... are sorely mistaken! Qishui had no world and was not fighting on his home ground; his strength was diminished by at least thirty percent. But for our chaos race... no such disadvantage exists!” Whether they had a Great Dao universe or not made no difference. If you take me for a frail human who loses much of his strength once separated from his universe, you are gravely mistaken! A seventh-rank Sovereign of the chaos race and a seventh-rank Sovereign of the human race were entirely different concepts. “Silver Moon King, are you building your own grave?” The earth dragon beast sneered, gazing at Li Hao, and vanished in the span of a breath. Li Hao, who was still sealing the world, changed expression slightly and vanished from his spot as well. Yet the entire void seemed to shatter instantly. With a colossal boom, a tail like a mountain range smashed through the void, tearing heaven and earth asunder! With a deafening crash, Li Hao was jarred out of concealment, covered in blood, his face darkening. So strong! They had fought seventh ranks before. They had slain Qishui, clashed with the Thunder Lord, and even suppressed the Thunder Lord. This had made Li Hao and Kongji supremely confident that even if a chaos beast lacked the backing of a world and Great Dao universe and possessed a strong body, they could still kill it! However... The moment they truly traded blows, even middle-rank Sovereigns as formidable as Li Hao and Kongji were injured in the very first exchange. A suffocating pressure weighed on the space. The entire world seemed draped in violent earth-element power, as though every inch of space were being suppressed beneath mountain peaks. The colossal earth dragon beast was gigantic beyond measure, yet its speed was unimaginable. Its eyes brimmed with chilliness: “Xinwu and Bright Light... Had we been in the three domains, I might not have dared rashly slay you. But here... is the Dragon Domain!” These two youngsters truly had a death wish! And here it had thought it was the Thunder Lord. Not far away, Kongji roared, “World Annihilation!” A surge of Nirvana power erupted across heaven and earth. Great Nirvana—the entire world seemed to be instantly snuffed out, the aura of death enveloping the beast in an instant. But in the next breath, a staggeringly massive Great Dao manifested, shattering all the surrounding Nirvana power with a deafening rumble! Peerlessly tyrannical! Kongji’s face fell completely. Previously, even the Thunder Lord had been disrupted by his Nirvana Realm, yet before this giant beast, it had been smashed to pieces! How could this be? “Hmph!” The earth dragon beast snorted coldly. The greatest strength of the chaos race was their physical bodies, impervious to myriad arts. Unless you were vastly stronger than it, your Dao power could never extinguish its flesh! My Dao is anchored in the chaos, and how mighty is the chaos? Can you extinguish it? A seventh-rank chaos beast might not possess as many diverse methods as human seventh-rank Sovereigns, but in terms of the raw potency of a single Dao, no human could match them. Kongji's expression grew solemn. In the next instant, six stars appeared in his hand—life, death, nirvana, revival, light, and dark all manifesting simultaneously. The entire world exploded with an aura of extreme collision. Six Daos, Three Extremes! “Kill!” Since he could not extinguish this fellow, he would resolve it with sheer brute force. Yet the earth dragon beast vanished once more, practically teleporting, reappearing right in front of Li Hao. This time, it was not its tail, but a claw swiping toward Li Hao, intent on crushing him to death! Having just condensed his sword of a thousand Daos, Li Hao let out a sharp cry and swung his blade. Time manifested, seeking to freeze the foe for an instant, but reality proved that his time Dao was still too weak—it disrupted the beast for barely a split second! Boom! Sword and claw collided. The Sky Sword even began to fracture. Shaken by the tremendous force, Li Hao’s physical body cracked and mangled, while on the beast's claw, only a single streak of blood appeared... nothing more! At this moment, both Li Hao and Kongji changed countenance. How could it be this powerful? No, rather, its other methods were ordinary, but this physical body was tough beyond their wildest imagination. It was far too strong! When the Thunder Lord had taken a direct hit from Li Hao’s Sword of a Thousand Worlds, his Great Dao had been shaken and his flesh cracked, yet this creature had merely suffered a minor cut! The earth dragon beast was also shaken. Then, a booming laugh rang out: “So that's how it is. Impressive indeed. No wonder you two dared come to slay this seat... You relied on your formidable methods, thinking of me as someone like Qishui?” It abruptly raised its head, looking at the star hovering above that blanketed it, its eyes narrowing slightly. What power is this? It froze me! Could this be... Before it could ponder further, Li Hao and Kongji converged instantly. Both unleashed the power of Nirvana simultaneously, roaring in unison as heaven and earth extinguished. The entire sixth-rank world seemed plunged into instantaneous death, every living being and object falling into dead silence! The earth dragon beast stiffened slightly, but in the blink of an eye, it moved again. Its tail swept like a mountain range, suppressing heaven and earth, sweeping down once more to scatter the Nirvana power of the two into nothingness. Paltry tricks! I am impervious to all arts! Subduing ten techniques with one force—this was the true Dao of power. Li Hao’s face was grim as he glanced at Kongji. Kongji met his gaze, and in the next moment, Kongji let out a low roar. The world suddenly ruptured, and a small flower appeared before Kongji’s eyes. Li Hao devoured it instantly, his aura skyrocketing! A long sword manifested, and Dao Domains descended in layers. Five Elements Dao Domain, Life and Death Dao Domain, Nirvana-Revival Dao Domain... One Dao Domain after another descended, only to be repeatedly shattered by the earth dragon beast. The beast was inwardly astonished as well—so many Dao Domains! Are these two truly middle-rank Sovereigns? Those Dao Domains enveloped the earth dragon beast, but were soon shattered one by one. That unbelievably mighty tail was like a wall-breaking machine. Dao Domains that could easily suppress a sixth rank were now as flimsy as paper, shattering upon contact. This was the true might of a top-tier Sovereign! And this represented the true strength human Sovereigns would possess only after holding a world and unleashing the full power of a Great Dao universe. None of the seventh-rank Sovereigns Li Hao and his allies had faced had ever fought at their peak. They had either been away from their home territory or, like the Thunder Lord, had not dared draw upon their power. They had not been in a true peak state. Yet a chaos beast was always at its peak. Right at that moment, a dog’s paw emerged from the darkness. In a single breath, it materialized behind the colossal chaos beast. Nine Folds erupted, waves surging to the heavens. With a colossal bang... crack! The paw fractured! The Black Panther grunted, blood spraying from its body as it was sent flying backward. Meanwhile, the earth dragon beast looked back with contempt. Across its massive back, only a faint scratch had appeared! Indeed, it healed almost in the blink of an eye. The Black Panther’s eyes held disbelief... When Li Hao and the others struck earlier, they had injured the beast, though not severely, so it had not grasped the difference clearly. But now, when it launched a sneak attack of its own, the foe had seemingly not even noticed... Looking back, it was not that the beast hadn't noticed, but that it simply hadn't cared. Sure enough, it had left only a scratch that healed instantaneously. Was... was this the chasm between the fifth and seventh ranks? The Black Panther felt instantly disheartened! Too strong! In the sky, the power of two Great Dao universes erupted as a long river pressed down, yet it too was instantly halted. The river could not suppress the beast at all; a Chaos Great Dao emerged, directly churning the river! The two fifth-rank Dao Lords fused together instantly, yet they still struggled to resist! With the two Dao Lords fused, an ordinary sixth rank might not have been their match. Yet at this moment, before this seventh-rank Sovereign, they too appeared vulnerable. “Petty tricks! How dare you show off before me?” “A Great Dao universe... Hahaha!” The earth dragon beast roared with laughter. Heaven is aiding me! I actually picked up a Great Dao universe! Is this the Great Dao universe of Silver Moon? “Haoyue... we're in big trouble!” At this moment, Kongji’s expression was grave to the extreme. This was truly disastrous. Previously, they had felt invincible, thinking a seventh rank could be slain with ease. But only in true combat did they realize that while the foe lacked esoteric techniques, its peerlessly robust physical body alone was nearly impossible to breach! What could they do? No matter how numerous or flashy your Daos were, without matching quality, breaching its defense was impossible. This... was truly bad. Because the beast possessed few special methods, it could only attack with brute force, which was why it hadn't killed them immediately. But if this dragged on... the Great Dao energy of Li Hao and Kongji was finite, whereas the beast's physical toughness was perpetual! In a battle of attrition, they were bound to lose! Li Hao remained silent. Unforeseen variables were everywhere. It could only be said that he and Kongji had projected the qualities of human cultivators onto chaos beasts, assuming that a chaos beast without a Great Dao universe was the same as a human without one... That was the root of the problem. A fall into the pit yields a gain in wit; only by experiencing it could one truly understand, ensuring they would not make the same mistake next time—provided there was a next time. “A formidable physical body...” Li Hao’s eyes flickered slightly. A powerful physical body also implied one thing: its spirit might not be equally strong. Chaos beasts could not truly be invincible; otherwise, human Sovereigns would never have been able to rival them. At this moment, a thought surfaced in his mind. Seeing the beast shatter the Dao Domains again and charge toward them, Li Hao suddenly let out a cold shout. All at once, beast phantoms appeared behind him! A tiger, a bear, a deer... The Five Animals Art! The force spirit! The force spirit Yuan Shuo had condensed materialized behind Li Hao as well, transforming into a ferocious tiger. Like an overlord of heaven and earth, brimming with savagery, it flickered between reality and illusion. “Roar!” The tiger roared and charged toward the foe on its own initiative! The earth dragon beast swiped a claw, shattering the Dao Domain before it. The tiger trembled slightly, but closed the distance in an instant. In the next breath, what appeared before the tiger was not the earth dragon beast, but a Chaos Great Dao! The Great Dao shuddered! With a bang, the tiger shuddered violently, and Li Hao coughed blood repeatedly. Yet the ferocious tiger still let out a savage roar and bit down... With a crunch, a mouthful of teeth shattered instantly. However, a tiny notch was bitten out of that Chaos Dao. “Ugh...” A muffled grunt escaped the earth dragon beast's mouth, and a ferocious glint surfaced in its eyes! Indeed, their physical bodies were formidable, but because their Dao was singular and the chaos Dao was excessively violent, their spirit was not as robust. When clashing with human Sovereigns, those fellows often favored attacking them through such means. Humans cultivated diverse paths, granting them stronger spirits. It was just that... under normal circumstances, its mighty physical body was enough to crush any spirit; the spirits of human Sovereigns were not as invincible as imagined. “Tiger Roars in the Mountain Forest!” With a low shout, the tiger roared, shaking its spirit. The earth dragon beast paid it no heed; in a single breath, it shattered countless Dao Domains and appeared directly before Li Hao. Six stars manifested instantly, only to be swatted away by a single claw! Kongji spat blood, thoroughly enraged. In the next instant, the six stars merged into one, erupting with formidable light power as the Great Sun Divine Fist materialized! It was as if the Bright Light Sovereign possessed him! A punch blasted forth! Boom! The earth dragon beast staggered, while Kongji bled from all seven orifices, his arm pulverized into mincemeat. Yet a new arm materialized instantly. Roaring like a demon, he threw another punch, revealing such a berserk state for the very first time! His fist shattered repeatedly, yet rematerialized constantly. In the blink of an eye, it fractured countless times and recovered just as many, his aura plummeting. Yet upon the earth dragon beast's body, a bloody crater was finally blasted open for the first time! One that failed to heal for a long time! Meanwhile, Li Hao’s tiger roared continuously, savagely tearing into the Chaos Dao. Through sheer frenzy, it managed to rip open a small tear in the Chaos Dao. “Courting death...” A savage roar burst from the earth dragon beast's mouth. In the next moment, the entire space seemed to solidify as an earth-element power concentrated to the utmost erupted, threatening to squeeze the two to bursting! These two fellows were truly formidable. Working together, they actually brought a sense of threat to the earth dragon beast. If it didn't kill them now, it might end up suffering a loss. Right at that moment, a bright moon suddenly rose between heaven and earth. The Chaos Dao was unreachable for ordinary people, and even Li Hao could only attack it with his spirit. Yet at this moment, that bright moon manifested instantly, attaching itself directly to the Chaos Dao. The Queen! The Queen, who possessed only the strength of a second rank, was actually able to approach this Chaos Dao. Even if she could approach it, she was far too weak to ever shatter this Dao. Nor was she aiming to shatter it; she knew she lacked the ability, and forcing the issue would only shatter herself. In that split second, the Queen chanted in a low voice: “People of the divine kingdom, pray for me!” Instantly, a tremendous surge of faith power emerged and poured into the Chaos Great Dao. Countless streams of faith flooded into it, causing the earth dragon beast to shudder slightly! Faith! The influx of faith brought only a sensation of comfort, yet it also induced intoxication. The earth dragon beast suddenly roared, banishing the drunken stupor as its Great Dao shuddered, intent on vibrating the intruder to death! At that moment, the Queen’s bright moon merged directly into the Great Dao. In the blink of an eye, before the Queen perished... Li Hao’s expression changed. Within the Time Star in the sky, an endless torrent of chaotic power abruptly surged forth—an extraordinarily violent power of chaos exploding outward in an instant. It was the Queen... She was actually siphoning the earth dragon beast’s chaotic power! As a second rank, she was clearly incapable of digesting it, so she transferred it all to Li Hao. In an instant, countless streams of violent chaotic power flooded into Li Hao’s Dao, nearly tearing his entire body apart! “You...” Li Hao nearly cursed out loud! Are you trying to get me killed? However, he quickly shut his mouth. Ahead, the earth dragon beast’s expression suddenly warped, its aura slipping by a tiny fraction. Even that slightest dip... brought joy to Li Hao’s eyes. It works! “Ling Yue, siphon faster!” Li Hao, who had been on the verge of cursing, changed his attitude in an instant. His tiger erupted once more, roaring as it tore into the Chaos Great Dao. Beside him, Kongji also restored himself in a flash, overdrawing his strength. One inside, one outside, completely reckless, they entangled the creature with mad frenzy! Meanwhile, the bright moon into which the Queen had transformed, bound to the Chaos Great Dao, did everything in its power to siphon the chaotic power from the earth dragon’s Dao and funnel it into Li Hao... Li Hao’s eyes changed, turning somewhat red and feral! The Time Star trembled slightly as well. Clearly, having such an enormous amount of Great Dao power poured into it all at once was difficult even for the Time Star to bear. The earth dragon beast grew frantic! What kind of people were these? Li Hao with his formidable spirit, Kongji with his immense strength—it feared neither. But... what was this situation now? Someone could actually infiltrate its own Great Dao and siphon its Chaos Great Dao power... This was virtually unbelievable. For the chaos race, the Chaos Great Dao was the absolute root of their existence. Yet now, someone had entered their foundational sanctuary... This was equivalent to someone sneaking into a human seventh-rank Sovereign’s Great Dao universe to siphon their Dao origin power. The last person to do that had been Li Hao, and the Lord of Red Moon had suffered immensely for it. And now, a mere second-rank Sovereign was siphoning its Great Dao power... That was the truly astonishing part. Its Great Dao shuddered violently! Under that violent shaking, the bright moon began to fracture, but boundless faith power surged forth to continually solidify the moon. Muffled grunts came from the Queen. Being only a second rank, the mere tremors of the enemy's Great Dao gave her a sensation of impending death. Had Li Hao’s tiger not been continually harassing and disrupting the foe, a few tremors would likely have shaken her to death! Was this a seventh-rank Sovereign? Too terrifying! In a direct confrontation, a second-rank Sovereign would likely be swatted to death with a single strike—truly swatted into paste. Meanwhile. In the sky. The two long rivers of the Great Dao coiled continuously. At this moment, Qian Wuliang’s voice drifted down, laced with gentleness and softness, murmuring slowly: “Sleep peacefully... all is but an illusion... merely a grand dream...” With the two fused, sixth-rank power erupted, causing the long rivers of the Great Dao to shake violently. Having no way to breach the seventh rank through brute force, Qian Wuliang swiftly shifted his approach. Since the foe was weak in spirit, he would disrupt it through alternative means. A gentle force slowly wrapped around the earth dragon beast. It was not an attack, but rather like a lullaby. Qian Wuliang’s words were so gentle at this moment, like a mother coaxing her child to sleep! The earth dragon beast roared, seeking to shatter this force, its tail nearly swatting Kongji to death. Yet in the next second, Li Hao waved his hand, and Kongji was restored instantly. Simultaneously, dark clouds gathered in the sky... Boom! A surge of tribulation lightning erupted—a chaotic lightning tribulation striking directly against its body. The earth dragon beast shuddered all over, and in the next moment, a single thought lingered in its mind... It's just a dream, I want to sleep. In the void, Qian Wuliang’s face was deathly pale, yet he continued to soothe the beast. Just as he thought he had succeeded, his expression shifted abruptly. The two long rivers of the Great Dao suddenly raged violently. Boom! With a deafening roar, he and Hong Yitang were blown apart, both coughing blood continuously as their Great Dao power scattered wildly. Below, the earth dragon beast roared frantically: “You little maggots!” Damn it! It had nearly been hypnotized by that annoying power. These fellows were infuriating beyond measure. Though its power had begun to decline, it remained extraordinarily formidable. As for Li Hao’s side, every person was wounded, yet they had still failed to suppress and slay the foe. Li Hao took a deep breath and let out a low shout. The Time Star in the sky vanished instantly, reappearing right above the earth dragon beast’s head. With a fierce roar from Li Hao, boundless Great Dao power surged forth! The Time Star blazed with dazzling radiance! A freezing power erupted with immense force. Time Freeze! The earth dragon beast’s movements stalled. It was no longer as powerful as before, unable to instantly shatter the disruption of this energy. In Li Hao’s hand, the long sword materialized, and the power of a thousand worlds coalesced once more! At this moment, it was intermingled with a massive amount of violent chaotic power—power originating from the earth dragon beast itself. A single sword slashed down! With a thunderous crash, a corner of the Sky Sword snapped directly, yet it also carved a deep, bloody gash beneath the creature's neck, copious amounts of blood dripping furiously. Spurred by the pain, the earth dragon beast snapped awake, shattering the time freeze, and swiped a claw at Li Hao! Kongji intervened instantly, but this time, the claw shattered his six stars. Kongji instantly wilted, his face filled with shock. This fellow was fighting with its life; previously, it hadn't been able to shatter the six stars with a single claw! Li Hao, however, had not lost his composure. While continuing to disrupt the enemy's Great Dao and allowing the Queen to siphon its chaotic power, he used time to suppress it and drew upon time power to summon chaotic lightning tribulations to blast it... All while casting a glance toward a cat perched in the nearby void! Er Mao! All this while, Er Mao had merely been watching without joining the fray. Yet at this precise moment, seeing the foe erupt in a final, frenzied struggle, Er Mao vanished in a flash! In the next instant, it appeared beside the Chaos Great Dao, opened its cavernous mouth, and unleashed an unimaginably powerful devouring force! The earth dragon beast, entirely focused on killing Li Hao, hadn't even had time to react before a sudden wave of weakness washed over it. The Queen’s siphoning had taken only a fraction of its chaotic power, but when Er Mao opened its mouth, in a single breath, it devoured over seventy percent of the beast's chaotic power, instantly plunging the earth dragon into extreme debility! “Cang Emperor...” The earth dragon beast was horrified. How could this be? Who else but the Cang Emperor could be powerful enough to devour seventy percent of its Great Dao power in an instant—and as a cat? Boom! In that very instant, the ferocious tiger let out a savage roar, directly snapping the now-fragile Chaos Great Dao. The power of time erupted, freezing the beast solid. In the blink of an eye, dozens of Sovereigns manifested simultaneously. Without needing a word, each unleashed their full-power strike! Rumble! The colossal body of the earth dragon beast was blasted flying in pieces. Disbelief still lingered in its eyes as it stared at Er Mao. Was this the Cang Emperor? That instantaneous weakness had allowed its opponents to seize the opportunity, letting Li Hao’s spirit breach its Great Dao. Though it was not yet completely dead, its Dao was severed, and its physical power ebbed away in an instant... Boom! The fist of the six Daos struck again. With a single punch, that body—once nearly impossible to breach—was blasted with a gaping hole! In the sky, Er Mao’s body ballooned wildly, looking on the verge of exploding. At this moment, Er Mao was thoroughly stuffed; it was not the Big Cat, after all. In the next breath, it opened its mouth and spat, sending countless streams of chaotic power surging once more into Li Hao’s long river of the Great Dao... Li Hao struck with his sword, slicing the giant earth dragon apart, but in the next second... his eyes abruptly turned bloodshot, and he roared furiously! “Er Mao!” He bellowed at the top of his lungs. Where are you channeling that chaotic power?! The amount the Queen had siphoned earlier had already pushed him to his limit. Er Mao had swallowed too much at once and, unable to digest it, spat it all into Li Hao’s long river of the Great Dao. Er Mao suddenly looked rather sheepish... W-weren't your thousand worlds hollow? I thought you could absorb it! With so many miniature worlds, isn't absorbing more a good thing? Li Hao, meanwhile, was on the verge of losing control entirely, his mind flooded with savagery and madness, akin to a beast. At this moment, he even felt an urge to slaughter everything in sight. Damn cat, damn Queen... have you forgotten that I'm only at the fifth rank?! The Great Dao power of a chaos beast was excessively violent. Having so much Great Dao power flood in all at once drove Li Hao nearly out of his mind, an interference even more severe than the Red Moon Dao had been previously. These two fellows... had truly screwed him over. Although they had contributed immensely to this battle, how could they pump chaotic power into his long river of the Great Dao without restraint?! A feral Li Hao went completely mad, striking sword after sword, instantly hacking the dying earth dragon beast into countless pieces. The earth dragon beast let out a shrill roar, attempting a final desperate struggle... only to be pulverized into dust within the blink of an eye by the combined assault of the Sovereigns! Li Hao slashed once more, cleaving an illusory shadow straight out of the void. With a boom, the shadow shattered. The earth dragon beast shrieked in agony, filled with resentment! Curse them! “The Dragon Lord will never let you off...” It died with immense indignation. Li Hao and Kongji working together could never have killed it, yet it had fallen to a few weaklings who could actually devour its Chaos Great Dao power. This... posed a colossal threat to the entire chaos race. At this moment, the earth dragon beast did not merely regret overlooking those weaklings; it felt profound terror that a second-rank Sovereign could merge into a Chaos Great Dao. That was the truly horrifying part! That person hadn't even died! If she survived and continued to grow stronger, she could do the same upon encountering other members of the chaos race in the future... That would be a catastrophic threat to the chaos race! A threat to their entire species! As for Er Mao, it merely possessed a formidable devouring ability rather than directly anchoring into the chaos... The earth dragon sought to transmit this message outward: someone who cultivated the chaotic path had merged directly into the chaos, and was still alive! A wave of mental fluctuation scattered frantically in all directions—its final mental impulse. It had to spread this information. As long as it got out... the Dragon Lord would return to kill that person even if it meant abandoning the three domains! A cultivator who could merge into the chaos, merge completely, and remain alive was the greatest threat of all to the chaos race! They had to be eradicated! The mental fluctuation shuddered outward. Above, the Great Dao universe pressed down. How could Li Hao and the others allow this creature to send word? The Nirvana Realm manifested once more... but that ripple, born of the creature’s dying obsession, actually broke through the Nirvana Realm in an instant. Seeing that it was about to breach the barrier of the Great Dao river and escape into the chaos, where it would become uncontrollable, Li Hao was just about to deploy Time Freeze. Suddenly, a pitch-black hell resembling a Dao Domain materialized. A scimitar flashed, cleaving and extinguishing all fluctuations, deathly energy blanketing the entire world. Lin Hongyu said nothing, merely glancing toward the Queen, who had transformed into the moon not far away. She quietly retreated, a trace of deathly stillness surfacing in her eyes. In this battle... the second-rank Queen had actually rendered a monumental contribution. The invisible pressure weighed heavily on her, deepening the aura of death around her considerably. Li Hao raised an eyebrow slightly, but had no time to say anything, for the violent Great Dao power was on the verge of bursting him apart! Er Mao and the Queen were truly unreliable. Unable to dwell on it, he merged instantly into his long river of the Great Dao to swiftly suppress the turmoil. Once he vanished, Kongji sized up the two women, clicked his tongue, and quickly disappeared to heal his own wounds. Terrifying—this was even more terrifying than slaying a seventh rank. Li Hao had fled so quickly that Kongji suspected it wasn't just because he couldn't suppress the energy, but because he didn't want to linger here. He had better run too! The others also sized up the two women before vanishing one after another, all fleeing to nurse their injuries. The entire world fell instantly silent. Only death and sanctity continued to manifest, erupt, and even confront one another. The Queen returned to human form. Looking at Lin Hongyu, she nursed her wounds, her lips parting slightly. Gazing at Lin Hongyu with a hint of provocation, she transmitted a voice message: “Old hag!” “...” Killing intent saturated heaven and earth in an instant, deathly energy blanketing all directions. The Queen vanished in the blink of an eye, thoroughly amused. She was younger than that woman, so even if the latter walked the Dao of Life and Death... wouldn't it end up the same? The world fell completely quiet.