Star Gate

Li Hao unsheathed his sword with a roar."KILL!"

KABOOM!

Thunder and lightning screamed through the air. The heavenly will didn't react at first. When it did, it snarled with extreme shock and fury. This favorite son of heaven had just rebelled!

Li Hao was the recipient of the most heavenly favor in Silver Moon world, but he'd mutinied today! The heavenly will had been betrayed by its most beloved son! How damnable!

At the same time, in the four corners.

Ying Hongyue's expression shifted slightly—heavenly will was gathering over his head. Heavenly will itself didn't possess too much battle strength. Whether it was thunder and lightning or the form of a longsword, it was all bark and not much bite. Its battle strength was mediocre, so it needed a vessel!

It congregated near Ying Hongyue, as if preparing to enter his body to lend him its strength. It wanted to control the man's actions to fight for it, to kill the traitorous Li Hao!

Another portion streamed to a different direction—the overjoyed queen. So it was just as the god of prophecy had said, the heavenly will would fall to her again!

Her thoughts were drastically different from Ying Hongyue's. Since the heavens favored her, she would naturally accept it. Heavenly will built to great momentum and entered her body, prompting a spontaneous increase in the queen's presence!

She seemed to break through the world barrier in this moment!

Ying Hongyue was situated not too far away and thought rapidly, his expression flickering through a variety of emotions. He went on the offensive against the sky in the next moment and punched outward, rebuffing the heavenly will with a rumble!

The heavens snarled with outrage—so this one was rebelling too?? The entire world belonged to it! How dared someone that it wished to favor react in such a manner?!

Killing intent bubbled beneath its rage, but the greatest traitor of all was currently fighting it. Despite its anger, the heavenly will didn't choose to retaliate against Ying Hongyue. It quickly withdrew and surged toward the queen!

Ying Hongyue's expression continued flickering. He'd relinquished an opportunity to grow stronger!

But... he didn't regret it all that much. The heavenly will wasn't as beneficial as it seemed. Accepting it now would mean that he would have to fight Li Hao. Ying Hongyue was also astonished that Li Hao actually dared defy the heavenly will and attack it! The young man was certainly bold.

Fighting him right now was not in Ying Hongyue's plans.

"Why did you refuse it?" frowned a Saint standing beside him. He looked at Li Hao battling the sword of heaven in the distance. "He's been abandoned by the heavenly will and the world itself barely tolerates him. This is the perfect opportunity to kill him! Saints are disturbing the world's balance from their positions in the four corners. Li Hao is courting death! The time is ripe and we will absolutely accomplish a great deed if we take a stand now!"

The opportunity had come!

There were ten Saints in their group—and more than that on the premises since four divine spirits were present. There was also the queen and Ying Hongyue. That made for sixteen premier powerhouses.

Meanwhile, Li Hao was trapped in the Barren wasteland. He wouldn't dare unseal the area because that would be freeing the heavenly will. His seal might break if he ran off to the dao universe. Even if he could make a getaway, they could ruin his plans this time at least. They could ensure that he was rejected by the world and perhaps even kill the redwood tree.

Sixteen Saints could kill even an Empyrean King! The timing was perfect!

"The heavenly will targets him," rumbled one of the ancient Saints. "He may not even be able to access the dao universe at this rate. This is be our chance to destroy Li Hao!"

The Saints looked at Ying Hongyue. The brat was courting death! When should they kill him, if not now?

Zheng Yu had instructed them to listen to Ying Hongyue when they left, but everyone was highly dissatisfied by the man's refusal to accept the heavenly will.

"Li Hao is the enemy of the world at the moment," said another Saint. "If we combine our forces and charge at him, we might be favored by the heavens as well. Even if we are unable to become masters of the world, obtaining its favor will ensure that we will not be targeted by it anymore!"

"Ying Hongyue, why aren't we attacking yet??" demanded another Saint.

"We shouldn't..." Ying Hongyue shook his head with a frown.

"Ying Hongyue!!" bellowed a Saint. "Which side are you on?! Is your feud with Li Hao real or not?! This is a rare opportunity..."

KABOOM!

A massive detonation rang through the world—the queen had made her move. She was the most favored child of heaven in the world at the moment; heavenly will billowed in all directions. Aureate radiance shone out of her while thunder and lightning avoided her form. The queen seemed to be swimming in energy. Her scepter swung with the auras of heaven and earth.

She was incomparable!

As strong as Li Hao was given his Fused Dao cultivation level, he seemed to be in grave danger. The Saints could no longer sit still!

"Ying Hongyue..." they cursed. Zheng Yu wanted them to listen to this coward!

"Seniors, it may not be safe." Ying Hongyue's frown deepened. "Does Li Hao not know about the possibility of this outcome? He knows, but he still forges ahead. That means he is confident in his ability to handle whatever happens. Joining the fight ourselves may place us in his trap..."

"What trap?!" snapped a Saint. "What kind of traps can there be?? He's at the end of his limits! He's sealed off the Barren wasteland and is busy battling the heavenly will. Battle Heaven's Saints are in residence at the various main cities to disturb the world. They are busy trying to prevent more heavenly will from gathering! When do we act, if not now??"

Those were all excuses!! This guy was just afraid of death! This was absolutely unacceptable to the Saints.

"When the general is away, standing military orders may be disregarded!" said a Saint. "Although the lord told us to listen to you before we left, you are noticeably afraid of Li Hao since you are not joining the fight. In that case, we don't need to answer to you. We're going since you aren't!"

Presences billowed from the ten Saints; the same went for the divine spirits in the distance. They were all ready to take action and end Li Hao.

"The situation is definitely not as simple as it appears!" Ying Hongyue cautioned. "I'm thinking that this may be the result that Li Hao wishes to see..."

He looked around—were there people waiting in ambush?

That wasn't necessarily the case!

If there weren't people lying in wait, then... what did Li Hao have up his sleeves?

Ying Hongyue thought hard on the matter and realized something. He quickly scanned the premises and came to the conclusion that... Li Hao wanted the heavens to favor them and even enter their bodies!

He would disturb the heavenly will because the people's hearts could be utilized!

Ying Hongyue was just about to speak of his revelations when a Saint coolly cut him off. "There's no need to listen to him. He's a dumb, craven rat. No wonder Li Hao ran him out of every hiding place he had!"

Ying Hongyue's face twitched and he swallowed his words. "The lord sent me here because he wanted me to stabilize the situation," he sighed softly. "I can't help it if you guys don't trust me! You should stay with me if you do..."

Some Saints soared into the air before he finished speaking. The rest hesitated before following their comrades. Only two Saints stayed by Ying Hongyue's side in the end.

He flicked a glance at them, not knowing if they'd stayed to keep an eye on him or truly believed him.

The eight who'd left didn't seem to care about the two who stayed. The eight of them and those from Divine Nation would be enough to kill Li Hao.

A light flashed in Ying Hongyue's eyes; he regarded the swaggering queen laying around with her scepter. Li Hao was sent scrambling all over the battlefield.

Being blessed by the heavens, the queen was so incomparably strong at the moment. But... this wasn't necessarily a good thing. Could Ying Hongyue strive for some gains of his own in this clash?

Heavenly will shook and roiled in all directions, having enclosed the Barren wasteland. No powerhouse would be able to detect what was taking place here. Not even the death of a Saint would raise much attention since no one would be able to sense it.

......

In the distance, in the airspace over Barren.

Li Hao's longsword pierced through the world and shattered the firmament.

Bam!

The queen was highly excited as she smashed the scepter downward again and again, suppressing the sword intent. She smiled radiantly—she was so much better off than the others because she retained some of her own consciousness!

Her excitement built at seeing how Li Hao's betrayal of the heavenly will had worked out in her favor. The young man had always dominated her, but it was her strength that climbed toward Empyrean King now!

She was so strong!

Endless energy surged into her body. The world seemed to reinforce each of her blows and heavenly auras accompanied her moves to suppress Li Hao. No matter how strong the young man was, he was hard pressed to withstand this barrage. It didn't matter that he'd killed an Empyrean King before.

Four divine spirits shot over from four different directions. Each of them seemed bolstered by the heavens as well!

The world was subduing this traitor!

The gods of misfortune and disaster wielded horrifically strong power. Enhanced by the heavens, Li Hao was struck with continuous bad luck and calamities whenever they made their moves. Misfortune descended!

When the young man struck with his sword, he somehow sliced through the void and detonated innumerable void fissures instead. All of them exploded onto him!

This was what happened to those who set themselves against the heavens!

Blood poured from Li Hao's body and he frowned. As useless as the heavenly will seemed, one could experience how pivotal it was after becoming its enemy. He could see his destiny in this moment—his fated death and his path of being killed!

That was influence from the goddess of luck. She had been one of the ones that the Initial Martial god pulverized, but here she was again. Her strength had decreased significantly, but she seemed to have recovered with the boon from the heavens.

The god of prophecy continuously looked ahead into the future, but each attempt returned only one answer—Li Hao would die!

That was because the heavenly will wanted him to die! It was a turgid mess in the wasteland and its interference the greatest possible future in store.

The five powerhouses were all blessed by the heavens.