Star Gate

"That's to be expected!" Li Hao said calmly. "Zheng Yu's long had his sights set on Tranquil Star. When Ying Hongyue was here instead of Zheng Yu's replica, I guessed that he might've gone to Tranquil Star."

This was a half step emperor they were talking about. Even if Zheng Yu sent only a Saint replica to the ruins, the old turtle's battle strength was mediocre. It was to be expected that the turtle couldn't withstand its opponent.

As for escaping...

It would die if it didn't run, so it was normal that it'd fled.

"Your Lordship, I..."

"It's fine!" Li Hao didn't mind at all. "Put that out of your mind and enter the Barren wasteland!"

The old turtle quickly came within range and was confused to see Panther and the rest attacking the sword of heaven. Why wasn't Li Hao making a move?

The young man looked up at the sky and suddenly leapt upward, hurtling through the void. His voice resounded within the ball that was the Barren wasteland. "Panth, devour it as quickly as possible. Combine the two wills when I need you to. Right now, I'm going to take everyone to Silver City!"

The group blinked. What were they going to do at Silver City?

"We'll go to Silver City and very briefly enter the seal! Let's see if we can defeat the primary body of the moon..."

Jaws dropped and the old turtle hastily asked, "Is the marquis going to break the seal?"

"No, even shattering the moon might not break the seal. We can restrict a powerhouse instead and force the return of strength that she's taken with her!"

He was referring to the true Moon God!

The real Moon God must have left a long time ago with a large sum of power. If he attacked the primary body that she'd left behind, she would have to return the power that she'd taken.

There would be a momentary eruption of power when the two wills were combined. Panther would be invincible for a split second. Their chances of success were high!

Granted, it would be a very dangerous undertaking.

But so what?

The Red Moon exalted emperor might kill him, but Li Hao wasn't afraid of that either. If the exalted emperor could kill him, that meant the seal could be broken. Once that broke, everyone's plans would be ruined. Whether it was Li Daoheng or Zheng Yu, all of them would be able to do nothing but cry.

Out of the various factions, it was Li Hao's who was the weakest. He lacked sufficient premier powerhouses! Therefore, releasing another premier powerhouse was the last of his worries.

The young man held a huge ball in his hand and flew towards the north.

Zheng Yu's replica was in the Tranquil Star ruins. The man was very strong, but each instance of a Saint-level replica was a depletion of his resources. How many replicas could he create if he wished to stop Li Hao?

How many Saints were left in Galewind?

Eight were suddenly dead and two more were running with Ying Hongyue. It was unknown if they'd make it back at all. Did Zheng Yu have an inexhaustible source of Saints?

This was Li Hao's chance!

As for Tranquil Star, if your replica can occupy it, then you can have it. If it can't and you can't seize the weapon left behind by the Exalted Blood Emperor, we'll mob your replica to death if you stay!

Li Hao quickly sped to the north, the Barren wasteland in his hand.

......

At the same time, the north, Silver Moon province.

Bam!

A stunning disturbance rang through the land as a massive city rose into the air. Zheng Yu watched with an unpleasant expression as he quickly took to the Galewind city walls. Star River hovered not far in the distance.

"Zhang An!"

Zhang An stood at the highest point of the city and looked across the way, regarding Zheng Yu with his customary aloofness.

"The Zhous betrayed New Martial and were appropriately executed for it!" he said softly. "There will be no exception shown to the Zhengs either!"

Zheng Yu brooded. Meanwhile, strong presences rose inside Galewind. Saints showed themselves, as did some Zhou family Saints with clenched teeth!

Star River had been situated near Galewind, so certain Star River Saints had come to Galewind at some point in time. Others chose to remain at Star River since it was a main city, after all.

However, Zhang An and his people had quietly seized Star River with no one the wiser! It didn't even raise any attention from the Zhous. Clearly, as the grandson of the supreme, Zhang An had a lot of tricks up his sleeves that permitted him to soundlessly slip into the ancient city.

Zheng Yu continued to frown ferociously. His losses were so enormous from this expedition!

There had been two Saints in residence at Star River—they looked to be dead. Out of the ten that he'd sent with Ying Hongyue... there didn't seem to be good ends in store for them either. People seemed to have died in the Barren wasteland to the east.

But with the disturbances in the heavenly will and the four cities further disrupting the world, he was obstructed from obtaining a clear read on the situation if no great daos were broken. Who would've thought that Zhang An would come up with these antics at this time??

Zheng Yu glowered and muttered to himself. Star River abruptly rose higher and shot into the sky as he seethed.

"How dare you?!" Zheng Yu shouted. The guy wanted to steer the ancient city into the seal!

Zhang An ignored him.So what if I dare or not? You won't come out, what's with all the shouting?

Enraged beyond belief, Zheng Yu immediately severed a replica and yelled, "Saints, follow me out of the city!"

His replica walked out with almost two dozen Saints behind him. With the ten that'd already left and some more that were killed before... If these were all the Saints under his banner, that meant that the Zhengs had recruited more than three dozen Saints in all these years.

There hadn't been many Saints in Silver Moon world to begin with. One could tell from this just how much preparation and many cultivation resources the Zhengs had accumulated in the world beforehand.

There was still a group of people residing with the city. They were possibly either Empyrean Kings or Immortals.

When Zheng Yu's replica walked out, he punched at the city overhead with a livid expression. "You court death!" he denounced.

Saints rose in Star River in response. There weren't many—just five when including Zhang An.

There was the second elder and fourth elder of Military Affairs from Martial Alliance. There was only one Saint from Steadfast Sky of the Zhangs. He was a vice commander in charge of the city's army. The guardian plant spirits had turned traitor; the Zhangs killed them on the spot for it.

The last Saint was surprising—it seemed to be a divine spirit. It hovered in and out of sight.

Zhang An directed the ancient city into the upper airspace.

Zheng Yu led the two dozen Saints to obstruct their path. He was prepared to fight his way in and smite all of these bastards dead! Damn it! Everyone was making life hard for him!

Boom!

The world shook when a massive collision rang out. Countless Silver City buildings beneath them were pulverized. All of the residents had long been moved away. Empty skyscrapers toppled over and the earth fractured with deep fissures.

Even a stone door underground was exposed to the air.

Zhang An continued to steer the ancient city on a reckless trajectory!

A city lord seal hovered in the air, suddenly erupting with immense radiance. Zheng Yu's eyes widened when a figure seemed to float out over the seal. It overlaid with Zhang An's form!

This was a mark left behind by Zhang An's grandfather, Supreme Zhang. Director General Wang had once used a city lord seal to kill a cripple Saint—it was much stronger in Zhang An's hands!

BOOM!

The light that flared stole the air from some of the Saints, making it difficult to breathe. Zhang An shot straight into the sky, ignoring Zheng Yu entirely. The city followed a red string and was about to forcefully meld into the seal.

"Zhang An, what good does it do for you if you break the seal?" Zheng Yu raged.

"Who said anything about breaking it?" Zhang An responded quietly. "I'm just going in for a look and suppressing the exalted emperor further. What does that have to do with you? Zheng Yu, the seal may not break so easily. What are you worried about?"

Zheng Yu grimaced, he knew that the seal might not break so easily. But what if it did?

Damn it!

The two sides tangled with each other in the air. Zhang An was frowning as well. Although he'd taken Star River, Zheng Yu had reacted swiftly and led the rest of his Saints to stand in his way. If Zhang An spent too much energy and effort here... he might not be able to deal with the primary body of the moon once he entered the seal.

Just as he hesitated, both sides jerked with surprise. A surge of chaos presence had come roiling over the land. Li Hao had arrived with the might of the world and chaos presence wrapped around him!

Seeing that Zheng Yu was out of Galewind with a large number of Saints and that Zhang An seemed poised to enter the seal with Star River, Li Hao looked sharply at Panther.

"Devour, erupt, assimilate!" he transmitted.

Panther swallowed the heavenly will.

RUMBLE!

The black dog furiously expanded in size, becoming a gigantic dog that was too big to comprehend. It was golden in color, but quickly changed to the gray of chaos, then shifted to white. Panther howled with anguish as it flickered between different colors.

Heavenly will warred with the will of chaos in its body, tearing and ripping at each other. It was like the formation of a new world. The compressed Barren wasteland also tossed and turned, great changes taking place through it.

Endless energy exploded outward as faint threads of great dao materialized in the world.

"Coalesce your ancestors' bloodline and hit them!" Li Hao transmitted again.

Panther howled, a golden horn appearing at the top of its head. Thunder and lightning roared with a combination of the will of chaos. Thunderbolts flared and smashed down on Zheng Yu's group!

KABOOM!

The world turned over as the void exploded. Saints shouted angrily; they followed Zheng Yu's lead and attacked the lightning!

Bam bam bam!

Exploding thunderbolts left Saints a charred mess—Zheng Yu's replica was in an equally bedraggled state. Zhang An took a look back at Li Hao and suddenly steered Star River into the seal!

The young man raised an eyebrow. So Zhang An wanted to enter the seal as well. He'd thought that this fellow wouldn't appear. Not only had he shown himself in the public eye, but he'd seized an ancient city too. Now that Zhang An was inside... Li Hao might not be able to do the same.

There were quite a few Saints on Zheng Yu's side and they were all furious. Panther was still howling, but it ran the risk of exploding at any time because this increase in strength had been too far beyond its capabilities.

Li Hao's battle strength was much less than before due to the lack of the will of chaos. If he really fought these Saints... he might not gain anything from it.

The massive Star River city was slowly melding into the seal. A livid Zheng Yu split out another replica. If he wanted to, he could sever himself into infinite replicas. However, the death of each one would be a grave loss to him then.

Losing too many might mean that he wasn't a half step emperor anymore.