Star Gate

The hate of being lied to and used for twenty-one years eclipsed the rage of being defeated by Li Hao. In this instant, the queen understood that Li Hao had never sought to kill her. He'd simply been using her to attack the real Moon God in the shadows!

No wonder he was always so unconcerned when they met in battle. No wonder the look in his eyes was always so complicated. He seemed to be saying that you can be stronger!

He also seemed to be saying that you are pathetic!

The queen nearly ground her teeth to pieces in anger as a pained growl emerged from her throat.Were all of you guys laughing at me? Am I that pitiable? You bastards, each and every single one of you!

"The Moon God..." She twisted to look at the north. The moon itself was located there, in the seal. So where was the true Moon God?

Somewhere in the world?

Probably no longer...

A new sensation that she'd never felt before was very apparent today. There was suddenly a disconnect in the lunar strength being fed to her...

The queen wasn't actually an idiot, she'd just never thought of any of this. Currently, her mind operated in overdrive.

Perhaps the Moon God had been beside her before, observing all of her moves. But after Li Hao cleansed the world today and slaughtered Saints, the Moon God's control over her had suddenly diminished to the point of disappearing. That meant she was certainly not in the seal, but right next to the queen.

But where? Where was she?

The queen lifted her head at the sky, studying the illusory lunar body overhead. The moon used to be a bit brighter, so bright that she thought it was the real moon. She was the Moon God, so never paid attention to it before. Why... was there no lunar strength from this moon at all today?

The lunar strength that she'd cultivated since young seemed to stem from the moon.

"She was there before... but not anymore!" The queen suddenly understood. The real Moon God had been present on the moon before, but due to the sudden compression of the world and possibly to avoid Li Hao, she'd moved the moon.

That snapped the connection between the queen and the moon, and the Moon God... was yet to return!

She was there before, but not here right now. Where's she gone?

The world didn't tolerate Saints before, but the Moon God had been present all the same. That meant that the moon was actually a ruin, but that the ruin had vanished for the moment.

The dao universe?

The queen smiled again.Li Hao, you seemed to have forced her out!She looked to the north again, there seemed to be a moon in the seal as well.

So who was the real Moon God?

A ruthless look dawned in the queen's eyes.Since Li Hao says that I am the Moon God so long as I am alive... perhaps I am the real Moon God! Aren't you staying out of sight? Then this is my opportunity!

I've been enveloped by lunar strength all these years and even received some of your memories. I know you all too well. In the eyes of Divine Nation and the rest of the world, and possibly even the heavenly will, I am the Moon God!

A puppet?

When the real Moon God is gone, aren't I the Moon God?

"She was in the seal before, how did she get out?" The queen swiftly flew into the upper reaches of the sky. Faint tendrils of lunar presence dissipated at the end of the world.Perhaps... I can enter the seal and seize the real moon!

I'll be the real Moon God then!

She looked toward the north.Li Hao, Zheng Yu, Ying Hongyue... all of you think less than me, don't you? I'll have you know that I was born noble!

She broke through the air, somehow sensing that if she followed the drifting strands of lunar strength, then perhaps she would find a path that surreptitiously entered the seal!

That Red Moon exalted emperor probably wanted nothing more than for her to take the actual moon. That would help him weaken the seal, wouldn't it?

She would probably need his help to succeed as well!

The queen fully awoke to her circumstances by this point. The pain of repeated failures had enabled her to see the truth of the world instead. She didn't mentally break down, but recovered her calm after her fury. It didn't even matter anymore how many times she'd been defeated by Li Hao.

Because... I am not the Moon God.

Since I am just an ordinary person, what does it matter if I am defeated by the strongest in the world?

......

Li Hao didn't anticipate this kind of change taking place in his opponent; perhaps no one did. No one cared that the queen had vanished. Whether she lived or died, the young man completely set her aside once Divine Nation fell.

The only thing he cared about was whether she could bring him some more gains. But he was also of the mindset that she might've died in all of the happenings that took place. He was almost worried for her! Good people like her were hard to come by!

Li Hao set his sights on the western continent, soon catching sight of the heavily injured Lin Hongyu and student puppets. The scent of blood and gore still filled the air, as did the endlessly dissipating power of faith, unending screams of agony and moans of despair.

The people hated the divine spirits! However much they believed the divine spirits before was however much they despaired and hated the divine spirits when their faith collapsed!

The sound of voices raised in cursing the gods could be heard throughout the world.

"My lord!" Lin Hongyu was as gentle as ever. The version of her who readily wielded a blade to hack her enemies to bloody pieces disappeared; she reverted back to the tender woman with a soft smile. "Divine Nation is ours, but... it's a bit disorderly at the moment."

Li Hao inclined his head. "Are you disappointed?" The heavenly will should've showered her with favor moments ago There was even hope of forcefully raising her to the Fused Dao level.

But because of a single command from Li Hao, not only did her heavenly favor come to an end, but the heavens even seemed to be targeting her instead.

Li Hao, Lin Hongyu, and Panther. These three were now unequivocal enemies to the heavenly will. It hadn't fully vanished after this battle. Rather, it was biding in time after suffering such a complete defeat.

If Lin Hongyu didn't obey Li Hao's commands, she might spontaneously become the new limit of the world.

"Not at all," Lin Hongyu chuckled softly. "Your Lordship has even given up a world that was within your grasp. What is a mere heavenly will to count for..."

"There's no need to be disappointed." Li Hao smiled with a nod. "The heavenly will doesn't count for much. It's not a good idea either if too much of it is gathered. Someone has their eye on the heavenly will. If there's too much of it around you, you'll become a thorn in their side instead!"

He was speaking of Li Daoheng. The man wanted to capture the heavenly will, but it had proven too difficult to do so this time.

Lin Hongyu had already been seventh level Sun and Moon, the second one after Director General Zhao. Now that there were numerous seventh level Sun and Moon in the land, she declined as opposed to taking another step forward.

The woman was only fourth level Sun and Moon now, and this was after recovering much of her strength. Moments after detonating her dao meridians, she'd only been at the Mountain and Sea level. Compared to the others, she was now immensely far behind after having always led the pack.

Fourth level Sun and Moon made her even less than Hong Yitang's daughter, Hong Qing. Some of the newer generation powerhouses were stronger than her, such as Demon Sword and his comrades from the Inspectorate, or Hu Qingfeng who only knew how to curry favor. The latter was a bonafide insignificant hanger-on, but even he was now mid Sun and Moon.

However Lin Hongyu was, so was Panther. Other than Li Hao, these two had lost the most from this battle.

"Come with me. Those of Evenround Martial can reconvene with Jiang Yingli and the rest! Take a break in the ancient city. I'll create physical bodies for everyone when I have a moment. We don't lack those resources anymore!"

Li Shengzhang, the girl from the Li family who'd once yelled at Li Hao for touching her, looked around with a complicated mix of emotions. "Commander Li, did the teacher and them... appear in Silver City?"

"Yes, they've entered the seal."

Li Shengzhang asked no more and led the puppets toward the ancient city. Li Hao took a look at them, but didn't otherwise say anything. He looked at Lin Hongyu instead.

"C'mon, let's head to the dao universe!" The young man smiled.

Lin Hongyu followed him without a word. Li Hao ripped through the void; the woman was hot on his heels.

There was almost no one in the dao universe now after Battle Heaven was moved out to suppress the world. Lin Hongyu had visited the dao universe before, but everything seemed to be clearer this time.

A river of stars ran through it, one that seemed to be drifting apart. Many of the stars that floated within were dull without light. The various copies of Li Hao that'd been in residence on all sides had vanished, and the supernatural characters that'd held sway over the river had crumbled away.

Li Hao had shattered all of the supernatural characters that he'd previously coalesced. The stars that formed n the river wanted to break free. The starry loop that'd formed a circle was about to fall apart.

Lin Hongyu understood that this was a result of Li Hao shattering too many dao meridians. This decreased his control over the dao universe as a result. It even caused the dao universe to rage out of control. He'd suffered quite the losses this time. He'd killed so many powerhouses, but Li Hao hadn't gained anything for it.

It was such an unworthy trade-off!

"My lord... are these stars all manifestations of dao meridians?"

"Correct," Li Hao nodded. "Do you know why I've only brought you here?"

She wasn't the only one, Panther was present as well.

"I don't," Lin Hongyu shook her head. "Can it be that the marquis wishes to reward me with something because my strength has declined?"

She flashed an innocent and pure smile, but Li Hao knew for a fact that she was far more than met the eye! He'd already known that when they exchanged blows at their first meeting. At their second meeting, she offered up the City of Supernaturals on a silver platter and spontaneously became his stalwart subordinate.

How could a woman like that be as simple as she presented herself? She possessed a lot of charisma and decisiveness!

"Generally speaking, the river of stars has grown stronger." Li Hao pointed at the object of their discussion. "A lot of sparkling stars have appeared this time, which means that someone's opened their dao meridians. And not just one or two people, but a lot!

"I may not have improved this time, but a large amount of energy suddenly exploded in the world. A bunch of Saints died and a lot of dao power dispersed. There will be people who make good use of that opportunity at the end of the day and advance to Mountain and Sea, or even Sun and Moon!"

"That is because the marquis is selfless!" Lin Hongyu said softly. "Without you, they would have had no chance to do so. My lord truly did this for the people. Everyone can become a dragon and wealth dwells among the people!"

Was that flattery?

A bit, but it was also the truth.