“They’re here,” the Exalted Blood Emperor suddenly said.

Fog Mountain had also sensed it, he was slightly surprised that the Exalted Blood Emperor had identified their visitors as well. I’m an eighth rank, but he’s only just entered seventh rank. Not bad at all.

“Eighth rank?” Fog Mountain suddenly blinked. “Is that... the Thunder master from Dragon Region?”

He wasn’t familiar with that personage, but apparently the Thunder master had joined hands with Li Hao on this occasion to kill large sums of powerhouses. It would seem that the Thunder master might have swallowed many worlds to set foot into eighth rank.

He was on a similar cultivation level as Fog Mountain—newly ascended into eighth rank. But the Thunder master was in possession of his own world, Fog Mountain did not have one. Thus, the latter ranked lower when it came down to things.

At the same time, Thunder World had just risen. Even if the Thunder master was stronger, there was a limit to how much stronger. Fog Mountain would fall behind only once the Thunder master had a chance to consolidate his gains.

The Thunder master is eighth rank, reflected Fog Mountain. That means this side isn’t that weak either.

A few figures appeared in the blink of an eye. Li Hao’s laughter arrived before his person did.

“So it’s Senior Fog Mountain! Congratulations to the senior on setting foot into eighth rank!”

When the young man arrived, he also saw the New Martial Exalted Blood Emperor—Wang Jinyang.

He was the same as how he’d appeared in the river of time. Hair closely shorn, a longbow on his back, a blade the color of blood at his waist which was currently gripped in his hand. Li Hao’s most striking memory of the man was how he’d split Silver Moon into eight parts with one blow!

In his memories, this one had once said to the void that a world might give rise to its own consciousness, but he hoped that Silver Moon would not...

Li Hao hadn’t understood it back then. Now he did, slightly. Was the Exalted Blood Emperor speaking not of the world’s consciousness, but of time?

Who knew.

“Li Hao of Silver Moon greets Senior Wang!” Li Hao offered a cupped fist salute.

The Exalted Blood Emperor looked at Li Hao and sized up the young man. He nodded slightly and curved his lips upward in a smile. “Long have I heard your name! Wang Jinyang of New Martial greets the Silver Moon king!”

He raised a cupped fist salute as he exchanged pleasantries, then quickly turned his gaze to Number Two. The cat looked back at him with wide eyes and some curiosity.

“Number Two.” The Exalted Blood Emperor’s smile deepened.

“Meow,” responded the cat. No one knew if that was also a greeting.

“Congratulations!”

The cat flicked its tail. What was there to congratulate? It smelled a familiar scent on the man, one that seemed right, but was also wrong. It should be part of the presence left behind by the one who taught, but not entirely the same either.

They said that Wang Jinyang of New Martial was the reincarnated self of the one who taught. That made some sense, but not entirely.

“Where’s Shu Xiang?” That was the cat’s only question. [1]

Shu Xiang was War’s page boy, one that specifically focused on helping with studies. He had been the only true living being in the illusory plane.

The boy had followed them when War severed a section of the past and left it in the illusory plane. It wasn’t until War’s past self fully disappeared that the boy left through War’s arrangements.

He was also the living being that Number Two was most familiar with.

“In New Martial,” the Exalted Blood Emperor said softly.

“Why isn’t he here?” Number Two looked at the man.

“He lacked yang qi, so focused on absorbing it when we took Blazing Sun. He’s still in closed door cultivation.”

“I see.” Number Two said nothing further. I’m not that close with you, there’s nothing I want to say to you.

The Exalted Blood Emperor smiled when the conversation suddenly died. He looked at Li Hao. “My thanks for resurrecting Number Two... and helping it fully take shape in the world to become a real living being. This has always been one of my life goals.”

“No worries, it’s as I should’ve done,” Li Hao smiled. “Senior Number Two helped me many times in the past as well. Besides, there are pros and cons to being resurrected.”

“That’s true.” The Exalted Blood Emperor turned to Fog Mountain and the others. “My apologies for getting distracted at seeing Number Two. Li Hao, you are familiar with Senior Fog Mountain, so I won’t need to make further introductions.”

“Mmhmm. On my side are the Thunder master, Void...” Li Hao introduced his people. Although it was his first time meeting the Exalted Blood Emperor in the flesh, he didn’t feel too far removed from the other.

Both sides found commonalities in each other. Not that many, but there was a certain sense of familiarity when they looked at each other. They knew why, but didn’t mention it.

The Thunder master was rather surprised to find that Fog Mountain was an eighth rank. Didn’t they say that there were only Light and a few other eighth ranks in the three regions? He was aware of Fog Mountain, but not that the man was also an eighth rank!

Fog Mountain himself didn’t say anything, just marveled at how New Martial and Silver Moon were clearly descended from the same roots.

Whether it was the New Martial Human King or Supreme Zhang, as well as the Silver Moon king, each had their own unique attributes. They didn’t seem to care how strong other people would grow.

It should’ve been very hard for Fog Mountain and the Thunder master to enter eighth rank, but New Martial and Silver Moon didn’t mind their allies improving. These were allies that hadn’t signed a dao treaty! Yet these two factions were wholly unafraid of these people turning on them after entering eighth rank and taking control of the situation instead.

Why was that?

Many powerhouses, including eighth ranks such as Skycloud, were highly wary of their subordinates growing too strong. Those who might surpass them came under even more heavy scrutiny.

They dearly wished for their subordinates to grow stronger when they were still weak, but once someone was strong enough to threaten them, that was when the eighth ranks became guarded against their own.

Were the Human King and Li Hao really not concerned? They freely permitted outsiders like Fog Mountain and the Thunder master to enter eighth rank.

“We were just preparing to head out and observe the thunder pillars, but to think that we’d see the seniors first!” Li Hao smiled. “How about we chat along the way? We can also share news of what has happened in Skyward’s dao universe...”

“Very well!” nodded the Exalted Blood Emperor. He glanced at the thunder pillars. “You’ve probably identified by now that the thunder pillars are very likely individual daos in a dao net. They’re exceedingly dangerous and might attack you if you draw near!”

Li Hao nodded. He wasn’t surprised that the Exalted Blood Emperor had identified the crux of the issue. New Martial exalted emperors had strong understandings of dao. Those who appeared brash and lacked significant dao comprehension were only putting on an act.

All of them were very shrewd and knowledgeable.

“Skycloud and Blazing Sun are dead,” Fog Mountain quickly took over. “Light is working with New Martial and safe for now. Void can rest easy! New Martial should have officially set foot into eighth rank by now. I was lucky enough to receive the supreme’s help in devouring Skycloud, which facilitated my rise to eighth rank.”

The Thunder master’s heart quailed! Two eighth ranks were dead?? How was that possible?! These were true tyrants of the three regions!

“Red Moon has defected to the Dragon master,” continued Fog Mountain. “The Dragon master killed Skycloud and another eighth rank from Gemini in the outer regions. He waited in Skyward’s dao universe for the right time.

“He’s very strong and easily dispatched eighth ranks! Blazing Sun fell to the Human King...” Here, Fog Mountain exhaled with emotion. “These are all veteran eighth ranks who are stronger than us even without a dao universe to draw from. But... they died right on the spot regardless!”

He looked at the Thunder master, as if wanting to say that newly ascended eighth ranks like the two of them were nothing in the four regions. The Dragon master was certainly the strongest among them at the moment.

Second would be the combination of the Ash Emperor and Human King. Either of the one alone would likely not be a match for the Dragon master, even if they were eighth rank.

Third would be the Light master and fourth... still might not be Fog Mountain and the Thunder master! It could be the New Martial supreme!

Fifth might be Red Moon, then it would be Fog Mountain and the Thunder master.

The Thunder master might be stronger than Fog Mountain since the man had a dao universe and world to call upon, but the boost afforded by those would be limited. One could say that these two were bottom of the barrel when it came to eighth ranks.

The Thunder master was extremely shocked by everything he was learning. “Red Moon defected to the Dragon master?”

“Apparently, he would’ve died if he didn’t. The Dragon master had seven seventh ranks at the time. Red Moon should’ve signed a dao treaty, so he’s been fully recruited,” Fog Mountain quickly analyzed. “The Dragon master would’ve convened with the other chaos beasts by now.

“They have two eighth ranks and more than a dozen seventh ranks on their side. Ah, we met another eighth rank from Gemini when we were in Blazing Sun Region. He’s since left the four regions. The supreme wanted me to give you something...”

A jade pendant flew toward Li Hao. The supreme’s voice appeared in his mind as soon as the young man took ahold of it.

“You can attack Gemini Region if you’d like. However, the strength of an eighth rank in their world is a force to be reckoned with! Do not go toe-to-toe against the Dragon master for now in the four regions. New Martial may not be able to fight him even if we are eighth rank...”

Li Hao listened quietly to the messages that the supreme had left for him. He was used to such methods. Although they weren’t that familiar to him, they did exist in his journey through New Martial. The supreme was everywhere, so it was no surprise that he had eyes on that eight rank.

It was a testament to his strength that he could spy on the eighth rank without the man being the wiser.

Gemini Region?

It was an eighth rank world with two eighth ranks and possibly a twin dao universe. If it wasn’t a twin dao universe, then it was one with a massive eighth rank universe. It would be quite a feast, but the difficulty level in reaching that table was very high.

Skycloud and Blazing Sun were both dead. There were two fewer eighth rank players in the game.

The Dragon master had seven seventh ranks by his side, totaling fourteen if including the ones before. Feng Yan was a peak sixth rank, so she could enter seventh rank this time as well, could she not?

That meant at least fifteen seventh ranks!

Many of them were world masters, making them incredibly strong.

And with Red Moon and the Dragon master in the mix... New Martial and Silver Moon would only stand a chance of taking them down if they joined hands. Victory wasn’t assured. The Dragon master was a valiant strategist and a peak eight rank himself...

His seventh ranks were also blindly worshipful and trusting of him

If I was the Dragon master and suffered such a heavy loss this time... and have both New Martial and Silver Moon threatening me... what would I do?

Do I wait for death?

As strong as I am, New Martial and Silver Moon are both newly ascended worlds. They change rapidly and are definitely a huge threat!

If it were me, I would either strengthen myself or ignore the threats to encircle them in a roundabout manner. I would head to the outer regions, recruit, subdue, or kill a portion of powerhouses and worlds. I’d come back around for my enemies after I grow stronger.

1. The literal translation of the name would be book fragrance.” ☜