Chapter 2081: The Human King Knows Me Well (II)

Li Hao inclined his head. “There’s probably no powerhouse that wants to kill me while I still wield time. Well, the Human King might be the only exception.” The young man grinned. “To be honest, I’m not afraid of you guys killing me! You won’t do it and neither will those ninth ranks do it.

“The next generation cultivator of time has to appear first. Otherwise... you guys won’t risk killing me before you strip me of the dao. And of course, the Human King thinks differently. Thankfully we’re on the same side, or he might really take me out...”

Li Hao laughed at his own words. Why was that?

Because all of you guys have concerns about killing me.

The Human King might have them too, but he’s a madman. He doesn’t care about the consequences if time is destroyed. Running into someone like the Human King makes for a very difficult opponent to shake off.

But you guys, the stronger you are, the less afraid I am!

“That’s the fear of other ninth ranks, it’s not necessarily mine,” smiled Chaos Sky. “Time... might be able to stabilize the chaos and spirit, which the other ninth ranks will need. They naturally don’t want to kill you.

“But do I need that? I just need to maintain my current strength to be invincible throughout the chaos, if the universe lacks spirit and ninth ranks are no longer able to descend...”

“I don’t believe you.” Li Hao burst out laughing.

“......”

It wasn’t that Li Hao didn’t believe that Chaos Sky was strong, but that he didn’t believe the man was content to leave things at this and no longer wanted to take a step forward.

How useful was time?

Li Hao did not know, and Chaos Sky might not know either. Perhaps Skyward and his group did, but everyone shared the same understanding that time might be the key to stabilizing spirit in the chaos.

In that case, how would Chaos Sky be willing to stagnant at his current level?

After he entered ninth rank, he might have to take shelter in the depths of the chaos, just like the rest of the other ninth ranks.

That was not what he wanted.

“Release my teacher,” Li Hao said sincerely. “In my eyes, you’ve taken my teacher just to make me prudent and cautious. It won’t change anything. I captured Peng Cheng and the others merely to ensure that they wouldn’t give me any trouble. I don’t actually think that a couple eighth ranks will compel you to do anything.

“Release my teacher and I’ll release them. What do you think, Chaos Sky?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Chaos Sky chuckled. “An initial eighth rank with an unstable cultivation level isn’t worth my worry at all. But you’ve stayed behind and waited for me to return. Do you want to say something or do something to me?”

The others on the scene were all somewhat confused. Since the dao master didn’t care... why not just take Li Hao into custody? Why waste all this time talking to him?

Chaos Sky, however, was as composed as ever. He didn’t display the tyrannical arrogance he had when facing Disorder, nor did he demonstrate any presence of disorder.

“I just have some questions I’d like to ask the fellow daoist,” Li Hao explained.

“Go ahead.”

“The fellow daoist has drawn from endless darkness and disorder, transforming yourself into the filth behind order. I’m somewhat familiar with this because New Martial does the same, but they don’t do it as... thoroughly as the fellow daoist does.

“New Martial has the Ash Emperor absorb all of the waste of core origin. But that does not include the human heart, thoughts, and desires,” Li Hao said seriously. “The fellow daoist has turned yourself into a trash can...

“Alright, that’s a bit derogatory, I don’t mean it that way. I very much respect your decision, but why... must you absorb everything?”

“Human greed and desires are endless!” smiled Chaos Sky. “Everyone is simply chasing peace and a carefree life without worries. Isn’t living in that kind of era good?”

“Not really,” Li Hao shook his head. “What difference is there between a puppet and someone like that?”

“There’s a huge difference!” laughed Chaos Sky. “They all have their own thoughts, I haven’t erased their minds. I’ve just expelled everything that is not pleasant about them. I’ve absorbed it all, leaving everything that is perfect.

“Once the chaos is united as one, that will make the entire chaos the most perfect construct possible! There will be no more wars or conflicts, no more killing. The elderly will be taken care of and the weak will be supported. Li Hao, don’t you think that such a chaos is much better than what it is now?”

Some people nodded, others stayed silent.

Of the newly surrendered eighth ranks, some looked on silently while the look in certain eyes shifted. No one said a word.

“This is complete bullshit!” A merry Yuan Shuo interjected before Li Hao had a chance to say anything. “I’ve never heard such rot in my life! Don’t listen to him blather on, Little Hao! It’s better to live in a chaotic age of conflict than an era that he’s describing!

“Is someone without their own desires, greed, and negative emotions even human anymore? To be human is to have all that!”

“You don’t understand, Yuan Shuo, you’re too weak,” Chaos Sky smiled. “When you reach my heights, you’ll understand that this kind of world is quite grand!”

Grand?

Yuan Shuo snorted with dismissive laughter.

“Teacher, weaklings should be more polite to the strong,” Li Hao grinned. “Even I show respect to Fellow Daoist Chaos Sky. Don’t be so proud. You’re a captive, so be careful of him swatting you out of existence if you annoy him enough!”

Yuan Shuo immediately shrank in on himself and nodded humbly. That was right, he was a weakling! He should keep a lower profile.

“You make an interesting master and disciple duo,” Chaos Sky laughed. “Li Hao, there’s no real point in discussing this today. This is my path, which I am going to take. This is the only path that I can take!

“The Order master was willing to preserve everything, but he ended up dying in a very grisly way! Skyward and his ilk schemed against him and killed him for their own ambitions and desires!”

“That’s true. Ah, are you the reincarnation of Order?” The young man then promptly shook his head. “It doesn’t matter! Whether you’re the remnants of his mental strength or something else, you are Chaos Sky since you are not fully walking the path of order.

“Just like I do not like people saying that I am an incarnation of War... That really sucks.”

“Now those are words after my own heart, Li Hao!” Chaos Sky laughed. That was right, he didn’t like being seen as Order and didn’t think of himself as Order.

He was Chaos Sky!

Both of them seemed to be waiting for something as they chatted.

After a while...

Ripples traveled through the void. Figures appeared, each of them Spring Autumn. Various people followed behind her.

Long Zhan and a few eighth ranks appeared in the south. New Martial appeared in the west with the Thunder Emperor and the rest of Li Hao’s people.

There was only Spring Autumn in another spot, but some monster spirits quickly appeared as well. They answered to Spring Autumn.

The little girl chuckled smugly and walked barefoot through the void. She looked meaningfully at Li Hao, both showing off and wanting to take credit for her achievement. “Well, Li Hao?”

I’ve just saved you!

Battle hasn’t happened yet and I’ve brought the strongest people in the chaos to you!

On Long Zhan’s side, there were also Black Tiger, Qingqiu, Red Moon, Feng Yan, Coiling Dragon, and another newly ascended eighth rank. Counting Long Zhan into the mix made for seven eighth ranks.

On New Martial’s side, there were the Human King, Supreme Zhang, Ash Emperor, Light, Flare Sun, and another newly surrendered eighth rank who was yet to be made fully part of the system. That was also seven eighth ranks.

They also had with them the Thunder Emperor, dao chess, Void, Fog Mountain, Myriad Changes, Number Two, as well as seventh rank Gan Wuliang.

Spring Autumn had brought five major monster spirits, including the butterfly that Li Hao had seen last time.

When it came to numbers, all of them combined just managed to match Chaos Sky’s side.

But with Long Zhan, the Human King, and Spring Autumn present, Chaos Sky would have to reinforce his Nine Layer Guard if the guards wished to adequately meet this group in battle.

Li Hao glanced over the scene, not minding everyone who’d shown up. His gaze settled on the Human King’s group. Fang Ping had his arms crossed over his chest and was grinning widely, like he was here to watch the show.

In the distance, Long Zhan’s eyes flickered between Li Hao and Chaos Sky before he decided to keep quiet. They were here to see how strong Chaos Sky actually was and to prevent the man from killing or capturing Li Hao. Any of those two outcomes would be very troublesome.

Chaos Sky seemed to have expected their arrival and didn’t mind it.

“I welcome everyone as guests to the western region!” he chuckled. “It has been so long since we have welcomed so many honored guests!

“There are still ninth ranks within the chaos, so there might not be only hatred and grudges between us. Quite the contrary, we should be allying with each other at present and standing strong against the ninth ranks’ return!

“This upheaval in the chaos is an opportunity for them. It’s not that they cannot descend upon us, but that their strength will be heavily weakened once they do. There are roughly more than twenty ninth ranks at present. If they all come back, they’ll match the rest of you at the very least.”

The chaos currently did not contain sufficient spirit for so many powerhouses to return. They would not be able to utilize the strength they had a million years ago. But even if they only had eight thousand dao rules to make use of, could the current chaos inhabitants be able to counter so many powerhouses?

The ninth ranks weren’t returning only because they were worried that they might be killed in their weakened state. That would be too much of a pity.

Take the Disorder master, for example. If he’d been able to wield his old strength, Chaos Sky probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat him so soundly. But he’d nearly died to Chaos Sky. That would’ve been a tragic end to many ninth ranks.

They would rather wait for more spirit to be restored!

Chaos Sky couldn’t be bothered with saying anything else and said to Li Hao, “Retreat from Chaos Sky major world, leave behind Heaven’s Stratagem, and release the eighth ranks. I will release your teacher in return and we can let this be bygones!”

Spring Autumn heaved a sigh of relief. This was the best possible outcome! She looked at Li Hao, waiting for him to release those people and go on the run.

That was good and all, now pack it up! He’s not even telling you to return the dao strength. It’s not a smart idea to provoke Chaos Sky at this point in time.

Your master will be released, and he’s absorbed enough elemental power to enter eighth rank. You’ve taken in sufficient dao strength to reach eight thousand dao rules. Apart from Chaos Sky, you’re the one who gained the most from recent events!

Li Hao looked around him, then at the Human King’s group.