Li Hao briefly lost himself in thought. When he came to his senses, a longsword was in his hand. He set foot on the river of time with a solemn look on his face. “Junior Li Hao is so bold as to request the exalted emperor’s presence! I wish to battle the exalted emperor in order to be familiar with the true meaning of great dao. I would beseech the exalted emperor to fully bestow your instruction upon me!” The young exalted emperor opened his eyes to look at Li Hao! Infinite might roiled in from all directions. Even though this was just a projection, an imprint from the past, it still levied untold pressure on Li Hao. The pressure seemed to be stronger than what the Red Moon exalted emperor could bring to bear. It was unbelievably powerful! It was neither strength nor presence, just an unspeakable pressure! The young exalted emperor didn’t say anything. He reached into the air, grasping the blade of blood. He regarded Li Hao calmly, as if he was a mechanical projection without a consciousness. Blade in hand, the young Exalted Blood Emperor didn’t say anything before slashing it forward! The river’s flow was disrupted! Don’t you want to challenge an exalted emperor? And not an ordinary exalted emperor, but one that rose through trials and slaughter? A frosty light enveloped the world when Li Hao swung his sword to parry the blade. The power of time revolved around the longsword and resplendent sword light burst forth. One, two, three rays... One hundred rays became one as the sword struck! The blade did not possess blade intent, just killing intent! Li Hao seemed to be frozen solid; his thoughts ground to a halt. The shadow didn’t exert too much pressure on him as he didn’t dare summon a real exalted emperor. But a soundless blade and sword crashed against each other in the void! Thɪs chapter is updated by Nov3lFɪre.ɴet There was only a surge of blood qi and time. The void shattered like a mirror, raising a loud disturbance as one hundred rays of sword intent spontaneously broke apart. Time stalled and a line of blood appeared on Li Hao’s forehead! The blade had disappeared; the bloody line ran down his forehead. Li Hao looked down on his hands and saw his longsword break apart. Half of the one hundred dao stars had crumbled away and a long blade disappeared. Li Hao promptly broke into pieces! Li Hao stared dumbly across the way; the young exalted emperor looked quietly back at him. Li Hao’s sword intent was slightly different from the Sword Sovereign’s. The young man had added a lot of his own things, but it was still very weak. One stroke was enough! “Li Hao!” came startled gasps in the air. That had just been one move! The Exalted Blood Emperor from the past wasn’t all that strong—he was only an Empyrean King. And yet, he’d killed Li Hao in one blow! Was this the might of an exalted emperor? Li Hao’s thoughts were stuttering to a halt. Was this... what exalted emperors were meant to be? He’d taken blows from exalted emperors prior to improving, but that Red Moon exalted emperor had not been this terrifying. This was just a shadow from the past, but it killed him with one stroke! Li Hao’s true body collapsed! The long river trembled and time flowed, wanting to revive the young man. This was when the long blade materialized again and swung down on the river! “No!!” The spirits of the sword tree, stone, and seal appeared in horrified fashion. The river was the key to Li Hao’s resurrection! The young man would be truly dead once it was severed into two. This exalted emperor’s projection exceeded expectations—it was so much stronger than imagined! It’d cut through Li Hao with one stroke and now wanted to break the river, extinguishing the young man’s hopes of revival. Li Hao was here to comprehend blade intent, but was now cut down by one move. The river shook, as if sensing fatal danger. A figure rose from the end of the river, hovering in and out of sight—Li Hao! He looked on with gravity; his opponent wanted to smash through the river as well! “Kill!” The grunt came from another space and time. Li Hao walked out of death, sword upraised. He swung it forward. Kill! A hundred rays of sword dao crisscrossed the air. The heavens shook and earth overturned. The five elements gathered, yin and yang ran through the void, darkness and light were visible at the same time! A young exalted emperor’s blade descended at the other end of the river. It was still as soundless as before, just accompanied by the same overwhelming blood qi. A bloody river was also intermixed among the blow. The blade struck with pure blade intent! It was like a massive bubble had popped. Li Hao’s one hundred rays of sword dao immediately collapsed and his Firmament Sword keened mournfully. It was timid and despairing—it broke in a thunderous roar from the blow! Li Hao’s shadowy form shattered again. It was still one blow! The young exalted emperor watched silently, as if he’d just stepped on an ant. The river trembled once more moments later. Li Hao appeared again, newfound hints of calmness and solemnity in his bearing. “You’re so much stronger than I anticipated! If this is the age of exalted emperor youngsters and Empyrean Kings, then the exalted emperor now and the two half step emperors have either hidden their strength or... they’re honestly trash!” Both sides were Empyrean Kings! The one in front of him had delivered death in one move. As fellow Empyrean Kings, the two half step emperors hadn’t accomplished the same. Not even their primary bodies levied as much threat and pressure on Li Hao. Was this the true age of the young exalted emperor in front of him? “Take another blow from me!” Sword intent erupted once more, this time incorporating more sword intent into it. With sword intent as one, the river shook from the blow and time circulated. The young exalted emperor responded with just one blow again! There were no bells and whistles, no showy swordsmanship. Just one overwhelming blow! Li Hao’s shadow exploded again; even the river started crumbling with a flick of the blade. The three Saint spirits appeared again, mouths open with horror. Li Hao was dead without a doubt as this continued. The image of the Exalted Blood Emperor wasn’t fading away! How could this be? In their eyes, Li Hao wasn’t much less than the Sword Sovereign and his peers. In fact, the young man may have exceeded those characters on a comparative level. Why couldn’t he withstand a single blow from the Exalted Blood Emperor? They were of the same cultivation level! This wasn’t possible! In New Martial, the Exalted Blood Emperor was very strong among his peers. Apart from the Human King and Sword Sovereign ranking first among their peers, the Exalted Blood Emperor followed after them. Li Hao did not face the Exalted Blood Emperor’s primary body, and neither was the young man weak himself. He’d established the mental universe at a young age and gathered one hundred rays of sword intent. He’d obtained the sword intent heritage of the Sword Sovereign, Human King Consort, and others. He should be an unparalleled existence! Why was this the result instead?? Just as the trio quivered from terror, the river undulated once more and Li Hao’s shadow appeared at its end. He looked at the shadow of the young exalted emperor and breathed out. “So strong! So it turns out there are so many weaknesses when it comes to my sword...” He laughed at himself and gathered the blow of one hundred sword daos again. “Have I not incorporated enough sword daos into my blow? I see...” The sword flashed out again, as did the blade? Sword intent shattered, Li Hao vanished. When he reappeared, he struck again. But the blade met his blow and the bloody sea covered the world, once more dispatching Li Hao! The three Saints were terrified by the battle, but they soon realized that the shadow of the Exalted Blood Emperor wasn’t fully cutting down the river. They heaved secret sighs of relief. Li Hao quickly appeared again, continuing the battle! He was never able to take three blows from his opponent; he always died within three. They fought with increasing ferocity! Li Hao wore a long green robe as he stood over the river, the young exalted emperor was clad in a bloody hue. The sea of blood gathered again and again, blow upon blow cutting down Li Hao again and again. The river started becoming fragile, as if the power of time was being depleted. After a few more times, the other no longer attacked when Li Hao appeared. The quiet young exalted emperor suddenly addressed Li Hao. He spoke in peaceful tones that startled the young man. “You helped the blade devour the eight bloodlines, so I showed you mercy when I killed you eight times! It was not a testament of your strength that you survived eight exchanges, but that I did not choose to take your life! “This spar clears the debt between us! Your sword... is too weak and has too many holes in it. It’s not that you are inadequate, but that your core nature is too weak. I am an exalted emperor and attained this level a very long time ago! “A true exalted emperor is not someone you can stand against!” The bloody shadow began to fade away, but his voice continued to echo, “When you fight me, you are actually fighting yourself. You deplete your own strength and comprehension of dao. “Do not undertake these attempts anymore. The blade is sufficient to power this one, but in the absence of support and a medium, you would not be able to pay the price for summoning an exalted emperor. You will die for it! “You are ruthless and decisive enough to comprehend dao in the midst of death. However, that is insufficient to achieve understanding of dao! Countless battle techniques litter Silver Moon world, including the Accounts of Evenround. However, there are a myriad of daos and methods in the world. You do not need to study them all! “If such an opportunity presents itself, you can read the Logs of Zhang Discipline. They record the exploits of an exalted emperor who rose from nothing. That book does not speak of dao, just experience. Do not lose yourself in a motley array of a myriad daos...” The bloody shadow completely faded away. “Does New Martial still exist?” Li Hao quickly called after it. “New Martial naturally still exists!” A voice responded after a long while. “I am a fragment of the past! If New Martial is no longer, my primary body will have dissipated and I would cease to exist. I would no longer be found in the world!” The voice fell completely silent. Light flickered in Li Hao’s eyes as the blade of blood reappeared. It seemed a lot weaker than before, like it’d consumed a lot of strength. Meanwhile, the young man increasingly solidified as the seconds passed.