Li Hao suddenly reached forward with his hand, tapping the cat claw that’d extended toward him. The power of time filled the world and the river of time rushed forward. The cat paused while the power of time circulated! It’d simply closed its mouth around some of the eight bloodlines before and was unable to swallow them, but after this passage of time, half of the dragon formed from blood was gone! Li Hao also spontaneously aged immensely! He didn’t seem long for this world, but smiled at the result. Zheng Yu’s presence stuttered and he looked at the cat. It seemed to have just experienced a very long passage of time. Half of the eight congregated bloodlines were gone. If that happened once more, the eight bloodlines would be completely digested and no longer be his protective charm! “Not bad, but can you do that again? Fake is fake at the end of the day, that is not the real star of time!” Zheng Yu recovered his composure and looked at Li Hao. He struck again without further word! Li Hao was completely encircled. When Celestial Pole made another move to defend the young man, the blade reversed direction and smashed through the world. That sent the Initial Martial powerhouse into the crumbling void. Li Hao took a few steps back and set foot through the void. He looked at the cat, then at Zheng Yu, and finally smiled. “The eight bloodlines as one?” In the distance, the seven massive cities shuddered, drawing a look from Zheng Yu. “Do you want to use the eight cities to stand-in for the eight bloodlines?” he asked calmly. “In that case, the one from Red Moon really will be able to make it out!” “Is that something I need to be concerned about?” Li Hao laughed. Indeed, he was going to turn the eight cities into the equivalent of the eight bloodlines and lure the cat away! Zheng Yu smiled, not minding the idea. Galewind suddenly started shaking violently—a Saint in residence vomited blood. It was Capsize Sea overseeing this city, but the Saint coughed up blood without stop. It was a primary body, but couldn’t stop himself! Galewind came to a halt with a shudder. It ceased transforming into the eight bloodlines; the city as a whole drifted out of control. And it wasn’t the only one. Dao Sword and a few others in residence at Boundless suddenly widened their eyes. Dao Sword looked into the distance with a shifting expression and murmured, “Am I really a replica?” He’d once suspected that of himself, or rather, everyone had shared these suspicions at some point ever since he rose to Fused Dao. His rate of progress was too fast. It was so fast that everyone felt there was something wrong with him. Having someone be suspected by all parties was not in line with the way powerhouses conducted themselves. But perhaps proceeding opposite to general expectations was a way to accomplish one’s goals as well. There were others next to Dao Sword—Director General Zhao and the old turtle were also in residence. Their eyes widened when they heard Dao Sword’s murmuring and sensed his shifting presence. The entire city trembled! They had orders to guard against Dao Sword, but it was nerve-wracking when it seemed like something was actually wrong with him. With two cities missing out of the eight, it was ineffective to utilize the eight main cities in lieu of the eight bloodlines. Director General Wang and the old turtle rushed Dao Sword without further word. One summoned the Seal of the Eight Directions and the other returned to the form of a turtle shell. They suppressed the world, wanting to keep Dao Sword under control! Li Hao glanced over in the Boundless direction. Dao Sword? Someone who was almost blatantly a pawn was Zheng Yu’s replica? If not... then why was his presence ballooning and Boundless shaking with him? Dao Sword seemed to be familiarizing himself with his newfound power and didn’t immediately go on the offensive. He simply looked around blankly and watched as the two powerhouses rushed him. He didn’t seem inclined to counterattack or even be in the mood to. He waited for their blows to land! “Stop!” Li Hao ordered with a frown. Director General Zhao and the old turtle paused. They looked at the young man, why had he suddenly called them off? Zheng Yu ignored what his opponents were doing and brought the blade down on Li Hao again! The young man continuously backed away as he was unable to match his enemy. He would already be dead if he hadn’t recently broken through. Celestial Pole was covered in blood as he crawled out of the void. He was struck by another blow and cursed while he fell back into the abyss. Li Hao suddenly looked at Boundless and then at Zheng Yu. His face twitched, whereupon Zheng Yu smiled. “What are you thinking about?” Li Hao’s expression flickered rapidly; he quickly disengaged and rushed Boundless! Zheng Yu immediately materialized after him and struck with the blade! “Where do you think you’re going?” The two exchanged blows in the air while Li Hao’s face displayed the variety of thoughts running through his mind. Dao Sword... Zheng Yu didn’t seem concerned about the possibility of Dao Sword being killed. Or would it be more accurate to say that it wouldn’t affect Zheng Yu if the young man died? Read full story at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱 Was it because Dao Sword was just a replica? Was Zheng Yu behind Dao Sword’s sudden increase in presence? Various possibilities popped into Li Hao’s mind. Dao Sword was the genius of the age and had always been so. He was an unparalleled swordsman... He was a pure supernatural, a natural-born dao creator! Li Hao’s expression changed wildly when something occurred to him. “What is Heavens Dictate?!” he roared. “Who did it belong to in New Martial?!” That was an origin weapon that wasn’t all that strong. It was the spark that lit the fires of war between the Night Watchers and three great organizations a very long time ago. It eventually came into Dao Sword’s hands. Li Hao had taken a look at it once, it wasn’t all that powerful. The weapon was a great match for Dao Sword, so the young man took it when the Night Watchers seized possession of it. Or rather, one could say that Heavens Dictate had chosen its bearer itself. The weapon wasn’t that strong, but it possessed a very active spirit. Heavens Dictate couldn’t contend with the Saint level, Empyrean King level, and even emperor level weapons that appeared later on. It was just a treasure from the early days. So gradually, its name faded from public awareness. Everyone was at a loss with Li Hao’s question. Heavens Dictate...? They weren’t familiar with it and had never heard of it in a New Martial context. Did that weapon exist then? “Dao Sword, bring out Heavens Dictate!” Dao Sword hesitated in the distance. He’d been very confused from the beginning and now felt that he was most likely Zheng Yu’s replica. His presence had suddenly billowed from first level Fused Dao to second level, and he then set foot into third level in the blink of an eye. This kind of pace was unbelievable! It was so incredible and accompanied by the trembling of the Boundless ancient city. These two combined seemed to perfectly indicate that Dao Sword was Zheng Yu’s replica. Now as he heard Li Hao’s voice, he took out the weapon that he himself didn’t use much these days. It was a crystalline ruler that looked very beautiful. It could measure potential and identify the cultivation talents of the humans it assessed. Other than Zheng Yu and Li Hao, everyone looked at it. Celestial Pole also looked at it—it wasn’t familiar to him. It seemed to be an ordinary weapon. Glances raked over the treasure; no one recognized it. There were too many weapons left behind from the New Martial era, so who knew who this belonged to? It wasn’t a powerful weapon. Within Battle Heaven, the Ninth Division leader also took a look. He’d heard of Heavens Dictate, but that wasn’t a powerful weapon. Since Li Hao and the rest didn’t care about it, he would care even less. A quick consideration didn’t bring anything to mind, but when he studied it again, something... seemed to draw his attention. He frowned and gave it more attention. “Heavens Dictate... Heavens Dictate... the Teacher Sword? Teacher restrains dao, constrains the self, controls desire...” His eyes widened as some childhood memories came to the fore. His older brother loved to toy with everyone, but when the adults beat up their children, Li Daozong vaguely remembered something happening after that. In the private school established by their family, their teacher once gifted his brother a sword. It wasn’t a powerful sword; it was named the Teacher Sword. Their teacher had said that it was used by ancient teachers as a symbol of self-control and restraint. Only when one had managed the self well could one walk further on the path of dao. His brother had immense potential, but loved to scheme against others at a young age. No one among the Lis minded, but their teacher seemed to see something. He’d given Li Daoheng a sword, one that the man used when he was a weak child! A certain idea came into the Ninth Division leader’s mind, but he regarded it with disbelief. He looked at Dao Sword and asked incredulously, “Is that the Teacher Sword? Why is it in your possession?! “This is impossible!” he yelled. “That sword vanished a long time ago, how can it be here?!” “Who does it belong to?” Li Hao shouted. “Li Daoheng!” roared the man. “Our teacher gave that sword to Li Daoheng a long time ago, wishing for him to scrupulously abide by his dao and exercise self restraint. Such was our teacher’s lecture for him... “Our teacher left a very long time ago and was said to have possibly been the Exalted Blood Emperor. I don’t know if that’s true or not! The Exalted Blood Emperor stayed in Silver Moon for a period of time and was close with our forefather the Sword Sovereign. Therefore, some say that our teacher was the replica of the Exalted Blood Emperor. But whether or not he was, our forefather never mentioned it!” Li Hao suddenly understood something and charged forward with sword upraised. He erupted with so much force that it seared Zheng Yu’s eyes! With that, the young man whirled around and rushed Dao Sword! “What are you running away for, Li Hao?” Zheng Yu raised a brow. “You always pay attention to different things from the rest!” Li Hao ignored him, looking into the distance as he ran. Li Daoheng was capturing the river of chaos to devour it. Some of the water was already in his control and going down his mouth! He was terrifying! Wrong, we’re all wrong. The thought popped into Li Hao’s mind. Someone’s taken his place! Fuck! Zheng Yu is the one in control! Li Daoheng was supposed to be powerful beyond compare and unrivaled when it came to schemes. The Li Daoheng in control of the immaterial dao fulfilled all of the characteristics of the man. But what if that Li Daoheng was Zheng Yu? And the man with the sword on his back was the real Li Daoheng, but it was his past self? The real Li Daoheng might have reincarnated, just like the one from the Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Maybe he’d chosen to reincarnate so he could better become part of this era?