Chapter 1866: Three Legs of a Tripod (IV)
“Dragon master, it’s us...”
The Dragon master lifted a hand, interrupting Black Tiger. “If I say it’s my fault, then it’s my fault! I sensed Long Xuan’s death and was relatively confident of exiting Skyward then. But I was more focused on the eighth ranks of the four regions, so I chose to give up the chance to leave. That caused the situation that faces us today!
“The demise of Phoenix and the rest is both a disaster and motivation for our race!” He faced the crowd. “Black Tiger and Qingqiu, you’ve done well to retain what strength you have. I am very satisfied that you were able to secure many of our powerhouses even when caught in a scheme and possibly faced with the power of time...”
Time!
The group started. They hadn’t said anything about time because they hadn’t detected that power. How had the Dragon master known about it?
The Red Moon also jerked with surprise.
“I’ve made some mistakes recently,” the Dragon master said calmly. “Now that I think about it, the Black Dog that swore fealty to Phoenix was Li Hao, wasn’t it?”
He looked at Feng Yan. The girl was lost in thought, but she nodded with clenched teeth. “It’s him!”
“I’d actually felt something unusual that day, but thought it stemmed from the dao of faith,” sighed the Dragon master. “Only today do I realize that it likely wasn’t faith. Based on what you say... I surmise that it is the legendary dao of time!
“So the one I met that day must have been Li Hao!”
What a pity.
Granted, it was just a passing thought. What had passed was past.
“As for the cultivator that you say can sever chaos dao, I am familiar with this being as well. There was a fleeing human cultivator of faith that day. That was the third mistake I’ve made recently. I was in such a hurry to reach Skyward that I didn’t hunt that person down!”
He’d had many chances to rectify his oversight, but he’d missed out on all of them. He could’ve killed Li Hao, he could’ve killed the queen. But New Martial had been his priority then; he’d also underestimated Silver Moon. All of that contributed to the current situation at hand.
“I killed Skycloud and another eighth rank from the outer regions.” The Dragon master changed the topic. “As well as two seventh ranks... I am a peak eighth rank, so they will not facilitate my pursuit of ninth rank
“The two seventh ranks will be given to Feng Yan. I hope that propels you to seventh rank and adds another powerhouse to the ranks of the chaos race! As for the two eighth ranks...” The Dragon master scanned the group and settled on the black tiger. “Black Tiger, you and Qingqiu both have a hope of entering eighth rank compared to the rest...”
“My liege, I am a failure, I...” the black tiger protested with reddened eyes.
“No, you are a hero!” the Dragon master refuted solemnly. “You could have died in battle, but you forwent a glorious death to be a deserter. You brought back Feng Yan due to Phoenix’s entreaty, watching your dao partner self-detonate to buy you time. I know that things must be difficult for you right now!”
The black tiger was moved, but didn’t say a word. The Dragon master understands me!
“Therefore, I want your grief, despair, fury, and crazed conviction! You must take revenge for the rest of our kind who have died in battle!
“You must avenge your dao partner and use this emotion to break through to eighth rank! You will be the second eighth rank of our race!”
The black tiger stood up in human form. He wore a black robe and an ominous presence hung over his head. He bowed with utmost solemnity. “Black Tiger will not disappoint the Dragon master! I will certainly enter eighth rank this time and claim Li Hao’s head! I will sacrifice it to our fallen heroes!”
“Very good!” nodded the Dragon master. This was a very, very good response! The black tiger was sure to find success with this level of conviction!
“Everyone has had a rough time.” He looked at the other six world masters. “But I have a matter to request from everyone!”
The group regarded him gravely; the Qingqiu fox set aside her coquettish charms.
“Please give us your instructions, our liege!” she said solemnly.
The dragon master was silent for a while before saying, “I want everyone to relinquish your seventh rank worlds. Choose the most exemplary peak sixth ranks of our kind to devour the six worlds. They will attempt to verify their daos as seventh rank!
“All of you can enter my world. Can you forgo your own faction’s strength, dao universe, and world?” He looked sternly at them all.
The Red Moon master jerked with astonishment at these words! Hot damn! How dare you say something like that?
A world and dao universe were eternal sources of energy for seventh ranks. It made them self-sufficient and not having to rely on another’s largesse. They would have no fear of not being able to nurture more powerhouses as subordinates...
It represented a faction leader!
No matter how strong one was without the dao universe and world, one was only a wandering cultivator.
But contrary to the expected backlash, the six seventh ranks shouted, “We hear and obey!”
Hot damn... again! The Dragon master is terrifying! Orchid Forest resisted my recruitment efforts when I tried to reach out to the peak sixth rank...
Comparison is seriously the thief of joy!
If this works, they’ll gain another six seventh ranks. It’ll be seven if Feng Yan makes the ascension. That will pretty much shore up their losses.
If Black Tiger reaches eighth rank and with my defection... then...
Although they’d lost eleven seventh ranks earlier, the Dragon master’s machinations would ensure that the recent battles were no loss at all!
This guy is truly frightful. His subjects give up a seventh rank universe just because he wants them to!
No one anticipated this, did they?
The Dragon master smiled, then narrowed his eyes. “Whether it is New Martial or Silver Moon, both are thorny opponents. But Ironeater and the other monster spirit worlds dared rebel as well!
“I considered monster spirits to be half our race and permitted them to survive. It looks like they didn’t appreciate the largesse!
“They seem to think that I can’t kill them after many years of showing them mercy!” The Dragon master looked into the distance, at where five worlds circled each other and didn’t dare leave. There they stayed, hoping to be a third faction that would not be annihilated by the Dragon master.
There were eight seventh ranks with them! And five dao universes.
That was quite a decent number.
“There’s no rush. Red Moon, seek to recover your full strength as soon as possible. Black Tiger, the five monster spirit worlds will be toppled when you set foot into eighth rank!”
“I will do so as quickly as possible!” promised the reverential black tiger.
Vengeance!
He needed to enter eighth rank and exterminate all of the monster spirits, then obliterate the Silver Moon king!
“Red Moon, I’m afraid you’ll have to put in more effort and try to convince the humans of the other worlds...” chuckled the Dragon master. “New Martial has slaughtered endless exalted emperors of my kind today, as has Silver Moon. They are both the same.
“Dozens of seventh ranks have died in the four regions altogether, and not by my hand. I only killed three guys from the outer regions and Skycloud...
“Am I more dangerous, or is New Martial and Silver Moon more dangerous? The others can be the judge of that! Even if they do not help me, they should not be swayed to New Martial and Silver Moon’s side!”
There were roughly thirty undecided human major worlds—and that was of the known variety. There might be more. Even if they did not join his banner, they could not be recruited by Fang Ping and Li Hao.
The Dragon master wasn’t at liberty to advocate his own case in person, but Red Moon could do so.
That guy was a veteran eighth rank and one of the last two tyrants of the three regions.
Red Moon likewise did not wish to remain where he was. The pressure was too great. “I will be sure to carry out your instructions...”
Having signed the dao treaty and a ninth rank tribulation hovering as the penalty, he didn’t dare run off.
“I will leave everything in the hands of Brother Red Moon then!” the Dragon master laughed loudly.
“You are much too polite...”
The two shared a few rounds of pleasantries before Red Moon set off. The Dragon master silently watched him go, then snorted. This guy wavers too much. If It wasn’t for needing him at the moment, I would’ve already killed him!
He looked at Thunder Region in the distance. The power of time is interesting, but how much control do you have over it?
......
Three days later, Thunder Region.
Thunder and lightning danced madly as the Thunder master endured the tribulations. They weren’t his.
All the same, he’d been transforming over the past couple of days and moving toward eighth rank. He cultivated the dao of thunder to begin with, so this had been a perfect recharge of his energy. He also finally had enough dao strength to neutralize the destructive force for once.
The thunder tribulations gradually drifted away, leaving the man with a shifting presence. Finally, he gave a long exhale and expelled some power of destruction from his body.
“Congratulations to the Thunder master!”
The man lifted his head and smiled at the group in front of him. “This is thanks to the Silver Moon king’s aid and generosity of two seventh rank worlds. I never imagined there would be such a day for me!”
You scratch my back, so I scratch yours.
He naturally needed to be more polite given how courteous the Silver Moon contingent was being.
“Thunder Region lives up to its name.” Li Hao lifted his head to look up at the sky. “Most worlds would’ve long been destroyed after a few days in here. Only this world can survive. No wonder the four regions don’t have much to do with the other regions.”
There’d even been an eighth rank tribulation that flared once. Thankfully, the Thunder master was able to block it since he himself was an eighth rank and sat in residence at Thunder World.
There truly weren’t many who would dare enter this region with their world.
“And this is a lull state,” nodded the man. “The thunder tribulations that took place before extracted a lot of energy from the region. Otherwise, the tribulations would be even stronger. Even ninth ranks might have trouble during their peak season.
“There are many tribulation pillars nearby, they’re the key to the region. They’re stronger and a large sum of destructive force can be found within. The structure of the entire region is based off the pillars.”
“Tribulation pillars?”
“Yes!”
Li Hao was slightly surprised. He was unaware of these constructs.
