At the same time, the possibility was there for Chaos Sky to mobilize more eighth ranks. But he wouldn’t send out all of his eighth ranks for the sake of the eastern region. Not for just a seventh rank Li Hao.

“Fellow Daoist Reincarnation... There might be hope for the master to send another eighth rank...” said Peng Cheng. In other words, there was no hope of being sent any more than that. “Reincarnation has stood in the eastern region for many years, is the fellow daoist unable to summon any friends to the cause?”

C’mon, you were the strongest here for so long!

The Reincarnation master was completely unruffled by the question. “I’ve already passed on word to all sides and gotten in touch with them. Multiple seventh ranks have answered the call. Some eighth rank masters are willing to help as well... but they are only willing to march against New Martial!

“When it comes to Silver Moon, they have three eighth ranks. We should send out at least six eighth ranks to be confident in our chances...”

“Li Hao is just a seventh rank!”

“A seventh rank who cultivates time!”

“......” Peng Cheng didn’t know what to say. Just how scared of the kid are you? Is there a need for this?

The Human King is obviously much more difficult to handle than Li Hao. So many of us worked together against him last time, but still couldn’t take him down. The Human King is once more the key to the upcoming engagement. What is Li Hao worth?

The kid only helped the other eighth ranks last time. He’s not even at two thousand daos! That kind of being will have issues with even the weakest eight ranks! What is there to be concerned about??

The Reincarnation master remained calm and even grew more solemn. “I will not underestimate the seventh rank Li Hao. We wouldn’t have lost four eighth ranks last time if not for him, and let the Human King get away to boot!”

Li Hao did not have a famous reputation, but he was not someone to overlook.

“I even wish for the Exalted Chaos Sky Emperor to be involved this time!” said Reincarnation. “Of course, I know the difficult straits he’s in, so I’d like Chaos Sky major world to send another three eighth ranks. They should come publicly and participate in battle!”

Another three!

With the four already present on the scene, that would be a total of seven. And if one each came from the north and south, that would be nine!

Nine eighth ranks. Of them, Reincarnation neared sixth thousand dao rules. This level of strength was sufficient to destroy any powerhouse.

Peng Cheng frowned. That was never happening.

“No matter what, I’d like the fellow daoist to convey my sentiments to Chaos Sky,” said Reincarnation. “I hope the Exalted Chaos Sky Emperor can place sufficient importance on the eastern region!

“The east has always produced powerhouses. There was Skyward back in the day, and even rumors that the master of Thunder Region comes from the east! Long Zhan is also in the east. It’s clear to see from this that this is a place where sovereigns rise...”

Peng Cheng’s frown deepened.

“Long Zhan has led the chaos beasts to their current heights. Has the fellow daoist not sensed any of it?”

“I know of Long Zhan. The dragon is very strong.” Peng Cheng nodded with sudden solemnity. “I had the opportunity of meeting him once. To be honest...” The chaos beast paused. “He is very charismatic!”

And that was the truth.

If it wasn’t for Chaos Sky setting foot into ninth rank, the chaos beast would want to travel to the four regions to join Long Zhan. Now there was a true heavyweight!

The dragon had paid an exceedingly high price to lift up the chaos beasts. Peng Cheng quite admired him. However, the four regions were too small and now there was a ninth rank in the outer regions. It would be courting death to join Long Zhan’s banner now.

The dragon’s ambitions were too great!

“That’s right, so we need to consider him in our plans as well,” Reincarnation continued gravely. “I suspect that he’s prepared to do something too. He won’t want to help any side, but weaken us all!”

He’d seen through the dragon. Long Zhan wasn’t on anyone’s side, he just wanted to weaken any faction that was not his. He would help whoever was weaker. He didn’t care about Li Hao or their blood feud, he just cared who was on the losing side at the moment. That side would receive his help to whittle down the strong!

That was Long Zhan! He was an overlord in his own right!

This was the most ambitious sovereign for the chaos beasts to produce in all this time. What grudge was worth the rise of his race?

Reincarnation was extremely concerned about the dragon. Long Zhan needed to be factored into their plans, no matter what.

Peng Cheng frowned at the declaration. He really wasn’t concerned about Li Hao, but that was not the case for Long Zhan. “It’ll be hard for all three to come!” he said after some hesitation. “I can find a way to contact my master and ask for another eighth rank...”

One more?

A disapproving look entered Reincarnation’s eyes. That was too few. And were there really only four eighth ranks under the Chaos Sky banner?

The man didn’t believe that.

There must be more in the shadows or scattered elsewhere. There had to be more. It wasn’t possible for Chaos Sky major world to possess only four eighth ranks!

One had to know that even Five Elements major world had five. Spring Autumn was also an eighth rank and had three more under his command. There might be more in the shadows. Meanwhile, Chaos Sky was a ninth rank. No matter how true that cultivation level was, it placed him above the others.

Would he really only have four eighth ranks under his command?

Was that even possible?

“At least two more need to come!”

“I will fully convey the fellow daoist’s thoughts,” Peng Cheng said after a moment. “But the final decision is up to the master. I cannot make any promises!”

“That’s fine!” Reincarnation nodded. He looked to the east with a deep look in his eyes. Those from the four regions were much more frightening than anticipated.

I need to be fully prepared!

I’m also the vanguard for the other three overlords. None of them, including Chaos Sky, sees me as one of them. Their thoughts are simple—internal conflict in the east!

They want me to fight New Martial, Silver Moon, and Long Zhan. Therefore, they’ll send help, but not much.

Repeated clashes had put Reincarnation on high alert. Those people could not be estimated in terms of their current strength. If he did that, he would lose another four eighth ranks in the blink of an eye, like he had last time!

That loss had been ruinous. He wouldn’t be acting this way if it wasn’t for that. Having four more eighth ranks on his side would make everything much more comfortable.

Various thoughts rushed through his mind. Li Hao, Fang Ping, Long Zhan...

None of them are easy to deal with!

Even if Chaos Sky really sends me two eighth ranks, will that be enough?

Who knows.

I need to stop them from conquering the eastern region, no matter what. Li Hao cannot be permitted to build his Allheaven Hall. Otherwise... with our shared enmity, none of those guys will let me off the hook. And that’s prior to considering my own vengeance, too.

......

The four regions, Skyward.

Long Zhan had been prepared to wait until Skyward revitalized, but now stared quietly at the world. His eighth ranks stood around him.

Red Moon had become more relaxed ever since that conversation with Long Zhan.

“There’s word from the outer regions,” he murmured. “Li Hao is building Allheaven Hall to complete his dao! Meanwhile, Fang Ping is conquering the east. If they succeed, then the four regions will be a serious threat to them!”

He looked at the dragon with trepidation. Should they make a move? Do they stop the young man? Or do they permit Li Hao to do as he would?

Long Zhan was formidable and a powerhouse that the eastern region could not afford to overlook. Whoever did so did to their detriment. Backlash was inevitable.

The dragon didn’t kick up a fuss, but quietly, steadily grew stronger. He had multiple eighth ranks answering his call now and even more seventh ranks. Eighth eighth ranks had lost dearly when they attacked. It was easy to imagine from that how overwhelming the dragon was.

“Li Hao must die!” Black Tiger ground his teeth. He burned with hatred! It was what’d propelled him into eighth rank!

“I... want to kill him too!” whispered Feng Yan, also an eighth rank now. Li Hao was his mother’s murderer. Although she didn’t speak of it normally, she, too, was nearly crazed with hatred.

Off to the side, the Qingqiu fox’s presence shifted unsteadily between seventh and eighth rank. She coughed and said gently, “Whether it is the Human King or Li Hao, they are all plagues! The Dragon master may wish to use their hand to weaken the outer regions, but it might be nurturing a tiger in our very home...”

Black Tiger snorted! Some human sayings grated on the ear. Nurturing a tiger in their home? What was so wrong about that? What was wrong with tigers?!

The Qingqiu fox fell silent with resignation. It’s just a saying that I got used to. Don’t take it so seriously.

Long Zhan was the key to the final decision. He remained staring at Skyward and suddenly said, “If large numbers of exalted emperors die in the outer regions, then that will also help Skyward revitalize!”

The group listened quietly.

“Whether it is Li Hao, Fang Ping, or Chaos Sky, they are all our enemies!” declared the dragon. “They are humans and powerhouses, which makes them dangerous! It does not matter who we help or not. All of you need to remember that the only stance for chaos beasts is one opposing humans!”

There was no personal grudge involved in that. It would be pointless to make this personal. The most important stance was the one of race!

“I will head out now, as will the rest of you!” Long Zhan said softly. “What you need to do is to wait! Help whoever is weaker and eliminate the strong!

“The humans have too many eighth ranks. How many do we have?” He looked around sternly. “How many do the chaos beasts of the outer regions have? And the humans? We need to level the playing field! Do not consider personal feuds. They do not take priority over our race’s considerations at the moment!

“The four regions are our greatest asset since we can easily advance and retreat from here!

“To be frank, I quite admire Li Hao building Allheaven Hall. That’s right up my alley. But... we can’t allow him to succeed. In the same vein, I don’t want him to die in this venture either!”

Balance was needed. As for when to make a move, how to make it, who to make it against, and how to avoid retribution after... that was what he needed to consider.

“Therefore, we will participate in Li Hao’s meeting of the worlds,” Long Zhan said. “But it’s not clear yet who we’ll act against!”

“I think Li Hao’s side is certain to be weaker, so that means...” Feng Yan couldn’t help herself. It felt horrible that they would be helping Li Hao! It didn’t sit right with her.

Neither did it sit right with Long Zhan, but that wasn’t necessarily going to be the final outcome now, was it?

“Everything is possible!” the dragon countered. “Even if we help Li Hao, we can kill Fog Mountain, the dao chess, and the Thunder Emperor! I do not mean that we need to save them all, understood?”

That put Feng Yan at ease, but she was still angry. “Dragon master... is Li Hao irreplaceable? What if we kill him and spare the others?”

Those were eighth ranks, Li Hao was only seventh rank! Now that she was also an eighth rank and stronger than the young man, she wanted revenge!