Star Gate-Chapter 1552: What a Coincidence (I)

Chapter 1552: What a Coincidence (I)
The newcomer’s presence was not weak—a peak low rank. Hence, the Dragon Observatory exalted emperor was quite polite
“The fellow daoist has come to the right place. There are many dao foundations sites in Dragon Observatory territory, all of which are cultivation sites of high rank exalted emperors. We have the notable Coiled Dragon Well, the volcano of fire, Demon Summit... and others that once belonged to premier Skyward heavyweights.
“Apart from Demon Summit, the fellow daoist can enjoy free entry to any of the other dao foundation sites as well. You can study the dao remnants there at will...” The exalted emperor gave a brief introduction. “The Observatory leader is out on business lately, there is only the Exalted Void Emperor in residence. He holds down the fort with the strength of a fifth rank! The Exalted Void Emperor is of few words and rarely shows himself, so he is not at liberty to greet the fellow daoist.”
A third rank enjoyed decent status throughout the chaos. Under normal conditions, exalted emperors from unknown worlds should be extended friendly overtures. It was common to see a fourth rank welcome a third rank.
However, there was only one mid rank in Dragon Observatory at present, and he was someone who liked to wash his hands of any responsibility.
The Dragon Observatory exalted emperor had heard that a friend of the Observatory leader would come by in a few days and temporarily oversee the faction. However, that person wasn’t here yet.
“It’s fine!” Li Hao laughed. “My arrival is a surprise. I had planned on entering Drift Light to search for opportunities and am traveling with a few fellow daoists, but there aren’t any dao foundation sites that suit me over there. This is why I’m being so bold as to visit Dragon Observatory. It’s said that this is the strongest region out of the four on Skyward...”
A few fellow daoists?
The Dragon Observatory exalted emperor raised an internal eyebrow. This visitor had just grown in importance then. There was a difference between one exalted emperor and several exalted emperors.
“Are the fellow daoist’s companions... still in Drift Light Region?”
“Yes,” Li Hao nodded. “There are two more apart from me. They’re both second rank....”
Now this was a force to contend with! One third rank and two second ranks!
“If the fellow daoist doesn’t mind, a mid rank will be returning to the Dragon Observatory in a few days. Fellow daoist can visit the Observatory then to discuss dao...”
A mid rank returning?
Li Hao registered the new information. He nodded with a smile. “If I am available and would not be imposing, I will naturally call upon Dragon Observatory! Listening to a senior’s dao is a fortuitous opportunity in itself! In addition, I have another request to make that I wonder if the fellow daoist can help me with?”
“Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist White Light!”
“I am new in town and unfamiliar with Dragon Observatory Region. Could you arrange a guide for me...”
“That’s easy!” the first rank quickly answered. “If the fellow daoist doesn’t mind, I can be your guide!”
Li Hao shook his head. “The fellow daoist is an exalted emperor and must attend to many things in Dragon Observatory. With the leader’s absence, there is sure to be a great deal to take care of. Every single fellow daoist is tasked with important missions, how can I disturb them? You can assign any random Fused Dao cultivator to me...”
“Fused Dao?” blinked the first rank.
“This is the name that Vast Frost has assigned to that cultivation level,” Li Hao explained. “It’s confusing the fellow daoist. It is simply the level beneath exalted emperor. I don’t know what name it goes by on Skyward...”
Fused Dao was a Silver Moon exclusive term. Since no one else from Silver Moon was active in the chaos universe, Li Hao wasn’t worried that someone would be tipped off by his terminology. There were too many worlds out there and such a wide variety of cultivation realm names. Who would pay attention to what the levels below exalted emperor were called?
“That’s easy!”
“And I have another small favor that I have to ask the fellow daoist...” Li Hao said upon further thought. “My friends may join me in a few days and one of them isn’t human. It’s a chaos beast, so it’s probably better if you can arrange a monster spirit guide for me.”
The other nodded. That was easy as well; Dragon Observatory had characters like these aplenty. It didn’t lack monster spirits like these either.
Third rank was a strong exalted emperor. There would be people fighting over the opportunity to be the visitor’s guide.
“My friend is a dog monster spirit and doesn’t like the competition between land monster spirits. It would be more appropriate if I was assigned an air or water monster spirit! In addition, it’s best if they’re... good at defense.”
The first rank blinked. What did that mean?
“Don’t mind me, fellow daoist,” Li Hao said softly with embarrassment. “My chaos beast friend has a bit of a temper and likes to... to... spar sometimes. So the guide assigned to me... might not live until the end of their assignment.
“Of course, I’ll compensate Dragon Observatory for the loss. If the guide dies, I will compensate their family with one hundred dao crystals...”
One hundred dao crystals!
That wasn’t a lot, but neither was it very little. It was passable for someone below the exalted emperor level. At the same time, the first rank understood what their visitor was saying.
His friend, the chaos beast exalted emperor, might like to eat those it set its sights on. It didn’t like to go for friendly sparring! Such was the nature of chaos beasts. There would be no return for whoever was assigned to their visitor!
Under normal circumstances, Dragon Observatory did not like to agree to requests like these. However, this wasn’t a big issue either. Trading a few cultivators below exalted emperor for bonafide exalted emperors was a worthwhile transaction.
Those below the exalted emperor level did not have rights. If they died, so they died!
But in this case, the guide needed to be carefully picked. Some people had exalted emperors as their patrons.
It had to be a monster spirit, and one of the flight or water races... Could this exalted emperor be considered a picky eater?
It had to be a monster spirit that wasn’t important, decent enough at defense, tasted good, and was strong enough...
A figure appeared in the first rank’s mind after several rounds of selection.
Big Claw!
Other ones of the Empyrean King level could not be randomly deployed. This one, however, had served the Exalted Hao Moon Emperor before. Strictly speaking, Big Claw should not be touched after the exalted emperor left. Yet with the death of Ming Hao’s group, some suspected that Hao Moon was the Silver Moon king.
That in turn impacted Big Claw. Even the Observatory leader had once summoned him, but was unable to glean any new information. The leader didn’t execute Big Claw either. Void was still within Dragon Observatory, after all. Although he might not care about a monster spirit, Void was good friends with Hao Moon.
But if other exalted emperors accidentally killed Big Claw... that would be taking care of a troublesome figure for the faction leader.
As a Dragon Observatory cultivator, receiving exalted emperors was part of Big Claw’s duties. He couldn’t shirk his responsibilities now, could he?
Serving a third rank was to his great fortune. So long as the first rank didn’t say that his assignment might eat Big Claw, there was nothing that Void could say either.
Dead would be dead. After all of these thoughts ran through the first rank’s mind, he felt that there was no better choice. Big Claw wasn’t assigned to any duties right now, so the monster spirit was perfect!
“This is a minor matter!” laughed the exalted emperor. “Fellow Daoist White Light is too polite. Please wait for a moment, I’ll have that monster spirit come over straight away. You don’t need to worry about compensation either! Dragon Observatory has always befriended everyone in the chaos. This is nothing to be concerned about!”
Befriending multiple exalted emperors as a first rank... Although this exalted emperor was a member of Dragon Observatory, developing his own network was something that all of them focused on.
What did it matter if someone below the exalted emperor level died? Trading a cultivator that Dragon Observatory didn’t want for the goodwill of several exalted emperors... That was a fantastic deal!
“Then, my thanks to the fellow daoist. If I may be so bold, what is the fellow daoist called?”
“I am Yu Chen of the Dragon Observatory!”
“My thanks to Fellow Daoist Yu Chen!” Li Hao smiled radiantly. As for whether or not it was Big Claw assigned to him—it most likely was.
It was too hard to conceal that he’d killed Ming Hao, so it was normal that a minor character like Big Claw would be pushed forward as cannon fodder at this time.
It was also hard for Dragon Observatory to kill Big Claw themselves. That would cause some discomfort in the ranks. But if an outsider killed the monster spirit... That was that. People died in Skyward every day. The death of someone below exalted emperor wouldn’t raise any fuss.
......
Dragon Observatory.
Big Claw’s life had been good at first after Li Hao left. The young man was Void’s good friend, after all. Having served Li Hao, Big Claw counted as part of Li Hao’s camp and tangentially related to a fifth rank.
But soon enough, his days soured.
Big Claw was unaware of Li Hao’s real identity, but knew that it couldn’t be simple. The monster spirit had guessed at some of the details since Li Hao didn’t hide anything from Big Claw when conversing with Void.
What Void knew, Big Claw could deduce. It was just... the monster spirit hadn’t anticipated that the Silver Moon king really would kill all of those exalted emperors. That was terrifying!
Li Hao killing the Exalted Skyriver Emperor had been stunning enough. But this time, he’d elicited the attention of the Red Moon master himself! That was so stunning that it couldn’t be described!
Because of this, misfortune befell Big Claw.
The Observatory leader summoned him for some questioning. Big Claw recounted some simple things, but couldn’t go any deeper since he didn’t know anything. But one thing he was certain of, and that was Void had learned of Li Hao’s identity early on through their conversations.
The monster spirit didn’t dare mention this detail.
And so, the faction leader didn’t learn anything. Although he didn’t interrogate the monster spirit in detail, he was highly dissatisfied. If it wasn’t out of consideration that Dragon Observatory was a faction that needed to recruit people, the leader would’ve gone to more extreme methods.
He also didn’t want to go to the point of open hostilities with Void yet, even if the latter might not think much about Big Claw.
This was the start of a difficult life for Big Claw!