Chapter 407: Mo River Upgrade

Wang Yongzhi almost gasped the name out loud; the echo reverberated within the quiet mountain interior.

The many Wang clan dignitaries who had followed them in were all stunned, and then they felt as if a string in their hearts had been plucked, their heartbeats suddenly accelerating.

Brother Chong Er?

To their Wang clan, this name was even more resounding than the prestige of General Haotian!

Everyone looked at Li Hao in astonishment, their gazes instantly converging on that piece of gold paper.

Although the gold paper was only the size of a palm, given the cultivation levels of everyone present, they could count the legs of a fly a thousand meters away, let alone a piece of gold paper right before their eyes.

Name: Brother Chong Er

Merit: 100,100...

Everyone's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets; it really was him!

Brother Chong Er, Li Hao was actually Brother Chong Er?!

Everyone's mouths hung slightly open as they stared at Li Hao in shock.

They never imagined that this incredibly mysterious Brother Chong Er, the guy who couldn't even be bothered to claim the title of Divine General bestowed by His Majesty, was actually Li Hao, who had stirred up so many waves!

But soon, like a flash of inspiration piercing their minds, everyone felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.

Oh... so that was it, no wonder! When the Battle of Liangzhou broke out, Li Hao had single-handedly lured three Demon Kings and was forced into the Mo River outside the border.

That Mo River was also in the records of the Wang clan: Longcheng Mo River, Nether Capital grade, Difficulty: Top-tier.

Clearly, Li Hao being able to retreat unscathed wasn't because he was a member of the Li clan and protected by the obsession of that heroic soul, but because he had cleared the Mo River! The timeline matched up.

"It really is you..."

Wang Yongzhi came back to his senses and looked at Li Hao with a face full of wonder.

Earlier, when the Merit Treasury opened and the name 'Brother Chong Er' resounded throughout Emperor Da Yu, it wasn't that they hadn't suspected Li Hao, but Li Hao had been slow to appear, and the difficulty of the Longcheng Mo River was simply too high.

Ever since their Wang clan sacrificed many soldiers in the Longcheng Mo River and failed to conquer it, they had reported it to His Majesty. His Majesty had no choice but to abandon the territory where that Mo River extended, cutting it off from the border, and they had stopped paying attention to it.

But in the recorded files, that Mo River was among the top five in difficulty out of the dozens of Nether Capital-grade Mo Rivers their Wang clan had explored.

Being forced to cede territory showed just how unsolvable it was.

That Sword Saint Li Xiaoran had tried for years and failed to clear it. Although they had suspected Li Hao, they eventually dismissed the thought.

After all, at that time Li Hao was being hunted by the Master of the Grand Void Realm; if they all entered the Mo River, the difficulty would only escalate, making it even more impossible to clear.

Yet, this impossibility had now become possible.

And the ironclad proof was there; the information on the gold paper regarding the Mo River would not lie. Currently, they didn't know of any power that could influence the Mo River, unless it was a strange item brought out from the Mo River, like this Ksitigarbha Buddha, which could cause some influence.

"I knew it was him! When we were discussing it, I said it was him. Who denied me? Stand up!"

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted; it was a middle-aged man, his face full of excitement.

But the person next to him poked him with an elbow and gestured with his chin: "It was the Clan Head and Uncle Zhenfeng."

"..."

Two pairs of cold, sharp gazes swept over. The middle-aged man immediately went silent. In the scorching summer heat, he suddenly felt a chill, sweat breaking out on his back.

"Uh, there are a lot of people here, it's a bit crowded. I'll go outside to cool off."

The middle-aged man said sheepishly.

This statement was quite unconvincing in the empty mountain hall, but no one made a sound.

He bowed to Li Hao: "Congratulations, General Haotian—oh no, it should be Divine General Haotian. Congratulations, congratulations..."

As he spoke, he really walked outside to cool off.

Others who heard his words felt more than just shock; there was a hint of complexity.

That's right, Divine General... the youth before them was no longer just a simple general, but a Divine General comparable to the ancestors of their five Divine General Mansions!

With his own strength, he had opened the era of the Merit Treasury and turned the tide, saving three provinces!

Two world-shaking achievements gathered in one person; it was hard to imagine what kind of sensation would be caused in the outside world once Li Hao's identity as Brother Chong Er spread! In the crowd, Wang Zhenping's aged face also revealed a trace of astonishment.

He stared at the gold paper, his eyes narrowed, examining it over and over again to confirm he hadn't seen wrong.

Suddenly, he thought of what had been said in the main hall just moments ago, and his face immediately felt a burning, stinging sensation.

Experience and brains? The Wang clan's Mo River experience was certainly rich, with many secrets unknown to outsiders, such as this Ksitigarbha Buddha.

But while showing off these things in front of others might be fine, discussing them in front of the person currently ranked first on the Merit Board was a bit ridiculous and self-humiliating.

"Divine General?"

Li Hao was a bit puzzled when he heard the middle-aged man's words. The man was of the same generation as Wang Yongzhi and shouldn't be spouting nonsense.

"You don't know?"

Wang Yongzhi looked at Li Hao in surprise, then suddenly realized: "No wonder you didn't go to the imperial court to receive it. His Majesty said he would reward you with the prestige of a Divine General. The impact brought by the opening of the Merit Treasury is too profound; it is an extremely terrifying influence on the future of the entire Emperor Da Yu. It helps us solve the problem of clearing the Mo River and raises the limits of martial artists. It is simply benefiting all generations."

Li Hao blinked. Bestowing the title of Divine General on himself? There was such a good thing, why didn't he know? However, he had just returned, and this matter should be considered old news by now, not to mention that no one knew his identity.

"Besides Divine General, were there any other rewards?" Li Hao asked curiously.

Wang Yongzhi was stunned and said: "It seems there were... well, what exactly the rewards are, you might have to see His Majesty to know."

Alright then... Li Hao nodded, then looked at the illusory map floating above the head of the Ksitigarbha Buddha, which had golden light spots on it.

"So, which one should we choose?"

Wang Yongzhi also came back to his senses. Looking at the map, he suddenly thought of something and said with a chuckle: "I suddenly remembered, I happen to be free, I'll accompany you on a trip."

"Uh, Clan Head, I'm free too, I'll go help out."

"I miss Uncle Zhendong; I haven't seen him for a long time. I want to go see him."

The others also reacted quickly and spoke up one after another. Only two old men, Wang Zhenfeng and Wang Zhenping, did not speak.

But Wang Zhenfeng was all smiles, looking at these guys who were usually steady now acting like children, which was also a bit of fun.

Wang Zhenping, however, remained silent, appearing to have been hit quite hard.

"You guys..."

Wang Yongzhi glared at them, then looked at Li Hao: "Divine General Haotian, you don't mind, do you?"

"No." Li Hao shook his head slightly.

Wang Yongzhi breathed a sigh of relief, then a piece of gold paper appeared in his palm, recording dense information; it was his battle report record of entering and destroying various Mo Rivers.

Li Hao glanced at it. Although the merit count was only over five thousand, far less than his own, the number of events participated in was very high; this merit was accumulated bit by bit.

Others also took out their gold paper one after another. Wang Yongzhi pointed out the golden light on the map to Li Hao: "Here, just use your spiritual sense to perceive it."

Li Hao did as he was told, and soon, his consciousness seemed to be sucked into the golden light.

He subconsciously covered his body with his Dao Domain, and immediately felt his body floating up, following the golden light into another world.

The sense of swaying travel disappeared, and Li Hao saw clearly that he had appeared in a dilapidated small town.

The small town was silent, wine flags fluttered, but there were dilapidated buildings on both sides of the street.

There were charred corpses lying on the side of the road, motionless, with their backs to Li Hao. A sobbing cold wind blew, and the entire small town felt dead and eerie.

Not long after, golden light appeared one after another beside Li Hao, and Wang Yongzhi and the others entered the Mo River one after another.

"Is this the place?"

Li Hao asked.

Wang Yongzhi glanced around and nodded: "That's right, this is the Mo River. Let me see where Uncle Zhendong is."

As he spoke, his soul suddenly emerged from the soles of his feet and escaped into the ground, but soon, his soul rushed out of the ground again. His face was a bit surprised, and he said:

"What's going on? Why does it feel like the power of the rules in this Mo River has increased?"

In a Nether Realm-grade Mo River, there were already simple rules.

Before entering, Wang Yongzhi had already told Li Hao the information about this Mo River.

Rule: Hands and feet reversed.

Simply put, if you want to use your feet, you have to think about using your hands; you have to use your hands as feet and feet as hands to maintain normal walking.

But after all, it was only a Nether Realm-grade Mo River, and the binding force of the rule was not strong, limited only to the body. But now, Wang Yongzhi discovered that even his soul was affected.

He clearly wanted his soul to soar into the air, but he ended up tunneling into the ground.

"Hmm?"

Li Hao frowned slightly. Old Man Feng's remnant soul was here, and he didn't want any accidents to happen here.

"Everyone be careful, it seems like some kind of change has occurred here."

Wang Yongzhi's face was tense, his eyes extremely solemn. According to past experience, changes in the Mo River were usually not good things.

Soon, his soul soared into the air and found a figure on the edge of the small town, and immediately said: "I found Uncle Zhendong, follow me."

As he spoke, his body seemed to pause, then he took a step backward before reacting, and then slowly walked forward, but his limbs were a bit uncoordinated.

When the others heard his words, although they were prepared in their hearts, many of them still took a step back in unison at the beginning.

"It's not just the hand and foot rule reversal; it seems everything is reversed. If you want to move forward, you have to move backward!"

Wang Yongzhi reminded them immediately.

The others had already reacted, their faces becoming solemn. The Mo River rules had strengthened; this was highly likely to be a mutation—the Mo River was upgrading!

Could it be that this Nether Realm-grade Mo River was going to mutate into a Nether Capital-grade one? After a brief stiffness, everyone slowly adapted, but they could only barely walk. If they were in a fierce battle, they would soon be in a panic, interfered with by their original normal thinking.

Seeing that they were having trouble even walking, Li Hao directly expanded his Dao Domain, enveloping them within it.

Soon, everyone was constantly moving backward again, taking several steps before reacting.

"I'll take you over."

Li Hao said.

His expression was solemn, his spiritual sense had long covered the entire small town, and he had also seen the Wang Zhendong that Wang Yongzhi mentioned. But what concerned him more was that there was a pitch-black fault of darkness outside the small town, which was constantly and slowly advancing toward the small town.

His spiritual sense could not perceive the darkness, and when he approached it, he felt a bone-chilling cold, instinctively sensing danger.

"Dao Domain..."

Feeling the Dao Domain that Li Hao extended with a single thought, the Wang clan members felt a bit envious. This was the existence of the Great Peace Dao Realm, unreasonable.

Whatever the rules, they were all isolated.

Soon, Li Hao brought everyone to the edge of the small town.

There sat four figures: a sturdy-looking old man with a face like a knife and a resolute gaze, and sitting beside him were three people—a young man and a young woman, and a middle-aged man.

"Uncle Zhendong."

When Wang Yongzhi saw this old man, his attitude became very humble. This was the pillar of their Wang clan at present.

The old man's face, however, was as sharp as a knife, and he said: "Why are so many people here!"

"Uncle Zhendong, what is the situation here?"

Wang Yongzhi asked hurriedly, not daring to joke in the Mo River.

"This Mo River is about to be merged!"

The old man Wang Zhendong's face was gloomy, staring at them. He had noticed them when they first arrived at the small town, and at this moment, his voice revealed severity:

"Who let you all in? Don't you know the rules?"

Wang Yongzhi and the others' faces changed suddenly; it was rare to see Uncle Zhendong so solemn.

"Merged? Did it collide with a Nether Capital-grade Mo River?" Wang Yongzhi couldn't help but say: "But there are no other Mo Rivers next to this one?"

"It just extended over not long ago; it's not a Mo River that can be seen in the real world..."

Wang Zhendong's eyes slowly swept over them: "It's a Hell-grade Mo River!"

Hell-grade Mo River! As the five words were spoken, Wang Yongzhi and the others' hearts were severely shaken, and they were horrified.

Hell-grade Mo River? That was the most terrifying Mo River, where even the Great Peace Dao Realm was highly likely to fall and meet with disaster. It was listed as the highest level and was also a taboo.

This Nether Realm-grade Mo River had actually collided with a Hell-grade Mo River and was about to be merged. No wonder the rules here had been strengthened so much!

Wang Yongzhi felt all the hairs on his body stand up. Including him, the others who followed him in were also like this, trembling all over.

Being in the Wang clan, they knew too well how terrifying a Hell-grade Mo River was. It was crowned with this name because once touched, it was basically death without life, falling into hell forever! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 408 =====