Star Gate

The third day.

Li Hao had spent the last couple of days in silence. On this day, he suddenly closed the book he was reading and looked around with confusion.

"Zheng Yu, are you willing to discuss the great dao with me?" he asked slowly.

"What?" Zheng Yu thought of himself as someone with a great breadth of mind and extreme potential. But at this moment, he was well and truly stumped.

Li Hao didn't mind the lack of agreement and continued, "Is Ying Hongyue still around? You can join us if you are. While the three of us share a blood feud, there is no enmity between great daos. We can explore our respective knowledge of it. Whether it is the new dao or old dao, the dao of cultivation ultimately leads to the same end!

"I know a great deal of the new dao, but almost nothing about core origin dao. I haven't had much of a chance to understand the dao of Initial Martial either. Being a half step emperor, Zheng Yu, you must be deeply familiar with the wonders of the great dao. Are you interested?"

Discuss dao?

Everyone's jaws dropped! Who dared believe Li Hao?

Ying Hongyue had always been a coolly composed sort, genteel and urbane as the most perfect gentleman. He, too, scratched his head today, at a loss and not understanding Li Hao's intentions.

Was the great dao this heartless? Or did the young man care so much that he'd chosen to forget the source of his emotions? Did Li Hao lack emotions since the death of his master and carry only the dao in his heart?

Li Hao wanted to trade his knowledge of the new dao for theirs of the old dao!

Zheng Yu raised a brow at the young man's stance of keeping only the bigger picture in mind. His shadowy form emerged after a while and struck a lofty posture in the air. "You wish to discuss dao?"

"Yes."

"We can, but what do you have to speak of? What will you speak of?"

"I will speak all that I have, there is nothing that I cannot speak of!"

Zheng Yu's brow raised higher; Ying Hongyue also appeared in a dashing flourish.

"Li Hao, are you truly willing to speak of everything?" he smiled peacefully.

"Of course."

"What are you scheming after?"

"That is not a question related to dao."

Ying Hongyue had nothing to say in response to that.

"None of us trust each other, so a general discussion is too difficult," Li Hao stated. "If we each speak of our understanding of dao, there will be places in which we feel that we've gained, and places in which we feel that we've lost.

"How about we ask each other questions? The three of us can go in rounds. If someone is unable to answer three times in a row, then they can withdraw. Dao can only be discussed with those who are knowledgeable enough!"

This piqued the duo's interest.

Within the ruins, the queen started to grow frantic as it appeared that those outside of the trio's proximity wouldn't be able to hear anything. "I..." she called out.

"You won't do!" Li Hao declined with finality. "What do you know? You don't know anything! Divine spirits are born of dao, but do not comprehend it. They do not cultivate great dao and simply rely on their innate talents. You are not qualified to sit at the table."

The queen flew into a towering rage! This was an extreme insult and humiliation!

Li Hao ignored her and sent dao power into the four corners. There suddenly seemed to be only the three of them in the world.

"You guys can go first." Li Hao looked at the other two.

Ying Hongyue and Zheng Yu looked at each other, finding their circumstances to be unbelievable. Their priority kill target was sitting down to chat with them!

He was also the most knowledgeable new dao cultivator that explored this new path the most. He might even be hailed as the forefather of the new dao. This person... was willing to share the new dao with them?

"Can New Martial cultivators also train the new dao?" Zheng Yu asked with a probing attitude.

"They can!" Li Hao answered softly. "Your question is too simple, but I won't take advantage of you. Broadly speaking, New Martial can indeed cultivate the new dao. New Martial can be divided into Initial Martial and core origin. There was no dao in Initial Martial, so simply modifying the body and forging dao meridians will permit one to practice the new dao!

"Meanwhile, core origin cultivators walk the path of core origin dao. There are also two available scenarios for them. One—they can start from the beginning, from scratch by reforging their bodies and dao meridians. Two—they can transplant their core origin dao and send it through the Hao Cosmos, creating a personal dao star. That will put them on a very high initial footing, but the difficulty level involved is much greater!"

A light danced in Zheng Yu's eyes, he didn't press for details.

Ying Hongyue was moved by the honest exchange and asked, "The dao stars of the new dao are located within the dao universe. How does one identify them?"

"There are countless stars in the new dao and they're very difficult to determine. A cultivator can freely identify their own when they enter the dao universe. If you wish to identify the stars of others, you'd have to do so through the strength, activity, and attributes of the star." Li Hao frowned at this point in the conversation. "Neither of your questions count as discussing dao!"

He ignored that and continued, "Both of you owe me a question!" He looked at Zheng Yu. "Legend has it that exalted emperors can meld their great dao together so that they can retain their strength even in the absence of core origin. That makes it so that they don't require additional fortification from core origin dao..."

Zheng Yu was just about to nod when Li Hao asked, "How do you meld the great dao?"

"......"The fuck??Zheng Yu cursed to himself.I thought you wanted to ask if that legend was true or not, but you ask me how?

The man frowned, suddenly finding his question to be a wasted opportunity. He would've asked something else had he known what level this playing field was.

"The core origin universe is likewise strewn with stars," he said after taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "The human race of New Martial possesses doors of the three cavities and the heavenly bridge. We start at ninth rank, break the doors of the three cavities, master the stars, and guide the stars into ourselves to become exalted emperors! The act of the star entering the body is to meld the dao. Before doing that, we must break the three doors and see the stars first!"

Breaking the three doors to see the stars and guiding the star into their bodies? So the stars... were the materialization of great dao. The same went for the new dao.

There were some key differences between core origin dao and the Hao Cosmos dao, the biggest of which cultivators only had one dao star in the core origin universe. One needed to consistently enlarge and swallow it to become an exalted emperor.

On the other hand, there were countless stars in the new dao. One could have more than one personal dao star. The limit was endless.

Can I swallow the stars in the Hao Cosmos? But the stars... correspond to dao meridians within my body, so they're part of my body to begin with. Is this a return to the original simplicity?

Li Hao contemplated for a bit before looking at Ying Hongyue. "Silver Moon martial masters treasure the aura! Some say that it is our connection to great dao. What are your thoughts on that?"

Ying Hongyue raised an eyebrow. The aura? He was a Silver Moon martial master as well, and one of the Thirty-Six. He'd been ranked toward the top back in the day. Li Hao hadn't asked him about anything else, but the aura.

"In my eyes... the aura... is a manifestation of the will!" Ying Hongyue said slowly after some consideration. "The great dao is ephemeral and untraceable, as is aura. To me, aura and great dao are one whole! Whether it is core origin dao or the new dao, dao exists if the aura exists! Even if the new dao vanishes and another takes its place, the aura will still be able to be incorporated into the great dao!

"It might even be able to connect to the Red Moon dao!" The man looked Li Hao in the eyes. "The aura is a peculiar product of the disappearance of great dao. Perhaps only Silver Moon humans can cultivate it. Or perhaps only humans of this age can cultivate it. It is able to connect to the new dao in any universe or world—it is the universal intermediary!"

Li Hao's eyes widened—connect to any dao?

He wanted to ask further, but decided to rein himself in. "Your turn." He looked at Ying Hongyue.

"Is there anyone else apart from you who can enter the dao universe?" The man took full advantage of this opportunity.

"You ask a bunch of questions... that are unrelated to dao!" Li Hao frowned at him. "Whatever, do as you wish. Your mindset is too utilitarian..."

Ying Hongyue was speechless. He'd just been lectured by the brat! Li Hao found him too focused on what benefited him than the marvels of great dao!What... the... fucking...

"Yes, there are!" Li Hao nodded. "It's not hard for me to enter the Hao Cosmos, but it will be very difficult for outsiders to enter it. This is because I was the first to enter it, or rather, the first cultivator to consolidate the new dao system. The world granted me a supernatural character that is the key to me entering the dao universe..."

He displayed the 'dao' character; the men's presences fluctuated when they saw it. It vanished in the next instant.

"Don't think of taking it from me," Li Hao said slowly. "It's a key in my hands and trash in yours."

He ceased speaking on the matter. An irritated Ying Hongyue looked sharply at Zheng Yu.

"How do outsiders enter the dao universe?" the latter promptly asked.

"So you want to kill me in there? Are you in that much of a rush?" Li Hao laughed.

The two didn't respond and continued looking at the young man.You know that's the truth. Do you dare answer the question?

"First, you can use incredible strength to rip through the dao universe," Li Hao began after some thought. "Exalted emperors might stand a chance of doing so. You two... can dream on!

"Second, locate your personal dao star. Those with sufficient cultivation roots will be able to do so. All you need to do then is to travel through the universe to enter the Hao Cosmos. However, you'll easily get lost, so you'll need a weapon connected to your life as an anchor to the outside world. Otherwise, you won't be coming back after you head inside.

"Third, receive sufficient favor from the heavenly will!"

The two's expressions froze briefly.

"Or divine spirit favor, if not the heavenly will."

"What?"

"That's another question in itself!" Li Hao smiled. "Divine spirits were born and nurtured by the world. They are a literal manifestation of a connection to the great dao. They can even be considered the children of dao. If divine spirits have a deep enough understanding of the great dao, they can even lead some people into the dao universe!

"However, almost all of the divine spirits are dead and the queen... is only the second generation Moon God. Her comprehension of the great dao does not run deep and she is a cultivation idiot. She only knows to draw from the largess of her predecessor and doesn't possess any knowledge of the great dao. That's probably a dead end for you guys as well."

The two pondered Li Hao's words, trying to determine if they were true or false. Was any of this real? Was it feasible? Who knew?

Li Hao might not be speaking the truth, but it wouldn't all be false.

"Is there a shortcut to understanding core origin dao after cultivators reach ninth rank?" It was the young man's turn for a question.

"......" Zheng Yu frowned. Did he want to cultivate the core origin dao or something? "Don't you know the answer to that after taking Battle Heaven?"

"It's not that I don't know, but that their methods are inapplicable in modern times!" Li Hao shook his head. "We are isolated from core origin, so I want to know if there are any shortcuts. Otherwise, it would just be cultivating the body, blood qi, and mental strength. It would not be training in core origin!

"To put it simply, are there any ways now for me to connect with the core origin of New Martial?"

Zheng Yu frowned and looked silently at the young man again.