Star Gate

Li Hao finally looked at the west; he could sense something new developing. Some of the divine spirits seemed to be reviving.

He grinned and flicked a glance at the river of stars in the dao universe. There was no movement or disturbance in it. None of the stars were sparkling at the moment. Based on the presences building in the west, the newly awakened divine spirits might recover to the Saint level.

The dao stars of Saints should be very piercing to the eye. However, there wasn't a single one to be seen in the vast river.

Li Hao further scanned the dao universe. Capsize Sea had said to locate the center of the universe and to place his most important dao star within it. Where was this center?

The immaterial dao universeshouldexist, right? It shouldn't be as strong as mine though, because those who cultivate the dao of mental strength are in the minority. But it'll still be a tough opponent even if it's not as strong as mine. Not being in the same place means it'll be hard to kill whoever's in it.

And at the same time, they can barge into the corporeal dao universe at any time.

I wonder which dao universe Gan Wuliang's personal dao star fall under? Corporeal or immaterial? Or... both?

Li Hao hadn't asked Gan Wuliang the details of his cultivation before. For one, the young man didn't like probing into someone's cultivation secrets. Gan Wuliang had announced some dao meridians that resulted in unique effects when cultivated. However, no one obtained the same effects as he did.

Was Gan Wuliang in the dark about the real state of affairs, or did he understand and didn't dare speak of it because he hadn't found his personal dao star yet?

If they were of the immaterial dao universe, then Gan Wuliang and Tyrant Blade might come under someone else's control. It would be a kind of control that happened without them being aware or even able to detect it. There was no Red Moon power in them, so they would be able to freely come and go from the dao universe.

Does this count as... planting a pawn by my side?

Li Hao suddenly swallowed a mammoth amount of core origin energy—it was supplied by Zheng Yu. He vanished on the spot. "I'm going to the four corners of the world to try and cultivate core origin dao! Zheng Yu, you stabilize the seal so that the Red Moon exalted emperor can't make it out!"

Zheng Yu frowned slightly. What a little bastard! They hadn't been able to do anything with Li Hao being here over the past couple of days. Now that he was gone, he wanted Zheng Yu to reinforce the seal for him! How... damned irritating!

Some of the divine spirits have awakened...

The Divine Nation queen no longer seemed willing to return from the west, probably because four major divine spirits were alive again. They had recovered Saint level strength, making for five Saints in residence at Divine Nation. Likely none of them wanted to return to the central plains.

Had Li Hao really run off to cultivate core origin dao? If that was the case, he was venturing into a cultivation deviation!

Zheng Yu returned to his palace without a word. Another Zheng Yu appeared within it—exactly the same, but with a much weaker presence. This feeble Zheng Yu was clearing acupoints and utilizing his mental strength.

The two looked at each other, deepening their connection. One cultivated core origin, the other cultivated the new dao.

"If the immaterial dao universe does exist..." the core origin Zheng Yu asked softly after a long moment. "Who do you think would be there?"

"Can it be someone from the Lis?" New Zheng Yu mulled over his answer.

"Li Daoheng?"

"Maybe, or maybe someone else? I can't think of anyone else other than someone from the Lis."

Core Zheng Yu nodded, a sharp look in his eyes. "Ying Hongyue isn't strong enough. We won't be able to seize anything at Tranquil Star with his strength alone. Father's strength as an Empyrean King wasn't enough—it'll take that level of strength for Ying Hongyue to combine his eight bloodlines. But if we help him ascend to Empyrean King, wouldn't we be raising a wolf and setting it at our throats?"

"You make the decision."

"I make the decision?" sighed Core Zheng Yu. "Aren't you me? New dao... core origin... I'm starting to get confused. Li Hao's also very interesting, he's given me a very different feeling on this visit to Silver City. He is only a Saint, but I feel certain pressure from him. Is it that hard to become an emperor?"

"Be more confident, perhaps someone's planned more than us! But we still have the advantage at the moment, so let's think of a way to enhance Ying Hongyue. As dangerous as someone may be, they won't be an exalted emperor. If we can't even handle a minor figure of the new age, then we really are trash! He can't be harder than an exalted emperor, at any rate!"

"That's right!" Core Zheng Yu nodded. "Ying Hongyue is probably thinking the same in not leaving yet. He wants me to help him grow stronger. He's another interesting one to be taking advantage of the times for his improvement.

"He's managed to keep up with the rest and everyone has to lend him a hand! Even Li Hao's failed to kill him a few times. It's only helped him become stronger instead. He might be our key asset against Li Hao."

New Zheng Yu fell silent and closed his eyes in cultivation. The gesture was echoed by Core Zheng Yu.

Li Daoheng, was it?

No matter who it was, they would know once they gave it a try.

Li Hao's cultivation of core origin may not go that smoothly. That was fine, everything was fine.

......

Li Hao once more set foot into Barren and penetrated it deeply, arriving at the end of the nation. There was indeed a faint wisp of core origin energy here.

The young man was delighted! This was perfect. As for whether or not he would succeed in comprehending dao... he hoped he would fail.

I might cry if I actually succeed! I need the fruits of my failure to become the aura!

Auras were a product of a failed great dao. They were very unique and possibly his key to turning the tables.

Li Hao set his mind to the task of cultivation. He was going to comprehend auras this time around!

......

Barren, the zone of chaos,.

Li Hao ran through his cultivation method. The Five Styles was the core of what he would train. There were some changes in his iteration compared to his teacher's—it incorporated some of the other heritage battle methods.

The Five Styles were the base and a myriad of methods the supplement. Countless energy stones went up in flames with the snap of a finger. The young man stood in the chaos and utilized the strength of Fused Dao to run through methods practiced by Slayers and Sunderers.

He ran and leapt like a wild beast. A myriad of beings gave rise to a myriad of methods, which were part of a myriad of daos and in turn produced a myriad of auras...

He was a coiled dragon, a soaring phoenix. He was a ferocious tiger bounding out of its cage and howling its challenge to the world.

Li Hao was as if a new martial dao cultivator, bending his mind to the task of perceiving the auras of the world and martial dao. It'd been a very long time since he last studied the aura, but it was not unfamiliar to him.

The Five Styles were the foundation to comprehending auras. The long-unused breathing method began shaking his body. Dao meridians manifested, as did his auras.

"ROAR!" snarled Li Hao. A cheetah appeared in the void and viciously pounced through the air! It transformed into a major aura and sought to connect to core origin. The void trembled deep within the chaos.

A keen light sparkled in Li Hao's eyes as he seemed to peer into the depths of the void. The crack there connected to the chaos outside Silver Moon world. The core origin universe... still existed!

It really did still exist!

That meant that New Martial also stood and had not been toppled.

Although Li Hao had expected this, the sight was the greatest confirmation that New Martial had not fallen. Of course, it may also be that Red Moon had conquered New Martial, but had not extinguished core origin dao.

So long as core origin dao stood, so did New Martial. The New Martial powerhouses had their dao stars in the core origin universe. If the dao universe did not burn out, neither would the dao stars, and so the civilization would remain standing.

As I thought!

Li Hao's eyes widened, seeing the cheetah sweep toward the depths of the chaos. He was starting to become a little worried. What if... it did connect to core origin dao?

He didn't have this problem before because he was both weak and situated very far away from the edge of the world. Li Hao could choose to cultivate in a far away place, but that would slow down his rate of aura comprehension. Unfortunately, he was in a race for time.

The young man watched with growing trepidation, but reality soon proved that he was thinking too much.

Just as the cheetah hurtled forward and seemed ready to break out of the chaos and into the universe, the world barrier shook explosively and reduced everything into nothing.

The core origin that Li Hao sensed immediately dispersed.

The cheetah aura shuddered violently, snarling with outrage at being cut off from core origin. It had no choice but to retreat within Li Hao's body.

The young man also cursed to himself. He would've been very worried had he succeeded, but to fail in this manner... Not only had he failed, but he hadn't connected to the core origin universe at all! He seemed to be quite the failure and incompetent.

What could not be had was always the most tempting!

On one hand, Li Hao would cry if he really connected to core origin dao, but now it felt like the dao thought too little of him.I have so much potential thatyoushould've broken through the world barrier to connect tome!

"Blind as a bat!" Li Hao snorted and grinned in the uninhabited expanse.Forget it! I don't care about the core origin dao universe. There's too many powerhouses there—the Human King, Green Emperor, Supreme Zhang... All of them cultivate core origin.

Who wants to take a leaf out of someone else's book? Who wants to be the tail of a phoenix? I'm going to be the head of a chicken!

Even if the new dao universe is still very weak, so what? I'm the boss here and would be the minion in core origin. Not doing that!

The cheetah aura melded back into the young man's body, but circled around in place, unsure of where to go.

Auras corresponded to dao meridians. If they found a compatible one, they would easily become one. The cheetah aura seemed to be at a loss, unsure of what dao or attribute it was.

Li Hao took this in stride. The aura that he'd just comprehended was born purely of martial might. Although it was an aura, he'd accomplished this via a shortcut. It hadn't been born of his heart. As such, his heart didn't have a deeper understanding of it.

He would have to comprehend it himself to make it part of him.