Star Gate

Great Li.

Watercloud and Barren Dynasty had been integrated into Skystar one after another. Countless divine spirits were dead in Divine Nation after all of the fighting. It was rather Great Li that hadn't suffered much and still prospered and thrived.

The Great Li palace.

Magnificent and spectacular, its majesty was bestowed by the building structure proper, rather than being covered in gold and jewels. The king was cultivating inside when his expression abruptly shifted and he punched outward.

Bam!

There was a personal domain hovering in the void. It shook as the punch connected with it.

"Li Hao!" the Great Li king intoned.

The young man materialized in the air. He looked at the king with a smile, then surveyed the surroundings. "Not bad!" Li Hao nodded.

The king remained looking at him expressionlessly.

Li Hao scanned the distance, seeing through everything and noticing a gigantic temple. "Which Initial Martial god does Great Li worship? Don't say it's the sun god, that's not possible."

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know!" frowned the king. "It's a god from Initial Martial. They've never shown themselves, so how would I know who they are?"

That was true enough.

"So you guys worship a random god?"

"Not exactly. They're all Initial Martial gods, so it doesn't matter which one we worship. It's all the same!"

Li Hao burst out laughing. That was... also true enough. He didn't really care either, so he only studied the temple for a short bit. There was a tremendous presence there, but it was very faint. The god might be asleep.

"Does Your Majesty the Great Li king have nothing in mind recently, apart from dedicating yourself to cultivation?"

The Great Li king was much stronger now than when his armies had withdrawn from Skystar. The source of the Forbidden Sea's awakening was in this nation and Great Li's ambient energy was very dense. The young man could see some powerhouses in the distance furiously absorbing energy for cultivation.

The energy exuded by the Forbidden Sea was reminiscent of the beginning of the world. It seemed more suitable for those of Initial Martial to cultivate with.

The Great Li king was roughly seventh level Sun and Moon now, or even a little stronger! The mos+t- up!-to&-*dat$e@ ve-r-sion is on M*(&[email protected])$R@.

One had to know that he'd only been fifth or sixth level Sun and Moon when he withdrew from Skystar. While Director General Zhao and the others were also seventh level, they'd paid quite a price to rise to those heights.

"What do you have in mind?" The Great Li king was highly wary since he didn't know what Li Hao was planning.

"How about I give the king a chance?" Li Hao grinned.

"Speak of it."

"Initial Martial cultivation is more suited for an environment present at the start of the world, right? Improvement and progress is very rapid then."

No shit!

The so-called Initial Martial era was when the world took shape out of the chaos. Under those conditions, of course one would advance rapidly.What are you telling me all of this for?

"What if I create a new world for you?"

"What?"

"Create a new world...a fake world... Basically, switching the old world for the new world!" Li Hao said faintly. "You'll pay a very small price—the heavens favor you, so just pay the price of heavenly will!"

They were enclosed in Li Hao's personal domain, so he wasn't concerned that anyone would learn of his plans.

"I've created a cultivation environment most suited for your path. Right now, the queen of the west and Ying Hongyue's group are almost at the Fused Dao level. Meanwhile, you are only seventh level Sun and Moon. That's too weak! If you're lucky, you won't be that far off from Fused Dao either after my endeavours."

The Great Li king frowned and looked at the young man. "What else will I lose, apart from heavenly will?"

"You won't lose anything because you won't become the master of the world even with heavenly favor," Li Hao smiled with a shake of his head. "Therefore, this course of action makes no difference to you. The greatest delineation is that this would cause you to give up on some of your hopes."

The Great Li king cursed to himself. Those words cut too deeply. Li Hao might as well just come out and say that the Great Li king was useless! The man was good for nothing!

"Can you dispel heavenly intent?" frowned the king.

"More or less."

"How are you going to create a cultivation environment suited for Initial Martial training?"

"Do you want to know?" Li Hao looked meaningfully at the king. "I'll tell you if you want to know!"

"......" The Great Li king's enthusiasm abruptly died down. "Forget it!"

Li Hao smirked.

"Is there great danger involved?" The king was still uneasy.

"Are you afraid of danger?"

"Naturally not, but needlessly dying is not acceptable!"

"There will certainly be some danger." Li Hao nodded. "As for how much, I'm uncertain myself. We'll know when we give it a try. In addition, you need to do something for me after this is done."

The king's brows knitted together more tightly. The demands were adding up!

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you when I succeed."

"Then... can Jiang Li come with me?" the king asked after some internal conflict.

"......"As I thought!

A knowing smile crossed Li Hao's face. The Great Li king was suddenly reminded of the message Gan Wuliang delivered to him. His face twitched and the king glowered.

What was that little bastard thinking of!

"You can, and Jiang Li can even bring the bones of Initial Martial with him," Li Hao answered with a smile. "If it turns out to be suitable enough, melding the Initial Martial bones into yourself might result in a greater harvest! You should bring your boxing gloves with you as well, that is a great treasure!

"And are you sure you don't want Jiang Li to reforge his body?"

"Li Hao!" the Great Li king snarled venomously. "You are the ruler of a nation! Aren't you ashamed of such words??"

Damn that fellow!

"Don't be mad, why should I be ashamed?" Li Hao burst out laughing. "I'm just asking, ignore me if you don't want him to have a new body! Also, you've lost a lot of heavenly favor lately. It looks like the heavenly will thinks you're useless and doesn't want to pay attention to you anymore. You should try raising a fuss somewhere and gather some more heavenly will around you.

"The north isn't too far from the west. You can lead your army there to attack Divine Nation. Their queen has just resurrected some divine spirit Saints. I'll send people to help you. However much territory you take is all yours."

The Great Li king frowned. He did not wish to march into battle! The north was indeed not that far from the west compared to some other places, but what was the point of conquering parts of Divine Nation after a long march west?

"Divine Nation lost all one million of its army—they were elites, each and every single one of them!" Li Hao began softly when he saw the king's reluctance. "Watercloud has dismissed more than half of its navy, leaving only two hundred thousand to safeguard the four seas. Barren possesses innumerable cavalry, but they've only kept a portion as well as mobile units of the army.

"King of Great Li, I've never enjoyed running my opponents down to the bitter end. But for an enemy or a potential challenger to sleep soundly next to my bed... Someone will inevitably object and take action, even if I don't."

The Great Li king was silent without a word. He understood what Li Hao was saying.

I will not force you to swear allegiance to my banner, but you possess millions of soldiers in your army. That's too many.

Gan Wuliang had previously come to bring down some of the numbers, now Li Hao was here to do the same. The young man wanted him to march on Divine Nation in a strong offensive. Obtaining more favor from the heavens was one point, but weakening Great Li was another.

There were many disciples remaining at Divine Nation. If war did break out and they now had the addition of several divine spirit Saints as well...

"You've become more vicious after Yuan Shuo and the others fell in battle!" said the Great Li king as he looked at Li Hao with exasperation.

"No, I've become more gentle!" The young man shook his head with a smile. "You don't understand me, so don't pretend to. I thought about eradicating your entire army within Ash Mountain when we first started brainstorming strategies against Great Li. My master persuaded me not to do so. Now that my master has fallen asleep, there is no one to convince me anymore."

Do you think you know me?

Don't make me laugh!

The Great Li king's heart quailed. No one existed to talk Li Hao down anymore! He understood what the young man wanted to convey, that his actions now demonstrated his true nature. It wasn't that his personality had changed after Yuan Shuo died, but that there was no one to hold him back anymore.

"How many Saints can you send?" the Great Li king took a deep breath.

"Saints won't be useful enough, I'll have the Ninth Division leader make a trip."

"Just one person?" The king's eyes widened.

"You think that's not enough?"

"They have five Saints and you send one," the king retorted. "Even if Jiang Li and I can stop one of them, what about the other three?? Li Hao, are you trying to cause the extinction of Great Li?"

"So you're underestimating my Ninth Division leader?" Li Hao laughed.

The king was nearly apoplectic with fury, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm joking... I'll also have the redwood come, two is enough!" Li Hao's laugh deepens at seeing how utterly furious the king was. "But is your Initial Martial god not going to do a thing or two? If so, then there doesn't seem to be any foundation to speak of when it comes to Great Li. In this case, you can go extinct if that happens!"

The young man soared into the air, retracted his domain, and inclined his body at the temple in the distance. "The senior should have awakened somewhat. They say that Initial Martial gods are powerful without compare. I congratulate the senior ahead of time for your resounding victory!

"Move fast." Li Hao's voice echoed in the king's ears. "I will make my move in ten days. The more heavenly will there is around you, the bigger of a chance you stand! If you can take Divine Nation, the heavenly will is certain to favor you greatly.

"You might make it to mid or late Fused Dao then! As a king, the success of a general means tens of thousands of corpses at his feet. I only have the success that you see because I've lost my entire family. You need to be decisive when necessary, king of Great Li!"

The young man vanished, leaving the king cursing to himself.