The Great Desolation.
Dust and sand swirled into the air, the desert stretching endlessly under ragged tendrils of chaotic aura. Though some of the chaos had dissipated following the slaughter of the desolate beasts, the intent of chaos lingered like gangrene clinging to bone—a festering tumor upon the body of the Silver Moon world.
As Li Hao set foot into the Great Desolation, heaven's will surged, churning across all directions.
Li Hao frowned slightly and cast a glance up at the churning will of heaven. Heaven and earth had birthed consciousness, and to that consciousness, the Great Desolation felt like an agonizing tumor; entering this place caused it immense distress. Yet such violent agitation could easily alert others.
How could he quiet heaven's will?
The next instant, eleven divine characters manifested, blanketing heaven and earth. Around Li Hao, heaven's will continued to stir, but gradually it lost track of his presence, unable to find him anywhere.
A domain isolated heaven and earth!
Naturally, it isolated heaven's will as well.
Having lost sight of Li Hao, heaven's will found lingering here excruciating. It wished to purge the intruder but lacked the means; at this stage, heaven's will possessed no independent combat strength and could only exert influence through those who held its favor.
Failing to locate Li Hao, heaven's will soon receded.
Remaining here was simply too uncomfortable.
Paying it no further heed, Li Hao stepped deeper into the Great Desolation.
Yellow sand billowed.
His domain gradually penetrated deeper into the Great Desolation and began expanding outward. The earth force emerged, descending like a great mountain to suppress the swirling sands engulfing heaven and earth. With every step Li Hao took, he pacified and settled the land beneath his feet.
Dead bodies lay scattered across the wasteland.
There were also wild beasts resembling lone wolves, almost all prowling the desert in solitude. Influenced by the chaotic aura, these beasts were remarkably formidable, yet unlike ordinary demon beasts, they lacked intelligence. Such was the fatal flaw of desolate beasts—only the very peak among them harbored any hope of awakening sentience. Ordinary demons, on the other hand, possessed intellect even when weak.
Behind him, Black Panther followed closely, curiously studying the puny desolate beasts.
Demon beasts and desolate beasts were fundamentally of the same stock. The difference was that after entering heaven and earth, demons had shed their desolate forms, cast off the chaotic aura, and gradually transformed into demon beasts, whereas desolate beasts had lived in chaos from beginning to end, treating it as their sole habitat.
Li Hao glanced sideways at Black Panther. "Even desolate beasts can vocalize, for all their low intellect. You're already at the middle Sun-Moon stage, rivaling Immortals. Can a demon at your level really still not talk?"
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"..."
Li Hao sighed. "Were you born a mute? Is your mental energy mute as well?"
A demon rivaling an Immortal that couldn't even use voice transmission or speak—it truly was bizarre. At such a lofty level of power, even if he were truly a mute dog, couldn't he transmit his voice? If not voice transmission, what about mental vibrations? Still no? What about vibrating his blood energy, or ventriloquism... couldn't he do any of that? Li Hao had a sneaking suspicion that Black Panther could speak perfectly well and simply chose not to, perhaps just to preserve an air of mystery.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"You can bark just fine, but you can't speak human words?"
Black Panther wagged his tail and ignored him, focusing on the business at hand.
Li Hao walked across the expanse of earth as the desert stretched on. Looking toward its depths, he murmured, "Chaos represents the nascent state of heaven and earth. The fact that this place maintains chaos suggests that one might be able to leave Silver Moon from here... It doesn't necessarily have to be through the Star Gate.
"Of course, it might just be a tiny fissure, impassable to ordinary people..."
He said softly, "The Neo-Martials knew this place was chaotic, and they knew chaos is a product of the cosmos, not of an internal world. For chaos to persist and spread, the Great Desolation likely harbors a tear in heaven and earth—a rift in the world!"
Yet no one had ever spoken of departing Silver Moon from this place. Why?
There had to be a reason.
Either it was far too perilous, or it was completely impassable.
Nevertheless, one could undoubtedly draw upon the power of chaos from beyond Silver Moon here. Redwood intended to cultivate chaos; cultivating here might not be a bad idea.
With no one else around to converse with, Li Hao could only murmur to the dog, "To purge the power of chaos from the Great Desolation, my domain needs to envelop the entire region... But the Great Desolation is simply too vast. Though I've only seen it on maps, it is at least equivalent to five provinces in size. Adding the ten-thousand-li desert, the total area spans over ten provinces, practically on par with one of the four cardinal continents..."
Such a scale was staggering.
Currently, Li Hao's domain combined eleven divine characters. Pushed to its absolute limit, it could cover a radius of roughly a hundred li. The more divine characters he possessed, the stronger the domain and the broader its coverage.
To achieve full coverage over the Great Desolation, doing so without thirty to fifty divine characters was entirely impossible.
It wasn't a matter of simply stacking hundreds or thousands; thirty to fifty divine characters meant comprehending thirty to fifty types of Great Dao powers and forces, which would yield an exponential leap in capability. Yet from the start of his cultivation until now, he had formed only eleven divine characters.
Covering the Great Desolation, capturing heaven's will, and swallowing the Great Desolation's world whole presented an immense challenge for him.
Yet he had no alternative.
His adversaries had schemed for countless years; without extraordinary skill, how could he shatter their designs?
"Divine characters, force..."
Li Hao frowned slightly. The five elements, wind, and lightning were easy enough—they were fundamental elemental supernatural powers, and he had practically grasped them all by now. To continue comprehending other forces, he had to approach the problem from different angles.
In truth, there were plenty of possibilities.
For instance, weapon forces. He could draw inspiration from the Silver Moon martial masters: saber, spear, sword, halberd, fist—all of these possessed force.
However, truly comprehending them was no small feat.
Still, Hong Yitang had once remarked that force was formless, substance-less, and devoid of elemental divisions, being born from acquired nurture. In other words, having grasped sword force, Li Hao might be able to apply the same principle universally, shifting sword force into saber force, and saber force into spear force...
Countless thoughts surfaced once again.
Li Hao walked forward, traversing the desert, and soon encountered living people.
People of the Great Desolation.
In the distance stood cities, though they were not towering. Instead, they were built exceedingly low, appearing half-submerged underground and half-exposed on the surface. Sand constantly filled the air in the Great Desolation, and sandstorms were a frequent occurrence.
Outside the cities, many nomadic folk rode horses. This was an oasis amidst the desert. The Great Desolation had historically been a nomadic people, but over countless years, they had stabilized their borders and gradually developed into a settled population with permanent bases.
The King of Dahuang had led a million elite troops into the Central Plains and had yet to return, leaving these border cities in an uneasy stir. The inhabitants seemed terrified that their king might never come back. If those powerhouses failed to return, this place would likely be buried beneath yellow sand in a matter of years.
"The Great Desolation..."
Once the chaos dissipated and heaven and earth were refashioned, the Great Desolation might undergo a rebirth of world creation. If hundreds of millions of its people lingered here, they might all perish.
Drawing on past experience, Li Hao now possessed a clearer plan. Soon, he sent out a transmission: "Notify the King of Dahuang to prepare for the migration of the Great Desolation's people! Reclaim land from the sea. The population of the Great Desolation is enormous, and their customs and habits differ from those of the Central Plains. They must not remain concentrated in one place; disperse them. Their numbers are vast, whereas southern Shuiyun is relatively comparable to the Central Plains..."
For the Great Desolation, Li Hao intended to scatter them.
The people of the Great Desolation were martial and fierce by nature. They had to be distributed across the Heavenly Star lands to achieve gradual assimilation.
The one receiving the message was Lin Hongyu.
At that moment, a splitting headache assailed her.
The work was simply never-ending.
She had barely finished one massive undertaking when more tasks landed on her desk—and every other directive involved the migration of an entire nation! Had this not been an era of the supernatural, she would have loved nothing more than to slap Li Hao to death. Of course, that was merely a passing thought.
Lin Hongyu responded swiftly: "Marquis, this will require time. However, now is indeed an opportune moment. The entire realm is currently relocating to reconstruct the Bright Star Continent. Choosing this time for migration and integration means everyone is moving anyway; the chaos will only last for a while. Still, we will need massive numbers of supernaturals to assist in infrastructure construction... Currently, our infrastructure workforce already counts a million supernaturals, yet... it is not enough."
Almost all the supernaturals from the City of Supernaturals had been drafted into infrastructure projects.
This was likely a scene rarely seen in history. After all, these were individuals endowed with innate Dao bodies, the very first batch of awakened powerhouses in this era. Now, they were all doing manual construction work.
Li Hao's Demon Hunt Army was comprised almost entirely of soldiers or martial masters, with very few supernaturals among their ranks.
Hearing Lin Hongyu say that a million supernaturals were still insufficient, Li Hao clicked his tongue.
A single supernatural was easily worth twenty to thirty ordinary laborers, wasn't he? That was a conservative estimate. Did that not mean tens of millions of equivalent laborers were already hard at work, and it still fell short...?
"Then add more people!"
"But..."
Lin Hongyu sighed. "Marquis, we have to pay them! Marquis, you are hiring them, not forcibly conscripting them! We must pay them in energy stones. And not just them—the Demon Hunt Army and the Heavenly Star officials all require energy stones as remuneration.
"If not for the military downsizing you implemented, we might... have run out of funds long ago! Even so, the Heavenly Star Great Mine is nearly exhausted. Marquis... we are almost out of money."
Li Hao paused, stunned.
He had not considered this.
Ever since seizing the Heavenly Star Great Mine, he had assumed its reserves would last until the unification of the realm. How long had it actually been? Such a massive vein! Although he knew they had mined an enormous amount, to think it was nearly empty... Surely not?
"Marquis... Battle Heaven City alone consumed a great deal. Moreover, every activation of Boundless City requires massive expenditure. On top of that, there is the revival of the Battle Heaven Army, the revivals of Saints and Immortals...
"Add to that the deployment of the sky screen network, the construction of martial academies, and multiple demon plants converting energy to cultivate sacred rice... One expense after another, and now the Heavenly Star Great Mine is practically drained!
"Of course, the Marquis could simply choose not to pay... As an emperor unifying the world while the realm is not yet pacified, these weaklings would have to work even without pay..."
This was the founding era of a new dynasty. In times of hardship, what was wrong with demanding labor without compensation? In an era where the strong preyed on the weak, if you refused to pay and offered only a mouthful of food, they would still have to work! Li Hao's prestige was currently peerless, and his overwhelming might suppressed heaven and earth. Who would dare rebel?
Yet Li Hao chuckled softly. "There's no need for that! People work hard precisely to earn some benefits, don't they? So we're out of energy stones, is that it..."
He pondered the matter. Honestly speaking, securing energy stones right now was genuinely difficult. The veins across the world were depleted. Though heaven and earth had revived, energy was not yet dense enough to condense into new veins, and far too many people were cultivating simultaneously. Where would there be time for energy to precipitate and form mineral deposits?
At this juncture, perhaps only Zheng Yu held substantial stores of ore, along with Li Daoheng. Both were exceedingly troublesome characters, making it quite a headache. Using up resources had felt great before... but now, it was rather uncomfortable.
Of course, Li Hao considered that once the chaos in the Great Desolation dispersed and became part of heaven and earth, with heaven's will converging and raw energy sweeping through without anyone to absorb it, new mineral veins might form.
"Draw on what we have for now. Can it last a little while longer?"
"It can."
"Then keep using it..."
"Marquis, shouldn't we keep some in reserve?"
Lin Hongyu felt uneasy. If they depleted everything and the world suddenly lost its energy again like before, this era would be thrown back a hundred thousand years.
"No need!" Li Hao replied firmly. "Pay wages as they are due! In my life, I detest nothing more than withholding earned wages. Back when I worked at the Inspectorate, they once delayed my pay by three days, and I genuinely considered taking a blade to the chief's neck!"
"..."
Lin Hongyu was rendered speechless.
Li Hao laughed. "So don't hold back wages. Those supernaturals are content to labor for us precisely to earn a living, aren't they? Otherwise, wherever a supernatural goes, wouldn't they find a meal? Furthermore, have the King of Dahuang come to the Great Desolation to accompany me on an inspection... Continue your work. Governing the realm is also a form of cultivation, a path of practice..."
Lin Hongyu said no more. Since Li Hao had spoken, she would simply carry out his intentions.
***
The King of Dahuang was a powerhouse himself.
He arrived swiftly.
However, he did not come alone; he was accompanied by the formidable Director Zhao. Clearly, the leadership still harbored reservations about the King of Dahuang. Although he had agreed to cooperate and submit to Heavenly Star, everyone maintained high vigilance toward this foreign monarch.
He was not the only one; even with Empress Dowager Shuiyun, to whom Li Hao had granted substantial autonomy, people kept a constant watch. The same held true for Dali.
Over the past few days, the King of Dahuang seemed to have aged significantly. He had been old before, but his vitality had been robust. Now, with the desolate beasts eradicated and peace brought to the Great Desolation, he appeared thoroughly withered. Li Hao had not assigned him any official rank or duty, which he did not truly mind, but seeing his million elite troops partitioned and a portion kept in captivity filled him with dread for the future.
As the King of Dahuang, he had spent these days in a state of emotional collapse. Where was his Great Desolation to go from here?
Facing Li Hao once more, the King of Dahuang felt a knot of apprehension, wondering why Li Hao had come to the Great Desolation. Glancing at the distant city, he suppressed the turmoil in his heart, bowed slightly, and said with an aged rasp, "This guilty subject..."
"Enough."
Li Hao cut him off immediately. "I told you back then that if you did your part, I would grant the Great Desolation a path to survival. There is no need to speak of guilty subjects. You are no subject of mine, nor am I an emperor!"
Li Hao looked toward the distant city. "I summoned you because I intend to relocate the people of the Great Desolation into the Bright Star Continent. However, your folk are fierce and combative by nature. I intend to break up the Great Desolation... scattering them across the realm to prevent unrest!"
The King of Dahuang's face shifted, and just as he began to speak, Li Hao continued, "Hear me out! Whether it is the Great Desolation or the other three kingdoms, they are all the same in my eyes. Since ancient times, conflict and hostility have always stemmed from the lust for power among the ruling class, who drag the common people along with them.
"As long as the common folk have food on their tables, who wants to rebel?
"This is not a kind era, yet it is also a wonderful era!"
Li Hao said softly, "It is not a kind era because warfare is rampant, powerhouses are numerous, order is chaotic, and entire cities can be annihilated at a whim. Yet it is a wonderful era because the four kingdoms and the Central Plains have not waged war for hundreds of years. Whatever ancient hatreds existed have largely been forgotten. Before the four kingdoms could push deep into the Central Plains, they were routed. Though soldiers suffered casualties... since ancient times, wars have never been fought without death, and nations are not wiped out simply because a few lives were lost..."
The King of Dahuang breathed an inward sigh of relief.
Li Hao continued, "Therefore, this is a prime era for grand integration! Merging now will not provoke excessive resentment because the four cardinal continents are also undergoing integration. With cities shifting, people will find themselves surrounded by strangers anyway, so their aversion to outsiders will not be as pronounced."
The King of Dahuang could not help but remark, "That the Marquis still concerns himself with the livelihood of the common people... Truly, you are a paragon among men..."
Li Hao laughed in amusement. "Does this even count as public welfare? Your grasp of livelihood is even shallower than mine..."
The King of Dahuang looked somewhat embarrassed.
Li Hao ignored his discomfort. "The commoners are easy to settle, even with their vast numbers. The crux lies with the leadership. I am informing you in advance because I expect your full cooperation; otherwise... I will make an example of someone! That applies to you, to Shuiyun, to Dali, and to everyone else..."
"I would not dare!" the King of Dahuang hastened to reply. "The Marquis's martial prowess is unmatched, and under your command are countless fierce generals and formidable troops. In this age of the supernatural, individual might reigns supreme over all else. Who would dare step out of line?"
Li Hao looked at him, and the King of Dahuang held his tongue.
It was the plain truth. With Li Hao's terrifying personal strength and the multitude of powerhouses under his banner, who would dare rebel now?
"Good! Then I will trouble you, King of Dahuang, to summon your powerhouses and oversee the migration of your people!"
The King of Dahuang nodded. Whatever helplessness he felt, he had no room to voice it.
"Director Zhao, your department must oversee this as well. Do not draw sharp divides or treat groups differently. The people of Shuiyun, the Great Desolation, and the four continents can all be resettled in an interspersed, mixed manner!"
Director Zhao nodded. While a sound plan, the logistical challenge remained immense. He knew that to execute this task smoothly, he would lose a great deal of hair, and everyone else would be pushed to the brink of exhaustion.
Yet Li Hao's intentions did not stop there. He turned back to the King of Dahuang. "Before you depart, I wish to strip all traces of chaotic aura from the people of the Great Desolation. Is there a way?"
"This..." The King of Dahuang was taken aback, hesitating for a long moment before answering with difficulty, "This... is extremely difficult! Of course, utilizing the intent of chaos might work, but... doing so will strengthen the chaotic intent, which could trigger unexpected complications... That would become troublesome."
"Strengthen it? How strong would it become?"
"Hard to say. It might become a Saint Beast?" Who knew? He had never experienced such a thing before.
Li Hao nodded slightly, then asked, "Have you ever visited the edge of the Great Desolation?"
"I have. It is sheer chaos! In the past, it was the habitat of desolate beasts, like the void itself... It is said that the edge marks the limit of heaven and earth, completely impassable."
Just as he had guessed. It seemed that was indeed where the world barrier lay.
"I understand. Take whatever can be salvaged from the Great Desolation. Have your daughter and that white horse come here; they will accompany me for the time being..."
"Marquis, this..." The King of Dahuang was momentarily puzzled, but soon his thoughts stirred, and he nodded. "Understood!"
Li Hao had not yet married.
A marriage alliance?
The notion instantly sprang to mind. Li Hao was effectively the sovereign of the world right now. With Zheng Yu and the Red Moon Sovereign unable to emerge, he was the undisputed monarch. Since the Great Desolation had already submitted, a marital tie would be an advantageous outcome.
Li Hao cared nothing for whatever thoughts crossed the king's mind; he couldn't be bothered with them. Such people's thinking was never on the same wavelength as his own.
Purely vulgar!
His goal was to absorb the chaotic power of the Great Desolation and compress the chaos so his domain could cover it. At present, Zheng Yu and the others were likely plotting his demise, while Li Daoheng was searching for ways to empower himself and seize heaven's will... Li Hao had to race against time. He needed to incorporate the Great Desolation into his system before anything else.
***
The King of Dahuang came and went quickly, departing to organize the migration.
Before long, Princess Jun arrived with the white horse.
The white horse looked somewhat feeble, but Princess Jun showed no fear. She regarded Li Hao with open curiosity, sizing him up. She was unfamiliar with this young man and genuinely curious as to what kind of person could suppress so many proud warriors and fierce commanders.
Silver Moon boasted no shortage of arrogant, formidable figures. She had not met many, yet none she encountered were soft.
Lin Hongyu, with her gentle smile like an elder sister from next door, concealed needles within cotton.
Qian Wuliang, cloaked in refined, scholarly elegance, possessed a chilling gaze that had made her hair stand on end more than once.
The kindly elder Zhao Shuguang appeared benevolent and constantly smiled, yet his smile sent shivers down one's spine.
Then there were the Neo-Martial powerhouses, every one of them brimming with immense pride.
Princess Jun was baffled. All these figures served Li Hao, yet to her eyes, Li Hao didn't seem particularly extraordinary aside from being slightly stronger. Even so, the Neo-Martial Saints were hardly inferior to him. Why were even those Neo-Martial Saints willing to bow their heads?
"What is your name?"
"Jun!"
"And your surname?"
"I have none!"
Li Hao was surprised. Recognizing his confusion, Princess Jun explained, "Naming customs in the Great Desolation differ from the Central Plains; they are rather informal. We do have surnames of sorts, but... we prefer not to mention them. The transliterations are convoluted and tied to desolate beasts."
Li Hao understood. Perhaps their surnames were derived from desolate beast lineages—Horse, Monkey, Tiger? He chose not to pry, glancing instead at the white horse. "Does this horse possess sentience?"
"A little," Princess Jun nodded. "Its name is Baiyun."
Baiyun, White Cloud?
Li Hao smiled. "A fine name. The one beside me is called Black Panther; the two of you could get acquainted."
Black Panther rolled his dog eyes. Who would want to get acquainted with that thing?
Princess Jun glanced at Black Panther and asked curiously, "Isn't he a dog? Why is he named Black Panther?"
"..."
Li Hao laughed. "I originally hoped he would be as fierce as a panther! Later, I realized that throughout history, dogs have been stronger than panthers—a miscalculation on my part. The Neo-Martial Heavenly Dog Sovereign was said to be incomparably mighty, whereas the panther race never produced a Sovereign."
After a few casual exchanges, Li Hao got down to business. "Did your father inform you? I want this white horse to draw out the chaotic aura from the bodies of the Great Desolation's people so none of it is carried into the Central Plains. Can you accomplish this?"
"I can," Princess Jun nodded. Pausing, she suddenly asked, "Will the Great King kill Baiyun?"
At her words, the white horse beneath her grew visibly agitated. As the embodiment of chaotic heaven's will, with the desolate beasts slaughtered and the world's heaven's will surging, it seemed aware of its impending fate—that death awaited it sooner or later.
Li Hao looked at the white horse and remained silent for a long moment before answering, "The intent of chaos must be broken. Once broken, if it survives, I will not harm it. If it dies... there is nothing I can do."
Princess Jun felt a pang of dejection, yet she recognized that this was Li Hao's most honest answer.
"I understand."
With that, she added, "I am the greatest cavalry warrior of the wilderness! I refuse to become a caged bird in the Central Plains. May I join the Demon Hunt Army, or lead my Great Desolation troops into battle?"
"Into battle?"
"Yes!"
Princess Jun's long hair fluttered in the wind, a wild aura radiating from her. "The battle against Heavenly Star was entirely unsatisfying. I want to fight in real wars!"
Li Hao regarded her and nodded. "Once the matter of the Great Desolation is settled, you may seek out Marshal Huang Yu and let her arrange it. The ten thousand elites under your command may be integrated into the Demon Hunt Army as a single unit. However, now that the enemies across the four directions have been handled, if you truly go to war... your opponents may no longer be armies, but... powerhouses!"
"I understand. Thank you, Great King!"
Li Hao had no interest in correcting her form of address and merely waved his hand. "Go, then!"
"Ah?"
"Go draw out the chaotic power!"
Princess Jun looked at him with slight bewilderment, then said nothing more, swiftly spurring the white horse away. Still, she found it strange: the white horse was of vital importance, yet Li Hao had simply let her ride off without assigning anyone to watch her. Wasn't he afraid that... Well, it wasn't as if she could do anything against him anyway.
Princess Jun and the white horse soon disappeared into the distance, setting off to siphon the chaotic aura from the people of the Great Desolation.
***
At that moment, Li Hao looked down at Black Panther and sat cross-legged. "You should have inherited some of the devouring power and lightning power of your ancestor. Lightning purges evil, while devouring purifies all things..."
Black Panther blinked. Devouring counted as purification? Well, swallowing everything clean was indeed a form of purification.
"You walked out of Silver City with me, accompanying me from our home to this very day... Now, everyone's combat strength is rising. You've barely stepped into the fourth layer of the Sun-Moon stage, barely scraping into the Immortal Realm. Your cultivation is low. I brought you along because I couldn't bear to leave you behind, but... you are in great danger."
Black Panther dropped his head in dejection.
Li Hao continued, "I have an idea..."
"Woof?"
"The Human King had the Cang Emperor, the Heavenly Emperor had the Seed, Li Daoheng has the Moon God... One oversees the world, while the other acts as the proxy for the will of heaven and earth..."
Black Panther looked bewildered.
Li Hao went on, "I want to refine the Great Desolation into my own world! I will capture, slay... or rather, swallow and assimilate both the will of heaven and earth and the intent of chaos! You happen to excel at devouring and lightning; whether it is purification or purging corruption, this is your opportunity!"
Li Hao looked at him intently. "When that time comes, you might become the heaven's will of this minor world... Of course, you will still be yourself, but... it will carry immense danger. Li Daoheng, among others, will likely want to kill you..."
Black Panther blinked and shook his head—not in refusal, but simply expressing that he didn't care.
Li Hao chuckled. "There is another point. If you take on this mess... your future opponent will most likely be the Moon God, vying with her for control of heaven and earth! Do you have the confidence to face the world's foremost deity?"
He did not mean the Queen, but the true Moon God—an entity of peerless might whom even the Sword Venerable had chosen not to slay. Of course, perhaps the Sword Venerable simply hadn't bothered; her true body was the moon itself, and shattering the moon would not necessarily have benefited Silver Moon.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Black Panther barked with fierce determination, seemingly declaring that he had no fear!
Li Hao nodded. "If you agree, you will need to make extensive preparations! I must comprehend forces to blanket the Great Desolation, while you will have much to do as well. First, make contact with the intent of chaos. Second, make contact with heaven's will! Third, find a way to lure more of heaven's will together..."
Black Panther immediately felt a headache coming on. How was he supposed to lure it?
"So... you must go butter up that white horse! Take it on tours all around. Heaven's will detests the intent of chaos; wherever the white horse goes, it will draw a portion of heaven's will's attention!"
Black Panther understood and nodded.
Li Hao smiled. "One more thing: do you know divine characters?"
Black Panther remained silent.
"If you do, you should understand the concept of domains... You must form a domain! Regardless of how strong or weak it is, you need a domain to conceal yourself from heaven's will. Only then will you have a chance to capture it!"
"Woof, woof!"
Black Panther nodded once more.
Li Hao patted his head with a grin. "Now that we've laid it all out, what are you waiting for? Go! For now, everyone's eyes are on me, not you. Help me make these preparations... If I succeed, we'll be living large! If I fail... we'll just go join Teacher and the others."
Hearing this, Black Panther wasted no words, darting off in an instant to seek out the white horse.
Once Black Panther was gone, Li Hao exhaled a long breath.
He did not linger in the Great Desolation; he needed to head to Silver City.
The preliminary preparations in the Great Desolation would take time. Going to Silver City would also provoke the Queen and her cohort, spurring them to cultivate harder in hopes of killing him soon and entering the Great Dao universe... Moreover, he might stumble upon some unexpected gains.
Furthermore, visiting Silver City would allow him to study the various inheritances of the Silver Moon martial masters. He needed to comprehend more forces.
***
At present, Li Hao moved with startling speed, coming and going without a trace.
Silver City had been evacuated back during the conflict with Dali. Its inhabitants had all departed, leaving it an empty ghost town.
At this moment, a lone figure stood high in the sky above Silver City.
The instant Li Hao's silhouette appeared, dark stirs of unrest rippled below. Some felt an urge to curse, others a desire to kill.
Li Hao was like a lingering specter!
He was back!
As Li Hao looked up into the heavens, everyone assumed he intended to shatter the seal, and tensions flared. Surges of saintly aura rose from all around.
Yet Li Hao did not make a move.
Above him, the void fluctuated faintly, giving the impression that he could slip away at any moment.
Li Hao's voice rang out: "Zheng Yu, unless you enter the Great Dao universe, you will find it difficult to kill me! Unless your true body steps forth, using the might of a Half-Sovereign to instantly seal off the Great Dao universe so I cannot escape into it... Right now, as a mere early Saint, you cannot slay me!
"Nor have I come here to break the seal... It is too difficult to break anyway!
"I have come for a single purpose!"
Li Hao smiled radiantly. "I am running low on cultivation resources. Provide me with a hundred thousand energy stones a day. In addition, I want all of Neo-Martial's combat techniques! You must also supply me with portions of saintly Dao power, Immortal power, origin power, and Red Moon power..."
At that moment, an illusory silhouette coalesced in the void.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Zheng Yu looked toward Li Hao, his voice flat: "Are you dreaming? If I refuse, what can you possibly do?"
Around them, several more saintly auras erupted.
Li Hao chuckled. "If you refuse, I cannot do much except destabilize the seal whenever I find the time! Silver City is my territory, after all. And while I do not possess the bloodlines of all eight families... I do control all the divine weapons of the eight families. Broken though they may be, they reside within the Starry Sky Sword.
"If I rattle it a few times every day, I might not release that entity, but if I shake it every other day, you will have to stay on edge—wary that if the shaking becomes too violent, the seal might truly shatter."
Zheng Yu spoke with chilled detachment: "You would do well not to provoke me so recklessly. If pushed to that point, I will discard all reservations. The moment my true body steps out of Hurricane City will be the moment of your demise!"
Li Hao smiled. "A barefoot man fears no one who wears shoes! Since ancient times, the barefoot have never feared those in fine footwear! You hold the hope of advancing to Sovereign, whereas I... have merely stepped into Harmonious Dao, a novice Saint. I am a hundred and eight thousand li away from the Sovereign realm!"
At this, Li Hao grinned. "I am not asking for handouts. You are a Half-Sovereign, and you have the dignity of a Half-Sovereign! I will trade Great Dao power with you..."
Zheng Yu froze. Had Li Hao lost his mind?
He primarily cultivated the new Dao, yet he was trading Great Dao power for Neo-Martial power? If that wasn't madness, what was?
What was this man plotting?
What insidious scheme lay behind it?
For a moment, Zheng Yu could not fathom it; he could no longer read Li Hao at all.
His mind raced: Why? What did Li Hao stand to gain from this?
Li Hao chuckled softly. "Don't overthink it. I only want these things because... Great Dao power is limited, and I must pay wages to the cultivators of the realm. The Heavenly Star Great Mine is nearly mined out; I have no choice! Thinking it over, only you have the reserves... More importantly, you cannot absorb new Dao power anyway, and even if you absorb a sliver, it is harmless to me. Why not make the trade?
"There is blood vengeance between us... but no matter. When it is time to cooperate and compromise, we are both lords of our respective domains; a suitable compromise is only natural. Zheng Yu, what do you think?"
Zheng Yu merely stared at him, saying nothing.
Li Hao added, "Then it is settled. I will cultivate right here, providing you with a portion of Great Dao power daily, right before your eyes. In return, you must supply me with sufficient resources. No problem, right?"
At that moment, countless thoughts raced through Zheng Yu's mind.
Li Hao... was simply too unpredictable!
After a moment of silence, he said slowly, "Very well!"
Li Hao actually intended to cultivate before their very eyes and feed them Great Dao power. Was he truly not afraid that someone on their side might cultivate the new Dao and lock onto the Great Dao universe?
Frowning deeply, Zheng Yu said no more.
Providing some energy stones each day was trivial to him. In the past, he had hoarded massive quantities of energy stones in preparation; what he held was far more than what the Heavenly Star Great Mine possessed.
At that moment, the two sides reached an uneasy, fleeting truce for the first time.
An exchange of power.
From that day onward, Li Hao truly took up station in the sky above Silver City, opening the Great Dao universe and beginning his cultivation. The Great Dao power that seeped out was absorbed into the void and drawn away by the other side.
As for Zheng Yu's camp—whether Zheng Yu took it for himself, or feared complications and passed it to Ying Hongyue or the Moon God—Li Hao did not care to speculate. In all likelihood, Zheng Yu would not dare use it, and a cunning man like Ying Hongyue would also fear a trap.
The Queen, however... was unlikely to think too deeply, eager for quick gains. It would most likely end up in her hands.
Moreover, Li Hao remained here to put their minds at ease.
It kept them quiet and prevented them from causing trouble elsewhere.
*I am right here!*
*How I cultivate and what realm I achieve—all of it is laid bare before your eyes.*
Indeed, the opposing powerhouses kept constant watch over him.
After observing for a day, they were utterly bewildered.
Li Hao seemed remarkably unfocused for a martial master.
One moment he was perusing Neo-Martial combat techniques, the next he was unblocking a few acupoints, then attending to administrative paperwork, and occasionally reading books that had nothing to do with cultivation at all.
Yet he truly was cultivating continuously—only his progress was... unimpressive.
With a group of powerhouses staring him down, any shift in his aura was plainly visible.
Within Hurricane City, both Zheng Yu and Ying Hongyue were convinced that Li Hao had to be scheming something, yet no matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not figure out what he was up to.
"He is studying so many Neo-Martial techniques... Could he be planning to switch to Neo-Martial cultivation?"
Someone voiced their confusion. Li Hao spent most of his time reading Neo-Martial combat methods, which struck them as deeply bizarre!
Had the Great Dao universe not remained open at all times, allowing him to flee at a moment's notice, they would have long since moved in to strike him down.
Chapter 367