Rapid Advancement

Dark Demon Ridge. In front of the Dark Divine Temple. Xunhan had finally arrived. At this moment, however, he was in a foul mood. Along the way, he had suffered attacks from dark shadow puppets, among which even a fourth-rank dark shadow puppet had appeared. To him, of course, it posed no significant threat. However, he was not the only one who had entered this time; several Sovereigns of the Absolute Darkness Great World were with him. Now that the Absolute Darkness Great World had been destroyed, these Sovereigns were his entire capital. If fourth-rank shadow puppets attacked the others, trouble would surely follow. He glanced back, hesitating. Should he go out and search for them, or wait here? If he went searching and crossed paths without knowing it, things might become even more troublesome. Wait... would they even make it? Or should he enter the Dark Divine Temple first? He glanced at the Dark Divine Temple. Currently, its pitch-black gates were shut tight, leaving no gap. Xunhan was torn. They had previously agreed to rendezvous here and wait until everyone assembled before entering. If he went in ahead of time and the others arrived without seeing him, they would wait here endlessly, and once he came out, discontent would be inevitable. "I'll wait two more days!" Soon, Xunhan made his decision. Today was the third day. He would wait until the fifth. If someone had still not arrived by then, he would wait no longer. At this point, he surveyed his surroundings again, his eyes darkening. Why were these dark shadow puppets actively attacking them? Others had entered Dark Demon Ridge before, yet he had never heard of it being this perilous. If even fourth-rank shadow puppets appeared to ambush powerful experts, how many Sovereigns would have fallen here? "Something is strange..." he thought, remaining on high alert. He glanced at the Dark Divine Temple once more. Could there be dark shadow puppets inside the temple as well? Then he thought of that Bright Moon Sovereign. A mere first-rank Sovereign would probably never have the ability to make it here this time. What a pity; otherwise, Xunhan would have liked to teach him a lesson. Whether by killing or maiming him, that fellow had shown an air of defiance earlier. Had Xunhan not given face to Huilong, he would have dealt harshly with him long ago. As he was thinking, he suddenly glanced into the distance. He was a fifth-rank Sovereign, yet even he could only see scenes three to four thousand meters away right now. However, he seemed to faintly hear a bloodcurdling scream. "Huh?" Xunhan frowned slightly. Had someone else been attacked? Should he go take a look? …… Meanwhile. After slaying that second-rank Sovereign, Li Hao did not engage the savage. Instead, he fled continuously while the River of Life and Death wore down and purified the Sovereign's energy. Though both were second-rank Sovereigns, this man's darkness power—even coming from a great world—felt insufficiently pure in Li Hao's eyes. At least compared to this place, the man's darkness power seemed rather impure. One after another, dark Great Dao crystals coalesced. He wondered if a second-rank Sovereign could help him complete the construction of the final twenty life-and-death bridges. From ascending to Sovereign until today, he had slain many Sovereigns, yet the energy consumed by the River of Life and Death was truly colossal. Were it anyone else, where would they find so many Sovereigns to slaughter? Soon, the purified dark crystals began to melt, linking stars, connecting life and death, and constructing life-and-death bridges. Originally, Li Hao had built 220 life-and-death bridges. By his estimation, surpassing 240 bridges should allow him to advance to the third rank. From first-rank to third-rank Sovereign, the progression was primarily an accumulation of energy; there was no qualitative metamorphosis at this stage, so no cultivation bottleneck existed. The bridges began to increase in number. Before long, another life-and-death bridge was successfully constructed. Li Hao's aura grew marginally stronger. From the gloom, the savage that had previously attacked the Sovereign suddenly flickered into sight. Its gleaming claws instantly pierced into Li Hao's body. Yet the moment the claws tore in, the "Dark" divine character began siphoning the darkness power within them. The divine character swelled slightly. It did not suffer the darkness infiltration that had afflicted the previous Sovereign; the darkness power radiating from the savage was absorbed by Li Hao's "Dark" divine character. Li Hao's eyes flickered. His Dao of Darkness was not necessarily stronger than that second-rank Sovereign's, yet right now, the divine character was siphoning the creature's darkness power. This was likely because his divine character had previously absorbed vast amounts of darkness power from Dark Demon Ridge. The darkness power inside the divine character was of a higher caliber. Or rather, it was on the same level as this savage. That was why it could successfully absorb it. "Quite troublesome indeed!" Li Hao glanced at the savage, which vanished in an instant. It came and went without a trace, seeming to melt into the dark. It was virtually impossible to see its form, and it could emerge from the gloom at any moment to strike. It also possessed second-rank strength, but the darkness power within its body was of an exceptionally high tier, which had prevented the previous Sovereign from breaking free. Fortunately, there was only one. If several more arrived, even he would find it troublesome. Li Hao retreated swiftly. He did not slay this dark shadow puppet, primarily worried that killing one might draw out even more, which would cause complications. He would digest his gains first. It would be best if he could advance to the third rank. If not... he would find a way to kill a shadow puppet. They possessed Dao resonance crystals inside, brimming with energy, making them great tonics for him as well. This Dark Demon Ridge was truly a fine place! Li Hao soon vanished and found a quieter spot. Shrouding himself in his divine character, he released a wave of darkness power, turning the character into a domain. He wanted to test whether he could sever the tracking of these dark shadow puppets. Blending into the overall environment might allow him to avoid their ambushes. The premise was that the energy emanating from his "Dark" divine character matched the fluctuations of this realm's darkness power. These dark shadow puppets did not rely merely on sound; in Li Hao's view, they likely sensed differences in the fluctuations of Dao resonance. "I hope I can reach the third rank... otherwise, I'll have to rack up more karma by killing again," Li Hao muttered inwardly. Once in the third rank, he could feel a bit more at ease. There was still a fifth-rank Sovereign here, after all. Sharing this place, they were bound to cross paths sooner or later. For now, Li Hao truly dared not recklessly borrow the power here. For a dark-attribute powerhouse like this, regardless of whether they would lend their power, borrowing it meant that repaying the debt... could cost him his life. It was too dangerous! He sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation art. Currently, he still took the Five Animals Art as his foundation, but it was no longer the simple Five Animals Art; it was a breathing technique that Li Hao had extensively modified. Inhaling and exhaling the power of myriad Daos! He had drawn from the techniques of many people, including experts of Neo-Martial, incorporating Neo-Martial secret arts such as the Records of Yuanping and the Zhang Family Educational Records. The river was like a living creature. Cavities appeared within the current, swallowing and refining the dark crystals. Impure dregs were filtered out once more. In normal circumstances, a Sovereign's power was already exceptionally pure, but in Li Hao's hands, the usable portion of a second-rank Sovereign's energy was actually quite small. Perhaps because he had seen too many supreme powerhouses, he found the purity of such energy underwhelming and downright shoddy. "Third rank... as soon as possible!" Li Hao thought. Right now, the war between Neo-Martial and Red Moon was on the verge of erupting, the Tianfang Great World watched greedily, and quite a few great worlds in the Tianfang Region seemed to be stirring restlessly. The war between Neo-Martial and Red Moon had already entangled the minds of all the great worlds across this expanse of chaos. In the coming days, battles among seventh-rank Sovereigns might break out in succession. As for himself... reaching the third rank was not difficult now, but entering the middle ranks would likely require another pair of polar forces. Yin-Yang was his intended goal, but if he could not comprehend Yin-Yang, he could only settle for second best: extinction and revival, water and fire from the five elements, or simply darkness and light. He had touched upon each of these Daos to some degree. Yin-Yang, however... he barely understood at all. Even though Neo-Martial was renowned throughout the cosmos for Yin-Yang! "To take part in the Neo-Martial war and repay my debts of gratitude, without the strength of a middle-rank Sovereign, I won't have the capacity at all. And even if I reach the middle ranks, I'll merely be slightly stronger cannon fodder." The true masters were still those top powerhouses of the seventh or even eighth rank! Neither the Tianfang Region nor the Red Moon Domain possessed ninth-rank Sovereigns. Other neighboring domains likely had no ninth-rank Sovereigns either; the eighth rank was the absolute ceiling. The Neo-Martial Human King was exceptionally gifted, yet even he had not entered the eighth rank. "For the Neo-Martial Human King to step into the seventh rank purely by cultivating Yin-Yang... is truly terrifying." As Li Hao constructed life-and-death bridges, these thoughts ran through his mind. At that moment, the savage appeared once more. This time, however, it did not attack Li Hao directly. Instead, it hovered near the domain formed by the "Dark" divine character, seemingly discerning and sensing something. Perhaps because the energy radiated by the "Dark" divine character was virtually identical to the energy of this place, it caused some confusion for the creature. The savage lingered in place for an instant, then, as if receiving a new command or hearing some other disturbance, vanished on the spot. Li Hao watched for a moment, his eyes flickering slightly. This thing was almost completely integrated with the energy here. It had become something akin to a spirit of the environment within Dark Demon Ridge. The crux was that there was more than one such dark shadow puppet here. "That eighth-rank Dark Emissary's Dao of Darkness was sinister indeed..." Li Hao thought, continuing his meditation. Within the river, dark crystals were swallowed one after another. In the blink of an eye, eight more life-and-death bridges arose, bringing the total to 228. The consumption was even greater than before. As his realm and power grew, the expenditure escalated as well. This time, regardless of what stirred elsewhere, Li Hao focused peacefully on his cultivation. In truth, he was much like the Neo-Martial Human King: he used whatever gains he acquired, rarely saving anything. Perhaps his travels through Neo-Martial had influenced him, or perhaps this was simply how he thought. Even though he knew Silver Moon needed resources, he did not hold anything back to take home. Strengthening himself was the priority! Moreover, Li Hao believed that while the people of Silver Moon might be weaker, they were surely figuring out ways to save themselves right now. Li Hao knew full well that someone was scheming against Silver Moon. People might already be scouring the surrounding void. Yet he trusted the people of Silver Moon to handle it; simply fleeing and remaining hidden shouldn't be too difficult. …… This was Li Hao's second period of seclusion in this place. This time, it did not take long. Just two days. Over two days, Li Hao devoured all the energy of that second-rank Sovereign. The number of life-and-death bridges reached 238—infuriatingly close to his projected 240. The key was that a second-rank Sovereign had only provided him with enough energy for eighteen bridges. Previously, a first-rank Sovereign had allowed him to build fifty. Perhaps his own growing strength demanded vastly more energy, or perhaps this second-rank Sovereign had been too subpar! "Just a little short..." Exhaling, Li Hao chuckled. It was only natural; perfection was rare. Being slightly short was no big deal. This place held not only dark shadow puppets, but also those Sovereigns. At worst, he could kill another Sovereign or hunt a shadow puppet. Reaching the third rank shouldn't be a problem. Last time, he had agreed on a one-year deadline with Sovereign Mo. Only ten-odd months had passed so far. By the time he left this place, it would be around a year, and reaching the third rank by then should be well within reach. Advancing from the first rank to the third rank within a single year was already formidable. …… Just as Li Hao set off again. In front of the Dark Divine Temple. Three Sovereigns gathered. One was the fifth-rank Xunhan, while the other two were third-rank Sovereigns. Three Sovereigns had yet to arrive: one third-rank and two second-ranks. Xunhan had waited for two days. His brows furrowed. In two days, only two had arrived. Although traversing Dark Demon Ridge was difficult, the area was not very large—in fact, for Sovereigns, it was quite small. Were it not for the convergence of darkness power that scrambled direction and prevented swift travel, covering such a short distance would only take a few spatial shifts. Looking back at the Dark Divine Temple, then at the looming dark shadow puppets flickering around them, Xunhan said in a deep voice, "We cannot wait any longer! Over these past two days, more and more dark shadow puppets have gathered. I even spotted the fourth-rank puppet that attacked me before! We cannot linger here! Since those three have not arrived, we will enter the Dark Divine Temple first. They should realize we went in..." The other two Sovereigns nodded. Now was not the time to wait. One of them asked, "King Xunhan, why have so many dark shadow puppets been drawn out this time?" Xunhan glanced at the Dark Divine Temple and knit his brows slightly. "It might be related to the Dark Divine Temple. Over the past two days, I sensed that the darkness power radiating from within has grown slightly restless. Such restlessness may have agitated these dark shadow puppets." It was a bad thing, but it could also be a good thing. An unforeseen change might bring significant opportunities. Dark Demon Ridge had existed for countless ages, yet no one had ever claimed the crucial treasure within it. Perhaps this time... was their chance. "Let us enter!" Xunhan said no more; they would find out once inside. The Absolute Darkness Great World possessed some knowledge of the Dark Divine Temple; their people had even entered in the past. It was said, however, that there was little of note within, yielding no great harvest. Yet everyone knew that the core of Dark Demon Ridge lay inside the Dark Divine Temple. Back in the day, the eighth-rank Dark Emissary of the Tianfang Great World had cultivated here, terrifying in his might. Xunhan even knew secrets that Sovereign Huilong might not be privy to. It was said that when the Dark Emissary cultivated here, even the Master of Tianfang had visited multiple times to discuss the Dao with him. Dark Demon Ridge might even be linked to that Master of Tianfang. This place was far from ordinary. Sovereign Huilong had managed to claim Dark Demon Ridge only because the masters of various great worlds could not easily enter the Tianfang Great World; even if they came, they kept a low profile and avoided exposure. Naturally, there was another crucial factor: a top-tier Sovereign might stand behind Sovereign Huilong. Though the Tianfang Region took its name from Tianfang, the powerhouses of the Tianfang Great World had disappeared for many years. Today, the Tianfang Region encompassed around a dozen great worlds, the most renowned of which were the Bright Light Divine Domain and the Yunxiao Divine Domain. The world masters of these two worlds were rumored to possess eighth-rank might. It was only a rumor because these world masters rarely acted, much like the Master of Red Moon. High-rank Sovereigns might have an idea, but other Sovereigns could only judge from whispers and hearsay. Behind Sovereign Huilong might stand an eighth-rank powerhouse. As for whether it was the Master of Bright Light or the Master of Yunxiao, no one knew for sure. That was why Sovereign Huilong could securely hold a Dao resonance land like Dark Demon Ridge without anyone stirring up trouble. Even if it were only a rumor, the masters of great worlds would show some wariness. As for other experts, they stood little chance against a sixth-rank Sovereign. "Let's go in!" Xunhan stopped overthinking. Whether he could enter the sixth rank, whether the Absolute Darkness Great World could be revived, whether its Great Dao Universe could reappear... Dark Demon Ridge was the key! This was his opportunity! He stepped forward quickly. As the three Sovereigns drew near, the massive dark gates swung open silently on their own. It resembled an enormous, gaping dark maw! Xunhan felt a trace of nervousness, yet he pressed ahead without looking back, stepping straight inside. The two third-rank Sovereigns followed in close pursuit. The three entered the Dark Divine Temple. Soon, the temple gates closed, as though no one had ever come. …… Dark Demon Ridge. Li Hao wandered around, soon stopping in an area. Crouching down, he touched the ground where spatters of blood infused with darkness power lay scattered. He inspected and sensed it. What a pity. The Absolute Darkness Great World's second second-rank Sovereign had been eliminated! Yes, killed. The blood contained traces of death aura. Others might find it hard to discern, but Li Hao could sense it with crystal clarity. That second-rank Sovereign had been slain, most likely by a dark shadow puppet. What a waste! He had originally set his sights on this second-rank Sovereign. A second-rank Sovereign shared his current rank. He was at the absolute pinnacle of the second rank; slaying dark-attribute Sovereigns of the same rank was relatively easy for him. Yet now... the man had been killed off by a dark shadow puppet. Reaching the third rank seemed to have run into another obstacle. "Even being a Sovereign... guarantees no safety," Li Hao mused with some emotion. Since arriving in the Tianfang Great World, how many Sovereigns had died? He had killed seven himself! Five in Tianhe Region, one at Panlong Well, and two more had died here. In the less than a year since coming to the Tianfang Great World, he had witnessed the fall of nine Sovereigns with his own eyes! Adding the third-rank Sovereign killed from Red Moon back then, and the second-rank Sovereign possessed by the Black Panther... In merely about a year, he had witnessed eleven Sovereigns die. And that did not even count trash Sovereigns like Bone Corroder. "The chaos truly is perilous!" he muttered. Little did he know that in the entire Tianfang Great World over the past year, even counting here, exactly nine Sovereigns had died... and all of them were connected to him! Aside from his involvement, not a single Sovereign had perished! Under normal circumstances, once cultivators reached the level of Sovereign, unless they encountered a catastrophic crisis or an intense war erupted, how could so many Sovereigns possibly die? Only after his arrival had so many Sovereigns met their ends. Yet Li Hao harbored a misconception. Perhaps because the Neo-Martial Human King had wiped out a great world, and Neo-Martial had annihilated another, resulting in the fall of numerous Sovereigns, Li Hao felt that Sovereigns were constantly dropping dead across the chaotic universe! Yet if not for him and the Neo-Martial Human King, how could so many Sovereign-level battles have erupted? At least the Neo-Martial Human King knew he was a born butcher. Li Hao, however... was utterly oblivious. He always felt that he was a gentle scholar who rarely started fights or went out of his way to kill. He fought for justice... Perhaps Liu Long's self-hypnotizing words from back in the day had been taken to heart by Li Hao, who had believed them ever since. "The other Sovereigns of the Absolute Darkness Great World might have left... or died. They're too hard to find. Why not... kill a shadow puppet and break through to the third rank first?" Li Hao's thoughts stirred, and he acted without hesitation. At that moment, the "Dark" divine character vanished, and the dark domain enveloping him dissipated. "Ahem, ahem!" Li Hao let out a soft cough. Soon, movement stirred in the surroundings. The dark shadow puppets that had left him alone began to materialize. A moment later, sharp claws emerged from the gloom. Whether it was his earlier acquaintance was impossible to tell, as they all looked alike: a savage appeared, eyes dull and devoid of light, filled only with boundless darkness. It lunged straight at Li Hao! …… At the same time. Huilong Temple. Sovereign Huilong watched the projection for a while, frowning slightly. Two Sovereigns were dead. Three others had already entered the Dark Divine Temple; their points of light had disappeared. He could see light points outside the Dark Divine Temple, but not within it. Right now, Bright Moon Sovereign seemed to be fighting a dark shadow puppet. No major shifts could be discerned. He did not seal Dark Demon Ridge again; this dark shadow puppet possessed only second-rank strength and should be no match for Haoyue. "There is still one third-rank Sovereign..." He looked at a point of light not far from Li Hao. The distance between them was not great. He wondered if the two would meet. He still wished to test Li Hao once more. "Even if they don't meet now... with Xunhan and the others inside the Dark Divine Temple, these two might cross paths before the temple gates..." Sovereign Huilong mused, glancing again at Li Hao's point of light. Was this Bright Moon Sovereign hiding his strength, or was he truly blessed with boundless fortune? Why did his point of light appear strong enough to rival the third rank, scarcely weaker than that third-rank Sovereign of the Absolute Darkness Great World? Bizarre! Earlier, this Bright Moon Sovereign had supposedly been only a first-rank Sovereign, yet now he felt nearly at the third rank. Had he exposed his true strength because no one was watching? Otherwise, even for the swiftest cultivation, going from the first to the third rank couldn't possibly be this fast, could it? "Is he concealing his strength?" "Perhaps he was in the third rank from the very beginning?" He thought to himself, completely unable to believe that this man had truly arrived as a first-rank Sovereign. Otherwise, his progress was simply too fast—only a year had passed, which was the blink of an eye for a Sovereign. A single meditation retreat normally lasted decades or centuries. In the surrounding domains, only the Neo-Martial Human King had progressed at such a breakneck pace, and by extension, the Sovereigns of Neo-Martial had done the same, reaching the seventh rank in just a thousand years. As for other seventh-rank Sovereigns, ten thousand years was the minimum benchmark, and one hundred thousand years was considered young. "Let's see what happens!" Sovereign Huilong kept his eyes fixed on the glowing disc. …… Inside Dark Demon Ridge. This time, Li Hao employed sword arts. A hundred stars gathered as a single sword strike slashed out, evoking life and death. To ordinary Sovereigns, the power of life and death was exceptionally potent and difficult to deal with. Yet this dark shadow puppet did not seem to be a living creature; it possessed neither life nor death. When the power of life and death erupted, it could neither extract vitality nor extinguish the puppet with death aura. Against a dark shadow puppet... the power of life and death was surprisingly ineffective. The move that had obliterated the second-rank Sovereign earlier proved virtually useless against this savage. Li Hao's thoughts stirred. An undead entity! Or rather, this thing wasn't even a creature at all. Only after truly clashing with it did Li Hao realize how difficult it was to handle. The power of life and death was useless. As for other Great Dao powers, even if they wounded the puppet, the surrounding darkness power quickly surged in to repair its injuries. If this went on, the creature possessed virtually inexhaustible power, neither suffering lasting injury nor weakening. Li Hao, on the other hand, risked exhausting too much power and being ground down to death. "Interesting!" Li Hao suddenly chuckled. In the next moment, divine characters emerged one after another, forming a domain. This thing's power originated from Dark Demon Ridge, which sparked an idea: perhaps he needed to isolate it! Only by cutting it off and severing its continuous supply of energy could it be destroyed. Otherwise... it was truly unkillable. No wonder that second-rank Sovereign had called it an undead creature. The man had probably tried to kill it, only to discover that even if struck down, it could not truly die and would rapidly regenerate. A domain! A divine character domain! Li Hao had not used one in a long time. Ever since he gained mastery over the River of Time and the River of Life and Death, a domain seemed far less useful. In the past, it could isolate Heaven's Will, but later Heaven's Will became the Black Panther—what was the point of isolating the Black Panther? Yet using it again today, it found a purpose. Divine characters manifested, erecting a massive domain. The ambient darkness power was shut out. Although the darkness power continued to seep in—its intrinsic caliber being far higher and stronger than Li Hao's domain power—blocking the vast majority of it was enough. Li Hao continued battling the savage. This time, he found that the creature's power began to wane. The darkness power inside its body was also depleting rapidly. "Domain..." As Li Hao traded blows, he wondered: did other powerhouses know how to use domains? He truly didn't know. A domain was something uniquely his, taught to him by Yuan Shuo. Back then, it was meant for annexing the entire Silver Moon world, but after he lost interest in taking over Silver Moon, he had abandoned the practice. Fusing divine characters, force, and Great Dao powers created a domain capable of isolating Heaven's Will—it was indeed something very special. The Neo-Martial Human King's internal world was essentially the pinnacle of a domain. Forming an internal world of one's own! The Neo-Martial Human King was technically a Dao Master and World Master, yet only half of one; but within his internal world, he was an authentic World Master through and through. The fact that the Neo-Martial Human King could step into the seventh rank and approach the eighth rank was likely tied to his internal world. The Yin-Yang World was perhaps merely a part of it. …… By using the domain to block out the darkness energy of Dark Demon Ridge, the dark shadow puppet clearly began to falter. Li Hao, after all, was a second-rank pinnacle Sovereign of Life and Death who also commanded many other Daos and possessed formidable swordplay. Now, the shadow puppet was powerless to resist. Li Hao thrust his sword repeatedly. He tested attacks with different Daos, even condensing a modest bright sword intent... Yet contrary to expectations, it did not deal disproportionate damage; the puppet's darkness power was of such high caliber that it seemed virtually immune to the light sword intent. In the end, when Li Hao switched to dark sword intent, he found that its lethality was actually greater. Darkness power from the same source inflicted normal, effective damage. After maintaining the domain's isolation and trading blows for a while, Li Hao shattered the creature's body with a sword strike. The body disintegrated, revealing a dark crystal-like object from which darkness power leaked, tethered to the darkness power outside. This had to be a Dao resonance crystal. It contained traces of Dark Demon Ridge's Dao resonance power. A single glance elicited praise from Li Hao: "Good stuff!" Dao resonance flowed within the crystal, evoking the illusion of gazing into darkness itself. This was the remnant Dao of an eighth-rank Sovereign; even in tiny quantities, it was extraordinary. Yet the moment Li Hao slew the dark shadow puppet, several dark figures abruptly emerged all around him. Li Hao drew a sharp breath! Trouble, just as expected. Multiple dark shadow puppets appeared in the surroundings, several of which felt... potentially no weaker than Sovereign Tianhe, who was a middle-rank Sovereign. Killing one had lured out so many. Li Hao dared not delay. He quickly dispersed his domain and brought forth the "Dark" divine character once more, transforming it into a darkness domain that enveloped him, radiating darkness power of identical nature into the surroundings. The dark shadow puppets scanned the area. One particularly powerful entity even landed right beside Li Hao. Its hollow, lifeless eyes seemed to stare at Li Hao, as if discerning something. After a moment, the puppets vanished in an instant. Li Hao let out a soft sigh of relief. This place was perilously dangerous. Without his domain, he would have been in deep trouble. Crucially, without a domain, he might not even have been able to kill the dark shadow puppet, and fighting such undead creatures was a losing proposition. "Good thing!" Li Hao felt secretly fortunate. A moment later, delight broke across his face. This dark Dao resonance crystal was magnificent treasure. He had already constructed 238 life-and-death bridges; surely this item could forge a few more for him without issue? The third-rank Sovereign realm was right before his eyes. In the next instant, Li Hao's gaze shifted as he looked into the distance. Right now, he seemed to see further than before. The dark crystal in his hand appeared to extend his sight, allowing him to perceive a Sovereign several thousand meters away advancing in his direction. He looked down at the dark crystal, his mind stirring. This thing... seemed capable of expanding his vision. At the very least, in this place, it allowed him to perceive a wider range. Previously, Li Hao could only see within a thousand-meter radius, but now, he could see three to five thousand meters away. That Sovereign was at least three thousand meters away from him. For Sovereigns, that was not far at all—practically right in front of them. In Dark Demon Ridge, however, at such a distance, as long as one made no sound, the other person could neither see you nor sense your aura. "The dark crystal has Dao resonance flowing through it... It shares the same Dao resonance, which is why it helps me see further." Originally, Li Hao had intended to absorb it immediately, but now he hesitated. Should he keep it? The next moment, another thought occurred to him: "This is only from a second-rank puppet, yet it lets me see three to five thousand meters. What about a third-rank puppet? Maybe even further! If I absorb it first to break through to the third rank, then find a way to slay a third-rank puppet, wouldn't that be even better?" As for that third-rank Sovereign nearby, he would leave him alone for now. Someone might be monitoring him right now. Killing a shadow puppet was fine, but rashly slaying a third-rank Sovereign might cause unforeseen problems. It would be better to enter the third rank before dealing with him. With that in mind, Li Hao vanished once more. …… A short while after he disappeared, a Sovereign arrived. This was the final Sovereign in the ridge; the other three had already entered the Dark Divine Temple, while this third-rank Sovereign had failed to find it. He quickly arrived at the place where Li Hao had just fought. Sensing the surroundings, he frowned slightly. A battle had evidently taken place here just moments ago, and the energy fluctuations did not seem to belong to the Absolute Darkness Great World. Could it be... Haoyue? "That fellow is still alive?" The Sovereign was rather surprised. Many undead creatures had appeared here, all exceedingly formidable. They could neither be killed nor outrun. Over the past few days, he had suffered terribly, evading them with the utmost caution. For Haoyue to still be alive was quite unexpected. He looked around. As a third-rank Sovereign, he could see quite far—roughly two thousand meters. However, he saw no one around, though he did spot a dark shadow puppet. Frowning, he quickly retreated. Finding Xunhan remained his priority. Five or six days had passed since entering this place. The others might have reached the Dark Divine Temple long ago or even stepped inside, while he had been harassed by these puppets and lost his bearings. …… Shortly after he left, Li Hao reappeared. He glanced thoughtfully in the direction the man had departed. Soon, cloaked in his darkness domain, he sat cross-legged once more, unhurried. Advancing his cultivation was his primary goal. Advance first, kill another dark shadow puppet to seize its dark Dao resonance crystal and extend his sight, and then... if he encountered these fellows from the Absolute Darkness Great World again, he could eliminate them. This dark Dao resonance crystal required almost no purification from Li Hao. In essence, its energy was already exceptionally pure. Streams of darkness power were swallowed by the River of Life and Death. After sensing it, Li Hao knit his brows slightly. He couldn't absorb too much; within his River of Life and Death, dark-attribute energy already occupied a large share. It was best to maintain balance among Great Dao powers. Fortunately, slaying Sovereigns also yielded gains in life-and-death power, so the darkness power had not overrun or eclipsed life and death; otherwise, he would have turned into a dark-attribute Sovereign. "After reaching the third rank... I'd better absorb less dark-attribute energy!" Li Hao thought quietly. Being too lopsided was not a good thing. He began absorbing the energy once more. This high-purity energy was far superior to that of the previous second-rank Sovereign and required no refining from Li Hao. As the river surged, the 239th bridge soon began to take shape. …… Meanwhile. Within the river, Er Mao opened its eyes and wiggled its massive rump, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. The dark-attribute energy was too dense. This little fellow Li Hao had acquired a great deal of darkness energy here. There was even a peculiar fluctuation of Dao resonance. Er Mao sensed it, then suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed a strand of Dao resonance power from within the river. Li Hao's voice soon rang out: "Senior Er Mao, what are you doing?" Dao resonance was a powerhouse's comprehension of the Great Dao. Li Hao had planned to contemplate it. Yet Er Mao had swallowed it whole. Er Mao had never done such a thing before. Could it be hungry? Er Mao shifted its massive rump. "An eighth-rank's darkness power and darkness comprehension... The darkness attribute naturally leads the mind astray. You had better not contemplate it. Even if you want to, you must first raise your comprehension of the light attribute... Only by balancing both polarities can you reap greater gains. Otherwise, if you go mad, who will cultivate time?" "..." It sounded very reasonable! Yet why... did it feel like you were just hungry? Li Hao was speechless. Still, what was eaten was eaten. Then again, you cat, you lecture me quite eloquently, but by eating it yourself, isn't that a form of comprehension too? Aren't you afraid of going mad yourself? As Li Hao constructed the 240th bridge, he asked, "Senior Er Mao, this is your first time seeing an eighth-rank Sovereign, isn't it?" Er Mao wiggled its rump and ignored him. Li Hao smiled and continued, "Back in the day, was the Emperor of Battle Heaven a sixth-rank Sovereign?" Back then, the great villain of Neo-Martial, the Heavenly Emperor, was probably in the sixth rank, right? After the Human King killed him, several years had passed before the Human King stepped into the seventh rank. That proved the Heavenly Emperor had not been in the seventh rank when the Human King slew him, even though Neo-Martial was already a great world back then. The Emperor of Battle Heaven had presumably been at the same rank as the Heavenly Emperor, hadn't he? "Yeah, sixth rank..." Er Mao muttered. "Something like that... probably counts as one." The next moment, it muttered almost inaudibly, "At least in terms of energy, I guess?" In truth, it didn't really know how strong the Teacher had been. Going by energy alone, it was roughly that. Yet the Teacher seemed all-knowing; perhaps his comprehension of the Dao went far beyond that? Although it had swallowed only a tiny bit of eighth-rank comprehension just now, after eating it, Er Mao hadn't found it particularly special—it wasn't even as profound as the great truths the Teacher usually lectured about. Li Hao asked no further. Right now, he was building the 240th bridge. Within the River of Life and Death, the 240th bridge was rapidly taking shape. …… In Huilong Temple. Sovereign Huilong watched with his own eyes as the light point representing Li Hao rapidly intensified. He frowned immediately. Third rank? He hadn't guessed wrong—this fellow had been hiding his strength all along, and had in fact been a third-rank Sovereign from the start, hadn't he? Yet to conceal his strength right under the nose of a sixth-rank Sovereign like himself... the man had quite some ability. "Third rank... no wonder he was so confident!" He snorted. No wonder the man had acted so arrogantly. Still, the third rank was merely a low-rank Sovereign. Given enough time, a first-rank Sovereign—if not in a hundred thousand years, then two hundred thousand years—could grind their way to the third rank eventually. A third-rank Sovereign held nothing for Sovereign Huilong to fear. "If he is third rank... this man might truly not be the Silver Moon King!" He felt somewhat disappointed. It had only been a year since the Silver Moon King opened the Star Gate. For a world like Silver Moon, producing a first-rank Sovereign was already impressive; no matter how swiftly the Silver Moon King progressed, he shouldn't have reached the third rank, and even the second rank would be difficult. Thus, he might truly have guessed wrong. At this moment, Sovereign Huilong felt immense regret. What a pity! He had truly hoped this fellow was the Silver Moon King—preferably with a Great Dao Universe in tow. That would have been his greatest opportunity, but now that opportunity had vanished! How infuriating! Just where was the Silver Moon King? Was he in the Tianfang Great World at all? His face fell. Had the man never come to the Tianfang Great World in the first place? If so, searching for him would be like looking for a needle in the ocean. …… At this moment, within Li Hao's river, stars glittered and turbulent waves surged. Streams of life-and-death power rose continuously. At the center of the river, the massive life-and-death star shone with brilliance, suffusing the entire river with life-and-death power. No primal chaos lightning tribulation descended for the transition from the second to the third rank. Last time, a tribulation had descended because Li Hao re-embarked on the Dao of Life and Death, initiating the cycle of life and death and reincarnation. This time, it was merely an ordinary advancement without a fundamental metamorphosis or reincarnation, appearing far calmer. Li Hao looked on with a trace of emotion. Third rank! Sure enough, constructing 240 life-and-death bridges brought him to the third rank. Constructing 360 bridges would probably only bring him to the peak of the third rank. To step into the fourth rank... he would likely have to start from other Great Daos. "I've reached the third rank..." He suddenly grinned. Tianji's true body had supposedly been at the second rank back then. After fifty-odd years in the chaos, who knew if he was in the third rank now? If so, wouldn't he and Tianji be in the same rank? How amusing! That fellow had previously thought about having his true body punch Li Hao if they ever met. If they really met next time... should he let Tianji try punching him to see what happened? "The third rank truly is difficult!" Li Hao sighed again. To reach the third rank, counting the shadow puppet slain just now, he had killed three Sovereign-level beings here, five in Tianhe Region, one at Panlong Well, and two right after walking out of Silver Moon... Eleven Sovereign-level existences! Excluding the chaos beast, that meant he had slain a full ten Sovereigns—including a fourth-rank one—just to reach the third rank. And barely early third-rank at that! To enter the fourth rank... how many would he have to slaughter? There were quite a few Sovereigns in the Tianfang Great World. If he killed them all, would it be enough to reach the seventh rank? "Why do I have thoughts like this?" Li Hao muttered. Killing wasn't a good thing. He was a good person who couldn't go around killing indiscriminately. He absolutely must not emulate the Neo-Martial Human King. He had surely been corrupted by the Neo-Martial Human King's influence. What a terrifying fellow! To corrupt me across time and space! …… In the chaotic universe. A young man carrying a saber was wandering about like a thug, acting overbearing and swaggering around. Suddenly, he rubbed his nose. He glanced in a certain direction, raising an eyebrow slightly. Was some grandson badmouthing him behind his back? From the feel of it, the fellow might even have some connection to him. Should he go over and slash the guy to death? Forget it. He had his hands full lately and couldn't be bothered with someone muttering about him. Whatever it was, it was certainly nothing good anyway. "Over there... the Red Moon Great World?" The young man muttered, looking toward a direction. Who knew? If it was Red Moon, he would steer clear for now and go pick a fight with some other great world first.