Life and death, silence, revival.
The great Daos merged, stars emerged, and the river rippled.
At that moment, dark clouds weighed down heavily in the chaos.
The chaos lightning tribulation had returned!
Qian Wuliang and the others were just beginning to think that things had finally gone smoothly for once... but the next moment, Er Mao suddenly turned to look in a certain direction, a hint of helplessness showing in its eyes.
Was Li Hao a trouble magnet?
It seemed a powerhouse was coming!
Every single time that guy broke through, he brought storm clouds and lightning tribulations along with him. Vast as the chaos was, the appearance of a chaos lightning tribulation was always bound to attract attention.
Trouble!
As Er Mao was thinking this, Qian Wuliang seemed to sense something a moment later. He snapped his head around to look, and his heart gave a violent jolt.
A cultivator came floating toward them through the chaos.
At that moment, the cultivator seemed somewhat surprised as well and glanced over at them.
With just a single glance, Er Mao and the other Sovereigns were shaken.
So strong!
No formidable aura seemed to emanate from him, but simply walking freely through the chaos meant he had to be at least a Sovereign. What was more, he had arrived with incredible speed and felt noticeably stronger than they were, which put him at least at the middle ranks.
The newcomer did not look particularly old, appearing middle-aged and somewhat scholarly. In temperament, he did not look like an evil man, but in these times, who would carve the word "villain" on their face?
Without a word, the Sovereigns quickly moved forward to block his path.
The man did not mind. He merely glanced at Li Hao, then at Er Mao, and finally turned his gaze to Black Panther and the others.
By this point, Li Hao had sensed the newcomer's approach as well, but he kept his eyes closed and said nothing.
Inside him, power surged in the throes of advancement and metamorphosis. At a time like this, stalling for every second counted. If worst came to worst, he could try accelerating time on himself, though that would only make the lightning tribulation even more ferocious.
The visitor was exceedingly strong. After all, Li Hao had once wielded a portion of seventh-rank power, so even if it had only been illusory, his perception remained sharp.
In an instant, he could gauge the newcomer's strength.
At least fifth rank, perhaps even sixth.
Most likely not seventh rank.
A seventh-rank Sovereign would exude a suffocating pressure even across the void.
There was a very high probability that this was a sixth-rank Sovereign!
And right now, even if Li Hao stepped into the fourth rank, he would still be no match for a sixth-rank Sovereign. Against a fifth rank, Li Hao could at least test his mettle.
"Cultivating?"
The newcomer's spiritual ripples transmitted a slightly playful smile that instantly struck everyone as somewhat grating.
"A fourth-rank cultivator?"
The middle-aged cultivator smiled again. Qian Wuliang remained on high alert, putting on a forced, hypocritical smile of his own. "Senior has a keen eye. We are indeed cultivating. Might we have disturbed Senior?"
Yet inwardly, he was tense to the extreme.
Major trouble!
A chaos lightning tribulation, breaking through to the fourth rank, and the River of Life and Death still manifest right here—anyone with a bit of wit would immediately deduce Li Hao's identity as the King of Silver Moon!
And the bounty offered by Red Moon was anything but meager; even a sixth-rank Sovereign would be tempted.
"No disturbance. I was just passing by and happened to sense some ripples here, so I came over to take a look."
The man chuckled, casting another look at Li Hao with a mixture of surprise and intrigue.
He had recognized life and death, but there seemed to be something else.
Silence?
Few people cultivated that Dao.
Silence beginning to revive... the Dao of dual polarities?
That river... was not a natural Great Dao River, but rather an artificially created one. The young man certainly had audacity.
Could this be the King of Silver Moon?
Just as Qian Wuliang had thought, anyone with half a brain could make the judgment upon seeing this scene: this person was the new King of Silver Moon.
"Little friends, are you preparing to cross a tribulation?"
The visitor let out a hearty, yet somewhat insincere laugh—a smile that made even Qian Wuliang feel faintly uneasy.
His vigilance had long since reached its peak!
"A chaos lightning tribulation is no easy thing to overcome, though judging by the looks of it, that Fellow Daoist seems confident."
Qian Wuliang gave a stiff smile. "There is no need for Senior to trouble yourself over it. We will do our best... Senior, since this is our first meeting, if you could grant us some convenience today, we will surely repay the favor in the future."
"No need for that."
The middle-aged cultivator chuckled, glancing at Li Hao again, and finally looked at Er Mao with a profoundly meaningful smile.
Qian Wuliang's expression shifted erratically.
Er Mao also looked at the cultivator with a flicker of confusion.
"Crossing paths is fate!" the cultivator suddenly said. "Little friend inside, it looks like your breakthrough is nearly complete. A fourth rank forged through life, death, silence, and revival is no weakling; you have earned a place in this chaos!"
Li Hao remained silent.
"Since we have met, why not discuss the Dao a little?"
Li Hao opened his eyes, looked at the man across from him, and frowned slightly. He quickly smoothed his brow and said softly, "If Senior extends an invitation, I could ask for nothing more!"
He looked at the man and vaguely felt a strange sense of familiarity.
A peculiar sensation!
The cultivator spoke again. "Before our discussion, there is something I would like to inquire about. It is said that Tianfang's Great Dao Universe has appeared?"
"Perhaps. We are too weak to know the specifics..."
"Little Fellow Daoist jokes."
The cultivator laughed again. "I intended to go to Tianfang to seek opportunities. Originally, that wasn't my destination, but... I happened to pass by and heard that Tianfang's Great Dao Universe has surfaced, which surely means opportunities are to be found! Yet my strength is somewhat lacking, and great fortune is hard to come by..."
Li Hao kept quiet.
"I'm the sort whose heart reaches higher than the heavens, but whose fate is thinner than paper..."
Li Hao blinked. What did that mean?
"Originally, I was just letting nature take its course, trying my luck. But running into you, Fellow Daoist, is quite a piece of good fortune for me!"
A smile appeared on his face, looking decidedly unusual now.
"There are those in this chaos who cultivate life and death, but unfortunately, I have met very few. If you impart some of your insights into life and death to me, how about I grant you another opportunity in return?"
Li Hao furrowed his brows slightly. Sitting cross-legged in the void, he looked at the man and said, "Senior wishes to comprehend my life and death? And what opportunity can Senior grant me?"
"The Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Method!"
The cultivator smiled. "Whenever you employ life, death, silence, or your other Daos, you easily attract chaos lightning tribulations. That is not a good thing; the target is simply too large. I possess a method that can steal the sky and swap the sun, deceiving the chaos itself!"
The cultivator suddenly made a brazen boast: "Even the chaos will struggle to detect you! Of course, the chaos is immensely powerful, and my method is not invincible; it loses its efficacy beyond the sixth rank. Furthermore, with each deception, the next occurrence brings an accumulation! If you skip one tribulation, the next will be a double tribulation. Skip two, and three will stack up—until one day, the accumulated tribulations break through my method, crashing down directly to blast you to ash!"
The Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Method?
Li Hao was taken aback and fairly astonished.
This person was bizarre!
Here he was, cultivating peacefully in the chaos, when suddenly a cultivator popped up—one who was indeed likely a sixth rank. Upon meeting, the man wanted Li Hao to impart life and death, and in return, instead of imparting a Dao, he offered a technique!
Yet a technique that could steal the sky, swap the sun, and deceive the chaos... had to be a top-tier Dao method at the very least.
It could even deceive a chaos lightning tribulation? Was that possible?
"You don't believe me?"
The cultivator smiled. Suddenly, with a wave of his hand, a ripple of Dao power spread outward and surged straight toward Li Hao. "See whether my sky-stealing power can shroud you!"
Li Hao instinctively wanted to dodge, but his heart stirred.
In a flash, a peculiar force enveloped him.
In that single instant... the lightning tribulation overhead seemed to lose its bearings, and Li Hao felt the fluctuations of an extraordinary domain. This... this was no mere trick of deception; this was a specialized Dao domain!
A Dao domain method!
Li Hao was inwardly stunned. To this day, he had met quite a few Sovereigns, and there were indeed those who possessed methods resembling Dao domains—such as Kongji's World of Silence, Dark Demon Ridge's Dark Demon Domain, and his own Five Elements Domain...
Apart from those, he had never seen anyone else employ such a thing, not even the sixth-rank Chiyun.
Even his own domain was incomplete and could not conceal a chaos lightning tribulation.
Yet this man's Dao method had truly veiled a portion of the chaos lightning tribulation.
And that was merely using external power. If Li Hao were to cultivate such a domain himself... he might truly be able to shield himself from the chaos.
Li Hao's expression shifted slightly.
Concealing oneself from the chaos!
Terrifying!
Even if this man was merely sixth rank, he had to be an elite among sixth-rank beings. Where on earth had such an expert come from?
"Little Fellow Daoist, are you interested in making the trade?"
Li Hao looked at the man. After a long moment, he said gravely, "If Senior is interested, I am naturally willing!"
Was it worth it?
Of course it was!
The other party seemed to need the Dao of Life and Death, while Li Hao was in dire need of this specialized domain method. It was just rather strange—trading supreme Dao methods upon a first meeting was exceedingly rare.
Even Kongji had not directly traded such top-tier techniques when they had first met.
Li Hao said, "It is just that I am currently in the middle of a breakthrough..."
"No matter, no matter!"
The Daoist smiled. "A mere fourth-rank chaos lightning tribulation can be shattered with a flick of your fingers, given the caliber of your Dao! I can wait for you!"
He then added, "Of course, if you feel it is too weak and crossing it now is boring, you can learn my method first, steal the sky and swap the sun, and let the lightning accumulate!"
Li Hao let out a wry laugh. "Why would I accumulate lightning?"
Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?
The Daoist chuckled again. "To blast people with, of course! I told you, my Dao method steals the sky and swaps the sun! Since it can evade, it can also substitute! Grafting one branch onto another—once the domain is cast and covers your opponent, you toss life, death, silence, and revival onto their head. If the chaos lightning tribulation can't find you, can't it find someone else?"
Li Hao's heart skipped a beat.
It could even be transferred onto someone else?
Then this Dao method truly was extraordinary.
"Senior, what is the root Dao of this method?"
For a moment, Li Hao could not tell.
The cultivator chuckled softly. "The root Dao? The root Dao is... Hiding Away!"
Li Hao was stunned.
The cultivator smiled. "In my earlier years, in order to conceal myself, I racked my brains and cultivated the Dao to veil my presence. After doing it for so long, it became second nature. The Dao, after all, was created by humans!
"Whatever humans say a Dao is, that is what it becomes. I say this is the Dao of Hiding Away, so it is the Dao of Hiding Away."
The Dao was created by humans!
Li Hao was dazed for a moment.
This person... was another Kongji... no, another true seeker of the Dao!
He had searched in vain for genuine Daoist practitioners, only to finally meet Kongji, and now, during a chance encounter in the chaos, he had stumbled upon yet another.
*The Dao was created by humans.*
That single sentence brought Li Hao a unique flash of insight. Empty words were useless, but this man had seemingly forged a Dao of his own—this very method. Hearing him say that the Dao was man-made, combined with experiencing the technique firsthand, sparked countless thoughts in Li Hao's mind.
The man smiled. "What do you think of the name?"
"The name?"
"Yes. Hiding Away—does it sound ugly?"
Li Hao felt a bit awkward. Did it sound ugly?
Terrible!
Yet this appeared to be an original Dao method created by the man himself, which was extraordinary. Even though this man was only in the sixth rank, he gave Li Hao an extraordinary impression. Li Hao had encountered sixth-rank Sovereigns before, but none had made him feel like this.
Dangerous!
An extraordinarily dangerous fellow!
"It sounds great!"
Li Hao smiled. The cultivator chuckled again. "As long as you like it. Do you want to exchange techniques now, or after you cross your tribulation? If we exchange now, I can shield you for a bit... I wouldn't dare provoke a powerful lightning tribulation, but for a mere fourth rank, I can veil you for a while. You'll quickly grasp some of my sky-stealing method, allowing the tribulation to disperse and accumulate for whenever you need it next."
Countless thoughts raced through Li Hao's mind.
After a brief pause, Li Hao said, "Is Senior in a hurry? If you are... we can exchange techniques first."
"Quite in a hurry!"
The cultivator smiled. "A busy life with many matters to attend to, and someone refuses to let me rest. A real headache! I need to reach Tianfang quickly to see if I can find some opportunities. Once I do, I'll be on my way!"
"Then... we can exchange right now."
Without further ado, the Daoist swept forth a surge of Great Dao power that rushed straight toward Li Hao. Li Hao hesitated for a fraction of a second, but soon chose to open himself up, allowing the power to flood into his body.
In an instant, an immense amount of information flooded his mind.
Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping!
This cultivator had truly handed it over just like that.
What supreme confidence—he wasn't worried in the slightest that Li Hao might renege on offering his insights into life and death.
Li Hao comprehended it for a moment, evaluating its general nature. Having experienced the Dao of a seventh-rank Sovereign, he could readily distinguish truth from falsehood. A moment later, a star materialized above Li Hao's head—the Star of Life and Death!
Upon the star, two Great Dao powers intertwined and blended. Soon, a black-and-white river manifested in the void.
A surge of Great Dao power welled up, flowing toward the Daoist.
The middle-aged cultivator allowed the miniature river to pour into his body. After sensing it for a moment, he frowned slightly. Li Hao's heart jumped—what was wrong?
He hadn't falsified anything.
"Passable... just lacking a bit of flavor!"
The cultivator shook his head. "Barely acceptable, I suppose! Your life and death... falls a bit short of the depth I expected. Well, that makes sense; after all, you've only just entered the fourth rank. Life and death is no simple matter, far beyond mere reincarnation and rebirth... Of course, I don't cultivate this Dao, so I don't understand the finer details."
At this point, he smiled. "Still, it's good enough. It solves an urgent problem of mine! If I manage to step into the seventh rank, I will come back to exchange pointers with you. If I can't... then forget it!"
With that, he gave an easygoing laugh. "Well then, I'm off. You'd best leave immediately as well; ahead, a group of sixth-rank Sovereigns seems to be heading this way, and further out, two seventh-rank Sovereigns from Red Moon appear to be passing by this area..."
Li Hao was shocked, then delighted. Red Moon Sovereigns were coming, and two seventh-ranks at that!
"Farewell!"
The cultivator wasted no time, vanishing in an instant. Surprised, Li Hao called out, "May I ask Senior's name?"
"Just a chance meeting between drifting duckweeds, why bother asking for a name!"
The cultivator's voice echoed back, his figure already lost in the boundless chaos.
Strange!
Li Hao was perplexed. He looked in the direction the Daoist had vanished, feeling increasingly bewildered.
The man hadn't seemed to be tracking him intentionally; in all likelihood, it had been a genuine chance encounter. Yet... the man seemed to recognize him. That wasn't entirely surprising, as drawing a chaos lightning tribulation made his identity easy to deduce.
However... that recognition had felt like more than just knowing his identity.
They had traded techniques, and then the man had simply departed.
This Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Method suited Li Hao exceptionally well. More importantly, it was definitely no ordinary technique—it was a specialized Dao domain method that could potentially carry someone all the way to the seventh rank!
And he had just traded it away like that?
The Dao of Life and Death was extraordinary as well, but just as the man had said, Li Hao's strength was still too low. His comprehension lacked depth, and his life and death was not yet consummate. A true Dao of Life and Death alone was capable of reaching the ninth rank.
"Marquis, we must leave at once!"
Beside him, Qian Wuliang was thoroughly alarmed. A group of sixth-rank cultivators likely meant Sovereign Huilong and his cohort.
And with two seventh-rank Sovereigns from Red Moon on their way... they had to run immediately.
As for the man's departure, Qian Wuliang felt considerably relieved. Earlier, he had wanted to peer into the man's heart, but before he could even begin, he had felt as though his own inner thoughts were being laid bare—an utterly terrifying sensation!
Li Hao gave a slight nod as a distinct Dao charm manifested around him.
In the blink of an eye, the dark clouds overhead seemed to lose their target. Even with Li Hao employing only a sliver of the Dao charm he had just learned, it truly succeeded in concealing him.
*Hiss!*
Li Hao drew a sharp breath and glanced once more in the direction the stranger had vanished, his brow furrowing slightly.
What an extraordinary Dao method!
At that moment, Er Mao also stared in that direction for a while, then suddenly said, "He recognized me!"
Li Hao blinked.
He nodded slightly. "Perhaps! Could this person... be a cultivator from Xinwu?"
Qian Wuliang was startled. "A Xinwu cultivator?"
How could that be?
If he were from Xinwu, why hadn't he introduced himself? Recognizing Li Hao meant knowing that Xinwu and Silver Moon were of one body. Why not reveal his identity instead of departing without even leaving a name?
Er Mao bobbed its oversized head. "I don't know him, but from the look of it... he might know me, or know Big Cat! Yet he didn't reveal who he was... I'm not sure who it could be. Maybe someone who didn't fit in with the Xinwu mainstream?"
Li Hao stood in a daze for a moment, then cast another look in that direction. After a long while, he said, "He said he spent his early years hiding his strength, which eventually led him to comprehend this Dao method... If he is a Xinwu powerhouse, currently possessing sixth-rank strength, he wouldn't be a nameless nobody. He would have to be one of Xinwu's renowned top Sovereigns!"
Reflecting on the time he had traveled through the Xinwu era alongside Zhang An, a name suddenly leaped into his mind.
Li Hao's expression turned odd. "Could this... be the fellow who was constantly opposing the Supreme and the Human King?"
"Who?"
Qian Wuliang was curious. Unlike Li Hao, he knew little of Xinwu and had never journeyed through its past.
He had little understanding of those top powerhouses.
"A powerhouse... who is rather difficult to describe."
A name surfaced in Li Hao's mind: Li Zhu!
In the Xinwu era, he had been the greatest early adversary of the Human King and his companions—the son of the Earth Emperor, the King of the Catacombs, Li Zhu!
He had continually concealed his identity and strength, using the entire Yin-Yang World as a testing ground alongside his father, the Earth Emperor, to conduct their experiments. In the end, they had cultivated an incomparably terrifying venomous insect: the Human King!
When slaying the final enemy of Xinwu, the Heavenly Emperor, he had fallen alongside his father and two brothers—a family of four emperors dying together in battle. Later, he seemed to have been resurrected by the Human King.
Even within Xinwu, he was a figure of considerable controversy.
It was hard to judge his merits and faults.
As the original great enemy of humanity and the king of the catacombs, countless humans had died because of him. Yet in the final hour, he had perished battling the Heavenly Emperor to save humanity...
He had never been on particularly good terms with the Supreme and the others.
Even after his resurrection, relations were reportedly strained. Both sides stood united against external threats, but internally, he cared little for associating with the Supreme and his circle.
He had spent all this time wandering the chaos.
Could it have been him?
He had looked somewhat familiar... but also somewhat different from the King of the Catacombs in Li Hao's memories.
Then again, Li Hao had only seen the past, not the present, so he could not be certain. Meanwhile, the lightning tribulation above Li Hao's head had genuinely dispersed.
Qian Wuliang was astonished. What a formidable technique.
Li Hao had only just received it and learned a mere fragment, yet the chaos lightning tribulation had dispersed immediately. This... was incredible.
The chaos lightning tribulation was something feared by everyone in the chaos.
Li Hao said, "It hasn't truly dispersed; it has merely been postponed to accumulate for next time. But with powerhouses approaching, it is best not to cross the tribulation here. Let's move!"
"Has the Marquis advanced?"
"Almost!"
Not yet?
Qian Wuliang was surprised. Li Hao explained, "Just one final step!"
The last step.
Merging life and death with silence and revival.
The fusion of two stars!
At this moment, his formal metamorphosis was not yet complete, but it was close. With the method imparted by that man, he could afford to be bolder and fuse them directly. Still, with experts passing nearby, it was better to steer clear first.
He quickly led his companions away, not daring to linger.
***
Meanwhile.
The cultivator who had vanished earlier was speeding toward Tianfang. Strands of death qi swirled around his body, and a slight smile appeared on his face. "The aura of death is too heavy... Converting even a little bit helps. The vitality is still too weak; I'll probably need more vitality to compensate!"
Regardless, even though the new King of Silver Moon was too weak and his comprehension of life and death lacked depth, it had nonetheless resolved an urgent crisis for him.
Not bad at all!
The Martial King had told him to seek the boy out, but there had been no need to search; running into him like this was a stroke of luck.
Of course, there was no need for deeper contact.
Did a fellow who had rapidly advanced to the fourth rank need any lectures from him?
He was only a sixth rank himself!
"It truly was like being handed a pillow just as I felt drowsy!"
The Daoist chuckled softly. Much of the death power had dissipated, which was good news. Something seemed to have happened in Tianfang, and Tianfang's Great Dao Universe might not even be real... With the King of Silver Moon here, that might very well have been Silver Moon's Great Dao.
Of course, that did not matter.
What mattered was that a flock of world lords would be rushing to Tianfang, and he... might just find his chance to break through to the seventh rank there!
As for acting as an envoy to Bright Light... envoy my foot.
He would wait right here!
He would wait for the experts of the Bright Light Divine Realm to arrive. If they didn't show up, so be it. Wasn't the Divine Son of Bright Light supposed to be here?
He could make contact with him instead.
"Objective: hunt and kill a seventh rank!"
The Daoist murmured silently. The next moment, a smile graced his lips. In an instant, his aura vanished completely. The moment he approached Tianfang, he turned into a speck of dust, seamlessly melting into the Tianfang Great World without leaving the slightest trace.
***
On this day, vast numbers of experts were converging on Tianfang.
Li Hao, on the other hand, was doing the exact opposite, heading away from Tianfang toward the Red Moon domain.
He would pick up his people first before worrying about anything else.
Only after putting a great distance between himself and Tianfang did Li Hao sit down cross-legged once more. Only now did he have the time and energy to contemplate more things, including the Dao method he had traded with that Daoist.
"Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping..."
"This..."
The deeper Li Hao comprehended it, the more astonished he became.
This Dao method was truly extraordinary.
He had never encountered anything like it before. It was not a simple technique for aura containment or stealth—Li Hao knew those as well, but he could never use them to conceal himself from the heavenly secrets of the chaos.
Yet this method could.
After examining it carefully, Li Hao came to a realization. This Dao method... surprisingly, did not originate from the Source World. No wonder he hadn't sensed any Source aura from it; he was thoroughly familiar with the aura of the Source.
This method... was rooted in the chaos!
"That man is a rogue cultivator!"
Li Hao was rather surprised. Was this person truly Li Zhu, as he had guessed?
If so, wasn't Li Zhu a Source cultivator?
Yet this method seemed completely detached from the Source. It was not rooted in the Great Dao of the Source Universe, but in the Great Dao of the chaos, forming a Dao domain somewhat akin to Li Hao's river... an independently forged river. Of course, there were differences.
However, their overarching goals seemed to align.
To establish one's own world, one's own domain.
And the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Method utilized this very characteristic to sever one's connection with the chaos, isolating oneself and disconnecting from the Dao of Chaos. Thus, one could evade the chaos lightning tribulation.
"The root of the lightning tribulation lies in my connection to the chaos?"
Li Hao pondered this. It seemed likely.
Back in Silver Moon, he had been struck by lightning tribulations, but never so frequently—getting struck every single time he used time.
Back then, the strikes had occurred because the Star Gate was on the verge of opening, causing leaks that allowed the chaos lightning tribulation to seep into Silver Moon.
In that case, it had been because his connection to the chaos caused the power of time to leak into the chaos, prompting the strikes...
Did that mean as long as he completely sealed the power of time within his own domain, the tribulation wouldn't strike him?
Thoughts surfaced one after another.
The man's Dao method was formidable, but more importantly, it inspired Li Hao to consider deeper possibilities—a way to completely avoid being struck by the chaos lightning tribulation.
The core issue remained the leakage of time power from his river.
Earlier, using Er Mao and the Star Gate to plug both ends had seemed to provide some concealment.
However, it was not enough.
The entire river was seeping outward; the isolation was not tight enough.
"Therefore, the river is still not enclosed enough! I should merge my domain into the river, comprehend various divine character Daos, and transform those characters into a domain, sealing the entire river completely!
"Conveniently, I also need to comprehend more Daos and manifest more stars. Three hundred and sixty Daos are no longer enough; I must comprehend even more, strengthen silence and revival, and perfect the world within the river!"
The man's Dao method reinforced Li Hao's convictions. This had been his original plan, but previously, he hadn't been certain whether it could truly isolate him from the chaos.
Now, the stranger had proven that it could!
As long as one severed their connection to the chaos, the lightning tribulation would not seek them out.
"If that truly was the man from Xinwu, then this is quite interesting. The Dao methods of Xinwu's top powerhouses are far from as crude as people imagine!"
Li Hao remained somewhat surprised.
Xinwu had once again shattered his preconceptions.
Leaving aside the Xinwu Human King, outsiders often believed that Xinwu powerhouses lacked deep comprehension of the Dao.
Yet the Supreme possessed the Great Dao Book, uniting ten thousand Daos into one.
The Sword Venerable possessed the Longevity Sword, uniting ten thousand Daos into one!
The Xinwu Human King was, at the very least, a master of uniting yin and yang!
Furthermore, if that man was indeed Li Zhu... he had completely detached himself from Xinwu's Source, stepped into the chaos, and cultivated miscellaneous chaos Daos, yet he seemed to be perfecting a small world of his own, much like Li Hao.
A Dao domain!
That man's Dao method was unquestionably formidable, far stronger than that of any sixth-rank Sovereign Li Hao had ever encountered.
Hadn't everyone claimed that Xinwu powerhouses had poor comprehension of the Great Dao?
Li Hao shook his head, looking at Er Mao, then at Qian Wuliang, and finally at Black Panther... Who on earth had said these fellows had poor Dao comprehension?
He had yet to meet the likes of the Blood Sovereign.
Those people were likely extraordinary as well.
The Xinwu World was truly remarkable.
Leaving the seventh ranks aside, these individuals had reached the sixth rank after spending only a thousand-odd years in the chaos. Kongji was already a thousand years old as well, which meant they were all comparable to Kongji, weren't they?
"Tianji has led me astray!"
Li Hao suddenly muttered.
Tianji had given him the impression that Xinwu Sovereigns had abysmal comprehension of the Great Dao, possessing no unique insights and relying entirely on a single principle: brute force!
Of course, traveling through Xinwu's past had given Li Hao a similar impression.
Now, however, Li Hao's perspective had shifted.
What one saw was not necessarily the truth.
Besides, he had only observed the past through Zhang An's perspective. Zhang An had been a minor figure at the time, unable to see through many deeper truths.
Even his perception of the Xinwu Human King might have been flawed.
The Human King had seemed impulsive, reckless, and mad...
Yet uniting the Dao of Yin and Yang was not something a mad cultivator could achieve.
Perhaps he had harbored biases all along.
Then there was the Sun God... Back before Xinwu had even emerged into the chaos, he had likely been close to the seventh rank. Now that he had reached the seventh rank, he was surely extraordinary as well.
Yet in Li Hao's impression, all of them were mere brutes.
Was that truly the case?
Thoughts continued to emerge, but Li Hao put them aside. There would be opportunities to meet them sooner or later.
At this moment, Li Hao formally began his breakthrough into the fourth rank.
The Domain of Silence manifested.
Within the River of Life and Death, two stars began to merge. At the same time, a distinct physical strength surged from within Li Hao's body. Beside him, Chiyun's corpse began to break apart—already shattered, its condensed energy now disintegrated completely and flowed into the river.
Using the power of a sixth-rank Sovereign to complete his official breakthrough would save Li Hao an immense amount of time.
Vast amounts of fire-element power merged into Li Hao's Great Dao.
Meanwhile, a phrase echoed in his mind: *The Dao was created by humans.*
Did that mean time, too, was created by humans?
Time, space, life, death... were they all created by humans?
Did they not exist naturally from the beginning?
Li Hao pondered this continuously, not suspecting some grand conspiracy, but considering that his Dao of Time might truly be incomplete and lacking many elements. It might merely be a foundation.
Someone had comprehended time and laid the groundwork, but how the building was constructed thereafter depended entirely on him.
The foundation was crucial, but how the building was erected, what style it took—whether a villa, a Western-style house, a courtyard mansion, a skyscraper, or a humble thatched cottage—all depended on oneself.
Life, death, and everything else were merely foundations. He was slowly refining them, building his house brick by brick.
"Compared to them, I still fall far short!"
Compared to Li Zhu, Wushan, and even Kongji, he was still a step behind.
If those individuals were to traverse Dao Chess, even the weakest among them, Kongji, could probably clear over six thousand squares. Needless to say for Wushan, and that Daoist from earlier might not perform any worse than Wushan.
All of them likely possessed the potential to step into the seventh rank.
Yet the current Li Hao was not there yet.
He still lacked something.
His perception of the Dao was broad, but lacked depth; his foundation was still lacking. Even if given the opportunity to enter the seventh rank right now, he would struggle to do so. The fire-element power he had borrowed earlier had only reinforced his understanding that it had merely been a pseudo-seventh rank!
A true seventh-rank Sovereign was absolutely not like that.
Within the river, the two stars orbited and gradually fused together. Vast amounts of energy were consumed, and the portions that leaked outward were not wasted in the slightest. Black Panther and Qian Wuliang devoured whatever came their way, consuming as much as escaped.
To them, the power of a genuine sixth-rank Sovereign was an invaluable treasure.
Even the impurities expelled by Li Hao were devoured with relish.
After a long time.
*Boom!*
A tremendous roar echoed as the river violently convulsed. Star after star flashed with brilliance, and the shattered Life and Death Bridges were rebuilt one by one, swiftly restoring themselves.
The length of the river expanded wildly.
It was as if it pierced right through the world!
Within the river, the power of silence and the power of death began to blend together, while the power of revival remained somewhat feeble. Kongji could at least grow a blade of grass; Li Hao gave it a try... and couldn't even sprout a single root.
As the power of revival surged into his body... Li Hao tested it, then shook his head.
He consumed the power of revival in an attempt to recover the other depleted energies, but the results were underwhelming, falling far short of Kongji's display, where exhausting fifth-rank power had restored the strength of a pseudo-seventh rank.
"My comprehension is still insufficient... I need to keep growing stronger!"
Li Hao reflected inwardly. During his previous trial in Dao Chess, he had comprehended many Daos. At the time, he had feared biting off more than he could chew, but now, he truly needed to condense more Great Dao stars.
Then he would gather them into divine characters and forge the river into an enormous, composite domain.
This was the embryonic form of a world!
"Daos are created by humans, and worlds... are also created by humans! Great Dao Universes as well..."
He understood this far better than Kongji.
Even though those words had come from Wushan's mouth and Li Hao hadn't heard them directly, it did not matter. He knew that Great Dao Universes were born from human comprehension, because Silver Moon's Great Dao Universe—the current dual-Dao universe—likely originated from the Sword Venerable.
At least in part, it stemmed from the Sword Venerable's comprehension.
The other part... likely came from the Emperor of Battle Heaven!
For instance, the most crucial component—time. Li Hao suspected it might be the remnants of the Emperor of Battle Heaven's lifetime comprehension condensed into the Time Star. Er Mao's refusal to let go of it was not merely about reminiscing over the past; it had likely sensed something as well.
As for the Great Dao River, it was likely formed from the Sword Venerable's insights.
None of these figures were ordinary.
Li Hao's comprehension was entirely dissolved within the River of Life and Death, yet the gap between his current state and a true Great Dao Universe was immense. Even though the Sword Venerable had only been at the sixth rank while Li Hao had reached the fourth, Li Hao increasingly felt that his comprehension of the Dao was not necessarily deeper than theirs.
His sole advantage lay in his solid foundation, which he was slowly and steadily enriching.
After a short while, Li Hao's body shuddered!
A majestic power swept in all directions, quickly swallowed by the Domain of Silence and settling into absolute stillness.
Formidable physical strength merged into the River of Life and Death.
The power of the river began to swirl around Li Hao once more.
The river that had manifested outside suddenly vanished, merging into Li Hao's body the next moment like blood vessels coursing through him. The newly fused stars of life, death, and silence separated once more, establishing a faint resonance between them.
These two stars suddenly materialized within Li Hao's eyes, one on the left and one on the right.
Life and death in the left eye; silence and revival in the right.
When Qian Wuliang looked at Li Hao again... his heart trembled even more violently.
Black Panther, on the other hand, was ecstatic, sensing the transformation within Li Hao.
Soon, Li Hao's aura shifted. From its original boundless vigor, it suddenly became faint and ethereal, resembling that of the cultivator from before.
It carried an added layer of mystique, as though completely detached from the chaos.
"Fourth rank!"
Li Hao smiled and let out a long breath.
Though his breakthrough had not been achieved through yin and yang, he was still immensely satisfied.
A middle-rank Sovereign at last!
With this, he possessed far greater confidence. Even without borrowing strength from time, he had the foundation to stand his ground in the chaos. As long as he did not provoke high-rank Sovereigns, encountering a sixth rank... provided it wasn't an anomaly like Li Zhu or Kongji, he couldn't guarantee a win, but he could at least run away.
***
Just as Li Hao officially entered the fourth rank and resumed his journey toward Red Moon.
Tianfang Great World.
Two formidable pressures spilled outward beyond the world's borders; two high-rank Sovereigns from Red Moon had arrived.
On the other side, an equally imposing pressure surged forth, radiant as a blazing sun.
A top Sovereign from the Bright Light Divine Realm had arrived as well!
In the surrounding void, faint presences of other world lords seemed to linger, though none displayed their full might. Most of them hailed from seventh-rank great worlds. Under normal circumstances, a seventh-rank great world could give birth to one or two seventh-rank Sovereigns, either as world lords or Great Dao lords.
The Xinwu World, on the other hand, had birthed three. The Sun God was a unique seventh rank, having carved out his own path within a seventh-rank world to become a seventh rank independent of both world lord and Great Dao lord.
At this moment, someone spoke: "Wushan, open the world gate!"
The voice came from the Bright Light Sovereign on the other side. He was not the Lord of Bright Light; the moment the voice rang out, the top powerhouses all knew this was Sovereign Yaoyang of the Bright Light Divine Realm.
He was also the Sovereign from the Bright Light World who campaigned abroad the most. The Dao of Bright Light took various forms within their world, and his leaned toward the blazing sun, intermingled with numerous offensive Daos.
Inside the Tianfang Great World.
Wushan smiled faintly. Yaoyang had arrived.
From Red Moon came Jihuo and Hongyu, and in the surrounding void lingered several seventh-rank Sovereigns from other great worlds.
Right now, they were all waiting for him to open the world gate.
Besides them... a sixth-rank Sovereign seemed to have arrived earlier, possessing no small skill, as he had actually merged into the world barrier to conceal himself within. It was impossible to tell what manner of sacred entity he was, but he could not be underestimated.
The moment Tianfang stirred, all sorts of characters truly came crawling out of the woodwork.
Wushan swept his gaze over these Sovereigns without saying a word. He was in no hurry to open the gate; these fellows were capable of breaching it by force, but none wished to turn hostile and clash with him just yet.
Wushan pondered his options.
Meanwhile, within the world barrier, a cultivator disguised as a speck of dust was also observing the surroundings. Ultimately, his gaze fell upon the two Sovereigns from Red Moon, though he quickly looked away.
The opportunity to reach the seventh rank did not lie with these two.
He needed to find the lord of a seventh-rank great world!
At the same time, a figure hurried out of Dark Demon Ridge, his aura still somewhat erratic and his sixth-rank power not yet fully stabilized. Yet he hurried outside nonetheless, looking up at the sky with a chuckle.
The fun was finally starting!
Senior Yaoyang had arrived as well... It was a pity Li Hao had left, though even if he had stayed, this was no longer his battlefield. Here, sixth ranks could try their luck, but seventh ranks took center stage, and eighth ranks might even appear.
A sixth rank was merely the entry ticket to this upheaval.
"It wasn't in vain that I broke through to the sixth rank so quickly!"
Kongji laughed softly and swiftly flew toward one of the world gates. Since Yaoyang had arrived, it was better to rendezvous with him; facing a crowd of seventh-rank Sovereigns was indeed a bit intimidating.
Even though Tianfang's Great Dao Universe wouldn't truly open... he could still observe the destruction of a great world.
If a few seventh-rank lords didn't die this time, it would hardly justify everyone making the journey.
Chapter 465