Emerging from Seclusion

Everyone played their assigned part in the grand scheme of things. Some played it so earnestly that by the very end, they could no longer tell whether they were acting or living genuine lives. Who was to say that life wasn't just a performance? King Huai was putting on an act. And at this very moment, so was Li Hao. The role he chose to play was the Dao itself. Within Dao Chess, Li Hao felt as though he had become the Dao, playing the roles of disparate Daos and different Dao Lords, weaving distinct Dao webs and comprehending the varied cores of the Great Daos. Comprehending the Dao was an act of entering the Dao. How could one truly comprehend it without completely immersing oneself within? Square 4,400. Li Hao lingered there for a very long time. This particular Dao was a Dao of acting, the Dao of an actor—or as others called it, a Dao of mimicry, capable of imitating myriad Daos. Mimicry was not considered an exceptionally potent Great Dao in its own right. Otherwise, it would not have been relegated to a minor square instead of an even thousands milestone. Yet to Li Hao, every single Dao possessed unique qualities. Even the humblest of Daos, like the Dao of Adhesion, harbored its own peculiar virtues. Within his River of Great Dao, the number of stars had multiplied, and so too had his minor worlds. Though none had expanded yet, their quantity had grown considerably. No longer 360, they had now reached 400. The minor world of fire. Myriad Daos manifested within it—a genuine display of the myriad Daos. Although many were mere traces and copies born of imitation, they still carried an inkling of true resonance. Such was Li Hao's Dao of mimicry. His Dao web was no longer a crude, rudimentary fire Dao woven together with assorted trash Daos. At this moment, this web manifested more than four thousand Great Daos. Li Hao was actively weaving! The entire realm of fire expanded frantically. The fierce tiger within the realm grew unimaginably formidable, its aura surging to the heavens. The Daos of every square he had traversed manifested within it, all anchored by the element of fire. Li Hao was weaving a genuine minor world. Aside from being incapable of giving birth to living beings, this minor world of fire was now scarcely different from an actual small world. A small world did not contain many Daos to begin with; a small world's Dao web held a few thousand at most, and as few as several hundred at least. By employing the Dao of mimicry to replicate the Daos he had previously comprehended and bring them forth, even if they fell slightly short of true Great Daos, they were more than sufficient for Li Hao's current purposes. Having replicated 4,400 Great Daos centered around the fire element, Li Hao suddenly noticed a difference. The realm of fire began to feel somewhat illusory. Space? He had previously conjectured that fusing 9,999 Great Daos according to the arrangement of Dao Chess would yield space. Judging by this, his guess might not have been mistaken. Perhaps Dao Chess truly was the Lord of Tianfang's authentic legacy. Having merely mimicked over four thousand Great Daos—and not even genuine ones at that—the fierce tiger within the fire realm now seemed to flicker in and out of existence, displaying hints of an ability to traverse space! Probably even the Lord of Tianfang could never have imagined that someone reaching square 4,400 would apply such an unassuming Dao of mimicry to such supernatural perfection. To begin weaving a true Dao web at this stage... even if the Daos weren't entirely genuine. The tiger leaped! It traversed space... though the distance and scope of its transit remained small. Yet to Li Hao, this was a massive source of encouragement. He was even somewhat thrilled! If he continued mimicking Daos like this, even if he couldn't truly comprehend all ten thousand Daos, he might eventually comprehend the Dao of Space. Space... appeared to be far more complex than anticipated. It wasn't merely the power of a single Dao, but possibly the fused power of ten thousand Daos. Li Hao had lingered on square 4,400 for far too long. The phantom figure watched in bewilderment. Square 4,400 was just a minor Dao! Previously, the gap between Li Hao and Kongji had narrowed to only five hundred squares. Given their respective paces and the escalating difficulty of later stages, Li Hao might have caught up with Kongji soon, or at least steadily closed the distance. Yet Li Hao had remained on square 4,400 for an entire day. During that day, Kongji had crossed square 5,000. That fellow moved swiftly and was already advancing toward square 6,000, while Li Hao was still stuck at square 4,400. Had he encountered a stumbling block? The phantom was puzzled. It wasn't a major milestone square, just a minor Dao. Why stay there for so long? The phantom knew a bit about the Dao of square 4,400; it possessed the power of replication. For a cultivator, it offered some utility for disguise, but the effect was hardly stellar. A disguise was fake after all; such Daos were suited for petty thieves and sneak thieves. Truly powerful figures held it in utter contempt. No matter how realistic an act was, it remained fake. Could such a trivial Dao truly stump a genius like Li Hao? It was baffling! Or had Li Hao's direction of comprehension gone awry, leaving him unable to advance? The phantom contemplated offering a hint several times, but ultimately refrained. As an overseer, he could not intervene directly to tell them how to comprehend. Moreover, Li Hao's understanding might be completely different from what others imagined. Curious as he was, the phantom said nothing. As long as Li Hao could persevere, Dao Chess would remain open. Besides, neither of them had been inside for all that long. …… Just as the phantom was lost in thought, the fire elemental power on Li Hao's body suddenly flared. A fierce tiger flickered in and out of view. The phantom blinked, and the tiger seemed to vanish. Looking again... it had indeed disappeared. While the phantom was still perplexed, a jolt of alarm struck him the next instant. He whipped his head around, only to see a massive, slant-eyed tiger glaring right back at him from his side. The phantom's expression changed drastically! What? When had this tiger arrived? Where had it come from? How could it appear instantaneously? Traversing? Space? Or something else? A dazed look appeared in the tiger's eyes, suggesting it was no ordinary beast, but... Li Hao himself! With a hint of bewilderment in its gaze, the tiger looked at the phantom. A moment later, it vanished again, returning to Li Hao's body. Li Hao then rose to his feet and stepped off square 4,400. He paid no attention to the phantom. Yet the phantom could no longer hold back. His expression shifted rapidly as he asked in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist Li Hao, just now..." Li Hao looked up, appearing slightly sheepish. "I was overwhelmed with excitement and decided to test out a minor Dao I just comprehended." Test out your mother! A minor Dao? A fierce tiger had materialized right beside him out of nowhere! To be sure, even Peak Realm experts had the ability to tear through space and arrive in an instant, but what tearing space meant within a world was an entirely different concept. What a Peak Realm expert considered space was, in the eyes of true powerhouses, nothing more than traversing along the trajectory of a specific Dao from one end to the other. It suffered from immense limitations, possessed obvious characteristics, and generated enormous commotion. If the genuine Dao of Space were like that, how could a Space Sovereign ever be deemed an overwhelmingly terrifying combatant? What Li Hao had just done—materializing instantly without the slightest Dao fluctuation—bore the hallmarks of appearing out of thin air. How could that be? The Lord of Tianfang... What in the world had Li Hao comprehended? Dazed, the phantom stared at Li Hao. "Did you gain some comprehension regarding space?" "No!" Li Hao shook his head, denying it outright. He truly hadn't. It was merely pseudo-space. First, the Daos were not genuine. Second, they were incomplete. It was a far cry from true space. The genuine Dao of Space was nowhere near this simple. He had merely conducted a brief trial, and it was only a transit of consciousness coupled with a bit of force; his true body couldn't traverse instantaneously at all. Could this be considered the Dao of Space? Not at all! It didn't even count as scratching the surface! Well, perhaps it counted as the barest sliver of the surface. Li Hao was quite delighted that his prolonged contemplation had yielded results. It was decent enough. Of course, he dared not compare himself to the Lord of Tianfang; that would be an insult to the senior. A true Great Dao of Space was bound to be unimaginably powerful! Having only learned scraps, how could he claim to have comprehended space? *Are you lying to me?* The phantom cursed inwardly! No comprehension? If there was no comprehension, how had that tiger appeared just now? He hadn't even reacted in time. Swallowing his curses, the phantom did not voice them aloud, though his tone grew grave. "The Dao of Space is far from simple! True space isn't like tearing open a crack in a small world... True space inverts time and space, with no heaven, no earth, and no chaos! A wave of the hand creates a realm containing myriad Daos..." Li Hao started slightly, then nodded. He knew it was extraordinary, but according to the phantom... it was even more terrifying. A wave of the hand creates a realm! Did such a realm possess a world source? If not, it was still manageable... Though terrifying to outsiders, Li Hao could accept it. But if a wave of the hand could birth a source, that wouldn't just be terrifying—it would be horrifying! For a rank nine Sovereign to achieve such a feat felt normal to Li Hao. Yet if one could wave a hand and create a genuine world, that was no longer normal; that was a true Creator! A wave of the hand could create all things and all living creatures. Even Chaos itself could be created! Before the phantom could speak further, Li Hao asked, "Senior, can a realm created by a wave of the hand birth living beings?" "..." *Is that the point?* The phantom was speechless. After a long pause, he grunted, "I don't know." That wasn't his point at all. The point was whether Li Hao had gained any comprehension of space! "It probably can't!" Li Hao answered his own question. "If it could, it would mean that ancient Tianfang could have produced a massive number of Sovereigns—countless Sovereigns, at least 9,999 of them!" "..." *Fine, I don't understand what you're on about.* *Or maybe I kind of do.* *Did you really think the Lord of Tianfang could casually manufacture 9,999 Dao realms?* Belittling the claim seemed inappropriate, but exaggerating wasn't right either. The phantom could only say, "Kongji has already reached square 5,400. You've fallen a thousand squares behind him!" Earlier, one was at 3,000 and the other at 2,000. The gap had been one thousand squares then as well! Yet maintaining that same thousand-square gap now meant Li Hao had slowed down substantially. Li Hao chuckled. "It's fine. I'll just try my best to reach past square 5,000. Half and half will do. Biting off too much at once isn't necessarily a good thing. Kongji needs to comprehend life and death, destruction and rebirth, light and darkness; he needs to push further to grasp the core he desires. I don't need to do that." At present, Li Hao also pursued polar Daos, but polarity was not his core. His true core remained the power of ten thousand Daos. The phantom was at a loss for words. *You motherfucker...* Forget it, he shouldn't curse. He shouldn't stoop to profanity! He had harbored such high hopes for this kid, yet the rascal showed zero ambition. Li Hao let out a light laugh and resumed advancing through Dao Chess. The phantom couldn't resist asking, "I see you've gained quite a lot. Can you still not step into rank five?" Truth be told, Li Hao's harvest had been enormous. In the phantom's view, reaching rank five shouldn't have been an issue. It was terrifying! Yet it also felt completely natural. Li Hao shook his head. "Whether it's rank five or rank six, what's holding me back right now isn't comprehension. It's the power of the Great Dao!" "You're still lacking Great Dao crystals?" The phantom pondered for a moment. "Actually... Dao Chess contains quite a bit of Great Dao power as well..." Li Hao sighed. "Thank you, Senior, but no need." *He doesn't need it?* Li Hao continued, "I did the math. To perfect my Daos and let me step into rank five, without factoring in anything else, at this stage, let me calculate..." To perfect 400 minor worlds, each world required at least ten million Great Dao crystals. Equivalent to the value of a small world! That meant roughly... four billion? Perhaps a bit less, since he had already perfected a portion of them. Call it three billion Great Dao crystals. A medium world only fetched over a hundred million; this was equivalent to dozens of medium worlds. Before calculating, he hadn't realized, but once he did... even Li Hao had to sigh. Reaching rank five was so difficult. How could it demand so much? "Around three billion Great Dao crystals!" "What?" The phantom froze, completely dumbfounded. *Are you kidding me?* *How many?* *Three billion?* *Are you trying to advance to rank five or rank seven? If you said you needed that much for rank seven, I could still understand, but you're... only advancing to rank five, damn it!* Li Hao explained, "Senior, a larger appetite indicates a sturdier foundation. Once I reach rank five, while I wouldn't dare claim I could sweep all middle-rank Sovereigns, very few among them would be able to match me..." With the stacked power of 400 worlds, Li Hao didn't dare say he could blast a rank seven to pieces, but if he truly attained rank five, even if he fell short of the current Sword Venerable, the gap shouldn't be too vast. That was why he needed to scheme for more. Only an entire rank eight great world could satisfy his requirements. The phantom furrowed his brow slightly. "Even the Lord of Tianfang didn't consume this much during this stage, yet his combat prowess was formidable! Have you strayed onto the wrong path?" Greater consumption didn't necessarily mean better! Was the Lord of Tianfang strong? Yet during this stage, his consumption hadn't been anywhere near this monstrous. Li Hao smiled and said nothing. He wasn't walking the same path as the Lord of Tianfang. He was pursuing the convergence of myriad genuine worlds to create a minor Chaos—not through imitation, and not merely by creating a Dao domain, but... actual worlds! If it were merely a Dao domain, it would naturally be far simpler. What Li Hao hoped to achieve was the birth of genuine worlds. Even if he couldn't yet create a world source, that was fine; at least the foundation had to be laid. It would certainly be an intriguing endeavor. Years from now, if he died while his River of Great Dao endured, anyone who entered might genuinely believe they had stepped into Chaos, into an era of myriad worlds! Imagine scooping a small world out of Chaos and placing it into his River before a Sovereign was born within it. Once a Sovereign finally emerged, stepped out of the world, and entered Chaos... only to see myriad worlds extinguished and completely devoid of life, would they mistakenly assume that Chaos had perished? How fascinating! He truly wanted to give it a try! On second thought... forget it. He had no time for such experiments right now. Besides, the River was still far too tender at its current stage. Saying no more, Li Hao resumed his comprehension within Dao Chess. He would perfect his Dao of mimicry. The more he mimicked, the deeper his comprehension of space grew. If nothing else, combined with the technique of Stealing the Sky and Swapping the Sun, he could become an assassin in the future—an assassin who appeared out of nowhere to deal a lethal strike! Such a method was quite handy. Having reaped another considerable harvest, Li Hao was in high spirits. Dao Chess truly was a treasure; every time he entered, he felt his gains were immense. At this moment, Li Hao set a small goal for himself. Upon emerging from Dao Chess this time, he would open another 100 minor worlds. It wouldn't be difficult, really. He would assemble 500 worlds! Interweaving the virtual and the real, he would achieve the cultivation of a thousand true Daos. Using that as a foundation to nourish and expand the 500 minor worlds, perhaps expanding just a portion of them would be enough to push him into rank five. Then again... between rank four and rank six, there weren't actually any massive boundary bottlenecks. Advancing from rank four to rank five was fundamentally a matter of varying degrees of comprehension over a single Dao, coupled with differences in raw power. Once his power reached the mark, wouldn't being rank five or rank four be up to him to declare? At this stage, what difference did it make if he called himself a rank five? It was only that in the eyes of outsiders, the star formed by his core Daos—life and death, destruction, and rebirth—had not individually reached the rank five level! Li Hao had a sudden epiphany. Outsiders did not judge your overall composition; they looked at a single part, the most prominent part. Among all of Li Hao's Great Daos, the strongest was currently that star of life, death, and destruction, which only held the strength of a rank four Dao. The other minor worlds hadn't even attained the Great Dao power of a rank one Sovereign. Thus, outsiders could not see the cumulative effect. Coupled with the fact that Li Hao had not woven them into a complete Dao web, onlookers only perceived his strongest Dao. "So that's how it is!" Li Hao understood a bit more. In that case, even if a rank nine Sovereign concealed their strongest Great Dao, outsiders would only see the strength of their other Daos. If that person's second-strongest Dao was merely at rank one, outsiders would see only a rank one Sovereign. "Intriguing!" Li Hao smiled. If so, as long as his star of life and death wasn't exceedingly powerful, even if he possessed all ten thousand Daos, so long as he didn't weave them into a genuine Dao web, people would still only see a rank four Sovereign, wouldn't they? It was a naturally great method for concealing one's strength! Of course, ordinary people couldn't pull this off. Even if an ordinary person cultivated several different Daos, stacking them yielded far less effect than imagined. To produce a notable cumulative effect, one needed at least several hundred Great Daos. Feeling thoroughly pleased with himself, Li Hao resumed his comprehension of the Great Daos. The phantom, meanwhile, sank into contemplation. When Li Hao first entered Tianfang, all the phantom had seen was someone constantly borrowing power to leverage against others. Back then, the phantom had worried this man would become trapped in such a cycle, which would inevitably lead to disaster and death within the flow of time! Yet when Li Hao entered this place once more... the traces of time on him were scarcely visible. Li Hao seemed to have sealed time away. Even if he hadn't, the shadows of time lingering on him had diminished dramatically. Lately, he seemed to use time very sparingly; even when he did, he no longer borrowed power recklessly and incessantly as before. Was it because he sensed danger, or had he shifted his mindset and broken free from time's grasp? The temptation of time was immense! Could anyone truly break free? Think about it: as a rank one Sovereign, one could borrow the strength of a rank seven... Boundless inflation, boundless desire. Anyone else might have thought of directly borrowing the strength of a rank nine to unify Chaos! By that point, who would bother with bitter cultivation? Desire was terrifying! Yet Li Hao appeared to have restrained such desire... Ordinary temptations could no longer shackle a man like him. In the Red Moon World... the Lord of Red Moon, a rank eight Sovereign, possessed an exceptionally potent Dao of Desire. Could his Dao of Desire truly affect Li Hao? Could it affect someone who had extracted himself from the allure of time? Even if he was merely a rank four Sovereign! All humans harbored desires; the ability to restrain them was the most terrifying quality of all. …… "Still not coming out?" Wushan was growing anxious. The King of Silver Moon and Kongji had already been inside for seven days! These seven days had been sheer torment for him. People probed him constantly from all directions. Many places of Dao resonance had been destroyed, yet none had succeeded in drawing out the Tianfang Universe. Now, more and more rank seven Sovereigns gathered in the surroundings. Many rank sevens were abandoning other places of Dao resonance and fixing their sights on Dark Demon Ridge. They had not attacked yet, but they had shifted from lurking in secret to actively testing the waters. *Boom!* The void rippled as the power of the Great Dao swept outward. Wushan's expression turned frigid. Without a word, he struck out with one palm, pressing down like a five-fingered mountain, and barked coldly, "Qishui, are you seeking death?" In the distance, a female Sovereign resembling a water goddess revealed her true form. She smiled gently. "Fellow Daoist Wushan misunderstands. Seeing the surrounding mist obscuring everyone's view just now, I merely sought to cleanse it. If you object, I shall desist. Why be so hostile?" Her tone was gentle and soothing, yet Wushan remained utterly cold. This woman! These people were beginning their probes. A rank eight great world like Yunxiao could no longer deter them—not because they didn't fear Yunxiao, but because they no longer feared Wushan! Rumors had been spreading like wildfire lately. Wushan was preparing to abandon Yunxiao and depart. Wushan knew exactly who had leaked this news. Who else could it be besides the Yunxiao World Master? Why do this? Because only by doing so could the World Master make Wushan realize that without a rank eight great world as his backing, without an immensely powerful world behind him, even a peak rank seven held zero deterrent power in times like these! *You may have rendered service over the years, but do not forget where your true confidence comes from!* *If you wish to leave, fine... think it through carefully.* *Once you step out, you are merely a rank seven. There is no shortage of rank seven World Masters; who would fear you?* Wushan understood the Yunxiao World Master's thinking all too well. The clearer it became, the more impatient he grew. So what if he lacked Yunxiao? Had people not been waiting at Dark Demon Ridge, he wouldn't have feared these individuals in the slightest. Even if someone dared strike, as long as he killed one of them, the rest wouldn't dare lift a finger! He knew these fellows inside and out. If he didn't have to watch over Dark Demon Ridge, he would march over and slaughter this woman right now, and all the surrounding rank sevens would be terrified. But he couldn't leave, because the moment he did, someone would surely breach Dark Demon Ridge! Damnable! Were Kongji and that kid never going to finish? At a critical juncture like this, entering seclusion for seven days... it was practically taking his life. They were only partners; he wasn't their Dao protector! He felt thoroughly aggrieved! Last time, lending a hand had been part of their agreed collaboration. Dangerous as it was, he had accepted it. This time was different! This time, those two scoundrels were treating him as their personal Dao protector, weren't they? That bastard Kongji was even more abominable. His father was nearby; why hadn't he called his father over? And you, King of Silver Moon—aren't you in league with the Human King? The Human King is nearby as well; why didn't you ask the Human King to protect you? Why did it have to be me! While Wushan fumed, the auras of powerhouses multiplied all around. His expression darkened. Right at that moment, someone approached through the air nearby. Sovereign Shenhai's complex demeanor had been replaced by a calm expression as he spoke: "Wushan, let Huilong take charge of Huilong Temple. This was originally his domain. Qishui's harassment of you is an affront to our Yunxiao. Today, you and I can join forces to slay Qishui... This place is inconvenient; let us take it to the Chaos outside!" Wushan remained silent. Huilong takes over, he departs, and Shenhai helps him deal with Qishui... It seemed perfectly reasonable, and Yunxiao appeared to hold him in high regard. However... abandoning this place meant one thing: he would be choosing to give up on leaving and return to Yunxiao. In the distance, Sovereign Qishui raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled, showing little fear. She understood what Shenhai meant. Was she afraid? Not particularly. Setting aside whether Wushan would leave, even if he did... daring to probe meant she naturally possessed some confidence. At this moment, she was quite interested in seeing whether Wushan would depart. She wasn't the only one; many others were watching. If Wushan left, it meant he wouldn't break away from Yunxiao, and he was abandoning the Tianfang Universe. Would he? Wushan gave his answer. He swept a cold gaze across the surroundings. "If you want to come in, it's simple: kill me! I told you, Dark Demon Ridge has nothing to do with the Tianfang Universe. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do!" Sovereign Qishui laughed softly. "Since it has nothing to do with it, why do you persist in blocking everyone here, Fellow Daoist?" Wushan said nothing. This only confirmed everyone's suspicion that this place was indeed connected to the Tianfang Universe. Sovereign Shenhai abandoned all pleasantries, his tone turning somber. "Wushan, in that case, why not hand Dark Demon Ridge over to my charge? Go deal with whomever you wish; Yunxiao will protect you, and I shall guard Dark Demon Ridge for you!" Wushan shot him a cold glance. "Tell the World Master to come say that in person!" Shenhai stared at him for a long moment, then turned to face the surroundings and said calmly, "Everyone has seen Wushan's stance. This matter has nothing to do with Yunxiao! Yunxiao is willing to open Dark Demon Ridge to the public, or even destroy it... but right now, the one obstructing you all is not Yunxiao!" He said nothing more; this single statement was enough. Sovereign Qishui smiled. "Shenhai, do you mean to say... Wushan does not represent Yunxiao, and his current attitude does not reflect Yunxiao's stance?" "Indeed!" Shenhai replied before vanishing on the spot, as if telling the crowd: *Do as you please; Yunxiao will not interfere!* Wushan didn't care in the slightest, merely glaring coldly at Qishui. Fury flared in his heart once more. Why hadn't those two bastards come out yet? Once they were out... it would be best if they took Dao Chess with them. With Dao Chess gone, Dark Demon Ridge would be irrelevant. Then he could unleash his full might, and even if he couldn't kill Qishui, he would show this woman the meaning of ferocity! …… Inside Dark Demon Ridge. Seven days flashed by in the blink of an eye. Kongji coughed up a mouthful of blood as he stepped out from a Dao square. Clearing his throat, he shook his head and looked toward the phantom with a trace of regret. "I overestimated myself!" "Square 6,999!" The phantom praised, "Incredible!" Kongji had attempted square 7,000 several times, failing each time and suffering backlash from the Great Dao, leaving him considerably wounded. Of course, with his Daos of rebirth and life, he could recover swiftly. Even so, he couldn't get past square 7,000. This meant his comprehension of the Dao had not truly attained the seventh rank; he was still one hurdle away. He sighed with regret. "I have gained some comprehension of life and death, light and darkness, destruction and rebirth, but it feels like I'm lacking that final breath. I cannot fully fuse them into one to cross into rank seven in a single leap!" What a pity! Square 7,000 was effectively a Dao of grand fusion! At this hurdle, he had attempted to fuse his polar Daos with each try, but failed every time. This proved he was still missing something. "It is already magnificent!" The phantom spoke up. "Truly, there is no need to belittle yourself. In truth, even some rank seven Sovereigns couldn't necessarily reach this point. Rank sevens from rank eight great worlds, including certain rank seven World Masters, would stop at square 6,999 just like you." "Grand fusion is a relatively arduous hurdle. Back in the day, even some of the Five Elemental Envoys failed to cross it." The phantom offered a few comforting words; it truly was impressive. He added, "Last time, you drew upon your square 5,000 request in advance. Now that you have passed square 6,000, you may make another request." Kongji glanced at Li Hao, who was still clearing squares not far away. "Let's wait a moment!" The phantom said no more. He turned his gaze toward Li Hao as well. Square 5,000! This fellow had lingered on square 5,000 for quite a while now. Meanwhile, Kongji had pushed all the way to square 7,000. The gap had widened significantly! However, Kongji frowned slightly. "Square 5,000 is the Dao of Metal, the most lethal of the Five Elements. It shouldn't be terribly difficult..." The phantom was about to agree. Just as they spoke, the power of the Five Elements abruptly surfaced around Li Hao. The next moment, a fierce tiger, a small tree, a sharp sword, surging waves, and a colossal mountain materialized upon his form. The Five Elements converged! In an instant, the Five Elements merged, five domains surfaced, and five worlds stacked atop one another. Kongji fell silent, uttering not another word. *Fuck!* *You're fusing the Five Elements.* *No wonder you took so long.* *Boom!* A tremendous roar echoed as the Five Elements fused and the five worlds successfully stacked, radiating the aura of a peak rank four. This signified that under the fusion of the Five Elements, Li Hao's cultivation in the eyes of outsiders was now at the peak of rank four. It was slightly stronger than the fusion of life and death, destruction and rebirth, as those Daos were merely at rank four and had not reached the peak. Still, it hadn't reached rank five. Li Hao exhaled a breath, stepped out of Dao Chess, and let out a chuckle. "Fascinating!" The Five Elements had unified once more! A relative balance had been achieved, though the fire element remained the strongest, keeping fire as the core. Li Hao looked at Kongji. "Brother Kongji, you're done?" "No, square 7,000 was a grand fusion; I couldn't pass it!" "Impressive. You moved so fast!" Kongji was speechless. Impressive? Perhaps. Even though this bastard had simply given up after reaching square 5,000. "You're not going further?" "No!" Li Hao smiled. "Seven days have passed without anyone disturbing us. Senior Wushan might still be outside protecting us; we shouldn't push our luck! My gains are already immense. I feel this session was worth several years of solitary comprehension!" Li Hao chuckled with a hint of emotion. The harvest was substantial! Everything was ready; he was only lacking funds. If someone gave him several billion Great Dao crystals now, there would be no bottlenecks. He could leap straight into rank five, fuse 500 worlds, and... smash rank sixes to pieces! Li Hao grinned! Aura-wise, he hadn't grown drastically stronger, merely advancing from rank four to the peak of rank four. In reality, his gains were extraordinary. "Senior, Dark Demon Ridge is no longer safe." Li Hao addressed the phantom: "Squares 3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 each grant me a request—three in total, correct?" "Correct." The phantom nodded. Li Hao began, "First, Senior, can Dao Chess relocate?" The phantom laughed. "Relocate? To where?" "As long as it remains within Tianfang, the cosmic aura of Dao Chess won't leak... right?" "Right." Li Hao smiled. "Then Senior, would you be interested in staying with me for now? Once I open the Tianfang Universe, how about I send you inside?" "..." *Good grief, I thought you wanted me to leave with you, but you want to leave me in the godforsaken Tianfang Universe.* The phantom considered it briefly, then nodded. "Acceptable. It falls within the rules. Since you wish to make such a request, it shall be granted!" Li Hao smiled. "Splendid. Second, I need Senior to teleport Brother Kongji and me once more, near the Red Moon World." *Good grief!* The phantom chuckled. "What, two people only count as one request?" Li Hao laughed. "It could count as two requests if necessary." The phantom pondered. "Forget it, we'll treat it as one. Teleporting one or two makes no difference. However, I can only send you to the same place as last time, not too close to Red Moon. Red Moon is a rank eight great world; it would interfere." That would suffice! Li Hao nodded. Since the phantom was generous enough to count it as a single request, Li Hao didn't stand on ceremony. He continued, "Third, after Senior enters the Tianfang Universe, please help me conceal the Silver Moon World. Regardless of whether anyone enters... shield it from detection. With Senior's power as a rank eight great universe, concealing it shouldn't be much trouble, right?" "Agreed!" The phantom gave his assent readily. Li Hao's three requests weren't extraordinarily difficult, but none of them were simple either... each was rather troublesome. Seeing that Li Hao's requests hadn't touched upon personal power, effectively squandering them on external matters, Kongji spoke up as well: "I can make a request too. Senior, mine is much simpler: grant me an opportunity to teleport back... Naturally, not limited to me alone. Just once, and I will cover the energy cost myself!" This was securing a path of retreat. The phantom nodded. "Agreed!" Neither asked to take Dao Chess away. At their current level, they fell short. Once they truly cleared square 7,000 and had the confidence to achieve rank seven, taking Dao Chess would be a natural matter of course. Teleporting there, teleporting back, relocating Dao Chess, shielding Silver Moon... Four conditions neatly arranged their fallback plans. Next, what needed to be done was simple: open the Tianfang Universe. Li Hao glanced toward Dark Demon Ridge... Borrowing rank eight power would certainly open the Tianfang Universe. But doing so would carry an immense cost. Without borrowing power, Li Hao could scarcely open it at his current stage, as he lacked sufficient legacy power of Tianfang. Yet borrowing power demanded an enormous price, and the Dark Envoy might not be willing to lend it. After a moment of thought, Li Hao suddenly looked at the phantom. "Senior, could you lend me your power once?" Borrowing from Dao Chess was better than borrowing from the Dark Envoy. It was a rank eight great universe after all! It wouldn't necessarily be weaker than a rank eight, and the spirit was still alive. Of course, did Dao Chess truly retain rank eight combat strength? Not necessarily! It was likely a shadow of its former self. But even so, borrowing power meant borrowing from the past. In its prime, Dao Chess had possessed rank eight power, hadn't it? The phantom started. "You... want to borrow power?" He had just assumed Li Hao had broken free from that temptation. Had he not? Li Hao explained, "I need to open the Tianfang Universe once, and while I'm at it... cooperate with Senior Wushan outside. I don't necessarily need rank eight power; rank seven will do... I'm afraid I couldn't bear rank eight power anyway, while rank seven is more than enough! Rank seven power will also facilitate our actions. It doesn't need to last long—one minute is plenty!" Since Dao Chess was right here, they could negotiate without having to dump an overwhelming torrent of power into him. Otherwise, the price would be too steep. Borrowing just a sliver would do! A short duration—one minute was enough. The phantom said solemnly, "Truth be told, I don't even have rank seven power to lend you right now... Of course, if you employ time yourself to trace back to the past, it is possible! However, the price is not small. Even for rank seven power lasting just one minute, you will have to pay an immense cost. While I, as the source of the borrowed power, won't demand too much of you, as the price paid to the power of time... I imagine you might need to help me restore my full strength!" Li Hao blinked. "Is that difficult?" The phantom fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "Not too difficult. Just... annexing a rank eight great universe will do! That would replenish my deficit..." *Is that difficult?* *Not too difficult!* *Were those human words?* Well, he wasn't human to begin with. Merely borrowing rank seven power for one minute would cost Li Hao a rank eight great universe, plus a tribulation of rank seven lightning. Even if this one could be shielded, the next would still come. At this point, even Kongji couldn't help but gasp: "The price of this power of time is outrageous! For just one minute of rank seven power, even if I hired a rank seven Sovereign to work for me for an entire year, they wouldn't dare demand a rank eight great world!" Even hiring a rank eight didn't carry such a steep cost. You hire someone once, and you have to hand over the world you control? A rank eight would gladly give you daily massages for that price! The phantom sighed softly. "Such is time—a hundredfold, a thousandfold price! Therefore, for the times you borrowed power previously, you will have to pay a massive price when you encounter those individuals in the future. Fortunately, the strongest you've borrowed so far was only pseudo-rank seven power! That should be somewhat simpler than a Great Dao universe..." The cost and the return were completely disproportionate. Yet for Li Hao back then, necessity had left him no other choice. Kongji shook his head. "Forget it, Haoyue. It's only one minute... If you need help, I can ask Uncle Yaoyang, or contact my father directly... Even if you asked the Human King, you wouldn't have to pay such an absurd price!" It was terrifying! A rank eight great world—what they were scheming for wasn't even a rank eight great world, merely its stockpile of reserves. At this rate, working ourselves to the bone wouldn't be enough; we'd have to pay out of pocket. Li Hao was helpless as well; the price was simply too steep! After weighing it repeatedly, Li Hao nodded. "Fine!" The phantom froze. *You agreed?* Kongji was equally dumbfounded. *Why?* Li Hao, however, chuckled. "Borrowing once for free isn't bad!" *Borrowing for free?* The phantom was momentarily lost, but Li Hao smiled. "Even if Senior hadn't brought it up, given the opportunity, since Senior has helped me several times, I would naturally find a way to help Senior recover. Now, it's equivalent to borrowing power for free once, meaning I won't have to actively help Senior recover on my own initiative anymore... Isn't that pure profit?" The phantom stared blankly for a while, at a loss for words. Kongji considered it and actually found it quite reasonable. That was true! In other words, borrowing rank seven power for one minute only cost a single lightning tribulation... which was manageable. Would Li Hao help Dao Chess recover? If the opportunity arose, he probably would. After all, Dao Chess had helped them many times. Even if Li Hao intended for Kongji to claim Dao Chess... claiming it didn't mean destroying it; Dao Chess was a weapon to begin with. Then Kongji realized: once Dao Chess was restored, Li Hao's original intent was for Kongji to take control of it. Wouldn't that mean Li Hao was working for him? The thought made Kongji smile. So in the end, was he the one profiting? It felt... rather embarrassing! Li Hao glanced at him. *What are you grinning about?* Pondering it, Li Hao understood Kongji's thoughts and chuckled, turning back to the phantom. "By the way, Senior, Brother Kongji wishes to pass square 7,000 so Senior will accompany him. I've only reached square 5,000, so it seems my chances aren't as good as his... Senior, in the future, you and Brother Kongji will be family!" Before Kongji could speak, the phantom muttered sullenly, "We'll see about that!" Kongji: "..." What did that mean? Hadn't you said that reaching square 7,000 meant one could take you away? What did he mean by 'we'll see'? The phantom kept silent, ignoring him. With a cultivator of time standing right here, what was he supposed to do when this cultivator of six Daos and three polarities... suddenly seemed somewhat unappealing? At any other time, to be fair, you would have been marvelous!