Desire

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. Tianfang World. Li Hao and Kongji stood atop the world, one in the south and one in the north. Both felt a faint thrill. To plunge Tianfang into nirvana—even though Tianfang's ancients had long vanished—was still an immensely exhilarating prospect. Four rank seven Sovereigns kept watch in the four directions. At the same time, the four closely monitored everything within and without. Outside, they guarded against enemy Sovereigns storming in; inside, they remained wary of any unknown perils lingering in Tianfang World. At this moment, Kongji took a deep breath. Suddenly, he chuckled softly. "It's truly vast!" The world was vast indeed, almost as if it had extinguished the light itself. In the past, he would never have dared harbor such thoughts; had he dared to even think it, his father would have beaten him half to death. Yet today, standing alongside these people, he suddenly felt that plunging Tianfang into nirvana was nothing unthinkable. There was nothing they dared not do! Right now, their cultivation was still somewhat weak, but... they wouldn't remain weak forever. Leaving aside the four rank seven Sovereigns, Kongji couldn't even say with certainty who was stronger between himself and Li Hao. This hadn't been his original aim. He admired Li Hao, yet was unwilling to be surpassed by someone younger than himself. *This time, I will step into rank seven!* He thought to himself. Even if his raw power didn't reach rank seven immediately, his comprehension would fully cross into rank seven. The moment he had sufficient resources, he would ascend instantly, becoming a Sovereign of the Six Daos! "Begin!" With a soft murmur, the Realm of Nirvana emerged from his body and began to expand. This time, it was no longer a simple enchantment. It spread inch by inch, from the subsoil into the depths, through the magma, until it permeated the entire realm. The dark Realm of Nirvana steadily expanded at a sluggish pace. It was nowhere near as fast as when he casually summoned a great world in ordinary times! Not only that, at the heart of the Realm of Nirvana, a tiny flower gradually began to sprout, drawing upon the power of the entire world, plunging the world into nirvana to bring forth a flower of life! Li Hao had said they would give it back, that they would revive the world afterward! *But what if... I don't give it back?* Kongji wondered quietly. *If I don't return it, and this flower absorbs the power of a rank nine world, will it be enough to satisfy my breakthrough into rank seven?* *If so, I can step into the realm of a Six Dao Three Extremes Sovereign and cross into rank seven.* *I would become a pinnacle existence among rank sevens.* *Even if inferior to rank eight, I wouldn't fall far short.* *Perhaps... I will be the next Xinwu Human King.* The tiny flower sprouted, petal by petal. Darkness fell in all directions. The earth turned black, the sky turned black, and the entire expanse sank into primordial chaos. …… In the north. A minor realm emerged, plunging deep into the earth just as Kongji had done. The realm rolled outward, and the surrounding land began to sink into nirvana. However, while Kongji's Realm of Nirvana gave birth to a tiny flower, Li Hao's held only a tiny blade of grass that had yet to fully sprout. This reflected their differing comprehensions of the Dao. A blade of grass possessed tenacious vitality; once rooted, it struggled fiercely to survive. A flower, on the other hand, demanded a far higher comprehension of the Dao and was far more troublesome to nurture. After all, Nirvana and Revival were Kongji's primary Daos. To Li Hao, they were merely secondary pursuits. The tiny blade of grass began to grow vigorously, its sharp tip poking out. The power of nirvana began to spill in all directions. Within Li Hao's perception, every living creature and all matter were entering nirvana, plunging into an absolute stillness. Mountains, waters, stones, earth, and even the wind were dying away. All things entered nirvana! This was the Grand Dao of Nirvana. It was by no means weak. Though people said all Daos were equal with no distinction between great and small, strong and weak... some Daos were genuinely better suited for battle and killing. In the eyes of cultivators, such paths were the Daos of the strong! And the Dao of Nirvana was undeniably one of them. From two directions, the two domains of nirvana steadily expanded. Compared to Tianfang World, they seemed infinitesimally small, like blemishes on the skin, looking rather unsightly. The four rank seven Sovereigns looked down upon the world, clearly spotting the two conspicuous black specks. Wherever the domain covered, dead silence followed, leaving not a single sound behind. In midair, a small bird froze in the sky, as if time had stopped. Li Hao observed and watched. The few times he had used the power of nirvana before, his perception hadn't been particularly sharp. Now, however, he sank into deep contemplation. Back then, when the Time Star appeared, all things had also frozen. It was as if time itself had halted! The Realm of Nirvana was remarkably similar in freezing all things. The only difference was that the Realm of Nirvana absorbed energy; all vitality and power fell dormant and were extracted. Didn't that mean the Realm of Nirvana was even stronger than the power of time stasis? Aside from time's ability to trace back to the past, it seemed time wasn't necessarily superior to nirvana. "No..." As he continued to plunge all things into nirvana, Li Hao pondered. Both nirvana and time possessed the ability to freeze all things, so where lay the difference? Where was the advantage of time? "In nirvana... time still flows!" Li Hao realized something. Yes, within the Realm of Nirvana, time was not extinguished, nor was space. Spacetime still existed. In other words, the birds in the Realm of Nirvana were currently alive—merely silenced. Yet as time passed, they would eventually grow old and die! Time stasis, however, was different! When time was frozen, the years no longer flowed. Ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years, a million years later... everything remained exactly as it was. If the chaos fell into nirvana, all cultivators would be dead after a million years! But if frozen by time, when the stasis dissipated a million years later, everything would proceed as normal. Cultivators might not even realize that time had just stopped. "Is that the distinction?" "Spacetime remains unaffected!" "No... life and death also remain unaffected!" Since time could flow, death could occur. And if death occurred... it meant the Dao of Life and Death was fundamentally untouched by nirvana. "Nirvana merely extinguishes the form; it cannot extinguish the spirit!" "Time, however, can freeze even the spirit." Li Hao walked across the land, perceiving every shift. He wasn't merely comprehending nirvana. During the process, all things froze; mountains and rivers stiffened, their life force instantly drained away as they fell into dead silence... These transformations stirred Li Hao deeply. Yet spacetime saw no change. Space was still space, and time continued to march on... "Time does not necessarily have to flow backward, trace the past, or accelerate... It can freeze!" The very first time he saw the Time Star, all things had frozen, as if space itself had ceased to flow. In the past, Li Hao had mostly utilized time acceleration and reversal. Borrowing power was also a form of tracing back. Yet pure freezing... he rarely used it. Due to his strength, if his opponents were too powerful, he could not freeze them; he could only trap them in an infinitesimally brief pause. He had deemed it impractical, rarely employing the ability. Now, however, Li Hao had new ideas. "Nirvana is also a form of freezing! Not freezing spacetime... is actually easier. Could time be deconstructed, reducing some of its all-encompassing functions and excluding spatial freezing? Would that make it far less demanding to wield?" "The Time Dao can freeze all Daos... Does that mean time is truly a composite of all Daos?" Li Hao's thoughts churned. Previously, he had envisioned combining all Daos into time. But now, he suddenly had an epiphany: what about reverse deduction? Deconstructing time into all Daos! For instance, if an opponent used fire, could his Time Dao target fire exclusively to freeze the Fire Dao, rather than attempting to freeze all Daos at once? Would that be feasible? "Time... is assembled! Therefore, it can also be dismantled!" Li Hao felt a pang of frustration. Since he knew how to dismantle Dao nets, worlds, and Great Dao universes, why had he never thought of dismantling time? Could time truly not be dismantled? Of course, doing so was currently exceedingly difficult. Using the Time Dao to trace back the composition of the Time Dao itself? That sounded like a paradox! Without tracing it back, how could he reveal the structure of the Time Dao? How had it been assembled in the first place? What a headache! "The Time Star..." Li Hao remembered something. When he first saw the Time Star, it had felt somewhat conscious. Later, he paid it little heed, watching it repeatedly assemble and disperse. Could he comprehend the Time Star directly? Could he discover within it a method specifically targeted at a single Dao? Freezing a powerhouse's strongest Dao system—would that be much simpler? Must the power of time remain so unwieldy? Whether tracing back or flowing forward, both consumed lifespan. What kind of Time Dao was that? How could a true cultivator of the Time Dao be constrained by lifespan? Thus, perhaps his method of utilization was flawed. The Time Dao was likely far more than this; reversing and accelerating were merely specialized applications. Otherwise, what kind of Time Dao cultivator would fear using time in daily life? How could it be called a supreme Great Dao? "Reversing and accelerating both provoke chaos lightning tribulations. Would pure gathering, solidification, and freezing of time also draw down the chaos lightning tribulation?" Across the realm, Kongji was exerting every ounce of effort to plunge the world into nirvana. Here, Li Hao's thoughts drifted far away. Li Hao didn't care much about whether an individual Dao was strong or weak; his core remained time. Thus, he mostly used his comprehension of other Daos to extrapolate time. This time, he seemed to have gained many new insights. Right now, Li Hao was thinking of reverse-engineering time. Suddenly, a star began to rotate, vaguely emerging before him. Watching from above, the four rank seven Sovereigns instantly frowned. *If you're going to extinguish the world, do it properly. Why conjure the Time Star out of nowhere?* Meanwhile, Li Hao continued to plunge heaven and earth into nirvana, but his mind had long wandered off. The star before him shone with brilliance. Merely manifesting the star without making any major moves didn't draw the attention of the chaos lightning tribulation. As long as he remained cautious, his current ability to conceal his aura prevented the chaos lightning tribulation from finding him, provided he wasn't reckless. Suddenly, Li Hao took the star into his hand and pointed forward. Heaven and earth froze. It formed a stark contrast with the adjacent Realm of Nirvana. Within the Realm of Nirvana, all was dim and bleak. Yet in the small area frozen by time, everything remained as it had been. Aside from living creatures ceasing to move, everything was alive, with no noticeable change. "Does nirvana... exist within time?" Li Hao mused. Suddenly, his consciousness immersed itself into the Time Star. Long ago, he had attempted this once, but never dared try again, for that single attempt had nearly frozen him inside time. Now, Li Hao tried once more, his eyes flashing with golden light. In an instant... he seemed to see a dense, intricate Dao net! So many lines! Li Hao was shaken. A Dao net... Indeed, time was not a single Dao. Though he had long suspected as much, now he seemed to truly see the existence of a Dao net, though the Daos composing it appeared extremely frail. "An embryonic form..." An idea formed in Li Hao's mind. This Time Star was actually just an embryonic form—an infantile Time Star. Someone had constructed such a star. And so, the Time Star had appeared in Silver Moon. The Emperor of Battle Heaven! It had to be him! At this moment, Li Hao was certain, his heart trembling. Back then, the Emperor of Battle Heaven had truly constructed a Time Star, weaving ten thousand Daos together—a true convergence of all Daos. However, the Daos he wove were very weak. There hadn't been enough energy! Yet to comprehend ten thousand Daos and weave them together meant his realm of comprehension was unimaginably high—perhaps... rank nine? However, Xinwu's energy hadn't been sufficient for him to construct truly formidable Daos. Hence, it had only formed this embryonic star. "Terrifying!" Li Hao murmured. It was simply terrifying. The strongest person he knew of was the Lord of Tianfang, who had constructed 9,999 Great Daos to form the Dao of Space. Yet the Emperor of Battle Heaven might have constructed ten thousand Daos to form time! What was that missing Dao? Or did the chaos contain more than ten thousand Daos, with different methods of construction yielding different core Daos in the end? *Then... could I dismantle this star?* Li Hao looked at the Time Star before him... At this moment, a sudden impulse stirred within him. If he dismantled this star and constructed a new time in his own way, could it be realized? *Boom!* A deafening roar broke Li Hao's reverie. Nearby, a Dao resonance land suddenly erupted with immense Dao resonance power, and a phantom vaguely manifested. It seemed to hail from the ancient era! Carrying Great Dao power familiar to Li Hao—the power of Tianfang—this was a Dao resonance land left behind by a middle-tier Sovereign. As Li Hao's nirvana reached this place, its Dao resonance power suddenly detonated! There were also Silver Moon cultivators on this great mountain. At this moment, all of them were tense. A formidable pressure swept across heaven and earth, clashing against the power of nirvana. Soon, however, it was suppressed by the nirvana force. Vaguely, someone seemed to be roaring, though the sound was indistinct. It was nowhere near as vivid as the Great Dao voice echoing through the past in that rank seven Dao resonance land! At that moment, a Great Dao river swept over, suppressing the turbulence. Surrounding Silver Moon cultivators looked up, as if seeing something; some were dazed, vaguely glimpsing a soaring giant eagle! In the past, this had likely been the dwelling of a giant eagle Sovereign. As the Dao resonance emerged, some saw wings unfurl, while others saw an eagle striking across the sky! As the power of nirvana dug deeper, the Dao resonance power instantly scattered in all directions. In the next instant, Hong Yitang wielded the Great Dao river, sweeping over to absorb the Dao resonance. Within the river, a tributary Dao vaguely grew slightly stronger. Hong Yitang appeared beside Li Hao, somewhat puzzled as to why Li Hao had revealed the Time Star, but said nothing. Seeing this Dao resonance land suppressed, its resonance dispersing and plunging into complete nirvana... Hong Yitang absorbed the power, leaving behind some residual ripples for the people at the foot of the mountain to comprehend, before vanishing. Just then, another Dao resonance erupted in the south. A thunderous rumble shook the world! A giant beast seemed to leap into the sky, shaking heaven and earth. The Great Dao cosmos of Tianfang manifested at this moment, its stars vaguely twinkling with faint light. These Dao resonance lands seemed to have stirred the Great Dao cosmos. The residual Great Dao power of the past stimulated several stars—a sign of impending revival. …… While Li Hao and Kongji continuously plunged Tianfang into nirvana. In the chaos. In a place unimaginably far away. A world stood here as well, bearing similarities to Tianfang. What was shocking, however, was that throughout this world, Great Dao laws were densely woven across the void, one after another. The world seemed entirely composed of Dao principles. Moreover, they were directly laid bare! Every single Great Dao law seemed to stand upright, visible to the naked eye without any need to trace back into the past, presenting a colossal net of the Great Dao encircling the entire world! The Great Dao made manifest! This was a level beyond Li Hao's current imagination. Ten thousand Daos permeated the air. Some of the Great Dao laws were terrifyingly powerful, incomparably thick, their Dao power so dense they seemed to have birthed life—as if the Daos themselves had come alive! A frightfully formidable existence! At the center of this gathering of ten thousand Daos, statue-like figures stood, having lingered here for untold ages, seemingly existing for all eternity. Suddenly! One of the colossal statues slightly opened its eyes. With this single opening of its eyes, heaven and earth shifted, and worlds were born. In a single thought, worlds and cosmos seemed to manifest before it! Its eyes were as resplendent as a starry sky. At this moment, ten thousand Daos appeared within them, space inverted, and heaven and earth fell into disarray. Above its head, the likeness of a Great Dao cosmos seemed to emerge, flickering between reality and illusion. Within it, several stars twinkled with faint light. An infinite distance seemed to compress in an instant, turning a world away into an arm's length. At this moment, the statue seemed to see a distant corner of the chaos, where life existed, where worlds existed, and where... Tianfang existed! As if catching sight of something, its gaze locked onto a region. Within its eyes, scenes of Tianfang gradually began to surface. …… At the same time. In the Chiyang Domain. Xinwu World was roaming—or rather, the Cang Emperor was roaming. At this moment, the Human King, who had just caught up and reunited with Xinwu, lay down to rest for a bit. Suddenly, he looked up at the world above. Yin and yang emerged in his eyes, as if the world were severed into two spaces. One yin, one yang! His eyes underwent a transformation as well, one resembling a blazing sun, the other a luminous moon. Yin and yang merged! Beside him, the Supreme raised an eyebrow. Instantly, the Great Dao Book manifested, as if ten thousand Daos were surfacing. As its pages fluttered, the sky spun, the earth wheeled, and spacetime inverted as the Supreme's power bolstered him! The Cang Emperor, still teasing a little fish, yawned. In an instant, brilliant light erupted from his eyes, illuminating the chaos! He seemed about to pierce through this chaotic universe! At that moment, something seemed to come into view. Within the cat's eyes appeared a forest of giant pillars, standing one after another in the distant reaches, encompassing the Four Directions Domain and several other domains within. In this instant, several powerhouses seemed to be looking at the same thing. The unruly Human King, the arrogant Human King, was no longer unruly or arrogant at this moment. He merely looked at the sky in silence. After a long time, he suddenly let out a cold laugh. "What an annoying pest!" The Supreme smiled as well, like a gentle spring breeze, and chuckled softly. "If you're strong enough, you can be annoying too!" The Human King chuckled. "True enough... When strength falls short, there's nothing one can do! That old ghost Chiyang is truly arrogant! I told him I'd only absorb his realm's extreme yang power and leave him an empty shell, yet he was actually unwilling. How hateful, detestable, and worthy of death!" "..." The Supreme looked at him, sighed after a long pause, and said, "It's not easy being a villain like you. Don't you ever feel you cross the line?" The Human King sneered. "Who's a villain? Who's righteous? The myriad worlds of the chaos are a chaotic mess. You kill me, I kill you; you eat me, I eat you... Who can say who's good? Who dares claim to be good? Old Zhang, don't fling mud at me!" "You demand someone's Great Dao power and act so brazenly... How are you not a villain?" "Tch, how did his Chiyang Domain reach rank eight? Wasn't it by swallowing up the surrounding small and medium worlds, piling up bones to get there? His hands are stained with mountains of corpses. I'm eliminating a scourge for the people!" "You... have a point!" The Supreme chuckled, then sighed softly. "Tell me, where did the people of Tianfang go?" "No idea, but they're still alive!" The Human King glanced in a certain direction, seeming to discern his bearings at this moment, and said softly, "Back then, the moment I stepped into the chaos, I was instantly lost. There was no front or back, no left or right, no up or down, no light—only a path of darkness. What I want to know even more is... why was that path near our Xinwu World?" Directions were hard to discern in the chaos. Yet for Sovereigns, there wasn't truly that much mystery; they could still see their surroundings clearly. However, back then, after slaying the Heavenly Emperor, the Human King was already at the peak of rank six. The moment he stepped out of Xinwu, he became completely lost for decades. Within the realm, time seemed frozen; when he returned, the years had already passed. Outside Xinwu, it had seemed unlike the chaos... yet also like the chaos! Except this chaos seemed different from the chaos everyone saw. It was like a dark passage leading to parts unknown. Right outside Xinwu! Right when Xinwu broke through its realm barrier, appearing the instant one stepped out. Until one day, that path vanished. Only then did Xinwu truly step into the chaos. When had it vanished? After Silver Moon was born! It was as if the birth of Silver Moon had taken away the dark path that had permeated the vicinity of Xinwu. "What did the Emperor of Battle Heaven truly do all those years ago?" At this moment, the Supreme also murmured softly, "What did he want to tell us? What was he guiding us toward? His sequencing method could be applied from combat techniques to ten thousand Daos, weaving qi and blood, weaving ten thousand Daos. Qi and blood are a Dao; ten thousand Daos are a Dao. Understand one, and you understand all... He truly was an unfathomable figure." The Human King nodded slightly. "He was limited by his world; otherwise, he could have easily stepped into rank seven!" At this point, he raised an eyebrow slightly. "That Silver Moon King, Li Hao, has inherited some of it... I wonder if he'll become a second Battle, or... a second Old Wang!" "You've met him. What do you think?" The Supreme asked. "What do I think?" The Human King looked at him and laughed. "I look with my eyes open! Am I supposed to look with them closed?" The Supreme laughed helplessly. "Why didn't you... keep it back then?" "Those of different paths cannot make plans together!" The Human King sneered. "All things, all laws, all beings, all freedom... He preached that everyone has the right to survive, that everyone should cultivate without conflict... That's a fantasy! Where there are people, there is conflict; where there are people, there are desires. He was an idealist; I'm not. I'm a realist!" *Those of different paths cannot make plans together.* That was all. The Supreme smiled. "Yet from what I know, the current Silver Moon King is very strong. With the power of rank five, he might not be weaker than you were before stepping out of your world. And he's only in his twenties... Though, of course, you were about that age back then too." The Human King shook his head. "Don't mind that. What I care about more is... whether he will become a second Old Wang, a second Battle, or... the first Li Hao!" The Supreme looked thoughtful. "You've met him. What's your judgment?" "For now... he hasn't broken through the constraints of time!" Reaching this point, the Human King fell silent for a moment. "It's too difficult! Back then, I took a look once. I thought... if it were me, I might not be willing to break it either. What does Red Moon count as a Dao of Desire? Time is the true desire! Old Zhang, did you see it? If you saw it... would you... have the heart to part with it?" The Supreme fell silent for a while before saying with difficulty, "I haven't seen it, so I don't know how I would choose. Perhaps... becoming a second Battle, an even stronger Battle, wouldn't be so bad." "Heh!" The Human King sneered. "Let me tell you: if you dare take it, I dare kill you! I'll slaughter you right on the spot!" "..." The Supreme rolled his eyes. Only before this man could he act completely unconstrained, doing as he pleased. Somewhat at a loss for words, he said, "Slaughter me? I'm not allowed to take it?" "No... I'm afraid you'd sink into time! The desire in your heart is too strong... If it were given to you, for Xinwu to endure forever, you might willingly lose yourself in it... becoming a second Battle. That is not what I want!" He patted the Supreme's shoulder and sighed with emotion. "Old Zhang, that Dao isn't suited for Xinwu people! Xinwu must fight! But Battle's Dao is too devoid of strife; I would find it very hard to break free from it..." The Supreme shrugged his shoulder slightly, shaking off the heavy hand. This brat truly had no manners. Not a shred of respect for the old or care for the young! "You mean the Silver Moon King, Li Hao, won't be able to step out of Battle's legacy either?" "It's hard!" The Human King sighed. "It's truly too hard. It's not that I look down on him; it's genuinely as difficult as ascending to heaven. To break through this, to break through Battle's influence, the first step is... letting go!" "Letting go?" "Yes!" The Human King nodded, speaking with immense difficulty. "Giving up... the embryonic form left by Battle!" The Supreme's heart trembled! He glanced at the Human King. The Human King shrugged and nodded. "That's how it is. Time is strong—far too strong. So strong that once you have it, can you bring yourself to give it up? And if you give it up, can you ever gather time again? Back then, I... felt it was hard for me to resist such temptation. So I simply didn't look at it, ignored it, and let it flow away in Xinwu... letting it go its own way!" Hearing this, the Supreme let out a soft sigh. "True... But it wouldn't be a pity either. Living as a second Battle—what's so bad about that? Truly peerless! A gentleman without equal in the world. Perhaps Li Hao embraces it willingly; his future prospects might even be broader than yours!" "That is true!" The Human King didn't deny it and nodded. "By absorbing extreme yang, reaching rank eight shouldn't be hard for me. But as for the path to rank nine, I'm still searching. Time, however, leads straight to rank nine! If that Li Hao doesn't mind, there will be a seat for him among rank nine Sovereigns, whereas a seat for me, Fang Ping, is not guaranteed!" Having said that, he suddenly laughed heartily. "Yet if I reach rank nine, I will still be Fang Ping! The one and only Fang Ping! In this chaos, I will still reign supreme!" The Supreme said no more. Neither mentioned what they had seen earlier. Xinwu's ability to see it might also be linked to Battle. It didn't matter; what was seen was seen, so what of it? Tianfang was truly an intriguing place. …… Tianfang. Heaven and earth trembled as Dao resonance lands fluctuated unceasingly. The entire world seemed to be resisting. At this moment, Li Hao suddenly looked up. Nothing had occurred, nothing had appeared, yet he simply looked up toward the Great Dao cosmos of Tianfang, where several stars were flickering with faint light. Those countless stars... seemed... to form an eye. He looked up, watching those faintly twinkling stars, feeling as if... someone was watching him. Li Hao stared at the sky, gazing upward continuously. *Is it just my imagination?* The four rank seven Sovereigns hadn't noticed anything either. Yet Li Hao vaguely felt the sensation of being watched. He halted his steps. After a long time, he suddenly spoke: "Senior Dao Chess!" A gentle breeze swept across heaven and earth, and a phantom manifested—the Dao Chess phantom. "What is it?" "Nothing." The Dao Chess phantom was speechless. *Damn it!* *If it's nothing, why call me?* Holding the star, Li Hao called out to the departing Dao Chess phantom: "Does the aura of this star feel familiar?" Dao Chess froze, looked at the star, and shook its head after a long pause. "Unfamiliar. What of it?" It added, "Of course, it's also familiar, since you've been using it all along. Is there a problem?" "Did the Emperor of Battle Heaven ever visit Tianfang and meet the Lord of Tianfang?" "Huh?" The Dao Chess phantom knew of this person and was taken aback. "His era and that of the Lord of Tianfang were not the same!" "So what?" Li Hao smiled softly. "Is spacetime unique? If one... severs the past and descends upon reality, how is that achieved? Even across millions of years, if I trace back the past, why... could I not face the Lord of Tianfang directly?" "This... descending into the past, descending into a rank nine world... You can't achieve that, can you?" "I cannot." Li Hao shook his head. "At least, not right now!" He had traced back the past to observe certain individuals in Tianfang, but only from afar without descending in true body. If he were to integrate into it and roam about like he had in Xinwu... Li Hao couldn't do it. It was too ancient! That was the first reason; the second was that the powerhouses of that era were too formidable. Descending was exceedingly difficult, and even if one did, one could easily be slain. At this point, Li Hao stopped thinking about it. He had some vague guesses about certain matters. Looking at the Time Star in his hand, he suddenly smiled. "Red Moon's desire is too obvious, too shallow. The desire of this star is the truly irresistible one!" The phantom glanced at him, utterly bewildered. What was going on? Time was not a Dao of Desire. Yet Li Hao smiled brightly. Was it not? Perhaps others thought so. Yet... this was desire! A desire so intense it made one unable to extricate oneself, making one strive and toil for its sake, controlled by it from beginning to end. *Shatter it?* Don't kid around; right now, it was impossible. This was sinking deep into desire, unable to pull oneself out! *One day... I will cast you aside!* Li Hao murmured inwardly. He would. *You have already influenced me, causing me to sink deep within, unable to break free.* *Perhaps I should construct it myself.* *Release you into the myriad worlds to drift with the wind; you pursue your Dao, and I will... recreate mine!* *Time, I am prying into you!* At this moment, Li Hao seemed to have understood something and laughed. It wasn't that he disdained it; he liked it very much. But... it could not be allowed to drown him in desire. Otherwise, he would no longer be himself. Only today did he seem to see this clearly. "Human King..." At this moment, Li Hao suddenly uttered a name. Had the Human King... abandoned it deliberately, rather than being unable to wield it? If so, the Xinwu Human King truly lived up to his reputation! Of course, he couldn't be certain right now. After all, such immense willpower felt utterly incongruous on the Human King, who was overwhelmingly greedy. The next moment, Li Hao ceased these thoughts. The Realm of Nirvana expanded madly! All things began to plunge into nirvana rapidly! Dao resonance lands emerged one after another, countless Dao resonances surging against heaven and earth. Simultaneously, two Dao rivers appeared to suppress the world, while Dao Chess radiated pressure to steady the four directions. The four rank seven Sovereigns were also extremely vigilant, swiftly suppressing any formidable Dao resonance lands that erupted! Silver Moon cultivators, including several Sovereigns, were entirely immersed in this. The eruption of countless Dao resonances proved irresistible. The Dao of Tianfang! Every phantom represented a Sovereign from Tianfang's peak era. There were so many; the number of Sovereigns in Tianfang had been unimaginably vast. Places that had once been deserted were now erupting with Dao resonance, and new Dao resonance lands began to surface amid this nirvana. …… Farther away. Kongji was also comprehending, his aura fluctuating as the power of nirvana surged without limit. Within his domain of nirvana, a tiny flower grew frantically, as if gathering the power of ten thousand Daos, swaying enchantingly, drawing one in irresistibly. Once this flower matured and was consumed, it would surely shake heaven and earth! *Perhaps... I can seize this opportunity to take control of the Great Dao cosmos of Tianfang, becoming the master of a rank nine Great Dao cosmos in one fell swoop! Even if I don't reach rank nine, I can still become an incomparably formidable rank seven!* At this moment, his Realm of Nirvana expanded faster and faster, the tiny flower growing continuously. He expanded rapidly toward Li Hao's direction. The two Realms of Nirvana even began to overlap! Kongji's voice echoed: "Haoyue, I want to try a complete nirvana of an entire domain! Merge your Realm of Nirvana into mine; that blade of grass of yours... is too weak, let me merge it completely!" Li Hao said nothing and directly merged his Realm of Nirvana into it. As the two realms fused, Kongji's aura fluctuated violently. A tiny flower grew frantically, devouring the grass, swaying gracefully and releasing an incomparably sweet fragrance. Li Hao glanced at Kongji, frowning slightly. And Kongji also looked at Li Hao from afar, seemingly pondering something. *Haoyue... how should I choose?* The aura of desire was spreading. Both Li Hao and Kongji seemed to have suffered a certain impact at this moment. Red Moon! Yes, Red Moon cosmos, Red Moon World. One had absorbed the power of Red Moon, while the other had absorbed the world power of Red Moon. They hadn't felt anything before, but now they seemed to be influenced. Kongji thought: *Why bother reviving it?* *No need to revive it!* *If I swallow this flower of nirvana, this flower of life, I can directly wield the Dao of Tianfang, become the master of Tianfang's Great Dao cosmos, and become a rank seven Sovereign, peerless and mighty. Perhaps I could even contend with my father!* And Li Hao had also been deeply affected by desire earlier. Neither of them had realized it. Yet at this moment, Li Hao seemed to vaguely perceive something—a chilling sensation of being watched, which brought him to his senses. He looked toward Kongji. Kongji... seemed... somewhat off. He merely watched, saying nothing. When one fell into desire, it was very difficult for outsiders to awaken them. Even the Lord of Red Moon, the master of that Dao, had been deeply affected and suffered a backlash. *Kongji, can you walk out of it?* *I don't know.* …… *Boom!* Heaven and earth shook. Something seemed about to appear and erupt. In the next instant, a wave of light power spilled out, Dao resonance surfacing. It seemed the Dao resonance land of the Messenger of Light had been discovered. Light and darkness flickered across Kongji's body. Dark Demon Ridge was also erupting. The two Dao resonance lands wove a Dao net that enveloped Kongji. Light and darkness manifested alternately upon Kongji. The formidable Great Dao power gave people the illusion that... in the very next moment, he would step into rank seven. The flower before him grew ever sweeter. *If I eat it... I can achieve rank seven!* Kongji closed his eyes. *I want to reach rank seven—I want it so badly. Li Hao has already stepped into rank five. The difference between rank five and rank six is negligible for Li Hao; both of us have arrived at the same starting line.* *Yet I am the Divine Son of Light. When I met Li Hao, he was rank one and I was rank four, and I was originally rank five...* *Yet in just a few short years, Li Hao has caught up to me.* *Jealousy?* *A little.* Only a saint would feel no jealousy, and he was no saint; among cultivators, there were no saints. No matter how good friends or fellow Daoists were, there would always be some envy and jealousy. *If I don't eat it, I will need boundless energy and Great Dao power. Even an entire rank seven cosmos wouldn't suffice for my breakthrough to rank seven... Am I supposed to devour the Light Divine Realm instead?* Kongji's thoughts spun relentlessly as he looked at Li Hao in the distance, his gaze turning increasingly somber. *Perhaps... I shouldn't listen to Li Hao!* *Why bother reviving it?* *It's utterly redundant; this is an ownerless world!* At this moment, the Sword Venerable and the others seemed to sense something as well. Turning to look at Kongji, their expressions grew solemn. *Has Kongji... fallen into desire?* What should be done! They actually liked this noble Divine Son of Light very much; he was a very interesting person. But... what should they do now? Everyone had the desire to grow stronger. Blocking him might only breed enmity. Right at this moment, Li Hao moved. He didn't go toward Kongji. Instead, a star appeared in Li Hao's hand—the Time Star! The Time Star suddenly fluctuated. In that instant, Li Hao reached out and plucked at the star. The star throbbed. Li Hao plucked it again, and it throbbed once more. He continued plucking... The star throbbed repeatedly until gradually, a Dao seemed to surface upon it. In the next instant, Li Hao smiled and flicked his finger. *Snap!* That Dao instantly snapped! The entire star showed signs of impending collapse. Watching from afar, Kongji's face drained of color in sheer horror! "Fuck!" Kongji was terrified. Vanishing from his spot, he appeared before Li Hao in the blink of an eye. Reaching out, the power of nirvana surged, instantly freezing the newly snapped Great Dao upon the Time Star! In his panic, Kongji grabbed hold of the severed Dao. The flower of life released a burst of energy, mending the Great Dao. At this moment, cold sweat drenched him from head to toe. Staring at Li Hao, he swallowed hard. "Are you crazy?!" Li Hao shook his head and smiled. "Not crazy. I just wanted to see if a person can truly restrain their desires. Desire turns people into slaves, but... if you are ruthless enough with yourself, you'll find you can restrain it!" *Damn it!* Kongji was completely jolted awake, soaked in cold sweat. "Did you really have to go that far? If I had ignored it, wouldn't it have shattered?" "I... was not just reminding you. In fact, I was also testing myself!" Li Hao sighed softly, looking at the star, and murmured, "I truly couldn't bear to let it go." Kongji remained silent. Awakening from his greed just now, he swallowed hard after a long pause. "I really wanted to eat it!" Li Hao nodded. "Actually, if you truly wanted to eat it, I wouldn't stop you. It's just..." He looked up at the sky, frowning slightly. "This Great Dao cosmos has an owner!" If he truly wanted to advance to rank seven, why stop him? There was no need! However, if the Great Dao cosmos had an owner, entering it would merely make him someone else's subordinate, wouldn't it? "Huh?" Kongji froze. "I know, but he left..." "He didn't die; he's still alive!" Kongji froze again, then nodded, his expression shifting. Looking up at the sky, he suddenly snorted coldly: "Annoying! Truly a pest!" At this moment, his words were identical to the Human King's. A pest! In an instant, all his desire receded. He grumbled, "Even my old man can't dominate me! You think you can dominate me? Bah..." This refined divine prince actually spat, leaving Li Hao dumbfounded and amused. Kongji felt a lingering dread, but after a long while, he laughed again. "Not bad. This counts as clearing my Dao heart; it's quite good... But if you pull a stunt like that again next time, I really won't care!" Li Hao laughed and nodded. If he didn't care, so be it; what was the big deal? Kongji was restraining his desires, and so was Li Hao. Cultivation was truly interesting!