River of Time!

Reuniting with the Queen and the King of Dali considerably eased his foul mood. At times, he found the pair quite troublesome, yet at other times, they were rather endearing. Both were proactive go-getters who refused to fade into obscurity. Give them a ray of sunshine and they would open a dye house; give them a lever and they would dare overturn the heavens. As he chatted with them, the giant rat lying nearby was still alive. It could still hear, its eyes now filled with utter terror. Who was this man? He was unimaginably powerful, suppressing it so thoroughly that it could not move a muscle. An ordinary middle-rank Sovereign could indeed kill it, but none could suppress it with such effortless calm. It was a Sovereign in its own right, after all. And the two troublemakers from earlier seemed to be his subordinates. In that moment, realization dawned upon it. The Silver Moon King! The very Silver Moon King whom everyone considered a mere vassal of Xinwu! Under Xinwu's radiant halo, the Silver Moon King had always been overshadowed. Even though Li Hao had achieved a great deal—including the fall of Red Moon, which had primarily been his doing—in everyone's eyes, the credit for conquering Red Moon belonged to Xinwu. Li Hao did not care about this, nor did he seek to change people's minds. Yet he was destined never to linger in Xinwu's shadow as they imagined. Sooner or later, everyone would realize that Xinwu was Xinwu, and Silver Moon was Silver Moon. Having finished his conversation with the King of Dali and the Queen, Li Hao surveyed this world and gave a light chuckle. "You two already have some foundation here... Today, why not take things a step further? Slay this rat monster in front of this entire world. Perhaps doing so will earn you the recognition of this world's humans!" Slaying a world lord would be of immense help to them. The two exchanged glances, then looked toward the rat monster. With a flick of Li Hao's hand, the rat monster tumbled through the air, rolling over several times. Li Hao smiled and said, "Go ahead, both of you! As for you, rat monster, I have unsealed eighty percent of your power. If you can defeat them, I will grant you a chance to live. But if you are slain... then such is your fate!" The instant the rat monster was flung away, its strength began to return, and it was overjoyed! The Silver Moon King was no longer suppressing it, even if a portion of its cultivation remained sealed. *Perhaps I can escape!* Yet in the very next moment, sheer dread and terror gripped the rat monster. Not only the rat—even the King of Dali and the Queen were dumbfounded, their eyes widening in utter disbelief. Around them, dozens of Sovereign auras suddenly manifested. Not just one or two, but dozens! Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they looked around at the figures. Familiar faces! A whole crowd of familiar faces. *Damn it!* *Have all these people attained the Dao?* *How is that possible?!* When had Silver Moon produced so many Sovereigns? Previously, there had only been a handful, so why were there fifty or sixty Sovereigns gathered here now? Indeed, Li Hao had released all the Sovereigns. They had been inside the Black Panther's belly the entire time, observing the world and listening to everything, fully aware of what had transpired. At this moment, some wore complicated expressions. Jiang Li, for instance, glanced at the King of Dali. *Your Majesty... I have stepped into the realm of Sovereigns, but you... don't seem to have made it yet.* The King of Dali nearly bit his tongue off. *Holy shit!* A bunch of fellows who used to be far weaker than him had all become Sovereigns. Was this the benefit of having Li Hao's backing? If he had known earlier... Well, he dwelled on it no further, only feeling a touch of bitterness. Struggling on his own really could not compare to following Li Hao; one look at these people was proof enough. Li Hao laughed and said, "Everyone, don't just stand there watching. Herd all the monsters and Chaos Beasts in this world toward the central region. Do not let a single one escape!" "Rat monster, you can flee now. You don't necessarily have to fight. If you can escape before all the Sovereigns surround you... that will be your fortune. I am giving you a chance to survive!" The rat monster, which had been contemplating flight, now felt nothing but panic. So many Sovereigns! Fifty-six of them—a lineup seen only in rank seven worlds; ordinary rank six worlds did not even possess this many Sovereigns. Any thought of fleeing vanished in an instant. Escaping was completely out of the question! Moreover, the appearance of so many Sovereigns had caused no ripples of disturbance in the void, which meant that this world had already been thoroughly sealed off. In a flash, the rat monster vanished. Li Hao turned to the two monarchs. "It is, after all, a world lord, naturally much stronger than an ordinary rank one Sovereign. I have suppressed twenty percent of its power, so it is now roughly on par with a rank one Sovereign. Can you two kill it? I would like to see whether you have made any progress since parting ways with me." The King of Dali exchanged a glance with the Queen. Her eyes flickered slightly, and after glancing at Li Hao, she soon let out a soft laugh. "Very well. Let the Marquis of Silver Moon see... whether we have made any progress!" As for the numerous Sovereigns around them, though she was surprised, she was not shocked once the initial disbelief passed. Li Hao was simply that miraculous. It seemed only natural that he could nurture so many Sovereigns; there were just more of them than anticipated. In an instant, the Queen vanished. A bright moon seemed to rise in the sky, and her voice reverberated across heaven and earth. In that moment, she seemed to transform into a celestial deity, her voice suffused with boundless divine majesty: "I am Celestial God Lingyue! Moved by the suffering of the mortal realm, I have descended into this world. Today, alongside the King of Dali, ruler of the mortal realm, I shall vanquish demons, slay monsters, and uphold justice..." A surge of bright moonlight descended upon the world as a radiant orb illuminated heaven and earth. At this moment, the Queen brought forth the very knack for deception she had once wielded in the Western Divine Kingdom. Li Hao was nowhere near as adept at this routine as she was. In an instant, all the people across heaven and earth looked up and saw that radiant moon in the sky. All at once, many felt an urge to weep. A deity had descended to the world to deliver them from their suffering! Their lives had been far too bitter; the humans of the Dragon Region had suffered far too much. They had heard of this figure before—it was said that she had rescued many people and freed them from their misery, though rumor also had it that she was not as powerful as the lord of this world. In their eyes, the rat monster was the supreme existence in this realm! Yet today, Celestial God Lingyue had appeared! *** "Lingyue!" Nearby, Lin Hongyu sneered cold-heartedly. "That woman didn't go by that name before, did she?" *Lingyue? Surpassing the Silver Moon? Or what?* She felt deeply annoyed. Relatively speaking, she was broad-minded and could tolerate almost anyone, but she had one flaw: she could not stand women who were attractive, young, and remarkably powerful. The Queen was actually very young, belonging to the same generation as Li Hao—which meant they were roughly the same age. And this woman had opposed Li Hao time and again, yet Li Hao had spared her repeatedly without ever killing her. One had to remember that Li Hao had suffered the first major setback of his life at the Queen's hands, being thoroughly defeated by her back then. Now, Li Hao was even helping her rally the billions of humans across the Dragon Region... And now she had suddenly changed her name to Celestial God Lingyue. It was thoroughly irritating. Seizing the chance, Lin Hongyu vented her displeasure. The more she looked at that woman, the more annoyed she felt. When the Queen had previously fled, Lin Hongyu had actually been delighted. Why did they have to run into her again? It was truly a headache! Kongji glanced at Lin Hongyu, then looked at the Queen illuminating heaven and earth. Smiling, he found it rather amusing. Glancing at Li Hao, he sent a voice transmission: "Is this Celestial God Lingyue another younger sister-in-law?" "..." Li Hao glanced at him, somewhat baffled. Kongji seemed to have grown rather gossipy of late. When they had first met, how refined, how full of Dao resonance the man had been! Now he had degenerated into an ordinary mortal! *How vulgar!* "We need to find a way... to obtain the patrol route of the Dragon World. Before the patrol arrives, we will nibble away at the Dragon Region step by step!" Li Hao did not bother answering him, deeming it a waste of breath. Smiling, Li Hao continued, "We now have plenty of hands and many Sovereigns who can be dispatched to operate independently. Right now, I need one thing: the most accurate map of the Dragon Region! I want the precise strength of every world in the region..." Kongji felt a headache coming on. "I can't help with that. If you wanted one for the Tianfang Region, I could manage it, but for the Dragon Region, even my father might not know the exact details." Reflecting on this, he added, "The only ones who understand the Dragon Region best would be the powerful worlds here. Didn't Senior Senlan mention earlier that there is an Iron-Eating World here that opposes the dragon race? The enemy of our enemy... might just be a friend." Li Hao nodded slightly. He continued, "We also need to prevent passing experts from noticing anything amiss! Of course, the Dragon Region has one advantage: without an order from the Dragon Lord, ordinary Sovereigns dare not intrude upon another Sovereign's territory! However, powerful entities can perceive what is happening inside even without entering... If a mighty expert happens to pass by, they might detect something unusual." Kongji nodded. Li Hao went on, "Therefore... we need concealment! At least enough to deceive passing experts. I have an idea—a rather unpolished one—that requires your cooperation and assistance." "Speak." "I want to give this world an outer disguise!" *What does that mean?* Kongji pondered for a moment, then froze, looking at Li Hao. Li Hao nodded. "I will comprehend the Chaos Beast world lord's Dao, form a minor world, and swallow the native world! Two layers—an inner and an outer. The outer layer remains unchanged, while the inner layer becomes a haven for humanity..." Kongji understood! Drawing a sharp breath, he asked, "You want to... create a genuine world?" "Not quite. Without a world source, I will share the native world's source, planting my own world within it. I have a very daring idea..." He chuckled. "I require too much energy right now. Since I cannot conquer a rank seven world, I will... nurture my worlds with other worlds! For instance, this minor world can nurture one of my worlds. I will draw out all its energy, even including its world source... In the end, this world will shatter to complete mine! Of course, the ultimate goal is to breach the Dragon World, seize it, and use it to sustain the humans of the Dragon Region!" *Nurturing worlds with worlds!* Previously, Li Hao had not entertained such thoughts. At his current level, he had been reluctant to devour small and medium worlds, simply because he needed too much. Nurturing one world with another would require at least several hundred worlds just to help him step into rank six. That would incur too much bad karma! However... here in the Dragon Region, he felt no such restraint. Be they Chaos Beasts or native monsters... they were fair game to be slaughtered without remorse. Now, by cloaking the real world with his phantom world, secretly siphoning away its world power and world source... he could also provide cover. The Dragon Region surely possessed hundreds of small and medium worlds, perhaps even more. If no one noticed for a prolonged period, he could easily nurture his worlds, step into rank six, saturate over a thousand worlds, and become a genuine rank six Sovereign. In the distance, battle erupted. Numerous roars echoed throughout the world—the cries of the local humans, as well as the bellows of countless monsters and Chaos Beasts. Li Hao paid them no heed. With so many Sovereigns present, if a mere rank one Sovereign managed to turn the tables... then all these so-called Sovereigns might as well be abandoned as utterly useless, for they would no longer be the Silver Moon martial masters he knew. At this moment, he was calculating every detail. After a moment's thought, he said, "However, there is a problem... If we kill the native world lords, it won't matter if passing Sovereigns are unfamiliar with them, but if they are acquainted... it will be difficult to disguise ourselves! Exposing one could easily expose them all... That is a troublesome issue. We lack the strength to launch a direct assault on the Dragon World, so we can only proceed step by step, encircling the center from the periphery..." He looked at Kongji. "Do you have any ideas?" Kongji smiled. "If you want to nurture worlds with worlds and slay these Chaos Beasts... you must master a specific Dao!" "Which one?" "Memory!" Kongji continued, "Or rather, you must perform a time reversal on every powerful target to peer into their past. That way, disguising yourselves will be effortless!" Li Hao shook his head. "That is far too troublesome. I would be struck to death by lightning." Even so, an idea began to take shape in his mind. Reversing time was exceedingly dangerous and cumbersome. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly said, "I have a method to peer into the past... It isn't strictly reversing time, but rather tracing phantom echoes, though such tracing isn't comprehensive. It doesn't require me to reverse time over and over; instead, whoever wishes to impersonate a target can try it themselves..." He manifested the River of the Great Dao and explained, "The River of the Great Dao possesses the ability to reverse time. The key lies not in the river itself, but in the fact that the Time Star resides within it... Today, all Sovereigns who attain the Dao have their own River of the Great Dao, even if it is merely a tributary! If I place the Time Star back into the Dao of Virtual and Real within the Silver Moon World, our Silver Moon Sovereigns can all borrow the power of time to cultivate methods of the past and future..." He paused, then shook his head. "Too many drawbacks. There is no need to cultivate the past and future. I can open another river of time outside the River of the Great Dao. If one can step into this river and guide the aura of the person they need to track, they can retrace memories. While not true time manipulation, it will allow them to peer into the past!" Kongji digested this for a moment before speaking slowly. "You mean you want to return the Time Star to the Silver Moon Universe and establish a river of time—or rather, a river of memory—along which one can peer into a person's past?" Li Hao nodded. Kongji frowned. "Then... if the Time Star is placed there, what about you?" Li Hao actually wanted to place the Time Star into the river. What would happen to him then? Li Hao smiled. "It will only be placed there temporarily; there is no rush! Besides, the star was originally there anyway. Furthermore, I have an idea..." At this moment, Li Hao grew somewhat excited, as though a grand realization had struck him. "What if I use the River of Time to connect the myriad worlds?" "What?" "Using the power of time to transcend territorial boundaries, so that a Great Dao universe is no longer confined to covering a single world! Instead, through the myriad Daos of time, it will link all the worlds together! Doing so brings a colossal benefit... communication!" Li Hao grew increasingly animated. "In the chaos, contacting others is the greatest hassle! But if time serves as the foundation of the river, and every Silver Moon cultivator scattered across the void connects to it—regardless of their Dao, world, or universe... with time reigning supreme over the myriad Daos, I can establish the ultimate communication network!" Having said that, Li Hao frowned again. "However, time is not yet powerful enough. It might still be detected by top-tier experts..." The chaos was vast, which made communication exceptionally difficult. And beyond communication, there was transportation. If a true River of Time could be constructed to traverse the myriad worlds, with their Daos linked to it, it would not only facilitate communication but also serve as a spatial teleportation network... provided, of course, that this river incorporated the Dao of Space. In that case, the myriad worlds would become one. The chaos would be unified! Li Hao startled himself with his own idea. *Could this... actually work?* It seemed entirely feasible! Because time was founded upon the myriad Daos, any realm could theoretically be connected. Li Hao felt a surge of excitement. "Naturally, I cannot connect to other worlds right now; that would be far too dangerous. But I can connect my phantom worlds, using them as anchor points. This way, even without a Great Dao universe, I can stay in contact and even teleport through these scattered worlds... What a pity that I lack the Dao of Space!" He sighed with regret. "Dao Chess isn't here. If I had known, I would have brought it along to oversee this River of Time, which would have enabled teleportation... Then we would have had both teleportation and communication. It would have been utterly perfect!" Kongji was completely stunned. "You... you mean you want to turn the Time Star into the core of a network for teleportation, communication, and connection? Then... what about yourself?" "Me?" Li Hao smiled. "What about me?" Kongji said anxiously, "I mean, doing this is equivalent to turning the Time Star into a weapon rather than your personal Dao domain. It would be accessible to outsiders... Do you intend to make your Dao public?" "No!" Li Hao shook his head. "Can't I... condense a Time Star of my very own?" "What?!" Li Hao explained once more, "This is merely a concept. If it truly succeeds, this Time Star can serve as a public system for external use in the future, while I can cultivate and construct my own time system!" Kongji was thoroughly bewildered. "Why? Why must you make it so complicated? You could simply cultivate the current Time Star; it has already been successfully constructed. What madness has seized you now?" Li Hao replied, "Don't misunderstand; I don't harbor strange notions. My reasoning is that I don't truly understand how the current Time Star was constructed. I have a few ideas, and in the future, I might take it apart to examine it. Then, starting from scratch and building from the very foundation, I will erect the entire system with my own hands..." "But..." Kongji grew frantic. "What if you cannot restore it after taking it apart? What if you can't replicate it? What will you do then?" Li Hao smiled. "Then I simply won't walk the path of time. Is it impossible to cultivate the Dao without time?" "I still don't understand!" Kongji shook his head. "I am a cultivator as well, and I know that establishing a system entirely your own is a monumental achievement. But right now, you have the finest foundation before you. Even if this star originated from someone else, based on what I know, that person... is dead!" The Emperor of Battle Heaven was dead! He was gone, and the Time Star had not reached great completion either; it was merely a foundation that you are currently perfecting. Why dismantle it? Wasn't Li Hao overcorrecting? Hearing this, Li Hao spoke again, "Brother Kongji!" He continued solemnly, "I am not taking it apart for the sake of taking it apart. Rather... I want to comprehend true time, not a time bestowed upon me by someone else. If I do not dare take it apart, I will never truly understand time in this lifetime! "Of course, not right now. Besides... why are you more anxious than I am?" "..." Kongji was speechless. If it were an ordinary Dao, he naturally wouldn't care. But this was time! He could not help saying, "Because this is time—the supreme Dao of the myriad realms, the greatest of the myriad Daos! A truly heaven-defying path that could allow you to step effortlessly into rank nine, a path that could allow you to unify the chaos! As long as you keep walking it... there will be no obstacles. It is an unfathomable Dao!" If it were merely an ordinary Great Dao, he would not have uttered a single word. "The more magnificent it is, the more imperative it is to take it apart and study it!" Li Hao shook his head. "The more reluctant one is to part with it, the deeper one sinks into desire! This, in truth, is the greatest temptation. When even you, Kongji, who could forsake inheriting a rank eight great world, cannot bear to see this Dao dismantled, one can imagine how immense its allure truly is!" At this moment, he understood all the more clearly what kind of demonic enchantment this path held. Kongji had felt that dismantling it was inconceivable, wasteful, and wrong, even though the Dao did not belong to him. This star had become a sacred, inviolable existence in everyone's eyes. How terrifying! No matter what, it was ultimately just a Dao. And Daos existed to be studied—why couldn't it be dismantled? Nearby, the Sovereigns fell silent upon hearing this. Within the river, Er Mao had heard everything as well. Poking its massive head out, it gazed at Li Hao without a word. *You want to dismantle it?* Er Mao felt conflicted and bewildered. Even Er Mao found it hard to accept. Normally, Er Mao cared about nothing at all, yet at this moment, it felt an instinctive resistance. It knew where this star had come from; it did not want... Seeing Er Mao poke its head out, Li Hao smiled. "Senior Er Mao, the star is merely an inanimate object, a confluence of Daos. If it can be restored after being dismantled, that would be ideal. If not... let the past truly remain in the past. Senior Er Mao would finally be able to step out of it completely. Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Er Mao stared at him for a long time before speaking. "This cat merely finds it strange. Don't you... feel the slightest reluctance? What if the dismantling fails?" "Then it fails! In the future, given time and opportunity, I will test and reassemble each Dao one by one. If once isn't enough, then ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times, a hundred million times... Since the Emperor of Battle Heaven succeeded in assembling it, I refuse to believe he managed it on his very first attempt. Why, then, shouldn't I be able to reassemble it?" Li Hao said softly, "I do not believe my talent surpasses that of the Emperor of Battle Heaven; I am not that arrogant! However, the Emperor of Battle Heaven gave me a foundation, a demonstration, an answer, and a roadmap... In other words, he gave me the steps, the reasoning, and even the final answer. If, having all of that, I still cannot solve it, then I... do not deserve to inherit this star in the first place!" It was equivalent to a mathematics teacher walking a student through the logic, steps, and correct answer, yet the student still failed to solve the problem. What was the point of indulging such a fool? Er Mao fell into a daze. After a long silence, it sank back into the riverbed. *This cat needs to cool its head.* After all, Li Hao was only floating the idea, not dismantling it right this moment. He was not adequately prepared. To dismantle it, he would have to wait until he had perfected his own Dao lineage. Scanning his surroundings, Li Hao felt a swirl of emotions. Time was indeed terrifying. These outsiders were all urging him against it, unable to bear the thought, finding it inconceivable. These were among the most confident individuals, people who believed in him most, yet even they did not believe he could reconstruct time! *Battle!* What a fearsome existence. In this moment, Li Hao suddenly wished to meet the Blood Sovereign of Xinwu. That man was rumored to be the reincarnation of Battle, yet he had ultimately forged his own identity rather than becoming the next Battle. How had he reined himself in and remained free of Battle's influence? Furthermore, the Human King of Xinwu had surely restrained himself as well. It was said that during his early rise, all the energy he used had been provided by Battle, yet in the later stages, the Human King had cast aside Battle's influence as well. Li Hao spoke no further on the matter; those were concerns for the future. Returning to the topic at hand, he said, "Let us set that aside for now. My current idea is to draw out the Daos of some minor worlds from the Time Star, locate the corresponding Daos, and link them to those worlds, thereby creating the rudimentary form of a River of Time... That way, even if we are scattered and lack a Great Dao universe, it will function just like one—perhaps even proving more useful! "A Great Dao universe blankets heaven and earth, whereas the energy of time will only flow within this river, which will minimize the risk of detection..." As he spoke, excitement crept back into his voice. This was what he loved most. "Everyone, we may be playing a very interesting game next!" "A cuckoo usurping a magpie's nest!" "Of course, the same applies to these Chaos Beasts. What we must do now is kill one and assume its identity—impersonating its Dao, its world, its memories... How to pull this off right under the noses of rank seven and eight experts will depend on your abilities!" "It will be quite thrilling!" Impersonating Chaos Beasts right under the eyes of top-tier experts—was that thrilling? Naturally! The few Sovereigns who had remained were visibly shaken. Could this really work? "Furthermore, I will grant everyone an opportunity... to experience the charm of time. Outside the two rivers of Silver Moon, I will forge another River of Time. Of course, energy is currently lacking, so I can only temporarily substitute my River of the Great Dao... You may merge your own Daos into it and comprehend the simplest aspect of time: retracing! "Not returning to the past in the truest sense—that requires immense mastery—but simply retracing some of the target's memories. It is best to retain some of their consciousness and spirituality, which will allow for a more precise trace!" Just then, a thunderous boom resounded across the world in the distance. The rat monster shrieked in agony. Suppressed beneath a radiant moon, it was directly blown apart by a pair of colossal fists! The two monarchs had genuinely overpowered it, even obliterating it. These two half-step Sovereigns were slightly inferior to Li Daoheng and Zheng Yu back in their prime, but the gap was not vast; both of those men had possessed the strength to contend with Sovereigns. At this moment, Li Hao looked up. In an instant, boundless power of faith erupted across the entire world, surging wildly! It converged toward the radiant moon and the golden fists! Li Hao was taken aback. "So simple..." *How truly blessed!* The humans here were so easily satisfied. Merely by slaying the giant rat, these humans had readily become believers, spontaneously generating a tidal wave of faith that swept across the entire world. In that instant, a somewhat sinister thought crossed his mind. *Indeed, humanity sometimes needs hardship. The more they suffer, the easier it is to win their devotion and generate faith...* Of course, such faith was too ignorant! True faith, as Li Hao had said back in Silver Moon, did not stem from keeping the people ignorant. Only when their minds were enlightened, when they possessed absolute clarity yet still chose to believe in you—only that was true faith! It was spiritual, rooted in deep conviction. Take the Human King of Xinwu: even after a millennium of enlightenment, the people of Xinwu still believed in the Human King and the Supreme. That was true faith. Keeping people ignorant had too many drawbacks; it worked only temporarily, never permanently, and was far too easily dismantled! For the King of Dali and the Queen to walk the true Dao of Faith would still be very difficult. Right now, it was merely because the people had suffered excessively that they believed in them. To reach the level of the Human King and his peers—where the people, fully enlightened, still trusted you, believed in you, saw you as their spiritual pillar and leader—only that would signify the grand completion of the Dao of Faith! And that was what was known as the Human Sovereign Dao! The Dao of Faith and the Human Sovereign Dao were essentially the same, with the Human Sovereign Dao representing the ultimate, completed form. *** A short while later, the two half-step Sovereigns returned, brimming with exhilaration. Their auras fluctuated as the power of faith converged around them, having reaped a massive harvest of devotion, though their foundations appeared somewhat unstable. Li Hao glanced at them and said casually, "If you do not wish to suffer backlash and die like the Moon Goddess of the past, you know better than I what must be done... Reaching the level of Xinwu's Supreme—where the entire world knows what he is doing yet still places their absolute trust in him—that is true success! The Supreme's Dao is well worth learning from! "And the synergy between the Supreme and the Human King is also something you two should study! The Supreme walked the divine path, while the Human King walked the royal path. Since ancient times, theocratic and monarchical power have rarely coexisted peacefully, often clashing. Xinwu is the most harmonious example I have ever seen: the god does not view himself as a god, yet the people acknowledge him as one! The king does not view himself as a king, yet the masses recognize him as their monarch... They did not proclaim themselves god and king; those titles were bestowed upon them by the people!" A few experts from the Neo-Martial era were present, and upon hearing this, they were slightly taken aback. Theocracy, monarchy... In truth, Xinwu had never seemed to care about such distinctions, but hearing Li Hao articulate it, they realized upon reflection that it was indeed so. In their eyes, the Supreme was a faith, and the Human King was a conviction! The Supreme was omnipotent, his plans infallible. The Human King was invincible, undefeated in every battle! One was a deity walking among mortals, the other a conqueror striding across the world. The two were in such harmony that they seemed indispensable to each other. Even the Queen fell into contemplation. After a long pause, she nodded. "I understand. Still... I am more curious: if the King of Dali and I walk the path of the Supreme and the Human King, then what path will the Marquis of Silver Moon walk?" He had given the role of Dao Lord to Qian Wuliang and Hong Yitang, the role of world lord to the Black Panther, and now, as they conquered heaven and earth, he wanted her and the King of Dali to serve as the god and king of the people... *Then what are you, Li Hao?* Li Hao froze for a moment. *What am I? What path do I walk...* After a long silence, Li Hao pondered and said, "A fair question. I don't know what path I walk, nor do I know whom I should model myself after... Perhaps I merely wish to be a knight-errant! A wanderer of the martial world..." He smiled. "The chaos is my jianghu, and wherever I walk is the martial world! Traveling the realm, roaming the ends of heaven with sword in hand, righting wrongs, and disappearing without seeking fame or glory! If I feel like acting, I will act... To be a self-centered yet occasionally passionate wanderer of the jianghu... unconstrained by worldly bounds, unburdened by fame or merit... Desiring nothing is the greatest desire of all. My ambition... is vast indeed!" Vast beyond measure! No matter how powerful an expert was, they would always face constraints. Yet he wished to remain entirely unconstrained; such a desire to want nothing was truly the grandest desire. It was a dream! A dream did not necessarily have to come true, but one had to possess one. He was not the Human King, nor the Supreme, nor Battle. He was still that Li Hao who wished to become the knight-errant of his imagination—forging his own jianghu and walking within it! Completely free and uninhibited! Easy to say, yet the hardest thing to achieve. At this moment, the Silver Moon martial masters returned one after another. Hearing these words, their hearts stirred. A wanderer of the martial world... The Silver Moon martial masters felt a pang of nostalgia, for that had once been their dream as well. Yet reality was cruel. Today, the chaos was in turmoil, and their strength was meager. The path of a wandering knight-errant was unfeasible; they could not walk it, forced instead to follow the established steps toward becoming Sovereigns. Who could be truly free and uninhibited? Who could act entirely according to their heart's desire? Without invincible strength, how could one attain such freedom? At this moment, Yuan Shuo, who had yet to attain the Dao of Sovereigns, looked at his disciple with a daze in his eyes. In truth, after stepping out of Silver Moon and witnessing how vast the world was and how numerous the powerhouses were, that dream of the martial world had already shattered. Yet his disciple still dreamed of wandering the jianghu! Could he truly succeed? Treating the vast chaos as a martial world—what audacious words! With countless territories, endless powerhouses, rank seven and eight experts, and even invincible rank nine Sovereigns, a mere rank five Sovereign dared declare that he would walk his own jianghu across the chaos! Li Hao suddenly chuckled. "Well, it is merely a dream. Just now, I thought of a great idea—a very interesting cultivation method, a special technique that allows one to pry into others' privacy as well as one's own! "One can bury people's embarrassing pasts within it, engraving them into the depths of memory, into the depths of time... In truth, it is a shared memory bank!" Li Hao described the River of Memory and chuckled. "This is a river that gathers the memories of everyone... Using a person's aura, one can revive their memories. Beyond prying into privacy, it can also help perfect one's Dao! In the depths of memory, one can observe Daos... It can be considered a form of resource sharing..." Hearing this, Yuan Shuo frowned slightly. "Is such a Dao of prying into people's privacy truly a good thing?" Li Hao smiled. "It depends on how it is used. Used well, it is a fine path; used poorly... it will naturally incur backlash! "Right now, these are merely ideas; I have yet to actually forge it. Moreover, this river must possess the functions of communication, teleportation, and covering the myriad realms. Ultimately, all these complex functions will be unified into a single, complete River of Time!" The more Li Hao spoke, the more impassioned he became. "When that day comes, the myriad worlds will be unified, and the chaos will be one! Of course, I am referring to my current minor worlds, not the true chaos! "With worlds serving as tributaries of the Dao, the river flowing, and the power of the myriad Daos circulating, a grand cycle will be achieved! The myriad worlds will become entirely self-sufficient..." The more he spoke, the more shaken the crowd became. If this truly succeeded, it would be terrifying. This so-called River of Time would link the myriad worlds, capable of teleporting people, ferrying souls, aiding cultivation, retracing memories, reversing time, flowing into the future, discerning life and death, and commanding the myriad Daos... It felt utterly inconceivable! Could it truly succeed? A rank five Li Hao had actually conceived such an ambition today. For now, it was merely a simulation using his own minor worlds, but if it were ever truly applied to the chaos, it would be staggering beyond belief—and utterly terrifying. All worlds, perhaps even the entire chaos, would bow at his feet! Li Hao grew even more excited. "However, I cannot accomplish this alone right now. Is anyone willing to step into the River of Memory with me, peer into this rat's past, comprehend its Dao, impersonate this Chaos Beast clan, and oversee this world?" The crowd exchanged glances. Finally, someone muttered, "Thunderbolt Leg is suitable—rat-faced and sneaky, terribly wretched. Northern Fist works too... though Northern Fist's Dao is a bit contradictory, so he might not be able to comprehend it. Thunderbolt Leg is still the most suitable!" "Little He, are you itching for a beating?" Northern Fist glared at Southern Fist; only Southern Fist would dare utter such words. Li Hao chuckled, looked around, and said, "This rat monster specialized in concealment, void-fleeing, and ambushes... Neither Thunderbolt Leg nor Martial Uncle Northern Fist is suitable." He scanned the group. Having more Sovereigns now gave him a wider range of choices, which was a good thing. His gaze settled on one person: "This place is also a gateway. Director Zhao, you take the post!" *What do you mean by that?* Director Zhao looked at Li Hao, utterly speechless. *So in your eyes, I look the most like a rat?!* He had no words! Li Hao smiled and said, "This location is pivotal, serving as a passage into the Tianfang Region. Many people will likely pass through here, perhaps even rank eight Sovereigns like Red Moon, Yunxiao, Bright Light, or Chiyang. With anyone else, I worry they might be exposed. Only a senior figure like Director Zhao, who managed to hide away in Silver Moon for centuries while keeping everyone at ease, fits my requirements!" *Is that a compliment?* Director Zhao felt utterly helpless. How awkward! Li Hao chuckled again. "Furthermore, the River of Time is merely a concept right now and requires refinement. Having a steady and prudent senior like Director Zhao be the first to test it puts my mind at ease!" Nurturing worlds with worlds, cloaking real worlds with phantom worlds, and having Silver Moon Sovereigns impersonate Chaos Sovereigns... All of these were monumental undertakings. Li Hao was not exaggerating; this post truly required someone mature and steady. It certainly could not be an impulsive hothead like Southern Fist, or they would be exposed in no time! At this moment, Li Hao had formulated a comprehensive plan. *I will... sweep through the Dragon Region!* Constructing a massive web woven from hundreds of territories to capture the entire Dragon Region in a single sweep... It was an utterly mad, daring, and even suicidal notion. It was pure audacity! Of course, if the Dragon Lord took the Dragon World and departed to attack Xinwu, Li Hao would be overjoyed. In that case, the probability of the plan succeeding would skyrocket! Even if the Dragon Lord did not leave, they could wear them down slowly. Unlike the Human King, who only planned when events were already upon him, Li Hao had always preferred establishing goals and formulating a blueprint before systematically carrying it out to completion. At this moment, even Li Hao smiled. "Everyone, get moving! Although we have many Sovereigns, it is still not enough. My baseline plan may require sweeping through hundreds of realms, and our Sovereigns are too few! I hope that during this process, our Silver Moon can step into rank six and birth even more Sovereigns. Furthermore, if any of you cannot wait, you may... walk the Chaos Dao! Walk the path of minor worlds! Don't be afraid—would we cease living just because we lack a Great Dao universe?" His voice rang out clear and resounding, echoing across Silver Moon. "If there is no Great Dao universe, open one yourselves! If you cannot open one, then establish a Dao domain! I even encourage a portion of our Sovereigns to step out of Silver Moon. Of course, you may borrow Silver Moon's power first... and repay it once you become wealthy! "The Silver Moon Great Dao is not your ultimate destination... We must leave opportunities for the youth, for posterity. When the time is right, if you believe you can stand independently in the chaos, you may step out on your own! We are the very first pioneers of Silver Moon; if even we lack the courage, how can we expect future generations to transcend? We... must be bolder! Seniors like the Sword Venerable and Li Zhu stepped out on their own. I hope our Silver Moon can rival Xinwu!" Li Hao's voice was grand and sweeping. At this moment, he actively encouraged those who attained the Dao to step out. Before attaining the Dao, walking the Great Dao universe was far simpler. But once one became a Sovereign... world lords and Dao lords would impose restrictions upon them. If the timing was right, what harm was there in stepping out? In this moment, several Silver Moon martial masters felt their hearts stir. No one spoke. Right now, their foundation was insufficient, their reserves too shallow, and their comprehension of the Great Dao inadequate; stepping out was not something for the present. Yet Li Hao's words had planted a seed in their hearts. In the future... perhaps they could all step out. Li Hao added, "In the future, the River of Time may become the sole tether maintaining contact among us Silver Moon people! A Great Dao universe still has many limitations and a finite reach, whereas time... is boundless!" Li Hao's laughter rang out far and wide. "We, the people of Silver Moon, shall branch out and stride into the vast chaos, maintaining our bond through the River of Time. In the future, the name of Silver Moon will surely echo across the chaos!" Was it a dream or a fantasy? Who knew! Perhaps dreams could come true after all. The people of Silver Moon did not necessarily have to huddle together. Each of them was unique. As long as they could stay connected and communicate, they could roam the entire chaos!