Distinction of Strength

Merging his body into the thunder pillars to comprehend the Dao of Tribulation. Although it was not comprehensive, and he could not yet achieve the fusion of ten thousand Daos... well, in truth, it was a fusion of over 9,300 Daos, and he only drew upon the power of a thousand Daos. Even so, this moment was utterly shocking. As the sword slashed down, both eighth-rank Sovereigns were shaken. Strong! An exceptionally powerful sword strike. Of course, it mainly borrowed the power of the thunder pillars here. Otherwise, Li Hao's sword of a thousand Daos would not have been strong enough to severely wound an eighth rank—that would have been simply absurd. Merged with the thunder pillars, Li Hao even considered gathering all these pillars together, akin to reassembling his body. Over a thousand thunder pillars trembled faintly! It looked as though they were about to be uprooted from the ground! At this moment, even the Blood Sovereign could no longer hold back and barked in a low voice, "The master of these thunder pillars might still be alive... Do not move them rashly. Forcibly merging someone else's Dao will easily invite disaster!" He surveyed his surroundings, his brows furrowing slightly. A grim expression settled over his face. A sensation of being spied upon! Indeed, not just him—Li Hao had sensed a bit of it as well. The two eighth-rank powerhouses had also felt something, but neither spoke up. Such a sensation had occurred once before. In Tianfang! The Four Regions harbored many secrets. In Tianfang, the Lord of Tianfang was very likely still alive. And this Thunder Domain... If a Lord of Tribulation truly existed, they were very likely alive as well. That meant in the Four Regions, there might already be two known ninth-rank experts. At this point, Li Hao's thousand incarnations gradually detached from the thunder pillars, manifesting throughout the Thunder Domain. A thousand voices laughed simultaneously, "I was only testing it. If he is truly alive... Well, if he really is alive, I only wonder why he hasn't returned." It was so with the Lord of Tianfang, and likewise with the Lord of Tribulation. If he remembered correctly, back when they traced back through the past, Daoist Huoyan had mentioned that the Lord of Tianfang once invited many people—such as the Lord of Life and Death, the Lord of Yin-Yang—and referred to them all as Dao Lords! Dao Lords... Even the Human King, who wielded Yin and Yang and had now stepped into the eighth rank, was very likely not the kind of Dao Lord Daoist Huoyan had spoken of. "Dao Lord" might truly have been an exclusive title for the ninth rank—at least in those ancient days. Nowadays, anyone who governed a Great Dao could be called a Dao Lord. If so, it meant that in the past, there had been far more than two ninth-rank experts. There might truly have been many: the Five Elements Dao Lord, the Light and Darkness Dao Lord... all might have existed. A gathering of the absolute peak powerhouses in chaos. Each had pushed their mastery of a Great Dao to the ultimate pinnacle. Chaos had existed for countless eons, and ninth-rank Sovereigns were virtually immortal and indestructible. How could they all have simply vanished? Li Hao's thousand bodies stepped forward and began to merge. Gradually, a complete Li Hao emerged, lightning crackling around him. Between heaven and earth, thunder tribulations struck down toward him, but upon hitting his body, more than half instantly dispersed. The remaining tribulation lightning was swallowed directly into his World of Destruction. It caused him virtually no harm. Seeing this, even the Thunder Master drew a sharp breath. Manifesting in an instant, he looked at Li Hao. "You... no longer fear the chaos thunder tribulations?" "Not entirely fearless," Li Hao smiled. "At the very least, tribulations around the seventh rank pose almost no threat to me anymore. Even against eighth-rank tribulations, I can neutralize a portion. Essentially, it's about dismantling the unified tribulation from within in an instant... As long as you're fast enough, I can break an eighth-rank tribulation down into the seventh rank, and from the seventh rank down to the sixth..." If the tribulation lightning was unguided by a master and merely born naturally of heaven and earth, dismantling it was no longer difficult for Li Hao now that he had observed the Dao of Tribulation. Of course, if a ninth-rank Lord of Tribulation struck at will, combining over 9,300 Daos into one, you wouldn't even have a chance to dismantle it. You would be shattered to pieces instantly! In the face of absolute power, clever little tricks were of little use. But for now, such absolute power had yet to appear. At this moment, the Thunder Master felt a pang of envy; he even wanted to merge into a thunder pillar to take a look. Yet... forget it. Though he was currently the Lord of the Thunder Realm, the Dao he specialized in was predominantly the Dao of Lightning. Unlike Li Hao, who dabbled in every Dao, the Thunder Master lacked deep comprehension of Dao combinations. While an eighth-rank Sovereign possessed a profound understanding of Dao domains, if it came down to a true contest of depth, he was almost certainly inferior to Li Hao. He had seen too little. Even as an eighth rank, his exposure was limited. At the very least, he had never seen the Dao of any ninth-rank Sovereign. Not just ninth rank—even seventh-rank Daos were something he hadn't encountered many of, let alone studied in depth. He had always dealt with chaos beasts, and those brutes had no Dao to speak of. Nothing but brute strength! Thunder continued to crash down from the sky. As Li Hao quickly reformed himself, his power saw virtually no increase or change; this endeavor seemed to have been a simple look. Yet for Li Hao... the harvest was tremendous. Not only had he seen characteristics and traits of the Dao of Tribulation, but he had also glimpsed the direction of ninth-rank Sovereigns and verified many conjectures. Whether it was ten thousand Daos merged into one, or ten thousand Daos returning to one... ultimately, there was order. Yes, order. Cultivation was essentially a process of turning disorder into order. At this moment, Li Hao's comprehension grew clearer: the power existing in chaos was disordered, and what cultivators had to do was bring order to this disorder. The more one could organize, bringing all Daos—and ultimately everything in chaos—into order... the more supreme an existence one would become! The Emperor of Battle Heaven had achieved this. Aside from lacking energy, his realm and his Dao had practically stepped into the ninth rank! Of course, if he had wanted to truly enter the ninth rank, how many worlds would he have had to devour, and how many lives would he have had to slaughter? Perhaps... the Emperor of Battle Heaven felt that it shouldn't be so, and thus chose to disintegrate himself? If so... that was rather tragic. For the Time Dao Lord to become a true Dao Lord, to become a ninth rank, he would likely need to devour immense amounts of energy. Chaos energy was abundant, but slowly sifting through and ordering it might take countless millennia before having any hope of success. "Devouring is still faster..." Li Hao muttered to himself. The day he walked out of chaos, he had felt that devouring was a shameful act, something a cultivator should never do. Yet... today, he felt a sense of lament. Without devouring, relying solely on self-accumulation... how long would it have taken him to reach his current level? Several millennia, perhaps tens of thousands of years? At the very least that long. Devouring the power of other worlds saved immense amounts of time. No wonder everyone was single-mindedly devouring and annexing others... But that didn't mean devouring was right. Presently, such was the broader environment of chaos. If you didn't devour others, others would devour you. In every direction, the big fish ate the small fish, and the small fish ate the shrimp. If you didn't do it, others would. If you tried to remain detached, it depended on whether others would even grant you that chance. Order! The word surfaced in Li Hao's mind. Chaos still lacked order far too much. He had held this thought before, but today it became even clearer: the Dao of the ninth rank was in fact a Dao of establishing order. Li Hao fell into deep thought. Those ninth-rank powerhouses must have had similar realizations. Chaos was inherently chaotic; throughout the entirety of chaos, the Great Daos were currently a disorganized mess. A Great Dao universe was merely the foundation of establishing order, the beginning of it. At the ninth rank, this order would be deeply internalized. Anyone who truly reached the ninth rank should understand one truth: the ultimate purpose chaos pushed you toward to become stronger was order! Then where had these ninth-rank powerhouses gone? At this moment, Li Hao had a conjecture... Had they gone... to establish order? If so, those ninth-rank Sovereigns had noble pursuits after all. If not... if they were merely hiding somewhere brawling, that would be rather disappointing. For a ninth rank to still pursue fame, profit, or status at that stage was truly putting the cart before the horse. Cultivating to such heights was truly the absolute peak. The thought surfaced, and Li Hao promptly set it aside. None of this was his concern for now. Compared to those ninth ranks—not even ninth ranks, but eighth ranks—he was no match for them yet. In fact, he could hardly match a true top-tier seventh-rank powerhouse. The pressing task was to continue perfecting his external Dao. The external Dao was these realms. A thousand worlds was merely an achieved baseline goal. At this moment, Li Hao had officially begun moving toward establishing order, but it was not enough—far from enough! To become a truly peerless powerhouse, setting aside everything else, just looking at the Lord of Tribulation before him with over 9,300 Daos... Even though every Dao might not equal a realm, if Li Hao wished to use realms as his Dao and match such an entity, could he do so without seven or eight thousand worlds? It would be difficult! And that was assuming he used realms as his Dao. Otherwise, to match such a powerhouse, one's Dao principles would have to be comparable; if the gap was too wide, matching them was out of the question. "The Lord of Tianfang must be stronger than the Lord of Tribulation!" The thought crossed Li Hao's mind again. A peerless expert of 9,999 Dao principles! Perhaps... he was only one Dao away from the true limit. As for Time, whether it comprised ten thousand Daos or was comparable to Space remained uncertain, and Li Hao had no way to probe specifically. Next, he furrowed his brows slightly, harboring conjectures he dared not contemplate too deeply. Chaos was currently disordered and chaotic. The ultimate goal of cultivators was to establish order. Could the disordered power of chaos also give birth to truly invincible powerhouses? And because such Dao principles were embodiments of disorder, would they inevitably clash with ordered existence? If so... given that chaos was still predominantly disordered, did that mean disorder held the upper hand? Strange thoughts rose one after another. Was it possible? He didn't know. Perhaps there was such a possibility. For example, Xinwu's Cang Emperor: his original purpose in appearing in the past had been to collect filth, making him a representative of disorder. However, after the Cang Emperor was born, his unique disposition led him to use deep slumber to mask his essence of disorder. Otherwise, according to reason, such an entity might have become Xinwu's greatest harbinger of doom rather than a celestial emperor of Xinwu. "What are you thinking about?" At this moment, Kongji flew back, panting, and grumbled, "The way you stirred up the Thunder Domain just now nearly worked us to death." Li Hao smiled. "Thank you for the trouble!" "It's fine!" Kongji laughed, then asked, "Did you gain anything?" "Mm, a modest harvest." With that, Li Hao reached out, and the Sky Sword settled into his grasp. With a casual slash, he cleaved open a passage through the Thunder Domain, leaving everyone dumbfounded. "You..." "The power of tribulation was merely neutralized, that's all!" Li Hao was unfazed. Looking toward the outer perimeter, he pondered for a moment and said, "Upon reaching the eighth-rank level, Sovereigns with great ambitions all begin walking their own Dao domain systems... In truth, that path starts at the seventh rank!" "A Great Dao universe is great, but at the pinnacle stage, it actually becomes a shackle. That is why the Lord of Tianfang abandoned his Great Dao universe; to him, doing so had little impact." Saying this, he looked at Wushan and the Thunder Master. "The Daos you two cultivate are somewhat few... It's not that having a single dominant Dao is bad, but rather that even with one dominant Dao, you must still dabble in the myriad Daos. Otherwise, while reaching the eighth rank is simple, the ninth rank... is virtually hopeless!" At that moment, both Wushan and the Thunder Master were shaken. Eighth rank was simple! Ninth rank... hopeless? Coming from the mouth of a sixth-rank cultivator, such words felt discordant. However, a person like Li Hao could not be judged by ordinary standards. He had seen Time, Tribulation, and Space; it could be said that the ninth-rank Daos he had witnessed surpassed those seen by any other powerhouse in chaos today. Li Hao continued, "Of course, if you two do not pursue the ninth rank, it doesn't really matter. But if you wish to pursue it... you will need to pay an even greater price to attempt the construction of a Dao domain—self-construction. This is an unavoidable path to the ninth rank, and as far as I know, it is the path all ninth ranks walk." Perhaps a single dominant Dao could also achieve the ninth rank? Who knew? At any rate, Li Hao had never seen it. None of the ninth-rank Daos he had encountered so far relied solely on a single dominant Dao. Meanwhile, the true geniuses in chaos were all walking the path of fusion and combination. The Sword Venerable, the Human King, the Supreme, the Dragon Lord... In the Four Regions, Xinwu had many geniuses. Besides Xinwu, Li Hao had met the Dragon Lord once, and he was the same. Last time, Li Hao had judged that the Dragon Lord had merged at least five or six thousand Daos, which was likely true. If so... the Dragon Lord might be the one among all living, active individuals Li Hao had met who had constructed the most Dao principles. However... Li Hao thought of the Human King. What the Human King had displayed so far was the power of Yin-Yang heaven and earth. He seemed to be constructing an internal world as well. His internal world was in fact a kind of Dao domain. Li Hao was somewhat curious: just how many Dao principles had been incorporated into the Human King's internal world? Unless the Human King spoke of it, no one likely knew. It might be quite a lot! As for Li Hao, he currently had a mere thousand principles. Although filling them with vast amounts of Great Dao power made these thousand principles sturdier, in terms of overall Dao domain architecture, he fell short of those people. He was inferior even to the Sword Venerable and Li Zhu. Both possessed no small number of Dao principles. At this moment, Li Hao looked toward the Blood Sovereign with curiosity. "If I may venture to ask... Senior, are you walking the Dao domain path, or do you rely on Xinwu...?" He actually couldn't tell! Indeed, up until now, he couldn't discern whether the Blood Sovereign had detached from Xinwu or not, which was rather strange. The Blood Sovereign smiled, looked at Li Hao, and paused before replying, "For now, I still rely on Xinwu." Li Hao was somewhat surprised. The ambitious powerhouses of Xinwu had all struck out on their own, like the Sword Venerable, like Li Zhu. The Blood Sovereign was no minor figure in Xinwu. Strictly speaking, based on Li Hao's understanding of Xinwu history, the Human King and the Supreme were the soul figures of the Xinwu era, but the Blood Sovereign and a few others were the tier of core backbones just beneath them, having played far greater roles in the past than the Sword Venerable. During the decisive battle against the Heavenly Emperor, they had all played monumental roles. The others had all detached, so why... hadn't the Blood Sovereign? Lacked confidence? Hardly. Then why? While Li Hao was still pondering, the Blood Sovereign laughed. "It isn't that complicated. Whether detaching from Xinwu or staying, how one cultivates the Dao remains one's own affair. Detaching has its benefits, and staying has its benefits. If one truly wishes to walk the Dao domain path... does staying mean you can't walk it?" He shook his head. "Not necessarily. Your Silver Moon possesses a Great Dao universe as well, so you should understand... Does that mean a branch Dao cannot grow stronger? Not necessarily... Do you know which Great Daos I specialize in?" Li Hao thought for a moment. "The Dao of the Bow, the Dao of the Saber, the Dao of Vital Energy..." The title Blood Sovereign came from his vitality being extraordinarily vigorous, surpassing imagination, though right now he appeared ordinary, with no towering aura of vital energy. "It is mainly based on vital energy," the Blood Sovereign explained. "The saber is the vessel, vital energy the foundation. As for the bow... since I inherited the Emperor of Battle Heaven's archery, it isn't truly my specialized Dao; it's just very convenient to use." "Since it is based on vital energy, who doesn't cultivate vital energy? Even the weakest person has vital energy. That being so... by integrating into the Great Dao universe and comprehending more, since everyone possesses vital energy and partakes in this Great Dao's power, I can gain insights similar to a river of the Great Dao to form my own domain of vital energy!" He added, "The Dao of the Physical Body is the same. Who doesn't cultivate the physical body?" "Since they cultivate it, whether someone cultivates the Dao of the Physical Body or any of the myriad Daos, you can always glean some insights... That is the function of the Dao river..." Li Hao fell into thought. That was true. These fundamental Daos appeared simple, yet to walk them deeply and far was exceedingly difficult. Using this as a foundation to comprehend the myriad Daos was indeed a viable path. One didn't necessarily have to break away and comprehend everything in isolation. "I understand. Li Hao has learned much!" "Just an exchange of thoughts, hardly a teaching..." The Blood Sovereign gave a soft laugh. "At this stage, there's no need for Senior Wushan or the Thunder Master to abandon a Great Dao universe. Great Dao universes are highly inclusive! For now, one can gain far more insights within a Great Dao universe; it's just that, as Li Hao said, one can shift their focus..." Wushan was speechless. *I don't even have a Great Dao universe.* He knew quite a few Daos as well, but... none were particularly strong. *Does that mean I have no hope of reaching the ninth rank?* *Well, I never really harbored such hopes anyway.* Li Hao casually spoke of the ninth rank all the time. But were it not for these people, Wushan's greatest ambition in earlier years was simply to break free from Yunxiao and reach the eighth rank, a goal he had now achieved. In a million years of chaos, only a single ninth rank had emerged. Did they really think everyone had a shot at it? Wushan didn't dwell on it further and let out a breath. "The eighth rank is already plenty satisfying. Still, what you say makes sense—if there's a chance to strive for it, one naturally should!" If it proved impossible, if it was too hard... if he simply wasn't cut out for it, then giving up was fine. There was nothing bad about remaining an eighth rank. Li Hao smiled. That was true. Some things couldn't be forced. Did these eighth-rank powerhouses not understand this themselves? Did they not know what a Dao domain was? Did they not know how to construct one? Knowing was one thing, but what could they do about it? Everyone knew that robbing an eighth-rank universe could make them stronger, but... how many could actually pull off such a heist? As he was thinking, Kongji spoke up: "All right, at the end of the day, even if you succeed in comprehending the Dao, power of the Great Dao is still in terribly short supply... You've probably opened more than a thousand worlds by now, haven't you? And to open those thousand worlds, how much Great Dao power did you consume? In my view, even if one takes the Dao domain path, they shouldn't copy you. You treat Dao principles like worlds to open... Haoyue, with the way you're going, even if the entire Four Regions were given to you, could you reach the seventh rank?" Li Hao chuckled. "As for the seventh rank, once you successfully construct a Dao domain, you essentially count as one. In my view, there's little difference between me and a seventh rank now... At this level, one can't simply categorize things by sixth or seventh rank..." Did he count as a seventh rank? The greatest difference between the sixth and seventh ranks lay in the Dao domain and the strength of one's Dao principles. Among the Dao of Li Hao's thousand worlds, not a single one had reached seventh-rank strength. Thus, in the eyes of outsiders, he was still a sixth rank. The same applied to Yuan Shuo. He had just entered the fourth rank, and his strongest Dao was only at the fourth-rank level... Yet strictly speaking, having constructed Dao domains, both could be considered seventh rank. It was just that not a single one of their Great Dao principles had reached seventh-rank potency. That was cultivation realm in the eyes of the public! In Li Hao's eyes, whether constructing a Dao domain or having a single Great Dao reach seventh-rank destructive power, either qualified one as a seventh rank. He felt that he could be counted as a seventh rank—a true seventh-rank Sovereign, rather than the sixth rank everyone perceived him to be. Li Hao's strongest Dao was merely a sixth-rank Dao. As a result, even though uniting his thousand worlds produced power far greater than an ordinary seventh rank, everyone still considered him a sixth rank. Li Hao added, "Still, you have a point. The strength of any single Dao of mine is not sufficiently powerful. My core Dao of Time, being left behind by the Emperor of Battle Heaven back then, is currently only at the sixth rank!" Thus, to truly step into the seventh rank was not a matter of accumulating more worlds, but of having at least one Great Dao reach the seventh rank. Otherwise, even if Li Hao truly gathered ten thousand worlds and could brawl with a ninth rank, in everyone's eyes, he would still be a sixth-rank Sovereign. However, Li Hao soon added, "Don't worry, my breakthrough into the seventh rank won't take long. Actually, doing so isn't of much use; it will only make enemies more vigilant! The Destructive Sword Dao I've recently converged shows signs of catching up from behind... Once I sort it out, perhaps my Tribulation Sword Dao will be the first to step into the seventh rank!" Looking at the Thunder Domain before him, he sighed with emotion. "This place is ideal for cultivating my Tribulation Sword Dao! Perfecting all Daos is hard, but perfecting the Tribulation Sword Dao is simple. Here, I might be able to officially step into the seventh rank..." At that time, he would be somewhat stronger, but there wouldn't be a drastic qualitative transformation. For a true qualitative leap right now, he needed to continue opening worlds. The power of a thousand worlds only gave him a firm foothold among the seventh rank. To become invincible among the seventh rank and reach the Human King's level, he would need to open at least around three thousand worlds—even two thousand would hardly suffice, Li Hao felt. Of course, reaching that stage... he would likely match Wushan and the others, rivaling ordinary eighth ranks. At least three thousand worlds! And to reach the Dragon Lord's level, perhaps four to five thousand worlds would be needed. The gap remained substantial. According to what was said, the Dragon Lord could pummel an eighth rank to death in two or three punches. If he had constructed a Dao domain, he must have at least five or six thousand Daos. At Li Hao's level, he no longer judged things simply by cultivation realms. He weighed the matter further. Sovereigns like the Red Moon Sovereign, in terms of standard Dao principles, were beings around the four-thousand-Dao level. If the Bright Light Sovereign held his native great world, he would possess at most the strength of five thousand Dao principles. As for the Human King, he should currently be around four to five thousand as well. If he formally stepped into the eighth rank, might he reach five to six thousand? Who knew? Still, he was definitely somewhat inferior to the Dragon Lord for now. As for Li Hao, the power of each Dao of his was currently worth at least one and a half times that of others. After all, having consumed immense amounts of Great Dao power to form worlds, it should theoretically be even stronger, but the quality of his realm Daos was not high. Most seventh-rank Sovereigns hovered around the strength of two to three thousand Daos; only top-tier seventh ranks like the Human King surpassed that, rivaling eighth-rank beings. Having made this division, Li Hao gained a clearer assessment of everyone's strength. Meanwhile, the Thunder Master and Wushan were currently around three to four thousand. Though considered eighth rank, they were bottom-dwellers among the eighth rank. The Sword Venerable actually possessed that many Dao principles as well, but having advanced only recently, his quality was slightly lower, making his strength a bit weaker and not necessarily a match for Li Hao, who had swallowed too much world power. And Kongji, though newly stepped into the seventh rank, possessed the Six Daos and Three Extremes with a formidable Dao domain, boasting at least two thousand Daos' worth of strength, which was quite strong. As for weaker seventh ranks at the level of a thousand Daos, such Sovereigns were very weak. Any weaker, and they wouldn't even count as seventh-rank Sovereigns. ... Li Hao explained his method of assessment to the group. The others didn't think much of it. Seventh rank or calculation by Dao power, to them, their strength was what it was, making little practical difference. The Blood Sovereign, however, nodded thoughtfully. "Your method of division is actually much more precise! Right now, sixth rank, seventh rank, eighth rank... these terms are far too broad, merely collective labels for broad realms, while the gaps between individuals are enormous! But according to your formulation, you are defining the strength of a single Dao principle by the strength of a first-rank Sovereign's Dao principle, correct?" Li Hao nodded. The Blood Sovereign continued, "Then according to your division, a seventh-rank Sovereign starts at a thousand Daos of power, which would be at least a thousand times the energy concentration of a first-rank Sovereign... Is it really that high?" Could it be that high? Having entered the seventh rank himself, he understood well enough that it wasn't that exaggerated. While a seventh-rank Sovereign slaughtering a hundred first-rank Sovereigns was effortless, or even several hundred, an energy concentration over a thousand times higher... he didn't think it was quite that much. Li Hao explained, "If an ordinary small world can bear one first-rank Sovereign, my current thousand worlds could bear a thousand first-rank Sovereigns... Of course, I am an exceptional case. For other seventh-rank Sovereigns, let's halve it: dismantling a seventh-rank Sovereign, I think, would equal the volume of roughly five hundred first-rank Sovereigns." That sounded more reasonable! The Blood Sovereign nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "Can each of your thousand worlds match a Sovereign?" "Purely in terms of energy... just about!" The Blood Sovereign thought of the Supreme. The Supreme had united a thousand Sovereigns—did that mean he was comparable to Li Hao? No! He realized something: each of the Supreme's thousand clones possessed a measure of independent conscious control. That was far harder than Li Hao's thousand worlds, meaning the power unleashed would be even greater! Thus, Old Zhang's strength was likely much greater than Li Hao's. At this thought, he sighed with emotion. Old Zhang hadn't skimped on devouring Great Dao power over the years. Look at Li Hao—how many worlds had he devoured to forge his thousand worlds? Old Zhang had quietly embezzled that much without making a peep. The Blood Sovereign said no more. Seeing that Li Hao had his own direction and goals, and that there were even two eighth-rank Sovereigns present, he refrained from lingering. Glancing at Er Mao, he said, "Er Mao, since you wish to stay... I won't drag you back to Xinwu. Big Cat said he misses you very much. If you have time, come back for a visit. As for me... I shall take my leave. There are still matters to attend to back in Xinwu..." He did not intend to travel with Li Hao's group. Unfamiliarity was one reason, and these people didn't need his help anyway. In that case, it was best to depart. "Senior is leaving already?" Li Hao was slightly surprised, yet not entirely so. The powerhouses of Xinwu were accustomed to farewells, coming and going in haste, rarely lingering in one place for long. Quite free and easy! "I'm off. What about you all? Will you remain in the Thunder Domain, return to the Four Regions, or venture outside?" Li Hao considered it. "I will linger in the Thunder Domain for a time. For now, I likely won't return; the Dragon Lord is there. I killed so many of his people. If he doesn't see me, he might not hunt me down, but if he lays eyes on me... whether to appease his subordinates or for other reasons, he will certainly strike." At present, returning to the Four Regions was difficult for him. As for when the Tianfang World would awaken, it would take some time. The Great Dao stars distributed last time—now that many Sovereigns had died, the stars belonging to the deceased might have been claimed by others or returned directly to the Tianfang Universe... In any case, nourishing them enough to open the universe wouldn't happen quickly. Besides, those Sovereigns currently had little heart left to nurture such things. Tianfang Universe had opened twice, and both times were false alarms. By now, those seventh-rank Sovereigns had likely lost hope. Repeated awakenings had all turned out fake. Even if it truly awakened next time, they would probably dismiss it as another trick and wouldn't rush inside so readily. "If you venture into the outer regions... be careful. It is said that a ninth rank has emerged out there, though our intelligence is not very specific. Encountering eighth-rank Sovereigns wouldn't be an issue with Wushan and the others around, but if you run into a ninth-rank Sovereign... even the weakest ninth rank is not something we can match." Li Hao nodded. That was certainly true. According to his estimates, a ninth rank was an existence with at least nine thousand Dao principles. Without gathering around six thousand worlds, he couldn't possibly match a true ninth-rank Sovereign. And right now, despite exhausting his efforts, he had only gathered a thousand worlds. As for matching a ninth rank... he might as well wash up and go to sleep. Even the Dragon Lord, possessing the power of six thousand Dao principles, would have to wash up and go to sleep if he met a ninth rank—the gap was simply too vast. The Blood Sovereign said no more, turning and departing swiftly. He came quickly and left just as quickly. Coming here seemed to have been purely to check on Er Mao and Li Hao. Watching him leave, Er Mao watched for a while, then grumbled, "He actually still resembles that teacher a bit." "He is himself; stop always tying him to the teacher," Li Hao chuckled. "Everyone wants to live as themselves, not as someone else. Just like you—if everyone said you were just the Cang Emperor, you wouldn't like it either, right?" Er Mao thought about it, then nodded in agreement. True enough! "Then I won't say it next time..." it muttered. It glanced at Li Hao again... *Actually, you're a bit similar too. But just as Li Hao said, everyone wants to live as themselves, so why bring it up? I don't want to be treated as Big Cat either.* "Everyone, I have largely completed my comprehension. Next, I will take Black Panther and continue walking through the Thunder Domain for a while, examining the various thunder pillars to comprehend them carefully and absorb some power from the Thunder Domain, seeing if I can formally elevate my Tribulation Sword Dao to the seventh rank! As for you all... you may cultivate on your own, or go to the Thunder Realm to exchange insights, or venture outside the Thunder Domain... I do not advise returning to the Four Regions!" He was merely offering a suggestion. If they truly wished to go back, they could go to the Bright Light World's side; otherwise, staying in the Dragon Domain would be far too dangerous. "We'll head back and exchange insights on the Great Dao..." Wushan had no desire to return to the Four Regions. He had finally reached the eighth rank; going back now risked being beaten to death by the Dragon Lord. As for going to Xinwu, he had no interest either. It was better to mingle with the Thunder Master and exchange Dao insights. Thinking of this, he added, "By the way, the Senlan World is still in the Three Regions... That fellow Senlan is actually quite interesting. His world is only a seventh-rank world. Why not trouble Er Mao to make a trip and bring Senlan over so we can catch up..." Wushan suddenly proposed this. He had interacted with the Senlan World Lord for some time previously. Right now, the Four Regions were in total chaos. Xinwu had to help defend Bright Light and might not have the time to look after that fellow. A seventh-rank great world was formidable under normal circumstances, but the Dragon Lord was on the verge of madness. If he couldn't find Li Hao and dared not lightly antagonize Xinwu, attacking Senlan would be far too easy! With Er Mao around, now that Er Mao had stepped into the seventh rank and was counted among the chaos beasts, swallowing a seventh-rank world—while not as fast as the Cang Cat—still allowed him to carry a world and flee. "Senlan World?" Li Hao thought for a moment. "Clustering together is indeed safer... We can ask. If World Lord Senlan is willing, that's fine; if he isn't, no matter. The Dragon Lord might not necessarily target him, and searching for him takes time..." However, if Senlan was willing to come, the Thunder Realm was an eighth-rank world. Within the Thunder Domain, a standalone great world could hardly survive—even inside the belly of a chaos beast, lightning would infiltrate its Great Dao universe. Yet by entering the Thunder Realm, it could resist the lightning. This was precisely why the Dragon Lord had continually sought to seize the Thunder Realm. Once they left the Thunder Domain, travel would be convenient, allowing them to come and go as they pleased. Wushan's interest was piqued at once. "Then I'll go fetch Senlan. I'll trouble Er Mao to make the trip with me. We exchanged contact methods last time, so I should be able to pinpoint his world's location quickly..." He was quite enthusiastic, but Er Mao was reluctant. *I'm not a mover!* Yet... Li Hao said, "Then we shall trouble Senior Er Mao to make the trip..." Er Mao was speechless! More work! What a hassle. Yet since Li Hao had spoken, despite its reluctance, it still went along with Wushan. Kongji was somewhat surprised. "Last time, didn't you say it was better for everyone to come and go as they pleased, leaving whenever they wished? Why have Senior Wushan bring Senlan over..." "The Four Regions are no longer peaceful! Since we crossed paths, perhaps the outer regions are indeed safer," Li Hao explained. "The Dragon Lord is truly formidable. I suspect he may have planted agents in many worlds across the Three Regions, poised to invade and unify the Three Regions at any moment! Xinwu won't concern itself with this, so... staying in the Four Regions might result in becoming the Dragon Lord's prisoner, or even a corpse..." "Is the Dragon Lord really that strong?" Kongji still lacked a clear perspective. "My father is not weak, and coupled with Xinwu... they shouldn't be unable to match the Dragon Lord, right?" "Hard to say!" Li Hao shook his head. "Xinwu is exceptionally powerful, but after all, time has been too short; they've only just advanced to the eighth rank! As for the Human King..." Li Hao paused in thought before saying, "I suspect the Human King may never have cared much about the development of the Xinwu World, focusing instead on his internal world. His internal world might not yet be overwhelmingly powerful... I feel the Human King might relinquish the Xinwu World, handing it over to the Cang Emperor or the Supreme. If that happens... his strength may suffer a temporary dip." "Huh?" Kongji was startled. "Why do you say that? Xinwu Yin-Yang is the core Dao of the Human King; would he abandon it so casually?" Li Hao considered it for a moment. "Hard to say. Before being exposed, he might have cultivated in secret. Now that he's exposed, the Human King might completely let loose. That's just his personality—daring and bold. Letting loose completely might even be a relief for him... He seems to have always wanted to dump Xinwu onto the Supreme. I think there is truly such a possibility. If so... the Supreme is not an aggressive type by nature and likely won't take the initiative to attack the Dragon Realm, but rather avoid his brunt for the time being..." After analyzing further, Li Hao added, "In that case, your father must either abandon the Bright Light Universe, or... Xinwu could run at any moment, and your father... might be forced to submit to the Dragon Lord." Kongji parted his lips, only speaking after a long pause: "That shouldn't happen. My father... I've killed so many Dragon Realm Sovereigns. If my father isn't an idiot, he wouldn't do that." Li Hao smiled. "Hard to say. But I feel Xinwu is not the type to hold the fort indefinitely; they will leave sooner or later. If your father doesn't prepare early, he could find himself in danger at any moment..." Kongji was helpless. If so, Bright Light was indeed in peril. An eighth-rank great world, once an absolute hegemon, was now in danger of being shattered at any time once Xinwu departed. How miserable. Viewed in this light, an eighth-rank great world seemed nothing special after all, even turning into a burden. "Abandon it... Then it'd be better to gift it to Xinwu!" At this point, Kongji spoke up. "If I were my father, I might as well gift Bright Light to Xinwu. Whether the Human King devours it or Xinwu devours it, both would become stronger. If the Human King devours it, his internal world might advance to the eighth rank, making him a truly independent eighth-rank Sovereign; and if the Supreme devours it, he could take charge of Xinwu and become a new eighth rank! That would confer an enormous favor..." At that time, with his close relationship with Li Hao, and his father forming a steadfast alliance with Xinwu, gifting an eighth-rank great world would be an astronomical favor. Then, Bright Light might have a brighter future. Only... could his father bear to part with it? An eighth-rank great world! It truly wasn't something one could give up lightly. At this moment, Dao Chess couldn't help asking, "Why not gift it to Li Hao?" *Why are you helping outsiders instead of your own?* Kongji chuckled, and Li Hao laughed as well. "For me, having another eighth-rank world right now is merely icing on the cake. But if gifted to Xinwu, to the Human King, allowing his internal world to reach the eighth rank, it would be providing charcoal in the snow! It maximizes benefit and is the most feasible measure..." Dao Chess remained somewhat unsatisfied: "Then..." Li Hao laughed heartily. "Senior Dao Chess, he's only saying that, not actually giving it away. The Bright Light Sovereign is almost certainly unwilling to part with it! Are you taking it seriously?" "..." Dao Chess was speechless. Why shouldn't he take it seriously? Of course he took it seriously! If it were truly given away... an eighth-rank great world! Wouldn't that be a massive loss? Kongji was right here, the crown prince of Bright Light after all. If father and son reunited, adding the eighth-rank Bright Light Sovereign and four seventh ranks, Dao Chess felt Silver Moon's faction could even overpower Xinwu. As things stood... almost certainly not. The Human King and Cang Emperor had both stepped into the eighth rank, and Wushan and the Thunder Emperor were bound to be no match for them. Li Hao was most likely not the Supreme's match. Kongji, Dao Chess, and Er Mao would struggle to match the Sword Venerable, Sun God, Li Zhu, and the rest. Tallying it up... even if Wushan brought Senlan over, they probably couldn't match Xinwu. Dao Chess felt that if you wanted to lead, you had to be number one... Only if Bright Light joined would they have any hope of surpassing Xinwu. As for Li Hao, he couldn't be bothered to waste energy on that. If Bright Light truly came, it would actually make things awkward to navigate. He was on great terms with Kongji, but if the Bright Light Sovereign came along and Kongji called him 'Father,' what was Li Hao supposed to call him? That would only invite trouble; leaving him with Xinwu was much better. Over on Xinwu's side, the Human King called everyone 'brother' left and right, and the Bright Light Sovereign could be kept in check without causing problems. The Human King was domineering and quick to turn hostile, turning on people at the drop of a hat, so the Bright Light Sovereign wouldn't dare make waves. If he joined Li Hao's side, Li Hao might not be able to harden his heart to discipline him, making interactions difficult instead. Of course, there was no need to voice these thoughts aloud. Kongji clearly understood this reasoning as well; otherwise, he wouldn't have casually suggested gifting Bright Light to Xinwu. For a time, no one spoke further of the matter. Leading Black Panther, Li Hao found a thunder pillar and quietly began comprehending, attempting to condense new minor worlds. His thousand worlds were complete, yet the Queen was still constantly channeling vast amounts of chaos power to him. While the energy had not yet accumulated to an unmanageable degree, condensing more minor worlds early would save him from bursting his body. Along the way, he absorbed some tribulation lightning power. If he could advance both the World of Destruction and the World of the Tribulation Sword to the pinnacle stage, he might fully step into the seventh-rank Sovereign realm. Although there was nothing inherently special about the seventh rank, at the very least, it would look far more impressive. At this moment, Li Hao absorbed energy in peace, paying no mind to other affairs. The others also began consolidating their respective realms and strength. A rare tranquility descended over the Thunder Domain.