A Different Perspective

The Dao merged into Chaos. The long river merged into Chaos, the thousand realms merged into Chaos, the Time Star merged into Chaos... This was merging the Dao. The instant they merged, the river surged violently, and boundless chaotic power gathered toward him. At this moment, Li Hao felt as though his consciousness had dissolved completely—or perhaps he had become part of Chaos itself. He seemed to hover outside of Chaos, looking down across the entire chaotic void. And in this very moment... he saw eyes! Pair after pair of eyes! Someone was watching him! More than one person. Right then, he even glimpsed things he had never been able to see in the past. He saw countless Great Daos, and he saw... a passage? Was it a passage? He did not know. He seemed to see a Great Dao concealed within Chaos. A spatial transmission passage? Was it Tianfang? Had the Lord of Tianfang left a passage behind? Within this boundless Chaos, he had never seen or perceived it before. Perhaps it was just like the River of Time—until you reached that level, you simply could not see or sense it. Yet once you were strong enough, you could perceive it. The River of Time had been forged from the Time Star, but the star itself was not overwhelmingly powerful, so even Long Zhan could perceive it. But... if this passage existing in Chaos was the Dao of Space, then it had clearly been left behind by the Lord of Tianfang. Who could see it? Who could discover it? At any rate, Li Hao had never noticed it before. At this thought, several things came to mind. The Blood Sovereign had once said that long ago, dark passages had existed near Xinwu, shielding it from the world until it became a seventh-rank great world and stepped out into Chaos. Xinwu had essentially been a sealed world. Who had sealed it? The Emperor of Battle Heaven? Why seal it? To prevent people from finding it? When Xinwu first emerged, the Human King had not stirred up much trouble initially; he had spent all his time in secluded cultivation. Later, Xinwu had clashed with Red Moon. Was that an accident, or an ordinary conflict? A passage... A passage actually existed in Chaos, a spatial transmission passage... Did that mean the Lord of Tianfang could actually return in person? Then why hadn’t he returned? Tianfang World was constantly striving to revive. If he truly could return, wouldn't returning be effortless for the Lord of Tianfang? Wouldn't reviving be just as simple? What in the world was he waiting for? Countless doubts surfaced in Li Hao's mind. Moreover, did this passage require merging completely into Chaos before it could be seen? Why couldn't the Queen see it? He had never heard her mention it. Was it because she was too weak, or was it because Li Hao had merged with Time, making him unique and granting him this vision? The passage was boundless! Like a vast river, it traversed Chaos, pierced through the Thunder Domain, and stretched straight toward the western boundary... as though linking east and west. The moment he merged into the Great Dao of Chaos, Li Hao felt as though he had become a part of Chaos itself. In that split second, he even saw gazes. He saw them with his eyes; he did not merely sense them. Those gazes were almost tangible, gleaming like the eyes of wolves in the dark night. Radiating light, they reflected toward him from the endless darkness. Li Hao felt shaken, finding it hard to believe! Someone could truly see straight through Chaos! No... no matter how powerful someone was, they could not see that far. Which meant... it was the Dao! Yes, the Dao. These people's Daos had merged into the entire Chaos... No, merging into the Dao of Chaos was his current state. These people's Daos seemed... independent of Chaos. And yet, they permeated all of Chaos. They were not inside Chaos, yet they were everywhere. Thus, they could sense any movement within Chaos at any time. They could see everything, perhaps at a certain price. Still, this proved that Chaos had always remained under their watchful eyes. Where were these people? What were they doing? Was the Lord of Tianfang good or evil? Or rather, why had those vanished ninth-rank experts disappeared in the first place? What was the reason? Could Chaos no longer tolerate them? Too many questions flooded Li Hao's mind. At this moment, he even looked west, to the unimaginably distant west... Vaguely, faint specks of light flickered there, as if taking him back to his past. Back to the time when he was weak, when he could see energy and discern the strength of distant cultivators. Long ago, Li Hao had possessed that ability. Those were the sword eyes inherent to his bloodline! Later, as he grew stronger, Li Hao understood what kind of power those eyes truly held. What he had seen back then were ethereal Dao meridians. He had been able to see them likely because the Sword Venerable was closely tied to the Great Dao Universe. Thus, Li Hao had been able to see the energy condensed by Dao meridians. Back then, he had not been able to see the strength of martial masters. That was because martial masters did not cultivate Dao meridians; only supers cultivated Dao meridians. It wasn't that martial masters concealed their power, but that their systems were entirely different. Back then, Li Hao had relied on that ability to evade numerous crises. Now, he seemed to behold such a sight once more. Today, he was very powerful, his enemies were very powerful, and other cultivators were very powerful... Because of that, the sword eyes had become largely useless. Using them to examine the weak was fine, but did the weak require looking at? A single sweep of perception revealed everything. As for the truly strong—last time, when the three eighth-rank experts concealed themselves, Li Hao had failed to sense them and naturally could not see them. Yet now, he could seemingly see them once again. Why was that? The Dao of Chaos! Thinking along these lines, he began to understand. Just as the sword eyes belonged to the same system as Dao meridians, their essence was the Sword Venerable's Dao, a crucial key to the Great Dao Universe. That was why he could see Dao meridians. Now, he had merged into Chaos... and he could see Great Daos and even Dao domains again. Did this mean... the Great Dao of Chaos was perhaps the source origin of all Daos? Could it be? In other words, the Great Dao of Chaos was akin to the Dao origin of a Great Dao Universe! The Great Dao of Chaos was to Chaos what the Time Star was to the Silver Moon Universe, what the Planet of Desire was to the Red Moon Universe, and what the core Dao origin was to other great worlds' Great Dao Universes... Therefore, nearly all cultivators in Chaos were cultivating it! Even if they hadn't merged into it, what they cultivated was, in truth, the Dao of Chaos! Before merging, Li Hao had never anticipated such a result. The Queen... was truly useless. She hadn't sensed a thing. Aside from knowing she could siphon vast amounts of chaotic power, the Queen's merger with the Great Dao of Chaos had provided Li Hao with no special insights whatsoever. Only today, when he merged himself, did he reap boundless harvests. Indeed, reading ten thousand books could not compare to traveling ten thousand li. Only practice yielded truth. At this moment, Li Hao conceived an even deeper thought. Since merging into the Great Dao of Chaos allowed one to perceive the existence of others' Daos, it meant... whether it was a Great Dao Universe or a Chaos beast, they all inherently belonged to the same system as the Great Dao of Chaos. Stating it sounded like nonsense. Born of Chaos, how could they not belong to the same system as Chaos? However... based on what he saw now, perhaps the ninth rank had broken away from this system! There was still a distinction. All Chaos beasts, all rogue cultivators, Great Dao Universes, and worlds belonged to the same system as the Great Dao of Chaos. The ninth rank, however, had broken free... What did that signify? He did not know. Yes, at this moment, Li Hao had no idea what it truly meant. Did it mean one could only reach the ninth rank by breaking away from this system? Or did it mean that once one reached the ninth rank, they might no longer stand on the same side as the Great Dao of Chaos? Or perhaps the ninth rank existed entirely independent of Chaos, to the extent that... Chaos could not tolerate them, preventing them from returning? Yet if it could not tolerate them, a whole group of ninth-rank experts had resided in Chaos back then. That created a contradiction. Furthermore... Looking westward once more toward that distant, boundless expanse, he could faintly make out some light. That meant the radiance had to be extraordinarily dazzling! Was that... Huntian Sovereign? If so, Huntian Sovereign had not broken free of the Great Dao of Chaos's system; he remained within it. Was he truly a genuine ninth-rank Sovereign, then? Li Hao shifted his gaze. He looked toward the Dragon Lord. Li Hao paused slightly. The Dragon Lord was very close to him, so he could see him much more clearly. In Li Hao's eyes, the Dragon Lord was like a massive cluster of light, just like the supers he used to observe. Incredibly bright! A colossal ball of light transformed into an immense dragon, guarding the Dragon Lord. It was formed from the fusion of countless Great Dao laws. Li Hao did a quick count... nearly seven thousand! Was he even stronger than before? Previously, Li Hao had been unable to see and could only make rough estimates, but today, he could actually see it! Li Hao continued watching... At that moment, the Dragon Lord seemed to notice something. He snapped his head around, his gaze chilling as he barked in a low voice, "Silver Moon King, you siphon chaotic power here, and I have chosen not to bicker with you. Are you spying on me?" Internally, however, the Dragon Lord was shaken. How could this fellow spy on him? Li Hao was merely at the seventh rank! Li Hao's heart stirred slightly. He saw... aside from the Dragon Lord, he saw several other eighth-rank experts. In his eyes, the Daos of eighth-rank cultivators were distinct from those of the seventh rank. Whether they had formed a Dao domain or not, they were entirely different. Black Tiger's Dao was very simple. It wasn't intricate like thousands of laws; there was only one, yet it resembled a ferocious tiger brimming with endless murderous intent. It lacked the complexity of the Dragon Lord's, being straightforward and direct, yet astonishingly thick! Nearby, several others possessed comparable Dao law strength. One was the Lord of Red Moon... even stronger than Black Tiger. But his was not a single strand; like the Dragon Lord, he had many. This meant Red Moon did not pursue simple desire, but rather a composite of desires. Desire had never been a single Great Dao, something Li Hao had known for a long time. Now, it was simply much clearer. The second was surprisingly Feng Yan! Feng Yan had stepped into the eighth rank. Li Hao had not known this beforehand, but now he did. More crucially... along Feng Yan's Great Dao, something faintly existed, like a thread connecting... to himself! Li Hao's thoughts stirred. This was... a Great Dao covenant. Right, he had once signed a pact with Feng Yan. Thus, this was a Dao formed by the Great Dao covenant, linking him and Feng Yan together. Long ago, Li Hao had agreed with Feng Yan that if he attacked her while at the sixth rank, he would suffer a seventh-rank lightning tribulation. There was also a supplementary clause: if he stepped into the seventh rank, he would face an eighth-rank lightning tribulation! Now, he was at the seventh rank. In other words, the covenant remained active. The moment he moved against Feng Yan, an eighth-rank lightning tribulation would be summoned... When Feng Yan saw him earlier, she had remained calm and collected, showing none of the demeanor of someone facing her mother's killer. That previously naive fire phoenix princess seemed to have matured considerably. She had even deliberately concealed her strength from him. Yet at this moment, it was laid completely bare before Li Hao's eyes—that thread still existed! Li Hao's consciousness gradually began to return. The long river surged frantically as massive quantities of chaotic power poured into it. Within the newly opened thousand realms, numerous territories voraciously absorbed the chaotic power. A group of Sovereigns was assisting Li Hao in regulating it. Li Hao had thought the Dragon Lord might strike now, so he kept his attention fixed in that direction. Yet... nothing happened. He didn't even attempt to obstruct them. The Dragon Lord seemed resigned, indifferent, or perhaps unwilling for any mishap to occur right now, not wanting to clash with Li Hao and the others. Li Hao looked again... Just as he tried to see more, the invisible giant dragon upon the Dragon Lord—the Dragon of the Great Dao—suddenly unleashed a roar like rolling thunder! The others sensed nothing, but Li Hao's spirit jolted violently! Boom! It struck like a mental execution, like a spirit of force! People always said the Chaos race had weak spirits, and that the best way to deal with them was using spiritual attacks. Yet right now, the Great Dao power on the Dragon Lord acted like a spirit of force, solidifying into physical substance! Boom! The invisible roar went unnoticed even by the three eighth-rank experts, yet Li Hao felt as though he had suffered a devastating blow. His entire River of the Great Dao fluctuated wildly, threatening to spiral out of control. In the distance... The Dragon Lord whipped his head around! Golden light flashed in his eyes. He hadn't seen wrong, nor had his senses deceived him—Li Hao truly had been prying into him. What audacity! At that instant, Li Hao's physical body snapped its eyes open. A mouthful of blood sprayed out, falling into Chaos. Yet it wasn't blood, but... spirit! The power of force! The power of force shattered and dispersed repeatedly. Li Hao turned pale as if gravely wounded. He stared into the distance, where the Dragon Lord's glittering golden eyes loomed before him. Li Hao grunted, keeping his eyes on that direction before glancing at the people around him. Everyone looked intensely nervous, yet none seemed to have sensed what had just happened. "Long Zhan..." Li Hao coughed lightly. This time, that golden dragon seemed to have struck at his very foundation. He drew a ragged breath, suppressing the turbulence in the River of the Great Dao, and looked toward the Dragon Lord with countless thoughts racing through his mind. The Dragon Lord's spirit was actually this powerful! Or rather, having so many Dao laws naturally granted him formidable spirit. Seven thousand Great Daos! For a Chaos beast to form a Dao domain and comprehend seven thousand laws was truly incredible. That Pengcheng Roc he had encountered last time had merely possessed immense physical strength and rapid speed, with nothing particularly exceptional in other aspects. As for the Dragon Lord, the deepest impression he had left previously was his formidable fists. Yet today, Li Hao had made a new discovery, gaining fresh understanding. If he tried to deal with the Dragon Lord using ordinary methods—attempting to sever his spirit the way one dealt with other Chaos beasts—he might end up being killed instead. Li Hao's spirit was already very strong. His spirit was forged from fused forces; every Dao was a type of force, and force merged into divine characters, which were manifestations of the spirit. Yet with so many Great Dao forces, he had still been shaken and injured by a single blow. Li Hao furrowed his brows. How could a dragon, a dragon of Chaos, cultivate so many Daos? Chaos beasts differed from humans. Born natively in Chaos, to be able to untangle its chaotic Daos—and not just one or two, but seven thousand—Long Zhan had to possess some extraordinary heritage. At this moment, Li Hao grew rather curious about Long Zhan's origins. Was this fellow truly a native Chaos beast born and raised in the Tianfang Region? Why did he find that hard to believe? Tianfang was only so large, and the greatest opportunity in the entire Four Regions lay in Tianfang World. Yet Tianfang World had remained dormant all this time; how had this dragon managed to cultivate so many Daos? In the distance, Long Zhan gazed across the void. His expression turned somewhat cold. Glancing at the turbulent Chaos, he frowned slightly. Had Li Hao spied on him because of the Great Dao of Chaos? What... had he seen? Li Hao refrained from looking back. If he truly provoked Long Zhan into attacking now, while they had nothing to fear, it would result in mutual destruction. It simply wasn't worth it. The Human King currently stood little chance against him... well, zero chance. The Human King commanded around five thousand Daos, while the dragon possessed seven thousand. His physical body was stronger than the Human King's, and his spirit was equally potent, leaving virtually no weaknesses. Under such circumstances, even if the Human King and the Supreme joined forces, they might not best him. The fact that Long Zhan had previously repelled Samsara on home ground and slain an eighth-rank expert right under his nose was testament enough. Li Hao looked away. Instead, he focused on suppressing the river and absorbing Great Dao power. As chaotic power poured in incessantly, Li Hao and the others combed through it together, filling small worlds. By now, the spatial passage before his eyes had vanished. It was as though it had never existed. Li Hao gained some clarity. Perhaps he needed to merge into Chaos to see it. Normally, he wasn't constantly merged with the Great Dao of Chaos, so he couldn't see it. The Lord of Tianfang had left behind a passage... Did that mean the people of Tianfang would return through it? Or by some other means? Numerous thoughts crossed his mind while his physical body continued absorbing chaotic power, constantly subduing it. The raging chaotic energy gradually began to subside. Much of the surrounding chaotic power had been drained, and the chaotic power absorbed by Li Hao's River of the Great Dao steadily reached a plateau. Within that short period, nearly a hundred new realms had been filled. Though they remained somewhat disordered, as long as they were refined, they could all transform into new realms. This was faster than devouring worlds; in just this brief span, he had absorbed energy equivalent to consuming a seventh- or eighth-rank great world. Of course, that was due to his initial merger, and the chaotic energy nearby had been exceptionally dense. The rate would likely normalize in the future, yet this speed was already startlingly fast. By Li Hao's estimation, as long as he continued cultivating in areas rich with chaotic power, he could probably fill one small realm per day. Filling all one thousand realms would take just three years. It might not sound extraordinarily fast... but what about after he advanced to the eighth rank? Besides, the Queen was also supplying him. In other words, within two to three years, Li Hao would need to make another major breakthrough; otherwise... he would burst from overfilling. Who could guarantee that, at the seventh or eighth rank, they could achieve a leap every two to three years? As the thought arose, Li Hao cast it aside and concentrated on suppressing the Great Dao power. ... This continued for several days without any interference. Long Zhan seemed to ignore him entirely. Even the cultivators of the Chaos race never came to look—perhaps out of fear, or perhaps because Long Zhan had restrained them. They allowed Li Hao to siphon away vast amounts of chaotic power here. ... Three days later. Chaotic power stopped surging violently into Li Hao's River of the Great Dao, settling into a steady trickle. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Over the past few days, everyone had been on edge, ready for battle at a moment's notice out of fear of an ambush. In the end, none came. At this moment, even the Thunder Emperor looked surprised and somewhat annoyed, muttering, "Long Zhan really is someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong!" Back then, he had been ruthless toward the Thunder Realm. He had blockaded it directly for hundreds of thousands of years! Yet now, Li Hao came to his territory and siphoned massive amounts of chaotic power, and he didn't even dare to fart. Li Hao, however, furrowed his brows slightly. He glanced at Tianfang World in the distance, his gaze shifting. After a long while, he spoke: "Let's go. If nothing urgent arises, don't come to the Four Regions again!" Everyone was startled. Why? Long Zhan had clearly shown weakness this time. With Xinwu and Silver Moon allied, there was no need to fear him. Li Hao offered no explanation. He simply stared into the distance. Near Tianfang World... it was actually surrounded by giant dragons! Dragons of Dao laws! Long Zhan didn't appear arrogant on the surface, but secretly, he was daring beyond measure. What did he intend to do? Devour Tianfang? Or... did he harbor other plans? That fellow certainly had designs on Tianfang, likely involving the ninth rank. Li Hao frowned slightly, hoping he wouldn't be dragged into it, though that seemed improbable. Because back then, he had incurred debts of gratitude to Tianfang. Tianfang's return might... require him to repay them! Li Hao frowned. Yes, at this moment, he knew what he might have to face. When Tianfang sought to return, he had originally thought there wouldn't be much trouble... Li Hao had expected it to go smoothly, but now it seemed trouble was inevitable. The trouble lay with Long Zhan! Back when he had traveled through the past, both Daoist Panlong and Daoist Huoyan had warned him that the price he would have to pay in the future would be immense. Could he choose not to repay it? Li Hao pondered. If he didn't, a knot would remain in his heart—what was known as an inner demon of the Dao heart. He sighed inwardly. The day Tianfang returned, he might clash with Long Zhan. Even if both sides were avoiding each other for now, it was only because fundamental interests had not yet collided. Yet... Long Zhan was clearly plotting against Tianfang. Meanwhile, Li Hao had to save Daoist Huoyan, Daoist Panlong, and that water-attribute Daoist—he had to rescue the three of them, even aiding their resurrection. That would inevitably infringe upon Long Zhan's interests. Reaching this stage, Li Hao realized just how much trouble borrowing power back then had brought him. The strongest had merely been pseudo-seventh-rank power, yet the price he might have to repay now was battling the peak eighth-rank Long Zhan to the death... Li Hao didn't truly regret it; it had indeed provided him great assistance at the time. He could only say... the cost-benefit ratio was somewhat poor. Borrowing sixth- and seventh-rank power a few times, only to potentially forfeit an eighth-rank life in the end, was hardly a bargain. Shaking his head, Li Hao turned and walked away. At this moment, his gaze swept across the surrounding realms. Numerous great worlds were gathered here; nearly all the human great worlds in the Four Regions had been relocated here. Li Hao frowned slightly once more. Within these great worlds... a peculiar power seemed to permeate. His eyes flickered as he looked into the distance, turning back toward Long Zhan. That peculiar fluctuation was not very clear right now; perhaps he needed to merge into the Great Dao of Chaos to perceive it distinctly. When Long Zhan deliberately shattered his probing earlier, had it been merely because Li Hao was spying on him, or... to prevent him from inspecting the other realms? Was that fellow scheming something else? ... Crossing through the Thunder Domain once more. The Human King and the others were waiting outside and rushed over quickly. The Human King was also somewhat puzzled: "That fellow Long Zhan can truly endure! If it were me, regardless of losses, I would have fought first. Yet we slapped him in the face like this, and he swallowed it whole!" Truly remarkable! Li Hao nodded, his brows knitting slightly as he looked behind him, murmuring, "He can endure indeed. I suspect... he's plotting against Tianfang." "Well, obviously!" The Human King was exasperated. Wasn't that stating the obvious? Li Hao clarified, "Not the Tianfang Universe... I mean... the Lord of Tianfang!" The Human King froze, stunned for a long moment before saying, "Surely not? The Lord of Tianfang is at least an apex existence among the ninth rank. Long Zhan is an eighth-rank; I admit he's slightly stronger than me, but only by a margin..." Where did he get such guts? Li Hao thought for a moment and said, "The Lord of Tianfang and his cohort are likely all alive, but it's absolutely impossible for them to return easily... Tianfang still possesses immense reserves of energy, yet they cannot be found right now. Tianfang might harbor a secondary Great Dao Universe or world. Long Zhan might have deduced something. I even suspect..." Li Hao paused before continuing, "I suspect that on the day Tianfang returns, the Lord of Tianfang will either return in will, or... within another universe, using Heaven's Will or the power of the Dao Lord to condense a body of ninth-rank or near-ninth-rank power to return!" The Supreme's expression shifted, and he turned to Li Hao, asking in a low voice, "Why do you make that judgment?" Li Hao explained, "Back then, the strongest in Tianfang aside from the Lord of Tianfang were reportedly only a few eighth-rank Sovereigns like Light and Darkness. In the current landscape, the return of eighth-rank Sovereigns is indeed respectable, but... what can mere eighth-rank experts change? What significance would it have? The Lord of Tianfang has always been watching... Since he knows this, even if Tianfang has more eighth-rank experts now, without hegemon-level strength, what use is it?" "Therefore, I believe that if they return, a hegemon-level power must emerge—at least an eighth-rank commanding over seven thousand Daos!" "If it isn't another eighth-rank expert, then it's a clone, Dao body, or will of the Lord of Tianfang... In short, it lies within that other universe. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it. Of course, even if I did... if I dared touch it, I might be met with a thunderous strike!" "Long Zhan might have realized something as well. He is plotting against this!" Li Hao delivered his assessment. The Supreme's expression flickered. He possessed some understanding of Tianfang, but not as much as Li Hao. When Li Hao had brought dormancy to Tianfang back then, he had seen and calculated clearly: at least a hundred billion Great Dao crystals had vanished! Just enough to revive numerous experts. Yet where were those Great Dao crystals? As an apex expert of the Dao of Space, Tianfang had left behind nothing related to space except Dao Chess. Yet Dao Chess was merely a weapon, an instrument for comprehending the Dao. Could it be that aside from Dao Chess, nothing else remained? Two heads were better than one. The Supreme was a master schemer. Li Hao shared his thoughts with him, and the Supreme fell into deep contemplation. Just then, Li Hao sent another voice transmission: "By the way, in the Four Regions... or rather, in the entire Chaos, there exists a passage. Likely a spatial transmission passage!" The Supreme's gaze shifted slightly! Countless thoughts and calculations surfaced in his eyes. A passage! Transmission! The Lord of Tianfang! He frowned as well. What were these ninth-rank experts doing? The Lord of Tianfang had painstakingly emptied Tianfang, yet left behind a hidden passage and a hidden universe, awaiting his return. For a moment, the Supreme could not fathom the man's intentions. He knew the other was still alive; that was a certainty. As if recalling something, he transmitted to Li Hao: "Don't mention this to anyone else for now. It must be extremely well-hidden if no one has discovered it. Let me investigate first. Of course, I might not turn up anything, but if I do, I will notify you!" He added via voice transmission, "And don't tell Fang Ping. That fellow is far too curious. If he finds out, he might go poking around, and once he starts investigating... that would be real trouble." "The Lord of Tianfang... None of us know much about this supreme ninth-rank expert. But I know one thing: long ago, the Emperor of Battle Heaven might have traveled to Tianfang! He likely used methods involving the past to visit Tianfang... and must have had contact with the Lord of Tianfang. Yet afterward, he sealed our Xinwu, and we couldn't emerge into Chaos until Xinwu reached the seventh rank—by which time a million years had passed since Tianfang disappeared!" "So... who was the Emperor of Battle Heaven guarding against? Within the Four Regions, worlds were countless, and Xinwu was not weak. Given that, who was he trying to guard against?" "Red Moon? Did the Emperor of Battle Heaven travel to the future and foresee that Red Moon would target our Xinwu?" "Furthermore, back then, a dark barrier existed outside our Xinwu, with a passage leading directly to the outer domains, even capable of crossing the Thunder Domain... It seemed... as though he wanted us to leave immediately upon exiting Xinwu, rather than lingering in Tianfang." "That passage later accompanied Silver Moon's separation and vanished along with it!" The Supreme spoke at length, then transmitted to Li Hao, "Tell me, where did that dark passage go? Why did it vanish later? Or could it be... that it connected directly to that spatial passage—the one you just saw—and the Emperor of Battle Heaven borrowed another's nest to lay his egg, linking Xinwu to that very passage...?" If so, they could travel using someone else's road. As for the Emperor of Battle Heaven himself, his true body had seemingly never left Xinwu. Naturally, he lacked the ability to forge a passage spanning the Thunder Domain; he was merely a sixth-rank Sovereign. Li Hao's thoughts stirred! Actually, that was genuinely possible. Could the passage that had appeared outside Xinwu back then be the very passage he had just discovered? Then... it had to be related to the Time Star. The Time Star could perhaps... connect to that hidden passage. Later, as the Time Star departed from Xinwu, the passage near Xinwu had vanished. At that moment, Li Hao's mind raced, and he suddenly transmitted, "If I remember correctly, there were once other worlds near Xinwu. When Senior Human King dealt with the Heavenly Emperor, the Human King's sister, along with the Sword Venerable and the others, visited another world! Logically speaking, that world lay near Xinwu, perhaps even within the range of that passage... correct?" The Supreme smiled and replied via transmission, "Correct!" Li Hao frowned. Then that didn't make sense! If Xinwu had been sealed, why had there been another world nearby? "Was there... anything special about that world? I heard Senior Zhang An mention it was just a small world, approaching a medium world, nothing impressive... Fearing an invasion by the Human King, after politely escorting the Sword Venerable and the others away, that world departed on its own..." The Human King had seemingly visited it in person once! However, it had fled on its own afterward. Later on, there had been no further news of that world. Li Hao had never paid it much mind, as it was reputedly very weak and insignificant. If it vanished, it vanished. Yet thinking about it now, something was amiss. If the area had been sealed, where had that world come from? Furthermore, without Chaos beasts, how had it moved an entire world to escape? Moreover, it was said to have fled before Silver Moon was born, yet the dark passage had only vanished completely upon Silver Moon's birth. Prior to that, it hadn't disappeared entirely; stepping into Chaos meant becoming hopelessly lost in the blink of an eye! Recalling all this today, Li Hao was momentarily stunned. Could that world have harbored secrets as well? Evidently, the Supreme had harbored such thoughts long ago. As one of Xinwu's leaders, he naturally cared far more about this than Li Hao. He transmitted, "Before we stepped out into Chaos, we didn't understand either. Only after stepping out did we realize... it wasn't simple! That world vanished. We searched for it later, but found no trace." The Supreme revealed further details: "That world never brought Xinwu any trouble. In fact, at a crucial moment, it saved Li Changsheng and the others. In that sense, it showed kindness to our Xinwu. It hovered near Xinwu all along, exceptionally close! Was it... surveillance, or perhaps protection for Xinwu? I've been investigating it, but the trail went cold..." "Additionally, the Great Dao of that world back then was rather peculiar. In our terms, it was the Dao of magic! All kinds of magic, all kinds of spells—the Dao could be summoned and dismissed at a whim... Manipulating the Dao was remarkably effortless." Li Hao was taken aback. Effortless? No Dao in Chaos was ever effortless, for they were all complex and chaotic. To manipulate them effortlessly... unless... it was an ordered Dao, a Dao governed by rules. He froze! An ordered Dao—in the past, he might not have understood, but now he did. His expression shifted. "Supreme, do you think... is it possible that such a world... didn't actually exist in the present reality?" "Hmm?" "I mean, is it possible that this world was akin to the fragmented space Er Mao once inhabited, influenced by the Time Star to create a spatio-temporal dislocation, causing it to manifest near Xinwu?" "The reason you couldn't find it later wasn't that it hid, but... that it truly vanished, returning to its original space!" The Supreme's face changed slightly. He looked at Li Hao, silent for a long while before transmitting, "How could that be... Back then, the illusory space created by the Emperor of Battle Heaven only contained a few living beings, but that was a real, tangible world. Unless... someone commanded Time—future Time? Under the intertwining of Time... and sharing the same origin as the current Time Star... Could it be... you?" He stared at Li Hao, dumbfounded. Could it have been Silver Moon? No! If it were Silver Moon, he would have recognized it. Li Hao shook his head; it certainly wasn't him. He did have a faint suspicion, however... Could it be related to the person he had seen earlier in the river? The Time Star was in his hands now, but he had thought of relinquishing it early on; he might not hold it for long! That person had claimed to have unified Chaos! If so, could he have taken control of the Time Star Li Hao left behind, embarking on Battle's Dao—not merely the Emperor of Battle Heaven's, but combining it with unique Daos—and then... seeking to emerge, accidentally connecting to Xinwu? If spatio-temporal dislocation occurred and that person reversed Time... could such a situation arise? If that were the case, things became very intriguing. Li Hao felt a headache coming on. Even more intriguing was that Silver Moon had separated voluntarily while the Human King was in secluded cultivation. The core of Silver Moon was the Time Star. Would the Time Star run away on its own? Or was it related to that world—because that person knew the Time Star would not remain in Xinwu in the end, having seen Li Hao before? The more he thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed. Was that possible? Silver Moon's separation had caused the dark passage to vanish and that world to disappear... Was there an underlying connection between them? This time, Li Hao didn't elaborate. These were merely his own speculations! If true, it was very likely that when he traversed the future river earlier, telling the sleeping man that he was on the outside had influenced him. Had that person influenced him, or had he influenced that person, or something else entirely...? The more he thought, the more mind-boggling it became! Magic? Was so-called magic simply the Dao of rules, manifested through divine characters and cast instantaneously, distinct and defined—fire being fire, water being water, unmixed with other Daos? Was that what appeared as the Dao of magic in the Supreme's eyes? It was just that back then, neither the Supreme nor the Human King had possessed much worldly experience, so they might not have recognized it even upon seeing it. As for the Sword Venerable, he wasn't even a Sovereign back then, making it even harder to distinguish. "What are you two muttering about?" Just then, the Human King spoke up in annoyance. "You two have been transmitting for ages. Do you think I'm deaf? Are you done yet? Leaving me out of it—what's the meaning of this?" "..." Li Hao felt awkward, while the Supreme smiled with an unbothered air, laughing: "We were saying that you're actually afraid of Long Zhan. Otherwise, you would've charged in to cause trouble long ago, yet here you are, not even cursing..." The Human King's face darkened. "Bah!" Besides, they definitely weren't talking about that. Did they take him for a fool? Glancing at Old Zhang, then at Li Hao, he warned, "Don't get too close to Old Zhang. He's no good. If he swindles you, don't say I didn't warn you!" Li Hao gave a dry laugh. "Thank you for the warning, Human King. I know!" The Supreme was speechless. Damn it, who belongs to the same family here? You and I do! You fellow, your elbow is bending outward! Bickering aside, the fact that nothing had happened this time spared them considerable trouble. Without further delay, both sides departed swiftly. Once they had left, within the Four Regions, Long Zhan turned back to look, his gaze somewhat somber. Li Hao... might interfere with him. That fellow had ties to Tianfang. He needed to keep an eye on this matter. That fellow was a troublemaker, and paired with a street ruffian like Fang Ping, he could easily ruin his plans. For now, he could only formulate a flawless plan to avert any accidents. *Li Hao, I hope you won't seek your own death!* The Dragon Lord ceased his contemplation and closed his eyes. Invisible to all others, giant dragons continued to encircle and envelop all of Tianfang.