Star Gate-Chapter 1560: Farewell (II)

In a major world that was as ethereal as an immortal’s paradise.

An extremely young cultivator jerked his head up at the sky, the dao universe appearing in his eyes.

“Have the Exalted Fog Mountain Emperor make a trip to Skyward. Tell him that Crimson Cloud has fallen!” he said expressionlessly.

The great dao shook without end; those of its practitioners in the outside world looked around with their hearts in their throats. Someone had killed the sixth rank Crimson Cloud! Who would be so insane??

That was a direct provocation of an eighth rank! Was Skycloud going to prepare for war??

A magnificent existence furiously barreled out of the world. He vanished with a flash, shooting straight for Skyward. A seventh rank was on the move!

The young cultivator looked at the dao universe, a broken avenue of great dao, and the shards of a fractured dao star.

“Seventh rank strength of fire...” he murmured. How was there a seventh rank in Skyward who dared kill Crimson Cloud??

Which seventh rank dares kill a Skycloud cultivator? That lunatic Human King is not a fire cultivator, so who did it?! Is the chaos really going to be thrown into turmoil?

Perhaps Skycloud needed to be ready to march into war!

......

Boom!

The volcano exploded. The dao foundation site that’d stood for countless eons had finally fallen apart.

Li Hao looked around with a pale face, in no hurry to meet the chaos tribulation. He took stock of the power within his body, then looked at the equally pale Gan Wuliang. “Can I just stay away from everything and not kill anyone?”

Gan Wuliang’s heart quailed; Li Hao seemed to be on the verge of losing control again.

“Your Lordship, such is the way of the world,” he quickly responded. “Silver Moon originates from New Martial, so we must respond to New Martial’s enemies!”

Li Hao inclined his head. That was right!

It’s not me that’s wrong or that I’m a troublemaker, it’s the Human King having too many enemies. I can only take the fall for them, there’s nothing else I can do.

The Human King is a killing fiend and a massive troublemaker!

......

Whether it was lying to himself or burying his head in the sand, it didn’t change the fact that the chaos tribulation would arrive after he killed everyone in front of him. Li Hao was in no hurry, however. He asked Gan Wuliang a question he knew the answer to, because he didn’t want to face reality.

Silver Moon could not break free of New Martial.

That wasn’t the point. The other was that there was a massive inherent problem with Silver Moon’s core dao—the dao of time. The problem was starting to build upon itself and had become impossible to resolve.

If he wanted to grow stronger, he needed to employ time. If he wished to kill those stronger than him, he needed to employ time.

But if he used time to kill those who were stronger, he needed to shoulder greater karma for his actions. Then he needed to be stronger. In order to do so, he needed to borrow strength though time. After that, he needed to grow stronger yet if he desired to safely shoulder the karma resulting from his actions.

He desired to participate in the war between worlds, to shake off the identity of being a minion, wished to be not dragged into New Martial’s squabbles, and hoped that Silver Moon wouldn’t be oppressed...

Li Hao thought a lot and wished for much.

Under normal circumstances, a minor world should be suppressed by a stronger world. He either needed to abandon Silver Moon and let Red Moon do whatever it wanted with the world, or roam the far reaches of the unknown with it.

He should ignore New Martial, Red Moon, and all of their conflicts. The further away he roamed with the world, the better. That would give him a hope of disengaging from the war then.

Even if the path and future was unknown, there was still that sliver of hope that he wouldn’t need to participate in a war involving high ranks.

But Li Hao had not chosen to do so. He chose... to be a combatant!

He would participate in the fighting!

When it came to New Martial and Red Moon, he did not want to be an observer or seek out New Martial. Locating New Martial’s main world and returning Silver Moon was also an option. New Martial would accept it, which would free him to leave on his own with dashing grace.

The chaos was so vast, where couldn’t he go?

But... could he really do that?

Or he could also imitate other masters of the world and devour Silver Moon, consigning all of its denizens to death. He could facilitate his own aims and concentrate everything on him.

The young man would be able to roam the chaos as a chaos wanderer then. The universe would be his oyster so long as he didn’t antagonize any heavyweights.

Who cared about New Martial and the chaos?

New Martial didn’t need Li Hao to worry about it. It had untold powerhouses, a brave and fierce Human King, and wise sage Supreme Zhang. They could beat back their foes themselves and even challenge those stronger, such as Red Moon. Their current opponent was forced to huddle on themselves.

New Martial did not need reinforcement.

Li Hao had gone to so much trouble and effort for Silver Moon. He didn’t want the world to become anyone’s accessory. He didn’t want the world that’d given birth to him to become New Martial’s appendage.

Therefore, he wished to struggle against his fate a bit.

An ant that wished to move the heavens was certainly in over his head. His entire world had been born for only one thousand chaos years and isolated from the chaos for fifty. How could such a nascent world snap its reins of control?

No one was born at the apex of the chaos. Who didn’t need to bide their time and exercise patience?

And yet, the power of time seemed to have given Li Hao such a shortcut. He didn’t need to endure suffering or other burdens, so he set foot down the path of continuously seeking light, yet also depleting it.

He was caught in a feedback cycle of time.

“Milord!” Gan Wuliang called out to Li Hao, highly apprehensive. He was very worried, so worried that Li Hao would lose control!

The young man smiled and looked at him. “Don’t worry!”

That really did set Gan Wuliang at ease.

Some of the lost look faded from Li Hao’s eyes. It was fine! It was just another cage! He just needed to break it!

The Star Gate had opened, but the Star Gate of the chaos and his heart was yet to open. How was he truly free? He didn’t have anything yet!

Therefore, despite needing to smash through blockade after blockade, so what if he owed a great deal after breaking down all of the doors? The tiger of his heart had reappeared today.

I’ve comprehended my true self again. I am still that Li Hao. Everything I’ve done is simply to break free of those shackles that confine me and the Star Gate of my world. I’m going to keep breaking them until nothing stands in front of me anymore!

Life is not a construct of pure freedom, but that is what I am after. Who can be certain I’ll fail before the final curtain is up?

He had reached a clear understanding. The dao was hard to cultivate. To seek it was as hard as seeking the heavens. Such was the path of cultivation. Seeking the path of freedom was even harder.

I wish to be completely carefree and easy, to wander around as I would. Yet the world is not big enough and the human heart is not expansive enough. We cannot forgo fame and interest.

There seems to be a lot of stuff I need to do in the future. I am not willing to be that humble character groveling in the dirt before the heavyweights.

Only when I am one of those at the top do I have freedom, isn’t that right?

“Milord!”

“Shut up!” Li Hao shot an eye roll at Gan Wuliang. I heard you already! What do you keep yelling for?? It’s just a chaos tribulation staring us down, but it’s not here yet! The southern gate is closed, so that’s delaying it!

Gan Wuliang was resigned, but also relieved since Li Hao was cursing people again. He would be afraid if the young man continued to be calm and collected.

Li Hao cleaned up the battlefield, collecting all of the fallen’s bodies and energy. He was in no hurry. When that was complete, he regarded the sky again. There was a dao universe there that belonged to Skyward.

It looked like Skyward’s dao universe did indeed exist, it just couldn’t revitalize because it lacked sufficient energy from a common source.

He studied it again, his eyes glittering. A lot of people had shown up today. Perhaps those that’d left with the Observatory leader would soon return. However, the Skycloud master might be aware that one of his own had died.

No, he would certainly be aware.

In that case, he might notify the Observatory leader that something had happened here. Something had changed to be able to kill a sixth rank. That would induce a great deal of caution in the returning group, which would make them harder to kill than Crimson Cloud!

Li Hao continuously assessed the sky, sinking into deep thought. He was in no hurry to stand against the chaos tribulation. The young man was so at ease that it greatly agitated Gan Wuliang. What was his liegelord waiting for??

He knew that the longer Li Hao waited, the more his strength would dissipate. He needed to move while he still possessed the strength of a seventh rank!

“I want to stop running!” Li Hao suddenly said.

“What?”

“I don’t want to run with Silver Moon!” Li Hao said seriously. “Silver Moon has become a burden that drags me down. I said that I don’t want to keep running anymore!”

Gan Wuliang’s eyes widened. What did he mean? Was the marquis going to abandon Silver Moon?

“We should settle down somewhere for a period of time!” Li Hao was still looking at the sky. “Skyward’s dao universe is yet to fully revitalize, but it does exist. I can crack it open with the strength I’ve borrowed. I’m going to shove Silver Moon into it!”

Gan Wuliang’s jaw dropped. Shove Silver Moon into it? Into where?

“If I can’t do it alone, then I’ll borrow the strength of Coiling Dragon Well. If that still doesn’t work, I’ll look for the dao chess. Regardless, I’m going to help Silver Moon settle down in a safe spot so you guys can grow and develop!

“You guys will enter Skyward’s dao universe!” Li Hao addressed Gan Wuliang. “The dao universe will envelop you. No one will be able to find you so long as it remains shut—no one can open it. Only I will be able to! If I do not, you will live forever in the dao universe unless those of Skyward return.

“But I shall not access the dao universe again unless I reach seventh rank!”

Gan Wuliang’s expression changed drastically and he looked at Li Hao. “Milord, this...”

“Do you want to say that we might as well not have bothered with opening the Star Gate?”

Gan Wuliang didn’t make a sound, but those were his thoughts. Indeed, what difference was this new state from their original isolation?