Star Gate-Chapter 1564: Two Madmen (II)

The chaos.

Fire energy erupted and immolated the void. A ferocious tiger howled with outrage and devoured the world.

The thunder and lightning seemed to be clearer than before in human form. Neither Li Hao nor Void were surprised. They wouldn’t be surprised if it really turned out to be a person.

Whether it was the chaos or anyplace else, the appearance of such a calamity was either a result of the rules or manmade. Those who could set the rules must be humanoid—that was the common consensus throughout the universe.

An immense battle took place in the void. Apocalyptic thunder and lightning clashed against a tiger of fire. Flames erupted, raging as if a prisoner within a cage. They were berserk!

Li Hao was a bit different from before. When he faced prior tribulations, he would think that he’d just be smote to death if it came down to it. He could always come back to life. However, that was no longer an option.

Three deaths and three resurrections!

He didn’t want to die again. Some of his emotions and memories seemed to fade each time he died. Those he couldn’t bear to part with in the past didn’t seem as important anymore. Was this the passive equanimity that was a function of resurrection?

Or was someone not themselves any more after dying too many times? Emotions were such a complicated construct, but they were beginning to become far removed for him.

He didn’t want to die anymore!

Thus, Li Hao met the tribulation in a frenzied state this time. It was his first direct confrontation with the chaos tribulation. They were as if two high ranks answering the call of war in the chaos.

Thunder and lightning, destruction, and fire!

“The chaos is newly formed, all things fall silent, the world is in an unknown state!” As Li Hao battled, a darker gloom descended upon the chaos, even pausing it for a split second. Existence itself was quiet.

A daoist walked out from the rear, crossing the void with one step. Void wore a smile on his face, seemingly very interested in the proceedings. He toyed with a great ax that was at odds with his bearing. Swinging it down, he grinned. “There is a myth in the chaos of all things falling quiet when the universe was first formed via hacking through the chaos!”

The weapon was dauntless and seemed to interfere with the chaos when it swung down—incredible!

Li Hao continued attacking without a word, like he was a caged beast.

“The chaos is newly formed, let there be light!” Void’s grin widened.

Boom!

A source of light as blinding as the sun appeared, illuminating the chaos. It was soft, gentle, and bright. Lacking the searing heat of the sun, it was as tender as the spring breeze when its rays brushed across their faces.

“All things revitalize when light manifests!”

Existence resuscitated from this moment forth. What had been an empty chaos previously now saw the birth of some living beings. However, they broke apart the next second. Void twitched awkwardly at the sight.

Li Hao had been in the thick of battle when he whipped his head back. There was a tiny blade of grass on his tiger head.

“In Silver Moon, having green on my head is not a good thing,” his voice echoed through the void. “Are you doing this on purpose, Void?” [1]

“Not at all,” Void replied sheepishly. “Having green on one’s head is not a good thing in Light either! There seems to be an abundance of vitality on you. The dao of revitalization remains a bit hard for me, so just make do for now!”

Revitalization!

Indeed, an intense surge of energy suddenly surged in Li Hao, despite the young man retracting some of his strength. The seventh rank strength that’d dissipated seemed to recover!

The young man was stunned! Silence and revitalization!

He’d never found anything particularly special about the past of revitalization. Now he learned that he’d underestimated a tremendous force. This was amazing!

The strength that he’d borrowed had already dispersed, but some of it returned in this moment. It was like all life had revitalized and energy responded accordingly.

While Void had expended numerous resources from his efforts, the payoff was exceedingly worth it given the energy that Li Hao had recovered. The man smiled as well!

Li Hao seems to have underestimated me after borrowing strength from ancient seniors. In that case, I’ll give you a surprise with this dao of revitalization that I’m still practicing!

While Void had some reflections about this dao, they weren’t mature theories yet. Even so, they gave Li Hao quite a surprise.

“This hits the spot!” exclaimed the young man. “I think I see some hints of the dao of revitalization!”

Now that was incredible!

“You’re that excited by the little bit I showed?” laughed Void. “The effects will be even better when this dao is combined with the dao of light. I only have a superficial understanding of the way of revitalization. A true understanding will enable me to immediately resurrect you when you die.

“The return of life and strength makes this dao stronger than that of life and death or yin and yang in my eyes!”

Is life and death or yin and yang a dao to be reckoned with? I want you to know that you’re wrong. Dao depends on the person!

In my opinion, the revitalization of emptiness and stillness is far more impressive than life and death or yin and yang. Reversing yin and yang leads to resurrection? Not at all!

The silencing of all things meant that so long as there was still a hint or a trace of the entity available, then it had not died. It had simply fallen silent, which meant that Void could resuscitate them. Even if there was only one drop of blood left, he could bring them back to peak condition.

Such was the dao of revitalization!

Of course, Void felt that the effects would be even more impressive if the daos of emptiness and revitalization could be used in conjunction with life and death. Just the cycle of life and death alone might not spontaneously bring one back to peak condition.

If you die, then you can walk the path of life and death. If you live, then I’ll bring you through emptiness and revitalization.

Li Hao threw his head back with laughter and thrust out with his sword. The power of fire singed the thunder and lightning; the giant of electricity howled as well. It destroyed all things with a rumble, casting everything into silence.

It was then that the strength of destruction oscillated and the strength of emptiness emanated through the region. Void rushed through space, silencing all things with a point of his finger. Even the chaos thunder and lightning fell silent for a moment. That enabled Li Hao to scatter half of the thunder and lightning with one sword stroke.

Outsiders could not help one endure a chaos tribulation, but emptiness and revitalization seemed to fall within range of its purview as well. The chaos did not tolerate such a heaven-defying dao to exist.

Simple emptiness would not result in such a reaction. But since the emptiness was tied to revitalization, the tribulation appeared to be targeting Void as well.

Void was just a fifth rank, so he quickly retreated after connecting with his one strike. His great ax split the air once more.

Void’s strength was also dissipating at a fast pace as his actions were an immense drain on his resources. “I’ll show you one more time what is called the emptiness and why it is so powerful!” He smiled.

With a low runt, the chaos in front of him began transforming into emptiness. There was nothing and no sound within it! Everything was silent. Even the flames on Li Hao’s body began sputtering out, as did the thunder and lightning.

Color drained from Void’s face, but his smile was radiant. He’d comprehended many things while within dao chess, then entered the Skyward dao universe to be further enlightened. It hadn’t been long since he reached fifth rank, but it seemed that sixth rank was close at hand. He might make the leap soon!

Then he would surpass his previous self from five hundred years ago, before he switched great daos.

That was so fast!

It also had to do with the fact that this was his second time entering fifth rank, and the fact that he was not short on energy. He was awash in dao crystals and family wealth. Although he’d left Light major world, he had not betrayed his world!

He also had an eighth rank father!

While his father was extremely irritated that his son didn’t follow the plan set out for his life, the Light master was still quite gratified that his son was exploring his own path. Being an eighth rank, he possessed sufficient foresight in this regard. Hence, although his son had run away from home, he’d sent a fifth rank out as a bodyguard.

A fifth rank was a heavyweight anywhere in the chaos. And as for cultivation resources, Void possessed enough. The Light master would stint seventh ranks first before having his son go short.

Li Hao had risen to his current accomplishments with his bare hands, whereas Void had not.

Li Hao needed to kill people for energy, Void did not.

If it really came down to it, his old man would settle into closed door cultivation in the void for several thousand years and collect enough dao crystals for his son to use.

The dao of emptiness radiated in all directions—formidable and terrifying!

Li Hao even felt a little light-headed, but was able to break free a moment later since he was currently stronger than the other. It cost him a lot of energy to do so, however. The same went for the figure of thunder and lightning. It instantly consumed some strength to break out of Void’s restraints.

The two met in battle again.

Whether it was the chaos tribulation or Li Hao, both were settling in for a war of attrition. Let’s see who’ll run out of energy first!

The ripples of battle did not travel outward since Void eliminated them within his domain. This was one of his strongest suits—he could compress a massive battle into a small area.

Void had depleted a lot of his strength and found it hard to do anything else. Li Hao, however, was satisfied.

Damn this feels good!

He’d nearly lost before, but now could stand his ground against the tribulation with Void’s help. If this continued, he might not die again.

He did not wish to experience death one more time.

Void saw that the two were still evenly matched. Dumbfounded, he made a gesture that spontaneously restored his depleted energy. Even Li Hao jerked with astonishment!

The man had absorbed a ball of light the size of a human head. “Don’t look at me,” he laughed when he registered Li Hao’s gaze. This is called the Source of Light. It’s a treasure born in the dao origin local of Light’s dao universe. One is produced every one hundred thousand years.

“My father gave it to me. For a fifth rank, it can instantly restore all of our dao strength!”

The fuck?! Li Hao nearly cursed out loud. I’m so jealous!! Screw this shit! Is this what it means to be a rich young master?! I want to be like this too!!

“Stop staring at me, you’re not a cultivator of Light, so this would be useless for you. Although I... am not one right now either, I was born on Light. This thing is also only useful for mid ranks. You’re a high rank now!” With that, Void grinned. “Watch this! All things, revitalize again!”

Boom!

Another blade of grass appeared on Li Hao’s lion head. It burst with endless energy and transformed into a source of light. When it landed in Li Hao’s body, the young man’s depleted energy instantly recovered again. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Void’s dao strength was once more emptied!

It took only a split second for a fifth rank to be depleted. It was clear to see from that how terrifying this kind of revitalization was.

1. To wear green in Chinese cultures means to be cuckolded or cheated on. ☜