Star Gate-Chapter 1568: Loss and Gain (IV)

Skycloud would likely leave the Sword Sovereign alone for the moment because they’d just lost a sixth rank at Skyward. Not only that, but Skycloud had spent a very long period of time setting up their plans for Skyward. This was where they placed most importance.

Thus, Skycloud would give up chasing the Sword Sovereign. On the other hand, unless a ninth rank opportunity truly appeared in Skyward, Red Moon would not do the same. Hunting down New Martial heavyweights would be a more pressing concern to it.

Li Hao turned to look at Skyward, then abruptly smiled. “Gan Wuliang, what do you think about creating a disturbance before we go?”

What kind of disturbance? Gan Wuliang watched his lord with a nervous expression. Are we going to kill with a borrowed blade? Please no! It’s too dangerous! You can’t keep utilizing that technique!

“I just absorbed a lot of energy,” Li Hao raised. “What if I infuse a seventh rank’s energy into an eighth or ninth rank treasure...”

Gan Wuliang seemed to grasp Li Hao’s meaning and looked again at the young man. While the current situation might raise Red Moon’s attention, it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t a guarantee! They needed to create a bigger fuss!

“Manifest the dao universe outside and temporarily cover part of Skyward airspace,” Li Hao commanded. “I’ll summon a treasure that will emanate the pressure of a premier exalted emperor. It will come with the presence of great dao and shape countless shadows of the myriad daos in the void...”

Exalted emperor corpses began appearing in the space around them. Apart from those of Crimson Cloud and the dead Dragon Observatory exalted emperors, they were all here.

Li Hao judged them with an assessing eye—this may not be enough. Void wanted him to leave, but the young man hadn’t borrowed strength just to kill a sixth rank. That was meaningless.

“How can the revitalization of great dao come with no other phenomenon?! Dissipate the dao strength of these sixteen exalted emperors into Skyward. Let everyone sense an increase in dao strength. What do you think about that?”

“Is it worth it, Your Lordship?” Gan Wuliang asked with a pained expression. He understood what Li Hao had in mind now. The young man wanted to commit to the enormous expenditure that was a mirage of a real dao awakening. He was going to invest sixteen exalted emperor corpses for the cause!

Can’t you just give them to me to absorb? My dao universe needs it too.

Li Hao’s meaning was clear—he was going to dissipate the energy and dao strength of these sixteen exalted emperors into Skyward. Who then wouldn’t believe that the dao universe wasn’t recovering?

Even if it hadn’t fully revitalized, part of it was open. That would be the effect of sixteen exalted emperors!

“Do you think people will believe it then?”

Gan Wuliang nodded, immensely pained by the notion. That was because... normal people wouldn’t think of such a plan at all.

“We can take another risk,” Li Hao continued. “The dao strength of these exalted emperors is not pure—a lot of chaos strength is intermixed with it. Absorb it first, Gan Wuliang, then purify it before sending it out. And then bring forth the dao of Silver Moon so that these people think they’re situated within the dao universe. They can study a real great dao for a while. What do you think?”

“......” Gan Wuliang swallowed hard and said gingerly, “Milord, there are many exalted emperors within Skyward... including some mid ranks!”

He could only pray that his liege wouldn’t be so crazy. If any exalted emperor sensed anything from their manipulations, he wouldn’t be able to fend them off if they decided to come for the dao universe!

Exposing themselves was one thing—they might lose the dao universe to another!

Also, it was very dangerous to let exalted emperors study his dao...

“I know, but our most recent efforts have only encompassed Dragon Observatory,” Li Hao nodded. “There are no exalted emperors in the region right now, which is also your chance. I need you to envelop the regions close to Dragon Observatory Region. If you can, include some exalted emperors as well.

“Low ranks won’t notice anything amiss. If any mid ranks do, we’ll act accordingly. If it comes down to it, we’ll kill them! That will also create more of a disturbance, which will be perfect!”

Li Hao wasn’t willing to leave like this. Otherwise, borrowing the strength of a seventh rank would truly have been a complete waste. He wanted to use dao chess to really create a massive disturbance.

As for using dao chess and having no further opportunities to study it... that was not an issue either. Hadn’t Void said so? He was going to go through the first trial and obtain the right to experience dao chess for himself.

Passing the first trial would bequeath one a chance for the second trial. Walking one thousand squares permitted one to make a request. Void would still be at the dao chess when Li Hao utilized his chance. The man would sense it.

By that point, Void would simply need to walk another one thousand squares to give Li Hao a chance, much like Li Hao had done so for him.

As for whether or not the man would understand his intentions and act accordingly... Li Hao felt that there was no need to be so explicit about it. If the two of them helped each other, they would have more chances to discuss dao in the future.

There was no major issues with that. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Of course, Li Hao would give a reminder just in case. Void was currently in closed door cultivation, so the young man wouldn’t mention it. Big Claw had remained behind, so the monster spirit could seek out Void later.

If that didn’t work, then the Light fifth rank was still present. It was all the same if he passed on the word as well.

Li Hao wouldn’t need to expend too much energy if he summoned dao chess here. He might not even need to expend any energy.

But for dao chess to fully display the might of a powerful exalted emperor... it was best if he did so outside the chaos. The strength of an eighth rank dao universe’s foundations was key.

Li Hao could absolutely walk away and not waste so many trump cards. But if he did so, that would arouse nearly no attention from Red Moon. That would mean a failure of his trip to Skyward.

Void’s concerns were that Li Hao did not lose out from whatever action he took, whereas Li Hao’s concerns were that he needed to bring Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King back with him. Now that group included Lin Hongyu and the others.

If not, they would have to continue to wait on Skyward. There was no easy way to communicate with them—they would be in enormous trouble once Red Moon set their sights on the major world for a longer duration.

With these various thoughts in mind, Li Hao came to a decision.

It was fine to lose some of his gains from this venture. The comprehension of New Martial’s yin and yang was not as important as before. It was fine if he couldn’t lay hands on it. Had he known this would be the case, he wouldn’t have sent Martial Uncle Hong and the others to meet with the New Martial seniors.

The young man had insisted on ascending through yin and yang then, but had now thought things through. Yin and yang were no longer as important in comparison.

It was most vital for everyone to be safe.

Since he’d hidden Silver Moon away, those below exalted emperors could easily assimilate into the Skyward population. Exalted emperors, however, would raise attention. He couldn’t just toss them into the chaos and be on his way.

Red Moon would discover them sooner or later.

Hence, he had to bring them back with him. As for how the arrangements should be made and how he should break through, that was a matter for another day.

“There’s not that much danger involved this time around. Just be more careful, Gan Wuliang. You’ll be fine!” Li Hao laughed. “You’ll be targeting some weaklings. Create a fuss and don’t worry about anything else.”

Gan Wuliang was immensely resigned. That’s what you say, but there are a lot of exalted emperors around. I’ll be in a lot of trouble if a couple of mid ranks show up! I’m just a second rank!

Well, he hadn’t taken much of a risk so far this time. This was what Li Hao had brought him along for, after all. When the young man had said they were going to leave, Gan Wuliang had actually felt insecure in not engaging in any risky action. After listening to the young man’s plans... he felt that they were only right and proper.

He wouldn’t be at peace if he didn’t do something dangerous. With Li Hao around and having just killed a sixth rank, Gan Wuliang was very much at ease.

“Alright!” nodded the man. “But, milord, Silver Moon’s dao universe is only at second rank. It’s too far from ninth rank. Even the addition of the strong treasure that you speak of may not be sufficient to convince people that this is the revitalization of a ninth rank dao universe. Not to mention, the core of great dao is different between the two.”

Since they were going to do this, it was best to do so as perfectly as possible. They needed to make it believable, even for those mid ranks. Only in that regard would everyone believe that skyward’s dao universe was about to fully recover.

Another point was that the core of Skyward’s dao universe was spatial dao. If a myriad daos appeared except for spatial dao, then true heavyweights would still sense a thing or two.

“Space also exists in the domain!” It suddenly occurred to Li Hao that the domain was also a kind of space. “It will be difficult if we wish to create a disturbance in space and the sense of space, but it’s not without hope!”

The young man suddenly laughed and looked at Gan Wuliang. “Let’s do something a bit exciting. How about we organize the river of great dao that I gave you? I’ve comprehended how thousands of daos are woven together—more than two thousand, to be exact. That’s not all of it, but we can organize it and create the impression of an unstable space via the domain.

“We’ll set it down over Skyward and create a sensation of the space of great dao being in tumult. If we upend Skyward, move its cities around, and smash the barriers between the minor regions... That will truly create the perception of muddled space!”

Gan Wuliang listened, appalled. Surely it wasn’t as simple as that!

“Milord, are there... any... problems that might develop with this idea?”

“There might,” Li Hao nodded. “Because I have yet to learn how to knit a variety of daos together. I can do so for you in the beginning, but if I can’t continue to do so, your great dao will become... a knotted mess.”

“And will that lead to any severe consequences?”

“Absolutely,” Li Hao nodded again. “First, it’ll be more difficult for you to cultivate. Second, you might explode during cultivation if that continues for a long period of time. Third, you will consume a great sum of dao strength when you shake Skyward with great dao. It will take a very long time to recover. But it can be done if we just kill a few more exalted emperors.”

Gan Wuliang wanted to cry, but didn’t have the tears to. I knew it wouldn’t be that simple! It’s all my fault for offering to help.

Granted, Li Hao might have done the very same even if Gan Wuliang hadn’t said anything.

“There’s no time to waste!” Li Hao explained what Gan Wuliang was to do next and why. He didn’t care whether or not the man would agree to this course of action. He would agree.

“We need to get moving before the seventh rank arrives!” Li Hao smiled. “I do not possess the same resolve as the New Martial Human King to outright detonate a dao universe, but I can create some fuss to have people actually believe that Skyward’s dao universe truly is recovering!

“Go on then! Make your preparations while I bury the sixteen exalted emperor corpses somewhere on Skyward. They will form a perimeter for the area that your dao universe needs to envelop!”

Gan Wuliang docilely followed Li Hao back to Skyward. The young man didn’t dare linger for too long because that exalted emperor might be here in another four to five days. He needed to act as quickly as possible and take care of the problems as fast as possible. He also needed to raise the exalted emperor’s attention so that the man wouldn’t continue to chase after him.