Star Gate-Chapter 1607: The Embryos of a Myriad Worlds (II)

As time went on, the rogue wanderer, the one who sought dao, might become an ordinary exalted emperor under New Martial if Li Hao spent too much time with that civilization!

Number Two did not wish for Li Hao to turn ordinary. The young man shouldn’t be ordinary!

Silver Moon possessed countless denizens and even two masters of dao. But only Li Hao had the seed of time with him.

Who’d left the seed of time behind in Silver Moon?

Li Hao guessed it was the War Sovereign, as did Number Two.

In that case, Li Hao was War’s heir. Even if the young man had only inherited a little bit of the seed of time, that still counted. Number Two did not wish for War’s heir to turn into one of those New Martial bandits.

Even though they were very strong and very powerful, as well as charismatic—War was not someone like that.

His style was very different. New Martial had carved their own path and so, they did not possess War’s legacy. Number Two knew that it was being a bit selfish since the Human King and Exalted Blood Emperor had created wondrous paths of their own. Despite that, it still wished for Li Hao to walk War’s path.

Of course, Li Hao wouldn’t always follow in War’s footsteps. No one could replace War.

“This is just a normal interaction with New Martial,” Li Hao smiled as the cat rummaged through its thoughts. “The Sword Sovereign and others are a group of very interesting seniors! I like them a lot. Seeing the Sword Sovereign reminds me of Southern Fist and the rest, even if their cultivation levels are very far apart!

“The Sword Sovereign is a bit like my master! Except, my master isn’t even an exalted emperor yet. Perhaps Silver Moon is too affected by New Martial—I can sense some of Silver Moon’s martial world on them.”

Or rather, Silver Moon’s martial world originated from New Martial. That made it very comfortable to spend time in the Sword Sovereign’s presence. It was a very carefree atmosphere that did not come with too many ties, one way or another.

However...

“However, New Martial and I are destined to not share the same path,” Li Hao said softly. “The supreme is shrewd and wise, and the Human King is ferocious in battle. Their personalities are too strong!

“The Human King is too peremptory and the supreme is...” Here, the young man paused. “Too selfless. I admire him, but I do not like him.”

Do not like him? Number Two blinked. You don’t like the supreme? Why not?

Li Hao didn’t explain himself further. Why not, you ask?

The supreme used Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King as bait, and was well aware that his grandson Zhang An would risk meeting them. That was his direct grandson. The supreme also knew that Red Moon would absolutely send a seventh rank to the premises. It wasn’t out of the question that an eighth rank might come as well.

And yet... the supreme only sent the Sword Sovereign to rescue them.

Since this was an ambush, why start off with a bang and finish with a whimper?

He must have a grander plan or strategy in mind. Supreme Zhang had given up on this side for the sake of the bigger picture. He left it in the hands of the heavens. If the Sword Sovereign proved unable to stand against the enemy, then they would sacrifice a few people to trade for greater profit for New Martial.

Was the supreme a good person?

He was to the civilization—an integral strategist that they could not do without. Just the Human King was enough firepower. If the supreme had proven to be similar to the Human King, then New Martial would not have gone far. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

But to Li Hao, someone like the supreme who could sacrifice others, the world, and everyone close to him for the sake of the bigger picture... That was someone he did not like.

Compared to the supreme, the young man felt that he was a bit more... selfish. Li Hao could be just as selfless and even coldblooded, which was why he didn’t want to live with someone as crucial as Supreme Zhang.

Those that Li Hao viewed as important to him, ones that had an influence on him, all shared commonalities with the young man. Whether it was Yuan Shuo, Hou Xiaochen, or Southern Fist, they considered the greater picture, but did not view it as bigger than themselves.

If someone told Yuan Shuo to sacrifice his disciple for Silver Moon, he’d spit on the person’s face first!

Number Two turned over Li Hao’s words, but didn’t make a sound.

“Those of Silver Moon should rise up on our own,” Li Hao continued. “But New Martial is the origin of our birth, so Senior Number Two doesn’t need to dislike it.”

“This cat doesn’t dislike it!” grumbled the cat. It really didn’t. It didn’t care what happened to Silver Moon or New Martial. It only cared about Li Hao.

Number Two wouldn’t care if all Silver Moon inhabitants turned into bandits via association with New Martial citizens. It just didn’t want Li Hao to do the same. That was the long and short of it!

Big Cat had been a perfectly fine cat before, but New Martial had thoroughly corrupted it. What a pity.

Number Two didn’t say anything more since it looked like Li Hao had his own thoughts in mind. The young man wasn’t planning on joining New Martial’s banner just because he’d met the Sword Sovereign. In that case, there was no need for the cat to say anything.

“Are you going to cultivate now? But you don’t need to ascend, so what are you cultivating for?” It lived in the river and hadn’t detected any signs of Li Hao breaking through. Why hadn’t the young man left with the Sword Sovereign?

“I’m going to modify the river!” said Li Hao. “I’ve had some reflections after all this, ascension isn’t the key. What’s key is that I’m going to plan out my future path of dao!

“I want to reorganize the river and make the stars, dao stars, and river more tightly connected with each other! I also want them to be more closely correlated with myself.

“I wish to create world domains with the stars and craft the embryos of worlds! All of them will connect to the river. The great dao itself will become a branch of the river. I wish to weave a stable wall for the river...”

The cat listened in a daze. This was no trifling matter. Li Hao often reorganized his great dao, but only did so on a small scale after becoming an exalted emperor. Based on his words, this might be a large-scale effort this time.

He might even overthrow some of his previous theories.

“In addition, I wish to turn the stars into supernatural characters, then into domains, then into worlds, and connect the worlds to the river again. That will return everything to as it was before. One supernatural character, one world, one domain, one star, one river, one dao method...”

Number Two understood, it wasn’t a dumb cat. Li Hao had utilized similar methods before—the breathing method of supernatural characters. One character was the equivalent of one dao.

“So you mean to turn supernatural characters into worlds and have them operate breathing methods themselves, so that you can extract strength from the chaos and stabilize the world?”

“That’s right!” Li Hao nodded. Despite Number Two being only second rank, it understood him. Anyone else might only look blankly at him.

“Senior Sword Sovereign says that the key to digging holes lies firstly in the foundation of dao!” Li Hao looked at the black hole overhead. “Secondly, the source of energy! I can handle the foundation of dao, but will have to depend on the chaos for the source of energy.

“However, I don’t have time to absorb it bit by bit, so I might as well return to times past of when supernatural characters could cultivate and strengthen themselves! One dao for one character, one method for one character. They can extract energy from the chaos!”

“Is that so?” the cat hummed with thought. “Then... you’re imitating the chaos, aren’t you?”

Li Hao nodded.

“The chaos is boundless, rootless, and stretches on without end. It is immensely powerful and the only space there is! It is the only plane there is! I’d been wondering if dao universes and the worlds exist in the same plane. Now I know that they do! All of them exist in the chaos!

“Then what I want to do now is integrate the dao universe into the world. The dao is within the world!”

Number Two listened intently. It liked listening to Li Hao speak of this. It was somehow nostalgic of days past. “Do you need my help?”

The cat rarely offered to help; this was a first. It offered because it very much supported what Li Hao wished to do.

“The senior can just help me stabilize the river!” Li Hao smiled.

“That’s a small matter!” Number Two didn’t protest since it was indeed a simple matter.

“Others weave a myriad of daos into one world, I weave a myriad worlds into one world,” said Li Hao. “One world, one dao. That is the foundation. Wait until my great dao is complete—I’ll complete the rest of the world’s dao then!”

Everyone else’s world was that of one world bearing a myriad of daos. Li Hao sought to have one world bear one dao. Each of those worlds would then weave into his river.

When he was strong enough, he would weave the myriad worlds into dao. That would be the equivalent of overlaying countless minor worlds into his river. It was good to dream big. Eventually, he would create a miniature dao universe!

This would also enable him to experiment with different weaving methods. Any failures would only result in the demise of one star and one world.

Of course, this would also come with extreme resource consumption. The hundred million dao crystals that he’d been allocated previously should be enough for him to cultivate to sixth rank. But if he used them on organizing dao and domains, then that may not be enough.

He also wouldn’t see too much of an increase in strength from all this.

Would this be a waste?

Not at all!

Since the thought had occurred to him, he should attempt it. He wouldn’t shy away from something just because of the possibility of failure. Li Hao was also starting his own company—there were risks with startups. The only difference was that he could shoulder his own risks and didn’t need anyone else to do it.

He could walk other paths, but cultivation wasn’t necessarily just the pursuit of growing stronger. Sometimes, the process of exploration was just as fun.

Thinking of the idea, but refraining from trying it due to fear of failure or resource expenditure would be the greatest regret for Li Hao. Why litter’s one cultivation path with so many regrets?

The young man said nothing else and entered the river. Stars hovered around him. He thought for a moment, then sent the stars in a twirl and commanded them to land on the two sides of the river.

There was one corporeal star and one immaterial star on each side. The river was the center! It once more delineated the corporeal from immaterial.

The dao stars began to transform into supernatural characters. Part of them were unable to finish the transformation because Li Hao’s understanding of that dao was not quite up to par. This process also greatly consumed energy and vitality.

In the past, the supernatural characters drew on Li Hao’s vitality and his aura of life to create their foundation. Today, he once more chose to incorporate the supernatural characters into himself.

They’d devolved into a negligible footnote in his path of cultivation, but after entering Demon Summit, he rediscovered the importance of the domain. Added to that his new reflections about the worlds, that made his supernatural characters very suitable for turning into world domains.

He’d learned as he progressed along his path of cultivation, setting aside some things, but perfectly willing to pick them up again when he found that they were still useful.

The first dao star to morph into a supernatural character wasn’t life and death, or emptiness and revitalization. It was the fire element!

Li Hao had a deep understanding of the fire element. It was present in the Five Styles and was the tiger of his heart. He’d also once borrowed seventh rank strength of fire. It could be said that life and death, emptiness and revitalization might only be for ascending, but fire was an integral part of him.

A ferocious tiger howled in the river. It’d broken free of the cage and was once more a ball of flames! They roared in the river, absorbing dao crystals and transforming into an immense supernatural character.

Li Hao was going to reforge his old character. The ones he’d formed before were too weak. Since he was a fourth rank now, the old supernatural characters of before were no longer strong enough.

Moments later, a ‘fire’ character that reared like a tiger manifested. Its roar reverberated the river. This was the start of Li Hao’s trial.