Star Gate-Chapter 1640: United Opinions (I)

As Li Hao’s group walked through Orchid Forest, no one made a sound.

Having left their barrier crack, the young man was deep in thought. He had only one goal in coming to Orchid Forest—to strengthen himself. Gan Wuliang and the others had improved a great deal, but Li Hao found his personal rate of progress too slow. The key lay with him needing too many things, not just simply dao crystals.

He needed to perfect vast numbers of his minor worlds if he wished to become a fifth rank. That would entail a large quantity of dao crystals, worlds, and even dao origins.

In addition, the Sword Sovereign also needed a large quantity of resources. All of them together needed too much!

How much did they need?

So much that a mere sixth rank major world could not satisfy them. If their goal had been to take Orchid Forest before, that was no longer the case. They hoped to use Orchid Forest as a platform through which they could take a risk and enter Red Moon.

It would be very dangerous!

But once they succeeded, the gains would be unrivaled.

There also seemed to be some intent following them—it was either Orchid Forest exalted emperors or hidden mid ranks keeping an eye on them.

“Where are we going?” asked Hong Yitang. No matter where they traveled, this was just a sixth rank major world. It wasn’t that big. Could they really hide from sixth ranks?

“We’ll find a place to bury sixth ranks at!”

The rest of the group was speechless at how calm Li Hao was. He spoke as if he really could kill a sixth rank! Was he going to borrow strength again? But he didn’t have any corpses or dao foundation to borrow from lately.

Li Hao didn’t mind their doubts and continued to walk through the land, measuring it!

The hidden powerhouses were also confused. What did this guy want to accomplish with this randomly meandering around? Red Moon heavyweights are coming. You should either be fleeing or asking Orchid Forest for protection. What’s the point of strolling around like this?

Li Hao ignored those in hiding; it was very difficult to keep his group’s whereabouts a secret. There were also certainly Red Moon exalted emperors in hiding throughout Orchid Forest. Hence, there was almost no hope of hoodwinking his opponents.

He was walking around the world in order to measure the range of the dao net, its position, and the degree to which it had spread. The young man wanted to assess if this mysterious world master could actually make it to seventh rank or not.

He didn’t want to have unfeasible plans in motion. If possible, everything had to be attainable...

The Orchid Forest world master had continuously refused to acquiesce to Red Moon and easily join the major world. Even if he did in the end, he wanted to maximize his profits first before joining.

He didn’t wish to become a complete minion—Orchid Forest needed a voice and a place at the table.

If that was the case...

Certain things could be decided after further assessment.

Having measured the land for a while and seen certain things, Li Hao suddenly sent out dao ripples. “World master, some of my people wish to join Orchid Forest. Are you free at the moment?”

This was something that the world master himself had agreed to, and now the young man wanted him to keep his word. His people wanted to join Orchid Forest!

A ripple shook the void and the world master’s voice sounded by everyone’s ears. “Do not resist!”

They sensed a surge of teleportation; the group looked at Li Hao. He inclined his head.

They vanished a moment later.

The consciousnesses following them promptly disappeared. Quite a few people looked on with consternation. Had the Orchid Forest master made a move? Was he going to protect Myriad Dao’s group now?

......

Li Hao’s gaze darted around on a mountaintop. He hadn’t picked their previous spot at random, but they’d been moved away from it all the same. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Now that was interesting.

A shadow quickly appeared in front of him, hovering in and out of sight. It wasn’t very tangible—the world master had never appeared in person. He seemed to be on guard against something.

“My primary body is holding down the fort in the dao universe.” The shadow seemed apologetic. “The dao universe’s ripples are shifting greatly. My apologies, little friend Myriad Dao.”

“The world master is too polite!” Li Hao nodded. “Things are as they should be! I have three fellow daoists here who are willing to join Orchid Forest!”

The Pagoda King, Mo, and Cicada took a step forward.

The world master swept a glance over them—there wasn’t a single third rank. It was two peak second ranks and one peak first rank. Although they were exalted emperors... this showing of strength was... mediocre.

Were these the three weakest ones from Myriad Dao’s group?

Well, they shouldn’t be, since there was someone who looked like a new second rank next to Myriad Dao.

“Very good!” The world master smiled. “Orchid Forest always welcomes new additions! But we are a sixth rank major world at present and the number of people we can support is limited. We can accept another three to five exalted emperors right now. If no one else wishes to join this time, you are free to join when Orchid Forest reaches seventh rank!”

“Our thanks to the world master!” chorused a tentative trio. The Pagoda King was well enough, but Cicada and Mo were quite nervous. It was quite a risk to join Orchid Forest at this time!

“You can directly become part of Orchid Forest’s dao universe!” Li Hao looked at the three. “We’ll all be on the same side in the future! Once Orchid Forest sets foot into seventh rank and can support all of us, our partnership will continue then!”

The three didn’t know what to say. Even the Pagoda King was momentarily at a loss. So he was going to change to another dao universe again? It... felt like he was aimlessly adrift through existence.

“Naturally!” laughed the Orchid Forest world master. “Then I shall open the dao universe entrance. It is both an easy and difficult proposition to become part of a dao universe. There is another point to consider—the matter of everyone’s dao rules.

“If there are exalted emperors of a similar dao within Orchid Forest, then... while it is not out of the question for you to integrate with the dao universe, some undesirable trouble might develop as a result.

“For example, there is limited dao strength for the same attribute, so there might be competition if there are more cultivating that element. Therefore, it would be best if there weren’t exalted emperors of the same attribute. But it is fine if there really is an overlap. It all comes down to one’s personal skill!”

The Orchid Forest master was being quite clear as well. If cultivators of the same dao entered the same dao universe, then they might end up fighting for the same energy.

“We are aware of this point,” Li Hao nodded. “I’m not certain if the three of them will overlap with anyone as I am not familiar with the status of Orchid Forest exalted emperors. There’s nothing to be said if that really does come to pass.

“Not to mention, we are newcomers! How can we vie with our seniors?” The young man added, “In addition, I think there is a matter that we should raise with the world master first.”

“What is it?” came the man’s laughter.

Li Hao hesitated before saying, “I would like to explain beforehand to prevent the world master from misunderstanding. These three fellow daoists... were once part of a dao universe, but later withdrew. However, they still have traces of a dao universe on them, so I’m concerned there might be conflict there.”

“......”

Silence, absolute silence!

Even the world master’s shadow wavered slightly. They’d been once part of a dao universe... but later withdrew! Setting aside how hard it was to join a dao universe, could exalted emperors leave just because they wished to?

What dao master would be willing to let someone leave with the strength of an exalted emperor? How could mere first and second ranks leave just because they wished to? What did this mean?

The Pagoda King and others were highly nervous. Li Hao... was going off the deep end again.

“We hadn’t wanted to mention this at first,” a resigned Li Hao said seriously. “But since we’re going to join Orchid Forest, I think it’s better if we present a show of sincerity!

“It’s not just them, but also... the rest of us... who also once came from a dao universe. But all of us withdrew at some point!

“Due to various reasons, we can only roam the chaos as wanderers. This is one of the reasons why we’re not known throughout the universe! Since the world master treats us with some sincerity, I do not feel it right to lie to you!

“If the world master thinks this is too much of a hassle, we can forget about the proposition!” sighed the young man.

The Orchid Forest master was silent for a while, before saying softly in a probing fashion, “Is that dao universe the one... of the fire exalted emperor that the little friend’s heritage hails from?”

“I do not wish to lie to you, nor am I at liberty to say,” Li Hao responded with difficulty. “All that needs to be known is that we are genuine in our desire to join Orchid Forest!”

What did that mean? Was he not from that dao universe?

Countless questions popped into the world master’s mind. He ultimately decided that Myriad Dao was either from the seventh rank who’s heritage he’d inherited, or he was from... New Martial!

But New Martial exalted emperors were all well known, no one had ever heard of so many unknowns. One or two of them could hide their identities, but a dozen of them?

It wasn’t like New Martial exalted emperors had never made their way through the chaos before!

It was difficult for the Orchid Forest master to make a determination. One or two of them would be fine, but if all of them were dao universe cultivators...

He wanted to curse out loud. What major world would be so generous as to toss away so many exalted emperors like this?

Even an eighth rank universe would suffer a major loss from the exodus of a dozen exalted emperors at once.

The most headache-inducing was that the world master might not have sensed anything if Myriad Dao hadn’t revealed their background. He would think their dao strength was a bit more pure, at most. That their dao wasn’t as disorderly as wandering cultivators’.

The world master would have his speculations, but what did Myriad Dao intend with suddenly mentioning this? Couldn’t it just remain an open secret?

The world master constantly turned over various possibilities.

“If this puts the world master in a difficult position, then we can set it aside,” Li Hao continued. “We won’t make things hard for the world master!”

“The little friend worries too much!” The Orchid Forest master quickly came to a decision. Since these people had withdrawn from their dao universe... Who could prove that he knew they were from another major world?

He still hoped that Myriad Dao could bring him some surprises.

Orchid Forest possessed numerous exalted emperors, but not many who could outright kill Red Moon exalted emperors. Even if they could, the world might be on the tail end of trouble for it.

The world master quickly smiled. “Let bygones by bygones. Why bring up the past again?”

“Our thanks for the world master’s generosity!” Li Hao was immensely grateful.