A punitive measure also came to mind for Li Hao.

If seventh or eighth ranks from the upper third realm entered the mid third, they could interact with the residents of the mid third, but if they deployed strength beyond a certain threshold—such as beyond the capacity of a world, then a chaos tribulation could appear in response. That would be a good restrictive measure.

It would not horrify powerhouses, nor would it hobble them beyond the point of taking any action at all. If that occurred, then heavyweights wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.

More ideas came to the fore for the young man.

It wasn’t necessarily a good sight to see conflict between worlds and big fish eat small fish. No matter how many worlds there were in the chaos universe, the law of the jungle was unsustainable.

One major strength of the chaos was its ability to give birth to new worlds. That minimized the importance of losing any world. That loss would be replenished given enough time.

However, Li Hao felt that if the same custom appeared in his false chaos and it wasn’t able to create new worlds, then it wouldn’t be long before only one world was left in the entire chaos. He needed to have its powerhouses understand that devouring worlds was not the correct path of cultivation. The young man needed to excise the problem from the roots.

A world could have the ability to destroy itself, for example. It could self-destruct once an enemy started devouring it.

A world should also have the ability to fight back and impose limitations on itself. Once outsiders appeared, a world domain should also manifest to impose pressure. That kind of strength should be very strong—so strong that it could suppress numerous powerhouses.

Li Hao tilted his head thoughtfully. Reading ten thousand books was not as beneficial as walking ten thousand miles. He pondered as he walked, wanting to perfect the false chaos that he was going to build and desiring to craft an ideal world for himself.

The current chaos was not it. It was too disorderly. Big fish ate little fish, little fish ate shrimp. Such was the logic that held true since time immemorial.

But it was too blatant and out of control in the chaos. Appearances weren’t even maintained. Countless worlds were devoured, but even with the division of the nine layers in the other regions, the effects of such actions weren’t that apparent.

Powerhouses could do as they wish. Logically speaking, it was unjust to restrict them. But since they could not exercise self control, other measures were needed to keep them in line.

More notions appeared in Li Hao’s mind. Big Claw returned before long. The monster spirit had paid a visit to their rear and chatted with some of the exalted emperors following in their wake.

“Milord, the island ahead is the alliance city of the mid realm worlds! It’s famous throughout the mid and lower third realms. Many sixth rank worlds joined hands to endorse one of the islands. There’s more than one—their islands can be found everywhere and are a favorite locale of many mid and lower rank exalted emperors.

“Those islands are safer, relatively speaking, and there’s a certain guarantee of security within them.

“The weaker worlds have also formed alliances out of self interest. They’re normally not noticeable, but they might respond faster than some of the alliances between major worlds if they’re attacked. It’s also to prevent some of the major worlds from devouring what they’ve created...”

Li Hao nodded, that was a good idea.

“Milord, there is a place within this city that you might like,” Big Claw hastily added.

Li Hao tilted his head at the monster spirit.

“There is usually a place for discourse of dao within these alliance cities. Exalted emperors with questions about their own dao can enter it to ask questions or converse with others. There may not be much knowledge to be had, but there is knowledge all the same.

“And visitors can hide their identities. Not only that, a high entry fee is due upfront. That limits the audience for this establishment! And apparently some islands even have places to tour dao universes...”

“Dao universes?” Li Hao blinked.

“That’s right!” nodded Big Claw. “That’s something a lot of exalted emperors really like. Of course, it’s usually the dao universes born in the sixth rank worlds, so the price of admittance is very high!

“Under normal circumstances, each alliance city will have a sixth rank world in residence. If they are willing, they will open their dao universe up for visitors. They do so also to appeal to wandering cultivators or to encourage other mid worlds to join the alliance...”

Now that piqued Li Hao’s interest. Although he was a seventh rank and had seen numerous major worlds in his time, even devouring many of them, he’d never had the opportunity to be welcomed in for a tour around a dao universe.

None of the major worlds in the four regions, even a sixth rank world like Orchid Forest, would open up their dao universes like this.

“Aren’t they worried that someone might take the dao universe from them?” Li Hao was confused and stunned by how bold these people were. Were they not afraid?

“I asked the same question too. Based on what they said, there are many worlds in this alliance. If one world is attacked, the rest have an obligation to eliminate the enemy, even if it’s a high rank. One world may not be able to stand against an intrusion, but multiple major worlds will be able to...”

Li Hao nodded.

“The price for entry is also high,” Big Claw added. “That is also borne out of necessity. Some of these worlds want to take one step further and make it to seventh rank, but they need a large sum of dao crystals to do so. Relying on their worlds to absorb energy from the chaos would take too long, whereas opening their dao universe to the public will ensure that a portion of the entrance fee goes to the advancement of their world!

“That is how some of the current seventh rank worlds have come to be. Hence, the alliance of mid worlds is also a strong faction among the seventh rank worlds. Although some worlds have advanced this way, they are weaker among the seventh rank worlds. Therefore, they huddle together and maintain close contact with the alliance!”

This was quite interesting.

“Shall we take a look?” He smiled at the others.

The Thunder Emperor and others didn’t mind. Fog Mountain chuckled, “You call the shots. It would be an interesting experience to take a look. These opportunities are rare in the four regions as our sixth rank worlds want nothing more than to hide themselves as deeply as possible.

“Orchid Forest probably has some thoughts on this matter. Who would dare easily let in foreigners?”

“There aren’t that many sixth rank worlds in the four regions,” intoned Orchid Forest. “So they cannot work together. Even if they did, they would be hard pressed to stand against a major world. Naturally, they are much more cautious.

“There are many more sixth rank worlds here and they can indeed vie with a seventh rank world if they join hands. Hence, they do have the right to make their dao universe widely available.”

Li Hao and the rest nodded. No matter what, it was a happy occasion to hear that there were dao universes open for tours.

“Milord, apparently it’s... very expensive to tour one!” Big Claw said carefully.

“......” The group exchanged glances. So they had to pay, right? Did they... have money?

They’d conquered many worlds and looted many dao crystals, but they also had numerous exalted emperors among them. All of them were newly ascended, so they required resources to support their cultivation.

It was an enormous expenditure that resulted in all of their wallets being much lighter than one might think.

As everyone looked at each other, a violent light started entering some of their eyes. Should they... go ‘earn’ some more money?

“That’s simple, we have a bunch of high ranks,” laughed Li Hao. “Isn’t there a place to discuss dao? We’ll easily have some gains there or earn some dao crystals if we teach other exalted emperors. And if it really comes down to it, a bunch of high ranks like us can coalesce an astronomical amount of dao crystals in one day. We shouldn’t think about robbing people all the time.”

His words made sense. How could a group of high ranks be short on personal wealth? With their numbers, it was possible that they coalesced several hundred thousand dao crystals in a day.

That itself would be overwhelming for many.

“Alright, let’s go take a look,” Li Hao grinned. Perhaps a place like this was what he’d wanted to see all along. Although the island ahead was populated by low and mid ranks, everyone had certain thoughts about their great dao at this level.

To him, a large number of mid and low ranks might be more useful than a couple high ranks.

......

As Li Hao sped for the island.

A group of exalted emperors gingerly approached Thunder World. Thunder World stood in the distance, quiet and still, but the group was still highly on guard. Li Hao’s group was strong. According to what they knew, he had two eighth ranks and multiple seventh ranks.

They were a more difficult opponent than Gemini.

Brashly attacking might easily result in casualties. Not to mention, this was Thunder World territory. Its world master would be even stronger than usual given home world advantage.

There were five eighth ranks in the attack force, one of them an Arctic Frost eighth rank. He was very carefully transmitting to all sides, “Be careful. Strike with everything you’ve got as soon as you encounter the enemy. We need to focus on the two eighth ranks and the Silver Moon King Li Hao first.

“Ignore New Martial. Other people will be keeping tabs on this area. If New Martial or the dragons become involved, someone else will stop them!”

All of the exalted emperors were at stern attention. Someone quickly advanced upon Thunder World. The closer they got, the more surprised they were.

They did not sense the pressure that would result from the Thunder dao universe enshrouding the area. Could it be that the world master had not deployed his dao universe?

For major worlds, wherever their dao universe touched upon was the perimeter of their alarms. How arrogant could these people be?

Or were they extremely cautious instead and had compressed their dao universe into their world to strengthen local defenses?

......

As various sides probed Thunder World.

The Reincarnation master appeared outside his world. He traveled through the void, headed in a certain direction that someone had spotted the Human King in lately.

That cocky fellow didn’t seem inclined to conceal his movements. Perhaps that was a function of confidence, or brazen arrogance. He wasn’t afraid of powerhouses ambushing him.

In that case, the Reincarnation master didn’t mind heading over for a look. Perhaps he would come across his target. Some upheaval would result from the attack on Thunder World. That might be his time to excise the tumor that was New Martial!

He traveled with a large sum of exalted emperors as the Reincarnation master had made up his mind. Or rather, one could say that he felt he had nothing to lose. The Reincarnation master wasn’t even bothering to safeguard his home world.

The three revitalized eighth ranks followed behind him, as did another eighth rank from the west. The newcomer represented Chaos Sky.

That made for five eighth ranks!

The Reincarnation master himself was also strong, as was the one from the west. The Human King was formidable and New Martial might have another one or two eighth ranks, but five?

Can you continue to throw your weight around, Human King?

The Reincarnation master felt another strong surge of presence before long. The Human King really was cocky! He wasn’t bothering to conceal his tracks at all. He’d just killed some Reincarnation exalted emperors, but it didn’t occur to him to keep a low profile after that.