Star Gate-Chapter 1414: Resurrection (I)

Gan Wuliang suddenly felt that being in control of the immaterial dao universe was not a good thing. The foundations of the corporeal dao universe were already established, but nothing existed for the immaterial. He needed to excavate barren land!

The group assembled also marveled at the turn of events. Gan Wuliang... really did have it rough at the end of the day. Although it sounded like he had a lot of opportunities available, those opportunities represented a loss of freedom to these Silver Moon martial masters.

They would be less than carefree! No longer their own masters!

In that case, forget it! It was good that Gan Wuliang was in charge of the immaterial dao universe instead of one of them!

“Thank you for your patronage, my lord!” Gan Wuliang offered in a complicated tone. He was both happy and worried.

At the very least, I am still the master of the immaterial dao. I just have a lot more burdens to shoulder!

“There is no need to thank me,” Li Hao laughed. “Whether you’re strong or weak, it’s all up to you! The two dao universes having Silver Moon as the intersection point will also strengthen Silver Moon!”

“Won’t you have to depart Silver Moon to ensure that?” asked Zhang An.

“Not necessarily.” Li Hao shook his head. “We just need to divide it internally amongst ourselves! The dao universes can expand at any time. Judging from present circumstances, it’s not a good idea for them to expand outside Silver Moon boundaries!

“The Star Gate will eventually open!” He knew what Zhang An was worried about, so decided to reassure the man first. “The caveat is, we’ll need to be able to make it out once it opens. If another Red Moon exalted emperor is waiting to jump straight in or there’s a chaos tribulation that strikes as soon as the door is open... then none of this is a worry.”

Well then! That was indeed the logic.

A ray of sword intent appeared in Li Hao’s hand; he tossed it at the Ninth Division leader. “This is what I collected after Li Daoheng was obliterated by the chaos tribulation. He was your elder brother and you are the only heir of the Li family left. Please accept it!”

Li Daozong received it with a complex mix of emotions. His eyes widened when he handled it—it’s so strong!

The young man looked around the assembly and addressed Dao Sword standing at the rear. The latter had barely spoken a word.

“There’s no need to think too much, Dao Sword. You have some of the highest potential of this age. Li Daoheng using you was to your benefit. You would’ve found it hard to catch up to the rest of us if not!

“If Director Yao Si is able to return this time, he’ll likely wish to see you have improved as well. There is a small residence next to the Star Gate that you can spend some time at. It was the Sword Sovereign’s old abode and a place that the Human King personally wrote a signboard for. I hope it is of some help to you.”

“My thanks to the marquis!” Dao Sword responded uncertainly. So... Li Hao was not investigating him further or taking him to task for what’d happened. If it wasn’t for the young man stopping him, he might’ve been killed the moment he ascended.

Li Hao rose, putting an end to the conversation. “Alright, that’s enough for now,” he smiled. “Everyone should be ready to resurrect my master and the rest! I will thank the world immensely if we succeed. Everyone will be handsomely rewarded for their efforts!”

The group had received their orders. Perhaps it was only Li Hao who could raise ideas that didn’t cause dissension from anyone.

The young man didn’t linger. He vanished for an unknown destination.

......

Where did he go?

The river of his world.

Ripples flowed over the surface of the river of time and a myriad of daos congregated. Sword intent flourished.

Going against the current brought one to the past, swimming with it took one to the future.

When it came to time, Li Hao couldn’t truly reverse it at present. The past was where memories dwelled and the future was just one hypothesis out of endless possibilities.

He hadn’t fully grasped time yet, so he couldn’t entirely defy the heavens. All he’d done was scratch the surface.

A happy cat danced around the end of the upstream. Endless darkness stretched downstream, shrouding the entire river. No one knew what would happen in the next second.

Li Hao dove into the river and swam against the current.

......

This was where memories were buried. Anyone who entered would leave their memories here. This was an ocean of memories, not of time.

Just as he’d told Number Two, they knew full well that this was fake and just a replaying of memories. But they were willing to live here.

Li Hao swam upward until a familiar residence came into view. It was one that’d already been destroyed. His city, his hometown, had vanished amid the vast expanse of the world.

There was nothing left of it anymore.

He landed within the yard.

An old man with white hair was running through a boxing routine. He turned around with hearty laughter. “Little Hao is here!”

“Teacher!” Li Hao inclined at the waist, losing himself in thought when he saw the familiar face.

Resurrection?

There was one thing he hadn’t said to the group, and that was whether someone who’d been revived was still the original person. Were they? Their most central dao star had been detonated!

Even if there were other dao stars left, those were only tangents or inactive stars that hadn’t been explored yet. Was someone who came back really whole and original?

Would his teacher, He Yong, and the others still be who they once were?

Li Hao had shoved all those words into the bottom of his heart, but he was in mental turmoil over them. Therefore, here he was.

“Teacher, this student has some questions to ask!” He addressed the figure in his river of memories.

Yuan Shuo gestured at him to take a seat and wiped off his sweat with a towel. All of this was as if days gone by and it seemed so real. No wonder Number Two was immersed within and found it difficult to emerge. It didn’t want to leave.

“Go on, what issues have you encountered this time?” The Yuan Shuo of his memories was as composed as always. During Silver City, Yuan Shuo was a highly acclaimed expert, a professor, and a cultured man. There was nothing he didn’t know and nothing he couldn’t do.

He wasn’t Ole Demon Yuan that others later exposed him to be, the demon that’d killed so many people! He was a professor at a university and an affable mentor.

Li Hao briefly drifted off in a daze, but quickly forced himself back into the moment. “Teacher, legends speak of powerhouses able to do anything! I’m wondering that if some of their friends and family die and the powerhouses revive them, then... the flesh and blood, as well as blood qi of those who come back, are artificially created.

“Even their minds and thoughts are reborn anew, but they’re based off of the original person. The previous memories are retained. In that way... are these people still those friends and family?”

Yuan Shuo paused and looked at Li Hao. “Resurrection? Have you been reading fiction again?”

“......” Li Hao burst out laughing. “I’m just asking.”

“You should study well and stay away from those books. They’re all fantastical flights of nonsense.”

“......” Li Hao smiled ruefully. “Teacher, I know that. That’s not the issue here. The issue is—would you say that the resurrected person is the original?”

“No, not anymore I think.” Yuan Shuo stroked his beard.

Li Hao was disappointed and felt a hole grow in his heart. His teacher was rarely wrong.

“But this is really too profound,” Yuan Shuo continued. “If the original person is gone... then I think those who come back should count as the originals! Where do you think the difference is?”

“I don’t know...” Li Hao mulled it over. “Perhaps everything’s the same, just that something’s missing.”

“Then they were just sick to begin with! If the original person is gone and they are resurrected, then I feel that they still count as the original person.” Yuan Shuo revised his answer. “Even if there are differences, just treat it as if they were sick and lost an arm or a leg. You can’t think that someone is a fake just because they were sick.

“But if the original person is still there, then the resurrected one is just a puppet, a fake!” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “Resurrection is a very profound topic full of fallacies! It’s very complicated. What if you die and I resurrect you a year later, versus two years or three years later... Are these three people exactly the same?

“Not only that, but what would you think? Is the you from a year ago the same as the you from there years ago?

“It all stems from the mindset of the one doing the resurrection! For the one being brought back, everything about them stopped at the moment of death! He finds you strange and unfamiliar, as do you him! You can treat him as someone waking out of a coma! Both sides will need some time to get used to one another!”

Someone waking up from a coma?

“So teacher means that if I can resurrect someone, I should still resurrect them?” Li Hao’s eyebrows shot upward.

“Of course!” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “Why not, if you can do it? But it also depends on your own thoughts. If the cost is too high... you can think it over.”

The old man stroked his beard again. “Resurrection... There seems to be legends from the ancient civilization about this. There is a mythical hell in which people dwell in after they die. ...how come you’ve started studying such an advanced topic?”

“I’m just asking,” Li Hao smiled.

Yuan Shuo studied him and suddenly said, “You don’t seem to be my student!”

“......” Li Hao started.

“But you also seem to be... are you one of those resurrected?”

Li Hao started again.

Yuan Shuo looked at the sky with puzzlement. “Or did I bring you back to life after you died? Therefore... you’re conflicted whether you’re alive or not? But if you died and I brought you back... it should be me asking you. So therefore, I died and you’re resurrecting me?

“Impossible! I’m the first of Silver Moon’s Thirty-Six! You’re just a... little piece of nothing... It shouldn’t be you resurrecting me!”

“......” Would memories be able to think for themselves like this?

Li Hao sank into deep contemplation. Are these thoughts from my teacher or my own? Figures in our memories should exist like a movie. Should they be able to interrogate me like this?

I find that... hard to believe!

But the power of time is too marvelous.

Yuan Shuo seemed to be really contemplating something and suddenly said, “If I’m dead and you have to revive me... Are you conflicted whether I’m still your teacher after I come back? And that will influence your decision to bring me back or not?

“You’ve got such a black heart, kid! I never thought you had it in you! Don’t you know to respect your teachers and dao?? I am still young and have a lot of things to do. I also want to enjoy life! How dare you think about all of these random things!”

“......” He was being interrogated by his teacher again!

“Teacher, I’m not talking about you,” Li Hao burst out laughing.

“I know what you want to do as soon as you stick your butt out!”

“......” Li Hao’s laughter was very genuine. “Teacher, I’m really just asking randomly.”