Star Gate-Chapter 1431: Hello, Chaos! (I)

“Huh? You’re not from this era... Are you from the future? Or a parallel plane? Whatever, doesn’t matter. Whether it’s the future or a neighboring plane, I’ll hack the strongest person I see into two to celebrate you if these memories pop into my mind. I hope that the strongest person isn’t you, because then you’ll be dead!”

The Human King vanished from the river of time!

Li Hao didn’t know how to pick up his jaw. The river overhead rippled; he was almost out.

“Hmm?” A cat’s meow shook him to his soul. “Meow... How fun.... Meow... Can I eat you? I remember your scent now. Bring food next time we meet, or... or I’ll eat you! Meow meow meow!”

“......” Li Hao was going to leave his jaw behind at this rate. He darted into the river overhead, still in a daze.

Although he’d experienced a great deal with Zhang An, these premier existences hadn’t been with them for the second half of the experience. Who would’ve thought that he’d encounter so many of them when he was about to return to his time?

The Human King, Ash Emperor, and Supreme Zhang had all seen through him. They were terrifying! If they’d decided to stop him from returning, he might’ve been stuck in New Martial!

It was now that Li Hao realized with horror that the memories of the past... really could kill him!

......

Plonk.

They splashed into the river. Li Hao gasped noisily for air, fear dawning in his eyes for the first time.

A chase through time!

It wasn’t surprising that the supreme had discovered him. Premier existences could more or less sense something unusual in their time. But... he’d been traveling through time at the end!

The Human King and Ash Emperor of that age had been able to track him through it and chase him down! Such methods were the height of terror!

He’d only revisited the past of Zhang An’s memories, not the actual past. This also meant that the Human King and his companions were already this formidable during that time. That was... mind boggling!

One said that he’d beat Li Hao up the next time he visited! The other said that Li Hao needed to bring snacks, or Li Hao would be served up instead! It seemed like an innocuous comment, but it was horrifying!

“Whew!” Li Hao heaved for breath, visibly aging again.

Zhang An was also breathing heavily, but he wasn’t afraid. Whether it was the Human King, Ash Emperor, or supreme, those were his acquaintances and family. It was just his first time observing himself and the others through a third-person’s perspective. He suddenly discovered a lot of interesting things that he’d been oblivious about before.

People the Sword Sovereign and Exalted Emperor Qin had had unique contact with him back in the day. The Sword Sovereign’s blow and the exalted emperor often making trouble for him later on... was a type of training.

Sadly, his past self hadn’t understood it at all and hadn’t paid attention to what they were doing.

His grandfather had also always kept a close eye on him and cared quite a great deal for him. Hope, disappointment, and finally peace... His grandfather just wanted him to be safe and sound now; there were no expectations regarding grand accomplishments.

As for being left behind in Silver Moon... perhaps his grandfather simply felt that it was fine. If anything happened, he could resurrect his grandson when he returned to Silver Moon and kill Zhang An’s enemies for him!

That was his grandfather’s style!

A smile appeared on Zhang An’s face, as well as some gratification and other emotions he couldn’t explain. So... it’s not that people didn’t care about me.

He tilted his head at Li Hao. “What did you think about that?”

“It was very interesting.” Li Hao smiled back at him. “Very impressive and very scary!”

Those were his reflections from the trip. It was an interesting age with impressive characters, and a very scary Human King and Ash Emperor.

“Did you gain anything from it?” asked Zhang An. Li Hao had made the trip in pursuit of dao, but Zhang An felt that because they’d studied his experiences—ones that lacked close encounters with the premier existences—the young man probably hadn’t learned much.

“I did, I gained a great deal!” Li Hao nodded to the contrary.

Zhang An was perplexed.

“Cultivation of the heart is also cultivation of the dao!” Li Hao explained. He’d always thought this way. He wasn’t interested in orthodox cultivation trips of dao. He was more interested in trips of the heart, and this one had been of the heart.

Personally traveling to that age and experiencing it... That enabled Li Hao to truly understand why New Martial had produced so many powerhouses.

It was because they were always cultivating the heart.

They didn’t do so purposefully, but that the factors defining the age also created such a group of people. They undertook everything they did for the general public, themselves, the era, their race, faith, and to protect...

It wasn’t a conscious decision, but a natural integration into such a mentality, once someone became part of that age.

As such, they all cultivated the heart.

Humans of that age didn’t need to purposefully cultivate the heart. If one was willing to become part of the age and take a stand to fight for that era, then that was to reach grand perfection in cultivating the heart!

Silver Moon still lacked a few things when compared to New Martial—the former lacked struggles of life and death, as well as fatal threats that existed every single second for hundreds of years. Silver Moon lacked the competitive heart in which everyone fought for every scrap of martial dao, survival, and daylight.

Those of Silver Moon were too used to accepting whatever was dealt to them. Their desire to rebel hadn’t been that strong during the reign of the royal family or nine ministries, whereas those of New Martial furiously scrabbled for all opportunity because they might be annihilated at any second.

Zhang An blinked. Cultivation of the heart is also cultivation of the dao? He’d heard that line many times, but New Martial humans did not emphasize this. Li Hao, however, said that he’d come to a new understanding during this trip.

“You’re different from me, senior,” Li Hao continued when he noticed Zhang An’s confusion. “Everyone cultivates the heart in your age and you’re in the thick of things. It’s actually your entire era that was cultivating the heart. A grand awakening was taking place.

“Things are just starting in my Silver Moon and our hearts are just awakening. We would be more aptly compared to the initial days of New Martial.”

The earliest of days! The days in which the people were not yet awake and some general consciousness was just starting to bud. They needed someone to guide them; such was the start of an age.

The period of the Human King had been when the era was fully on track. Li Hao believed Silver Moon would be at the same stage in another few decades. It was a little too far away from that status at the moment.

“Has your strength improved?” Zhang An asked.

“It’s not that simple,” Li Hao laughed. “This was just a journey of the heart that enabled me to come to additional understanding and reflections of the great dao. An increase in strength doesn’t happen overnight. We simply need to proceed in a steady fashion.”

“But...”

“Don’t be in a rush, senior!” Li Hao raised his heat up to the sky with a smile. “The world outside is truly fascinating, I actually do want to walk around in the universe now and be acquainted with these people. I’d like to truly meet the supreme and Human King. They’re all interesting people with interesting souls...”

Zhang An blinked. There was yearning and expectation in Li Hao’s eyes, but no... fear. How curious. Was Li Hao really not afraid of them?

“Are you unafraid?”

“Why should I be afraid?” laughed the young man. “Discussing and doing some interesting things with a bunch of interesting people... such is life. Such is experience. The beauty and perfection of living is found in experiencing what is beautiful and getting to know intriguing people...”

Zhang An suddenly felt that he had indeed somewhat wasted the years that he’d been alive.

“I’m... actually afraid of getting to know some of the powerhouses,” he ventured. “I always feel like I have trouble getting along with them when I interact with them...”

“That’s because the senior hasn’t discovered what makes you special yet,” Li Hao nodded. “You lack some confidence in yourself. Someone like Exalted Emperor Qin is indeed a marvelous person. He never shrinks back from engaging heavyweights. He’s confident that it’s only a matter of time before he becomes one of them, or even surpasses them. That mentality is why he’s able to rise to the top even when surrounded by perverse geniuses...”

“That’s because the world seed favors him...” Zhang An rebutted.

“No, the heavenly will isn’t worth anything!” Li Hao interrupted. “It favors many people, but not everyone can become a powerhouse. Silver Moon’s heavenly will also blessed many candidates, so what of it?

“You are still only you even when the heavens look upon you with favor. Some people can still make it far without heaven’s grace, they just take a more complicated and winding path!”

He firmly believed that with what he knew of Exalted Emperor Qin, the latter would still be an exalted emperor even without the heavenly will. The man wouldn’t be an ordinary exalted emperor either because he was tenacious and special enough.

These were qualities not found in most. Out of the multitude of life, to be ordinary and mediocre was mainstream. Those with distinguishing characteristics could rise with the wind in any age—they just needed to grasp a single opportunity!

Zhang An might have lived in that age, but he didn’t know the powerhouses of that age well enough. Li Hao, however, could see something different. Am I more promising than Zhang An?

Li Hao smiled, a smile that was more of a smirk. He looked at the man next to him. “That’s enough about me. How do you feel now, senior?”

“Ai... there were a lot of things I didn’t understand before. I was even resentful and held a grudge. After this trip, I realize that... there are still many things that I don’t see clearly.” Zhang An was clearly emotional. “I have some thoughts and need some time to digest them. This ascension of Silver Moon may also be an opportunity for me. But even if I improve, half step emperor is my current limit. Exalted emperor...”

He shook his head; his voice trailed off. Half step emperor was the limit of what he could see at the moment. He was far from reaching exalted emperor—Zhang An was well aware of that.

Li Hao nodded as well. This was indeed the case. If Zhang An wished to set foot into exalted emperor, he needed quite a few more things including some battles, some madness, and some resolution that cast all caution into the wind.

“I need to go into closed door cultivation for a few days myself.” Li Hao didn’t say anything else. “I need to reflect on everything I’ve gained. My only outstanding question at the moment is if the senior and others really will gain these additional memories?”

Would they?

He didn’t know.

That had happened to his teacher, but they were all within the confines of Silver Moon. This time, there was a world and an entire universe between them. Could the same thing happen again?

If they could... things would become very interesting! There might be some changes in the chaos universe soon.