Star Gate-Chapter 1491: Two Maniacs (II)

Drouth abruptly sensed the arrival of another exalted emperor as he complained furiously to himself. He didn’t give it particular attention. Perhaps it was the return of a Dragon Observatory exalted emperor who’d been wandering outside.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Observatory leader knew who it was. He’d invited the exalted emperor in question because he wanted to meet the newcomer, but this Exalted Hao Moon Emperor had come at an unfortunate time. Utmost Dark was officially joining Dragon Observatory today, there was no time to spare for a first rank exalted emperor.

With such thoughts in mind, the two did not pay attention to the latest arrival.

But in the next moment, everyone’s expressions flickered. Even someone as thick-faced as the Dragon Observatory leader could barely maintain his composure.

What was with Void?? The man had been sent for earlier, but refused to come because he was in closed door cultivation.

They were in the middle of officially welcoming the Utmost Dark delegation, but here Void was. He’d gone out to welcome that Hao Moon! Wasn’t this giving a complete lack of face to their esteemed new recruits??

The leader of Dragon Observatory didn’t know what to say, he cursed to himself! You’ve risen to fifth rank and this seat has never mistreated you. I’ve always been polite! You go too far with these actions, it’s a clear humiliation to the Utmost Dark delegation!

But what could he do about it? Void was a fifth rank.

Thus, he pretended ignorance. “Eh? Has Fellow Daoist Void emerged from seclusion? Well now, that’s a happy coincidence. Hao Moon’s come back as well, correct? Have Fellow Daoist Void and Hao Moon come here as well. Fellow Daoist Drouth is here. Since Void has risen to fifth rank, we can all discuss dao together...

“What a joyous coincidence,” he smiled at Drouth. “Void’s note of great dao is quite worth studying. Perhaps the two of you might share the same language...”

Drouth smiled without a word. Was that so? A coincidence? Granted, he didn’t really care. He only felt that this Void was incredibly juvenile. It was one thing to not show him face, but he was also discomfiting his own faction leader!

As expected of a mixed breed exalted emperor, they lacked vision. It was plain to see that Void was around only because he was still useful for now. Otherwise, with a personality like this... personal misfortune was a foregone conclusion.

......

“Fellow Daoist Hao Moon!” A smiling Void appeared in front of a hall. “I knew that you would come!”

“I needed to come back for a look at some point, since I’ve joined Dragon Observatory,” Li Hao beamed back. “Why hasn’t Fellow Daoist Void joined their conversation?”

“It’s boring!” Void waved him off lazily with disinterest. “Dragon likes to paint grandiose pictures in the sky, such as in the future... or later on... or after they kill someone... It’s always meaningless babble.

“I was interested before and attended a few of his lectures, wanting to study a sixth rank’s dao, but then I realized it was completely meaningless and a waste of time!”

Li Hao burst out laughing.

“Do you want to listen in?” asked Void.

“A little!” Li Hao nodded. “I mainly want to go meet people, such as the Utmost Dark exalted emperors and the faction leader who I’ve yet to lay eyes on. I’d also like to see how many heavyweights there are who dare hunt down Sword Sovereign, and how bold they might be!”

Void’s lips stretched in a mysterious smile. That’s right, now that’s more like it. I knew you would be interested.

“Don’t start anything,” he issued a note of caution. “This isn’t an easy place to borrow strength from. Be careful of causing your own death! There are also numerous powerhouses in Skyward. Sixth ranks are plenty and there might even be seventh ranks hidden among us!”

I know you can borrow strength from those stronger, but you almost died after borrowing from a sixth rank last time. Don’t go for a repeat performance, alright?

“The dark envoy may have reached eighth rank back in the day, I’m not certain of the particulars. Apparently both the light and dark envoys might have reached that level. Light and dark are powers that correspond with each other!

“Many worlds possess the power of light and dark, but it’s very strong despite its common nature! Anyone who walks those paths is not weak!”

You almost died when you borrowed from a sixth rank, dare you haphazardly reach out to an eighth rank?

Li Hao gravely took in his words. That was true, he couldn’t behave too wildly in this place. He couldn’t even borrow from a seventh rank, much less than eighth rank, in his current state. Tracing the past was one thing, that was only listening to lectures of dao and not picking a fight.

If he borrowed strength, however... he might spontaneously age himself to death.

“I understand, please be at ease, Fellow Daoist Void!” Li Hao inclined his head. I won’t do anything brash. I’m not a serial killer or the Human King. I don’t kill people unless I have to.

Void laughed. Be at ease? I suppose I can... for now. What else can I do if not?

“Since you want to take a look, let us go. I’d also like to see how strong a fifth rank of Utmost Dark is.” Void looked in the direction of the gathering. The power of darkness from Utmost Dark!

This was a strong major world, one that’d faced his own major world with hostilities back in the day. The Utmost Dark master had been very formidable as a seventh rank, but the Human King had killed him all the same. It was clear to see from this how terrifying the Human King was.

Light and dark always seemed to be at odds with each other.

But given Void’s present condition, was there a difference between light and dark to him? Was the extremity of darkness, light? Was the farthest pole of light, darkness?

With those thoughts in mind, Void led Li Hao back to the palace. Those over there were clearly keeping an eye on them. Some presences had locked onto them and followed their every move.

......

Several powerhouses were conversing in the palace. When two figures appeared at the doors, the Dragon Observatory leader smiled. “Void and Hao Moon have come!”

Although it was his first time meeting Li Hao, it was like the two were very familiar with each other. He was all things to all people!

Even if a first rank didn’t mean much to the Dragon Observatory leader, he immediately walked down from his throne in a show of respect.

“I’d just mentioned you two to Fellow Daoist Drouth, and here you are!” The man was wreathed in smiles. “Come, come, Void, take a seat. Hao Moon, don’t stand on ceremony either. You are so fortunate today as to run into Fellow Daoist Drouth arriving at Dragon Observatory and expounding on the dao of a major world for us. This is a rare opportunity as we do not often encounter exalted emperors from a major world.”

Void smiled blandly, hints of derision hovering in and out of his smile. His expression... seemed a bit off. Drouth raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

The two exalted emperors in front of him were respectively a fifth and a first rank. Setting aside the fifth rank, Drouth was surprised that the first rank wasn’t reserved or apprehensive in the face of so many powerhouses. The young man had sized him up as soon as he set foot through the doors.

This was very impolite!

However, Drouth didn’t say a word. They were in Dragon Observatory territory for now, anyhow. Could it be this first rank’s first time seeing a mid rank from a major world?

Perhaps!

That was the only conclusion he could come to for now.

Li Hao looked at the sixth rank and committed him to memory. Apart from this one, the other powerhouses from Utmost Dark bore a similar presence. It looked like they were all from the same dao universe and bore some strength of darkness in them.

The dao strength of those from a major world was indeed purer than other exalted emperors. The rest of the assembly more or less came from a messy array of dao. This was due to an outright cultivation of the chaos, a process without organizing the great dao first.

The myriad of daos in the chaos was vast and jumbled; cultivating one dao would lead to the partaking of many others. Everyone was aware of this problem, but it was very difficult to resolve.

The solution required a person to understand the tens of thousands of dao, but if someone reached that level of accomplishment, would they limit themselves to being the king of a single world?

A dao universe is as if a filter! It sorts through the disarray of great dao strength, parses them out, and organizes them! Li Hao realized after a clear comparison.

The existence of all dao universes were more or less the same, including the one of Silver Moon. They all absorbed chaos strength and filtered it, then organized the strength for its people to cultivate.

When the people cultivated, they fed their strength back to the dao universe. In this way, a feedback cycle of strength was created. As the dao universe was fortified, its speed of absorbing chaos strength accelerated. It could take in even more chaos strength and filter it.

Compared to exalted emperors of a disjointed mess of daos, powerhouses of major worlds could forgo this filtering process. This was good, as it made cultivation more simple.

But when it came to truly comprehending the core essence of a myriad daos, perhaps outright devouring and exhaling chaos strength was a more direct medium. Granted, this was unnecessary for many exalted emperors.

Not everyone wished to cultivate a myriad of daos and be versed in all of them! It was better to be learned in just one!

“Little dao friend, is there something on my face?” Drouth’s voice sounded in Li Hao’s ear as the young man contemplated. He smiled superciliously at the boy, inwardly infuriated.

This person had stared nonstop at him ever since setting foot through the door. Drouth hadn’t been bothered with him at first, but the boy kept staring even now. He seemed to be lost in thought—or was he picking a fight?

Li Hao jerked to awareness and inclined his body in apology when he saw that other people were also looking at him. “My apologies, I was thinking of something else just now and lost myself in a train of thought. Please don’t misunderstand, senior.”

“You were so lost in your thoughts?” Drouth smiled tightly. “Well, there’s a crowd of exalted emperors present, as well as Fellow Daoist Dragon. Is there anything more important than the fellow daoist’s lecture on dao?”

“Now now, we can’t say that. Perhaps he really did have something...” smiled the leader of Dragon Observatory. His response was an empty pleasantry, just as Drouth’s words were meant to drive a wedge between the two. Everyone was aware of the undertones of their words.

Li Hao had been staring at the other, despite being a first rank. It was an action that would more or less give offense.

“Please don’t misunderstand, seniors,” Li Hao said apologetically. “I was just curious...”

“Curious about what?” Drouth pressed. The matter had been smoothed over, but the boy insisted that he was curious. Curious about what?

“I’m worried that the senior will be unhappy if I speak of it,” Li Hao said after a beat.

“Ahem,” coughed the faction leader. “Fellow Daoist Drouth, let us continue to discuss dao.”

He was worried about further trouble developing as soon as Li Hao opened his mouth, so he quickly cut the young man off.

“You may speak of it.” The look in Drouth’s eyes sharpened. “The great dao is always there for us. What is the little dao friend curious about?”

“Utmost Dark’s dao universe has collapsed,” Li Hao said seriously after some thought. “Logically speaking, the path of an exalted emperor is located within the dao universe. With its collapse, exalted emperors will either outright die or see a decrease in cultivation.

“Based on what I know, exalted emperors can bring their dao into their bodies and claim a portion of dao universe energy. But with the dao origin gone, you are rootless. How will you ensure that your strength does not decline?”

The other exalted emperors from Utmost Dark reddened at the question. While Drouth’s initial reaction was also to flush with anger, he frowned slightly after a while and looked at Li Hao.

The leader of Dragon Observatory had been worried about angering Drouth, but now he didn’t say anything. In fact, he was also curious.