Star Gate-Chapter 1495: Demon Summit (III)

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Many gathered bright and early to visit the dao foundation site.

Dragon Observatory palace.

The Dragon Observatory leader didn’t say much. He led a group of exalted emperors toward the rear of the palace, explaining as he walked, “The dao echoes at Demon Summit have almost fully faded away with time. Each instance of opening it expends a great deal of resources!

“The consumption will be astronomical with seven exalted emperors entering today. I hope that all of the fellow daoists will gain something from the experience to make it worthwhile!

“The dao remnants here are enshrouded by light from the dao of darkness. This will be an immense opportunity for cultivators of that path. However, everyone needs to be careful!” the leader said meaningfully. “There is no difference between the sky and earth when dao remnants appear. There is no direction and it is impossible to perceive anything... The entire world will seem to be filled by darkness.

“Sound will be the only thing that exists, and it cannot travel far!” He looked back at the group of hopefuls. “Each year, the opening of the dao foundation site leads to certain undesirable developments happening. Some take advantage of the chance to fish in troubled waters and kill others in the site or seize their treasure. These actions are highly prohibited!

“The fellow daoists here are all exalted emperors treasured by Dragon Observatory. We’re on the same side here, so I hope that no disputes develop after everyone heads in. Please focus on comprehending your own dao.”

Strange expressions crossed faces. In the back, some exalted emperors snuck glances at Li Hao. There were six Utmost Dark exalted emperors in this delegation and one outside exalted emperor. They felt nervous for the young man just listening to these words.

If anything happened, it would happen to Hao Moon. The rest of them were second rank at the weakest. The young man was the only first rank. He was too weak!

Some looked at Void. He was as calm and composed as always; he didn’t seem to read anything from the leader’s words.

“Don’t worry, senior, I will scrupulously keep to my own place after I enter!” Li Hao laughed.

It’s not like you can do anything even if you don’t, some sneered to themselves. You need to stay sharp. If some of the other exalted emperors find you annoying, they’ll take action when the dao remnants appear. You won’t even know how you died!

The group quickly arrived at a new hall. The Dragon Observatory leader pointed at the giant doors—the only ones—for the hall.

“This is the entrance to Demon Summit! It touches upon a bit of spatial transportation. It will appear that you’re in Dragon Observatory, but in reality, you’ll be in an independent, isolated area!”

Ripples appeared over the door with a wave of his hand.

“I hope everyone gains something from this trip. In addition, the site will only be open for a limited period of time. It’s best if you return within a month. It is fine if you do not, but sometimes exalted emperors go missing if they stay inside. This site is not as safe as we think.” 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The crowd turned grave.

“Go missing?” Drouth repeated.

“Yes!” nodded the faction leader. “That has happened before.”

“So one goes missing if they do not emerge after a month.” Drouth flicked a glance at Li Hao. “Does that mean that after someone exits, it’s hard to determine if someone else within the dao foundation site has gone missing or not? They could be lost or dead.”

“That’s right, it is difficult to determine.” The Dragon Observatory leader nodded, not seeming to pick up the connotations within those words.

“I understand!” Drouth said nothing more. The remaining exalted emperors looked at Li Hao again.

These words... bore obvious ill will. By now, there was a common suspicion running that Drouth wished to eliminate Hao Moon. But was there a requirement to do so?

They’d clashed against each other yesterday, but that was just a small conflict. It wasn’t a significant dispute, so was there a pressing need to do so? Or was he just saying all this to intimidate Li Hao?

The young man didn’t seem to make out anything from Drouth’s words. He was looking curiously at the transportation door.

There was nothing unusual about transportation doors. When one reached peak accomplishment in spatial dao, one could rip through the void and travel across distances. But at the exalted emperor level, one could crush space.

To be able to transport space meant that this transportation door was so much more powerful than could be imagined. The internal space within must also be absolutely stable. Otherwise, exalted emperors would easily burst through!

This doorframe likely hadn’t been built by the leader of Dragon Observatory. It should have existed here to begin with.

People spoke of the master of Skyward being a spatial exalted emperor. The core of Skyward’s dao universe, its dao origin, was space. Therefore, the powerhouses of this world more or less had some understanding when it came to space.

That wasn’t always the case, however.

“Everyone, let us head inside!” said the Dragon Observatory leader. He’d said all that he wanted to say, and what he had to say was aimed at Hao Moon.

But the young man was either stupid or didn’t understand what he’d said. He didn’t give much of a response, which made the leader feel that he was playing the lute to a cow.

The leader had said those words with an ulterior motive in mind. Even if Hao Moon didn’t cause trouble, he hoped that Drouth would. That would help him determine whether or not Hao Moon was the new king of Silver Moon.

If the young man was... then his chance was at hand!

He flicked a glance at Void. Was this one the genius highness of Light major world? That one cultivated the dao of light, but this one seemed to walk the path of darkness. Could they really be one and the same?

The Dragon Observatory leader had made his own investigation back in the day, finding that the legendary prince had disappeared. Apparently he’d committed some highly inappropriate actions, causing all of Light to shake from shock.

Could it be... that he’d severed his connection with the dao universe?

The leader didn’t reveal any of the thoughts that he was thinking.

One seventh rank, one fifth rank, three third ranks, two second ranks, and one first rank... In actuality, Li Hao was also a second rank. However, his presence was concealed in the river of life and death, so it was difficult to sense under normal conditions.

Seven exalted emperors were gathered in front of the door. A relaxed Drouth walked through without further word. He vanished inside the doorframe; not a ripple stirred from his actions.

After meeting each other’s eyes, the other exalted emperors casually set foot through the door and vanished as well.

Last came the merry Li Hao. He was so cheery that he seemed a bit foolish. He also stepped into the doorway.

The Dragon Observatory leader waved his hand and dismissed the ripples coming from the door. He directed a large sum of exalted emperor blood essence at the door and smiled. “I hope that the fellow daoists will have some gains from their sojourn!

“Void, the dao foundation site is temporarily closed.” He turned toward the man. “You’ve just entered fifth rank. Shall we find a place and chat for a bit?”

“No need, I’m going to enter closed door cultivation to stabilize my cultivation level!” Void replied brusquely and vanished.

The faction leader wasn’t surprised, he’d anticipated this reaction.

“Then the rest of us are dismissed!” he smiled. “I’m going into seclusion myself for a few days. We can discuss everything later when they emerge!”

The group looked at the dim and dark doorframe; no one said a word.

The Dragon Observatory leader left after arranging an exalted emperor to stand guard. The door would sparkle whenever anyone exited.

......

The world spun!

The leap between space seemed to be a leap from world to world. Instead of experiencing the same sensation as when the Star Gate opened, Li Hao purely felt a jump through space. He knew that he was moving from Dragon Observatory territory to Demon Summit.

The two were not on the same plane, but resided in different spatial locations. Did a heavyweight of the dao of darkness need to create an individual space for cultivation?

Various questions rose in Li Hao’s mind as the scene dimmed in front of him. His feet touched solid ground—he seemed to have entered Demon Summit.

It took a while for the scene to clear in front of him—he could see only roughly one hundred meters ahead of him! That was absolutely incredible. Some of his level could see through an entire world with one glance! But right now, he could only see in a radius of one hundred meters around him.

All was dark and gloomy in the surroundings, nothing made a sound. Even the dirt was shadowy as it brimmed with the dense power of darkness. This place was certainly a sacred land of cultivation for cultivators of the dao of darkness.

Quiet, hushed, there seemed to be... bones on the ground?

People had died here before!

There were no disturbances around him. Who knew if the other six exalted emperors were with him or had been transported somewhere else? Li Hao had no idea how big Demon Summit was.

This place is interesting!

Being able to affect an exalted emperor on this level meant that there were significant dao remnants in this site. The exalted emperor of darkness had cultivated here for so many years that the heritage he’d left behind was still interfering with this land.

A bright light shot out of the young man’s eyes as he sought to see further ahead. However, he couldn’t break through the miasma in the air.

Li Hao tired again, operating the cycle of life and death in his eyes. Life roiled on one side, death churned on the other. That brought him more results—roughly six hundred meters around him—but it was still too limited.

When he tried again with a very feeble power of time, the look in his eyes grew hazy. He could finally see one thousand meters out.

He was on the edge of a mountain peak. Was Demon Summit a mountain? Had he been deposited near one?

“The dao of darkness...” Li Hao knew a bit about this dao, but he didn’t have a deep understanding of it. After some thought, he decided to summon a supernatural character.

Supernatural characters were dao. He didn’t need them at his level, but coalesced one at this moment and extracted his dao of darkness from the river of life and death. A star melded into the supernatural character, quickly solidifying it.

“Darkness!” The young man directed his supernatural character to absorb energy from his surroundings. His presence vanished when he enveloped himself with the character; he could see even further!

The sights one thousand meters out were visible to his eyes now, even without the power of time.

How interesting!

The usage of light and darkness was almost the same in this place. They were more powerful than life and death. Those exalted emperors from Utmost Dark may not be able to see clearly in Demon Summit either.