Star Gate-Chapter 1496: Each With Their Own Schemes (I)

“The dao of supernatural characters, the dao of darkness... Absorbing this energy will strengthen the supernatural character and my strength of darkness. This is just as well!” Li Hao remarked.

The ‘dark’ supernatural character melted into the darkness. Energy within the surroundings started gathering toward him. He walked forward. The densest concentration of dao remnants should be in the central area, not here.

There was said to be a Hall of Darkness in the center that was the daily cultivation site of the eighth rank. That was where the true heritage could be found and the prime location for comprehending the dao of an eighth rank exalted emperor.

Would-be hopefuls couldn’t even find their way there many times, yet Void seemed to have visited once.

Drouth and the others should be heading there. Whether it was the Utmost Dark delegation making a move against Li Hao or Li Hao striking them first, that was of secondary importance. The dao foundation site of an eighth rank was the greatest opportunity, who wanted to waste that?

......

Just as Li Hao spurred to motion.

Black smoke wafted out of the peak in the center of Demon Summit, as if it was a volcano. The smoke drifted in all directions. Demon Summit was a massive locale!

Not only were Li Hao and the Utmost Dark exalted emperors heading toward the central region, but there also seemed to be some other living beings in the gloom that soundlessly roamed the cardinal directions.

At the mountain peak in the center, the source of the endless black smoke.

A hall that exuded faint black luster stood here, having withstood the passage of time. Durable and rock-steady, it didn’t shift at all. There was nothing inside the hall except a round seat cushion.

The endless tendrils of darkness came from the seat cushion. The source of Demon Summit’s gloom was this unassuming item! How terrifying was that!

Something seemed to be hidden underneath; it emanated wisps of light before vanishing.

Over the years, people had made it to the Hall of Darkness and some had even seen the seat cushion, but no one had ever taken it with them. Many were those who’d entered the hall and never even laid eyes on the seat cushion.

......

Li Hao ignored everything happening around him and proceeded at a glacial pace. His supernatural character continuously absorbed the energy of darkness and a dao star grew stronger within it. The young man found that the energy here was incredibly pure—even purer than the river of life and death that he currently wielded.

He was in no hurry and decided to take it slow. At the very least, he would permit himself to comprehend the power of darkness. There didn’t seem to be anyone adept in this dao on Silver Moon. Auntie Light Sword practiced the dao of light as well as the dao of darkness, but her level of skill in the latter wasn’t high.

Li Hao decided to collect all the knowledge he could in the outside world to share with the two dao masters when he returned.

......

Demon Summit.

Darkness swirled through the dao foundation site.

Dragon Observatory, the leader’s residence.

The faction leader who was supposedly in closed door cultivation was staring at a board of light. Seven dots of light hovered over it, as well as some pinpricks of black that flickered in various spots. Clearly, the leader of Dragon Observatory knew much more and exercised more control over Demon Summit than the outside world knew of.

These dots of light shone with different intensity, indicating different levels of strength. While the leader couldn’t discern the specifics, he could determine the strengths and weaknesses of these people from their dot. What he was focused on whether or not this Hao Moon could erupt with strength beyond his rank.

And under those conditions, would he decline with severity when Demon Summit was sealed off?

If that kind of change occurred, then that meant one thing—the young man was connected to a dao universe.

It was that simple!

So long as that could be proven, what could Void do about it? Once that connection was made, the leader would personally take to the field and capture Hao Moon—the king of Silver Moon!

The man raptly watched the board, but frowned with concern at the black pinpricks.

There was no danger at the other dao foundation sites in Skyward, but there was danger in spades at the dark envoy’s Demon Summit. Perhaps it had something to do with his dao. Others wouldn’t know what these black pinpricks were, but the Dragon Observatory leader did.

These were the dark puppets that arose from the vanished powerhouses or exalted emperors that entered the site. Only in Demon Summit was there a risk of death when comprehending dao.

It was a very dangerous place!

These pinpricks were dark puppets that sometimes attacked cultivators that’d ventured into the site. Very few people could escape from them as some were very strong. The leader himself had come across one that neared sixth rank on one of his excursions. He had almost been taken out by it!

Normally speaking, these puppets wouldn’t mobilize. He looked at them for a while before putting them out of mind. Instead, he focused on one particular dot of light out of the seven.

“Second rank?” He raised an eyebrow. Was this Hao Moon a second or first rank?

Based on his observations, the young man was a first rank. But from this scan, he seemed more like a second rank. He rivaled the other two second ranks inside the site.

He would be more likely to be the Silver Moon king if he was a first rank. But second rank? Was that possible?

The Dragon Observatory leader was starting to grow confused. Perhaps he’d made an error in judgment.

......

Demon Summit.

Li Hao furrowed his brows. There was no life to speak of in here, but he... felt an indistinct sense of surveillance. It wasn’t that he sensed someone spying on him, just that he was very sensitive to these sorts of sensations.

He’d felt it once before, when the Red Moon organization kept him under watch.

Is someone breathing down my neck?

It doesn’t seem like it. So... it’s a large-scale surveillance effort?

Who knows.

Li Hao continued to absorb the energy, extending his senses through the surroundings at the same time. He wasn’t in a hurry to do anything or attack anyone, all of that was of secondary importance. He was here to study how this was an isolated place.

The realms created by powerhouses were very much worthy of study. It was so much easier to directly understand the theories within. If his efforts bore fruit, he would not have to rely on Dragon Observatory’s southern door and could leave Skyward at any time.

Otherwise, wouldn’t he be stuck on this world if that door was shut?

“The Exalted Blood Emperor isolated a small space to resurrect Number Two. The convergence point of the various continents created a minor space...

“Senior Number Two, do you understand the dao of space?” Li Hao transmitted to the cat.

“......” The cat was in the middle of a lovely dream and pretended it didn’t hear anything. It impatiently turned over and continued to sleep. Lalala not listening not listening, I can’t hear you!

Li Hao had plagued it with too many questions in recent times. That was so unlike the one who taught—that one didn’t need to ask anything and knew everything himself. There was only the cat asking questions, he almost never had any in return. What a comfortable existence that was!

“Senior...”

“Snore! I am snoring!” Loud snoring sounds echoed through the river of life and death, as if telling Li Hao that the occupant was asleep and not to be disturbed.

I am just a cat, and a projection of one. What would I know?

Number Two shifted its butt toward Li Hao, as if saying that it would crush the young man with its buttocks if there were any more questions!

Li Hao was quite resigned. It’s just a few questions, is there a need to act this way? Can’t we have a nice conversation? What a... disobedient cat!

Panther really is the best. What a pity that Panth is a bit weak. I kinda miss the dog. It does anything I tell it, apart from talk.

It was always the forebears planting trees for their descendants to take shelter in. If Panther one day became a premier heavyweight and Li Hao vanished, then the dog would be the greatest in the eyes of descendants. It would know all and be able to do all.

What a pity that the pets of powerhouses typically only benefited later generations. There was nothing in it for the owner.

That was to be expected as well.

If Li Hao’s hard work in cultivation and comprehension were easily matched by a pet, then such a powerhouse was no powerhouse at all. Panther was only a second rank despite having taken possession of a chaos beast. It was the same level as Li Hao.

But in the future... the young man was certain that it wouldn’t be long until he grew stronger. He had more than 240 bridges of life and death now. It wasn’t long until he could set foot into third rank.

“A small space...” Li Hao didn’t mind that Number Two wasn’t paying attention to him. He squatted down to study the structure of the ground. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

This dao foundation site counted as a minor world, one that was enveloped within a major world. It bore similarities to creating a new world.

“Or rather... a domain!” Li Hao made a close inspection and finely perceived the structure of the energy within. He came to the understanding that this should be a special type of domain, one similar to his domain of supernatural characters. It was one that ultimately used the domain to form a special plane.

“So this goes to say... there may be more than dao remnants here, that there might be some unique items similar to my supernatural characters. The great dao might cling to them, or some parts of the great dao’s foundation might still exist. They form the structure of this unique space!”

Supernatural characters were the manifestation of great dao and could form a domain. The singular one that Li Hao had left behind for now could not do so, but once he was stronger, one character could easily form a special space of supernatural characters.

Take the character for ‘dark’, for example. If he left behind such a character when he reached eighth rank, then it might form a unique space similar to Demon Summit. Having undergone similar experiences before, Li Hao quickly came to certain conclusions.

Demon Summit was a special domain.

“The power of darkness inside this place might be similar to the supernatural characters that can cultivate. Mine can operate cultivation methods and absorb energy, ensuring that they do not fade away.

“With a supernatural character holding down the fort in a place...” Li Hao came to new conclusions. “But if this place is similar to a supernatural character, then how strong does one belonging to an eighth rank have to be?”

Granted, now that the master was gone, whatever was similar to a supernatural character should not be as strong as before.