Star Gate-Chapter 1497: Each With Their Own Schemes (II)

Li Hao was able to glimpse some things if he traced time, but the ability was too troublesome to employ often. Not to mention, there was no small amount of trouble in the aftermath. If the eighth rank of Demon Summit formed a karmic relationship with him... The two seventh ranks were already a handful to deal with, not to mention an eighth rank!

“I’ll just look for treasure and comprehend dao like a normal person! I won’t use the power of time!” Li Hao decided. Other people don’t have to utilize time to gain a rich harvest, why must I do so? I shouldn’t be creating any karmic ties if I just search for treasure like a regular person and don’t trace the past, right?

“There must be a core item to this dao foundation site, one similar to the supernatural characters! Seizing it might mean gaining control over the whole site. The hall in the central region might be the heart of the area, or perhaps the core can be found within!”

Some more inspiration occurred to the young man. Consolidating control over the dao foundation site might mean that he would be able to freely come and go from this minor world.

This place was similar to a personal domain, disregarding its classification as a dao foundation site. The domain of an eighth rank could naturally defend itself against weaklings; the strength of the domain rivaled that of Silver Moon world’s. That made it formidable against certain low rank exalted emperors. Its effectiveness against mid ranks was unknown.

While others thought of comprehending dao, all that occurred to Li Hao was to make off with everything he saw. Should he just shove Demon Summit into his pocket? It wouldn't matter what dao remnants remained at the dao foundation site then, it would all be his!

He was also starting to feel that it wasn’t the energy of the site that was the important factor at hand, but the source of the energy! There must be something similar to a supernatural character that existed, a method, a great dao fragment, a weapon... There had to be some sort of treasure in this vein.

That was the key to the dao remnants.

An infusion of exalted emperor blood essence is required each time Demon Summit is accessed. This means that the source of energy is running low on reserves, so it needs blood essence to be activated...

Dragon Observatory had been in control of Demon Summit for many years, but the dao foundation site remained as was. That meant that the faction was yet to discover this treasure as well.

Did the leader of Dragon Observatory cultivate the dao of darkness?

Most likely not.

This further indicated that the dao foundation site’s energy was possibly tied to the great dao cultivated. Those from Utmost Dark would stand a higher chance of a fruitful visit.

However, there were also many powerhouses that walked the path of darkness. Most of them had visited this dao foundation site at some point in time, but no one had discovered the source or taken it away either. This represented that whatever the source was, it was not a simple affair.

“If I leave behind a supernatural character and a weakling wants to take it, how should they go about doing that? It won’t be easy for a Fused Dao to claim it, to say nothing of the other levels. Any would-be hopefuls might be killed by the backlash instead!”

Li Hao tried to put himself in another’s shoes. It would take deep understanding of the dao of supernatural characters if someone wanted to claim his. It would be very difficult for them to succeed safely even if he didn’t set any trials in place.

The dao of darkness is still the key...

Li Hao sat down cross-legged, a ‘dark’ supernatural character revolving around him. There was no rush. If that treasure was so easily claimed, then this dao foundation site would’ve since ceased to exist. He could take his time.

The Dragon Observatory leader had said that this place would close only after a month. It wouldn’t be sealed off, just be a little more dangerous in a month.

The supernatural character began to absorb energy from the surroundings. Li Hao contemplated recent developments as the river of life and death churned. Some energy of darkness surged into it, turning it black.

Number Two was discomfited by the new addition and fidgeted with extreme irritation. Li Hao frequently flip-flopped in his cultivation. First it was the river of time, then it became the river of life and death, and now a great deal of darkness was being shoved in. All of this was disturbing its sleep! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“What are you doing?” the cat couldn’t help but ask.

“Comprehending dao.”

Bullshit! You’re making a cat’s life difficult! How is this comprehending dao?! Getting some black energy and dying the river is comprehending dao??

“Why do you need to dye the river black if you’re comprehending dao?”

“I’m not dyeing it, this is the color of the energy of darkness...”

“Nonsense. The great dao is colorless. All is in accordance with your heart! Who decreed that the energy of darkness is black? Why can’t it be white?

Li Hao blinked and took a while to marshal his thoughts. “That’s... true. But how is the darkness dark if it wasn't, well, dark?”

“Darkness and light are products of your definition. Who says black is what is known as black now, and white is what is known as white?”

“......” You just like to play devil’s advocate! Li Hao could barely suppress an eye roll. I understand the concept, but you’re just being ridiculous!

All the same, the river suddenly turned white. It was still the same energy as before, but the color was different.

“Am I denying reality with my actions?” Li Hao laughed.

Number Two grumbled that this was so much better. All that black stuff was so uncomfortable. Although the energy was the same, it being white was so much easier on the eyes.

“The great dao follows the heart?” Some more thoughts popped into Li Hao’s mind as more energy surged toward him.

......

In the distance.

An Utmost Dark exalted emperor looked quizzically in a certain direction. Was there a comrade there? There seemed to be work of a dark attributed powerhouse cultivating in that area.

But before entering the dao foundation site, they’d all agreed that they should head to the hall in the center region first and not be in a hurry to cultivate. This was their goal; all of them were aware that there was a Hall of Darkness at the center of Demon Summit.

This was what they were here for and why they had joined Dragon Observatory.

According to Drouth, if they could obtain some benefits or even sufficient opportunities to resurrect the dao universe, then they wouldn’t need to look to someone else for shelter.

As for Li Hao’s presence... no one thought much of it. The young man wasn’t a dark attribute heavyweight. Hence, the exalted emperor that’d sensed the ripples of dark energy frowned. There wasn’t much use cultivating at this time. Why had his comrade deviated from the original plan?

Should I go take a look?

The thought had just crossed his mind when he realized with a start that some energy had been extracted from the surroundings. Something flashed by him—it seemed to be both a person and a monster spirit.

It materialized from the darkness, then quickly disappeared again.

“Hmm?” The exalted emperor frowned quizzically. Was he seeing things? Surely not!

But he hadn’t sensed any presences, just unbounded darkness. Were there other creatures alive in Demon Summit?

......

Dragon Observatory.

The Dragon Observatory leader was also frowning. What was Hao Moon doing? He didn’t move at all after entering the dao foundation site—was he meditating?

Wouldn’t any normal person’s reaction be to explore the surroundings?

Or was he not the Silver Moon king and just a new human exalted emperor, so he wasn’t all that courageous and highly alert instead? Perhaps he was afraid of incurring trouble, so he decided not to move forward at all and just remain on the spot.

Did I make an error in judgment?

The leader pondered for a bit and looked at the brightest dot of light. Drouth was proceeding as he’d expected—rushing straight for the Hall of Darkness. The exalted emperors of Utmost Dark must have certain ideas in mind, of that he was aware of.

It was just... The leader curled his lip. Any benefits that were so easily had were long gone. A seventh rank had even once visited in the past, but did not discover too much.

......

Li Hao stopped for much longer than an hour or two—he remained on the spot for three days straight. It was like he’d entered the dao foundation site truly to just meditate over the dao here. There was no movement from the young man at all. Even the Dragon Observatory leader gave up hope. Perhaps the guy really was just here to comprehend dao.

Three days later.

Li Hao rose to his feet. The ‘dark’ character next to him was much stronger than before.

A dao star began to grow within the river of life and death. The star of darkness illuminated the river, standing next to the star of life and death. While it wasn’t as strong as the star of life and death, it wasn’t much weaker either.

“How come you haven’t created another black and white star?” Number Two asked while Li Hao walked around.

“Light and darkness standing side by side?” responded the young man. “If I cultivate the power of light here, the strength of darkness will drown me!”

“Why would it?” Number Two felt that Li Hao was thinking too much. “Would powerhouses who’ve truly made it to this level care about that? It is an incorrect notion to begin with to think that light and darkness are opposed to each other. Only when there is light, is there darkness, and vice versa. If there is only light within great dao and no darkness, how does one differentiate between them?”

“That’s true!” Li Hao nodded. “Except... won’t I be the death of myself if I create something like this?”

“Are you afraid of that?”

“A little.” Li Hao couldn’t help but laugh. Where do you get the misconception that I’m a lunatic who keeps courting death?

“You might come across unexpected surprises!” The cat seemed to be goading Li Hao on.

The young man didn’t listen to it. There might be unexpected surprises, but what if he really ended up causing his own death? He wasn’t familiar with this site; everything could wait until he knew the lay of the land.

He’d had some results from cultivating the power of darkness. When he looked ahead, everything within one thousand meters was clear to his eyes. His circumstances were much more convenient than before.

After three days, perhaps those exalted emperors would have all reached the central area. However, Li Hao’s brows knit together after he took a few more steps. He scanned the area around him.

It’d felt like something had been watching him these days. That sensation had been present from the beginning and persisted the entire time. Some beings seemed to have been surveilling him in the nearby surroundings starting two days ago.

Was there someone else here? Or was it the Utmost Dark exalted emperors?

......

At the same time, in the distance.

A rumble sounded.

There was a bloody gash in the chest of an Utmost Dark exalted emperor. He was unspeakably grave and looked around wildly, extremely wary.

There was... something alive here! What was it?

It was so strong that it was nearly one with the darkness. Even though he walked the path of darkness, he was hard pressed to catch a glimpse of whatever it was.

He’d suffered countless attacks over the past two days, each more harrowing than the last. The Dragon Observatory leader had not mentioned this beforehand!

Have the others encountered similar danger? He was unable to confirm this. The original plan was to convene at the central hall upon entrance, but he’d failed to gather after three days.

No one had come for him either. Were they afraid of an accident, or were they busy fending for themselves as well?