Star Gate-Chapter 1506: The Hall of Darkness (IV)

“Skyward...” The leader of Dragon Observatory thought of Hao Moon again. The new joiner was a third rank, and a strong third rank. He’d killed two Utmost Dark exalted emperors while inside Demon Summit.

If Drouth emerged from the dao foundation site, perhaps the Observatory leader would tell him that Hao Moon and Void were respectively third and fifth rank. Drouth himself had one fifth rank and two third ranks.

Hao Moon was not a weak third rank. He might be able to fight the two third ranks to a standstill. In that case, the two sides would balance and check each other.

The Dragon Observatory leader wasn’t concerned that Hao Moon would discover anything about what he’d done. His pride at being a peak sixth rank spoke to that. He was wholly unafraid unless a master of a major world, and a seventh rank at that, personally made a move against him.

For the moment, he wasn’t inclined to eradicate Hao Moon. Since he’s not the Silver Moon king, he’s part of Dragon Observatory’s strength. Why should I eliminate him then? He’s also on good terms with Void.

I would do something if he was the Silver Moon king, but since he’s not...

A voice traveled into his ear as he thought over the situation. “There were two eruptions of energy just now that seem to be tied to Demon Summit. Has something happened in the dao foundation site?”

Only the mid ranks would be contacting the leader at a moment like this—the transmission naturally came from Void. Clearly, he’d sensed what was taking place and had reached out with questions.

“Everything is fine, some dark puppets were alarmed by the group’s presence,” laughed the faction leader. “I’m in the process of expelling them. There is nothing to worry about, Brother Void. Hao Moon is alive and well! However, I think I’m seeing that he may have killed an Utmost Dark powerhouse. There might be some trouble if Brother Drouth learns about it.

“We are all of Dragon Observatory, so I do not wish for there to be conflict between anyone. Of course, this may be a misunderstanding. Do not worry, I will handle it once everyone is out!”

In other words, the leader was telling Void that he was aware of this secret now. Void better behave if he wanted to coexist peacefully with Drouth. Otherwise, this would be the makings of a death feud.

“Oh... I see.” Void didn’t seem surprised. And that was the truth, he wasn’t surprised. His voice faded away after that indifferent response.

The leader raised a brow and looked in Void’s direction. What did that fellow mean by this? He sees? What does he see? Or does he not care at all?

The situation was hard to determine. Everything could wait until the group emerged from Demon Summit.

Drouth and two other Utmost Dark exalted emperors had entered the Hall of Darkness. Seeing as Hao Moon also rushed in that direction, the two parties might bump into each other.

Unexpected developments might take place in Demon Summit on this trip. Would any of them walk out with anything gained for their efforts?

The leader fell silent. He couldn’t scan someone after they entered the hall. This trip had only been useful for excluding people from potentially being the Silver Moon king or being a powerhouse of a major world. Nothing else was particularly meaningful or valuable!

......

Li Hao made fast time toward the Hall of Darkness. His sense of direction was very strong, so he could easily determine where the hall was. Not to mention, clues could be gleaned from the terrain.

With the dao foundation crystal in hand, he could see further into the distance. That, in turn, made traveling faster. Meanwhile, the river of life and death devoured the energy of the third rank and the other three dao foundation crystals to build more bridges of life and death.

At the same time, Li Hao noticed more dark puppets gathering around him as time went on. They seemed to have been called by him killing their brethren. Although his domain of darkness still proved effective, it was better to enter the hall as quickly as possible.

Just in case anything untoward happened.

After half a day, a massive temple finally came into view. Its doors were tightly shut. Currents of dark presence wafted out of the structure—this was the source of Demon Summit’s energy. It agitated for an unknown reason at the moment.

“The Hall of Darkness is where the eighth rank dark envoy cultivated... Perhaps the treasure that’s similar to a supernatural character can be found here!”

Demon Summit might be built on it. Li Hao didn’t hesitate after taking a look at the hall. It didn’t matter if Drouth was inside or not, if there was danger within or not. The young man was here. It would be the biggest waste of time if he dawdled outside instead of heading in.

Spending too much time here might lead him to miss the set time with Ancestress Mo and the rest. While he didn’t need to coordinate his movements with them, they could lead him straight to Celestial Pole and the Pagoda King.

Li Hao pushed open the doors to the Hall of Darkness, setting foot into the building.

......

A seat cushion trembled in the depths of the Hall of Darkness the second that Li Hao walked in.

“The fire envoy, water envoy, body envoy...” A voice could be heard. It sensed the dao foundation presences of multiple envoys—had someone received all of their heritages?

But how could that be?

Obtaining a heritage from one of them wouldn’t be unusual, but three? That was nearly impossible.

Even if an envoy was willing to teach someone, a second envoy wouldn’t pass on their heritage once they sensed the presence of another envoy.

It wasn’t as if heritages of powerful exalted emperors were cabbages by the side of the road. It would be incredible if three exalted emperors taught the same person!

“No wonder...” the voice whispered again. No wonder the dark puppets were in a slight uproar. It hadn’t been able to settle them back down because they’d sensed the presence of familiar people. They’d sensed the presence of the other envoys.

Perhaps their activity was meant in welcome, a greeting to the other Skyward heavyweights.

The faint voice was the only sound in the hall. Images appeared in the air, each of them centered on one particular person. There were ones featuring Drouth, the other two Utmost Dark exalted emperors, and Li Hao.

All of these people were currently inside the hall, just not together. The seat cushion trembled once more before falling silent. Only the images remained inside the hall.

......

At the same time.

Drouth looked in a certain direction, frowning as he did so. It’d been a day since they entered the hall. The structure hadn’t looked that big from the outside, but all was dark and gloomy inside. He was a right and proper fifth rank, but couldn’t make out anything from the premises.

No wonder those from his world who’d ventured into the Hall of Darkness before had returned empty-handed! Utmost Dark’s records posited that the Hall of Darkness was empty. There didn’t seem to be anything in the building, but that also didn’t seem right!

Drouth had chosen to split up with his brethren after they entered the Hall of Darkness. Each was to search for their own fortuitous opportunity. But since he hadn’t found anything, the likelihood of those two succeeding were low.

“Is there really nothing in the Hall of Darkness? Or have I just not discovered it, that it’s not meant for me?” Drouth’s frown deepened with displeasure. There was another point bothering him—the Utmost Dark presence that he could sense seemed to have weakened.

There were only six Utmost Dark exalted emperors alive after the collapse of their dao universe. The Utmost Dark presence was already very weak after that. But today, it seemed to have weakened some more.

Perhaps something had happened to the other exalted emperors outside. Only three were in the Hall of Darkness. The condition of those outside remained unknown.

Drouth shifted restlessly. If he didn’t gain anything from this trip and more of his people were lost outside... then this would be another enormous loss for Utmost Dark.

There were already only six exalted emperors left of the once prosperous major world. Losing one or two in the past would have been palatable, but now... it would be unbearable.

......

Li Hao set foot into the Hall of Darkness and was instantly blanketed by darkness. This was a gloom much more severe than what he’d traveled through before!

The world was dark. Even with the dao foundation crystal in hand, Li Hao could only see one thousand meters around him. It seemed to be completely empty; there was nothing to be seen.

Without the crystal in hand, he was limited to one hundred meters around him. But he was a third rank exalted emperor!

There must be a treasure inside the hall. It wouldn’t be able to restrict an exalted emperor to this degree otherwise.

The core of the domain!

This place must be the core of Demon Summit. This is where the source of the energy of darkness is. There must be something similar to the supernatural character here. I wonder if I can find it and take it with me!

......

Darkness enveloped Li Hao. Even with his hand firmly clenched around the dao foundation crystal, Li Hao could only peer one thousand meters around him.

There was still nothing that met his eye. Was this the sights within the Hall of Darkness? It was devoid of everything! How was this a temple??

Or did powerful cultivators have no need of external objects and just needed a place to meditate? If that was the case, then all of this made sense. In that case, there wasn’t much to be gained from this trip. Would he be able to find any treasure if he continued the search?

Li Hao moved in an increasingly tight circle and then sat down in a random spot, contemplating the situation. Domain... core... supernatural character...

If he was to construct a domain, where would he put its core? And how would he interact with it?

Constructs such as a domain relied on opportunity, comprehension, and dao heritage. However, his understanding of the dao of darkness wasn’t that strong. It would be very hard for Li Hao to draw close to the core.

How about... I trace time for a bit?

It would be easy to understand the dark envoy’s dao then. But... new trouble would develop if the envoy wasn’t a friendly person. The young man was very wary of dark attribute heavyweights. In addition, it wasn’t a good idea to use too much power of time.

“How annoying!” he grumbled. Another thought occurred to him when he assessed the energy of darkness around him. Maybe he should... cultivate first?

There was no rush.

It was fine if he left empty-handed. It didn’t matter if he really couldn’t claim the treasure. I’ve just killed a third rank and a few dark puppets. I should focus on digesting those gains first and building a few bridges of life and death.

Li Hao was as bold as ever. Anyone else who entered this land would immediately throw themselves into hunting for treasure. But the young man knew that there likely weren’t many valuables to be had from this building, and that they wouldn’t fall to him even if there were.

He probably wouldn’t be able to enter the core zone of the hall. As opposed to relying on luck, he would be better served cultivating for a bit.

This place was the origin of dark energy. Meditating here would result in more progress than elsewhere.

The young man sat down cross-legged, summoning the river to absorb dark energy. Although Number Two had told him to take in less of this energy, it was such a waste not to take advantage of how dense the concentration was here. He could just balance the energies within the river later if there was too much dark energy.

Of the four exalted emperors within the Hall of Darkness, three were searching for treasure and one started cultivating as soon as he entered. Li Hao was treating this place as his personal training grounds.

Who would enter the Hall of Darkness to cultivate? As dense as the energy may be, powerhouses wouldn’t be too concerned with it. The most critical of all was treasure and dao foundation, not pure energy.