Star Gate-Chapter 1680: Emerging from Seclusion (II)

The Red Moon master didn’t fully agree with the Orchid Forest master’s assessment or the Pagoda King’s advice. Both of these were newly surrendered subordinates; he didn’t quite trust them yet. In that case, he would proceed according to his own inclinations!

Red Moon will enjoy a share of the spoils from Skyward as well!

It’d be best if he could kill the Human King. Even if he couldn’t, the Skycloud master would certainly not agree to Fog Mountain leaving Skycloud. That would be an opportunity. The Red Moon master had come to an agreement with Skycloud early on; Fog Mountain had unfortunately sidetracked them.

This would be a chance to bring them up again.

The Red Moon master didn’t speak outright of his plans, neither did the Pagoda King standing beneath him say anything else. Judging from the situation, this one... would most likely head to Skyward.

As for the possibility of the Red Moon master truly agreeing to ambush New Martial...

Ambush my ass! Travel takes time, alright?

New Martial’s planned everything for so long that it’s probably about to execute all of its plans. If the Red Moon master really chooses that option, he’s going to end up with absolutely nothing from all three choices. Granted, he might be able to protect his main world if he does that!

Ai, people!

The Pagoda King sighed to himself. Those who played with desire were nothing good. Red Moon’s dao sometimes overly expanded desire to the point of affecting themselves, alongside the enemy.

For the Red Moon master, seizing the Skyward dao universe and killing the Human King was the greatest exploration of his interests! Once the master of desire nursed his own desires, they would infinitely expand.

The Pagoda King and Orchid Forest master were seemingly speaking words of sense, but, in fact, emphasizing that it was pointless to head to Skyward. Yet, two surrendered subordinates asserting this viewpoint would stoke the Red Moon master’s rebellious nature for sure.

He would be certain of his decision and be more convinced than ever that he needed to head to Skyward! Their mission was half complete!

All they needed was an opportunity for the Skyward dao universe to truly open and fully confirm the Red Moon master’s thoughts. It would corroborate his decision as being the correct one.

This is all I can do. The Pagoda King lowered his head to digest his newly awarded dao strength and stabilize his cultivation level. He ignored the jealousy, resentment, hate, and even contempt around him. What are you guys looking down on me for? You guys are so damn idiotic that you don’t know how dumb you are! You’re all dead, it’s only a matter of time!

Could anyone cultivate the dao of desire?

Only fools cultivate that dao unless they’re apex geniuses or those with extreme mental fortitude. The Red Moon master can keep himself somewhat under control, but the rest of you can’t!

......

Everyone was playing their part. Some were doing so so diligently that they couldn’t tell if they were playing a role or if this truly was their life. And who said life wasn’t an act itself?

The Pagoda King was acting, as was Li Hao. The young man played the role of great dao.

He seemed to have become dao itself within dao chess. He played the roles of different daos and masters of dao, crafting different nets of dao and comprehending the cores of various daos.

The comprehension of dao was a kind of entering dao as well. How could one understand it without being fully immersed in it?

4,400 squares.

Li Hao stopped there for a very long time. This dao was one of acting—or of imitation, in more conventional terms. This was a dao that could imitate a myriad of other daos, but it wasn’t a strong dao itself.

If not, it wouldn’t just be a dao within one square. It would be a dao within one of the thousand-level squares. But to Li Hao, there was something special about this dao and all daos. Even the most subpar dao, such as the one of attachment, had its unique attributes.

There were a lot of dao stars in his river now and more minor worlds, but none of them were strong. There was much more than before, however—400 instead of 360.

Inside the world of fire.

The true myriad of daos had manifested within this world. Although many of them were mere imitations, they bore hints of the real dao. Such was Li Hao’s dao of imitation.

The net of dao was no longer a simple construct of a crude fire dao combined with some other random trash daos. There were more than four thousand great daos within the net now—Li Hao was weaving his net!

The world of fire expanded at a furious pace. The ferocious tiger within prowled with an indomitable air and surveyed its territory with a baleful air.

Dao could be found in each of Li Hao’s footsteps, within fire dao dominating them. The young man was weaving true minor worlds. While there was no life in his worlds, his world of fire was almost the same as a true minor world.

There weren’t that many daos in a minor world—some having a couple thousand at most and a few hundred at the least.

The dao of imitation manifested his previous comprehension of other daos. While it was a lesser showing than the real great dao, it was sufficient for Li Hao’s usage.

After instilling 4,400 daos into his world and centering them around fire, Li Hao noticed something a little different about his world. It was starting to look illusory.

Space?

He’d guessed that the arrangement of 9,999 great daos around the chessboard would combine to that of space. It looked like his speculation was correct. Perhaps this was the true legacy of the Skyward master.

The mere imitation of more than four thousand daos turned the ferocious tiger faintly insubstantial. It seemed to gain the ability to travel between different planes!

It was possible that the Skyward master himself had never considered that someone would wield the inconspicuous dao of imitation in such a marvelous way when they reached the 4,400th square.

Li Hao was starting to weave his true net of dao, despite utilizing daos that weren’t too real. The ferocious tiger leapt through space!

It didn’t cover a large distance, nor could it travel far, but that was already encouragement for Li Hao. He was quite excited!

If he continued to imitate all of these daos... he might truly be able to comprehend spatial dao, even if he didn’t attain a myriad of daos. Space... seemed to be more complicated than he’d imagined. It wasn’t just one dao, but the combination of the myriad.

Li Hao halted for an unusual period of time at the 4,400th square. The shadow was confused. That square only contained a minor dao!

Li Hao and Void had been only five hundred squares apart; the young man might have been able to catch up given their speed and the increasing difficulty of later squares. Even if he didn’t, the gap would continue to decrease.

But Li Hao paused at the 4,400th square for an entire day. That gave time for Void to make it past the 5,000th square. He marched on to the 6,000th square at a very fast pace, whereas Li Hao was still halted at the 4,400th square.

Had he encountered a thorny issue? The shadow was rather confused. It wasn’t one of those major daos that could be found in a thousandth square.

The treasure was familiar with the dao in that square—one that could copy. It could be used to conceal a cultivator, but the effects weren’t that good as the disguise was a fake. Those kinds of daos were suitable for cultivators who liked to skulk in the shadows. True heavyweights couldn’t be bothered by them.

No matter how real an imitation was, it was still fake.

Yet, was such a minor dao stumping a genius like Li Hao? That didn’t make sense! Or had the young man’s comprehension taken a wrong turn and made the dao an obstacle instead?

The shadow wanted to give some pointers, but forewent the impulse. It was just an observer and could not involve itself. Perhaps Li Hao’s understanding was different from that of others.

Therefore, despite its curiosity, the shadow didn’t say anything. So long as Li Hao could sustain himself in this attempt, then the dao chess would remain open to him.

Not to mention, it hadn’t been long since the two of them had entered.

......

Fire dao grew denser over Li Hao’s body while the shadow was lost in thought. A ferocious tiger hovered in and out of sight.

When the scene blurred in front of the shadow, the tiger seemed to vanish from the square. Upon closer look, the tiger was indeed gone. Confusion swirled in the shadow’s mind when it abruptly whirled around.

A massive tiger with upturned eyes was glaring at it. The shadow’s eyes widened! What??

Where did this tiger come from? When had it arrived? Why could it appear in the blink of an eye? Teleportation? Space? Or something else?

The look in the tiger’s eyes shifted as well—it didn’t seem to be a real tiger, but... Li Hao!

It looked at the shadow with a bleary look and vanished once more, returning to Li Hao. The young man rose to his feet and walked out of the 4,400th square. He ignored the shadow.

“Fellow Daoist Li Hao,” the reeling shadow couldn’t help itself. “That...”

“I was overcome by emotion and wanted to test the minor dao that I’d just comprehended.” Li Hao lifted his head with some embarrassment.

Screw you to hell! What minor dao?? A tiger was just next to me!

One had to know, even Apexes had the ability to tear through the void and instantly arrive at a place. But the definition of tearing through the void was different within a world. What Apexes did was simply follow a path of dao from one point to another. To powerhouses, that was a very limited undertaking and was accompanied by a tremendous disturbance.

If that was what spatial dao was, then spatial exalted emperors would never be considered mighty exalted emperors.

Yet when Li Hao spontaneously appeared, there hadn’t been any great dao ripples. He’d simply been here in one second. How had that happened?

The Skyward master...

What had Li Hao comprehended in the dao chess?

“Did you obtain some reflections about spatial dao?” The shadow looked blankly at Li Hao.

“No!” The young man shook his head in denial. He really hadn’t. It was just adjacent to spatial dao because his dao was neither real nor complete.

It was a far cry to the real spatial dao. The real dao wouldn’t be this simple. He’d simply experimented and sent his consciousness and some aura through the void. His primary body hadn’t been able to make the trip.

Did that count as spatial dao?

Not at all! He hadn’t even scratched the surface!

Well, maybe a little. Hence, Li Hao was joyful all the same. This was well worth the time he’d spent on this dao! Of course, he didn’t dare compare himself to the Skyward master—that would be an insult to such an august personage. The real spatial dao must be incredibly strong!

He’d only learned some drips and drabs, how dare he say that he had any understanding of space?

Are you lying to me?? cursed the shadow. You haven’t learned anything about spatial dao?! If not, where did that tiger come from?!