Star Gate-Chapter 1705: Divvying Up the Spoils, Ascension (II)

Li Zhu might have brought a lot of strength to the table, but he hadn’t needed to contribute much to killing the seventh rank. It was a fair reward that Li Hao gave him a dao universe.

The Sword Sovereign had put in the most effort, so he received a complete world in return.

Not only did Orchid Forest major world receive a seventh rank world’s strength, but they were also awarded with whatever was left of an eighth rank dao universe. That put them at the energy equivalent of a half step eighth rank world. It was an equitable response to the Orchid Forest master’s efforts.

Fog Mountain received a complete seventh rank world just for recovery purposes. That should be more than enough.

Void had the strength of an eighth rank world to play with.

No one felt that Li Hao had shortchanged them. On the contrary, they hesitated at what the young man was reserving for himself. He put it nicely, that he was opening blind boxes and might end up with handsome rewards! 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

But... what if he didn’t find anything of value?

What if the exalted emperors of these worlds really were very poor and only had real estate? In that case, the mastermind of the plan would finish their operations with almost nothing but a bit of Red Moon dao strength!

It would be a tremendous loss!

“I only need a dao universe, I don’t need world strength...” the Sword Sovereign said at this time.

“Um... I’m in the same boat.” Fog Mountain felt equally awkward. “I don’t even need to waste any dao strength, just give me world strength. I’m only looking to recover, not advance further...”

It was actually embarrassing to be receiving this much. To be honest, this hadn’t been a very difficult operation. Killing Griefstricken had been very simple. As for Wave Moon, he hadn’t needed to exert himself much since he’d joined hands with the Sword Sovereign.

Not to mention, he was a cripple now. Li Hao was helping him recover, so it rather seemed that... he was being rewarded with too much.

“Orchid Forest has just entered seventh rank.” Li Hao stared down Yan Fang when the man sought to speak. “This is precisely when your world needs a large sum of world and dao strength. Do not stand on ceremony with me!

“Your world master is unwilling to leave you behind, so let us fortify your world further. Although a seventh rank world with a seventh rank in residence might not rival an eighth rank exalted emperor, at the very least, the eighth rank won’t dare easily invade!”

The complex look in Yan Fang’s eyes deepened. His world master was not present on the scene. If Li Hao was a slightly more vicious sort, he could devour even Orchid Forest, to say nothing of counting them in for the spoils. There would be nothing that Orchid Forest could do in response.

The young man’s group would be able to divide five major worlds among them then!

Breaking his promise would make one less denominator for the loot and increase the amount that everyone received. At the end of the day, Li Hao was the deciding factor on what everyone received.

“Our thanks to the Silver Moon king!” Yan Fang bowed deeply. “The world master is not present, so on his behalf, the Orchid Forest exalted emperors thank the Silver Moon king for your generosity!”

Generosity? No, this was... Yan Fang didn’t know how to describe it. Being allotted seventh rank world strength and half of an eighth rank dao universe was truly a rich harvest. It was so rich that the Orchid Forest exalted emperors felt they were drifting through a dream.

Their world was a newly risen seventh rank world, once they fully digested their gains, they would almost rival the peak seventh rank dao universes. It didn’t matter that they had only one seventh rank among their roster.

If permitted to develop freely, Orchid Forest would have needed another hundred thousand years or two to reach the same heights.

“We’re short on time!” said Li Hao. “Everyone needs to digest their gains as quickly as possible. If you cannot break through, then strengthen yourself as much as possible. Martial Uncle Hong and Panther, scour the four major worlds. Make haste and take all of the treasures you find!”

“The civilian cultivators of their population...” asked Hong Yitang.

“Ignore them!” replied the young man. “No... how about this, move all of their cultivators to Red Moon and shift Red Moon’s civilians to the three worlds!

“Extract all of the world’s energy and leave them to their own demise! The cultivators will slowly die out as they now reside in a world lacking cultivation resources. Paths of dao will still naturally arise given sufficient opportunities, but if they are not so fortunate, they will thoroughly disappear from the chaos!”

Not killing them was the greatest showing of mercy that Li Hao could afford them. At the same time, cultivators were a very potent force for unrest. In that case, they could all have fun together and the mundanes be split among the three major worlds.

Wasting some time in this endeavor was the biggest boon that the young man could bestow.

“Orchid Forest does not have a sizable population.” Li Hao suddenly looked at Yan Fang. “If you are interested, you can choose some new residents for your newly ascended world!

“But don’t choose a full complement of cultivators. The general population is very important for stabilizing a world. You can select some mundanes, but you’ll have to be quick about it!”

Yan Fang brightened. That was right, a general population was very important to a dao universe and major world. Masses of people cultivating were essential to a world and dao universe’s development.

On the other hand, cultivators of the four major worlds would be knowledgeable, high quality, possess strong foundations, and numerous. They would be very useful to supplement Orchid Forest with.

“Try not to choose any that are too strong,” Li Hao continued. “You can also choose some babies and bring their entire family over. Youngsters have more potential. Already established cultivators will probably view you with too much enmity. I know I’m overstepping myself, but I’ll give you this advice in the Orchid Forest master’s absence!

“Don’t choose too many either, and it’s better to select some from all four major worlds.”

Yan Fang nodded his head rapidly.

Seeing that he was ready to go haring off, Li Hao transmitted after some hesitation, “You can also select a portion of strong Red Moon cultivators. Red Moon’s general population hates you, so you can use them to create an opposing faction in Orchid Forest. That will ensure places to temper your cultivators right within Orchid Forest, there will be no need to venture into the chaos!

“Orchid Forest has just ascended to seventh rank, the people’s sentiment is not yet steady. Only with external foes and internal worries will that aid your goal of unifying the world!”

Yan Fang quickly nodded with surprise. Although the Silver Moon king was young, his wisdom knew no bounds. He was right, if an enemy faction appeared within Orchid Forest and stayed under their control, that would be useful for the unity of the world.

.....

“Everyone else is to loot the worlds!” commanded Li Hao. “Hurry and finish cleaning up the battlefield. We caused quite a commotion. Remember that there are more major worlds than these ones in Red Moon Region! The rest of them are far away, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come for a look at what we’ve done. Be quick now!

“Uncle Li, you guys should focus on recovery and ascension. Extract all energy as quickly as possible and don’t leave anything behind!”

The Sword Sovereign flashed into Skywave without further word.

“You guys might not finish your breakthroughs that quickly, so I may enter your dao universes at various times to help you dismantle it. Just leave a backdoor for me!”

Breaking down four major worlds was such a thrilling prospect! It would be a tremendous boon for his comprehension of great dao. This was something that he would never let slip through his fingers. In fact, he wished he had several replicas of himself to call upon!

And lastly, there would be a blind box bonanza to see how much Silver Moon gained for their efforts.

“I would actually like a dao universe, Hao Moon, not a world....” Void flew over and transmitted with some regret. He was just being truthful. Being given Red Moon major world was quite a coup since that was an eighth rank world, but he wanted a dao universe more.

He also felt that he shouldn’t be mentioning this since the division of spoils was complete and Li Hao himself hadn’t claimed a dao universe. All the same, he couldn’t help but feel regretful.

A dao universe was more precious than a world, but an eighth rank world wasn’t necessarily subpar to a seventh rank dao universe.

“Are you being silly?” transmitted Li Hao.

What did his friend mean?

“A world is a source of power to perfect the domain! What are you going to do with dao strength before you reach seventh rank? Perfect your worlds and domain first, then we’ll talk! Build up your foundations!

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll naturally have enough dao strength when it comes time for your breakthrough! But you won’t be reaching seventh rank this time!”

“No way, I’m one step away!” Void felt that his friend was underestimating him!

“That’s enough of that,” Li Hao chuckled. “You might be there if you were an ordinary seventh rank, but you are Void of six extreme daos. These four major worlds aren't high quality, even when including Red Moon! They’re just one-time use items, do you really think they’ll form the basis of your advancement?”

“But...”

“Think about dao chess and Skyward lacking a master!”

“......” That was right! Void smiled. “Got it, I understand! Then I’m going to extract world strength and perfect the domains of my six daos as much as possible. I might be a peak sixth rank after that!”

He suddenly felt that this had worked out perfectly after Li Hao explained his reasoning. It wasn’t that Void didn’t have his own ideas in mind, just that he’d really coveted the Red Moon dao universe. But his friend had pointed out that Skyward’s dao universe lacked a master!

Li Hao refocused on absorbing Red Moon dao strength. Both Gan Wuliang and Pagoda King were drawing on it as well!

Everyone had obtained great gains this time. While it looked like Li Hao had received the smallest portion, the young man felt that it wouldn’t be too little no matter what. If all those exalted emperors had just a few treasures in one storage ring, that would be plenty for Silver Moon to feast on!

Too much wouldn’t be useful to them. This type of division maximized their profits and ensured that everyone could utilize what they’d been given.

Various heavyweights quickly absorbed their battle spoils, having an easy time because the masters of these four dao universes had either died or abandoned them. The region’s presence built commandingly.

Fog Mountain recovered the fastest, since all he needed to do was absorb sufficient dao strength. There would be no peak seventh rank dao strength for him to partake in ordinary times, but the combination of one dao universe and a major world was enough.

Although it didn’t bring him to eighth rank, he was also fully independent from Skycloud now. He was no longer under any restrictions, so... everything was worth it in the end to Fog Mountain.

He didn’t owe Skycloud anything now. He’d returned all of the energy he’d once received; only Skycloud owed him.

......

Li Hao focused on continuously absorbing dao strength to supplement his worlds. Red Moon power was difficult to digest since it was the power of desire. Although there were many attributes to dao strength, the young man knew that absorbing too much of any one kind would interfere with his mind sooner or later.

At the same time, he was unafraid! He dared to absorb even time, so desire hardly concerned him.

Gan Wuliang partook so much that he felt he was about to ascend. Li Hao was more worried about him, that the man might lose control if he took in too much.

It would be a tremendous breakthrough if Gan Wuliang reached fourth rank. Hong Yitang was his counterpart, so he should also be closing in on fourth rank. He just needed sufficient dao crystals to ensure success.

Their ascensions would bring hope that those who’d joined Silver Moon from other factions could also advance in their cultivation.