Star Gate-Chapter 1740: Desire (II)

Kaboom!

A massive explosion interrupted Li Hao’s musings. A nearby dao foundation site had suddenly erupted with ferocious strength. A shadow hovered into view—it seemed to hail from the primordial past!

It came with a familiar surge of dao strength—Skyward’s dao strength. This was a dao foundation site left behind by a mid rank. It flared with activity when Li Hao’s world of emptiness reached this spot!

There were some Silver Moon cultivators on the mountain; they looked on nervously. An immense might swept through the land, ready to do battle with the power of emptiness. However, emptiness quickly suppressed it. Someone seemed to be howling with outrage, but no one could clearly make out the voice.

It was far less discernible than the dao note that’d appeared within the seventh rank dao foundation site when Li Hao traced the past!

A long dao river materialized in the air to suppress the unrest. Silver Moon cultivators in the surroundings lifted their heads. Some could make out a soaring eagle in the sky! This must have once belonged to an eagle exalted emperor. With the response from the dao foundation came visions of outstretched wings or an eagle diving down from the sky!

And as the power of emptiness burrowed deep into the site, the dao foundation energy dispersed in all directions.

Hong Yitang’s river surged through the void, absorbing whatever energy it came across. A branch of his river seemed to grow stronger. He manifested next to Li Hao, confused why the young man had chosen to display the star of time at this moment. He didn’t say anything, however.

He simply watched as the dao foundation site was suppressed, its dao remnants scattered, and it fully fell silent.

Hong Yitang absorbed the dao strength and left some of the lingering ripples for those on the mountain to comprehend. The man vanished after that.

A dao foundation site flared in the south this time. It rumbled ominously!

A massive beast seemed to take to the air and the world shook, bringing even the Skyward dao universe into view. Some stars glittered with feeble light—these dao foundation sites seemed to be influencing the dao universe.

Remnants of dao strength were stimulating these dao stars. This was another sign of revitalization.

......

As Li Hao and Void silenced Skyward.

The chaos, in a place far, far away.

There stood a world that somewhat resembled Skyward. What was shocking about this world was that its dao rules were interconnected and filled the void. The entire world seemed to be composed of dao rules. They were all visible and out in the open!

Every dao rule seemed to stand independently on its own and was visible to the naked eye. There was no need to trace the past. A massive dao net that spanned the entire world was right there to be looked upon!

The great dao had taken tangible form!

This was a level of accomplishment that the current Li Hao could not dream of.

Great dao filled the air, some of the dao rules were so strong that they were shocking. They were incredibly thick and their dao strength so dense that they seemed to be alive. The great dao seemed to have given rise to life!

It was an unfathomably terrifying existence!

Existences stood within the center of this congregation of dao, towering so stalwartly that they did not know the meaning of time. It was like they’d always existed here and would always continue to be here.

Suddenly!

One of the massive statues cracked its eyes open. The world changed when its eyes opened and more worlds were born. Worlds hovered into view in the span of a breath and even the universe could be seen!

Its eyes sparkled radiantly as a myriad dao appeared within its eyes. Space and time reversed, the world was thrown into disarray. A dao universe seemed to appear overhead, but it shifted in and out of sight. Some of the dao stars shimmered with faint illumination.

The infinitely long distance was abruptly shortened, bringing what was far away close into view. The statue seemed to peer at a corner of the chaos—there was life and worlds there. Skyward was also there!

It locked onto a certain region; Skyward sparkled in its eyes.

......

At the same time.

Blazing Sun Region.

New Martial was traveling through the area. Or rather, the Ash Emperor was journeying through it.

The Human King had just rushed over to reconvene with New Martial. He wanted to lie down to rest, but suddenly lifted his head at the sky. Yin and yang appeared within his eyes and the world was sectioned into two types of space.

Yin and yang!

Some changes appeared in his eyes as well. One side was like the sun, the other as if the moon. Yin and yang came together!

Next to him, the supreme raised an eyebrow and summoned his book of dao. A myriad of daos manifested while the pages turned. The land and sky flipped upside down, with space and time turning inside out. The supreme’s force was spontaneously enhanced.

The Ash Emperor yawned, pausing from toying with its fish. Scintillating luster shot out of its eyes and illuminated the chaos! It wanted to peer through the universe!

The cat really did seem to see something. A massive pillar appeared within its eyes, one following another. They stood at a very remote location, one that included the four regions and some others.

The powerhouses all seemed to be studying something. Typically brash and unbridled, the Human King was no longer cocky or arrogant in this moment. He simply looked silently at the sky and sneered, “So annoying!”

The supreme chuckled, his tone as gentle as the spring breeze. “You can be just as annoying when you’re strong enough!”

“That’s true...” chuckled the Human King. “There’s no way around it when we’re weaker than someone else! That old bat Blazing Sun is seriously full of himself! I already said that I’m just going to absorb his world’s strength of extreme yang and leave him an empty shell, but he’s not willing to make that trade-off! How dare he! Screw him! I’ll heave his head for that!”

“......” The supreme stared at him. “It’s impressive that this is your style as a villain. Don’t you ever think that you’re going overboard?”

“Who’s the villain and who’s the hero?” snorted the Human King. “All of the worlds in the chaos are a hot mess. You kill me, I kill you. You eat me, I eat you. So who’s the good guy, huh? Who dares say that they’re the good guy? Don’t throw mud at me, Ole Zhang!”

“You want someone’s dao strength, but are being exceedingly haughty about it. What does that make you, if not a villain?”

“Pfft, and how did Blazing Sun Region get to be an eighth rank region? Out of the goodness of his heart? He swallowed the mid and minor worlds around him! There’s blood and bones on his hand, I’m serving justice!”

“You... make sense!” laughed the supreme. “Where do you think those from Skyward have gone?”

“I don’t know, but they’re definitely all still alive!” The Human King looked in a certain direction, completely clear on where he was looking. “I was instantly lost when I set foot into the chaos. There was no sense of direction or light. There was only a dark passageway next to us. I’ve always wanted to know why that passageway was near our main world.”

Direction was difficult to determine in the chaos. But for exalted emperors, it wasn’t an obscure mystery. They could still see around them.

The Human King had been peak sixth rank when he triumphed over the Heavenly Emperor. And yet, he was instantly lost when he left New Martial. It took him several decades to find his way back. Time seemed to freeze outside, resulting in a great deal of time having passed when he finally returned.

It seemed to both be the chaos and not the chaos outside New Martial. It was also a chaos that not everyone saw. There was a passageway nearby that led to an unknown location. It was just outside the New Martial main world!

It’d appeared the moment the Human King left the world, but then disappeared one day. That was when New Martial truly appeared within the chaos.

When had it disappeared?

After Silver Moon was born!

The vassal world’s birth seemed to have taken away the dark tunnel drifting near New Martial.

“What did War do back in the day?” murmured the supreme. “What does he want to tell us? What does he want to show us? His order of arrangement is applicable to battle techniques, a myriad of daos, as well as weaving blood and qi together.

“Blood and qi are dao, a myriad of daos are dao. One method is applicable to all! He’s certainly a mysterious character.”

“He was restricted by the world. If not, he would’ve easily set foot into seventh rank!” The Human King inclined his head. “The new Silver Moon king has inherited some of his heritage. He’ll either be the second War or the second Ole Wang!”

“You’ve met him, what do you think?” asked the supreme.

“What do I think?” The Human King smirked at the other. “I think with my brain! How would I think otherwise?”

The supreme burst out laughing. "Why didn’t you stay that year?”

“Our paths were different because our ideals were different!” sniffed the Human King. “The myriad of living beings, methods, freedom, and worlds... He said that everyone has the right to live and to cultivate without pressure. That’s nonsensical!

“Where there are people, so there are conflicts and ulterior motives. He’s an idealist, I’m not. I’m a realist!”

“But based on what I know, the Silver Moon king is very strong,” laughed the supreme. “He’s a fifth rank and might rival your strength before you left the world. He’s also only in his twenties. Granted, that was your age then too.”

“That doesn’t matter,” the Human King shook his head. “I care more about one point. Will he become the second Ole Wang, War, or the first Li Hao!”

“You’ve met him, what do you say?” The supreme looked thoughtful.

“As of now, he has yet to break the restrictions of time!” The Human King fell silent for a bit. “That’s too hard! I watched the power of time once back in the day. For me, I felt that I might not be willing to shatter the restrictions. What kind of dao of desire does Red Moon have? Time is the real dao of desire!

“Old Zhang, did you ever see it? If you did, could you bring yourself to break it?”

The supreme was silent for a long time before he said with difficulty, “I don’t know how I would choose since I didn’t see it. Perhaps being the second or even stronger War is not a bad thing.”

“Hah!” sneered the Human King. “I’ll give it to you straight. I would’ve killed you if you claimed the dao of time! I would’ve beheaded you on the spot!”