Chapter 1021: The Rise of Human Dao (IV)

“Sky Sword sent a message earlier mentioning Gan Wuliang’s deeds,” Yu Luocha moved onto the next topic. “How does the commander think we should handle him?”

“Handle him?” Li Hao smiled. “Is there a particular need to handle him? He has accomplished something wonderful and taken Near River without spilling a single drop of blood. He killed Fan Chang, a bastard preparing to collude with Great Li. Why are we doing anything to him?”

“He is... very scary!” Yu Luocha said stiltedly. “He is only a Nova at the moment, but once he enters Mountain and Sea or Arcanus, he might be even more frightening!”

She felt that Li Hao was taking too great of a risk. Gan Wuliang’s abilities were truly terrifying.

“He wouldn’t be concerning as an Arcanus either.” Li Hao shook his head. “The scariest of all is the human heart! To be human is to have emotion and desire. The key is whether one can control those impulses.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“Whether one is angry, happy, or greedy... all of that is normal. However, do not let those desires devour oneself. If you can restrain your urges, then Gan Wuliang will have no effect on you!”

That was so easily said!

“But the commander has also said that the human heart is hardest to predict!” Yu Luocha couldn’t help herself. “Some people may only harbor certain thoughts in their hearts and never act on them, yet he can magnify the evil dwelling in our minds!”

This kind of existence was too dangerous.

“You make sense.” Li Hao nodded. “But... this is his dao! There are a myriad of daos in the world that all differ from each other. His dao oversees the emotions and is very complex. I can’t tell either which of his dao meridians have resulted in this mutation...

“He has done nothing wrong, so why should I penalize him? If he does make a mistake one day, then I will naturally punish him. But the time is not now!”

“Very well then,” Yu Luocha sighed. “But I really am apprehensive of him. His strength might take a leap forward with the commander valuing him this highly. He’ll be even more terrifying then!”

Li Hao nodded. He also admitted that Gan Wuliang’s abilities were frightening. To be able to see through emotions and identify the truth of one’s words... Even Li Hao was yet to discover the corresponding dao meridians for this ability. It had to be one of the major daos, and the young man theorized that it was a special dao.

He meant what he said. So long as one was without shame, fear, or guilt, what did one have to be wary of? There was nothing to fear about Gan Wuliang then.

All the same, he could understand why others would be afraid. When one was used to saying one thing and meaning another, how uncomfortable was it if they were unmasked on the spot?

Gan Wuliang... I hope you can exercise restraint.

Abilities like these should not be used wily-nily in every second and every moment. If that came to be, then the wielder would sink into a kind of desire themselves and ultimately be mired in it. If they felt that their abilities could be trusted unequivocally, then they would’ve already been lied to.

That was when something awful would happen to Gan Wuliang.

No matter how strong an ability was, absolute strength still ruled at the end of the day. Controlling emotions and manipulating the heart was minor in the grand scheme of things. At the same time, there was no difference in importance when considering daos. It all came down to how one utilized it.

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, someone next to Li Hao called out, “Commander, there’s a monster spirit flying through the air. It’s a golden eagle!”

Aboard the ship, Li Hao’s junior sister that Yuan Shuo had accepted for convenience sake—Li Meng—opened her third eye. She peered into the distance. Li Meng could now scan a very wide range and even pierce through some maze formations.

The young man followed her gaze.

A golden eagle... so it’s those monster spirits from Ash Mountain?

Director General Zhao had sent word that some major monster spirits are leaving Silver Moon—had they only just reached this locale?

The group was currently at a spot in Near River that wasn’t too far from Silver Moon.

“Old friends!” Li Hao smiled. These four monster spirits were indeed old friends; he had some questions to ask them, ones that touched upon the Forbidden Sea.

These monster spirits had once stood guard over a Goldensky Lotus that was from the Forbidden Sea. Why could the sea be found in the mountain?

The major monster spirit of the North Sea said that the Forbidden Sea ran through the world and showed signs of erupting. Why was that? Where was its source?

Also, what level of strength did Great Li possess? These monster spirits should’ve been in Great Li before this. They might also be old acquaintances of his master. Teacher was in Skystar City at the moment, but Li Hao had sent word for his teacher to set aside writing educational material for the moment and to convene at Silver Moon.

He might be able to see these old friends very soon.

“Let’s go meet them!” Li Hao said when his thoughts traveled here.

“Understood, sir!” The battleship flew over.

Li Hao was rather regretful that Panther wasn’t here. Otherwise, it could converse with the monster spirits. The dog was cultivating in the depths of the Skystar mine and wanted to open the dao meridians of monster spirits. The main question was, did it have any?

If it didn’t, then all of this effort was futile.

......

In the distance.

The golden eagle held the snake in its claws, disdaining it for being too slow. The white tiger and giant ape furiously raced over the land beneath them. They could hear some shouts and cheers, but since the quartet had taken pains to avoid human cities, they didn’t know why the humans were cheering.

They only knew that the humans seemed to have lost their minds to be so happy about Great Li invading.

Large numbers of monster spirits followed behind the four major monster spirits, they were all of Ash Mountain!

“We’re out of Silver Moon,” came the golden eagle’s mental ripples. “We should go to the North Sea. The silly snake is a tyrant of the sea, so we should let it see what a true ocean looks like. Otherwise, it only knows what a stinky gutter is!

“The four seas are ours in the future, we can divide it evenly between us! They’re so enormous that we don’t need to deal with the humans. They can’t do anything to us after we take over the four seas! We’ll collect tolls from anyone who wishes to cross in the future. That will provide enough for our cultivation needs!”

The golden eagle had a beautiful picture in mind as the four seas were said to be bountiful. How nice would it be to be the ruler of a sea!

We can sail through the seas and swing over to Skystar’s central region for a look when we’re bored. It doesn’t matter if Great Li really does conquer Skystar. We’re of the four seas and there’s no one there! Is Great Li going to send people to capture us in the waters?

The void rippled, producing an enormous battleship. The monster spirits blinked with surprise. What a big and fast ship!

“Such a big ship... is a treasure, isn’t it?”

“Where’s it from?”

“I don’t know.” As the monster spirits communicated among themselves, a laugh drifted upon the wind.

“Do you still remember me, monster spirit kings?” Li Hao stood in the air. The golden eagle and the rest blinked. They... did!

The last time they saw the young man, they’d been terribly unlucky to also meet Earthturner Sword and Southern Fist. They could do nothing but hand over half of the Goldensky Lotus. Hence, the big snake was furious.

“Demon Sword? We couldn’t be bothered to seek you out. Where is your master??”

“I... remember that there is no snake style among my teacher’s Five Styles,” Li Hao laughed after a startled pause.

Why are you so angry?

But that was precisely why the snake was seething.

That’s why I want to go look for him! How dare he not include snakes?! Are snakes unworthy??

It’d been mocked by the other monster spirits for being so weak that Yuan Shuo wanted nothing to do with it. That was why the old man had studied the eagle and others, but not the snake. How was that not infuriating??

The big snake was incensed and had been forced to compromise last time when it was nearly beaten to death. Now that it saw Li Hao, it knew that the young man was going to Silver Moon to stand against Great Li. He was going to his death!

“Are you going to Silver Moon to fight Great Li?” it transmitted. “Then you’re dead meat! You might as well come with this king and take me to your teacher. Your survival will be assured then! So come here, kid...”

Li Hao blinked, then laughed again. How interesting. This big snake was worried about his life!

What a nice snake. I know a snake monster spirit—the snake king of the Kui Mountains. I wonder how it’s doing? It should be stronger than this one, in any case.

Powerhouses behind Li Hao glared hotly before the young man had a chance to respond.

“How dare you!” Presences rocked the world as an irate Yu Luocha flew out. “We know that you come from Ash Mountain and brought back Golden Spear and the others, which is why Silver Moon permitted you to walk around. That does not mean you can show disrespect to the commander!”

Yu Luocha’s loyalty had almost shifted to Li Hao at this point in time. She wouldn’t tolerate monster spirits making light of the young man!

Various presences locked onto the monster spirits; the latter felt that doom stared them in the face. The quartet was stunned. When did humanity have so many powerhouses? How was that possible? They knew that Great Li had a lot, but didn’t Silver Moon only have martial masters? And out of them, the mediocre Golden Spear counted among the stronger ones?

Where did they get all of these from?

Indeed, there were many. While many weren’t on the ship, there was already a good number of Mountain and Sea that traveled with Li Hao. There were also a few student puppets present that were especially formidable.

“Alright now, these monster spirits are friends of the human race, they have accomplished great deeds for us!” Li Hao chuckled. “But the world is not at peace these days and the four continents are rife with unrest. Everything needs to be overhauled in the central region, so there’s no place for our friends to go if you head there. Now that the world can tolerate some heavyweights, wandering around might mean that you end up as food for them.”

The young man was serious. Some of the existences in the ruins could send out their replicas now. They were difficult to contend with as they were the equivalent of peak seven elements. These monster spirits of three or four elements with vigorous blood qi would make the perfect snack for a New Martial powerhouse.

“Come to Silver Moon with me first,” chuckled Li Hao. “I’ll take you around once we settle Great Li. My teacher is coming soon too, so you can meet an old friend.”

The monster spirits were stunned into incomprehension.

“Are you... that person who was in Ash Mountain?” The golden eagle looked at Li Hao with a lost look.

“That’s me.”

“You... you... These people are your subordinates?”

“You can say that.”

“They’re very strong...” murmured a stunned eagle. “Are they the Arcanus that you speak of?”

“Pretty much.” Li Hao smiled. “I can’t hold a prolonged conversation since we’re short on time. I still need to get to Silver Moon. Come with me, old friends, don’t go wandering around. I mean it, it’s too dangerous outside! I’m in Silver Moon now and don’t have the energy to spare for the antiques in the ruins elsewhere. You’ll very easily be eaten by someone else!”

“This king is offering to take you with me, but you want to take me with you instead??” roared the snake. “That place is very dangerous—Great Li’s powerhouses are too many to be counted! Taking us back would be leading us to our deaths! Do you take this king to be as stupid as you??”

The big snake... didn’t seem to be very smart. Li Hao said no more and reached forward with his hand, breaking through the void. The monster spirits jerked with dismay, but didn’t have time to do anything else before the golden eagle ended up in the young man’s hands. The white tiger roared with outrage—it, too, was in Li Hao’s grasp.

The giant ape whirled around to run, but Li Hao grabbed it as well.

A supernatural character flew out to freeze the snake in the void. The thousands of monster spirits behind them were petrified with fear. Li Hao deployed his domain of the five elements with a fling of his hand and confined them all. All of the monster spirits were hauled onto the battleship.