Chapter 1065: The Path of the Dao Master (I)

Jiang Li found himself in awkward straits. He hadn’t left yet because he wanted to investigate the situation further. Now that he saw the massive Skystar mine, he was very tempted and rather curious what Li Hao’s group was doing inside.

But since the young man had said he wasn’t going to entertain the priest further, Jiang Li could only say with some embarrassment, “That’s alright... Commander Li should focus on resting and recovering from his injuries. I’ll return to Great Li now...”

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“No no, wouldn’t I have shown poor hospitality if Main Priest Jiang leaves?” Li Hao smiled meaningfully at him.

If you go, that leaves the Great Li king free and clear to do anything he wants. What if he decides to return to the battlefield and attack Silver Moon’s army? Since you’re here, just stay with us.

Jiang Li hesitated, then looked at the group of people baring their teeth at him. They were exceedingly furious at the moment, possibly because they hadn’t gained anything for their efforts in Divine Nation. Expressing anything against their will would easily redirect their ire to him.

Therefore, the priest smiled and fell silent.

“We’re going to recover from our wounds and will chat with the priest when we’re healed.” Li Hao smiled. He led the group deeper into the mine.

......

A massive pool of treasures sat deep within the mine. There was still plenty of liquid within. This pool had originally nurtured the Empyrean King body for the scarlet cloak. Li Hao later utilized it to create a body for Director General Wang. No one touched it after that.

Li Hao looked behind him. Almost all of his direct subordinates from the Skystar Commander Office were present. Director General Zhao and a group of Silver Moon martial masters were in attendance.

Apart from Hou Xiaochen holding down the fort in Silver Moon, the rest of the Silver Moon martial masters—including a dozen martial masters from the older generation—were present. There were also a few from the Demon Hunters such as Liu Long. Those numbered approximately forty people.

The rest were Yao Si, Lin Hongyu, Chen Zhongtian, Gan Wuliang, Yang Shan, Qin Lian, Sword Dao and his companions, and a few Novas. There were also those who’d been at Li Hao’s side since Silver Moon such as Hao Lianchuan. While they were also Novas, their strength lagged behind the rest.

Some ancient powerhouses rounded out the group, such as Director General Wang, the troop leaders of Battle Heaven Army, and the imperial guard.

Altogether, they made for one hundred people.

These were the most premier powerhouses of Skystar Commander Office. Everyone above Nova was here. While there were others, they didn’t have direct ties to Li Hao. The young man regarded anyone who could set foot into the mine as part of his direct sphere of influence. It didn’t matter if they’d been with him from the very beginning or joined later.

If it was up to the Silver Moon martial masters, they would only view Silver Moon martial masters with legitimacy. That identifier didn’t matter as much to Li Hao. He didn’t have many people to begin with. What was one hundred people to a faction?

It was so negligible that it was inconsequential!

A portion of the martial masters could not endure their injuries anymore. Blood bubbled from their bodies, but they all looked at the young man and waited for him to speak.

There’d been nothing gained from the battle today and strictly speaking, they’d lost. Although they’d killed two divine spirits, that wasn’t worth anything. The damage to their bodies was too great and the divine spirits might reawaken at any time.

Divine spirits were born of the world’s daos. It was very difficult to kill them. The Skystar group did not possess the strength to obliterate them from creation. Therefore, while Li Hao had cut down the fire god, that divine spirit might resurrect next time. It would be Li Hao coming off worse for the wear in the end.

Granted, the group was still uncertain at present what Li Hao’s goal in attacking Divine Nation was. Hence, everyone struggled with brewing fury and dejection! The invincible Skystar Commander Office had lost greatly this time! Even Li Hao was gravely injured.

“The crux of this battle laid in the fact that we do not have sophisticated battle strength and relied too much on help from New Martial.” Li Hao looked out over the crowd.

Among them, Director General Wang fidgeted awkwardly.

“We often talk about growing stronger, but keep placing our hopes in New Martial powerhouses. That’s an erroneous line of thinking to begin with. Of course, our opponents weren’t that strong before either. That was why we didn’t sense this dichotomy so strongly.

“The royal guards and temple priests of Great Li are modern people, so there is less of a gap between our strength. This time, we were at a disadvantage compared to our enemies. Divine spirits are ancient existences, but unique enough that they could manifest after this age awakens.

“We lost in a way that wasn’t a crushing defeat,” Li Hao sighed. “That’s acceptable, it’s good enough already!

“I’m just... a little disappointed.” The young man smiled. “But it’s also to be expected, I’ve already recovered from the outcome of the battle. There is no martial master that goes undefeated forever—I’ve been winning ever since Silver Moon. Losing a scuffle is also good. This brings about a different experience and reflection.”

“Are you really alright?” asked Yuan Shuo. He was well aware that his disciple was the type to appear fine on the surface, but secretly harbor grand ambitions.

“I really am. It’s just one failure. It only feels bad because the enemy struck back when I thought we were guaranteed victory. We didn’t lose all that much.” Li Hao quickly changed the subject. “Therefore, the key point now is everyone’s strength.

“Sun and Moon starts only after ten meridians. That cultivation level is the limit of our world at present. Otherwise, everyone hovers at a level that is not our ultimate capability!

“Seven meridians is just the weakest Apex core origin replica. There is another key point in that our bodies struggle to endure an eruption of our peak battle strength. We’ve returned to the state in which our organs aren’t strong enough.”

Nods percolated through the group. This was a situation in which no one had an answer for. It wasn’t that their bodies weren’t strong—their bodies were decent enough—but that it was impossible to erupt a second time with this foundation. They simply rivaled some of the mid-level cultivators of New Martial and could not compare to that age’s premier geniuses.

“I’ve discovered a new dao meridian that might belong to the physical body,” Li Hao continued. “I don’t know if it’s the one of the physical body. If it is, then it’s not just one dao meridian that we’re talking about here!

“Once our physical bodies are stronger after opening this dao meridian, we’ll be able to clear a few more acupoints and meridians without threatening to dismantle our bodies! Therefore, a dao meridian of the body is exceedingly important!” Li Hao grinned. “It would be more than the increase of one meridian then. It might be three, five, or even more!”

The group’s eyes widened. A dao meridian of the body?

Yuan Shuo’s eyes twinkled. Although he was a burnt mess, he was highly invigorated by what he heard. “A dao meridian of the physical body... have you discovered a new meridian, Li Hao?”

“Yep.”

“That may not be all there is to it.”

“What do you mean?” Li Hao blinked.

“We’ve been conducting our own research as well lately,” Yuan Shuo explained excitedly. “Vice Head Qi, myself, and others have been discussing that the current thirty-six meridians are unattributed. They complete only the smallest basic circulation. The major circulation of the unattributed meridians should be at least three hundred and sixty meridians!

“These unattributed meridians strengthen different parts of the body. We’ve been wondering if the meridian of the body is just one by itself, or a major circulatory system?

“Unattributed meridians are the more mediocre ones in the grand scheme of things. They’re a circulatory system that sits squarely in the middle of the road. Those with attributes are certain to be a major system, then can the ones of the body be another major system?

“We haven’t been able to explore this further due to a lack of knowledge about this meridian. But now that we have one, does that mean there are more?”

“I don’t know.” Li Hao shook his head after some thought. “Perhaps there might be only one body dao meridian at present. No matter what, we can give this one a try. If it works, that would be highly satisfying enough.”

Yuan Shuo nodded. “Did you discover it in the divine spirits? Their queen?”

“Yep.”

“No wonder!” Yuan Shuo laughed. “If that’s the case and we really discovered a meridian of the body, then this battle wasn’t a loss. In fact, we had solid gains instead.”

“There’s no need to comfort me with these kinds of words, teacher. It’s alright.” Li Hao looked at how excited his teacher was, at how certain Yuan Shuo was despite not opening the meridian yet. The old man was on the cusp of declaring the battle a huge success.

Li Hao understood what his teacher intended—he wanted to comfort his student. And yet, Li Hao didn’t see a need for that. Did his teacher still treat him as a child? It’d been four years since he entered the Veteris Institute. He was no longer the emotionally fragile child who’d just lost his parents.

The momentary discomfort he’d felt vanished when he beat back the queen.

“I’d like to try opening it.” Li Hao turned to the rest. “If possible, we can all open it today. There’s no need to worry about cultivation resources. I don’t care if we drain this mine dry! If it turns out that we can indeed strengthen the body, then all of these resources are available for our use!”

The young man sat down cross-legged. His broken heart had recovered somewhat thanks to sword energy and Water of Life. It was still in poor shape, however, and a sight that shocked whoever saw it.

A very weak dao meridian appeared in his body.

It was very, very weak and its position quite surprising. It was hidden under the dao meridian of the spine, which meant it was further below the meridian of thunder. It seemed to reside in another dimension that was also the spine.

The group registered its location with astonishment. Did this count as the same location, but at a different latitude? How had Li Hao discovered it?

Li Hao didn’t care about that detail. He devoured vast quantities of energy to strengthen the weak dao meridian from a tiny worm into a snake. The dao meridian grew even faster after he absorbed some of the liquid from the pool.

However, not much of a difference developed within his body. This was only the strengthening of the dao meridian and not opening it.

After an indeterminate period of time, the meridian was as strong as a dragon. There still wasn’t a marked change in his body. Even now, it was difficult for the group to determine if this dao meridian was attributed or not.

Some attributed meridians carried hints of their element—such as those of the five elements. Unattributed meridians appeared dull and dusty. But this one looked crystalline. That point alone made it different from their known meridians. Perhaps it really was a special dao meridian of another type.

Did it require comprehending the aura? Or could it simply be opened upon straightening? The group stared raptly at the growing dao meridian in the young man’s body.

Li Hao was also wondering if he needed to grasp an aura first. It was his first time encountering this kind of dao meridian, so he decided not to comprehend the aura because he didn’t know how to do so! How did this dao meridian connect to the aura? What kind of aura was it? If it was related to the physical body... what kind of aura was the body?

In that case, the only course of action was to force it open.