Chapter 1143: Tranquil Star Ruins (I)

Li Hao ignored whatever might be happening with Barren Dynasty. He knew that they would have a dispute with Red Dust’s side sooner or later. Destroying Barren Dynasty might help the world revitalize... but there was no need to worry about it for now.

The desolate beasts would dismiss whatever he said to them, so the only thing he could do now was to raise his strength.

He needed to constantly improve!

And not just him, but everyone around him. The second awakening would not be held off forever. They needed to make the best use of this breathing space and enhance whatever they could.

Once the second awakening truly arrived, what need would he have to fear when he had a bunch of peak Sun and Moon, existences more powerful than them, and himself to draw on?

Thus, when Liu Yan and the others returned with five thousand Demon Hunters the next day, Li Hao disappeared with all of them. He truly invested everything he had this time. Countless mysterious power stones, drops of Water of Life, and almost everything he collected after taking Boundless, Divine Nation, and the remaining ore of the Skystar Mine were on the table.

If that still wasn’t enough, he would rob someone for more!

He’d decided to shift the dao meridians of the five elements to five other people first while he concentrated on training the unattributed medians. He would complete the circulation of thirty-six, then focus on the 360 of the sword dao ability!

According to what Zhang An had said, Li Hao would rival peak Saint once he completed the 360. And that was a peak Saint of the New Martial era!

In fact, Li Hao felt that he might rival an Empyrean King if he opened all 360. The precursor to that was if these were just dao meridians that couldn’t be utilized for other means. These 360, however, could become sword dao abilities!

He still might not be able to fight an exalted emperor of New Martial times if they were all opened, but perhaps the half crippled Red Moon exalted emperor or Red Dust was feasible. The latter might be an Empyrean King or exalted emperor, but he would not be their New Martial equivalent!

The young man might only match them when he reached that state!

To consider the notion was to act on it. He would further organize the dao universe when other people grew stronger, an act that would enhance himself as well.

Thus, on this day, Li Hao vanished with five thousand Demon Hunters. The rest of Skystar Dynasty tended to every aspect of life. Hong Yitang and the others swiftly rolled out a variety of new policies, creating an enormous and magnificent wave of reforms throughout the land.

All sorts of martial dao academies popped up like bamboo shoots after spring rain and opened for classes. Although everything was in its infancy and many mistakes made in the early days, all proceeded in a good direction.

Meanwhile, Li Hao continued to remain out of the public eye.

......

The Hao Cosmos.

Countless stars hovered in the universal expanse. Celestial bodies floated in various spots, many of them gathering on a noticeable scale.

Li Hao was much stronger compared to before.

There were five people standing in the sectors of the five elements—Liu Yan, Hong Qing, Mu Lin, Wang Ming, and Hao Lianchuan. Their presences were much stronger than before.

“Wang Ming walks the path of metal, Director Hao walks the path of fire, and Mu Lin wields the element of wood. Hong Qing and Liu Yan’s elemental attributes aren’t as noticeable—we have the wood and water paths left...”

“Since chief wielded the water dao, I can do the same!” Liu Yan offered.

“My dad gave me the name of ‘qing’ for the color green,” said Hong Qing. “That means I share an affinity for the wood attribute. I can walk the path of wood!”

Since the two had no opposing opinions of what they could choose from, Li Hao continued with the tasks at hand. “Wait for me to meld the supernatural characters into your dao meridians. These supernatural characters... are very strong!

“Not only do they contain my strength, but they also contain my teacher’s strength. The five elements are the fundamental basis of all attributes and the strongest... There may be some difficulty involved for you guys to become one with them. Assimilate them if you can and do not if you can’t!”

The five elements were the joint combination of his and Yuan Shuo’s Five Styles. They’d utilized these characters to kill a Saint in a critical moment!

“If you successfully incorporate the element into yourself, all of its strength will flow to the dao meridians that you open,” continued the young man. “In that way, each meridian’s strength will be far more than what it is now. We have not excavated the full limits of dao meridians yet!

“The five thousand Demon Hunters will be split into five units of metal, wood, earth, water, and fire. Each will cultivate one element and these five thousand will become Skystar’s strongest military force!”

These five thousand were handpicked elites. All of them ranged from Dominator to Mountain and Sea. They fully rivaled an entire army by themselves.

Li Hao didn’t have the time or energy to train millions of elites by himself. But five thousand? He could supply them with cultivation resources.

Many of these five thousand had also comprehended the aura. According to Li Hao’s definition, everyone of this age was a connate dao entity. Their future accomplishments were destined to be notable.

The young man said no more and transformed the five supernatural characters into five celestial bodies. They hovered in front of the cultivators.

“Incorporate your relevant star into the corresponding dao meridian,” he said solemnly. “This is a very difficult challenge. If you fail, that means you lack the requisite fortunes to walk this path. We can only abandon this idea in that case.”

The group looked gravely at the star in front of them. It was no easy feat to wield the might of one element.

“What level will our strength rise to if we succeed?” Liu Yan suddenly asked.

“All of you are Mountain and Sea. Once you succeed, you’ll be at least Sun and Moon!”

The five looked at each other. The strongest among them was fourth level Mountain and Sea, the weakest was first level. It was very hard for them to think of entering Sun and Moon. How tempting was the notion of outright making that cultivation leap!

“And once the Demon Hunters assemble into battle formation, a formation of one thousand will enhance you to at least mid Sun and Moon!” Li Hao explained. “With the five elements as one and all five thousand in formation, you stand a chance of reaching late Sun and Moon!”

Five thousand soldiers in a complete battle formation would outright catapult one to late Sun and Moon. The five flushed with excitement. That was... so strong!

“However, late Sun and Moon will still have difficulty against our enemies,” Li Hao cautioned softly. “Which means to say that even if you succeed, you might be able to sweep Immortals, but you’ll still be defeated by Saints! There’s no need to think too highly of yourself. There are plenty of Saints in this world.”

Morale wasn’t doused by his words; the five remained highly excited. They flew up to their stars. Li Hao quietly watched them go. These people had followed him ever since Silver City. After losing a lot of people, he didn’t wish to lose any more.

Since he was going to focus on the 360 dao meridians, it didn’t matter if he lacked the five elemental dao meridians. In that case, he would give the five meridians to his people to help them grow stronger.

Li Hao quickly released his control over the five elements. It took only a split second before the five cried out with agony.

Hao Lianchuan felt like he was floundering in a sea of flames and being seared to death. Liu Yan was as if encased in ice, frost crackling all over her body. It was like ten thousand arrows had pierced through Wang Ming’s heart as he screamed in anguish.

These five didn’t possess enough strength to easily endure the five elemental dao meridians formed by Li Hao and Yuan Shuo.

The young man scattered large sums of Water of Life and Immortal strength toward them, repairing their bodies. Their body dao meridian may have been opened, but it was far from sufficient for the occasion.

They continued to howl from torment!

Li Hao could only stand by and watch silently. He could repair their external wounds, but he could do nothing about the pain. He didn’t know if they could endure it. Perhaps they could, and perhaps they couldn’t. It was up to them.

If they couldn’t, then they would have to give up the attempt.

“AHHH!!”

Wails and shrieks echoed among the empty universe.

Li Hao turned his attention back to organizing the great dao. He moved various celestial bodies around. Ever since killing those divine spirits and obliterating their dao stars, it was much easier to sift through and manipulate the dao universe. Not only that, but the dao power of the area was much more concentrated after Red Moon power activated the great dao.

There were even stars drifting toward Li Hao.

The young man focused solely on three tasks—organizing the great dao, opening the basic thirty-six meridians, and completing the circulation of the sword dao abilities.

He needed to clear thirty-six hundred acupoints to open thirty-six dao meridians. That still posed a slight challenge to Li Hao. He could only attempt it one minor circulation at a time.

Time passed bit by bit. One day, two days. The screams never stopped. They weren’t from Li Hao, but from the five attempting to assimilate the dao stars of the five elements. Even Liu Yan, someone who could endure a lot of pain, shrieked without end over the two days.

And yet, no one gave up. Everyone was exceedingly resilient!

Li Hao continued to organize the great daos, moving celestial bodies to and fro. He also paid especial attention to the sword dao sector. There weren’t many stars in this sector—he’d separated it out from the unattributed sector.

There was a figure floating within it, but it wasn’t apparent. Neither were Li Hao’s sword dao abilities that noticeable. Regardless, sword intent rushed through the area.

The young man sank into deep thought. Stellaris had broken. It was the Sword Sovereign’s personal sword and not that easily broken. He’d achieved it only through using his bloodline to force the sword into exploding.

A few fragments materialized in Li Hao’s hand—the shards of the sword left behind after self-detonation. They were very dim.

He studied the pieces for a few moments. Could he reforge the weapon? It was a detriment to his strength to be without a trusty sword. Also, Stellaris had kept him company for many years and saved him numerous times. If he could reforge it... it would be an anchor for nostalgia.

Li Hao looked at the sword dao sector and paused for a moment before throwing the pieces in. He tossed them onto the biggest celestial body. That was the area that his sword dao abilities had formed.

Perhaps there would be a day in which Stellaris recovered as his sword dao abilities improved. He did not have the ability to craft it anew. The Human King had made it back in the day. He knew nothing about making weapons and would be wasting the pieces if he randomly forged them himself.

......

Time passed, second by second. Ten days elapsed in the outside world in the blink of an eye.

The world was incredibly quiet during these ten days, so quiet that it was eerie.

Well, it was quiet for the powerhouses. For Skystar citizens, the ten days were filled with a bewildering array of developments.

The martial academies opened for classes and swiftly recruited students.

Spring planting was underway and vast quantities of sacred grain were supplied to the various continents. Plant spirit replicas appeared in some martial academies to absorb energy from the surroundings and craft sacred lands of cultivation.

Not only that, but some unrest appeared in the four continents. As strong as Li Hao’s faction was, there were still those who refused to relinquish power. For their temerity, they were swiftly and decisively punished!

The army began to shrink, retaining only the true elites. Hordes of Dominators and Mountain and Sea swept the land. It didn’t matter how formidable a local tyrant was, they were all turned into punching bags!