Chapter 1197: Ascending to Fused Dao (I)

The greatest change from killing an Empyrean King was not in terms of absolute strength, but mentality. The group’s minds were much more expansive compared to before.

Empyrean King was the strongest level of powerhouse beneath exalted emperor. No matter what their level of strength was back in the day, this was all they amounted to now. Li Hao didn’t care about the grandiose heights they might’ve reached in times past. Now was now.

His auras began to materialize. Although he’d given away the great dao to others, his auras and mental strength were still there. The auras seemed to be stronger now, alongside new changes in his body.

As for what the precise changes were, Li Hao was less clear on that. He could vaguely feel that... he was possibly on the cusp of the next cultivation level. He was already peak ninth level Sun and Moon. It was time for the next ascension.

Fused Dao!

Yes, a fusion of dao.

He could sense that the thirty-six dao meridians he’d utilized were fusing together, turning into a small sword. He would officially set foot into the Fused Dao cultivation level once the little sword was complete. That would be the cultivation level that rivaled the Saint level.

Late Sun and Moon normally fell between peak Immortal and Saint. Meanwhile, Li Hao could kill Saints due to his abundance of methods and numerous open dao meridians. He also wielded a large number of daos. In contrast, the seventh level Sun and Moon Director General Zhao could not stand against a Saint. He could only barely hold them off.

After Slayer of Tens, Sunderer of Hundreds, Dominator of Thousands, Mountain and Sea, Sun and Moon, Li Hao was about to set foot into the next level of Fused Dao!

What was Fused Dao? It was that of great daos coming together as one.

With unattributed dao meridians as the base and the basic thirty-six meridians as the foundation, completing one circulation, opening all of the dao meridians, coming back together to form the fledgling shape of an unattributed ability... such was Fused Dao.

If 360 unattributed dao meridians can form the complete sword dao ability, then my current level can probably fight half step emperors in this age.

“Does the successful completion of one circulation mean officially crossing over to the Fused Dao level? If there are nine levels to Fused Dao... then 32-72 dao meridians might be second level, and 73-108 might be third level. They correspond to the three levels of being a Saint.

“109 dao meridians is fourth level Fused Dao and rivals the Empyrean King level...

“217 dao meridians is seventh level and rivals half step emperor... Is that correct?”

Li Hao didn’t intend to divide cultivation levels into too many sub-categories. It didn’t matter what the cultivation level was, so long as one's battle strength reached the appropriate level. It wouldn’t be until 360 dao meridians that a truly noticeable metamorphosis took place.

Therefore, every sub-level at present should be part of the Fused Dao level. Each level should be the incorporation of a round of dao meridian circulation.

In this regard, seventh level Fused Dao would rival half step emperor. One might still be at half step emperor at ninth level Fused Dao. Exalted emperor would always be out of reach as that represented a significant metamorphosis in the cultivator.

Li Hao had a vague understanding of his new cultivation level. Emperors were a terrifying level of strength since they required at least 360 dao meridians to be fully incorporated with each other, forming the complete sword dao ability. Only then did a cultivator stand a chance of battling an exalted emperor.

The Zheng Hongyuan that they’d just killed was at least fourth level Fused Dao. While Li Hao was only ninth level Sun and Moon, he’d deployed strength at almost third level Fused Dao in peak condition. He’d forced too many dao meridians open and was aided by the dao universe. In reality, he was far stronger than his cultivation level.

It was just that he’d constantly encountered very strong enemies, so everyone ignored that fact. Most other Saints were between first to third level Fused Dao.

Li Hao looked at the Saints sprawled in the void. Of them, Capsize Sea was the strongest. The golden cow was anywhere between second to third level Fused Dao. When it came to the rest, only Li Daozong just managed to reach first level Fused Dao.

The old turtle and General Pagoda were roughly second level Fused Dao.

“The Fused Dao realm!” Li Hao finalized the name of the new cultivation level. The entire level encompassed Saints, Empyrean Kings, and half step emperors in the New Martial time. He couldn’t be bothered to categorize them any further.

Perhaps when progress slowed after a thousand years, humans might be inclined to divide the cultivation levels even more finely. That would be a new source of motivation for cultivators. Otherwise, training at the same level for countless eons and not seeing any progress would drive one crazy.

That was what had happened in New Martial. Whether it was Saints, Empyrean Kings, or even exalted emperors, all of them defined their strength by how much they shattered the void. In reality, lumping everything together in one cultivation didn’t matter either.

Li Hao put everything out of his mind. He only knew that he was about to formally enter the Fused Dao realm. After that battle, his thirty-six dao meridians were officially melding together. Once that was complete, he would have a fundamental sword dao ability.

Perhaps there might even be small changes that took place in him. Small because he’d only completed a minor circulation, not a major circulation.

“Victory is ours!” cheered the soldiers and plant spirits in the void. They’d won! They’d slain an Empyrean King!

They looked at Li Hao with crazed fervor. Not even the Battle Heaven Army had killed an Empyrean King in its prime. Their commander-in-chief had only been a peak Saint, not an Empyrean King. The city lord of Battle Heaven—patriarch of the Wangs—had barely managed to set foot into the Empyrean King realm.

Even the outside world wasn’t aware of that. They only knew that there was one exalted emperor and a few peak Saints at Silver Moon world. It was common knowledge that there was a dearth of Empyrean Kings in Silver Moon because they were searching for a way to become an emperor, or to undergo the emperor tribulation!

But they’d killed an Empyrean King today. Despite Zheng Hongyuan not being able to access core origin dao, he was an Empyrean King all the same. He didn’t possess core origin dao, but neither did Li Hao’s group.

The soldiers didn’t mind that Li Hao was unable to cultivate core origin dao. They were highly enthused all the same! Everyone was extremely fired up. Killing an Empyrean King meant that Li Hao’s side was about to enter the next cultivation stage. Apart from Red Dust’s faction, none of the main cities would be able to stand against Li Hao anymore!

The world could be officially split into three—Red Dust, Red Moon, and Li Hao.

It’d consolidated from the initial days of disordered pandemonium, countless powerhouses, dominant ancient cities, and numerous ruins to that of three factions laying claim to the world. Whether it was the Red Moon exalted emperor or Red Dust, they were under heavy restriction for the moment.

Li Hao was the weakest of the three factions, but they were in the thick of a development stage.

“Everyone, please recover from your wounds first and clean up the battlefield. I’m going to cultivate for a while!”

He darted into the void and vanished. In the distance, a long river circled around the world. Li Hao dived into it and disappeared from sight. Capsize Sea and the rest looked at each other, meaningful looks in their eyes. The young man... was probably going to break through in his cultivation.

Having fought rounds of powerhouses, killed Saints, and now even an Empyrean King, his mental strength had reached a peak. The ninth level Sun and Moon Li Hao was likely going to set foot into the next cultivation level.

They didn’t say anything and took some time to slightly recover before picking up the battlefield. The death of an Empyrean King left too much wealth floating around. It wasn’t that he carried great treasures on him, but that just his flesh and blood, skeleton, and energy was highly valuable.

Under normal conditions, humans rarely collected the flesh and blood of their fallen opponents. But in this age in which the world was isolated and their opponent was a traitor, plus being the only Empyrean King they’d ever killed, who cared about custom?

“Zheng Hongyuan is dead... Zheng Gong is also dead... We have a right and proper blood feud with the Zhengs now!” the old turtle suddenly sighed.

Of the Zheng father and sons, their eldest had marched out with the army. Either he hadn’t been cut from the same cloth as the rest of his family, or the Sword Sovereign killed him as soon as they exited the Star Gate.

Only Zheng Yu was alive out of those who’d remained on Silver Moon world. He was likely to be Red Dust and another Empyrean King. He was supposed to be even stronger than his father, which was a frightening thought indeed.

In an age that lacked core origin, it was easy to imagine how much overwhelming potential Zheng Yu contained if he could rise from Immortal all the way to Empyrean King or even half step emperor.

Capsize Sea stroked its broken horn with great sadness. “So what?” it snorted upon hearing such words. “Are you afraid of Zheng Yu? Zheng Hongyuan said that his son shows promise of becoming an emperor, but would he have needed to plan for so much if they were assured of weathering the emperor tribulation?

“If he really was unparalleled, he would break through during New Martial and march on Red Moon major world. He might even be able to take one step further than exalted emperor. But he skulked around in the shadows obviously because he wasn’t confident about his chances. In that case, there’s nothing to fear about it.”

It wasn’t afraid, in any case! What was there to be concerned about from a guy who was afraid of the emperor tribulation during New Martial and didn’t dare attempt it?

The Human King had set the tribulation not to extinguish the hopes of New Martial. On the contrary, he was one with great vision and foresight.

If one possessed enough character, strength, and ability to pass the tribulation, he would permit one to leave with all of their energy and battle strength. If one was talented enough, they could enter another universe and be completely carefree like the Sun God. It would be a free and unfettered life that not even the Human King would keep one in check!

If one lacked that ability... then they had to stay in New Martial so that the Human King and rest could protect them.

“That’s what we think, but according to what Zheng Hongyuan said, that Zheng Yu... might really have set foot into half step emperor,” sighed the old turtle. “Setting aside his character, a half step emperor is beyond our reach no matter how weak he might be.”

That was true enough!

Capsize Sea nodded. Their rate of progress was very slow in the absence of core origin.

“There is no future to be had with core origin dao!” The golden cow suddenly remarked as it looked out at the starry expanse. “It isn’t that core origin dao is bad, but that we are unable to draw from it right now to cultivate. Are we supposed to cultivate through killing Saints and Empyrean Kings?

“The death of one Empyrean King is not sufficient to help us advance one level. It is rather this new dao and dao universe that is growing stronger...”

The others twitched at its words.

“We do not have dao meridians...” the old turtle said softly. Were they to imitate Old Wang and swap out for new bodies?

“Pfft!” Capsize Sea rolled its eyes. “You’re simpleminded, alright! It’s not important that we don’t have dao meridians!”

“What?”