Chapter 1500: Advancing Swiftly (I)

Demon Summit, in front of the doors to the Hall of Darkness.

Drouth had finally made his way here, but he wasn’t too pleased. A couple dark puppets had ambushed him along the way, with even a fourth rank puppet appearing.

They didn’t pose much of a threat to him, but one had to know that it was just him venturing into the dao foundation site this time. There were multiple Utmost Dark exalted emperors with him. With the destruction of their major world, these exalted emperors formed the basis of his wealth. They would be in trouble if the fourth rank dark puppet attacked them.

Drouth turned back for a look, hesitating over whether he should search for them or wait here. It would be more trouble if they passed by each other when he went back out. But if he waited here... would they actually be able to make it here? Or should he enter the hall first?

The man glanced at the Hall of Darkness; the pitch-black doors were tightly shut. Drouth was extremely hesitant. They’d made an agreement to gather here after entering the dao foundation site and going in together when the group was assembled.

If he went inside first and they waited for him outside due to not seeing him, they would be irritated with him after he emerged.

“I’ll wait two more days!” Drouth came to a decision. It was only the third day. He could wait until the fifth and move forward if they still weren’t here.

He scanned the surroundings, a dismal look in his eyes. Why were these dark puppets attacking them? Previous entrants to Demon Summit hadn’t spoken of this level of danger. If even fourth rank puppets were on the loose and attacking heavyweights, then how many exalted emperors would meet their doom here?

This is very weird...

Drouth was on high alert. He glanced at the Hall of Darkness again. Would there be dark puppets inside the hall?

His thoughts turned to Hao Moon again. That kid was just a first rank, he probably wouldn’t be able to make it here. That was a pity, Drouth had wanted to teach him a lesson. Whether it was killing or injuring the brat, he’d wanted to take action a long time ago for his impertinence. He’d only stayed his hand in order to show Dragon some face.

Drouth abruptly looked into the distance. He was a fifth rank, but could only see three to four thousand meters out. However, there seemed to have been a scream upon the air just now.

“Hmm?” Drouth frowned. Had someone else been attacked? Should he go take a look?

......

At the same time.

Li Hao focused on fleeing after he killed the second rank; he wasn’t interested in exchanging blows with the wild man. The river of life and death whittled away at the exalted emperor’s energy and purified it.

Although the two of them were second ranks and the power of darkness within the Utmost Dark exalted emperor had come from a major world, it still wasn’t pure enough in Li Hao’s eyes. Compared to the dao foundation site, the man’s energy was a bit of a jumbled mess.

Dao crystals of darkness coalesced out of the river. Would a second rank help him with the final twenty bridges?

Li Hao had killed numerous exalted emperors ever since setting foot into that cultivation level, but the river of life and death consumed a prodigious amount of energy. And neither would any other cultivator have so many exalted emperors to kill.

Purified dao crystals quickly started to melt in the river and connect to dao stars, communicating between life and death to build bridges.

Li Hao quickly fashioned 220 bridges. Based on his calculations, 240 should propel him into third rank. It took only an accumulation of energy to rise from first to third rank. There was no metamorphosis involved, so there were no obstacles in cultivation level to consider.

The bridges swiftly built in number, strengthening the young man’s presence. The wild man that’d attacked the Utmost Dark exalted emperor abruptly appeared in a flash of light and stabbed its claws into Li Hao’s body. However, the ‘dark’ character within the body leeched energy from the claws instead.

The supernatural character swelled—no sign of it being infiltrated by the energy like the exalted emperor had demonstrated. The energy exuded by the wild man quickly became part of Li Hao’s ‘dark’ character.

The young man’s eyes widened. His dao of darkness might not be stronger than the second rank’s, so the fact that his supernatural character was absorbing dark energy might be related to it previously taking in strength from Demon Summit.

The energy within the supernatural character was of a higher level. Or rather, it was of the same level as the wild man. This was why it could draw from the dark puppet.

This is a difficult opponent!

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Li Hao watched as the wild man vanished into the gloom. It came and went without a trace, like it was hidden within the shadows. It was almost impossible to make out and could attack him at any time.

It was only second rank, but the level of energy within the wild man’s body was very high. That was why the previous exalted emperor hadn’t been able to break free.

Thankfully, there was only one wild man. Li Hao would have issues if a few more showed up.

The young man swiftly backed away, refraining from killing the dark puppet. He was primarily concerned that more would appear with the death of this one. It was best to digest what he’d obtained first and ascend to third rank.

If he couldn’t manage it with what he’d gleaned thus far, then he’d find a way to kill a puppet. The dao crystal within its body should be full of energy, which made it very nutritious fare for himself. Demon Summit was a wonderful place!

Li Hao vanished, found a quiet spot, and shrouded himself with the ‘dark’ supernatural character. A surge of dark strength ripped outward. He wanted to experiment whether a domain created from a supernatural character could isolate him from the tracking instincts of those dark puppets.

If he thoroughly became part of the greater environment, perhaps he’d be able to avoid their attacks.

The caveat was, his character had to emanate the same energy ripples as those found in the dao foundation site. In the young man’s eyes, these dark puppets weren't just making use of sound. They should be focusing more on the difference in ripples between great daos.

I hope I can enter third rank... or I’ll have to kill more people,

Li Hao grumbled inwardly. He would be more at ease once he was a third rank. After all, there was a fifth rank here. They were all gathering at that central spot, so they would bump into each other sooner or later.

Meanwhile, the young man didn’t dare make use of the energy here at present. Dark attribute powerhouses may or may not lend him their strength, but if they really did...

I might need to accelerate to my next life to touch it.

It was too dangerous!

Li Hao sat down cross-legged, operating his cultivation methods. The Five Styles were still his martial foundation, but they were no longer what his teacher had taught. He’d drastically modified the breathing method so that it could inhale and exhale the strength of a myriad daos.

He’d studied many martial methods, including some of the New Martial powerhouses as well as

The Accounts of Evenround

and

Logs of Zhang Discipline.

All of their secret methods had become one, integrated whole.

It was as if the long river was alive. Various empty holes appeared in the waters to devour the dark crystals. Whatever impurities left were once more eliminated.

The energy of a second rank could be put to very limited use when it was in Li Hao’s hand. Under normal circumstances, the strength of an exalted emperor was pure enough. But perhaps Li Hao had seen too many heavyweights to accept that. The level of energy coming off of the second rank seemed not too ideal and useless.

I’m almost a third rank, am I not?

The war between New Martial and Red Moon was about to commence in earnest. Skyward waited covetously in the wings and many major worlds were stirring to action within Skywave Region.

This war was affecting the plans of all major worlds in this part of the chaos. Perhaps there would be a battle between seventh ranks soon.

But for Li Hao, obtaining third rank wasn’t within reach yet. He might need two opposing daos of other elements if he wished to become a mid rank. He was planning on yin and yang, but remained unable to comprehend them. He could only pivot to the next best option of stillness and awakening, or fire and water, or dark and light.

He’d dabbled in each of these great daos before, but didn’t know much about yin and yang, despite New Martial being known for it!

I’ll need the strength of a mid rank if I want to participate in battle and repay my debts. I would not be able to participate otherwise. And to be honest, being a mid rank just means I’m stronger cannon fodder.

The real determinants of the war would be the seventh and eighth ranks!

There was no ninth rank in either Skyward Region or Red Moon Region. Perhaps there were none in any of the nearby regions. Eighth rank was the limit of the sky. As deep as the Human King’s potential ran, even he wasn’t at that level yet.

The Human King could set foot into seventh purely through cultivating yin and yang... That’s terrifying enough as well!

Li Hao continued to build his bridges of life and death.

The wild man appeared once more, but this time, he didn’t attack Li Hao. He hovered near the domain created by the ‘dark’ supernatural character and seemed to be sensing, or determining something.

However, the energy exuded by the ‘dark’ character was nearly the same as the ripples of the ambient energy. It interfered with the dark puppet’s senses.

The wild man lingered for only a moment before vanishing, possibly due to new commands or hearing another disturbance. A light flickered in Li Hao’s eyes when he watched the puppet. That thing was nearly one with the energy here. It was similar to a spirit of heaven and earth in Demon Summit. The key was, it wasn’t the only one in the dao foundation site.

The dao of darkness that the dark envoy cultivated was certainly ruthless...

Dao crystals were devoured within the river. Eight more bridges appeared in the blink of an eye. The young man had 228 now, but they expended energy at a faster rate than before. As his cultivation level and strength rose, so did his need for energy.

This time, Li Hao ignored everything around him and stayed focused on cultivation. He was similar to the Human King in that he used up whatever he obtained. Almost nothing was left behind. Perhaps this was the result of influence from his time in New Martial, or perhaps these were his thoughts to begin with. Despite knowing full well that Silver Moon needed resources, he didn’t leave any behind to take back to them.

Strengthening himself first was the key!

Li Hao firmly believed that while those of Silver Moon were weaker, they were brainstorming how to help themselves at the moment. He was also well aware that there were others out there with their sights set on Silver Moon. Perhaps there were people searching the nearby void.

At the same time, he trusted that those of Silver Moon could handle the situation. It was just running and hiding, that wasn’t too hard.

This was his second session of seclusion in this locale. It wasn’t long this time—just two days. He devoured all of the second rank’s energy and reached 238 bridges of life and death. It was a less than ideal outcome as it was just a little off from the 240 bridges that Li Hao had anticipated.

The key was that a second rank had only supplied energy for eighteen bridges. He’d built fifty from the previous first rank!

Perhaps this result was due to his increased strength and thus, enhanced rate of energy consumption. Or perhaps this second rank was just too useless!

“Almost...” Li Hao exhaled. He smiled, this was normal. Not everything went perfectly at all times. Stopping just short of the mark was fine. There wasn’t only the dark puppets in the dao foundation site, there were also the exalted emperors. If it came down to it, he’d just kill another exalted emperor or dark puppet. That would guarantee his ascension to third rank then.

Only ten months had passed since his arrangement with Ancestress Mo. It would be roughly a year when he exited the dao foundation site. He should have no problem with third rank exalted emperor.

It was quite an astonishing and even terrifying feat to progress from first rank to third rank in a year!