Chapter 1503: The Hall of Darkness (I)

Number Two didn’t find anything particularly special about the eight rank’s reflections of dao after swallowing them. There were some thoughts there, but they didn’t measure up to the usual concepts that the one who taught waxed eloquent on.

Li Hao refrained from asking further. He was busy with his 240th bridge. It was quickly taking shape within the river of life and death.

......

Within Dragon Observatory.

The faction leader stared intently at the dot of light that represented Li Hao. It was rapidly growing stronger, drawing a frown to the man’s face.

Third rank?

If his guess was right, the boy had been concealing his strength all along. He’d reached third rank early on, wasn’t he? He certainly had some skill to his name to be able to hide under the nose of a sixth rank!

"Third rank... No wonder he’s so confident!” snorted the leader. But that was still a low rank exalted emperor at the end of the day.

A first rank would eventually make their way to third rank if given enough time. If one hundred thousand years wasn’t enough, then two hundred thousand years. A third rank was true nothing in the eye of the Dragon Observatory leader.

“If he’s a third rank... then he probably really isn’t the Silver Moon king!” The man was rather disappointed.

It’d only been a year since the Silver Moon king opened the Star Gate. For a first rank to walk out of a world like Silver Moon was decent enough. As fast as their king could improve, he shouldn’t be a third rank already. Even reaching second rank was hard.

Thus, his hunch may truly be wrong.

The Dragon Observatory leader was utterly regretful.

What a pity! I rather hoped that he would be the Silver Moon king and in possession of a dao universe. That would be the greatest fortuitous opportunity of all!

But now it was gone! How he burned with resentment! Where was that Silver Moon king?! In Skyward??

A frown crossed his face as an unpalatable thought occurred to him. What if the other wasn’t in Skyward at all? If that was the case, it would be searching for a needle in a haystack to find him.

......

Li Hao was immersed in the river of life and death. Stars sparkled and waves rippled over the water surface. Currents of life and death constantly rose to the surface. A massive star of life and death twinkled in the center of the river. Its power permeated the waters.

Ascending from second to third rank did not result in a chaos tribulation. One had arrived before due to Li Hao walking the cycle of life and death again. Since this particular instance was just a regular breakthrough, not a metamorphosis or experiencing the cycle of life and death, it was much quieter than before.

Li Hao looked around with an amazed look in his eyes.

Third rank!

As he thought, crafting 240 bridges propelled him into third rank. Then 360 would likely only put him at peak third rank. He would have to set his sights on other daos if he wished to enter fourth rank.

“I’m a third rank...” He suddenly grinned. Celestial Pole’s primary body had only been second rank back in the day. Was he a third rank now after fifty years in the chaos?

What if I’m the same rank as Celestial Pole? Now wouldn’t that be interesting? He’d wanted his primary body to punch me when we ran into each other. If we really do... why don’t I try punching him instead?

“Third rank was so hard!” Li Hao sighed with emotion. He’d killed three exalted emperor-level beings in Demon Summit to fulfill his quest for third rank. He’d also killed five in Skyriver, one in Coiled Dragon Well, and two right upon walking out of Silver Moon...

Apart from the chaos beast, he already had ten exalted emperors to his name. One of them was even a fourth rank, and he’d only just reached third rank himself.

He was an initial third rank! How many more did he have to kill if he wished to enter fourth rank? There were numerous exalted emperors on Skyward. Were all of them enough to help him reach seventh rank?

“Why am I considering something like this?” Li Hao mumbled. It was not a good impulse to kill people.

I’m a good person, I don’t kill people. I can’t imitate the Human King. He’s becoming a bad influence on me!

What a terrifying guy! He can reach through the void to affect me!

......

The chaos universe.

A young man with a blade on his shoulder sauntered through the void like a good-for-nothing hooligan, heading every which way. He suddenly rubbed his nose and raised an eyebrow in a certain direction. Was there a little bastard there talking about him?

It did seem to have something to do with him. Should he head over and smash him down with one blow?

Forget it, I’m dealing with too much stuff lately. I won’t take that guy to account for his grumbling. There won’t be anything in it for me, anyhow.

“In that direction lies... Red Moon major world?” mumbled the young man. Who knew? If it was Red Moon, he should stay away for now and find some other major world to declare war on.

......

Li Hao was now a third rank, thanks to his gains in Demon Summit. That development didn’t result in much surprise. The gap to third rank wasn’t hard to bridge—it had been just one step away.

He’d crafted 220 bridges prior to embarking on this enterprise. Rising from first rank to third rank was just a simple exercise in accumulation of energy. It didn’t come with high requirements for dao comprehension.

Hence, finally setting foot into third rank after killing a second rank exalted emperor and dark puppet... was a run-of-the-mill accomplishment. Even if he didn’t make the leap this time, he would surely make it with his next kill.

Next came building 360 bridges and entering peak third rank. This was another process of accumulating energy. Only when it came to fourth rank was grasp of dao required and a certain degree of enlightenment.

“I need to kill another dark puppet!” The distance that he could see had shortened again in the absence of a dao foundation crystal. His range of vision at the moment extended to only two meters around him. When he’d been a second rank, he could see five thousand meters around with the aid of a crystal.

Plus, there was a third rank that he’d caught sight of earlier. If possible, he wanted to take out the man as well. It was best to reach peak third rank in the dao foundation site before he left.

Li Hao put all of his effort into preparing to ascend to mid rank. He once more dismissed the domain of darkness.

Would a third rank puppet come for him? If a stronger one took interest, he would shield himself with the domain again. The young man started walking forward, making noise on purpose and emanating energy ripples.

His strength had risen by a great deal after reaching third rank, but it was yet to undergo a qualitative change. Although it was stronger than before, it was yet to shift in a way that transcended his cultivation level.

This further emphasized the lack of evolution from first to third rank. No wonder the Red Moon exalted emperor had been killed by his people, despite being a third rank. If they’d encountered a fourth rank when they opened the Star Gate... then they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Fourth rank was a senior executive in any faction. Even the mid ranks of major ranks were major worlds were part of the senior council, instead of being among the weaklings of exalted emperors. For some major worlds, their master of the world was only sixth rank.

......

As Li Hao exposed his presence, dark puppets began to gather in the surroundings. Based on what his senses told him, there were first, second, and third ranks around him, but no fourth ranks. This indicated that the dark puppets didn’t appear randomly. Rather, ones corresponding to the ripples exuded by the cultivator would appear.

Just as the second rank from before had encountered a second rank dark puppet, not a fourth or fifth rank.

Moments later, Li Hao locked into a particular dark puppet. Instead of appearing human, it looked more like a monster spirit—like a bear! It was enormous! Clearly, it was a strong third rank powerhouse.

The bear sought to land a few attacks, but the young man successfully dodged each rush. He wasn’t in a rush to attack the bear. Rather, he ran around the area with a few dark puppets trailing him. He wanted to see where the other exalted emperors were.

He wasn’t afraid of the third rank, just wondered if Drouth was nearby. Once he started fighting a third rank puppet, the ensuing commotion could easily raise Drouth’s attention.

But after running around the dao foundation in a circle, Li Hao saw no sign of the man.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Perhaps he’s entered the Hall of Darkness!

The young man guessed. It’d been six days since they entered the dao foundation site. It would be normal for Drouth to have found his way to the central region since then.

Seeing as he wasn’t nearby. Li Hao did not hesitate. He quickly came to a halt, looking at the multiple dark puppets around him. Aside from the giant bear, there were a few others that were weaker.

The river of life and death encompassed them and a domain of darkness materialized. All of the dark puppets were enclosed by the river and enshrouded within the domain.

These puppets didn’t go through as many changes as exalted emperors did. The key lay in their indestructibility!

So long as he eliminated their undying nature, these dark puppets would be much weaker than exalted emperors. They didn’t possess as many permutations in dao and methods.

The puppets mostly relied on brute force.

Apart from that, their greatest tool was high level power of darkness. They contained a certain degree of an ability to invade that was the core nature of being a puppet.

They seemed to sense danger as well when the domain appeared. Li Hao summoned the Firmament Sword—it flared with the power of life and death. Although this power’s usage wasn’t as prominent against the puppets due to lack of effectiveness, it was Li Hao’s strongest offensive technique at present.

The sword of life and death swung!

Li Hao’s sword techniques were very graceful and elegant. When the Firmament Sword drew an arc through the void, it illuminated a portion of the land with scintillating radiance. Dao stars burst into existence as if resplendent fireworks, embellished by the bridges of life and death.

There were four dark puppets following Li Hao. Apart from the third rank bear, there were two second rank wild men and a first rank beast.

The young man swept through them with unstoppable momentum!

Moonlight splendor burst from the longword and one hundred types of sword dao appeared in the light of Hao Moon. They instantly increased to 360 types, then took another blink of the eye to double to 720.

Of them, the sword intent of life and death, fire and water, as well as darkness were the strongest. In addition, a few others began to rise to the top. Destruction and stillness!

Stillness was an addition from Void and destruction came from the chaos tribulations. When the sword intent of stillness erupted, the world was without sound. Although it didn’t reach the level of Void’s mastery in silencing all things, it was able to spontaneously obliterate a first rank in Li Hao’s tiny domain.

The first rank beast was sliced to oblivion by the sword intent! Its body remained, but the strength within it had fallen silent.