Chapter 1514: Spontaneous Death (II)

Li Hao found it difficult to describe the situation he was caught in; it was similar to coming across an unrecognizable element during an experiment. He was unable to respond in kind, which made the proceedings grind to a halt.

“Is this division or replication? Or mirror images? Or reflection? Is it a type of rebound?”

Identical Li Haos had appeared within this square to attack the young man, but he was unable to identify what dao this was. Division, replication, mirror, and reflection were all possibilities. Since he’d never comprehended these daos, he was rather ignorant of how to proceed.

The young man frowned ferociously, ultimately deciding to force his way through. He would commit this square to memory, memorizing the location of these unknown daos. These were the elements and products of chemistry that he would search for and tinker with after he passed this stage.

It would not impact his experiments to come.

Li Hao continued with resignation. He was sure to encounter many similar situations among the 9,999 squares. It wasn’t possible for him to know every single dao. He could only memorize the ones that were currently unknown to him.

After fixing this spot to memory, he tore through his dupes and entered the next square. It was his first time brute-forcing a progression. Up till now, he’d barely expended any energy. The young man had only made it past one hundred squares, whereas Drouth had lit up more than seven hundred.

Drouth took a break after a bout of frenzied ramming. His eyes glinted with cold light when he looked to the side. Hao Moon didn’t seem to amount to much.

I’ve walked more than seven hundred squares, but he’s only reached past one hundred. I’ve covered five times the territory that he has!

This meant that the young man was very likely to truly be only third rank, not the mid rank that Drouth half expected. If that was the case... then it didn’t matter how the other Utmost Dark exalted emperors died. All of it was Hao Moon’s fault regardless!

A cold sneer curved the corners of Drouth’s lips. Dao chess was a verification of one’s comprehension of dao, but also an expression of strength. He was a fifth rank with deep foundations. Even though he barged every which way, he was still able to make it past seven hundred squares.

One thousand squares was at hand!

He might give two thousand and three thousand a try after that. Drouth would forgo any higher goals, however. He was also growing tired.

......

The shadow observing them sighed to itself. Brute force! This Drouth wasn’t going to gain anything from the experience. Instead, he would inflict numerous dao-related injuries on himself. What was the point of that?

I told you guys to play chess, not to rip through the chessboard with sheer strength! Based on what you’re doing, you won’t understand anything even if I give you the dark envoy’s daily reflections!

You’re a fifth rank at the end of the day and Utmost Dark is a major world. Why do you seem subpar to some run-of-the-mill exalted emperors?

What a waste of an opportunity!

The shadow ignored the man and focused on Li Hao instead. The young man had encountered only one square thus far that he didn’t understand. Although this person was only a third rank, he was quite impressive.

It looked like his understanding of dao ran deep and he was deeply interested in it himself. It was just... the young man was still a third rank. Neither his cultivation level nor his strength had improved. Even with Li Hao’s continual learning and modification of his own cultivation, he experienced no breakthroughs.

The shadow observed for a while before coming to a conclusion.

“How interesting... a knowledge barrier?” Perhaps that wasn’t the obstacle at hand, but that this person had some thoughts of their own. Maybe he felt that he needed to comprehend another immensely powerful dao and assimilate it. It was possible he felt that he needed to surpass life and death before he could advance!

But why would he have such thoughts in mind? Under normal circumstances, any dao could be taken to the ninth rank!

Life and death was not a weak dao, it wasn’t impossible to take it to the ninth rank. However, Li Hao seemed to be struggling against an obstacle related to comprehension. The shadow could sense some of the young man’s intentions. He seemed to wish to ascend through another’s hand by way of perfecting his own dao.

“If he leaves some blank spaces behind and doesn’t fill them with other daos... but keeps leaving them for those daos... Does this mean... he’s coming in with a predetermined conclusion about his dao?” The shadow surmised oddly.

The young man seemed to have a preconceived notion in mind for the ultimate form of his great dao and interpretation. He wasn’t casually enhancing himself, but filling in some holes in his knowledge to perfect his great dao.

Was there a dao more worthy of anticipation than the one of life and death? If it wasn’t for that, then the young man should have no difficulty with fourth rank, given his significant gains in the chessboard.

Yet Li Hao showed no signs of improvement in his cultivation. That meant to say that no matter how much he comprehended, he would be unable to ascend to fourth rank. How strange!

The dao of life and death was truly a good dao. Even the Skyward master, being the spatial dao master, dared not hold himself superior to this dao. It was hard to say who would win if the masters of these two daos encountered each other.

“What does he want to get to the bottom of?” Such was the shadow’s biggest question at the moment.

......

Li Hao moved forward with anticipation.

What was he anticipating?

Yin and yang!

Indeed, the next step of his plan called for learning about yin and yang. Life and death, yin and yang, the universe! This was the plan that he’d set for himself. He would comprehend life and death at third rank, yin and yang at sixth rank, and the universe at ninth rank. The universe was space and possibly time.

Spacetime!

He would integrate a myriad of daos throughout this process to facilitate his three main daos, ultimately collecting them all into the dao of time. By then, he would be a true master of time and time dao!

Whether it was life and death, yin and yang, stillness and revitalization... none of it measured up to time in his eyes. Time was the ultimate pursuit of cultivators. Whether it was immortality, eternal youth, a frozen moment in time...

Thus, Li Hao was not suffering from a block of knowledge, but simply adhering to his dao heart and convictions.

I need to complete my other daos before I can continue onward. Otherwise, I’ll miss out on the metamorphosis when I reach fourth rank and be unable to complete the integration of my daos. I’ll never be able to truly walk the path of time then.

He’d absorbed a lot of strength from the squares, but did not delve more deeply into what he gained. Instead, he used it to craft bridges of life and death.

Li Hao had taken in so much energy of darkness prior to attempting dao chess that he didn’t dare partake anymore from this dao. In comparison, he drew from other great daos to complete his bridges of life and death. The young man would be faithful to his own ideals and thoughts at this stage.

While he greatly admired the powerhouse who’d created the dao chess, that didn’t mean he would walk the same path as this person. If the dao chess owner was the Skyward master, Li Hao was willing to learn, imitate, and revere him. But the young man would not become him.

He had his own goals in mind.

Hence, the shadow did not register an increase in Li Hao’s cultivation level as the young man was simply memorizing the arrangement of dao on the chessboard and familiarizing himself with them. He was not touching upon the true meaning of dao in those squares.

The energy that he gained was thrown into the enterprise of crafting bridges of life and death. It was also a complete waste to use that energy this way. Any other third rank on the chessboard might have already set foot into fourth rank.

Li Hao, however, continued to follow his own pace to complete his plan.

The bridges of life and death grew in number from 280 to 290. A new bridge was built approximately every twenty squares. He was seventy away from peak third rank. Based on this speed and the increasing difficulty, Li Hao would have to make it past another two thousand squares to reach peak third rank.

“I haven’t come across yin and yang yet...” Li Hao was not disappointed because he’d bumped into the dao of light!

The radiant dao of light was different from the light of his imagination and understanding. He was lost in this kind of extreme radiance and brightness, as well as softness. Was this the true power of light?

He was very familiar with Auntie Light Sword’s technique—it didn’t give him this kind of feeling. Her methods were cuttingly sharp, but the light here lacked that edge.

It was soft, bright, and majestic...

“Is this the real light? Or perhaps there are many different types of light. Light can be seen in darkness as well...” Li Hao murmured. This was a stark contrast to his understanding. He continuously drank in reflections of everything he encountered, wanting to understand more.

When he eventually returned to Silver Moon, he would integrate everything he’d seen and learned into the dao universe. Everyone in Silver Moon would be able to meditate among the great dao then. It would be a useful reference, if nothing else. This was the accumulation of a premier exalted emperor, after all.

Li Hao didn’t have to learn anything from this experience; the others would see an increase in their strength if they did.

“Do the daos of emptiness and revitalization exist?” Li Hao’s mouth suddenly turned dry. What a pity that Void didn’t seem to have made it here before. He might have gained some new insights about his dao if he’d played this game of chess.

The young man returned to the task at hand, ignoring everything else. Drouth panted heavily beside him, grinning despite the cracks marring his body. Nine hundred squares!

He was only one hundred squares away from success, whereas Li Hao had moved only two hundred squares. The gap between the two was too great.

I’m almost there!

The man could barely keep in his joy. He opted not to rest and recover, but threw himself into the next square.

A loud commotion erupted from it as the might of a fifth rank was on full display. He broke through the enormous dao foundation in the 901th square!

Drouth immediately darted into the next square, so close to victory that he could almost taste it.