Chapter 1579: Chance Encounter (I)

There were no strong ripples of presence from the cultivator in the void, but since he was able to freely walk through the chaos, he was at least an exalted emperor. He’d come extremely swiftly and felt stronger than Li Hao’s group, so he was at least a mid rank.

The newcomer didn’t seem too old; he was middle-aged and appeared to have a scholarly air about him. He didn’t seem to be a villain in terms of bearing, but who would go around proclaiming that they were an evildoer?

The Silver Moon exalted emperors didn’t say anything. They simply rushed forward and blocked the newcomer’s way.

Neither did the other care. He simply looked at Li Hao, then at Number Two, then at Panther and the rest.

Li Hao had also sensed the arrival of someone else; his eyes remained shut. Energy was tossing and turning inside his body as he was halfway through ascension. The metamorphosis was upon him and he needed all the time the others could play for. If it really came down to it, he would accelerate himself with time. However, that would enhance the chaos tribulation that he’d have to face.

The newcomer was very strong. Li Hao had once wielded the strength of a seventh rank, after all. Even if it’d been a flimsy notion that didn’t come with sufficient dao perception of the rank, he could immediately tell how strong the unknown arrival was.

This person was at least fifth rank, possibly even sixth rank. At least, he most likely wasn’t seventh rank. A seventh rank would exert suffocating pressure from a distance. Therefore, it was very probable that this person was a sixth rank!

Although Li Hao had entered fourth rank, it would be very hard for him to stand against a sixth rank. If it was fifth rank, however, he was willing to give it a try.

“Are you cultivating?” came the person’s mental ripples. He smirked, abruptly presenting an irritating sight. “A fourth rank?”

The middle-aged cultivator’s smirk deepened. Gan Wuliang went on the alert and flashed an equally fake smile. “The senior possesses a keen eye. We are indeed cultivating here. Have we disturbed the senior?”

Internally, however, his heart raced. They were in big trouble now!

The chaos tribulation from ascending to fourth rank and the presence of the river of life and death meant that anyone with their wits about them could instantly guess Li Hao’s identity—the Silver Moon king!

Red Moon’s bounty was so high that even sixth ranks might be tempted.

“I’m not being disturbed. I’m just passing by and happened to sense the ripples, so I came over for a look.” The man smiled and looked at Li Hao again, both surprised and delighted. He could tell that the daos of life and death were present here, but there also seemed to be something else.

Emptiness?

Very few people walked that path.

And from the emptiness came awakening... a dao of two polar opposites?

And that river wasn’t the river of great dao... but a manmade one. Now this was very impressive.

So this is the Silver Moon king?

Just as Gan Wuliang thought, anyone with a bit of brains to their name was able to determine from the scene that the new king of Silver Moon stood in front of them.

“Are the little friends attempting to weather a tribulation?” The newcomer laughed heartily, but his laughter rang falsely. Even Gan Wuliang found his smile a difficult sight to endure.

All of his senses screamed with alarm!

“A chaos tribulation is not easy to ford, but it looks like this fellow daoist is confident in his chances.”

“There is no need for the senior to worry,” Gan Wuliang laughed woodenly. “We will do our best. It is our first meeting, senior, so please give us some leeway. We will repay you when we see you again in the future.”

“That’s not needed,” the middle-aged cultivator laughed again, then cast another glance at Li Hao and Number Two. His mirth was... laden with another meaning.

Gan Wuliang’s face flickered through a variety of expressions. Number Two also looked quizzically at the cultivator.

“To meet is a sign of our shared destiny!” the middle-aged suddenly said. “Little friend inside, it looks like you’re about to succeed with your advancement. You will be a fourth rank of life, death, emptiness, and revitalization. That will elevate you from the ranks of weaklings and grant you a position in the chaos!”

Li Hao did not make a sound.

“Since we have encountered each other in the chaos, why not discuss dao for a bit?”

That prompted the young man to open his eyes and look across from him with a slight frown. His forehead soon relaxed and he said softly, “I would want nothing more than the senior’s invitation!”

For some reason, this person... gave him a familiar feeling. It was very strange!

“Before we discuss dao, there are some things I’d like to ask about. It is said that Skyward’s dao universe has reappeared.”

“I think so, but we’re too weak to know the details...”

“The little friend jests,” laughed the newcomer again. “I want to search for my opportunity at Skyward and wasn’t originally headed there at first. I was just passing by. But now that I hear that its dao universe has reappeared, there is an opportunity to be had! But my strength is a bit weak and fortune hard to come by...”

Li Hao didn’t make a sound.

“I have greater ambitions than the heavens, but a life force weaker than a piece of paper...”

The young man blinked. What did he mean by that?

“This was just a test of my shared fortunes and seeing if I could be lucky, but encountering the fellow daoist is my fortune indeed!” The man’s smile deepened, again striking an odd air. “There are cultivators of life and death in the chaos, but they are very hard to come by. How about I gift the fellow daoist with another opportunity if you share some reflections of life and death with me?”

Seated cross-legged in the void, Li Hao looked sternly at the man. “The senior wishes to study life and death? What kind of opportunity can the senior bequeath me?”

“A method to steal the sky and put up a fake sun!” declared the other. “The fellow daoist easily attracts a chaos tribulation whenever you utilize life and death, or any other dao method. That is not a good trait since it paints an enormous target on your back.

“I have a way to pull off the ultimate deception and hoodwink the chaos!” he suddenly swaggered around with boastful tones. “You’ll run undetected in your grand deception! Of course, the chaos is too strong and this method isn’t that strong. It will be ineffective after sixth rank.

“The effects are also cumulative! If you do not weather this tribulation, next time you’ll weather two! If you skip that one, you’ll weather three! They will keep growing until they shatter my method one day and descend upon you to strike you to your death!”

A method to steal the sky and put up a fake sun?

Li Hao was immensely startled and surprised. What a... strange person!

I was cultivating just fine in the chaos when this guy came along. Judging from what he’s projecting, he probably is indeed a sixth rank. He wants me to teach him life and death as soon as he sees me, while he teaches me just one method in return!

But to pull off that level of deception to the point of lying to the chaos... That would be a premier dao method at the end of the day.

Is it even possible to fool a chaos tribulation?

“Does the fellow daoist not believe me?” laughed the cultivator. He waved a hand and sent a dao ripple toward Li Hao. “See if this method will conceal you!”

The young man had wanted to evade the action, but decided to permit the energy to envelop him.

The chaos tribulation in the void immediately lost its sense of direction. Li Hao seemed to sense the undulations of a unique domain as well. This wasn’t any sort of sleight of hand, but a unique dao method domain!

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

A method of the domain!

Li Hao realized with a start. He’d met many exalted emperors up to present day, some of which grasped methods similar to dao domains. Void had his world of emptiness, there was the domain at Demon Summit, and his own of the five elements...

But apart from those, he’d never seen anyone else employ it, not even the sixth rank Crimson Cloud.

As for his own, it wasn’t complete enough to hide from a chaos tribulation. But this person’s could!

And this was when the method existed as an external force. If he could practice this kind of domain, he might truly be able to conceal himself from the chaos.

Li Hao’s eyes widened. That was a frightful thought! This person had to be a premier existence among sixth ranks. Where had he come from?

“Little fellow daoist, are you interested in exchanging knowledge?”

“If the senior is willing, I am naturally willing!” Li Hao said after a long consideration of the other. Was this a worthwhile transaction?

It absolutely was!

The other seemed to need the dao of life and death, whereas he needed this kind of unique dao method as well. Li Hao had a great need of it. It was just... this was a strange first meeting. Even Void hadn’t exchanged premier dao methods with him during their first conversation.

“But I’m in the process of breaking through...”

“It’s fine!” laughed the man. “The little fellow daoist can snap right through this kind of fourth level chaos tribulation when you’re finished. I’ll wait for you! Or if you think the tribulation is too weak and it’d be too boring to break it, then you can practice my method first to accumulate the thunder and lightning!”

“What would I want to do that for?” laughed Li Hao. Wasn’t that creating trouble for himself?

“You can slam it at someone else! I told you that my method is the ultimate deception. Since it’ll help you evade the tribulation, it will also help you transfer it! You can substitute one thing for another and envelop your opponent with the domain.

“Clap life and death, emptiness and revitalization on your target. Won’t the chaos tribulation look for someone else when it can’t find you?”

Li Hao raised an eyebrow. So this method could be employed this way as well? That really made it something.

“What dao does senior’s method spring from?” The young man couldn’t immediately determine its origin.

“What dao?” chuckled the cultivator. “The original dao is... the dao of hiding!”

The young man blinked.

“Early on, I meditated for a long time in order to hide myself,” laughed the man. “I cultivated so I could conceal myself from the public eye. As time went on, I just naturally knew it. Humans create dao! Dao is whatever we say it is. If I say this is the dao of hiding, then it is the dao of hiding!”

Humans create dao!

Li Hao blinked again. This person was... another Void. No, another cultivator of dao!

He’d searched high and low for cultivators of dao, but found them difficult to locate. Then he met Void, and not long after, he randomly encountered another one in the chaos!

Humans create dao.

Just that line alone gave Li Hao a different sensation. Talk was empty, the key was that the other seemed to have created a dao for himself—this unique dao. He said that dao was defined by humans. When combined with his dao method, it spontaneously gave Li Hao a lot of inspiration.