Chapter 1722: Returning to Silver Moon (III)

“I wonder what Director General Zhao will think when he sees us again,” laughed Hong Yitang.

The director general had chosen to stay in Silver Moon; an indeterminate period of time had passed since then. There were limited resources in Silver Moon and the man likely hadn’t become an exalted emperor yet. Otherwise, he would’ve long walked out of the world.

Silver Moon was still quiet, which meant that despite the months passing, no one had verified their dao as an exalted emperor.

“C’mon, let’s go take a look!” Li Hao didn’t want to waste time on further talk. Silver Moon’s opportunity was at hand!

It was also everyone else’s opportunity, the two dao master’s opportunity, and Panther’s opportunity...

As for his own, he was yet to catch sight of it yet.

It was a simple endeavor to enter sixth rank. Li Hao had only created several hundred worlds thus far. If he reached one thousand one day, that would propel him to sixth rank. However, that was a very difficult proposition that he would have to pay a hefty price for.

The greatest benefit of such a hard undertaking was laying formidable foundations.

Other people train one dao domain, I train thousands! That is the difference between us!

Otherwise, a fifth rank fighting a seventh rank would be the equivalent of kindergarteners fighting bandits. How could a fifth rank land any damage?

But now, he could coordinate with Void to kill a seventh rank. Although they’d had the element of surprise on their side, they were about to graduate from middle school. That gave them the strength to fight bandits for a bit. If they could catch their enemy unawares, they could potentially land a killing blow with an unforeseen blow.

After a few minutes of idle chitchat, Li Hao led the group to where Silver Moon stood. He shot ahead, not waiting for the rest to arrive. There was a world that shimmered faintly like a star, visible when the dao chess wasn’t obscuring it.

The silver world was particularly beautiful.

Having seen numerous worlds and many of them beautiful ones, Li Hao found Silver Moon the most beautiful when he turned back for a look. He didn’t think of it as part of New Martial anymore. The New Martial Human King had sold it to him for a seventh rank dao universe!

While he was yet to pay for his purchase, it was confirmed in writing.

Silver Moon belongs to me now, as does its inhabitants!

The void rippled and someone appeared within it—the Sword Sovereign!

The Sword Sovereign had been guarding the southern gate, but chose to come for a look at Silver Moon.

“Silver Moon!” he sighed with emotion. “It’s been so many years!” He turned to Li Hao. “I wanted to take a look since the southern gate isn’t far. I can travel here in an instant...”

“It’s fine!” Li Hao laughed. “Uncle Li, how does Silver Moon now compare to how it was before?”

“It looks more lively appearance wise, but I don’t know about the rest!” The Sword Sovereign smiled. “It was very, very small when it first formed. It was so small that it didn’t seem like a world! This world has grown very quickly, which is very difficult to do under normal circumstances.”

Li Hao noted with understanding. Silver Moon was growing by itself as well. It’d absorbed some energy during the long period of being sealed away. Once it absorbed enough, it would outright set foot into the ranks of mid worlds.

This was a speed that no regular world could match.

“Let’s unseal Silver Moon first!” Li Hao didn’t want to dally any further. More time was passing in their home while they conversed here. He quickly landed on the world barrier, at where the Star Gate was!

It hadn’t been long since it was sealed away, and perhaps there would be a third instance of sealing the world again! Li Hao was only back temporarily, he might need to leave soon. Silver Moon was unable to face the current mess in the chaos if it was unlocked now.

But this time, he needed to give the world a major chance to develop. Silver Moon did not have a large population. Although ten billion sounded like a lot, it paled in comparison to the major worlds!

The Star Gate trembled when Li Hao laid a hand on it.

......

At the same time, Silver Moon.

The world seemed greatly different compared to when Li Hao sealed it away. It’d lacked time to develop before the Star Gate was shut a second time, so a great deal of construction was incomplete. Some of the technologies and experience from New Martial were not yet implemented.

It’d been five hundred years since the Star Gate was shut a second time. That was sufficient for several dozen mundane generations. But when Li Hao departed, there were hundreds of millions of cultivators in the world. Cultivation legacy had been preserved in its entirety and many veterans had chosen to stay.

This was in stark contrast to New Martial back in the day, when martial heritage had been outright severed.

During these five hundred years, the world continued to utilize the ruling principles that Li Hao had laid out. All of Silver Moon revolved around the Silver Moon marquis.

A great deal had changed in the world after five hundred years. Thanks to the resources that Li Hao had left behind, there was no withering of energy sources that’d taken place when New Martial left Silver Moon.

After all this time, there were now almost a billion cultivators! Everyone walked the path of martial dao! Given the extreme demand, the resources that Li Hao had left behind were nearing the bottom of the barrel.

The key was that Silver Moon currently resided in the Skyward dao universe. This was a dry dao universe that held no energy for Silver Moon to absorb from the outside.

......

At the same time, the Silver Moon marquis residence.

A group of cultivators were deep in discussion. They were much stronger than before, with some much older and others having matured. There were also some who looked the same they always had.

Director General Zhao sat in the head seat, weariness and the passage of time marking his face. He was the oldest among those who’d stayed behind, the most tenured and strongest. He’d been directing the developments in Silver Moon during this period.

All went well at first, but when a crop of new blood rose in prominence, not only was his ruling position threatened, but the Silver Moon marquis slowly became a thing of myths and legends after five hundred years.

Was five hundred years a long period of time?

Not if one was asleep.

But if not, that was too long!

Some unrest began to develop in the world due to limited resources. The large number of new cultivators created some struggles and conflict over cultivation resources.

There was even a portion of the younger generation that felt Old Zhao was corrupt to be maintaining a dictatorship after so many years. He should be overthrown!

As for the Silver Moon marquis... it’d been five hundred years. Perhaps he was dead or had long forgotten Silver Moon.

Thankfully, a good portion of the old guard was still alive. That helped Director General Zhao feel that the world was still what it’d always been. There were not that many familiar sights apart from the residence of the Silver Moon marquis. Towering skyscrapers had risen everywhere, a variety of cultures flourished, and there was even a new martial dao.

Next to him, Deputy Zhou was equally weary and thinking the same thoughts.

“The world’s energy is depleting at a furious pace,” he said slowly. “There are too many cultivators and our reserves are running dry! Even some of the martial academies don’t have enough to go around!

“The army is short on energy, the government is short on energy, everyone is short on energy...” The deputy rubbed his temples with extreme fatigue. “We are unable to obtain external energy and are relying on our foundations. Some of the heavyweights among the new generation keep demanding that we open the Star Gate!

“If it wasn’t for us being able to keep them under control, they would’ve opened the door themselves already! Five hundred years isn’t long, compared to the one hundred thousand years that New Martial was asleep, but we will follow in their footsteps if this continues.

“We will have to sink into silence in the absence of energy. And if we do not verify our dao as exalted emperors, we will be lost as soon as we enter the dao universe...” Deputy Zhou smiled wryly. “I used to think that it was so easy for Gan Wuliang and the rest to become exalted emperors. I felt that some of us would be able to do the same thing after hundreds of years.

“In that case, we might be able to enter the dao universe and extract some energy from it. But as it turned out...”

He shook his head and sighed once more.

They were able to enter the dao universe due to the absence of the two dao masters, but it was very hard to collect any energy. And since the dao masters were not present, they were unable to travel through the dao universe after entering it.

They could only collect some energy to satisfy their own personal cultivation needs—that was far from enough. Such was the difference of a dao universe having a master and not having one.

In the early days, when it lacked a master, Li Hao could come and go at will. Now if one tried to freely enter the dao universe, they were easily attacked by tribulation lightning. It was a very troublesome prospect.

They were out of resources and the dao universe could not be fully accessed... that left only the Star Gate.

It hadn’t been long in the outside world. Perhaps Li Hao was still being chased by enemies. They would return to the same situation they’d left if they opened the Star Gate. The Skyward dao universe would still be empty.

Just as the group fretted over the issues, someone pushed through the door in a fit of temper.

“You guys need to get out there, it’s not looking good. Some of the younger guys have gathered near the Star Gate and insist on opening it!”

“What nonsense!” rebuked Director General Zhao. “Where is the Demon Hunter Guard? They should be guarding the door. Have they not stopped these youngsters?”

The new arrival looked at Director General Zhao with resignation and sighed at the rest. “It’s hard to intervene and difficult to stop them! The one in the lead is...”

He glanced at Liu Long in the crowd.

“Is it Liu Yin?” rumbled the man.

The newcomer nodded.

Liu Long was the commander-in-chief of the Demon Hunter Guard and commanded half of the military. The other half was in the hands of Cannibal Huang Yu.

Liu Yin was Liu Long’s son. Liu Long had gotten married in the second century after Li Hao’s departure. His wife was none other than one of the five commanders, Liu Yan.

Liu Yin had been born one hundred years ago. One hundred years wasn’t a young age, but it still made him part of the new generation in their eyes. He was a powerful Fused Dao! And with his parents being notable figures in the military, he wasn’t subject to much restraint in Silver Moon.

When the new generation demanded that the Star Gate be opened. Liu Yin was one of the ringleaders.

“That little bastard!” spat Liu Long.

“Forget it, let’s take a look,” sighed Director General Zhao. “They’re too young and don’t understand anything...”

“Young?” cursed Liu Long. “Our circumstances were so unimaginably difficult back in the day! The Silver Moon marquis marched in all directions to keep us safe when he was twenty! How is one hundred years old young?!”

But as much as he raged, this was still his son at the end of the day. The name of Liu Yin bore testament to his hopes for the lad. It was the “yin” of silver, of Silver Moon! It was also the “yin” of Silver Spear.

The Lius had once been one of the Three Spears of Silver Moon. However, Liu Long did not practice the spear. He wielded the ax and walked the path of water. It was Liu Yin who walked the path of the spear instead.

Liu Long and Liu Yan had clearly made an enormous investment to ensure their son became a Fused Dao. This was an era in which countless cultivators fretted over cultivation resources.