Chapter 1749: A Missed Opportunity (IV)

The Sword Sovereign’s weapon erupted and his domain appeared. The latter clashed with the domain of light, while his weapon shot for the light envoy’s shadow. The Sword Sovereign looked around, on high alert as he sped for Demon Summit.

Immense seventh rank might flared and a surge of darkness swept through the world!

BOOM!

The shadow of the dark envoy immediately tangled with the seventh rank, shaking the world with their conflict. Only the dark envoy’s shadow was here, after all, so the seventh rank master of the world quickly seized an opening.

He roared and brought his dao river down upon the shadow, trapping it!

Li Hao pointed with a finger, opening the dao universe and summoning a dao star.

“That’s the one!” he grunted. “Project the dark envoy’s strength into it. That will permit the senior to leave with this dao star!”

“Must I enter the dao universe?” The seventh rank was rather nervous.

“Of course, I can’t suppress a seventh rank by myself!” responded Li Hao. “I wouldn’t need the senior to take action otherwise. Right now, we can only rely on the senior making the move yourself and sealing seventh rank strength into the dao star!”

The seventh rank was immensely conflicted!

Although he’d been mentally prepared for this eventuality, wariness reared its head when he looked at the gaping maw of the dao universe.

What if Li Hao seals off the dao universe after I enter it? Won’t that be the end of me?

If the four seventh ranks enter to mob me... I’m a goner without a doubt!

“Then I can go inside first,” Li Hao offered with resignation. “But it’s pointless if I do because I can come out anytime and access the dao universe again. I can’t be a hostage. If the senior is worried about the danger, you can forget this opportunity!”

The seventh rank hesitated, then set his jaw. He would give it a try!

He churned the dark envoy’s strength toward the dao universe and flew near a massive dao star. The seventh rank cast all of the dark envoy’s strength inside, causing the star to sparkle with dark illumination.

With that, the seventh rank flung concern out of his mind and roared with effort. A dao river appeared and swept toward the dao star!

His heart in his mouth, the seventh rank dragged the star out of the universe. He was incredibly nervous as he was half expecting to be sealed into the dao universe any second. The man’s back was wet with sweat by the time he emerged—that was an incredible phenomenon for a seventh rank!

However, all he felt now was sheer elation!

He opened his own dao universe without a word. As the dark envoy’s star shimmered to life, another massive dao universe opened up and dragged the star inside!

The seventh rank could feel a vague connection forming the second the star was inside. Overjoyed, he sensed a link with Skyward’s dao universe!

While he couldn’t control it at present, he would comprehend the dao envoy’s dao given enough time and access the Skyward dao universe at will through it!

A gleeful grin splitting his face, the seventh rank shot for the world gate. He kept a wary eye on the four seventh ranks observing the proceedings until he exited the world gates. No one stopped his progress back into the chaos.

With that, the elated seventh rank darted into his dao universe and transported out without another word!

“......” Numerous exalted emperors, all of them powerful, stepped out of the surroundings.

“Has he... taken the dark envoy’s dao star?” someone transmitted with wide open eyes.

“No shit, didn’t you see it for yourself?”

“Damn... it... Judging from that guy’s looks, he might really be able to access the Skyward universe now!”

“The dao stars were all silent last time, so there was no point in taking them away. This time, we can borrow the strength of the dao foundation shadows and seal their strength inside. Even if that does not result in unlimited access, that will grant us access once or twice. That will be sufficient!”

There was no point in accessing the dao universe everyday. It was sufficient to enter it once or twice.

Multiple seventh ranks walked out at the same time and met each other’s eyes. One of them was more anxious about missing their opportunity and said, “King of Silver Moon, this seat is willing to enter!”

“Let’s do it one by one!” responded Li Hao. “I’m afraid that more conflict will break out if you guys enter in a group. It’s also first come first serve. Either seventh or eighth rank are the same, their dao star is just a means to access the dao universe and not to truly confer enlightenment...”

He pointed at an exalted emperor at random. “This senior stepped forward first. You’re next!”

The seventh rank rushed for the world gate without another word. Much fewer concerns swirled around the assembly after they’d witnessed one successful demonstration.

The second entrant ignored the light envoy’s shadow after entering, leaving that to the Sword Sovereign to suppress. It would free up the New Martial powerhouse if he wanted the light envoy’s shadow.

That would be too dangerous!

He sped for the Orchid Forest master and said, “I want the shadow of the yin envoy!”

“That is only a seventh rank...” commented Li Hao.

“It’s enough!” The seventh rank didn’t care about the strength of the dao star he obtained. He just didn’t want the Sword Sovereign to regain freedom of movement.

“Senior Orchid Forest, please help him!” Li Hao nodded.

The Orchid Forest master erupted with strength, sending his hell down on the yang envoy. That left only one shadow for the seventh rank to deal with.

He acted swiftly; another dao foundation site shadow was suppressed!

Li Hao likewise summoned the relevant dao star for the seventh rank and repeated their earlier actions. The seventh rank forced the dao foundation strength into the dao star, then joyfully ran out of the Skyward dao universe with it to shove the star into his own dao universe.

He also sensed the formation of a link when it entered his dao universe! They really could access the Skyward dao universe now!

After two successful demonstrations, flickers of impatience stirred in the rest. Even the Skycloud master could barely contain himself.

“Red Moon... it’s too dangerous for you to go inside,” he transmitted with a glance at the Red Moon master. “Do you think Li Hao will stop at no end to keep me inside if I try, or...”

He was slightly worried about the repercussions because he and Red Moon held grudges against all of the people inside.

The Red Moon master looked around ominously and turned over his companion’s words. “If it’s you and me... we should split up. The other can render aid or rescue if need be. If that one brings their full strength to bear, we'll stand a chance of retrieving a dao star as well!”

He didn’t repeat his earlier words of not caring about this opportunity. Having the dao star bestowed them the right to access the Skyward dao universe. He was well aware of this, being a master of dao.

The dao universe currently lacked and was silent. No one could control it, so the dao stars of the high ranks could surely access it. If it wasn’t for their own inability to infuse the dao stars with energy, everyone present would’ve undertaken this strategy a long time ago.

Even if they’d managed to retrieve dao stars last time, their efforts would be in vain. It was different this time because all of the dao foundation sites had revitalized, thanks to the world origin.

As Skycloud and Red Moon hesitated, various seventh ranks materialized. They entered without a word of protest from any side, suppressing the shadows to claim their own dao star.

Dao stars streamed out of the Skyward dao universe.

“I should be able to suppress the light envoy’s shadow now,” the Sword Sovereign transmitted to Li Hao. “Why don’t we close the door again, or let Red Moon and Skycloud inside? We can use this to kill them!”

“No... let them take the dao stars!” Li Hao responded silently. “Although these stars are silent, they’re not necessarily dead!”

What did that mean?

The Sword Sovereign pondered Li Hao’s words. It seemed to be a part of the young man’s plans to let these heavyweight claim the dao stars.

“Can those stars... really access the Skyward dao universe?”

“They can. Skyward’s power is within them, all that remains is a cursory understanding of the dao within. Anyone who is a seventh rank master of dao is a genius. They’ll be able to access the dao universe a few times.”

So isn’t that offering up Skyward on a silver platter?

The Sword Sovereign was confused, but didn’t ask further. They were claiming Skyward for Li Hao in order to pay back a favor. Since Li Hao didn’t care... what did they care about?

Seventh ranks were busy throughout Skyward; shadows were claimed one after another. That seemed to make the world origin agitate. It sought to strike back against the invaders, but its efforts were futile.

Each seventh rank was suppressing a shadow, so counter attacking wasn’t that effective. As more shadows were constrained, the world origin trembled immensely. Even revitalizing the world would be a tall order now.

On the other hand, Void and the rest heaved sighs of relief. There was less pressure on them compared to before! It was just...

They watched reluctantly as heavyweights hauled dao stars out of Skyward’s dao universe. They felt a certain mix of regret and pain, as if their own treasure was being seized by another.

Even Void couldn’t help but curse to himself.

Wouldn’t this all be over if you asked my dad for a billion dao crystals? Why hand over control of the Skyward dao universe??

After these masters of dao familiarize themselves with Skyward’s dao, they’ll access the dao universe at will! We won’t be able to occupy Skyward then. It’ll take a few years at most and a month or two at least before they comprehend Skyward’s dao!

What are you thinking of, Hao Moon??

In the chaos, the Light master coughed gently. “Ah... can I enter?”

They’ve all gotten dao stars, but I don’t have one yet. How about I go inside and save my son? I’ll just grab a dao star for a souvenir, hmm?

He suddenly felt very awkward. Being Ming Tang’s father, he’d been thinking of how to save his son all this time. As it turned out, his son didn’t need his help and an outsider was paying the price of control over Skyward’s dao universe to rescue his son!

One had to say, he was slightly mortified in his capacity as Ming Tang’s father. And now he wanted to claim a dao star as well...

How embarrassing!

“You can do that,” nodded Li Hao. “But it’s better to send Senior Flare Sun inside. Senior Light... should probably keep an eye on Senior Red Moon. Someone might lose their mind from greed and suddenly attack Skyward!”

Red Moon leveled a vicious glare at the young man!

Li Hao was completely unconcerned and sniffed back at the man. “Anyone can take a dao star, but you! You do not have a dao universe. What if you become a squatter after you get a dao star? It won’t be easy for me to get rid of you then!”

“How dare you!” The Red Moon master’s face grew mottled with anger.