Chapter 981: The Curtains Rise (III)

“When Senior Sky Sword melded his aura with the world and spontaneously erupted, that was a strength of the dao heart! Sometimes, we should judge someone on their actions and not their intentions. When you do what you should do and let the people know that you are their support and teacher, they will pay you back in return.”

“Pay you back with what?” murmured Lin Hongyu. “The title of Human King?”

“You could say that!” Li Hao smiled. “That is a strength of the aura and faith that is similar to the birth of some divine spirits. After visiting the Hao Cosmos, I’ve learned that the people’s faith is also a type of dao.”

“The Hao Cosmos?”

“A great dao universe.”

Lin Hongyu only partially understood his words. She suddenly found the young man particularly mysterious and unique. Although she wasn’t too clear on what was being discussed, she caught the general drift. “So this means that if the people live good lives, we will grow stronger in return?”

“No,” Li Hao answered after some thought.

“......” Lin Hongyu wanted to curse out loud! No? Then what was this blather of the strength of faith?

“It will strengthen your inner heart!” chuckled the young man.

“Um, commander...”

“I’m not joking,” the young man kept laughing. “I used to say that martial masters train the heart, now I will say that the strong train the heart! You will grow strong only when your inner heart is strong enough. Otherwise, there will always be certain things that cast a shadow over you.

“We’ve come up with a new cultivation style lately, do you want to try it?”

“Huh?”

“It’s very interesting and turns cultivation into a fun way of stress relief...”

“The dao of supernatural characters?”

“Kind of, but at the same time, not really.”

Lin Hongyu was utterly confused. What did Li Hao mean?

The group had reached the royal palace by now—Demon Hunters patrolled it. Li Hao and his people strolled into the main hall.

“Folks, take a seat anywhere you’d like. Lin Hongyu, you’re the city lord, so you should sit up there,” Li Hao said casually.

“It should be the commander in the seat of honor!”

“That’s just the stereotypical image of things,” the young man smiled. “Of course we need to follow the rules, but we don’t need to be huge sticklers. We’re very tolerant when it comes to great talent.”

Alright then, Lin Hongyu elected to follow instructions in order to grow more familiar with these mystifying fellows.

“Unrest has crept into the four continents,” Li Hao finally began discussing what Lin Hongyu deemed as the important matters. “Some villains of the New Martial era can’t contain themselves anymore and wish to come out of the ruins. The world is much more stabilized these days and the three great organizations have apparently moved to the northern continent.

“The four nations bordering us seem to be stirring to action as well. Neither war nor peace is a matter limited to personal effort or impact! We need to utilize the power of the people to defeat our enemies! Martial dao needs to be swiftly dissembled throughout the land. Even if there are drawbacks, we must quickly teach it to everyone!

“We’ve killed plant spirits of five City of Supernaturals aristocratic families. Apart from the redwood tree, six others survive. I’d wanted to kill them all and be done with the matter, but feel that it’s too much of a waste now. Let’s cooperate with them!

“They can raise grain—and not just them, but all eleven plant spirits within Skystar Town’s ruins. Additionally, the five plant spirits from Battle Heaven need to do the same...” Li Hao ran some quick calculations. “That’s twenty-one plant spirits. One can produce sufficient grain to feed one hundred million for a year. This means we can only feed a little over two billion people. While we do have some reserves at the moment, that’s far from enough. I’d like to capture some other plant spirits in the central region!

“There must be far more plant spirits in the region. I’d like to centralize them—Skystar Town is a very good site...

“We have a lot of things to do next! We can let the three great organizations develop as they will. No matter how fast they grow, they won’t grow as fast as us!

“Once our preparations are complete throughout the world, the second awakening will be delayed yet again. If the hand within the shadow wishes to revitalize ahead of time, they’ll have to release a large amount of energy to do so. This will weaken them while the rest of us can train the new martial dao in the process!

“City Lord Lin, there are a few important tasks to attend to next.” Li Hao looked at Lin Hongyu. “Firstly, collect all intelligence regarding the various central region ruins. Second, the matter of the people’s basic necessities. Third, training administrative personnel. Fourth, propaganda. Of course, these are just my thoughts. It is up to the city lord how you’d like to execute on these ideas.”

The woman nodded thoughtfully.

“Alright then, the serious business is over.” Li Hao grinned. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“......” Lin Hongyu was at a complete loss.

Over? What did you even discuss?

“Allow me to display the new cultivation system to the city lord. You can also help me take a look if there are serious issues or not...”

Lin Hongyu’s interest was immediately piqued. Yuan Shuo and Hong Yitang looked at the young man as well. Thirty-six locks manifested over his body as he directly showed them to the group.

“Most people can’t accomplish this. They need to excavate their locks one at a time. I’ve left out that step because it’s too much of a waste of time.”

Lin Hongyu swallowed hard. What was that?? Supernatural locks?? There were so many of them!

Oh my heavens!

Li Hao started operating his cultivation method according to previous theory and the Breakthrough Incantation.

Light quickly sparkled in each of the thirty-six locks; motes of radiance floated out of one in particular. Lin Hongyu stared at it, entranced, seeing a tiny hole open on the lock and a faint energy being extracted out of it.

More holes appeared on the lock in quick succession, as if a bamboo flute. Li Hao continued to operate the method and focused on only one hole, eventually burrowing through it and causing a release of energy.

“The acupoint has been successfully cleared, this is the first one,” he explained. “The first acupoint of the first dao meridian... which means it’s now time for the others!”

He repeated his actions and soon cleared nine acupoints. “I am now peak Initial Slayer!”

More acupoints were cleared until thirty-six were complete. “I am now peak Slayer,” Li Hao grinned. “All I need to do now is connect the band and complete the circulation to become a Sunderer. Internal force will erupt with great momentum!”

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The thirty-six acupoints shone with light and instantly completed one circulation of energy.

Boom!

Internal force roared to life within the body; Li Hongyu's jaw dropped. What kind of martial dao cultivation method was this?? That was not how traditional martial dao was cultivated! Yet its results were no different!

Li Hao continued with the demonstration, embarking on the second circulation. Another thirty-six acupoints were cleared in the blink of an eye.

“Completely seventy-two makes me a peak Sunderer! The second circulation is complete!” With that, the young man continued with a third circulation.

Boom!

His presence grew explosively. “108 acupoints are open, which means I’ve set foot into mid Dominator!” His cultivation speed grew faster and faster. “144 acupoints is late Dominator...”

Another round of circulation began. “180 acupoints marks the halfway point. I am now a peak Dominator.”

Li Hao’s presence built as he continued to cultivate. A loud explosion rang out as he cleared the remaining five acupoints on one dao meridian. This undertaking was more difficult than the previous thirty-six.

“This is the first level of Mountain and Sea.” The young man’s presence had soared again. “It is the result of the complete exploration of one dao meridian. Separating them with acupoints is to facilitate an easier opening of the dao meridians and to prevent the circulation from being disrupted!”

Li Hao continued in the same vein, fully opening the second, third, and fourth dao meridians... He frowned after completing the seventh—a great deal of energy and Water of Life had been absorbed.

“The further we go, the more difficult it is! There are seven dao meridians that have been fully opened along with half of the others. I rival seven element Arcanus. I can open more, but the difficulty is immense. I’ll take a break for now!” The young man looked at Lin Hongyu. “I’d like to use this strength alone and none of my abilities to punch you once. What do you say?”

“Let’s do it!” nodded a dazed Lin Hongyu.

Bam!

The fist broke through the void! She didn’t even have time to react before seeing the void crack open, Li Hao’s fist appear, and her body flying through the void!

She crashed into a wall and stared dumbly at Li Hao. Yuan Shuo and Hong Yitang sighed to themselves. The boy... really didn’t know how to treat members of the fairer sex! He was unworthy of being human!

“City Lord Lin has great defenses!” Li Hao laughed. “I’m seventh level of Mountain and Sea now, and can even face the Apexes without core origin. And yet, I only sent you flying with that punch, I didn’t punch a hole through you... This is the new martial dao, isn’t it easy?”

Blood seeped out of Lin Hongyu’s mouth. It took her a while to recollect her senses. “This is... a new martial dao?”

It was a cultivation process so easy that any fool could follow it. Li Hao’s speed had been so astonishing that he completed opening seven dao meridians within an hour. He reached the seventh level of Mountain and Sea that he spoke of and defeated her with one punch!

So this was... the new martial dao?

“Can all thirty-six dao meridians be opened?” she murmured.

“Of course!” Li Hao nodded. “But this is just unattributed energy—strength of the body, without any supernatural ability. Its ferocity is a bit less, but it’ll pass muster! Of course, just because I cultivate so quickly doesn’t mean that everyone else can. I manifested thirty-six locks a long time ago. Everyone else will have to cultivate them bit by bit, so their speed is bound to be slow!

“It should take almost a year to complete the first round of thirty-six without the help of external resources. Given how dense energy is now... perhaps half a year will do. They will be peak Slayer then.”

Lin Hongyu was so flabbergasted that it took her a while to struggle to her feet. “Is this what the commander has been busy with lately?”

“Yes!”

“This will... revolutionize the superhuman domain!” It was only her first time witnessing it, but her conclusion was already that this was an easy system to master. As unique as Li Hao was, it also meant that a deep comprehension wouldn’t be required of others.

This seemed easier than supernatural cultivation!