Star Gate-Chapter 1542: The Silver Moon King (II)

Time passed in eerie silence.

Hong Yitang and Gan Wuliang didn’t say a word. Operating off of previous instances as a blueprint, the two rivers of chaos constructed a circle that surrounded the river of life and death.

Lin Hongyu’s star of life and death spun rapidly, rousing the qi of life and death within the river.

Li Hao had been physically present the last two times to walk the path of life and death. This time, the young man had been entirely annihilated.

That had happened once before as well—a tribulation had decimated the young man to the point of nothing remaining. He’d come back through the power of time.

But this time, even the power of time had fully dispersed.

Everyone had their hearts in their throats!

They didn’t know if Li Hao could come back again. He should be able to, since the river of life and death yet existed.

An endless supply of energy from exalted emperors swirled into a vortex as the moment drew taut with tension. Shoulders relaxed when the vortex came together. Li Hao should be able to return to life now.

As for the energy that would be expended in the process, no one cared. So it was consumed, it belonged to Li Hao in the first place.

A figure formed out of the river in the blink of an eye and dropped into the star of life and death. Lin Hongyu vigorously threw it into the river of life and death, but blinked when it wasn’t a baby that landed in the waters.

There was a toddler of about six or seven years old in the river, not a baby. Li Hao also seemed to have retained his memories.

He raised his eyes to the river of life and death and frowned at it. So he hadn’t come back as a baby this time, but as seven years old. He had all of his memories.

What did this mean?

He had a vague understanding that he might reappear as ten years old the next time he walked life and death, perhaps even older. And after that, as a teenager. And so and so forth until he was reborn at his original age.

He would no longer start over as a baby. Once he began at his current age, that would also represent that he would no longer have the chance to walk the river of life and death again. This meant that he was depleting his essence of life and death on a fundamental level.

Li Hao understood!

Was it good to come back as an older self?

No.

It would be best if he always returned as a baby. That would mean that he could endlessly resurrect.

But this time, the noticeable aging told him clearly that each resurrection was a depletion of his core essence.

I really lost out big this time!

That was the young man’s gut reaction.

Indeed, this rebirth was quite a loss. The corpse of a fifth rank was gone and of the fourth ranks he’d killed, he’d be lucky to retain the energy of one of them after he finished resurrecting. There was almost no energy left of those below fourth rank and his cultivation level hadn’t increased. Neither had he gleaned additional knowledge about chaos tribulations...

He’d even exposed himself in front of an eighth and sixth rank!

Although they didn’t know the specifics about him, they knew that he was very likely the new king of Silver Moon.

He’d also wasted a chance to walk life and death.

What an abject loss all around!

It was the first time Li Hao felt that killing someone hadn’t been worth it. However, the situation in Silver Moon had been so tense that he’d had no choice. His accomplishments seemed glorious to outsiders; only he knew how dismal this outcome was.

It wouldn’t be as much of a loss if he’d ascended to fourth rank, but the key was, he hadn’t achieved that either!

Li Hao didn’t say anything as he rapidly strode through the river of life and death. Large quantities of energy gathered to rebuild the broken bridges of life and death. His presence billowed rapidly. This time, he didn’t need anyone’s help.

His memories being present wasn’t necessarily a good thing either. This also meant that he was missing out on a few chances to learn things in an innate way. When Void had tossed in his power of emptiness, Li Hao had been able to spontaneously perceive a few things in his newly born condition.

These opportunities were no more.

The limitations of the dao of life and death were finally on display to him. It was a good dao, but not as good as one might think. It could not enable its cultivator to be truly invincible.

A genteel young man appeared before long—Li Hao!

Energy from the exalted emperors that he’d killed was almost completely exhausted. There was energy left from a fourth rank at most, yet the young man had emerged from Skyward with the corpse of a fifth rank.

This was the worst trade ever.

Celestial Pole and the others appeared in joyful fashion around him. They didn’t decipher much, just that Li Hao had killed all of the enemies in dominating fashion. He’d come back to life without a single scratch on him. What was that, if not incredible?

In the distance, the three exalted emperors were astonished and horrified. Hao Moon was alive again? How was that possible?? Was he really undying?!

“The dao of life and death...” they murmured to themselves. This person really wouldn’t die and could come back from death if he passed. What a terrifying notion!

The three looked at each other, then promptly rushed toward Li Hao without another word. This was not the time to leave since he was still alive. It might be more dangerous to leave than to stay.

Not only had they witnessed many incredible things, they would be in great trouble once the sixth rank came back or the Red Moon eighth rank arrived, assuming Li Hao didn’t kill them to ensure their silence.

Others might not believe them if they shared everything they’d seen today. They might even think the trio was in cahoots with Li Hao and kill him after questioning them. They were just low ranks, after all. Inconsequential to the bigger picture.

“Greetings to milord!” The trio’s hearts palpitated.

Lin Hongyu and the rest didn’t look at them with welcome. The trio seemed to have been with Li Hao before... but about seven of the group had turned on the young man in the blink of an eye. Li Hao might not have needed to die again if not for them. They were directly responsible for him having to needlessly walk life and death!

The young man didn’t say anything. These three were insignificant after Ming Hao’s death.

“Let’s retreat for now!” He took a look overhead. “We’re in Red Moon territory and the sixth rank that ran off earlier might come back once he sees the tribulation disappear. Let’s move away from this place before we do anything else!”

The river of life and death churned everyone into its waters; no one resisted. Li Hao didn’t travel too swiftly anymore as he was only a third rank who’d reached grand perfection. He just barely managed to reach the speed of weaker fourth ranks.

The group quickly made a getaway, moving out of Red Moon range.

“Panther devoured a third rank prior to this,” Li Hao said as they escaped. “Gan Wuliang, you and Martial Uncle Hong will also absorb the power of a third rank and digest their energy as swiftly as possible. It won’t be hard for Panth to reach third rank since Silver Moon is a mid world!

“As for the two dao masters, separate out a portion of dao strength for Silver Moon denizens. It might have a complementary effect and help you speedily ascend as well...”

There was nothing he could do for Lin Hongyu. He didn’t have enough strength of life and death for himself, so he couldn’t support Lin Hongyu in further improvement. Not to mention, the woman had just ascended. She needed some time before she could achieve another breakthrough.

The young man flicked a glance at the trio out of the corner of his eye.

He was very familiar with Mo and somewhat familiar with Cicada. He wasn’t familiar with the third rank as they hadn’t conversed overly much. All of the others had chosen to betray him, but this one hadn’t. That was odd.

Li Hao could understand Mo and Cicada’s lack of betrayal. They’d come in contact with him multiple times over the year and were somewhat afraid of him. Their decision was to be expected.

So... what was with this guy?

The clean-shaven third rank quickly offered an explanation, as if sensing Li Hao’s gaze. “Milord Hao Moon, my name is Xun Re and I am an exalted emperor from Glimmer world. Glimmer... can be counted as a vassal world of Light major world, but we’re the only ones who’ve ever said so. Light has never openly admitted to it...”

“So you based your actions off of consideration of Void?” Li Hao understood.

“I wouldn’t dare!” Xun Re hastily protested. “Milord is noble and mighty. Death is the only outcome for us if we dare pit ourselves against you!”

Of course Void had factored into his decision to not join Ming Hao in turning against the young man. Xun Re was afraid that Void would find out if he attacked the young man. It didn’t matter for the rest, but Xun Re was an exalted emperor of Glimmer and his world was close to Light.

Others may not know much about his background, but Void would certainly be able to identify it and find him!

Only death would be in store for Xun Re then.

And now, he was deeply grateful that the other exalted emperors were dead.

Li Hao didn’t say a word. He looked at the three again and said calmly, “I don’t have time to slowly bring you over to my side, nor do I have the will to do so. I treated Ming Hao and the others with some kindness before, but now I’m worried about you three doing something behind my back. I happen to have a dao universe with me. Are the three fellow daoists willing to become part of Silver Moon’s great dao?”

“......” The trio’s eyes widened. Mo was the first to regain her composure and not say anything. It didn’t matter much to her, but it did to the other two.

The Silver Moon dao masters were only first rank. According to commonly held knowledge, they would not be able to surpass the dao masters upon joining the dao universe. That meant they would drop down to first rank.

They’d expended untold time and energy to reach second and third rank from first. Joining a major world was also their greatest dream.

The master of a major world should be at least a sixth rank, which would be a marvelous opportunity for them. But a newly born dao universe... If it did not develop to full potential and the master of dao ascended slowly, then it would be very hard for them to recover back to second and third rank!

“The dao masters have absorbed the strength of a third rank,” Li Hao said calmly. “If you three join Silver Moon’s great dao and they still are unable to take the dao universe one step further, then I will pour all of Ming Hao’s strength into it. That should be enough to propel the dao universe into second rank!

“There is no need to worry, Fellow Daoist Cicada. Rather, it is Fellow Daoist Xun Re who might lose a level. But even so, you will be part of a dao universe then. Although it is weaker for now, you will no longer be a chaos wanderer. The power of great dao will be purer than before. While I dare not say that you will make out like a bandit from this arrangement, at least it will be no worse than before!”

Incorporating the power of a fourth rank!

“There is nothing I wish more than to join!” Cicada piped up. “How would I dare have any opinions otherwise? I am just a chaos wanderer and am overjoyed to be able to join a dao universe with such boundless potential. It is rather Fellow Daoist Xun Re who might be disappointed...”

Xun Re nearly cursed out loud. Who are you trying to drag down into the mud here?? Declining from third to second rank is better than dying, alright? Besides, this dao universe has so much potential and these two might make it to third rank quickly. I’ll be back at my old strength then!