Chapter 1918: The Path of a Myriad Worlds (III)
Chapter 1918: The Path of a Myriad Worlds (III)
Up ahead.
The Human King was randomly wandering around. He’d visited a few worlds lately, taken a look at a few more, and exchanged blows with some high ranks. Of course, most of those encounters had been friendly spars—forced friendly spars. It was an avenue through which to perfect his dao.
The man wasn’t prepared to keep a low profile. His path was different from that of Li Hao’s. Staying quiet wasn’t his style.
The Human King had been loud and flamboyant ever since leaving New Martial. He suddenly turned back and frowned behind him. Reincarnation? Had that guy left his world behind to come for his enemies?
That was... wild.
Reincarnation major world lacked all eighth ranks but its own world master these days. It was also a strong, rich, and abundant world. Wasn’t the man concerned about someone swooping in after his departure?
The Human King was quite confused.
Even though he wasn’t concealing his tracks, Reincarnation should be licking his wounds at home. What was he doing out there? It was possible for any other world to join hands against him, but Reincarnation?
Hence, he didn’t fear anyone in the eastern region. Yet here was a most unexpected person on his tail!
The Human King frowned and extended his senses in all directions. Something felt vaguely amiss, but it wasn’t cause for a quick getaway yet. Several notions rose in his mind.
The Reincarnation master was very strong! Although he’d been slightly outclassed when fighting Long Zhan, that didn’t mean that he was weak. If he was weak, he would’ve long been beaten to death.
That hadn’t been the case. He’d simply been unable to match Long Zhan and had had to retreat.
One had to keep in mind that the Dragon master had injured the Light master with two simple punches. Clearly, the Reincarnation master was much stronger than the Light master.
That made the Human King eager to try the man on for size. He’d really never fought a powerhouse of this level. Even the Dragon master had been the affair of a single exchanged move. The Human King had come off a little worse for the wear in that interaction, but that was all.
Hence, he elected to stay behind, even though he felt that the Reincarnation master must be getting his confidence from an unknown source. This would be a perfect time for a fight, assuming that the other was here to raise a fuss.
Well, it didn’t matter if he wasn’t. Fang Ping wouldn’t be missing out on this opportunity.
The Human King darted straight for where his senses told him the enemy was.
“The Human King is quite a decisive person!” Reincarnation smiled amidst his tracking. So his target knew that he was coming, yet decided to meet him in person. He was certainly bold.
The Human King quickly appeared in front of the Reincarnation world master. His eyes went wide when he probed the surroundings. “It looks like the world master is here for me. Are you not concerned that Silver Moon will move right in behind you? Or is it that... someone else has already been sent to handle them?”
“It is just as the Human King surmises, Arctic Frost is already surrounding Thunder World,” smiled the Reincarnation master. “They say that the Human King is so skilled in the daos of yin and yang that they are tangible domains now. Meanwhile, I am skilled at life and death!
“You went on the offensive against us and killed many of my powerhouses. You will be subject to a reckoning for your actions!”
“Is that so?” The Human King laughed heartily and wasted no further time in talk. He outright deployed his inner world.
The chaos seemed to be cut off from them!
A blade swung at the Reincarnation master—yin and yang could be seen within it. Although the Human King had left New Martial, that didn’t mean he’d relinquished his hold over yin and yang. Black and white intersected in the worlds and yin and yang appeared, as if the two poles of the taiji diagram!
The intersection of yin and yang placed one between life and death. The Reincarnation master merely smiled without a word. Life and death appeared, turning the worlds a different color. They, too, were an intersection of black and white. Countless dao rules came down on the four cardinal directions.
The void around the two fighting powerhouses was utterly sliced to pieces. A boulder drifting through the chaos was first washed over by yin and yang, then covered by life and death. As yin and yang revolved around it and the cycle of life and death churned over it, not only did the rock remain whole, but it began to show signs of developing a spirit.
The two powerhouses didn’t care about that minor detail. The void shook as a myriad daos rushed out in unison!
Shadows of the Human King appeared behind the man itself. Each of them thrust a blade forward, deploying all of his daos at the same time. Under the effects of life and death, they instantly transformed into spirits of the dead and vanished in the chaos.
The Human King struck again and again, so fast that his speed couldn’t be fathomed. He opted for close body combat and grunted a moment after the two met in battle. He wasn’t a complete match for his opponent. There was a gap between the two of them.
While the difference in strength wasn’t that great, he did fall short compared to the Reincarnation master at the end of the day. This made determining a victor between the two of them possible, but almost impossible to fight to the death.
It was also as hard as ascending the heavens for the Reincarnation master to kill the Human King. And yet, the latter suddenly withdrew his blade and ran in the other direction.
“We said this was single combat! Why are you turning this into a mob fight instead?” he cursed. “You’re completely shameless!”
He’d sensed it.
Despite his loud curses, his expression was rather grave. The eighth ranks that he’d killed before had come back to life?
He wasn’t surprised by the outcome since he’d once revived his own people as well. But... how much of a price did resurrecting eighth ranks demand? And it wasn’t just one eighth rank, but three of them!
Did the Reincarnation master have the capital to revive three eighth ranks? That was outside the Human King’s realm of expectations! He was in trouble now...
There were four eighth ranks against him. No, wait, there was a fight. Where did that one come from?
Numerous thoughts raced through his mind; the Human King darted into the void without further ado. He could give single combat a try even if he didn’t measure up to his opponent. But one against five... that would be courting death.
He was arrogant, but he didn’t have a death wish.
An eighth rank appeared in front of him. The man punched with an aloof expression, blocking the Human King’s exit path. The cocky Human King needed to pay for his overweening pride!
Behind him, the Reincarnation master didn’t say a word as he deployed his domain. It blocked out the sun and enveloped all corners. The domain enveloped the area that the Human King was in. When the Reincarnation master struck with a palm strike, a passageway opened up to life and death. It sought to drag the Human King to hell.
Eighth ranks appeared on all sides. The Human King swung his blade and broke through the firmament. He was still cursing up a storm, but that didn’t impede his escape. He moved very quickly as he was accustomed to running whenever he found himself outmatched. And so, the Human King ran in a way that was exceedingly cunning and wily.
The two clashed against each other again and again in the void. Five eighth ranks pursued the Human King relentlessly, continuously shrinking the circle around him. They wanted to end the Human King here, today!
......
Due to the dampening effect exerted by the dao domain, the disturbance from the fight was not as big as the previous clashes. Li Hao didn’t sense the conflict this time.
The young man had reached the alliance city of the mid worlds. He was completely oblivious that Thunder World had been surrounded and the Human King was being hunted down. Currently, he was looking at a city hovering in the void with interest.
After entering the island. he took a look around and ultimately slowed down in front of a locale that was as if a sealed off world.
There was no one on guard here, just a few rules inscribed on a stone tablet. Entrants were to pay one hundred thousand dao crystals. Exalted emperors could discuss dao inside. There was a public discourse area and a comparatively private area. The latter was accessible only through invitation.
Primary bodies were not to go inside, just one’s mind. It was like an illusory realm, crafted for the purpose of stimulating conversations about dao. One could conceal one’s identity or one could reveal it.
Entry could be had for one hundred thousand dao crystals. While that wasn’t a small figure, it was achievable through a bit of saving. Even a first rank could reach that sum with a bit of concerted effort.
Part of these dao crystals went to maintain the operations of the illusory realms. A realm that could conceal presences and maintain anonymity required a lot of dao crystals to operate.
Another portion went into a fund for rewards, to compensate some who were willing to disseminate dao in the public area. If such a speaker received recognition from many exalted emperors, then they would receive a portion of the dao crystals in thanks.
“The Myriad Dao Pavilion!” Li Hao murmured to himself as he studied the signboard over the hall. This was an interesting place.
Smoke and fog wreathed the buildings. They hovered in and out of sight, with some exalted emperors in the surroundings as well. They were hard to detect as their physical bodies remained where they were. Only their minds were inside the mirage.
This way, it was only known that those inside were local cultivators. However, it was hard to pinpoint who was who.
“This is a good idea!” Li Hao nodded approvingly. Void and those next to him nodded with agreement as well.
“What a pity that it does not encompass a bigger range,” said Void. “If it can be extended throughout the void, then we can converse with anyone with peace of mind so long as we enter this illusory realm. This would be immensely helpful for disseminating dao...”
The person who’d built the Myriad Dao Pavilion must be a true cultivator of dao. This was an excellent idea. If they could take it one step further and perpetuate this illusory realm throughout the chaos, making it accessible anywhere, then it would be very helpful for spreading great dao.
At the moment, there were large limitations on it.
The chaos was so vast that only some premier worlds could send out their dao universes across bigger domains. The rest of the worlds could not reach such a range. That made crafting this illusory realm very, very hard to materialize.
Void’s words, however, made Li Hao pause.
“Creating a bigger realm of illusion so that everyone can go inside to exchange dao?” He sank into deep thought and was no longer in such a rush to enter Myriad Dao Pavilion. He looked at those around him and suddenly said, “Do you guys think that if... I utilize the river of time and set the thousand worlds as a base point for a massive illusory realm, will I be able to gain more knowledge of the great dao in a faster way?
“The realm will connect to various locations and be open to unlimited exalted emperors. They can all enter to discuss dao or converse about anything.”
The group contemplated his idea, but Fog Mountain quickly frowned. “Don’t you say that some premier existences can sense the river of time?”
The Dragon master had sensed it. If this was the case, then this was a very dangerous proposition. Anyone who sensed the river of time might be able to trace it to its origin and locate the star of time.
That was an outcome that no one wanted.
“That was then, and that was when I was weak,” said Li Hao. “Now that I’m a seventh rank... Although there hasn’t been much advancement when it comes to the dao of time, it’s very hard for regular people to detect where the star of time is now.
“If I can create a domain like this and work with this alliance of the mid worlds, connecting all of their Myriad Dao Pavilions... They have the customer base and we need the dao comprehension. No matter what their goal is, we can discuss and negotiate. Whether it’s resources, dao comprehension, or something else...
“There might not be a conflict of interest between us.”