Chapter 1919: The Path of a Myriad Worlds (IV)
Chapter 1919: The Path of a Myriad Worlds (IV)
“I’m going inside for a look.” Li Hao’s interest was well and truly piqued. “Everyone is free to enter if you’re interested as well. As they say, nothing beats actually seeing something for yourself. These days, I lack basic foundations.
“When it comes to deep and profound great dao, I have plenty of seventh and eighth ranks beside me. I’ve also peered into the dao of ninth ranks many times. It’s actually the foundational dao that I am lacking. I’ve only gotten a cursory understanding from my time with the dao chess or from Thunder Region...”
The young man had new ideas in mind now and was in a very happy mood for it. There might be a new use for the star of time and the river of time. There were more mid and low ranks in the chaos universe, far more than there were high ranks.
If these people were all willing to enter the river of time and pay the price of some understanding of dao, would this be a viable venture?
Perhaps.
For mid ranks, only powerhouses could build such a facility. It was also easy for such personages to kill one. What did it matter if one paid the price of some dao comprehension to gain more in return?
“I have many high ranks on my side. If we can use the dao comprehension of low ranks to trade for that of high ranks, and combine everyone’s understanding... I will be able to truly comprehend a myriad daos that way.”
Had other exalted emperors ever thought of undertaking such a project?
Possibly, but it was one hard to realize. No dao universe could truly extend throughout the chaos universe. That was too difficult!
The river of time couldn’t do so at present either, but if the one thousand worlds could be made a focal point and scattered throughout the universe, then the range of those world domains could become the area of influence for a singular domain.
It would be one much bigger than a domain exerted by a single major world. Much, much bigger!
Of course, not that many would dare visit it at first. No one would believe its premise, not unless the customer base of these alliance cities were shifted over. The Myriad Dao Pavilions enjoyed a certain reputation after being established for so many years.
Idea after idea popped into Li Hao’s mind. He wasn’t the slightest bit interested in contemplating the current straits of the Human King. The young man was very excited about what he could bring to life here.
He became even more excited once he entered the illusory realm. Guests appeared in a plaza square as soon as they entered. Since only his mind was here, he presented as a wraith-like existence. There were many similar beings in the surroundings.
Someone seemed to be pontificating on dao. Li Hao quickly listened in.
He could not determine the speaker’s strength from their presence, but only exalted emperors could enter this venue. The daos of exalted emperors were all unique. The lecturer was speaking on the dao of water, one of the basic daos.
However, some whispering and laughter could be heard in the surroundings. Someone seemed to be complaining that the topic was once more a basic dao.
Since it was Li Hao’s first visit, he listened intently.
“Water is both soft and unyielding! A droplet of water can pierce through worlds if fast enough, that is to be unyielding! It can undergo a multitude of changes and become all things, that is to be soft! One punch can carve through mountains and fissure earth, but one punch is hard pressed to break through a river...”
The speaker might not be that strong as the dao he spoke of wasn’t that profound. To Li Hao, these were simply the basic abilities of the water element. But to hear someone else speak of it somehow broadened his horizons.
He’d seen much of existence and had heard countless high ranks give lectures, so it was a unique experience to listen to a low rank.
Some exalted emperors shifted impatiently in the surroundings. They felt that the level of lecture was too low. Clearly, the ratings wouldn’t be too high this time. Every exalted emperor that entered the Myriad Dao Pavilion had the right to rate the openly lecturing cultivators.
If their rating was high, then the speaker would receive a hefty reward of dao crystals. This was why many cultivators were willing to publicly speak of their knowledge.
Low ratings naturally did not result in any reward.
After a while, the water attribute exalted emperor withdrew with some resignation. He could also sense that the audience wasn’t interested in what he was saying. This was a waste of time.
Li Hao, however, was slightly agitated. A tiny reward was sufficient to entice some exalted emperors to share their reflections of the great dao. And since their identities were concealed, no one cared who the speaker might be...
That was also a certain guarantee of safety.
Wasn’t this the kind of environment that he’d been looking for?
He’d come across too many high ranks in the four regions and outer regions, but not a single high rank world could give him this kind of sensation. The only thing Li Hao had sensed from them was violence, looting and raiding, and devouring others...
But in a gathering of mid worlds, such a locale existed. Although it operated on a very small scale, this might be the greatest gain he’d made in leaving his home on this occasion.
Li Hao was overjoyed!
He saw the hope of perfecting a myriad of daos and successfully crafting a false chaos!
The precursor was, he needed to be able to build a massive domain that stretched in all directions. It needed to give exalted emperors of the lower third and mid third realms an equal chance to enter. Entrances couldn’t be limited to certain places as not every exalted emperor could easily leave their world.
I may have finally found the right path for me...
Of course, this would require an astronomical amount of resources, including the rewards for those sharing their dao. If he charged a fee to enter just like these places did, then returned that in the form of rewards, then this aspect wouldn’t consume too much of his resources.
More ideas raced into his mind. Li Hao had completely forgotten the Human King. Granted, he never fathomed that enemies might surround the man...
I need to build a gigantic dao domain and the river of time needs to run throughout the eastern region...
Li Hao was consumed by this idea. Perhaps his path of a myriad daos started here.
......
Myriad Dao Pavilion.
Exalted emperors frequently appeared in the plaza to share their dao. Whether it was a good speech or not, they never touched upon the core of their dao. Even so, Li Hao listened quietly and gained something for his time.
When three people walked together, one could always find a teacher from the other two.
Having made it to exalted emperor, every participant had their own thoughts when it came to the great dao, no matter how strong they were.
Different civilizations, species, languages, and dao methods could result in completely different directions even for the same dao. Such was the great dao.
The interpretation of the five elements could be completely different. Some had cultivated the dao of fire into a purely elemental dao, others cultivated it as the heritage of civilization, and yet others turned it into something similar to the dao of light in terms of lighting a civilization.
Everyone’s idea of fire was different.
Li Hao spent the day listening intently. He did not speak. Some of the other exalted emperors within the plaza were also here only to listen.
If the speaker resonated with them, they could give a rating after the lecture. The process was simple—simply emanate some mental strength and reach out into the illusory realm. Myriad Dao Pavilion would reward the exalted emperor accordingly.
Another possibility was that if one had enough exalted emperors on their side, they could use this method to artificially enhance their rating. However, this kind of action wasn’t normally seen since the entry fee was one hundred thousand dao crystals.
After a long time, Li Hao decided to take center stage.
“I have learned greatly from the fellow daoist’s discourse on dao. Today, I would like to give a brief overview on the dao of the five elements!”
Li Hao recollected his understanding of the five elements and his reflections on walking that path. He combined the secret art of the Five Styles within this lecture, as well as the domain of the five elements.
The exalted emperors in the surroundings listened quietly without raising questions. They were noncommittal at first as there were too many who were adept with the five elements. Most cultivators were skilled with one element, or possibly two.
Most of them shared great similarity and rarely were there unique perspectives.
But as Li Hao proceeded down his lecture and began to describe the domain of the five elements, that piqued interest.
Dao domains were the key to setting foot into high rank, but only seventh ranks or peak sixth ranks could speak of that notion in the chaos. Li Hao’s domain was a simplification of the dao domain. It was based on supernatural characters and combined the strength of the heavens, world, and aura to form a simplified version.
This was Yuan Shuo’s invention and there was a marked difference between it and a dao domain. However, it was related. The key to it was the aura.
The aura was a very unique construct. Many Silver Moon martial masters had mastered it, but few outsiders knew of it. Some did, but didn’t call it the aura.
Some in New Martial were versed with it, seeing it as a spirit formed by the mind. Extreme confidence could also give birth to the aura.
But for powerhouses, the aura wasn’t that useful. So even if they commanded it, they didn’t pay much attention to it. But if the aura could craft a domain, that would make this previously overlooked construct marvelous indeed!
......
Just as Li Hao described the aura and domain, and even began to speak of its formation from supernatural characters.
The alliance city of the mid worlds, within a palace.
A peak sixth rank was in residence. She, too, listened quietly, her expression shifting as time went on. Mid and low ranks might not glean anything from the lecture, but she was a master of dao.
Indeed, there was a dao master holding down the fort on this island. She was also the owner of the dao universe open to the public.
The look in her eyes shifted rapidly as Li Hao’s lecture continued.
The domain!
This was something that needed to be mastered if a sixth rank wished to progress to seventh rank. A seventh rank of an eighth rank world might not need to know it, but everyone else did. Otherwise, seventh rank would be an insurmountable threshold.
For high ranks, there were no shortcuts for the domain. It stemmed from one’s grasp of the great dao and gradually took shape. As for how to cultivate it exactly, a precise set of instructions was yet to exist in the chaos.
The sixth rank dao master was utterly engrossed in the lecture.
The aura?
Creating supernatural characters out of the aura and melding them into the world, using the character to wield dao and crafting a domain out of that dao...
Li Hao broke it down into easy terms, but was giving a comprehensive overview of the entire process.
For many, this was knowledge that could not be shared. It was profound and abstract, but Li Hao had seen too much and met too many high ranks. He’d also mastered the domain early on.
“A high rank?” The sudden thought occurred to the dao master. She was beginning to suspect that a high rank had come to Myriad Dao Pavilion.
That would be normal, since they were in the barrier between the sixth and seventh layer.
Everything could be explained if a high rank from the seventh layer passed by and was seized by a sudden fancy to share some knowledge. That had happened in times past, but they wouldn’t speak of such sophisticated theory.
Even if they did, they kept everything shrouded in mystery. They wouldn’t break it down so simply and easily as the current speaker did. The way he put it, it seemed like anyone could coalesce a dao domain.