Star Gate

The War Sovereign had existed in an era of his own. Almost no one had been aware of him, apart from those of New Martial and Silver Moon. He’d reached the end of the dao chess and met the Skyward master. The two then sat down to discuss dao.

The dao chess didn’t know what the two had discussed, but it knew that War was the second cultivator to pass through the entire chessboard.

The first had been the Skyward master himself.

Granted, War didn’t actually make it to the last square on that day. He’d almost reached it, but the Skyward master had appeared to halt his progress. The world master hadn’t permitted War to continue, but the treasure had known that if War had, he would make it to the end.

Why hadn’t War been allowed to continue?

Perhaps the Skyward master felt that success was a foregone conclusion, so there was no need to continue further. Maybe he thought that if War made it through the treasure, that would expose some of his own secrets to the New Martial cultivator.

Who knew?

In the dao chess’ eyes, War was the second person to pass its test. The first was the Skyward master. Li Hao had reached roughly seven thousand squares early on and improved greatly in recent days. The young man grasped many more daos, so the treasure felt that Li Hao would have no issues with eight thousand squares.

But more... was difficult to estimate.

The others might all attain the same feat as they were probably the strongest group of people within the chaos at the moment.

The dao chess waved a hand without a word, summoning five chessboards. They hovered in the air and the dao chess looked down at the overlords. “There were once many ninth ranks that roamed throughout Skyward major world...

“The dao chess fell silent over one million years and no other exalted emperor has made it past eight thousand squares. No one has set foot into that level since then. I wonder if the exalted emperors today will be able to recreate that past glory!”

The dao chess suddenly grew emotional at the thought of a million years. No one had touched upon eight thousand squares in all this time, much less nine thousand. That was too far away and such a long time ago that it seemed to be another lifetime entirely.

“There will be today!” smiled the Human King, then looked at the rest. “Shall we get started then?”

He flung himself forward without waiting for a response, heading straight for the board in the center. He would be the first in everything! The first to set out, the first to break through one thousand, the first to reach eight thousand...

Daoist Chaos Sky smiled and strode through the air, heading for the board on the most outer left.

Spring Autumn giggled and chose the one of the most outer right.

Li Hao and Long Zhan didn’t have many options left. They had to choose the two in the middle. That flanked the Human King, but they didn’t mind their placement.

Five exalted emperors had jointly entered the chessboards. A dome came down on them, revealing faint shadows moving beneath it.

“Exalted emperors, the chessboard will shake at each thousandth square you cross. Do we need to conceal that disturbance?”

“No need!” declined the Human King. “We’ll let everyone see who is the first past eight thousand!”

His competitive spirit was flaring as usual. Li Hao and the others didn’t say anything.

Whatever you want.

......

Down below.

The other exalted emperors in attendance were immensely excited. Not only that, but more exalted emperors were pouring into Allheaven Hall. It seemed that word had gotten out, prompting some who weren’t prepared to enter the secret realm yet to rush in.

Five chessboards hovered in the air. Some were curious and asked quietly, “If the various overlords are present... then... what about Five Elements?”

Although no one’s primary body was present, one had to say, this was a rare, festive occasion for the chaos. Yet no one had come from Five Elements major world!

“The Exalted Metal Spirit Emperor is in closed door cultivation,” laughed a powerhouse from the north. “He is training in the dao of the five elements and attempting to combine them as one. His situation is different from these guys...”

Some of these people had reached the end of their current path of cultivation, some were local tyrants. Meanwhile, Metal Spirit was in a period of ascension.

Although the north might seem the weakest in the eyes of Li Hao and the rest, some felt that Five Elements possessed the most potential instead. Metal Spirit had only combined earth and metal for the moment. If he eventually integrated all five elements together, then he would be able to vie with Spring Autumn, even if he didn’t match Chaos Sky still.

“Who do you guys think will make it the farthest?”

“Definitely the Venerated Chaos Sky!”

A flurry of transmitted gossip ensued between people. It didn’t matter if they knew each other or not. Chaos Sky was a ninth rank and the only ninth rank in the chaos at present! Who could surpass him?

Although the Human King was domineering, Li Hao mysterious, and a lack of emphasis on strength in this place, how much dao could one comprehend without strength?

“Not necessarily! I think it might be the Venerated Spring Autumn! The years wither and flourish when spring and autumn are on the scene... Apparently she commands the dao of time as well. She’s a force to be reckoned with!”

“......” Many people guessed the two overlords, with much fewer guesses for the trio from the east. Another hot topic was who might cross the fewest squares?

“I think it might actually be the Human King! He might be loud, but he’s skilled at battle. Is New Martial strong at dao comprehension? They’re all a bunch of brutes! Do you actually think he’s going to get far?

“Although the Silver Moon king is a bit younger, he was able to build Allheaven Hall and has had the dao chess with him all this time. I bet you he’s walked it many times and is very familiar with it. Even if he falls short compared to the others, he’ll make it farther than the Human King!”

“Fair enough!”

“......” That made sense. So that would put the Human King last!

......

On the New Martial side of the crowd.

A group of exalted emperors were also curious as they took in the whispers around them. Many looked at the supreme, and some of the younger cultivators asked directly, “Supreme Zhang, the Human King... won’t actually be last, will he?”

That would be tragic!

He’d talked such a tough talk. While New Martial could accept him being last given the relative strength of everyone else, and with Li Hao being the host...

Such a reasonable outcome would be enraging all the same!

The supreme shook his head. It was hard for him to determine, but he knew that ordinary exalted emperors underestimated Fang Ping. They all felt that he wasn’t skilled with the great dao. But how was that possible?

Could someone unversed in the great dao become one with Yin and Yang major world?

How could he create his own internal world if he didn’t grasp a deep understanding of dao?

If he really was so lacking, how would he receive War’s approval? The Human King’s rise had much to do with War. Almost all of War’s energy had gone to the Human King. If it wasn’t for Fang Ping not wanting the star of time, he might be the wielder of time today.

However... it was still uncertain if the man could obtain number one.

“Why doesn’t the supreme... try your hand at it as well?” Someone looked at Supreme Zhang. They all felt that he might stand a bigger chance than the Human King. The supreme had his book of dao and walked the path of the people. He was equipped with every variety of dao.

Granted, that didn’t mean that the supreme truly understood all of these daos. But he should be able to make it further than the Human King, no?

“What am I competing for? He’s the king of New Martial!” the supreme said calmly. “New Martial wins if he wins. He is the source of New Martial’s confidence. Even if I take number one, would you guys self detonate if I told you guys to?”

“Stop talking about self detonation!” someone grumbled. Why did those in charge always like to bring that up?

The supreme grinned and said no more. That was right, so everyone preferred Fang Ping winning over him triumphing. They had higher hopes for Fang Ping. It was fine if he lost, but they would be overjoyed if he won.

These guys might not feel anything if he was in the dao chess and took first place.

......

Long Zhan’s entourage was also deep in discussion. Off to the side, those from Silver Moon were much quieter. They looked hopefully at Li Hao’s dao chess, but lacked a bit of confidence on this day despite their usual penchant for tough talk.

Li Hao’s true strength was three or four thousand dao rules, now that his two thousand worlds had been completed. That made him the weakest out of the five, and the weakest by far.

Even though three of them had sent their replicas to the scene, that only made a difference if they tried to force their way into Allheaven Hall. Their comprehension of dao would be the same, no matter if it was the primary body or a replica.

No one suffered a handicap if they were being tested on the basis of dao comprehension. That would carry them through the dao chess. The primary body would be able to force through more squares due to having more strength to bring to bear, but there wouldn’t be much meaning in that.

Gan Wuliang, someone normally with a lot of confidence in Li Hao, also quieted down. He refrained from fawning over the young man. If they put Li Hao on a high pedestal, it would be all the more humiliating if the young man ended up last. Silver Moon martial masters cared relatively more about their dignity at the end of the day.

......

Li Hao ignored those concerns as he set foot into the dao chess. Having walked through the treasure a few times, he was familiar with the layout of the great daos within.

He normally traveled through the treasure with a mixture of emotions, but when he stepped on the first square of the board today, he paused for a very long time. His current level of knowledge, strength, experience, and vision far eclipsed what he commanded before.

He’d coalesced the dao of calamity and dismantled the dao of time. Those were all ninth rank daos. He’d built Allheaven Hall and comprehended many, many daos. And now... the ten thousand squares twinkled in his eyes like pinpricks of light, constantly changing position.

Ultimately, they formed a dao domain in his vision—the domain of spatial dao.

Li Hao was in no hurry, he continued his quiet observation. Meanwhile, a loud bang sounded next to him as the dao chess shook. This indicated that someone had made it past the first one thousand daos. They were remarkably fast!

The Human King was to his left and Spring Autumn to his right. The disturbance had come from the left. Clearly, the Human King had made it past one thousand. That was astonishing and had taken only a moment!

The right quickly shook as well—Spring Autumn. She was also moving very quickly and raced through one thousand in the blink of an eye. These premier existences all had ridiculously strong levels of understanding when it came to the great dao.

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