Star Gate

I might be able to walk out into the world if I wasn't a half step emperor... but since I am, only my replica can go outside. That creates more danger for me!

Zheng Yu snorted as he looked at the powerhouses within the city that were yet to realize the straits they were in. "As expected, these guys of late New Martial that so easily turned traitor are complete trash! They don't really count as being from New Martial. They're just some people that benefited from the shelter of our civilization! New Martial Saints would not be so easily cut down in large swathes like this!"

He was rendered helpless by the situation, but there was also nothing he could do either. They'd been trapped for many years and these folks had been forcefully pushed up to their current cultivation level. He had no brilliant solution for the fact that they were less than true New Martial Saints.

"Do you think the seal will break if my primary body walks out?"

New Zheng Yu didn't say a word.I don't know. It might, it might not. But dare you take the gamble?

......

Li Hao had completely vanished from the dao universe. There was only a sword left—a gigantic river of stars shaped like a sword!

"Arf arf arf!" A dog's barking echoed through the universe.Where are you, Li Hao? Why is there no sign of you anymore?

The barking echoed incessantly and grew in bleakness.Have you disappeared too?

Just as the dog was about to be overwhelmed by helplessness and unease, a shadow appeared over the large sword in the distance. Li Hao slowly walked out of the starry river and took shape again.

The power of great dao gathered, instantly forming into the young man. Except, it seemed to be a little different from before.

"The foundation is complete!" Li Hao smiled and turned back for a look. "I am the dao. Panth, this will be amazing if I can pull it off this time! I'll open a hundred dao meridians for fun!"

Panther rolled its eyes.You scared the crap out of me! Can't you be a bit more reliable? It's always one risk after another, that's so worrisome for a dog!

Li Hao's grin broadened.Who will truly know me now? Only Panth saw everything take place from beginning to end. I've concealed my true body!

I may not die so long as the river of stars is not destroyed. We can have a real fight now, Zheng Yu and Li Daoheng!

A message flew out when the void cracked open.

......

A new thought struck Lin Hongyu after a moment and she quickly said, "Prepare the remembrance ceremony! Everyone is to ensure order in their respective positions and follow my lead! The four ancient cities are to swiftly travel to Galewind's location and suppress that city. Its Immortals are not permitted to leave!"

The four ancient cities quickly received their instructions. Everyone would ignore her if she wasn't the marquise... but since she was, the Saints followed her words without protest.

Sky canopies lit up over the land again. Lin Hongyu's voice rang throughout the world with notes of sorrow. "The Hao Cosmos Continent will be holding a memorial ceremony for our heroes who have fallen in battle! We will honor their name and pray for their blessings!

"There will be nothing taking place throughout the dynasty tomorrow. Those who pray with sincerity have a large chance of being blessed by the souls of the brave. It is possible that there will be an ascension of one cultivation level in a day, that you may reach Mountain and Sea! Cultivators of the Hao Cosmos must never forget that our heroes' lofty ideals remain incomplete. We must continue the fight!"

The world shook at her words. People were willing to pray and honor the dead, but... to receive massive benefits for it? Was that true?

It didn't seem out of the question as the Skystar Commander Office had never lied to them before!

Meanwhile, Lin Hongyu transmitted messages to some others. No matter whether her words were true or not, there had to be some Mountain and Sea cultivators produced tomorrow.

She raised her head at the sky with some apprehension. Would their efforts tomorrow succeed?

......

The dao universe.

Li Hao sat over the long river of stars and said softly, "Bring me wind!"

......

The Hao Cosmos Continent.

Lin Hongyu's tragic-stricken face was projected throughout the land as she shouted with charged emotion, "Wind cultivators of the world, call upon your wind meridian to clear away the dust, so we can craft a quiet dwelling place for the souls of our heroes!"

The wind rose!

Everyone concentrated immensely on their task. Gale winds broke out and howled through the land.

"The other cultivators are to quietly pray for blessings. There is a certain process and procedure required for the memorial ceremony. We cannot miss a single step! Only with the successful conclusion of the ceremony do our fallen heroes have a chance of returning to the world and marching upon the heavens once more!"

Lin Hongyu issued a string of instructions while powerhouses held down the fort in various places around the world. Just as she'd said, no mishaps could be permitted to occur. Only then did they stand a hope of activating the personal dao stars and bringing the dead back to life.

Of course, that was just a hope and not a guarantee that they would be revitalized. Even so, many Silver Moon martial masters were extraordinarily excited. Heavyweights were stationed at various locales to keep an eye on their jurisdictions. No one was permitted to disrupt the proceedings.

In reality, nothing much would develop from even limited disturbance. The only issues would arise from large-scale upheaval.

......

The Hao Cosmos.

Stars sparkled over the sword river, erupting with scintillating radiance. Li Hao quickly snagged them and moved them to their new homes. Any inactive star that pulsed was also shifted to a new home.

Previously, it was hard to determine the attribute of a dao star if a dao meridian was unopened. But now, the slightest ripple revealed to Li Hao if it was a wind attributed star or not.

Once he moved countless dao stars to a sector, tendrils of wind energy began gathering, like they were water droplets.

Drip... drip...

The power of wind turned into liquid, due to the accumulated sum of dao stars, and trickled down in rivulets.

Time passed, moment by moment. When Li Hao judged that the timing was right, he said softly, "The water attribute!"

With wind as foundation and water as source, he would mix those two great daos to produce fearsome storms that would become the river's foundation.

......

In the outside world, Lin Hongyu commanded, "Water cultivators are to call upon their water meridian and acupoints to cleanse the world..."

Countless water cultivators sprang to action. It'd been roughly one hour since the ceremony started. A faint light emanated from Lin Hongyu's armor at this time. Someone approached her and was likewise projected onto the sky canopies.

"Reporting to the commander, there seems to be a disturbance at Watercloud in the south..."

Everyone in the world heard those words and jerked with surprise.

"You idiot! You're right in front of the sky canopies!" Lin Hongyu exhorted. "Ah, forget it. Turn the sky canopies toward the south to see what's happening. I'd like to see who's up to no good when we honor our fallen heroes!"

"Understood, ma'am!"

Scenes shifted in front of the sky canopies until they settled on the powerhouse in residence at the south. It was none other than the Watercloud empress dowager.

She looked slightly awkwardly at the image of herself on the screen and inclined her body with respect.

"Do not be angry, commander, this is a misunderstanding. A Watercloud cultivator spontaneously crossed into Mountain and Sea from Dominator of Thousands when he called upon his water meridian. His cultivation level continues to advance... The uproar took us by surprise too, so it's caused this misunderstanding!"

She walked through the air with a sky canopy in hand and directed it at a group of soldiers. There, one person's presence built exponentially.

All cultivators throughout the land looked on with wide eyes, seeing clearly how that soldier's acupoints were lit in quick succession. A complete dao meridian appeared in his body in the blink of an eye, then two, three, four...

Incredible!

"Reporting to the commander," another voice rang in the sky canopy. "There are wind cultivators in the north that just broke through to Mountain and Sea as well. They continue to advance. Should we stop them..."

"These are the gifts that our heroes have bestowed upon us for our prayers, why should we stop them?" Lin Hongyu's voice echoed commandingly. "Reward them ten thousand energy stones instead, one thousand drops of Water of Life, and ten tendrils of Immortal strength. We will help those pure of heart to advance perfectly!"

"Understood, ma'am!"

"The sky canopy will now return to the memorial ceremony. These are just trifling matters. I said before that those who pray sincerely will be rewarded for it. Even if the reward does not come now, there will be such rewards in the future! Mountain and Sea is achievable with the snap of one's fingers!"

While silence was found throughout the world, everyone's hearts burned hotly. Would they... really have such unexpected gains? Progressing to Mountain and Sea or Sun and Moon in one day was beyond astonishing!

No one knew if it was real or not, but what if itwasreal? How hard would it be for them to cultivate to Mountain and Sea or Sun and Moon on their own?

Power from dao meridians abruptly swelled as everyone prayed with renewed fervor.

In the meantime, powerhouses hidden throughout the dynasty continued to secretly transmit some Water of Life or Immortal strength. That ensured a random selection of people achieved spontaneous breakthroughs, which raised further attention.

To hear was to doubt, but to see was to believe!

Someone standing next to them had just advanced!

Although it wasn't Mountain and Sea or Sun and Moon, but just an acupoint or two, the appearance of just one such person in a city was enough to send the city into stunned wonder!

Soon enough, excited pandemonium gripped the Hao Cosmos Continent!

Who didn't like being rewarded for praying to the noble dead?

Even the cultivators who'd previously planned on simply going through the motions sat down cross-legged, champing at the bit for the next stage in the ceremony.