Star Gate

Within the Hao Cosmos.

"Lin Hongyu's definitely got some skill to her name." Li Hao breathed out with a smile. "It looks like you don't need to absorb too much, Panth. We just need to increase the other attributes..."

There had been too much fire energy moments ago and too little wind energy. Panther had to swallow enormous amounts of energy to maintain a balance. But now that the wind cultivators were entering a second round of cultivation, that infused wind energy into the dao universe. It eased the demands on the dog and gave it time to digest.

As for how Lin Hongyu would continue to adjust on the fly... Li Hao laughed. That was her problem to consider. If she wanted to gain something from these risks, she had to expend some effort in return. He would worry about that if she really couldn't hold on any further.

Panther panted heavily nearby, a constant string of explosions going off inside of it. The dog finally had some breathing space to work with. It fully absorbed the dao power that it'd devoured and forced dao meridians open, one after another.

Panther was fourth level Sun and Moon to begin with, now it grew stronger at a rate visible to the naked eye. The dog reached sixth level Sun and Moon in the blink of an eye and continued to advance. Its body could withstand the strain since monster spirits possessed stronger bodies than humans.

Li Hao turned his attention to the creek of dao strength that had formed. It flowed very slowly, but the young man sucked in a sharp breath when he looked into the distance.

This river... was only one-hundredth of the sword river's length. That meant there needed to be ninety-nine more creeks like these to complete a true river of stars!

"Panth... we're only one percent through!"

"...awwwrooo!" Panther keened with despair.No way!

"I'm not kidding, so this means there's still 99% left of energy to absorb. Can you... hold up beneath all that?" Li Hao was also quite resigned.

"...arf arf arf!" The dog furiously shook its head. However cocky and proud of itself it had been earlier was how adamantly it protested now.Just one percent nearly killed me, there's ninety-nine left? I'll explode for sure!

Li Hao didn't know what to do either. He thought for a bit and looked at the countless stars around him. Perhaps... he could meld part of the dao strength into these stars again. But that might break some of them.

Or, it could improve some people's cultivation. Anything was possible.

Forget it, let's just give it a try.With all of the people working towards the same goal, perhaps this will result in powerhouses being created earlier than we anticipated.

As for whether they're on my side or the enemy's side... Anyone who listens to orders now and cultivates shouldn't be an enemy through and through.

......

Lin Hongyu had been executing a plan of secretly utilizing a lot of treasures to forcefully increase some people's cultivation. Therefore, not many benefited from the memorial ceremony because she was behind their creation.

But as the ceremony continued, surprising reports flooded in from various regions. There really were people experiencing spontaneous breakthroughs in cultivation!

Some of these people soared numerous levels higher, but they did so with extreme suffering. Compared to the frauds, those who truly benefited from the ceremony were beside themselves with anguish. However, they benefited massively from their suffering!

This way, although the general population was beginning to grow restless as the ceremony had continued for numerous hours, the increasing number of those who advanced in their cultivation fired up passion anew!

It was feasible to mobilize the entire population for a short period, but as the time went on, even Lin Hongyu felt on the verge of a breakdown despite her plethora of ideas. If those in charge were so, then the people kept waiting all this time had long itched to go back to their business.

They had to eat, didn't they? And they had to work, didn't they? Who wanted to indefinitely wait on the spot?

But as people around them continued to ascend, Lin Hongyu swiftly directed the imitation treasure by the Wind and Cloud Pavilion to scan the world through the sky canopies. She didn't care why this phenomenon was happening, just that it was taking place all over the dynasty!

Many people were benefiting from the ceremony! Enthusiasm flared again, facilitating smooth continuation of the occasion.

Three hours, five hours, seven hours...

They'd been praying since dawn broke, and now the sun was setting.

Lin Hongyu's face was pale; she'd spent the entire day issuing orders to various regional leaders and coming up with excuse after excuse so that people would carry out her orders. She'd continuously directed various energies to infuse the dao universe and reverberated all sorts of daos...

But to go from sun up to sun down taxed the patience of most. It was already a miracle that the general population had endured so long. Several billion people had stood where they were for the entire day, waiting for instructions and directions. This level of general sentiment ran beyond anyone's expectations.

Director General Zhao rushed over and transmitted before Lin Hongyu could address him, "This isn't looking good, it's gone on for too long! Do we continue now that it's dark? A lot of people haven't eaten for an entire day. Even if they can continue to go without, their children and elderly will need to eat. Everyone also needs to sleep. Though they're cultivators, that doesn't change their living habits..."

The situation could easily rage out of control when night fell. The director general hadn't anticipated that the ceremony would run an entire day—it'd already been ten hours!

Unrest had developed at various regions. In some places, the people had given up and left, unwilling to pray anymore.

Lin Hongyu's expression was also grave. She hadn't asked Li Hao how long it would take because she'd thought she might be able to handle everything. But it was dark now and the ceremony had gone on for more than ten hours. Li Hao showed no signs of stopping... This was bad!

"Can you hold on a bit longer?" She didn't know if she was asking Director General Zhao, herself, or Li Hao. She was exhausted after an entire day of exertion and her face was wan. At the same time, she was worried about disaster occurring if they stopped halfway.

Director General Zhao was silent without a response. This wasn't the military that they were talking about—soldiers could continue indefinitely. This was the people!

That was too many to consider!

They couldn't suppress or employ force on the people. Having their cooperation for a day was exceedingly difficult in any age. That they'd hung on until now was beyond astonishing!

......

At the same time.

The river had started stretching throughout the dao universe. Li Hao panted heavily; Panther was on the ground playing dead. Its body jerked at various times, sometimes having bloody holes blasted through it!

While its presence was in complete disarray and a jumbled mess, it was much stronger than before. Panther neared the Fused Dao level now.

Li Hao's presence was likewise growing stronger—he was also approaching Fused Dao.

The river was one-third complete. Indeed, only one-third. At this rate, just another day and night would result in its full completion.

However, Li Hao could also sense that the number of sparkling stars decreased as time went on. One hundred million stars had twinkled with each instruction in the beginning. That number had decreased precipitously.

"Are the people getting impatient?" He was aware of the situation. It looked like holding on for a day was their limit. No amount of temptation could convince them otherwise.

But his task was only one-third done!

Li Hao set his jaw and once more ripped through the void, transmitting to Lin Hongyu, "Rest for a night and continue tomorrow! Have the army and those willing to continue carry on! Tell everyone that they will have greater gains if they continue without stopping! I'm going to enhance more people tonight, but I'll need at least two more daytimes! You guys are not allowed to rest and must maintain order.

"I'm having difficulties on my end," the young man said after some thought. "I may not be able to keep the great dao from collapsing tonight. I can reforge your dao now so that you can try to absorb the strength of many other daos. I might fail... Are you willing to give it a try?

Li Hao received one word after a moment—yes.He said nothing more and quickly located Lin Hongyu's primary dao star. He knew where that was located.

When he set eyes on it, he hesitated. He was treating Lin Hongyu as a second Panther. If the dog took in too much energy, it could hang on due to a durable body. The same did not necessarily go for Lin Hongyu.

Taking a deep breath, the young man raised the dao star high without a word. He reached into the void and manifested a 'dao' character, melding it into the star. Then, he dragged the star into the river.

In the outside world, Lin Hongyu shook like a leaf. Blood seeped uncontrollably from her mouth and great dao seemed to be continuously snapping within her body.

These changes made everyone look at her with alarm.

"It's fine, just regular cultivation." She waved them off. "Have the army continue, as well as those who are willing to stay. We cannot have an interruption in the night. Maintain order in all territories—we continue tomorrow! We'll need at least two more days..."

"Three days total?? Isn't that too long?" Sky Sword couldn't help himself.

"Three days!" Lin Hongyu emphasized. "It's three daysat least.If possible, we need to maintain the same scale at night. If we can accomplish that, we might be done in two days. But... that's really hard! So everyone, hang on for a while longer!

"If too many people give up... notify their local authorities that they will be punished! Their allotment of energy stones will be canceled, they will not receive sacred grain, and their enrollment quota at the martial dao academies will decrease..."

Eyes widened at the commands.

"Won't that give rise to general discontent?" raised someone. "We're bringing hope and light to the people, not pressure!"

"It's just requesting two or three days from them, how much has the marquis and we given for peace throughout the world?" Lin Hongyu responded calmly. "All sorts of enemies keep coming out of the woodwork and the marquis never speaks of compensation. Now that we need them, are they unwilling to answer with even a little bit of effort?

"I'm not forcing them, just punishing them. Why can I not withdraw the benefits we have given them if they refuse to persist? Whether it is sacred grain, energy stones, or spots at the martial dao academies, did those not come from us? What did they pay for all of that? Only with effort invested will they receive reward, or are we to feed endless parasites?

"Director General Zhao, use the Hao Cosmos Medallion to reinforce my orders and issue them throughout the land! Once more than half of the cultivators in a city abstain from the ceremony, not only are their various benefits cancelled, but so will the local officials be punished accordingly!

"The people will not be further punished beyond cancellation of their allotment, but the officials will! Also, no unrest whatsoever is permitted to develop. It is up to them to see how they handle disturbances. This will also be a test of everyone's responsiveness and adaptability!

"The Inspectorate and Night Watchers will immediately begin their patrols. Chen Zhongtian, if any place rises up in rebellion, have the Inspectorate swiftly take over and bring everything under control! No word of such development is permitted to travel!"

Solemn powerhouses quickly left to carry out their duties, no one dared say anything. Lin Hongyu was giving them the feeling that she was debating who she should eat. Her presence was incredibly disorganized. While no one knew what was happening, it likely had something to do with Li Hao.

"Martial Uncle Hong, you stay," Lin Hongyu called out. "The rest are to return to their duties!"

The crowd dispersed, leaving a mystified Hong Yitang behind.