Star Gate

Inside Battle Heaven.

Li Hao didn't say anything as he sped through the dao universe. Numerous avenues of core origin dao swiftly connected to the dao universe; the young man vanished once more.

When he returned to the dao universe, he pretended not to see that Hong Yitang had vented his pain on Panther. He rapidly plugged each core origin dao into the river of stars, imbuing each with the strength of different daos.

"This is a great way to help everyone improve," he said as he worked. "This will be a massive river once it's complete! There is a lot of dao power floating around... when everyone cultivates in the future, the dao strength that they disseminate will sink to the bottom of the river!

"But if we directly connect someone's dao to the river like we're doing today... does that mean we can outright enhance someone?"

It was like creating an opening at the bottom of the river to collect everyone's scattered dao energy for his own use. This further deepened Li Hao's experience with the dao universe.

Hong Yitang suppressed the agony of nearly exploding and maintained his genteel demeanor.

"You could do that..." he said slowly. "But that would be to reap without sowing. Not to mention, cultivation also trains the heart. If the heart is not strong enough, one cannot proceed even with sufficient strength! The thunder tribulation that New Martial set for exalted emperors is a good creation. How can cultivators stand at the peak if their hearts are not strong enough?"

"That is a concern for premier powerhouses, regular people won't care about that!" Li Hao couldn't help but refute. "If cultivation is also a matter of training the heart, then Zheng Yu might not have done so. He's good enough to have reached half step emperor!

"Not to mention, how many people even make it to this step? I feel that the great dao should come through the bottom of the river in the future. A cultivator has truly succeeded only when they grasp their own dao star in hand!

"If they can exercise control over a sector, then they're the master of a dao! Judging from the current state of affairs, there can be a possible total of 360 dao masters... When one controls a sector, it seems to me that they might be on par with a half step emperor.

"If the river continues to grow stronger and devour the immaterial dao universe, then a dao master might be able to rival an exalted emperor! Which means to say, this dao universe can be home to 360 exalted emperors!"

Hong Yitang marveled at himself.You've... seriously got unbelievable ambitions. 360 dao masters, 360 exalted emperors? Do you know how many exalted emperors New Martial had, and it was so incredibly strong?

They didn't have more than fifty, and that was after countless years of accumulation. Fine, New Martial didn't end up existing all that long, but their dominance was unquestionable. You've just grasped the great dao and you're only a Saint. How are you talking about 360 exalted emperors?

Just listen to yourself!

Granted, Hong Yitang didn't say anything to douse Li Hao's spirits. It was good to have lofty aspirations. And if a cultivator really could grasp an entire sector, judging from the endless stars in a sector... One might truly rival a half step emperor!

If there was an immaterial universe that became part of the river... the exalted emperor was not out of reach either.

Li Hao began transmitting the energy of the river as they chatted.

......

Battle Heaven.

One hundred students suddenly yelped and shouted, all of them terribly excited while they hollered with agony.

"Oh my heavens!"

"How is there so much strength from the great dao??"

"Don't they say that switching daos is very difficult? Jiang Yingli and the rest only made it to Mountain and Sea when they did it..."

"Heavens above, I've cleared 180 acupoints!"

"......"

Jiang Yingli and the rest watched with enormous surprise. That was fast! Very fast! These guys cleared a bunch of acupoints in the blink of an eye! Someone outright opened a dao meridian before long, putting them in the Mountain and Sea level.

Was this... favoritism??

When Jiang Yingli and her fellow classmates of the first batch cultivated, dao strength stopped when they reached Mountain and Sea! But now, a torrent of power surged into the students' bodies.

The students that'd been revitalized before them watched on with burning envy! This was too much!

Even Director General Wang started muttering to himself.I was the first one to get a new body, and although I'm seventh level Sun and Moon now... it's been a really tough road! These little buggers have it way too easy.

The only thing they've done all this time is kill some Divine Nation weaklings. And then... they could switch their dao! Not only that, but they instantly made it to Mountain and Sea!

Where's the justice in this??

"Enough, enough!" A wail of pain quickly cut through the miasma of general envy. "Let me pause and digest for a bit... this is too much!"

That's enough! Stop transmitting power! Why is there no end to it??

We've been without physical bodies for so long and now, not only do we have them, but we've spontaneously entered Mountain and Sea. We're still furiously opening dao meridians! Are you going to propel me straight into Sun and Moon??

That was the equivalent of an Apex. Although the students had been Apexes and Immortals before, they needed some time to adjust to all of these changes. They'd just been given new bodies, after all. Having such a vast sum of dao strength charging into them was like force-feeding with no end in sight! They were about to have a mental breakdown!

Jiang Yingli and the rest snapped out of their jealousy. Something was wrong. Dao strength geysered out like a high pressure water hose. It didn't spray in a general fashion either, but rushed into each student like a targeted destination!

"You must hold on," came Li Hao's voice. "Enduring a bit of pain will ensure that you catch up to everyone. There are many seventh level Suns and Moons in the world these days. You've missed out on too much and I can't bear to see the descendants of exalted emperors be the ones holding us back. That would bring dishonor upon your ancestors!

"Only when you endure the most arduous tempering will you rise above the rest. Work hard!"

"Ahhh!" howled the group. They couldn't lose face for their ancestors! That was true!

There are a lot of seventh level Suns and Moons now. It would be too humiliating if we're only Mountain and Sea... We need to work hard!

Although they all felt that Li Hao's methods were too violent, there was nothing they could do but endure the pain and wail in anguish. They forced dao meridians open, continuing even when their bodies exploded!

This was their golden opportunity!

The sight made scalps crawl—this was so brutal!

Jiang Yingli clucked her tongue.Thank goodness I was revived before this. Although my rate of progress was slower, it was much more comfortable!

Cultivation is supposed to be very comfortable. Why bother if it's this painful? Damn, this sucks for them!

There was suddenly no more envy to be found.

......

Within the dao universe, Li Hao breathed out with a smile. Very good! The river began stabilizing when one hundred powerhouses drew from it. It no longer undulated as violently. Now, he only needed to wait until the next round of general cultivation.

It was a night of torment for many. The Evenround students nearly lost their minds. Hong Yitang and Panther almost went crazy as well. Within Galewind, Zheng Yu really wanted to send out a replica and behead the nattering Gan Wuliang.

But Gan Wuliang was now seventh level Sun and Moon. In an age when Saints could not emerge, he might not actually be afraid of Zheng Yu. The latter was also worried that this was a trap.

Zheng Yu batted various ideas around before sending Galewind underground.You can keep at it yourself, you pestilence!

......

The second day, daybreak.

Lin Hongyu's form once more appeared on the sky canopies. She was slightly pale, but her smile was radiant. "There were many of sincere heart who prayed throughout the night. They have received a response from the heroic spirits!

"According to our statistics, 142 new Sun and Moon cultivators have appeared in the Hao Cosmos Continent since yesterday morning! There were also 121 Mountain and Sea, and roughly one thousand Dominators!"

There were more Sun and Moon than Mountain and Sea; these numbers were real. The big caveat was that they should exclude the Evenround Martial students for accuracy, yet they plainly included that batch.

A group of people appeared behind Lin Hongyu at this time—all of them young, beautiful, handsome, and wearing the clothes of this age. However, they all looked extremely weary and possessed nearly no color in their faces.

It was the students.

"This is one portion of the new Sun and Moon!" Lin Hongyu's voice rang out again. "The newly born cultivators will visit the various cities to share their experiences! Anyone who doubts their existence can challenge them. They should all be unfamiliar faces to you as they're very young.

"Some of them were geniuses from the martial dao academies, some are from remote locations and haven't seen much of the world. My apologies for my descriptors. They might be a bit uncomfortable at how they're being introduced to the rest of the world today. I hope the newly ascended Sun and Moon will be welcomed warmly when they arrive at the various cities..."

The students pulled long faces as they smiled awkwardly at the sky canopies. It made them appear to be particularly shy and wan!

Haven't seen much of the world? You guys will be like us after being tortured for an entire night! I almost lost my voice from crying, it was so painful!

The students rose into the air and flew in all directions. This was their new mission! They were to pose as humans of the new age to instill confidence in everyone, so that the people could endure for another two days.

After the agitation and enthusiasm of yesterday, the people were more impatient today. But when the new Sun and Moon arrived at their cities to share their stories, a new surge of excitement exploded!

These people were indeed all strangers. None of them had been known in the world before, so they were clearly newly ascended powerhouses. Uncontrollable dao strength still leaked from their bodies; it was clear from a quick glance that they hadn't fully grasped their new strength!

This was better marketing than any propaganda!

Li Hao had been worried that the response on the second day wouldn't be as much as the first day, but he quickly realized that he'd truly underestimated Lin Hongyu. The dao strength on the second day was even denser than the first day, and it leapt with passion!

More dao power dripped into the river below. Li Hao and the rest were both delighted and suffered with agony.

The river quickly stretched forward. He'd expected that it would only grow by another one-third today, but many people were still cultivating when the sky grew dark. While Li Hao found it difficult to digest all of the power, it meant that the river was three-fourths complete.

It might be complete after tonight!