Star Gate

Chapter 989: Kindred Spirits (III)

Li Hao blinked. He’d once jokingly told others that he would one day conquer Skystar and hail himself Dao Master. He had not discussed this with their latest addition, but the vice head spoke of the title that Li Hao had mentioned!

Dao Master! The master of a myriad daos!

With a book of great dao in the Hao Cosmos, future descendants whose cultivation reached the level of traveling through the dao universe would discover it. They would see everything about that’d taken place with their predecessor...

Excitement brewed in Li Hao as he thought of it!

Meanwhile, Yuan Shuo and the others off to the side were long astonished! Of the duo in front of them, one person dared reach for the stars, the other dared speak of it. One dared treat such thoughts as real and the other dared push him to greater heights!

Cultivating ten thousand daos, drawing supernatural characters out of all of them, writing a book of great dao, and placing it in the dao universe so that future descendants could read it!

Oh my heavens!

Was flattery Qi Yun’s bread and butter? Look at the level of praise that he was bringing forth! How long had the two known each other for? Was it an hour? And Li Hao, you just met the guy, what was the point of discussing so much with him for?

“That’s all too far away from me.” Li Hao shook his head after some daydreaming. “I can treat it as a goal, but it’s too far removed for the moment! But now I know how to create bodies for Director General Wang and the others!

“Core origin dao is the best vehicle, but... there’s an area of difficulty. Although core origin dao has lost connection with its dao universe, that great dao has not collapsed. That means its dao universe still exists. There might be great danger in the moment of severing that connection. If it fully collapses, the person who I’m helping is done for as well. This is a thorny problem!”

Vice Head Qi frowned. That was indeed hard to handle. He thought for a moment and murmured, “It’s... actually better to disconnect core origin dao from its universe—this is also the best time to do so. Without the link to the dao universe, if there was a core origin powerhouse present or any methods we can employ to stabilize the dao...”

“Can a projection of the imperial palace stabilize it?” Li Hao suddenly asked.

“Of course!” answered a surprised vice head.

“How about the body of a faux Empyrean King?”

“That... will do as well!”

“Then... can Stellaris do so?” the young man asked excitedly.

“It’ll be good enough if it doesn’t sever the dao in two,” the vice head coughed dryly. “Stabilize the dao? It’s... best not to proceed down that path of thinking. Stellaris is a weapon of slaughter and violence, it’s nothing good. My recommendation would be to not use it.”

The sword stirred in Li Hao’s grasp, seemingly dissatisfied. However, Li Hao already had some thoughts in mind and didn’t mind. “So... we can switch to a different path now?”

“How much will my strength be affected by if I switch to the Hao Cosmos?” asked a slightly agitated Director General Wang.

“I don’t know.” Vice Head Qi shook his head. “It depends on the strength of the dao universe and its tolerance of core origin dao. If It can fully accept your battle strength... then your strength will not be affected at all.”

Director General Wang beamed with joy! How can a grandiose dao universe not be able to tolerate a mere Immortal’s strength? Doesn’t that mean I’ll crossover as an Immortal?

“It’s best to cut yourself down some and start from a weaker footing,” Li Hao immediately interjected. “That will make it easier for you to approach the new dao. If you start too high, I worry that your comprehension of the new dao will be too poor and shallow to take another step forward!”

“We can just seal off part of the self!” Vice Head Qi elaborated. “Didn’t you seal off part of the divine corpse’s strength? Using the same method will help one better assimilate with this world. You won’t have to raise your personal domain to protect those of core origin dao and he’ll be able to seal himself away. Of course, the world won’t accept him when he unseals himself, but the current world seems able to tolerate initial Apex...”

Li Hao nodded and Director General Wang grew increasingly delighted. “So this means that I can move about freely?”

Heavens above! Not only can I join the new dao, but I can move around at will! Damn this is nice!

“Ole Qi, using the weapon as a vehicle...” the director general quickly said politely. “What kind of dao is that again? Can you explain in more detail?”

“That was just a suggestion, I’m not too familiar with this idea,” smiled the vice head. “It would be up to this young fellow daoist how you should proceed. I see that he is exceedingly familiar with the great dao and knows the new dao like the back of his hand. If he can seal away the divine spirit, that means his understanding is great and thorough!”

“Not at all, you praise me too highly!” Li Hao said humbly. “The road ahead is long, I simply endeavor to do my best. I’ve only just probed into the truth of things and set foot onto the path of great dao. There is no understanding to speak of!”

“As is how cultivators should be!” Vice Head Qi sighed emotionally. “If you were in New Martial and met Supreme Zhang or the Exalted Blood Emperor, you would surely have an enthralling conversation. But if you met the Human King... forget him. He is unparalleled when it comes to fighting and killing and does not like to listen to discussions like these.”

“How can we outright mention the exalted emperors’ titles outside the ruins?” Director General Wang couldn’t help but ask. Setting aside Supreme Zhang, that was the Exalted Blood Emperor’s true title.

“You fool!” Vice Head Qi could barely contain the urge to roll his eyes. “The Exalted Blood Emperor is not the type to kill innocents! It would be better if he sensed the usage of his name, he could come save us! The same goes for Supreme Zhang...

“But we should indeed refrain from using the Human King’s real name, and the Imperial Majesty’s as well! They have too many enemies and like to outright kill their opponents. if we mention them and they’re still alive, then we would truly be in danger. But the others? What does it matter?”

Li Hao raised a brow, surprised by the response. It was also amusing. Based off this one’s meaning, the Human King and the Imperial Majesty—the one that the imperial guard protected—were difficult characters who should not be provoked. They had so many enemies that any mention of their name might lead to a fatal blow.

But the others might not do so, and they might mount a rescue mission if they sensed someone using their name?

Director General Wang blinked. That was true!

“You are from the Exalted Blood Emperor’s side branch...” sighed the vice head. “Your ancestor in Battle Heaven comes from Sun City, the same hometown as the Human King and Exalted Blood Emperor. How can you doubt the Exalted Blood Emperor’s benevolence?”

“The Exalted Blood Emperor is benevolent?” Li Hao blinked.

“Compared to other exalted emperors, the Exalted Blood Emperor can be reasoned with,” Vice Head Qi nodded. “His past self was the Battle Heaven Emperor, someone even more fond of logic and rationality! He would not kill without reason.

“Some of the other exalted emperors, however, were impulsive and bloodthirsty sorts. The Sword Sovereign is included among their ranks. Therefore, it’s best not to mention them. If they sense their name being used, they might not take the time to determine friend from foe. Since we are far removed from them, they might utilize certain methods to outright kill whoever speaks their name!”

“Did the research center... study this as well?” Director General Wang asked with resignation.

“Of course! We actually wanted to study the Sword Sovereign’s physical body, but he wasn’t willing. Otherwise, we really wanted to dissect him. His myriad of daos returned to one dao, making it quite different from the usual. It would be amazing for research if we could’ve gotten a closer look at him!”

“......” Li Hao didn’t know what to say. Hot damn, these research center guys are all looney, aren’t they? Dissect the Sword Sovereign? They’ve got more brawn than brains!

However, defending his ancestor’s honor wasn’t of primary importance. “Let’s go back and give it a try!” he said rapidly. “Director General Wang can be our test subject—ahem, the first batch of those who convert to the new dao!

“It’s not much if we fail. We can just strip out the mental strength. Vice Head Qi, can I use the divine corpse as a backup plan? If the conversion fails and the director general is on the brink of death, may I give the divine corpse to him?”

“You may!” Vice Head Qi didn’t care. “I only just assimilated it and didn’t fully integrate with it. It’s no problem to fully remove myself from it. You can use Director General Wang as the test subject—ahem, lab rat—ahem... vanguard. More preparations do indeed need to be taken for our first test subject—ahem, the pioneer!

“I’m also very curious about these dao meridians and the Hao Cosmos even more so. I would love to witness a transfer between dao universes. Will it give rise to special changes?”

“......” Director General Wang looked wordlessly at the two of them. What are you guys talking about? What lab rat, what test subject? You guys are really speaking from the heart, huh!

He hadn’t thought that Li Hao would get along so well with this fellow from the very beginning. He’d been worried that the two of them would start fighting!

“It’s best if we take the mental strength converter with us from the ruins,” the quiet Yuming suddenly mentioned. “It will accelerate the integration so that physical body and mental strength are reforged together. There will be a feeling of separation otherwise!”

“We can do that,” nodded Vice Head Qi. “But in this case, damage to the physical body will be the same as damage to one’s own body. Repairs will be difficult and the sense of pain is the same...”

“That’s true, but if we treat the physical body as a disposable object, then he’ll never become one with the body!” Yuming shook his head.

“Fair enough, Wang Ye can give it a try. But once the physical body collapses, he’ll have to suffer through the pain of falling apart again.”

“Director General Wang is an Immortal, he doesn’t care about that,” Yuming smiled.

“That may not be true. It is our first time trying this, so a collapse of a couple dozen times is very likely...”

“A couple dozen?”

“I think that, at least!”

“Isn’t that the equivalent of killing him a couple dozen times?”

“Yes, so I feel that we don’t need to use the mental strength converter from the very beginning...”

“We can leave that out... but perhaps the problem lies with an incompatibility. Therefore, I still recommend we use it and use it for all of our attempts to better identify where the issue is.”

“That makes sense too!”

Director General Wang was ashen-faced by now. He looked at Li Hao, wanting to withdraw his willingness to convert to the new dao. I’m doing well enough right now! I have an Immortal body, and it’s one from New Martial. It’s quite nice! Just listen to these guys! They’re going to run experiments after each of my integrations and probably blow me up a couple dozen times!

Li Hao did not look at him. The lab rat—no, pioneer, was Director General Wang.