Star Gate

Li Hao breathed out heavily when everyone was gone.

This is all I can do. Will you guys be able to keep pace with me if I walk too quickly?He closed his eyes, not wishing to expend further effort on this line of thinking.Will it be... myself, alone in the end, still?

......

Great Li, within the divine temple.

The skeleton had been tossed to the side. The king and Jiang Li stood in the hall, waiting for something.

"What is your request?" A voice sounded after a long while.

After momentary silence, the Great Li king said, "Can you ensure that Great Li will always remain independent of Silver Moon?"

His usual assured dominance had been partially replaced by resignation. He couldn't outwit or outfight Li Hao!

"Your choice is the same one that Initial Martial made when the Human King first rose to prominence. Initial Martial had hoped to remain independent of New Martial. Time proved that to be a bad decision since Initial Martial nearly died out instead and New Martial rose up!"

"Then... if the senior is willing to help, it may not be Great Li that depends on Skystar. We might be able to turn the situation around entirely!" the king breathed out heavily.

"Our god's might is unparalleled, so why not..." Jiang Li interjected as well.

"What does it have to do with me?"

"......" The two didn't know what to say.

"Whether it is Silver Moon, Li Hao, or Red Moon, none of it has anything to do with me!" the voice rang out again. "I remain here not to help you with your dreams of worldly conquest or anything else. I have my own plans in mind that have nothing to do with you!

"There are people who step to the forefront in every age. The advantages of timing, terrain, and people forge a hero. Heroes create an era. People like us have long lost our vitality. Those who have lost their vitality will find it difficult to create another era..."

"His Majesty still possesses vitality!" Jiang Li quickly said. "Great Li still possesses its people! If our god is willing, we can fight for a spot at the table as well..."

They'd finally witnessed the formidable strength of their god in the previous battle—he'd demolished the skeleton of an Empyrean King with one punch!

And that was under current circumstances. One could easily imagine how strong he must be when he erupted with full force! He'd been able to suppress the exploding droplet of exalted emperor blood essence!

Their Initial Martial god was unbelievably formidable!

But for such a person to remain still and quiet for one hundred years... it was both baffling and mystifying.

What are you waiting here for? You don't seek to rule over the world, rebel against established institutions, or shape the age. Are you here just to sleep? You're not doing anything! It's like you're just going through the motions of life until you die!

"Why should I assist someone who's short on brains and back him against a bunch of powerhouses? If I really choose one to support, why don't I go for Li Hao? The more you do, the more mistakes you make. The less you do, the fewer mistakes you make. When you do nothing, you make no mistakes at all!" The Initial Martial god suddenly said meaningfully, "All I know is that it is good to offer timely assistance in an hour of need, but offering the wrong assistance is the worst kind of trouble!

"You can give something additional splendor, but giving it the wrong splendor is also enormous trouble! The best course of action is completely staying out of the situation. You can pretend I'm not here, and I'll pretend you're not here.

"Whether it is powerhouses that make an age or ones that start an age, they will not pay attention to you if you do the same for them!

"I've practiced noninterference from the very beginning—so what does anything have to do with me now? It doesn't matter if someone's right or wrong. I don't fight or steal, I don't stick my nose where it doesn't belong. If I don't create trouble or seek to resolve it, then trouble has nothing to do with me!"

"So this is what the senior thinks?" rumbled the Great Li king. "But when it comes to the others, how would they be willing to let another sleep soundly by their bed..."

"Wrong!" The god cut off the king before he could finish. "You are wrong. If this bed becomes another's, then I'll discard the bed. The world is so vast and there are beds aplenty to be found. If Silver Moon is out of the question, then I'll travel to White Moon, Red Moon, Green Moon... There are plenty of worlds in the vast universe. If all of them reject me, then I shall no longer sleep. What issues are there?"

"......" The two were completely at a loss. What kind of response was this?

Something occurred to the Great Li king and he slightly furrowed his brows. "Does the senior mean that you can leave Silver Moon world?"

"Guess!"

"......"Not doing that!But it would be incredible if the god could leave Silver Moon! Was there anyone else who could do so at this time apart from the exalted emperor?

Could it be...

The king didn't dare pursue this line of thought!

The strongest in this age was a sealed exalted emperor, yet to break free even today. If the Initial Martial god really was an exalted emperor... Why did he wait here?

It would be so easy for him to seize the world!

"Don't try to guess about me, little guy short on brains," the voice sounded again as the king's thoughts ran wildly. "Not to mention, if I do seize Silver Moon world, the Sword Sovereign will hack me into two when we meet again later. Are you going to help me then?"

"......"

"All of us know each other. The Zhengs or the Lis can seize the world because they're new faces and powerhouses of the new age. Even Red Moon can seize the world, but old faces like us cannot do so!

"They won't care if the juniors mess things up, but those of us from the same age will result in the Human King, Sword Sovereign, Blood Emperor, Supreme Zhang, and Green Emperor coming for our heads. They'll say that I should seize the homeland of New Martial if I'm that strong enough. Why terrorize a minor world? Which one of those do you think I can defeat?"

The Great Li king's mouth dropped open. So this was how these great ancients thought about things? It... it... did seem to make a bit of sense!

"Then... if the senior... really is very strong... then... why don't you outright settle the disorder... and appoint someone to oversee the world? For example..."

"For example, you?" came the voice again. "Why? Why should I? What's it to me? I am not of this age! It's the Sword Sovereign who sealed the Star Gate, not me! Whether I am here or not, just pretend that I'm not here!

"The development of an age and great dao is an opportunity in itself! Preventing someone from pursuing their opportunities is as egregious as killing their parents..."

The Great Li king could find absolutely nothing to say in response!

"As for appointing someone, will they be a good candidate just because I appointed them? Who says? Who knows? There are so many ingrates in this world. The other consideration is, what can they offer me?

"I lack for nothing! Therefore, you guys don't need to daydream that I'll help you with anything. The only thing I can help with is burying your bodies if someone is determined to kill you within Great Li's borders!"

His last sentence started off sounding like an offer of help, but ended with collecting their bodies!

The king and head priest nearly suffered a mental collapse at what they heard.So you won't intervene even if someone wants to kill us inside Great Li? You'll make sure we have a burial, is that it?

"Forget it, I understand the senior's meaning!" The king lost all hope. "Then I'll ask one question further. Is Li Hao... an Empyrean King?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Is there an Empyrean King cultivation level within the new dao? So how would I know if he is one or not? It's two different daos, why must you apply the core origin framework to it? It doesn't matter if he's strong or not, you'll know when you fight him!"

The two finally understood that this was a powerhouse who loved to wash his hands. He washed his hands of this, he washed his hands of that, he washed his hands of everything!

This guy is so damned infuriating!

Granted, this kind of existence was very comfortable for some. Each side stuck to their lane and minded their own business.

"I ask you another question then, senior." The king no longer held faint hope of any sort of help from the Initial Martial god. "Li Hao wants Zhou Chuan to come to Great Li so we can study the skeleton together. He seeks to propel the man into the Fused Dao level. Zhou Chuan seems to have inherited the golden body of a powerhouse. Is there a trap involved with this?"

"Of course, you idiot. You'll never beat this guy who lives and breathes schemes!" came the voice again. "Zhou Chuan inherited the dao of the nine turns of the golden body! Do you know what a golden body of nine turns means?

"He'll consume eighty-one times the resources of other people in order to set foot into the Fused Dao level. It's the equivalent of producing eighty-one Fused Dao cultivators—he'll be able to battle an Empyrean King!"

"......"

"It probably won't be enough even if you give the entire skeleton to Zhou Chuan. You'll have to throw in that set of boxing gloves and all of the resources in Great Li. That might be able to facilitate his breakthrough!"

"......" The king's jaw dropped and he froze!

"Each turn of the golden body consumes an extreme amount of resources. He will certainly become a Fused Dao cultivator if he completes nine turns. Is he at three turns now?"

"...I don't know... he's around mid Sun and Moon..."

"Then that's two turns at most!"

"......" The king wanted to completely break down. "Then... I agreed to help Zhou Chuan enter Fused Dao... Then I..."

"Do as you see fit. You already agreed, so you have to think of a solution if you can't do it!" Amusement could be heard in the voice. "You can absorb all of the energy from the skeleton to possibly enter so-called Empyrean King. You can also throw everything to the wind and fight to the death with Li Hao. What is a broken promise then?"

"......" The Great Li king was completely lost. "Is the senior... joking with me?"

I may not beat Li Hao even upon setting foot into Empyrean King!

"There's no helping it, figure it out yourself. Am I supposed to take care of something you agreed to? I'm not your father, and I wouldn't have any ideas even if I was. I'm destitute and badly off in life, I don't even have a resting place. The sky is my blanket and the earth is my bed. Leave me alone in the future!"

Tragic sorrow wrote itself over the king's face.I... really was tricked. Zhou Chuan needs eighty-one times the resources of his peers to ascend?? That's impossible! The entire skeleton isn't enough? This is... unbelievable!

"You may leave!"

The resigned Great Li king had to drag the skeleton out with heavy steps. Jiang Li followed him with an equally weighty tread. The two dejected men left.

It was... such a despairing promise!

A shadow manifested when they left. "Trying to test me?" he murmured. "Why bother? The later generation have their own fortune. If even the Human King is letting things go and telling you guys to be responsible for yourself if the sky caves in, what would I get involved for?"

He looked up at the sky and laughed after making some calculations. "I'm going back to sleep, don't bother me anymore. What a pity that it hasn't finished in one hundred thousand years... This is such a hassle!"

He was gone.