Star Gate

Li Hao didn't understand why the Human King Consort had personally come to a minor world, but the sword tree did.

"The Human King Consort is also a sword dao powerhouse," it quickly explained upon seeing that there was finally something Li Hao didn't know. "The greatest swordsman in the world is the Sword Sovereign. The Human King Consort once visited Silver Moon to spar with the Sword Sovereign—he also counts as her teacher.

"After that match, the Sword Sovereign said that sword dao is sword dao, but it is also not sword dao. The sword is the form and the function is the dao! After that, the Human King Consort gave up her sword..."

"That's right, sword dao is sword dao, but it is also not sword dao." Li Hao blinked, then nodded to himself. "When all daos are one, there is no standalone sword dao. The sword is the form, but the essence is the dao.

"As I thought! The new dao has something to do with the Sword Sovereign. All daos come together as one and assemble as a sword only because he is accustomed to the sword. What a pity, what an enormous pity!"

What was a pity?

The sword tree and others were entirely confused.

"You guys don't understand..." Li Hao murmured. "If... if the Sword Sovereign had a bit more time, he might've truly become the real master of a world, the master of a great dao! He would have truly rivaled the Human King and others, possibly even surpass them! What a pity... the Sword Sovereign possibly knew what was in store, but he couldn't bear to separate himself from New Martial..."

Li Hao was beginning to understand. The Sword Sovereign might have already discovered a way to develop the new dao universe, but that method involved cutting themselves off from New Martial!

He had no choice in the matter!

The sword tree, seal, and stone looked at each other. Truth be told, they believed that the Sword Sovereign was incomparably strong and could even stand against the supreme. But to match or even surpass the Human King?

Even fervent followers such as them didn't dare think of this notion!

Was Li Hao just... currying favor with them?

"I wondered why the heavenly will, dao meridians, and river of stars were swords! That's because they were born of the Sword Sovereign's will! The sword is the form, so why can't it be the sword?" Li Hao had contemplated such guesses before. They were confirmed today!

The three in front of him were dazed with incomprehension. They'd wanted to explain things to the young man, but as of now, they'd neither said anything nor had he asked anything. It was more like he'd explained the situation to them and the key was, they didn't understand a lot of what he spoke of!

"There are two undertakings at play in Silver Moon world. The first is of the Sword Sovereign comprehending dao, the second is the Exalted Blood Emperor resurrecting a cat! These two endeavors don't interfere with each other, but the arrival of Red Moon ruined their plans. It caused both ventures to fail!

"Red Moon universe was such an unmitigated disaster!" Li Hao seemed to be quite regretful. "Otherwise, the day the Sword Sovereign finished comprehending his dao and opened the dao universe would likely mean the success of the Exalted Blood Emperor's plan as well. Both parties would be satisfied and everything would be complete!"

But sadly, the invasion of Red Moon universe caused the efforts of these two premier powerhouses to go to waste! Even Li Hao felt that pity on their behalf!

Although he'd benefited heavily from becoming master of the dao universe, the young man felt that if it'd been the Sword Sovereign to complete its development, things might be more interesting. The two of them might have peacefully coexisted together, since the Sword Sovereign wanted to create his own dao universe and not possess one that was born naturally.

But having reached his heights in knowledge, perhaps he had indeed developed his own new dao universe in these years. Who knew?

"To the Red Moon exalted emperor, Ying Hongyue is just a pawn to infiltrate Silver Moon with! To Li Daoheng, he is a pawn to weaken the exalted emperor and to seize the Exalted Blood Emperor's blade with. Then what role does Zheng Yu play in all of this?"

His mind returned to the folk song, the one in which the Zheng young master was a troublemaker...

If this song was of Li Daoheng's creation, then this lyric wouldn't have been written just to take up space. This was precisely what he meant, so who had Zheng Yu caused trouble for?

The eight families? Li Daoheng? Or someone else?

The more one came in contact with the half step emperor Zheng Yu, the more one would think of him as a fool! But could a fool easily become a half step emperor? Even now, he had a stable faction behind his back. Or had it never been in trouble to begin with?

He'd even been secretly sheltering Ying Hongyue and permitting the man to run wild. He knew about the blade beneath the Tranquil Star ruins, yet still allowed Ying Hongyue to do as he wished. The Celestial Sword Immortal had been able to save Ying Hongyue because Zheng Yu had sat back and watched!

Perhaps he'd known a long time ago that the Celestial Sword Immortal was Ying Hongyue!

"Although I've seen through a lot, everything seems to be getting more interesting," Li Hao grinned. "I'd like to know who the Zheng young master is trouble for!"

"Li Hao... what... what are you talking about?" blurted out the sword tree. It couldn't contain itself anymore.

Li Hao came back to his senses and awoke from his reverie of deductions. "Sword City is a good place. I've found a lot of answers to questions I had before, my thanks!"

"......"Aw, to hell with you! We didn't say anything at all!

"What did Li Daoheng leave behind?" Li Hao laughed. "It's certainly giving you guys a hard time."

"......" The sword tree didn't want to say anything before.

"How do you know there's something here? We didn't say anything," the stone picked up the line of conversation in a muffled voice.

"Li Daoheng should be aware of your existence, he's just permitting you to live," Li Hao explained. "The three of you are very important. One is a tree that Li Daoheng cultivated under, the other should be a whetstone for swords, and the third is the city lord seal.

"He needs you guys to sharpen his sword for him! You three have probably been attacking what he's left behind all these years—you're actually honing his weapon! In fact, the three of you are the perfect combination to put an edge on a blade. Even a Saint-level weapon will have a chance of becoming an emperor-level weapon if you three sharpen it for one hundred thousand years!"

"......" The trio couldn't accept this line of thinking!

"Utter bullshit!" raged the sword tree. "He can't have possibly discovered our existence! In his eyes, the sword stone is an inanimate object, the city lord seal is broken, my great dao is severed... There's no way for us to revive!"

It could not accept Li Hao's latest theory, that they'd honed a sword for Li Daoheng for one hundred thousand years. That was impossible!

"Let me think about it..." Li Hao said softly. "Li Daoheng may not want to use someone else's sword. Perhaps he's hidden one of his own here. The three of you are sharpening his sword, the personal sword of his primary body!

"It might have been an Empyrean King sword at first, but after you guys have tempered and honed his sword for one hundred thousand years... Once it swallows the eight heritage weapons and eight main cities, not only will he himself be unparalleled, but so will his weapon!

"Therefore, the three of you should've been fighting a sword all these years!"

"......" The three didn't say a word; the sword tree's shadow swayed dangerously and even showed signs of fading away. Clearly, Li Hao had guessed correctly!

The young man hadn't even needed to guess. The moment he saw these three, he felt that they were the perfect combination to polish a sword with.

If Li Daoheng wasn't skilled at forging items or felt that his personal sword was too standard, then these three powerhouses were a match made in heaven for his purpose! They could refine his sword through natural processes as they were not humans. Born and nurtured of the world, basking in the sword intent of the Sword Sovereign... Even Li Hao would find it a pity to not use these existences to temper a sword!

Granted, this was a very damaging fact to reveal, but it was the truth nonetheless.

How else would the entire city be dead but these three? Did they think that Li Daoheng was blind?

"So what kind of place is suited for honing a sword..." Li Hao's thoughts flew rapidly. "The Sword Sovereign's residence, the place where he comprehended great dao! Li Daoheng's personal sword is probably located there.

"That is a place that leads straight to the heart of Sword City. There is no other place that is more suited for tempering his weapon! Therefore, there must be a residence for the Sword Sovereign in the city, there must be! It might not exist on the surface, but on a deeper level. The three of you must know!

"Also, with the influence of the Sword Sovereign's sword intent in the surroundings... Heavens above, if this sword devours Sword City when it emerges in the world, it will be much stronger than Stellaris!"

"......" A foreboding quiet had descended. The trio's dao hearts seemed to be collapsing; they could not extract themselves from the emotional turmoil. The stone was splitting apart, cracks crawled over the city lord seal, and the sword tree's stump vibrated.

Li Hao's words stabbed them deeply!

We've struggled with all our might for the past one hundred thousand years, but you tell us we were working for our greatest enemy to forge the world's best sword for him!

And the key was, if Li Hao wasn't related to Li Daoheng and all of this was speculation, that meant the human in front of them had seen through everything with a few looks. Meanwhile, they'd proceeded with absolute ignorance and helped the enemy for one hundred thousand years!

All this time, they felt that they could ruin all of Li Daoheng's plans. They felt that the hefty price they paid was to weaken and kill Li Daoheng...

But Li Hao was here to tell them that those notions were utter nonsense!

How could their dao hearts not break from that revelation?

Sword intent dispersed and the three heavily injured Saints threatened to fade out of existence. Their faith was collapsing, the pillar of confidence that'd enabled them to fight for one hundred thousand years was toppling over.

Li Hao sighed. He could've refrained from saying all that, but they would've learned of the truth sooner or later. Actually finishing the sword for Li Daoheng would've created even more dire consequences.

He breathed out gently and boomed with the note of great dao, "The three of you are loyal and steadfast! Cultivation of dao is to cultivate the heart. As swordsmen, you must have a tenacious heart! These are just some trials and hardships, spring lies ahead once you pass through them!

"The enemy's plan is not yet complete. If you are able to destroy it, seize his sword, and attack him with it, then he will be caught in his own trap!

"At the moment, his sword is still by his side, so the one you have honed for one hundred thousand years may not be his! For the three of you to destabilize one hundred thousand years of faith over a sword with an unknown owner... the Sword Sovereign would be disappointed if he learned of this!"

The note of great dao reverberated in the surroundings!

The three jerked awake and the sword tree murmured, "That's true... If what you say is true, then this sword has not yet been completed! It does not belong to Li Daoheng yet, so we can seize it and make him suffer a double loss!

"How do we seize the sword?!"

"......" Li Hao nearly rolled his eyes. "I don't know where it is or what the situation is. I don't know anything, yet you guys are asking me? Shouldn't I be the one asking you? Where's the residence of the Sword Sovereign? Where is the sword? What cultivation level is it? Is there a soul in it?"

"Did you... really guess all this just from a simple conversation with us?" the sword tree asked ruefully.

"No, it's because I'm currently living through all of this. I know much that you don't know! The critical clues that you've provided have helped verify some of my old speculations. Does that make it clear?"

Alright then! Although it was still a devastating blow to the ego, at least this explanation made the bitter pill easier to swallow.