Star Gate

Li Hao continued to wash away at the stone and intoned, "I want to turn the senior into the cornerstone, which means that the senior must hold on until you resemble flowing water and can span the entire river! This... is only the beginning!"

"AHH!" The anguished scream reverberated once more. It was unknown whether the stone was screaming from the pain or because Li Hao had said that this was only the beginning. It needed to be turned into a pancake, right??

Indeed, the stone had heard correctly. Li Hao wanted to use the river to smack him into a pancake!

"Does it really hurt that much?" the sword tree couldn't help but ask upon seeing the stone in so much pain.

"The senior can stretch out a root and touch the river..." Li Hao suggested.

The tree decided to do just that. It extended a root and snaked toward the river. "Heavens above, this hurts!"

The seal was surprised by the reactions of its two brethren and hesitantly dipped itself in the river. It wanted to spring up with a shriek the next second, but forced its reaction down.

"You... you guys really have no endurance! It's just... it's just a bit of pain... We... have endured the Sword Sovereign's sword intent for... thousands of years... You..."

It left the rest unsaid. The river was too painful! Poor Stone! Were all three of them supposed to stand up against this torment? It'd only touched a bit of the water, but the anguish was unbearable!

Agonized wails filled the void as there was nothing more the stone wanted to do other than die. For it to be suffering so immensely when it was a stone... It was easy to imagine how unbearable the torment was.

Li Hao furrowed his brows. His main purpose in dunking the spirits in the river was for the water to mold them into new shapes for his purpose. He wasn't actually aware of how painful the process was. Was it this unbearable?

A sudden thought struck him and the young man took to the air. He landed in the river, immediately greeted with pain that burrowed into his body. Li Hao grunted, he'd underestimated the force of the river!

Could the stone withstand this abuse if it continued?

Li Hao dove into the river, fully opening himself up to the sensation of the thundering rush of water. It flowed over him like knives, slicing into his body bit by bit instead of delivering mercy with one stroke.

This was actually more painful than experiencing the Eternal Sword intent.

"This is... slightly exceeding my expectations," Li Hao grunted. "It also has to do with how strong the senior is. A force that is too weak will not be able to baptize the senior's body, only in this way..."

The young man paused to take a breath. "Only in this way will we succeed!"

"You... can leave," the stone moaned with agony. "I can do it!"

Li Hao breathed out heavily and quickly responded, "No, I also want to experience the change that results from the river washing over me. This will also ensure that no imbalance in strength develops which will exceed the limits of the senior's tolerance. That will cause the failure of our efforts!

"This is both pain and opportunity! Senior, you are but a stone at the end of the day. You were not born with a spirit, but rather as an ordinary stone. This time, we will cleanse your body of all impurities! This will elevate you to the heights of invincibility!" Li Hao breathed out heavily as he spoke—damn, this hurt!

But... I value my dignity and I can't say anything even if it hurts!

I can scream if there's no one around, but right now, I'm the second Sword Sovereign to these guys. I can't lose face!

To Silver Moon martial masters, our dignity is more than our lives! We can sacrifice our lives, but we must save our dignity!

The stone continued to wail and shriek, but it managed to force out, "Will... this really... make me invincible?"

Li Hao was also trying to distract himself from the baptism of comprehending a myriad of daos. He smiled, though it could be more described as a grimace. "Of course! This is a baptism by a myriad of daos assembled from the core of Silver Moon and all of its denizens...

"It is the equivalent to using the dao universe to forge the senior's foundations! When it is complete, the senior will be a connate stone with a spirit! You will have a world as your foundation and may become the master of a world in the future. Where in the universe would be closed off to you?"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"But... this hurts so much..."

"We have to suffer through trial and hardship to rise above the rest..." Li Hao's voice was beginning to distort from the incredible pain.Fuck, why didn't I feel this before?

Wisps of black dust began to drift out of the massive boulder in the river. The young man hadn't lied to it—being baptized by the power of a myriad daos was an opportunity hard to come by.

The caveat was, one had to survive this great stroke of fortune!

It was clear just how formidable the river was since it could wash away even the blood essence of an exalted emperor.

As the stone's shrieks began to fade away, Li Hao suddenly called out, "Senior Stone, do you know that I once controlled time?"

"W-what..."

"I once saw the future in the dao universe..."

"What..."

"In the future, there is a rock that suppresses an entire world! The world crumbles when it comes down upon it. I can see the future and how there is a Stone Sovereign in the future. He reigns invincible through the chaos and does as he wishes in the chaos universe!

"Now that I think about it... the stone... seems a bit similar to the senior?"

"Real... really?"

"Really!" Li Hao burst out laughing, but in a grim fashion. "I saw that stone break Red Moon universe in one blow! I saw it suppress multiple worlds! I saw the stone hew its own universe and create its own world! It was incredible!

"I wondered where such a future would come from—there is no stone spirit in Silver Moon, so that made the future false! It wasn't until I saw the senior that I began to ponder if it was true. Will the senior be that dominating in the future?"

"Is the stone really that strong?" shrieked in the boulder in the river. "Was it stronger than the Sword Sovereign?"

"A bit stronger..."

"You lie to me..."

"I do not! The Sword Sovereign may not be within my range of observation... If I'm to look at it now... it is a bit stronger... but the Sword Sovereign will also grow stronger!"

"......" As human and stone conversed, Li Hao began to spin his web of lies to fashion a pretty story for the stone.

"It's just... I didn't understand it before, but now I do..." He didn't limit his efforts to just the stone. "I saw a tree in the middle of the stone, but didn't see Senior Sword Seal... Perhaps the senior was already inside the stone, crafting your world!"

Outside, the sword tree and sword seal looked at each other. Was that true or not?

Just us three can smash through Red Moon universe with one thrown rock? Who are you trying to fool?

"I'll show you if you don't believe me!" Li Hao roared with laughter. "Take a look... Watch me... extend time... into the future... and collect the fruit of the future!"

The power of time suddenly surged through the river!

Li Hao reached out with a hand—it was like he fought the world with his actions. The world trembled with a roar and the river shook. The future really did seem to extend from another world in the next moment!

A massive boulder smashed through a red moon!

"Is this the future??" gasped the three spirits. They could vaguely make out a tree on top of the stone! Amazing!

Bam!

The illusion broke apart, leaving Li Hao incredibly weak. "I told you... that you would succeed! Did you see that, Senior Stone?"

"I... did! Hahaha!!" The boulder in the river erupted with resplendent light, turning into liquid in the blink of an eye! "I will be invincible in the future! Li Hao... I will build my cornerstone of invincibility today!"

Rumble!

The boulder flowed through the river, seeming to become one with the waters. The stone was still yelling with great excitement.

Did it matter if it was real or fake? The three spirits may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but they weren't truly idiots. Could Li Hao really peek into the future?

No matter whether they believed him or not, to see was to pretend to be real.I believe it!

The tree and seal were hollering with excitement as well, as if celebrating that they should still be a trio in the future and be invincible!

Li Hao smiled faintly. Did they believe him?

I don't know, but no matter what, we're all still fighting, right?

The river shook with the stone's outburst of desire for survival. Drops of stone liquid melded into the river and gradually encompassed the entire river.

"This is... just a small pain..." The stone's particularly weak voice continued to travel back to them. "How are we... to grow stronger... if we do not... suffer through hardships? I am the Stone Sovereign, the one who rampages through the chaos!"

"Senior Sword Tree, please take root in the river!" Li Hao called out upon seeing that the stone was holding its own, for now.

The sword tree promptly manifested its primary body, extending thousands of roots toward the river. The immense pain that shocked its system made it tremble violently down to every single root hair.

Li Hao abruptly flared with a powerful sword intent that sought to rip through the firmament!

"Today, I craft a mental sea to encompass my Hao Moon Sword!" he said softly. "I am certain to open the Star Gate and set foot into the chaos. My sword will pierce the firmament! After today, this weapon will no longer be known as Stellaris, but the Firmament Sword!"

Boom!

The world trembled and the universe shook.

From henceforth, I no longer wield a sword of the stars. The one in my hand exists to pierce through the firmament!

The firmament ripped apart! A dao universe seemed to be in front of them, but it hovered in and out of sight as the final barrier had not been pierced!

"Take root in the barrier, Senior Sword Seal!" shouted Li Hao. "Encompass the four directions and seal off the world. Just leave... a passageway for one root hair..."

The sword seal transformed into a massive seal that suppressed the world on all sides, including the river. In return, the waters of the river sloshed around the seal and began washing away at it too.

All three Saints howled with agony!

"This hurts!!"

It was a pain that tore at their souls, relentless and unstopping. It was a pain they'd never felt before, but they didn't break from it because they'd endured the Sword Sovereign's sword intent for thousands of years.

That was their greatest source of confidence and assurance!

Only they could encompass the long river. No one else could.