Star Gate

Inside the research center.

Li Hao and the others didn’t say anything after Vice Head Qi chose to capitulate. Li Hao used supernatural characters to seal off the divine corpse and left the research center with it and the vice head.

They could come back for the items in the warehouses later. All of Skystar City was Li Hao’s these days.

The two from the Yun family were still waiting outside, but Li Hao didn’t say a word to them. The rest who’d gone into the ruins thought he was irritated by Yuming, that maybe he felt Yuming had deceived him.

Yuming started and stopped with a few words a few times—Li Hao ignored him. He wasn’t mad about that matter. He wasn’t even mad.

The young man was turning over something in his mind. Mental reincarnation required a body. Where had Hong Tu’s body come from? Or had he resurrected as a baby? Was his method an unconventional kind of reincarnation, or was his a standard one like Vice Head Qi’s?

Could mental strength fully meld with its new body to the point of preventing substantial loss in strength? Director General Wang wanted a body of the new age now, what should Li Hao do? Create one out of thin air?

Could he create the extraordinarily strong human body? It was so complicated with endless supernatural locks, how was he supposed to create it?

So many thoughts ran through his mind that Li Hao felt if he could create a human body, then he would be establishing a new age all by himself! A new dao, even!

Humans of this age were born with a countless number of dao meridians that made it impossible to imitate. But… if a myriad of daos was difficult to copy, what about one big one? What if only one supernatural character was needed, such as the one that he saw in the divine corpse!

Could one great dao be cultivated to an extremity of achievement?

Li Hao sank into deep contemplation. There were countless dao meridians in the human body; he considered all of them as meridians of great dao and thus, necessary for cultivation. They’d managed to select their thirty-six for current needs, but even creating a body with thirty-six meridians was very difficult.

Could a cultivator just utilize one meridian to the very end? What heights could they reach, what cultivation level? One dao meridian was too weak!

Why are divine spirits so strong? That was the body of a Saint!

Could it be… that the great dao could be cultivated in more ways than what he’d said?

Off to the side, Yuan Shuo saw his disciple’s expression scrunched up in deep thought. He could tell that Li Hao wasn’t angry about Yuming or Vice Head Qi. This student of his was sometimes very petty, but this was clearly not one of those occasions.

“What’s wrong?” he had to ask since even Director General Wang was too embarrassed to say anything.

“Teacher.” Li Hao jerked out of his reverie. “Isn’t one dao meridian the strength of just one dao at its peak? It’s one meridian. The cultivator shouldn’t be stronger than Apex no matter how strong it gets.”

Yuan Shuo blinked and looked at his student. He didn’t probe the divine corpse. “Not necessarily! There are differences in strength when it comes to dao meridians. The one we just discovered, for example. Is it the same level of strength compared to a dao meridian that has been fully saturated?

“Dao meridians are certain to be strong at the end. If they keep growing, they will eventually be so strong that the body can’t bear it!”

Li Hao blinked.

“Also, dao meridians proudly soar through the Hao Cosmos and void universe to devour the force of dao,” Yuan Shuo continued. “They most certainly can keep growing or even devour other dao meridians! You know the Breathing Method of the Five Styles as well. Isn’t it five meridians as one in the end?”

Li Hao blinked again.

“Do you want to ask if just one meridian can lead one to the Saint or Empyrean King levels at its peak? I don’t know, but it’s not out of the question! It’s just that it’s too difficult to rely on one dao meridian to reach those heights!

“The excavation of one dao meridian is a problem. That easily leads to the body’s collapse. And another is the concept of ultimate strength. What is the ultimate? With that, the problems are apparent…”

“No no no, teacher.” Li Hao shook his head. “Did you just say that dao meridians can swallow other dao meridians?”

“Of course!” Yuan Shuo blinked. “Or we can also say that they can fuse together. Is there a problem with that?”

Li Hao looked around blankly. No, there wasn’t. He knew that was a possibility. Therefore… problems might arise from the supernatural domain having a different kind of cultivation system.

“Teacher, everyone has their preferred aura and supernatural ability,” Li Hao murmured. “Not everyone is like me and able to utilize everything. Based off our simulations, everyone will be able to do everything in the end!

“But… this disregards everyone’s strong suits. Some are skilled at the sword, others are skilled at the fist. If people cultivate everything like we do, everyone will learn everything. That also means a loss of personal advantage!”

“It will indeed homogenize cultivators, but everyone will be strong.”

“No no no, how can we lose what makes us special?” A light flickered in Li Hao’s eyes. “Teacher, all daos are the same path! We can walk the path that suits us the most, excavate all of the dao meridians, then choose one that is best for us as the main dao meridian. That one can devour the others to accomplish the state of all paths leading to the same end!

“Yes, that’s right!” The young man’s glance snapped to the divine corpse. “He might not only have this one dao meridian, but that his others have been integrated into this one! He’s skilled at the earth attribute, but that doesn’t mean he only has this attribute to call upon! Using his other meridians to strengthen one dao meridian… is also a kind of ability!

“Yeah, that’s absolutely right!” he suddenly burst into joy. “Supernatural abilities should not be cultivated in the way that I’ve mentioned. Or rather, I should say that not everyone is suited for that kind of cultivation style. It’s the exclusive domain of premier geniuses and powerhouses!

“Otherwise, everyone would practice countless auras and supernatural abilities. Cultivators can’t proceed down that path indefinitely. Only combining all paths into one and walking the one most suited for oneself can we bring our dao to the utmost peak!

“At the end, we can even devour the unattributed dao meridians and combine all of the attributed meridians into one. It will be a fused ado!” Li Hao repeated the last to himself. “Yes, a fused dao!

He looked at his teacher with bright eyes. “Teacher, if those of the Sun and Moon level continue in this vein, will they be able to fuse their dao together?”

Yuan Shuo blinked. Fuse their dao?

“I’m referring to what you said about the Five Styles fusing their dao together! Even if it’s fusing spirits together… only then can people continue to walk the path of dao. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to continue!” Li Hao exclaimed. “What does teacher think?”

“You… can do it this way…” Yuan Shuo nodded after some thought. “Not just for supernatural abilities, but for the path of the physical body as well. Both can proceed to fused daos, but… that means everyone will lose all of their other abilities…”

“But they won’t care, teacher!” Li Hao laughed. “Even someone as strong as teacher is only skilled in five elements. Can you cultivate light and dark, wind and thunder, life, ice and snow, and the countless other variants?

“There is a limit to one’s vigor and lifespan. If we are to explore a path, we should go down the one that we’re most adept at!” The young man grew more excited the more he spoke. “Except… when it comes to fusing dao… There’s not much of a problem for unattributed meridians, but will there be a conflict between attributed meridians? The Breathing Method of the Five Styles can prevent the five elements from clashing with each other, so it’s possible. At present, however, it’s difficult to ensure that there is no conflict between other elements…”

Director General Wang’s jaw had sagged long ago. The kid didn’t care about what’d happened in the ruins at all! He was already considering the next step in cultivation!

“Teacher, can an artificially created body travel through the Hao Cosmos?” Li Hao suddenly asked. “Only those who can do that are true bodies. They would be puppets otherwise, right? But how do we create dao meridians out of nothing and send them through the Hao Cosmos?”

Yuan Shuo struggled with a growing migraine. His student was considering subjects that were far too profound! This was creation of life! It truly wasn’t part of his zone of comprehension.

“The Hao Cosmos?” uttered the quiet Vice Head Qi. “Is that another dao universe?”

“Yes!” Li Hao brightened.

“The divine corpse has been pulling strength from a particular place,” Vice Head Qi continued. “Is that the Hao Cosmos you speak of?”

“Yes!”

“Therefore, you wish to create a true physical body that can travel the Hao Cosmos and utilize its energy for cultivation?”

“Yes!”

The vice head seemed to heave a small sigh of relief. “I may be able to offer a word or two on this topic. Of course, I don’t know how correct my thoughts are, but you can give it a try…”

“What do you have in mind?”

“It’s the same theory as core origin creation!” explained the vice head. “And the same as the yin yang resurrection of the main world. In the main world, the primary dao universe is that of core origin. We create a core origin in the dao universe to welcome the core origin of those who have died, then resurrect them to occupy a star in the core origin universe. One can come back to life in this regard, but the caveat is that their core origin must still exist!

“Resurrection is not creating life out of nothing, it requires the collection of the original core origin!” The man looked at Li Hao. “It’s not hard to create the physical body you speak of, but also not as easy as one may think. Can you enter the Hao Cosmos?”

“I can!” The look in Li Hao’s eyes sharpened.

“You can enter the dao universe…” Vice Head Qi exclaimed with astonishment. “Then it’s even easier! The great emperors of old could roam the dao universe—if you can do the same, then the matter is simple. First, you need to find an entrance to the dao universe and create something that can be a medium for the Hao Cosmos. Then, utilize the dao meridians you speak of to provide a path to the one you wish to resurrect…

“A physical body is easy as flesh and blood, life force, and bone structure is easily crafted. The key is mental strength and mental reincarnation. And yet, who doesn’t have a bit of mental strength?

“With that, it only leaves the dao meridians as the problem! These dao meridians you speak of… they should be similar to what we use in core origin dao as a vehicle for the dao, correct?”

Li Hao nodded.

“Then it’s quite straightforward. It’s difficult to create numerous dao meridians, but effortless if you create only one. Use the core origin dao as a substitute—which is to say, shift core origin dao into the Hao Cosmos. That can be done!

“Since core origin dao can endure the infusion of core origin power, then it can endure the infusion of energy from the Hao Cosmos. Only then will you truly complete the conversion of dao meridians!”

etvolare’s Thoughts

I confess, I got lost for a bit in the mystical gobbledegook.