Spring Autumn could no longer contain herself and called out shrilly, “Li Hao, my race has short lifespans and insufficient intelligence. How am I supposed to change that??”
She’d lived for many years and Li Hao was very young, yet she was turning to him in her pursuit of dao.
My race has a very short lifespan of only a few months. How am I to have them develop intelligence in such a short period of time?
That wasn’t a simple matter of life force. It might be a harder task to accomplish than seizing the origin of the chaos.
Spring Autumn’s presence grew more formidable.
“The key to intelligence is in civilization!” came Li Hao’s voice. “Your race is without civilization. Civilization is composed of writing, culture, education, systems, politics, and... faith!
“When I speak of faith, I do not mean of the divine kind!” Li Hao smashed through thunder and lightning when he struck with his sword. His movements were crisp and decisive, and there was no return when his sword was deployed. “Winter cicadas have a short lifespan, a limited vision, nonexistent civilization, nonexistent systems, and an inferiority of intelligence...”
Inferior intelligence?!
Now you’re just insulting me.
You have inferior intelligence!
Fine. Spring Autumn wilted. Maybe that’s my kind.
Monster spirits were of inferior intelligence to humans. Perhaps to humans, only they possessed intelligence. Spring Autumn wanted to fly into a rage, but there was no place for her to vent her spleen.
“Today, your thousands of replicas have strong bodies and sufficient spirit,” said Li Hao. “If you can retain most of your replicas in this battle and nurture them further, you can educate them to become the sparks of intelligence!
“You are connected to all of your replicas, so you can turn them into your people. One monster spirit can create an entire race by herself if you do not think of the cost or consequences. Perfect your civilization, systems, and culture. It’s only a matter of time then that the Spring Autumn Cicadas rise in the chaos!”
The little girl gaped. What? Use my replicas as the spark through which to perpetuate civilization?
Um...
“My replicas are me!” she couldn’t help but say. “If I become my race, won’t I be like that pervert from Myriad Realms?”
“......” The Myriad Realm cultivators that were part of the new world all looked at the little girl among them. She... and Spring Autumn were both little girls.
So are you guys all destined to become perverts? Is Li Hao a pervert? Does he want Spring Autumn’s replicas to populate an entire race by herself? Then doesn’t she have to do that with herself and give birth to more?
“And what’s so bad about that?” Lan Tian laughed hauntingly.
“That’s not what I mean,” said Li Hao. “Spring Autumn, the replicas are not you. The withering and flourishing of the seasons is without memory, spirit, or bloodline. When a tree scatters its seeds, it. gives rise to a forest!
“Even a human needs to bear a child before ninth ranks come to be. Everything stems from the mother. If your race traces the past, then you might find that all of you were created by one or even two Spring Autumn Cicadas!”
“Li Hao!” raged Calamity as he flared with power. How dare you be so flippant when you fight me?! You’re too cocky!
Li Hao brandished his sword, admonishing his opponent with the roar of a tiger and the descent of heavenly will. “This has nothing to do with you! Shut up!”
“......” Calamity brooded! You go too far and think too little of me!
He summoned endless dao strength with an infuriated howl. The power of fate materialized as well. It took only one look from the man to result in thunderclouds gathering over Li Hao!
There was only unbounded darkness in Calamity’s eyes. His eyes widened and joy filled his heart after he read the young man’s future. This was... a path that led to death!
Li Hao’s future was that of endless darkness, a plunge into hell.
Calamity was greatly reassured!
He then looked at Skyward, finding that the man’s future was a magnificent, unbounded road paved with gold. Calamity sighed with immense despair, but was reassured again when he looked back at Li Hao.
The young man was destined to die in the future!
Heaven and earth abruptly reversed. Their strength was in concert, as was their great dao. Despair matched calamity, but abruptly became a surge of strength that overturned everything!
Dao strength streamed toward Li Hao. He laughed and dismissed his longsword, turning it into a massive dragon that devoured all of the dao strength.
Calamity was yet to collect his senses when the giant dragon disappeared and turned into a doorway. Stars sparkled in the doorframe!
It swung open, leading to a fathomless abyss.
“I welcome Calamity to enter my Heart Gate and observe my aura!” Li Hao laughed merrily.
Despair exploded. Countless people wailed, shouted, and a surge of heavenly will ignited!
“We don’t want Calamity!” That was the voices of billions upon billions of beings. This door seemed to lead straight to their hearts and the desire buried deepest within their beings.
What do you want?
We want an end to disaster and catastrophe!
Li Hao had been blanketed by despair moments ago, but once he set foot through the door, he erupted with pure, scintillating light. The power of calamity retreated like a black tide after a loud bang!
Calamity himself backed away, incredulity bright in his eyes. “What is that??’
“The Heart Gate!” Li Hao smiled. “The door of the heart, the gate at the bottom of our hearts! The countless beings of the chaos do not like you. Those who attain dao have the help of many. Those who lose dao are shunned!
“Someone who brings about disaster is destined to not be welcomed anywhere. Despair is the surface, the Heart Gate is the inner!”
Calamity jolted with shock! This door could devour his dao strength and erode his power.
However, he quickly recovered and sneered, “There are trials and hardships everywhere in the chaos! Li Hao, you are destined to be unable to handle it when catastrophe descends today!”
“Is that so?”
Time suddenly reversed!
Calamity’s jaw slackened as Li Hao disappeared and the power of time came over him.
“Wasn’t time detonated?!” he roared with incredulity.
“It was!” Li Hao’s voice sounded by his ear. “War’s time blew up and I’m not utilizing time... Calamity, time is both dao and not dao! Time is nature, all things are nature, the myriad of daos is natural...”
“You talk too much!” snarled Calamity as he summoned his strength again. I don’t need you to teach the great dao to me! I’m not interested in anything you say!
He only knew that Li Hao had somehow become a very thorny and difficult opponent. The kid was incredibly young, but also seemed like a monster spirit a million years old.
He had so many tricks up his sleeve!
The power of despair, the strength of the Heart Gate, and now the power of time continuously struck at Calamity!
How was this happening??
He’d recovered to prime condition and even surpassed his peak strength. The current him would be a premier powerhouse even a million years ago. He might only be a bit weaker than Skyward.
Li Hao was so young, but why was he so strong?
Was he a ninth rank or not?
A dao with spirit was the dao of a ninth rank, so that might make him one. And yet, Li Hao’s dao rules were different from that of others, so not even Calamity could determine if he counted as a ninth rank or not.
To think of the devil was to speak of him, Li Hao reappeared!
Calamity jerked with shock. He’d thought that Li Hao was using a dao method similar to spatial techniques since the young man’s voice kept drifting through the area. But instead... he was in Calamity’s heart!
It was an utterly flabbergasting and inconceivable development.
I am a ninth rank powerhouse, Li Hao couldn’t have possibly broken my defenses so soundlessly and entered the depths of my heart. This isn’t possible. It’s all an illusion!
Nearby.
Skyward looked over, also deep in thought. Someone seemed to have appeared in his heart—Li Hao. The young man had pushed open a door that led straight to the depths of Calamity’s heart. That sent the man into a panic!
He wasn’t afraid of a strong opponent, but such uncanny methods could absolutely dismantle him.
“Impossible!” His heart pounded furiously, feeling like it would explode. That would do nothing to a powerhouse like him. He could sense Li Hao entering his heart and turning it into a battlefield.
Bam!
A doorframe collapsed after a loud collision. Li Hao vanished. Calamity coughed up blood!
A smear of white flashed in front of him. Calamity lifted his head to see that Li Hao seemed to have never shifted from his position. Or was it that the young man had just returned?
Li Hao wielded his longsword, laughing, “You said so yourself that it was all an illusion, so why blow up your own heart?”
Calamity’s eyes widened. No way, that really was an illusion?? I’m a ninth rank, how can he cause a delusion in me?
“Calamity, you have too many skeletons in your closet!” Skyward suddenly said. “You need to concentrate in battle instead of being so paranoid. You should have thrown everything away at your level and suffer from no interference. Why are you so easily affected?”
Calamity’s heart missed a beat. Skeletons in his closet!
“Skyward, people like you who run their mouths in another person’s fight would’ve died a thousand times over in Silver Moon!” Li Hao tilted his head with a smirk. “When Silver Moon martial masters fight, even a master won’t say a single word if their disciple dies in the field.
“You’re such a dull person. You say one thing but do another, and think a third! If you want to get to the bottom of me, just come at me! Why send Calamity to test me? Whether it’s being a hypocrite or a petty-minded person, at least choose one! You’re loathsome when you’re neither!”
“Then I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong,” chuckled Skyward. “I just wanted to see a more entertaining fight. Calamity’s distracted because you’ve scared him. That makes this battle a bit unfair.”
“Is that all there is to the fairness that you speak of?” Li Hao laughed. “If I am only skilled at the dao of illusion, does that mean all illusions are not fair? Skyward, you seriously need to give the double standards a rest...”
Sword intent rose again!
Calamity dodged with mounting fury. He was being played like a fiddle! It’d simply caused too much wariness when Li Hao’s Heart Gate appeared and melted his power of calamity. Hence, he really thought that Li Hao had somehow burrowed into his heart.
Both time and the Heart Gate really did set himself on edge. And yet, all of this was simply part of the atmosphere that Li Hao had crafted for battle.
This guy had been calculating everything all along, that damned asshole!