Star Gate

Chapter 974: The Way Forward Is Beneath Your Feet (IV)

“That’s the ticket!” affirmed a gleeful Sky Sword. “Knowing that there’s a path ahead of us is the key! Just like before, it was painful to hold on when there was no future after Dominator. But if a wide open road stretches on to the horizon, then there is hope no matter how difficult things may be!”

Everyone nodded.

Yuan Shuo had been studying something for a while when he suddenly said, “We can minimize the required scope. I’ve just tried several different configurations and think that we might be able to narrow it down to 36 locks or even fewer. A simple excavation of those locks will equip one with sufficient battle strength...

“We shouldn’t openly share all of the information we have! It will be motivation to some and despair to others. Too much will make the future impossible to attain for them... I think that we should publicize these 36 at most. Once all of them are fully open, then a cultivator will be at the Apex level of our age based on what the seniors say!”

His words made sense to the crowd. They were the geniuses of this era, but they also felt despair when they heard the number of 360 locks. And that was just an outline! Who knew how many locks there were in total? Opening 36 of them represented peak battle strength in this time period. Of course, there was a high difficulty involved in that task as well.

“‘Additionally, it’s very easy to excavate the unattributed locks,” Yuan Shuo continued. “We can even force them open through sheer force—there’s no need to comprehend anything. It’s a cultivation path for the simpleminded and thus, much easier. In this age of burgeoning energy, perhaps we’ll soon see heavyweights with the battle strength of Apexes!”

The rest of the group flicked glances at him—who are you subtly insulting? We won’t be opening those locks! We want to open the attributed ones!

“There’s an inherent difficulty with selecting the right 36 locks that will complete a perfect circulation.” Li Hao furrowed his brows. “That’s one aspect. The other is that these unattributed locks cannot coalesce supernatural characters. How to seal off the major portion and open a minor portion is a good question... I’ll need a very reliable method to resolve this problem.”

“The Five Styles may be able to do that.” Yuan Shuo nodded.

Li Hao looked at his teacher.

“What are you looking at?” Yuan Shuo smiled. “If it does work, our Five Styles will be the Myriad Styles in the future. Just a mere five would be behind the times!”

“......” Li Hao had voiced similar sentiments before, but it’d drawn his teacher’s ire.

“Therefore, there are indeed inherent difficulties with what we’ve proposed,” Yuan Shuo continued. “First, we need to locate all of the supernatural locks. Second, we need to study the corresponding circulation of different locks and the appropriate secret arts to open them. Just one may not be enough. Third, we will explore different kinds of secret arts—it’s best if there’s one that can be applied to all supernatural locks. Fourth, all of that was just for unattributed locks. Those with elemental attributes need to be researched in a different vein as well...”

The group blinked at his words, then inhaled deeply and turned to Li Hao. You do it, we can’t!

Li Hao’s head hurt so much that his teeth ached. This level of difficulty... he might as well spend the rest of his life researching cultivation methods!

All they had at the moment was an outline. Dreams were beautiful, but it would take a very long time to complete the new cultivation system.

“Also, if what we are studying is true, then the entire martial dao system that we utilize at present needs to be overthrown,” Yuan Shuo continued. “The system generally regarded by everyone as the right way isn’t suited for these new ideas.”

The crowd blinked again, then stirred with excitement. A brand new cultivation system! This was a feat that would see all of them leave their marks in history. Future descendants would know each and every one of their names!

Was this possible?

Even Li Hao was lost in thought. Completely overhauling the present cultivation system and rebuilding it?

“Whether it’s unattributed supernatural locks or ones with elemental attributes, the level of difficulty between them isn’t that great. Granted, the attributed ones will be slightly harder. However, they do not differ much in terms of battle strength.

“That is sufficient for a basis by which to rebuild the cultivation system,” Yuan Shuo said. “System, cultivation levels, methods, secret arts, and a map of all of the supernatural locks... These are thorny problems. We are just at the beginning and might need endless years to complete this system!”

“If you lock me in a room for a few decades...” Li Hao murmured. “That ought to do the trick, right?’

“......” Everyone looked at him. Do you want to give it a try?

Off to the side, the Black Armor looked silently at the dots of light and the sword outline. Why don’t I... swap out for the body of a modern human? Since we can’t go home, why don’t I stay here and carve out a place for myself?

He looked at Director General Wang—the man was scratching at himself. He seemed to want to scratch a lock into existence. Too bad he didn’t have any since he’d rebuilt his physical body according to the standards of New Martial.

Not too far away, Panther was also scratching at its body. The plant spirits stirred hopefully—do we have supernatural locks too? It’s fine if we don’t, can we somehow create them in our bodies? It... sounds nice to experience the new dao in an era devoid of core origin.

The first group of people to walk a new path was sure to be graced with immense favor and opportunity. Of that, everyone was well aware.

Li Hao didn’t pay attention to any of this; he didn’t have the bandwidth to consider this. “Let’s set all that aside for now and look at the attributed locks. Senior, can you hide all of the unattributed locks? Everyone, manifest the attributed locks. Let’s see if there’s anything different about them. Do they still form a sword?”

The group shook from the implications, their spirits soaring. The attributed locks must be stronger and have greater potential to them!

A new round of experimentation began.

On this day, the martial masters in the ruins welcomed hope and light. They glimpsed a chance of catching up to New Martial and possibly eclipsing that illustrious age. Even though that hope was pathetically small, it was such an exhilarating and energizing development to have a future in this age!

They were no longer haphazardly smashing supernatural locks, no longer floundering in the dark for their next steps. No matter how perilous the way ahead was, an unlimited future stretched on ahead of them!

The group basked in bliss and elation. Caught in euphoria, no one paused to consider whether the new year had arrived in the outside world. For a split second, all of them wanted to just ignore the outside!

We have this huge mine at our disposal and see the way forward. Let’s just stay here in closed door cultivation. We might be premier heavyweights after ten years! Ruling the world is nowhere as fun as cultivation!

......

Lin Hongyu was quite lost when she reported to work at Skystar City the next day. Where was everyone? She strongly suspected that the Silver Moon martial masters and Li Hao had run off.

Indeed, there was no sign to be seen of Silver Moon martial masters.

Aren’t I here to be the city lord? But... where should I go?

She couldn’t find Li Hao anywhere, or any of his comrades. She was the strongest in the vast capital city and most critically, no one she asked knew where Li Hao and the rest had gone off to.

......

The Skystar Commander Office.

Liu Long could be found here. Although Lin Hongyu had officially started her duties with no one to welcome her, he knew what proper business should be conducted. There were still people running the show at the Skystar Commander Office, it was just that Deputy Zhou was very busy lately.

There was nothing for it but for Liu Long to assume the responsibilities of others and personally take Lin Hongyu around, introducing her to those in charge of other areas. It was only now that the various institutions of Skystar City learned that Lin Hongyu of City of Supernaturals had come to take over the capital city.

Li Hao and those usually associated with him were nowhere to be found. It was... There was nothing they could say about that.

Lin Hongyu immediately felt pressure bearing down on her from all sides as soon as she assumed her duties. Endless tasks were piled onto her and she had to oversee countless matters. And yet, everyone had somehow disappeared. Hong Yitang didn’t even show himself for the opening ceremony of the Skystar Martial Academy! That was a very important occasion!

He didn’t neglect it on purpose, he’d originally gone to the ruins just to broaden his worldview, but found himself enthralled by what they were studying. He completely forgot about something as mundane as the first day of school.

Thankfully, Lin Hongyu was here. Adding Deputy Zhou and a few others to the mix meant that the turnout was decent. Those present for opening day furiously cursed those who were away. What could be so important that they missed even this momentous occasion? Each of them was more preposterous than the rest!

Even if they were in closed door cultivation, they couldn’t all do so at the same time right now! There was work to be done in the world!

......

At the same time, underground.

A group of people toiled tirelessly in either work or discussion. No one was sitting around idle; everyone was very busy. They were so busy that they’d completely forgotten about matters in the outside world. They were setting down the foundations of martial dao!

Every day was spent in further organizing the cultivation realms of the new martial dao, outlining the basics, and confirming the path ahead.

This was the sign of a new age.

Yuan Shuo’s eyes were bloodshot as he took a large gulp of Water of Life to steady himself. He breathed out heavily and said, “We have the fundamentals of martial dao—or rather, the new martial dao!”

The group listened intently.

“The names of Slayer, Sunderer, and Dominator can remain. They’re more straightforward and will help more people understand martial dao. Completely new names might result in some rejection as some might find the new dao less than the old dao.

“We’ll set aside the path of supernatural characters for now and focus on the unattributed locks.

“Slayer used to be denoted by the appearance of internal force. As for why there was internal force within our bodies, how it was made, and from where it came from... we didn’t know it before, but now I think we do!” Yuan Shuo smiled.

“The internal force that denotes the Slayer of Tens level comes from the process of opening one’s supernatural locks! Or rather, dao meridians are what they’re called now. Each lock can be partitioned into ten sections that we’ll call acupoints. Clearing one acupoint connects one directly to the Hao Cosmos and permits the body to extract energy. That is internal force, which is the start of Slayer of Tens.”

Nods abounded within the crowd. All of them had known the what, but not the hows before. Why did the body create internal force? No one knew. It was a natural byproduct of cultivation, what a silly question that was!