Xiang Hao!

"You mean..."

Wang Duanxing's eyes widened bit by bit. He swallowed unconsciously before struggling to force out two words.

"Xiang... Hao!"

Fu Yang nodded helplessly.

"Other than Dean Xiang, who else could it be?"

Even with the answer confirmed, Wang Duanxing still found it hard to believe.

"That shouldn't be possible! How could a heaven-blessed prodigy like Dean Xiang establish the Dao in such a remote place?"

"Who could possibly make sense of something from one hundred and twenty thousand years ago?"

Fu Yang shrugged helplessly and reminded him,

"Why not think about this instead? Dean Xiang Hao had already become a mighty expert back then, so why did he come to such a remote place to handle the Crimson Rainbow Continent and establish the Crimson Rainbow Star Region?"

Wang Duanxing was instantly speechless.

The thoughts of a mighty expert were never something he could fathom, much less Xiang Hao's.

"Then what do we do now?"

Fu Yang turned his gaze toward the window again. Yet now, all he could see was the window; the Chaotic Star Sea beyond it had vanished from view.

"Wait. Since the tribulation waves have already been forcibly interrupted, what comes next is no longer something we can pry into."

Chaotic Star Sea.

Between the Star Belts, two figures floated in the void, their eyes fixed on the hundredth star rising before them.

Cao Ya's face trembled as he could not help saying excitedly,

"Old man, how tall do you think Li Qingshan's Dharma Aspect can become?"

Cao Ding'an lowered his gaze toward the still-rotating nebula.

Clearly, the hundredth star was not the limit.

"I don't know. Maybe... more... than..."

His words slowed more and more until even his open mouth froze completely still.

Beside him, Cao Ya's rosy, plump face had also stiffened, not even his eyelashes trembling.

The starlight that had once flickered endlessly around them seemed to stop breathing, freezing within the void.

It was not only the starlight. The entire Chaotic Star Sea, every interwoven Star Belt, had come to a complete standstill.

It was as if time and space had stagnated.

The rotating nebula had stopped as well.

Li Qingshan slowly raised his head. His gaze swept over the still-rising hundredth star before circling the surrounding starry sky.

"So after the Ninety-Nine-Zhang Dharma Aspect, the Tribulation of Establishing the Dao undergoes another change?"

As he spoke, his gaze shifted above the nebula, where a phantom figure was taking shape.

"Starting from one hundred zhang, one zhang per tribulation?"

Li Qingshan seemed to understand. He rose to his feet, his expression turning grave.

When facing Feng Boyong, with Dharma Aspects of equal height, he had already been unable to kill his opponent in a single strike.

And the figure before him was surely someone who had surpassed Feng Boyong and attained a hundred-zhang Dharma Aspect...

Dean Xiang Hao?

Li Qingshan's eyes flew wide as he stared fixedly at the gradually solidifying figure.

The young man wore black robes that reflected the starlight, somehow making even black look dazzlingly magnificent.

His chin was slightly raised at a forty-five-degree angle, utterly motionless.

Fine, there was no need to study his face closely. That suffocating air of swaggering grandeur alone was enough for Li Qingshan to confirm his identity.

Another dean, and yet another dean!

First Dean Fu Yang, then Dean Ye, and now even Dean Xiang Hao had appeared?

At this moment, Li Qingshan felt completely numb.

Just then,

The projection fully solidified, and Xiang Hao slowly turned his head to look at him.

In an instant, every hair on Li Qingshan's body stood on end.

Those eyes!

Previously, whether it was Feng Boyong, Dean Ye, or the projections of other seniors, their eyes had all been vacant, as though they were machines.

That was how it should have been. They were merely projections across time and space, lingering echoes left behind in the cosmic starry sky.

But now...

Xiang Hao was clearly examining him. There was even a trace of... visible delight in his gaze?

Just as Li Qingshan was horrified and confused,

"Cough, cough!"

The projection... no, Xiang Hao spoke!

"Let me introduce myself first. I am the champion of the Azure Dragon Battle of the Gengmao Era, holder of the honorary title Child of Azure Dragon, bearing the rank of Azure Dragon General, founder of the Crimson Rainbow Federation..."

"Dean...!"

Li Qingshan spoke up to interrupt him. He steadied himself and broke into a smile.

"Dean, I come from Seven Stars Academy. I also witnessed your peerless bearing in the secret order before."

One did not strike a smiling face. Not only did he need to make his identity clear, he also had to show enough respect.

He was not afraid of a projection across time and space, but Xiang Hao before him had clearly exceeded the scope of a projection. He was something entirely beyond Li Qingshan's imagination!

"Hm? You came from the Crimson Rainbow Star Region?"

Xiang Hao raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Not bad, not bad!"

After those two words of praise, the corner of his mouth lowered and his expression became solemn.

"However, there is not much time left."

Li Qingshan's face turned serious as he looked toward the nebula and stared at the hundred stars.

Just as he was about to condense his Dharma Aspect,

"Do not interrupt me again."

Xiang Hao gave him a solemn reminder before speaking once more.

"I am... hm? You should have heard the beginning already, so I'll start from the middle!"

"I am the unparalleled genius of the Four Saints Star System. My fame spread throughout the Ten Fiends Domain and reached all the way into the starry skies of the alien races."

"The alien races feared might but not virtue. They slandered our human race with the name Heavenly Demon, and I too was bestowed the honorific title Hao, listed among the Heavenly Demons with honorific titles..."

His voice drifted farther and farther away. Xiang Hao kept his head tilted at forty-five degrees, a faint smile on his lips as he faded into the starry sky.

The surrounding starry sky remained frozen, and the Cao Family grandfather and grandson were still fixed in place, but the nebula had begun rotating again.

Li Qingshan stood beneath the nebula, his face a mess of bewilderment.

So Dean Xiang Hao had gone to all the trouble of displaying his power just to come out and show off?

Recalling the delight in Xiang Hao's eyes at the beginning, Li Qingshan was no longer sure whether it had been joy at seeing a junior of the human race—or joy at finally getting a chance to show off.

Time passed second by second.

At the center of the vortex,

The one hundred and first star slowly rose!

Li Qingshan lifted his gaze toward the starry sky.

There was no movement whatsoever, nor did any figure appear. After the nebula paused briefly, it resumed spinning.

Immediately afterward,

The one hundred and second, the one hundred and third...

Li Qingshan stared at the utterly silent starry sky, thoughtful.

"Were there no projections, or were they erased by seniors who became mighty experts?"

Given the power Xiang Hao had displayed, Li Qingshan did not doubt that he possessed the strength to erase projections.

Of course, Xiang Hao definitely would not do such a thing, but the other seniors very likely might have.

As he pondered, the panel appeared before his eyes, overlapping with the rotating nebula.

As star after star rose, the experience bar for the "Star River Cosmos Sutra" kept jumping.

At last,

"Star River Cosmos Sutra" 107/108 (Outer Scene) →

"Star River Cosmos Sutra" 108/108 (Dharma Aspect)

The nebula spun at breakneck speed and was rapidly drained dry. The one hundred and eighth star was born.

Li Qingshan smiled faintly. All one hundred and eight stars returned to his body, leaving the space before him utterly empty.

At the same time,

Time and space seemed to begin moving again.

The stalled Star Belts resumed their movement, and starlight filled the heavens with brilliance.

In the distance,

"More than..."

The moment Cao Ding'an's words left his mouth, he suddenly paused. Looking toward the empty void, he asked in confusion,

"It's over? So suddenly? It stopped at one hundred zhang?"

Beside him, Cao Ya's smile stiffened slightly. There was some regret on his face, but he said nothing.

Li Qingshan remained where he was, lost in thought.

"One hundred and eight zhang... What should I do from now on? Should I learn from Dean Xiang Hao? At least we can be considered of the same lineage..."

Rip!

A piercing tearing sound interrupted his thoughts.

Barely ten meters away, a long, narrow fissure suddenly appeared, brutally ripping open the void.

A furious roar came from within the fissure.

"So what if you have a hundred-zhang Dharma Aspect? Li Qingshan, you dared ruin Taotie's great undertaking. I cannot let you live today!"