Seeing his identity revealed by a mere glance from Li Hao, the boy’s expression slightly changed.
He quietly observed the calm and gentle-looking youth, finding it hard to connect him with the fierce figure he had seen outside the pass.
But he knew that with the slightest carelessness, he would lose his life.
“I pay my respects to the junior general.”
He respectfully saluted, then said somewhat nervously,
“Sir, I was sent here because, when you were sweeping the area outside of the pass, you destroyed the palaces of three Demon Kings, and they had us from Tianji Palace come to ask, how does the junior general plan to compensate?”
“Compensate?”
Li Hao looked at him with some surprise, “What kind of compensation do they want?”
“They hope that you will apologize and promise not to invade again, so as to avoid any interference with each other. That way, they too can assure that Heavenly Gate Pass will remain peaceful, allowing you to successfully hold it for three years,” the boy said respectfully, yet his voice trembled slightly.
Li Hao narrowed his eyes slightly and chuckled, “They even know I’ll be stationed here for three years. It seems you know quite a bit about me. Well then, tell them that the compensation is right here. They can have whatever they want, but they must come and get it themselves.”
“This…”
The boy looked troubled and said, “Junior general, we’re here to negotiate. Please don’t get angry. You can’t possibly stay at Heavenly Gate Pass forever. I advise you to think it over.”
“Hmm?”
Li Hao looked at him, his gaze suddenly intense as if it contained the weight of ten thousand catties, pressing down on the boy, scaring him so much that feathers appeared on his skin, nearly revealing his true form.
And his body, too, bent down and knelt on the ground.
“Junior general, please spare my life, junior general, please spare my life…”
The boy’s protruding bird beak frantically pleaded.
Li Hao’s gaze withdrew, and he said indifferently, “I’ve said what I needed to. If they want compensation, let them come here themselves. Hiding and still expecting compensation, did your Tianji Palace not tell them how I flattened their territories?”
The boy nervously said, “We told them, but they are very angry…”
Li Hao interrupted him, “Could it be that the real purpose of your visit is to test my patience, or something else?”
The boy’s heart suddenly constricted, scared out of his wits, but he managed a forced smile on his face and said,
“How could that be? Although Tianji Palace is a Demon force, we never participate in wars and have some cooperation with the Human Race. We are only here to pass on a message.”
“Oh, then tell me who you have cooperated with among the Human Race?”
“That, I do not know. My cultivation level is too low…” the boy trembled.
Tired of playing along with such a minor character, Li Hao said coldly, “Get lost.”
“Yes, thank you for sparing my life, junior general…”
Feeling the pressure on his body dissipate like a piercing chill, the boy quickly scrambled up, ready to leave.
“Wait a moment.”
Li Hao stopped him with a cold voice, “Just like that, leaving empty-handed? Qianqian, give him my military flag.”
Ren Qianqian was listening intently on the side, and upon hearing this, she was startled but quickly reacted, pulling out a military flag from the side of the courtyard and tossing it to the Bird Demon boy.
The Bird Demon boy caught it, looking at Li Hao nervously and confusedly.
“Take my military flag, go back to your Demon territory, and plant my flag on the mountaintop where I last traveled. Tianji Palace should know which mountaintop that is, right?”
Li Hao’s eyes were cold and piercing as he stared at the boy who was a Bird Demon, “Next time I patrol, if I see my flag has fallen or is damaged, I will once again sweep through everything outside the pass and will increase the range!”
“Furthermore, Tianji Palace should be more careful when you see me in the future.”
Feeling the undisguised killing intent from Li Hao, the Bird Demon boy was stunned and trembling all over.
A Demon, helping this young man plant a military flag?
And it could not fall or be damaged?
You should know that the distance Li Hao had previously pushed through was five thousand li outside the gate, which was deep in Demon territory!
Now, this young man was going to have his military flag stand under the eyes of all those Demons; it was a blatant humiliation and deterrence!
Domineering, brazen, and arrogant!
At this moment, in the boy’s eyes, the previously amiable and gentle youth had long disappeared, to be replaced by a sovereign Fighting God who looked down upon all, making people bow in trepidation!
“I, I understand.”
After the shock, the Bird Demon boy tremblingly agreed.
He knew the only reason he could walk out of here alive was to do this task for Li Hao. Otherwise, he would never be able to leave this courtyard.
When the Bird Demon boy left shakily, Ren Qianqian approached with an astonished expression and said,
“Young master, when you went outside the pass, you flattened the demon kings’ lairs?”
Li Hao nodded slightly, and seeing her astonished expression, he smiled and said, “Practice your sword well, and in the future, you can too.”
Ren Qianqian’s heart skipped a beat and she smiled wryly to herself; her pursuit had only been to surpass a Grandmaster.
Demon Kings… they are beings of the Four Stands Realm.
Nevertheless, Li Hao’s words seemed to open a much broader door for her heart, and her eyes sparkled with increased motivation for cultivation.
As she turned, eager to practice her sword, Li Hao called her back and asked her to bring some stationery because he wanted to write a letter.
Ren Qianqian obediently went to find paper in the room, puzzled, “Young master, who is this letter for?”
“To Liangzhou Military Department,” Li Hao said.
“Ah?” Ren Qianqian was confused; Li Hao didn’t seem to have a close relationship with them.
“This Demon from Tianji Palace came here, it must be a test for me,”
Li Hao said as he wrote the letter, “These Demons Kings asking for compensation, if their intelligence was accurate, they wouldn’t dare to mention it, let alone threaten me. I think this Bird Demon came here to test my limits, or whether I would actually be stationed here for three years…”
“`
Combining the military report previously sent by Fifth Uncle with his own caution, Li Hao had some speculations in his heart. Maybe it was just his own overthinking, but it was always better to be on guard.
Ren Qianqian’s eyes widened slightly, the amount of information in Li Hao’s words was quite substantial, and she had some difficulty digesting it all at once.
She only caught one point, that the Demon King didn’t even have the guts to offer any compensation when facing Li Hao?
What on earth had Li Hao done outside that pass?
Soon, Li Hao finished writing the letter and handed it to Ren Qianqian, instructing her to deliver it to Li Hongzhuang to be sent to Fifth Uncle, Li Xuanli.
Having done all this, Li Hao withdrew his thoughts and resumed painting.
…
The boy Bird Demon, under the watchful eyes of many martial artists and soldiers, flew out of the new city at the frontier pass, trembling with trepidation, then shot straight up into the sky.
After entering the clouds, he began to accelerate until he was seven or eight hundred miles away before he slowed down slightly. A few birds were waiting in the clouds ahead as he approached them.
“Why did you even steal a military flag to bring back?”
One of the red birds transformed into the figure of a girl in a red dress, recognizing the military flag in the boy Bird Demon’s hand as Li Hao’s banner, she couldn’t help but speak with an incredulous tone.
The boy Bird Demon almost choked upon hearing this, steal?
Did I eat too much and decide to steal that guy’s military flag?
“Protector, I didn’t steal it, that kid forced it into my hands,” the boy Bird Demon explained, referring to the young man simply as “kid.”
“Hmm?”
The girl in the red dress looked puzzled and asked, “Why would he give you his military flag?”
“He asked me to plant it on a mountain he’s flattened. And the flag must not be damaged, otherwise he said he’d trouble our Tianji Palace again and carry out another massacre beyond the pass,” the boy Bird Demon said indignantly.
The girl in the red dress and the three birds beside her were astonished. Wasn’t that a bit too overbearing?
“What about the task he entrusted you with? How did the probing go?”
As the girl in the red dress glanced toward Heavenly Gate Pass, she inquired further.
“That kid is too shrewd. I only mentioned it slightly and nearly got caught by him,” the boy Bird Demon recalled the prior events with a hint of trepidation in his voice, saying, “From what he implied, he really isn’t planning to leave Heavenly Gate Pass, that agreement is real.”
The girl in the red dress furrowed her brows and asked him to recount the events carefully.
After listening, her frown deepened further. “This young man is indeed a great concern for us. It’s time to inform Longmen and Shenggong. Such a hidden danger, if not eliminated, could lead to endless troubles in the future.”
“Indeed.”
The boy Bird Demon nodded in agreement.
“But judging by the situation, he probably won’t leave Heavenly Gate Pass easily to take part in the war in Liangzhou. When that Elder of Longmen is out, we can just take care of him then,” the girl in the red dress said, glancing at the military flag in his hand and instructed, “Let’s go, plant this flag, as if sealing off a mountain for him.
Just send a message to the surrounding demons to stay clear of that mountain for now, let’s avoid the sharp edge for the time being.”
“Understood.”
The several birds immediately flew off to even farther distances.
…
Liangzhou, western region.
A Blood Eagle flew into the military camp and landed on the arm of a deputy general’s retainer, who retrieved an oil-paper wrapped letter the eagle spit out and swiftly handed it to Li Xuanli inside the tent.
“A letter from my sister?”
Li Xuanli, upon hearing the deputy general’s retainer’s report, was somewhat surprised. He’d only just sent a letter to Heavenly Gate Pass and had already received a reply.
Now was a delicate period, frequent correspondence was not a good thing, as it was easy for messages to be intercepted.
He hastily opened the envelope and skimmed through the letter, his expression soon turned grave.
“Demons intend to attack Liangzhou?”
“How did Hao Er find out?”
Li Xuanli was surprised that the letter was actually from the young man, and while he felt astonished, he was also somewhat incredulous.
The letter did not explain the reasons, only mentioned his guess and asked him to pay attention to the movements of the demons.
Considering the previous retreat of the demons outside the borders, a chill ran through Li Xuanli’s heart. Could it be that the withdrawal of the demons was just a feint and they never really intended to leave Liangzhou?
He put away the letter, immediately summoned his deputy general’s retainer, and strictly ordered them to closely monitor every blade of grass and tree beyond the pass. He tasked the original scouting teams to search even further afield.
…
…
Time flew by.
Heavenly Gate Pass, Cangya City.
Shortly after the boy Bird Demon left, Li Hao set off once again for the territory beyond the pass. Upon cleaning up areas where demons had roamed anew after his last patrol, like mushrooms after the rain, they were easily dealt with.
Reaching the furthest mountain top, Li Hao saw the military flag he had planted. There were no demons in sight, as if the area was sealed off. Spotting secret bird watchers, Li Hao was satisfied and proceeded to patrol from east to west.
Everywhere he went, Tianji Palace seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, hurriedly signaling the demons in all areas to take urgent precautions.
The demons fled in panic from their not yet fully established lairs, only to slowly return after the young man flew past.
Yet, this harrowing existence had grown wearisome for some demons, who could no longer endure it and chose to move away from this place in search of other lands.
Even if it meant squeezing into territories already ruled over by other Great Demons, it was better than living in such unrest.
Once peace returned beyond the pass, Li Hao summoned his warriors and instructed them to use their connections to spread word. They were to seek out masters skilled in the Art of Painting and Chess Tao, inviting them as guests to Cangya City.
During this period, Li Hao dissected the corpse of the ghost woman, along with other Great Demons, cooking them daily to prepare meals for the group.
His experience in Cooking soared, reaching Seventh Stage. Now, a full 500,000 points were needed to level up to Stage Eight.
A single Great Demon from the Four Stands Realm could provide a massive thirty or forty thousand experience points, which for the original hundred thousand experience bar, was nearly half full per demon.
But now, it was less than one-tenth of that.
Even including all the Great Demons that were resolved by cooking, it only amounted to just over seventy thousand experience points.
Fortunately, sketching the bodies of these Demons allowed Li Hao’s Painting Experience to reach the bottleneck of the Sixth Stage, and with “Spiritual Awakening in Painting,” he could be promoted to the Seventh Stage.
But before that, Li Hao planned to seek an art form to solidify “Heart Entry” first, shattering the shackles of the Third Stage in movement technique. That way, he could directly invest points into the Sixth Stage, drastically increasing his movement technique to the point where even some Great Demon Kings of the Four Stands Realm might not be able to escape from his grasp.
Li Hao sent various materials for Artifact Refining, extracted from the bodies of the Demons, along with the Dragon Soar Sword, to the Ten Thousand Artifacts Tower.
Leaving his signature.
For a second reforging.
The Ten Thousand Artifacts Tower, being a semi-official power, and Li Hao being a young general at the Frontier Pass, wouldn’t dare to embezzle his possessions.
The Array set up by the elderly Star Bureau Official was tested by Li Hao two more times, and each time he effortlessly suppressed those five Great Demons.
The Star Bureau Official and his students checked repeatedly but couldn’t find any issue. It was not until Li Hongzhuang, the Three Immortals Peak general, was proposed to test the Array, that they finally realized the problem was with Li Hao, not the Array.
Outside the Array, Li Hongzhuang was beaten black and blue by the five Great Demons and had to retreat in defeat, finally confirming that there was no issue with the Array, but Li Hao was the issue.
Because of this, the elderly Star Bureau Official and his students were all speechless. They had combed through their scalps during their repeated checks without finding the cause, only to discover that the problem wasn’t with them at all.
It was this young man’s strength that was outlandish.
Who could have imagined that this fourteen-year-old youth would possess strength surpassing that of ordinary Demon Kings?
The elderly Star Bureau Official and others felt helpless but also excited; Li Hao’s existence undoubtedly signified the upcoming rise of the Dayu Divine Dynasty. Given more time, Dayu would have another new War God, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Immortal of Gan Tao Palace!
Taking his students with him, the elderly Star Bureau Official bid farewell to Li Hao.
Prior to leaving, Xia Xiang Lan looked back at Li Hao with some reluctance and asked, “Will you always be here?”
“Once there are no Demons daring to invade here, I will leave,” Li Hao replied with a smile.
Xia Xiang Lan nodded, and then added, “I am from the Xia Family, and we are all from Divine General Mansions. If you have time, you’re welcome to visit the Xia Family anytime.”
Li Hao shook his head slightly, “But I’m not from a Divine General Mansion; I’m just an independent individual.”
“But you…”
Xia Xiang Lan wanted to say something more, but she was called by the elderly Star Bureau Official, who glanced at Li Hao with a silent sigh and led his students away.
Li Hao sent them off through Dragon Pass Road before turning back.
In the leisure of idleness, time hurried by.
The dangerous land beyond the pass had become rarely quiet, and the city within grew even more bustling and lively.
The merchant caravans and armed escorts from various cities, through spreading the word on their return, also made known to the people of each city that Heavenly Gate Pass was now a very solid fortress and Cangya City a bustling place of great prosperity.
With the convergence of merchants and visitors, gradually, people started to settle here, buying or renting houses, conducting business.
Sparing the back and forth of transportation, they could sell their goods for higher prices than in the inner regions, yet still at reasonable rates.
All under heaven are bustling for profit.
More and more people came to Cangya City; where there is demand, there is supply. Soon, visitors and many famous heroes from Jianghu came to visit Cangya City, wishing to witness the scenery beyond the Pass.
Li Hao then sat in a small fenced-in courtyard within the city.
Undisturbed.
He chose Musical Rhythm as his focus, played the zither daily, and listened to the sounds. Occasionally, he would sit on the snowy mountains outside the city, silently listening to the sounds of spring arriving— the sound of melting snow.
Now, the accumulated snow outside the Pass was gradually subsiding, revealing large swathes of black soil buried beneath the white.
From the black soil, tender green sprouts were beginning to grow, bringing new life.
During the process of “Heart Entry” in Musical Rhythm, the Martial Artists under his command, thanks to their connections, had invited some art masters to visit Cangya City.
Li Hao invited them to his courtyard and engaged with them in playing the zither, discussing painting, playing chess, and tasting wine, appearing much like a carefree noble scion indulging in enjoyment.
But the Martial Artists within the Frontier Pass knew full well just how exceptional this young man’s talents were. Aside from curiosity, they harbored no other thoughts toward him.
Li Hongzhuang found it strange that Li Hao was not cultivating but instead spent his days enjoying leisure and refining his sentiments. However, she did not intervene, focusing on results. No matter how Li Hao pursued his cultivation, the outcome was already unattainable for most.
That was sufficient.
These art masters initially thought Li Hao was just acting on a whim, mainly for the sake of social networking, but upon closer examination during their discussions, some of the masters were nearly stumped. The professional questions asked by Li Hao left some unable to respond, which quietly astonished them and also filled them with respect for the youth.
While they revered Martial Artists for their strength, it was a different respect entirely when someone could discuss the subjects they had spent years studying. This respect was out of admiration, appreciation, amazement, and joy.
Through these art masters, Li Hao sought out famous art collections.
And he did indeed find some unexpected gains.
A master painter was willing to offer a famous painting he had treasured for many years.
And a Chess Tao expert, known as the Junior Chess Saint, gifted Li Hao two sets of chess manuals.
Unfortunately, one of the chess manuals was not considered a famous manual and couldn’t be included.
Furthermore, they mentioned clues to other famous paintings and who might possess them.
Li Hao took note of each one, intending to have someone investigate later to see if the owners were willing to transfer them.
Time stealthily fled; in the blink of an eye, the snow had melted.
It was the beginning of spring the following year.
Spring rain drizzled endlessly.
The distant mountains and nearby forests beyond the gate were shrouded in a curtain of silvery rain threads.
The incessant patter of raindrops struck the small fenced courtyard before splattering into the crevices of the bluestone slabs, bringing up the scent of the earth.
In the kitchen stood a kettle of tea, and seated at the mat were two people.
One was Li Hao, the other, also Li Hao.
That’s right.
At this moment, the two figures sipping tea and playing chess in this small courtyard were both Li Hao.
Looking at them, they were indistinguishable from each other.
It was only that the other Li Hao appeared somewhat dull, his gaze slightly wooden.
“As expected, not quite as quick-witted,” Li Hao remarked.
As Li Hao placed a piece on the board, he won the game again, but he gained no experience from it.
Even a game in this form was determined by the panel as him playing against himself.
But no matter, experience wasn’t important; having integrated Chess Tao into his heart, Li Hao enjoyed every match, experience or not.
The figure with the same appearance in front of him was obtained from an ancient painting brought to him by that painter.
The painting was named “Doppelgänger.”
It depicted a young girl with a long skirt gazing wistfully into the distance at the setting sun.
A seemingly simple artwork, it contained countless details, blending techniques such as light and darkness, symmetry, and so forth in a way that brought it to life.
Through the thick and thin lines, with but a few simple strokes, the artist had outlined the fluttering hem of the dress, with every fold’s play of light and shadow both natural and symmetric, a terrifying level of mastery.
The residual light of the sunset, a light red, also diffused such hues, like flames melting on the canvas, truly ablaze.
With his own Art of Painting at the Sixth Stage, Li Hao felt he was far from reaching this level.
He thought that to meet the requirements for panel collection, he might need skills of the Ninth Stage.
Such a superb artistic conception, scarcely seen in the mortal world: Among the renowned paintings or famous music scores passed down through thousands of years, there were not many.
And each one carried the heritage of a millennium, with extraordinary significance.
This “Doppelgänger” disappeared from the world after being collected, which made Li Hao deeply regretful.
When “Doppelgänger” was integrated into Li Hao’s Physical Body Path, it brought an extremely peculiar trait.
Doppelgänger: From one’s own flesh and blood, one can construct a shadow physique possessing 30% of the original’s capabilities.
If the shadow physique is destroyed, the original remains unharmed.
The original and the shadow have no connection; there is no sharing of memories or vision.
When the shadow physique is destroyed, the property will reset—(Only one shadow physique can be constructed)
The original can give orders to the shadow physique, which will possess the original’s basic thought processes.
…
Previously, when Li Hao collected other chess scores and famous paintings, including musical scores, the attributes he received were always to amplify a certain attribute, but this “Doppelgänger” directly provided him with a capability.
Or rather, the previous attributes were also a kind of ability.
For instance, a lethal attribute was an exceptionally eerie power that had a 1% chance of being fatal.
However, the ability from the Doppelgänger was materialized.
This special trait, when used in battle, didn’t add much to Li Hao’s strength, essentially giving him an extra helper with only one-third of his own capabilities.
After testing, Li Hao found that while it was said to be one-third, the actual combat strength was far less.
Because of the reduced abilities, this shadow doppelgänger couldn’t execute the special states of Martial Arts at the Extreme Realm, such as Heaven and Earth Law Manifestation, Divine Power, and Immortal Qi transformation—these were all unusable.
The physical strength was only 300,000 jin.
The energy within was Qi Force, not Immortal Qi, and the total eruption of Qi Force was less than 4 million jin.
To know, royal family members could reach 2 million jin of Qi Force.
Yuan Camp’s soldiers were at 500,000 jin.
Only equivalent to twice that of the royal family.
Luckily, the Yin and Yang Dual Pulse wasn’t sealed; activating the power of the Dual Pulse resulted in 8 million jin.
That equaled four times the explosive force of the royal family.
Divine Traveling, Control Path, etc., were also reduced, only amounting to about twice that of the royal family.
Considering only this shadow doppelgänger’s combat strength, Li Hao estimated that it could suppress some Great Demons of the Unwithering Realm, but if it faced a Demon King, it would likely be squashed in an instant.
Fortunately, Li Hao didn’t intend to use this doppelgänger for fighting, but merely as company for a game of chess during his leisure or to help him run errands, which was convenient.
Moreover, the creation of this shadow doppelgänger was effortless, condensed from one of his fingers.
His original’s severed finger regenerated, growing back within a few minutes.
But the shadow doppelgänger’s healing speed if injured was also significantly reduced; Li Hao had tested it with Li Hongzhuang, and it was only about twice as fast as hers.
All of these were secondary; what truly made Li Hao helpless was that this shadow doppelgänger’s chess skills were too lousy, having only about one-third of his own capabilities in this area.
But chess and martial arts were different; playing against someone with only one-third of your own skills was like seeing straight through them, far too inferior, and winning brought no pleasure at all.
The one consolation was that when there was nothing else to do, the shadow doppelgänger could help him with errands, like occasionally clearing out the demons outside the gate.
Unfortunately, the shadow doppelgänger couldn’t earn panel experience from its work; otherwise, with experience doubling, that would truly be joyous.
Apart from the attributes brought by this painting, the chess score given by that young chess sage also brought a special attribute.
The name of the chess score was the Qiankun Diagram.
Qiankun refers to heaven and earth; the score extends horizontally and vertically, with 19 horizontal lines and 19 vertical lines, needing 361 pieces to fill!
Li Hao embedded this score into his Control Path and also obtained an unusual trait.
Qiankun Diagram:
One may select any object as a mark and invest half of one’s power into it.
Once the mark is destroyed, the power will be released and explode.
“`
Number of marks: 180.
…
These 180 marks, represented by black or white pieces, were also the total number of marks Li Hao could make at once.
During Li Hao’s experiments, he poured his power into a military flag, and during the infusion process, he was able to incorporate his swordsmanship as well.
He infused a sword technique and fifty percent of his power into the flag, which then became one of the marks.
When the flag was destroyed, the sealed Sword Qi and power would erupt, indiscriminately covering the surroundings.
This was somewhat like the array constructed by the elderly Star Bureau Official.
However, Li Hao’s method was simpler, being a single-entity type and only suited for his use.
Under the attribute of laying low, the fifty percent power Li Hao consumed would take half a day to recover.
That is to say, he could only create two power-infused flags per day.
Li Hao was in no hurry, having nothing else to do, and would create a flag whenever he recovered some strength each day.
Now, his courtyard had accumulated 16 marked flags.
Once the rain stopped, Li Hao would have his shadow self take the marked flags beyond the pass, planting one on every mountaintop previously permeated with the aura of the Three Immortal Demons.
Claiming mountains as kings.
He wanted to make the places where his flags stood prohibited grounds for Demons!
In the courtyard, Ren Qianqian saw the shadow self, initially startled, but after learning it was Li Hao’s Cultivation Technique, she regained her composure.
Such peculiar instances as a shadow self were not unique.
Li Hao had perused many ancient books in Listening Rain Tower and knew that some practitioners from the Three Immortal Realms could cultivate second selves—just that the quality of those selves varied.
Furthermore, some powers of the Four Stands Realm would specifically forge a mortal body, transferring their mortal mind into it while their true self condensed the Tao Heart to step into the Four Stands.
This was also a technique for breaking through to the Tao Heart Realm.
However, this technique was not advocated, as it was not perfect.
If the mortal mind shattered, the Tao Heart would be affected as well, like an inverted bowl with a notch.
For a family like the Li Family, or the Four Stands Realm powers Li Hao knew, they all transformed from mortal to Tao with just one true self without condensing a mortal body.
Among Demons, however, ‘dividing the mind to combine with the Tao’ was an encouraged practice for cultivation.
Like the triple-headed Serpent Demon Li Hao had encountered earlier, if it could fuse its three heads into one brain, it could then transform into the Tao Heart Realm.
The Ten Thousand Caverns Ghost Mother was even more exaggerated; gathering thousands of ghosts, it tore its mortal mind to pieces and then melded the hearts of myriad ghosts into one, ultimately forming a Tao Heart demon seed.
This process was extremely easy to lose oneself, turning into a lonely wandering ghost or mountain spirit. Success in this transformation also depended on destiny and strategic layout.
Every Demon King who had cultivated to the Four Stands Realm had gone through an exceptionally tumultuous journey.
And once they entered the Four Stands Realm and became kings, unless they sought their death, they rarely had concerns about their lives.
If they reached the Defying Fate Realm, it was even harder for them to die.
Despite Li Hao’s capability to slay several Demon Kings, in the end, only the Tao Heart Realm Ten Thousand Caverns Ghost Mother remained, as the rest of the Demon Kings had all escaped.
…
Time flew by.
The spring rain became increasingly persistent, the occasional clear skies fleeting.
More and more flags were planted outside the pass, each flag seemingly a slap on the faces of the Demons there.
As the number of flags grew, eventually a Demon couldn’t bear the humiliation any longer.
In the pouring rain, an Indestructible Realm Demon roared as it rushed to the mountaintop where flags had been recently planted. The site was its newly half-completed home, now leveled, and left only with a bare mountain and the flag bathed in the torrential downpour.
Seeing the two characters for Haotian on the flag, the Demon’s eyes blazed with bloodlust, howling in fury.
“Lord Long Ze, don’t!”
A bird from Tianji Palace hurriedly flew over, shouting.
But the Demon had already thrown caution to the wind; instead of living a life of constant fear and fleeing every so often beyond the pass, it preferred to find another place to settle down.
It had made up its mind to shred the accursed Human’s flag and then leave without looking back.
After all, the world was wide and home was wherever it chose.
Boom!
As its sharp claws struck down, the flag was submerged, its pole shattered and banner torn.
Before the Demon could sneer triumphantly, suddenly, a surge of Sword Qi burst forth from the flag, as if a sword was cutting open the heavens and earth!
It swept and severed the torrential spring rain!
Then, the Sword Qi broke through the clouds, tearing apart the dense clouds and stopping the spring rain.
Afterward, it fiercely slashed downward!
Like an ethereal Immortal between heaven and earth casually releasing a streak of Sword Qi!
The Demon’s pupils constricted in terrified shock, disbelieving at this attack from out of nowhere!
It roared with rage, releasing vast Demonic Qi, its scaled armor swelling in an attempt to block the Sword Qi.
But the next moment, the Sword Qi slashed straight down, a loud boom echoing as it split the Demon’s body from head to tail, cleaving it in two!
Then, the Sword Qi dissolved, breaking into countless minute Sword Qi particles that rained down furiously.
If it were just its body being cleaved, this Demon might have escaped with its life, for a ‘mere fatal injury’ was not enough to kill a Three Immortal Realms Demon.
Even if its heart was shattered, as long as it could quickly leave the battlefield, take some medicine, or preserve its life essence, it could still survive.
Depending on the regeneration speed of its flesh, mending a broken heart was not so difficult.
But at this moment, with the onslaught of countless Sword Qi, one streak entered its body, and before the Demon could struggle, its Divine Soul abruptly perished!
The gigantic body fell heavily on the mountain slope, before the shattered flag.
“`
