“Will he, will he die?”
Li Wushuang watched Li Hao draw away the three Demon Kings and gently covered her mouth, unable to imagine that the worldly and carefree young man would make such a sacrifice.
No one answered.
Li Qingling and Li Xueyun were seeing Li Hao for the first time, and their hearts were deeply moved at this moment. Rumors proved less convincing than personal experience, and they immediately thought of the former heroes of the Li Family who had perished on the battlefield, as well as their own elder brothers and others.
But by comparison, most of them had already started families and had descendants.
With wives by their sides and children on their knees, they could be said to have enjoyed their blessings.
The most heartbreaking was Xiao Jiu. At the age of nineteen, just before his grand wedding, he sacrificed himself to save Cangzhou, becoming a profound pain in the hearts of the Li Family!
And now, the young man before them was only fifteen!
He had only seen fifteen springs and autumns in this world!
How much fortune had he enjoyed? How much hardship had he endured?
No one knew.
The world only knew of his dazzling brilliance, but no one saw the scars behind it.
Li Xuanli clenched his fists tightly until he saw Li Hao leading the three Demon Kings disappearing into the distant horizon, at which point he let out an angry roar, shouting:
“Activate the Array, kill the Demons!”
His voice was hoarse from shouting.
The battle-hardened man’s eyes were bloodshot with redness and covered with blood vessels.
Hearing Li Xuanli’s words, everyone else snapped back to their senses, and suddenly a sky-high shout erupted, as the nodes of the Array were shut down one by one. To avoid the Demon Kings returning to slaughter them, they did not fully deactivate the Array, maintaining half of it instead.
Within those nodes, the commanders in Liangzhou gave orders to the various soldiers to lead the charge out of the city.
Taking advantage of the moment, while General Haotian lured away the three Demon Kings, was the best opportunity to suppress this tide of demons; otherwise, once the Demon Kings returned and coordinated with these hordes, Liangzhou could fall in an instant.
“Disciple, watch carefully here. Your master has rested enough.”
The Thousand-Mechanism Taoist also stepped out of the Array and charged toward the demon tide.
Now that there was no Demon King, he was unmatched within these demon hordes.
Li Qingling and Li Xueyun quickly surged out of the Array, rushing toward Li Hongzhuang who was deeply encircled by demons.
Li Hongzhuang also witnessed Li Hao drawing away the three Demon Kings, but at that moment, she was too busy to be concerned. Apart from heartache, she knew she could not help in any way and could only vent her anger on the surrounding Immortal Great Demons.
Strangely enough, her battle flag had inexplicably fallen and gotten lost earlier, but during the terrifying punch that Li Hao launched into the demon tide, she took advantage of the moment when the surrounding Three Immortal Demons were shocked and distracted to find her lost bundle of battle flags.
Now, relying on the might of the battle flag, she forced the surrounding Immortal Great Demons to retreat progressively, with several of them being directly slain by the Sword Qi that the battle flag tore apart!
A single battle flag could claim the life of a Three Immortal Demon!
Only if the Demon had some special means of survival could it escape by luck.
With Li Qingling and Li Xueyun’s arrival, Li Hongzhuang’s pressure was greatly reduced. She distributed four more battle flags to her two aunts and then joined forces to valiantly fight into the demon tide.
On the other side, Li Xuanli temporarily handed over the command of the battlefield to that commander from Liangzhou.
The other was of the Three Immortal Realms as well, and his experience in defending the battlefield was no less than Li Xuanli’s. Li Xuanli himself rushed toward the place where Li Tian Gang had previously fallen.
Here, the demon tide surrounded and had encircled the spot where Li Tian Gang had fallen.
Li Xuanli swiftly cut through to the scene, clearing away many demons with a single sword strike, and saw that within there was a glow of sacred flame enveloping it—a Holy Heart Talisman, protecting Li Tian Gang.
He breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Li Tian Gang’s armor shattered, his divine body bleeding profusely, a pang of pain hit his heart, and he turned to fight the surrounding demons.
As the power of the Holy Heart Talisman gradually faded, he cleared a space and quickly turned back, picking up Li Tian Gang and withdrawing towards the city.
“Don’t leave!”
Two flood dragons surged out of the demon tide, speeding toward them.
Li Xuanli was enraged, about to strike, but saw a whooshing sound coming from not far away—it was a battle flag.
The two flood dragons also saw this and were so frightened they hastily dodged, but the battle flag tore apart when it got closer to them, and a horizontal slash of Sword Qi cut out, decapitated one of the flood dragons with a swish!
Gallons of dragon blood sprayed out, and a divine soul of the flood dragon rushed out from the carcass, fleeing in terror.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Li Hongzhuang shouted angrily, pursuing the escapee.
With that, Li Xuanli breathed a sigh of relief and quickly retreated with Li Tian Gang.
Other generals came to meet them, confronting and fighting the subsequent pursuing Great Demons, sparking an intense battle.
Li Xuanli successfully brought Li Tian Gang back to the city wall, where physicians who had been summoned were already awaiting to treat Li Tian Gang’s injuries.
Li Tian Gang’s consciousness was blurry, semi-comatose. Now under the physicians’ treatment, he slowly began to regain consciousness and clarity.
Having a Tao Heart Realm himself with stronger healing abilities than during his Immortal period, coupled with the effect of many divine medicines, his body was visibly recovering at the speed of sight.
Just regaining consciousness, Li Tian Gang suddenly gasped for air as if waking from a nightmare. Then, the sounds of battle and raging shouts, along with the reaching horn blasts across the battlefield, made him instantly aware of where he was.
“Where’s the Demon King? Where’s Hao Er?!”
Li Tian Gang rapidly turned to look, only to see the battlefield engulfed in smoke, filled with the clamor of battle. Countless soldiers had already fought their way out of the city, entangled in combat with the demons.
However, among them, those few terrifying figures were nowhere to be seen.
“Hao Er…”
Li Xuanli’s face changed slightly upon hearing his words, and his heart ached:
“Hao Er left, he lured those three Demon Kings away!”
Li Tian Gang’s pupils constricted, his heart convulsed violently, and his heart felt as if it was clutched by something as he couldn’t help but rage:
“Why didn’t he enter the Array? With the Array’s protection, he could have held them back, just until reinforcements arrived…”
Li Xuanli looked at his bloodshot eyes and knew that his fury at that moment wasn’t directed at Li Hao, but was born of fear.
His voice turned hoarse, “The power of that Candle Flame God is terrifying. If I have not misjudged, it seemed he might have a Dao Domain, but it seems he has not truly stepped into the Grand Tao of Peace Realm. If Hao Er had entered the Array, and the enemy established a Dao Domain in front of the Array… this Array won’t withstand a single hit!”
“The Grand Tao of Peace Realm!”
Li Tian Gang exclaimed, his throat as if it was torn, staring blankly at Li Xuanli.
He knew what the Grand Tao of Peace Realm signified.
It was the pinnacle among terrifying monsters, the top of the Demon Kings!
“He, he…”
Li Tian Gang’s lips trembled, his blood seemed to rush to his brain, and his whole body turned ice cold.
Looking at Li Xuanli’s reddened eyes, Li Tian Gang finally realized that he might never see that child again.
“Impossible, impossible…”
His voice shook, his chest violently heaving. He couldn’t believe that the child could be dead!
Seeing his dispirited appearance, Li Xuanli felt even more uncomfortable, thinking to himself that if the child hadn’t come to Heavenly Gate Pass, perhaps nothing would have happened.
But seeing Li Tian Gang’s state, he knew how painful it was to lose a son, so he didn’t provoke him further.
Moreover, if Li Hao had not been at Heavenly Gate Pass, then this second defensive line would already be engulfed in misery and suffering!
The entirety of Liangzhou would be destroyed under the swift onslaught of the Demons.
The reinforcements from the Dayu Divine Dynasty simply couldn’t arrive in time; after all, the Demons were well-prepared this time, willing to pay any price to wage war against the Dayu Divine Dynasty, with Liangzhou merely the prologue.
During the battle for Cangzhou, these Demons were still playing tricks behind the scenes, using the power of Dayu’s vassal states to cause destruction. Now, they dare to show themselves directly!
Li Xuanli withdrew his thoughts, looking at the chaotic melee of the Demons, the figures of numerous soldiers falling. He took a deep breath and immediately said to the commander of Liangzhou:
“Quick, modify all the battle flags to Haotian Flags immediately!”
“Take out all the blank battle flags in the warehouse, write the name Haotian on them!”
The commander of Liangzhou was stunned, but then instantly understood.
The Haotian Flag had an immense deterrence to the Demons. Hoisting the Haotian Flag into battle would greatly reduce casualties.
“Quick!”
The commander of Liangzhou immediately roared, relaying the order:
“All the armies going into battle, hang the Haotian Army flags!!”
Hearing the words of the commander of Liangzhou, the elder heads of the assembled noble families’ armies also came to their senses.
Someone immediately roared, modifying their own battle flags to Haotian Flags.
Meanwhile, some older generation members of the noble families hesitated. If they replaced their flags with Haotian Flags, to whom would the merit of this battle be attributed?
Whose heads should the Demons they slaughtered be counted towards?
Four aspects of life are most difficult to discern:
Honor, gain and loss, glory and shame, life and death!
Some are struggling at death’s door, some are calculating their honors, and others are cowering in tremors. Even when death looms before their eyes, they are unable to change.
Some conjure courage out of desperation to fight back, while others only shriek miserably until their dying breath, not daring to struggle – it is just a matter of numbers.
At this moment, the vast majority of the noble families’ armies had replaced their battle flags with the Haotian Army flags and charged into the battlefield.
As numerous Haotian Army flags rose on the battlefield, the Demons tide noticeably receded like water, especially the camps that charged in with the Haotian Army flags – they pierced into the Demons tide like sharp knives. Even the greater Demons within the tide, upon seeing those flags, were filled with doubt and did not dare to attack.
Those noble families’ armies that did not replace their flags with Haotian Flags, however, sustained more attacks from the Demons tide, suffering heavy casualties, nearly annihilated.
Li Xuanli and the commander of Liangzhou saw the situation on the battlefield quickly reversing and were secretly delighted, but at the same time shocked – the prestige of Li Hao among the Demons was truly formidable!
The most important thing was that the Sword Array within the Haotian Flags was simply too strong, menacing these bloodthirsty and vicious Demons into fear.
Li Tian Gang also noticed the situation on the battlefield, looking at the flags raised and the two characters Haotian written on them.
He felt somewhat dazed and lost.
At this moment, he finally realized that the child he used to see playing carelessly in the courtyard, the youth he deemed frivolous, had changed, changed beyond recognition.
The demeanor he once disliked, that of a typical noble family’s young master, now appeared on the battlefield, making him seem like an invincible War God.
Fighting alone against ten Demon Kings, crushing a million Demons with a single punch – that was no longer the Li Hao he knew.
In just a short year, he had become a hundred times more dazzling than when he was in the Li Family.
Wherever those fluttering battle flags went, the Demons were dispelled and steered clear.
Their prestige even surpassed that of the Yuan Camp established by the ancestors!
The fear of the Demons captured in his eyes left him both astonished and heartbroken.
In the vast wilderness, .net
several figures sped rapidly, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling. The howling winds made the wild beasts and little demons in the outskirts tremble with fear.
“Stop!”
Lu Yuan roared furiously as he enveloped himself in the Limitless Thunder Tao, accelerating swiftly in an attempt to intercept Li Hao.
But Li Hao’s movement technique was extremely elusive, and whenever Lu Yuan was about to make contact, Li Hao would abruptly change direction and speed up.
This kid’s movement technique obviously hasn’t been pushed to its limit yet!
Bang!
Suddenly, a divine fire attacked, and Li Hao hurriedly dodged, narrowly missing it by a whisker as it zoomed past his side.
Yet the scorching heat of the attack left him feeling burning pains, an attack that could easily meld ordinary divine weapons!
“If you keep running, I’ll turn around and go back to kill all the people there!”
The Candle Flame God threatened Li Hao with a grim look in his eyes.
He had long realized that Li Hao was deliberately attracting them, so that the people on the battlefield could survive a little longer—how naive!
Upon hearing this, Li Hao let out a faint cold laugh, “I wish you would!”
After speaking, he burst forth at full speed and charged into the distance.
The Candle Flame God, infuriated, wanted to stay behind and turn back to threaten Li Hao by attacking the battlefield.
But when Li Hao suddenly accelerated, it made the Candle Flame God slightly uncertain.
After only a moment’s hesitation, he resumed the chase.
Compared to the people on the battlefield, Li Hao was absolutely not someone they could afford to lose track of.
“Or how about you all chase after him, and I’ll go clean up that battlefield!” Lu Yuan shouted loudly.
These words were also meant for Li Hao to hear.
Upon hearing this, Li Hao didn’t slow down; on the contrary, his speed gradually increased.
The Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin’s expressions grew darker, and they didn’t respond.
Seeing that Li Hao was unaffected and both of them remained silent, Lu Yuan felt both angry and frustrated, realizing that backing off was not an option—it would lead to trouble later.
Whoosh!
Li Hao sped ahead, judging the distance from here, he sequentially activated the previously closed acceleration attributes from his Illustrated Handbook.
His velocity continued to increase, leaving Lu Yuan and the others further and further behind.
“He can still accelerate!”
Lu Yuan was furious. With a roar, lightning surged into his body, his bones thundering in the roar of thunder, slightly increasing his speed, but he still couldn’t catch up with Li Hao.
The movement techniques of both the Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin were also extremely fast, but they could only watch helplessly as Li Hao got further and further away!
“Damn it, his speed is abnormal!”
“What movement technique is that? It seems familiar!”
“Some thief who came to steal from our Great Void Realm before used that movement technique, damn it!”
The Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin were both enraged; if they let Li Hao escape, they wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully.
They all exploded with their true power, chasing at full speed, and even resorted to using some secret techniques and cultivation techniques that injured their bodies, just barely avoiding being thrown off by Li Hao.
Li Hao felt the three pursuers closely tailing him and his expression darkened. He had burst forth to the extreme, yet still could not shake them off; those in the Ultimate Study Realm were not easy opponents.
If only his movement technique had reached the Seventh Stage, perhaps he could have easily shaken them off.
Li Hao’s eyes scanned around as he looked beneath the feet at the cities of Liangzhou swiftly passing by.
These cities, previously overwhelmed by a demon tide, were left in ruin, with only the remnants of destruction and bloodied corpses everywhere.
As Li Hao raced along, seeing many large and small ruined towns, he took a deep breath, thinking of the family letter sent by Second Brother earlier, mentioning that Fourth Uncle.
His eyes swept over the name of a ruined city to determine the direction, and he sped toward another location on the outskirts of Liangzhou at full speed.
This lightning-fast chase spanned thousands of miles.
It was only because Li Hao himself possessed a Heaven and Earth Vein, akin to the support of the Unwithering Strength, that he managed to hold on without exhausting his power.
However, Lu Yuan and the three in the Ultimate Study Realm, including the Candle Flame God, were already panting heavily.
An all-out sprint covering thousands of miles with no pause for breath was exhausting even for them.
Although they could instantaneously travel dozens or hundreds of miles, that burst of speed came with massive Qi Force consumption and couldn’t last long.
At that moment, without using Unwithering Strength, they all felt utterly drained.
Previously, Lu Yuan had crossed tens of thousands of miles to reach Heavenly Gate Pass, flying leisurely without feeling tired, and the bit of Qi Force he used was naturally replenished with breath.
But now, in this desperate chase without a moment to rest,
they were angry that while they were fast approaching their limits, that kid still kept his speed, as though his strength was inexhaustible.
They suspected that Li Hao might have already used his Unwithering Strength.
If so, once Li Hao’s speed began to wane, it would be their turn to burst forth with Unwithering Strength at full speed, to prevent Li Hao from having enough rest to use his Unwithering Strength again.
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao arrived at the western border of Liangzhou.
He immediately saw that, on the vast land, war fires spread everywhere.
The bodies of the Liangzhou Army and the Demons lay intermingled in battle, fallen on this blood-red battlefield.
Countless banners lay torn, chariots overturned, defenses shattered.
Li Hao’s expression was solemn; it was not hard to imagine the scale of the battle that had erupted here before. He did not linger but flew straight over, breaking out from the border and then speeding towards the nine o’clock direction.
The three Demon Kings following closely behind him seemed to slow down their pace.
Li Hao immediately slowed down as well, to avoid exhausting them to the point of collapse and having to return to the battlefield.
Seeing Li Hao decelerate, Lu Yuan and the Candle Flame God were overjoyed and suddenly increased their speed, chasing after Li Hao once again.
But at this moment, Li Hao accelerated again, maintaining the distance between them.
Both sides were probing each other.
While Li Hao was fleeing at high speed, he also surveyed his surroundings, using the mountains and rivers to discern his direction.
He was already familiar with the Geomantic Chart of Liangzhou, having seen a copy of it during his time at the Listening Rain Tower.
After all, Liangzhou had been defended by the Li Family for many years.
There were nineteen provinces in total, with each Divine General Mansion guarding three to four provinces!
Originally, each mansion guarded three provinces, but since the Mo River incident extended into the Dayu territory, the Wang Family was ordered to establish the Mo River Authority. After dealing with the Mo River issue, they had no choice but to cede some of their provinces.
This indirectly weakened the military power of the Wang Family.
Many secrets lay hidden behind this event, but those were stories from hundreds of years ago, too old and forgotten, remembered only by the older generation.
The enmities and grudges between the dynasties and the noble families over thousands of years were too complex, with too much hatred and also too much forgiveness.
By the time of Li Hao’s generation, the fact that the five Divine General Mansions were still coexisting peacefully was already an extremely rare and difficult situation.
Swoosh!
Li Hao recognized his location and shifted direction, flying towards another location.
“This lad seems to be heading towards that place,” Ms. Yin remarked upon seeing Li Hao’s movement, her expression changing slightly.
The Candle Flame God narrowed his eyes slightly; he had already figured out the clues and said coldly, “I heard that the fourth elder of the Li Family is guarding near that Mo River. Hmph, thinking of using the other party to escape? If he comes, he dies!”
Had they been in close combat, if he had unleashed his Dao Domain, he wouldn’t have even considered the Ultimate Study Realm as a threat.
Lu Yuan also realized Li Hao’s intentions and said with a somber face, “If that fourth elder of the Li Family is there, you deal with that brat, and I’ll hold off the Li Family’s elder!”
“What if he enters the Mo River?” Ms. Yin asked hastily.
“Then he’ll die even faster!”
Lu Yuan sneered and said, “We’ll enter too. I’ve been into the Mo River once before. Speaking of which, that river still imprisons the True Dragon of the previous generation of the Li Family. That True Dragon was personally slain by our leader!”
Hearing his words, the Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin exchanged glances, their eyes flashing but remaining silent, and they sped up to pursue.
As mountains and rivers rapidly passed by, spanning over two thousand li, Li Hao saw many Demons claiming mountains as their own, but he paid no heed.
Finally.
The number of Demons around diminished, and for three to four hundred li in a row, no trace of Demons was seen.
Li Hao arrived in front of a magnificent and perilous mountain range, where all the peaks appeared as if they had been sharpened by someone. Amidst these mountains was a dark river leading underground.
The river water was pitch black.
Dark water forms the abyss!
In the middle section of this river, at a fractured gap in one of the mountain peaks, lay a beach covered in white rubble stones.
On the edge of the beach stood a massive stele, more than thirty feet tall, inscribed with a few black characters:
Divine General Mo River!
Next to the stele was a figure in a bamboo hat, with tattered clothing, holding a black rusted sword, leaning against the stele and drinking.
As Li Hao caught sight of him, the man also noticed Li Hao.
Soon, he saw the three Demon Kings trailing behind Li Hao.
The old man’s eyes seemed to squint slightly.
Then, all of a sudden, the figure in the bamboo hat disappeared.
Swish!
Suddenly, a sharp flash of sword light, as if to split the heavens and the earth, abruptly swept up in front of the three Demons chasing after Li Hao!
Lu Yuan shrank his head back, narrowly avoiding being cleaved by the sword light. He could sense that if it had truly hit him, even with his refined flesh, he would have been seriously injured!
The Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin were both forced to stop by the sword light.
Seeing this, Li Hao instantly knew that this old man was none other than Li Xiaoran, the fourth elder of the Li Family!
“The Three Immortal Realms?”
A leisurely voice rang out by Li Hao’s ear.
Li Hao looked up to see that the other party had appeared beside him at some unknown time, the face under the bamboo hat looked worn with time, yet seemed to be just past sixty, with a hint of his youthful handsome vigor still visible.
Presumably, he too was an extraordinary and distinguished talent in his youth!
“Fourth Brother?”
Even though he had figured out the identity, Li Hao still tentatively asked.
“Hmm?”
Li Xiaoran heard Li Hao’s address and sized him up before saying, “Are you the little mouse that Second Brother told me about?”
“…”
Although Li Hao did not know how Second Brother had described him to his other brother, he could only nod in silence.
“Li Xiaoran!” Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l’e|-NovelBin.net
The Candle Flame God and the other two Demon Kings had already caught up. Lu Yuan looked at Li Xiaoran, his eyes momentarily focused, then he sneered softly,
“Haven’t you freed your eldest brother yet?”
The relaxed and casual appearance on Li Xiaoran’s face was slightly reined in as he glanced at the Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin and squinted, saying,
“What, you’ve all come out of the Great Void Realm?”
Li Hao quickly sent a voice transmission to him: “Fourth Brother, they have joined forces to attack Liangzhou. Now, Liangzhou has almost fallen. You need to be careful. That fiery one seems to have half-stepped into the Grand Tao of Peace Realm!”
Hearing Li Hao’s voice transmission, Li Xiaoran’s eyes slightly changed, but his expression remained tense and showed no sign of change.
They joined forces to attack Liangzhou?
Then why come here?
Countless thoughts flashed through Li Xiaoran’s mind. With the Great Void Realm’s ruler and the Elder of Dragon Gate making their move together, the standing army in Liangzhou could not possibly resist.
“Why are they hunting you down?”
Li Xiaoran sent a voice transmission asking, “Do you possess the Sacred Heart Talisman? Besides them, are there any other Demon Kings?”
“They didn’t catch up to me.”
Li Hao sent back, “I only saw six or seven others, all of whom I killed.”
“…”
Li Xiaoran was immediately taken aback and couldn’t help but take another look at Li Hao.
He did not know what to make of such a statement.
The aura of Li Hao as he flew over was clear to him; it was unmistakably from the Three Immortal Realms.
Slaying Demon Kings? And six or seven of them?
However, considering the speed at which Li Hao had arrived, it was indeed beyond what one from the Three Immortal Realms should have—it belonged to the first rank even within the Ultimate Study Realm.
With too many questions in mind, Li Xiaoran had no chance to ask as a fierce fire blazed on the other side, and the Candle Flame God’s Dao Domain began to expand.
At the same time, Ms. Yin also conjured black moonlight, reflecting thousands of beams across the surroundings, forming a killing array!
The reason they had talked so much before was that they wanted to watch father and son kill each other, to vent the resentment in their hearts.
But now they had no inclination to waste another word.
Feeling their momentum, Li Xiaoran’s complexion changed slightly. Li Hao was not wrong—the opponents indeed had a Dao Domain.
However, it was different from the Grand Tao of Peace Realms he had seen; they had not truly stepped into that realm yet.
But such power was terrifying enough. How had Li Hao managed to hold out until now?
“You go first, I’ll hold them off!”
“Fourth Brother, you can’t hold them back.”
Li Hao quickly said, “The other side has a Dao Domain; we can only flee, or use the Mo River to kill them if they dare to enter!”
Li Xiaoran paused, surprised. He thought Li Hao had come here to seek his help in escaping, but he did not expect him to pin his hopes on the Mo River?
Seeing the increasingly intense atmosphere on the other side, Li Xiaoran realized what was happening. He did not waste words; on his own, if it were only three from the Ultimate Study Realm, he could fight to the death, but once a Dao Domain was formed, he would also be no match.
“Okay, you go ahead; I’ll follow immediately!”
Li Xiaoran quickly said.
“We’ll leave together.”
But Li Hao did not let him cover the retreat. Having just met, his Fourth Brother was willing to stand alone against three great Demon Kings from the Ultimate Study Realm for his sake, which left Li Hao somewhat inexplicably touched.
“Hmph, no one is getting away!”
The Candle Flame God sneered and suddenly raised his hand. A slit opened between his brows, and from the tip of his finger, a beam of divine fire shot out towards Li Hao.
Zheng!
Li Xiaoran’s eyes widened with rage, and he suddenly cleaved out a bright saber light.
“Limitless Thunder Tao!”
Lu Yuan suddenly attacked, directly blocking the saber light. Countless thunder lights condensed on his dragon claw and roared towards Li Xiaoran, unleashing his full power from the start.
Ms. Yin, meanwhile, activated the Moonlight Killing Array, with countless beams of moonlight shuttling towards them, intending to kill Li Hao.
Li Xiaoran was shocked. He had not expected this couple to target Li Hao with such vicious moves, and he wondered, was it necessary to be so harsh against someone from the Three Immortal Realms?
With a low roar, his conical bamboo hat flew away, and the tattered clothes on his body burst apart, revealing his muscular torso and fluttering white hair.
His eyes turned snowy white, his bones crackled loudly, and he stomped heavily, unleashing his Peerless Technique.
“Ends of the Earth Carefree Saber!”
A dazzling slash crossed the distance, making the ends of the earth seem a mere inch away, and instantly erased the space.
At the same time, his saber slash transcended the confines of moves, as if formless, carefree as the wind, and the wind is formless.
This unavoidable slash would surely hit its target, even going beyond the pull of Tao rhythm!
Thud!
The saber light cleaved onto the divine fire, extinguishing it.
But Li Xiaoran himself bore the brunt of Lu Yuan’s claws, with Infinite Thunder Light falling on his body, ripping open a bloody, bone-deep gash.
All this happened in an instant. Li Hao’s face changed suddenly; he did not expect that the other’s full force was to block for him, and in his anger, he punched out, shattering the moonlight all over the sky!
Terrifying punch power radiated from him, Li Hao drew on the Power of Heaven and Earth and stepped into transformation again.
His body, like a cyclonic storm, gathered violent power, a scene that left the seriously injured Li Xiaoran staring in astonishment, shocked by what he saw in Li Hao.
“Die!”
Lu Yuan seized the opportunity to strike in anger, seeking to take advantage of the moment to kill Li Xiaoran.
Li Xiaoran had already recovered and, though understanding the reason was beyond him, realized that this younger relative described by his Second Brother possessed unimaginable strength.
He suddenly turned and his Peerless Technique struck again.
His furious slash traveled through the thunder light and, coming later yet arriving first, landed on Lu Yuan’s head.
Lu Yuan tried to dodge, but he could not avoid the Ends of the Earth Carefree Saber’s hit, nor the distance closed instantly by the saber.
The dragon’s head instantly collapsed, a deep wound cleaving to the bone, almost splitting the skull wide open.
The Limitless Thunder Tao he had gathered also exploded onto Li Xiaoran. But this time, Li Xiaoran was prepared; with a palm strike, he shattered much of the thunderous light—only the flame and destructive force within the lightning charred his palm black.
However, compared to Lu Yuan’s injuries, his were obviously much lighter.
In the instant the two exchanged blows, Candle Flame God and Ms. Yin also made their move against Li Hao. Divine fire and moonlight bearing down, as if the sun and moon were arriving together, they aimed to encircle and kill Li Hao.
Li Hao roared in rage, his body glowing with Red Gold, once again forcing his flesh into a state of Divine Power. His aura surged like an angry wave as he threw punch after punch in rapid succession.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The heavens and the earth trembled. Ms. Yin’s Black Moon Peerless Technique, with its terrifying Penetration Power, although scattered by Li Hao’s blows, left terrible gashes on his fists, proving its destructive force even more tyrannical than Lu Yuan’s Limitless Thunder Tao!
The Divine Fire, however, was dispersed by Li Hao’s impact. The only thing left was the scorching aura that blackened his skin, which he regenerated instantly with fresh new flesh.
“Quick, leave!”
Having witnessed Li Hao’s terrifying strength, Li Xiaoran was shocked and urgently shouted out loud.
The Dao Domain of the Candle Flame God was about to form. Li Hao quickly transmitted his voice, “Fourth Brother, I still have a Daoist Holy Heart Talisman. You go first, I’ll follow right away!”
Li Xiaoran was taken aback, but recalling Li Hao’s talent, it wasn’t surprising he had a Holy Heart Talisman. He immediately felt relieved and hastily replied through the voice transmission:
“Come quick!”
After speaking, he unleashed several ferocious slashes with his blade, targeting both the Candle Flame God and Lu Yuan.
The terrifying blade wind closed in on them in an instant. The Candle Flame God’s forehead emitted a burst of golden light, like a divine glow, shattering the blade qi; however, its residual power forced him to retreat several steps, changing his complexion.
Lu Yuan, on the other hand, turned around to defend in a panic, the Limitless Thunder Tao enveloping his body.
The horrendous force of tearing reduced the power of the blade wind that reached him in the blink of an eye, but his defense was not as swift as the opponent’s blade technique, leading to another slash across his head, with blood streaming uncontrollably, giving him the sensation as if his head was about to be chopped off.
His heart filled with alarm; this youngest of the Li Family was too horrifying—decades stronger than the eldest from back then!
Who could possibly block such an instantaneous blade technique?!
After delivering several slashes, Li Xiaoran hastily retreated. Candle Flame God’s Dao Domain was about to complete; if he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
As he turned to leave, he saw that Li Hao hadn’t ignited his Holy Heart Talisman, and couldn’t help but be startled.
Just then, Li Hao roared ferociously as his blood violently splattered, veins bursting, drawing in the power of the world from six directions and concentrating it into one punch, unleashing it with a massive blow.
This punch, with nearly all his strength in Daoist transformation, not only shattered Ms. Yin’s Black Moon but also extinguished the divine fire released by the Candle Flame God.
Li Hao whirled around and rushed out swiftly, fleeing from the Dao Domain just as it sealed shut.
He landed on the ground like a blood-colored cannonball, Li Hao swiftly controlled his physique, shutting off the appeal of the Power of Heaven and Earth.
Fortunately, he hadn’t reached his limit; with full control, the violent and unruly aura that surged in finally subsided slightly.
Li Xiaoran was astonished. Li Hao didn’t have a Holy Heart Talisman; he had withstood it all with just his body.
A younger generation was actually covering his retreat!
His expression changing several times, Li Xiaoran hurried towards Li Hao, grabbed him, and made for the great stele.
“Quick, into the Mo River!”
At this critical juncture, he had no time to inquire how Li Hao had such formidable strength, and with Li Hao, he hurriedly stepped into the Mo River.
“This is a Ghost Capital level Mo River; once you’re inside, remember you have to find me—I’ll be at the Divine General Mansion!”
He hurriedly instructed.
A Ghost Capital level Mo River, only those in the Four Stands Realm would dare to enter, incredibly dangerous, only the Grand Tao of Peace Realm could hope to pass through!
Thus far in the Dayu Divine Dynasty, no one had managed to traverse a Ghost Capital level Mo River.
Perhaps a true immortal from Gan Tao Palace might have the ability, but he sits and governs the palace, never bothering with these mundane external matters.
Moreover, the Mo River was extending beyond the borders of Dayu Divine Dynasty until recently; no one was willing to take on the thankless task of pacifying it and clearing the demons from the Mo River.
It was only in the past few hundred years that the Mo River has gradually extended into the territory of Dayu, especially in the last five hundred years, with its accelerated pace, leading to the necessity of establishing a Divine General Mansion specifically responsible for this matter.
At the moment, before the great stele, light emerged.
Li Hao saw a miniaturized temple on the back side of the stele, similar to the one he first encountered at Tan Palace Academy.
Yet the two statues in the temple were in even worse shape.
Mud had fallen off, leaving them without a face, and their clothes, splashed with various colors, were also seriously damaged.
At this moment, a golden page emerged from Li Hao’s chest, the same “Mo River Household Registration” he had received when he first entered the Mo River!
Li Hao’s heart trembled, and now with his higher realm, he felt the Mo River was even more mysterious.
This golden page was inside his body, yet when he cultivated on ordinary days, he couldn’t detect the slightest trace of it!
It was some kind of force beyond what he could currently fathom. .net
Just as the golden page flew out, a household register also flew out of the temple, gathering the golden page into it.
In an instant, the scene before Li Hao’s eyes changed, as if time and space had shifted, and the heavens and earth were turning.
Countless lights flashed before his eyes, the giant stele vanished, Li Xiaoran vanished, and the three Demon Kings vanished as well.
Even, Li Hao felt that the power in his body seemed to be vanishing, being stripped away by something…
In this rapid transformation, only a few streaks of golden light converged in front of his eyes into ancient characters:
[You have entered the Mo River]
[Your Household Registration Location Confirmed: Great Yu Dynasty, Qingzhou]
[Challenger: Chong Er]
At the same time, a stream of messages appeared in Li Hao’s mind:
Mo River Territory: Dragon City Mo River.
Mo River Completion: 0%.
Main Mission of Mo River:
Defend Dragon City for ten days (Not yet commenced).
Side Missions of Mo River:
1: Growth (Triggered).
Mission Content: Please survive until the age of eighteen before the fall of Dragon City and attain some form of proficiency in arts.
Mission Progress: 0.01%.
Li Hao was somewhat puzzled, ‘Survive until eighteen? How many years will I have to stay here?’
Before he could ponder, the light that kept shifting like divine patterns before his eyes suddenly disappeared.
Immediately after, a voice rang in Li Hao’s ear, causing his eardrums to ache:
“The child is born, the child is born!”
“It’s a boy!”
Right after that, Li Hao felt as if he was passing through a constricting space, a blinding light appeared, and he instinctively closed his eyes.
As he gradually got used to it, he saw a few huge faces appear before him.
Li Hao was somewhat baffled.
What was happening?
“Fang, you’ve worked hard.”
An imposing middle-aged man now yet showed a smiling face, turning his head affectionately to look at the pale beauty beside him.
Li Hao, who had barely adapted to the dim light, looked towards the beautiful woman, and the more he looked, the more he felt that she bore some resemblance to that grandmother-like figure.
The beautiful woman in front of him was holding Li Hao in her arms with a loving face, her head covered in sweat, clearly having undergone an extremely painful and arduous delivery. But now, she was smiling lovingly:
“Child, from now on, you are the Li Family’s tenth son…”
Li Hao was stunned.
This… what in the world was happening?!
Li Hao had previously passed through the Fengshan Menghe River at Tan Palace, but his body underwent no changes, and the river was merely inhabited by villagers who appeared normal but were actually long dead. All he needed to do was to deliver their souls to salvation to destroy the Mo River.
But now, he was regressing to a younger age?
No wonder he had felt his strength disappearing, as if it was being stripped away.
Was this the peculiarity of a Mo River of this level?
Li Hao was somewhat startled. As his mind raced with thoughts, he suddenly felt sleepy; he could not hold on and fell into a deep slumber.
…
When Li Hao woke up again, he saw his own tender and soft hands and feet, lying on an unfamiliar bed with a soft little blanket covering him.
He was dressed in a bellyband, looking to be a few months old rather than a newborn.
The previous experience wasn’t a dream… Li Hao finally believed that he was still in the Mo River; however, what was the deal with his body now? He felt as if he could actually crawl.
Before long, Li Hao put his thoughts into action and managed to turn over and start moving on the bed.
This was certainly not something a newly born infant could do!
“I must be a few months old…”
Li Hao muttered, but when the words reached his lips, they turned into “lalala” babble.
His vocal cords were not yet fully developed.
But there was no doubt the passage was of time strange here.
He had only just fallen asleep. While he was fond of sleeping in, it should not have resulted in several months passing by, right?
Li Hao stopped crawling, touched his chin with his little hand, and sat pondering on the bed.
At that moment, a golden script emerged before his eyes:
Progress of [Growth] mission: 2.3%.
Li Hao was surprised inside, it had already progressed to 2.3%?
If he calculated according to the mission’s requirement to survive until eighteen years old, was he now about five months old?
Five months in the blink of an eye… Li Hao felt a few more sleeps, and it might very soon be eighteen years later.
By then, he presumed, the main mission would commence.
Defending Dragon City, this was the Dragon City Mo River… Li Hao’s gaze flickered, realising he needed to be fully prepared before turning eighteen.
This was no ordinary Mo River but one of high level, even the Grand Tao of Peace Realm would only possess a “potential” chance to succeed, which attested to its perilous nature.
Suddenly, the door creaked open.
A man in brocaded garments entered, tall and well-built with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, exuding a striking handsomeness.
Seeing Li Hao about to go from sitting up to lying down, the stern-looking man’s face relaxed into a relieved smile, and he whispered, “Little Hao Mouse?”
Just as Li Hao was about to feign rest, he froze at these words, recognizing that it must be his Fourth Uncle who knew of this nickname and had entered the Mo River.
He lifted his head to scrutinize the man and immediately noticed a resemblance to the elderly Li Xiaoran he had seen previously:
“Lala (Fourth Uncle)?”
“You can’t speak clearly yet, huh? Well, I’ll talk and you’ll listen. If you are Little Hao Mouse, raise your hand,” whispered the young-looking Li Xiaoran.
Li Hao immediately raised his hand. .net
Seeing this, Li Xiaoran nearly confirmed Li Hao’s identity without a doubt. He smiled softly and said,
“I was worried you’d end up elsewhere, but you’re right here in the Divine General Mansion. Saves me from looking for you. I wondered how could my eldest brother suddenly come up with a tenth son. Suspecting it might be you, it turns out I was right…”
“It must be the bloodline of the Li Family within you that led my brother’s obsession to bind you to his offspring.”
Seeing Li Hao’s resigned expression, Li Xiaoran chuckled lightly, his visage then returning to a more serious tone:
“I don’t know if you’ve been through a Mo River before, but it doesn’t matter. This is a high-level Mo River, very different from the Mo Rivers you know. There are special rules here!”
“For instance, stripping us of our original bodies and powers, that’s one of the rules.”
“The flow of time here is another special rule. Don’t lose consciousness easily. When you sleep or faint, time accelerates rapidly, but your body would only grow in accordance with my brother’s perception, without any other changes!”
“If you appear ordinary in my brother’s eyes, a few more sleeps and it’ll be decades later. By then, your cultivation realm would only reach the extent my brother imagines, which might at most be the Heavenly Human Realm!”
“And being at the Heavenly Human Realm in the upcoming Dragon City battle is no different from cannon fodder, almost undoubtedly fatal!”
Knowing Li Hao couldn’t speak, he grew more earnest as he spoke:
“Once you die in this body here, you’ll truly die, and your original body will disintegrate, becoming nourishment for the Mo River. Even your own soul will be restrained by this Mo River, unable to reincarnate!”
Li Hao’s heart chilled. He currently looked like a baby; if he died, would he truly perish?
No wonder this high-level Mo River was so perilous, with such a drastic gap in realm transition, which powerful being could withstand this.
“Even if it’s the Defying Fate Realm, one couldn’t preserve their life here unless you cultivate to the Defying Fate Realm in this place, but you don’t have much time. Judging by my own age, it’s probably eighteen years from now.”
“When you turn eighteen, that’s when the Dragon Clan will attack the city!”
Li Xiaoran took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “You must grow up before that time, strive to reach your original cultivation level or even higher if possible.”
Remembering the power Li Hao had unleashed when he broke free from the Candle Fire Divine Tao Domain, Li Xiaoran felt somewhat reassured, but his expression did not relax as he said,
“This Dragon City was once one of the most splendid cities in Northern Yan, guarded by the Li Family for a thousand years. Hundreds of years ago, one of our ancestors furiously killed a Demon King of the Dragon Clan and dismembered it in Dragon City, hanging its dragon head and embedding it into a wall of the city, from then on renaming the city Dragon City!”
