My Dao Is Invincible!

By now, night had fallen. Saint after Saint hung suspended in the air, their radiance illuminating the sky. The King of Dali was on edge with impatience, while Ying Hongyue felt a faint, nagging unease. Just as tensions reached the boiling point, a tremendous tremor swept across heaven and earth. Under the watchful eyes of Zheng Yu and observers from every faction, a massive city suddenly floated into view! A colossal metropolis soared through the skies! Beside the King of Dali, Li Hao suddenly burst into hearty laughter. "Senior Zhang has arrived!" With those words, he vaulted into the air, flying straight toward the city! From within the city walls, the Great Dao Book shot out, and a figure strode through the air. Ying Hongyue's expression shifted slightly. Yet beneath that flicker of surprise lay a hint of relief. Was this Li Hao's hidden trump card? If so... he was actually relieved! Who didn't know about Zhang An and his group? As long as Zhang An's faction refrained from joining the battle, they effectively kept other forces in check. For instance, several Saints remained inside Hurricane City, not daring to step out recklessly even with Li Hao committing all his forces. They held back precisely because Zhang An and his comrades were keeping watch! If Zhang An and his companions joined the battle now, it would effectively liberate Zheng Yu's forces to intervene! Therefore, Zhang An and his group hardly qualified as a hidden ace. Of course, their side also had several Saints—all veteran Saints of formidable strength. There were two Saints from the Martial Arts Alliance, one from the Zhang family's Heaven Anchoring City, another unknown Saint, and Zhang An himself, a premier powerhouse on the quasi-Heavenly King level! Though few in number, their combat prowess was beyond doubt. Li Hao laughed heartily. "Senior, we didn't join hands in battle before, but today we finally have the chance to fight side by side!" Zhang An strode across the void, followed by several Saints. Looking at Li Hao, those Saints harbored mixed emotions. Zhang An let out a soft sigh, murmuring, "In this battle... we must cut down these foreign invaders! I originally had no intention of meddling in Ying Hongyue's affairs, but these people have all been corrupted by the power of the Red Moon... Ying Hongyue is audacious enough to collude with cultivators from the Red Moon world... He deserves death!" Behind him, several Saints chimed in at once. "He deserves death! Rest assured, Marquis Li. We are Saints of Neo-Martial. Eight mere Saints are nothing before us—we shall slaughter them!" At that moment, Li Fuhai and his companions were somewhat stunned. Damn! These fellows are so polite today! In the past, they had carried themselves with immense arrogance, insisting that Neo-Martial matters should be resolved by Neo-Martial people alone. In their eyes, anyone who allied with Li Hao was no longer a true Neo-Martial warrior—even if they didn't call them traitors out loud, that was precisely how they felt inside. Why the sudden change of face today? Calling him "Marquis Li" with every breath... damn, they were polite to a fault! Though Zhang An's group brought only five Saints, their combat strength was the real deal. Adding Li Fuhai, the Old Turtle, General Locust, Redwood, Vajra Wood, the Ninth Division Commander, Black Panther, Hong Yitang, Lin Hongyu, and Li Hao himself, that made a staggering total of fifteen Saint-level combatants! Moreover, most of them were veteran Neo-Martial Great Saints! To be considered "veterans," they had truly walked the path of the Saint rather than newly advancing. Their combat strength was remarkably fierce. *** Inside Hurricane City. Zheng Yu frowned slightly. Had Zhang An's faction chosen to enter the fray? How unexpected! He had assumed they would bide their time, wait, or keep guard against him. Hurricane City had suffered considerable losses previously, but it still housed as many as nine Saints! Of course, that was nothing compared to their original numbers. Now that heaven and earth could accommodate Saints, those nine had refrained from venturing out solely to avoid being cornered and besieged by Li Hao's faction. But if Zhang An and his people committed to the battle... Ying Hongyue might not gain any upper hand at all! "All Saints, prepare to mobilize at any moment!" Zheng Yu murmured softly, "How fascinating... Are all the Saints of the world gathering in one place today? Over twenty Saint-level powerhouses have already converged on both sides. Even in the Neo-Martial era, rarely did so many Saints assemble in a minor world..." Of course, he kept quiet about the heap of Saints who had already been slaughtered earlier. With Zhang An present, even if that skeleton was mighty, Zhang An and Li Hao combined would be more than enough to match the skeleton and Ying Hongyue evenly. Meanwhile, Li Hao's side still commanded over a dozen Saint-level powerhouses. Under such circumstances... Ying Hongyue's faction was unlikely to hold the advantage. "Lord Zheng, should we make our move now, or wait and see?" Zheng Yu pondered for a moment before replying, "Wait and see. Are those eight Saints all the Red Moon cultivators Ying Hongyue has allied with? Is that the whole force, or just a part of it? Let's observe a little longer... Unless a Saint falls and no further reinforcements appear from their side, we will not strike!" If a Saint died and still no reinforcements intervened, it would likely mean they truly had only eight Saints. Only then would it be time to act! The Saints nodded in unison, their eyes burning with anticipation and thirst for battle. Last time, they had been utterly humiliated! One Saint asked hesitantly, "Lord Zheng, what if Li Hao pulls another trick...?" "He won't!" Zheng Yu shook his head. "For one, heaven and earth are far more stable than before, so he might not succeed. Second... all their people have stepped out into the open this time. Retreating won't be that simple! Unless, of course, he's willing to bury Zhang An and the others alongside us!" If Li Hao went that far... they could all die together for all he cared! Naturally, Zheng Yu kept that thought to himself. If it truly came to that and Li Hao did so, Zheng Yu would actually welcome it. Sacrificing a few Saints on his side in exchange for the destruction of Zhang An and his entire faction... what a bargain! Zheng Yu thought to himself: in this battle, perhaps every Saint under heaven would truly be drawn in! Fascinating indeed! *** Before the colossal city gates, Li Hao converged with Zhang An, and the veteran Saints treated him with extraordinary courtesy. Li Hao offered a brilliant smile. "I waited an entire day for you seniors, and you've finally arrived! Without you here, I felt as if I lacked backing, as if I lacked a backbone... Now that you seniors are here, my heart is at ease!" He spoke as though he wouldn't have dared join the battle if they hadn't shown up. At this moment, Li Hao radiated haughty arrogance. Turning toward Ying Hongyue, he burst into laughter. "Ying Hongyue! You are full of schemes and deceit. I knew you would come prepared, and eight Saints might not be the full extent of your forces... Today, the grandson of Supreme Zhang has arrived in person, wielding the power of a quasi-Heavenly King capable of slaying a true Heavenly King. Today... you are dead!" Li Hao shouted, "Senior, I leave that skeleton to you! Today, I shall execute Ying Hongyue and avenge my blood feud! As for the rest of you... wipe out those scoundrels of the Red Moon!" With that, he raised his hand, his long sword manifesting as he roared, "Kill!" *Boom!* Sword light surged to the heavens! Killing intent spilled over, turning the skies chaotic! The grand battle erupted! Ying Hongyue's eyes flickered, and he growled, "Let us put that to the test! Li Hao, I have wanted to clash with you for days. Today... let us see who emerges victorious!" *Boom!* The vitality in his body erupted violently. Eight bloodlines instantly merged into one, unleashing a terrifying surge of power. The Forbidden Sea surged around heaven and earth, towering waves following his will as he charged straight at Li Hao. Behind him, the skeleton flashed with lustrous white-jade light and vanished from the spot. Holding the Great Dao Book, Zhang An vanished at the exact same moment. *Rumble!* Heaven and earth seemed to crumble! One was practically a Heavenly King, while the other was half a Heavenly King... At this moment, a clash of Heavenly Kings broke out! Meanwhile, Li Hao and Ying Hongyue—the successors of the Eight Great Families, both wielding peak Saint-level combat strength—collided in an instant. Blood vitality soared into the clouds. A sword materialized in Ying Hongyue's hand as well, and as he slashed, eight colors split heaven and earth! The Sentimental Swordsman Ying Hongyue had once been one of the top swordsmen of Silver Moon. The reason he hadn't been counted among the Seven Swords of Silver Moon was merely that the sword was not his sole weapon, yet his sword Dao was undeniably masterful. On the other side, Hong Yitang brandished his blade and bellowed, "Kill!" The Earth-Overturning Sword sent shockwaves through heaven and earth. As the slash tore through the air, the churning Forbidden Sea suddenly flipped upside down. Lin Hongyu grasped her scimitar, a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes, and vanished in the blink of an eye, melting straight into the Forbidden Sea. With ten thousand Daos converging into a single stream, she had no fear of the Forbidden Sea's corrosive power. Li Fuhai, the Ninth Division Commander, the Zhang family's Saber Saint... powerhouse after powerhouse charged forward. Black Panther transformed into a colossal golden hound, swallowing and exhaling the essence of heaven and earth. In the blink of an eye, the two sides tore the celestial vault to shreds across the sea! The instant the clash began, even though the eight Red Moon Saints were bolstered by the Forbidden Sea, one of the Blood Saints let out an agonized cry. An enormous golden ox descended from above with a thunderous roar, sending violent tremors rippling through the entire Forbidden Sea! Li Fuhai grunted in a muffled voice, "I am the Sea Suppressing Emissary!" As long as heaven and earth endured and Neo-Martial stood, he remained the Sea Suppressing Emissary! All the seas under heaven were his domain! Had people forgotten that the Water Bull clan originated from the Forbidden Sea? In the Neo-Martial era, they had lived within its depths. His grandfather, Sovereign Li Wuqi, and their ancestor Shui Li had swum endlessly in the Forbidden Sea—great water bulls roaming the boundless ocean! What was this tiny patch of the Forbidden Sea to him? Was this pathetic corrosive power supposed to scratch an itch? *Boom!* Under his suppression, massive ox hooves shattered the waters. Even Ying Hongyue and the skeleton in the distance trembled slightly, surprised, before quickly realizing that this was the beast's innate nature! The Sea Suppressing Emissary... commanded all the seas under heaven, or at the very least, the seas of Silver Moon fell under his jurisdiction! The eight Saints had originally been bolstered by the power of the Forbidden Sea, possessing considerable might. But with their defense abruptly trampled and shattered, they immediately came under a frenzied onslaught! Which of these veteran Saints wasn't a premier powerhouse? And the newly advanced fighters were supreme experts of the new era. Black Panther swallowed heaven and earth, gulping down massive amounts of seawater in an instant. It swallowed without hesitation, letting the seawater gather in its belly and corrode its insides, completely unbothered! The lineage of the Demon Suppressing Emissary feared no Forbidden Sea! In a single instant, a Blood Saint was sent flying by a slash from the Zhang family's Saber Saint. As he was knocked back, a scimitar sliced through the darkness, carving a bloody furrow that sprayed gore across the sky! Like a nocturnal hunter, Lin Hongyu materialized out of nowhere, her scimitar cleaving the sky. A Great Saint was instantly grievously wounded! "Ahhh!" Agonized shrieks pierced the heavens. Saints were generally indifferent to ordinary pain, but when a blade carried something foul, the agony became unbearable! Lin Hongyu's blade didn't carry anything particularly exotic—merely the filthy dregs left behind after the deaths of gods of misfortune and calamity, mixed with the specialized power of gods like the God of Agony. Erupting all at once from the blade, it ripped through a Saint's body, plunging him into excruciating torment! Screams of anguish echoed across heaven and earth! *** *Boom!* At the same time, Li Hao and Ying Hongyue crossed blades in a fierce duel. Sword intent pierced the sky as the two blades slashed through the heavens! Li Hao sneered coldly, "Back then, my master suppressed you until you fell to your knees begging for mercy! Today, even without my master here, you are still inferior to our Five Animals Sect!" With that, he abruptly cast his sword aside and transformed into a ferocious bird of prey! "I shall suppress you, beast, with the Five Animals Art!" Ying Hongyue frowned slightly, his sword tearing across the sky in a relentless flurry of strikes. Li Hao shifted forms continuously, yet he still struggled to break through Ying Hongyue's defense. As they traded blows back and forth, Ying Hongyue's brow remained tightly furrowed. He glanced around... puzzled. Li Hao... was strong! Remarkably formidable. But... he did not instill that sense of dread, that foreboding unease. In the past, even when Li Hao had not been very powerful, encountering him had always filled Ying Hongyue with anxiety. Strange! Yet the person before him was undeniably Li Hao. Across the world, no one besides Yuan Shuo and Li Hao could execute the Five Animals Art to such perfection and sweep the world with the five grand forces! *Boom!* A tremendous roar came from nearby. The Great Dao Book shuddered slightly as figures within it shattered one after another! Suspended between heaven and earth with the Great Dao Book in hand, Zhang An watched as figure after figure stepped forward to assault the skeleton. In a calm voice, Zhang An said, "You are an Early Martial practitioner. How dare you strike against our Neo-Martial?" The skeleton roared and threw a punch, instantly obliterating one of the figures. Zhang An stumbled slightly, somewhat appalled. "Who among the Early Martial are you?" Unfortunately, no answer came! In their grueling exchange, Zhang An was gradually falling into a disadvantage. He shouted furiously, "Slay them and come reinforce me at once!" *Boom!* In the distance, over a dozen Saints struck out, tearing heaven and earth apart. In the blink of an eye, a Saint let out a bloodcurdling scream as countless branches suddenly impaled him. General Locust, who had kept a low profile, surged up from the seabed and impaled a Blood Saint straight through the chest. The next instant, the Old Turtle crushed down with a thunderous boom. The Saint's body instantly shattered, exposing a blood-red phantom! Just as it revealed itself, a scimitar tore through the void! *Slash!* The blood phantom wailed in agony once more before snapping cleanly in two with a crisp *crack*! *** "He's about to die... and truly no one came..." Zheng Yu probed the surroundings with his senses, confirming that no ripples of powerful experts were approaching. Seeing that a Saint was on the verge of death, he quickly ordered, "Strike! Reinforce them!" "Understood!" The next moment, a colossal city materialized. In the blink of an eye, nine Saints emerged above the Forbidden Sea, and the great city vanished. Nine Saints had entered the field! Ying Hongyue exhaled a breath of relief... He had known that Zheng Yu wouldn't just sit by and watch them be slaughtered. Sure enough, they had come. Bringing only eight Saints had been part of his calculations all along. Eight Saints might not match Li Hao's faction, but Hurricane City still held Saints in reserve. Once Zheng Yu saw that no reinforcements were coming for Ying Hongyue... he would inevitably intervene! Under such circumstances, why bring out more Saints early on? That would only make people wary! Now, with seventeen Saints combined against only thirteen on the opposing side, his side held the numerical advantage! In this battle, victory would still be his! Just as that thought crossed his mind... The nine newly arrived Saints suddenly saw an ancient city materialize—none other than Galaxy City, which had been hovering in the sky earlier. However, the city appeared devoid of experts, manned only by a handful of Immortals and puppet students. With combat power like that... had they come to throw their lives away? Though the nine Saints had yet to join up with the remaining Blood Saints, their appearance provoked intense fury. Li Fuhai bellowed, "What nerve, Zheng Yu! Aren't you afraid of losing every last Saint you have?" They had held a massive advantage just moments ago, on the brink of executing a Saint. Once one died, it would trigger a chain reaction, allowing them to swiftly finish off the other seven! Yet nine more had suddenly appeared... Though somewhat expected, their rapid arrival was infuriating nonetheless! *** Atop Mount Cang, the Queen curled her lips. She had been looking forward to watching the spectacle... but Zheng Yu's faction had jumped in as well. While the show would go on, it was no longer as amusing as before. The combat power of both sides was nearly balanced. Crucially, Li Hao seemed to be falling behind against Ying Hongyue, while Zhang An was also struggling against that skeleton... If this continued... once those two were routed, Li Hao might suffer a devastating defeat! The Queen sneered inwardly. Li Hao had acted so arrogant... wasn't he still about to suffer a major setback today? Good! That fellow was far too insolent; taking a beating would do him good! Without a painful lesson, he would genuinely believe himself the strongest under heaven. *** Meanwhile, the most nervous people on the battlefield were none other than the King of Dali and Jiang Li. Both stood behind Zhang An, yet found themselves utterly unable to intervene; Zhang An couldn't even suppress that skeleton on his own! The two of them were completely useless! Watching the nine Saints descend, the King of Dali felt bitter frustration. Damn it! Fuck! The opportunity was gone! They had stood a chance just moments ago, but with nine Saints joining the fray, all hope had vanished. Winning aside... whether the two of them could survive was now the real question! As for the city appearing, the King of Dali paid it no mind at all! A mere handful of Immortals... useless! These were nine Saints! Not one. If it were a single Saint, those Immortals working together might have stood a chance. But against nine, stepping out to block them was nothing short of suicide, wasn't it? Zhang An's expression changed as well, and he roared, "If you dare harm them, I will slaughter you all!" "You'd better worry about yourself first!" A Saint from Hurricane City mocked, "Do you still think this is the old days? Zhang An, without the Supreme, what do you amount to?" Did he think this was still a hundred thousand years ago? Those descendants of Sovereigns, those elites of the Martial Arts Alliance and Heaven Anchoring City inside the city—in the past, they had been pivotal figures of Neo-Martial. But now... weren't they at their mercy? "Kill them!" A Saint growled, and all nine Saints struck simultaneously! Obliterate the city! At that exact instant, heaven and earth seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second. From within the city, a dim sword light suddenly flashed forth. It didn't appear overwhelmingly powerful, yet in a single instant, the sword light swept past one of the Saints! Fast! Boundlessly fast! There was only one word for it: fast! In that split second, the lead Saint felt something amiss. His body was still flying toward the city, yet... how could he possibly be watching his own body fly forward? He was filled with confusion... while the Saints beside him wore expressions of sheer terror! His head... had fallen off! Sword light flashed, and heaven and earth changed color. A single sword strike, and of the nine Saints, one lost his head instantly. Paralyzed with horror, the remaining eight reacted immediately, striking together toward the sword light! There was an expert! Who? At that exact moment, a soft shout resonated across the world. "Suppress!" Suppress! A character manifested, seemingly weighing down the entire world. In that momentary lapse of focus, the Saints froze for an instant, and in that fleeting split second, a sword skewered two Saints clean through! Like meat on a skewer, the long sword instantly drained the two Saints of everything! In the distance, Ying Hongyue seemed to sense something. His face twisted drastically, and he whipped his head toward the Li Hao who was still fiercely attacking him, roaring, "Li Hao?!" The person inside the city was also Li Hao! Damn it! How could that be? Li Hao, currently transformed into a ferocious tiger and pressing him hard, suddenly revealed a mocking sneer in his eyes—as if saying: *Didn't see that coming, did you?* Inside Hurricane City. Zheng Yu had just walked off when his face suddenly changed, and he looked up in shock. In that single instant, three Saints had been pierced through, their physical bodies collapsing immediately! A figure hung suspended in the air. It was Li Hao! "Huh?" High above, atop the Silver Moon, the sword-carrying man let out a soft exclamation of surprise. The Moon God was horrified. "Li Hao?" *** Inside the Early Martial Shrine. Someone murmured, "I knew something felt off. An avatar... How can it be so identical to the real thing? The avatar practically passes for genuine, possessing peak Saint-level power... Can a modern martial artist truly produce such an avatar?" How strange! No wonder he had deceived the entire world! The crucial point was that the boy hadn't shown himself until this very moment, waiting until Zheng Yu deployed all nine Saints before making his entrance... This was clearly a trap laid to annihilate every Saint under Zheng Yu's command! What audacity! Yet soon, the Early Martial god shook his head. "It's not worth it... That avatar is remarkable. Revealing it just to kill a few more Saints isn't worth the price!" Of course, that depended on Li Hao's personal priorities. If he deemed it worth the cost, then so be it! *** With Li Hao's appearance, the tide of battle reversed in an instant! Three Saints were slaughtered in a flash! Long sword in hand, Li Hao wore a radiant smile as he chuckled softly, "Thank you for your generous gift, Senior Zheng. Next time... send me a few Heavenly Kings instead!" With those words, his long sword erupted, sword energy crisscrossing heaven and earth! The six surviving Saints snapped back to their senses! Yet the next moment, the sky split open, and hundreds of millions of stars crashed down, shaking heaven and earth with thunderous roars. The Saints were consumed by terror, while Li Hao's aura surged dramatically. A single sword strike lashed out—ten thousand Daos returning to one! *Boom!* A Saint was brutally executed on the spot! Nearby, the Ninth Division Commander's expression shifted, and he whipped his head around. High above, the sword-carrying man rose abruptly, murmuring, "The Sword of Ten Thousand Daos Returning to One!" The sword of the Sword Venerable! Though not entirely identical... at this moment, Li Hao truly displayed the bearing of the Sword Venerable. For the very first time, his sword bore a genuine resemblance to that of the Sword Venerable. The Sword of Ten Thousand Daos Returning to One! Slaying higher realms from below! A rank six slaying a rank eight, a Peak Realm slaying an Immortal! Such was the Sword Venerable! Even up to the Saint realm, he could slay Heavenly Kings! When it came to fighting above one's realm, the Sword Venerable was undisputed under heaven—even the Human King fell short! One sword converging ten thousand Daos. A Saint screamed miserably and instantly shattered. The others paled in horror. "The Sword Venerable?" At that moment, everyone thought of the Sword Venerable. The sword of the Sword Venerable! The appearance of a second Li Hao was shocking enough, but the sword of the Sword Venerable—the Sword of Ten Thousand Daos Returning to One—shook even the hidden powerhouses to their core. Even Zheng Yu and the sword-carrying man were deeply rattled! One strike per kill! At this moment, Li Hao's world seemed to contain only the sword! And in the eyes of the Saints, there was only that blade! *Squelch!* Another Saint was impaled! In the blink of an eye, five Saints had seen their physical bodies disintegrate. The remaining four turned deathly pale, and in the next second, spun around to flee! A trap! From beginning to end, it had all been a trap. Li Hao's true self was actually here! To be able to slaughter Saints in an instant, this had to be his true body! Killing five Saints in an instant... such combat prowess was no weaker than that of a Heavenly King. Perhaps... even stronger! Yet none dared dwell on the thought. "Where do you think you're running?" Li Hao chuckled. Heaven and earth altered their hue as a long sword seemed to pierce across the world, its brilliance reflecting through the heavens! "Sever!" A sky-shattering shout rang out. The four Saints suddenly froze. As the long sword fell, two Saints were instantly hacked into pieces. The remaining two snapped back to their senses, feeling that something was terrifyingly wrong! With that single shout from Li Hao, their thoughts had ground to a halt! What kind of ability was this? They had no time to ponder. Li Hao's sword light reflected across the sky once more. The two Saints exchanged a glance, both filled with despair. Nine Saints! In the blink of an eye, seven had been slaughtered! They... could not escape! "Li Hao... you—" *Boom!* A deafening explosion rang out as one chose to self-detonate. The other tore through the void to flee, opening his mouth to yell a warning: *Something is wrong with Li Hao! He has some bizarre ability that freezes people for a moment!* Yet before he could speak, a figure strode unscathed out of the explosion's shockwave like a primordial giant, his hand blotting out the sky. Like an enormous bear, he reached out and snatched the fleeing Saint! He pulled him into his grasp in an instant! Like an adult holding a child, Li Hao wrapped both arms around the Saint's neck, baring his teeth in a grin. *Crack!* He snapped the neck and crushed the body! In mere moments, the physical bodies of all nine Saints had been obliterated! The long sword pierced through the void. Screams echoed continuously as the Saints whose spiritual consciousness had just coalesced were executed on the spot! It all happened too fast. So fast that everyone, save those who already knew, was struck dumb. Only Zhang An and his companions had anticipated this—hadn't those Saints been so polite earlier precisely because they knew how terrifying Li Hao was? Even so... their hearts still trembled. Nine Saints! In just this short span of time... wiped out entirely! *** Inside Hurricane City. Zheng Yu crushed his throne to dust without a word. Behind him, several Heavenly Kings wore grim expressions! Dead! The moment the nine Saints stepped outside... Li Hao had slaughtered them clean. Clearly, Li Hao had been waiting for them all along. Zheng Yu forced a smile, though it was utterly chilling. "What impressive methods!" Impressive indeed! To manufacture an avatar with peak Saint-level strength that passed flawlessly for the real thing—if that wasn't impressive, what was? Who could have guessed Li Hao could produce such an avatar? The dozens of Saints originally stationed in the city... had now been completely eradicated, not a single one remaining! *Boom!* Another roar erupted as a Blood Saint was blasted to bits, no longer able to wait for rescue. The remaining seven Blood Saints went white as sheets. Nine Saints had come to reinforce them, and they had thought the tides would turn... only for all nine to be wiped out in an instant? Just how powerful was Li Hao? Nine Saints! Even slaughtering nine pigs would take some time, yet Li Hao had butchered them no slower than slaughtering livestock! "Fine methods, truly fine methods!" Over there, Ying Hongyue knocked back the Li Hao before him with a sword strike, his voice dripping with venom. "Impressive!" Meanwhile, Li Hao's true self hung suspended in the air, looking over with a smile. "Ying Hongyue, you haven't even seen the truly impressive part yet!" Ying Hongyue's heart skipped a beat. Li Hao chuckled and reached out into the void, suddenly dragging a person into view. When Ying Hongyue got a clear look at her face, he was struck with pure horror! This was perhaps the very first time he felt genuine terror! Even when Li Hao had slaughtered the nine Saints... he hadn't felt this much dread. Because he had still possessed a foundation of confidence. "Li Hao!" Ying Hongyue's voice grew shrill. Li Hao's smile turned playful. "Surprised, Ying Hongyue? My true self is right here. Guess... where was I before this?" "Impossible!" Not only him, but the remaining seven Blood Saints were stunned as well. They were all engaged in perilous two-on-one battles, yet one Blood Saint froze in place, allowing Li Fuhai to impale his body as he stared in blank disbelief. "Cyan Moon?" He knew this woman! He also knew where she was supposed to be. More than that, he knew how many powerhouses were stationed there—a full five Heavenly Kings, twelve Saints, and over a hundred Immortals... Why... why would Cyan Moon appear here? Li Hao's massive hand gripped Cyan Moon's head. She struggled violently, unable to speak, merely staring at Ying Hongyue with pleading eyes... *Run!* Li Hao had slaughtered all the powerhouses in the City of Thunder! Every single one of them... none remained except her! Ying Hongyue's face flushed with blood. He glared at Li Hao, gritting his teeth in a low snarl. "Let her go!" Li Hao chuckled softly. "Ying Hongyue... do you actually care about a woman? No, you don't. All you care about are the implications of her appearance here... I believe you will be quite satisfied!" With that, he tore open the void, and an ancient city descended! At that moment, Ying Hongyue's body went stiff. If he had harbored a sliver of hope earlier that Cyan Moon had merely ventured out recklessly and been captured, the appearance of this city shattered every illusion—Li Hao had destroyed everything! Five Heavenly Kings were gone, his entire stronghold razed, not a soul left alive! All his foundations, everything he possessed... wiped out! How it had been done no longer mattered. What mattered was that after decades of careful scheming, everything was gone. A mouthful of blood sprayed from Ying Hongyue's lips. His face flushed red as he whispered, "Li Hao... you're forcing my hand, aren't you?" Li Hao smiled. "Indeed! I am forcing your hand, so what of it? Go on, channel more of the Sovereign's power. Become his avatar if you wish; I'll be waiting. Don't forget the foundation upon which this city was built. I have claimed that red moon for myself! Even if you fuse with more power... what difference will it make?" Ying Hongyue's expression twisted drastically, his voice turning shrill: "Impossible! That is absolutely impossible!" Yes, he knew. The Sovereign's blood essence! There was no way Li Hao could have taken the Sovereign's blood! Absolutely impossible! He was slipping into madness. He had schemed for that blood for years, but had never dared touch it, fearing he would be possessed. Yet now... Li Hao was telling him the blood had been taken. This shook him far more than the deaths of five Heavenly Kings. Li Hao beamed at his frantic state, smiling radiantly. "Are you happy, Ying Hongyue? Do you like this outcome?" With that, he gradually tightened his grip, causing blood to seep from Cyan Moon's body. A ferocious gleam flashed in Ying Hongyue's eyes. Sword in hand, he lunged at Li Hao, his blade piercing the void. The strike was exceedingly fierce, laden with violently turbulent lightning! The other Li Hao transformed into a ferocious tiger and leaped forward, barring his path! With a radiant smile, Li Hao crushed Cyan Moon with a resounding *boom*! At that exact instant, he loosened a fraction of his suppression, allowing Cyan Moon's voice to ring out: "Hongyue... I have no regrets..." *Pfft!* Ying Hongyue spat another mouthful of blood. How vicious Li Hao was! Li Hao had known she would say those words the moment the suppression lifted. He had deliberately released the restriction the instant before her death! He was deliberately trying to shatter Ying Hongyue's Dao heart! "Li Hao!" Ying Hongyue went berserk, letting out a shrill roar. His sword transformed into lightning as he clashed furiously with Li Hao's avatar, carving bloody gashes across the avatar's body in the blink of an eye! Yet Li Hao's true self ignored him, plunging straight into the Forbidden Sea and throwing a punch! *Boom!* The Forbidden Sea blasted open with a violent shudder. Li Hao's voice echoed through the world: "Enough, what are you playing at? I know you too well. Pretending to be lovesick? Looking to flee? You want to wrap up that skeleton and escape right now, don't you? What are you thinking? I... am your dearest friend! The one who understands you best is never your friend, but your enemy. Ying Hongyue, I understand you so very well... don't I?" *Rumble!* The Forbidden Sea shook violently as a phantom manifested—another Ying Hongyue, faint and illusory. He had been on the verge of burrowing into the skeleton, only to be punched out by Li Hao! The Ying Hongyue dueling Li Hao's avatar saw his expression twist once again! This time, it turned intensely sinister! Li Hao! Li Hao! That bastard, that fiend—even at this stage, Li Hao was still guarding against his tricks! Li Hao's smile was utterly brilliant. A sword strike drove the phantom back, and the long sword vanished, detonating beside a blood phantom the very next second. With a thunderous boom, the blood phantom was compressed into a Blood God Seed. Strolling leisurely, Li Hao chuckled, "You still have a chance to escape... Channel more of the Red Moon's power, or merge the eight bloodlines completely... Devour the bloodlines of Yama and the Flying Sword Immortal. You still have a chance! If you don't use your trump cards now... you won't get another!" The Flying Sword Immortal! At that moment, Zheng Yu glanced toward the Flying Sword Immortal beside him, and the other Heavenly Kings' expressions shifted slightly as well. Above the Forbidden Sea, Ying Hongyue suddenly fell silent. He looked at Li Hao and let out a tragic, bitter laugh. "Li Hao... not killing you may truly have been my greatest mistake!" He had possessed so many trump cards! The City of Thunder, the Forbidden Sea, the skeleton, the bloodlines of the Eight Great Families... With so many cards, let alone one Heavenly King, even three or five Heavenly Kings seeking his life might have been trapped and slain by him. Yet what was the result? Every single one of his trump cards had been dismantled piece by piece by Li Hao, and nearly everyone at his side had been wiped out! The Blood Saints were falling in rapid succession. Two, three, four... Ying Hongyue smiled bitterly, knowing that today he had lost—suffered an utter and total defeat! Looking around, he gritted his teeth and chuckled. "Li Hao... you win!" With that, two physical bodies materialized in his hands, their features indistinct. They shattered in an instant, merging into his flesh. The eight bloodlines fused into one, becoming extraordinarily stable, and Ying Hongyue's aura skyrocketed! He drew infinitely close to a Heavenly King! The stabilized eight bloodlines allowed him to bypass certain restrictions of heaven and earth, as this world had always been deeply intertwined with the Eight Great Families. With the eight bloodlines unified, his aura surged upward. Another wave of Red Moon power flooded into his body, and he siphoned boundless energy from the Forbidden Sea! In the blink of an eye, he seemed to break through the critical threshold. With a deafening roar, the power of a Heavenly King swept across heaven and earth! Ying Hongyue wore an ugly, gloomy expression! A Heavenly King? An early-stage Heavenly King? Was this his true aspiration? Of course not! His plan had been to ascend to the heavens in a single bound, stepping directly into the Half-Emperor realm. Yet now... he had achieved merely an unstable Heavenly King. What was the use? What could a Heavenly King change? Inside Hurricane City, Zheng Yu frowned slightly. Setting aside the deaths of the nine Saints for the moment, he silently gazed into the distance, lost in thought. These two... possessed far more trump cards than he had imagined! *** Atop Mount Cang, the Queen turned and fled without hesitation. A bunch of terrifying madmen! She had thought Saints were invincible under heaven, yet dozens were dying at the drop of a hat... If she didn't flee now, once the battle ended and Li Hao caught her, what good could come of it? Escape first! Too terrifying! Nine Saints slaughtered in an instant, Ying Hongyue ascending directly to Heavenly King, and Li Hao likely no weaker than a Heavenly King himself... This was no longer a battle of Saints. This was a war of Heavenly Kings! By now, the Blood Saints were practically wiped out. Li Fuhai and the others rushed to assist Zhang An in suppressing the skeleton. With over a dozen Saints joining forces, even a true Heavenly King would be hard-pressed to resist! The King of Dali was completely dumbfounded. Wearing his gauntlets, he exchanged blank stares with Jiang Li! Compared to these monsters... the two of them were no different from fools! From beginning to end, they had been mere spectators! Anxious, nervous, fearful, excited... their emotions had run the full gamut, yet they hadn't been able to intervene in the slightest. And in that time, seventeen Saints had perished! Yes, all eight Blood Saints had been wiped out! Only the skeleton and Ying Hongyue remained! The King of Dali had no idea what was happening. In a total daze, an entire crowd of Saints had already died! *** Ying Hongyue's aura grew increasingly formidable. The Li Hao who had been blocking him vanished, merging back into Li Hao's true body the next instant. Holding the Starry Sky Sword, Li Hao looked at Ying Hongyue with a smile. "How does it feel?" "Tolerable!" Ying Hongyue replied darkly. Glancing at the powerhouses besieging the skeleton, his eyes flickered. "Do you intend to fight me one-on-one?" He took a step toward Li Hao, his tone menacing. "Do you have any idea how many decades of planning you've ruined? Do you truly believe you are my match?" "Hard to say!" Li Hao smiled. "All I know is that with you being so powerful and staying connected to the seal, the Red Moon Sovereign must be delighted—he can merge even more power into you. Ying Hongyue, I'm so worried... worried you might be possessed by someone else! If the Sovereign possesses you, how am I supposed to take my revenge? I want you dead by my own hands, not by that Sovereign's... How about you lower your cultivation a bit? I'll extract some of that Red Moon power, and then let you go." Ying Hongyue's eyes turned icy. "You are welcome to try!" "Then try I shall!" A domain manifested, and both men vanished instantly. The next moment, two figures appeared within the domain, and *boom*! A deafening roar shook heaven and earth! Two terrifying powerhouses fought tooth and nail within the domain, tearing reality apart! Meanwhile, above the Forbidden Sea, fourteen experts joined forces to besiege the skeleton, waging a battle of astonishing proportions! *** High in the heavens. The sword-carrying man murmured, "Both are remarkable talents! In a single battle... Li Hao has cleared away all the Saints. Such strength, such forbearance... Moreover, the City of Thunder is gone, meaning far more than just a few Saints must have fallen!" What about the Heavenly Kings? The Heavenly Kings converted by the Red Moon Sovereign? Were they all dead? Likely so! Which meant that across this battle, numerous Heavenly Kings had already perished. What a terrifying youth! In this single battle, Li Hao had thoroughly cleared away every obstacle. Ying Hongyue was left entirely alone. In all the vast world, he stood by himself, every scheme reduced to ash. Perhaps such a blow was far more agonizing than death itself! After all, Ying Hongyue was a man who had sought to contend with a Sovereign. "What should we do?" The Moon God grew nervous, experiencing such anxiety for the very first time. Too terrifying! At this moment, she felt both men were monstrous, having concealed far too much. Though the man before her was formidable as well, how old were those two down below? "Ying Hongyue cannot die. If he dies, things will become troublesome!" The sword-carrying man said softly, "Make your move! Since our presence has been exposed... there is no need to hold back. Zheng Yu's Saints are completely wiped out; only you stand a chance of saving Ying Hongyue... Intervene and suppress Li Hao!" "Intervene..." The Moon God trembled. Now? "Yes." Without another word, the Moon God acted. In an instant, the bright moon in the sky flared with light. Fleeing atop Mount Cang, the Queen snapped her head up, her expression changing. The true Moon God was about to intervene! The limit of heaven and earth was the peak Saint realm. Yet the Moon God was the foundation and core of Silver Moon. Bolstered by the blessing of the heavenly will... the radiant moon began to radiate the aura of a Heavenly King. The Queen's expression shifted. Li Hao was truly capable, actually forcing that entity into the open! *** Inside the domain, Li Hao and Ying Hongyue battled fiercely, altering the very fabric of heaven and earth. Right then, a tremendous surge of Silver Moon power bombarded the domain. A bright moon manifested, and within it stood a graceful figure like a true divinity—reverent, sacred, standing atop the Silver Moon, gazing down at Li Hao with aloof, icy eyes. She carried a far greater sense of the sacred than the Queen had when Li Hao first met her! At that moment, the entire Silver Moon world seemed to tremble. The goddess's voice rang out, cold and clear: "Li Hao, it is time to stop!" Li Hao was faintly suppressing Ying Hongyue, who possessed Heavenly King-level strength, and the powerhouses over by the sea were close to subduing the skeleton. The Moon God knew that if this continued, Ying Hongyue would either be slain or possessed by the Sovereign! Neither outcome was acceptable to them. Just then, Li Hao smiled. "Zheng Yu suffered heavy losses, while you lot sat back to reap the spoils, looking down upon all living beings and treating the world as your chessboard... You truly overestimate yourselves and underestimate the heroes of this world!" Li Hao burst into thunderous laughter, his voice echoing across heaven and earth, tinged with cold detachment and ferocious savagery. "You... wish to dictate my path as well?" "Your Majesty the Queen... Your Majesty the Heavenly God... allow me to bestow a gift upon you. Remember this favor!" The Moon God froze slightly. The next instant, the sky above her head split open. A massive droplet of blood manifested. As it appeared, Li Hao smiled and murmured, "The Sovereign's blood... I didn't dare use it, fearing a trap... So I gift it to you!" *Boom!* A cataclysmic explosion tore through heaven and earth. *Rumble!* The radiant moon shattered instantly. Countless streams of Silver Moon energy scattered across the realm, throwing the entire land of Dali into violent upheaval! A sword manifested, slashing downward! Yet the detonating blood unleashed an overwhelmingly terrifying pressure that crushed the entire world! "The Sovereign's blood essence!" Multiple voices cried out in shock. Within Dali, someone bellowed in fury, "Fuck! Are you trying to blow Dali to pieces?!" The speaker vanished from the spot instantly! Zheng Yu steered Hurricane City and fled immediately! The sword-carrying man brought his blade down, his expression shifting slightly as he barked, "Flee!" The void cracked open as half of the bright moon let out a shrill, agonizing wail. The Moon God's body disintegrated, filled with terror, panic, and despair... Her true form shattered repeatedly, but in that crucial instant, the sword-carrying man slashed through the air, severing everything! Abandoning more than half of the moon, the Moon God fled into the Great Dao Universe—the Virtual Dao Universe! The moment she fled, the sword-carrying man's face darkened. Heaven and earth pressed down upon him as though encountering a colossal threat. His expression shifted, and looking down at Li Hao, he murmured, "You... are ruthless enough!" With that, he tore the sky open and vanished. *Boom!* A deafening explosion swept across the world! Dali was plunged into mortal peril. At that moment, a fist slammed down, altering heaven and earth as it suppressed the massive shockwaves. A figure stumbled backward, cursing furiously: "Fuck! Heaven and earth haven't even revived yet... you bastards!" Ruthless! Detonating the Sovereign's blood essence! Truly fucking ruthless! Fist after fist rained down, shaking heaven and earth! Meanwhile, Li Hao said nothing, merely thrusting his sword again, again, and again! Ying Hongyue coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood, his face contorted in sheer horror! The next instant, he let out a frantic roar, and his body suddenly exploded! The detonation instantly shattered the domain! Simultaneously, a tiny branch at the edge of the Forbidden Sea snapped, transforming into a person—Ying Hongyue. He had abandoned even his Heavenly King body, possessing only a single thought: escape! Li Hao was insane! This time, he hadn't merely schemed against Ying Hongyue; he had schemed against everyone! He had actually used the Sovereign's blood essence to blow up the Moon God! The Moon God's true form was practically destroyed, and the sword-carrying man was so powerful that he had been forced to retreat into the Great Dao Universe. Until the Moon God's true form recovered, he had no hope of stepping out! And as for himself... continuing this fight meant certain death! His Heavenly King body no longer mattered; he had to run, his heart gripped by boundless terror! Boundless dread! Li Hao hurled his sword toward Ying Hongyue, as if anticipating this move all along. Just then, a figure vanished from the fleeing Hurricane City! Zheng Yu frowned slightly, but raised a hand to hold back the other Heavenly Kings. The next moment, the Flying Sword Immortal appeared before Ying Hongyue and struck with her sword! Lightning crackled all around! *Boom!* Li Hao's long sword was momentarily halted. Grabbing Ying Hongyue, the Flying Sword Immortal fled into the void in panic! Just as Li Hao moved to give chase, the skeleton behind him suddenly erupted with terrifying power, gathering boundless energy as it prepared to self-detonate. In the distance, a weakened Ying Hongyue wore a savage expression! At this point... no backup plans mattered anymore! Li Hao, that lunatic. Just as the skeleton was about to blow, a fist smashed down with a thunderous roar. With a resounding *bang*, the skeleton was shattered to pieces. Faintly, a voice seemed to cry out, trying to shout something! Yet it was obliterated in an instant! A phantom flickered into view, fuming with rage: "Get lost, all of you!" With that, it vanished! A voice drifted back: "Li Hao, you are quite the figure, but do not pursue him any further. If you truly kill him, do you insist on forcing the Sovereign to break the seal?" A faint smile appeared on Li Hao's face, and he laughed heartily. "Thank you for the guidance, senior!" With that, he looked up at the sky and chuckled. "You fellows in the Virtual Dao Universe... Senior Zheng suffered such heavy losses, yet I blew up half of the Moon God's true form... That should even the score for you. You aren't angry, are you?" "Hahahahaha!" Li Hao's laughter echoed across heaven and earth: "A Half-Emperor? A sword Dao Half-Emperor? How impressive! Yet... it seems heaven and earth have no place for you. You slaughtered the Li family—do you dare step down from the moon?" "This world... is the world of the Li family after all!" Li Hao's voice was laden with arrogance, madness, and domineering might! In this battle, he had won! As for Ying Hongyue... he had never intended to kill him today. Killing him might truly cause the seal to break. But... wasn't leaving him alive even better? Everyone around him was dead! His Heavenly King body was gone, the Forbidden Sea was gone, everything was gone. Now he would be driven mad, and that... was precisely what Li Hao wanted—to subject him to boundless agony! The torment of watching every plan ruined, every scheme reduced to nothing! "Ying Hongyue, I shall await your revenge! Just as I once schemed endlessly to seek revenge against you, I know all too well the agony, the helplessness, the excruciating torment of it all. Everything I suffered... you shall experience in full!" In the distance, Ying Hongyue coughed up blood continuously, his face growing paler by the second. Li Hao... you bastard! He regretted his past choices to his very bones! *** Inside Hurricane City. Zheng Yu suddenly began to laugh, doubled over and looking up at the sky, his laughter leaving those around him bewildered. "Hahaha... you... what a pathetic sight!" These days, one didn't need to fear suffering losses, as long as someone else suffered worse. The Moon God's true form was practically blown to bits, and the man was trapped in the Great Dao Universe, likely losing his grip on heaven and earth in an instant. Whether the Moon God could ever recover was an open question! Scheming and plotting endlessly... only to be blasted into stupor by a single drop of Sovereign blood essence! Strictly speaking, his side had lost many Saints, appearing worse off on the surface. But in truth... the Moon God's true form was far too vital; those Saints could never compare to her! Crucially... the Queen in the distance was greedily siphoning Silver Moon power at this very moment! Next time, it would be hard to say who the true Moon God would be! Though foolish, the Queen was absorbing vast amounts of Silver Moon power... and might truly supplant her. Since the Moon God was the key to that man's control over the world, who had suffered worse was self-evident! Zheng Yu roared with laughter! A bunch of dead Saints was nothing! The terrifying one was Li Hao, and the most miserable was the fellow forced into the Great Dao Universe—his losses far exceeded even Ying Hongyue's! "Li Hao... even the Human King of his era might not have matched you!" Zheng Yu sighed in admiration. The youth possessed terrifying methods. In a single battle, every faction had suffered severe losses, while Li Hao had thoroughly cleared away every obstacle! A drop of Sovereign blood essence—had Zheng Yu obtained it, he would never have had the heart to detonate it. He might have studied it to discern the path to Sovereign! Yet Li Hao had detonated it without a second thought! And precisely because he had done so, he had managed to heavily wound the Moon God; otherwise, even a Heavenly King would have struggled against her. To gain, one had to sacrifice, but how many people possessed such immense boldness? At the very least... Zheng Yu would have hesitated! Zheng Yu sighed inwardly. *Could it be... that I truly am inferior to this boy?* *** Further away, the Queen was ecstatic to the point of madness. Boundless Silver Moon power surged into her body. With the Moon God's true form crippled, and with the Queen already controlling a portion of Silver Moon, the torrential influx of energy left her overjoyed, thrilled, and deeply frightened... Li Hao was truly a terrifying monster! She knew full well how formidable the Moon God was, yet the moment the goddess stepped out today, Li Hao had blasted her to pieces... What a pathetic sight! The Queen sneered inwardly: *Everyone says I suffered at Li Hao's hands, but what about you?* *Pitiable fool!* *The first time you show yourself, you nearly die. It's not even certain you can be saved now—the damage wrought by a Sovereign's blood essence is not so easily healed!* "A foolish generation!" With a cold sneer, the Queen looked at the sky. How stupid! To actually dare look down on Li Hao—bah!