A General Without an Army

Darkness engulfed Li Hao. Even with a dark-attribute Dao resonance crystal on hand, he could only probe an area of about a thousand meters. All around him was completely empty. Was this what the interior of the Dark Divine Hall truly looked like? With nothing at all inside, what kind of divine hall was this? Or did powerful experts require no external trappings when cultivating, needing nothing more than a quiet place for seclusion? If so, that made sense. Yet in that case, there didn’t seem to be much to gain here. If he kept searching blindly like this... would he even find any treasures? Li Hao stopped wandering aimlessly. Picking a spot at random, he crouched down and began to think. Domains... cores... divine characters... If he had constructed a domain of his own, where would he place its core? And how would anyone access it? Such matters depended on opportunity, personal enlightenment, and Dao lineages... Yet his comprehension of the Dao of Darkness was not particularly deep. Relying on sheer insight to reach the core would be extraordinarily difficult. What if... he turned back time for a brief glimpse? Doing so would indeed make it easier to perceive the creator’s lineage. However... if he encountered an unreasonable entity, things would turn disastrous. Li Hao harbored deep wariness toward dark-attribute powerhouses and dared not employ time lightly. Relying too frequently on the power of time was never wise in any case. “What a headache!” Li Hao muttered. The next instant, feeling the rich dark energy permeating the surroundings, a thought struck him. Why not... cultivate first? There was no rush. Even if he couldn't walk away with grand treasures, it hardly mattered. He had just slain a third-rank Sovereign and destroyed several dark shadow puppets. He might as well cultivate for a while and erect more Life and Death Bridges. Li Hao was certainly audacious. Anyone else entering this place would scramble frantically for treasure, but Li Hao knew that treasures here were likely scarce, and even if there were any, the odds were that they wouldn't fall into his hands anyway. He probably couldn't reach the crucial core region right now. Rather than relying on blind luck, it made far more sense to cultivate. This was the source of darkness, making cultivation much simpler. Before long, he sat down cross-legged. A great river manifested, drawing in stream after stream of dark energy. Er Mao had warned him to absorb as little dark energy as possible... but with energy this dense, letting it go to waste would be a shame. If he took in too much, he could always find a way to neutralize it later. Inside the Dark Divine Hall, four Sovereigns had entered. Three were scouring the place for treasures, while Li Hao began cultivating the moment he stepped inside, as if this place were his personal retreat. What kind of powerhouse entered the Dark Divine Hall just to cultivate? Rich though the energy was, energy was never an urgent priority for experts of their caliber. The true prizes were treasures and Dao resonance, not raw energy. …… Deep within the Dark Divine Hall. The hall with the prayer mat remained as quiet as ever. Four visual projections hovered in the air. The other three cultivators were still racking their brains to search for opportunities, yet Li Hao had sat down cross-legged to cultivate. Faint stirrings rippled through the once-silent hall. “Cultivating?” He came here to cultivate? This Sovereign carrying the power of three emissaries was intriguing. Was he pretending to be calm? Or did he know that the Dark Divine Hall might conceal something, adopting this eccentric behavior deliberately to draw attention? Experts often overthought such things. Three practitioners of absolute darkness, and then this one... who seemed to cultivate the Dao of Life and Death. Life and death was decent, but only decent. Unless one reached the high ranks, it was merely a formidable Dao and nothing more. And here, the supreme path was naturally the Dao of Darkness. “Putting on an act, are we?” The voice echoed through the hall once more, faintly intrigued. Had it been anyone else, it wouldn't have merited a second glance. Yet someone carrying the aura of three emissaries was worth observing. A ripple of darkness spilled forth from the hall. …… At the very same time. Mid-cultivation, Li Hao’s heart suddenly lurched. The next instant, sounds echoed through the gloom. Turning his head, his scalp instantly prickled. The hall, completely barren moments ago, suddenly teemed with dozens of dark shadow puppets! Dozens of them! Every single one was at the level of a Sovereign. Even if they were only first-rank Sovereigns, an orchestrated siege would spell catastrophe. Li Hao deployed his dark domain in an instant. How could there be so many dark shadow puppets here? Once the dark domain enveloped him, the puppets seemed to lose track of his presence and drifted elsewhere. Li Hao let out a sigh of relief. That had been terrifying. Just as the thought crossed his mind, his expression shifted. The dark domain suddenly destabilized. His internal dark power abruptly surged out of control. Fractures appeared across the domain in the blink of an eye, and the departing dark shadow puppets snapped their attention back toward him. Li Hao’s brow furrowed. His dark power was losing control... That should have been impossible. As a third-rank Sovereign, he might not wield absolute mastery over his energy, but it certainly wouldn't slip from his grasp so easily. Something was wrong! His face tightened. There was no time to ponder; the puppets were already lunging toward him. Without his domain, he could not sever their immortality. Under those conditions, let alone dozens, even a single one would be a nightmare to handle. A change had occurred in the Dark Divine Hall. In the past, this surely never happened. Otherwise, anyone who entered would have been doomed. Did this have something to do with him? Or was it tied to the cultivators from the Absolute Darkness Great World? This couldn't have happened without cause. Li Hao was certain something had been triggered to provoke such a upheaval. He certainly wanted those Dao resonance crystals, but facing dozens of Sovereign-level dark shadow puppets that were utterly immortal? Forget it! …… At this moment, Li Hao was not the only one. Scores of shadow puppets also appeared before the other three Sovereigns, their faces draining of color. Sovereign Xunhan nearly cursed out loud. Not many puppets surrounded him—only five—yet every single one was at the middle ranks! These things were immortal and unkillable. Dealing with one was a headache. Facing five... forget fighting, run! Xunhan cast everything else aside and fled for his life. In an instant, all four Sovereigns were hurtling across the colossal Dark Divine Hall in frantic flight. And from the darkness, the shadow puppets trailed them like clinging ghosts, never losing their scent. A faint chuckle echoed from the depths of the hall. Still want to cultivate? Still playing the eccentric? Run for three days and three nights first; survive before speaking of anything else. The lineage of darkness was ever cruel. Live, and there would be more to say. Die, and words were meaningless. As for who would survive... that depended on their luck. Naturally, there were ways to resolve this trial, but few had ever succeeded. In ancient times, the Dark Divine Hall had served as the testing ground for the Dark Emissary's disciples. The Tianfang Great World had existed for countless ages. The Dark Emissary had been unimaginably powerful, commanding innumerable disciples, yet this very first trial had driven countless candidates to despair. Those who truly cleared it were few and far between. Across countless ages, the number of individuals who passed could be counted on two hands. And without exception, every single one had been an elite genius of the Tianfang Great World. With those thoughts in mind, the presence in the hall vanished. *I’ll check back in three days.* If all of them died within three days—even the fellow bearing the aura of the three emissaries—it would merely prove their skills were lacking. The puppets pursuing them had a deliberate quirk: their speed was slightly slower than that of an ordinary cultivator of the same rank. The crudest solution was to sprint non-stop for three days and three nights. If one's speed never flagged and remained at its peak, there was indeed a chance of survival. Of course, sustaining such immense exertion while maintaining peak speed across three days and three nights would mark someone as a true genius, proving their foundations were profound beyond measure. Yet no one had ever survived using that method. Maintaining maximum speed for three straight days without slowing was an impossible feat even for top-tier Sovereigns. …… Inside the hall. Li Hao felt like cursing as well. Damn it! Something was definitely wrong. Dozens of puppets were hunting him, and worse, his domain had been rendered useless. Whenever he tried to condense it, the environment seemed to reject it, preventing him from masking his presence or shaking off the pursuers. “Why is this happening?” “Is my domain failing to manifest because this is the core of Dark Demon Ridge, which suppresses it?” That was the only plausible explanation. The moment his domain formed, it destabilized and fractured. Far from concealing his presence, it caused his aura to leak even more, attracting yet more dark shadow puppets. What rotten luck! Yet rotten luck aside, Li Hao suspected that some conscious entity within the Dark Divine Hall was doing this intentionally. This wasn't a baseless guess. Everything had been fine until a sudden, violent shift occurred. Such anomalies rarely happened without a guiding hand. Clutching the dark Dao resonance crystal, he could see reasonably far. Suddenly, Li Hao’s eyes flickered. In the distance, another Sovereign was also being hunted, pursued by a swarm of dark shadow puppets. One of the other Sovereigns from the Absolute Darkness Great World? A thought struck Li Hao, and he quickly veered off, avoiding contact. Once the other man sped past, Li Hao abruptly reversed his course, falling in behind him. He trailed closely, wondering if he could lure the puppets chasing him onto the other man's tail. *Stop chasing me—go after him!* None of the Sovereigns from the Absolute Darkness Great World were good people; they were all his enemies. Better they die than him. However, the puppets behind him seemed locked onto his scent. Even though the other Sovereign had just fled past, creating an immense commotion, the puppets chasing Li Hao never wavered. How strange. Did this mean every cultivator had their own designated pursuers, and the puppets could not be baited away toward someone else? If so... this was going to be troublesome. In other words, much like a chaos lightning tribulation, this trial targeted individuals specifically. Even if he attacked another person's puppets, would those puppets ignore him completely? At that thought, Li Hao's mind raced. Could that be it? “Immortal and indestructible...” He recalled another property of the shadow puppets. Without a domain to isolate them, they could not be killed. Even if destroyed, the dense dark energy here would swiftly regenerate them. One thought followed another. He looked down at how he was continuously siphoning dark energy to construct his Life and Death Bridges... Immortal puppets, replenished by endless dark energy. A bold idea formed in his mind. He surged forward, enveloped by the radiance of the dark crystal in his hand, tracking the Sovereign who had just fled. The hall seemed boundless, perhaps exhibiting the properties of a domain. A world unto itself. He quickly caught up. The man was also a third-rank Sovereign. The puppets pursuing him were fewer than Li Hao’s—only seven or eight—but for a third-rank Sovereign, that was still a harrowing ordeal. Among them were three or four third-rank puppets, while the rest were first- and second-rank. Closing in silently, Li Hao struck without a sound. Shadowless Sword intent! A single thrust pierced a first-rank puppet, the terrifying force detonating within its form. Yet the first-rank puppet paid Li Hao no heed whatsoever, allowing the sword to bury itself deep inside. Li Hao’s eyes sharpened as he glanced at the other puppets. They ignored him as well, relentlessly pursuing the other Sovereign. Even the first-rank puppet he had nearly shattered did the same. Paying Li Hao no attention, it dragged its damaged body forward, rapidly regenerating as it continued its pursuit. “It really is like this!” Li Hao’s heart leaped. He glanced back at the puppets chasing him... If Xunhan could destroy these puppets for him, the puppets wouldn't fight back; they would simply endure the blows. No matter how strong they were, and no matter how swiftly they regenerated, they required energy. The dark energy here could not be infinite. If they were slaughtered enough times... even immortal beings would truly perish. Unfortunately... this method was hardly practical. Would Xunhan help him destroy these puppets? The notion was laughably absurd. Of course, nothing was set in stone. What if Xunhan lost his mind, or believed that killing these puppets would yield dark Dao resonance crystals? Perhaps he might actually do it. As for Li Hao right now, his priority was to eliminate the puppets chasing this third-rank Sovereign. If killing them once wasn't enough, he would kill them again and again. The moment they shattered, he might be able to seize their dark crystals. If he could harvest an endless stream of dark crystals... that would be glorious. Within moments, Li Hao made up his mind. As for whether killing these puppets would allow the third-rank Sovereign to escape... what did that matter? Killing that Sovereign afterward would be simplicity itself. Having made his choice, Li Hao wasted no time. He latched onto a single dark shadow puppet—the first-rank one—and battered it relentlessly. The puppet did not resist or retaliate, keeping its eyes fixed entirely on the fleeing Sovereign. To Li Hao, it was nothing more than a training dummy. A first-rank dummy was far too weak in Li Hao’s eyes. What kind of expert was a target that neither resisted nor fought back? He slaughtered the first-rank puppet repeatedly, driven by a single purpose: either it would drop a dark crystal, or he would grind it down until it drained massive amounts of dark energy from the surroundings. The dark energy of Dark Demon Ridge could not be boundless; otherwise, each opening would not require the blood essence of Sovereigns to fuel it. This proved that the Dao resonance here was not what it used to be. It required Sovereign blood essence as a catalyst to manifest, meaning the energy was finite. Once exhausted, it would require replenishment from outside. As long as Sovereign Huilong didn't provide more... this place might lose the ability to manifest Dao resonance altogether. In a flash, countless thoughts crossed Li Hao’s mind. Ahead, the fleeing Sovereign remained oblivious to the fact that someone had fallen in behind him, furiously butchering the first-rank puppet. He was running for his life; he had no attention to spare. As for the disturbances behind him, he assumed they were merely the clamor of the pursuing puppets. He didn't even dare look back, terrified of losing precious ground. At this moment, his only desperate hope was to find Xunhan and save his own life. Across the vast hall, all four Sovereigns were running. Yet as Li Hao fled, he continued to relentlessly butcher the first-rank puppet. Ambient dark energy surged into its body over and over. Soon, Li Hao grew dissatisfied with this rate of consumption. While the first-rank puppet regenerated, he began hacking at the other puppets. None of them fought back anyway. He had no idea who had designed this setup... was it meant to encourage mutual cooperation? Li Hao wasn't sure. What he did know was that if there were two people in the hall, they could easily eliminate each other's puppets through this method. Yet in a moment of mortal danger, seeing so many puppets would turn anyone’s legs to jelly. Who would spare the thought to help someone else? Only Li Hao, harboring a touch of greed and eyeing the dark crystals, would do something like this. Helping someone else break free would never earn him any gratitude anyway. The chase dragged on! During this time, Li Hao actually crossed paths with the other third-rank Sovereign. But the moment that Sovereign spotted the swarm of dark shadow puppets from a distance, he turned on his heel and bolted without a word! He dared not approach. A single glance showed dozens of puppets, terrifying him into believing these were the ones hunting Xunhan. …… The pursuit lasted half a day. By now, Li Hao had slain that single puppet dozens of times. Striking it down once more... a crisp *crack* rang out. This time, the surrounding dark energy did not rush in. Instead, a change occurred. A dark crystal clattered to the ground, no longer absorbing the ambient energy. Li Hao’s heart leaped. “A hundred times?” He had killed this first-rank puppet exactly a hundred times! And it had finally stopped reviving, shattering completely. “What a scam!” Li Hao silently grumbled. What sane person would kill a Sovereign a hundred times? Killing an enemy once only for them to revive was enough to breed despair. Killing them twice and seeing them revive again... by that point, almost no one would keep trying. It was a waste of time and energy; running was far wiser. If they didn't die after three kills, ninety-nine percent of people would abandon all hope of slaying them. Killing one a hundred times... only Li Hao, fixated on draining the hall’s dark energy, would do something so absurd. Yet the rewards were undeniable. Though exhausted, after a hundred kills, the puppet had perished for good and dropped a first-rank dark crystal—a Dao resonance crystal. Not bad at all. There was genuine profit in this! Throughout the process, Li Hao had continuously absorbed energy to construct his Life and Death Bridges. He now possessed exactly 250 bridges, no more, no less. And just like that, the swarm pursuing the third-rank Sovereign had quietly lost one member. During this time, Li Hao had also been attacking the other puppets. With a clear benchmark established, Li Hao was brimming with motivation. Regardless of whether the energy ran dry, slaying a puppet a hundred times would destroy it permanently... To Li Hao, this was turning into a treasure hunt. Puppets that didn't fight back were remarkably easy to kill! The slaughter was effortless, and the rewards were substantial. Killing them a hundred times was tiring, yes, but it carried no danger. Besides, it helped temper his sword. Li Hao continued hacking down the puppets, one after another... With the first success behind him, his pace quickened. Ahead, the fleeing third-rank Sovereign was nearing utter collapse, despair creeping into his heart. Glancing back into the darkness... the puppets seemed to have thinned out. Delight surged within him. Yet a moment later, his expression froze. The puppets that had seemingly dwindled suddenly multiplied as his hesitation caused him to slow down. Li Hao paused as well, allowing his own pursuers to catch up. The two swarms merged into a mass of dozens of puppets. The third-rank Sovereign’s soul nearly fled his body! *How are there even more now?!* Terror seized him, and he fled like a madman, daring not stop for a single breath. Li Hao ignored him entirely, focusing on hunting the puppets. These were precious treasures: dark Dao resonance crystals containing the Dao resonance of an eighth-rank Sovereign. Whether used for his own cultivation or brought back for the Silver Moon cultivators, they were invaluable. Even if Silver Moon's people didn't practice the darkness lineage and couldn't fully comprehend the Dao insights, the pure energy alone would sustain their cultivation for a long time. “As long as the puppets behind me don’t kill me, this is practically a grand treasure hunt!” Li Hao was delighted. As for whether he was being reckless, he didn't think so. He was certain the energy here was finite. Even if no treasures dropped, eliminating these puppets was necessary. Fleeing endlessly was never the right path. As a Sovereign, one shouldn't think only of running; one should strike back and deplete the enemy. That was the proper way. He didn't know what choices the other two Sovereigns from the Absolute Darkness Great World had made. Yet the man before him did nothing but flee, neither retaliating nor draining the puppets. Left to his own devices, he would have exhausted himself within a day, overtaken and torn to shreds by the puppets. *I’m practically saving his life right now!* By this point, Li Hao had hunted down three puppets entirely. Only five remained chasing the man—not many at all. Those five had already died numerous times, and each successive kill came faster than the last. …… Li Hao felt as though he were on a treasure-hunting expedition. Meanwhile, the dark aura permeating the entire hall was visibly diminishing. Each time he destroyed a puppet, a portion of the darkness was worn away before the puppet reformed, culminating in Li Hao claiming the dark crystal. At this rate, the hall's dark energy was draining rapidly. Retaliation and attrition were the true keys to this trial. Relying solely on fleeing for three days and three nights was near impossible. Finding the crux of the problem amid crisis, possessing the courage and resolve to turn around and counterattack, and slaying the shadow puppets—all of this formed part of the Dark Divine Hall's trial. And slaying someone else's puppets was another hidden key. Yet few had ever achieved this. Most Sovereigns were solitary figures, relying instead on personal valor, turning to strike back with sheer might and extraordinary courage to survive the hunt. The first trial set by the Dark Emissary of old was not merely a test of cooperation; it tested individual decisiveness, strength, courage... And above all, immense endurance. All of these were paths to clearing the trial. Fulfilling any of these criteria was enough to pass. Even so, most challengers failed. As for the puppets shattering after a hundred deaths, that was merely a modest incentive left behind by the Dark Emissary. Those who actually obtained it were few and far between. Vanishingly few could endure slaying a target a hundred times. Right now, among the four Sovereigns in the hall, two were fleeing, Li Hao was systematically dismantling another man's pursuers, and the fifth-rank Xunhan had finally chosen to fight back! As a fifth-rank Sovereign, he possessed true resolve when pushed to the brink. He knew running was a dead end. Even knowing these puppets were immortal, he chose to counterattack. He reasoned that their energy could not be infinite, and more importantly, he had sensed the weakening of the hall's ambient dark energy. Clearly, the puppets were burning through energy as well. Thus, with his counterattack underway, the energy within the hall depleted even faster. …… A full day passed. The Sovereign ahead was still running, but his speed had fallen drastically. By now, not a single puppet pursued him. The clamor behind him came entirely from Li Hao’s pursuers. The man panted raggedly. Across a day and a night of fleeing, he had crossed paths with his fellow Sovereign once, but neither had time to speak, bolting in opposite directions for fear the other’s puppets would join the hunt. “*Haaah...*” The third-rank Sovereign drew ragged breaths. He could still feel the tireless pursuit behind him, but thankfully, he also sensed a change: the dark power here had noticeably depleted. As for why, he had no idea. All he knew was that if he held out a little longer, he might survive. Provided the dark energy here was completely exhausted. Panting, his pace slowed considerably. And the instant he slowed, a slender sword pierced soundlessly through his back. Having dealt with the puppets, Li Hao had no intention of letting this Sovereign off easy. The man had run for a day and a night; his strength was near rock bottom. Li Hao could distinctly feel the energy here draining away. Soon, the darkness would dissipate entirely. If he didn't kill this man now, having three enemy Sovereigns regroup would only leave him facing another foe. In that case... Xunhan might as well be left a general without an army. The longsword drove deep into his flesh! Only then did the Sovereign realize something was wrong—this was no puppet attack. Glancing sideways, he caught sight of Li Hao’s face, disbelief flooding his eyes. *Bright Moon Sovereign?!* *How is that possible?!* He had thought all along that puppets were chasing him. Why was it Haoyue? How could this be? Impossible! Furthermore, a swarm of puppets trailed behind Haoyue as well. Were those puppets chasing him, or chasing Haoyue? Before the thought could fully form, death energy erupted within his body, rapidly siphoning away his life force. Already depleted, the surge of death power stripped away what little vitality remained, leaving him utterly frail. He gathered his internal dark power in a desperate bid to retaliate, but a burst of extinction force locked down his last trace of energy, followed by the detonation of water and fire power within him! The Great Dao power inside him collapsed instantly. Even in his final moments, he couldn't believe it. This was... Haoyue? A first-rank Sovereign? How could this be! His life force dispersed completely. A third-rank Sovereign, after fleeing for a day and a night, had been easily dispatched by Li Hao, who reaped the spoils. A massive surge of life and death power flowed into Li Hao’s River of Life and Death. This kill had been executed purely through the Dao of Life and Death. A smile crossed Li Hao’s face. Another one down. The people of the Absolute Darkness Great World were truly generous. Of their six Sovereigns, he had personally killed three, while another had fallen to the puppets outside. Now, only two Sovereigns remained from the Absolute Darkness Great World. His next target was the remaining third-rank Sovereign. The puppets trailing that man were his targets as well. As for Xunhan... for now, he was no match for him. Li Hao wasn't worried about his own pursuers. With the dark energy here heavily depleted, further attrition would weaken them. Slaying each one a hundred times would yield another massive haul of dark crystals. Moments later, Li Hao locked onto the other Sovereign. By now, he had not only amassed a great number of dark crystals, but also constructed ten more Life and Death Bridges through this day and night of hunting, absorbing, and spending energy. Having started at 250, he now possessed 260. There was no telling how much time this had saved him. In the outside world, without special fortune, constructing a single bridge would take at least a year, which was entirely normal. Reaching the peak of the third rank might have taken a century or more. And that was for him. For anyone else, advancing from the entry level to the peak of the third rank would take thousands or even tens of thousands of years. …… Li Hao repeated the same tactic with the second Sovereign. He dealt with the pursuing puppets first. He hunted them down one by one. Dark crystals dropped one after another. The second Sovereign was also exhausted to the point of collapse, feeling with every passing breath that he was doomed. He lacked the strength to keep running and wanted to turn and fight... Yet every time he looked back, he saw dozens of dark shadow puppets, and his courage shattered. He could only keep running! Fortunately, heaven never barred every road. The puppets didn't seem as fast as before and appeared to be weakening, failing to catch him. That gave him a glimmer of hope. Though he didn't know how long it would take to resolve this nightmare, at least he wasn't dead yet. Crucially, the dark aura in the hall was no longer as overwhelming as before. He estimated that within another day, the darkness would disperse completely. That would be his chance. Yet Li Hao had no intention of granting him that opportunity. On the second night of the pursuit, he drove his sword into the utterly depleted Sovereign's body. The power of life and death erupted, eliminating the last low-rank Sovereign of the Absolute Darkness Great World. This time, he harvested a total of eighteen dark crystals. Adding those to the ones gathered earlier and subtracting the two he had consumed, he now held a staggering twenty dark crystals in his grasp. Behind him, the dozens of puppets pursuing him were visibly weaker than before. And in Li Hao’s eyes, they were pure treasure. Killing them might yield dozens more crystals. However... the darkness in the hall had faded considerably. The once-dense dark energy had thinned to a mere wisp, and before long, it would vanish entirely. The speed of this clearing was astonishing. …… Nearly another day passed. As the dark energy waned, the pursuing puppets grew increasingly feeble. Though the puppets hunting him fought back and even coordinated their strikes, Li Hao methodically dismantled them under a relentless counter-offensive. Gradually, fewer and fewer puppets pursued him. Soon, only a few third-rank puppets remained. In truth, by this stage, Li Hao only needed to kill a puppet a few dozen times before it shattered into a dark crystal, clearly due to the lack of ambient dark energy. Meanwhile, in the distance, Xunhan had also shattered a fourth-rank dark shadow puppet for the first time. The moment he held the crystal, he found it hard to believe. *These things... can actually be killed?* He was covered in wounds, gasping for breath, his reserves thoroughly depleted. Yet clutching the dark crystal, wild exhilaration surged through him. This was a fourth-rank dark crystal containing the eighth-rank Sovereign’s Dao resonance. Over the past two days, had he not sensed the dark energy steadily fading, he truly wouldn't have held on. It was precisely because Li Hao had continuously slaughtered those puppets, bleeding the ambient darkness dry, that Xunhan had perceived a chance. That hope had kept him fighting, ultimately yielding this reward. Xunhan was overjoyed! Perhaps this was his true opportunity. He glanced back at the remaining puppets. Five had pursued him initially; he had killed one, leaving four. Now, all four shone like treasures in Xunhan’s eyes. Exhausted though he was... slaying these four puppets would yield four more dark crystals. More importantly, two of them were fifth-rank puppets! The dark crystals dropped by puppets of such caliber would contain an astonishing concentration of eighth-rank Dao resonance! In his euphoria, Xunhan disregarded his injuries. Only one thought consumed him: *Kill them!* Xunhan lashed out like a madman in a ferocious counterattack, while on the other side, Li Hao was swiftly dispatching his own pursuers. The dark energy throughout the hall ebbed away at a visible pace. …… After a considerable amount of time. When Li Hao struck down the final puppet pursuing him, he let out a soft breath. Yet his expression soon grew solemn. Over these three days, his harvest had been immense. His collection of dark crystals had climbed to fifty-two... an unimaginable fortune. He had also built more Life and Death Bridges, bringing his total to an impressive 280. Across three days, he had constructed roughly forty bridges—a feat that would have taken an eternity in the outside world. Here, it had taken a mere three days. He was only eighty bridges away from the peak of the third rank. At this pace, another ten to fifteen days would be plenty. Unfortunately, the dark energy seemed on the verge of vanishing completely. Just as the thought crossed Li Hao’s mind. In the distance, Xunhan punched the final puppet to pieces. A dark crystal materialized. The delight in his eyes burned intensely! And at that very moment, the surrounding dark energy receded entirely. Xunhan had heard faint noises throughout the ordeal, assuming they belonged to his two surviving companions, silently admiring their tenacity in enduring until now. With the crisis averted and immense gains in hand, he was thrilled. Just as he reached down to collect the dark crystal, he glanced around... With the darkness cleared, though the hall remained dim, to experts of their caliber it was no different from broad daylight. Tens of thousands of meters away, in the vast, empty hall, Xunhan saw no one else—only a figure who should have been utterly impossible to find here. Haoyue! He froze instantly, staring across the distance. Li Hao, on the other hand, wasn't surprised in the least. Glancing at the dark crystal at Xunhan’s feet, he marveled inwardly: *A fifth-rank dark crystal? That fellow struck it rich as well!* “Greetings, Sovereign Xunhan!” Li Hao was exceedingly polite. Xunhan, still dazed, stared at him in disbelief. “Haoyue?” How could this be! Where were the people from the Absolute Darkness Great World? Where were the other two Sovereigns? Why was Haoyue the one standing here?! Li Hao smiled faintly. “It is I!” This Sovereign looked thoroughly drained. Of course, even an exhausted fifth-rank Sovereign was likely beyond what Li Hao could currently match. As a mere third-rank, the gap between them remained vast. Even so, there was nothing to fear. Xunhan still found it inconceivable. The next instant, his gaze turned icy. “Third rank?” He sensed Li Hao’s aura—not a first-rank Sovereign, but... third-rank! Li Hao had advanced too rapidly, and his aura was difficult to fully conceal. Even the River of Life and Death was spilling over with energy. It was simply too much! “Where are my people?” He glared at Li Hao, his eyes turning colder by the second. Li Hao wore an innocent expression. “I have no idea. I only entered recently and ran straight into Sovereign Xunhan. Why, did the other Daoists not make it here?” Xunhan’s expression darkened further. *You only entered recently?* *Is that even remotely possible?!* His face was grim. Quietly, he stowed the fifth-rank crystal and began absorbing what little dark energy remained to restore his reserves. A surge of vigilance welled within him. Though this man was only third-rank... he had clearly been first-rank before. Who knew if he was still hiding his true strength? Xunhan himself was utterly spent, operating at less than half his peak strength—barely at the fourth rank. If this man held more cards up his sleeve, wouldn't that spell disaster? More importantly, where were his companions? How had every single one vanished! Moreover, Li Hao appeared perfectly composed, unlike Xunhan who was panting from exhaustion. Had this man truly just arrived? Doubts swirled through his mind. He stared at Li Hao, his tone dark. “Fellow Daoist Haoyue certainly hides his depth well, to actually be a third-rank Sovereign...” “First rank, third rank—they are all merely low ranks!” Li Hao smiled and said no more on the matter, instead pointing toward a small portal deep within the hall. “Senior Xunhan, I believe you should be more concerned with whether that door ahead leads to the treasure grounds.” Previously, having touched no walls, they now discovered barriers enclosing the area. And at the far end stood a doorway. Xunhan’s attention was instantly drawn to it. A treasure ground? The core of the Dark Divine Hall? Wild joy surged in his heart, quickly tempered by wariness. Just who... was this Haoyue? A grand fifth-rank Sovereign now found himself wary of Li Hao. …… At the same moment. In the hall behind the small portal. The owner of the voice from three days ago seemed to have just awakened. Peering outward, surprise colored his tone. “Gone?” There had been so much dark energy. It was completely gone! Furthermore, the projection revealed two survivors. To think two had actually lived through it was astonishing. The voice’s owner glanced toward the projection showing Li Hao... and seeing right through the dark crystals gathered on his person, he couldn't help but curse under his breath. “Utterly voracious!” No wonder it was gone! This brute had slaughtered them all. A hundred kills were required for a single crystal to drop, yet this fellow possessed dozens. Did that not mean he had butchered Sovereign-level entities hundreds of times within three days? Though that was indeed one way to clear the trial... almost no one had ever done it in the past. He was truly... at a loss for words. He had merely taken a brief nap to recover some energy, only to wake and find the first trial of the Dark Divine Hall nearly dismantled. Confound it all! Just as the two outside stood in a tense standoff—one feigning calm, the other deeply guarded— A voice suddenly resonated from within: “The first trial is cleared. Both of you have passed and may proceed to the second trial. Enter through the door!” The two figures, previously on the verge of drawing blades, stiffened instantly, turning their eyes toward the small portal. The voice came from behind the door! Was there... still someone alive in this place? The Dark Emissary? Impossible! That was an eighth-rank Sovereign. If he were truly here, he would have shown himself long ago rather than waiting until now. If not the Dark Emissary, then who? The two exchanged a look and said nothing more. Whatever the case, this place remained shrouded in mystery. It was best to set grievances aside for now and see what lay ahead. “Senior Xunhan, after you!” Li Hao was exceedingly courteous. Xunhan raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and strode toward the small portal. Yet his voice transmitted directly into Li Hao’s ear: “Fellow Daoist Haoyue, let us set other matters aside for now. This is the dwelling of an eighth-rank Sovereign’s Dao resonance. If we obtain opportunities here, everything else is trivial by comparison!” Even though Li Hao projected the aura of a third-rank, Xunhan dared not be careless. He suspected that his companions had all been eliminated by this man! Including the one outside! Facing a fifth-rank Sovereign like himself, this fellow remained entirely unfazed, forcing Xunhan to suspect he might be a fourth-rank, or even a hidden fifth-rank. If so, his close relationship with Kongji made sense. Perhaps it wasn't merely friendship, but equal strength. Otherwise, why would a fifth-rank Sovereign treat Li Hao with such deference, addressing him as an equal without the slightest hint of condescension? *A hidden fifth-rank?* Xunhan felt a jolt of shock at the thought. How had this person concealed his strength so flawlessly? He couldn't help overthinking it! He had nearly died handling his own trial, thoroughly drained, yet this man stood relaxed and composed, looking as though he had long since dealt with his pursuers. Furthermore, with the voice echoing from within the portal, Xunhan had to abandon any thought of probing further. Entering took priority! They might even need to join forces to weather whatever dangers lay ahead.