Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 477

Volume 3 - Chapter 146: Eternal Dao Domain, Battle for Supremacy Begins! - Part 1

Feeling the boundless, overwhelming power flowing freely, Li Hao was struck with awe. Was this the Eighth Extremes Realm?

The Dao Domain had reached 360 layers, achieving a form of ultimate perfection. It aligned with the heavens and earth, forming a seamless whole!

Within the Dao Domain, the rules intertwined, phenomena unfolded one after another, and yet there was something peculiar. When his Dao Domain was at 359 layers, Li Hao needed to draw upon immense energy to unleash its full power. After all, deploying the Dao Domain required enormous energy consumption, let alone sustaining 359 layers of cumulative overlap. Even when drawing energy from the Earth and Heaven Meridians, he could only maintain it for a few minutes.

But now, with the completion of the 360-layer Dao Domain, it operated almost autonomously, imitating the natural workings of heaven and earth. Li Hao only needed to use a small amount of energy as a guide to keep it active for extended periods!

With such reduced consumption, even if Li Hao were to keep the Dao Domain constantly enveloping himself, it could remain stable indefinitely.

Li Hao’s eyes gleamed. Beyond the drop in energy consumption, the transformation of the Dao Domain itself was the most terrifying aspect. If he fully manifested this Eighth Extremes Realm, could it rival a Semi-Saint?

Li Hao named this Eighth Extremes Realm the Eternal Dao Domain.

Unbreakable, invincible, and indestructible!

With the Eighth Extremes Realm mastered, Li Hao did not stop. He withdrew his Dao Domain and resumed cultivating the remaining techniques of the Tenth Divine Dynasty.

However, as he cultivated, the Dao Domain generated by these techniques was suppressed and unable to merge with the Eternal Dao Domain, nor could it be deployed.

The Eternal Dao Domain seemed like a primary consort, circling around Li Hao. Any newly formed Dao Domains were instantly crushed by its aura and could not condense.

Li Hao froze momentarily. Reflecting on his prior experiences, he realized that an Extremes Realm was never the true endpoint.

The Eighth Extremes Realm, too, appeared to have its bottleneck.

Breaking through this bottleneck and continuing cultivation would be the key to reaching the ultimate realm.

However, achieving the Extremes Realm was already exceedingly difficult, and breaking through it was even harder!

Li Hao tried several more times but failed each time and had no choice but to pause his attempts for now.

“The Eight Extremes Realms influence each other. Without the Earth and Heaven Meridians, it would be impossible to achieve the Eighth Extremes Realm. The process of stacking over three hundred Dao Domains alone would drain all energy. Thus, the Earth and Heaven Meridians are the foundation of other Extremes Realms!”

“Perhaps the Eighth Extremes Realm would be easier to achieve if the preceding ultimate realms were fully mastered.”

Li Hao’s gaze sharpened. The Tongli Ultimate Realm was complete, and the Earth and Heaven Meridians were the Second Extremes Realm.

If he could further enhance the Earth and Heaven Meridians, it might significantly aid his cultivation of future ultimate realms.

However, the Earth and Heaven Meridians had already reached their limit.

All 108 major meridians had been fully opened, and the Yin-Yang Dual Meridians were seamlessly integrated, forming a connection with the heavens and earth. This was already the zenith of the Zhoutian Realm!

Going one step further to break through this bottleneck left Li Hao completely at a loss.

After some thought, Li Hao decided to consult Zhantan. Her vast knowledge might provide some clues.

Li Hao rose, concealed his aura, and went to Zhantan’s courtyard.

Zhantan had granted him permission to enter her courtyard freely without prior notice, a privilege even her direct disciples did not enjoy.

In the courtyard, Zhantan was painting a small flower. Despite its ordinary appearance, Li Hao smiled. The flower she painted exuded an extraordinary resilience, one that seemed capable of breaking through the dark soil—a willpower that could weather any storm.

Li Hao realized her mastery of the Dao of Painting had progressed.

Sensing Li Hao’s arrival, Zhantan completed her final stroke and turned toward him with a radiant smile.

“What do you think of this painting?”

“It’s very impressive,” Li Hao praised without reservation.

Zhantan’s smile deepened, and the sunlight in the courtyard seemed to grow warmer. Suddenly, her gaze focused as she carefully studied Li Hao and asked curiously, “Has your cultivation advanced?”

Although she hadn’t probed his aura deeply, she could sense that Li Hao seemed more formidable than before. It was a subtle but direct intuition.

Li Hao was slightly surprised. Despite using the All-Manifestations Attribute to mask his aura, she still discerned the difference. Her perception was exceptionally sharp.

“You could say that.”

Li Hao said to Zhantan, “I wanted to ask you: after reaching the Extremes Realm, do you know how to progress further?”

“Breaking through the Extremes Realm?”

Zhantan appeared startled but soon smiled. “It’s natural to have such thoughts. Exploring the power beyond the Extremes Realm has been a pursuit of the sages throughout history. When we first achieved the Extremes Realm, we too were curious about whether it could be broken and what lay beyond. But countless attempts revealed that breaking through the Extremes Realm is almost impossible.”

“However, the Extremes Realm is not the end. In ancient times, there was a sage who managed to break through the Extremes Realm, proving that cultivation could advance further. But achieving such a breakthrough is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Even for sages, it’s nearly unachievable.”

Li Hao was stunned and quickly asked, “Which Extremes Realm did that sage break through?”

“It seemed to be the Fifteen Li Extremes Realm,” Zhantan replied. “That was in an ancient era. The sage’s whereabouts have long been unknown. He left behind a single message for his disciple, warning them never to cultivate the Fifteen Li Ultimate Realm. It is forbidden!”

“Hm?”

Li Hao frowned. The Fifteen Li Extremes Realm was a taboo?

He knew that the God Race was a lineage descended from those who cultivated the Tongli Ultimate Realm. But why was the Fifteen Li Ultimate Realm considered forbidden?

“These are merely rumors,” Zhantan said with a light smile. “The truth of it is unclear, given how ancient it is.”

Zhantan glanced at Li Hao, her lips curving into a faint smile. “Your curiosity reminds me of how we once were. When Yezu and Green Ancestor were young prodigies, they too aspired to surpass all others and become the first in all eternity. But in the end, they were defeated by reality, coming to understand that the heavens and earth are vast, filled with countless extraordinary beings. They realized they were merely one among many.”

As vice-chair of the Huayou Association, Zhantan’s tone carried a trace of nostalgia and melancholy, as if the arrogance of her youth had long been worn away.

Li Hao nodded slightly. Tales from the past could easily be exaggerated, and even Zhantan seemed to know little about the ultimate realms.

Achieving the Tongli Ultimate Realm had not been particularly arduous for Li Hao, but the Earth and Heaven Meridians’ limits seemed insurmountable by conventional cultivation methods. A breakthrough would require a unique opportunity, or perhaps, as with the Sixth Extremes Realm’s transformation into Immortal Ascension, a profound realization or enlightenment.

This left Li Hao troubled. He asked Zhantan, “You said that sage only broke through the Fifteen Li Extremes Realm. What about the other Extremes Realms?”

Zhantan shook her head. “Breaking through the Extremes Realm depends on the opportunities available. Certain breakthroughs are only possible with specific circumstances because each Extremes Realm faces distinct bottlenecks.”

“Moreover, simply reaching an Extremes Realm is already incredibly difficult, let alone breaking through one. If you are determined to pursue this, it might be wiser to first focus on completing other Extremes Realms to avoid wasting time and effort.”

Zhantan spoke with the authority of experience, cautioning Li Hao not to get preoccupied with something so elusive.

She knew all too well that many young prodigies, after achieving an Extremes Realm, would grow conceited and attempt to break through the realm. However, after hundreds or even thousands of years of fruitless effort, they would realize it was all in vain, leaving their cultivation stagnated.

Hearing her words, Li Hao understood that pressing further inquiries would yield little more insight. The ultimate realms were shrouded in mystery. Even Tongli Ultimate Realm cultivators were revered as members of the God Race, illustrating just how rare and challenging these realms were to attain.

Currently, Li Hao had reached the Eighth Extremes Realm. The next step would be the Dao Seeker Realm, which required mastery of the Dao.

But the battle for supremacy was imminent, and Li Hao needed to quickly elevate his strength to a level comparable to that of a Semi-Saint.

The gap between the Saint Realm and Semi-Saints was incomprehensibly vast. Drawing on the Sword Lord’s 370,000 experience points in the Dao of Painting as a comparison, even a difference of tens of thousands of points could create a significant disparity in battle. A gap of several times that was unbridgeable.

“At my current level, even with the Eighth Extremes Realm, I could only flee from a Saint.”

Li Hao’s eyes flickered with determination. Although the Eternal Dao Domain was powerful, he couldn’t be sure that Saint Realm prodigies hadn’t also achieved this Extremes Realm.

Saint Realm cultivators started from at least the Fifth Extremes Realm. Compared to Li Hao’s achievements, their number of Extremes Realms wasn’t drastically different. However, their cultivation had reached the Saint Realm, allowing them to shape and wield Saint Paths. Without breaking their Saint Paths, defeating them was impossible.

At present, Li Hao couldn’t yet destroy a Saint’s will or path.

“The Dao Seeker Realm can wait. Becoming a Saint takes precedence!”

Li Hao quickly decided on his next course of action. Compared to the incremental boost offered by the Dao Seeker Realm, advancing to the Saint Realm would bring an exponential increase in strength.

The Saint Realm represented an insurmountable leap compared to other realms, with a power gap that couldn’t be ignored.

Among his options, cultivating Saintly Incense to ascend was too slow. The most promising path was to achieve sainthood through Sacrificial Dao!

As Li Hao contemplated, Zhantan glanced at him, wondering whether her advice had taken root. Often, lessons learned through personal trial and error left a deeper impression than words ever could. Teaching through experience had a way of instilling understanding that mere explanations could not.

She let the matter rest. Some journeys had to be walked to be understood. Skipping the hardships might lead to a complete path but could also leave a sense of regret.

“Earlier, you mentioned wanting to read the Saintly Books from the Sacred Land of the Literary Ancestor. Do you wish to do so now?”

Zhantan asked with a soft smile.

Li Hao snapped out of his thoughts and nodded in agreement.

Zhantan immediately set aside her completed painting. She instructed Yueying to store away her brushes and other tools before taking Li Hao and flying off from Tian Tan Peak.

“Look, it’s that breeze again by the Master’s side.”

Seeing the two depart, several disciples on Tian Tan Peak watched with mixed expressions.

Zhao Qingshu’s face darkened as he witnessed the scene.

Zhantan was the most dazzling presence on Tian Tan Peak. While the disciples wouldn’t dare harbor improper thoughts about their teacher, seeing her unrivaled beauty every day inevitably stirred faint feelings of awe, admiration, and wistfulness, deeply buried in their hearts.

However, watching her spend so much time with Li Hao in recent days left them all feeling sour and unsettled, their composure shaken.

...

The Saintly Books were housed in the Wenxin Pavilion, a vast repository of knowledge compiled by the Sacred Land of the Literary Ancestor.

The Literary Ancestor’s Sacred Land taught the Literary Saint’s cultivation system, allowing practitioners to extract the power contained within the Saintly Books. Without this system, reading the books would amount to nothing more than mundane study.

Thus, Zhantan’s decision to bring Li Hao here didn’t cause much of a stir. Many of the Saintly Books in the Wenxin Pavilion were collected from the Hanlin Academies of various dynasties. The Sacred Land of the Literary Ancestor held the highest prestige among the literati of the Thirty-Three Heavens, eclipsing even the saints. The Literary Saint, after all, was considered the supreme saint of scholars.

The faith in the Literary Saint was sustained by countless literati across the heavens.

The Wenxin Pavilion stood tall and majestic, emanating an elegant glow. Approaching the pavilion, Li Hao felt a tranquil warmth that seemed to wash away all distracting thoughts, leaving his heart calm and clear.

Zhantan stopped before the Wenxin Pavilion, spoke briefly with its keeper, then turned to Li Hao and said, “I’ll wait for you outside. Go ahead and explore.”

Her tone was casual, but Li Hao was grateful. He nodded at her without saying much and stepped into the Wenxin Pavilion.

Inside, he saw rows upon rows of bookshelves, laden with ancient tomes.

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