Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 255

Volume 3 - Chapter 19: Passing Through the River of Death - Part 1

“Hao’er, w-what are you talking about?”

Li Xiaoran was shaken to the core by Li Hao’s murmurs. Then, he saw the surrounding power coalesce and surge toward Li Hao’s body, compressing it violently.

The storm of power isolated him, and just the pressure of its concentrated might made him feel like he couldn’t approach.

At the center of this vortex of power, Li Hao’s entire body radiated a golden brilliance. His previously restored jet-black hair once again turned silvery white strand by strand.

From vibrant black to snowy white, it was as though his vitality was fading away.

Li Xiaoran was dumbstruck, feeling as if the blood in his veins had frozen. He realized what Li Hao intended to do.

He opened his mouth slightly, wanting to cry out and stop him, but the words got caught in his throat, not a single one escaping.

Was there any other hope?

There wasn’t.

Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. He never expected that after his years of effort, hope was still out of reach, and now a child had to risk his life instead!

Looking at Li Tianzong, who advanced like a demon god, Li Xiaoran called out in grief, “Big Brother, please wake up! Your grandson has come to bring you home!!”

Boom!

The only response was Li Tianzong abruptly raising his fist—a massive, smoke-wreathed, black meteor-like punch hurtling ferociously toward them.

Simultaneously, the surrounding demonic creatures surged forward like a tide, heedless of being caught in the fist’s destructive force. They charged at them madly.

Li Xiaoran suddenly understood. The scene before him was already influenced by the River of Death. What they faced now were neither demonic creatures nor Li Tianzong but the River of Death itself!

The River sought to use the demonic horde and Li Tianzong as tools to trap the living here, forcing them to accompany the dead in eternal slumber!

Amid the howling fist's power, a dazzling azure sword light slashed forth, forcibly halting the massive fist in its tracks.

But it was only a brief pause before it resumed its devastating descent.

Li Hao’s aura surged, his divine golden body, empowered by his Divine Power State, beginning to fracture continuously. His Immortal Ascension had already surpassed eighty percent of the critical threshold.

Yet his aura continued to climb, rushing headlong toward a deathly abyss.

However, Li Hao’s expression became calm at this moment. The Azure Frost Sword in his hand emitted a sharp whistling cry as it cleaved at the descending fist once more.

The sword's spirit wailed in anguish, emitting hoarse howls, barely managing to deflect the massive fist.

Li Tianzong’s body stiffened momentarily. His blood-red eyes glared with a feral intensity as he roared, “All soldiers, follow me—kill, kill your way out!”

It seemed as though he mistook this place for the battlefield of Dragon City from long ago, viewing Li Hao as a demonic creature and rallying his soldiers to break through the deadly siege.

Li Hao didn’t speak. The Azure Frost Sword danced in the air like shattered ice, unleashing a vast torrent of sword energy. The wave engulfed their surroundings, shielding Li Xiaoran’s body and slashing toward the demonic creatures and the mutated soldiers.

Perhaps the true way to conquer the River of Death was to assist Dragon City during the ten-day siege, helping them and the demonic creatures fight each other to the bitter end. Ensuring the defensive formation didn’t collapse while whittling down Dragon City’s soldiers to almost nothing might pave the way to survive this mutation stage and eliminate them all.

This was precious intelligence, but whether it could be shared was uncertain.

The torrent of sword energy cleared the demonic creatures around Li Xiaoran. Li Hao turned to face Li Tianzong, who was now charging at him with his Dao Domain fully unleashed.

“Fourth Uncle, take care of yourself. Live if you can. I’ll see if I can carve out a path of survival for you!”

Li Hao’s voice was low.

This was his way of repaying Li Xiaoran’s help outside the River of Death.

What he sought to carve out was survival—defeating Li Tianzong and annihilating all the demonic creatures. Only then would the River of Death cease, and Li Xiaoran could leave.

To achieve this, he would have to push his Immortal Ascension to the absolute limit. Even then, he wasn’t confident.

With that, Li Hao leaped into the sky, gathering all the power of heaven and earth as he unleashed a ferocious punch toward Li Tianzong. He aimed to force Li Tianzong’s body to stop, containing the battlefield in front to shield Li Xiaoran from harm.

Boom!!

Li Tianzong responded with his own punch, a clash of heaven and earth. The terrifying shockwave reverberated across the battlefield, causing all the demonic creatures within a dozen miles to faint or perish outright.

Li Hao’s body cracked apart rapidly but regenerated just as swiftly, drenched in blood, resembling a man sculpted from gore.

Li Tianzong’s Dao Domain expanded, stretching across four or five miles in an instant, enveloping Li Hao completely. Not even escape was an option—this was the true speed of Supreme Dao Domain expansion.

Within the Dao Domain, multiple laws appeared. It wasn’t just one; the rules mastered by other Dao Domain-level demon kings had fused here.

The overwhelming force of these laws pressed down on Li Hao, tearing his body apart as if stripping silk from a cocoon.

Fortunately, his physique, equivalent to a Nine-Forged Divine Weapon, barely allowed him to withstand the pressure for a single breath.

Using this fleeting moment, Li Hao activated his movement techniques to their utmost, retreating from the Dao Domain like a phantom.

The moment he exited the domain, the fracturing of his body slowed.

But Li Tianzong had locked onto him, striding forward in pursuit.

Li Hao retreated while soaring higher into the air, drawing in more power from heaven and earth.

His body continued to tear and crumble, as though on the verge of disintegration.

When his Immortal Ascension reached ninety percent, his flesh began to disintegrate, exposing raw blood and muscle. He looked as though he had emerged from a pool of blood—a ghastly sight.

Yet his absorption of power did not cease, pushing relentlessly toward the ultimate threshold.

The pressure of heaven and earth’s forces became even more intense, driving everything toward a destructive climax.

Soon, Li Hao’s Immortal Ascension reached ninety-nine percent.

By then, his flesh had completely sloughed off, his internal organs spilling from his chest cavity. His body resembled a hollow shell, unable to bear the strain.

Based on his previous experiences at the Heaven and Man Realm, Li Hao thought that if he fully achieved Immortal Ascension, his consciousness might last only a fleeting moment before complete annihilation.

That moment would be the pinnacle of extremity.

But now, with a physique dozens of times stronger than when he was in the Heaven and Man Realm, he realized he could endure for several breaths even under the most extreme circumstances.

Boom!

Li Hao’s body fused entirely with the forces of heaven and earth, pushing Immortal Ascension to its absolute limit.

His blood and flesh seemed to vanish as his consciousness detached from his body and merged with the vast expanse of the world.

At that moment, Li Hao heard the silence of the entire universe.

The roars from countless beings in Dragon City, the howls of the demonic creatures, all of it disappeared.

His hearing seemed to fail, and his entire being felt as though it had plunged into a boundless lake. Then, his consciousness extended outward like a branching web, connecting with every corner of that lake.

He became one with heaven and earth.

This was the essence of the Grandmaster Realm’s stages: seeing oneself, seeing heaven and earth, and seeing all living beings.

In this instant, Li Hao seemed to truly achieve a glimpse of heaven and earth.

Sudden clarity struck him—he understood the direction of his Path of the Dao.

Yet this realization left him no time to solidify his Dao Heart, nor the opportunity to contemplate it further.

There might never be another chance.

An unimaginable force coursed through his consciousness. At this moment, Li Hao had become the sovereign of this fragment of the world.

He felt the overwhelming might surging through his being—unleashing destruction as freely as it offered creation.

He was simultaneously at his most powerful and most vulnerable.

His life was about to come to an end.

All of this happened and resolved in an instant. Li Hao’s consciousness shifted back to his body. He saw his form dissolving into nothingness. His calm eyes glimmered with a sudden resolve, igniting the Undying Force!

In an instant, his crumbling body began to regenerate, new flesh growing in place of the old.

The overwhelming restorative power of the Undying Force surged like the revival of all creation. Blood and muscle rapidly reformed, filling his hollow shell and returning it to vitality.

Li Hao’s body was incredibly strong, comparable to a Nine-Forged Divine Weapon, enhanced by his Divine Power State. The combined regenerative power temporarily staved off the disintegration caused by his Immortal Ascension.

His form continued to fracture and regenerate in rapid succession, a process so swift it appeared stable.

The destructive force of Immortal Ascension hadn’t ceased. It merely seemed to halt temporarily.

Through countless cycles of collapse and regeneration in the blink of an eye, Li Hao’s body was refined to an even greater level of perfection.

However, the moment the Undying Force ran out, his life would reach its end, and his complete Immortal Ascension would erase him from existence.

The Undying Force would only last three minutes.

Terrifying demonic energy swept forward. Li Tianzong’s blood-red eyes glowed ferociously as he roared, “You cannot stop me!!”

Li Hao looked up, his calm gaze meeting the feral, bloodthirsty eyes of Li Tianzong. The man’s once warm demeanor was long gone, replaced by an overwhelming killing intent.

Li Hao understood. This was no longer the Li Tianzong he had once known.

Without anger, his gaze remained steady. He tightened his grip on the Azure Frost Sword, enduring the excruciating pain of his disintegrating and regenerating body, and spoke softly:

“I am not here to stop you. I am here to guide you.”

The Azure Frost Sword in his hand seemed to resonate with his emotions, releasing a brilliant azure light that cleaved through the demonic atmosphere in the sky, carving a radiant path.

The boundless sword intent gathered in Li Hao’s palm. The Nine-Forged Divine Weapon, now pushed beyond its limits by the vast power of heaven and earth, began to crack.

The sword’s body, unable to withstand the immense pressure, showed signs of shattering.

Li Hao didn’t retreat. Instead, he charged directly toward Li Tianzong.

His blood-soaked figure moved into the Dao Domain, but he seemed to tread on lotus blossoms with each step. The oppressive laws of the Dao Domain were forced to part before his body, unable to touch him.

Bathed in blood, he looked like a transcendent immortal walking untainted through the mortal realm. He crossed Li Tianzong’s Dao Domain, his sword light forming a radiant arc as he gently swung it downward.

It was a seemingly light strike, but it carried thunderous silver radiance that effortlessly cut through the Dao Domain, slicing toward Li Tianzong.

Sensing the danger, Li Tianzong’s blood-red eyes snapped upward to glare at the brilliant sword light. He roared furiously as multiple demonic king heads, formed of condensed demonic energy, emerged from his body and bellowed in unison:

“Stop it!!”

“Roar!!”

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