Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 251

Volume 3 - Chapter 16: Battle in the Taiping Dao Domain - Part 2

Madam Yin arrived swiftly, raising her hand to unleash the Black Moon. Like a crescent blade, it arced sharply and slashed down with devastating force.

However, Li Hao, standing within the protective array, saw the black crescent crash against its barriers, causing divine patterns to ripple across its surface. The assault failed to break through in a single strike.

At the same time, several figures darted toward the scene from within the city. Sensing the aura of an Absolute Technique-level Demon King, they clearly intended to assist Li Hao in repelling the threat.

Li Xiaoran joined the fray, his blade flashing with deadly precision. His strike collided with the Black Moon, shattering the moonlight into fragments.

“A half-step Dao Domain cultivator, and yet you need others to fight for you?!”

With a furious roar, Li Xiaoran slashed toward Lu Yuan. The blade light surged forward with overwhelming force, tearing through the void and landing squarely on Lu Yuan's head.

Having witnessed Li Xiaoran’s terrifying blade technique earlier, Lu Yuan was now both enraged and alarmed. His body crackled with lightning as he shattered the incoming attack, but he was still injured, blood pouring down his forehead.

“Damn it!”

Lu Yuan seethed with fury. In a one-on-one fight, he admitted he was no match for Li Xiaoran.

“I’ll kill him myself!”

The Candlefire God raised his hand, stopping Madam Yin, who had been preparing to intervene. His golden eyes flared like flames in their sockets, locking onto Li Hao with an unyielding glare.

“Do you dare come out?”

Li Hao chuckled coldly. “Do you take me for a three-year-old child?”

With that, he swung his sword repeatedly, sending wave after wave of terrifying sword light surging toward the enemy’s Dao Domain. Each strike contained immense power—capable of splitting mountains and rivers over a hundred miles away. But within the confines of the Dao Domain, the sword energy traveled only a few dozen meters before igniting in flames and rapidly dissipating.

“You really think you can challenge me?”

The Candlefire God let out a mirthless laugh, ignoring Li Hao’s attacks. Previously, he had been caught off guard, allowing Li Hao to push him back within the Dao Domain. But now, fully integrating his strength into the domain, he rendered Li Hao’s attacks futile—each one disintegrating under the domain's rules.

“Just wait until I break through this array and kill you!”

The Candlefire God began unleashing a relentless barrage of punches against the protective array, aiming to shatter it completely.

Elsewhere, the enraged elder generation of the Li family, born of side branches, launched their own attacks. Yet as their strikes entered the Dao Domain, they were incinerated instantly, vanishing without a trace.

Seeing Li Hao’s sword energy wreaking havoc even within the Dao Domain, they finally realized the terrifying strength of this direct descendant of the Li family.

“Carefree Blade of the Horizon!”

Li Xiaoran roared as he unleashed an Absolute Technique. The blade light seemed to sever the very fabric of space. As it locked onto the Candlefire God, the faint image of a towering mountain appeared, threatening to crush him beneath its weight.

This vision represented the blade light’s destined endpoint—the farthest horizon.

But just as the majestic mountain's silhouette appeared, it was consumed by flames and vanished. The blade light, though still advancing, slowed dramatically under the domain's incinerating force, making it traceable.

With a resounding crash, the Candlefire God raised his hand and struck. A surge of scorching heat erupted, shattering the blade intent.

His gaze turned icy. Despite effortlessly dispelling Li Xiaoran’s Absolute Technique, he felt neither joy nor satisfaction. Instead, a deep sense of humiliation gnawed at him.

That two members of the Li family could penetrate his Dao Domain was nothing short of disgraceful!

“Die!”

His blazing fist slammed into the array once more. The divine patterns on its surface began to smoke, as if on the verge of melting.

Li Hao’s pupils contracted. He swung his sword repeatedly, channeling his entire body’s energy. Drawing on the power of the surrounding heavens and earth, he slashed with all his might.

Thanks to the Ten Thousand Blood True Demon Technique, Li Hao’s body had been tempered to an extreme, reaching the level of an eight-forged divine weapon. His physical strength within the array was far greater than outside it.

...

With a deafening explosion, the sword light collided with the Candlefire God’s magma-like fist. The sword energy ignited on contact, while the flames merely flickered. Though Li Hao could attack the Candlefire God within the Dao Domain, the domain's suppression significantly weakened his power.

The other attackers, meanwhile, barely entered the Dao Domain before being utterly annihilated, leaving not even ashes behind.

“We can’t hold on any longer.”

Li Xiaoran’s face darkened as he transmitted his thoughts to Li Hao.

Li Hao’s expression turned cold and resolute. Drawing a deep breath, he entered a transcendent state, the power of the heavens and earth surging into him like a torrent. His strength soared as he unleashed his full might, his eyes radiating divine light and his hair flying wildly.

Raising the Azure Frost Sword, he swung again. The sword light, imbued with an unparalleled frosty intent, condensed like autumn water and slashed forth with ferocious speed.

The azure radiance, blazing with divine brilliance, streaked into the Dao Domain. It transformed into flames as it entered but lost none of its speed, heading straight for the Candlefire God.

The Candlefire God’s expression shifted, and he unleashed divine fire from his forehead to intercept it. However, the burning sword energy tore through his flames and continued its advance.

Roaring in fury, the Candlefire God swung his fist to meet the attack.

With a deafening explosion, his fiery punch clashed with the sword light, scattering it into fragments. Yet, the terrifying force behind the attack left a deep sword scar on the Candlefire God’s fist.

The Candlefire God had been injured!

“Dear husband!”

Madam Yin’s face turned pale with shock at the sight.

The Taiping Dao Domain had been breached, and he had been wounded by a mere cultivator in the Three Immortals Realm?!

“You!”

The Candlefire God stared at the wound on his fist in disbelief. Rage surged through him as he trembled uncontrollably. Never had he imagined being injured within his own Dao Domain.

Li Hao’s eyes gleamed with divine light, his killing intent burning even brighter. He had sensed the limits of the Dao Domain’s suppressive rules.

With his transcendent state at thirty percent completion, his tempered body, and the amplification from numerous divine medicines, he could now barely harm an opponent at the Dao Realm level!

“Curse you!”

The Candlefire God’s entire body trembled with rage. Golden flames erupted from his eyes and swiftly engulfed him entirely, making him appear like a god bathed in divine fire. He faced Li Hao across the array like two deities preparing for battle.

“I’ll kill you!”

The Candlefire God roared, throwing another blazing punch at the array.

Before his fist could land, however, the array suddenly shattered with a loud crack.

Both Li Hao and the Candlefire God froze in astonishment. Li Hao’s gaze snapped toward the distance, where a young man in a tattered black robe hovered over the eastern part of the city, calmly withdrawing his hand.

Clearly, the destruction of the array was his doing.

“Taiping Dao Realm!”

Li Xiaoran’s pupils contracted in fear. He hastily transmitted his voice to Li Hao. “There’s a change in the situation—run!”

“So, you’ve finally decided to show yourself, you damned death soul!”

The Candlefire God’s eyes burned with rage as he looked at the black-robed youth. But his anger was quickly suppressed.

The figure before him was none other than a peak Demon King of the Taiping Dao Realm—a true Dao Realm powerhouse.

Previously, the Candlefire God had traversed the depths of the Demon Abyss, detecting the terrifying presence of such beings. He had approached them in the hope of forming alliances to break through Dragon City. Yet of all those he contacted, only two had responded to his summons. The others, despite agreeing, now ignored his signals, seemingly disdainful of the current events.

Li Hao’s expression darkened. Without the array’s protection, even though he had the power to barely contend with the Candlefire God, the addition of another Dao Realm Demon King made survival impossible.

It had only been three days, and such a drastic change had already occurred.

Suddenly, ancient characters formed from golden light appeared before Li Hao’s eyes—a message from the River of Death:

Main mission updated: Defend Dragon City for one day.

A countdown had begun, marked by ancient symbols representing the twelve earthly branches—zi, chou, yin, mao—each glowing as seconds passed.

Li Hao’s expression shifted. The mission time had changed from three out of ten days to a single day!

“Are the demons launching their full-scale assault early?”

As he glanced at the Candlefire God, comprehension dawned on Li Hao. Anger swirled in his chest, but he knew the situation was beyond salvaging. Prolonging the battle would not only endanger himself but also implicate Li Xiaoran.

“Retreat!”

Li Hao roared, unleashing seven or eight sword lights toward the Candlefire God, Madam Yin, and Lu Yuan to cover their escape.

Li Xiaoran, familiar with Li Hao’s incredible movement techniques, said no more. He immediately charged toward the Divine General Mansion while launching two Absolute Techniques to clear his path.

Even as he retreated, his thoughts lingered on Li Hao. Should Li Hao fall into danger, Li Xiaoran was ready to burn his soul to protect him at all costs.

Li Hao represented not only the Li family’s hope but also the key to freeing Li Xiaoran’s elder brother from his torment.

Suddenly, a ferocious and grief-stricken roar erupted from the direction of the Divine General Mansion.

A figure engulfed in black mist, resembling both a demon and a ghost, charged toward the black-robed youth who had destroyed the array. His features were contorted with rage and malice.

“Big brother…”

Li Xiaoran’s heart sank as he recognized the figure—it was Li Tianzong.

Originally tasked with defending Dragon City for four days, Li Tianzong’s latent obsession was supposed to awaken and trigger his transformation only after the city fell.

But now, with the premature fall of Dragon City, his transformation had begun early.

Tears welled in Li Xiaoran’s eyes. He understood that his elder brother’s final obsession in life was to protect Dragon City.

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