Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 244

Volume 3 - Chapter 12: The Ancestral Divine Weapon, Touching the Limit - Part 1

Bang!

Within Dragon City, in a certain tavern...

A figure suddenly flew out, smashing through the railing and tumbling onto the street.

A sword wound was visible on the figure’s chest, but what spurted from the gash wasn’t blood—it was a dark, sinister demonic aura. Upon hitting the ground, the figure swiftly reverted to its original demonic form, its trembling body now fully exposed.

Before its true form could be fully revealed, a sword qi swept over like an autumn breeze, brushing past its body. The trembling instantly stopped, and the figure fell to the ground, lifeless.

By the broken railing stood Li Hao and Li Xiaoran, walking forward.

The demon slain on the street was like a drop of ink falling into a clear lake, spreading dread among the surrounding citizens, who dared not approach.

Li Hao glanced at the mission progress. The exploration task showed no increase, but the completion rate for the River of Death rose slightly—by 0.001 percent.

Killing a Heaven and Man Realm demon yielded such a minuscule increase in progress that Li Hao couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine.

By this calculation, wouldn’t it take a thousand Heaven and Man Realm demons to equal just one percent of the River of Death’s completion rate?

His Growth mission had spanned 13 years, and the River of Death’s completion rate was only at 7.2 percent.

“In terms of mission progress, surviving here is more challenging than hunting demons.”

“That’s normal,” Li Xiaoran replied. “If an outsider came here to complete the mission without the Li family’s bloodline, reborn into an ordinary household, they would have likely been assassinated by the demons in the city long ago.”

“Exposing one’s talent too early invites demonic predators; not exposing it means no access to cultivation resources. It’s a conundrum!”

“Worse yet, one might even be reborn as a demon’s neighbor—that would mean instant defeat right at the start.”

“If not for Fourth Uncle, I would’ve almost been ambushed at the banquet earlier.”

Li Hao’s eyes gleamed as he spoke. Although he had yet to engage in combat with the demons himself, the difficulty of the River of Death mission was already palpable.

No wonder even those at the Supreme Dao Stage could barely clear it.

If not for the existence of Dragon City—formed due to the imprisonment of Li Tianzong—the situation here would likely have been even more perilous and unfathomable.

“Hmph, this demon was just a minor underling, providing intelligence for the demons outside the city.”

Li Xiaoran gave the dead demon a cold glance and snorted.

Li Hao understood that the River of Death differed significantly from the outside world. Here, demons were more numerous and powerful, which meant only a few places in the city could truly be called safe.

Outside, any city under the protection of a Divine General Mansion was essentially peaceful, with citizens living in harmony. It was rare for a single demon attack to occur in decades.

Organized demons dared not approach, and unorganized ones lacked the means to infiltrate. Only those under demonic coercion or willing to serve the demons would dare sneak into a city to spy on the Divine General Mansion, and they did so with the utmost caution.

Yet Dragon City was teeming with demonic strongholds.

This was already the third they had destroyed...

And they’d only been out for half an hour.

Li Hao leaped down from the railing, raising his hand to place it on the demon’s body. With his palm, he activated a cultivation technique, extracting a trace of vital essence from the demon’s flesh.

This trace of vitality, once refined through his technique, merged into his own body, providing a slight enhancement to his physical strength.

The technique was one Li Hao had derived from numerous body-refinement methods and named Ten Thousand Bloods True Demon Art.

Its rank surpassed even supreme-grade techniques, a result of being developed at the seventh stage of the Body Dao. It contained extraordinary power.

Just the name itself carried a hint of demonic energy, as it incorporated elements from various demonic techniques and taboo body-refinement arts, such as the Infant-Devouring Technique and Fist of Birth, ultimately culminating in its creation.

It built one’s body by consuming vital essence.

One art completed; countless corpses left in its wake!

Li Xiaoran’s gaze flickered slightly as he observed Li Hao practicing the technique, recognizing it as something incredibly dark and sinister. However, he didn’t intervene. In the River of Death, as long as one could grow stronger, any method was acceptable.

Having witnessed court intrigue, martial heroes’ clashes, and the grudges of demons, he understood that the technique itself was secondary; the key lay in the person wielding it.

While certain corrupt techniques could cloud the mind and lead practitioners down a bloodthirsty path, Li Hao’s cultivation of this technique seemed to merely make him more ferocious and ruthless. Thus far, it had not affected his temperament.

Moreover, upon reaching the Grandmaster Realm, martial arts would become one’s core focus, and techniques would be relegated to mere tools, their influence limited.

The two then headed to their next destination.

Within the city, their figures darted through various locations—teahouses, opera stages, the secluded courtyard of a wealthy merchant, and even a humble farmer’s home.

At each stop, they left behind the corpses of demons.

Among the slain demons, the weakest were astonishingly all at the Fifteen Li Realm!

Li Hao’s heart grew heavier with each encounter, as he increasingly sensed the immense challenge and brutality of the impending battle for Dragon City.

Adding to the complexity were the presence of the Candlefire God and Lu Yuan.

Thinking of them, a glint of killing intent flashed in Li Hao’s eyes. If he could use the River of Death to eliminate these two Great Demon Kings, it would be the best outcome imaginable.

...

In a certain mansion within the city...

A wealthy old master sat idly, sipping tea with an air of boredom. Suddenly, a servant entered hurriedly to report.

“Master, the twenty-seventh young mistress has given birth again.”

“Given birth again?”

The plump old master’s eyes lit up, his rotund belly bouncing slightly as he shifted in his seat.

Beside him, the steward, who stood with hands clasped respectfully, couldn’t hide the glimmer in his own eyes. He seemed to swallow discreetly before speaking in a congratulatory tone:

“Congratulations, Master! Another opportunity to whet your appetite.”

“Haha! Quickly, bring the child here!”

“The midwife is already on her way,” the servant said, bowing deeply, his eyes gleaming with a faint, unsettling light.

Before long, a midwife carrying a bundled infant strode quickly into the room and respectfully announced, “Master, it’s a plump and rosy-cheeked child.”

“I can already smell it… I can already smell it.”

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