Chapter 302: I Will Leave the Ji Family

Countless members of the Ji family stared wide-eyed, frozen in disbelief at what they saw.

Yet the many elders of the Ji family turned pale with shock—they all recognized this as the Heavenly Manifestation, the revelation of the Third Ultimate Realm!!

Even within the Ji family, an ancient sacred clan, reaching the peak of the first two realms could be barely achieved through talent and resource accumulation, but the Third Ultimate Realm was an insurmountable chasm! Only those who inherited Heaven and Earth, like the Ancestor, could condense their soul 360 times and manifest the power of Heavenly Manifestation! The prodigies in their family mostly inherited the Ancestor's holy soul, condensing their soul only 270 times; no matter what soul-condensing technique they practiced, they could never surpass this limit, for the holy soul's capacity was capped at 270 condensations—unless they were reborn, inheriting Heaven and Earth anew! 【46】 Most importantly, this boy was only in his teens and had only reached the Three Imperishable Realm!

But inheriting Heaven and Earth—how easily could that be achieved? One needed peerless temperament and talent, a spirit that shook the ages, and must push both the Tongli and Zhou Tian realms to near their limits to even have a chance!

The Ji family's top ten prodigies, though mostly mastering divine power, only turned to refining their bodies after reaching later stages of cultivation, bringing Tongli to its ultimate limit.

If one pursued inheriting Heaven and Earth at the Jihun stage, they would fall into an excruciatingly long stagnation, forced to endlessly polish Tongli and Zhou Tian, slowing progress by decades at least, with only a sliver of possibility.

This was not untried—yet those who tried mostly failed.

Even if Tongli and Zhou Tian were cultivated to extreme strength, allowing one to withstand Heaven and Earth's pressure during inheritance, without the will surpassing the Ancestor and all beings, one could never gain Heaven and Earth's recognition! Thus, this Third Ultimate Realm was exceedingly difficult, exceedingly rare.

Harder than the Divine Wander Realm and the Fifteen-Li Realm! BOOM! The clouds atop the mountain shattered and were blown away in a howling gust!

At this moment, the fist swung by the Heavenly Manifestation crashed down upon Ji Ji Xuanshen, fueled by fury and madness, as if aiming to shatter the entire Heaven's Path Mountain! Meanwhile, Li Hao, nearly crushed to the ground, roared and unleashed an invincible fist momentum—his fist intent and power roared like a furious lion, soared like a colossal dragon, surging skyward, echoing the Manifestation's fist. Two fists, one vast, one small, trapped Ji Ji Xuanshen between them.

Ji Ji Xuanshen's pupils contracted; the moment he saw Li Hao's Heavenly Manifestation, his heart trembled.

With mastery over two Ultimate Realms, how could he not know how difficult it was to forge a Heavenly Manifestation? In the Ji family, it was recorded only in the legends left by the Ancestor—over ten thousand years, only two prodigies of supreme talent had ever achieved it.

Now, legend had stepped into reality: this boy, with his own inherited-soul Manifestation, challenged his innate holy bone! "I am invincible!!"

Ji Ji Xuanshen's eyes blazed as he roared: "You have ambition that pierces the heavens—I will crush your will! Domain, tear apart!!"

His major meridians shattered and trembled as he unleashed his utmost limit; his Heavenly Meridians pumped wildly, draining the surrounding Heavenly Qi—but he was horrified to find the Qi he could draw was vanishingly weak.

The Heavenly Qi in this vicinity had vanished—or rather, been absorbed by Li Hao! Ji Ji Xuanshen's eyes bled as he let out a demonic roar, his hair flying wildly, his own Heavenly Meridians snapping, unleashing boundless might as he thrust his Domain forward!

At this moment, these two dazzling prodigies unleashed their greatest power, colliding violently.

The heavens and earth seemed to lose all sound.

After a brief silence, a ringing buzz erupted, vibrating through the air.

All eyes saw only a brilliant spectacle like exploding stars, yet heard no sound.

Only when the torrents of energy, crashing and shaking, struck the barrier two seconds later did a deafening roar erupt—like a magnitude-ten earthquake trembling beneath their feet—followed by prolonged, unceasing echoes of energy slamming against the barrier, reverberating endlessly.

In midair, the Ji family's most brilliant, most outstanding prodigy of this generation—his Domain shattered and extinguished—fell like a bird with broken wings, crashing into the barrier and spewing a great gout of blood before plummeting straight down to the edge of the shattered arena.

As Ji Ji Xuanshen was defeated, the holy bone's might dissipated; Li Hao's hundred thousand mountains seemed to vanish instantly, the pressure lifting.

Yet Li Hao's body continued to crumble—he clenched his teeth, held his breath, desperately blocking the inflow of Heavenly Qi.

Much of his flesh and muscle peeled away; his body became a leaky wall, as power seeped relentlessly into his bones, threatening to burst him apart.

Li Hao roared to the heavens, dispersing the power within his Heavenly Manifestation, then let the Manifestation embrace him, using it to block the incoming Heavenly Qi.

In the arena, only the boy's Manifestation remained, embracing him, screaming in despair, struggling between life and death.

Finally, the seemingly collapsing Heavenly Qi ceased flowing, blocked by the Heavenly Manifestation; Li Hao seized this chance to heal his body fully, regenerating flesh and blood.

His regeneration was astonishing—visible to the naked eye, as if reborn from utter ruin. Soon, as his body healed over half, the Heavenly Qi stabilized.

The boy glowed crimson-gold, drenched in blood, yet stood like a war god, slowly straightening his spine, radiating divine authority. He stood suspended above the arena, his face carved with cold resolve forged through tribulation.

Above and below, all was silent.

Countless Ji family members outside Heaven's Path Mountain stared dumbfounded at the boy, unable to imagine, unwilling to believe—he had truly fought to the final moment.

With his bare fists, with his teenage body, he had defeated every Ji family prodigy—no one dared challenge him!

Ji Ji Daoxin and Ji Ji Tianchao also wore expressions of shock, their gazes fixed intently on the boy in the arena.

They saw more clearly: the terrifying power Li Hao unleashed was not a technique—it was likely the legendary Sixth Ultimate Realm, the Earth Immortal Realm! This Realm's difficulty surpassed even the Heavenly Manifestation, far beyond any other Ultimate Realm. Even the Ji family, which had birthed countless prodigies, had never seen anyone achieve it.

Not even they could!

The ancestral half-sage lying in the ancient coffin had only forged a Heavenly Manifestation—he never stepped into the Earth Immortal Realm!

Yet they had never witnessed this legendary Realm themselves, and could not confirm it.

In the arena.

Li Hao fixed his gaze on the arena's edge, watching Ji Ji Xuanshen slowly rise from the ground, his body riddled with cracks, a massive hole torn through his flesh by Li Hao's own invincible fist.

The force of the Manifestation's punch had shattered his internal organs and broken most of his bones.

Now seated, Ji Ji Xuanshen saw Li Hao's body nearly healed, his aura still fierce and unbroken, and his eyes flickered with shock—then dimmed into despair.

At this moment, he knew he had lost.

Even with his holy bone, victory would have been dishonorable—yet he had lost anyway.

Most importantly, this boy was only in his teens, merely at the Three Imperishable Realm!

He had fought across an entire major realm—and still brought Ji Ji Xuanshen to this state. He had lost utterly. Seeing Ji Ji Xuanshen's spirit broken, Li Hao lifted his gaze and swept it beyond the arena, speaking calmly: "Who else wishes to challenge me?"

His voice was quiet, calm—but it echoed across Heaven's Path Mountain like an autumn wind brushing past countless ears, yet no one answered.

The remaining unchallenged Ji family prodigies—Ji Xia Qingshuang and others—stood far beyond the arena, staring dumbfounded at the boy.

They had originally stood beside the arena, but the sheer power of their clash had driven them all back.

Who else dares to step forward?

No one.

Even if they stepped forward, Li Hao could choose to resume his challenge tomorrow at this hour—but even if he fought now, their instincts told them they could not defeat him.

He seemed to know no fatigue; they saw no weakness, no possibility of victory.

Too strong—utterly flawless. Merely his perfected body filled them with helplessness.

Mobility, ambush, brute force—all tactics were meaningless before that body. Even Ji Ji Xuanshen's Domain gained no advantage—how could they?

No one answered.

The crowd outside the arena made no argument; all remained stunned by the boy's impact.

"If no one challenges, Ji Li Le Ping shall be our Ji family's strongest prodigy, the Dao Seed!"

Ji Ji Daoxin stepped forward, glancing once at Li Hao, then addressing the crowd loudly.

His voice rang across Heaven's Path Mountain, jolting everyone awake.

The boy had truly succeeded—he had defeated every Ji family prodigy! Their earlier prejudice, their mockery of him as a half-breed, an outsider, a traitor who changed his name to join the Ji family—all these thoughts now seemed absurd.

With the power and talent this boy had shown, he needed no family name—he himself was a supreme prodigy, needing no one's submission. A single call from him, and even ancient holy clans would fight to claim him.

Third Ultimate Realm, defeated holy bone, subdued all Ji family prodigies! All knew: the Ji family would birth a new legend.

"What kind of monster did Third Brother bring back before he died?"

"Is this the supreme prodigy Third Brother spoke of? Our Ji family's future…"

"No holy bone—and yet he defeated holy bone. No Domain—and yet he shattered a Domain. Utterly invincible!"

Ji Shen Yunqing, Ji Yunyue, and others trembled with excitement.

They had never imagined that before leaving, Third Brother had gifted the Ji family with such a treasure! Others too snapped back to reality, their expressions complex; despite earlier prejudice, in the Great Wilderness, strength ruled—and now, they were humbled by the boy.

Without Ji family cultivation, he reached this level—how far could he go if nurtured as Dao Seed, with the entire clan's resources?

Perhaps, as he himself claimed, he could truly forge his own holy bone, rivaling the Ancestor!

Thinking of this, some elders who had stood by Ji Ji Qingyuan now stirred with quiet excitement—but then remembered their earlier obstruction of the boy in the council hall, and were seized by dread.

No one responded to Ji Ji Daoxin's words; he immediately declared Li Hao the Dao Seed and dismissed the barrier.

"Child, are you alright? This is our Ji family's divine medicine."

As the barrier vanished, Ji Yunyue and others flew swiftly to Li Hao's side, urgently speaking.

They saw his blood-soaked body and felt deep sorrow.

Though the boy had won and earned his fame, the brutality of his battle filled them with dread and pity.

"No need. I can heal myself."

Li Hao said softly.

He declined the old woman's divine medicine; he possessed the attribute of Concealing Brilliance—relaxing his body and combining it with his self-healing would quickly mend his injuries.

"This child, why be so distant with us?" Ji Yunyue said, pressing the medicine into Li Hao's hand.

Li Hao sighed helplessly but accepted it without using it.

Seeing Li Hao refuse, Ji Yunyue and the others exchanged glances, their expressions shifting—they recalled how the Ji family had mocked him, how countless voices had ordered him to leave the Ji family. This child must have grown bitter.

"Child, ignore them. As long as we old ones still live, no one in the Ji family will harm you."

Ji Shen Yunqing told Li Hao.

But as she spoke, remembering the power he had just revealed, her cheeks flushed slightly.

With his own strength, Li Hao could walk the Great Wilderness unafraid—even Dao Realm cultivators could not touch him. Only certain forbidden zones or a Mount Wenda Realm master could threaten him—he no longer needed anyone's protection.

Li Hao said softly: "I came only to return Elder Ji Yunge and to see my mother."

Hearing this, their expressions changed. Ji Shen Yunqing hurriedly asked: "You don't plan to stay in the Ji family?"

Li Hao shook his head slightly: "I have unfinished business. I have friends I haven't met. After I atone for my mother's sins, I will leave."

Their conversation was quiet, but as they spoke, the crowd outside fell silent—so every word reached the ears of those beyond the arena.

The boy intends to leave the Ji family!

Everyone was stunned, then their faces darkened; many felt panic—such a prodigy had emerged in the Ji family, and yet he wished to leave?

To become the Dao Seed, surpassing all prodigies, a glory unmatched—yet he refused to stay, choosing to depart.

For a moment, most Ji family members found it unbearable to accept.

But Li Hao's words were clear: he came for two reasons—to return Elder Ji Yunge, and to see his mother.

One was for emotion. The other, too, was for emotion.

Both were perfectly natural reasons.

Yet we mocked him, cursed him, ordered him to leave—no wonder his heart has turned cold.

Suddenly, many who had mocked and scorned Li Hao felt their cheeks burn, pierced by shame and inner dread.

They knew: this boy truly has the power to leave the Ji family.

Without relying on the Ji family, he is still a heavenly prodigy, an extraordinary genius—why should he bow his head in humiliation?

When Li Hao spoke, Ji Ji Daoxin's expression changed slightly, turning grim.

He had long sensed the murmurs from within the mountain's belly, but thought that once Li Hao was brought into the Ji family, the abundant resources devoted to his cultivation would more than compensate.

After all, it was merely insults—what heavenly prodigy hasn't endured mockery? But now it seemed this boy had never intended to join the Ji family in the first place, let alone endure all this.

(End of Chapter)