Chapter 482: Emperor Canghai Tower, Dao Domain Surge

Li Hao had already experienced this compression of experience in the game of Go; with his current Go skill, duels against second- or third-rank players yielded only sparse, minimal experience.

When the rank gap is too great, experience shrinks—after all, you gain nothing at all.

Sometimes you receive only a symbolic "1" point of experience.

Fortunately, although the experience varied, this land of the sages was never short of powerful figures, and the accumulation of painting experience remained swift: five million experience points were needed to advance from ninth-rank to tenth-rank, and one sage could grant thirty to forty thousand—ten sages would suffice to reach full accumulation.

If the subject were a half-sage, it would yield forty to fifty thousand experience points.

Painting the Emperor of the Emperor Canghai right now granted Li Hao over forty thousand experience points.

Previously, when Li Hao painted the Elder Elder Yao Zu, he had received fifty thousand experience points on his first attempt; he wasn't sure whether the Emperor of the Emperor Canghai was inferior to the Elder Elder Yao Zu, or whether his painting skill, now elevated to ninth-rank, had slightly compressed the experience gained compared to his earlier eighth-rank level.

Regardless, the man had said the Emperor Canghai Divine Dynasty had ten half-sage patrons; if he painted them in sequence, he could accumulate forty to fifty thousand experience points.

If he painted them multiple times and squeezed every last drop, he could gather over a hundred thousand.

As he painted, Li Hao could also discern the power gaps among these figures, though he wondered how much painting experience he would gain if he painted himself.

Li Hao had tried painting his own portrait in the alchemy courtyard, but received no experience prompt.

It was like dueling himself at Go—he gained no experience, couldn't exploit the system's loopholes.

Otherwise, every time he improved his cultivation, he could paint himself a portrait and sustain himself without external aid.

The experience difference between Chi Guang and the half-sage was less than fifteen thousand—equivalent to the gap between Chi Guang and the Cloud-Robe Woman—this surprised Li Hao; the fire-based divine art he had displayed earlier clearly wasn't his true ability.

The man had hidden his depth well—he clearly hadn't revealed his true capabilities for such trivial offerings.

After all, the upcoming Supreme Heavenly Prodigy War was the main event; revealing too much too soon would leak information and backfire.

"Could the Clear Wind Patron also understand painting?"

The Emperor of the Emperor Canghai, upon seeing Li Hao's painting, was startled; with his vast experience, he instantly recognized Li Hao's work as master-level—worthy of becoming a timeless classic. This was no feat achievable by a martial artist merely copying forms with brute strength; it lay in the essence.

Without intense, dedicated study, it was nearly impossible—unless Li Hao was a natural painting prodigy.

Chi Guang and the Cloud-Robe Woman also turned to look at Li Hao's painting; earlier, when he had gone to paint, they had thought him merely putting on a show—but now he had truly produced several masterpieces.

"This painting carries Dao's resonance!"

The Cloud-Robe Woman's eyes sharpened; she sensed this painting was no ordinary work.

Chi Guang glanced briefly, raised an eyebrow slightly, and a hint of disdain surfaced in his gaze.

The painting was indeed excellent—but that only made it laughable: possessing talent yet neglecting cultivation, wasting time on such trivial arts, destroying one's own future.

The imperial court's chief painter, upon seeing Li Hao's work, jumped in shock, his eyes filled with awe.

He had studied painting longer than anyone else and understood better than anyone the depth of Li Hao's mastery; ordinary mortals could spend lifetimes and never reach such heights—even he had not touched it, yet this young martial artist had already entered this realm.

The meaning of painting entering the Dao—this was the highest realm in his heart.

His gaze toward Li Hao instantly filled with genuine reverence.

Li Hao painted casually, without pouring power into his works; since his painting skill had risen to ninth-rank, his paintings already possessed terrifying lethal power—not mere decorative art.

After the master craftsmen finished measuring Li Hao and the others, Li Hao brought up his earlier second request: cultivation techniques.

Seeing Li Hao's urgency, the Emperor of the Emperor Canghai smiled and called over the Crown Prince: "My son, take the Clear Wind Patron to the Emperor Canghai Tower."

The imperial heir, tall and dignified, now wore a warm, gentle smile that put one at ease; he said to Li Hao: "Clear Wind Patron, please follow me."

At this moment, Chi Guang and the others learned that Li Hao had another demand beyond the Ten Cities.

Chi Guang raised an eyebrow slightly; he hadn't expected the man to have demands—and for this imperial family, the importance of supreme cultivation techniques surpassed even that of a princess.

He sneered inwardly: short-sighted Emperor Canghai Divine Dynasty! He hadn't even shown his true strength; the fire-based divine art? Merely surface deception. His true abilities he had no intention of revealing here—even before fighting in the Canglan Realm, he had no plan to unveil them; otherwise, how could he compete with the Thirty-Three Realms?

Using his true strength before leaving the Canglan Realm would be a failure for him.

His goal had never been a spot in the Canglan Realm's competition—he aimed for the Number One among the Thirty-Three Realms!

When that day came, the Emperor Canghai Divine Dynasty would offer me their nation's incense as an honored guest—but among my followers, they'd be but a minority… Chi Guang sneered inwardly, yet he didn't disdain it; for sages, more incense was always better—sage wars often began over disputes of incense.

Men strive for one breath; Buddhas strive for one stick of incense.

Some sages, though not supreme, possessed vast and enduring incense, and thus held extremely high status.

With imperial palace affairs concluded, Li Hao followed the Crown Prince to the Emperor Canghai Tower, the Divine Dynasty's repository of cultivation techniques.

The Emperor Canghai Tower loomed tall and majestic, guarded by two dragon spirits of the Dao-Method realm; Li Hao couldn't help thinking of Song Song Qiumo from the mortal world—wondering how she fared now as the state guardian beast of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty.

"Select whatever you wish inside—I'll wait outside."

The Crown Prince smiled warmly, treating Li Hao with great courtesy.

Li Hao nodded; during his painting, he had also painted a portrait of this imperial prince—the experience granted was clearly eighteen thousand!

This experience approached that of the Cloud-Robe Woman, proving him a formidable prodigy—but the aura he displayed was merely ordinary Dao-Method realm.

Li Hao had no interest in the court intrigues of this imperial family; after bowing respectfully, he entered the Emperor Canghai Tower.

Inside, cultivation techniques piled like mountains; Li Hao swept his spiritual sense across them, flipping casually, and saw that the techniques here, like those in the Sword Tower, were sealed by laws.

But this affected him not at all; such law-seals primarily restricted viewers from memorizing and replicating later content.

After all, even cultivators of the Three Imperishable realm possessed extraordinary memories, nearly photographic.

Just as he had done in the Sword Tower, Li Hao began systematically recording each technique.

As the techniques multiplied on his panel, torrents of information flooded his mind—but this time, Li Hao did not cultivate directly within the Emperor Canghai Tower.

Having been exposed in the Sword Tower, he feared this tower might also be the Emperor of the Emperor Canghai's weapon.

One day passed; Li Hao completed recording all the techniques in the Emperor Canghai Tower.

The quantity of techniques here matched the Sword Tower, but their quality was far inferior—especially top-tier Dao-level techniques and divine arts, which amounted to less than one-fifth of those in the Sword Tower.

Even so, Li Hao gained immensely.

Tomorrow was the Top Hundred Battle; Li Hao didn't care—he selected three techniques from the Emperor Canghai Tower to carry out as a showpiece, had the Crown Prince break their law-seals, then set off on the return journey to Sacrifice Dao Mountain.

Chi Guang, the Cloud-Robe Woman, and the others had already returned early; Li Hao returned to Sacrifice Dao Mountain, where, as a patron of the Emperor Canghai Divine Dynasty, he had a quiet cultivation courtyard.

Royal guards stood outside the courtyard, ensuring Li Hao could cultivate undisturbed during preparation.

Li Hao set up a barrier within the courtyard, sat down, and began cultivating; he practiced each recorded technique in turn. Many were sword, spear, or other methods he could not learn—he recorded them only at the beginner stage, with no intention of spending points to cultivate them, though his Art Points were slightly abundant, the surplus was minimal.

Besides, one offensive technique was sufficient.

In a master's duel, only one true killing move is needed; the rest are mere setup.

As he practiced body-refining and sword techniques, Li Hao's Dao Domain slowly increased, soon reaching 180 layers—yet he still hadn't touched the Dao Domain's limit; his earlier assumption had been wrong.

"Could it be 360 layers?"

Li Hao's eyes flickered; if so, it matched the number of soul-condensations in the Continuation Soul realm.

In the Continuation Soul realm, condensing the soul 360 times is the ultimate limit.

Thinking of this, Li Hao felt renewed vigor—a burning desire to know what state he would achieve upon reaching the Dao Domain's ultimate limit.

After all, the Dao Domain was the strongest technique of the Four Foundations realm; the difference between having it and not having it was as vast as heaven and earth. Though a few prodigies like Jiang Jiang Lichen could break Dao Domains with sword Dao, such prodigies were rare—among the Four Foundations, reaching seventh- or eighth-rank sword Dao was an utterly terrifying madness.

Remember, even the holy sons and daughters of the Sword Ancestor Sect, now in the Dao-Method realm, had only reached eighth-rank sword Dao—and their sword intentions varied in strength.

Even among eighth-rank, the gaps were enormous; for example, the Moonlight Holy Son's sword Dao differed vastly from others'.

Li Hao did not stop; he continued cultivating.

His Dao Domain steadily expanded; by sunset, it had broken through to 210 layers! Estimating the remaining techniques, he could still cultivate another twenty layers—220 layers total—this was the cultivation foundation of the Emperor Canghai Divine Dynasty.

Of course, certain secret techniques within the Emperor Canghai Divine Dynasty were not in the Emperor Canghai Tower—but such techniques were rare, at most fewer than ten.

The next day.

The Top Hundred Battle took place on Sacrifice Dao Mountain.

Before the battle began, Li Hao continued cultivating in his courtyard.

His Dao Domain reached 210 layers; the remaining techniques could still grant him ten more layers.

"If the Dao Domain's limit is 360 layers, I'm still far off—these remaining 140 layers must come from the top sects of the Canglan Realm…"

Li Hao's eyes flickered; if he could probe all the top sects' techniques in the Canglan Realm, his Dao Domain's ultimate limit would be achieved!

Li Hao knew he differed from other competitors; his enemy wasn't merely the Number One on the Supreme Heavenly Prodigy List—he was the Void Sage!

Before claiming first place, he must possess the strength to fight a sage, or else he might be assassinated by a Void Sage during the Top Ten Battle.

While others need only consider peer competition, he must guard against a sage.

"If I can reach the ultimate limit, with my current strength, I should match a half-sage…"

Li Hao's eyes flickered; he hadn't tested it, so he didn't know—he hadn't unleashed his full power in a long time.

Since his Dao Domain rose from fifty-plus layers through cultivation in the Sword Tower to now 210 layers, he didn't know what would happen if all Dao Domain layers were fully stacked.

But even at 97 layers, Li Hao had felt his Dao Domain could already influence space—simply by Dao Domain, he could effortlessly shatter laws and solidify the Dao!

Now it would be even more terrifying.

Moreover, if he completed the Dao Domain's ultimate limit, he would master the Eight Extremes. "Are you daydreaming?"

On the battlefield, Li Hao's randomly drawn opponent noticed Li Hao's vacant gaze, as if lost in thought, and paused, then his expression turned cold.

Li Hao snapped back to reality, seeing his opponent dressed in luxurious robes, radiating an extraordinary aura; he apologized: "Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Hmph."

The youth snorted, unwilling to waste words; as soon as the battle array formed, he charged at Li Hao with his spear.

Li Hao raised his hand, summoning an autumn breeze and slashing outward.

Boom! Sword qi erupted like reeds, swiftly slicing through—the youth's spear trembled, his gathered momentum shattered, and a deep sword wound appeared on his chest.

He rose from the ground, staring at Li Hao in terror; what kind of sword qi was this? He had just sensed certain death—but the lethal aura vanished at the last moment; the opponent had held back.

The youth's face flushed red and white; he instantly realized he faced a prodigy.

"Consider this my apology."

Li Hao bowed slightly to the opponent; once the referee announced the result, he turned and descended the stage, then resumed pondering Dao Domain outside the arena.

The match ended in an instant; below, the crowd erupted in shock.

"Prince Prince Luojia lost—defeated in one blow!"

He's someone who possesses two ultimate realms, and he hasn't even had a chance to reveal them yet.

What's that? You haven't seen his performance in the Ten Thousand Combat? This Young Master Lin Qingfeng held back a prodigy with twenty-plus Dao Domains and crushed him in the Ten Thousand Combat—so badly that the opponent's Dao Heart shattered and he withdrew outright, failing even to make the top hundred.

The crowd below murmured, sparking even greater shock.

Among the crowd sat several refined figures; one young man, fanning himself with a folding fan, smiled wryly at his cold-faced junior:

"Li Qingyi, don't take these fools' words to heart."

Li Li Qingyi snorted but said nothing.

This top hundred battle will whittle down to the top ten, so she came again specifically to watch, hoping someone might force Li Hao to reveal another technique.

With Li Hao's strength, she already regarded him as an opponent she'd face later in the Canglan Realm, and observing him now was part of gathering intelligence—not mere leisure.

"Still so straightforward—is he planning to rely solely on swordplay to sweep through?"

Another refined young man sighed.

"His swordplay alone is enough to secure a top-ten spot—even first place is possible," another youth nodded, highly approving of Li Hao's sword art.

The fan-wielding youth shook his head. "Top ten is plausible, top three even within reach—but first place? Impossible. He must be pushed to reveal something else. If he has nothing else, he won't even claim first."

"Huh?"

Li Li Qingyi looked at him in confusion.

The fan-wielding youth smiled. "There's word that in Nanrong Kingdom's Huaguang Heaven, a peerless prodigy has emerged—named Chiguang. He's one of our major rivals, only slightly inferior to the Buddha Sect's Twin Brothers."

"That strong?"

All of them were stunned. Comparing someone to the Buddha Sect's Twin Brothers was itself terrifying.

(End of Chapter)