Chapter 496: The Peerless Sword Dao

At this moment, Zhao Qingshu looked slightly disheveled. A flicker of shock was hidden in the depths of his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it as he stepped out of the void crack. He looked up at the Cloud Bell in the sky, where the vast solar corona recorded the time.

Just as he had counted silently, although there were some lapses during the clash, it was mostly accurate.

A quarter of an hour... Zhao Qingshu's heart sank, and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Only after going in did he realize the true weight and terrifying nature of the Twin Buddhas' one and a half minutes.

Inside the Ancestral Literature Holy Land, Li Qingyi and the others were relieved to see Zhao Qingshu finally emerge. They had feared some accident had occurred, but with the Literature Saint present, the Buddhist World-Honored One would not dare to play any tricks; there must be another reason.

"Zhao Qingshu, 16 minutes and 29 seconds!"

The Buddhist judge announced in a loud voice.

Seeing such a gap, the crowd was in an uproar. Previously, when they saw the Twin Buddhas take only one and a half minutes, they were stunned. This Zhao Qingshu was also a long-renowned Holy Son within the Ancestral Literature Holy Land, who had once killed his way into the Demon Realm alone, slaughtered over a dozen Dao-Law Realm demons, and piled their corpses to be burned away by the Sea of Books; he had once been famous throughout Canglan.

Now that time had passed and his cultivation had only grown stronger, how could he have spent 16 minutes?

This gap was a full sixteen times! If such a gap existed during a confrontation, the resulting battle situation would be simply unimaginable.

Seeing Zhao Qingshu's result, the prodigies from the Ancestral Literature Holy Land, the Ancestral Sword Holy Land, and the Divine Dynasty wanderers all wore solemn expressions.

They did not believe Zhao Qingshu was too weak; he was a Holy Son, after all, and one of the top ten selected from within the Ancestral Literature Holy Land. Such a large gap could only mean that the Twin Buddhas were too terrifying! "Interesting, interesting..."

Chiguang's eyes flickered, and the fighting spirit in the depths of his eyes grew more intense, like a raging flame.

At this moment, the third challenger went up and stepped into the void crack under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Time passed, and this time it was even longer, about twenty minutes, before the void crack fluctuated and the person returned from within.

This person was a Holy Son from the Ancestral Sword Holy Land with impressive strength, but at this moment, his face was full of shock and ugliness.

Seeing this person's result, those who had previously doubted Zhao Qingshu's result now realized the horror of the Twin Buddhas.

For a time, many eyes in the audience gathered on the young Buddha, feeling a hidden impatience to see what kind of ability the demon guarding the spirit bead in the void crack possessed. No matter how strong, it was only the Dao-Law Realm, right? These Holy Sons were all the cream of the crop in the Dao-Law Realm; to find a Dao-Law Realm demon that surpassed them was equivalent to finding a top-tier Holy Son-level demon!

They couldn't possibly have brought a Half-Saint to guard it, could they? Thinking of this, many people's faces revealed horror.

They quickly looked at the Buddhist Supreme, but only saw strange phenomena surrounding him and brilliant Buddha light, making it impossible to fathom his thoughts.

At this time, the fourth, fifth... prodigies continued to step out one after another, heading to the Floating Life Demon Realm within the void crack.

And the time was basically between 17 and 20 minutes.

Zhao Qingshu, who had fought earlier, felt his complexion recover slightly. Fortunately, compared to that monster of a Twin Buddha, he was far behind, but compared to the others, he was quite good.

Not long after, the scene was in an uproar.

It was Lin Shuhai from the Ancestral Literature Holy Land who stepped out.

As the leader of this generation's prodigies in the Ancestral Literature Holy Land, his fame was immense, attracting the attention of all parties, and he was also a strong contender for the top three in this prodigy battle.

"It's Brother Shuhai's turn!"

"Does Brother Shuhai have a chance to surpass the Twin Buddhas?"

"Hard to say, that Twin Buddha is too monstrous."

Li Qingyi and the others showed anticipation and worry in their eyes, feeling even more nervous than if they were going up themselves.

Seeing Lin Shuhai step out, Chiguang turned his head to look, his eyes narrowing.

Holy Son Haoyue also revealed a hint of coldness in his eyes. The others' levels were too weak to have reference value, but looking at Lin Shuhai would provide a reference for just how strong the Twin Buddhas were.

Lin Shuhai's expression was indifferent, as if he were completely unaware of the thousands of eyes falling upon him. With an air of literature, he walked toward the void crack.

The crowd held their breath, unable to help but count the time silently.

When it exceeded 1 minute and 36 seconds, many people sighed inwardly; sure enough, the Twin Buddhas were still in a league of their own, too monstrous.

When it reached 1 minute and 58 seconds, the void crack suddenly shook, and Lin Shuhai's figure walked out from within, looking as calm and indifferent as when he went in, holding the silver-white spirit bead in his hand.

The whole arena erupted in an uproar. Everyone looked at him in surprise; although there was a gap with the Twin Buddhas, the gap seemed small! A gap of less than 30 seconds might just be due to taking a few wrong turns.

Chiguang's eyes narrowed, and he rubbed his hands, feeling even more eager and impatient.

Lin Shuhai stepped out of the void crack and glanced at the Twin Buddhas, only to see the other's eyes were hollow, looking at the floating clouds in the distance. Although standing at the highest point and receiving the attention of the whole arena, his thoughts seemed to be lost and detached, not here at all.

A slight smile curled the corner of his mouth as he handed the spirit bead to the Buddha and returned to the seats of the Ancestral Literature Holy Land.

"This Lin Shuhai is somewhat terrifying..."

Behind the Twin Buddhas, the other Buddhist Buddhas and Bodhisattvas looked at him, their eyes exceptionally solemn.

Others did not know the horror of the Twin Buddhas, but they all knew it, yet this Lin Shuhai was able to approach the other in time. It felt like under that scholar's skin, he was also a monster!

As the commotion brought by Lin Shuhai ended, the others went on stage one after another, and the time returned to over ten minutes. Among them, Su Yun, whom Li Hao knew, had a time of 16 minutes and 21 seconds.

Qiu Wuhen's time was 14 minutes and 12 seconds.

Bian Ruxue's was 15 minutes and 29 seconds.

All were around a quarter of an hour, with little difference.

As the twentieth person finished and took a 16-minute result, the person ranked at 20 minutes already had a pale complexion, knowing they were on the verge of elimination.

Not long after, Li Hao saw Lin Qingying walk out.

Lin Qingying's expression was solemn. Advancing to the top 20 was a small matter, but the results of the Twin Buddhas and Lin Shuhai were like two great mountains pressing on everyone's hearts. This was what it meant to be the peak of the same realm.

She looked toward Li Hao, and seeing Li Hao give her an encouraging smile, the solemnity on her face slowly dissipated, revealing a peaceful smile.

She nodded to Li Hao, and then, in her green clothes, walked toward the void crack.

Not long after, the crack fluctuated, and Lin Qingying's figure appeared from within, causing an immediate uproar in the arena.

Lin Qingying's time was a staggering 4 minutes and 15 seconds! In the Ancestral Sword Holy Land, Lin Qingying's final result ranked third. No one expected her to have such a performance at this moment.

"Another monster!"

Everyone's eyes were solemn, and they immediately noted this woman down.

"It seems she has gained some insight into the Sword Dao."

Li Hao smiled. Before leaving, he had told her that the ultimate of the Supreme Soft Sword Dao was nothingness. It seemed she had gained some insight into it.

Holy Son Linghuan, who ranked second in the Ancestral Sword Holy Land, had a slight change in expression. He happened to be fighting after Lin Qingying. Previously, Lin Qingying had her Dao Embryo destroyed by Holy Son Haoyue and was seriously injured, which caused him to miss the chance to fight her, but now it seemed he would likely lose.

Soon, Holy Son Linghuan's result also came out: 8 minutes and 09 seconds! This result was nearly double that of Lin Qingying.

When he stepped out of the crack, Holy Son Linghuan looked at the woman off the stage, a bitter smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Holy Son Haoyue, however, frowned. Previously, he had used Lin Qingying as a medium for the Sword Dao to break the love in his heart and comprehend the ruthlessness of the sun and moon and the great unity of heaven and earth. He did not expect that even after he destroyed her Dao Embryo, Lin Qingying would still have such a performance. Such a stunning result made him realize he had underestimated this woman before.

Looking at that beautiful face, his eyes flickered, and a thought he had previously cut off emerged in his heart, but it was quickly extinguished by him again.

At this moment, as the results of one prodigy after another came out, those ranked outside the top 20 were automatically eliminated. Now the elimination line was gradually approaching 18 minutes.

Zhao Qingshu and the others were all becoming a bit nervous.

Not long after, Holy Son Haoyue stepped out, and immediately many eyes gathered.

Holy Son Haoyue's eyes were cold as he glanced at Li Hao sitting in the Divine Dynasty, his gaze icy.

Chiguang, sitting beside Li Hao, felt the gaze cast by the other and raised his eyebrows slightly, returning a cold sneer, but then he realized the other didn't seem to be looking at him, but at Qingfeng beside him.

The cold sneer on his face stiffened slightly, immediately turning into a hint of killing intent, and his eyes became even sharper.

Not long after, Holy Son Haoyue's result also came out: the result was exactly 2 minutes and 30 seconds! Seeing this result, many people exclaimed, but at the same time, they couldn't help but sigh. This result could rank third, but compared to the Twin Buddhas, it was about a minute behind.

Holy Son Haoyue walked out of the crack with a gloomy face. He had already calculated his time, and after stepping out, he didn't even look at the result before returning to his seat with a gloomy face.

"Hmph!"

Chiguang snorted coldly and looked at his ranking; it would be his turn soon.

In the middle, several more prodigies stepped out, all after ten-plus minutes. Finally, Chiguang waited for his turn.

He stood up, and immediately countless eyes gathered.

In the previous Divine Dynasty wanderer battle, although Chiguang lost to Li Hao, his top-tier Dao-entry level divine ability still made many people regard him as a formidable enemy.

Seeing the eyes of these people, Chiguang sneered slightly. What they saw before was only a part of what he had revealed. The warm-up was over; now was the time for the real deal! He stepped onto the battle stage and crossed directly into the void crack.

Not long after entering, his figure stepped out from within, his whole body still covered in undispersed firelight, holding the silver spirit bead in his hand.

Time: 1 minute and 47 seconds! Only 11 seconds behind the Twin Buddhas! Seeing this result, Chiguang's eyes were cold as he glanced at the Twin Buddhas, only to see the other was lost in thought and not paying attention, causing the cold light in his eyes to suddenly intensify.

But immediately, he looked at Qingfeng off the stage again, his eyes indifferent, carrying a hint of condescension.

Li Hao saw the gaze cast by the other and felt a bit baffled. Was this guy trying to prove something to him? And at this moment, Chiguang's result came out, which suddenly made the scene a bit quiet.

Many people were dumbfounded, looking at him in shock. As a representative of the Divine Dynasty, such a result was second only to the Twin Buddhas! Lin Shuhai, Holy Son Haoyue, and other leaders of the Holy Lands were all ranked behind him. If not for the Twin Buddhas, Chiguang would undoubtedly be the biggest dark horse this time! "Are you kidding me? This speed is actually stronger than Lin Shuhai's!"

"Those two Holy Land leaders were both suppressed by him!"

"Didn't he only rank second in the previous Divine Dynasty wanderer battle? How strong must the first be?"

"What do you know? I heard news from the fellow disciples who cultivate in his cave heaven that his strongest is his own Spear Dao, but in the previous confrontation, who saw him use a spear?"

"Hiding his strength? No wonder. I was just saying, how could the second in the Divine Dynasty be more terrifying than the Holy Land leaders? However, he held back in the previous Divine Dynasty confrontation. Even if he took first in the Divine Dynasty, this result now is still a bit terrifying!"

"Suppressing the Holy Land leaders, this Chiguang will be the biggest variable in the top three!"

"Is it possible that he actually still hid his strength and even has a chance to win the championship?"

The scene erupted in shocking discussions, all whispering. Hearing these discussions, a hint of cold arrogance appeared in Chiguang's eyes, and he returned to his seat with an indifferent expression.

After sitting down, he glanced at Li Hao beside him, only to see Li Hao looking thoughtful, as if thinking about something.

A corner of his mouth curled up. Feeling the pressure now?

Li Hao thought for a while and finally took out his drawing board.

With such an opportunity, a Sage appearing, even if it was just a reflected avatar, if he drew it, he should be able to gain quite a bit of experience. He just didn't know if it would be offensive.

If it was offensive and the other stopped him, he should give a warning first, and then he would stop.

Wealth is sought in danger.

Thinking of this, Li Hao began to draw.

"Hmm?!"

Seeing Li Hao suddenly take out a drawing board, pen, ink, and other items, Chiguang's expression changed slightly. He stared at Li Hao for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and didn't look anymore, but the fist in his sleeve was quietly clenched...

Li Hao chose to draw the Literature Saint first. Seeming to notice the gaze, the Literature Saint looked toward Li Hao's side, and upon seeing his drawing board and actions, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

But immediately, he thought of something and glanced at Zhan Tan.

Zhan Tan also noticed the Literature Saint's gaze. Being sharp-minded, she immediately looked toward Li Hao and saw Li Hao's actions, unable to help but be stunned, then dumbfounded.

Over these past few months, discussing paintings with Li Hao every day, she deeply knew that this young man loved the Dao of Painting from the bottom of his heart. Over these months, he actually didn't care about cultivation matters. She didn't expect that at this moment, in such a tense quota selection, Li Hao would still have this leisure.

Seeing the result of the Twin Buddhas, didn't he feel any pressure? Or was he really just planning to muddle through? Li Hao saw the Literature Saint didn't stop him and quickly drew with his hand.

Not long after, near the time before he went to battle, the painting was finally completed.

Li Hao put down his pen and finished the painting. Seeing the 160,000 experience points jumping out on the panel, a hint of shock appeared in his eyes. Just a reflection of an avatar actually had so much experience. Judging from the experience gap, it belonged to an existence that could easily suppress a Half-Saint with a wave of a hand.

Li Hao's thoughts turned, and he looked at the Twin Buddhas, Lin Shuhai, and the others. This was also a rich source of wool! However, he was about to go to battle and had no time to paint, so he could only put away the drawing board first, then stood up and bowed slightly to the Literature Saint.

The Literature Saint noticed Li Hao's action, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. It was the first time he had seen such an unconventional little guy, and he knew the rules and his behavior did not overstep, showing he had a very good upbringing.

There were forty people in total, and Li Hao was ranked 35th to step out.

As Li Hao stepped out, the scene also became much quieter. Many people had high hopes for this Divine Dynasty number one.

Although the prodigies selected from the Divine Dynasty were generally not as good as those from the Holy Lands, this time, with Li Hao and Chiguang, two people broke the convention, which raised the level of the Divine Dynasty's prodigies.

Su Yun, who had performed brilliantly before, had a result that belonged to the forefront among the Holy Land prodigies, which also made many people put away their long-standing contempt for these Divine Dynasty prodigies.

"Chiguang took second and had such a result. This Qingfeng should be even stronger, right?"

"How is that possible? Chiguang is a dark horse and hid his strength before. Didn't you hear? His truly strongest method is the spear!"

"This Qingfeng cannot be underestimated either. Even if he is not as good as Chiguang, at least he will be within five minutes!"

"That's true. After all, suppressing a group of Divine Dynasty prodigies, the monsters selected from dozens of Divine Dynasties in the Canglan Realm are also very terrifying."

Everyone's expressions were solemn, staring closely at Li Hao.

"He is also going to make a move. I wonder what the result will be."

Li Qingyi saw Li Hao, and a light appeared in her eyes. She had also made a move before, and the time was 13 minutes, but she knew that Li Hao's result would definitely not be outside ten minutes, at least within three minutes! Hearing the whispers of Li Qingyi and the others behind him, Lin Shuhai looked toward the young man with gentle and indifferent eyes, a smile of interest appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Feel the gap!"

Chiguang stared at Li Hao's back, a cold look appearing in his eyes. He really wanted to see the expression on Li Hao's face when he came out later.

Li Hao walked onto the stage and didn't look around. After the spirit bead was cast, he walked straight toward the void crack.

After passing through the crack, Li Hao had a feeling of long-lost spatial leaping.

The scene before him changed, and then a desolate place appeared.

Here, there were withered branches and dead vines, and mist filled the sky, like a forbidden dead land, filled with a large amount of gray-black death energy.

Li Hao was stunned, and golden divine light appeared in his eyes. He immediately saw that in the gray death energy, there were actually a large number of black killing resentments floating!

This... a treasure land?!

Li Hao was astonished. He didn't expect the test site behind the crack to be such a place. For him, this was simply an unexpected joy!

Under the induction of the divine blood in his body, Li Hao didn't hesitate and quickly raised his hand to absorb these killing resentments.

These were all nutrients needed for the Ultimate Dao to become a Sage.

As a large amount of black killing resentment gathered, surrounding Li Hao like a hurricane, the divine blood in his body became active, absorbing all these black gases into his body, and the divine blood shrouded them.

This divine blood was like a miniature prison, sealing the strands of black gas.

The divine blood that sealed the black gas revealed a black mark in the golden light, like a vertical pupil.

Li Hao could feel that some extraordinary power seemed to be gestating inside.

When all the divine blood in his body absorbed sufficient killing resentment, some kind of transformation would occur, which was the Ultimate Dao becoming a Sage, cultivating the Supreme Sage Dao with killing power! As he continued to absorb, the mist in the Demon Realm seemed to fade a lot.

Li Hao opened his eyes, and the golden light in his eyes flashed away, returning to ink-black eyes.

He looked up and swept around. There was no more black gas nearby. He didn't delay either; just absorbing these killing resentments had already cost him half a minute.

He expanded his divine sense, his Primordial Spirit hovered in the air, and he probed for the spirit bead.

Soon, Li Hao felt the aura and traces of the spirit bead. In the depths of the Demon Realm, there was a hidden and terrifying aura entrenched there.

A hint of shock appeared in Li Hao's eyes. Spending these days with Zhan Tan, he was quite familiar with the aura of a Half-Saint. At this moment, that terrifying aura beside the spirit bead was clearly a Demon Half-Saint!

It was actually guarded by a Half-Saint?

A look of shock appeared in Li Hao's eyes, then he thought for a moment, his figure flickered, and he flew over quickly.

His movement technique was extremely fast, performing consecutive Return-to-Ruins teleports. The Heaven and Earth Pulse gathered energy from all around, providing him with a steady stream of deployable power. Even the Return-to-Ruins teleport, which consumed a lot of energy, could be performed continuously as if he had infinite stamina.

In the blink of an eye, in less than five seconds, Li Hao arrived at the location of the spirit bead.

He saw a huge centipede demon entrenched here, its whole body covered in eyeballs, its body shape like a spider, but it also seemed like some kind of deformity, even more ferocious. Besides the creepy eyeballs all over its body, there were dense sharp spikes and black armor.

And that silver-glowing spirit bead was rolling casually on the ground right in front of the other.

"Little guy, quite interesting. Your method of absorbing that killing resentment just now is a bit like that bald guy's."

This Half-Saint spider demon, with dozens of purple demon eyes all over its body, had Li Hao's figure reflected in all of them at this moment. It emitted the voice of an old man, full of vicissitudes, and said with a hint of interest.

Li Hao asked: "How can you give this thing to me?"

This Half-Saint spider demon seemed to know that Li Hao was racing against time, but it was unhurried and smiled:

"For a normal test, it's to take one attack from me, or leave a scar on my body, and you can take this thing. I'm not making it difficult for you little guys, but if you can tell me why you were able to absorb those things before and what use they have, I can give you this thing directly."

Li Hao raised his eyebrows. This concerned the secrets of the God Clan and the Ultimate Dao becoming a Sage. If not for the consideration that this Half-Saint was a Buddhist demon, he would have already had the thought of silencing it.

"Then let's follow the normal test."

Li Hao said.

Hearing this, the Half-Saint spider demon's eyes blinked and flickered, and its voice suddenly became a bit displeased:

"I am giving you a chance. As long as you agree, a quick divine sense transmission is enough to finish speaking within a breath. By then, you take this spirit bead and return. Judging from the current results, you might even surpass that Buddha. This is a rare opportunity to make a name for yourself. You should cherish it well."

"Let's just do it the normal way."

Li Hao was a bit impatient. Although he wasn't extremely urgent, it was just a top-20 screening. Just getting into the top 20 was enough. According to the previous ranking, within 10 minutes was basically stable enough to go to the next round, but he didn't want to waste time here in vain.

"Kid, it seems you are very confident in yourself!"

Seeing Li Hao refused to reveal it, the Half-Saint spider demon suddenly had a fierce look in its eyes.

It was imprisoned here by that Buddhist bald guy and had seen that Buddha's methods, so it wanted to explore. If not for that Buddha telling it not to kill, it would have inevitably swallowed those prodigies who came in earlier, some of whom it found unpleasant.

"If I'm in a good mood, maybe I can go easy on you. If I'm in a bad mood, your prodigy road will stop here!"

The Half-Saint spider demon was clearly very clear about the test rules outside and also remembered the time ranking of those prodigies who came to test before. As long as it dragged Li Hao here beyond the time, the other would be defeated.

Not killing the other, but still being able to cut off the other's prodigy road and break their luck.

Hearing this, Li Hao was slightly silent, then said: "Okay, I will tell you this method. This is a special cultivation technique that can absorb killing resentment and turn it into Demon Dao cultivation."

"It's too late to say it now. Do you think I will believe it? That is the Buddha's method. Even that evil Buddha couldn't see it when he came in before, but you can master it. This must be some Sage secret!"

The Half-Saint spider demon's voice gradually became ferocious: "Even if you had obediently told me just now, I would still take your soul. You humans are treacherous. Even your women say a man's mouth cannot be trusted. How could I believe you? Dream Weaving!"

It roared low, performing some kind of demon secret technique.

Colorful light seemed to appear before Li Hao's eyes, and the world became distorted. The original gray, misty world actually became colorful, but this color distortion actually made people feel dizzy.

Li Hao looked at the spirit bead. The Half-Saint spider demon noticed Li Hao's gaze, sneered, and shot out spider silk from its mouth, sticking to the spirit bead and taking it back into its belly.

"Floating life is like a dream, sleep!"

The Half-Saint spider demon's voice became illusory.

Law erosion, layer upon layer like a spider web, wanted to entangle and intertwine Li Hao.

But the next moment, the Heaven and Earth Pulse behind Li Hao suddenly turned, and immediately after, an Eternal Dao Domain emitting a terrifying aura emerged.

With the arrival of the Eternal Dao Domain, the laws extending around Li Hao's body were all annihilated. The space seemed to be distorted, and the colorful light disappeared.

(End of chapter)