Chapter 700: Shi Shi Tianjin in Peril

As Shi Shi Tianjin led the way, other veterans followed suit, each revealing their own aura, mostly at the seventh or eighth level of True Immortal Realm.

Others also followed, all at the fifth level of True Immortal Realm; the only one among them at the eighth level, Huo Huo Xiaoqi, flew alongside Li Hao.

"Stay close to me."

Huo Huo Xiaoqi was extremely responsible and attentive to Li Hao, fearing he would fall behind, deliberately slowing his own pace.

Li Hao slightly increased his speed, reaching the level of a fifth-level True Immortal, avoiding being left behind.

Huo Huo Xiaoqi, seeing Li Hao's movement was not slow, was momentarily surprised and whispered in surprise: "You kid, you're hiding your true strength—such a technique? No wonder you had the courage to come to this border battlefield."

Li Hao paused, then understood, and smiled: "Not bad."

Seeing Li Hao's calm demeanor, Huo Huo Xiaoqi immediately realized this speed wasn't Li Hao's limit—if he truly unleashed himself, he might reach sixth-level True Immortal. His heart eased slightly, and he too accelerated a little, keeping pace with Li Hao at the very rear of the formation.

After flying thousands of miles in succession, they reached the city's edge. This Qinghe Mo City was vast beyond measure; their Wildfire Army's encampment lay near the outer battlefield, yet still spanned thousands of miles in diameter.

Around them were other Wildfire Army camps; millions marched simultaneously, with figures everywhere—front, back, left, right—like a billion arrows shot forth, dense and unbroken. The sensation of being swept up in a torrent made every soul feel their own insignificance—and the sheer scale of this battlefield!

Soon, before them appeared an immense golden barrier, stretching across the sky.

Figures ahead streamed through like raindrops, their bodies glowing golden as they passed through, like fireflies.

Outside the golden barrier lay a grim, wild, desolate landscape.

Li Hao and the others followed Shi Shi Tianjin through the barrier, finding themselves in an ancient star battlefield.

Rocks flew chaotically, shattered stones floated, massive skeletons, broken bones, scattered helmets and armor lay everywhere.

Clearly, this was an old battlefield.

"We're now beyond the border defense line. Watch out for hidden ancient demons. Let's move to the front!"

Shi Shi Tianjin's gaze was sharp.

Hearing his words, several veterans' expressions changed slightly; they glanced at Li Hao and the other newcomers, but said nothing, pressing forward.

Their pace quickened. Shi Shi Tianjin used short-range Void-Return teleports repeatedly; others followed suit, and soon they had teleported tens of thousands of miles away.

Along the way lay scattered rocks and wreckage; the battlefield stretched endlessly, leaving Li Hao and the other new recruits awestruck.

But Li Hao had already walked the Starry Ancient Path; arriving here, he felt no great surprise—after all, the scenes on the Starry Ancient Path had been far more horrific.

As they advanced further, suddenly, at the distant limit of his spiritual sense, Li Hao saw countless veils of rosy light, bursts of divine radiance, condensed immortal energy, and rolling thunder—images of semi-transparent thunder dragons, crimson flame seas, and other immortal arts.

Li Hao's eyes sharpened—he was nearing the front line.

After advancing several hundred more miles, Shi Shi Tianjin suddenly slowed and said: "We're approaching the front. Be careful."

Others looked puzzled, but as they pressed forward, they too noticed the fierce battle ahead.

"We didn't have time earlier to properly explain how to earn Immortal Merit on the battlefield."

Shi Shi Tianjin stopped, turned, and spoke with stern eyes:

"Kill a first-level True Immortal ancient demon: one thousand Immortal Merit. Second-level: two thousand. Third-level: three thousand. And so on."

"A tenth-level True Immortal ancient demon: ten thousand Immortal Merit!"

"Kill ten: one hundred thousand. One hundred thousand Immortal Merit lets you directly apply to join the Tiger-Lion Army as a company commander—and with connections, you can even enter the Peacock Army!"

These veterans knew this well; Li Hao and the other new recruits silently memorized it.

"How is Immortal Merit distributed? We are the Yinglong Wu Camp. There are two ways to earn it: one, hunt alone—kill as many ancient demons as you can, earn that much Merit!"

"The other, join the formation with me—fight ancient demons together as a unit. For each demon slain, half the Merit goes to me; the rest is divided equally among you."

He scanned Li Hao and the other new recruits: "Hunting alone gives more Merit, but this is the outer battlefield—no backup, and you'll die instantly. Fighting in formation reduces your Merit by half, but it's safer. Together, we avoid casualties."

Hearing this, many nodded slightly; someone said: "I'll join the formation. Commander, please lead us."

Shi Shi Tianjin looked at the speaker and nodded: "No problem. But our camp has rules: rank determines share. These are veterans—they fight harder in formation, earn greater merit, and when we divide by headcount, their share increases. You're newcomers. Just surviving is enough. Your Merit will be reduced accordingly. No objections?"

The new recruits exchanged glances, faces grim, but no one spoke up.

"Good. Since no one objects, let's go."

Shi Shi Tianjin turned to leave.

Li Hao suddenly said: "Wait. I'd like to hunt ancient demons alone."

Everyone turned to stare at him, stunned, staring as if they'd seen a ghost.

The one with the lowest cultivation—proposing to go out alone?

Shi Shi Tianjin also froze, his eyes showing disbelief, then shifting to a scornful sneer. Low cultivation and stupidity? Worthless—deserves to die!

"Do as you like."

He didn't bother to say more.

To him, keeping Li Hao with the group would only upset the veterans—not worth the trouble.

After all, with Li Hao's cultivation, he'd just be freeloaders, mooching Merit.

Huo Huo Xiaoqi stared blankly at Li Hao. Only when Shi Shi Tianjin's cold words echoed did he snap back, grabbing Li Hao's arm: "Are you insane?"

Li Hao shook his head: "I want to train myself."

Huo Huo Xiaoqi was speechless, then chuckled bitterly: "You're rushing too hard. We barely know each other. Stick with them first, get used to things. Next time, I'll take you out alone."

Li Hao shook his head—he didn't know this man well, but he knew the ancient demons' anatomy inside out.

"How about you come with me?"

Li Hao invited.

Huo Huo Xiaoqi's desire to protect him stirred in Li Hao a wish to protect him in return.

Huo Huo Xiaoqi fell silent, looked at Li Hao with regret: "Sorry. I can't risk it."

He admired Li Hao's courage in coming here, but he couldn't die with him. After all, they'd only just met. He'd help Li Hao—but not die for him.

"Alright."

Seeing this, Li Hao didn't press further.

Others watching Li Hao and Huo Huo Xiaoqi's exchange sneered and mocked; someone muttered: "What's he thinking?"

"Wants to die."

Someone replied.

Shi Shi Tianjin had no patience to waste. Huo Huo Xiaoqi pulling back pleased him—he'd have intervened otherwise. A new recruit at eighth-level True Immortal? Future potential worth cultivating as his own core.

"Let's go."

Shi Shi Tianjin called to the group, accelerating instantly, teleporting far away in an instant.

Others, fearing they'd lose him, quickly followed.

Huo Huo Xiaoqi glanced back at Li Hao, seeing he truly had no intention of joining the group—he sighed inwardly, turned away, and caught up with the main force.

Li Hao watched them vanish into the distance. Around him, warriors from other camps continued streaming past.

Li Hao paused, then moved off in another direction.

His Primordial Spirit was strong; his spiritual sense covered a vast area. He saw a place ahead where many immortal arts had dimmed—indicating a breach had been torn open.

And that meant the number of ancient demons there must be enormous.

"Tao Wu, come out!"

As he accelerated, Li Hao slashed a fissure in his palm—a divine weapon wrapped in killing aura appeared.

This was a weapon only an Immortal Lord could control. Had Tao Wu not known Li Hao's identity, it would have devoured its master long ago.

"Such a rich scent! Blood! It's blood!"

"Ao Jie Ao Jie Ao Jie!"

Tao Wu let out a grotesque laugh, ecstatic.

The battlefield was its favorite place.

"Go wild."

Li Hao knew Tao Wu had been cooped up for a while—he didn't suppress it. This time, let it drink its fill.

"Thank you, Master!"

Tao Wu exclaimed excitedly.

As Li Hao accelerated, using his fourth-level Spatial Origin, he condensed ten Void-Return teleports into a single step—just one step, crossing ten thousand miles, surpassing ten of others' teleports.

In just seven or eight steps, using the Heaven-Without-Traces Body Technique, he arrived instantly at the battlefield where the immortal arts had dimmed.

Here, his spiritual sense instantly swept the area—he saw numerous massive, grotesque ancient demons.

The familiar bodies, the familiar stench—Li Hao felt as if he'd returned to the moment he'd sacrificed himself in battle before the Double-Slit Demon Valley.

His blood surged as if triggered; his eyes blazed with intense killing intent!

"Go!"

Li Hao released Tao Wu from his palm. It shot out like a crimson streak, instantly plunging into the demon horde—within a single breath, it shattered the skulls of three demons, like a red aurora!

Meanwhile, Li Hao drew the sword issued to Li Tianyuan disciples—a True Artifact—and charged toward another group of demons.

The True Artifact sword flew from his hand, unleashing the Battle-Heaven Command Art—its power surged instantly, nine strands of immortal energy coiled around it, multiplying its force exponentially!

Swish!

The sword pierced the demon's body, slicing through its anatomy like a butcher carving meat—in an instant, it slew a third-level True Immortal ancient demon.

Its Primordial Spirit barely escaped the corpse before the sword pierced it again, annihilating it instantly.

This True Artifact sword contained immense power to suppress Primordial Spirits, dealing heightened damage to them.

Since the ancient demon calamity swept through the True Realm, all sects and races had gradually refined their cultivation arts and weapons to specifically target the ancient demons.

Most weapons now possessed potent Primordial Spirit-destroying power; so too did immortal techniques.

With Li Hao's arrival, the breach here was momentarily sealed—but more ancient demons roared forward from behind.

Roar!

As the demons bellowed, a black vortex suddenly locked onto Li Hao from afar, crushing toward him.

Clearly, these ancient demons had all noticed that the boy blocking the gap was extremely troublesome and sought to erase Li Hao outright.

Li Hao sensed the breath of death from the black vortex, his expression shifting slightly, his gaze turning grave—it was not the work of a single ancient demon, but a collective ancient demon killing technique, forged by dozens using their innate secret arts.

The Yan Chu Immortal Dynasty's troops could form arrays to resist ancient demons, and the ancient demons could form arrays to attack—and they were even more efficient!

"Taowu!"

Li Hao fixed his gaze and immediately summoned Taowu, the immortal soldier.

Taowu, who had been slaughtering furiously, felt Li Hao's call and instantly noticed the black vortex.

"Master, I'm coming!"

Taowu roared telepathically and suddenly tore through the void from afar, carving black fissures in the air, then erupting in a violent crimson glow that bathed dozens of miles in blood-red light, like a sea of blood crashing into the black vortex.

Boom!

The center of the black vortex was instantly pierced by crimson light, followed by a vast wave of red radiance sweeping outward like mist and shadow, shattering the vortex's outer edge.

The sense of mortal peril vanished. Li Hao growled: "Break the formation!"

"Understood!"

Taowu roared back and swiftly charged into the midst of the ancient demons.

Li Hao swung his true treasure longsword, unleashing his ultimate realm, channeling overwhelming power into a brilliant blade streak.

Qing Tian!

The sword light cut across a hundred li, cleaving every ancient demon in its path—among them, several of the Eighth and even Ninth Realm True Immortal rank!

At the breach where ancient demons surged in, Li Hao stood like a reef, fighting upstream, slaughtering relentlessly.

As each ancient demon's primordial spirit was shattered, Li Hao collected their corpses into the Heaven-Earth Space—this was his true purpose for coming here.

Compared to immortal techniques, delicacies held greater allure.

Whoosh!

Li Hao's figure darted swiftly, like Death himself reaping the surrounding ancient demons.

The battlefield was chaotic; despite Li Hao's spiritual sense covering all around and his lightning-fast reactions, some ancient demons suddenly lunged at him, slashing with sharp black fissures, aiming to tear his body apart.

But these ambushes struck Li Hao's body without leaving a scratch—none could pierce the outer skin of his Ancestral Immortal body.

Only the destructive power of a Ninth Realm True Immortal could harm him—and even then, his wounds healed instantly. Such was the terrifying nature of the Ancestral Immortal body: only a prodigy of the Tenth Realm's peak, wielding unimaginable reverse-cultivation immortal arts, could hope to match him!

Boom!

Li Hao raised his hand and smashed a demon's skull flat with his palm.

Though the demon's body was massive, Li Hao's hand swept through, summoning a space-giant palm forged from the fourth layer of space essence, crushing it instantly.

As Li Hao continued slaughtering, more and more ancient demons charged toward him like a "nail," roaring in fury.

Li Hao's eyes grew sharper; he slaughtered wave after wave of demons around him, deeply feeling the weight of battle—even as he struck relentlessly, the surrounding demons never ceased, surging like endless ocean waves.

Despair?

No.

Li Hao never feared depletion.

The Celestial Star Veins—OPEN!!

Li Hao's eyes suddenly blazed with divine light, as if piercing from the abyss straight to the nine heavens; his entire body radiated golden brilliance, his golden hair whipping wildly like a peerless martial god standing beside a chaotic river!

Against the surrounding darkness, he shone like a god!

As the Celestial Star Veins connected, stars across the True Realm—separated by countless billions of miles—seemed to hear the call of this boy at once, each descending a streak of starlight to weave into his veins.

An endless torrent of immortal energy surged into Li Hao's immortal body, filling it to capacity.

It felt as if boundless power could be squandered at will; countless starlights flickered around him, speckled and shimmering, radiant and mysterious.

Feeling this immense power, Li Hao dared to attempt something bold.

The fourth layer of space essence granted him exquisite control over surrounding space; now, he applied this insight to his Eternal Dao Domain.

"Eternal Dao Domain—Space Layer Four—IMPRISON!"

As Li Hao raised his hand, his Eternal Dao Domain erupted and spread; with the word "Imprison" falling, the ancient demons within his domain seemed to freeze in place.

Then, every single body cracked open.

Li Hao did not crush them outright—only shattered every bone and organ within with space force, effectively separating flesh from bone.

In an instant, all these demons died physically, leaving only their primordial spirits.

Whoosh!

The true treasure longsword screamed forth, accelerated by the Dao Domain's amplification, flashing like lightning and instantly severing every primordial spirit—erasing them into nothingness.

"Collect!"

Li Hao willed it, and the Heaven-Earth Space opened within the Dao Domain, sucking in all the demon corpses. He had no time to count, but this single strike had claimed at least forty or fifty!

His internal immortal energy was spent—but instantly replenished.

"My immortal energy capacity is still too small. If my realm were higher, my energy reserves greater, my Dao Domain's range and power would expand further…"

Li Hao's eyes flickered; he stepped forward and charged again into the horde of ancient demons ahead.

The fighting here quickly drew the attention of nearby Tiger-Lion Camp units.

They had assumed the breach would let the demons surge toward the rear Wildfire Army—but instead, someone had blocked half of them.

"Who is that? From the Wildfire Camp?"

"Damn it, have you ever seen a Wildfire Camp soldier with this power? Even their commander couldn't!"

"He's not wearing battle armor—he must be an Elder from some sect."

The nearby Tiger-Lion Camp warriors stared in shock, yet felt a surge of hope—if such a reinforcement held the breach, they could close it!