Chapter 898

After a brief period of mutual familiarization, Long Ying personally escorted Li Hao and Shi Miao to the first and second floors.

The interior of these floors was like a secret realm, a vast landscape resembling a paradise on earth, rather than the tower it appeared to be from the outside. Inside, there were vast mountains and rivers, exotic flowers and herbs, and Immortal Arrays that gathered Immortal Qi; cultivating within them was far more efficient than in the outside world.

"The scenery within this secret realm can be created as you wish."

Long Ying said, "Once you are both settled, tomorrow we will hold a farewell party to deepen our understanding of each other, and incidentally, tell you about the many deeds of Longmen City so that you may be informed."

"Very well."

Li Hao nodded.

Seeing that Li Hao had no objections, Shi Miao naturally had none either.

After Long Ying left, Shi Miao accompanied Li Hao on a tour of the floor's secret realm, then returned to her own floor.

But not long after, she returned from her floor and said to Li Hao, "You should go to my floor; the Immortal Array there has a stronger effect in gathering Immortal Qi."

Li Hao was somewhat surprised, but upon reflection, he felt relieved. If there were no benefits, the ranking of these floor challenges would be entirely pointless. If it were merely about standing high to see far, it would be too meaningless.

"Since that is the case, why don't you go to the eighth floor?"

Li Hao said.

Shi Miao shook her head: "I would rather stay closer to you so that I can appear in time if anything happens. Although this Immortal Array has a slight enhancement, it makes little difference to me."

Li Hao knew that she cherished the time spent by his side, so he immediately smiled: "Then you should just stay on the second floor; this Immortal Array has an average effect on me as well."

His cultivation relied on contemplating arts and techniques. Coming to this border battlefield was merely to temper himself in actual combat; it was time to blossom and bear fruit, time for the effort to pay off.

After all, even in great clans like the Ancestral Dragon Clan, once the geniuses within the clan reached the Immortal King Realm, they would be sent out to do real work, rather than continuing to be pampered.

Although geniuses are the future, they cannot remain in swaddling clothes forever, constantly piled up with rare resources.

Seeing Li Hao say this, Shi Miao did not push the matter further. Her temperament, like Li Hao's, was straightforward; they did not like empty formalities. Moreover, given their reunion through the traversal of time and space, there was no need for such politeness.

After Shi Miao returned to the second floor, Li Hao also moved into the Immortal Array. This array was situated on a mountain peak, surrounded by exotic flowers and herbs, with a spring pool at the summit. Li Hao stepped into the spring pool and immediately felt a strange power seeping into his body, nourishing his immortal physique. Furthermore, his own domain seemed to be nourished as well, and the circulation of the Myriad Laws became increasingly smooth and stable.

If it weren't for the fact that two people would split the Immortal Qi within the array, Li Hao would have liked to have Shi Miao stay and cultivate together.

Although he had just broken through the realm, Li Hao already felt that cultivation in the Immortal King Realm was quite difficult. Even a top genius like Shi Miao, during the three hundred years she spent with him at Extreme Dao Mountain, had only advanced to the Fourth Level of the Immortal King Realm.

That is equivalent to only one level of cultivation every hundred years!

Moreover, the further one goes, the harder it is to advance. Being able to cultivate to the peak of the Immortal King Realm within two thousand years is considered very rare.

"Time is long..."

Li Hao, soaking in the mountain spring, could not help but sigh. Looking slightly ahead, he felt a sense of the vicissitudes of time.

Previously at Extreme Dao Mountain, he had cultivated with all his heart, and it had taken him over a hundred years to comprehend one state of mind to the thirteenth stage.

"Fortunately, this border allows for the hunting of Ancient Demons, and one can also accumulate True God Blood. Accumulating ten thousand drops marks the period of perfection. With an indestructible True God, even in the hands of a Quasi-Emperor, there is hope of escaping..."

Li Hao's eyes flickered. In the True God Realm, unless a Great Emperor personally takes action to exterminate, one is almost indestructible!

Previously, when inheriting the legacy of the Heavenly Calamity Immortal Emperor, the Venerable God he encountered in the Venerable God Tower was one whose physical body had fallen in a great battle, but whose True God had been preserved.

"If there were no Ancient Demon corpses, relying solely on one's own cultivation to condense True God Blood, even a single drop would take ten years. It is too difficult."

Li Hao thought to himself.

To condense ten thousand drops would take one hundred thousand years!

Many in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, although they have stepped into the True God Realm, may not necessarily have cultivated to perfection!

Unless some utilize special divine medicines to assist, they can speed up the condensation of True God Blood, but when such divine medicines appear, all major forces will fight for them.

"Now, I will continue to contemplate the Dao of Music. I have already had an epiphany and stepped over the threshold; I am only one step away..."

"At that time, I will also be able to embed it into the Sword Dao, raising the Sword Dao to the thirteenth stage."

"It is just that, at that time, I will have to ponder how to keep the three types of domains from interfering with each other..."

Li Hao's brows furrowed, feeling that his cultivation path was long and arduous. Comprehending a state of mind to the thirteenth stage is already very difficult. Every time he comprehends one and condenses a new type of domain, he must again ponder how to keep the domains from devouring each other. This Imperial Path is incomparably difficult.

Fortunately, he can first study the state of mind and wait until he is confident before embedding it; in this way, he also has a chance to catch his breath.

"Music..."

Li Hao thought of the endless Heavenly Domain, thought of the whispers of the Heavenly Dao that came from the road to the heavens. Those whispers were like strands of mysterious Dao realm origin; if he could comprehend them, it seemed he could immediately have an epiphany of the Great Dao origin to the tenth level of perfection.

He raised his hand and rippled the water, and a pleasant sound of water emerged.

The wind whistled past, carrying a sense of loneliness.

Li Hao looked at the surrounding world, a sense of realization in his eyes.

All things in heaven and earth seemed to be making sounds.

Sound, to this world, is actually so important.

Li Hao's body, while circulating and absorbing the Immortal Qi of heaven and earth to cultivate and strengthen the immortal meridians within, fell into contemplation and comprehension.

Longmen City, in the City Lord's Mansion.

Qing Xuan had just returned to the mansion when he was messaged by a personal guard that the City Lord was summoning him.

He did not think much and quickly set off to the City Lord's council hall.

Upon entering, Qing Xuan saw that the four Grand Commanders were already there, all with solemn expressions.

The City Lord, Long Potian, was of the Ancestral Dragon Clan. Like other major border cities, the City Lords of all cities were controlled by the Ancestral Dragon Clan.

At this moment, the middle-aged man in golden robes, whom Long Potian had transformed into, was looking solemnly at the golden light suspended in the hall. That golden light was a three-dimensional image of the entire Longmen City and the void on its periphery.

"You are back. Was it Qingge who just came?"

Long Potian looked up, his locked brows turning toward Qing Xuan. His voice, however, held a trace of calmness, as if he would not change color even if the heavens collapsed before his eyes.

"Yes, he previously said he had a junior brother who wanted to come here to train, and I just went to settle him in."

Qing Xuan nodded and then asked, "What is this?"

"A junior brother?"

Long Potian seemed to have some impression. To be able to become Long Qingge's junior brother, he was naturally also a direct disciple of that Dao Origin Immortal Emperor.

However, he did not ask further. He nodded and then focused, saying, "Look carefully at this side. Do you see anything?"

He raised his hand and pointed to a void on the periphery of Longmen City in the golden light image.

Qing Xuan looked intently but could not see any difference. He immediately used a secret technique, and his eyes turned blue-purple. Upon looking, he immediately discovered that in that void, there was an extremely faint gray thread. Its color was slightly deeper than the surroundings, but it was extremely obscure; if one did not look carefully, it would be impossible to discover.

"This is?"

"This is likely a void crack!"

Long Potian said in a deep voice, "In the last few hundred years, wars have broken out one after another at Jianlong Pass with extremely high frequency. But in the last hundred years, the war at Jianlong Pass has become somewhat sluggish. Instead, an Ancient Demon army appeared to launch a surprise attack at the Beiyan Pass behind it. We previously all thought that these Ancient Demons had changed their strategy and wanted to launch a surprise attack from Beiyan Pass, but..."

"A void crack?"

Qing Xuan's pupils shrank. Hearing Long Potian's words, he immediately understood his thoughts and could not help but change his expression, exclaiming:

"They are feigning an attack in the east while striking in the west, actually wanting to bypass Jianlong Pass and launch a surprise attack from our Longmen City?"

"This is one possibility," Long Potian said. "It could also be a probe, feigning to let us have such a misconception."

"Hmm?"

Qing Xuan was puzzled, but then he understood the City Lord's meaning. "So, you haven't notified the Pass Master of this intelligence yet?"

"I have already reported it and stated all my speculations. As for how the Pass Master will decide, I do not know. This crack was noticed by Ling Xu during his patrol. Although he also discovered it inadvertently, I always have a feeling of unease."

Long Potian said.

For an existence who has reached his realm, if there is a feeling of unease, some kind of disaster must be imminent.

"So, if we mobilize troops from elsewhere and stand ready, it might be a ruse by the Ancient Demons to make us withdraw troops from other places? If we don't believe it, and it turns out to be true, then relying solely on our Longmen City, we certainly won't be able to hold off this surprise attack by the Ancient Demons. After all, if they want to launch a surprise attack, it will never be on a small scale."

Qing Xuan's brows were tightly locked.

The Eastern Domain has many powerful clans, but the border war is frequent. A thousand years ago, they even forcibly conscripted soldiers from various clans. Simply put, they are short of people!

And they are extremely short of people!

The consumption of war, the supply of soldiers, and the growth rate can only barely keep up. Withdrawing troops would be a risky decision!

Logically speaking, discovering such intelligence should be a good thing, but after one hundred thousand years of fighting with the Ancient Demons, they have seen many of the Ancient Demons' cunning military tactics and have suffered heavy losses because of them, so they cannot help but be suspicious.

"Since that is the case, is there any situation at the teleportation Immortal Array? If a war breaks out, it would be fine to let other places send reinforcements in time. If they want to launch a surprise attack, they must destroy the teleportation array. That place should be heavily guarded!"

Qing Xuan said.

Although the efficiency of reinforcements from the teleportation array is limited, as long as they can hold on, they can defend it.

"Yes, I intend to mobilize the Dragon Shield Tower to guard it, and it will be the Heaven Armor Division!"

Long Potian said in a deep voice, "Next, these Ancient Demons may launch an attack like usual, but they may attempt to destroy the teleportation array. By doing so, we can also see their intentions. For the time being, we will feign ignorance of the traces of this void crack."

"If the Dragon Shield Tower's Heaven Armor Division is mobilized away, the battlefield will be somewhat dangerous, and many people will be lost."

Qing Xuan said.

"There is no other way; this is a trade-off."

Long Potian said in a deep voice, "We can only let the other Dragon Shield Towers share more of the pressure."

Hearing this, Qing Xuan also understood that this was the only way at present. As long as they hold the teleportation array, no matter what tricks the Ancient Demons have, they can delay them.

Eastern Domain Border, Jianlong Pass.

This is a pass that stretches for hundreds of millions of miles. In the void, there are nine major cities connected, each city equivalent to a formation point, forming this defensive line stained with the blood of countless myriad clans of the True Realm and the Ancient Demons.

At this moment, the void is gray and misty, with countless dust particles floating in the void, and it is permeated with a bloody smell that has not faded for ten thousand years.

This fishy smell is thick, accumulated over countless years, a mixture of the blood of countless races, emitting a strange and intense stench. Being on the battlefield, every breath of air one takes feels like being in a pool of blood. Thoughts are interfered with, and it seems one can hear the wailing and screaming of countless vengeful spirits, as well as ferocious roars.

If one's Dao heart is not firm, stepping onto this battlefield will be affected, and one will easily become irritable and bloodthirsty.

This battlefield is like a meat grinder, crushing everything, including geniuses, Quasi-Emperors, and even Immortal Emperors who have fallen here.

During the Ancient Demon catastrophe one hundred thousand years ago, a Great Emperor of the Eastern Domain guarded this place, blocking the frenzy of hundreds of millions of Ancient Demons alone. In the end, he fell under the joint attack of the Ancient Demon Great Emperors. His imperial body was torn apart, and the myriad clans of the Eastern Domain only managed to snatch back one of his arms, as well as his incomplete Immortal Forbidden Imperial Weapon from the great battle.

On the side of the city gates of the nine giant cities, there are two statues of that Great Emperor, guarding the city gates like towering guards. This is also the commemoration of that Great Emperor by the various clans of the Eastern Domain.

"Such a heavy smell..."

At this moment, in one of the cities, two figures were guided in and entered the City Lord's Mansion of one of the cities.

One was wearing a green dress, ethereal and fairy-like, with a peerlessly beautiful face. The other was wearing silver robes, surrounded by ribbons, and adorned with golden decorative chains. Her temperament was ethereal, her eyes light, unstained by smoke, fire, or dust.

"Miss Luo, it is like this here. Jianlong Pass has accumulated too much blood and has even been rebuilt. Countless bones and heroic spirits are buried even beneath our city feet."

The guiding Immortal King said with a smile.

The green-dressed girl was none other than Luo Ningshuang, and beside her was Xue Fei. Both of them descended the mountain at the same time and discovered that the place they were going to was the same, so they traveled together.

"I heard that among the four domains, the war between the Eastern Domain and the Ancient Demons is the most frequent."

Xue Fei said softly.

As a member of the Chaos Ancient Immortal Clan, she also came to the True Realm to train. Although she, like other Chaos Ancient Clans, looked down on the myriad clans of the True Realm, she shared a common hatred for the Ancient Demon Clan.

After all, the Ancient Demon Clan wanted to exterminate not only the myriad clans of the True Realm but also the Chaos Ancient Clans and all living beings in the world.

"That is correct, so you will often go into battle when you come here to train."

The guiding Immortal King nodded, his expression solemn, and said, "This border battlefield is also known as the Genius Crusher. Most of those who can cultivate to the Immortal King Realm are dragons and phoenixes among men. The elites among them can be called geniuses, and the outstanding ones among them, such as you, are peerless talents. But here, you are still just fireflies. When the war starts, you will feel that even in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, one cannot say they can sweep across the entire battlefield."

Luo Ningshuang and Xue Fei had heard many deeds before, and their expressions became solemn. In terms of one-on-one combat, they both believed they would not lose to anyone, especially now that they had broken through to become Kings and awakened their respective powers; they were already considered top-tier among peers in the Immortal King Realm.

But on the battlefield, there are no rules, and there is no such thing as one-on-one combat. The more dazzling one is, the more one will face concentrated fire.

"With your aptitude and status, being able to come to this front line is truly admirable."

The Immortal King sighed.

Luo Ningshuang's expression was calm, and she said, "It is nothing. Other direct disciples of Immortal Emperors also train in dangerous places after becoming Kings. I heard that a disciple under the Dao Origin Immortal Emperor is a genius of the Ancestral Dragon Court and has been fighting here for over a thousand years."

"Are you talking about the Dragon Suppression King, Long Qingge?"

The Immortal King showed respect in his eyes and said with a smile, "He is indeed the pride of our Eastern Domain. He has been fighting here for not just a thousand years, but nearly three thousand!"

"Is he also at this pass?"

Xue Fei slightly raised her eyebrows.

"That is correct, he is the commander here." The Immortal King said.

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the two looked at each other. Listening to the other party's explanation along the way, they already knew what status a commander had here and what strength it represented.

However, they knew that the person had cultivated for several thousand years longer than them, so it was not surprising that he could become a commander.

"Under the Dao Origin Immortal Emperor, is he the only direct disciple here?"

Luo Ningshuang suddenly felt a stir in her heart and asked.

The Immortal King was stunned, shook his head, and said, "We don't know about that."

Luo Ningshuang was somewhat disappointed, but then she thought about it and asked, "Then have you had a monster named Hao Tian arrive here recently?"

"Hao Tian?"

The Immortal King thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Although there are not many with this name, there are some, but it seems there is no one particularly striking among them."

"Then it is definitely not him."

Hearing this, Luo Ningshuang felt regretful. She knew that if that youth came here, he would inevitably be valued just like them. She also wanted to see the youth's combat power after becoming a King and how big the gap was between him and herself.

Now that she has awakened the Ancestral Emperor Power, she is invincible among peers, but she has an intuition that the youth will slowly catch up to her in the not-too-distant future.