Chapter 924

Damn, it’s so hard!

Inside the Tower of All Heavens, Li Hao swiftly slew several ancient demons, then began controlling the five volatile Core Hearts within his body.

Previously, he had always prepared deliberately and chosen his challenges; now, he was forced into it.

“Five Core Hearts—three form a zither, one forms a string. With five Core Hearts, I can’t have two strings pulling…”

After brief, fruitless contemplation, seeing the five Core Hearts about to merge again, Li Hao chose self-destruction, exiting the Tower of All Heavens to prevent true fusion—otherwise, even exiting the tower would be useless.

Thus, Li Hao repeatedly entered and exited the Tower of All Heavens, with no rest.

Each entry granted him only a brief incense stick’s time to think.

Repeated self-destructions passed the years; had his Dao heart not been unshakable, transcending eternity, and already possessed half an Emperor Heart, he would have shattered long ago.

Months, a year, ten years.

In just ten short years, Li Hao had self-destructed countless times within the Tower of All Heavens—he himself had lost count.

“Five Core Hearts, five paths…”

“Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth… how do they balance and restrain each other?”

Li Hao tried arranging the five Core Hearts into a circular cycle, but they all gathered toward the center, utterly uncontrollable.

“The five paths balance through mutual generation and restraint…”

“But the coexistence of five Core Hearts is harder than the five paths—otherwise, over these countless years, those Emperor Immortals would have already forged this Emperor Path.”

“The Five Phases… should also belong to an Emperor Path, forged by some great Emperor.”

“The Emperor who forged the Five Phases couldn’t solve the problem of Core Heart coexistence—meaning this path is wrong…”

When all thoughts led nowhere, Li Hao felt despair, yet could not stop—he could only force himself through repeated self-destructions.

“Time-Space, Form Mastery, Cause and Effect—all complement each other…”

“Coexistence lies in balance; balance lies in mutual benefit!”

“Five Hearts, mutual benefit…”

Li Hao forced himself to calm, sinking into contemplation, and gradually, he seemed to find the path of mutual benefit among the five Core Hearts.

Reverse Time, Formless, Penetrate Void, Creation, Boundless.

Heaven and Earth are boundless; all things penetrate void; Creation reigns supreme; Formless is king; Reverse Time preserves constancy!

The five Core Hearts, each distinct, could now mutually embrace, like the ancient Chaos World.

…

“Is he challenging the 60th level of the Tower of All Heavens? Seems like he failed—repeatedly trying again?”

“Could he be stuck at a bottleneck?”

“Unlikely—he was at Immortal King Realm fourth tier when he last emerged. The 60th level holds ancient demons just entering Immortal King Realm seventh tier. Even crossing two realms is extraordinary, but shouldn’t be especially hard for him?”

Outside the Tower of All Heavens, Luo Ningshuang, Su Wanyi, and many other prodigies from the same cohort of the Original True Realm all noticed Li Hao.

After all, repeatedly entering and exiting the 60th level for ten years made it impossible to ignore.

“He crossed such vast distances even at Immortal King Realm first tier—could his potential now be exhausted, his foundation spent?”

“Perhaps his cultivation base rose, but his techniques didn’t.”

Luo Ningshuang frowned, her eyes filled with regret.

Seeing the anxious, helpless expression on Li Hao’s face each time he emerged, she felt his helplessness—and even glimpsed despair in his eyes.

Will prodigies, in the end, slowly fade into obscurity?

Such cases were not rare among the myriad races of the True Realm—some rose to fame as youths, suddenly appearing, yet died young or gradually became mediocre, their names forgotten.

Who would have thought that the monstrous boy who once crushed all of us at Immortal Lord Realm would end up like this, his foundation spent?

“Perhaps he once had a technique like our Ancestral Emperor Power—but its upper limit is locked, just like ours. No matter how high his realm rises, the boost from Ancestral Emperor Power slowly falls behind its former strength.”

Su Wanyi whispered, her eyes filled with pity; she had witnessed too many geniuses fall or sink into mediocrity—a painfully agonizing process, for how could one who had known glory willingly accept mediocrity?

“That human is already falling behind us by ten levels!”

Several ancient clans under the Original Emperor Immortals also noticed Li Hao, their gazes cold, showing faint contempt.

Once he dominated everyone on the Ascension Path; now he’s been left behind. His potential is spent—he’s only at Immortal King Realm fourth tier, still far from high-tier Immortal King Realm, proving his potential was always limited, and he merely exploded too fiercely before, briefly leaving others far behind.

“He’s out of the 60th level—this time he’s not challenging again. Looks like he’s given up.”

“His perseverance is nothing special.”

“No need to care anymore—we should focus on our own cultivation and strive to become True King’s deputies!”

Many, after sighing at Li Hao’s situation, immersed themselves once more in their own cultivation.

Many Immortal Kings of Ji Dao Mountain also noticed Li Hao, wanting to comfort him—but seeing him exit the Tower of All Heavens and immediately fly toward its summit, as if seeking counsel from the two Emperor Immortals, they held back, their hearts complex.

“Shi Miao, your comrade seems stuck at a bottleneck.”

In the Emperor’s Dao Realm, several Yanhuo Clan members had long noticed Li Hao and spoke to Shi Miao beside them.

Shi Miao had naturally noticed Li Hao’s situation, but she knew him—she knew he could not be stuck at the 60th level of the Tower of All Heavens.

“Hmm, looks like he broke through.”

Shi Miao murmured, a faint smile appearing in her eyes.

Only she noticed that this time Li Hao appeared with a touch of ease in his gaze.

“Broke through? Didn’t he give up?”

The Yanhuo Clan girl asked, puzzled.

Shi Miao raised an eyebrow, glancing at her coolly, saying nothing.

Nearby, the Yanhuo Clan youth sensed Shi Miao’s displeasure and quickly said: “Brother Hao Tian, at Immortal King Realm fourth tier, reaching the 60th level is already extraordinary—I couldn’t have done it at my own fourth tier.”

When Li Hao first challenged the 60th level, they learned he was a top-tier seed; crossing ten levels had already made them ecstatic.

Shi Miao said nothing more, closing her eyes and sinking back into her cultivation of the Time Dao, while the many powers from her past life slowly returned as her current realm advanced.

Now, her mastery of the Time Dao had reached Origin Realm tenth tier!

This was the strongest primordial Dao even most Immortal King Realm peak cultivators could not control.

When Fate does not appear, Time Dao reigns supreme.

She felt that once she reached Immortal King Realm perfection, she could recall nine-tenths of her past life’s power—especially the Time Dao, which could barely break through the tenth Origin Realm, returning her to the path she had forged.

Then, even in life-or-death crises, as long as an Emperor Immortal wasn’t determined to kill her, she could escape—and even a pseudo-Emperor, even with full power, could not kill her!

For this True King selection, she naturally intended to win. Though her realm had lagged, she had now reached Immortal King Realm seventh tier and felt she could catch up.

Only as True King could she better protect Li Hao—and make him her deputy.

…

“To reach this point—you’re truly rare, boy.”

At the summit of the Tower of All Heavens, the Immortal Emperor and the Star Empress gazed at the young boy before them.

Only they knew what Li Hao was doing in his repeated challenges within the Tower of All Heavens—he was using the tower’s reincarnation nature to perfect his Emperor Path.

And the five Core Hearts had truly coexisted.

These were top-tier Core Hearts—unbeatable within the same realm!

“If you’re in the same realm, even the heirs of those great clans may not be your match—only Di Mingyuan can challenge you; even the Dao Clan’s heir is uncertain.”

The Immortal Emperor praised Li Hao without restraint.