The young man in the silver robe smiled indifferently, not saying another word, glanced at the kneeling Red God on the ground, and without looking back, he turned and raced away.
Seeing this, the Dragon Lord said to the Wan Shan Demon King, "Old brother, I'll be on my way too, until we meet again!"
The Wan Shan Demon King nodded slightly.
The Dragon Lord looked at the Red God and asked, "Are you willing to come with me to Dragon Gate?"
The Red God felt a bitterness in his mouth. He had cultivated for thousands of years, had adventured all over in his early years, and had heard of the demon powers mentioned by these Great Demon Kings, having received invitations from them in the past.
However, like these Demon Kings, he had declined because he wanted a quiet life.
He had been guarding this ancestral river for four or five hundred years, meditating and apprehending the way here comfortably.
But now, he could feel the implied threat in the gaze of the Dragon Lord Demon King when he spoke.
If he did not agree, he would most likely lose his life.
These three Demon Kings were wanted by the Dayu Divine Dynasty, and since he knew of their whereabouts, he would certainly not be left alive.
"I am willing."
The Red God bowed his head, expressing gratitude, though bitterness filled his heart.
"Good, since that is the case, then come with me," said the Dragon Lord.
"May I pack my belongings?" asked the Red God.
"Granted."
Moments later, the Dragon Lord had taken the Red God and left.
Only the Wan Shan Demon King remained seated in front of the thatched cottage, his expression particularly dark.
Suddenly, a breeze drifted by and a figure in clean clothes slowly emerged from behind him.
The Wan Shan Demon King's expression changed slightly, but he did not turn around.
"You have caused such a calamity this time, do you still insist on going your own way?" the figure in clean clothes said flatly.
"Heh, did he send you to take me back?" asked the Wan Shan Demon King, his eyes displaying ridicule.
"If you're willing to eliminate your demonic nature and cultivate kindness, you can still be redeemed," said the figure in clean clothes.
"You've never lost a son before, have you?" the Wan Shan Demon King scoffed.
"But this time, he wasn't your first," responded the figure indifferently.
"But he was my last!"
The Wan Shan Demon King suddenly turned and roared.
His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the figure in clean clothes, "I will never be able to cultivate another son as bright as him, do you understand? You should know just how terrible my son's talents were, with time, he could have united the entire clan! What damned Holy Palace, what Dragon Gate, they would all grovel at my son's feet and listen to his commands!"
The figure in clean clothes faced his roaring without changing expression, calmly stating:
"Although your son was bright, reaching such a level would require at least a thousand years."
"And given the current situation, I'm afraid he won't have a thousand years."
Wan Shan Demon King glared at him angrily, but he knew that what the other party said was the truth.
To reach that level, at least a thousand years were needed, and that would be considered incredibly rapid progress!
But those guys have become restless.
He took a deep breath, restraining his anger, and said in a low voice, "I cannot go back with you, I want revenge, I also have to avenge Gao!"
"You are obstinate and unrepentant, do you truly seek death?"
The figure's gaze turned sharp.
The Wan Shan Demon King sneered, looking straight at him, "If you want to stop me, come and try."
The figure in clean clothes stared at him for a moment, then slowly said, "Your demonic nature is profound, and you refuse to repent, if you continue to be confused, I can't stop you, but some Cultivation Techniques you should not use in front of others, otherwise don't blame me for coming to capture you!"
The Wan Shan Demon King's expression was stern, but he said nothing.
"This is a Saint Heart Talisman, keep it to save your life, this is your last chance!"
A talisman wrapped in dark green light was handed out by the figure in clean clothes, coldly warning, before his figure vanished in a flash.
The Wan Shan Demon King took the talisman and put it away, his gaze turning dark as he sneered:
"Do they really think I'm a dog? I've cultivated for ten thousand years, I am a king, the king of the mountains and forests, the king of demons!!"
Infuriated, he looked towards the south, where Heavenly Gate Pass lay, and then, turning, he soared into the sky. When he crossed the Red Water River below, he raised his hand and furiously slapped down.
Demonic Qi churned within his palm, surging into the river.
The figures of demons playing in the river were suddenly filled with panic and terror as they looked to the sky in horror.
"Red God, save us..."
Some of the demons called out in fear, but their voices were drowned out.
In an instant, the entire Red Water River turned into a river of blood, its bright red color visible from the sky, resembling a sinuous trail of tears on the land.
And the figure of the Wan Shan Demon King had vanished from the sky.
Shortly after his departure, the figure in clean clothes appeared high above.
Looking down at the river of blood below, he softly chanted a verse and mused to himself, "Is this also considered subduing demons and eliminating evil?"
...
...
The next day.
Li Hao had the Nine Cauldrons Demon King's Treasured Blood escorted back to Qingzhou by Li Hongzhuang.
This was the second favor he was repaying to the Li Family.
Although he heard that they were no longer in Qingzhou, it did not matter, as long as the item was returned to that courtyard.
What followed was only the last agreement, to guard for three years.
Since it was already past half a year, and spring was about to begin,
Only slightly more than two years were left.
The snow outside the Frontier Pass had stopped, but the cold wind still cut to the bone. In two months' time, the regions to the south would welcome the spring rains.
And Liangzhou, being part of the southern regions of the Dayu Divine Dynasty, would see the arrival of spring earlier than places like Yanzhou.
Cangya City was still being built and perfected, the residential buildings within the city continued to rise.
People from the Heavenly Observatory were constructing Arrays on the city walls, and Li Hao flew out of the city to a solitary peak a hundred miles away.
He laid some hidden traps around him and then called up his system panel to check his attributes.
Now, his Physical Body Path, Control Path, Sword Technique, and Fist Technique were all at level 6.
His movement technique was at the third stage.
As for the Fishing Tao and Art of Painting, both were at the sixth stage, with experience points also nearly maxed out.
Chess was at the fifth stage, Musical Rhythm at the third stage, Poetry and Books at the third stage, and the Carving Arts had also reached the third stage, which Li Hao had honed during his spare time over the last half a year while polishing the Pig's Tooth Sword.
The Pig's Tooth Sword had been polished into the shape of a sword, but with the Dragon Soar Sword, the Pig's Tooth Sword had completely become an ornamental piece, or rather, an artistic piece crafted through carving.
With his now seventh-stage Cooking Art, the total Skill Points he had accumulated were thirty-three.
He had already spent twenty-seven points, leaving six points remaining.
The abundance of Skill Points and the movement technique stagnating at stage three was because he had no energy to immerse himself in Poetry and Books or Musical Rhythm to break through to the fourth stage.
Without acquiring a new State of Mind to help break through the stage three bottleneck of his movement technique, he was temporarily stuck there.
However, in his attribute panel's State of Mind section, aside from the already expended states like the chess State of Mind, there was a new state that had appeared.
[State of Mind: Cooking Spiritual Awakening (available for use)]
Without a doubt, Li Hao chose to use this state on the Physical Body Path.
First, he would raise his own realm.
Following the prompt to add points, Li Hao chose to use it, and afterward, the Skill Points disappeared. At the same time, his Physical Body Path broke through from the sixth stage to the seventh stage.
A long-awaited advancement!
In an instant, a torrent of majestic information poured into his mind.
The amount of information received this time made Li Hao feel slightly dazed.
But his present constitution meant these messages didn't give him a headache, it was just that the sheer volume was like trying to cram the knowledge of a hundred books all at once.
Li Hao methodically digested and absorbed this information, and as he integrated it, his body also subconsciously adjusted and transformed according to these insights. His bones and flesh squirmed slowly.
The Three Immortal Realms:
Undying, Indestructible, and Unfading!
At this moment, as the Skill Point was invested, all the information about the three realms was revealed.
After a long time.
Li Hao opened his eyes.
He stood up and the many Physical Cultivation Skills on his panel had all transformed, reaching heights far beyond their original levels.
Physical Skills:
Golden Skin Hundred Refinement - Vajra (True State), which he originally practiced casually as a low-grade Cultivation Technique, had transformed to a high-grade one at the sixth stage of the Physical Body Path.
Now, it had transformed again — Hundred Refined Invulnerable Body - Immovable Ming King (Transcendent)!
Compared to the initial "Stone Skin Hundred Refinements," the name had completely changed.
What's most important is that Li Hao saw a new realm level behind it.
Beyond Perfection, beyond True State, a Transcendent level!!
Spiritual Awakening, Transcendent!
Li Hao understood and comprehended in an instant.
If the True State represented the ultimate manifestation of a technique by worldly standards, then the Transcendent level was no longer in the realm of ordinary Cultivation Techniques.
Li Hao took a deep breath and, all of a sudden, displayed the profoundness of this technique, Immovable Ming King!
Suddenly, as if a cold wind had stirred up the entire world, Li Hao's muscles and flesh bulged, like countless small plates swelling and coming together. Every inch of his skin contained thumbnail-sized chunks of muscle, coalescing and pulsing.
In the end, the surface of his body had grown slightly larger, increasing his height from one meter eighty to nearly two meters!
This size was incomparable to that of Demons, but the aura emanating from his body was far more terrifying.
Those congregated physical strength and muscles seemed to be outlined on his body as fleshly talismans.
Behind him, a shadowy figure appeared, as if born from the power of heaven and earth.
The figure was like a Divine Soul, like a Dharma aspect, eight meters tall, standing majestically with hands in prayer, like a silent and peaceful deity, its presence so profound that even the wind stopped, not daring to disturb it!
That was the Transcendent force revealed by cultivating this technique to the Transcendent level!
Surpassing the technique itself, it was another power formed by resonating with the marvelous forces between heaven and earth!
Li Hao raised his hand and slowly pressed forward with a palm.
The Immovable Ming King shadow behind him also slowly lifted its palm, pushing it forward.
But the force generated by the two motions was starkly different. The shadow's movement seemed to transform the entire world into a sea and thick cloth, moving extremely slowly yet possessing an unstoppable force!
On the ground two hundred meters in front of the mountain, the earth gradually depressed into a huge palm imprint crater.
Without any sound of impact, just slowly pressured into subsidence!
In no time, there was a palm imprint about four to five meters in diameter on the ground.
And Li Hao felt as if he had barely exerted any effort, merely lifting his hand.
Li Hao took a deep breath, feeling the surging power within his body, and a glow flashed in his eyes, overflowing with the urge to have another battle with the Great Demon King.
At this moment, as his practice came to an end.
His physical realm had also experienced a long-awaited climb.
Of course, this 'long-awaited' is relative to Li Hao, for others, breaking through the bottleneck from the Heavenly Human Realm to the Three Immortal Realms in just over half a year would be too far-fetched even for a play, and they would be booed off the stage!
But at this very moment, that blockade had naturally dissolved away, like ice and snow melting.
From the limit of the Grandmaster Realm, through the Land Immortal Realm, he had officially stepped into the Three Immortal Realms!
And directly surpassed the Undying Realm, reaching the Indestructible Realm!
His body was transforming, with the power of the universe pouring into it, constantly hammering at his physical form.
This mountain was engulfed by the power of the universe, like a hurricane enveloping it, shrouding the entire peak.
The vast aura alerted the people in Cangya City a hundred miles away. Many headed out to investigate, and Ren Qianqian, who was waiting at the foot of the mountain, immediately stopped the crowd to prevent them from disturbing Li Hao.