Follow the path of Dao from infancy Chapter 1774 Chapter 456: Severing the Emperor Road

In his previous life, the Divine Venerable had entered the Endless Heavenly Domain, yet this reincarnated form hadn't gained sufficient Heavenly Dao Power. Should he fail to seize this chance, his reincarnation would end up flawed, causing him to inevitably trail behind the rest in the Immortal King Realm. At that point, the divide between him and Li Hao would simply expand further!

"You, you!"

Rage nearly pushed the Divine Venerable to the edge of insanity, as he hadn't anticipated Li Hao's wild resolve to clash until death, ignoring all repercussions.

"You aim to drive me away? I'll trade my three pieces of Domain Artifacts for yours, and we'll see who prevails on the Heavenly Ascension Road!"

Teeth clenched, the Divine Venerable spoke with clear menace in his tone.

"Even lacking any Domain Artifacts, I can still rise to the heavens, so you need to scram!"

Cold words escaped Li Hao's lips as he pushed his Domain Artifact to maximum velocity in an assault.

When the pair of Domain Artifacts smashed together, a massive disturbance stirred in the void. Chaos Dao Seeds across thousands of miles stirred to alert, with some scattering away and others rushing toward the scene.

However, right then, neither Li Hao nor the Divine Venerable spared a glance for those Chaos Dao Seeds, each focused solely on ending the other's life.

Bang!

The clash of the two Domain Artifacts proved balanced, though Li Hao's piece ultimately faltered first, crumbling after ten breaths under the void's order suppression and losing all strength.

Without pause, Li Hao pulled out his second Domain Artifact, quickly releasing its seal—a Flying Sword—and launched another strike at the Divine Venerable!

"Insanity!"

Shock and fury exploded from the Divine Venerable, who hadn't thought Li Hao meant every bit of it. He wrapped himself in golden radiance to ward off the Flying Sword's fierce attacks, yet after three breaths, his own second Domain Artifact hit ten breaths and burst apart right there.

Faced with the Flying Sword slicing his way, the Divine Venerable reluctantly unsealed his third Domain Artifact, his gaze burning with fury and desperation. He realized this vital chance was slipping from his grasp, but still, he aimed to exhaust Li Hao's Domain Artifacts fully and broadcast the details as widely as possible.

Bang!

Once the third Domain Artifact, shaped as Divine Boots, was freed and slipped onto the Divine Venerable's feet, he abruptly dashed through the void, fleeing into the distance.

Li Hao directed the Flying Sword in hot pursuit at top speed. Streams of Realm Power rammed and twisted together, with neither able to break loose from the other.

True, the Divine Venerable had advanced to the Ultimate Realm post-Returning Ruins, and solely with that Ultimate Realm, he could outpace Li Hao's evasion skills and escape. Yet, the Domain Artifact's influence negated even the Ultimate Realm's swift traversals, as the Immortal King Realm's dominance hindered the Ultimate Realm from fully turning the tide.

Before long, the seven breaths concluded, and Li Hao's Flying Sword shattered accordingly.

Lacking the Flying Sword, the Divine Venerable halted his retreat and whirled back to assault Li Hao instead.

The Divine Boots pounded the void, cloaked in Realm Power, materializing over Li Hao to smash down upon him.

By acting thus, he compelled Li Hao to deploy his third Domain Artifact.

If only two unsealed Domain Artifacts sufficed to exhaust all three of his, that would mark a true defeat.

Li Hao pierced the Divine Venerable's scheme instantly and without delay. His plan had been to wield three Domain Artifacts to banish and eliminate him.

Buzz!

A humming vibration echoed, as the third Domain Artifact shot upward, golden strands uncoiling from its form.

With Realm Power scattering, the third Domain Artifact, resembling a flute, immediately unleashed sound waves from the flute, halting the Divine Venerable's charge.

The two flows of Realm Power battered each other, neither yielding an inch, locked in stalemate.

"Just three breaths remain for you—show me your skills!"

Li Hao commanded the flute Domain Artifact, unleashing Realm Power like sharp blades that cut across space-time, slamming into the Divine Boots on the Divine Venerable's feet.

"Without Domain Artifacts now, watch how you perish on the Heavenly Ascension Road!"

The Divine Venerable fixed Li Hao with a darkened expression, "I've forfeited this chance, and you'll forfeit your shot at the Heavenly Ascension Road too!"

With those words, he ceased clashing directly with Li Hao; using the three breaths from the Domain Artifact, he fled with utmost haste.

As he spun away in escape, Li Hao guided the flute Domain Artifact after him. Just as the Divine Venerable nearly shook him off, the foe's Divine Boots Domain Artifact abruptly broke, its ten breaths expired.

"Die!"

Li Hao surged forward abruptly, the flute Domain Artifact gleaming like lush divine light, encased in horrifying Realm Power akin to a tiny world, barreling toward the Divine Venerable's frame.

The Divine Venerable's eyes widened in alarm. Glancing back, his form flickered and faded, revealing the might of a fifteen-mile Ultimate Realm.

Yet the Realm from the flute Domain Artifact had already swallowed him whole. The Ultimate Realm let him pierce through the Realm in a strangely profound manner, but he was still snared by the Realm's lingering traces, with thick Realm Power swiftly converging to pin him down.

"I won't let you escape!"

A furious bellow erupted from the Divine Venerable, his body then exploding outward as his Immortal Body fractured. The three hundred drops of True God Blood inside him faced total suppression, starting to erode and weaken beneath the Realm Power's crush.

Not even the Immortal King Realm could instantly destroy an Immortal Monarch who had forged True God Blood into End Realm; it could merely hinder the True God Blood's vitality with Realm Power, demanding time to act.

Those leftover seven breaths would suffice to erode nearly all of its True God Blood; though the Domain Artifact might not kill outright, Li Hao could personally quash the surviving True God Blood, and capturing him alive could prove useful.

Clearly, though, the Divine Venerable refused to end up in Li Hao's clutches. Beneath the Domain Artifact's oppression, he ignited every bit of his True God Blood in a frantic struggle, yet he failed to shatter the Domain's confinement. Rather, his wounds worsened swiftly and faded out entirely.

One breath afterward, the Domain Artifact exploded with a bang.

Li Hao gazed into the void, where at that instant, the Divine Venerable's form and presence had utterly dissolved, leaving no trace behind—completely eradicated.

Still, the earlier display of Three Immortal End Realm power convinced Li Hao that the foe might not be truly gone, considering his survival through the Ancient Demon disaster, his survival methods could be exceptional.

It didn't matter, so long as the foe couldn't claim this chance.

"Lost three Domain Artifacts, yet fortunately, the Dark Side Avatar holds three more."

Li Hao mused inwardly.

Earlier, while crossing Boundary Flipping Mountain, the three Domain Artifacts on the Dark Side Avatar evaded detection, viewed as separate items, granting him six in total. Losing three now left him equal to the others.

"I should have questioned him about the Source Ancestor's whereabouts."

Li Hao's gaze shifted thoughtfully. Back when they had arrived at the True Realm side by side long ago, and now with the Divine King recalling his past-life memories, Li Hao doubted the Source Ancestor was ordinary.

Upon exiting, he could employ fate calculation to pinpoint an estimated position.

Scanning the surroundings, he withdrew his aura as the Extreme Dao Chaos concluded, a wave of profound weariness crashing over him and leaving him drained to the core.

Such fatigue hadn't struck in ages. Since grasping the All Heavens Star Vein, his immortal power flowed without limit, but even as it flooded his body now, it struggled to lift this exhaustion.

Drawing in a deep breath, Li Hao roused himself and sensed with his divine sense seven or eight Chaos Dao Seeds creeping closer from thousands of miles off, drawn by the earlier uproar.

"Better to seek a spot to recover first."

Li Hao found even the slightest motion taxing; without relying on a Domain Artifact for protection, direct fights were wiser to dodge for the moment.

His silhouette wavered, departing the area, until he located a mountain peak where he carved out a cavern to retreat inside and recuperate.

"This Divine King truly lives up to his status as a Quasi-Emperor cultivator from a hundred thousand years ago, wielding countless Ultimate Realm methods. I had to pin him down with Extreme Dao Chaos, and despite the Chaos Infinite laws of an Immortal Monarch Realm, I couldn't fully eliminate or capture him."

Li Hao's eyes gleamed; while he had triumphed over the Divine Venerable, he also recognized the foe's formidable power. Thankfully, he had severed the other's path to this opportunity. Should the foe revive, it would rely on Divine Blood stashed elsewhere for rebirth. Li Hao figured that Divine Blood lay concealed beyond the Endless Heavenly Domain.

Naturally, if the foe dared to actually divide his Divine Blood inside the Endless Heavenly Domain, Li Hao would be powerless to stop it.

Fortunately, within this Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain, the foe lacked the nerve to return.

"Send the Dark Side Avatar to scout the conditions in the remaining heavenly domains."

Li Hao pondered silently.

Should he cross paths with the Divine Venerable in those other heavenly domains, the Dark Side Avatar would deal with him.

With a mental command, the Dark Side Avatar materialized, gave Li Hao a nod, passed over two Domain Artifacts while retaining one, and then exited the cavern.

After handling that, Li Hao settled in the cave to restore his strength.

At the same time, inside the cave dwelling atop a peak in the Original Land.

Abruptly, from the depths of the cave dwelling's hidden array, a golden glow appeared, followed by a figure forming from golden fluid, molding like liquid into a human shape—it was the Divine Venerable.

Bare in the cave, he surveyed the known environment, his expression hardening darkly.

"Damn it!!"

A low snarl escaped him as he slammed a powerful fist against the cave wall, triggering the hidden array—a network of thirty-six thousand golden threads that shrouded the whole cave.

"Curse it, curse it all!"

Madness gripped the Divine Venerable in fury; he had actually been hounded out by that individual.

He had witnessed this essential chance vanish before him.

He hadn't gathered enough Heavenly Dao Power yet, nor started on the Heavenly Ascension Road!

This signified that in this existence, he couldn't prove the Heavenly Heart via Heavenly Dao Power or take that vital shortcut, the Emperor Road!

Apart from that Emperor Road, only the path of self-forged Emperor Road awaited.

Having crested the Quasi-Emperor Realm's pinnacle in his prior life, he understood the sheer hardship of forging one's own Emperor Road, particularly with numerous Immortal Emperors having already blazed diverse Emperor Roads. Little remained to blaze anew, and he drew a blank on fresh Emperor Roads to pioneer regardless.

"Your life is mine!!"

The Divine Venerable's features twisted savagely, his rage and slaughterous urge so intense it seemed smoke poured from his every orifice, even stirring the urge to reincarnate right away—this life already seemed half ruined!

"So seldom does the Heavenly Dao revive, granting proof of the Heavenly Heart; severing my Emperor Road demands vengeance without quarter!"

Bloodshot eyes blazed from the Divine Venerable, filled with towering wrath and lethal intent.

"Short on Heavenly Dao Power myself, while you claim it, you won't make it to the Heavenly Ascension Road. At least I placed an avatar outside in advance!"

On the second-layer heavenly domain of the Endless Heavenly Domain, upon a summit.

A silhouette perched in meditation, eyes shut; the aura here concealed itself masterfully, avoiding hunts of nearby Chaos Dao Seeds or alerts to others.

As an avatar, even destroying Chaos Dao Seeds wouldn't permit absorbing that Heavenly Dao Power, and without swift uptake, the Heavenly Dao Power would fade, returning to the heavenly domain—rendering Chaos Dao Seed hunts futile.

This avatar had been prepared originally as a backup for unforeseen events; now, it served merely as a means of relay.

"With your three Domain Artifacts spent, I'll ensure the word spreads to all!"

The avatar's eyes snapped open, brimming with deadly resolve, before its form shimmered and vanished from the summit.

Days afterward.

In a cavern within a mountain of the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain, Li Hao's eyes fluttered open, the weariness largely receded, though the sense of bodily drain and helpless unease still instilled a trace of dread—it appeared this approach required care, as even the All Heavens Star Vein failed to fully mend it.

"Time to resume the pursuit."

Li Hao stood promptly; twenty days had elapsed now, leaving ten until the Endless Heavenly Domain closed, so he needed to swiftly sweep the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain.

After all, the Heavenly Ascension Road would demand additional time later on.

As he advanced, his divine sense spread wide, soon detecting two Chaos Dao Seeds within thousands of miles, one to the east and one west, both in repose.

Li Hao's form flickered, arriving swiftly at one Chaos Dao Seed.

Boom!

Destiny Sword Qi lanced out, skewering the Chaos Dao Seed through as it lifted its head, pinning it firmly to the earth.