Follow the path of Dao from infancy Chapter 1769 Chapter 453: Reunion of Old Times, Battle Against the Divine Venerable (Part 2)
Previously on Follow the path of Dao from infancy...
As Li Hao lunged forward without warning, several Chaos Dao Seeds were gripped by alarm and hastily clustered together.
Unleashing his Destiny Sword Qi, Li Hao launched a direct assault on the simian Chaos Dao Seed perched atop the mountain peak.
Caught in Li Hao’s ambush, the ape-like Chaos Dao Seed lost an arm and roared in fury. It swiftly retaliated by ripping the mountain from its foundations, wielding the massive peak like a colossal club to strike at Li Hao.
Li Hao simply raised his hand and struck; his Sword Qi tore through the mountain as if guided by the threads of fate, piercing straight through his foe's chest.
The enraged howling cut off instantly as the ape-like Chaos Dao Seed’s life force withered. By the time the other Chaos Dao Seeds reached the summit, their leader had already perished.
A dense cloud of Heavenly Dao Power lingered over the remains. With a flick of his wrist, Li Hao drew it into his body before spinning around to discharge several bolts of Destiny Sword Qi. These blades of fate spiraled out like inescapable executioner's tools, slicing through the skulls of the remaining Chaos Dao Seeds and ending them all in a single breath.
“The power of destiny is truly profound.”
Li Hao mused silently.
Having swiftly cleared this nest of Chaos Dao Seeds, Li Hao moved on to his next objective.
He continued his systematic hunt, relentlessly tracking down Chaos Dao Seeds. Those dwelling within the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain held four to five times the Heavenly Dao Power of those in the Eighth Layer. Consequently, the power within Li Hao’s Dantian continued to swell, becoming more tangible with every kill.
“Hmm?”
While he was in the midst of his slaughter, Li Hao’s Divine Sense stretched across the horizon. In the distance, he spotted two figures engaged in combat with a pair of Chaos Dao Seeds atop a mountain, clearly dominating the fight.
“Is that... the Divine King?”
Li Hao’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the familiar silhouette of a young man clad in dark gold armor. The Divine King was actually present here?!
That face was unmistakable. Although their encounters in the All Heavens had been few, both had originated from the same Heavenly Calamity Illusion Realm. How could he possibly forget that the Divine King and the Source Ancestor had once plotted against him?
“Why is he here? That’s right—the Divine King, the Source Ancestor, and the Lie Sky Saint were all led toward the Southern Domain, yet they were nowhere to be found during the great battles there. Although their status as soul-life beings barred them from the conflict, there had been no word of them since...”
Li Hao’s gaze flickered. He had assumed he would never cross paths with them again, yet here they were in the Primordial True Realm. From what he could sense, the Divine King’s techniques were savage and precise, indicating he had already refined 23 Chaos Laws.
To hunt within the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain, one required the strength of at least 23 Chaos Laws to even stand a chance.
“In a mere few centuries, even if he reached the True Realm before me, it couldn't have been by much—yet he has refined 23 Chaos Laws!”
“Such a similar face... could it be a mere lookalike?”
Li Hao felt a wave of doubt. While the Divine King was considered a genius in the All Heavens, his potential was far from elite in the Primordial True Realm. It should have been impossible for him to master 23 Chaos Laws so rapidly.
With his mind racing, Li Hao chose not to reveal himself immediately. Instead, he carefully masked his presence and extended his Divine Sense to observe from the shadows.
...
With a thunderous crash, the Divine Venerable drove his spear through the head of a Chaos Dao Seed before pulling the weapon back.
He steadied his breathing and glanced toward Xue Consort, who had just finished off another Chaos Dao Seed. He offered a small smile. Both possessed elite combat power among those who had refined 23 Chaos Laws, allowing them to dispatch two seeds with relative ease.
Even if they faced three at once, their combined strength could deal with the threat quickly and quietly.
During their two weeks in the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain, their partnership had yielded a bountiful harvest, likely surpassing the efforts of most other hunters.
“We should rest for a moment before moving on,”
the Divine Venerable suggested to Xue Consort.
Without wasting words, they both began absorbing the Heavenly Dao Power they had gathered.
“At our current pace, we are likely the most efficient hunters in the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain,” the Divine Venerable remarked confidently.
Xue Consort gave a slight nod but remained mostly silent. She was satisfied with the Divine Venerable’s performance; he was a capable fighter who didn't hold her back.
“I hope our cooperation continues once we reach the Heavenly Dao path,”
the Divine Venerable added.
Xue Consort’s eyes flashed with an unreadable light. She nodded curtly and replied,
“As long as you do not become a burden.”
“Naturally,”
the Divine Venerable replied with a grin, though he sneered inwardly. He thought to himself: *If you ever get in my way, do not expect any mercy!*
“Let us go.”
Once they had recovered, the pair prepared to depart.
However, at that very moment, a figure materialized silently before them as if appearing out of thin air.
When they saw the stranger's face, both were stunned. The Divine Venerable’s pupils shrank, and his expression instantly darkened into a mask of murderous intent.
Watching the Divine King’s reaction, Li Hao saw the flash of bloodlust. He knew then that he hadn't mistaken the man’s identity.
He had revealed himself specifically to test the man's reaction, and the immediate display of killing intent confirmed everything.
“Divine King?”
Li Hao’s gaze grew frigid. “I didn't expect to run into you here. It seems you’re hiding quite a few secrets.”
“Haotian!”
The Divine Venerable’s eyes turned to ice, his malice no longer hidden. “I didn't go looking for you, yet you’ve delivered yourself to death’s door!”
“Looking for me?”
Li Hao laughed softly. “During the slaughter of the True Immortals and Ancient Demons in the All Heavens, you and the Source Ancestor played dead and went into hiding. If I hadn't stepped up, the entire All Heavens would have been wiped out. And now you want to settle a score with me?”
“Faking death was a tactical choice; survival is a skill in itself,”
the Divine Venerable snapped. “But as for you—if we hadn't provided that opportunity, how could you have stumbled upon such luck and inherited the legacy of the Immortal Emperor!”
Li Hao was momentarily taken aback by this revelation. His inheritance from the Heavenly Calamity Immortal Emperor wasn't a complete secret, but it wasn't common knowledge either. Had they been lurking in the Southern Domain during the war?
“So, you resent me for obtaining that fortune?”
Li Hao narrowed his eyes.
“Precisely! That legacy was never meant for someone like you. Surrender the Emperor Hall. I am the Master’s true direct disciple, the only rightful successor!”
The Divine Venerable dropped all pretenses, his voice dripping with cold aggression.
“Master? Direct disciple?”
Li Hao was stunned again, but the pieces quickly fell into place.
Back when he encountered Emperor Luo in the Emperor Hall, he was told the Master had three direct disciples. Two of them possessed Soul Hearts that had survived, and Li Hao was tasked with finding them. Retrieving even one would prove his worth as a successor.
He already knew Shi Miao was one, but he never expected the Divine King to be the other!
A Reincarnated Body?
“I see... you are one of my Master’s former direct disciples...”
Li Hao felt a strange sensation of irony. “No wonder you’ve mastered 23 Chaos Laws so quickly. In just a few hundred years, you’ve awakened the power of your past life. So, you hate me because you think I’ve stolen what belongs to you?”
“Enough talk! Hand over the Master’s Emperor Hall inheritance!”
The Divine Venerable was finished with conversation, his eyes burning with greed and violence.
Seeing the raw killing intent before him, Li Hao cast aside any lingering hesitation. He realized this Divine King was nothing like Shi Miao. Though they shared the same ancient Master, this man’s character was rotten.
“So, despite your cowardice in the past, you feel no shame—only bitterness that I took 'your' prize...”
Li Hao nodded slowly. “In that case, there is no need for further reincarnation. This time, die for good!”
As the words left his lips, he raised his palm, condensing the Destiny Sword Qi into a sharp blade and swinging it toward his opponent.
He had briefly considered their shared connection to the Master, but the Divine King’s actions made his choice easy. He wasn't betraying his Sect; he was cleaning it.
“You are asking for death!”
The Divine Venerable exploded with a terrifying pressure. He had previously sent others to challenge Li Hao at the dao ground to teach him a lesson, but Li Hao had stayed protected within Extreme Dao Mountain. Back then, he couldn't kill a direct disciple of the dao origin Immortal Emperor under their watchful eyes.
But here, in the depths of the Endless Heavenly Domain, not even an Immortal Emperor could save him!
He would not let this chance slip away.
In an instant, a multitude of Extreme Realm Powers manifested behind him, followed by Final Realm Powers like the All Heavens Star Vein.
“You have the experience of a single lifetime; I have the wisdom of a hundred! With a hundred thousand years of Cultivation and the battle experience of the Quasi-Emperor Realm, you have no hope of defeating me!!”
The Divine Venerable’s eyes blazed like twin suns, his presence expanding like a crushing ocean as he looked down upon the void.