Follow the path of Dao from infancy Chapter 1783 Chapter 460: One Step to Heaven (Part 2)

Li Hao cast a quick look at the group, his eyes passing over Chi Yuan and his companions, slightly narrowing in the process. He was tempted to act, yet a sudden foreboding stirred within him. Lifting his gaze toward the summit of Tianlu, he sensed something awaiting his arrival there.

"Don't bother me anymore."

Without adding more words, he uttered that line before darting away swiftly, abandoning the others in his wake.

With Li Hao's departure in sight, the group snapped out of their trance-like stupor. The sturdy middle-aged figure next to Luo Ningshuang regained his composure as well, drawing in a heavy breath before speaking: "Is this the personal disciple of that Dao Origin Immortal Emperor?"

Luo Ningshuang appeared a bit stunned. Were it not for Li Hao's lingering Immortal Lord aura, she might have thought he had already advanced to seal the king.

Following a short pause, the group abruptly remembered they were on Tianlu.

"Quick, quick, chase!"

Chi Yuan snapped to attention too, disregarding the clash still raging with Luo Ningshuang and her allies. Should Li Hao ascend to the peak, their hopes would vanish entirely.

"If you don't want to fail, then let's team up to block him!"

Chi Yuan bellowed in fury while dashing onward.

The remaining pair offered no resistance, and Luo Ningshuang along with Xue Consort, catching on at last, trailed right after, offering no reply to Chi Yuan's suggestion.

"You wish."

Only Su Wanyi responded with icy disdain.

Chi Yuan shot Su Wanyi a venomous glare, and as the ascent persisted, enigmatic murmurs arose from the Dao patterns emerging beneath their feet.

Those murmurs carried an otherworldly quality, infused with traces of Dao rhythm, which hampered their progress. Certain individuals displayed confused expressions, seemingly ensnared in a hallucinatory domain, halting right where they stood.

In the meantime, Li Hao, surging forward rapidly, caught the faint echoes of those murmurs too. The higher he ascended, the more distinct they grew, causing his forehead to crease as he pressed on, until abruptly a silhouette came into view ahead, advancing leisurely along Tianlu.

Employing his divine sense to probe, Li Hao identified the figure as the youth in black robes he had encountered in the Ninth-layer Heavenly Domain, the one who had watched him from beside the lake once.

Detecting the disturbance trailing him, the black-robed youth pivoted, and upon spotting Li Hao's approach, he displayed no astonishment, merely stating with composure:

"Didn't expect someone to compete with me for Tianlu this time."

Li Hao's eyes tightened, fixing his stare: "Who are you, an Emperor reincarnation?"

"You've heard of me?"

A flicker of surprise lit the black-robed youth's gaze, clearly caught off guard that his identity was guessed in this low-key reincarnated existence.

Li Hao denied it with a shake of his head: "I don't know you, but I've already defeated reincarnations of Quasi-Emperors. Those who can make it here, I guess, are only Emperor reincarnations."

Upon catching Li Hao's logic, the black-robed youth grew quiet, seemingly chuckling softly to himself. With a smile as he cast down his gaze, he then remarked: "Interesting reasoning, what about you, are you too?"

"I'm not."

"You don't seem like one either."

The black-robed youth inclined his head, his gaze holding an odd purple-green tint that danced like fire, quickly shifting to wonder as he commented:

"Soul life only a few hundred years, so young."

Li Hao locked eyes with that stare, grasping the reason for his haste after slaying the Chaos Ancient Clan amid the fray with the Chaos Red Demon Clans. Lingering in conversation might allow the black-robed youth to claim the summit.

"You're Emperor reincarnation, why do you still want to prove Dao Heavenly Heart, why not simply retrace the Emperor Road?" Li Hao inquired.

"Retracing the Emperor Road could return to the previous life's peak, but if I could refine the Heavenly Heart, why not go further?" the black-robed youth replied steadily.

Li Hao arched a brow, remaining composed while voicing a question that had long puzzled him:

"Is there really a difference among Immortal Emperors? Isn't Immortal Emperor the Final Realm?"

"All things in the world are not the same. There are two similar flowers but no two identical flowers."

The black-robed youth stated offhandedly, "If so for a flower and grass, how much more so for an Emperor? Otherwise, why would the Great Emperor fall? As your master Dao Origin Immortal Emperor, even among Emperors, is considered top-notch, holding two Emperor Roads, with the second being terribly fearsome, touching upon taboo power."

With those words, he shook his head smilingly, then continued: "Yet even so, he couldn't change the outcome of the battle back then. That Ancient Demon Clan wielded Reincarnation Fragment, even an Emperor would avoid its edge."

"Two Emperor Roads?"

Thoughts of his master filled Li Hao's mind, shocking him, before he connected it to the Extreme Dao Chaos imparted to him.

The first Emperor Road was without doubt the activation of the Dao Origin Immortal Seal!

The second had to be this Extreme Dao Chaos.

It could bolster the foundation, shattering the bonds of the Final Realm.

"So, does that mean a Great Emperor can open multiple Emperor Roads?"

Li Hao grasped it right away—Great Emperors varied greatly, and his master stood as extraordinarily powerful.

"As long as you have enough talent."

The black-robed youth eyed Li Hao briefly, apparently done elaborating on such fundamentals, resuming his steps while declaring:

"You may have great talent, but encountering me in this life is your calamity. This opportunity of proving Dao Heavenly Heart, you can't grasp it, retreat!"

From the rival's retreating form, Li Hao perceived a majestic presence radiating outward, laced with a trace of Emperor's Might. Though still an Immortal Lord, this foe far exceeded the Divine Venerable from before.

"Could it be possible, encountering me is your calamity?"

Li Hao murmured, posing the question gently.

"What?"

The black-robed youth's brows knitted, he spun back, his serene eyes now surging with Emperor's Might and booming thunder, locking onto Li Hao.

Li Hao held his ground steadfastly, declaring: "Since you're here, let's battle it out!"

Noting the fierce determination in Li Hao's stare, the black-robed youth instantly comprehended his resolve—conflict was unavoidable.

A chilling smirk tugged at his mouth as he uttered: "If that's the case, let me show you the pinnacle of the Immortal Monarch Realm!"

His hand lifted, and in a flash, a potent Chaos Law essence erupted, wrapping him in layers of cause and effect plus fate, positioned within a temporal flow like a torrent of time, his form elusive, impervious to the grasp of causality or destiny.

Li Hao's gaze sharpened, recognizing the Chaos Infinite Law at play!

The adversary had likewise forged 24 Chaos Laws, attaining Chaos Infinite status!

Truly, as an Emperor reincarnation, how could such a being lack dominion over destiny?!

Tension gripped Li Hao fully, as he swiftly discerned that this black-robed youth differed vastly from the prior false Emperor reincarnations—mere echoes or repeatedly reborn essences—but a genuine successor bearing an Emperor's Divine Soul!

Encountered at the zenith of Endless Heavenly Domain, not some crumbling Primordial Spirit.

"Reverse cause to effect, reverse time to kill!"

The black-robed youth intoned lowly, his uplifted hand cloaked in a dread domain of causal death force, swiftly morphing into roiling causal energy that engulfed Li Hao.

This force bored through successive veils of space-time, intent on striking Li Hao down in bygone eras.

Yet Li Hao unleashed his own Chaos Infinite Law, shielding himself, while unseen Sword Qi cleaved forth, severing the invading causal torrent.

Observing Li Hao's command of Chaos Infinite Law, astonishment gleamed in the black-robed youth's eyes: "Destiny hidden, how can you see and comprehend in a mere few hundred years?"

Evidently, Li Hao had no intent to banter, promptly joining his hands to form a Cause and Effect Thunder Sword between them.

Chaos Infinite essence shrouded his frame, with 24 Chaos Laws manifesting in succession, stacking upon one another before fusing into his Only Me Swordsmanship.

Chaos Infinite, Only My Sword Kill!

When Li Hao's sword gleam burst forth, the emptiness tore asunder, strange visions bloomed across Tianlu, every one of the Ten Thousand Dao Laws emerged only to crumble.

One sword unleashed, laws crumbled utterly, cause and effect snuffed out.

Facing this supreme slash, the black-robed youth's pupils contracted sharply, plainly unable to fathom such might from an Immortal Monarch!

He hastily extended his palm, unleashing a sealed Domain Artifact that swiftly became Realm Power, but Li Hao's blade shattered it outright.

In Chaos Dao Seventh Stage, beyond wielding Chaos Infinite Law, his insight into the 24 Chaos Laws had eclipsed the Immortal Monarch level, empowering him to forge Chaos Realm Power!

Infused with surging Chaos Realm Power along the blade's edge, the Domain Artifact fragmented completely, the strike landing squarely on the black-robed youth!