Follow the path of Dao from infancy Chapter 1819 - 476: Musical Rhythm Thirteen, Sixth Final Realm (2)
Previously on Follow the path of Dao from infancy...
"Father, your reinforcements were the key; without them, Xueyao couldn't have traversed the Southern Domain to make it back home."
The Ancient Demon, with eyes like calm autumn pools, murmured in a gentle tone.
Should Li Hao be present, he'd instantly identify the voice as Mi Xueyao's, the Ancient Demon he had encountered before.
"Xueyao has done exceptionally well; our five-clan alliance wouldn't have reformed without her efforts. With the Gate of Reincarnation partially rebuilt, the remaining five clans resist joining forces. But once we seize the Eastern Domain and set up reincarnation here, they'll have no choice but to align with us."
A massive figure added his thoughts, his tone gravelly like grinding rocks, laced with a touch of amusement.
"The Ten Thousand Clans of the True Realm have grown too comfortable over the years; it's high time they tasted fear again."
A different voice cut in with steady composure, sending out a cold, aloof frost through its words.
Nearby, other Ancient Demons of assorted sizes stayed quiet; these were elite powerhouses within the Ancient Demons or bore the royal blood of diverse clans.
They held no compassion for the True Realm's Ten Thousand Clans, treating them as mere livestock, like a muddy pond full of common fish, varied yet ultimately worthless.
"The Evil Mirror Emperor and Poison Corrosion Emperor have achieved breakthroughs; now we must claim another city. The Old Dragon King from the Ancestor Dragon Court should have regained his strength, so stay vigilant, and expect Emperors from other domains to intervene. This marks our second war declaration in ten thousand years!"
The Ancient Demon with the gravelly voice declared solemnly.
His frame was wrapped in menacing bones, setting him apart from fellow Ancient Demons; he lacked any flesh, consisting solely of rugged skeletal structure, some edges honed sharp like weapons.
Beyond the bones, numerous chains dangled, forming deadly extensions from his form, such as cruel hooks, serrated tips, and pointed spikes.
The mere glimpse of his fearsome physique could choke the breath from one's lungs.
As though it promised eternal dismantling, plunging into horrors beyond imagination.
He hailed from one of the top ten royal lineages among the Ancient Demons, the Bone Punishment Clan.
At his side stood various Bone Punishment Clan warriors, some compact, others immense; one among them was a royal blood prodigy, covered in chains that ended in vicious barbs, with spider-like legs curving like scythes at its back, agile and chillingly sinister.
Next to the Bone Punishment Clan, Mi Xueyao in her dark attire appeared almost "graceful and alluring."
Belonging to the Yama Clan, she resembled the Human Race most closely among the Ten Clans.
"Shatter the Eastern Domain!"
Mi Xueyao's father, the Yama Emperor, uttered with deliberate weight.
Hearing her father's command, Mi Xueyao's eyes drifted, fixing on the distant pass that wavered, the devastated city strewn with bodies, where surviving troops clung to futile defense, soon to serve as sustenance for their forces after the fight.
All at once, without clear cause, an image surfaced in Mi Xueyao's thoughts.
Human Race... she had felt indifference toward the Human Race at first, lacking the disdain of other Ancient Demons who saw them as vermin.
Yet at the edge of an Immortal Dynasty in the Southern Domain, a Human Race rescued her, and they shared months together... those pests proved capable of more than cries and conflict, displaying instead dignified poise and serenity.
Recalling that young man, she remembered his astonishing culinary talents, drawing essence from Ancient Demon meat to swiftly bolster the Divine Soul.
Back home, she consulted numerous elite cooks from the Ancient Demon Clan, but discovered their kind cared little for flavors, prioritizing raw materials and straightforward preparations.
Even the finest royal cooks crafted refined dishes, yet none could pull power from Ancient Demon flesh to strengthen the Divine Soul.
She then turned to certain Human Race master chefs, yielding comparable outcomes; the top ones merely offered faint nourishment to the Divine Soul from an Immortal Monarch Realm Ancient Demon, with effects too slight to justify the cost.
Centuries had slipped by, and she had no idea of that young man's location, how many Ancient Demons he had devoured, or the heights his Primordial Spirit cultivation had climbed to.
From the close of the Southern Domain conflict, she hadn't laid eyes on the youth again, having lost all trace of him, and returned to her kin by herself.
"Maybe he's attained the Perfect Immortal Monarch Realm by now..."
She whispered to herself inwardly, her lips twitching into a faint smile, aware that the youth prepared meals from his own kind, though her clan scorned not just the Ten Thousand Clans but even fellow Ancient Demon groups, deeming themselves the pinnacle of nobility and supremacy, with scant regard even for their own.
Maybe their bloodline was inherently void of feelings.
That's what rendered them so dominant, overwhelming the True Realm's Ten Thousand Clans.
"Advance, while Jianlong Pass fell to our sudden assault, the following one will prove tougher, but we've laid our groundwork in advance."
A colossal form declared in an icy manner, his physique dark like a burned cadaver, with ebony flames dancing in the crevices of his flesh, emitting no warmth but instead a bizarre chill that blurred the line between searing heat and bitter cold.
"You all, take your armies ahead!"
The Yama Emperor commanded.
The figures around him gave affirming nods.
Mi Xueyao dipped her head slightly too, "Father, your daughter will proceed!"
"Stay alert, watch for aid from other domains."
The Yama Emperor advised with a soft edge.
Mi Xueyao inclined her head, then her form blurred, darting swiftly into the distance.
...
Within Dragon Gate City.
Dragon Shield Seventh Floor, First Level.
Inside Peak Spring, Li Hao gradually lifted his eyelids, revealing grey-silver irises that looked empty but brimmed with boundless, pure silver radiance.
"Sound..."
Following a hundred years of deep meditation on the Extreme Dao, coupled with a decade of seclusion in Dragon Gate City.
Right then, Li Hao achieved true insight.
Musical Rhythm Dao, flawless integration!
The Dao teaches that supreme virtue flows like water, aiding all without rivalry.
Water embodies softness, but in solidity, it turns keenest.
Sound holds greater menace; it slips through currents and stone barriers.
What resists water might not halt sound; as rhythm and pulse, sound exists in everything, and upon harmony, it propagates fully.
"Musical Rhythm... seeps into every existence, breaches the void, slices through all barriers, delving straight to the core of the spirit!"
"Flawless integration, breaching all, Heavenly Sound Void..."
Li Hao murmured softly.
Before him, a system alert appeared.
[Mastered 'Void Realm State of Mind', Musical Rhythm Dao advances to the Thirteenth Stage!]
Restraints shattered, a torrent of realizations surged into his mind, as Li Hao remained seated in the spring, sensing a bond with the whole mountain; the Void Realm's Musical Rhythm Dao let him perceive himself as a vibration, infiltrating all, linking to the cosmos and every element!
This sensation mirrored Transform to Immortal!
Transform to Immortal fuses body with the universe, awareness scattering throughout, balancing delicately between unity and separation.
Li Hao had seized the Immortal Transformation Extreme Realm, and within this Void Realm State of Mind, his perceptions intensified, as if the Transform to Immortal state expanded by ten or a hundred times.
Previously, he had brushed against the profound essence of the cosmos, that immense intent.
That signified Celestial Venerable!
Transform to Immortal represents the peak, Celestial Venerable the ultimate boundary!
Now, with Li Hao grasping the Void Realm State of Mind for Musical Rhythm, his awareness blended endlessly into the cosmos, akin to the mightiest vibration reaching the cosmos's depths.
He had once vaguely perceived Celestial Venerable's might, sensing it dimly, but now he detected it vividly: at the cosmos's core lay a power, resembling Heavenly Dao yet distinct from the vital, emotive Heavenly Dao he encountered on the Heavenly Ascension Road.
On the Heavenly Ascension Road, Heavenly Dao reigned supreme but carried traces of living sentiment.
Yet the current Celestial Venerable evoked the fundamental laws of universal motion, the structure of existence, icy, absolute, stripped of feelings, aloof and unyielding.
"What... is this being?"
A tremor coursed through Li Hao's frame.
This Celestial Venerable appeared as an entity rivaling Heavenly Dao, emotionless yet awesomely profound.