Follow the path of Dao from infancy Chapter 1875 Chapter 501: The Final Step (Part 3)
Previously on Follow the path of Dao from infancy...
A lone silhouette, dressed in azure robes adorned with a golden bell around the waist, turned out to be Shi Miao herself.
Apprehension flickered in her gaze; she understood that her true daunting adversaries were right there among the crowd.
In particular, her junior sister, reincarnated just like her, stood as a fierce competitor!
"She broke through ahead of me, and from her aura right now, it looks like she's hit the peak of the Immortal King Realm. It seems she's fully absorbed the strength from her past existence, ready to advance into the Quasi-Emperor Realm whenever she chooses. Should she take on the Heaven Tower at this moment, she'd definitely hold her own against that heir from the emperor clan…"
"Yet her progress sits at merely 110 layers, without pushing too hard. Could she be concealing her true power, saving it for the last push?"
The Divine Venerable narrowed his eyes, realizing it wasn't wise to show his hand too soon, not even for this Quasi-Emperor Weapon, since he already possessed plenty of them.
The moment to unveil his abilities would come, allowing him to shock the heirs of those mighty clans and effortlessly overtake them.
Within the Great Emperor Dojo.
Shi Miao settled into a cross-legged position, calmly tuning into the clamor beyond her surroundings, as if she dwelled in a hidden dimension, her mind serene and unruffled.
"Haotian's layer progress has barely shifted all along; he's likely pondering his own Dao…"
"He discovered the seed of the Emperor Road back at the Immortal King Realm First Level, charging forward on his path to emperorship. I have to push myself as well."
"In this lifetime... a massive disaster looms once more, perhaps marking the final cycle. Even should he avoid the turmoil of chaos, given brother Haotian's nature, he'll probably dive into this calamity, maybe even giving his life... I need to grow far stronger to stand by his side!"
The Emperor Road left unfinished in my former life demands completion now, forging my Eternal Time Emperor Dao!
Determination hardened in her eyes as she pulled her attention away from the Heaven Tower's leaderboard, shutting them once more to resume her secluded cultivation.
Amid the bustling chatter all around, the Immortal Immortal Emperor perched at the Heaven Tower's summit gradually revealed the rankings. Following that, he detailed the starting assessments and enhancement levels for every realm in this round of cultivation.
"...For the Immortal King Realm First Level, the top nine in speed of advancement include…"
The Immortal Immortal Emperor listed the sects and identities of those nine individuals, pulling in a wave of focused stares.
Included naturally were Luo Ningshuang and Su Wanyi, alongside the Divine Venerable and Xue Consort with her Ancient Immortal Body.
Moreover, a handful of disciples from the Chaos Ancient Clans, guided by the Original Immortal Emperor, had made impressive strides, ascending to the ninetieth layers.
Remember, from the time they first entered until this point, just a short span of five hundred years had gone by.
Over those five hundred years, they'd advanced from the Immortal King Realm First Level to the brink of peak Perfection in battle prowess; this was undoubtedly an astonishing accomplishment.
Those capable of surpassing a hundred layers carried the weight of long-built foundations.
"Out of everyone here, he's shockingly leading with the most layers."
Su Wanyi cast a look toward the Divine Venerable, her expression mixing astonishment and seriousness; he'd been banished from the Heavenly Domain by Haotian before and missed out on the Heavenly Dao Power, but he'd rocketed to 98 layers now, whereas she and Luo Ningshuang, bolstered by Ancestor Emperor Power, had only made it to 95!
As the boost from Ancestor Emperor Power weakens progressively, they had to strengthen various foundation elements elsewhere to keep up their ability to fight across realms.
"That fellow, said to be a reincarnated Quasi-Emperor, isn't anything new."
Luo Ningshuang shot a glance at the Divine Venerable, her gaze showing little emotion, aware that he was surely aiming for a True King slot. She and Su Wanyi might only vie for True King deputy positions; after all, beyond the main True King quotas, there were twenty deputy spots, requiring entry into the top thirty to claim one.
At present, sitting at 30th place, they'd achieved 105 layers.
"But that one, stuck around 60-something layers, what's going on?"
Luo Ningshuang's eyes scanned around, oddly finding Li Hao absent from the nine, which puzzled her.
"He's likely deep in seclusion, or…"
Su Wanyi looked toward the Heaven Tower, a trace of concern in her eyes.
"Or hit a wall, is he really destined to fade into mediocrity?"
Luo Ningshuang creased her brow, disappointment evident in her gaze, then shook her head and remarked: "Forget about him, we need to push hard to secure True King deputy roles for both of us. Get your Su Family from the Northern Domain to step up, provide more resources; the other major clans are covertly supplying their kin with cultivation aids, aiming to close the gap and grab spots."
Su Wanyi gave a helpless smile; her Su Family had already poured everything possible into her support; the rest depended on her own gifts.
"Over the next few hundred years, I'll work to raise my Wood Dao to the Tenth Layer. Even if it's just one path, reaching the Tenth Layer will let me smash through 100 layers!"
Luo Ningshuang declared, her time in cultivation had been far too brief to lift all her Daos to the eighth or ninth layers like some, forcing her to focus on a single Dao.
She possessed innate talent and insight for the Wood Dao, which she'd now brought to nine layers. Should she ascend to the tenth, it'd mark a supreme feat within the Immortal King Realm, letting her dominate other Perfections in that stage and claim a top ranking.
Su Wanyi nodded softly; she planned to immerse herself further in her Sword Dao too. Grasping the Spring Falling Sword Dao inherited from her forebear, and even gaining a hint of Emperor Sword embryo, would propel her beyond a hundred layers!
The two withdrew into seclusion once more, plunging into intense cultivation.
Moments slipped away.
Deep within the Heaven Tower.
Sweat beaded on Li Hao's brow; in his inner world, the seven Realm Hearts had lined up, but they pulled at one another, twisting the space around them.
For the final Chaos Boundary Heart, Li Hao decided to integrate it into the Sword Dao beside the Void Realm Heart. Just as he'd foreseen, his Sword Dao, already infused with Void essence, now gained Chaos essence too; since they meshed well, the Sword Dao's potency exploded dramatically, laced with horrifying destructive force.
Still, even with the Sword Dao growing stronger, the seven Realm Hearts clashed in harmony, unleashing a devouring surge that dwarfed previous levels.
"The ultimate phase of this Emperor Road… proves way tougher than I ever thought!"
Li Hao sensed an approaching threat of being swallowed whole; should it happen, all his hard-earned progress over the years would vanish in an instant.
"Across eras, myriad geniuses have stumbled here, even Emperor Venerables among them. They've surely sent their Reincarnated Bodies to train, yet in the end, no one has blazed this Emperor Road…"
"So hard, incredibly hard."
A sharp bitterness gripped Li Hao; merely holding back the merging of the seven Realm Hearts took every ounce of his concentration, not to mention truly balancing them.
Yet retreat wasn't an option for him—either crumble into a mere King's Domain or triumph, carving out the Emperor Road.