BOOM!
Sothing plumted from high in the sky, crashing into the ground and blasting open a deep crater.
"Pfft..."
Covered in dust and gri, Lin Hao climbed out of the crater, grimacing in pain.
’Good thing I’m tough, or that fall would have killed for sure!’
Looking up at the vast expanse of white above, Lin Hao could hardly believe he had just fallen from there.
He didn’t bother wondering if he could get back, instead turning his attention to his surroundings.
Then, he froze.
This wasn’t a secret realm; it was clearly a barren wasteland.
Before him lay a field of completely withered grass, and not far off, a cluster of bare little hills.
The only peculiar thing was a stone stele standing beside the hills, and on this stele, a clump of grass was actually growing.
The grass was lush and green, having sohow avoided withering like the rest of the field—a small miracle.
Lin Hao’s eyes lit up, and he sprinted over.
Then, he yanked the grass off and threw it on the ground.
He had thought it might be so precious Spirit Grass, but who knew it was just a clump of the most ordinary green grass imaginable.
’What a waste of my ti.’
Undiscouraged, Lin Hao turned and headed for the small hills...
An hour later, Lin Hao plopped down with his back against the stone stele, his expression utterly dejected.
This place wasn’t just a wasteland; it was also tiny. He had already explored the entire area in just one hour.
As for his gains... he hadn’t found a single thing.
Picking up the grass he had tossed aside, Lin Hao stuck it in his mouth, narrowed his eyes, and began to scan every inch of the land.
He believed his intuition wouldn’t deceive him. There had to be sothing he needed here.
Suddenly, Lin Hao froze. He straightened up and turned to examine the stone stele he had just been leaning against.
Engraved on the stele was a strange beast.
It was shaped like an ox but had only a single horn.
The Heaven-Sundering Rhinoceros, one of the ten great vicious beasts of antiquity!
Lin Hao was shocked, but after a closer look, he was utterly stunned.
Because aside from its height and size, this stone stele was exactly the sa as the ones that had appeared on the God-Proving Platform.
’What is going on?’
Lin Hao felt his mind couldn’t keep up.
’Could it be that the ten Divine Steles represent ten secret realms?’
The utterly absurd idea rose in Lin Hao’s mind.
’Since a Divine Stele from the God-Proving Platform has appeared here, then...’
Lin Hao’s eyes lit up, and he began to perform the fist technique he had used on the God-Proving Platform.
After all, on the God-Proving Platform, Lin Hao had been able to make ten steles appear at once. If this stone stele was related to the Divine Steles from the platform, it would surely react to this fist technique.
But the result left Lin Hao disappointed.
After stubbornly trying a few more tis, Lin Hao had no choice but to give up on that thod and started circling the stone stele.
Finally, Lin Hao assud a horse stance, wrapped his arms around the stone stele, and with a shout, heaved.
Now that Lin Hao had entered the Sixth Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, his strength was at least over 6,000 catties. The stele was only half a person’s height, so logically, pulling it out should have been effortless for him.
However, even after using every last ounce of his strength, the stone stele didn’t budge an inch.
This stoked Lin Hao’s competitive spirit.
In the end, however, he was defeated by reality.
’Brute force doesn’t work, and performing the fist technique doesn’t either. You really are as stubborn and unpleasant as a rock in a latrine.’ Lin Hao kicked the stele hard a few tis, then started digging at the dirt around its base.
He was going to see what was up with this stone stele. It couldn’t have beco a spirit, could it?
「One hour later...」
Lin Hao stared at the pit, only a finger’s length deep, and admitted complete defeat.
The dirt around this stele wasn’t dirt at all; it was like steel, terrifyingly hard.
Lin Hao slapped his forehead hard.
Suddenly, he shot to his feet.
’What have I been doing?’
’Trying to pull up the stele? Digging at the dirt with my bare hands? Why would I do sothing so idiotic?’
Alard, Lin Hao fully activated his Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill, and instantly felt his mind clear.
Staring at his own filthy hands, Lin Hao broke out in a cold sweat.
With his temperant, he would never have done sothing so idiotic. The only explanation was that the stone stele had influenced his state of mind.
Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed. His guard shot up, and he began to circulate his Cultivation Technique.
His Spirit Platform beca clear and empty, and Lin Hao’s gaze fixed upon the vicious beast on the stone stele.
It was clearly identical to the ones on the God-Proving Platform.
’On the God-Proving Platform, performing the fist technique made the Divine Steles burst from the ground. So what thod would make them retract?’
A realization dawned on Lin Hao. If he could make this stone stele retract, perhaps a whole new world would be revealed before him.
’The Divine Steles on the God-Proving Platform are related to the founding ancestor of the Heaven-Stepping Sect. Could it be that these vicious beasts were truly suppressed by him?’ Lin Hao’s mind raced.
’Vicious beasts? Does this an a new world can only be opened when the Heaven-Stepping Sect’s founder manifests?’ Lin Hao frowned.
Lin Hao shook his head. There was no other way. He could only continue performing the fist technique that had made the ten steles manifest on the God-Proving Platform.
As he went through the motions, Lin Hao suddenly stopped.
He rembered that final punch in the void.
In the fist technique he had just been performing, there was clearly a trace of that punch’s shadow—even if it was just one part in a hundred thousand.
If he hadn’t been circulating the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill, if his cultivation hadn’t risen to the Sixth Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, he might never have noticed.
’Could it be... that punch in the void was thrown by the founding ancestor?!’ A look of shock flashed in Lin Hao’s eyes before being replaced by calm, and then a hint of a smile.
If this vicious beast was truly suppressed by the founding ancestor, then even if the Emperor Venerable couldn’t manifest, Lin Hao could imitate the fist’s intent!
Lin Hao’s eyes shone brightly, and he fell into deep thought.
He had pondered that punch right after it had manifested, but he hadn’t had a clue where to start.
Although that punch was thrown with only the cultivation of the Third Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, it was the epito of turning complexity into simplicity. A single, simple punch contained the ultimate principles of fist techniques.
Imitating its intent would be incredibly difficult.
Lin Hao closed his eyes, as if he had returned to the God-Proving Platform.
In the void, a fist manifested, moving as slowly as a snail.
At that mont, Lin Hao’s own fist moved out just as slowly...
Before long, sweat was already beading on Lin Hao’s forehead.
After a long while, Lin Hao’s clothes were soaked with sweat. He shook his head. He had only managed to capture the punch’s form, not its spirit.
Fathoming that punch was simply too difficult.
"When he threw that punch, a river of stars crossed the sky, and the sun and moon appeared together! Even the boundless firmant was under his dominion. This is a Dao, a near-perfect Dao..." Lin Hao murmured, a look of shock in his eyes that quickly gave way to a raging battle intent.
"So what if he’s an Emperor Venerable? So what if he can dominate the firmant! When faced with , Lin Hao, even if he is an Emperor Venerable, I will not fear him in a battle of the sa realm! I am still invincible!" Lin Hao unconsciously took a step forward, his battle intent soaring through the air.
Then, Lin Hao spun around and blasted a punch toward the stone stele.
At this mont, he was no longer trying to emulate that punch.
In a battle of equals, Lin Hao would not fear the Emperor Venerable. As for his Dao, Lin Hao would shatter it with brute force!
"He could suppress you, but I can shatter his fist! In a battle of equals, I am definitely stronger than him!" Lin Hao’s eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
Lin Hao was challenging the Emperor Venerable, his arrogance and dominance pushed to the absolute limit!
His implication was clear: he would use his own thods to blast open this stone stele!
With an invincible belief in his heart, Lin Hao’s fist flew toward the stele, just as it had toward the punch in the void on the God-Proving Platform.
An overwhelmingly powerful aura suddenly erupted from Lin Hao. He seed to stand upon a river of stars, shouldering the sun and moon—the very image of a Great Emperor.
Before Lin Hao’s fist could even touch the stone stele, the stele itself suddenly flared with brilliant light. Then, the space around it began to warp, ultimately forming a strange passageway.
Before Lin Hao could react, a powerful suction from the passageway pulled him in.
Turbulent currents raged within the strange passageway. Although Lin Hao’s physical body had ford a protective aura and was nearly perfect, the raging turbulence still scraped painfully against him.
Horrified, Lin Hao could only madly circulate the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill.
In this bizarre passageway, one wrong move could get him torn to shreds. Despite his body’s protective aura, it was still extrely perilous.
When everything finally settled, Lin Hao looked around and found himself in the middle of a dense, prival jungle.
Not only was the jungle eerily silent, but it also stretched as far as the eye could see.
What surprised Lin Hao even more was that while every tree around him was abnormally massive, all their leaves were withered and yellow.
Though the jungle was dense, all the leaves were withered. A scene of decay filled the air; it was as if all life had vanished from this place.
Lin Hao looked around, wanting to get to the bottom of things.
Just as he was wondering which way to go, Lin Hao suddenly noticed arrow markings on a nearby tree.
’This must be the real secret realm. Disciples from the Heaven-Stepping Sect have been here before.’
This had to be that withered secret realm. Lin Hao made up his mind and followed the arrows.
He had barely taken two steps when he suddenly froze.
A Devil Beast was blocking his path.
The Devil Beast had a sturdy body covered in Scale Armor, short and thick limbs, a long head with small ears, and its canines were exposed like tusks. It was a Tier One Devil Beast, the Celestial Demon Pig.
When he first t Yingxue, Lin Hao had fought a Celestial Demon Pig. Seeing this one, he shook his head.
This one was clearly smaller than the last one; it didn’t even look like an adult.
A juvenile Celestial Demon Pig would only have the strength of the First or Second Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, nothing to be afraid of.
However, in the next mont, Lin Hao realized he was wrong—terribly wrong.
When the Devil Beast saw him, its eyes flashed with ferocity. With a roar, it charged, its speed like a bolt of lightning.
It was countless tis faster than the one he had encountered when he first t Yingxue.
Lin Hao snorted coldly. Without dodging or evading, he also put forth his strength and charged straight at the Celestial Demon Pig.
BOOM!
Lin Hao slamd his body directly into the Celestial Demon Pig. The surrounding trees rustled, and leaves rained down. At the sa ti, the very ground trembled.
The impact left Lin Hao stunned.
He was forced back several steps, yet the Celestial Demon Pig rely paused for a mont before charging again.
He was now at the Sixth Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm! When running at full speed, his explosive force was at least 7,000 catties, yet he was still slightly inferior to this Celestial Demon Pig.
’Has this Celestial Demon Pig already reached adulthood? Or did so substance cause its body to mutate?’
Lin Hao had no ti to think as the Celestial Demon Pig closed in again.
Without dodging or evading, Lin Hao threw a punch.
Although he had misjudged the Celestial Demon Pig’s strength, Lin Hao was still fearless.
His physical body was now incredibly tough, countless tis stronger than when he had first encountered a Celestial Demon Pig.
With a full-power punch, he blasted the Celestial Demon Pig to death.
As the Celestial Demon Pig fell, Lin Hao stared at its abdon, a strange light in his eyes.
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