On the summit of Heaven-Stepping Peak, Wu Taichu had already been standing for a full three hours.
’Even Ancestor Cang Yan only stayed inside for an hour and a half back in his day, yet Grand Ancestor has been in for a full three hours. The heavens are smiling on our sect! They truly are!’
Wu Taichu felt his mind tremble, utterly unable to calm himself.
He had cultivated inside before. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in there was incomparably pure—many tis denser than it was outside.
For him, thirty minutes of cultivation inside was equivalent to three hours of arduous training outside!
Now, Lin Hao had been inside for a full three hours. How could he possibly remain calm?
"At this rate, Grand Ancestor’s cultivation will surely have reached the Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm by the ti he cos out!" Wu Taichu was ecstatic, looking even happier than if he had broken through a realm himself.
Although Lin Hao’s talent was peerless, his cultivation level was simply too low. That was why Wu Taichu had personally gone to the Scripture Pavilion to select a Cultivation Technique and martial skills for him.
But now, Wu Taichu felt like an absolute fool. He should have brought Grand Ancestor here sooner.
In fact, Wu Taichu’s guess was correct. Lin Hao was, at that very mont, breaking through to the Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm.
However, his advancent to the Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm was far more difficult than it was for others.
To reach the Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm, he needed to cycle his Cultivation Technique both in reverse and forward to achieve completion.
But unlike others who absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Lin Hao absorbed the essence of the sun and moon.
If he were cultivating outside, advancent would take a full day at the very minimum. But the Saha World was different. It was as old as the universe itself, and with a single thought, Lin Hao could make it manifest the sun and moon for him!
BOOM!
With a thunderous roar in his mind, Lin Hao felt the shackles within his body shatter.
Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm!
His eyes snapped open, and he was overjoyed.
’The Saha World is truly worthy of being the Emperor Venerable’s place of enlightennt! To think I could break past the Fourth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm in such a short ti!’ Lin Hao was thrilled, and then closed his eyes again!
Having had a taste of success, he resolved to break through yet again!
Though he never spoke of it, Lin Hao carried imnse pressure. This pressure ca not from the Heaven-Stepping Sect, but from War Dragon City, and even more so from the distant Imperial City.
In just over twenty days was the martial arts tournant in War Dragon City. If he wasn’t strong enough by then, the Lin family would be in grave danger.
He had previously placed his hopes on the Heaven-Stepping Sect, but after learning of its circumstances, Lin Hao understood that the sect couldn’t resolve the Lin family’s crisis.
For one thing, he had killed Wu Zhen, who was a disciple of the Suo Demon Sect. The Wu family would never pass up such an opportunity.
This had been a persistent problem plaguing Lin Hao. But after Shan Dan’s appearance, an idea struck him, which was why he had set the one-day deadline with Shan Dan.
’But now, with the Saha World, it might just be possible to reach the Elental Realm in just over twenty days!’
If anyone knew what he was thinking right now, they would undoubtedly call him a madman.
Going from the Fifth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm to the Elental Realm in just over twenty days... it was the stuff of fantasy.
In such a short ti, advancing even a single layer would mark one as a genius among geniuses. Yet he dared to dream of crossing the entire Blood Coagulation Realm and charging into the Elent Realm!
’But the Saha World is as old as the universe itself. Maybe... just maybe, it’s possible.’
However, it wasn’t long before Lin Hao realized he was getting ahead of himself.
An unknown amount of ti passed before another roar echoed from within Lin Hao’s body. He felt a sudden lightness, and the world itself seed transford.
Sixth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm!
To cross two layers in such a short ti just by cultivating in the Saha World... it was nothing short of a miracle!
’But then again,’ Lin Hao thought, ’this is the Emperor Venerable’s place of enlightennt. Sothing like this should be perfectly normal.’
After consolidating his new realm, Lin Hao prepared to continue his cultivation.
Just then, however, a look of astonishnt appeared in Lin Hao’s eyes.
A mont ago, as he was about to resu his cultivation, the colossal, ancient tree had begun to sway. Its dense leaves, moving without any wind, rustled as they fell. Then, in mid-air, the leaves arranged themselves to form several large words.
Nine hours per session, once every five days.
’In the Emperor Venerable’s place of enlightennt, even the trees possess a spirit.’
The strange phenonon left Lin Hao stunned.
The Saha World was steeped in mystery. Not daring to be greedy, Lin Hao stood up, and with a simple thought, he found himself back outside.
’Wait a minute.’ Lin Hao was taken aback. ’I rember Wu Taichu saying you need a mantra to get out. But I just had the thought of leaving and was teleported out. What’s going on?’
Before he could ponder it further, a voice broke his train of thought.
"G-Grand Ancestor... you’re only just coming out?"
Wu Taichu had been standing guard outside all night. Now, seeing Lin Hao appear, he was so shocked he could barely speak.
’If my calculations are correct, Lin Hao has been in there for nine hours!’
’That’s completely impossible!’
Lin Hao, however, found it perfectly normal and simply nodded.
Wu Taichu swallowed hard, his heart pounding wildly. He asked with a tremor in his voice, "Th-those two words... how far did you get when you touched them?"
"You an ’Saha World’?" Lin Hao replied, still puzzled himself. "I’m not sure what happened. As soon as I got in, I just focused on touching them. After I finished tracing both words, it felt like a long ti had passed."
"What?!"
Wu Taichu’s eyes flew wide open!
"Those two words... y-you... you traced them completely?!" Wu Taichu felt his heart hamring against his ribs, as if it would burst from his chest.
’Back in my day, I was scared away after touching those words for barely three breaths. And now Lin Hao is telling he traced them completely.’
He was utterly horrified!
Wu Taichu was certain that even if a god or demon appeared before him at this very mont, he could not possibly be more shocked.
"Yes, I did. Is sothing wrong?" Lin Hao, finding it all perfectly normal, asked with a puzzled look after nodding.
Wu Taichu’s body began to tremble violently, as if stricken with a fever. His hands flailed, and his breathing beca ragged.
Startled, Lin Hao grabbed Wu Taichu’s wrist to check his pulse.
"Hm. Aside from a slightly elevated heart rate, everything else seems normal."
That was Lin Hao’s final diagnosis.
"Y-y-you..." Wu Taichu had just started to calm down, but the mont Lin Hao’s hand touched his wrist, he beca agitated all over again.
Wu Taichu was stunned to discover that Lin Hao had grown taller yet again since reaching the Fourth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm. He was now almost as tall as Wu Taichu himself.
And what’s more, Lin Hao’s cultivation had reached the Sixth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm!
’He was only at the Fourth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm when he went in! It’s only been nine hours—a single night—and he’s already crossed two entire layers!’
Although the Blood Coagulation Realm was only the initial stage of the martial path, crossing two layers in a single night was nothing short of miraculous.
"Didn’t you say the Saha World is the Emperor Venerable’s place of enlightennt? This should be normal, shouldn’t it?" Lin Hao replied, completely unfazed and composed.
Wu Taichu’s mouth twitched violently. He wished a hole would open in the ground and swallow him whole.
Not long after joining the sect, he had been chosen as the head disciple and granted the privilege of cultivating in the Saha World. Even so, it had taken him a full three months to get from the Fourth to the Sixth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm.
And for that, the sect had hailed him as a genius among geniuses.
’But now, compared to Lin Hao, a ’genius’ like is probably not even fit to be called scum.’
"Heh... not bad," Wu Taichu forced a laugh. His face burned as he uttered the two words.
"Oh, by the way, Grand Ancestor, you should go in and cultivate every day. Before long, no one will dare to question your position as head disciple."
Wu Taichu hastily changed the subject to avoid dying of embarrassnt.
At the ntion of this, Lin Hao’s mood instantly soured. "Don’t even talk about it. The leaves of that great tree inside fell and ford a ssage in the air: ’Nine hours per session, once every five days.’ It looks like I’ll have to wait five days before I can go in again."
"What?!" Wu Taichu’s eyes widened again.
’The tree inside is sentient.’
This was a fact verified by successive Sect Leaders of the Heaven-Stepping Sect.
’Even now, with my cultivation at the Peak of the Elental Realm, the powerful Gang Qi I generate when practicing in there can’t so much as damage a single leaf. And now they’re falling on their own?’
Wu Taichu lost his composure.
"Grand Ancestor, please head back to the sect first. I want to go in and cultivate for a bit." Wu Taichu decided to go in and see for himself.
Lin Hao nodded.
Wu Taichu took a step forward and recited the mantra, only to find that it had no effect.
Unwilling to give up, he tried again, but the result was the sa.
Only on his third attempt did he manage to force his way in, but he was t with extrely strong resistance.
Wu Taichu entered the Saha World, and Lin Hao walked straight back.
Just as he reached the Heaven-Stepping Peak plaza, a Heaven-Stepping Sect disciple saw him and ran frantically towards him.
The sky was just beginning to lighten. It was the pre-dawn hour, as cold as the dead of night, yet this disciple’s forehead was beaded with sweat. He was clearly frantic.
"Senior Brother, you have to go save Xiaoliuzi! He’s about to be beaten to death by Senior Brother Zhou Wu!" the disciple cried out upon seeing Lin Hao.
Lin Hao frowned. "Who is Xiaoliuzi?"
He knew only a handful of people in the Heaven-Stepping Sect and couldn’t understand why this disciple had sought him out.
"Yesterday, on the God-Proving Platform, after your duel with Jingang... the one who gave you a warning, that was Xiaoliuzi," the disciple explained.
Hearing this, Lin Hao’s mory was instantly jogged.
Yesterday, just as he was about to leave, a disciple had indeed warned him to be careful of Zhou Wu from Celestial Dui Peak and a certain Senior Brother Qin.
"Where are they?!" Lin Hao’s eyes glinted, a flash of murderous intent within them.
’This Zhou Wu is truly vicious. Soone just gave a simple warning, and he tries to kill them for it? A person like that cannot be allowed to live!’
"The God-Proving Platform..."
Before the disciple could finish his sentence, Lin Hao’s figure had already vanished.
Although it was barely dawn, a large crowd of disciples had already gathered on the God-Proving Platform.
And right in the center of the platform, a Heaven-Stepping Sect disciple had soone pinned to the ground under his foot.
"Xiaoliuzi, you’ve got so nerve, huh? Daring to speak up for that piece of trash! Now you’re getting stepped on like a dead dog by your Master Zhou Wu. Why don’t you pray that trash cos to save you now?"
Zhou Wu’s face was a mask of derision. After speaking, he spat on Xiaoliuzi’s body.
Pinned beneath his foot, Xiaoliuzi was covered in blood. His breath was as faint as a thread, and the light in his eyes had dimd.
Zhou Wu’s cultivation was at the Peak of the Sixth Layer of Blood Coagulation Realm. Xiaoliuzi, who had only just awakened his bloodline, was no match for him whatsoever.
Zhou Wu had already beaten him so severely that all his ridians were shattered!
’A bitter sense of injustice welled up inside him, but what could he do?’
’Besides, he didn’t think Lin Hao would co to save him. After all, they were complete strangers.’
’Offending Zhou Wu, one of the top ten inner disciples, for the sake of a nobody like him? Only a fool would do sothing like that.’
And yet, in the very next mont, Xiaoliuzi’s dim eyes suddenly lit up...
User Comments
0 comments from readers