Volume 3 - Chapter 418: Opening the Final Realm (Part 2)
Fourth Uncle shot Su Zhenyuan a look but said no more. Instead, he turned to Li Hao with a kind smile. “Go on, the Ancestor has been waiting for you a long time.”
Li Hao nodded with a smile, thinking to himself that the earlier “Clan Master” greeting had merely been for Su Zhenyuan’s sake. Judging by how Fourth Uncle spoke to him, he clearly still treated him like a junior—not a trace of reverence for the so-called head of the household.
Su Zhenyuan made to lead Li Hao up the hill, but Fourth Uncle stretched out a hand to block him.
“What are you doing?” Fourth Uncle looked at him strangely.
Su Zhenyuan paused, then replied, “The Ancestor rarely awakens. I wish to pay my respects.”
“If he wanted to see you, he’d summon you himself,” Fourth Uncle said gruffly.
Su Zhenyuan was speechless. As the head of the Su Clan, was he really being blocked at the entrance?
But this was the ancestral ground. He didn’t dare barge in and could only mutter awkwardly, “Then… I’ll come back another time.”
Fourth Uncle ignored him and simply gestured with his chin toward the hill. “The Ancestor is at the summit.”
“Alright.”
Li Hao responded, cupped his fists to the two of them, and stepped into the peach blossom hill.
The scent of peach blossoms wafted over him as he walked the small path up to the summit. There, he saw Su Jiuzhe, dressed in a gray-white robe, seated directly on the green grass. Beside him was a wooden table with a few dishes of snacks and two small flasks of wine.
Petals floated down from the trees. A couple landed in Su Jiuzhe’s hair, but he seemed not to notice.
“You’ve arrived.”
Su Jiuzhe tilted his head slightly to look at the young man walking up the slope.
Li Hao approached and bowed deeply. “Thank you, Ancestor, for coming to our aid.”
“I didn’t save you,” Su Jiuzhe said flatly, though his eyes held a teasing glint.
Li Hao replied calmly, “Then thank you for saving Miss Su.”
“But that’s not really what you want to thank me for, is it?”
A faint smile played on Su Jiuzhe’s lips. “You’re grateful I saved the other soul within that girl’s body, aren’t you?”
Li Hao froze. A ripple of shock passed through him. Under Su Jiuzhe’s smiling yet penetrating gaze, he felt utterly laid bare, as if standing naked in a snowstorm with nowhere to hide.
“You… knew?” he asked quietly.
“Sit.”
Su Jiuzhe gestured to the small table.
Li Hao sat down, heart slightly racing. “Is there a way, Ancestor… to awaken her early?”
Su Jiuzhe slowly raised his hand. His gray sleeve slipped down, revealing a powerful, sinewy arm. He lifted a wine flask and drank deeply, then grabbed a small plate of spirit-fruit kernels and tossed a few into his mouth.
Chewing leisurely, he said, “Not just knew. The story goes way back… She and I had an agreement, once.”
Li Hao’s heart jumped. An agreement? With her?
“You… know Shi Miao?” he blurted out.
Only the original soul of Ying Xiaoxiao’s past life—that time spirit born of chaos—could possibly know the man before him.
Su Jiuzhe gave a slight nod, his gaze drifting to the sea of peach blossoms.
“That agreement… she knelt before the Heavenly Venerable for ten thousand years just to obtain one sliver of guidance…”
He shook his head and didn’t elaborate further. Instead, he turned to Li Hao.
“To awaken her early? I cannot. It is her own fate. When the time is right, she will awaken on her own. Everything is destiny. Without reaching the Emperor Realm, you cannot transcend fate, much less control it. I won’t meddle with it.”
Li Hao trembled inwardly.
Fate?
Among the Nine Sequences of the Grand Dao, none was fate. Fate was supreme—above time, above space. It could not be spoken, could not be grasped, stretching through past and future alike.
Li Hao had seen countless peerless prodigies, but none ever claimed they could touch fate.
Even he himself had only the vaguest understanding of it—let alone control.
So even a top-tier genius like himself, even after reaching the King Realm, was still bound by fate? Only those who stepped into the Emperor Realm could break free?
His gaze flickered slightly.
What, then, was the end of his own destiny?
Su Jiuzhe tapped his wine flask against another, then said, “Enough about that. Come—do you drink?”
“I do.”
Li Hao returned from his thoughts, nodded, and grabbed the flask. He offered a polite thanks, then tilted his head back and drank.
Seeing how casually Li Hao drank, Su Jiuzhe laughed aloud.
He was an Emperor. In front of him, others always trembled, too scared to even sit down. Even Su Zhenyuan, the clan head, wouldn’t dare raise a cup next to him if invited.
Being invincible was lonely.
But thankfully, some joys remained in life—like drinking.
Drinking with interesting people. Drinking with those who could drink freely.
Perhaps, this was one of the few pleasures that still lingered after attaining immortality.
“No good drink goes without snacks. I had these pastries specially made—try them.”
He gestured toward the few dishes on the table.
Li Hao was still overwhelmed. The wine he drank—it was unlike anything he had tasted before. Like celestial nectar… no, even celestial nectar paled in comparison.
It held a vast, towering power, seeping into his very bones. He felt as though both his immortal body and primordial spirit were nourished and encased by this strength.
His senses sharpened. His primordial spirit seemed enhanced. His perception of the world around him grew more detailed, more attuned. It felt as if he had entered the extreme realm of immortal transformation—one with the heavens and earth.
Yet he had not truly entered that state. He had simply sat and drunk the wine.
He put down the flask and stared at it for a moment, then asked, “Senior… this wine?”
Su Jiuzhe replied, “You don’t recognize it?”
Of course Li Hao recognized wine. He even liked it. But this—this wasn’t ordinary wine.
Who ever heard of wine that made you more clear-headed the more you drank?
Seeing his stunned expression, Su Jiuzhe chuckled and said, “It just contains a little Heavenly Dao Essence Liquid. Not much use to you now. But once you break into the King Realm, it’ll help you expand and stabilize your domain—take you beyond the average Immortal King.”
Li Hao froze.
Heavenly Dao Essence Liquid?
Just the name alone was staggering.
What else in the world dared bear the name of the Heavenly Dao?
Clearly, this was a gift from the Ancestor.
He clutched the wine flask and took a deep breath. Without another word, he tilted his head back and kept drinking.
Su Jiuzhe had expected him to leap up, full of gratitude and elaborate thanks. That would’ve been rather dull.
But seeing the kid just guzzling more wine—he couldn’t help but find it funny. And the more he looked at him, the more pleasing the boy seemed.
No wonder she had knelt for ten thousand years just to seek out her future husband.
So young, and already so interesting. What kind of presence would he become in the future?
He chuckled. “Don’t just drink. Eat something.”
“Alright.”
Li Hao nodded and grabbed a pastry, munching away without the slightest awareness that he was dining beside an Emperor.
The pastries, however, were nothing to write home about. Ordinary immortal cakes—flavor a bit lacking.
He frowned, swallowed them hastily, and went back to drinking.
“Not to your taste?” Su Jiuzhe asked.
“Honestly? A bit subpar,” Li Hao replied bluntly.
Su Jiuzhe laughed out loud. “These were made by the best cook in the Su Clan.”
He never skimped on anything he ordered.
“That may be the best in your Su Clan, but it’s not the best in the True Realm,” Li Hao said, wearing a rare serious expression—like a swordsman critiquing a flawed technique.
Su Jiuzhe paused, then asked curiously, “Don’t tell me you’ve eaten better? Where?”
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