Volume 3 - Chapter 418: Opening the Final Realm (Part 3)
“Of course,” Li Hao lifted his head slightly, pride gleaming in his eyes—greater than if he had just won a duel of swordsmanship. “I made it myself. If you don’t mind, Senior, I’ll cook for you next time. Then you’ll know I’m not bragging.”
Su Jiuzhe looked at him in surprise, then broke into a smile. “Very well. Then I’ll try it next time. But if it’s worse than these, I’ll have to punish you.”
“Go ahead!”
Li Hao’s gaze was proud, finally showing the domineering confidence and aloof spirit befitting a peerless genius.
Su Jiuzhe burst out laughing, supporting himself on the ground with one hand as his shoulders trembled from laughter. Paired with his old, gray-white robes, he looked more like a destitute scholar than an aloof emperor.
Once he was done laughing, he sighed contentedly. It had been far too long since he’d laughed this freely.
Though awakening this time had hastened the depletion of his imperial essence, at least it had brought him something to gladden his heart.
His smile slowly faded, and he said, “This time, you fought for the Human Clan of the Northern Region. The demons have taken note of you. Knowing them as I do, they’re likely to send a quasi-Emperor to wait for you in ambush outside the Imperial Star. Even if it takes a thousand years—or ten thousand—they’ll wait.”
“A quasi-Emperor?” Li Hao’s expression shifted.
Was that really necessary for someone at his cultivation level?
But after a moment, he realized—it probably was.
From a young age, he had faced opponents that far exceeded him. At age eight, he had already survived an assassination attempt by a Heaven Cycle cultivator. For a child, what hope was there?
His path had never been one of rising steadily through increasingly difficult challenges. Every step had been a leap across despair—a slaughter against the impossible.
That he had lived this long was already a miracle.
“They may even send an avatar of a Demon Emperor to lie in wait. Not the true body, but an incarnation. Even that would be more than a match for a quasi-Emperor.”
Su Jiuzhe added this with a grim look.
Li Hao was silent. To him, it didn’t really matter.
A meteor crushing a mosquito—either way, he would be obliterated.
“So, are you planning to stay and cultivate at the Su Clan?” Su Jiuzhe turned to him.
“I’ll stay until she wakes.”
Su Jiuzhe had expected that answer. He nodded, then asked with a smirk, “Just staying with her? That rascal Su Zhenyuan said he’s promised her to you. What about a wedding night?”
Li Hao: “…”
Why did this Su Clan Ancestor feel slightly… improper?
“I’ll wait until she wakes. If she doesn’t agree, it would be an offense,” Li Hao answered quietly.
Without Ying Xiaoxiao’s consent, it would be a violation.
Su Jiuzhe nodded. Of course, he knew exactly who Li Hao meant by “she.”
“This place isn’t suitable for a long stay. Once she wakes, head for the Primal True Realm. Break into the King Realm as soon as you can.”
Su Jiuzhe’s tone became solemn.
Li Hao’s expression shifted slightly. “Senior, you mean…”
“The demon attack wasn’t just a strike against a prodigy. Their true aim was to lure us into the open.”
Su Jiuzhe spoke softly. “That sword of mine failed to slay the two half-step Emperors—not because they were superior, but because they carried remnants of Emperor weapons. And because my strength hasn’t recovered.”
“That Demon Emperor refrained from attacking not because he feared me—but because he’s suspicious by nature. He thought I was laying a trap. If I’d struck with full power and killed those two quasi-Emperors, he’d only suspect I was putting on a show.”
“But eventually, he’ll keep testing the border, pressing harder each time.”
Li Hao listened intently. He understood now—Su Jiuzhe was using the Demon Emperor’s paranoia as a stalling tactic.
The true hidden amid the false, and the false hidden within the true.
“Do you know why there are peach blossoms here?”
Su Jiuzhe raised his eyes to the hilltop, catching a few falling petals in his hand.
Li Hao shook his head. “A favorite of a friend from your past?”
Su Jiuzhe shook his head slowly. “The fragrance of peach blossoms covers the stench of corpses.”
“The stench… of corpses?” Li Hao’s pupils contracted.
The hand that caught the petals—fair and sculpted like jade—suddenly withered, the color fading to gray. Wrinkles crept over the skin, the veins and tendons bulging grotesquely, as if it had been drained of all life. The air turned musty with the scent of decay.
Li Hao’s face changed slightly.
“During the ancient war against the Elder Demons, I was afflicted by their Emperor’s Reincarnation Venom. I slumber beneath this hill in a coffin of ancient spacetime, just to slow the spread.”
Su Jiuzhe spoke softly. And just like that, his withered arm regained its glow, returning to translucent jade.
Li Hao had heard of that war many times. He couldn’t help asking, “The Northern Region was also attacked back then. But why are the Human Clan and the demons still fighting each other now? If both sides suffered from the Elder Demons…”
After all, in the eyes of the Elder Demons, all races of the True Realm were food—no distinction between Human and demon.
At the question, a cold light flickered in Su Jiuzhe’s eyes.
“That’s the reason…”
“In that battle, we fought to the death but still couldn’t win. The Elder Demon Emperor’s weapon, refined through countless cycles of reincarnation, was stronger than any Emperor weapon we had. We had no choice but to sacrifice ourselves…”
“But the demons—they chose to side with the Elder Demons.”
His gaze turned dark.
“When the Northern Region was on the verge of collapse, the Emperors of the Primal True Realm joined forces and drew away the Elder Demon’s main forces—leaving only a few demons and stragglers here to exterminate us. But the Elder Demons who went to the Primal True Realm… never returned.”
“As the battle neared its end, the Elder Demons seemed to suffer internal strife. There were… problems. So the war in the North became one between us and the demons.”
Li Hao began to understand. These demons had only survived by betraying the world and allying with the Elder Demons. Even now, they remained on that side, locked in war against the Human Clan.
He clenched his fists. In the Southern Region, at least, the demons and other races had joined forces with humanity to fight the Elder Demons. But the demons here in the North—they had become nothing more than lapdogs of the enemy.
Su Jiuzhe withdrew his gaze and said lightly, “But those two quasi-Emperors—wounded by Spring Severance—they’re finished. Injuries from that sword can’t heal. Not even an Emperor weapon can fix them. Even if they reincarnate, the wound will follow them into their next life—forever.”
Li Hao blinked, awe creeping into his heart. The Spring Severance Imperial Sword… was truly terrifying.
“Good. Serves them right!” he said, clapping in approval.
But then he recalled something Su Jiuzhe had said earlier. A worried look crossed his face. “If the demons keep testing the border, then the Northern Region—”
“It’s not your concern right now.”
Su Jiuzhe shook his head. “Wait here until she wakes. Then go to the Primal True Realm. Since you came with that marriage contract, you should have the seal he gave you. I’ll rest easy knowing you’re with him. In the meantime, anything you need—ask Su Zhenyuan. I’ll speak with him. Even the Su Clan’s guardian treasure, the ‘Lotus of a Hundred Lives,’ is yours if you want it.”
Li Hao didn’t ask what the Lotus of a Hundred Lives was. If it was the Su Clan’s treasured artifact, it was surely one of the most supreme treasures in the entire True Realm.
“Thank you, Senior. But I only wish to stay by her side.”
Li Hao replied earnestly.
Su Jiuzhe shook his head. “No need to be modest. Supreme treasures belong with supreme people. With your talent, your chances of reaching the Emperor Realm are high. It all depends on whether you can forge your own Emperor’s Path.”
“The one I forged… you haven’t even touched it. Most Emperor Paths have already been carved out. Few remain, and those that do… are harder than ever to find. Whether you can comprehend one, we shall see.”
Li Hao had heard before that to become an Emperor, one must forge a unique Emperor’s Path.
Like the Fivefold Immortal Emperor, who fused five Dao Origins into the Fivefold Emperor Sword—a supreme swordsmanship path.
“What is your Emperor Path, Senior?” Li Hao asked curiously.
It was a bold question—tantamount to asking someone about the core of their power.
But Su Jiuzhe didn’t mind. Upon becoming an Emperor, one’s Emperor Path would be projected across the True Realm—public knowledge, not a secret.
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