Li Hao's aura pulsed faintly—Heaven's Master, First Level—equal to the early stage of Willful Entry. Yet as two powerful figures descended toward him, their pressure far outweighed their ranks.
Zhuo Ji-Yoo moved first, summoning the Gale Fang Slash. Wind coalesced into a sharp blade, slicing through the air with brutal force.
Beside him, Song Ji-Fan struck with the Seed Impact Palm, compressing his wood law into a singular point of destructive force in his palm.
But Li Hao was already moving.
Solar Arc Reversal.
A flare of yang energy burst beneath his feet, flinging him in a wide arc to the side. Both attacks tore through where he had been a heartbeat ago—missing.
He landed gracefully, eyes gleaming, and without pause, countered.
Twilight Star Descent.
A small sphere of blazing yang condensed in his palm before shooting forward like a comet. It exploded between the two enemies with a thunderous roar.
Flames engulfed them. Torn robes. Burning flesh.
Song Ji-Fan groaned, staggering as he called on his wood law to regenerate. The yang flames stifled the healing—months would pass before his body recovered.
Zhuo Ji-Yoo's arm and ribcage were scorched raw. Skin peeled, bleeding. He tried to rise—but Li Hao was already before him.
Reacting on instinct, Zhuo Ji-Yoo launched Azure Gale Burst. Wind surged to his palm and exploded outward as he struck.
Li Hao didn't dodge.
Eclipse Shield.
Yang energy coated his body in radiant defense. The moment the wind palm struck, a shockwave burst from his frame, hurling Zhuo Ji-Yoo away.
But danger surged behind him—Song Ji-Fan, returning with Vine Coil Palm, aimed directly at his spine.
Li Hao flipped forward, legs whipping back.
Back kick.
Crack.
Song Ji-Fan staggered but wasn't done. He vanished, reappearing with Forest Phantom Drift, weaving through the air like an illusion.
He struck again.
Verdant Growth Palm.
Each motion birthed an afterimage, culminating into one perfect strike—pure wood law condensed.
Li Hao's eyes narrowed.
Starlit Horizon Slash.
A horizontal wave of yang energy arced forth. The slash and the palm collided—yang fire shredded the wood illusion. The palm strike disintegrated, and Song Ji-Fan's arm was cleaved from shoulder to palm.
He howled.
Li Hao stepped forward, kicked him in the chest, and sent him flying like a blazing meteor across the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Zhuo Ji-Yoo had taken to the sky.
Sky Step Drift.
He became weightless, propelled by controlled wind beneath his feet. Spotting Song Ji-Fan's mutilation, rage ignited his aura.
He lashed out with Cyclone Pierce, a spiraling drill of wind law. At its tip, energy reached lethal precision, aiming straight for Li Hao's back.
But Li Hao had already sensed it.
Radiant Star Barrier.
A transparent dome shimmered around him. The spiral shattered harmlessly.
He turned with calm fury, raising his hand.
Celestial Lotus Ignition.
A golden lotus bloomed. Petals detached and flew, each imbued with the strength of his full attack. They fell on Zhuo Ji-Yoo like raining stars.
Golden flames crawled across his skin. He screamed as they invaded his meridians.
He dropped.
But Li Hao didn't stop.
Twilight Nova Devastation.
In his grasp, a miniature sun formed—unstable, radiant. It collapsed suddenly into a tiny core, dense with yang essence.
It shot downward.
A golden streak lit the sky before it struck.
Boom.
A sun bloomed on earth—twelve miles disintegrated in an instant. Dust. Fire. Silence.
And then, another sun formed in his hands.
He tossed it casually toward the distant Song Family estate.
The second nova exploded.
Two colossal craters scarred the land. Flames still licked at the edges, smoke rising to the heavens.
Li Hao hovered in the sky, bathed in twilight radiance. Then, with a flick of his wrist—
Void Shift.
He vanished, leaving only devastation in his wake.
High above, the remaining three sun spheres flickered and faded into starlight.
The great sects and families watched from afar, their hearts sinking.
"Who the hell is that martial artist?"
Several miles away, Li Hao traveled using Void Shift, each step spanning 9,000 miles as he crossed vast stretches of land with ease.
As he journeyed, he reflected silently. Over the past several hours, he had yet to test the full extent of his abilities granted by his combined law. In his clash with the Zhuo and Song families, he had only relied on his Yang Law, not the fused Space-Time Law.
He hadn't used it—not because it was weak, but because he hadn't yet fully accepted its power. It was an extremely potent and destructive law, embodying the ultimate order. Even the Great Destruction Law might fall short of the Space-Time Law in sheer cosmic devastation.
His new abilities, born from the fusion of space and time, were reserved for truly formidable opponents—those at his level or beyond.
Li Hao continued on, crossing thousands of miles in moments. His speed was unimaginable to others within the same realm. Thanks to his Heavenly Yellow Spiritual Power, he didn't need to stop and recover.
As is known, provinces are vast. A mid-level city can span 10,000 miles, while top-tier cities can reach up to 99,000 miles in radius. The distances between cities range from 40,000 to 150,000 miles—such is the scale of this world.
Li Hao stepped through space, crossing 10,000 miles per Void Shift—the maximum his current law level could handle. With this pace, he modestly surged forward at insane speeds, covering one million miles in just 125 steps. He had crossed an entire province, and by the 134th step, he stood at the border of the next.
As he entered the Matsumoto Great Province, Li Hao sensed the spiritual power in the air—1.4 times denser than before. He understood once more that the cultivation world held richer spiritual energy than the martial world. Cultivators required it in abundance, while martial artists used it more efficiently, needing only enough to sustain their techniques.
Still, even martial artists required spiritual power—external energy was necessary, regardless of one's path.
With another 32 steps, Li Hao approached the heart of the province. Though several miles remained, for him, it was only a few steps away.
Ahead lay a grand city, its radius reaching 9,250 miles. At its center stood a towering mountain, itself 250 miles across. From high above, Li Hao gazed down. The city was massive, housing thousands of Heavens Master Realm cultivators.
This was no longer the martial world—this was the cultivation world.
With his Cosmic Dao Eyes, Li Hao could see the peak clearly. Atop the central mountain stood a sect, and within that sect, a cultivator on the main peak. His aura was hidden, but Li Hao's Dao Eyes were not so easily fooled. No weak concealment technique could hide from him.
The man's cultivation was at the ninth level of the Heavens Master Realm.
Li Hao tried to see deeper into the cultivator's secrets. Suddenly, the man's eyes snapped open—sword intent flaring, sharp and fierce. He scanned the area, trying to find the source spying on him. Failing to locate Li Hao, he closed his eyes again to resume cultivation.
Just then, space ripped open—a space crack forming silently.
Li Hao stepped through, now observing from within the void. The moment the cultivator opened his eyes, Li Hao had already vanished.
Unless one mastered space, they could not perceive those hidden within the void.
Li Hao pondered that sharp intent—it had been sword intent at the Perfect Realm, just before reaching the Sword Heart Realm. At that level, one's strength was doubled—a tremendous boon.
His own sword intent was at the peak of the Mid Stage. Beyond that lay the Perfect Stage, and beyond that, the Sword Heart Realm—where cutting power transcended defenses. In that realm, even the strongest armor could be sliced with enough cutting power.
He took another step, appearing 25 miles from the sect in the city's center.
Though there were other sects, the strongest by far was the Sword Palace.
Li Hao roamed the city, eventually arriving at the palace's perimeter. The Sword Palace loomed grandly in the distance—far larger and more magnificent than the Zhuo and Song family estates, with elegant white eastern-style architecture.
From a rooftop, he looked deeper. Inside, harmony and discipline reigned. Sword practitioners moved with precision among the twelve peaks of the Sword Palace. Eleven surrounded the main peak, each governed by an elder with eighth-level cultivation—except for two, which lacked strong sword intent.
One of those was the Alchemist Tower, home to a great pill master whose disciples were no weaker than those of the other peaks.
Li Hao considered joining the sect. It could provide the foundation he needed until he broke through to the Fifth Turn.
With that thought, he leapt from the rooftops and walked the streets below.
...
The next day, Li Hao cultivated in a small rented room, about three to five square meters in size. He had secured it for the month.
The Sword Palace, the most powerful sect within a 100,000-mile radius, would begin recruiting new disciples in one month. Cultivators from the four directions would gather to take the entrance test.
This time, the test would assess one's sword intent—both fair and favorable for Li Hao.
To pass, one needed to demonstrate sword intent at the Proficiency Early Stage. While this was the minimum requirement, the higher one's level, the more likely they were to be selected by a powerful master.
Li Hao, however, couldn't reveal the full extent of his sword dao. His intent was comparable to that of a core disciple—just beneath the elders with Peak Late Stage intent, and the sect master with Perfect Intent.
Yet quality mattered just as much as quantity. At the same realm, victory in battle came down to sword skill and the quality of one's dao.
Li Hao decided he would reveal only Entry Late Stage intent fused with Profound Sword Intent. Though technically beneath the requirement, its quality far surpassed most.
Even among peers with the same cultivation and strength, his sword's quality would set him apart.
His true quality was already at the Enlightened Realm, a half-step into the Divine Realm. Though it hadn't yet enhanced his combat power, reaching the full realm would.
...
Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and soon, a month had gone by.
During this time, Li Hao explored the city. More and more cultivators had arrived, causing prices of food and lodging to rise. No one dared complain—this was the Sword Palace's domain.
Now, Li Hao sat on his bed, meditating. He cultivated the Law of Space and Time when suddenly—a system screen appeared before him.
[Ding! You have taken another step in your journey, turning 20 years of age.
Reward: Alchemist Ancient Divine Record.]
The message vanished, and knowledge flooded into his mind. The Alchemist Ancient Divine Record contained techniques from the Seventh Turn Perfect Realm—formulas from an ancient era.
It taught the methods of a Grandmaster, including patterns and refinement techniques from a once-mighty being. Li Hao was now at the level of an apprentice.
In his mind, he saw the aspiration of a perfect Seventh Turn Alchemist—one forging a Condensation Law Pill. This pill could allow a cultivator to condense a mini law domain into a true one.
Before him stood a great cauldron, into which precious spiritual herbs were cast. Golden flames danced, refined, and burned with incredible resistance.
Then—an explosion of blinding light.
When it faded, spiritual pills floated in the air, radiating immense power.
Li Hao returned to himself, smiling inwardly.
"This is the first time I've dabbled in alchemy... I suppose it's time to learn the Pill Dao."