Volume 2 - Chapter 74: I Am Not a Member of the Li Family, but I Am Human – Part 2
The Candlefire God was struck with a tremendous shock, his focus entirely abandoning Li Tiangang. His entire being ignited with a massive blaze as he abruptly launched a deadly attack toward Li Hao.
Li Hao, drenched in blood, continuously drew upon the power of heaven and earth. His strength climbed to terrifying new heights, but his body began to collapse under the strain.
“Die!!”
With a furious roar, Li Hao unleashed a punch aimed at Lu Yuan, intending to take down one of the demon kings first.
Stunned by Li Hao’s escalating aura, Lu Yuan instinctively retreated, both alarmed and enraged. This brat had repeatedly terrified him, each outburst of power growing more ferocious than the last.
“You can’t kill me!” Lu Yuan roared back. “I still have a reverse fate opportunity!”
“Lu Yuan, what do you mean by that?!”
The Yin Lady’s face suddenly turned pale.
If Lu Yuan truly intended to rely on such an opportunity, wouldn’t he be shifting Li Hao’s focus onto her instead?
Li Hao, however, paid no attention. He charged straight for Lu Yuan, raining down punches. His Heavenly Avatar surged forward, pinning Lu Yuan’s body. Ignoring the thunderfire surging across Lu Yuan’s form, Li Hao smashed him into the ground.
Dragon scales shattered and flew as Lu Yuan howled in agony.
At that moment, a scorching chill swept over Li Hao—a contradictory sensation, but one he genuinely felt.
The searing force seemed as if it could incinerate the heavens and earth nearby. Yet, for the first time in this battle, Li Hao felt a deathly threat akin to plunging into an icy abyss.
He turned sharply to see a wheel of blazing fire, radiating mysterious Dao Marks, descending upon him with suppressive might.
The Dao Rhythms guided it unerringly toward its target.
Li Hao swiftly activated the void state of his Supreme Body, making himself undetectable for a brief moment.
The guidance of the Dao Rhythms seemed disrupted, faltering slightly.
Li Hao stepped quickly, employing the Heaven and Earth Unbounded Technique to flicker away from the attack.
Boom!
The earth erupted, leaving a gaping pit as dirt and rocks were instantly reduced to molten lava.
Lu Yuan was caught in the aftermath, his scales scorched and curling.
The Candlefire God’s expression darkened as he turned back to Li Hao, whose ethereal aura had dissipated under the oppressive heat.
It was evident that Li Hao had just used a special technique to narrowly evade the strike.
The Candlefire God took a deep breath, his gaze icy. “Fortunately, I acted personally this time. Otherwise, there’s no telling what might have happened. That the Great Yu Divine Dynasty allowed someone like you—a promising Dao Seeker—to appear on this battlefield is nothing short of stupidity!”
“Now die!”
Scales emerged densely across his body, and the Divine Mark on his forehead glowed like a golden eye, or perhaps a miniature sun.
Raising his hand, he unleashed a Divine Flame directly at Li Hao.
Li Hao’s face shifted in alarm. The strength of this Candlefire God was far greater than that of Lu Yuan.
Both were in the Absolute Technique Stage, yet the gap between their power was astonishing.
Unable to reenter the void state of his Supreme Body, and with no way to evade, Li Hao resolved to draw even more from the heavens and earth rather than risk being gravely injured.
His entire body began to break apart as the borrowed power surged violently around him. His flesh tore open, revealing golden sinews and fiery-red Crimson Gold Blood coursing through him.
Although his Sacred Dragon Body allowed for rapid regeneration, it couldn’t keep up with the rate of his disintegration.
Boom!
Li Hao raised his fist and slammed it forward with explosive force. It felt as if half the sky behind him was propelled forward by the strike.
The golden Divine Flame blazing toward him was forcibly compressed by the punch’s power until it shrank and was ultimately extinguished!
The Yin Lady and Lu Yuan were both stunned, staring in disbelief at the young man. Such terrifying strength—if it had been them, they would have been gravely injured!
At that moment, the blood-soaked young man resembled a mythical war god, his eyes radiating ferocious killing intent, with power to spare!
Even the Candlefire God hadn’t expected his near-full-strength attack to be neutralized by Li Hao.
His heart trembled, shock flickering in his eyes.
But the stronger Li Hao became, the greater the Candlefire God’s killing intent grew. Taking a deep breath, he realized there was no longer any reason to hold back. He had planned to reserve his trump card for the decisive moment of their grand scheme.
After all, destroying Liang Province was merely the first step.
But if he continued to withhold his strength, it might become impossible to kill this youth.
Boom!
Flames surged in all directions, their blazing light inscribed with Dao Marks. The surrounding space transformed into a sea of fire, an infernal prison.
Li Hao immediately sensed the power he had been borrowing from heaven and earth beginning to fade. His Earth and Heaven Meridian was compressed, and a terrifying heat encroached closer and closer.
Shocked, Li Hao felt this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Could it be that this Supreme Dao Stage Master before him had already surpassed the Absolute Technique Stage and stepped into the Supreme Dao Stage?
Li Hao recalled what Second Elder had told him about the Supreme Dao Stage: its martial path evolves into a Dao Domain.
Within a Dao Domain, the wielder is invincible, with an insurmountable gap between it and the Absolute Technique Stage!
The fiery sea around him gave Li Hao precisely that impression. Even his Earth and Heaven Meridian was being suppressed, and the borrowed power was forcibly cut off!
“I can’t stop it!”
Li Hao’s instincts screamed at him, and his face darkened. He threw several punches to blast open a gap in the encroaching sea of flames before bolting toward the distance.
“Trying to escape?!”
Lu Yuan and the Yin Lady saw Li Hao’s retreat and moved swiftly to block him.
But Li Hao poured all his strength into his movement technique, dashing away at full speed.
Within moments, he broke free from their encirclement.
As he fled, Li Hao glimpsed the defensive line in the distance, teeming with figures atop the city walls, including familiar faces like Li Xuanli and Li Wushuang.
His expression shifted. If he escaped alone, leaving these demon kings behind, the defensive array would undoubtedly collapse in an instant.
Recalling the fervent words in the family letter sent beyond the pass, and seeing the despair etched on the faces atop the city wall, he clenched his teeth and drew a deep breath.
He deactivated the acceleration provided by two of his manuals, slowing down slightly.
To the pursuers, it seemed as though he had expended his energy in a desperate burst and was now fatigued.
Turning back to face the three demon kings, he roared, “If I don’t die today, I will one day shatter your Supreme Dao Domains and obliterate the Dragon Gate!”
With that, he ran forward once more.
Lu Yuan’s eyelid twitched uncontrollably. At this youth’s terrifying growth rate, if left alive, he might truly make good on that threat!
“Candlefire God, you must kill him!”
Lu Yuan urged hastily as he chased after Li Hao. He had already discerned the terrifying truth: the Candlefire God seemed to have partially stepped into that legendary realm.
The Candlefire God was in the process of establishing his Dao Domain. Though not fully in the Supreme Dao Stage, he was halfway there. This partial breakthrough caused his Dao Domain to manifest more slowly. Unexpectedly, this delay had given Li Hao the chance to escape.
Seeing both Lu Yuan and the Yin Lady fail to stop Li Hao, the Candlefire God inwardly cursed the incompetence of the Dragon Gate forces.
Abandoning further attempts to stabilize his Dao Domain, he unleashed his Divine Roc Movement Technique, leaping forward like a giant kunpeng in pursuit of Li Hao.
Because he had yet to fully enter the Supreme Dao Stage, the Candlefire God could not instantaneously open or sustain his Dao Domain at will. He could only deploy it in direct combat to briefly unleash Supreme Dao Stage power. This limitation made it difficult to catch an opponent determined to flee.
This was his current Achilles’ heel.
Li Hao sprinted at full speed, controlling the heavenly forces around him and refraining from drawing in more.
Earlier, he had come dangerously close to losing control, but the Candlefire God’s Flame Dao Domain had inadvertently helped sever the connection, allowing him to regain composure.
Boom!
The Candlefire God’s speed was astonishing. A wave of Divine Flame shot out from his palm and struck Li Hao squarely in the back.
The searing pain stabbed through him as his flesh burned. Li Hao coughed up blood, the attack far more devastating than anything Lu Yuan or the Yin Lady had inflicted.
Clenching his teeth, Li Hao summoned a barrage of sword qi like a torrential rainstorm, launching it behind him.
Although the sword qi lacked power, Li Hao hoped to exploit his enemy’s potential underestimation.
Having witnessed Li Hao’s sword qi kill a demon king before, Lu Yuan was highly cautious. When he saw the Yin Lady preparing to take the attack head-on with her body, he quickly warned, “Don’t touch that sword qi—it’s dangerous!”
The Yin Lady hesitated for a moment, surprised to see Lu Yuan slow slightly and fortify his defenses with intense vigilance. She followed his lead and raised her guard.
However, the Candlefire God dismissed the threat entirely. Cloaked in blazing red flames, he burned away the incoming sword qi effortlessly.
Boom!
A second blast of Divine Flame erupted from his palm, striking Li Hao once more.
Li Hao’s Immovable King Avatar emerged behind him, raising an enormous hand to deflect some of the flame’s force. Even so, the attack left him severely wounded.
“I’ll draw them away—stay safe!”
As soon as Li Hao had drawn the demon kings far enough from the defensive line, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sent a desperate sound transmission to Li Xuanli within the formation.
Li Xuanli, watching Li Hao being relentlessly pursued and repeatedly struck down by the three demon kings, felt his heart pounding with fear. When Li Hao’s message suddenly echoed in his mind, he froze.
Seeing the youth’s battered figure, his body covered in wounds and blood as he fought desperately to divert the demon kings, Li Xuanli’s eyes reddened, filling with tears.
A mere fifteen-year-old boy was bearing the burden of the entire Liang Province’s people.
Watching Li Hao spit blood and sustain grievous injuries, Li Xuanli felt his heart twist in anguish. He clenched his fists in anger at his own powerlessness.
Boom! Boom!
As Li Hao fought the three demon kings while retreating, the battlefield slowly shifted beyond the defensive line, toward the outer regions of Liang Province.
Countless figures atop the city walls watched in shock as the young man led the demon kings past the defensive array’s perimeter.
Some scions of noble families shouted angrily, questioning why the array wasn’t opened to save him.
But the older generation of these families understood. Even after a lifetime spent scheming and politicking, their hearts long since numbed by cold calculations, they could not help but be moved by the youth’s selflessness.
To stand before the defensive array yet not enter, to lead the demon kings away at the risk of his life—this was an act of sacrifice for the people.