Chapter 354: Gathering of Heaven's Chosen, Leaving Names on the Heavenly Stele

"Since they cannot coexist within one body, if I could extend my physical form and cultivate outside my body…"

Li Hao muttered to himself.

The two forces repelled each other. If they could be separated and cultivated separately, perhaps they could be fused.

But how could they be separated?

If he used an avatar, they would still repel each other when the avatar merged with his main body. Otherwise, Saints would all be able to create avatars. Such a simple solution would have been thought of by others, and Elder Feng wouldn't have reached such a conclusion.

"Unless there is absolute power to isolate them, or to extend the body…"

Li Hao's eyes flickered. Speaking of extension, his thoughts suddenly turned to the qi pulses he had previously considered.

The 108 pulses in the body, plus the yin and yang dual pulses, constitute the Extreme Realm Heavenly Earth Pulse.

This was the limit of the physical body, innate acupoints, but if qi could be used to simulate major pulses, extending beyond the body, these would be qi pulses.

If qi pulses could be cultivated, perhaps there would be hope of reaching the second final realm.

The union of power and qi, the completion of dual pulses, was already the end point of cultivation.

"If I could extend my body like qi pulses…"

Li Hao's eyes gleamed. He immediately realized that he needed to cultivate qi pulses first before following this line of thought. Otherwise, qi pulses were just a castle in the air theory. Delving deeper into this line of thinking would only be a waste of time.

Since he could no longer absorb Extreme Dao power, he simply sat cross-legged and began condensing qi pulses.

Qi surged through the meridians in his body. Li Hao refined and controlled it, turning it into the rudimentary form of a major pulse, one end connected to the 108 pulses within his body, the other extending outwards, like swirling ribbons of qi power.

Soon, Li Hao felt resistance.

Simulating qi pulses was not difficult, but maintaining them was.

Qi pulses extending outside the body were like rootless duckweed, swaying in the wind. Without a force to sustain them, they would instantly dissipate and become chaotic.

However, if force were used to maintain them, the power absorbed by the qi pulse itself would only just barely make up for the consumption of maintaining it.

"Could it be that this path is wrong?"

Li Hao frowned, his eyes flickering.

But soon, he secretly rejected this thought.

When encountering obstacles, one should think of ways to overcome them, not question the path itself. After all, it was not yet a dead end.

"Qi pulses can indeed absorb more power, indicating this line of thought is feasible. It's just too difficult to maintain them. If the maintenance consumption can be reduced, and the number of condensed qi pulses is increased, it might bring about a terrifying qualitative change…"

The body's acupoints had a limit, but there was no limit to the number of qi pulses that could be condensed!

If there were hundreds, thousands of qi pulses, the accumulated amount would be unimaginably terrifying.

In other words, this line of thought had great prospects, but it was temporarily unattainable.

Li Hao condensed a second, then a third qi pulse. As seven or eight qi pulses were condensed, they swirled around his body like ribbons.

Li Hao carefully sensed them, his brow furrowing even deeper.

These qi pulses also had a problem: they could easily be severed by enemies during battle.

If hundreds or thousands were condensed, enemies would easily see the tell-tale signs and sever them, rendering all the effort wasted.

"Extending outside the body will inevitably be noticed. How can I avoid being seen and still maintain them autonomously…"

Li Hao's thoughts raced, feeling a bit of a headache.

This was something the system interface couldn't solve for him.

The system interface could shorten cultivation time, but the insights needed for the Extreme Realm could only be gained through his own understanding.

While Li Hao was pondering qi pulses, in a cavern in another part of the battlefield.

Suddenly, the cavern trembled, and several figures burst out from within.

"Damn it, run!"

"Don't wait for that beast tide to return, it'll be troublesome if they attack from both sides!"

Lin Baichuan and Chu Hanwei were the first to rush out, their faces tense.

This cavern was densely packed with void demons. In addition, there were some demon lords, and the cavern walls were covered in void crystals. Using these, the void demons could unleash extremely terrifying void surges.

Even though they were all heaven's chosen, facing this troublesome and massive void demon horde, they could only retreat.

As they rushed out, a shockwave suddenly swept over. Their expressions changed, and they quickly used Void Blink to teleport away, narrowly avoiding it.

The ground trembled as numerous void beasts chased out of the cavern. Lin Baichuan immediately led them away, fleeing rapidly. After circling around in a large loop, the void demons finally stopped, seemingly worrying about something, and did not pursue too deeply.

"Those beasts retreated."

Lin Baichuan and the others stopped in the void, all feeling weary. Repeated Void Blinks were comparable to a fierce battle, consuming a great deal of power. Even with the replenishment from their Heavenly Earth Pulses, they barely recovered.

"What a pity, those beasts have Starfall Essence in their bodies, important materials for cultivating Dao Calamity Imperial Weapons. I was still hoping to hunt some."

"These demons like to gather in groups, they don't travel solitary. Hunting them is a bit difficult."

Their expressions were not good. As Saint Children, heaven's chosen, they were actually chased so pathetically by demons. If this were to spread, it would be shameful.

"Fortunately, the previous group of demons didn't return to their lair in time. Speaking of which, what were those demons doing in Lihe Valley? Could they be planning to destroy Lihe Valley to vent their frustration?"

Chu Hanwei's expression suddenly changed slightly.

Hearing her words, Lin Baichuan was stunned, and immediately said, "Let's go, we'll go take a look."

They identified the direction and sped towards Lihe Valley.

Before they even arrived, they smelled a strong stench of blood.

Everyone's hearts chilled, and they became vigilant, peering ahead. As they approached, they immediately saw a patch of blood-red ground, scattered with many fresh corpses.

"These, these are void demons?"

Seeing void demons slaughtered all over the ground, Chu Hanwei was stunned, her beautiful eyes widening slightly in disbelief.

This vast void demon horde was actually all dead here, their deaths gruesome and bizarre, terrifying.

Lin Baichuan and the others were also stunned. They quickly became vigilant, cautiously surveying their surroundings, while rapidly examining the cause of death of these demons. They immediately discovered that they all seemed to have been killed instantly with a single blow, as if a razor-sharp blade had swiftly moved through the demon horde, slaughtering them all!

"They didn't even have time to scatter, they were completely slaughtered by someone at lightning speed!"

A Saint Child's eyes revealed shock, his heart pounding.

Lin Baichuan's primordial spirit raced out, instantaneously spanning hundreds of li, surveying the surroundings.

Soon, he saw the peak of Lihe Valley, a hundred li away. Two figures were sitting there, a luxurious cushioned mat spread on the bare ground, with a chessboard and wine set up, wine glasses filled.

Lin Baichuan's pupils narrowed slightly. Could it be…

He didn't speak, his primordial spirit returning. Then, his body flew directly towards Lihe Valley.

The others also detected Li Hao's figure and were shocked. They followed Lin Baichuan to the peak of Lihe Valley.

"Brother Haotian?"

Lin Baichuan saw Li Hao sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, and the vortex-like streamers floating around Li Hao's body, seemingly cultivating something.

Li Hao sensed movement and immediately retracted his qi pulses. He also realized that qi pulses could not be retracted into the body. Once retracted, they would dissipate, and he would have to condense and construct them again next time. Obviously, this was not feasible in combat; it required advance preparation, the pre-casting time was too long.

It seemed that his line of thought had many fatal flaws. Could it really be the wrong path?

Opening his eyes, Li Hao saw Lin Baichuan and Chu Hanwei and six others. They were all stained with dirt, seemingly having gone through a fierce battle. One person was even missing a sleeve, exposing his bare shoulder, as if his arm had been severed, though it had been regenerated.

Seeing that they had disturbed his cultivation, Lin Baichuan's face showed a hint of apology. He said, "Brother Haotian, we are here to ask, were the demons on the battlefield a hundred li away all killed by you?"

Li Hao was a little surprised and nodded. "I killed them. Were they driven here by you all? Did I steal your prey?"

"..."

Lin Baichuan and the others exchanged glances. They suddenly thought of their master's attitude towards this Haotian. No wonder he was so polite and doting.

"Brother Haotian is actually able to single-handedly slay thousands of Dao-level great demons…"

A complex look appeared in Lin Baichuan's eyes. He had previously wanted to spar with him, but his master had directly refused on his behalf. It seemed his master had seen that his strength was incomparable to the other.

This made him feel a bit resentful. He had become a disciple of a Saint, was exceptionally gifted since childhood, and his name had resounded throughout several divine dynasties in his youth, his reputation spreading far and wide.

Now, in the Thief Heaven Holy Land, he was also considered an elite, yet he didn't even have the right to exchange blows with the other?

"Those void demons can unleash void surges. Brother Haotian was actually able to withstand them as well, truly impressive."

A Saint Child came back to his senses and couldn't help but say. He had previously felt uncomfortable with this stranger, wondering what virtues or abilities he possessed to receive such favor from the Thief Saint. But now, he was heartily convinced.

"Void surges? I don't know about those."

Li Hao was puzzled. Could it be that they were too far away and the demons didn't have time to unleash them before he killed them?

Hearing Li Hao's words, and seeing that Li Hao's clothes were clean, not even stained with dust, and that he hadn't been touched by even a drop of blood after such an intense battle, it was obvious that he had plenty of strength to spare.

Chu Hanwei's eyes flickered as she gazed at Li Hao and said, "With Brother Haotian's capabilities, why not go to the Heavenly Stele and try to see if you can leave your name on it."

"Heavenly Stele?"

Li Hao's eyes moved slightly. He had heard Elder Feng mention it as well.

In the center of the Battlefield of the Heavens, there was an ancient stele standing tall, said to be a Dao Calamity Imperial Weapon grade treasure.

However, this stele was not an offensive weapon and was shrouded in a special restriction, making it unshakeable and immovable, so it remained in this place.

This stele had a magical effect: as long as a living being touched the stele with their body, the stele could measure the strength of that life and display it on the stele.

When the Battlefield of the Heavens opened and armies from various realms came to participate in the war, they would also observe this stele. Some soldiers would also come to the stele to verify their own strength, as a memento.

Now, the battlefield was sealed off, only for these heaven's chosen from the Holy Lands to roam, making it exceptionally empty, but the Heavenly Stele still stood, unchanged since ancient times.

"That's right, with Brother Haotian's capabilities, you will definitely be able to leave your name on the Heavenly Stele. We originally also planned to go back and try it out, why don't we go see it together now?"

Lin Baichuan recovered and immediately invited Li Hao with great interest, wanting to compare how much of a gap there was through the Heavenly Stele.

"With Brother Haotian's strength, you might even be able to leave a purple light!"

Another Saint Child said. Although he hadn't seen clearly what means Li Hao used to slay the demon horde, being able to fight alone against them was already extremely difficult.

Seeing their warm invitation, Li Hao thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let's go take a look then."

His Extreme Dao power was saturated, and he couldn't absorb any more for now. His qi pulse thinking had also reached a conceptual bottleneck. It would be good to wander around.

"Heaven's Chosen from other realms will probably also come here to test themselves. We might encounter them, so be careful then."

Chu Hanwei said.

Li Hao waited for Hongyue to get up, then packed away the luxurious cushioned mat, and also collected the chessboard, table, and wine, before following them together.

Hongyue followed beside Li Hao, listening to these Saint Children talking about the Heavenly Stele along the way, and then discussing their encounters with cavern demons and other situations.

She was intelligent and subtly discerned some things. The demons that Li Hao had killed with a snap of his fingers seemed to be extremely terrifying, to the point where these Saint Children had to avoid their edge.

But Li Hao had just casually killed them, without even looking at them… Hongyue's eyes flickered, feeling more and more that Li Hao was extraordinary. She thought to herself, if these Saint Children knew that this young master had just casually slaughtered the demon horde, she wondered what they would think.

With the wind whistling, half an hour later, they traversed a vast battlefield. Along the way, they encountered some void demons, but these demons, seeing Li Hao and the others, did not actively approach, but instead quickly hid.

Unless provoked, they would not rashly attack these humans.

They recognized that these fellows were not the ordinary soldiers from the inter-realm wars, not prey to be hunted at will.

"Look quickly, over there is the Heavenly Stele!"

Lin Baichuan suddenly pointed excitedly.

Waves of low rumbling thunder emanated from afar. Clouds and mist gathered in the sky. At the end of their sight, a divine monument as lofty as a stone peak stood tall between heaven and earth.

Swirling clouds and mist surrounded it, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and waves of Dao sounds emanated.

"How magnificent!"

On Li Hao's wrist, Xiyan raised her scarlet tendrils and exclaimed in amazement.

Hongyue's eyes also widened slightly. This was the Heavenly Stele?

She had interacted with many princes and nobles and heard many wonders from their mouths, including the Heavenly Stele famous throughout the heavens.

Many heaven's chosen eagerly wanted to leave their names on the stele, so their names could resonate through eternity. And this stele was on the Battlefield of the Heavens, so those who reached the Saint Realm could no longer leave their names.

Although those princes and nobles were unable to come here, they were well-informed about these things, just like ordinary people liked to chat about important matters of the dynasty. In contrast, wealthy merchants were only focused on their own little private affairs within their own territory, too busy to spare time, and might not even know as much about other news as common folk.

"Now, to leave a name on the Heavenly Stele, at least blue light is required."

A Saint Child exclaimed.

"Blue light?"

Li Hao was puzzled. Elder Feng hadn't explained this in detail.

"That's right, the Heavenly Stele's imprints have six lights. Rumor has it there are seven, but no one has ever seen one yet. And the strength of combat prowess can be seen through these six lights."

Chu Hanwei, who had suggested coming here, enthusiastically explained to Li Hao, "These six lights are grey, white, green, blue, purple, and gold!"

"Ordinary Dao-level cultivators only trigger grey and white light. Those who can overpower most within the same realm can trigger green light. Like us, we are at least blue light, hoping for purple light."

Li Hao nodded, saying nothing.

As they approached, Li Hao immediately felt waves of majestic Dao aura. This Heavenly Stele was like a Saint standing there, surrounded by the Great Dao, displaying various phenomena.

"Huh?"

When they arrived near the Heavenly Stele, Li Hao noticed that there were quite a few figures here.

"It's Heaven's Chosen from other realms."

Lin Baichuan and the others' expressions changed slightly. "Those guys from Lietian Holy Land said earlier they'd wait for us, but they're already here."

Li Hao also saw some familiar figures among them, including Lin Qingying. He didn't expect her to be here as well.

Besides Lin Qingying, many old acquaintances from Canglan Realm were here.

Chiguang, Lin Shuhai, and the Radiant Moon Saint, among others.

"It's Haotian!"

When Li Hao noticed them, they also detected Li Hao's aura. When they saw Li Hao arrive, they were all taken aback, and then their expressions turned serious.

Since Li Hao's battle with the Twin-born Buddha, his name had become famous throughout Canglan Realm. They had all witnessed the gap between themselves and this prodigy.

"Haotian…"

Lin Qingying paused slightly when she saw Li Hao, and then flew over, standing in front of Li Hao, biting her lip slightly. "When I saw you being taken away by the Thief Saint, did anything happen to you?"

Li Hao nodded, then asked, "What about that pill?"

Hearing his question, a hint of panic flashed in Lin Qingying's eyes, disappearing in an instant. "I lost it."

Li Hao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's good that you lost it."

The pill contained a drop of his divine blood, a contingency plan he'd left earlier. If he were to perish, he could transfer his Dao-sense perception to the divine blood within that pill, and be reborn through this drop of blood.

The divine blood was preserved within the pill, so it could be preserved for a relatively long time, but for him now, it's not of much use.

When he was previously hunted by the Void Saint, he was cut down until only a few drops of divine blood remained. He tested them one by one, and luckily escaped. The other drops of divine blood had already dissipated in the void.

After all, even divine blood, constantly eroded by the power of the void in the void, could only last for ten years at most.

If one hadn't reached the final realm, and it was just mere mortal blood, it would be erased in an instant.

However, having experienced this calamity, Li Hao planned to leave two drops of divine blood with Elder Feng as well.

Although peeling off divine blood would slightly diminish his own power, the loss was minimal, and instead, it was leaving himself a backup plan.

This was the true allure of the Power of Mastery final realm. Combined with the Three Immortalities Extreme Realms, it could be considered true immortality and indestructibility in a sense.

"And who is this?"

Lin Baichuan and the others sized up Lin Qingying. Seeing her ethereal figure and face was pure, beautiful, and peerless, they guessed she must also be a Saintess from some holy land, and extremely powerful, they couldn't help but be surprised.

"A friend."

Li Hao said to Lin Qingying, "These are friends from the Thief Heaven Holy Land."

Hearing Li Hao's words, a hint of a smile had originally appeared in her eyes, but hearing Li Hao also referring to those beside him as friends, the smile quickly faded. She nodded slightly and said to them, "Thief Heaven Holy Land, I've heard much of your esteemed name."

"And you are?"

"Sword Ancestor Holy Land."

"The pleasure is mine."

They exchanged a few dry pleasantries. They all realized they would be competing against each other in the Supreme Heaven's Chosen Battle, so there wasn't much more to say.

"Are you here to leave your name on the Heavenly Stele?"

Lin Qingying looked at Li Hao again, her eyes lighting up, as if to encourage him. "With your capabilities, you should be able to leave a gold inscription!"

Hearing her words, Chiguang and Lin Shuhai and the others' expressions changed slightly, but they remained silent.

Deep down, they more or less agreed with this.

They had also come here to test themselves before. Chiguang and Lin Shuhai had both left purple names, and the Radiant Moon Saint was the same, but ranked below these two. Even they had achieved purple light, then Hao Tian would likely achieve gold light, and the Twin-born Buddha was probably the same.

"Oh, right, I heard that the Twin-born Buddha had revived using a relic, and he would still participate in the Supreme Heaven's Chosen Battle, and is currently in seclusion within the Buddhist Holy Land."

Lin Qingying suddenly thought of something and said solemnly to Li Hao.

(End of Chapter)