Chapter 393: Cooking Huntian
Huntian Saint's imperial weapon was a massive, menacing battle knife. Its surface was exceptionally rough, appearing to be a crude mix of stone and bronze, haphazardly forged. Jagged edges protruded from the blade and spine, resembling fish fins, giving it an air of savagery.
Potent tribulation power emanated from the battle knife. The moment it was drawn, the dense tribulation force formed a thunderous domain spanning tens of thousands of meters, causing the heavens and earth to lose color. The air itself seemed to twist and tear.
Li Hao instantly saw the surrounding world converging with surging energy and Dao principles, all centered on the battle knife. Its aura rivaled even Supreme Saints, radiating terrifying might.
In comparison, the broken blade fragment displayed nothing but light, devoid of any other unusual phenomena.
"Kill!"
With the knife unsheathed, there was no turning back. Li Hao fully mobilized the broken blade fragment, his primordial spirit in command. He employed attributes like Flying Dagger and Hidden Bow to increase its range and speed.
The Hidden Bow attribute, concealing the blade's edge, caused Huntian Saint a momentary lapse of focus, as if the fragment had vanished from his perception for an instant.
When he regained awareness, the fragment had appeared even closer, as if teleporting.
"Die!"
Huntian Saint's eyes blazed with murderous intent. His Extreme Saint Dao Domain pressed down, attempting to lock the fragment, while his battle knife abruptly slashed towards Li Hao.
As the blade descended, tribulation clouds roared, and countless bolts of lightning exploded. Vast black rifts were carved into the void. The mere shockwave from the blade's edge alone seemed to cleave heaven and earth asunder.
Neither chose to defend. Instead, they poured all their strength into attacking each other.
The Eternal Dao Domain caved in and fractured, waves of terrifying tribulation force assaulting it. For the first time, Li Hao felt his Eternal Dao Domain was so fragile, like a balloon facing a heavy wooden club, forced to the brink of bursting.
This pressure made his bones creak and groan. Dao patterns emerged within his Dao bones, and his divine blood surged. He transformed into a Dao Ancestor, his physical body seemingly embedded with heaven and earth, becoming immensely solid, finally slowing the pressure from the battle knife.
At the same time, Li Hao's mind was focused on the broken blade fragment.
At this point, his only hope was that this fragment could pierce Huntian Saint's physical body.
Faster, faster!
Li Hao roared inwardly, his primordial spirit driving the fragment with all its might. The fragment's speed was incredible, as if unhindered, even surpassing the speed of Huntian Saint's descending battle knife.
It arrived first.
Pfft!
The fragment suddenly sliced into Huntian Saint's Saint Domain without any resistance, then pierced directly through his chest, exiting from his back.
Li Hao's eyes widened in astonishment, then filled with elation. He hurriedly maneuvered the fragment back.
Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!
The fragment moved like a streak of light, like a darting golden needle, weaving back and forth within Huntian Saint's massive body. Seemingly insignificant, flashes of light constantly erupted as it pierced through his flesh again and again!
Huntian Saint's vaunted physical body, comparable to a fifth or even sixth tribulation imperial weapon in strength, was being effortlessly penetrated by the fragment.
"Too sharp!" Li Hao thought, excited and deeply shocked.
At this moment, Huntian Saint roared in fury. His physical body had been pierced by the fragment – it was definitely some kind of peerless divine weapon. He poured all his power into the battle knife, intending to trade blow for blow and kill Li Hao.
The battle knife howled as it fell, though slightly slower than the fragment, it was still too fast to evade.
Bang!
Li Hao pushed all his extreme realms to their limit, continuously swinging his sword to shatter the momentum of the battle knife, but with little effect.
The blade descended like a colossal mountain range slashing down, the shockwave tearing the ground open into bottomless ravines.
At the instant of impact, Li Hao stored Gongming Sword away.
His body felt like it was being subjected to extreme flames and tearing, followed by an irresistible crushing force that squeezed his body to the point of explosion!
His entire body burst, divine blood splattered, and Dao bones fractured and shattered.
However, the light of the Heavenly Star Meridian did not dissipate. Amidst the starlight, the shattered flesh and blood, guided by his Dao will, coalesced and contracted.
Huntian Saint saw Li Hao attempting regeneration, and intensified the power of his battle knife.
Li Hao's remains instantly shattered again, Dao bones pulverized, and divine blood annihilated.
Yet, the light of the Heavenly Star Meridian did not diminish. Instead, within the shattered Dao bones, a power of the Great Dao spread out. Even though the Dao bones were completely pulverized, the power of the Great Dao remained undiminished.
Li Hao transformed into the Great Dao itself, indestructible, becoming resilient beyond imagination.
However, this battle knife was, after all, a sixth tribulation Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapon. Even the Great Dao could be slain. The intense tribulation force made Li Hao feel his "Dao Body," formed after becoming one with the Dao, constantly shrinking.
If this continued, even the Great Dao would be destroyed by the tribulation force.
But this would take time, and within this brief respite, the Heavenly Star Meridian drew in countless stellar powers. In an instant, Li Hao's body regenerated from the destruction.
He manifested from the Great Dao, blossoming in the void, and healed in the blink of an eye.
Rumbling tremors echoed behind Li Hao. All of this happened during the descent of the blade, in an extremely short span of time.
It appeared as if the battle knife had obliterated and destroyed Li Hao's body, but as the blade finished its swing, Li Hao stood perfectly unharmed in the same spot.
Failing to shatter Li Hao's body in an instant and pulverize his Dao Body meant failing to completely kill Li Hao.
Even a Supreme Saint could not destroy Li Hao's Eternal Dao Domain, pulverize Li Hao's physical body comparable to a third tribulation imperial weapon, and simultaneously obliterate his Dao Body in a single instant.
In other words, even a Supreme Saint would now find it extremely difficult to kill Li Hao!
However, the sixth tribulation imperial weapon's ability to erode Li Hao's Dao Body still made Li Hao sense the scent of death's edge. If it were a seventh tribulation imperial weapon, it might possess the ability to annihilate him completely.
Li Hao's eyes turned cold as he looked at the shocked Huntian Saint. Without pausing, he controlled the fragment to rush towards him again at full speed.
The fragment rapidly traversed Huntian Saint's body, spraying blood continuously.
The scattered blood was Supreme Saint's divine blood, also the precious blood refined by Huntian Saint as an ancient ferocious beast.
Li Hao caught the distinct aroma emanating from the blood, his eyes narrowing slightly. Certain ingredients suddenly flashed into his mind.
These were all cooking ingredients for stewing blood, dishes he usually prepared using dragon blood, phoenix blood, or the blood of some Dao-understanding demons.
"This Supreme Saint's blood, made into Spicy Blood Curd Stew, I wonder what it would taste like. The broth should be made with dragon bones for a richer flavor…"
Li Hao's eyes flickered. A daring idea sprouted in his mind: to cook Huntian Saint.
The scattered blood was precious ingredient, stirring his culinary impulses.
Huntian Saint considered him a meatball, but looking at Huntian Saint's enormous body, wasn't this precisely an exceptionally delicious ingredient?
Cooking a top-tier Supreme Saint, especially one who achieved Sainthood through physical cultivation – just how delicious would it be? That flesh must be incredibly chewy…
Thinking this, Li Hao felt his mouth watering. This thought, like madness, took root in his mind and refused to be dispelled.
"Absolute Heaven Severance!"
At this moment, Huntian Saint suddenly roared and swung his knife down again in fury.
This time, the blade's power was even more terrifying, borrowing the power of the Heavenly Dao. The light of the sun and moon in the heavens and earth seemed to be plundered, plunging everything into darkness, leaving only the blade's light illuminating the pitch-blackness.
Li Hao knew he couldn't evade it, so he chose to unleash his full power to resist head-on.
He continuously swung his sword, using sword light to strike the blade, his Eternal Dao Domain fully deployed.
Bang!
His full resistance was instantly shattered, and his physical body exploded, transforming into his Dao Body. The tribulation force carried a Heavenly Dao will, seeking to disintegrate the Great Dao.
Li Hao felt his Dao Body about to fall apart. Under the Heavenly Dao's will, it transformed from the Great Dao into Dao rhythm, dissipating from cohesion to dispersion.
He immediately anchored his Dao will deep into the earth and heavens, using his Celestial Venerable will to resist.
Soon, the Heavenly Dao's power was isolated. His Dao Body was constantly eroded under the tribulation force, but the Heavenly Star Meridian's starlight shone brightly, and Li Hao regenerated again in the blink of an eye.
The moment he regenerated, Li Hao controlled the fragment to relentlessly cut into Huntian Saint's body.
Huntian Saint's body was continuously carved with wounds, blood spraying. His Saint Domain and physical body were helpless against the fragment.
However, his body was also rapidly healing as it was injured.
Li Hao controlled the fragment, no longer simply piercing through, but cutting along his carapace and the muscle beneath, causing large-scale damage.
"Cooking, with heaven and earth as the pot, and the void as the fire. Though a Supreme Saint, his true form is just an ancient ferocious insect. If he were still a larva, deep-frying him would probably make him crispy and crunchy…"
Li Hao's eyes flickered, cooking insights surfacing in his mind.
Treating the Supreme Saint before him as food seemed to have opened his mind. His understanding of ingredients and cooking was constantly deepening.
If even Supreme Saints could be cooked, then what should be used to cook them? Saintly Dao, or Heavenly Dao?
Lost in thought, Li Hao controlled the fragment, now fully regarding Huntian Saint as an ingredient. The fragment acted like a knife, skinning and boning him.
The fragment's speed grew faster and faster, its cutting trajectory becoming exquisitely precise, like Pao Ding dissecting an ox, using cunning angles to peel off his carapace.
This required predicting Huntian Saint's movements, after all, it was handling a living being, live butchery.
Preparing side dishes tested knife skills, one of the core techniques of cooking.
The fragment became a streak of silver light, rapidly weaving through Huntian Saint's body, peeling away pieces of flesh and blood. Blood splattered, the damage far greater than simple piercing wounds.
Even though the wounds healed instantly after being cut open, the ingredient's self-healing properties ironically honed Li Hao's knife skills further.
Again and again, he sliced across Huntian Saint's body, from initially clumsy handling to increasingly sharp and swift movements.
Huntian Saint clearly felt Li Hao's knife skills rapidly improving. Although the fragment could only wound him, and these wounds were inconsequential to him, healing in an instant,
yet for some unknown reason, as the injuries continued and the wounded area expanded, he suddenly felt a sense of unease.
It seemed… that at some point, he would be instantly dismembered!
The opponent was probing his body, searching for some ultimate point of incision!
"Then let's see whether you die first, or I die first!"
Huntian Saint's eyes flashed with icy killing intent. A Supreme Saint, being forced to this extent by Li Hao, was unprecedented since his birth.
If given time, this kind of monstrous prodigy might truly rule the heavens, even more terrifying than that old codger Origin Ancestor.
Bang, bang, bang!
In the void, Huntian Saint continuously swung his knife, shattering Li Hao's body time and time again.
And after each destruction and rebirth, Li Hao also continued to drive the fragment to cut into Huntian Saint's body. They were both engaged in bloody warfare, exchanging wounds for wounds, seeing who could last until the end.
Bang!
Huntian Saint's three Dao power channels forcefully gathered the power of heaven and earth, maintaining his peak state. But with Li Hao's repeated cuts, his aura was slowly but surely waning.
Li Hao sensed Huntian Saint's aura weakening. Although he unleashed several terrifying knife techniques, none could kill him in a single strike.
With the Heavenly Star Meridian, Li Hao's state remained at its peak at all times, showing no signs of decline, unless he entered some kind of desolate land, where stars and heaven and earth were isolated.
"Continuing like this, I should be able to exhaust him…"
Under constant cutting, Li Hao's eyes grew brighter and brighter. His butchering skills became more and more proficient. After all, Huntian Saint's self-healing ability made him like a piece of ingredient that could be repeatedly practiced upon.
Ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times, he had already thoroughly explored Huntian Saint's skeletal structure and muscle patterns.
There was a demon core within the opponent's body, similar to a heart, but unlike ordinary demons, even if it was destroyed, it would regenerate in an instant. It was no longer a vital point.
Having mastered the three indestructible extreme realms, the heart, throat, and other areas were no longer weaknesses.
Pfft!
As the fragment cut again, in a nearly Dao-entrance level exquisite arc, Huntian Saint's carapace actually exploded open. Muscles within his body exerted force, tearing his body apart.
Large amounts of blood sprayed out, and Li Hao, bathed in it, pursued immediately.
Huntian Saint's pupils constricted slightly. The point where he exerted force was precisely severed by Li Hao. Although this cut could not kill him, it heavily injured him.
He could heal quickly and repair the injury, but this godlike knife skill still shocked him.
"He's using me to practice his knife skills!"
Huntian Saint trembled with rage, his eyes bloodshot, staring intensely at Li Hao, wishing he could devour him whole. But under his continuous attacks, Li Hao's aura showed no signs of weakening. In a battle of attrition, he was even more formidable than himself.
"Second Limit Realm… Your path seems to be correct. The Heavenly Stars are the Second Limit Realm…"
Huntian Saint glanced at the starlight behind Li Hao, his heart filled with anger and frustration. But he knew that continuing to waste time here with Li Hao was pointless.
He couldn't kill Li Hao, instead, he was becoming Li Hao's whetstone, constantly allowing him to improve.
He had originally planned to let this meat pill endure three calamities before eating it, but now, after only one calamity, he found himself unable to swallow it.
If he had known this earlier, he should have sought out Dragon Saint and joined forces to eliminate him.
Thoughts racing through his mind, Huntian Saint immediately stopped wasting effort and turned to rush back the way he came.
It was still not too late to find Dragon Saint now.
"Are you going to run?"
Li Hao saw Huntian Saint heading back the way he came, instantly discerning his intentions. He couldn't help but shout loudly.
Huntian Saint choked, feeling his cranial blood surge and churn, almost bursting his lungs with anger. A dignified Supreme Saint, to have endured such humiliating disgrace!
"I will kill you!"
Huntian Saint glared fiercely at Li Hao, then charged away without looking back.
Li Hao's expression shifted slightly, quickly pursuing, continuing to slash at him with the fragment.
"Weren't you going to eat me? Why are you running? Turn back!"
Li Hao shouted as he chased.
Huntian Saint's eyelids twitched slightly. Earlier, when he pursued Li Hao, he had initially strolled leisurely, intentionally waiting until he was far enough from Dragon Saint before exerting force, to avoid Dragon Saint interfering with his meal.
But now the situation had completely reversed, and he was being chased and taunted by Li Hao.
(End of Chapter)