Chapter 416: Desperate Situation

Splurt!

Demonic blood sprayed outwards. The damaged immortal sword was incredibly fast, tearing through the intangible immortal energy barrier on the ancient demon's skin, piercing through the thick, keratinous hide, and hacking at the bones deep within its flesh.

This ancient demon's bones were immortal bones, covered and surrounded by strands of Great Dao secret patterns, indestructible and unbreakable.

But at this moment, under Li Hao's full power eruption combined with the power of the embryonic Heavenly Dao, this damaged immortal sword was frighteningly sharp. With extreme speed and impact, it brought a terrifying tearing force, even shattering its bones!

The ancient demon was shocked and enraged, letting out a roar.

This damaged immortal sword was extremely fast, and it hadn't even been able to react. Now, with its bone broken, and at its weakest point no less, it was both alarmed and furious. It didn't know if this was a coincidence, or if the opponent could truly see through its weaknesses.

But in the blink of an eye, it mobilized immortal energy to regenerate and heal the broken bone.

Li Hao, controlling the damaged immortal sword, swiftly moved along its body after breaking the bone. He wanted to sever the connections between all parts of its body, killing it instantly and forcing out its primordial spirit.

If he gave it time to react, the injury just inflicted would heal immediately, and they would be locked in a protracted and arduous battle.

"Faster. Faster! Faster!"

Li Hao controlled the sword to tear through its body at extreme speed, traversing through its flesh, organs, and bones.

The organs and flesh, containing immortal energy, were extremely tough, like walls of copper and iron. But under the tyrannical power of the damaged immortal sword, they were forcibly torn apart.

From the outside, streaks of blood mist erupted from all over the ancient demon's body. Its skin split and flesh burst open, from its torso to its limbs, to its neck and head, all constantly exploding with blood.

The Sages watching this scene all opened their eyes wide in surprise.

"Is that Heavenly Lord Hao's attack?!"

"So strong, too fierce! That ancient demon actually has no power to retaliate!"

"My heavens, am I seeing things? That's a True Immortal!"

"It's injured, instantly heavily injured!"

The Sages were so excited they were trembling, doubting their own eyes, the shock in their hearts beyond words.

It was too unexpected. Although they knew Li Hao was strong, they hadn't imagined he would be so exaggeratedly powerful. In just one exchange, the one being suppressed was actually this True Immortal level ancient demon!

However, unlike the surprise of the Sages, Li Hao's expression became solemn.

When he controlled the damaged immortal sword to continuously break the ancient demon's bones, Li Hao noticed that the damaged immortal sword was slowing down!

Although it was only a decrease of less than one-thousandth, he still felt it. Moreover, this slowing was accelerating, quickly becoming slower and slower!

It felt like running out of strength.

But Li Hao knew that he was currently erupting with all his power, and his body was not exhausted at all. The power attached to the damaged immortal sword was still strong.

Roar!

The ancient demon suddenly roared, immortal energy rapidly condensing around its body, turning into a black qi surging barrier that enveloped itself.

Its physical body contracted, and the immortal energy in its blood was rapidly mobilized. The injured areas were healing at an astonishing speed.

As the side abdomen, which was pierced first, healed, Li Hao's heart sank.

He failed to kill it!

His only way to kill this ancient demon was to kill its physical body first, and then fight it to the death with his primordial spirit.

But now, he was unable to instantly kill its physical body.

"The sword is becoming dull!"

Li Hao's divine thought controlled the damaged immortal sword, and it suddenly shot out from the ancient demon's skull, flying back to Li Hao.

Li Hao looked at it. The blade of the damaged immortal sword was indeed in worse condition than before, with many curled and chipped edges.

This damaged immortal sword had already lost its power, only its sharpness remained. Now, after continuously breaking bones, this sharpness had also greatly diminished.

His face was extremely grim.

At this moment, as the damaged immortal sword was recalled, the ancient demon's body healed in an instant. All the torn and bleeding wounds recovered as if nothing had happened.

As its body healed, the ancient demon roared in fury, glaring fiercely at Li Hao. It was too angry. It had just been forced to parry, and in the midst of its physical body being rapidly destroyed, it had actually felt a trace of danger!

The opponent had pinpointed its weakness from the start, which was definitely not a coincidence. From the path of destruction the damaged immortal sword took within its body, it could sense that this human was extremely familiar with its body structure.

And to reach such a level of familiarity, one had to have witnessed it countless times, or, have personally killed many, many of them to gain such understanding.

Kill!

The ancient demon no longer underestimated or held back. Having experienced the battles of the Emperor Fall Era, it could be considered a veteran demon leader. It immediately erupted with a talent secret technique, and a huge vortex emerged behind it, like a black hole born from the void, drawing in even light.

When the Sages saw the vortex black hole, they immediately felt a dizzying sensation, as if their primordial spirits were being dragged into it through their eyes.

At the same time, the ancient demon's claws fell again, as fast as lightning.

This time, the claws were imbued with the power of the Immortal Realm.

Just as Li Hao was about to use the Eternal Dao Domain to resist, he discovered that all the Great Dao powers within the Eternal Dao Domain were失效 (shīxiào - lose effect/become invalid) under the Immortal Realm's influence.

The deterrent power of the Eternal Dao Domain was instantly weakened by more than half. The Saint Daos within were suppressed, and the laws were ineffective.

Li Hao had heard Nan Gongjian mention before that True Immortals could ignore Saint Dao laws. This was the absolute suppression of True Immortals over Sages.

Clang!

Li Hao drew his sword again. The Stellar Veins of the Heavens surged with vast power. The immortal energy within his body also extended out in hundreds of streams, transforming into boundless Heaven and Earth energy in the void, all converging on the sword.

This strike was even more terrifying than before, enough to cleave apart a small world!

As the sword light slashed out, the claws seemed utterly ruthless. This time, they were not deflected, but constantly ground down the sword light, ultimately crushing it and slamming down.

With a loud bang, Li Hao's body flew backward, his huge frame vibrating, and even the Dao bones within his body cracked slightly.

In just one blow, his body was almost shattered.

Li Hao's body healed in the blink of an eye, but the other Sages in the military formation paled and collectively coughed up blood, all feeling horrified.

They each only endured one three-hundredth of the damage Li Hao had taken, and yet they were already heavily injured.

"Die!"

Li Hao's eyes were fierce. Ignoring the intense pain all over his body, he controlled the damaged immortal sword to attack again.

Using offense as defense, the damaged immortal sword slashed at the ancient demon once more.

The ancient demon was now on guard and immediately activated its Immortal Realm to envelop itself. However, its Immortal Realm was as black as a ghost domain, filled with gusts of yin wind and distorted Great Daos.

But the damaged immortal sword was still lightning fast, piercing through its Immortal Realm. This was the result of combining the power of a hundred Sages and the Stellar Veins of the Heavens, as well as the embryonic Heavenly Dao's power, coupled with the power converted from Li Hao's hundred strands of immortal energy. Qualitative change arose from quantitative change. Even if this power was consumed a thousand times over, constantly destroyed by immortal energy, it couldn't withstand the sheer volume.

Bang!

The Immortal Realm was pierced, and the ancient demon's body was simultaneously pierced by the damaged immortal sword.

Immediately after, Li Hao erupted with all his power, pushing his primordial spirit power to its limit. The divine bones within his primordial spirit shone with a crimson-gold light.

"Faster, even faster speed!!"

Li Hao roared in his heart.

The Heaven and Earth Dharma Image behind him, and the surrounding Sage Dharma Images, fused together at this moment. The Sage Dharma Images transformed into beams of light, merging into Li Hao's Heaven and Earth Dharma Image, and then fusing with Li Hao's body.

With a buzz, the void seemed to tremble.

When the Dharma Body of Heaven and Earth combined with the Heaven and Earth Dharma Image, the Sages felt as if the entire world was in Li Hao's hands. That vast and surging power had far exceeded the Sage level.

Pfft pfft pfft pfft!

A series of blood mist explosions erupted within the ancient demon's body. These were the sounds of its body being rapidly torn apart by the damaged immortal sword, along with the sound of bones breaking.

In just an instant, Li Hao had broken over three hundred bones within its body, but there were still over a hundred left. These were the core bones supporting its body.

They all had to be shattered and pulverized to instantly kill its physical body.

Roar!

The ancient demon reacted, letting out an angry roar. Immortal energy erupted, and the places that were first damaged healed rapidly. Li Hao's damaged immortal sword was still slashing continuously within its body, but its speed was getting slower and slower.

Suddenly, the damaged immortal sword slashed at a bone, but abruptly vibrated, becoming embedded in the bone.

Li Hao's heart trembled, a feeling of despair rising within him.

He had enough power, but the damaged immortal sword was not sharp enough.

It was more than enough to kill second and third-tier ancient demons, as sharp as cutting through mud, but against this True Immortal level ancient demon's physical body, which was comparable to top-tier Nine Tribulation Dao weapons, it was bluntening the damaged immortal sword!

Black demonic power suddenly emerged within the ancient demon's body, wrapping around the damaged immortal sword and expelling it from its body.

Looking at the damaged immortal sword that had caused it immense damage, the ancient demon roared and exerted force in its palm, actually bending the damaged immortal sword. Then, as if discarding scrap metal, it flung it towards Li Hao.

Li Hao tilted his head to dodge, but his cheek was still grazed, leaving a bloodstain, which healed in the blink of an eye.

"This, can't be killed?"

"It was clearly suppressed, injured so heavily, but it can heal instantly."

"Three Undying Extreme Realms, this True Immortal level ancient demon must have mastered them as well. To completely pulverize its physical body to kill it... this is no longer as simple as defeating it, it's a thousand times harder than defeating True Immortal Sea!"

The Sages, witnessing this scene, felt a chill run down their spines.

The previous surprise and excitement now faded as they sobered up and realized the difficulty of killing this True Immortal level ancient demon.

Its healing speed was too fast. If they couldn't kill it instantly, any amount of effort and damage would be futile.

They were just Sages, and being able to defeat a True Immortal in combat was already unprecedented, let alone killing one. The difficulty was unimaginable!

The Sages looked at Li Hao's towering figure, a sense of despair rising in their hearts.

Li Hao's performance had already exceeded their imaginations, but after all, this was a True Immortal!

"I will crush you to pieces!"

The ancient demon stared at Li Hao, letting out an angry and ferocious growl.

It hated the young man before it to the extreme and would never let him die easily.

Li Hao kept breathing, adjusting his state. The surging and vigorous power throughout his body made him feel like he was standing in a furnace, hot and swollen. This power was enough to shake a True Immortal, but it was not enough to instantly kill it.

"The damaged immortal sword isn't sharp enough. It was fine for dissecting True Immortal level ancient demons previously, but to shatter and sever its entire body's bones in an instant, it's much more strenuous than slowly cutting it up during cooking!"

Li Hao's face was grim. He clearly had enough power in terms of strength, but he lacked a suitable weapon.

"I can only use more and more power to drive the damaged immortal sword, using power to compensate for its lack of sharpness."

In just a moment, Li Hao's thoughts calmed down again. Another damaged immortal sword appeared in his palm. As soon as it appeared, Li Hao burned a golden vein within his primordial spirit. His primordial spirit power immediately increased greatly, and his control speed also increased accordingly.

"Not enough, not enough!"

One golden vein, two golden veins… five golden veins, burning simultaneously!

Li Hao's primordial spirit burned with golden flames. It wasn't that Li Hao didn't want to burn more, but his primordial spirit also had its limits, and it had already reached its peak.

The damaged immortal sword's speed suddenly increased dramatically, piercing through the ancient demon's side abdomen, and once again swiftly swimming within its body.

The ancient demon reacted with pain and extreme rage. The damaged immortal sword was too fast, and it couldn't stop it at all, unless it turned and fled immediately, otherwise it couldn't block it.

Feeling the damaged immortal sword wreaking havoc within its body, it roared continuously, channeling all its immortal energy into itself to regenerate the destroyed areas.

As his primordial spirit burned, this damaged immortal sword was even more ferocious than before. Explosions of air kept ringing out. In the blink of an eye, it had destroyed all the flesh and organs within the ancient demon's body, and broken more than three hundred of its bones, paralyzing and mortifying almost ninety percent of its body!

But there were still twenty to thirty bones left unbroken.

At this moment, immortal energy erupted from within the ancient demon's body, and all its injuries immediately recovered.

"Still not enough… still a little short…"

Li Hao's heart was filled with unwillingness. Was this his limit?

Moreover, the fatal attribute hadn't been triggered. Was it ineffective against True Immortals, or was the speed too fast, counting his attack as a single strike?

"How can this be…"

"Unkillable, utterly unkillable!"

Seeing the ancient demon's aura strengthen again, the Sages were all terrified. They had already seen Li Hao use many terrifying methods, all extreme realms erupting, even that Stellar Veins of the Heavens, surrounding the Heaven and Earth Vein, seemingly a power of the Final Realm.

But it was still a failure.

The power that Li Hao had gathered at this moment alone made them tremble in fear, but facing this True Immortal level ancient demon, it lacked the power to kill it!

Bang!

As soon as the ancient demon's body recovered, it directly charged towards Li Hao. The Immortal Realm's suppression and vast pressure seemed to crush Li Hao's bones.

The Eternal Dao Domain was enveloped by the Immortal Realm, forcibly infiltrated, and all the laws within became ineffective.

The ancient demon opened its bloody maw, biting towards Li Hao's head, wanting to directly suck out his soul and slowly refine and torment it within its body.

Li Hao's face changed drastically. He discarded the damaged immortal sword. After the last round of attacks, the damaged immortal sword had become even more dilapidated, its blade curled and chipped, with no point in retrieving it.

"If only I had a real Immortal Artifact, as long as it was sharp enough…"

Li Hao clenched his fists, feeling an urge to punch something hard. He clearly had enough power to fight it!

Two damaged immortal swords appeared in his hands. His primordial spirit divided into two, separately wrapping around these two damaged immortal swords, and attacked the demon leader.

This time, he was still attacking the weak point of the side abdomen, but Li Hao no longer tried to kill its physical body instantly. The damaged immortal swords in his hands were simply incapable of doing so. He could only place his hope on that fatal attribute, that one percent probability, which was now his greatest hope!

Bang bang bang!

The two damaged immortal swords bypassed the ancient demon's attacks, stabbing at its body at full speed like swimming dragons.

The previous attack was the dissection method Li Hao learned after dissecting the ancient demon. If calculated as a technique, it was only equivalent to one move. Now, Li Hao was rapidly stabbing wildly!

Each stab of the damaged immortal sword counted as an attack, which could trigger the fatal attribute faster.

While the damaged immortal swords attacked, the ancient demon's claws were already embracing Li Hao. Their sizes were comparable. Li Hao had no intention of fighting head-on and retreated continuously. Now that his Movement Dao was at the ninth refinement, his movements were no longer as crude as before. He had entered the Dao, able to borrow strength from anywhere in the void.

But under the suppression and envelopment of the Immortal Realm, Li Hao's body movement seemed ten times slower, and he was still grabbed by the claws.

The ancient demon ignored Li Hao's two damaged immortal swords, directly embracing Li Hao to bite at his head.

One damaged immortal sword couldn't kill it before, let alone two, and the speed was half slower than controlling one. It could barely react and dodge.

"Faster, trigger it quickly!"

Li Hao gritted his teeth. He tried to pry open the ancient demon's claws with his arms, but his body strength, which he was proud of, was like pushing against a mountain, impossible to move.

Just as the ancient demon was about to bite down, suddenly, its body trembled violently, and a strong feeling of death enveloped it.

The ancient demon's pupils shrank. This feeling was too strong, even stronger than the threat when Li Hao had previously heavily injured it with the damaged immortal sword. It had a feeling, like some irresistible force was rapidly approaching, a force similar to the Heavenly Dao, but higher than the Heavenly Dao, a power transcending the Heavenly Dao.

Swoosh!

The ancient demon's body suddenly exploded, turning into countless pieces of flesh and blood.

This scene stunned Li Hao.

The despairing Sages were also startled by this sudden situation, watching in a daze. Hope reignited in their eyes.

"Is it dead?"

"Is it Heavenly Lord Hao's attack? Why did it suddenly explode?"

The Sages stared anxiously at the countless pieces of exploding flesh and blood.

After being stunned, Li Hao suddenly woke up and immediately understood the reason.

It wasn't that the fatal attribute made it self-destruct, but that this ancient demon used this method to avoid the influence of the fatal attribute.

He saw that many of the exploding pieces of flesh were suspended in the void, not falling like corpses.

Soon, black mist surged from those suspended pieces of flesh, and the ancient demon's body rapidly re-condensed.

"Kill!"

Seeing this opportunity, Li Hao hurriedly controlled the damaged immortal swords to attack at full speed.

Bang bang bang!

The ancient demon, just condensed into a distorted shape from the flesh pieces, was instantly severed, its primordial spirit separated from its body.

Li Hao's primordial spirit quickly rushed out and extinguished the separated primordial spirit.

But this primordial spirit was not the ancient demon's complete primordial spirit, only a wisp.

The remaining pieces of flesh were rapidly growing, all transforming into the appearance of the ancient demon, quickly closing the distance and rapidly fusing together.

The damaged immortal swords controlled by Li Hao slashed over, continuously hacking during the fusion process, but at this moment, a silver-gray light suddenly appeared. Immediately after, a terrifying power struck the damaged immortal swords, stunning even the primordial spirit on them into a brief pause.

In this short moment, the ancient demon's body had already condensed.

Li Hao's face turned grim. The opponent used self-explosion and reverse fate to transfer the lethality of the fatal attribute.

The fatal attribute would act on the body, but if reverse fate was used, the attraction of the fatal attribute could be transferred. When killing the Four Establishments Realm previously, it had allowed the opponent's divine soul to abandon its body and escape. Now, the opponent was a True Immortal and didn't even need to abandon its body to evade it.

Buzz!

As the ancient demon's body recovered, a silver-gray light appeared on its forehead, emitting condensed surging immortal power.

At this moment, the void suddenly震荡 (zhèndàng - vibrate/shock). The ancient demon leader arrived before Li Hao almost instantly, its claws sweeping across, drawing a dark black arc of destruction, and directly cutting Li Hao's body in half at the waist!

After eating the demon body of Hun Tian Sage, Li Hao's physical body was comparable to a Fifth Tribulation Emperor Weapon. After staying on the ancient road outside the Immortal Gate for twelve years, his physical body progressed and improved, comparable to a Sixth Tier Emperor Weapon. Only the Origin Ancestor's Heaven-Suppressing Whip could cause him some damage, but even it couldn't destroy him.

But at this moment, under the ancient demon's sweep, Li Hao's body broke apart like tofu dregs.

The severed area seemed to be constantly burning. A special power suppressed Li Hao's regenerative ability, making it unable to heal.

A large amount of blood sprayed out, and the power in Li Hao's body was draining away.

The ancient demon leader did not roar, but coldly stared at Li Hao. The death aura just now had made its hair stand on end. If it hadn't transferred and evaded it, if it had reacted slower, or tried to withstand it head-on, it felt it would have truly died!

Annihilated in body and soul!

This had truly enraged it, and its killing intent was unprecedentedly strong. It didn't even have the thought of tormenting Li Hao, wanting to kill him quickly!

With a loud bang, the void震荡 (zhèndàng - vibrate/shock). The Immortal Realm expanded, suddenly covering the military formation.

The Sages felt the terrifying power of the Immortal Realm, their faces changing drastically. They hurriedly dodged, but more than a dozen Sages were still enveloped by the Immortal Realm. They were annihilated in the Immortal Realm, leaving only their primordial spirits imprisoned within, unable to even struggle, and were swallowed whole by the ancient demon leader in front of everyone.

Li Hao knew that once eaten by this ancient demon, they would not even have a chance for reincarnation, completely annihilated, forever disappearing from the world!

"Quick, run!"

Li Hao's face was pale. He hadn't expected that even with the combined power of the Sages, the encirclement had failed.

The damaged immortal weapons in his hands were not sharp enough to help him instantly kill the ancient demon's physical body, and killing its physical body was only the first step in killing it. Next, there would be a contest and fight of primordial spirits.

"Heavenly Lord Hao, we have no way to retreat. Do you still have a way? No matter how many die, we will fill the gap, as long as we can kill it!"

Sage of the School of Names hurriedly asked Li Hao.

"Where can we escape to? We have committed sins, and there is no escape for us." The Legalist Sage also said, his voice desolate, unlike his usual cold and solemn demeanor, revealing a hint of bitterness:

"Even if we all sacrifice ourselves, we will not hesitate. Do you have any other way?"

He knew that once they fled now, they would never have another chance to contend with this True Immortal level ancient demon. They would only be pursued and killed one by one.

"There's no way…"

Li Hao felt the faith of the Sages, and his impression of them somewhat changed, but at this moment, none of this mattered.

"You all run, go to my sacred land to take refuge. I will hold it back!"

At this moment, Li Hao no longer wanted to trouble these people. He broke free from the military formation. He was the formation eye and could control the military formation. As he actively disbanded it, the power of the Sages within the formation was also severed, returning to their respective bodies.

A look of madness appeared in Li Hao's eyes. He charged towards the ancient demon. He didn't want this battle to end so quickly. In such a short time, if he also ran away, no one could stop this ancient demon, and there wouldn't be enough time to evacuate to the sacred land.

As for the Sages, staying here was meaningless, they couldn't help him. Under the ancient demon leader's Immortal Realm, numbers were no advantage.

Seeing Li Hao's back, the Sages were stunned, then a feeling of soreness welled up in their throats.

They had previously slandered and maliciously speculated about Li Hao, but now, reaching this point, it was him who was holding the line for them, just like the previous Origin Ancestor and God King.

"Go!"

Li Hao roared loudly, and then charged towards the ancient demon leader.

Two damaged immortal weapons erupted again, continuously attacking.

This time, the ancient demon leader was somewhat cautious, using its Immortal Realm to slow down the speed of the damaged immortal weapons, and also dodging itself.

It vaguely felt that the danger that had sent chills down its spine earlier was related to its injuries.

Otherwise, this human would not be attacking aimlessly, senselessly.

The ancient demon kept dodging, and Li Hao kept attacking. He knew he couldn't stop. Once he stopped, the ancient demon would immediately counterattack.

(End of chapter)