https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-126-Carving-Dao-Engraving-a-Sword/13450122/
Chapter 127: Not a Blade of Grass Left (Make-up Update for 1011, 7K Second Unity)
Chapter 127: Not a Blade of Grass Left (Make-up Update for 1011, 7K Second Unity)
As Li Hao used his palm to sear the fangs, he asked Li Hongzhuang:
"Do you know the locations of the nests of the Great Demons that attacked tonight?"
"Hmm?"
Li Hongzhuang was slightly taken aback and replied, "What, you want to raid their nests?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
Li Hao was puzzled.
"..."
Li Hongzhuang was speechless. There was no problem, of course. If they could be eradicated, she would want to flatten them herself, not just Li Hao.
In the past, while guarding this place, she couldn't leave. If the Demons invaded and she wasn't there to protect, the soldiers, even with the help of the deputy generals, wouldn't be able to withstand the attacks of the Three Immortalities Great Demons.
After all, Cangya City had already been breached, and the city walls and defensive arrays were gone, leaving no protection. Just the divine might of the Three Immortalities Great Demons was enough to cause the army significant trouble.
"You just arrived, and I haven't had the chance to tell you about the Demon forces outside Heavenly Gate Pass."
Li Hongzhuang drew on the sand in front of the campfire with her sword.
Initially, she hadn't planned to discuss these matters with Li Hao, considering he was just a child.
From Li He, she had learned that her seventh brother intended to abandon Heavenly Gate Pass. After all, the reinforcements sent in recent years had been fewer, and the broken walls had not been repaired.
If it weren't for this being Dayu's territory, a pass opened by their Li Family Ancestor, they wouldn't have held their ground here.
Now, sending this child over to take over was essentially telling them that they could abandon this place.
Additionally, it was a way to humble her talented son, who had conflicts with her, and let him experience the dangers of the Demons.
However, her seventh brother probably didn't expect that on just the first night, this son of hers had slain two Three Immortalities Great Demons that had been wreaking havoc here for years!
If this achievement were to be evaluated at another Border Pass, it would likely earn him a First-Class Special Merit. If he didn't already have a noble title, he could be directly ennobled as a Third-Rank Earl!
"The three Demons you saw tonight belong to three different Demon Kings, each ruling a mountain."
Li Hongzhuang drew a circle with her sword. "This is our Cangya City."
She chuckled wryly, as there was nothing left that could be called a city.
"Three thousand miles to the east is the border city of Beilin Kingdom."
"In the middle of this three-thousand-mile gap, there is a mountain range, home to the first major Great Demon force beyond our borders."
Li Hongzhuang drew a small circle, her expression becoming serious.
"That is the Dragon Mountain Daoist Ground, where a ten-thousand-year-old True Dragon resides, calling itself the Dragon Lord!"
"That is a Fourth Establishment Realm Great Demon!"
Hearing this, Li Hao's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on the circles drawn by the sword tip.
"This area is forbidden. No matter what happens, do not step into it."
Li Hongzhuang said earnestly, "The Dragon Lord generally does not leave the Dragon Mountain Daoist Ground, nor does it attack our Heavenly Gate Pass, because if it does, it would be considered an invasion!"
Li Hao nodded slightly, recalling the stories he had heard while chatting with Second Uncle Fishing.
These Fourth Establishment Realm Great Demons outside the Border Passes dared not rashly invade.
Why?
It was simple; they had all been personally warned by the elders of the various Divine General Manors.
This was akin to an agreement signed between Dayu and the Fourth Establishment Realm Demon Kings.
If they didn't listen?
Either the elders of the Divine General Manors would take action, or the True Person of Qian Dao Palace would intervene.
They dared not disobey.
This ancient and majestic dynasty, though aged, still possessed the power to awe the eight directions.
As for why they were only warned and not directly slain, that was another matter.
These Great Demons were numerous but not united. Warning them individually kept them in check, but if they were all slaughtered, the remaining ones might unite, causing significant casualties for Dayu.
In the end, Dayu no longer had the capability to wipe out all the surrounding Demons.
After all, some of these Demons had become particularly troublesome.
The True Person of Qian Dao Palace, who usually sat in the Yuzhou Imperial Capital, rarely ventured out, out of fear that certain Monsters might directly infiltrate and attack the capital!
At this moment, Li Hongzhuang reiterated the rules and agreements regarding the Fourth Establishment Realm Demon Kings' invasions to Li Hao.
Despite these Fourth Establishment Realm Demon Kings appearing to be law-abiding and hesitant to invade, our army's strength has diminished. Mourning River has been restraining Tianzhao Divine General Manor for seven or eight hundred years, and these Monsters are once again stirring up trouble.
They themselves dare not take risks, fearing pursuit and annihilation, but they often allow their subordinates to test the waters and invade.
Thus, even if the imperial court questions them, it ends up being a mere exchange of words, meaningless, and so we can only endure it!
Li Hao nodded and continued to listen.
In the past, he had asked Second Uncle why, if the Fourth Establishment Realm Great Demons dared not invade, they didn't let the older generation guard the Border Pass. Wouldn't that be extremely safe?
However, the answer he received was that there weren't many older Fourth Establishment Realm Demons.
Furthermore, apart from these registered and warned old Demon Kings, every few years or decades, other Fourth Establishment Realm Demon Kings would occasionally emerge.
They come from even more distant places or emerge from deep forests, unfamiliar with Dayu.
When they wander into Dayu's territory, they often act recklessly, directly massacring cities and lands. If they aren't stopped in time, they can even invade half a state.
The older generation needs to deal with these Monsters. For Demons who have already invaded and caused massive casualties, there's no point in warning them; they must be executed as a warning to others, inevitably leading to major battles.
Many of the older generation from the Divine General Manors have died for this reason.
Seeing that Li Hao was only listening and had no questions, Li Hongzhuang raised an eyebrow and began to speak on her own:
"Although the Dragon Mountain Dao Lord cannot step into the realm, if you rashly appear in its territory, it will have a reason to kill you. So, you must absolutely not get close."
"The Chi Hu Jun you saw tonight is actually a mount of the Dragon Mountain Dao Lord."
Li Hongzhuang's eyes turned cold, and she said, "These Fourth Establishment Realm Demons themselves do not move, but they often allow their subordinates to repeatedly invade and test the waters. Once injured or defeated, they immediately flee. If you rashly pursue and kill them, you might end up being caught and eaten."
Mount? Li Hao's expression was strange.
A True Dragon Demon King with a tiger as a mount?
A dragon riding a tiger?
No wonder that Tiger Demon had chains on it, likely a form of restraint like a saddle, which also served as a weapon.
"Besides the Dragon Mountain Dao Lord, the second Demon King is in the north."
Li Hongzhuang drew another circle on the ground, much larger and closer to the camp's circle:
"This is the Myriad Demons Mountain Range, where a Demon King has been cultivating for a very long time. We call it the Myriad Mountains Demon King."
"The Myriad Mountains Demon King is as powerful as the Dragon Lord; it's unclear who is stronger. But if we encounter it, it will definitely end in death."
"However, it is also registered and warned. The Six-Tusked Hibernating Boar you just killed was one of its mighty generals."
She then drew another circle to the south:
"There is a solitary peak here, but no one dares to step within a five-hundred-mile radius, and no Demons dare to invade rashly."
"Inside is the third Demon King, the Holy Mountain Demon King!"
Li Hongzhuang glanced at Li Hao and said, "You might be familiar with this Demon King's background. It once cultivated in the Holy Palace in Yanbei, mastering the Holy Palace Demon Race's secret techniques and was seemingly an elder there. Now, it has broken away and occupied a mountain here for several hundred years, calling itself the Holy Mountain."
"Your father fought against the Holy Palace for over a decade, and the situation in Yanbei is extremely complex. I don't know much about it, but it's a great relief that your father has returned."
Li Hao didn't speak, his expression unchanged.
He understood the hint in Li Hongzhuang's words: the Yanbei war was arduous.
She likely assumed that his conflict with that man was due to his resentment and misunderstanding over the man's long absence due to the war.
He didn't bother to explain; there was no need.
"Has Beilin Kingdom invaded?"
Li Hao asked.
Li Hongzhuang frowned slightly, noticing that Li Hao didn't pick up on her hint. She sighed inwardly.
As Li Hao's aunt and the younger sister of her seventh brother, she naturally hoped that the father-son conflict would be resolved and they would reconcile.
But it seemed that there was no immediate effect.
She didn't dwell on it and focused on Li Hao's question:
"Beilin Kingdom wouldn't dare to openly invade, but they like to play small tricks, such as worshiping the Dragon Mountain Dao Lord and secretly offering many live sacrifices each year to have it test us."
As she said this, her face turned icy.
Li Hao frowned. Offering live sacrifices to Demons was something only the most backward villages in Dayu would do.
Commoners would worship Demons for protection or Demon power, using it to oppress the people.
Once discovered, the Demon Suppression Bureau would intervene, executing all involved.
But now, the other major powers are resorting to such despicable methods to target Dayu.
Indeed, in war, every means is used to the utmost.
After Li Hongzhuang finished speaking, Li Hao had a better understanding of the situation outside Heavenly Gate Pass.
"Last night, you killed the Chi Hu Jun and the Six-Tusked Hibernating Boar. They will likely be enraged and may attack again soon, perhaps even tomorrow."
Li Hongzhuang's eyes did not show any sign of retreat; instead, a cold killing intent emerged.
Li Hao nodded slightly and asked, "Do they usually live in the Demon King's lair, or do they have their own nests?"
"Of course not."
Li Hongzhuang explained, "The Dragon Mountain Dao Master is a thousand miles away, and it takes a considerable amount of time for them to travel back and forth. Besides, which fierce warrior likes to stay under their master's watchful eye all the time? They all have their own lairs outside, where they can mate, eat, and drink more conveniently."
Li Hao's eyes flickered, and he asked, "Do you know where their lairs are?"
"Are you really going to raid their lairs?"
Li Hongzhuang asked in surprise.
Li Hao nodded, "Since I've killed them, I might as well finish the job."
He said it calmly, but Li Hongzhuang's eyes narrowed, and then a cold smile appeared on her face.
"Good, that’s the spirit!"
Immediately, she drew two circles on the ground with her sword. "Scouts have checked, and it seems their lairs are in these two directions, about three to four hundred miles away. You can check them out, but don't go too far. Otherwise, you'll enter the Demons' territory, and if the Demon King detects you, even the gods won't be able to save you!"
Li Hao glanced at the rough map she drew and memorized the directions.
At this moment, the boar tusk in his hand was almost heated to the right temperature.
He immediately reined in the scorching heat in his hand and began to carve and polish it with the beast horn.
[Carving Experience +24... +19... +35...]
Experience prompts appeared one after another as Li Hao focused on his work.
After roasting it for about half an hour with heat, and using the beast horn and his immense strength, the progress of polishing the tusk accelerated significantly.
Perhaps the material of the boar tusk was quite rare, as the experience prompts kept coming, occasionally in large amounts.
After the meat was cooked, Li Hongzhuang took it and started eating.
Li Hao continued to polish, and his Carving Dao skill suddenly reached 500 experience points, advancing to the second level!
In no time, he earned two Art Skill Points.
Li Hao couldn't help but marvel at how easy it was to gain Art Skill Points with Carving Dao.
However, he guessed that it had a lot to do with the quality of the boar tusk. If he were to carve a regular wooden plaque, he might only gain 1 or 2 experience points.
To verify this, Li Hao paused his polishing halfway through, and while heating the boar tusk for the second time, he used the beast horn to carve a figure on the tree stump with one hand.
With his Carving Dao at the second level, he could already perform intricate carvings, creating a lifelike figure in a pair of overalls. However, it only gave him less than 20 experience points.
Miserly.
It seemed that carving did indeed depend on the quality of the material, just like his painting and Fishing. The more challenging the task, the more experience he gained.
Time passed quietly.
As the campfire dimmed, Li Hao finished his third round of polishing. The originally curved and long boar tusk had been shaped into a somewhat sharp crescent.
It still had some distance to go to match a sword, but it could pass as a massive, blunt-edged heavy sword.
It might not be able to cut someone down, but it could certainly crush them.
Li Hao drilled a round hole at the base of the tusk for a better grip.
He then instructed Ren Qianqian to stay in the camp and take care of Little White Fox.
Carrying the crescent-shaped boar tusk over his shoulder, he headed out of the camp.
"Are you going tonight?"
Li Hongzhuang, who had returned to the small mound, was taken aback by Li Hao's actions.
It was still the dead of night, just before dawn.
"To prevent them from escaping", Li Hao smiled. For safety, he had taken the opportunity to rest while polishing the tusk, and he was now about 70-80% recovered.
"..."
Li Hongzhuang was speechless, not expecting the young man to be so enthusiastic about slaying demons.
"Be careful", Li Hongzhuang said. Li Hao had managed to kill two Great Demons and escape unscathed, and although he was only at the Tianren Realm, his combat ability was already at the Three Immortalities level. With Li He's guidance, she was relatively reassured.
After all, it would be ridiculous to treat a Three Immortalities expert like a baby.
Li Hao nodded and then leaped into the air, disappearing into the night outside the camp.
...
...
The wind howled as Li Hao traversed the mountains and valleys in the darkness.
His Divine Soul emerged from the top of his head, patrolling the land under the moonlight, monitoring the surroundings.
Occasionally, he came across lingering traces of minor demons, which he swiftly eliminated with Object Control.
He moved in a straight line in one direction, leaving the wilderness outside the pass, crossing forests, and climbing several mountains, traveling three hundred miles in the dead of night.
Finally, Li Hao caught a strong, pungent odor.
On the ground, there were still fresh bloodstains and the remains of various monsters.
He glanced around and saw three demon corpses, their bodies torn apart and seemingly devoured by their own kind.
Following the trail, Li Hao saw a mountain where the ground was covered with all sorts of remains, the stench wafting through the air.
Without hesitation, Li Hao flew straight toward it.
"Lady, please take care. Mr. Black Scales has already headed to Dragon Mountain Daoist Ground."
In the massive cave carved into the mountain, the firelight illuminated the cave walls, casting several sinister shadows.
"Shut up, you cowards! If you had protected the Great King, how could he have died?"
A woman's low roar echoed from inside.
The cave fell into a brief silence.
Suddenly, a breeze blew into the cave.
"Who's there?!"
The shadows on the cave walls stirred suddenly, and two of them shrank as two figures emerged from a bend, drawing closer to the cave walls, their shadows shrinking to their feet.
"Surprisingly, you still dare to linger here. That's quite courageous."
A calm voice said.
In the faint moonlight at the cave entrance, Li Hao, carrying the Pig Tooth Sword, approached. Outside the cave, under the cold moonlight, the mountainside was littered with the dead bodies of Demons.
Their deaths were gruesome, all of them with bodies split open, killed in a single strike.
"It's you!"
One of the figures, a burly middle-aged man with a leopard tail, suddenly changed color, his eyes wide with horror.
He recognized the young man's face—the Great King had been killed by him!
Run!
After the shock, this thought flashed through his mind, and his body immediately transformed, dashing toward another part of the cave to escape.
But a sword aura suddenly slashed through the air, and what seemed like petals appeared around him.
Where did these flowers come from in the cave?
Then, the middle-aged man's body split open, collapsing onto the ground, his entire body tearing apart in an instant.
With a swift whoosh, a Divine Soul shot out of his body, terrified, but before it could escape, another sword aura swept through, instantly extinguishing the Divine Soul.
The other Demon, seeing this, didn't dare to say anything and fled deeper into the cave.
Two minutes later.
Li Hao sat deep in the cave, in front of a large bonfire made from several tree stumps.
Beside the bonfire, four Demon corpses lay sprawled, lifeless.
He flipped through two Cultivation Techniques, storing them in his panel, then turned to the kneeling, muscular woman with a broad back and asked:
"Are there no other Cultivation Techniques?"
"No, none."
The woman trembled, her eyes filled with deep fear.
In front of this young man, they didn't even have a chance to escape, for his sword aura was formless, seemingly ignoring distance and arriving instantly.
"You said there are six more Demons of the same Realm as your Great King under the Dragon Mountain Daoist Master?"
Li Hao frowned slightly. If six Demons of the Three Eternities Realm attacked simultaneously, Li Hongzhuang and the others would have been long gone.
"Yes."
"Then why haven't they joined forces to attack Heaven's Gate Mountain?" Li Hao asked.
"The, the Great King said the Dragon Lord doesn't want them to capture Heaven's Gate Mountain too quickly. This way, they can savor more delicious meals and also keep the Li Family's forces tied down..." the woman trembled, her eyes filled with fear but also a hidden ferocity.
"If that's the case, why did the Great King attack tonight?"
Li Hao asked again.
"The Great King said he wanted to eat Li Hongzhuang. As for Heaven's Gate Mountain, he wanted to see if any other members of the Li Family would come to defend it, and eat them one by one."
The woman said this carefully, glancing at Li Hao, who seemed to be a member of the Li Family.
Li Hao's eyes narrowed slightly. So, he was using Heaven's Gate Mountain as a baiting ground.
Using Heaven's Gate Mountain to consume the tributes of the Beilin Kingdom, while also luring the Li Family.
"Why keep the Li Family tied down here?" Li Hao asked again.
"I don't know, the Great King didn't tell me", the woman said, her face pale.
"Hmm?"
Li Hao stared at her.
"Maybe..." the woman hesitated, leaning closer.
Roar!
Suddenly, her fangs grew, her expression turning fierce as she transformed into a massive lion's head, aiming to bite off Li Hao's head.
But as she pounced, Li Hao's palm pressed down on her head, her jaw slamming into his knee. The lion's head, clearly not as hard as Li Hao's knee, made a crunching sound as it shattered.
As she reeled from the blow, Li Hao's hand moved to her nape, his fingers flicking to release a sword aura.
It pierced through her spine, severing it and separating her head from her body.
At this moment, a Divine Soul shot out of the lion's head, trying to escape in panic. Li Hao blew a breath, and his Object Control Power enveloped it, crushing the Divine Soul.
After finishing this, Li Hao's gaze fell on the two Cultivation Techniques in his hand.
He clenched his hand, and the pages of the Cultivation Techniques crumbled into dust, scattering to the ground.
Li Hao stood up, dusted off his buttocks, and walked out of the cave with the Pig Tooth Sword.
Standing at the cave entrance, he released his Divine Soul, which surveyed the area for dozens of miles around the mountain.
He used his Divine Soul to locate and kill all the Monsters within a thirty-mile radius.
He also struck down any wild animals that hadn't yet been tainted by Demonic Aura.
He even destroyed several ant nests on the mountain's backside and crushed a group of small fish swimming in a nearby stream.
At the same time, Li Hao manipulated the sand and soil to fill in both ends of the stream, cutting off the water source's vitality.
Without a water source, wild beasts would not gather here, greatly reducing the chances of survival.
After completing this, Li Hao checked everything one last time to ensure no living beings were left behind before leaving, his figure disappearing into the night.
One hour later.
Li Hao appeared in another hill basin.
This was the lair of the Six-Tusked Hibernating Boar, with a small mountain demon patrolling the ridge outside the basin.
Li Hao casually plucked a blade of grass and, from ten miles away, pierced the demon's brow.
The mountain demon's patrol flag fell from its hand.
Li Hao then walked straight into the basin. The overwhelming stench of feces and urine made him frown slightly, and he immediately held his breath, rushing in quickly.
Soon, the putrid smell in the basin was mixed with a heavy scent of blood.
Li Hao emerged from the basin, pinching his nose as he hurried away.
The place where this pig demon lived was truly capable of stinking someone to death...
This pig demon knew how to enjoy life; its lair contained seven or eight female pig demons, two leopard demons, and a bird demon, making its private life quite colorful.
Moving swiftly through the night, Li Hao returned to the camp.
Li Hongzhuang sat on a small hill, her sword in her arms, seemingly dozing with her eyes closed.
The sound of Li Hao's return made her frown slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes, a hint of fatigue in them, but she quickly suppressed it. "Did you find it?"
"Yep."
Li Hao nodded.
"Was it dangerous?" Li Hongzhuang asked, but upon glancing at Li Hao's body, she realized her question was unnecessary.
"Almost threw up."
Li Hao said, still feeling a bit shaken.
"?"
Li Hao smiled. "You should rest."
Li Hongzhuang glanced at him, then didn't ask any more questions, closing her eyes and drifting back into a light sleep.
Li Hao returned to the campfire. From the nearby tent, Ren Qianqian emerged and said, "Young Master, you're back."
"Didn't sleep yet?"
"just fell asleep."
"Then go back to sleep."
"Are you sure...?"
"Don't worry about me. Go rest", Li Hao waved her off.
Ren Qianqian looked at him for a moment, realizing she couldn't help much, said goodnight, and returned to her tent.
Li Hao sat by the campfire, looking around at the night, knowing that Old Feng was still watching over him in the darkness. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, feeling an even stronger desire to grow stronger quickly, so that the old man could have an easier time.
"Extra meal tomorrow."
Li Hao murmured to himself.
"Brat, you said it", a voice drifted into his ears.
Li Hao couldn't help but laugh, nodding vigorously.
The moon and stars illuminated the clear night sky.
The figures of the old and young were enveloped in the darkness, both wearing faint smiles.
Li Hao didn't rest but began to practice the Body Refinement Cultivation Techniques he had just obtained, a total of five.
Among them, only two were top-tier, even surpassing the Thousand Dragon Sacred Body technique of the Rain Listening Pavilion.
Perhaps only Li Hao's fully deduced Primordial Art could match them.
The two cultivation techniques were the *Five Viscera Primordial Body* and the *Jade Clarity True Demon Art*.
As the techniques were recorded on his panel, they quickly reached their highest levels.
Li Hao sifted through the large amount of memory that had flooded his mind, reviewing it once before standing in front of the extinguished campfire to practice.
As he moved, his bones seemed to emit a low, rumbling sound.
The blood, flesh, and bones in his body, under the influence of the cultivation techniques, unleashed tremendous power while greedily absorbing the energy from the surroundings, constantly replenishing themselves.
Li Hao's physical body underwent rapid transformation, his skin becoming smooth, fine, and resilient.
Li He, standing in the shadows, watched Li Hao practice, his eyes filled with surprise.
These days of following him, this was the first time he had seen the Young Master, with his extraordinary talent, practice.
He had heard from the people in the manor that this Young Master had never been seen practicing, but now he was practicing in the middle of the night.
However, could such a short time each day really be enough to achieve a reputation that shook the heavens?
Suddenly, Li He saw the energy in the surroundings surge, rapidly converging toward the young man's body.
Li He's pupils contracted in shock.
Was this practice, or plunder?
The energy from the surroundings gathered like a storm, funneling into Li Hao's body, absorbed by the *Five Viscera Primordial Body* technique.
Li Hao's body was rapidly forged and refined, with his internal organs, blood, flesh, and meridians all condensing.
A terrifying force emanated from Li Hao's body, his physical strength increasing dramatically.
The commotion even made Li Hongzhuang, who was far away, open her eyes slightly and look over.
After completing one round of the cultivation technique, Li Hao felt his strength had increased significantly, his internal energy more abundant, and his body as tough as animal hide.
He then continued to practice a second, third, and more rounds.
By the ninth time, the improvements brought by this cultivation technique gradually reached saturation.
(End of Chapter)
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