Chapter 529: Imperial Clan
Chapter 529: Imperial Clan
"Hmm?"
Li Hao saw a young man sitting alone on the mountain peak from a distance. The young man raised his wine flask in a gesture, which surprised Li Hao. He immediately approached.
"So it's you, the youngest guy in soul age."
The young man, upon recognizing Li Hao, couldn't help but smile. Clearly, he had noticed the commotion outside the True Immortal Realm earlier and was quite impressed by this young man.
"Who are you?"
Li Hao looked at him with confusion.
The young man smiled and said, "Fancy a drink?"
"Sure."
Seeing that it was indeed an invitation to drink, Li Hao didn't hesitate and immediately landed on the mountaintop.
The young man was a bit surprised that Li Hao had accepted his invitation so readily and with such grace. He chuckled and said, "Aren't you worried the wine might be poisoned?"
"Poisoning wine is such a dull thing to do."
Li Hao replied, "I doubt someone as dull as that would have made it this far."
"You have a point."
The young man laughed and tossed his wine flask to Li Hao, "For that remark, this flask is yours!"
"I'll give it a taste."
Li Hao popped the cork and took a swig. The small wine flask contained a tiny world, a miniature spatial realm.
Li Hao wiped the wine from his lips and praised, "Good wine. Did you brew it yourself?"
With his culinary skills, even he would find it extremely challenging to brew such fine wine, requiring the finest materials and a long time.
"Good that you like it."
The young man smiled, "Wine is best enjoyed with a kindred spirit. I'm Di Lincen. What should I call you?"
"Hao Tian."
Hearing his surname, Li Hao's heart stirred. He had been in the True World for quite some time now. Though he spent his days cultivating, painting, and fishing, he would often chat with Elder Gu, the Great Dream Master, and others during his free time, learning about the basic situation of the True World.
In the True World, which is home to ten thousand races, the Hundred Clans stand out, occupying the richest territories.
Among the Hundred Clans, the Imperial Clan is the most prominent, with the surname "Di." They have produced the most Immortal Emperors.
It is said that the Imperial Clan has three Immortal Emperors in one family, and for a hundred thousand years, they have been at the peak of the True World, a true noble clan. Even other imperial bloodlines show deference to the Imperial Clan.
Noticing Li Hao's change in expression, Di Lincen knew that Li Hao had recognized his identity. His eyes softened as he waited for Li Hao's reaction.
In the past, those who learned of his clan's identity would either show reverence and obedience, fear, or curiosity, probing for more information.
Li Hao quickly composed himself and took another sip of the fine wine, then asked out of curiosity:
"Didn't they say no external objects could be brought in? How did you bring this treasure in?"
Di Lincen was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting Li Hao to ask about this. He smiled, a rare expression, and said:
"The wine flask wasn't brought in from outside. It's simple to make here, as long as you have a deep spatial origin realm."
"What about the wine?"
"The wine... it's better you don't know. It doesn't break any rules, anyway."
Di Lincen chuckled, and with a wave of his hand, a vortex of void appeared, dropping a wine flask identical to Li Hao's.
"Do you have any dao fire? I have extra and can give you some."
Di Lincen took a sip, then thought of something and said to Li Hao.
Li Hao was taken aback. Dao fire is a token for advancement, extremely valuable, and Di Lincen was casually offering it to him.
"I have some."
He shook his head, not accepting the gift, and said, "If you have extra, you can trade it. I'm sure others would be willing to exchange all sorts of treasures for it."
"Treasures?"
Di Lincen shook his head, uninterested, "I have plenty of those, no need for more."
"..."
Di Lincen flipped his palm, and two azure dao fires appeared. He casually pushed them toward Li Hao, "These are extras. You can take them to trade."
Li Hao looked at the precious dao fires right in front of him. Such valuable items were being offered to him by someone he had just met, after only a few words.
He hesitated for a moment but didn't refuse any further, taking the two dao fires. He thought for a moment and said:
"If there's a chance, I'll invite you to taste the wine I brew."
"You can brew wine too?"
Di Lincen was somewhat surprised, "Your soul age is only a hundred years. To reach such a realm, you must have been cultivating almost without rest."
Li Hao smiled but didn't explain, "You'll know when I brew some and invite you to taste it."
"Alright, I'll look forward to it."
Di Lincen laughed.
The two sat on the mountaintop, chatting casually and clinking their flasks.
Seeing them sitting comfortably, the countless people outside the secret realm were dumbfounded.
In the mirrored secret realm, the other prodigies were engaged in life-and-death pursuits, either chasing ancient demons or fleeing from them. Some prodigies had already fallen, but here, these two were drinking and chatting as if they were on a leisurely outing.
If it weren't for the mountain of ancient demon corpses piled haphazardly behind the peak, they might have thought they weren't in the True Immortal Realm at all.
"That young man is actually from the Imperial Clan! He’s the Imperial Clan prodigy!"
"Who would have thought the Imperial Clan prodigy would come to the Southern Domain Battle. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an Imperial Clan prodigy emerge."
"Have you heard that an Imperial Clan prodigy is participating in this Southern Domain Battle? Is it the one right in front of us?"
"I wonder how this Imperial Clan prodigy compares to the Supreme Sage’s personal disciple?"
"Truly worthy of the Imperial Clan, to gift something as precious as dao fire so casually. They’ve only just met, haven’t they?"
Countless gazes were fixed on Li Hao and Di Lincen, whispering and speculating.
"That kid, how did he become friends with the Imperial Clan prodigy after just a few words?"
Li Tiemu watched the two conversing in the projection, somewhat taken aback.
Great Dream Master gazed at the young man, his carefree and serene smile reminding her of the figure who had once walked ahead of her, shielding her from the winds and rains of countless ages.
He was just as free-spirited and untroubled, yet radiated a brilliant and resolute fighting spirit.
"Perhaps it’s a case of instant rapport, or maybe they just clicked. Making friends doesn’t always require a lot of words. If the first conversation goes well, they’re friends."
Great Dream Master said. These words echoed from a past era, spoken by a figure who had long since passed, now repeated by her.
...
In the True Immortal Realm.
Li Hao’s wine flask was almost empty, his cheeks flushed and his eyes slightly glazed.
"You’re drunk."
Di Lincen glanced at Li Hao and said, "Stay by my side until the trial ends. No one will dare to come near here."
"I’m not drunk."
Li Hao shook his head and smiled lightly. "I’m just letting the alcohol disperse in my body. It hasn’t reached a level that would affect my movements."
Di Lincen examined him closely, confirming that Li Hao wasn’t lying. "My wine can intoxicate even an Immortal Lord. It seems your physique is on par with an Immortal Lord."
As they spoke, a whistling sound approached from the distance.
It was a youth with fiery red hair, his hands crackling with flames that enveloped his fists.
He soon spotted Li Hao and Di Lincen on the mountaintop and accelerated toward them.
As he drew closer, he let out a light exclamation, his eyes revealing surprise and astonishment. He hadn’t expected that his Channeling Qi would be so effective, actually leading him to the youngest soul-aged individual.
As for the other person, he didn’t recognize him.
"Kid, you’re the one with a soul age of 96 years, right?"
The red-haired youth hovered above the mountaintop, looking down at the two and raising an eyebrow at Li Hao.
"Who are you?"
Li Hao looked up, his brow slightly furrowed, not out of fear of an attack but annoyance at being interrupted.
"Let me test whether you have the right to stand here!"
The red-haired youth laughed loudly. He knew that the youngest soul-aged individual had attracted the attention of countless people. If he could defeat or even kill him, he would quickly gain fame and renown throughout the Southern Domain.
In the future, whenever the youngest soul-aged individual was mentioned, it would be inevitable to note that he was defeated by Ji Tianming in the first stage!
Whoosh!
The red-haired youth’s figure suddenly blurred, moving like a teleportation, and he swung a flaming fist directly at Li Hao.
The flames in his fists burned like two meteors hurtling toward him.
"Did I give you permission to disturb our enjoyment?"
At that moment, Di Lincen’s indifferent voice rang out.
His smile faded, leaving only a cold, detached gaze, like an emperor looking down from the clouds at the green mountains, a casual yet indifferent demeanor.
As his voice echoed, the red-haired youth turned to look at him, and suddenly, the void seemed to freeze, shattering into pieces.
The red-haired youth, along with the flames in his fists, was also frozen in place, then shattered inch by inch.
"No!"
His Soul Spirit Imprisonment within his body let out a desperate cry and roar of rage.
But no matter how he struggled, his body remained immobile, as if glued to an invisible iron plate, his limbs frozen and slowly breaking apart.
"Don’t, don’t kill me..."
From his initial shock and anger to his final terrified scream, it all happened in the blink of an eye.
The red-haired youth felt his inevitable destruction, his terror overwhelming, and he immediately begged for mercy.
But Di Lincen’s expression didn’t change. He watched as the red-haired youth’s body disintegrated into dust, completely consumed by the shattered space. Only then did he turn to Li Hao and say:
"Did I disturb you?"
"No, it’s fine."
Li Hao shook his head but gave Di Lincen a deep look.
He didn’t sense the fluctuation of Time Essence, but there was a strong spatial origin energy.
If he wasn’t mistaken, the other party had already reached the fifth level of the spatial origin realm!
One must understand that this was the Great Dao realm, where the difference between each level was immense.
In the True Immortal realm, comprehending up to the third level of perfection was already considered a top prodigy.
Mastering the fourth level was already one of the top monsters among countless prodigies.
And now, Li Hao could actually sense spatial origin fluctuations that surpassed the fourth level from Di Lincen.
"So this is what a top monster looks like. Even the fourth level of the Great Dao realm isn’t enough for him!"
Li Hao was amazed; this was simply too exaggerated.
The fifth level of the spatial origin, which was the second in the Nine Sequences, might not even be comprehended by those in the Immortal Lord realm.
"Let's continue."
Di Lincen raised his wine flask to Li Hao.
Li Hao smiled and drank a cup with him, then patted his buttocks and stood up, saying:
"Do you plan to rest here until the secret realm ends?"
"Yep."
Di Lincen nodded, truly not intending to take any more action.
Li Hao had expected as much. This Imperial Clan prodigy had no intention of shining in this first screening.
"Then I’ll go explore and look for my friends."
Li Hao said, bidding him farewell.
Di Lincen’s eyes showed a hint of regret, but upon hearing that Li Hao was looking for friends, he understood and did not try to dissuade him.
"If you encounter any danger, you can run straight here."
Di Lincen reminded him.
Li Hao nodded slightly, not refusing the offer of goodwill.
"Those ancient demon corpses over there are all yours, right? Can I take them?" Li Hao pointed to the pile of ancient demon corpses behind the mountain and asked.
"What do you need these corpses for?"
Di Lincen asked, puzzled.
"For food." Li Hao smiled. "I’m quite experienced with this ingredient. I’ll cook you a meal if you like."
"You can cook?"
Di Lincen was slightly taken aback, his face showing a hint of curiosity. Despite his young soul age, Li Hao seemed to have a lot of diverse skills.
"Yes."
Li Hao nodded.
"If you want them, take them."
Di Lincen shook his head, not asking any more questions.
"Thanks."
Li Hao didn’t hesitate, turned around, and collected all the ancient demon corpses from behind the mountain into his Spatial Rift. He then bid Di Lincen farewell and continued on his way.
Outside the secret realm, in a teahouse of one of the Immortal Dynasties.
Mi Xueyao watched the young man in the projection continuously collecting ancient demon corpses and immediately understood his intentions. She suddenly felt her mouth go dry and couldn’t help but swallow.
Thinking about the young man’s cooking skills, she grew even more hungry.
"That guy, he didn’t start cooking right there. Otherwise, the other major clans hiding in the Southern Domain would probably go crazy with anger!"
Mi Xueyao chuckled to herself.
Although the ancient demons were in a stalemate with the True World’s ten thousand races, the ancient demons always held the dominant position. If they wanted to end the conflict, they could do so by uniting.
Deep down, the ancient demons looked down on the True World’s ten thousand races, seeing them as mere ants. If they saw these ants publicly eating ancient demons as food, they would undoubtedly be driven mad with rage, and some ancient demon clans might even unite because of it.
"What is that kid planning to do with so many ancient demon corpses?"
Li Tiemu and Great Dream Master also looked puzzled, having found Li Hao’s actions strange for a while now.
Great Dream Master shook her head slightly, having no answer either.
"Does this kid see the Southern Domain battlefield as a place to stock up on ingredients?"
At the border of the Yan Chu Immortal Dynasty, Gu Changming, who was defending the area, couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.
His gaze shifted from Li Hao, knowing the young man didn’t need his worry, to his granddaughter, Gu Xingwan.
He saw Gu Xingwan being surrounded by three ancient demons, trying to break through their encirclement. Her situation was perilous.
Gu Changming’s brows furrowed with worry, but with a distance of ten thousand miles, his concern was of no help.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Gu Changming noticed that the direction Li Hao was heading was getting closer to where his granddaughter was.
His worried expression instantly relaxed, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.
(End of Chapter)
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