The Name of Eternals

Chapter 204: Ancestral Divine Weapon, Touching the Limit

Bang!

Inside a certain tavern in Dragon City.

A figure suddenly flew out, crashing through the railings and falling onto the street below.

A sword wound on the figure's chest spewed out not blood, but dark demonic aura. As the body hit the ground, it quickly transformed into its original demonic form, shivering as it lay exposed.

Before the transformation could complete, a swift sword aura like an autumn breeze brushed past, stilling the shivering body, which then collapsed and died.

At the railing, Li Hao and Li Xiaoran approached.

The demonic body in the street seemed like a drop of ink in a lake, causing the surrounding commoners to scatter in fear, not daring to approach.

Li Hao glanced at the mission progress. The exploration task hadn't advanced, but the overall completion of the River of the Dead had increased by 0.001.

Killing a Heavenly Human Realm demon had barely increased the task progress, which shocked Li Hao.

Calculating by this ratio, 1000 Heavenly Human Realm demons would only amount to 1% completion of the River of the Dead.

His Growth mission had been ongoing for 13 years, bringing the River of the Dead completion to 7.2%.

"In terms of mission progress, surviving here is more difficult than killing demons."

"Normally, that's true. If an outsider came here without the Li family bloodline, reincarnated into an ordinary family, they might have been assassinated by the demons in the city long ago."

"Exposing one's talent can attract demonic attention. Hiding it means lacking cultivation resources, a tough dilemma!"

"Moreover, one could reincarnate as a demon's neighbor, starting off doomed."

"If it weren't for Fourth Uncle, I almost got assassinated at the banquet."

Li Hao's eyes flickered. Although he hadn't fought much against demons yet, the difficulty of the River of the Dead's mission was becoming clear to him.

No wonder a Peaceful Dao Realm practitioner would barely have a chance to clear it.

If it weren't for Li Tianzong's presence, creating Dragon City, the danger would be unimaginable.

"Hmph, this demon was just a small fry providing information to the outside demons," Li Xiaoran scoffed, glancing at the dead demon.

Li Hao understood that the River of the Dead's circumstances differed from the outside. More and stronger demons made only a few places in the city truly safe.

Outside, any city guarded by a Divine General's Mansion was typically peaceful, rarely experiencing demonic attacks over decades.

Organized demons wouldn't dare approach, and unorganized ones lacked the means. Only those intimidated or allied with demons could infiltrate the city to gather intelligence, always very cautiously.

Here in Dragon City, however, demonic strongholds were numerous.

This was the third they had destroyed in just half an hour.

Li Hao leaped down from the railing, placing his palm on the demon's body, extracting a small amount of life essence through his technique.

This essence, once refined, slightly enhanced his own physical strength.

This technique, Ten Thousand Blood True Demon Technique, was a synthesis of many body refining arts, surpassing even supreme-grade techniques, containing extraordinary power.

The technique's name carried a demonic aura, incorporating various demonic techniques and forbidden body refining arts, ultimately creating a method to absorb life essence to forge one's body.

"A technique that succeeds at the cost of countless lives!"

Li Xiaoran recognized the technique as extremely sinister but did not intervene. In the River of the Dead, any method to strengthen oneself was valid.

Having seen court intrigue, knightly chivalry, and demonic grudges, he knew techniques were secondary; the wielder was key.

While some sinister techniques could corrupt one's mind, leading to dark and bloodthirsty tendencies, Li Hao's technique seemed only ruthless, without affecting his character—so far.

Moreover, in the Grandmaster Realm, martial arts were core, and techniques were merely skills with limited impact on oneself.

They moved to the next location.

In the city, two figures traversed various sites: teahouses, theaters, secluded merchant mansions, and even ordinary farmer homes.

Each location was left with demonic corpses.

The weakest of these demons were all at the Fifteen Miles Realm.

Li Hao's heart grew heavy, sensing the impending Dragon City battle would be extremely brutal.

With the Candle Fire God and Lu Yuan present, his eyes glinted with murderous intent. If he could kill these two demon kings in the River of the Dead, it would be ideal.

In a mansion within the city.

A wealthy master sat listlessly sipping tea when a servant reported, "Master, the twenty-seventh young mistress has given birth again."

"Given birth again?"

The plump master's eyes gleamed.

Nearby, the steward's eyes lit up, swallowing slightly, "Congratulations, master. Another child means another feast."

"Haha, quickly, bring the child."

"The midwife is already on her way."

The servant respectfully replied, his eyes also shining.

Soon, a midwife hurried in, holding a swaddled infant, "Master, it's a healthy child."

"I can already smell it. Delicious."

The master's eyes sparkled, his hand reaching out. The swaddled child flew into his grasp.

The infant, with scales on its cheeks and arms and a snake-like tail, was a monster. Yet, the master's eyes shone with affection as he stroked it, "How adorable."

As he rubbed his forehead against the child, the infant sensed something, its black eyes opened, with no whites, and it tried to crawl away.

Suddenly, the master grinned, his mouth opening wide—a terrifying maw full of fangs.

With a swift motion, he swallowed the infant whole, chewing contentedly.

"Delicious."

"Are there still demons raising humans to eat infants?"

"Indeed, and their clans are vast. Newborns must learn to escape their nests, or be eaten by their mothers."

Two voices approached, followed by a knife and sword strike.

The master paused, his body struck by the knife, dodging the sword.

Blood splattered as the blade ripped through his armored scales.

His body turned monstrous, eyes raging, "Who dares?!"

Li Hao and Li Xiaoran attacked without words, unleashing a storm of strikes. The shockwaves alone killed the servant and midwife.

The steward also transformed, revealing a Three Immortals Realm aura.

Li Hao didn't hesitate, slashing with his sword.

His abundant skill points had elevated his swordsmanship to six stages, his strikes like starlight and lightning.

Li Xiaoran's Sky Beyond Sky sword technique had evolved, with its essence infused into his blade skills. Li Hao's strikes similarly shortened distances, almost guaranteeing hits.

The two demons were forced back, the master still breathing while the steward perished under Li Hao's blade, unable to resist.

Li Hao had noticed Li Xiaoran had also mastered the Sea Boundless sword technique, integrating its essence into his own skills, showing exceptional talent in both blade and swordsmanship.

"Demon kings have infiltrated. This is serious."

Li Hao joined the battle, attacking with Li Xiaoran.

"Li family scum! I didn't ally with outside demons. I just wanted a home here. Why ruin my plans?!"

The master roared, revealing his true form.

But as a Dao Heart Realm demon, he was no match for Li Hao and Li Xiaoran, who overwhelmed him, shattering his scales and leaving him in a pool of blood.

"Li family… damn you…"

The demon king's breath ceased.

Li Hao crouched, plunging his hand into the demon's body, extracting the life essence while using his Ten Thousand Blood True Demon Technique.

The demon king's blood essence was potent, akin to a spiritual elixir.

Li Hao immediately refined this energy, enhancing his Indestructible Body.

His body, refined through multiple methods, was now akin to a six-forged divine weapon, approaching his external body's strength.

Absorbing the demon king's essence further refined his flesh, nearing the strength of a seven-forged divine weapon.

"Two or three more demon kings should suffice."

Li Hao thought.

Having destroyed the demon's soul, he checked the River of the Dead completion—only 0.1%.

Killing the Three Immortals Realm steward had only increased it by 0.01%.

Li Hao was stunned. A thousand demon kings were required for completion?

Where could he find so many?

A thousand Four Foundation Realm beings, more than all in the Divine General's Mansion, even the entire Great Yu Dynasty.

"Fourth Uncle, what's the longest you've guarded Dragon City?"

Li Hao asked Li Xiaoran.

"Noticed the progress, huh?"

Li Xiaoran sighed, "This is the difficulty of a Netherworld-level River of the Dead. Even Dao Heart Realm practitioners struggle to survive, often relying on luck."

"My longest was four days."

Li Xiaoran added, "The demons outside are not the same as those in Yanbei. They come from various realms, imprisoned here."

"Encountering over a hundred demon kings in four days."

His face darkened, "Luckily, these demon kings are only Dao Heart Realm, manageable. But later, stronger Absolute Technique Realm demons appeared, truly terrifying."

The Four Foundations Realm stages vary greatly.

Dao Heart is weakest, Absolute Technique can easily kill it in one strike.

Absolute Technique masters deadly skills, risking life to fight.

Few provoke them willingly.

In the Dao Heart Realm, hitting guarantees damage, enough to terrify the Three Immortals Realm.

Absolute Technique experts can challenge major forces, risking life.

Peaceful Dao masters are invincible with their Dao domains.

"Only four days, and over a hundred demon kings..."

Li Hao's expression was grave. The River of the Dead imprisoned countless demonic souls. Given how long this Netherworld-level River of the Dead had existed, who knew how many demon king remnants it had absorbed?

Reaching the strength they had outside might not be enough—they needed to become even stronger!

Li Hao took a deep breath and stopped asking questions. He and Li Xiaoran processed the demon king's corpse and cleared the remaining lesser demons in the mansion before leaving.

In the following days, Li Hao, aside from training and accumulating skill points, accompanied Li Xiaoran in daily sweeps of the city's demons.

When Li Tianzong learned that Li Hao could slay demon kings at thirteen, he was speechless with astonishment.

Though the other nine sons of the Li family were outstanding, they seemed overshadowed by Li Hao's brilliance here.

Even Li Junye, once the most dazzling, now appeared as a mere firefly next to Li Hao's radiant sun, easily overlooked.

Yet, Li Junye trained hard and progressed rapidly. Though he couldn't surpass Li Hao, he reached the Heavenly Human Realm at fifteen, two years earlier than the record outside at seventeen.

Li Hao speculated that this might be due to various inconsistencies in the River of the Dead, compounded by his and Li Xiaoran's presence causing a butterfly effect.

As time passed, Li Hao hunted more demons, and his reputation made the city's demons tremble in fear. Every day he stepped out of the Divine General's Mansion, demons would surely die, accompanied by a bloody wind.

With the continuous demon hunts and the numerous precious medicines prepared by Li Tianzong, Li Hao's cultivation advanced at a miraculous speed.

While consuming too many precious medicines could destabilize one's foundation, this was only for ordinary people. Li Hao, possessing various supreme and even transcendent techniques, could easily digest these medicines through minor technique operations.

His body was like a bottomless pit, able to absorb vast amounts of energy, which those techniques used to temper every part of his body.

Li Hao's physical strength continuously increased, reaching the level of an eight-forged divine weapon in no time.

Li Tianzong then opened the Li family's core treasury for Li Hao, filled with the family's treasured divine medicines, secret treasures, and techniques.

Li Hao didn't hold back, knowing there was no future in this River of the Dead, where everything was an illusion, except for Li Tianzong's genuine obsession.

Thus, he consumed all the divine medicines and retrieved the ancestral divine weapon placed in the highest position—a treasure sword used by the third-generation ancestor, Li Tianyuan's grandson.

This sword, forged nine times, was close to the level of a Sacred Heart Heavenly Treasure.

Li Xiaoran informed Li Hao that the first ancestor's weapon had broken, which was a Sacred Heart Heavenly Treasure. Since the death of the Heavenly Treasure Daoist thousands of years ago, no one in the Great Yu Dynasty had been able to repair such a treasure.

The term "Heavenly Treasure" was derived from that Daoist's title.

None of his descendants had the talent to inherit his mantle, leading to the loss of this heritage, a great regret for the Great Yu Dynasty.

Today, the master of the Myriad Artifacts Tower, a distant descendant of the Heavenly Treasure Daoist, could barely forge a Sacred Heart Heavenly Treasure, but with a low success rate.

Li Hao, upon learning the sword's name was 'Qing Shuang,' praised it and equipped it, bringing the ancestral divine weapon out of the treasury.

Li Tianzong did not object, as Li Hao, being the Li family's true dragon, had the right to inherit an ancestral divine weapon.

If it were another direct descendant, the situation would require consideration, as ancestral weapons were not only powerful but also symbols of status.

If every direct descendant could choose freely, many would have been lost long ago.

With the weapon in hand, Li Hao resumed his training and demon-slaying.

The city's demons were continually purged, and Li Hao, absorbing demonic blood essence and divine medicines from the secret treasury, grew stronger daily.

Attempting to comprehend the Dao Heart, he found himself lost in thought, with time accelerating unnoticed.

Li Xiaoran explained this was normal. His own Dao Heart comprehension had accelerated time by seven or eight years.

Li Hao, only slightly lost in thought, found time had accelerated to his seventeenth year.

The Dragon City battle was imminent.

"My body seems to be touching the limit of the Three Immortals Realm..."

Li Hao felt his own body, his flesh condensed, the power within like a vast, endless ocean.