Follow the path of Dao from infancy

After a few consecutive strikes, suddenly, several Ancient Demons seemed to sense something. They abruptly stopped and immediately turned their gazes to a certain spot. Then, in a panic, they scrambled to flee in the opposite direction at full speed.

“Leaving now? Too late!”

The voice of the middle-aged soldier descended, this time not transmitted telepathically but echoing directly from the sky.

Immediately after, a sword shadow pierced through from the distant void, driving itself straight into one of the Ancient Demons, shattering its body.

The demon’s body collapsed on the spot, disintegrating into black mist before vanishing entirely into the heavens and earth.

Then, the middle-aged soldier stepped forward in an instant, arriving outside the bronze chariot. With a casual flick of the Ancient Sword in his hand, a terrifying sword light erupted forth, dazzling like a galaxy, slicing several Ancient Demons in half.

That sword light contained an immense, horrifying power. The struck Ancient Demons screamed wretchedly before collapsing and disintegrating into oblivion.

The middle-aged soldier glanced sideways, seeming to let out a cold snicker, then promptly retracted his sword edge and descended in front of the bronze chariot.

“These beasts, cunning yet foolish, returning again and again just to die.”

The middle-aged soldier sounded like he was muttering to himself. After finishing, he turned his gaze toward Li Hao atop the chariot platform, his eyes carrying a trace of amusement as he said:

“What kind of technique was that? You managed to instantly destroy their bodies in such a short exchange, and you’ve already figured out their physical structure?”

Li Hao relaxed slightly upon the soldier’s return and chuckled, “I’m a chef. These beings may be strange, but, to me, they’re just ingredients. Handling ingredients inevitably requires understanding their anatomy and various parts. Pity I didn’t get a chance to cook them piece by piece for a taste.”

The middle-aged soldier froze at his reply, a rare reaction. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and couldn’t help but mutter, “You are truly an eccentric fellow.”

He casually planted the Ancient Sword onto the ground, wiped the bloodstains off his body, and cast a glance at the Remnant Blade in Li Hao’s hand, saying:

“Let me have a look at that.”

Li Hao, unperturbed, readily tossed it to him.

The middle-aged soldier examined the Remnant Blade in his hand, narrowing his eyes slightly as he said:

“A top-tier Daoist Soldier fragment, almost an Immortal Artifact. But what a pity.”

He then threw it back to Li Hao, surveying his surroundings and said, “A pity indeed. The battles of that era were devastating. Most of the weapons here are damaged, and some have suffered irreparable harm, unable to withstand the erosion of time. They’re useless now. Otherwise, you might have stumbled across plenty of Immortal Artifacts.”

Li Hao recalled the many weapons he had seen beside the corpses along the way, their luster faded. His heart couldn’t help but sigh with sentimental regret.

Still, this Remnant Blade turned out to be of top-tier Emperor’s Weapon grade. No wonder it was so sharp.

“A top-tier Emperor’s Weapon… It must be a Nine Tribulation Emperor’s Weapon. It requires Heaven and Earth Treasures—more than five thousand pieces…”

Li Hao pondered inwardly, wondering whether scouring the entire Land of All Saints would yield that many Heaven and Earth Treasures. It remained uncertain.

In other words, even the combined might of the Land of All Saints might not be sufficient to forge a single Nine Tribulation Emperor’s Weapon!

“You’re quite bold to attack proactively. At least it helped reduce some of the chariot’s energy consumption.” Sёarch* The nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The middle-aged soldier said to Li Hao, his face showing a smile that was noticeably softer and more genuine than before. It seemed as though the more he spoke, the less rigid his expression grew, adapting to the conversation.

“Senior, were you all fighting these Ancient Demons back in the day?”

Li Hao asked.

The middle-aged soldier nodded slightly, his expression growing far more solemn as he replied, “These creatures devour souls, and when reincarnation collapsed, they slipped through the fissures, wreaking havoc across the True Realm. The decline of the True Realm is inseparably tied to them.”

Li Hao was shaken inwardly and asked, “Senior, the True Realm you mentioned—would this place be the Immortal Realm?”

“Immortal Realm? We’ve never referred to it as the Immortal Realm. This is the True Realm—the true world of origin.”

The middle-aged soldier moved to the side and sat by the chariot’s wheel, leaning against it while wiping the blood from his sword edge. He said:

“The world you previously lived in was a Fake Realm—a world created by the Immortal Emperor. You can think of it as the Immortal Emperor’s Dao Domain!”

At this point, he sighed deeply, gazing off into the distance with eyes brimming with memories and sorrow, saying:

“When the Ancient Demon calamity descended, the Great Immortal Sects of the True Realm fought on the front lines. The Immortal Emperor gathered his progeny, disciples, and others into his Fake Realm for shelter, while he went to confront the Demon Gods among the Ancient Demons…”

“The Immortal Emperor fell, and the Fake Realm deteriorated on its own and sealed itself away.”

He raised the corner of his mouth into a faint smile, saying, “But we cultivators—how could we cower in fear? Shortly after the Immortal Emperor’s passing, his disciples and progeny stormed out of the Fake Realm, joining us on the battlefield here and sealing the passage to the Fake Realm, preserving the fire seed. The bones you saw on your journey belong to the descendants of the Immortal Emperor—and among them, also his disciples…”

Li Hao froze, the soldier having revealed everything outright. In just a few sentences, a vivid image of an ancient and monumental war unfolded before his eyes.

The Immortal Gods fought bloodily, holding back the Ancient Demons.

“So this is the reason the Immortal Divine Road disappeared… It all makes sense now…”

Li Hao came to understand. No wonder the Supreme Saints couldn’t find the Immortal Divine Road—it had been intentionally sealed away.

The Immortal Gods’ absence meant they had fought here in the True Realm, battling against the Ancient Demons.

All of this exceeded Li Hao’s expectations, a far cry from what he had imagined. He had thought walking the Immortal Divine Road would lead to a vast and flourishing Immortal God World, teeming with life like a divine realm. Instead, this place had been ravaged by calamity and countless Immortal Gods had fallen.

“Senior, could these Ancient Demons have spread across the entire True Realm without detection when they first sprouted?”