Ji Qingqing said in a daze, “But you told him the name we had decided on. Isn’t your relationship with him harmonious?”
“Since he was very young, Hao Er has been clever, remembering things from when he was just a few months old. I never mentioned it to him; it might have been you who brought it up, and he remembered it…” Li Tian Gang said, his eyes moistening with tears.
Ji Qingqing’s face lost all color, her mind suddenly flashing to the time before she left for Northern Yan, when she held the child close and whispered. It was the only time she had mentioned that name.
The child… remembered it.
Then he must have remembered the other things too.
Tears welled up in Ji Qingqing’s eyes, she covered her mouth, not daring to imagine the expectations the child must have harbored, and the despair he must have felt when he ultimately fell.
“It’s all my fault, all my fault…”
She cried uncontrollably.
Ji Daoxin and others looked on angrily, filled with both rage and powerlessness, knowing that no amount of scolding could change what had happened.
Ji Daoxin ordered the execution of all criminals on Qiu Tian Dao, including that old madman.
When the old madman heard he was to be executed, he didn’t cry or beg for mercy, but instead, he started cackling as if he truly had gone mad.
Some elders proposed angrily to execute Li Tian Gang as well and to imprison Ji Qingqing again on Qiu Tian Dao.
Many agreed with this idea, but there were those who objected, noting that although the child was dead, he was still a Dao Seed of the Ji Family and had died with that identity.
Because of this, his parents were of distinguished status, and to execute or imprison them would hardly satisfy everyone.
After a heated debate, Ji Daoxin finally made his decision.
The couple was to be exiled from the Ji Family, never to step foot in it again.
Li Tian Gang was spared, regard being paid to his status as Li Hao’s blood father, and considering the complexity of the situation and that Li Tian Gang was not the direct killer, his life was spared.
But without Li Hao, it was definite that they would sever all ties with Li Tian Gang, the outsider.
Including Ji Qingqing, who was stripped of her Ji Family identity. Although she was not the mastermind, she was indirectly responsible for Li Hao’s death.
In a situation where a Dao Seed was in peril, failure to protect it immediately was a grave sin!
Time flew by.
A month had passed since the news of Li Hao’s fall.
From the initial shock and discussion, it had become merely an occasional topic of conversation, not because they had forgotten, but because they were unwilling to reopen that wound.
Ji Daoxin and Ji Tian Chao both personally visited the abyss, but upon seeing the silent Blood Lake below and the rampant Dao Thoughts above, they remained silent.
No wonder the Third Ancestor had not made a move. Such Dao Thoughts would flay them even if they fell, and they would have to struggle out immediately.
“Has my Ji Family’s fortune exhausted…” Ji Daoxin murmured to himself standing above the abyss, his eyes dim with melancholy.
It was unexpected that such a rare and gifted individual, even of mixed blood, like a surprise blessing from heaven, a gift given, would fall just like that.
Ji Tian Chao remained silent. Compared to the child’s talent, what he regretted more was not only that, but also the brief times they had spent together, the child’s character…
He couldn’t fulfill the task set by the Third Brother. If the Third Brother knew, he would surely be very upset.
…
…
Deep in the Blood Lake, under the vicious abyss, lay a small white skull the size of a baby’s fist.
Apart from the skull, the rest of the body had disappeared.
Occasionally, the skull would emit a reddish-gold glow.
The Soul Sacrifice True Demon Skill was at work, still condensing, Li Hao’s consciousness tranquil, drawing strength from the lake, like threading a needle, constantly battering at the bottleneck.
Oblivious to the passage of time, Li Hao couldn’t pause for a moment, as to do so would mean eternal darkness awaited him.
Days passed, and the skull, washed by the Blood Lake, shrank even smaller, to the size of a thumbnail.
Li Hao’s consciousness grew extremely faint, but he did not give up.
The white bone, steadily eroded, became even smaller until it was like a soybean.
Li Hao’s Divine Soul retreated into it, nearly having no further refuge. Enraged and heartbroken, he decided to burn his Divine Soul to draw strength from the Blood Lake at the greatest speed.
As his Divine Soul blazed like a candle within that tiny white bone, the speed of absorption drastically increased.
Suddenly, with a boom, the bottleneck was broken.
An unimaginable vitality burst into the white bone.
Li Hao felt he had entered a mysterious state, one that was all too familiar to him, as it had been with entering any other Extreme Realm.
Li Hao immediately understood that the bottleneck he had broken through belonged to the Three Immortal Extreme Realms!
Though only a single piece of white bone remained, Li Hao felt that as long as he could harness this vigorous vitality, unimaginable in its intensity, even if he were reduced to a single drop of blood, he could be reborn!
Apart from the exuberant vitality, his Divine Soul seemed to have undergone some sort of refinement, allowing it to fully integrate with the white bone.
As long as a part of his body remained, that part would harbor his Divine Thought, and a single thought could bring about rebirth from a drop of blood!
Undying, Indestructible, Unwithering: these were the Three Immortalities.
Now, Li Hao deemed this Extreme Realm as the Undying and Indestructible Realm!
The Three Immortal Realms were already states that refined the physical body, thus in the Immortal Realm, one could pass on Divine Blood. In the Indestructible Realm, one could stride through legions of soldiers unharmed, their treasured bodies unbreakable, and in the Unwithering Realm, one could unleash the hidden Secret Power within one’s body to explode with endless might in a short period.
This Extreme Realm represented the physical body’s refinement to the ultimate limit, a drop of blood containing the spirit, Divine Thoughts reborn!
In other words, unless Li Hao’s bones were smashed and ground into ashes completely, he could not be killed!
Compared to the remarkable survival abilities of the other Three Immortal Realms, this was a qualitative leap!
At this moment, as Li Hao’s thoughts shifted, the exuberant life force erupted from the white bone. The bone grew rapidly, hair sprouted, flesh and blood coalesced.
In the blink of an eye, a head appeared in the Blood Lake.
But when the cohesion reached this point, Li Hao stopped.
Reaching the Extreme Realm, his control over his body had become even more precise.
He could sense within himself two extremely faint auras.
And these two auras were none other than the bloodlines of Li Tian Gang and Ji Qingqing.
He suddenly felt like laughing.
In the blizzard, the young man was driven out of his home.
Raising the Twin Flowers high, only to be smashed into the abyss by broken chains.
That vine demon, who had never cared, had quietly wrapped her tendrils around his pinky finger, secretly making a pact of never leaving his side.
Those final whispers that had surged into his body, pushing him near his limit, allowed him to be reborn now!
He smiled, dispersing the gathered energy.
His body rapidly decayed, the white bone dissipated, and the newly formed head was ground back down to just a drop of blood in the blink of an eye.
But even within that drop of blood, there lingered the faint auras of those two bloodlines.
Li Hao took a deep breath, knowing what he was about to do was incredibly risky, even with the capabilities of the Undying and Indestructible Realm, it could still lead to oblivion.
Yet, he still chose to do it.
“From now on, I am myself, viewing the Heavenly Heart with my heart, verifying my heart with the Heavenly Heart!”
Li Hao’s Divine Soul erupted, using the great will to sever the two auras within that drop of blood.
Completely split!
The split half soon vanished.
But this act was like sustaining a heavy blow in his current state, as he teetered on the brink of the bloodiest extremity.
Death might come at any moment.
But Li Hao’s will was more vigorous and powerful than ever before!
His once-confused Dao Heart, in this moment, solidified.
To establish a heart with heaven and earth!
To forge bones with mountains, rivers, and all things!
To mold muscles with sun, moon, and stars!
To fill his veins with the supreme Dao Thoughts!!
“I am the true self, I am Haotian, the Supreme Sovereign!!”
Mountain-crushing and tsunami-like power erupted from that half-drop of blood, causing the entire tranquil Blood Lake to tremble and shake, stirring waves and undercurrents!
That drop of blood, unaffected by the erosion of the Blood Lake, burst forth with a radiance so intense, the blood condensed and squirmed with life, driven by the supreme Dao Thoughts will, breaking free from the Blood Lake!
Above the abyss, endless radiance seemed to converge, flesh and blood grew!
Below the flesh, the white bone was reshaped, growing rapidly, and eventually, a throbbing heart formed within the chest cavity.
The perfectly proportioned body of the young man slowly raised its head, an aura standing in unison with heaven and earth emanating from his being!