“Dao Domain, ninety-seven layers?”
Upon hearing the Sword Master’s words, the three of them were stunned, immediately astonished, and looked at each other in disbelief. Had they heard wrong?
Jiang Yingyue was utterly bewildered, a bit disoriented, her mind a blank, filled with nothing but question marks.
She did not dare to doubt the Sword Master and would rather believe that her own ears were at fault.
That Alchemist who came with her had a ninety-seven layer Dao Domain?!
How could that be possible!
Such a number of Dao Domains was unheard of; even she had only cultivated fifteen layers, and that was already a testament to her exceptional talent.
One must know that she also had to focus on cultivating her martial realm and swordsmanship. With limited time, to have reached such a level at her age, not even a hundred years old, was already prodigious.
Apart from those born with a Taoist Body like the Saint Heirs and saintesses, her achievement was already the pinnacle of what could be achieved through sheer effort.
Without waiting for a reaction from the three, and without responding to their thoughts, the Sword Master’s figure flickered and suddenly disappeared from the spot, only to appear in the fifth layer of the Sword Tower.
There, Li Hao was sitting cross-legged, cultivating.
But the sudden appearance of the Sword Master startled Li Hao out of his trance. Although the Sword Master’s presence was faint, Li Hao could still smell it—a fishy odor!
It was the natural instinct of an experienced angler, highly sensitive to the scent of water, which emanated from the Sword Master’s fishing rod and line.
“Sword Master?”
Li Hao opened his eyes and looked up to see the Sword Master in front of him, wearing a conical hat, his expression calm, but with an oppressive aura like a shadow looming over him.
Although the other party did not deliberately reveal himself, and even took great pains to conceal his presence, that unique breath of a Saint still made one feel a formidable sense of awe at such close quarters.
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“Ninety-seven layers of Dao Domain, are you planning to use this to break through to the Extreme Realm?”
The Sword Master sized up Li Hao, asking with an air of interest.
Li Hao felt a chill in his heart, a sense of coldness taking hold, his All Phenomena attributes, along with the River Snow Painting, Hidden Bow, and other encyclopedia attributes, had always been invincible, practically undiscoverable, but this Sword Master before him had seen through it.
Could it be that the encyclopedia attributes were ineffective against Saints?
Sensing a hint of panic and the thoughts running through Li Hao’s mind, the Sword Master laughed lightly and said, “You have a method to conceal your aura, very profound, but did you not know that this Sword Tower is my weapon?”
“In my weapon, when you cultivate, how could I not be aware? No matter how concealed you are, what use is it?”
Li Hao was taken aback, somewhat astonished. The Sword Tower was a weapon?
No one had told him that… Li Hao felt like crying but had no tears, and he sheepishly responded:
“Cultivating to the Extreme Realm is incredibly difficult, but I still would like to give it a shot.”
The Sword Master nodded slightly, “Martial Artists who don’t aim to cultivate to the Extreme Realm hardly achieve great accomplishments. Having cultivated to ninety-seven layers of Dao Domain, you can indeed be considered exceptionally talented. I heard from my disciple, are you an Alchemist? Was that painting from just now your own work?”
He looked at Li Hao with a spot of interest in his eyes.
That painting alone was far from a simple brushstroke and required deep dedication and study to achieve.
And it seemed this young fellow was also an experienced angler, which was rather intriguing.
“Suppose you could call me half an Alchemist.”
Li Hao gave a wry smile, knowing that explaining this was not a simple matter.
“That painting was my work. If the senior thinks it’s acceptable, I wonder if I might have the opportunity to paint one for you as well.”
Li Hao’s thoughts churned. He didn’t forget his original intention to take advantage.
The Sword Master was somewhat surprised, looked Li Hao up and down, and then with a flip of his hand, a small black mirror appeared in his palm.
Li Hao recognized it—it was the same Bone-Reflecting Mirror that Lin Qingyue had used to reflect upon him earlier, although he wasn’t sure if it was the same one.
Seriously, how many Bone-Reflecting Mirrors did the Land of All Saints have?
Li Hao grumbled internally.
At that moment, the mirror’s reflection soon revealed Li Hao’s age.
28 years old.
He had been here for nearly a year now, resting and practicing cultivation, his Sword Dao advancing to Stage Eight, his Divine Blood Body achieving Great Accomplishment. He could be said to have made successful progress.
“Just 28 years old?”
The Sword Master’s gaze sharpened, his calm demeanor turning solemn.
Ninety-seven layers of Dao Domain was enough to surprise him slightly, for while cultivating the Dao Domain did require talent, even for top-tier Inner Sect Disciples, given thousands or even tens of thousands of years of painstaking study, they could slowly accumulate that much.
But at 28 years old, with ninety-seven layers of Dao Domain, even one layer per year would require at least a hundred years!
Cultivating the Dao Domain is not so simple; one has to comprehend a certain ultimate skill to a profoundly deep level, extending it into a Dao Domain.
Dedication is necessary.
Judging by the Dao Domain, wouldn’t it mean he had cultivated three or four layers every year?
And this is aside from infancy, when cultivation isn’t possible, plus the cultivation of realms and so on… that pace was rather astonishing!
“Such a talent, even among Inner Sect disciples, you are top-notch, even comparable to the Saint Heirs and saintesses.”
The Sword Master gazed at Li Hao, “Are you an Inner Sect disciple? Who is your master?”
Li Hao sighed internally, having intended to practice cultivation here discreetly, only to unexpectedly give himself away. At this point, continuing to hide it might bring trouble upon himself, as nobody but another Saint could truly understand a Saint’s methods, and lies could easily be exposed.
Thus, he briefly explained how he was persecuted by enemies, fell down here, and was taken in by Lin Qingyue.
These matters could also be known by inquiring with Lin Qingyue and Lin Shanhai.
As for who his enemies were, he did not mention, as it involved a Saint, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t lead to accidents.
Hearing Li Hao’s words, the Sword Master showed a look of realization, “So you’re not a disciple from our Holy Land. I was wondering why I hadn’t heard of such a Monster.”
He gave Li Hao a glance but did not pry into Li Hao’s enemies or past. Since Li Hao had not mentioned them when explaining, it indicated that he did not wish to share, and the Sword Master did not care about these matters, so he would not investigate further.