The Name of Eternity.

Chapter 672 The Great Battle Begins
The Celestial Venerable is both a realm of existence and a real being.

Li Hao could sense that among the eight realms of martial arts, the Celestial Realm was the most mysterious.

The ultimate realm is the transformation into an immortal, and the ultimate transformation into an immortal allows one to touch the ethereal and elusive Heavenly Venerable.

Upon touching this Celestial Venerable, Li Hao, who was completely integrated into heaven and earth, seemed to slowly merge with the Celestial Venerable, becoming part of its emotionless body.

With that majestic and supreme body, Li Hao had a terrifying sense that all the laws of nature and all things in the world seemed to be under his control and could be mobilized!
"The final realm... is just a state of being, but it allows one to touch upon a certain existence."

Li Hao felt that the existence of this Celestial Venerable was somewhat terrifying, as if he were another being of equal standing comparable to the Heavenly Dao.

At this moment, under the Void Realm, Li Hao's Celestial Body transformed into countless particles, permeating deep into the Celestial Venerable's body. Under that close fit, he gained a clearer understanding of the power of heaven and earth.

He tried to control the Celestial Venerable's body, but made no move, as if another power, a more stable and vast power, was dominating this body.

Many thoughts flashed through Li Hao's mind, and he suddenly had a more thorough understanding.

What is a realm? A realm is the place where a certain power is condensed.

And all things in heaven and earth are like this.

Mountains, rivers, rocks, and life are all composed of the condensation of many substances.

Condensing one's own Dao Source Immortal Seal is also a kind of power and realm. This Heavenly Venerable seems to be an existence similar to the Dao Source Immortal Seal.

"But who created this final realm?"

Li Hao murmured to himself, "The person who has reached the final realm of Heavenly Venerable must be an extremely terrifying Immortal Emperor!"

His body withdrew from the Heavenly Venerable's shell and slowly condensed in the void, forming a small Heavenly Venerable based on the Heavenly Venerable's shell.

"To master all laws and control all paths, to transcend the laws and the paths, and to transcend the realm of the Dao, is to become a Heavenly Venerable."

As this final realm was formed, Li Hao stood in the mountain spring at the summit, his whole body radiating light, as if he were standing in the present, or as if he were standing in the distant past or future, unbound by time and space, and unaffected by the erosion of all paths.

"This is... the ultimate realm of the Celestial Being, mastering all laws and impervious to all paths!"

At this moment, Li Hao has completed the fifth final stage of cultivation!

In addition, he has mastered four other ultimate realms: the Ultimate Realm of Power, Divine Blood, and the Ultimate Realm of Divine Power.

The final stage of the Zhou Tian realm, the veins of all the stars and celestial bodies.

The divine journey leads to the ultimate realm, to the true god.

The ultimate state of immortality is eternal immortality.

Among them, these three immortal realms were opened up by the Heavenly Dao Blood bestowed upon Li Hao by the Dao Source Immortal Emperor, giving Li Hao extraordinary life-saving abilities.

Once ten thousand drops of true god blood have condensed, the true god will be formed, and Li Hao's survival and combat power will reach an extremely exaggerated level.

True gods are indestructible and eternally immortal, with both their physical body and divine soul reaching the pinnacle.

Back in the mortal realm, Li Hao only borrowed a little bit of the power of a Heavenly Venerable to suppress and kill several Holy Sons under the Void Saint. Now that he has cultivated to the final stage of the Heavenly Venerable realm and can freely mobilize the power of all paths, he has come to realize how terrifying the final stage of the Heavenly Venerable realm truly is.

"Immune to all paths... No matter what methods a Celestial Lord uses, they cannot harm me in the slightest."

“In the previous battle, that God-King was a quasi-Emperor reincarnated, but he hadn’t reached the final Heavenly Venerable realm. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to him!”

The power controlled by the Immortal Lord realm is still the Dao realm and Immortal Law, but these are all exempt from harm to the Heavenly Venerable!

In addition to the Dao Realm and Immortal Techniques, the Immortal King Realm also possesses the power of a domain.

However, the realm itself is also constructed from the Dao Realm and the laws of myriad paths. If the Dao Realm and the laws of myriad paths are removed, the pure power of the realm will be greatly reduced.

Although the power of realms is strong, it still needs a primal driving force.

"With this Celestial Venerable state, attacks from Immortal Kings, regardless of their level, can be reduced to 90%!"

Li Hao had a clear understanding that this Heavenly Venerable Realm was too terrifying. He was impervious to all paths and transcended the 'Dao'. No matter what power the Dao Realm possessed, it could not affect him.

The Celestial Venerable merges with heaven and earth, yet transcends them. To harm him, one must use the power of a realm, or even a higher power of the Emperor's Way.

"Even Immortal Kings of the same realm cannot harm me in the slightest when their power is reduced by 90%. Even Immortal Kings two or three realms higher pose a very limited threat to me when their destructive power is reduced by 90%. Only high-level Immortal Kings could possibly injure me!"

Li Hao thought to himself.

Although he is only at the first level of the Immortal King Realm, he is able to fight against high-level Immortal Kings with his Heavenly Venerable Realm cultivation.

This Heavenly Venerable Realm is equivalent to giving oneself a shield with 90% immunity; it's practically cheating!

However, each ultimate power is extremely special, almost to the point of being cheating. For example, the immortal power of the Celestial Star Vein is boundless; even if one person were to fight an army, they would not be exhausted, which is an exaggeration.

Not to mention the True God Realm, it was the Divine Blood Final Realm, which was the weakest of the final realms. But it was enough to allow Li Hao, who had just entered the Dao Enlightenment Realm, to withstand the pursuit of the Saint Realm and survive.

"Unexpectedly, the Void Realm actually allowed me to comprehend the final Heavenly Venerable Realm, achieving a double breakthrough at once!"

Li Hao withdrew from his Celestial Venerable state and returned to soak in the mountain spring, but couldn't help but smile.

Having experienced the border clashes before, even he, who was usually ascetic, felt an urgent need for power.

In times of chaos, how can one live without a three-foot sword by one's side?

Now, he can be considered to have the strength to truly protect himself on this border battlefield.

"We should celebrate! Let's invite Shi Miao over to eat ancient demon meat!"

Li Hao quickly sent a message to Shi Miao.

Shi Miao had been accompanying Li Hao on his floor, but something happened and she quietly left. Upon receiving a message from Li Hao, she quickly arrived.

"What good thing?"

Shi Miao flew to the mountain spring and saw Li Hao's smiling face. Her worries disappeared and she asked with a smile.

"I've just comprehended the third Boundary Core!"

Li Hao laughed and said, "Moreover, by sheer coincidence, I also comprehended the final realm of the Heavenly Venerable!"

Li Hao didn't hide anything from Shi Miao, after all, she was someone who was willing to stand up for him in front of the Supreme Being.

Li Hao naturally had no secrets from her, since she was willing to risk her life for him.

"The third boundary core?"

Shi Miao was stunned for a moment, then shocked, "You said, you've comprehended the ultimate realm of the Heavenly Venerable?!"

In her previous life, she was a quasi-Emperor, only one step away from opening the Emperor's Path. Wandering through the long river of time, she knew all too well the power of the Heavenly Venerable's final realm.

Throughout history, very few beings have been able to reach the final realm of Heavenly Venerable; many Quasi-Emperor realm beings have failed to do so!
Once this realm is opened, attacks from Dao Realm and Law Realm can be ignored, and only other special powers can harm it.

Moreover, mastering the ultimate realm of the Celestial Venerable will also bring about a qualitative leap in the speed of comprehending the Dao, allowing cultivation to progress by leaps and bounds!

Even for her, in her previous life, it was only with great difficulty that she finally comprehended the final realm of the Heavenly Venerable, and only then did she have the opportunity to kneel and kowtow before the Heavenly Venerable in prayer. Compared to Li Hao's comprehension of the third Realm Heart, opening up the final realm of the Heavenly Venerable was even more shocking and surprising to her. The difficulty was immense, even comparable to comprehending the Realm of Kingship!
Upon receiving Li Hao's confirmation, Shi Miao was overjoyed. She knew Li Hao wouldn't lie, which meant that he could fight freely on the border. Especially after receiving the news not long ago, she was extremely nervous and even considered whether to take Li Hao away from here to avoid participating in this battle.

Although such behavior was despicable, and she had never avoided war in her past life, let alone in this one, she did not want to see anything happen to Li Hao.

"Your cultivation speed is too fast. It seems that it won't be long before you can even catch up with me."

Shi Miao said with delight.

Li Hao smiled, took out the flesh and blood of the ancient demon from the space between heaven and earth, and started cooking and grilling it.

This ancient demon flesh can enhance the power of the soul, with remarkable effects. Apart from those close to him, Li Hao has no intention of exposing it to them, in order to avoid bringing disaster upon himself.

After all, the myriad races of the heavens are not a monolithic entity.

"You've condensed a third World Core, so you've now found a way for the three World Cores to coexist?"

Shi Miao sat down to the side, her movements light and graceful, and said happily.

Li Hao shook his head: "Not yet. I need to try it out first. Right now, that Boundary Core... is kind of sealed."

"Sealed off?"

Shi Miao was surprised. The core of the realm could be sealed? But seeing Li Hao's expression, she knew she had touched on Li Hao's secret. She didn't press him for details, but only said, "Then you need to try more trials. This Emperor's Path is far from simple!"

Li Hao nodded.

As the aroma of the ancient demon meat wafted over, the two ate and chatted, and Shi Miao naturally brought up recent events in the city.

"I have some bad news for you."

"what?"

Li Hao was taken aback, and then his heart skipped a beat. For the news to be described as "bad" on the border battlefield, and by Shi Miao, it must be something serious.

"Jianlong Pass has fallen."

Shi Miao said in a deep voice.

Li Hao's chewing mouth suddenly stopped, as if the ancient demon meat in his mouth had suddenly lost its flavor.

His pupils contracted slightly, and a booming sensation filled his mind. Had the Dragon Pass been breached?

That's the place guarded by Fifth Senior Brother Long Qingge, how could it be destroyed?!
That was the first line of defense in the Eastern Region, standing for countless years. How could it have been breached so suddenly?!

While Li Hao was still in a daze, Shi Miao didn't catch her breath and quickly said, "But your fifth senior brother is alright. He and the rest of the remaining troops have retreated to Zulong City, the second line of defense. They sent a message not long ago to tell us to leave the Eastern Region. You were in seclusion earlier, and I felt that you seemed to be at a critical moment of enlightenment, so I didn't disturb you."

"what happened?"

Li Hao quickly regained his composure, his eyes extremely calm.

"I heard from your fifth senior brother that the ancient demon race in the Eastern Region seems to have joined forces."

Shi Miao's face was filled with worry. "After the great war of that year, plus the internal strife among the ancient demons over the past 100,000 years, the ancient demons are now dominated by the ten royal families, who occupy various regions of the True Realm."

"The reason why the various regions of the True Realm have been able to maintain stable development in recent years is also due to the internal strife of the Ancient Demons. In that great war, my master and several other Immortal Emperors joined forces to break the Reincarnation Gate of the Ancient Demon Clan!"

"That is the core of the ancient demon clan. Whoever controls the Gate of Reincarnation is the leader of the ancient demon clan."

"The shattering of the Gate of Reincarnation caused the ancient demon race to disintegrate, but now it seems to have reunited. Although I knew this day would come sooner or later, I didn't expect it to come so soon. If we had waited another ten thousand years, until you opened up the Emperor's Path and stepped into the highest realm, we could have faced it together..."

Shi Miao spoke softly and slowly.

Ten thousand years ago, she faced and fought against the ancient demons alongside her master.

Now, countless years have passed, and she had a premonition that the ancient demon race would unite sooner or later, and the great war of that year would be reignited.

After all, although the ancient demon race is in turmoil, it will never sit idly by and watch the myriad races of the True Realm continue to grow.

She thought she would wait until Li Hao grew up, and then she would regain her peak cultivation from her previous life, so that she could once again fight the ancient demon and end the unfinished conflict from 100,000 years ago.

Unexpectedly, the conflict came ahead of schedule, and both she and Li Hao were still at the Immortal King Realm, far from perfection.

While the Immortal King realm can indeed hold sway over a region, countless people perished in that great battle back then, and no one even remembers them.

"Ancient Demon Alliance?"

Li Hao was stunned. The ancient demons, who had been silent for countless years, had actually joined forces. This was too abrupt.

But he knew that these ancient demons might have already begun to gather, but he hadn't been cultivating for long enough to come into contact with them.

"So, that great battle from back then will soon return?"

Li Hao's heart sank. That was a great war that affected all races in the True Realm, causing widespread suffering and devastation. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact; there is no pure land.

"At present, they should not be fully united yet, otherwise it would not only be Jianlong Pass that has been breached."

Shi Miao shook her head and said, "But the Eastern Region will most likely become the first battlefield of this second war. Your senior brother suggested that we leave the Eastern Region first. It is no longer suitable for trials. Let's go elsewhere first, and come back to fight after we have completed our cultivation."

"Can you wait?"

Li Hao looked up and asked.

Shi Miao was taken aback, and his words froze.

The ancient war between the demons was extremely sudden, sweeping across all regions of the True Realm in an instant, catching all races of the True Realm off guard.

Although the emperors took action, using the Imperial Road to teleport soldiers from various races to the battlefield and quickly set up defenses and counterattacks, the terrifying strength of the Ancient Demon Clan caused many battlefields to collapse rapidly.

Countless people perished in that catastrophe. Even when all races finally realized the crisis that might lead to their annihilation and made a final united defense, they still could not completely withstand it.

Only after the sacrifice of several Immortal Emperors was the ancient demon barely stopped, resulting in a stalemate that lasted for 100,000 years.

"Does Master know about this news?"

Li Hao suddenly asked.

Shi Miao nodded: "They probably know, but what arrangements they will make is unknown."

Li Hao nodded silently, without saying a word. The joy he had felt earlier from his breakthrough in cultivation had vanished completely.

Seeing that Li Hao didn't speak, Shi Miao knew that Li Hao needed some time to process this.

Should they stay and fight on, or leave for the greater good and endure humiliation?

After all, this is a time of crisis for the Eastern Region. Long Qingge is fighting on the front lines, but Li Hao is abandoning the Eastern Region and fleeing elsewhere...

She sighed inwardly, said nothing, and did not affect Li Hao. After finishing the ancient demon's flesh and blood, she left silently.

Li Hao sat alone on the summit, remaining silent for a long time.

(End of this chapter)