The Name of Eternity.

Chapter 677 True King
After bidding farewell to Long Potian, Gu Mofan, Di Wushe, and Li Hao led Shi Miao to the Eastern Region's Ancestral Dragon City at breakneck speed.

"Senior brothers, why did you suddenly appear?"

On the way, Li Hao asked why their arrival on the battlefield was so abrupt, as if they had been teleported there directly.

However, this is a border region, and the laws of nature here have long been modified. Except for specific teleportation arrays, it is impossible to cross directly, unless one is an Emperor!

"This is the power of the Fifth Ultimate Realm, Chaos!"

Gu Mofan's expression hardened slightly as he explained to Li Hao.

"The Fifth Final Realm?"

Li Hao's eyes flickered. The fifth realm is 'fifteen li', the Imperial Path is fifteen li, the extreme realm is Return to Ruins, and the final realm is called Chaos?

"At the end of the Chaos Realm, one can traverse realms, move freely across the four domains, and even travel to the Primordial True Realm on one's own. One can be described as a dragon whose head is seen but whose tail is not."

Zhan Qinghuang said to Li Hao, "We came directly from Jidao Mountain, breaking through the boundary to descend here. Xiao Wu's avatar told us your location, so finding you was very easy."

Li Hao suddenly realized.

Reaching the ultimate level of the Void Realm is already an extremely remarkable ability. Those who cultivated in the Sword Ancestor Holy Land and mastered the ultimate level of the Void Realm have an absolute ability to escape when fighting other geniuses, as their teleportation traces are untraceable.

Guixu is instantaneous teleportation, while Chaos is even more extreme, capable of traversing different realms.

"Chaos...can it be controlled using the Dao of Chaos?"

Li Hao's heart stirred.

But there was obviously no chance to undergo the trial at this moment, so he asked, "Is Fifth Senior Brother's avatar still at Jidao Mountain? Did he say anything about the situation in Ancestral Dragon City?"

"He intends to devote all his energy to the battle this time. That avatar is just a weak projection with no combat power. He told us not to go and rescue him, and that he swears to fight to the death with the Eastern Region."

Gu Mofan said in a deep voice, "But he is the fifth one. If he doesn't want to leave, we have to go and see him. Since we're here, it would be a waste of our years of hard work if we don't kill a few ancient demon heads and take them back."

Li Hao nodded slightly, thinking of Mi Xueyao from before. As a member of the ancient demon king clan, she was killed when her three senior brothers and sisters arrived. He wondered if she was truly dead.

They used to have a friendly relationship over meals, but now they are locked in a life-or-death struggle. This is the stance of the powerful clans.

As the group talked, their figures chased the stars and the moon, and in the blink of an eye, they traversed a vast star field and arrived in front of a majestic star city.

The city was built on a vast continent, like a spire on land, and from a distance, it looked like a tall, pointed hat.

But a chilling scene unfolded: outside this majestic city, a vast expanse of black mist swirled, and countless figures, like locusts swarming across or bees buzzing around a hive, surrounded the entire city, impenetrable and layered upon layer. Top-tier magic arrays and rare immortal techniques burst forth and exploded like dazzling fireworks.

In the starry sky, there was a vast tide of ancient demons. One after another, the ancient demon army formations with their imposing figures were charging and fighting. The Yama Ghost Formation, with its hundreds of thousands of ancient demons in formation, was like countless soldiers in the starry sky, swarming towards the city!

The number of ancient demons was so great that it could not be counted in hundreds of millions, but in trillions.

The Yama Ghost Formation, which was formed by the army and resembled a giant black ghost, transformed into a massive number of charging soldiers and attacked the city!
This scene not only stunned Li Hao, but even Gu Mofan and Zhan Qinghuang, who had seen many great things, changed color. Di Wushe, who had killed ancient demons for tens of thousands of years on the border of the imperial clan, was also stunned at this moment. He felt that the number of ancient demons he had killed and seen in the past ten thousand years was not as many as what he saw at this moment!

Exaggerated, terrifying!
The besieged city, resembling a hill, remained intact, untouched by decay or decay. Roars and howls of dragons emanated from within, and occasionally, enormous dragon bodies could be seen tumbling over, only to vanish quickly.

"This this……"

Zhan Qinghuang stood there, stunned. Even as a quasi-Emperor, she felt a sense of fear from the scene before her.

The Yama Ghost Formation alone, which is comparable to the fifth level of the Immortal King Realm, is countless. Although these cannot pose a threat to the Quasi-Emperor Realm, there are still terrifying figures fighting inside, more than a dozen of them, all of whom are at the Quasi-Emperor Realm!
Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, there was a collapsed black hole, as if it had burst open and become a forbidden zone. The pure darkness made people afraid to approach, and the aura of an emperor emanated from within.

bass!
While Li Hao was still in shock, a sword aura that pierced the heavens suddenly shot out from the dark hole, sweeping across the battlefield in an instant. It was like a sharp pair of scissors cutting through a canvas, directly cleaving a gap in the chaotic battlefield that resembled locusts.

Not even the corpses of the ancient demons remained at the breach; they were all annihilated.

"The Emperor has also joined the war..."

Gu Mofan and the other two's expressions changed. They hadn't expected the battle situation in the Eastern Region to be so dire. The news had barely spread when an emperor had already taken to the front lines.

On such a battlefield, even as quasi-emperors, they must be careful. They must rely on their own emperors to take action and restrain the emperors of the ancient demons in order to have room to make their move.

Of the group, only Shi Miao had a solemn expression and a somewhat dazed look in her eyes. She had seen such a scene 100,000 years ago and had been a part of the battle. The battle back then was far more intense than it was now. It was the first time that the ancient demons appeared in the True Realm, and all the Great Emperors were present. The battle was so fierce that the sky darkened and the void shattered.

Looking at this familiar scene before her, two words inexplicably surfaced in Shi Miao's mind: destiny and reincarnation!
The fateful battle from 100,000 years ago seems to be repeating itself.

"Qinghuang, you take Junior Brother and Miss Shimiao back. Wushe and I will go visit Xiao Wu."

After a brief moment of shock, Gu Mofan came to his senses and immediately said in a deep voice.

Zhan Qinghuang was taken aback for a moment, then immediately said, "Are you going to join the battle? I'll come too!"

Although their master had warned them that all they needed to do was bring Li Hao back, seeing the scene before them and with Long Qingge still there, they still wanted to fight.

"Stop fooling around. Send Junior Brother back first. Otherwise, if something happens, we might be able to get away, but Junior Brother might not. Don't forget Master's orders!"

Gu Mofan frowned.

As a prodigy of the Zhan family, Zhan Qinghuang is inherently warlike. Their ancestors once fought against the Heavenly Dao and established their surname as "Zhan." One can imagine how fanatical the Zhan family members are about fighting. As for her escaping back, she was a hundred times unwilling.

"You know it's a master's order, senior brother. If you want to go back, you go back. I'm not going."

Zhan Qinghuang also said with a stern face.

She didn't try to persuade her second senior brother, because she knew that the imperial family was even more arrogant and wouldn't back down.

"You'd better not make a move."

While the two were arguing, Shi Miao spoke up.

The three of them looked at Shi Miao, and all of them frowned slightly.

Although Shi Miao was only at the fourth level of the Immortal King Realm, she showed no fear in the face of Li Hao's three senior brothers and sisters. Instead, she said in a deep voice, "Currently, only one Emperor Venerable has entered the battle. Given the cunning of the Ancient Demons, they would never attack with only one Emperor Venerable. Most of the other Ancient Demon Emperor Venerables are waiting in the shadows. This may not be the most intense moment yet. If you go into battle and disrupt the balance, I'm afraid a second Emperor Venerable will soon be on the field!"

Upon hearing her words, the three of them were taken aback, exchanged glances, and then, looking at the scene before them, their expressions turned rather grim.

Indeed, Shi Miao's words make perfect sense; there couldn't possibly be only one Ancient Demon Emperor here.

"If I remember correctly, there is a teleportation array in this Ancestral Dragon City that connects to the Ancestral Dragon Court. The reason this place has been able to hold out until now is mostly because there is a continuous stream of soldiers being teleported from the Ancestral Dragon Court to fight to the death. This battle is only the prelude. The outcome will only be truly decided when at least three Ancient Demon Emperors make their move!"

Shi Miao said in a deep voice, like a veteran who had been through many battles, calmly commenting.

"The three of you are all quasi-Emperor realm cultivators and the prized disciples of Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor. Your current priority is to break through to Emperor Venerable as soon as possible and perfect your Emperor path, rather than taking risks here. If you are injured, even if you don't die, the recovery process will take a lot of time. When will you become Emperors? If the Ancient Demon breaks through the Eastern Region and begins to sweep across the entire True Realm, will you fight with your current level?"

Shi Miao glanced at the three of them and spoke slowly and deliberately.

Although her cultivation level was inferior to the three of them, at this moment, her words carried the air of an elder, calm and composed, yet tinged with a hint of sternness. Li Hao, watching from the side, was stunned. For the first time, he felt Shi Miao's aura and vision, completely different from her usual gentle demeanor. She was like a king ascending a perilous tower, exuding a domineering and cold rationality.

Upon hearing Shi Miao's words, Gu Mofan and the other two had complicated expressions. They knew Shi Miao's identity, but they had never seen her speak to them in such a manner. Shi Miao's words also reminded them of their master's words, which were almost identical to Shi Miao's: to perfect the Emperor's Path as soon as possible and break through to become an Emperor before the great calamity truly descends.

They looked up at the battlefield before them, where there were more than a dozen Quasi-Emperors and hundreds of Immortal Kings at the peak of their cultivation. In a war of such scale, which was to conquer an entire vast Eastern Region, even Quasi-Emperors could not determine the outcome. Only Emperors had the ability to influence the course of the war, but they could only influence it, not decide it.

After all, a single Emperor is simply not enough to conquer the Eastern Region.

The True Realm encompasses all races, and the Star River Territory of the Eastern Region alone is so vast that even a single Emperor Venerable could not suppress it.

"The Imperial Road..."

Di Wushe clenched his fist. His path to becoming emperor had been blocked for 20,000 years, and he had not yet crossed the last threshold. He said he wanted to break through the realm and become emperor, but how easy was that?

Throughout history, countless geniuses have been stuck at that final insurmountable barrier, forced to live in obscurity under the emperor, unable to truly enjoy freedom.

Gu Mofan had calmed down by now. He took a deep breath, glanced at Shi Miao, and said, "Miss Shi Miao is right. Wu She, Qing Huang, you take Junior Brother back first. I'm going to Zu Long City to see Fifth Junior Brother and express our determination to come to his aid. I won't participate in the battle, so don't worry."

"I……"

Di Wushe wanted to speak again, but Gu Mofan stopped him by raising his hand.

As a member of the imperial family, he was unwilling to come to this battlefield and instead slunk away.

"Junior brother!"

Gu Mofan interrupted him with a heavy "Junior Brother," his eyes fixed on him.

Seeing Gu Mofan's gaze, Di Wushe opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something more, but in the end he swallowed it back. He said in a low voice, "Then be careful, we'll go back first."

Seeing that he had compromised, Zhan Qinghuang could only sigh and say nothing more.

Gu Mofan waved his hand, opening up a chaotic passage for the group, leading directly to the Primordial True Realm. After they entered, he turned and headed towards the Ancestral Dragon City.

Not long after Li Hao and the others left, a sword cry resounded through the starry sky from the black hole on the other side of the battlefield. Accompanied by Su Jiuzhe's loud laughter, a vast expanse of demonic blood suddenly poured out from the black hole. The demonic blood splashed onto the battlefield, and some military formations that were accidentally touched were corroded and melted away on the spot.

Even the blood of an Emperor is something that some Immortal Kings would find difficult to withstand.

The Primordial True Realm, the Ultimate Mountain.

Several figures returned to the summit of Jidao Mountain; it was Di Wushe, Li Hao, and the others who had rushed back.

Upon returning to the mountain, the two took Li Hao back to the main hall to report to their master.

Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor did not see Gu Mofan and inquired about the reason. Zhan Qinghuang quickly explained the situation, including Shi Miao's persuasion.

After listening, Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor glanced at Shi Miao, a hint of approval in his eyes, and said, "As expected of Tian Yang's prized disciple, one of the Seven Monarchs back then, it seems that battle left a deep impression on you."

Shi Miao didn't speak, her face remained expressionless. The impression of that catastrophe was not just deep, but ingrained in her very bones!

“Shi Miao is right. The three of you almost acted impulsively and messed things up. This is the difference in your Dao hearts. You only have the heart of a pseudo-emperor, but not the heart of a true emperor!”

Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor turned his gaze, his eyes unusually stern, and said, "Feeling aggrieved, resentful, or unable to bear... what good will these useless emotions bring you? If you truly feel ashamed, then you should cultivate diligently to the peak. The slaughter, the tragic deaths, and the countless sacrifices you have witnessed today are less than one percent of what they were back then!"

"The True Realm was so prosperous 100,000 years ago, yet it was almost destroyed by the ancient demons, let alone today."

Upon hearing their master's reprimand, Di Wushe and Zhan Qinghuang's expressions changed slightly. They both realized the seriousness of the situation outside and that their master had extremely high expectations for them to become emperors.

The true heart of an emperor… Di Wushe clenched his fist slightly. As a member of the imperial family, his master actually said that he did not have the true heart of an emperor.

But he knew that his master was right. He had the most noble imperial bloodline flowing through his veins, yet he had not cultivated a true imperial heart. He felt ashamed of himself.

"Master, can the Eastern Region really hold out? If all the ancient demons unite and the calamity of the past returns, even if we cultivate with all our might, there's no guarantee that we can perfect the Emperor's Path. What if we haven't become emperors even after another ten thousand years? Then what will happen to the Eastern Region..."

Zhan Qinghuang couldn't help but say.

There's no time to judge the path to becoming emperor. Perhaps you'll suddenly have an epiphany tomorrow, or perhaps you'll spend ten thousand years in arduous cultivation and only reap meager rewards.

As top geniuses, they used to cultivate at lightning speed without any bottlenecks, but in front of the Emperor, they were stuck for 20,000 years, which can be described as a year passing in an instant.

"There's no use in worrying. When it's time for you to go into battle, when it's a matter of life and death, don't think that you're all quasi-Emperors. Even if you were just children, you would have to go into battle! But now is not the time. You only need to think about how to continue to improve and how to play a greater role in the upcoming battle!"

"The rest is pointless to think about."

Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor snorted coldly.

Zhan Qinghuang and Di Wushe were stunned and fell silent.

Li Hao also fell silent, recalling the scene in the Eastern Region's Ancestral Dragon City. In the short time they had been talking, countless people had probably died there.

How long can such losses last?

Although he was a Celestial King, capable of holding down a region in ordinary times, in this great battle of life and death in a vast domain, he was just a large stone, unable to cause much of a ripple.

"Haotian."

Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor spoke, his voice pulling Li Hao's thoughts back to the hall.

"Master."

Li Hao looked up.

"You also have a good chance of becoming emperor, so don't slack off."

Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor said to Li Hao, "Although the reason I called you back was sudden, it is not something that the myriad races of the True Realm have not overlooked."

"Ok?"

Hearing his master's words, Li Hao was somewhat puzzled. Di Wushe and Zhan Qinghuang, who were beside him, also looked up at their master.

"Since the cataclysm that occurred 100,000 years ago, the True Realm was nearly destroyed. How could the myriad races of the True Realm not have considered the possibility of the ancient demon race making a comeback?"

Dao Yuan Immortal Emperor's expression was cold and stern as he said, "Now that the war in the Eastern Region has broken out, many powerful emperors of various races have recently tacitly agreed to enter a state of war preparedness for all races. At the same time, they have also initiated another war preparedness plan: True King!"

"True King?"

Li Hao and the others were puzzled.

(End of this chapter)