The crimson divine blood sprayed out from Qin Tianchen's neck, glistening in the air.
Even in his divine power state, his head had just been brutally punched to pieces by Li Hao!
At this sight, the crowd gathered on the cliff fell into stunned silence.
Several exceptional figures among them were so shocked that they couldn't utter a word, finding it hard to believe what they were witnessing.
The young man, clad in tattered treasure robes and wielding a silver sword, had just withstood the attacks of two Exalted Realm experts. His body, torn with wounds, quickly healed, displaying an astonishing regenerative ability.
The Holy Heart Treasure Talisman, which had blocked Qin Tianchen from Li Hao's punch, failed to withstand the force. While the talisman was indeed powerful, its effect was comparable only to the Will Realm, and the rarer, more refined versions could match the full power of a Reversal Realm cultivator.
However, the might unleashed by Li Hao had far surpassed what the talisman could bear.
After all, it was just a talisman and not a true Holy Heart Heavenly Treasure.
"Young Master!!"
The two elders, witnessing Qin Tianchen's severe injury, cried out in shock and rage, unleashing the secret techniques of the Qin family. Their auras surged to the pinnacle of the Exalted Realm as they launched their attacks simultaneously at Li Hao.
Li Hao's aura stirred, his killing intent focused on ending the life of the Qin family's young master.
Bang!
He stirred the sword tide and swept out, rushing towards his opponent with incredible speed.
Even with his head severed, Qin Tianchen's physical body was incredibly resilient, especially in the divine power state. The bleeding from his neck soon stopped, and there were even signs of his head regenerating.
His soul, shrunk within his body, dared not reveal itself. At this moment, seeing Li Hao rushing at him like a madman, Qin Tianchen's heart trembled. Was he planning to take them both to their deaths?
"Reversal!"
Filled with grief and fury, Qin Tianchen roared and unleashed his Reversal power.
The power in the void vibrated, and the attacks of the two elders seemed to suddenly speed up. Just as the sword energy manipulated by Li Hao was about to completely shred Qin Tianchen's body, the elders' attacks landed first.
With a loud bang, Li Hao was sent flying like a missile, crashing into the ground below.
The earth shattered, and the hills trembled as if a million-ton boulder had fallen.
But the next moment, the ground exploded, and Li Hao emerged, his body bathed in divine flames and his aura unleashed. Climbing out of the crater, his tattered treasure robes were stained with crimson divine blood, but his wounds had already healed.
What a formidable physical body!
The onlookers were stunned by the sight. This young man's body was akin to a top-tier divine weapon; even Exalted Realm powerhouses seemed incapable of inflicting serious harm on him!
And to think that the aura he exuded was merely that of the Undying Realm!
A genius of the Divine Race!
At this moment, everyone present involuntarily recalled Li Hao's previous words, and they couldn't help but hold their breath.
Could it be that deep within the Great Wilderness, there were secrets unknown to them, and that an ancient Divine Race truly existed?!
"He's still not dead?!"
The two elders were astonished to see Li Hao getting up so quickly. Their attacks had been terrifying, yet they had failed to subdue this young man.
"Young Master, run!"
One of the elders suddenly reacted and urged Qin Tianchen to flee.
The other elder's face also changed as he realized the severity of the situation. The ferocity displayed by this young man had exceeded their imagination. If they continued fighting, who knew what other cards Li Hao had up his sleeve? With Qin Tianchen's Reversal power expended, it was unwise to linger.
"Qin Tianchen, if I don't kill you, I swear I won't be human!"
Qin Tianchen, too, had regained his senses. He glared at the young man, fixing his image into his mind.
Enraged by the death of his younger brother and his own near-death experience, he managed to suppress his anger, befitting one born with an extraordinary talent.
Without hesitation, his soul wrapped around the headless corpse and fled into the distance.
One of the elders covered his retreat, while the other charged towards Li Hao.
"Die!"
The elder's body pulsed with ruptured veins, his soul burning as he unleashed a secret technique of the Qin family. His body shone like a dazzling sun, exuding a might that swept across the land.
Li Hao intended to give chase, but upon seeing the elder blocking his path, his expression changed slightly. The desperate counterattack of an Exalted Realm expert, especially one from the ancient Holy Clan, was not to be taken lightly.
Li Hao quickly drew upon the power of the world veins, absorbing more energy until he reached forty percent of his limit!
His flesh and blood swelled, as if about to burst.
If he reached fifty percent, the flesh on his body would start to rupture.
Bang!
Li Hao soared into the sky, engaging the elder in a fierce battle.
Thunder, fire, and divine light intertwined as sword energy pierced the heavens.
The earth-shattering battle caused the crowd on the cliff to scatter, fearful of being caught in the crossfire.
After half an incense stick's worth of time, the elder's burning soul and veins gradually weakened and were finally extinguished.
His robe was torn, his body drenched in blood, and his stooped figure appeared even more frail and elderly. Yet, his eyes shone with extreme unwillingness and fear.
Li Hao, too, was bathed in blood, but his body bore no wounds. The torn flesh had healed during the fight, displaying a terrifying regenerative ability.
The elder panted slightly before unleashing the power of non-decay, engaging in another fierce battle that flattened the nearby hills and created deep craters in the ground before the cliff.
In the end, the elder's strength failed once more, and Li Hao cleaved him in two with a sword strike.
The flowing silver divine sword, a product of eight castings, was now covered in nicks and its blade chipped.
Li Hao held the damaged sword and openly performed the Spirit Sacrifice True Demon Art, absorbing the essence of the elder's physical body and converting it into refined blood power to strengthen himself, uncaring of the onlookers.
When the elder's corpse withered and darkened, Li Hao casually clapped his hands, reducing the body to ashes and leaving no trace, thus preventing his secret techniques from being discovered.
After finishing, Li Hao turned his gaze towards the crowd gathered before the cliff.
That single glance caused the hearts of the distant onlookers to skip a beat.
This young man was too cruel. He had killed Qin Tianchen's younger brother and then taken Qin Tianchen's life. Even the elders of the Qin family, Exalted Realm experts, had failed to defeat him in a desperate battle. It was simply terrifying!
Moreover, the more Li Hao fought, the stronger his aura became, and his methods were beyond their comprehension.
Holding the damaged sword, he strode towards the mountain cliff.
With each step the young man took, the onlookers in the distance felt their hearts tremble.
Finally, someone couldn't bear it any longer and turned to flee, intending to spread the news of what had transpired here—a divine prodigy of the Great Wilderness had appeared!
"The second blood body refined by the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King over there would be a great tonic for you."
Concealed within Li Hao, Ji Yunguo transmitted his voice, guiding Li Hao now that the battle was over.
However, he refrained from commenting on Li Hao's fight with Qin Tianchen, as if pondering something else.
Li Hao turned his gaze towards the mountain cave on the cliff, where a large red vine lay motionless.
Following Li Hao's gaze, the others also looked towards the cave, and among them, several men and women with exceptional figures hesitated, their eyes narrowing slightly.
They had realized that the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King had already given birth to its second blood body and was now at its weakest.
However, with the young man standing right in front of the cliff, who would dare to make a move? Even the elders of the Qin family, masters of ancient secret techniques, had been killed. Unless the core elders of the Qin family, the strongest of the old generation, emerged, the other families and tribes could only stand aside.
What truly gave them pause, however, was the name the young man had proclaimed earlier.
The Divine Race of the Great Wilderness!
It was a name they had never heard before!
Just this one youth from the Divine Race was so ferocious; how fearsome would his elders be?
Seeing that no one was making a move, Li Hao didn't stand on ceremony either. He directly exerted his power of controlling objects, extending it into the cave.
Inside the cave, a 3-zhang-long blood-red vine lay quietly next to the thick vine of the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King.
As if sensing Li Hao, the blood-red vine lifted itself, twisting like a venomous snake, and a voice entered Li Hao's mind:
"Young man, please, spare my blood body. You can devour my main body; the power contained within is no less than that of my blood body. I just want to leave this place..."
Li Hao raised an eyebrow, the voice was filled with sorrow, and it seemed to belong to the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King.
"Why shouldn't I choose to devour both?" Li Hao countered.
"If you do that, I may not be able to defeat you, but I can self-destruct my main body. And before you obtain my blood body, I will tear it to shreds so that you gain nothing!"
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King spoke, clearly indicating its desperate choice.
Li Hao's eyes narrowed slightly, so obtaining the demon king's blood body wouldn't be as simple as he thought.
If it were a dispute between other tribes, the demon king might not have resorted to such a desperate choice. After all, in the chaos of everyone scrambling for it, there would be a slim chance of escape. But in front of him, there was no hope at all.
This extreme option might actually be considered.
Li Hao thought for a moment and said, "Then let me try tasting your main body first, and you don't resist."
"If you can swear by your Dao heart to spare my blood body, I will definitely not resist..." The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King said carefully.
"I haven't refined my Dao heart yet."
"…."
It was then that the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King realized that Li Hao had only exhibited the aura of the Three Immortal realms.
This young man was indeed merely a Three Immortal!
"Then, then you promise with your martial arts…"
"You're being a bit long-winded. You're in no position to negotiate. How about this, you fight me, anyway, I'm not tired." Li Hao replied coldly.
"…."
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King hesitated. If it were anyone else, it naturally wouldn't agree so easily, but it had witnessed Li Hao's previous battle, and even if it fought to the death, it saw no chance of victory.
"Then you have to keep your word."
It could only plead.
Li Hao was too lazy to continue the conversation and waved his hand, using his power to drag one end of the demon king's main body towards him.
Li Hao then operated the Spirit Sacrifice True Demon Art, directly refining its main body.
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King quickly transferred its divine soul to its second blood body. The reason it had refined this blood body was to escape the constraints of Red Wood Corpse Ridge.
Its main body had absorbed the essence of the Heard Cultivator's corpse and was also bound by his Dao realm, unable to break free. It could only sacrifice thousands of years of cultivation and reincarnate to escape.
"That Red-Blooded Vine Demon King didn't even resist."
"He's going to devour its main body too, how cruel!"
"What kind of cultivation technique is that? It feels so sinister. Is this really a member of the Divine Race? It feels more like a demon or a monster!"
Seeing this scene, the various tribes' geniuses in the distance turned pale. In the face of the young man's ferocity, the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King didn't even have a thought of resistance, which was truly terrifying.
Soon, Li Hao had absorbed the entire body of the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King, refining all its precious blood.
He couldn't absorb this blood essence like a pill, but he could convert it through the Spirit Sacrifice True Demon Art, achieving an effect comparable to consuming a pill, without any side effects.
As the blood essence of the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King was refined, Li Hao felt the fatigue from the previous battle dissipate, and a vigorous life force burned within him, like a blazing furnace.
He felt that with this power, he could refine his physical body to an even stronger level.
However, now was not the time for cultivation.
His gaze fixed on the cave, and he said to the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King's second blood body, "I'm full now, so I'll be leaving."
"Hey, wait!"
Seeing that Li Hao was indeed going to let it go as promised, the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King was delighted. As Li Hao turned to leave, it hurriedly called out to him.
"Hm?"
Li Hao was slightly surprised, "Are you having second thoughts?
"Can you take me with you?"
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King transmitted his voice, pleading pitifully.
Li Hao raised an eyebrow, then glanced at the surrounding Great Wilderness Heavenly Humans. After a moment's thought, he replied, "Are you scared of dying? You can come with me, but I'll be collecting interest for that."
"What's interest?"
"You have to give me something in return."
"I can let you bite me again, but not too much." The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King spoke weakly.
Li Hao's earlier act of devouring its main body had terrified it; this young man was too ruthless.
But Li Hao's decision to leave without further delay also made the demon king realize that this ruthless young man had a benevolent side, and so it quickly seized the opportunity to try and persuade him to stay.
"Alright."
Li Hao agreed, then said, "Then hurry up and get out of the cave. That guy from earlier escaped, so don't take too long or he might come back with reinforcements."
"Okay!"
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King responded, and with a flash of blood light, it flew out from the mountain cave. Its body shrank and twisted, quickly rushing to Li Hao's side.
"They're about to fight!"
The onlookers in the distance all fixed their gazes on the scene.
But soon, their eyes widened in shock as they saw the blood body of the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King shrink to a small length of withered vine, coiling around Li Hao's arm like a ring. Its radiance diminished, clearly indicating that it had been subdued!
"Is this for real? They didn't even fight, and it's already submitted?"
"Is this vine demon so quick to side with the winner?"
"No wonder its main body didn't resist earlier. Looks like they secretly communicated and made a deal!"
"I think this vine demon is using this young man to try and escape from here."
"Hmph, that young man isn't an easy mark. This vine demon is playing with fire!"
The geniuses from the various tribes all felt indignant, but thinking of the young man's formidable battle prowess, they could only sigh in frustration.
Li Hao didn't linger at the scene. He employed the Heaven and Earth Invisible Technique and flew off in the direction that Ji Yunguo had pointed out earlier.
After leaving Red Wood Corpse Ridge, Li Hao sensed several subtle auras trailing behind him. He coldly smiled and flew at full speed, quickly shaking off his pursuers.
"There really are persistent people. You guessed that I would separate from you outside the mountain ridge and wanted to ambush me."
After flying a good distance, Li Hao spoke to the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King on his wrist.
The demon king also sensed their pursuit and, hearing Li Hao's words, quickly replied, "Thank you, benefactor!"
"Don't call me that so quickly. We had a deal, and I didn't help you for free. Let me bite you again."
Li Hao said.
"..."
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King paused for a moment, then obediently extended a blood vine tendril from the vine ring and offered it to Li Hao's mouth.
Li Hao didn't hesitate and took a bite, chewing with a crunching sound.
However, the taste wasn't very pleasant, like chewing on a very tough piece of meat.
Soon, Li Hao had swallowed the blood vine, feeling a warm surge of power enter his body. But compared to when he had absorbed the demon king's main body, this was much weaker.
Unless he swallowed the entire demon king.
"We're almost there, so you can go now."
After flying several thousand li away, Li Hao spoke to the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King.
Along the way, they encountered four Demon Kings, but Li Hao easily killed them, melting their bodies and absorbing their blood and flesh essence. Combined with the abundant power from the Red-Blooded Vine Demon King's main body, Li Hao's physical body had been refined to a level comparable to a top-tier divine weapon.
Now, even in the Dao Domain of the Peaceful Dao Realm, Li Hao could barely hold his own.
"Benefactor, can I continue following you?"
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King extended a tendril from the vine ring, gently stroking Li Hao's arm as if imploring him.
Li Hao was surprised. How had it already formed such a strong bond with him in such a short time?
"Aren't you afraid I'll eat you?"
"The outside world seems more dangerous than I imagined. Otherwise, Benefactor, can you take me to a safer place?" The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King asked cautiously.
Li Hao understood.
It seemed that his own charm wasn't the reason for this quick allegiance.
Rather, the Demon Kings here were just too intimidating.
"Alright, but before that, I'll be collecting interest every day." Li Hao said.
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King fell silent for a moment, then agreed, "Okay, that's fine."
"Using the language of your human race, do we seal the deal with a pinky promise?" it asked.
At the same time, it extended a blood vine tendril from the vine ring, curving it like a little finger.
Li Hao glanced at it and said indifferently, "Forget it, sometimes even a pinky promise isn't reliable."
"Is that so?"
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King was puzzled, then said, "Do you think I'm deceitful because I'm a demon? Let's make a pinky promise, I'll definitely keep my word!"
Li Hao gave a soft snort, too lazy to reply, and ignored it.
The Red-Blooded Vine Demon King, seeing that Li Hao wasn't paying attention to it, slowly wrapped its blood vine around Li Hao's little finger: "Then I'll make the promise myself. Even though I'm a demon, I always keep my word!"
Li Hao continued flying forward.
He sped through the air, occasionally stopping to rest before resuming his journey.
"Kid, are you also from the Ji family?"
Along the way, the usually quiet Ji Yunguo, who had only spoken once since Li Hao's battle with Qin Tianchen, spoke for the second time.
Hearing his voice, Li Hao's body stiffened slightly.
"Senior, didn't you already know my background?" Li Hao replied, quickly regaining his composure.
Ji Yunguo chuckled, "You're still trying to hide it from me? During your fight with Qin Tianchen, your divine blood was exposed. Although you have an incredibly fast self-healing ability and have cultivated some kind of technique to conceal your aura, making it hard even for me to probe, the aura contained in the blood you shed during the battle couldn't be hidden."
"You have the blood of my Ji family within you!"