Chapter 471: Li Hao's Ingredients
Li Hao adjusted his direction, making his way back toward Qinghe Mò City, traveling alongside the ancient fiend woman.
Along the way, aside from the endless expanse of dark starry skies, all they encountered were scattered remains—a mixture of ancient fiends and humans.
Especially near the first defensive line, where the Yan Chu Immortal Army had already fallen back to the second defensive line, leaving behind only corpses and pools of blood.
Li Hao had pursued his way through this battlefield before and was already accustomed to the sight of slaughter. His expression remained calm and unaffected.
Similarly, the ancient fiend woman seemed completely indifferent, as if she had long grown numb to such scenes.
"By the way, I still don't know what to call you."
As they traveled through this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, the ancient fiend woman suddenly turned to look at him, her tone light and casual, her smile lively—a stark contrast to her usual cold and aloof demeanor.
Her easygoing tone felt oddly misplaced against the backdrop of this hellish battlefield.
Li Hao replied flatly:
"Before asking for my name, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
Tch, annoying human brat…
The ancient fiend woman scoffed in her heart, but outwardly, she maintained a gentle smile and said:
"How rude of me. You may call me… Mi Xueyao."
"Chong Er."
Li Hao replied indifferently.
Mi Xueyao raised an eyebrow. "Chong? As far as I know, humans don't have that surname. Is that your real name?"
Just like you, huh…
Li Hao sneered inwardly but didn't bother responding.
This damn brat!
Mi Xueyao secretly clenched her teeth, feeling deep irritation. She knew Li Hao was still holding a grudge over the ancient fiend commander's pursuit, but—
Since when had anyone dared to treat her like this?!
"Are you still mad about earlier? Come on, we're both humans, aren't we supposed to help each other in slaying ancient fiends?"
Mi Xueyao feigned innocence with a hint of grievance in her tone.
"Why were those things chasing you?"
Li Hao suddenly asked, his gaze cold and sharp.
Mi Xueyao froze for a split second, then immediately replied, "Because I'm human, obviously. Do ancient fiends need a reason to kill humans?"
Li Hao rolled his eyes and didn't bother wasting his breath arguing.
Seeing his reaction, a flicker of doubt flashed through Mi Xueyao's eyes.
Does this kid suspect something?
Impossible.
Unless Li Hao understood the language of the ancient fiends, he couldn't have overheard her earlier conversation with the fiend commanders.
And that was impossible.
For ten thousand years, the ancient fiends had studied countermeasures against mind-reading techniques.
Any fiend caught and subjected to a soul search would self-destruct, their primordial soul instantly shattering.
Not only that—
This would trigger a secret art, forcibly dragging the infiltrator into an illusory cycle of torment, where even their own memories could be stolen.
After all, many relics from the shattered cycle of reincarnation had fallen into the hands of the ancient fiends.
Mi Xueyao shook her head slightly, discarding her suspicions.
This kid is just antisocial.
"You're incredibly strong for a True Immortal Realm cultivator. You were even able to fight a Fiend Commander—your sect must value you highly. Which sect are you from?"
She smiled, pressing for more information.
Li Hao ignored her completely.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
Mi Xueyao cursed inwardly, her patience running thin. She wanted to kill this brat, but for now, she had to tolerate him.
She continued asking random questions, trying to lure him into talking.
But Li Hao refused to respond.
Eventually, she gave up.
Fine! Let's get to the human army first.
Once she infiltrated their ranks, she could slip away and create a proper human identity—
Then she'd come back and torture this brat to vent her frustration!
She silently imagined all sorts of cruel punishments, her lips curving upward slightly in a dark smile.
From then on—
The two traveled in silence.
Along the way, whenever they encountered ancient fiend corpses, Li Hao collected them into his Heaven and Earth Space.
Most of the Immortal Army troops were too preoccupied with fighting to retrieve these valuable materials.
But Li Hao wasn't about to let them go to waste.
By the time they neared the second defensive line, he had scavenged thirty or so ancient fiend corpses.
Suddenly—
Li Hao paused.
Wait a minute.
He had been wasting time hunting ancient fiends when—
There were corpses everywhere.
Why bother fighting?
I can just pick them up!
His eyes lit up with newfound realization.
At this rate, there was no need to return yet—
He should stay behind and continue scavenging!
But first…
He needed to get rid of the ancient fiend woman.
Li Hao glanced at Mi Xueyao, then resumed walking toward the second defensive line.
Mi Xueyao, meanwhile, watched his actions with confusion.
This brat keeps collecting ancient fiend bodies…
Not human ones, just fiend ones.
Could he be trying to claim military merit with them?
She thought for a moment, but ultimately didn't ask.
She didn't want to risk getting ignored again.
Time passed—
As they neared the second defensive line, something felt off.
Li Hao squinted, scanning the battlefield ahead.
What he saw made his expression darken.
The second defensive line had fallen.
The area was overrun by ancient fiend forces.
A heavy sense of oppression filled the air.
Li Hao instantly withdrew his aura, his heart sinking.
This entire defensive line has been taken?
Mi Xueyao also noticed the situation, but instead of looking pleased, her expression turned cold.
Suddenly—
She seemed to sense something.
Her face changed drastically.
"This is bad."
She grabbed Li Hao's arm, stopping him in his tracks.
At the same time—
She released a surge of Immortal Dao energy, wrapping Li Hao in a protective layer, completely concealing his presence.
She quietly released a trace of ancient fiend aura within her Immortal Dao power, completely masking them both to prevent any nearby fiends from detecting a human presence.
"What's wrong?"
Li Hao had already noticed the fiend horde ahead, but he also saw several battle camps still locked in fierce combat. If he blended in, there was still a chance to slip through unnoticed.
"It's the Lun Zhuan Clan."
Mi Xueyao's expression darkened as she spoke.
"Those two ancient fiend commanders that were chasing us before? They belong to one of the seven great bloodlines of the fiend race. They're much more dangerous than ordinary fiends."
Li Hao's eyes narrowed. This was the first time he had heard of this.
"Most fiend commanders and fiend kings you've seen come from one of these seven bloodlines!"
Mi Xueyao's gaze was fixed on the fiend horde ahead.
"Look closely. The Lun Zhuan Clan members aren't fighting. They're searching. They're looking for us."
Li Hao's expression stiffened.
"Didn't that fiend commander escape earlier to report back? How could they mobilize this quickly?"
"Hmm?"
Mi Xueyao gave Li Hao a confused glance. His question seemed strange to her, but she brushed it off as a slip of the tongue and explained:
"The fiend race has a 'Cycle World'—a unique domain where information can be transmitted across hundreds of millions of miles in an instant. Even fiend kings can't match their speed."
Li Hao was shocked.
On a battlefield, intelligence was everything. If the fiends had such an absurd advantage, it was no wonder they dominated war zones so effectively.
"How do you know so much about them?" Li Hao asked.
Mi Xueyao snorted lightly:
"I'm a Celestial Lord. Our people have fought the fiends for a hundred thousand years. You think we wouldn't figure this much out?"
Li Hao nodded slowly.
If this information was already known among high-level Celestial Lords, then the Yan Chu Immortal Army likely had their own countermeasures.
"You seem to know quite a bit."
His words carried a deeper meaning.
Mi Xueyao didn't catch it, her eyes still locked on the fiend horde, flashing with indecision.
Suddenly, she spoke in a low voice:
"We can't go back now. They've set up a hidden perimeter. If we get too close, we'll alert them."
She glanced around, her eyes flashing decisively.
"We'll do the opposite. Follow me!"
Li Hao pulled his arm free and said coldly:
"You go your way. I'm going back."
Mi Xueyao quickly stopped him.
"You're in the same position as me now. If you go, you'll expose yourself. You don't know what kind of detection methods they have."
Li Hao didn't answer. Instead, he concealed his aura and continued moving forward.
As he approached the fiend horde, his eyes suddenly sharpened.
Several fiends lifted into the air, their foreheads glowing as a massive mirrored artifact appeared above them.
The mirror hovered in the void, constantly rotating, its frame embedded with skulls, exuding a sinister aura.
Li Hao's expression changed instantly.
A strong premonition surged through him—
If he got any closer, that mirror would lock onto him!
At his current realm, Li Hao had already nurtured a Celestial Dao embryo, allowing him to sense fate's warnings with extreme accuracy.
Whoosh!
Mi Xueyao's figure flickered, instantly appearing beside him.
She wrapped her Immortal Dao energy around him and teleported them both tens of thousands of miles away.
"You almost got yourself killed!"
Mi Xueyao glared at him in frustration and anger.
"Do you have any idea what that is? That's the Lun Zhuan Clan's 'Three Lives Secret Technique.'"
She pointed back toward the fiend horde.
"That fiend commander from earlier already marked you. No matter how well you disguise yourself, the Three Lives Secret Technique will expose you. The only way to break free is to become a Celestial King and use an Immortal Kingdom's protection to sever its fate-tracking ability!"
For the first time, Li Hao didn't argue with her.
His brows furrowed deeply.
The ancient fiends' methods—
It wasn't just their brute strength.
Their mastery over fate and soul-tracing techniques was terrifying.
"We need to lay low for now. Once they engage the Yan Chu Army, we'll find an opening."
Mi Xueyao said firmly.
Li Hao nodded.
At this point, waiting for the war to escalate was his only real option.
Right now, the fiend horde had positioned itself ahead of them, meaning—
He was technically in the fiends' rear lines now.
"Let's go."
Mi Xueyao didn't waste any more words.
She used her Immortal Dao laws to keep Li Hao's aura concealed.
Unless the Lun Zhuan Clan's Three Lives Secret Technique directly targeted them, the other fiends wouldn't be able to sense them.
"In that case, we'll head back to the first defensive line first."
Li Hao suggested.
Mi Xueyao hesitated for a moment but then nodded in agreement.
She was familiar with the fiend army's troop movements, and she knew that the first defensive line was no longer a primary focus for them.
The two retraced their path toward the first defensive line.
The battlefield stretched vast and endless.
As they traveled, Li Hao continued scavenging fiend corpses.
Strangely—
Even in this void of space, there was still a cycle of day and night.
A golden divine sun shone high above, but as the battle continued, it gradually sank below the distant horizon, as if it were falling into the abyss of the Nine Netherworlds.
And then—
Only the glimmering starlight remained, illuminating the endless void.
Li Hao moved like a scavenger, collecting fiend corpses wherever he went.
If he found a relatively intact human body, he would also collect it.
When he returned to Qinghe Mò City, he would make sure those fallen warriors were given a proper burial.
Though he didn't know the names of these fallen warriors, in this vast battlefield, the mere fact that they were his kin was reason enough for him to do this.
After several days of scavenging, the number of ancient fiend corpses in the area had dwindled. Li Hao found a fragmented continent drifting through the void and decided to use it as a temporary resting spot. The land was filled with chaos and desolation, littered with scattered corpses.
Li Hao retrieved a fully intact ancient fiend corpse, wielded Tāowù, and skillfully sliced open the hide, preparing it for cooking.
In his palm, he conjured a Chaotic Divine Flame, fueled by his immortal energy. The heat and intensity were dozens of times stronger than before.
Under the scorching flames, the flesh of the True Immortal Realm Perfection fiend began to sizzle, oil dripping down as a rich aroma filled the air.
Li Hao pulled out various seasonings from his spatial ring and, with a flick of his fingers, traced two phantom trees into existence in the void. These trees were imbued with a unique fragrance. Once fully materialized, he shaved their bark into fine powder and sprinkled it onto the roasting fiend meat.
As the Chaotic Divine Flame intensified, the fragrance became even more tantalizing.
"What are you doing?!"
Mi Xueyao watched in stunned disbelief, her eyes widening.
In all the years she had lived, she had seen fiends slaughtering each other, even devouring their own kind.
But never before—
Had she seen a human treating fiends as ingredients and cooking them for a meal…
Her entire body shivered.
Yet, as the aroma drifted into her nose, she unconsciously swallowed.
Same race… but why does it smell so good?
Before long, Li Hao completed the dish.
Seeing the boost in his cooking mastery, he nodded in satisfaction, then began feasting without hesitation.
The fiend meat had a crispy outer layer while remaining tender on the inside, melting upon contact with his tongue.
As he consumed the flesh, the pure essence of the fiend's primordial soul energy surged into his body.
His spirit rejuvenated, his divine sense strengthened, and his primordial soul subtly expanded.
Mi Xueyao sat quietly beside him, watching this young human devour the meal with genuine delight.
Her initial shock and fear gradually transformed into a strange urge.
Could it really be… that delicious?
As she watched Li Hao finish the enormous portion, she couldn't resist any longer.
"Give me some."
Li Hao glanced at her.
Originally, he wasn't inclined to share, but as a culinary master, he had both high standards for his craft and a deep respect for those who appreciated good food.
With a casual flick, he sliced off a piece and tossed it to her before resuming his own meal.
Mi Xueyao caught the perfectly roasted chunk of meat.
The aroma alone was enough to make her heart race.
She hesitated for a moment, then tore off a small bite and gracefully placed it into her mouth.
The moment the juices exploded across her tongue, her eyes widened in shock.
This flavor…!
It's too delicious!
She slowly chewed through the first piece, then—
Without hesitation, she reached for another.
As she continued eating faster and faster, Li Hao had already finished his portion.
Patting his stomach, he felt the surge in his primordial soul's power.
The fatigue from days of battle was completely washed away after this single meal.
With an introspective glance at his soul, he noticed that his Golden Soul Veins had increased by over a dozen strands, and they were still gradually strengthening.
Li Hao couldn't hide his excitement.
This growth rate was far beyond normal cultivation.
If he had relied solely on traditional methods, advancing his primordial soul at this stage would have taken decades of painstaking effort.
Just as he was reveling in his progress, Mi Xueyao's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Is there any more?"
Li Hao opened his eyes.
She sat before him with a slightly embarrassed yet eager expression, clearly unsatisfied with just one portion.
This woman…
Li Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She was literally eating her own kind—and yet, she was craving more?
"If you want to eat, go find your own ingredients."
Li Hao replied indifferently.
There was no way he was sharing any more of his precious stock.
"Ingredients?"
Mi Xueyao froze.
This was the first time in her life she had heard someone refer to the fiend race as 'ingredients.'