Chapter 561: The Supreme Accepts a Disciple
Before the Heavenly Palace Supreme could respond to Li Hao's words, Mingyue stepped forward angrily and snapped, "Silence!"
Li Hao froze and turned to see the previously cold and aloof girl now filled with fury.
"My master is someone who upholds the heavens, the end of gods and immortals. Who are you to question him?"
Mingyue's voice trembled with anger, her bright eyes flashing with hostility.
In the true realm, those raised within it had reverence for Immortal Emperors engraved in their bones. Even if an Immortal Emperor claimed the sun was black or the moon was violet, no one would question them—only wonder what greater truth lay behind it.
Though Li Hao didn't know this girl personally, he could tell she was the Supreme's direct disciple. Seeing her erupt in such rage, he frowned, and a flicker of heat rose in his chest as well.
"I didn't mean to question," Li Hao said coldly. "I only wondered if there might be a misunderstanding. Why are you so angry?"
He narrowed his eyes and continued, "Your master is an Immortal Emperor, supreme and unmatched—but does that mean my master wasn't also an Immortal Emperor? Does that give you the right to insult him?"
Mingyue's gaze turned frosty. "That matter is known across the Southern Domain—irrefutable proof!"
"That's your claim," Li Hao replied. "I just arrived in the true realm. How could I know such things?"
Though he'd never met his master—only received his inheritance—everything he had seen in the Imperial Hall, including Wang Lao, the divine spirit of the Zhenzun Pagoda, and the soul of Luo Li with her sorrowful gaze, told him one thing: his master was not someone who would flee a battle.
If he had fled, why did he die?
In the distant void, a figure streaked through the stars at incredible speed. Seeing what played out across the sky, his expression shifted into disbelief.
"Fled the battlefield? Impossible. Who dares spread such slander?"
He muttered to himself, overwhelmed.
"To slander an Immortal Emperor—especially one who sacrificed everything—how could this be allowed? Tian Di, how can you let this happen?"
Back at the Heavenly Palace, Jianxin stood beside Mingyue with a cold expression. "If you know nothing, then you should go learn. He's your master, isn't he? You really know so little about him?"
At his words, the last few oblivious onlookers erupted in shock.
Li Hao really was a disciple of an Immortal Emperor—but the one who had become taboo long ago.
The name of that Emperor had been banned from speech seven or eight millennia ago, and his legacy erased.
"He's really the disciple of that Immortal Emperor."
"No wonder he's such a monster. But even so… isn't he too monstrous?"
"What a shame. To be a Sin Immortal's disciple. I wonder what the Supreme will do with him."
"That incident happened so long ago. It'd be a waste to kill such a genius. With a thousand years, he could be a general to slay demons!"
In cities across the Southern Domain, countless voices argued fiercely.
"I told you—I just arrived in the true realm," Li Hao said. "Even if I wanted to understand the past, that takes time."
He didn't try to hide it anymore. The Supreme had already exposed his origin.
"Yes, I am the disciple of the Tianyang Immortal Emperor. The techniques I used earlier are his legacy."
Li Hao lifted his gaze and scanned the surroundings. His heart sank.
He saw the Chu Emperor, Yuan Zun Empress, and other imperial rulers with shadowed expressions, eyes filled with complexity—regret, pity.
That kind of look gave Li Hao an ominous feeling.
But at this point, any attempt to hide the truth would be meaningless. The Supreme could see through everything anyway. If he meant harm, no words would change that.
So Li Hao's heart was steady.
"To my knowledge, my master died during the ancient demon war. The legacy he left behind is extremely limited."
He looked around again.
He didn't know the full truth. He didn't know whether his master had really fled. But he trusted what he saw. That someone who left behind such a broken legacy—who had saved him through that legacy—couldn't be a coward.
"I'll be honest," Li Hao said, raising his voice across the skies. "I came to the true realm because I was too poor!"
He waved his hand and pulled out three IOUs.
"These are the 'immortal stones' left to me by my master. Three promissory notes—not a single actual stone!"
"And in the Tianyang False Realm where I lived, there were no legends of immortals. No traces of true immortals at all. They were all wiped out in that ancient war. Not even an ordinary true immortal remains!"
"I may only have lived a hundred years, far removed from that war ten thousand years ago. I have no place to comment on it. But based on what I know—I don't believe my master would run from battle. There has to be a mistake!"
His voice was loud, firm, and unwavering. It echoed across the Southern Domain.
The audience saw the IOUs in his hand. With their cultivation, even those miles away could read them clearly.
And many ancient veterans, looking at those once-familiar seals, felt old memories stirred. The three great merchant guilds those seals represented had been legendary in the Southern Domain, protected by countless experts—but had long vanished in time.
Now, to see their seals again...
"Is this real? He really had no immortal stones—just IOUs?"
"A disciple of an Immortal Emperor that poor?"
"Impossible. Those IOUs must be fake. What Immortal Emperor gives out promissory notes?"
"No, those seals are real. The guilds built them on Dao principles—they can't be forged. Unless you're an Immortal Emperor… but why would one stoop so low?"
The crowd buzzed. Shocked. Speechless.
No one imagined an Immortal Emperor's disciple would be so destitute.
In their minds, such disciples should be shining with halos, buried in resources.
"How could this be…"
Even Mingyue, who had been furious before, was stunned by the IOUs in Li Hao's hand.
Jianxin furrowed his brow, staring at the youth's face, trying to judge whether he was lying.
In the Yanchu territory, across its nine thousand immortal cities, the figures whose faces had been filled with blood-boiling anger now stood frozen in place, staring at the three IOUs raised high in that youth's hand as if struck by lightning.
Soon, someone's eyes welled with tears. Another clutched their chest, as if their very heart was aflame—burning, tearing, unbearable.
They could not imagine just how hard that great one must have fought to leave behind a legacy so impoverished.
Far above in the starry sky, Wang Shanhe was still rushing through the void. His old face now showed deep sorrow. Only he knew to what extent that man had battled in that war—what he had sacrificed.
In Wenxin Futu City, on a mountain slope beside the sea of clouds, Old Han sat fishing. He silently watched the image reflected in the clouds.
His face remained calm, as if none of this surprised him, as if he'd already foreseen it.
"Silly kid…"
He murmured softly, "The true realm is treacherous. You've already been sold out and don't even know it. I suppose this is your destined tribulation."
Amid the many whispers and murmurs, the voice of the Heavenly Palace Supreme echoed out. He slowly spoke:
"What happened back then—no one wanted to believe it. But it is fact."
"There were many eyewitnesses. The investigation has gone on for over ten thousand years. I too have searched all this time, hoping it was all a misunderstanding. But unfortunately…"
He shook his head slightly and sighed.
"Faced with the two Great Emperors of the ancient demons, he chose to preserve himself. That's not unforgivable—cultivation is difficult, after all. As for your IOUs, and what you said about lacking immortal stones—that is another matter entirely. The two aren't directly connected. Perhaps he was too injured and used them all on recovery."
His voice was soft, but each word struck like a chime of truth in the hearts of all.
The crowd slowly came back to their senses.
Many elders of the great clans—born in the chaotic post-war era—had all heard of that ancient judgment.
That judgment had implicated many clans in ruin. The Huoluan Clan, for instance, had once been under the Tianyang Immortal Emperor. Their ancestral shaman fell long ago, entrusting their clan's future to Tianyang before dying in the Shattered Realm War, so long past that even the oldest elders rarely spoke of it.
After the ancient demon war and Tianyang's disappearance, the Huoluan Clan declined too.
Many other connected clans had similarly vanished from history.
The once-glorious Fusu Immortal Dynasty and the Tianyang Imperial City had long since become dust.
"Yes, three IOUs don't prove anything."
"Injured during battle, fled the field. I heard my great-grandfather witnessed him retreating."
"Makes sense. He was wounded, burned through all his immortal stones. A man who could abandon the Southern Domain wouldn't bother leaving resources behind."
In a flash, the crowd turned back to Li Hao, their gazes varied—some pitying, some cold with scorn.
Li Hao was stunned. He hadn't expected the Supreme's few words to completely twist the truth of everything he'd just revealed.
If he hadn't come from the Tianyang False Realm himself, he might have believed it too.
But in his heart, something screamed that his master had never betrayed the Southern Domain.
He turned to the emperors of the ancient immortal dynasties—Chu Emperor and the rest.
These seven dynasties had survived from ten thousand years ago. The war hadn't destroyed them; they had endured.
"Your Majesties," Li Hao said, "that war—you were there, weren't you?"
The Chu Emperor, Yuan Zun Empress, Tianzhao Emperor and others showed a flicker of emotion, but soon their expressions returned to calm.
Tianzhao Emperor raised a brow and said evenly, "Boy, yes, we were there. Though our cultivation was low at the time, we all did our part. Many people saw it with their own eyes—Tianyang Immortal Emperor left the battlefield and abandoned the Southern Domain."
Li Hao was speechless.
He looked at the others, but their faces were composed, silent. Clearly, they agreed.
How could that be?
"Could it be… he had other reasons? He left temporarily?" Li Hao asked.
Clad in red robes, the Chi Emperor said slowly, "Of course we considered that. No one dares slander an Immortal Emperor without solid proof. But after he left, the front collapsed. The Southern Domain suffered greatly. He vanished. We only heard of him again near the war's end—but by then, it didn't matter."
Her gaze landed on Li Hao, eyes deep and calm.
Li Hao stood there, stunned. This was all too far in the past. He had no way of verifying anything. How could he overturn such a conclusion? There was no starting point.
Yet in his heart, he couldn't believe it.
"You—are you his direct disciple?" the Supreme suddenly asked.
Li Hao's thoughts were still swirling. He shook his head. "No."
Many were stunned. With such talent, he wasn't even a direct disciple?
Jianxin and Mingyue raised their brows, surprised as well, but then their expressions darkened. Though they didn't feel he was stronger than them, by raw talent alone, he should qualify as a direct disciple.
That "Sin Immortal" had stricter standards than their own master—it left them unsettled.
"I don't know how much of his legacy you inherited, or how much his influence shaped you," the Supreme said gently, "but since cultivation is difficult, I'll spare your life."
Li Hao's heart trembled. He looked up at the Supreme and quickly understood his situation.
If the Tianyang Immortal Emperor bore the stigma of betrayal, then in the Southern Domain, Li Hao was like the descendant of a traitor—no one would question his execution.
"Aren't you going to thank the Supreme?" Mingyue said coldly.
Li Hao stayed silent. But in his heart, a fire lit.
'If I ever master time to the tenth level… I will go back to that war myself. I'll see with my own eyes what really happened. And I will clear my master's name.'
"But though you are spared," the Supreme continued, "from this day forth, you must abolish those immortal techniques."
He added calmly, "Given your talent and perception, I will grant you a chance to become my direct disciple—if you can pass the trial."
His words fell like thunder.
The silence shattered into a wave of stunned cries. Countless people stared at Li Hao, eyes full of envy and disbelief.
No one expected the Supreme would not only spare him, but actually seek to take him as a disciple.
Jianxin and Mingyue froze for a moment, their gazes flickering with complex emotions and thinly veiled rejection. But they knew their master's will could not be changed.