Chapter 563: Peak Sword Dao Duel
"This is the test?"
"The Supreme really trusts that disciple. Sure, he's strong—but judging by Haotian's performance earlier, he should be able to last at least three moves, right?"
"That's what makes it terrifying. If the Supreme set the bar this high, it means Jianxin hasn't shown his real power yet. Don't forget, back in the True Immortal Secret Realm, he crushed a demon stronghold with just one sword strike. That's definitely peak fifth-tier Sword Dao!"
"Fifth-tier peak? No way—he's only at the True Immortal stage!"
In the True Immortal realm, reaching third-tier mastery of a Dao was already top-tier talent. Fourth-tier was for rare monsters. But fifth-tier? That was monstrous.
Everyone stared at the two figures, stunned. While few believed Haotian could defeat Jianxin, surviving three moves? That was possible.
Li Hao looked toward Jianxin, and their gazes met. He instantly caught the coldness in Jianxin's eyes. The man had been calm earlier, but something in their recent exchange had clearly triggered him.
Still, Li Hao didn't believe he'd said or done anything wrong. They each stood for their own master, that was all.
"Supreme, I have a request," Li Hao said, turning toward the Supreme.
Everyone looked over in surprise.
"If you're scared," Jianxin cut in coldly, "one move will do."
He couldn't stand the way Li Hao spoke to his master. There was no humility, no reverence.
"One move? This Jianxin's arrogant."
"It's not arrogance. If you can kill with one blow, why waste time? He's ready to give his strongest move. Win or lose—it's clear."
The Supreme looked calmly at Li Hao. "Speak."
"If I can survive ten moves, can I leave without becoming your disciple?" Li Hao asked, eyes sharp.
The mountaintop fell silent. A moment later, an uproar exploded.
People were stunned. Jianxin's earlier statement had already seemed bold—but now, Li Hao was being even more outrageous!
No, this wasn't just outrageous. It was madness.
Forget whether he could survive ten strikes from Jianxin. Just the fact he would raise the conditions—just to avoid becoming the Supreme's disciple—was unthinkable.
This was the position of a personal disciple to an Immortal Emperor. Something countless people would beg for. Even many of the Immortal King-level powerhouses present would trade anything for it.
And this boy… acted like it was garbage.
Jianxin and Mingyue both lost composure. Shock turned to fury. Even with their cold, detached temperaments, they now felt pure rage.
On the mountain, Da Mengzhu and the others were dumbfounded. They hadn't expected Li Hao to be so stubborn.
In Wènxīn Futuo City…
Han Laotou, seated beneath an ancient tree on the slope, froze. Then, he burst out laughing—wild and unrestrained.
"Good. Good, kid! I didn't pick the wrong person. If you return alive, I'll give you a great gift!"
Tears filled his eyes from laughter. It had been so long since he'd met someone this interesting.
In the nine thousand cities of Yanchu, many hidden old figures were stunned. Like everyone else, they were shocked by the boy's words.
Then, their hands curled into fists. Their eyes burned with emotion.
They had hidden like rats, biding their time for tens of thousands of years. But now, a youth, barely a century old, stood before one of the strongest beings in the world—and dared to say this.
They wept. Some choked on their tears. All of them regretted not going to the capital to stop that boy from attending.
"Immortal Emperor Tianyang… After all these years, you've found a good disciple."
"Can you see this, my lord? If he survives, we'll follow him to the death."
"Haotian! Remember this name. From today, he is our new master!"
All across the immortal cities, countless hearts surged with emotion—but also anxiety. What would the Supreme decide? Would he crush the boy with a word, or accept the request?
"You're insane!"
Jianxin stepped forward, full of killing intent. He had always been calm, eyes and heart only for the sword.
But Li Hao's continued defiance lit a fire in him.
He didn't even want the Supreme to answer. He wanted to cut Li Hao down right now.
Li Hao ignored Jianxin and kept his eyes on the Supreme. He had already prepared for both possibilities: obliteration or permission.
This battle was being watched across the entire Southern Domain. That visibility gave him the courage to speak up.
The Supreme met his gaze. His eyes were calm but carried a trace of coldness, as if peering through Li Hao's soul.
"You truly withstand ten strikes from Jianxin, I will pardon your crime," he said slowly. "But whether you walk away unharmed… will depend on yourself."
Li Hao frowned slightly. That answer seemed loaded with implications. But before he could analyze it, Jianxin growled:
"Let's begin, as you wish!"
His long black hair flew in the wind. A terrifying aura surged from him. A sword-shaped nine-petal immortal mark appeared on his forehead—sharp, radiant, and deadly.
Gasps echoed everywhere.
No one was surprised Jianxin had a nine-petal immortal mark. But when they felt the ninefold Dao aura bursting from it—matching Li Hao's—many finally understood what it meant to be a Supreme's personal disciple.
But it was his overwhelming pressure that left them breathless. Was this the power of a True Immortal?
On the mountain, even Gui Lingyue and Shen Wuyi, who had lost to Li Hao earlier, turned grim.
So did many other geniuses from powerful clans. This kind of power? Below Tier Three of the Immortal Lord realm, even they might be slain with a single strike.
Even other competitors at the Immortal Lord realm were stunned. Who could've guessed such a terrifying being existed in the True Immortal realm?
Li Hao looked at Jianxin, eyes narrowing. The immortal Power radiating from Jianxin was incredibly dense—it gave him a sense of pressure far greater than he'd expected.
They were both at Perfect Tenth Stage of the True Immortal realm, and both bore the Nine-Petal Immortal Mark. In theory, their capacity to hold immortal Power should be identical.
But what Li Hao felt was that Jianxin's internal immortal Power was nearly twice as thick and potent as his own.
He quickly realized this was the result of cultivation in a primordial secret realm and extensive refining over time—wherein immortal Power shifted from a mist-like state into a rich, viscous essence.
Now, Jianxin's immortal Power had reached that viscous level, far more refined than his.
"So strong..."
"This is what it means to be a Supreme's personal disciple?"
"My heavens, I'm at the Immortal Lord stage, yet I feel like I couldn't beat him!"
"Looks like Haotian really pissed him off."
"Can he even survive ten moves? I'm starting to think he might not last three!"
The crowd buzzed with uneasy chatter.
Earlier, many believed Haotian could withstand three moves. But now, doubt took hold—this test looked a lot tougher than expected.
"Activate the array," Jianxin said coldly, voice like ice, his eyes stabbing toward Li Hao.
He spoke to the Immortal Guard Commander, who didn't take offense at the tone and quickly opened the formation's barrier.
Whoosh!
Jianxin vanished in an instant, appearing on the Emperor's Platform. He turned to Li Hao and said, "Get over here."
The tone wasn't a request—it was a command, laced with killing intent.
Li Hao glanced briefly at him, then turned to the Supreme and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Supreme, for granting this opportunity."
He spoke with courtesy and calm, but to the audience, the boy seemed mad.
Sure, the Supreme had agreed to the duel. But Jianxin was the Supreme's personal disciple, and Li Hao, even if he were telling the truth, had only inherited a trace legacy from the long-fallen Immortal Emperor Tianyang. How could a dead Emperor's scattered teachings compare to the personal training of a living Supreme?
"Go already," Mingyue snapped coldly, no trace of goodwill in her tone.
Li Hao ignored her, gave one final bow to the Supreme, then flew toward the platform.
As he flew, his immortal Power surged and gathered in his body.
Once he landed, the formation sealed shut behind him. Now, the Emperor's Platform was a battlefield, with only Jianxin and those chilling, sword-like eyes before him.
Li Hao didn't let that killing intent affect him. He slowly exhaled.
The noise around him seemed to vanish. Only his pounding heartbeat and surging divine blood remained.
He closed his eyes, adjusting his state. He knew—this was his hardest battle yet since entering the True World. And his strongest opponent.
They were the same realm, yet Jianxin was the most powerful True Immortal he'd faced.
Any misstep could lead to defeat.
Jianxin possessed the Ancient Sword Immortal Physique—the strongest body for sword cultivation in the True World. He was also personally taught by a Supreme, granted countless treasures and rare opportunities. Everything others struggled to find, he received with ease.
Li Hao's system had helped him close the gap. But just barely.
Still, this fight left no room to retreat.
He had to win. There was no other option.
He hadn't asked for this test because of deep loyalty to Immortal Emperor Tianyang, nor was he sentimental about being his disciple.
He simply believed—if he passed the test and became this Supreme's disciple, his life would be anything but peaceful.
A personal disciple meant little to a Supreme. Jianxin and Mingyue were already personal disciples. To someone at that level, even personal disciples weren't irreplaceable.
People at that height lacked nothing. Even if something were irreplaceable, it wouldn't be a disciple.
Soon, all these thoughts emptied from his mind.
Li Hao knew—he had to focus completely.
When he opened his eyes again, it felt like a world of darkness split open. Before him stood Jianxin, sword intent surging, eyes sharp as blades. And all around him—the vast battlefield of the Emperor's Platform.
"Are you ready?" Jianxin asked coldly.
Though he was prepared to kill, he didn't strike right away. He wanted his opponent to lose thoroughly, with no doubts, no regrets.
"Yeah."
Li Hao nodded slightly. In that moment, his immortal Power surged. The Myriad Heavens Star Meridian inside him roared to life. Behind him, a dazzling starmap lit up the sky—veins of energy spreading like glowing webs into the void.
His immortal Power gathered into his hand, forming a sword.
The sword's form and outline were familiar—it was "Gongming", the one that had accompanied him since the mortal world to the Holy Lands.
Though the actual sword body had long fallen behind his cultivation level, it carried his Dao heart and convictions.
The blade's shape was odd, resembling a tower. That was because it had been formed from a fragment of an immortal weapon, once the Qian Dao Palace of the Dayu Divine Dynasty.
Nine layers made up the tower-blade. Its body reflected light like fish scales.
As the sword took shape, Li Hao released his full immortal Power.
His body expanded—revealing his Saint Body and manifesting Heaven and Earth Form. Behind him, divine images of ancient saints appeared, chanting in unison, guarding him.
The vast platform now seemed small as Li Hao transformed into a hundred-zhang-tall giant.
Everyone watching held their breath. Though Li Hao's aura still fell short of Jianxin's, it was terrifying in its own right—even more powerful than when he defeated Shen Wuyi.
"That bastard!" Shen Wuyi clenched his fists, but his gaze wasn't filled with hatred—it was sharp, like a blade.
He'd guessed before that Li Hao was hiding his bloodline. Now, he realized—Li Hao hadn't even shown his true immortal Power earlier!
"So this is the power of the Nine-Sequenced Immortal Mark… outrageous within the same realm," murmured Gui Lingyue. Her eyes locked onto Jianxin. "Sister, he's a True Immortal, but his immortal Power feels like it's already overtaking yours."
"He's probably refined his immortal Power again and again," Gui Lingshuang said, eyes narrowed. "It's like he rebuilt his True Immortal realm multiple times to reach this level."
"That's insane. Why not just break through to the Immortal Lord stage instead?" Gui Lingyue asked. "Refining Power like this only helps dominate the same realm. Wouldn't it be better to condense at the next level?"
"No," Gui Lingshuang said in a low voice, her gaze serious. "I think he wants to evolve his Immortal Mark within the True Immortal realm—into that legendary Immortal Mark."