Chapter 564: Sword Dao—Sixth Level
"That legendary one…" Gui Lingyue's pupils shrank slightly. "Are you saying… the Dao-Origin Immortal Mark?"
Gui Lingshuang nodded. "Refining immortal Power is just a side effect. His real goal is to stay in the True Immortal realm long enough to forge the Dao-Origin Immortal Mark. That mark has only two chances to be formed. One is during the True Immortal stage. The second is at the Immortal King stage, when the Dao Laws evolve into Domains, and the Immortal Mark is restructured."
"There are only those two opportunities to transform the mark. He chose the first—he's not waiting for the Immortal King stage. I'd bet he wants to dominate even the Immortal Lord stage, not just pass through it."
As a heaven's chosen herself, she could easily grasp his ambition and motives.
To charge from True Immortal all the way to Immortal Lord undefeated… For top-tier monsters, that's the only goal worth chasing.
"How greedy," Gui Lingyue whispered, inhaling sharply. But looking at the battlefield, she couldn't help but admire him. The guy might be greedy, wanting to be undefeated all the way—but he did have the qualifications. That was what it meant to be a Supreme's personal disciple. Even she, before facing him, could already feel a gap between them.
On the platform, Li Hao's giant hundred-zhang body stood tall, immortal Power erupting like a furious dragon, forming whirling vortexes around him. Compared to Jianxin, he was only slightly suppressed.
But Jianxin stood in pristine white robes, sword in hand, like a solitary sword god reigning over heaven and earth.
Both had pushed their power to its peak. Just as a faint breeze brushed the mountain summit, the two silhouettes inside the array vanished—colliding in the blink of an eye.
Boom!!
Two blinding sword flashes lit up the sky. The blades formed with such speed and swung so violently that even most of the watching geniuses couldn't react. Their eyes filled with light, followed by waves of devastating sword intent that shattered into countless sharp fragments. Even behind the barrier, they felt the cutting pressure.
Li Hao's towering body trembled, stumbling back several steps and thudding against the platform with a resounding boom.
Jianxin, still in his regular human form, hovered where they clashed. His long black hair whipped in the air, eyes filled with icy killing intent.
Though his frame was smaller, his aura suppressed Li Hao. The power of the Nine-Sequenced Immortal Mark pulsed on his forehead. In that first exchange, he had clearly held the upper hand.
And that single sword strike… had used seventy percent of his strength.
Jianxin narrowed his eyes. Although Li Hao had asked to last ten moves, he didn't plan on giving him the chance. Three moves—that was enough. He wanted everyone to understand how difficult his master's standards truly were. He wanted all to see that being a personal disciple of a Supreme was no empty title.
The first strike tested Li Hao's strength.
The second would kill.
Jianxin didn't pursue after his strike landed. He stood his ground and gathered strength again.
For him, sword Dao was the core of his strength—stronger even than his Nine-Sequenced Immortal Mark. But the Nine-Sequenced Mark's potential to become the Dao-Origin Mark made it an unavoidable path for top-tier geniuses.
"Take this next sword properly," he said coldly.
From his palm, black ripples of sword light spread out, slicing the void. Space twisted into a vortex, forming a black hurricane that spiraled around the blade.
That overwhelming pressure immediately sparked recognition—this was one of the Ten Immortal Techniques: the apex sword technique Nightfall.
But Jianxin's version was different. More terrifying. He had infused it with the full force of the Nine-Sequenced Immortal Mark—gold, wood, water, fire, earth, domain, time, and space—compressed into one blow.
Around the sword, waves of fundamental Dao Laws distorted space. Misty rays split the void, and the five elemental forces surged and intertwined. It was utterly terrifying.
Earlier, Li Hao had only used half his Nine-Sequenced Mark when defeating Gui Lingyue and Shen Wuyi. He held back. But now, Jianxin had gone all in from the start. Li Hao knew—it was time to use everything.
Jianxin clearly had no intention of going ten rounds. That was fine by Li Hao.
He had no interest in ten rounds either.
The killing intent Jianxin held toward him—how could he not feel the same in return?
"Only I… embody the sword Dao!" Li Hao shouted.
He raised his sword high. In an instant, the power of the Nine-Sequenced Immortal Mark surged into it.
Both he and Jianxin had chosen the same path—sword Dao fused with the Nine Sequences. Their ultimate clash would still be through the sword.
As their powers swelled, sword intent burst out like a storm. Even through the platform's barrier, everyone felt as though they stood in a field of swords, bombarded by deadly intent.
"That sword Dao is insane!"
"Haotian's sword Dao… it's terrifying too?!"
"Didn't he beat Shen Wuyi with his fists? That was a fist technique!"
"I thought fist Dao was his strongest card… but his most powerful killing move is actually sword Dao!"
"My god. He's only cultivated for a hundred years, and his sword Dao already rivals Jianxin's?"
"But Jianxin has the Ancient Sword Immortal Physique—the strongest body for sword cultivation in the True World! And Haotian is still matching him head-to-head!"
Staring at the two figures on the imperial platform, the sheer force from their initial clash had already surpassed the climax of any previous match. Countless spectators were dumbfounded.
"That guy!" Shen Wuyi was stunned, fists clenched in disbelief. "He actually hid that much strength earlier?"
The true essence of the Nine-Sequenced Immortal Mark—was this its real power?
His heart trembled with shock and a swelling wave of humiliation and rage. He felt that either of those two's sword strikes were beyond what he could possibly handle.
"What terrifying sword intent… What kind of sword Dao are they cultivating? It feels like their sword Dao is almost on par with the Nine Sequences itself!" Gui Lingyue murmured in disbelief.
Beside her, Gui Lingshuang's gaze grew grave, fingers unconsciously tightening. Though both combatants were still at the True Immortal stage, their current strength forced even her to take them seriously.
"That guy's sword…" Boya Xuejian's expression was heavy. He, too, was a swordsman—though his style leaned toward the extreme, fusing only with water Dao essence. Few knew his water Dao had reached the fifth level, and his sword Dao as well.
Dual fifth-layer mastery—its might was fearsome beyond measure.
But now, Jianxin's sword Dao was also fifth-level. His Nine-Sequenced essence, however, seemed just short, still in the fourth stage.
Even so, that was monstrous enough.
What truly stunned Boya was that Li Hao's Nine-Sequenced essence had also reached the fourth level!
Jianxin was a Supreme's personal disciple, showered in rare treasures—likely even Dao fruits from Origin Trees—so reaching that point was explainable.
But Li Hao, in just a hundred years, had caught up?
That was terrifying.
Still, it seemed Li Hao's sword Dao was only fourth-level—not fifth. And yet, for some reason, it felt no weaker than Jianxin's.
"Impossible… That guy's sword intent has reached this level?" Mingyue's face was filled with disbelief. At this moment, the sword pressure Li Hao gave off didn't just match others at the True Immortal stage—it rivaled Jianxin directly!
As the crowd reeled in shock and discussion, both fighters on the platform finished preparing their second sword strike.
"Die!!"
Jianxin stepped forward suddenly. The place his foot landed erupted with sword shadows. His domain surged with countless sword lights, piercing into Li Hao's Eternal Dao Domain.
Jianxin's domain was also an ultimate Eternal Dao Domain.
His sword carried overwhelming pressure, like a rift in the dark void—held in his hand, yet also resembling a bolt of black lightning.
"Nine-Sequenced Extreme Sword!!"
Boom! The sword light swept out and split Li Hao's Eternal Dao Domain wide open!
That black blade aura made Li Hao's golden divine hair whip through the air. In his pupils, that sword was fully reflected. The pressure crushed down on him so hard it felt like even his blood couldn't circulate.
Under such strain, the sword in his hand roared out with fury.
This strike blended Qingtian Sword Technique, Sword God Art, and the techniques he'd gathered from every major sect and dynasty!
Then, infused with the Nine-Sequenced essence—his Sword Dao was a path of Only Me. His intent: 'Only my sword exists. One sword to extinguish ten thousand.'
Boom! A radiant sword light burst from his hands, slamming down like an ancient furious deity cleaving the heavens.
At his hundred-zhang height, the strike seemed to cover the sky. Though Jianxin's brilliance still glowed beneath the shadow, the moment the two sword intents collided, layered force waves surged out. Li Hao's sword descended with all the weight of heaven behind it.
Within this strike were echoes of the Sword God Art, shadows of Qingtian, and countless other sword techniques.
'Only by witnessing all swords under heaven… can one destroy all swords beneath heaven!'
Amid the deafening crash, the imperial platform quaked violently. Jianxin's pitch-black sword light shattered. His body flew backward, smashing into the barrier.
Li Hao, even in his giant form, couldn't remain steady—staggering back repeatedly. The skin between his thumb and index finger tore open, blood sprayed from his mouth. This strike, though it seemed singular, was actually ten thousand layered in one.
His Zhutian Starvein circulated at full power. His meridians surged with explosive immortal Power, nearly tearing apart.
But in that extreme burst—he suppressed Jianxin!
As Jianxin's white-robed figure slammed into the barrier, the mountains beyond the platform and all of South Domain fell into dead silence.
It was like the breath of a wrathful god still lingered in the mountains, and everyone outside the imperial platform felt a chill spread through their limbs. Countless sword shadows flashed in their minds—slashing toward them.
"How… can this be?" Mingyue stood stunned in the cloud mist beyond the platform, her eyes vacant.
She knew how terrifying Jianxin's sword was—how freakish his sword Dao talent was. But now, in a battle of equals… he had actually lost?
Since he became a disciple, she'd never seen him lose before.
Now—he had lost. And it was a loss in sword Dao!
"That child's sword…" On the ground, Da Mengzhu and the leaders of various sects—peak Immortal Lords and even Immortal Kings—watched grimly.
This battle had already gone beyond the scope of the True Immortal stage. But if Jianxin was a monster, then Li Hao's performance left everyone even more shaken.
They could clearly see that although Li Hao's sword Dao was only at the fourth level, that sword just now carried an overwhelming intent. It looked like a single strike, but in truth, it was countless sword moves stacked together!
And the only way to achieve such an overlap of techniques was if Li Hao had cultivated each one to perfection!
He had only lived for a hundred years!
Even if he mastered one technique per month, that would only add up to about 1,200. Yet that sword contained thousands of techniques—some even recognized as top sword arts from various dynasties!
To master a top-grade technique like Qingtian or Sword God Art, even with monstrous talent, would still take half a year to comprehend, and three to five years to perfect!
Even Jianxin hadn't mastered that many.
"That Haotian's sword Dao even contains elements of my dynasty's Batiansword Technique," Emperor Tianzhao said quietly, his eyes flickering.
"And our dynasty's Star-Breaking Sword as well," murmured the Empress of Yuanzun.
Besides them, other royal dynasties' supreme sword techniques were also present within Li Hao's sword.
These were all exchanged from the Heavenly Dao Bridge.
But at this moment, Tianzhao and the others exchanged worried glances toward the Supreme. Just this alone could make people suspect that the Seven Dynasties had jointly cultivated this prodigy.
That implication was dangerous.
They smiled bitterly, unsure how Li Hao had even learned their secret sword arts, let alone mastered and merged them into one. All they could say was—it had to be a misunderstanding.
But trying to explain it would only make it worse.
On the imperial platform, Jianxin flew back from the barrier, his expression dark and shocked.
That sword just now—he thought it could crush the entire True Immortal group. But it lost. He actually lost.
"Your sword Dao…" Jianxin's eyes flickered. During that clash, he could sense the other's sword—equally domineering.
His own sword path placed nothing above the sword. The Nine-Sequenced essence was merely a support.
He believed his sword Dao stood at the pinnacle. But the boy's sword—just as dominating, yet vast, all-encompassing, as if it welcomed every sword under the heavens!
"That's two moves now."
"First, Jianxin had the upper hand. Second, he lost!"
"Don't tell me Haotian might actually win? That last exchange had to be their strongest!"
The crowd buzzed in shock. They thought this would be one-sided—Jianxin's identity and strength were too overwhelming—but Li Hao had turned the tide with his second strike.
And from what it looked like, both had already used their trump cards.
"I didn't expect to reveal this during the South Domain battle. I meant to save this move for the Original Realm, to challenge other domain prodigies and bring glory to the South Domain," Jianxin said coldly, locking his eyes on Li Hao.
There was still killing intent in his gaze—but also a deep seriousness.
He had thought Li Hao arrogant. But now, after that sword, he acknowledged him. Still, it would end here.
As he spoke, a transparent sword aura surged from Jianxin's body, swirling around him. The void trembled, immortal Dao Laws were sliced apart by the invisible sword currents.
These sword auras were incredibly sharp, like countless fish swimming and slashing through the air, cutting through even the natural order itself.
Seeing this, even those who had just thought Li Hao might win, froze.
Across the South Domain, many Immortal Lord cultivators widened their eyes.
Even participants in the Immortal Lord division outside the platform, who had watched with serious expressions, now narrowed their eyes in shock. They stared at the white-clothed youth like they were seeing a ghost.
"This is… sixth-level Sword Dao?!"
High in the clouds, Emperor Jin murmured, eyes flickering with astonishment.
The Empress of Yuanzun and the others all changed expressions. Even as emperors, well-used to great storms, they couldn't remain calm.
At the True Immortal stage… Jianxin had reached the sixth level of sword Dao essence?!!
"That's impossible!"
Outside the platform, Gui Lingyue stood dazed. Beside her, Gui Lingshuang's pupils shrank, her expression shifting visibly.