Chapter 466: Explosion, Kill!
As Shi Tianjin led the charge, the veteran soldiers followed closely, each revealing their formidable aura—most of them were at True Immortal Stage Seven and Eight.
The rest of the new recruits also took flight, all at True Immortal Stage Five, except for the only True Immortal Stage Eight, Huo Xiaoqi, who intentionally stayed near Li Hao.
"Stay close to me."
Huo Xiaoqi took it upon himself to look after Li Hao, afraid that he might fall behind, so he deliberately lowered his speed.
Li Hao slightly increased his pace, keeping up with True Immortal Stage Five speeds to avoid standing out too much.
Seeing that Li Hao's movement technique was not slow at all, Huo Xiaoqi was surprised and sent him a voice transmission:
"Kid, you're hiding your strength, aren't you? With this kind of movement technique, no wonder you dared to come to the border battlefield."
Li Hao was momentarily taken aback but quickly understood, smiling as he replied, "It's alright."
Huo Xiaoqi saw that Li Hao looked perfectly composed, realizing that this wasn't even his full speed. If he really pushed himself, he could probably match a True Immortal Stage Six, which reassured him slightly. He picked up his speed a little, keeping pace with Li Hao at the rear of the formation.
They flew for thousands of miles before reaching the edge of the city. Qinghe Desolate City was immensely vast, and though the Wildfire Battalion was already stationed near the outer battlefield, the diameter of the city still spanned thousands of miles.
Around them, countless Wildfire Battalions advanced in formation. Millions of troops moved forward together, forming an endless tide of warriors, like a storm of arrows shooting toward the battlefield. The sheer magnitude of it made every soldier feel their own insignificance, truly sensing the immensity of war.
Before long, an immense golden barrier appeared on the horizon, stretching across the sky.
Figures passed through the barrier like raindrops, and when they did, their bodies reflected golden light, transforming into glowing fireflies.
Beyond the golden barrier, however, lay a grim, desolate, and ancient battlefield.
Li Hao and the others followed Shi Tianjin through the barrier and found themselves standing in a starry battlefield of ruins.
All around them were floating boulders, scattered skeletal remains, and shattered weapons and armor—remnants of countless past battles.
It was clear that this was an ancient warzone.
"We're now outside the defensive line. Stay alert—the ancient fiends could be lurking anywhere. Move toward the frontlines!"
Shi Tianjin's voice was sharp, his eyes cold and menacing.
Hearing this, the veteran soldiers stiffened slightly, exchanging glances. Some glanced at Li Hao and the other newcomers, but no one said anything, simply lowering their heads and keeping up.
They picked up their pace, with Shi Tianjin leading the way, using short-range spatial teleportation. The others followed, quickly crossing tens of thousands of miles.
Along the way, chaos and destruction surrounded them—scattered wreckage, skeletal remains, and debris. The sheer scale of the battlefield left the new recruits in shock.
However, Li Hao had traveled the Ancient Star Path before, where the devastation was even more catastrophic, so he remained unmoved.
As they pressed forward, suddenly, at the edge of Li Hao's divine sense, he caught sight of blazing divine light—countless beams of radiant energy erupted, immortal force gathering, while thunder rumbled in the distance.
Giant translucent thunder dragons, oceans of raging fire, and other ancient immortal arts lit up the battlefield.
Li Hao's gaze sharpened—they were approaching the frontlines.
After traveling another few hundred miles, Shi Tianjin abruptly slowed down.
"We're nearing the frontlines—be cautious."
The others looked confused, but as they continued forward, they finally witnessed the full extent of the intense battle ahead.
"I didn't have time to explain earlier, but now I'll tell you how to accumulate immortal merits on the battlefield."
Shi Tianjin halted, then turned around with a serious gaze and said:
"Killing a True Immortal Stage One ancient fiend earns 1,000 merit points. Stage Two earns 2,000 points, Stage Three earns 3,000 points, and so on."
"A True Immortal Stage Ten Perfection ancient fiend is worth 10,000 merit points."
"If you kill ten of them, that's 100,000 merit points, which allows you to apply for the Tiger-Lion Army, become a battalion commander, and with the right connections, you might even join the Peacock Army!"
The veterans already knew this, but the new recruits listened carefully, memorizing every detail.
"Now, how do we divide the merit points?"
"We are from Yinglong Guard Battalion, and there are two ways to earn immortal merits here."
"The first method—go hunting alone. However many ancient fiends you kill, you get all the merit points."
"The second method—fight alongside the army under my command. In this case, for each ancient fiend killed, I take half the merit points, and the rest are split among everyone else."
His gaze swept across the new recruits as he continued:
"Hunting alone means faster merit gains, but this is an outer battlefield. If something happens, no one will save you."
"Fighting in formation with the army means fewer merit points, but it's safer. Working together, we can reduce casualties."
Hearing this, many recruits nodded. Someone spoke up:
"I want to fight in formation—please lead us, Commander!"
Shi Tianjin looked at the speaker, then nodded approvingly.
"Good. But let me be clear—merit points are distributed based on cultivation levels. The veterans in my unit fight harder and contribute more, so they take a larger share. You newcomers should be grateful just to survive—your merit points will be reduced accordingly. Any objections?"
The new recruits exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, but no one objected.
"Alright, since no one objects, let's move—"
Just as Shi Tianjin turned around, a voice suddenly interrupted.
"Wait a moment."
It was Li Hao.
Everyone turned to look at him, puzzled.
"Uh… I'd like to hunt alone."
The moment Li Hao said this, everyone froze.
A moment later, every single person turned to stare at him, as if they had just seen a ghost.
The weakest among them—a mere True Immortal Stage Three—was actually saying that he wanted to hunt alone?!
Shi Tianjin was momentarily stunned, his expression shifting to one of utter disdain, before quickly morphing into a mocking sneer. Weak and foolish—truly a waste of life.
"Suit yourself."
He had no interest in arguing further.
To him, keeping Li Hao in the group would only frustrate the veterans, which wasn't worth it.
After all, with Li Hao's low cultivation, staying in formation would just mean leeching off others' merits.
Huo Xiaoqi was dumbfounded. As soon as Shi Tianjin's cold response fell, he finally snapped back to reality and immediately grabbed Li Hao's arm.
"Are you insane?"
Li Hao shook his head and calmly replied, "I want to train myself."
Huo Xiaoqi was speechless for a moment before forcing a bitter smile.
"You're way too impatient. At least stick with them for now to get familiar with things. Next time, I'll take you out alone to hunt ancient fiends."
Li Hao shook his head again. The others might not be familiar with ancient fiends, but he was—he had studied their bodies inside and out.
"How about this? Why don't you come with me?"
Li Hao extended an invitation.
Since Huo Xiaoqi was looking out for him, Li Hao also felt like returning the favor.
Huo Xiaoqi froze, then sighed with regret.
"Sorry, but I can't take that risk."
He respected Li Hao's courage, but he couldn't throw his life away. In the end, they had only just met—he was willing to help Li Hao, but not at the cost of his own life.
"Alright then."
Seeing this, Li Hao didn't push further.
The others in the group watched their exchange with amused sneers.
Someone muttered, "What the hell is he thinking?"
"He's thinking about dying," another snickered.
Shi Tianjin had lost interest in wasting any more time. Seeing that Huo Xiaoqi had made the smart decision, he felt relieved. Otherwise, he would've intervened—after all, an early-stage True Immortal Stage Eight recruit had potential and was worth nurturing as one of his trusted subordinates.
"Let's go!"
With that, Shi Tianjin increased his speed, instantly vanishing into the distance.
The others hurried to catch up, afraid of falling behind.
Huo Xiaoqi glanced back at Li Hao, seeing that he truly had no intention of following. He sighed inwardly before looking away and catching up with the main force.
Li Hao watched them disappear, noticing that other squads were also passing by, heading toward the battlefield.
After pausing for a moment, Li Hao turned and flew toward a different direction.
With his powerful divine sense, he could see a battlefield ahead, where immortal techniques were already fading—a sign that a defensive breach had formed.
That meant one thing—there were a lot of ancient fiends there.
"Taowu, come out."
As Li Hao accelerated, he slashed his palm through the air, revealing a blade brimming with murderous intent.
This was a celestial weapon, one that only Celestial Lord-level cultivators could control. If Taowu hadn't recognized Li Hao's identity, it would have devoured him long ago.
"What an intoxicating scent! Blood! So much blood!"
"Kekekekeke!"
Taowu let out a twisted laugh, its excitement palpable.
A battlefield—its favorite hunting ground.
"Go wild."
Li Hao knew that Taowu had been restrained for too long, so he didn't hold it back this time.
"Many thanks, Master!"
Taowu trembled with excitement.
Li Hao picked up his speed, utilizing his mastery of space at the fourth level of the Dao Source Realm. He compressed his ten-step Void Teleportation technique into a single stride.
With just one step, he traversed over 10,000 miles, surpassing what others needed ten teleportations to achieve.
In just seven or eight steps, he instantly arrived at the battlefield where immortal arts were vanishing.
As soon as Li Hao's divine sense swept out, he saw countless towering, grotesque ancient fiends.
That familiar body structure. That familiar stench.
For a split second, Li Hao felt like he was back at Twin Rift Demon Valley, sacrificing himself to hold the line.
His blood boiled as if reacting to the battlefield's energy, his eyes brimming with killing intent!
"Go!"
Li Hao let Taowu loose.
A streak of crimson light shot out from his palm—a bloodthirsty streak flashing through the sky.
In less than a breath's time, three True Immortal Stage Three ancient fiends had their heads blown apart, their skulls shattering like exploding fruit.
A red streak of light—like a crimson shooting star—cut through the battlefield.
At the same time, Li Hao unsheathed his sword, a Heavenly Academy disciple's standard-issue celestial weapon, a True Treasure-grade longsword.
The longsword flew forward as Li Hao executed the Battle Heaven Sword Art, its power multiplying instantly!
Shrrrk!
The longsword pierced through an ancient fiend's body, carving it apart like a butcher dismembering livestock.
Within a split second, a True Immortal Stage Three fiend had its physical form annihilated.
Its primordial spirit tried to flee, but before it could even react, Li Hao's sword impaled it, erasing it completely.
This True Treasure longsword was specially designed to target primordial spirits, making it especially lethal against ancient fiends.
Ever since the Ancient Fiend Calamity engulfed the True Realm, all major races had adjusted their cultivation techniques and weaponry, refining their craft to counter the ancient fiends.
Weapons like these now carried immense destructive power against primordial spirits, and the same went for immortal techniques.
With Li Hao's arrival, the breach in the defensive line was momentarily patched, but behind him, even more ancient fiends charged forward, roaring furiously.
ROAR!
With an earth-shaking howl, a massive black vortex appeared, locking onto Li Hao.
The energy within the vortex surged, crushing the surrounding space—it was a death sentence!
This was no ordinary attack.
It was a coordinated assault—dozens of ancient fiends had combined their racial abilities to unleash a devastating killing technique.
For the first time, Li Hao's expression turned serious.
From within the black vortex, he could sense death looming.
His eyes sharpened—this was no longer an individual attack, but a collective, high-level fiendish spell.
A true battlefield threat.
The armies of Yan Chu Immortal Dynasty could form powerful formations to resist the ancient fiends, but the ancient fiends could also coordinate their attacks—and with even greater efficiency!
"Taowu!"
Li Hao's eyes sharpened as he immediately summoned Taowu.
Taowu, who had been slaughtering gleefully, instantly sensed Li Hao's call and noticed the massive black vortex in the distance.
"Master, I'm coming!"
With a deafening roar, Taowu tore through space, leaving behind black cracks as it charged toward the vortex.
At the same time, a violent red light erupted, painting the battlefield blood-red for dozens of miles, like a surging ocean of blood, and crashed into the black vortex.
Boom!
The center of the vortex was instantly pierced through by the red glow, and a massive wave of crimson mist spread outward, shattering the vortex's outer shell.
The ominous sense of death vanished.
Li Hao let out a low growl, "Break the formation!"
"Understood!"
Taowu responded fiercely, then swiftly charged into the ancient fiend horde.
At the same time, Li Hao wielded his True Treasure longsword, his power exploding to its peak, as he unleashed a dazzling sword strike.
Azure Sky!
A brilliant sword light slashed across a hundred miles, cleaving through every ancient fiend in its path—including True Immortal Stage Eight and even Stage Nine fiends!
In this breached section of the battlefield, Li Hao stood like an unshakable boulder, pressing forward against the tide and slaughtering continuously.
As he shattered each ancient fiend's primordial spirit, he also collected their corpses into his Heavenly Space.
That was his true goal in hunting—
immortal merit? That was secondary.
gourmet food? Now that was the real reward.
Swish!
Li Hao's figure moved like a blur, like a reaper, cutting through the fiend horde.
The battlefield was in absolute chaos—even though Li Hao's divine sense covered everything and his reaction speed was incredibly fast, some ancient fiends still managed to ambush him.
They swung their razor-sharp black claws, attempting to rip Li Hao apart.
However, their attacks failed to leave a single scratch on him.
Their claws—which could tear through the flesh of ordinary True Immortals—were completely ineffective against his Ancestral Immortal Body.
Unless the attack contained the full destructive power of a True Immortal Stage Ten cultivator, it couldn't even break his skin.
Even if a Stage Ten cultivator did injure him, he would heal instantly.
That was the terrifying nature of the Ancestral Immortal Body.
Only a Stage Ten Perfected Genius with unbelievable inverse-immortal techniques could truly pose a challenge!
Boom!
Li Hao casually raised his palm—with a fourth-stage Dao Source Realm spatial technique, his giant spatial hand crushed an ancient fiend's skull with one slap.
The massive body of the fiend meant nothing—Li Hao's grip collapsed its bones and internal organs instantly.
As Li Hao's massacre continued, even more ancient fiends surged toward him, roaring in fury.
Li Hao's eyes turned colder and sharper.
The fiend horde was endless—no matter how many he killed, another wave always followed, crashing over him like a ceaseless tide.
Despair?
No.
Li Hao never feared exhaustion.
Celestial Star Veins, activate!
His golden eyes erupted with divine radiance, piercing through the battlefield like beams from the abyss, illuminating the darkened sky.
His entire body flared with golden light, his long golden hair whipping wildly in the wind—he looked like an unparalleled war god standing at the edge of a raging river.
Against the surrounding darkness, his radiance shone like a divine being descending upon the battlefield.
As the Celestial Star Veins activated, countless stars across the True Realm—even those billions upon billions of miles away—seemed to respond to his call.
From the endless void, they descended strands of celestial light, connecting to his celestial meridians!
An endless surge of celestial energy poured into Li Hao's immortal body, filling him to the brim.
It was as if he had gained infinite power, limitless reserves, allowing him to wield his strength without restraint.
Around him, countless motes of starry light flickered, dazzling and mysterious.
Feeling the overwhelming energy surging through his body, Li Hao decided to try something bold.
With his fourth-stage Dao Source Realm spatial mastery, his control over surrounding space was already near absolute.
Now, he extended that control into his Eternal Dao Domain.
"Eternal Dao Domain, Spatial Fourth Stage—Suppress!"
With a single movement, Li Hao unleashed his Dao Domain, its power spreading outward.
The moment he spoke the word 'Suppress', all the ancient fiends within his domain—froze in place.
A heartbeat later, their bodies cracked open!
Li Hao hadn't instantly crushed them.
Instead, he had used spatial force to shatter all their bones and organs, separating flesh from bone.
In the blink of an eye, all the fiends within his domain perished, their physical forms destroyed, leaving only their primordial spirits behind.
Swish!
His True Treasure longsword howled forward, moving like lightning under the domain's enhancement.
A mere moment later, every single primordial spirit was severed, dissipating into oblivion!
"Collect!"
With a single thought, Li Hao opened his Heavenly Space, absorbing all of the fiend corpses within his Dao Domain.
He didn't have time to count, but in just that one attack, he had wiped out at least forty to fifty ancient fiends!
Even so, his celestial energy reserves were immediately replenished.
"Still not enough…"
His eyes flickered with thought.
"My immortal energy capacity is too low. If my cultivation were higher, my celestial reserves would be greater, and my Dao Domain's range and power would increase exponentially…"
With that realization, Li Hao took another step forward—this time, he charged deeper into the fiend horde!
His slaughter had finally drawn attention.
Nearby Tiger-Lion Army units had originally assumed the breach in the defenses meant the fiends would overrun the Wildfire Army behind them.
But now…
The breach had been half-sealed—by a single figure.
"Who the hell is that? Someone from Wildfire Camp?"
"Are you crazy? Since when has Wildfire Camp had anyone that strong?! Even their commander couldn't do that!"
"He's not even wearing battle armor. Must be some big-shot elder from a major sect."
The Tiger-Lion soldiers were in awe—but more importantly, they were thrilled.
With such a powerful warrior holding the line, this breach could be completely sealed!