Chapter 377: Slaughter of Saints on the Dao Field
Above the heavenly Dao field, amidst the vast skies, there was a thick aura of Dao radiance and clouds. At this moment, a supreme, indistinct presence seemed to gather within the clouds, as if some majestic entity was about to descend upon the scene!
"The aura of the Heavenly Dao is manifesting..."
The Law Saint stared intently at the heavens, his usually stern face now showing a trace of shock.
The other Supreme Saints also had astonishment in their eyes. To become a Supreme Saint after overcoming the Three Calamities, one needed to borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao and comprehend it. However, borrowing power required the ability to glimpse and touch the Dao!
All of them had struggled to touch the Heavenly Dao in the past. But now, the aura of the Heavenly Dao was actively revealing itself to Li Hao, seemingly drawn by his Saintly Dao! This…
The gazes of all the Saints were fixed on the young man in the center of the field.
At this moment, Li Hao was enveloped in myriad Dao lights, with Dao energy swirling around him. Thunderous echoes reverberated around his body, and a long, distant dragon's chant seemed to resonate from the void. Such rare and extraordinary phenomena surrounded the boy, making him appear as if he were the master of the heavens, the ancestor of all Daos!
Even the Yuan Ancestor's eyes grew more serious than ever before as he stared at Li Hao.
The Hunyuan Saint withdrew his gaze from the sky, his expression dark. Li Hao's Saintly Dao had already surpassed the level of a Three Calamities Saint, yet he had only passed the Human Calamity! "A Saintly Dao that perfectly aligns with the Heavenly Dao..."
The Hunyuan Saint's eyes flickered as he watched Li Hao, his thoughts unpredictable.
At this moment, Li Hao's Saintly Dao slowly unfolded on the Dao field. His Saintly Dao took the shape of a Dao book, integrating the Dao scriptures into his own Saintly Dao. In contrast, other Saints, like the Spear Saint, had their own concepts fused into their Saintly Dao. His Saintly Dao took the form of a spear piercing through the heavens.
The War Saint's Saintly Dao manifested as a massive battle axe, akin to the legendary Axe of Creation, radiating immense power. The Buddhist Sect's Saintly Dao was a golden Buddha, emanating compassion for all living beings. The Void Saint's Dao was a grayish void, like the ancient chaos that predated creation.
Surrounded by the numerous Saintly Daos, Li Hao's Dao shone with the utmost brilliance. As his Dao book slowly flipped open, the thunder in the heavens suddenly grew louder by several magnitudes.
"There is something that is formless, born before Heaven and Earth!"
"Silent and still, standing alone, unchanging. It moves in cycles and is never exhausted. It can be considered the mother of the universe."
"I do not know its name, but I call it Dao. If I were forced to give it a name, I would call it 'Great'."
"Great means endless. Endless means far-reaching. Far-reaching means returning to the source."
"Therefore, the Dao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and Man is also great."
"Within the universe, there are four great things, and man is one of them."
"Man follows the Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows its natural course!"
As Li Hao softly chanted these words, the long dragon's chant filled the sky, and the thunder roared violently. The clouds above the dome of the sky seemed to transform into a sea of thunderclouds, rumbling with deafening force that shook the heavens!
This spectacle left the Saints in shock and caused the Half-Saints outside the Dao field to feel their minds explode with noise. It was as if they were listening to the teachings of a Supreme Saint and glimpsing the source of the Great Dao.
On the Dao field, the Buddha Sovereign, the Qingdeng Buddha, the Void Saint, and others, who had shown murderous intent earlier, were now left in stunned awe. The booming thunder and the sight of the unfolding Dao book caused them to feel a sense of fear and disorientation.
On this heavenly Dao field, Li Hao had posed the eternal question: What is Dao?
And then, he had delivered an answer with every word, giving the heavens the first-ever definition of what the true Dao was!
Saints practiced the Dao, and people sought the Dao, but they all had differing views. For example, the Spear Saint believed that the Spear Dao was the righteous path of the heavens, born as the natural king of all weapons.
The War Saint believed that all beings, from the moment of conception in the womb, were locked in competition, striving to break free from reincarnation and be born into the world. Therefore, the War Dao, rooted in conflict, was the true essence of all life!
The Void Saint saw further, believing that before the heavens and earth existed, there were no worlds—everything was chaos and void. Thus, the Void Dao was the ultimate Dao!
But now, in Li Hao's Dao debate, their minds roared, and their Saintly Daos began to crack. What is the true Great Dao?
It existed before Heaven and Earth!
Just this one statement caused cracks in their Saintly Daos. Li Hao's description of the Great Dao was too precise and grand. The Dao that was born before the heavens was the true Dao, the Heavenly Dao!
Formless, shapeless, soundless, and inactive—therefore, mortals could not grasp it.
"The origin is not the Dao… the Dao itself is the origin. Or rather, there is no origin—the Dao has existed eternally…"
The most shaken were not just the Saints but the Supreme Saints themselves. Even their Saintly Daos were affected by Li Hao's debate.
The Yuan Ancestor's eyes flickered. His Saintly Dao was being drawn, and it showed signs of decay. He immediately cut off his thoughts, isolating himself from further insight. If he continued to listen to Li Hao's Dao debate, he felt that his Saintly Dao would regress, or worse—it could crack!
This was because Li Hao's Dao debate had essentially denied the Daos of all the Saints or, more accurately, suppressed them.
All the Saints sought to comprehend the source of the Great Dao, but according to Li Hao's Dao, their cultivation paths were all wrong. None of them had grasped the true Dao. If they truly realized this, their Saintly Daos would decay, and they might even lose their sainthood entirely!
"No, I can't listen any longer!"
"Just the mere presence of his Saintly Dao aura is making my own Dao feel as if it's retreating, as if it's submitting!"
"His Saintly Dao… it feels like the Heavenly Dao itself…"
Outside the Dao field, all the Saints were in shock. The aura from Li Hao's Saintly Dao, even through the barrier of the field, was affecting them. This was unbelievable— even a Supreme Saint's Dao debate wouldn't have such terrifying influence.
Feng Boping stood frozen in place. He knew that Li Hao's Saintly Dao had advanced, but he never imagined it had reached such a level, directly pointing to the source of the Great Dao!
The things that the Saints had sought and cultivated had now been personally redefined by Li Hao. In this moment, he was like the ancestor of all Daos, telling the world what the true Dao was!
No wonder Li Hao had told him not to intervene. If Feng Boping had stepped in, even though Li Hao wouldn't harm him, his own Saintly Dao would have been influenced by the debate.
Many of the Saints outside the Dao field were now isolating their senses, hiding their Saintly Daos, not daring to expose them in the presence of Li Hao's Dao, lest their Daos collapse.
On the Dao field, the thirteen Saints who had initially surrounded Li Hao now seemed to be standing in a sea of fire. The light from their Saintly Daos dimmed, and then their Daos began to crack.
"Impossible…"
The War Saint's eyes were filled with terror. His War Dao, which traced back to the essence of life itself, turned out to not be the true Great Dao.
The phrase "born before Heaven and Earth" resounded like a hammer, causing his mind to buzz. His War Dao only touched upon the cycle of life and death, but Li Hao's Dao reached the very beginning of Heaven and Earth.
With a loud crash, the War Dao shattered. The War Saint's Saintly Dao, once like a mighty battle axe, exploded in the void.
The War Saint spat blood, his eyes blank as he stared at Li Hao. His aura quickly faded, and the power of the Great Dao, which had once gathered around him, dissipated as his Saintly Dao crumbled.
Boom!
Beside him, the Spear Saint's Saintly Dao also shattered. The mighty spear that had pierced through the heavens cracked and broke apart piece by piece. Compared to the Heavenly Dao, the Spear Dao was insignificant!
The Spear Saint clutched his head, trying to shield himself from the overwhelming pressure, but it was too late.
Li Hao's Saintly Dao had already filled the entire field. The thunderous Dao sounds from Li Hao's Dao book penetrated their hearts, and the root cause of their Saintly Daos' destruction was that their very souls had wavered—they had acknowledged the truth of Li Hao's Dao.
This was something beyond their control. The heart cannot deceive itself.
"Impossible…"
The Buddha Sovereign's face turned pale, and the golden Buddha behind him, a manifestation of his Saintly Dao, began to crack under the light of Li Hao's Dao book. Soon, the golden body shattered, and his Saintly Dao perished.
Elsewhere, the Qingdeng Buddha's Saintly Dao took the form of an ancient, enduring lamp, illuminating the darkest of places.
But now, the light of that lamp was dimming. In the face of the true Dao, the flame of the lamp flickered like a candle in the wind, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.
"Run, run now!" The Void Saint, his face filled with terror, could no longer care about the debate. He turned and tried to flee.
But his Saintly Dao was disintegrating. The grayish, chaotic void that had once represented his Dao was now pierced by a brilliant light, like a bolt of lightning cutting through the chaos. That light, the manifestation of the true Dao, ripped his Saintly Dao apart!
With a loud crack, the Void Saint's Saintly Dao shattered. Though it had once withstood the trials of the heavenly tribulations, in the face of Li Hao's Dao, it was as fragile as paper.
"Without your Saintly Dao, you can't escape this time!"
Li Hao's cold gaze fell on the Void Saint, who was bleeding and stumbling toward the edge of the Dao field. As the Void Saint's Saintly Dao disintegrated, his aura rapidly weakened. He hoped to slip away while his power regressed below the Saintly level, but Li Hao wouldn't let this chance slip by.
With a wave of his hand, the air crackled, and a sword light shot forth.
The Void Saint turned in terror. His Saintly Dao had collapsed, and the imposing aura that once marked him as a Saint had faded, leaving him with the fears and weaknesses of an ordinary mortal.
"No, don't kill me!" The Void Saint cried out in fear, begging for his life.
Such a transformation left the Saints outside the Dao field, who had been holding their minds steady, utterly stunned.
They hadn't dared to listen to Li Hao's Dao debate, but they hadn't sealed off their senses to the Void Saint. Thus, they all heard his pitiful pleas for mercy echoing from the Dao field.
As they looked, they saw a sword piercing through the Void Saint's chest, pinning him to the Dao field.
The Void Saint's aura continued to weaken, and his once fearsome presence now seemed pitiful and aged. Realizing that Li Hao wouldn't spare him, the Void Saint let out a defiant roar, "Even if I die, I won't let you have it easy!"
With one final burst of power from his disintegrating Saintly Dao, the Void Saint tore open a massive rift in the space around him, aiming to deal a devastating blow to Li Hao.
But Li Hao's expression remained cold. His Eternal Dao Domain expanded, and within it, the force of his Saintly Dao erased the rift, enveloping the Void Saint. Countless sword lights shot forth, annihilating the Void Saint's body.
Though the Void Saint had the Three Eternal Extremes, his bloodline allowed his body to regenerate. However, as his blood scattered within Li Hao's Dao Domain, Li Hao's thoughts moved, and the blood instantly evaporated, erasing him completely!
Next, Li Hao turned his gaze to the Buddha Sovereign, the Qingdeng Buddha, and the others. Their Saintly Daos were also disintegrating, shrinking into the shadows under the light of the Dao book.
"Yuan Ancestor, my Buddhist Sect is willing to offer up our entire sacred ground in exchange for your help in stopping him!"
At this moment, the Qingdeng Buddha suddenly spoke up. His Saintly Dao was collapsing, and he could see the killing intent in Li Hao's eyes. Thinking quickly, he realized that trying to flee would only result in being hunted down by Li Hao. His only hope lay in seeking the protection of the other Saints.
If a Supreme Saint agreed to shelter them, they could one day rebuild their Saintly Daos. All they needed to do was avoid Li Hao in the future, never crossing paths with him again.
The Buddha Sovereign and the Dual-faced Buddha were momentarily stunned by the Qingdeng Buddha's words, but they quickly caught on. A sacred ground could always be rebuilt, but their lives were irreplaceable.
Many eyes turned to the Yuan Ancestor, but the Yuan Ancestor had already withdrawn his gaze from Li Hao. Hearing the Qingdeng Buddha's plea, he calmly replied, "This is your grudge. I won't intervene."
He flatly refused them.
The Saints watching from outside the Dao field were stunned. They could hardly believe the Yuan Ancestor's words. After all, this was an entire sacred ground, filled with countless treasures accumulated over ages. In their current state, the Buddha Sovereign and his companions had no grounds to bargain with a Supreme Saint.
Yet, despite such a tempting offer, the Yuan Ancestor hadn't shown any interest.
What did this mean? The simplest answer was the matter of gain and loss. To gain control of the Buddhist Sacred Ground, the Yuan Ancestor would have to risk something precious—like becoming enemies with Li Hao!
"He's just passed the Human Calamity, but he already commands the presence of a Supreme Saint…"
One of the Saints muttered in shock, realizing the full scope of the situation.
Among the Saints, passing the Human Calamity placed one near the bottom. But now, Li Hao's presence was already comparable to a Supreme Saint's, which meant that even if they managed to defeat him, they wouldn't be able to kill him completely without breaking his Saintly Dao.
Breaking his Saintly Dao would only be possible if another Saint possessed a Dao on par with Li Hao's.
Seeing how easily the Yuan Ancestor had refused them, the War Saint, the Spear Saint, and the others realized that their lives were truly in danger. They quickly began pleading as well, offering up treasures from their sacred grounds or their personal vaults in exchange for salvation.
Despite the desperate pleas from a dozen Saints, the Yuan Ancestor remained unmoved. He had already anticipated this response after rejecting the Buddhist Sect's offer. But as the oldest of the Saints, he had long lost interest in such things.
The things that could tempt him in this world were now exceedingly rare, and the one thing he cared about most was the path of the Immortals and Gods within the Ancient Hall.
The other Saints, seeing that the Yuan Ancestor had no intention of intervening, turned their pleas to the other Supreme Saints.
However, at this moment, it seemed as though all the Supreme Saints had reached a silent consensus—they all remained silent.
Li Hao's sword light shot out, piercing through the head of the Dual-faced Buddha. His Saintly Dao was disintegrating, and his strength was waning. Having not yet passed the Human Calamity, he was among the weakest of the Saints present. Li Hao easily subdued him with his Dao Domain and sword qi.
"You…"
As his shattered body began to reform, the Dual-faced Buddha let out a bitter howl, unwilling to accept his fate.
He had long considered Li Hao his nemesis, the destined opponent for his great confrontation. But in the end, this "fated battle" would conclude with his utter defeat.
Li Hao, however, had never considered the Dual-faced Buddha his nemesis, merely treating him as a troublesome enemy who had crossed his path too many times. Now, with a casual strike, he killed him without even sparing him a glance, moving on to attack the Buddha Sovereign and the Qingdeng Buddha.
The Buddha Sovereign's face twisted as his Buddha form changed, manifesting his Three Bodies of Buddha. However, with his Saintly Dao collapsing, his power was steadily draining, and he couldn't maintain the form.
Having already been defeated by Li Hao once, the Buddha Sovereign now stood no chance.
"Do you intend to kill us all, you demon?!"
The Buddha Sovereign roared in fury.
"Silence!"
Li Hao responded by slamming his palm down, unleashing countless streams of sword qi like torrents of chaotic energy, engulfing the Buddha Sovereign's body.
At the same time, Li Hao's Eternal Dao Domain expanded, and the sword qi within it swept through, destroying the Buddha Sovereign's Buddhist Domain and obliterating all three of his Buddha forms.
Stepping over the Buddha Sovereign's shattered remains, Li Hao turned his gaze to the Qingdeng Buddha. Though they had no prior enmity, the Qingdeng Buddha was deeply involved with the Buddhist Sect, making him a central figure in their opposition against Li Hao.
"To use your own words against you: 'Reversal is the movement of the Dao.' You've grown too strong, and thus, calamity will come for you!"
The Qingdeng Buddha's face had darkened, no longer maintaining the serene composure of a meditating monk. Speaking rapidly, he flung his green sleeve, and a Buddha lamp emerged, illuminating the space around it.
The flame within the lamp took the form of a tiny Buddha, with fire burning atop its head.
As the Buddha lamp was unleashed, Li Hao immediately sensed a danger that stirred his instincts.
Boom!
The space before him ignited, and green flames flared.
These flames even burned through the Eternal Dao Domain, leaving gaping holes.
Li Hao's eyes narrowed, but soon a cold smile spread across his face. "A Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapon? Excellent—now it's mine!"
The ancient aura radiating from the Buddha lamp was unmistakable. As Li Hao advanced once more, the Qingdeng Buddha's expression darkened, and with a swift movement, he shrunk down and leaped into the lamp.
In an instant, the Buddha lamp transformed into a streak of green light, burning through the void and vanishing without a trace.
Li Hao's face changed slightly as he used his Voidstep to chase after the Qingdeng Buddha, but seeing the absence of any trace, he realized what had happened. This Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapon wasn't meant for attacking; it was a means of escape.
He extended his senses, but the green glow of the lamp had burned away all traces of spiritual energy and perception. Even if he had mastered the great karmic arts of the Buddhist Sect, it would likely have been impossible to track.
This was the first time Li Hao had encountered a Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapon, and he hadn't expected it to be so formidable. Even with the Qingdeng Buddha's weakening cultivation, the weapon's power had still produced such an effect.
"No wonder Heavenly Treasures are so rare," Li Hao muttered as his eyes flickered. Quickly, he withdrew his thoughts. Although the Qingdeng Buddha had escaped, the Buddhist Sacred Ground remained. Unless the Qingdeng Buddha chose to abandon it and go into hiding, he would deal with him later.
There would be time to track him down and settle matters.
Turning his gaze to the remaining Saints, Li Hao, like a tiger amidst a flock of sheep, moved swiftly. Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapons were extremely rare, and not every Saint possessed one. Neither the Buddha Sovereign nor the Dual-faced Buddha had such treasures.
"Are you going to slaughter all of us Saints?!"
One of the Saints, trembling with fear, couldn't help but cry out.
At this point, with their Saintly Daos shattered, they had lost all of their former dignity and composure.
"Even with ten fewer Saints, the heavens won't notice," Li Hao replied coldly, his words sending waves of terror and rage through the remaining Saints.
Boom!
Li Hao unleashed the power of his Saintly Dao, sending ripples through the air like shockwaves. The ripples struck the fractured Saintly Daos, shattering them completely.
"Die!"
With a single step, Li Hao advanced, his Eternal Dao Domain crushing down. The Spear Saint roared in fury, charging toward Li Hao for one final, desperate attack, but Li Hao swatted him away with a single palm strike, shattering his form.
Among the Saints, there was also the Tool Saint, who viewed all of creation as tools and had forged his own body into a weapon rivaling Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapons. Despite his powerful physique, it was of a different nature, which was why the Hunyuan Saint hadn't taken special notice of him.
Now, with his Saintly Dao collapsing, his body was rapidly weakening. Li Hao's Dao Domain unleashed beams of sword light, which pierced through the Tool Saint, annihilating his soul.
These Saints had all been allies of the Buddhist Sect and the Void Sacred Ground or had benefitted from them. Now, Li Hao showed no mercy as he eliminated them one by one.
Amidst the group, the Void Ancestor's palm suddenly flickered with a crackling bolt of lightning.
It was a bolt of lightning, but it shimmered like a weapon, glowing with an intense brilliance as it formed in his hand.
With a swift motion, the Void Ancestor hurled the bolt. The lightning streaked through the air, easily tearing a hole in Li Hao's Dao Domain and striking his head.
Li Hao barely had time to react as his consciousness was momentarily numbed. When he regained clarity, the lightning was already upon him.
Boom!
His head exploded with a deafening crash, and a wave of destructive energy spread through his body, threatening to tear him apart entirely.
Boom!
Li Hao's Dao thought surged, and the stars of the heavens pulsed to life. The forces of the universe converged upon him, and in an instant, his body began to regenerate.
However, the destructive energy continued to rip through him, tearing at his form moment by moment. But with the ceaseless flow of heavenly energy, Li Hao's body was able to continuously heal and regenerate.
As this brutal struggle unfolded, the lightning eventually dissipated, and Li Hao's body reformed, his eyes shining with fierce light as he turned to face the Void Ancestor.
The Void Ancestor's eyes showed a trace of shock before they grew solemn. He hadn't expected that even after using this Imperial Weapon, he still couldn't kill Li Hao. With his attack having failed, he knew that his opportunity had passed.
"Fellow Saints, if we don't kill him, today's calamity will be your fate tomorrow!"
The Void Ancestor let out a long shout, recalling the lightning bolt and gripping it tightly as he tore open the void.
The lightning bolt was a Dao Tribulation Imperial Weapon. With it in hand, the Void Ancestor sliced through the void and prepared to flee.
But Li Hao wasn't about to let him escape so easily. Letting out a low growl, his hair quickly turned silver, and the power of the Immortal Transformation surged around him. At the same time, he channeled the power of the Celestial Sovereign to its fullest, harnessing the power of the heavens themselves.
Boom!
The nearby heavens and earth were drawn by Li Hao's force and gathered around him. With a single punch, he shattered the void, sending shockwaves rippling through the layers of space. Countless bolts of lightning erupted, as if tearing hundreds of holes in the sky!
The Void Ancestor, who had just entered the void, was horrified as his expression darkened. "He's using the power of the heavens?!"
He stared at Li Hao in disbelief. Such a feat was something only a Supreme Saint could achieve, yet Li Hao had somehow mastered it?
With a thunderous crash, the overwhelming power of the heavens collapsed the space where the Void Ancestor had hidden, forcing him out of the void. As he reappeared, Li Hao's Eternal Dao Domain descended like a vast net, encasing him before violently constricting.