Chapter 577: The Monster from One Hundred Thousand Years Ago
"To die under this imperial-level technique, you should have no regrets!"
Di Jiming looked down at Li Hao with cold indifference. All his patience from earlier was gone. This attack was not just aimed at Li Hao, but was meant to shake the entire Southern Region and intimidate all the other Xianjun-realm prodigies.
He didn't care about revealing his power. Even if he put all his cards on the table, he was still the strongest.
They could see through it, but they couldn't resist it. That was true despair.
As immortal Power gathered, his Imperial Dao Nine-Sequences Immortal Seal erupted with the power of all nine sequences. All of them reached the sixth-stage origin realm!
Seeing this, Ming Yue and Jian Xin, floating in the mist not far away, both had their pupils contract, faces turning pale.
Jian Xin had already created a myth not seen in 100,000 years by mastering Sword Dao at the sixth stage as a True Immortal. But right now, the oppressive force from nine sequences at the sixth-stage origin realm was overwhelming. This was the gap between them!
And clearly, even now, Di Jiming wasn't using his trump card—just this was enough. These nine sequences at the sixth-stage origin would easily crush Jian Xin.
Feeling that immense power, Li Hao, standing in midair, looked gloomy. He could feel the gap between them, as deep as the ocean or an abyss.
The pressure alone forced him to use all his strength just to resist.
"So this is the power of a Progeny of the Emperor? Even a casual blow could rival a peak Xianjun!"
"Nine sequences, sixth-stage origin realm—this is already the highest a normal Xianjun can master!"
Countless people looked up, completely forgetting about the obscured Li Hao. They were lost in awe at the terrifying talent and power Di Jiming revealed.
All the power from the nine sequences was gathered in his palm. Di Jiming stared coldly at Li Hao. He said one palm strike, and he meant just one. This single palm wouldn't just kill Li Hao—it was meant to scare all the other Xianjun-realm prodigies too.
Li Hao had displayed the Time Ferryman technique earlier, his ability to stay alive was crazy strong. But in front of Di Jiming, it was nothing but a fancy pillow—useless.
"Great Emperor's Griefful Heaven Palm!"
He lifted his hand. The imperial might of the dharma image behind him, the imperial bloodline in his body, and the Imperial Dao Nine-Sequences Immortal Seal on his forehead—all activated and merged into a terrifying palm.
Ripples of space and time surged in the void. It was like an emperor's hand from a distant era suddenly appeared out of thin air and slammed down toward Li Hao.
Clouds boiled, space shattered, time twisted!
Under that one palm, even the Emperor's Platform nearby was forced back by the shockwaves. Only the youth under the imperial palm remained.
Compared to that massive palm, Li Hao's figure was like an ant. The aura around him couldn't compete at all. It was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree!
Li Hao looked up with all his might. Under the crushing pressure, blood seeped from his eyes, his flesh was cracking inch by inch, his immortal body felt like it was breaking down, and even his divine body was squeezing out more immortal Power as it shattered.
All his extreme powers exploded to the limit. His transformation to immortal reached its peak, his mind merged with the world, and the Star Meridian behind him stretched almost to breaking.
He let out a low roar, snapped the world veins in his body, unleashed all his primordial spirit power, fully merged with his flesh, and pushed his body and Dao to their limits—using his divine soul to control his body, making himself the sword!
He had pushed all his power out, but under that slow-moving, world-crushing giant palm, he was still completely suppressed. It was like a mountain collapse—no mortal could ever carry it!
In this all-or-nothing moment, an old man's whisper echoed in his mind.
Fishing ground...
His eyes flickered, as if he was trying to grasp something, but couldn't quite reach it.
The giant palm didn't wait. It had already covered him, the immense power first smashing down onto Li Hao, collapsing and destroying his Nine-Sequences Eternal Dao Domain.
In that instant, the entire Southern Region fell into deathly silence. Everyone watched, not even daring to breathe.
A rising prodigy was about to be crushed under the imperial palm!
Many people's eyes showed reluctance and sorrow. Countless elders were speechless, faces full of pain and grief. The top prodigy of humanity was being killed by his own kind—how tragic!
No one could stop it. No one could intervene. They could only watch as the youth faced his end.
In the world shaken by that burning imperial palm, only the youth's burning divine fire still flickered—then was immediately swallowed...
"Haotian!!"
Wang Shanhe's eyes almost burst, and he let out a sky-shaking roar. This ancient Xianwang reversed his domain, surrounded by terrifying power, charging straight at the Progeny of the Emperor above.
But as soon as he rushed out, another old figure appeared in a flash. An even broader, more terrifying domain instantly covered Wang Shanhe, locking him in place so he couldn't move at all.
The aura from this old man made all the nearby Da Meng Clan, Feng Ling Clan, and Yin Hai Clan Xianwang look over in shock.
This was actually a ninth-stage Xianwang!
Just one step away from Xianwang perfection!
There were very few such figures in the Southern Region. In many top clans, they could hold down an entire region.
But this guy seemed to be just a servant for the Progeny of the Emperor.
"Be quiet."
That Emperor Clan elder restrained Wang Shanhe and spoke with indifference.
Just as his words fell, a huge explosion shook the heavens!
Boom!!
An earth-shaking shockwave erupted. The Great Emperor's Griefful Heaven Palm was pressed down, but from under the palm, a dazzling seven-colored divine light suddenly burst out. After a deafening roar, a sharp, seven-colored blade of light shot straight up, like a giant sword rising to the sky, slashing out and actually cutting the imperial palm in half!
This sudden twist left everyone dumbfounded.
All the great clans' Xianwang present were the first to react, each looking in shock at the youth's side.
There, a figure in a blue-green dress was now shining with seven-colored divine light, standing at the youth's side, holding him up with both hands. The side of the girl's face wasn't looking at the crowd, only full of pain and care as she looked at the youth.
Silence.
The entire Southern Region went dead quiet. After a long pause, an explosion of shock burst out everywhere.
"Who is that?!"
"She actually blocked the Progeny of the Emperor's attack!"
"Judging by her aura, she's also at the Xianjun realm—how is that possible!"
Everyone was stunned. No one expected someone else would dare step in now and go against the Emperor Clan!
High above, Li Hao was also stunned. He never thought the figure to appear would be the very person he'd been chasing all this time—Ying Xiaoxiao.
Not far away, locked down by the Emperor Clan elder's domain, Wang Shanhe's face, full of despair and grief, also froze. His thoughts were all on Li Hao, and he hadn't even sensed someone crossing over.
But that familiar aura, that familiar face... wasn't that the Empress Shi Miao from 100,000 years ago, the very one he'd seen countless times with his own eyes?
As Tianyang Immortal Emperor's personal disciple, born from the primal chaos as a Spirit of Time, and the most famous prodigy across all four domains of the True Realm one hundred thousand years ago, she had never let her soul fade away. Even though no one knew where her reincarnation would appear, Wang Shanhe had followed her trail all this time, and now, at this very moment, she appeared before him!
"You… is it really you?"
Li Hao finally came to his senses. When he saw the pain and tenderness in her eyes, he felt something almost dreamlike. He remembered that he hadn't interacted with her that deeply, but the look in her eyes felt as if they'd known each other for one hundred thousand years. That feeling confused him, but it was also strangely special.
He quickly recalled the images Wang Lao had shown before—she was the personal disciple of his master, the reincarnation of Shi Miao.
So was the one in front of him now Ying Xiaoxiao, or was it Shi Miao?
Staring at the Xianjun-realm pressure pouring off her, and the sea-deep time fluctuations, Li Hao felt his heart pounding.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. I'll never hurt you."
Ying Xiaoxiao saw the look in Li Hao's eyes, and her gaze grew even softer as she added, "Never."
Only someone who truly understood the Dao of Time could know just how heavy the word "never" truly was—its meaning far beyond what mortals could imagine.
When she held Li Hao's hand, time seemed to flow back around them. In an instant, Li Hao's entire aura retracted and faded, and his shattered meridians all healed. Time flowed through him, and everything returned to how it was just a few moments before.
Li Hao froze. Such a powerful reversal—even with his own mastery of time at the fourth origin, he couldn't do it. He had just used all his time power himself, so for her to reverse things meant reversing "reversed time" itself!
"I'll take you away."
Ying Xiaoxiao looked into his eyes with a deep emotion, as if she wanted to remember him forever.
Li Hao just stared, lost in the depths of her eyes—so full of emotion, his heart trembled. He didn't know why she cared so much, but those eyes felt like they'd lived a thousand lifetimes together.
"Who are you?"
At that moment, a cold voice interrupted them. There was more anger in it than before. Li Hao turned and saw Di Jiming's icy face and chilling gaze.
Ying Xiaoxiao's tenderness vanished. As if she'd just remembered there was an outsider here, she looked up at Di Jiming with cold, deadly intent.
"I took that palm strike for him!"
Her gaze was frigid. "If you can take a palm from me, then in the name of the Emperor Clan, make everyone else back off and let him go. How about it?"
Hearing this, Di Jiming's face grew even colder. That palm strike wasn't something a True Immortal could block—no one at the same realm should have survived it!
"So confident? Seventh-stage Xianjun? If you think you have the right, tell me your name!"
Di Jiming's voice was harsh.
Li Hao now noticed that Ying Xiaoxiao's aura matched his—both were seventh-stage Xianjun.
But at this moment, was she Ying Xiaoxiao, or Shi Miao?
"My name crosses past and future. In the future, you don't exist. You don't deserve to know my name."
Ying Xiaoxiao's voice was cold. She'd raced here and saw how Li Hao was humiliated, so she gave his words right back to him.
"Hmm?"
For the first time, anger showed in Di Jiming's eyes. No one had ever dared act so arrogant in front of him.
"Fine. If you're really so sure, I agree. But if you fail—not only will he die, you'll die too!"
Di Jiming snapped.
Ying Xiaoxiao had been waiting for those words. She nodded, then turned to Li Hao.
Li Hao's face was complicated. "You shouldn't have come. If you do this, maybe we both—"
"Hold my hand."
Ying Xiaoxiao cut him off gently. Her eyes were bright as starlight as she looked at Li Hao, studying every detail of his face like she wanted to memorize every inch, burning it into her soul.
Those three soft words made Li Hao freeze. He stared at the deep love in her eyes, not understanding, but somehow a voice inside told him he should do as she said.
He gently took her hand, feeling it warm and soft.
He hesitated, "We've only just met… why do you…"
"You're Li Hao. When you were born, your parents were off on a campaign. At six months old, you could already talk. At two, you ran barefoot around the house, always sneaking past the maids to play. You liked to play chess quietly, to paint quietly. You didn't like to eat fish, but you loved fishing…"
Ying Xiaoxiao spoke softly, recalling Li Hao's past. Even though she just touched on it lightly, she'd watched those days countless times already.
"Don't worry. You won't die here."
She stopped when she got to his fifteenth year, eyes gentle as she whispered, "Whether or not my appearance changed anything, you will always exist in the future, shining brighter than anyone!"
Li Hao stared blankly.
"I don't want to wait for you in the past. I want to walk into the past with you…"
Ying Xiaoxiao reached out and gently caressed Li Hao's face.
Looking at the tenderness in her eyes, Li Hao didn't try to dodge—he didn't know why.
"Are you two done yet? Stop wasting time!"
Di Jiming's voice sounded at just the wrong time, cold and harsh. "If you don't make a move, you won't get the chance!"
Ying Xiaoxiao frowned, reluctantly letting go of Li Hao's face. She said softly, "Let me handle this."
With that, she turned to face Di Jiming, her eyes once more icy and sharp.
Not far away, Wang Shanhe saw the power of time ripple off Ying Xiaoxiao, and his eyes turned red, misting with tears.
He was absolutely certain—this woman was the personal disciple of Lord Tianyang, the Heaven's Daughter who had shaken the True Realm and died in the ancient demon war.
Not just Wang Shanhe—the seven ancient imperial emperors in the clouds also recognized Ying Xiaoxiao's face.
The Empress of Time who once dominated the True Realm!
"It's her. She's actually alive!"
Empress Yuanzun whispered, breathless.
"The ancient demon war—everyone saw her fall. Did she really reincarnate?"
"In those days, she was the only one to reach Xianwang perfection and train space-time to the tenth origin. Rumor was she had half a foot in the Emperor Lord realm—maybe she even broke through time-space itself and touched ultimate power…"
Nearby, Emperor Tianzhao and the others' faces changed, their gazes flickering with shock, confusion, and complicated emotions.
"Even the Immortal Emperor fell, but she survived? Her last battle… wasn't she up against the demon emperor of the ancient demons…?"