Chapter 1

442, Breakthrough and the Actions of Xuanwu

This situation persisted for over three months. Liu Hao himself did not know how many monsters he had slain, yet the number of monsters within the array space did not seem to decrease much.

It seemed as if the monsters in the Xuanwu world were endless, which left him very frustrated. More frustrating was that, amidst such intense consumption and recovery, his essence, energy, and spirit had already reached their peak, and he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

He was now very worried, not because he feared that a breakthrough might attract more monsters. Although he possessed the Azure Dragon bloodline, it was still vastly different from Long'er's true dragon bloodline. Ultimately, he was still a human, and even if he broke through, the aura he would emit would have limited appeal to the monsters.

What he was more concerned about was that a breakthrough might cause the array to collapse. If he left the array to break through, the monsters entering Earth would likely become uncontrollable.

During this period, the only good news was that the array had become more stable. After slaying many True Immortal monsters, he had thrown most of them into the sun as an energy source. This method unexpectedly showed signs of upgrading the array.

The Heavenly Talisman itself was centered around the sun, and the Two Instruments Array also had the sun as one of its cores. This made the sun play a significant role in the array. The abundance of solar energy made the entire array more stable and expansive, giving Liu Hao more to think about.

Previously, the array disk had taught him that the core of the array needed to be engraved, and by placing an energy-filled item into the core, the array could be activated. This accidental discovery greatly enhanced Liu Hao's understanding of arrays.

Now, Liu Hao could no longer suppress his impending breakthrough. He couldn't leave, so he thought of a not-so-good solution.

He decided to change the entrance of the passage from Earth to the Moon, and use the Two Instruments Array for teleportation, making it necessary for the monsters to pass through the sun to enter the passage.

This way, the monsters entering the sun would instinctively leave due to the intense heat. If half of the monsters left the sun, it would reduce the number entering the passage from one-fortieth to one-eightieth.

The remaining one-eightieth, Liu Hao would block and kill at the entrance of the passage. Regardless of how many he could kill, he could at least drive some away.

While this didn't allow for precise control of the numbers, it was better than doing nothing.

Thus, Liu Hao could break through in the sun, sitting in the sun to cultivate. The spiritual energy he absorbed would be partially absorbed by the array core, enhancing the array's power and maintaining its stability. It was a gamble, but he had no choice.

After doing all this, Liu Hao had no time to observe further. The suppression had reached its limit, and he quickly adjusted his state, sitting at the core of the sun to begin his breakthrough.

Almost the moment Liu Hao activated his cultivation technique, a strong wind blew above the Xuanwu world passage, quickly forming a spiritual energy vortex. Soon, the vortex grew to 300 kilometers in size, causing the nearby monsters that were about to enter the passage to stop and look up.

The array space also shook as Liu Hao absorbed spiritual energy, trembling like ice for a long time before gradually stabilizing. It seemed that Liu Hao's gamble had paid off.

Moreover, his breakthrough in the sun made his aura more imposing. The monsters being transmitted into the sun instinctively felt a sense of fear and left the sun in greater numbers, improving his control over the number of monsters entering the real Earth.

Regardless of this, Liu Hao's breakthrough was similar to his breakthrough to the Saint Rank in the Southwest Ten Thousand Mountains. The four elemental shadows appeared in the spiritual energy vortex, attracting the attention of Xuanwu.

Unbeknownst to him, the world passage above had turned pitch black, and Xuanwu's black snake lowered its head, blocking the sunlight. The monsters that were observing bowed to the ground, as obedient as if they were in the presence of a king, their deep-seated fear preventing them from moving.

At this level, to break through, one needed to achieve the unity of essence, energy, and spirit, all of which must reach their peak and merge to break through the bottleneck and explore higher realms.

This was why the four elemental shadows appeared in Liu Hao's spiritual energy vortex, attracting Xuanwu's attention.

For some reason, Xuanwu's snake head blew a breath into the spiritual energy vortex, causing it to suddenly expand to 1,000 kilometers in size before stabilizing. Upon closer inspection, the Xuanwu shadow in the four elemental shadows became clearer, as if it had become the leader of the four, capable of drawing in surrounding spiritual energy and stabilizing the vortex.

During his breakthrough, Liu Hao's brows furrowed. The amount of spiritual energy his body could absorb was limited, and 300 kilometers was just right. With Xuanwu's enhancement, it felt like the flow of water had increased, forcing his body to absorb more.

Even so, he still couldn't keep up with the influx of spiritual energy. Liu Hao had to accelerate his cultivation technique and perform the Great Wasteland Body Tempering Technique to help absorb the energy.

This action proved effective. A Taiji sphere appeared in the spiritual energy vortex, drawing in the energy and then transmitting it into Liu Hao's body. The Taiji sphere's rotation and compression acted like a refining process, compressing the spiritual energy and making it easier to absorb.

When the Taiji sphere appeared, Xuanwu's eyes widened in observation, and it seemed to have an idea. It lowered its head again and blew another breath into the spiritual energy vortex.

This time, the vortex expanded from 1,000 kilometers to 3,000 kilometers in diameter, increasing the area threefold but the total volume by more than tenfold.

During his breakthrough, Liu Hao had to accelerate the Great Wasteland Body Tempering Technique, intensify his cultivation, and activate the Four Elemental Imagery, using all three methods simultaneously. This forced him to do so, or he might have exploded.

Unbeknownst to him, with the influx of energy, the array had unknowingly upgraded, making the illusory scenes more complete and the array space expanding by more than a hundred times.

Now, Liu Hao had no time to think about anything else. The Great Wasteland Body Tempering Technique's movements almost left a trail, and only this way could he accelerate the absorption of spiritual energy, rapidly enhancing his body to accommodate more spiritual energy. This was a cycle, and quietly, his Azure Dragon bloodline had advanced.

The Taiji sphere in the spiritual energy vortex gradually expanded, taking half a day to reach 3,000 kilometers in size, which made Liu Hao feel better.

Additionally, the four elemental shadows in the spiritual energy vortex changed significantly, becoming deeper in color and more dynamic, almost like living beings. Their movements produced sounds like real calls, carrying their own aura and imposing a sense of pressure on nearby beings.

This scene seemed to satisfy Xuanwu, and it did not continue to blow, or Liu Hao would have been in real danger. This was already his limit, and even a slight increase would have caused him to explode.

As Liu Hao's body improved, his absorption of spiritual energy accelerated, and the Great Wasteland Body Tempering Technique gradually slowed down, allowing Liu Hao to breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that he had passed this stage.

He thought that breakthroughs were inherently dangerous, unaware that it was due to Xuanwu's external influence, but it had brought him great benefits.

From a 300-kilometer spiritual energy vortex to a 3,000-kilometer one, this was in a high-level world like the Xuanwu world. On Earth, it would have required the support of the entire planet's spiritual energy.

A tenfold increase in size but a hundredfold increase in volume. For Liu Hao, the greatest gain was opening the upper limit of his talent.

To put it simply, before, Liu Hao's maximum cultivation could hold one liter of water, but now it could hold a hundred liters of mercury.

Not only did the quantity increase a hundredfold, but the quality could also be compressed more strongly.

Using cultivation as a benchmark, his dantian had expanded tenfold, and among peers, his cultivation energy would last a hundred times longer.

Of course, all of this came at great risk, and a moment's carelessness could have led to his death.

Fortunately, he made it through, and this brought him such great gains.

Liu Hao himself was unaware, thinking it was supposed to be this way. Cultivation was never smooth sailing, and this experience made him more cautious in future breakthroughs, always pushing to the limit before breaking through.

This is a side note, but let's move on.

In the sky, the spiritual energy vortex stabilized and entered a steady phase, with the energy flowing into Liu Hao becoming constant, gradually improving his body cells, increasing their strength and resilience.

After about nine days, the spiritual energy vortex in the sky suddenly accelerated, sweeping in surrounding spiritual energy and transmitting it to Liu Hao at a faster rate. This was the cultivation following his breakthrough, which was dozens of times more intense than before.

From this, it was clear that each breakthrough significantly increased one's strength, like a larger bucket that could hold more and had a wider opening.

This situation lasted nearly a month before gradually stopping. After half a day, the spiritual energy vortex in the sky gradually dissipated, and Xuanwu raised its head, allowing sunlight to spread across the land again.

The monsters that had been bowing for a long time began to raise their heads and stand up, controlling their voices to communicate for a long time, seemingly evaluating something. Some monsters moved to the periphery, while the remaining ones looked more determined at the world passage, stepping into it and entering the array Liu Hao had set up.

At the core of the array space, the sun, Liu Hao opened his eyes, exhaling a heavy breath, his face still showing a hint of fear.

After carefully checking his condition, Liu Hao's face broke into a smile, and he eagerly opened his personal attribute panel.

Liu Hao

Rank: Immortal (Golden Immortal)

Essence: 32,014 (Divine Dragon Power)

Energy: 36,200 (Yin-Yang)

Spirit: 38,650

Cultivation Techniques: Great Wasteland Body Tempering Technique (Lower Heaven Rank), Taiji Scripture (Lower Heaven Rank), Four Elemental Holy Beasts Imagery (Upper Heaven Rank)

Skills:略...

Talents: Holy Four Elements (Innate)

Professions: Sword Immortal (Golden Immortal), Martial Dao (Golden Immortal), Talisman Cultivator (Golden Immortal), Divine Dao (Death God, Golden Immortal), Mage (Saint Rank), Scholar (University Scholar)

Pet: Light Tiger (Saint Rank)

"Golden Immortal?"

Liu Hao focused on this title, finding it somewhat strange. Was the next level 'Taiyi,' and then 'Dalu'?

What about above 'Dalu'? Were there 'Quasi-Saints' and 'Sages,' or 'Hunyuan'?

If so, did it mean that worlds like 'Journey to the West' and 'Primordial Era' were already or about to connect to Earth?

In the 'Primordial Era' worldview, Golden Immortals were basically the lowest tier, no different from ants. If the 'Primordial Era' worldview connected to Earth, how could Earth withstand it?

But thinking about 'Perfect World,' it didn't seem strange if it connected to the 'Primordial Era' worldview.

The Supreme Ancestor of 'Perfect World' would need to be considered in the 'Primordial Era' worldview, but their rank would definitely be high, and their destructive power would be formidable.

Of course, there was also the issue of the world's stability. For example, in the Xuanwu world, this Xuanwu would be at least a Quasi-Saint in the 'Primordial Era' worldview, and might even be at the Hunyuan level. This suggested that the 'Primordial Era' world might already be connected to Earth, with the Primordial Era figures' divine senses sweeping over Earth without much interest.

In the cultivation worldview, Immortal, Taiyi, and Dalu were three different levels, with a vast gap between them.

If the stages before Taiyi were about accumulation, then Taiyi seemed to require cultivating the Five Qi in the chest, and Dalu required forming the Three Flowers on the head. Would he need to do the same?

But without cultivation techniques, what could he do? Or perhaps the 'Taiji' cultivation technique itself had such effects? When he reached the peak of Golden Immortal, would the Five Qi naturally form and coalesce?

"Enough, no more thinking! There's still a long way to go, let's focus on accumulation for now!"

Talent: Holy Four Elements (Innate).

The addition of 'Innate' was definitely a good thing.

Liu Hao didn't know that it was Xuanwu's essence that had promoted his talent level, thinking it was a natural result of his talent bloodline breaking through.

'Innate,' Liu Hao could understand. In the 'Primordial Era' worldview, the difference between innate and postnatal beings was vast. Innate beings were favored by heaven and earth, progressing rapidly, while postnatal beings struggled, achieving much less with much more effort.

This made Liu Hao feel elated, thinking he was incredibly powerful. Even in the 'Primordial Era,' he could have a place.

Actually, Liu Hao was overthinking. There were many levels within the innate category, but that's a side note.

After his breakthrough, Liu Hao also noticed changes in the array.

If the array was previously at the True Immortal level, it had now advanced to the Golden Immortal level, capable of trapping Golden Immortals.