“If it were me, I would never abandon my physical body!” Shi Hao muttered to himself with unwavering determination.
The flesh is the root of the Great Dao. If the primordial spirit leaves the body, it becomes like rootless duckweed, destined to dissipate one day.
Shi Hao didn’t know if this still applied after achieving immortality, but he had heard of legends where one could ascend with their physical form intact, without discarding their mortal shell.
Gazing at the remnants before him, he felt a surge of emotions. Were these left behind by the most extraordinary figures of the past? If not for the split openings on their backs, one might have mistaken them for living beings.
“These women are truly stunning, peerless in grace,” the Divine Striking Stone marveled.
Among them were the old and the young, men and women, but one young woman stood out, her beauty unmatched. Yet now, only their empty shells remained.
“Reaching this point and breaking through this stone wall—does that mean one can ascend?” Shi Hao doubted.
Having come this far, standing at the end of the ancient path, he had no choice but to try. The way back had vanished; he had to forge a path forward.
Shi Hao mobilized his body, pushing his limits. His third supreme treasure technique awakened—though not yet fully evolved—and when combined with his other techniques, it multiplied his power severalfold!
**Boom!**
Three strands of immortal qi transformed into three true dragons, coiling around his arms as he struck the stone wall with a deafening impact.
Eight consecutive blows later, the wall cracked and trembled. Shi Hao sensed a vast aura, as if a grand world had opened before him, beckoning him in.
At the same time, excruciating pain wracked his body. His primordial spirit threatened to tear free, yearning to cross into that realm!
“So this is how it is!” Shi Hao’s heart pounded. His flesh felt as if it were splitting apart, his spirit absorbing his essence, struggling to break free.
It was uncontrollable, all too sudden.
“Suppress!” Shi Hao roared.
He immediately sat cross-legged, chanting the Primordial True Scripture, silently circulating bone texts to stabilize himself and resist the terrifying pull.
The struggle was immense. A golden fissure split open on his back—he was on the verge of tearing apart. His primordial spirit descended from his skull, devouring his essence.
It was nearly unstoppable. Shi Hao’s body was on the brink of being abandoned, his spirit seemingly about to cross into another world!
“What kind of place is this?” the Divine Striking Stone yelped, hiding behind him, wanting to help but unsure how.
“Heal!” Shi Hao commanded.
He invoked the Willow Deity’s techniques, forcing his blood qi to seal the wound on his back. He channeled his vital essence to anchor his spirit, preventing its departure.
**Boom!**
The wall shattered, splitting apart on its own. Beams of ascendant light blazed brilliantly, accompanied by showers of radiant petals and rain, pouring in from an otherworldly realm.
To many, this would seem like ascension—something to embrace without resistance. Yet Shi Hao, drenched in sweat, fought fiercely against it.
“I cannot leave! The Upper Realm, the Lower Realm—my friends and family are still there. How can I abandon them?”
Shi Hao resisted. He distrusted that unknown, alien place. He refused to lose his body, the foundation of his Great Dao.
“Wait—what is this?”
At the same time, Shi Hao shuddered. He sensed an eerie aura, reminiscent of the Void God Realm and the Spirit Realm, emanating from beyond the wall.
Golden light erupted in countless streaks, the cracks on the wall flashing like moving lightning.
Shi Hao’s hair stood on end. What secrets lay beyond that wall? A place of ascension? But why did it carry the essence of the Spirit Realm—only infinitely more potent?
In that moment, terror gripped him.
He pondered deeply. How was the Spirit Realm truly formed? Was it really constructed by the ancient gods with their spiritual power?
Why did he feel as though he had stumbled upon its origin? What was that place?
Shi Hao dared not enter. His instincts screamed that to explore it would cost him his body—only his spirit could cross.
He glanced at the remnants. Had these people truly ascended, or had their spirits been forcibly drawn in? Would they ever return?
For a brief moment, Shi Hao’s thoughts were in chaos. The world beyond the wall filled him with dread, a suffocating unease.
“Suppress again!”
Shi Hao bellowed, desperate. His spirit was on the verge of breaking free, about to vanish into the wall and into that mysterious realm.
With all his might, he finally stabilized himself. His body healed, his blood qi surged, and his spirit returned—just barely avoiding catastrophe.
The wall slowly mended, its cracks vanishing, its radiance fading back into antiquity.
“To step into the realm of immortality—is it transcendence or calamity?” Shi Hao felt icy cold. Once calm, he realized he was drenched in sweat. The experience had been too bizarre.
This was beyond his current reach. To proceed would be fatal.
He decided to leave, to seek no further answers.
Yet today’s revelations were invaluable. He had glimpsed a shocking secret—that place bore the Spirit Realm’s essence, but far more sacred and transcendent.
“Once I return to the Three Thousand Provinces, I will study the Spirit Realm thoroughly, trace its clues, and uncover the truth of that place I nearly entered!”
With that, Shi Hao turned and smashed through the stone wall blocking his path.
Finally, he breached the barrier, reopening the ancient road. Without looking back, he raced away with the Divine Striking Stone and the Imperial Butterfly in tow.
He left the remnants behind. Whether those people were truly dead or still clinging to life, he wanted no part of their karma.
Returning to the ancient forest, Shi Hao found himself bathed in the glow of the Sage Tree, its divine flames enveloping him.
**Seclusion—cultivation!**
He chose the Sacred Sacrifice, seeking to grow stronger, to become the King Among Gods.
Suddenly, divine hymns of the Great Dao thundered, runes interweaving as they descended from the void, slashing toward his flesh.
**Bang!**
He blocked with his arm, but his right limb dimmed, its power waning. Shi Hao staggered, feeling his cultivation in that arm plummet—back to the Divine Flame Realm.
Such was the peril of the Sacred Sacrifice. Even before success, one risked regression. Most prepared powerful artifacts to bear the tribulation in their stead, sacrificing treasures to preserve themselves.
But Shi Hao refused substitutes. He used this to temper himself, to understand the true danger of the Sacred Sacrifice.
Eventually, he channeled his power, his body igniting with light. His dimmed arm regained its brilliance, restored to its former state.
To face the Sacred Sacrifice without artifacts was perilous, but it refined him further. Surviving it meant enduring a baptism of fire, emerging stronger.
Later, as the residual formations faded, the Purple Marten reappeared.
Shi Hao had no choice but to hide again. Only after several days, when all creatures had retreated, did he seize the chance for his third seclusion.
**Boom!**
On that day, a strike of “lightning” fell—not true thunder, but something far worse: the descent of laws and Dao traces, summoned by the Sacred Sacrifice.
Shi Hao coughed blood, his chest nearly pierced. Divine light surged before dimming abruptly.
His chest had been struck, his cultivation regressing. His torso darkened as Dao patterns faded.
The danger was real. Without artifacts to bear the tribulation, he risked being cast down from the heavens, reduced to mortality.
After a prolonged struggle, Shi Hao finally reignited the light in his chest, restoring his cultivation. It was a trial that honed his Dao, sharpening it to greater heights.
The world often spoke of ruined artifacts, remnants, and sacred relics—all casualties of the Sacred Sacrifice.
Shi Hao treated his own body as such a relic, tempering it recklessly, daring to grow stronger.
**Thud!**
A drumbeat resounded, shaking the land. An outside Heavenly God had struck, disrupting Shi Hao’s focus, nearly making him vomit blood.
Amid the Sacred Sacrifice, such interference was lethal.
“Consider this another trial!” Shi Hao steeled himself, ignoring all else as he focused on breaking through.
“Is that junior really still inside?” someone muttered.
Soon, sutras echoed, their voices penetrating deep into the ancient land, growing ever more terrifying.
A Heavenly God recited the *Nine Heavens Ten Earths Scripture*, conjuring illusions and unleashing overwhelming force upon Shi Hao.
Undoubtedly, this was an emissary of the Divine Temple, seeking to sabotage Shi Hao’s Sacred Sacrifice.
As the formations in the forbidden land waxed and waned, Shi Hao underwent eight sessions of seclusion. Each time, he faced peril, yet emerged unscathed.
By now, the Sacred Sacrifice was proceeding smoothly. Shi Hao had become the offering, refining himself first.
Over these days, his body underwent astonishing changes. Nearly every part had been tempered, his Dao vanishing and reappearing repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Heavenly Gods from the Netherworld, the Demon Sunflower Garden, and others acted, certain he was in the forbidden land, constantly disrupting him.
The Heavenly God of the Immortal Palace even declared that Shi Hao—”the Desolate”—would be hunted to the ends of the earth.
**Ninth time. Tenth time!**
At last, Shi Hao completed ten sessions of seclusion.
His entire body had been refined. There was no need to delay further.
Shi Hao blazed with light, carefully controlling his ascent, lest he inadvertently break into the Heavenly God Realm. His goal was the Sacred Sacrifice Domain.
**Boom!**
A deafening explosion shook him. Flames erupted from his body as something within shattered—a shackle broken.
The Sacred Sacrifice had succeeded. He had entered that extraordinary realm!
In that instant, his blood qi surged exponentially, his Dao soaring. His power multiplied beyond measure.
This domain was unique. Upon entering, one rivaled Heavenly Gods, capable of challenging them in battle.
Now that Shi Hao had succeeded, his true combat strength was terrifying beyond belief.
“Should I kill them first, or retrieve the Thunder Tribulation Liquid?” Shi Hao gazed at the sky, then beyond the forbidden land.
Over these days, he had faced countless dangers—all due to outside interference.
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