Chapter 87: Breaking the Seal

Chapter Eighty-Seven: Breaking Through the Formation

In an instant, Li Hao reversed the Primordial Chaos Yin-Yang Formation, and the remaining power on the barrier of laws at the cave entrance surged into his body with overwhelming force. Yet, all his avatars were outside his body at this moment, leaving him with only eighty percent of his peak strength. Moreover, his cultivation was merely at the early stage of the Wandering Realm, making it impossible for him to withstand the power he had just absorbed.

Success was just within reach, only a step away. Li Hao considered repeating the maneuver, reversing the formation once more, but time was slipping away. The sky above was thick with black clouds, lightning and thunder growing ever nearer and wilder than the previous night, now mixed with the howling of a storm. Fearing for the safety of his companions, Li Hao took a desperate gamble, drawing the entire power of the formation at the cave entrance into himself. At last, the barrier of laws shattered successfully.

“Everyone... hurry... go in...” he managed to say, then collapsed to the ground.

“Li Hao, what’s wrong with you? Li Hao, are you alright? Young master, what happened?” his friends cried out anxiously, but Li Hao could no longer hear them.

Lin Xueyou made a quick decision, urging, “Hurry, carry Li Hao inside.”

No sooner had they entered the cave than the raging wind descended. In the World Within a World, every patch of space was swept up by the storm, sand and stones flying, dust billowing, destruction saturating the air. Thankfully, they all made it into the cave in time; otherwise, they would have been scattered and annihilated by the tempest.

This calamity in the World Within a World would surely eliminate untold numbers of competitors.

Inside the cave, the group was consumed only by worry, anxiety, and helplessness for Li Hao. These emotions eclipsed all other thoughts.

Within Li Hao’s sea of consciousness, Xiao Jiu realized with alarm that Li Hao had absorbed too much overwhelming power. As Li Hao neared collapse, Xiao Jiu immediately sealed off all his senses, plunging him into a state akin to suspended animation. Otherwise, Li Hao’s soul would have been obliterated, his body destroyed by the overwhelming force.

After sealing Li Hao’s senses, Xiao Jiu used all his strength to help suppress the power within Li Hao’s body. To his surprise, the mysterious primordial chaos force within Li Hao began to operate on its own.

As time passed, Li Hao’s body and soul, teetering on the brink of destruction, began to undergo a dramatic transformation, growing stronger and sturdier. Gradually, he was able to barely withstand the immense power within, easing Xiao Jiu’s anxiety and fear. Having watched Li Hao pass through the crisis, Xiao Jiu lifted the protective seal.

The strange changes in Li Hao’s body slowly became indistinct, finally fading away. This scene left Lin Xueyou and her companions visibly shaken.

Although it was the second time Lin Xueyou had witnessed such a phenomenon in Li Hao, she could not suppress her astonishment. Cultivators above the Return-to-Origin Realm could conceal their bodies within the laws of heaven and earth, invisible to ordinary eyes; that was normal. But why was Li Hao capable of such a change in the Wandering Realm? The six of them pondered this mystery to no avail.

Lu Yao was the first to voice her doubt, “Xueyou, what happened to Li Hao?”

Zhenba and the others were eager for an answer, their eyes fixed on Lin Xueyou.

“Yao, don’t worry just yet. Wait and see. The day before yesterday, Li Hao experienced something similar when he broke through his realm,” Lin Xueyou replied.

Everyone thought they had misheard her. Lu Yao, doubting her own ears, asked again, “Is that really true?”

Lin Xueyou nodded slightly. “Absolutely. I was right beside Li Hao at the time.”

Zhenba couldn’t help but sigh, “How bizarre!”

The five felt reassured by Lin Xueyou’s words. At this point, patience was all they had.

Even so, Lin Xueyou herself did not know the reason. With her current cultivation, she could not discern the difference between this time and the previous one. To her, both disappearances seemed much the same: the earlier one had been a sudden disintegration, while this time Li Hao faded away gradually.

Li Hao’s disappearance occurred because the primordial chaos force within him activated, merging his physical body with the laws of heaven and earth, rendering him hidden within them. Witnessing this, the six were gripped by worry, tension, and confusion.

Last time, Li Hao’s body had disintegrated, and even Xiao Jiu had panicked, believing Li Hao dead. This time was different; Xiao Jiu could see clearly that when the mysterious force began to operate, Li Hao’s body was absorbed into the laws of the cave. Fortunately, Li Hao’s condition was improving, so Xiao Jiu relaxed a little.

Unable to explain these phenomena, Xiao Jiu attributed all Li Hao’s extraordinary and bizarre changes to the effects of the mysterious force. Although he did not know what it was and had never heard of it, its extraordinary and defiant nature was undeniable. After all, over the past twelve years, his physical body had been greatly strengthened by it.

In the World Within a World, many cultivators paid little heed to the black clouds and thunder of the previous night. Some young people casually searched for shelter from wind and rain, giving up if they found none; others didn’t even bother to search.

When the strange storm and lightning finally struck, these young cultivators were tossed about like autumn leaves, many unable to withstand the harsh ordeal, crushing their identity tokens and quitting the competition.

Lin Xueyou’s group hid in the cave, listening to the raging storm outside, feeling extremely fortunate. Had they not entered the cave, tonight would have been a disaster. While worrying for Li Hao, the fury of the storm outside left them deeply unsettled. If they had not all gathered in the cave, they might have once again suffered the tragedy of being scattered to the ends of the earth, or worse, been obliterated body and soul by the tempest.

Boom!

Suddenly, the laws of heaven and earth beside Lin Xueyou and her companions erupted in a muffled explosion. The shockwave flung the six of them toward the cave entrance. As they flew through the air, Lin Xueyou and Zhenba quickly manipulated the laws to anchor their friends’ bodies. The group managed to steady themselves at the entrance, narrowly avoiding being thrown outside, their souls nearly scattering in terror.

Lu Yao patted her chest with lingering fear, “That was close! What happened?”

Everyone turned to look at the site of the explosion, stunned by what they saw.

Li Hao had reappeared at the spot where the laws had exploded, all his realm halos visible at his waist. The halos were now gathering into the smaller halos above his head. Most astonishing of all, Li Hao’s realm halos were no longer green, the hue of the wood element, but matched the color of the laws in the cave: earthy yellow, the element of earth.

The shockwave that had driven them back was the result of Li Hao’s breakthrough. Losing control of his own power, his realm halos erupted from his body, causing the laws to spill out and attack in all directions.

They stared at Li Hao for a long time, speechless and at a loss for words. At last, Lin Xueyou spoke, “I told you, Li Hao is not someone you can describe as human. He is a monster, through and through. Now do you believe me?”

“That’s right, young master is a monster,” someone echoed.

The longer they followed Li Hao, the more unbelievable he seemed.

Lu Yao, who knew Li Hao best, had found him increasingly mysterious since arriving at Lishui City. Ten years of companionship, and now she could no longer understand him.

She knew well that half a month ago, their cultivations were equal. Now, after a series of breakthroughs, Li Hao had left her far behind. Fortunately, she felt no jealousy, only awe for his extraordinary talent.

Once Li Hao’s body and soul had stabilized, Xiao Jiu lifted the seal on his senses and consciousness. Feeling himself on the threshold of a breakthrough, Li Hao focused his mind, gathering the surrounding laws to consolidate his realm halos.

He recalled how, moments before, he had absorbed too much energy and felt as though his body would explode, then lost consciousness, knowing nothing. When he awoke, his power had surged, and he sensed the opportunity to break through to the mid-stage of the Wandering Realm.

Seeing Li Hao in the midst of his breakthrough, his companions refrained from disturbing him, quietly sitting around him and waiting patiently. Half an hour passed as Li Hao’s realm halos neared completion. Ten more minutes, and his mid-stage Wandering Realm halos were fully formed. When he drew them into his dantian, he slowly opened his eyes, beams of law shining from his star-like gaze. As his eyes swept over his six friends, all but Lin Xueyou and Zhenba felt a surge of pressure from his newly advanced realm.

Li Hao opened his eyes to find everyone staring at him in astonishment, and understood the cause of their reaction. Hearing the storm’s fury outside, he asked with concern, “Is everyone alright?”

They replied in unison, “We’re fine.”

Lin Xueyou blinked her beautiful almond eyes at Li Hao, her gaze unusually intense. Li Hao noticed her strange look and asked curiously, “Xueyou, why are you looking at me like that?”

With surprise in her voice, Lin Xueyou answered, “Li Hao, thanks to you, we’re all unharmed. But tell me, monster, are you alright?”

Li Hao wasn’t offended, instead smiling gently at everyone. “Sorry for causing you worry. I’m fine. Just now, I drew all the power from the barrier at the cave entrance into myself, couldn’t withstand the impact, and lost consciousness for a while.”