Chapter 501: Nine Sequences' Unique Decision
Li Hao shook his head, too lazy to think further, nor did he want to deal with such matters. His thoughts returned to the fishing line, and suddenly, he felt the hook at the other end!
However, this time, the movement was massive. As soon as it touched the Dao's Origin that served as bait, it quickly retracted and flew away into the distance.
"Quick reaction!"
Li Hao's eyes widened in surprise. He had long sensed that these Dao Origins possessed a strong spiritual essence.
Although they weren't living beings, they had near-living instincts.
Without hesitation, he immediately stood up and began to chase. His celestial energy surged forward, extending his fishing line even longer.
The previous catch hadn't been fully secured yet, so he had to avoid yanking it too harshly.
Whoosh.
He cast the "Heaven and Earth's Invisible Trace" and sped forward, heading deep into the Heavenly Dao Bridge.
Chu Yueli was also heading deeper into the Heavenly Dao Bridge, hoping to find the Time and Space Dao's Origin. As a figure swiftly passed by her, she slightly halted her steps. When she saw that the young man brushed past her without even looking back, a feeling of anger surged inside her.
In the blink of an eye, Li Hao disappeared from her sight.
With no celestial techniques attacking him, Li Hao's speed was extraordinary, and in no time, he reached the other side of the Heavenly Dao Bridge.
The area was shrouded in mist, and one's divine sense could not pass through it. This mist was not like ordinary vapor; it seemed to be condensed from celestial energy that had reached a certain level, making it difficult to penetrate with divine sense.
When Li Hao arrived, he immediately sensed a terrifying aura around him. The mist rippled, and it seemed that someone was chasing and dodging within it.
Celestial techniques formed here absorbed the mist's crystallized celestial energy, making their power even more terrifying!
Li Hao quickly mobilized more celestial energy, maintaining his "Eternal Dao Domain of Time and Space" around him, to prevent celestial attacks from interfering with his fishing.
At this moment, the prey suddenly stopped. Li Hao felt the fishing line loosen, losing its strength and pulling sensation.
A sense of danger instantly surged in Li Hao's heart. His face changed slightly. The prey hadn't escaped; instead, it was rushing back toward him!
Li Hao immediately raised his head, golden light bursting from his eyes, piercing through the mist and revealing a blurry, menacing shadow that rapidly expanded.
Whoosh!
Li Hao's figure flickered and disappeared from his original position with an almost enchanting movement.
Just as he dodged, the shadow broke through the mist's crystalline structure, slamming into the spot where Li Hao had been.
Li Hao turned his head to look, and what he saw was a strange black hand!
It didn't have a body, only the palm, and the two palms came together in the shadow, resembling the spread wings of a bird.
After the failed attack, the hand turned around. Its form changed, turning into a sharp blade that lunged directly at Li Hao.
"Hmm?"
Li Hao's face changed. He quickly flicked the fishing line, intending to wrap it around the blade, but the blade merely shifted slightly, and the fishing line passed through its edge as if it were passing through a wall, unable to bind it.
Whoosh!
Li Hao quickly used his movement technique again to narrowly avoid the blade, but it whistled after him, chasing him to kill.
"This is... Form Dao?!"
Li Hao continuously dodged, feeling the aura of Dao's Origin radiating from the blade. This wasn't an attack from some existence, but the true manifestation of the Dao's Origin!
The blade continued to whistle, chasing after Li Hao. He narrowly evaded it each time, but it suddenly changed form. Just as it neared him, the sharp blade scattered into a net, attempting to envelop him!
"Time and space!"
Li Hao's expression changed instantly. He erupted with full force, and the power of the Nine Flower Celestial Seal briefly manifested on his forehead. His extreme limits were fully activated, and the celestial law's avatar fluctuated behind him, but it did not fully reveal itself. It merged with his surroundings, causing his power to surge to a new level.
Time and space seemed to slow down as the ever-expanding net surrounded his body, but his form, like before when the other had passed through walls, flew through the net. The net caught a different time point where he was no longer there!
"If I let you trap me in that net, I'll never be able to fish again."
Li Hao turned and glared, a cold light in his eyes. This was a matter of his pride as a fisherman.
If he were truly trapped by the other, letting Second Master and Feng Lao find out, they'd mock him for generations.
"Form Dao..."
Li Hao looked as the net collapsed and retracted into a round mass. His expression subtly shifted. The other's form was constantly changing. Even if the fishing line wrapped around it, the form could unravel or transform into another line to escape.
Compared to other Dao Origins, this Form Dao was perhaps the most difficult prey to hunt.
But... since I can fish for time, Li Hao thought, I don't believe I can't catch him.
Whoosh!
As the opponent was about to strike again, Li Hao's movement changed, swiftly dodging, but his gaze became sharper and more focused.
This kind of look was one he would have when playing a difficult chess game, when his entire mind was instinctively adjusting all his thoughts to deal with a challenging situation.
"I can't treat him as Form Dao. Since it's ever-changing, how is it any different from water?"
Li Hao's eyes flickered. He had already comprehended the Water Dao's Origin and the Earth Dao's Origin.
If Form Dao is like water, using a fishing line wouldn't work to catch water, but what if I'm fishing for the whole lake?
"Dao Domain, condense!"
Li Hao's eyes gleamed with mystic light. In the Eternal Time and Space Dao Domain, a heavy force of attraction suddenly appeared, the power of the Earth Dao's Origin acting within the Dao Domain.
This attraction made Li Hao's Dao Domain seem like two large bowls, covering everything within the surrounding area.
The Form Dao's Origin seemed to sense danger and suddenly transformed, turning into a spiral-shaped sharp cone, aimed at Li Hao's Dao Domain, attempting to break free.
But at that moment, the power of the Time Dao activated, and at the same time, the power of the Space Dao allowed Li Hao to shift his body outside the Dao Domain.
In the blink of an eye, the Dao Domain became both a prison and a hook!
"Reel in!"
In a single thought, Li Hao tightened his celestial power. The Dao Domain instantly shrank, going from a few hundred meters in range to the size of a pellet.
He raised his hand and grasped it, his celestial power surging, applying it to the Dao Domain's surface, turning it into boiling flames, with Fire Dao burning like cooking ingredients.
Inside the sealed Dao Domain, the spiral-shaped sharp cone, influenced by the Time Dao's Origin, slowed down dramatically. With the raging fire, it soon felt danger, crashing everywhere, but the increasingly compressed space reduced its movement range, and its power was continuously absorbed and diminished.
Whoosh!
Li Hao's celestial power surged into the domain, forming a large hand that directly grabbed it.
In front of him, a massive fishing experience appeared. Li Hao felt his fishing path had become even more skilled and profound.
When he fished for time earlier, his Fishing Dao reached the 11th stage. Now, by using time and space as bait, he had successfully caught the ever-changing Form Dao's Origin.
Everything could be fished, and Li Hao's understanding of the Dao of Fishing deepened even further.
Perhaps, in the future, as long as he cast his line, prey would automatically bite. Everything would fall into the best arrangement, at the most opportune moment!
"Form Dao's Origin..."
Li Hao looked at the struggling Form Dao in his hand. At this moment, it was still constantly attempting to struggle and change, like a balloon inflating. However, Li Hao's Dao Domain covered it, and it couldn't escape.
"It's truly interesting here."
Li Hao stored the Form Dao's Origin into the Heaven and Earth Space, condensing it into a miniature Dao Domain cage that trapped it.
Though this process was dangerous, it didn't last long. Once Li Hao subdued the Form Dao's Origin, he continued to fish.
He didn't return to the middle section of the Heavenly Dao Bridge. In this misty crystallized area, the aura of the Dao's Origin was even denser.
With his recent experience fishing for Form Dao, Li Hao now cast his line with time and space as the bait, searching for prey in the flowing Dao's Origin light.
Before long, a Dao's Origin was enveloped by the power of time and space.
The fisherman, like someone reaching into the deep sea to fetch the moon, did so with ease.
The one caught came willingly.
Under the power of time and space, Li Hao felt that he wasn't fishing anymore but rather casting a net.
A large amount of Dao's Origin light was gathered and drawn into his Heaven and Earth Space.
These Dao Origins included the Gun Dao, Whip Dao, Wind Dao, Thunder Dao, and more, all of which were part of the myriad paths within the Origin Secret Realm.
With this, Li Hao could head to the Chaos Origin City, where there were divine trees for cultivating and comprehending each Dao's Origin.
Li Hao, caught up in the moment, continued fishing, drawing in large amounts of Dao's Origin to his Heaven and Earth Space, using it as a fish basket.
Meanwhile, outside the Heavenly Dao Bridge, others searching for various Dao's Origins suddenly felt that the number of Dao's light on the bridge had decreased. What they could see were the miscellaneous paths, not the Nine Sequences they were after.
Coming to the Origin Secret Realm just to comprehend lesser paths would be quite a waste.
The prodigies who came here all knew that while one could reach the Immortal King realm by mastering a minor Dao, they would never match those who controlled the Nine Sequences' power in the same realm.
"What's going on? Where did the Nine Sequences' Origins go?"
"We'll have to go deeper to find them."
"After coming all this way, wasting a month here, this is really unlucky!"
The prodigies on the bridge had dark expressions, growing increasingly anxious.
Meanwhile, deep within the Heavenly Dao Bridge, Li Hao was still fishing.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Li Hao felt a thick and terrifying aura of Dao's Origin.
He immediately focused on it and discovered that it was the aura of the Space Dao's Origin!
After all this time, the Space Dao's Origin had finally appeared.
Li Hao's eyes brightened, and he quickly moved toward the Space Dao's Origin. The power of time and space extended with him, forming a net to capture the origin.
The Space Dao's Origin sensed Li Hao's movements but didn't escape. Instead, it slashed directly at Li Hao with a spatial slash.
The continuous loss of other Dao's Origins around made the Space Dao's Origin seem somewhat enraged. It targeted the source of all, launching an attack on Li Hao.
Celestial techniques formed around Li Hao and he struck out with the "Blue Sky Sword." At the same time, other celestial techniques followed in quick succession.
The Space Dao's Origin was even more formless. If the Form Dao's Origin still had constant changes, like water, the Space Dao was completely formless and without shape.
Li Hao had fished a strand of time earlier, using it to reach the 11th stage of the Dao of Fishing. This was his first time fishing for space, and it was even the Space Dao's Origin.
The recently used Earth Dao's Origin couldn't catch the Space Dao, let alone seal it.
"Space, everywhere and nowhere..."
Li Hao's eyes flickered. His Space Dao's Origin was at the fourth level. With just this level of Dao comprehension, he could capture the Space Dao's Origin in front of him.
However, Li Hao didn't plan to use such a crude method. Instead, he intended to clash with the Space Dao using other Dao's Origins.
"Everywhere, yet unable to transcend time, everywhere, yet coming uninvited..."
Li Hao's eyes flashed slightly. Suddenly, he reached out. Time transformed into a thread, wrapping around the Space Dao's Origin, quickly binding it.
"Time holds still, space reigns..."
Li Hao gazed at the bound Space Dao's Origin. It still struggled within the Dao Domain. If it were any other Dao, it would have been difficult to trap it.
Li Hao stored the Space Dao's Origin into the Heaven and Earth Space, looking back at the Moon Xie and Gu Yan. Once they passed the Chaos Secret Realm's trial and entered the Origin Secret Realm, he could give them the extra ones.
Just arriving at this point, Li Hao continued fishing.
With the insights gained from earlier, Li Hao's comprehension of the Space Dao seemed to have deepened slightly. He could sense the movements and changes in the misty crystallization through space.
"Hmm?"
Li Hao noticed two hidden auras, seemingly hidden within the mist, also Dao's Origins.
Li Hao's eyes brightened. He quickly rushed toward the two Dao's Origins.
...
While Li Hao immersed himself in fishing for Dao's Origins deep within the Heavenly Dao Bridge, outside, various celestial techniques exploded, and more people were climbing the bridge.
"What's going on? Why can't I sense my Fire Dao's Origin?"
A young man in a crimson celestial armor stood on the Heavenly Dao Bridge, surrounded by flames. He was releasing his Fire Dao celestial techniques, trying to attract the Fire Dao's Origin.
With his Fire Dao's cultivation at the fourth level, he should have found the Fire Dao's Origin by now.
"The Fire Dao's Origin was taken by someone and given away. It won't appear again for a while," someone nearby remarked.
The young man in crimson froze, his eyes filled with murderous intent. Did that mean he would waste more time here waiting?
"Dammit!"
He clenched his fists and angrily retreated from the Heavenly Dao Bridge.
As time passed, Li Hao, deep in the bridge, continued to fish and capture many powerful Dao's Origins, including the Nine Sequences' Dao Origins. He had almost gathered them all, including the rarest, the Time Dao's Origin, which Li Hao had managed to fish with great effort.
His fishing experience had accumulated to half a tube in just a month.
In another month, his experience would be maxed out.
However, here, the most valuable thing was not just the experience boost but the insights into fishing itself. Li Hao's understanding had increased tremendously, far more than fishing for beasts like the ancestral dragons or phoenixes.
"Only the Gold Dao's Origin remains..."
Li Hao didn't have the Gold Dao's Origin in his domain, so both his sensing of the Dao's Origins and the difficulty of fishing had greatly increased.
Outside the Heavenly Dao Bridge, a group of figures gathered. All were dressed in noble royal robes. Although the patterns and colors differed from those of the Yan Chu imperial robes, they all exuded extreme nobility.
"What's going on? Why is the bridge so chaotic? Why hasn't anyone found the Dao they need?"
The leader, a woman, looked down upon the scene with an air of grandeur, her eyes narrowed as she observed the continuous celestial explosions on the Heavenly Dao Bridge.
"Your Highness, we just investigated. We heard that the Nine Sequences' Dao's Origins have yet to appear, and that's why they are staying here," someone quickly responded.
"How? Do they all want to go to the Time and Space Origin City? If they can't sense the Time and Space Origin, it means their cultivation level is too low. They can go to another Origin City; what's the point of staying here?"
A young man in royal robes nearby said with a gloomy face, his tone laced with displeasure.