Chapter 507: The Legendary Immortal Seal
Condensing an Immortal Seal requires mastery of a Dao origin.
Now that Li Hao had entered the Dao with all Nine Sequences, it also meant he could replace every flower in his Nine-Flower Immortal Seal with one of the Nine Sequences!
Li Hao was still immersed in the insights and absorption of the Carving Dao, which now included the full capacity of the eleventh segment of carving.
At the eleventh segment, the Carving Dao reached its origin—able to carve the true essence of all things, to trace back to their source. It was no longer just "lifelike," but close to truly bestowing life!
"Carving Dao…" Li Hao's eyes gleamed with clarity and awe.
To carve a living being—what an unbelievable ability.
It was a power akin to that of a creator!
Perhaps only powerful beings at the Immortal King realm, who could open their own Immortal Kingdoms, possessed such an ability—to create things from nothing, to give birth to life, and rule over their created realms.
But now, at this very moment, Li Hao was already grasping a part of this power.
The golden sapling of an Origin Divine Tree in his hands radiated divine brilliance and the aura of the Dao. It was dazzling, like it had been sculpted from pure gold.
It truly seemed like a living sapling. Between its branches and leaves, there was a sense of unfolding vitality.
But Li Hao knew he could only grant it temporary life. Soon, the carving power he had instilled into it would fade, and that lifelike presence would vanish.
"If my carving technique was deeper, stronger… maybe one day I could really carve life into existence!"
The thought stirred in Li Hao's heart, and his eyes glowed with intense fervor.
Martial arts might be myriad, drawing endless pursuit and obsession—but other techniques had their own allure too.
To be able to carve life alone was already captivating enough.
After a while, the sapling in his palm still glowed, but gradually lost some of its unique essence. Li Hao understood—that was the vitality fading.
He could only grant temporary life. It could not last.
Even so, it was already terrifyingly powerful.
For those fleeting moments, he held in his hands a real Origin Divine Tree sapling!
If he carved a True Immortal… then it would be a real True Immortal!
That was the power of the eleventh segment of the Carving Dao.
"You've already glimpsed the level of life itself…" The elder's previous shock had faded, but his gaze was still filled with amazement and admiration as he looked at the young man before him. He had thought Li Hao was merely a rare seedling, but now realized he was an unparalleled monster beyond his expectations.
To touch the origin of life itself while still only at the True Immortal realm—this was a level of monstrous talent that defied even the highest standards of heaven's chosen. He had only ever seen it in the direct disciples of ancient Immortal Emperors.
They were truly beyond imagination, beings whose power and talent shattered dreams and overturned everything others thought they understood.
Li Hao returned from his trance. He was aware that he had comprehended and broken through under the elder's watchful eye—there was no hiding it. He smiled and said, "This is thanks to the divine wood provided by Senior."
The elder shook his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over Li Hao. His eyes narrowed faintly as he said in a soft voice, "If I'm not mistaken, you've already mastered the Space-Time Dao. As for the Gold and Wood Daos—you've just stepped across their threshold. Your insight is not shallow; it should already be enough for you to condense your Immortal Seals."
"As for the other Dao origins—Water, Fire, and Earth—you also seem to possess them. I can sense their aura on you."
"Your physical body seems to have reached the limit of the Tongli Realm's final stage, which means you've likely mastered the Form Dao. Now, all that's left is the Command Dao…"
As he spoke, the golden divine tree beside him shook, its branches releasing Dao aura that formed a barrier, enveloping the area.
Li Hao witnessed the scene but remained calm. He had sensed no malice from the elder.
"You've basically gathered the Nine Sequences. With your talent, I suspect you've already grasped the Command Dao. Even if you haven't, it won't be difficult for you…"
The elder looked at Li Hao with focused eyes. "A Nine-Flower Immortal Seal, each flower representing one of the Nine Sequences—that's a heaven's chosen among heaven's chosen, the peak of the peak!"
Li Hao's eyes flickered slightly. He had come to this Five-Element Origin City to comprehend the Gold and Wood Daos. He thought it would take time, but the cultivation had been unexpectedly smooth. It was truly worthy of being the top cultivation land of the True Realm.
There were levels even among Nine-Flower Immortal Seals.
Li Hao had heard of this before. And among them, the pinnacle—without question—was a seal with all Nine Flowers being Nine Sequences!
"Nine Flowers representing Nine Sequences—that's the highest tier, and it's also the threshold to that legendary Immortal Seal…"
The elder's gaze turned serious. Earlier, he had felt a tiny bit of regret when giving Li Hao that divine tree Dao Fruit. But now, he was thoroughly convinced it had been the right choice. In fact, he now wished he had a second one to give—even if taking a second might reduce its effectiveness, it would still be worth it.
"A legendary Immortal Seal? Threshold?"
Li Hao was stunned, looking at him in surprise.
The Nine-Flower Seal was already considered a supreme realm. Was there truly a more terrifying Immortal Seal?
Suddenly, he thought of the trial from the Tianyang Immortal Emperor's teacher.
The Nine-Flower Immortal Seal only qualified him as an official disciple—not a personal one.
Then what level must a personal disciple reach?
Could it be…
His eyes flickered with insight. Before he could ask, the elder nodded, as if intending to explain:
"Yes. The world only knows the Nine-Flower Immortal Seal as the peak, and a Nine-Sequence Nine-Flower Seal is indeed the limit that cultivation can reach. But the Nine Sequences are not merely difficult to comprehend—they each extend into countless paths and have a deeper, natural connection among them…"
The elder's voice was steady as he slowly continued, "The Five Elements—Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—create the foundation of all things. Space and Time, Form and Command, shape a world…"
He spoke softly, "Legend says that all things begin from One. One gives rise to Two, Two to Three, Three to the Nine Sequences, and the Nine Sequences give rise to all things."
Li Hao was stunned, his eyes flickering with thought. This resembled what he had comprehended from the Dao Scripture during his Saint realm.
Back then, when he had recited the Dao Scripture, it had triggered resonance from the pseudo-world's heavenly Dao. Even though he was only at the Saint realm and could barely grasp its surface, just that shallow insight from a half-completed Dao Scripture had allowed him to suppress all realms.
"One gives birth to all things, and all things may give rise to the One!"
The elder's words suddenly echoed like a great morning bell or a twilight drum, carrying with them a profound power.
He stared at Li Hao and said, "Above the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal, there exists a legendary kind of Immortal Seal—called the Dao Source Immortal Seal!"
"That is the most supreme existence, the origin of all Immortal Seals, and the source of all Daos!"
Li Hao's heart trembled, and his pupils slightly contracted.
Above the Nine Sequences… Dao Source Immortal Seal?
Dao Source…
Seeing the shock in Li Hao's expression, the elder's gaze softened as he said gently, "Now that you've condensed the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal, you've already stepped onto the threshold of legend. If you truly manage to condense a Dao Source Immortal Seal, then your future... should hold the potential of the Supreme Emperor Realm!"
"Supreme Emperor Realm?"
Li Hao couldn't help but ask, "Are all Immortal Emperors Dao Source Immortal Seal bearers?"
"Not all," the elder replied. "Some Emperors are late bloomers, who gain world-shaking power during the Immortal Lord or Immortal King realm stages."
"But if you can lay the foundation of such legendary potential in the True Immortal realm, then the path ahead will be much smoother."
Li Hao understood now. The Dao Source Immortal Seal might be one of the prerequisites for Immortal Emperors to take someone as their personal disciple.
The Nine-Flower Immortal Seal might not even be worthy of an Immortal Emperor's notice, but among countless heaven's chosen, it was already the pinnacle.
The Dao Source Immortal Seal, however, transcended the realm of heaven's chosen. It represented the kind of qualification that could reach the pinnacle of the vast True Realm—the qualification of an Emperor.
Thinking this through, Li Hao noticed the elder had summoned a barrier to isolate their conversation from the outside, clearly not wishing the contents to leak.
His thoughts spun as he said, "Senior, may I ask you to guard me? I wish to condense the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal now."
"No problem. I also want to witness it personally."
The elder chuckled and said, "Though I've lived countless years, every heaven's chosen who made it before me had already condensed their Immortal Seals. I've never seen the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal form with my own eyes."
Seeing the elder's interest, Li Hao no longer hesitated and immediately sank his mind into his sea of consciousness.
The insights from the Dao Fruit of the Divine Tree had already been absorbed during his carving process. His comprehension of the Gold Dao Origin had reached the fourth realm!
And with the recent breakthrough in the Carving Dao, his understanding of the Gold Dao had gained further depth. He felt that with time, he could very well reach the fifth realm of Gold Dao!
If that happened, he would be nearly unrivaled in the True Immortal realm!
One must know, among True Immortals, reaching the third realm of a Dao Origin was already considered peak-level genius. The fourth realm was an exceedingly rare monster, and the fifth realm meant one could contend with geniuses in the sixth or seventh realm of the Immortal Lord stage!
At this moment, as he summoned his Immortal Seal, the Nine-Flower Immortal Seal slowly surfaced on his forehead.
Upon it were the nine Dao Origins of Space-Time, Form, Command, Water, Fire, Earth, Sword, and Yama.
Now, Li Hao intended to replace Sword Dao and Yama Dao.
As his thoughts shifted, the Dao auras of Sword and Yama gradually unraveled and peeled away from the Immortal Seal.
Immediately after, his Gold Dao Origin at the fourth realm was engraved into place.
At the same time, during his earlier breakthrough in carving, besides gaining Gold Dao insight, his Wood Dao Origin had also reached the third realm!
The Wood Dao Origin followed right after and merged into the Immortal Seal.
In an instant, nine ancient Immortal sigils emerged on the Nine-Flower Immortal Seal, perfectly intertwined like they were naturally meant to merge, forming a beautiful tapestry of Dao insights.
That pattern radiated a vast, ancient, heavenly aura—making one tremble, as if facing divine judgment.
The elder's eyes flashed with another wave of emotion. A single Divine Tree Dao Fruit had elevated this youth's Gold Dao to the fourth realm—he truly was a top-tier monster worthy of the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal.
Now that all Nine Sequence Origins had been integrated into the Immortal Seal, Li Hao clearly sensed that the seal had undergone a significant transformation. It exuded a terrifying power fluctuation; with a mere tug, he could unleash ten times his previous strength!
He had once heard that a Six-Flower Immortal Seal could defeat a Nine-Flower one. Back then, he had been skeptical. Now he saw there was no exaggeration in that statement!
Previously, the Nine-Flower Immortal Seal merely stacked nine Dao Origins.
But now, Li Hao could feel the nine powers were fused together, forming a unified whole. Every unit of force was multiplied by nine. Two units became eighteenfold!
Previously, the power of the Nine-Flower Immortal Seal could only be multiplied up to 256 times. But now, starting at a base of ninefold, after nine layers of doubling, he reached a terrifying 2,304-fold amplification!
Compared to an ordinary One-Flower Immortal Seal True Immortal, Li Hao's instantaneous Immortal power burst was over 2,000 times stronger. The difference was greater than that between a True Immortal and an Immortal Lord!
"So this is the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal—the most extreme form of the Nine Flowers!"
Feeling the surge of power from the Immortal Seal, Li Hao knew that if he returned to the Wastelands now, he could easily reach the Thirteenth Wasteland—perhaps even challenge the Fourteenth!
"Excellent, excellent."
The elder slightly nodded, his eyes full of satisfaction and joy. "I never thought that after all these ages, I would witness another Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal. The last time I saw one was sixty thousand years ago…"
He shook his head with emotion.
"Sixty thousand years ago?"
Li Hao was shocked.
"Back then, another world-shaking monster came to the Five-Element Origin City. That one only stayed for a year but managed to comprehend all five Elemental Dao Origins to a considerable level."
The elder said, "Now, if he hasn't fallen, he's likely already half a step into the Emperor Realm."
Saying this, his eyes showed some regret. "Unfortunately, he never came back."
Hearing this, Li Hao quickly tempered his earlier excitement. There were always people stronger. This world held countless experts. The True Realm was too vast; it was inevitable that unimaginable prodigies would appear.
"Does what I've just done count as the Dao Source Immortal Seal?"
Li Hao asked.
The elder shook his head. "No. What you've formed is the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal. You now have a chance at the Dao Source Immortal Seal. As for how it transforms—whether it will—that depends on your fortune. I don't know the exact method."
"After all, in all the countless ages of the True Realm, only a handful have ever achieved it. No one has revealed how it's truly forged. And even if someone has, it's not something a worn-out old tree buried here would ever know."
Li Hao felt a tinge of regret in his heart, along with curiosity and longing. Even just the Nine-Sequence Immortal Seal as it was now gave him an indescribable sense of power. If it were to evolve into the Dao Source Immortal Seal, how unimaginably powerful would it be?
"With achievements like yours, your sect must be extraordinary as well. Perhaps you can ask the experts of your sect. I've stayed here too long, and the scenery I've seen will never compare to what lies beyond," the elder said.
Li Hao sensed a trace of desolation in his words and asked, "Senior, don't you want to leave this place?"
"I don't," the elder shook his head and said. "Although I may not have seen all the world's landscapes, I feel no regrets. The four seasons each bring different appearances to the same place. Ten thousand years ago and ten thousand years later, they'll look different again. How could anyone ever finish seeing all the world's scenery? Better to stay in one place and quietly enjoy the view you love."
Li Hao's eyes revealed a hint of understanding. He often felt regret that he hadn't seen enough of the world, rushing from the myriad realms to the True Realm. Yet looking back, the sights along his journey had all been quite good. Rather than lamenting what was missed, it was better to cherish the present.
"Senior, do you know about Samsara?" Li Hao's thoughts stirred, and he asked the elder.
The elder's eyes narrowed slightly. His previously calm gaze suddenly sharpened. "Samsara is the end of all things. You're asking about Samsara because of the Ancient Fiends, aren't you?"
"Yes." Li Hao nodded. He was thinking of the fragment of Samsara in the hands of the Ancient Fiendess Mi Xueyao, and the origin of the Ancient Fiends themselves.
"Ever since Samsara collapsed and the Ancient Fiends emerged into the world, many powers have begun to pay attention to Samsara and are investigating it," the elder sighed. "Now the greatest crisis in the True Realm isn't just the Ancient Fiends—but the collapse of Samsara. Life now only ends. There is no more reincarnation. This means that when a soul is extinguished, it's gone forever, no longer able to return through rebirth."
"What about reincarnation?" Li Hao asked.
"Reincarnation and Samsara are not the same. Samsara erases the soul's imprint entirely, giving rise to a new life. Reincarnation is when a great being extracts the soul's essence, removes the shackles of the old body, and implants it into a stronger bloodline and form. The soul lifespan remains unchanged."
The elder's eyes revealed a trace of melancholy, and he said in a low voice, "Since the collapse of Samsara, the life forces of all races in the True Realm have been gradually diminishing. What you see now is far from the flourishing world of ten thousand years ago. That was the era when hundreds of races thrived and countless Immortal Emperors shone brilliantly…"
"Then you're saying that the lives of all races are decreasing and will only become fewer?" Li Hao couldn't help but ask.
He had seen the grand expanse of the Yan Chu Immortal Dynasty, with its nine thousand immortal cities and boundless territory. He had thought that was already prosperous enough.
"That's right. But the Ancient Fiends are unaffected. They were born from Samsara and can return through it endlessly," the elder said with a sigh. "Maybe in another ten thousand years, the number of all races in the True Realm will sharply decline, and many species will go extinct. That will be the time of complete downfall."
Li Hao fell silent. He hadn't expected the True Realm to be facing such a desperate situation. If this were a war between the myriad races and the Ancient Fiends, then the myriad races would be like an army cut off from supplies and reinforcements—each death a true loss. While the Ancient Fiends would be endless…
Seeing the heavy look on Li Hao's face, the elder returned to himself and said, "This isn't something you should worry about right now. At least wait until you become Immortal King realm—only then will you be qualified to touch upon such secrets. As you are now, you're still too weak!"
Li Hao nodded, realizing that he was a small figure trying to bear too much weight—thinking too far ahead for someone of his level.
He shook his head and asked the elder for another piece of divine wood.
His carving Dao had just advanced, and he was itching to put his newly gained techniques into practice.
The elder didn't refuse and allowed Li Hao to cut another piece.
But Li Hao remained restrained, only cutting a small section before diving once more into his carving.
"My line moved too," the elder said with a laugh.
Li Hao glanced over and saw that he too had hooked a divine water-path fish. He raised an eyebrow slightly but still offered his congratulations.
As time passed…
With the radiance of five blazing beams of divine light shining down from the sky, Li Hao had just completed a carved figure—a woman holding a longsword. Her appearance was that of Ren Qianqian.
But this Ren Qianqian only resembled her outwardly, with no shared memories. She bowed slightly to Li Hao and said, "Master, what are your orders?"
Li Hao had already gotten used to this. Since his fishing Dao breakthrough, this was the fourth work he had carved.
Earlier he had carved the divine origin tree, and it had taken on true life temporarily.
He had also tried carving humans and dragons—they too became living beings for a short while.
"Try using the sword," Li Hao said.
The carved Ren Qianqian nodded slightly, then unsheathed her sword and began to display her techniques.
The sword Dao she used was unmistakably the Void Sword Dao.
Li Hao's eyes flickered with light, and a trace of joy stirred in his heart. Though she didn't have Ren Qianqian's memories, the Dao she used was exactly what he had carved into her. Moreover, her cultivation level surpassed Ren Qianqian's original—she was a True Immortal!
The elder watched quietly from the side, long since accustomed to Li Hao's carving mastery.
"Time really flies."
Li Hao withdrew his gaze from the carved Ren Qianqian and turned to look at the great city.
Five beams of divine light reached into the heavens—signifying that he had now been in the Five-Element Origin City for a full year.
Back when he had consumed the divine tree Dao fruit and carved the origin tree, he had been completely absorbed. In truth, the process had taken nearly half a year.
After that, he had done several carvings—and in a blink, a year had passed.
Within the city, the five origin trees had begun a new round of divine resonance.
"You can give it a try," the elder said, noticing Li Hao's gaze. "With your current Dao comprehension and talent, you have a good chance of earning their favor. It will benefit you greatly."
Li Hao's eyes glinted. He thought of that Jin Yun Immortal Dynasty royal who had tried to suppress him when he first arrived. A flicker of light passed through his gaze.
"Then I'll go have a look."
Li Hao said.
For now, it was nearly impossible to push his carving Dao to the twelfth level. Taking this opportunity to explore the city was a good idea.