Ji Hao unleashed the Divine Light of his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes. Divine Power flowed around his fingertips as he inscribed, stroke by stroke, the nine runes he had recorded into the Saint Spirit Furnace.
These were very likely Immortal Characters, possessing extraordinary power. There were not many things in the world that could rival these nine Immortal Talismans.
As for a Quasi-Immortal Emperor, that was impossible. With Ji Hao's realm, he simply could not see one.
A muffled rumble sounded in the sky, as though it had sensed the appearance of the Immortal Characters and sought to bring down a Lightning Tribulation to stop something that should not exist in this world.
Yet in the end, no Heavenly Punishment descended.
Ji Hao paid it no heed and continued inscribing with great focus. They were only a few Immortal Characters. That enormous mass of Immortal Fire had remained here for hundreds of thousands of years, yet Heaven and Earth had never shown any intolerance toward it.
They were only a few characters, after all. Once the Nine-Character Immortal Talisman was fully inscribed, the Living Flame underwent another transformation, and this one was anything but ordinary.
His Divine Sense transformed into flame and danced alongside the Living Flame, soaring between Heaven and Earth. This time, it was no longer solely the Dao of fire.
It encompassed all things. In truth, once the Great Dao reached a certain level, it began to merge with other Dao Principles. The Living Flame, for instance, had fused with the Laws of Life.
A full seven days passed before the Innate Patterns upon the Living Flame were completely inscribed. Ji Hao wandered through the endless Great Dao, and even a layer of holy flame appeared over the surface of his body.
That was Dao-Transformation Fire. He had immersed himself too deeply in the Great Dao, but fortunately, just as the Dao-Transformation Fire appeared, the Living Flame's evolution was completed.
This time, even its color changed, becoming pure white throughout.
The transformed Saint Spirit Furnace was entirely white, as if it had been forged from Radiant Immortal Metal. It was incomparably sacred, with mysterious runes flickering across its surface.
The moment Ji Hao finished inscribing it, he could not resist testing the power of the Saint Spirit Furnace.
He broke through directly, drawing down a Lightning Tribulation. He brought forth the Saint Spirit Furnace but did not interfere, allowing it to cross the tribulation on its own.
Black clouds pressed down upon the city, threatening to crush it, as though Heaven sought to destroy Ji Hao.
Bolts of lightning slithered through the dark clouds. The next moment, divine thunder descended to annihilate everything.
Five Elements Divine Thunder, Yin-Yang Divine Thunder, and Chaos Divine Thunder were drawn one after another into the furnace. Nine-colored Divine Light refined them and merged them into one.
The Saint Spirit Furnace hung upside down in the Firmament, releasing vast amounts of Nine-Colored Divine Fire to contend against the heavenly lightning.
In the end, the Saint Spirit Furnace suddenly expanded and swallowed even the Tribulation Cloud, then transformed back into the Living Flame and returned to Ji Hao's body.
Crackling sounds rang out as sparks of lightning flared. The completely devoured thunder tempered Ji Hao's body, while Ji Hao successfully advanced to the Second Heaven of the Four Extremes.
He would advance one heaven at a time. That made it easier to consolidate his realm.
If Ji Hao wished, it would not have been impossible for him to step directly into the Dragon Transformation Realm. It was simply that he had too little understanding of the Four Extremes secret realm.
To ascend into Dragon Transformation only days after breaking through would make it difficult to guarantee his combat strength, and it would be even less beneficial for creating his own methods in the future.
After crossing the tribulation, Ji Hao traveled north. Passing through a Domain Gate, he arrived in the Northern Region. After flying for more than ten days, crossing countless mountains and rivers and traveling an unknown number of miles, he finally approached the Holy City of the Northern Region.
The Holy City of the Northern Region was its absolute center. On this crimson land, it was as famous as the Primordial Ancient Mine, and the inhabitants of the Northern Region revered it as sacred ground.
Autumn winds rustled along the way, and fallen leaves blanketed the ground. Distant mountain peaks were shrouded in layers of mist. Yet this was a Pure Land. Within a hundred and fifty miles outside the Holy City, all was lush and green, with no hint of seasonal change.
He had spent nearly a month in the Fire Domain, and Big Dipper had already entered late autumn. Yet this place was verdant, without the slightest chill. It was like spring: warm breezes brushed his face, vegetation flourished, and Spirit Springs gurgled.
A flock of wild geese flew past in the sky, carrying a trace of late autumn's bleakness and making it clear that autumn had already arrived.
The spiritual energy around the Holy City was incomparably dense, many times richer than elsewhere. Ancient trees soared into the sky, hundreds of meters tall, their branches stretching toward the heavens. Ancient vines coiled over cliff faces like horned dragons.
At last, he saw the legendary Holy City, and it shocked him deeply.
The ancient city was incredibly majestic. Its walls stretched endlessly like a crouching azure dragon, as if cast from molten bronze, gleaming with metallic luster.
The grand gate tower stood a hundred meters high, imposing and magnificent. Even from afar, the enormous ancient city gave off a suffocating sense of pressure. In Ji Hao's experience, only Hangu Pass could compare.
"This is the center of Northern Region's upheavals. The future Heavenly Emperor would truly make his name resound throughout Big Dipper from here..."
Whether it was called the Holy City or the Divine City, it was immensely majestic. Even from a distance, one could feel its extreme pressure.
This city was simply too ancient. It was said that in the endless Years long ago, it had floated in the air, only falling to the earth during the Desolate Ancient Era.
This Divine City was many times larger than the capital of a great kingdom, magnificent beyond measure. If one did not fly and instead walked through it like an ordinary person, crossing the city would take ten days. That did not even account for exhaustion; with an ordinary person's stamina and pace, it would likely take a month.
The city was exceedingly prosperous. Palaces stood in rows, and ancient streets were broad. Stone-Gambling Workshops, Immortal's Tower, Wind and Moon Palace, Sacred Lord Palace, Demon King Pavilion—everything could be found here, lavish to the extreme, with mortals and cultivators mingling together.
People bustled through the city, and half of them were cultivators. In a place like this, no one dared act rashly. It was said that if one threw a stone and hit ten people, nine would be elders of great sacred lands, while the remaining one would be a Tai Shang elder.
Ji Hao strolled through the great city, searching for the Dao One Stone Workshop. Among the Immortal Metal currently available, only the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sword within the Nine-Aperture Stone Man was easiest to obtain, making it perfect for merging into the Sword Germ.
As for its size, he remembered that Shi Huang of Immortal Mountain wielded a Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Halberd. Once he killed him in the future and settled their karmic retribution, it would make a fine weapon.
Green Copper Gold Essence, Scarlet Jade Marrow, Starstone, and all kinds of precious materials were casually placed in corners. Everything was available.
He strolled down the street, surveying his surroundings.
When he looked up, he was immediately startled. Deep within the great lake, clouds and mist curled through the sky. There were many floating ships, along with palaces and pavilions.
"What place is this?" Ji Hao wondered.
Someone who overheard him immediately looked at him disdainfully. "You've come all the way here, yet you're still pretending to be some innocent young man!"
"Brother, I truly don't know what this place is. Could you introduce it to me?" Ji Hao asked humbly.
People streamed around them, and rows of willow trees lined the lakeshore. The man glanced at him and said, "The famous Wonderful Desire Nunnery of the Holy City. You don't know it?"
"What kind of place is Wonderful Desire Nunnery? This is my first time in the Holy City." Ji Hao asked in apparent confusion.
He naturally knew what kind of place Wonderful Desire Nunnery was, but he only recognized the name, not the location.
"Naturally, it is one of the Holy City's ten greatest pleasure quarters. You came to the Holy City for the first time and headed straight here. A fellow man of the Dao, I see..."
"Wonderful Desire Nunnery!" Ji Hao looked up at it, then turned and left.
"Forget it. Wonderful Desire Nunnery clouds the mind. I should first retrieve the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sword. That is more important."
"Nothing to do today. I'll go to Wonderful Desire Nunnery to listen to music."