The Ancient Desolate Sacred Body Was Simply a Bottomless Pit

Halfway up Clear Void Peak.

A lake of emerald water mirrored the blue sky, while weeping willows along its banks wreathed the shore in mist and rosy clouds.

Ye Hao sat quietly cross-legged on a bluestone beside the lake. His Life Palace shone like a celestial palace, his Wheel Sea gleamed with golden light, and every pore of his body radiated dazzling gold.

The power of his blood surged through his body like mighty rivers, while behind him, a thousand-foot-tall phantom of the Heavenly Emperor looked down upon the mountains and rivers from the clouds.

As the Purple Empyrean Holy Lord watched the phenomena accompanying Ye Hao's cultivation, his astonishment only deepened.

Ye Hao's blood surged like a dragon, and his spirit and will illuminated the heavens, in no way inferior to those peerless prodigies at the peak of the Marquis realm. The phenomena of heaven and earth accompanying his cultivation shook the universe all the more.

Yet before rounding that bend in the mountain path, he had not sensed Ye Hao's presence at all.

Even now, though Ye Hao was clearly cultivating not far ahead of him, he felt as though countless worlds lay between them. Ye Hao's presence was hazy and obscure, as insubstantial and elusive as dreams, illusions, and flowers in the void.

A world with every step, each step different from the last!

Clear Void Peak's mountain-protecting formation concealed heaven's secrets and muddled fate, leaving even a mighty Holy Lord unable to discern Ye Hao's precise cultivation. That was why he had asked.

Jiang Chen shot Ye Hao a displeased glance and curled his lip. "This little brat has wasted so many resources, yet he's still in the Life Palace Realm. He's simply a bottomless pit!"

"No wonder so few Ancient Desolate Sacred Bodies throughout the ages have reached full mastery!"

"With consumption like this, even a holy land couldn't bear the cost!"

Jiang Chen knew that cultivating the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body would consume vast quantities of resources, and he had already prepared himself before taking Ye Hao as his disciple.

But Ye Hao had consumed far too much!

In the few days since Jiang Chen had brought Ye Hao back to the mountain, Ye Hao had already consumed six leaves of Dao Comprehension Tea!

And that was with a supreme treasure like the Chaos Azure Lotus's root nourishing him!

Any other prodigy would have reached at least the peak of the Marquis realm, yet this brat was still in the Life Palace Realm!

This was only the second realm of cultivation. Heaven knew how many resources he would consume in the future!

Of course, an ordinary prodigy would need a year or two to fully absorb the Dao resonance and vital essence contained in a single leaf of Dao Comprehension Tea. They could not compare to the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body at all.

The Purple Empyrean Holy Lord chuckled. "Junior Brother Jiang, your expectations for your disciple are too high!"

"As far as I know, it has only been a few days since Ye Hao broke through to the Life Palace Realm. He should focus on consolidating his realm. Pulling up seedlings to help them grow might damage his Dao foundation!"

"As for cultivation resources, our Purple Firmament Holy Land can provide them!"

"We dare not guarantee that our Purple Firmament Holy Land can afford the resources the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body will need later on, but supplying what he needs for these first few realms will be no problem!"

Jiang Chen looked at the Purple Empyrean Holy Lord with an odd expression and said quietly, "If you knew what cultivation resources he was consuming, you probably wouldn't say that."

"What could someone in the Life Palace Realm possibly consume..."

The Purple Empyrean Holy Lord thought little of it, but before he could finish, he froze and cried out involuntarily, "Dao Comprehension Tea?!"

On the bluestone beside the lake, Ye Hao sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his face calm and unruffled. A glittering golden leaf suddenly flew out of his Wheel Sea and pressed against his brow, radiating an immortal divine resonance.

The golden leaf was shaped like a divine bell, crystalline and dazzling, its surface covered in profound, intricate patterns.

Golden light flowed and Dao resonance spread, while a refreshing tea fragrance could be smelled even from far away.

Hum!

The instant the leaf of Dao Comprehension Tea pressed against Ye Hao's brow, golden light flashed across it, and a radiant golden bell appeared high above his head.

Dragon- and phoenix-like runes covered the bell, making Ye Hao look like the Heavenly Emperor descended into the mortal world.

Dong!

The golden bell trembled gently, releasing a sonorous, majestic toll. A gleaming golden wave spread from the crown of Ye Hao's head to the soles of his feet.

Rumble!

Thunderous rumbling came from within Ye Hao's body, and his surging blood transformed into a beacon-smoke column of vital essence that shot straight into the heavens.

The gleaming golden bell wave seemed to contain boundless Great Dao essence. Like a tide, it washed over every inch of his blood and bones, while heavenly sounds of the Great Dao, like those of a sacred sacrifice, faintly rang out within him.

As the bell tolled, the radiance of the Dao Comprehension Tea leaf at Ye Hao's brow dimmed a little, and the golden bell hanging above his head seemed to grow somewhat more illusory.

Dong! Dong! Dong...

The bell tolled again and again, producing successive waves that carried Great Dao essence as vast as the sea and washed over Ye Hao's limbs and bones time after time.

After nine tolls, the leaf of Dao Comprehension Tea at Ye Hao's brow silently dissipated, and the golden bell above his head vanished as well. Only boundless vital essence remained, frantically scouring and cleansing his body.

Every inch of Ye Hao's blood and bones was crystalline and brilliant, blazing with golden light as though forged from the purest gold in the world, without the slightest impurity. The pressure emanating from the Heavenly Emperor manifestation behind him grew ever more terrifying.

Hum!

Just then, an illusory black shackle appeared deep within the celestial-palace-like Life Palace at Ye Hao's brow.

Fine, densely packed Great Dao runes flickered across the shackle. Each tiny rune was as unfathomable as an abyss, radiating an ancient, mighty sealing power.

These were none other than the Heaven and Earth Shackles within the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body's True Spirit!

"The Heaven and Earth Shackles! Is Ye Hao about to attempt a breakthrough to the True Spirit Realm? Do we need to intervene?"

Purple light blazed in the Purple Empyrean Holy Lord's eyes as he asked in a low voice.

The Purple Empyrean Holy Lord naturally understood what took priority. At this critical moment in Ye Hao's breakthrough, he could no longer spare any attention to asking why Ye Hao possessed Dao Comprehension Tea.

Comparatively speaking, helping Ye Hao, an Ancient Desolate Sacred Body, break through was clearly more important.

Jiang Chen waved a hand. "There's no need. Only by breaking the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body's Great Dao Shackles himself can he truly unearth its potential."

At those words, the Purple Empyrean Holy Lord steadied himself for the moment and fixed his eyes on Ye Hao, afraid of missing anything.

Ordinary people had no opportunity to witness an Ancient Desolate Sacred Body break the Heaven and Earth Curse and advance to the next realm.

The moment the Great Dao Shackles within Ye Hao's True Spirit appeared, they rapidly spread. In the blink of an eye, pitch-black chains filled his Life Palace, then followed the flow of his blood throughout his body.

In mere moments, a layer of pitch-black chains covered Ye Hao's entire body. Unfathomable runes flickered, radiating immense sealing power.

The Ancient Desolate Sacred Body was sealed by Heaven and Earth Shackles at every realm. The higher the realm, the stronger the sealing power within the Heaven and Earth Shackles!

The Heaven and Earth Shackles of the True Spirit Realm seemed intent on sealing away every last bit of Ye Hao's power!

"Break!"

Ye Hao abruptly opened his eyes. Two brilliant golden beams burst from them as he unleashed a world-shaking roar.

At that moment, the towering phantom of the Heavenly Emperor behind him instantly sank into his body.

The power within all eight hundred and forty million particles of his body boiled over. A vast, invincible presence radiated from him, as though it could suppress countless evil beings.

Crack, crack, crack...

The pitch-black chains covering Ye Hao shattered inch by inch, and all the power in his body was instantly unsealed!

Without further hesitation, Ye Hao sent all his power surging forth, blasting it in a single rush into the Heaven and Earth Shackles within his Life Palace.

Crack!

With a barely audible sound of breaking, the Heaven and Earth Shackles on Ye Hao's True Spirit shattered with a crash.