Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Under the watchful eyes of the tortoise and Lord Lingdi, Lin Hao’s hand touched the Chaos Qi.

Then, both of them stared with wide eyes.

They watched as Lin Hao’s hand passed through the Chaos Gas Wall as if it were nothing!

Even beings with origins as heaven-shaking as the tortoise and Lord Lingdi gasped in shock at the sight.

Acquired Chaos Qi is born from the will of heaven and earth. No matter how sky-high your cultivation, contact with it has only one outcome: utter annihilation!

It is known as the reversed scale of the Celestial Dao—to touch it is to die!

But now, Lin Hao’s hand had actually passed through. This overturned ten thousand years of their understanding.

The two of them just stared, dumbfounded, at Lin Hao.

They watched as he put one hand through, then took a step forward.

Still meeting no resistance, one of Lin Hao’s legs passed through as well.

And then, his entire body.

Only then did the tortoise and Lord Lingdi snap back to their senses. They exchanged a look and said in unison, "He’s inside?"

Their tone was one of uncertainty.

They simply couldn’t believe what they had just seen.

"I think... he... he is," they then replied to each other, once again in unison.

"Could it be that by absorbing the Saint Medicine’s energy through the Chaos Qi, he made the medicine stir and suppress the Qi?" the tortoise guessed, its eyes glinting as it stared at the hazy gas.

"You go try," Lord Lingdi goaded the tortoise.

"Er, fi... fine."

The tortoise ambled over slowly, tucking its head into its shell. Then, it cautiously reached out a claw to touch the Chaos Qi.

Even a ten-thousand-year-old being like the tortoise was deeply wary of this Chaos Qi and had never dared to touch it. Otherwise, the Saint Medicine inside would have likely been gone long ago.

But now, Lin Hao had actually gotten in. And with a "beauty" watching from the side, the tortoise couldn’t chicken out.

The moment one of its claws touched the edge of the Chaos Qi, a terrifying aura surged forth.

BOOM!

The tortoise’s body was sent flying by a tremendous force, vanishing thousands of miles in an instant, with fresh blood scattering through the air.

It wasn’t just the tortoise; even Lord Lingdi was caught in the blast, knocked flying and nearly falling off the summit of Forbidden God Mountain.

"Such incredible power!" Lord Lingdi exclaimed in shock as it scrambled to its feet.

If not for its extraordinary origins, a shockwave like that would have likely been fatal even for a Spirit Transformation Realm Martial Artist!

’His physical body is far stronger than before. To be able to enter so effortlessly, there are only two possibilities. One is that his True Essence is of the same origin as this Chaos Qi! The other is...’ After the initial shock, Lord Lingdi suddenly came to a realization and muttered to itself.

After stating the first possibility, it stopped. The second one was simply too shocking, too heaven-defying. No one had ever succeeded since ancient times, not even an Emperor Venerable!

’In any case, that second scenario is absolutely impossible.’

Behind the Chaos Qi, Lin Hao was naturally unaware of everything that had happened outside after he entered.

Upon entering, Lin Hao was immediately stunned by the sight before him.

About a hundred meters away, there was a small pool of water, and the water within it was incomparably clear.

Lin Hao was one hundred percent certain he had never seen water so pristine.

He had the strange feeling that this pool did not belong in the mortal world.

And in the middle of the pool, a plant that wasn’t particularly tall caught Lin Hao’s eye, and he found he couldn’t look away.

The plant was only about three feet tall and crimson all over. It had only nine leaves, making it seem rather plain, but the single red fruit in its center brought it into perfect harmony.

Needless to say, this was the Saint Medicine the tortoise had spoken of—the one that had endured ninety-nine years of lightning strikes three times, taken three thousand years to grow, three thousand years to blossom, and three thousand years to bear fruit!

Its nine fiery red leaves swayed gracefully. Against the backdrop of the clear water, the wondrous tree appeared mysterious and grand.

Lin Hao’s heart began to pound uncontrollably.

At this very moment, Lin Hao had only one thought in his mind: ’I have to get it!’

The moment the thought arose, Lin Hao’s body sprang into action.

However, Lin Hao had only taken a single step when an overwhelmingly suppressive force descended upon him.

The force came from the sky above.

BOOM!

Caught off guard, Lin Hao’s body was slammed directly into the ground by this force.

If Lin Hao hadn’t supported himself with his arms at the last second, there was no telling how deep he would have been driven into the earth.

Lin Hao pushed against the ground with both hands, circulating his Emperor Art to resist the power of the heavens, but he was still submerged with only his head showing.

It was an utterly terrifying scene.

One must remember, this was the summit of Forbidden God Mountain, where the rock was unimaginably hard.

Yet even so, Lin Hao had been slammed into the ground, a testament to the terrifying power at play.

However, Lin Hao’s physical body was even more terrifying.

With a slight push of his arms, Lin Hao leaped out of the ground, his body completely unscathed.

Looking up at the sky, Lin Hao’s fighting spirit soared.

Circulating his Emperor Art at full power, Lin Hao took another step.

RUMBLE!

An even stronger suppressive force came crashing down.

This time, Lin Hao’s back bent slightly before he suddenly straightened up with a surge of power.

The timing of his back bending was perfect, greatly buffering the powerful suppressive force, but mustering the strength to surge upward was incredibly difficult.

BOOM!

The next moment, his body was once again slammed into the ground.

Lin Hao leaped out again and tried to take another step. However, every time he tried to move forward, the heavens would rage.

Inside the Chaos Gas Wall, a terrifying aura permeated the air.

Outside the Chaos Gas Wall, Lord Lingdi looked up at the sky. It was stunned to see dark clouds rolling overhead, as if something was about to break through, its might terrifyingly immense.

"That kid is simply inhuman!" a voice sounded next to Lord Lingdi, which was also staring up at the sky.

Lord Lingdi looked down and saw the tortoise, covered from head to toe in wounds.

Although the tortoise had only been born ten thousand years ago, it was a being that even Lord Lingdi was wary of; its origins were surely heaven-shaking.

And the fact that Forbidden God Mountain existed specifically to suppress it or its parents spoke volumes about how terrifying it was.

’If a creature as terrifying as the tortoise was injured by the Chaos Gas Wall, then the strength of Lin Hao’s body is...’

Lord Lingdi shuddered and didn’t dare to think about it any further.

"What’s happening inside?" Shaking its head to clear the thought, Lord Lingdi asked the tortoise. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Despite Lord Lingdi’s own heaven-shaking origins and incredible abilities, which allowed it to perceive many forbidden things, it was powerless when it came to Forbidden God Mountain.

Everything about the Divine Mountain was shrouded in obscurity, and Lord Lingdi could not see through it.

But the tortoise had lived on Forbidden God Mountain for ten thousand years, so it naturally knew more.

"That Saint Medicine was likely nurtured from the lifeblood of Emperor Hongtian. The Celestial Dao can’t do anything to it, so it settled for the next best thing: preventing any living being from picking it," the tortoise said hatefully, glaring at the sky.

"This is the descent of heavenly punishment!" Lord Lingdi finally understood what the rolling black clouds in the sky meant.

"Correct. The Celestial Dao is stopping Lin Hao from picking the Saint Medicine, but it doesn’t dare use its full power. If it oversteps the rules, even the Celestial Dao itself will be erased," the tortoise said in a low voice.

Lord Lingdi lowered its head, an unprecedented shock in its eyes.

Just now, Lin Hao had passed through the acquired Chaos Gas Wall without any hindrance. That wall was born from the will of the Celestial Dao itself. In other words, Lin Hao’s True Essence could not be of the same origin. Otherwise, there would be no heavenly punishment descending now.

’That means the second possibility is magnified infinitely!’

However, thinking of that possibility, Lord Lingdi ultimately shook its head. ’With Lin Hao’s current cultivation and strength, that’s absolutely impossible.’

Now, Lord Lingdi was completely baffled by Lin Hao.

For the first time, Lord Lingdi couldn’t see through someone.

It gave it a strong urge to drag Lin Hao out of the Chaos Gas Wall and demand an explanation.

Meanwhile, inside the Chaos Gas Wall, a long trench now lay before Lin Hao.

It wasn’t wide, but it was like a celestial chasm, an impassable gulf that Lin Hao simply could not cross.

Gazing at the wondrous tree a hundred meters away, Lin Hao felt immense unwillingness in his heart.

But in the end, Lin Hao could only give up.

That wondrous Saint Medicine was not something he could pick at his current level of cultivation.

Brushing the dirt off his clothes, Lin Hao turned and retreated.

Seeing Lin Hao emerge, the tortoise and Lord Lingdi quickly surrounded him.

After looking him up and down, the tortoise visibly relaxed, but then uttered a comment that was asking for a beating, "You didn’t even die from that? There’s no justice in this world!"

"If there were justice, would you have been suppressed down there for ten thousand years? I don’t believe in heavenly justice, only my own," Lin Hao said, looking at the tortoise with a faint, unreadable smile.

"You know?" the tortoise asked, its words seeming to come out of nowhere.

Lin Hao nodded, his expression betraying nothing.

This earned the tortoise’s admiration, and for the first time ever, it became serious.

After staring at Lin Hao for a long while, it suddenly whispered a few words to Lord Lingdi.

Then, Lin Hao witnessed a comical scene.

The tortoise and Lord Lingdi were both standing upright like humans, and the tortoise’s claw was pressed against Lord Lingdi’s back, as if transferring power.

Before Lin Hao could understand what was happening, a bolt of lightning from the heavens had already struck down.

The tortoise and Lord Lingdi were hit, and blood streamed from their wounds.

"Quick, quick, give me two porcelain vials!" The two creatures lay on the ground, their eyes dim, but the tortoise was extremely excited as it asked Lin Hao for the vials.

Although Lin Hao didn’t understand, he still took out two porcelain vials from his storage ring.

Then, Lin Hao was utterly shocked by the tortoise’s bizarre behavior.

The little guy was actually using the two vials to collect the blood from its own and Lord Lingdi’s bodies.

Before long, both vials were filled.

The moment the tortoise corked the vials, it didn’t even have the strength left to pick them up.

"Kid, hurry up and heal us," the tortoise said weakly, seeing Lin Hao standing there dumbfounded.

The last time the tortoise was struck by lightning on the summit of Forbidden God Mountain, Lin Hao had healed it by circulating his Emperor Art. Knowing the miraculous properties of his Cultivation Technique, the tortoise naturally didn’t hold back.

Lin Hao was now leagues stronger than last time. Circulating his technique with both hands, he quickly healed the external wounds of the tortoise and Lord Lingdi, helping them regain a bit of their vitality.

"Kid, take good care of these two vials. Our blood might not compare to that Saint Medicine, but it’s far more potent than the Spirit Grass you saw here last time. Consider it compensation for the Spirit Grass I ate," the tortoise said in a magnanimous tone.

Lin Hao took them, a little puzzled.

It was injured last time, too, but the tortoise hadn’t mentioned anything about its blood.

This time, it was being quite generous.

’This is a classic case of showing unsolicited kindness. It definitely has ulterior motives.’

Carefully putting the vials away, Lin Hao asked, "Alright, spit it out. What do you want me to do?"