Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

With the end of the battle, rivers of blood flowed through Wangchuan City.

After witnessing this scene, the Martial Artists from the other nations grew even more wary of Lin Hao.

They each began to retreat, but before they had gone far, Wangchuan City suddenly began to shake violently.

This was an ancient city that had stood on the Starry Sky Ancient Road for countless years. Its violent shaking, as if the sky was falling and the earth was splitting open, was truly terrifying.

Black clouds pressed down from the heavens, blanketing the entirety of Wangchuan City.

The Martial Artists looked up at the sky, all of them aghast.

Everyone discovered that they couldn’t move.

The black clouds in the sky descended relentlessly, and the Martial Artists could only watch, paralyzed.

This drove countless Martial Artists to despair.

Surrounded by the Cangnan Empire’s Martial Artists, Lin Hao also gazed up at the sky. But unlike the others, his expression held not despair, only confusion.

As the black clouds pressed down, Lin Hao, like the other Martial Artists, found himself completely unable to move.

Lin Hao’s Spiritual Sense was exceptionally sharp. If there were any real danger, his body would naturally react.

But now, facing the descending black clouds, despite the terrifying pressure, Lin Hao didn’t sense the slightest hint of danger.

And so, Lin Hao simply looked up in puzzlement.

As time passed, the black clouds sank lower and lower, eventually enveloping everyone.

At that moment, Lin Hao’s vision suddenly went black.

When Lin Hao’s sight returned, he couldn’t help but be startled.

Lin Hao found himself in the same spot, but everyone around him had vanished without a sound.

It was a horrifying realization.

One must remember that Lin Hao’s cultivation was at the Sixth Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm. He would have been able to sense it even if a Martial Artist of the Spirit Transformation Realm had made a move.

Besides, not even a Spirit Transformation Realm expert could make so many Martial Artists vanish at once.

’The only possibility is...’

The next moment, Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed.

’I’m afraid the Starry Sky Ancient Road has opened, and I’m already on it.’

With this thought, Lin Hao took a step forward.

With a single step, Lin Hao was already a hundred meters away.

’I can use my cultivation now.’

This confirmed Lin Hao’s speculation.

"Young man, how about a stick of candied hawthorn?" Suddenly, a voice sounded right next to Lin Hao.

Lin Hao’s figure shot backward, a flicker of shock in his eyes.

’Someone was that close to me, and I didn’t even know? The owner of that voice is far too terrifying.’

Just then, a stick of candied hawthorn appeared before Lin Hao.

Lin Hao retreated quickly, but the owner of the voice followed him like a shadow.

Moreover, Lin Hao could now see the speaker’s appearance clearly.

He was an old man, dressed in a worn-out, grayish-white robe. His old eyes were cloudy, and his body was nothing but skin and bones.

Furthermore, there was only a single stick of candied hawthorn on the old man’s rack, which seemed rather strange.

The old man looked ordinary; he didn’t even have the aura of a Martial Artist fluctuating around him.

But Lin Hao’s expression was extremely solemn.

He had used the Heaven-Stepping Step, yet the old man was still able to follow him like a shadow. That alone was enough to prove how terrifying he was.

"Excuse me, sir. I’ll take one," Lin Hao said as he shot backward, simultaneously taking out a silver banknote from his storage ring to pay.

To his surprise, the old man shook his head. "My last stick of candied hawthorn is very expensive. This won’t be enough to buy it."

Lin Hao’s brow twitched. His silver banknote was enough to buy not just one, but hundreds, even thousands of sticks of candied hawthorn.

’This old man who appeared out of nowhere has quite an appetite.’

Lin Hao said nothing, simply reaching to take out more silver banknotes.

"Don’t bother. Even if you take out all the silver coins you have, you still won’t be able to afford it," the old man said, shaking his head.

"Then what do you want?"

Hearing Lin Hao’s question, the old man suddenly grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "Your life."

The moment he spoke, the old man’s cloudy eyes snapped open, and a sharp glint flashed within them.

At the same time, the old man thrust the stick of candied hawthorn in his hand toward Lin Hao’s throat.

It was fast—impossibly fast.

Fortunately, Lin Hao was prepared. He tilted his head to the side and dodged.

In the distance, a strange fluctuation appeared.

Where the candied hawthorn had pointed, all the buildings vanished. The area had been completely pierced by the old man’s thrust, as if a road had appeared, stretching straight into the distance with no end in sight.

The old man’s single strike was terrifying beyond measure.

His strike having missed, the old man moved the candied hawthorn again, sweeping it toward Lin Hao.

Lin Hao had anticipated this, and he chopped down at the stick of candied hawthorn with the edge of his hand.

This old man was simply too bizarre, so Lin Hao didn’t hold back in the slightest, directly unleashing his Chaos True Essence.

Even without his Chaos True Essence, Lin Hao’s strike was incredibly powerful. With it, he could sever even a Tier Three Spiritual Artifact.

However, his hand chop only managed to block the attack’s momentum; it didn’t damage the candied hawthorn in the slightest.

"You’re quite strong for a young man," the old man said as the candied hawthorn in his hand attacked once more.

Since his previous strike had been ineffective, Lin Hao naturally wouldn’t use the same move again.

While leaning back, Lin Hao shot a kick out.

The kick was both fast and vicious, landing squarely on the old man’s wrist—the one holding the candied hawthorn.

A sharp CRACK echoed.

But it wasn’t over. Lin Hao’s body twisted impossibly, flipping a full three hundred and sixty degrees.

At the same time, Lin Hao kicked off the ground, his entire body shooting toward the old man like a bolt of lightning.

Fast. It was all too fast.

From the moment Lin Hao kicked out to when he charged the old man, the entire sequence was completed in the blink of an eye, all in one smooth motion.

At that moment, Lin Hao’s hand seemed to transform into an indestructible weapon, piercing straight through the old man’s body.

Having landed the blow, Lin Hao vibrated his hand, intending to disintegrate the body.

But the old man’s body suddenly shot backward.

Lin Hao tried to give chase but was horrified to discover that while the old man appeared to be right in front of him, he was already unreachable.

It was a very strange sensation, but Lin Hao knew with absolute clarity that it was real.

’I can’t catch him. With my current abilities, I can’t catch this old man.’

This feeling rose in Lin Hao’s heart.

Without any sense of frustration or helplessness, Lin Hao stopped and stared coldly at the old man.

"How many years has it been? A hundred, five hundred, maybe a thousand? No one on the Starry Sky Ancient Road has ever injured me this badly," the old man murmured.

These words rang in Lin Hao’s ears, shocking him to the core.

Lin Hao had originally thought this final leg of the Starry Sky Ancient Road would be like the previous ones—a fight against Martial Artists from other empires or Devil Beasts. He never expected to be facing the ancient inhabitants of the Road.

’No, this isn’t an ancient inhabitant. It’s their spiritual imprint.’

’A spiritual imprint is far weaker than the original body.’

Recalling the way the old man had appeared and how he had just retreated, Lin Hao understood his state.

Once he figured it out, Lin Hao couldn’t help but feel a sense of calm settle over him.

However, the old man’s next move left Lin Hao utterly stunned...