Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Or rather, Lin Hao had poured all his focus into resisting the Transformation Power, completely ignoring the cyan longsword.

Lin Hao didn’t dodge or evade. The cyan longsword shot across the sky, flying toward him at an unimaginable speed.

PFFT!

The cyan longsword stabbed directly into Lin Hao’s body.

However, it only penetrated a short distance before it could advance no further.

As the cyan longsword entered his body, Lin Hao didn’t so much as tremble.

It was as if this body no longer belonged to him at all.

This scene left both Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui a bit bewildered.

"The Transformation Power is too strong, so he has to use every means at his disposal to resist it," Sun Yingrui guessed.

After all, like Hua Jianzhong, he was a Spirit Transformation Realm Martial Artist. He had felt the Transformation Power before and knew how potent it was.

"He’s underestimating the five Divine Power Secret Skills. Even dripping water can wear through stone. I’m afraid that by the time he breaks free from the Transformation Power, his body will have been pierced through," Hua Jianzhong said, shaking his head with a wry smile.

In his eyes, the crisis Lin Hao now faced was nearly impossible to resolve.

As the two of them spoke, they noticed that Lin Hao’s body in the void was fading again.

"What’s happening? Can it be that he can’t resist the Transformation Power?" Sun Yingrui asked, confused.

Hua Jianzhong’s eyes shone with a brilliant, strange light. He didn’t answer, simply staring unblinkingly at Lin Hao in the void.

A moment later, Hua Jianzhong looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

He was so shocked by what he saw that his soul nearly scattered.

Staggering backward, Hua Jianzhong stammered, "D-D-Dao... S-Sound..."

Although it was only two words, it seemed to have taken all of Hua Jianzhong’s strength just to say them.

And to Sun Yingrui’s ears, those two words were no less than a clap of thunder.

Sun Yingrui’s eyes abruptly widened, then bulged like bronze bells, looking as if they were about to burst from their sockets.

Dao Sound!

Lin Hao had actually triggered the Dao Sound! The very same Dao Sound that one could only encounter when advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm had been triggered by Lin Hao at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm. This was simply outrageous!

He opened his mouth to speak but found that no words would come out.

In the next moment, several elders appeared out of thin air.

The elders of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion had all arrived.

With a great wave of his hand, the Fifth Elder swept up all the Cangnan Martial Artists and sent them toward the upper courtyard of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion.

As for Jiang Sen, another elder also waved his hand, sending him flying into the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

After this was done, the elders worked in unison to completely seal off the area.

Lin Hao had triggered the Dao Sound at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm. If those "above" learned of this, they would likely break the rules to capture him!

"Dean, hurry and think of something! That kid doesn’t know his own limits; he’s actually trying to listen to the Dao Sound!" Fifth Elder Liu Bo’s eyes gleamed as he glanced at the void. When he looked back, his expression was one of absolute panic.

HISS!

Hearing this, Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui gasped in shock.

The divine might of the Dao Sound was unfathomable, and the Dao Sound each person heard was different. The stronger one’s talent, the stronger the Dao Sound they would hear.

In the past, when Martial Artists underwent transformation and perished while advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm, it wasn’t because they weren’t strong enough, but precisely because they were too strong.

For Lin Hao to be able to hear the Dao Sound at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm, one could only imagine how terrifying his talent was.

The Dao Sound he was facing now had to be terrifying to the extreme.

If Lin Hao tried to listen to the Dao Sound, a single misstep would cause him to be transformed into the Dao!

But Guan Zhengyang just shook his head.

He let out a long sigh, his expression incredibly complex, a look of anguish on his face.

"There’s nothing to be done. The Dao Sound Lin Hao is facing is different from what any Martial Artist has ever faced before. He’s only at the Seventh Layer of Soul Gathering Realm, yet he has triggered the martial domain. This is an act that defies the heavens and will not be tolerated by the Great Dao. Therefore, the Dao Sound he hears is not meant to serve him, but to destroy him."

At these words, everyone fell silent.

"Our Celestial Yang’s Heaven-Breaking Pavilion is the weakest among the continents under the Divine Demon Destruction Domain. Since the fall of Emperor Hongtian, we have been suppressed for ten thousand years. I see the hope of our rise in Lin Hao, so he absolutely cannot be lost. Dean, I, Liu Bo, have lived long enough. Is there any way..."

Fifth Elder Liu Bo spoke, willing to sacrifice himself to save Lin Hao.

However, Guan Zhengyang shook his head again, cutting him off. "The Dao Sound... We are only at the Spirit Transformation Realm Peak. Can we reverse the Great Dao? The only one who can save him is himself!"

"Sigh!" Liu Bo let out a long sigh, then reached out a hand, grabbing for the cyan longsword in the sky.

’Since I can’t save Lin Hao, I can at least do what I can and leave the rest to fate.’

However, Guan Zhengyang stopped his attempt as well.

"We all saw him take action on the final stretch of the starry Ancient Road. Did he overlook anything then?" Guan Zhengyang asked.

Then, without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Therefore, I have reason to believe that he has his own purpose for leaving that cyan longsword there. We don’t need to do anything. We just need to watch and see what happens."

The Fifth Elder thought about it and agreed. He withdrew his hand and stared unblinkingly at the void.

Although Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui were also staring at the void, they had already retreated to a corner.

Despite their cultivation at the Fourth Layer of Spirit Transformation Realm, they didn’t dare to even breathe too loudly in front of these elders.

Moreover, they had never witnessed such a grand occasion where all the elders of the Elder Hall appeared at once for a single person.

Besides, everyone knew the elders were in a terrible mood. If they decided to vent their frustration, Hua Jianzhong and Sun Yingrui would be out of luck.

A moment later, however, the two breathed a sigh of relief. All the elders were focused nervously on Lin Hao, having long since forgotten their existence.

They had a mind to slip away, but Lin Hao’s performance kept them rooted to the spot.

After another moment, they too became entranced as they stared into the void.

In the void, Lin Hao was naturally unaware that his every move was tugging at the heartstrings of the onlookers.

At this very moment, Lin Hao was sensing a crisis unlike any he had ever experienced before.

Although he already knew about the Dao Sound and was mentally prepared, when Lin Hao opened his mind to listen to it, he discovered that the Dao Sound he was facing was far, far more terrifying than the one Heavenly Lord Chu Tiandu had faced.

In the space of just a few breaths, Lin Hao sensed several moments of mortal peril.

A single misstep, and he would be devoured by the Dao Sound.

It only took a few breaths to give Lin Hao the urge to start cursing.

He realized that the Dao Sound he was facing was fundamentally different from the one Heavenly Lord Chu Tiandu faced in his memories.

Within this Dao Sound, all Lin Hao could feel was oppressive might and the power of destruction!

This Dao Sound wanted to destroy him.

Upon discovering this, not only was Lin Hao unafraid, but an unprecedented fighting spirit rose within him.

’The heavens can be defied; I am invincible!’

This martial conviction was already deeply ingrained in Lin Hao’s mind. Now, facing a Dao Sound bent on his destruction, his belief in his own invincibility only grew firmer.

And with that, Lin Hao began his counterattack...