Volume 3 - Chapter 366: The Chosen of Calamity - Part 2
By now, Li Hao had already arrived before the Supreme of the Celestial Palace.
At this sight, countless voices erupted in astonishment and envy from the mountain peak.
“Look! Haotian’s right in front of the Supreme!”
“He must have been summoned. Otherwise, how would he dare?”
“What’s going on? Could it be that the Supreme wants to take him as a disciple?!”
“Surprised? With Haotian’s talent, becoming the Supreme’s personal disciple is totally reasonable.”
Although the crowd was stunned, when they recalled Li Hao’s astonishing performance in the recent battle, it all felt deserved—natural, even.
In the crowd, Jianxin and Mingyue’s eyes shifted slightly. They exchanged a look, then flew toward their master’s side.
If this young man was to be taken in as a disciple, he would become their junior disciple from here on.
Meanwhile, in the Great Dream Nine Abysses Sect, the Great Dream Master and Li Tiemu, along with the others, were all frozen in place before exchanging baffled glances.
None of them had expected this turn of events, and yet it seemed… almost inevitable. So much so that they didn’t even know how to react.
“The Supreme… wants to take in a junior disciple?”
“This…”
Yuexi and Gu Yan both stood there dazed, complicated emotions flashing in their eyes. Still, in their hearts, they were sincerely happy for Li Hao.
To become a disciple of the Supreme—that was a fortune granted by the heavens. But with that, the gap between them and Li Hao would only widen. Before long, they might not even be qualified to call him “junior brother” anymore.
Amid the crowd’s noisy wonder and envy, Li Hao offered a slight cupped-fist salute to the Supreme of the Celestial Palace and greeted him respectfully.
The Supreme’s expression remained unchanged from beginning to end—calm as still water, giving no hint of his thoughts. He spoke slowly:
“You are called Haotian? Your talent is remarkable. Where do you come from?”
Li Hao’s gaze flickered slightly, and he answered in a quiet voice, “Junior hails from the Yan Chu Immortal Dynasty.”
“You weren’t born there, were you?”
The Supreme replied serenely, but now with a faint tinge of coldness in his voice.
Li Hao was stunned. He looked up at the Supreme, only to see those imperial eyes like deep, flickering abyssal lanterns, gazing down upon him. The immense pressure made him feel an urge to kneel and bow.
But his Dao Heart was eternal. Even beneath that crushing authority, he remained clear-headed and silently vigilant.
Could it be… that the Supreme had already seen through his origins?
It made sense. An Immortal Emperor was the apex of the True Realm—wielding inconceivable power, beyond imagination or reckoning.
Before such a being, all disguises might be meaningless.
And in any case, there was nothing shameful about his origin.
He replied, “Junior is from the False Realm of Heavenly Calamity.”
As soon as his clear voice fell, Li Hao suddenly felt the surrounding mists slow, and the clamor and admiration from the mountaintop abruptly fell into silence.
Only a few scattered murmurs of shock and confusion echoed through the hush—each one now strikingly loud.
Li Hao frowned slightly and looked up again. The Supreme’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest, revealing nothing.
But when he glanced around, he noticed that aside from the Emperor of Chu, the other Immortal Dynasty emperors all bore strange expressions as they looked at him.
Down below, among the many sect masters and elders of the immortal dynasties, most wore stunned looks tinged with realization—complicated emotions etched on their faces.
Li Hao was confused. Had he said something wrong?
“What’s going on?”
“What happened?”
Some young boys and girls in the crowd asked the elders beside them in confusion. The elders, however, had complicated expressions and didn’t reply.
“Is the False Realm of Heavenly Calamity… some kind of incredible place? Why have I never heard of it?”
Someone asked in wonder, staring at Li Hao as if that realm were some mysterious, exalted holy land. The name alone seemed to send shivers through many.
“You haven’t heard of it, and that’s normal. It was a matter of one hundred thousand years ago…”
An old man looked down and replied softly to his descendant, eyes filled with ancient memories.
“Chiying.”
Just as Li Hao stood bewildered, the Supreme of the Celestial Palace called out a name.
A crimson figure atop the mountain shifted slightly at the summons, then rose and flew over. In the blink of an eye, she landed beside Li Hao and bowed.
“Master.”
Li Hao turned to look at the woman beside him—it was none other than Chiying, the one who had helped him when the False Realm of Heavenly Calamity was invaded by Ancient Fiends. She had also once saved his life.
He had long known that she was this Supreme’s disciple—though not a personal one.
“At that time, when you returned from the False Realm of Heavenly Calamity with a group of people—was he among them?”
The Supreme asked in a neutral tone.
Chiying nodded.
She had already reported this matter to her master back then. The Supreme, unusually, had asked for specific details, and she had shared everything. What struck her most had been Li Hao himself. She had seen in him the bearing of a rare prodigy.
What she hadn’t expected was that in just a few short years, he would step onto the battlefield of the Southern Domain Assembly—and perform with such brilliance, defeating powerful clans one after another.
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