Martial Artists on the continent all awaken their bloodlines before condensing their Divine Souls. There are no exceptions.

But Lin Hao did the exact opposite, first gathering his Divine Soul, then forging his bloodline.

After consuming the Nine Dragon God Refining Pill, Lin Hao not only witnessed the formation of the nine sons of the dragon but also the birth of their mother—a Black Dragon.

Dragons are sacred and inviolable, their power so immense they are like gods.

Yet, even then, when Lin Hao condensed his Divine Soul, he had forsaken the Black Dragon and chosen his True Self.

As it turned out, his choice had been the right one.

When his True Self took form, it soared above the Black Dragon.

His True Self Divine Soul was powerful enough to defy the heavens.

Now, an evil power was trying to pull it out of Lin Hao’s body. Without any prompting from Lin Hao, the True Self was already enraged.

Chaos Qi began to fill Lin Hao’s Dantian, growing ever denser.

Then, the Chaos Qi surged upward again, rushing into Lin Hao’s eyes.

Instantly, Lin Hao’s eyes became incredibly bizarre.

The sun and moon began to form within his eyes!

His left eye transformed into the sun, his right into the moon!

To manifest the sun and moon within one’s eyes—it was an absolutely soul-shaking sight.

This was a Divine Technique that not even the sages of old could perform!

Perhaps only a Great Emperor could possess such a Divine Technique.

But Lin Hao was merely at the Blood Coagulation Realm. For his enraged Divine Soul to manifest the sun and moon was simply world-shattering.

A terrifying light shone from his eyes, and the giant skeleton was instantly annihilated, turning to dust.

No matter how powerful it was, it could not compete with the brilliance of the sun and moon.

When Lin Hao’s True Self Divine Soul was enraged, its combat power became terrifyingly immense.

Under the powerful Chaos Qi, the blood in Lin Hao’s body surged, and the evil aura clinging to him was instantly vaporized.

Lin Hao’s body was instantly restored.

However, Lin Hao felt more worried than pleased by this.

’I had intended to keep my True Essence as a trump card,’ Lin Hao thought. ’Although this outburst from my True Self didn’t reveal it, that old monster in the depths of the Demon Suppression Cave has been around for thousands of years. It’s definitely on alert now. This is not good.’

But what was done was done. Lin Hao could only take things one step at a time. Besides, his trump cards extended far beyond just his True Essence.

He helped Ling Xiao up and checked his breathing. Finding that he had only fainted, Lin Hao felt a sense of relief.

THWUMP!

Just as he was about to wake Ling Xiao, Lin Hao was struck by a heavy blow.

His entire body was sent flying, smashing against the cave wall with a loud CRASH before tumbling to the ground.

Forced to one knee, Lin Hao violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

With no time to wipe the blood away, he whirled around.

His Spiritual Sense was already terrifyingly acute, so to be successfully ambushed in this cave without any warning was almost unimaginable.

As he turned, his pupils contracted sharply.

He saw a person.

This person was his perfect double—it was another Lin Hao.

However, Lin Hao noticed that the "him" standing across from him wore a sinister smile.

’There is a demon that lives inside every person’s heart,’ he realized. ’This is my Heart Demon.’

Without a word, the evil Lin Hao stepped forward and threw a punch.

Lin Hao stepped forward and threw a punch of his own!

RUMBLE!

Their physical bodies and strength were identical. The impact of their collision was cataclysmic, filling the cave with a deafening boom like a roiling Thunder Sea.

Both Lin Hao and his evil counterpart were sent flying backward at the same time.

PTOO! PTOO!

Blood sprayed wildly from both their mouths.

As he landed, Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed, his expression growing extremely grim.

’This is like fighting myself. Our combat strength is identical, down to the finest detail of every punch.’

’Even if I win, it will be a pyrrhic victory.’

’And there’s still that old monster watching from the shadows. How will I escape then?’

Before Lin Hao could come up with a plan, his double attacked again. Lin Hao sidestepped, choosing to temporarily evade the assault.

But his opponent clearly had no intention of letting him go, sticking to him like a shadow.

After dodging several more attacks, Lin Hao’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He had discovered its secret.

’Although this Heart Demon looks identical to me, there’s one key difference—it doesn’t think.’

’That makes things much easier.’

The Heart Demon attacked again. This time, Lin Hao didn’t dodge or evade, choosing to meet it head-on.

However, Lin Hao held back his punch.

Just as his fist was about to collide with his opponent’s, Lin Hao’s body moved like a slippery eel, and he instantly slid past it.

At the same time, Lin Hao aimed a punch at the back of the Heart Demon’s head.

He put all his strength into the blow, making it both fast and ruthless.

BOOM!

The blow sent the Heart Demon off balance, and it crashed heavily to the ground.

Lin Hao pressed his advantage, sticking to it like a shadow. Before it could get up, he threw another punch.

BOOM!

This punch contained the full force of Lin Hao’s body. The blow drove his double’s head straight into the ground, creating a large crater.

And yet, despite this, the head in the crater was completely unscathed.

This punch carried a force of fifty thousand jin; even a frame of steel would have been flattened into a pancake, let alone a human body.

’This physical body is too terrifying.’

But the Heart Demon’s body was a copy of his own, possessing the exact same physical form. In other words, it was Lin Hao’s own body that was so terrifying.

Since one punch didn’t crush its skull, Lin Hao’s fist moved again, smashing down once more.

BOOM!

An even larger crater appeared.

The head in the crater was still intact.

Not only that, but the Heart Demon’s hands pressed against the ground, veins bulging like coiling dragons, as it tried to push itself back up.

The corner of Lin Hao’s mouth twitched, and he decisively threw another punch.

’This is the first time I’m seeing the downside of having such a durable body,’ Lin Hao thought.

Lin Hao’s fists moved like lightning, the impacts sounding like rolling thunder. He lost count of how many punches he threw. A massive crater had formed, and though the double’s head was still intact, it had finally stopped moving.

Standing up, Lin Hao exhaled and looked down at the body.

At this moment, Lin Hao felt a complex mix of emotions.

’No matter how you look at it, the body under me is my own. I just beat myself to death... what a strange feeling.’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

But a moment later, Lin Hao realized he had been far too optimistic.

The body that had been motionless suddenly shot into the air.

Lin Hao reacted instantly, aiming another punch at its back.

This time, the body’s reaction was astonishingly fast. It not only turned around but also caught Lin Hao’s fist with unbelievable speed.

Lin Hao was shocked to find he couldn’t break free.

He looked up and saw a pair of terrifying eyes.

The eyes were cold, merciless, and exceptionally sinister.

The moment that gaze fell on him, Lin Hao felt his blood freeze. More than that, he felt as if his body were about to crack apart.

Just moments ago, he had thrown countless punches with all his might and failed to even scratch this body. Now, just a single glance from these eyes made him feel this way. The terror they held was unimaginable.

Lin Hao’s expression was incredibly grim. He had seen a pair of eyes just like these right before entering the Demon Suppression Cave.

He had thought it was an illusion then, but now it seemed it was real.

’If I’m not mistaken, even if this isn’t the entity from the depths of the Demon Suppression Cave, it’s closely related to it.’

With his fist caught and immovable, Lin Hao suddenly lashed out with a kick.

BOOM!

The kick, which carried ten thousand jin of force, made a loud sound but otherwise had no effect whatsoever.

Lin Hao froze. Looking up, he met those terrifying eyes again.

This time, the feeling of his body cracking intensified, and an exceptional pain washed over him. He felt as if tens of thousands of dull knives were scraping away at his muscles and bones.

This was unimaginable. Ever since his body had become so durable, Lin Hao had never experienced such pain again.

But Lin Hao smiled, an exceptionally happy smile.

The pain told him one thing: his body wasn’t perfect yet. It hadn’t reached its limit.

’The Extreme Realm of the Blood Coagulation Realm... a hundred thousand jin of force... it’s not impossible.’

This discovery excited Lin Hao like never before. The Tai Chi Array Map in his Dantian began to spin on its own, and even the True Self at its center pulsed as if in delight.

Chaos Qi regenerated, instantly filling his Dantian before surging out once more.

This time, the energy didn’t flow to his eyes but spread throughout his entire body.

In an instant, the cracking sensation and the pain vanished, replaced by a feeling of comfort that permeated every one of the thirty-six thousand pores on his body.

Overjoyed, Lin Hao looked at those eyes again.

Suddenly, Lin Hao noticed that the cold eyes seemed to widen slightly.

At the same time, Lin Hao’s body was struck a heavy blow.

A wound appeared on his back. It felt as if someone had torn his skin open from the inside.

His body began to crack.

That a single glance could break through Lin Hao’s terrifyingly durable body was astonishing.

However, before the long gash could widen, it bizarrely sealed itself shut.

The Chaos Qi had repaired his body.

Just then, Lin Hao saw a faint smile appear on the previously expressionless face before him.

Then, it flung Lin Hao away.

Stumbling back several steps, Lin Hao managed to steady himself.

"Heheheh, what an excellent physical body," a bizarre, grating laugh escaped from the "Lin Hao’s" mouth. He then spoke again, his voice as horrid as a shrieking specter.

"No matter how good my body is, it’s not for an Evil Demon like you to defile," Lin Hao shrugged, showing no fear.

"’Evil Demon’? A fine ’Evil Demon’ indeed! Once I obtain your body and achieve supreme dominion, *I* will be the righteous path of this world!"

Lin Hao sneered. "Just a wisp of a remnant soul, clinging to life. You think you can seize my body and return to the world of the living? You’re not worthy."

Having personally survived the Carefree Divine Monarch’s possession attempt and the incident with Chu Tiandu, Lin Hao immediately understood its goal.

But the "Lin Hao" shook its head.

"Little one, you think too highly of yourself," the "Lin Hao" said, its tone dripping with arrogance. "I have laid my plans in this Demon Suppression Cave for millennia, gathering the True Essence of ten thousand men and the blood essence of ten thousand beasts. Why would I need to stoop to possession just to use your body?"

Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed.

’So it really is the entity from the depths of the Demon Suppression Cave.’

’He’s really been gathering the True Essence of ten thousand men and the blood essence of ten thousand beasts, and he claims he doesn’t intend to possess this body. That’s... astonishing.’

’What in the world is he trying to create?’