The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

Immortal Realm. Ancient Battlefield.

"Pfft!!"

A blinding arc of blade light slashed through the air—tyrannical and absolute.

A gray python nearly 300 feet long was instantly decapitated, its body coiled and split into several pieces. Its massive head was bisected neatly down the middle.

Fang Hao rushed forward, carved out the still-warm snake gall, and swallowed it in one bite.

Moments later, a powerful surge erupted from his body. His aura spiked violently—he had broken through to the Ninth Layer of the Fusion Realm.

"Buzz..."

His golden eyes opened, gleaming with divine light. Years of beast-hunting in the battlefield had left a distinct killing aura clinging to him.

It had now been three years since Fang Hao entered the Ancient Battlefield. In that time, his cultivation had risen from Fusion Realm Sixth Layer to Ninth Layer.

Such progress was already impressive. Without the fortune-rich environment of the battlefield, it would've taken him twice as long to reach this level.

"Fusion Realm Ninth Layer… still not enough."

This time, all the participants in the Ancient Battlefield were geniuses from all the major powers of the Qingyun Dao Domain. Even though the Mingyue Immortal Dynasty, to which Fang Hao belonged, was a recognized force, it was considered only mid-tier among the great factions.

As such, their chosen geniuses didn't rank very high among the battlefield's elite.

Some, like Yun Chenglai, had already reached the True Saint Realm during the great "Battle of a Hundred Cities."

Compared to that, Fang Hao's strength was far from sufficient—especially against those from truly dominant sects.

Indeed, over these three years, Fang Hao had encountered many other geniuses. Most had higher cultivation than he did. Those weaker were rare outliers.

This disparity had forced Fang Hao to relinquish many heaven-and-earth treasures—aware that he wasn't strong enough to fight for them.

Still, if the treasure was truly invaluable, he wouldn't back down from a challenge. He simply wasn't reckless.

"Rumble...!!"

Suddenly, a thunderous roar resounded in the distance—so loud it made the ground vibrate.

Fang Hao had just stored away the python's corpse when he turned toward the sound.

"That must be coming from at least a thousand miles away… What kind of existence could produce such a noise?"

After a brief hesitation, Fang Hao decided to investigate. If things got too dangerous, he could always retreat.

In a flash, he became a streak of shadow hurtling toward the sound.

On the way, he encountered other cultivators heading in the same direction—clearly drawn by the same phenomenon.

"Such commotion… at the very least it's an Emperor-level inheritance, perhaps even an Immortal's ruins..."

Fang Hao had once stumbled into an Emperor-level ruin. Relying on his strength and luck, he managed to gain a few treasures.

While those ruins were dramatic in their own right, the scale of this disturbance was on an entirely different level.

Hence his suspicion—this could be the legacy of a true Immortal.

That thought ignited an inferno in his heart.

After all, nothing in the Ancient Battlefield was more desirable than an Immortal's legacy. Cultivators trained with the dream of becoming Immortals—of grasping eternal life and unmatched power.

Those raised in the Immortal Realm were somewhat numb to it. They were used to seeing Immortal artifacts or even Immortals themselves.

But Fang Hao, who had grown up in the Heaven Origin Realm, had never encountered a true Immortal.

He'd only heard legends—of ascension, of soaring to the heavens, of eternal existence.

But no one he knew had seen an Immortal. Whether they even existed was uncertain.

That was why Fang Hao held a deep yearning for Immortality.

What he desired most was Immortal Techniques.

Only with Immortal-level cultivation methods could more members of the Fang family become Immortals and ascend.

Without them, even talented cultivators without innate Immortal bodies would find it nearly impossible to ascend.

This was why, in the countless millennia of the Heaven Origin Realm's history, not a single person had truly ascended to Immortality.

Understanding this truth had only deepened Fang Hao's thirst for Immortal arts.

The Ancient Battlefield and its possible Immortal ruins represented his best chance to obtain them.

Miss this, and who knew when another opportunity would arise?

As Fang Hao neared the source of the disturbance, he spotted it from afar—

A golden palace erupting from the earth, towering skyward. At a glance, it stood at least 3,000 feet tall, shaped like a towering mountain.

And it was still rising from the ground—like a growing golden peak.

Clearly, the earlier rumbles had come from the breaking of ancient seals and the palace forcing its way out of the earth.

"So many people…"

Fang Hao was stunned.

Nearly two to three hundred cultivators had already gathered at the site.

Given how vast the Ancient Battlefield was—and how all cultivators were scattered at random upon entry—such a large assembly was astonishing.

The geniuses formed tight groups—some composed of members from the same sects, others hastily formed alliances created within the battlefield.

And they weren't all human either.

The Immortal Realm was home to numerous races, many of which matched or surpassed humanity in talent and power.

Still, humans remained dominant, followed closely by demonic beasts. Some of the gathered geniuses were even offspring of true Immortal Beasts.

Among the crowd, Fang Hao spotted Yun Chenglai and Fairy Qingyu. However, he didn't see any other representatives from the Mingyue Immortal Dynasty.

Fang Hao had inherited Fang Chu's full teachings and, after entering the battlefield, had completely changed his appearance and aura.

Thus, neither Yun Chenglai nor Fairy Qingyu recognized him.

That was just as well—Fang Hao trusted only himself in this unfamiliar realm and preferred to avoid unnecessary entanglements.

He stood silently in an inconspicuous corner, on high alert.

Though surrounded by many, betrayal could come at any moment.

Apart from the rumble of the golden palace, the crowd remained utterly silent. Each cultivator fixed their eyes on the massive structure.

More and more geniuses arrived by the minute.

The palace continued to rise. After nearly half an hour, another earth-shattering boom echoed across the sky.

The golden palace finally ceased its ascent.

It now stood over 33,000 feet tall, like a divine mountain, looming above all who had come.

Compared to its grandeur, the assembled cultivators looked utterly insignificant.

Once the palace stilled, the crowd collectively tensed, but no one made a reckless move.

"Rumble…"

Suddenly, massive gates appeared along the palace's outer walls.

They slowly creaked open.

From the outside, nothing could be seen. It was pitch-black within, and even divine senses failed to pierce the darkness.

The crowd exchanged glances.

"Whoosh!"

One daring genius finally rushed in.

Then a second. A third.

In moments, most of the crowd had surged forward and entered.

Fang Hao was among the last to step inside.