78: Chapter 78 The Gate of the Great Emperor

Great Xia Imperial Palace, Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Outside the hall, giant waves surged toward the heavens, but inside, all was calm.

Li Xuan lay on his side on the dragon couch, propping his head up with one hand.

He smiled.

A flash of golden light appeared in the Void Realm.

That giant hand, which had torn through Tianjiao City and intimidated the Eastern Desolation, appeared silently in the hall before dissipating.

Two small figures emerged from the light.

One was the heavenly mandate dao fruit, suspended in mid-air.

Its light was so dazzling that it could make a Saint fight a bloody battle for it.

As for the other...

"Waaah—"

A loud cry echoed through the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Li Changsheng landed on his bottom on the soft carpet.

When he saw Li Xuan not far away, the grievances he had been holding back the entire way completely exploded.

Like a small cannonball, he rushed over on all fours and tightly hugged Li Xuan's leg, rubbing his snot and tears all over it.

"Imperial Father! Waaah, Imperial Father!"

He cried until he was out of breath, his small body twitching.

He sobbed out his complaints intermittently.

"They... they are bad people! They broke my clay figurine!"

"I spent so long molding it, waaah..."

Li Xuan looked at the "human-shaped ornament" on his leg and felt the pure dependence and grievance; he smiled.

He reached out and rubbed Li Changsheng's fuzzy little head.

"Alright, alright, don't cry."

His voice was gentle.

"It's just a clay figurine; if it broke, it broke. Isn't your Imperial Father perfectly fine?"

Li Changsheng raised his teary little face and sniffled.

He looked at the unharmed Li Xuan and then lowered his head to think; logically, it seemed right.

But he was still aggrieved. Pouting his small mouth, he pointed at the heavenly mandate dao fruit suspended in mid-air, emitting a rosy glow.

He shouted in a milky voice.

"They paid for it! This is compensation for Imperial Father!"

If you break something, you have to pay for it.

This shiny, beautiful fruit was what that bad guy paid as compensation.

"Oh? Compensation for Imperial Father?"

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, his smile deepening.

The heavenly mandate dao fruit.

Good stuff.

This thing was favored by the Luck of heaven and earth, taking ten thousand years to ripen.

If a Mortal ate it, they would be reborn.

If a Prodigy ate it, there was hope for them to break through to become a Saint.

Even for a Saint, refining it could extend their lifespan by centuries and perhaps even help them break through a Bottleneck.

In the history of the Heavenly Pride Battle, this fruit had always been the grand finale treasure, the ultimate dream of all Prodigies.

But now...

Li Xuan reached out, and the heavenly mandate dao fruit flew into his palm.

He tossed it casually, no different from tossing an apple.

"Since it's compensation for Imperial Father," he looked at Li Changsheng's tear-stained face and said with a smile, "then Imperial Father will reward it to you now. Eat it like a jellybean."

After saying that, he flicked his finger.

Whoosh.

That precious heavenly mandate dao fruit traced a parabolic arc.

It landed precisely into Li Changsheng's surprised, open mouth.

"Mmph?"

Li Changsheng closed his mouth, a bulge appearing in his cheek.

He blinked and chewed twice.

"Crunch."

A crisp sound rang out.

The skin of the heavenly mandate dao fruit, which even divine weapons found hard to pierce, shattered under his baby teeth.

A burst of sweet juice exploded in his mouth.

Li Changsheng's eyes lit up.

"Sweet!"

He shouted excitedly and chewed the fruit up in a few bites, swallowing it down.

Boom.

A surge of essence dissipated within his body.

Countless Law fragments washed through his body.

For anyone else, even a Saint, if such terrifying energy entered their body, there would be only one outcome.

Body explosion and death.

The complete destruction of the Divine Soul.

But who was Li Changsheng?

The Supreme Sword Body.

His body was the sharpest "sword scabbard."

That torrent of energy was rapidly decomposed and absorbed by his Sword Body Origin.

It turned into the purest Origin Sword Qi, merging into his dao foundation.

"Burp~"

Li Changsheng let out a satisfied burp.

A wisp of rosy light drifted slowly out of his small mouth.

His aura didn't change.

But in that instant, his Sword Body, dao foundation, and Origin became more concise and pure.

His aura, however, became increasingly restrained.

To Li Changsheng, all of this was just eating a "relatively sweet" jellybean.

Li Xuan watched and nodded in satisfaction.

This was truly his, Li Xuan's, son.

It was at this moment.

The System notification finally rang out.

[Ding. Detected that your offspring Li Changsheng has suppressed the Eastern Desolation, winning extremely high prestige for the host.]

[Main quest evaluation in progress...]

[Evaluation successful.]

[Congratulations to the host for completing the hidden main quest: My Son Has the Potential of a Great Emperor.]

It's here.

Li Xuan's spirit was roused.

He had been planning until now, letting his child make a high-profile debut, all for this moment.

He suppressed his excitement and continued listening.

[Quest completion: Perfect.]

[Reward settlement in progress...]

[Reward 1: The Great Emperor Realm barrier has been removed.]

[Reward 2: Ultimate function 'all-heavens sign-in map' has been unlocked.]

A series of notifications rang out one after another in Li Xuan's Divine Soul.

His heart stirred.

The moment the rewards were received, it felt as if something inside him had shattered.

Those were chains, shackles that constrained the level of his life.

Before this, although he was at the Peak of the Saint Realm and his combat power far exceeded that of a Great Saint.

There was a barrier in front of him.

That was the will of heaven and earth, the rules set by the Great Dao after the Desolate Era.

The path to becoming an Emperor was severed.

But now, this wall had disappeared for him.

Li Xuan looked up.

His gaze pierced through the roof of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, through the Great Xia Golden Dragon of National Fortune, and through the astral winds of the Nine Heavens.

He saw the end of the cultivation path.

There, a stone gate stood tall.

The Three Thousand Great Daos were carved upon the stone gate, exuding an ancient aura.

The Gate of the Great Emperor.

Once, this gate was merely a legend.

Now, it stood truly before his eyes.

As long as he wished, as long as he took one step to communicate with heaven and earth, he could immediately trigger the Supreme Emperor Tribulation.

As long as he passed the Emperor Tribulation, he could push open that gate and ascend to the Emperor's throne.

Becoming the first true Great Emperor since the Desolate Era.

This Emperor Domain was now open only to him.

However...

Li Xuan only looked at that gate for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.

His emotions also calmed down.

"It's not enough."

He murmured to himself.

If he became an Emperor now, he would certainly be invincible in the world.

But it wouldn't be Perfection.

His Chaos Body had only just begun to awaken.

His few children were already growing.

In his harem, there were even more offspring with extraordinary Luck currently being conceived.

Every birth of an offspring and every Bloodline resonance could further perfect his Chaos Body.

Li Xuan had a premonition.

When he gathered the Three Thousand Great Daos and melted all three thousand types of Physiques, Destinies, and Bloodlines into one furnace...

The height he would reach would far exceed the category of "Great Emperor."

At that time, he would trigger the Emperor Tribulation and ascend to the heavens in a single step.

He didn't want to be an ordinary Great Emperor.

If he was to be one, he would be the Number One Emperor of all time.

Suppressing the urge to break through, Li Xuan turned his attention to the second reward.

The System's ultimate function—the [all-heavens sign-in map].

In his consciousness, three-dimensional star maps unfolded.

Countless points of light flickered in the darkness, each representing a real world.

Countless familiar or unfamiliar names emerged beside the points of light.

Li Xuan's attention was completely captured by this map.

This world was already like the back of his hand to him.