Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Among them, a lion covered in black spots was scrutinizing Li Chang’an. It roared impatiently, “I thought you died in there! You haven’t come out in all these years!”

The lion was covered from head to tail in black spots.

Even its once-golden fur had become mottled and unsightly.

Nevertheless, Li Chang’an instantly recognized it from the sound of its voice and its tone.

It was the Golden Lion from the Sunlight Tribe, the same one that had hunted him down before. Four hundred years had passed. The creature’s power had clearly improved significantly, but its once-handsome appearance had devolved into this wretched state. He had no idea what it had been through.

Of course, Li Chang’an couldn’t care less.

’So the Celestial Realm really did set up an ambush at the exit,’ he thought. ’In the Mortal Realm, every single one of these guys would be considered a powerful lord.’

’And with that skulking Divine Spirit in the sky… to deal with me, they’ve really laid an inescapable trap.’

But Li Chang’an wasn’t worried. Their power had grown, but his was on a completely different level now.

His expression was icy as he looked up at the gloomy sky. “Is this it?” he said. “Just a bunch of lackeys like you? I’m afraid you’ll all be dead before I even warm up!”

Hearing Li Chang’an’s voice, the Golden Lion gritted its teeth. It violently spat a massive fireball, engulfing him. “Such arrogance! Today is the day you die!”

Watching the flames, Li Chang’an neither dodged nor flinched. He took the blast head-on, emerging completely unscathed.

Seeing this, the Golden Lion’s pupils contracted. It glanced left and right before roaring, “This guy’s progress has been terrifyingly fast! What are you all gawking at? Get him! If we don’t distinguish ourselves now, we’ll never have a chance to rise up!”

Spurred on by the Golden Lion, the other Guardian Gods unleashed their unique Divine Techniques. A chaotic barrage of attacks rained down on Li Chang’an, striking him like a thousand hammers on an anvil.

At first, Li Chang’an dodged a few times.

When he saw he couldn’t dodge them all, he simply stood his ground, letting the attacks crash against the body he had tempered in Hell to be impervious to all harm.

He couldn’t be bothered with these crazed Incense Spirits.

He sent a command via a mental wave, summoning the Hell People hiding in the shadows to assist him.

Instantly, more than a hundred Hell People burst forth from all directions.

Their leader, Kuimu, shot into the air. With a single, brutal punch, he sent the Golden Lion plummeting from the sky. Its massive body slammed into the earth, carving out a huge crater.

Seeing a tide of ’monsters’ pour out from all over, their faces alight with excitement, the once-frenzied group of Guardian Gods visibly panicked.

They had expected Li Chang’an to have grown stronger, but they had never imagined he would bring monsters out from the depths of Hell…

After all, in the fragmented legends that had been passed down, the monsters living in Hell were all ferocious and malevolent, beings with Three Heads and Six Arms.

They could devour the souls of the living, damning them for all eternity.

And now, more than a hundred of these terrifying monsters had appeared right beside them. The sight was enough to fill them with bone-chilling terror!

Li Chang’an paid the situation below no more mind.

At that moment, he shot upward like a drawn sword, tearing through the sky to appear above the clouds.

Above the clouds, a Divine Spirit bound in shackles watched him, his face devoid of expression.

Seeing Li Chang’an appear nearby, the being spoke slowly. “My name is Sunrise. I am not a true native of the Celestial Realm; I ascended by cultivating the Incense and Candle Divine Dao. Two thousand years ago, I offended the Sun Emperor, and he tortured me into this state. If I can help it, I do not wish to fight you to the death.”

Only then did Li Chang’an get a clear look at the being’s true appearance.

He was a gaunt man with a somber expression. An intricate symbol—a totem of the sun rising over clouds—was etched between his brows. Of course, these were not his most striking features.

The most striking thing about him was the set of chains piercing straight through his torso.

Heavy iron chains passed through his collarbones on both sides. Even now, the ghastly wounds were still slowly oozing blood, and as a result, his aura was exceedingly weak and listless.

Vast amounts of Power of Incense poured from his body, struggling to repair his wounds.

But the two chains were like a bottomless pit, devouring any Power of Incense that approached. They would then erupt with searing Energy, further suppressing the healing process and aggravating the injuries.

Even from a great distance, Li Chang’an could feel the searing heat radiating from the chains. They were clearly no ordinary artifact.

’Sunrise…’

’That name sounds somewhat familiar.’

Putting that together with the symbol on his brow, Li Chang’an quickly made a connection. He asked, “Did you once have a tribe under your command called Fusang?”

Hearing this, the man was clearly taken aback. After a long silence, he finally said, “The Fusang Tribe was one of the three great tribes under my command during my prime!”

Li Chang’an hadn’t expected to meet the Fusang Tribe’s greatest patron from the old days. His expression was complicated. “Several hundred years ago, I was the Guardian God of the Fusang Tribe… Why are you attacking me?”

If the Divine Spirit named Sunrise had merely been taken aback when Li Chang’an mentioned the Fusang Tribe, then the moment Li Chang’an declared himself to be its Guardian God, the Sunrise God’s gaze began to burn with fury.