His fate was predetermined: fight, defend, and perish with the stars, a mere cog in the great machinery of creation. But something within him resisted this cruel fate. A seed of defiance sprouted in his heart, whispering of freedom. He sought a way to transcend the cosmic chains—to escape, to defy destiny, to seize freedom at any cost. As a mortal, he felt the agony of watching his loved ones wither and die, powerless to stop the decay of time. He wept for children, lovers, friends. As an emperor, he conquered kingdoms and wielded unimaginable power, only to be betrayed by those he trusted most, dragged from his throne, and executed in shame. As a beggar, he wandered the streets, starving and shivering under the cold gaze of uncaring gods. As a villain, he became the monster in stories told to frighten children—burning cities, drowning nations in blood, only to be hunted and killed by the heroes of those same tales. As a saint, he gave everything—his wealth, his strength, his life—to others, only to discover that gratitude was fleeting and the world did not remember the sacrifices of the righteous. But, Every failure, every death, every betrayal—they were nothing but steps on a long, infinite path. And the path had only one direction: up, through the layers of existence, through the fabric of reality itself. No prison could contain him. No curse could hold him. His heart whispered one thing to him, a truth carved into his soul:Move forward. Always forward. Because he was Li Shenrong—the Lord of the Celestial Throne.
Xiao han wanted to get up and express his gratitude but the suffered injuries were severe enough to cause him stagger backward against the tree.
Li shenrong squatted down to help him stand up.
" Brother, i can never thank you enough for saving my life. You should leave me here, i don't want to be a burden. " Xiao han's voice trembled slightly as he said this.
Li shenrong helped xiao han move to a nearby pond. Instead of moving through the deep forest with a bloody wound it was better to stay in an open area.
Under xiao han's curious gaze li shenrong brought out all of his low grade crystal coins and turned them into fine powder. Then he kept bringing out materials one after another from his storage ring. Xiao han was knowledgeable so he could recognise some of it. Most of the materials were related to plants and flowers.
" Hundred petal orchid flower, Gray bone tree leaf, Qi essence lotus seed, beast core of a two hundred year tree demon! How did you kill a two hundred year tree demon?" Xiao han bit his tongue as he felt the question was stupid.
He saw li shenrong drawing a circle around him, within the circle there was many complex design as li shenrong put the materials one of after another according to a particular pattern.
Lastly he grabbed a handful of crystal powder, spreading it all over the materials.
Suddenly the circle glowed with faint white light. Xiao han felt his body turning translucent as he looked at his hands and legs.
" A formation? Brother li you are so amazing! You even know how to create formation. I heard creating a formation is very expensive and complex, without an inborn talent for formation it is extremely hard for someone to gain achievements.
There are very few formation expert in our continent and each one of them are priced gem of a sect.
If you focus on your formation talent you might be able to gain recognition of some great sect in middle territory. "
Xiao han felt extremely excited for li shenrong.
" Stay here for the time being. I'll go search to gather some beast cores which can speedup your healing process. " Li shenrong sternly looked at him and ordered.
Xiao han shut his mouth and agreed sheepishly. Soon his eyes turned red as he swore to himself - in the future he will climb mountain and run through sea of fire for li shenrong if needed.
Li shenrong swiftly moved across the forest with extreme speed.
If observed closely one could see faint black light which was almost undistinguishable covered his entire body.
" It should be here. " After searching and running through the forest for almost half a day li shenrong arrived in front of a dirty swamp.
He squatted down and smelled the dirty mud, sometime he would look around the swamp shore as if looking for a needle. Then he jumped over a tree branch and kept waiting, gazing intently at the swap not missing a single movement.
Hours passed.
Suddenly a bubble blew out of the swamp, li shenrong who was tirelessly waiting saw it started laughing and jumped down.
He took a deep breath and spread out his palm. A golden rope slowly took form on his palm.
The rope was made from countless daw laws intertwining with each other, once captured, it was impossible to break free from it.
Li shenrong threw down the rope accurately from where the bubble blew out.
Few breaths of time passed and li shenrong felt a twig on his rope. He pulled harshly using most of his strength.
Veins bulged out from his forehead, activating his godly physique he pulled again harder than before.
A three meter long rabbit covered in mud came out, landing swiftly on the ground. It was lightning fast, li shenrong knew it would be impossible to catch up with it once escaped so he willed the rope to more tightly tie around it.
A swamp rabbit, it was extremely agile and its innate ability to heal itself was astonishing.
Nothing could be better than its beast core to heal a mortal wound.
Li shenrong pulled it closer to him with much difficulty. Keep in mind he was cultivating a godly physique and a minor completion godly physique could overturn mountains and seas but this rabbit made him use his godly physique yet li shenrong was still struggling.
" Hahaha this swamp rabbit is closer to becoming a beast king. If it was a beast king swamp rabbit i would never be able to capture it like this. "
Li shenrong didn't waste anymore time as he slashed with his small dagger blinding its eyes. it tried to retaliate violently but was immobilised by the rope more tightly.