I Shall Seal The Heavens

by Srtyi

What I want, the Heavens shall not lack! What I don’t want, had better not exist in the Heavens!” This is a story which originates between the Eighth and Ninth Mountains, the world in which the strong prey upon the weak. “My Name is Meng Hao! The Ninth Generation Demon Sealer, I shall seal the Heavens! “

48. 1411

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Chapter 1411: The Vast Expanse Bell Heralds the Arrival of a Paragon!

The young woman was so focused on rebuking the young man that she didn't notice what happened when she threw Meng Hao into the back of her flying shuttle. His eyelids twitched, although he didn't quite yet have the strength to open his eyes.

Furthermore, the young woman didn't notice that after Meng Hao landed in the back of the flying shuttle, various tiny vortexes opened up around him. Then, the mist which surrounded them formed into strands which began to seep into the flying shuttle!

The strands of mist circulated inside of the shuttle and then began to enter into Meng Hao. More and more of the mist vanished into him, like a river pouring into a dry channel.

Apparently, Meng Hao's injuries were so severe that he lacked the power to even absorb the mist of the Vast Expanse on his own. However, there was something about the flying shuttle that helped him to gradually begin building up the power he lacked to open his eyes.

Time passed, and for some reason the flying shuttle seemed to be going faster and faster. Eventually, the young woman, despite being so involved in berating the young man, finally noticed the increase in speed. At first, her jaw dropped, but then she began to laugh heartily.

"See, little brother? It's no wonder the great Vast Expanse School has such a reputation. The starry sky in their territory is obviously blessed with some sort of Essence that has increased our speed. I bet that Essence can even identify hostile forces. The more hostile you are toward them, the slower you'll move. The less hostile, the faster!" Having reached this conclusion, the young woman laughed again. Behind her, the young man stared in shock. In his estimation, that wasn't what was happening at all, and yet, he didn't dare to open his mouth. Instead, he nodded and pretended to be in awe of the young woman.

He knew that his sister wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he also knew that deep down, she was a good person. Not only did she enjoy it when people looked at her fawningly, more importantly, when she was happy, she spent less time rebuking him.

Burying his reservations, the young man began to think about everything that had happened on their journey. They had encountered other flying shuttles along the way, and although his sister had never paid any attention to any of them, he had. Eventually, his attention was drawn to the collection of corpses and other objects in the back of the flying shuttle.

He looked at the corpse of Meng Hao, and suddenly realized that their flying shuttled had begun to move faster at almost the exactly same time that his sister picked up that very corpse.

However, considering the level of his cultivation base, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about it. No matter how he studied it, it didn't look like anything other than a corpse. A few days later, the young man stopped worrying about it so much, although he would still cast occasional cautious glances back at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao was already awake.

However, what had awoken was not his body, but his soul. After being pulled onto the flying shuttle, and absorbing some of the power of the Vast Expanse, he reached a state in which he felt almost as if he were observing everything around him in a dream state.

His soul hurt. He thought back to the Mountain and Sea Realm, to his father and mother, to his sister, to Xu Qing, and to so many other familiar faces.

He thought back to the butterfly, and how it had eventually landed on that green coffin.

He thought back to the parrot, and then the meat jelly, which was now devoid of any traces of life. All of that was in the past now. The only companion he still had to accompany him was the mastiff.

The mastiff wasn't dead. It had been asleep the entire time, hibernating. Even in its sleep, it still stood watch over him. It had paid a heavy price, and was even now only capable of sleeping.

"This enmity… must be avenged!!

"Mountain and Sea Realm… I will return to you!!

"Mom and dad, sister, Qing'er… wait for me…." Meng Hao's soul stared out of the flying shuttle into the distance. He had no idea where the Mountain and Sea Butterfly was, not even in which direction it lay. He could only trust his feelings to guess where it might be.

The pain he felt was something which would not subside, and had already changed him. He was colder now, and more silent.

He could tell that the only reason he was alive right now was because the mastiff had protected him, and the meat jelly had sacrificed everything for him. Most importantly, though, was what he had done just before losing consciousness. He had… taken out the bronze lamp!

The mysteries surrounding that lamp were unfathomable. It had replaced all of his Soul Lamps; instead of having thirty-three, he had only one. However, after the lamp's aura had melded with his Demonic qi, and the resulting pressure was even more terrifying than all of his other 33 Soul Lamps added together. "This bronze lamp… just who exactly did it belong to?"

During the process of studying the changes and transformations inside of him, Meng Hao eventually noticed the brother and sister duo on the flying shuttle. The older sister was thick-headed, and the younger brother was weak but shrewd. Meng Hao looked them over, then ignored them. The young man occasionally glanced back at him, but Meng Hao chose to remain still and silent.

However, were it not for this brother and sister, and the help of their flying shuttle, a random coincidence that allowed him to absorb the mist of the Vast Expanse, then it would have taken far, far longer for his soul to awaken.

That was something Meng Hao wouldn't forget.

His injuries were so numerous that even after a thousand years of absorbing the bronze lamp, more time was required to restore his cultivation base.

For now, he could only bury his thoughts of spilling a sea of blood to gain vengeance. But he knew… that the day would come when he would get his revenge!

Months went by in which he maintained silence. Normally, the trip taken by the flying shuttle would have gone on longer, but now, it was rapidly coming to an end. Up ahead could be seen… an astonishingly large heavenly body!

It was not a land mass like the Immortal God Continent or the Devil Realm Continent. It was a planet!

This planet could definitely be listed among the astonishing heavenly bodies like the Immortal God Continent. However, if the lands on the planet were unwrapped and laid out flat, they would definitely dwarf that very land mass.

It was simply gargantuan, so large that it could only be taken in fully from a distance. In fact, it was so big that it almost seemed to be propping up the starry sky of the Vast Expanse.

If you compared the Mountain and Sea Realm to this planet, it would be like comparing an ant to an elephant!

Surrounding the planet was a dark yellow ring. Shockingly, if you studied that ring closely, you would find it was made up of countless asteroids, large and small. Simply looking at the planet was terrifying, and would leave one completely shaken.

Innumerable beams of light could be seen flying into and out from the planet, making it look even more dazzling.

"See that? That's Planet Vast Expanse! Heavens! How could there be a planet so big? Compared to the land mass that we come from, it's simply enormous. You could fit our home inside of it ten thousand times over! A hundred thousand. Maybe a million…." The young woman's tone was quite grandiose when she began speaking, but in the end, she trailed off into silence as she stared at the huge planet in front of her.

The young man next to her was also staring with wide eyes.

Neither of them noticed that behind them, Meng Hao had just stirred. Although he still couldn't open his eyes, his soul was also staring at Planet Vast Expanse, and within the eyes of his soul, a strange fire had begun to burn.

The young woman took a deep breath, and her eyes began to shine. "No wonder they say that it can vie for a place among the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm…. Wow, the Planet Vast Expanse!

"This is the home of the legendary… Vast Expanse School, which was created at the same time as the Vast Expanse itself, and has the only teleportation portal leading out!

"Little brother, I've decided. You definitely have to marry that Holy Daughter!" The young woman's eyes shone with determination, and she flicked her sleeve, sending the flying shuttle closer and closer to Planet Vast Expanse.

However, as the flying shuttle got closer, a bright shield suddenly sprang up, sweeping out to cover the whole planet, and the starry sky which surrounded it. Every cultivator that it passed, regardless of the level of their cultivation base, was instantly locked in place in the starry sky, incapable of moving even an inch. Shocked expressions appeared as everyone wondered what was happening.

It was at this point that the sound of an ancient bell began to toll from somewhere on Planet Vast Expanse. The austere, sonorous sound swept out into the starry sky, pushing away the mist of the Vast Expanse and causing intense pressure to weigh down.

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

As the sound of the bell rang out, cultivators of the Vast Expanse School on Planet Vast Expanse were all completely shaken. The tolling continued, it soon wasn't just the ordinary cultivators who were surprised. The powerful experts who made up the inner strength of the Vast Expanse School also looked up.

When the bell tolled for the fourth time, numerous faces flickered in shock. By the sixth toll of the bell, there were 8-Essences Paragons who began to fly out toward the starry sky surrounding the planet.

However, even as they were flying out, the seventh tolling of the bell could be heard. Somewhere on Planet Vast Expanse, in a sprawling temple, an old man suddenly opened his eyes, and the aura of a 9-Essences Paragon erupted out from him. He instantly stepped out into the starry sky, followed by more powerful experts from Planet Vast Expanse. There were countless beams of light that flew out with incredible speed.

More than a million cultivators had been locked down in the starry sky outside of Planet Vast Expanse, and all of them were shocked and unable to move. And yet, the tolling continued.

Of the group of people frozen in place, most didn't understand what the tolling of the bell indicated, and therefore, took things mostly in stride. However, the people who did know the meaning of the bell couldn't stop their eyes from widening in shock and terror.

"That bell… it's the Vast Expanse Bell!!"

"When a Paragon who isn't a member of the Vast Expanse School arrives… the Vast Expanse Bell will toll!"

"Three tolls means a 7-Essences Paragon. Six tolls indicate 8-Essences. More than that means… a 9-Essences Paragon!!"

"The bell tolled seven times! That means… that a 9-Essences Paragon is here!!" The people outside of Planet Vast Expanse who understood the significance of the tolling bell were completely shocked. They began to look around, and soon, all eyes came to fall on the flying shuttle, which was the only object in the starry sky that hadn't been locked in place!

Upon that very flying shuttle, the young man's eyes were wide, and he was looking around in astonishment at all of the cultivators locked in place. His sister also looked around in shock, but then, began to laugh.

"Little brother, it's time to act tough. It seems the marriage agreement with the Yun Clan is still in effect. I haven't even brought out the jade slip yet, and the Vast Expanse School has already noticed and started ringing the bells to welcome us." Although the young woman's eyes were open wide with delight, the young man's legs were trembling.

"Sister, I don't think that's what's…." Before the young man could finish speaking, they caught sight of the numerous beams of light shooting out from Planet Vast Expanse, and could sense the terrifying levels of their cultivation bases. The young woman only got more excited.

"Little brother, look, they're coming to receive us!" she said excitedly, taking a deep breath as the crowd of people drew nearer.

The young man behind her was flummoxed. He was weak, but very intelligent, and could tell that something strange was going on!

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Chapter 1412: Reeling Them In!

Moments ago, when the shield sprang up around Planet Vast Expanse, the thick-headed young woman quickly gathered up all of the items and corpses, including Meng Hao, and put them into her bag of holding. She did it so quickly her younger brother had no time to intervene.

In her simplistic way of thinking, everything she had collected was worth keeping. And yet, she feared that people might look down on them for collecting so many miscellaneous items, which could eventually cause problems when it came to the marriage agreement.

Seeing the numerous incoming beams of light, the young woman got very excited. She quickly straightened her garments and put on a very haughty expression. Then she looked back at her nervous younger brother. Glaring, she said, "Look tough! Remember, you're the heir of the Yun Clan!"

There was no time to say anything else, as the beams of light flew at top speed and came to a stop in front of their flying shuttle.

In the lead was a man wearing a violet-gold robe. His hair was long and white, and he bore the semblance of a celestial being, with eyes that sparkled as if with lightning. He looked the brother and sister duo over, only glancing briefly at the young man before focusing his attention on the young woman. Then his eyes widened slightly.

Behind him were tens of thousands of other cultivators, all of them wearing very serious expressions, almost as if they had come to meet a powerful enemy.

The pressure weighing down from all of these powerful experts was incredible. Although they kept their power in check, the starry sky was still trembling, and everyone nearby could feel the weight of the pressure. The young man on the flying shuttle was shaking and could barely stand up straight. His blood was boiling, and he almost felt as if it were about to explode.

From the look of it, if these people let much more of their aura out, this young man's body, and those of many of the other cultivators in the area, would be shredded to pieces, killing them instantly.

His older sister had it a bit better off, but was still gritting her teeth and trembling in body and mind. However, she didn't seem to have lost any of her enthusiasm. Apparently… she couldn't see the fierce gleams in the eyes of these powerful experts from the Vast Expanse School.

Clasping hands and bowing deeply, she said, "I am Yun Shan of the Yun Clan. This is our clan's current heir, Yun Feng. Senior members of the Vast Expanse School, greetings!" Then, she quickly pulled out her Yun Clan identity medallion and held it high above her head.

Behind her, Yun Feng nervously clasped hands and bowed his head, cursing inwardly.

In response to Yun Shan's words, the eyes of the experts from the Vast Expanse School glittered. The old man in the leadership position frowned. He looked closer at this girl who called herself Yun Shan, gaze lingering on her bag of holding as he completely ignored the identity medallion.

After a long moment, he said, "Yun Clan…."

The entire time, his eyes were focused on her bag of holding, as if his gaze could actually pierce inside and see Meng Hao. After a moment, his eyes glittered, and he suddenly shook his head and laughed.

"Unlock Vast Expanse. Extend the Starpath. Summon the million disciples. Unveil the Vast Expanse Skyway. Welcome the honored guests!" Apparently, when this man spoke, his words were followed like law. The other powerful experts of the Vast Expanse School bowed their heads as rumbling sounds suddenly emanated out from Planet Vast Expanse. Shockingly, two giants appeared, who bore glittering starlight on their shoulders as they strode forth. In turn, that light began to form into a pathway.

At the same time, numerous beams of light appeared behind the giants. Astonishingly, a million cultivators appeared, all of whom wore the uniforms of Vast Expanse disciples. They fanned out to stand on either side of the path of stars, and as they did… a Skyway formed, lined by a million disciples.

All of the rogue cultivators out in the starry sky stared with wide eyes. There were some among them who weren't aware of the significance of the bell tolling seven times. But everyone knew what it meant when Planet Vast Expanse was unlocked in such a way, with starlight-bearing giants emerging, and a million disciples forming a road.

"That's the Vast Expanse School's most prestigious welcoming ceremony!"

"It's been years since the Vast Expanse School did this. Just where exactly did that brother and sister team come from?!"

"A million disciples forming a road…. The Vast Expanse School would only hold this ceremony for someone incredibly extraordinary!!" Everyone was completely shaken.

"Please, after you!" said the man in the violet-gold robe, flicking his sleeve and stepping aside. He smiled lightly as he spoke, but his eyes were glued on Yun Shan's bag of holding. The other experts from the Vast Expanse School looked on with thoughtful expressions for a moment before they also stepped aside, leaving the entire path of starry light stretching out unhindered in front of the flying shuttle.

Yun Shan's eyes were wide as saucers as she stared at the scene. It was something she couldn't have imagined happening, not even in her dreams. And yet, it was playing out right here in front of her. Despite her usual thick-headed personality, even she couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious.

"Was the Yun Clan really that incredible in the past?" she said to her brother. "I can't believe a down-and-out clan like them… would actually cause the Vast Expanse School to hold a ceremony like this.

"Hmm. I guess the Yun Clan must have a lot of big secrets that I never found out about. Later on, I'll have to spend a few spirit stones to run a more thorough investigation into them." Of course, her train of thought led her to a strange conclusion, like it usually did. Looking very excited, she immediately stepped onto the path.

She walked along as arrogantly as ever, occasionally chattering to her younger brother.

"Come on, follow me. Keep your head up. Don't forget, we're from the Yun Clan, and you're the heir!

"See how seriously they take us, little brother? The Vast Expanse School! Hahaha!" Although Yun Shan was nervous, her eyes sparkled brightly, and as she walked along, the disciples of the Vast Expanse School bowed respectfully. As for all of the rogue cultivators who had been locked in place earlier, they could do nothing but watch jealously as she entered Planet Vast Expanse.

Her brother walked along behind her, more nervous than ever. Something very strange seemed to be going on, especially when he realized that the Vast Expanse School hadn't even checked their Yun Clan identification medallions. The reason for that most likely had nothing at all to do with the conclusion his sister had reached.

However, there was nothing to be done about the situation now. The old man in the violet-gold robe followed not too far back, and behind him were the tens of thousands of other powerful experts of the Vast Expanse School.

Yun Feng's scalp tingled as he walked nervously behind his sister, following closely by the forces from Planet Vast Expanse. "This… this isn't a welcoming party," he thought, "this… is a security escort!"

As they proceeded through the starry sky, they eventually reached… Planet Vast Expanse itself!

Planet Vast Expanse was gargantuan, so big that you couldn't see from one end to the other. The location in which they arrived featured a boundless land filled with mountains, more than a million of them, with even more hidden beneath the fog and clouds which spread out everywhere.

There were towering palaces which rose up from the peaks of the mountains, giving the entire place the feeling of a majestic, preeminent sect. Chain bridges connected the million mountain peaks, making it easy to see the borders of what was apparently the preeminent Vast Expanse School!

As soon as Yun Shan and Yun Feng entered the planet, they saw the million mountains, and their minds began to spin. Off to the side, the old man in the violet-gold robe smiled and began to explain.

"There are many cultivator clans on Planet Vast Expanse, but when it comes to sects… there is only the Vast Expanse School! In fact, all of those other clans exist only because of the Vast Expanse School.

"The Vast Expanse School is the very foundation of Planet Vast Expanse, and we have eight temple complexes, with the complex you are looking at now being the eighth.

"As for the lands of our sect, everything under the sky belongs to us!

"However, the true sect is inside of Planet Vast Expanse. Actually, the planet is hollow, and furthermore… is even larger on the inside than it is on the outside. That is the true core of the Vast Expanse School."

The brother and sister duo couldn't help but gasp as the old man's voice echoed out. They saw the boundless mountains, they saw the numerous pagodas and palaces, they saw the countless cultivators flying to and fro. At first, they had assumed that what they were looking at was the entirety of the Vast Expanse School, but now they realized that it was only… a small portion.

This was one of only eight outer temple complexes.

"If the outer temple complexes are like this," thought Yun Feng, "then I can only imagine how astonishing the inner core is beneath the surface of the ground…." He was left panting, and for the first time, a gleam of desire appeared in his eyes.

Even as the young man was shaken, his sister suddenly began to laugh.

"Not bad. Not bad at all," she said. "The Vast Expanse School truly deserves its reputation as the ultimate Daoist society. The Yun Clan definitely falls short, although only by a bit." Although her face was a bit ashen, she tried to look unimpressed. The sound of her brother's rapidly increasing heart rate was turning into a quite a headache, though.

The old man in the violet-gold robe laughed lightly. Then he spoke a single sentence, a sentence that contained such power that the air in the area suddenly locked everything in place, motionless.

"The ceremony has been completed, the sect has been assembled, and the formalities have been spoken. Fellow Daoist, the time has come for you to show your face!"

The old man's eyes glowed as they came to stare fixedly at Yun Shan's bag of holding.

At the same time, rumbling could be heard, and a powerful wind kicked up as numerous spell formations formed. The million disciples swirled through the air, lining up to form an even larger grand spell formation.

The tens of thousands of powerful experts flanking the man in the violet-gold robe all unleashed explosive energy which cased the sky to dim and everything to shake.

Down below, countless auras erupted out from the million mountains, making the entire place seem like the underworld!

The eruption of energy caused blood to spray out of Yun Feng's mouth as he teetered on the brink of unconsciousness. His sister stared in shock, and also coughed up blood, her face turning pale white and filling with confusion and shock.

She looked around at all the surrounding cultivators radiating powerful energy and realized that she had never seen so many powerful experts gathered together in one place.

"Seniors, you…." she said, forcing the words out of her mouth.

Of course, the old man in the violet-gold robe was being careful not to push things too far. After all, he could kill this brother and sister team with a single thought. After a moment, he frowned. Considering the level of his cultivation base and his age, he was adept at judging character, and at detecting when people were putting on an act. From the look of things, this brother and sister duo had no idea what was actually going on.

The old man's heart thumped; reaching out with his right hand, he made a grasping gesture, causing Yun Shan's bag of holding to fly out toward him. Instead of grabbing it, though, he simply waved his sleeve.

A bang rang out as the bag of holding burst open, causing countless random objects to spill out everywhere, including corpses….

The old man's eyes flickered. Ignoring the miscellaneous objects, his mind trembled as his eyes came to focus on one corpse in particular!

As soon as he saw it, his eyes began to shine with unprecedented brightness!

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Chapter 1413: So, Are You Going To Sell This Corpse?

In the moment that all the corpses spilled out, shocking ripples began to spread in all directions from that one corpse in particular. As a result, the faces of the one million Vast Expanse School disciples turned deathly white, and blood sprayed out of their mouths. Shocked, they began to back up.

At the same time, their cultivation bases were thrown into complete chaos, something they had absolutely no control over.

The faces of the tens of thousands of powerful experts flickered, and their minds spun, as if they were suddenly facing a powerful foe. It was as if, all of a sudden, they were surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood, from within which countless howls emanated out to completely inundate them.

It was a thoroughly shocking development which caused everything to vibrate and shake.

The indescribable energy coming from the corpse swept over everyone, becoming an intense pressure that caused even the one million mighty mountains down below to tremble. The lands quaked as dust and dirt first floated up into the air, and then were slammed back down again. The chain bridges which connected the mountain peaks were swaying back and forth, and countless disciples felt as if their minds were being struck by lightning.

The energy which had previously been emanating out from the million mountains was, as of this moment, being crushed down as if by a huge hand, completely disintegrated.

Everyone in the area gasped in shock. Only the brother and sister team didn't feel any pressure. However, they could see what was happening, and the thick-headed sister turned to look at that one particular corpse, the blood draining from her face in the process as she recalled how she had picked it up along the way.

"What… what kind of corpse did I pick up…?" she murmured inwardly. She saw the million disciples coughing up blood, she saw the lands trembling, she saw the mountain peaks shaking, she saw the astonishment of the tens of thousands of powerful experts, and she saw the blinding light shining from the eyes of the old man in the violet-gold robe.

One thing she didn't notice was that the mastiff which she had picked up along with the corpse was nowhere to be seen.

As all of this happened, countless gasps and cries of shock and alarm could be heard.

"That's… that's…."

"A Paragon corpse! That's the corpse of a Paragon! Heavens! A 9-Essences Paragon corpse!!"

"No wonder the Vast Expanse Bell tolled. There aren't many 9-Essences Paragons to begin with in the Vast Expanse, and yet somehow, these two people from the Yun Clan… happen to have the corpse of one in their bag of holding!"

"That corpse is a precious treasure!" In the midst of all the commotion, the old man in the violet-gold robe suddenly flicked his sleeve, causing numerous sealing marks to appear and float down onto Meng Hao's corpse. As they settled onto him, everything in the area slowly returned to normal. However, everyone in the area was still in an uproar.

The old man eyed Meng Hao's corpse, then looked over at the young woman who called herself Yun Shan.

"From whence cometh this corpse?" he asked.

"F-found… I found it…." she stammered.

Her words caused everyone to stare wide-eyed with shock, as if what she were saying was unimaginably outrageous. Soon, strange expressions appeared on the faces of the cultivators in the area. As for the old man, he felt as if a lightning bolt had just struck his mind. After staring in shock for a moment, he smiled wryly.

Although he had appeared to remain calm earlier, his heart had actually been surging with tsunamis of astonishment. There weren't a large number of 9-Essences Paragons in the Vast Expanse. Each and every one was a consummately powerful expert, people… who ordinary folk would be lucky to simply catch a glimpse of. And that was when they were alive. After they died… it would be easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than to see such a corpse.

9-Essences experts had a longevity that was virtually unending. They would never just pass away into meditation. Either they would try to Transcend into the Daosource Realm, or they would fail in their attempt, and be destroyed in body and spirit. In the latter case, they wouldn't leave a corpse behind.

Another possibility was that they might be killed in battle. However when 9-Essences Paragons fought, it would be unlikely that the defeated party would be behind as an intact body. Most of the time, the final result was a smashed and mangled corpse. Because of all of that, the intact corpse of a 9-Essences Paragon was something exceedingly rare.

The old man in the violet-gold robe spent a moment in thought. He recognized the sequence of cause and effect here. Obviously, this brother and sister team had found this corpse in their journeys. After arriving at Planet Vast Expanse, it attracted the attention of the spell formation, and caused the bell to ring. His previous assumption that someone was hiding in the young woman's bag of holding was simply a mistake.

Everything made sense now. Except for one thing. A dead person shouldn't have attracted the attention of the spell formation and caused the Vast Expanse Bell to ring.

"He still has a bit of life force left in him," he thought. "He must have been in a bitter fight, then somehow managed to flee at a critical moment. He was so severely injured that his soul nearly dispersed. He's likely in a state of recovery which will last for thousands of years." A flicker of greed appeared in the old man's eyes. Smiling, he reached out his hand to take the corpse; as for the brother and sister duo, he couldn't care less about them.

But then, he frowned as he noticed something on the corpse.

"Hmm, Karma Threads…." he thought. "Well that makes things a bit troublesome. His soul is mostly dispersed, but he still has some connections to this brother and sister, some bit of gratitude linking them together."

As the old man considered what to do, everyone else in the crowd looked on with strange gleams in their eyes. No one seemed to be paying attention to the brother and sister.

Yun Shan was trembling. As of this point, she was terrified, and filled with regret. She wished she had never picked up that corpse, and wished that she had never brought her little brother here to try to con their way into a wedding.

However, even as she trembled in fear, her younger brother sighed and clasped her hand. Normally, his grip was weak, but right now, it was firm.

She looked over in shock at her brother, who forced himself to ignore his fear as he nodded back at her.

A moment later, the old man in the violet-gold robe looked at them with glittering eyes. Smiling, he said, "So, are you going to sell this corpse? I want to buy it."

Yun Shan gaped in shock at the man's request. She was just about to reply when her brother took a step forward. Standing in front of her, he clasped hands and bowed to the old man.

"Senior, I am Yun Feng. I've come to the Vast Expanse School today to ask for the hand of the Vast Expanse Holy Daughter in marriage. This corpse isn't for sale. It's a betrothal gift!" Yun Shan was in complete and utter shock. The words spoken by her younger brother just now, and the way he carried himself, seemed completely out of character.

The old man looked at Yun Feng, eyes flickering with amusement at his words.

"Well, you've got guts. Fine. Join the Vast Expanse School, and I'll send you directly to the Inner Sect.

"As for the marriage, I'll give you a chance at that. If you can reach the Dao Realm within two thousand years, then I'll arrange for you to marry the Vast Expanse Holy Daughter of the current generation at that time!"

Yun Feng hesitated, but his sister was clearly elated. Their entire purpose in coming to the Vast Expanse School was to profit in some way. If her younger brother could become a Vast Expanse School disciple, then that would be the hugest profit imaginable. She was just about to step in and accept, when her brother said, "What about my sister…?"

"Her cultivation base isn't bad," the old man replied immediately, "but her foundation is already solidified, making it impossible for her to cultivate the magic of the Vast Expanse School. However, Inner Sect disciples can recruit attendants. Just have your sister be one of your attendants." As the old man finished speaking, he studied Meng Hao's corpse, and saw that the Karma Threads connected it to the brother and sister team had unraveled, indicating that the debt connecting them had been resolved. The old man swished his sleeve, collecting up Meng Hao's corpse and carrying him off into the distance.

The rest of the cultivators also departed, the images of what they had just seen still playing out in their minds. Soon, a few disciples approached Yun Shan and Yun Feng to begin the formalities of accepting them into the Vast Expanse School. As they walked along, the young man looked around, somewhat in a daze. On the other hand, his sister couldn't look any more happy; as far as she was concerned, they had struck a goldmine.

She glanced over at her younger brother, and her eyes gleamed with praise and anticipation. In her eyes, her brother had just grown up quite a bit, as was evidenced by the clever and decisive way he had just spoken up.

It was only Yun Feng himself who knew the truth. Moments ago, a voice had spoken in his ear and told him exactly what to say.

"That voice which told me what to do… could it have been… that corpse?!" A blank look could be seen in his eyes as he nervously followed the Vast Expanse School disciples off into the distance.

Meanwhile, on one of the million mountains that made up the eighth temple complex, the old man in the violet-gold robe strode along, unable to conceal the delight in his eyes. Soon, he was in a location deep within the million mountains, in front of a teleportation portal. Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped into the portal.

It rumbled and then shone with brilliant light, after which the man disappeared. When he reappeared, he was beneath the surface of Planet Vast Expanse, in the core of the Vast Expanse School.

The inside of Planet Vast Expanse had its own starry sky, complete with a sun and moon, as well as planets. Each one of those planets emanated the aura of a powerful expert, all of whom were apparently in secluded meditation.

Also located in the inner core of the planet was a sea of flames, buried within which was… half of a planet!!

That half-planet was mostly broken and shattered, and emanated a sensation of time and rot. Numerous pagodas and temples adorned its surface, and it emanated an ancient air.

The old man in the violet-gold robe immediately sped in the direction of the sea of flames, and the half-planet therein. As he neared, his voice echoed out, "Fellow Daoists, please have a look at what I've brought for you!"

Laughing, he waved his hand, sending Meng Hao's corpse floating out to hover above the buildings down below.

As soon as it appeared, the sealing marks which had been placed on him vanished, allowing shocking fluctuations to surge out and cover the entire half-planet. Countless people down below were astonished, and six streams of 9-Essences aura suddenly swirled out to surround Meng Hao, accompanied by six people.

"The corpse of a Paragon!! Old Fifth, where did you get your hands on this?!"

"It's not completely dead, there's still the remnant of a discarnate soul…."

"A Paragon corpse like this is something incredibly rare. Unfortunately, although the corpse is intact, its innards are withered into almost nothing!"

"It doesn't matter if its withered! With the resources at the disposal of our Vast Expanse School, we can restore this corpse to peak power in no time! With this corpse, we can carry out the plan to receive the Ninth Paragon earlier than expected!!"

The old man in the violet-gold robe laughed excitedly. It was at this point that a stream of divine sense that was terrifying even to these seven people suddenly exploded out from the half-planet. As it filled the area, the old man and the other six Paragons clasped hands and bowed, serious expressions on their faces.

"Greetings, Sect Leader!"

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Chapter 1414: Refining a Paragon Corpse!

That terrifying divine sense was similar to the one from the archaic old man from the Devil Realm Continent. It was in the 9-Essences level, but was at its very peak!

That peak level qualified one to attempt a breakthrough to the Daosource Realm. Of course, powerful souls like that were very rare. For countless years, very few people had ever been able to reach the peak of 9-Essences. In fact, even in an enormous sect like the Vast Expanse School had only ever produced four.

However, those four had all reached a position only one step away from the Daosource!

Unfortunately, from ancient times until the current day, people who could take that final step were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. In all of the Vast Expanse, there had only ever been two or three… who had completed that step!

All of the others died.

Those who chose not to take that final step, and remained at the peak of 9-Essences, had virtually limitless longevity. Although it wasn't correct to say that they would exist for as long as all Heaven and Earth, they were close to such a level. They had shockingly profound levels of knowledge, and the longer they practiced cultivation, the more powerful they became. However, the Vast Expanse Tribulation came for them once every ten thousand years, and each time it came, it was more terrifying than the last time, until it managed to destroy them.

Because this was so, when it came to comparing those at the peak of 9-Essences, unless someone had a rare, unique Essence, then strength would be determined by who had practiced cultivation in that level for the longest time.

The powerful divine sense enveloped Meng Hao, boring inside of him, inspecting every inch of his being. The other seven Paragons remained off to the side, somber expressions on their faces.

After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, it slowly retracted, and then an ancient voice echoed out.

"This person received the legacy of a Daoist magic in a previous life, which artificially propelled him to the 9-Essences level. However, the result was significant damage that would be difficult to notice upon cursory examination. Even though he is still alive, it would be so difficult for him to make further progress that to do so would require something akin to defying Heaven.

"This person experienced profound sorrow and grief in life, and apparently went through a huge catastrophe. Most likely, he witnessed the destruction of his homeworld. Everyone else died, with him being the sole survivor. Even his narrow escape left him with only a discarnate soul.

"The level of rancor within him is profound, and his previous obsessions still linger. His mind was strong, and his fleshly body even stronger. He even commands some sort of Essence magic that exceeds my comprehension. Very interesting.

"All of those things are secondary, though. Most interesting of all is his aura. It is neither Immortal nor Devil, and it differs from the Vast Expanse. It contains fluctuations the likes of which… I have never seen before.

"Considering everything I have revealed, it is likely that the seven of you have already guessed who he is!" As the ancient voice echoed about, the seven Paragons, including the old man in the violet-gold robe, had thoughtful looks on their faces.

A moment later, one of their number, a middle-aged cultivator, suddenly spoke, his eyes glittering as he said, "One thousand years ago. The Mountain and Sea Realm. Meng Hao!"

In response to his words, the eyes of the other Paragons flickered. The old man in the violet-gold robe looked over at Meng Hao's corpse. Then they began to discuss the matter.

"It's most likely him. A thousand years ago, the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent attacked the Mountain and Sea Realm, which was the evolved version of the Paragon Immortal Realm. It is said that the only thing which survived was a World-Butterfly, which entered the Green Coffin Vortex. A Dao was passed on to Meng Hao, pushing him into the 9-Essences level. But then he was seriously wounded, and even as he hovered on the brink of death, he was teleported away."

"So, it's him. Even to this day, the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm have people searching the Vast Expanse for him. If we…."

"It doesn't matter. We just want his body, we're not trying to help him awaken!"

The powerful divine sense once again spread out, and the ancient voice spoke, as cold as ice. "Leave him here. Just now, I felt some sort of reaction from the ancestral relic. Keeping it under control makes it difficult for me to divide my attention. Once it has stabilized, I'll come back to wipe the discarnate soul out of the corpse. Then, we can refine the body using the resources of the Vast Expanse School. After all of its injuries have been healed, and the body is stabilized, then… the fleshly body vessel will be prepared, and we can summon the Ninth Paragon.

"As for the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent, they will never be able to find the corpse in here. Besides, even if they knew about it, would they really be willing to start a war with our Vast Expanse School?" The ancient voice was filled with a domineering air, and even as it began to fade away, the other seven Paragons exchanged glances and then began to laugh. Then, they clasped hands and bowed before returning to their various locations of secluded meditation.

Since the Sect Leader himself said he would handle Meng Hao's corpse, they weren't worried at all about anything unexpected happening.

After they all left, Meng Hao's corpse remained there hanging there in midair, still and unmoving.

His soul was hidden within the wick of the bronze lamp that rested inside of him. The little bit he had allowed to emanate to the outside just now had been to attract the attention of the Paragons of the Vast Expanse School. He was making a gamble now, gambling that he wouldn't be discovered, that he could use this place to remain concealed from the forces which sought him, and simultaneously, restore his cultivation base.

He also needed to continue to practice cultivation, and seize an opportunity to step into the Daosource Realm as early as possible.

All of those goals were things he hoped to accomplish in the Vast Expanse School.

He would make use of the resources of the Vast Expanse School to heal his injuries, and perhaps even incite the Vast Expanse School into a war with the Immortal God Realm and the Devil Realm. Even if he couldn't pull off a war, he would still need a place with abundant resources to practice cultivation in the way he desired.

Actually, upon awakening, he had little concept of what the Vast Expanse School was. However, when he was on the flying shuttle, he had found that the closer he got, the more his bronze lamp would tremble and even emanate fluctuations that were complementary to Planet Vast Expanse. At that point, Meng Hao had made his decision.

The bronze lamp was mysterious and unfathomable. He wasn't sure exactly where it came from, but he could tell that it definitely had something to do with Planet Vast Expanse.

With his soul hidden in the wick of the lamp, the old man in the violet-gold robe had been unable to detect his presence. However, the powerful divine sense of the Vast Expanse School's Sect Leader left Meng Hao shaken with the threat it posed.

That divine sense was able to inspect every aspect of his body, and had even passed over the location of the bronze lamp several times. However, the lamp itself was something that even the terrifying Sect Leader couldn't detect, which dispelled the lingering feelings of fear Meng Hao had because of the man.

A few days later, that same terrifying divine sense exploded out and enveloped Meng Hao. This time, it studied him for an entire hour, examining him in every aspect. It also completely wiped away the soul fragment that Meng Hao had left outside of the bronze lamp.

In effect, he was murdering Meng Hao; were it not for the bronze lamp, then any chance he had of fully awakening would have been forever erased.

After the hour passed, the divine sense slowly retracted. Meng Hao's corpse was then gripped by a powerful force which pulled it down toward a wide platform, atop which was an enormous cauldron!

It was a medicine cauldron, fully 3,000 meters tall, like a looming mountain. An everburning, seven-colored flame roared beneath it, and inside was a sea of medicine. The powerful force which gripped Meng Hao instantly threw him into the middle of the cauldron.

As that happened, the old man in the violet-gold robes flew over, along with the other six Paragons. They hovered to a stop above the cauldron, then waved their sleeves as they tossed numerous precious medicinal plants inside. In response, the medicinal brew inside began to bubble and boil.

"It has begun," said the ancient voice. "The soul is completely wiped away, leaving the body an empty husk. Heal the wounds and restore the body to a state of perfection, and then we can use it." The seven Paragons had very serious expressions on their faces as they sent out the power of their cultivation base, causing the pores all over Meng Hao's skin to open and begin to absorb the medicinal ingredient extracts.

Rumbling sounds echoed out. Inside the bronze lamp, Meng Hao's soul couldn't feel the burning sensation that existed outside of his body, but he could sense his wounds rapidly healing.

His spirits instantly lifted, and yet he maintained full vigilance.

Time passed. Nineteen days later, so much of the medicinal brew within the huge cauldron had drained away that the cauldron was almost empty. Meng Hao was like a black hole; despite the vast quantity of pure medicinal plants he had absorbed, his injuries were only healed by about thirty percent.

"Simply extraordinary! Not even all those medicinal plants could heal him?"

"It doesn't matter. The resources of the Vast Expanse School are profound. Virtually limitless! However much he needs to absorb, that's how much we'll provide. It just goes to show the incredible potential in this corpse!" The Paragons laughed heartily. Not concerned at all about this development, they went to find more medicinal plants to throw into the cauldron.

Rumbling could be heard as the medicinal brew rose higher within the cauldron once again. Meng Hao was completely submerged. His fleshly body was growing stronger, and the dangerous instabilities caused by being prematurely awoken from the process of absorbing Shui Dongliu's legacy were slowly being neutralized.

As he remained hidden within the bronze lamp, Meng Hao licked his lips. Although he wasn't aware of it, a bashful expression had appeared on his face, and he seemed a bit embarrassed.

Another month passed….

"Still not recovered? Ah, it's fine. Keep providing him materials to absorb!"

"I grew this Heavenrose Grass for 30,000 years. I'll give it to him. All for the benefit of the Ninth Paragon!"

"Years ago I fought a desperate battle to gain this Cloud Dragon bone…. Ah, whatever. The arrival of the Ninth Paragon is critical for our Vast Expanse School!"

The seven Paragons didn't seem very happy, but they gritted their teeth and began to produce all sorts of various precious materials from their collections, which they threw into the cauldron to continue the refinement process.

Meng Hao's body was now almost completely recovered. The dangerous instabilities had been mostly neutralized. However, the bronze lamp which no one could see was like a ravenous black hole when it came to absorbing resources!

In fact, it had absorbed more than half of the various precious materials so far. That caused its flame to grow brighter and brighter, and gradually, Meng Hao could sense that the bronze lamp itself was awakening!

More and more materials were absorbed, until finally, the entire cauldron was rumbling, and the energy of Heaven and Earth in the area was also sucked in.

"The process is almost complete. The energy of Heaven and Earth is being absorbed. Things will be over soon."

"We paid a high price, but the result is an incredibly powerful Paragon corpse. It will all be worth it when the Ninth Paragon arrives."

The seven Paragons were laughing heartily, and looked very much at ease. In recent days, they had been constantly pouring cultivation base power into the cauldron. To finally see an end in sight to all the wastage caused them to sigh in relief.

Time passed. One month. Two months. Three months….

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Chapter 1415: Vast Expanse Dao Body!

The starry sky which stretched out over the half planet trembled as boundless energy of Heaven and Earth surged into the enormous cauldron. All seven Patriarchs, including the one in the violet-gold robe, had extremely unsightly expressions on their faces. There was no need to even mention the wastage to their cultivation bases which had occurred over the past three months. Virtually all of the medicinal plants they possessed had already been thrown into the cauldron, and yet Meng Hao's corpse… still hadn't fully recovered.

"A pit! That's not a corpse inside that cauldron, it's a bottomless pit!" Their hearts ached, and yet the Sect Leader, wherever he was in the depths of the land, hadn't spoken a single word about the matter, so it would be bad form for them to stop. Enduring the pain, they continued.

Meng Hao, on the other hand, was more excited than ever. He was like a fish back in water, his injuries fully recovered, the instabilities negated.

And yet, he just couldn't bear to let so much energy of Heaven and Earth go to waste, not to mention all of the legendary medicinal plants, all of which were things that had been extinct in the Mountain and Sea Realm. He was in a constant state of being remoulded; his fleshly body was growing stronger, and his cultivation base was rising.

The bronze lamp was burning brighter than ever as it absorbed the energy of Heaven and Earth, and the valuable, precious materials. As it grew stronger, it in turn helped Meng Hao to grow, causing incredible transformations within him as he grew more powerful.

As the process continued, Meng Hao's body became more and more suitable… to act as the vessel for the bronze lamp!

Before, his body had been most suited to the 33 Soul Lamps, but now, it was transforming in a way that would allow it to wield the power of that one bronze lamp!

That rebuilding process required that his qi passageways be broken down and then reconstructed. Light from the bronze lamp forged new qi passageways, which spread out to fill him. New blood vessels stretched out, and the pumping of his heart grew stronger. Every part of him was affected, until his body began to shine like a precious gem!

There was even a certain ancient feeling that appeared, as though Meng Hao's body had become a valuable, precious stone from ancient times. There was a chaotic, primeval Dao that seemed to fill him, to permeate every aspect of his flesh and blood, and to swirl around him.

His body seemed more ancient, its aura more primeval, and at the same time, he looked younger!

Even as Meng Hao was being transformed by the bronze lamp, something was happening in the lands below, where the half-planet existed. There could be seen a crimson sea.

It was not blood, but was made from something that contained a powerful fire element. Within that crimson sea of fire was a huge turtle shell, upon which an old man sat cross-legged.

The turtle shell was like a sealing mark, which was apparently suppressing something that existed underneath the crimson sea of flames. The flames churned, and occasional beams of light would seep up from down below, as though whatever was being sealed underneath was attempting to break free.

The old man's face was pale white as he expended all possible effort to maintain the suppression of the seal. Because of the intensity of his work, he was unable to sense what was happening in the outside world.

He had no idea what had happened recently. The ancestral relic beneath the sea of flames had become active to a degree that far exceeded its activity in the past. In the past, it would occasionally become very animated every once in awhile, but such events would only last for a few days.

In contrast, this time it had remained active for several months!

Up above, Meng Hao continued the absorption process. The ancient air about him grew more prominent, and caused the starry sky above him to rumble with such intensity that the fluctuations spread out into the rest of Planet Vast Expanse!

The Heavens trembled, and clouds roiled. From a distance, it even looked as if a layer of distorted vortexes had appeared atop Planet Vast Expanse!

The brother-sister duo of Yun Shan and Yun Feng couldn't see these things, but if they could, Yun Feng would likely be reminded of what he had seen back on the flying shuttle!

The only difference was that the flying shuttle was small, whereas Planet Vast Expanse was… huge!

Over the course of the passing months, visiting cultivators on Planet Vast Expanse couldn't help but sense that something strange was happening. That was especially true of the last half month, during which the distorted vortexes appeared outside of the planet. Any who neared them would find their bodies being withered away rapidly. That terrifying fact ensured that few people dared to get close to them.

Even the mist of the Vast Expanse in the area seemed to have been affected, and began to flow ceaselessly. Eventually, the effect stretched out even farther. If it were possible to look down at the Vast Expanse from an extremely high vantage point, then Planet Vast Expanse would look every bit like a black hole.

That black hole was surrounded by a slowly spinning vortex which affected the entire area around it, and grew larger and larger as time went by!

Out in the Vast Expanse were countless bizarre entities who were now trembling. When they cast their gazes in the direction of Planet Vast Expanse, they could sense that something terrifying was slowly awakening there!

Time passed. Two months later, the seven 9-Essences Paragons were on the verge of losing their tempers. They had fully unleashed their cultivation bases, and had produced virtually all of the precious materials they possessed. They were now empty and drained, and yet Meng Hao's body in the cauldron was still withered, although it seemed to have improved slightly.

"Dammit, what is this thing? How can this corpse absorb such quantities of resources!"

"All of those resources were extremely precious and valuable. How is this even possible!?!?"

"By this point, there's no point in complaining. We need a big burst of energy to restore the corpse. Otherwise, everything else will have been a huge waste!" The seven Paragons gritted their teeth helplessly. As the saying goes, if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off. They produced jade slips and sent various messages. Soon, numerous beams of light appeared from the main areas of the sect as cultivators brought more precious materials to feed into the huge cauldron.

"This is Dragonleaf Shoot…. We only have 350 grams of it in the entire sect!"

"Why did you even bring this Pinegod Cone here? It's… it's… alright, fine!" The seven Paragons felt their hearts twinge with pain; it had only taken a short six months or so for the precious materials they had spent countless years gathering for the sect, to disappear into the cauldron.

The cauldron thrummed, and inside, Meng Hao's body was actually reverting from its withered state. However, he was continuously suppressing those effects. In some ways, he was feeling a lot of pressure himself.

His fleshly body was getting stronger, and his cultivation base was rising. Gradually, everything began to stabilize. Within the precious materials were some things that could be categorized as Essences of all living things. When those items merged into Meng Hao's forehead, the Hex marks there gradually filled with more Essence power.

His body was being completely remoulded, completely transformed!

Surprised, Meng Hao let out a sigh. "I can't keep this up much longer…. Those guys are crazy! They're throwing so much stuff in that even the bronze lamp can't absorb it quickly enough."

More time passed, a half month. Outside of the cauldron, the seven Paragons' hearts raged with flames of fury. The resources of the Vast Expanse School were drawn upon once more. By this point, the energy of Heaven and Earth in the starry sky was showing signs of being dried up. The seven Paragons couldn't take it any longer.

"Dammit! I give up! I'm gonna drag that corpse out and cut it open to find out what's going on!"

"This is no cultivator, and definitely not Meng Hao! I checked into Meng Hao earlier, and he's a cultivator. What we have here is some all-consuming beast!"

"I quit!!" The seven Paragons couldn't hold back their rage any longer, and shot toward the huge cauldron. Before they could get close, though, the cauldron itself began to emanate thunderous rumbling sounds. The energy of Heaven and Earth ceased moving toward it, and the medicinal brew suddenly went completely still.

Then, Meng Hao slowly rose up from within the shaking cauldron, to hover there in midair. He emanated shocking pressure that filled the entire planet, and spread out even further, causing the starry sky above Planet Vast Expanse to flash with strange colors.

It was at this point that the distortions which surrounded Planet Vast Expanse spread far and wide. Rumbling sounds could be heard as the mist in the boundless vortex was affected in numerous regions.

Countless living beings cried out and began to shake as looks of terror spread out on their faces. There were even certain ancient entities which not even the Vast Expanse School would dare to provoke, who were awoken from sleep, with looks of astonishment on their faces.

"Vast Expanse… Dao Body…."

Rumbling sounds filled the entire Vast Expanse, as it was filled by a gargantuan, indescribable vortex. Several shocking auras rose up from the Immortal God Continent, which looked off into the distance with somberness and shock.

The same thing happened on the Devil Realm Continent, in which several streams of divine sense looked off into the distance in disbelief.

Within the Green Coffin Vortex, the butterfly's wings fluttered as a bit of the mist of the Vast Expanse entered into the world of the butterfly, and could be sensed by many.

On the peak of the tallest mountain, tears streamed down Xu Qing's cheeks, and she smiled.

"I just sensed it…. You're out there…."

As the shocking events played out in the Vast Expanse, back above the half planet inside Planet Vast Expanse, Meng Hao floated there, the center of all attention among the surrounding disciples of the Vast Expanse School.

A fragrant aroma even spread out from him, and his body truly looked as if it had been moulded from precious gems. His facial features were the same, but in terms of his overall appearance, it was vastly different.

Anyone who looked at him would be shaken, as if they had just laid eyes on the most perfect treasure in existence!

As for the seven 9-Essences Paragons, they stepped forward, their eyes glowing with strange light as they examined Meng Hao.

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Chapter 1416: Welcoming Light!

Meng Hao's current physical appearance was difficult to put into words. It was matchlessly scintillating, and as he hung there above the enormous cauldron, dazzling, jewel-like light spread out that seemed capable of outshining all other gems or treasures.

Shocking fluctuations spread out in all directions from him, which caused even more vortexes to appear outside in the Vast Expanse.

As of this moment, the old man in the violet-gold robe, as well as the other six Paragons, were gasping. They couldn't help but stare at what had sucked away the better part of a year, as well as countless precious materials from the sect and even their own cultivation base power. What had been moulded… was a Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering fleshly body.

It was at this point that, deep in the lands down below, the old man on top of the turtle shell finally opened his eyes. The sea of flames had finally calmed down; whatever it was that had agitated the ancestral relic inside of the sea of flames had finally vanished.

The old man looked exhausted, but when he sent his divine sense out and saw Meng Hao, his jaw dropped, and his eyes began to shine.

"Vast Expanse… Dao Body!!" he murmured in disbelief.

He wasn't the only shocked one. The other seven Paragons were equally astonished as they sensed Meng Hao's treasure-like body, and as they studied the fluctuations emanating off of him, they quickly realized what it all signified.

"Vast Expanse Dao Body!!"

Gasps rang out, along with expressions revealing mixed emotions. There were even some within whose eyes appeared glints of greed.

Considering that 9-Essences Paragons were feeling greedy, it was easy to see how rare a Vast Expanse Dao Body was!

Of course, this Dao Body was actually not referring to a specific type of fleshly body, but was more a general classification!

Any fleshly body with the right qualifications and potential, after reaching a certain point, would incite changes in the Vast Expanse that the Vast Expanse itself had to suppress. At that time, it could be called a Vast Expanse Dao Body.

The seven Paragons' eyes were glittering, and all the lands around them were trembling. The old man on the turtle shell sent his divine sense out to form a clone, which, as soon as it appeared, caused the other seven Paragons to bury their feelings.

The divine sense clone wore a long white robe, and looked exactly like the old man back on the turtle shell. As he stood there studying Meng Hao, he raised his right hand and touched the corpse's forehead. At that point, boundless divine sense exploded out into Meng Hao.

This time, he spent even more time examining him than last time. An hour later, he lowered his hand. He had just used all of the divine sense power he could muster to thoroughly inspect Meng Hao inside and out, to confirm that there was no trace of a soul inside. Feeling a bit more relaxed, he turned to look at the other seven Paragons.

"You people don't want to Transcend?!" he asked, a stern gleam in his eyes. His voice wasn't loud, but it contained a shocking pressure that spread out in all directions, causing the other Paragons to sink further into silence.

"Even I can't help but covet this Vast Expanse Dao Body. I might not be able to possess it, but I could turn it into a puppet that would be an extremely helpful asset, to say the least.

"But would that be worth forsaking Transcendence?!

"Our Vast Expanse School is an offshoot of the Vast Expanse Society. And what is our purpose in this starry sky? !?! Have you forgotten?! 1

"Within the necropolis of the first generation Patriarch of the Vast Expanse is the method for Transcendence. That is the mission of the Vast Expanse School!

"After all of these years and years of searching, we've finally found hope. Now all we need is for the main sect on the outside to send Paragon Heaven-Eye down to us. Supposedly, he only recently stepped into the 9-Essences level, but he has a Dao eye. This Vast Expanse Dao Body was prepared expressly for him, and will play a vital function in the overall plan!

"If we can find the secret of Transcendence inside the Patriarch's necropolis, then all of us will have the same hope to Transcend. The Vast Expanse Society on the outside, the main sect, is not easy to get into, but if we Transcend, then we will be able to leave the Vast Expanse at any time. When that happens, we will definitely have extremely high positions within the Vast Expanse Society!

"When you compare Transcendence to a piddling Vast Expanse Dao Body, I don't even need to explain which is more important!" He swished his sleeve, causing Meng Hao's body to fly out to the central region of the half planet, where… nine primitive-looking altars rose high into the sky.

Meng Hao's corpse came to rest on the ninth of those altars, where it lay unmoving.

"Make preparations! Contact the Vast Expanse Society on the outside. In three days, we will prepare to receive the Ninth Paragon!" With that, the old man's clone body vanished. Everything was very quiet, and the old man in the violet-gold robe took a deep breath.

"The Sect Leader is right. After all these years of preparations, and all of the waiting, when hope for Transcendence is finally right in front of us… a Vast Expanse Dao Body is not even worth thinking about!" Sighing, he clasped hands to the others and then walked away.

The others remained silent for a moment, but soon wry smiles appeared on their faces. Shaking their heads, they suppressed the greed they felt for the Vast Expanse Dao Body, and returned one by one to their secluded meditation, where they had three days to restore their cultivation bases back to their peak.

Those three days passed by in a flash. The starry sky outside of Planet Vast Expanse had returned to normal, the majestic vortexes had faded away, and the visiting cultivators returned to their normal affairs. However, the strange signs and portents which had occurred were firmly fixed into the minds of all. For those people, no amount of investigation or inquiry revealed any clues about what had happened.

After the third day, eight beams of light shot through the air of the half-planet toward the nine altars. In the lead was the Vast Expanse School's Sect Leader. Usually, his time was occupied suppressing what was underneath the sea of flames, and he rarely came out. But now, he was here with his true self, which sat down cross-legged on the first altar.

The other seven Patriarchs, including the old man in the violet-gold robe, landed on the various platforms, then performed double-handed incantation gestures as they rotated their cultivation bases.

Simultaneously, innumerable Vast Expanse School disciples appeared in their location on the half-planet. As they sat down cross-legged, they appeared to be organized into an enormous spell formation. Furthermore, countless asteroids outside of the planet itself were also meticulously organized, causing flickering light to radiate out, and the starlight to fill with dense energy of Heaven and Earth.

Even more Vast Expanse School disciples were visible elsewhere on Planet Vast Expanse, sitting in meditation at the behest of the sect itself. Gradually, the auras of all of the disciples merged together into a whole.

On this day, all cultivators on Planet Vast Expanse who were not members of the Vast Expanse School were prohibited from flying in the air. Any violators would be executed immediately without question.

On this day, Planet Vast Expanse was locked down. No one was allowed to enter!

On this day, all of Planet Vast Expanse thrummed with energy, and rumbling sounds emanated out from it into the starry sky.

Furthermore, a beam of light shot out from the inner part of Planet Vast Expanse, from the turtle shell atop the sea of flames in the half-planet!

According to rumors, the Vast Expanse School had a teleportation portal which connected to outside of the Vast Expanse. In some ways that was true, and in some ways that was false. What was true was that there really was a spell formation. The false part was that… only a Transcendent cultivator could use that teleportation portal to leave!

However, to do that, a Transcendent cultivator wouldn't actually need the aid of such a spell formation.

The true purpose of the teleportation portal was to receive people from the outside, to lock down a position for such people, to transport souls!

This connection between the inside and the outside of the Vast Expanse enabled powerful experts from the outside to send a soul body inside. It was too difficult for a fleshly body to survive the process. It would be destroyed in order to keep the soul body whole and safe as it entered the Vast Expanse.

The cost to operate the teleportation portal was astronomical. Furthermore, both the Vast Expanse School on the inside and the Vast Expanse Society on the outside had to pay a huge price.

Because of the huge cost, it took eras and eras of preparation. In fact, throughout all the years of the Vast Expanse School's existence, it had only been used a few times.

Amidst rumbling sounds, brilliant light rocketed off of the turtle shell in the sea of flames. It pierced through the lands to appear outside of the half-planet, amongst the nine altars. The altars absorbed the light, and then eight of the people atop the altars unleashed their cultivation bases, adding to the teleportation power.

Meng Hao lay on the ninth altar. From within the bronze lamp, his soul looked out coldly at what was happening. He knew that this would be the final test. If he could pass it safely, then from now on, he would be the Ninth Paragon of the Vast Expanse School.

Not only would he have a new identity, he would gain the protection of the Vast Expanse School. That was critical as far as he was concerned.

"I'll exterminate this incoming soul, and when I open my eyes, I will be Meng Hao, and also… the Vast Expanse School's Ninth Paragon." He examined the bronze lamp that he was hiding in, and smiled. This mysterious and powerful lamp was the main reason why he was so confident in this gamble.

"I have no deep enmity toward you people. If you want to assign blame, then you should blame… yourselves for trying to possess my body!" His eyes flickered as he sank further into the bronze lamp and waited… for his enemy to arrive.

The ninth altar flickered with bright light that converged into a pillar which shot up off of the half-planet and into the inner starry sky. At the same time, the half-planet began to move in rotation, and the asteroids which filled the starry sky began to emanate dazzling light.

Countless voices could be heard chanting scriptures, which emanated off of the half-planet; at the same time, the pillar of light appeared above the lands of Planet Vast Expanse.

The sound of the chanting scriptures bolstered the light; the lands of Planet Vast Expanse were shaking, and the mountains were trembling. The sea of flames became still as the light shot out into the starry sky of the Vast Expanse, rising higher and higher until no one could see it.

At that point, everyone on Planet Vast Expanse began to tremble. Countless life forms bowed their heads, and looks of intense focus appeared in the eyes of the disciples of the Vast Expanse School. As for all the other cultivators, they were completely shaken.

Everyone was now waiting!

Meng Hao's soul remained in the bronze lamp, eyes shining with a mysterious, incisive light!

"The critical moment has arrived. If I succeed, I can settle down in the Vast Expanse School, and will have a greater hope of getting my revenge. If I fail….

"I won't fail! Even though the Sect Leader of the Vast Expanse School most likely still has suspicions about my soul, I… won't fail!" Within Meng Hao's eyes, a red, Demonic glow could be seen!

1. The Vast Expanse Society was actually mentioned in chapter 1408 by the parrot

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Chapter 1417: Who Cares If You Know!?

In the same moment that the pillar of light rose up off of the planet and out into the Vast Expanse, there were three areas on Planet Vast Expanse itself where heart-pounding fluctuations were emanating out.

The first location was a garden that looked like a celestial paradise. In one particular valley was a lake, next to which a young man sat cross-legged, wearing a long golden robe. He looked up, and as he did, his previously ordinary pupils suddenly distorted into oval shapes.

"Yet again someone descends. Is it really so easy for these kids of the younger generation to find the Patriarch's necropolis?!

"If the method for Transcendance were so simple, then after all these countless years, wouldn't there be more than just four or five people who have succeeded?"

The second location was far, far away from the first. It was an ice cave, filled with fluttering snow. A woman stood there silently, looking up into the Heavens, and the pillar of light. Her eyes seemed to contain reminiscence, as well as other mixed emotions. After a moment, it all transformed into a light sigh.

"I have no desire to search for the Patriarch's necropolis, nor to Transcend. I only wish… to return home."

Gradually, the woman disappeared behind the masses of snowflakes.

Coincidentally, the third location was almost the opposite of the second. It was a scorching desert, where a violet sandstorm raged. If one looked closely, it would be possible to make out the vague image of a person walking through that sandstorm.

When the pillar of light rose up, that person looked up, and then began to cackle shrilly.

"Ah, another. I wonder who it is this time?"

The lands of Planet Vast Expanse quaked as the pillar of light sent wild ripples out into the sky. It was hard to say whether or not it was because of Meng Hao's Vast Expanse Dao Body, but many beings within the Vast Expanse were now paying close attention to what was happening.

It was at this point that a figure suddenly appeared within the pillar of light. It was a discarnate soul whose fleshly body was crumbling around it. Apparently, the soul was struggling to make its way down.

Apparently there were invisible barriers blocking its way, and as the soul descended, it began to disperse. However, in the very center of the soul was a violet eye, which emanated an air of madness, and continued to follow the pillar of light toward Planet Vast Expanse!

During the process, more of the soul dispersed, but at the same time, it increased its speed. Gradually, thunderous booms began to echo out from within the pillar of light.

Soon the soul was quite close to Planet Vast Expanse. However, at that point it seemed to run into some incredibly powerful obstacle, and the soul began to fully disperse. An unyielding roar echoed out, and then, eight figures appeared in the area surrounding the soul.

Closer inspection would reveal that those eight figures were none other than the Sect Leader and the other seven 9-Essences Paragons. They unleashed massive power to break the barrier down, causing the violet eye to gleam with excitement as they then escorted it down toward Planet Vast Expanse.

They moved with incredible speed, destroying any and all barriers which appeared. By the time the group actually reached Planet Vast Expanse, the soul had dispersed, leaving behind nothing but the eye.

The eye radiated madness, but also pain. It was covered with countless cracks and crevices, and was hovering on the verge of collapse. Apparently, the other eight Paragons could do nothing about that other than increase their speed and usher the eye toward the fleshly body they had prepared for it.

At the same time, the cultivators on Planet Vast Expanse saw what was happening, and their minds were filled with utter shock.

The sounds of scriptures being chanted by the cultivators of the Vast Expanse School seemed to contain a strange power which filled the area, which fused into the pillar of light and helped the eye to resist the collapse.

Rumbling echoed out as the violet eye reached Planet Vast Expanse, passed down through the lands into the inner planet, and then appeared in the air above the ninth altar, where Meng Hao lay stretched out.

By this point, the eye was almost completely covered with cracks, and seemed as if it might collapse at any moment. However, it was in that very moment that it slammed into Meng Hao's forehead and began to bore into him.

When the eye finally merged into Meng Hao, the Paragons on the other eight altars all reacted in the same way.

"Success!!" they cried, opening their eyes and laughing coldly.

The only one who didn't respond in that way was the Sect Leader, who snorted coldly as his eyes opened.

"Fellow Daoists," he said coolly, "activate the Soulseal Formation. Help the Ninth Paragon suppress the discarnate soul in that body!" He waved his hand and then pointed toward Meng Hao laying there on the ninth altar.

The other seven Paragons didn't seem surprised at all by the Sect Leader's command, almost as if they had been prepared for this. Chuckling coldly, they simultaneously unleashed cultivation base power, sending ripples out in all directions. With the Sect Leader taking the lead, they combined their power to form a sealing mark which descended onto Meng Hao.

Inside the bronze lamp, Meng Hao's soul had been preparing to attack the violet eye as soon as it entered. But then his face fell, and he looked around to find a barrier trapping his soul and preventing it from emerging.

It was at this point that the Sect Leader began to speak.

"Fellow Daoist, I don't care who you are, but it's safe to assume you're Meng Hao from the Mountain and Sea Realm. Although I can't tell where your discarnate soul is hiding, nor do I have any proof of its actual existence…

"I still believe that your arrival was far too coincidental!

"You just so happened to come in the exact moment when we needed a corpse?

"Perhaps it really was a coincidence. Perhaps it was even a coincidence that you consumed a vast amount of precious materials belonging to the Vast Expanse School. However, it strikes me that there's too little of your soul left, and it put up too little of a struggle. This, of course, might just be a coincidence due to the severe injuries you sustained, which caused you to be so weak.

"It's possible that you heard my discussions with my fellow sect members here, and that was why you never revealed any traces of your presence. Of course, there is another possibility, and that is that your soul truly has dispersed in all aspects.

"However, the presence of so many coincidences all at the same time is too suspicious. Perhaps I'm being a bit paranoid, but I believe that there is a high likelihood that your soul has not, in fact, dispersed!

"You have been waiting for this very moment to wipe out the Vast Expanse School's Ninth Paragon, and take his place!

"Therefore, we came prepared. That ninth altar you are on also serves as a suppressor of souls, and is effective on any soul that does not cultivate the magic of the Vast Expanse School!

"Regardless of whether or not you are still there inside your body, and regardless of whether or not I'm paranoid, now that the seal has been activated, I can rest at ease." As the old Sect Leader's voice echoed out, the combined effort of the eight Paragons caused the power of the Soulseal Formation to crush down. That in turn allowed the violet eye to take root inside of Meng Hao, to spread tendril-like soul strands throughout his body.

At the same time, a violet mark could be seen on his forehead. It began to open up, taking control of everything, revealing… a violet eye!

Almost as soon as it appeared, a fierce gleam could be seen in the eye. Then, it closed, and even more soul strands went into Meng Hao, filling his qi passageways, his heart, his mind, his everything.

Inside the bronze lamp, Meng Hao's soul frowned. He watched coldly as all of this happened, and could feel the effects of the soul sealing carried out by the Sect Leader and the others.

"So, they were ready for me," he thought, eyes flickering. However, he didn't seem very surprised. After all, people who practiced cultivation all the way to the 9-Essences level were sure to be extraordinary in terms of wisdom and foresight.

"Well, in that case… I'll just have to go with my backup plan. If it turns out I can't erase this other soul, then I'll… consume it!"

Meng Hao's eyes glittered as the bronze lamp suddenly flared with light and then… a crack opened up on its surface. In the instant that the crack appeared, the soul strands of the Ninth Paragon tried to force their way in. Meanwhile, the faces of the Sect Leader and the other Paragons flickered.

Although they had had their suspicions, they hadn't dared to make a determination as to whether or not Meng Hao was truly still in his body. After all, the most rigorous inspections hadn't turned up the slightest evidence of that.

But now that the bronze lamp had opened up a bit, and the soul strands of the Ninth Paragon shot toward it, the eight Paragons could sense what was happening.

"So, he really is still around!" Cold, grim expressions appeared on their faces, and they sent their divine sense pouring toward Meng Hao's body to help the Ninth Paragon suppress Meng Hao's soul.

However, before their streams of divine sense could enter Meng Hao's body, the bronze lamp flashed, and a power of expulsion erupted out, blocking the eight streams of divine sense outside of the body!

Their faces fell. As for Meng Hao, he now had a bit of extra time. His soul unhesitatingly shot out toward the soul strands belonging to the Ninth Paragon. Instantly, the two intertwined, and began to try to consume each other.

At the same time, Meng Hao's Demonic qi erupted out, and his soul transformed. The multifariousness of the Demon caused his own soul to be indistinguishably mixed with the soul strands. That in turn caused his ability to consume them to increase dramatically!

The soul strands could sense the incredible danger, and tried to fight back. However, it was impossible to tell which were which!

The Sect Leader and the other eight Paragons had grim faces as they looked on. They could sense that the souls of Meng Hao and the Ninth Paragon were intermixed, but there was nothing they could do to intervene.

"How could this be happening!?!?"

"Dammit!!" Gleams of rage appeared in their eyes. The Sect Leader looked extremely grim, and yet, couldn't help but sigh with a bit of admiration.

"No wonder this Meng Hao was able to tangle with the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm…. He used his own body as bait for our Vast Expanse School. He set up a sinister scheme, and even anticipated that he would be discovered by us. I was simply too self-confident.

"This is a battle between souls, and one will end up consuming the other. We cannot interfere. Victory will be decided by which among their souls is the strongest."

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Chapter 1418: Ninth Paragon!

The Sect Leader of the Vast Expanse School, along with the seven other Paragons, were all sitting cross-legged on the altars, looking very grim-faced.

Although they couldn't directly help the Ninth Paragon, the Soulseal Formation was still in place, exerting pressure onto Meng Hao's soul.

Because the formation only targeted cultivators who did not cultivate the magic of the Vast Expanse School, it was the most effective tool at their disposal. Unfortunately for them, when they tried to send their divine sense into Meng Hao, a powerful force rebuffed them. That only served to make Meng Hao seem more mystifying to them.

Of course, it was all because of the bronze lamp. Furthermore, it forced them to rely only on the general sensation they felt to understand what was happening. They couldn't directly observe. When you added in Meng Hao's multifarious Demonic qi, it meant that what they sensed was often wrong.

Plus there was the fact that they couldn't even tell exactly where Meng Hao's soul was hiding, which made it difficult for them to judge exactly how effective the Soulseal Formation was.

It was just as the Sect Leader had said: everything would come down to who was stronger: Meng Hao, or the Ninth Paragon.

One of them had shocking natural talent, and had relied on his own cultivation base to become a 9-Essences Paragon in the Vast Expanse Society. He even possessed a Dao eye, which could cause shocking transformations in Heaven and Earth. The other had been propelled to the 9-Essences level via legacy, and yet regardless of whether it was in terms of his status or his background, he had reached the pinnacle of his home Realm. He had experienced countless dangers, had watched his world be destroyed, and had battled with both the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent.

As for which one of these two souls was stronger… the Sect Leader and the other Paragons had no way to say for sure.

They could only wait.

Days passed one by one. Soon, half a month had gone by.

From the outside, there didn't seem to be anything special about Meng Hao. However, inside, a vicious battle was being fought with the soul of the Ninth Paragon. The bronze lamp ensured that the effects of the Soulseal Formation were blocked, allowing Meng Hao to fight with complete viciousness, a viciousness that the Ninth Paragon couldn't even come close to matching.

Even more important was that Meng Hao's soul was backed by his Demonic qi. Its maddening, multifarious nature was completely terrifying, and was a constant pressure on the Ninth Paragon.

"Dammit. Dammit!!" the Ninth Patriarch howled, although the sound was confined within the body. How could he ever have imagined that something like this would happen immediately upon his arrival?

All of his grand aspirations, his wild ambitions, his complex machinations, and even his dream of Transcendence, were now being utterly shaken. In fact, he was even able to sense that his consciousness was starting to fade.

Gradually, he had to admit that when it came to this battle of mutual consumption… he was not a match for Meng Hao!

He wallowed in his bitterness as time passed. Meng Hao's soul now controlled more than half of his body. In contrast, the Ninth Paragon was only growing weaker and weaker. Eventually, it reached the point where he was on the verge of being completely consumed.

"Give me a chance to live!" he wailed. "There is no enmity between us!!" Shaken, he refused to accept the idea of dying in this way.

In almost the same moment that his words echoed out, Meng Hao's soul paused for a moment, then swallowed what remained of the Ninth Paragon's soul, leaving behind only a tiny strand, like a flickering spark.

"You're right, there is no enmity between us," Meng Hao said coolly. "I won't kill you. I'll leave you with this tiny soul seed. One day in the future, I'll give you your freedom!" Even as his voice echoed out, memories and Daoist magics belonging to the Ninth Paragon exploded out within his soul.

The power of his soul increased with maddening rapidity. In the blink of an eye, it broke past its previous limit. After all, consuming the soul of a 9-Essences Paragon counted as incredible good fortune. Although it didn't quite match up to what had happened with Shui Dongliu, it came close!!

It was possible to imagine that, once Meng Hao regained complete control over himself, with his Vast Expanse Dao Body and increased soul power, then his battle prowess would exceed that of an ordinary 9-Essences Paragon. He wouldn't quite be at the peak, but he would definitely be in the mid 9-Essences level!

Meanwhile, the eight Paragons were still there on the altars, staring at Meng Hao with looks of vigilance and hesitation on their faces.

After half a month of observation, they could tell that there was no longer any chaos within Meng Hao. Clearly, one of the souls had consumed the other!

Furthermore, the soul which had emerged as the winner was now much more powerful!

"Which one of them was victorious?" said the old man in the violet-gold robe, his voice soft. The others were unwilling to offer any speculation.

"The Soulseal Formation isn't doing anything now. The Ninth Paragon must have succeeded…."

"If he did, then the Soulseal Formation would automatically cease to have any effect. However, if Meng Hao succeeded, and absorbed the Ninth Paragon's soul, then he would also become equipped with the characteristics of Vast Expanse techniques, and the result could possibly be the same."

Even as everyone hesitated, the Sect Leader's eyes glittered. "We'll know the answer soon enough!"

Killing intent swirled in his eyes, and deep inside, he sighed. As soon as he had laid eyes on Meng Hao, he had come up with the idea of using his corpse instead of the other 8-Essences Paragon corpse they had prepared. After all, a 9-Essences corpse would ensure that the Ninth Paragon's Dao eye would retain the majority of its power.

Then the Vast Expanse Dao Body had appeared, and he was even more convinced to go through with his plan. Even though there was something suspicious about the corpse, he was confident that they could handle the situation.

Actually, if it hadn't been for the bronze lamp, the entire sequence of events would have been within his complete control.

Killing intent swirled amongst the other Paragons. If it turned out that the Ninth Paragon's soul had been consumed in front of their very eyes, the sheer magnitude of such an affront would cause their desire to kill Meng Hao to grow even more intense.

The same thought was running through all of their minds. "I truly hope that the Ninth Paragon was victorious!"

As the eight Paragons looked on silently, Meng Hao continued on with the process of fully assimilating the soul. He saw the Ninth Paragon's life, his techniques, his Dao eye, and his memories. However, he saw nothing regarding the world beyond the Vast Expanse. It was almost as if all information regarding the outside had been sealed, and though Meng Hao could sense its existence, he had no way of unlocking and viewing it.

However, he was made aware of the Vast Expanse School's plans regarding the necropolis. Not a bit of that information was withheld.

Time passed. The consumption and absorption process took an entire month. Afterward, when Meng Hao had fully assimilated the Ninth Paragon's soul, he unleashed his own soul to completely fill his body.

As that happened, he was flooded with the sensation of being able to control his own body again. His heartbeat was no longer slow and monotonous, but thrummed with life and energy, and his qi and blood flowed more and more quickly. Furthermore, his aura ceased emanating out, but was contained inside of him.

However, this indicated that Meng Hao's battle prowess was completely different from before, and the pressure experienced by the other eight Paragons was now even more intense.

The Sect Leader and the other Paragons all kept their eyes fixed fully on Meng Hao. They knew that the answer to their question would soon be revealed.

One breath of time passed. Then another, and another….

Meng Hao's finger twitched, and his eyelids trembled. After ten breaths of time passed, he had gathered enough strength that… his eyes opened!

When that happened, the surrounding eight Paragons all unleashed their power. A shapeless tempest sprang up, transforming into a power of extermination that could be sent crushing down onto Meng Hao at a moment's notice.

However, Meng Hao's expression didn't even flicker. He opened his eyes and looked up at the starry sky, blankly at first, but then with more and more lucidity.

His mind filled with countless memories of the Mountain and Sea Realm, ending with the destruction of the Realm itself. He remembered the Mountain and Sea Butterfly fluttering toward the green coffin. He remembered the parrot wiping its mind.

Meng Hao saw all of that, and then buried it deep within him. What could be seen on his face now made him look very different from before. There was no smile, and no warmth. There was only… icy coldness.

His entire person was like a block of ice!

He seemed completely ambivalent toward the storm of killing intent around him as he slowly rose to a sitting position, looking around coldly at the other Paragons.

The Paragons had been paying very close attention to everything about Meng Hao. They noticed the blankness in his eyes, and then saw them turn lucid. They could tell that he was reminiscing about the past, and they could see how cold he had become.

However, none of those things told them much. If the awakened soul was Meng Hao, it would make sense for him to look blank, then lucid, then recall memories, then turn icy cold.

However, if it was the Ninth Paragon, it would have been the same. He would have looked blankly around at the new world, then grown lucid as he realized where he was. No doubt, he would recall memories of his time outside the Vast Expanse, as well as the fight between himself and Meng Hao. In the end, he would look around at these Paragons who had dragged him into an almost fatal ambush, and of course his expression would be icy!

"Who are you?!" asked the Sect Leader. In addition to the killing intent, other mixed emotions could be seen in his eyes. Even now that Meng Hao was awake… he wasn't sure who he was.

Meng Hao turned, eyes icy as he stared at the Sect Leader. "Who do you think I am?"

Their gazes met, and the Sect Leader's eyes began to glow as his divine sense surged into a mighty, crushing force.

"You're Meng Hao!!" In response to his words, the other Paragons' faces flickered, and their killing intent surged, becoming corporeal as it bore down destructively on Meng Hao.

Meng Hao's expression was the same as ever as he faced the combined killing intent of eight Paragons. Suddenly, a flash of light could be seen on his forehead, a violet streak that opened up to reveal an eye!

It was none other than the Ninth Paragon's Dao eye!

When the Dao eye opened, everything in the entire world went still. A consummate pressure radiated out, allowing him to stand up to the combined killing intent of all of his opponents.

In response, their faces flickered. Simultaneously, Meng Hao rose to his feet, and as he did, wild colors flashed in the sky and a huge wind kicked up.

It was as if a primordial and ancient will were awakening!

"I'm the Ninth Paragon!" he said, his voice booming like thunder.

The Sect Leader's eyes flickered as he examined the Dao eye. Inwardly, he sighed and buried his suspicions deep within his heart. Suddenly, he laughed.

"Ah, you truly are the Ninth Paragon of our Vast Expanse School!" The other Paragons looked on silently. Mixed emotions could be seen in their eyes as they looked at the Dao eye, but after a moment, they also began to laugh.

"Welcome, Ninth Paragon. Welcome to the Vast Expanse!"

Who you really are doesn't matter. As long as you have that Dao eye, and can wield its power… then you are the Ninth Paragon!

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Chapter 1419: Putting Down Roots!

Whether or not he was really the Ninth Paragon didn't matter. The Sect Leader of the Vast Expanse School, as well as the other 9-Essences Paragons, had never actually met the Ninth Paragon, so naturally, there were no feelings of friendship between them.

The only reason they needed him was to help with their plan. Furthermore, the most important thing was the Dao eye, which would be of incredible usefulness to them.

That was why they had hoped that the incoming Ninth Paragon would be even stronger in terms of cultivation base.

Now, regardless of whether or not the person they were looking at was Meng Hao or the Ninth Paragon, he had the Dao eye. With that, nothing else really mattered.

If he was the Ninth Paragon, then things were well and good. If he wasn't, then he would have to act like him!

The Sect Leader knew that, and thus he sighed. The other 9-Essences Paragons also knew, and so reacted with mixed feelings.

Meng Hao was aware of that fact as well. That was why he hadn't been surprised at all by the killing intent he saw when he opened his eyes. And that was also why he had opened the Dao eye on his forehead.

When that Dao eye appeared, all danger faded away!

Believe me? Fine! Don't want to believe me…? You have no choice!

As he stood there on the ninth altar, looking at the Sect Leader and the other Paragons, he smiled. It was a warm smile, devoid of the coldness from earlier. Then he clasped hands and bowed to the others.

"Many thanks to you, Fellow Daoists. I will do my best to help with the Vast Expanse School's plan." His simle and his words spoke to his current attitude.

In response, the Sect Leader's eyes flickered, and he laughed again. "Come, come, you've just arrived, and therefore don't know much about our Vast Expanse School. Allow me to introduce everyone."

With that, the Sect Leader jovially introduced the other seven Paragons.

One of them was the old man in the violet-gold robe who had purchased Meng Hao's corpse. His name was Shangguan Hong, and as he smiled and clasped hands to Meng Hao, a profound gleam could be seen in his eyes. 1

Meng Hao smiled broadly in return, and seemed to have missed the look in the man's eyes. After all the formal greetings were done, the Sect Leader arranged for Meng Hao to be escorted to the temple on the half-planet which had been arranged ahead of time for the Ninth Paragon.

After Meng Hao left, the smiles of the faces of the Sect Leader and the other 9-Essences Paragons turned grim. They remained standing on the altars, silently watching Meng Hao disappear into the distance.

After a long moment passed, Shangguan Hong cleared his throat and said, "Well… that's it?"

Complex expressions could be seen on the faces of the others.

"There's no evidence. No way to prove whether or not he really is the Ninth Paragon…."

"Not necessarily. But what would be the point in it? Whether he is or isn't doesn't matter. If he's not, and prefers to maintain a cover, it doesn't hurt us. If we expose him as a fraud, though, it could harm our own interests."

"Hmph. I can't believe we wasted all those resources to end up like this. Maybe we should contact the Vast Expanse Society and have someone else sent down…."

"We spent far too many years accumulating all of those resources. It's not possible to rebuild the collection any time soon. Besides, if the Vast Expanse Society learned of this matter, who knows how they might deal with us."

After a bit of discussion, everyone quieted down and looked over at the Sect Leader.

He closed his eyes for a few moments, and when they opened, they were shining brightly.

"As long as he helps us carry out the plan, then it doesn't matter who he is, he counts as the Ninth Paragon. Going forward, keep this matter between us." Having finished speaking, he turned and headed back to the turtle shell above the sea of flames to continue his watch.

After he left, he left single sentence floating behind him. "Notify the sect, spread word, and prepare for the ceremony to officially welcome the Ninth Paragon."

The other seven Paragons exchanged faint smiles. Strange gleams were buried deep in their eyes. Even after meeting Meng Hao and measuring him up, none of them felt any hatred toward him, or desire to kill him. In fact, they even admired him a bit.

"The ultimate figure of an entire Realm, someone who has tangled with both the Immortal God Realm and the Devil Realm. If he was able to make a comeback after dying… then he can't be underestimated, nor should he be provoked."

"How crafty and vicious. And also decisive. If he had made the slightest mistake, a huge battle would have erupted."

"And yet he managed to hit the nail on the head with that Dao eye. In the end, he basically put himself in an unassailable position."

"You all might think he is Meng Hao, but in my opinion, the Ninth Paragon would have done just the same." Some of the Paragons sighed, and others smiled. After exchanging a few more words, they dispersed.

Everything slowly went back to normal in the starry sky of the half-planet.

A Vast Expanse School disciple respectfully led Meng Hao to the palace which had been set aside for the Ninth Paragon.

The palace encompassed an area of 300,000 meters, taking up almost an entire plain on the north side of the half-planet. It even had special secluded meditation facilities just for the Ninth patriarch. At first glance, it looked like a vast city.

It was spectacular to behold, complete with mountains, rivers, numerous lakes, and countless buildings. It was like a celestial garden, and at the very center was a towering pagoda, beneath which was an austere temple.

The pagoda was so high it seemed to touch the clouds. From a distance, it was possible to see that there were nine cities like this on the half-planet, which of course corresponded to the nine Paragons of the Vast Expanse School.

Just outside of the city was a placard with calligraphy as flamboyant as dancing dragons and swirling phoenixes.

Ninth Paragon.

This was where Meng Hao was to live. The city was inhabited by 100,000 disciples who served as his guard force. Among their number were three Imperial Lords, seven Dao Sovereigns, dozens of Dao Lords, and over a hundred ordinary Dao Realm experts. The rest were either in the Ancient or Immortal realms.

That group in and of itself was enough to leave Meng Hao completely shaken, and gave him a hint as to the resources at the disposal of the Vast Expanse School.

In addition to the 100,000 guards were other members of their clans, as well as other ordinary disciples. All in all, the population of the city as a whole was well over a million.

At the moment, Meng Hao was seated cross-legged within the temple. Ten individuals stood there respectfully in front of him. These were none other than the three Imperial Lords and seven 6-Essences Dao Sovereigns.

There was something interesting about the Imperial Lords. Meng Hao wasn't sure how many Imperial Lords the Vast Expanse School had in total, nor how the considerations were made in their assignments. In any case, the Imperial Lords assigned as his guard were all women.

The three of them were all spectacularly beautiful. As cultivators who had reached the Dao Realm, that was no surprise. With the exception of people with odd perversions, who wanted to be extremely ugly, all cultivators of this level were exceedingly good-looking. As for these three, they all seemed to be natural beauties, far beyond the ordinary.

If it were only the Imperial Lords who were women, it might not have been something unusual. However, all seven of the 6-Essences Dao Sovereigns were also women. Meng Hao couldn't help but be a bit surprised at that. It wasn't until he searched through the memories of the Ninth Paragon that he found the answer.

Back in the Vast Expanse Society, outside of the Vast Expanse, the Ninth Paragon had been fond of cultivating magic that required male and female cultivators. The more female vessels he had to drain, and the higher their cultivation bases, the more exciting he found the process.

Obviously, the Paragons from the Vast Expanse School were aware of that, and had made special arrangements. However, as of now, all of those special arrangements were somewhat meaningless.

Meng Hao's expression was the same as ever as he sat there in the temple, twirling a jade slip through his fingers. Within that jade slip were 100,000 souls, which ensured that Meng Hao had no need to use his cultivation base to keep all of his guards under control. With a single thought, he could kill all 100,000 of them.

"This Vast Expanse School is quite interesting," he murmured to himself. He looked up at the ten women in front of him, and most especially the three Imperial Lords.

Of those three, one seemed cold and icy to an extraordinary degree. Based on what Meng Hao knew about cultivation, he guessed that her personality had been affected by the techniques she cultivated, which were surely based on ice and coldness.

Another of the women had a warm smile on her face, and looked at Meng Hao with awe and respect. Earlier, she had been the one to explain to Meng Hao all of his powers within the sect, and also how the sect was organized into its various factions.

The third of the Imperial Lords had a stony face and seemed very somber. However, deep within her eyes was a revulsion for Meng Hao. Clearly, she was not happy at all at being assigned this position by the sect.

As for the seven 6-Essences Dao Sovereigns, most of them looked nervous. To them, he was the Ninth Paragon, someone far, far above them, and someone whose words were to be taken as commands.

"Alright, keep going," Meng Hao said coolly, smiling at the warm Imperial Lord.

She nodded and continued her explanation. "In addition to the 100,000 guards and 1,000,000 ordinary disciples, you have a section of land to the far north, set aside for raising starbeasts.

"Also upon our holy planet are 10,000,000 spirit fields under your control, tended by over 100,000,000 spirit peasants. In addition to that is a vein of Earthflame, which is one of the three ultimate alchemic resources on Planet Vast Expanse. The medicinal pills and magical items it produces account for thirty percent of the total yield for the Vast Expanse School." The Imperial Lord smiled at Meng Hao. When she spoke, her voice was like the the call of songbirds.

"You also possess a continent on the surface of Planet Vast Expanse, your majesty, which is known as the Vast Expanse Ninth Sect. That is where your Dao palace is located, and is also one of the temple complexes of the Vast Expanse School. There are hundreds of millions of disciples there, not to mention countless mortals.

"You are the ultimate authority within the Ninth Sect, and not even the other Paragons can interfere with your orders there. Even the exalted Sect Leader must request your permission before calling upon the resources there.

"In addition, of the 3,000,000 cities on the surface of Planet Vast Expanse, you exercise control over 300,000. You also control 131 businesses, including famous establishments like the Grand Banquet Pavilion, Celestial Benevolence Hall, and the 10,000 Treasures Mansion. In total, the branches of all the business you own number in the millions.

"Then there are your holdings off of Planet Vast Expanse. They include 97 cultivator clans and 64 land masses. Those are only the things which can be numbered. You have countless other interests which are too vast to calculate."

"Among your direct subordinates are five 8-Essences Paragons and ten 7-Essences Paragons, stationed in various locations. As of now… they are all en route back here to pay their respects to you."

After hearing the woman's explanations, Meng Hao felt a bit out of sorts. He could never in his wildest imaginations have guessed that the Vast Expanse School's Ninth Paragon… would be given so much wealth.

1. Shangguan Hong's name in Chinese is 上官宏 shàngguān hóng. Shangguan is an uncommon two-character Chinese surname. Hong means "grand" or "magnificent"

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Chapter 1420: A Direction for Transcendence!

"And that is just ten percent of what is officially part of the Vast Expanse School as a whole." The warm way she looked at Meng Hao never changed from beginning to end, not even when he ended up looking a bit dazed from her explanation.

As for the other Imperial Lords, the one was still cold-faced. As for the other, her disgusted gaze now seemed to contain a trace of scorn, although she apparently thought she was hiding it well.

Meng Hao's eyes glittered faintly. As of this point, he had a relatively overall idea of how powerful the Vast Expanse School was. At the very least, it was vastly larger and more powerful than the Mountain and Sea Realm.

"Considering that the three peak powers in the Vast Expanse are the Immortal God Continent, the Devil Realm Continent, and this Vast Expanse School," he thought, "it leads me to believe that in my battle with the former two, they weren't using all of their strength. Or perhaps there were some factions within them that chose to remain neutral."

Meng Hao closed his eyes in thought for a moment, and when he opened them, he looked calmly at the ten women in front of him, then waved his hand dismissively. Finally, he closed his eyes again.

They all bowed their heads and left. After departing the temple, they all went their separate ways to their various residences.

Everything in Ninth Paragon City was quiet, as though pressure was weighing down on everyone. The 100,000 cultivators who were stationed in the city were all very nervous.

There was a sun and moon in the inner planet, and soon night fell. The sky was black, with a field of glittering stars. Silence reigned. In the temple, Meng Hao finally opened his eyes.

After a moment of silence, he slowly rose to his feet and walked forward. Then he vanished. When he reappeared, he was far above the palace, on the towering pagoda which looked out over Ninth Paragon City.

A wind blew, sending his hair flying about, and his robes rustling. There he stood, looking down at the scene below for some time before lifting his head to gaze off into the distance.

He felt like a stranger here, and everything seemed unfamiliar. The terrain was unfamiliar, the people were unfamiliar, and even the starry sky up above was unfamiliar.

Meng Hao felt very lonely. He had always thought of himself as being strong, but when he thought back to everything that had occurred with the Mountain and Sea Realm, all he saw was a sea of blood, and countless familiar faces, screaming as they died. Gradually, he began to tremble.

He had once believed that his Dao was that of freedom and independence, that it was like a journey upon which all difficulties and setbacks were merely sights to be seen along the way. After looking at those sights, he could move on; his road stretched out into the beyond.

But now, with the Mountain and Sea Realm destroyed, with so many people dead, with the parrot and meat jelly having sacrificed everything so that he could have a chance at another life, it was impossible to view all of those past events as mere sights to see while on a journey.

If they really were just scenery, he would rather stay to enjoy them, and not continue on the journey.

He stood there, heart aching as he thought about the meat jelly in armor form, which he had long since removed and put back into his bag of holding.

Quite some time passed before he managed to get his emotions under control.

"Wait for me…. I will definitely return!

"When I do, I'll take all of you away. We'll leave the Green Coffin Vortex, and establish the Mountain and Sea Realm in the starry sky once again!

"And I will definitely do everything I can to bring back those of you who have been lost!" A fierce glint appeared in his eyes, which he eventually buried, returning to a state of calm.

Even the redness of his eyes faded. Even close examination would not reveal the bizarre crimson glow in his pupils.

"My Soul Lamps were destroyed," he murmured, "and now this bronze lamp has become my Prime Lamp." The wave of a hand caused the bronze lamp to appear, radiating its aura of primordial ancientness.

"Because of all the precious materials provided by the Vast Expanse School, it was able to remould my fleshly body into a form suitable for it." He looked thoughtfully at the bronze lamp.

"The lamp is burning, and I can sense that if I extinguish it, my cultivation base, and everything else about me… will experience explosive growth!

"From what I can tell, once that explosion occurs, based on the foundation I've built with my cultivation base, it will increase by double, triple, or maybe even… tenfold!" These were the conclusions he had reached after further study of the bronze lamp.

After another moment of silence, eight magical symbols appeared on his forehead. His cultivation base rumbled with power as a shocking energy erupted out. He reached his right hand out and placed it onto the lamp in an attempt to extinguish the flame.

The flame flickered, but no matter how much cultivation base power he threw at it, would not be extinguished.

"Still not quite there yet…. I need the Essences of all eight Hexing magics to be complete." After looking thoughtfully at the dancing flame within the bronze lamp, he gradually retracted his cultivation base power.

"Of the Essences of the eight Hexes, I've only gained full enlightenment of the Dao of the Eighth. The other seven Hexes are incomplete. However, the overall process won't be difficult. Once I finish absorbing Shui Dongliu's legacy, and spend some time in secluded meditation, I can definitely complete all of the Hexes.

"But what is most important, and what will give me the power to extinguish this lamp, is the missing… Ninth Hex!

"Of the Nine Hexes of the League of Demon Sealers, I have already acquired the first eight. As for the Ninth Hex, I'll need to create that one." Meng Hao looked out into the night, his eyes glittering.

"From what I can tell, my future path is clear. I must complete the Essences of the eight Hexes. I must gain enlightenment of the Ninth Hex. I must then combine all the Hexes and use that power to extinguish the bronze lamp. Then I will use the power of the bronze lamp to break through the Paragon level and step into… the Daosource! Transcend!" Brilliant light shone within Meng Hao's eyes, making him look like a blazing sun.

"If I Transcend, toppling the Immortal God and Devil Realms will be as easy as flipping over my hand!

"If I Transcend, resurrecting my dead friends from the Mountains and Seas will be no challenge!

"If I Transcend, I can reunite with the parrot and the meat jelly. Time can be reversed, and the Mountain and Sea Realm can be reverted from a state of destruction… to its former glory!

"Transcendence. Entering the Daosource. At that point I… will become Essence. I will be a supreme and paramount Dao of Heaven and Earth!" Meng Hao was panting, and his mind spun.

"Daosource. Daosource. From ancient times until now, only a few people have ever Transcended into the Daosource Realm!"

"The Immortal God Continent is powerful because countless years ago, one of their people Transcended. It's the same with the Devil Realm.

"I, Meng Hao… can also do the same!

"The bronze lamp is my hope for Transcendence. It is like the key to open a great door! Acquiring the Essences of the full group of eight Hexing magics will not be difficult. The true difficulty lies in the Ninth Hex!

"I must gain enlightenment to create that Ninth Hex…." Meng Hao's eyes shone brightly; he had already come to a vague conclusion regarding that Ninth Hex. "The Seal the Heavens Incantation will be my Ninth Hex!!"

He looked off into the distance as the darkness of night began to give way to the bright glow of day, illuminating his entire person.

The arrival of the Ninth Paragon was a huge matter for the Vast Expanse School. All of the millions upon millions of disciples in the sect were very excited. Of course, news about the matter rapidly spread throughout Planet Vast Expanse as well as the starry sky. In the following months, many of the powers in the region of the Vast Expanse School learned of the matter.

Endless streams of people came to offer congratulations, ensuring that the whole sect was abuzz with activity. Far more cultivators came and went than usual.

As the Ninth Paragon, Meng Hao actually remained undisturbed. He tasked the three female Imperial Lords with handling all matters. Even when other Paragons who were under his command came, he remained in secluded meditation.

That only served to make his subordinates more nervous. After all, Meng Hao was one of the nine most important people in the entire Vast Expanse School, and also had a terrifying cultivation base. At the same time, all of the outstanding individuals who made up the forces under his command were anxiously trying to determine what he liked and didn't like.

That was the only way for them to ensure that matters went smoothly in the days to come.

The grand ceremony was held several months later. It was a huge affair that involved all of Planet Vast Expanse, and included all the cultivator clans affiliated with the Vast Expanse School, as well as the other land masses in the area.

The ceremony itself lasted for a month, but Meng Hao only made one appearance in which people actually had the chance to lay eyes on him. Even though he only showed his face once, the coldness and pressure that radiated off of him was enough to give everyone a feeling of being stifled.

That was especially true of the Paragons under Meng Hao's command.

They waited for quite some time in Ninth Paragon City before Meng Hao received them individually. After their audience, each and every one had unsightly expressions on their faces, eyes filled with both hesitation but also a sliver of anticipation.

What Meng Hao had issued to them was his first order after becoming the Ninth Paragon!

"Use all available resources to expand our influence, beginning immediately. Within a thousand years, I want my forces to increase by several times at the minimum!"

The orders were quickly passed down. Whether or not people understood them or even approved, within the domain of the Ninth Paragon, his words were commands!

Whether or not people wanted to comply… they had to!

The forces of the Ninth Paragon immediately went wild with activity. They began to expand, to invade, to raid, and to multiply.

Meng Hao didn't care how they went about it. He only cared about the Mountain and Sea Realm, and his revenge. He didn't want to rest all his hopes on his Transcendence. Therefore, he would prepare… for the possibility that he wouldn't Transcend; if that happened, he still needed to possess the wherewithal to get his revenge.

He needed more people. He needed more power. He needed to prepare to make his future declaration of war.

Note from Deathblade: Shortly before this chapter was originally released, Er Gen dropped down to doing only about two chapter updates per day, sometimes even one. For a long time before that he was doing three or four. He addressed the issue in a note at the end of this chapter:

Note from Er Gen: Recently I've been planning some of the upcoming scenes. Book 9 is very important; there are a lot of mysteries to reveal, and situations to resolve. I need more time working with my general outline, so much so that I've been working on it almost every day, either getting rid of things or adding things.

Because of that, my writing has slowed down and the updates have been coming later than usual. I hope you can understand, brothers and sisters.

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Read I Shall Seal the Heavens - Chapter 1421 online free - Novel Full

Chapter 1421: Provocation!

When Shangguan Hong and the others learned of what Meng Hao was doing, they did nothing to stop him. The Sect Leader contemplated the matter briefly, then chose to ignore it.

As long as Meng Hao's actions didn't affect them or their plans, then he could do as he pleased. As long as he didn't do something to endanger the entire Vast Expanse School… then they didn't care what he did.

Furthermore, Meng Hao was careful in his actions. He only used his own forces, and he only expanded into areas that the Vast Expanse School didn't already control.

As his forces began operations, he chose to go into secluded meditation in Ninth Paragon City, and would only receive sporadic updates regarding affairs on the outside.

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, ten years had gone by.

During that time, Meng Hao left Ninth Paragon City on only one occasion. The rest of the time, he remained in secluded meditation while his forces focused on expanding via war and other methods.

Soon, the Ninth Paragon's fame grew in the Vast Expanse as a whole. Eventually, open recruitment began, and vast amounts of new disciples swelled the ranks.

During the ten years that passed, the Paragons under Meng Hao's command were like sharp blades that cut down anyone in their path. As for the 100,000 cultivators who made up his main force, any time they fought in battle, they would overwhelm the opposing force.

Although there were no Paragons among the 100,000 cultivators, they were all elite experts, and could also form together into a huge spell formation.

As for the three female Imperial Lords and seven Dao Sovereigns, the ten years passed for them in relative comfort. Originally, they had been under the impression that being selected as guards for the Ninth Paragon meant that they were fated to become vessels to be drained in his cultivation practice. The truth was that throughout the ten years, the number of times they actually saw Meng Hao could be counted on a single hand.

A few other important events occurred during that time.

On one occasion, something like a sandstorm sprang up around Meng Hao's location of secluded meditation. A figure appeared within that sandstorm, who spoke in an ancient, raspy voice.

"You're not the Ninth Paragon."

Even as the words echoed out, a burst of peak 9-Essences power could be detected. Meng Hao opened his eyes, his expression calm as he faced the power of the peak 9-Essences level. At that point, the Dao eye on his forehead opened up, and the Essence power of his eight Hexing magics arose. It was with three eyes that he looked out into the sandstorm.

Massive rumbling echoed out into the rest of the half-planet, after which the owner of the raspy voice laughed.

"But I happen to like your personality and hostility. Even more so, your focus and determination." As his words echoed out, the sandstorm faded away, and the figure left the inner planet. When he reappeared, he was back in the desert on the surface of Planet Vast Expanse. His face was a bit pale, but his eyes glittered brightly.

"Mid 9-Essences," the old man murmured. "And yet he can face me directly, and even leave me shaken…. His control over the Dao eye is at a level of perfection!"

A voice suddenly spoke out in front of him. "Many thanks."

That voice belonged to none other than the Sect Leader of the Vast Expanse School!

On that one occasion in which Meng Hao left Planet Vast Expanse, he went to visit a battlefield upon which his forces fought. They were fighting a fierce group whose most powerful expert was a fierce beast at the peak of the 8-Essences level, a vicious Black Dragon. Because of it, this division of the Ninth Paragon cultivator army had been fought to an impasse.

Among Meng Hao's subordinates there was an 8-Essences Paragon, who had been so seriously injured that he had been left with no option other than to send word back to Planet Vast Expanse asking for assistance.

When Meng Hao appeared, he extended his right hand and waved a finger, causing the starry sky to be crushed, and the Vast Expanse to fill with rumbling sounds. All life forms in the area trembled, including his own cultivators and the enemy horde. One by one, they dropped to their knees, as though massive weights had landed onto their shoulders. Any who refused to kneel were crushed to death in body and spirit.

As for the Black Dragon, it let out a powerful shriek as its flesh and blood was flayed into a mass of blood and flesh. Terror appeared in its eyes as it prostrated itself in submission.

Meng Hao turned and left. The cultivators under his command watched him leave, and their eyes began to glow with unprecedented fanaticism. That was especially true of the 8-Essences Paragon, who let out a gasp. He had seen 9-Essences experts fight before, but the terrifying display put on by Meng Hao just then made him realize that the Ninth Paragon was no ordinary 9-Essences cultivator!

On the final day of the ten year period, Meng Hao sat cross-legged in secluded meditation in Ninth Paragon City. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and a glow like starlight could be seen. Anyone who was able to look into his eyes in that moment would feel lost, as though they were sinking eternally into the boundless starry sky.

Floating outside the door of his secluded meditation facility was a white jade slip that emanated a soft light. It was that very jade slip which had awoken Meng Hao from his secluded meditation.

"Has the day finally come?" he murmured. He reached out with his right hand and made a grasping gesture. Outside of the building, the white jade slip vanished.

In the moment that it reappeared in his palm, his mind filled with the archaic voice of the Sect Leader's peak 9-Essences voice.

"Old Ninth… the time has come. We must head to the necropolis!"

Meng Hao's fingers closed around the jade slip. His expression was the same as ever, but a glint of light passed through his eyes. Ever since the sandstorm rose up around his secluded meditation facilities and the figure appeared with its raspy voice, Meng Hao knew that the plan the Vast Expanse School had been working on for so many years had finally reached a critical moment.

As for Patriarch Vast Expanse's necropolis, Meng Hao very much anticipated exploring it. He was curious about this supposed method left behind by the Patriarch… to Transcend from the 9-Essences level.

By now, he had been the Ninth Paragon for ten years. Perhaps the Sect Leader had intentionally waited ten years so as to be able to observe him. Although Meng Hao wasn't sure of the conclusion the Sect Leader had come to after such observation, it appeared as if Meng Hao had gained approval.

"Let's go see what this Patriarch Vast Expanse's necropolis is like. He founded the Vast Expanse School, and was himself a Transcendent cultivator, one of only a few within this starry sky.

"Based on the ancient records of the Vast Expanse School, it seems… that Patriarch Vast Expanse was… the first person to ever Transcend, even before the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent existed!" A profound gleam appeared in Meng Hao's eyes as he thought back to many years ago, when the Mountain and Sea Butterfly was speeding through the Vast Expanse, and he had encountered that old fisherman.

"He was the beginning, and I am the end. Was the beginning he referred to… Patriarch Vast Expanse? 1

"And was that entity within the Green Coffin Vortex also connected to Patriarch Vast Expanse somehow?

"During the past ten years, I have studied the histories available within the Vast Expanse School, and apparently, Patriarch Vast Expanse existed countless, countless years ago. It seems… that he could very well be from the same era as that old fisherman.

"Regardless of all that, there's still the mysterious origin of this bronze lamp. It wasn't until after I entered the Vast Expanse School that it began to change. That indicates there's some sort of relationship between them.

"Patriarch Vast Expanse…." After some more thought, Meng Hao unhesitatingly stepped forward and then vanished. When he reappeared, he was in midair above Ninth Paragon City.

This was only his second time emerging, and even as he began to head toward the location of the main temple, he looked down at the city below and said, "Summon Su Yi and Xin Yue from Ninth Paragon City. Immediately."

As his voice echoed out, the people below trembled and kowtowed respectfully. The three female Imperial Lords hurried out and offered respectful greetings.

These three women all had different personalities, and that hadn't changed in the ten short years which had passed. The cold woman was still cold, the scornful woman still failed to hide her scorn, and the warm woman was still just as warm. No different emotions could be seen on their faces.

As for Su Yi and Xin Yue, they were the two 8-Essences paragons under Meng Hao's command, the two most powerful cultivators among his forces, and he planned to take them with him on this trip to the necropolis.

Ignoring the three Imperial Lords, Meng Hao proceeded forward, and soon arrived in the location with nine altars. Four people had arrived ahead of him.

One was Shangguan Hong with his violet-gold robe. Upon catching sight of Meng Hao, he smiled slightly and nodded. The other three opened their eyes, and when they saw Meng Hao, they smiled. From the expressions on their faces, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all.

Beneath those four altars could be seen various 8-Essences Paragon subordinates, sitting there cross-legged. When they saw Meng Hao, they immediately rose to their feet and offered greetings.

Meng Hao smiled, clasped hands, and then sat down cross-legged on the ninth altar to wait.

Before long, the other 9-Essences Paragons arrived, along with the powerful experts who were their subordinates. After all the formal greetings were extended, everyone sat down. Then, rumbling sounds could be heard as a powerful divine sense spread out, and a rift opened above the first altar.

An old man strolled out from within the rift; he was tall, and had long, flowing white hair. His appearance instantly caused incredible pressure to weigh down.

This was none other than the Sect Leader of the Vast Expanse School, who was at the peak of 9-Essences!

What had walked out just now was no divine sense clone, but rather, his true self.

Shangguan Hong and everyone else, including Meng Hao, quickly rose to their feet and clasped hands. "Greetings, Sect Leader!"

The 8-Essences Paragons were the most hasty of all to offer greetings. The Sect Leader nodded slightly and clasped his hands to return the greeting. Then he waved his sleeve and slowly began to speak. "The hour has arrived, ladies and gentlemen…. There is no need for me to emphasize the importance of what we are about to do. We have scouted the perimeter of the Patriarch's necropolis on numerous occasions, and know of the path that leads to the inner regions.

"Our goal is to reach the absolute center of the necropolis. Hopefully, we will be able to reach that goal. If we don't, then we will at least do our best to explore and map more regions inside!"

The eyes of all present began to shine brightly.

The Sect Leader took a deep breath and then waved his sleeve, looking very serious. Instantly, the nine altars began to vibrate as a teleportation process was initiated.

It was at this point that two beams of light shot toward the altars; it was none other than Meng Hao's subordinates, the two 8-Essences Paragons. However, the teleportation process had already begun, making it impossible for them to approach. Anxious expressions could be seen on their faces as they looked toward Meng Hao on the ninth altar.

Before Meng Hao could say a word, the Sixth Paragon on the sixth altar spoke up. He was a middle-aged man with a long, hooked nose. Voice cool, he said, "Whose people are you? You're late. Leave."

1. Meng Hao encountered the fisherman in chapter 1404

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Chapter 1422: Leave My Mark!

As soon as the Sixth Paragon spoke, coldness spread out in all directions. It wasn't frost, but rather was something that cut off the area from the outside. Beyond that barrier, Meng Hao's two subordinates, the 8-Essences Paragons, were shocked. Moments ago, they had been speeding forward, but now they were being pushed back.

It was as if some powerful repelling force had grabbed them, and even as they attempted to push forward, was pulling them backward. The result was that they felt like they were being ripped into pieces.

Their souls and their bodies seemed to be on the verge of separating, and the void around them looked as if it were about to be torn apart. Rumbling sounds filled the air, and blood sprayed out of their mouths. Xin Yue's eyes glittered coldly, and as for Su Yi, her expression was one of anger, and she let out a roar as she attempted to force her way forward.

These two were proud women, and to be disgraced in front of the Ninth Paragon was unacceptable. If Meng Hao himself did this to them, maybe they could accept it, but from anyone other than the Ninth Paragon, it was treatment they could never put up with.

"You think a bit too much of yourselves," the Sixth Paragon said with a cold snort, raising his right hand. However, in that very moment, an aura filled with infinitely colder killing intent exploded out from Meng Hao on the ninth altar.

"Those are my people," he said as he began to stride forward. Each step caused thunderous booms to ring out. At the same time, intense power erupted out from his head, transforming into a vortex that spread out rapidly. Colors flashed and the wind screamed, and in that same moment, he appeared in front of the Sixth Paragon and unleashed a fist strike.

He didn't need any divine abilities to deal with this Sixth Paragon. He used his most direct method, punching. Everything shook as Meng Hao's fist rocketed out, seemingly a black hole that caused the starry sky inside of the half-planet to tremble, and the lands around them to quake. It was as if this fist strike were backed by the power of this starry sky itself.

The Sixth Paragon's eyes widened, and he extended his right hand to meet the fist strike.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

As the fist strike landed, Meng Hao touched down onto the sixth altar, where he stood completely unmoving. The Sixth Paragon looked like he was standing in the middle of a violent windstorm; his hair and clothing whipped about, and he was trembling visibly. All of his skin which was visible seemed to sink into itself.

As the boom continued to echo out, the Sixth Paragon coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered backward uncontrollably. When he came to a stop about thirty meters back, he forced himself to hold in the next mouthful of blood that he had been about to cough up, and then looked up, a vicious expression on his face. Roaring in anger, he spread his arms wide, and a massive eruption of Essence power occurred. An enormous, amorphous blade formed which seemed capable of slashing through anything and everything.

"Old Ninth," he yelled, "are you looking to die?" The other Paragons were simply watching the events unfold, strange gleams flickering in their eyes. Meng Hao's fist strike just now had been shocking to behold, and yet none of them had done anything to interfere. As for the Sect Leader, he frowned and then looked over at the Sixth Paragon with an expression of displeasure.

Almost as soon as the Sixth Paragon spoke again, Meng Hao waved his right hand, causing a powerful force to explode out. A windstorm formed, which smashed a hole into the tunnel being created by the teleportation power. That in turn allowed his subordinates to enter.

His two subordinates looked very shaken, although Su Yi took everything in a bit easier. This was actually her second time seeing Meng Hao fight, as she had been observing when he dealt with the Black Dragon earlier.

As for Xin Yue, this was her first time seeing Meng Hao in action, and it caused waves of shock to pound at her heart. His shocking fist strike seemed capable of destroying an entire world, and left her panting.

As for the hole he had opened to let them in, it seemed to have been made in an almost casual fashion. Both of the women could only gasp in response. Without any hesitation, they flew into the area with the altars to appear standing next to Meng Hao.

"Greetings, Paragon, we arrived late," they said, clasped hands and bowing.

"I decide whether you're late or not…." he said coolly. Then he strode forward to once again stand directly in front of the Sixth Paragon. "It has absolutely nothing to do with you, Sixth Paragon. Do you think I need you punishing my subordinates? Do I look like I need your help? Who the hell do you think you are?! I think I need to leave my mark on you to help you remember what happened here today."

As Meng Hao spoke, the Sixth Paragon's eyes flickered with killing intent. He waved his arms, sending Essence power exploding out, which transformed into a huge pitch-black head.

Seeing that the two of them were about to start fighting, Shangguan Hong stepped forward. With him were three other Paragons, who stood between Meng Hao and the Sixth Paragon.

"Old Ninth, just forget about what happened."

"Old Sixth, you're in the wrong here."

"Just forget about all of this. We're supposed to be on our way to the necropolis. Just cool down for now. If you really have so much energy to spare you can put it into getting into the necropolis."

A flicker of hatred passed through the Sixth Paragon's eyes, and despite the interference of the other Paragons, he pointed out with both fingers, causing the pitch-black head to roar as it closed in on Meng Hao.

Shangguan Hong and the others looked on with flickering expressions, but before they could do anything, Meng Hao suddenly stepped forward. In the blink of an eye, an azure roc appeared, which then slammed into the pitch-black head.

A boom rang out as the pitch black head of Essence collapsed. Meng Hao in azure roc-form then became a beam of azure light that shot directly toward the Sixth Paragon.

The Sixth Paragon's face fell, and he was just about to fall back when a fist shot out from the light and slammed into his chest.

The Sixth Paragon was knocked completely off of the altar, blood spraying out of his mouth the entire time. Before he could even react, green light flickered, and Meng Hao was on him again, unleashing another fist strike.

Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth!

Booms rang out as the Sixth Paragon was shoved backward over and over again. His chest was caving in, and he screamed miserably. His three 8-Essences Paragon subordinates hesitated, but realized that they had little choice other than to fly out to try to stop Meng Hao.

But then Su Yi and Xin Yue stepped forward to stop them.

"Scram!" Before the two groups could meet up, Meng Hao snorted coldly from within the azure light. He then appeared in bodily form and waved his sleeve, causing Divine Flame to blaze out toward the Sixth Paragon's three subordinates. Their faces fell, but they were incapable of evading, and were sent tumbling back 3,000 meters, blood spraying out of their mouths.

As for the Sixth Paragon, he was completely shaken. How could he ever have imagined that Meng Hao would be so incredibly powerful?

He was being attacked so viciously he could do nothing but retreat, and didn't even have a chance to fight back. He didn't get the feeling he wasn't a match for Meng Hao, but rather that he had lost the initiative and had no chance to actually fight back.

By now, regret was building up in his heart, and he wished hadn't made an attempt to test Meng Hao.

"Dammit!!" he roared as Meng Hao closed in again. Booming sounds rang out as he sent out divine abilities, only for them to be instantly destroyed. Next came some magical items. They didn't last any longer than the divine abilities.

The other Paragons watched what was happening with strange, thoughtful gleams in their eyes. As of this point, they were starting to gain an understanding of just how powerful Meng Hao was.

And that was exactly what Meng Hao wanted; to establish himself!

Coldness flickered in his eyes as he raised his right hand again. Shockingly, the power of space could be detected, slowly building up in power; it was none other that the Eighth Hex's Essence of space, of which he had gained enlightenment.

When the Sect Leader saw what was happening, his pupils constricted; he took a step forward and waved his sleeve.

"Enough! How far do you plan to take this fight?!"

The Sect Leader was at the peak of the 9-Essences level, so the wave of his arm caused an incredible force to build up between Meng Hao and the Sixth Paragon, shoving them apart.

The Sixth Paragon actually breathed a sigh of relief at being given a way out of the situation. He looked over at Meng Hao with killing intent flickering in his eyes.

Unfortunately for him, he was still underestimating Meng Hao!

"Like I said, I need to leave my mark on you." Even as his cold voice rang out, the Dao eye on his forehead opened up, and a boundless will erupted out. The entire starry sky shook, and all minds began to reel.

In that instant, the power of the Dao eye caused the divine ability just unleashed by the Sect Leader to be frozen in place in front of Meng Hao. Meng Hao then shot forward at a speed far surpassing anything from before.

In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the Sixth Paragon. The Sixth Paragon's mind was spinning, and wanted to fall back, but felt as if he were stuck in mud; he was simply too slow. His pupils constricted as astonishment filled his eyes.

The Sect Leader's face fell, and he bellowed, "Old Ninth, stay your hand!"

He took a step forward to appear next to Meng Hao, whereupon he flicked his sleeve. That motion blocked Meng Hao's hands and feet, and was just about to pull him away, when Meng Hao grinned. His aura changed, and a brutal air erupted out of him. Although his hands and feet had been immobilized, his head had not!

He stretched his head out and bit down viciously onto the Sixth Paragon's neck, ripping out a huge chunk of bloody flesh.

Blood sprayed out of the Sixth Paragon's neck, and he screamed. He clamped his hand down onto his neck and shot backward. By now, there was no killing intent in his eyes toward Meng Hao, only intense astonishment.

Of all the people he had fought in his life, this was the most brutal person he had ever encountered. He actually bit a chunk of flesh out of him! As far as he was concerned, this Ninth Paragon was completely mad.

Meng Hao calmly swallowed the chunk of flesh and then said, "That's my mark."

Then he wiped his mouth and walked back to the ninth altar. As he did, the surrounding cultivators watched him, their minds reeling. Even Su Yi and Xin Yue were left gasping.

They would never be able to forget the brutal display put on by Meng Hao this day.

"This guy… should never be provoked!"

"Crazy! He's completely insane…." The Paragons were left gasping, looks of intense vigilance on their faces.

The Sect Leader's face was extremely unsightly, and his mind was being battered by waves of shock. He stared at Meng Hao, and then looked over angrily at the Sixth Paragon. Finally, he headed back to the first altar, his face very grim.

The Sixth Paragon silently returned to his altar, his face pale, terror gleaming in his eyes as he looked over at Meng Hao.

He wasn't afraid of cultivators with a higher cultivation base, but rather those who were completely insane. And Meng Hao was the most insane person he had ever encountered among 9-Essences cultivators.

Meng Hao's expression was the same as ever as he stood there, hands clasped behind his back as if nothing had happened. Behind him, Su Yi and Xin Yue looked at him with awe in their eyes.

A moment later, the teleportation power was unleashed, and rumbling could be heard as a pillar of light rose into the air, and they all vanished.

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Chapter 1423: Necropolis Ghost City!

In the starry sky of the Vast Expanse, there were certain extremely mysterious locations. One, for example, was the Green Coffin Vortex. In such locations, the magical laws of the Vast Expanse were different, making it difficult for cultivators to enter them, even 9-Essences experts.

Although Meng Hao hadn't known it originally, he came to be aware that such places were said to be created by Transcendent cultivators.

Only someone who had Transcended could create a location that could cause problems for 9-Essences Paragons. Furthermore, such locations were few and far between in the Vast Expanse; there were only a few in existence.

Supposedly, some of those locations were related to the Vast Expanse Society. Others were connected to the Immortal God Continent. The rest had to do with the Devil Realm. Apparently… all the forces which had produced a Transcendent cultivator were connected to such places.

Some such places were well known, while others were kept secret by various powerful factions, and held their respective organizations' greatest secrets. They were secrets that wouldn't necessarily endanger those groups if they came to be known, but were kept hidden anyway.

Patriarch Vast Expanse's necropolis was just such a place.

The exact location of the necropolis was unknown, and the only way to enter it was via the nine altars on the half-planet of the Vast Expanse School.

In the past, people had speculated that the necropolis was not even located within the starry sky of the Vast Expanse. Some said that it was a location in some other world… where there was no Heavenly Dao.

Because there was no Heavenly Dao, magical techniques were thrown into chaos in such places. Sometimes, certain magics couldn't even be used. For example, some locations were places incompatible with the aura of the Vast Expanse, which some people cultivated.

When Meng Hao and the others appeared, he looked around and saw a starry sky stretching out.

It was a real and true starry sky, with none of the mist that was pervasive in the Vast Expanse.

There were nine land masses floating out in front of them. Upon closer examination, it was possible to see that they were connected by bridges, although the bridges were not stable; they were constantly swaying and swinging back and forth.

Surrounding the nine land masses was a seemingly infinite field of drifting asteroids. Occasionally, they would emit strange fluctuations which provoked sensations of intense danger.

There were no paths visible.

"Now that we're here, we don't have much time," said the Sect Leader. "Only one month. Follow me, and be careful not to lose your way. Don't touch anything you see, whether it's a painting or a person or anything else. If you do… even those of you with nine Essences will perish." With a final look at everyone, he flickered into motion as he flew out into the starry sky.

Everyone else followed along as if they had done so before. Meng Hao was the only one who seemed more cautious than ever as he followed along.

His two subordinate Paragons followed him, looking around vigilantly.

The group was soon speeding along through the asteroids. The Sect Leader seemed to have mastered some method of travel that ensured they didn't encounter any restrictive spells. Nor did any of the floating asteroids enter their path of travel. However, the result was that the Sect Leader's face was a bit pale. His eyes shone with the glow of augury; clearly, leading the group in this way was not an easy task.

Time passed. Four hours later, Meng Hao noticed one of the 8-Essences Paragons up ahead suddenly stop in place and turn to the side with an expression of shock and disbelief.

This man could shake the Vast Expanse with a single stomp of a foot, and would count as the pinnacle of existence in virtually any world or Realm. And yet, before anyone could warn or remind him of the dangers of the place, his body deflated like a popped balloon. In the blink of an eye, he withered up into a pile of dessicated flesh.

His bones, flesh, and everything about him melted, and then vanished without a trace. Not even his soul had a chance to flee. He died without even making a cry of alarm….

The only thing left behind was his skin, which slowly floated away into the starry sky.

Meng Hao was completely shaken, and everyone else felt their scalps tingling in shock. No one spoke. As they watched the pile of skin float away, laughter could suddenly be heard, at which point they noticed that, unexpectedly, the pile of skin was smiling.

"If you want to stay alive, don't randomly look around," the Sect Leader said. "Keep your eyes on the person in front of you. We will follow this path for three days, and if all goes well, we will pass through this perimeter region into the first land of the Patriarch's necropolis." With that, he proceeded onward without another word.

Meng Hao said nothing, but his eyes flickered. Then, he proceeded along, keeping his eyes on the cultivator in front of him.

Time passed. A day later, and after a bit of calculation, Meng Hao came to the conclusion that they had already traveled seventy percent of the distance, and that they would soon be nearing the first land mass.

For the most part, the journey was frightening but not dangerous. However, another 8-Essences Paragon died. He wasn't transformed into a pile of flesh. Instead, he began to suddenly rot.

At first, he didn't notice. Then the person behind him cried out in alarm. The 8-Essences Paragon spun around, and when he looked down at his body, his eyes fell out of their sockets. Everyone watched as he dissolved into a mass of blood that dropped down into the depths below.

Meng Hao's vigilance grew. The surrounding asteroids would occasionally pulse with a faint light, and yet everything was absolutely silent. As silent as death.

The Sect Leader moved slower and slower, until finally it reached the point where he needed to make long calculations before each movement. After a bit of observation, Meng Hao came to the conclusion that the Sect Leader's methods of augury and calculation had to do with the movement patterns of the asteroids.

Even as he contemplated the matter, a cry of alarm could be heard behind him from Su Yi. Meng Hao spun and saw the beautiful Xin Yue, head turned to the side, expression blank as she apparently spoke to some unseen person. Her expression flickered, and then she nodded, and a rapturous look of joy appeared on her face.

Even as she nodded, her body began to wither up. Meng Hao frowned, reached out, and tapped her forehead.

A tremor ran through her, and the withering slowed but didn't cease.

Su Yi's expression flickered with anxiety, and she was about to unleash some sort of magic to provide aid, when suddenly her expression also turned blank. She turned to the side in disbelief, then reached out into the void as if to grab something. Then she also started to wither up.

Meng Hao's frown deepened, and he quickly opened his Dao eye. His aura spread out, turning into a vortex that swept out in all directions.

At the same time, the Sect Leader and the other Paragons turned to look at what was happening. The Sect Leader's face fell, and after a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and made his way toward Meng Hao. The other Paragons' faces flickered with hesitation, but seeing that the Sect Leader was approaching, they did the same.

However, before anyone could get close, Meng Hao suddenly raised his hand and said, "Stay back. I should be able to handle this."

His expression was somber, and even as he spoke, a murderous aura began to rise up from him, which rapidly turned into a raging tempest.

The Sect Leader and the other Paragons were people who were no strangers to slaughter. However, after seeing Meng Hao's murderous aura, their pupils constricted. That was especially true of the Sixth Paragon, who gasped.

It was a murderous aura so intense that ordinary people couldn't compare to it. Not even this group of Paragons contained someone who came close.

"How many people has he killed…?"

"I've never met someone who has slaughtered so many!!"

"Is this Ninth Paragon some sort of jinx, or what…?" Both the 9-Essences Paragons and their 8-Essences subordinates were all completely shaken.

"So," thought the Sect Leader, "he really is… Meng Hao!" It was as if that murderous aura which surrounded Meng Hao contained innumerable screaming souls.

Moments ago….

Meng Hao's face was very serious as he looked around with his third eye, and saw a completely different world!

Within the void of the starry sky was an enormous city. The asteroids around them were actually buildings in that city, and the entire place looked incredibly ancient, as if it couldn't even exist in modern times.

What left Meng Hao even more shaken was that, unexpectedly… they were surrounded by countless figures. There were men and women, old and young, and all of them were cultivators. They were everywhere, and although most of them were simply walking to and fro, some would occasionally turn to look curiously at Meng Hao and the others.

The figures were blurry, their faces pale, their bodies devoid of life force. In fact, what filled the entire area was a boundless aura of death.

Several women were standing next to Xin Yue, smiling as they tugged at her garments. It was as if they were trying to get her to become one of them. The same thing was happening to Su Yi.

Shockingly, there were even some figures next to Meng Hao who were reaching out to grab him!

He took a deep breath as he realized that this place… was actually a Ghost City!!

Considering the level of his cultivation base, he was able to tell that all of these figures were ghosts, and there were so many of them that it would be impossible to count their number.

A brief moment after Meng Hao's third eye opened and he looked around, all of the ghosts in the entire city stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. Countless gazes came to be fixed on Meng Hao, whereupon strange glows rose up in their eyes. Only a brief moment passed before they began to scream noiselessly, and then rush madly toward Meng Hao.

To be surrounded by so many ghosts left even Meng Hao feeling like he was in the middle of a curse, his life force fading, an aura of death threatening to engulf him.

That was the moment in which his murderous aura suddenly erupted out fully, creating a vortex which swept out in all directions.

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Chapter 1424: The Ghost Masses Offer Worship!

"Vast Expanse… Dao Body…." No one could hear the murmuring voice except for Meng Hao. Even as the voice brushed against him, his murderous aura exploded out into a vortex which swept the ghosts away from Su Yi and Xin Yue.

However, there were simply too many of the ghosts, so many that Meng Hao's scalp was numb. As they closed in on him, he reached out, grabbed Su Yi and Xin Yue, and shot toward the Sect Leader.

Even as he sped into motion, he looked around and saw that more figures were appearing in the countless buildings which made up the city, figures which were even more powerful than those he had already seen. There was one path that had no ghosts on it at all, and further off in the distance, far far away, Meng Hao spotted an enormous altar which rose high up into the sky!

The altar was so enormous that it was clearly visible despite being a huge distance away. Looking at it more closely, it appeared to be hovering in the void above the first land mass.

The number of ghosts on the first land mass was so large it was impossible to count. Further off, the other eight land masses were difficult to make out clearly.

Gradually, Meng Hao realized that on the ninth land mass, the land mass furthest away from him, there was a huge throne, upon which sat a person!

That person's gaze pierced through the boundless starry sky to fall upon him. Apparently… this was the person who had spoken the words 'Vast Expanse Dao Body' moments ago. Now, it began to speak again.

"The catastrophe comes. Peak of the Vast Expanse. You are the end….

"Allheaven fears the Immortal…. 1

"You… have finally come…." As the voice echoed out, the ghosts seemed to go even crazier. At the same time, the bronze lamp within him began to flicker.

It all happened in the briefest of instants. As Meng Hao retreated from the ghosts, he could sense madness within them, and yet, they didn't seem malevolent. Somehow, they seemed anxious. Now was not the time to ponder the matter. As his murderous aura shoved the ghosts away, he closed his third eye. In that moment, everything vanished, although he could still sense an incredible coldness building up in the area.

"Let's go!" said the Sect Leader. Everyone began to move, although things were so chaotic, it was impossible to tell exactly which direction they were going. As they sped along, the cold aura behind them continued to grow.

However, because Meng Hao had closed his third eye, the ghosts apparently couldn't detect their presence. After an hour, they emerged from the coldness, their expressions grim. As for Su Yi and Xin Yue, they looked guilty as they followed along silently behind Meng Hao.

Other Paragons immediately gave voice to their fury.

"Dammit, what were you doing? Do you know how much danger we were in just now!?"

"How reckless! You nearly scared us to death!!" Although they couldn't actually see the ghosts, they understood that they had all just experienced a brush with death. Had the cold aura overwhelmed them, they would never have escaped, and would have remained within it forever.

Meng Hao didn't offer any explanation, but he did clasp hands and bow to everyone.

Considering his cold disposition up to this point, the fact that Meng Hao made such a gesture caused the faces of most of the other Paragons to soften. However, their expressions were still somewhat grim; the group was now on an unknown and incorrect path.

All of them knew the potential consequences of taking an incorrect path.

Meng Hao's apologetic clasping of hands was enough to silence most of the other Paragons. However, the Sixth Paragon let out a cold harrumph. "All brawn and no brains! You should have let those two subordinates of yours just die! Saving them got us lost. They deserved to die!"

Normally speaking, he would never have spoken in such a way after the battle he had just experienced with Meng Hao. But now that Meng Hao had earned the ire of the entire group, it was like throwing fuel onto the fire.

"That's right, Old Ninth," chimed in the Eight Paragon, his voice cold. "Simply clasping hands in apology isn't enough. This is a big matter! You got us all lost, and you know what a dangerous position that puts us in!"

The words uttered by these two caused the other Paragons to frown.

The Sect Leader looked over at Meng Hao with furrowed brow.

Meng Hao looked back at him and said, "Many thanks for your assistance back there, Sect Leader."

Actually, the Sect Leader hadn't provided him with much assistance at all, but Meng Hao could tell his attitude in the matter. The fact that he had turned back at all spoke volumes. Furthermore, the other Paragons, with the exception of the Sixth, had all been moving to help him. He wouldn't forget that, and it served to increase his good will toward the Vast Expanse School in general.

"What did you see just now?" the Sect Leader asked.

"A Ghost City," Meng Hao replied. "This entire place is a city, with the asteroids being buildings. We were surrounded by endless hordes of ghosts. This place… is a Ghost City that is invisible to the eyes of the living."

Having heard this, the Sect Leader suddenly reached out and made a grasping motion. A rift opened up, and a profoundly ancient jade slip appeared, which he handed over to Meng Hao.

"Take a look. Is that the city you saw?!"

Meng Hao took the jade slip and scanned it. An image appeared in his mind, the vague image of a city that he instantly recognized as the Ghost City he had seen!

"None other."

When the Sect Leader heard that, a strange expression could be seen on his face. Looking somewhat excited, he asked, "Did you happen to notice a path…?"

Meng Hao thought back to everything he had seen, and recalled that one particular path which was devoid of ghosts. He nodded.

The Sect Leader looked around quietly for a moment at the asteroids, mixed emotions on his face. Finally, he spoke to the group as a whole, his voice little more than a murmur.

"The legends say that long, long ago, this place was a city, a city so huge that the nine land masses were only the central part of the city itself.

"Back then, it was known as the City of Saints.

"One day, the city disappeared overnight. Virtually everyone died…. Countless lives, countless cultivators, countless beings, all dead…. Their deaths were very bizarre and mysterious, and happened in complete silence.

"Only Patriarch Vast Expanse and a few other people survived. They left together, after which the Vast Expanse Society came to exist outside of the Vast Expanse.

"Years later, Patriarch Vast Expanse returned, and chose to turn this place into his necropolis.

"According to most legends, he eventually perished here. Of course, other rumors state that he didn't die, but rather, stayed behind alive to accompany the bones of his companions from the past. Supposedly, countless years passed, after which he departed, leaving behind the method for Transcendence.

"In all the legends, the starry sky looked different back then. Supposedly, when the grieving Patriarch Vast Expanse buried his companions, he transformed the starry sky into the Vast Expanse, for the purpose of accompanying his friends in death.

"The city you saw was the former City of Saints…. Old Ninth, please lead us along the path you saw. That is the way to get to the necropolis." He sighed after recounting the story to the group. Most of the people present had heard the stories before, but this was Meng Hao's first time. After a moment of silence, he thought of the world of the Ghost City, and of the figure he had seen on the ninth land mass.

Finally, he nodded and turned to look off into the distance. Then, he led the way, with everyone following as he headed off into the void.

At first, he had to choose his way carefully and with much thought. But about two hours later, he began to pick up speed. No more strange incidents or deaths occurred, making it seem certain that no ghosts were on the path they traveled.

The Sixth and Eighth Paragons didn't look very happy, but as for all of the other Paragons, their eyes glowed with excitement. Soon, they were getting very close to the first land mass.

However, it was at this point that, all of a sudden, a cold aura suddenly appeared. Everyone could sense it, and before anyone could even react, it increased in intensity by a hundredfold, then a thousandfold, then ten-thousandfold and even more.

As boundless, icy coldness surrounded them, several aura streams appeared that struck fear into the heart of even Meng Hao, and caused the Sect Leader's face to fall.

Meng Hao stopped in place, as did everyone behind him.

"Nice job, Meng Hao!!" yelled the Sixth Paragon. Not bothering with matters of face, he directly spoke Meng Hao's name.

The Eighth Paragon frowned and glared at Meng Hao, eyes flickering with killing intent. "Dammit, you're not leading the way, you're sending us to our deaths!"

The other Paragons' faces were grim and icy, and they began to rotate their cultivation bases.

"Enough!" the Sect Leader roared. Inwardly, he was sighing; the mission was a failure. Furthermore, even retreating would likely result in injury and loss, especially to the 8-Essences Paragons, who would survive only if they were lucky.

The coldness which had risen up caused everyone's hearts to thump. The Sect Leader sighed bitterly.

"The plan is cancelled. Let's fight our way out. We'll recover and rebuild resources to come back another time." With that, he prepared to leave. The Sixth and Eighth Paragons glared spitefully at Meng Hao, and Shangguan Hong and the other Paragons sighed.

But then, Meng Hao's eyes gleamed, and he suddenly said, "Hold on a moment!"

The Sixth Paragon spun in place, glared at Meng Hao, and smiled coldly. "What are you going to do? Don't tell me you want to stop us from leaving. What, you want us to stick around here to be killed? Meng Hao, your heart is twisted and evil. Do you really think we weren't aware that you consumed the Ninth Paragon?"

"Shut your mouth," the Sect Leader barked. "Old Ninth, forget about the matter. I should have explained things in more detail ahead of time. We can come back again another time." Although the Sect Leader was irritated at this turn of events, he still tried to keep things civil.

Meng Hao ignored the Sixth Paragon. "No, listen, I have the feeling… that these ghost harbor no ill will toward me."

Even as he spoke, his third eyes opened.

At the same time, the Sixth Paragon howled, "I can't believe you still dare to open your Dao– wait, what…?"

Before he could even get through half of his sentence, the rest of his words stuck in his throat. His eyes went wide as he looked around.

He could sense that, as of this moment, the coldness… was actually emanating a sensation of… subservience!! The powerful entities therein that filled him with such fear, were actually… acknowledging allegiance!!

He wasn't the only one who realized this. All of the Paragons could pick up on the clues. Expressions of disbelief appeared on their faces. As for Meng Hao, when he looked around at the world, he saw innumerable ghosts, all of them dropping to their knees to kowtow!

And they were kowtowing to him!

It was like watching a wave run across the surface of the sea as countless ghosts dropped down onto their knees….

What a shocking turn of events!

Their previous madness had contained no killing intent, and their rush toward Meng Hao had not been because they wished him harm. Instead, they could sense on him… the aura of their grand leader.

1. This is the same Allheaven as in Allheaven Immortal, Allheaven Dao Immortal, Allheaven Clan, etc. It's been a long time since the term was introduced, so I'm going to repeat the explanation of what it means. "Allheaven" 罗天 could be transliterated as "Luotian," and is a concept from real Daoist mythology. Among all the various heavens that exist, it is the absolute highest heaven. Luo 罗 is a character which can be translated a lot of ways, but in this situation basically means "net." The idea is that this heaven stretches out to cover over all the other heavens like a net. However, instead of calling it Net Heaven (sounds like a bad internet cafe or perhaps a fishing shop), I will use "Allheaven." Incidentally, I've also translated the character luo 罗 as "sieve" in the past, most notably in the name of the Black Sieve Sect"

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Chapter 1425: Allheaven Fears the Immortal!

"Uh…." Although the Sixth Paragon couldn't actually see what was happening, considering the level of his cultivation base, he had a keen ability to detect and sense auras. As of this moment, all of the cultivators near Meng Hao could sense that the freezing aura… was acknowledging allegiance!

The Sixth Paragon's eyes went wide. Despite his strength and willpower, he was still shaken, and gasped. The Eighth Paragon had the same reaction, and stared around in complete disbelief at what was happening.

The other Paragons all had similar reactions. Strange glows could be seen in their eyes as they looked over at Meng Hao. What was happening now left them more shaken than when Meng Hao had fought with the Sixth Paragon.

The Sect Leader sucked in a deep breath, glanced at the surroundings, and then looked back at Meng Hao. Suddenly, he had the feeling that all of the decisions he had made about Meng Hao, both earlier and just now, had been correct!

"Not even the real Ninth Paragon would have been able to do this," he thought. "This is something that exceeds the powers of the Dao eye!" As of this moment, the Sect Leader had absolutely no question at all about Meng Hao's true identity. At the same time, he completely approved of him.

The Sixth Paragon began to speak without even thinking about it: "If you could have done this before, then why did you wait until just now? You–" The other Paragons nearby him began to edge away and put as much space between them and him as possible.

Before he could even finish speaking, Meng Hao snorted coldly and said: "Shut the hell up!"

He glared at the Sixth Paragon, and although the words he had spoken were not filled with much force, they were infinitely cold. The Sixth Paragon's mind spun, and he was about to say something else, when his face fell. Off to the side, the Eighth Paragon took a deep breath.

Rumbling sounds accompanied Meng Hao's voice. When an emperor is furious, the officials will likewise be enraged. In much the same way, the surrounding ghosts seemed to lift their heads and emit enraged howls as they turned to stare at the Sixth Paragon!

Although the Sixth Paragon couldn't see that, the intense feeling he was experiencing caused him to bite back his own words. Without even thinking about it, he stepped back a few paces, his face pale. An intense sensation of deadly crisis was currently raging inside of him.

He had the clear and distinct sensation that Meng Hao could control his very life and death with a single thought.

"How could this be happening!?!? He… he can force the ghosts to acknowledge allegiance, and can also control them!?!? This… this is impossible!"

Even as the Sixth Paragon was shaking and panting, the Sect Leader took a step forward and looked at Meng Hao.

"Old Ninth, some light punishment is in order. After all, we're all on the same side. There's no need to allow internal strife to ferment."

After a moment of silence, Meng Hao looked coldly at the Sixth Paragon. "In the future, keep your mouth shut when I'm talking. If you don't, I'm perfectly fine with having someone replace you as Sixth Paragon!"

The Sixth Paragon's face drained of blood, and although a look of venomous hatred appeared in his eyes, he said nothing in response. However, the killing intent within him grew even more intense than before.

"And then there's you!" Meng Hao said, turning to look at the Eighth Paragon.

The Eighth Paragon took a deep breath. Forcing a smile onto his face, he clasped hands and bowed, declining to offer any words in accompaniment.

Seeing such a reaction caused Meng Hao to frown. The meaning behind the words he had just spoken had been clear, and the fact that the previously aggressive Sixth Paragon suddenly acted in this way was very telling.

"To be chided by me like that," he thought, "and refrain from saying anything in response indicates there is someone backing them who exceeds their power level. But who…?" Meng Hao thought back to everything that had happened so far, and also recalled that the Vast Expanse School had a total of four experts at the peak of the 9-Essences Level. The Sect Leader was one, but there were three others in addition to him.

One of them was the man with the raspy voice who had spoken to him when he was in secluded meditation. As for the other two, Meng Hao had never met them.

His eyes flickered, and then his expression returned to normal. He looked around at the ghosts and waved his hands, experimentally sending out a stream of will. Instantly, the ghosts up ahead parted ways to reveal a path!

Meng Hao could tell that this path… was the same path he had seen earlier, which had been devoid of ghosts!

Without any further delay, he led the group onward. The Sect Leader went along right behind him, and the other Paragons followed along. They proceeded for about half a day, during which time they made more progress than the Sect Leader could have made in two days, and those would have been two days fraught with danger.

Eventually, they reached the end of the path. A huge, shocking land mass spread out in front of them, deathly quiet and filled with ruins.

There were no living beings. Everything was as silent a graveyard.

The ghosts had also been following Meng Hao, but having reached this location, they stopped and looked off into the distance. Apparently, none of them were willing to enter the land mass.

Meng Hao turned back and looked at them. Although his Dao eye was now shut, he could still sense their presence. For some reason, he had the strange sensation that the bronze lamp, which was part of him now, was experiencing a feeling of sorrow.

"They must have been kowtowing to the previous owner of the bronze lamp…. Now that I think about it, perhaps this bronze lamp once belonged to… Patriarch Vast Expanse." After a moment, Meng Hao clasped hands and bowed deeply to the ghosts.

The other Paragons watched what was happening, and various thoughts ran through their minds.

Between the end of the path and the land mass itself was a bridge, swaying there in the starry sky. One end was attached to the land mass, and the other connected to an enormous asteroid, which was fixed unmoving within the starry sky.

There was a cold wind blowing that smelled of rot and decay. It was impossible to tell where it came from or where it was going; it was as if it existed eternally, and was the reason the bridge was swaying back and forth. It was very strange.

Meng Hao stood there in front of the bridge for a moment, and then turned to the Sect Leader. Further behind were Su Yi and Xin Yue, who were completely on guard. Even they could sense that the bridge contained a strange and bizarre aura, which left them unsettled.

"So we've made it back to the bridge again…." the Sect Leader said. "We saw this same bridge twice before. This is the third time….

"The last two times, we took a different path, a more dangerous path, to get here." The Sect Leader looked at the bridge with both excitement and determination.

"The previous two times we tried to cross it, we were blocked in the middle. The last time, we only made it about seventy percent of the way across. Many of our subordinates died, as did most of the clones we had created.

"Old Ninth, the entire reason we requested your presence was because of your Dao eye…. Please, use it to take a look at the bridge, and you'll understand."

Meng Hao's eyes flashed with decisiveness as his third eye opened up on his forehead.

In that instant, the world changed. The bridge was still a bridge, but on the other side, the land mass bustled with cultivators.

There were countless buildings, and innumerable cultivators….

Now, the figure which Meng Hao had seen on the distant ninth land mass was much more clearly visible. It was a man sitting on a huge throne. He was looking directly at Meng Hao, and his voice was even clearer than before.

" Allheaven… fears the Immortal….

"… Does not want the Immortal to appear… wants the Demon to arrive….

"The variations of the Demon are like the variations of Heaven….

"The appearance of the Demon requires grief…. If you die, everything will be over…."

Meng Hao was shaken mentally by this voice which only he could hear, and when he heard the word 'Demon' uttered, his mind reeled.

After a moment, his eyes glittered, and he looked away from the vague figure, allowing his gaze to come to rest on the bridge. Shockingly… he saw unending gore, masses upon masses of it formed into the shape of a bridge that dripped with blood. It was a shocking sight.

He saw countless arms stretching out, which occasionally performed incantation gestures, filling the bridge with the fluctuations of restrictive spells, some powerful, some weak.

Surrounding the bridge was a blood-colored mist. Occasionally, eyes would appear briefly within the mist, and they stared greedily at Meng Hao and the rest of the party.

Most shocking of all was that beneath the bridge was no void, but rather an abyss. Down within that abyss was a three-headed giant, currently climbing up from the depths below. It occasionally bellowed in rage, the sound of which transformed into a tempest that caused the bridge to sway back and forth.

Almost in the same moment that Meng Hao caught sight of the three-headed giant, its three heads looked up, and six pairs of eyes came to rest on Meng Hao. Their gazes locked, and Meng Hao felt his mind reeling as an intimidating will swept through him.

His eyes glittered with cold light, and he snorted, stamping his foot down and sending his divine sense crushing down. The entire bridge swayed, and the three-headed giant let out an enraged roar that only Meng Hao could hear, before looking away.

"This bridge is made from flesh and blood. It's surrounded by a mist, and below is a three-headed giant, eyeing us the way a tiger eyes its prey." As the words left Meng Hao's mouth, very serious expressions could be seen on the faces of the group behind him.

The Sect Leader nodded and said, "This bridge is the only way onto the first land mass. Once you begin to tread it, it is possible to step off of the bridge onto either side. But if you do so, and remain off the bridge for too long, you will most certainly die.

"There are restrictive spells on the bridge, and a false step could potentially lead to eternal destruction. A single misstep might be harmless, but as more and more false steps are accumulated, increasing levels of spell power will build up which will explode out at certain spell nodes. If that happens, we will never make it to the land mass.

"That is why we need your Dao eye, Old Ninth, to see through everything hidden in the void. Help point out the way to avoid the powerful restrictive spells. In those places where we must pass through the spells, please help us select the weakest ones." With that, the Sect Leader clasped hands and bowed deeply to Meng Hao.

"This is what we request of you, Fellow Daoist. If we succeed, then I will guarantee you a place in the lineup to gain Transcendence enlightenment."

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Chapter 1426: Bombardment of Killing Intent!

Meng Hao could sense the Sect Leader's sincerity. As his words echoed out, the ripples of a Dao oath could be seen, indicating that he was swearing upon his own Dao that his statements were true.

With the exception of the Sixth and Eighth Paragons, the other Paragons had no enmity with him. Although none of them were friends either, they still clasped hands and bowed.

Meng Hao studied the bridge for a time, then nodded. By this point, his interest in the necropolis was no less than that of the Sect Leader's.

"Many thanks!" the Sect Leader said in response. He took a deep breath and waved his hand, whereupon one of his 8-Essences subordinates stepped forward. After clasping hands to the group, he walked up to the edge of the bridge, and then looked over at Meng Hao.

After a bit of study, Meng Hao identified a place on the bridge that had weak fluctuations. "Nine meters in is a weak restrictive spell that can't be avoided."

Further observation revealed numerous similar locations on the bridge. However, there were other areas with fluctuations so powerful he was left shaken.

The bridge was not an inanimate object; it was alive, and the fluctuations of the restrictive spells grew more intense the further one went along the bridge. Apparently the fluctuations were like flowing water that could provoke transformations amongst each other.

The source of all of the restrictive spells… were the arms that stretched out from the flesh and blood that made up the bridge, which were constantly performing incantation gestures and unleashing magical sealing marks!

The 8-Essences cultivator stepped forward and alighted onto the nine-meter position that Meng Hao had pointed to. A faint shattering sound echoed out, and the cultivator shivered. However, after a moment, he regained his composure.

At the same time, Meng Hao could sense that the footfalls of the 8-Essences cultivator caused the red eyes within the mist to lurch toward him. However, before they could get close, they were sent spinning away with unyielding howls.

"Ahead, twenty-seven meters!" Meng Hao said. The 8-Essences cultivator immediately advanced to the second location indicated by Meng Hao. At the same time, Meng Hao moved forward, becoming the second person to actually step onto the bridge. That was the best way for him to be able to see the situation most clearly.

In the instant he stepped onto the bridge, his third eye revealed that all of the countless arms suddenly paused, then resumed their incantation gestures with increased speed.

Other than that, there was no change. Meng Hao looked around, then began to speak.

"Up ahead, twenty-one meters. Then another thirty-three meters. Then twelve meters. Twenty-four meters. Ninety meters. Fifty-one meters…."

Behind him came another 8-Essences Paragon, and then more of the group. By the time that first 8-Essences cultivator reached the final location indicated by Meng Hao, there were already several people on the bridge.

In addition to Meng Hao, there were even two 9-Essences Paragons among the group.

Clearly, these people didn't place a lot of trust in Meng Hao, and thus chose to stagger the 8-Essences and 9-Essences Paragons. Doing so ensured that, even if Meng Hao did have some evil designs, he would only be able to take action once or twice before people caught on.

As far as the subordinates were concerned, the hope of Transcendence made it worth the risk!

To 7-Essences Paragons, Transcendence was something far removed from their current level. But for 8-Essences experts, it was far more meaningful. Although they couldn't actually Transcend, gaining enlightenment of the method would help them advance by leaps and bounds, and maybe even break through to the 9-Essences level.

Time passed. Meng Hao's third eye was gradually growing bloodshot, and the mental strain was increasing. The restrictive spells on the bridge were constantly changing, which in turn required constant adjustments on Meng Hao's part. At first, things went quickly, but the process eventually went slower and slower. By this point, the first cultivator to have stepped onto the bridge was about thirty percent across.

On several occasions, the surrounding mist would surge toward the cultivators, but before it could get close, was rebuffed. The roars from within the mist grew more intense, and Meng Hao's third eye more bloodshot. The 8-Essences Paragon up ahead of him was proceeding with an ashen face. Suddenly, he stepped a bit out of line, whereupon he coughed up a mouthful of blood and began to wither up. The mist around him cackled with joy, and surged toward him. In the blink of an eye, he was on the verge of being consumed.

In that moment, Meng Hao reached out with his right hand and made a grasping motion, grabbing the 8-Essences cultivator and sending him back in the line. Another of the subordinate Paragons gritted his teeth and flew forward to take the vanguard position.

The 8-Essences Paragon who Meng Hao had just saved cast an appreciative glance in Meng Hao's direction. Meng Hao nodded and proceeded to make more observations. Then, the group continued on their way across the bridge.

Thirty percent. Forty percent. Fifty percent. Sixty percent…. Several days later, they were seventy percent across the bridge. The Vast Expanse School had never gotten past this point in their previous efforts.

By this point, one 8-Essences Paragon after another had been sent to the vanguard position. Eventually, it reached the point where that position was occupied by the clones of the Sect Leader and the other most powerful experts.

Those clones were even more powerful than the 8-Essences Paragons, enabling them to stay in the vanguard position for longer periods of time. Soon they crossed the eighty percent mark, and a few days after that, had reached the ninety percent mark!

The first land mass was no longer a distant sight; it now stretched out in front of them in all its grandeur.

Excitement could be seen on the Sect Leader's face, and it was the same with everyone else. They yearned to cross the entire bridge… and enter the necropolis of Patriarch Vast Expanse, there on the first land mass.

More time passed. The howling within the mist grew more intense, and it often surged toward the cultivators. But because they had Meng Hao leading the way, and were both bypassing the most powerful of the restrictive spells and suppressing the weak ones, the mist never had an opportunity to touch them.

After passing the ninety-nine percent point, the person in the lead position was less than 30,000 meters from the end of the bridge. To a mortal, it would be a vast distance, but to cultivators like this, it was a distance that could be spanned in a single step, if not for the restrictive spells in the way.

"We're almost there!"

"The necropolis of the first land mass is right up ahead!!"

"We've been waiting years for this day, and now it's upon us!" Everyone was very excited. As for Meng Hao, his third eye was in significant pain. Using it for such an extended period of time was apparently a serious drain on his cultivation base, and he had even been taking opportunities to rest along the way.

Now that there were only about 30,000 meters left, Meng Hao began to close his third eye for some rest and recovery, when all of a sudden, an intense sensation of imminent danger exploded up within him. The source of that danger was a shadowy figure within the depths of the abyss below.

It was none other than the three-headed giant!

Throughout the entire trip, Meng Hao had not been able to catch a single glimpse of the giant he had seen at the outset. He had looked for it, but found no trace. But now, here it was again.

No one else could see it, but they could sense an unprecedentedly cold air rising up. Meng Hao's third eye snapped back open, and the exhaustion which had been visible therein was now gone.

Meng Hao was profoundly observant and insightful, and had long since come to the conclusion that the three-headed giant was simply waiting for the right moment to make a move. During the journey so far, the occasions on which Meng Hao rested because of exhaustion had actually all been an act. During the entire time, he had kept himself at peak battle readiness.

The three-headed giant roared, and the cold wind grew even more icy than before, transforming into a wild tempest that knocked Meng Hao off the bridge.

He ground to a halt out in the void, the snorted coldly, performing an incantation gesture with his right hand and then waving his finger toward the three-headed giant. A powerful force slammed into the giant, sending it flying back down into the abyss.

Meng Hao didn't pursue it. Instead, he turned back toward the bridge. However, it was in that moment that something very unexpected happened!

The Sixth and Eighth Paragons suddenly joined forces to unleash an Essence divine ability that rocketed directly toward Meng Hao.

This sudden turn of events caused the Sect Leader's face to fall. He was about to step forward and intervene when a shadowy figure appeared next to him and reached a hand out to block his path. It was none other than the man in the sandstorm who had visited Meng Hao when he was in secluded meditation.

"Sha Jiudong, what are you doing?!" Even as a grim expression overtook the Sect Leader's face, the other Paragons' faces flickered. Meng Hao had offered incredible assistance to them on their journey, and that was especially so for the 8-Essences Paragons. Meng Hao had saved all of their lives, and as such, the current development left them enraged. However, there was little time for them to put thought into the matter. 1

Just when they were about to take action, a figure materialized behind the Sixth and Eighth Paragons, a young man in a golden robe, who radiated golden light.

He was another of the four peak 9-Essences experts from Planet Vast Expanse!

Killing intent swirled in his eyes as he glared at Meng Hao and extended his right hand. Golden light surged around him, and rumbling sounds could be heard as an invisible power erupted out. That was the power of the peak 9-Essences level, and when it combined with the divine ability unleashed by the Sixth and Eighth Paragons, it created a force that could crush anything in its path.

Even as killing intent flickered in Meng Hao's eyes, the roar of the three-headed giant once again echoed out from below as it shot upward, reaching out to grab Meng Hao.

Descending from above was the combined attack of three Paragons. Below was a seemingly invincible three-headed giant. Surrounding him was the mist, which thanks to his third eye, he could now see was surging toward him.

By this point, the entities in the mist hated Meng Hao with a vengeance. If he weren't around, they would have been able to consume any number of cultivators from the bridge, and would have eaten to their hearts' content. But now, they hadn't succeeded even once. Roaring, they shot through the starry sky toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao's face darkened. Although he had been prepared, the plot against him was excellently laid. Even still, he didn't panic. The truth was that from the moment the Sixth Paragon had begun to provoke him, he had guessed that there was some other powerful figure backing him.

Snorting coldly, eyes swirling with killing intent, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture and unleashed Demon Sealing Hexing magic. He was confident that doing so could reverse the setback. Although he might not be able to fight his opponents directly, he could at least get back onto the bridge and into a position where he could be aided by the Sect Leader and the others.

However, it was at this very moment that intense fluctuations began to emanate out from the bronze lamp. At the same time, Meng Hao could sense something calling to him from deep within the abyss, something that wanted to him to come down!

"Allheaven fears the Immortal…. Come… come… come…."

1. Sha Jiudong's name in Chinese is shā jiǔ dōng 沙九东. Sha is a surname which also means "sand." Jiu means "nine," and dong means "east."

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Chapter 1427: All Ye Shall Call Me Allheaven!

Meng Hao's mind was reeling. The fluctuations emanating from the bronze lamp grew stronger, and it reached the point where he knew that if he missed this opportunity, it could have grave ramifications in the future.

Even more shocking to Meng Hao was that in his moment of hesitation, it almost felt as if the bronze lamp were going to burst out of him and fly down into the abyss of its own accord.

He didn't hesitate for even a moment longer. Casting a cold glance at the intense golden light shooting toward him from the golden-robed young man and the Sixth and Eighth Paragons, and looking around at the greedy, brutal figures within the mist, he suddenly shot downward. The light and the mist passed over the spot he had just occupied, and at the same time, he slammed into the giant.

A huge boom rang out, and the three-headed giant screamed miserably. Blood oozed out of Meng Hao's mouth as he shot downward into the abyss, ignoring the bridge completely.

Of course, to all of the other cultivators on the bridge, it didn't look like Meng Hao was intentionally heading down into the dark void below. Instead, it seemed as if the golden-robed young man and the other Paragons were forcing him to do so.

"Sha Jiudong! Jin Yunshan!" roared the Sect Leader, enraged. His cultivation base surged as if he were preparing to fight with the other two. 1

However, Sha Jiudong and Jin Yunshan didn't seem willing to engage in fighting. They immediately fell back, whereupon the three of them began to confer via a method only they could participate in. Eventually, the Sect Leader's face flickered with disbelief and other mixed emotions.

"Impossible," he murmured.

As for what happened after that, Meng Hao didn't care enough to pay attention. As he whistled through the void down into the depths of the abyss, he recalled what the Sect Leader had said about the ramifications of being off of the bridge for an extended length of time. Death would be the result, and as of now, Meng Hao was already seeing evidence of why that was the case.

Astonishingly, the mists around him were growing thicker and thicker, and they were growing ever closer to him. Lurking within those mists was an aura that left his heart pounding.

However, as the mists neared, the bronze lamp within Meng Hao suddenly let out a soft glow. It passed outside of Meng Hao's body, surrounding him, and when the mists touched it, countless screaming voices could be heard, as if their owners were being melted away by the light.

Meng Hao settled himself. Following the tug of the bronze lamp, he continued downward. Behind him, the three-headed giant roared, apparently not frightened of the lamp at all as it pursued him relentlessly.

The further down he went, the more intense the fluctuations of the bronze lamp became. Before long, Meng Hao caught sight of land down below.

Most accurately speaking, it was a strip of land jutting out from the larger first land mass. Visible there was a statue which had apparently been standing, tucked away, for countless years.

It was tens of thousands of meters tall, and at first glance it almost looked like a mountain.

It depicted a young man clad in a long robe, who was gazing upward. A vicious expression twisted his face, and a brutal air radiated out from him. It almost seems as if he were roaring in rage, and there were even blue veins visible, bulging out all over his face. Upon further examination, Meng Hao realized that he actually resembled the figure he had seen via his third eye, the person sitting on the throne on the ninth land mass.

However, this statue had a stubborn, unyielding expression, as well as an intense focus in his eyes that seemed to be boundless resentment.

Faint tendrils of mist seeped out from him, which was in fact the source of the shocking mist which filled the abyss.

Visible on the statue's forehead was a rift, into which someone had stabbed a sword.

Whatever force was causing the bronze lamp to be stirred into action was coming from within that rift.

Next to the statue was a cliff, although closer examination revealed that it was no simple cliff. It was actually an enormous… gravestone.

Written on the gravestone was a single line of text.

"My first clone, felled by Allheaven."

Beneath the line of text was the name of the person who had written it. Unexpectedly, it was… Patriarch Vast Expanse.

Meng Hao felt shaken as he looked at the statue. Although the statue seemed to have been carved out of rock, when he looked closer, it actually seemed to have been formed from flesh and blood.

Before he could study the statue any further, the three-headed giant appeared. Roaring, it launched itself at Meng Hao, its eyes glowing with turbid red light.

Meng Hao frowned and rotated his cultivation base. A vortex appeared around him, which rapidly transformed into a wild tempest. He stepped forward, punching out with the God-Slaying Fist.

A boom rang out. Based on the current level of Meng Hao's battle prowess, that fist strike would cause an ordinary 9-Essences expert to cough up blood. However, all it did to the three-headed giant was send it staggering backward by a few hundred meters. Roaring, it attacked again.

"That's some thick skin," Meng Hao thought, frowning. Killing intent swirled in his eyes as he unleashed another attack. One punch, two punches, three punches. In the blink of an eye, he unleashed dozens of fist strikes. Intense booms rang out, until finally, the three-headed giant coughed up some blood. However, the brutal gleam in its eyes was even more evident than before.

"Looking to die?" Meng Hao growled, waving his sleeve. Numerous mountains appeared out of nowhere, each one of which exuded shocking power as it crushed down onto the three-headed giant. Even as blood spurted out of various wounds, the giant's three heads let out piercing cries which became an indescribably powerful sound wave that battered against Meng Hao.

A tremor ran through him, and his face paled. And yet, he took a step forward, then another. He took a total of seven steps, each of which caused his energy to rise. Then, when the entire abyss seemed to be shaking violently, his finger slashed out like lightning.

That finger swipe slammed into one of the giant's heads, causing it to instantly explode. The giant let out a bloodcurdling scream, and the other two heads suddenly seemed to be struggling. For a moment, the giant's eyes became clear, but then a moment later, a turbid red glow took over. The giant stopped moving, looked at Meng Hao, then launched another attack.

A boom rang out as massive power blasted toward Meng Hao. He fell back several paces, simultaneously performing an incantation gesture with his right hand. Then he waved his finger, unleashing the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex.

Instantly, the Essence of space descended. The now two-headed giant trembled, and then began to struggle against the effects, but that was when Meng Hao closed in and waved his finger again.

A huge boom rang out as another of the giant's heads exploded. There was only one head left, but now, the turbid glow in its eyes was gone. Instead, they glowed brightly, without a trace of red, and its pupils were now visible.

"Allheaven…" the giant suddenly said. "Allheaven…" Then it howled, and a pained expression twisted its face. It grabbed its remaining head with its hand as if it were slipping into insanity.

"If you think you can control me, well stop dreaming!" the giant screamed. "I'm the subordinate of Vast Expanse, the God Titan!"

As the giant roared, an air of brutality and infinite madness radiated out, accompanied by a feeling of profound ancientness.

A moment later, his clear eyes once again stirred with a turbid glow. He looked down at Meng Hao almost as if for the first time, and an expression of disbelief appeared in his eyes.

"Master… is that… is that you…?" he said. Trembling, he began to charge once again in attack. "Kill me! I'm your God Titan, and I'd rather die than be controlled by Allheaven. Kill me, Master!"

Roaring, the giant headed directly toward Meng Hao, apparently making no defensive preparations whatsoever.

Meng Hao was taken aback. As the giant closed in, its attack built in intensity until a windstorm raged around it. By now, the turbid redness had completely retaken its eyes.

Meng Hao didn't hesitate at all. His finger shot out again, tapping the giant's forehead a third time.

A boom rang out, and a massive wound pierced through the giant's head. As it spread out, filling his body, he trembled. And yet, the turbid glow was now gone, and his eyes were completely clear.

He looked at Meng Hao, his expression one of pain and reminiscence. "So you're not my Master…?" he murmured. "Well, thank you anyway….

"Allheaven. Allheaven." Laughing loudly, he closed his eyes, and his body collapsed.

Everything went silent. Meng Hao hovered there quietly for a moment, frowning. The giant's actions had been odd to say the least, and had become even more odd once the turbid glow left its eyes.

"Who is Allheaven? Allheaven fears the Immortal?" Something seemed off. After looking at the rift in the statue's forehead again, he approached it to examine it further.

"Killed… by a single sword strike," he murmured. The statue itself was enormous, so naturally, the rift was as well. It appeared to be at least thirty meters tall.

"The fact that the clone of Patriarch Vast Expanse was interred here by the Patriarch himself… The city and the land masses that became the Ghost City…. The Sect Leader's description of the legends…. And then this three-headed giant's words. What mystery is at work here?

"Obviously, it has something to do with the bronze lamp inside of me." Numerous speculations ran through Meng Hao's mind. After some more thought, his eyes began to glow, and he flickered into motion. Following the stirrings of the bronze lamp, he entered the rift, and thus, the interior of the statue.

There was no flesh and blood, only a stone tunnel. At first, the tunnel sloped downward, but soon it changed direction and headed upward. As Meng Hao sped along, he felt the fluctuations in the bronze lamp growing ever stronger, and the call from earlier, ever closer.

Several hours later, he came to a stop. Up ahead, the tunnel led into a stone cavern, on either side of which could be seen frescoes carved into the wall. The frescoes themselves were what immediately caught Meng Hao's attention.

They depicted scenes from countless ages past. Innumerable living beings were depicted, and even wild beasts. All of them were prostrating themselves in worship toward the sky, toward a figure who was approaching, bathed in light.

That figure looked down on all creation…. His upraised right hand held within it a stretch of starry sky, within which could be seen countless heavenly bodies….

As he stared at the frescoes, Meng Hao's mind and soul, everything about him, seemed drawn to the images. He almost seemed to sink into the world depicted in the frescoes.

It was as if he had become one of those prostrating figures. He could sense how ancient the world around him was, and could detect the boundless nature of Heaven and Earth. Within his ears rang the voice of that figure which looked down upon all creation.

"All ye living beings shall call me… Allheaven.

"Because of mine existence, there is the universe, and thus the starry sky, and thus the heavenly bodies, and thus all of ye people…."

1. Jin Yunshan's name in Chinese is 金云山 jīn yún shān. Jin is a common surname which also means "Gold." Yun means "cloud" and shan means "mountain"

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Chapter 1428: The Passing of Ages in Frescoes

Time passed, and soon Meng Hao began to tremble. His eyes grew clear, and he backed up a few steps, panting, waves of shock pounding his heart as he looked at the visions from the frescoes.

"Allheaven…." he murmured. Countless questions bubbled up in his heart, but after some thought, his eyes glittered as he left the stone chamber and proceeded along down the tunnel.

Even as he shot through the tunnel, on the bridge connecting to the first land mass up above, several figures were speeding along. With Meng Hao present, that final 30,000-meter stretch would not have taken long for the cultivators of the Vast Expanse School to pass, and would have been quite safe.

But with Meng Hao gone, the group finally experienced the true danger of passing through that region. After only traveling 15,000 meters, they had already experienced several casualties.

Even the 9-Essences Paragons had experienced losses; all of their clones had been destroyed, and their true selves were in bad condition. In the final 15,000-meter journey, everyone drew fully on their most powerful abilities and trump cards to stay alive.

With all of that, they eventually managed to reach the very end, although by that time, three more people had perished.

Even that was only because the Sect Leader and the other two peak 9-Essences cultivators had gone all out. Otherwise, there would have been even more casualties. In the end, all three peak 9-Essences cultivators ended up ashen-faced from the effort expended.

Although no words were exchanged, fury built up in the hearts of many. The stark difference between Meng Hao's presence, and the lack thereof, caused many in the group, including the Sect Leader, to feel increasing rage toward the two other peak 9-Essences experts, as well as the Sixth and Eighth Paragons.

When they finally stepped off of the bridge and onto the land mass, grim expressions could be seen everywhere.

After a moment of silence, the Sect Leader glanced around, then looked icily at the other peak 9-Essences experts, and the Sixth and Eighth Paragons. "We walk different paths. I won't be traveling with the four of you."

The others snorted coldly, then followed after him.

"Very well, that's fine," said Jin Yunshan, smiling. "Our mutual goal is the Transcendence Dais, which means they will also head there eventually. However, there must be other good fortune to be had in this place besides the Transcendence Dais.

"Since that's the case, we can split up here and meet back up again at the Transcendence Dais." With that, he waved his sleeve, sending a jade slip flying out to both the Sixth and Eighth Paragons. Then, he turned and left.

Sha Jiudong shook his head and headed off in a different direction.

The Sixth and Eighth Paragons exchanged a glance, then left with their subordinates.

Meanwhile, back in the tunnel deep below the surface of the land mass, Meng Hao was speeding along. A few days later, he arrived at a second stone chamber.

As soon as he entered, he looked around and found that this place also had frescoes on the walls.

The frescoes depicted numerous starry skies, each of which was filled with one Realm after another…. There were countless heavenly bodies, countless worlds, countless forms of life.

The living beings were born and died in a ceaseless cycle of reincarnation. It was almost as if time were passing in some unique way within these frescoes. There were no written words to explain what was happening, but Meng Hao could tell that what was being depicted was the passage of endless time.

The figure known as Allheaven gradually began to glow with light. The light grew more and more intense, until eventually, his entire person was a shining beacon. Then, unexpectedly… he began to fade away.

The first things to disappear were his legs, then his body, and then his head. Soon, the only part of him remaining behind to prop up the boundless starry sky was his right hand. Everything else was gone.

Eventually, his palm and thumb vanished, leaving behind only four fingers encircling the starry sky. Gradually, all the light was absorbed into those fingers, ensuring that they… didn't fade away, but rather, began to thrum with life force. Four unique auras began to stream out of them, indescribable auras that actually seemed more powerful than the figure itself when it was whole!

When Meng Hao saw what was happening, waves of shock battered at his heart.

"How could this be happening….?" he murmured.

"This… this…." Despite Meng Hao's level of willpower, he was panting. Of those four fingers, the second had an aura that he realized was familiar…. It was a God-like aura. After a moment of confirmation, he was certain that this aura was the same as that of the statue on the Immortal God Continent.

Furthermore, the third finger of the statue radiated the same sensation as the wild and barbaric Devil Realm Continent. A Devil-like aura!

And then there was the first finger. Its aura was like an Immortal's, and yet was not. It was rife with death, with the same aura as that in the necropolis of Patriarch Vast Expanse! It contained the same fluctuations as those in the Ghost City!

And the final finger… had a Demonic aura, which was exactly the same as Meng Hao's!

"Ghost, God, Devil, Demon!!" he thought, his mind reeling as he returned from the vision he had experienced when looking at the world in the frescoes. He began to pant as he looked at the images once again, and yet couldn't enter that special vision he had just been in.

His face was pale white as he stood there for a long period of time, regaining his composure. Finally, he looked up, and his eyes were shining.

"That figure was Allheaven. Perhaps he is not a living being, but… some unique entity. Because of him, the starry sky exists, the heavenly bodies exist, all life exists…. Allheaven, Allheaven….

"Clearly, he died, and was not a being that could last for all eternity. In the end, everything about him became four fingers, which are distinguished by the Ghost, God, Devil and Demon. But what about the Immortal…?

"Where is the Immortal…?" After a long moment of silence, Meng Hao flickered into motion, flashing down the tunnel, burning with the desire to lay eyes on the third set of frescoes.

A few days later, he was still speeding through the ancient tunnel. It almost felt as if he were passing through years of time until finally, there up ahead… was the third stone chamber.

His pupils constricted, and his heart began to beat faster and faster. Almost as soon as he burst into the third stone chamber, he looked around for the frescoes.

As expected, there was a third set of frescoes!

When he laid eyes on them, his mind spun, and he sank into the world depicted therein.

This time, the world within the frescoes depicted a place Meng Hao had seen before. It was a city, in the very middle of which were nine land masses…. This fresco depicted… the necropolis of Patriarch Vast Expanse.

However, this was before it had become a Ghost City, back when it was still a thriving place of the living. There were countless buildings and structures, as well as innumerable cultivators. It was a bustling and flourishing place, clearly in its golden age.

He saw a young man who looked very much like the statue of Patriarch Vast Expanse's clone that he had seen. Perhaps this young man… was Patriarch Vast Expanse himself!

He was sitting cross-legged in the air as countless lightning bolts struck down. Apparently, he was in the middle of facing Tribulation. Down below in the city, countless cultivators were looking on, faces filled with anticipation.

Powerful fluctuations emanated off of the young man, and when Meng Hao sensed them, he was visibly shaken. Those fluctuations exceeded the 9-Essences level, and were half a step into Transcendence. Even more shocking was that this young man's aura… contained Immortal qi!

Absolutely pure Immortal qi!

He was attempting to Transcend, to pass this tribulation as the Immortal!

Meng Hao was panting as he looked at the city and the young man. It was then that he realized that the starry sky of the Vast Expanse that was depicted in this fresco had no mist in it. Instead, it was filled with countless bolts of Tribulation Lightning, seemingly endless amounts that crashed down toward the young man.

As of this moment, Heaven and Earth, the starry sky, and the entire fresco seemed to flash with blinding lightning. Apparently it was completely unwilling to let this person Transcend as the Immortal!

As the destructive Tribulation Lightning descended toward the young man to wipe him out, he rose to his feet and extended his hand as if to blot out the Heavens.

In that moment, a beam of light fell from above, ripping the starry sky apart. A finger descended, a finger that Meng Hao recognized as… one of the four fingers he had seen in the second set of frescoes!

That finger overtook the starry sky, and its descent caused everyone in the city, regardless of the level of their cultivation bases… to begin to tremble violently. Then, they were destroyed in body and soul, completely eradicated! The only ones who survived were the young man and a handful of other people!

One finger exterminated all of the life in that huge city.

One finger took a thriving world and transformed it into a place of death and corpses.

One finger caused a Realm that was bursting with life force to, in the blink of an eye, be filled with nothing but an aura of death!

The next thing that Meng Hao saw was that young man hovering there amidst the boundless aura of death, letting out a cry filled with the most profound anguish.

Then, the fresco changed. Unexpectedly, the corpses… all began to come to life again. However, their faces were twisted with bizarre smiles, as if they weren't themselves any more. Then, they began to fly up into the air toward the young man, as if to kill him.

The young man's bitter laughter began to transform into wretched wailing.

The vision ended there. It took Meng Hao a long moment to recover. When he did, he took a deep breath, and proceeded along. He wanted to see the fourth set of frescoes. He had the intense premonition that whatever was depicted on them would be… something profoundly shocking and mysterious.

Whatever secret was locked therein might even have something to do with him!

He thought back to the destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm, to the Demonic qi which had appeared on him, and how it had been said that the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent didn't want the Immortal to appear in the Mountain and Sea Realm.

"Similar. Very similar. The only difference is that Patriarch Vast Expanse tried to Transcend as the Immortal, whereas in the Mountain and Sea Realm, the Immortal had only just appeared….

"Was it really the Immortal God and Devil Realm Continents who wanted to destroy the Mountains and Seas, or was it… someone else!?!?

"Why is there no text description, and why is it only possible to view the images in the fresco once…?

"What is being guarded against?

"Allheaven destroyed that whole world…." As Meng Hao flew along toward the fourth stone chamber, his mind spun with countless ideas and thoughts. At the same time, his face grew more and more grim.

By now, he was getting the feeling that the destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm… might not have been such a simple affair. Apparently… there was some profound secret at play!

And Meng Hao was uncovering a bit of that secret from these wall frescoes!

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Chapter 1429: A Deep Look at the Vast Expanse!

Meng Hao's face was grim as he shot through the tunnel at top speed. If there were someone capable of seeing everything beneath the surface of that first land mass, they would see that within the long tunnel, there were four stone chambers.

Meng Hao was currently heading upward through the tunnel toward the surface of the lands, and at the same time, he was rapidly approaching the fourth stone chamber, which was also the final chamber.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he moved at incredible speed. Countless thoughts and ideas ran through his head, and they grew increasingly disorderly. He was getting even more anxious.

Some days later, the fourth stone chamber appeared up ahead of him. He slowed down, coming to a stop just outside the chamber. He stood there quietly for a long moment, taking the time to calm his mind and heart. Then, he stepped into the chamber, eyes glittering.

He absolutely had to see what the frescoes in this fourth chamber depicted.

As soon as he stepped into the chamber and looked at the frescoes, his vision swam. When things became clear, he was looking at pitch blackness.

Everything was completely and utterly black, without even a glimmer of light. It didn't feel like an infinite blackness that stretched out endlessly. Rather, it was like an obstacle, blocking the way ahead, almost like… the end of the starry sky.

Within that darkness, he saw four pillars that seemed to prop up the world. Emanating out from the pillars to spread out in all directions were shocking fluctuations.

When he saw the pillars, he suddenly realized something, and began to pant. He spun, and was shocked to find that behind him was… an enormous maelstrom.

The maelstrom was so gargantuan that at first glance it looked like a huge sphere. However, closer examination revealed that the maelstrom was actually made up of endless clouds and mist.

As he looked at the spherical maelstrom, he even noticed some places which looked familiar.

"I'm outside… the Vast Expanse…." he murmured.

Suddenly, a desire rose up within him. He focused on one particular area of the maelstrom, and his vision zoomed in, passing through layers upon layers of mist before coming to rest on an area within the Vast Expanse that was rife with an aura of death.

A vortex could be seen there, spinning slowly. As Meng Hao looked at it, he saw… an area that was tattered and torn, filled with corpses, ruin, wreckage, and ash.

"The Mountain and Sea Realm…." he thought, heart stabbing with pain. It was the former location of the Mountain and Sea Realm. But everything that had happened there was nothing more than the past.

After a long moment passed, Meng Hao looked away. Following the tuggings of his heart, his gaze passed in another direction, to a location where a powerful sealing magic was located. A monkey sat cross-legged outside of it, completely oblivious to Meng Hao's gaze.

Beneath the monkey were… numerous land masses, thirty-three in total. They were the 33 Heavens, like thirty-three walls, beneath which was a vortex. Inside the vortex was a green coffin, upon which rested a butterfly, whose wings floated gently up and down.

The instant he laid eyes on the butterfly, his heart thumped. He could just barely make out his father and mother there, nestled in each other's arms. His vision zoomed in again, and next he saw a world.

There were many familiar faces in that world. His sister, Sun Hai, and Fatty….

On one particular mountain, he saw a thin woman who was Xu Qing.

He wanted to see more, but inwardly, exhaustion was taking root. His vision swam, and then zoomed back out, as if he were being expelled from the starry sky of the Vast Expanse.

In the last moments before his vision completely faded away, he suddenly looked over at the Vast Expanse School. There, outside of Planet Vast Expanse, was an area where the starry sky was damaged and in ruins. There was no Vast Expanse mist there, only a rift. After looking into that rift, he saw nine land masses that formed into a necropolis!

He was unable to see himself in the stone chamber in the first land mass, but he was able to see a scattered group of people. There was the Sect Leader, the golden-robed young man, the sand-wreathed figure, the Sixth and Eighth Paragons, and all the others….

He could see that in the very center of the first land mass, where the Sect Leader was currently located, was an altar which emanated a unique aura that resembled Transcendence!

Meng Hao was left reeling as his consciousness and sight returned to their original location.

He took a deep breath as he looked at the spherical maelstrom again. Then, mind spinning, he turned once more to look at the four astonishing pillars.

He knew exactly what those four pillars were. He had seen them in the vision from the second set of frescoes. They were the four fingers left behind by Allheaven after his death!

In the vision from the third set of frescoes, he had seen one of those fingers destroy a thriving world and kill all of the lives within it.

"So I am outside the Vast Expanse, and this spherical maelstrom is the Vast Expanse, within which I exist." Panting, Meng Hao suddenly thought about something he knew which apparently conflicted with what he was seeing.

"The Vast Expanse School is a branch of the Vast Expanse Society, which exists on the outside. The Ninth Paragon even came from there. But if I am outside the Vast Expanse right now, then where is the Vast Expanse Society…?

"Perhaps I'm in a different time…? But then why would I be able to see the Mountain and Sea Butterfly, and everything else in the Vast Expanse?" Meng Hao frowned. He wanted to get closer to the four pillars, to study them, but when he tried to move, everything turned blurry. After things got clear again, he wasn't near the four pillars, but back in the fourth stone chamber.

In that moment, the bronze lamp inside of him quieted down. The sense of being called faded away, as if what had been reaching out to the bronze lamp was none other than this fourth set of frescoes.

Now that he had laid eyes on it, the bronze lamp became calm once again.

"If you really are Patriarch Vast Expanse, then the message you wished to pass on to me by leaving these frescoes… has been received." After a moment, Meng Hao clasped hands and bowed deeply.

Now that he had experienced the visions within the frescoes, he was filled with a deep skepticism regarding the Immortal Gods, the Devil Realm, the Vast Expanse, and the destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

There was also a name he would not be forgetting. Allheaven!

And there was that saying, 'Allheaven fears the Immortal!'

Meng Hao took a deep breath and rose to his feet. After closing his eyes, he calmed himself, then took the skepticism, the doubts and the misgivings, and tucked them away deep inside his heart. When he opened his eyes, they seemed just like they had been before he had experienced the visions. With that, he left the chamber.

Proceeding along, he soon reached the end of the tunnel, where a staircase led up to ground level. As he emerged, he looked around to find ruins stretching out around him in all directions.

He was on the outer edge of the first land mass, an area filled with broken buildings and ruined structures. Everything was quiet, except for a whispering breeze which occasionally picked up the dust and carried it off into the distance.

Before experiencing the visions, Meng Hao's third eye had enabled him to see the Ghost City as it was in the present. But now, after having seen it when it was flourishing and alive, looking around at what remained of it caused him to sigh. Subconsciously, he looked up into the sky.

"That finger descended from above. One finger… wiped out all life here." As Meng Hao stood there quietly, he realized how insignificant he was, and at the same time, was as focused and determined as ever.

After another moment passed, Meng Hao turned, transforming into a beam of light that shot at high speed across the surface of the land mass. This location was no longer unfamiliar to him; after seeing this world in his vision, he had come to know it well, as well as where the others were located within it. In fact, after looking at the ruins and the mountains around him, he quickly determined his exact location.

"The Sect Leader and the others are at the altar in the center of the land mass. Apparently… that is their target destination.

"The aura of Transcendence…." As he flew along, his eyes glittered coldly, and he turned to look toward the east. "I remember that the Sixth Paragon was in that area. He shouldn't be very far off."

Snorting coldly, he changed directions to head toward the location of the Sixth Paragon.

Meng Hao's personality wasn't the type that thrived on hatred and revenge. However, the Sixth Paragon had provoked him three times, and the last time had been with killing intent.

Therefore, Meng Hao would kill him, along with the Eighth Paragon and… the golden-robed young man!

It was a decision he made without the slightest hesitation or misgiving. After experiencing the visions he just had, he seemed calm on the inside, but was actually deeply anxious. That anxiety in turn unleashed a deep skepticism within him, something that stemmed from his guilt over the destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

That skepticism and that anxiety filled him with the desire to kill!

At the moment, the Sixth Paragon was one of the targets on his list.

Meng Hao shot through the air like lightning, doing nothing to mask his aura. His cultivation base surged with power, becoming a raging tempest that formed into a face. It was a ferocious resemblance of his own by about seventy percent. However, this face had a horn protruding from its forehead, and appeared to be as cold as ice. It was brutal, and shockingly Demonic.

Off in the distance, the Sixth Paragon was traveling through the ruins with his sole surviving subordinate, an 8-Essences Paragon. He was heading toward the central altar, but was simultaneously searching for other good fortune. Suddenly, his face fell, and he looked up to see the shocking face that resembled Meng Hao's speeding toward him, bursting with a murderous aura.

"Dammit, you're actually not dead!!" His face fell as he sensed the killing intent coming from Meng Hao. His scalp tingled as he thought of the madness with which Meng Hao fought. Gasping, and without the slightest hesitation, he pulled out a jade slip to contact the golden-robed young man and the Eighth Paragon. Then he turned, leaving behind afterimages as he went all-out in an attempt to escape.

Even as the Sixth Paragon fled, Meng Hao's voice echoed out like thunder behind him, "You brought this upon yourself, old man!"

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Chapter 1430: Crushing the Sixth Paragon!

As the rumbling sounds echoed out, the Sixth Paragon's face fell. Even as he teleported backward in retreat, the space he had just occupied was crushed and destroyed.

The ground quaked and crumbled as a huge crater opened up. As Meng Hao shot forward like lightning, the vicious Demon face which surrounded him picked up speed. In the blink of an eye, it was bearing down on the Sixth Paragon, radiating Demonic qi which caused everything to shake, and bright colors to flash in the area.

The Sixth Paragon's pupils constricted, and he waved his hand out in a grasping motion. A long banner appeared in his hand, upon which were depicted the images of numerous roaring, wild beasts. Among the countless types of creatures, there were even dragons!

"All-Consuming Beast Swarm!" he screamed, waving the banner through the air. Instantly, the countless creatures inside the banner surged out, roaring. It was a sea of beasts which swept out toward the fierce Demon face.

In the blink of an eye, the two forces slammed into each other, resulting in a massive explosion which shattered the surrounding ruins and crushed the air. It was almost like two enormous mountains had collided, causing the ground to quake and a huge cloud of dust to rise up!

BOOM!

Meng Hao was shaking visibly, but at the same time, the Sixth Paragon coughed up a huge mouthful of blood, and his banner was shredded to pieces.

It was a critical moment in the fight. The Sixth Paragon took advantage of it to speed off, coughing up blood the entire time. Then, popping sounds could be heard as numerous ghost images appeared. Tens of thousands of shadows resembling the Sixth Paragon all began to scatter in different directions, making it almost impossible to determine which was his true self.

The Sixth Paragon had tangled with Meng Hao in the past, and had long since come to fear him. Therefore, he had no intention of fighting a protracted battle, and immediately attempted to flee.

Meng Hao let out a cold harrumph, and opened his third eye. The world changed into that of the Ghost City, wherein countless figures could be seen. At the same time, Meng Hao was instantly able to determine which among the tens of thousands of shadows was the Sixth Paragon's true self.

"You can't get away," he said coldly. As his voice echoed out, he flickered into motion, reappearing directly in front of one of the shadows. Then, he unleashed a fist strike.

It was the God-Slaying Fist!

A boom rang out as the shadow shattered, and the Sixth Paragon emerged from within, face ashen. He immediately fell back at top speed, a vicious expression gleaming in his eyes. However, before he could escape, Meng Hao waved his finger, unleashing the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex.

Because of Meng Hao's current battle prowess, the Eighth Hex was now strong enough to affect even 9-Essences Paragons. The Sixth Paragon's face fell as he suddenly lurched to a halt. Although he recovered almost immediately, a brief moment of immobility like that could be an eternity in a fight like this.

A boom rang out as Meng Hao launched another punch toward the Sixth Paragon. However, in that instant, the Sixth Paragon's skin turned bright red, and a glow like that of blood emanated out, transforming into a shield which blocked the punch.

Meng Hao's fist slammed into the blood-colored shield, causing the shield to distort, and the Sixth Paragon to stagger backward.

However, even as he did, Meng Hao launched another fist strike, then another. Booms echoed out as the blood-colored shield struggled to hold. When the third successive fist strike hit it, the shield shattered, and the fist landed onto the Sixth Paragon's chest.

Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and a sensation of numbness swept over him like flood waters. Even his cultivation base teetered unstably, and his soul trembled.

"Dammit, Jin Yunshan is obviously aware that I need help, but isn't responding. Old Eighth is the only one on the way. He's not too far away, but still needs time to get here!!

"This Meng character is not only a lunatic, he also excels at seizing the initiative in battle. I can't even use a full eighty percent of my power because he never gives me a chance to do anything!" As Meng Hao closed in again, the Sixth Paragon let out an enraged roar. By this point, he knew that it wasn't very likely he would be able to extricate himself from the fighting. Clearly, Meng Hao was completely focused on exterminating him.

In that case, it would be better to die fighting than to run away. In fact, his only hope lay in drawing out the fighting long enough for the Eighth Patriarch to arrive. Then the two of them could either fight or flee together. Either way, they could change the situation.

"Meng Hao, you push things too far!" he howled. His body was still bright red as he performed a double-handed incantation gesture. Instantly, billowing clouds appeared behind him as he unleashed all of his Essence power. It transformed into a huge black head which lunged toward Meng Hao as if to swallow him whole.

Meng Hao's expression was icy cold as he flickered into motion, a streak of azure light that transformed into an azure roc. The roc slammed into the black head, piercing through it and destroying it. The Sixth Paragon let out a miserable shriek as blood spurted from various wounds. Even as he prepared to fall back, the azure roc teleported, appearing directly in front of him and then shooting forward to blast through his body.

It was an intense, deadly situation. The Sixth Paragon let out a roar of rage, hands flashing in a double-handed incantation gesture that caused all of the light around him to vanish. Everything turned black as he called upon his ninth Essence, that of the darkness of night.

The darkness of night was capable of crushing all light, of superimposing the color black onto everything and anything. All existence could be wiped out. This Essence magic was the Sixth Paragon's trump card, and having been forced into the corner he was in, he unleashed it without any warning.

However, even as the Essence exploded out, causing Heaven and Earth to turn dark, Meng Hao's eyes flickered. He could sense the boundless killing intent that surrounded him. His body felt as if something else were controlling it, as if a boundless coldness was surrounding him and trying to bore inside of him to wipe away his soul.

Meng Hao suddenly laughed and said, "Someone once tried to corrupt my body, to defile my soul. I let her, so that she could be happy and at ease. And now you're trying use a similar Essence magic against me….

"This Essence of the darkness of night can cover over Heaven and Earth. However, the Demonic qi within me can cover over the Vast Expanse…." With that, Meng Hao ceased struggling, and allowed the darkness of night to enter his body. However, the process went too slowly for his taste, so he opened his mouth and intentionally sucked it in.

Almost immediately, the darkness of night began to tremble. In the blink of an eye, Meng Hao had turned into a black hole. Everything trembled as boundless darkness… poured into his mouth!!

The sight was completely shocking, leaving the Sixth Paragon feeling as if he had been struck by lightning. His eyes shone with disbelief and shock as he watched Meng Hao sucking the darkness of night into his mouth. Meng Hao's hair whipped about as he began to emanate an aura that the Sixth Paragon had never encountered before in his entire life.

It was an evil aura, a multifarious aura. It was like an Immortal, and yet also like a God, and at the same time, like a Devil. It changed back and forth rapidly, causing Heaven and Earth to tremble. As of this moment, Meng Hao was like the Dao of a world, and when he flicked his sleeve, everything began to collapse.

Even more shocking to the Sixth Paragon was that he suddenly realized that his ninth Essence… was vanishing from inside of him.

"C-consuming… consuming Essence? Y-y-you…" The Sixth Paragon was scared out of his mind. Eyes gleaming with rage, he howled as he fell back. As of this moment, he abandoned all thoughts of tangling with Meng Hao. Instead, he tried to escape with all the speed he could muster, leaving a series of afterimages behind him as he fled.

Meng Hao's mouth twisted into a grim smile. Even as the Sixth Paragon began to flee, Meng Hao took three steps forward, each one of which caused everything to shake violently.

After three steps, his energy had risen to a level that seemed to supercede the entire world. Suddenly, a sensation of indescribable deadly crisis filled the Sixth Paragon.

"He's going to kill me!!" he thought. He slapped his hand down onto his head. A droning sound filled his mind as he unleashed an unknown secret magic. Green smoke rose up from his red skin, increasing his speed dramatically. In the briefest of instants, he was 500 kilometers away.

Killing intent flickered in Meng Hao's eyes as he took four more steps. With each step, Heaven and Earth trembled. The fourth step took him 500 kilometers forward. Then he took the fifth and sixth steps, which were as equally grand and dramatic.

The Sixth Paragon's face was ashen, and the sensation of deadly crisis grew more intense. He had completely lost any fighting spirit, and could sense the trump card that was his ninth Essence fading away, which caused his scalp to tingle. Then he sensed Meng Hao's energy rising, and his mind began to reel as he realized that it almost felt as if he were fighting a peak 9-Essences cultivator like the Sect Leader or Jin Yunshan.

"Dammit!" he shrieked. "That's… that's the Seven God Steps of the Devil Realm!!" He knew that the most powerful explosion of energy from the Seven God Steps came from the seventh step. That raised one's mind, life force, cultivation base and everything else to a higher level. In the blink of an eye, it would lead to an explosive, exponential increase in battle prowess.

As Meng Hao took that seventh step, the Sixth Paragon's vision turned red. However, in that moment of deadly crisis, a beam of light appeared off in the distance, shooting toward them at high speed.

The Eighth Paragon had arrived!

"Old Ninth, what are you doing? How dare you attempt to harm fellow sect members. Stand down immediately!!" The Eighth Paragon's voice echoed like thunder, and rumbling sounds caused even the clouds to vibrate as he shot forward.

The Sixth Paragon's eyes went wild with joy, and he immediately sped in the direction of the Eighth Paragon. It was in that moment that Meng Hao completed his seventh step!

Heaven and Earth shook. The sky took the shape of Meng Hao's face, and the lands turned black. A profoundly murderous aura filled the area, converging upon Meng Hao's right hand in the form of the Eighth Hex Essence!

It was… Spatial Hexing!

Shockingly, he was preparing to completely and thoroughly seal the Sixth Paragon, to seal the space around him, to seal his cultivation base, and to seal… his life!

As soon as the sealing mark appeared, the incoming Eighth Paragon's face fell.

"Meng Hao, are you looking to die?!?!" By this point, he didn't even call Meng Hao by the title of Ninth Paragon, but rather, by his true name!

The Sixth Paragon's mind was spinning, and he was completely overwhelmed by the sensation of crisis. It was as if Meng Hao had superseded the entire world, and as his right hand descended, the Sixth Paragon screamed.

"You'll never seal me, Meng Hao!!" Apparently throwing caution to the wind, he chose to do the only thing he was capable of doing at this juncture… detonating one of his Essences!

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Chapter 1431: One Flees, Terrified!

The Heavens roiled as boundless clouds and mist converged, forming an enormous hand that blotted out the sky. It was as if this hand had replaced the Heavens, radiating an enormous, destructive sealing power!

Apparently, when this hand descended, it could seal one's cultivation base, life force, soul… everything!

The Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering sight caused the Sixth Paragon's mind to reel. An unprecedented feeling of danger rose up in his heart; he was very well aware that unless he came up with some powerful countermeasure, he would definitely die!!

9-Essences Paragons were essentially invincible, with the exception being things within places like this necropolis, or perhaps the old eccentrics who were peak 9-Essences Paragons. And yet, as of this moment, the shadow of death loomed large within the heart of the Sixth Paragon.

He let out a miserable howl. At this critical point in the fighting, it was without hesitation that he chose to… detonate one of his Essences!!

The cost would be enormous. Over the course of the next ten thousand years, he would slowly revert in power from 9-Essences to 8-Essences.

He was detonating an Essence in exchange for a chance to survive. If he could just avoid this deadly sealing mark, then he could join forces with the Eighth Paragon. At the very least, his cultivation base drop would result in being able to live!!

"Meng Hao!" the Sixth Paragon howled, his voice tinged with venomous rage. Even as his voice echoed out, he spread his hands wide, causing a black and white windstorm to kick up. As it spun, it turned gray, and terrifying pulses of Essence aura appeared. They were so powerful that they could cause any 8-Essences Paragon to tremble; that was how far the Sixth Paragon was willing to go in his madness to defend against Meng Hao.

It was a shocking sight to see the windstorm whipping through the air toward the enormous Heavenly hand.

When they slammed into each other, it was like the land below smashing into the sky above. Above the Heavenly hand was Meng Hao, clothes whipping about, murderous aura radiating out, and expression icy. Down below was the Earthly windstorm, beneath which was the maddened Sixth Paragon, his hair and clothing in disarray.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

All of this takes some time to describe, but actually happened in the space of a few breaths. In the blink of an eye, the enormous hand and the wild windstorm… slammed into each other.

The resulting explosion seemed loud enough to destroy Heaven and Earth. It was as if everything in existence were being ripped to shreds!

The Sixth Paragon screamed miserably as he detonated that single Essence. Although it was only one, to him, detonating that one Essence was like detonating all nine. Rumbling sounds rose up as the windstorm roared like a dragon, attempting to consume the hand.

No matter how madly that windstorm screamed, though, the Heavenly hand which contained Meng Hao's sealing mark continued to shove downward. The windstorm shattered, and the power of the Sixth Paragon's exploding Essence transformed into a shockwave that blasted out in all directions. A huge crater opened up down below, and although the hand was not completely destroyed, four of the fingers were wiped away in the explosion.

The final finger proceeded onward unhindered. However, it had lost its power of sealing. The Sixth Paragon coughed up blood, and he suddenly seemed to age by a thousand years, leaving his face pale. He felt unprecedentedly weak, but a vicious expression appeared on his face, and his eyes radiated hatred as he back up, laughing.

"You can't kill me, Meng Hao! I won't forget the enmity which you have sown this day!!" The hatred for Meng Hao which had been building up in the Sixth Paragon had reached a pinnacle. However, even as he spoke, he borrowed force from the explosion, and drew upon all the power he could muster, to shoot toward the Eighth Paragon.

Likewise, the Eighth Paragon was speeding toward him. Once the two of them joined forces, then even Meng Hao with his current level of battle prowess would not be able to fight them.

Meng Hao knew that, the Sixth Paragon knew it, and so did the Eighth Paragon.

Seeing that the deadly battle was about to conclude, even the Eighth Paragon sighed with relief. In his estimation, unless Meng Hao was a complete fool, he would realize that he couldn't continue fighting. If he did, he would be putting himself in a very bad position. After all, the shockwaves which would spread out because of a fight against two Paragons would eventually be detected by the other Paragons, and when that happened, the fight definitely couldn't continue.

Because of that, there was no possible way for the Eighth Paragon to be able to imagine what happened next. What he saw could not possibly have been more of a shock to him.

What he had taken to be a complete and utter impossibility, was suddenly completely possible!

Meng Hao hovered there in the sky, looking coldly down at the retreating Sixth Paragon, as well as the Eighth Paragon, both of whom were racing toward each other at top speed.

"If I say that I'm going to kill you, then kill you I shall," he said, voice cool and calm. His words were very similar to the ones he had spoken some time earlier to the Sixth Paragon about leaving his mark on him.

As his voice echoed out, the Sixth Paragon's heart began to pound strangely within him.

It was at that point that Meng Hao lifted his right foot and then took a step forward. When his foot landed, the Essence of time erupted around him. He began to walk forward in a bizarre fashion, and as he did, the Essence of time around him began to grow stronger. In the blink of an eye, the world around him was affected, as was time!

As he took his final step, he vanished. Simultaneously, time began to move backward in the area. Not even the willpower of the Sixth Paragon could do anything to resist the effect. A moment ago, he had been speeding toward the Eighth Paragon, but now it was the opposite. He still had the same look of joy on his face, and his heart was still thumping as he suddenly began… to move backward!!

From the perspective of the Eighth Paragon, it looked like he was retreating. In the blink of an eye, the Sixth Paragon was pulled far away from the Eighth Paragon.

Next, the explosion caused by the collision of the Essence detonation and the Heavenly hand was suddenly sucked back in. It was as if everything within the stream of time were being affected!

It was at this point that Meng Hao suddenly appeared in front of the Sixth Paragon. It was as if Meng Hao could simply walk through time to any point of his choosing. The sight caused the Eighth Paragon to suddenly stop in place, scalp tingling in shock, crashes like thunder echoing in his mind.

"Time… the Essence of time!! No, the Essence of time doesn't have an aura like that. That's… that's…." The Eighth Paragon sucked in a deep breath. His mind spun as he watched Meng Hao appear in front of the Sixth Paragon, then reach out and touch the man's forehead. Then his hand moved, tracing a box in the air around the Sixth Paragon.

A boom rang out as the Sixth Paragon trembled; from start to finish, he was completely incapable of resisting what was happening. It was almost as if he didn't even see Meng Hao right there in front of him.

He didn't fight back at all as light from Meng Hao's hand covered him. His body was sealed, his cultivation base was sealed, and his soul was sealed. Everything about him was sealed!

Rumbling could be heard as the Sixth Paragon transformed into… a painting, which floated down onto Meng Hao's palm!

As Meng Hao took hold of the painting. His cheeks were a bit flushed, but his eyes were icy cold as he turned and looked at the Eighth Paragon.

The Eighth Paragon's mind was spinning, and he began to tremble. A look of utter incredulity covered his face, and terror exploded up inside of him.

"That's… that's a bit of Daosource aura, in the form of the Essence of time!!" The Eighth Paragon shook as icy coldness spread up his spine and filled his body. Then he screamed and fled.

Actually, this man was well aware of how powerful Meng Hao was. Even before entering the necropolis, his fight with the Sixth Paragon had utterly proven how terrifying he was. As such, the Eighth Paragon had no desire to offend him. However, because of the orders of the golden-robed young man, Jin Yunshan, he had had no choice but to attack and try to kill Meng Hao on the bridge.

He, as well as everyone else, had assumed Meng Hao to be dead. After all, nobody could fall into that abyss and survive. How could he ever have imagined that Meng Hao would still be alive!?

After receiving the message from the Sixth Paragon requesting help, he had come over as quickly as possible. Upon arriving, he had witnessed a battle that was completely and utterly shocking. Then he saw Meng Hao take the impossible and make it completely possible. And he also saw something that he was sure exceeded Essence, a bit of Daosource mixed with the Essence of time, to create… a terrifying sealing mark!

"Planning to run?" Meng Hao asked coolly. As soon as the words left his mouth, the Eighth Paragon's right hand shot up, and he struck the top of his head. Rumbling sounds could be heard as his body withered up; massive amounts of life force exploded out, and he even sacrificed some of his longevity in exchange for a blinding burst of speed. In the blink of an eye, he was a huge distance away.

He was afraid, terrified even. All Meng Hao had to do was say one thing, and the Eighth Paragon went all out to flee. After all, he had witnessed the fate of the Sixth Paragon.

Meng Hao stared in shock. The Sixth Paragon's method of fleeing couldn't even compare to the Eighth Paragon's. He was gone without a trace, and obviously, it wouldn't be possible to catch up in a short period of time.

Meng Hao frowned. Obviously… he terrified the Eighth Paragon so much he had simply fled.

"Well, there's no rush. I'll settle accounts slow and steady. He can run, but I know where everyone is heading anyway." After a moment, Meng Hao snorted coldly and then took a step forward, heading to the location he had seen when outside of the Vast Expanse: the central region where the golden-robed young man and everyone else was waiting.

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Chapter 1432: Transcendence Dais!

After experiencing the destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm, Meng Hao had become more hateful and vindictive. His heart festered with rancor, and the thirst for revenge burned in his blood. Much of that was because he had been defiled, transformed from Immortal into Demon, and had become somewhat extreme and even paranoid.

The current Meng Hao was a completely different person than the young scholar who had stood atop Mount Daqing in the State of Zhao.

His bashfulness was nowhere to be seen now; there was only viciousness. He smiled less frequently, and was filled with icy coldness. His was a world that had long since been overtaken by a murderous aura.

That was not his wish, nor his fundamental nature. But fate had taken hold, and the things he had experienced were like a merciless blade that slashed away at him, completely transforming him.

Sealing the Sixth Paragon was only the beginning. He planned to put an end to all of those who had shown hostility to him. As such, he would not let the Eighth Paragon off the hook. Even though the man had only attacked him once, to Meng Hao, once was enough. He would not give him a second opportunity to do so.

Another person on Meng Hao's list of people to kill was the golden-robed young man, Jin Yunshan. Although Meng Hao wasn't completely certain that he qualified to attack someone of such a level right now, that didn't matter.

He wasn't of a mind to investigate why things had happened the way they did. To him, only one thing was important: If you don't mess with me, I won't mess with you. But if you do mess with me, then I will wipe you out of existence!

Meng Hao's face was grim as he sped through the air in a beam of bright light. He moved so fast that the only sound heard was something like the crack of thunder; he was actually not visible within the beam, which resembled an arrow as it shot forward.

He split the sky, moving faster and faster, the sound of his passage echoing back and forth. Invisible shockwaves spread out, causing the land to shake and the air to distort.

It was a grand and amazing sight!

As he chased down the Eighth Paragon, he was able to determine that the man was most definitely heading in the same direction Meng Hao wished to head… toward the center of this first land mass of the necropolis!

As time went on, Meng Hao moved faster and faster, and the evidence of his passage was detectable far and wide.

The Eighth Paragon was up ahead, shaking in his boots. He was completely terrified, and was using all the power at his disposal to flee at top speed. He continued to unleash secret magics, causing his body to wither up, but propelling himself forward at maddening speed.

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT…!" he cursed inwardly. He couldn't be more regretful of what had happened, how he had provoked Meng Hao. He could never have imagined that Meng Hao would actually possess a bit of the aura of the Daosource. Although it was only a sliver, to someone in the 9-Essences level, that was a profoundly threatening force.

"He's going to kill me!!" That was the thought which continued to run through the man's head. Meng Hao wanted to kill him so much that there was no other option for him other than to flee. He didn't even dare to turn around and try to launch a preemptive counterstrike. He had to rely on the burning of his life force to gain greater speed. His only hope was to reach the location of the Sect Leader and Jin Yunshan, the place where everyone was to meet back up. If Meng Hao tried to kill him in a location such as that, it would be extremely difficult considering how many people would be there to interfere.

Rumbling could be heard as the Eighth Paragon bit his tongue, spit out some blood, and accelerated once more.

Behind him was Meng Hao, his expression icy, pursuing him relentlessly.

It wasn't that the Eighth Paragon had forgotten to try to send distress signals via jade slip. He had. However, he quickly realized that sending such messages was like throwing a stone statue of a bull into the sea. Not a single reply ever came back.

His heart was filled with bitterness, and also dread.

A moment later, lightning crashed down around him. Howling, he passed through the lightning, coming out on the other side coughing up blood. Without even looking back, he pushed onward.

Meng Hao appeared moments later. He collected the lighting up, a cold smile on his face as he continued to chase down his prey.

Time passed slowly. Hunter and quarry slowly drew closer and closer to the central region.

In the middle of the first land mass was an ancient altar, fully 30,000 meters in height. The four corners were decorated with fierce dragon carvings, and it almost looked like a pagoda, stretching high up into the sky.

It was pitch black in color, and emanated a sensation of an ancient era. It was almost as if it had existed within the stream of time for countless years. Ripples pulsed out from the altar, merging into Heaven and Earth, making it seem as if it were part of the entire land mass upon which it stood, and yet somehow in sync with the necropolis itself.

The people from the Vast Expanse School were located in various locations surrounding the black altar, looking at it excitedly. There on the altar itself, three people sat cross-legged. One of those people was the young man in the golden robe, Jin Yunshan!

Another was gaunt and sallow, surrounded by a layer of swirling sand which made it difficult to see him clearly. It was none other than Sha Jiudong!

The last person was the Sect Leader himself.

The three of them sat at the highest point on the altar, various expressions flashing across their faces. Occasionally they appeared to be wild with joy, while at other times they looked confused. Sometimes they would even tremble. Gradually, all of them were beginning to form tiny bits of… Daosource aura!!

The other cultivators from the Vast Expanse School were discussing the goings-on.

"According to the ancient records, the necropolis has nine land masses, each one of which has a Transcendence Dais. Any cultivator who seeks enlightenment on that altar can begin to grasp the path to Transcendence!"

"Those records were absolutely correct!"

"The Sect Leader, along with Fellow Daoists Sha and Jin, were the first to step onto the altar. They've already been seeking enlightenment for far longer than five days!"

"During that time, the Daosource aura on them has gradually grown stronger. This place… definitely contains the method for Transcending!!"

"In the ancient records, it says that the altars in each of the nine land masses of the necropolis can add ten percent to one's chances of Transcending. If you add the altars from all the different land masses together… then doesn't that mean that if you gained enlightenment in all nine, then… you would have a ninety percent chance of Transcending successfully, and entering the Daosource Realm!?!?" Everyone from the Vast Expanse School stood outside the altar, eyes glittering with fervor. This was the entire reason they had come to this place: Transcendence.

To be more accurate, the method for Transcendence was by means of the nine altars within the necropolis!

It was at this point, when the Sect Leader and the other two peak 9-Essences experts were in the process of seeking enlightenment, and their Daosource aura was growing clearer and stronger, that a beam of light appeared off in the distance, closing in on the area with maddening speed. At the same time, a desperate voice echoed out.

"Help me!! Fellow Daoists, please help me!!!" The voice sounded desperate and weak. Upon closer examination, the Eighth Paragon could clearly be seen, hair in disarray, body gaunt and withered. His eyes were bloodshot, and his aura unstable as he screamed for help.

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Chapter 1433: Killing With Witnesses!

His voice completely shattered the mood in the area. The people from the Vast Expanse School all turned their heads, and when they saw that it was the Eighth Paragon heading in their direction, their faces flickered.

What caused such a reaction was not just the desperate state the Eighth Paragon was in, but something else, something shocking that wasn't immediately noticeable.

They had been studying the altar so intently that they didn't notice what else was happening in the area. Apparently… their divine sense had been sealed, and their five senses interfered with, although that in itself was to detect.

It wasn't a divine ability from Meng Hao, but rather, some strange effect that came from standing near the altar!

It was because they were near the altar that they hadn't received any of the messages from the Eighth Paragon!

"It's Old Eighth!"

"He was in the same area as Old Sixth. What did he run into that left him in such bad condition!?!?" Everyone was shaken. The terrifying nature of the necropolis left a lingering fear within their hearts. And yet, it was in this moment that they caught sight of another beam of light off in the distance!

There within that beam of light was Meng Hao, looking like a fiendish killer!!

"It's the Ninth Paragon!!"

"He's not actually dead!!" Everyone was shocked, but there was little time for them to ponder why he hadn't perished after falling into the abyss. Here he was, chasing down the beleaguered Eighth Paragon, clearly intent on killing him.

The Eighth Paragon let out a miserable shriek as the air around him distorted, and a boom rang out, causing blood to spray out of his mouth. Afterward, he shot toward the group with even greater speed.

"Help me!! He killed Old Sixth. I saw him do it! He killed Old Sixth!!" His voice rang out, filled with unprecedented levels of anxiety and nervousness. A few of the other Paragons had already stepped forward and were preparing to stop Meng Hao. There was no way they would just look on while the Eighth Paragon was killed. They had done the same thing with Meng Hao, and it had nothing to do with favor or disfavor.

When they heard the Eighth Paragon's claim that the Sixth Paragon had already been killed by Meng Hao, their faces flickered, and they all flew forward to intervene!

"Old Ninth, stay your hand immediately!!"

"We're all Paragons of the Vast Expanse School. We're here to search for the good fortune of Transcendence. There's no reason to be fighting and killing each other!!"

Even as they flew forth to block Meng Hao, Meng Hao's eyes glittered, and he looked over at Jin Yunshan among the group of three on the altar. Meng Hao could sense the profoundly ancient nature of the altar, and could also detect the traces of Daosource aura on them.

That in itself caused his mind to spin. Seeing this location from outside of the Vast Expanse, and actually being here to feel it, were two completely different matters. Now he realized that the reason the Sect Leader and the others had come to the necropolis, the so-called method of Transcendence they were looking for, was this altar!

"Ah, so these altars are the way to Transcend!" he thought. In the entire Vast Expanse, only a few people had ever reached that ultimate pinnacle, Transcendence.

For there to be a location such as this, which aided in the seeking of enlightenment of Transcendence, caused Meng Hao to come to the conclusion that the other land masses must also have similar altars. Nine land masses meant nine altars.

If that was the case, then… how did the altars come to be created?!?!

Many questions popped up in Meng Hao's mind, causing his eyes to flicker. However, there was no time to ponder the matter. He quickly reached out with his right hand and pointed at the fleeing Eighth Paragon.

That gesture caused Demon Sealing Hexing magic to appear. Rumbling sounds could be heard as the Eighth Paragon trembled, during which time Meng Hao flickered into motion. Azure light rose up from him, which suddenly turned black. He transformed into a black roc, shooting lightning-like through the air to appear right behind the Eighth Paragon.

At that point, it didn't matter that the other Paragons were trying to intervene. None of them could move as fast as Meng Hao just had. Without any hesitation, he slashed out at the fleeing, weakened Eighth Paragon.

A boom rang out, and the Eighth Paragon let out a bloodcurdling scream. Blood spurted out of various wounds, but he continued to shoot toward the altar.

Meng Hao was in hot pursuit, but the other Paragons seemed to be on the verge of arriving and blocking his path. Meng Hao's eyes flickered coldly, and his cultivation base surged. Essence power erupted out, transforming into a vortex, a windstorm that swept out in all directions. At the same time, Meng Hao's cold voice could be heard, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have no enmity with you. But this Eighth Paragon tried to do me harm. It's a personal matter, so please don't meddle. I demand that this man die!"

His voice echoed out from within the windstorm with complete and utter determination.

The other Paragons, including Shangguan Hong, frowned, and subconsciously stopped in place. In that moment, Meng Hao shot forward with a burst of speed, yet again closing the gap between himself and the Eighth Paragon.

The Eighth Paragon stared in shock. Trembling, he looked to his last source of hope, the golden-robed young man on top of the altar.

"Fellow Daoist Jin, save me!!"

Roc-form Meng Hao snorted coldly. As he closed in, he performed an incantation gesture with his right hand, and unleashed numerous Hexing magics. Blood sprayed out of the Eighth Paragon's mouth as the Hexing magics landed on him. Gritting his teeth, he pushed onward toward the altar. Just when he was about to set foot onto the altar itself, Meng Hao's right hand flashed with another incantation gesture, and he waved his finger. That was when the Hexing magic began to literally explode!

Eight Hexes were combined together, although it happened inside of the Eighth Paragon's body, and was not visible! Furthermore, this was not something Meng Hao had done only in this moment; he had been preparing the Hexing magic and sending it into the Eighth Paragon during the entire chase.

He wanted to kill the Eighth Paragon, and he wanted to do it right in front of the golden-robed Jin Yunshan, as a warning to all of the other people in the Vast Expanse School. It was a warning which said… Don't provoke me!

Now, the moment had come to accomplish that goal. The Eighth Paragon screamed as numerous flows of qi battered about within him. His body began to swell, and the shadow of death exploded out within him.

His expression was one of terror and astonishment as he wailed, "Fellow Daoist Jin!!!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jin Yunshan's eyes opened. They glittered like freezing blades as he turned to stare at Meng Hao.

"Do you dare?!"

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Chapter 1434: Battling Jin Yunshan!

"I've heard that a lot in my life, you know," Meng Hao said coolly. "When the critical moment arrives, people love to say 'do you dare?' Apparently, they think it actually stops people from doing something.

"I always answer in the same way…."

His right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, and then he waved his finger toward the Eighth Paragon. It was as if a fuse had been lit. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the Eighth Paragon's body swelled even larger, and then exploded with a huge bang.

Blood and gore splashed everywhere, becoming a rain that fell down onto the altar. It didn't touch the Sect Leader, but landed all over Sha Jiudong and Jin Yunshan!

Jin Yunshan's face couldn't be grimmer as he stared at Meng Hao, killing intent swirling in his eyes.

"Why don't you say it again." Meng Hao hovered in midair, looking coldly at Jin Yunshan. Truth be told, the only reason the Eighth Paragon fell so easily was because the long chase gave Meng Hao plenty of time to prepare. The end result was that he cut him down quickly and efficiently. Meng Hao said he would kill him, then followed up immediately!

It was all because he had buried his Hexing magics inside the man one by one, resulting in that final shocking scene.

Silence reigned. Shangguan Hong and the other Paragons looked on silently, mixed emotions visible in their eyes as they looked at Meng Hao. Just now, Meng Hao had used his actions, not just his words, to explain to everyone what exactly it meant to be domineering!

Jin Yunshan suddenly laughed in a very sinister fashion. As the sound echoed out, he slowly stood, eyes growing even icier as he stared at Meng Hao.

"You killed the Sixth and Eighth Paragons, so now you want to kill me?" Colors flashed in the sky and a huge wind kicked up. Everything twisted and distorted as an enormous, 5,000-kilometer windstorm appeared.

Everyone from the Vast Expanse School had serious expressions on their faces as they slowly backed up, not daring to get close to the enraged Jin Yunshan.

They were all aware that although Jin Yunshan looked like a young man, he had actually practiced cultivation for ages upon ages, and was in fact on almost equal footing with the Sect Leader.

He had an unstable personality inclined to fits of rage, and was incredibly vicious. The louder he laughed, the more infuriated he was.

"That's exactly what I want," Meng Hao said coolly.

When Jin Yunshan heard Meng Hao's response, it was as if he had just heard the most hilarious joke in the entire world. He threw his head back and laughed uproariously. At the same time, lightning crackled in the sky and thunder boomed. Jin Yunshan suddenly stepped forward, turning into a blur of afterimages. The space between him and Meng Hao seemed to collapse, and countless rifts opened up.

Jin Yunshan moved so quickly that apparently the air couldn't withstand the speed and was destroyed. In the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of Meng Hao.

"You're just a stray dog with no home to go back to, and you dare to challenge me to a fight?!" Jin Yunshan reached out and stabbed his finger toward Meng Hao's chest.

His finger immediately erupted with the intense power of a peak 9-Essences cultivation base. Jin Yunshan did not underestimate opponents in battle; he unleashed all of the power he had at his disposal.

Although he seemed to be in a fury, he was actually in complete control of his emotions. He realized that Meng Hao had killed the Eighth Paragon in an attempt to rile him mentally. To cultivators of this level, something like that could prove to be fatal!

In fact, the words he had spoken to Meng Hao just now had likewise been intended to sow chaos.

Meng Hao remained completely calm in response to the unleashing of the finger attack. He extended his right hand and waved his sleeve, causing Essence of Divine Flame to erupt out, combined with Hexing magic as well as the power of his fleshly body. The Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering power that resulted was a blow struck by an entire world. A huge boom echoed out, and Meng Hao staggered backward several paces. Even as he looked up, Jin Yunshan's eyes flickered with killing intent, and he closed in for another attack.

"The peak of 9-Essences… is pretty impressive." Meng Hao's eyes gleamed with the desire to fight. He burst into motion, and in the blink of an eye, was fighting all out with Jin Yunshan.

Massive booms rang out. Meng Hao was like a monster. Sometimes he was completely domineering, and pressed the attack viciously. But in his multifariousness, he would then dance away like a wisp of smoke. A moment later, a brutal aura would rise up, like some monstrous beast.

Jin Yunshan attacked with the power of the peak of 9-Essences. Although he didn't use any majestic divine abilities, his cultivation base and fleshly body, in fact, everything about him, was in the great circle of his level; all of it merged together, allowing him to deliver attacks that could shake Heaven and Earth.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had exchanged so many volleys that it was impossible to keep track of how many. Blood was oozing out of Meng Hao's mouth as he fell back. As for Jin Yunshan, his face was a bit ashen as he glared at Meng Hao, the killing intent in his eyes growing more intense. Apparently, he wasn't too surprised at Meng Hao's level of battle prowess. To him, it was only natural that Meng Hao would be beyond the ordinary 9-Essences level, considering that he had already killed the Sixth and Eighth Paragons.

"You overestimate yourself!" he said with a cold snort. Killing intent flickered as he waved his right hand. In response, boundless golden light shone as numerous razor-sharp golden thorns shot out.

Upon closer examination, they weren't thorns, but were actual beams of golden light. In the blink of an eye, Jin Yunshan summoned a golden sun around him, which grew larger and more majestic by the moment. Everything began to shake violently; it was as if this sun had supplanted the sun of this entire world!!

"Dao of a Golden Sun; Magic of an Exalted Celestial!" Jin Yunshan spread his arms wide, causing massive amounts of the energy of Heaven and Earth, as well as the aura of the Vast Expanse, to surge toward him. His energy rocketed up, and grave expressions could be seen on the faces of the group from the Vast Expanse as they once again backed away, unwilling to get caught up in the power on display.

Even as they backed up, Jin Yunshan's hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and he shoved them out violently. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the golden sun began to twist and distort, transforming into… a seemingly endless cloud of golden flying swords!

It seemed impossible to count the number of swords, and everyone present felt their scalps tingling in shock at the sight. The 9-Essences Paragons reacted a bit less dramatically, but the 8-Essences Paragons gasped.

From the look of it, there were hundreds of millions of them!

Hundreds of millions of golden flying swords shot out, swirling through the air to form the image of what looked like a sun.

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Chapter 1435: Heaven Ripping!

A cold smile could be seen on Jin Yunshan's face as he spread his arms wide, sending the hundreds of millions of flying swords up into the air. Then, he lowered his hands and pointed his finger at Meng Hao.

The flying swords began to vibrate loudly, the sound of which merged together into a shocking sound wave that sent everything shaking as the swords… shot directly toward Meng Hao.

It almost looked as if the entire sky was nothing but flying swords. Unending swords and sword light poured down onto Meng Hao as if to slice him to bits!!

A sense of crisis loomed within Meng Hao, but that was no surprise. In fact, it caused the desire for battle to grow more intense within his eyes. He wanted to fight, to fight someone extremely powerful, to fight many powerful people! That was how he would transform himself.

Almost in the same moment that the hundreds of millions of flying swords bore down on him, azure light sprang up around Meng Hao, which then turned black. He vanished, and when he reappeared, he was an enormous black roc!

The roc rapidly grew larger. 300 meters. 3,000 meters. 30,000 meters. In the blink of an eye, Meng Hao was a huge black roc over 30,000 meters long. Then, a piercing cry could be heard as all of the feathers shot off of his body and swirled out into the air. Although there weren't hundreds of millions of them, there were at least a million!

A million feathers spun in the air, becoming a tempest that spread out to meet the hundreds of millions of flying swords.

When they clashed, the resulting boom cracked the sky and shattered the land. The roc feathers were like rowboats on a stormy sea, battered relentlessly by the flying swords.

However, even as the tempest of feathers was whittled away, Meng Hao let out a powerful roar, sending some of his life force aura into the feathers.

"Mourning-Death, Divine Augmentation!" This was a divine ability he had gained from Shui Dongliu when absorbing his good fortune. 1

It was not the type of divine ability that would unleash a deadly attack. Instead, it allowed him to split his divine sense into a million portions, each of which entered one of the feathers.

In the blink of an eye, each one of the million feathers trembled and then suddenly expanded. Roc heads sprouted out, and then… they transformed into huge rocs!!

Each and every feather transformed, filling the sky with a million huge rocs. The previous tempest increased in size by a thousand-fold, completely blotting out the sky!

The hundreds of millions of flying swords rumbled as they slammed into the rocs. The Heavens shook as the swords and the rocs began to fight a majestic battle!

It was difficult to put into words how shocking this display of divine abilities was!

The flying swords had the advantage of numbers by far, but the incredible power of the rocs ensured that it took hundreds of flying swords to take down just one!

Massive rumbling booms filled the sky, as though a war were being fought. Even as the destruction was carried out, Meng Hao suddenly appeared, blood oozing out of various wounds, but a vicious expression covering his face. He suddenly lifted his hand up, and a painting appeared!

It was none other than the painting he had created when he sealed the Sixth Paragon. Without the slightest hesitation, Meng Hao ripped that painting in half!

What appeared as a result was not the Sixth Paragon, but rather, his life force, his cultivation base, his Essences, and his soul. Everything that was the Sixth Paragon flew out and was absorbed by the numerous rocs, unexpectedly… massive booms rang out, and the world quaked. The group from the Vast Expanse School all gasped; this was the loudest noise which had echoed out since the fighting had begun. The rocs collapsed, and the hundreds of millions of flying swords all shattered!

At the same time, a massive shockwave blasted out, sweeping across all creation.

The shockwave shoved Meng Hao backward, coughing up blood, his face pale. However, his eyes were brighter than ever as he stared at Jin Yunshan, who had an unsightly expression on his face as blood seeped out of the corners of his mouth!

Jin Yunshan was completely and utterly shaken. Although he had known all along that Meng Hao's battle prowess was incredible, he had never imagined that he would be this strong, or that he would be able to put up such a good fight.

After all, Jin Yunshan was not just in the peak of the 9-Essences level, he was at the great circle, which meant that his cultivation base and battle prowess were such that he could crush all other 9-Essences cultivators!

Not only was he shaken, everyone from the Vast Expanse School was flabbergasted.

"Is this going to be the induction of a new sage…? There are only four peak 9-Essences experts on Planet Vast Expanse, and yet the Ninth Paragon is actually fighting back against Jin Yunshan!"

"Even I wouldn't have been able to stand up to that Exalted Celestial Magic, the hundreds of millions of swords…." Even as everyone was reeling in astonishment, Jin Yunshan threw his head back and laughed.

The laughter was icy and vicious, and filled with intense killing intent, which became a sinister, murderous aura.

"Throughout all these years, you are the first person who is not in the peak of the 9-Essences level to force me to use my second divine ability. Meng Hao… you can die with a smile on your face." Golden light began to shine from Jin Yunshan's eyes. He threw his hands into the air, causing a terrifying, indescribable power to radiate out of him.

The crushing power contained a horrifying aura, and if you looked closely, you would see that he was sending all of his cultivation base power into his hands!

His hand were gradually turning golden, as if they weren't the hands of a cultivator, but were actually made from pure gold!

"This divine ability is something I picked up years ago from the Immortal God Continent. It's called… Heaven Ripping!" With that, he extended his hands toward Meng Hao and made a ripping gesture! 2

Rumbling echoed out, and the Heavens shook. Meng Hao's pupils constricted. As Jin Yunshan's hand pulled apart, Meng Hao felt as if he were suddenly locked in place, fused with the air.

And then, intense pain exploded out within him. Rumbling filled the air as a huge rift were tearing open, starting from above Meng Hao and stretching down. Apparently, a power capable of ripping open the starry sky was now trying to rip open Meng Hao!

1. As a brief reminder, half of Shui Dongliu was a Mourning-Death soul, a type of being that comes from Beseech the Devil

2. Heaven Ripping is an ability Wang Lin used in Renegade Immortal. There was even an entire chapter with the exact same title as this chapter

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Chapter 1436: Fourth Fist Strike: Devil-Butchering!

At this critical moment in the fight, Meng Hao suddenly unleashed a fist strike!

It was none other than the Life-Extermination Fist!

One fist strike could not shake the air which held him tight, so Meng Hao unleashed the second fist strike, the Bedevilment Fist, and then the third, the God-Slaying Fist. Three punches were unleashed in quick succession, making one unified attack. As the power exploded out, he broke free from being locked in place and took a step forward.

In almost that exact moment, the air around him was ripped apart.

At the same time, an explosive power shot toward Meng Hao from behind. It was still… the power of Heaven Ripping!

Apparently that power wouldn't stop until Meng Hao was ripped to pieces!

Meng Hao evaded, but the Heaven Ripping power continued to close in on him. The air collapsed and shattered, and it almost seemed like Meng Hao would be incapable of escaping.

Down below, Shangguan Hong and everyone else gasped, sober expressions on their faces. It wasn't that they had never seen peak 9-Essences experts in action before. However, every time they did, they couldn't help but realize how weak they themselves were.

Seeing that Meng Hao had escaped once again, Jin Yunshan called out in a voice that brimmed with murderous intentions, "Still not dead?!?!"

His hands emanated boundless golden light as he once again made a ripping gesture.

Rumbling sounds surrounded Meng Hao, and a sensation of deadly crisis filled him. However, he felt no fear. In fact, that sensation of danger provoked something from within the legacy of Shui Dongliu.

"The Three God-Slaying Fists aren't enough. I need… a fourth fist strike, and maybe even a fifth!!" Countless thoughts buzzed in Meng Hao's mind, and at the same time, the flickering glow of augury could be seen in his eyes.

"The first fist is Life-Extermination. The second fist is Self-Immolation. The third fist is God-Slaying. Well then, the fourth fist… should be Devil-Butchering!

"Devils are like the dark night. The Devil-Butchering Fist is like a dispelling of the darkness!" Meng Hao's breath came in ragged pants as he thought back to the divine ability the Sixth Paragon had unleashed. That combined with previous enlightenment from past years, as well as a magical technique from within Shui Dongliu's legacy. Gradually, the outline of an idea formed in his mind.

There was no time for lengthy contemplation. As the Heaven Ripping power built up around him, Meng Hao's right hand clenched tightly into a fist!

"Fourth fist strike, Devil-Butchering!" Meng Hao roared as he punched out. As the fourth fist strike was unleashed, his fist sent out black ripples which filled the area. Unexpectedly, it turned the entire area around him as black as night!

Then, within that pitch blackness, his fist began to shine with light!

It wasn't white light, but rather, red. It was as if nighttime had skin, and it was being ripped off to reveal the flesh and blood beneath. This was the fourth fist strike that Meng Hao had just now gained enlightenment of, the Devil-Butchering Fist!

It was not using dawn's light to dispel the darkness of night, rather it was skinning nighttime alive! This was true butchery!

Booming sounds rang out as the light spread outward. Everywhere it passed, the darkness of night was flayed in shocking fashion. It collapsed, and even Jin Yunshan's Heaven Ripping magic was completely destroyed. Meng Hao's fourth fist strike bore down on Jin Yunshan, and the golden light which had fed his power was also flayed!

Booms rang out as Jin Yunshan let out a miserable shriek. His hands were trembling, and blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth as he subconsciously backed up. When he looked up at Meng Hao, his eyes shone with disbelief.

"What divine ability is that!?!?" Astonishment gripped his heart. His Heaven Ripping ability was one of his trump cards, something that people normally could never break. In fact, this was the first time anything like this had ever happened!!

In the past, some people had powered their way through it, but this was someone breaking it on a fundamental level.

Even as Jin Yunshan fell back, Meng Hao emerged from the pitch black area, looking more than ever like he wanted to fight. His eyes glowed with red light as he strode forward, sending booms ringing out into the air.

"You've had your chance with your divine abilities. Now it's my turn." With that, he pointed his finger directly at Jin Yunshan, unleashing the Hexing magic of the League of Demon Sealers. It was none other than the Eighth Hex!

Instantly, space was locked down tight, causing Jin Yunshan's face to fall, and a sensation of imminent crisis to well up inside of him.

Jin Yunshan didn't hesitate for a moment. His eyes glowed brightly as he bit his tongue and spit out a mouthful of blood. As the blood flew through the air, it transformed into a blood-colored sealing mark, which flew up and landed on his forehead.

Rumbling could be heard as an aura appeared which could shake Heaven and Earth. As it exploded out from Jin Yunshan, it became countless bolts of lightning, each and every one of which were the color of gold!

These were golden lightning bolts from a Gold Tribulation!

At the same time, fluctuations began to emanate out from the ancient-looking blood-colored symbol. They were fluctuations which seemed to contain the passage of countless years of time, as though this symbol had existed before time even began. The fluctuations were so powerful that even the Vast Expanse outside of the necropolis began to tremble. At the same time, clouds began to descend.

Outside of the necropolis, clouds were building up; roiling, seething clouds that were simultaneously shrinking downward toward the necropolis.

In the blink of an eye, those clouds burst through whatever invisible barriers kept the necropolis hidden. Then, they appeared behind Jin Yunshan, where they began to converge into even more golden lightning bolts.

"My ninth Essence is Vast Expanse Tribulation Lightning! I spent years gaining enlightenment of Tribulation Lightning, and even consumed the mist of the Vast Expanse to complete it. If I Transcend into the Daosource Realm, I can become the incarnation of the Vast Expanse's Tribulation Lightning. Then, all beings within the Vast Expanse will fear my Tribulation Lightning!" Jin Yunshan threw his arms out wide as more and more Tribulation Lightning built up around him. At the same time, the aura of his ninth Essence roiled about!

Meng Hao's pupils constricted. He could sense how powerful this ninth Essence was, and could even tell that the lightning bolts had some vague will of their own!

He wasn't sure why, but an image popped up in his mind, something he had seen on the frescoes in the tunnel. He thought of… Allheaven destroying a world with his finger!

At this moment, Meng Hao realized that the aura of the lightning, although not completely identical to the aura of Allheaven's finger, was very similar!!

"Tribulation Lightning strikes! Nine Essences fatality!!" Jin Yunshan threw his head back and roared, throwing both hands up to point at Meng Hao. Instantly, the lightning formed from the Vast Expanse, his ninth Essence, roared forth. Countless lightning bolts converged, transforming into an enormous golden finger that could shake Heaven and Earth. Mists swirled around it as it shot toward Meng Hao.

Everything shook, and the sky went dark!

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Chapter 1437: Sealing the World-Slaughtering Finger!

Lighting was a relatively simplistic Essence. Many Dao Realm experts would gain enlightenment of it as their first Essence. One of the reasons for this was that it was relatively easy to understand. Because of that, Essence of lightning was not uncommon in the starry sky of the Vast Expanse. Even in the Mountain and Sea Realm, or other worlds, Dao Realm experts with the Essence of lightning were nothing rare.

However, people who transformed the Essence of lightning the way Jin Yunshan had done for his ninth Essence… were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns.

From this, it could be seen how grand Jin Yunshan's aspirations were!

As he said, his ninth Essence was not merely the ordinary Essence of lightning. No, his was Tribulation Lightning of the Vast Expanse. If he did manage to Transcend into the Daosource Realm, and become a Dao, then if his suppositions were correct, he could represent the Vast Expanse as the lord of Tribulation Lightning!

At that time, his level of power would be unimaginable. Although it was currently just speculation on his part, he was confident that he could do exactly that!

At that moment in the fight, he could sense how strangely powerful Meng Hao's Demon Sealing Hexing magics were. Therefore, Jin Yunshan didn't hesitate for even a moment to call upon his ninth Essence!

Endless Tribulation Lightning merged together into the shape of a huge finger that seemed capable of destroying everything. Some of the Vast Expanse could even be sensed upon the finger itself, as if anything who opposed this finger also opposed the Vast Expanse!

Rumbling could be heard as the finger smashed down toward Meng Hao. From a distance, it looked as if it were destroying the starry sky and shredding the Heavens. Even as the vicious lightning bore down on Meng Hao, his hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, unleashing Hexing magic.

"Seventh Hex!!" The Seventh Hex exploded out, combining with the power of the Eighth Hex which had just been utilized to lock down onto the finger. Gradually, two threads could be seen, wrapping around the finger!

Based on the current level of his cultivation base, Meng Hao could now combine the eight hexes, which was his most powerful divine ability. Everything shook violently, and the entire land mass beneath them quaked as the finger rumbled inexorably toward Meng Hao, radiating power that could destroy worlds.

Meng Hao was shaking, and blood sprayed out of various wounds, as if some invisible pressure were crushing down onto him. He flickered into motion, and every step back caused the ground beneath his feet to crack and shatter.

"DIE!!" roared Jin Yunshan; the pressure increased, and the lightning finger continued to descend toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao's eyes were crimson. He couldn't stop thinking about the vision from the fresco, but there was no time to contemplate the matter in detail. It was a critical juncture, and all he could do was perform a double-handed incantation gesture to unleash another Hexing magic.

"Sixth Hex!

"Fifth Hex!!"

The finger was now 30,000 meters away from him. As of this moment, the Sixth and Fifth Hexes landed on it with a boom. The two Hexing magics created two more threads which swept out to connect to the Seventh and Eighth Hexes, further binding the finger!

The finger drew ever closer to Meng Hao, whose eyes widened as world-level destructive power exploded out. It was as if the Vast Expanse didn't even exist any more, and the only thing in the world was this enormous Tribulation Lightning finger!!

Blood sprayed out of Meng Hao's mouth. He was completely locked down, the ground beneath his feet was being destroyed, and yet he didn't flinch. His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture as he launched more Hexing magics. The Fourth Hex appeared, and then the Third, creating two more threads which wrapped around the huge finger. As of this moment, six threads were wrapped around it, criss-crossing over each other to form something that looked like a net!

A boom echoed out as Meng Hao was shoved down again. A huge crater opened up beneath him as the finger neared to a distance of only 6,000 meters!

The finger was so large it could supercede the starry sky, and yet it was targeting Meng Hao and Meng Hao alone. It didn't affect anyone else present at all.

Rumbling could be heard as the finger then closed in to a distance of 3,000 meters. It was at that point that the Second Hex appeared, adding another thread to the net entangling the finger, making the net look ever more dense.

The bones in Meng Hao's body were beginning to emit cracking sounds, but he continued to stare at the finger with ice-cold eyes that radiated killing intent. His Demonic qi was normally kept hidden inside of him, but now it exploded out, and his pupils turned bright red. Furthermore… an aura erupted out of him that was like an Immortal, but not. Similar to a Devil's but also dissimilar. Comparable to a God, but different.

It was Demonic qi!

As the Demonic qi spread out, the will of the Vast Expanse which existed on the finger suddenly seemed to seethe, and at the same time, the first land mass that they were on shuddered and began to transform.

Meng Hao could sense the transformation, but didn't have the time to study it. His expression was vicious as he looked up at the finger and then began to laugh, a laughter which contained madness, murder, and impetuousness.

There was something in Meng Hao's aura that caused Jin Yunshan's heart to start pounding for some unknown reason. He wasn't the only one. Everyone who was watching the fight suddenly felt particularly uneasy.

It was in this moment that, all of a sudden, the Sect Leader opened his eyes and shouted, "Jin Yunshan, enough!"

"Nobody can stop me from killing this man!" Jin Yunshan roared in response. "Daoist Vast Expanse, I refuse to believe that you haven't sensed the killing intent directed at him from the necropolis itself!

"Killing him is conforming to the will of Patriarch Vast Expanse!!" He performed another incantation gesture, unleashing more power. Disregarding the fact that he was overdrawing his own power, he pushed the finger past the 3,000 meter mark until it was only 150 meters away from Meng Hao.

Blood poured down Meng Hao's body from the wounds which had been inflicted. He trembled as he stood there, red with madness. By this point, the finger seemed on the verge of touching him.

"First Hex!" he growled, waving his finger. At long last, the First Hex transformed into a thread which landed on the finger.

As of this moment, eight Hexing magics had transformed into threads, which in turn made an enormous net!

This was the moment Meng Hao had been waiting for. He spread his arms wide, and his eyes gleamed with the desire to do battle. From the moment the battle had begun until now, he had not shown an ounce of fear. His desire to kill Jin Yunshan had not been reduced by one iota.

"Eight Hexes, combine!" His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and then he waved them out. Instantly, the eight intercrossed threads that formed the net suddenly began to shrink. As they did, they cut everything in their path. It didn't matter who stood in their way, Tribulation Lightning, Vast Expanse mist, flesh and blood, souls. Everything would be cut!

Rumbling could be heard as the eight Hexes exploded into action. Meng Hao's Demonic qi also erupted out, pouring into the Hexing magics, transforming the eight threads into objects sharp enough to cut anything in existence. In the briefest of moments… they sliced through the finger, which was only thirty meters away from Meng Hao's head. The finger… was instantly chopped into pieces! The lightning transformed into endless sparks which scattered about in all directions!

"Impossible!!" Blood oozed out of the corners of Jin Yunshan's mouth, and his expression was one of disbelief and astonishment.

"You don't qualify to kill me!" Meng Hao said, flicking his sleeve. As the lightning dissipated, all the fetters holding him back vanished. Instantly, he flew forward in shocking fashion.

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Chapter 1438: Void Divinity Conversion!

As of this moment, it wasn't just Jin Yunshan who was in a state of shock. The Sect Leader, who was still there on the altar, was astonished at the sight of Meng Hao's eight Hexes combined.

He was well aware of how terrifying Jin Yunshan's ninth Essence was. In fact, if he were in Meng Hao's place, he would have been forced to rely on his own ninth Essence to negate it.

And yet Meng Hao unexpectedly… didn't even use a ninth Essence at all. Instead, he had used what appeared to be eight restrictive spells. The shocked Sect Leader couldn't help but wonder what other secrets Meng Hao must be harboring.

"Those eight restrictive spells must be his first eight Essences. And yet, he only needed those eight Essences to deal with Jin Yunshan's ninth Essence…. This Meng Hao is inhuman!!" The Sect Leader took a deep breath. Never could he possibly have imagined what the truth was. It wasn't that Meng Hao didn't want to use a ninth Essence: he hadn't even gained enlightenment of a ninth Essence.

Jin Yunshan was just as shocked at Meng Hao's eight Hexes as the Sect Leader. Despite not having unleashed a ninth Essence, he left them completely and utterly flabbergasted.

"He's still hiding his true strength!!" The other cultivators of the Vast Expanse School couldn't help but gasp. The fight which was playing out in front of their eyes left them even more intensely aware of how powerful Meng Hao was. In fact, he was so terrifying that… he could probably alter the face of Planet Vast Expanse, giving it not four supreme powers, but five.

"I refuse to believe that you can fight me and not have to use your ninth Essence!" Jin Yunshan's face was twisted in an unsightly expression. By now, he held no scorn whatsoever for Meng Hao's battle prowess. Although Meng Hao was a bit weaker than him overall, the difference between them was negligible!

He knew that if Meng Hao had unleashed a ninth Essence, he would already be in a very difficult situation. However, even being put in a tight spot like that was preferable to what was happening now, which was that he had already gone all out with everything he had, and yet Meng Hao was still able to hold back some of his power.

The thought of that caused Jin Yunshan's murderous aura to grow even more intense. He flickered into motion, transforming into a beam of golden light that shot toward Meng Hao, who also shot forward. In the blink of an eye, the two of them slammed into each other with a boom and started fighting.

Meng Hao transformed into a huge roc that flickered with black and azure light. Jin Yunshan waved his hand, causing a sun to spread out, which shot countless golden beams of light out in attack.

In the space of a few breaths, the two of them exchanged hundreds of volleys. Meng Hao performed an incantation gesture and pointed out, causing numerous mountains to crush down onto Jin Yunshan.

Jin Yunshan let out a cold harrumph and waved his hand. The sun detonated, sending out destructive power that shredded the mountains to pieces. In response, Meng Hao performed an incantation gesture, sending boundless Essence of Divine Flame out in a powerful attack, destroying the air between the two of them.

The battle was so intense that the entire world was affected, even the starry sky. Meng Hao and Jin Yunshan fought back and forth in midair, and the explosions caused everything to shake and distort.

A closer look would reveal that Meng Hao was bleeding out of his mouth, and yet, Jin Yunshan's face was pale white. He was a bit stronger than Meng Hao, but not strong enough to overwhelm and kill him.

"Dammit!!" A boom echoed out, and Jin Yunshan shot backward, glaring at Meng Hao. Then, he started laughing, a cold laughter filled with incisive killing intent. "Meng Hao, I demand to see exactly what your ninth Essence is!"

Eyes glowing brightly, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture and then pushed both of his hands down.

"Next, I will unveil the most powerful magic I have. It even exceeds the Dao of my ninth Essence! Let's see if you can handle it, Meng Hao!" He raised his right hand and pointed his finger up into the sky.

In the moment that he raised his finger up, a stream of Essence shot out, transforming into a beam of light. It shot up and… merged into the sky!

Next, he pointed down, and a second Essence shot out from him and merged into the ground.

As the two Essences merged with the sky and the land, Jin Yunshan himself seemed as if he were doing the same thing. Although he still hovered there in midair, visible to the naked eye, if one scanned the area with divine sense, they would not be able to detect his existence.

Meng Hao stopped in place, his eyes widening. The sense of crisis raging through him now far exceeded that when Jin Yunshan had unleashed his ninth Essence.

Back on the altar, the Sect Leader's pupils constricted. "The Void Divinity!"

Next to him, Sha Jiudong looked on silently, eyes glowing from deep within.

The other cultivators from the Vast Expanse School were all visibly shocked. "It really is the Void Divinity…. That's Jin Yunshan's most powerful trump card. He hasn't used it for ten thousand years."

It was at this point that Jin Yunshan waved his sleeve, sending a third Essence out, not into Heaven or Earth, but into the wind!

The wind in the world became a part of Jin Yunshan, and as it swept about, it became a tempest that connected the sky to the land.

"Void Divinity!" cried Shangguan Hong. "It's Jin Yunshan's Dao of the Void Divinity!" Everyone else suddenly began to recall Jin Yunshan's legendary trump card, and their expressions flickered as they backed up even further.

According to the stories which were told about the Void Divinity, it was a magical technique that was powerful to a terrifying degree.

The sensation of deadly crisis in Meng Hao's heart was only growing more intense by the moment. His intuition was telling him that if he didn't interrupt the magic in this very instant, then its power would continue to grow explosively.

His two eyes glittered as his third eye opened. In that instant, his view of the world changed.

When he saw what was surrounding Jin Yunshan, his expression turned grim. He could see Jin Yunshan's body dispersing, merging into Heaven and Earth, becoming a part of the world. Meng Hao could tell that if he got close to him, he himself would also be sucked in by the power of Heaven and Earth, and be dispersed.

Even as Meng Hao studied Jin Yunshan with his third eye, Jin Yunshan's expression twisted viciously, and he let out a powerful roar. Suddenly, his fourth Essence expanded out, merging into one of the five elements that existed within this world. Fire!

Instantly, the temperature around him began to increase, as the fire elements in the world began to be taken over by Jin Yunshan.

Things weren't over yet. His fifth Essence began to merge with another of the five elements, metal. A killing will filled the entire world, and at the same time, a sixth Essence spread out. All of the withered and dried up wood and vegetation within the world suddenly quivered, and then began to fill with life. Each and every plant and bit of grass was becoming a part of Jin Yunshan.

Even more outrageous was that his seventh Essence merged into all of the water in the world. Rivers raged, and the blood within the veins of everyone present began to tremble.

Seven Essences. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth. And then there was the wind. It was as if everything in the entire world belonged to Jin Yunshan. Next was his eighth Essence. As he waved his hands, it exploded it and merged into… the light!

Light was boundless, everywhere and all present. As of this moment, it seemed as if Jin Yunshan didn't even exist. Then, his ninth Essence of lightning began to spread out, and his fleshly body began to turn transparent.

Nine Essences, all merged into the world around him. As of this moment, Jin Yunshan, his body, his cultivation base, his blood, his soul, everything about him had become part of the world around him. He was one with sky and the land!

He was the sky. He was the land. He was the wind. He was the five elements. He was lightning. He was… the world!

RUUMMMMBLLLLLE!

"Meng Hao!" Jin Yunshan howled. Although the words came out of his mouth, they seemed to resonate everywhere. All locations, all rivers, every part of the world was filled with his desire to kill. Flame creatures, plants, mountains, lightning; it exploded out from everything!

It was almost like the roar, not just of Jin Yunshan, but of the entire world.

Meng Hao inhaled sharply, and as for everyone else present, they were shaking.

"Meng Hao, this is my… Void Divinity Conversion!" Jin Yunshan lifted his right foot up and then stamped it down. As he did, Heaven shook and Earth trembled. The world shook, and a shocking force exploded out. Jin Yunshan was the lord of the entire world, its spirit. The world was his body, and with a thought, he could set everything into motion!

The stamp of his foot was like the world stamping its foot, causing everything to shake violently.

The world shuddered, and the lands quaked. Jin Yunshan's right hand clenched into a fist, and then he punched out!

From Meng Hao's perspective, that punch was like all of the power in the entire world converging into one spot. It contained lightning, the five elements, the sky, the land, everything! And it was all striking toward Meng Hao.

As the fist slammed into him, Heaven and Earth shattered. Blood sprayed out of Meng Hao's mouth, and he flew backward.

"Still not ready to unleash… your ninth Essence?!" Jin Yunshan's killing intent had reached the pinnacle. He took another step forward, and the world shook as he slapped his right hand toward Meng Hao!

The world trembled as all of the power it contained formed together. A tempest sprung up, blasting against Meng Hao before he could even stabilize himself. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and he fell back, cracking sounds emanating out of his body, his flesh mangled and torn.

"You still don't qualify to see my ninth Essence!" he growled. As he looked up, his eyes glittered, and his third eye shone brightly. Intense light spilled out, like a torch on a moonless night. That light transformed into… a calling!

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Chapter 1439: The Call of the Emperor

The call came, not from Meng Hao himself, but from the bronze lamp inside of him. At the same time, he opened his third eye, causing brilliant light to shine out, filling the world!

Something else happened that was extremely telling. As the light and the call spread out, Heaven and Earth began to shake, and Jin Yunshan could do nothing to stop it!

Jin Yunshan's face instantly fell!

Meng Hao hovered in midair like a divine spirit, majestic light shining out from this third eye. Using that third eye to look at the world around him, he saw so many ghosts that they seemed infinite in number. Back when they were alive, they had lived in a thriving world that ended when it was destroyed by Allheaven's finger.

As such, it could be said that the true masters of the necropolis were these ghosts!

When Meng Hao opened his third eye, sending out divine will in the form of brilliant light, it coupled with the call from the bronze lamp to spread out silently through the entire land mass. In that moment, all of the ghosts which had previously prostrated themselves in worship to Meng Hao suddenly shivered and looked up, confused expressions in their eyes.

"Who is it… that calls to us…?"

"That's the aura of the Emperor. The fluctuations of the Emperor…."

"The Emperor… is calling to us!"

Their voices could not be heard by the living, nor could the ghosts themselves even be seen. However, the living beings present could sense the fluctuations emanating out because of the ghosts.

Only the ghosts themselves could hear their voices, which grew louder and louder until they were like a gigantic sound wave.

Even the ghosts which were not on the land mass were shivering, and gleams of excitement could be seen in their eyes!

Their howls filled every nook and cranny of the enormous continent, along with an icy aura. The ghosts took to flight, sending out coldness that could freeze anything and everything. They were beginning to go mad because of the call they felt from their Emperor.

"The Emperor…. That's the aura of the Emperor. He's calling to us!!'

The seemingly infinite numbers of ghosts outside of the land mass caused cracking sounds to ring out as ice spread out to cover the ruins in the area. Innumerable hordes of ghosts surged forth like a shocking wave to sweep across the bridge that connected to the first land mass.

Countless howling voices rose up. "Anything which blocks our path to pay greetings to the Emperor shall be destroyed!!"

A terrifying, piercing cry rang out from the mists that surrounded the bridge. Before the mists could disperse, the icy coldness and hosts of ghosts crushed them.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the bridge trembled. The arms of blood and gore that made up the bridge were frozen, and within the space of a few breaths of time, the bridge itself was nothing more than ice as the ghosts outside rushed onto the land mass.

Even as that happened, more and more ghosts began to appear within the ruins on the surface of the land mass itself. At first, they looked confused, but when they felt the call coming from Meng Hao, their hearts stirred with excitement. Soon, all of the ghosts within all of the ruins and districts looked up and began to cry out.

"It's the Emperor!!"

"The aura of the Emperor…. The Emperor isn't dead after all, he's come back!!"

"The Emperor… is calling to us!!"

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

All of the ghosts both on the land mass and outside of it were surging toward the central region, where Meng Hao was.

Within the ruins of a certain temple, a shocking aura suddenly appeared, along with a vague, blurry figure. He looked different than the other ghosts, more ancient. As he looked off into the distance, a powerful energy surged off of him.

"The Emperor… is back!" he murmured. He made a grasping gesture with his right hand, causing a Soul Pike to appear in his hand. Then, he transformed into a blast of cold air that shot off into the distance.

In another area was a river, which began to churn as a vicious face rose up from within it. When its eyes opened, they looked around blankly for a moment before filling with excitement.

"The Emperor…. It's the Emperor…." Trembling, he flew out of the water. This ghost was fully 30,000 meters long, causing everything to shake as he flew at top speed in the direction of Meng Hao's calling.

In a location even further off was a towering mountain, atop which stood a man in a flowing white robe. He was a ghost, and yet he still possessed his own will and mind. Shivering, he turned his head and looked off into the distance with an expression of disbelief. Then he started laughing in mad excitement.

"He's not the Emperor, but he represents the Emperor…." He flew into motion, icy coldness spreading out from him as he headed off into the distance.

Scenes like this played out in numerous locations all over the first continent. As the ghosts took to flight, rumbling sounds filled Heaven and Earth, and the entire world shook!

Within the first land mass of the necropolis, icy coldness spread out. In fact, if one could look down from a high vantage point, it would look like the entire land mass was turning into ice!

The ruins iced over. The mountains froze. The rivers turned solid. Countless plants and even the wind itself began to freeze up.

As the world trembled, the people standing outside of the altar felt icy coldness, and astonishment rising up within them.

"What's happening!?"

"Something's wrong. Things got freezing almost instantly!"

In their shock, they looked around and saw snow swirling about in the air. However, this snow wasn't white, it was black! Of course, what Meng Hao was seeing wasn't snow, but rather, countless ghosts!

Before, he had never truly called upon the ghosts within the necropolis, not of his own accord. He hovered there in midair, arms spread wide as boundless iciness spread out. Cracking sounds filled the air as countless ghosts swirled around him.

None of the living beings could see the ghosts, but they could sense what was happening. They could detect the countless shocking auras building up around Meng Hao, and could tell that there were invisible figures surrounding him.

However… Jin Yunshan was different. Because of the Void Divinity state he was in, he was fused with the world itself. He was the world, and the world was him. Therefore, he could see all of the countless ghosts flying around him and Meng Hao.

Then, he watched in shock as the ghosts began to prostrate toward Meng Hao, eyes burning with passion and excitement.

"Greetings, Emperor!!"

"Greetings, Emperor!!"

"Greetings, Emperor!!"

Countless voices rose up in a cacophony that shook the starry sky, a massive sound wave that boomed like thunder.

"Impossible!!" Jin Yunshan was astonished to the ultimate degree, and was shaking violently. What was happening was completely and utterly shocking.

He almost couldn't even believe what he was seeing.

More and more ghosts appeared, filling the area for tens of thousands of kilometers in all directions, all of them prostrating with zealous fanaticism!

There were even some entities which were shocking to Jin Yunshan on an individual level, which likewise prostrated to Meng Hao. Jin Yunshan was so shaken that his forehead began to drip with sweat.

Meng Hao was being worshipped by an innumerable group of ghosts, as if he were their Emperor. His eyes were cold as he looked around, and the cultivators who met his gaze were completely shaken mentally. It was as if they were being struck by lightning, or frozen into ice.

Shaking in astonishment, the Sect Leader rose to his feet, and off to the side, Sha Jiudong gasped in shock.

They were both in the peak of 9-Essences, and although they were not in the midst of the Void Divinity Conversion and could not see the ghosts, their divine sense could clearly detect the countless ghosts which Meng Hao had called from both within and without the land mass.

The entire area was completely and utterly filled with ghostly spirits!

And then there was the freezing temperature, which caused both of them to inhale sharply. If they had such a reaction, it was hardly necessary to detail how Shangguan Hong and the other 9-Essences cultivators reacted, or the 8-Essences Paragons. All of them felt their minds spinning in astonishment!

The battle between Meng Hao and Jin Yunshan had reached a complete and utter peak.

Jin Yunshan's scalp tingled with numbness; he simply couldn't find a way to believe that even his Void Divinity Conversion had not forced Meng Hao to use his ninth Essence, but instead… prompted him to summon an army of infinite ghosts!

"Who are you?!?!" he shrieked. As his voice echoed out, Meng Hao extended his right hand. He could clearly sense that as of this moment, although he wasn't truly the Emperor of this land, he was the commander of these legions of ghosts.

The world didn't belong to him, but that didn't matter. He could simply conquer it!

He lowered his hand, and the swish of his sleeve sent his will out to the countless ghosts. The ghosts then looked up at Jin Yunshan, screamed, and charged toward him.

Jin Yunshan's mind trembled, and the sensation of deadly crisis which filled him grew even more intense. He had no time to think of what to do. He could only grit his teeth and unleash all of the power of the Void Divinity Conversion, sending the power of the world to fight back against the ghosts!

However, there was one thing he hadn't considered. Although he had already used the Void Divinity Conversion to become the world itself, that world, both before the great catastrophe which had struck it, and after… had always belonged to this group!

In the past, they had been cultivators, but now they were vengeful ghosts!

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Chapter 1440: The Five Potentates!

The shocking scene which was playing out in front of the cultivators of the Vast Expanse School was something that they would never be able to forget for the rest of their lives. It signified that a fifth Potentate had appeared on Planet Vast Expanse!

Before this moment, the planet had four peak 9-Essences cultivators, like four Potentates who no one could possibly shake. Each one of them were at the pinnacle of existence.

That group of four consisted of Sha Jiudong, Jin Yunshan, the Sect Leader, and Immortal Bai Muchen. They were the most powerful experts on Planet Vast Expanse, and were all on the cusp of reaching Transcendence.

All other 9-Essences cultivators had no choice but to bow their heads in deference to them.

But after this battle between Meng Hao and Jin Yunshan, in which Meng Hao transformed into a black roc, in which he unleashed the combined eight Hexes, everyone was completely shaken.

Most shocking was what was playing out right at this moment.

The world itself attacked, and countless ghosts screamed. Up to now, Jin Yunshan had mostly maintained the upper hand, but at the moment, blood was spurting out of his wounds as he was battered by an unending stream of ghosts. He was tottering on the verge of collapse, and the Essences which he had dispersed into the world were now experiencing an intense force of expulsion!

The wind was expelling them, the five elements were expelling them, and it was the same with the land, the sky, and the lightning. The entire world burst with a force of expulsion.

Rumbling could be heard as blood sprayed out of Jin Yunshan's mouth. He tumbled backward, countless ghosts battering at him in complete madness. The air around him twisted and distorted, and Jin Yunshan's face was completely ashen as he cried out miserably. There was literally nothing he could do to change what was happening.

The sensation of deadly crisis within him had reached a fever pitch. There was nothing he could do to fight back, and in fact, he couldn't even struggle. He might have become the world, but these ghosts were the collective master of that world!

And the Emperor of those ghosts was Meng Hao. Meng Hao's will represented the will of all the ghosts.

Massive booms rang out.

As the surroundings were physically shaken, Jin Yunshan was mentally shaken. The Essence he had inserted into the wind was being ejected, and before he could do anything to solidify it, a boom echoed out in his mind, and blood sprayed out of his mouth as that Essence was gone.

In the blink of an eye, his control over the world was no longer harmonious, and the wind did not belong to him.

"Who are you?" Jin Yunshan cried, looking at Meng Hao with complete disbelief. "Just who exactly are you?!?!"

As he fell back, the ghosts continued to attack him with complete insanity.

It wasn't that he hadn't been aware of what happened in the void outside the land mass, when the masses of ghosts rushed forth to offer worship to Meng Hao. The main difference was that the sheer numbers involved couldn't be compared to each other any more than the light of a firefly could compare to that of the full moon.

He simply couldn't fathom how Meng Hao was possibly capable of such a thing. Even more terrifying was that the number of ghosts only continued to increase, which caused Jin Yunshan's scalp to tingle in fear.

It was then that the land began to quake, and Jin Yunshan felt the Essence he had inserted into it being shaken in violent fashion.

Then, the fusion between himself and the land was violently ripped apart. Jin Yunshan felt as if his mind were being torn, and he yet again coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Unfortunately for him, there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop any of the things that were happening. He could only look on as his third Essence, which he had sent into the plants, was forcibly ejected.

Then, his murderous fourth Essence, which had merged into the world's fire, experienced the same thing. After that was the water in the world.

After those Essences were rejected, the tearing sensation that he felt grew more intense, until he felt completely disharmonious with the entire world!

The ghosts were screaming as they swirled around. Among the army were some especially terrifying figures who swept the ghosts forth in attack, giving Jin Yunshan no choice but to continue to fall back.

Then, his eighth Essence, which he had merged into the sky, was slashed at as if by an invisible blade, cleaving it away. Then was his ninth Essence, which was in the lightning. Jin Yunshan coughed up a massive mouthful of blood, and his body sagged listlessly. He was no longer mostly transparent, but instead, had been completely rejected by the world.

He almost looked as if he had been crushed by a gigantic foot.

His most powerful trump card, the Void Divinity Conversion, was crushed like a wet twig by the simple wave of a hand by Meng Hao. He didn't even have the power to fight back.

"If you weren't in this place, you couldn't do any of this!!" Jin Yunshan shrieked. After having been rejected by the world, Jin Yunshan fell back again, and yet the ghosts didn't stop attacking him.

Meng Hao's eyes flickered with the desire to kill, and he extended his right hand and then pointed toward Jin Yunshan. That caused the ghosts to go mad with even more killing intent than before, and rumble toward Jin Yunshan in attack.

"NO!!" he screamed. An extraordinary sensation of deadly crisis raged within him. His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, causing countless shield layers to spring up around him. The shields shattered one by one, and he was shoved backward, an unyielding and yet despairing look on his pale face.

Actually, he had spoken correctly just now. Meng Hao would have had a very difficult time dealing with his magical technique were he not in this specific location. Furthermore, he would have been forced to pay a steep price to do so, not simply wave his hand casually as he had just done.

Rumbling echoed out as the shields surrounding Jin Yunshan collapsed. It was at this point that the Sect Leader suddenly flew into motion to appear next to Jin Yunshan. He waved his sleeve, unleashing his peak 9-Essences cultivation base power to protect him against the murderous ghosts.

At the same time, Sha Jiudong leaped forward, appearing on the other side of Jin Yunshan. His expression was somber as he similarly waved his hand, unleashing cultivation base power that caused a massive sandstorm to rise up to defend Jin Yunshan.

But even the combined power of all three of these powerful experts was not enough to rattle the endless army of ghosts. They began to fall back under the battering of the ghosts, their qi and blood boiling, their cultivation bases trembling.

"What are the rest of you doing?" barked the Sect Leader, his voice urgent. "Are you just waiting to see Fellow Daoist Jin get killed!?!? Old Ninth, stay your hand!!"

Shanguan Hong didn't say anything, but bitterness filled his heart. He and the others present gritted their teeth and flew out to appear around Jin Yunshan. They poured their own power into the defense effort, unleashing their cultivation bases, creating an intense tempest of force to block the ghosts.

That combined force managed to halt the ghosts momentarily. However, these ghosts represented the life force of the entire land mass, and also contained some entities which were extremely powerful. As they continued to attack the tempest of power, it began to flicker like a flame on the verge of being snuffed out.

Meng Hao hovered there in the air, a bit unsettled at how things were proceeding as he watched everything that was happening. The ghosts of the necropolis were inherently powerful, which Meng Hao assumed had something to do with the cause of their deaths.

"Old Ninth, we need Fellow Daoist Jin!" the Sect Leader said, looking up at Meng Hao. "His magical techniques and divine abilities will help us in the land masses beyond this one. If he perishes here, it will be far, far more difficult to reach the ninth land mass."

Jin Yunshan maintained his silence. His face was ashen as he looked at Meng Hao, mixed emotions clearly visible. Although he didn't want to back down, he knew that if he didn't, it was highly likely that he would perish.

Finally, he sighed. He was a decisive person, and although he could tell that Meng Hao seemed unwilling to rest until he was dead, he ignored that, clasped his hands, and bowed to Meng Hao. He spoke no words, simply relying on his actions to explain his attitude.

Meng Hao frowned. While it was true that he wanted Jin Yunshan dead, and to do that would be a difficult thing once they left the necropolis, the truth was if he actually killed him right here and now, it would earn the ire of everyone else from the Vast Expanse School. That was not an outcome he would willingly choose.

Even as he considered the matter, the Sect Leader gritted his teeth and once again spoke out.

"Old Ninth, I can understand that you have some misgivings. Therefore, I hereby swear a Daoist oath that if Jin Yunshan provokes you again, I will stand by your side to crush him!"

"As do I," Sha Jiudong said. As of this moment, he had no choice other than to adjust his appraisal of Meng Hao. This battle had proved that he truly qualified to stand on equal footing with the other four Potentates.

Jin Yunshan smiled bitterly and nodded his head.

Seeing all that, Meng Hao still wanted to kill him, but after considering the matter, he quashed the idea.

"Since that's the case, we'll let the matter drop," Meng Hao said coolly. "However, I can't let things go as simply as that. I almost got killed just now. Fellow Daoist Jin, I demand penance."

Jin Yunshan sighed inwardly. He knew that Meng Hao had the upper hand now, and that there was nothing he could do to fight back against him. Gritting his teeth, he made a grasping motion, causing a bracelet to appear out of thin air.

"Take this, Fellow Daoist Meng. This should make up for what happened here." He waved his hand, sending the bracelet flying out of the tempest to hover in front of Meng Hao. Meng Hao scanned it with divine sense, and found that it contained a holding pocket filled with countless Immortal jades, as well as numerous other precious materials. After looking it over, he nodded and put it away.

With that, he waved his sleeve, causing the ghosts to retreat, bowing to him the entire time.

Meng Hao hovered there like the Emperor of the entire world. The group from the Vast Expanse School would never forget what had just occurred.

This battle had propelled Meng Hao from being the Ninth Paragon into being one of five Potentates of Planet Vast Expanse.

His position was now just as high as the Sect Leader's. In fact, his battle with Jin Yunshan ensured that none of the powerful experts of the Vast Expanse School would ever dare to offend him, at least not within the necropolis.

Meng Hao was powerful outside the necropolis, but once inside, he had shown that he was… the monarch!

The army of ghosts made him invincible to anyone who had not Transcended.

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