Chapter 1279: Prime Lamp!
The chopping motion caused the starry sky to shudder as an indescribably intense beam of light slashed out. The scream-turned-soundwave was completely outshone. The blade’s glow slashed down on it, cutting it in two, after which the light cascaded toward Xiao Yihan.
A vicious expression appeared on Xiao Yihan’s face, and his hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture. Then he spat out a glob of white mist, which transformed into a white feather. That feather didn"t attempt to block the Battle Weapon, but rather, shot directly toward Meng Hao.
Shockingly, Xiao Yihan was choosing to end the battle in mutual destruction!
The Battle Weapon landed on Xiao Yihan, and he instantly began to shake, and then shattered into pieces. However, what shattered was only an exterior surface. It was as if that boy had merely been an outer skin! A roar echoed out as the spot previously occupied by the boy was now occupied by a young man!
That young man appeared to be about twenty years old, and his features were similar to that of the boy. He wiped the blood off of his mouth, then looked venomously over at Meng Hao.
The shattered skin around him, were it formed back together, would definitely be able to form the shape of a boy!
Simultaneously, the white feather shot toward the top of Meng Hao’s head with indescribable speed. He was incapable of dodging or evading, any more than Xiao Yihan had been able to avoid the Battle Weapon.
The feather seemed to merely be floating down toward him, but the reality was that it felt as if the entire starry sky had converged on that one point and was crus.h.i.+ng him!
Meng Hao’s body trembled, and blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth as he was shoved downward beyond his control. Xiao Yihan in young man form looked on, killing intent flickering in his eyes, then took a step forward.
However, in the moment that he took that step, Meng Hao’s cultivation base erupted with power over and over again! The feather on top of his head shot upward as if a fountain were propelling it, and Meng Hao’s 32nd Soul Lamp shot out!
A Soul Lamp that was the color of blood!
As soon as it appeared, all of the starry sky was stained red. Furthermore, strands of blood connected the blood-colored Soul Lamp to the top of Meng Hao’s head. Even more shocking was that its sudden appearance apparently caused Meng Hao to begin withering away!
It seemed as if this was the limit to the number of Soul Lamps that Meng Hao could ignite. The instant the blood-colored Soul Lamp appeared, it became the Prime Lamp among all the other Soul Lamps!
Most importantly, this lamp looked completely different from all of the other Soul Lamps which had appeared. In addition, the energy of Heaven and Earth that surrounded Meng Hao and supported him as he ignited his Soul Lamps started boiling in an unprecedented fas.h.i.+on. It began to surge toward him with mad speed, some of it pouring into Meng Hao’s body, the other portion entering the Soul Lamp!
The Soul Lamp became like a blood-colored black hole, sucking in the energy of Heaven and Earth and the Essences which existed in the starry sky.
RUUUUMMMMMMBLE! A huge sound rose up around Meng Hao, and the Soul Lamp’s flame burned brighter and brighter. As for the feather, it was pushed further and further away. Apparently, it couldn’t stand up to the power of the blood-colored Soul Lamp, and caught on fire.
The burning feather rapidly began to fade away. In the blink of an eye, it turned into ash, which then began to dissipate. That removed any pressure from weighing down on Meng Hao, and his blood-colored Soul Lamp began to s.h.i.+ne even more brightly.
Because of the whole series of strange transformations of Heaven and Earth that led up to this point, as soon as that unique Soul Lamp appeared everyone could see it very clearly, including the members of the Meng Clan and the invading cultivators.
“Prime Lamp! That’s a Prime Lamp!!”
“When igniting Soul Lamps in the Ancient Realm, the final lamp to be ignited is the Prime Lamp!”
“Once the Prime Lamp appears, it means... the igniting of Soul Lamps is over!!”
“32 Soul Lamps. Heavens! None of the ancient records mention anything like this. This is definitely something that didn’t happen even in ancient times!!” In the fight between Meng Hao and Xiao Yihan, things had been happening too quickly for people to consider the ramifications of Meng Hao igniting so many Soul Lamps.
Now that they thought about the blood-colored Soul Lamp for a moment and realized what it was, they began to gasp and utter exclamations of amazement. Ma.s.sive rumbling echoed out, and the entire Eighth Mountain and Sea vibrated.
Meng Hao’s act of stepping into the Ancient Realm was causing tremors across all of the Eighth Mountain and Sea. Furthermore, back in the Ninth Mountain and Sea, all of the members of the Fang Clan could feel their blood boiling as a pulsing, gentle power erupted inside of their qi pa.s.sageways.
When the Patriarch grew, the bloodline clan members also grew!
Meng Hao himself had become the source of the Fang Clan bloodline!
Back in the Eighth Mountain and Sea, Meng Hao was trembling. From the moment his blood-colored Soul Lamp appeared, he sensed that it was different from all of the other Soul Lamps. It was connected to his bloodline, and... it almost felt like he could transform into the lamp, and similarly the lamp would be able to reform his body!
As soon as it appeared, the flames of the other Soul Lamps raged even brighter, and Meng Hao’s injuries immediately improved. In this state of igniting Soul Lamps, he had special protection from Heaven and Earth!
However, Meng Hao could also sense that the energy of Heaven and Earth that had been fueling the ignition of his Soul Lamps was now fading away. Apparently, it was exactly as the crowds were speculating. This newest Soul Lamp... would be his final one!
However, Meng Hao wasn"t quite convinced. He could sense that even after the blood-colored Soul Lamp appeared, astonis.h.i.+ngly... there was still another Soul Lamp stirring inside of him!
“So, the blood-colored Soul Lamp is not my Prime Lamp. The true Prime Lamp is still inside, waiting to be ignited....
“If I truly want to ignite that Prime Lamp, I need more power, more pressure to force it out. Otherwise... it will remain dormant inside of me forever!” Meng Hao had the intense premonition that the true Prime Lamp inside of him was not something that could be underestimated. Even the energy of Heaven and Earth around him couldn"t sense it.... That would definitely be his most powerful Prime Soul Lamp!
Xiao Yihan suddenly stopped in place. Instead of getting any closer to Meng Hao, he stared at him and then began to laugh.
“So your Prime Lamp has appeared. That means no more Soul Lamps will be appearing. 32, huh.... Definitely powerful. However, I"ve been waiting this entire time just for your Prime Lamp to appear!” His eyes flickered with killing intent, and his lips twisted in a cold smile. He sent out his divine sense, and could immediately sense that the energy of Heaven and Earth was fading away. Feeling a.s.sured that Meng Hao could not ignite any more Soul Lamps, he took a deep breath.
Although they were out in the starry sky, as he inhaled, a ma.s.sive windstorm appeared around him. Even more shocking was that a portion of the energy of Heaven and Earth that had been sustaining Meng Hao’s ignition of the Soul Lamps began to be sucked away, as if it couldn’t resist the power being unleashed by Xiao Yihan.
Boundless power was sucked up by Xiao Yihan, it was formed together into... an arrow!
It was a colorless arrow, completely invisible to anything other than divine sense, and it contained terrifying power.
Next, all of the black willow leaves down below near the Meng Clan ancestral mansion began to vibrate and emit loud rumbling sounds. Then they were uprooted and flew up into the air, rapidly growing smaller as they neared Xiao Yihan. Unexpectedly, they circulated around him and then transformed into... a meter-long black bow!
He reached out to grab the black bow, nocked the invisible arrow, and then pulled the bow back until it formed the rough shape of a full moon!
“This is my most deadly weapon, son. Today is the day you peris.h.!.+”
An intense sensation of deadly crisis rose up in Meng Hao’s mind. It was like a voice roaring loudly inside of him, telling him that whatever happened next, he was mostly likely going to die!
However, at the same time, Meng Hao could sense that the true Prime Lamp inside of him was growing more solid. It felt as if it were thirsting... for the power being built up by Xiao Yihan!
“This 33rd Soul Lamp... is my Prime Lamp. Therefore....” Meng Hao"s eyes flickered with determination. There was little time for contemplation. Almost in the same moment that Xiao Yihan pulled the bowstring back, Meng Hao’s cultivation base rocketed up. Ancient mana filled his body, and his fleshly body power was at its peak. He summoned the meat jelly to form armor, pulled out the Battle Weapon, and called upon the blood-colored Prime Lamp. Then he summoned his Paragon Bridge and took a step forward to stand on the bridge itself, whereupon he faced Xiao Yihan and attacked!
“First arrow!” Xiao Yihan said with a cold smile. He loosed the arrow, whereupon green qi began to stream out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, which was absorbed by the arrow, transforming it from being invisible into being green!
Rumbling could be heard as the green arrow transformed into a beam of green light that shot toward Meng Hao, leaving behind a trail of afterimages of plants and vegetation that then bloomed and flourished.
Meng Hao’s eyes flickered as he slapped at the incoming arrow with both hands. A boom rang out. Meng Hao could not halt the force of the arrow; blood spurted out from his hands, and the arrow stabbed onward, piercing into his chest!
However, because Meng Hao’s attack had deflected it, the place it struck was not his heart, but simply flesh. It stabbed through, accompanied by a huge boom. At the same time, the power of plants and vegetation exploded out, and green gra.s.s instantly sprouted from Meng Hao’s wound as he coughed up blood.
Meng Hao seemed injured, but the truth was that he was very excited. He had actually let himself be injured by the arrow, and had intended for it to stab into him. As it did, the true Prime Lamp inside of him began to seethe as it madly absorbed the force of the blow.
“Second arrow!” Xiao Yihan said, apparently not having noticed what was happening. Smiling coldly, he once again pulled back on the bowstring. This time, black water streamed out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, transforming into a black rain arrow, which he immediately let loose!
Next was a third arrow, and then a fourth!
One was an arrow of darkness, the next, an arrow of light. They turned into two beams which shot directly toward Meng Hao.
Meng Hao looked up at the three incoming arrows, and his eyes gleamed brightly. He could sense that his final Soul Lamp... was about to ignite!