[/expand]
Meng Hao had truly done something that shook Heaven and Earth.... A mighty act!
He could not illuminate every inch of the starry sky of the Mountain and Sea Realm, but he could cause light to s.h.i.+ne within the eyes of all cultivators there, to gleam within their hearts and their divine will!
That light was the spirit of the Mountain and Sea Realm, the rise to prominence of an entire people!
He destroyed the 1st Heaven to crush the hearts of the Outsiders, and to give hope to the Mountain and Sea cultivators, to stir their hearts!!
We can do it!
We can still secure victory!!
Rumbling echoed down from above, and at the same time, the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm roared. Their impa.s.sioned cries swept out like tempests; not even the sounds of the 1st Heaven’s destruction could drown them out!
“The 1st Heaven... is collapsing!!”
“The 1st Heaven... is no more!!”
“He did it! Meng Hao... actually did it!!” People were shouting and crying, and their tears glistened under the flickering light of the flames overhead; the light their eyes shone with was that of hope, of inspiration, and of determination.
Within the Seventh Mountain and Sea, on Planet Tiger Cage, the cultivators were all trembling with excitement. Their hearts had been dead, but now that the 1st Heaven was collapsing, it was as if they had been resurrected.
In the Nine Mountains and Seas, the cultivators on all of the battlefields had been repressed for far too long. Now that the 1st Heaven had collapsed, they erupted out, exploded, and their rising spirits filled the entire Mountain and Sea Realm.
“Meng Hao, Meng Hao!” It was hard to say who said it first, but soon everyone was chanting his name. All of the voices in the Mountain and Sea Realm joined together into a thunderous cry.
The sound of their conjoined voices rose up through the starry sky, until even Meng Hao could hear them.
“Meng Hao, Meng Hao!”
“Meng Hao, Meng Hao!!”
The Mountain and Sea Realm was astir in a way it had never been before. The cultivators were bursting with excitement, and as for the Outsiders, they were trembling in despair and utter terror.
Although they didn"t completely understand, they could sense that the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm were different than they had been before. They were more valiant, more unyielding, and more terrifying!
It was as if a unified people was finally rising up!
It was as if the Mountain and Sea Realm had been a sleeping giant that anyone could humiliate freely. But now, that giant... had opened its eyes. It was... awake!
That awakening caused Heaven and Earth to flash with colors!
That awakening caused the starry sky to be completely shaken!
The crumbling 1st Heaven up above was like a sacrificial offering which was now awakening the Mountain and Sea Realm!
In the Ninth Mountain and Sea, everyone in the Fang Clan was cheering. Fang Xiufeng couldn’t be more excited as he watched Meng Hao, his heart bursting with intense pride. He wanted to shout out to all cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm, “Meng Hao is MY son!!”
All of the Chosen who Meng Hao had dealt with in the past, be it Fan Dong’er or Ji Yin, couldn’t help but be swept up in the excitement. Although they had some mixed emotions, they weren’t thinking about the things that had happened in the past. In their eyes, they saw... a blazing sun, lifting the spirits of the people.... Meng Hao!
In fact, there were even some cultivators who looked over at those Chosen and suddenly realized that owing Meng Hao money might actually be something that one could be proud of....
If Meng Hao asked, there would be hosts of people who would elatedly write promissory notes for him....
To be connected to him by Karma could be considered good fortune!
Xu Qing was smiling, Fang Yu was smiling, and Meng Li was smiling. A smile could even be seen on the face of Li Ling’er. As of this moment, all cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm felt something different inside of them that hadn’t been there before.
On Planet South Heaven, Shui Dongliu watched the Mountain and Sea Realm rise up, watched hope appear, and he threw his head back and laughed.
“With this spirit, then... even if the Mountains and Seas are defeated, then as long as a single cultivator remains alive, then the spark will burn, and the bloodline of the Mountains and Seas will be pa.s.sed down for all eternity!” Shui Dongliu laughed heartily, a laughter of pure happiness. He knew that as of this day, victory and defeat... were not important.
Up in the starry sky, Meng Hao hovered there, looking down at the entirety of the Mountain and Sea Realm. At the same time, the cultivators down below were looking up through the shattered remnants of the 1st Heaven at Meng Hao.
Meng Hao felt as if he should say something, so he thought for a moment, then spoke. “I am a Mountain and Sea cultivator!”
He bolstered his words with his cultivation base and divine sense, causing them to echo out, starting with the Fourth Mountain and Sea, then spreading to the Third, Second, First as well as the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth.
Gradually, everyone in the Mountain and Sea Realm was shouting the exact same thing!
“I am a Mountain and Sea cultivator!!”
“I am a Mountain and Sea cultivator!!”
“I am a Mountain and Sea cultivator!!” The sound rolled out as each and every cultivator shouted from the bottoms of their heart, shouted words that contained their lives, their wills, and their pride!
Even more shocking was what happened next. There on Planet South Heaven, Shui Dongliu threw his head back and lifted both hands up into the air. In response, the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm began to boil and rumble explosively. Ma.s.sive amounts of the energy of Heaven and Earth, which had been stored up for years, now spread out through the entire Mountain and Sea Realm, boring into the bodies of all cultivators.
One by one, people began to roar as they experienced cultivation base breakthroughs!!
They had been suppressed for far too long, but now, the seal of the 33 Heavens was weakening. Now that the Mountain and Sea Realm had been stimulated, the cultivators began to soar!
Henceforth... the 33 Heavens... were now 32 Heavens, and their seal had lost one of its layers!
As the rumbling sounds echoed out into the ears of the Outsiders, they shook, and began to edge backward. They no longer had any will or faith to fight whatsoever.
Even the Outsider Dao Sovereign Long Linzi who was fighting Patriarch Reliance was shaking.
“Perhaps... we were mistaken. A Mountain and Sea Realm like this, the continuation of the Paragon Immortal Realm itself, is something... that we cannot subjugate... that we cannot destroy....”
The Outsider Imperial Lord fighting with Ksitigarbha also began to shake. His cultivation base put him on the cusp of being a Paragon, and therefore, he could see even more of what was happening. He could see the Mountain and Sea Realm awakening, and he could see its aura slowly rising up from deep within.
Outsider Paragon Eegoo, who was fighting Paragon Sea Dream, felt intense bitterness in his heart. As a Paragon, he could see the entirety of the Mountain and Sea Realm, and understood everything that was happening. He could also sense that terrifying aura rising up, the pride which had been pa.s.sed down all the way from the Paragon Immortal Realm.
The Immortals from the era of the Paragon Immortal Realm had been valiant, proud without being arrogant. They had been powerful, but not cruel, and had thus subjugated numerous Lower Realms, sweeping across all Heaven and Earth, dominating the starry skies!
It had been a very, very long time since Paragon Eegoo saw an aura like this, and yet... here it was on this day. Yet again, he felt that aura taking root.
“This kid might not love fighting,” he thought, “and he might not understand troop movements and formations. Nor does he excel in the art of war, or of military campaigns. However he... has mastered the quintessence of war!
“Ordinary people think that war is about subjugation. Some more intelligent people realize that it is about death and destruction. However... the truly wise know... that war is about destroying the spirit of your enemy....
“Any given world, and any given people, have a spirit that leads to the most terrifying kind of willpower. Back in the days of the Paragon Immortal Realm, that spirit was suppressed, and that willpower altered, forced to hole up here. It was sealed up, not just by the 33 Heavens, but by the people themselves.
“But now, everything has changed.... That kid, must die!” The Outsider Paragon’s eyes flickered with cold light.
It was at about this time that bitter laughter could be heard not too far away from Meng Hao. It was the Outsider Dao Sovereign, who had now converged his incarnations back together, who had burned his life force to try to prevent the 1st Heaven from collapsing. However, he had acted too late. Now, his mind was completely shaking. Rumbling sounds echoed out as he shot murderously toward Meng Hao, raving in madness.
“You destroyed my home, and you destroyed my people!” he shrieked as he closed in at top speed. “You wiped out everything that was ours, Meng Hao!!”
“You wiped yourselves out,” Meng Hao said calmly. He was just about to launch an attack, when all of a sudden, he turned to look at the collapsing 1st Heaven.
He could sense... the aura of Essence!
“World Essence!” he thought. Eyes glittering, heart surging with elation, he thought back to the World Essence of the Windswept Realm. The enormous land ma.s.s that was the 1st Heaven also had Essence, although it vastly exceeded the Essence from the Windswept Realm. After all, this had been one of the few surviving, unbroken remnants of the 3,000 Lower Realms.
Therefore, it was only natural... that this place had World Essence! [1. World Essence was a fairly important part of the Windswept Realm arc, and was mentioned many times. The most relevant chapters were 1147-1149 ]
World Essence was a supreme Dao, a complete Dao based on an entire World. As such, different worlds had different types of World Essence!
Years before, Meng Hao had experienced numerous deadly situations, all to acquire the World Essence of the Windswept Realm. After acquiring it, he had been able to unlock his Allheaven Dao Immortal bloodline, and had even been able to plant the Allheaven Dao seed within the blood of the entire Fang Clan!
That World Essence had affected Meng Hao in a profound way. In fact, later on, the only reason why he eventually rose to the heights he had, to be able to slaughter Dao Lords and Dao Sovereigns, was because of his Allheaven bloodline. And that... was because of the Windswept Realm’s World Essence, the Traitorous Sutra of the Rebel Dao!
As of this moment, Meng Hao was completely shaken. He could sense the Allheaven Dao Immortal blood inside him boiling, as if it were consumed by incredible thirst. He suddenly had the intense premonition that if he could get that World Essence, then he might have a chance to further awaken his Allheaven Dao Immortal blood!
He could even sense that the World Essence of the 1st Heaven was something very different than the Windswept Realm’s Traitorous Sutra of the Rebel Dao. If he could gain enlightenment of it, the results would be extraordinary!
It could help cultivators gain enlightenment of great Dao relics of Heaven and Earth.
The 33 Heavens had tolerated the Windswept Realm only because of its World Essence which they coveted.
Right now, as the land ma.s.s that was the 1st Heaven collapsed, it was possible to tell that this World Essence was far more powerful than the Windswept Realm’s. Furthermore... it was now seeping out through the shattered cracks that riddled the 1st Heaven.
Meng Hao didn’t hesitate for a moment. He flickered into motion, avoiding the Outsider Dao Sovereign to suddenly appear in the location of the World Essence.
When that happened, an intense Essence aura rumbled out toward Meng Hao. His mind suddenly grew a hundred times clearer, and he became a hundred times more agile. The feeling of a great Dao, of a powerful Essence, was even more explosive than before.
Most importantly, his powers of deduction were now vastly beyond what they had been.
Even his bloodline experienced strange transformations, signs of absorption and change!
Chapter 1344: Another Encounter With World Essence!