Chapter 793: Sever the Devil, Seek the Dao!
Third Severing!
The mist sent the sound of his voice throughout the lands of South Heaven, and then it, along with the contraction of the mist, was sucked back in. In the end, the mist was formed into a Mist Blade, and Meng Hao’s voice echoed above the battlefield in shocking fas.h.i.+on.
The Mist Blade looked ordinary in every aspect.
It was made from nothing but mist, and yet that mist… was formed by a great Dao that had reached an utmost purity! Inside of that blade was the distillation of the entirety of the great Dao that had descended!
That blade didn’t just contain the mist from before, all of the obscurity that had existed in the sky had been turned into countless amorphous strands of power that joined the mist in transforming into the enormous blade.
It was a blade, and it was a Dao!
It was a mist, and it was enlightenment!
It was a Mist Blade, and it was Dao enlightenment!
SEVER!
The Mist Blade descended toward the cage. Inside, the stone monkey’s eyes snapped open, and they gleamed with a strange light that tried to fight back against the blade. However, almost as soon as it shone out, the light shattered. The blade dropped, slicing into the cage and bearing down on Meng Hao.
The stone monkey howled and leaped up into the air in an attempt to block the blade.
As soon as it touched the blade, however, rumbling filled its entire body and blood sprayed from its mouth. Then… it was directly sliced in half, powerless to affect the Mist Blade in the least.
There were only three hundred meters left within the world of the cage. As the Mist Blade sliced down, it easily split what had moments before been an unshakable barrier to Meng Hao.
Rumbling filled the air as the cage was completely split open!
The walls collapsed, the stone monkey was split in half. The cage that was the ancestral treasure of the Imperial Bloodline Clan was completely destroyed. It finally shattered into countless pieces, and Meng Hao once again appeared in the outside world!
He sat cross-legged just as before, looking up, his white hair fluttering around him. Devilish flames engulfed him, and his skin glowed with a black aura that seemed to penetrate deep down inside him.
That was his Devilish will, the source of his desire to kill. That was his Devilishness!
Rumbling filled the air as everyone looked on mutely. All onlookers were incapable of moving, even the peak Dao Seeking experts.
They could only spectate, wide-eyed, as this once-in-a-lifetime event occurred right in front of their eyes!
The Mist Blade rumbled as it sliced down. When it touched the top of Meng Hao’s head, a twinge of pain could be seen on his face. The blackness that surrounded him rapidly flew into motion, becoming countless struggling, twisted faces.
Meng Hao quivered; the pain he was experiencing was indescribable. He almost felt like his body was being ripped apart. And yet, his eyes shone with determination.
By now, it wasn’t just the crowds on the battlefield who were watching him. The Patriarchs in the Eastern Lands were using a variety of methods to observe, some of which even came at a high price.
The Ji Clan was looking on, as were the couple in the Tower of Tang.
Everyone was watching closely, keen to find out whether Meng Hao would succeed or fail!
“Sever the Devil!” thought Meng Hao, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with decisiveness. He looked at the Mist Blade and let out a powerful roar, and his cultivation base exploded out with incredible power as he stimulated the Devilish will inside of him. Deep within his heart, the desire to slaughter rose up. At the same time, images appeared of all the murderous ma.s.sacres he had carried out after becoming bedeviled.
The Mist Blade trembled, then continued to descend. This time, it stabbed three inches down into the top of Meng Hao’s head. No blood flowed out, because this was not a physical blade, but a Dao!
And yet, Meng Hao still experienced intense pain, a pain more powerful than he would feel were the blade physical. The black aura began to spread out from him, where, shockingly, it transformed into a face.
That face… looked exactly like Meng Hao’s!
However, it was filled with vileness, savagery, and madness. Devilish qi roared up, and the face opened its mouth, soundlessly howling at the Mist Blade.
The Mist Blade gradually descended further. The power of this blade did not come from the Heavens, from the Earth, or from the underworld. No, it was Meng Hao’s!
This was Meng Hao’s Severing!
The power of the Severing came from his own will. Whatever he wished to Sever, this blade would Sever. If he gave up, then the blade would fade away, and his Spirit Severing would be a failure!
“SEVER!” he said hoa.r.s.ely, through gritted teeth. Rumbling could be heard as the Mist Blade continued to slice down. It cut through his head, then his neck. The blade trembled. As for the ferocious, vile face that existed around Meng Hao, it was now possible to see a huge split down the middle of it, something that would never be mended.
Miserable screams could be heard coming from the vile face’s mouth. Then the face scattered and surged back into Meng Hao’s body. Now, everything below his head was completely black.
“My path is not incorrect!” he murmured. “True freedom and true independence! The Resurrection Lily was incapable of possessing me! I even awoke from death! My Dao… is not the Dao of the Devilis.h.!.+
“Devilishness can be a type of obsession. That kind of perseverance is something that I need. What I don’t need is something that controls me. I am not a Devil. I am not an Immortal. I am me and nothing else!” He took a deep breath, and more power poured into the Mist Blade. Rumbling could be heard as it began to slice down once more.
RUMMMMMBLE!
The Mist Blade sliced through his shoulders, and then down to his dantian region. There was now only a moment left, and Meng Hao’s Severing would be complete.
Currently, black qi had merged together on either side of him to form the shape of two wings. Gradually, they took on the appearance of Meng Hao himself. One of the figures was roaring in rage at Meng Hao, the other was whispering to him silently.
They seemed unwilling to be severed away; they were born of his Devilish will, and were part of him. They wanted to exist within his mind, and were not willing to be severed.
Meng Hao sat there silently, a blank expression on his face.
As of this moment, he forgot that he was engaged in Spirit Severing. In his mind, he saw two images of himself, and they were fighting each other.
As the Devilish will raged, he thought back to the things he had seen the first time he had charged into the Black Sieve Sect. As the other Devilish will whispered to him, he thought of how he had held Xu Qing’s corpse, and the ruthless laughter of the Northern Reaches cultivators.
He paused.
In that moment in which his will paused, the Mist Blade also paused.
Everyone on the battlefield was watching him closely, as were the Patriarchs of the various sects in the Eastern Lands.
The Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief wore an expression of joy. Seeing that Meng Hao was hesitating, he joyously called out in his heart: “Stop! Just stop!”
In the Ji Clan of the Eastern Lands, the armless young man, the Patriarch, looked on with s.h.i.+ning eyes.
In the Tower of Tang, the woman looked extremely anxious. And yet, there was nothing she could do. Anything she did to interfere could have a huge negative influence. Everything… was completely up to Meng Hao.
Ten breaths of time pa.s.sed.
Even though it was a mere ten breaths, to everyone watching it seemed like a very, very long time.
Meng Hao sat there quietly, his eyes closed. When they opened, they were calm, so calm that it was impossible for anyone to tell what he might be thinking. However, the two Devilish images on either side of him appeared to be delighted.
“People say that there are two opposing concepts: good, and evil,” murmured Meng Hao.
“Rather than say my Third Severing is a Severing of the Devilish, it would be better to say that it is a Severing of the evil.
“But… is it really possible to completely Sever evil?
“If humanity was left only with goodness, perhaps that would make the world a more beautiful. Unfortunately, that isn’t realistic. Without the existence of evil, perhaps good… would no longer be called good.
“Good and evil are the desires of the heart. If I earnestly perform good deeds, evil can be suppressed. Likewise, if I malevolently perform evil deeds, good will be suppressed.
“Perhaps there is nothing truly good or truly evil in the world, similar to what my master Pill Demon told me about what is correct and incorrect. [2. It was in chapter 759 that Pill Demon pa.s.sed a message to Meng Hao about what is correct and incorrect]
“What I have… is my own will!
“The choices I make decide everything!” As his voice echoed out, the music of a great Dao rose up around him, as well as the power of natural law. These were things that did not exist moments before, but gradually appeared along with Meng Hao’s words.
Apparently…The laws of nature were being dictated by the words that Meng Hao spoke!!
When the Dao Seeking experts sensed that natural law, their minds trembled. It was at that exact moment that…
“Oh great Dao, continue your severing!”
RUMBLE!
The Mist Blade sliced down through Meng Hao’s dantian region, completely pa.s.sing through him. Miserable shrieks could be heard emanating out in all directions as the two Devilish figures on either side of him were separated completely from his body.
In that instant, any ferocious air that Meng Hao had faded away. The aura of a scholar returned. Furthermore, the mark on his right hand once again flickered brightly, filled with an aura of mystery. Powerful natural law surged around him, distorting the air, transforming into a shocking windstorm that swept about.
After witnessing what was happening, the Southern Domain cultivators on the battlefield instantly understood what had happened, and their faces went wild with joy.
“Meng Hao!!”
“Meng Hao!!”
“Meng Hao!!” The combined voices of a hundred thousand people rose up. Their eyes were filled with fanaticism. Fatty was in the crowds, yelling at the top of his lungs despite his hoa.r.s.e throat.
The Western Desert cultivators were also roaring, especially the members of the Golden Crow Tribe and the Church of the Golden Light.
In sharp contrast, the Northern Reaches cultivators trembled and looked at Meng Hao with fear and dread.
Up in midair, Pill Demon was laughing uproariously, along with Patriarch Song, despite his weakened state.
The peak Dao Seeking experts of the Northern Reaches’ faces were ashen and pale. All of them were wondering… exactly how powerful Meng Hao was about to become!
“He just entered Dao Seeking,” thought the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief. He clenched his jaw. “Well, I’ll make sure that the day he enters Dao Seeking is the day that he perishes!” He pushed aside his dread, and intense killing intent could be seen in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the two Devilish wills merged together, transforming into a monstrous black aura. Since they had been Severed, they were unable to exist any longer, and began to fade away.
“It really would be a pity to let a Devilish will like this simply dissolve….” Meng Hao said coolly. With that, he lifted a finger, causing the Devil Construct to tremble. Then, it shot directly toward Meng Hao’s second true self.
The second true self’s eyes snapped open, and he sucked in a breath. Immediately, the Devilish will surged into him through his nose and mouth. The second true self’s eyes instantly began to glow with intense coldness. It was a coldness that seemed to be completely callous and grim, even vile. The desire to kill began to emanate off of it.
He was surrounded by a black aura that made him look completely like a Devil Immortal!
-----
This chapter was sponsored by Woo Fredrick, Tyx Ev, Kato Berti, Tyler Rhone, and Daniel Parkes