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The violet-robed man who looked like a Demon Devil had skin covered with scales. Even his face had transformed; his eyes were deeply sunken in, whereas his jaws protruded, revealing a mouthful of wicked fangs. He had a long horn with a razor sharp tip, as well as a las.h.i.+ng tail.
He had already been shaken by Meng Hao, but now he had no other choice than to attack. He roared as his body burst into flames, causing his cultivation base to instantly surpa.s.s that of the three Nascent Divinities nearby. He became a cyclone that shot directly toward Meng Hao.
As he neared, he stretched out both hands in front of him and made a ripping motion.
“Rupture the Heavens!” he roared, causing everything around him to shake. A huge rift was ripped open in the air, like a gigantic mouth that wanted to swallow Meng Hao whole. However, even as the rift was almost upon Meng Hao, Meng Hao gave a cold glance in the old man’s direction.
It was a single glance, a simple look.
The rift collapsed, and the fiend-form old man let out a miserable shriek. Meng Hao’s gaze was like that of a G.o.d. Indescribable pressure bore down on the old man, causing first his hands, and then both arms to explode in a haze of blood.
His eyes were red, and he tilted his head as he attempted to use his horn to pierce through the pressure radiating out from Meng Hao’s eyes. Perhaps he couldn’t kill Meng Hao, but at least he would be able to wound him in some way.
However, just when the horn seemed about to stab Meng Hao, he reached up and grabbed it. His expression was calm, but he seemed to be recalling the brutal image of the old man slaughtering Southern Domain cultivators earlier. Meng Hao twisted his hand, and a cracking sound could be heard as the horn snapped off.
Screaming, the old man tried to attack with his tail, but before he could get near, a rumbling sound filled his entire body, which then began to collapse into pieces. Terror flooded into his mind, completely submerging him. His Nascent Divinity burst out, terrified, and tried to flee. As he did, one word blared out in his mind.
“Invincible….”
Down below on the ground, the cultivators gasped. Everyone was looking on, eyes wide with disbelief.
Four of the five peak Dao Seeking experts from the Northern Reaches now had nothing left but Nascent Divinities. It was unclear why Meng Hao hadn’t destroyed them; if he wanted to, though, all four of his opponents would already be dead.
As for Meng Hao, he was calm and unruffled. And invincible!!
The last person left was the number one most powerful expert from the Northern Reaches, the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief, who was still in the form of a Primordial Lightning Dragon. He roared at the top of his lungs, and it was a roar filled with indignation, despair, and even… the desire for death.
“DIIEEEE!” he howled. Lightning crackled as he shot through the air, surrounding him with a lake of lightning. It was lightning summoned from the highest Heavens; apparently he wished to die together with Meng Hao.
At this point, the air behind Meng Hao rippled, the sky above him rumbled, and the ground down below quaked. The entire world seemed to be in motion, set off as a foil to Meng Hao himself.
The Immortal qi in his body grew stronger as he finally finished rising completely to his feet. He was surrounded by a boundless, blinding light as he gazed at the incoming Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief. Suddenly, behind him, all of the motion swirled together to form… a giant!
The giant looked exactly like Meng Hao in every way, but was unimaginably tall. Its head touched the sky, and its feet were planted on the ground. Its body emanated a shocking pressure that caused the land to quake. The countless cultivators down on the ground below were completely shocked to find that their cultivation bases were utterly suppressed.
Gradually, all of the natural law in the area began to swirl around the enormous figure behind Meng Hao. Starlight from the starry sky outside of the vortex up above shone down on it, bathing it in brightness, giving it a completely unearthly energy.
It looked like a Paragon!
The enormous image behind him looked very much like the type of image that Dao Seeking cultivators could normally summon. And yet, it was completely different. The images summoned by Dao Seeking cultivators were illusory, powerful beings from ancient times who were summoned via means of a magical technique. In contrast, the image behind Meng Hao was like a projection of himself!
Of the two kinds of images, one was illusory and the other was a projection. Although neither were real, the difference in caliber between the two was like the difference between Heaven and Earth.
In fact, one day, if Meng Hao ever became strong enough, then anyone who received his approval could summon the same image by calling upon his name.
That was another area in which his image was completely different.
This image was referred to by a unique name….
Dharma Idol!
“It’s a Dharma Idol!!”
“He… he actually summoned a Dharma Idol!!”
“Only Immortals can summon Dharma Idols! But look, he has one!!”
As soon as the Dharma Idol appeared behind Meng Hao, everything began to rumble. All of the lands of South Heaven were shaken.
The Dao Seeking experts of the Northern Reaches, the Western Desert and the Southern Domain all gasped. In the Eastern Lands, gasps of disbelief could be heard in all of the ancient sects.
“He just stepped into Dao Seeking, but I can’t see his cultivation base! That can only happen in that legendary state when both the fleshly body and the cultivation base are in the Dao Seeking stage!! That man… that man couldn’t have a Dao Seeking fleshly body, could he?! Impossible!!”
“Immortal qi. He actually has Immortal qi! And it’s not false Immortal qi, but that of a true Immortal! True Immortal qi!! He hasn’t even stepped into the boundless Immortal Realm, and yet he already has that aura!”
“The path to Immortality opens every 10,000 years. Don’t tell me that South Heaven’s sole true Immortal from this generation is that man!?!?”
“He actually produced a Dharma Idol. That’s…. that’s a divine ability that, according to the legends, belongs only to Immortals. That kid… that kid is half a step into true Immortality!! Other than the Ji Clan and a few other mysterious beings, this kid could could stand up to anybody!!”
The great sects of the Eastern Lands were all shaken. Meng Hao hovered in the air above the battlefield, his face calm, and his aura devoid of anything even the least bit vile. Now, he looked like a scholar from the mortal world. He wore a green robe, and his hair was no longer white, but pitch black.
His eyes shone brightly, and the enormous Dharma Idol behind him radiated a shocking pressure that stifled the breathing of everyone in the area.
Next to him was his second true self, which radiated monstrous Devil flames. It was sinister to the extreme, filled with a vileness that carried the desire to kill. It looked around at the world with cold eyes.
“DIE!!” the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief roared as he threw all caution to the wind, bearing down on Meng Hao in his Primordial Lightning Dragon form.
Meng Hao looked at the man and then waved his finger.
As he did, the Dharma Idol behind him also waved its finger. It seemed to blot out the Heavens, transforming into a gigantic land ma.s.s that descended to slam into the Primordial Lightning Dragon.
A ma.s.sive boom rattled out. The Primordial Lightning Dragon collapsed into pieces. The Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief coughed up blood and staggered backward, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief. He came to a stop several hundred meters back, where he continued to cough up seven or eight mouthfuls of blood. His body was listless and weak.
“You….” he said, his face deathly white. Meng Hao was now so powerful that the simple wave of a finger left the man seriously injured. Then, Meng Hao’s gaze fell upon him, and he felt his mind reeling as an intense, indescribable pressure weighed down him. It felt like countless bolts of lightning were about to slam into him.
“That little cauldron of yours is connected to me by destiny,” said Meng Hao, a bashful expression appearing on his face. He waved his hand, causing the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief’s Lightning Cauldron to fly over onto his palm.
The Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief’s face grew even more pale, and he coughed up more blood. He seemed to have aged rapidly in just the past few moments, and his eyes shone with hopelessness. Behind him were the other Northern Reaches peak Dao Seeking experts, all of whom shook with fear as they looked at Meng Hao.
His gaze swept over them, and they trembled so violently that it seemed their Nascent Divinities would explode at any moment.
Finally his gaze s.h.i.+fted to the forces of the Western Desert, and the South Cleaving Sentinels. “Fellow Daoists from the Western Desert, many thanks for your a.s.sistance. This kindness… will be remembered by the Southern Domain for generation after generation. It will never be forgotten!”
With that, he clasped hands and bowed deeply.
Immediately, the South Cleaving Sentinels bowed back with deep respect, as did all of the Western Desert cultivators. Meng Hao’s incredible bravery and power, coupled with the events of past years, made it so that the Western Desert cultivators viewed Meng Hao as one of their own.
“This war is now over,” said Meng Hao, looking out at the Northern Reaches cultivators.
“More killing would be meaningless. There is no path for you to return to your home, so you will stay in the Southern Domain. The price you will pay for this invasion is that your cultivation bases will be sealed. From this generation forward, your bloodlines will not produce Nascent Soul cultivation bases. Your path to Immortality is broken. Henceforth… you are felon citizens.” Meng Hao’s voice was calm, but his words struck like thunder, making it clear that his words would be strictly enforced. When he said ‘felon citizens,’ the words were branded deeply into the hearts and minds of the Northern Reaches cultivators, and they knew that this would be their ident.i.ty for generations to come.
Furthermore, among the more than 100,000 Northern Reaches cultivators, all of the Nascent Soul cultivators trembled as their Nascent Souls involuntarily shattered. Their cultivation bases fell, and in the blink of an eye, not a single Nascent Soul cultivator could be found among the Northern Reaches forces.
Next, he turned his attention to the Dao Seeking experts.
“As for you people…. Your war has shattered the Southern Domain. Innumerable cultivators have died, and the spiritual energy of the land has become spa.r.s.e. The five of you will be suppressed and turned into the Southern Domain cultivators’ foundation in the future. For generations to come, the power of your Nascent Divinities will be extracted to replenish the spiritual energy in the Southern Domain!” Even as he spoke, he waved his hand, causing the Ninth Mountain, which had been trembling this entire time, to suddenly rise up into the air. Revealed beneath was a woman, blood oozing from her mouth, left with only a tiny sc.r.a.p of life force.
The mountain then shot toward the five Dao Seeking experts.
“Henceforth, this mountain shall be called Sin of the North!”
Meanwhile, back in the Ji Clan, in a hidden location, the armless young Patriarch took a deep breath. A look of regret appeared in his eyes, and he shook his head.
“Fang Clan….” he murmured. “Son of a Chosen, with fifty percent of the power of a true Immortal. Half a step into true Immortality…. That mark on his hand… it must be… THAT mark.” A strange light appeared in his eyes, and he smiled. Apparently he had just recalled something.
“Interesting. I just remembered that the main branch of the Fang Clan on Planet East Victory has a peerless Chosen by the name of Fang Wei. If the two of them ever meet, I wonder what will happen.”
At the same time, the couple in the Tower of Tang wore excited expressions. They exchanged a glance, then clasped hands and stepped forward.
“It’s time to reunite….”
“We’ve been waiting for this day for so long….”
“Seventh Year Tribulation. Ah, the Seventh Year Tribulation. My son has transcended the tribulation. Now the fish will make its leap into being a dragon amongst men!” [1. This is a reference to a common Chinese expression about a fish “leaping” to success and becoming a dragon]
Chapter 795: Half a Step Into Immortality!
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This chapter was sponsored by Anonymous