Dao-Heaven had arrived!

The sky churned and the lands shook. It was as if the king of all the Heavens had arrived. As soon as he set foot onto the lands below, a seemingly invincible energy radiated out with each step he took.

Every step caused the land to quake, and huge footprints to appear in the ground. It was as if an invisible giant were treading forth.

Dao-heaven wore a long white robe, and had flowing black hair. He was handsome, seemingly having cast off all traces of mortality. His eyes shone like stars, and anyone who looked into them would feel as if they were being sucked into their depths.

Thirty years ago... he had been named... the number one cultivator in the Echelon, its most powerful member.

He did not wear a crown, and yet anyone who looked at him would find him kingly. He wore no Imperial robes, only a white garment, and yet he appeared to represent the Heavens.

He strolled along, seemingly in no hurry, and yet filled with icy coldness. The way he looked down at Meng Hao and the others made it seem as if they were ants to him. Apparently it was only Meng Hao himself whom he seemed to find even the least bit interesting.

“So, the three of you want to challenge me to a fight?” he said coldly as he hovered in midair. His simple statement echoed out like thunder, tearing through all obstacles to pound into the ears of Meng Hao, Yuwen Jian and Hong Bin.

Yuwen Jian's face went pale, and he trembled as he took a few steps backward. Then he threw his head back and howled, “Dao-Heaven!!”

Roaring, he suddenly shot up into the air.

Hong Bin sat behind the s.h.i.+eld, blood oozing out of the corners of his mouth, a look of astonishment and fear written on his face. He had never imagined that a single statement uttered by Dao-Heaven could injure him so badly. It was almost as if the s.h.i.+eld behind which he sat was useless.

Seeing that Yuwen Jian was going on the offensive, Hong Bing gritted his teeth and performed an incantation gesture. Then he waved his finger toward Dao-Heaven, causing numerous stars to materialize up above.

The stars flickered, and then smashed toward Dao-Heaven.

In addition, mult.i.tudinous complex lines spread out around Dao-Heaven, forming spinning spell formations that seemed designed to entangle and kill him.

Meng Hao took a deep breath. Although Dao-Heaven’s words didn't affect him very much, now that he was face to face with the young man, he could sense an incredible might emanating off of him. That might was the incredible battle prowess of Dao-Heaven’s shocking cultivation base.

“Of all the people I've encountered in my generation, he’s definitely the strongest!” he thought, his eyes flickering. He stepped forward, unleas.h.i.+ng the Seven G.o.d Steps, which caused his energy to begin to rise up.

It takes a bit of time to describe all of these things, but they all happened in almost an instant. Dao-Heaven smiled indifferently, as if he didn't even care about his three opponents.

“None of you even deserve to be in the Echelon,” he said, waving his right hand through the air. Instantly, the air seemed to rip apart and then spin toward the incoming stars. Before the stars could even get close to Dao-Heaven, they were shattered into pieces.

Next, Dao-Heaven raised his right foot up and stamped it down. A boom echoed out, followed by a shockwave that spread out with astonis.h.i.+ng attack power. As soon as it touched the spell formations, cracking sounds could be heard, and the delicate spell formations were destroyed.

After taking that single step, Dao-Heaven pushed his right finger toward the incoming Yuwen Jian.

Yuwen Jian threw his head back and roared. “Six Times Nine G.o.d Body! Ninth Transformation!”

Rumbling sounds could be heard as his body rapidly grew larger, until he looked like a giant. Incredible power radiated off of him as he sent two fists flying toward Dao-Heaven. In the blink of an eye, his fists connected with Dao-Heaven's finger.

In that instant, the flesh was shredded off of his hands, revealing the bones underneath. Yuwen Jian let out a miserable shriek as he tumbled backward, blood spraying everywhere. Shockingly, his two fists couldn't stand up to the swipe of Dao-Heaven's single finger!!

Meng Hao was shaken inwardly. He had fought Yuwen Jian, and knew that in his current state, even he would be incapable of seriously injuring Yuwen Jian with a single finger swipe.

“Impossible!” Yuwen Jian howled. “Y-you... how many times have you dropped your cultivation base back down from the Ancient Realm?!?!” It was a huge blow to him to have been seriously injured by a single finger swipe.

“Insects like you shouldn't talk about things they don’t understand.” [1. Dao-Heaven uses a variation on a Chinese idiom which basically means that summer insects cannot discuss ice, meaning that it is impossible to speak to people of limited experience] Dao-Heaven said coolly, taking another step forward, instantly bypa.s.sing Meng Hao. It was almost like a teleportation, which placed him very close to the Sixth Nation’s National Aura Mountain s.h.i.+eld.

“Yuwen Jian,” Dao-Heaven said loftily, “you don’t deserve to be in the Echelon. And you... Hong Bin, you deserve it even less.” He waved his finger toward the s.h.i.+eld, causing a sun and a moon to appear. They swirled around each other as they sped through the air and then smashed into the s.h.i.+eld.

A vicious expression appeared on Hong Bin’s face. He performed a double-handed incantation gesture, causing numerous streams of light to explode up. 10,000,000 of them spread out, creating a bright river that surged toward Dao-Heaven.

Dao-Heaven's expression was as lofty as ever as his finger touched the s.h.i.+eld. A boom rang out, and the s.h.i.+eld trembled, distorting even more violently than before. Instantly, cracks spread out from the point where his finger had touched it!

“Break,” he said. The cracks expanded rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, the entire s.h.i.+eld suddenly shattered. At the same time, Hong Bin’s river of 10,000,000 streams of light rumbled toward Dao-Heaven with shocking power.

At the same time, Hong Bin’s face went pale, and an expression of fear appeared. Without any further hesitation, he slapped his hand onto the ground, causing the teleportation portal to surge into motion. Blood sprayed out of the mouths of his nine followers as they used their life force to power the portal.

“That’s all you’ve got?!” Dao-Heaven asked calmly, not even looking at the incoming river of light. As it neared, he shot forward through the river, appearing directly on the Sixth Nation’s National Aura Mountain. Just when Hong Bin was about to teleport away, Dao-Heaven lifted his right foot up and stomped down onto the mountain.

ROOOOOAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!

A ma.s.sive energy erupted out from him, causing the entire National Aura Mountain to shatter and collapse. Countless rocks and rubble tumbled out in every direction, and Hong Bin’s nine followers exploded into bits. The teleportation portal was also shattered, and Hong Bin was sent flying back, blood spraying out of his mouth, an expression of shock and terror on his face.

“Save me!” he screamed. He was in the Echelon, and was a proud person. But in this moment of critical danger, he abandoned all pride and fled.

Yuwen Jian let out a bellow of rage and attacked again.

Meng Hao also fell back. The level of power on display by Dao-Heaven had already struck him deeply. He had fought many people of his generation with cultivation bases similar to himself, but none of them could even compare to Dao-Heaven.

“So, is this the real Echelon...?” he thought, feeling shaken. After having defeated Han Qinglei, Lin Cong, and then Hai Dongqing, he had started to look down on the Echelon. As of this moment, all such feelings vanished.

“n.o.body can save you now,” Dao-Heaven said casually, then laughed and transformed into a blur that shot over to Hong Bin. He raised his right hand and pointed a finger toward Hong Bin’s forehead.

The speed was so incredible that before Hong Bin could even do anything, the finger was about to tap onto his head.

It was at this point that, all of a sudden, the Lightning Cauldron appeared in Meng Hao’s hand. Electricity danced around him, and then he vanished. When he reappeared, shockingly, he was directly in front of Hong Bin. As for Dao-Heaven, he was now in the position that Meng Hao had just occupied.

Despite how powerful he was, he gaped in shock.

In that moment of shock, Meng Hao’s voice echoed out, filled with killing intent.

“Paragon magic, Paragon Bridge!!” He waved his hand, causing his cultivation base to surge with power. 123 Immortal meridians and 33 Heavens formed into the Paragon Bridge, which smashed down toward the astonished Dao-Heaven.

As for Hong Bin, there was really nowhere for him to flee to. He had just been s.n.a.t.c.hed out of the jaws of death, and now he hesitated no longer. He performed an incantation gesture, causing his forehead to split open and two fish to fly out.

One of the fish was black, and the other was white. They spun in a circle, head-to-tail, creating a circle in midair. Black and white light shone out as they spun, gradually forming into a spell array. Shockingly, this spell array was Hong Bin’s Paragon magic!

“Paragon magic, Dao of Yin and Yang!”

Yuwen Jian threw his head back and roared, and brilliant red light surged up from him. By now, he had fully absorbed the drop of G.o.d blood that he had consumed earlier. Now, he could unleash his own Paragon magic.

“Paragon magic, G.o.d-Extermination Tattoo!” Yuwen Jian waved his hand, causing half of his clothing to transform into nothing but ash. Shockingly, blood swirled on both his chest and back to form a tattoo of blood!

The tattoo depicted numerous gigantic G.o.ds being ma.s.sacred in one scene after another. A murderous aura exploded off of Yuwen Jian and, astonis.h.i.+ngly, the area around him seemed to transform into the scenes from the tattoo. The sky turned the color of blood, and a mult.i.tude of shocking illusory figures could be seen everywhere.

All in one moment, Meng Hao, Yuwen Jian and Hong Bin all unleashed their Paragon magic.

Dao-Heaven's face flickered, and he suddenly lifted his right hand up and smacked it down onto his chest. Immediately, the sound of a thumping heart began to echo out.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.... Nine heart beats boomed out like thunder, shaking the world. Furthermore, with each heartbeat, Dao-Heaven’s energy shot higher and higher, until he was emanating an aura of the Ancient Realm!

After nine heartbeats, his power was almost indescribable. This was the aura of nine breakthroughs into the Ancient Realm, turning him into a fiendish divinity. When he threw his head back and roared, strange colors flashed in the sky.

“I have stepped into the Ancient Realm nine times before. Nine times, I forced myself back down to re-cultivate and break through again. Do you really think that weaklings like yourself could compare to me? You’re DEAD, ALL of you!” Dao-Heaven’s voice echoed with shocking pressure, weighing down heavily onto Meng Hao and the others.

Meng Hao’s eyes glittered, and he immediately said, “You stepped into the Ancient Realm nine times, but then forced yourself back down and started over? That means you made nine mistakes, picked nine wrong paths. If your path was correct... the one time would be enough!”

Then, he sent his Paragon magic rumbling out.