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“Nascent Soul, Nascent Soul. The Soul aspect is physical, and as for the Nascent part of the term, it relates to the spiritual. Therefore, because what you are currently absorbing via breathing techniques is Immortal qi, which far exceeds ordinary spiritual energy... theoretically speaking, you should be able to pa.s.s through the Nascent Soul stage much more quickly!” Meng Hao’s voice was quiet as he continued to expound upon his understanding of the Spirit Realm.

He had just used a vast quant.i.ty of Immortal jade to create a huge area for the exclusive purpose of allowing these several dozen people to absorb Immortal qi. In the entire Mountain and Sea Realm, few people could accomplish such a thing. In fact, the only ones who could would be the Mountain and Sea Lords.

Even large sects who could afford it would not, primarily because... it wouldn’t be worth it. Sects always had numerous competing factions who were generally concerned with their own interests and thus wouldn’t agree to such a huge expenditure.

Meng Hao might love money, and had always dreamed of being rich. However, sentiment and honor were important things to him, and no amount of money could be more valuable to him than family.

Therefore, he didn’t think twice about the pain that usually came with spending money. As long as his grandfather’s bloodline could rise to prominence again, it would all be worth it.

As he continued to deliver his sermon, there were some in the audience who experienced cultivation base breakthroughs. At the same time, rumbling sounds could be heard. A strange gleam could be seen in Meng Hao’s eyes, and he wore a slight smile as the blackpod imps came flying back. After circling around in the air a few times, they began to drop bags of holding down toward the ground. Soon, there were so many it seemed like it was raining..

The women in the bloodline mansion stared with wide eyes as all of this happened.

Meng Hao’s expression was very somber as he looked back at all the women and continued to speak.

“You must all remember that we cultivators must never waste cultivation resources. If you venture out and see something, but don’t pick it up, then it’s the same as losing it. That’s our maxim, and the most important principle we must keep in our hearts! [1. The comments about picking something up or else losing it were originally told to Meng Hao by his mother in chapter 1167. He's reiterated similar words a few times since then]

“Don’t waste money, don’t live luxuriously! If you have a chance to profit, then don’t miss out on a single spirit stone!” The entire audience was completely focused on Meng Hao, eyes burning with zealous adoration. As soon as the women heard his words, they fixed them in their minds. Apparently, their personalities were even affected, and gradually... their eyes began to s.h.i.+ne brightly.

Meng Hao was pleased with the look he saw in their eyes, although he didn’t take the time to think of what the consequences would be of having an entire group of people molded after himself.... In any case, he truly felt that this group was becoming much more to his liking.

As for the three old timers, they were watching with wide eyes, as were Meng Hao’s two Uncles.

“This....” said one of Meng Hao’s grand-uncles.

“He's so much like little Lili....” Meng Hao’s grandmother said with a wry smile. After a moment of thought, she allowed things to continue on as they were. “With him here, the Meng Clan... we’ll definitely need to change things up a bit.”

Outside in the courtyard, Meng Hao waved his hand, sending the bags of holding flying out to hover in front of the other clan members, until each one had several.

“Alright, you hang on to these bags of holding. I’m heading out for a bit to get you some more cultivation resources.” With that, Meng Hao rose to his feet, took a step forward, and vanished. When he reappeared, he was out in the mists. The blackpod imps flew around him, looking very friendly. Meng Hao waved his sleeve to collect them up, then took another step, vanis.h.i.+ng and reappearing high up in the sky. A cold gleam flickered in his eyes as he looked toward the center of the continent, and... the Xu Clan!

He had originally planned to exterminate the entire clan, but then his grandmother had woken up, which had caused a slight delay. However, moments ago when the blackpod imps wiped out the cultivators outside the mist, Meng Hao had been watching closely.

“Anyone who has a beef with my grandfather’s bloodline also has a beef with me,” he said coolly. Then he transformed into a beam of light which shot rumbling off toward the Xu Clan.

Deep in the heart of the Xu Clan’s ancestral mansion, within a hidden chamber, a red-haired old man sat there cross-legged. Suddenly, his eyes opened, and he s.h.i.+vered. A terrible feeling had just risen up in his heart, as if a huge disaster were heading his way.

His cultivation base was far beyond the great circle of the Ancient Realm, and was already half a step into the Dao Realm. In fact, he could make his attempt to complete that step at any time. However, he was very similar to Guru Heavencloud, who Meng Hao had encountered in the asteroid field back in the Ninth Mountain and Sea, and didn’t have the confidence to try to make the attempt.

Therefore, it would really be less accurate to say that he could break through to the Dao Realm whenever he wished, and more accurate to say that he could force his way into the Quasi-Dao Realm at any moment!

This man was Xu Yushan, leader of the Xu Clan. His cultivation base was why he was the clan leader, and also the reason why the Xu Clan had been able to become a va.s.sal clan and occupy one of the continents in the Meng Clan.

“What’s going on... could it be... THAT bloodline of the Meng Clan?” The red-haired old man’s eyes flickered, and he frowned.

“Impossible. That bloodline has declined to the point where it’s almost gone. In fact, that’s why I was stationed here, to keep an eye on them and to make sure that instead of being wiped out in an instant, they slowly fade away into nothing. In a few hundred years, that mission will be accomplished.”

After sitting there in thought for a moment, his face suddenly flickered. Without the slightest hesitation or forethought, the man crushed a jade slip and then vanished.

The moment he vanished was the exact same moment that a Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering boom caused everything to shake violently.

An enormous hand was descending from above, fully 30,000 meters wide, so realistic you could see the palm lines on it. It descended with such incredible speed that flames burst out all over it, racing down to scorch the earth.

As it descended, it caused numerous paG.o.das within the Xu Clan ancestral mansion to crumble under the pressure. Buildings collapsed, bursting into flames, and the cultivators in the Xu Clan ancestral mansion looked up in shock. It was as if doomsday had arrived for them.

“What is that?!?!”

“An ambus.h.!.+”

“Th-that hand, who does it belong to? Heavens....” The cultivators in the Xu Clan ancestral mansion were completely shocked, and began to tremble from the explosive will of extermination which weighed down on them.

In the blink of an eye, the hand slammed down onto the ancestral mansion, crus.h.i.+ng countless buildings and sending a huge shockwave out in all directions. The lands quaked as if they were being struck by lightning, and the entire Xu Clan was instantly transformed into ruins, replaced by the image of an enormous handprint!

Flames raged everywhere, burning everything to a pitch-black crisp....

Despite all of that, there actually weren’t very many cultivators who died. Meng Hao wasn’t a cold-blooded killer, and based on the level of his cultivation base, the divine sense laced within the palm enabled him to detect exactly who within the Xu Clan harbored evil designs toward his grandfather’s bloodline.

Those hostile cultivators were all killed, causing bloodcurdling screams to ring out from within the sea of flames. As for the other cultivators, the flames merely sealed their cultivation bases, but didn’t harm them physically.

The lands still shook violently, though, and the enormous handprint in the ground was shocking to the extreme.

Within the ruins that filled the palm print, the Xu Clan Patriarch blurred back into existence. As soon as he did, he coughed up a ma.s.sive mouthful of blood. Face ashen, he looked around at the surviving clan members, and then at the ruins. Then he threw his head back and howled viciously.

As he looked up, he could see Meng Hao floating there in the air, radiating intense coldness. Considering what he had done with a single palm strike, he was clearly a terrifying individual. The Xu Clan Patriarch chuckled bitterly and asked, “Who are you?!?!”

At the same time, he didn’t hesitate to begin a cultivation base breakthrough.

“I'm Meng Chen!” Meng Hao replied coldly. Meng Hao didn't want to drag the Meng Clan into his problems with the HeavenG.o.d Alliance, and therefore, he chose not to use his ident.i.ty as Meng Hao.

The Xu Clan Patriarch laughed bitterly. He didn't believe Meng Hao at all, but that didn’t matter. His cultivation base shot up explosively, and clouds began to form in the air as Dao Realm Heavenly Tribulation began to descend.

Meng Hao’s eyes flickered in the face of the descending Dao Realm Heavenly Tribulation. He then waved his right index finger, which caused the air to distort, and wave-like ripples to spread out. Gradually the ripples transformed into an enormous wolf, completely domineering, which howled as it charged the Xu Clan Patriarch.

It was on him in the blink of an eye, before the Heavenly Tribulation could arrive. The Xu Clan Patriarch fought back viciously, but couldn’t stop himself from being swallowed up in a single gulp by the gigantic wolf.

The Heavenly Tribulation, having lost its target, immediately began to fade away, and the path which had appeared vanished.

Meng Hao waved his sleeve. Ignoring everything down below, he turned and vanished.

Time pa.s.sed. Around evening, more beams of light appeared above the lands near Meng Hao’s grandfather’s bloodline. These people looked different than the Xu Clan cultivators, and were in fact from the Meng Clan.

They were from the seventh of the nine bloodlines of the Meng Clan, which was a powerful group. However, only a few of their number had come; one was in the great circle of the Ancient Realm, one in the late Ancient Realm, two in the mid Ancient Realm, four in the early Ancient Realm, and several dozen were Immortals.

A force like that was a powerful one indeed. Unless a Dao Realm expert showed up, they could wage an entire war on their own. Currently, the old man in the lead was flying along, enraged and bursting with killing intent.

As the group flew along, colors flashed in the sky and the winds screamed. Suddenly, the old man’s furious voice could be heard ringing out.

“Xu Yushan, get out here right now!”

The booming voice echoed back and forth, making it sound almost like numerous voices were shouting. A huge wind blasted across the lands, sweeping away the clouds in the sky and shaking everything.

The old man hovered in midair arrogantly. In his view, the ideal way of handling this situation was to call out the leader of the va.s.sal clan that was guarding this place and have him extinguish the rebellious bloodline that was on its last legs.