“Kill them!” Grandma Meng said calmly. The instant her voice rang out, Meng Hao's two granduncles transformed into beams of light that shot toward the old man outside the hall. Meng Hao's uncles and aunts also unleashed their cultivation bases as they charged forward.

The old man’s face flickered, and the other members of the seventh bloodline roared and attacked. Instantly, shocking and fierce fighting broke out.

The wave of Grandma Meng’s hand caused a roaring to fill the air that sounded like it came from the mouth of an enormous giant. Under her control, the Meng Clan’s grand protective spell formation became numerous beams of light that shot through the air toward the cultivators of the seventh bloodline.

Miserable screams rang out; although the spell formation wouldn’t kill members of the Meng Clan, the cultivators of the seventh bloodline who were hit by the beams of light experienced an instant drop in cultivation base.

In the end, the protective spell formation became boundless light that covered the entire seventh bloodline.

It didn't matter how many of them there were, they were incapable of fighting back. The miserable screams continue to ring out, and soon blood began to flow, filling the air with the reek of gore.

Cries of shock and disbelief began to echo about.

“She... she can actually control the protective spell formation!!”

“That’s the Meng Clan’s spell formation! She doesn't have the blood of the Meng Clan in her, how can she control it!?”

“Is the spell formation actually the Meng Clan’s, or not?!” As the shouts of alarm filled the air, the older experts suddenly remembered something, and their faces fell.

The old man outside the hall roared in rage, and yet was no match for the granduncles. However, this was one of the nine bloodlines of the Meng Clan, and they had many powerful experts, including numerous cultivators in the Immortal Realm. All of them attacked simultaneously, causing ma.s.sive rumbling to fill the air.

They might have been suppressed by the spell formation, but the cultivators from Meng Hao’s grandmother’s bloodline were few in number. Just as it seemed like they were about to be overwhelmed, Meng Hao prepared to step in. However, Grandma Meng gave a cold harrumph and pushed her hand down toward the ground.

“Sin Blade, come hither!” she said. The main hall of the seventh bloodline suddenly began to shake, and then a huge crevice opened up, out of which a black light shone. Shockingly, within that light was a black dagger!

The sight of that dagger caused the minds of the Meng Clan cultivators to reel, and their blood to suddenly surge.

“A Sin Blade... I can’t believe it’s really the Sin Blade.... Those things still exist? How could it be possible!?”

“Sin Blades are formed from thousands of years of clan blood, and are used to punish traitorous clan members. Only three were ever forged, and according to the legends, they were lost in the sands of time. But, that’s definitely a Sin Blade!”

“She... she’s not a real Meng Clan cultivator, she married into the clan. But it doesn’t matter how old she is, she shouldn't be able to control the spell formation and also a Sin Blade!”

The old man from the seventh bloodline stared with wide, disbelieving eyes. He obviously knew what Sin Blades were, but he could never have imagined that there was one buried beneath his bloodline’s territory, and furthermore...

... could actually be controlled by this old woman!

Grandma Meng eyed the black dagger, and she seemed to be thinking about the past. With a soft sigh, she made a grasping motion with her right hand, causing the dagger to fly into her grasp. Then, she pointed it at the old man.

“By the authority conferred upon me by the Meng Clan torture hall,” she said coolly, “I hereby excise you from the Meng Clan !” As she spoke, a flickering, blood-red sealing mark appeared on her forehead. As soon as the members of the older generation saw that mark, they let out a collective gasp.

“A bloodline seal.... Now it makes sense. As the Grand Elder of the clan back then, Meng Shan would have been qualified to bestow bloodline seals like that, to pa.s.s on his legacy to others.”

In that same moment, Grandma Meng slashed the blade toward the old man from the seventh bloodline, causing black light to flare out and then stab down toward him.

He tried to fight back, but was instantly cut down by Meng Hao’s granduncles.

His head flew off of his shoulders, and his body exploded. The other members of the seventh bloodline, even the Elders, were shocked, and immediately began to flee. Grandma Meng ignored them. Then a tremor ran through her which no one except for Meng Hao noticed. He could tell that the so-called Sin Blade really was formed by a convergence of will.

That will came from the spirit of the people who had sacrificed their blood to forge the blade. Because of that, only someone with a bloodline sealing mark could control the weapon. Although nothing seemed out of the ordinary, slas.h.i.+ng out with the blade just now had actually injured her. After all, she really wasn’t a true member of the Meng Clan.

As for how she was able to control the grand protective spell formation, Meng Hao had already picked up on some of the clues. He could sense some of his grandmother’s aura within the grand spell formation, and could also sense fluctuations from the spell formation on her.

“It’s not because of any Daoist magic. Actually... the grand protective spell formation is allowing her to control it.” Meng Hao looked thoughtfully at the Meng Clan ancestral mansion, and the tallest structure therein... the enormous statue!

That was not only where the Dao Realm Patriarchs stayed in secluded meditation, it was also the nucleus of the grand protective spell formation.

There were now no more members of the seventh bloodline in the main hall below. They had all fled.

Meng Hao remained in a position behind his grandmother, watching everything play out silently and not interfering. He would comply with his grandmother’s wishes in everything. Truth be told, he only cared about his grandmother’s bloodline; as for the rest of the Meng Clan, they didn’t matter much to him at all.

Grandma Meng turned to Meng Hao, a kind smile on her face as she said, “Hao’er, this is where your mother used to live, and today, I'm bequeathing it to you.” Then she turned, looking coldly in the direction of where the first bloodline lay, in the shadow of the enormous statue.

“That is where we used to live,” she said, proceeding forward. The other members of the Meng Clan who were in her way hesitated for a moment, then fell back to make way, the fear in their eyes clear.

Meng Hao’s grandmother could control the spell formation and the Sin Blade, plus had a bloodline sealing mark. All of that ensured that none of the other bloodlines were willing to attack. After all... they were confident that the tenth bloodline wasn’t out to exterminate all of the other clan members.

However, as Grandma Meng and the others neared the district where the first bloodline was located, a growling voice echoed out from within the enormous statue.

“Enough. We’re all part of the Meng Clan after all. There will be no more internecine strife within the clan. The tenth bloodline has returned, and the whole Meng Clan should be celebrating that. There’s no need for fighting.”

In response to his words, all of the surrounding members of the Meng Clan began to bow their heads. Grandma Meng was the only one who simply looked up at the statue, a complex look in her eyes. After a long moment, she spoke in a raspy voice, “Is that you, Patriarch Meng Yan? I’m fine with holding back from killing, but the place occupied by the first bloodline belongs to us. Tell them to clear out, and we can call an end to the matter immediately!” [1. Meng Hao’s granduncle is named 孟衍 mèng yǎn, whereas this Patriarch is 孟炎 mèng yán. As you can see, there are two different “Yan” characters, and if you look at the tone marks you can see that their p.r.o.nunciation is slightly different]

“Impossible!” said a cold, grim voice from within the district occupied by the first bloodline. “Your cultivation base is in the piddling great circle of the Ancient Realm. If it weren’t for that Junior generation expert behind you, it wouldn’t matter that you can control the spell formation and the Sin Blade, you still wouldn’t be qualified to cause a ruckus!”

The owner of the voice emerged, a white-haired young boy.

His face was distorted in rage, and he emanated the aura of the Quasi-Dao Realm. However, that aura was filled with a sensation of decay, as if his longevity within the Quasi-Dao Realm was almost completely expended.

That just made him seem more maddened, and as he emerged, killing intent surged. He flicked his sleeve and was just about to continue speaking, when Meng Hao interrupted.

“Pipe down!” he said, his voice cool and calm. His words transformed into a powerful, invisible force which instantly stopped the white-haired boy in his tracks. “When the adults are talking, pipsqueaks like you should keep their traps shut. If you don’t, however many hundreds of years of longevity you have left, I can end them now.” As Meng Hao’s cold voice echoed about, the white-haired boy stood there trembling, eyes bright red as he glared at Meng Hao.

Grandma Meng stood there silently, as did Meng Hao’s granduncles, uncles, and aunts. They had to admit that all of this was happening because of Meng Hao, and if it weren’t for his help, their comeback would have been impossible.

Meng Hao sighed. How could he not have come to realize the same thing himself? It became especially apparent to him when he realized that his grandmother had injured herself in the attack. Finally, he turned, clasped hands and bowed deeply to his grandmother.

“Grandma Meng, may I please take care of the situation?”

His grandmother looked back at him for a moment, then finally smiled.

“I guess there’s no need to hold you back. Alright, go ahead and take care of things.”

Meng Hao smiled, then turned, gaze calm as he looked at the white-haired boy. “Scram!”

“YOU!!” the boy cried, eyes widening, body trembling. It didn’t matter that he wasn't a match for Meng Hao. Considering he was in front of the entire clan, he couldn’t help but yell at Meng Hao in such a way. After all, his life would be ending soon anyway, so how could he fear death?

Before he could say anything else, Meng Hao snorted coldly. Then, he flickered into motion, suddenly appeared directly in front of the young boy. There, he waved his hand, causing a ma.s.sive tempest to spring up, with the boy at the center. It rapidly became a tornado, which spread out in the blink of an eye to cover the entire district occupied by the first bloodline, picking up their cultivators and spinning them around, causing bloodcurdling shrieks to ring out.

The white-haired boy was at the center of it all. Meng Hao burned with hatred because of the insulting words he had spoken to his grandmother moments ago, so he waved his hand, causing the boy to let out a miserable scream. His body trembled and then began to disappear into a haze of blood and gore. His already reduced longevity was now forcibly being sc.r.a.ped away. Within the s.p.a.ce of a few breaths of time, he transformed into ash which then faded away.

Everything was deathly silent; all eyes came to rest on Meng Hao, and they were filled with fear.

That was the exact result Meng Hao had been aiming for. He couldn’t stay in the Eighth Mountain and Sea for long, and if Grandma Meng wasn’t willing to go to the Ninth Mountain and Sea, then he had to ensure that they had a strong position within the Meng Clan.

If their position was strong enough, then when he left, the bloodline would be safe. Anyone who dared to think about provoking them would definitely consider the ramifications first.

“Unfortunately, their position.... isn't strong enough yet,” he thought. Then he looked up at the statue, eyes flas.h.i.+ng like lightning as his gaze pierced inside to stare at the five Dao Realm experts sitting there.