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As the Five Venoms charged Meng Hao, Lord White backed up and urgently shot toward the Essence world that was frozen in place up above, in an attempt to restore his sealed Essences.

His heart was filled with vigilance; he almost felt as if he were fighting with his hands and feet tied. From the moment he had arrived in the Eighth Mountain and Sea, Meng Hao had interfered with him at every step. He almost felt as if he were being led down a path by his opponent, and had no choice but to follow.

It was a truly humiliating feeling. In the final a.n.a.lysis, the reason things had turned out this way all stemmed back to how Meng Hao had not held back in any way when he had attacked with that spear!

Although Lord White hadn’t actually been at risk of being killed by that spear, it had lost him the initiative in the fight!

Right now, Meng Hao’s eyes were glittering. He had already paid an enormous price to be able to fight with Lord White, and although he hadn’t killed him, he had already forced him to use some of the Mountain and Sea Scripture.

Because Meng Hao held the initiative, he was able to slowly gain an advantage, and had luckily managed to seal his opponent’s Essence. Even though it had come at heavy price, and he had suffered serious injuries, it was all worth it!

It was all because he had managed to control the rhythm of the battle this entire time. He had never given his opponent the chance to take the initiative. Therefore... he would definitely not give him the chance to do so right now!

“You want to restore your Essences? What makes you think I’ll let you!?” Meng Hao eyed the Five Venoms briefly, but he had no time to deal with them; his target was only Lord White.

“It seems I haven’t been using my Demon Sealing magic as much as I should. I've clearly underestimated it.” Eyes flickering, he suddenly slapped his bag of holding, whereupon a roar echoed out. Then, the mastiff appeared in a beam of blood-colored light, flying out in spectacular fas.h.i.+on.

Next came an entire host of blackpod imps.

Meng Hao’s eyes shone with a strange light. Now that he knew his Demon Sealing Hexing magic could seal Essences, he figured he might as well see the result... of using his current cultivation base to perform Righteous Bestowal!

“Righteous Bestowal!” Without any hesitation, he extended his right hand and then pointed out toward the mastiff. Instantly, the ripples of Demon Sealing Hexing magic began to emanate out from inside of him. The mastiff’s body trembled, and then its energy exploded up. It began to grow larger, and its cultivation base power rose up rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, the mastiff actually broke through from the great circle of the Ancient Realm into the Dao Realm!

Back in the Windswept Realm, Meng Hao had helped the mastiff consume the bat spirit. However, in order to help save Meng Hao, the mastiff had interrupted its breakthrough, leaving it stuck in the great circle of the Ancient Realm.

Now, with the aid of Righteous Bestowal, its cultivation base was able to continue to rise. It threw its head back and roared, then charged toward the Five Venoms. Next, Meng Hao looked at the blackpod imps, and unleashed another Righteous Bestowal!

Immediately, the blackpod imps began to transform drastically, allowing Meng Hao to sense a bit of the power of the Mountains and Seas on them. Of course, that was a power that only Meng Hao could detect. No one else, not even a Mountain and Sea Lord, could do so.

Meng Hao was quite shocked. After examining the mastiff a bit closer, he realized that he could sense the aura of the Mountain and Sea Realm surging within it! “So this is how Righteous Bestowal works. I can actually bestow them with the right to be acknowledged by the Mountain and Sea Realm, and allow them to borrow some of its power!”

The mastiff and the blackpod imps slammed into the Five Venoms; booms immediately began to shake the starry sky as a ferocious battle erupted.

Next, Meng Hao charged toward Lord White!

Lord White's pupils constricted, especially aftering seeing Meng Hao use Righteous Bestowal. Sighing, he realized that his plan of distracting Meng Hao with the Five Venoms while he himself unsealed his Essence, was a failure.

Lord White’s expression suddenly turned calm. Sighing deeply, he looked at Meng Hao and said, “There is no enmity between us, we just have differing viewpoints.... Well, it doesn’t matter. You might be strong, but as a Mountain and Sea Lord, I’m above your ability to deal with.... Since you keep trying, though, then... I’ll just help you see the true power of a Mountain and Sea Lord.”

His sigh caused the starry sky to tremble, and sent powerful ripples exploding out from his body. In the blink of an eye, they spread out to fill the entire Eighth Mountain and Sea.

“I am the Lord of the Seventh Mountain and Sea....” he said softly, and suddenly, an illusory image appeared above his head. It was an image of a mountain, and of a sea!

When that image appeared, it emanated a shocking power. Rumbling sounds echoed out, and a mysterious light shone from Lord White’s eyes as he raised his right hand up high, causing an intense burst of the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm to appear!

At the same time, Lord White began to emanate explosive pressure. Cracking sounds could be heard, the starry sky trembled, and the void distorted as the aura of the Mountain and Sea Realm grew ever stronger upon him.

Furthermore, the image of the mountain and the sea above him grew clearer and clearer.

As that happened, the starry sky of the Seventh Mountain and Sea seemed to drain, the void there grew dark, and life force was even sucked out of the heavenly bodies. Fissures spread out on the Seventh Mountain, as though the life were being extracted from it.

In the Seventh Sea, the sea beasts were trembling as their bodies visibly withered, and the sea itself began to dry up as its power and life force, the foundation of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, were pulled away... to Lord White!

A Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering white light began to s.h.i.+ne off of him, a boundless glow that radiated throughout the Eighth Mountain and Sea, and instantly caught the attention of the other Mountain and Sea Lords within the Realm.

Lord White seemed immeasurably large, and the image of the mountain and sea above his head was now completely crystal clear. Looking at Meng Hao, he pointed his finger and said, “You’re strong, but in the end... you're just an ordinary cultivator. I have transcended the ident.i.ty of a cultivator, and have come to wield the power of one of the nine great Mountains and Seas. I... am the Lord of the Seventh Mountain and Sea!

“In the Mountain and Sea Realm, no one can stand up to a Mountain and Sea Lord. I am the one who decides who lives and who dies.

“I call upon the power of the Mountains and Seas to crush you!”

As his voice echoed out, the aura of the Mountain and Sea Realm seethed around him, transforming into a white sun, which radiated indescribable pressure as it shot toward Meng Hao.

It was the type of attack that could not be sidestepped. It was backed by the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm, guided by the will of one of the great powers in the nine Mountains and Seas, the Lord of the Seventh Mountain and Sea!

Lord White sighed softly. “For various personal reasons, I don’t wish to waste any more of the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm than this. After all, I have existed in this Realm... for many, many years.

“Since you are dying at the hand of the Mountain and Sea Realm, you can at least die without any regrets.” With that, Lord White waved his sleeve, causing the pressure of the Mountain and Sea Realm to increase dramatically.

Meng Hao looked at Lord White. “The Mountain and Sea Realm…?”

He laughed, and his eyes began to s.h.i.+ne. Actually, his main strategy for this fight had two parts. The first part had been the spear gambit. After that, he had simply been waiting for his opponent... to draw upon the power of the Mountains and Seas.

“You want to use Mountain and Sea power in my presence?” Meng Hao waved his right hand, and suddenly, boundless amounts of Mountain and Sea power erupted out from within him. Immediately, Meng Hao’s aura began to rise dramatically.

Lord White gaped in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“This....”

He had never, ever seen anyone other than a Mountain and Sea Lord unleash such a shocking amount of Mountain and Sea power. Furthermore, Meng Hao was clearly not a Mountain and Sea Lord. As such, Lord White’s heart began to pound, and his face fell.

Meng Hao’s eyes flashed as he continued, “You say you’re the Lord of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, but do you know who the entire Mountain and Sea Realm belongs to?”

Even as the words left his mouth, rumbling sounds echoed out as, shockingly... nine mountains appeared above his head!!

In addition to the nine mountains, there were also nine seas!

Nine Mountains! Nine Seas!

Although they were blurry and illusory, and far from the clear image of the mountain and sea above Lord White’s head, the instant they appeared they caused the entire starry sky, the entire Mountain and Sea Realm, to rumble.

An intense pressure suddenly sprang out from Meng Hao.

Lord White’s face completely fell yet again, and he began to tremble. Without even thinking about it, he immediately began to back up, his heart battered by waves of intense shock. Eyes wide with disbelief, he said, “That’s... that’s.... Impossible! You’re... you’re actually the....”

Lord White’s mind was reeling. Considering his level of willpower, there were few things that could ever strike him speechless. But now, he was more shaken than he had ever been.

“This is MY Mountain and Sea Realm,” Meng Hao said coolly, reaching out his hand and making a grasping motion toward Lord White.

That grasping motion caused ma.s.sive rumbling to echo out in Heaven and Earth. The starry sky shook violently as the power of the Mountains and Seas exploded out of Meng Hao. Powerful pressure surged toward Lord White, and an intense sensation of deadly crisis erupted within him. Without any hesitation, he bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then he threw his head back and let out a bitter howl.

“Seventh Mountain and Sea!” Instantly, the power of the Seventh Mountain and Sea erupted out. The Seventh Sea grew dry, and the Seventh Mountain shook. The starry sky of the Seventh Mountain and Sea was on the verge of shattering, as even more Mountain and Sea power converged and shot toward Meng Hao.

In the celestial pond atop the Seventh Mountain, the Xuanwu turtle let out a bitter howl, a howl filled with pain and madness. Lord White used the increased amount of Mountain and Sea power to form another white sun, which clearly surpa.s.sed the level of power of any of the previous attacks he had used against Meng Hao during the battle.

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE....

The starry sky fractured into pieces, and a ma.s.sive boom filled the entire Eighth Mountain and Sea. Blood sprayed out of Lord White’s mouth, and his body was sent spinning backward. His clothes were torn, and more blood sprayed out of his mouth before he finally came to a stop over a thousand meters away, looking completely bedraggled. When he looked up, his eyes shone with intense killing intent.

What he saw was Meng Hao, coughing up blood, also falling backward by hundreds and hundreds of meters. There was now nearly 3,000 meters between the two of them, and both of them saw the intensely murderous expressions in each others eyes.

RUMBLE!

Both of them flew forward in attack, unleas.h.i.+ng a chaotic storm of divine abilities and magical techniques.

More intense booms rocked the Eighth Mountain and Sea as, in the following moments, they exchanged thousands of volleys. Each attack caused the starry sky to dim, and yet, they held nothing back.