“What about the rest of them?” asked the statue coolly. Having been called Patriarch by Li Daoyi, and considering what it had said about possession, it seemed that its true ident.i.ty was now apparent.
This was the Li Clan Chosen who had pa.s.sed through the eighth matrix four thousand years ago, but had not continued onto the ninth. That was the only interesting or amazing thing that anyone knew about him.
Even after returning to the Li Clan, he said or did little. A thousand years after that, he pa.s.sed away in meditation. Nowadays, unless you mentioned the Blood Immortal Legacy, no one would even remember him.
However, one of the Li Clan’s deepest secrets, were the final words spoken by that very person. Those words had been pa.s.sed down from one generation of Li Clan Lord to the next. Actually, the Patriarch… was not dead at all.
His last words stated that after the completion of the eighth Blood Immortal Legacy tournament, the bloodline of Ancient Doom had fallen to the Li Clan!
The person who had emerged from the Legacy tournament four thousand years ago was him, but not all of him. That person contained only a portion of his spirit. The rest of him had forced itself upon the slumbering Blood slave in the sixth matrix. From that day until this, only members of the Li Clan were aware of it.
It was an unimaginably fantastic situation. The Blood slave was incredibly powerful, and the Li Clan Patriarch, being at the Foundation Establishment stage, should not have been able to successfully possess it. In fact, anyone below the Nascent Soul stage shouldn’t be able to. Yet somehow… he had!
No one could possibly know how he’d accomplished it. However, afterwards part of him returned to the Clan missing most of its spirit. It faded away, leaving behind a final will and explanation.
“Patriarch can ignore the disciples of the Song Clan and Blood Demon Sect,” said Li Daoyi with a respectful smile. “And the one who just escaped counts for nothing. However, this w.a.n.g Lihai from the w.a.n.g Clan must die!” The Blood Dragon next to him lifted its head.
Suddenly, several Blood Divinities appeared in the region surrounding Li Daoyi. One of them was w.a.n.g Lihai’s Xuanwu turtle, as well as the Blood Sprite belonging to the young man who looked like w.a.n.g Youcai. The Blood Divinities trembled as soon as they appeared, and instantly, the Blood Dragon charged forward and swallowed them whole. They didn’t resist even the least bit.
“A junior member of the w.a.n.g Clan…” said the statue coolly, eyeing the Blood Dragon. “Exterminating w.a.n.g Clan Chosen is something I can do. I should only be able to help you here within the sixth matrix. As for the following three matrixes, I should be unable to help you directly. However, in the past four thousand years, I have come to understand much about the Blood Immortal Legacy zone. In fact, no one in the world understands more about it than me.
“After possessing your Blood Dragon, I am completely confident that in the time it takes for a few incense sticks to burn, we can charge through the seventh, eighth and ninth matrixes. Then you can acquire the Legacy.”
“Many thanks for your a.s.sistance, Patriarch,” replied Li Daoyi respectfully “Junior does not care too much about the Legacy. I am here on the orders of the Clan Lord, to receive you and lead you out.”
“When the eighth Blood Immortal Legacy tournament concluded, the bloodline of Ancient Doom fell to the Li Clan,” said the statue, its voice deep and archaic. “Those words were spoken by me, and are naturally true. The Blood Immortal Legacy belongs to you. I’ve been trapped in here for four thousand years, and have no idea what the outside world has come to be… I wonder how many of my friends from the old days are still alive.” When it finished speaking, the s.p.a.ce between its eyebrows split, and a glowing light appeared. As the crack split open, the statue’s body grew dim. The glow flew out, forming a blinding beam of light that shot toward the Blood Dragon.
The Blood Dragon didn’t resist. The b.l.o.o.d.y light entered it, and its entire body spasmed for a few moments. Then its eyes began to glow, emitting an ancient aura. It made a gulping motion, as if it hadn’t completely swallowed the other Blood Divinities.
Its body flashed, and suddenly, it expanded until it was three thousand meters long, causing this entire world to shake and tremble. Time pa.s.sed.
Eventually it shrank back down until it was only sixty meters in length. It circled around Li Daoyi, then flew toward the glowing stone door, and then left the sixth matrix. The only thing that was left behind was the lifeless statue, which stood there quietly, unmoving.
The instant Li Daoyi emerged from the sixth matrix, an uproar emerged among the nearly ten thousand observers outside in the Southern Domain.
Li Daoyi was the last to come out. The first had been Meng Hao, who had flown out, coughing up four or five mouthfuls of blood. He had struggled into a cross-legged position to meditate. His appearance had caused an uproar as he sat there, madly absorbing as much spiritual energy as he could to heal his wounds. Even though his eyes were closed, he radiated an intense killing intent.
After him was the youth from the Blood Demon Sect, who looked like w.a.n.g Youcai, and then Song Jia. Both of them seemed to be in bad situations. Their bodies were covered with wounds, and both seemed to have broken bones. Their breath came in ragged pants, and their Blood Divinities were nowhere to be seen.
Gritting their teeth, they sat cross-legged like Meng Hao, using the thick spiritual energy in the area to do breathing exercises to heal their wounds. Their injuries quickly began to heal, but quick glances revealed to both that their Blood Divinities were indeed gone. Complicated, thoughtful expressions appeared on their faces. It was quite obvious what they were thinking.
w.a.n.g Lihai didn’t emerge. This caused an unprecedented uproar outside. Everyone had seen the blurry image of w.a.n.g Lihai disappear within the sixth matrix. This clearly indicated that he had pa.s.sed away.
The w.a.n.g Clan members’ minds were instantly sent reeling, especially that of w.a.n.g Lihai’s Dao Protector and the w.a.n.g Clan Elders. Expressions of disbelief filled their faces. Their eyes were instantly shot with blood, and it seemed as if their heads might explode.
The entirety of the Southern Domain was instantly thrown into chaos; no one could possibly have predicted that w.a.n.g Lihai would die. This would send the w.a.n.g Clan into an unimaginable fury.
w.a.n.g Lihai was extremely important among the current generation of the w.a.n.g Clan; he was the Dao Child of the Foundation Establishment stage. Chosen could fall, but Dao Children simply could not. This was an generally recognized rule among the various Sects and Clans. This was apparent by the fact that although the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament was important, none of the five Sects had dispatched Dao Children, only Chosen.
The w.a.n.g Clan and the Li Clan were the only to have dispatched Dao Children!
The most glad of all was none other than w.a.n.g Tengfei. His body trembled with excitement, and he clenched his fist tightly. He had been waiting for this day for a very, very long time. Next to him, w.a.n.g Xifan seemed equally excited. The two of the exchanged a look; their futures now seemed filled with limitless possibilities.
When Li Daoyi finally emerged, the sixty-meter long Blood Dragon circling about him, the outside world exploded with shock.
Song Jia slowly stood up and headed through the glowing exit door, her face pale. She had chosen to give up. After her, the youth from the Blood Demon Sect who looked like w.a.n.g Youcai stood up. Ignoring Li Daoyi, he looked at Meng Hao for a moment, and seemed to hesitate. Then, he turned and left through the glowing door, also opting not to continue on.
Their departure caused further uproar in the outside world.
“What exactly happened within the sixth matrix? It looks like no one else has a Blood Divinity except for Li Daoyi. And w.a.n.g Lihai… actually died! He’s a Dao Child of the w.a.n.g Clan!”
“Only Li Daoyi still has a Blood Divinity. And from the look of it, it’s way too powerful! Maybe he really does have a chance of acquiring the Legacy!”
As the discussions continued in the outside world, Meng Hao opened his bloodshot eyes. He slowly stood up and walked toward the glowing door, his expression one of stubborness. Before he stepped through, he looked back toward Li Daoyi’s blurry figure. What he was looking at, however, was not Li Daoyi, but the clearly visible Blood Dragon.
As he gazed at the Blood Dragon, Meng Hao’s heart began to pound. He wasn’t sure if others had seen it, but the look in the eye of this dragon was exactly the same as that within the statue. His mind flickered as he put the pieces together. He was now eighty to ninety percent sure of what had happened.
As Meng Hao looked over, Li Daoyi let out a derisive chuckle. “Remember my name,” he said. “I’m Li Daoyi. Your dog died a horrible death.” He lifted his hand to rest on the Blood Dragon.
Hearing the words caused Meng Hao’s mind to rumble with the sound of a hundred thousand exploding lightning bolts. Blood dripped from the corners of his lips as he stared murderously at Li Daoyi. Within his eyes burned fury and killing intent that rose to the heavens. He had practiced Cultivation to a very high level, and had desired to kill many people. But at the moment, his desire to kill this person was intense to the extreme.
However, Meng Hao’s personality was such that, the more he wished to kill someone, the more taciturn he became. He had been like this when small, and was even more so now. The more quiet he was, the more vicious he grew. People who like to roar and scream were mere philistines. People who maintained their silence were the truly frightening ones!
A long moment pa.s.sed. Finally, Meng Hao angrily turned on his heel and walked through the glowing door.
Laughing, Li Daoyi walked forward into the seventh matrix.
When Meng Hao appeared in the volcano, outside of the lake of blood, his eyes burned with the flames of fury. The events that had occurred within the sixth matrix continued to replay in his mind, and an increasingly profound killing intent emanated from his body.
“Li Daoyi, I, Meng Hao, will send you to your death!” His eyes were filled with blood, causing him to look more ferocious than ever. His body flashed, transforming into a beam of multicolored light that shot toward Chu Yuyan and her alchemy works.p.a.ce.
When he arrived, Chu Yuyan was in the midst of adjusting the earthly flame. The Perfect Foundation Pill was at a critical moment, on the verge of being complete. At first, she had thought that Meng Hao might not make it back in time, and that she would have a chance to study it some. And yet here he was, in complete opposition to her expectation. She considered trying to pull off something tricky, but when she saw Meng Hao’s grim expression, she hesitated. It was obvious that he was like a volcano on the verge of erupting, not someone to be trifled with.
Meng Hao approached and sat down cross-legged, uttering not a word. And yet, his hatred for Li Daoyi, and his desire to kill him, only continued to ferment and grow stronger. An intense, difficult to describe anxiety filled his heart. He refused to believe that the mastiff was dead. He would establish the Perfect Foundation, and then he would rescue the mastiff!
Chu Yuyan didn’t dare to speak. A look of concentration filled her face. She took a deep breath and ground her teeth. Then her hand flickered with an incantation gesture, and she pushed down onto the pill furnace. As she did, the earthly fire and magma beneath roared. The pill furnace quivered.
At the moment, it seemed as if all the mists within the volcano were roiling. The ground trembled. Outside, the wind and clouds seemed to have been disturbed. Great sheets of clouds began to form, one on top of the other, roiling out in all directions. Lightning crackled across the sky, filling the air with ma.s.sive booms. With every crash of lightning, strange, mystical signs would appear in the the sky outside.
“Is this really a Thunder Pill?” Of course, Chu Yuyan had had her suspicious. But now, seeing the roiling of the mists, and everything above in the outside world, she was even more sure. This pill… was definitely not some type of Thunder Pill.
“For a pill to provoke this change in the Heavens based on its mere appearance… It seems as if the Heavens wish to destroy the pill itself! Just… just what pill is this!?” Chu Yuyan was shocked to the core. As she pressed down on the pill furnace, a roaring filled the air. Suddenly, the pill furnace collapsed into pieces, sending out a powerful blast. Chu Yuyan coughed up a mouthful of blood as she was flung backward into the stone wall. She instantly fell unconscious.
Meng Hao’s eyes suddenly opened, and he shot forward. As the pill furnace collapsed, the outside world filled with lightning and roaring, and the ground quaked, filling with cracks and fissures. Meng Hao reached out… and s.n.a.t.c.hed the mystical seven-colored pill from within the furnace!
The Perfect Foundation Pill!
This pill was a defiance of the Heavens, not permitted by heaven and earth. The world outside the volcano rumbled. The layers of clouds shone brightly as they churned. A seemingly infinite amount of lightning was gathering, preparing to eradicate the pill which Meng Hao held in his hand. If anyone dared to consume this pill in the face of the Heavens, then they would face intense Tribulation of lightning!
The Heavens did not permit this type of pill to exist, nor did they permit anyone to consume such a pill. Swallowing it down const.i.tuted a type of Cultivation that warranted destruction! This path was a path of continued Heavenly tribulation!
And yet, Meng Hao did not hesitate. As he held the pill in his hand, it seemed as if it were beginning to melt. He had the feeling that if he did not immediately consume it, the pill would disappear on its own, without any help from Tribulation Lightning!
He didn’t know why this was happening, and didn’t have time to think about it. Nor did he have any time to think about duplicating the pill. Even as he looked at it, it began to show signs that it was about to fall apart.
Resolve filling his eyes, Meng Hao placed the pill into his mouth. Above, lightning condensed and prepared to fall down.
When the pill entered his mouth, it dissolved instantly and traveled down into his abdomen. A roar filled him, along with a strange power that seemed as if it might cause his entire body to collapse. This was not the power of heaven and earth, but something else, something difficult to describe. At this moment, Meng Hao’s Dao Pillar began to tremble.
As it trembled, the crack on its surface suddenly began to show signs of healing. A feeling of perfection condensed within Meng Hao’s body. His flesh and blood seemed to grow tougher. His golden Dao Pillar hummed and seemed to expand. His flesh began to s.h.i.+ne with a faint golden glow that grew stronger and stronger.
He sensed a feeling of power that he had never before experienced with his Flawless Foundation. Along with it, his view of the world suddenly changed. His Spiritual Sensed experienced unbridled growth. Everything in his body was changing. The Perfect Foundation, which had not been seen in the Cultivation World for tens of thousands of years, was now evolving!
According to the legends, a Perfect Foundation had not been seen in millennia. But here it was in Meng Hao. The power of his Spiritual Sense far exceeded that of the middle Foundation Establishment stage. In fact, Meng Hao knew that if he had enough spiritual energy, he could instant form his second and third Dao Pillars!
Furthermore, he knew that future Dao Pillars that appeared would also be legendary Perfect Dao Pillars!
At this moment, booming sounded out in the sky above. Up in the air, an enormous lightning bolt shot down toward the volcano, slamming into the glowing s.h.i.+eld.
When it hit the s.h.i.+eld, each and every one of the seven Blood Immortal Legacy zones around the Southern Domain suddenly erupted with a blood-red glow. The b.l.o.o.d.y glow instantly wiped out the images that the onlookers had been watching, and shot toward the Heavens, forming enormous pillars of blood.
Around each of these pillars of blood whipped blood-red iron chains. Furthermore, on top of each pillar was a blurry, bound figure who let loose agonized screams.
All of this happened too suddenly. The audiences surrounding the seven Legacy zones were astonished, unsure of what was happening.
“What’s going on?! What happened!?”
“The blood screen shot up into the sky! We can’t see what’s happening inside the Legacy zone. What’s going on?!”
The Cultivators of the Southern Domain were one and all thrown into chaos. Multiple figures flew up out of the various temples of the five great Sects and three great Clans. All of these were ancient Cultivators who usually spent their time in secluded meditation. However the intensity of the outside events had awoken them, and one by one they appeared.
“The Blood Immortal Sacrifice! This is the legendary Ancient Doom Clan Blood Immortal Sacrifice!!”
“According to the legends, if anyone tries to invade the Ancient Doom Clan, then the Blood Immortal Sacrifice will appear. But the Ancient Doom Clan has long since been put down. Who could their enemy possibly be….”
As the booming filled the Southern Domain, Meng Hao stood within the volcano, staring up into the sky and roaring. He quickly took unconscious Chu Yuyan and wrapped her up in the black net, then set her to the side. After that, his body turned into a prismatic beam as it shot toward the Blood Immortal’s sacrificial altar.
Above him, the Tribulation Lightning descending, causing the glowing s.h.i.+eld to tremble. And yet even as it trembled, a bright red glow erupted from within the volcano, transforming into a ma.s.sive pillar of blood. This towering pillar of blood was the eighth to appear within the Southern Domain.
Generally speaking, the Blood Immortal altar would never do this; but Meng Hao had consumed a Perfect Foundation Pill and provoked Tribulation Lightning. It was the booming of the Tribulation Lightning upon the Blood Immortal sacrificial altar’s s.h.i.+eld that provoked this defensive reaction.
Attacking this s.h.i.+eld was the same as attacking the Blood Immortal!
“Wait for me,” said Meng Hao, the killing intent pouring out of his eyes. “I promised you that I would take you out with me. You wait for me, I’m coming to save you. Then, we will kill Li Daoyi together!” He flew forward like lightning, into the altar, not hesitating in the slightest.
The instant he entered….
Clouds billowed and wind whipped inside the Blood Immortal Legacy zone. Past the ninth matrix, the corpse sat cross-legged, trembling. It slowly lifted its dessicated head, within which a powerful glow appeared. It was a strange glow, but somehow it made the skull-like head look excited.
“Finally… I’ve been waiting….”
Within the eighth matrix, everything shook, and the sky seemed as if it would split open. A deep red glow covered everything. Moments ago everything had been completely silent, but suddenly howls filled the air. The howling seemed to contain excitement!
In the seventh matrix, the only thing that could be seen was an ancient tomb. Inscribed above the tomb were three characters: Tomb of Heaven!
Within the tomb was a coffin nearly three thousand meters long. Inside were heaps of bones, at the centre of which could be seen a dilapidated flag. The flag had three streamers, upon each of which was written a name. Seemingly having fallen victim to the pa.s.sing of years, the first two names were not clear. However, the third was quite visible.
It was the surname “Ji.”
Standing within the tomb, Li Daoyi looked around in surprise. The ground shook and the sky roared. It seemed as if everything were spinning. The Blood Dragon next to him lifted its head, and it lifted its claws as if it were calculating something. Suddenly, its expression changed.
“Quickly. There’s no need to take the Three Immortal Souls Flag. Like I said, we need to proceed directly to the ninth matrix. If we are late… the Legacy will not be yours!!”
“What’s happening?!” said Li Daoyi, his face unsightly.
“The Legacy has long been awaiting someone who defies the Heavens as much as the Ancient Doom Clan. That person has arrived! But, we still have a chance. The Blood Immortal is dead, and whoever reaches him first will acquire the Legacy!!”
“If I had known the Legacy would select him, I would have destroyed him. With him dead, I would be the destined successor!” Li Daoyi’s eyes flashed with killing intent.
“Killing him before would have been simple, but now that he is within the Blood Immortal’s Legacy zone, who would dare to kill him! Who can kill him?!” The Blood Dragon circled around Li Daoyi, suddenly expanding to three thousand meters in length, clearly urgently desiring to leave.
Meanwhile, outside in the Southern Domain, in the Ancient Temple of Doom, one of the three Danger Zones, the temple itself seemed to be coming alive. Inside the ancient temple were countless statues, all of which usually stood there unmoving. Even if someone entered the temple, they wouldn’t change.
But now, these tens upon tens of thousands of statues suddenly began to shake. Their eyes opened, and they lifted their heads toward the Heavens. The entire Clan then let out a defiant howl. As the howl reverberated out, the statues began to fly up into the air and circle around the temple.
Quite a few Cultivators were on watch nearby the temple, and this instantly caused them to be completely shocked.
What caused even more disbelief to be written on their faces was when multiple ghost images of the Ancient Temple of Doom suddenly appeared. It was as if the soul of the temple suddenly was rising up from within the earth. It transformed into a blinding beam of light, carrying the tens upon tens of thousands of statues with it. As it soared up into the sky, the temple a.s.sumed the shape of an enormous war chariot, and the statues became thousands upon thousands of soldiers and warhorses. A Clan of countless warriors and warhorses, ready to do battle with the Heavens!
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