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At the same time, all of the cultivators in the Mountain and Sea Realm unleashed their divine abilities to batter against the seal, which began to weaken and crack. However, the 33 Heavens had paid an incredible price to put this seal in place; it was clearly something extraordinary in nature. Despite cracking, it did not fall.

Outside of the Mountain and Sea Realm, booming sounds echoed out from the moon as the Imperial Lords and the other Outsiders attacked it relentlessly. The moon quivered on the verge of being destroyed, causing Xuan Fang to begin to laugh coldly, and completely ignore the Paragon puppet, which was slaughtering its way toward the 16th Heaven. Instead, he stood in place, both hands flas.h.i.+ng in incantation gestures as a bizarre aura built up around him. Soon, countless illusory figures became visible in his vicinity.

As that happened, the divine abilities of millions of Outsiders descended onto the sun like a sea of magic, engulfing it. The sun did not have the defensive powers that the moon did, so as soon as the sea of magic hit it, it began to crack and split. The entire sun seemed to be on the very brink of collapsing.

There in the midst of the sea of magic was Meng Hao, who began to laugh in the face of the terrifying attack. His eyes burned with fire because he knew that this attack... was something the sun could not withstand; it would be broken!

It was all thanks to the terrifying beam of light which had struck it. That grievous blow ensured that the sun was now incapable of surviving for much longer....

“Since that’s the case, instead of simply letting you destroy this sun... I should use it to kill more of you Outsiders!” Meng Hao threw both hands up and then slammed them down onto the surface of the sun.

The blow was backed by the rotation of his cultivation base and the power of his fleshly body, and the impact caused the sun to tremble, then suddenly explode into pieces!

BOOOOMMMMMM!!

Shrapnel that was the remnants of the sun exploded out in all directions, creating a powerful attack that slammed into the sea of magic. When those two forces collided, a terrifying shockwave blasted out into the starry sky. It was like the roar of a giant as dazzling light shot out everywhere. The whole scene resembled a destructive apocalypse!

As the light and heat of the sun’s self-detonation spread out, the sea of magic was enveloped. The millions of Outsiders were powerful, but the destructive power of the sun was something they simply couldn’t fight against.

After all, this sun had illuminated the Mountain and Sea Realm for tens upon tens of thousands of years. Considering it had heated the Realm for so long, it was impossible to even imagine how hot it was. Most important was that the sun had actually been created from a treasure belonging to Paragon Nine Seals. As such, its detonation was shocking beyond imagination!

The ma.s.sive sound of the explosion filled the Heavens, and the dazzling light it created lit up everything. Everyone in the Mountain and Sea Realm, and all of the Outsiders beyond the area of the explosion, stared at what was happening in complete shock.

The scene playing out in front of them could rightly be described as the most insane thing any of them had witnessed.

The sun was exploding!

BOOOOMMMMMM!

The detonation was not something that just ended immediately. It was an ongoing process in which intense light and heat continuously blasted out in all directions. The sea of magic was completely engulfed, and the surrounding Outsiders had no time to flee. They were swept over, their flesh and blood torn from their bodies as they were incinerated into as.h.!.+

Because of the blinding light, some people simply closed their eyes. Others braved the piercing rays of light to watch. Countless miserable screams began to rise up as rank after rank of Outsiders were wiped away as if by an enormous hand of light.

It was at this point that Paragon Xuan Fang finished his double-handed incantation. He looked up, and a callous smile could be seen on his face. He was the type of person who understood war, and although he would not dare to say that no one in existence could match up to him, he was certain that among the five great Paragons, he was the most skilled strategist.

“In war, there is only victory and defeat,” he said coolly. “There is no such thing as right or wrong. To gain victory... I am willing to sacrifice anything. If it comes down to it, I will even sacrifice myself. Since the spirit of the Mountain and Sea Realm has risen up, then fate has been sealed.... Either you people will die, or us!” Suddenly, he waved his finger in the direction of the ma.s.ses of dead Outsiders.

Along with the wave of his finger came his voice, filled with a strange tone as it echoed out into the starry sky.

“Your souls are the spell, your blood is the sacrament. The world is Vast, the stars are the Expanse. Converge the will of severing into... a blade!”

As his voice echoed out, countless screaming, vengeful souls rose up, which were the dead Outsiders. Their blood, which should have been completely wiped away by the light and heat, now began to swirl up, merge together, and s.h.i.+ne with a bizarre light!

As for the blood which had already faded away, the odor of gore which it left behind rapidly transformed into an illusory sea of blood.

Then the screaming Outsider souls then sank down into the sea of blood, as if they were refusing to die.

The bitter, venomous cries of the souls echoed out into all creation, as if they wanted to overturn the starry sky itself. The converged screams of millions of Outsiders became... the most intense of hatreds!

“Form your hatred into a blade, and use that blade to sever... all mental connections!” Xuan Fang’s voice boomed like thunder, and his expression was completely vicious as he raised his hand up into the air. As he did, the churning sea of blood formed together into the shape... of a blade!

A huge blade!

A blade formed from endless hatred!

Paragon Xuan Fang lifted the blade high up and then slashed it down toward Meng Hao!

“Fellow Daoist Eegoo, today I shall help you… be severed free!”

Even as Meng Hao looked up, he realized that the blade of hatred only seemed to be slas.h.i.+ng toward him. Its real target was the s.p.a.ce just in front of Meng Hao.

There in front of Meng Hao was something that no one could see, and in fact he hadn’t noticed up to this point.... A thread!

It was a thread that Xuan Fang could only see after employing a bizarre magical technique. It was... the thread connecting Meng Hao to his Paragon puppet!

By means of that thread, and by means of divine will, Meng Hao could control the Paragon puppet. More importantly, that thread did not actually belong to Meng Hao himself, nor had he created it. It came from... Choumen Tai!

The blade was descending to sever... that thread!!

If it succeeded... Meng Hao’s divine will connection to his Paragon puppet would be severed!!

The blood and souls of millions of Outsiders had transformed into a blade, which had been Paragon Xuan Fang’s plan all along. Although his actions had seemed to change arbitrarily, the truth was that everything had been done to try to gain the greatest possible advantage for the Outsiders.

His choice in this moment was not to try to cut down Meng Hao, but rather, to sever that thread. In addition to gaining an advantage for the Outsiders, it would also resolve the problem of the Paragon puppet trying to kill Paragon Mythdragon!

A boom rang out, and Meng Hao’s pupils constricted as he sensed the connection between him and the Paragon puppet being cut!

Having control of the Paragon puppet suddenly taken away felt like having a limb severed. It was as if the sensation of control was still there, except that the limb was gone.

At the same time, the Paragon puppet, which had been charging toward the 16th Heaven, suddenly shuddered. Its eyes grew blank as it slowed down and stopped moving.

“A soul blade created from the souls of millions can sever all divine will. Meng Hao, without Eegoo... you are doomed to die!” Xuan Fang began to laugh uproariously. He had always believed himself to be shockingly adept at scheming, and this proved that he was right. His ability with scheming and strategy was truly causing incredible problems for the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Without him, the battle would have been much simpler, and the losses sustained by the Mountain and Sea Realm would have been much more manageable. But now, the sun had exploded, and the moon was in grave danger.

And yet, after Meng Hao’s eyes went wide for a moment, a strange expression appeared on his face. Paragon Xuan Fang loved to scheme, and loved to come up with ideas and plans that no one could see through. Meng Hao already knew that. It was at this point that... Meng Hao blinked, and then cleared his throat.

The thread had been created by Choumen Tai, and although Meng Hao wasn't completely sure of exactly how terrifyingly powerful Choumen Tai was, the mere fact that he could turn a Paragon into a puppet... showed that he was completely beyond the ordinary, and definitely had other terrifying abilities at his disposal.

The agreement with Choumen Tai had been that Meng Hao would have a Paragon puppet, but now... the connection had been severed by someone else, and he had lost the puppet. Most important of all, Choumen Tai needed Meng Hao’s willing aid to be the seed of hope which would lead to the return of his Master. That was why, not only had Choumen Tai refrained from doing anything to harm Meng Hao’s interests, he had also given him the puppet - not just to comply with their agreement, but also as a way to protect him.

After all, Meng Hao's life or death had a lot to do with whether or not Choumen Tai would succeed or fail in awakening his Master. And of course, Meng Hao was aware of all of that.

As such, it was easy to imagine that the person who would be most incensed that the thread had been severed... wouldn’t be Meng Hao, but rather Choumen Tai. He might be slumbering, but he would definitely awaken because of something like that!

It was at this point that Meng Hao said: “Choumen Tai… the thread was severed!”

Xuan Fang’s laughter continued to ring out as he began to advance toward Meng Hao. However, it was then that his face fell, and his heart suddenly trembled. He suddenly had a very bad premonition, a strange feeling in his heart that something disastrous was about to happen.

At the same time, a voice suddenly rang out from the mouth of the motionless Paragon puppet.

“You really dare to sever the thread I created?” The Paragon puppet suddenly turned, and its eyes were glowing bright red. It appeared to be completely and utterly enraged. As of this moment, this was not the Paragon puppet, this was... something which had been buried deep inside of the Paragon puppet.... A fragment of Choumen Tai’s soul!

His voice was filled with a murderous aura, and echoed with madness. Few people could actually hear the voice, but Paragon Xuan Fang could, and his eyes widened. Then his heart began to thump as he slowly turned to look at the Paragon puppet.

Then... his face fell!