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The seal was the most critical factor in Shui Dongliu’s plan. In addition to the 33 Heavens and Dao Fang, there was something else suppressing the Mountain and Sea Realm... a seal left behind by the two powerful forces which had fought the Paragon Immortal Realm!

That was the key, and that seal’s name was... the Aeon Span! It actually didn't exist within the Mountain and Sea Realm itself, but outside of the 33 Heavens. Also... only the arrival of the Immortal G.o.d Continent, and the pressure which came with it, could make the invisible Aeon Span appear in the starry sky of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

This was the very moment that Shui Dongliu had been waiting for!

Tearing open that seal required a blow from a powerful land ma.s.s, like what had just happened. In addition, the auras of both the 33 Heavens and the Immortal G.o.d Realm needed to be fused with... Demonic qi!

Those three types of energy, when merged together, could weaken the Aeon Span. Missing even one of them was unacceptable. But with all of them together, along with the force produced by continents colliding... a hole could be opened.

That was the purpose of Windswept’s traitorous act, and that was the purpose of Slaughter severing a corner of the land ma.s.s.

All of that was necessary to break open the seal. It required meticulous planning, and the perfect amount of elements involved. It required calculating exactly how many of the Heavenly land ma.s.ses were required, as well as the exact size of the corner of the Immortal G.o.d Continent that needed to be severed.

Shui Dongliu had prepared for countless years for this very moment. He had sent many people to attack the 33 Heavens, to die fighting Dao Fang, all to measure the exact extent of the Aeon Span!

In the end, all the scattered information that had been gathered were pieced together to form a precise answer to the question. And that was merely the first phase of Shui Dongliu’s plan!

Suddenly, his words rang out to the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

“What I cared about regarding this war was neither how each battle in the war progressed nor whether we would ultimately be victorious,” he murmured. “Rather... I cared about how to preserve the Mountain and Sea Realm.

“From the very beginning, I needed to accomplish three tasks. The first task... was to draw out the war until the Immortal G.o.d Continent arrived. Yes, I was sure that they would be the first to arrive!

“The second task was to preserve the true resources of the Mountains and Seas until their arrival. Even at the cost of innumerable lives, it was important to save the final salvo for the critical moment!

“Because of that, many, many cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm were sacrificed. All for the future. There was no one above sacrifice. All of you, and even me. All of that sacrifice was necessary to fuel the third phase of my plan.

“You can’t blame me for keeping so many cards up my sleeves. I hid everything, and deceived everyone.

“The third task I needed to accomplish in this war... was the part of the plan that involved Planet South Heaven and the Fang Clan.

“There is a seal in place on Planet South Heaven that Mountain and Sea cultivators cannot affect. It was necessary for me to use the Outsiders to destroy it. Don’t forget, Planet South Heaven is also known as the Door of South Heaven.... The power to propel the wings could not come from Fang Xiufeng and his wife alone. Every flap of the wings drains ma.s.sive amount of soul power. Those souls... are the souls of the ninety-nine percent of the Mountain and Sea cultivators who have died in the fighting. In the end, they had to die, and they had to die before the Immortal G.o.d Continent arrived. If they died too late, there wouldn’t be enough time to absorb them and propel the wings.” Shui Dongliu’s voice seemed to be filled with grief, a grief which was reflected in the glow of his eyes.

“I’m sorry...I’ve been keeping so much hidden from you. The price to be paid was the lives of ninety-nine percent of the Mountain and Sea Realm. If we succeed, then the Mountain and Sea Realm can escape from this war, and fly to freedom!

“If we fail... then my Dao will be destroyed, and I will fight to the death!!” Shui Dongliu flicked his sleeve. As the hole opened up in the starry sky, the surrounding Outsider army was shocked, and the powerful experts from the Immortal G.o.d Continent instantly went on guard. Then, Shui Dongliu raised his hands high above his head.

“Mountain and Sea Realm, awaken!!” The instant the words left his mouth, a Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering power erupted out from Shui Dongliu. Energy surged out as the second phase of his plan... was unfurled!

As his energy erupted out, and his voice echoed through the starry sky, the pressure weighing down from the Immortal G.o.d Continent actually caused... the crumbled Ninth Mountain to suddenly... emit ma.s.sive rumbling sounds and... reappear whole within the starry sky!

The Ninth Mountain stood just as it had before! Within the celestial pond, the Xuanwu turtle howled, but this time, it was capable of more than just making noise. This time, it flew up out of the pond, energy erupting out from its body.

At the same time, the Eighth Mountain, Seventh Mountain, Sixth Mountain, Fifth Mountain... all of the mountains which had been destroyed in the war, reappeared for all to see, erect within the starry sky, radiating intense energy.

When the First Mountain appeared, all Nine Mountains could be seen. It was as if they hadn’t even sustained a scratch of damage; apparently, what had been destroyed were mere projections. This was Shui Dongliu’s plan; to completely fool the Outsiders, as well as the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm!

The Mountain and Sea Realm had not been destroyed!

Next, the First Sea appeared, then the Second Sea, the Third Sea and so on, until eight Seas could be seen, pulsing with boundless power that caused the starry sky to tremble. The Outsiders were flabbergasted, and couldn't believe what they were seeing.

There was one Sea missing, the Ninth Sea. It really had turned traitor, and was now sitting there uneasily among the Outsider army!

Within the same army, the 8-Essences Paragon’s face turned grim to the extreme.

Off to the side, the monkey Dao Fang’s eyes were glowing brightly with shock and fear. “Now it makes sense! When I destroyed that Mountain with my staff, I couldn’t help but wonder why the Mountains were so weak. No wonder! And here I thought the Mountain and Sea Realm was weak. How could I ever have imagined... that I was so far from the truth!?”

Dao Fang clenched his right hand into a fist. The feeling of being completely and utterly made a fool of filled his eyes with murderous rage.

Meng Hao’s laughter suddenly ceased, and no sounds of crying could be heard. He was suddenly very quiet, as though his aura had returned to its normal state. However, his eyes were just as red as ever, indicating that henceforth, he was not an Immortal, but... a Demon!

He looked at the newly re-formed Mountain and Sea Realm, which seemed even more intensely real than the Mountain and Sea Realm which he knew. There was a boundlessness to it, something that seemed to conform perfectly with the boundless domineering nature of Paragon Nine Seals, who had created it.

Although this development was surprising, after thinking about it for a moment, Meng Hao realized that it was all within the purview of predictability.

However, things weren’t over yet!

The resources of the Mountain and Sea Realm weren’t limited to this. The destroyed sun and moon suddenly reappeared, and all of a sudden, Meng Hao realized that the bow he had... was not the true precious treasure. It was only a projection!

When the sun reappeared, the bow projection turned into a beam of light that shot back to the sun itself. Furthermore, the precious treasure that Ksitigarbha had acquired from the moon did the same thing as it returned to the moon!

The sun and the moon began to s.h.i.+ne with brilliant light, filling the starry sky with boundless radiance!

The surviving cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm stared with overt shock. It was as if the pressure weighing down on the Realm had finally reached the point where it couldn't be sustained any more, causing the whole world to erupt. Rumbling could be heard as the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite appeared. It was as if Time were changing; an enormous coffin rose up, glittering with Immortal light. It slowly began to open, and a withered hand reached up from within and grasped the side of the coffin. Then, an old man pulled himself to his feet.

Instantly, the aura of an 8-Essences Paragon erupted out, causing a gasp to rise up from the Outsider army. The Outsiders’ 8-Essences Paragon stared with wide eyes, and Dao Fang’s pupils constricted.

“Daoist Immortal Ancient!” said an ancient voice from the Immortal G.o.d Continent. The old man standing up from within the coffin was none other than Daoist Immortal Ancient, who was second only to Nine Seals in the Paragon Immortal Realm! His cultivation base was at the 8-Essences level, but he actually stood on the very cusp of 9-Essences!

As that happened, one of the other Three Great Daoist Societies, the Nine Seas G.o.d World, summoned numerous G.o.d Doors. As they opened, countless figures appeared, clad in brown armor, radiating ancient, murderous auras. Apparently, they had been asleep for a very long time, but had now awakened, and were slowly appearing.

Dozens of them could be seen, and each one erupted with the pressure of an Imperial Lord. It was an ancient, primeval aura that not even w.a.n.g Youcai and the other newly raised Imperial Lords could match up to.

Next was the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto. Ma.s.sive rumbling could be heard as one billion swords materialized, which shot forth to swirl around the Mountain and Sea Realm. Each one of those one billion swords contained an ancient soul, which were none other than the souls of the cultivators who had died when the catastrophe struck the Paragon Immortal Realm.

They had been sleeping up until this moment, but now they were awake!

Things weren’t over yet. The Mountain and Sea Realm continued to rumble as three temples appeared, which shone with boundless light, and the power of scriptures. These were the temples of the three great Doyens, and also... the origin of the three cla.s.sic scriptures!

It was also in this very moment that a completely shocking will swept through the starry sky. It was none other than... the will of the Mountains and Seas. It had been slowly weakened from the beginning of the war, until it finally dispersed. But as of this moment, it had formed back together to shocking effect. It was far more powerful than it had been before; this was the true and authentic will of the Mountains and Seas!

The pressure weighing down caused all of the Outsiders in the Mountain and Sea Realm to reel from astonishment, blood spraying out of their mouths. Regardless of the levels of their cultivation base, they fell back in shock.

That was even more true of the 8-Essences Paragon and Dao Fang, both of whom looked completely crestfallen.

“This... this....” the 8-Essences paragon muttered. And yet, the Mountain and Sea Realm’s resources were still abundant, and continued to erupt out!

A roaring sound echoed out from the First Sea as the sea water churned. Shockingly, a huge giant rose up from the depths of the sea floor. It was enormous, and its body was covered with countless glowing white designs. Heaven and Earth cowered beneath it, and most notable of all was that its face had three eyes!

It extended its hand and made a grasping motion, and in response, a beam of light shot out from the First Mountain, within which was a gigantic battle-axe. The giant grabbed the battle-axe and then let out a powerful roar.

Cries of shocked alarm rang out from the Immortal G.o.d Continent. “A Three-eyed G.o.d!!”

The Three-eyed G.o.d tribe was from one of the few Lower Realms who had chosen not to rebel. Their battle prowess was strong, and in fact, they had fought fiercely with the G.o.d tribes of the Immortal G.o.d Continent.

The resources of the Mountains and Seas exploded out.... Rumbling sounds echoed out as Heaven and Earth dimmed, the starry sky trembled, and everything shook violently!