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The starry sky which stretched out over the half planet trembled as boundless energy of Heaven and Earth surged into the enormous cauldron. All seven Patriarchs, including the one in the violet-gold robe, had extremely unsightly expressions on their faces. There was no need to even mention the wastage to their cultivation bases which had occurred over the past three months. Virtually all of the medicinal plants they possessed had already been thrown into the cauldron, and yet Meng Hao’s corpse... still hadn’t fully recovered.

“A pit! That’s not a corpse inside that cauldron, it’s a bottomless pit!” Their hearts ached, and yet the Sect Leader, wherever he was in the depths of the land, hadn’t spoken a single word about the matter, so it would be bad form for them to stop. Enduring the pain, they continued.

Meng Hao, on the other hand, was more excited than ever. He was like a fish back in water, his injuries fully recovered, the instabilities negated.

And yet, he just couldn’t bear to let so much energy of Heaven and Earth go to waste, not to mention all of the legendary medicinal plants, all of which were things that had been extinct in the Mountain and Sea Realm. He was in a constant state of being remoulded; his fleshly body was growing stronger, and his cultivation base was rising.

The bronze lamp was burning brighter than ever as it absorbed the energy of Heaven and Earth, and the valuable, precious materials. As it grew stronger, it in turn helped Meng Hao to grow, causing incredible transformations within him as he grew more powerful.

As the process continued, Meng Hao’s body became more and more suitable... to act as the vessel for the bronze lamp!

Before, his body had been most suited to the 33 Soul Lamps, but now, it was transforming in a way that would allow it to wield the power of that one bronze lamp!

That rebuilding process required that his qi pa.s.sageways be broken down and then reconstructed. Light from the bronze lamp forged new qi pa.s.sageways, which spread out to fill him. New blood vessels stretched out, and the pumping of his heart grew stronger. Every part of him was affected, until his body began to s.h.i.+ne like a precious gem!

There was even a certain ancient feeling that appeared, as though Meng Hao’s body had become a valuable, precious stone from ancient times. There was a chaotic, primeval Dao that seemed to fill him, to permeate every aspect of his flesh and blood, and to swirl around him.

His body seemed more ancient, its aura more primeval, and at the same time, he looked younger!

Even as Meng Hao was being transformed by the bronze lamp, something was happening in the lands below, where the half-planet existed. There could be seen a crimson sea.

It was not blood, but consisted of the condensed power of elemental fire. Within that crimson sea of fire was a huge turtle sh.e.l.l, upon which an old man sat cross-legged.

The turtle sh.e.l.l was like a sealing mark, which was apparently suppressing something that existed underneath the crimson sea of flames. The flames churned, and occasional beams of light would seep up from down below, as though whatever was being sealed underneath was attempting to break free.

The old man’s face was pale white as he expended all possible effort to maintain the suppression of the seal. Because of the intensity of his work, he was unable to sense what was happening in the outside world.

He had no idea what had happened recently. The ancestral relic beneath the sea of flames had become active to a degree that far exceeded its activity in the past. In the past, it would occasionally become very animated every once in awhile, but such events would only last for a few days.

In contrast, this time it had remained active for several months!

Up above, Meng Hao continued the absorption process. The ancient air about him grew more prominent, and caused the starry sky above him to rumble with such intensity that the fluctuations spread out into the rest of Planet Vast Expanse!

The Heavens trembled, and clouds roiled. From a distance, it even looked as if a layer of distorted vortexes had appeared atop Planet Vast Expanse!

The brother-sister duo of Yun Shan and Yun Feng couldn’t see these things, but if they could, Yun Feng would likely be reminded of what he had seen back on the flying shuttle!

The only difference was that the flying shuttle was small, whereas Planet Vast Expanse was... huge!

Over the course of the pa.s.sing months, visiting cultivators on Planet Vast Expanse couldn’t help but sense that something strange was happening. That was especially true of the last half month, during which the distorted vortexes appeared outside of the planet. Any who neared them would find their bodies being withered away rapidly. That terrifying fact ensured that few people dared to get close to them.

Even the mist of the Vast Expanse in the area seemed to have been affected, and began to flow ceaselessly. Eventually, the effect stretched out even farther. If it were possible to look down at the Vast Expanse from an extremely high vantage point, then Planet Vast Expanse would look every bit like a black hole.

That black hole was surrounded by a slowly spinning vortex which affected the entire area around it, and grew larger and larger as time went by!

Out in the Vast Expanse were countless bizarre ent.i.ties who were now trembling. When they cast their gazes in the direction of Planet Vast Expanse, they could sense that something terrifying was slowly awakening there!

Time pa.s.sed. Two months later, the seven 9-Essences Paragons were on the verge of losing their tempers. They had fully unleashed their cultivation bases, and had produced virtually all of the precious materials they possessed. They were now empty and drained, and yet Meng Hao's body in the cauldron was still withered, although it seemed to have improved slightly.

“Dammit, what is this thing? How can this corpse absorb such quant.i.ties of resources!”

“All of those resources were extremely precious and valuable. How is this even possible!?!?”

“By this point, there’s no point in complaining. We need a big burst of energy to restore the corpse. Otherwise, everything else will have been a huge waste!” The seven Paragons gritted their teeth helplessly. As the saying goes, if you ride a tiger, it’s hard to get off. They produced jade slips and sent various messages. Soon, numerous beams of light appeared from the main areas of the sect as cultivators brought more precious materials to feed into the huge cauldron.

"This is Dragonleaf Shoot.... We only have 350 grams of it in the entire sect!”

“Why did you even bring this PineG.o.d Cone here? It’s... it’s... alright, fine!” The seven Paragons felt their hearts twinge with pain; it had only taken a short six months or so for the precious materials they had spent countless years gathering for the sect, to disappear into the cauldron.

The cauldron thrummed, and inside, Meng Hao’s body was actually reverting from its withered state. However, he was continuously suppressing those effects. In some ways, he was feeling a lot of pressure himself.

His fleshly body was getting stronger, and his cultivation base was rising. Gradually, everything began to stabilize. Within the precious materials were some things that could be categorized as Essences of all living things. When those items merged into Meng Hao’s forehead, the Hex marks there gradually filled with more Essence power.

His body was being completely remoulded, completely transformed!

Surprised, Meng Hao let out a sigh. “I can’t keep this up much longer.... Those guys are crazy! They’re throwing so much stuff in that even the bronze lamp can’t absorb it quickly enough.”

More time pa.s.sed, a half month. Outside of the cauldron, the seven Paragons’ hearts raged with flames of fury. The resources of the Vast Expanse School were drawn upon once more. By this point, the energy of Heaven and Earth in the starry sky was showing signs of being dried up. The seven Paragons couldn’t take it any longer.

“Dammit! I give up! I’m gonna drag that corpse out and cut it open to find out what’s going on!”

“This is no cultivator, and definitely not Meng Hao! I checked into Meng Hao earlier, and he’s a cultivator. What we have here is some all-consuming beast!”

“I quit!!” The seven Paragons couldn’t hold back their rage any longer, and shot toward the huge cauldron. Before they could get close, though, the cauldron itself began to emanate thunderous rumbling sounds. The energy of Heaven and Earth ceased moving toward it, and the medicinal brew suddenly went completely still.

Then, Meng Hao slowly rose up from within the shaking cauldron, to hover there in midair. He emanated shocking pressure that filled the entire planet, and spread out even further, causing the starry sky above Planet Vast Expanse to flash with strange colors.

It was at this point that the distortions which surrounded Planet Vast Expanse spread far and wide. Rumbling sounds could be heard as the mist in the boundless vortex was affected in numerous regions.

Countless living beings cried out and began to shake as looks of terror spread out on their faces. There were even certain ancient ent.i.ties which not even the Vast Expanse School would dare to provoke, who were awoken from sleep, with looks of astonishment on their faces.

“Vast Expanse... Dao Body....”

Rumbling sounds filled the entire Vast Expanse, as it was filled by a gargantuan, indescribable vortex. Several shocking auras rose up from the Immortal G.o.d Continent, which looked off into the distance with somberness and shock.

The same thing happened on the Devil Realm Continent, in which several streams of divine sense looked off into the distance in disbelief.

Within the Green Coffin Vortex, the b.u.t.terfly’s wings fluttered as a bit of the mist of the Vast Expanse entered into the world of the b.u.t.terfly, and could be sensed by many.

On the peak of the tallest mountain, tears streamed down Xu Qing’s cheeks, and she smiled.

“I just sensed it.... You’re out there....”

As the shocking events played out in the Vast Expanse, back above the half planet inside Planet Vast Expanse, Meng Hao floated there, the center of all attention among the surrounding disciples of the Vast Expanse School.

A fragrant aroma even spread out from him, and his body truly looked as if it had been moulded from precious gems. His facial features were the same, but in terms of his overall appearance, it was vastly different.

Anyone who looked at him would be shaken, as if they had just laid eyes on the most perfect treasure in existence!

As for the seven 9-Essences Paragons, they stepped forward, their eyes glowing with strange light as they examined Meng Hao.