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It wouldn’t be correct to say that all of the disciples in the Ninth Sect flew up to a.s.sist. But 10,000,000 was a huge number, all of whom flew up, causing Heaven and Earth to shake.

Their eyes burned with reverence and awe. Many of them were even ranked on the Vast Expanse Shrine. However, because of the Tenth Heaven, Meng Hao had thoroughly won them over, and his heroism in single-handedly fighting the Heavens had set their blood boiling.

As their voices rang out and they flew into the air, the world trembled. Meng Hao’s clone looked at them, heart pounding, and a bit in a daze because of their cries.

His true self, who remained concealed nearby, was also taken aback, and felt his heart beginning to pound.

Their cries gave him a strange feeling. The truth was that before, he had never felt much of an attachment to Planet Vast Expanse. But now, thanks to the cries of the cultivators of the Ninth Sect, Meng Hao couldn’t help but feel moved.

That feeling was like a seed planted in his heart, which almost immediately began to slowly grow. Meanwhile, the black clouds in the sky rumbled, and the enormous outline of the finger formed by the 8,000,000 lightning bolts seemed to seethe with rage as it descended once again.

This time, Meng Hao wasn’t facing the Tribulation Lightning alone. 10,000,000 disciples of the Ninth Sect joined him, unleas.h.i.+ng various divine abilities in a Heaven-defying display. Everything went dim, and the sky seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. The clouds layers roiled, and from a distance, it was possible to see that the truly shocking sight was not the 8,000,000 bolts of Tribulation Lightning, but rather, the 10,000,000 disciples!

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

It was an indescribably powerful offensive, a destructive attack that was difficult to put into words. Anyone who tried to ill.u.s.trate it in a painting would find it very difficult. It was... completely astonis.h.i.+ng!

It was Man versus the Heavens. The Heavens roared, and Man howled. Ma.s.sive rumblings echoed out as the enormous lightning finger began to fall apart. Blood sprayed out of the mouths of the 10,000,000 disciples, transforming into a sea of blood. However, instead of falling to the ground, it shot up toward the lightning.

The intense booming sounds continued to echo out. So far, this battle with the Tribulation Lightning had lasted for over one hundred breaths of time. When the 8,000,000-lightning-bolt finger collapsed, the 10,000,000 disciples once again coughed up blood. All of them were injured, and staggered backward. However, their eyes shone with a spirit that had never before been seen therein.

Their auras were even more fierce and lively, their eyes flas.h.i.+ng with clarity as if their understanding of the world were different now than it just had been.

It was a scene that was earth-topplingly shocking to the Dao Realm experts, Dao Lords, Dao Sovereigns and the 7-Essences Paragon. There were other 7-Essences Paragons who were rus.h.i.+ng over, and when they personally laid eyes on what was happening, they gasped. How could they not tell that the energy of the entire Ninth Sect was now completely different than before!?

There was a vitality, a focus, an incisive power. There was the gall to fight the Heavens! Who said that only a single person could fight the Heavens!?

The Tribulation Lightning wasn’t finished. Even as the 10,000,000 disciples fell back, the black clouds in the sky seethed once more. They shrunk again, but this time, to an exaggerated degree. In the blink of an eye, they were vastly smaller than before, only about 3,000 meters across.

However, as they shrunk, the pressure they exuded emanated out like numerous crus.h.i.+ng mountains that could destroy all.

The disciples gritted their teeth and prepared to charge in attack once more. Before they could, Meng Hao leaped up ahead of them. Surprisingly, he completely ignored the lightning, and turned back to the countless cultivators. Taking a deep breath, his eyes flickered as he clasped hands and bowed deeply to them.

“I, Fang Mu, offer many thanks to you, Fellow Daoists. You've done enough by helping once. After all, this is my Tribulation.... Many thanks!” Without offering any other words, he clasped hands and bowed.

Even as the words left his mouth, the Heavens rumbled, and the 3,000 meter stretch of black clouds shrank down again. Soon, it was only 300 meters wide. Then 30. Then 3. In the end, it transformed into an ink-black needle!

It was pitch black, and filled with the power of all the darkness of the starry sky of the Vast Expanse. Almost immediately, it began to whistle through the air at incredible speed, and from the feeling it let off, it seemed more apparent than ever that it wouldn't rest until Meng Hao was dead.

It moved so quickly that by the time Meng Hao turned his head, the Tribulation Lightning needle was right in front of his forehead.

His eyes flickered; it felt as if all of the Tribulation Lightning were contained in that black needle. It contained soul-destroying power, as well as a divine will of its own.

It was a divine will that contained myriads upon myriads of transformations; if it entered the body, those transformations would explode out, filling his sea of consciousness with infinite bolts of lightning. It would become a divine ability of Heavenly might that would destroy the body inside and out.

Although the lightning might be powerless to affect Meng Hao from the outside, now that the Tribulation Lightning had chosen to use divine will to pierce Meng Hao’s sea of consciousness, it was dangerously destructive.

Meng Hao’s eyes flickered. Had he not experienced everything in the Vast Expanse Shrine, his only option would have been to rely on the strength of his true self to destroy the Tribulation Lightning.

But now, he had the outline of the nine sealing marks of the Seal the Heavens Hex inside of him. He couldn’t unleash them outside his body, and was forced to let them brew inside of him via divine will. Right now, the Tribulation Lightning needle was about to stab into him and enter his sea of consciousness, to unleash its transformations of divine will.

However, to Meng Hao, with his terrifying Seal the Heavens Hex in nine parts, this Tribulation Lighting... was seeking its own destruction!

A cold smile appeared on his mouth, and he didn’t even attempt to evade. He allowed the black needle to stab into his forehead, merging into him. It became countless streams of blackness that instantly poured through his body, converging onto his soul and his sea of consciousness. Then, it became a fog of black lightning that prepared to destroy him from the inside.

However, it was then that Meng Hao drew upon his divine will. Instantly, the first sealing mark of the Seal the Heavens Hex appeared, causing rumbling sounds to echo out as it faced off with the black lightning mist.

When they met, the black mist lurched to a halt, then exploded out with even more force than before. However, then the second sealing mark appeared, and the third. After that was the fourth.

They combined with the first sealing mark, utterly shaking the black mist. It began to dissipate, whereupon a roar of rage and disbelief echoed out. Meng Hao snorted coldly, and the fifth sealing mark appeared. It combined with the others to create a Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering power that completely crushed the mist, dissipating it violently.

However, things weren’t over. Neither the ninth nor the tenth levels of the Vast Expanse Shrine had been sufficient to solidify even one of the sealing marks. However, this Tribulation Lightning was the perfect subject to experiment with.

It had voluntarily entered his body, so it had opened the door, and there was no way Meng Hao would let it off the hook. His divine will rumbled as he unleashed the sixth sealing mark, combining it with the others. An indescribable rage coursed through his body, wreaking complete havoc on the Tribulation Lightning, and causing the black mist to rapidly shrink down.

In the end, it transformed back into a needle, which then attempted to flee.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Meng Hao said with a cold harrumph. The seventh sealing mark appeared, merging with the others almost instantly.

When that happened, a world-shaking power rumbled out through him, along with an indescribable sealing power. In the blink of an eye, Meng Hao’s entire body became like a cage. The needle trembled, trying like mad to break free, but was blocked at every turn.

Next, the sealing power created by the fusion of that seventh sealing mark created something like a huge net, forcing the black needle into its confines. Soon, the net had covered the needle.

The needle s.h.i.+vered as though it wanted to struggle, and yet had no power to endure. The combined power of the seven sealing marks continued to weigh down onto it until it cracked, collapsed, and transformed into ash.

Meng Hao s.h.i.+vered and then opened his eyes. A flicker of lightning could be seen therein. Then he raised his right hand up, and countless bolts of lightning shot out from his palm toward the Heavens. The Heavens trembled, and sunlight spilled down; the aura of Tribulation had vanished.

This instance of Ancient Realm Tribulation had been overcome!

It was now evening, and Meng Hao hovered in midair bathed by the warm sunlight, making it look as if he had donned a set of saffron-colored armor. It was an image which would be eternally unforgettable to all of the disciples in the crowd.

“Eldest Brother Fang Mu!”

“Eldest Brother Fang Mu!!”

“Eldest Brother Fang Mu!!!” As the voices rang out, countless hands clasped in respect. The resulting sound wave echoed out in all directions, and was joined in by everyone, with the exception of the Dao Realm cultivators.

All eyes were filled with zealous ardor.

Yan’er was there in the crowd, her young heart shaken. She had never seen her Master like this, and for some reason, she found this version of him, bathed as he was in the evening sun, to be especially good-looking.

Meng Hao hovered there looking at the adoring ma.s.ses, and he caught sight of Yan’er. After a moment pa.s.sed, he looked back up into the Heavens, and a bright light flickered in his eyes.

This clone of his was now matured. What he needed to do now was get the clone into the Dao Realm, where he could use his explosive cultivation base power to complete all of the sealing marks of the Seal the Heavens Hex.

Seven days after Meng Hao’s clone gained fame and renown, shaking the entire Vast Expanse School, his true self received an excited divine will message from the Sect Leader.

“Ninth Paragon, everything is prepared. This time, it might be possible to... stay long-term in the necropolis!”