The Blue Sea Sect wasn’t exterminated. Even as Meng Hao stood there silently, grief filling his eyes, his heart trembling, a will spread out that caused all the bitterly fighting cultivators to suddenly drop to their knees.

It was the will of Allheaven, which became a radiant, seven-colored light that filled the starry sky.

It wasn’t just in the location of the Blue Sea Sect; it actually spread out to cover all of the Hundred Sects in the Vast Expanse Cosmos....

“Oh ye people of mine....” It was an ancient voice that filled the minds of all cultivators in the Vast Expanse Cosmos, and told them that from this moment on, slaughter was not permitted.

The dispute was over. And that was because... the ident.i.ty of the ninety-ninth generation Son of Allheaven was soon to be announced.

The majestic will told all people and all sects that in a mere half-year, the trial by fire to win the t.i.tle of Son of Allheaven would begin, a grand battle royale. In the end, only one person... would be named the ninety-ninth generation Son of Allheaven.

That person would receive the blessing of Allheaven, and would represent Allheaven to step into the Vast Expanse Arcane Pocket Realm and accomplish a very special mission....

The voice faded away, and the light became countless motes that rained down onto the Hundred Sects of the Vast Expanse Cosmos. Any location with cultivators experienced that rain of light.

They were Allheaven seeds, and any cultivator who wished to partic.i.p.ate in the trial by fire to become the Son of Allheaven needed to absorb one of them in order to qualify.

The disciples from the allied sects withdrew. None of them dared to countermand the orders of Allheaven. Not a single one hesitated for even a moment.

Thus, the war ended.

Silence replaced the bitterness in the Blue Sea Sect. It was almost as if everyone forgot about the b.l.o.o.d.y, bitter battle which had just been raging. All of the remaining disciples and Elders of the sect gathered together. With the exception of the very old, everyone was given an Allheaven seed.

One of them was delivered to Meng Hao by Chen Fan.

“Still confused I see,” Chen Fan said bitterly. “You don’t care how many people died in your sect, do you? Even your own son.... I thought you said none of this was real, and that only what you experienced in the Vast Expanse Arcane Pocket Realm was real.” Various emotions could be heard in his voice.

“Well, absorb this seed. Once you become the Son of Allheaven, you can go back into the Vast Expanse Arcane Pocket Realm. Then you can see for yourself what is real and what is not!” Chen Fan placed the Allheaven seed in front of Meng Hao, then stood there, waiting for Meng Hao to absorb it. Everyone else looked on with varied expressions. Some had hatred in their eyes, some seemed torn. All seemed to rue the war which had been sparked by Meng Hao.

Meng Hao looked at the Allheaven seed, and s.h.i.+vered. His wife was off in the distance, holding their dead son. She was giggling madly, seemingly in a daze.

Meng Hao stood there silently. He picked up the seed and examined it. It wriggled. Just as Chen Fan had said, by absorbing this seed, Meng Hao could become the Son of Allheaven. He could go back into the Vast Expanse Arcane Pocket Realm.

And yet, the current flowing into him from the copper mirror continued to grow hotter. It seemed to have reached a critical juncture, as if it were about to fuse with him. The indistinct voice he could hear was growing clearer by the moment.

His vision swam, and he suddenly saw a different version of himself. He saw himself sitting there cross-legged in the Blue Sea Sect. He saw himself absorb the seed and partic.i.p.ate in the fight to become the Son of Allheaven. He took first place, and was named the Son of Allheaven.

That different version of himself offered formal greetings to Allheaven. The will of Allheaven filled his body, causing the seed to grow. It soon filled him through and through, after which he entered the Vast Expanse Arcane Pocket Realm.

As soon as he entered, he saw a beautiful woman. As soon as she caught sight of him, she smiled.

“Like I said, once you returned, you would be the Son of Allheaven.”

A tremor ran through Meng Hao. The dream suddenly ended, shattering to pieces. He opened his eyes, and everything became clear. The seed was still laying there on his palm. Even as he looked at it, it began to melt, as if it were about to bore into his flesh.

The heat from the copper mirror grew hotter than it ever had. It filled Meng Hao’s body, whereupon a bronze lamp appeared. Apparently, it had always been there, somehow concealed from Meng Hao’s perception. Now that it was visible, it began to s.h.i.+ne brightly, sending out light that prevented anything from entering him.

As the light filled him, the confusion in his eyes faded away. His mind filled with crackling sounds. He thought about Ke Yunhai, and he thought about how Fatty and all the others had died. He thought about how his son had been killed, along with so many other fellow sect members.

But then, those memories became somewhat indistinct. At the same time, it was as if a veil had been ripped from his mind. Memories of the starry sky of the Vast Expanse, and the Mountain and Sea Realm, flooded into his mind. The voice which had been calling out to him so indistinctly was now as clear as crystal.

That voice was his own, and it was speaking four simple words!

“I am Meng Hao,” he murmured. He looked at Chen Fan, and his eyes clear, lacking any confusion whatsoever. Sighing, he rose to his feet. “Elder Brother Chen Fan, I am no longer confused.”

He looked over at his wife, his gaze warm.

Chen Fan seemed more torn than ever, as though he were sighing inwardly. Meng Hao’s wife s.h.i.+vered in response to his words. Tears streaming down her face, she rushed over and embraced him.

“There there, everything’s fine....” Meng Hao said softly. More tears flowed as she held him tightly, as if she feared that loosening her grip would cause him to leave forever.

Meng Hao’s eyes were bloodshot, but he seemed completely calm as he looked down at his wife.

No one knew that after his eyes opened just now, his view of the world became completely different.

The sky was no longer clear, but rather, was full of mist. The mountains were not lush and green; they were barren and empty. The beautifully decorated architecture of the sect was now nothing more than crumbled ruins.

His wife was actually a dessicated corpse, as was virtually everyone else in the sect. What had once been flouris.h.i.+ng spiritual energy was really the sinister aura of death and an aroma of decay.

His son, the eight-year-old boy, was actually not a boy. He was a dwarf, and also a dessicated corpse. His eye sockets didn’t contain eyes, only writhing black maggots.

In all of Heaven and Earth, there was only one other person besides Meng Hao who was different. Chen Fan.

Meng Hao looked around at everything, then closed his eyes.

His wife was smiling, seemingly elated that her husband had finally recovered. She was just about to say something when...

Meng Hao reached up and stroked her hair, his gaze warmer than ever. However, if you looked very closely, you would see a tiny flicker of pity in his eyes.

“Little Junior Brother,” Chen Fan said, looking more torn than ever, “you need to absorb that Allheaven seed as soon as possible. I’ll--”

“Elder Brother Chen Fan,” Meng Hao interrupted calmly, “even after some contemplation, I can't think of any time that I ever let you down. Not once. I've always respected you, and no matter what happened, you have always been my Eldest Brother.” Meng Hao held his wife and looked over at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan’s heart thumped, and he was just about to say something else, when Meng Hao’s voice spoke out, seemingly filled with magical power.

“I cannot forget! I cannot forget those things which you say are illusions. I cannot forget that which exists in my mind. If those real things are actually illusions, a mere dream... then I would rather sink into that dream than ever wake up.” He felt his wife suddenly go stiff. His eyes filled with pity as he suddenly pushed his hand down hard onto her back.

Under the shocked glances of all present, that simple movement severed his wife’s aura and exterminated her soul. Meng Hao slowly rose to his feet.

“It's better to release you,” he said softly. “That way no one can control your corpse or soul after death.”

The surrounding crowds were as shocked as if they had been struck by lightning. After a moment of silence, enraged howls rose up, and their bloodshot eyes filled with shock and fear.

The sect Elders took to flight. The Sect Leader and even the Dao Realm experts were flabbergasted.

“Meng Hao!” Chen Fan roared in disbelief.

At the same time, an anguished cry rose up from Meng Hao’s Master, who was also his father-in-law. He flew over, trembling, staring first at his daughter’s corpse, and then at Meng Hao. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, he began to laugh, and then lunged at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao’s eyes were calm. The world had completely transformed. As of this moment, he was not being attacked by a middle-aged man, but rather, a corpse, a corpse with a huge, empty hole in its chest....

Meng Hao sighed and closed his eyes. Just when the man was almost upon him, Meng Hao opened his eyes again. Although they were still bloodshot, the pupils were now crimson. He clenched his right hand into a fist and punched out, shredding his Master into a haze of blood and gore.

That was the battle prowess of the peak 9-Essences level, which exploded out from Meng Hao.

“Elder Brother Meng is bedeviled!!”

“Kill him!” Roars of fury and rage echoed out from the mouths of the Elders. As they charged toward Meng Hao, his eyes flickered with pity, and he moved forward. He became a blur, and every person he encountered, regardless of the level of their cultivation base, was destroyed in body and mind by the single flick of a finger.

Soon, all Heaven and Earth was sinking into darkness. Miserable shrieks rose up. Wherever Meng Hao went, death followed. Blood flowed across the ground, and bodies could be seen everywhere.

However, what Meng Hao saw was a bit different. The blood which flowed was not red, but rather black and filthy. Furthermore, the corpses which lay in his wake had been corpses long before he struck them down.