This was not the first time that the will of the starry sky had made a move on Meng Hao. However, this was its first time taking such a form in his presence.

However, Meng Hao currently couldn’t see that. All of his senses were sealed, as he focused completely on the task at hand. He had to dissolve the wooden statue as soon as possible.

By this point, the statue was almost eighty percent dissolved. Soon, that number would reach ninety percent.

“Only ten percent to go. Must go faster!” Meng Hao’s divine sense was exploding out to a level that made it almost impossible to sustain as he tried to dissolve the statue even faster.

It was in that exact same moment that the embodiment of the will of Allheaven pierced through the boundless sea of ghosts. Strangely, when the ghosts tried to approach the will of Allheaven, they suddenly came to a halt, as if they had lost the ability to move.

In the blink of an eye, all of the ghosts began to tremble, and then cease all movement. Their eyes went wide, as though it wasn’t just their bodies, but also their spirits, and their simplistic ghostly minds, were suddenly stripped of the power of movement!

The embodiment of the will of Allheaven took another step, putting him directly in front of Meng Hao. He looked down, and his expression flickered, as though he were befuddled, or confused.

“Why are you unwilling to merge with me?” he asked coolly. Then he reached out to tap on Meng Hao’s forehead.

However, it was in that moment that a piercing cry suddenly rang out. The parrot appeared, flas.h.i.+ng through the air to pierce directly through the chest of the embodiment of Allheaven.

The embodiment paused for a moment, and then prepared to continue moving his finger toward Meng Hao. But then a voice rang out, speaking a single word that caused everything to tremble violently.

“BEGONE!”

The words came out of the mouth of the huge statue. They filled the world, creating a powerful tempest which shook the entire necropolis.

The embodiment of the will of Allheaven began to tremble, then staggered backward as if he couldn't control his own body. When he was about thirty meters away from Meng Hao, his flesh exploded, sending blood and gore splattering out in all directions. The skin and muscle of his body was more almost completely destroyed, revealing the bones underneath. Only half of his head remained intact.

As the voice which had just spoken faded away, the embodiment of the will of Allheaven slowly looked up. His wounds rapidly healed, and in the blink of an eye, he was back to normal.

In that same moment, there was a world out in the starry sky of the Vast Expanse, in which all of the life forms suddenly withered up. Their blood and life force vanished, and the entire world instantly became as still as death.

It was that very power of blood and life force which allowed the embodiment of the will of Allheaven to recover. As he looked up at the statue, his expression flickered again. He seemed confused, even dazed.

“So, it’s you, my eldest son,” he said coolly.

An incisive gleam appeared within the eyes of the figure on the throne. Ma.s.sive rumbling sounds echoed out as the statue slowly rose to its feet amidst a cascade of falling rocks and rubble. The falling stones and rubble soon formed a small mountain, from within which emerged a young man.

He looked exactly like the embodiment of the will of Allheaven, without a single difference.

However, his body clearly wasn’t made of flesh and blood. This wasn’t the true Patriarch Vast Expanse, but rather a clone, which he had left behind inside the necropolis to reminisce and guard the place.

When he emerged, the sky shook and the lands quaked, and the entire ninth land ma.s.s seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone took a step forward, placing him directly in front of Meng Hao, separating him from the embodiment of the will of Allheaven.

He didn’t speak, nor did his expression change in any way. He waved his right sleeve out in front of him, and an aura exploded out that seemed like both Immortal and Ghost, and yet was neither. A black mist sprang up, which was filled with countless vicious ghosts. It immediately engulfed the embodiment of Allheaven.

The embodiment waved his right finger, which caused the natural and magical laws of the world to form together. A boundless, indescribable will then erupted out.

At this point, the embodiment of Allheaven said, “In front of me, all powers within the Vast Expanse shall be either stripped away or absorbed.” The vicious ghosts within the black mist began to tremble, then faded away, as if they were being erased from existence.

However, in the moment before they were about to be completely wiped away, the clone of Patriarch Vast Expanse let out a cold harrumph. Instantly, the black mist sank down on itself, and the vicious ghosts converged together to form... a single vicious ghost, astonis.h.i.+ng in appearance!

It had black mist for skin, and looked like the most vicious of spirits. Most shocking of all was how it stooped over at the waist, making it seem almost hunchbacked in appearance. Shockingly, the reason for that was because it carried a world on its shoulders.

Countless buildings could be seen, which resembled Yama King palaces. As for the ghost’s arms and legs, they were wrapped and bound by countless black chains. The ghost roared, and power of natural law erupted from the world on its back.

That power was something that not even the embodiment of Allheaven could strip away. That was the power of Patriarch Vast Expanse, the power of... the Ghost!

That power caused an explosive force of expulsion to blast into the embodiment of Allheaven.

The will of Allheaven sighed as his body was shredded into a haze of blood. However, he didn’t seem to care. He raised his right hand and point out with his finger, causing intense, gray light to shoot out in all directions. At the same time, the air behind him ripped open, revealing a single finger.

It was a finger which could supercede a world, which could exceed the Heavens. As soon as it appeared, the finger reached out to slam into the vicious ghost.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

Beneath the power of the finger, the ghost trembled, and then began to fall to pieces. The buildings on its back vanished into smoke, crushed like dried weeds. However, at the same time, the chains which covered its limbs wrapped around the finger, binding it tighter and tighter until it exploded.

Apparently, they were evenly matched!

As the sound of the explosion echoed out, the embodiment and the clone staggered backward away from each other.

Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone slowly looked up and, in a voice both hoa.r.s.e and ancient, said, “You’re not taking this kid away!”

A powerful pressure spread out from him, which instantly began to crush down onto the will of Allheaven.

It didn't matter that the embodiment represented the entire starry sky of Allheaven, the clone of Patriarch Vast Expanse didn’t show any fear of it whatsoever.

The embodiment of Allheaven looked expressionlessly at Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone, then said, “Oh my eldest son.... You have already departed, what need is there to remain so obsessed?”

With that, he extended his right hand and the pointed out with his finger.

“Power,” he said. Instantly, explosive power radiated out from him, transforming into an enormous magical symbol, which was in itself covered with even more magical symbols. This symbol represented the natural law of the Dao of power within the starry sky of the Vast Expanse!

This was something that not even 9-Essences cultivators could do.

It was a magical symbol formed from magical symbols, and as soon as it appeared, it bore down on Meng Hao and Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone.

At this point, all magical laws within the starry sky of Allheaven that had to do with power suddenly faded. They were weakened to form the huge magical symbol which was currently slas.h.i.+ng down in attack. Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone looked on with glittering eyes. He suddenly performed an incantation gesture with his right hand, causing his entire hand to fade. No blood or flesh was visible, neither any bone, only a spectral arm.

It was not black, but multi-colored, and it emanated a Dao, a personal Dao that came when one became an Essence.

It was... the Ghost Dao of Patriarch Vast Expanse!

When his hand made contact with the magical symbol, Heaven shook and the Earth trembled. The lands cracked and split as a shockwave blasted out, shaking the entire necropolis.

By this point, the sculpture in front of Meng Hao was ninety percent dissolved. The final ten percent continued to melt rapidly. Soon ninety-four percent was dissolved. Then ninety-seven, ninety-eight... until finally, one hundred percent!

It was completely dissolved, and the statue no longer present. It now existed as one hundred drops of black liquid, no more, no less. In that very moment, Meng Hao’s senses, which had been sealed completely shut, suddenly opened.

His eyes glowed brightly despite the terrifying fluctuations emanating off of the will of Allheaven. No matter how much that will wanted to kill him, Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone made it impossible. It was now filled with an intense rage and fury that could only come from being in Meng Hao’s presence....

Meng Hao took a deep breath, and as he did, the one hundred drops of black liquid transformed into beams of light that shot into his forehead.

Sounds like rumbling thunder filled his mind, as though a hundred black bolts of lighting were striking his head.

When the last one merged into his forehead, and the final thunderclap rang out, a power that could end the Heavens and crush the Earth rose up in his sea of consciousness.

He began to tremble violently, and a mouthful of frothy blood exploded out of his mouth. The hundred drops of black liquid swirled together within his sea of consciousness, and as they did, the aura of the Ninth Hex began to emanate out!

Although it wasn’t complete yet, the moment it exploded out, the embodiment of the will of Allheaven s.h.i.+vered. An expression of fiery rage appeared on his face, and his eyes erupted with killing intent.

“Screw off!” he roared, launching himself toward Patriarch Vast Expanse’s clone!