Dao Fang’s fur stood on end as a sensation of unprecedented crisis raged through him. It was the most intense sensation of danger that he had experienced since the two times the Mountain and Sea Realm had been destroyed.

He almost felt as if he couldn’t breathe, and his cultivation base was trembling. He saw the army approaching, the terrifyingly endless number of cultivators. Furthermore, he could sense that there were numerous terrifying individuals within the larger army as a whole.

He couldn’t see Meng Hao, only the huge old lizard. It was as if he didn’t even qualify to see the figure who stood atop the lizard’s head. Instead, all he could see in the place that Meng Hao was standing was a swirling vortex, a vortex that could seemingly distort the entire starry sky.

Dao Fang didn’t hesitate for even a moment. There was no time for him to even cry out. He quickly performed an incantation gesture then pointed out, causing the Aeon Span to begin to rumble. Powerful ripples exploded out as the Aeon Span manipulated the mist of the Vast Expanse into creating a huge barrier that prevented the approaching army from even seeing inside of it. Dao Fang then performed another incantation gesture, causing two additional auras to emanate out from the spell formation.

Of those two auras, one represented the Immortal G.o.d Continent, and the other represented the Devil Realm Continent. They merged into the mist around them, spreading out in all directions, serving as a sign, and a warning.

They were a sign of the power of the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm Continent, and also a warning to all that this place was not to be provoked.

Having accomplished these things, Dao Fang breathed a sigh of relief. He was still a bit nervous, but kept reminding himself of all the other terrifying ent.i.ties he had encountered in his long life who were scared off by these two auras.

He could only hope that this situation would be the same.

“They’re probably just pa.s.sing by,” he told himself. “Yes... definitely just pa.s.sing by.

“That’s most certainly it. The 33 Heavens couldn’t have done anything to provoke such a huge army of cultivators. And none of the survivors of the Mountain and Sea Realm have been able to break free from the seal. There’s no way they could have somehow made contact with such a terrifyingly powerful group.

“That must be the case.... Besides, who in the starry sky of the Vast Expanse would ever dare to provoke the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm Continent? Such people are like phoenix feathers or qilin horns, and would never care about a place like this.” As he comforted himself in this way, he slowly began to calm down, convinced that his a.n.a.lysis of the situation was correct.

And yet, he couldn’t shake the jittery fear which gripped him because of the mysterious figure in the vortex on top of the lizard, that figure who he couldn’t actually see. He had the feeling that whoever was in that vortex was the most terrifying ent.i.ty in the entire huge army.

He was so nervous as he sat there waiting that he didn’t even notice that he had begun to tremble visibly. With the help of the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm, his cultivation base was now in the 9-Essences level. And yet, he was shaking all the same.

Fear swept over him like flood waters, leaving him feeling as if he were being suffocated.

He could only wait and hope that the army would simply pa.s.s by.

Outside of the Aeon Span, the mist s.h.i.+eld. As the seal over the 33 Heavens tightened, Meng Hao’s view was once again obscured.

The army slowed to halt. Countless cultivators hovered there, eyes gleaming with the desire to unleash slaughter, as well as utter confidence in Meng Hao. One by one, they turned, gazing at him with zealous ardor. Everything was quiet. Not a single person spoke. All of them were simply waiting for Meng Hao to issue orders.

The disciples of the Ninth Sect did so, as did the cultivators from all the other sects. Even the 9-Essences Paragons were no exception. The Sect Leader, Jin Yunshan, the huge termite and the gigantic head, the old lizard, and all of Meng Hao’s other subordinates were completely silent.

Meng Hao stood there on the lizard, looking out at the mists, his eyes flickering with killing intent so powerful it seemed capable of taking corporeal form. Then, the mist s.h.i.+eld seethed as the two auras erupted out from the Aeon Span.

Both of them were at the peak of 9-Essences. They weren’t people; they were simply streams of divine will left behind to threaten anyone who came into the area.

“This area is under the protection of the brave warriors of the Immortal G.o.d Continent. Anyone from other parts of the starry sky of the Vast Expanse should leave immediately!”

At the same time, another voice also rang out, sinister and murderous and also rife with an aura of death.

“Whoever encroaches upon the territory of the Devil Realm will have their entire clan wiped out. Not a single individual will be left alive!”

Any other person would have been struck with fear. In fact, without Meng Hao, even the Vast Expanse School would have shrunk back. Facing either the Immortal G.o.d Continent or the Devil Realm would lead to a catastrophe that the Vast Expanse School would never accept.

But now, everything was different. Even as the messages from the two streams of divine will echoed out, none of the cultivators in the army moved a muscle. In fact, their murderous auras only grew stronger.

As everyone watched, Meng Hao slowly rose to his feet, and then waved his finger at the mist s.h.i.+eld.

He didn’t speak a word. The simple movement of his finger didn’t even unleash a magical technique. And yet, the mist s.h.i.+eld began to vibrate, and the two streams of peak 9-Essences divine will were instantly destroyed.

At the same time, countless Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering roars echoed out from within the army. Their killing intent rocketed up, and in the blink of an eye, vast quant.i.ties of cultivators shot out toward the mist s.h.i.+eld.

The Sect Leader and the others, numerous peak 9-Essences cultivators, all unleashed divine abilities at the same time. The mist instantly began to collapse.

Beneath the mist s.h.i.+eld, inside the Aeon Span, Dao Fang was getting even more nervous. He could see the mist outside being attacked in unprecedented fas.h.i.+on, and could also sense the two sealing marks left by the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm suddenly cracking and then transforming into ash.

They were destroyed in an instant, as if they were insignificant. Even more shocking was that as they were transformed into ash, two black threads shot through the mist s.h.i.+eld, looking for the source of the sealing marks, as if to obliterate whoever had controlled them.

Dao Fang was completely stunned. Gasping, he shot to his feet. At the same time, the mist s.h.i.+eld outside of the Aeon Span was being ripped away as if by enormous hands. Ma.s.sive booms echoed out, and the starry sky shook. It only took a few moments... for the mist to be completely ripped open!

It was torn apart from either side, revealing the Aeon Span, the 33 Heavens, and even Dao Fang, who by now was trembling in fear.

Rumbling sounds filled the starry sky as the army advanced. As divine abilities shot out and slammed into the Aeon Span, the intense sound of explosions echoed out, startling numerous Outsiders down in the 33 Heavens, none of whom could imagine what was happening.

The Aeon Span was a s.h.i.+eld that could not be easily broken through. Even Shui Dongliu had plotted and calculated for years and years before figuring out a way to do so. Besides, the s.h.i.+eld had been bolstered and strengthened for a thousand years. The Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm had paid significant prices to ensure that it was stable.

But now, it only took a moment for cracks to spread out over its surface. Countless figures appeared outside, all of them unleas.h.i.+ng relentless attacks that pushed the Aeon Span to its breaking point.

Among those figures were a golden-robed young man, an old man with white hair, a man surrounded by a windstorm, and a woman whose spectacular beauty was visible despite the mist which surrounded her.

“9-Essences... the great circle of 9-Essences!” Dao Fang was flabbergasted. All four of those people were at the great circle of 9-Essences, and any one of them could shake heavenly bodies with the tap of a foot. And these four were apparently only the vanguard!

They were joined by more than ten other cultivators, all of whom were attacking, not just with the power of 9-Essences, but rather, the peak!

“Peak... 9-Essences!” Dao Fang’s mind was spinning. He had never seen so many 9-Essences cultivators together, and couldn’t imagine how it would be possible for them to all be acting in concert. Furthermore, these people were mere soldiers; none of them were the general who commanded the army!

More terrifying than them was the old lizard a bit further off, who looked like a world unto itself. Next to the lizard was a terrifying head, and in the other direction was a huge termite whose eyes radiated merciless light.

Those three left Dao Fang feeling as if all the light had faded from the world. Despair filled his heart as he confirmed that those three were past the great circle of 9-Essences, and were borderline Transcendent.

“There’s a misunderstanding here!” he shrieked. “Fellow Daoists, we are the 33 Heavens! We don’t get involved with the enmities of the outside world. We’ve never offended anyone, and in fact, we’ve never even left our spell formation. Please, tell me what’s going on!!

“We are a subordinate world of the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm. Fellow Daoist, please, tell me why this is happening!” More figures were flying out from the 33 Heavens, and all of them were trembling in fear.

Dao Fang’s cries were filled with confusion and fury. He couldn't help but feel that it was unfair for this to be happening, considering they hadn’t offended anyone this powerful.

It was at this point that a cool voice suddenly echoed out through the starry sky.

“Dao Fang. Dao Fang who destroyed the Eighth Mountain with a single staff strike.... Do you remember me?”

-----

Note from Deathblade: When RWX and I went to meet with Er Gen recently, Er Gen mentioned that Dao Fang started out as the monkey friend of Su Ming, the MC of the book Beseech the Devil. If/when that book gets a good translation team keep an eye out for Dao Fang!