Meng Hao let out a long sigh as he strolled toward the 33rd Heaven. By the time he arrived, all of the Outsiders there were dead. Their fleshly bodies were destroyed all the way down to their bones. Their memories and bloodlines were destroyed, and their souls extracted.

The captured souls were then delivered to Meng Hao by the Vast Expanse School army.

He hovered in the air above the land ma.s.s itself, pouring the souls into the sea of flames, where they would suffer eternal torment.

“That went too quickly,” Meng Hao said in a soft voice. “From here on out, spend a full day wiping out each land ma.s.s.” In response to his words, the cultivators of the Vast Expanse School s.h.i.+vered. At this point, they fully understood the insane depth of Meng Hao’s hatred for the 33 Heavens.

With that, Meng Hao lifted his right foot and stamped it down onto the 33rd Heaven. Rumbling sounds echoed out as cracks spread out to fill the entire land ma.s.s. Then, it began to crumble. Buildings toppled. Everything was destroyed, transformed into nothing but dust. It all happened in mere moments.

The 32nd Heaven was revealed, along with the countless terrified Outsiders upon it. They began to cry out miserably as Meng Hao waved his hand, sending the army of cultivators on the offensive.

As they began their charge, Meng Hao looked down at one particular Outsider. “I remember you,” he said. “Back then, you were an Imperial Lord, and you still are now. What a pity you’ve made no progress.”

The Outsider trembled and began to back up. But then, he was dragged through the air toward Meng Hao, screaming in terror and despair.

Meng Hao grabbed him by the neck and methodically crushed his bones. His screams filled the entire 32nd Heaven as Meng Hao used a full day to destroy his fleshly body and then extract his soul. By that point, the 32nd Heaven was completely silent.

All of the Outsiders died screaming, bubbling with resentment that rose into the air in the form of a powerful aura, which then unleashed a stifling pressure.

Meng Hao looked at their souls for a moment before gathering them up and casting them into the eternal torment of the sea of flames.

“An aura of resentment? Screw off!” Meng Hao let out a cold harrumph, the sound of which echoed like thunder through the starry sky. The aura of resentment instantly shattered and vanished into nothing. “Resentment is useless. After all, the resentment of the Mountain and Sea Realm back then exceeded this resentment exponentially.”

Killing intent flickered in his eyes as he waved his hand toward the lands below. Rumbling could be heard as the 32nd Heaven shattered, transforming into nothing but ash. The remains of the sinners were wiped away, and the 31st Heaven was revealed.

It was at this point that a voice filled with madness, grief, and fury echoed out from the 31st Heaven.

“Meng Hao, If you dare to advance another step, we’ll destroy the Mountain and Sea b.u.t.terfly!” At the same time, countless figures shot out from the 1st Heaven toward the Mountain and Sea b.u.t.terfly.

When Meng Hao saw that, he laughed. That laughter grew louder and louder, filling the starry sky. The Outsiders from the 1st Heaven who were attempting to invade the Mountain and Sea b.u.t.terfly all trembled and lurched to a halt. They had lost their ability to move, and even lost control of their cultivation bases. Looks of confusion appeared on their faces as they hovered there, motionless. At the same time, a powerful pressure began to build up around them.

Within that pressure, they could sense the flow of Time power. It wasn’t Meng Hao, but rather, a force flowing out from the nearby coffin. Apparently, only those who had its permission could enter that area!

Bloodcurdling screams rang from beneath the 1st Heaven, echoing all the way up to the 31st Heaven. All Outsiders who heard it were left trembling and in despair.

However, none of them could self-detonate or commit suicide. They were forced to wait for their enemies to come kill them, to torment them, to extract their souls and send them into the sea of flames.

“Even if you don’t count the era of Paragon Nine Seals, just the hatred that I alone have experienced has lasted for two thousand years,” Meng Hao said. “To end it quickly would be wrong.

“Therefore, all Outsiders of the 33 Heavens will continue to pay the price for their destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm.” Meng Hao did not feel that this punishment was excessive, or that he was being cruel. It was simply repayment for the countless dead of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Back when the 33 Heavens invaded the Mountain and Sea Realm, they didn’t just kill the cultivators. They also ma.s.sacred the mortals. They yearned for the complete and utter destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

To Meng Hao, the resulting hatred meant that no amount of torment was excessive.

The army of cultivators began to spread out through the 31st Heaven to unleash destruction. A day later, they descended onto the 30th Heaven. In the following days, they slaughtered their way down to the 15th Heaven. By that time, the surviving Outsiders’ minds were overwhelmed with terror.

They pled. They wept. They begged. But Meng Hao had no pity for them. He couldn’t stop thinking about the brutality of the destruction of the Mountain and Sea Realm, and all the despair he had seen on the faces of the people he knew before they died. Back then, he had hated the fact that his cultivation base was insufficient. He had hated the brutal injustice of Heaven and Earth.

Now, he hovered in the air above the 15th Heaven, voice laced with grief as he murmured, “Listen.... Do you hear that?!

“Souls of the Mountain and Sea Realm who fell to the Outsiders... do you hear that?!

“They are pleading, begging, weeping. What do you think? Should we forgive them?”

After a moment, he said, “I hear your response. No. We will not forgive them. Debts of blood must be repaid with blood. They yearned to destroy the people of the Mountains and Seas, so I will wipe them out completely!” He looked sad, and yet was smiling. Chuckling, he lifted his hand up, halting the advance of the army of the Vast Expanse School.

“From here on,” he said coolly, "you don't need to do anything.” With that, he looked down toward the 15th Heaven and roared, “Hear me, ye who rebelled against the Mountains and Seas. There are three 9-Essences Paragons among your number. The three of you, get the h.e.l.l out here immediately!” His voice echoed out like thunder through all of the remaining Heavens down below.

When he destroyed the Aeon Span, he could sense that the 33 Heavens were much stronger than they had been in the past. Back in the original war, they didn’t have any 9-Essences Paragons. But now they had three, or four if you counted Dao Fang.

As his voice echoed out, the fifteen land ma.s.ses trembled. The three Paragons he had referred to began to shake. They hadn’t dared to try to fight Meng Hao or his army from the Vast Expanse School, and had instead fled, hoping to hold out long enough to be saved by the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm.

As soon as they showed their faces, they were grabbed by Meng Hao’s divine will and dragged out of the land ma.s.ses.

One of them was an Outsider who looked like a middle-aged man. How could Meng Hao have forgotten this man? Back when the 33 Heavens invaded the Mountain and Sea Realm, he had been an 8-Essences Paragon. The other two were cultivators who had been subsequently groomed by the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm Continent. Obviously those two forces had paid a heavy price to help these Outsiders rise to the 9-Essences level.

In the past, the 33 Heavens had never had any 9-Essences cultivators. At the most, they had people who were on the verge of breaking through.

Back in those days, the power of 9-Essences cultivators like this would have been like the might of the Heavens to Meng Hao. But now, he could see that even though they were at the 9-Essences level, their ninth Essences had actually been forced upon them.

A single glance revealed that they had not used their own Dao to acquire that final Essence. In fact, even their eighth Essence was like that. All three of them combined would have been unable to defeat a true expert of the 9-Essences level.

The three of them were trembling, their faces filled with despair as they looked at Meng Hao and the huge army behind him.

One of them gritted his teeth and said, “The Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm are coming. You’re dead, Meng Hao. Dead!”

Meng Hao didn't respond. He waved his finger, and the 9-Essences cultivator in the middle of the group of three burst into flames, and began to scream miserably. The other two howled, unleas.h.i.+ng all the power of their Essences as they tried to flee.

Meng Hao waved his right hand, causing a pitch black wind to spring up, which instantly enveloped one of the fleeing Paragons. His flesh and blood was flayed, and he screamed as he was dragged back to the other 9-Essences cultivators, whereupon he also burst into flames.

These magnificent 9-Essences cultivators were like ants to Meng Hao. Were it not for the fact that he wished to torment them, he could have killed them with a mere glance, or by merely brus.h.i.+ng them with divine will.

“And that just leaves you,” Meng Hao said. “Long time no see.” The final 9-Essences expert was the middle-aged man who had once been the most powerful expert of the 33 Heavens. Now, he was trembling, and even tried to say something in his defense. Before he could, Meng Hao strode forward, grabbed the man’s head, and then began to bash it against the surface of the land ma.s.s.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!