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All beings acknowledged allegiance. All life forms in the starry sky of the Vast Expanse were kowtowing to Meng Hao, bearing witness to the fact that he was truly in a position to challenge the will of Allheaven to battle.
The cultivators of the Vast Expanse School were also kowtowing, their hearts filled with intense emotions regarding Meng Hao. The Sect Leader and the others had the same feeling.
“The Heavens... are going to change....” The Sect Leader thought, gasping, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with brilliant light.
As of this point, a cold snort suddenly echoed out to fill the starry sky of the Vast Expanse. It seemed to come from everywhere, from every living thing, from every planet, from every land ma.s.s, from every vortex, from every particle of dust.
In concert with the voice, the natural and magical laws of the starry sky twisted and distorted. In the blink of an eye, light began to swirl from all directions, and began to form together in front of Meng Hao into the shape of a person!
It was enormous. It was as if the starry sky itself were its body, the planets its eyes, the worlds its bones. It was a vague image at first, but the mere sight of it was shocking to the extreme, and caused incredible pressure to crush down onto all cultivators.
However, the figure then began to shrink down rapidly, and at the same time, the pressure increased. Every cultivator coughed up blood, and shook visibly. Meng Hao’s hair was whipping around his head, and his clothes were flapping. Soon the figure in front of him was only 30,000 meters tall, and then only 30 meters. As it continued to shrink, its features grew clearer.
It was... a young man!
He wore a long robe decorated with a starry sky. He had long hair which floated around him, and sharply angled eyebrows. He was handsome to an extreme degree, and from the aura which emanated out from him, he seemed to be the lord of all existence.
Under his gaze, all living things would prostrate themselves, and not dare to even lift their heads.
And yet, when Meng Hao looked at this young man, he could detect a very faint... aura of death!
This person was none other than Allheaven!
Of course, he was not Allheaven’s true form, he was a clone. Allheaven’s true form was incapable of actually entering the Vast Expanse. He existed outside the Vast Expanse. And yet, this clone of Allheaven was very close to his true form in terms of power. This was perhaps his most powerful manifestation, something which could never be completely separated from his true form.
He had never intended to appear in such a way so soon. He had tried all the methods at his disposal, and yet had been unable to do anything about Meng Hao. Thus, he appeared personally. The time had come for him to begin the ultimate battle with Meng Hao.
The best outcome would be to win this fight. However, even if he lost... the information learned would be of extreme benefit to his true form. Even if his true form ended up weakening further later on, it still might give him what he needed to eke out a victory.
“You should never have reached this state,” said Allheaven’s clone, his expression cold and filled with something extremely ancient.
Meng Hao looked at the young man, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with a profound light as he said, “I never came after you looking for a fight. You plotted and schemed against me constantly. Now, I have Transcended. There’s no need to push this into a battle of life or death. I might be able to ignore your true form outside the Vast Expanse, Allheaven. However, inside the Vast Expanse, I don’t need any other Heavens above my head!”
“The only reason you exist is so that I can live,” the clone said, shaking his head. “Even if you didn't come looking for me, I would have come looking for you. What has happened between the two of us was foreordained.... And only one of us can survive. Either you replace me, or I consume you!”
Allheaven’s eyes glittered with killing intent, and yet deeper inside was a profound loneliness that seemed to contain countless memories. “Things shouldn’t have turned out this way. You should never have reached this state. You... were supposed to be nothing more than fuel to drive my rebirth.” With a sigh, he lifted his right hand and pointed at Meng Hao.
“But since you insisted on climbing to this height, then I shall now bring order to all of this chaos!
“All true Demons who appear in this world cultivate based on my bloodline. Blood of Allheaven, inflict your punishment!” As soon as the words left the mouth of Allheaven’s clone, a tremor ran through Meng Hao, and all of the blood within his body began to boil out of control.
His veins, his bones, his flesh, all of it came from an Allheaven Clan. He was from an Allheaven bloodline, and was an Allheaven Immortal. Because of all of that, the simple wave of a finger caused all of those things to explode.
Countless drops of blood oozed out from his pores, instantly staining his clothing red. And yet, he continued to hover in place, completely unmoving.
“If you trace my bloodline back, it really does originate with you. But in the moment I reached Transcendence, what Transcended was not just my fleshly body, but also my soul, and... my blood.” By this point, the boiling of his blood had reached a fever pitch. At the same time, an enormous figure appeared behind him. It started out vague, but rapidly became clear, and soon it was obvious that it was an enormous image of Meng Hao.
He looked like a divine spirit hovering there in the starry sky. His body was covered with chains and shackles of all sorts, and yet in the same instant that he appeared, all of those bonds began to shudder, as if on the verge of shattering.
As the chains and shackles were destroyed, it was obvious that they were somehow connected to the clone of Allheaven.
“When my blood Transcended, I could tell that there was still a faint connection in there. I was waiting this whole time to face you in person, and then completely sever anything connecting me to you!”
Meng Hao’s eyes flashed with light as he lifted his right hand and then chopped it down in front of him.
That chopping motion caused the starry sky to become a sharp blade, glittering with the brilliant light of the Heavens as is it slashed down at the s.p.a.ce between Meng Hao and Allheaven’s clone.
In that moment, the chains binding the enormous figure behind him began to tremble. Ma.s.sive rumbling sounds echoed out as they began to shatter into fragments.
The figure behind Meng Hao stretched his arms out wide. Cracking sounds emanated out in all directions as the chains and shackles were destroyed. Then, the enormous figure began to grow larger than before, as if it had freed itself from some unknown restraints. This was true freedom!
Freedom and independence were the Dao of Meng Hao. As of this moment, he had now severed himself from any and all connections to Allheaven. As of this moment, his Dao was rising to the highest heights.
From this moment on, he was his own man; the origin of his blood was severed, buying him true freedom!
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Important explanation about Beseech the Devil and Renegade Immortal: I've been seeing a lot of comments with speculations about how the stories all tie together, and how that might give clues about the ending of I Shall Seal the Heavens. Although the three stories definitely have a lot of connections, the overall plot of each story stands alone. In other words, Allheaven does not appear in either BTD or RI. Those stories ARE NOT about the main characters severing the fingers of Allheaven.