(click here for the soundtrack)

Even as Allheaven’s voice echoed out, the chunks of gore and drops of blood transformed into ash, vanis.h.i.+ng completely.

A blue-violet beam of light appeared off in the distance, moving at incredible speed. By the time Meng Hao turned to face it, it was right in front of him. A single finger became visible, racing toward his chest. Just before it touched him, Meng Hao’s Dao eye opened, emitting a blast of light that slammed into the finger.

A boom echoed out, and Meng Hao staggered backward, his entire body vibrating, his face flushed bright red. When he looked back up, his eyes shone with piercingly bright light, and the desire to do battle.

“That’s what I'm talking about!” he said slowly. “Don’t hold anything back. This fight will be to the death!” A figure appeared in front of him, someone very familiar to him. It was a middle-aged man with long gray hair. He wore a gray-colored robe, and seemed to radiate disdain as he hovered there looking at Meng Hao.

He had an aura of Transcendence, and closer examination revealed that it was something beyond ordinary. It was actually half a step into the Ancestor Realm, just like Meng Hao’s aura from years past. In fact, this aura was even more mysterious.

This person was none other than... the same person Meng Hao had first laid eyes upon in the necropolis of the Vast Expanse School... Patriarch Vast Expanse!

He was the first person to ever Transcend in this starry sky, the person who Allheaven had come to call the Ghost.

His expression was cold, but there didn’t appear to be any intelligence in his eyes whatsoever. The pressure that radiated off of him seemed capable of cowing the entire starry sky, and behind him was an enormous, illusory figure, matchlessly vicious, overflowing with a ghostly aura. It possessed a boundless dignity, as if it were the emperor of all ghosts!

Allheaven’s eighth transformation, the Primeval Transformation, was a grand magic that only Allheaven’s true self could utilize. It was a Dao the likes of which a mere clone could not unleash. It allowed him to duplicate the most powerful experts of the starry sky that existed within his memories.

The first duplicate had been Han Bei, who wasn’t necessarily very powerful, but had a strong connection to Meng Hao. Now, after having borne witness to Meng Hao’s terrifying power, Allheaven didn’t hesitate for even a moment to use the full power of his eighth transformation to duplicate... the Ghost!

The first Transcendor of this starry sky looked coldly at Meng for a moment before suddenly taking a step forward. It was with incredible speed that his right index finger shot out toward Meng Hao’s forehead, where his Dao eye was located.

Meng Hao had no time to evade, so he didn't even attempt to do so. Even as the finger stabbed into his Dao eye, sending intense pain shooting through him, his right hand flashed with an incantation gesture as he unleashed the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex. A sealing mark fell upon the Ghost, and at the same time, blood oozed down Meng Hao’s face. The Ghost lurched to a halt as his body and spirit were locked into place by the Hexing magic. Considering the current level of Meng Hao’s cultivation base, the Eighth Hex was something that few people in existence could remain unaffected by.

As the Ghost was locked in place, Meng Hao moved forward in a blur, body slamming him and simultaneously striking out with first his finger, then his fist, three blows in fast succession.

Blood sprayed out of the Ghost’s mouth as his chest caved in. The finger and two fists were all aimed at his forehead, which shattered immediately. However, the scorn in his eyes remained exactly the same as before, causing Meng Hao’s heart to begin to thump. It was at this point that the enormous, 30,000-meter-tall Ghost Emperor suddenly became completely corporeal. Looking completely and utterly vicious, it lunged toward Meng Hao as if to consume him.

A sensation of deadly crisis filled Meng Hao’s mind. He could tell that if this Ghost Emperor actually managed to lay its teeth on him, although he might not be killed, he would definitely lose the battle.

And if he lost the battle, he would lose his qualifications to be able to fight Allheaven ever again!

Of course, Allheaven was doing this on purpose, trying to force him to use as many of his Hexing magics as possible. In fact, he wanted to force Meng Hao to use his most terrifying Hex, the Seal the Heavens Hex. If he did, then Allheaven could duplicate it, and thus never fear it again.

“I have other tricks up my sleeve besides the Seal the Heavens Hex!” Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed with a strange light as the void behind him suddenly distorted. A piercing cry echoed out as a figure just as large as the Ghost Emperor appeared.

It had green skin, and a solitary, wicked horn. It had explosive Demonic qi, and Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering energy. This was Meng Hao’s life essence form, the foundation of his cultivation base, the Demon Sovereign!

When the Demon Sovereign appeared, it immediately began to fight the Ghost Emperor. The Ghost Emperor latched its jaws onto the Demon Sovereign, who stabbed back into the Ghost Emperor’s body with hands like blades.

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE....

The fighting was shaking everything in existence. Countless ruins in the area were transformed into ash. As the gigantic figures fought up above, Meng Hao and the Ghost brawled down below.

After exchanging over a thousand blows, blood sprayed out of Meng Hao’s mouth, and the Ghost was drenched with gore. The two appeared to be very well matched.

“This Ghost is from the memories of Allheaven, a version of him from the past when he was at the peak of his power. From this alone I can see that the Ghost was no ordinary Transcendor!” Meng Hao wiped the blood from his mouth, then waved his right hand to unleash the Mountain Consuming Incantation. Numerous mountains began to descend, forming a chain that swept across the battlefield.

The Ghost snorted coldly, then became a blur as he unleashed countless clones, which then shot toward the descending mountains and shattered them.

Meng Hao’s right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, causing the rubble of the mountains to transform into an enormous stone fist. As the fist smashed toward the Ghost, Meng Hao sped forward like a shooting star, merging with the fist, lending it even more explosive power.

“Gate of the Ghost Realm!” the Ghost said, eyes s.h.i.+ning with mysterious light. He raised both hands overhead, and the stars shook as a huge rift opened up above, revealing an enormous, pitch black gate.

As the gate descended, it slowly opened, revealing a gigantic scaled hand. The hand stretched out, and Meng Hao could sense incredible pressure, making it seem as if this hand could look down on all creation. The hand immediately grabbed hold of the enormous stone fist, then squeezed down.

A boom could be heard as the stone hand shattered. Meng Hao appeared, but quickly vanished, reappearing some distance off, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng.

“Eighth Demon Sealing Hex, Body-Mind Hexing!

“Lock down the void, the starry sky, and natural laws. Lock down everything I desire to lock down!”

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