The battlefield was suddenly filled with silence….

There couldn’t be anything but silence. This was the first time that these people had ever seen a Cultivator exterminated by lightning. Lightning was powerful, but Cultivators were not weak. Being killed by lightning was something that was usually mentioned when insulting others, but something that few people actually saw happen….

In fact, few people were ever actually killed by lightning, much less legendary Heavenly Tribulation.

Not many people had ever even seen Heavenly Tribulation. The only time anyone did was because of the appearance of certain medicinal pills, or other precious materials, and that was a Heavenly Tribulation that didn’t target people….

“Exterminated by lightning….”

“How could that be possible? What lightning was that?! It was terrifying!”

“What was terrifying wasn’t the lightning, but that Grandmaster Meng. Dammit, even lighting from the Heavens helps him? Or, was it some magical technique?”

The Black Lands Palace Cultivators were shocked. This extermination by lightning was incredibly terrifying to them.

Cultivators existed beneath the Heavens, whereas lightning was something of the Heavens. Therefore, it seemed to them that lightning was something that… could not be evaded!

Even the Nascent Soul Cultivators stared with s.h.i.+ning eyes. Meng Hao’s actions just now were completely beyond their powers of prediction. If it was a magical technique he had used, well that was shocking in and of itself. However… the way Meng Hao had lifted the man up into the air with seemingly practiced ease made it seem like it was something he frequently did.

In contrast with the Cultivators from the Black Lands Palace and the Western Desert, those in Holy Snow City had long since become accustomed to the fact that lightning would descend upon their Grandmaster Meng every few days.

Everybody knew about it. In fact, occasionally, when people went to request pill concocting services, they would even see the lighting.

Seeing the Western Desert Cultivator exterminated by the lightning caused complex thoughts to fill the minds of the people in Holy Snow City…. Their reverence for Meng Hao grew even stronger.

“Just what shocking things has Grandmaster Meng done to anger the Heavens? Over the past months, that lightning has constantly been trying to exterminate him.”

“That Western Desert Cultivator was really unlucky. Of all the people to p.i.s.s off, he p.i.s.sed off Grandmaster Meng…. You know, over the past couple months, I happened on a few occasions to see a miserable soul embodiment lifted up by Grandmaster Meng….”

Meng Hao cleared his throat as he stood there on the city wall. He ignored the gazes that were all fixed upon him. He had long since become accustomed to the lightning, and by now had reached the point where he could predict it.

After a long moment pa.s.sed, the fighting on the battlefield resumed. The slaughtering continued, but as it did, the Cultivators would occasionally look up into the sky. The booms were usually the result of magical techniques, but many of the Cultivators would dodge to the side nonetheless, clearly fearful that lighting would fall to exterminate them.

It took about three days before such behavior died out. During those three days, the Black Lands Palace Cultivators launched continuous a.s.saults, which caused booms to fill the air, and shook the very ground. On the night of the third day, a huge explosion shook everything as one of Holy Snow City’s tempest spell formations collapsed.

As the formation collapsed, vast quant.i.ties of Black Lands Palace Cultivators charged in, along with countless ferocious beasts. Western Desert Cultivators also joined them.

A rumbling filled the air as glowing strands shot out from the star-shaped objects in the sky. Although the night was dark, the battlefield was as brightly lit as if it were daytime.

Finally, a critical moment in the battle arrived. The four Grand Elders were there, battling fiercely in mid-air with the Black Lands Palace and Western Desert Cultivators.

Meng Hao’s face was unsightly as he stood atop the city wall. Suddenly, he raised up his right hand. A flash of blood could be seen as a flying creature that had been charging toward him fell to the ground, dead.

“Three months,” he thought. “If the city falls, then they will never finish with the Frigid Snow Larva.” Whether or not Holy Snow City fell in the end had little to do with him. However, before the six month time period was up, it must not.

It was at this moment that the ground began to tremble as two Wild Giants appeared off in the distance. Following them were several thousand Cultivators from the Black Lands Palace and the Western Desert. Of course, a black ma.s.s of howling, beastly neo-demons accompanied them.

“Why hasn’t the Spirit Severing Patriarch made an appearance?” thought Meng Hao. The day Zhou Dekun had been taken, Meng Hao heard the howl echoing up from underground. That simple howl had caused the deaths of countless beasts and Cultivators outside the city wall.

Now, even when the tempest spell formation had been broken, the Frigid Snow Clan’s Spirit Severing Patriarch still hadn’t come out.

“It seems Hanxue Zong was right, as were the rumors floating about outside. The Spirit Severing Patriarch is obviously dying. However, the Black Lands Palace is still scared of him. They seem ferocious in their attacks, but they are still probing to get information about the Spirit Severing Patriarch.” Meng Hao’s gaze flickered as he looked off into the distance at two Western Desert Cultivators who were shooting toward Hanxue Shan, their totems s.h.i.+ning. The guards who surrounded Hanxue Shan coughed up blood, incapable of fighting back.

Meng Hao let out a cold snort as he shot forward with a Bloodburst Flash. In the blink of an eye, he was next to Hanxue Shan. He waved a finger, and the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex appeared, instantly suppressing the Cultivation base and life force of the Western Desert Cultivators. A sword aura appeared as a flying sword shot out from Meng Hao’s bag of holding. It instantly decapitated the two men, then came back to circulate around Meng Hao.

Hanxue Shan’s face was pale as she looked over at Meng Hao and smiled.

“You saved me again,” she said.

Snow began to fall, and a whimpering sound filled the air as the snowflakes danced about in the wind. It sounded like a funeral song. Booms could be heard, along with the sound of intense fighting. The city shook as, one after another, the star-shaped objects up in the sky collapsed. The Western Desert and Black Lands Cultivators fought fiercely. The sky was filled with snow, but the ground was covered in blood.

Meng Hao didn’t respond to Hanxue Shan. He stamped his foot onto the ground, causing countless strands of Demonic Qi to rise up, visible only to him. They congealed together behind him to form into an obscure ma.s.s that blocked a glowing beam of light that had just shot out from a nearby war chariot.

Rumbling filled the air. The Demonic Qi had blocked the incoming beam, but the power of the attack was still there, spreading out into the area. Meng Hao wrapped his arm around Hanxue Shan’s waist, then shot away toward the city wall to avoid the attack.

Hanxue Shan looked up at the star-shaped objects collapsing, the Western Desert Cultivators who were appearing on various sections of the city wall, and the glow of magical techniques that filled the sky. Her voice bitter, she said, “You should leave. They want to kill the Frigid Snow Clan, not you. With your Cultivation base, it would be easy for you to get out of here right now.”

Off in the distance, the old woman, Third Elder, coughed up a mouthful of blood, then gritted her teeth and continued to fight.

“It’s useless,” said Hanxue Shan, despair filling her eyes. “Even if I went all out and used the Frigid Snow Thorn Rampart, the Patriarch is withering away and barely conscious. There’s no way to use the secret Dragoneer technique to catalyze the thorns….” A rumbling sound filled the air as an entire section of the city wall collapsed, and a fierce-looking Western Desert Cultivator shot into the city.

“What Thorn Rampart?” asked Meng Hao, frowning.

“The Frigid Snow Thorn Rampart is indestructible, and could protect the city for an entire month,” she said softly, her voice filled with bitterness. “It’s a sacred relic that the Frigid Snow Clan brought with us many years ago when we moved here from the Western Desert. After all the years, it’s mostly withered. Only a special secret technique can be used to revive it.

“That technique is only known to Elders and certain others with the right bloodline to master it. Right now, no one can catalyze the thorns. Only the Patriarch has a Cultivation base sufficient enough to do so.” She slapped her bag of holding to produce a dried up seed.

“This is one of eight seeds. The Elders all have one, and the rest are with the Patriarch. None of us were ever able to succeed.”

“Catalyze?” said Meng Hao, his eyes glittering. He was about to continue when suddenly a boom filled the air, and the city wall shook. Meng Hao’s face flickered. He grabbed Hanxue Shan, retreating again. Off in the distance, a huge group of Black Lands Cultivators was approaching.

As the city wall crumbled, miserable screams filled the air. Meng Hao continued to retreat with Hanxue Shan in tow. His voice urgent, he said, “Tell me that catalysis technique. I’m an alchemist, and I already have my own catalysis techniques; perhaps because of that, I will be able to understand yours.”

Hanxue Shan gaped at him for a moment. Under normal circ.u.mstances, she would never reveal a secret Clan technique. Even Soulsearch would be useless; the technique was a legacy magic that was branded into her very blood. However, after thinking for the s.p.a.ce of a few breaths, she made her decision. When the Frigid Snow Clan had existed in the Western Desert, at the height of their power, this was the secret technique used by generations of their Grand Dragoneers! Her voice soft, she began to explain it to Meng Hao.

The secret technique was not very long, only about a thousand characters in length. As the words entered Meng Hao’s ears, his heart began to shake. It was as if all of the sights and sounds of the battle around him vanished. The only thing left were the thousand characters that made up the secret technique!

“….cause Time to sink, the ebb and flow of the moon, grasp the will of the s.h.i.+ning sun, all living things contain the will of eternal life….” Hanxue Shan softly spoke the words that could cause a frenzied commotion if they were revealed in the Western Desert. In fact, when the rebel clan member Hanxue Zong was spared by his father, all memories of this secret technique were erased from his mind. That was one of his reasons for coming back to settle his old score and eradicate the Frigid Snow Clan. There was no way for him to reacquire the technique other than to have a Clan member personally tell him!

Meng Hao’s mind reeled. He closed his eyes, allowing the various pa.s.sages of the technique to resonate in his head. He suddenly thought of the Violet Fate Sect's catalysis arts, as well as the Time refining jade page from which he had been able to figure out the Time magic.

Of those two different mnemonics, the catalysis technique was the first layer. The secret Time magic was the second layer. And now… Meng Hao’s mind spun. After hearing the secret technique of the Frigid Snow Clan, he realized that it was the third layer!

Secret Dragoneer technique!

Any of the techniques alone could provide moderate success. But if anyone was able to acquire all three, then the knowledge could be used to mutually increase the effectiveness and power of the others by a vast amount.

Because he knew the secret catalysis method and also understood the secret Time magic, when he heard the Dragoneer technique, he understood it instantly, and it was branded onto his mind.