“What glory and honor, b.i.t.c.h!?” raged Meng Hao from within the war chariot. He was originally a scholar, and was not the type of person to curse at others. However, after the parrot awakened, it had quite a wicked influence on him, and he had inevitably learned to swear.

Unfortunately, after all the years, he had only mastered this one curse.

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch laughed hoa.r.s.ely. The sound of it was filled with ancientness, like a cold wind blown from somewhere amidst countless years of time.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “but all the women in my immediate family are dead. If you’d like, we could make a deal. I’d be happy to deliver their skeletons to you. What do you think?”

Meng Hao’s face was extremely unsightly as he sped along in the war chariot. The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch continued to follow, and actually gained on Meng Hao. Meng Hao could clearly sense that his own body was continuously emitting white mist. He was filled with the pain of having something within him forcefully separated, which caused anxiety to fill his eyes.

“It’s still not time to use the Immortal’s sword!” he thought.

“Foundation Seizing Grand Magic!” said the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch. His voice echoed out in all directions, but Meng Hao was incapable of looking back. However, he could sense the speed with which the white mist poured out of him suddenly increase by severalfold. An indescribable pain filled him, and he couldn’t hold back from letting out a despondent shout.

Shockingly, something that looked like red veins could be seen pulsing on his face, and in fact, his entire body. It almost appeared as if he was about to be torn to pieces, from the inside out!

Meng Hao began to shake, and blood sprayed from his mouth. He was now unable to continue to employ the qi of Immortal Shows the Way, so the war chariot came to a stop and shrank down. He put it into his bag of holding and then, enduring the intense pain, lifted his right hand to produce the flag of three streamers. He waved it out in front of him, and instantly, dense fog billowed up.

Down below, the seemingly never-ending black seawater seemed almost to be congealed in place. Not a single ripple could be seen on its surface!

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch floated in the air some distance away, grinning at Meng Hao.

It was a ghastly grin, filled with greed, almost as if to him, Meng Hao was food. His expression caused Meng Hao’s scalp to go numb. He waved the flag of three streamers, causing the monstrous black mist to sweep toward the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch.

“That magical item… looks a bit familiar,” said the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch, his eyes glittering. He performed an incantation with his right hand, and then pointed forward.

“Moonrise Over the Sea ,” he said in his hoa.r.s.e voice. Down below, the black seawater immediately turned violet. Then a red-colored moon suddenly rose up from within. The appearance of the red moon caused flames to fill the world. They transformed into a ma.s.sive fireball that shot toward Meng Hao’s flag of three streamers.

When they slammed into each other, the flag wasn’t damaged, but the black mist immediately fell apart. The red moon, on the other hand, faded like an extinguished lamp, completely defeated and dispersed.

Next, the flag of three streamers expanded, spreading out to blot out the sky and also push Meng Hao and the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch apart.

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch’s face flickered, and he said, “This treasure… is very familiar. I’m sure that I’ve seen it somewhere before!”

Looking very serious, he performed a double handed incantation, then raised his hands high above his head and touched his ten fingertips together.

“Power of the rising sun, disperse all darkness of night!”

At the moment, everything was pitch black, with no light existing anywhere. The flag of three streamers seemed to have become part of the darkness of night.

But then, a beam of light appeared, shooting out from the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch to swirl around him. It was almost like… he had turned into a rising sun in the middle of the dark night!

The rising sun had appeared, and a bright glow began to spread out in all directions. Its power began to dispel the power of the dark night. The boundless blackness vanished under the light, and was completely cast away!

Meng Hao couldn’t take it, and blood sprayed out of his mouth. The flag of three streamers rumbled and began to glow blurry. It spun backward, shrinking down at the same time. The entire world filled with brightness, and the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch floated there in mid-air. If you looked at him, it was impossible to tell whether he was a person or a sun!

Meng Hao’s mind trembled. This was a divine ability, a Daoist magic that he had never even heard of!

“What divine ability is this!?” A tremor ran through his body, and blood poured from his mouth. When the sunlight had dispelled the darkness of night, it seemed he was considered to be part of the night. His body burst into flames, and he let out a shrill cry. Violet light flickered in his eyes as he frenziedly healed himself. However, it was still amid thunderous rumbling sounds that he fell down toward the black sea below.

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch’s voice was filled with pride as he said, “That was another art personally created by the w.a.n.g Clan ancestor. For you to have seen it with your own eyes means that you can wear a smile on your face as you go to the underworld.” His face was a bit paler than before; clearly it was not a simple thing to use the art he just had. Were it not for the fact that he needed to end the battle, he wouldn’t have used it.

The bright glow filled a vast area, and the seawater was turning violet. As Meng Hao splashed into the water, the w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch’s eyes flickered.

“Even now, he still doesn’t unleash the power of that Immortal’s sword?” he thought. “When I first arrived, he could only use about half of the power. Now, on the verge of death, he still doesn’t utilize it…. I can thus be seventy percent certain that the Immortal’s sword is now useless!” He suddenly flashed through the air, stretching his right hand out to grab at Meng Hao.

“Foundation Seizing Grand Magic!” A black glow spread out from the five fingers of his right hand. The light transformed into something like a black hole that emanated a shocking gravitational force.

Meng Hao’s entire person appeared to be decaying. His flesh split and tore, his hair fell out, and he looked withered to the extreme. His life force faded rapidly. Compared to the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch’s peak Dao Seeking cultivation base, Meng Hao’s own cultivation base… was too weak.

Even as the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch closed in, madness suddenly burned in Meng Hao’s eyes. Despite the fact that his blood vessels were shattered, and he was gravely injured, he still managed to slap his bag of holding with his right hand. The alcohol flagon appeared, and he took a drink. Then the Immortal’s sword could be seen, and he spit the alcohol out of his mouth.

Immortal qi exploded out, swift and fierce to the extreme. When the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch saw that it was about to slash toward him, his heart trembled, but after only a slight moment, he smiled coldly. He had long since prepared for exactly this situation. He immediately began to perform an incantation that would cause a body double to appear in his exact position. However, it was at this point that a violent tremor ran through Meng Hao. Apparently, he couldn’t keep his grip on the Immortal’s sword. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and his entire right arm instantly exploded into a haze of blood and gore. The Immortal’s sword tumbled down into the sea.

No matter how you looked at it, it seemed clear what had happened. Meng Hao was not capable of handling the power of the sword, and yet had still tried to forcefully control it. His right arm couldn’t sustain the power, and had exploded.

Meng Hao laughed bitterly, and a look of despair appeared on his face.

“I can’t accept this!” he howled, his voice filled with extreme grief and indignation.

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch watched on smiling. As of this point, he was now eighty percent certain that the Immortal’s sword could be of no more threat to him. A ferocious expression appeared on his face.

Of course, having lived for so many years, he was wily and cunning, and even more so, cautious. Despite the current situation, and Meng Hao having lost an arm, he was still not off guard regarding the Immortal’s sword.

Instead of trying to lay hands on the Immortal’s sword, he headed toward Meng Hao.

When Meng Hao saw this, anger sprang up in his heart. However, it only took a moment for a completely ruthless idea to spring up in his head. The ruthlessness of the idea actually did not target the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch, but rather, himself!

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch neared. Hovering in front of Meng Hao, he lifted his right hand up and pushed the s.h.i.+mmering blackness onto Meng Hao’s chest. Then he dug his hand into Meng Hao’s flesh, his fingernails literally ripping through Meng Hao’s flesh.

“Your skin is thick and your body tough,” grated the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch. “Not bad. If you were able to take your fleshly body to the next stage, then perhaps I wouldn’t be able to deal with you. But right now… it’s just not quite good enough.” His fingernails stabbed deep into Meng Hao’s chest.

“Foundation Seizing Grand Magic!” A strange light appeared in the eyes of the 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch, a thirst, a desire, and an excitement. His fingers tightened viciously, and a rotating black hole appeared inside of Meng Hao.

The gravitation force it exerted was shocking, and completely filled Meng Hao.

His body began to tremble as unthinkable pain filled him. Countless blood-colored strands appeared all over his body. These strands had long since fused into him; this was his Perfect Dao foundation!

It was the foundation upon which he would achieve his Dao in the future!

Now, though, the blood-colored strands twisted and distorted as they shrank down, relentlessly sucked toward the black hole in his chest.

They were sucked toward his chest from his legs, his arms, his head, from every position in his body.

“From now on, your Perfect Dao Foundation belongs to me!

“Henceforth, my path to Immortal Ascension will be open!

“I will no longer be a false Immortal, but rather, a true Immortal!

“I will pursue the path of the ancestor and become an almighty expert of Heaven and Earth!” The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch was so incredibly excited that he lifted his head up and laughed out loud. He slowly pulled his right hand back, and as he did, countless red strands stretched out between it and Meng Hao’s body.

The red strands shone resplendently, and anyone who saw them would think of Perfection. Absolute Perfection without blemis.h.!.+

Meng Hao’s body withered and grew old. His cultivation base also fell. He could feel his Qi Condensation foundation vanish. His Dao Pillar foundation disappeared. His Perfect Core also faded away.

His expression was hollow, as if he had lost all power to fight back. He lay there blankly, bitterness filling his face. Pain wracked his body, although it couldn’t even come close to matching the pain he felt in his heart.

The 10th w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch looked at the red strands that were building up in his hand, and intense desire built up in his eyes. His heart filled with excitement and elation. In fact, he was more excited now than he ever had been in his entire life.

In this moment, he completely set aside any preparations he had made to defend against the Immortal’s sword. His entire heart and mind was completely focused on extracting the Perfect Dao foundation.

It was then, after he had abandoned his defenses, that grim coldness suddenly appeared in Meng Hao’s blank eyes.

“Anybody who wants to take my Dao foundation must first pay the price!

“Immortal’s sword!” Meng Hao’s eyes were filled with madness that caused the w.a.n.g Clan Patriarch’s mind to tremble. Suddenly, the Immortal’s sword that had sunk down into the sea exploded with an earthshaking Sword Qi. It shot out from within the water, moving at incredible speed.

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Note from Deathblade: Starting with this chapter, I am making some changes to capitalization of various terms. Some things that I did capitalize, I won't from now on. There are also some things that I didn't capitalize that I will. For example Spirit Stones will be spirit stones, yellow springs will be Yellow Springs. If you pay attention to that sort of thing you'll probably notice right away. Eventually, I will go back to adjust previous chapters.

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This chapter was sponsored by Wong Jing, Gyan Kapur, Donatas Azaravicius, and Gregor Kolm