Meng Hao was a shooting star that closed in on the old man in animal hide clothing. He pointed out his index finger, and the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex appeared, causing the old man to freeze in place, trembling.

In that moment, Meng Hao’s thrust his right hand violently at the old man’s chest and stabbed into the flesh.

“Qi and Blood, Spirit Meridians!”

Boom!

The old man howled miserably as he fell back. His body withered up, and his cultivation base flowed out from him. He quickly bit the tip of his tongue and spat out some blood. The blood expanded in midair, shockingly transforming into a huge blood-colored cauldron which slammed towards Meng Hao in an attempt to shake him off.

Meng Hao snorted coldly, then clenched his hand into a fist and punched. He landed a blow onto the cauldron that was backed by his qi and blood, the energy of tens of thousands of cultivators, and even the power of the old man himself. A huge boom echoed out over the battlefield.

The cauldron immediately shattered into pieces. As Meng Hao’s fist pa.s.sed through the remnants, it transformed into a palm, and then a claw which latched onto the old man’s face.

Rumbling filled the air as qi, blood and spirit meridians were rapidly sucked out of the old man’s body. The old man screamed in pain and shoved his hands out toward Meng Hao. In response, Meng Hao vanished, then reappeared behind the man. He slapped his hand down onto the man’s back.

“Save me!!” cried the old man. The sense of deadly crisis he felt caused his mind to reel.

“No one can save you now,” responded Meng Hao, his voice icy cold.

However, it was at this moment that a leaf suddenly appeared. Not just one leaf, but many, emanating scintillating glows as they descended from above.

An aura also appeared that Meng Hao was very familiar with!

The voice of a woman then echoed out coldly across the battlefield.

“What if I save him?”

Leaves fluttered down over the lands of the Southern Domain.

The innumerable leaves began to to spin, then rapidly formed together into the shape of a woman. She wore a colorful gown, and exuded a palpable, exotic allure that would attract anyone who looked at her.

However, this was no girl. It was a woman.

It was… the mother of the Resurrection Lily. The Dawn Immortal!

She stretched out her right hand and pointed toward Meng Hao.

Numerous branches suddenly appeared around him. They expanded rapidly and then grew together, transforming into a cage that threatened to completely seal Meng Hao up.

“You showed up at the battle of the Blood Demon Sect, and now you show up again here! Screw off!” Killing intent flashed in Meng Hao’s eyes as his cultivation base exploded with power. It transformed into a cyclone that thrashed about in all directions, smas.h.i.+ng a hole in the cage of branches. Meng Hao instantly shot out from within, and immediately headed in the old man’s direction.

The Dawn Immortal laughed coldly and waved her right hand. Shockingly, a seven-colored leaf appeared, which shone with prismatic light as it sped toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao’s mind trembled, and yet he didn’t slow down in his pursuit of the weakened old man. He caught up in a short moment, and then reached out his hand to push down onto the top of the old man’s head.

“Soul!” he said calmly.

The old man immediately let out a shriek of pain. His body trembled, his mouth opened wide, and his eyes bulged. His soul… began to seep out through his nose and mouth in many delicate strands that were quickly absorbed by Meng Hao.

“Looking to die?!” said the Dawn Immortal, her eyes flickering with killing intent. The seven-colored leaf picked up speed as it closed in on Meng Hao. In the blink of an eye, it was about to hit him.

Meng Hao took the old man and violently tossed him forward to slam into the leaf. A boom echoed out, and the old man’s body exploded. He was dead in body and spirit.

As for Meng Hao, he retreated immediately, his face somewhat pale. Having absorbed the old man’s complete cultivation base, as well as all of his qi and blood, plus his soul, he was now filled with indescribable energy. Resisting the leaf attack caused him to retreat, but did not injure him!

Now that the leaf was heading toward him for a second attack, his eyes flashed with killing intent. The Lightning Cauldron appeared, and a flash of electricity could be seen. In that moment, he switched places with one of the peak Dao Seeking experts who was fighting Pill Demon and the others, the old woman!

In response to the Form Displacement Transposition, the old woman’s face fell. The seven-colored leaf ground to a halt, then changed directions and shot after Meng Hao. By this point, Meng Hao was next to Patriarch Song, with whom he joined forces to launch an attack against the white-robed hopping vampire that was a Northern Reaches peak Dao seeking expert.

A boom could be heard, and the white-robed old man coughed up a mouthful of blood. Even as he fell back, the seven-colored leaf neared.

The flash of electricity surrounded Meng Hao, and he then appeared in the middle of the Northern Reaches army down below. Blood Demon Grand Magic vortexes instantly appeared, enveloping thousands. Qi, blood, spirit meridians, and souls were all absorbed, and miserable screams rang out. Then Meng Hao vanished again.

Meng Hao had long since completely mastered the use of the Lightning Cauldron!

The peak Dao Seeking experts in midair were shocked.

“Dammit!”

“What kind of magical item is that Lightning Cauldron!? This Meng Hao is too hard to pin down!”

Meng Hao’s actions in the battle were strange and mysterious. He attacked with ruthless viciousness that left them thoroughly shaken. By now, Meng Hao was an archenemy in their minds!

He was such a threat that they knew he needed to be eliminated immediately!!

“I’ll deal with him,” said the Dawn Immortal coolly. Her eyes flashed with seven-colored light that bathed the entire area, apparently in an attempt to seal it.

“That toy of yours is quite mysterious," she said a moment later. "I can’t completely seal it, but what I can do is slow down the transpositioning speed. Go ahead and try it out now.” Then, she began to advance on Meng Hao.

As she neared, an intense pressure weighed down on everything. Furthermore, a vicious, seven-colored Resurrection Lily appeared behind her!

The flower swayed back and forth, obviously immaculately beautiful, and yet at the same time, boundlessly evil.

Meng Hao’s expression was calm, and did not reveal the slightest s.h.i.+ft in emotions. He put away the Lightning Cauldron and then pulled out… a blood-colored puppet the size of a hand.

The puppet flew out from Meng Hao’s hand and then began to grow. By they time it was thirty meters tall, it exploded with a shocking aura. Wild colors flashed through the sky, and the clouds churned. This was the aura of an Immortal!

Not a true Immortal aura, but that of a false Immortal.

Either way… it was still Immortal!

The Dawn Immortal’s face flickered for the first time, and the handful of peak Dao Seeking Experts from the Northern Reaches were all shocked.

This puppet was the trump card of the combined forces of the Solitary Sword Sect, Golden Frost Sect, Black Sieve Sect and Li Clan when they besieged the Blood Demon Sect. Were it not for the appearance of Patriarch Blood Demon back then, it would have clinched the victory.

Instead, Patriarch Blood Demon slaughtered the Solitary Sword Sect Patriarch, then made some alterations to the puppet so that only Meng Hao could use it. That was his reward for reaching the fifth level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic!

Meng Hao’s body flickered as he merged into the thirty-meter-tall blood-colored puppet. Moments ago, its eyes had been dark, but now they radiated a grim light, just like Meng Hao’s eyes.

As Meng Hao took control of the puppet, it suddenly stood up. A shocking false Immortal aura exploded outwards across the battlefield, turning into a shock wave that swept out, forcing the Northern Reaches cultivators to fall back amid shocked gasps.

As for the Southern Domain cultivators, their spirits were lifting, and they began to shout out Meng Hao’s name.

Sound waves rippled across the land, causing everything to shake!

“Dawn Immortal, do you dare to fight me!?” Meng Hao flew up into the air and then pointed toward the Dawn Immortal. A sound like thunder could be heard, and an intense pressure rumbled out. The earth cracked and the air shattered. In the blink of an eye, a black wind rose up to sweep across the land.

The Dawn Immortal did not speak, but her eyes glittered with a mysterious light. She stretched her beautiful hand out and pointed. The apparition of the Resurrection Lily behind her pa.s.sed through her body and flew into the air, its tentacles writhing in a bizarre and awe-inspiring fas.h.i.+on as it charged toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao snorted coldly. Due to his control of the puppet, he felt as if he was completely connected to Heaven and Earth. He waved his hand, and dark clouds appeared in the sky. Lightning descended like rain, transforming into a lake of lightning that enveloped the Resurrection Lily.

“Nothing but a false Immortal,” said the Dawn Immortal coolly, shaking her head. “If you use it, you’ll sow Karma with the Ji Clan.” Suddenly she vanished, and when she reappeared, she was directly in front of Meng Hao. She lifted her hand up, then dropped it.

Seven-colored light radiated brightly, transforming into a seven-colored sun that exploded into Meng Hao.

A huge boom shook everything. Even the peak Dao Seeking experts were flung aside. The old woman among their number was just about to retreat, when shockingly, Sun Tao of the Violet Fate Sect transformed into a powerful beam of light that completely inundated her.

She let out a miserable scream that echoed out in all directions.

“My body has already returned to the dust, and I can’t hold out any longer,” echoed the voice of Sun Tao from within the light. “Before I leave… I’ll take this woman with me. Fellow Daoists… I sincerely hope that you achieve complete victory!

“Master, I can’t be your apprentice alchemist any longer, nor will I be able to see you achieve true Immortal Ascension….”

A huge boom could be heard as the light exploded. The screams of the old woman from the Northern Reaches were suddenly cut off. Brilliant light covered everything, even Meng Hao and the Dawn Immortal.

Meng Hao felt stabs of pain in his heart. When the light faded away, Sun Tao was gone, as was the old woman.

Pill Demon trembled, and tears streamed down his face. He lifted his head up and began to laugh sadly. Suddenly, innumerable magical symbols began to appear on his body. One by one, they started shattering into pieces. In the blink of an eye, more than half of them were gone.

At the same time, his cultivation base shot up. He was no longer in the mid Dao Seeking stage. He broke completely through to the late Dao Seeking stage and then broke through again into peak Dao Seeking!

The destruction of the magical symbols was not something he could consciously do. Rather, it was provoked by the intense feelings that surged through him.

Now that Pill Demon was in the peak Dao Seeking stage, an unfamiliar aura appeared on his body. Furthermore, his appearance had changed. Now… he looked exactly like the statue of Reverend Violet East from back in the Violet Fate Sect!