Qian Duoduo’s face fell, and he staggered backward several paces, his face ashen and his eyes wide. An intense sense of deadly crisis crashed through him.

“What exactly did I unleas.h.!.+?!?” said Qian Duoduo hoa.r.s.ely. “These aren’t wicked thoughts! Wicked thoughts would form fires of retribution, a fire that can burn a person up in moments, destroy them in body and spirit!

“This… this feeling, this aura, even the black flames of retribution are incapable of burning it. This will… is so powerful that it’s suffocating!!” As Qian Duoduo backed up, his heart filled with incredible regret. Were he given another chance, nothing could have convinced him to unleash whatever it was he had just unleashed.

He had the feeling that he had opened a sluice gate, unleas.h.i.+ng a horrific Devil.

The spectators out in the Ninth Mountain and Sea were all astonished at the sight of Meng Hao on the vortex screens, covered with black flames that seemed completely incapable of harming him whatsoever.

Meng Hao’s red eyes seemed to be filled with the utmost insanity, and yet… they were also unshakably level-headed. Furthermore, his energy was rocketing higher and higher.

“He… he….”

“What state is he in? What technique does he cultivate? Why did he instantly become so blood-chillingly terrifying?”

“Devil! Heavens! It’s a Devilish will! A monstrous Devilish will! Only someone who has carried out endless slaughter, who is cold and ruthless to a Heaven-defying extent, could possibly have a Devilish will like that!”

In the starry sky palace, the Patriarchs were all on their feet, panting and watching with serious expressions.

“What a shocking Devilish will! But earlier, he seemed completely normal! This kid… this kid has shocking willpower!”

“A Devilish will like that can never be fully expelled, nor completely severed! It will even accompany him through reincarnation!”

“From ancient times until now, anyone who possessed a Devilish will like that has ended up facing countless deadly twists and turns throughout their lives!!”

Up above the Dao Tree, the white-robed woman had floated there absolutely expressionlessly for this entire time. However, as of this moment, her eyes began to s.h.i.+ne with a curious light as she looked at Meng Hao.

As for Qian Duoduo, he hadn’t ceased backing up, and was trembling with fear. His scalp was numb and he was scared witless. Meng Hao hadn’t even attacked yet, but the energy of the Devilish will and the fire of retribution had astonished Qian Duoduo to the extreme. The sensation of blood and gore, the towering murderous aura, left him shaking in his boots. He almost felt like what he was looking at was not a cultivator, but mountains of corpses and seas of blood, an evil star risen up from the Yellow Springs.

“I conc—” Before he could even finish speaking the words, Meng Hao’s eyes turned to look directly at him.

Those eyes were like oceans of blood, with pupils that emanated brilliant rays of eternal light that seemed capable of absorbing the soul.

As soon as their gazes met, Qian Duoduo’s mind roared, and felt as if it were about to explode. His body trembled, and he felt as if sharp blades were piercing into his eyes, stabbing into his soul. They exploded inside of his brain, transforming into a battlefield covered with mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He saw a person on the battlefield, surrounded by a vortex. Wherever that man went, countless cultivators let out bloodcurdling screams as their bodies were withered up, their flesh and blood was absorbed, their souls were consumed. In the end, the only things left behind were desiccated corpses staring wide-eyed up into the sky.

Qian Duoduo coughed up a mouthful of blood, and then, suddenly his vision cleared and he saw that Meng Hao had appeared directly in front of him, covered with raging black flames. Meng Hao lifted his right hand and grabbed the old man’s neck, then lifted him up into the air. His eyes burned with cold madness, and his mouth twisted into a brutal smile.

“Thank you. This feeling is… wonderful. It’s too bad that this state doesn’t conform with my Dao Heart. I thought I had completely severed it away, and never imagined that it still existed….

“In any case, I still have to thank you for helping me to realize that it was here all along. And now… I will give you a grand burial ceremony!” Meng Hao chuckled, and Qian Duoduo’s eyes went wide. He was currently incapable of speaking a single word, and was trembling violently. Within his wide eyes could be seen extreme terror.

As soon as Meng Hao finished speaking, the black flames that surrounded him surged up, transforming into the shape of a huge mouth. The mouth twisted with savagery and insanity as it shot toward Qian Duoduo.

It took only a moment for the black flames to inundate him. He let out a miserable shriek that didn’t even sound human. The wretched sound echoed about in all directions, causing all of the cultivators on the Dao Tree to feel not only shock, but sympathy. Then they began to s.h.i.+ver.

Li Ling’er’s face went pale when she saw what was happening. Even she began to s.h.i.+ver from the intensely terrifying feeling she got from Meng Hao.

Zhao Yifan’s face was covered with an expression of intense concentration as he looked over. Both he and Li Ling’er were panting.

Qian Duoduo screamed as his body rapidly withered. As he slipped into death, he gazed blankly at Meng Hao, and his mind filled with intense regret. He knew that he should never have unleashed wicked thoughts inside of his opponent. In the end, he had personally… unleashed a Devil!

In the s.p.a.ce of only a few breaths of time, Qian Duoduo transformed into nothing but drifting ash.

Meng Hao lowered his hand, and the flames winked out, transforming into black sealing marks that were visible on his skin. As he stood there, his energy raged.

At this point, he suddenly flew up out of the arena and landed on the golden leaf at the top of the Dao Tree, then turned and looked back at Zhao Yifan.

“Zhao Yifan, you wanted to fight me, didn’t you? Well, come on!”

The half-headed man who was watching Meng Hao apparently sensed the Devilish will, after which he trembled almost imperceptibly. Apparently, even he was in fear of the Devilish will.

A tremor ran through Zhao Yifan as he looked up at Meng Hao. A very serious expression covered his face, and his eyes burned with the desire to fight. Completely ignoring Li Ling’er, he also flew up into the air and landed in front of Meng Hao on the golden leaf.

He reached his right hand out, and suddenly, an azure sword appeared.

The sword was two meters long, and glittered with greenish light, as well as a coldness as vast as a sea. Zhao Yifan looked at Meng Hao, then raised the sword and slashed toward him like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The sword caused the air to vibrate, and wild colors to flash about. Intense coldness surged out in all directions, and dragon-like sword qi formed together into the shape of an Azure Dragon. The Azure Dragon had vicious claws that slashed the air into pieces, and long whiskers that shattered its surroundings. Rumbling filled the air as the dragon shot toward Meng Hao. The entire arena quaked, and the air was ripped apart. It almost seemed as if this Azure Dragon could smash through any and all obstacles in its path.

In the blink of an eye, it was directly in front of Meng Hao. In the moment before it impacted, Meng Hao’s expression was cold, and his eyes were bloodshot. Unexpectedly, he did nothing to avoid it, but instead, lifted his hand up and pushed it out toward the dragon.

Ma.s.sive rumbling could be heard as beams of sword qi rapidly expanded out in all directions, transforming into an arcing barrier formed of ten thousand swords. Meng Hao’s hair whipped about him… as he stood there unmoving, using only that one hand movement to send sword qi out in defense.

It was as if his one hand could eclipse everything!

Everyone looked on with astonishment at this final, decisive battle!!

In the starry sky palace, the Patriarchs were also watching with full concentration.

The decisive battle had begun too quickly. As of this moment, everyone in the Dao Tree now served as foils to Meng Hao and Zhao Yifan, who were the complete center of attention.

Meng Hao gazed coldly at Zhao Yifan, and slowly clenched his hand into a fist. As he did, the arcing barrier that had spread out began to emit cracking noises, and then suddenly shrank down.

As it shrank, the Azure Dragon within it struggled, but to no avail. Meng Hao’s hand closed into a fist.

Boom!

The sword qi obstacle shattered, and the Azure Dragon collapsed into pieces and then exploded. The sword attack vanished, and all that remained behind to show for it was a white mark on Meng Hao’s palm. It seemed like it should have been a wound, but in the blink of an eye, it was healed, and the mark vanished.

This development was noticed by the audiences in the Ninth Mountain and Sea, and they were astonished.

“He has regenerative powers!!”

“He used a single hand to block Zhao Yifan’s sword, and all it did was cut him a little! Heavens! He already recovered!”

“This is Fang Mu’s true power! Before, he was concealing his cultivation base!!”

As the crowds were in an uproar, the Patriarchs in the starry sky palace were panting, and staring fixedly at the image of Meng Hao on the screens.

“That must be… an Eternal stratum!!”

“He actually possesses the Eternal stratum of legend!”

“With a stratum like that, he can be considered invincible to his peers!!”

Meanwhile, outside of Planet East Victory, Patriarch Reliance was staring blankly at the vortex screen, eyes wide. He began to pant, and then moments later, started muttering curses.

“Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I can’t believe he has an Eternal stratum!!”

Another strange gleam appeared in the eyes of the white robed woman floating above the Dao Tree as she looked at Meng Hao.

At the same time, outside of the arena where Meng Hao stood, the half-headed man hovered there, motionless. However, his one remaining eye stared dead at Meng Hao, glowing with what seemed to be avarice.

Zhao Yifan’s face flickered, and he took a deep breath. His Dharma Idol suddenly appeared behind him, and the image it depicted was of himself!

It was an enormous giant, 3,000 meters tall, that radiated shocking energy.

In order to have a Dharma Idol like this, one had to possess one’s own power of true Immortality, at least sixty to seventy percent. Back in the Southern Domain, Zhao Yifan had been strong, but not this strong. In fact, it was even possible to just barely see some sort of glowing vine on the Dharma Idol!

It was… an Immortality Illumination Vine!!

“Heavens! Zhao Yifan is actually engaging in battle at the same time as he’s using an Immortality Illumination Vine! Most other people would be in secluded meditation right now, but he dares to come out and fight!!”

“Is he using battle to contemplate enlightenment? Using a duel to illuminate Immortality and open his path to true Immortality? This Zhao Yifan definitely deserves his reputation as one of the two most powerful successors to have appeared in years in the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto!”

Even more shocking was that his Dharma Idol gripped a mighty longsword, upon which were inscribed two characters.

Cloud Sealing!

The words were somewhat indistinct, but everyone could see them.

As soon as people caught sight of the two characters, everyone was sent into an uproar.

“A Cloud Sealing Sword! His Dharma Idol actually produced a Cloud Sealing Sword!”

“The Sublime Flow Sword Grotto has three types of divine swords, and the Cloud Sealing Sword is one of them! They are swords which don’t exist in reality, but can only be summoned by cultivating Daoist magic from the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto. There are only a few Chosen who have the magical techniques and divine abilities to do it.

“But… but for the sword to appear in the hands of a Dharma Idol is completely unheard-of! Doesn’t that mean that he can use any magical technique and divine ability he wants, and still unleash the power of that Cloud Sealing Sword at the same time!?”