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The Ninth Mountain and Sea was completely silent.
All of the cultivators who had just watched the fight between Meng Hao and Taiyang Zi were completely astonished. Even members of the Ancient Realm were a bit frightened by Meng Hao.
At the moment, none of them were truly clear regarding... exactly how powerful he was!
That was because, as far as anyone could remember, there had never been a person like Meng Hao in the Ninth Mountain and Sea. He had corroborated the Dao on his own, and had opened 123 meridians, then formed 33 Immortal souls.
“He... didn't even use his Immortal meridians, or his Immortal souls....”
“He fought Taiyang Zi using only the power of his fleshly body!!”
“I think I get it. He has a true Immortal fleshly body, and because he has Immortal meridians and is bolstered by Immortal qi, his fleshly body is already at the peak of the Immortal Realm!!” After a moment of silence, voices began to ring out. Everyone was completely mystified by Meng Hao's unfathomable secrets.
Taiyang Zi’s face was pale as he looked bitterly at Meng Hao. He took a few steps back, and was just about to simply leave, when suddenly, the starry sky filled with the glow of multiple teleportation portals.
This time, there were two that opened up at almost exactly the same time. The bright light of teleportation shone out, and soon, more people arrived.
Two figures emerged from the teleportation portals.
One was Song Luodan, Dao Child of the Song Clan, true Immortal Chosen of his people. The other person... was a true Immortal from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum. He was young, and had a dark red bundle strapped to his back.
The vertical bundle was narrow and somewhat tall, and from the look of it, contained a corpse.
This was someone Meng Hao had never seen before.
“Meng Hao!” Song Luodan’s energy surged violently as soon as he appeared, and he immediately unleashed a Song Clan secret magic, which caused his Immortal meridians to explode with far more power than normal, sending ripples out in all directions.
In much the same way as Taiyang Zi, he was using a secret magic to cause his Immortal meridians to increase in power by about twenty percent. It was as if he had more than 110 meridians. Furthermore, 9 Immortal souls appeared behind him.
However, just when everyone a.s.sumed Song Luodan was finished powering up, he threw his head back and roared. Instantly, a 10th Immortal soul appeared behind him, and then another one!
With a total of 11 Immortal souls, Song Luodan’s power erupted; he raised his right hand, within which appeared a long spear.
The spear was green, and emanated a profound ancientness. As soon as it appeared, the starry sky trembled.
“Meng Hao, come and fight me!” Song Luodan hurled the spear out with a burst of energy.
At the same time, the young man from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum stood there grim-faced and silent. He suddenly raised his right hand, causing the bundle to fly out from behind him. It rapidly unwrapped, revealing a shriveled corpse!
The corpse was completely withered, and emanated an archaic air. This was none other than... a corpse from ancient times!
The young man from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum bit down on the tip of his tongue, then spit out a mouthful of blood. At the same time, he dropped down to sit cross-legged, and closed his eyes. He pushed down onto his forehead, from within which shot a beam of light. After fusing with his blood, it turned into a blood-red beam that entered into the corpse.
A tremor ran through the corpse as its flesh and blood seemed to revive. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a middle-aged man, whose eyes snapped open. His body rumbled, and the aura of Immortal meridians instantly surged out.
This was also a secret magic, manifest via the use of an ancient corpse. Although no Immortal souls appeared, it emanated a shocking pressure that exuded ripples equivalent to 120 Immortal meridians. At the same time, Immortal dragons appeared and began to swirl through the air.
Everyone was now paying rapt attention to what was happening!
“Wow, look at Song Luodan! He’s even stronger than Taiyang Zi! He’s also cultivated the second level of his secret magic. As for the first level, although he hasn’t made too much progress and can only increase his Immortal meridians by twenty percent, that’s still extremely powerful!”
“I heard that all the sects and clans in the Ninth Mountain and Sea have secret magics. They’re all virtually the same in that they have three levels. The first level can essentially add illusory Immortal meridians, even doubling the real ones in some cases! The second level expands the number of Immortal souls, and the last level... takes the illusory and makes it corporeal!”
“Yu Xinglong from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum is also extraordinary. Their magical techniques are sinister and bizarre, and even though he hasn't cultivated the second level, his advancement in the first level still increases his power by more than twenty percent, a power similar to about 120 meridians!” [1. Yu Xinglong’s name in Chinese is 於興龍 yú xìng lóng. Yu is a surname. Xing means “interest” or “desire.” Long means “dragon”]
Even as the Ninth Mountain and Sea cultivators commented on the scene playing out, Meng Hao’s voice echoed out through the starry sky.
“Danny,” he said, belittling Song Luodan by calling him a pet name, “you also owe me some money.” He looked over at Song Luodan, and frowned. His demeanor and his wording were exactly like someone from the Senior generation reprimanding a naughty member of the Junior generation.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Song Luodan’s face went purple. The matter of being in debt to Meng Hao was something he considered to be the biggest humiliation of his entire life. He let out a roar and charged directly toward Meng Hao.
Meng Hao then looked over at the young man from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum, and his eyes shone with a strange light.
“No one from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum owes me money yet.... However, I do happen to know somebody by the name of Xiao Luo.” [1. Xiao Luo fought Meng Hao starting in chapter 874]
Almost in the same moment that Song Luodan launched his attack, Yu Xinglong from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum sent the corpse forward. Its energy surged as it attacked with Song Luodan, the two of them versus Meng Hao.
They moved with incredible speed. Song Luodan’s spear ripped through the air, sending ripples out into the starry sky as it stabbed toward Meng Hao. Booms echoed out in all directions.
A vicious gleam appeared in Meng Hao’s eyes. He took a step forward, and suddenly the starry sky seemed to shrink. In the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of Song Luodan. Once again, he lifted his right hand and punched out.
BOOM!
When the punch landed, the spear shattered, and blood sprayed out Song Luodan’s mouth. At the same time, the 11 Immortal souls behind him roared, rumbling down toward Meng Hao like eleven giant mountains. Once again, Meng Hao's fist lashed out.
BOOOOMMMMMM!
The fist slammed into the eleven mountains, causing them to tremble and then collapse into pieces amidst ma.s.sive rumbling sounds. Meng Hao's one punch destroyed them all as if they were dried gra.s.s. Then, it slammed into Song Luodan’s chest.
Song Luodan let out a m.u.f.fled grunt. Blood spurted out of his mouth as he tumbled backward.
Simultaneously, Meng Hao spun, eyes blazing as he faced the incoming ancient corpse. His gaze was like lightning, instantly stifling the ancient corpse’s surging energy.
Then... he let out another punch!
A huge boom could be heard. Meng Hao had held back a bit with Song Luodan. However, the young man from the Paleo-Immortal Mausoleum didn’t owe him any money, so when he punched, he backed it with the full power of his fleshly body. The ancient corpse had Immortal power similar to 120 meridians, but that didn't matter; it instantly shook and then simply exploded, shattering into countless pieces as it was completely destroyed.
In the moment that the corpse exploded, Yu Xinglong spat up a mouthful of blood. His eyes snapped open, and they were filled with astonishment.
“Too powerful!”
At the same time, three teleportation portals suddenly flashed into being in the area around them. Boundless light rose up, and ripples emanated out into the starry sky.
Three figures flew out from the teleportation portals at top speed, not stopping for even a moment as they headed toward Meng Hao.
One of them was w.a.n.g Mu!
As a Chosen of the w.a.n.g Clan, this was not the first time he and Meng Hao had fought. He was the youngest of these Chosen, but his ambitions exceeded that of most the others.
“Meng Hao!” he roared. As he flew out, a strange aura surged. His Immortal meridians emanated the ripples of a secret magic as his energy rose up. All of his power then focused onto his index finger as he pointed toward Meng Hao.
The second person to fly out was Xie Yixian from the Burning Incense Stick Society. [2. Xie Yixian fought Meng Hao starting in chapter 876]
During the Three Great Daoist Societies’ trial by fire, Xie Yixian’s power attracted quite a bit of attention. He was a Chosen who had made it into the top 4. As soon as he appeared near Meng Hao, mists swirled out around him, forming an area that was like his own kingdom!
“Fang Mu!” Xie Yixian’s eyes flickered with the desire to do battle, and his Immortal meridians erupted with the full bolstering power of a secret magic.
The final person to appear was Chen Hao from the Bones of the Flamedevil, one of the Five Great Holy Lands. [3. Chen Hao fought Meng Hao starting in chapter 871]
As soon as he stepped out of the teleportation portal, a sea of flames erupted around him. It quickly transformed into more than 100 flame dragons, which roared as they swirled around him. Behind him, 12 Immortal souls appeared that looked like enormous flame giants.
The three people all emerged at the same time and attacked Meng Hao simultaneously.
At the same time, Song Luodan gritted his teeth, ignored the pain of his wounds, and attacked again. Next to him was Taiyang Zi, whose eyes gleamed with determination. Although these people were all Chosen, Meng Hao was so powerful that they had no choice but to join forces to fight him.
“I just have to beat him one time! Only once!” roared Taiyang Zi as he charged forward.
Then there was Yu Xinglong, whose face flickered with various emotions. Although his ancient corpse had been destroyed, he could still fight on his own. He joined in as well, his body emanating a death aura, and his Immortal meridians erupting with power as he shot toward Meng Hao.
Six cultivators joined forces to attack!
The starry sky filled with radiant light. All of the cultivators in the audience held their breath as they watched. It wasn't that powerful people had never appeared before throughout the history of the true Immortal Realm of the Ninth Mountain and Sea, but never in any generation had there been one blazing sun who had outstripped the other Chosen so far that it required several of them working together to put up a fight.
Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed in concentration. As of this moment, even he had to take things a bit more seriously. His six opponents all had more than 90 meridians, and were utilizing secret magics. These people were the result of countless years of preparations on the part of their respective sects and clans, and were the hope for their future.
All of them were Dao Children in their sects and clans, and if Meng Hao hadn’t appeared on the scene, would be in a position of glory.
“Interesting,” said Meng Hao. His eyes gleamed with the desire to do battle, and to see exactly how powerful he was.
“The power of Immortal meridians....” he thought. His body emanated booms, 123 of them, each one of which represented the activation of one of his Immortal meridians.
“I also want to see if I, by myself, can fight back against all of these true Immortal Chosen of the Ninth Mountain and Sea!” His body rumbled as it emanated a powerful, domineering aura.
He didn’t wait for his six opponents to close in. His body flickered as he charged them!
It was time to fight!