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As of this moment, the Chosen outside in the starry sky stared in shock. The cultivators of the Ninth Mountain and Sea were also dumbstruck by the scene of Fang Wei’s death.
For a Chosen to perish....
Furthermore, his actions before he had died left everyone moved. Everyone suddenly felt... unwilling to part ways with Fang Wei.
Fang Wei, Chosen of the Fang Clan!
The Fang in his name came from the Fang Clan. The Wei came from the word ‘defend.’
Misery and bleakness covered the Fang Clan in their moment of upheaval. The death of a Chosen caused everyone’s hearts to tremble. Many people couldn’t help but wonder, if they were in Fang Wei’s position, what would they do?
“Fang Wei... I will remember this name!”
“Wei... actually has THAT meaning....”
The chaotic rebellion continued to proceed in the Fang Clan. Clan members died at every moment, and the ancestral mansion was soaked with blood. The stench of gore spread out in all directions.
Fang Wei’s death caused many clan members to suddenly grow very silent and bitter. However, this was not the time to be overwhelmed with grief, so they continued fighting.
Up in the starry sky, Fan Dong’er and the other Chosen looked on silently. None of them would do anything impulsive, so they stood by while the fighting went on.
The Fang Clan’s Earth Patriarch fought with one of the Ji Clan’s five Dao Realm experts, Ji Xiufang. Their battle was shocking to the extreme. Booms rang out as Essence power was unleashed. Both of these two were 1-Essence Dao Lords, and their attacks caused the starry sky to tremble, and wild colors to flash.
“The Fang Clan is doomed to destruction,” Ji Xiufang said softly. “Fang Shoudao, you must know this in your heart of hearts. There’s no reason to keep fighting back. That kid Fang Wei had backbone, which is laudable. Unfortunately... he was simply born in the wrong clan.”
“Oh really?” replied Fang Shoudao, his voice light. He waved his hand, causing a river of stars to appear. In the blink of an eye, thousands of exchanges occurred between the two of them. The stars vibrated, and even the sealing s.h.i.+eld around them trembled.
“The Three Great Daoist Societies won't be coming,” said Ji Xiufang, laughing. “The Fang Clan... might have put on a good show of being powerful, but the Ji Clan has long since come to the realization that your clan’s pretense of having secret Dao Realm experts is not true. You... really are the only Dao Realm cultivator!
“What do you have, then, that will allow you to reverse fate?” Ji Xiufang’s killing intent swirled. Booms echoed out between them.
“If you're so certain of that, then why are you trying to probe me with words?” Fang Shoudao replied indifferently. Ji Xiufang frowned in response. Actually… she wasn't certain. After all, this was... the Fang Clan!!
In years past, they were just as glorious as the Ji Clan, and were one of the two great battle clans that had existed under Lord Li.
The Ji Clan was certain that the Fang Clan was on the decline, that they could only put on a show of glory, and were in fact weak. However, the Ji Clan could not underestimate the resources at their disposal.
That was especially true when it came to Fang Shoudao, who seemed to be completely unruffled by the rivers of blood flowing in the Fang Clan on Planet East Victory. The fact that he was remaining calm caused Ji Xiufang to feel a bit uneasy.
“He definitely has some trump cards to play. But what are they...?”
Meanwhile, Fang Heshan hovered in midair above Planet East Victory, trembling as he stared at the dead Fang Wei. Beneath the ancestral mansion, the Sixth Patriarch, who was fighting desperately with the Seventh Patriarch, coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Meng Hao maintained his silence as he looked down at Fang Wei’s corpse. He felt no excitement at having retrieved his Nirvana Fruits. Deep in his heart, he sighed. He walked up to Fang Wei’s corpse, and knelt down next to it. He put his hand on Fang Wei’s chest and pushed lightly. Fang Wei’s body vanished into Meng Hao’s bag of holding. He did not want the body to be desecrated due to the chaos in the clan. Later, he would be buried, and it would be a grand funeral!
Meng Hao stood there thinking.
“At first, I didn’t want to come here to Planet East Victory…. I wanted to go directly to the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite instead. However, father sent me here because he wanted me to retrieve my Nirvana Fruits.”
He thought back to everything that had happened since he returned, and an idea suddenly sprang up in his mind.
“In that case, these upheavals in the clan, all of this... could it be that father actually knew it all was going to happen?”
Even as Meng Hao stood there thinking, shrill laughter could be heard coming from Fang Heshan.
“Fang Hao, what are you doing!? Give Wei’er back to me immediately!”
Meng Hao turned to look at Fang Heshan, then quietly said,
“He’s my Clan Brother. My little bro didn’t betray the clan, and therefore, his corpse is not to be defiled after his death. Fang Heshan, turn back from this path.”
“There’s no turning back. Xiushan! Wei’er! I... I can’t turn back!” Fang Heshan's hair was in disarray, his eyes bloodshot. He seemed to have gone crazy, and as he glared at Meng Hao, his killing intent boiled.
“You son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h! You killed Xiushan and you killed Wei’er! Why are you still alive?! Why the h.e.l.l are YOU still alive!?” Fang Heshan threw his head back and laughed bitterly. His cultivation base erupted; originally, he had the power of three extinguished Soul Lamps, but as of now, he was under extreme provocation, and all of a sudden, the ripples of death spread out from him.
He was going all out, burning his own life force to suddenly extinguish three more of his Soul Lamps!!
As of this moment, he now raged with the destructive power of six extinguished Soul Lamps, causing Heaven and Earth to shake. The Grand Elder was just about to interfere, but Fang Heshan flicked his sleeve, shoving him away.
“Fang Hao, it’s time to die!!” Fang Heshan roared, transforming into a beam of light that shot toward Meng Hao with raging killing intent.
Behind him suddenly appeared three Elders from Fang Wei's bloodline, who joined Fang Heshan in a deadly attack on Meng Hao.
19th Uncle wanted to intercept them, as did other members of the direct bloodline, but none of them were able to.
“Hao’er!!” 19th Uncle cried urgently.
It was at this point that the first generation Patriarch’s Nirvana Fruit emerged from Meng Hao’s forehead. His aura and his cultivation base slipped down from his previous level of Immortal Emperor, down to its original Realm.
His expression was calm, though, because... he could sense something that he had been constantly calling out to. The aura of the terracotta soldier!
It was coming!
After much calling, the ancestral land began to emanate ripples that appeared in Meng Hao’s heart. He calmly looked at Fang Heshan, and his eyes suddenly shone with a cold flicker.
He didn’t move a muscle. He just looked over.
Fang Heshan got closer and closer, until he was less than 300 meters away. The power of six extinguished Soul Lamps burst out explosively. It transformed into a gigantic golden lotus that emanated a shocking murderous aura. This was a golden lotus that seemed capable of exterminating any and all Immortals!
Even Ancient Realm cultivators with four extinguished Soul Lamps or fewer would be killed by it!
Rumbling could be heard as the enormous golden lotus smashed murderously toward Meng Hao....
Meng Hao didn't move. He looked forward as coldly as ever. It was at this point that, all of a sudden, cracking sounds could be heard directly in front of him, and everything started to shake. A ma.s.sive rift opened up in the air right in front of Meng Hao!
It was as if someone was slas.h.i.+ng an enormous, invisible blade through the air, splitting it apart and creating an gigantic fissure. In the same moment that the rift appeared, it was possible to glimpse... the Fang Clan Ancestral Land!
Next, an archaic and ancient greatsword noiselessly emerged from within the rift. It slashed down, seemingly capable of rending Heaven and Earth. Boundless light shone out from the blade.
The light flashed past the incoming golden lotus, which was immediately slashed in two. It fell apart instantly, and then the light moved on toward Fang Heshan.
Fang Heshan’s six extinguished Soul Lamps trembled violently and began to crack and collapse, as did all of his divine abilities and Daoist magics. The light pa.s.sed Fang Heshan and then bore down on the three Ancient Realm Elders, who began to tremble violently.
Their Soul Lamps shattered, and they seemed to be physically locked in place in midair. Their eyes shone with disbelief and astonishment. Even as they forced themselves to look down....
Everything was over!
The light shot up into the sky, and when it vanished, three heads flew high into the air, and three headless bodies plummeted down to the ground.
The entire battlefield went completely silent.
The three Elders behind Fang Heshan were dead!
Souls extinguished! Slaughtered!
One sword attack ... killed three Ancient Realm experts!!
As for Fang Heshan, there was a long line of blood on his neck. As it turned out, it wasn’t three Ancient Realm experts killed, it was four!
Fang Heshan had managed to hold onto his life for a bit longer, and prevent his head from falling off. He looked into the rift with despair and disbelief....
What had just happened rocked the Heavens, shook the earth, and completely shocked all of the cultivators of the Ninth Mountain and Sea.
The members of the Fang Clan, both the traitors and the loyalists, all felt an unprecedentedly cold aura that caused them to s.h.i.+ver. They looked over at Meng Hao, and the rift which had just appeared, as well as the archaic sword.
Slowly, a 3,000-meter figure stepped out from within the rift.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As it stepped out, everyone’s hearts started to pound. When the figure became visible, everyone in the entire Fang Clan couldn’t help but cry out in alarm and disbelief.
“That’s... that’s....”
“The Dao Guardsman of the Ancestral Land! It’s... it’s not just a statue? How come it’s moving!?!?”
“The Dao Guardsman! For years and years it’s stood there unmoving! According to the legends, it flew here from out in the Heavens! It's supposedly waiting for someone! Now it’s actually moving!!”
“Could it be because of the rebellion in the clan!?!?” All of the clan members were shocked. All cultivators’ minds spun. They just couldn't believe everything that was happening.
Simultaneously, the aura of a Quasi-Dao Paragon suddenly exploded off of the terracotta soldier.
The aura spread out, causing everything to shake. Endless rumbling sounds could be heard, and all Fang Clan members felt their hearts trembling.
Ripples that seemed capable of sweeping across anyone in the Ancient Realm swept out. That was... the madness of a Quasi-Dao Paragon!
Up in the starry sky, Ji Xiufang, who was still fighting desperately with the Fang Clan Earth Patriarch, sensed what was happening, and her eyes widened.
“So, that’s your trump card,” she said. “Well, did you really think that a Quasi-Dao Realm Dao Guardsman would be capable of resolving the crisis in the Fang Clan?”
Even as Ji Xiufang spoke, Fang Clan Earth Patriarch Fang Shoudao felt shock rising up in his heart. This development was something he hadn’t antic.i.p.ated at all.
“The resources of the Fang Clan are far too deep for someone like you to speculate about,” he said. “The Dao Guardsman is naturally something that I--”
Before he could even get halfway through what he wanted to say, he suddenly stopped speaking. His eyes went wide as he looked toward Planet East Victory. Ji Xiufang had the same reaction, and stared in shock.
What they saw... was the Dao Guardsman step all the way out into Planet East Victory. As the aura of a Quasi-Dao Paragon radiated out, the Dao Guardsman suddenly... bent down on one knee and lowered its head in greeting to Meng Hao!
Everyone was flabbergasted.
“This.... This....”
“The Dao Guardsman is kneeling to Meng Hao!?!?”
“How could Karma play out like this? Just what is going on!?!?”
“Even the Dao Guardsman is going to protect him...?” Blood oozed out of Fang Heshan’s mouth, and he began to laugh bitterly. Then, blood exploded out of his neck, and his head toppled off of his body, which then tumbled down toward the ground, dead.