When he had first laid eyes on these twenty allied bandit Tribes, Meng Hao knew that in this last battle, despite the unsurpassable battle prowess of the Crow Divinity and great Black Dragon Tribes, they would be defeated in the end.
There were just too many Cultivators in the bandit Tribes.
Even if by some miracle the more than ten thousands members of the Crow Divinity Tribe did not die, and a few hundred managed to enter into the Black Lands, by that time, they would no longer be the Crow Divinity Tribe.
On the other hand, if the Crow Divinity Tribe was able to continue on with majority of its strength, after it entered the Black Lands, it could combine with the Church of the Golden Light. Then, they would be a powerful force, and would thus be able maintain their self respect and continue on.
That was exactly the outcome Meng Hao hoped for. And there was only one way to make that happen…. That method had nothing to do with strength or weakness of Cultivation base. It had nothing to do with strength in numbers. No, Meng Hao knew that in the Western Desert… there was only one thing that was considered the source of true power.
His greatest strength did not lie in the five elements totems, nor in the power of his Cultivation base or his magical items. People who exceeded him in terms of such aspects were not rare. Even his position as a totemic Sacred Ancient did not count for much.
His Blood Clone was strong, but how could it possibly stand up to 200,000 Cultivators?
The Devil Spear was domineering, but he only had one!
Meng Hao knew that his most powerful asset, the greatest strength he had to rely on, was his identity as a Demon Sealer. In the great lands of the Western Desert, the fact that Meng Hao was a Demon Sealer meant that he could congeal and manipulate boundless Demonic Qi.
He could cause great changes in neo-demons, make them even more powerful than himself. He could control them and use them to accomplish things that he alone could not accomplish.
That was his greatest asset. It was also why the Crow Divinity Tribe had been able to leave the Western Desert North region and travel all the way to here.
Therefore… the Exotic Heartdevil Flower had appeared. Slaying totemic Sacred Ancients and Nascent Soul Elders was secondary to his true goal. While everyone was paying attention to him, he needed a brief pause in the battle, only four or fives breaths of time while he was being surrounded.
That brief amount of time was crucial. To ensure success, he needed to make sure that the hundred or so Dragoneers of the allied bandit Tribes lost control of their neo-demons. It was in that way that Meng Hao could perfectly pull off his plan.
That was the entire reason why he had pulled out the Exotic Heartdevil Flower!
His goal was not to cause confusion for the ordinary Cultivators, nor was it to bewilder the Nascent Soul experts. Instead… he had been targeting the one hundred Dragoneers, who were hidden within their neo-demon hordes. These were the Cultivators who, seemingly from the beginning, had been completely ignored by Meng Hao, as if he didn't care about them one bit.
As of this moment, he had accomplished his goal.
800,000 neo-demons shook heaven and earth, completely rocking the battlefield. The Heavenly Court Alliance was shocked, as were all of the other Western Desert Cultivators who were watching.
The neo-demons instantly charged towards the well over 100,000 shocked bandit Tribe members.
This last battle was destined to be filled with foul winds and rains of blood. It was something the likes of which had never occurred in the history of the Western Desert. Everyone atop Blackgate Fort watched on in silence, even the four streams of Divine Sense from the Spirit Severing Patriarchs.
As the 800,000 neo-demons closed in, the eyes of the 100,000 bandit Tribe members went red. they also charged forward, howling: “Kill them!!”
At the same time, all of the totemic Sacred Ancients and all of the Nascent Soul Cultivators shot forward, transforming into something like a sharp arrow, piercing through the neo-demon horde toward Meng Hao.
“Kill Meng Hao and the neo-demon horde will collapse!!” In this critical moment, the Greatfathers of the twenty bandit Tribes roared, congealing the peak power that existed on the battlefield as they shot toward Meng Hao.
Meng Hao was there within the neo-demon horde, looking around with cold eyes as neo-demons circulated around him. Miserable shrieks sounded out constantly as Cultivators were ripped to shreds by neo-demons.
As of this moment, Meng Hao could sense the intense ruthlessness of warfare. It was no exaggeration to say that the world in front of him was awash in redness.
That redness was blood. The blood of neo-demons and the blood of Cultivators. The land turned red, so red that even the violet rain that fell could not wash it away.
This was a true massacre!
The vast amount of neo-demons in the horde made it so that even though neo-demons were constantly dying, there were always more to attack the bandit Tribe Cultivators. Bloodcurdling screams filled the air as the deaths intensified. Right now, it was like the yellow springs of the underworld had turned completely red.
“Blood….” thought Meng Hao as he looked down at the ground. Suddenly, he reached a bit of new enlightenment. Blood… was also water, correct? It was a type of water that contained life; it was in fact the source of life force.
Having blood didn’t necessarily mean you were alive, but without it, you would certainly not be.
“It seems that I’m bound to blood by Karma. The Blood Immortal legacy, all the slaughtering that resulted from my practice of cultivation…. Blood, is also a kind of totem.
“Besides, what are totems anyway? Totems… are not a manifestation of my own will and enlightenment. No, they are a force of power of the Nine Mountains and Seas. They are a seed of power!!”
Muttering to himself, he closed his eyes, ignoring the powerful experts of the bandit alliance who were going all out to try to reach him and kill him. As they neared, neo-demons attempted to block their way, resulting in even more blood showering about.
It was at this moment that suddenly, the members of the Crow Divinity Tribe moved forward along with the spell formation. Fog churned, and the sound of running echoed about. Massive golden figures could be seen within, charging into the battle.
As soon as the fog reached the members of the bandit Tribes, miserable shrieks could be heard.
A howl could be heard as the excited parrot suddenly appeared in mid-air. In a squawk that the entire battlefield could hear, it said, “Come come. Shout out with me! Have faith in the Lord Fifth, gain eternal life! When the Lord Fifth appears, who dares to cause strife….”
As soon as the voices began to echo out from within the spell formation fog, another batch of roiling, cloudy fog could be seen within the Black Lands. It was exactly the same in appearance, and loud, clear voices rang out from within. They were filled with excitement and determination.
“Have faith in the Lord Fifth, gain eternal life! When the Lord Fifth appears, who dares to cause strife! Lord Fifth, we welcome you back with respectful hearts!! Patriarch, we welcome you back with respectful hearts!!” These resounding voices caused the observers on the battlement of Blackgate Fort to stare in shock. When they looked over, they could see that within the approaching fog were seven or eight thousand enormous figures. They charged through mid-air, passing out from the Black Lands to enter the Western Desert and charge down toward the battlefield.
“That’s….”
“The Church of the Golden Light!!”
“The spell formation of the Crow Divinity Tribe is exactly the same as that of the Church of the Golden Light!!”
When the Church of the Golden Light appeared, it was like a sharp blade that stabbed into the already scattered and battered bandit alliance. Together with the Crow Divinity Tribe, they began a slaughter of spell formations that hit the enemy from two directions at the same time.
The members of the great Black Dragon Tribe also charged out from within the center of the Crow Divinity Spell Formation, engaging in bloody slaughter down to the very end.
The battle was now completely one-sided. Any position of superiority the bandit Tribes had was completely lost because of the 800,000 neo-demons. Hopelessness and terror filled their hearts and minds. Miserable screams filled the air as they completely lost any will to fight.
The slaughter continued nonetheless!
150,000. 130,000. 100,000… 80,000… 50,000!!
It did not take long for the bandit Tribes’ numbers to be reduced to only 50,000 Cultivators. The other 150,000 were nothing more that corpses. Their blood flowed out, causing the area outside of Blackgate Fort to become a lake of blood!
The reek of gore filled the air. As for the top experts and totemic Sacred Ancients of the bandit alliance, they were seriously injured and virtually going mad as they slaughtered their way through the neo-demons to grow closer and closer to Meng Hao.
The slaughter down below wasn’t actually drawing much attention. The eyes of the Cultivators on the battlement of Blackgate Fort were all drawn toward the neo-demons that were protecting Meng Hao, who floated there in mid-air.
Meng Hao was the key to everything. If he died… then the bandit Tribes could still secure victory in the battle!
Booming filled the air as dozens of Nascent Soul Cultivators and more than ten rapidly weakening totemic Sacred Ancients mowed their way through the crowds of neo-demons. They carved out a bloody path as the neo-demons, giving no thoughts to their own lives, threw themselves in front of the enemy. The enemy had no choice but to continue the slaughter as they tried to near Meng Hao.
The distance between the two was still several hundred meters, packed close with crazed neo-demons. Unfortunately the enemy Cultivators weren’t able to get to Meng Hao. There were just too many neo-demons. The Demonic Qi of a horde of 800,000 neo-demons was something that the Nascent Soul Cultivators couldn’t see. However, they could sense that there was some unspeakable pressure in the area that made minor teleportation impossible.
All they could do was charge physically and try to kill their way to Meng Hao.
Meng Hao’s closed eyes suddenly snapped open. When they did, his pupils glowed with a red will of blood that seemed to be a reflection of the lake of blood down below. It was the same color as his mask, as if it was in fact, merged with the mask.
“Blood is water…. As it turns out, I had the totem with me all the time, I just never realized it…. It has aways been here.” His skin was now completely the color of blood. It almost seemed as if the Blood Immortal mask had disappeared. Meng Hao’s entire body was the same color as the blood-colored mask. It was no longer a mask, but rather, Meng Hao’s true face.
In this moment, his long robe had also turned red. Even his hair was crimson. Right now you could actually say that he looked… exactly like a Blood Clone.
“Not quite there,” he murmured. “Unfortunately… this blood totem will belong to the Blood Immortal, not me….” He raised his right hand, causing the Ji Clan Blood Clone, which was off in the distance pouncing toward another Cultivator, to suddenly tremble. It seemed unwilling to respond, but also unable to control itself. It disappeared, and when it reappeared, it was directly in front of Meng Hao.
Meng Hao pointed at the Blood Clone, and instantly, it transformed into a beam of light that fused into Meng Hao’s finger. Shockingly, a totem tattoo suddenly appeared on Meng Hao’s finger in that same spot!
A red totem tattoo. A blood totem!
As soon as the totem appeared, Meng Hao’s Cultivation base exploded up. It was as if it had been restrained for too long, and now it was finally able to climb high. In the blink of an eye, it exploded out in a way that caused the approaching bandit alliance experts and totemic Sacred Ancients to be filled with stupefied astonishment.
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This chapter was sponsored by James Timmermans