In the vast stretch of land between the Fourth and Third Peaks, there was an enormous pit in the ground that emanated pulsing coldness up into the air.
As he flew through mid-air, Meng Hao noticed it immediately. Even more eye-catching were the numerous green vines that could be seen near the pit. They glowed almost like treasures, each one as wide as a person and bursting with incredible power.
“What’s in that pit, I wonder…?” he thought. Meng Hao wasn’t sure why, but when he looked in the direction of the deep pit, he suddenly felt a sensation that made it seem like the entire world was blurry and overlapping on itself. Although his mind quickly returned to normal, he was still left completely shocked.
Gradually, because of his identity as a Demon Sealer, and his sensitivity to Demonic Qi, he came to realize that the entire Demon Immortal Sect was filled with shocking Demonic Qi. Furthermore, the Demonic Qi in the giant pit was even more astonishing.
“Back in the First Plane, when I went from the Third Peak to the Fourth, I didn’t see any bizarre pit like that.” Meng Hao’s eyes glittered when he realized that Ke Jiusi’s memories also did not contain any information regarding the pit.
Flying next to Meng Hao was a young girl as pretty as silk, with pointed ears. Her eyes glittered with a charm that seemed capable of seducing any soul into wrongdoing. When she saw Meng Hao looking at the pit, she said, “Jiusi, don’t attract the attention of the Demon Chasm….”
Next to the young woman was a handsome young man with two black wings that flapped silently as he flew. Sighing, he said, “Last time we went to the Demon Chasm, we wasted a lot of treasures, but only managed to get the vines to extend a few thousand meters. Who knows how deep it actually is.”
On the other side of Meng Hao was a young man whose fingers intermittently sprouted sharp claws. He shook his head and said, “According to legend, that pit is the dwelling place of the Demon Divinity who protects the First Heaven of the Demon Immortal Sect.
Meng Hao nodded thoughtfully. Everyone put thoughts of the Demon Chasm aside as they proceeded onward toward the Third Peak.
As they neared, the Third Peak silkpants immediately began to call out to the Conclave disciples. Regardless of whether or not they were willing, when the Sect’s number one bully showed up, they had to come out.
Meng Hao glanced over the several thousand people in front of him, frowning slightly. He didn’t recognize any of them as being the Ji Clan host body. Muttering to himself, he moved a bit closer. After looking them over one more time, he led his group on to the Second Peak.
Eventually, he reached the First Peak, but despite looking at thousands of Conclave disciples, he still had met no success, causing him to sigh inwardly. By this time, several hours had passed, and no doubt, many of the others were beginning to wake up.
Just in the moment when Meng Hao was about to make his way to the Fifth Peak, as he flew over the congregated Conclave disciples, suddenly, a weak rippling sensation appeared in Meng Hao’s mind. He was instantly shaken to the core, and stopped in his tracks. He looked down toward all of the Conclave disciples.
He inched closer to them, and his gaze fell onto the body of one particular young man. His features were handsome, and he stood there, expressionless. When Meng Hao looked at him, he gaped back, seemingly apprehensive.
“That’s the one!” cried Meng Hao. As he neared the young man, the faint feeling grew more noticeable. Although Meng Hao couldn’t be sure of the details, he was sure the feeling had something to do with host bodies.
The young man’s face was pale as he stammered, “Fourth Little Patriarch, I….”
Killing intent flickered in Meng Hao’s eyes. However, the shadow of his punishment earlier still loomed heavy around him. He didn’t want to kill anyone out in the open; after all, Sect rules strictly prohibited such an act. It would lead to a lot of problems.
The young man suddenly started trembling, and a look of confusion appeared in his eyes. At the same time, a unique aura that no one else could sense suddenly seemed to awaken within him.
Meng Hao could instantly see a vague, shadowy image appear behind the young man. The image was that of a handsome man with a crow perched on his shoulder. The unique aura of the Ji Clan emanated off of him.
Meng Hao instantly recognized him. “Ji Mingfeng!” he thought. The killing intent suddenly flickered in his eyes as he realized that the man was about to wake up.
“There’s no time,” thought Meng Hao, looking at the man. “Once he wakes up, too many unforeseen circumstances could unfold.
“When it comes to the Ji Clan, killing two is no different than killing one. Ji Clan Dao Child, huh? Ji Mingfeng, you will have no chance to awaken!” Meng Hao acted with complete decisiveness. His body flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of Ji Mingfeng. To the shock of everyone watching, he instantly slammed his palm into the young man’s chest.
Considering the level of Meng Hao’s Cultivation base, a palm strike like this was fundamentally not capable of harming the host body. However, the image of Ji Mingfeng, which only Meng Hao could see, was trembling, and visibly struggling to open his eyes.
This was the Demon Immortal Sect!
Sect rules were strict and rigid. In the past, Ke Jiusi, despite being a silkpants, would never go beyond fighting someone in public. Although he had killed people, it was always in secret. If he had conflicts with people, he would use his status to get them outside of the Sect, where he would then kill them.
Therefore, Meng Hao’s actions now led only to some cries of alarm. In fact, the over one hundred people who had followed him here were chatting and laughing, and did nothing to stop the goings-on. Even the other Conclave disciples of the First Peak simply frowned. They knew of Ke Jiusi’s dark reputation within the Sect, and that he was someone who should never be provoked.
After all, any large Sect like this would have people like Ke Jiusi. It was something unavoidable. All Sects were the same.
However, when Meng Hao’s palm landed on the Ji Mingfeng’s host body, the young man trembled violently and tumbled backward. The faces of all the surrounding Cultivators instantly flickered.
They could tell that the soul of this First Peak Conclave disciple was on the verge of being destroyed. Such a thing left everyone completely astonished.
Destruction of the soul is different than the death of the fleshly body. When the soul is destroyed, the only thing left behind is a living corpse. In many ways, it is more terrifying than true death.
Meng Hao’s eyes flashed with killing intent. He could see that Ji Mingfeng’s soul was trembling violently, and that he was on the verge of opening his eyes. Meng Hao gave a cold snort, approached him again, and then struck out with another palm.
Booming rose up as Ji Mingfeng’s host body once again shook violently. At first, it didn’t seem to cause him any cause for concern. However, the illusory image of Ji Mingfeng’s soul was now even more unstable. It trembled violently and let out soundless howls. It was apparently sparing no effort whatsoever in the attempt to wake up.
Meng Hao was about to strike out again when the other First Peak Conclave disciples moved to block his way. Even some of his own followers moved to hold him back.
“Jiusi, you can’t do this.”
“Jiusi, don’t attack again. We can find a chance another time to pin this guy down for good. Why kill him in front of all these people…?”
Meng Hao looked at the people trying to obstruct his way. The aura of Ji Mingfeng’s awakening soul was growing stronger and stronger. In fact, his eyes were beginning to glow with light.
Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed, and his voice grew cold. “This guy colluded with that Demoness to bewitch me! He tried to get me punished on purpose! I swear that I will not stop until he is dead. Today!”
The silkpants disciples behind him hesitated. After a moment, though, they ground their teeth and once again blocked his way.
As Meng Hao frowned at them, the dozen or so that were blocking his way transmitted messages via Divine Will.
“Are you sure he has to die?”
“He must die!” was Meng Hao’s resolute response.
“Fine. You just received punishment, but, regardless of why you need this guy dead, we’ll do it together!”
“It doesn’t matter if we get punished too. We’ll share the responsibility! That will be better than you taking all the blame yourself!” These dozen or so rogues were Meng Hao’s closest friends in the Sect. As soon as they made their decision, they turned and shot toward Ji Mingfeng.
Meng Hao gaped in astonishment for a moment and then moved to follow. They easily swept over the First Peak disciples who were blocking the way, and then appeared around Ji Mingfeng. The instant in which his soul’s eyes finally snapped open, booming sounds echoed out.
Both Ji Mingfeng and his host body instantly were inundating with roaring sounds. As for Ji Mingfeng, the moment in which he opened his eyes, he let out a piercing cry that only Meng Hao could hear.
His soul grew blurry, and his expression was one of confusion and fear. He stared around wide-eyed for a moment until his eyes came to rest on Meng Hao. In that instant, his pupils constricted.
“It’s you!!”
In that instant, roaring once again filled the air. The attacks slammed down like storm winds. Ji Mingfeng’s host body exploded, transformed into nothing but ash by the astonishing divine abilities levied against it.
Ji Mingfeng’s soul was being torn into shreds. The bloodcurdling scream which only Meng Hao could hear echoed about. Meng Hao’s right hand snatched the soul and then crushed into into dust.
A popping sound could be heard as this Dao Child of the Ji Clan, a blazing sun of his generation, an Array member upon whom many hopes of the Clan rested, was thoroughly destroyed in this illusory ancient world, the Second Plane of the Primordial Demon Immortal Planes.
Death in this place, was true death of the soul!
In the moment in which Ji Mingfeng died, outside of the Demon Immortal Sect, back in the lands of South Heaven, in the ancestral mansion of the Ji Clan, was a tall altar. Sitting cross-legged on the altar was the First Patriarch of the South Heaven Ji Clan, the same youthful-looking Cultivator who had seen the Ji Clan members off to the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane. His closed eyes suddenly snapped open.
In that instant, bizarre clouds began to churn in the sky above the lands of all of South Heaven. Everything dimmed and changed color.
The young man slowly lifted his head up to look at the nine jade slips in front of him. He stretched his left hand out to grab the first one up, but before he could even touch it, cracking sounds could be heard, and the jade slip shattered.
The young man’s hand stopped moving.
His face instantly grew incredibly dark. At the same time, lightning crackled in the air above the Eastern Lands, the Southern Domain, and the Northern Reaches. It was as if the changes to the young man’s expression caused endless black clouds to roil up.
“Perished….” he murmured. His voice was hoarse, and his face slowly filled with disbelief. Considering his Cultivation base and position, such a change in facial expression was something that hadn’t happened for a very long time.
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This chapter was sponsored by Dang Quang Tran