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In a valley in a particular area of the Ancient Dao Lakes, the glow of teleportation rose up into the sky. Rumbling sounds echoed out as a figure emerged at high speed from within the valley.
As soon as the figure emerged, the light of teleportation faded away.
Flying through the air was none other than Meng Hao.
His face was pale white, and as soon as he flew out from the valley, he landed on the ground and looked behind him, a trace of fear on his face.
“After getting Darkheaven and the others out, I was teleported seventy more times! The cycle of teleportation is astonishing. Toward the end, it started going faster and faster, and my qi and blood was being sucked out, weakening me.”
He took a deep breath and then produced some medicinal pills, which he quickly consumed. Then he flew up into the air and looked around to gain his bearings. The eruption of the Dao Lakes had ceased, as had most of the fighting.
“The disciples from the Blood Demon Sect most likely followed my instructions and went to the central zone.”
Having determined the general direction of the 3,000-meter Dao Lakes, Meng Hao started flying.
The entire way, he sent out his divine sense out to avoid the rifts, and also employed teleportation techniques.
Meanwhile, near the 3,000-meter Dao Lakes in the central region, the Solitary Sword Sect and the Blood Demon Sect were faced off with proverbial daggers drawn.
“The Blood Demon Sect are cultivators of a Demonic Dao! If they only occupied one lake that’s one thing, but they even dare to covet more!”
“Are you looking to die!?”
The Solitary Sword Sect was the most powerful force in the area. They had seized the initiative and taken control of three Dao Lakes. They had eight Spirit Severing cultivators, all of whom had cold expressions and iridescent auras.
In addition to the eight, the old man called Sir Jian, who sat cross-legged off in the distance, glared at the Blood Demon Sect.
As for the Blood Demon Sect, Patriarch Darkheaven and the others had arrived a bit earlier. Killing intent swirled around the six Spirit Severing Patriarchs as they faced off against the Solitary Sword Sect.
“The Blood Demon Sect is simply borrowing the Violet Fate Sect’s lake, and it must be returned to them. Your Solitary Sword Sect is occupying three lakes! You need to give one up!
“Look, Solitary Sword Sect. You can fight, or share. You decide!”
Both parties’ killing intent radiated out. The Blood Demon Sect and the Solitary Sword Sect were already mortal foes, which meant that fights between the two could break out easily at any time. That was not even to mention the current situation in the Ancient Dao Lakes, where so much potential benefit was on the line.
Suddenly, the Third Severing Patriarch from the Black Sieve Sect rose to his feet and started laughing uproariously. His eyes glittered with coldness as he looked over at the Blood Demon Sect.
“Blood Demon Sect, I couldn’t care less that your Dao is Demonic. However, the Dao Lakes represent good fortune for all cultivators of South Heaven. If you keep causing problems, I’ll personally have to step in to do something about it!”
Hearing this, the cultivators of the Solitary Sword Sect began to chuckle. Sir Jian looked over at the Third Severing Patriarch and nodded cordially.
The faces of the six Patriarchs from the Blood Demon Sect flickered.
Next, booming laughter rang out from a middle-aged man who strode out from the the Golden Frost Sect. He was tall and well-built, with skin that seemed as hard as a diamond, and a full suit armor. “Fellow Daoists from the Solitary Sword Sect and Black Sieve Sect,” he said, “your words couldn’t be more appropriate.”
Further back were five old men who sat cross-legged. When their eyes opened, they glowed brightly with the aura of Spirit Severing.
His appearance made clear that an agreement had been reached between the Golden Frost Sect, the Solitary Sword, and Black Sieve Sects. The combined might of three sects was now bearing down oppressively onto the Blood Demon Sect.
In the worst position of everyone were Chen Fan and Fatty. They could do nothing about the situation, so they backed up silently.
As for the Violet Fate Sect and the Song Clan, they were silent.
Only the Li Clan was left. The 19th Li Clan Patriarch flicked his sleeve, and a gleam of killing intent could be seen in his eyes as he stepped forward.
“Well, is your Blood Prince dead, or not? If he’s not, then why isn’t he here?” The death of the Li Clan Dao Child all those years ago was something they had brooded about ever since.
Now that the Li Clan had joined in, there were four sects in the alliance. The faces of the Blood Demon Sect Patriarchs fell, and they backed up. There was no way they could stand up to the combined might of four sects.
“Why waste your breath on them?” said the Black Sieve Sect Third Severing Patriarch, his eyes glittering. “Just drive them away, and if they won’t leave, exterminate them!” With that, he leaped forward and waved his right hand. Immediately, eight white tigers appeared, roaring as they charged toward the Blood Demon Sect cultivators.
The 19th Li Clan Patriarch also attacked, as did the Solitary Sword Sect cultivators. There were more than ten Spirit Severing experts who all flew out and attacked at the same time. In the blink of an eye, a chaotic Spirit Severing battle had begun.
BOOM!
The two sides slammed into each other, and the six Blood Demon Sect Patriarchs were instantly sent into retreat. Facing up against the more than ten attacking Spirit Severing experts on all sides, they were simply incapable of fighting back.
Attack after attack met with success against the Blood Demon Sect cultivators. Shocking magical items and divine abilities were employed, and the dozens of the Blood Demon Sect disciples present were forced back bit by bit. Even as they retreated, cultivators from the other four sects flew out to join the fray.
Of the four allied powers, the Black Sieve Sect had the largest grudge with the Blood Demon Sect. The Li Clan was targeting them because of Meng Hao, and as for the Solitary Sword Sect, they had a long-standing feud. Only the Golden Frost Sect had no apparent reason to attack.
Booms echoed out, and blood sprayed out of the mouth of Patriarch Darkheaven as he tumbled backward. With the exception of the First Demonfire Patriarch, all the others also coughed up blood and fell back. As the fighting played out, a bloody glow rose up, and miserable shrieks sounded out.
Reverend Withered-Dao of the Violet Fate Sect frowned, hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes. As for the Song Clan, they did not come to the aid of the Blood Demon Sect, but neither did they join with the alliance of four.
“Retreat!” The six Blood Demon Sect Patriarchs’ hearts burned as with fire, but facing up against this force, they had no choice but to flee. They would have to surrender the Dao Lake, which had been given to them by the Violet Fate Sect.
“Screw off to wherever you came from!” said the Third Severing Patriarch from the Black Sieve Sect. “The Blood Demon Sect isn’t allowed to be in a place like this!” He swished his sleeve, causing the eight tigers to send out roars that transformed into terrifying ripples. They slammed into the six Blood Demon Sect Patriarchs, sending them spinning backward, blood spraying from their mouths. Some of the other ordinary disciples directly exploded because of the intensity of the ripples.
Their desire to slaughter could not be any higher.
“Where is the Blood Prince?”
“If he doesn’t come, then we’ll have to give up and leave!” The six Patriarchs’ faces flickered with their suppressed grievances as they continued to retreat.
“It doesn’t matter who shows up,” came a voice from the Solitary Sword Sect, along with a cold snort. “The Blood Demon Sect is not allowed to be here. Screw off!”
It was at this point that a beam of light appeared off in the distance. It neared at incredible speed, like a shooting star, carrying with it a shocking murderous air, as well as a will of ruthlessness that towered into the heavens.
As soon as the beam appeared, the cultivators from the Violet Fate Sect looked over, especially Chu Yuyan and Hanxue Shan, whose faces bore intent gazes.
Song Jia couldn’t stop from looking up.
The beam of light moved so fast that in the blink of an eye, it had arrived. It shot past the six Blood Demon Sect Patriarchs and came to a stop directly in front of them.
A booming sound exploded out, along with a shocking ripple that slammed into the force of cultivators from the alliance of four powers. The more than ten Spirit Severing cultivators’ faces flickered, and they immediately stopped in place. As for the cultivator in the vanguard position, a Spirit Severing expert from the Golden Frost Sect, he let out a bloodcurdling scream as he was thrown backward, then immediately exploded. The blood and gore that spattered about in all directions was incapable of obscuring the young, crimson-robed man who stood there in front of the group.
The young man’s face was calm, but his eyes were so cold that they seemed capable of freezing the highest heavens. His right hand was clenched into a fist, a fist that had just burst into pieces the Spirit Severing expert from the Golden Frost Sect.
The fact that one punch had just destroyed a First Severing expert caused everyone present to be shaken.
Meng Hao’s long hair floated around him, and his robes swayed gently. His Second Severing cultivation base emanated shocking energy out in all directions.
All color in the land and sky dimmed and the wind howled. It was as if a tempest had arrived, causing all the dust in the area to fly up into the air.
As of this moment, all eyes were completely fixed upon Meng Hao.
“Who said that the Blood Demon Sect isn’t allowed to be here?” he said, looking around. His gaze flickered with killing intent and ruthlessness as he looked at the Spirit Severing cultivators who made up the force of four allied sects.
From behind Meng Hao, the cultivators from the Blood Demon Sect immediately grew excited and began to bow and offer greetings.
“Blood Prince!”
“Greetings, Blood Prince!”
The face of the Third Severing Patriarch from the Black Sieve Sect flickered. “Meng Hao!” he shouted.
The cultivators from the Golden Frost Sect also looked shocked, and the eyes of the Li Clan Patriarch widened. As for the people from the Solitary Sword Sect, their faces all filled with astonishment.
In the group from the Violet Fate Sect, An Zaihai and Li Hailong stared blankly at Meng Hao in his blood-colored robe. It was as if memories were flitting through their mind of a young man with a very different face whose features now seemed to merge with the person in front of them.
Chu Yuyan was trembling. There were thousands of things she wanted to say to Meng Hao, but right now, she couldn’t say a single thing.
Hanxue Shan was a bit more innocent and immature than Chu Yuyan. As she gazed at Meng Hao, she kept thinking about everything that had happened in Holy Snow City in the Black Lands.
Ye Feimu stood there, taciturn. His expression was a complicated one as he looked at Meng Hao, who was now a Spirit Severing expert of high standing. He was illustrious and famous. Ye Feimu couldn’t help but think back to the time the two of them had wrangled over the title of Violet Furnace Lord.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, it was obvious that he himself… had fallen even further behind.
Another person stood within the group from the Violet Fate Sect, an old man within whose eyes flickered many memories of Meng Hao. He also stood there quietly, wondering if Meng Hao would remember a nobody like himself.
Everything was quiet. Meng Hao looked over the group standing in front of him, and then his eyes came to rest on the Third Severing Patriarch from the Black Sieve Sect.
“Was it you who said it?” he asked.
When the Third Severing Patriarch heard the words, his face filled with dread, and his mind roared. He thought back to how terrifying Meng Hao was last time he saw him, and he backed up, his body trembling.
When the others in the area saw this, it caused them to be even more shaken.
To be able to strike dread into the heart of a Third Severing expert with a single sentence was incredible. Granted, what the man had Severed was only a simple and ordinary Dao, making him unlike those terrifying, inhuman, and almighty Third Severing experts who severed great Daos. But it still served to show… how powerful Meng Hao was.
The man from the Golden Frost Sect immediately fell back, his eyes flashing. He took the other Golden Frost experts with him. The person who had just been killed was from their sect, so of course they could retreat. Naturally, the Li Clan also retreated, unwilling to even touch the razor-sharp blade that was Meng Hao.
Meng Hao had burst onto the scene and destroyed a potent Spirit Severing expert with a single blow. Such an act deeply shocked everyone who saw it, and the results were apparent.