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In the current Mountain and Sea Realm, the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm was the Paragon. After opening 123 Immortal meridians and forming 33 Heavens, one could step into that ultimate Realm of Immortality. That was the highest place in the modern age.
Meng Hao was the only one who had currently reached that level, surpassing the achievements of the most powerful of the Mountain and Sea Lords, Ksitigarbha of the Fourth Mountain and Sea.
Perhaps with the assistance of various techniques and divine abilities, future powerhouses might be able to brush against this kind of power. But Meng Hao had reached Immortality by corroborating the Dao on his own. That was a higher level that no one could match!
However... although the Immortal Realm Paragon was the highest level in the modern age, in ancient times, when the Immortal World did not consist of nine mountains and seas within the Heavens and the starry sky, there was a level higher than that of the Paragon, and that was the Immortal Emperor!
The term Immortal Emperor was not just a title, but rather, a Realm. Before, Meng Hao could enter that Realm temporarily with a Nirvana Fruit. Now that he had permanently absorbed the Nirvana Fruit, his place within that Realm was stable and, in fact, eternal.
However... the Realm of the Immortal Emperor was actually not the ultimate level. Above that Realm were two more legendary Realms. Only a miniscule number of people had actually reached those Realms. Even in the heyday of the Immortal World, it would be easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than such a person.
Above the Immortal Emperor was the Allheaven Emperor Immortal. Then, above the Allheaven Emperor Immortal... was the Allheaven Dao Immortal! [1. Allheaven is a term that came up once before in chapter 1026, although at that time I translated it as Luotian Heaven. Luotian 罗天 is a concept from real Daoist mythology. Among all the various heavens that exist, it is the absolute highest heaven. Luo 罗 is a character which can be translated a lot of ways, but in this situation basically means "net." The idea is that this heaven stretches out to cover over all the other heavens like a net. However, instead of calling it Net Heaven (sounds like a bad internet cafe or perhaps a fishing shop), I will use "Allheaven." Incidentally, I've also translated the character luo 罗 as "sieve" in the past, most notably in the name of the Black Sieve Sect"]
It was difficult to become the Allheaven Emperor Immortal, and as for becoming the Allheaven Dao Immortal... that was EXTREMELY difficult!!
The Allheaven Dao Immortal was the ultimate and absolute peak of the Immortal Realm. It was a Realm that could overthrow experts at the peak of the Ancient Realm, and even shake powerful experts of the Dao Realm!
A person like this, who actually surpassed an entire Realm, was a superpower who, regardless of where they lived or what era they lived in, would be the complete focus of all attention!
Unfortunately, Allheaven Emperor Immortals were extremely rare, even more rare than members of the Dao Realm. Allheaven Dao Immortals were even rarer! In fact, throughout the entire history of the Immortal World, from ancient times til now, there had only ever been nine! As for those nine people, even the three supreme Paragons would treat them with courtesy.
That was because, according to the ancient legends of the Immortal World, Allheaven Dao Immortals were the root of the entire Immortal World! If a person such as that became a true Paragon... they would exist as the summit of the starry sky!
In fact, it was because Paragon Nine Seals had formerly been an Allheaven Emperor Immortal that he eventually became the chief among the Paragons.
If someone was able to become a Paragon via the path of the Allheaven Dao Immortal, that... would be something that had never been done, not from ancient times until now. It was vastly too difficult. When an Allheaven Dao Immortal entered the Ancient Realm, the likelihood of failing in extinguishing their Soul Lamps, and then dying, was vastly higher than other members of the Ancient Realm. In fact, it was almost a certainty. There was virtually no hope to survive. Because of that... it was essentially impossible to enter the Ancient Realm or step into the Dao Realm!
From ancient times until now, of the nine Allheaven Dao Immortals that had existed, five had died in the Ancient Realm, having failed to extinguish their Soul Lamps. As for the other four... they either died or went missing in the great catastrophe.
In the past, one of the Paragons had attempted to determine exactly how Allheaven Immortals appeared in the Immortal World, but were unable to turn up any clues. There was only one thing that was for certain... if someone had an ancestor who had already become an Allheaven Immortal, even just an Allheaven Emperor Immortal, then the chances of that person being able also succeed were extremely high!
Similarly, if someone had an ancestor who was... an Allheaven Dao Immortal, then that person was also much more likely to reach that same level!
It was almost like an inherited bloodline! In fact, it was said that if you searched through the most ancient of histories, you would find... that everything had its source... in nine family names! [1. I’m sure the reference to the nine families will cause some readers to recall chapter 160, which happened to be titled “No Meng in the Nine Families]
Ages ago, the Paragon who had been researching the matter discovered that fact, and was instantly struck with fear, and gave up the research. It was almost as if there were some unfathomable consciousness attempting to prevent the truth from being revealed!
By now, many ages had passed since the destruction of the Immortal World. Before Meng Hao, no Immortal Emperor had ever appeared. As for Allheaven Immortals, they were naturally a thing of legend; in fact it was something that most people had already forgotten.
But now....
As soon as the Nirvana Fruit made contact with Meng Hao’s forehead, a tremor ran through him. A tempest exploded within his mind, massive rumbling that made him feel as if he might explode at any moment.
His fleshly body grew larger. In the blink of an eye, he was nine meters tall. It didn't stop there though. He continued growing until he was fifteen meters tall, then twenty-four meters...
Even as he grew, he felt as if his flesh and blood were being ripped to shreds. He shook violently, and if it weren’t for his incredible willpower, he would be screaming. Icy, painful sweat broke out all over his body, and blood oozed out of his pores.
The blood and sweat mingled together until Meng Hao actually looked like he was made completely of blood!
Despite the pain, an incredible fleshly body power exploded out within him. He could feel himself breaking through barriers, exceeding limitations. His heart pounded and his body shook as incredible power surged through him.
Those were just the changes to his fleshly body. A moment later, a windstorm spread out within him, causing him to stagger backward. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as the intense, terrifying windstorm caused his Immortal power to surge. He suddenly realized that his physical growth just now was only the beginning; the true change was happening to his cultivation base!
ROOOOOAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!
He staggered backward, coughing up successive mouthfuls of blood. He looked like he was completely made of blood, and the windstorm raged inside of him, making him feel like he was being torn apart. All of his qi passageways felt like they were about to explode.
The power was too intense, leaving Meng Hao completely shocked. It was as if this was not the power of the Nirvana Fruit, but rather power from... his bloodline. The Nirvana Fruit was only a key that unlocked the vast and terrifying power that was locked inside of his blood!
“This....” he murmured, alarmed. Massive rumbling filled him that no outsider would be able to hear. However, to Meng Hao, it was earsplitting. Next, he could sense that his 123 Immortal meridians were... all of a sudden fusing together to form only one single Immortal meridian!
That single Immortal meridian formed a framework inside of him that was a perfect circle!
As the circle formed, Meng Hao’s cultivation base experience unprecedented, maddening growth. In the blink of an eye, he was far, far past the Immortal Emperor level. His surging energy and terrifying aura exploded to new heights.
As the rumbling echoed out, it eventually reached a point where Meng Hao couldn’t handle it any more. He threw his head back and let out a terrifying howl. The howl gave vent to the tempest inside of him, sweeping across everything in the area. The wreckage of his residence was transformed into ash, and the stone chambers simply vanished. The parrot looked on with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Allheaven Immortal! You're actually an Allheaven Immortal! Dammit, I can’t believe you possess that type of bloodline, Meng Hao! Who is your ancestor!? Fang Clan. Fang Clan! DAMMIT! Why didn’t I think of this before!!?” The parrot squawked anxiously, flapping its wings and causing a protective shield to form over the shocked Demonic cultivators.
The meat jelly was also trembling, and it suddenly had an impulse to bow in worship to Meng Hao, an urge that could not be wiped out within the cycle of reincarnation!
Su Yan stared in shock, her mind reeling, and her expression one of extreme astonishment.
It was at this point that Meng Hao roared again, which caused an azure color to appear around him!
That azure color was the ultimate color, and was the most respected color in the Immortal World!
That was because azure... represented the Allheaven!
And the Allheaven... represented the infinite!
As of this moment, Meng Hao was radiating resplendent, azure light, as well as the Imperial will of the Immortal Emperor. An incomparably domineering air rose up from him.
If you likened the Imperial will of the Immortal Emperor to that of an actual emperor of an earthly empire, then currently, the explosive energy which radiated out from Meng Hao... made him so domineering that he could lord over a planet as if it were a kingdom!
In one moment, the Imperial will raged. In the next moment, Meng Hao’s eyes darkened, and his body suddenly deflated. Based on the explosive energy, if he took just a single more step, he would be in the Realm of the Allheaven Emperor Immortal. However, all of that energy suddenly faded away.
The second Nirvana Fruit emerged from his forehead and smacked down onto the ground. Meng Hao’s body shrank back down from a height of roughly thirty meters, back to his normal height. His Immortal meridian also split apart and once again formed 123 separate meridians.
Everything went back to normal in the blink of an eye. Meng Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood, and he doubled over. His vision began to go black, and he began to slip into a coma.
As he faded into unconsciousness, he smiled bitterly. Doing what he had just done was a bit rash. However, when he was able to experience the Realm available when he absorbed the second Nirvana Fruit, that level of power... filled him with excitement, madness, and desire.
He didn't know how much time passed before he woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw the parrot and meat jelly, staring at him. They looked almost like they could see all the way through him, and their eyes were glittering brightly. They looked happy, even excited to see him.
“What are you looking at!?” he asked, gaping. The look in the meat jelly’s eyes was the same look it usually got when it saw bullies. As for the parrot, it looked the way it did when it saw luxuriantly furred or feathered creatures.
Meng Hao’s scalp tingled, and his face flickered. He looked down to see that his clothes were in tatters, but still remained covering him. He didn't feel anything strange anywhere in his body, so finally, he let out a sigh of relief. Although he didn't like to speak about the parrot’s unique proclivities, inwardly, he was well aware of them and was always on guard.
“An Allheaven Immortal!” the parrot said excitedly. “Yowza! I never thought you would become an Allheaven Immortal!”
“Allheaven Immortal?” said Meng Hao, staring in surprise. Then he thought back to what it felt like to absorb that second Nirvana Fruit, and he smiled.
“Not a bad name.” With that, he stood up. Cracking sounds echoed out in all directions as his Eternal stratum went to work, rapidly restoring him to his usual state.
“Meng Hao,” said the parrot solemnly, “Lord Fifth assumed that you were like all the other masters of the copper mirror. All of the masters I’ve had have never been able to take the mirror beyond the first step and into the second.
“But now... if you can become an Allheaven Dao Immortal, then you can take the copper mirror into its second state! It can become... a Battle Weapon!!”
Chapter 1059: Allheaven Dao Immortal!