Chapter 1158: Guru Heavencloud!
When Guru Heavenwind heard the voice of his Elder Brother, Guru Heavencloud, he was instantly enlivened. Believing himself to finally have hope, his eyes flickered with killing intent, and he thought of using the opportunity to try to cut Meng Hao down in a counterattack.
However, even as the idea flitted through his mind... Meng Hao snorted coldly. The sound slammed into Heavenwind's ears like an explosive bolt of lightning. His body shook violently, and his mind was thrown into chaos.
At the same time, Meng Hao in azure roc form didn't slow down, but instead, bore down on Guru Heavenwind, slashing downward into the top of his head. A crunching sound was heard as his entire head was shredded to pieces.
There was no time for him to scream, nor his soul to flee. The azure roc’s talons slashed again with obliterating power down into the rest of Guru Heavenwind’s body.
A boom rang out as Guru Heavenwind exploded into pieces. Even his soul was destroyed!
Meng Hao normally didn’t attack with such deadly force. However, Guru Heavenwind had been too greedy. Meng Hao had offered 1,000,000 Immortal jades in good faith. However, instead of quitting while he was ahead, Guru Heavenwind had used the sum of 10,000,000 Immortal jades as an obvious extortion, and had even threatened to destroy the jade medallion....
Were it any other object, that wouldn’t have mattered. But this jade medallion was an important clue regarding his two grandfathers. How could he possibly restrain his killing intent? And then there was the way Guru Heavencloud had spoken to him. Had he been even a bit more polite, Meng Hao might not necessarily have resorted to deadly force.
However, Guru Heavencloud’s words, despite seeming polite, were actually extremely domineering. Clearly, the man was used to running his own personal little fiefdom here at the bazaar. Unfortunately for him, Meng Hao wasn’t used to restraining his temper around people like that.
Neat and tidy. That was how he killed. A moment later, an enraged roar echoed out, causing everything to shake. A figure appeared, flying through the air; simultaneously, the waterfall of swords fell onto Meng Hao.
A boom rang out as Meng Hao hovered in midair, completely unmoving. In fact, it was the waterfall of swords that shattered into fragments with a boom, completely incapable of harming him at all!
As the shocking roar echoed about, an old man appeared. He wore a violet robe, and looked extremely dignified. As he flew forth, boundless ripples rolled out. As soon as the magenta-robed cultivators caught sight of him, they dropped to their knees and kowtowed.
“Greetings, Patriarch!”
This was none other than the Patriarch of the Heavencloud Bazaar, Guru Heavencloud. He looked awe-inspiring, and also enraged. However, inwardly, he was shocked. The sword waterfall from moments ago had been unleashed in anger upon Meng Hao, and yet hadn’t even fazed him. However, Guru Heavencloud kept his astonishment hidden, allowing no hint of it to show on his face.
Cries of shock rang up from cultivators in the bazaar. They were amazed by the energy and pressure radiating from the violet-robed old man. These were the ripples of power of someone who could step into the Dao Realm at any time. Even if he failed, he would still be a shocking Quasi-Dao expert.
The air around him twisted and distorted, and the faint manifestation of numerous natural laws and Essences could be seen. He was boundlessly domineering, causing colors to flash up above, and the starry sky to tremble.
“You have robbed my Heavencloud Bazaar, lad, and also killed my Junior Brother. I don’t care if you’re the Crown Prince of the Fang Clan! It wouldn’t matter if your father Fang Xiufeng personally showed up, or even the Fang Clan’s Dao Realm Patriarch, Fang Shoudao, you had better provide me with an explanation, right now!” His voice brimmed with Heavenly might, booming out in all directions, shaking all of the asteroids in the asteroid field.
“I killed your Junior Brother because he tried to kill me!” Meng Hao retorted coolly. “Furthermore, he greedily tried to use something that didn’t belong to him to threaten me! That’s exactly the type of people I like to kill!
“As for robbing your Heavencloud Bazaar, I put 1,000,000 Immortal jades onto the table, and in return, you people tried to extort me! In that case... yeah, I robbed you! So what!?”
“No matter how you justify it, no matter what reasons you cite, you killed one of my people and stole my property. You have committed a grave crime. The Heavencloud Bazaar doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of any of the sects or power groups. We are eternally neutral! However, if people try to bully us, then I, Heavencloud, can’t possibly stand idly by!” Guru Heavencloud’s voice boomed out, and his energy rocketed up. A windstorm sprang up to spin around him in all directions.
His voice fairly burst with a domineering air, as if his words were natural laws of Heaven and Earth. Here in the Heavencloud Bazaar, his words bore the power of the Heavens, and he wrote the rules!
If he said you were in the wrong, you were in the wrong! If he said that you had committed a crime, then you were guilty, whether you had actually committed the crime or not!
His echoing voice filled the surrounding cultivators with shock. They could sense his domineering air, and as for the magenta-robed disciples, they were starting to get excited.
Their eyes filled with ardor; this was their Patriarch, who brimmed with a domineering aura no matter who he was up against.
“Immediately produce the item you stole from my Heavencloud Bazaar, surrender, and admit your fault. Then send for the leadership of your clan to come and personally take you away. That is your only option here!” Guru Heavencloud spoke as coldly and as domineeringly as ever, and his strength could definitely back up this attitude. Normally speaking, he was very cautious in everything, but when he encountered situations like this, he always acted this way.
It didn't matter who was actually in the right or wrong. As long as he was in his own domain, he was ALWAYS right!
One of the reasons why the Heavencloud Bazaar had been able to survive for so long, and even thrive, was because of this combination of a cautious and yet domineering attitude. After all... few powerful groups would be willing to force Guru Heavencloud into a corner merely because of some unimportant matters. He could step into the Dao Realm at any time, which was a huge trump card.
Furthermore, being able to step into the Dao Realm so easily meant that any powerful group would jump at the chance to recruit him, which was another trump card.
Although he could see that Meng Hao was powerful, he also believed that such power had limits. Therefore, he still looked down on him. His Junior Brother had been in the late Ancient Realm, but his cultivation base had been jumbled. If Guru Heavencloud had wished it, he could have killed him easily at any time.
It might be true that his sword waterfall hadn’t hurt Meng Hao, but considering his years of experience, he was still confident in being able to handle him. After all, he was merely the Crown Prince of the Fang Clan, which wasn’t actually a very powerful position.
Although the title sounded prestigious, all it did was make Meng Hao a figurehead. Guru Heavenwind couldn't bring himself to believe that after the war on Planet East Victory, the Fang Clan, having suffered so many casualties, would allow a blood feud to erupt just because of a measly Crown Prince.
He simply didn’t believe Meng Hao to be so important. Even if he was the joint disciple of the Three Great Daoist Societies, he couldn't possibly be important enough that the Fang Clan would actually go to the lengths of offending Guru Heavenwind in a way that could result in casualties.
The Fang Clan might be a big clan, but considering Guru Heavencloud’s position, he naturally knew that any sect or clan took the interests of the group into consideration, and didn’t make decisions based on one individual.
When it came to insults or backing down, the interests of the clan would be put before the interests of one person.
His analysis was actually correct, and had these events played out before Meng Hao went to the Windswept Realm, then the Fang Clan might have shown up and made a scene, but would have resolved the situation quietly in the end. That would have saved face for both parties. In the end, the jade medallion would have gone to the Fang Clan, and the Heavencloud Bazaar would have ended up with all the Immortal jade.
Guru Heavencloud had gone through similar situations before, and the end result was always the same.
Unfortunately for him, there was one thing he didn't understand. And that was... what it meant to be the true Clan Chief of an Allheaven Clan!
Seeing Guru Heavenwind acting in such a domineering way caused Meng Hao to chuckle. Then his eyes flickered with coldness, and he glanced over to the Fang Clan teleportation portal. It was being manned by six members of the Fang Clan, all of whom looked familiar, although he couldn't recall their names.
He could sense the faint presence of a Dao seed in all of them, although in most of them it was very faint. Only one of their number seemed to have a somewhat flourishing Dao seed; the others did not.
The entire group was in a state of shock. They had recognized their Crown Prince at first glance, and the current friction between him and Guru Heavencloud left them shaken.
“The six of you heard what Guru Heavencloud said just now, right?” Meng Hao asked coolly. “Immediately take this information and report back to the clan. Ask Patriarch Shoudao whether or not he's interested in taking the Heavencloud Bazaar and changing its name to the Fang Clan Bazaar.” Meng Hao’s words were actually even more domineering than Guru Heavencloud’s. Originally, he had planned to visit Planet South Heaven first, and then go back to the Fang Clan on Planet East Victory.
However, considering how events had developed, he had come up with a new plan. Since he was already planning to go pay respects to his parents, he figured he might as well bring the Fang Clan with him!
His parents couldn’t leave Planet South Heaven, but he could still honor them by having the clan itself go to them offer greetings!
As their son, this was... a truly great gift that he could offer!
By means of their son, they would receive honor and glory from the entire clan!
The six members of the Fang Clan exchanged glances, then clasped hands and bowed to Meng Hao. Three of them backed up and departed for the Fang Clan via the teleportation portal.
Guru Heavencloud did nothing to stop them. He hovered in midair, smiling coldly, waiting for the influential members of the Fang Clan to arrive. In his mind, once the entire Fang Clan got dragged into the matter, the situation would have devolved to the point that Meng Hao couldn’t resolve it alone.
Meng Hao looked at Guru Heavencloud, and his eyes suddenly gleamed with the desire to fight. Voice cool, he said: “Well, while we wait for them to arrive, I'd like to see how the great circle of the Ancient Realm... measures up to me in terms of strength!”
Voice cold, Guru Heavencloud said, “How barbaric of you, lad. You--”
However, before he could finish, his face fell as Meng Hao took a step forward.
Everything began to shake, and cracking sounds echoed out in all directions. The tempest swirling around Guru Heavencloud immediately shattered. The interference to the natural laws and Essences caused the air around him to distort.
In the blink of an eye, Meng Hao appeared directly in front of Guru Heavencloud, azure light shining. He waved a hand, causing numerous Immortal mountains to descend.
Guru Heavencloud’s mind trembled as he sensed the incredibly threatening pressure radiating off of Meng Hao. Without hesitation, he lifted his right hand and waved it out in front of him. Instantly, all of his Soul Lamps appeared around him, moving in a pattern that resembled a spell formation. They instantly began to rotate, and the pattern erupted with the power of natural law, transforming into countless threads that shot toward Meng Hao.
“Alter Heavens, Transform Earth. Wind-Cloud Tribulation!” he roared. As the sound boomed through the air, Meng Hao’s Immortal mountains crumbled into pieces. However, by this time, Meng Hao had taken a second step, whereupon he waved his right index finger!
The air in front of him was ripped open by a huge rift, from within which stretched out a blood-colored head. This was none other than the Blood Demon Grand Magic. However, this time, it was not just a head which appeared, but an entire Blood Demon!
It tore open the rift, causing blood-red light to spill out. Then the Blood Demon charged forward, its hands snatching out toward Guru Heavencloud.
Guru Heavencloud’s expression instantly flickered with shock.