Chapter 1286: Seeing the Meng Clan Off!
When Marquis Lu and the others arrived, it was as the eighth pillar of light exploded up.
“This....” Marquis Lu gaped in shock, his eyes wide. Considering the level of his cultivation base, after examining the situation, he could sense the terrifying power within those pillars of light.
Marquis Lu’s eyes glittered as he glanced down at a totem tattoo on the back of his right hand. Steeling himself, he gave a cold snort and then waved his sleeve. With that, he shot forward, followed by tens of thousands of cultivators. The entire army transformed into beams of light that shot toward the Meng Clan.
As they closed in, the murderous aura they emitted caused the starry sky to shake. The aura was so intense that it seemed as if it were on the verge of taking physical form and freezing everything in the area.
“Meng Clan, whichever one of you killed my son, get the hell out here and face me!” Marquis Lu’s voice boomed like thunder, echoing out in all directions as his energy rocketed up. His cultivation base was that of a 4-Essences Dao Sovereign, and as soon as it radiated out, the natural laws in the area shattered.
By this point, the people in the Meng Clan ancestral mansion could hear his roar, and could sense the vast coldness. Their faces flickered.
Meng Hao’s expression was as calm as ever as he looked into the starry sky outside of the Meng Clan continents, then turned his attention back to what he was doing. His hands remained lifted up, and a strange gleam could be seen in his eyes as he manipulated the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm.
Nine pillars of light raged up into the starry sky. In that moment, a gigantic vortex appeared in the sky above the Meng Clan ancestral mansion, far, far above, at the apex of the pillars of light.
The vortex was vastly enormous, and was already beginning to spin faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, boundless rumbling sounds could be heard echoing out, and a vast pressure began to weigh down.
Marquis Lu’s face flickered, and he lurched to a halt, as did all the cultivators behind him. Then their eyes filled with shock as they saw the terrifying vortex appear overhead.
“What are they doing?!”
“What kind of spell formation is that?” The pressure weighing down on the group was completely shocking. It was almost as if there were some huge, invisible hand pushing them inexorably backward. Soon, the vortex was spinning so fast it looked like a black hole, sending out powerful ripples that the cultivators from the Seventh Mountain and Sea couldn’t endure, forcing them backward.
Gradually, even Marquis Lu was affected by the pressure. Considering the level of his cultivation base, he was the last one to finally be pushed back, accompanied by massive rumbling sounds.
Meng Hao floated up into the air above the Meng Clan continents, out into the starry sky where he looked back down at everyone, and especially his grandmother.
Then his right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, and he waved his finger.
That wave of a finger caused one of the nine continents surrounding the Meng Clan ancestral mansion to shatter into pieces, transforming into nothing but dust. Then, the pillar of light which had been attached to that continent exploded into countless motes, which then began to rise up into the vortex.
RUMBLE!
The vortex spun faster and faster, and the power and pressure within it grew more intense, causing Marquis Lu’s face to fall.
Next, the second continent exploded, then the third and fourth. They all transformed into ash, and the pillars of light attached to them turned into motes which were sucked into the vortex.
The pressure from the vortex increased again, and Marquis Lu was shoved backward, as were all of the cultivators from the Seventh Mountain and Sea behind him.
“This....” Marquis Lu’s throat and tongue were dry. As he stared at the shocking vortex, he suddenly realized what it most likely was, although that seemed impossible.
RUMBLE!
The fifth continent fell to pieces, then the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. The pillars of light shattered, sending countless motes of light up into the air; the pressure from the vortex increased dramatically yet again.
Now, the only thing that remained of the Meng Clan was the ancestral mansion and the continent upon which it stood. The members of the Meng Clan felt their hearts pounding; the terrifying vortex caused their minds to reel until they went blank.
Even the five Dao Realm Patriarchs were shocked, and felt their hearts thumping.
It was at this point that Meng Hao’s eyes began to glow. He performed an incantation gesture with his right hand, then waved his finger toward the final main continent.
“Open the path between the Mountains and Seas!” Meng Hao’s voice echoed out, causing wild colors to flash in the sky. The ash from all of the continents mixed with the motes of light and began to swirl together into the huge black hole.
In the blink of an eye, the black hole had absorbed the power of all of the continents, and all of their combined power from the Mountain and Sea Realm. As it did, it reached what seemed to be its maximum capacity, so when Meng Hao issued the order, the vortex exploded with an indescribable, shocking aura.
The intensity of that aura caused the minds of all living creatures to tremble, and their souls to shiver. Off in distance, Marquis Lu was staring at the black hole, and the huge beam of light which had just appeared within it.
That light... moved with indescribable speed as it stretched out across the starry sky toward the barrier between the Eighth and Ninth Mountains and Seas, where it then ripped open a rift!
This was an even more shocking scene than the one which had played out when the Three Great Daoist Societies created the Bridge of Immortality.
It was an amazing sight as the beam of light pierced through the barrier, going directly... from the Eighth Mountain and Sea to the Ninth.
In the Ninth Mountain and Sea, the entire starry sky lit up, and the cultivators there looked up and trembled. Regardless of whether it was the Fang Clan or the other sects and clans, everyone had the same reaction.
“What’s happening!?’
“What... what is that?!?!”
“What’s that light? It looks like... maybe some kind of valuable treasure is appearing?” A buzz of conversation filled virtually all locations within the Ninth Mountain and Sea.
However, it was at this point that in the Fang clan, there were some, including Fang Xiufeng, as well as the Grand Elder and certain others, who could tell that within that light... was a bit of Meng Hao’s aura!
Back in the Eighth Mountain and Sea, Marquis Lu saw all of this happen. Falling back again, he looked blankly at the black hole vortex, and the beam of light.
“H-he ...opened t-the... the barrier... between the Mountains and Seas. His plan is to send the Meng Clan’s continents and clan members all the way to the Ninth Mountain and Sea.” With his cultivation base and powers of discernment, Marquis Lu was completely shaken by Meng Hao’s tactics and abilities, and his mind was left reeling.
He was well aware of the enormous cost that was required to open the barrier between Mountains and Seas. The Seventh Mountain and Sea had prepared for an incredibly long time, and had paid an astonishing price, to tear open that rift. But here Marquis Lu was, watching Meng Hao do exactly that same thing all on his own. How could he not be shocked?
Meng Hao looked up at the black hole and the beam of light. Then he spread both hands wide and roared. Instantly, the Meng Clan’s entire ancestral mansion and the continent it was on rumbled up into the air. It was as if a giant were shouldering it... hoisting it directly toward the vortex.
Dust flew about, and everything quaked. Meng Hao was completely focused on the Meng Clan ancestral mansion as it rose higher and higher, drawing ever closer to the vortex.
Soon, it was just on the verge of reaching the vortex, and then Meng Hao murmured, “Grandma, please get there safe and sound.”
With that, the Meng Clan ancestral mansion sank into the vortex, which seemingly gobbled it up. In the blink of an eye, the black hole vanished into the beam of light.
The beam connecting the two Mountains and Seas then began to vanish, starting from the side in the Eighth Mountain and Sea. Or perhaps it wasn’t vanishing, but disappearing into the distance!
It was soon gone from the Eighth Mountain and Sea, and appeared in the Ninth Mountain and Sea. There, the starry sky rumbled, and the void distorted.
Meng Hao had successfully sent the Meng Clan off.
The Meng Clan used to reside in the Eighth Mountain and Sea, but now, nothing remained behind. The starry sky quieted, and the ripples faded away. Meng Hao hovered there alone, looking off in the direction of the Ninth Mountain and Sea.
Further away in the distance, Marquis Lu hovered there in shock. At some point, he had begun to sweat, and he suddenly realized that in trying to wipe out the Meng Clan, he had been courting death.
Now he realized why his Mountain and Sea Lord had issued orders not to provoke the Meng Clan. It wasn’t because he and Meng Hao were friends. No, it was because... he truly didn’t want to provoke them!
That was because, hidden in the Meng Clan, there was a supreme entity, a powerful expert who was so strong... that even Marquis Lu knew he didn’t dare to trifle with him.
He had... power to open the barrier between Mountains and Seas, to send an entire continent of clan members all the way to another Mountain and Sea. He was... a shocking, almighty expert.
“Retreat!” he said without any hesitation. Then he flickered into motion, followed by the other cultivators of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, whose murderous aura had transformed into expressions of astonishment.
They didn’t care about the fact that they were running away with their tails between their legs.
Anybody could tell that whatever fetters had been holding this consummately powerful expert back... were now gone.
It was as if a ravenous primordial beast had suddenly been uncaged!
Rumbling could be heard as the cultivators of the Seventh Mountain and Sea retreated en masse. However, in that exact same moment, Meng Hao looked away from the Ninth Mountain and Sea, turning so that his gaze fell upon... the cultivators of the Seventh Mountain and Sea.
“You just showed up,” he said calmly, “don’t run away yet!”