Chapter 1037: Hostility!
This was the Nine Seas God World, one of the Three Great Daoist Societies of the Ninth Mountain and Sea!
It had existed for tens of thousands of years, stretching back into ancient times, seemingly eternal. Apparently, it had existed for as long as the Nine Mountains and Seas themselves. People who practiced cultivation here for a significant amount of time, and then left for the outside world, would experience an explosive rise in their cultivation base.
In all of the Ninth Mountain and Sea, the only sect which was so amazing that they could practice cultivation in the Ninth Sea itself, and even lower their sect to the bottom of the sea… was the Nine Seas God World!
Because of cultivation practices like that, it was no exaggeration to say that it was a God World. That was even more so when you considered the power of Heaven and Earth which existed there. In all of the Ninth Sea, this location had the most terrifying concentration of it.
In addition, the deeper you went in, the more boundless that energy became.
Meng Hao’s mind trembled. He had been to many sects, but none of them had left him as shaken as he was now that he was looking at the Nine Seas God World.
He looked at the land mass spreading out in front of him like a continent, and he saw, not just cultivators, but other bizarre beings. They had humanoid bodies, but they were clearly another type of life form.
Each one had a life force that was reminiscent of a sea beast. Meng Hao’s eyes flickered as he realized that these were unique Demonic Cultivators of the Ninth Sea!
They were not true Greater Demons, but had transmogrified during the course of their cultivation, gradually assuming their current appearances.
Even more shocking to Meng Hao was that the Nine Seas God World actually floated some distance away from the bottom of the sea itself, separated by a mass of pitch black darkness.
The further down one went from there, the greater the pressure was, and the more energy of Heaven and Earth could be found. It could be said that to cultivators… the pressure exerted by the Ninth Sea made this place like a Holy Land for cultivation.
“Nine Seas God World….” he murmured, eyes shining with a strange light as he sensed the vast majesty of the place. He could feel the pressure from the Ninth Sea, and the fact that his cultivation base was limited to seventy percent of its normal power.
His eyes slid across the nine glittering gates that marked the entrance to the Nine Seas God World. Above the main gate were the words ‘Nine Seas God World,’ and as for the other golden gates, they were actually more like stone steles than actual gates!
Furthermore, upon the surfaces of those golden gate stone steles were packed with names, each one of which glittered with golden light that was visible to all cultivators in the Nine Seas God World. The names formed a list, and on each of the stone steles, the list included 10,000 names.
On one of the stone steles, Meng Hao saw Fan Dong’er’s name, and it was listed in the 94th position. Next to the golden characters that made up her name, a string of text could clearly be seen. It said, … 24,000 meters down, 54 hours!
There were many other names that had the number 24,000 meters next to them, with a variety of different times.
Other name lists could be seen on the other stone steles, as if these were records of various trials by fire.
Meng Hao’s heart began to pound. The golden gate stone steles reminded him very much of the Medicine Pavilion and the Pill Pavilion back in the Fang Clan, as well as the stone stele he had seen in the Ancestral Land. The names all belonged to disciples of the Nine Seas God World, and their presence here indicated great honor and glory for those disciples.
A strange light began to gleam in Meng Hao’s eyes as he followed the cold-eyed man, who completely ignored him as he led the way into the sect.
Occasionally, they would encounter disciples of the Nine Seas God World. When they saw the man leading the way, they would smile and nod, and then their gazes would turn to Meng Hao.
Some of those people were Demonic cultivators, and when they saw Meng Hao, they would gape in shock. But then, just as quickly, their eyes would be shot with blood, and murderous auras would surge up from them.
Meng Hao frowned as he followed the cold-faced man into the Nine Seas God World. Almost as soon as they set foot onto the land mass, it seemed like all of the Demonic cultivators in the entire Nine Seas God World, regardless of what they were doing at the moment, simultaneously looked up and stared at Meng Hao.
Very quickly, killing intent rose up in their eyes, as well as towering rage and disgust.
There were tens of thousands of these Demonic cultivators, and the feeling of having them all stare at him was something impossible to describe. Meng Hao’s face flickered, and his eyes went wide.
That was especially so when he realized that some of the Demonic cultivators had Ancient Realm cultivation bases. When their cold gazes of hatred fell upon him, his heart began to pound.
If that were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal, but suddenly, streams of divine sense shot out from many of the residences that were visible, filling Meng Hao’s heart with terror.
From the look of things, the tens of thousands of Demonic cultivators were just barely able to keep themselves under control. In sharp contrast, the human cultivators of the Nine Seas God World were looking curiously at Meng Hao. Immediately, people began to recognize him.
“That’s Meng Hao!”
“I heard that he was accepted as a disciple by all of the Three Great Daoist Societies….”
“In the battle of Planet East Victory, virtually the entire Ninth Mountain and Sea saw him rise to prominence. He’s the Immortal Realm Paragon!” The cultivators all wore different expressions. Some were surprised, some wore cold looks, and others looked derisive.
However, regardless of the various cultivators’ expressions, when they sensed the strange behavior of the Demonic cultivators, they were all shocked.
The strange feeling of disquiet in Meng Hao’s heart continued to grow even more intense. He was more on guard than ever as the cold-faced man led him through the air across the Nine Seas God World. As they wound their way deeper in, the killing intent and ferocity of the Demonic cultivators only continued to grow stronger.
It was around this time that, all of a sudden, a cold snort echoed from among a group of Demonic cultivators, followed by a bright beam of light that shot toward Meng Hao.
It was a middle-aged man, extremely handsome, with a fish scale on his forehead. He wore a white robe, and had two red horns growing out from his forehead. He radiated a powerful, murderous aura, and moved with incredible speed. As he closed in on Meng Hao, he extended his right hand, causing ripples to spread out that formed into nine flying swords.
In the blink of an eye, the nine flying swords took on the appearance of nine crimson loaches. They roared, expressions vicious as they shot through the air. As for the middle-aged man, he had a murderous aura and an explosive cultivation base. The power of Immortal meridians emanated out, not quite 100; nevertheless, they had at least 90.
Upon seeing him attack, the faces of all the other Demonic cultivator disciples of the Nine Seas God World flickered with even more killing intent.
As for the Demonic cultivator who had escorted him thus far, the man hesitated for a moment, but didn’t berate the other Demonic cultivator or attempt to block his way. He acted almost as if he didn’t see, proceeding along as if he didn’t care whether Meng Hao was able to catch up or even got killed.
Meng Hao frowned and backed up by several paces. He waved his hand, causing a chain of mountains to appear and block the nine loach swords.
“Fellow Daoist, what’s the meaning of this?” he asked as he backed up. He really didn’t want his initial entrance into the Nine Seas God World to be marked by conflict with the cultivators here.
His opponent didn’t say a single word in response. He smiled coldly, as if he believed that speaking to Meng Hao would sully his own mouth. He performed an incantation gesture, and the air behind him rippled as a huge red hand appeared. Shocking ripples spread out as the hand shot toward Meng Hao.
The man’s cultivation base exploded with power. Despite being suppressed somewhat due to being in the Ninth Sea, it was still incredibly shocking. His killing intent was also incredibly intense.
“Fellow Daoist,” said Meng Hao, falling back further, his frown deepening. “Please inform me as to exactly what has happened. If you want to try to kill me, you must at least give a reason.”
However, the middle-aged man didn’t slow down at all. He advanced, waving his hand, causing the scale on his forehead to glitter. Instantly, he was surrounded by over a thousand fish scales, all of which glittered with cold light as they screamed toward Meng Hao in the form of a windstorm.
“Scale Slaughtering!” the man said coldly, his killing intent continuing to rise up. Apparently he wanted to slice Meng Hao into tens of thousands of pieces.
Meng Hao was so enraged that a smile broke out on his face. After arriving at the Ninth Sea, he had instantly been treated as an enemy, for inexplicable reasons. Then he got to the Nine Seas God World, and the Demonic cultivators there treated him even worse.
To put it rather bluntly, Meng Hao was the type of person to defy laws and principles, even of the Heavens. His was the Dao of freedom, something that could not accept outside fetters or grievances. Although he was retreating from his opponent, that opponent was not holding back, and was instead more intent on killing him.
“Give them an inch and they take a mile!” thought Meng Hao, his face darkening. He stopped moving backward, and instead took a step forward. He allowed the fish scales to close in on him, and to slam into his body.
Clanging sounds could be heard, and numerous disciples of the Nine Seas God World stared in shock as the fish scales did absolutely nothing whatsoever to Meng Hao. In fact, many of them shattered under the backlash of striking him.
Meng Hao’s eyes glowed coldly as he took three steps forward. A massive windstorm sprang up, and as the nine loach swords closed in on him, he lifted his right hand and struck out with a palm.
The nine swords immediately began to tremble.
“Scram!” he said calmly. That one word transformed into nine claps of thunder that sent the nine loach swords spinning away, after which they exploded.
An unmatchable energy exploded up from Meng Hao, causing his opponent’s face to fall. Blood oozed out of the man’s mouth as he was forced backward by the energy attack. However, he clenched his jaw and once again performed an incantation gesture. At the same time, Meng Hao snorted coldly, waving his right hand to summon a Blood Demon head. Although his cultivation base was somewhat suppressed, he was still incredibly powerful within the Immortal Realm. He waved his hand, causing the Blood Demon head to roar, a roar which caused the blood of many surrounding cultivators to shiver beyond their control, as if it wanted to rush out of their bodies.
The ferocious Blood Demon head shot forward toward the middle-aged man, who instantly fell backward, his facial expression flickering as an intense sensation of deadly crisis rose up in him. He had the powerful feeling that if he was even the slightest bit too slow, he would be dead.
Unfortunately, his speed obviously didn’t match up to that of the Blood Demon head, which was instantly on top of him. The man’s expression was despondent, and his eyes glittered with hatred as he screamed, “Why haven’t all of you attacked yet!?”
Immediately, a dozen or so of the surrounding Demonic cultivators stepped forward, cultivation bases surging as they attacked the Blood Demon head.
There were even more who let out bellows of rage and shot toward Meng Hao. Fully a hundred Demonic cultivators all attacked simultaneously. Killing intent was like a flood that exploded out, causing that area of the Nine Seas God World to seem like it had descended into a chaotic riot.
All of the non-Demonic cultivator disciples of the Nine Seas God World looked on with flickering faces, and some began stepping forward to stop the fighting.
However, Meng Hao unexpectedly smiled, a smile filled with killing intent. He opted to stop trying to figure out why all this was happening; after all, his opponent had tried to kill him, and therefore… things were now simple. That man would die!
This was Meng Hao’s chance… to establish his place in the Nine Seas God World!
His eyes flickered coldly as he suddenly raised his hand, within which appeared the Lightning Cauldron. Electricity danced, and a huge boom could be heard as he suddenly switched places with another of the Demonic cultivators next to his middle-aged opponent.
The man’s face fell in shock and alarm as Meng Hao reached out and tapped his finger toward his forehead.
That single finger surged with a murderous aura, and it was obvious that if he touched the middle-aged man, he would be instantly killed in body and soul, dead beyond the shadow of a doubt.
At that point, an enraged voice shouted out from off in the distance.
“How presumptuous!!”
Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever, almost as if he hadn’t heard the voice. His finger continued to descend until it landed on the man’s forehead. A boom rang out… and the man trembled violently. His meridians were shattered, and his body exploded into a cloud of gore. Meng Hao waved his hand, dispersing the blood, then turned to face the newcomer.
“Do you mean that I’m being presumptuous, or that he was?” he asked coldly.
