Chapter 616: Demonic Qi Explodes to the Sky!
Rumbling echoed out in all directions. As the South Heaven Cultivators flew toward the five beams of light, fighting broke out. The sounds of magical techniques and divine abilities resounded through the air, mixed with growls and cold snorts. In the time it takes for a spark to fly off of a piece of flint, the five incredible treasures were divided up.
Han Danzi looked up into the air and then said, “Fellow Daoists, those five incredible treasures were released by the combined effort of Fellow Daoist Meng and myself. For you to act in such a way is somewhat improper….”
By now, the South Heaven Cultivators up above had taken notice of Meng Hao and Han Danzi down below.
“If you are interested, Fellow Daoists, we can all work together to open up the greatest treasures hidden in this place. We can release them together. What do you think, Fellow Daoists?” Han Danzi wore a smile on his face, but within his eyes was a strange, imperceptible glow. Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched Meng Hao carefully.
That was because he hadn’t consulted with Meng Hao before speaking, and his offer just now did not fall in line with his previous explanation. Clearly, what he needed was not just the help of Meng Hao alone, but rather, the combined assistance of almost all of the South Heaven Cultivators.
At the moment, Han Danzi was simply incapable of reading Meng Hao’s expression. From the very beginning until this moment, it hadn’t changed at all. The more Meng Hao acted in such a way, the more Han Danzi felt unsure of himself.
The main reason he had sought out Meng Hao was because of his Cultivation base. It wasn’t just him who looked at Meng Hao in such a way. Although no one would admit it, most of them had already taken Meng Hao to have the most powerful Cultivation base of the entire group.
Therefore, having Meng Hao at his side made Han Danzi’s words even more persuasive. After all, when an expert planned some sort of scheme, it would by no means be a small plan.
Up in mid-air, the eyes of the other Cultivators flickered, but no one spoke. Although these people had all been conned by Meng Hao earlier, that was because of the circumstances. It was impossible for them to not get excited right now. Of course, in the outside world, any one of the group could be considered extraordinarily intelligent. As such, they only believed about one third of what Han Danzi told them.
Fang Yu suddenly spoke up, “If some precious treasure appears, how do we split it up?”
“I will swear a Dao oath, I will vow on my heart of cultivation. It doesn’t matter how many precious treasures appear, I only want one fire globe!” Han Danzi spoke with decisiveness that could chop nails and slice iron.
“Besides,” he continued solemnly, his words ringing out like the peals of a golden bell, “if I violated my oath, if I went back on my word, not only would it sever my path of cultivation, but I would never be able to find safe haven in any of your various Sects and Clans back in the lands of South Heaven.”
The South Heaven Cultivators up in mid-air looked on thoughtfully. It was actually exactly as Han Danzi said. Although their Cultivation bases might not be incredibly high, they were all backed by Sects and Clans that could be considered major powers. Therefore, in some ways, they weren’t worried at all about Han Danzi reneging on his promise.
Everyone exchanged glances. All were thinking different things, but of course, they wouldn’t casually allow others to see that based on their facial expression. Gradually, all eyes came to fall on Meng Hao.
“I too simply require a pledge in the form of a Dao oath,” he said coolly.
At first everything was quiet, but after a moment, the Ji Clan members flew down toward the surface of the ground. After that was Fang Yu, and then the other Cultivators from the Southern Domain and the Northern Reaches. Their eyes flickered as they neared.
However, it wasn’t each and every South Heaven Cultivator that came. Xu Qing as well as some of the others weren’t present.
Han Danzi smiled and then began to explain to everyone how to approach the center district. As they waited for everyone to arrive, Han Danzi clasped hands and bowed apologetically to Meng Hao.
“Fellow Daoist Meng,” he said in a sincere tone, “it’s not that I changed my mind. As you can clearly see, by relying only on our power, it would be difficult to cause the precious treasures to appear. Only by combining power with the others will we be able to succeed.
“I hope you can forgive me.” He bowed deeply once more. Then he lifted up his right hand, within which could be seen a jade pendant shaped like a dragon.
“I acquired this pendant earlier which can be considered an excellent treasure. It can summon an enormous dragon which spits out a sea. Fellow Daoist Meng, please accept it as a token of my apology.” With that, he sent the pendant floating out toward Meng Hao.
Meng Hao’s face was expressionless as he first looked over the pendant and then scanned it with Divine Sense. There didn’t seem to be anything suspicious about it, so he casually waved his sleeve to collect it up.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han Danzi,” he said coolly.
Han Danzi watched calmly as Meng Hao accepted the pendant. Inwardly, he was a bit suspicious. Meng Hao’s completely expressionless demeanor made it difficult for him to keep his thoughts straight.
“Hmph,” he thought to himself. “He’s just some kid from the younger generation. Although he might be a profound schemer, he has his limits. Besides, I already made it clear to everyone that all I want is one globe of fire. I simply don’t believe that this Meng Hao will be able to create problems for me out of nothing.” He was laughing coldly on the inside, but on the outside, he was smiling from ear to ear.
The two of them sat down cross-legged to meditate. Two hours passed, after which the other South Heaven Cultivators arrived one after another. No one spoke. They focused their power together to stab into one particular spot on the surface of the ground. Intense rumbling resulted, and a gigantic whirlpool appeared inside the world of the mirror.
The vortex spun rapidly, and then transformed into a black hole. Immediately, an assortment of magical items were sucked in. Many were shattered in the process, but more than ten beams of light appeared in the outside to shoot up into the sky.
The light from the treasures was blinding, and instantly attracted the attention of the crowd. However, just as quickly, everyone, including Meng Hao, looked back at the world of the mirror. Inside, the vortex was still there, as was the gravitational force of the black hole. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be powerful enough to suck away the seven globes of fire surrounding the Greater Demon.
And yet… it was obvious that the two globes of fire nearest the black hole were beginning to ripple and distort. From the look of it, if the power of the black hole was increased, they might actually move.
“One more time!” snapped Han Danzi, staring fixedly at the globes of fire. The full power of his Cultivation base exploded out. As the power built up, the eyes of the others flickered, and they too began to unleash the power of their Cultivation bases.
Meng Hao closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he was in the Sixth Anima.
BOOM!!
Everyone attacked again. This time, the intensity of the vibrations seemed enough to cause earthquakes and shatter mountains. A vortex appeared inside the world of the mirror that was even larger than before. The black hole that magically appeared afterward caused the two globes of fire nearest the black hole to begin to distort violently. Finally, they began to move.
As the globes moved, everything dimmed, and the majestic aura of a precious treasure poured into the black hole and was then released in the outside. A thunderous roar filled the air, and as they sensed the aura, everyone was completely shocked. The intensity of this aura was such that it seemed it could extinguish Immortals!
Meng Hao’s pupils constricted. The aura he was sensing from the wooden swords in the seven globes of light far, far exceeded that of the wooden swords in his bag of holding. However, it was also clear that they were… one and the same!
There was no need for Han Danzi to say anything else. A gleam of longing appeared in the eyes of the South Heaven Cultivators as they once again unleashed the explosive power of their Cultivation bases, along with their most powerful divine abilities and magical techniques.
As for Han Danzi, he took a deep breath. The borderline evil Demonic Qi on him that only Meng Hao could sense suddenly superseded the fluctuations of a Cultivator that existed within him. It was as if he had just become a Demon!
Meng Hao entered the Seventh Anima, which meant that he had a Spirit Severing fleshly body. Along with the others, he continued to levy attacks against the surface of the ground.
The entire area was covered with cracks. Although they sealed back up almost immediately, a huge vortex nearly thirty meters wide exploded out inside the world of the mirror.
The edges of the vortex seemed to be just on the verge of actually touching the wooden swords within the globes of flame.
Everyone was panting, and their eyes were focused on the spinning vortex as it transformed into a shocking black hole!
When the black hole appeared, shockingly, three of the seven globes of fire that contained wooden swords, began to ripple and vibrate. Suddenly… they started moving!
The scene caused the gazes of the South Heaven Cultivators to grow as sharp as knives. Their Cultivation bases were in full rotation as they waited for the precious treasures to emerge, whereupon the fighting would begin.
Time passed. It was only the space of about ten breaths, but in the minds of everyone present, it seemed like an eternity. They watched the three globes of fire moving gradually closer to the black hole. They seemed to be struggling, but the power of the black hole caused them to slowly get closer and closer.
The power source of the black hole’s gravitational force was not the South Heaven Cultivators, but rather, the interaction between the world outside of the mirror, and the world within. The function of the Cultivators was merely to release that power.
The gravitational force exerted by the black hole was so strong that it wasn’t just the three globes of fire that were affected. Also affected was the extremely lifelike Greater Demon around whom the fire globes rotated.
Nearer…. Nearer….
In the blink of an eye, one of the wooden swords within the fire globule vanished into of the black hole. Everyone stopped breathing momentarily. In that instant, shockingly, a wooden sword shot out from beneath their feet. It burst up toward the sky in a beam of light that resembled an unrolling bolt of silk.
The Ji Clan members instantly shot up into the air to pursue the beam of light.
Next, two more swords shot out, their Sword Qi shining like a rainbow. Coldness radiated out, causing everyone to feel as if they were freezing. However, the burning within their hearts could not be frozen over. Fang Yu, the group from the Northern Reaches, and all the other Cultivators, instantly shot up into the air to pursue the treasured wooden swords.
In the instant in which they flew up in pursuit, the three wooden swords began to emanate an even more shocking energy. Boundless ripples shot out into the sky, which caused anything within fluctuations to suddenly move exponentially slower. It was as if the swords created their own area of time and space.
Meng Hao immediately shot up after the three wooden swords, and Han Danzi followed.
It appeared that the two would begin to fight over the wooden swords. However, it turned out that Han Danzi only appeared to have been moving up. He almost immediately sank back down. As everyone else shot after the precious treasures, he prostrated himself on the ground, biting his tongue to spit out a mouthful of blood. The blood instantly turned into a thin stream which extended out toward the black hole in the world of the mirror. It emerged from the black hole in the mirror world, and then neared the body of the Greater Demon which had been sucked toward the black hole.
“Ancestor Spirit, your posterity of the younger generation have not forgotten you! I have come today to welcome your power back into the world!!” As his words rang out, the eyes of the Greater Demon flickered with intelligence. It allowed the stream of blood to circle around its body, then tighten around it and begin to drag it toward the black hole.
Everything shook violently, and booming sounds filled the air. Suddenly, an enormous vortex appeared in front of Han Danzi, thousands of meters wide. A strange, demonic sound emerged from within the vortex; it sounded like people both weeping and laughing.
Suddenly, an enormous head, fully three hundred meters large… began to rise up from within the water-like surface of the world beneath!
Demonic Qi…
Exploded up into the sky!!!
—–
This chapter was sponsored by ÆTze Boersma, SeanL, Filipe de Almeida Araujo Vital, Stefan from Sweden, and Li Yang
