Chapter 1297
Chapter 1297: An Extraordinary Showdown!
Everything had happened in the briefest of moments!
Lord White, Lord of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, with a peak 5-Essences cultivation base, had experienced untold slaughter, but he could never have imagined that Meng Hao… would be so ruthless!
Meng Hao had attacked him over and over again, allowing himself to be wounded, his starstone to be shattered, his azure roc to be destroyed, and he himself to suffer serious internal injuries to the point where blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth.
All of that was… simply for the chance to unleash this shocking spear!
Meng Hao hadn’t hesitated at all to be wounded for that chance, and that was because he understood the gap that existed between himself and Lord White. Although that gap wasn’t huge, to cultivators of this level, it was the type of thing that could mean the difference between victory and defeat, between life and death!
And what Meng Hao wanted was not just victory or defeat, but rather… to kill his opponent and come out alive!
It had nothing to do with enmity or hatred. The only way to end the war was to kill Lord White. With him dead, Grandpa Meng would be safe. Furthermore, the explosive ripples that would be unleashed prior to his death were exactly what was needed to bring his grandfather’s soul back.
Therefore he chose to use this spear. In fact, Meng Hao’s personality was such that he didn’t even hesitate to waste the precious spear that had been unsealed by Greed!
The destruction of that spear had been the feint needed to unleash Demon Weapon Lonelytomb, which now shot directly toward Lord White’s forehead, bursting with power. Lord White had no time to react or even do anything before… the spear stabbed directly into his flesh!
A ripping sound could be heard as his flesh was torn apart, and then cracking sounds echoed out as his skull was shattered. Demon Weapon Lonelytomb stabbed directly into Lord White’s forehead!
However, as that happened, no look of relief appeared on Meng Hao’s face. Instead, his expression flickered, and his pupils constricted.
That was because, even as Lord White’s forehead was pierced, and his eyes dimmed, he suddenly spoke.
“Green Emperor’s Eternal Incantation.” In the same moment that the words left his mouth, an aura erupted out of him that Meng Hao found very familiar.
Unexpectedly, it resembled… the aura of the Eternal stratum!
As that aura erupted out, the flesh on Lord White’s forehead began to wriggle. Simultaneously, that aura spread out into Demon Weapon Lonelytomb and then toward Meng Hao.
To Lord White, the aura was a restorative power, but to Meng Hao, it was like a surging wild beast. At the same time, his own Eternal stratum roared madly. Apparently, these two different auras were as incompatible as water and fire!
After all, Meng Hao’s Eternal stratum had been acquired by walking the road of Perfection to the very end. Then, through a series of chance occurrences, he had managed to merge it with the Eyeless Larva. However, in the most fundamental of ways, it actually had some connections to the Mountain and Sea Scripture.
Just as Meng Hao was about to put his spear away, Lord White grabbed it, then stared into Meng Hao’s eyes. A vicious gleam could be seen in his own eyes, and the Eternal aura around him grew stronger. Shockingly, an illusory ancient scripture suddenly appeared behind him, upon which were written three characters!
Mountain and Sea Scripture!
As the ancient scripture opened, Lord White’s aura began to grow stronger.
Almost in the same moment that the protection of the ancient scripture appeared, Meng Hao’s Eternal stratum began to surge with even more madness. Suddenly, a piercing cry like that of a silkworm began to echo out from inside of him, and behind him, a shocking illusory image appeared.
It was… the Eyeless Larva!!
This was the first time since the Eyeless Larva had become a part of his Eternal stratum that it ever appeared in this way. As soon as it became visible, it turned to Lord White and howled. 1
Lord White’s face flickered with shock as he suddenly realized that Meng Hao had also… cultivated some of the Mountain and Sea Scripture!
“An incomplete Mountain and Sea Scripture, huh?” Lord White said with a cold snort. However, he was still shocked. He could sense the explosive violence within his Green Emperor’s Eternal Incantation, and how it wished to attack the Eyeless Larva behind Meng Hao, and fight with it to the death.
Meng Hao’s eyes went wide as he realized that his opponent intended to take away his Demon Weapon. He was not the type of person to let something like that happen lightly, so instead, he uttered a single word.
“Detonate!” As soon as the word left his mouth, Demon Weapon Lonelytomb exploded with a huge bang. Once again, Lord White was injured, and yet, with his Eternal aura at work, he quickly began to recover.
Lord White looked deeply at Meng Hao. Without saying another word, he fell back to give himself time to heal and buy some more time. Earlier, he had not underestimated Meng Hao, but now… he wanted to kill him more than ever. It had been a very, very long time since he had experienced the sensation of imminent death that he had moments ago.
Were it not for the profundity of his divine ability, then with the way he had been stabbed in the forehead just now, while it wouldn’t have killed him, it would have resulted in a grievous injury.
After the Demon Weapon exploded, it transformed into streams of black mist that swirled back to collect together near Meng Hao.
“The Mountain and Sea Scripture….” Meng Hao said, an unsightly expression on his face. From what he understood, the Mountain and Sea Scripture was a combination of the three classic scriptures of the Mountain and Sea Realm.
Apparently, Lord White had actually cultivated the Mountain and Sea Scripture, but to a far higher level than Meng Hao. After all, Meng Hao had used fragments of the actual scripture, and then relied on his own deductive powers to make alterations as he had seen fit. 2
However, Meng Hao had the feeling that if his Eternal stratum could merge with the Green Emperor’s Eternal Incantation of his opponent, then… his own Eternal stratum would increase by a whole level!
“I wonder if there is something beyond the Eternal…?” Meng Hao thought, his eyes shining brightly. All of a sudden, he had yet another reason to kill Lord White!
The wound on Lord White’s forehead was rapidly healing up, and it seemed as if it would only be moments before it was completely restored. Meng Hao’s eyes flickered, and he took two steps forward, which were his sixth and seventh steps respectively.
The instant that his seventh step landed, Meng Hao’s energy spiked. Something like a roar echoed out to the ends of the starry sky as a terrifying foot suddenly appeared. It was like a planet descending from above, causing massive rumbling sounds to echo out as it crushed down toward Lord White!
This was none other than the ability he had learned from Su Yan, who was still in his bag of holding… the Seven God Steps! 3
As soon as that huge foot appeared up in the starry sky, Lord White’s face fell yet again, filling with disbelief.
“The Seven God Steps? That’s impossible!!” Shockingly, he recognized this particular Daoist magic of Meng Hao’s. Instantly, Lord White bit the tip of his tongue and spit out a mouthful of blood.
That blood rapidly expanded, instantly transforming into a sea of blood, which seethed out across the starry sky to slam into the incoming foot.
In the resulting massive explosion, Meng Hao’s energy surged, and the killing intent in his eyes intensified. Next, his left hand flashed in an incantation gesture, and the meat jelly appeared. Muttering disconsolately, it transformed into a set of armor which covered Meng Hao. Then, Meng Hao extended his right hand, and the copper mirror transformed into a beam of multicolored light as it, along with the grumbling parrot, transformed into… a pitch black Battle Weapon!
The instant the Battle Weapon appeared, Meng Hao’s desire to fight exploded out. The starry sky went dark, and the void trembled. Meng Hao’s murderous aura rose to shocking heights as he slashed his blade out toward the fleeing Lord White.
“DIE!!” he roared.
The sensation of deadly crisis that exploded up within Lord White was impossible to describe. In fact, the sensation far, far exceeded the feeling he had experienced when Meng Hao had gone all-out to attack him with Demon Weapon Lonelytomb.
And yet, there was something different about it: Demon Weapon Lonelytomb had appeared completely unexpectedly, giving him no time to react. In this moment, although the sensation of deadly crisis was more intense, at least he had a moment to prepare.
Unfortunately… Lord White was still in the middle of utilizing his Green Emperor’s Eternal Incantation to restore himself. He couldn’t unleash his peak level of power, causing a vicious, intense gleam to appear in his eyes.
Glaring at Meng Hao, he roared, “Extermination!”
In that moment, Essence fluctuations appeared, which were none other than the ripples of the Essence of extermination!
“Power Essence!” He wasn’t finished yet, though! As soon as the Essence of extermination appeared, a second shocking Essence aura roiled up inside of him. The void around him distorted, and boundless ripples spread out through the starry sky from his second Essence… the Essence of power!
That was not the power of the fleshly body, but rather… power incited from within the starry sky!
“Curse!
“Land!
“Time!!” Lord White knew that this was a moment of extreme crisis, and as of this moment, fully realized how difficult it was to deal with Meng Hao. Furthermore, he also knew that he had lost out on an opportunity to seize the initiative. He had given that to Meng Hao, who was clearly extremely domineering. Once he got going, he kept going without stop!
Lord White had encountered people who fought like this in the past, and he well knew that once Meng Hao built up enough momentum, it would be difficult to stop him, and he would only continue to grow stronger.
“Five Essence Dao!” Lord White cried, spreading his hands out wide in Meng Hao’s direction and then pushing forward. His clothes and hair whipped about, and his cultivation base exploded out, merging with the starry sky, connecting with the Heavens, drawing upon the boundless energy of Heaven and Earth, sucking it into his body.
It was like he became a huge black hole which consumed the energy of Heaven and Earth. It poured into his body, which became like a transfer point for that energy, which he then sent out… to become five different Essences!
This was a way of using Essence that was completely new to Meng Hao. Instead of utilizing the powers of the world via force, it drew upon the power of Heaven and Earth to manifest power within oneself. The latter was definitely more domineering than the former!
“Either die, or screw the hell off!!!” roared Lord White. His five Essences became five natural laws, filling the entire world, sweeping through the Heavens, instantly enveloping Meng Hao!
A will of extermination that could erase emotions and obliterate the soul!
A magical Essence of power that could crush the body and smash the mind!
A Dao of cursing that could defile the blood and eradicate blood vessels!
An Essence of land which could bury corpses and sever qi passageways!
The quintessence of time, the ultimate of the five Essences, which could reach through Time to slaughter the enemy!
The starry sky trembled, and within that world of Essence and natural law, blood oozed out of Meng Hao’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. However his eyes were shining brightly, and his desire to fight was no less than before. Hefting the Battle Weapon, he… slashed it out in attack!
It was an extraordinary showdown!
The red-haired old man and the others had long since retreated from their position 3,000 meters away. They were now 30,000 meters away, where they sent their divine sense out to observe the fierce fighting going on between Meng Hao and Lord White. All four of their faces were completely pale, and their hearts were battered with waves of shock.
1. The Eyeless Larva was last mentioned in chapter 693 when Meng Hao used to it to acquire the Eternal stratum
2. As a brief reminder, Meng Hao got the Sublime Spirit Scripture way back in the Reliance Sect. It set him on the path of Perfection, which eventually led to the Eternal. The Sublime Spirit Scripture was described as one of the three great classic scriptures, along with the Dao Divinity Scripture and the Heaven Severing Scripture. P.S. This line in the original Chinese actually contains a mistake which I fixed. If any of you are reading along in Chinese as well, you will probably notice this
3. In case you didn’t see the message I posted in a recent chapter release post, the Seven God Steps are apparently a divine ability used by Su Ming, the main character of Beseech the Devil. Interestingly, Su Yan has the same surname as Su Ming, which could definitely be taken as evidence to there being some connection between the two. I didn’t realize this until recently, otherwise I would have mentioned it earlier