Chapter 1160: The Fang Clan Arrives!
In the blink of an eye, the two of them exchanged over a hundred blows. The more Guru Heavencloud fought, the more shocked he became. He was well aware that he had lost the initiative, and had no way to get it back. Even more surprising was that he was constantly being forced into retreat by Meng Hao.
Meng Hao’s domineering style was on full display as he advanced with relentless attacks. This time, he waved his hand, causing the Ninth Mountain to materialize and crush down toward Guru Heavencloud.
Everyone watching down below was astonished.
“How could Meng Hao be so strong!?!?” Astonished, Guru Heavencloud fell back, eyes flickering coldly as he prepared to launch a divine ability. However, it was at this point that Meng Hao suddenly stopped his current action and then unleashed a punch, staring coldly at Heavencloud the entire time.
When their eyes met, Guru Heavencloud’s heart went cold. He tried to dodge back, but was too late.
“Destroy!” Meng Hao said coolly.
Instantly, colors flashed and the wind screamed. Heaven and Earth shook as an indescribable force was unleashed, the explosive destructive power of Meng Hao’s fist strikes which he had been holding back until now.
Rumbling sounds echoed up into the air as Meng Hao flashed through the air like lightning. When he appeared in front of Guru Heavencloud, he used the Bedevilment Fist for the first time in the fight.
This was the fist of Self-Immolation, the Bedevilment Fist!
Blood sprayed out of Guru Heavencloud’s mouth as he was sent tumbling backward. However, even as he fell back, Meng Hao followed after in pursuit. A moment later, though, he stopped in place and dodged backward at high speed.
In that same moment, the space he had just occupied exploded in a mass of destruction. Had Meng Hao not fallen back just now, he would likely have been mortally wounded.
Seeing Meng Hao evade his killing blow caused Guru Heavencloud’s brow to furrow.
“Meng Hao, you qualify to see my most powerful state!” he said. Then he raised his right hand and pushed it down onto his forehead, causing a rumbling sound to echo out as two magical symbols appeared.
Shockingly, he was currently in a sealed state, something he did to delay stepping into the Dao Realm, and in fact, made it possible for him to attempt to step into the Dao Realm at any time he wished.
The first seal faded away rapidly, and as it did, Guru Heavencloud’s energy suddenly exploded with increasing power. He quickly surpassed the ordinary great circle of the Ancient Realm, rising up to a shocking degree.
He had no choice but to admit that Meng Hao was strong, perhaps even stronger than himself. Because of that, he had to go all out, and even go to the lengths of removing the seals and removing the pressure that kept his cultivation base restricted.
“Great!” Meng Hao said with a cold snort. “Now that the warmup is over, I guess I’ll kill you. Shouldn’t be too hard.” With that, he extended his right hand and pointed toward Guru Heavencloud, unleashing the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex.
Rumbling could be heard as Guru Heavencloud suddenly lurched to a halt. His eyes went wide with shock as Meng Hao waved his finger a second, a third, and even a fourth time.
The Seventh Demon Sealing Hex, Karmic Hexing, immediately caused Karma Threads to appear on Guru Heavencloud. They were already twisted because of his self-sealing, and now, rumbling sounds could be heard inside of him. Stabs of pain shot through him, and he felt as if he were suddenly losing his perception of the world. Even his memories began to grow fuzzy. His cultivation base began to sink down beyond his control, and apparently, his Karma Threads could be severed at any time.
The Sixth Demon Sealing Hex, the Life Death Hexing, caused magical symbols to appear all over him. Unfortunately, Meng Hao didn’t succeed in turning Guru Heavencloud into a puppet, but the resulting failure caused Guru Heavencloud to cough up a mouthful of blood. His Karma was collapsing, and his cultivation base was in chaos.
Next was the Fifth Demon Sealing Hex, the transposition of inside and outside. A rift appeared, both absorbing and erupting, creating a sharp blade that slashed at Guru Heavencloud, provoking a bloodcurdling scream as he was directly sliced in half!
Everything happened with shocking speed. Four waves of a finger caused Guru Heavencloud, who was still in the middle of powering up, to be cut down by Meng Hao!
This was the true strength of Meng Hao; to him, the great circle of the Ancient Realm wasn’t even worth paying attention to!
However, Guru Heavencloud wasn’t actually dead. Despite being cut in half, he was able to merge his two halves back together. And yet, Meng Hao didn’t give him a chance to do anything with that opportunity. He waved his right hand, causing the bone-tip spear to appear. Whistling sounds could be heard as the spear stabbed directly toward Guru Heavencloud.
A boom rang out as Guru Heavencloud exploded. His Nascent Divinity flew out of the wreckage of his body, heading down toward one of the magenta-robed cultivators. It stabbed into the man’s forehead, causing him to let out a miserable shriek. His facial features twisted for a moment, then went calm, after which he looked up furiously at Meng Hao.
“Meng Hao!!” That cultivator was now Guru Heavencloud. He flew up into the air, roaring in rage. To have been cut down the way he had just now was a complete humiliation. How could he ever have imagined that he would be slaughtered so quickly?
In fact, he had even been forced to use a trump card that nobody had known about, his life-saving magic of Instantaneous Possession!
It was a possession-type Daoist magic that extremely rare, and allowed him to instantaneously possess the body of another person. Unfortunately, it was an incomplete magic, making it difficult to utilize without great difficulty.
However, in the current situation, he had been left with no choice.
Meng Hao’s eyes flickered with a strange light as he looked at Guru Heavencloud. Then he smiled slightly and began to walk forward, once again on the offensive.
Guru Heavencloud was incensed. Gnashing his teeth, he shoved down on his forehead again, wiping away the second sealing mark.
In that very instant… an incredible energy suddenly exploded out within Guru Heavencloud. All of a sudden, all of his Soul Lamps appeared!
The Soul Lamps were all extinguished, and, shockingly, as they circulated around him, it was obvious… that each of those Soul Lamps was made of a tiny person who looked exactly like Guru Heavencloud!
Even more shocking was that each tiny individual had a sealing mark held in its left hand. It was as if each of those symbols contained different Daoist magics, which were being fed by the tiny figures. Furthermore, each figure also had a magical item floating above its right hand!
There were more than ten magical items, including flying swords, shields, pearls and tiny pagodas. From the feeling they gave off, all of them were high-grade Immortal treasures.
If that were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal. However, now that Guru Heavencloud had been forced into a corner, he slapped his bag of holding to produce a violet helmet.
It looked like a helmet which might be worn by an ordinary mortal soldier. However, it seemed incredibly ancient, as if it had passed through countless years of time. As soon as it appeared in Guru Heavencloud’s hands, he put it onto his head.
Almost immediately, his power skyrocketed to a shocking level, and his divine sense experienced explosive growth.
Shockingly, this helmet… was an Ancient Realm magical item!
“Meng Hao! This is my most powerful state. This… is the true great circle of the Ancient Realm. If you can defeat me like this, then I will immediately summon the Door of the Dao Realm!
“If I successfully step into the Dao Realm, then I will cut you down where you stand…. If I fail… then I will be an almighty Quasi-Dao expert. At that time, my life force will begin to dissipate, and the end of my longevity will be within sight. However, killing you in that state… will still be a simple matter!
“You need to think long and hard about whether you wish to continue to fight, or back down!” Guru Heavencloud’s heart was filled with regret. He could tell that Meng Hao was extraordinary and shocking, and now he wasn’t so certain about his judgement regarding the Fang Clan.
The words he had uttered just now had been spoken grudgingly. Originally, he had planned to save those words for someone of his own generation as a coldly uttered requirement.
But now, he had no choice but to speak them to Meng Hao, in order to remind him that he shouldn’t continue to act provokingly….
It was at this point that Meng Hao’s expression suddenly flickered, and he looked in the direction of the Fang Clan’s teleportation portal asteroid. Guru Heavencloud sensed the same thing Meng Hao had, and looked over to see that several figures had appeared. He finally sighed inwardly with relief.
He didn’t want to admit to himself that he had even done such a thing, but he had no other option. He would rather clash with the Dao Realm experts of the Fang Clan than face Meng Hao. The four finger attacks Meng Hao had just unleashed filled him with the utmost fear.
Although he was still confident, he couldn’t shake the fear that lurked in his heart. Besides, it would be a great loss to be forced into an attempted breakthrough right here and now.
Despite being enraged, Guru Heavencloud seemed to force himself under control. He immediately clasped hands and bowed to the figures who were emerging from the teleportation portal.
Fang Shoudao strolled out from the glittering lights, his face grim.
Guru Heavencloud’s flickered, and he suddenly chuckled coldly, projecting his booming voice out to say, “Heavencloud of the Heavencloud Bazaar offers greetings, Senior Shoudao!
“Not only have I never offended the Fang Clan, I’ve never skimped in my yearly tribute, not even by a little bit. Normally speaking, I accommodate the requirements laid out by your clan without hesitation. I truly respect the Fang Clan!
“Although other clans and powers have tried to recruit me, I haven’t joined any of them. I’m always respectful to all of the sects and powers, and even more so when it comes to the Fang Clan.
“And what do I get in return for all of that? My Junior Brother was brutally slaughtered, and others of my disciples were violently killed. All because someone ignored the laws of the bazaar, laws which expressly forbid robbing and stealing!
“What is the meaning of such humiliation!? Senior Shoudao, could it be that the Fang Clan… really wishes to annihilate the Heavencloud Bazaar? After all, moments ago, it was your own Crown Prince who said that he wants the Heavencloud Bazaar to be renamed as the Fang Clan Bazaar!
“I could do nothing in the face of such provocation, because he’s nothing but a young lad, and the Crown Prince of the Fang Clan. Then he attacked me, and considering the level of my cultivation base and my status, I had to endure for a while. I didn’t want to hurt him, and thus, didn’t use divine abilities, only magical items.
“However, your Crown Prince was extremely overbearing and menacing. He pushed me into a corner until I could fall back no further. I could have used deadly attacks on numerous occasions, but didn’t, all because I wanted to avoid creating deadly enmity with the Fang Clan!
“However, everyone has their limits, and finally, I retreated far enough to reach mine!
“Senior Shoudao, I’ve already been forced to the point of having no choice but to make a breakthrough. Success would place me in the Dao Realm, failure, the Quasi-Dao Realm. Therefore, I want to know exactly what I did to offend the Fang Clan? Why do you want… to exterminate me!?!?
“The Heavencloud Bazaar might be small, but we’re no pushovers! Senior, please take the lead in presiding over justice!”