Chapter 1378: 8-Essences Arrive!
The first to emerge was none other than Wang Youcai!
In the beginning, he was not among the most powerful of the group of Chosen; quite to the contrary, his cultivation base had been the lowest. He was even the worst in terms of latent talent. However, his willpower and determination was something that left even Meng Hao impressed. The entire Ninth Mountain and Sea had witnessed his vicious tactics, and were left rattled.
In order to join a powerful sect, and in order to pursue the Dao, he had dug his own eyes out, all in order to fix within his mind that final image, that final Dao projection he had seen before losing his sight.
He acted the same within his sect. However viciously he treated others, he treated himself even moreso. When others in the 33 Hells had cried out in anguish because of the pain, his reaction had been to laugh.
He laughed viciously the entire time he absorbed the good fortune of the soul fire, and did not hesitate to sacrifice some of his longevity and life force Essence in exchange for an incredible advancement in cultivation base!
He completely passed beyond the Ancient Realm and stepped into the Dao Realm. He became a Dao Lord, a Dao Sovereign and finally, an Imperial Lord!
In the end, the will which existed in the soul fire was also moved by Wang Youcai’s ruthlessness and relentlessness. Eventually, it too began to laugh, and almost willingly allowed its life force to merge into Wang Youcai.
After breaking through and then emerging, he transformed; his hair was white as if with age, but when he sent his cultivation base power surging out, everything went dark, and the entire world of the 33 Hells shook.
More people emerged after Wang Youcai, but few had made such incredible progress. It wasn’t until Li Ling’er emerged, with hair as white as Wang Youcai’s, that another aura similar to an Imperial Lord’s radiated out.
Li Ling’er’s appearance had changed. She was no longer young; instead, she looked like an old woman. She had forsaken her youth and beauty in exchange for a shocking cultivation base. In sixty years, she would die, but that was her choice!
In contrast to what Meng Hao would have predicted, Chen Fan did not choose to sacrifice his life force. Nor did he even reach the level of a true Dao Sovereign, but rather, the 5-Essences level. He emerged slowly, a seemingly emotional expression on his face, almost as if he were hesitating about something.
Ji Yin, on the other hand, chose to make the same decision as Li Ling’er!
As the Chosen flew out, energy surging, the entire 33 Hells trembled. Of the entire group of, twenty-four emerged, with the other nine… being forever interred within the 33 Hells. They had failed in their attempt to acquire good fortune, and were dead for all eternity.
As for the twenty-four Chosen who did acquire good fortune, eight of them had chosen to sacrifice some of their longevity. That group acquired cultivation base power equivalent to an Imperial Lord. Of the rest, more than half were now as strong as true Dao Sovereigns, with a few being at the 5-Essences level or so.
Regardless of the final outcome for each individual, their fates had completely changed now that they had successfully emerged. As they came out, the hells crumbled behind them, layer by layer. Then, they collectively chose to wait for Meng Hao.
During the ten months that had passed, all of these people who had obtained good fortune had been unable to sense the progress of those around them. Now, when they sent their cultivation base power out, they could tell that Meng Hao… was still in the deepest 33rd Hell.
As the various Hells collapsed, Outsider beasts emerged, but didn’t dare to even get near the group which was waiting there.
Several more days passed, but Meng Hao still hadn’t come out. As they waited there silently, they could tell that Meng Hao’s aura was gradually fading away, which caused them to frown and look to the cultivator among them with the most powerful cultivation base, Wang Youcai.
After a long moment passed, Wang Youcai turned and headed toward the exit of the 33 Hells, simultaneously speaking to everyone behind him. “Let’s go. The fighting outside will begin soon. Waiting here is pointless. The good fortune Meng Hao seeks will surely be greater than ours; naturally, he needs more time than us.
“I only have a single sixty-year-cycle of life, and I don’t want to waste any of it. I want to fight!” Despite the fact that his eyes were nothing but dark pits, they somehow seemed to glitter with a strange light. Even as his words continued to echo about, he vanished through the exit.
The other Chosen looked around silently, then clasped hands and bowed to the collapsing Hells. Finally, they turned and flew out. Li Ling’er sighed inwardly and followed them. As for Chen Fan, he seemed to be in somewhat of a daze. Looking down at the Hells, it seemed as if he were peering into their deepest depths, but if one looked closely, one would see that he was actually gazing at the place where he had acquired his good fortune, the 19th Hell.
“How… should I choose what to do…?” he thought bitterly. Looking away, he concealed the confusion inside of him and flew away.
Meanwhile, out in the Mountain and Sea Realm, the final battle with the 33 Heavens was beginning!
The starry sky was shaking, and various areas were being ripped open. Soon, the land mass that was the 17th Heaven became visible in complete detail!
Above it was the 18th Heaven, the 19th Heaven… all the way to the 33rd Heaven. They were all visible now.
Massive pressure weighed down, along with shocking energy. Rumbling filled the starry sky of the Mountain and Sea Realm as the 17th Heaven… began to descend, as did all of the other Heavens, all the way to the 33rd!!
RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!
The starry sky was torn to pieces as a massive tempest sprang out in all directions. Two figures emerged from the Heavens, a man and a woman. In terms of appearance, they didn’t seem to be Outsiders at all, but rather, ordinary cultivators.
However, their eyes shone with an indescribable coldness, as if all other living things were nothing more than ants to them.
Indescribable pressure radiated out along with them, and as they descended, the Mountains trembled and the Seas churned. Countless cultivators coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
It was Paragon pressure, and not that of the 7-Essences level, but… the 8-Essences level!!
These were the two strongest Paragons in the entire 33 Heavens. These were… 8-Essences Paragons!!
Behind them was a huge army of Outsiders from the 17th through 33rd Heavens. From the mere look of it, this army seemed unending, filled with tens of millions of Outsiders, all of them exceedingly powerful.
There were even some enormous magical items that flew out from the armies. There were statues, tens of thousands of meters high, there were enormous trees and freezing coffins. Even more shocking was that toward the back of the army was an enormous red sun!
In addition to all that, there were other legendary types of Outsiders. Most astonishing… were the giants, tens of thousands of meters tall. From the look of it, those giants could grow even taller than they were now. They had stars on their foreheads, and radiated intense, ancient auras.
There were other vicious-looking entities who had leathery wings, and were extremely conspicuous among the other forces.
Further off in the distance were tens of thousands of Black Dragons, and beyond that, a sea of flames.
This time, the 33 Heavens were holding nothing back. All of their power was being unleashed in their attempt to destroy the Mountain and Sea Realm. They wanted to strike fear into the hearts of the Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators, and considering the vast size of their army, and the presence of their Paragons, it really didn’t seem as if the Mountain and Sea Realm had any chance of coming out on top.
Suddenly, a cold, ancient voice rang out into the starry sky. The Outsiders heard it, as did the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm.
“Kill them all… leave no one alive.”
It was one of the two 8-Essences Paragons, the woman. In response to her words, the huge army of Outsiders let out a roar that could shake Heaven and Earth. Then, they poured toward the Mountain and Sea Realm like floodwaters.
As for the female Paragon, she turned into a beam of light, her energy sweeping about as she closed in on the shield which had been formed over the past ten months to protect the Mountain and Sea Realm.
The single swipe of a finger caused cracking sounds to emanate out from the shield, which then shattered. Countless fragments of the shield exploded out in every direction, whereupon the Paragon took a step forward… to appear on the Fifth Mountain! There, she stamped her foot, causing rumbling sounds to echo out. Then, in the blink of an eye… the mountain collapsed.
The cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm stared in shock at this sudden development.
However, it was in the same moment that cries rang out from different areas within the Mountain and Sea Realm. Suddenly, three temples appeared in the vicinity of the female Paragon. Within those temples were three old men. They were none other than… the Doyens!!
The three great Doyens of the Mountain and Sea Realm were no longer hiding in the shadows. They appeared all at once to suppress the female Paragon. At the same time, Meng Hao’s Paragon puppet was joined by Paragon Sea Dream to also attack the same Paragon.
Further off in the distance, the Three Great Daoist Societies gathered their disciples and magical devices, drawing fully upon all of their resources to meet the army of Outsiders.
Beyond that position, Xu Qing sat in a command pavilion, constantly sending out orders into the army of Mountain and Sea cultivators, coordinating the deadly battle with the Outsiders.
The members of the Fang Clan, as well as other sects and clans, all appeared on the battlefield to fight. There were even people from the Wang Clan.
The chaotic final battle was now underway. However, up in the starry sky, there was another 8-Essences Paragon, the man. His expression remained calm as he turned his gaze to the depths of the Mountain and Sea Realm, to Planet South Heaven in the Ninth Mountain and Sea.
“So, it’s you,” he said softly. He took a step forward, vanishing. Unexpectedly, when he reappeared, he was in the heart of the Mountain and Sea Realm, directly outside of Planet South Heaven.
In almost the moment he appeared, Planet South Heaven’s spell formation erupted with killing intent. The 8-Essences Paragon completely ignored it, though, stepping forward to appear on a certain mountain peak on Planet South Heaven.
That mountain peak was where Shui Dongliu stood. He spun around to face the 8-Essences Paragon, and when their eyes met, no words were spoken. They both vanished, and in the wake of their departure, a massive boom echoed out, which completely leveled the mountain and the lands beneath their feet, leaving behind only a huge crater!
That crater led to the core of Planet South Heaven, where a flaming sea of magma existed.
It was in this exact moment that, back in the collapsing 33 Hells, Meng Hao’s eyes suddenly opened. He looked around to see all of the cities and the people in them, and suddenly, everything stopped moving. Gradually, the scene around him transformed into shimmering motes of light which floated toward Meng Hao and them merged into him. His eyes then began to glow with shining light.