Chapter 274: The Flag Flies; Destroy the Three Incarnations!
During this explosive moment, all of the spiritual energy in the area poured into Meng Hao. It only took a few moments for it to disappear, having been completely absorbed by Meng Hao. Not a scrap remained.
The Dao Geyser had ceased its eruption and, in fact, seemed to be drying up. The Dao Projection in mid-air flickered, then completely disappeared. The Dao Geyser was indeed… thoroughly exhausted.
The tens of thousands of surrounding Cultivators watched on in silence. The Dao Geyser, which had been the focal point of such shocking events for the past year in the Southern Domain, dried up and turned into ash, which then disappeared into the air. Nothing remained.
Meng Hao had apparently exhausted all of the spiritual energy it contained. There was no more enlightenment to be gained, so it disappeared.
A deathly silence filled the air. The tens of thousands of Cultivators looked on with blank expressions… however, it didn’t take long before they were thrown into an uproar.
“The Dao Geyser… is gone?”
“It should have lasted for a few more days, but… it’s been completely dried up!”
“Just what sort of breakthrough did Fang Mu have? He obviously hasn’t reached Core Formation. But he’s… he’s clearly… caused the Dao Geyser to dry up early!!”
Black Lands Dao Children Luo Chong and Xu Fei were panting. To them, this visit to the western region of the Southern Domain had been shocking to the extreme. The cause of this shock was none other than a single Cultivator.
This Cultivator was… a Furnace Lord from the East Pill Division of the Violet Fate Sect!
The two other azure-masked Cultivators from the Black Lands watched on, seemingly unaffected. However, great waves of shock surged through their hearts, not because of the drying up of the Dao Geyser, but because of Meng Hao’s attacks earlier.
This was the first time they had ever witnessed Foundation Establishment battling Core Formation. Furthermore… while Meng Hao was clearly at a disadvantage, he had not suffered defeat. Even more astonishing, Meng Hao had experienced a Cultivation breakthrough in the midst of battle. That was something rarely seen. Something even more rarely seen, was how Meng Hao was currently clasping a Life Force Sword between his fingers!
“A Foundation Establishment Cultivator shouldn’t even be able to touch a sword like that…. Is he… is he really an alchemist?” This was the shocking question which floated in the minds of both of the azure-masked experts.
As the conversations buzzed out, the tens of thousands of Southern Domain Cultivators stared up at Meng Hao, their eyes filled with a variety of complicated expressions.
Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever. Despite being the focus of tens of thousands gazes, not an ounce of change touched his face.
He wasn’t sure how powerful his ten Dao Pillars were, but deep in his heart he knew that… before, despite his caution, he really was no match at all for even the early Core Formation stage. Now, however… things were different.
He now faced a Core Formation Cultivator whose longevity had been damaged and whose soul had been injured. He wasn’t completely sure he could come out victorious, but this Cultivator had sustained severe internal injuries… killing him shouldn’t be too difficult!
A cold glow filled his eyes. He pinched down on the sword which he held between his two fingers. Power rose up within him, and his ten Dao Pillars rotated. Unprecedented power flowed through his arms and into his fingers!
Popping sounds rang out from the sword, and suddenly, cracks covered its surface. Within the space of a few breaths, it completely collapsed into dust.
The soul within it emitted a blood-curdling shriek and then vanished.
As the soul vanished and the sword disintegrated, tears of blood ran down the face of the unmasked Cultivator. Blood also poured out of his nose and ears as he staggered backward, coughing up a mass of blood. He lifted his pale face, and it was filled with ferocity, appearing to the onlookers to be even demented with insanity.
He lifted his right hand to slap his bag of holding. A black statuette appeared; it appeared to be a dragon, and yet not a dragon, like a python and yet not a python. This was none other than a Flood Dragon!
It had a single horn jutting out of its head, and two clawed arms on its abdomen. Its body was bluish black. The instant it appeared, a fiendish aura filled the area, causing the previously sunny sky to fill with dark clouds.
A faint cry rose up that seemed to come from ancient times, echoing out to shake the minds of the tens of thousands of Cultivators.
As the cry echoed out, the ancient Flying Rain-Dragon Core within Meng Hao’s first Dao Pillar suddenly seemed to wake from slumber. It began to tremble.
A moment later, the air behind Meng Hao began to ripple, and an enormous, illusory ancient Flying Rain-Dragon appeared. It glared down at the statue of the Flood Dragon as if it were looking at… food!
In ancient times, Flood Dragons were nothing more than food for Flying Rain-Dragons!
The phantom image of the Flying Rain-Dragon was invisible to the onlookers. Suddenly, the roar of the Flood Dragon statue seemed to cease.
The unmasked Cultivator glared at Meng Hao. One word at a time, he said, “Transform Core Qi into a Flood Dragon Ancestor! Open a great Dao with Cultivation base blood. Feed this dragon spawn with the body. Use the soul to give birth to slaughter!” The man bit down on the tip of his tongue and spit out a glob of blood onto the statuette.
“I draw on my power to call upon the Flood Dragon Ancestor!” His body trembled as he raised his head to the sky and howled. In an instant, cracks covered the Flood Dragon statue. Popping sounds filled the air, and the surrounding tens of thousands of Cultivators watched as the statuette crumbled to pieces.
It disintegrated, and before the countless bluish black fragments could scatter, a wind sprang up, gathering them together, distorting them, transforming them into the image of a Flood Dragon.
The image was extremely lifelike, and when it appeared, a vast coldness sprang up and spread out. The unmasked Cultivator’s expression was vicious as he glared at Meng Hao.
“Flood Dragon Ancestor, I request that you slay this man!”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the phantom Flood Dragon turned. Two cold dots that resembled eyes appeared on its head. It stared at Meng Hao for a moment, seemingly itching to attack. Suddenly, it sprang into action, shooting directly toward Meng Hao.
As it approached, the coldness soared to the heavens; it seemed as if everything around it would be frozen in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, it was three hundred meters from Meng Hao!
Meng Hao’s eyes shone brightly. He didn’t retreat or evade; instead, he took a deep breath, lifted his hand and began to slice his fingers. Five fingers were soon covered with blood. He closed his eyes, bent down, and stretched his hand out.
“Blood Death World!” he cried, his voice filled with an aura of blood and gore. The instant the words rang out, his vision turned the color of blood.
At the same time, a bloody aura emanated from his right hand, enveloping the surroundings, causing everything within three thousand meters to turn the color of blood!
The Flood Dragon, too, was enveloped within this world of blood.
This unique world was… the third magical art from the Blood Immortal Legacy, the one he had previously been incapable of unleashing… the Blood Death World!
As soon as the Blood Death World appeared, five blood phantoms appeared around Meng Hao. These were none other than… his five indestructible Blood Clones!
A boom filled the air, filling the hearts of the tens of thousands of Cultivators with shock. The unmasked Cultivator’s face was pale white; it goes without saying that the appearance of the Blood Death World filled his heart with astonishment.
This was especially true because the Flood Dragon, which he previously thought to be incredibly astonishing, was now emitting a miserable shriek as it struggled within the Blood Death World. It seemed to be fighting against some invisible power that it just couldn’t shake off.
As its shrieks rang out, Meng Hao slowly straightened up. He began to clench the fist of his right hand.
As his fist slowly closed, the Blood Death World suddenly shrank, seemingly following the movement of his hand.
As its borders shrank, they slammed into the shrieking Flood Dragon, carrying it with them. In the blink of an eye, the Blood Death World had disappeared, completely shrinking into Meng Hao’s fist. A faint aura of blood seeped up from between his fingers.
Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever. He slowly loosened his fingers, and as he did, chunky bits of bluish-black dust floated off his palm to dissipate in the wind.
Gasps could be heard as people recognized the powder as… the remnants of the Flood Dragon statuette!
The unmasked Cultivator stared at Meng Hao, his eyes filled with fury. “Today’s battle will end only in your death. The Foundation Establishment stage… is simply incapable of challenging the Core Formation stage.” He lifted his left hand and used his fingernail to scratch three bloody streaks onto his face, forming a triangle.
Bone was visible beneath the cuts, which oozed blood. The sight was shocking, but the unmasked Cultivator showed no signs that it hurt even the slightest bit. He glared at Meng Hao with even more ferocity than before.
Hoarse-voiced conversations immediately sprang up among the Cultivators below.
“That’s….”
“That’s a forbidden technique of the Black Lands, the Yellow Springs Three Incarnations Seal!”
As the word spread among the Cultivators, the unmasked Cultivator’s sinister voice filled the air: “Three incarnations are carved out within the yellow springs, three incarnations that can destroy all incarnations! Yellow Springs… Three Incarnations Seal!” A bizarre aura filled the eyes of the unmasked Cultivator. This was his most powerful magical technique. Utilizing this technique would come at no small cost to him, but at the moment, he didn’t care. The three bloody lacerations on his face began to burn, branding deeply into his face. They began to turn into scar tissue, filling his eyes with even more demented ferocity.
As the words left his mouth, he raised his right hand toward Meng Hao, then chopped it down into the air. At first, it seemed as if nothing had happened. However, Meng Hao’s heart trembled.
Meng Hao’s gaze was like lightning as he gazed at the unmasked Cultivator. His brow was furrowed. He had been able to exterminate the Flood Dragon because of the might exerted upon it by the Flying Rain-Dragon within the Blood Death World. As such, it had been dispersed when the Blood Death World dissipated.
“Time to end things,” he said softly, his brow relaxing. He raised his right hand to smack his bag of holding. Instead of retrieving an object, however, he sent his Spiritual Sense into the blood-colored mask. It circled around the flag of three streamers, which he previously had never been able to use.
This was a precious treasure from the Blood Immortal Legacy.
As his Spiritual Sense hovered over the flag of three streamers, it began to sway, then suddenly unfurled. It entered his body, filling him with enlightenment. He raised his right hand and then waved it.
Behind him, surrounding him, in all directions…
Filling the sky, covering the land, appearing tattered and yet still emitting a power of Heavenly might… was one streamer from the flag of three streamers!!
It appeared dilapidated, and was gray, but stretched out seemingly without end.
As it stretched out… the yellow springs seemed to dry up, the three incarnations were exterminated, everything sank halfway to hell!!!