Chapter 630: 10th Patriarch of the Wang Clan 1
As soon as the voice rang out, the winds and clouds ceased moving. Not another sound could be heard!
The river of stars continued to rumble through the air, taking Zhao Youlan with it as it headed toward the land. Her eyes were wide open now, and just barely, she could make out the image of an old man wearing a long, white robe. He hovered in mid-air, his hair floating around him, his face ancient and filled with wrinkles. It was impossible to tell how old he was, but he looked as if he had just climbed out of a tomb.
A sense of putrefaction surrounded him, like the air that surrounded a person who had reached their end days but wasn’t willing to take the final steps to the end. Instead, he would do something completely shocking.
However, he did not seem to be possessed of a flesh and blood body, but rather, was semi-transparent.
Even as Zhao Youlan noticed these things, she lost consciousness again, then disappeared along with the river of stars.
Meng Hao was currently speeding along, when suddenly his body began to shake. The air around him seemed to solidify, as if all of Heaven and Earth, the whole world, had transformed into a cage. He was like a cornered beast within that cage, struggling, but unable to extricate himself.
It was at this time that the cold voice rang out in his ears, filled with a sense of rot and decay. His face fell as a sense of grave crisis exploded out in him unlike anything he had experienced from the day he was born until now.
“This isn’t Spirit Severing!!” Rumbling filled his mind, and then spread out to the rest of his body. Cold sweat began to pour down him. Without hesitation, he directly entered the Ninth Anima!
Boom!
His Cultivation base exploded up. Although it only had eight portions of Cultivation base, each one of those portions had been compressed and refined to the pinnacle, which created a frightening aura.
Boom!
His hair floated up around him as his Cultivation base radiated out. His energy shot up to the sky, and the intense power of his fleshly body was unleashed to its very pinnacle.
Things weren’t over!
He performed an incantation gesture, causing the Mountain Consuming Incantation to appear. An enormous rumbling could be heard around him as the illusory image of an enormous mountain appeared. The illusion twisted and distorted as it suddenly expanded outward.
Next, he slapped his bag of holding, causing around ten magical items to appear. Each one of these items were incredible treasures that he had acquired in the Demon Immortal Sect. He valued them greatly, but in this moment of deadly crisis, he had no time to think about the pain of losing them. He produced them without hesitation and then roared.
“Detonate!!” It caused Meng Hao’s heart to bleed to say such a word, but he had no other choice.
All of this takes some time to describe, but actually happened in a very short moment.
An illusory hand appeared out of nowhere off in the distance. It was semi-transparent, and was filled with glowing lights. It seemed to contain a great Dao of Heaven and Earth that was in accord with natural law. As soon as the hand appeared, everything grew dark, making the hand the only focus of attention.
The hand neared, gently slapping toward Meng Hao!
As it got close, Meng Hao detonated the ten Demon Immortal Sect treasures. A boom rattled out that seemed capable of splitting Heaven and Earth. Everything shook, and distorted ripples appeared in all directions. It seemed almost as if the world couldn’t handle the destructive force unleashed by the explosion.
Boom!
The cage around Meng Hao was now riddled with cracks. The explosion of the ten magical items also caused the incoming hand to pause slightly.
A cold “eee!” could be heard, and the hand passed by in a flash. The destructive force of the explosion dissipated, and it was in that brief moment that Meng Hao, stuck in this seemingly hopeless situation, grabbed at a chance for life.
“Dao Seeking! This is a Dao Seeking Cultivator!” Meng Hao’s heart began to pound and fill with bitterness. A Dao Seeking expert was something higher than him by more than an entire stage. Dao Seeking experts were rare, almighty figures in the lands of South Heaven!
As far as Meng Hao could remember, he had never provoked anyone like that before. From what the voice had just said now, this person was clearly not a member of the Ji Clan!
“Who is he?!” Meng Hao knew that the greater the danger he was in, the more he needed to remain calm. Eyes glittering, he took advantage of the cracks appearing in the cage to employ the greatest speed he could muster. He instantly transformed into the wind of the roc, along with a green smoke that contained a black moon. In the blink of an eye, he bored out through one of the cracks and shot off into the distance. He moved so quickly that he didn’t even have time to look back.
Even as he broke out from the cage, the giant hand shot in pursuit. It destroyed the cage, as well as the destructive powers of the ten valuable treasures he had detonated. Then it slammed into the illusory mountain.
BANG!!
The illusory mountain collapsed into pieces, which showered out in all directions. Blood sprayed from Meng Hao’s mouth, and cracking sounds could be heard. It seemed as if his body was on the verge of being destroyed.
The hand seemed almost leisurely in its strike. It smashed through the illusory mountain, and then casually headed toward Meng Hao’s back.
Even as the hand neared, Meng Hao lifted his head up and cried, “Agarwood!!”
Booming could be heard as an otherworldly power approached. However, for some reason, when it was about halfway, it seemed to hesitate. During that moment, the huge hand closed in.
Meng Hao did nothing to try to control the Agarwood. The blood-colored mask flew out of his bag of holding, rapidly growing larger until it covered his whole body, helping to block against the giant hand.
A howl could be heard from within the blood-colored mask, and a bloody glow rose up. The mastiff flew out, and as the hand neared, it, together with the mask, protected Meng Hao’s back. The mastiff didn’t even have time to turn around to look at its Master’s back.
Boom!
The instant the hand slammed into the mastiff, it exploded, transforming into countless red strands that shot back into the blood-colored mask.
A massive rumbling could be heard as the Blood Immortal mask was sent spinning backward. It merged into Meng Hao’s body, which trembled severely.
“Blood Mastiff!!” roared Meng Hao, his eyes bloodshot. In that instant, he could sense that the mastiff’s blood had formed back together inside the mask, turning into a much smaller Blood Mastiff.
The double protection temporarily resolved his crisis. However, blood still sprayed from his mouth, and his internal organs were shattered into pieces. His life aura was diminishing, and he tumbled off into the distance like a kite with its string cut.
His eyes were filled with dense veins of blood, and an unprecedented level of hatred suddenly rose up within him.
Severe pain coursed through him, and he had the intense sensation that he was being ripped into shreds. His skin was lacerated and torn in multiple locations; it made it seem as if in the following breath, his entire person would fall apart!
A second “eee?” sound could be heard, echoing out in Heaven and Earth. Suddenly, the parrot and the meat jelly flew out from inside Meng Hao’s bag of holding.
The parrot clutched onto Meng Hao’s shoulder, a look of unprecedented anxiety on its face. “Dammit, bitch! Dammit! This guy’s a step away from being a false Immortal! Even if he’s just a clone, he’s still at Dao Seeking. Meat jelly, you slut, why haven’t you saved Meng Hao yet!?!?” The meat jelly was trembling all over. However, it quickly spread out to cover Meng Hao, causing his collapsing flesh to solidify.
An ancient, hoarse voice could suddenly be heard coming from the void. “I am the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch. Back when you were in Foundation Establishment, I decided to make you my Dao seed, to accomplish my Dao, to allow me experience what it was like for the great ancestor to steal a foundation.
“Do you… really think you can escape?” There was something else in the voice; it contained bizarre fluctuations that seemed to conform to the natural laws of Heaven and Earth.
As the voice spoke, the hand faded away. However, it became clear again only a breath later, and when it did, it was behind Meng Hao. The hand formed into a claw that swiped at Meng Hao from the back.
“I saved you out outside of the Rebirth Cave,” the voice said, speaking neither quickly nor slowly. “When the Ji Clan was after you, I helped. And then there was all the commotion you caused in the Demon Immortal Sect. After you returned, I took the liberty of wiping out traces of your aura so that no one would know that you have returned.
“All of that was because… a time would come for you to pay me back. And that time… is now.” As the voice continued to speak, the sense of putrefaction continued to grow clearer.
“Four Perfect stages. The Perfect Foundation… is the basis for Immortal Ascension. It would be a waste on you, so… it belongs to me.”
The hand continued to grab toward Meng Hao. No matter how the parrot and Meng Hao sped away, it was impossible to escape the gravitational force that they felt wrapping around them. Meng Hao’s body trembled, and then he clearly senses something on himself that caused the gravitational force to loosen. It almost seemed as if the force would leave him automatically!
In this critical moment, the parrot and meat jelly were going crazy. Meng Hao once again urgently said, “Agarwood! What about your promise to me!?”
As the words echoed out, everything grew quiet. Suddenly, a rumbling spread out as an otherworldly power neared.
Boom!
The power slammed into the hand that was grasping toward Meng Hao. The hand instantly shook, and any connection it had to Meng Hao was severed. Meng Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood, and yet instead of fleeing, he turned around, his eyes bright red.
Fleeing like that wasn’t something he was willing to do!
This was his first time to turn around during the entire encounter. He saw the hand that had been attacked by the power of the Agarwood. Rays of light circulated around, forming into the figure of a man who seemed to be stepping out of nothing. He wore a long white robe, and was very old.
Meng Hao had no recollection of ever seeing this man before, and was quite certain that they had never met.
The 10th Wang Clan Patriarch had been enveloped by the mysterious power of the Agarwood. It was as if he had been imprisoned. His body floated there in mid air, alternating between blurry and semi-transparent. It was a very strange sight.
“Why do you have to resist?” he said hoarsely, looking at Meng Hao. He seemed as if he didn’t even notice the power of the Agarwood.
Meng Hao didn’t reply, but his right hand slapped his bag of holding to produce a bronze alcohol flagon. He raised his head up to take a large mouthful, then spit it out. Alcohol Qi spread out, and suddenly, an azure bronze Immortal’s sword appeared in his hand.
This sword was from Han Shan, and contained Sword Qi that was like a song!
Killing intent raged in Meng Hao’s eyes. He raised his right hand and, without hesitation, struck out with the sword.
The Sword Qi appeared, shaking Heaven and Earth, causing everything to shake. The sky dimmed as uncountable amounts of Sword Qi poured out of the azure bronze sword. As the sword descended, the Sword Qi rumbled, transforming into a three thousand meter waterfall which shot from up above down toward the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch.
The 10th Wang Clan Patriarch’s pupils constricted, the first change in his facial expression!
Even the Agarwood hadn’t moved him. His eyes flickered, and as the Sword Qi neared, he suddenly spoke.
“The great ancestor once said that rain… is born in the Heavens and dies in the Earth. The passage between those two places is its entire life….” As the voice rang out, the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch waved his right hand softly out in front of him, as if he was sweeping away some rain.
“Call the wind, summon the rains….”
1. The 10th Patriarch of the Wang Clan was introduced in chapter 137. He was described as being at the peak of the Dao Seeking stage, and wanting to steal Meng Hao’s Perfection. He reappeared in chapter 305 and subsequent chapters that took place near the Rebirth Cave, where he manipulated events to help Meng Hao. He even came to look for Meng Hao in chapter 521