Chapter 1473: Because It’s Mine!

　　Meng Hao looked at his own mirror shard, his gaze somewhat tender as he recalled the copper mirror itself. He sent some divine will into the shard, and then, utilizing the same method he had used to control the copper mirror, caused a bright light to shine out of it that vastly exceeded the light from before.

　　It was like a tiny sun there in his hand, and it completely eclipsed the light from the mirror shard held by Immortal Bai Wuchen, becoming the most radiant thing in the entire world.

　　All other light became darkness in comparison, colorless and black. Everyone who could see the mirror shard was completely shocked by what was happening.

　　Bai Wuchen’s eyes widened. After working with her mirror shard for so many years, she had come to understand some of its properties, and was profoundly aware that the brighter it shone, the more power and pressure it would unleash.

　　Her heart began to pound, although on the outside, she attempted to maintain a calm front. However, before she could do so for very long, she saw that, unexpectedly, the mirror shard that Meng Hao held in his hand… was beginning to melt!

　　“What…?” Immortal Bai Wuchen’s mind began to spin. What was happening exceeded even her powers of imagination. She could never have guessed that the mirror shard would actually melt. She continued to watch in amazement as the melted mirror shard fused into Meng Hao’s right hand, spreading out to cover it, forming… a gauntlet!

　　It was pitch black, and appeared to part of a set of armor. There was something threatening about it, and it virtually burst with an aura of manic violence.

　　It was an aura that could shake Heaven and Earth, and at the same time, it seemed elated, as if it had been suppressed for countless years. Now that it could be out in the open, it was like a buried treasure which had finally been revealed to the light of day, to shine in all its glory.

　　Bai Wuchen stared in shock, as Meng Hao’s previous words continued to echo in her mind.

　　“Have I been using it wrong?” she thought, her mind reeling. There was no time for her to contemplate how to react. Even as she prepared to steel herself and take action, her own mirror shard suddenly began to tremble, almost as if it were about to slip out of her control.

　　“This… this is impossible….” she said, her face ashen. She had studied the mirror shard for countless years to figure out how to use it in the way she did, and had always assumed she was using it correctly. But now, after seeing Meng Hao turn his mirror shard into a gauntlet, her mind was in chaos. “How… how did you…?”

　　Before she could finish speaking, Meng Hao calmly waved his hand. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the mirror shard hovering around Immortal Bai Wuchen, the mirror shard which she had possessed for countless years, suddenly began to shake. Then, it transformed into a beam of light as it severed its own connection to her and shot over to Meng Hao’s side.

　　“NO!” she screamed. It was like an invisible fist slamming into her. Her face went pale white, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood. She simply couldn’t accept what was happening. This was her precious treasure, her chance to return home, the object of all her hopes, something she had studied for years and years. In fact, in the past she had even been able to use the mirror shard to detect the presence of other mirror shards that were close by. But now… she found that everything she had come to understand about the shard had been mistaken.

　　The feeling she was experiencing was like that of raising a child to adulthood, only to find out later that the child was not even related by blood. Then that child ran off with its true family….

　　Bai Wuchen had even been able to sense the joy within the mirror shard, as if it were reuniting with a relative after years of wandering alone.

　　“Why is this happening?!?!” Bai Wuchen asked, glaring at Meng Hao with bloodshot eyes. Her hair was disheveled and she seemed to be slipping into a state of madness. Then she could only watch as her own mirror shard melted, merged into Meng Hao’s arm, and became a vambrace that covered his entire arm!

　　It was pitch black and radiated mysterious light, along with a shocking aura. Upon seeing the armor for the first time, Bai Wuchen, along with everyone else, was completely shaken.

　　The vambrace was covered with complicated, abstruse designs and cloud-like patterns. Based on the shocking aura of the armor, it almost seemed as if Meng Hao’s arm had somehow become connected to the world in some mysterious way.

　　As all of this happened, the ghosts which had been immobilized began to awaken. As they lifted their heads and looked at Meng Hao, they saw the armor he was wearing, and began to drop to their knees to kowtow.

　　The world went silent. All eyes were fixed on Meng Hao, or more accurately, on the armor which covered his arm and hand.

　　The Sect Leader took in a deep breath as he sensed the danger they were now in. Sha Jiudong’s pupils constricted, and the madness in his eyes was fading into a bright glow.

　　Only Immortal Bai Wuchen seemed incapable of accepting the sudden turn of events. Moments ago, she had held the upper hand in the battle, and had her mirror shard to rely on. But then, everything changed.

　　It was at this point that Meng Hao answered Bai Wuchen’s question.

　　“Because it’s mine,” he murmured. He looked down at the armor, and his gaze softened. The flicker of reminiscence could be seen in his eyes. When his words echoed out, Bai Wuchen heard them, and a tremor ran through her.

　　“That’s impossible!!” she shrieked, breaking the calm silence that had filled the area. She couldn’t accept what was happening, and as such, she lurched into motion, unleashing her cultivation base. The power of nine Essences exploded out, creating a mist that spread out to cover the entire world, then rumbled down toward Meng Hao.

　　She refused to yield, not even at this point, not even when her mirror shard had been taken by Meng Hao. She would still risk everything!

　　“Sect Leader. Fellow Daoist Sha. Please help me one last time!” Her tone was shrill, even pleading. The Sect Leader sighed, then stepped forward, transforming into a beam of light that shot through the Essence mist created by Bai Wuchen.

　　Then there was Sha Jiudong. He gritted his teeth, then began to spin in place, becoming a tempest that also merged into the mist. The shocking combination of all three of these powerful experts became a destructive attack that bore down on Meng Hao, causing everything in the area to quake violently.

　　Meng Hao looked up, eyes flickering. His desire to fight suddenly skyrocketed, and he blurred into motion, appearing directly in front of the group of three.

　　Then, he clenched his hand into a fist, whereupon cloud-like ripples began to spread out. The fist seemed slow, but apparently, Bai Wuchen and the others simply couldn’t dodge it. It was as if… the instant he punched out, the blow had already landed onto the Essence mist!

　　The mist rumbled as though a stormwind had blasted through it. It began to seethe, and booms could be heard. The mist was swept away, evaporated, revealing Bai Wuchen, who coughed up a mouthful of blood. At the same time, Meng Hao took another step forward, unleashing another fist strike at the Sect Leader.

　　He didn’t actually strike the Sect Leader himself, but unleashed the power of the fist right in front of him. A boom could be heard, and a massive blast of wind surged out, causing the Sect Leader’s face to flicker. At first he thought he might be able to use some divine abilities to fight back, but then he simply sighed with the realization that there was little to be done now. Instead, he took advantage of the force of the blow to fly backward, leaving the way open for Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao strode forward again, turning to look at Sha Jiudong in the sandstorm. Sha Jiudong chose to do the same as the Sect Leader, and quietly backed up, sighing with the realization that he simply couldn’t fight back.

　　After the Sect Leader and Sha Jiudong retreated, Meng Hao appeared in front of Immortal Bai Wuchen herself, and once again threw out a punch.

　　Massive rumbling filled the air as the blow slammed into her torso. Cloud-like fluctuations emanated off of the armor, and Bai Wuchen coughed up a mouthful of blood, then tumbled backward like a kite with its string cut, cracking sounds filling the air the entire time. She was unable to stop at first, and coughed up more blood as she continued to fall back. Then, she finally came to a stop 3,000 meters away, where she looked up, face pale. Finally, she coughed up a third mouthful of blood.

　　Her aura was in chaos, as though something inside of her was reversing her flow of qi and blood. She held nothing back in an attempt to control the force, but that only resulted in more blood oozing out of the corners of her mouth.

　　The Sect Leader’s eyes went wide, but he said nothing. Sha Jiudong subconsciously edged backward a bit, his eyes filled with shock.

　　As for Jin Yunshan, he sucked in a deep breath, and couldn’t help but think to himself that he really had made the right decision earlier.

　　“Like I said earlier, this farce is over,” Meng Hao said coolly. He waved his sleeve, and the howling ghosts in the area began to swirl around him. They transformed into an invisible vortex which spread out in all directions. 50 kilometers. 500 kilometers. 5,000 kilometers. 50,000 kilometers. 500,000 kilometers…. It eventually stretched out so far in every direction that it seemed endless.

　　Meng Hao was in the very center, like a divine being within the world.

　　The pressure radiating off of him exploded out, supplanting the pressure of Heaven, covering the entire world. The sea of ghosts also emitted pressure, which combined with Meng Hao’s, causing the ground to quake, as though the entire world, as if all Heaven and Earth, were prostrating in worship to Meng Hao.

　　Jin Yunshan’s face fell, and he backed up, rotating his cultivation base. The Sect Leader sighed, clasped hands, and bowed to Meng Hao. Then he made a grasping motion, causing a bag of holding to appear, which he placed down onto the ground and then backed up. After retreating a certain distance, he rotated his cultivation base to protect himself from the intense pressure.

　　Sha Jiudong also sighed, then produced a bag of holding, placed it onto the ground, and backed up.

　　Their stance in the matter was clear. Not only had they held back earlier during the fight, they now also offered compensation. In their estimation, Meng Hao would not push the matter to the bitter end.