Chapter 1397: I Shall Bestow You With Ultimate Good Fortune!

　　The Grand Aegis was so incredible that not even an 8-Essences Paragon would be able to break through it in a short period of time. Not the 8-Essences Paragon from the 33 Heavens, nor the other five 8-Essences Outsider Paragons, could do anything except be blocked outside.

　　As the battle commenced, a cold snort suddenly echoed out from the Immortal God Continent as a beautiful woman appeared. She seemed cold and detached, and wore a long violet robe. As she strode out, a young man could be seen following along beside her. Mixed emotions could be seen on his face as he looked silently at the Mountain and Sea Realm.

　　The woman immediately extended her right hand and shoved her palm out toward the Mountain and Sea Grand Aegis.

　　That gesture caused her face to redden slightly, but the massive force that erupted out shook the starry sky, and sent the minds of all cultivators eeling. Even the 8-Essences paragons were in awe of her aura.

　　Hers was the aura of… 9-Essences!!

　　9-Essences Paragon!!

　　A huge boom rang out as her attack slammed into the Grand Aegis, which instantly began to crumble. Normally speaking, the spell formation should not have been damaged so easily, but unfortunately… it was missing the power of one Sea.

　　That was something that Shui Dongliu hadn’t figured into his plans, and never had the time to compensate for. His original plan had called for the Grand Aegis to hold out until they reached the tunnel, or at least… until they got closer than they were now.

　　The most he could do now was make them pay a heavy price to break through the spell formation!

　　Even in the moment that it crumbled apart, a backlash force erupted out from it.

　　Shui Dongliu threw his head back and howled, “Mountain and Sea Seal!”

　　Instantly, the shattered remnants of the spell formation shot toward the female Paragon and began to form a seal around her.

　　Even as she frowned in response, another cold snort rang out that seemed filled with complete ancientness. Accompanying it was an ancient figure who emerged from within the Immortal God Continent.

　　It was an old man, wearing a white robe, with long white hair and eyebrows that made him seem extremely dignified. He held a string of prayer beads in his right hand, and as he strode out, his eyes shone like the Heavens.

　　Simultaneously, as the Mountain and Sea Grand Aegis shattered, the five 8-Essences Paragons instantly burst in, followed by countless other powerful experts.

　　“You people aren’t going anywhere!”

　　Even as the hosts charged in to attack, the old man known as Daoist Immortal Ancient opened his eyes. His body seemed devoid of life force, and rife with an aura of death. However, his cloudy eyes suddenly began to glow brightly, and he took a step forward, completely ignoring the other 8-Essences Paragons to head directly toward the old man in the white robe and white eyebrows.

　　The two of them immediately began to exchange blows that rocked Heaven and Earth.

　　At the same time, the Three-eyed God roared and charged forth to block the path of an 8-Essences Paragon, standing firm to prevent him from even getting close to the butterfly!

　　A bizarrely Demonic glint appeared in Meng Hao’s eyes as he took a step forward. No laughter or crying could be heard, but his eyes burned with crimson light, and he erupted with a shocking aura as he began to fight ruthlessly. Massive rumbling sounds echoed out as he licked his lips, the desire to consume the enemy growing stronger within him.

　　As of this moment, the Mountain and Sea Realm truly had reached the most critical of junctures!

　　Booms rang out across the battlefield. One billion flying swords turned into a rain of destruction. Tens of thousands of former Imperial Lords, the river of reincarnation, and 100,000 Devils fought like mad to defend the butterfly from the Immortal God Continent.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes flashed with crimson light as he fought his way toward the nearest 8-Essences Paragon. As he closed in, his aura transformed until he was like a wild beast, oblivious to matters of life and death. That 8-Essences paragon was one of the suns of the Immortal God Continent, with an incredibly high position. However, he had never encountered a cultivator like Meng Hao before, and within a split second, Meng Hao had torn a huge chunk of flesh off of him. His rage erupted, and just when he was about to strike back, he found himself facing a shocking God-Slaying Fist!

　　Paragon Sea Dream started laughing, and a cold gleam appeared in her eyes. Without any hesitation, she began to burn what remained of her dwindling longevity in exchange for more cultivation base power, which she immediately unleashed in combat.

　　Fighting broke out everywhere, and off in the distance, even more cultivators were approaching from the direction of the Immortal God Continent.

　　Shui Dongliu roared, and his sleeves whipped about as he went up against the other 8-Essences Paragons. Protecting the butterfly as it continued to speed toward the tunnel was the most important thing.

　　Even as the butterfly’s head began to enter the tunnel, the sealed female Paragon began to break free. Her bonds crumbled, and she took a step forward, entering the Mountain and Sea Realm and reaching out with her right hand to grab the butterfly.

　　“Get back here!”

　　Rumbling echoed out as a massive force surged toward the butterfly, which began to tremble. At the same time, the corpse of Daoist Immortal Ancient, who was fighting the white-robed old man, looked back at the butterfly, then unhesitatingly closed his eyes and self-detonated.

　　He moved with such decisiveness that the white-robed old man’s eyes widened in shock. He tried to back up, but the power of the self-detonation swept over him like floodwaters, and began to spread out through the entire starry sky.

　　Wherever it passed, Outsiders and cultivators from the Immortal God Continent let out bloodcurdling screams as they were wiped out of existence. Then, the power began to wash over the Mountain and Sea Realm, although it did not harm any of the forces of the Mountains and Seas. Instead, it was targeted directly at the 9-Essences female Paragon!

　　Her face fell; even someone as powerful as herself had no choice but to evade. She immediately loosened her grip on the butterfly and fell back.

　　In that same instant, the power of self-detonation transformed into a propelling force which then shoved the butterfly toward the tunnel.

　　“Immortal Ancient!!” cried Shui Dongliu, grief filling his eyes. He knew that the Immortal Ancient which had appeared was already dead, and couldn’t last in the fight for very long. The fact that he might choose to self-detonate at a critical juncture was something that Shui Dongliu had long since taken into consideration. In fact, he himself might do just that; in all the plans he made, the only true mistake came… from not predicting that the Ninth Sea would turn traitor.

　　In the past, he had taken into consideration the potential betrayal of cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm. However, he never thought that the Ninth Sea would actually make such a decision. It wasn’t that he didn’t know about the friction between Meng Hao and the Ninth Sea; he had taken that to be a small matter. Actually, from an objective standpoint, it seemed obvious that there was a more important reason for the Ninth Sea’s betrayal.

　　“It wants to become an independent will….” Shui Dongliu thought bitterly. The Ninth Sea’s betrayal became the flaw in the Mountain and Sea Grand Aegis, ensuring that it could only last for a short time before being destroyed.

　　The price to be paid to make up for that weakness, was a life. And unfortunately, the life of Daoist Immortal Ancient was not enough….

　　It was in this critical moment that beams of light filled the starry sky as the 8-Essences Paragons once again closed in. In addition, there were two 9-Essences Paragons from from the Immortal God Continent.

　　But the Three-eyed God threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Eyes gleaming with determination, he leaped forward unhesitatingly and chose to self-detonate. The blast surged out, propelling the butterfly further into the tunnel, until it was halfway inside.

　　Next, the war chariot exploded, then the ancient Imperial Lords. As of this moment, they all chose to self-detonate. The one billion flying swords, and the other forces which made up the backup reserves of the Mountains and Seas, all did the same thing.

　　BOOOOMMMMMM!

　　The resulting explosion caused blinding light to spread out over the battlefield. At the same time, the nine Xuanwu turtles, as well as the Eight Seas, all added power to the butterfly’s movement.

　　The incoming Paragons were swept over by the force of the self-detonation blasts, and at the same time, the butterfly was pushed all the way into the tunnel.

　　It seemed as if they were on the verge of escaping, as if within the space of a few breaths of time the Mountain and Sea Realm would be gone, as if the Immortal God Continent had absolutely no time with which to react.

　　However… it was within those few breaths of time that everything would be decided!

　　Hordes of cultivators charged forth from the Immortal God Continent. The tunnel was vibrating, as though the butterfly’s escape was impossible to prevent.

　　In Shui Dongliu’s plan, the next few breaths of time were supposed to be covered by the protection of the Grand Aegis. However, the betrayal of the Ninth Sea turned that plan into nothing more than a dream.

　　“Even the slightest mistake must be compensated with a massive price,” Shui Dongliu said softly. “So many lives have already been sacrificed. Now, it’s my turn.” With that, he took a step forward, and suddenly, he seemed completely different than before.

　　In a mere instant, he was no longer an old man, but instead, young and strapping. He took a deep breath, then extended his hand toward the Mountain and Sea Realm.

　　“Shrink!” he said. That single word caused the entire Mountain and Sea Realm, all of the Nine Mountains and the Eight Seas, to shrink down into the form of a magical item which came to rest on Shui Dongliu’s palm. Then, he tossed it away behind him, whereupon all the surrounding cultivators, including Meng Hao, Ksitigarbha, Paragon Sea Dream, and others, were all shoved toward the tunnel, along with the shrunken Mountains and Seas.

　　Struggling wasn’t even an option. Meng Hao and the others were flung toward the tunnel. As for the shrunken Mountain and Sea Realm, it headed toward Meng Hao, transforming into a shining seed which merged into his forehead.

　　Meng Hao’s mind began to rumble as he looked out at Shui Dongliu, who hovered there in the starry sky, just outside the tunnel. Shui Dongliu was alone, preparing to block all oncomers, to buy the time for the butterfly which had been lost by the Ninth Sea!

　　Shui Dongliu’s voice echoed with seemingly infinite power as he said, “Meng Hao, I owe the bloodline of the Fang Clan. Today, I will repay what I owe you!

　　“I’m giving you the Mountain and Sea Realm!

　　“Take it, and also take… my Beginning-Ending Hexing magic. This is… the League of Demon Sealers’ First Generation Hex. Take my cultivation base, and take my Dao!

　　“This is the final phase of my plan. Use my cultivation base and my Dao for the sake of the Paragon Immortal Realm, to become… something that surpasses Nine Seals… surpasses Paragons… surpasses Immortals and Devils, and is above all else… the ultimate powerful expert!”