Chapter 1372: Mythdragon Perishes!

　　Mythdragon was a mass of blood and gore. He had just managed to avoid being killed by the fourth arrow, but the sense of power and majesty he felt from that arrow was as immense as ever. If he were at the peak level of his power, then he would have been able to significantly minimize the damage. But now… he could do no such thing.

　　Miserable, bitter laughter rang out from Mythdragon as he fled at top speed. The sensation of deadly crisis in his heart hand not lessened, and in fact, he had the feeling that he might not be able to make it out of this situation alive. However, even as bitterness and anguish rose up in his heart, he saw Meng Hao suddenly lower his bow.

　　But then, Meng Hao began to glow with a blood-colored light, and emanate a sensation of madness, even a thirst for blood.

　　The sight caused Mythdragon’s heart to tremble. Meng Hao closed in, and the ocean of magic followed close behind, but was incapable of catching up to him.

　　Meng Hao was surrounded by a massive glow of blood. Having fused with the Blood Demon, and unleashing the Blood Demon Grand Magic in this way, he now didn’t look like an Immortal Divinity, he looked like a Demon Immortal!

　　All of this takes quite some time to describe, but actually happened in the briefest of moments. Meng Hao was now bearing down on Mythdragon, who clenched his teeth viciously. He knew that he could not escape what was about to happen, and quickly turned to face Meng Hao’s charge.

　　The two slammed into each other, and the sea of blood that was Meng Hao swept over Paragon Mythdragon as the Blood Demon Grand Magic was fully unleashed.

　　Rumbling sounds echoed out as the ocean of magic closed in. Mythdragon screamed, breaking free from the ocean of magic, which then transformed into a blood-colored roc. With a piercing cry, the roc began to chase Mythdragon.

　　Numerous blood-colored mountains appeared, as well as the Paragon Bridge, which also emitted a blood-colored glow. Blood sprayed out of Mythdragon’s mouth, and finally, his cultivation base power dropped from the level of a Paragon to that of an Imperial Lord.

　　At this point, there was little he could do to fight back against Meng Hao. He could only laugh bitterly as Meng Hao in roc form grabbed onto him and unleashed the Blood Demon Grand Magic again.

　　In the blink of an eye, boundless qi and blood power was sucked out of Mythdragon’s body, to be madly absorbed by Meng Hao. Mythdragon struggled, but there was no stopping what was happening. Beneath their feet, the 16th Heaven was collapsing rapidly, and at the same time, the ocean of magic was barreling toward them.

　　Off in the distance, Xuan Fang watched silently, sadness flickering in his eyes. He knew that Mythdragon… would not be able to escape. Although Xuan Fang was adept at strategy and warfare, there was nothing he could do to help Mythdragon in this situation.

　　Even Xuan Fang himself felt a sensation of deadly crisis. He was having a difficult time dealing with the attacks of the Paragon puppet, and was in full retreat, coughing up blood the entire time.

　　At the same time, the seal over the Mountain and Sea Realm was beginning to show signs of crumbling beneath the combined bombardment of the Three Great Daoist Societies, the three young men who wielded the Doyen treasures, the ordinary Mountain and Sea cultivators, Paragon Sea Dream, and Patriarch Reliance.

　　Once that seal was broken, the Mountain and Sea cultivators would burst out upon an Outsider army which now lacked Paragons. Losing Paragons meant certain defeat!

　　The greatest danger was now to the moon. It was surrounded by Outsiders, none of whom were backing down in the slightest. There were also Imperial Lords there who were dead set on destroying it. It didn’t matter if their Paragon was dead, or even the rest of the army, they would accomplish their mission.

　　They would ensure that the moon… ceased to exist.

　　All aspects of the war seemed to have reached a vital linchpin moment!

　　The first to fall was not Meng Hao or the Paragon puppet. Despite the fact that Ksitigarbha was fighting it out to the bitter end, the moon couldn’t evade or dodge, and was surrounded by Outsider cultivators. Their combined attacks finally caused the moon to collapse, sending countless fragments and rubble out in all directions.

　　BOOM!!

　　The moon… was no more….

　　As it collapsed, Ksitigarbha coughed up a mouthful of blood. Even as his bitter laughter rang out… a second boom rang out.

　　It was the second explosion to ring out in this critical moment. This time, though, the sound emanated from the seal over the Mountain and Sea Realm. The beams of light which had descended from the 17th Heavens and above, were collapsing due to the combined power of all the Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators!

　　Cracks spread out in all directions, eventually joining together until the seal looked like a giant, shattered mirror. Heaven and Earth went dark, and the starry sky shook, as countless Mountain and Sea cultivators burst out, brimming with madness and killing intent.

　　The Three Great Daoist Societies, Paragon Sea Dream, numerous Dao Realm experts, the three young men wielding the Doyen treasures, all burst out from within the Mountain and Sea Realm.

　　However, it was in that moment that a third explosion rang out, from the location where Meng Hao and Mythdragon had been fighting. Mixed within the booming explosion was an unyielding roar.

　　That roar came out of the mouth of Mythdragon, who was completely enveloped by the sea of blood. His fleshly body was withering rapidly as his qi and blood, cultivation base, and soul were all being rapidly absorbed!

　　It wasn’t that he hadn’t attempted to self-detonate. Meng Hao’s time-walking technique, coupled with the serious injuries that had been inflicted, dropped Mythdragon’s power below that of a Paragon, and he simply couldn’t!

　　He could only watch, wide-eyed, as Meng Hao’s Blood Demon Grand Magic sucked away his qi and blood, his cultivation base, and his soul!

　　“I won’t… give in!!” Mythdragon’s woeful laughter echoed out until it ended with a muffled grunt. The enormous black dragon closed its eyes as it sank down forever into the sea of blood.

　　As of this moment, a Paragon had perished!!

　　More accurately speaking, this was the second Paragon to die in the war between the Mountain and Sea Realm and the 33 Heavens. The first could be considered to be Eegoo, who had been transformed into a puppet.

　　The surrounding Outsiders were in shock as they watched Mythdragon die. Then, terror began to rise up within their hearts and minds.

　　“Paragon…. Our Paragon… perished?”

　　“Th-this… is impossible….” The Outsiders were completely flabbergasted. The forces who were in the 17th through 33rd Heavens were dumbstruck, and even the powerful experts.

　　The sea of blood seethed as Mythdragon vanished, after which the blood began to congeal, growing smaller and smaller until it was the shape of a person with Meng Hao’s face.

　　His face was pale, he was emaciated, and he bubbled with swirling curse power. However, he completely ignored that as he looked up at the seal that had constrained the Mountain and Sea Realm, which was now crumbling, and the massive swarms of cultivators charging out into battle. Then he looked over and saw the moon collapsing.

　　Finally, he turned to look at Xuan Fang, who was bearing the brunt of a fist strike from the Paragon puppet. Blood sprayed out of Xuan Fang’s mouth, and bitter laughter rang out. Suddenly, even as the Paragon puppet closed in on him, Xuan Fang suddenly… began to initiate self-detonation!

　　Xuan Fang was choosing to blow himself up!

　　He was well aware that, just like Mythdragon, he was destined to perish. He also knew that if he died fighting, he might be able to kill some enemies in the process. But that wasn’t how he wanted to end things.

　　Taking a few enemies out wasn’t satisfactory to him; he wanted his death to bury the whole Mountain and Sea Realm!

　　Madness gleamed in his eyes. Because of his mastery of the Essence of Time, it was essentially impossible for anyone to prevent him from self-detonating. The Paragon puppet’s eyes flickered, and it suddenly backed up. The soul light that originated with Choumen Tai vanished, and the puppet was once again completely connected to Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao looked on with a grim expression on his face.

　　Xuan Fang’s mad laughter filled the starry sky, echoing out in all directions.

　　He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew that he had been defeated. Completely and utterly defeated. In fact, his defeat could not be any more thorough. The nail in the coffin was that Meng Hao was now reconnected to the Paragon puppet!

　　The discarnate soul which had appeared had locked Xuan Fang down, and he had finally come to understand how brutally decisive Meng Hao was. He could only laugh bitterly. Before the battle had begun, neither he nor any of the other Outsiders in the 33 Heavens could possibly have imagined… that the war would be this difficult.

　　In their minds, this war would be one in which the 33 Heavens exterminated the Mountain and Sea Realm. They wouldn’t even need the help of those two other powerful forces. They could do it all by themselves.

　　But now… the fighting had reached the point that Xuan Fang was struck with a sudden feeling….

　　“Is it possible that the 33 Heavens… will actually completely lose?” Xuan Fang could sense that Mythdragon’s spiritual soul and physical soul had both dispersed. Looking over at Meng Hao congealing out of the sea of blood, he said, “Meng Hao… you’ve beaten me in this battle!

　　“I made two mistakes. The first is that I should have risked everything to strike you down that first time. I should have struck hard and ensured that you were completely and utterly dead! I knew that you were important, but I mistakenly took you too lightly….

　　“My second mistake was underestimating the Mountain and Sea Realm. We should not have split up our forces….

　　“Hear me, my brothers in the 17th through 33rd Heavens. You must remember everything that you have seen happen here. When you descend, do not split up your forces. Attack in unison. Go all out to destroy the Mountain and Sea Realm!!

　　“Spare nothing. Do not vacillate because of thoughts of living or dying. If you do… victory cannot be certain. As for the two 8-Essences Paragons, I hope that my death in this battle… will be avenged by the two of you. Take Meng Hao’s head and place it as a trophy upon my grave!

　　“To all of my people who are here fighting the Mountain and Sea Realm right now, there is no retreat in this battle. If you retreat… you will die. There is no home to return to. Your homes… have all been destroyed!

　　“If you want a chance to live, then you must fight to the bitter end! In that case, even if you die, it won’t be long before the rest of our people come to avenge us!

　　“In war, there is no right or wrong. There is only victory and defeat!!

　　“I am Paragon Xuan Fang, and I hereby sacrifice myself to help the 33 Heavens destroy the Mountain and Sea Realm!!” Xuan Fang threw his head back and laughed, then swished his sleeve. Blinding light began to radiate off of him, as well as powerful ripples. Then, the explosive beginning of the self-detonation began to erupt.

　　At the same time, the other Heavens which were under his control began to move, transforming into what looked like sharp blades that… began to stab down toward the Mountain and Sea Realm.

　　Vicious, suicidal grimaces of madness appeared on the faces of the millions of remaining Outsiders. As the land masses descended from above, they charged murderously toward the Mountain and Sea Realm.

　　“Use these land masses to crush the Mountain and Sea Realm. That was my plan all along, and will make my name infamous for all eternity. Therefore… I shall build that infamy to an even higher level right now!” Xuan Fang threw his head back and laughed with deranged madness.