Chapter 1346: Essence of space!

　　Meng Hao saw countless dimensions of space, all of them different sizes. Some were blurry, others were clear. They transformed into countless threads, threads that Meng Hao was very familiar with; every time he unleashed the Eighth Hex, these threads would appear, bind whoever was the target of the magic, and seal their cultivation base as well as their Nascent Divinity.

　　Originally, Meng Hao had assumed that the threads were natural laws of Heaven and Earth. But now that he could see them clearly, he understood that they… were definitely not natural or magical laws!

　　They were dimensional spaces!

　　Numerous dimensional spaces superimposed over each other and then exerted pressure onto a cultivator to seal their cultivation base and Nascent Divinity!

　　“Yes! This is how to truly lock someone down! Shackle the cultivation base with numerous dimensional spaces! In fact, it might be less appropriate to call it locking them down, and more appropriate to call it… a sealing!” Meng Hao’s mind was reeling, and his eyes shone with a strange light as the surrounding World Essence continued to pour into him.

　　The entire starry sky shook, and the Outsider who had transformed into a sea of flames seethed as he once again bore down on Meng Hao. However, instead of slamming into Meng Hao, he passed right through him.

　　It was as if Meng Hao was now hovering, not in the Mountain and Sea Realm, but in some other dimensional space. The only thing which remained behind was a shadow, an image which everyone could see but not touch!

　　As of this moment, Ksitigarbha’s heart was pounding. The Outsider Imperial Lord he was fighting felt his mind trembling, and he gasped as he looked toward Meng Hao with complete astonishment.

　　It wasn’t just them. Paragon Sea Dream and the Outsider Paragon Eegoo were also shocked.

　　The Mountain and Sea Lords, as well as the other Dao Realm experts of the Mountain and Sea Realm, all felt as if their minds were filled with crashing lightning as they realized… that they could sense the aura of Essence on Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao’s expression was calm, but the glow of augury in his eyes radiated dazzlingly, and the World Essence around him roared as he absorbed it with complete abandon.

　　60,000. 70,000. 80,000!!

　　Mere moments later, Meng Hao had absorbed more than 80,000 motes of light. Furthermore, he had entered a state in which something new was now floating in his mind…

　　Essence formed from space!

　　Why did the world have space, and what exactly was it?!

　　With the help of the World Essence, Meng Hao was able to analyze the subject, and to seek enlightenment of it. As of this moment, he had reached an unprecedentedly high peak. Rumbling could be heard as boundless light shone out from him to spread through the entire starry sky.

　　As of this moment, all cultivators and all Outsiders were completely shaken.

　　The Outsider Dao Sovereign was doing everything he could think of, but was incapable of even touching Meng Hao. All he could do was watch as Meng Hao hovered there in the starry sky, and then closed his eyes.

　　He was now truly gaining Dao enlightenment!

　　“What is space…?” Meng Hao murmured. The sound of his voice echoed out, causing the starry sky to shake. Although his eyes were closed, in his mind, he could see numerous dimensional spaces, spreading out in all directions, stretching out over such a vast area that they seemed limitless.

　　“Length… is space….

　　“Height… is space….

　　“Breadth… is also space….

　　“Size, can also be an expression of space….” Among the countless dimensional spaces, he saw that they could be described in terms of length, height, breadth, and overall size. And yet all of that seemed to be only a portion of what space was. Those were all… descriptions of space.

　　However, Meng Hao still didn’t understand everything clearly. There was something he was missing, something he hadn’t grasped. His brow furrowed as he subconsciously continued to absorb more World Essence power.

　　He needed to increase his powers of augury and understanding… to gain enlightenment of the true meaning of the Essence of space!

　　As of this moment, he had completely forgotten about the sea of flames, about the Mountain and Sea Realm, about the war. He was completely and utterly immersed in Dao enlightenment.

　　The rest of the world was completely shaken. Both the Mountain and Sea Realm and the Outsiders had been in an uproar, but now they were silent. Even the Imperial Lord and the Paragon said nothing.

　　At long last, the Outsider Dao Sovereign who had been trying every method possible to kill Meng Hao finally had no choice… but to stop unleashing his magic.

　　It was pointless….

　　As Meng Hao sought Dao enlightenment, the area around him distorted, occasionally expanding, occasionally contracting. Sometimes it would bulge upward and downward, and sometimes it would sweep out to the left or right.

　　The Outsider Dao Sovereign was trembling in his form of the flame sea. He couldn’t affect Meng Hao at all, and in fact, was prevented from even getting close to him. The closer he got, the more unstable the void became, until destructive rifts even began to open up. In the end, he simply fled.

　　Currently nothing in existence could get close to that area, with the exception of Meng Hao, who was now gaining enlightenment of the Essence of space.

　　Meng Hao’s body was also in a distorted state of transformation. Rumbling could be heard as he expanded, then shrunk. In one instant he was as tiny as a mustard seed, in another, as huge as the Heavens!

　　The Outsider Paragon looked at Meng Hao with mixed emotions, and then bitterly muttered, “The Essence of space…. From ancient times until now, numerous almighty experts have sought enlightenment of it. However, those who succeeded are as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns….”

　　Sea Dream’s eyes shone with a strange light as she watched Meng Hao, and a smile slowly broke out on her face.

　　Everyone simply watched as Meng Hao hovered there with his eyes closed, the same as ever, seeking enlightenment. As of now, his state exceeded that of the Eighth Generation Demon Sealer when he actually created the Eighth Hex. At that time, he had only needed to understand the initial aspects regarding length, height, breadth, and size. With that, he had been able to create the Eighth Hex.

　　On the other hand, what Meng Hao was contemplating was beyond that. He was contemplating the very Essence of space!

　　That was an Essence filled with endless possibilities, and Meng Hao wanted to know all of them!

　　Normally, that would be virtually impossible, but with the aid of the World Essence, it was quite the opposite. Currently, rumbling sounds echoed out as Meng Hao continued to absorb more World Essence like mad.

　　By this point, Meng Hao had absorbed roughly ninety percent, 90,000 motes of light!

　　He only continued to absorb them faster and faster. At this point, his augury and contemplation of enlightenment had reached the pinnacle. The final 10,000 motes of World Essence light were sucked into him, whereupon his mind felt as if it had been split open by a massive boom that was so loud it was impossible to describe.

　　Amidst the rumbling, his eyes snapped open, and although an abstruse gleam could be seen therein, there was nothing else that was vastly different. And yet, at the same time, the contrast between the blackness of his pupils and whites of his eyes was more distinct than ever!

　　His eyes now sparkled in a way that seemed to indicate that they were filled with a great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

　　“So, that’s the Essence of space….” he said, smiling slightly. He could feel the Essence of space fading away within him, and could also sense his enhanced powers of augury and deduction dissipating. He sighed.

　　In almost the same instant that Meng Hao’s eyes opened, the instability in the surrounding void faded away. Furthermore, his body returned to the Mountain and Sea Realm. When the maddened Outsider Dao Sovereign saw that, his sea of flames form seethed, and he shot toward Meng Hao.

　　“Space… is nothing more than countless threads, formed together into a pattern. The patterns formed by those threads… are space!” Meng Hao shook his head, then waved his hand, causing a circle to appear beneath his feet.

　　“I am currently within space,” he said, looking down. Then he smiled as his enlightenment deepened. As for the sea of flames that was the Outsider Dao Sovereign, it appeared to be on the verge of consuming Meng Hao, but to the Dao Sovereign’s utter shock, he realized that the flames were stuck to the outside of the thread that formed the circle!

　　“Th-this… this….” The Outsider Dao Sovereign’s heart was battered by waves of shock, as were the hearts the other Outsider Dao Sovereign and the Paragon.

　　“Space! He actually gained enlightenment of the Essence of space!”

　　Meng Hao’s expression was calm as he looked at the circle formed by the thread, within which he stood. Then he smiled. “As for these threads… doesn’t the Essence I have gained enlightenment of consist of more than just the threads themselves?

　　“Within these threads are length, height, breadth, and size. They are limitless, and that is space…. They are flat, but actually….” He waved his right hand, causing a thread to stretch out from the circle, and then pass over him. In the blink of an eye, the circle of threads was no longer flat, but had transformed into… a sphere!

　　“With an additional thread, it is no longer a circle, but a sphere, like a world…. It’s too bad my enlightenment is insufficient, and I can’t sustain it for very long.” Even as Meng Hao murmured to himself, the sphere collapsed, and he sighed lightly.

　　“In my eyes, the world is just a canvas.” Meng Hao looked up at the shocked Outsider, who was still a sea of flames. Then Meng Hao waved his right hand, causing the flames to suddenly lock into place. Then they began to transform; no longer were they surrounding Meng Hao, but instead, they were now spreading out to form a static image of flames within the starry sky, like a painting!

　　Then he waved his hand, and four threads appeared, surrounding the flames, almost as if they were a picture frame.

　　“This, is space,” he said, his eyes flickering with a cold light.

　　Rumbling could be heard as the sea of flames trembled. Inside, the Outsider Dao Sovereign was howling bitterly. The fire seemed to be on the verge of slipping out of the shackles, of bursting out from within the threads that held it. And yet, it could not. Finally, the flames converged together, transforming into a lizard of fire. It began to butt its head against the threads, and yet that did nothing. It… could not free itself. It was completely sealed within what Meng Hao had created… the picture frame.

　　The starry sky was like a canvas, and anyone who could control the Essence of space could use their hands like a brush. With a few strokes, threads could be formed together into an outline. What was within that outline… was space.

　　If that canvas was folded, the subsequent cracks that were created were dimensional rifts. Furthermore, if the canvas could be formed into a sphere, then that space would be… a world.