Chapter 1273: Soul Extermination!

　　The faceless man being shaken by the long spear might have a 5-Essences cultivation base, but despite fighting back with everything he had, he was still shoved backward relentlessly.

　　The spearhead then morphed into a huge dragon, which emitted a shocking roar that caused the faceless man to shudder and then suddenly begin to turn to stone!

　　It started with his chest, then began to slowly spread out. The faceless man retreated, seemingly acting on instinct. When he got far enough away, Meng Hao was no longer locked in place by the full formation originally created by the four faceless men; a gap had been opened.

　　The moment that gap appeared, and before the other three faceless men could do anything to intervene, Meng Hao roared mightily, a sound that echoed out like thunder in all directions. The three other faceless men were stopped in their tracks as Meng Hao burst forward with all the speed he could muster.

　　He shot forward with lightning quickness, like a meteor, leaving afterimages behind him as he burst through the gap, following the dragon spear toward the Door of the Ancient Realm.

　　600 meters. 300 meters. 150 meters….

　　The door of the Ancient Realm was getting closer and closer, but even as it did, the clouds behind Meng Hao swirled and, astonishingly, four figures appeared… 6-Essences Dao Sovereigns!

　　The mere pressure exerted by these four faceless men caused Heaven and Earth to tremble, and the starry sky to vibrate. Meng Hao was hit with an invisible blow, causing blood to spray out of his mouth. More than half of the bones in his body were shattered, and he lost feeling in his legs. His eyes were shot with blood, and yet despite the pressure weighing down, he continued forward. He was now a mere 90 meters from the Door of the Ancient Realm, and yet the 6-Essences faceless men were still closing in, radiating mind-boggling pressure.

　　“One Thought Stellar Transformation!” Meng Hao roared. The starstone in his eye melted and spread out to cover his body. Layer built upon layer, and before even a breath of time could pass, Meng Hao had transformed into a gigantic meteor which rumbled forward at incredible speed. He then passed the 30-meter mark; even as the 6-Essences faceless men continued in pursuit, he appeared directly in front of the Door of the Ancient Realm.

　　The area around the Door of the Ancient Realm itself was twisted and distorted. Time there flowed differently. As Meng Hao closed in, a wind sprang up, and in the blink of an eye, over a thousand years seemed to have passed….

　　It was at this point that roaring howls could be heard coming from the surrounding clouds. They got closer and closer, as if preparing to attack. Even the mere sounds contained boundless destructive power, intense pressure that was even more astonishing and terrifying than the 6-Essences faceless men.

　　The clouds seethed, and it was just barely possible to see two enormous arms, both struggling to emerge from the clouds. It was even possible to see the tips of the fingers on the leftmost arm.

　　The fingers were crimson, and the fingertips were violet. The entire arm was covered with scales, and on each of those scales were innumerable flickering magical symbols. Even just one of the fingertips on one of the hands was filled with the power to completely destroy souls. Apparently, nothing under the starry sky could possibly shake it, and it could rip anything and everything to pieces.

　　The clouds acted like restraints on the finger, which was currently struggling to break free, and a powerful howling sound even echoed out.

　　The crisis had reached a pinnacle, and if things stretched out any longer, the only thing that awaited Meng Hao was the end of his life, the destruction of his soul!

　　This Ancient Tribulation had become so difficult that he couldn’t even comprehend it. Meng Hao couldn’t imagine how any Allheaven Dao Immortal in the past had ever been able to fight back against this deadly tribulation!

　　However, there was no time to ponder the matter now. He would either open the Door of the Ancient Realm, and earn a chance to keep living, or… die!

　　“How could I possibly die here!?” Meng Hao roared in his meteor form. Filled with determination, courage, and even madness, he slammed into the Door of the Ancient Realm.

　　“OPEN UP!” he roared. His voice sounded like muffled thunder coming from within the meteor. It was a roar that coalesced the power of his soul, transforming into life force power that propelled the asteroid forward with even greater power.

　　BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

　　A huge boom rang out into the clouds surrounding the Door of the Ancient Realm, reaching even the starry sky beyond. It was even audible on the battlefield of the Meng Clan.

　　The Meng Clan ancestral mansion was surrounded by a colorful, glittering shield, which rippled from the magical attacks being levied against it by tens of thousands of cultivators.

　　The spell formation had held this entire time. Occasionally, it would flicker with bright light, and colorful beams of light would shoot out to attack the invaders. Currently, the fighting had reached a deadlock.

　　The massive boom which had echoed out just now from the cloud-filled starry sky caused both sides to stop and look up. Everyone was completely shaken. In some ways, they were bearing witness to Meng Hao transcending tribulation. In fact, they were fighting directly beneath that tribulation, and couldn’t help but be shocked to the core by what was happening.

　　Within the clouds, Meng Hao in meteor-form was bashing himself into the Door of the Ancient Realm with all his might. As the boom echoed out, his meteor form shattered, revealing his true form, coughing up blood and trembling violently. All the bones in his body were broken, and his internal organs were mangled. In his entire life, he had never been wounded this badly.

　　Even more terrifying was that as each second passed, Meng Hao’s hair grew grayer, and then even began to turn white. His body was incredibly weak, and was now beginning to wither away. His flesh became more and more emaciated, and he began to look extremely old.

　　The enormously huge door shuddered, and then oh-so-slowly… opened just a bit, revealing a thin sliver of light.

　　“Still not… all the way open…?” Meng Hao said with a bitter chuckle. He looked at the door, and the sliver of light, and his eyes shone with an unyielding gleam.

　　Almost in the same moment that the sliver of light appeared, the clouds in the area began to churn as if they possessed a will of their own. Apparently, the light from that huge door could dissipate the clouds, so suddenly, a powerful, apprehensive howl echoed out, filled with madness.

　　An entire legion of faceless men all charged Meng Hao. The enormous finger within the cloud fought back against the restraining power of the clouds as it shot forth in attack.

　　A will of soul destruction existed within the flickering light that emanated out from the fingertip, and it grew more intense and shocking by the moment

　　Meng Hao could sense that if that finger touched him, he would definitely be killed, and his spiritual soul and physical soul would both disperse.

　　If he didn’t open the Door of the Ancient Realm, he would die. Therefore… he ignored the killing intent coming from the forces outside the door. His eyes were filled with an intense, unyielding glow, and deep within, flickering flames ignited, filling him. As of this moment… Meng Hao was burning his own soul!

　　Burning the soul was a huge price to pay in exchange for… an explosive increase of power to batter against the door a second time.

　　“OPEN!” Meng Hao roared. The burning of his soul caused intense pain, and his eyes were completely bloodshot. However, he didn’t care about any of that pain. He only had one thought on his mind…

　　Open that door!

　　“OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!” he roared, lifting both hands into the air and shoving them toward the door. Meng Hao was like an ant compared to the massive door, but the power he was unleashing could shake Heaven and Earth. Suddenly, an image appeared behind him, like an ancient giant, stretching its hands out to shove against the door.

　　BOOOOMMMMMM!

　　The Door of the Ancient Realm opened a bit more. More light spilled out through the sliver, spreading out, causing the faceless men who were charging from behind to let out shrill shrieks.

　　One by one, they began to decay and fall apart, transforming into black smoke. Looks of shock appeared on their faces, and they fell back.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes were crimson, and his soul was aflame. He roared again, exploding with power. It looked like he was just about to truly open the Door of the Ancient Realm, to conclude the tribulation, to succeed… as an Allheaven Dao Immortal, and acquire the true good fortune that came with stepping into the Ancient Realm.

　　But then, all of a sudden….

　　That crimson, scaled finger with the violet fingertip broke out of the clouds, rumbling directly toward Meng Hao with Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering power and insane killing intent.

　　As it neared, the light spilling out from the door slammed into it. That light might be capable of terrifying the faceless men and forcing them into retreat. But this finger was far, far more terrifying, and when the light touched it, even though it began to melt, a howl rang out and… it just pushed on through, ignoring the light to reach out and tap Meng Hao!

　　Meng Hao chuckled bitterly. There was nothing he could do to fight back. Even were he at his peak, he wouldn’t be confident in being able to handle the finger. That wasn’t even to mention the fact that his soul was currently aflame, meaning that it was already starting to disperse.

　　“So I’m gonna die, huh…?” he murmured, fully able to sense the soul-destroying power. However, it was at this point that he suddenly seemed to recall something important. A tremor ran through him, and his eyes began to shine brightly.

　　“Perhaps… there’s hope after all!” Almost in the moment that the thought occurred to Meng Hao, the terrifying finger slammed into him.

　　A massive tremor ran through Meng Hao, and then he exploded. The burning wreckage of his soul completely shattered.

　　Meng Hao was dead!

　　In the moment that he died, the Door of the Ancient Realm shuddered, then slowly began to fade away. The clouds around it began to thin, and the terrifying finger retracted. Cold laughter rang out from within the clouds.

　　Everything was over.

　　Meng Hao had gone all-out in his Ancient Tribulation, but had only been able to open the door a crack, a sliver. In truth, if Meng Hao had still had some power left in reserve, and if he had been able to batter the door just one more time, perhaps… combined with the energy from the two blows he had already delivered… It would not have been impossible… for him to actually open the Door of the Ancient Realm.

　　Not too far away from Meng Hao, the boy stood on the black willow leaf. When he saw what was happening, he said, “It’s over. He was strong, and yet he still died in the tribulation. This Ancient Tribulation could not be matched by even Dao Tribulation. Well in that case, the time has come to go all-out and exterminate the Meng Clan.”

　　Then, he prepared to charge into battle. However, it was at that point that his face suddenly flickered.

　　“This….”

　　Suddenly, just outside of the Door of the Ancient Realm, in the very spot where Meng Hao had died… something strange was happening!