Chapter 1040: Don’t Provoke Me!

　　Ling Yunzi gaped in response to Meng Hao’s words. The other disciples of the Nine Seas God World behind him also stared with wide eyes. Fan Dong’er gasped.

　　The other cultivators in the area felt their jaws drop and their minds reel. All of that was because Meng Hao had said the words… seafood.

　　Simultaneously, the surrounding Demonic cultivators’ eyes went bright red, and their desire to kill rocketed up, transforming into a tempest within the Nine Seas God World.

　　“He actually dared to call us seafood? He MUST be killed!!”

　　“Kill him NOW! I haven’t eaten a cultivator for a long time, and I want to eat HIM!!” Roaring sounds raged up into the air, echoing out in all directions.

　　Meng Hao laughed coldly, and his expression was the same as ever. His words had been uttered intentionally, of course. He did not believe for a moment that if he spoke politely, the Demonic cultivators would suddenly stop viewing him as an enemy that needed to be killed.

　　For whatever reason, they hated him and wanted him dead, a situation that didn’t seem possible to resolve. Therefore, since he didn’t have the power to fight back physically, he would use fatally destructive words as his weapon.

　　Sometimes, the power of one’s words were of more use than the strength of one’s cultivation base.

　　For example, calling the Demonic cultivators ‘seafood dishes’ was something that no other person would dare to do. In fact, because of the history and roots of the Nine Seas God World, it was most likely a term that no one had even thought to associate with the Demonic cultivators. However, Meng Hao said it, and the words echoed out for everyone to hear.

　　On many occasions a single sentence, or even just two words, can completely change the situation.

　　A perfect example was this very moment, in which the non-Demonic cultivators of the Nine Seas God World were looking around with strange expressions on their faces. Normally speaking, they viewed the Demonic cultivators as fellow sect disciples, but right now, when they looked at them, they couldn’t help but think about seafood.

　　“Lies upon more lies!” raged the ancient voice. Massive killing intent bore down, materializing into a huge hand that rumbled down toward Meng Hao.

　　From the look of it, that hand was capable of completely crushing the entire land. As it descended, the air shattered, and natural law collapsed. It was as if the fury of the Heavens were crushing down, causing Ling Yunzi’s face to flicker. At this point, a soft sigh echoed out as an old woman appeared in midair. She waved her finger toward the huge hand, causing the hand to collapse, whereupon it transformed into a huge tentacle. A muffled grunt echoed out, but the tentacle didn’t fade away. Instead, it swerved around the old woman and continued on toward Meng Hao.

　　The old woman did nothing to intervene this time. She merely said, “Enough, Junior Brother Wu. You know how important Meng Hao is. Don’t force me to damage our friendship.”

　　As she spoke, a stream of divine sense shot out from thin air. Although no physical body was present, the aura of the Dao Realm appeared, radiating intense pressure. The threatening nature of the aura was plainly evident.

　　This aura merged with those of the old woman and Ling Yunzi, creating a towering energy that swept out in all directions, causing all the surrounding regions of the Ninth Sea to seethe.

　　Almost as soon as the stream of divine sense appeared, a second stream of divine sense also exploded out from within the depths of the Nine Seas God World. This divine sense radiated a sense of madness and ferocity, and was filled with Demonic qi. This was clearly a Dao Realm Demonic cultivator!

　　However, even with that divine sense merging with that of the cultivator named Wu, they were no match for the old woman’s faction.

　　Things weren’t over yet, though. Almost as soon as the Dao Realm aura appeared, two more Dao Realm auras appeared from two different directions. The streams of surging energy actually formed into four factional powers.

　　The tentacle paused in midair, as if they all were now in the middle of a standoff.

　　The surrounding disciples of the Nine Seas God World looked on with flickering faces. Neither Demonic nor non-Demonic cultivators could ever have imagined that they would be witnessing a shocking scene like this.

　　There were only a few disciples who watched with glittering eyes; clearly, they were already aware of the complex nature of the relationships between the various factions within the Nine Seas God World.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes widened. This brief probing on his part had already revealed the depth and caliber of the Nine Seas God World.

　　“I can’t believe they have seven Dao Realm experts! They definitely deserve to be one of the Three Great Daoist Societies!” Meng Hao’s mind trembled. He could now see that the faction represented by the old woman was the strongest within the Nine Seas God World. That was also the same faction which had insisted on accepting him as a disciple.

　　After a long moment, the archaic voice echoed out from within the tentacle, cold and filled with killing intent: “We can forget about the person he killed. If he just hands over my disciples that were captured, and kowtows to admit his wrongdoing, then we can put the matter to rest.”

　　The old woman frowned. As far as she was concerned, handing over the captured Demonic cultivators would be fine. However, the matter of kowtowing to admit fault was a bit excessive. She was just about to open her mouth to respond, when Meng Hao began to laugh.

　　“Put the matter to rest? After arriving in the Ninth Sea, I was hunted murderously by numerous seafood dishes! Then I arrived at the Nine Seas God World, and even more seafood inexplicably attacked me! There was even one seafood dish which tried to kill me!

　　“After I killed him, an old seafood dish shamelessly used his Ancient Realm cultivation base to try to murder me!

　　“After that, a whole army of mini-seafood dishes joined forces to attack me! Then in the end, in an unbelievable turn of events, a Dao Realm expert actually tried to make a move on me! Even I have limits to my patience! You think you can just put the matter to rest? Like hell we can put it to rest!” Meng Hao’s wording was sharp and incisive, his voice cold.

　　As soon as the words left his mouth, the surrounding disciples frowned. Many of them believed Meng Hao to be ignorant of the height of the Heavens and the depth of the Earth. His voice didn’t match up at all to that of an almighty member of the Dao Realm.

　　As for the Demonic cultivators, they began to chuckle coldly, believing Meng Hao to have vastly overestimated himself.

　　“Screw off! You don’t qualify to speak in this situation!” said the ancient voice, which echoed about like thunder.

　　Even though Meng Hao stood next to Ling Yunzi, blood began oozing out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth due to the vibrations of the voice. However, his expression was one of ferocity as he threw his head back and laughed.

　　“I’m not qualified?

　　“I’m the Crown Prince of the Fang Clan, and in the future I’ll certainly be the Clan Chief. The Fang Clan has Fang Shoudao, the Earth Patriarch, along with Patriarch Yanxu, AND the first generation Patriarch. In the battle of Planet East Victory, they cut down Dao Realm experts as easily as slaughtering chickens. You want me to kowtow to you? That’s like having the whole Fang Clan kowtow to you! Even if I did kowtow, would you dare to accept it?!”

　　His words echoed out like thunder into all ears. Even the owner of that ancient voice, who had not appeared in person, but remained hidden in secluded meditation, was speechless.

　　He could afford to disregard Meng Hao, but he couldn’t afford to disregard the Fang Clan. That was especially true after the first generation Patriarch of the Fang Clan put on such a display of might in the battle of Planet East Victory, and had even cowed the Ji Clan into retreat. How could he even compare?

　　This Dao Realm expert had personally witnessed the first generation Patriarch on the attack, and it left his scalp numb and mind spinning. Suddenly, the legends about the Fang Clan’s first generation Patriarch all seemed to rise up into his mind.

　　He was from a generation of fierce experts, a contemporary of Ji Tian. According to the legends, in the great war in which Lord Ji became the Heavens, the first generation Patriarch of the Fang Clan was the number one killer, bathing the entire Ninth Mountain and Sea in blood!

　　However, Meng Hao wasn’t finished yet!

　　“By the way, I’m not just a disciple of the Nine Seas God World. I’m also a conclave disciple of the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite, AND the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto! Did you ask the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite and the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto whether or not you could mess with me!?

　　“You want me, their conclave disciple, to kowtow? That’s the same as having the entire Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite and the entire Sublime Flow Sword Grotto kowtow to you! Well then, let me ask you the same thing as before. If I did kowtow, would you dare to accept it?”

　　As Meng Hao’s words echoed out, Ling Yunzi stood there silently. As for the old woman, she smiled slightly. She had been planning to interfere in the matter, but now, it seemed there was no need to do anything. Her eyes glowed with amusement as she watched Meng Hao.

　　As for the old Dao Realm expert who represented the Demonic Cultivator Horde, he continued to hesitate.

　　“Do you think your crappy Seafood Horde is the only power structure among all the Three Great Daoist Societies?

　　“You think I don’t qualify? Well then let me ask you, who DOES qualify?

　　“If you don’t give me an explanation right now, do you really think that the Fang Clan, the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite, the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto, and these Elder Patriarchs of the God World, couldn’t completely wipe out your Seafood Horde?” Meng Hao’s voice grew clearer and clearer, his wording sharper and more incisive. All of the surrounding disciples were gasping, and the faces of the Demonic cultivators fell.

　　As of this moment, Meng Hao was now the center of attention of all of the Nine Seas God World.

　　He stood there, jaw tilted up, his domineering will raging for all to see.

　　“You know what? I don’t even need to call on all those people to help. If you say the word ‘kowtow’ one more time, how much are you willing to bet that I won’t crush this jade slip and summon the first generation Patriarch of the Fang Clan himself to slaughter you where you stand?!” With that, Meng Hao held a jade slip aloft for everyone to see.

　　His words immediately caused an uproar. Not only did the faces of Ling Yunzi and the old woman flicker, so did the faces of the two Dao Realm Patriarchs from the Demonic Cultivator Horde.

　　The other two almighty Dao Realm experts from the other power factions were equally shaken. As of this moment, Meng Hao’s words were absolutely the most powerful weapon he could possibly wield.

　　“I know you’re probably wondering if I’m bluffing. Well let me explain it to your sorry ass: My first generation Patriarch personally gave me this jade slip, and then promised to appear at my side at any time, because I’m the successor of the One Thought Stellar Transformation!

　　“I’m also the only one in the Fang Clan to ever successfully concoct the first generation Patriarch’s three Holy pills!

　　“Plus, I did something that almost no one else has ever done! I corroborated the Dao on my own, and I opened the maximum possible 123 meridians!

　　“And in fact, I’m also… in the Echelon!”

　　Meng Hao listed out one fact after another. The result was dead silence that lasted only for a moment before complete tumult took over. For all the years that the Nine Seas God World had existed, Meng Hao was the first person to ever excoriate a Dao Realm expert!

　　Furthermore, his venomous words were like a sharp sword; anyone who heard them would feel their mind rumbling.

　　Meng Hao had decided he might as well go all out with his words, in much the same manner as he had killed the Demonic cultivator earlier. He wanted to firmly establish his position among the various factions in the Nine Seas God World, with their complex relationships.

　　He didn’t just want to unnerve the ordinary disciples, he wanted to awe the almighty Dao Realm experts. His words contained nothing truly secret; the Dao Realm experts could easily do some investigating and confirm the truth of what he was saying.

　　One of the reasons he wanted to establish his position in this way was that he did not intend to stay in the Nine Seas God World for very long. Therefore, the more domineering he could make himself, the easier and smoother things would be. Instead of starting out by being bullied, he would unsheathe his sword, making himself a giant mass of bristling spikes!

　　As far as whether or not people believed everything he said, that didn’t matter. The important thing was that they knew that he was important to the Fang Clan, the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite, and the Sublime Flow Sword Grotto. That would be enough.

　　Amidst the uproar, the tentacle up in midair suddenly vanished. A cold harrumph echoed out, but was accompanied by no words. The two Dao Realm auras from the Demonic Cultivator Horde vanished.

　　In that moment, the two other almighty Dao Realm auras from the other two factions stared deeply at Meng Hao, and then slowly faded away.

　　Just as Meng Hao had guessed, the truth of his words weren’t important. Everyone could now see how deeply he was backed by the powerful forces in Ninth Mountain and Sea, and also understood the main point of all of his words.

　　Don’t provoke me!