Chapter 1022: Pipe Down!

　　Killing intent flickered in Meng Hao’s eyes, and fury raged in his heart. There was no major enmity between him and Li Ling’er, just the normal competition that occurred between cultivators.

　　Regarding the matter of the marriage agreement, that was something that had been decided years ago. Although Meng Hao had fled the marriage, that didn’t mean that he was willing to stand idly by while Li Ling’er faced grave danger.

　　That was especially so in a situation like this, in which her aura was extremely weak. Before, she had been as proud as the Heavens, but now she was gasping her last breaths. Meng Hao’s fury burned like endless flames.

　　Li Ling’er had been filled with despair, and wanted to die. But when she saw Meng Hao, all of a sudden, a faint glow of hope appeared in her eyes. Meng Hao’s arrival was something she could never have predicted.

　　In the instant she saw him, her desire to live was immediately rekindled.

　　“It’s you…. Can you actually see me?” Yi Fazi stared in shock for a moment, and then a wicked smile spread out on his face, as if he couldn’t care less about Meng Hao. Suddenly, he lifted his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and punched out toward Li Ling’er’s delicate head.

　　He wanted to kill Li Ling’er right in front of Meng Hao!

　　However, in that instant, the Lightning Cauldron suddenly appeared in Meng Hao’s hand. It danced with electricity, and rumbling filled the void as he instantly switched positions with Li Ling’er.

　　Not even Yi Fazi had time to react. All of a sudden, Li Ling’er appeared on top of Patriarch Reliance, after which Guyiding Tri-Rain knelt down, put her hand on her forehead, and began to treat her injuries.

　　As for Meng Hao, as soon as he appeared in the position previously occupied by Li Ling’er, he saw Yi Fazi’s fist plummeting toward him. Without a moment’s hesitation, he rotated his cultivation base, causing the explosive power of 123 Immortal meridians to surge. 33 Heavens descended with terrifying power. All of it was focused directly on Yi Fazi.

　　Rumbling echoed out, and Yi Fazi’s face fell. He jerked back, evading Meng Hao’s attack, his fist transforming into an sealing incantation as he pointed toward Meng Hao. Instantly, the black, three-headed python behind him roared and then shot toward Meng Hao as if to consume him.

　　“I’m glad you showed up!” he laughed. “I originally wanted to use you for my Baptism, so guess what: a year from today will be your first memorial service!”

　　Yi Fazi threw his head back and laughed. His expression was one of rapture as he waved his hand, causing the black, three-headed python to grow rapidly. Rumbling sounds echoed out as it charged toward Meng Hao.

　　“He’s not from the Ninth Mountain and Sea!” Li Ling’er cried weakly, her face ashen. Despite the healing from Guyiding Tri-Rain, Li Ling’er was still quite weak.

　　As for Patriarch Reliance, he remained off to the side, eyes shifting back and forth. Naturally, he was not assisting; in fact, he was even contemplating the fact that if Meng Hao died, he would finally be free.

　　He was about to slip away quietly when Meng Hao waved his hand, causing a Fifth Hex rift to appear and slowly circle around Patriarch Reliance’s head. Patriarch Reliance was so frightened he started trembling, and didn’t dare to move an inch.

　　As for Meng Hao, his eyes flickered with killing intent. As soon as he heard Li Ling’er’s words, he looked at Yi Fazi, and his eyes began to glitter brightly. He performed an incantation gesture with his left hand and then pointed out.

　　Instantly, a Blood Demon head materialized, roaring. It wasn’t just a single head, but 123 of them. They attacked… unleashing all of Meng Hao’s power.

　　The 123 Blood Demon heads instantly merged together, turning into an even larger Blood Demon head which then shot toward the black, three-headed python. The two slammed into each other in midair, causing a huge boom, along with a massive gust of wind that blasted out in all directions. Meng Hao didn’t back up, but instead advanced, appearing directly in front of Yi Fazi and then punching out.

　　That one punch was filled with Meng Hao’s internal Immortal power, as well as all of his true Immortal fleshly body’s strength. Its force was comparable to a powerful magic and contained incredible destructive power.

　　Dust flew up in all directions, and the void shattered. Yi Fazi’s eyes went wide, and an intense sensation of deadly crisis shook him. He had known that Meng Hao was powerful, but now… he discovered exactly how powerful.

　　In that moment of crisis, Yi Fazi threw his head back and roared, then performed a double-handed incantation gesture. Instantly, light flowed out across his body in the shape of a suit of armor. The armor was golden, and radiated boundless light that made him seem even more like a true Immortal than Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao’s fist rumbled as it slammed into Yi Fazi in his suit of armor. Instantly, cracks spread out across the armor, and Yi Fazi was sent flying backward. However, in almost the same instant that the cracks spread out across the armor, they repaired themselves. Apparently the power of Meng Hao’s one punch… couldn’t harm Yi Fazi at all!

　　Meng Hao’s eyes glittered with coldness.

　　Yi Fazi laughed arrogantly and then said, “Meng Hao, right? A true Immortal, right? Well, SO WHAT?! You can’t even break open my True Plate Armor! What makes you think you have anything powerful enough to fight me with?!

　　“Immortal? This is a so-called Immortal?

　　“Bring out some of that awe-inspiring Immortal stuff they used to have back in the day, and let me see it! Let me see what an Immortal is supposed to be!” As Yi Fazi laughed, Meng Hao stared in shock at what was being said, completely unable to make heads nor tales of what Yi Fazi was talking about.

　　“You don’t understand? You don’t COMPREHEND? Oh, I get it. To you people, all of these things are considered a big secret. People like you still don’t qualify to know the truth.” When Yi Fazi saw Meng Hao’s expression, he began to laugh maniacally.

　　“Pipe down!” Meng Hao said coolly. He suddenly flickered, transforming into a huge golden roc that shot toward Yi Fazi with incredible speed. He was on him in the blink of an eye, razor-sharp talons slashing out.

　　Yi Fazi laughed coldly and waved his hand to summon a magical technique. Shockingly, a black, nine-headed python materialized around him, which roared and charged toward Meng Hao.

　　At the same time, a magical symbol appeared in each of Yi Fazi’s eyes, as well as on his forehead. The three magical symbols merged together, transforming into a spell formation that also shot toward Meng Hao.

　　Rumbling filled the void as Meng Hao slashed apart the black python and beat his wings in the direction of the incoming spell formation. Suddenly, innumerable mountains appeared, which linked together into chains of mountains that resembled numerous gigantic dragons.

　　Booms rang out as, in a relatively short period of time, dozens of attacks were exchanged. Every time any of Meng Hao’s divine abilities landed on Yi Fazi, however, his brilliant armor would block the attack.

　　A ruthless gleam appeared in Meng Hao’s eyes as he took a step forward. Immortal dragons roared as they shot toward Yi Fazi.

　　Booms rang out, and the ground of the Ruins of Immortality quaked. Countless nearby statues and other ruins were shoved backward.

　　Yi Fazi’s face flickered slightly, and he suddenly fell back. At the same time, though, he called out,

　　“Heaven, master of mortals. Hell, master of Heaven. Lin, master of hell!” 1 Yi Fazi’s hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, causing strange ripples to spread out across his body. Shockingly, two enormous black wings sprouted from his back, which emanated a strange glow. They seemed to fuse with the void around him, causing him to look bizarre to the extreme. At the same time, a huge black bow appeared in his hands.

　　“Three Masters Exterminate Immortals!” As soon as the words left his mouth, countless magical symbols appeared on his glowing armor, which merged together to form an arrow!

　　The bow was drawn, the arrow flew!

　　The void vibrated so violently it shattered. The powerful arrow ripped through the starry sky toward Meng Hao.

　　Seeing the arrow close in on Meng Hao cause Li Ling’er to get very nervous. However, there was nothing she could do to help. As for the parrot and meat jelly, and Patriarch Reliance, they didn’t seem concerned at all.

　　Meng Hao snorted coldly and extended his right hand, within which appeared a long spear. It had a white spearhead, and the shaft was made from the World Tree. As soon as it appeared, strange colors flashed, and boundless ripples spread out which seemed to stir the entire Ruins of Immortality.

　　Meng Hao hurled the spear out, causing massive rumbling to fill the starry sky. The spear shot through the void like a white dragon, both projectiles so fast that ring-like shockwaves were formed in the void through which they traveled. In the blink of an eye they were upon each other, and as they made contact a terrifyingly loud boom blasted out in all directions.

　　“Meng Hao, is this your true power? None of your attacks have even been able to break through my armor. Is this really the power of a true Immortal?”

　　Almost in the same moment that the spear and arrow slammed into each other, Meng Hao took a step forward.

　　“Watch and see how I break it,” he said coolly. When he took his first step, he waved his right index finger, causing boundless light to shoot up into the starry sky. In the blink of an eye, the light formed into a fist-sized globe of light!

　　It was… the sun!

　　As soon as the sun appeared, shocking ripples spread out. However, Yi Fazi continued to laugh coldly, as if he didn’t care at all about the sun. He didn’t retreat at all, but instead, advanced and even revealed a second bow and arrow!

　　At the same time, Meng Hao took a second step, and waved his right hand again, causing the image of another shocking heavenly body to appear next to the sun.

　　It was… the moon!

　　The sun and the moon began to orbit each other, causing a massive energy to explode out. Yi Fazi’s eyes widened, and in that same moment, Meng Hao took a third step.

　　As he stepped forward, he performed an incantation gesture and pointed out. Shockingly, the illusory image of a mountain appeared between the sun and the moon!

　　It was… the projection of the Ninth Mountain!

　　The sun and moon orbiting the Ninth Mountain!

　　Massive energy soared up, causing Yi Fazi’s face to fall completely. All of a sudden, a sensation of indescribable crisis filled him, and instead of advancing, he began to back up.

　　However, in the moment that he stepped back, Meng Hao took a fourth step!

　　With that fourth step, he waved his sleeve. Rumbling filled the void as… a black pearl and a white pearl appeared and began to circulate around the Ninth Mountain and the sun and the moon!

　　Terrifying undulations caused Yi Fazi’s eyes to widen, and he fell into shocked retreat.

　　“Magical technique combination! Th-that’s a complex type of magic that only almighty experts can control! How are you doing this!?!?”

　　Even as Yi Fazi spoke, killing intent flickered in Meng Hao’s eyes. He waved his right hand, and the sun, moon, and Black White Pearls continued to orbit around the Ninth Mountain as it shot toward Yi Fazi with incredible speed.

　　The speed was such that Yi Fazi was incapable of evading. Gritting his teeth, he roared and performed a double-handed incantation gesture, then pushed his hand out in front of him. The glowing armor immediately began to emanate blinding light as he used all the power he could muster to block the attack.

　　Rumbling echoed out in all directions. The sun and moon collapsed, and the Ninth Mountain shattered. The Black White Pearls dissipated. However, in that same moment, all of Yi Fazi’s glowing armor shattered, layer by layer.

　　Yi Fazi coughed up a massive mouthful of blood, and alarm filled his face. Just when he was about to fall back at full speed, Meng Hao took a fifth step, his face filled with savagery and the desire to kill.

　　It was in that very moment than an ancient voice echoed out like thunder from further back.

　　“Stay your hand!”

　　The parrot blinked, and its feathers stood on end. The meat jelly began to tremble, and Patriarch Reliance turned his head, his expression one of unprecedented solemnity.

　　1. This passage “Heaven, master of mortals. Hell, master of Heaven. Lin, master of hell,” was really a headache to translate, as it’s a twist on a passage from famous Chinese philosopher Laozi. Thanks to RWX for helping out. Also, there is a big clue/easter egg about the ISSTH universe in here. Because it’s a bit more vague and open to interpretation in Chinese, it was a subject of speculation among the Chinese fans when this chapter first came out, and was not specifically explained by Er Gen, so I’ll let you guys have fun guessing about it