Chapter 868: Junior Blood Immortal!

　　“Looking to die!?” said the hulking man with a malicious grin. He was clearly not pleased with Meng Hao’s plan to end the fight with one punch. Sneering inwardly, he redoubled the power he was putting into his attack, and also unleashed a forbidden technique of his sect, which further increased its power by thirty percent.

　　He didn’t just want to win, he wanted to kill his opponent, and he seemed very excited at the prospect of ending the life of the first place competitor who was also a future Conclave disciple of the Ninth Sea God World.

　　Killing someone in an arena match was nothing anyone could complain about, so there was little danger of repercussions. His sect would reward him, and even more importantly, protect him.

　　What he saw was a chance to make great advancement with little effort, right there in front of him.

　　“DIE!” he roared, his eyes bursting with a murderous look as he caused the Seven Seas Dragon to suddenly grow another vicious head, which also snapped toward Meng Hao.

　　It was at this point that Meng Hao’s fist connected with the dragon.

　　It was only one punch, but that punch slammed into the dragon with an enormous boom. A violent tremor ran through it, and then its first head cracked and exploded. The second head also exploded, and then, bit by bit, its body.

　　The seven seas rumbled briefly and then collapsed, vanishing in the blink of an eye, as if they had never been there to begin with. At this point, Meng Hao’s fist slammed into the hulking man’s chest.

　　The big man’s eyes went wide as he looked at Meng Hao, and his face twisted. Meng Hao’s expression was calm as he pulled his hand back and walked off to the edge of the arena.

　　In the instant he turned, blood sprayed from the hulking man’s mouth. Fissures spread out from the point of impact on his chest, and in the blink of an eye, they had covered his entire body. A look of disbelief could be seen on his face, and he opened his mouth to say something. Before any words could come out, though, he exploded.

　　As the haze of blood and gore blasted out, Meng Hao reached the edge of the arena and sat down cross-legged. The entire time, only one, placid expression could be seen on his face. He reached up to wipe a drop of blood off of his cheek, then closed his eyes.

　　Gasps could be heard from the audiences outside in the Ninth Mountain and Sea as they watched Meng Hao in terrified shock.

　　“That was still… just one punch!!”

　　“Heavens! Just exactly how powerful is this Fang Mu!? That Chosen from the Seven Seas Sect could match up to a false Immortal, and yet he collapsed from a single punch! Fang Mu hasn’t even punched two times yet.”

　　“Four matches, and he only punched one time each! Fang Mu is way too powerful!!”

　　“He’s already in the top 100, with only four punches!!”

　　Even the eyes of the Patriarchs in the starry sky palace went wide.

　　Meng Hao was the focus of the attention of all the Chosen from the various sects, and was now viewed by most of them as a major adversary. Even Zhao Yifan was wondering whether or not he could beat the Seven Seas Sect’s Chosen with only one punch. Of course, if he used a sword, he was confident he could.

　　Rumbling booms continued to echo out as the fourth round of arena matches proceeded. There was another battle that was particularly eye-catching. In fact, after Meng Hao’s match ended, most eyes among the audiences in the Ninth Mountain and Sea turned to watch it.

　　That battle was the match being fought by a disciple from the Holy Land of Mount Sun, the illustrious Taiyang Zi!

　　His body was surrounded by boundless light, making him look almost like a sun. His opponent was a boy, the same competitor Meng Hao had noticed earlier, and had been paying special attention to.

　　From what Meng Hao could tell, he possessed at least thirty percent of the power of a true Immortal.

　　When the battle started, most of the spectators were confident that Taiyang Zi would come out victorious. And yet, contrary to all speculations, he actually lost!

　　Furthermore, it was an incredible defeat. If he hadn’t uttered the words ‘I concede,’ then he would almost certainly have died. The boy’s magic caused a bloody glow to emanate out, and it seemed incredibly bloodthirsty. The sight of it caused quite a stir among the crowds, and many of the cultivators participating in the arena matches were shocked.

　　“Junior Blood Immortal! That was one of the names that came up in the trial by fire!”

　　“He actually defeated Taiyang Zi!”

　　“He’s making his rise to the top!!”

　　While the outside audiences were discussing the matter, Meng Hao looked over at the boy to find him looking back with killing intent flickering in his eyes.

　　Two hours later, the fourth round of matches ended. There were now only a bit over sixty people left in the competition. The next round… would determine the top 32!

　　From more than a thousand people, 32 would move on! One could imagine that even if there were a weak person among that number who had happened to overcome more powerful people by chance, then that luck could be considered an aspect of their power.

　　“The top 32 are about to be determined!”

　　“Even some of the top Chosen from the great sects were defeated in the previous fights. I wonder who will make it to the top 32!”

　　While the outside audiences buzzed, Ling Yunzi stood below the ancient Dao Tree and glanced over the more than sixty competitors who remained.

　　“In the Dao Seeking arena matches,” he announced, “the most powerful people will form the top 32. Unfortunately, you have three too many people to make all the matches even. Therefore, some of you will be fighting more than one battle to make it into the top 32. As for who those people are, only the Heavens know. It will all be up to the Dao Tree’s teleportation.

　　“You will have four hours to rest, after which the battles to determine the top 32 will begin!”

　　During those four hours, Meng Hao sat there cross-legged, meditating. He could sense that there were many people watching him, but he didn’t open his eyes. Considering the level of his cultivation base, he was clearly at the pinnacle of the competitors in the arena matches. Were it not for the Immortal jades and the precious treasures, he would never have participated.

　　However, now that he was here, there were a few people who had attracted his interest. Unfortunately, he had yet to face them as opponents.

　　Four hours later, glittering light covered the leaves of the Dao Tree, teleporting Meng Hao and all the remaining contestants up to the next level of leaves. From within the glittering light in front of Meng Hao, a young woman stepped out.

　　She wore a blood-colored robe, and a white mask. This was the Chosen from the Church of the Blood Orchid, and as soon as she caught sight of Meng Hao, she stopped in her tracks. However, it took only a moment for her to emanate a powerful will to fight.

　　The intensity of that will caused Meng Hao’s eyes to shine with a fierce glow.

　　“Fellow Daoist Fang,” she said, her words echoing out coldly from behind her mask, “please give me some fighting tips!” Even as she spoke, she performed an incantation gesture with her right hand, causing a Blood Orchid to appear in front of her. As the flower swayed back and forth, it began to grow rapidly. Rumbling sounds could be heard as, in the blink of an eye, it grew to a size of thirty meters.

　　It had a thick trunk, blood-colored petals, and looked both extremely imposing and visually stunning. At the same time, the flower twitched, causing branches to shoot toward Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao stepped forward, clenched his fist, and sent out a single punch.

　　As of this moment, everyone in the outside world was watching as the punch caused a huge vortex to appear. Rumbling sounds spread out, causing the air to vibrate, and everything else to shake violently.

　　The incoming Blood Orchid branches twisted and then completely collapsed. However, in that moment, the Blood Orchid’s petals of the spread wide as it bloomed. A drop of blood emerged that flew back to land on the forehead of the young woman’s mask. Radiating an intense aura, the young woman then flickered as she shot toward Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao stood in place, neither retreating nor advancing. However, at the same time, he punched a second time.

　　This second punch caused the air to ripple, and a massive force to explode out and sweep across the young woman. Her body trembled, and she was about to unleash a divine ability when an intense pressure crushed down onto her cultivation base. In the blink of an eye, she completely lost any ability to rotate her cultivation base, which left her not only completely surprised, but also incapable of avoiding the punch that slammed into her.

　　A boom could be heard. Beneath the mask, blood spurted from the young woman’s mouth, and she staggered backward a full thirty meters, after which she looked up at Meng Hao, panting.

　　“You’re no match for me,” Meng Hao said coolly.

　　The young woman was silent for a moment, after which she chuckled bitterly and nodded.

　　“I concede,” she said, and then vanished. When she reappeared, she was back on the first layer of leaves.

　　Meng Hao had won once again, but before the audiences outside could comment, light began to glitter on the tree leaf again, and… another person emerged!

　　It was a boy, none other than the same boy who had just defeated Taiyang Zi. Junior Blood Immortal!

　　His appearance on the scene instantly sent the audience into tumult.

　　“Fang Mu is one of the people who has to fight twice!!”

　　“There were three extra people in the competition, so some people have to fight more than once to get into the top 32. I never thought that Fang Mu would be one of them!”

　　“This is going to be one intense battle! Fang Mu versus Junior Blood Immortal! I wonder who will be strongest!?!?”

　　Junior Blood Immortal emerged slowly, and when he saw Meng Hao, his mouth twisted into a vicious grin. Killing intent flickered in his eyes.

　　“So, we meet at last!” he said in a raspy voice, licking his lips. A shocking red glow could be seen in his eyes as he stared at Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao looked the boy over. He knew that he attacked with bizarre ferocity, and had reduced all of his opponents to pools of putrid blood, with the exception of Taiyang Zi.

　　Contrary to what one might expect, the boy had not made much of an impression during the ten stages of the trial by fire. He had achieved just enough to make it into the top 1,000. Clearly, he had been holding back in virtually all aspects.

　　Meng Hao’s expression was calm, and he said nothing. He merely looked indifferently at the boy.

　　When their gazes met, roaring sounds filled both of their minds as their divine senses made contact with each other. The boy’s eyes filled with surprise. He knew his opponent was powerful, and yet, still remained fully confident in himself. Taking advantage of the rumbling caused by the divine sense, he charged toward Meng Hao, raising his right hand to perform an incantation gesture. Bloody light flickered up, and the in the blink of an eye, a blood-colored bottle gourd appeared, rotating as it sped through the air toward Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever as he took a step forward. In that instant, the entire arena match leaf began to quake, and a wind began to swirl around Meng Hao.

　　“This divine ability of mine will cause all of the blood in your body to boil and turn into a putrid sludge!” The Junior Blood Immortal’s voice was now shrill as he called out. In the blink of an eye, the blood-colored bottle gourd began to exert an incredible gravitational force, as if it wanted to suck Meng Hao inside of it.

　　Meng Hao snorted coldly. He did not level any punches; this Junior Blood Immortal had a bizarre cultivation base, and Meng Hao would not take him lightly. The wind swirling around him quickly transformed into a violent tempest that shot forward. At the same time, his body transformed into a black vulture, which flapped its wings, charging through the gravitational force to appear directly in front of the boy, where it slashed out with claws vicious enough to shatter stone and metal.