Chapter 816: Battling the Goddess

　　Everyone stood outside the courtyard, looking in with glittering eyes.

　　Within the courtyard, Meng Hao and his second true self were locked in combat with Goddess Fan Dong’er of the Ninth Sea God World. Off to the side, the vine swung back and forth, and laughter could be heard as the black blood dripped onto the ground.

　　At the same time, strands of black hair danced through the air. Countless Dao Projections appeared. Some sat in meditation, some concocted medicinal pills, and some employed Daoist magic. The copper lamp flickered weakly, illuminating the area. The crumbling statue of the divinity appeared to be emitting some faint, divine aura.

　　This was not the first night that these people had spent in the vicinity of the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple. However, when they caught sight of the Dao Projections, many people made hoarse exclamations.

　　“Passing down Daos!”

　　“Those Dao Projections are passing down Daos! If we can just get inside, we can acquire new Daos!”

　　“The Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple is full of good fortune!”

　　“Dammit! I wonder how many days Meng Hao was here for before we arrived. From the look of it, he already got the greatest good fortune of all, the Immortal Ancient Daoist Medallion!”

　　Outside, conversations buzzed. Inside, Meng Hao and his second true self had already fought over a hundred rounds with Fan Dong’er. Booming echoed out, and Fan Dong’er frowned as she was constantly pushed back in retreat, unable to to get close to the temple hall. Not only that, she was actually being forced to the point where she might get shoved out the main gate.

　　Meng Hao had originally been extremely nervous. However, after seeing that everything in the temple hall remained the same even after Fan Dong’er entered the courtyard, he was able to let out a sigh of relief.

　　“The crazy old man must have meant the temple hall and not the courtyard!” he thought. Eyes gleaming, he stretched out his hand toward Fan Dong’er in a claw-like gesture.

　　Fan Dong’er was getting angry. She snorted lightly and then lifted the Blue Lotus in her hand. Brilliant light shone out that seemed to contain blessings. It formed Immortal qi, which she sucked in through her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Then, golden light began to shine out from her eyes. She looked at Meng Hao and said a single word.

　　“Suppress!”

　　That single word caused Meng Hao’s pupils to constrict as he felt an incredible force come into existence around him. It instantly began to entangle him; even his second true self could feel its interference.

　　Fan Dong’er’s expression was cool as she prepared to enter the temple hall.

　　“Emerge!” Meng Hao shouted, and rumbling could be heard as his Dharma Idol appeared, shining with boundless radiance and surrounded by a great Dao. The Dharma Idol’s light shone up into the sky, and it seemed as if countless Immortal Divinities were sitting cross-legged around it, meditating. A snapping sound rang out as the invisible fetters were destroyed. Meng Hao shook himself free, then stretched his right hand out to use the Star Plucking Magic.

　　All it took was one snatching motion, and Fan Dong’er, who was still in mid-stride heading toward the temple hall, was dragged back to him.

　　Her body was completely beyond her own control as she flew through the air. Just when she seemed about to slam into Meng Hao’s hand, she gave a cold snort and performed an incantation with her left hand. She pointed to the ground, and a vast sea appeared beneath her, from within which more than ten roaring sea dragons burst out.

　　Meng Hao’s Star Plucking Magic dissipated, but by that point, his second true self had closed in. He waved his sleeve, and a boom could be heard as the air around Fan Dong’er shattered. Blood oozed from the corners of her mouth as she was sent staggering backward. In the meantime, Meng Hao performed an incantation gesture and pointed out.

　　The Blood Demon Grand Magic vortex instantly appeared. Both Meng Hao and his second true self were on the attack. All of the rapid changes in the battle were dazzling to the eye. There was no hesitation on anyone’s part, and attacks were made with complete confidence and speed.

　　RUUUMMMBLE!!

　　Fan Dong’er’s face fell. Meng Hao’s Blood Demon Grand Magic filled her with dread. She performed a double-handed incantation, causing a bright light to appear that seemed to shine down from the sky above. It descended to form the image of a mermaid behind Fan Dong’er.

　　The mermaid had extremely long hair, and was incredibly beautiful, and actually resembled Fan Dong’er somewhat, except that she wasn’t wearing any clothes whatsoever. Her bottom half was covered with scales, but as a whole, she emanated an enticing aura that would cause anyone to be attracted to her.

　　“So high and mighty, yet you summon something without clothes?” said Meng Hao sternly, glancing at the Dharma Idol. “How scandalous!”

　　“You glib lowlife!” she replied evenly. “One look and I could tell that you were a lecher!” She performed an incantation, causing her Dharma Idol’s eyes to shine with golden light.

　　“Ninth Sea God Lightning!” The four words echoed like thunder, and immediately caused four bolts of golden lightning to crackle down toward Meng Hao.

　　His eyes narrowed; these Chosen from the Ninth Mountain and Sea were all incredibly powerful. He had long since ceased to look down on them. He knew that he couldn’t view them as being ordinary peak Dao Seeking cultivators. These were all people who had high aspirations; they wanted to achieve true Immortal Ascension.

　　There were even some of them who had clearly practiced cultivation for many years, but were intentionally holding their cultivation bases back to wait for Immortal destiny.

　　Some of them gave Meng Hao a feeling of impending crisis. One was Zhao Yifan, and another was Fan Dong’er.

　　“There are many Chosen, and powerful experts are as numerous as the clouds,” he thought. “My path of cultivation has just begun; the vast world is just now opening up to me….” The desire to fight burned hot in his eyes. He truly couldn’t wait to step foot out of the lands of South Heaven into the starry sky, to contend with the Chosen of the Ninth Mountain and Sea.

　　“Today is just a sneak peek,” he thought. His body flickered as he sprang into motion. His Dharma Idol roared and grew even larger than before, and then sent a right hand speeding toward Fan Dong’er.

　　The four bolts of golden lightning sent out shocking ripples, but they were all obstructed Meng Hao’s Dharma Idol.

　　Echoes rattled out, and Fan Dong’er’s face fell. The second true self closed in along with a river of Time power, bursting with a murderous aura. Killing intent raged as he launched a vicious attack that very nearly sliced Fan Dong’er’s neck open.

　　“Just who is this Meng Hao…?” she thought. “There’s no need to even mention this clone of his. He himself is incredibly powerful, plus he has a Dharma Idol that depicts himself. Based on his power, he must be half a step into true Immortality!

　　“At the moment he still hasn’t merged back with his clone. When that happens….” Fan Dong’er’s eyes flickered.

　　“He seems to be concerned with people entering the temple hall. Could it be that there is some legacy process underway inside, and he doesn’t want anyone to interfere? I must disrupt that legacy!

　　“I can’t let a fifth Conclave disciple appear in this Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple!” Her eyes flickered with coldness.

　　“Ninth Sea God Will!” she said, retrieving a conch shell from her bag of holding. The conch shell immediately began to blaze with intense light that caused everything to tremble. The music of a great Dao began to spread out in all directions.

　　Everyone on the outside had long since been shaken by the intensity of the fighting inside. In addition, dread of Meng Hao had taken root in their hearts.

　　“To be able to fight with Fan Dong’er of the Ninth Sea God World means that this Meng Hao… is definitely a Chosen too!”

　　“That’s… a precious treasure of the Ninth Sea God World, the Nine Gods Conch!”

　　“According to legend, that conch once slew an almighty Dao Realm expert….”

　　“That’s not the real thing, it’s only a copy. However, it’s still shockingly powerful!”

　　As the buzz of conversation filled the air outside, Meng Hao’s face flickered. He could sense that this conch was intensely dangerous. His eyes flickered and he performed another incantation gesture, causing the sixth level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic to appear.

　　At the same time, Fan Dong’er’s eyes became ice cold as she raised the conch up and blew into it. As soon as her breath entered the conch, it began to emanate a golden light, within which was a strand of Dao music.

　　As the music drifted through the air, it sounded like a woman singing. It expanded out amorphously, transforming into three colorful bubbles, within each of which appeared to be a magical symbol. The sky grew dark, and wind screamed as one of the bubbles floated gently toward Meng Hao. He began to tremble, and his second true self seemed to lose control of his body and stopped in mid motion. It was at this point that bubble popped.

　　Blood sprayed from the mouth of the second true self as a roaring sound filled his ears. As he fell back, the second bubble floated forward and then popped. Meng Hao coughed up blood, and suddenly found that he was covered with countless strips of seaweed which were growing out from his skin to cover his whole body. At the same time, the seaweed bursting from his skin caused him to bleed profusely.

　　His second true self trembled as he too was covered with seaweed. The flourishing seaweed sucked away at Meng Hao’s life force, causing it to grow longer, and even take root in the ground. As a result, Meng Hao and his second true self were rapidly being rooted in place.

　　People outside of the courtyard gasped.

　　“The Curse of the Ninth Sea!!”

　　“This Meng Hao… is going to perish!”

　　Fan Dong’er coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered backward a few steps, her face pale; she had payed an incredible price in order to blow on the conch shell.

　　She took a deep breath as she looked over at Meng Hao and his second true self entangled in the seaweed. Her expression calm, she turned and hurried toward the temple hall.

　　Just when she was on the verge of stepping into the temple hall, a tremor ran through Fan Dong’er. The mud beneath her feet suddenly began to emanate a black mist. At the same time, a huge rumbling sound filled the entire area.

　　The courtyard trembled from the force of the explosion, and Fan Dong’er coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her body was completely beyond her control as she was sent flying into the air, more blood spurting out from her mouth.

　　“Meng Hao!” she cried, her heart filled with rage. She had been incredibly cautious in everything, but could never have imagined that Meng Hao would have buried black-peeled medicinal pills in front of the temple hall’s door.

　　Those pills had been secretly placed there by Meng Hao as a failsafe against the people from the outside.

　　At the same time that Fan Dong’er was sent flying backward, the third bubble neared Meng Hao. He trembled, and his eyes filled with a cold gleam. His second true self shuddered; he slowly began to fade away and turn into Meng Hao’s shadow, merging together with him.

　　“Fuse!” As he merged with his second true self, Meng Hao’s left eye was icy cold, whereas his right eye burned with murderous desire. The Dharma Idol behind him then changed; shockingly, half of it became completely black!

　　To everyone looking at it, it no longer looked holy, but rather, like a mixture between an Immortal and a Devil!

　　Rumbling sounds could be heard as the third bubble popped. However, at the same time, Meng Hao freed himself from the seaweed and launched a counterattack in the form of a punch.

　　A huge explosion filled the air and Meng Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood. Nonetheless, a bright gleam could be seen in his eyes as his hand snaked out toward the beautiful Fan Dong’er.

　　Fan Dong’er’s face flickered. She had been seriously injured, and now that Meng Hao had freed himself, she had no choice but to retreat from of the courtyard.

　　It was then that Meng Hao’s hand latched onto her.

　　“Trying to get away?”