Chapter 769: The Power of the Curse!

　　Hellwither Nineruins was refined from the blood, flesh and fat of a true Immortal. By congealing the deep rancor felt by a true Immortal in the moments before death, a powerful curse was formed. As long as it didn’t touch any land, its power was ordinary. However, once it touched the land, the power of the curse would be unleashed on all living things that were born in that land.

　　It only had one fatal flaw, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say a weakness. While it was true that it used the refined rancor of a true Immortal’s flesh and blood to curse the land, the curse couldn’t be sustained for very long. At the most, it would last for three months before the land naturally purified itself!

　　Unfortunately, three months was enough time for all of the cultivators in the Southern Domain to be completely withered up and weakened to the point of death. For those who didn’t die, their cultivation bases would be significantly reduced.

　　The best way to use it was to enact the curse the moment the army arrived. Then, the Northern Reaches army could slaughter their way in like a thunderbolt, and quickly eliminate the foundation of the Southern Domain.

　　The Northern Reaches placed significant importance on the war with the Southern Domain. Because of that, the Imperial Bloodline Clan had spared nothing, not even the final remnants of its Hellwither Nineruins Incense, of which there was not one piece, but two.

　　One of the incense sticks had been used in an overt attack, the other in a sneak attack. That way… they hoped to ensure that at least one of the incense sticks touched the ground of the Southern Domain.

　　The Northern Reaches only had two chances!

　　And both of those chances were due to… the bizarre treasures of the Imperial Bloodline Clan!

　　The Imperial Bloodline Clan… could actually trace its origins back to the Southern Domain. However, long ago, they were suppressed by Lord Ji when he unified the four great planets and became the Lord of the Ninth Mountain.

　　As for the Imperial Bloodline Sect of the Northern Reaches, they were actually a branch of the Imperial Bloodline Clan, with the same bloodline. The only difference was that, instead of following the Imperial Bloodline’s internal family hierarchy, its structure was set up in the form of a Sect. Furthermore, they had sent out a big announcement to attract outsiders to join, and thus increase their overall power.

　　Under normal circumstances, the Northern Reaches would not dare to use such a bizarre treasure right under the noses of the Ji Clan in the Eastern Lands, not even with the Southern Domain in chaos.

　　But now… the true Immortality destiny had appeared. During this period of time, whoever came out on top in the struggle for the Immortality destiny would be able to achieve true Immortal Ascension. Using a special technique, the Imperial Bloodline Clan was able to determine that the source of the Immortality destiny… was in the Southern Domain!

　　That was why they attacked with such madness!

　　By occupying the Southern Domain, they could control the source of the Immortality destiny.

　　Currently, miserable shrieks could be heard coming from the crowds on the Resurrection Lily bridge. The first wave of hundreds of thousands of Northern Reaches cultivators screamed as their bodies were withered, and their cultivation bases dropped.

　　They were sustaining significant losses before they even stepped foot into the Southern Domain. That caused the four peak Dao Seeking leaders that had come with this first wave to go mad.

　　Their hatred for Meng Hao instantly exploded to monstrous heights.

　　However, the lands of the Southern Domain were still in imminent danger!

　　In the blink of an eye, the grayness of the Hellwither Nineruins Incense spread out rapidly, and it wouldn’t take long for it to cover the entire Southern Domain.

　　It was a deep gray, almost black. Plants and vegetation withered and died as far as the eye could see. Wild animals screamed miserably and tried to flee, but rapidly weakened and then fell to the ground, trembling, eyes filled with despair.

　　Up in midair, Patriarch Song’s face went pale white. Even though he was floating above the ground, his body instantly began to emanate black smoke. The same thing happened to Sun Tao, the 3rd Li Clan Patriarch, and Patriarch Golden Frost.

　　Black smoke curled up as their flesh and blood began to rot. It was the same with Pill Demon.

　　“Hellwither Nineruins Incense….” said Pill Demon with a bitter chuckle. “The Northern Reaches want to cut off our Southern Domain cultivators’ foundation. This curse… even if we flee the Southern Domain at top speed, it won’t do any good. Anyone born in these lands will be incapable of fleeing…. This curse is so potent!” Even as he spoke, black smoke rose up from his body in wisps, and the grayness spread further.

　　“If only we could stop the curse from spreading… but how?!” It was in this moment that Pill Demon, his face twisted with sorrow, looked over at Meng Hao, who was trembling with rage, his eyes bloodshot. Pill Demon gaped. “Hao’er… you’re… you’re not affected by the curse!!”

　　Meng Hao’s body wasn’t emanating any black smoke at all…. Earlier, before the Hellwither Nineruins Incense touched the ground, it had affected him. But now that the Southern Domain had been cursed, only people who were born there would be affected. However, Meng Hao… didn’t seem to be affected at all!

　　As for his second true self, it had been created using his own fleshly body, so it was the same.

　　Meng Hao didn’t have time to think about why the curse wasn’t affecting him. His eyes were shot with blood as he flew down toward the ground. He could see that there was nothing he could do to stop the rapid spread of the curse. He could also see that the grayness of the curse had already reached the location of the wedding ceremony. Everything was turning gray.

　　At the site of the wedding, hundreds of thousands of cultivators were combining their cultivation base power to form a windstorm in a desperate attempt to fight back. The purifying effect of the windstorm was somewhat effective in reducing the power of the curse, but could not completely block it.

　　Black smoke was already starting to roil up in shocking fashion.

　　By now, the four Northern Reaches peak Dao Seeking experts had noticed that Meng Hao was wearing garments that cultivators normally wouldn’t wear. They also saw the wedding decorations off in the distance. Finally, they understood.

　　“Don’t tell me that the Southern Domain cultivators were actually gathered here to attend this guy’s wedding!” said the old man in the animal skins. His eyes flashed with a bright light.

　　The two men who looked like animated corpses smiled ruthlessly. “Hundreds of thousands of cultivators gathered for a cultivator bonding ceremony!” said one of them. “It’s destined to be soaked with the color of blood!”

　　“Hahaha!” laughed the young boy. “A wonderful Red Wedding!” 1

　　“It’s too bad they’re all gathered together, though. If they were scattered out across the land, the Hellwither Nineruins could spread out with even greater impact. Now… it seems it will be a bit weaker.”

　　Meng Hao shot at top speed back toward the site of the wedding. He immediately burst through the windstorm to appear above the island in the lake.

　　Xu Qing, Chu Yuyan, everyone was all sitting cross-legged, pouring the power of their cultivation bases into the windstorm to fight back against the curse.

　　Xu Qing’s body was trembling especially hard. Because of her unique situation… the curse affected her even more severely than the others!

　　As soon as Meng Hao saw Xu Qing, his eyes filled with resolve. He stretched out his right hand and slammed it hard onto the surface of the ground. Immediately, the fourth level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic spun into motion.

　　Instead of absorbing blood or cultivation bases, he would use the Blood Demon Grand Magic vortex to try to absorb the curse power of the Hellwither Nineruins!

　　Meng Hao wasn’t sure if it would work, but he could think of no other options. The Northern Reaches had invaded on the day of his wedding. A joyous occasion had become lifeless. This was something he could not accept!

　　His heart quivered, and he was on the verge of insanity. The Blood Demon Grand Magic spun rapidly, a golden vortex that encompassed him, the island, and the entire lake.

　　It rotated rapidly, causing the lake water to also spin around. However, although it seemed as if the Hellwither curse was being affected at first, it suddenly seemed to completely ignore Meng Hao.

　　“Get over here!!” he roared. He ripped open a huge gash in his right palm, sending bright red blood splashing down onto the ground. At the same time that the blood entered the soil, the Blood Demon Grand Magic reached the pinnacle of its speed. Finally, the Hellwither curse was affected and started to near him. However… it was going far too slow!

　　“Second true self!” he cried. His second true self shot down from up above and landed behind him. He sat down cross legged, then stretched his right hand out and placed it on the middle of Meng Hao’s back.

　　By combining his own power with that of his second true self, Meng Hao was able to push the fourth level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic even faster.

　　RUMBLE!

　　It was like flinging a drop of water into a hot frying pan. The water in the lake boiled, with Meng Hao at the center. The Hellwither curse power that filled the land immediately began to surge toward Meng Hao.

　　It followed his blood and flesh to his palm, where it entered his body. He instantly began to tremble, and his hair turned white. His body also started to wither as vast amounts of curse power gathered together within him.

　　He was forcing the curse to fuse into him!

　　The Eternal stratum immediately surged into action as he used his own body to attempt to purify the land of the Hellwither curse. Any other person would be incapable of doing this. Meng Hao only had such a chance because he had the Eternal stratum.

　　Rumbling surrounded him as the Eternal stratum restored his body. As soon as it happened though, more curse power began to wither him away. It was a vicious cycle; in the short space of a few breaths of time, the Eternal stratum restored his body countless times.

　　Everything rumbled as the grayness in the area… began to change. From up above in the sky, it was obvious that Meng Hao was like a black hole into which the grayness of the curse power was being sucked, cleansing the land.

　　The four peak Dao Seeking experts from the Northern Reaches were completely shocked.

　　“Impossible!”

　　“Who is he?!?! That peak Dao Seeking cultivator is his clone!”

　　“He was clearly not affected by the curse! He wasn’t born in the lands of South Heaven 2! But his physical body… is actually… so powerful that he can can affect the Hellwither curse by himself!”

　　In all their years of cultivation, they had never encountered a cultivator as fearsome as this.

　　“Inhuman!” In their shock, they flew forward in an attempt to stop Meng Hao. However, how could Patriarch Song and Pill Demon possibly let them do as they pleased? After all, they had now seen a ray of hope. Along with Sun Tao, Patriarch Golden Frost and the 3rd Li Clan Patriarch, they flew forward, using their full strength to block the way.

　　Booms echoed out and the four Northern Reaches cultivators howled. However, they could do nothing to break through and had no way to interfere with Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao’s body trembled visibly as it was continuously withered away and then restored. The severity of the pain was enough to cause all but the most strong-willed person to pass out.

　　He gritted his teeth and continued on doggedly. However, then he looked over and saw Xu Qing sitting there, shivering even more violently than before.

　　“Too slow! I need to go faster!!” He pushed his left hand down onto the ground.

　　RUMBLE!

　　Curse power surged madly toward his two hands, furiously pouring into his body.

　　The grayness of the land was gradually fading away!

　　—–

　　This chapter was sponsored by Teemu Joensuu, Michael Michalczyk, Caleb Gleason, Kirkion, Nathaniel Charles, Kevin Le, Monty St John, Antony Coe, Remco Schimmel, Abu, Michael Q, Ng Inn Shan, and Joel F.

　　1. Yes, this is the same term used to describe the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones, at least in the TV show. It literally means “blood-colored wedding,” but considering it appears to be a direct reference to THE Red Wedding, I think this is the best way to translate it. Incidentally, Game of Thrones is also popular in China. Some people download it, others watch the subtitled, edited version which is available to view streaming online. That version is mostly edited for sex, not violence.

　　2. Questions have been directed to me in the comments section, on Reddit, and via e-mail, so I’m adding this footnote. The original Chinese says “South Heaven” in this part. It is not a typo