Chapter 739: Patriarch Fifth Peak!

　　Legacy precious treasure!

　　In the Dao Reserve of every sect was some sort of precious item that would ensure the continued existence and development of the sect, and could also be used as a threat to protect it from its neighbors.

　　The Solitary Sword Sect’s Dao Reserve was multitudinous. However, it was the bamboo sword that truly intimidated the rest of the Southern Domain!

　　The sword came from the Ancient Dao Lakes, and was almost infinitely powerful. It could unleash different amounts of power depending on who wielded it, and after extensive research, the Solitary Sword Sect came to the conclusion that its true powers… could only be unleashed by an Immortal.

　　Unfortunately, although Immortals had appeared in the Solitary Sword Sect before, they were only false Immortals. As far as true Immortals went… from ancient times until the present, not a single one had ever appeared in the entire Southern Domain!

　　There was no need to even mention the Western Desert. True Immortals had only ever appeared in the Eastern Lands!

　　The early Dao Seeking expert from the Solitary Sword Sect took a deep breath and lifted his right hand. Shockingly, a leaf appeared again, which quickly began to grow. In the blink of an eye, a stalk of bamboo could be seen, which then peeled away to reveal… the bamboo sword!

　　“This sword is only a subcomponent of the main treasure,” the old man said coolly. “However, considering the level of my cultivation base, even if I had the full sword, I would only be able to wield a portion of its power.” With that, he raised the sword up, and abundant life force surged in the area. It was as if everything had turned green, and innumerable motes of light began to swirl around. The entire scene was extremely magnificent.

　　The Dao Seeking puppet from the Golden Frost Sect gave a cold snort. It lifted its right hand, and the tiny, hand-sized rock in its hand rose up into the air and began to expand. In the blink of an eye, it was a 3,000-meter-tall mountain.

　　It exuded an overbearing will, which exploded out to cover the area around the puppet. Ripples appeared, which transformed into a river that swept across the area. There was also a pulsating aura that emerged from the rock mountain.

　　This rock was also a precious legacy treasure, and was even more domineering than the Solitary Sword Sect’s bamboo sword. Everything beneath the mountain seemed about to crack and shatter.

　　The 5th Li Clan Patriarch was watching from off in the distance, his expression the same as ever, but his eyes cold and grim. He swished his sleeve, and the Feng Shui compass flew out. The countless magical symbols on the Feng Shui compass sank down and then began to glitter with shining light, giving off the feeling that there was some sort of enigmatic, undeterminable natural law at work.

　　All three of these people were not using their main treasures, but subcomponents. The true treasures were up in the air, wielded by the three Patriarchs who were battling with Patriarch Blood Demon.

　　When the three precious treasures appeared, the surrounding hundreds of thousands of cultivators slowly began to back up, yielding the battlefield to them and denying Meng Hao any opportunity to utilize the Blood Demon Grand Magic.

　　Meng Hao’s pupils constricted, and an intense sensation of crisis welled up inside of him. However, his expression remained as calm as ever. He had experienced such feelings of danger at virtually every moment during this battle.

　　“Cleave!” the Solitary Sword Sect Dao Seeking expert said coolly. His hand descended, and the Bamboo Sword sucked in all the green light that it had previously emitted and then transformed it into brilliant sword of light. It flew up into the air and then transformed into half of a green greatsword.

　　The greatsword, filled with indescribable power, slashed down toward Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao looked up.

　　“Ninth Mountain!” he said, and the Ninth Mountain appeared, only to immediately collapse.

　　Wooden Time Sword tips appeared, combining into a sword formation that instantly began to spin rapidly. And yet, this formation also fell apart almost immediately.

　　The Bamboo Sword continued relentlessly toward Meng Hao, who lifted his head up and roared, simultaneously stretching both hands out in front of him. In his left hand, a white fog appeared, and in his right hand, a black fog. They transformed into the Black White Pearls, which then flew up to resist the greatsword.

　　A huge boom echoed out. The greatsword shuddered and the Black White Pearls trembled. Meng Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the pearls vanished.

　　The greatsword seemed just on the verge of slashing into Meng Hao when a bloody glow suddenly appeared in his eyes. Cultivation base power exploded out, which he focused into his right hand and then punched out toward the descending sword.

　　Everything shook. The sword stopped in place, and Meng Hao’s hand looked as though it might be ripped to shreds. An indescribable pressure crushed down onto him, and cracking sounds could be heard from inside of him. It almost seemed like he couldn’t stand up to the power weighing down on him.

　　Countless rips appeared all over his body. Although they healed almost as soon as they appeared, the matchless speed with which more appeared made it so that Meng Hao was quickly covered in blood. It looked like he was about to be torn to pieces at any moment.

　　At the same time, the Golden Frost Sect puppet raised its hand, causing the 3,000-meter-tall mountain to teleport to a position directly above Meng Hao. It instantly began to crush downward.

　　BOOM!

　　Meng Hao’s body fell apart again, to be held together only by the Eternal stratum. The greatsword continued its slashing descent, sword qi swirling, causing Meng Hao’s body to fall apart again. The stony mountain continued its descent, emitting massive amounts of crushing pressure.

　　It was at this point that the 5th Li Clan Patriarch gave a cold snort and waved his hand, causing the Feng Shui compass to fly out.

　　“Black flames and hellfire, killing intent refined into a soul!” A vicious gleam appeared in the man’s eyes as he spoke. Black-colored fire suddenly spewed out of the Feng Shui compass, which then transformed into numerous black flame birds. Fully a thousand appeared, which then shot toward Meng Hao’s collapsing figure.

　　They were clearly aiming to strike a fatal blow!

　　Even with the Eternal stratum, Meng Hao would surely perish when facing an onslaught from precious treasures like these!

　　By this point, the Blood Demon Sect disciples were all going mad.

　　“Blood Prince!!” Not a single one held back. All of the Blood Demon Sect disciples transformed into beams of light as they utilized the top speed they could muster to shoot forward.

　　However, in the moment that they began to charge, the hunchbacked old man let out a sigh. His hunched back suddenly straightened a bit, and his features changed. He looked different than the old man from before.

　　“Shield, collapse!” He pushed his hands forcefully out in front of him, and an indescribable power spread out. As soon as it touched the fifth layer of the shield, it rippled and then, in the blink of an eye, shattered into pieces.

　　The shattering released an incredible, surging force that spread out in all directions. The intensity of it instantly caused the three precious treasures to stop in place. Then, they started to emanate ripples that caused the ground to quake and the air to rip.

　　Borrowing the force of the shattering, the hunchbacked old man dashed forward, reaching the location of the three precious treasures in only a moment. He raised up both hands, then jerked them down.

　　BOOM!

　　His cultivation base exploded out, creating a huge shield that covered over Meng Hao and his collapsing body. It seemed the old man was using all the power he could muster to protect Meng Hao and give him time to recover. As for him, he fought back alone against the three precious treasures.

　　The greatsword descended, and the hunchbacked old man’s body trembled. Blood spewed from his mouth, and a vicious gleam appeared in his eyes. Once again, his hunched back straightened, and his features changed to that of a middle-aged man. As he stood his ground, his cultivation base suddenly changed to that of the Second Severing.

　　Given the brief respite, Meng Hao’s body fused together once more, and it seemed that in a moment, it would be completely whole again.

　　That was when the mountain completely crushed down. The hunchbacked old man’s face went pale, and blood sprayed out from his entire body, forming something like a mist. His hunched back straightened even further, and he now looked like a young man.

　　By this point, Meng Hao’s body was more than half materialized.

　　Unfortunately, that was when the black flame birds arrived. Under their onslaught, the hunchbacked old man lifted his head up and roared. His back was now completely straightened, and he looked like a teenager. His cultivation base surged again, and he was in the Third Severing.

　　He now appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old. His features were handsome, and his energy surged. At the same time, his body burst into flames. Not flames of darkness, but flames of life force.

　　As he burned his life force, his cultivation base once again climbed up until it was at the early Dao Seeking stage, where it now contained natural law.

　　He was using his own life force to fight back against the three precious treasures.

　　The scene was moving even to the hundreds of thousands of enemy cultivators.

　　“Master!!” cried his apprentice, the pretty young woman. Tears were streaming down her face as she realized what he had chosen to do.

　　“Patriarch Fifth Peak!!”

　　“Patriarch!”

　　As the Blood Demon Sect disciples watched what was happening, their hearts quivered, and their eyes filled with tears.

　　Burning one’s life force in such a way would result in certain death!

　　Finally, Meng Hao’s body completely restored itself, and he opened his eyes to look at the teenager burning his life force to give him time to recover.

　　Although his fleshly body had been on the point of shattering, his soul and divine sense had remained, so he was aware of everything happening around him.

　　“You….” he said, his eyes filled with grief.

　　“Blood Prince,” said the teenager, his voice ancient and archaic, “you’ve done too much for the Blood Demon Sect already. This time, no arguing with me over who does what. This time, allow me to protect you!” He laughed happily, but his body quivered as he fought back against the three precious treasures. Even by burning his life force, he would not be able to hold out for very long.

　　“Get out of here!” he suddenly said, glancing back at Meng Hao. “I’m going to die, but before I do, I’ll sully these three precious treasures, making it impossible for them to be used against you, at least temporarily. The Patriarch is fighting, and so am I… but soon, everything will be up to you! Go!”

　　Meng Hao trembled as he realized that Patriarch Fifth Peak was already mentally prepared to die, and that there would be no changing his mind. Meng Hao’s heart felt like it was about to be ripped to shreds, but decisiveness appeared in his bloodshot eyes and he immediately retreated.

　　When he passed into the fourth layer of the shield, the teenager who had once been an old man smiled and continued to burn his life force.

　　“I’ve lived for too long, and seen too many things….” He turned back to look at his apprentice back in the Blood Demon Sect. He gave her a kind smile, then closed his eyes. The flames of his burning life force turned a bright, majestic red. Suddenly, his body exploded, releasing shocking, blood-colored undulations that slammed into the precious treasures, staining them red.

　　The precious treasures immediately grew dark and drab, as if their spirits had been sullied. They instantly began to fall toward the ground.

　　“MASTER!!” cried the heartbroken disciples of the fifth mountain peak. Tears ran like blood down the face of the pretty young woman.

　　All of the disciples of the Blood Demon Sect were trembling. Their previous hopelessness was now gone, replaced by frenzied hatred.

　　They needed no rousing speeches now. The Blood Demon Sect was like a sword, ready to kill!

　　Meng Hao looked up, and a shocking red glow could be seen in his eyes.