Chapter 725: Grab That Soul!

　　The power of the gravitational force within the gap in the void was actually not very great. However, Meng Hao’s strike contained Dao Seeking power. An incredible wind arose which, in combination with the gravitational force, caused the others to gasp in shock.

　　The young man from the Solitary Sword Sect looked astonished as he was helplessly sucked toward the gap. It was the same with the Golden Frost Sect puppet, and even Lu Bai. In just a short moment, they were already nearing the rift.

　　Their expressions flashed again when Meng Hao, despite being as out of control as them, suddenly looked at them with flashing eyes.

　　“Blood Demon Grand Magic!”

　　An enormous vortex suddenly appeared around Meng Hao, and a gigantic red hand wrapped around him. He was using the Blood Demon Grand Magic, not on one of them, but on himself.

　　He was using the power of the red vortex to fight against the gravitational force coming from the gap.

　　A rumbling sound could be heard as Meng Hao instantly came to a stop. Everyone could see that, of the group, he was the closest to the soul of the true Immortal!

　　Fighting against the power of the gravitational force, he used the power of his fleshly body to shrug off the attacks from the Solitary Sword Sect teenager and Lu Bai, as well as the Golden Frost Sect puppet’s divine ability. After coughing up some blood, he stretched his hand out and grabbed the soul of the true Immortal!

　　“Dammit!!”

　　“Meng Hao, are you looking to die?!?!”

　　“Meng Hao!!”

　　As soon as he touched it, a rumbling filled his mind. At the same time, the soul of the true Immortal began to shrink. It took only a moment for it to transform into a crystal, which Meng Hao closed his fingers around.

　　“Got it!” he thought. His eyes glittered, and he prepared to teleport away.

　　However, it was in that instant that the 30,000-meter Dao Lake down below suddenly emitted an astonishing rumbling sound. At the same time, the lake water transformed into an enormous whirlpool that pulsed with an incredible gravitational force.

　　This intense gravitational force instantly superseded the gravitational force from the fissure in the air. Immediately, the Golden Frost Sect puppet broke into pieces, reverting to the five cultivators from the Golden Frost Sect. Their bodies were completely beyond their control, and they let out miserable screams as they were sucked down into the Dao Lake below.

　　Next were the young man from the Solitary Sword Sect and Lu Bai, whose faces instantly fell. The young man from the Solitary Sword Sect immediately crushed a jade slip. His body began to fade with the power of teleportation. However, it was not powerful enough, and he too was sucked down into the Dao Lake.

　　The power of Time immediately began to ripple around Lu Bai as he attempted to reverse the flow of time. However, after a single breath of time, the distortions shattered; time was incapable of being reversed. He was transformed into a streak of light and sucked down into the Dao Lake.

　　Meng Hao was the last person remaining. The Blood Demon Grand Magic remained, but it was trembling violently. Meng Hao’s mind reeled as he fought to free himself from the gravitational force. However, he was only able to hold out for the space of three breaths before cracking sounds could be heard from the Blood Demon Grand Magic and the enormous hand. They shattered, and Meng Hao was violently dragged down into the Dao Lake.

　　Almost in the same moment that they were sucked down into the 30,000-meter Dao Lake, two beams of light appeared far off in the distance. It took only one breath of time for two old men to suddenly appear above the lake.

　　“Dammit!!”

　　One of them immediately gestured down toward the lake, but not even a single ripple spread out across its surface. At the same time, more beams of light approached from all directions, closing in on the same position. These were all the peak Dao Seeking eccentrics who had sensed the soul of the true Immortal.

　　All of them were just a moment too late. However, they wouldn’t give up that easily. They joined forces to attack the lake, after which they guarded it, observing it for a long time. When they were finally convinced that they couldn’t get inside, they left, sighing with regret.

　　It was at that point that the Ancient Dao Lakes were finally restored to peace and quiet.

　　As for Meng Hao and the others, they were considered missing. Of course, the fact that Meng Hao ended up obtaining the soul of the true Immortal was something that couldn’t be kept under wraps. After all, Spirit Severing experts from all the clans and sects had witnessed the event personally.

　　More and more people across the Southern Domain learned of the matter, and the various eccentrics of the sects and clans nearly went mad. They even joined forces to perform auguries which revealed that Meng Hao was, in fact, not dead. A furious search then unfolded across the entire Southern Domain.

　　If Meng Hao appeared, then the sects would surely find out immediately. Of course, the Blood Demon Sect didn’t agree to all of that. As such, random skirmishes between sects became common in the lands of the Southern Domain.

　　The entire Southern Domain was slipping into chaos. Rogue cultivators feared for their lives; although there was no formal declaration of war, minor battles and fights were a common occurrence.

　　As for Meng Hao, after he was sucked down into the Dao Lake with the others, he entered what seemed like a tunnel, and then lost consciousness. He was sucked along for an indeterminable period of time before an incredible roaring sound suddenly shook him awake.

　　When he came to, he found himself in mid-air. Above was not a sky, but rather a boundless solid surface inlaid with infinite shining pearls that lit the entire area as brightly as day.

　　Interspersed among the pearls were the mouths of tunnels, virtually endless. As soon as he saw them, Meng Hao could guess that he had dropped out of just such an opening.

　　“What is this place…?” he thought, his mind trembling. As he looked around, his eyes instantly went wide and his face filled with shock.

　　He was… not in the Ancient Dao Lakes!

　　He was surrounded by endless ruins, the sheer enormity of which was difficult to describe. Wreckage and corpses stretched out in all directions, some of them half-buried. From the look of it, there were even more ruins that were completely buried beneath the ground.

　　It seemed as if this place was filled with layers of ruins that had built up over countless years of time.

　　There were also mountains visible!

　　The mountains were not true mountains, but rather, enormous collections of magical items, medicinal pills and even corpses. There were tens of thousands of such mountains scattered about everywhere. The sight was completely shocking.

　　Even more shocking was that in the middle of the tens of thousands of mountains floated an enormous portal of flames.

　　The bright red flames of the portal shot up high into the sky, causing the entire world to be filled with the color of its fire.

　　Up above in the air flew vicious winged creatures which were too numerous to count. Their bodies were completely violet, and they carried armfuls of magical items that they tossed into the portal’s flames, which then burned them to absolutely nothing.

　　Apparently, the magical items provided some sort of power, which caused magical symbols to occasionally appear on the flame portal. Every time the magical symbols flickered, a sea of flames would roil out.

　　Beneath the flame portal was a gigantic awl, fully 30,000 meters long. It was bright crimson, and was suspended in midair to point down toward a 3,000-meter wide abyss.

　　There were a few of the winged beasts who glowed with a silver light. They seemed as if they were in a position of great authority, and carried whips, which they used to lash the others. There were also some golden-colored beasts who lay prone near the flame portal, apparently asleep.

　　In addition to all that, there were also a variety of strange beasts going to and fro on foot. They emanated shocking auras as they made their way among the ruins, carrying all sorts of objects.

　　They carried corpses, magical items, spirit stones, and other wreckage.

　　Almost in the same moment that Meng Hao saw them, the denizens of this place seemed to notice him. They all stopped moving and suddenly looked in his direction.

　　Countless gazes came to fall on him, causing his scalp to go numb.

　　Meng Hao had actually seen the violet, winged, humanoid beasts being spit out from the Dao Lakes in the outside world. Each and every one he saw now was similar to the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage, and there were even some who had Spirit Severing auras.

　　As for the silver-colored beasts, each and every one…. was a Spirit Severing beast! There were even some who had Dao Seeking auras, nearly two hundred of them.

　　Most shocking of all… were the gold-colored beasts that lay prone by the flame portal. There were eleven in total.

　　From what Meng Hao could sense, the golden-colored beasts all had Dao Seeking power.

　　One of them was a violet-gold color, and Meng Hao could tell that it was even more powerful, at the peak of Dao Seeking.

　　It was even above Patriarch Six-Daos and the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch.

　　As for the beasts who walked about on foot on land, they were a bit weaker. Even still, the vast quantity of the beasts was in and of itself enough to fill Meng Hao with a sense of deadly crisis.

　　“What is this place?!” he thought, his scalp tingling. As he saw the beasts turning to look at him, he felt as if he were standing under the shadow of death. If the golden-colored beasts weren’t there, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But with them present, the threat Meng Hao sensed was just far too great.

　　Worst of all, there was a deep-gold-colored beast sitting in the middle of the fire portal. Meng Hao could sense an even more terrifying aura, the aura of an Immortal!

　　It was at this point that the gold-colored beasts laying prone around the flame portal all began to open their eyes. They stared over at Meng Hao with cold gazes. At the same time, the deep-gold-colored beast looked at Meng Hao, and he immediately felt as if he was being sealed in place.

　　“That thing is far more powerful than the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch!!” thought Meng Hao. “If Six-Daos were here, he wouldn’t be close to being a match.

　　“What kind of beast is this? I can’t believe this underground world has such shocking beasts in it. Or perhaps… they’re Demons?” His face flickered, and he edged backward. However, it was then that he suddenly saw a person pop out from one of the tunnel mouths up above.

　　It was none other than Lu Bai!

　　The instant he appeared, he looked around, and his face flickered.

　　After him came the young man from the Solitary Sword sect, and then the five Golden Frost Sect cultivators.

　　When he realized the order in which they emerged, Meng Hao’s eyes glittered.

　　“I was the last to be sucked in, but the first to be dropped out,” he thought. “The five Golden Frost Sect Spirit Severing cultivators were the first to be sucked in, and the last to drop out.”

　　When the young man from the Solitary Sword Sect and the five Golden Frost Sect cultivators saw the lands around them, their faces also fell.

　　All eight of the cultivators backed up, fearful of offending the terrifying beasts and provoking an attack.

　　“Foreigners!” an ancient voice said. It echoed out through the entire world, from none other than the most powerful of the beasts, the deep-gold-colored one that sat in the flame portal.

　　It flew up into the air and suddenly began to grow larger. In a brief moment, it was 300 meters long, and it appeared to be the overseer of the place.

　　“You are the second group of foreigners to arrive during this era…”