Chapter 723: True Immortal Soul

　　The lands of the region of the Ancient Dao Lakes sank down once again into a concave shape, almost as if it were inhaling.

　　The sight of it instantly caused the hundreds of thousands of cultivators on the outside to gape with wide eyes and reeling minds.

　　“A second… a second eruption!”

　　“When the 30-meter Dao Lakes erupt a second time, there’s a good chance that treasured items will appear. It’s the same with the 300-meter lakes. For the 3,000 meter lakes… there’s no need to even mention that. But this is actually… a second eruption of the 30,000 meter lake!”

　　“It’s going to spit out a precious treasure! It will definitely be a precious treasure!”

　　“It will definitely exceed everything from before! A… precious treasure!” If the cultivators on the outside were aware of such things, then one can only imagine the understanding of the people above the lake itself.

　　Even Lu Bai’s mind trembled. Abandoning any thoughts of fighting Meng Hao, he looked down at the Dao Lake, his heart quivering.

　　The teenager from the Solitary Sword Sect stared down at the Dao Lake with glittering eyes, and began to breathe heavily. “Don’t tell me… that sword wasn’t the good fortune. Is this… the real good fortune?!”

　　A strange gleam appeared in the eyes of the Golden Frost Sect puppet. The Golden Frost Sect cultivators inside had already acquired a treasure, and planned to leave, but seeing the new development caused them to collectively change their minds and resolve to make one last gamble.

　　Reverend Withered-Dao stared in astonishment and stood there mutely, while the Song Clan cultivators unleashed their auras. As for the 19th Li Clan Patriarch, he wiped the blood from his mouth and glared about with wild eyes. He had been defeated earlier, but this time he was willing to pay any price to steal something away.

　　Di Ye grumbled inwardly. He was currently weak, and not in a condition to be fighting. Next to him, Zhou Chen’s eyes began to shine brightly.

　　It was then that more rumbling could be heard. The second eruption of the Dao Lake would begin momentarily. The lake water began to boil, and it seemed a huge blast was imminent.

　　Just when the lake was about to erupt… all of a sudden, Meng Hao flickered and shot toward the 19th Li Clan Patriarch.

　　“Dammit!!” The 19th Li Clan Patriarch’s face fell, and he retreated at top speed. The other Li Clan members behind him all had similar reactions.

　　“Lunatic! Madman! The second eruption is about to begin and you still think you have time to try to kill us?!”

　　“Meng Hao, what are you doing!?!?”

　　“You crossed the 30,000-meter line, so I’m going to kill you,” responded Meng Hao coolly. He had never had a good impression of the Li Clan. Whether it was Li Daoyi that year in the Blood Immortal Tournament, or the overbearing way that the Li Clan cultivators forced him into a corner outside the rebirth cave, they all caused Meng Hao’s killing intent to rise. 1

　　Currently, the qi and blood in his body was bursting with vigor. After having absorbed Di Ye’s fleshly body, he was ready to explode out with power at any moment. He moved forward with incredible speed, and as he neared, waved a sleeve.

　　Immediately, a gigantic hand magically appeared, which emanated a Dao Seeking aura as it shot toward the Li Clan members.

　　Surrounding cultivators watched on but did not interfere. The eruption was imminent, and they were more concerned with what treasures would appear.

　　BOOM!!

　　Five people, including the 19th Li Clan Patriarch, all spit out blood and tumbled backward. They were just about to employ teleportation talismans to leave, when Meng Hao pointed a finger toward them.

　　The Blood Demon Grand Magic appeared. A blood-colored vortex began to spin around them. The 19th Li Clan Patriarch and the others could only watch on in shock.

　　“NO!!”

　　“Meng Hao, let us go! Give us a chance!”

　　“We’ll leave immediately! IMMEDIATELY!”

　　“Did you give me a chance at the Rebirth Cave that year?” responded Meng Hao coolly. The blood-colored vortex began to absorb them, and miserable screams rang out. The bodies of all five, including the 19th Li Clan Patriarch, rapidly withered. Massive amounts of qi and blood power flew toward Meng Hao.

　　As that happened, Meng Hao’s fleshly body became even more powerful.

　　A Dao Seeking aura exploded out, followed by bloodcurdling screams as the Li Clan cultivators’ bodies turned into skeletons. As the skeletons shattered into dust, their Nascent Divinities flew out and tried to escape. Meng Hao waved his arm in response.

　　Wither!

　　A wind suddenly kicked up, and the five Nascent Divinities trembled for a moment, and then began to wither and dry up. It took only a moment for the five Li Clan cultivators to be dead in body and soul.

　　“It’s too bad I haven’t entered the third level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic, otherwise I could use the Spirit Meridians stratum!” Even as Meng Hao sensed the ripples of strength inside his fleshly body, a massive roaring sound filled the air.

　　Down below, the 30,000-meter Dao Lake was beginning to erupt!

　　The second eruption!

　　All eyes came to be fixed on the lake down below, and the boundless lake water rising up into the air. There was only one person who wasn’t looking at the lake.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes flickered over to Dao Child Zhou Chen of the Coffin Altar Sect. After a quick glance, he headed directly in the man’s direction.

　　Who would have ever thought that Meng Hao would actually attack Zhou Chen? Even Zhou Chen could scarcely believe it. After all, he had no enmity with Meng Hao.

　　Moving with incredible speed, Meng Hao punched out. A Dao Seeking aura surged out, and the air shattered as the fist sped toward Zhou Chen. Zhou Chen’s energy surged; he performed an incantation and then shoved his hand out in front of him.

　　BOOM!

　　Blood sprayed from Zhou Chen’s mouth, and he tumbled backward. Mind spinning, he roared, “What are you doing?!?!”

　　“I want the halo you took earlier and put into your bag of holding,” said Meng Hao, advancing toward him.

　　“Dammit! DAMMIT!!” Zhou Chen was just about to retreat when suddenly the eruption of the Dao Lake grew more intense. A bright glow appeared within the water, as if treasured items were about to appear.

　　By this point, nobody was paying attention to Meng Hao and Zhou Chen, although they remained on guard. Virtually all attention was focused on the Dao Lake below.

　　Meng Hao punched again, and a shocking rumble sounded out. Zhou Chen’s face paled as he tumbled back. He performed an incantation gesture that caused his body to distort and grow blurry, but he was still just as incapable of fighting back. More blood sprayed from his mouth.

　　“Too powerful! I’m simply not a match for him!” Zhou Chen’s face was ashen. The timing of Meng Hao’s attack couldn’t be worse for him. Right now, teleportation was impossible; it only worked after the eruption had begun.

　　“It’s going to erupt any moment now,” he thought, clenching his teeth. “There’s no way that I can’t hold on for just a few breaths worth of time!”

　　Meng Hao’s expression was cold. The reason he had attacked the Li Clan cultivators was to absorb their qi and blood, which he planned to then use to snatch away treasures that others had already collected.

　　There was no enmity between him and Zhou Chen. However, it was better to rob Northern Reaches cultivators than Southern Domain cultivators. That had nothing to do with any hatred between them, but rather territorial allegiances.

　　Of course, this was a line of reasoning that Zhou Chen wouldn’t be able to understand.

　　“Give me the halo, or you die!” said Meng Hao, shooting in pursuit. The rumbling of the Dao Lake grew even more intense; the waters were boiling, and had sunken down so low that it appeared the eruption would occur in the next breath.

　　“Hold on!” thought Zhou Chen, gritting his teeth tightly. “Just hold on a few more breaths!” His face flickering, he retreated with all the speed he could muster.”

　　“You really are looking to die!!” Meng Hao said with a cold snort. He waved his hand, causing the Ninth Mountain to appear, around which swirled the Black White Pearls. As it descended toward Zhou Chen, Zhou Chen’s face filled with intense astonishment. He wanted to struggle, but Meng Hao’s fleshly body was already comparable to Dao Seeking. Meng Hao raised his right hand up, seemingly fusing it with the Ninth Mountain. An indescribable force of destruction then rumbled down.

　　CRUSHING!!

　　An incredible sensation of deadly crisis filled Zhou Chen’s heart. The sensation was intense to the extreme; Zhou Chen was absolutely certain that he was incapable of evading, and that if the mountain did strike him, he would be dead in body and spirit.

　　“Dammit!!” He was a decisive person, so with a snarl, he produced the glowing, golden halo from his bag of holding and tossed it out. The instant that Meng Hao laid hands on it…

　　RUMMMBBBLLLEEE!

　　The Dao Lake erupted!

　　Endless amounts of lake water shot up into the air, within which could be seen, not vast quantities of treasures like the first time, but only one item!

　　It was an illusory object that shone with multitudinous colors, like a soul. It looked like a man, although the features were somewhat obscure. As soon as the soul shot out from within the lake water, the sky grew dark and the land below began to quake.

　　An unprecedented aura suddenly burst out, the intensity of which could suppress Spirit Severing and subdue Dao Seeking. This was….

　　Immortal!!

　　An Immortal aura surged skyward.

　　Furthermore, it was not that of a false Immortal but rather… a true Immortal! The area surrounding the soul instantly changed; natural law spun and altered, as if this object’s existence could substitute its own laws for what already existed.

　　“The soul of a true Immortal!” said the teenager from the Solitary Sword Sect, his voice hoarse and his expression one of extreme excitement.

　　“True Immortal’s soul!” said the Golden Frost Sect puppet, panting.

　　Reverend Withered-Dao, the Song Clan Patriarch and everyone else were completely shocked. Although they had all braced themselves mentally earlier and knew that the second eruption of the Dao Lake would produce a precious treasure, none of them had ever imagined that it would actually be… the soul of a true Immortal!

　　“To someone at the peak of Dao Seeking, absorbing the soul of a true Immortal would create an incredible opportunity to achieve true Immortal Ascension!”

　　“It’s actually a true Immortal’s soul!”

　　Not many people actually recognized what it was, especially among the hundreds of thousands of cultivators outside. However, the majority of the people above the 30,000-meter lake could tell what it was at a single glance.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes glittered.

　　There were both true and false Immortals. True Immortals were people who were enlightened regarding a personal Dao, and after reaching the pinnacle, experienced Immortal Tribulation. Those who survived passed from Dao Seeking to Immortal Ascension!

　　On the other hand, false Immortals faced no Immortal Tribulation. They carved their name onto the Immortality Bestowal Dais of the Ninth Mountain, and were bestowed with Immortality. They had Immortal qi, but… could only be Immortals in the Ninth Mountain.

　　Such Immortals could not step foot outside of the Ninth Mountain. Furthermore, were the Immortality Bestowal Dais to be destroyed, they would all perish. After all… they were all Immortals of the Ji Clan!

　　“Not good! The appearance of a true Immortal soul will definitely attract the attention of the peak Dao Seeking cultivators from the various sects and clans of the Southern Domain.”

　　“This aura is extremely difficult to seal. It won’t get out of the Southern Domain, but as of this moment, there are definitely people here who have already sensed it.”

　　The Solitary Sword Sect teenager, the Golden Frost Sect puppet and Reverend Withered-Dao, as well as some of the other cultivators, all realized what this meant.

　　“Fight!!”

　　“I have to get my hands on it as quickly as possible! Even if I can’t use it, I can give it as a gift, and still be rewarded with incredible good fortune!”

　　“I have to have it! Anyone who fights me for it is dead!”

　　The teenager from the Solitary Sword Sect shot out, his eyes bloodshot. Everyone else in the area also shot forward with glowing eyes.

　　In the blink of an eye, everyone surged into motion, even Meng Hao.

　　Fight for the soul of the true Immortal!

　　They would fight to gain control of the true Immortal soul as soon as possible, before the peak Dao Seeking eccentrics arrived. This was Immortal destiny, the opportunity to become a true Immortal. When opportunities such as this came along, nothing else was important.

　　The only important thing… was the Immortal destiny!

　　BOOM!!

　　1. Li Daoyi was Meng Hao’s main competition in the Blood Immortal Tournament. He made his major debut in chapter 130. He killed him in chapter 305, shortly after which the Li Clan Nascent Soul cultivators joined forces with the Ji Clan in chapter 311 to try to kill Meng Hao.