Chapter 547: Sealing Spirit Severing!

　　Seeing that Patriarch Huyan was going all out caused killing intent to flicker within Meng Hao’s eyes. Patriarch Huyan was in a state of mindless madness, but his battle prowess had leaped up, and was now completely beyond what it had been before!

　　Considering that Patriarch Huyan had entered such a state, Meng Hao had the option of simply dodging his attacks, then waiting for enough time to go by for this version of Patriarch Huyan to dissipate naturally. However, the desire for battle was thick in Meng Hao’s eyes. This was a fight to prove the power of his Cultivation base and achieve mastery of his divine abilities and magical arts through actual use.

　　To Meng Hao, this battle was a way to gain understanding and control over himself, to grow more perfect. Now that he was facing Patriarch Huyan’s most powerful divine ability, Meng Hao… had absolutely no desire whatsoever to flinch away. He would fight!

　　Even as the desire to engage in battle overflowed from Meng Hao’s eyes, Patriarch Huyan’s body flashed in yet another charge. Meng Hao’s lips turned up in a vicious smile as he did not retreat, but rather, counterattacked!

　　They slammed into each other, making continuous attacks that sent shocking booms to fill the area. The Violet Sea churned violently, and the air rippled with distortions. As the battle continued, popping sounds rang out from within Meng Hao’s body. He was suddenly sent tumbling backward. His borrowed Spirit Severing power was now growing unstable. According to his calculations, he had only three breaths of time left before it was gone.

　　In the final critical moment, Meng Hao suddenly rocketed up into the air. He looked down toward Patriarch Huyan, who was shooting toward him from the surface of the Violet Sea.

　　“I’ve gained a lot from this battle. Therefore, I think I’ll use the trump card that I recently mastered… to bury you!” A strange light burned in Meng Hao’s eyes as he spoke the words. In the final moment in which his borrowed Spirit Severing power was about to disappear, he took a deep breath. The image of a magical symbol suddenly flickered within his eyes.

　　It seemed as if his entire person had slipped into some indistinct state. He lifted his right hand, causing an enormous illusory image to appear behind him. That image was… a magical symbol!

　　It was blurry, but in the instant it appeared, the Violet Sea roared as it was pushed away. It was as if some shapeless pressure was pushing it away, forming a huge crater down below.

　　The air all around twisted with distortions. It was as if in the entire world, nothing existed except for this magical symbol.

　　The symbol’s origin was Meng Hao’s eyes, and his heart. This was none other than the magical symbol that Meng Hao had been trying to gain enlightenment regarding for years and years, the magical symbol from… the Black Lands Celestial soil!

　　Its true origin was the talisman from the Heavens that was destroyed, falling onto the Black Lands, where it transformed into black magical symbols.

　　Meng Hao still had not gained complete enlightenment. Therefore, to employ it required forceful use of his Cultivation base. However, with the borrowed power of the mastiff, he was able to do just that.

　　His expression was blank, as if he had lost use of his faculties. Within Meng Hao’s mind’s eye, he suddenly saw an image of a boundless starscape. In the middle of it all was an indistinct figure who bore the semblance of a transcendent being.

　　The figure stood there above Planet South Heaven, waving its finger to summon talismanic paper. It began to write on the paper and then, with indescribable hatred, waved its sleeve, causing the talisman to shoot toward South Heaven.

　　As soon as the talisman began its descent, an aura appeared from some unknown location in South Heaven. The two slammed into each other, causing vibrations to ripple out through space, filling Planet South Heaven with an enormous roaring sound.

　　Along with the roaring, the talisman began to burn into pieces, which then became ash. The ash fell down, transforming into the Black Lands. Within the remnants of the ash was the will of a Celestial talisman!

　　As Meng Hao hovered there in mid-air, he waved his right hand down. The magical symbol behind him turned black, then passed through Meng Hao’s body as it shot down toward Patriarch Huyan.

　　In that moment, Meng Hao seemed to have turned into the Immortal from all those years ago. As his hand descended, the magical symbol roared. At the same time, the blood-colored mask fell off of his face. The mastiff flew out, and Meng Hao’s Cultivation base fell down from the Spirit Severing stage to return to its previous level.

　　Patriarch Huyan’s body trembled. The three scales on his forehead flickered. It was as if his consciousness had been restored a bit in the face of this imminent crisis.

　　However, even as he recovered his faculties, the magical symbol closed in on him, emitting shocking roars. It slammed into Patriarch Huyan, causing the sound of an enormous explosion to lift up into the sky. An intense howl of despair could be heard from Patriarch Huyan as the magical symbol shoved him down into the Violet Sea.

　　The water seethed as it surged out in all directions. The magical symbol descended, shooting through the water until it slammed onto the seafloor.

　　Everything shook. Patriarch Huyan’s aura was nothing but a thread, and his body was virtually completely shattered, sealed tightly onto the bottom of the Violet Sea.

　　His Ancestral Awakening body was disappearing. As it did, his Nascent Divinity slowly became visible. Struggling, it began to transform into glittering dots of light that slowly dissipated out into the Violet Sea.

　　However, even as the Nascent Divinity Spirit Immortal was about to disappear, Meng Hao made a grasping motion toward the Violet Sea. A power of sealing appeared. It branded down onto Patriarch Huyan’s Nascent Divinity before it could die, instantly sealing it within the blood-colored mask.

　　“Want to die? It’s not that easy,” said Meng Hao coolly as he sealed it. “It would be too much of a pity to let a Nascent Divinity Spirit Immortal like this disappear. I think I’ll turn it into my third Soul of Lightning.”

　　Next, he produced some medicinal pills which he immediately consumed. He then closed his eyes for a moment and hovered there in mid-air. After some time passed, his eyes snapped open, and they glowed with a brilliant light. He suddenly slapped his hand onto the blood-colored mask.

　　The flag of three streamers appeared in Meng Hao’s hand, as well as a glowing black wheel that resembled a chariot’s wheel.

　　As the surroundings returned to their normal appearance, Meng Hao inspected the wheel with glittering eyes. Then, he sent his Divine Sense inside it, branding it with multiple layers, to make it completely his own.

　　It was an extraordinary treasure. Despite having its connection to Patriarch Huyan severed, Meng Hao still encountered some resistance when he was trying to brand it. He gave a cold snort, causing the Time Sword Formation to appear and emanate intense pressure. He also entered the Seventh Anima, causing its Divine Sense with a range just a hair away from 30,000 meters to bore into the Wheel of Time.

　　Meng Hao took a deep breath as the power of the successive brands caused the Wheel of Time to shrink down. It turned into a black glow that Meng Hao then swallowed. It sank down into his dantian region, suppressed by the seven Nascent Souls there.

　　Meanwhile back in the Black Lands…

　　The same moment in which Meng Hao sealed Patriarch Huyan’s Nascent Divinity Spirit Immortal, Patriarch Huyan’s white-robed true self was sitting cross-legged in meditation. Suddenly, a tremor ran through his body.

　　His face grew red, and although his eyes did not open, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.

　　As he coughed up the blood, his features changed. Before, he looked like a middle-aged man. Now, he seemed older. His hair was gray, and his skin wrinkled. An aura of decay suddenly emanated out from his body.

　　The aura was intense, and seemed to cause the flame of Patriarch Huyan’s life force to darken by quite a bit.

　　For his clone to be sealed, and its connection to him severed, had caused severe internal injuries to Patriarch Huyan. Were it an ordinary clone, it wouldn’t matter. Clones such as that were dispensable. But this Divine Clone was different. It was like a second life for him. As of this moment, his longevity was reduced, and his Cultivation base sank. It was no longer at the peak it had been before, and he could no longer wield the same level of power as earlier.

　　His face was pale. His body trembled as he took a deep breath. Even as he was about to begin treating his injuries, another tremor ran through him, and his eyes snapped open.

　　This was the first time he had opened his eyes during his secluded meditation of a hundred years. They did not open to shine with an expression of success. The entire hundred years of secluded meditation had been wasted, causing something that seemed like a tempest to appear in his eyes as soon as he opened them.

　　He glared at the space in front of him where three figures were materializing. One was an old person, another sported a luxuriant beard, and the third was a young boy in a red robe.

　　“So, Fellow Daoist Huyan, where are the precious treasures?” asked the red-robed boy, smiling at Patriarch Huyan.

　　Patriarch Huyan took a deep breath and suppressed his fury. These three people had obviously joined forces; that was the only way they could have gotten past the Tribe’s defenses. If Patriarch Huyan hadn’t decisively given up on his secluded meditation by opening his eyes, who knew what other machinations they might have attempted….

　　After all, despite being fellow Spirit Severing Cultivators who seemed to be on good terms with him, everything in such an arrangement had to do with mutual benefit. His Divine Clone had been destroyed, and his Cultivation base had just slipped from its peak. Although they might not have come here to outright attack him, they would definitely think of some ways to extort him to their benefit.

　　Patriarch Huyan’s face was grim as he waved his right hand. Instantly, three glowing beams of light shot out toward the three. One was a sword, the other a tree branch, and the third, a medicinal pill bottle.

　　The red-robed boy was the one to receive the pill bottle. It emanated a rippling aura, and was clearly very different from the other two.

　　As he tossed out the magical items, Patriarch Huyan coolly said, “As of this day, the Heavenly Pursuit Tribe secedes from the Heavenly Court Alliance. However… are the three of you really so sure that I will perish by the hand of that Meng Hao?”

　　The red-robed boy’s eyes glittered. The other two exchanged a glance and smiled. No one said anything. The three of them turned and left, vanishing, leaving behind nothing but ripples in the air.

　　After they disappeared, Patriarch Huyan coughed up a mouthful of blood, the price paid for forcefully ending his secluded meditation. His body suddenly grew blurry for a moment, and he aged even more. His eyes began to shine with a cold hardness.

　　“Considering how devious they are, they could obviously tell that I was willing to remove myself from the Alliance in order to prevent the Patriarch of the Cloud Sky Tribe from attacking me to get his way in. Furthermore, those three treasures were to ensure that the Wild Flame and Demon Butterfly Tribes don’t support that thieving Meng Hao!” Patriarch Huyan was shrewd and astute. During his battle with Meng Hao, he had seen that he might not necessarily be a match if he fought alone. He also could tell that Meng Hao would definitely come to the Black Lands looking for him. His main goal all along had been to come up with a reason to give out the three treasures, and thus ensure that the other three did not side against him.

　　Of course, everyone realized this. There was no need to point it out directly.

　　“Meng Hao!” growled Patriarch Huyan, grinding his teeth. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes once more. He needed to restore his power to its peak so that he could battle with Meng Hao.

　　As of now, not only did he hate Meng Hao down to his bones. He also felt… unprecedented fear!

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　　This chapter was sponsored by Aidan Fijalkowski, Epifanio Timalach, and Andrew Silvertooth