Chapter 502: Flying Locust Tribe

　　When it came time to leave, it wasn’t just Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun who were reluctant to part. The members of the two Tribes stared at each other silently. Neither harbored any further desire to fight each other anymore. Instead, they respected and appreciated each other.

　　As far as the Battle Tribe went, they were in somewhat of a better situation. They knew that soon, the Crow Divinity Tribe would be facing up against another auxiliary branch of the great Cloud Sky Tribe, and after that, the fearsome South region.

　　Each and every one of the Tribes who managed to slaughter their way into the South from the East, West, North and Central regions, were incredibly valiant. The ones that did not have Demon Spirits roamed the area near the Black Lands, hoping for other Tribes to arrive that did. It was just like the saying, “waiting by the tree stump, waiting for more rabbits to come and dash themselves against it.”

　　That was the only hope for survival for such Tribes.

　　The Greatfather of the Battle Tribe had recently gotten to know the two late Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Crow Divinity Tribe. Now that the time had come to part, he sighed emotionally in his heart.

　　No one could possibly have predicted that these two Tribes would form such a strange relationship over the course of half a year.

　　The members of the Battle Tribe clasped hands. “Take care!”

　　The members of the Crow Divinity Tribe clasped hands and bowed in response.

　　Zhou Dekun was quiet for a moment as he looked at Meng Hao. Finally, he sighed. “Junior Brother, if you ever make it back to the Southern Domain, please find Master and kowtow to him for me. The year he came to the Black Lands, he accepted me as an apprentice. He told me that my path is not in the Southern Domain, but out in the rest of the world….

　　“I really want to go back to the Southern Domain. One day, if I don’t perish, then I, Zhou Dekun, will definitely return there, and return to the East Pill Division….

　　“Junior Brother, you must take care of yourself on your journey. I can only escort you to this point. In three days, the Flying Locust Tribe will arrive. Their mission is to exterminate you….

　　“Junior Brother, the time has come to part. I have nothing that I can offer to you as a gift except for this….” Eyes glittering, Zhou Dekun waved his right hand, causing 10,000 neo-demons to fly out from within his bag of holding. Each one possessed incredible Cultivation bases. They instantly flew out into the air, roaring, their auras clearly extraordinary.

　　“This is my personal neo-demon horde, although I can’t control them. In the Western Desert, neo-demons are valuable resources, so I will give them to you!” As soon as they appeared, they began to dissolve into chaos. Meng Hao glanced them over, and then caused Demonic Qi to emanate out from his body. The neo-demons instantly began to quiver as they looked over at Meng Hao. They roared, but they were no longer in a state of disturbance.

　　Zhou Dekun looked over at the Battle Tribe. “Battle Tribe Greatfather and High Priest, I will never forget the spirit of cooperation you have shown these days. I will take all responsibility for this mission.

　　“However, at the moment, I would like to ask you to lend me some neo-demons. When we get back to the Tribe, I will think of a way to repay you!”

　　Eight thousand Battle Tribe members stood there silently. Slowly, each and every one produced two or three neo-demons. In total, 20,000 were delivered over.

　　They had no Dragoneer, only personal neo-demons, each of which was not low level. The sight of the 20,000 neo-demons caused Meng Hao to be visibly moved. To any Western Desert Tribe, this represented a vast amount of wealth. Meng Hao looked at Zhou Dekun.

　　Zhou Dekun looked back. He took a deep breath and then began to speak in a tone that you would use with family, “There’s no need to refuse, Junior Brother. This is the only way I have to help you. Meng Hao… take care!” Deep warmth filled his heart. They looked at each other for a moment, and then Zhou Dekun gave Meng Hao a firm embrace.

　　“Take care….” Zhou Dekun turned and flicked his sleeve. The members of the Battle Tribe gave the Crow Divinity Tribe one last deep glance before the black swords whistled off into the distance to disappear over the horizon.

　　Now, only the Crow Divinity Tribe was left floating there in midair along with 30,000 neo-demons. Meng Hao watched Zhou Dekun leave. After a long moment passed, he took a deep breath and then turned. He slowly wiped the emotion from his face, causing it to once again become ice cold.

　　He waved his hand, sucking the 30,000 neo-demons into his bag of holding. During the past half year, he had lost 50,000 neo-demons, including ones that had been consumed as food. With this replenishment, his horde now numbered 150,000!

　　When a horde of 150,000 neo-demons spread out, it was enough to shake the entire Western Desert. Such a vast number exceeded that which even great Tribes like the Five Poisons Tribe would have. If Meng Hao had possessed a neo-demon horde this large, then in the battle that year with the Five Poisons Tribe, he would have completely crushed them!

　　In the vast lands of the Western Desert, only great Tribes with Spirit Severing Patriarchs could sustain such a large accumulation of neo-demons like this.

　　Despite that, there was no Dragoneer who could possibly control 150,000 neo-demons at once. Even the legendary Grand Dragoneers would not be able to do so.

　　Meng Hao, however, could control that and even more.

　　150,000 neo-demons didn’t count for much as far as he was concerned. He wasn’t using his Cultivation base to control them, but rather, Demonic Qi. He could control 150,000, or 300,000, even 500,000.

　　Right now, Meng Hao and the Crow Divinity Tribe had reached a point on their campaign trail in which they had completely risen to prominence from within the flames of battle. They could now thoroughly rock even great Tribes.

　　“We are more than halfway to our destination….” said Meng Hao. “Once we leave the Western Desert Central region, the only thing in front of us will be the Western Desert South region. Beyond that… are the Black Lands!” Meng Hao flicked his wide sleeve, and a gleam of determination appeared in the eyes of the Crow Divinity Tribe members. Their airship whistled into motion.

　　A rumbling sound could be heard as it transformed into a beam of colorful light.

　　Three days later, Meng Hao looked off into the far distance toward the area that was the border between the Western Desert Central and South regions. In recent days, the Western Desert North region had completely been turned into a sea. Of course, the East, West, and Central regions had no way to escape the disaster. The seawater flowed into those areas as well; the lakes were joining together and rising up.

　　No plains were visible. Mountainous valleys had long since been turned into underwater graves. The violet rain continued to pound down, inundating the land. The seawater grew deeper and deeper…. Everywhere was turning into a sea.

　　In some areas were places that resembled islands. However, the extermination of life force caused a thick aura of death to rise up everywhere. As for spiritual energy….

　　It was no longer extremely thin, but rather… not there.

　　The only hope lay in the South. The South region had the highest elevation, and was the only place that wasn’t being run over with seawater. However, Meng Hao could only imagine how many Tribes must be gathered there. Although it might not be correct to say it was overrun, but probably close.

　　Now, though, the Crow Divinity Tribe were not the weaklings they had once been. They were fierce and intrepid. They were the type of Tribe that others took seriously, even feared.

　　“We’re now on the final home stretch of our journey….” Meng Hao took a deep breath as the airship shot through the air. Even as they neared the border, Meng Hao’s eyes suddenly glittered with killing intent. He turned back to look off into the sky.

　　A yellowish glow could be seen shooting toward them from off in the distance. Before it even got close, buzzing sounds could be heard echoing out. It was now possible to see that the yellow glow was actually made up for countless winged locusts. Each one was about the size of a hand, and they were extremely fierce in appearance. There were tens of thousands of them, seemingly enough to blot out the sky.

　　Scattered about among the locusts were more than seven thousand Cultivators. All of them had expressions of disdain on their faces as they shot with the locusts toward the Crow Divinity Tribe.

　　Among the seven thousand Cultivators were twelve old men with cold, arrogant expressions. One of them suddenly said, “We are the Flying Locust Tribe of the great Cloud Sky Tribe! Crow Divinity Tribe, hand over your Demon Spirit. We will give you the space of three breaths to convince us why we shouldn’t exterminate your entire Tribe!”

　　Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, someone began to speak: “One, two….”

　　Before the third word could be uttered, the killing intent of the Crow Divinity Tribe exploded out. At the same time, Meng Hao, his expression the same as ever, waved his right hand.

　　As he did, 10,000 and then 30,000 neo-demons appeared, roaring.

　　“Small Tribes are small Tribes,” said another of the twelve old men. “If you dare to attack the great Cloud Sky Tribe with a trifling horde of 30,000 neo-demons then….” Before he could finish speaking, his eyes went wide with disbelief.

　　That was because the neo-demons didn’t stop at 30,000. Instead, their numbers grew to… 40,000. 50,000. 60,000.

　　By the time 60,000 neo-demons appeared, half of the group of twelve old men had serious expressions on their faces. Nearly half of the Cultivators they led were also panting. They could tell that if they wished to win a great victory in the coming battle, they would have to pay a steep price.

　　The man who appeared to be the leader among the group of twelve old men had a calm expression as he coolly said, “60,000 neo-demons. It seems the Main Tribe underestimate this Crow Divinity Tribe. Even still, we….” Before he could finish speaking, the faces of all twelve men completely fell. Even the man who had just been speaking couldn’t stop from gasping and opening his eyes wide in disbelief.

　　70,000. 80,000. 90,000. 100,000!

　　The sight of 100,000 neo-demons caused Heaven and Earth to shake. Their roars filled the sky, causing the sky to dim and a strong wind to kick up. The more than seven thousand Cultivators’ faces went pale and filled with astonishment. Even the twelve old men were panting and could feel their hearts pounding in their chests.

　　“100,000 neo-demons…. They’re all level six and above. This… this….”

　　“They have a neo-demon horde of 100,000! Dammit! How do we fight that!?!?”

　　“This is impossible. Even a Grand Dragoneer can’t control a 100,000 strong neo-demon horde. How can that guy pull this off?!?!”

　　Even as the members of the Flying Locust Tribe, including the Greatfather and Elders, panted in shock, their minds were then blown by the next thing that they saw. It was as if an invisible arrow had been shot directly into their brains. They were filled with shock and astonishment.

　　110,000. 120,000. 130,000…. Finally, all 150,000 neo-demons filled the sky. There is literally no way to describe the situation except with the expression “blot out the sky and cover up the earth.”

　　The members of the Flying Locust Tribe were struck completely speechless. They stared in shock, in stupefaction. A long moment passed before they began to breathe again.

　　The twelve Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Flying Locust Tribe felt their scalps going numb as feelings of despair washed over them. Moments ago, they felt as if they were far above anyone else. To them, exterminating this Tribe was a trivial matter. In the blink of an eye, they suddenly found that the fierceness of this opponent made the entire situation the opposite of what they had thought. The truly trivial matter was how easily their opponent could exterminate them. Instantly, the entire Flying Locust Tribe began to tremble in their boots.

　　The vast difference between the two Tribes made it so that the Flying Locust Tribe Members could not muster even an ounce of fighting spirit. Their faces were completely devoid of blood.

　　Meng Hao’s cold voice echoed out: “Flying Locust Tribe, I’ll give you the space of three breaths to convince me why I shouldn’t exterminate your entire Tribe!” The 150,000 neo-demons began to roar.

　　The roar transformed into sound waves that battered across the Flying Locust Tribe members. Their locusts let out plaintive howls and fell backward. The clothing of the Tribe members whipped about under the force of the roar and they retreated back. Their minds reeled, and they felt as if they were being suffocated.