Chapter 376: Brands!

　　The roars of ten thousand dragons emerged from the inverted black waters up above in the sky. The roars were shocking to the extreme, causing blood to spray from the mouths of the beasts on the ground. One by one, they began to bleed from their eyes, nose and mouth. Then, they simply dropped dead.

　　As for the Cultivators down below, they also coughed up blood. Their bodies grew listless, their minds reeled, the flow of their Qi and blood was suppressed, and their Cultivation bases hung on the verge of collapse.

　　A grim look appeared on the face of the black-robed Cultivator in mid-air. He began to perform an incantation with his right hand.

　　“This is definitely beyond what I anticipated. He can support two generations of legacies. Well, even that will not be enough!

　　“Life births destruction, Yellow Springs of the Three Worlds! Flowers birth fruit, reveal the Three Worlds!” The black-robed Cultivator’s hand turned into a blur, and in front of him, a black orb appeared. The orb began to expand and emanate a black glow in all directions as it transformed into a black sun. It burned as it shot up.

　　As it neared the ten thousand roaring dragons, the black sun suddenly exploded, shredding the air itself, destroying everything near it as it turned into an all-consuming black hole.

　　As soon as the black hole appeared, the dragons roared. A rumbling filled the air, and the ground quaked. The dragons didn’t seem capable of controlling their own bodies as they were sucked toward the black hole.

　　“If you really were the Frigid Snow Clan’s fifth generation Grand Dragoneer, then I would turn and leave. But you’re just a trifling legacy brand. You can’t stop me!” The black-robed Cultivator’s voice was cool as he flicked his sleeve. Down below, the Heavenly Pit that the tempest had filled in, once again shook and began to open.

　　Around Meng Hao in the city were several hundred people, the faces of whom were all pale white and filled with hopelessness. The war had reached the point that they weren’t even capable of participating in it. They were like dried out leaves in a windstorm, incapable of acting for themselves.

　　Beneath the Ten Thousand Dragon Pool, veins bulged out all over Meng Hao’s body. His face was twisted into a vicious expression as he struggled to control the pain inside of him. It surged against him like the tide, and he fought against the urge to simply fade into unconsciousness. Gritting his teeth, he held on.

　　The ancient, weak voice of Hanxue Bao spoke his dying words to Meng Hao: “You must not lose consciousness. When seizing the good fortune of Frigid Snow, one generation makes you a chosen son, two generations makes you a hero, and three generations makes you Chosen of Heaven. As for four, such a thing has never been seen!

　　“Each glorious brand consists of the most powerful expert of a generation. As the legacy joins your soul, the brand enters the world to accompany you. The more generations you acquire, the more brands. The day you enter Spirit Severing, all of these brands, these first turning points of us powerful Cultivators… will explode out to help you!

　　“Press on! If you are able to support the third generation legacy, then you may be able to avoid the calamity which bears down on you. This is as much assistance as I can provide. I truly hope that you succeed, and help my Clan to pass through this disaster!”

　　Meng Hao lifted his head up and roared. As he did, his clothing ripped into shreds. His hair whipped about, and everything around him seemed to shatter. The only thing left was his roar.

　　As he roared, the ten thousand dragons, regardless if they were being sucked in by the black hole or not, all joined him. A massive, glorious roar filled the air.

　　The black-robed Cultivator frowned, then flashed an incantation with his right hand. He then spread his hand out and pushed his palm down toward Meng Hao.

　　“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That which has passed away, shall pass. What remains, remains for eternity.” As the black-robed Cultivators words echoed out, the ten thousand dragons exploded into pieces one by one. Up above, the Ten Thousand Dragons Pool also collapsed.

　　It seemed as if everything was ending, just as the black-robed Cultivator had said.

　　However, it was at this moment that a tremor ran through Meng Hao’s body. Whereas his eyes had been scarlet moments ago, they were now pure white.

　　When the black-robed Cultivator saw this, his face flickered again, revealing an expression of disbelief.

　　“Impossible!”

　　Even as his mind was rocked, the voice of a third person could be heard in Meng Hao’s head. This voice was venerable and ancient, and filled all of Meng Hao’s consciousness.

　　“I am the fourth generation Patriarch of the Frigid Snow Clan, Hanxue Hui of the Yellow Springs. I awoke to myself in a land of ashen death. I gained enlightenment in a forest of bones. I conceived the concept of spawning the silent spirit. I cast away my body to become a Dao Spirit. This was my First Severing! I am Hanxue Hui, fourth generation Grand Dragoneer!” As the voice echoed out, an unprecedentedly strong death aura suddenly appeared in front of Meng Hao. It spread out, filling the area, causing both the sky and the land to turn gray. 1

　　Suddenly, countless roars could be heard in the gray sky. The roars soon took on shape; countless phantom souls appeared. They looked ancient, filled with rancor and madness.

　　On the ground, all of the beasts that had died just moments ago suddenly began to twitch and then rise to their feet. A gray light shone in their eyes as they lifted their heads up and howled. The ground trembled as all the dead bodies on the ground rose up, even those of the Cultivators, who stood with eyes blank and vacant.

　　Up above in the sky, a rumble filled the air as an enormous skeletal dragon roared into being. Down below, a gigantic skeletal snake burst up through the soil.

　　The entire world had become like a world of death. It was at this moment that behind Meng Hao, a yellow river suddenly appeared out of nowhere. If you looked closely at the surging waters, you would say that they were actually composed of… countless ghosts.

　　These were no yellow river waters. These were the Yellow Springs!

　　The Yellow Springs had appeared, something stupefying to the extreme.

　　Atop the Yellow Springs floated a pagoda composed of eighteen levels, just like the eighteen levels of hell!

　　The grayish death aura circulated around Meng Hao, causing his face to look pale. A death aura even began to radiate off of his body. Suddenly, he opened his eyes!

　　When he did, it was like a clap of thunder. A rumbling boom rose up to the Heavens as he stared out with his pure gray eyes.

　　“Yellow Springs Grand Dragoneer!!” All of the low-level Cultivators in the area suddenly went pale in the face. They looked as if they had lost their minds. Their bodies were stiff as if their life force were being obliterated.

　　It was the same with the Western Desert Cultivators. The two Western Desert Nascent Soul Cultivators stood there, bodies trembling as they looked at Meng Hao floating in mid-air. The looks of stupefaction on their faces exceeded those when the tempest and the Ten Thousand Dragons Pool appeared.

　　“Six thousand years ago,” said one of them, “the legendary Yellow Springs Grand Dragoneer single-handedly caused a foul wind and a rain of blood to pass over the Western Desert; it was a reign of terror! He enslaved millions of dead beasts and even raised a level 10 neo-demon!!

　　“According to the legend, the number of lives he took before he himself perished, was impossible to count!! He founded the Land of Bones…. He established the Gray Mountains…. He….” The minds of the two Nascent Soul Cultivators were filled with absolute disbelief.

　　“Dammit,” said the black-robed Cultivator. A look of concentration filled his eyes. Behind him, Hanxue Zong looked like he was about to go crazy. His heart filled with intense jealousy, and inwardly, he was screaming that all of this belonged to him!

　　“So, you can support three generations of brands!! Your piddling Core Formation Cultivation base does seem to have quite a bit of potential. How rare…. Too bad that still won’t be enough!” With that, the black-robed Cultivator flashed another incantation and then waved his hand out.

　　“I gained enlightenment of the Dao in the blackness of night, under the spinning Cosmos. For my First Severing, I severed Daytime!” His eyes gleamed as he raised his right hand and pointed toward the sky. A lightning bolt suddenly appeared in the grayness. A boom echoed out as the lightning bolt descended directly toward the right hand of the black-robed Cultivator.

　　This color of this lightning was pitch black!

　　The black-robed Cultivator snatched it, and as he did, it transformed into a twisted Lightning Blade which stretched all the way up into the sky. The black-robed Cultivator swung the Lightning Blade, seemingly intending to rend the gray sky in two!

　　A huge boom echoed out as the gigantic Lightning Blade slashed down. A massive breach appeared in the sky as the blade chopped down, directly eradicating the grayness of the world.

　　Meng Hao’s body shook as pain stabbed through him. Even as the Lightning Blade descended, Meng Hao subconsciously lifted his hands up into the air. As he did, all of the dead creatures began to float up to form a gigantic sphere of bones!

　　All of the gray Qi in the area shot toward the sphere of bones. In the blink of an eye, the sphere was infused with the grayness, and began to emanate a shocking power as it flew to meet the Lightning Blade.

　　A massive explosion ripped out that caused all of the Cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage to instantly pass out. Some of them even exploded.

　　As the sound of it continued to reverberate out, the sphere of bones collapsed into pieces, unable to stand up to the Lightning Blade.

　　Blood sprayed from Meng Hao’s mouth as he fell and slammed into the ground. Once more, the Heavenly Pit opened up beneath Holy Snow City. Again, the city began to collapse and fall. Meng Hao laughed bitterly. Three generations were his limit; even that was not enough to allow him to secure victory over a true Spirit Severing expert.

　　Up above, the black-robed Cultivator breathed in deeply. Blood oozed from the corners of his mouth as he looked down to where Meng Hao had fallen. A strange light gleamed in his eyes.

　　“The Frigid Snow Clan’s Six Generations of Legacy Brands certainly live up to their reputation. Once I get my hands on them, I’ll definitely be able to perform my Third Severing. Then I will complete the great circle of Spirit Severing.” His eyes radiated determination as he lifted his right hand. Just as he was about to reach down to grab Meng Hao, his face changed for a third time.

　　Complete shock filled him!!

　　Even as Meng Hao landed on the ground, a mark appeared on his right hand!!

　　1. The “Hui” in his name is the character for “ash” or “gray”