In front of Meng Hao was the old Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Upright Evening Sect. Behind him was the enraged Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Cold Wind Sect. As of this moment, Foundation Establishment Cultivators from two of the three great Sects of the State of Zhao had appeared.
In his heart, Meng Hao knew that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It would be difficult to escape. Theoretically, he could lead them into Patriarch Reliance’s secluded meditation zone, but to do that would require the cooperation of Patriarch Reliance himself.
Considering everything that had happened between the two of them, and also considering the Patriarch’s temperament, it was doubtful he would help out. Furthermore, Meng Hao had already used that ruse that once. The chances of tricking more people in the same way was was not high. In the end, though, he had little choice but to try.
“The Priests and Elders of the three great Sects are not dead!” he said suddenly, just as the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Upright Evening Sect approached with hand raised.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the old man’s eyes gleamed. The face of the man from the Cold Wind Sect also flickered.
“They’re trapped inside Patriarch Reliance’s Immortal’s Cave. It’s right over there.” He lifted his hand to point at the East Mountain.
The eyes of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Cold Wind Sect flashed like lightning as he glanced up at the peak. The group of Qi Condensation Cultivators from the Upright Evening Sect also looked toward the East Mountain.
However, the Upright Evening Sect Foundation Establishment Cultivator smiled. It was a gruesome smile filled with ridicule.
“I’m interested to know how you are aware that the Priests and Elders from the three great Sects are dead.” Hearing this, Meng Hao’s heart flip-flopped, although his expression did not change.
“It actually doesn’t matter what you say. Once I get ahold of you, you’ll answer all my questions.” He lifted his right hand and stretched it out towards Meng Hao. As he did, the power of his Foundation Establishment Cultivation base exploded out, and an enormous hand appeared in the air in front of him. It screamed through the air, heading directly toward Meng Hao.
Meng Hao immediately began to dodge, but even as he did so, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Cold Wind Sect flicked his sleeve and gave out a cold laugh. A fierce wind shot toward Meng Hao.
Both Foundation Establishment Cultivators attacked at the same time. Gritting his teeth, Meng Hao slapped his bag of holding. A sheet of lightning appeared which coalesced into a Lightning Flag.
This flag was one of the objects he had taken from Patriarch Reliance, and it had the power to defend against attacks from Foundation Establishment Cultivators. As soon as it appeared, it grew, transforming into a sheet of mist, within which lightning roiled. The mist expanded out to cover Meng Hao.
An explosion rolled out. Inside the mist, Meng Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his body was shoved backward. The eyes of the old Foundation Establishment Cultivator grew wide, and he stared in shock at the mist.
The man from the Cold Wind Sect gasped loudly.
The mist surrounding Meng Hao was about fifteen or twenty meters in diameter. Meng Hao’s face was pale and his mouth was smeared with blood. His internal organs ached and bled, and only by extorting a huge amount of effort was he able to keep them under control. To employ the full power of the flag would require significant refinement, and Meng Hao hadn’t had very much time to practice with it. As such, he could only utilize half of its power. It rotated around him unstably.
“This is an excellent treasure,” said the old man from the Upright Evening Sect. “Too bad you can’t use it correctly. Let’s see how much of my magic you can withstand!” He moved forward, raising his hand again. A field of black dust spread out in front of him. It glittered as it transformed into a multitude of black threads, which then flew toward the mist.
A boom rang out, and then the old man himself neared the mist. Every time he waved his hand back and forth, the black dust threads smashed into the mist, causing booms to ring out.
With a cold smile, the Cold Wind Sect Cultivator flashed an incantation sign. His hand instantly transformed into ice, which then shattered and reformed in front of him into a larger hand. The icy hand shot toward Meng Hao.
In the blink of an eye, it reached him. Thunderous roars filled the air as the black threads and the icy hand caused the mist surrounding Meng Hao to slowly contract. Inside, blood sprayed from Meng Hao’s mouth, and his body felt as if it were about to be torn to pieces. His mind was in a jumble, and his face as pale as death. A feeling of life-and-death peril enveloped him; the thread connecting him to the Lightning Flag could be severed at any moment.
When that happened, it wouldn’t matter that Meng Hao’s Cultivation base had completed the great circle of Qi Condensation. That was still the Qi Condensation stage, and he was facing the Foundation Establishment stage. The gap between the two was too vast.
At this critical juncture, Meng Hao, his eyes bloodshot, suddenly slapped his bag of holding. In his hand appeared an oil lamp, from within which emitted an ancient Qi.
The wick of this lamp was a Nascent Soul, sitting cross-legged in meditation. It was none other than… Lord Revelation!
The Nascent Soul was the fuel, and life force was the fire. The blazing flame cast light onto Meng Hao’s face. A ferocious expression filled his face, and his eyes shined with killing intent. He had thought of the only possible way to get out of this situation.
He took a deep breath, and suddenly, popping sounds rang out from his body. His Cultivation base began to rotate with the power of the great circle of Qi Condensation. His Core sea roiled and churned, and spiritual power raced through his Qi passageways. He poured the full power of his Cultivation base into a single mouthful of Qi.
He looked out past the mist.
Because the mist was covering him, no one could see the oil lamp in his hand. Furthermore, none of the Qi from the lamp emanated outwards.
Bangs rang out as the mist continued to contract. Currently, it only stretched out about three meters. More black dust appeared in the hand of the old Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
“Open up!” he roared, waving his hand toward the mist. Instantly, an explosion could be heard as the mist shattered and dispersed, reforming into the Lightning Flag, which flew back to Meng Hao.
“If I say today is the day you die, then you will die!” The old man waved his hand again, and the black dust descended toward Meng Hao.
It was then that the old man noticed the oil lamp in the hands of pale-faced Meng Hao. His expression suddenly changed.
“Is that…?”
Meng Hao’s killing intent soared. Without giving his opponent even the chance to think, he opened his lips and spit out the mouthful of Qi.
The Qi passed through the flame of the oil lamp. As it did, it expanded out into a massive conflagration. The old Foundation Establishment cultivator retreated, shocked. But the expanding flames were too fast, and reached him in an instant.
Miserable screams filled the air as fire consumed him. The black dust in his hand had already been vaporized. Within seconds, his clothing, and then his flesh, and been reduced to ash.
Everything happened too quickly. The surrounding Cultivators didn’t even have time to react. By the time the blood-curdling screams began to ring out, the old Cultivator had already been burned into nothingness. Nothing remained, not even his bag of holding.
Meng Hao’s face was pale, and his hands trembled. The Qi he had just shot out contained all the power of his Cultivation base, as well as the fearsome might of the oil lamp’s flame.
Everything was as silent as death… Wisps of twisting demonic flame still floated about in the spot where the Foundation Establishment Cultivator had been incinerated.
The sounds of his screams still echoed in the air. The nine or so remaining Cultivators from the Upright Evening Sect looked on with expressions of disbelief.
“Elder Zhang just….”
“What… what was that fire?”
“This is impossible…. Elder Zhang is a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. How could he possibly die under Meng Hao’s hand….”
They didn’t dare to believe. A mighty Foundation Establishment expert, unexpectedly… burned to death by a flame cast by a Qi Condensation Cultivator. In their minds, this was an impossibility. Foundation Establishment Cultivators simply could not be killed by Qi Condensation Cultivators.
Even a weak Foundation Establishment Cultivator shouldn’t be able to die at the hand of a Qi Condensation Cultivator
What they had just witnessed set their minds spinning into chaos. They stared at Meng Hao in astonishment.
What they didn’t know was that the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Cold Wind Sect was even more flabbergasted than they were. He stared at the place where the old Foundation Establishment Cultivator had just been, his eyes wide, his face pale, and his heart trembling. An indescribable fear gripped his heart.
As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he was in an elite position in the State of Zhao, and rarely had anything to fear. Yet now, he was afraid. In fact, “afraid,” is probably not the appropriate word. He was petrified.
He looked at the oil lamp in Meng Hao’s hand, his mind reeling. The terror in his heart grew stronger. He didn’t know what fire this Qi Condensation disciple had wielded, but he had an inkling.
“That must have been Nascent Soul fire. That’s a Nascent Soul. That fire was kindled with life force to form Nascent Soul fire! It can burn to death, not only Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but also Core Formation stage Cultivators!” His breathing agitated, he stared at Meng Hao. His scalp grew numb, and he subconsciously retreated a few paces. He did not dare to get any closer. At the moment, he had forgotten completely about his prestigious Foundation Establishment status.
Meng Hao stood there on his flying sword, the lamp in his hand. He made a beckoning motion with his left hand, and the Lightning Flag flew back into his bag of holding. He rotated his Cultivation base, staring coldly at the Cold Wind Sect Cultivator.
It was at this moment, however, that three blurs of light appeared in the air above the Reliance Sect, each one over thirty meters wide. Ripples spread out from them as they shot mightily toward Meng Hao and the others.
Within the three beams were three old men who looked as if they had just climbed out of the grave. Their faces were covered with wrinkles, and strong Death Qi emanated from their bodies. And yet, along with the Death Qi that circled about them was the Qi of their Condensation bases. This Qi was eminently powerful. It was not quite of the Nascent Soul stage, but they had definitely completed the great circle of Core Formation.
Meng Hao’s heart sank, and he clasped his oil lamp tightly. He had just expended roughly eighty to ninety percent of his Cultivation base. It had taken that much to create the terrifying fire he had just utilized.
Their speed was incredible as they approached. A relieved expression appeared in the eye of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Cold Wind Sect. And yet, at that very moment, a Qi appeared which surpassed that of the Pseudo Nascent Soul stage Patriarchs. In an instant, the Qi enveloped the entire State of Zhao.
An enormous bell appeared above the Reliance Sect, and a grim voice filled the air.
“Patriarch Reliance, get the hell out and face me!”
The voice crackled like lightning, its power filling the sky. Its might billowed out, shattering the flying snow shield. As for the nine or so Qi Condensation disciples from the Upright Evening Sect, blood fountained out of their mouths, and then one by one, they exploded, unable to withstand the power.
Meng Hao’s body shook, and he spit out blood. He looked up into the sky, his eyes narrowing.
The face of the Cold Wind Sect’s Foundation Establishment Cultivator twisted, and the approaching Patriarchs from the three great Sects looked amazed. They stopped flying and immediately clasped hands and bowed toward an old man in a black robe who stood next to the bell in the sky.
His robes whipped about in the wind. Behind him, the clouds spun violently. The pupil of his left eye looked like the sun, and shone with brilliant light. The right eye was dark, and its pupil looked like a crescent moon. On his forehead was a strange looking slit, within which appeared to be another eye. This eye itself was invisible, but emitted a bloody glow.
It was Lord Revelation!
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