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As Meng Hao widened his arms, the starry sky in front of him distorted, and a gigantic, blurry figure suddenly appeared, which instantly charged forward.

Massive, shocking ripples emanated out that could shake Heaven and Earth!

Patriarch Blacksoul charged toward it, letting out a powerful shout and raising his arms up, unleashing the full power of his Essences. A huge boom could be heard as his body was shredded to pieces, causing Patriarch Blacksoul to once again let out a roar.

The chunks of blood and flesh which appeared quickly turned black, and in the blink of an eye, had formed into countless souls which carried Patriarch Blacksoul away at top speed. However, the giant was still on the offensive.

Miserable shrieks could be heard coming from Patriarch Blacksoul’s souls. In the blink of an eye, the souls collapsed, and Patriarch Blacksoul was killed in body and spirit!!

The grand and magnificent Patriarch Blacksoul first had his sect destroyed, and then was himself cut down!

None of the souls escaped, all were completely exterminated by the Seal the Heavens Incantation.

As the destruction was carried out, and Patriarch Blacksoul was wiped from existence, the last thing that echoed in his mind was a voice that only he and Meng Hao could hear.

“The Mountains and Seas loathe you. Punishment: execution!”

However, the Seal the Heavens Incantation wasn’t finished!

The giant next charged toward Hong Chen, emanating massive pressure, sending out shocking and terrifying ripples, carrying with it the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Hong Chen’s face was deathly pale. She had just personally witnessed Patriarch Blacksoul’s death, and considering the level of her cultivation base, she had never imagined that Meng Hao, being seriously injured, would unexpectedly unleash a magical technique like this.

In fact, it seemed impossible to her that a cultivator could even utilize such magic. When she looked at the enormous giant, she could sense... the will of the entire Mountain and Sea Realm.

“Impossible!” she screamed, backing up as fast as possible. “This is impossible!!” However, she realized she simply had no way to escape. Roaring, she performed an incantation gesture, causing her cultivation base to surge. Essence power rumbled, and all of the pustules on her face burst, causing countless milky white centipedes to shoot out toward the giant. They screeched as they formed together into a Dragon God that was over a hundred thousand meters long. Surging with energy, it shot toward the incoming giant, and when they slammed into each other, the Dragon God screamed. In the blink of an eye, it vanished, having been completely pulverized by the giant.

Hong Chen trembled, looking on in despair as her Dragon God was completely shattered. All of her milky white centipedes were killed, transformed into nothing but ash. Blood sprayed out of her mouth, her body was lacerated into shreds, and her clothes were ripped apart. When her wrinkled skin was revealed, it was suddenly possible to see a totem tattoo!

It was none other than a Dragon God totem!

It began to shine with a brilliant light, and a Dragon God... once again appeared! This time, it was just as large as the previous one, but much less illusory! Instantly, it bared its claws and fangs then shot toward the giant.

However, even as it roared, it was completely engulfed by the giant’s attack, and was killed. That in turn caused Hong Chen’s totem tattoo to be wiped away. Instantly, her aura weakened, and her cultivation base dropped down from the level of a Dao Lord!

Simultaneously, a voice suddenly echoed out in both her mind and Meng Hao’s.

“You have cultivated the magic of the Outsiders. Since you were born in the Mountains and Seas, your life will not be taken, only the bloodline of the Outsiders which you possess will be destroyed!”

Blood sprayed out of Hong Chen’s mouth, and her face turned ashen. The giant then ignored her, spinning to charge Xuan Daozi.

Xuan Daozi’s eyes widened, and he backed up as fast as possible. However, try as he might, he was unable to escape the giant’s charge. Just as the giant was about to reach out and crush him, he lifted his right hand, within which appeared a command medallion!

It was ancient, primeval, as if it had existed for countless years. It was engraved on the front with nine mountains and nine seas. On the back, were ancient magical symbols which read...

Nine Seals!!

As soon as the command medallion appeared, Xuan Daozi screamed,

“My ancestor once performed meritorious service, and was given this death-exemption medallion by Paragon Nine Seals himself! You can’t hurt me!”

After a pause, a voice echoed out into the minds of Meng Hao and Xia Daozi. “Authorized!”

Xuan Daozi was trembling, and fear lingered in his heart as the command medallion transformed into ash. The giant’s attack still blasted out, but didn’t harm him at all.

When the command medallion turned into ash, Xuan Daozi’s heart twinged with pain. Next, the giant swiveled and charged toward the Meng Clan’s merchant ship, from within which could be heard screams of terror.

As soon as the giant turned on the Meng Clan, Meng Hao suddenly got extremely anxious. Although he could unleash the Seal the Heavens Incantation... he actually couldn’t control it. If he could, then he would definitely have wiped out Xuan Daozi and Hong Chen.

The truth was, this magic... had a will of its own. Once that will awoke, it wished to cleanse and purify all living things within the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Rumbling could be heard as the first attack hit the merchant ship. Although it didn’t harm the ship, the cultivators aboard let out miserable shrieks, evidently receiving some sort of punishment.

Although these members of the Meng Clan had eyed Meng Hao greedily earlier, they were still members of the Meng Clan. Meng Hao had no wish to see them destroyed. Besides, showing a bit of greed was no justification for the death penalty. Even more importantly, they weren’t even aware of his own connection to the Meng Clan.

His eyes widened as the giant’s attack once again threatened to overwhelm the ship, and suddenly, he forcibly reigned the Daoist magic in. He dropped his arms, causing his body to shudder, and a mouthful of blood to spray out.

His body weakened further, but he still forced the magic back in check. The Seal the Heavens Incantation seemed to be sucking away, not at his body, but at his soul.

As he pulled the magic back in, the giant turned and looked in his direction. In that moment, rumbling filled his mind, and it felt as if the giant... bore his own countenance.

He didn’t take the time to analyze the matter; as soon as the giant vanished, he unhesitatingly shot backward. Wounding himself even more in the process, he employed his top speed to shoot toward the region with the 33 glowing rifts.

He was still going to enter that land of potential death. That was because... the instant the giant vanished, Hong Chen and Xuan Daozi began to chase him once more, venomous expressions on their faces.

Xuan Daozi was a bit faster than Hong Chen. In the blink of an eye, he was bearing down on Meng Hao. Meng Hao quickly transformed into an azure roc, which increased the distance between them with a rumbling burst of speed.

Xuan Daozi snorted coldly, and was about to speed up himself, when suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. The shock and terror on his face right now was no less than when he had faced the Seal the Heavens Incantation.

It wasn’t just him. Hong Chen also stopped in her tracks, face flickering as she stared off into the distance and cried, “That’s... the 33 Hells!!”

The area encompassed by the 33 glowing rifts was even larger than before, and had almost reached the area they were in. Meng Hao in azure roc-form didn’t pause for a moment as he shot into that very area.

“33 Hells... so the 33 Hells are opening again. This is just the initial opening. According to the records of the past, the 33 Hells can appear anywhere in the Eighth Mountain and Sea. Once they do, there is an unknown, varying period of time before they become fully opened!

“It is not until they are fully opened, that they are at their most dangerous, and even Dao Sovereigns can be killed inside. Even now, during the initial opening, the place is still very dangerous....

“Dammit, the 33 Hells. They go tens of thousands of years without opening once. How could there be such a coincidence that they’re opening here and now!?!?” Xuan Daozi stared at Meng Hao. Were it not for the fact that his Essence had been so intensely moved, Xuan Daozi wouldn’t have hesitated to turn around and leave. After Patriarch Blacksoul perished, he could not become the slave of any sect or individual therefore trying to kill Meng Hao held little meaning.

However, the possibility of getting that sliver of Dao Essence had wrapped around Xuan Daozi’s heart. After a moment, he clenched his jaw and then headed directly toward the 33 Hells.

“Time to gamble!

“If I succeed, I might be able to get a bit of Daosource. Even the tiniest bit would still be worth it!

“If I fail... considering the level of my cultivation base, and that this is only the initial opening of the 33 Hells, I won’t necessarily perish!” Having made up his mind, he shot forward at top speed.

Hong Chen’s face flickered, and uncertainty could be seen in her eyes. The legends about the 33 Hells had always been talked about in the Eighth Mountain and Sea. Supposedly, there were 33 Heavens sealing the Mountain and Sea Realm from above. However, there were also 33 Hells, although, they were not seals, but graves!

Back during the great war between the Paragon Immortal Realm and the other two terrifying forces, there were certain Outsiders who could not be completely exterminated. In fact, among those, there were some who were so strong that their bodies could not be destroyed even after dying.

Despite having been killed, they weren’t really dead. Since their souls could not be destroyed, they were instead suppressed, and that was the origin of the 33 Hells.

According to the legends, the 33 Hells were jointly created by the three Paragons of past times. Paragon Nine Seals took the lead in suppressing those Outsiders who could be killed in body but not soul!

The 33 Hells were essentially a terrifying cage!

Those 33 glowing rifts represented 33 graveyards. And they, in turn, represented... the 33 terrifying Outsiders of yesteryear who had been suppressed!

The reason the 33 Hells opened up every so often was not to give people a chance to enter and explore them but rather that the sealing power inside would grow weak. Every so often, the 33 Hells needed time to replenish their power before sinking once again into concealment.

However, in the process of being opened, it was possible for people to enter them, and even seek good fortune inside. Such good fortune might be great or small, and truth be told, few people knew as much about the good fortune of the 33 Hells as Hong Chen!

That was because the Church of the Dragon God had once been a small sect. Back then, it hadn’t even been called the Church of the Dragon God. However, because one of the Patriarchs of that sect had happened to enter the 19th Hell and encounter a Dragon God, he was able to accept a legacy... that led to the formation of the Church of the Dragon God!

“The 33 Hells are opening....” she thought, gritting her teeth. “Another storm of carnage is coming to the Eighth Mountain and Sea....” Her cultivation base had dropped, and she was now no longer a Dao Lord. In fact, she had also lost the power of the Dragon God. She had truly been weakened significantly. However, considering that Xuan Daozi had charged on ahead, her eyes flickered and she also headed in the direction of the 33 Hells.

She was not going for Meng Hao, though, but rather, the potential good fortune inside!

Right after Xuan Daozi and Hong Chen flew toward the area of the 33 Hells, the Meng Clan’s ship began to move. The Young Lord on board was very excited.

“Follow them, all of you! Go! I’ll wait for you here to bring back some good fortune from the 33 Hells. I don’t care what good fortune it is, just bring it back here and you’ll get a huge reward! Huge!

“Dammit, get out there, all of you! If anyone refuses to go, then when we get back to the clan, I’ll report you to the Clan Priest! 11th Uncle, you stay out here to protect me, but everyone else, you get in there!!” The young man’s direct order caused the dozens of Meng Clan cultivators to tremble as they flew in the direction of the 33 Hells.

One of those cultivators was... the scar-faced youth Meng Chen! [1. Meng Chen was introduced in chapter 1221 and was mentioned a few times since then, although not in name. He seems to have some clue about who Meng Hao is]

Chapter 1233: Initial Opening of the 33 Hells!