Note: This is the April Fool’s chapter that initially went live and is not part of the story. Read it for fun, or just skip on to chapter 559!

Chapter 558: Heads!

“How dare you!!” roared Patriarch Huyan. His body flickered as he shook off the power of the Time reversal and then shattered Meng Hao’s Eighth Demon Sealing Hex.

Patriarch Huyan’s eyes filled with scorn. He actually wasn’t worried about the snake bone whip being taken away. It had been refined from a bloodline ancestor of the Heavenly Pursuit Tribe. Other than people of that bloodline, no one could use it.

Even back before the Heavenly Pursuit Tribe had been eradicated, Patriarch Huyan would still have been the only one qualified to activate the bloodline power to use the precious treasure.

There was no need to even mention the current circumstances.

Besides, the backlash power that would be levied against any outsider who touched the whip made him completely confident. With a cold chuckle, he backed up, allowing Meng Hao to near the whip and, at the same time, preparing a divine ability to unleash against him.

The instant Meng Hao’s hand fell onto the snake bone whip, a feeling like sparks of electricity began to race up his hand and into his arm. He instantly frowned, and his face grew pale.

The tingling feeling quickly turned into pain, like that of hundreds of knives stabbing into his hand and forearm. He tried to release his grip, but was shocked to find that he was unable. It was as if his hand were stuck onto the snake bone whip, unable to release it.

Meng Hao gritted his teeth once again tried to shake away the snake bone whip. The pain was now becoming intolerable. His face was pale white and blood seeped out of the corners of his mouth.

Suddenly, an incredible power surged out, starting from the tip of the whip and then growing like a tidal of wave of force as it shot toward his arm.

Meng Hao felt a sense of deadly crisis sweep over him. The power of the snake bone whip was beyond anything he had ever faced up against before. After all, this was the power of an Immortal!

Although he had fought Patriarch Huyan’s clone, as well as Patriarch Huyan’s true self, he had never even crossed paths with a Dao Seeking expert, let alone a true Immortal.

He knew that such power could instantly shatter him, body and soul, and even destroy his Nascent Souls.

In the blink of an eye, the power reached his hand, causing it to explode into a haze of blood and gore. As the power continued up his arm, bursting flesh, crushing bone, Meng Hao knew that he was moments away from being exterminated.

He quickly slapped his bag of holding to produce an ordinary flying sword. Without hesitation, he slashed at his right shoulder, severing his right arm completely. Shooting backward at top speed, he watched as the power of the snake bone whip turned what remained of his right arm into nothing more than a haze of blood which quickly faded away.

It was at this point that Patriarch Huyan pushed down hard onto his forehead, spitting up a mouthful of soul blood. He quickly performed a double-handed incantation which caused the blood to turn black. It then spread out to form an enormous beaded net. The net moved with incredible speed as it expanded, threatening to envelop Meng Hao.

In the blink of an eye, his path of escape was completely cut off.

Patriarch Huyan chuckled. “My Blood Time Net is faster than a Second Severing Cultivator. I don’t care what power-up magic you have, you could never evade it!”

Meng Hao’s mind raced as he tried to think of what few options he had left. There simply wasn’t enough time to consider, though.

The net was now on the verge of completely covering him up.

It was in this moment that, shockingly... a huge fissure appeared in mid-air directly between Patriarch Huyan and Meng Hao. The fissure spread out with shocking speed and emanated a blinding, glittering light. A fearsome aura exploded out of it that caused even Patriarch Huyan’s face to go pale. It seemed something beyond comprehension, almost like the might of the Heavens themselves.

The light spread out to slash into the black-colored blood net, instantly shredding it into countless pieces which then became nothing more than ash on the wind.

Blood sprayed from Patriarch Huyan’s mouth as his connection to the net was severed, and he instantly backed up, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

Meng Hao also stared in shock, having no clue whatsoever regarding the origin of this strange fissure.

Deathly silence filled the area. The only thing that could be heard was a faint pulsing sound coming from within the fissure.

A long moment passed, in which everyone observing felt their hearts pounding.

It was at this point that the cold voice of a woman echoed out from within the fissure, filled with incredible power. “You dare to harm my son!?!?”

The voice contained such power that Patriarch Huyan was instantly sent tumbling backward, his face filled with astonishment.

Suddenly, a hand could be seen emerging from the fissure. It was as smooth as jade, completely beautiful to the extreme. The hand was followed by an arm, and then a face. A woman emerged from the fissure, her eyes blazing with fury, and her right hand clenched tightly into a fist. Her hair whipped about her and her robes flapped violently.

As soon as she emerged, the fissure closed up behind her, letting out a sound like a thunderclap, as well as a violent, rushing wind that sent Patriarch Huyan tumbling backward yet again.

The woman stared around coldly. This was none other than... Meng Li!

The day Ji Nineteen attempted to sever Meng Hao’s Karma, she flew into a rage and directly attacked the Ji Clan.

As of this moment, her killing intent soared to the Heavens. “You paltry Western Desert cretin!” she said. “You just poked a bear cub, but what you failed to realized is that the bear cub is actually the adopted child of a fire-breathing dragon! Right now, that dragon has the thirst for blood!”

“Fellow Daoist, I....” Patriarch Huyan tried to gush an explanation, but before he could, Meng Li’s body flickered, and she was directly in front of him.

“You dare to speak to me?” she said. She slowly reached out and flicked her finger.

The flicking finger slammed into Patriarch Huyan’s face, causing his head to instantly explode. The force of the explosion rippled out, destroying his body and shattering his Nascent Divinity. The shockwave created by his death caused ripples to spread out in all directions. Many nearby beasts were instantly destroyed by the intense power. Meng Hao, however, seemed to be strangely shielded.

In the blink of an eye, this Spirit Severing Patriarch, someone who could inspire fear into the hearts of everyone watching, was destroyed in body and soul.

The observing streams of Divine Sense were completely shocked.

“That aura... That’s not Spirit Severing. It’s not even Dao Seeking....”

“Just who is this person...?”

Zhou Dekun’s face drained of blood. “Junior Brother...”

Duo Lan was trembling visibly.

The rest of the Cultivators in the other cities in the Black Lands all had similar reactions. Even through the screens upon which they were watching the battle, it was possible to tell that this woman was no ordinary Cultivator.

Meng Li slowly turned to look at Meng Hao. “Well... hello,” she said.

Meng Hao’s heart was pounding. “Who are you?” he asked.

She chuckled. “I’ve finally come for you. The time has come for something... to happen, my son.”

“Son?” replied Meng Hao. His mind reeled. This woman couldn’t possibly be... his mother?

Meng Li lifted up her hand, within which appeared a bag of holding. “I have something for you,” she said, tossing the bag over to him.

Meng Hao frowned as he snatched the bag of holding out of the air. When he looked inside, his mind filled with a roaring sound, and waves of shock rippled out through his body. The bag was filled with... severed heads!

He turned it over numbly, watching in horror as the head of a woman tumbled out. He recognized this woman. It was none other than... the woman who was for all intents and purposes his beloved. Song Jia of the Song Clan!

Even as the head fell downward, another head rolled out of the bag. It was... Hanxue Shan of the Frigid Snow Clan, who had professed her feelings toward him underneath the moonlight.

After that was... Han Bei, the only woman who could possibly match wits with him.

And then...

Chu Yuyan!!! Chu Yuyan who had such complicated feelings for him.

Meng Hao’s heart seized, and the blood completely drained from his face.

However, the worst was yet to come. The final head to tumble out of the bag was none other than...

Xu Qing!!! Xu Qing, whose single tear had pulled him back from the midst of Demonic Transmigration.

Xu Qing, who had saved him from being slain at the hands of the Ji Clan Quasi-Array member.

Xu Qing, who had taken him from Mount Daqing, which led to his new life as a Cultivator.

Xu Qing....

Xu Qing...!

XU QING!!!

Meng Hao was completely at a loss for words. Roaring filled his mind, and his remaining hand began to tremble violently.

His entire person filled with a sense of absolute coldness and emptiness.

“Surprised?” said Meng Li. “Don’t worry, they died peacefully. I’m not a torturer. However, I couldn’t let inferior quality woman have contact with... my son.”

Meng Hao slowly looked over at Meng Li, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief. Currently, he felt as if his entire world had become a nightmare. Was it even real?

Before he could say anything, Meng Li held up her hand. “There’s no need for questions. Watch.” Meng Li started to chuckle, and then laugh uproariously. Suddenly, a rumbling sound filled Heaven and Earth. Everything began to shake, and Meng Li’s body trembled violently. Shockingly, vines exploded from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Her fleshly body appeared to be shredded in the blink of an eye as an enormous, seven-colored flower roared into existence.

Maniacal laughter rang out in all directions as Meng Li then shouted, “The time has come. Awaken, my son!”

It was in this very moment that the Resurrection Lily exploded in attack. Meng Hao’s mind was reeling and his heart virtually torn into pieces. He was completely caught off guard, thoroughly incapable of fighting back against the Resurrection Lily.

It quickly seized control of his legs and arm, then his torso. By the time he realized what was happening and thought to fight back, the only thing left under his control was his head.

But it was too late. In the blink of an eye, his entire body and self was possessed by the Resurrection Lily.

Meng Hao was powerless to do anything except watch what was happening as his body looked at the flower-form Meng Li and then spoke the words, “Hello, mother.”

Meng Hao wanted to scream, to rage, to fight back, but he was completely powerless. All he could do was let out a soundless howl that echoed out for him alone to hear.

The enormous, seven-colored flower approached Meng Hao’s body. Her voice was like a soft purr as she said, “At long last, you’re here.”

“I failed so many times in the past,” Meng Hao heard his own voice saying.

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied. Why don’t you assume your true form?”

A roaring sound echoed up into the sky. Vines exploded out of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth of Meng Hao’s body. They stretched out, seemingly destroying his fleshly body in the blink of an eye. Moments later, a five-colored Resurrection Lily hovered there, swaying back and forth bizarrely.

“That’s better,” said Meng Li. “We’ll soon figure out what to do about the two other colors. And now, to take care of this pesky Meng Hao.”

Suddenly, a tentacle-like vine snaked out to stab directly into the middle of the five-colored Resurrection Lily. The vine wrapped around Meng Hao’s Nascent Soul and wrenched it out violently. Meng Hao felt incredible pain surrounding him. He realized that, at this moment, the only thing that remained of his true self, was nothing more than this Nascent Soul!

The vine pulled the struggling Nascent Soul until it hovered directly in front of the face of the seven-colored Resurrection Lily.

“Your days of causing problems for my true son are over. I know exactly how to deal with an insect like you.” Another tentacle flashed an incantation symbol, and suddenly, Meng Hao felt stabs of pain all over him.

It felt like thousands of needles, not poking into, but piercing out from within!

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He looked down in shock to see what appeared to be a sea of needles emerging from the surface of his Nascent Soul!

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This chapter was sponsored by Siwangzhijian

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Chapter 559: And Then There Were Three....

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Spoiler Sneak Peek below

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“Enough of this ant!” cried Meng Li. She forcibly tossed Meng Hao way.

He tumbled through the air, vision spinning. Suddenly, a light almost like that of gold, except darker, covered his eyes. Somehow, he knew that he was being cast into the copper mirror!

Everything went white, then black. When he could finally see again, everything was covered with a copper glow.

The pain he had felt earlier was gone. When he looked down, he understood why. It was not needles that had been poking up out of the skin of his Nascent Soul but rather... hair. Except, it was thicker than hair, more like... fur!

His Nascent Soul was covered with thick, luxuriant fur that draped down onto the ground.

He suddenly heard a voice behind him: “Well, what have we here?”

Meng Hao’s Nascent Soul turned to see... the parrot, walking toward him, a bright gleam in its eyes.