Chapter 173: Rejected by the Heavens? Plunder! (2/2)

“An evil heart, is a useless life.” Meng Hao’s eyes sparkled icily as he looked out through the lightning mist. He quickly gathered up the remaining three pills and popped them into his mouth.

They immediately dissolved, and the cascading moonlight grew stronger, as if a river were pouring down into Meng Hao’s body. Although their effectiveness was waning, his fourth Dao Pillar was now just a hair away from being complete.

Just as the Dao Pillar was about to appear in full, Meng Hao’s suddenly sensed an inexplicable roaring within his body. His expression flickered as he realized that his body was starting to wither, as if his flesh and blood and life force, even his Cultivation base, were being sucked into the fourth Dao Pillar.

He had just unlocked another of the secrets of the Perfect Foundation. It was with unbridled power that the fourth Dao Pillar began of its own will to suck in everything into it.

It seemed that the fourth Dao Pillar would form at any cost, even if it caused the death of Meng Hao!

His face flickered at this sudden turn of events. He had never imagined that something like this would happen. It was at this exact moment that the lightning mist finally collapsed under the attack of the ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators. They rushed in.

Meng Hao eyed them approaching, his face grim. His body was withering, and his life force was trickling away. The hair on his head had already begun turning white. His Cultivation base was still there, though. Suddenly, an early Foundation Establishment Cultivator appeared in front of him. Before the man could react, Meng Hao’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat. He squeezed, and the Cultivator’s eyes filled with disbelief. The man’s neck shattered.

Even as he died, Meng Hao’s body trembled, and his eyes filled with a strange light. The man’s corpse suddenly began to shrink and wither. Within the blink of an eye, it was a mere skeleton. The man’s Cultivation base rushed in through Meng Hao’s hand and entered the fourth Dao Pillar.

“So that’s how it is!” Meng Hao’s eyes grew brighter. “I have a perfect Foundation, but when my first three Dao Pillars formed within the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament, there was more than enough spiritual energy to absorb, so I couldn’t even sense the potency of the Dao Pillars. But now, things are clear. After reaching a certain point, the fourth Dao Pillar reaches a phase in which only death can stop its progress. When this happens, it will even consume my own life force. The reason is because it can’t absorb spiritual energy from the outside world, only from my flesh and blood!

“Perfection. Perfection is so potent! But such potency is also a weapon. I’ve been rejected by the Heavens. Therefore, I must plunder from the living! The bodies of Cultivators are filled with spiritual energy that does not belong to heaven and earth! Therefore, it can be pillaged away! Now I understand. It seems that in the future, it will be like this every time I form a new Dao Pillar!

“Today… my fourth Dao Pillar will appear!”

These thoughts ran through Meng Hao’s head in an instant. He loosened his grip, then looked around at the surrounding Cultivators, his eyes radiating icy cold. His body flashed as he shot toward them.

Miserable screams rang out. All of these people had Cultivation bases at the mid Foundation Establishment level at the highest; most were at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Could they possibly match up against Meng Hao? As Meng Hao passed each person, his hand would snake out, and with no effort on his part, the fourth Dao Pillar would feed, thirstily sucking in energy.

Body after body turned into bones. Before the death of each Cultivator, their Cultivation base would be sucked rapidly into Meng Hao, consumed by his Dao Pillar. Soon, Meng Hao was no longer withered, and his flesh and blood began to rebuild.

As Xiao Chang’en observed this happening, dread appeared on his face. The Cultivators who had moments ago been charging forward, suddenly began to retreat at high speed.

In their eyes, Meng Hao was no Cultivator; he had transformed into some type of evil demon. Wherever he passed, blood-curdling screams could be heard, and he left behind only ragged corpses. Their minds reeled, and expressions of unbridled horror appeared on their faces.

“What magic is this!?!?”

“What is he doing!?!?”

“This guy… he’s sucking up the life and Cultivation bases of all those dead Fellow Daoists!?!?”

The remaining twenty or so Cultivators were scared witless and retreated in chaos. Meng Hao caught up with one of them. As he placed his hand on the crown of the man’s head, a blood-curdling scream echoed out. His body began to shrivel, and then he died.

Meng Hao’s face was no longer pale and bloodless; it was now ruddy and filled with life. He took a deep breath, and in his mind he suddenly recalled the scene in Patriarch Reliance’s Immortal’s cave, when Patriarch Reliance had absorbed the Core Formation Cultivators [1. To revisit the scene of Patriarch Reliance using the Great Art of Demonic Life, check out Chapter 82: The Great Art of Demonic Life].

“The Great Art of Demonic Life?” thought Meng Hao, his eyes flickering. It seemed that what he was doing now was very similar indeed to the Great Art of Demonic Life that Patriarch Reliance had used. “Or perhaps this is some type of enlightenment that comes from being in a kill or be killed situation. The Great Art of Demonic Life. Demonic Life….” Meng Hao sighed inwardly as he suppressed his deeply-ingrained Confucian way of thinking. His body flickered with the power of the fourth Dao Pillar. He sighed as his hand clasped around the throat of another Cultivator. The fourth Dao Pillar sucked in the man’s Cultivation base. Soon, the fourth Dao Pillar would complete its circle and be complete.

“The path of my Perfect Foundation will be strewn with mountains of corpses and seas of blood. I… understand.” He sighed again, and yet continued forward without hesitation. His heart did not grow soft. Confucianism would always exist within him, and he would never be truly merciless. However, when the circumstances required, he could act without mercy.