Chapter 1114: Thou Shalt Call Me... Dao Fang! (2/2)
Suddenly, an archaic voice projected out from the statue: “Ah, so you’re on a mental journey, Meng Hao, my young friend. There is no need to worry about Xu Qing. I’ve accepted her as a disciple. Young friend... I wish you a safe and sound mental journey.”
After a moment, Meng Hao clasped hands and bowed. Then he looked deeply at Xu Qing one more time, before turning his attention back to the Nine Mountains and Seas at large. He saw Patriarch Reliance floating through the starry sky of the Eighth Mountain, humming a little tune, seemingly without a care in the world.
All of a sudden, a tremor ran through him. He had no hair on his body, but if he did, they would all be standing on end.
“Who is it! Who’s spying on me!!” he roared.
“Dammit, it feels like... like that little bastard Meng Hao! AHHHH!!
“The Patriarch has fled all the way here, and y-y-you... you just won't give up, huh?!?!” After looking around for a moment, he stared off blankly into the void for a while, then suddenly began to laugh heartily.
“Oh,” he roared complacently, ”so you’re way over there. Come on, you bastard scoundrel. Come get me if you can!”
Meng Hao snorted coldly, but then suddenly, his eyes went wide. Because of the current state he was in, he suddenly saw something on Patriarch Reliance’s back, in a seemingly ordinary corner of the State of Zhao.
There on Patriarch Reliance’s back, right in the middle of the State of Zhao was... a door!!
That door radiated soft light, and as soon as Meng Hao caught sight of it, his heart seized. There was something very familiar about that door, something like the aura of the Ancient Demon Immortal Sect.
“The legacy of Lord Li!!” Meng Hao's eyes widened, and his heart began to pound as he realized that apparently, the legacy of Lord Li was actually on Patriarch Reliance’s back!
He had little time to consider the matter as he found himself rising higher up within the pillar of light, flying higher and higher up into the void above the Mountain and Sea Realm.
He brought the trembling of his heart under control as he looked up into the vault of the void, and suddenly, a gleam of anticipation appeared in his eyes. He realized that all of this was most likely happening because of the Echelon. Although he wasn't sure exactly what was happening, he did know... exactly what the Mountain and Sea Realm was!
“33 Heavens, huh...? According to what I learned from the Sixth Generation Demon Sealer, breaking through the 33 Heavens is the Mountain and Sea Tribulation!” His eyes glittered as he began to speed faster and faster. [2. Meng Hao reached his conclusions about the Mountain and Sea Tribulation in chapter 1026]
He wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually he broke through some sort of barrier and found himself looking at a path!
A path among the stars!
There were 33 Realms on that path, which seemed like 33 layers of successive seals that completely enveloped the Mountain and Sea Realm.
The beam of light took him along the path, and he pierced through one Realm after another. Eventually, he broke through the 33rd Realm, and it seemed like he was just on the verge of being able to see the truth about what was beyond. However, in that exact moment, a beam of golden light glittered in his eyes, until that was all that he could see.
Everything shattered!
A tremor ran through him, and the light around him began to collapse. The stream of his soul that was in the light began to recede, but before it did, a Heaven-rending Earth-crushing voice boomed out.
“Thou shalt call me... Dao Fang!”
Back in the Mountain and Sea Realm, in the Windswept Realm, on the National Aura Mountain of the Seventh Nation, Meng Hao trembled, let out a cry, and then coughed up a massive mouthful of blood. He staggered backward, his face pale white.
The mark on his forehead flickered rapidly, then slowly faded. His Demon Sealing Hexing Magic also faded away.
“What was that golden light?!?!
“And that voice. Dao Fang. Dao Fang.... Why does that name sound so familiar. Where did I hear it before!?” [3. Dao Fang was mentioned twice in the story before, in chapter 731 and chapter 887. In Chinese, it's 道方 dào fāng. Dao is the same as “the Dao” and Fang means “square.” It's also the same Fang as the Fang Clan] He began panting, and before he could recall anything more about the name, a brilliant beam of light rose up from the central temple of the Windswept Realm.
It was fully 30,000 meters wide, and it shot up into the sky as if to tear open the Heavens. Indescribable ripples spread out, and once again, that world of mountains and statues opened up.
All eyes were fixed up above, including all of the Echelon cultivators. No matter what they were doing at the moment, everyone felt their hearts pounding as they looked overhead.
The entire battlefield surrounding the central temple went silent, and everyone looked in shock at the unprecedentedly bright pillar of light.
In the world up above there was a mountain hidden in the mists behind all of the other mountains and statues. It was the tallest mountain in that world, and all of a sudden... that mountain crumbled into pieces and then reformed into a statue.
That statue looked like a celestial warrior, shocking to the extreme. As soon as everyone saw the face of the statue, they were astonished to see... Meng Hao!
At the same time, a cold, archaic voice echoed out, seemingly emotionless. It filled the entire Windswept Realm, echoing out through the sky.
“Meng Hao, Echelon cultivator from the Ninth Nation, has killed another Echelon cultivator, a criminal act--”
Before the voice could finish speaking, more words echoed out, although this time, they didn't seem to be completely devoid of emotion like before. Grim ripples spread out, and if you listened closely, you would be able to tell... that the voice actually seemed to be different than the first one!
“The reward... is an Ancient Treasure, Heavenly Champion Immortal Ax!”