Chapter 1323: War Requires Spirit! (2/2)

Everything was as still as death....

As Meng Hao looked around at the listless cultivators, he felt as if his heart were being stabbed.

Yuwen Jian grimaced from the pain of his injuries as he approached Meng Hao. Then he looked around at all his comrades, and bitterly commented, “They’re like this because we have no hope. Meng Hao, do you really think that we can... win this war?”

He seemed confused, and from the way he asked the question, it almost seemed as if he were inwardly searching for some way to pull himself together and rise to the situation. Even if whatever he found was a false hope....

Meng Hao had seen war before, but he had never experienced anything like he had just now. His heart hurt, but he was infinitely moved. He looked around at the tens of thousands of cultivators of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, and he saw how exhausted they were. He saw how despair had taken hold in the depths of their hearts, and he saw how much they hated the Outsiders.

He suddenly felt the urge to speak. Although he wasn’t sure what he should say, it was as if there were a voice deep inside of him desperate to cry out, to rally the people around him.

“Fellow Daoists of the Mountains and Seas! I am Meng Hao, Echelon cultivator from the Ninth Mountain and Sea!

“I don’t know for sure whether or not we’ll win this war. But what I do know is that as we speak, Paragon Sea Dream is fighting the Outsider Paragon, right up there!” As he spoke, his voice began to grow impassioned, and he pointed up toward the heights of the starry sky.

“I also know that the Lord of the Fourth Mountain and Sea, Ksitigarbha, is fighting the Outsider Imperial Lord!

“All of the other Mountain and Sea Lords are fighting with incarnations of an Outsider Dao Sovereign. Furthermore, just moments ago, I managed to trap their other Dao Sovereign in the 33 Hells. If he doesn’t die there, then at the least, he’ll be unable to emerge for some time!

“Another thing I know is that as of this moment, I, Meng Hao, am the only cultivator who can fight at the Dao Sovereign level that is currently not fighting!

“I don’t know whether or not we can secure victory in this war. But... the Mountain and Sea Realm will not be overthrown easily!

“We are the descendants of the Paragon Immortal Realm, and we have lasted all the way down to this day. We are the Mountain and Sea Realm, and the war has only just begun. How could we possibly lose hope now?!?!”

Even as Meng Hao looked out at the cultivators of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, his heart bursting with powerful exhortations, a fierce fight was raging above Planet South Heaven in the Ninth Mountain and Sea. The Li Clan spell formation covered the entire planet, ensuring that any Outsiders who approached were destroyed before they could set foot on Planet South Heaven.

The sky rained with the blood of the Outsiders. Of course, that blood was filthy to the point that it could harm cultivators, and even devastate the earth. Therefore, it was not allowed to touch down onto the ground, but was dissipated into a mist before the very eyes of the cultivators of Planet South Heaven.

Standing atop a distant mountain was Shui Dongliu, who was staring up into the sky, a perpetual look of sorrow in his eyes.

At some point, an ancient ship had come to appear off to the side, floating there in the air. It was a ship that no one could see, almost as if... it didn't exist.

An old man sat cross-legged at the prow of the boat with his back to the world, as if he had forsaken all Heaven and Earth.

If Meng Hao were here, he would instantly recognize this ship and this old man. He had boarded this same ship back when the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch had stolen his Dao foundation, leaving him on the brink of death.

The ship had taken him on a dream-like voyage through the Mountain and Sea Realm, a voyage which had opened Meng Hao’s eyes to the wider world. [1. Meng Hao’s time on the ship with the old man occurred starting in around chapter 683. I didn’t realize it early on in ISSTH, but it seems likely that this old man on the boat is a character from Er Gen’s other novel Beseech the Devil, a guy whose name is something along the lines of Old Man Extermination. Please note, I said ”likely” because it's only my speculation, I didn't even check on the Chinese internet.]

Whether it had been intentional or not, the old man on the ship had healed Meng Hao’s injuries, and given him a bit of life force that had enabled him to keep living for a time.

Right now, that very same ship was floating in midair in front of Shui Dongliu.

Shui Dongliu stood there at the peak of the mountain, and the old man on the boat sat there with his back turned to the world. Although their eyes had not made contact, it clearly seemed as if they were looking at each other.

Suddenly, an ancient voice could be heard as the old man on the ship spoke. “Is all this necessary...? Your hope has always been doomed to fail.”

This was apparently the first time this man had ever truly spoken, and his voice seemed to echo out from the depths of time itself. As he spoke, the ship upon which he sat seemed even more illusory than before.

Shui Dongliu didn't respond. Instead, he continued to stare off into the distance.

After a long moment passed, the old man on the ship sighed. Then he and the ship slowly faded away.

In almost the same moment that the ship and the old man vanished, Shui Dongliu suddenly turned his head. Someone was approaching him silently from behind, a young man in a black robe. His expression was calm, and his features extraordinary, but he had an astonishing murderous aura roiling off of him. He was none other... that the person who had taught Meng Hao the time-walking technique.... Slaughter! [2. Previous times Slaughter appeared include chapters 1122, 1142, and 1205]

He looked coldly at Shui Dongliu, and killing intent flashed through his eyes.

“I pondered the matter for some time.... I should have dispersed, so why was I brought back? It wasn’t until seeing you that I understood.

“One time. I’ll help you... only one time!” With that, Slaughter looked deeply at Shui Dongliu, then vanished into thin air.

Shui Dongliu stood there thoughtfully. The entire time, he hadn’t spoken a single word. Soon, the sun set, night fell, and the moon shone, casting a long shadow behind him.

“Deliver the people, lose the world,” he murmured softly. “Lose the people, deliver the world.... The choice has long since been made.” A strange, anticipatory light slowly began to gleam in his eyes.

“The Mountain and Sea Realm is at war, and now the spirit of the people must rise!”