Chapter 1361: Risking It All In Battle! (2/2)

“Different mindsets have led to this war, and have thus our battle here. I understand you had no choice in the matter. However, despite being a Paragon, I'm only at the 7-Essences level, so I had little choice myself.

“Meng Hao... I will remember your name. And now the time has come... for you to leave this world forever.” Xuan Fang took a deep breath. Of all his souls that existed within the stream of time, nearly eighty percent had been destroyed. However, as long as even a single one remained, he could not be truly killed.

The main thing he regretted was it was a magical technique... that he could never again unleash. If Meng Hao somehow managed to unleash that incomplete Daoist magic a second time, then... he would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Meng Hao sat there silently, sighing inwardly. It was a critical moment of life or death, and yet, he felt no fear. Instead, he thought about his life after his parents went missing, about being a scholar in Yunjie County, about the Imperial examinations, and about the events on Mount Daqing which had led to him entering the world of cultivation and the Dao.

His life flashed before his eyes, images of his family, his wife, his friends....

Rumbling sounds echoed out as Xuan Fang took a step forward to enter the spell formation itself. Just when he was about to reach out and exterminate Meng Hao, an enraged roar echoed out, from none other than the 100,000 cultivators that Xuan Fang had completely disregarded this entire time.

ROOOAARRRR!!

No words were spoken, no explanations were given. There was only... a furious cry that echoed out from the depths of their souls.

100,000 cultivators’ eyes were all completely bloodshot as they unleashed the power of their cultivation bases, and even their life force, to fight back against Paragon Xuan Fang. They would not allow him to enter the spell formation, and they would not allow him to harm Meng Hao!

Xuan Fang’s eyes flickered, and he snorted coldly, stomping his foot down viciously. The entire sun shuddered as a massive wave of power shot out toward the spell formation and Meng Hao!

Meng Hao had not received numerous injuries, but the injuries he did receive had been extremely grievous. Therefore, it was the 100,000 cultivators who absorbed the powerful attack.

Blood sprayed out of their mouths, and there were some whose bodies withered to the point of collapse.

This sudden development wrenched Meng Hao out of his reverie regarding past memories. To see 100,000 people refusing to yield, determined to give up their own lives rather than allow him to be killed, caused his entire body to tremble.

Xuan Fang was also moved. Inwardly, he sighed, unsure of what to say at this point. However... he continued to press the attack as viciously as ever. His killing intent rocketed up as he took eight steps forward, forcing his way through the spell formation toward Meng Hao. With each step he took, the spell formation trembled violently.

The 100,000 cultivators coughed up more blood, and some even withered away into death, allowing the spell formation to draw upon them until they were killed, all for the purpose of... protecting Meng Hao!

Perhaps it would be most accurate to say that what they were protecting was, not just Meng Hao, but their home!

For some groups of people, the destruction of their homeland will lead, not to a thirst for revenge, but to hopelessness and confusion. However... there are some people whose spirits cannot be exterminated. For a people like that, when the critical moment arrives in which the survival of their homeland is on the line, then the only choice will be sacrifice! Those were the type of people whose vengeance would live for all eternity even after their homeland was destroyed.

Sacrifice oneself to defend one’s home!

Wars are never truly fought over resources. Or perhaps it is most accurate to say that when wars are fought over resources, then regardless of how many casualties are suffered, they are relatively tame.... The true brutality of war comes when the goal is to crush the spirit and will of an entire people!

Only by wiping out the spirit and the will of a people... can that people be truly exterminated!

When exterminating a people, what is exterminated is not just life, but the heart and soul of the entire people!

In the opening stages of the war between the Mountain and Sea Realm and the 33 Heavens, Meng Hao had ignited a fire. He had burned the land mass that was the 1st Heaven to illuminate the eyes of the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm. He had awakened... the spirit and the soul of the people.

When that happened, the war changed. Perhaps the 33 Heavens could exterminate the people of the Mountain and Sea Realm, but... they could not exterminate the souls of its cultivators!

As of this moment, every step Paragon Xuan Fang took resulted in one cultivator after another making the ultimate sacrifice. Blood flowed, and bodies withered. They used their deaths... to buy time!

“You... don’t need to do this....” Meng Hao said through bleary eyes, his body trembling. He looked around at the group of cultivators around him. They were people he had never even seen before the war started. They were strangers. They had their own families, sects, loved ones, even children. But now... it was without hesitation that they gave up their own lives to slow Xuan Fang’s steps.

Bodies withered, and souls faded away. They were like candles in the wind, sputtering on the verge of being snuffed out. Finally, a desperate howl echoed out from Meng Hao’s mouth.

A blood-colored flicker appeared in his eyes, and a flame suddenly burned within him as he looked up at Xuan Fang. As of this moment, Meng Hao... had played all of his cards! There was only one thing left to do.

He waved his hand, drawing fully upon the power of his life force to summon all of his 33 Soul Lamps.