Three months passed in a flash. During that time, Holy Snow City was a buzz of activity as everyone was mobilized in various preparations. Meanwhile, various momentous events occurred in the Black Lands. The name of the United Nine remained, but in reality, it no longer existed. Other than Holy Snow City, only one other remained: the City of Nets.

The City of Nets still survived because of its Spirit Severing Patriarch, as well as the favorable position they occupied. Furthermore, the city contained nearly ten thousand Cultivators. Because of its significant size, the Black Lands Palace focused most of its efforts there, leaving Holy Snow City alone for the time being.

Of course, Holy Snow City's geographical position had a lot to do with that as well, considering its remoteness, and the snow that covered the area year-round.

The once illustrious United Nine now consisted only of Holy Snow City and the City of Nets. All others had either been destroyed or evacuated. The greater part of the Black Lands now belonged to the Black Lands Palace.

There was actually a third area in the Black Lands that offered hindrance to the Black Lands Palace. That was the location formerly known as Dongluo City, but was now the Church of the Golden Light.

The Church of the Golden Light had risen to fame in all of the Black Lands during these three months. It had five thousand members, along with a shocking spell formation. For the moment, the Black Lands Palace had no choice but to retreat and allow the Church of the Golden Light to stay there.

As for the mysterious, enigmatic Patriarch Golden Light, he was even more famous in the Black Lands, and the legends about him multiplied.

By the end of the three months, the situation in the Black Lands was volatile. It was at this time that the Black Lands Palace's army of Cultivators once again appeared outside of Holy Snow City, along with Western Desert Cultivators. The whole force consisted of several thousand Cultivators and over thirty thousand beasts.

This was no mere probe; it was full-scale war. The land was dotted with utilitarian war chariots which rumbled across the earth, propelled by the power of magic. The chariots bristled with sharp spikes, and emanated a bizarre light, seeming to indicate that they could burst out with shocking magical powers.

As for the more than thirty thousand ferocious beasts, they covered the land and sky in all directions.

Among the Cultivators, the weakest Cultivation base to be seen was Foundation Establishment. As for Core Formation, there were roughly five hundred in the force.

Such an enormous power was enough to shock the entire Black Lands. However, even more shocking was the fact that there wasn't one Nascent Soul Cultivator in the army, but four!

Obviously, the four Nascent Soul Cultivators were there to deal with the four Grand Elders of the Frigid Snow Clan. Two were from the Black Lands Palace, and wore silver masks, whereas two were from the Western Desert.

Spell shields surrounded Holy Snow City, formations that looked like screaming sheets of snow. There were also ten enormous star-shaped objects rotating in the sky high above the city, emanating countless strands of power.

Within the city, there were slightly more than a thousand Cultivators, including the members of the Frigid Snow Clan, a vast difference when compared to the outside forces. The Holy Snow City forces were split into four battle groups, tasked with guarding the city walls.

The faces of the Cultivators in the city were taut with anxiety. They felt nervous, but none of them fled. The four Grand Elders took charge of different areas of the cities. Their faces were also filled with anxiety.

Meng Hao left his courtyard and made his way to one of the city walls. He looked out at the dark mass that was the enemy force. He had observed large scale battles before, but this would be his first time seeing one from this position.

When it came to a grand war of Cultivators such as this, Meng Hao's power, though it might be great, was not enough to assure victory or defeat. Only someone of the Spirit Severing stage could do so.

The battle was set to erupt at any moment!

Suddenly, the wails of war bugles could be heard echoing out in the air. As soon as they did, the mass of beasts flying in the air, as well as the neo-demons on the ground, howled and charged.

They were joined by the thousands of Cultivators and their war chariots as they launched their assault on Holy Snow City.

"Lightning Sea Pill!" cried Frigid Snow Clan's First Elder. A booming sound filled the air, and everything went dim. The defensive tempest which surrounded Holy Snow City seemed as if it were splitting apart.

As soon as his words echoed out, four medicinal pills were tossed out from the city. One of them was instantly snapped up by a flying Flood Dragon; suddenly, its body began to tremble, and a boom filled the air as it exploded into pieces. From within the blood and gore, multiple lightning bolts shot out.

They spread out in all directions to form an enormous Lightning Sea, roughly three hundred meters wide.

Any flying beasts who were caught up in the Lightning Sea immediately began to let out shrill shrieks as they were torn into pieces!

The three Lightning Sea Pills which landed onto the ground caused the earth to tremble. Suddenly, three hundred meter wide Lightning Seas erupted up. Beasts and Cultivators alike let out miserable screams as they were shredded apart by the lightning.

At the same time, black clouds appeared in the sky overhead. Even more blazing lightning crackled down, slamming into the ground.

The shocking effects of these four Lightning Sea Pills were actually beyond what Meng Hao had anticipated. He had concocted them three months before and given them to the Frigid Snow Clan.

In his estimation, the pills should have produced Lightning Seas only several dozen meters wide, not hundreds. It only took him a moment to understand what had happened, though. This area was constantly swathed with snowstorms and tempests. The frozen ground and the howling wind were actually special spell formations of Holy Snow City. They amplified the effects of the Lightning Sea Pills, causing their power to increase exponentially.

"The amplification has limits," thought Meng Hao. "Using it too much in this capacity will cause the spell formations to break on their own."

Sounds of rejoicing could be heard throughout the city.

"Grandmaster Meng is amazing!!"

"That was a magic pill concocted by Grandmaster Meng. Such power is unprecedented! It shook Heaven and Earth!"

"Grandmaster Meng!!"

The cries drifted outside of the city walls, followed by groups of Cultivators. As they flew out, one of the star shapes above the city also flew out, slashing into the Black Lands Palace Cultivators and shredding them into pieces.

The ground quaked as death filled the battlefield. Explosions reverberated out, along with bloodcurdling shrieks. Blood showered down like rain. From his position on the city wall, Meng Hao watched all of this happening, his heart trembling.

Magical light emanated out from the war chariots, slamming into the city defenses. The ice on the ground began to crack, and the sky itself seemed about to be ripped apart.

It was at this time that a Western Desert Cultivator flew up into the air. He was in the late Core Formation stage and had three totem tattoos on his body. One was a Flood Dragon, another was a Mountain Spirit, and the third was a mighty river. As he flew up to hover in the air, he held a severed head in his hand, dripping blood. He looked up toward the city and laughed heartily.

"Grandmaster Meng, you dogfart, do you dare to come out and fight me!?!?" Behind the man, a Flood Dragon appeared, roaring as it flew up into the sky. Next to the Flood Dragon was an enormous Mountain Spirit, grinning viciously toward the city. Beneath the feet of the strapping Cultivator, an enormous, world-shaking river appeared.

"I am Ta Luo, three-totem Cultivator of the Thorn Tribe of the Western Desert. I challenge Grandmaster Meng of Holy Snow City to a duel! Do you dare to fight me? Don't tell me the only thing you can do is concoct pills!? Meng, you twerp, do you dare to fight me or not?! You numbskull alchemist! All you can do is concoct pills in some dark room somewhere. Do you dare to come fight me in the open!?"

As his words echoed out, Meng Hao stood on the city wall, his expression the same as ever as he looked out at the hollering Cultivator and his totems.

"A Mountain Spirit totem," thought Meng Hao. "It looks like both a mountain and a spirit. I definitely need to study it." Suddenly, his eyes flickered as he looked up into the sky.

Next to him was Third Elder, the old woman. She frowned.

"He's just trying to provoke you," she said. "It's obviously a trick, Grandmaster Meng, you…." Before she could finish speaking, Meng Hao's body flickered and he shot off the city wall.

The old woman's face flickered, and she shot into the air to follow him. Even as she did, however, one of the silver-masked Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Black Lands Palace laughed viciously, and then disappeared. When he reappeared, he was directly in front of the old woman, blocking her path.

The Western Desert Cultivator with the severed head hovered there watching Meng Hao approach. Laughing uproariously, he clenched his right hand, causing the severed head to explode and splatter his body with blood and gore. With a vicious smile, he shot toward Meng Hao.

They closed in on each other at top speed, which of course drew the attention of Cultivators from both sides of the battle. Those from Holy Snow City were all very nervous, and the other three Grand Elders tried to fly over to help, but were obstructed by the other Black Lands Palace and Western Desert Nascent Soul Cultivators.

"Meng, you twerp, I'm gonna help you understand how Western Desert Cultivators kill people!" The power of the huge man's late Core Formation Cultivation base exploded out to shocking effect. The Flood Dragon behind him roared, the Mountain Spirit radiated ferocity, and the mighty river screamed through the air. All of it was very imposing.

This man had complete confidence that he would be able to kill this opponent. Once this Grandmaster Meng tangled with him, it would only take a moment or two to ensure that he died.

"Once he emerged from the city walls, his fate was sealed!" thought the Western Desert Cultivator, grinning viciously. In the blink of an eye, they were roughly thirty meters from each other. Meng Hao's expression was the same as always; however, a bloody glow suddenly emanated out from his body. Suddenly, he disappeared. It was a Bloodburst Flash which suddenly placed him directly in front of the grinning Western Desert Cultivator.

The man's eyes went wide, and without even thinking about it, he moved to retreat backward. However, Meng Hao's hand shot out like lightning, grabbed his clothing and then lifted him up above his head. He pulled off this move smoothly, as if he had practiced it many times.

It was a bizarre move, and everyone who saw it gaped.

The moment in which Meng Hao grabbed the shocked Western Desert Cultivator and lifted him up, a lightning bolt suddenly appeared in the sky. This particular lightning bolt looked different from normal lightning.

That was because it was not ordinary lightning; this was Tribulation Lightning!

None of the onlookers even had an opportunity to react. The Heavenly Tribulation descended onto the body of the Western Desert Cultivator. The Flood Dragon shrieked as it shattered into pieces. The Mountain Spirit collapsed, and the river exploded. The Western Desert Cultivator didn't even have time to shriek. The Heavenly Tribulation smashed into his body, turning it… completely black.

He was absolutely dead!!

He wasn't Meng Hao, who was able to resist such lightning for various reasons. Obviously, this man was not equipped with any of those methods, and was killed.

"Too bad about that Mountain Spirit totem," said Meng Hao, shaking his head. He loosened his grip, dropping the corpse. Everyone looked on, stunned, as Meng Hao Bloodburst Flashed away, returning to the city wall at incredible speed.