As soon as Meng Hao spoke the words, a roaring filled his head. His body shook, and the air around him twisted and filled with fissures. Everything dimmed, and an invisible whirlpool instantly sprang up around him. As it rotated, it gave rise to an enormous hurricane.

As soon as the illusory whip snapped onto the hurricane vortex, it whipped backward. Down beneath the vortex, all of the sand and dirt floated up into the air and began to sweep around. As for Patriarch Huyan, his face thoroughly fell, and he staggered out of control several paces backward.

His eyes were filled with astonishment and shock, and his mind was reeling.

"Impossible! This magical technique has Seven Animas. How could… an Eighth Anima appear!?!?"

Even as Patriarch Huyan reeled with shocked, Meng Hao's body was seemingly filled with distortions. Intense, pulsing pain overwhelmed him. He had never imagined that the Eighth Anima would be… so painful!

His body felt as if it were being ripped apart. Wave after wave of power surged through him at indescribable speed, rapidly increasing in intensity.

His eight Nascent Souls were fully superimposed, and now burst forth with a power that vastly exceeded the terrifying Cultivation base power of the Seventh Anima.

In the Seventh Anima just now, Meng Hao had unleashed the power of 64 great circle Nascent Souls. That had been the previous limit, something that couldn't be exceeded. But now, even as the combination had just fused, that previous limitation was completely toppled.

65, 66…. In the blink of an eye, Meng Hao's body possessed the power of 70 boundless great circle Nascent Soul Cultivation bases. That power continued to grow. The feeling of intense power, as well as a terrifying aura, spread out through Meng Hao. As his Cultivation base and fleshly body continued to transform, the power exploded out.

Everything around him was twisted and distorted. The wind and clouds were in fluctuation, and the hurricane that surrounded Meng Hao seemed to stretch from the ground up into the sky. Endless booms echoed out, exploding with incredible intensity.

He trembled, and blood began to seep out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. His visage was ferocious to the extreme, and his long hair whipped about madly. He could clearly sense his Cultivation base climbing upward. In the blink of an eye it had the power of 93 great circle Nascent Souls.

And it was still climbing!

Every level of power which was added caused booming sounds to fill him, and more pressure would weigh down on him. The energy which he could employ was even more shocking. At the same time, the wastage to his longevity increased rapidly.

However, none of that could do anything to supersede the wildly intense rise he was experiencing. It gave him an incredible confidence which caused him to lift his head up and roar.

ROARRR!!

The sound of it seemed to cause all of the pain that wracked him to be diffused out into the Demon Immortal Sect. As his body trembled, his Cultivation base rose up from the previous level of 93 great circle Nascent Souls to… 99.

The color of Meng Hao's hair began to change. It was no longer black, but now gray. His facial features were no longer that of a youth, but rather, ancient. His stature was tall and thin as before, but his aura was now completely different.

99, 100!

The full power of one hundred great circle Nascent Souls Cultivation bases exploded out within him. As Meng Hao roared, his hair grew longer and longer, soon reaching his lower back. The tempest around him grew in intensity, causing Meng Hao to slowly float up within the midst of the hurricane.

Lightning and thunder fell down to circulate around him, causing the hurricane to turn into a lightning storm, shocking to Heaven and Earth.

The sight of it caused Patriarch Huyan to pant rapidly. His eyes went wide and filled with a look of disbelief. His mind filled with roaring.

"How could this be…? He… he…."

In the midst of Patriarch Huyan's astonishment, more roaring exploded out from Meng Hao as his Cultivation base rose again!

101, 102, 103… all the way to 115!

Meng Hao's hair now stretched to his knees as his shocking roar echoed about in all directions. The tempest around him continued to expand until it was three hundred meters wide. It was at this point that the Heavenly expulsion force suddenly appeared.

The air around Meng Hao was continuously shattered. The fearsome aura surrounding him continued to rise up, almost as if some primordial wild beast was awakening.

116, 117…. In the blink of an eye, the power of 128 great circle Nascent Soul Cultivation bases exploded up. His roar was now the roar of Spirit Severing.

His power was that of Spirit Severing!

The aura around him was now an aura of Spirit Severing!!

The tempest was now nearly a thousand meters wide. Lightning had transformed the area into a sea of electricity. His hair was longer and his frame taller. His gray hair floated about, and his visage was one of ancientness. His eyes suddenly focused, and within them seemed to circulate a power to exterminate life.

As soon as Patriarch Huyan saw those eyes, his mind trembled, almost as if he had just been subjected to a powerful attack. His body began to shake, and he fell back several paces, blood spewing from his mouth. Within the astonishment on his face could now be seen a trace of dread.

"You…." he said hoarsely, his body shaking.

"I'm not finished yet," said Meng Hao, whose eyes were still closed as he experienced the shocking Cultivation base power of 128 great circle Nascent Souls. This power far exceeded the absolute pinnacle of the Nascent Soul stage. This was… the power of Spirit Severing!!

It was a situation in which quantity changed into quality. With enough Nascent Soul Cultivation base built up, he was able to leap into a realm that was previously only occupied by true Spirit Severing.

However, even as Meng Hao had said, his Eighth Anima wasn't finished yet. Just now, his growth had been in Cultivation base only. His fleshly body was still growing, rapidly flying toward a true Spirit Severing fleshly body.

Fleshly body Spirit severing was a stage for ancient Cultivators. In modern times, there were few people who could temper their body to the stage of Spirit Severing. In fact, you could say that it was virtually impossible, the difficulty level being just too high.

For Meng Hao, it was only by a series of lucky coincidences that he could reach this legendary stage. As of this moment, his fleshly body appeared to be normal, but in actuality, every strand of muscle was being shredded. Every inch of bone was being crushed. Every vein and artery was collapsing.

However, no matter how they were shredded, crushed, or collapsed, it didn't cause any problems for Meng Hao. In fact, all of that destruction caused his body to reform, making his Qi and blood reach astonishing levels!!

Within the space of time of a few breaths, the thumping of a heartbeat could be heard, like thunder rattling out in all directions. It caused Patriarch Huyan to stop and look at Meng Hao. As of this moment, it appeared as if there were a shocking Qi and blood fighting back against the natural law of Heaven and Earth!

Qi and blood exploded up shockingly!!

As of this moment, every beat of Meng Hao's heart caused the tempest around him to pause, caused the air to vibrate, caused the land in the area to quake.

Along with his Qi and blood, his body broke through some invisible barrier. As he truly entered the Spirit Severing stage, Meng Hao's Spirit Severing aura exploded into the sky!

He took a deep breath as he realized that his view of the world was now completely different.

He could see innumerable dust motes dancing about in the air. He could hear countless sounds around him in the world, like the whisperings of innumerable deceased souls. He could feel all of the indescribable sorrow that filled the Demon Immortal Sect.

Most importantly… he could hear the sound… of breathing.

It was the breathing of something asleep, coming from deep, deep within the ground. It was faint, as if there were some enormous creature far beneath the surface of the earth, sleeping. Every breath it took echoed about.

All of these things take quite a long time to describe. However, it was a very short period of time from the moment in which Meng Hao entered the Eighth Anima until he could sense everything.

128 great circle Nascent Souls pushed Meng Hao's Cultivation base into a state which could be considered the world of Spirit Severing!

Because of the endless good fortune that had tempered his fleshly body, now that he had entered the Eighth Anima, his body truly had reached the legendary… Fleshly Sanctification. Figuratively speaking, that sanctification was none other than the Spirit Severing of his body!

"I am not in the Spirit Severing stage," he murmured. "But I possess the power of Spirit Severing." His power now vastly exceeded that which he had experienced before, when he had merged with the mastiff.

"Now, the time has come to have a little test. Let's see… exactly how powerful I am!" With that, his eyes began to glow with a cold light. He glanced at Patriarch Huyan, whose mind began to tremble. At that point, Meng Hao vanished.

Patriarch Huyan's scalp numbed, and he was scared witless. He retreated rapidly, waving his arm to cause the whip to flail about in all directions. However, it was at this point that a reflection appeared in his pupils as Meng Hao appeared directly in front of him.

Meng Hao's left hand lifted up, forming a claw that snatched ahold of the whip. The whip let out a whimpering sound, but could not extricate itself.

"You… are too weak," said Meng Hao, his voice cool. He lifted his right hand up and tapped down lightly on Patriarch Huyan's forehead.

Patriarch Huyan's body trembled as he was suddenly lifted up into the air and soared in the direction of the forbidden zone. Before he even began to fall to the ground, his head directly exploded. Blood and gore formed a haze that spread to his chest, and then his limbs, and finally his entire torso.

All of that was accomplished by a mere tap from Meng Hao in his Eighth Anima. Patriarch Huyan was ripped into shreds before he could even scream, and his fleshly body was completely destroyed.

His half-transparent Nascent Divinity fled out, a large hole visible on its forehead. Life force and aura trickled out of the hole, beyond its control. It was incredibly weak as it retreated backward. Its death was only a matter of time; within the space of ten breaths, it would certainly perish!

It was with astonishment and indescribable fear and despair that the Nascent Divinity let out a miserable scream. Although it knew fleeing was useless, it still attempted to run away.

However, it was in this moment that, from within the forbidden zone, what appeared to be a consummately beautiful jade-like hand suddenly reached out with incredible dexterity. The delicate hand stretched out through the air…

To grab ahold of Patriarch Huyan's Nascent Divinity.

"My Cultivation base suffered damage. With this Nascent Divinity, I can concoct some pills to help with that. Do you mind?" A woman walked out from within the forbidden zone. She had Zhixiang's voice, but her appearance was nothing like the woman Meng Hao remembered from before.

She was as pretty as a flower, bewitchingly charming, matchlessly beautiful, unrivaled in elegance and demeanor. She… was the new Demoness Zhixiang!