The blood mist formed from Patriarch Blacksoul's body used his essence-blood to release the souls that he had refined over countless years of cultivation. The seemingly infinite amount of souls exploded out into the starry sky, where they transformed into an enormous mask. The mask of souls writhed, and shrill screams could be heard, as if the souls wished to consume all things to dispel their pain.

The screams they uttered could not be heard by living things; they were screams born of death, and resulted only in boundless, amorphous ripples!

The ripples spread out through the starry sky as if over the surface of water. As the rings expanded, natural laws trembled and fell into retreat. Even the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm seemed to flee from the affected area.

Gradually, a shocking image of the underworld appeared. The Yellow Springs could be seen, as well as the cycle of reincarnation, along with the images of countless evil ghosts.

More shocking than that was that behind the ghosts could be seen numerous... enormous tombs!

The tombs were all illusory, and it was almost as if the excessive number of souls in the area had caused them to descend. As the tombs appeared, they became a backdrop that served to emphasize the size of the mask.

Everything that was happening made the strangeness of the soul mask and its formidability seem more pronounced.... Furthermore, it had such a terrifying aura that Meng Hao's pupils constricted.

This was the explosive power of a 3-Essences Dao Lord, someone who could shake Heaven and Earth. Meng Hao had been in mortal danger from the moment he had arrived in the Blacksoul Society, but now that level of danger increased dramatically.

The sensation of crisis he was experiencing told him that this battle, and especially this attack... could end with him perishing!

"But the danger is mutual...." he said, eyes glittering viciously. He always treated both himself and others with incredible viciousness. If he felt the inclination to back down for even a moment during this fight, then he would be dead for sure!

The only option was to reject the option of retreat and to keep fighting. After all... when rivals face off, victory goes to the brave!

Meng Hao's eyes shone with a strange light, and he didn't back down in the least. All of the peak level of power in him converged on the Battle Weapon, which slashed through the starry sky with scintillating light as he slashed it down.

The soul mask let out an intense roar as it slammed into the most powerful of Meng Hao's attacks, the slash of the Battle Weapon.

A huge boom could be heard, and a massive, explosion rumbled out for 50,000 kilometers in every direction, then 500,000 kilometers. Then 5,000,000....

By now, more than half of the Heavengod Alliance could sense the ripples!

The streams of divine sense which had converged in the area were instantly distorted by the explosive outburst, and then shattered!

The surrounding dust and rubble vibrated, and then transformed into ash, which slowly faded away. The battle between Meng Hao and Patriarch Blacksoul was releasing far too much power. The starry sky trembled and began to crack apart. Suddenly, an enormous black hole appeared right between Meng Hao and Patriarch Blacksoul!

Everything shook and trembled violently!

Endless amounts of Patriarch Blacksoul's countless screaming souls were wiped away. And yet, he used the remaining souls he had to disregard all danger and charge toward Meng Hao.

He slammed into Meng Hao, who trembled violently in response. The cape separated from his back, transforming into the mastiff, who coughed up a mouthful of blood. Meng Hao was now in far more danger than before.

There was even a voice inside of him yelling at him to flee, to escape, to stop fighting lest he be killed!

And yet, he gritted his teeth, ignored the voice inside, and continued to fight.

He knew that in this battle, he couldn't back down. He had to fight, and keep fighting until the very end. Whoever could walk that narrow line between life and death would be the victor!

Rumbling could be heard as more and more of the souls in Patriarch Blacksoul's soul mask collapsed. Each soul that collapsed sent pain into Patriarch Blacksoul's mind, but he also held on. He was filled with an obsessive desire to strike down Meng Hao!

"DIE!" screamed the converged voices of all the souls in the soul mask.

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

Meng Hao's meat jelly suit of armor was torn off of him. Numerous streams of light swirled out to form together behind Meng Hao in the form of the meat jelly, who looked incredibly listless.

Meng Hao coughed up some more blood; his body was now a mass of completely mangled flesh!

And yet he held on. Patriarch Blacksoul was also trembling; despite the severe loss of souls, he used what he had left to charge madly toward Meng Hao. From a distance, it would look like Meng Hao was hovering alone in the starry sky, surrounded by a boundless sea of souls!

He was holding on, as was the sea of souls!

However, it was at this moment that a tremor ran through him, and his fourth Nirvana Fruit was forced out of his forehead.

When that happened, Meng Hao was severely weakened. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and yet, his momentum didn't falter. Eyes bloodshot, clearly weaker than before, he lifted his foot up and took a step forward.

That step represented his determination, and also his ruthlessness!

As he took that step, Patriarch Blacksoul's consciousness began to blur, and yet, boundless ripples exploded out from the sea of souls!

Both of them were almost completely drained, and were waiting to see... who could hold on longer!

"DIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" screamed Patriarch Blacksoul's countless souls. As they howled, they burst into flames, increasing their attacking power. Some of them even landed on Meng Hao and began to voraciously attempt to consume him!

As Patriarch Blacksoul continued to fight, every soul of his that died was like a powerful mental blow. And yet, he held on, his obsession burning like an undying fire.

Meng Hao was wracked with pain as the souls gnawed at his flesh and tore out bloody chunks to reveal the bones beneath. Then the souls began to chew on the bones, even boring into his body to eat his organs!

The scene which was playing out was extremely shocking; to be eaten alive in such away was something ordinary people would never be able to endure.

But Meng Hao simply frowned and ignored the souls. He rotated his cultivation base, causing his qi and blood to surge, crushing the voracious, evil souls like a giant millstone.

Soon, his entire body was a mass of bloody gore. By now, Meng Hao's power was severely lacking, and his Paragon Bridge, which was also the subject of suicidal attack by Patriarch Blacksoul's numerous souls, was forced back inside his body.

The instant the Paragon Bridge vanished, the souls let out piercing shrieks and pounced on Meng Hao. He was now completely engulfed by wild, ravenous souls!

The Battle Weapon began to fall apart, but just before it faded away, Meng Hao coughed up a mouthful of blood and then slashed down one more time!

"Patriarch Blacksoul, do you... have the courage to die together with me!?"

The souls which formed Patriarch Blacksoul had been rapidly fading away. From 10,000,000 to 1,000,000 to the current 100,000. A huge boom could be heard as the souls were shaken off of Meng Hao, either destroyed or sent spinning away.

Patriarch Blacksoul once again appeared, although he had no body left, only a screaming Nascent Divinity. He was now completely terrified of Meng Hao; he had never encountered someone as vicious as this. Moments ago, Meng Hao had been completely engulfed by souls, which had instantly started to chomp away at his bones and organs.

That was a type of pain that very few people could endure. And yet, even in such a state, Meng Hao made a counter-attack. That was something even more rarely seen!

"Dammit, when did someone as vicious as this show up in the Eighth Mountain and Sea?! He's definitely not a local cultivator, he must be from another Mountain and Sea!!" Patriarch Blacksoul was trembling internally, and had apparently regained his senses from the anguish caused by seeing his sect destroyed. Finally, he began to think reasonably; without any further hesitation, he ceased any thoughts of attacking Meng Hao and simply fled.

When rivals meet, victory goes to the brave, and in this case... Patriarch Blacksoul was the one who backed down!

That wasn't what he wanted to do, but he had no other choice. His heart was pounding in fear, and his mind was filled with terror. He might be a 3-Essences Dao Lord, but right now, he was the one who was scared!

He was completely shaken by Meng Hao's viciousness, completely moved by his determination. Meng Hao's madness caused Patriarch Blacksoul to feel almost as if the person whose sect had just been exterminated was not himself, but actually, Meng Hao!

"Crazy!" he cried. "You're just a lunatic. Dammit.... You don't deserve to have me die together with you, but I swear that I will pay back the enmity of this day upon you a hundredfold!!"

Roaring defiantly, Patriarch Blacksoul's Nascent Divinity fled at top speed. It wasn't that he didn't dare to keep fighting, but rather, that he feared dying. He didn't even want to die while delivering a fatal blow to his enemy.

Seeing that Patriarch Blacksoul was fleeing, Meng Hao almost began to give chase. However, after he took a single step, he trembled and stopped in place. Roughly seventy percent of his entire body was nothing more than bones, and of those bones, thirty percent were broken and shattered.

His was completely covered with bite marks, and one of his eyes had even been ripped out. His internal organs were also severely damaged.

In terms of physical appearance, he looked horrifying.

Without his Eternal stratum constantly replenishing his life force, Meng Hao would have long since passed away....

The Battle Weapon faded away, and his body suddenly seemed to age. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his mangled organs shifted. Meng Hao sagged, and his aura weakened.

Based on his current battle prowess, he was not a match for a 3-Essences Dao Lord, not without the Paragon Bridge. And yet, even with the Paragon Bridge, and his various powerful divine abilities, he still couldn't manage to cut down a 3-Essences Dao Lord. In the end... they were evenly matched!

He wanted to give chase, but it was impossible. Even more importantly, the numerous streams of divine sense in the area indicated that almighty experts from the Heavengod Alliance were currently rushing in his direction.

He had been aware all along that his actions would arouse the wrath of the Heavengod Alliance, and as of now, it would only be moments before the area would be filled with countless cultivators, who would then lock down the entire region.

He looked at the direction in which Patriarch Blacksoul was fleeing, eyes flickering coldly. Finally, he turned and left.

Moments later, numerous beams of colorful light filled the area. In the lead position was a man in a violet robe, whose aura placed him in the Dao Realm.

"Send orders to the entire Heavengod Alliance. Lock down all exit routes within Alliance territory. All Alliance cultivators in the Ancient Realm and higher are to be mobilized to kill the foreign cultivator!" The old man swished his sleeve, using a special technique to spread a message to all regions of the Heavengod Alliance.