The Eighth Hex ceased all movement in the dimension. Everything went still and quiet. As for the Seventh Hex, it sealed the dimension's cycle of Karma, freezing it within all memories.

The Sixth Hex locked down life and death, replacing reincarnation, making the entire dimension like a tree without roots.

The Fifth Hex threw everything into chaos. Inside became out, the universe twisted, Heaven and Earth went dark, and all light faded!

The Third Hex caused the river of time in the dimension to slow to a halt. Time had no boundaries, no limits, no end, and yet the flow of time was stopped.

The Second Hex caused the emptiness to become reality!

Amidst massive rumbling sounds, the Outsider's face fell, and his body was forced out of its illusory state. The entire dimension went quiet as Heaven and Earth were sealed.

As he appeared in the flesh, the Outsider was shocked to find that he couldn't move. He was only able to hover there, motionless, his heart overwhelmed with fear as he looked at Meng Hao.

"What magical technique is this...? This isn't full Essence, but it contains the power of Essence. Furthermore... if this becomes true Essence, then this person... he'll... he'll....

"He has the foundation of a Paragon!! His fleshly body is already at the 5-Essences level, and with a cultivation base foundation like this... he....

"If this kid isn't stopped, he's definitely going to become a Paragon!"

Even as the Outsider reeled in astonishment, Meng Hao advanced with lightning-like speed. As he did, he extended his index finger, which stabbed into the Outsider's forehead. Despair and rage boiled up in the Outsider's eyes, and then, his life force was exterminated.

In the moment that the flame of his life force was snuffed out, the Outsider's true form became visible in front of Meng Hao: a 3,000-meter-long lizard.

The lizard radiated an aura of death, but that couldn't cover over his incredible ancientness. It was impossible to tell how many countless years this Outsider had lived, and yet, even as his lizard body trembled, a drop of golden blood appeared on his forehead.

Within that golden blood were flecks of black, which were vile impurities from the Outsider himself. Meng Hao waved his hand, causing the golden blood to begin to burn. After the impurities were expunged, the golden blood flew toward Meng Hao and fused into his forehead.

Rumbling sounds could be heard as Meng Hao grew taller. Although the growth wasn't very dramatic, the power his fleshly body radiated was more terrifying than ever. Everything around him distorted, as if the natural laws were being expelled. At the same time... a burst of 5-Essences fleshly body power erupted from within him.

"Almost at the 6-Essences level!!" Madness gleamed in Meng Hao's eyes. 6-Essences was the peak of the Dao Sovereign level. For a long time, Meng Hao's fleshly body had been one Realm higher than his cultivation base. However, it had eventually become stuck between the Ancient Realm and the Dao Realm. Without God blood, that was a difficult gap to bridge.

But now, if he were to be able to reach a Dao Sovereign fleshly body in one fell swoop, Meng Hao's battle prowess would be virtually incomprehensible. He would be in a position to actually tangle with Paragons!

As of this moment, he truly was the most powerful expert in the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Meng Hao took a deep breath as he released the dimension from the grips of the Hexing magic. To seal an entire world in this way was not something he could sustain for more than a few breaths of time. Even still, it was something completely Heaven-defying.

Meng Hao could now clearly sense that his cultivation base and battle prowess were far beyond what they had been when the war had started. He was now incredibly powerful!

Rumbling sounds could be heard as Meng Hao shot toward the region of the final star.

This area was different from all of the other areas.

It was not a mountain peak, not a plain, not a lake, but rather... an enormous statue!

A boundless mist covered the statue, which depicted a middle-aged man, standing atop a star. He was dignified and imposing, with a river of stars in his right hand, and a barbaric and domineering aura.

As Meng Hao closed in, the statue's aura suddenly erupted into chaos, causing the mist to churn. At the same time, the statue's eyes suddenly turned golden.

The statue's eyes radiated explosive light, and its voice was matchlessly cold and sinister as it said, "Those not of the God Clan may not possess God blood! Anyone who steals God blood will be cursed for all time by the Gods, and will be exterminated!"

A majestic divine will erupted from the statue, a wave of hatred that swept out in all directions, enveloping everything, including Meng Hao.

Meng Hao's face fell as the divine will swept over him, distorting everything in the world. It was as if the power of time travel were being unleashed, as if everything were becoming illusory. In the blink of an eye, everything became clear again, and the world from before was gone.

There was no statue, no Vale of the Godgrave, no... Mountain and Sea Realm!

Stretching out in front of him was an endless starry sky, within which floated an enormous, shocking land mass, so large that it seemed comparable to the starry sky itself.

Thousands of other smaller land masses floated beneath that main enormous land mass, upon which a war was raging. The flames of combat burned, and the sounds of fierce fighting rang out. Divine abilities thundered, giving rise to massive waves of sound.

"This...." Meng Hao's mind was reeling as he looked at the huge continent. Although this was his first time seeing it in this specific way, there was a voice calling out from within his blood telling him that this was... the Paragon Immortal Realm!

Rumbling could be heard, and Meng Hao spotted a giant. It was huge, almost as big as the entire land mass, and behind it were more giants, all striding forward.

The giants were so terrifying that the single sweep of a fist could slay a thousand cultivators, and the wave of a finger could destroy the Heavens and extinguish the Earth.

The land masses that were the Lower Realms shattered one after another, but at the same time, the Paragon Immortal Realm was trembling violently. Fissures of destruction spread out, and yet the Paragon Immortal Realm continued to fight back violently.

God blood rained out of the heavens as the giant Gods were felled. Meng Hao's mind was reeling as he saw one of the Gods, who had eight stars on its head, suddenly turn to look at him.

For some reason, this God's facial features seemed familiar. Meng Hao's pupils constricted, and his mind rumbled as he realized... that it was the exact same God whose head made up the Vale of the Godgrave.

"God Curse...." murmured the 8-star God, killing intent flickering in his eyes. He suddenly veered out of the ranks of his fellows, bursting through the surrounding cultivators to head in Meng Hao's direction. Meng Hao was some distance away, but because of the enormity of the God, it was almost impossible to see him clearly with one glance. For someone that huge, it only took one step to reach Meng Hao!

He strode across the entire starry sky to appear right in front of Meng Hao. A screaming sound could be heard, like a wild wind that caused heavenly bodies to tremble.... And that was merely the God raising its hand. Its index finger extended, causing powerful ripples to spread out in all directions as it pierced through the starry sky.

Rumbling sounds echoed out from the boundless destructive power emanating out from that enormous finger. It completely filled Meng Hao's field of vision, cutting off the starry sky, cutting off the entire world.

An intense sensation of deadly crisis exploded up within Meng Hao, a sensation which seemed completely realistic. It didn't matter than Meng Hao had his Real-Unreal Hexing; to him, this felt absolutely real, and not false!

"But... that's impossible!!" he thought. "What magical technique is this? This can't be real! This is an ancient war, and even if I was sent here somehow, it would be as an observer. My real body couldn't be here!" Meng Hao's face flickered, but there was no time to consider the situation at length. As the finger closed in on him, he shot backward, unleashing the full power of his cultivation base and fleshly body. Unfortunately, all of that was useless!

In the critical moment, Meng Hao then performed an incantation gesture and unleashed Demon Sealing Hexing magic!

He didn't utilize all of the Hexes, but rather... the most powerful... Third Hex!

Present-Ancient Hexing!

The Dao of Time was unleashed, causing Meng Hao's body to blur. He suddenly seemed to fade into the river of time, and the incoming finger passed through him.

A boom rang out, and blood sprayed out of Meng Hao's mouth. He felt himself weakening to the point where he was about to collapse into pieces. However, the Green Emperor's Eternal Incantation helped him recover, and he fell back at top speed, eyes glittering.

"It's real, and also not real... illusory, and yet not illusory. It's a dreamscape!! If you die in a dream, you can die in real life!" Having received inspiration in the nick of time, he suddenly extended his hand. Without any hesitation, he performed an incantation gesture to unleash Karmic Hexing, then touched his own forehead.

Instantly, his Karma Threads appeared. Among the hosts of threads, he found one that looked different than the rest, the one that had appeared after absorbing the God blood, the Karma Thread connecting him to this God!

The God might be dead, but because of the connection of this Karma, he was still able to unleash his Daoist magic.

Meng Hao grabbed ahold of the Karma Thread, and was just about to rip it apart, when the God suddenly looked at him. He had no time to attack, so instead, he opened his mouth and roared in Meng Hao's direction!

The roar of a God!

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

The roar shattered everything between the God and Meng Hao. An incredible power of extermination roared toward him, inundating him. In that same moment, Meng Hao snapped the Karma Thread.

RUMBLE!

Everything went dark. Time passed. Eventually, things grew clear again, and Meng Hao was no longer in that ancient starry sky. He was back in the Vale of the Godgrave.

The golden light in the eyes of the statue had faded away, and yet, an unyielding roar could be heard echoing about as the statue collapsed.

Meng Hao's face darkened, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. He was rapidly recovering, but even simply thinking about the danger he had just been in left him trembling.

"Not willing to let me steal the God blood huh...?" Meng Hao looked at the shattered statue, and could sense that the God blood which had been there before was now gone. That very blood was what had been used to fuel the divine ability which had transported him back to ancient times.

Meng Hao began to chuckle coldly, then waved his sleeve. Killing intent sprang up in his eyes.

"Well, even without the eighth drop of God blood, I can still... acquire a Dao Sovereign fleshly body!"