All of the crimson dragons beneath the Paragon level were shredded to pieces. Even as the reek of blood spread out in all directions, Meng Hao's hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and three enormous hands appeared outside of the third shield. Each one radiated the power of the peak 9-Essences level, and they shot directly after three crimson dragons.

Then the starry sky trembled as, unexpectedly, countless red dots appeared on the three enormous hands. A close look revealed that each one of those red dots was a bug of some sort. In the blink of an eye, they had completely covered the hands, accompanied by an odd droning sound. More and more bugs appeared, until everything seemed to be a huge swath of red.

Then, off in the distance, a sinister aura of death appeared. It rapidly spread out in all directions, and within it could be seen an endless collection of corpses. Each one of those corpses seem to have been possessed, and they formed a huge army that charged toward the land mass.

The red bugs and the army of the dead all unleashed a massive onslaught onto the third shield layer.

Shocking rumbling echoed out in all directions.

Meng Hao said nothing. Looking off into the distance, he spread both hands out and pushed them down onto the ground. Then he closed his eyes and ignored everything happening outside the shields. His entire mind poured into the copper mirror shards to intensify their call.

Time passed. Two days later, the copper mirror was still a beam of bright light shooting toward Meng Hao's location.

As for the land mass, it was shaking violently. The third shield layer had already collapsed, and now the fourth was teetering on the verge of destruction. Half of the red bugs were dead, and most of the army of the dead was gone.

However, a host of stone golems had appeared, and because of their roaring attacks, the fourth shield was almost destroyed. The stone golems attacked with utter madness.

In addition to them were minotaurs and strange, tentacle-armed entities. The tentacled entities did not have powerful fleshly bodies, but their magical techniques were incredibly shocking. Because of all of that, the fourth shield layer was finally destroyed. Even as the explosion rippled out, the stone golems' eyes gleamed with madness, and they suddenly self-detonated.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

The self-detonation of the stone golems caused the shockwave of the fourth shield layer's destruction to blast into the fifth shield layer. Cracks spread out as the swarms of bizarre creatures continued to attack, and the fifth shield layer disintegrated.

Next came a rain of a billion or more arrows, which whizzed toward the sixth shield layer, bursting with shocking levels of power. In the blink of an eye, the sixth shield layer was destroyed.

That caused the seventh shield layer to appear, at which point Meng Hao opened his eyes. He looked out, his expression grim. Then he took a deep breath and performed a double-handed incantation gesture, causing a blurry face to appear on the surface of the seventh shield.

It looked almost like a specter as it flew up to meet the rain of arrows. Next came a host of tiny humanoid creatures no taller than an average person's knee.

More time passed. On the third day, the seventh shield layer was destroyed by the tiny creatures. In the three days that the armies of bizarre creatures had been attacking the shield layers, they had sustained severe casualties, losing even Paragon-level entities.

Creatures of all kinds and types could be seen. Of the numerous types of beings Meng Hao had encountered throughout his hundreds of years of traveling, only a small portion were represented here. These creatures had received the summons which had echoed out from the will of the Vast Expanse, and thus, it was with bloodshot eyes that they battered against the seventh shield layer.

On the fourth day, the seventh shield layer collapsed. On the fifth day, the eighth shield layer was destroyed.

On the sixth day, the ninth shield layer was shaking. Meng Hao opened his eyes again and looked out at the seemingly infinite armies of bizarre creatures. Their vast numbers were truly a shocking sight to behold.

They had numerous 9-Essences experts. Although they didn't represent even a fraction of the power that existed out in the starry sky, they were possessed by a madness that ensured they would not rest until Meng Hao was destroyed.

"One more day...." Meng Hao murmured. "The ninth shield layer will last for that much longer." Meng Hao could sense that the copper mirror was still some distance away. It would definitely appear within one day.

However, it was this point that Meng Hao opened his eyes, and his face fell. Off in the distance in the starry sky, an enormous planet had suddenly teleported into the area behind the land mass he was currently on. The planet immediately vibrated as it began to pick up speed.

Rumbling could be heard as the planet crushed numerous creatures in the army in its attack on the ninth shield layer.

Even the armies of bizarre creatures could hardly endure the ear-splitting rumbling which echoed out as the area where the ninth shield layer was hit immediately shattered. Then, the enormous planet began to move as, shockingly, it transformed into a giant. It stood there tall and mighty outside of the shield, grinning down at Meng Hao.

In the same moment that it grinned, a streak of light shot through the hole it had torn into the shield and headed directly toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao's face was very grim as he sat there cross-legged. He suddenly extended his right hand, then clenched it down violently. A boom rang out as he grabbed a tiny creature no taller than his own knee.

It was a woman, spectacularly beautiful, who exuded an enticing charm. However, her face was pale, and her expression one of disbelief. Apparently, she couldn't believe that the cloaking magic she cultivated could be seen through by Meng Hao.

Before she could beg for mercy, Meng Hao squeezed his hand down, and a popping sound rang out as her body exploded.

Things weren't over yet, though. Meng Hao rose to his feet, and his left hand unleashed a vicious fist strike. A crimson dragon suddenly appeared directly in the path of his fist. A look of confusion could be seen in its eyes as it seemingly allowed the fist strike to hit it, completely destroying its entire massive frame.

At the same time, Meng Hao tilted his head to the side to avoid a deadly attack from one of the specters. As the specter sailed past him, he suddenly opened his mouth and latched onto the specter.

Even as it let out a miserable shriek, Meng Hao inhaled deeply. The specter subsequently shrank down as it was sucked into Meng Hao to become part of his cultivation base.

All of this takes some time to describe, but happened in the briefest of moments after the planetary giant punched a hole into the shield and smiled.

Meng Hao's expression was as calm as ever as he strode forward thirty meters. As he did, the eight copper mirror shards, which remained in the spot he had been standing earlier, emitted a bright shield.

It consisted of a riot of colors which flowed across its surface, and was... the most powerful of Meng Hao's preparations, the tenth shield layer.

This shield protected, not the land mass, but the spell formation which was issuing the summoning call to the copper mirror.

Meng Hao stood outside of the shield, looking around, his eyes flickering with killing intent, a murderous aura swirling around him.

He said nothing, and yet his actions made his message clear.... No one would be getting past him to destroy that spell formation!

The entire battlefield went completely silent. However, that silence only lasted for a few breaths' worth of time. Then, howls and roars broke the silence as countless figures poured through the hole which had already been punched in the shield. As for the planetary giant, it began to batter the ninth shield in other locations.

Meng Hao took a first step forward, and the lands shook. Because the energy of the Vast Expanse was weak on his land mass, the shaking of the land itself influenced everything around it, slowing down the approach of the enemy.

Because of that, a few entities shot out in front of everyone else. They were none other than the Paragon-level experts. Although only one was at the 9-Essences level, with the rest being at the 8-Essences level, they were still powerful Paragons. As soon as they appeared in the open, Meng Hao shot forward, unleashing the Devil-Butchering Fist.

Life-Extermination. Self-Immolation. God-Slaying. Devil-Butchering.... They merged together into one fist, one punch, which shocked everything and shook the starry sky. Incredible power was unleashed on the handful of Paragons, and in their shock, blasted into them even as they were still preparing to defend themselves. They were crushed as easily as dry twigs.

Booms rang out as they exploded, destroyed in body and mind. By a fluke, only the 9-Essences expert survived, blood spurting out of various wounds. But then Meng Hao took a second step forward, appearing up in midair, where he punched out a second time. However, he didn't strike the Paragon, but someone else.

The air in front of him rippled as an old man appeared, a man with pitch-black skin and two horns sticking out of his head, who emanated the power of the peak 9-Essences level.

His expression was grave as he faced Meng Hao's single punch. Roaring, he unleashed a divine ability, summoning a black ox, beneath whose feet swirled flaming wind.

Meng Hao's single attacked destroyed many of the bizarre creatures who were pouring in through the hole in the shield. Even the old man himself coughed up a mouthful of blood and tumbled backward, face filled with fear.

By this point, only half of the sixth day had passed. Meng Hao took a third step, although it was not to attack the old man with the pitch-black skin. He appeared outside of the ninth shield layer... in front of the planet-sized giant.

"You're strong, huh?" he said coldly. Even as the words left his mouth, the giant shivered, and his heart began to pound. He began to move backward.

Before he could get away, Meng Hao transformed into a black roc which shot forward like lightning, stabbing into the giant's forehead and then bursting out from the other side of his head!