The young man's eyes flickered with killing intent. As he flew through the air, he reached out toward the river-bow, which rapidly shrank down until he grabbed it. Then he began to pull back the bowstring and take aim at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao looked on coldly as the young man let out a bellow of rage. As he pulled the bowstring, strands of qi flowed from all over the Immortal God Continent to make the shape of an arrow.

Then, rumbling sounds filled the air as the young man loosed that arrow, which shot like lightning toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao could clearly sense the terrifying power it contained. Were it wielded by an actual Transcendent cultivator, it would have been a powerful threat to him. But right now, it wasn't. All he had to do was reach out and tap it, and the entire arrow quivered, then collapsed into pieces.

Blood sprayed out of the young man's mouth as he fell back.

In that same moment, the Patriarch statue in the middle of the land mass began to emanate a glowing light that prevented anyone foreign to the Immortal God Continent from entering its perimeter.

The old lizard and the other eccentric experts were sent tumbling backward. The Sect Leader and the others were similarly affected. All of the cultivators of the Immortal God Continent fell back until they were inside the light, where they glared ferociously at the army from the Vast Expanse School.

The light could stop all of those people, but it could not stop Meng Hao.

He looked thoughtfully at the statue, and then took a step forward.

That step took him through the air to stand directly in front of the border of the light. Then he pierced through it, causing the light to fracture and crack.

The old lizard roared, then blurred into action, appearing once again on the battlefield. As its cultivation base spread out, everything around it was destroyed like kindling wood.

Meng Hao ignored the fierce fighting as he approached the middle of the land mass, where the statue was located. Even as he did, more arrows of light shot toward him from off in the distance.

It was the same young man from before, who was anxiously unleashing one arrow after another. Meng Hao simply swished his sleeve, destroying all of them.

The young man looked on in despair as Meng Hao approached the statue. Suddenly, a sigh rang out to fill the entire Immortal God Continent. A figure appeared along with it, an old man wearing a long, ceremonial robe. He seemed profoundly ancient as he flew up into the air and looked over at Meng Hao. Then, his right hand shot out, and he pointed up into the sky.

Instantly, the area around Meng Hao filled with soundless fluctuations, like ripples on the surface of a lake. At the same time, a well suddenly materialized in front of the old man.

The well also emanated powerful ripples, and upon closer examination, an image could be seen within the ripples. It was like a reflection depicting Meng Hao and the area around him.

The old man's eyes glinted with fierce light as he reached out to grab the reflection of Meng Hao within the ripples of the well water. As his hand entered the water, even more ripples spread out.

The ripples in Meng Hao's area were thrown into chaos, and something like a huge hand appeared, reaching out as if to crush him!

A strange light shone in Meng Hao's eyes. This was the second time he could directly sense how powerful that ancient Transcendor had been, and how, just like Meng Hao, he had made preparations to care for his people.

"Unfortunately, the will of the Vast Expanse is doing all of this. It was not the original intent of that Transcendor." Meng Hao looked at the old man working his magic off in the distance, and then simply kept moving forward. Every step he took caused the ripples to be destroyed, and forced the gigantic to struggle just to maintain its form.

The old man began to tremble, as if even all the power he had at his disposal wasn't enough to sustain the magic. Cracks spread out across the surface of the well, and it began to collapse. The old man let out a howl of fury. His body began to wither up as his blood and muscles were sucked away. Soon, he looked like nothing more than skin and bones. Because he was overdrawing on his cultivation base, something was revealed that had been hidden before, a slight aura of rot.

That aura was something that not even a peak 9-Essences expert would notice. But Meng Hao could feel it. His eyes flickered over to look at the old man, who roared as the aura of rot grew stronger, as if he had been decaying for years and years. Suddenly, he reached out and made a vicious grasping motion.

The air around Meng Hao began to rumble as the huge hand began to crush down toward him. Shockingly, the aura of Transcendence could be detected upon it.

Even as the hand closed in, Meng Hao let out a cold harrumph, and his own Transcendent aura erupted with full force.

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

Fleshly body Transcendence. Cultivation base Transcendence!

The energy caused Heaven and Earth to tremble and shatter. Before the hand could get close, it shattered into countless fragments. At the same time, the air around Meng Hao transformed into a black hole.

The well couldn't hold on any longer, and shattered, sending a blast of rubble out in all directions. The old man trembled, then coughed up a huge mouthful of decaying black blood. The aura of rot around him grew even more prominent. Just when the old man was about to retreat, Meng Hao's eyes flickered with cold light, and he took a step forward, bringing him directly in front of the old man. Instantly, his hand reached out and grabbed the top of the man's head.

The magic of Soulsearching was unleashed.

Almost instantly, though, Meng Hao frowned. This old man was just like the nine suns; he had no memories, or if he did, they were in complete chaos, as if they had been forced into his head by someone else. They were completely impossible to analyze.

After a moment passed, Meng Hao's eyes flickered, and he suddenly began to reel in his cultivation base. He suppressed his power until it was at the 9-Essences level. As he did, the aura of rot on the old man faded away, and his physical appearance looked more and more normal. He wiped the blood from his mouth, and it no longer contained an aura of rot. At the same time, the hatred in his eyes grew more intense.

It was at this point that roaring could be heard from the mouths of all of the cultivators of the Immortal God Continent, even from far off in the distance.

"Meng Hao, you shall die!" Rumbling could be heard as the entire world suddenly seemed to be complete. As Meng Hao's cultivation base dropped, the surrounding cultivators seemed to grow more alert.