(click here for soundtrack)

Meng Hao's face was pale as his energy flowed out. However, his expression didn't change at all. Even as he began to wither up, he quietly said, "Oh really...?"

​​

Endless amounts of life force, soul power, and cultivation base energy, everything that made up him, were all flowing into Allheaven in the form of a white mist. It poured into Allheaven's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, where it began to transform into a resplendent Demon fruit.

All of this takes some time to describe, but happened in the briefest of instants. Meng Hao became like a dessicated corpse, and a popping sound rang out as he transformed into dust, seemingly killed in body and soul.

Allheaven was trembling in excitement as his body began to reform, and the Demon fruit in his chest shone with dazzling demonic light.

"Nirvanic Rebirth. I live again!" He threw his head back and roared as his innards shrank, then began to reform. Meng Hao, the ninety-ninth Demon fruit, seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. Even as Allheaven's eyes were shining with excitement, his expression suddenly flickered.

"Impossible!" he said, focusing on the aura of Nirvanic rebirth inside of him. That was the very aura that he desired, that he required, and yet, he suddenly realized that the Nirvanic aura was not his, but rather, was coming from Meng Hao, the ninety-ninth Demon fruit!

Allheaven's face fell as the Demon fruit filled with cracks, causing boundless red light to seep out like threads. It was light abundant in demonic aura, and boundless Nirvanic rebirth. It spread out wildly through Allheaven, reaching his limbs, his face, his whole body, and even his eye! As it filled him, it sealed everything about him!

This was Nirvanic rebirth, but it was the rebirth of the Demon, the rebirth of Meng Hao!

In that moment, it became obvious that within the glowing red threads, the First Demon Sealing Hex could be detected. Then the Second Hex, and the Third Hex... all the way down to the Ninth Hex. All of them were there, completely sealing the body of Allheaven, completely preventing him from doing anything! His foundation was being cut away!

"Meng Hao!!" he shrieked. It was at this point that Meng Hao's voice spoke out inside of him.

"Your mistake was being so sure that my ultimate Hexing magic was the Seal the Heavens Hex.

"Tens of thousands of years ago, I already came to the conclusion that after the Ninth Demon Sealing Hex... there is a Tenth Hex!

"This Tenth Hex exists in a realm that I cannot grasp. Only in the right circumstances could I unleash it, for example, when the Ninth Hex is available as the foundation, with the power of Nirvanic rebirth to catalyze the Hex.

"I needed to borrow your body to unleash it!

"Tenth Demon Sealing Hex....

"My fate is to... seal the Heavens like a Demon!"

Allheaven roared in fury, and yet had completely and utterly lost control of his own body. He could only watch as his right hand lifted up and performed an incantation gesture. A sensation of terror filled him as he felt power exploding out, a power similar to the Seal the Heavens Hex, and yet different. It was infinitely domineering, something that commanded the ultimate level of respect within Heaven and Earth.

Just as Meng Hao had said....

My fate is to... seal the Heavens like a Demon!1

Demons are full of multifarious transformations!

As of this moment, Meng Hao was using those multifarious transformations as the heart, and Allheaven as the body, to unleash the ultimate divine ability. As his right hand lifted up, the starry sky outside the Vast Expanse began to shrink down, smaller and smaller, until it was a dimly shining globe hovering above his palm!

There was no longer any such thing as the starry sky outside the Vast Expanse. Only the starry sky of the Mountains and Seas remained. Outside of that was the boundless Universe, within which Meng Hao now hovered.

Allheaven's left eye was no longer struggling. It seemed lonely, fading away. It even appeared to be relieved somehow as it looked out into the depths of the Universe....

Meng Hao was now looking out of Allheaven's left eye. Allheaven's right hand slowly lifted up, and he could do nothing as it clenched into a fist and punched at that very eye!

BOOM!

A tremor ran through him, and his eye began to shrink. Despair could be seen, a bitter refusal to accept what was happening. Then, it began to transform into ash....

In the moment before he died, Allheaven looked into the depths of the Universe. No one could possibly know what he was looking at. Perhaps just the infinite darkness of the Universe. Or perhaps he was looking at... where he came from.

Allheaven's body shivered as it transformed into ash. Cracking sounds emanated out, and he withered away until he was nothing.

Countless streams of white mist poured out, transforming into the shape of Meng Hao. As he hovered there, mixed expressions could be seen on his face, and eventually, he sighed.

The truth was that in the past, it might have been very difficult to kill Allheaven. But considering how much Allheaven had been weakened, killing him wasn't really a very difficult thing for Meng Hao. In fact, were it not for the curse, Meng Hao would never have had such a difficult time, and would never have been forced into such deadly circumstances.

The only difficult part had been fighting the three Transcendors, which really had been dangerous. That was the only thing which had occurred that exceeded his powers of prediction.

Everything else, every action he had taken, everything he had done, had been part of his plan.

He made sure that Allheaven had the wrong information, and always believed the Seal the Heavens Hex to be the ultimate Hexing magic. Using that Hex would ensure that Allheaven would actually appear in person, thinking that he had gained the upper hand.

The truth was that Meng Hao had only used a fraction of the full power of the Seal the Heaven Hex. If he had used its full power, he could have killed Allheaven directly.

However, killing Allheaven wouldn't be enough to break the curse. Meng Hao had come to realize this tens of thousands of years ago. The answer actually lay within the jade slip he had been given by Shui Dongliu.

It was because of that information that Meng Hao did everything he did, leading him to this point.

"I now know how to break the curse," he said softly. "I just need time...." With that, he closed his eyes for a very long moment before opening them again and looking far off into the distance.

He almost felt as if he could see three individuals. One was Patriarch Vast Expanse, one was a young man in a black robe, and the other was the same person he had seen on the Immortal God Continent.

It was almost as if they were traveling along somewhere far off in the distance, then suddenly stopped and looked back through the Universe until their gazes fell on Meng Hao. They smiled warmly, as if they were all friends.

He suddenly heard a voice in his mind. "We're waiting for you. Are you coming...?"

For those of you who might have forgotten, this line is in the "synopsis" of the book! It's been there since day one!