Before reaching the Deva Realm, and in fact, before even reaching the true Heaven-Dao Nascent Soul stage, he could not underestimate any Nascent Soul expert!
Perhaps he would have had an easier time with someone in the early Nascent Soul stage, but this was a level above that. People in the mid Nascent Soul stage often spent less time worrying about their next breakthrough, and more time focused on developing their trump cards!
The clan chief was the perfect example. Stepping into the late Nascent Soul stage wouldn’t necessarily be an impossible task for him. But instead of concentrating on that, he had spent a lot of time perfecting his trump cards!
And that was exactly what the Bai Clan Soul Symbiosis was!
As soon as the vengeful souls entered his body, he felt as if he were being consumed alive. By drawing upon all the power he possibly could, he was able to use this secret magic to unify the power of tens of thousands of souls, utilizing his body as the medium with which to unleash heaven-shaking, earth-shattering power!
Even for someone in his level of power, using a secret magic like this would drain him significantly. And yet, in his rage, and in his desire to cut Bai Hao down, he found the determination to disregard all negative aspects.
“You will die!!” he screamed with vicious savagery. His voice sounded like a combination of tens of thousands of voices, causing brightly-colored light to flash above him in the sky, and a massive wind to suddenly sweep through the area.
Bai Xiaochun’s expression flickered with fear. As of this point, the clan chief didn’t even look human anymore.
“Time to die!!”
The clan chief threw his head back and roared, simultaneously flinging his hands up, which sent a boundless black fog roiling out to form the shape of a gigantic ghost head.
The vicious head surrounded the clan chief, and then the both of them began to fly toward Bai Xiaochun.
The air shattered as they approached, and the ground was destroyed beneath them. Mountains collapsed as a huge, 3,000-meter-wide crater opened up.
Wailing screams filled the air like the howls of ghosts and wolves, countless voices, all of which poured out of the enormous head.
“Die!”
“Die!!”
“Die!!!”
Bai Xiaochun’s expression turned deadly serious, and at the same time, another afterimage appeared as his water clone stepped out!
As of this moment, he had three clones flanking his true self. All of them faced the enormous head, then shouted in an equally loud and shocking fashion.
“Living Mountain Incantation!!”
Booming rumbles filled the air!
At the same time, Bai Xiaochun’s true self began to grow in size. Countless boulders formed around him, until his body disappeared, replaced by a shocking, 300-meter-tall stone golem!
Actually, it was not a single stone golem….
His three clones also used the Living Mountain Incantation. A second, third, and fourth stone golem appeared. Then, all four of them launched themselves toward the incoming clan chief and the gigantic head he had summoned.
The combined attack of the four stone golems caused heaven and earth to shudder, and when they slammed into the gigantic head, the resulting boom shook the highest heavens and the deepest parts of the underworld.
A mind-boggling shockwave spread out in all directions, spreading for tens upon tens of thousands of meters and destroying everything it touched.
The gigantic head immediately shrunk down by more than half, and at the same time, Bai Xiaochun’s true self, along with his three clones, all tumbled backward, blood spraying out of their mouths. Popping sounds could be heard as spider-web like cracks spread out across the surfaces of the stone golems. Then, moments later, all of the stone golems simply shattered to pieces.
As Bai Xiaochun’s true self and his clones fell back, the clan chief cackled with sinister laughter from inside of the huge head.
“What other tricks do you have, you unfilial bastard!?!?” Even as his laughter continued to ring out, the ghost head swept toward Bai Xiaochun with madness, killing intent, and intense rage.
From the look of it, the clan chief was trying to wipe Bai Xiaochun away with one, full-power blow!!
“How could I have guessed that even three clones couldn’t beat his secret magic…?” Eyes shining with determination, Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath and then decided to use a move he had hoped to hold back.
Considering how the fight had escalated, the fact that no one had interfered indicated that the deva patriarch really wasn’t in the area.
Presumably, other clan members were chasing him, but none of them were as maddened as the clan chief was, nor were they capable of his speed.
“It makes sense; I doubt anyone hates me as much as this clan chief does….”
Having reached this point in his train of thought, Bai Xiaochun didn't hesitate for another moment. Although he was trembling, his eyes shone with an intense desire to fight, a desire birthed of instinct, and impossible to avoid.
His Dao was to live forever, and he didn’t like fighting and killing. He was even afraid of death. Although on many occasions it wasn’t necessary to escalate to blows, sometimes, if you wanted to keep on living, you had to fight to the death. It had already become his nature to simply grit his teeth and fight, despite the fear which existed in his heart.
“Not even a deva could kill me, let alone some trifling mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator!!” His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and another afterimage appeared! This time, it was his fourth clone, the earth clone!
He now had four clones surrounding his true self, one on each side, a formation that instantly caused thunderous rumblings to roll across the sky, and the lands below to quake.
The clan chief couldn’t stop himself from gasping at the sight, and his face instantly fell. But then, he gritted his teeth and, seemingly ambivalent to his own life or death, sent the huge head of souls which surrounded him flying toward Bai Xiaochun, a vicious grin on its face.
Sighing, Bai Xiaochun murmured, “Bai Hao, the time has come for Master to teach your father a lesson, and make sure he understands the unimaginable difference between the two of you!”
He took a deep breath, and then he and all four of his clones raised their arms up into the air, just like a conductor would when leading an orchestra.
“Waterswamp…”
With his true self and all his clones doing the same thing, it caused the entire area for 30,000 meters to transform into a watery swampland!
Dense water vapor pervaded the surroundings, causing the soil to grow loose. As the mist and fog built up, an aura filled the area that seemed to come from chaotic, primeval times!
It seemed like the surrounding 30,000-meter area had been cut away from the Wildlands and become its own dimension. Yet again, the clan chief’s eyes went wide, and a very unsightly expression appeared on his ashen face.
Before he could get any closer, Bai Xiaochun’s eyes sparkled, and he threw his hands down viciously. At the same time, his four clones did exactly the same thing.
“… Kingdom!!”
BOOOOOOM!
RUUUUMBLE!!
THUMP THUMP!!!
A sound almost like a heartbeat filled the entire area, causing the sky to dim and the lands to tremble. Spikes appeared, shooting up out of the ground with shocking speed!
Beneath the spikes were five mountains of such enormous size that the mere sight of them would leave one’s heart trembling!
The five pitch-black curved mountains were none other than the clawed hand of the beast that was Bai Xiaochun’s life essence spirit!!
Up til now, the full hand had never appeared, only the claws. As for the clan chief, it didn’t matter what secret magics he tried to unleash; compared to this beast, he was like a firefly beneath the full moon.
The profound terror that gripped him left him physically shaking, and unable to keep from screaming. In his long life of cultivation, he had not felt such astonishment and terror even when facing a deva patriarch. It gripped his chest like a vice, and caused his eyes to grow wide as a terrifying premonition ran through him….
Even if his trump cards were more powerful than they were, there was no way he could escape death at the hands of the enormous beast behind this huge claw!
“No… I can’t die here!!” he screamed, his aura driven to complete chaos. Abandoning any attempt to attack Bai Xiaochun, he turned to flee.
The terror gripping his heart was the thing of nightmares. How could he have imagined that his unfilial son would be so powerful? He was so strong that the clan chief was filled with nothing but terror!
“You can't be Bai Hao!! Even if the clan spell formation didn’t realize it, I know that you’re not him!!” The shadow of death loomed over the clan chief to such an extent that he drew on all of his power, burning his cultivation base and longevity alike in his attempt to flee!!
If he didn’t escape, he would die!
However, no matter how fast he moved, he couldn't move as fast as that beast claw!