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Chapter 733: On the Eve of War in the Southern Domain
Patriarch Blood Demon looked at Meng Hao, smiled, then faded away into thin air. Yet another clone….
Meng Hao turned to look at Mount Blood Demon, and a warm feeling rose in his heart. For the first time, he felt as if the Blood Demon Sect was his home.
Welcoming voices surrounded him as he returned to Blood Prince Gorge. Xu Qing had alcohol warmed and waiting, and she immediately filled a cup for him. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long time before speaking.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Now that he was back in Blood Prince Gorge, he felt separate from the world. He had Xu Qing to accompany him, and the days were wonderful. Suns rose, suns set.
Patriarch Blood Demon honored his promise to Meng Hao. Aware that Meng Hao had reached the third level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic, he had a cane sent over.
The cane was crafted from bone, and was pitch black. When he held it in his hand, Meng Hao felt icy coldness pulsating out into his body. In addition, the Demon Sealing Jade in his bag of holding began to glow, spontaneously flew out of the bag, and circulated around the bone cane.
After a moment, it actually fused into the cane, and the two apparently become one.
Simultaneously, something like memories flooded into Meng Hao’s mind. They were vague, almost as if someone were whispering them to him. Many of the things the voice said were indistinct and unintelligible, but there was one sentence that was crystal clear.
“Seventh Demon Sealing Hex. Karmic Hex!”
Use Demonic qi to hex Karma, slaughter anything formed from five elements, and exterminate to the highest Heavens!
Meng Hao’s mind trembled. The Demon Sealers had a multitude of magical arts, but the eight Demon Sealing Hexes were considered their primary abilities. Each one was personally crafted by a previous generation of Demon Sealers and were shockingly powerful.
However, the various hexes had not been passed on and had, for the most part, been lost over the years. It was only by coincidence that Meng Hao was able to acquire the Eighth Hex. Now, by means of this bone cane, he had acquired the Seventh Hex!
He quickly immersed himself in gaining enlightenment of the Karma of the Seventh Hex. Thankfully, he already understood a bit about Karma; therefore, he was able to cultivate the Seventh Hex without any obstacles, albeit a bit slowly.
As he practiced his cultivation, the rest of the Southern Domain made quite a contrast to the calm and quiet of the Blood Demon Sect. The Southern Domain was boiling.
The Solitary Sword Sect was fully prepared for war. Countless disciples had been recalled from all corners of the Southern Domain, and the sect was now like a shocking, unsheathed sword, ready for battle.
They even produced precious treasures that could seal the fates of entire sects. After refining the treasures, they floated up in mid-air above the sect, casting about radiant, multicolored light and incredible energy.
Anyone could tell that the Solitary Sword Sect… was about to march to war!
In addition to the Solitary Sword Sect, the Golden Frost Sect was also preparing for war. All eighteen of their great spell formations were fully operational. Clearly, they had activated the spell formations in order to protect the sect in preparation for war.
The Golden Frost Sect disciples were nervous. They had heard bits of news here and there that slowly formed together into a more accurate version of recent events. Fatty was getting quite anxious, although he hid it well. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to prevent what was happening.
Of the three great clans, the Wang Clan was no more. The Li Clan was now in the position of prominence. The killing intent of the Li Clan members surged high as they prepared for war.
In the Black Sieve Sect, Patriarch Six-Daos didn’t hesitate at all after he received the invitation. He immediately responded in the affirmative.
In recent days, the full power of the Black Sieve Sect was focused on mobilizing discarnate souls, as well as the full power of their Dao Reserve. 193 coffins were brought in, all of which were to be used in battle.
At the same time, the medicinal pills, spell formations, and magical items needed for warfare were purchased in large quantities by all four of the great powers. All of these things caused rumors to spread like wildfire across the Southern Domain.
“There’s going to be a war!”
“The sects and clans haven’t mobilized like this in ages. I just wonder who they will be going to war against!?”
“The Blood Demon Sect for sure!”
The cultivators of the Southern Domain were alarmed by the developments. However, there were also some rogue cultivators who saw opportunity. When the four great powers began to recruit rogue cultivators, many joined because of the potential benefits.
The Violet Fate Sect maintained silence on the matter. Because of their relationship with Meng Hao, they did not join the group of four powers. The four great powers, of course, understood this, and did not expect to form any alliance with the Violet Fate Sect.
However, what they wanted to prevent was the Violet Fate Sect coming to the aid of the Blood Demon Sect.
As far as the Song Clan was concerned, the four great powers were rather confused to find that they also maintained silence, and would not join the alliance.
When an entire region goes to war, it cannot be done secretly. A properly conducted war requires much preparation, preparation that cannot be completed quickly. The preparations for war often create a stifling pressure that influences everyone, and is even more intense than the actual war itself.
As a result, in the Blood Demon Sect, taciturn silence was becoming more common and frequent.
Based on what was happening in the outside world, it was obvious that the Solitary Sword Sect, Golden Frost Sect, Black Sieve Sect, Li Clan, and large numbers of rogue cultivators were preparing to go to war with the Blood Demon Clan!
Hundreds of thousands of cultivators were coming to wipe them out!
Such pressure from the outside world weighed down on the Blood Demon Sect disciples, causing them to grow more and more dour. Even more so, killing intent began to radiate out from the depths of their marrow.
They were Blood Demon Sect disciples, and they behaved like Demons. Furthermore, the name of their sect had the character ‘blood 血’ in it! How could such a thing not be terrifying!?
Of course, they were getting ready for the coming war too, and the hunchbacked old man from the fifth mountain peak was in charge of all the preparations.
In Blood Prince Gorge, Meng Hao could also sense the pressure. He knew that all of this was happening because of the true Immortal’s soul. In fact, he actually attempted to hand the soul over. However, Patriarch Blood Demon once again refused.
“What’s yours is yours. I brought you here to be the Blood Prince of the Blood Demon Sect, and I’m responsible for you!
“If I allow some bystander to snatch away something that belongs to you, then what’s to prevent them from taking things from other disciples? How could the Blood Demon Sect stand for such a humiliation?!
“I might be old, but I still need to maintain face! If they want war, we’ll give them war!”
When Meng Hao heard this, his eyes began to glow with a strange light, which gradually transformed into determination. By this point, he didn’t care how it was that he came to be in the Blood Demon Sect. What he cared about was a concept that existed in his heart: to face others with a clear conscience.
For the Blood Demon Sect to treat him like this meant that he needed to act just as responsibly in return.
Meng Hao chose to go into secluded meditation. For the moment, he ceased his constant study of the Seventh Demon Sealing Hex, and instead spent most of his time on the ‘self’ character from the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao.
He was already enlightened regarding most of the aspects of the ‘self’ character. What he needed to do now was actually make a second true self!
As for how powerful the second true self would be, even he had no idea. He did know that it was made from his own flesh and blood, and was like a sheath, within which was placed a soul. As for which soul to use, Meng Hao decided to use… the true Immortal’s soul!
His only concern was that if he used it, then his Master Pill Demon would be unable to benefit from it later on. Therefore, he consulted with Patriarch Blood Demon on the matter. After Patriarch Blood Demon reassured him that there was no harm in going forward with his plan, he made up his mind.
Meng Hao was in thorough anticipation of what sort of power would be unleashed when he merged the true Immortal’s soul into his second true self.
“Other people can cultivate clones, but this art produces a true self!” he thought as he sat cross-legged in the log cabin.
“Those who cultivate clones merely separate a portion of their soul and then use that as the essence. Place it into a moulded body, and that is the Dao of cloning.
“To cultivate a true self, you use flesh and blood. After nourishing it, it becomes like an invincible sheath, within which is concealed an unmatchable sword.
“Using the soul as the basis is actually very different from using flesh and blood. They seem similar, but in fact are completely different.” After gaining enlightenment of the ‘self’ character, his eyes suddenly opened.
In unison, he splayed the fingers of his right hand, after which five drops of blood flew out. He then did the same with his left hand. Five drops of blood flew out from both hands.
Next were each of his legs, then his feet; five drops of blood each. Finally, a tremor ran through his torso, and ten drops of blood emerged.
In total, there were forty drops of blood floating in front of him, radiating brilliant light. Then, they began to congeal together. As they did, the skin of Meng Hao’s forehead split open, and another drop of blood emerged to join the others. Finally, he bit the tip of his tongue and spit out some qi and blood.
42 drops of blood radiated brilliant light and merged together, gradually forming the shape of a person.
Meng Hao’s face paled, and his body sagged with weakness. However, his eyes were as determined as ever.
“What makes this a true self?” he mused rhetorically.
“The blood that circulates is mine. The skin is mine. The blood vessels are mine. The vital organs are mine. It all comes from me, and is the same as my original true self.
“This, is my second true self!”
A vicious gleam appeared in his eyes as he lifted his hand and stabbed it into his abdomen. A cracking sound could be heard, but he endured the pain as he broke off one of his own ribs. After pulling it out of his body, he crushed it into a powder which he then blew out toward the blood-mass of a person in front of him.
As soon as the bone powder entered the body in front of him, cracking sounds could be heard, as if a skeleton were forming inside.
Meng Hao trembled as his Eternal stratum healed his body at rapid speed. Unfortunately, the drops of blood, and the rib, were lost forever.
“The second true self is formed from what the Self Character Incantation permanently extracts from my body. What is taken away, can not be recovered…. This divine ability basically creates a new person. How extraordinary!” Muttering to himself, Meng Hao severed some of the redundant blood vessels in his body and then fused them into the other body.
Immediately, blood vessels appeared within.
Next came the vital organs and other miscellaneous parts. The only thing lacking now was the soul.
Time passed, although Meng Hao wasn’t sure how much. His body was very weak, but in front of him was now a person whose features were the exact same as his own.
He wore a white robe, and sat there cross-legged, as fair as jade. He was handsome, and had a strong scholarly aura. He looked exactly like Meng Hao had when he was about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Looking at him, Meng Hao got the sensation that he was looking at an extension of his own body. He almost forget altogether that this was his second true self. It was almost like… a precious treasure in the shape of a person.
“And now it’s time to insert the soul of the true Immortal!” His eyes shone with strange light as he slapped his bag of holding. The true Immortal’s soul appeared, along with gentle, radiating light and a mysterious aura.
The instant the soul appeared, the entirety of Blood Prince Gorge filled with Immortal qi. In fact, the entire Blood Demon Sect instantly became like an Immortal paradise.
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This chapter was sponsored by Ricardas Barkauskas, Gary Lam, Salman Mubbashir, Joshua Crittenden, and Retrac