Chapter 1189: Father Must Not Perish!
As of this moment, everyone was looking on in shock as Meng Hao slammed his hands into the ground. A mist of blood spurted out of him, and his aura weakened. However, the end result… was astonishing!
The illusory net trembled, and even backed up a bit. As of now, Meng Hao’s father only had 60 breaths of time left until the entire incense stick’s worth of time was up!
Meng Hao knew that the enormous net was not using its full power against him, but only a tiny portion. The spell formation was only interested in killing Dao Realm cultivators who entered Planet South Heaven. That was the entire purpose of the sacrifice of the Li Clan.
To the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm, the spell formation actually offered a certain degree of protection. However, because Fang Xiufeng was violating the laws of the spell formation, he was now the subject of its deadly attack.
In the moment that the spell formation fell back, there were sixty breaths of time left. Meng Hao suddenly felt as if there were hope. But then, the spell formation suddenly flickered with light, and its killing intent erupted once more. Meng Hao could now just make out images of innumerable figures who existed within the net, all of whom seemed to be filled with determination and focus as they pushed the web forward.
It bore down with incredible speed. Even with his fourth Nirvana Fruit, Meng Hao was powerless to fight back against it. In fact, the fourth Nirvana Fruit was forcibly expelled from his body.
Trembling, he staggered backward. The net closed in, and suddenly… passed directly through him to envelope Fang Xiufeng. The meat jelly armor shuddered, but could not hold on for long. As for Fang Xiufeng, he was at a critical moment in absorbing the drop of blood, and couldn’t move. The net was just about to pass through the meat jelly and land on Fang Xiufeng. Once it did so, its killing intent would reach a fever pitch and cause Fang Xiufeng… to immediately be killed in body and spirit, his soul completely departed.
“NO!!” Tears of blood poured down Meng Hao’s cheeks, and his expression was fierce. He let out a maddened roar, and suddenly lifted his right hand up and pointed up into the heavens. Instantly, the drop of Paragon’s blood began to rumble, as he sent a call to the sun and moon of the Mountain and Sea Realm, which vibrated in response. A beam of light shot down from them which pierced through the void and instantly slammed into the huge net.
He was now using the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm itself to resist the net.
Massive rumbling filled the air, and the net shook and was shoved back slightly by the beams of light. It wasn’t that the power of the Mountain and Sea Realm was insufficient, but rather, this was Planet South Heaven, and the spell formation had been created by the sacrifice of the Li Clan. The power of the Mountain and Sea Realm wasn’t willing to destroy it!
In fact, unless there was absolutely no other choice, Meng Hao didn’t want to do that either. He admired the Li Clan, and respected the spell formation. But this was a critical, life-or-death moment for his father. Meng Hao’s choice… would always be to place family above anything else!!
When the light of the sun and moon slammed into the net, it trembled slightly, and moved away from Fang Xiufeng. As for Meng Hao, he paid a heavy price to unleash this attack, an even greater price than he had paid to do the same thing in the Windswept Realm. After all, on that occasion, he had used the power to kill Outsiders, but now, he was causing the Mountain and Sea Realm to harm itself.
Therefore, the price he paid was heavier. Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and he watched as the net shrank down again. His father was now at an extremely critical moment, and his body was trembling. As of this moment, the only thought in Meng Hao’s head was…
His father must not perish!!
In his mind, he roared, “I call upon the power of my name to order the Mountain and Sea Realm to descend!” Then he waved his finger again, and suddenly, an illusory Mountain and Sea appeared atop Fang Xiufeng.
No one could see that Mountain and Sea except for Emperor Tang, whose expression flickered.
As it descended, Meng Hao trembled. His clothes were already soaked with blood, and he was growing faint. However, in that moment his eyes suddenly shone brightly. As the Mountain and Sea descended, Fang Xiufeng stopped trembling, and the huge net was stopped. Unfortunately, in that moment, the killing intent of the net grew even more intense, and the Mountain and Sea was not willing to exert itself fully to fight it. The huge net passed through it, and then closed in once again on Fang Xiufeng.
It was as if the South Heaven spell formation would not disappear until Fang Xiufeng was dead!
Fang Xiufeng’s eyes suddenly opened, and he looked at Meng Hao with a look of kindness. Sighing, he said, “Hao’er, take care of your mother and your sister. You might be the younger brother, but you’re the man of the family now. From now on… they’ll be relying on you….”
“Dad!!” Meng Hao cried. His hair instantly turned white, and he was so withered that he looked almost like a sack of bones. However, he was completely focused; his desire to save his father had not been reduced in the slightest, and even burned hotter than ever.
“Dad, you’re not going to die! Bring on the Second Mountain!”
Rumbling could be heard as a second Mountain and Sea descended to fight back against the huge net. Seemingly mad, Meng Hao waved his finger again, causing the Paragon’s blood to boil once more.
“Third Mountain!” Shockingly, a third Mountain and Sea appeared over Fang Xiufeng to fight back against the South Heaven spell formation. Rumbling echoed out as the net was once again forced back.
To fight back with the power of three Mountains and Seas was the most that Meng Hao could do with his Paragon’s blood. He was shaking now, and his flesh was mangled. He… had reached his limit.
In terms of time, there were still twenty breaths left!
Booms echoed out as the net passed through one mountain after another. Soon there were only ten breaths of time left, and that was when the final Mountain and Sea vanished. The killing intent erupting from the net was maddeningly intense. By this point, the meat jelly wasn’t effective at all, and from the look of it, Fang Xiufeng was just about to be wiped out.
Expression serious, he turned to Meng Hao and roared, “Hao’er, back down, now! This is my choice! Parents are supposed to sacrifice themselves for their children, not the other way around. I don’t need you to save me. Back off!!” Fang Xiufeng’s expression was serious, and his heart twinged with pain. Currently, the bitterness he felt far exceeded Meng Hao’s.
He had no desire to perish, or to affect Meng Hao in any other way. In fact, he would rather die than do so!
Meng Hao’s expression was one of determination. Completely ignoring Fang Xiufeng, he sent the Essence of Divine Flame out. It was not a sea of flames, but rather… the aura of Essence. And that aura, could also become… the aura of a Dao!
Meng Hao unleashed that aura completely, causing it to explode out with full power. At the same time, he advanced, standing directly between his father and the net, stretching his arms out wide. Shockingly, he was using his own body and his own Dao aura to fight back against the net. He was struggling to buy those final few breaths of time for his father!
The net rumbled, enveloping Meng Hao and Fang Xiufeng together. Because Meng Hao was protecting his father, he absorbed nearly sixty percent of the attack, with only about forty percent entering Fang Xiufeng.
As it did, the killing intent exploded out, and Fang Xiufeng coughed up a mouthful of blood. His soul was on the verge of being exterminated. This time, the net did not pass through Meng Hao, but instead, because of his Dao aura, it had turned from being ethereal to corporeal.
Blood sprayed out of his mouth, and his vision dimmed. The feeling of death had never been so close. Meng Hao suddenly thought of his mother, his sister, and also another woman; Xu Qing.
Regret filled him, and he wanted to say something, but was helpless. The world began to turn black.
“Hao’er!!” Fang Xiufeng was trembling, and a madness surged within him. He shot up from his cross-legged position just as the ten breaths of time had passed. The drop of Li Clan blood was now fully absorbed.
That was what Meng Hao had been fighting for. Were it not for him, the moment of Fang Xiufeng’s success would also have been his death.
Simultaneously, Emperor Tang finished preparing his Daoist magic, and unleashed it. The enormous web, which had not yet completely sliced through Meng Hao, flickered and then vanished from both Fang Xiufeng and Meng Hao.
As of that moment, the South Heaven spell formation officially approved of Fang Xiufeng!
Fang Xiufeng had successfully stepped into the Dao. However the price that had been paid… was enormous. For one, he was seriously injured. Furthermore, the injury was abnormal. Although it was not permanent, it would still require months of time spent in meditation to recover from fully. During that time, activity had to be limited, otherwise the injuries could end up lasting for all eternity.
However, Fang Xiufeng didn’t care about his injuries at all. He immediately grabbed Meng Hao in his arms. Meng Hao’s pale complexion and injury-covered body caused tears to begin to roll down his face.
“Congratulations, Dad….” After murmuring those two words, Meng Hao lapsed into a coma.
Meng Hao didn’t know it, but after he went comatose, the entire Fang Clan was mobilized to help in his recovery. Fang Shoudao and Fang Yanxu held nothing back. Even the first generation Patriarch’s clone sent some divine will to help.
Shui Dongliu came as well, although no one was aware of it. He stood next to Meng Hao’s bed, looking down at him with an increasingly moved expression.
“So, for people who change their own destiny… anything is possible.” His eyes began to glow with a strange light. After a long moment passed, he left. His departure was not detected any more than his arrival was.
Emperor Tang also came to visit once. As he looked at Meng Hao, his heart trembled, although he didn’t allow that to show on his face. He didn’t tell anyone how he had seen Meng Hao summon the Mountains and Seas, nor how he now sensed… the aura of the South Heaven spell formation on him!
Meng Hao’s injuries were very serious, whether in terms of his body, his mind, or his soul. He had been injured so badly that he almost died, and as such, his recovery time was also significant.
However, with the full help of the Fang Clan, his injures were not the type that couldn’t be recovered from. He remained unconscious the entire time, housed safely in the Fang Clan ancestral mansion on Planet South Heaven. His sister, mother, and father were constantly by his side to care for him.
Time passed. Eventually, the time came for the grand coronation of the Clan Chief. Under the urgings of the other clan members, as well as Meng Li, Fang Xiufeng decided not to delay things any further, and prepared to begin the ceremony.
However, although he might be the Clan Chief, in his heart, he couldn’t compare at all to his son.
Eventually, the day of the grand ceremony arrived.