How tragic!

As the sea around Seajacket Island boiled, and the broken corpses of numerous sea beasts floated up, Meng Hao waved his right hand, causing the sea to part. The Essence of Divine Flame flew up into his palm and disappeared.

Meng Hao didn't even glance at the surface of the sea. With a flash, he shot forward toward Seajacket Island, which rapidly grew larger and larger in his field of view.

As he neared the island, eight mighty auras suddenly arose. Shockingly... all of them were of the Ancient Realm!

Each one had three or four extinguished Soul Lamps, and were obviously eight of the nine Sea Realm Demons. They were also Chosen of the Demonic Cultivator Horde, people who had long since left the Immortal Realm and stepped into the Ancient Realm!

Currently, they were bursting with incredible energy, almost as if they were sending a message to Meng Hao... that they were waiting for him!

Even though they had surely been watching the scene which had just played out... they were as arrogant and tyrannical as ever!

As for Meng Hao, he could tell without a doubt that Chu Yuyan was there on the island!

Furthermore, in addition to her aura, and the auras of the eight Demonic cultivators, there was an additional aura on the island!

That aura was deeply hidden in the heart of the island, almost as if it were in command of the whole area. Currently, it was coldly observing as Meng Hao neared, apparently believing that Meng Hao could not detect it.

It only took a single glance for Meng Hao to be able to tell that this person's cultivation base... was in the Ancient Realm, with six extinguished Soul Lamps!

That counted, not as the early Ancient Realm, but the mid Ancient Realm!

As far as the Demonic Cultivator Horde was concerned, Meng Hao might be powerful, but he was still a mere Immortal Realm cultivator. The only thing they felt they needed to fear was when he absorbed a Nirvana Fruit, like he had on Planet East Victory. At that time, he had temporarily risen into the Immortal Emperor Realm, giving him sufficient battle prowess to slay two Ancient Realm cultivators.

However, they viewed that as a mere temporary boost in battle prowess. He wasn't capable of maintaining such power for very long, which meant that they could definitely beat him!

Furthermore, as an extra precaution, they had taken even further steps to prepare.

They had set up a trap that was as dangerous as a dragon's pool or a tiger's den!

Meng Hao could see how well they were prepared, and could also sense the presence of a powerful spell formation on the island. Although he frowned, he didn't slow down at all, but instead, sped up!

There are some things in life that just have to be done!

There are some people that must be saved!

Even if the road ahead passed through mountains of daggers and seas of flames... that didn't matter!

When it came to the practice of cultivation, some people considered everything closely. They evaluated everything based on personal benefit, and for the sake of their own well-being, would bury their own hearts! Meng Hao had no use for such ways!

He wanted freedom and independence!

His freedom was a freedom to do anything he wished. His independence was being independent in his way of thinking! Perhaps, far in the future he would stand at the pinnacle of everything and look out over the Heavens and the Earth. At that time, he would be able to examine his conscience and be completely free of any guilt. He would have no regrets! His life would be completely free and unfettered by anything!

"I'm going to save her. And as for you, Demonic Cultivator Horde, as long as I live, any of you who I can kill... WILL DIE!" Killing intent flickered in Meng Hao's eyes. Rumbling echoed out as he shot closer to the island.

The instant he entered the island's airspace, a thunderous roar could be heard as the brilliant light of a spell formation shot up along the island's borders. Massive pressure instantly weighed down on Meng Hao from all directions!

That pressure was pressure from the Ninth Sea! The island's spell formation had only one function, and that was to focus such pressure. As a result, the pressure weighing down on Meng Hao was instantly greater than what he felt inside the Nine Seas God World, and was increasing rapidly.

The spell formation might seem simplistic, but it was very effective, and was perfectly targeted against Meng Hao!

Meng Hao was a newcomer. Although he had been in the Nine Seas God World for two months or so, he couldn't possibly compare to these Demonic cultivators, who had been born in the Ninth Sea. They were extremely accustomed to the pressure, and he was not, making it his most obvious weakness!

To the Demonic Cultivator Horde, the pressure posed no obstacle to them at all, not unless they went down far enough to where the pressure reached incredible levels. However, the effect it had on Meng Hao was significant.

A boom could be heard as he suddenly felt as if countless mountains were crushing down onto him, destabilizing his flight momentarily. It was a downward force that seemed like it would shove him to the ground and prevent him from ever standing back up.

The pressure continued to mount. In the blink of an eye, it had reached a level multiple times greater than that in the Nine Seas God World. Meng Hao could even sense his cultivation base falling rapidly as a result.

And yet, he sped along as quickly as ever, gritting his teeth... as he got closer and closer to Chu Yuyan.

Suddenly, snide, mocking laughter rang out.

"So, Meng Hao, it turns out that you're loyal and affectionate after all! Well, that's good. If you had kept being stubborn, hiding away and refusing to agree to our wager, things would have gotten difficult for us.

"It seems such a shame to have to kill you." Along with the laughter, eight Demonic cultivators flew toward Meng Hao in prismatic beams of light. Meng Hao suddenly stopped in place. The pressure weighing down on him was making him tremble, but his eyes were as icy cold as ever.

"Didn't I say that we didn't even need to use the spell formation!?" said one of them. "This brat's cultivation base is so weak we could crush him without it!"

One by one, the eight Demonic cultivators became visible. All of them were chuckling coldly as they neared Meng Hao.

Meng suddenly laughed and said, "Apparently Long Tianhai didn't tell you yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" replied one of the eight Demonic cultivators, a woman. Her cultivation base was the strongest of the group, her fifth Soul Lamp being mostly extinguished. From the look of it, she could complete extinguishing it at any moment. Her eyes flickered, as if she was suddenly experiencing an ill premonition.

Meng Hao chuckled darkly. The pressure weighing down on him was terrifying, but nonetheless, his energy suddenly shot up. A tempest kicked up around him, which spread out in all directions, causing the island to quake and the sea to froth.

The will of the Immortal Emperor was something that the Heavens could not eclipse and the Earth could not cover up. The pressure on the island was intense, but it was not the pressure of the entire Ninth Sea. It was just pressure from one small area, barely 1/10,000th of the full pressure. It was a pressure... that was matched by the will of the Immortal Emperor!

The tempest spread out, rising high into the sky and slamming into the pressure of the Ninth Sea. A huge boom echoed out.

The resulting collision shocked the eight Demonic cultivators, whose hearts began to pound.

"He's trying to fight back against the pressure of the Ninth Sea?!"

"He overestimates his abilities! How could he possibly fight the pressure of the Ninth Sea!?" The eight Demonic cultivators were astonished, and immediately gave voice to their shock. They were just about to advance on Meng Hao when all of a sudden....

Meng Hao's voice crackled out like thunder, echoing in all directions.

"Fight back? I won't be fighting back against it. I'll be OVERPOWERING IT!"

His hair whipped around him as he looked up. He was like a giant, staring in the face of the pressure. The will of the Immortal Emperor surged as he raised both hands into the air and then waved them to either side.

The tempest screamed, apparently on the verge of... overpowering the pressure of the Ninth Sea!

Heaven and Earth shook as the pressure converged by the spell formation seemed to roar in rage. Apparently, it felt deeply insulted that a cultivator dared to fight back against it. The surrounding sea raged as huge waves swept across it.

"You... are not the full pressure of the Ninth Sea! You're just a tiny portion!" The more he trembled under the pressure weighing down on him, the more he wanted to vanquish it.

The pressure increased, and his eyes gleamed with a vicious light. He waved his hand and cried out, "Paragon Bridge!" Instantly, shocking rumbling sounds could be heard as the illusory Paragon Bridge formed. It was only one section of the boundless bridge, and yet, its aura still caused everything to dim, and the surroundings to shake violently. The pressure gathered by the spell formation suddenly wavered.

Apparently Meng Hao's actions enraged the will of the pressure. Rumbling sounds could be heard as the pressure redoubled, intent on absolutely pulverizing Meng Hao!

The eight Demonic Cultivators' faces fell as they watched the island around them begin to crumble. The pressure of the Ninth Sea, which had been completely invisible before, was now causing distortions and ripples to appear.

"He's just looking to die! Now is the perfect time to strike!"

"What a moron! He's actually fighting back against the pressure of the Ninth Sea! Plus he even raves about overpowering it!?" The eight Demonic Cultivators' killing intent surged, and they whistled through the air in colorful beams of light as they closed in on Meng Hao.

As they neared, Meng Hao looked up. Blue veins bulged on his face, and his eyes were shot with blood. The pressure weighing down on him was intense, but not enough to make him buckle. Instead, he fought back with intense power as he did just as he said, attempting to overpower the pressure of the Ninth Sea.

He completely ignored the eight Demonic Cultivators. Instead, he lifted his right foot and then slowly stepped forward onto the illusory Paragon Bridge.

As soon as his foot touched down, intense rumbling could be heard, and an extraordinary aura erupted. Muffled sounds like thunder rolled out, and huge fissures snaked out over the surface of the island as the pressure from above distorted everything.

Cracking sounds could be heard coming from Meng Hao's body because of the the pressure. The eight Demonic Cultivators coughed up mouthfuls of blood, as if some massive force had just stomped onto their bodies. Now they were contending with, not just the pressure of the Ninth Sea, but also the power of Meng Hao's Paragon Bridge.... They were being affected by the power Meng Hao was using to fight back against the pressure!

Meng Hao grinned viciously as he took a second step!

Everything shook as a huge boom rattled out. Meng Hao then took a third step. Then a fourth!

The eight Demonic cultivators' faces fell as they felt massive, unbearable power trampling them. They fell back, blood spraying from their mouths. They felt like their heads were being crushed. Each step Meng Hao took caused blood to spurt out of their mouths, and sent their cultivation bases into instability. The aggressive pressure of both Meng Hao and the Ninth Sea pushed them back so forcefully that they didn't dare to get any closer.

"He.... he's actually overpowering the pressure of the Ninth Sea!"

"How could this be possible!? He's so strong!!" Their faces fell and their hearts pounded. It was virtually impossible for them to conceive that someone could vanquish the pressure of the Ninth Sea. Although it was only a small portion, it was still derived from the Ninth Sea!

Then... Meng Hao took a fifth step!