"What a joke!" said Elder Hai Sheng's true form, the huge Sea Dragon. It began to laugh uproariously as it recovered.

"The Ninth Sea is the Mother of the entire Demonic Cultivator Horde! You couldn't cause even a tiny portion of it to tremble. It's so incredible that not even Ji Tian would dare to say something as crazy as that.

"And you, a petty, insignificant cultivator, actually dare to threaten Mother Ninth Sea?

"When you achieve your Dao, the Ninth Mountain will have NO SEA?

"How arrogant! How ignorant! Who gave you the gall to say something like that!?" Sea Dragon Elder Hai Sheng laughed scornfully, as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

However, almost in the exact same moment that his voice rang out, the Ninth Sea suddenly began to churn. The sound of crashing waves rose up into the starry sky!

That instantly caused Elder Hai Sheng to stare in shock.

Meng Hao was not an ordinary cultivator. Although he might seem weak to many people, the truth was... to the Nine Mountains and the Nine Seas, Meng Hao... was the future Lord of the Mountain and Sea Realm!

From the moment he formally became a member of the League of Demon Sealers, and absorbed the drop of Paragon Nine Seals' blood, it ensured that when he achieved the Dao, he would become the Mountain and Sea Lord!

A status and position like that meant that whatever he said... could cause Heaven and Earth to shake, the Nine Mountains to tremble, and the Nine Seas to quaver!

The Ninth Sea was suddenly silent.

Suddenly, the massive restorative power pouring into Sea Dragon Elder Hai Sheng abruptly stopped. He trembled violently, and his eyes went wide with disbelief and profound astonishment.

Born and raised in the Ninth Sea, he had risen from being a sea beast into a Demonic cultivator, and could be considered a cherished child of the Ninth Sea. In fact, any Demonic cultivator could be called a child of the Ninth Sea!

When a cherished child of the Ninth Sea was injured, the Ninth Sea could send it restorative power. That was something all Demonic cultivators knew about, and was also why they considered the Ninth Sea to be their mother!

That was also why the Demonic Cultivator Horde could occupy such a prominent position within the Nine Seas God World. They were different from the ordinary cultivators. And right now... Mother Ninth Sea heard Meng Hao's threat, and... ceased healing the Sea Dragon.

The profound meaning of such an action was mind-numbing, even suffocating, and revealed something that was shocking to the extreme.

"This is impossible....

"Who is he? Is this happening because he's a member of the Echelon? It must be because of that! That's why Mother Ninth Sea is forsaking me!" Elder Hai Sheng shivered as he came to his own conclusion on the matter. However, he was still not sure, and couldn't quite admit that such an answer was correct, or even made sense.

Without the restorative powers provided by the Ninth Sea, Elder Hai Sheng's Sea Dragon body ceased to recover. Blood flowed out, and his dilapidated form continued to flee in despair.

Meng Hao pursued, drawing closer and closer. Although he was also injured, his Eternal stratum was continuing to restore him, and gradually, his body was returning to its normal state!

His eyes flickered with killing intent, and he waved a finger to unleash the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex. Elder Hai Sheng's Sea Dragon body trembled, and he lurched to a stop.

In that moment, Meng Hao closed in. To him, the Ancient Realm power of five extinguished Soul Lamps was definitely something he could contend with, considering he was in the Immortal Emperor Realm.

He extended his right hand, and his palm turned bright red. Suddenly, it didn't look like a palm, but a Blood Demon head, whose gaping maw lunged at the Sea Dragon.

"Mother, save me!!" cried Elder Hai Shen, a sensation of imminent doom sweeping through his mind. He let out a miserable shriek as Meng Hao's Blood Demon Grand Magic descended. It was in this moment that, all of a sudden, the Ninth Sea filled with a gale force wind, and huge waves kicked up. Once again, a gentle power flowed into the Sea Dragon from all directions.

Sea Dragon-form Hai Sheng, who had been hovering on the brink of death, suddenly felt his life force flourishing. Filled with joy at the power pouring into him, he shot off toward the horizon.

Meng Hao's killing blow struck nothing but air.

Looking up slowly, his eyes were shot with blood as he cried: "NINTH SEA!"

The sound echoed out in all directions, causing the sea water to seethe violently.

Jubilant laughter rang out from the Sea Dragon's mouth. Not only had he not perished, his body was rapidly recovering. Mother Ninth Sea had not abandoned him!

"The Echelon is NOTHING. You can't kill me this time, Meng Hao, and there's nothing you can do about it!!

"You can only watch as I go back to the sect. You just wait, Meng Hao... I swear that not only will I kill you, I'll also kill all of your friends!

"I know about that Elder Brother of yours named Chen Fan, and your Junior Brother Li Fugui. Don't worry, I'll make sure they die slowly! I guarantee that they will regret ever being born in the Ninth Mountain and Sea!

"And as for your old flame, well, HAHAHA! I know exactly how to deal with the poison, but I'm not going to tell you. That poison can only be expelled by someone in the Dao Realm, and even then, it would be very difficult. Brace yourself, Meng Hao. You're going to have to watch as she withers away and dies!" Sea Dragon Hai Sheng's roars of joy at having escaped from the grip of death rang out. Apparently, he was so happy that he forgot to even control himself.

The assistance provided by the Ninth Sea caused a sudden increase of speed that caused him to tumble through the air. Meng Hao smiled, a smile of fury and coldness.

"I want you dead, so you won't be going anywhere!" The will of the Ninth Sea was vast and boundless; however, because of the laws in place, it couldn't actually do anything to Meng Hao himself. However, if it was given a choice between Meng Hao and its own child, it would chose the latter!

To the Ninth Sea, although, it was not a situation of being given a choice... it was being directly provoked!

Although it was in awe of Meng Hao's identity, it did not believe that Meng Hao himself was a threat!

The future was open to far too many possibilities.

As the Sea Dragon attempted to make its escape, Meng Hao understood everything. Then, a cold smile gleamed in his eyes, and the killing intent there seethed, not toward the Demonic cultivator... but toward the Ninth Sea!

He waved his hand, causing a Blood Demon head to materialize. In the blink of an eye, it split into 123 separate Blood Demon heads, which swirled around into a blood-colored globe. Then, Meng Hao looked at the fleeing Sea Dragon, and suddenly, the Lightning Cauldron appeared. The cauldron flickered, and Meng Hao vanished.

When he reappeared, he was in the Sea Dragon's former position. Without a moment's hesitation, he lifted his hand, within which appeared a long spear with a sharp bone spearhead, and a haft carved from the World Tree. As soon as the spear appeared, Meng Hao hurled it out in front of him. He imbued the spear with all of his strength, injuring himself in the process, and spitting up blood.

The spear whistled through the air, piercing the water, backed by all of Meng Hao's Immortal Emperor will, and all of his killing intent. It moved with indescribable speed, instantly slashing through the water and tearing it apart!

Almost in the exact moment that the spear flew out, Sea Dragon Elder Hai Sheng appeared where Meng Hao had just been.

There he was, right in the middle of the Blood Demon spell formation that Meng Hao had just set up. Almost as soon as it appeared, the surrounding 123 Blood Demon heads roared and shot toward the Sea Dragon.

Everything happened so quickly that Elder Hai Sheng was stunned. As the Blood Demon heads pounced, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Mother, save me!!"

As soon as the sound rang out, nourishing power flowed out from the Ninth Sea. However... even as the power fused into the Sea Dragon's body, the long spear arrived, piercing through the air.

The speed was impossible to describe. Elder Hai Sheng's eyes went wide as the spear slammed into his head and pierced all the way through, causing a fountain of blood to spray out. Too much force backed the blow, and the Sea Dragon's body was sent spinning. In that same moment, the Blood Demon heads landed on him and began to absorb him madly.

The Sea Dragon should have been dead already, but the restorative power of the Ninth Sea was boundless, and had kept the flame of his life force flickering. As of this moment, however, the Sea Dragon collapsed.

In that moment in which he was passing away into death, Meng Hao arrived. He slammed his hand onto the Sea Dragon's head, using his Soulsearch magic to rifle through about thirty percent of Hai Sheng's memories.

By the time that thirty percent was absorbed, Elder Hai Sheng was completely dead!

Simultaneously, a burst of rage rose up from the Ninth Sea, transforming into a massive power that caused everything in the sea to tremble explosively. The power then surged down toward Meng Hao as if to slaughter him.

"How dare you!" he said, snorting. He knew that the Ninth Sea could afford to ignore him and save the Sea Dragon, but it couldn't hurt him. After all, he was the likely future Lord of the Mountain and Sea Realm!

As his voice echoed out, the power surging down toward him suddenly stopped in place, blocked by some law. The rage of the Ninth Sea could only slowly dissipate.

The flame of the Sea Dragon's life force was extinguished. Its soul was shattered into pieces. Only its body remained behind, continuing to receive nourishment from the Ninth Sea. However, even that rapidly faded away. Faced with the onslaught of the 123 Blood Demon heads, it was transformed into ash that sprinkled down onto the surface of the water.

Then, the Blood Demon heads flew back to circulate around Meng Hao, delivering the Sea Dragon's life force to him. Although some of it helped Meng Hao recover, after circulating his cultivation base, he sent most of it into Chu Yuyan inside his bag of holding.

Having done these things, Meng Hao hovered there, looking coldly around at the Ninth Sea. His expression was icy, and he spoke no threatening words before turning and speeding back toward the Nine Seas God World.

However... the will of the Ninth Sea didn't know Meng Hao's personality. When he used words to make threats, it actually left leeway for leniency. When he said nothing... it indicated that there was a difference as incompatible as fire and water.

The matter was set. The day that Meng Hao achieved his Dao, the Mountain and Sea Realm would have him.... and no Ninth Sea. For all eternity!

"Guyiding Tri-Rain, I still have a promise to fulfill. The day that I achieve my Dao, I'll help you to become a sea....

"As of today, I've already picked a good location for you. You might be a bit small at the moment, but I'll help you grow bigger. Now... just wait... for me to achieve my Dao!"