Just as the middle-aged Demonic cultivator was closing in on the white jade, all of a sudden, a cold snort could be heard echoing out from inside the waterfall.

"Scram!" someone said.

The single word seemed to invoke thunder and lightning. A shocking energy rose up, causing everything to shake. A windstorm sprang into being, which promptly slammed into the Demonic cultivator.

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE....

The Demonic cultivator's face flickered, and blood sprayed out of his mouth in a continuous stream as he tumbled backward like a kite with its string cut. He fell back several hundred meters before finally coming to a stop, his face pale, his body trembling.

Bei Yu sat on her ship, which currently hovered in midair. All of a sudden, her face flickered, and she spoke four words, one at a time. "Demon Mantra: Mesmeric Rebuke!!"1

The other Demonic cultivators' minds trembled, and expressions of disbelief appeared on their faces as they looked over at the waterfall.

Even Fan Dong'er appeared to be shocked.

Meng Hao's eyes narrowed. The voice which had spoken just now used only one phrase to unleash unthinkable power. That one phrase was like a magical technique, a divine ability that could... shake the mind. Not only did it leave the Demonic cultivator's body trembling, it also was a powerful attack on his very thoughts.

Meng Hao was familiar with the four words that Bei Yu had uttered. He knew that it was one of the three most powerful Daoist magics of the Nine Seas God World's Demonic Cultivator Horde!

"Demon Mantra: Mesmeric Rebuke can turn one's own divine sense into an attack on the self...." he thought. "It is impossible to defend against, and the stronger one's divine sense, the more terrifying the results!"

Very few Demonic cultivators were able to successfully learn it. In the current generation, only Bei Yu and Long Tianhai had ever studied it, as well as the other eight Sea Realm Demons.

From the way it had been used, Meng Hao, along with Fan Dong'er and Bei Yu, could all tell that whoever was inside the waterfall hadn't attacked with killing intent, but rather, was issuing a warning.

The Demonic cultivator hovered in midair, his face pale white, looking at the waterfall with terror. Finally he clasped hands and bowed deeply, then hurried back to his ship. The white fox hadn't moved the entire time, nor had it even looked up. It simply continued to practice breathing techniques with the white jade.

Meng Hao's eyes flickered, but he continued to stand there silently. Bei Yu hesitated for a moment, then moved forward toward the waterfall. Feeling she had no other choice, she clasped hands and bowed, then said, "I am Sea Daughter Bei Yu of the Junior generation, from the Nine Seas God World. Senior, what relationship do you have with our Demonic Cultivator Horde?"

Demon Mantra: Mesmeric Rebuke was an esoteric magic of the Demonic Cultivator Horde, something that no outsider would ever have access to. And yet, they had all seen it unleashed right here.

There was no response from the waterfall, and eventually, the white fox opened its mouth and swallowed the white jade. Then, it turned, disappearing into the waterfall in a flash of white.

Bei Yu hesitated for a moment, and finally decided not to risk going into the waterfall. Just now, the power of a single word had revealed that the cultivation base of whoever was inside... was terrifyingly powerful.

After clasping hands respectfully one more time, Bei Yu headed back to her ship. It was in that moment that Meng Hao blinked his right eye nine times in quick succession. Rumbling filled his mind as his view of the world suddenly changed completely. His vision was suddenly empowered to pierce through the waterfall where, shockingly, he saw an Immortal's cave, and a middle-aged man sitting there cross-legged. Located next to the man was a tomb!

It was as if the man had always been there, and always would be, sitting there accompanying the tomb!

As soon as Meng Hao laid eyes on him, the man in the Immortal's cave suddenly turned to look at him. As their gazes met, an expression of shock could be seen in his eyes, and he waved his sleeve, terminating Meng Hao's vision. Pain filled his mind, and his face reddened, but he quickly recovered.

Despite the vision having ended, he could still clearly picture the man's appearance, and remembered that the man had a white scale on his forehead.

"He was a Demonic cultivator!" he thought. After a moment, he proceeded forward. Jian Daozi hesitated for a moment, then followed. Soon, everyone else on the ships followed suit.

After proceeding onward for a bit, Meng Hao's hand suddenly shot out to grab Jian Daozi. Jian Daozi considered dodging, but hesitated, and Meng Hao's hand latched onto his arm.

"Grand Immortal...." he said, sounding alarmed.

Meng Hao's face was calm as his hand clenched down onto Jian Daozi's arm. Cracking sounds could be heard as he then cleanly ripped off one of Jian Daozi's fingers. The pain caused Jian Daozi to shake, but he didn't dare to show any anger, only fear.

"That Demonic cultivator just now was one of the knives you had prepared to stick into our backs, right?" Meng Hao said coolly. Then he released Jian Daozi's arm.

A bitter look appeared on Jian Daozi's face, as if he wanted to explain what had happened, but couldn't.

"You can continue to pretend as much as you want, but remember... don't provoke me!" Meng Hao said one word at a time, staring Jian Daozi in the eye.

"Ripping off your finger was just a warning. If you dare to provoke me again... I don't care who you have hidden here in the Windswept Realm, nor how many knives you've prepared... you will regret it." At this point, Meng Hao gave a slight smile.

To Jian Daozi, however, that smile was filled with something utterly terrifying, as if the person in front of him were a fiendish monster, someone he didn't dare to ever provoke. If he did, then... he had no idea what the consequences might be.

They didn't encounter anything unusual during the rest of their journey. Nor did Jian Daozi speak any further with Meng Hao. As they traveled along, Meng Hao continued to take in the sights, his expression tranquil.

As for the other cultivators from the Mountain and Sea Realm, they proceeded along quietly. After what had happened to the middle aged Demonic cultivator, their aggressive attitudes seemed to have been reined in, and they didn't impulsively try to grab any of the desirable things they saw along the way.

The Ninth Nation was not very large. After flying for about half a day, Bei Yu veered off toward the Immortal's cave she had selected. One by one, the other Demonic cultivators also left, and eventually Fan Dong'er and her young cultivator companion departed. Soon, a city appeared up ahead of Meng Hao.

It was a city of mortals, and was also the capital city of the Ninth Nation.

Behind the capital city, a mountain was just barely visible. The top half was capped in snow, and the bottom half was emerald green. Beneath the mountain was a lake, which was fed by a river that stretched off into the distance.

The lake was as smooth as a mirror, without the slightest wave or ripple, revealing a perfect reflection of the sky.

Jian Daozi continued to accompany Meng Hao as he flew past the city and across the lake. Soon, he was directly in front of Mount Whiteseal.

As they neared, a frigid wind blew down from the mountain. It was currently summer, and the heat was oppressive, so the cold wind was incredibly refreshing. It was the kind of feeling that would cause people to instantly take a liking to this mountain that was half-covered in snow.

The feeling was reinforced by the white snow on the top half of the mountain, which formed a striking contrast with the emerald green bottom half. The thing that moved Meng Hao the most, though, was that as they neared, he could clearly sense the natural law and World Essence... growing stronger and more defined.

It was as if this mountain were the nucleus of the entire Ninth Nation, as if it was the source of all the natural law and Essence.

In addition, the mountain caused Meng Hao to feel a sensation similar to that which he had experienced from the Towers of Tang on Planet South Heaven.

It was the type of feeling that came from an object that had been the subject of worship for countless tens of thousands of years. It was an intangible energy, similar to that which came from burning incense. After congealing to a certain extent, it became the National Aura of the Ninth Nation, and eventually transformed... into a type of qi flow!

The qi flow of the Windswept Realm!

Meng Hao was becoming increasingly moved. His eyes gradually grew wider as he gazed up at the highest peaks of the mountain, from which he sensed some type of summoning.

The sensation slowly grew more and more intense, causing Meng Hao's heart to begin to pound. His blood began to surge through his veins, and soon he couldn't control the urge to head to the peak of the mountain and see what it was that was calling him.

Just when he was about to step forward, he stopped.

"Interesting. For some reason, I have the feeling that the purpose of the summons is to try to entice me to fly directly to the peak of the mountain...." After a moment of thought, he didn't do so, but rather, began to ascend the stone stairs which began at the very foot.

Behind him, Jian Daozi and the other old men noticed what he was doing, and exchanged shocked looks.

Mount Whiteseal was the most sacred location in all of the Ninth Nation, a Holy Mountain that many Immortals had visited in the past. Virtually all of them had chosen chose to fly directly to the top, whereas Meng Hao chose to walk up slowly from the bottom. It was extremely rare.

Actually, ascending the mountain from the very bottom would impart an even more profound sensation regarding the natural laws and Essences that were focused on this nucleus of the Ninth Nation, as well as the National Aura.

Meng Hao began to walk up the steps, taking his time. Sometimes he even stopped to relish the sensation of the natural laws on the mountain, and the omnipresent Essences. Furthermore, he was also able to sense... the so-called National Aura which had built up on the mountain because of the years of worship.

At one point, he stretched his right hand out into the air and made a grasping motion. "Is this... the Essence of wind?" he murmured.

Although he didn't know it, somewhere out in the Ninth Nation, a gale-force wind sprang up.

"The Essence of water.... And this is fire.... They're all incomplete...."

Time passed as he strolled his way upward. Soon it was night, and eventually the rising sun could be seen once again. Then it was noontime. It was at this point that he passed out of the emerald green portion of the mountain and entered the snow white area. Step by step, he went onward. He immersed himself in contemplation of the mountain, in enlightenment. He forgot about walking, forgot about even moving forward.

He wasn't aware of it, but as he proceeded along up the mountain, all of the lands of the Ninth Nation were shaking. Wind blew and rain fell. Lights flashed in the sky, and Spirit Springs erupted. Mountains vanished and then reappeared, and rivers changed course. The entire world was altered.

All of the changes occurred due to Meng Hao walking up the mountain and contemplating the world's natural laws. As he gained enlightenment of the Essences of Heaven and Earth, he made acquisitions which manifested as transformations in the Ninth Nation.

Back at the foot of the mountain, Jian Daozi and the others had long since begun to stare with wide eyes and slack jaws. Even more so than the other old men, Jian Daozi's eyes were now filled with profound anxiety. And what he was anxious about was clearly not Meng Hao.

In fact, Meng Hao wasn't even aware of the fact that he had already reached the peak of the mountain!

The name of this magic is actually also a chengyu, a Chinese idiom. The definition of the idiom itself is: to mislead the public with rumors, to delude the people with lies. In this case I'm pretty sure Er Gen just copied it because it has the word "demon" in it. The literal character-by-character translation would be "demon word delude crowd"