As soon as the words left the boy's mouth, the dozens of enormous willow leaves transformed into black beams that shot toward the Meng Clan. The black-robed cultivators atop the leaves had eyes that glittered with cold killing intent as they powered up their cultivation bases to the absolute peak.

The beams were like dozens of sharp arrows, screaming through the starry sky at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, they were outside the shields surrounding the Meng Clan continent. Without even pausing for a moment, they slammed directly into the shield.

BOOOOMMMMMM!

As the sound reverberated out, the Meng Clan's shield distorted, as if it were about to collapse. Cracking sounds could be heard as fissures spread out across its surface.

Seeing that the shield was about to collapse, the five Meng Clan Patriarchs roared, performing incantation gestures that caused a red glow to spread out from the spell formation. That red light caused the teetering shield to once again grow stable, and even resume counterattacking.

Numerous beams of blood-red light shot out toward the besieging cultivators. At the same time, rather than being resigned to their fate, the Meng Clan cultivators followed the commands of the five Patriarchs and borrowed the power of the spell formation to charge into the tens of thousands of enemy cultivators and began to fight them.

In the blink of an eye, the level of brutality on the battlefield increased significantly. Casualties were severe, and the reek of blood wafted out immediately. Bloodcurdling screams could be heard as... the slaughter began.

The cultivators from the random invading sects weren't difficult to deal with, as they had varied cultivation levels, and were, generally speaking, much weaker than the Meng Clan. The Patriarchs of those sects were a different story though, and even more important was the fact that the black-robed cultivators from the Seventh Mountain and Sea had intensely murderous auras, and were obviously famous individuals where they came from. When they attacked, the Meng Clan resistance was crushed like dry weeds, and the Meng Clan cultivators were pushed backward across the battlefield, over and over again.

Thankfully, the shield still held, ensuring that any members of the Meng Clan who were injured could quickly retreat from combat. The Meng Clan defenses were holding, and yet even as they held on tenaciously, all of a sudden, something happened in the nine smaller continents attached to the Meng Clan's main continent. With the exception of the Xu Clan, which Meng Hao had exterminated, four auxiliary clans on the other continents all rose up in rebellion!

At first, the Meng Clan merely experienced some inner turmoil. However, in almost that same moment, all of the cultivators in the Ancient Realm and above who came from the Meng Clan's seventh, fourth and third bloodlines suddenly shivered. Then, black glows appeared in their eyes, and cold smiles twisted their lips. They turned, and instantly began to attack their fellow clan members.

"You..."

"What are you doing!?!?"

"You're rebelling! You traitors!!"

Booms shook everything as the Meng Clan... was thrown into utter chaos!

Miserable shrieks rang out continuously, along with roars of disbelief. The Meng Clan was now in complete chaos. Not only were foreigners invading, internal strife had struck as well. The clan was on the verge of being overthrown.

Meng Hao was still up in the starry sky, standing there in the Door of the Ancient Realm, surrounded by boundless light. He was like a black hole, ravenously absorbing the light shining from the door.

Every beam of Ancient light that he absorbed caused his cultivation base to experience Heaven-shaking, Earth-toppling transformations as his Immortal power was transformed into Ancient mana!1

Ancient mana was a unique source of power for Ancient Realm cultivators, a power that filled their bodies and could explode with force that far exceeded the Immortal Realm.

"Ancient Tribulation is the first step," Meng Hao murmured. "After that, the light of the Door of the Ancient Realm is absorbed and transformed into Ancient mana.... That is the second step.

"The third step is to ignite the Soul Lamps. Only then can one truly be considered to be in the Ancient Realm." At this point, he glanced down calmly at the Meng Clan, and saw the chaos unfolding, and the invading foreigners.

Truth be told, whether or not the Meng Clan as a whole survived didn't have a lot to do with Meng Hao personally. What he cared about was his grandmother and the rest of her people.

In the same moment that he looked down, the boy on the black willow leaf down below looked up, and he and Meng Hao locked eyes. It was then that Meng Hao realized that they were attacking at this moment to sow chaos in his heart.

The boy did nothing to hide that, and in fact, a gleam of sinister provocation could be seen in his eyes.

Meng Hao shook his head. A glance at the Meng Clan's spell formation confirmed that it would not easily be shaken; his grandmother and everyone else was currently safe behind its protective barrier.

Meng Hao looked away, ignoring the boy. Spreading his arms wide and throwing his head back, he allowed the light from the Door of the Ancient Realm to pour into him and spread even faster throughout his body.

As that happened, the Immortal power within him became Ancient mana. Simultaneously, the four Nirvana Fruits inside of him also began to transform, becoming... Dao Fruits!

"Ancient Realm cultivators have Dao Fruits, which serve as the foundation for stepping into the Dao Realm in the future. That is because Essence... blossoms from Dao Fruit!" Even as Meng Hao muttered to himself, rumbling sounds could be heard as roughly thirty percent of his Immortal power was converted into Ancient mana. At the same time, his first Nirvana Fruit began to emanate Dao fluctuations from his forehead.

Gradually, the shape of the Nirvana Fruit began to change and it began to glitter as if it were now filled with innumerable magical symbols, indicating that it was... a Dao Fruit!

As soon as that fruit appeared, Meng Hao's cultivation base ascended to greater heights, and began to emanate intense cultivation base fluctuations.

"When all four Nirvana Fruits transform into Dao Fruits, then I can begin to ignite my Soul Lamps." Meng Hao suddenly waved both arms, opening his mouth as he transformed into a black hole that began sucking in all of the door's light.

As the light poured into him, the Door of the Ancient Realm began to grow dim, a sight shocking to all who were watching.

"His Ancient Tribulation was even more difficult than a Dao Tribulation," murmured the boy on the black willow leaf, "and yet tribulations also count as incredible good fortune. After transcending it, the resulting transformative powers will be incredible!

"He has a bizarre cultivation base. Just how much Immortal power does he have inside of him? Usually it only takes the space of a few breaths of time to transform all of your Immortal power into Ancient mana...."

The boy's pupils constricted. Filled with shock, he waved his hand, causing a black sea to erupt out from him. As it grew larger and larger, howling sounds emanated from it, and a gigantic scorpion emerged.

The scorpion roared as it scuttled rapidly across the surface of the black sea water toward the Meng Clan and its shield. When it slammed into the shield, massive rumbling sounds echoed out, and the shield trembled. During that time, Meng Hao had converted thirty, forty, and then fifty percent of his Immortal power into Ancient mana.

When he reached fifty percent, his second Nirvana Fruit finally transformed into a Dao Fruit. With two Dao Fruits, Meng Hao's cultivation base once again ascended rapidly.

He was experiencing transformations inside and out, incredible good fortune, which was... truly an indescribable cultivation base breakthrough!

He was stepping from the Immortal into the Ancient!

Meng Hao threw his head back and roared as more Immortal power was converted: sixty percent, seventy percent, eighty percent.

When he reached eighty percent, his third Nirvana Fruit transformed into a Dao Fruit. Meng Hao's aura became even more ancient, and he began to emanate an archaic air; it seemed that at this moment he could sense the true nature of his bloodline and had acquired the strength of his ancestral forefathers.

Meng Hao's fleshly body power was getting even stronger, and his eyes were shining brightly. He was now trembling violently, and also growing more and more gaunt. However, his Allheaven Dao Immortal aura was also growing more powerful.

"In the Ancient Realm," Meng Hao murmured, "one follows the path of one's ancestors, gropes for the nature of all living things. Searching, seeking... for the Essence of all life, for the qualifications to step into the Dao!

"Because I am an Allheaven Dao Immortal, in addition to searching for the Essence of all living things, I also... must search for the true meaning of my bloodline." He swished his sleeve, causing rumbling sounds to emanate out. There was no longer much light coming from the Door of the Ancient Realm. It was so dim that it appeared to be on the verge of winking out. As Meng Hao sucked in another breath, the light surged toward him, absorbing into his skin, pouring into his body.

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

He threw his head back and roared as the final twenty percent of Immortal power inside of him was transformed into Ancient mana. At that point, his fourth Nirvana Fruit finished transforming into... a Dao Fruit!

Rumbling echoed out from inside of him as the Ancient mana flowed through him. The four Dao Fruits in his forehead began to shrink and then expand. With each cycle, the Ancient mana within him would also surge explosively, giving Meng Hao a sense of... just how powerful he now was!

"The Ancient Realm...." he murmured. It was at this point that rumbling sounds echoed out as the Door of the Ancient Realm actually shattered into countless fragments. However, instead of fading away, the remnants of the door transformed into a sea of flames.

Seven-colored flames, like the fire of purgatory, swirled around Meng Hao.

The time had come… to ignite the Soul Lamps!

It was in this same moment that the boy down below performed a double-handed incantation gesture and then waved his finger at the scorpion. The scorpion roared, its energy surging as it grew even bigger than before. In the blink of an eye, it began to emanate a terrifying aura as it increased in size until it was as big as the continent itself.

Then, it clutched the protective shield with its claws and began to stab its legs slowly down into it.

RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

Massive rumbling could be heard as the Meng Clan's protective shield shook violently. The members of the Meng Clan inside, including the five Patriarchs, were all aghast and attempted to counteract the attack. Even as they tried to repair the damage, the crowds on the dozens of willow leaves, as well as the cultivators from the random sects, all joined forces to attack. Shocking rumbling echoed out as numerous dazzling magical techniques were unleashed.

Then, a massive explosion could be heard as the Meng Clan's shield... exploded!

I just want to offer some behind-the-scenes information here. I really went back and forth about how to translate this term, and settled on Ancient mana. Part of the decision was based on a Patreon poll that nearly 400 members of the Heaven Sealing Sect participated in. However, I also got opinions from some others. For the record, RWX actually voted against Ancient mana, not because of the accuracy but because of the feel (correct me if I'm wrong about that assessment RWX heh heh). In the end, I actually like it and think it not only conveys the meaning of the Ancient Realm "source of magical power," but also sounds cool. And yes, Meng Hao will have to turn his cards 90 degrees to the side from now on to use any of his divine abilities or magical techniques