Meng Hao currently had divine sense with eighty percent of the power of a Paragon. Because of that terrifying level of divine sense, his divine abilities and magical techniques now vastly exceeded their previous level.

When you added in the fact that he had extinguished five Soul Lamps, acquiring boundless power, it ensured that Meng Hao's battle prowess, although not quite on the 6-Essences level, still surpassed Lord White's. He was now at the peak of the 5-Essences level, less than half a step away from being equivalent to the 6-Essences level!

With the exception of Ksitigarbha in the Fourth Mountain and Sea, no one in the Mountain and Sea Realm who was under the level of Paragon could now pose a dangerous threat to Meng Hao in battle. That incredible sensation of power filled him with self-confidence, and at the same time enabled him to feel something that existed within the Mountain and Sea Realm... the Essence of Heaven and Earth.

Meng Hao appeared silently out in the starry sky. He raised his hand and made a grasping motion, causing a huge vortex to appear. As it spun soundlessly, Meng Hao reached in, as if he were attempting to grab something.

But then his brow slowly furrowed, and after a moment passed, he slowly pulled his hand back.

"Still can't do it, huh...? Chu Yuyan's soul dissipated into the Mountain and Sea Realm, but given the current level of my cultivation base, I still can't pull it back together....

"It seems I need to have a deeper understanding of Essence." He closed his eyes for a while to feel the transformations in the starry sky around him, then proceeded along. The vortex slowly faded away, as if it had never existed.

"Essence...." he murmured. The next time he appeared, he was near the rift. This time, because of his vastly more powerful divine sense and its effects on the void, no one could detect his return, not even the red-haired old man, let alone any of the other cultivators of the Seventh Mountain and Sea.

"Even without entering the Dao Realm, I can still come to understand Essences....

"Because of the Hexing magic of the League of Demon Sealers, and the Allheaven Dao Immortal blood in my veins, my path of cultivation is different from that of others....

"Cultivation like mine is something very rare, or perhaps... even something that has never been seen before.

"My true cultivation base is in the Ancient Realm, with five extinguished Soul Lamps. However, my battle prowess... is already greater than that of the Mountain and Sea Lords.

"My Essence of Divine Flame came from elsewhere, and is not truly mine....

"My path of cultivation... is the type in which reliance on others is not an option. I must walk... in my own way.

"Essence.... Essence...." Meng Hao's eyes shone with a strange light as he proceeded along toward the rift. Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped inside. Instantly, the starry sky became a hazy void.

In the moment that he entered the rift, the red-haired old man and the other three Dao Realm experts with him all shivered. Their eyes opened, and they looked over at the rift.

"Strange, I just felt some fluctuations from the rift...."

"It was almost as if... someone just entered it?"

"Impossible. Unless it was the exalted Lord White, or that... that man who... no, impossible. Even that man... would not be able to pass by us unseen."

The red-haired old man and his fellows all frowned, but quickly calmed down and forgot the matter. It wasn't that they couldn't put more thought into what they had just sensed, but rather, that they didn't want to. This Mountain and Sea War had not lasted for particularly long, but not even the previous wars described in the historical records had been as bitter, and those records went back for centuries upon centuries. Although similar wars had been fought, none could quite compare to this one. And by this point, the cultivators of both armies were exhausted.

That was especially true of the small group who had witnessed Meng Hao's battle with Lord White. They felt especially haggard.

Inside the rift, Meng Hao proceeded along calmly. He was in no hurry. As far as he was concerned, there was no more danger for him in this war, and what occupied his thoughts most was his future.

"I wonder... what my Essences will be...?" He suddenly stopped in place, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Nine Demon Sealing Hexes.... Nine Essences. Is that really the limit of the Paragon Realm...?

"If so, and I am able to use all of my Demon Sealing Hexing magics as Essences... well then, when that happens, I, Meng Hao... will become the most powerful Paragon in existence!

"In fact, I will already have become a Paragon when I get seven Essences, and right now I've already mastered six Hexing magics, which means six Essences." Having reached this point in his train of thought, Meng Hao's eyes shone with unprecedented brightness.

He had found his path!

This was... his unique path of cultivation!

"When I combine the Nine Hexes into one, that will also be when my nine Essences combine with each other, then in that moment... as the Lord of the Mountain and Sea Realm, I will also... be able to break through from the Paragon Realm into the Daosource Realm!" It was as if his eyes had been opened. His face lit up with a smile, and his expression was one of anticipation.

"To me, the Dao Realm is actually not very important, considering I can step into it any time I want. I originally thought that passing through the Ancient Realm would be the easy part, but it turned out that it is actually the true basis of allowing me to continuously grow stronger.

"When I combine the Nine Hexes, and the Nine Essences fuse together...." Meng Hao then looked down at his bag of holding, where Chu Yuyan's discarnate soul was.

"At that time, I should be able to put Chu Yuyan's soul back together.... I owe her far too much." Meng Hao sighed, clearing his thoughts and looking off into the void ahead of him. He could sense that, not too far off, a figure was moving rapidly toward the exit of the rift. Based on how fast this person was moving, it would only take about a day for him to emerge into the Eighth Mountain and Sea.

"Lord White...." Meng Hao said coolly. "You're going a bit too slow. Allow me to help you out a bit."

He sent out his divine sense, which was eighty percent as powerful as a Paragon's. The entire void within the rift began to tremble with terrifying fluctuations as Meng Hao, eyes shining with bizarre light, reached his right hand out, grabbed down, and then jerked it back.

At the same time, he flew backward, seemingly towing something behind him. Since he hadn't ventured in too far to begin with, he immediately arrived at the rift's exit.

**

The figure that Meng Hao had detected speeding through the void was a man in a long white robe. His expression was both grim and proud.

That man was none other than... the Lord of the Seventh Mountain and Sea, Lord White!

His cultivation base had been completely restored, and had even made some advancement. His eyes glittered brightly, seemingly containing the sun, moon, and stars swirling around inside of them. His energy was surging, and his aura was bursting with power.

Although he didn't seem to be moving very quickly, every step he took caused him to flash along with incredible speed. His mouth was twisted with a cold smile, and killing intent gleamed in his eyes.

"This time, it won't matter whether you're there waiting at the exit or not, I'm going to strike you down!

"Actually, I hope you are waiting for me. That way killing you won't waste too much of my time. Then I can slaughter the rest of the Eighth Mountain and Sea to accompany you in death!

"As for the Lord of the Eighth Mountain and Sea, he's a sacrifice that I prepared for the 33 Heavens. Offering up a Mountain and Sea Lord will definitely ensure that the 33 Heavens will descend!

"Furthermore, I've determined the location of your home, the Ninth Mountain and Sea.... Don't worry, I'll make sure to exterminate everyone in your entire clan and bloodline!

"If you really do have the guts to sit waiting for me at the entrance, your fate will be the same as if you had fled. After all... there is nowhere for you to run, and nowhere for you to hide, in all Heaven and Earth.

"You. Shall. DIE!

"The 33 Heavens are coming!

"I feel bad for the Mountain and Sea Realm. But this... is the fate of the Paragon Immortal Realm!" Lord White's eyes glittered, and his energy surged. He was completely self-confident, especially because of the two streams of light which swirled around him. One contained a short sabre, the other, a short sword. Both were precious treasures that, despite appearing to be ordinary in nature, were so powerful that even Lord White was leery of them.

In addition to all that, the mark of a green leaf could be seen on his forehead, flickering with scintillating light. It emanated the fluctuations of the Green Emperor's Eternal Incantation, ensuring that a powerful life force flowed through him constantly.

Considering what he already knew about Meng Hao, and his current preparations, Lord White was completely confident!

That was not even to mention the glittering mark which could be seen on the back of his hand. That mark depicted an evil spirit, grinning maliciously.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as Lord White continued along at top speed.

However, even as he was brimming with self-confidence, a huge boom rang out from the void up ahead of him. Everything seemed to shatter and churn, as though some terrifying entity were moving toward him with indescribable speed.

Lord White's eyes went wide, and his face fell with shock. Shaken, he prepared to dodge to the side. After all, he had opened up this path, so generally speaking there shouldn't be any danger here. What was happening now left him deeply shaken.

"What is that?!?!"

Even in the moment that Lord White started in shock, and the void up ahead of him shattered, a huge hand appeared, barreling toward him with irresistible force and indescribable speed. In the blink of an eye, it was directly in front of him.

No amount of resistance or struggling on his part did any good, nor did he even qualify to try to dodge. Before he could do anything, the hand grabbed onto him.

As soon as it touched him, his eyes went wide with disbelief and shock. Based on what he could sense, that hand was formed from divine will, a terrifying divine will that caused him to cry out in alarm and babble incoherently.

"Paragon!!

"It's Paragon Sea Dream!!

"No, wait, this isn't Sea Dream's aura.... She couldn't be here! The 33 Heavens already sent people to pin her down!!

"If it's not Sea Dream, then who is it? Who could it be!?!?

"There couldn't possibly be a second Paragon in the Mountain and Sea Realm!!" Indescribable astonishment gripped Lord White's heart, and before he could even consider the matter further, the huge hand began to drag him forward.

RUUMMMMBLLLLLE!

The entire void shook violently. Normally speaking, it would have taken a full day for Lord White to reach the exit of the rift at the speed he had been maintaining. But right now, it only took a few breaths of time before the huge hand dragged him… all the way out into the Eighth Mountain and Sea!

RUMBLE!