Ji Tian stood there for a while without responding. Then he sighed, looking around the sepulcher with mixed emotions.

"Ke Yunhai was the hero of an entire generation.... His reincarnation magic worked for Ke Jiusi. But even though I obtained the same magical technique, I couldn't get it to work right."

Meng Hao's mind reeled as he realized why this magical technique seemed so familiar. It was obviously... the same legendary transmigration technique Ke Yunhai had mentioned!1

"Crown Prince, does this explanation of mine meet with your satisfaction?" Ji Tian asked slowly.

Meng Hao waved his hand, causing the dimension they were in to shrink down until it was nothing more than a dot of light in the palm of his hand. Then, he and Ji Tian reappeared back out on the Ninth Mountain.

Ji Tian had made things very simple. He knew that he had offended Meng Hao and the Fang Clan far too deeply. That was in fact why he had connected his life force to the Ninth Mountain's Xuanwu turtle. Such an act clearly demonstrated how determined he was to fight for the Mountains and Seas. Then, he had actually handed over to Meng Hao the very pocket dimension which was inextricably bound to his own life.

All of that showed that he was placing his life in Meng Hao's hands. If Meng Hao wanted to, he could easily use the pocket dimension to torture him endlessly, even kill him.

After providing all of these things to Meng Hao, Ji Tian stood quietly off to the side, waiting for Meng Hao to make his decision.

Meng Hao thought for a moment, then gave Ji Tian a profound look. If there were no war in the Mountains and Seas, then he would definitely kill Ji Tian on the spot. But now....

A profound gleam flickered in his eyes as he turned, taking the pocket dimension with him as he left the Ninth Mountain.

After Meng Hao left, Ji Tian seemed to age, and much of his energy drained away. After standing there bitterly for a moment, he sighed.

He knew that he had just sidestepped a huge catastrophe. Before Meng Hao had destroyed the 1st Heaven, he had felt confident in being able to personally prevent him from taking action. But after what happened with the 1st Heaven, and after he enslaved the Paragon, Ji Tian was filled with an unprecedented level of fear.

At that point, he realized that all the preparations he had made would be useless in dealing with Meng Hao. The only way to have a shot at living... was to place his life in Meng Hao's hands.

Even then, he only had a sliver of a chance!

After resolving matters with Ji Tian, Meng Hao proceeded along through the starry sky, observing the Mountain and Sea Realm preparing for war. His heart grew calm, and his will to fight grew stronger. He was like a sword being sharpened, a sword that, when it was unsheathed, could sever the Heavens.

The preparations continued, and one by one, various projects were completed. The eight lines of defense were set up, and the Nine Seas were filled with astonishing restrictive spells.

The Mountain and Sea cultivators were also organized into armies. Roughly thirty percent were sent to the First Mountain and Sea, with the rest being sent to the other Mountains and Seas, where they would wait to relieve troops on the battlefield or act as reinforcements.

Ancient treasures from various sects and clans were distributed, and large numbers of cultivators were stationed on the sun and moon, which were in and of themselves precious treasures no weaker than Paragons!

During the battle with the 1st Heaven, the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm had been solely focused on maintaining the barrier against the other Heavens. Therefore, the sun and the moon had not been used. Now that the barrier was breaking, and the 32 Heavens were coming, the sun and moon... were ready to explode into battle!

Ksitigarbha was stationed on the moon. Considering the level of his cultivation base, as well as the fact that he commanded the river of reincarnation, the sea of the Yellow Springs, as well as numerous Yama King palaces, the moon was the best place for him to unleash his peak power. Most of the power of the moon was focused, not on attacking, but defending!

The brightest glow of all came from the sun! The person who had been appointed to that station was... Meng Hao!

As per Paragon Sea Dream's orders, Meng Hao was to take control of the sun, and would wield the Mountain and Sea Realm's most deadly weapon!

As for the paragon puppet, Meng Hao sent it to the peak of the First Mountain, where it had a perfect view of the First Sea, and would be able to observe all of the battlefields which would make up the first line of defense.

Conveniently, Meng Hao's incredible divine sense made it possible for him multitask, and thus personally control the incredible power of the Paragon puppet. To him, it was a perfectly suitable thing to do, although to anyone else it would be impossible.

Everyone took everything very seriously, and soon, a powerful will to fight pervaded the entire Mountain and Sea Realm. With the Siege Mode activated, the Realm was like a razor-sharp sword.

The most important aspect of the Siege Mode was that everything surrounding the entire Mountain and Sea Realm was locked down by its will. The only way in or out was through the First Sea and the First Mountain!

If the 32 Heavens wanted to exterminate all life in the Mountain and Sea Realm, then there was really only one way to do it. They could not resort to trickery like the 1st Heaven had, and try to divide the Mountain and Sea Realm.

All cultivators in the Mountains and Seas, regardless of whether they wanted to or not, were ready for war. Some of them were thinking of themselves, but most were thinking of their clans and their sects!

Perhaps few people were worried about the Mountain and Sea Realm as a whole, but everyone had a clan or sect, as well as a family, and all of those existed within the Mountain and Sea Realm!

It was now only about three days until the 32 Heavens were expected to break through the barrier. Everything was still and quiet, although the will to fight and the killing intent in the Realm grew stronger and more pervasive.

Meng Hao made his way through the starry sky until eventually he... reached the sun. There were 100,000 cultivators posted there, arranged in both military and spell formations.

The minimum cultivation level among those cultivators was the Immortal Realm, with about thirty percent being Ancient Realm experts. They did not come from one particular Mountain and Sea, but had been picked from all of them. These people all cultivated fire-type techniques, and with them present, the power of the sun would be even further increased.

As soon as Meng Hao arrived, the 100,000 cultivators clasped hands and bowed deeply, fanatical gleams shining in their eyes.

"Greetings, Crown Prince of the Mountains and Seas!

"We shall live and die with the Mountains and Seas! We are willing to give our lives and souls for the Crown Prince!" The voices of 100,000 cultivators joined together into a powerful roar that echoed out, and within their eyes burned passion, and an intense desire to do battle.

Meng Hao looked at them, looked at the sun, and then clasped hands and bowed deeply. He made no speech, but instead stepped forward into the nucleus spell formation at the center of the sun, where he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Now that Meng Hao had arrived, all of the 100,000 cultivators sat down cross-legged.

Meng Hao had previously believed this sun to be huge, definitely larger than a planet, and most likely as large as one of the Mountains of the Realm. But now he realized that actually... it wasn't very big.

The reason it seemed so spectacular was because of the dazzling, majestic light which constantly shone off of it, and the intense heat which made it impossible for ordinary cultivators to even get near it.

In fact, these 100,000 cultivators were wearing a special type of armor provided by Paragon Sea Dream which allowed them to stay on the surface of the sun. As for Meng Hao, considering the current level of his fleshly body, he needed nothing of the sort.

Numerous powerful spell formations could be seen which had apparently existed since time immemorial. As the 100,000 cultivators sat down cross-legged onto those spell formations, they merged into them, becoming part of the formations.

Meng Hao, of course, sat down cross-legged at the spell formation in the very center.

When he sent his divine sense out to cover the entire sun, he could sense a power there that could shake Heaven and Earth.

It was not his first time sensing that power. Back in the Windswept Realm, he had used his drop of Paragon's blood to summon the light of this very sun, and the energy he had sensed at that time was the same as the energy he sensed now!

With his divine sense unleashed, he could utilize the spell formation, and with a mere thought, could merge into that power, and even... control it without the slightest interference!

Meng Hao could also sense that deep within the recesses of the sun was... the true precious treasure that this spell formation could unleash.

"According to the legends," he murmured, "Paragon Nine Seals created the Mountain and Sea Realm, and then used his two Battle Weapons to make the sun and moon.... As for the sun, it focuses on battle, and the moon focuses on defense." With that, he looked over in the direction of the moon, which was on the opposite side of the Mountain and Sea Realm.

That was where Ksitigarbha was stationed, who Meng Hao had still not met in person. He was the most peerless expert in the Mountain and Sea Realm, and he was tasked with using the moon to coordinate the defenses in battle.

Meng Hao took a deep breath and looked away. Then he sent his divine sense throughout the sun, linking himself with the 100,000 cultivators.

With that, he closed his eyes and began to wait.

Time passed. One day. Two days.... The cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm were itching to fight, and their killing intent shook Heaven and Earth. Everyone was now completely focused on the starry sky up above.

By now, boundless ripples were spreading out through the starry sky, as well as crashing booms, all from the barrier created by the will of the Mountains and Seas. Something terrifying was bashing at that barrier, causing the starry sky to burn, and sending crevices snaking out!

As the crevices grew wider, the cultivators of the Mountain and Sea Realm calmed their spirits. No one spoke. They stood there silently. Waiting. Waiting for the 32 Heavens to attack!

It was in that moment that Paragon Sea Dream's voice suddenly echoed out in Meng Hao's mind.

"Meng Hao...."

Meng Hao opened his eyes.

"The sun is extremely important, and is in fact the key to the war. The sun... must not be lost! The Tailuo Redthunder Formation was one of the most powerful spell formations back in the days of the Paragon Immortal Realm.

"Paragon Nine Seals himself set up the formation, and having built up energy for tens upon tens of thousands of years, it can unleash supreme power. However, that power is limited. It can attack only nineteen times at one hundred percent strength. Eventually, the formation may break, and at that time, there is something you must remember. When it comes to the power of the sun, the spell formation is the first layer, the structure of the sun is the second layer, and the precious treasure in the nucleus is the third layer!

"Hold on for as long as you can.... This war is going to go on for a long time...."

Paragon Sea Dream's voice echoed away into nothing. Meng Hao sat there silently. He didn't respond to her words, but his eyes shone with a sharp, brilliant light. As for his divine sense, he sent some of it out toward the peak of the First Mountain where... the Paragon puppet sat cross-legged.

In the instant his divine sense poured into it, the Paragon puppet's eyes opened, and they glittered brightly as it slowly looked up.

That was the moment in which a Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering explosion rang out through the Mountain and Sea Realm. Up above in the starry sky, visible to all, was a huge black scorpion claw, slashing down through the barrier up above!!

The barrier was ripped open, and rumbling sounds like thunder filled the starry sky of the entire Mountain and Sea Realm.

The rift which had been opened in the barrier was thousands of meters wide, and on the other side was an army of Outsiders so large it was impossible to number. Countless eyes stared toward the Mountains and Seas, filled with greed and ruthlessness.

The 32 Heavens... were coming!!

You may remember the Daoist magic from the Ancient Demon Immortal Sect that allowed Ke Jiusi to continue to live down until the events of ISSTH. It was mentioned several times throughout that arc, the most relevant reference being in chapter 597