Sixteen days.

The fact that Meng Hao had remained on the Transcendence Dais for sixteen days left the audience completely and utterly shaken.

Jin Yunshan. Sha Jiudong. The Sect Leader. All of them were completely jarred.

Then Meng Hao opened his eyes, radiating the aura of Transcendence, and everyone felt their hearts trembling. Those blood-colored eyes contained an unspeakable ferocity, giving them the sensation that they were looking some wild beast from ancient times.

Meng Hao had not Transcended, and in fact, his Ninth Hex had collapsed three times in a row. However, when the third collapse occurred and Meng Hao opened his eyes, his consciousness left the Transcendence Dais. At the same time, a powerful air of Transcendence filled the area, becoming a raging vortex that spun wildly around him.

The vortex rose higher and higher until it seemed to connect to the Heavens. It was a completely shocking sight.

As the boundless winds screamed, the Sect Leader's face flickered, and he fell back. Jin Yunshan and Sha Jiudong didn't hesitate to do the same, as did everyone else in the crowd. Even as everyone retreated to a position 30,000 meters away from the altar, they could feel the wild aura raging up from that location.

Rumbling echoed out in all directions as the cyclone of wind shot so high it seemed to slash into the starry sky of the Vast Expanse itself.

In the middle of the cyclone was Meng Hao, who was looking up into the Heavens, eyes wide. It was as if he could see through the Vast Expanse and beyond, as if he were staring at an entity that no one else could see.

"It was you...." he said, his eyes crimson. He had been puzzled by the first collapse of the Ninth Hex. He had been shaken by the second. But the third... had corroborated his suspicions, and provided the answer which he sought.

He had confirmed that there really was something surreptitiously interfering with his cultivation. It was like some omnipotent force which was preventing the Ninth Hex from appearing.

Perhaps the more accurate description would be to say that it was not impeding the Ninth Hex, but rather, preventing Meng Hao... from transforming from the Demon back into the Immortal.

And the reason for that was...

"Allheaven fears the Immortal," he murmured in a grim voice. Now he understood everything. If he hadn't passed through that tunnel, and seen all of the visions regarding Allheaven, if he hadn't seen Allheaven destroy a world with a single finger, he would never have been able to piece together the true reason why his Ninth Hex was being interfered with.

Because he had, he was now able to determine definitively that the aura of the force preventing the completion of the Ninth Hex... and the aura he had felt when Allheaven destroyed that world in the fresco... were exactly the same.

They were exactly the same type of power.

In fact... because of the three failures of the Ninth Hex, Meng Hao had discovered something terrifying. Unexpectedly, the power of this so-called Allheaven apparently had the same origin... as the Demon.

Instead of saying that Allheaven had interfered, leading to the collapse of the Ninth Hex, it would be more accurate to say that the deed was done by both Allheaven and the Demonic power inside of him.

"Allheaven...." he murmured. He had many questions regarding Allheaven, many misgivings. And no answers. In fact, deep in his heart were many speculations which had arisen because of what he had seen in the fresco visions. Speculations regarding the Mountain and Sea Realm, the Immortal God Continent, the Devil Realm Continent, and Planet Vast Expanse.

Unfortunately, there were no answers to the many questions he had. Nor were there even any clues or evidence to analyze. There was even a bit of disbelief within Meng Hao's heart. After all, he was no newcomer to the practice of cultivation. He was well aware that many times, the things you saw with your own eyes weren't even real.

But as of now, he was certain about the existence of Allheaven.

Within the starry sky of the Vast Expanse, there was definitely some entity with the name... Allheaven.

Furthermore, there was some connection between this entity called Allheaven, and himself. At the very least... Meng Hao was certain that there had been something pushing him along in the transformation from Immortal into Demon.

Meng Hao's eyes flickered with killing intent as he shot to his feet. In that instant, the sky filled with intense rumbling, and the cyclone began to crumble, as though some incredibly powerful destructive force were descending.

The aura of Transcendence shattered, and the altar began to shake violently. The intense pressure descending made it seem like the power of the entire starry sky of the Vast Expanse was crushing down.

Everyone from the Vast Expanse School coughed up blood, even the Sect Leader, Sha Jiudong, and Jin Yunshan. Shocked expressions could be seen on their faces as they fell back even further than 30,000 meters.

The entire first land mass seemed to be filled with an intense but soundless screaming, causing everything to shake violently.

Meng Hao stood there on the altar facing the intense pressure, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The pressure was trying to get him to submit. It pushed down on him, causing his legs to tremble, as if it were trying to get him... to kneel to the Heavens.

But there was more to it than that. From Meng Hao's perspective, it was as if this pressure were trying to get him to swear an oath that he would never again attempt to transform from the Demon into the Immortal.

His face was extremely grim as the pressure increased. He was shaking visibly, and his bones creaked on the verge of breaking.

But then he suddenly threw his head back and laughed and laughed uproariously. His eyes glowed bright red as his Demonic qi surged.

"Threatening me?" he chuckled. His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, and at the same time, his third eye opened. Instantly, the surrounding ghosts became completely visible.

Beneath the Heavenly pressure, the countless ghosts were trembling. And yet, expressions of insane viciousness could be seen on their faces, unyielding glares of hatred.

Even Meng Hao could sense that the aura of the pressure weighing down now was exactly the same as when Allheaven had destroyed this world. How could this host of people who had been killed by Allheaven not also detect that very same thing?

"I, Meng Hao, have practiced cultivation free from guilt my entire life. I pursued the Dao of the Mountains and Seas. Even you, Allheaven, do not qualify to levy threats against me!" Mad laughter rang out as Meng Hao waved both of his arms out in front of him.

When the surrounding ghosts sensed Meng Hao's will and determination, they threw their heads back and let out bitter howls. None of the other cultivators present could see the ghosts, but they could sense the sudden influx of intense coldness they caused.

There were so many ghosts it was impossible to tell how many there were, and they were all howling together in one unified voice which rose up into the Heavens. They didn't know why they had become ghosts after having been killed by this pressure. Nor did they understand why they were more powerful in death than in life. But they did know that, even though they had been unable to fight against this power when they were alive, now that they were dead... they would most definitely fight it!

It was impossible to say which ghost did it first, but soon, all of them were flying toward the cultivation base tempest which swirled around Meng Hao. In the blink of an eye, countless ghosts were flying through the air toward him, causing the tempest to become bigger and stronger.

Vast, uncountable numbers of ghosts surged forth, causing the tempest to rapidly expand. 300 meters. 3,000 meters. 30,000 meters. 300,000 meters. 3,000,000 meters. 30,000,000 meters....

It spread out seemingly without end, with the altar at its center. Eventually, it covered the entirety of the first land mass, creating an indescribable cyclone.

The enormous cyclone swept across the lands, causing mountains to tremble and rivers to seethe.

The cultivators from the Vast Expanse School were there within the raging winds, trembling, looking around in astonishment at what was happening. They were even able to make out faint screams echoing about.

"Revenge. Revenge!"

"We were killed by Allheaven's finger, so in death, we shall exterminate Allheaven!"

"The vengeance of the Vast Expanse Continent is like a flame that not even the Heavens can extinguish." Countless voices rang out, a cacophony like the voices of an entire world, causing a huge sound wave to surge within the windstorm. Then, Meng Hao raised his hands and pointed up toward the Heavens. In response, the windstorm, along with the countless howling ghosts, began to rise up into the air.

They were like a magnificent army charging toward the Heavens, a sight no one would ever be able to forget.

The combined forces of an entire land mass, of all the ghosts that existed there, charged up as if to vanquish the Vast Expanse. Then, as everyone watched, the sky up above was torn apart by the cyclone.

The starry sky beyond was revealed, and the Vast Expanse, and yet the windstorm kept rising up. Suddenly, within the shattered dome of the Heavens, a figure appeared. He was blurry, and impossible to distinguish clearly. Formed from mist, he stood there, looking at the endless army of ghosts, then stretched out a hand in a pushing motion.

Something like an invisible barrier apparently existed in front of that figure, and deafening rumbling sounds echoed out as it began to move downward.

When the ghosts ran into the invisible barrier, they collapsed into pieces, completely incapable of doing anything against it.

The vast disparity of power was like a huge ravine which there was no hope of crossing.

"Transcendence!" said the astonished Sect Leader. "That's... the power of Transcendence." Everyone else was equally astonished.

Meng Hao might have emitted some of the aura of Transcendence, but that had been somewhat of a fluke. This figure, and the outstretching of its hand... caused... the true power of Transcendence to appear.

Meng Hao stood there on the altar, watching everything play out. Inwardly, he was shaken. He could also sense the power of Transcendence, and could tell that the windstorm he had created, and the countless ghosts within it, could do nothing to stop or even shake this invisible barrier.

In the blink of an eye, the barrier destroyed half of the cyclone, and continued to grind downward relentlessly. It was now getting closer and closer to Meng Hao.

To explain by means of illustration, the power of Transcendence compared to the power of a cultivator who had not Transcended, was like... a drop of water compared to fog.

No matter how much fog there was, it could do nothing to prevent that drop of water from passing through it.

In this case, the windstorm and the ghosts were the fog, and that invisible barrier was the drop of water. Not only did it pass through the fog, it crushed everything, and could not be resisted in the slightest.