Within the world of the Mountain and Sea Butterfly, Wang Youcai was practicing cultivation in a desert. He had spent the last two thousand years tormenting himself. Tormenting his fleshly body, his divine sense, his mind. By means of this brutal method of training, he had constantly increased his battle prowess.

He had come to be an object of veneration for countless people in the Mountain and Sea Butterfly. Normally speaking, he should never have been able to live so long, In fact, there were many powerful experts in the Mountain and Sea Butterfly whose longevity should have been cut off long ago.

However, the bronze coffin that the butterfly rested on emanated intense Time power to prevent the 33 Heavens from encroaching. That power nourished and protected those who inhabited the world of the Mountains and Seas, even those who should have died in the past.

Wang Youcai's eyes were black pits that he hadn't opened for countless years. Currently, he was trudging along through the desert, when suddenly, he stopped and looked up. Then he started laughing uproariously. Boundless cultivation base power erupted out of him, causing a tempest to spring up.

"That aura. That voice... Meng Hao! It's Meng Hao!" Wang Youcai once again laughed heartily.

In another part of the Mountain and Sea Butterfly world was a flourishing sect. Fatty was there. He was now a middle-aged man, so fat that he looked like a mountain. However, he emanated the powerful fluctuations of the Dao Realm. Although he couldn't measure up to Wang Youcai, he was still one of the most famous experts in the Mountain and Sea Butterfly world. Considering everything he had experienced in the past, the words he spoke in the sect were like orders from the Heavens.

He was currently crunching a spirit stone to bits in his mouth, which was his special method of cultivation, something different from others. Even as he absorbed the spirit stone, he suddenly shivered as a sensation overcame him which had experienced in the past. This time, however, it was vastly more intense. He suddenly turned into a blur of motion as he flew up into the sky.

He looked up, trembling, then let out a powerful, excited roar. After being stifled for so many years, he was at long last able to explode with madness.

All of the disciples in the sect were completely shocked. The sect Elders flew up into the air, to look in astonishment at Fatty, their Patriarch.

"Hahaha! Meng Hao, dammit! You're finally back!

"I heard you! I heard you, Meng Hao!" Fatty roared with joy, tears streaming down his face.

"More than two thousand years. We've been waiting for you for more than two thousand years. At long last... you're back!"

People down below looked up at their Patriarch, who was laughing and crying, and weren't sure what was happening. Most of them had been born in the recent centuries, and thus couldn't hear or sense what Meng Hao's old friends could.

A moment later, a few hundred old-timers flew up from within the sect. They were trembling, unsure if what they had sensed moments ago had been an illusion or not. But seeing Fatty react in such a way caused excitement to rise up in their hearts.

"Was that really... Meng Hao?!?!"

"It really was! Hahaha! He's coming back!?!?"

"It was Meng Hao. It was him! The Demon Sovereign!!" All of the old-timers began to shout in excitement. As for everyone else, their confusion gradually gave way to shock.

"Meng Hao? The exalted Demon Sovereign? According to the stories, he was the number one most powerful expert in the Mountain and Sea Realm who saved us all two thousand years ago!"

"The exalted Demon Sovereign is back? Is... is it for real?!" One disciple after another began to tremble and cry out.

In another location was a husband and wife, who were none other than Meng Hao's sister Fang Yu, and Sun Hai. They flew out from their residence to hover in midair, looking excitedly up into the sky.

Fang Yu's tears of joy blurred her vision as she said, "Little brother...."

Sun Hai looked very excited, and started laughing out loud. Their reaction caused three beams of light to fly up and join them. There were two men and a woman, all of them young. These three were none other than Fang Yu and Sun Hai's children.

These three younger ones rarely saw their parents acting so emotionally, and couldn't help but ask what was happening.

"Dad, mom, what's going on?"

"What happened?"

"It's your uncle," Fang Yu cried. "He's back!" Her eyes were shining more brightly right now than they had for centuries.

"Our uncle? Meng Hao?"

"The exalted Demon Sovereign!?!?"

Meng Hao's nephews and niece almost couldn't believe what was happening. They had been born into an era in which Meng Hao was a legend. In fact, to everyone born in the past several centuries, Meng Hao wasn't even a cultivator. He was a story, a myth.

Somewhere else in the world of the Mountain and Sea Butterfly, the aura of a 7-Essences Paragon suddenly exploded out, leading to widespread shock. Suddenly, an old man appeared up in midair.

It was none other than... Grandpa Meng!

He had already elevated his cultivation base to the level of a 7-Essences Paragon, becoming one of the four grand guardians of the Mountain and Sea Butterfly.

He looked up into the sky, then threw his head back and laughed uproariously, tears of joy streaming down his face.

In another area was yet another 7-Essences aura. Rumbling sounds echoed out from a puppet which stood tall over a certain city. That puppet was none other than the Paragon from the 1st Heaven, who Meng Hao had sealed early in the Mountain and Sea War.

At the same time, far to the east, was an unearthly region in which countless dead souls flew to and fro. This was the Mountain and Sea Butterfly's underworld, where reincarnation was governed. Shockingly, the aura of an 8-Essences Paragon emanated out from here. It was none other than... Ksitigarbha!

In the past, he had been the most powerful of the Mountain and Sea Lords!

In the far west was a boundless sea. Suddenly, a massive wave exploded up, atop which stood a young man. Gradually, an enormous whale became visible beneath him. The whale seemed to be a creature of constant transformations, with its appearance randomly changing. It was none other than true spirit Night!

That young man was the one and only... Ke Jiusi! Shockingly, he was emanating the fluctuations of the 8-Essences level!

During the past two thousand years, many shocking developments had occurred within the Mountain and Sea Butterfly. However, the most astonishing of all was that, in addition to the puppet, there were three additional Paragons.

Grandpa Meng and Ksitigarbha had been powerful to begin with, especially Ksitigarbha, who had been like an Imperial Lord. Therefore, it was no surprise that they had become Paragons. As for Ke Jiusi, before the fall of the Mountain and Sea Realm, few people had known who he was. Who would ever have thought that in the centuries that followed, he would rise to the 8-Essences level?

As of this moment, all four of the Paragons were looking up into the sky, as if they could see Meng Hao approaching from beyond the 33 Heavens.

In another location in the Mountain and Sea Butterfly world's sea, a huge island could be seen. A glittering shield covered it, but it was still possible to see an entire country on that island, almost a world of its own.

Shockingly, a huge turtle lay beneath that island. It was... Patriarch Reliance! Yawning, he squinted and looked up into the Heavens.

"Why is that aura so familiar?" he muttered to himself. "Dammit. Think hard, Patriarch. Whose aura is that? How come it makes me... want to cry?" A young woman could be seen standing on his head. She was currently weeping with joy.

That young woman was none other than Guyiding Tri-Rain!

Behind her was a man who, despite seeming to be of middle age, had a full head of white hair. His aura was in a state of deterioration, and yet, a pearl circulated around him in the air.

He was... Dong Hu!

"I've been feeding this pearl with my body for so many years," he murmured, "waiting for its owner. Considering everything, I can't help but wonder if it belongs to Meng Hao." His eyes shone with brilliant light.

Countless people were shocked and astonished. The world of the Mountain and Sea Butterfly was shaken in a way it never had been before. It was as if, all of a sudden, new life had been poured into it.

All of Meng Hao's old friends were whipped into excitement, including Li Ling'er, who was carrying on Sea Dream's legacy, and Zhixiang. There were other cultivators too, all of whom were extremely excited.

"He's coming back...."

"Meng Hao is back!!"

"The Demon Sovereign is back!" Everyone was excited and shouting. The moment they had all been waiting for... was finally here!

At the same time, powerful ripples emanated out from the huge army. Their speed increased, sending the mist of the Vast Expanse into chaos.

The Outsiders who lived in the 33 Heavens didn't seem to notice. They didn't know what was coming, and apparently, didn't even care.

The Aeon Span, as well as other defensive spell formations put in place by the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent, had rebuffed countless greedy beings who had attempted to break in during the past two thousand years.

All had been blocked, and many had been directly killed.

What made the 33 Heavens even more complacent was that inside the Aeon Span, there was... Dao Fang. He was their guardian, and thanks to the help of the Immortal God Continent and the Devil Realm Continent, his cultivation base was even higher than it had been in the past.

And yet, the person they had all put their faith in, Dao Fang, was currently trembling.