I Shall Seal the Heavens - Volume 9 - Chapter 1529

Chapter 1529: Flying Over the Land Masses!

The fourth land mass was covered in ruins, and looked even more wild and abandoned than the first three land masses. In fact, Meng Hao even spotted corpses!

They were withered after all the years which had passed, and none of them were whole. They were so broken apart that it was impossible to tell which were male or female, or to determine the level of their cultivation base when they were alive. But they were a shocking sight nonetheless. As Meng Hao flew through the air over all of them, he couldn’t help but recall the scene in which the finger of Allheaven destroyed this world.

“The previous three land masses contain nothing but ruins,” explained the Sect Leader, mixed emotions flickering in his eyes. “There are no corpses there. The corpses show up starting in the fourth land mass. What you see here counts for almost nothing. The further in we go, the more corpses we will see. By the time we reach the eighth land mass, we will see them… everywhere, some of them even completely intact.” Considering their previous visits to this place, plus further information gleaned from the ancient records, the Sect Leader had a much deeper understanding of the necropolis now.

“You’ll even see some magical items, some of which are excellently preserved. However, you mustn’t allow yourself to get greedy, Fellow Daoist Meng. You can’t touch any of the things you see…”

At this point, Jin Yunshan broke in: “The first time we saw such treasures, there was one individual who greedily attempted to lay hands on them. That gave rise to a powerful backlash, and a terrifying force of expulsion from the entire necropolis itself. The offending person was transformed into a pool of blood in front of our very eyes.” Although the fear in his eyes was clear, it was also obvious that he felt it was a pity that they couldn’t take any of the treasures away with them.

Meng Hao nodded. He sent his divine sense out, and could feel all of the countless ghosts in the fourth land mass. This was his first time here, and almost as soon as his divine sense began to spread out, the corpses littering the ground began to tremble, and then ghosts flew out from inside of them, as well as from within the various ruins that dotted the landscape. Soon, the entire fourth land mass was teeming with activity.

The scene playing out in front of them caused the Sect Leader and the others too look on with wide eyes. Although this wasn’t anything unexpected, the intense coldness they were experiencing increased by several fold.

Rumbling sounds filled Heaven and Earth as countless ghosts sensed Meng Hao’s presence on the fourth land mass, and woke up, eyes shining with madness.

“The aura of the Emperor….”

“It’s the Emperor….”

All of the ghosts on the fourth land mass took to the air and sped toward Meng Hao. As the intense, shocking coldness spread out, Meng Hao’s eyes shone, and he flicked his sleeve. Without pausing for a moment, he flew into motion.

As he proceeded along, more ghosts from the fourth land mass streamed toward him. As soon as they caught sight of him from a distance, they would bow in worship. The sea of ghosts around him continued to grow larger and larger as he swept across the land mass. Eventually, he reached a cliff face that led to the fifth land mass.

A huge statue was visible there, fully 30,000 meters tall. It was a stunning sight, like an enormous mountain that blocked the way into the fifth land mass.

“There is no fighting against this mountain,” the Sect Leader said. “We spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get into the fifth land mass. Eventually, we found that you have to wait approximately half a year.

“Around that time, the mountain will gradually shrink until it’s only 300 meters tall. Then, at its smallest state, it can be passed with relative safety.

“If you try to barge past the mountain now, it will become enraged. Even considering the level of our cultivation bases, it can still pose a danger to us. After all, this statue was built back when these lands were alive and thriving, making it boundlessly powerful…. Fellow Daoist Meng, I suggest we just wait here for a bit.” Even though the Sect Leader had seen this mountain before, every time he looked at its majestic height, he was left shaken.

“Half a year?” Meng Hao said. “I can’t wait that long,” Before the Sect Leader could say anything else, Meng Hao’s eyes flashed, and he pointed at the huge mountain.

“Move this mountain for me!” he said coolly, bolstering his words with divine sense. The ghosts in the vast sea around him immediately began to howl and surge with energy. The aura which began to spread out left the Sect Leader and the others with tingling scalps.

Vast quantities of ghosts surged forward toward the enormous mountain. Rumbling echoed out as it began to shake, and even rock back and forth.

The Sect Leader and the others gasped as they noticed that as the mountain shook back and forth, it unexpectedly… began to rise slowly into the air.

The lands quaked as the mountain was ripped away from them.

Meng Hao could see the ghosts themselves, surrounding the mountain. Howling, they unleashed shocking power to do exactly as Meng Hao had asked, to move the mountain!

Rumbling sounds filled the air as the enormous mountain continued to rise. Soon, to the shock of the Sect Leader and the others, it had been lifted up thirty meters above the surface of the ground!

At the same time, a howl echoed out from the peak of the mountain. Countless rocks and rubble tumbled down as the mountain opened its enormous eyes. A nose appeared, and then a mouth. Shockingly, the entire face became visible.

It was an ancient face whose eyes radiated fury.

“Who… disturbs my slumb– huh?” The voice contained incredible pressure and dignity, and even the power of natural law, as if it could alter Heaven and Earth. Before it could finish speaking, though, it suddenly fell silent.

The face stared at the countless ghosts, and the boundless hostility they radiated, which was like an explosive will that shouted a single sentence!

“Shut up!”

Lands, mountains, sky, everything was trembling.

“Dammit, where did all these ghosts come from!?” the face blurted. Then its mouth snapped shut.

It looked at Meng Hao, its expression flickering with fear. After a moment, it closed its eyes and sank back down into the surface of the mountain, doing nothing to prevent the ghosts from moving the mountain.

The Sect Leader’s eyes were wide. The other 9-Essences Paragons who stood around him exchanged shocked glances. When they had come here by themselves, everything along the way required extreme caution and hard work. However, Meng Hao could disregard everything in his path. At the most… he simply had to speak a few words to resolve any situation he faced.

Jin Yunshan’s face twitched, and then he looked contemptuously over at the mountain. He couldn’t forget what had occurred the first time they had reached this point and tried to force their way past the mountain. To their shock, it had contained power like Heavenly might.

Jin Yunshan’s contempt grew as… the mountain, apparently fearful for its safety, shrank down, making it easier for the ghosts to move it. Jin Yunshan was left completely speechless.

Sha Jiudong took a deep breath, and Bai Wuchen completely abandoned any sort of unyielding attitude from years past.

Soon, the mountain was completely moved out of the way and then placed down off to the side. The ghosts swept about, completely clearing the path to the fifth land mass.

Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever as he flew forward. A moment later, he was on the fifth land mass. After taking a deep breath, he continued onward.

From the time they had entered the necropolis until this moment, not even ten days had passed.

They sped along through the fifth land mass for a few more days. This place was even bleaker than the other land masses. Meng Hao eyed the corpses down below as he flew along toward the end of the fifth land mass, where a huge wave of water existed, completely separating the two land masses.

This time, the Sect Leader didn’t say anything. Considering that Meng Hao had his ghosts, he decided that the best thing for him to do was simply followed Meng Hao’s lead.

He was right. Meng Hao waved his sleeve, and the sea of ghosts shot forward. Now that the ghosts from the fifth land mass had joined in, the sea was even more majestic than before. It slammed into the huge wave, which was powerless to resist. It shattered, and Meng Hao led the ghosts flying over into the next land mass.

Within ten days, they had passed from the sixth land mass into the seventh, and after that, the eighth!

Meng Hao’s sea of ghosts continued to grow larger. By the time they reached the eighth land mass, it was like a massive vortex swirling around him. It was so powerful that the Sect Leader and the others could only look on with wide eyes.

There were so many ghosts swirling around in the vortex, that they formed together… into something that looked like an enormous, illusory ghost head, which everyone could see!

If that were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal. However, even more shocking was that the countless corpses on the eighth land mass rose to their feet, and their previously empty eyes seemed to burn with flame.

All of them sped onward toward the border of the eighth land mass.

Chapter 1530 (Click to show "spoiler" title)

The barrier between the eighth and ninth land masses was an enormous door, surrounded by a wall that seemed to stretch off into infinity.

The Sect Leader and the others had never made it past this point. They had tried skirting the door by going to the left or right, but not even by traveling to the very border of the eighth land mass were they able to find a point where they could get through.

The only way to proceed was to do so through this door. That was the only way to get to the ninth land mass.

No matter what ideas they came up with to push open the door, no matter how much power they drew upon, it did no good.

The Sect Leader was now looking up at it, explaining everything he knew about it to Meng Hao, including all of the ways they had failed to open it.

Meng Hao stood there, surrounded by a boundless sea of ghosts, who maintained complete silence, waiting there with bowed heads as he thought about the situation. A single word from him, and they would spring into action and become the fiercest of spirits, completely oblivious to their own safety.

Seeing Meng Hao lost in thought, Jin Yunshan and the others didn’t dare to disturb him. They had learned hundreds of years ago that in the necropolis, Meng Hao was both the monarch and the Emperor.

After a moment, Meng Hao burst into action. In the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of the door. In terms of size, he was like nothing compared to it, and yet, the power radiating out of him caused everything shake, and sent the entire surroundings into chaos.

He took a deep breath as he reached out and pushed on the door.

Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering power erupted out. It quickly reached the peak of the 9-Essences level, which exceeded the power of the Second Paragon and the others like him.

However, it didn’t stop there. It continued to rise with explosive force, surpassing Jin Yunshan, Sha Jiudong, and Bai Wuchen, and causing their eyes to widen.

Although they were completely aware of how terrifying Meng Hao was, it was only now that they could sense the true astonishing level of his cultivation base.

Things weren’t over yet. Increasingly boundless cultivation base power exploded out. As Meng Hao’s power continued to climb, he eventually exceeded even the level of the Sect Leader. It reached the point where he was above any and all 9-Essences cultivators. And yet, the door didn’t so much as budge.

Meng Hao frowned at the lack of reaction. Throwing all of the power he could manage at it was as good as throwing a stone ox into the ocean. Eyes flashing, he waved his right hand, and the copper mirror appeared. Black threads spread out, covering his entire body in the form of a suit of armor.

With the black armor, his energy rose even higher, and a tempest sprang up around him. The Sect Leader and the other 9-Essences experts all gasped and began to back away.

They didn’t come to a stop until they were several hundred meters away, where they looked at Meng Hao with fear and shock.

Meng Hao was so terrifyingly powerful that they weren’t sure they could fight him even if they all joined forces.

With the suit of armor, his cultivation base was at its very pinnacle. He reached out and once again shoved against the door. As far as the Sect Leader could remember, they had never seen the door move at all during the past several hundred years. However, as of this moment, it shuddered.

Although it only lasted for a moment, it left the Sect Leader’s mind spinning, and he began to pant in anticipation. It wasn’t that he lacked willpower. Rather, after stepping into the 9-Essences level, all of his dreams had become wrapped up with the hope that lay in this necropolis.

Blue veins bulged on Meng Hao’s face as he unleashed incredible power through his hand. The result was that the door vibrated slightly, and yet, didn’t move.

A vicious expression appeared in Meng Hao’s eyes as he raised his left hand to also push against the door.

Energy blasted out in all directions, and a booming sound like that of a bell echoed out through the eighth land mass, then to the seventh, the sixth… and all the way to the first land mass.

The door vibrated again, and a cloud of dust rose up, but the door still didn’t open. Meng Hao frowned.

He was at the peak level of power, and yet even then, couldn’t open the door. That seemed to indicate that only someone who had Transcended could open it.

“But someone who had Transcended wouldn’t need the altar on the ninth land mass. Therefore, the method to open the door can’t relate to Transcendence. There must be some other way.” After some thought, Meng Hao sent his divine sense out to fill the eighth land mass. It took some time, but he managed to lock down on some of the scant will of Allheaven that existed in the area.

Although it was only a scrap, it was enough that it could cause problems if he tried to absorb the Ninth Hex.

“Starting from the first land mass, the will of Allheaven grows weaker and weaker. Here on the eighth, there’s only a tiny bit. Therefore, the ninth… is likely to have none of the will of Allheaven at all!

“That is the only place suitable to absorb the Ninth Hex, all the while avoiding interference from Allheaven, and potentially Transcend!” Meng Hao’s eyes shone with determination, and he took a deep breath. Then, he backed up a few paces and reached out to the ghosts with his will!

“Break open this door!”

The instant Meng Hao’s will transmitted those orders, the masses of ghosts raised their heads. Eyes glowing, they surged into motion, howling and roaring as they battered against the huge door!

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!

Waves of ghosts smashed into it, causing it to shake. Some of the ghosts who were especially gigantic and fierce slammed head-first into the door.

Rumbling echoed out, causing all Heaven and Earth to shake violently in the necropolis as the ghosts battered the door.

It was a shocking scene. Endless streams of ghosts unleashed incredible power, causing the door to rumble and vibrate even more intensely than when Meng Hao had pushed against it.

The combined power of the ghosts of all eight of the land masses was something that even Meng Hao with his battle prowess would be fearful of. Now, it was causing the door to tremble, making it seem like opening it wasn’t an impossibility after all.

The Sect Leader and the others were completely shaken. Beyond this door was the hope they sought. It had blocked their way for hundreds of years, but now seemed like the most likely moment in which it could be opened!

Jin Yunshan was the first to take action. Roaring, he unleashed his cultivation base and his Essence power, reaching out with both hands to push against the door.

The Sect Leader followed a moment later, unleashing divine abilities and Essence power to create a huge hand that shoved against the door.

Next was Sha Jiudong, who transformed into a sandstorm that swept out with incredible power. Then was Immortal Bai Wuchen, who summoned powerful mists. All of the other 9-Essences Paragons unleashed their cultivation base power. They kept nothing hidden, utilizing everything at their disposal to slam against the door.

Under their combined assault, the door leading to the ninth land mass, which had blocked their path for so long, began to rumble loudly, and shake visibly. It seemed as if the door might open at any moment.

Meng Hao’s eyes were bright red as he transformed into a huge roc which, in the blink of an eye, shot forward to slam into the door.

Mountains shook and the lands quaked. The door trembled, as if it might open by a sliver.

However, that tiny sliver was like the difference between Heaven and Earth. Despite the combined assault of the entire group of cultivators, plus the endless army of ghosts, the door still didn’t open. The Sect Leader and the others were beginning to despair.

“We can’t open the door in this way…?”

“How do we do it? Could it really be true that only a Transcendent cultivator can open it?!”

“Impossible. Why would a Transcendent cultivator ever try to get to the ninth altar!?” In their despair, everyone was pushing as hard as they could, even coughing up blood.

The ghosts emitted soundless screams. Everyone was pushing out with all the power they could muster. Meng Hao began to pant. Finally, he sent out his will via divine sense, filling the entire eighth land mass.

It was like a bolt of lightning that landed upon the various corpses on the land mass, within whose eyes burned white, burning light. They began to run, faster and faster, until soon they became visible off in the distance.

More and more corpses appeared, running toward the door itself, which they then began to push against. They seemed endless, and as they pushed against the door, at long last, it opened up by a sliver.

That completely enlivened the Sect Leader and the others. Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed with anticipation, and he pushed forward even harder. Finally, the door opened!

Meng Hao in azure roc-form shot forward through the opening, followed closely by the Sect Leader and the others. It was with complete and utter excitement that they flew through the air at top speed.

Finally, they were able to enter… the ninth land mass!

This was the final land mass in the necropolis, and also the location of that huge throne.

Chapter 1530: The Ninth Land Mass!