Chapter 829: Severing Versus Hexing!
Ripples immediately appeared around him as two black fish materialized, which then twisted back and forth as they sped toward Meng Hao.
As they neared, Meng Hao let out a cold snort. He waved his right hand, causing eighty percent of the power of a true Immortal to surge out. It transformed into a shocking sound which shattered the air in all directions and then transformed into a blood-colored vortex. The vortex was like a giant mouth that directly swallowed up the two fish.
In that instant, however, the fish leaped upward. Shockingly, they transformed in midair into two black dragons, which roared as they proceeded onward toward Meng Hao. Meng Hao snorted again and punched out. A mountain range appeared, which then rumbled through the air to crush down onto the two black dragons.
A boom rattled out as the black dragons crumbled to pieces. However, there were two black strands of light that were apparently impossible to blot out. They instantly formed a sealing mark on Meng Hao’s palm, and then began to sink into his flesh. In that moment, everyone who knew Meng Hao suddenly felt their minds tremble, as if there were some amorphous force interacting with the Karma that existed between him and them.
A serious expression filled Meng Hao’s face, but a cold smile could be seen on his lips. He advanced, as if he didn’t even notice the fluctuations in the Karma. He appeared in front of Ji Yin and raised his right hand, within which could be seen a blood-colored vortex. He shoved his hand toward Ji Yin.
Ji Yin’s expression was the same as ever. However, his eyes flickered, and all of the Karma that surrounded him surged, transforming into countless illusory images behind him. These were all the people who he remembered, or who remembered him.
Shockingly, one of those figures was Meng Hao.
All of the figures had Karma Threads attached to them, which then exploded with energy. It was as if Meng Hao was now fighting back against all of them at the same time.
Rumbling filled the air and nearby mountain peaks crumbled. Meng Hao and Ji Yin rose up into the air, and in the blink of an eye they had exchanged over a hundred moves.
The Blood Demon rumbled out, and Ji Yin frowned. However, he didn’t retreat. The Karma attached to him glittered, and then spread out to lock down the entire area. The glow of the confinement magic fought back against the Blood Demon, and was not affected in the slightest by the gravitational force it emitted.
Ji Yin waved his right hand again, then performed an incantation. Then he pointed at the countless figures behind him, and the one that belonged to Meng Hao began to tremble, and then coughed up blood.
Meng Hao’s face flickered, and he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. However, his eyes flickered, and he forced himself to take another step forward. As he raised his hand, Countless mountain ranges appeared, including the Ninth Mountain, which then crushed down toward Ji Yin.
Rumbling filled the air as Meng Hao’s Blood Demon head smashed forward. Wild colors flashed in the sky, and Ji Yin was forced into retreat. An incantation gesture flashed in his hand, and the boundless Karma that surrounded him began to spread out and transform into threads that shot toward Meng Hao.
“When it comes to the Dao of Karma, you must not let yourself be contaminated. If you do, an accounting must eventually be made!” As Ji Yin spoke, the Karma Threads began to entwine around Meng Hao. As of this moment, Meng Hao’s mind was trembling, and he was secretly shocked. Seeing the Karma Threads threatening to bind him up, he threw his head back and roared. Immediately, his body began to expand, as if his Dharma Idol were struggling to break free from the boundless Karma.
“Karmic Severing!” said Ji Yin, his eyes glinting coldly. Gazing steadily at Meng Hao, he lifted his right hand up into the air and then chopped it down.
As he uttered the words, the entire sky, all the lands, the whole world suddenly went deathly silent. It was as if all the natural laws had changed, or were influenced. Time almost seemed to stand still.
Absolutely everything went completely silent.
Meng Hao was locked down tight in midair. And yet, he still managed to lift his right hand and point toward Ji Yin.
Although he said nothing, the power of the Seventh Demon Sealing Hex, Karmic Hexing, was being unleashed.
One was the power of Karmic Severing, the other was the power of Karmic Hexing!
In Karmic Severing, the Karma Threads are severed, and life becomes death!
In Karmic Hexing, Karma is restrained. The more Karma one has, the more powerful the effects!
The Karma that swirled around Ji Yin seemed terrifying, but from Meng Hao’s perspective, he was the perfect target for Karmic Hexing!
As he was rooted there in place, countless flickering threads of numerous shades and hues of color began to emerge from within Meng Hao. These threads were all of Meng Hao’s Karma.
They started out as a solid clump, which then spread out in all directions. Some of the Karma Threads were connected to nearby cultivators, but most spread out over the vast lands of South Heaven.
“I have been shrouded by the Dao of Karma since I was young,” said Ji Yin. “I will not sever all of your Karma, only one thread. However, that will mean that you can never step into the Immortal Realm.” Although his voice was calm, he was actually quite apprehensive about Meng Hao. That was why, when he finally attacked, he did so with his most powerful Daoist magic!
He gestured slightly with his hand, and Meng Hao’s Karma seemed to ripple as if someone was flipping through them like they were pages of a book, then begin to rapidly connect to Ji Yin’s Karma.
The scene that was playing out in front of the nearby cultivators caused the expressions of even the Chosen to fill with shock.
“So this is the power of the Ji Clan....”
“The Dao of Karma is something nobody under Heaven can fight back against. According to the legends, Lord Ji used the Dao of Karma to place the Heavens over Lord Li!”
“No wonder this Ji Yin was able to contend for the spot of Dao Child. I heard that there was something bizarre about his birth, that he had Karma on him from the moment he appeared in the world. Supposedly, his skill in the Dao of Karma is incredible.”
“Meng Hao... is definitely dead!”
However, in the instant in which Ji Yin was browsing through Meng Hao’s Karma, his face suddenly flickered with disbelief. Although no observer could see it, all of the Karma that surrounded him was suddenly thrown into chaos.
Then, Meng Hao’s karma threads began to separate. Not just one, but all of them. Shocking rumbling sounds filled the air as the Karma Threads joining the two of them began to pull apart from each other.
At the same time, the Karma Threads connecting him and Meng Hao began to snap one after another. Each thread emitted shocking booms as they snapped, and the Karmic connection between the two was rapidly broken!
At the same time, the Karma Threads around Meng Hao slowly began to grow dim, and he was no longer locked in place, but could move normally. He hovered there in midair, staring impassively at Ji Yin.
As for Ji Yin, he was trembling, and his face was filled with disbelief. His Karma threads were in complete disorder, and rumbling sounds pulsed out from them. It almost seemed like countless screams were echoing out.
His Karma threads spread out in all directions, causing the air around Ji Yin to ripple. Then the Karma threads began to merge together. Brilliant light would burst out every time one collided with another.
Ji Yin was trembling. It was at this point that one of his Karma Threads drooped down onto him and bored into him like a sealing mark, the power of which then spread out to every corner of his body. After that, another Karma Thread descended onto him, bored into him, and vanished. Then another. And another.
As more and more of the Karma Threads vanished, Ji Yin’s appearance was finally becoming visible.
The onlookers were shocked at this development, and were unsure of what exactly was happening. Moments ago, Ji Yin had clearly been unleashing the Ji Clan’s Karmic Severing. And yet a moment later, Ji Yin was suddenly in a losing position.
All of it happened in the space of a few breaths of time. Now, people were able to see Ji Yin’s facial features for the first time ever. As soon as people’s eyes fell onto Ji Yin, the sound of gasps could be heard, and eyes went wide.
What they saw was the face of a young woman, beautiful, with pale skin. On her forehead could be seen an image depicting a pair of fish, and her entire person exuded an air of sickly beauty.
She... was Ji Yin!
Even in the Ji Clan, very few people knew that Ji Yin was a woman!
Everyone looked on silently as Ji Yin was revealed. She trembled as she sensed her cultivation base fading away. The Karma that she herself had cultivated was now not even under her own control. It was as if some astonishing power were interfering with it, allowing her opponent to use it to lock her down!
“This is impossible....” she thought, her mind reeling. In the entire time that she had cultivated Karma, she had never encountered a situation like this before. It left her feeling... completely terrified!
“You....” Her face was pale as she looked at Meng Hao. At this moment, the last of her Karma threads bored into her body, becoming a portion of what was sealing her.
As of now, everyone could clearly see that she was a young woman wearing a long black robe. The paleness of her face was a sharp contrast to the darkness of her robe, and for some reason, the contrast made her seem incredibly fragile.
“How are you doing this?” she asked.
Meng Hao’s expression was placid, his eyes cold as he stepped forward. He stood before Ji Yin, who now had no cultivation base, and was incapable of any struggle. He reached out, grabbed her, and threw her into his bag of holding.
As of that moment, everyone was filled with utter shock. As they looked at Meng Hao, they wondered what unfathomable secrets he carried.
The onlookers didn’t really understand what had just occurred in the battle; only Meng Hao and Ji Yin were aware of the frightening truth. Meng Hao had fallen victim to the Ji Clan’s Karmic Severing before, and knew how terrifying it would have been if Ji Yin had succeeded.
As for his Karmic Hexing, it was the bane of those who pursued the Dao of Karma. The more Karma someone had, the more powerful its hexing effects, which made it especially shocking when used against the Ji Clan.
It was at this point that a voice rang out from the crowd.
“Kill him! As long as he lives, he retains all the good fortune! He can’t be allowed to remain alive!
“He already captured Taiyang Zi, Li Ling’er, Sun Hai, Fang Yunyi, and Song Luodan. Now he has Ji Yin! This guy’s set a record for creating calamities! He’s definitely going to end up dead!
“He must die! He might be strong, but he’s only one person!
“He can fight back against the Dao of Karma, which means he’s definitely hiding some precious treasure! It’s probably good fortune from the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple!” As the voice drifted through the area, it was obvious that this person was trying to stir up the crowd to attack Meng Hao.
People’s eyes began to flicker in response to the voice. How could they not understand what this person’s intentions were? After all, his argument made sense.
Even as their hearts began to surge, killing intent flickered in Meng Hao’s eyes. The Lightning Cauldron danced with electricity, and Meng Hao vanished. When he reappeared, shockingly, he was standing directly next to a man wearing a wide bamboo hat.
Meng Hao’s sudden appearance caused the man’s face to fall. This, of course, was the person who had just spoken. He tried to retreat backward, but Meng Hao was too fast. He burst out with eighty percent of the power of a true Immortal, causing rumbling to fill the air as he punched out seven times in quick succession. The young man in the wide bamboo hat was crushed as easily as dried weeds, and exploded into a haze of blood.
Meng Hao took his bamboo hat and bag of holding, then turned to face the dozens of figures who were currently bearing down on him. Behind them were hundreds of other cultivators, all flying toward him to attack together.
“You shouldn’t be in such a hurry to attack me,” Meng Hao said cooly. “Starting from now, and lasting until the time you leave the lands of South Heaven... we’re going to play a little game!
“A game of cat and mouse!” His body flickered as he used Form Displacement Transposition to suddenly appear far off in the distance. Earlier, he had escaped an ambush with only fifty percent of the power of a true Immortal. Now that he had eighty, if he wanted to leave this place, there was nobody who could stop him.
When everyone in the area heard his words, their minds filled with shock.