Meng Hao sped forward, killing intent flashing in his eyes, yet his heart was utterly calm, his inner voice echoing. He stepped into the bloody formation and walked directly towards a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Condensation who was sitting cross-legged.
This cultivator wore black robes and was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. Almost as soon as Meng Hao approached, he abruptly opened his eyes. Seeing Meng Hao, he was startled, but immediately stood up, about to raise his right hand. But in that instant, Meng Hao, his expression unchanged and the killing intent in his eyes growing even denser, passed by this person.
A sword appeared in Meng Hao's hand, and a stream of fresh blood spurted out. Behind Meng Hao, a head, still bearing a bewildered expression, fell beside the corpse.
The smell of blood grew thicker, the bloody aura more intense. The corpse twitched twice before its breath ceased, and it died.
There were no screams, no struggles; everything was as simple as slaughtering a chicken. As Meng Hao's inner voice had said, it wasn't that he couldn't kill, but that he didn't want to.
"Chop off a chicken's head, and its body can still struggle for several zhang. Yet a human, seemingly so strong, without a head is not even as good as a wild chicken," Meng Hao murmured, not bothering to glance at the corpse behind him, and continued to walk with killing intent.
His speed was extremely fast; in an instant, he had walked a great distance. Not long after, another person appeared sitting cross-legged ahead. This person clearly hadn't noticed that their companion was dead and was still sitting cross-legged, maintaining the operation of the formation.
His eyes didn't even have a chance to open. Even when Meng Hao passed by, his head had already flown off, leaving him no strength to open his eyes.
"Shangguan Xiu, you forced me to kill. Today, I, Meng, will kill as I have never killed before." The wooden sword in Meng Hao's hand vibrated, and blood beads splattered everywhere. His figure gradually disappeared into the red formation.
After continuously killing two people, the formation immediately flickered. In the moment of flickering, the eleven people within the formation were all shaken in spirit. They immediately opened their eyes, stood up, and vigilantly looked around.
At the same time, Shangguan Xiu, who was sitting cross-legged on Mount Daqing, immediately opened his eyes. A sharp light flashed in his eyes, and at the same time, he looked down at the foot of the mountain.
However, the foot of the mountain was filled with a bloody aura, so he couldn't see clearly. Frowning slightly, Shangguan Xiu let out a cold snort, raised his right hand. In his palm was a blood orb the size of a head, densely packed with a bloody aura, and countless faces were wailing in agony within it. He waved his hand, and the blood orb immediately descended onto Mount Daqing, sinking into the bloody formation below.
A series of thudding sounds rang out, and the bloody formation gradually thinned as if it were about to dissipate. But at this very moment, a sudden, tragic scream emanated from within the formation. The cry was so agonizing, as if it had experienced an unimaginable pain, causing the sound to echo in all directions.
Immediately after, another tragic scream rang out. Different people, yet the screams were identical, both shocking to the listener. Shangguan Xiu frowned, looking down at the bloody formation. At this point, the formation had dissipated by half, but it was still vaguely unclear.
The third tragic scream, and then immediately the fourth tragic scream, simultaneously rang out, echoing everywhere. Then, a continuous series of roars incessantly sounded until the bloody formation at the foot of the mountain became completely clear, revealing to Shangguan Xiu's eyes ten headless corpses.
Seeing that scene, Shangguan Tu's eyes narrowed. He suddenly turned to look at the small mountain path. There, Meng Hao, dressed in scholarly robes and covered in fresh blood, looked as frail as a scholar, yet his expression was unchanged as he advanced step by step.
In his hands were more than ten human heads. The moment his gaze met Shangguan Tu's, Meng Hao swung his arm and flung the more than ten heads. They tumbled and rolled before Shangguan Tu, but Shangguan Tu merely flicked his sleeve, sending them rolling to the side.
"It's your turn," Meng Hao said in a hoarse voice. He originally didn't want to kill, but today's events forced him to.
"Ninth level of Qi Condensation!" Shangguan Tu looked at Meng Hao and took a deep breath. He had set up this grand formation here for two months, and even the people of the Tianhe Sect didn't know the specific reason, nor did he allow powerful cultivators from the Tianhe Sect to come here. It was all because of Meng Hao.
After days of speculation and calculation, he was sixty percent certain he could capture Meng Hao. Meng Hao must possess a heaven-defying treasure that could infinitely replicate items.
Otherwise, where would the opponent get so many elixirs, and so many flying swords? Even on that day, when Meng Hao fought Wang Tengfei, he lost more than ten flying swords. They appeared shattered, but in reality, Shangguan Tu had secretly taken them. He carefully studied them and discovered that the material of these swords was identical.
Although the forms of the flying swords were similar, there would be subtle differences during the refining process; these were the discrepancies in the crafting. But Meng Hao's flying swords were identical even in those details, which immediately made Shangguan Tu hesitate.
But he still didn't dare to be completely certain, as this matter was too unbelievable. However, today he was already sixty percent certain, and now seeing Meng Hao reach the ninth level of Qi Condensation, he was eighty percent convinced.
"Even if you've reached the ninth level of Qi Condensation, it's clear you've only just entered it. If you flee now, this old man will immediately crush the blood orb at the foot of the mountain, and the people of the three counties beneath this Daqing Mountain will instantly turn to dust!" Shangguan Tu stared coldly at Meng Hao, slowly threatening him. He was truly afraid Meng Hao would escape, which was why he hadn't attacked yet, but immediately used this to block Meng Hao's path.
"Today, I will not flee!" Meng Hao looked at Shangguan Tu. Nearly five years of memories flashed through his mind: arguments with the opponent within the sect, and pursuit outside the sect. All of it resurfaced, and killing intent flickered in Meng Hao's eyes. He raised his hand, and immediately, a giant Fire Python over ten zhang long burst forth. This Fire Python was different from the one when Meng Hao was at the eighth level of Qi Condensation; not only was it larger, but a horn had also grown on its head. At this moment, flames spread, carrying extreme heat as it lunged directly at Shangguan Tu.
Before it even got close, the surrounding skulls around Shangguan Tu immediately peeled and festered, emitting a burning smell, as if pushed by the hot wind, and several heads rolled towards Shangguan Tu. Shangguan Tu sneered, waved his hand, and immediately a five-colored banner flew out from his storage pouch. As soon as the banner appeared, it swelled in the wind, becoming enormous in an instant. The fabric vibrated, and immediately, swirling five-colored mist poured out, transforming into five ghostly mist spirits several zhang tall, ferociously charging straight at the Fire Python.
A booming sound echoed, and a wave of energy surged outwards, blowing away rocks and soil, and shattering the trees and vines on Mount Daqing into fragments, which were then swept into the sky, making the area appear hazy.
Within this haze, Meng Hao stepped forward with incredible speed, instantly entering the fray. He picked up the still-intact heads scattered around and hurled them towards Shangguan Xiu. Shangguan Xiu's eyes flashed with brilliance. He formed a hand seal with both hands and pushed them forward.