An enormous hand shot after Meng Hao. It was huge, filling up the sky, blocking the light, exceeding mountains and rivers as it closed in on Meng Hao.
It was impossible to tell exactly what type of divine ability was involved. Meng Hao was astonished, as were the peak Dao Seeking experts.
Meng Hao spat out a mouthful of blood as he pushed himself forward at indescribable speed. However, the enormous hand seemed to have no limits. It was like a continent unto itself as it shot after him. It spread out to completely encompass him. Up ahead of him, what looked like five gigantic mountain peaks were descending from up above!
Meng Hao’s eyes went wide from astonishment regarding this ancestral statuary. However, a cold gleam then appeared in his eyes, and the image of a roc appeared on his forehead. He burst forward as the image of a fish appeared in the air around him, its flapping tail shattering the air around him as he propelled himself forward. 1 The war chariot appeared, and he circulated the qi of Immortal Shows the Way. Rumbling filled the battlefield as he shot forward.
Utilizing the power of the war chariot, he was able to pass through one of the gaps between the five descending mountains.
Behind him on the battlefield, the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief spat up a mouthful of blood. Immediately, the magical symbols reappeared on the arm of the monkey in the cage. The chief was enraged; how could he ever have imagined that the ancestral statuary would be incapable of capturing Meng Hao?
“Dammit, this is unbelievable!” The Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief bit the tip of his tongue and spat some more blood out. Then he took out a skull fragment, which he pushed down onto his forehead. His body began to tremble, and rumbling sounds could be heard. A boundless radiance shone out from him, and countless voices spoke in unison.
“Ancestral statuary, please seal this person!”
As the Imperial Bloodline Clan Chief’s roar echoed out, the monkey’s eyes flickered. No longer did they glow with red light; instead, they began to darken, as if the flame of its life force were burning out. It was at this point that the monkey transformed into a stone statue.
When that happened, the cage began to shine with brilliant light, simultaneously increasing in size. Then, it abruptly vanished.
Meanwhile, Meng Hao was speeding off into the distance, utilizing all the possible power of the war chariot. In the blink of an eye, he was far, far away. He turned to look behind him, and when he could see no enormous hand, he sighed with relief. Then, killing intent flickered in his eyes, and he was about to return to the battlefield, when suddenly, his mind reeled with shock.
Everything around him was flat and drab. The whole world looked peaceful and calm. In fact, there seemed to be no life present at all.
He looked up, and could see a mountain range off in the distance.
“Considering the power of the war chariot, and how hard I pushed it just now, I should be able to see the Milky Way Sea from here….” His mind spun, and a bad feeling welled up in his heart. Eyes flashing, he sped forward toward the mountain range he had just seen. Then, his face fell.
Those… were no mountains! Instead, they were enormous pillars!
Meng Hao’s scalp tingled. He turned again and, shockingly, found himself looking up at a gargantuan statue.
It was a statue of a monkey, and the expression on its face was one of derision.
A thunderous roar filled Meng Hao’s mind. If by this point he didn’t understand what had happened, then he wouldn’t be Meng Hao.
“I’m inside that cage!” he thought with disbelief. He had just employed the top speed he could muster, and had clearly outrun the monkey’s palm. Panting, he again sped off into the distance. It only took a bit of flying around for him to determine that he was definitely not in the lands of the Southern Domain, but rather, a square-shaped world.
In each of the four directions, he ran into pillars. In the center of all of them was the gigantic stone monkey. Finally, Meng Hao’s face fell.
It was at this point that chanting sounds began to pulse toward him from all directions. The voices seem to contain some unspeakable power. As they floated about, the world began to tremble. What happened next was clearly visible to Meng Hao. The entire world… began to shrink!
At the same time, a shocking pressure weighed down.
The more the world shrank, the more intense the pressure became. It was a suppressing force that made Meng Hao tremble; it felt as if a mountain were crushing down onto him.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, Pill Demon, Patriarch Song, and the others hovered above the battlefield, shaken. Down below, the cultivators of the Southern Domain looked hopeless.
Everyone could see that the cage up in midair, which was covered by countless lightning bolts, now contained a figure inside that was Meng Hao!