“Junior agrees!” The instant he spoke the words, he opened his mind. At the same time, he sent out his Spiritual Sense to reestablish contact with the remnants of the Thorn Rampart that still existed within the city.
As soon as his Spiritual Sense touched the Thorn Rampart, the withered figure who safely sat cross-legged in the subterranean chamber suddenly performed an incantation gesture, causing a sealing mark to appear.
As soon as the sealing mark appeared, Meng Hao could sense the thorns that existed within the crumbling city expanding. They extended down into the subterranean chamber, which was already beginning to break apart. As they expanded down, they sprouted out with even more thorns, heading directly toward the withered, corpse-like old man who had been sitting there for who knew how many years.
They pierced into him, instantly creating a sort of connection between him and Meng Hao. The two of them were suddenly sharing a single body!
An unspeakably powerful force exploded out into Meng Hao’s mind.
A booming sound filled his mind, and veins bulged out all over his body. His face distorted, and his eyes filled with veins of blood. He began to shake, and it felt as if his body were about to be ripped into pieces. Pain stabbed into his soul, and it felt as if his Spiritual Sense were about to shatter!
An intensely powerful aura suddenly surged through him.
This aura was not that of Core Formation or Nascent Soul, but rather… Spirit Severing!!
The instant the aura exploded out, Meng Hao’s mind reeled, and he heard a snarling roar.
“I am the Patriarch of the Frigid Snow Clan. I gained enlightenment of the Dao during a great tempest, and performed my First Severing a thousand years ago!”
As the voice echoed out in Meng Hao’s mind, an image coalesced. Within the image, Meng Hao saw a tempest that stretched as far as the eye could see, rising from the Earth all the way up to the Heavens. Lightning crackled everywhere, shaking everything. This was a tempest which could flay a Nascent Soul Cultivator into pieces, and yet there in the middle of it all was a figure who exuded immense profundity.
It was a middle-aged man, tall, wearing a long robe. His head was raised toward the Heavens as he let out a powerful roar.
“Clan descendants, remember me! I am Hanxue Bao, sixth generation Patriarch of the Frigid Snow Clan. For my first Severing, I severed familial Love. However, I did not sever my love for my Clan! Severing Love and replacing it with the Dao, accomplished my first Spirit Severing, and incurred a half-Celestial Tempest!” 1
The image faded, leaving Meng Hao’s mind spinning. Around him, a wind suddenly appeared. The wind screamed out from within the giant hole in the ground. The city was now no longer collapsing, and the Cultivators were no longer crying out. The vortex in the Heavenly Pit suddenly calmed. The howling wind filled the hole, pushing the crumbling city back out from within.