Chapter 39: Patriarch Reliance!
Meng Hao's expression changed. He suddenly saw the fog roiling, and then about thirty meters away a shrieking man appeared. He wore a long tattered robe as he charged toward Meng Hao.
He emanated a fierce heat, which transformed into a ruthless killing aura. Seeing him approach, Meng Hao retreated as fast as possible. This turn of events had happened too quickly. The figure advanced rapidly, and in the blink of an eye it was only nine meters away. Suddenly, it caught sight of the Vorpal Jade in his hand, and its eyes filled with dread and fear.
Meng Hao's heart churned. He poured the spiritual power from within his body into the Vorpal Jade, and suddenly it began to glow blood-red. It illuminated the man in the dilapidated robe, allowing Meng Hao to see him clearly. He was middle-aged, his body gaunt, like some sort of evil spirit.
Blood-curdling screams shot out of his mouth as he retreated. Moving with incredible speed, he disappeared into the fog.
Sweat broke out on Meng Hao's forehead, and he took a deep breath. The feeling the middle-aged man gave him was the same feeling he got from Grand Elder Ouyang, boundless and majestic.
"Don't tell me he was a Cultivator of the Foundation Establishment stage?" Meng Hao hesitated, remaining on guard. He followed the direction of the blood-red light, moving forward carefully. After about half an hour, he stopped in shock. Several figures had appeared, and each of them seemed to have a Cultivation base equal to Grand Elder Ouyang's. Some even seemed to be as powerful as Sect Leader He Luohua.
"Could they be… automatons?" Upon closer inspection, the figures didn't actually seem to be alive. They floated around him in circles, none of them approaching him, seemingly terrified of his Vorpal Jade.
Time passed enough for an incense stick to burn, and they slowly disappeared. Meng Hao continued forward numbly, his breathing agitated, a blank look in his eyes.
"This… this…" he murmured. Ahead of him was a mountain, approximately three hundred meters tall. An ordinary mountain would not cause Meng Hao to act in such away. This mountain was made… of Spirit Stones!
Countless Spirit Stones piled together to form a Spirit Stone Mountain!
Meng Hao had never seen so many Spirit Stones in his entire life. His head spun, and he unconsciously wanted to go take them, but after taking a single step forward, he stopped. The Spirit Stone Mountain was gray in color and seemed to be covered with a fine mist. It was a restrictive spell which prevented anything from touching it.
He struggled for some time, not quite willing to give up. When he reached a position about sixty meters from the Spirit Stone Mountain, he suddenly felt a fierce sense of imminent danger. Looking at the mountain with a sigh, he stopped in place.
He knew that if he got too close, his body and soul would be reduced to ashes.
At a loss for a long moment, he turned his head and reluctantly left the Spirit Stone Mountain behind.
More time passed as he followed the blood-red glow, enough for an incense stick to burn, and soon the hazy image of a building appeared in the fog ahead of him. It had a courtyard, filled with withered plants and weeds. A stone sat in the middle of the courtyard, about half the size of a person. It was the only thing in sight that was neither black nor white, nor was there any fog visible near it.
The Vorpal Jade floated toward the large stone, then stopped above it. The blood-red glow began to fade.
Meng Hao walked forward and inspected the area around the stone. This must be one of the areas for enlightenment. He sat down cross-legged onto the stone and looked at the Vorpal Jade floating in front of him. His eyes began to gleam.
"Throughout all these years, many people have come here, and none have successfully achieved enlightenment. When the blood-red glow of the Vorpal Jade fades, it means the time to attempt enlightenment has arrived." Meng Hao frowned. A strong desire burned in his heart to acquire the secrets of the Qi Condensation Manual. Originally, Wang Tengfei should have been given this opportunity. But Meng Hao knew that his latent talent was simply ordinary, and he had little chance of success.
He didn't allow the Vorpal Jade to fade, but instead looked up at it, a strange light shining in his eyes. After a bit of time passed, he clenched his jaw, then grabbed it stubbornly.
"This time, I don't care what happens; I will achieve the enlightenment of the Sublime Spirit Scripture!" Determination filled his voice as he slapped his bag of holding and produced the copper mirror. Grabbing a handful of Spirit Stones, he prepared to begin the duplication process.
Meng Hao had been a member of the Inner Sect for a month. Inner Sect disciples received significantly more Spirit Stones than Outer Sect disciples. Combine that with his profits from the shop as well as the Outer Sect disciples who were trying to ingratiate themselves to him, it ensured that his bag of holding contained many Spirit Stones.
But suddenly, his expression changed as he found that the Spirit Stones distributed by the Sect were incapable of duplicating the Vorpal Jade. It wasn't that the copper mirror had lost its efficacy, but rather that there simply weren't enough Spirit Stones. Even mid-grade Spirit Stones were useless.
He stared at the Vorpal Jade for a while before suddenly pulling out seven or eight of the extraordinarily large Spirit Stones he had left. He hesitated for some time, then ground his teeth. Eyes growing red, he put one of the Spirit Stones down onto the mirror, and before he could even put down another piece, the Copper Mirror began to glow with a blinding light, and instantly, fifteen pieces of Vorpal Jade appeared. Meng Hao stared, dumbfounded. Originally, he had assumed he would need multiple Spirit Stones to make it work. But then he ended up with fifteen of the Blood Crystals.
These were Blood Crystals, congealed from Patriarch Reliance's own blood. Seeing fifteen of them appear left Meng Hao stupefied.
"What… what kind of Spirit Stones are these?" He sat in a daze, thinking back to how he had used two thousand of them that time, and his heart ached.
These large Spirit Stones were definitely some type of extraordinary object.
For now, the most important thing to Meng Hao was the Sublime Spirit Scripture. He clenched his jaw and set aside the matter of the two thousand Spirit Stones. Extending a Blood Crystal, he caused it to fade. As it did so, the blood red glow settled around Meng Hao and an indistinct voice could be heard. He slipped into a dream-like trance, unaware of the passing of time.
At this same moment, Xu Qing and Chen Fan, in their respective enlightenment areas, were also surrounded by the blood-red glow. Their latent talent was beyond ordinary, so their chances of achieving enlightenment were somewhat greater. In Patriarch Reliance's meditation zone, everything was based on latent talent. So-called luck is the same.
After an indeterminable period of time passed, the red glow around Meng Hao faded, and he began to regain his senses. He seemed to be somewhat at a loss. After some time passed, he had completely recovered, and yet his mind was blank. Not even a scrap of information from the Sublime Spirit Scripture was there.
He sighed, having anticipated this all along. He took out another Blood Crystal and continued to seek enlightenment. Time passed, and even after having used up fourteen Blood Crystals, he still had not succeeded. His heart ached, and he wasn't sure if he should continue. Gnashing his teeth, he pulled out another large Spirit Stone and duplicated more of the Vorpal Jade Blood Crystals. Once again, he activated the blood-red glow, which then covered his body as he began to seek enlightenment.
By this time, the blood-red glow surrounding Xu Qing and Chen Fan had faded. However, they did not rise, instead choosing to remain seated in meditation, not sure when enlightenment might occur.
As for Meng Hao, he seemed to have gone mad, continuously activating Blood Crystals, trying again and again to achieve enlightenment. Anyone who saw this scene would surely go crazy with jealousy.
After activating the twenty-seventh Blood Crystal, Meng Hao suddenly heard what sounded like a voice murmuring next to his ear in the dream-like trance world. He could clearly hear two words.
"Sublime… Spirit…"
When Meng Hao opened his eyes, they were filled with determination. Without hesitation, he pulled out the twenty-eighth Vorpal Jade Blood Crystal, and once again sought enlightenment.
By this time, Xu Qing and Chen Fan had returned to the altar to wait for Meng Hao. They were a bit surprised when they didn't see Meng Hao, but they weren't sure which direction he had headed in, so they couldn't easily search for him. They decided to sit in front of the altar and wait for him.
By the third day, they were beginning to grow impatient and also a bit worried. Of course, they did not even consider that he might have achieved enlightenment, but rather worried that some sort of accident had befallen him.
"Did something happen to Junior Brother Meng?" said Chen Fan worriedly.
Xu Qing didn't respond, but she looked worried.
After a bit of discussion, they decided to begin looking for him. Unfortunately, because of the frequent appearance of the automatons, their search went quite slowly.
Meanwhile, Meng Hao sat, hair disheveled, eyes bloodshot, murmuring to himself. His words made no sense; they seemed to simply express his desire for the Sublime Spirit Scripture. He pulled out the forty-third Blood Crystal, and the thick, red glow again surrounded him. In fact, the area he was in never lacked the red glow. Meng Hao had gone all out in his search for enlightenment. If he ran low on Blood Crystals, he simply duplicated more.
As of now, he could clearly hear the voice in his ear, but just couldn't commit it to memory. He could only continue on in another attempt.
There was something that nobody, not Chen Fan or Xu Qing, nor frenzied Meng Hao, had noticed. After the Blood Crystal ceased to glow, it would transform into a barely discernible blood-red light, which would then enter into the ground and pass into a secret chamber below the catacombs.
There, a withered body sat cross-legged, seemingly lifeless. The room was filled with the feeling of death.
Every time one of the blood-red lights entered the room, the body would assimilate it, and begin to change slightly. By the time the third light entered the body, there seemed to be some shred of life in it.
The light of life was dim, though, and the body was unable to do anything except sit there.
This was Patriarch Reliance. The Vorpal Jade Blood Crystals were congealed from his own blood, and contained his aura. After being activated, they would return to him, continuing his life. Without them, he would be thoroughly dead.
Originally, he had planned to postpone his death in this fashion, until the very last spark of his ruthless and ambitious life was extinguished, where upon he would pass into death. He was already in a state of despair. He spent most of his time in deep sleep, awaking only occasionally, and briefly, whereupon he would sink back into slumber. He had no energy to waste on superfluous matters.
As for the Vorpal Jade, this was an arrangement he had prepared many years ago. Were it not for them, he would have passed into death hundreds of years ago.
"These are the last three pieces of Vorpal Jade…" Now that they had returned, he had regained consciousness. He sighed and went back to sleep, knowing that he would probably never wake up again.
And yet suddenly, a fourth blood-red light entered the secret chamber and fused with his body. He woke again, shocked.
"I am… already out of Vorpal Jade. Could I have remembered incorrectly… Hm?" Even as he talked to himself, a fifth blood-red light appeared, making its way into his body.
He observed, dumbstruck, as a sixth, seventh, eighth blood-red light appeared… By the third day, countless blood-red lights had appeared, one after another, continuously fusing with his body. Patriarch Reliance's heart surged with excitement, and his face filled with hope. Suddenly, his eyes opened.
"These… holy hell, these are clearly not my blood, but they are definitely my Blood Crystals. What's going on? What the hell is going on?"
Chapter 40: Sublime Spirit Scripture
At the same moment that Patriarch Reliance opened his eyes, Meng Hao activated the fiftieth Vorpal Jade Blood Crystal. His head vibrated violently, and a scriptural text floated around him. Each and every character of the scripture emitted a bright golden light which pierced through his body. It completely overpowered the blood-red glow, leaving behind a glowing golden aura.
As the golden aura spread out, Meng Hao began to change. His Core lake churned violently as it began to take on a golden hue. As the lake water became gold, a thunderous roar sounded out, transforming his entire body.
His body filled with loud cracking sounds. His bones grew longer, his blood and flesh grew stronger. In an instant, he grew more powerful, both inside and outside.
His Qi vessels seemed to be as transparent as crystal, completely integrated into his physical body. His hair grew longer as he transitioned into a new state according to the mnemonics of the Sublime Spirit Scripture.
More time passed, approximately six hours, and then another boom sounded out inside Meng Hao. When he opened his eyes, they shined with a golden light.
Time passed, and the golden glow faded. He looked excited. Within his mind he could clearly see a mnemonic, branded indelibly onto his spirit. He understood every single line. This was … the Sublime Spirit Scripture.
This was something that could cause blood to spray like rain in the outside world. This was the Qi Condensation manual that countless Sects would fight like mad for. And here it was, inside Meng Hao's head.
After the six hours of transformation, Meng Hao was still at the sixth level of Qi Condensation. But as for his new Cultivation method, it could be counted as one of the three best in all the lands of South Heaven.
This good luck was something that even the disciples of the great clans and Sects would have a hard time achieving.
Using the Cultivation method of this Qi Condensation manual, if Meng Hao was able to reach the Foundation Establishment phase, then he would definitely be able to establish a Flawless Foundation. In addition, his spiritual power would be much deeper than that of his contemporaries. Perhaps it would not be the most powerful, but as time passed, the power would slowly accumulate, and by the time he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, he would have a Flawless Foundation rarely seen in the world!
As of right now, if he ran into Wang Tengfei, he would not be put into the precarious position he had been that day. In fact, he could now simultaneously control ten flying swords without losing any of their dexterity. His power had doubled!
Filled with excitement, Meng Hao clenched his fists, his heart filling with intense longing. After a while he took a deep breath, descended from the stone slab, and walked off.
At the moment, Patriarch Reliance was going wild with even more excitement than Meng Hao. Upon opening his eyes, he could see Meng Hao, as well as Chen Fan and Xu Qing. He waited eagerly for Meng Hao to produce another Blood Crystal, then watched in a daze as Meng Hao suddenly achieved enlightenment.
"Dammit, dammit. I should never have placed the enlightenment field out there. No, no, no. If I didn't, how could I get the young pups to come here in the first place. But, but, but.. why did he have to gain enlightenment with only fifty Blood Crystals? A hundred would be better, two hundred, at least three hundred. If there were five hundred, I wouldn't need to continue meditating here!" Patriarch Reliance was filled with depression. This was his greatest hope, and he was watching it disappear before his eyes. Without Blood Crystals to replenish himself, he could only continue on wasting away. And yet he knew there was nothing he could do.
"I didn't do myself any favors that year. I closed myself up in here with no way out, and its very difficult to transmit my voice out. As far as magic goes, I'm currently too weak to do much of anything. What to do? What to do? I have to think of something…" His face grew anxious as he watched Meng Hao meet Xu Qing and Chen Fan out in the catacombs above the secret chamber. They proceeded toward the altar, clearly preparing to leave.
"If I caused all of the members of the Cultivation World of the State of Zhao to come here, I could use the power of their Cultivation bases to break me out of this meditation zone. If I can break out, then I can absorb their life force, then have a chance at my Second Severing." Patriarch Reliance gnashed his teeth, squeezing as much as he could out of his weak Cultivation base, then slapping his right hand down onto the ground. It began to rumble.
At that same moment, Meng Hao was trying to come up with an excuse for why he had gone missing for those few days, and why his body looked different. Chen Fan smiled and nodded, and Xu Qing, seeing that Meng Hao wasn't harmed, didn't say anything. The three of them stepped up onto the altar, getting ready to depart.
Suddenly a roaring sound filled the air, and the entire catacombs began to shake. Their expressions changed as a giant crack split the earth in front of them and a massive stone stele slowly lifted up. After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, and it had finally completely emerged.
It was approximately thirty meters tall, inscribed with golden characters. It was a scripture, none other than the Qi Condensation Manual of the Sublime Spirit Scripture!
The three of them stared in shock, especially Meng Hao. After all the trouble he had gone through to acquire the Qi Condensation manual, here it was in front of him. He looked at it in a daze. But after examining it further, a strange expression appeared on his face. The first two lines of the scripture inscribed on the stele were accurate, but the rest was a complete fabrication. It appeared to be filled abstruse mysteries, but since Meng Hao knew the details of the true scripture, he could tell instantly that this one was false.
He hesitated for a moment but didn't say anything.
Chen Fan's eyes glittered. He walked forward to stand beneath the stele, as did Xu Qing. They looked at it for some time, then exchanged shocked glance.
"We should take this with us," said Xu Qing slowly, "and let the Sect Leader decide what to do with it."
Meng Hao blinked, then nodded as if he completely agreed.
When Patriarch Reliance saw this, he laughed, more than pleased.
"Take it, take it, quickly! Take it out and let as many people know as possible. Hahaha! I'm so smart. I was worried people might break in here during my meditation, so I prepared that false stele. Of course, fearing it might be identified as false, I prepared a little trick. Once it's removed from this place, it will project a sign into the sky which people in all directions will be able to see. Originally it was designed to cause harm, but now, it's going to be quite helpful to me. Excellent. Excellent!" Excitement filled Patriarch Reliance's heart, but then suddenly, his eyes widened.
"We must not!" said Chen Fan in a dignified voice. After examining the stele carefully, his face filled with resolution. He shook his head, looking at Meng Hao and Xu Qing. "This stele is extremely important. If we take it out, then we would be bringing calamity upon the Sect. If an outsider learned of its existence, it could bring about our destruction. Let's each of us use a jade slip to make a copy of the scripture inscribed onto the stele. That way, we can take the contents out, but leave the stele in place. That is the safest method." Chen Fan's face was filled with sincerity and righteousness. What he said was completely selfless in nature, and also took the safety of the Sect into consideration. Xu Qing nodded, and Meng Hao, of course, did not disagree. They immediately copied the contents onto their jade slips, then stood onto the altar and make their departure.
Patriarch Reliance watched on in shock, then let out a furious howl.
"Dammit! Dammit! I will crush this generation's Sect Leader! How could you let a guy like this into the Inner Sect? He's completely honest and upright, which I despise! In my day, everyone in the Sect was dark and crafty. Take the scripture and keep it secret, that's a real disciple of my Sect. As for you, you righteous little pup, you… You've brought about my death!! Why did you have to stop them? Dammit! My Cultivation base! I, I, I…" Patriarch Reliance was so furious that his body trembled. He ground his teeth, and with an air of abandon, held his breath for a moment, then let out a low shout. He slapped the top of his own head, then spat up a mouthful of blood. The blood transformed into a shapeless blood-red glow, which then began to send a reverberating hum throughout the secret chamber.
Amidst the reverberations, the blood-red glow suddenly shot toward Meng Hao and the others as they left the catacombs.
As soon as they stepped foot into the main temple hall of the Reliance Sect, as soon as He Luohua and Grand Elder Ouyang saw them, before they could even open their mouths, the blood-red glow shot out. None of them noticed.
Suddenly a thunderous sound rang out, and a bright light spread out, millions of meters in all directions, turning the entire sky bright red. Then, in the middle of it all, amidst a multitude of colors, appeared a strange sign.
There were a multitude of characters. Most of the characters weren't able to be seen clearly, but two were. They read…
Sublime Spirit…
The sign filled heaven and earth in all directions. The multitudinous characters of the scripture glowed brightly, especially the two characters "Sublime Scripture," shining out across the entire State of Zhao. Within the three Great Sects of the State of Zhao, all the disciples stared up in astonishment at the strange phenomenon. Streak after rainbow-like streak flew from the various closed-door meditation zones as multiple Sect Patriarchs emerged.
"This…."
"The Sublime Spirit Scripture!!"
"The Sublime Spirit Scripture has appeared. It appears to be located in the Reliance Sect. Could it be… could it be that the legendary Qi Condensation manual really is there?"
In the space of a moment, powerful members of several great Sects of the Southern Domain emerged from meditation. For the Sublime Spirit Scripture and the Qi Condensation manual to appear was an exciting matter. Without hesitation, they shot from the Southern Domain directly toward the State of Zhao. They all feared that if they weren't fast enough, their opportunity could be lost to the other powerful Southern Domain clans, or other Sects.
In the Southern Domain, the wind had shifted.
Prismatic streaks of light shot toward the Reliance Sect, as nearly twenty Cultivators from the three great Sects of the State of Zhao moved into action. The weakest among them was of the Foundation Establishment stage. Six were of the Core Formation stage. They cut through the sky with earth-shattering power.
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