“The restrictive spell… is actually opening on its own!!”
“Could it be that Meng Hao was right about the spirit in the underworld?”
“If that’s what’s really happening, then wouldn’t it mean that we could use the personal relations.h.i.+ps we forged in the Second Plane to open other restrictive spells!?”
Everyone was shocked and almost couldn’t believe what was happening.
This matter exceeded their imaginations, and in fact, their comprehension. The whole matter didn’t seem complicated, and yet, if you a.n.a.lyzed it deeply, there was clearly some incredibly complex cycle of Karma at work.
After all, the Second Plane… was illusory!
And yet, things that had occurred in the Second Plane, and people met there, had apparently created a resonance with reality. It was bizarre to the extreme!
Even as everyone stood there in their fear and shock, Meng Hao looked back at the rift in the restrictive spell. After a moment of thought, a look of decisiveness appeared in his eyes. As everyone watched, panting, he strode forward toward the restrictive spell. His body almost flickered as he… entered inside of it.
The instant he entered, the rift twisted and then rapidly closed up. As for Meng Hao, he now stood there inside of the restrictive spell.
He was now fully separated from the outside world, and the onlookers.
Completely ignoring how shocked everyone was, he looked at Yi Xuanzi’s corpse, then silently approached it. He stood there for a moment, then clasped hands and bowed deeply. Then he began to dig a hole next to the house.
He carefully placed Yi Xuanzi’s corpse into the deep hole. As for the flute and the drum, he did not take them for himself, but instead, placed them in the pit next to the body.
“Yi Xuanzi, whether or not you recognize me, in my memories, we are friends…. I hope that you can rest in peace. If there is a reincarnation… I hope that we can meet again.” He looked at the corpse in the deep hole, and his eyes filled with a look of reminiscence. He thought back to the Second Plane, his silkpants friends from the other mountain peaks, and how they had all been whipped together.
After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh. Just as he was about to begin filling the hole up with dirt, the violet-colored drum suddenly let out a thump. The sound was like that of a heartbeat, clear and distinct as it echoed around.
Meng Hao’s brows furrowed in concentration. He watched as the violet drum, which was emanating a slight violet-colored glow, slowly floated up out of the hole to hover in front of him.
The drum was about the size of a head. The drum head itself was black, and the sides were violet. Just barely visible were countless faint magical symbols rising up from the drum head. Also visible on the the drum head was a totem.
The totem was that of a black toad with a vicious appearance. Its long tongue was sticking out of its mouth to wrap around a black dragon!
The black dragon was struggling, but apparently it was powerless to fight back against the toad.
It was obviously a totem, but when he looked at it, Meng Hao felt almost as if it were moving. On the other side of the drum head was another totem.
This totem was an enormous crocodile with vicious looking scales. Its appearance was ferocious to the extreme, and its mouth was open to emit a soundless roar….
This drum was extremely extraordinary!
Meng Hao was silent for a long moment before reaching out his hand. The violet drum flickered a few times, then slowly landed onto his palm.
As soon as it touched him, he heard a buzzing sound in his mind. It was like the call of a toad, the shriek of a black dragon, and the coldness of the crocodile.
A moment pa.s.sed, and then everything went back to normal. However, as everything faded away, Meng Hao realized that the method of how to use the drum now existed in his mind.
When everyone on the outside saw what was happening, their eyes went wide with astonishment. Although they were completely envious and jealous, they didn’t allow it to show on their faces.
The fearsomeness Meng Hao had just displayed was now indelibly branded onto their minds. The impression he had left was something that was deeply imprinted within them, and could never be wiped away.
Meng Hao quietly put away the violet-colored drum. Then he looked at the corpse, and once more clasped hands and bowed.
“Many thanks for your help, Fellow Daoist,” he said. “I will not allow anything unworthy to occur to this object.” As he spoke, a warm wind seemed to blow through the area. Meng Hao’s hair lifted up, and it almost seemed like a murmuring voice could be heard within the wind.
Finally, he buried the corpse. He piled together a small grave mound, then waved his hand, causing a wooden plank to fly over. He used his finger to carve the wood, instantly transforming it into a grave marker which he pushed down deeply into the grave mound.
Here lies Yi Xuanzi.
“Fellow Daoist, I wish you a safe journey,” he said quietly. Then he turned and began to walk toward the restrictive spell. He did not disturb anything else in the area, nor did he search it. He had entered this place because of Yi Xuanzi, and because of the memories. He had no other purpose than to bury his friend.
As Meng Hao neared, the restrictive spell flickered and the rift appeared again. After he walked out, the rift disappeared again. Everyone looked at Meng Hao with odd expressions.
Deep in their hearts, they couldn’t help but feel that Meng Hao was truly enigmatic.
Ignoring everyone else, Meng Hao continued to walk along. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back at Ji Xiaoxiao.
As soon as he looked at her, her heart trembled. Silently, she gritted her beautiful teeth, then turned to speak to the other Ji Clan members in hushed tones. Then, to the shock of all them, her body flashed as she moved to join Meng Hao.
Meng Hao laughed as he flew up into the air. Ji Xiaoxiao followed, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them disappeared off in the distance. Everyone left behind exchanged speechless glances. The intense impression left upon them by Meng Hao was deep and profound.
Meng Hao flew in the lead position and Ji Xiaoxiao followed. After disappearing off into the distance, where no one would be watching them, Meng Hao looked back and gave Ji Xiaoxiao an enigmatic smile.
He still remembered the scene from the river of stars, before coming to the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane, when he had been stuck up against her body.
Seeing his smile caused Ji Xiaoxiao to feel gooseb.u.mps. She quickly began to explain. “Ji Mingfeng’s host body was a Conclave disciple from the First Peak. However, his body is not located at the First Peak, but rather, beneath the Third Peak.”
“Lead the way,” replied Meng Hao coolly. Actually, he didn’t really care at all about Ji Mingfeng’s corpse. He was merely using this method to thoroughly bind Ji Xiaoxiao to him.
In this way, he was essentially inserting a mole into the Ji Clan. If any mishaps occurred, Ji Xiaoxiao would not be able to escape unharmed. Because she was an actual member of the Clan, if she betrayed the Clan, the results would be even more miserable.
As for Ji Xiaoxiao, how could she not understand this? However, she had little room to maneuver. Originally, she took her actions in the Second Plane to be a temporary stopgap that she could adjust in the Third Plane. But when she discovered how fearsomely powerful Meng Hao’s Cultivation base was, she truly understood that… she had no way to fight back against him.
Therefore, since she couldn’t fight back, there was no need to struggle.
They sped along together, Ji Xiaoxiao compliant, Meng Hao using his Divine Sense to avoid anyone else. Soon, they neared the Third Peak.
Although Ji Xiaoxiao didn’t detect what Meng Hao was doing, she did notice that they didn’t run into anybody whatsoever. As such, she could only a.s.sume it had something to do with Meng Hao, which of course filled her with even more dread.
As for Meng Hao, his brow was furrowed. As they moved along, he had actually sensed a total of six or seven others. All were alone, and all of them seemed to be moving in the same direction; they were headed toward a place somewhere between the Third and Fourth Peaks.
Meng Hao thought back to what Zhixiang had told him, about true spirit Night, and the pit between the Third and Fourth Peaks. That pit led to the entrance of the Fourth Plane.
His eyes glittered, and a cold smile appeared on his face.
“Considering that they aren’t looking for any more good fortune in the Third Realm,” he thought, “but are instead hurrying toward the Fourth Realm, it shows that they must have acquired quite a bit already.
“In that case, it’s just about time for me to go make them live up to their agreement.”
Up ahead, Ji Xiaoxiao stopped. “We’re here,” she said, looking back at Meng Hao. “This is the place. There are restrictive spells in place, so follow me.”
Meng Hao suddenly lifted his right hand and flicked his finger. A red medicinal pill flew out at top speed to appear in front of Ji Xiaoxiao. Her face flickered.
There was still time for her to dodge out of the way, but when she saw the cold streak in Meng Hao’s eyes, her heart seized. She did nothing to evade, instead allowing the medicinal pill to enter her mouth. As it dissolved, an acrid liquid spread out through her body.
“Let’s go,” said Meng Hao with a smile and a nod. He looked around at the ruins and the countless flickering restrictive spells.
Ji Xiaoxiao’s face was extremely unsightly. She said nothing, but merely turned and proceeded forward. As she did, the curves of her body made a scene of soul-stirring beauty.
She proceeded on through a specific route for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Soon, a well appeared up ahead of Meng Hao. Shockingly, two corpses could be seen together at the bottom of the well.
One was Ji Mingfeng, the other was the host body.
A three-eyed crow was perched atop Ji Mingfeng’s body. In almost the same instant in which Meng Hao looked down at the crow, the crow turned to look at him.
Ji Mingfeng also had two bags of holding. One was white, the other was black. Even as Meng Hao looked at the black bag of holding, Ji Xiaoxiao spoke up.
“The black bag of holding has Ji Mingfeng’s collection of Demon beasts. As for that three-eyed crow, it long since gained sentience. When Ji Mingfeng was only three years old, it flew in from the outside, and accompanied him ever since.
“You got lucky in killing Ji Mingfeng. If we were in the outside world, even if you were of the Spirit Severing stage, it would still be very difficult. He… is actually the Nascent Soul stage Dao Child of the Ji Clan.
“He even had a Patriarch’s brand on him, although sadly, it’s faded since he died.”
Meng Hao’s eyes glittered. Suddenly, the crow flew up into the air, transforming into a black beam of light that shot toward Meng Hao.
Before Meng Hao could react, an excited voice could be heard coming from the copper mirror inside his bag of holding.
“b.i.t.c.hes! Lord Fifth is awake, little b.i.t.c.hes! Hey, I see a lovely three-eyed concubine here!”
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This chapter was sponsored by Janssen, and Harvey Zhou