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The Windswept Realm was gone, no longer a part of the Mountain and Sea Realm. It had departed for all eternity!
Meng Hao looked out into the void, and a profound gleam gradually rose up in his eyes. Then he turned his head as Paragon Sea Dream’s convergence light pulled him over to the rest of the group, which was congregated outside of her Immortal’s cave.
No one spoke to each other. They watched the Windswept Realm vanish, and then looked on as the void returned to its placid, normal state. There was not a calm heart to be found in the entire lot. Everything that had happened in connection to the Windswept Realm had left deep impressions on them.
They had started out fighting and killing each other, and had ended up working together. When they thought back to everything they had experienced, they sighed ruefully.
Thinking back, their so-called enmities and grudges from before now seemed insignificant.
Lin Cong felt that way, as did Han Qinglei. Even Dao-Heaven felt exactly the same.
As for Yuwen Jian, he had originally come to hate Dao-Heaven because of the death of Hong Bin. However, after seeing Hong Bin’s soul, he understood that Hong Bin’s true killer was the Emperor.
They stood there thoughtfully, the events that had just occurred playing out in their minds. Those things were not matters which could be easily forgotten; they were now branded into their souls. After all, they had just witnessed something completely unheard of: an outright rebellion!
Nothing like this had happened in the Mountain and Sea Realm for countless years. However, all the people present had just gone through that very experience. In fact, had Paragon Sea Dream not used her convergence beam just now, all of them would have been taken along with the Windswept Realm to the 33 Heavens....
The Echelon cultivators were able to wrap their minds around the events better than the others. After all, their understanding of matters regarding the Mountain and Sea Realm exceeded that of ordinary cultivators. However, the other cultivators present were shaken to the core.
Heavens existed beyond what they imagined could exist. Any person who came to know about such a thing would definitely be struck by ma.s.sive waves of astonishment.
Meng Hao turned away from the void to look at Chu Yuyan. She looked away, and even backed up a few steps, acting as if she had no desire to have any contact with him. He stood there silently for a moment, until all of a sudden, footsteps could be heard from within the Immortal’s cave. A woman walked out, and that woman was not Paragon Sea Dream. It was Li Ling’er. She looked different than she had before, more elegant, as if she had cast off all mortal elements.
When she walked out, Lin Cong and the others solemnly clasped hands and bowed deeply. Even Dao-Heaven bowed. However, Fan Dong’er’s and Chu Yuyan’s eyes went wide, and they stared at Li Ling’er in disbelief.
Meng Hao didn"t bow. After all, he had essentially handed Li Ling’er over to Paragon Sea Dream. How could he possibly bow to her?
Li Ling’er glared grudgingly at Meng Hao for a moment, then swept her gaze over the others.
“Hear Paragon Sea Dream’s orders,” she said coolly. “What occurred with the Windswept Realm is no business of yours. News of this matter must not be spread beyond this group. Not one sc.r.a.p of news! To have been able to witness these events counts as amazing good fortune for all of you. She hopes that all of you will continue to practice cultivation and find the proper path. When all of you have entered the Ancient Realm, the time to carry out the plan will have arrived!” Then she waved her hand, and a white vortex appeared off to the side.
“Enter the vortex and you will return from whence you came!”
There were quite a few people present, including Dao-Heaven and the Echelon cultivators, as well as Fan Dong’er and the others. However... of the original group of nearly one hundred people, there were now barely over a dozen left.
All of them clasped hands toward the Immortal’s cave and bowed silently. Lin Cong was the first to approach the vortex. He stopped in front of it and turned back to look at Meng Hao.
“Meng Hao,” he said, his voice calm and sincere, “I’ll be waiting for you in the Fourth Mountain. Xu Qing... is there too. When you come, I’ll definitely challenge you to a fight. Afterward, you and I will be friends!
“When I get back to the Fourth Mountain, the first thing I"m going to do is go find Xu Qing, and tell her... that I saw you. Is there... anything you’d like me to tell her?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, Elder Brother Lin,” Meng Hao replied softly, “please tell Xu Qing... that I haven’t forgotten our agreement!” He waved his hand, causing a medicinal pill to fly out toward Lin Cong.
It was a Cosmetic Cultivation Pill.
“Please give that to her for me.”
Lin Cong grabbed the pill and nodded. Then he turned, stepped into the vortex, and vanished.
Next was Han Qinglei. He looked over at Meng Hao with a complex expression, then shook his head, chuckling bitterly.
“You might be surnamed Meng, but thankfully you aren’t connected to the Meng Clan from the Eighth Mountain....”
“Perhaps... I am,” Meng Hao replied, a strange expression on his face.
Han Qinglei blinked in shock, staring back at Meng Hao for a moment. Finally, he sighed, unsure of what else to say. He clasped hands, then stepped into the vortex and disappeared.
After that was Yuwen Jian. He walked up to Meng Hao, clasped him by the shoulders, and looked him in the eyes. Meng Hao laughed and pulled him into a bear hug.
“Don"t forget to come to the Seventh Mountain to see me,” Yuwen Jian murmured. “I’ll take you to the Vale of the G.o.dgrave, where you can find... G.o.d’s Blood!” Laughing, he turned and headed toward the vortex.
Just before stepping in, he shouted: “Oh, I"m taking this battle-axe with me!”
Then he jumped into the vortex and vanished, as if he were worried that Meng Hao would veto the idea.
Meng Hao stared in shock. He had completely forgotten about that battle-axe, and now that it had been brought up again, a wave of pain washed through him. However, he could do nothing but chuckle wryly.
“Meng Hao!” Dao-Heaven said, looking Meng Hao in the eyes.
“I"m happy to have come to the Windswept Realm, to have been able to bear witness to Heavens beyond what we imagined could exist. Furthermore, you have helped me to understand... that a person exists beyond what I imagined could exist.
“You wiped away my Paragon magic, and after a lot of thought, I"ve come to realize that the reason... is because I wasn’t qualified to control it!
“In the end, you saved me. And yet, I will still challenge you to a fight one day. If you beat me, I’ll challenge you a second time. If you beat me again, I’ll challenge you a third time. I’ll keep on challenging you forever until I defeat you!
“Also, don’t think that you’re really the number one cultivator in the Echelon. The Echelon originally had thirteen members. However, even including Hai Dongqing, only ten came to the Windswept Realm.
“There are another three, and they... are people you need to watch out for. Those three... are completely... terrifying!” Dao-Heaven had to pause for a moment before uttering the final word, ‘terrifying’.
Considering how arrogant he was, it was obviously difficult for him to say such a thing.
Meng Hao stared in shock.
“Completely terrifying?”
“To be more accurate, they are not of the current generation of the Echelon....” Dao-Heaven looked over at the Immortal’s cave with what seemed like fear, as if he had just realized something important. Then he looked back at Meng Hao, and their eyes met. Meng Hao could clearly see a certain helplessness in Dao-Heaven’s eyes, as well as a smoldering fury. Finally, Dao-Heaven stepped into the vortex and vanished.
Fan Dong’er left, as did Bei Yu and everyone else. Chu Yuyan left too; the entire time, she avoided Meng Hao’s gaze and wouldn’t even speak a single word to him.
Finally, Meng Hao stood there alone. Instead of leaving, though, he turned toward the Immortal’s cave.
“Paragon Sea Dream, you owe me an explanation!” His tone of voice was both awe-inspiring and icy. He had never spoken to her in such a way before. The previous two times they had met, he had been cautious and solemn. Now, though, his heart burned with fury, and therefore, the words he spoke to Paragon Sea Dream didn’t contain any of the respect that they had in the past.
“How dare you!!” Li Ling’er said, clearly shocked by his words. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Meng Hao. Despite the fact that she had just shouted, she quickly gave him a series of very meaningful looks, as if to remind him not to offend Paragon Sea Dream.
Meng Hao completely ignored her hints, and glared icily at the Immortal’s cave.
After a long moment, Paragon Sea Dream’s icy voice rang out from within the Immortal’s cave. It sounded merciless and cold. “You forget your true standing. There are a lot of Chosen in the Mountain and Sea Realm. Perhaps I should get rid of you.”
“Meng Hao,” exclaimed Li Ling’er, “what makes you think you can talk to Paragon Sea Dream like that!? Apologize immediately!” She anxiously turned to the Immortal’s cave and clasped hands. “Master, please calm yourself. After the drastic upheavals in the Windswept Realm, Meng Hao was just confused and made a slip of the tongue. Please forgive him this once.”
“Consider that Ling"er has interceded, I’ll ignore this matter, Meng Hao,” Sea Dream said calmly. “However, if it happens again, then I’ll strip away your Echelon mark. If you still have the gall, try to speak to me like that a third time, then I’ll cut you down where you stand.”
Li Ling’er breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to glare at Meng Hao. She was just about to say something, when Meng Hao laughed. It was a loud laugh, filled with pride, and lacking the slightest tone of compromise. In fact, it even seemed domineering.
“I forgot my standing? You know full well where I stand, Paragon Sea Dream!
“You also knew exactly what was going on with the Windswept Realm. I don"t mind being used, but when I get used... it better not be for free!
“Even more intolerable was that when I was trying to acquire some good fortune that was mine by right, you tried to stop me!
“Paragon Sea Dream, why exactly do you think it’s unreasonable for me to ask for an explanation!?” As Meng Hao’s voice rang out, Li Ling’er’s eyes widened with shock. His words left her completely speechless.
A long moment pa.s.sed in which no voice came out of the Immortal’s cave. Finally, a white light began to s.h.i.+ne as Paragon Sea Dream emerged in her white robes. As she stepped out, the void grew brighter, and a pressure radiated out that Meng Hao hadn"t felt the previous two times they had met.
That pressure was the pressure exuded by a Paragon. It was as if a single thought from her could cause Heaven and Earth to collapse, or cause eras of time to pa.s.s. She looked coldly at Meng Hao and said, “You really do have some guts.”
Her words caused Meng Hao’s heart to tremble. He staggered backward several steps, and blood sprayed out of his mouth. However, azure light suddenly exploded off of him, stimulating the blood of Paragon Nine Seals inside of him. The entire Mountain and Sea Realm trembled, and the sun and moon stopped in place. In that instant, a will of slaughter seemed to lock onto Paragon Sea Dream!
“That’s right, I do!” Meng Hao said through clenched teeth.
A tremor ran through Paragon Sea Dream, and she couldn"t prevent her expression from turning serious as she looked at him.
“Well, I don"t know what you’re talking about,” she said calmly. Off to the side, Li Ling’er’s heart was pounding wildly. Although she hadn’t been accompanying Paragon Sea Dream for a long time, she was well aware of how easily her temper flared. She never took time to explain herself to people, and now she had uttered this one sentence. Although it didn’t seem like an explanation, the fact that she said it spoke volumes.
Meng Hao looked at Paragon Sea Dream for a moment, then suddenly said, “I met a young woman who called herself the successor of Immortal Ancient. Her name was Xue’er. I would very much like you to explain, Paragon Sea Dream, why... you didn’t extract her from the Windswept Realm! Why did you... let her go with the Windswept Realm into the 33 Heavens!?”
Chapter 1151: Questioning Sea Dream!