Chapter 521 Gift
Meng Hao was carried along using Divine Sense as the Fire Spear Flew toward the main Infernal Palace.
Arriving at the palace, they saw hundreds of thousands of cultivators, most of them minor spears kowtowing to the Infernal Palace"s entrance. It looked like hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had arrived to their holy lands.
Several Fire Spears have already entered the palace, and the late arrival of Meng Hao along with his Fire Spear was clearly noticed by all.
The Fire Lord sat in a throne of pure obsidian gold, carved in on it were the shapes of dragons and mystic beasts, while he rested, wearing a set of black robes made of the best fabric, a small crown over his head, and eyes that looked like the heart of a burning star looked at the world as if it was beneath him.
His symbolic hair looked like a blazing flame.
Hundreds of the world"s most beautiful women were playing instruments and dancing to celebrate the emergence of the Fire Lord.
As for the Fire Spears they were all kneeling on one knee, their heads looking at the ground in front of the Fire Lord.
Only one man was allowed to stand. A robust-looking man with a sharp-edged chin and a single scar crossed his face diagonally, but it only added more to his feral nature. The Spear General and the second in command.
The Fire Spear that accompanied Meng Hao came down with him. Immediately The Fire Spear Knelt in front of the Fire Lord, Meng Hao made sure to bow even further down.
The Fire Lord noticed the late arrival but didn"t heed it for the moment as he talked to the general.
"…Thus the failure of the trial. I hold full responsibility over it," the general said as he presented his right hand and swung his sword with incredible force, aiming to amputate himself.
The Fire Lord sighed and grabbed the General"s sword by the tip of his fingers, stopping the man.
"It matters not," the Fire Lord said, "As long as that d.a.m.n worm ate him, no one is getting that heritage. And since it"s gone from the world, it"s fewer issues to deal with, I wanted to destroy it upon obtention anyway, so in a sense, the mission had succeeded. Good, but I"m really not liking the fact THAT MY SPEARS LOST!" the Fire Lord"s last words were spoken with so much rage the entire palace shook.
The dancing women didn"t dare utter a peep and continued their performance.
The rest of the Fire Spears drooped their heads even further.
"You there, come," spoke the Fire Lord to the spear that was with Meng Hao.
As he approached, he knelt down and presented the pot to the Fire Lord.
The Fire Lord sniffed it, and said, "Good quality, though it only has beasts in it…" The Fire Lord raised one brow at the Fire Spear who seemed to fear for his life.
"I suppose you understand that after my exit from seclusion I needed to feast on something pure, and there is nothing purer than beasts, humans have a lot of filth in them. Good Job," the Fire Lord smiled and opened his mouth, immediately absorbing the souls of the beasts inside the pot within himself. ????????.???
It took only seconds for him to consume hundreds of thousands of souls, he then wiped his mouth and looked at Meng Hao, he smirked and said, "But I"m still hungry, you there, bring me the pot you"re hiding," said the Fire Lord.
This caused Meng Hao to feel like a thunderbolt had struck his mind.
The pot he was given by the Spear, the one where Yan"er was. How did he sense it?
"You dare steal from the Incense Palace!" the general pulled out his sword and approached Meng Hao.
At this moment Meng Hao was resigned to his imminent death. He was in front of the Fire Lord, though his objective in getting the pot was completed, he had no way of escaping, to try and outrun the Fire Spears here, and the General, and the Fire Lord himself, within his territory? Not even a deity could do that.
But, he"d rather die than allow them to consume her soul, if she were to be released now maybe she"ll enter the cycle of reincarnation, Meng Hao then pulled out the pot and was about to shatter it.
"Your lords.h.i.+p," Spoke the Fire Spear accompanying Meng Hao earlier.
"Hmm?"
"I was the one who had given him that pot, as a reward," spoke the Fire Spear.
"And who do you think you are to gift someone, your lord"s food?" spoke the General, "Do you wish your head to roll, alongside his? Though a Fire Spear you are, you"re replaceable," the General said.
The Fire Lord raised his hand, "Let"s hear your reason for giving this child my food."
"Yes, he was the one who suggested to me to give you the Beast Pot to a.s.sist your full recovery, the pot I had given him was nothing but a pot full of souls from the Barren Lands, he said that it would be distasteful and rude to give you something this tasteless after a long exhausting period of cultivation," the Fire Spear spoke.
"Hmm, so it was your idea, I see," the Fire Lord said as he stood up toward the kneeling Meng Hao.
"You don"t even have the emblem of a minor spear, I suppose he"s one of our subjects," spoke the Fire Lord.
"Yes, your greatness, he"s someone who was just promoted today to a Minor Spear, before he started his ritual, you have exited, thus I deemed saluting and welcoming you far more imperative than finis.h.i.+ng his ritual today, I hope I didn"t overstep," said the Spear.
"No worries, at least someone uses their brains here, and just a minor spear," said the Fire Lord as he patted Meng Hao on the head, "Good, good, I wanted to take the pot from you, but since you earned it, keep it, it"s yours, let it be known that the Fire Lord is merciful and just," The Fire Lord scuffed at his own sentence later and then opened his hands wide "Now that I have come out, I"ll make sure to bend this world to its knees! Starting with that b.i.t.c.h!" The Fire Lord then turned, "Where is she?"
"Still at the Northern Domain, she was last seen when the Primordial Serpent G.o.d had left the dimension," spoke the General.
"Hmm, she"s still hiding in that domain, our forces have slightly weakened," He then looked at Meng Hao and said, "We need more Spears. As much as I appreciate having more spears with a brain, most are too weak… How goes the Bloodstone mining operations?" asked the Fire Lord.
"We have had a good yield, we can probably convert three more Fire Spears with how much we obtained so far," said the General.
"Good," he then looked at Meng Hao and said, "Did you hear that, three spots, make sure you claim one, I expect great things from you," he said and then headed outside the palace.
"Zhangfei!" the general shouted.
The Spear that accompanied Meng Hao snapped forward in a salute, "Yes!"
"What the h.e.l.l were you thinking? Bringing an unmarked one to his lords.h.i.+p! He doesn"t even have the minor spear"s brand! Are you insane?!" spoke the general.
"Urgency forced by our lords.h.i.+p"s return, I didn"t have much choice nor time, so I brought him," the Fire Spear explained.
The general sighed as he added "You could have brought someone else besides him, an actual spear!"
"No need to be angry genral," another Fire Spear spoke, "You"ve seen what happened yourself, even the Fire Lord enjoyed it, it"s been a while since we last saw the Fire Lord not angry or p.i.s.sed. It"s part of this one"s fate and blessing to see the Fire Lord and receive a reward for it, let it go, you"ll lose more hair like this," the spear said.
The General sighed and turned to Meng Hao, "What are you looking at? Leave my sight! Just because the Fire Lord gave you that, doesn"t mean you"re under his protection, your only protection is your own hard work! Now leave!" the General said.
"As you command," spoke Meng Hao who was about to leave.
Frowning, "About that pot," said the General…
Meng Hao"s heart had raced so much today he felt it was about to stop on him.
"Enjoy it well, make sure you don"t let a single one out, it"s rare when it"s given as a gift, and don"t let anyone take it from you, you gained it with your ability, and you must protect it with your ability too… now leave," said the General.
"Yes, sir," Meng Hao replied and left, his heart beating so much at how absurdly lucky, or unlucky everything had gone.
Though it hurt his pride to have to bow to the Fire Lord, it was all an act he needed to do to save his beloved. Had he listened to his cultivator pride, he"d have disappointed two people. First, he"d have disappointed his beloved, since he will die immediately, and second, he"d have disappointed Shen Bao, who taught him that pride is good, but not when it will cost you your life for no benefit, pride is without value if you"re dead.
With the pot in hand, he quickly hurried to the mines, the objective was successful, now all they need to do is to leave this planet. Which is probably the hardest part.