Murmuring to himself, Meng Hao frowned. He looked over toward the black hole. At the moment, there was not just one white-robed man floating there, but about seven, all in different positions. Their b.l.o.o.d.y gazes were fixed upon him.

Although he couldn’t see their eyeb.a.l.l.s, Meng Hao’s entire body grew cold. This place was incredibly bizarre, and he was filled with the desire to leave as soon as possible.

But then he looked down at the ancient jade pieces in his hand, and resolve filled his eyes. He bit the tip of his tongue, allowing a drop of blood to fall onto the second ancient jade.

As soon as the blood drop splashed onto it, it began to vibrate. A gaseous substance appeared in front of Meng Hao, which solidified into a gray-colored Qi. It shot toward him, entering his body in the spot between his eyebrows. A roaring sound filled his mind, and then an archaic voice sounded out again within his head. This time it was more clear, as if the speaker were standing next to his ear.

“I was not always the Eighth Generation Demon Sealer Daoist Master. It was outside of the Sixth Mountain that I gained enlightenment from the will left behind by the Seventh Generation Demon Sealer Daoist Master upon his death. I willingly cut away my past and reversed my Dao, inheriting the past generation’s Dao. I roamed creation, and eventually, refined half of the sea outside the Sixth Mountain in order to forge the Demon Sealing Jade that is required of each generation.

“With the help of the Demon Sealing Jade, I mastered the Seventh Demon Sealing Hex. Since ancient times, each new generation of the League of Demon Sealers must create a new Hex; therefore, I created the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex. Throughout my life, I sought out the other scattered Hexes, but sadly by the time I reached the Dao Tribulation of the Nine Mountains and Seas, I had only found three. What a pity.

“Successor, if you are lucky, able to absorb the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex, and then create the Ninth Demon Sealing Hex. Then the League of Demon Sealers will be in accord with the law of the Dao.

“The League of Demon Sealers seeks out the great Demons of Heaven and Earth, drawing out the aura of all the living things under vault of heaven. Seizing Demonic lives, refining Demonic blood, using it and then… the concepts of Demonic Sealing, Demonic Construction, and Demonic Transformation….

“I don’t know which generation of Demon Sealing you are, perhaps the Ninth. If so, you’re lucky, but at the same time, unlucky. Nine is ultimate number, a peak of deterioration. The path you tread… is filled with many variables.

“This clone only possesses the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex. I now pa.s.s it on to you. This Hex uses Demonic Qi as its foundation, and can… seal bodies, seal spirits, seal Immortals, seal divinities, seal the luck from the Heavens, seal all living things in the world!” The voice echoed out in Meng Hao’s head, more and more clearly until it became a thunderous roar that branded itself onto his mind. The brand was an ancient character, the character for Sealing!

Eventually the echoing roar faded away. Meng Hao didn’t know it, but ten days had pa.s.sed in the outside world while he had been immersed in the branding process. Another full moon had arrived.

In the valley outside, the moonlight pierced into the mists, causing them to churn and seethe like seawaters. The toad geezer once again arrived on the scene. This time, there was an additional Cultivator of the ninth level of Qi Condensation. He had obviously just broken through to the ninth level. Nonetheless, this filled the group with complete confidence.

“Now that brother Sun has made a breakthrough in his Cultivation base, we will definitely pull out fifteen hundred meters!”

“Right. We’ve waited for this day for too long. If we can pull out fifteen hundred meters, then our ancestral spirit will awaken. Our Cultivation bases will raise to another level. If the luck exists, we might even reach Foundation Establishment!”

“It’s hard to determine the probability of Foundation Establishment luck. However, according to the ancient records pa.s.sed down from our ancestors, pulling out fifteen hundred meters will definitely bring some type of luck with it.” They exchanged gleaming glances, then immediately went to work under the thick moonlight. Of course, Meng Hao couldn’t be further from their minds; as far as they were concerned he had long since pa.s.sed away.

They spat out globules of blood, and formed the black blade. The mists began to spin into a whirlpool, and then the red rope appeared. The toad geezer grabbed ahold of it and let out a howl as he pulled.

A thunderous boom echoed out and the rope began to move. The movement reached down through the valley into the cave, all the way to the spot where Meng Hao stood, then further down into the magically sealed hole.

As soon as the rope began to move, expressions of panic appeared on the faces of the eight or so white-haired men. Suddenly, nearly a dozen of the phantoms which looked like seven- or eight-year-old children appeared. Their shrill screams echoed throughout the deepness of the cave.

One of the strange properties of this rope was that when it was pulled, it began to emit ma.s.sive amounts of intense coldness, as well as a rotten smell. The glittering restrictive spell trembled, as if it might collapse at any moment.

Time pa.s.sed. The seven men outside heaved on the rope, gradually pulling out fifteen meters. The roaring grew more intense, and even more coldness poured out. The rotten smell grew many times thicker and stronger.

Soon… a panting sound could be heard in the cave. It sounded as if some living thing were in the midst of some sort of struggle. A figure appeared, screaming shrilly. It launched itself at the s.h.i.+ning restrictive spell.

The spell shook, and cracks appeared on its edges.

It was at this moment that Meng Hao’s eyes became fully clear. He shook himself and took in a deep breath. A gleam appeared in his eyes as he became aware of what was happening in the ancient cave. He saw the rope moving, as well as the rapidly collapsing restrictive spell.

There was no time to think. He clasped his hands and bowed toward the corpse. Then, carrying his mist with him, shot back toward the cave entrance. Before he could move even thirty meters, the s.h.i.+ning restrictive spell shattered. Ten emaciated phantoms shot out, followed by the eight white-haired old men. All of them aimed directly for Meng Hao, screaming as they approached.

Behind them, thin streams of blackness floated up out of the deep hole. They looked like hair. The panting sound from within the hole became clearer.

Something inside was struggling fiercely, as if it desired nothing more than to burst out of the hole.

Meng Hao’s face was pale but his eyes s.h.i.+ned brightly. His Dao Pillar began to rotate, sending the power of Foundation Establishment coursing throughout his body. He dashed forward several dozens of meters. Unfortunately, the emaciated, child-like phantoms behind him were even faster. Over and over again, they crashed into Meng Hao’s lightning mist.

Booms echoed out as the lightning mist rapidly began to deteriorate. The child-like phantoms didn’t seem to feel any pain. Every time they were knocked away by lightning bolts, they immediately charged back again. Everywhere Meng Hao looked, spirits charged toward him.

Sword auras s.h.i.+ned out brightly as the wooden swords circled around him. Feathers spun, causing a wind to blow out. Meng Hao moved onward as quickly as possible.

That was when the eight white-haired men drew close. At the same time, several of the child-like spirit phantoms appeared in front of him, blocking his path. Meng Hao felt a profound sense of danger. Without hesitation, he slapped his bag of holding. A hundred flying swords appeared, forming into a sword rain which charged forth.

“Boom!”

As soon as Meng Hao uttered the word, the flying swords detonated, turning into a cloud of shrapnel that swept the phantoms off of their feet. Meng Hao raced past them toward the entrance of the cave, which was now about fifteen hundred meters away.

The shrieking behind him grew more intense. More and more black tendrils billowed about. They were nearly three hundred meters behind him.

Meng Hao didn’t have time to look closely. He knew that if he slowed even a little bit, he would most likely lose his life. Even the slightest delay in reaction on his part, and he would be finished.

“With great risk comes great reward. Getting the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex makes all of this worth it. Too bad I haven’t gained complete enlightenment regarding the Hex, otherwise I could use it right now.” He took a deep breath and pushed forward at top speed. The cave entrance was now almost twelve hundred meters away.

It was then that the white-robed men behind Meng Hao raised their arms and waved their fingers toward him.

The finger attacks made Meng Hao’s entire body turn cold. Without hesitation, he flickered his hand in an incantation and waved backwards. The feathers surrounding him shot back, then suddenly detonated. Another hundred swords appeared from within his bag of holding. They also shot back and then exploded.

A ma.s.sive boom filled the cave tunnel, resounding outwards and diminis.h.i.+ng the power of the white-robed men’s finger attacks. However, despite this, they still bore down on Meng Hao.

His face was pale as the mist around him shook; a gap opened up. His body instantly became freezing cold, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The blood instantly froze into solid chunks. It felt as if the power of his Cultivation base dropped by half. He was in great danger. However, amidst the danger, Meng Hao suddenly grabbed the red rope. He pulled it, borrowing from its power to shoot forward.

Meanwhile, out in the valley, the seven men gasped for breath. Gritting their teeth, they continued to heave on the red rope, pulling continuously. Behind them were over a dozen poison beasts, mouths clenched onto the rope as they pulled with incredible might.

“Dammit, how come it suddenly became so heavy!?”

“What’s happening? We just pulled out three hundred meters, it shouldn’t be like this!” The seven men were shocked, and anxious expressions appeared on their faces. Suddenly, the rope pulled back on them, jerking them dozens of meters forward. Then the tugging force disappeared. But moments later, even as they gritted their teeth and pulled on the rope again, it was tugged backwards with great strength.

As they cried out to each other in confusion, Meng Hao was inside the cave, pulling on the rope to launch himself forward. He coughed up more blood. Without hesitation, he consumed some medicinal pills, not wasting any time as he used all his power to flee.

His expression was grim. The lightning mist around him was growing thinner and thinner. If his reaction time had been any slower in dealing with the finger attacks from the white-robed men, Meng Hao’s body would have been frozen to death.