"There's a s.h.i.+eld up above which makes it impossible to get out,” he said coolly. "I can't break through it. But after a month of observation, I noticed that lightning seems to be able to distort it." Chu Yuyan's eyes were no longer filled with frustration. Instead, they s.h.i.+ned with life, and a bit of charm.

Meng Hao lifted his hand into the air and made a s.n.a.t.c.hing motion. A hissing viper flew toward him, which he grabbed deftly, pus.h.i.+ng his finger into the weak spot of its head.

Holding the snake, he looked calmly at Chu Yuyan. Not bothering to explain anything, he walked forward and grabbed her around her supple waist. Her face turned crimson. Because of the raggedness of her clothing, Meng Hao's hand landed directly onto her skin.

His body flashed as the flying sword beneath his feet shot upward, Chu Yuyan in tow. They went up, speeding out of the mists and soon reaching the s.h.i.+eld. Meng Hao tossed the snake toward it. Chu Yuyan didn't avert her eyes. She watched as the snake's body turned into a haze of blood, and then its ghastly, white skeleton fell back down. Her expression flickered.

Meng Hao slapped his bag of holding, and ten flying swords appeared. They turned into multicolored beams of light as they shot forward, and subsequently turned into ash.

Having done all this, Meng Hao stared at her with cold eyes. Then, holding her close to him, he flew back down to the bottom of the volcano.

Being held by Meng Hao felt strange to her. As soon as they stepped food onto the ground, she moved backward several paces.”What pill do you need?” she asked calmly.

“A Seven Thunders Pill,” he said, his expression the same as ever.

"Seven Thunders Pill?" she said with a frown. She'd never heard of such a medicinal pill before.

"I acquired it from an ancient location. It can provoke lightning from the Heavens. If you can concoct it, then we can leave this place." He said nothing more, allowing her to weigh the pros and cons for herself. To offer further explanation could raise further questions, and he didn't want her to begin thinking in that way.

She was silent for a moment. Finally, she said, "To concoct pills, I would need a pill furnace." Although she had never heard of a Seven Thunder Pill before, she had seen the s.h.i.+eld with her own eyes.

Meng Hao slapped his bag of holding and produced a small pill furnace, about the size of a hand. This was something he'd acquired from Shangguan Xiu's bag of holding. Shangguan Xiu had prepared it with the intention of concocting the pills himself.

"Seven Star Jade Furnace!" When Chu Yuyan laid eyes on the pill furnace, an expression of shock covered her face. She knew of this type of furnace; its quality was beyond the ordinary, and was extremely valuable. She looked back at Meng Hao. "In addition to a pill furnace, I would need the fire of heaven and earth."

Meng Hao lifted his hand, and immediately the two wooden swords appeared. They slammed into the ground, spiralling downward into the earth. A moment pa.s.sed, and then a rumbling sound could be heard. A hot air billowed out, followed by two wooden swords. From within the palm-sized hole created by the two wooden swords, flames leaped up. This was earthly fire.

They were inside a volcano, and it turned out the volcano wasn't dead after all. Meng Hao had checked into this after his Cultivation base was restored, and had been about seventy to eighty percent sure of it.

"You have a pill furnace, and earthly fire," said Meng Hao, his voice low. "What else do you need?"

Chu Yuyan looked at the glowing hole from which red flames spat forth. She felt the heat of the flames, and then looked at the pill furnace in Meng Hao's hand. She couldn't help but admit that this place was very suitable for alchemy.

"I need to recover some of my Cultivation base," she said, her eyes flickering.

He gazed at her coldly, then lifted his hand. A low-grade Spirit Stone shot forth to hover in front of her. Her spirits seemed to rise as she s.n.a.t.c.hed the Spirit Stone out of the air with her delicate hands. She clenched her jaw, then, following Meng Hao's example, split her hand open on an adjacent rock. Pain caused her face to pale, and her body trembled. Gritting her teeth, she shoved the Spirit Stone into the wound.

Then she sat down cross-legged to meditate. About an hour pa.s.sed, and she opened her eyes. Her Cultivation base had recovered to about the second or third level of Qi Condensation.

"Give me the pill recipe," she said, standing up. "I'll also need a bag of holding." Her skin had recovered along with her Cultivation base. It was now l.u.s.trous and let off a gentle s.h.i.+ne. She looked at Meng Hao.

He pulled out a jade slip, which he then placed between his eyebrows. Then he threw it toward Chu Yuyan. Next, he produced a variety of medicinal plants which he handed over.

"The Seven Thunders Pill requires seven minor pills as its ingredients. This jade slip shows how to make the first of the seven. There are enough materials there to make two of them. That's all there is, so you only have two chances. If you fail, we have no hope of leaving." He tossed her the pill furnace along with an empty bag of holding. Without another word, he sat down cross-legged next to the cave, his eyes closed in meditation.

Chu Yuyan's brow furrowed. She quietly lifted up the pill furnace and placed the medicinal plants into the bag of holding. Next, neared the earthly fire aperture and studied the flames for a bit. Then, she sat down cross-legged and began to a.n.a.lyze the jade slip.

Meng Hao's eyes opened a sliver and he looked at her for a moment before closing them again.

The Seven Thunders Pill he had asked her to make was, of course, the Perfect Foundation Pill. Only by concocting that pill would he have the hope of attracting Heavenly Tribulation lightning, and thus the chance to break open the s.h.i.+eld.

As Chu Yuyan began her alchemy, doubts and suspicions would no doubt begin to well up within her. However, Meng Hao didn’t care about this. The Perfect Foundation Pill required the seven minor pills. Missing even one wouldn’t do. However, the minor pills were useless by themselves. They were only effective when combined together.

Meng Hao had two of the minor pills in his possession, but of course, Chu Yan wouldn't be able to reproduce them.

"There are a lot of weird things about this place," he thought to himself. "I've been able to restore some of my Cultivation base, I should go look around. Especially at that lake of blood."

A moment later, he stood up. Ignoring Chu Yuyan, who was currently studying the jade slip, he walked forward, disappearing into the mists.

Chu Yuyan watched him as he left, then looked back down at the Spirit Stone stuck into her b.l.o.o.d.y flesh.

"A low-grade Spirit Stone isn't enough to activate my branding... At the very least, I would need a mid-grade Spirit Stone. Even with that, I wouldn't be completely confident of the results. It's already been more than a month, and no one from the Sect has arrived, which proves that the s.h.i.+eld really can suppress everything. Very well then. I'll concoct the Seven Thunders Pill for him. That's the only chance of getting out of here." With a light sigh, she continued to examine the jade slip. She did so more earnestly than she had ever studied anything with her master back in the Sect.

Seven days flashed by. Meng Hao hadn't returned to the cave. Instead, he sat cross-legged in a cave he had hollowed out in the rock wall a bit over three hundred meters from the sh.o.r.e of the lake of blood.

In front of him were ten Spring and Autumn trees. His face was pale and his body trembled. In his hand was an additional Spring and Autumn tree. His eyes opened, and let out a long sigh.

The breath that he exhaled transformed into a three-colored flower that looked like a demonic face. It grinned ferociously, and then slowly disappeared.

His gaze swept across the ten trees in front of him. A moment ago, the poison had begun to flare up, and he had successfully used the Spring and Autumn tree against it. "So, the Spring and Autumn tree really can suppress the poison in me."

He flicked his sleeve, collecting up the rest of the trees. He adjusted his Cultivation base and then opened his eyes again and looked at the lake of blood. His eyes filled with determination.

"This whole place is really bizarre, as if it's been sealed somehow. Furthermore, it has this lake of blood... I've been stuck in here for two months, and other than the first time we came here, haven't experienced any real sense of danger. I shouldn't place all my hopes in the Perfect Foundation Pill. I should be prepared in case Chu Yuyan fails to concoct the pill. This is the strangest place in this whole location.

"In fact, I have the feeling that the reason this place is sealed to begin with has something to do with the lake of blood." He slowly stood up and walked out of the cave. He spit out an arc of electricity which turned into a mist that surrounded him, then began to slowly approach the lake of blood.

As soon as he stepped foot within the area three hundred meters surrounding the sh.o.r.e, ripples appeared on the calm surface. His eyes glittered, and he took another step.

The closer he got, the more ripples appeared. Gradually, roaring sounds echoed out and the dark green stone altar appeared. Waves roiled as it rose out from the surface of the lake, supported on the backs of the countless b.l.o.o.d.y bodies, whose faces were twisted in agony. The altar rose higher and higher.

The throne was there, seated upon which was the corpse wearing a mask. More than half of the altar was visible.

Meng Hao stopped, and slowly walked backward. He found that as he did so, the altar also stopped rising up, and then slowly began to sink down.

"Very interesting," said Meng Hao, his eyes gleaming. He stopped moving backward, and then resolutely strode forward. As he got closer, the men and women supporting the altar began to wail. The altar rose higher and higher. Soon, the entire one hundred fifty meter altar had emerged out of the lake.

Meng Hao stopped. Looking down, he could see that there was some ma.s.sive object concealed in the lake.

Although it appeared as if the altar was being lifted up by the men and women, in fact, it was really being pushed up by whatever it was that lurked in the depths of the lake.

Surrounded by his mist, Meng Hao stood there silently for a moment. Then he walked forward, entering the thirty meter region surrounding the lake. The altar lifted up, and suddenly, an enormous head rose up out of the lake of blood. The altar was located the very top it!

It was about three hundred meters in diameter and was dark green in color. This was not the head of some living creature; it was formed out of rock. By the time Meng Hao reached the sh.o.r.e of the lake of blood, the head was completely visible.

Blood poured out of the orifices of the face, which was twisted into a hideous expression. Its mouth opened, and an archaic, howling voice could be heard.

"The Ancient Doom Clan, the Legacy of the Blood Immortal. Enter my sea of blood; nine will open in the Southern Domain; all creation will know. The first person... shall acquire the bloodline of the Blood Immortal!" The voice sounded out directly inside of Meng Hao's head, filling it with its echoing roar.

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This chapter was sponsored by Tjandra Johannes, Marilyn Sealey, Rodrigo Ribeiro, Stefa.n.u.s Hendra and Hein Haugeberg