Only Meng Hao could hear the sound of the voice. No one else would have been able to sense even a bit of it. Even though Chu Yuyan was in the volcano along with Meng Hao, she couldn't hear it either.

As the sound filled his head, Meng Hao's eyes filled with an intense look.

"The Ancient Doom Clan... Don't tell me we’re in the vicinity of the Ancient Temple of Doom!? The Legacy of the Blood Immortal. An Immortal..." Meng Hao was shocked. He was relatively familiar with all the various levels of Cultivation. After Nascent Soul was Spirit Severing, then Dao Seeking and finally Immortal Ascension.

However, in tens of thousands of years, only seven or eight people had ever succeeded in reaching that stage. Even reaching the Dao Seeking stage was not common.

"The Legacy of the Blood Immortal. Did that person just call himself Immortal, or did he actually reach Immortal Ascension...?" Even though he was excited, he suddenly thought of the battle between Patriarch Reliance and Lord Revelation, and the two words which had been uttered. Dawn Immortal.

His eyes flickered as he looked at the enormous head and its open mouth, beyond which seemed to be some sort of tunnel. Entering would signify the beginning of the pursuit of the Legacy.

"Nine will open in the southern lands, and all creation will know. Could it mean... maybe once I step in, then nine other entrances to the Legacy will open in the outside world? Then the wind and clouds will be disturbed, and everyone will know about it?" He hesitated, gazing at the mouth, deep in thought.

"It must be that way. There are nine entrances where people can enter to seek the Legacy. Among them, one will be selected to receive the Blood Immortal's legacy... So, there are nine places similar to this. If one opens, then all of them open. I just wonder if anyone has opened it before..." Suddenly, he looked around at the sh.o.r.es of the lake. They were strewn with ghastly, white bones. Many of the bones were skulls, and were human.

The skulls had marks of wear; obviously, they had existed here for many years. Perhaps it was because of the strangeness of this place that they hadn't been scattered, but instead remained here all this time.

Whatever the case, Meng Hao had no way to determine how long they had been here, nor any way to determine if they were intruders, or people sacrificed when this place was created.

He thought for a while, and eventually decided not to just rashly charge into the mouth entrance. He slowly walked backward. As he did, the giant head slowly sank back into the lake, along with the altar. By the time he reached the three hundred meter mark, everything was quiet.

As he walked backward, he flicked his sleeve, collecting some of the bones into his bag of holding. Then he stood there, looking at the lake of blood for a while, before turning and leaving.

Soon, he had returned to Chu Yuyan outside the fissure-like cave. Her face was pale, and she was concentrating on the pill furnace. She took out some medicinal plants, squeezed the juice out of them, and then placed them in the furnace. Meng Hao sat down cross-legged a short distance away. A look of deep thought appeared in his eyes. He took out one of the skulls he had just acquired and examined it closely.

"If I can't determine the age of these bones, then I can't just casually go after the Legacy of the Blood Immortal." He thought back to everything that had happened in the State of Zhao, which had taught him the value of being cautious. He held up the skull in front of him looking at it closely.

Time slowly pa.s.sed. Soon, five days had gone by. Chu Yuyan walked over to Meng Hao from the pill furnace. Looking exhausted, she tossed him a medicinal pill.

It was a deep blue color, and was very beautiful in appearance. It emanated a faint bluish glow, but no fragrant aroma.

"I failed once, but succeeded the second time. This is the pill you need. Now give me some clothes." She looked down at him, weariness in her eyes. This was the price to be paid for performing alchemy.

Meng Hao took the medicinal pill and examined it closely. He put it into his bag of the Cosmos, and then retrieved another jade slip along with two complete sets of ingredients. He also pulled out a set of garments. He put them all down in front of him, whereupon Chu Yuyan picked them up and walked back into the cave. A while later, she emerged, wearing Meng Hao's gown, her long hair spread out over her shoulders. She looked like an elegant, young maiden. She was tired, but that actually caused her to emanate a type of good looks different from before.

As Meng Hao looked at her, he realized that Elder Sister Xu could not match up with her in terms of beauty. In fact, Chu Yuyan was perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his entire life. Only the beautiful young women he had seen at the bottom of the North Sea could come even close.

Now that she had changed clothes and covered up some of her nakedness, Chu Yuyan no longer looked so uneasy standing in front of Meng Hao. As she walked out, she caught sight of the skull that he had been examining.

Her eyes suddenly gleamed with a strange light, which almost immediately disappeared. "If you have nothing better to do," she said coldly, "you could go stand watch by the s.h.i.+eld. Maybe some Cultivators will pa.s.s by that could save us. That would be better than sitting around looking at an ancient skull."

"How many tens of thousands of years have these skulls been here?" he asked suddenly.

She gave a cold laugh. It seemed changing clothes had restored her previous arrogance. Apparently, she a.s.sumed that since she was concocting pills that Meng Hao needed, he wouldn't dare to treat her the way he had in the past. Ignoring him, she walked back to her alchemic work area. Meng Hao laughed and slapped his bag of holding. A wooden sword appeared which shot directly toward her.

It was fast, and reached her in an instant. Given the state of her Cultivation base, she had no way to evade. Nor did she try. She looked back at Meng Hao arrogantly, a sneer in her eyes.

The tip of the sword was already at her neck. A grim, cold air emanated from her body. But her chin was lifted as high as ever, her eyes filled with mocking.

"You have three seconds to take your sword away," she said coolly. "If you don't, or if you harm me, then you won't have anyone to concoct pills for you." Her skin was white like snow, her head tilted arrogantly. Her eyes glittered like eyes as she stared at Meng Hao with disgust.

She was convinced that Meng Hao wouldn't dare to make a move against her. The sword was simply a threat, and to Chu Yuyan, such threats were infantile and laughable.

She was the type of person who could not tolerate being wronged. Now that she had successfully created one of the pills, she could hold her head high and make Meng Hao think twice before trifling with her. She might even be able to get the upper hand.

"You're right," said Meng Hao, frowning. "Without you, I would have no way to concoct pills." From the look of things, it seemed he really couldn't do anything to her. However, he knew that this flame of rebellion must be snuffed out, lest it grow even more troublesome. He thought for a while, then suddenly smiled. When Chu Yuyan saw his smile, her heart began to thump inexplicably, and suddenly she didn't feel the least bit at ease.

"In fact," he said coolly, "if I offend you in any way, considering that you are the disciple of Grandmaster Pill Demon, you could easily make the pills incorrectly, or perhaps slip something fatal into them." His tone was leisurely, and the look on his face enigmatic. Chu Yuyan felt even more uncomfortable. She had, of course, thought of doing just as he said. Killing Meng Hao ahead of time wouldn’t influence the lightning. But now, he had spoken out her very thoughts. She didn't know what he was planning, but she still felt that her alchemy would prevent him from harming her in. She gave a cold harrumph.

"What are you talking about?" she said coldly. It really felt to her as if his smile was amiss.

"The way that I, Meng, handle things is as such: if people don't offend me, I don't offend them. I promised to see you out of here, and I will not go back on my word. But don't get arrogant because of your alchemy. Do not try to gain the upper hand."

The wooden sword suddenly flew back toward him, leaving behind a tiny nick on Chu Yuyan's throat. She opened her mouth reflexively, and as she did so, Meng Hao slapped his bag of holding. A pink-colored medicinal pill appeared, which shot forward directly into her mouth. It dissolved as soon as it entered. Chu Yuyan retreated backwards, her expression filled with shock. She wanted to spit the pill out, but couldn’t.

“What pill did you just give me!?” she said, glaring at Meng Hao.

“You used a special technique as a facade to try to absorb my Cultivation base,” said Meng Hao coolly. “We still haven’t settled accounts over that. Think of this pill as a little punishment.” He then closed his eyes and ignored her.

Such behavior on his part only served to make Chu Yuyan more perturbed. Her skill in alchemy was exceptional, but she really had no idea what pill she had just consumed. She gritted her beautiful teeth. Suddenly, hot steam began to acc.u.mulate within her. It quickly filled her, causing alarm to appear on her face.

She immediately sat down cross-legged in meditation, attempting to suppress it. But her Cultivation base was reduced to almost nothing; currently, she could only utilize the power of the third level of Qi Condensation. How could that possibly be enough to defuse the pill?

She sat in meditation for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. A roaring filled her head, and she began to lose the ability to even think. Then, she slipped into a deep hallucination.

It was at this time that Meng Hao opened his eyes. They were calm, not the least bit agitated. The pill from just now had been acquired in the mountainous valley area, when the toad geezer had given him a variety of poison pills as tribute.

He originally had never intended to give it to Chu Yuyan, but she had really been asking for trouble. Her arrogance had flared with her successful concoction of the pill. He had no choice but to wipe out that bl.u.s.ter. In order to reduce her haughtiness, Meng Hao had chosen to give her the pill.

His eyes were clear and bright, his mind made up. After descending into this volcano, he had placed Chu Yuyan under his complete control. She had no room to maneuver.

Her stubborness and arrogance surfaced on multiple occasions even down to today… and yet she was still unable to free herself from Meng Hao’s control.