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As soon as the words left Meng Hao’s mouth, Han Qinglei’s face flickered, and he glared at Meng Hao. However, when he thought about all the things Meng Hao had done while fighting the HeavenG.o.d Alliance, he couldn’t but admire him. His expression remained icy, and he snorted coldly, but at the same time, he waved his hand, sending a jade bracelet flying over, which Meng Hao caught.

“Put that on. Not only will you become illusory, your aura will be concealed, and I can take you out of the HeavenG.o.d Alliance.”

Meng Hao looked at the bracelet thoughtfully for a moment, then said, “As a cultivator of the Eighth Mountain and Sea, you must be familiar with the HeavenG.o.d Alliance’s search methods. I believe there to be a seal on me, or something of the sort, enabling them to track me down no matter what I do.” Meng Hao looked at Han Qinglei as the sounds of explosions echoed out from the mists around him.

“Seal?” Han Qinglei muttered. He patted his bag of holding, producing a jade slip which he studied for a moment. Then he looked back at Meng Hao.

“The Grand Elder of the HeavenG.o.d Society is adept with blood magic. The blood in your body permeates your organs and your aura. All he would need is a single drop of your blood to detect your presence. If you suspect something like that to be the case, it's most likely the work of the Grand Elder. He’s using a blood tracking magic!

“That makes things a bit difficult....” Han Qinglei frowned.

After thinking for a moment, Meng Hao laughed coolly and said, “Any technique can be broken, as long as you understand how it works.”

Then he lifted his right hand and pushed it down onto his chest, causing the Essence of Divine Flame to sweep through his body, burning up his blood in the process!

That burning involved indescribable pain as every drop of his blood was scorched away. After his blood was gone, he was almost like an ordinary person hovering on the brink of death. Not even cultivators could remain in such a state for very long.

Meng Hao’s face was ashen; the burning away of his blood also caused his body to age significantly, as it was left without a single drop of blood.

But then he rotated his cultivation base, sending out cultivation base power into his body. Coupled with the intense power of his fleshly body, the blood-manufacturing in his body was stimulated. Although the process happened relatively quickly, it still involved incredible pain, as well as a shocking level of danger.

Even Han Qinglei was shocked by Meng Hao’s vicious decisiveness. He watched as the color slowly returned to Meng Hao’s face, and his life force aura was gradually restored. In the end, Han Qinglei took a deep breath and reminded himself that it would be best to never provoke Meng Hao.

Meng Hao had purified himself by getting rid of all of his old blood and replacing it with fresh blood. Meng Hao wasn't sure whether or not that would free him from the Grand Elder’s magical technique, but it was the only method he could think of to achieve that result.

“Brother Han, I’ll still need a bit of a.s.sistance from you,” he said. With the wave of a hand, he caused a dozen or so drops of the burned blood to coalesce in his palm.

“I understand,” Han Qinglei said, nodding. Waving his hand, he caused a dozen figures to materialize around him. Each person took a drop of blood, then rapidly vanished off into the distance.

Finally, Meng Hao put on the jade bracelet, slowly turning blurry, whereupon he floated over to Han Qinglei, where he looked like nothing more than one of his other followers.

Han Qinglei cleared his throat and looked at Meng Hao out of the corner of his eyes, feeling quite satisfied. However, he knew that it wouldn't be appropriate to say anything, so he merely took a step forward, whereupon his throne of bones appeared. He sat down, and then shot off into the mists.

At the same time, Meng Hao and the other dozen or so illusory followers followed along.

As Han Qinglei and Meng Hao flew off, the blurry shade within the mists was watching with crimson eyes.

“I've taken a liking to your fleshly body, do you really think I’ll just let you leave?!” The shade’s eyes flickered with red light as he began to mutter some ancient curse, which caused a roar to erupt out within the mists, a roar like thunder, that left everything in the area shaking.

“Hungry... so hungry....” The sound echoed out, filled with an unyielding air, and even rage. And yet... gradually, the bellowing grew further and further away and the mists dispersed with its departure, as if that terrifying creature was itself its source....

In fact, within the s.p.a.ce of a few breaths of time, the mists were completely gone. All of a sudden, all of the nearly one hundred cultivators in the rift could see each other clearly.

The man from the HeavenG.o.d Society with the astonis.h.i.+ng cultivation base was the most powerful person present. Panting, he turned his head and looked off into the distance. He had just been fighting that enormously gigantic, terrifying creature, and the fierce fighting had been dangerous to the extreme.

Everyone was on guard at the moment, and was looking around to size up the situation. Soon, everyone could see Han Qinglei making his way out of the place. Meng Hao was right there next to him, and when the mists suddenly vanished, his heart sank and he cursed to himself at the sudden discouraging turn of events. He looked over at the exit, which wasn't very far away, and began to consider making a run for it on his own; it wasn’t necessarily impossible to make it.

However, if he moved, it would reveal that Han Qinglei was helping him, and besides, even if he got out, he didn’t have the proper status in the Eight Mountain and Sea to be able to escape the wrath of the HeavenG.o.d Alliance.

Xuan Daozi was also there, his divine sense spreading out and yet unable to locate Meng Hao. His eyes narrowed, and he gave a cold harrumph as he looked over at Han Qinglei.

Han Qinglei’s expression was the same as ever, and he maintained the same speed as before as he rose through the air toward the exit. Xuan Daozi’s eyes glittered, and he suddenly flickered into motion, appearing directly in Han Qinglei’s path a moment later.

Glaring at him, Xuan Daozi suddenly said, “Fellow Daoist Han, why are you in such a hurry to leave!?”

Han Qinglei’s expression didn’t change as he looked coldly back at Xuan Daozi. Suddenly, a vicious smile appeared on his face.

“Xuan Daozi, your cultivation base might be higher than mine, and I might not be able to beat you in a fight, and killing me would be a simple task. But...do you dare to try?! Do you dare to try to harm even a single hair on my head?” Han Qinglei stood up and roared, causing his energy to rise up dramatically. He was now more powerful than he had been in the Windswept Realm, and was clearly on the verge of being a threat to someone in the Quasi-Dao Realm.

After making a breakthrough, he would even be able to try his hand out at engaging a Quasi-Dao expert in all-out battle!

“Do I need to ask your permission to go places in the Eighth Mountain and Sea?” Swis.h.i.+ng his sleeve, he sat back down on his vicious bone throne.

Xuan Daozi’s face darkened. Han Qinglei had a special status in the Eighth Mountain and Sea, and Xuan Daozi had no desire to get into a dispute with him. However, Meng Hao was simply far too important, and Xuan Daozi couldn't bear to lose him. After a moment of hesitation, he looked at the HeavenG.o.d Society Elder, who stood on the ground not too far off in the distance, clasped hands, and bowed.

“Zhou s.h.i.+, could you provide some a.s.sistance?!” Xuan Daozi’s deep bow and his cordial expression made him seem very sincere. “I was on very good terms with Patriarch Blacksoul, as well as with Hong Chen. The three of us joined forces to chase down Meng Hao, and now calamity has befallen both of them. Only I remain, and I swear that will find Meng Hao and exact vengeance, killing him in revenge for Blacksoul and Hong Chen!” Xuan Daozi’s words were spoken very sincerely, and with pa.s.sion.

Down on the ground, the old man from the HeavenG.o.d Society muttered to himself for a moment, then nodded. He lifted his right hand and performed an incantation gesture, then opened his eyes to reveal a flickering blood-colored glow.

Meng Hao remained by Han Qinglei’s side, expression normal, but heart filled with vigilance as he watched the Elder from the HeavenG.o.d Society.

Soon, the old man lowered his hand and said, “Interesting. He must have noticed my tracking magic, then physically disseminated to escape. He must be outside already.”

As soon as the words left the old man’s mouth, Meng Hao sighed with relief. Han Qinglei snorted coldly, then proceeded forward stoically. Actually, he had been very nervous just now as well, having had no idea that the mist would disperse, revealing that he was leaving.

Xuan Daozi sighed inside, and stepped aside, making way for Han Qinglei to near the exit.

“Meng Hao is devious and cunning. If he manages to escape, it's going to be difficult to find him.... Plus, it's giving him time to restore his cultivation base. If that happens, it won’t be easy for me to handle him alone. However, I can’t reveal this matter to anyone!” Xuan Daozi frowned, and his gaze once again came to fall upon Han Qinglei’s back. He then looked at blurry images of Han Qinglei’s followers.

At first, he hadn’t paid the followers any attention. After all, Zhou s.h.i.+ from the HeavenG.o.d Society had spoken his words in complete confidence; whatever he said was sure to be true.

However, as soon as he laid eyes on one particular follower among the group around Han Qinglei, Xuan Daozi’s Essence suddenly trembled. Although it was very slight, it caused Xuan Daozi’s eyes to go wide, and his heart to pound.

He had no time to consider the matter carefully, so he took a step forward and roared, “You’re not going anywhere! Get back here!”

With that, he stretched out his hand, causing an enormous hand to materialize and grab toward, not Han Qinglei, but... Meng Hao!

Meng Hao frowned. It wasn’t the Elder from the HeavenG.o.d Society who had discovered him, it was Xuan Daozi. That in itself was very telling, and caused Meng Hao to suddenly wonder why Xuan Daozi was pursuing him so relentlessly even after Patriarch Blacksoul was dead, and could not offer his services as a slave.

“That’s the key to the matter,” he thought with a sigh. Mind racing with ideas, he suddenly revealed himself, laughing coldly. Almost as soon as he appeared, Han Qinglei’s face fell, and he spun around.

“Meng Hao, it’s you! Dammit, I can’t believe you were pretending to be one of my followers!” Roaring, Han Qinglei stepped forward and waved his arm at Meng Hao.

An incredible force surged out toward Meng Hao, hitting him before Xuan Daozi could. A boom could be heard, and blood sprayed out of Meng Hao’s mouth. However, he borrowed the force of the blow to shoot off into the distance.

“Han Qinglei,” Meng Hao shrieked, “mark the words of Meng Hao: I won’t rest until you’re dead!” With that he sped away as quickly as possible.

“Han Qinglei!!” Xuan Daozi said, glaring at Han Qinglei. The act put up between Meng Hao and Han Qinglei was too obvious, and yet Han Qinglei didn't seem to care that Xuan Daozi knew.

Even as Xuan Daozi began to chase after Meng Hao, he cried out, “Ladies and gentlemen, Fellow Daoists, please help me capture this man. My promise from before still stands!”

The surrounding cultivators of the HeavenG.o.d Alliance looked on with flickering eyes. Many of them immediately flew out to try to block Meng Hao’s path. Two of them were actually in the Dao Realm, although they weren’t Dao Lords, just 2-Essences cultivators!

The sudden appearance of Meng Hao caused the old man from the HeavenG.o.d Society to stare in shock. Then, a strange glow appeared in his eyes and he looked more closely at Meng Hao. Finally, he understood.

“He’s definitely a vicious, decisive person,” the old man muttered.

Numerous people closed in to try to block Meng Hao’s path. The two 2-Essences Dao Realm cultivators couldn't be evaded easily, plus Xuan Daozi was closing in with murderous intent. If Meng Hao paused for even a moment, he would fall into the snare. As he looked around, he realized that he really was in a tight spot, like a bird in a trap with its wings clipped.

It was in that moment that... strange phenomena suddenly rose up within this world of graves.