Meng Hao’s eyes glittered as he stared at the green-robed young man. Saying nothing, he walked forward and then appeared on the mountain peak.

“I've been waiting for you for a long time,” the young man murmured. “In fact, it's been so long I've lost track of exactly how much time has pa.s.sed.... I just vaguely remember that I fought a man once. We had a wager going, and if I lost, I promised to do a favor for him.

“I promised to wait here for someone... to give that person my Hexing magic.”

Meng Hao’s eyes began to s.h.i.+ne as he said, “Your excellency is...?”

“I’ve forgotten. This isn’t my true form, it’s only a clone. I forgot what my name was. I only remember... that place.” The young man shook his head and pointed down toward the valley at the base of the mountain.

Meng Hao looked down in the same direction, but didn’t see anything other than the valley itself.

“Can’t see it? Well... that’s nothing unusual. My Hexing magic has many names. Back then, that man I fought told me that he had a similar Hexing magic, although it wasn’t as close to its fundamental Essence as mine.

“He speculated that, years later, someone from among his successors might be able to use his First Hex to unravel the other Hexing magic he had. However, because of the bizarre nature of that particular Hexing magic of his, it seemed unlikely that it could be pa.s.sed down from generation to generation.

“Therefore, he hoped that I would be able to wait here for the right person, and pa.s.s on my Hexing magic to him.”

The young man smiled, looked Meng Hao calmly in the eyes, and said, “After all the years that have pa.s.sed, you are the first person to ever come to me. Apparently, you are the person I’ve been waiting for.

“Come.”

Meng Hao studied the young man for a moment, then smiled. He felt no fear, nor any reason to defy him. He approached, and as he did, the young man's eyes glowed with praise. After Meng Hao came to stand directly in front of him, the young man said, “Now, take another look.”

Meng Hao turned to look back at the valley at the foot of the mountain. In that very instant, light and color exploded in his eyes.

The once empty valley now had a walled city inside of it. Apparently, it was an entire country, complete with a Forbidden Palace, n.o.bility, and commoners!

The city itself was populated by over a hundred thousand people.

Most shocking of all to Meng Hao was that among all those people, regardless of whether they were young or old, man or woman... from the Emperor down to the common people, everyone had exactly the same aura!

That aura also matched the green-robed young man’s. Perhaps ordinary cultivators wouldn’t notice these phenomena without deep study. However, Meng Hao noticed it, and in that same moment, the ancient Demon Sealing Jade within his bag of holding began to vibrate.

Soon, Meng Hao realized that all of those more than 100,000 people... were clones!!

They were all clones of the young man in the green robe!

Meng Hao took a deep breath as he studied the city down below. The Emperor was studying various reports, the concubines were bickering in the harem, the ministers were enjoying life, the common people were spending time with their families, and the streets were abuzz with activity.

Street peddlers called out, people ate and drank, people argued and fought, people laughed and joked. The voices merged together into a cacophony that made the entire city seem incredibly realistic. In fact, it was almost impossible to believe that the entire place... was actually populated by an entire world of clones.

Furthermore, the name of the city was written above the city gate.

It was three characters long.

State of Clear Water!

“This Hexing magic isn't something that was pa.s.sed down to me by my Master. I gained enlightenment of it myself. Not even my Junior Brother could use it. Ah, well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll pa.s.s it on to you to resolve this bit of Karma. [1. Renegade Immortal info incoming: It seems highly likely that this is a reference to the country of the same name which appears in Renegade Immortal, as early as chapter 105. Furthermore, a person with the same name was a supporting character who viewed MC w.a.n.g Lin as his “Junior Brother,” which makes it likely that the Junior Brother mentioned in this pa.s.sage is w.a.n.g Lin. That character hasn’t appeared in the translation yet, but will eventually. If you transliterate “Clear Water” it becomes Qing Shui, which would be that character’s name]

“Whether or not you can master it will depend on your luck.” The young man shook his head and smiled. Paying no more attention to Meng Hao, he turned and floated up into the sky.

“I've already forgotten how many years have pa.s.sed. Finally, I can live up to the agreement. And now... the time has come for me to leave. I'm only a stream of divine will, really nothing compared to my true form. I've been gone a long time, and I miss some of those old faces from the past.

“Well, I’m off then.” The young man waved his sleeve, and as he floated higher into the air, he gradually began to glow blurry. Soon he turned into countless motes of green light which spread out and then vanished.

Meng Hao looked back down at the valley, and realized that everything was becoming blurry. He immediately sat down cross-legged and focused his mind. He watched as the figures down below began to fade away. The city began to dissipate, and even the words “State of Clear Water” vanished. Soon, the only thing left behind was the valley.

“Hexing magic. Demon Sealing Hexing magic....

“With the exception of the Hexing magic I need to create, I’ve collected all of the others except for the First and the Fourth. Clearly, this isn’t the First, which means that it must be... the Fourth Hex!”

Meng Hao’s mind trembled. Based on his current cultivation base, he actually didn’t need much qi and blood, or energy of Heaven and Earth to step into the bottleneck that would come before a breakthrough. Right now, he actually had two paths available to him. One path was to completely pa.s.s through the Ancient Realm.

The other path was to collect all the Hexing magics and then turn them into Essences.

One of those paths involved cultivating the bloodline of the Allheaven Dao Immortal. The other was that of the Hexing magic of the League of Demon Sealers. They were both valid paths, although the first one would take more time, and would require more cultivation base, qi and blood. Yet what all that yielded was merely an increase in the chances of successfully extinguis.h.i.+ng his Soul Lamps.

As far as the second path went, it required enlightenment and good fortune.

Meng Hao sat there silently, looking down at the valley. Finally, he closed his eyes, and everything which he had seen earlier appeared in his mind. As he began to a.n.a.lyze it, he slowly slipped into a trance.

Most people would have a difficult time understanding a Demon Sealing Hexing magic by just looking at it once. But Meng Hao was different. He was the Ninth Generation Demon Sealer, and already had command of six different Hexing magics. Furthermore, he had already successfully turned the Eighth Hex into the beginnings of Essence.

To him, as long as he had the basic elements of a Demon Sealing Hexing magic, and the right direction, then he would be able to come to an understanding of it.

Time pa.s.sed. While Meng Hao a.n.a.lyzed the Fourth Hex, the thirty-three Chosen within the 33 h.e.l.ls all reached critical points within their processes of absorbing and understanding the soul fires and the good fortune they contained.

The 33 h.e.l.ls were very quiet. Simultaneously, time slowly pa.s.sed by outside in the Mountain and Sea Realm. The war preparations were mostly complete, and the cultivators cherished the last bit of time they had before the rest of the 33 Heavens descended, spending time with their dearest and most loved friends and family.

Up above in the starry sky, the 17th through 33rd Heavens were gradually becoming visible, and it even seemed possible to see the apex of the starry sky.

Beyond the 33 Heavens, in the void of the Vast Expanse, were two land ma.s.ses that vastly exceeded the 33 Heavens in size, which were approaching with indescribable speed.

Their goal was obviously the Mountain and Sea Realm!

By this point, they were very close....

In fact, it was possible that they might arrive... just as the war was finis.h.i.+ng.

More time pa.s.sed. Four months went by, four months of waiting beneath a sky that had no sun or moon. Four months of waiting... for the truly abysmal pitch black that was coming.

All thirty-four individuals within the 33 h.e.l.ls were at critically dangerous moments of their transformations. The previous silence was broken by the occasional scream or howl.

The process of acquiring the good fortune there was a painful one for the thirty-three Chosen. After all, during the process of trying to absorb the soul fire, they also had to ward off possession attempts.

Furthermore, because of the restrictive spells in place, if they were possessed, they would be instantly killed.

The exact process was different for everyone, but regardless of how it went, it involved pain. By now, each and every one of the Chosen was bedraggled, with disheveled hair that made them look almost like ghosts. However, they clenched their teeth and continued on with bloodshot eyes.

“I can’t fail....”

“I have to succeed!”

“If I have to sacrifice my longevity, and end up with only a sixty-year-cycle of life, then I’ll do it to protect my clan....”

“I refuse to die in this place! If I'm going to die, I want to die fighting the Outsiders!!”

Explosions could be heard, as well as screams, causing the 33 h.e.l.ls to be filled with tumult.

In the very depths of the place, in the 33rd h.e.l.l, Meng Hao sat cross-legged on a mountain peak, looking down into the valley. Gradually, he came to see a valley that was no longer empty. Instead, the vague outline of a city was taking shape....

However, that city was not the State of Clear Water, but Yunjie County instead. There was a mountain there, beneath which was a flowing river. People could be seen within the city, vague images without faces. However, as Meng Hao’s enlightenment deepened, the figures’ appearances gradually became more and more clear.

There were men and women, old people and young. They looked different, and yet every single one... had Meng Hao’s aura. In fact, if he wished to, he could instantly become any of those figures.

They were his clones!

The Fourth Hex, was... a Ma.s.s Cloning Hexing magic! Its name was... the Self Hex!

Ma.s.sive amounts of clones, ma.s.sive amounts of one’s own self!

By unleas.h.i.+ng it to the limit, any one of those clones could become the seed for a new life. With those clones, reincarnation could never be destroyed. As long as one of them existed, one’s consciousness could be awoken.

Meng Hao lost track of time. Lost track of everything. He immersed himself in the Hexing magic. Eventually, more and more people appeared in the city, and he began to give all of them unique consciousnesses.

Only by possessing a unique consciousness could they truly think.

Furthermore, all of the clones possessed an invisible thread that connected them to Meng Hao. He was like the center, with countless nodes spread out to form a web. Everything within that web was an extension of him.

Gradually, the people in the city began to live their own lives, to the point where a newcomer who looked at the scene would have a hard time telling that it wasn’t real. However, Meng Hao still wasn’t satisfied. As he continued to a.n.a.lyze and gain enlightenment, as the Demon Sealing Hexing magic became more clear, more and more versions of Yunjie County appeared. Gradually, those cities all formed together to become a vast country....

By the time the tenth month arrived, there was no longer a country surrounding him, but rather, three countries.... Within each of those countries lived countless people, all of whom... were Meng Hao.

It was at this point that among the thirty-three Chosen, some died, and some... emerged!

Important Note: Er Gen accidentally went directly from 1376 to 1378. There is no chapter 1377