[/expand]

The young woman was so focused on rebuking the young man that she didn’t notice what happened when she threw Meng Hao into the back of her flying shuttle. His eyelids twitched, although he didn’t quite yet have the strength to open his eyes.

Furthermore, the young woman didn’t notice that after Meng Hao landed in the back of the flying shuttle, various tiny vortexes opened up around him. Then, the mist which surrounded them formed into strands which began to seep into the flying shuttle!

The strands of mist circulated inside of the shuttle and then began to enter into Meng Hao. More and more of the mist vanished into him, like a river pouring into a dry channel.

Apparently, Meng Hao’s injuries were so severe that he lacked the power to even absorb the mist of the Vast Expanse on his own. However, there was something about the flying shuttle that helped him to gradually begin building up the power he lacked to open his eyes.

Time pa.s.sed, and for some reason the flying shuttle seemed to be going faster and faster. Eventually, the young woman, despite being so involved in berating the young man, finally noticed the increase in speed. At first, her jaw dropped, but then she began to laugh heartily.

“See, little brother? It’s no wonder the great Vast Expanse School has such a reputation. The starry sky in their territory is obviously blessed with some sort of Essence that has increased our speed. I bet that Essence can even identify hostile forces. The more hostile you are toward them, the slower you’ll move. The less hostile, the faster!” Having reached this conclusion, the young woman laughed again. Behind her, the young man stared in shock. In his estimation, that wasn’t what was happening at all, and yet, he didn't dare to open his mouth. Instead, he nodded and pretended to be in awe of the young woman.

He knew that his sister wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he also knew that deep down, she was a good person. Not only did she enjoy it when people looked at her fawningly, more importantly, when she was happy, she spent less time rebuking him.

Burying his reservations, the young man began to think about everything that had happened on their journey. They had encountered other flying shuttles along the way, and although his sister had never paid any attention to any of them, he had. Eventually, his attention was drawn to the collection of corpses and other objects in the back of the flying shuttle.

He looked at the corpse of Meng Hao, and suddenly realized that their flying shuttled had begun to move faster at almost the exactly same time that his sister picked up that very corpse.

However, considering the level of his cultivation base, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about it. No matter how he studied it, it didn’t look like anything other than a corpse. A few days later, the young man stopped worrying about it so much, although he would still cast occasional cautious glances back at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao was already awake.

However, what had awoken was not his body, but his soul. After being pulled onto the flying shuttle, and absorbing some of the power of the Vast Expanse, he reached a state in which he felt almost as if he were observing everything around him in a dream state.

His soul hurt. He thought back to the Mountain and Sea Realm, to his father and mother, to his sister, to Xu Qing, and to so many other familiar faces.

He thought back to the b.u.t.terfly, and how it had eventually landed on that green coffin.

He thought back to the parrot, and then the meat jelly, which was now devoid of any traces of life. All of that was in the past now. The only companion he still had to accompany him was the mastiff.

The mastiff wasn't dead. It had been asleep the entire time, hibernating. Even in its sleep, it still stood watch over him. It had paid a heavy price, and was even now only capable of sleeping.

“This enmity... must be avenged!!

“Mountain and Sea Realm... I will return to you!!

“Mom and dad, sister, Qing’er... wait for me....” Meng Hao’s soul stared out of the flying shuttle into the distance. He had no idea where the Mountain and Sea b.u.t.terfly was, not even in which direction it lay. He could only trust his feelings to guess where it might be.

The pain he felt was something which would not subside, and had already changed him. He was colder now, and more silent.

He could tell that the only reason he was alive right now was because the mastiff had protected him, and the meat jelly had sacrificed everything for him. Most importantly, though, was what he had done just before losing consciousness. He had... taken out the bronze lamp!

The mysteries surrounding that lamp were unfathomable. It had replaced all of his Soul Lamps; instead of having thirty-three, he had only one. However, after the lamp's aura had melded with his Demonic qi, and the resulting pressure was even more terrifying than all of his other 33 Soul Lamps added together. “This bronze lamp... just who exactly did it belong to?”

During the process of studying the changes and transformations inside of him, Meng Hao eventually noticed the brother and sister duo on the flying shuttle. The older sister was thick-headed, and the younger brother was weak but shrewd. Meng Hao looked them over, then ignored them. The young man occasionally glanced back at him, but Meng Hao chose to remain still and silent.

However, were it not for this brother and sister, and the help of their flying shuttle, a random coincidence that allowed him to absorb the mist of the Vast Expanse, then it would have taken far, far longer for his soul to awaken.

That was something Meng Hao wouldn't forget.

His injuries were so numerous that even after a thousand years of absorbing the bronze lamp, more time was required to restore his cultivation base.

For now, he could only bury his thoughts of spilling a sea of blood to gain vengeance. But he knew… that the day would come when he would get his revenge!

Months went by in which he maintained silence. Normally, the trip taken by the flying shuttle would have gone on longer, but now, it was rapidly coming to an end. Up ahead could be seen... an astonis.h.i.+ngly large heavenly body!

It was not a land ma.s.s like the Immortal G.o.d Continent or the Devil Realm Continent. It was a planet!

This planet could definitely be listed among the astonis.h.i.+ng heavenly bodies like the Immortal G.o.d Continent. However, if the lands on the planet were unwrapped and laid out flat, they would definitely dwarf that very land ma.s.s.

It was simply gargantuan, so large that it could only be taken in fully from a distance. In fact, it was so big that it almost seemed to be propping up the starry sky of the Vast Expanse.

If you compared the Mountain and Sea Realm to this planet, it would be like comparing an ant to an elephant!

Surrounding the planet was a dark yellow ring. Shockingly, if you studied that ring closely, you would find it was made up of countless asteroids, large and small. Simply looking at the planet was terrifying, and would leave one completely shaken.

Innumerable beams of light could be seen flying into and out from the planet, making it look even more dazzling.

“See that? That's Planet Vast Expanse! Heavens! How could there be a planet so big? Compared to the land ma.s.s that we come from, it's simply enormous. You could fit our home inside of it ten thousand times over! A hundred thousand. Maybe a million....” The young woman’s tone was quite grandiose when she began speaking, but in the end, she trailed off into silence as she stared at the huge planet in front of her.

The young man next to her was also staring with wide eyes.

Neither of them noticed that behind them, Meng Hao had just stirred. Although he still couldn’t open his eyes, his soul was also staring at Planet Vast Expanse, and within the eyes of his soul, a strange fire had begun to burn.

The young woman took a deep breath, and her eyes began to s.h.i.+ne. “No wonder they say that it can vie for a place among the Immortal G.o.d Continent and the Devil Realm.... Wow, the Planet Vast Expanse!

“This is the home of the legendary... Vast Expanse School, which was created at the same time as the Vast Expanse itself, and has the only teleportation portal leading out!

“Little brother, I’ve decided. You definitely have to marry that Holy Daughter!” The young woman's eyes shone with determination, and she flicked her sleeve, sending the flying shuttle closer and closer to Planet Vast Expanse.

However, as the flying shuttle got closer, a bright s.h.i.+eld suddenly sprang up, sweeping out to cover the whole planet, and the starry sky which surrounded it. Every cultivator that it pa.s.sed, regardless of the level of their cultivation base, was instantly locked in place in the starry sky, incapable of moving even an inch. Shocked expressions appeared as everyone wondered what was happening.

It was at this point that the sound of an ancient bell began to toll from somewhere on Planet Vast Expanse. The austere, sonorous sound swept out into the starry sky, pus.h.i.+ng away the mist of the Vast Expanse and causing intense pressure to weigh down.

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

As the sound of the bell rang out, cultivators of the Vast Expanse School on Planet Vast Expanse were all completely shaken. The tolling continued, it soon wasn’t just the ordinary cultivators who were surprised. The powerful experts who made up the inner strength of the Vast Expanse School also looked up.

When the bell tolled for the fourth time, numerous faces flickered in shock. By the sixth toll of the bell, there were 8-Essences Paragons who began to fly out toward the starry sky surrounding the planet.

However, even as they were flying out, the seventh tolling of the bell could be heard. Somewhere on Planet Vast Expanse, in a sprawling temple, an old man suddenly opened his eyes, and the aura of a 9-Essences Paragon erupted out from him. He instantly stepped out into the starry sky, followed by more powerful experts from Planet Vast Expanse. There were countless beams of light that flew out with incredible speed.

More than a million cultivators had been locked down in the starry sky outside of Planet Vast Expanse, and all of them were shocked and unable to move. And yet, the tolling continued.

Of the group of people frozen in place, most didn’t understand what the tolling of the bell indicated, and therefore, took things mostly in stride. However, the people who did know the meaning of the bell couldn’t stop their eyes from widening in shock and terror.

“That bell... it’s the Vast Expanse Bell!!”

“When a Paragon who isn’t a member of the Vast Expanse School arrives... the Vast Expanse Bell will toll!”

“Three tolls means a 7-Essences Paragon. Six tolls indicate 8-Essences. More than that means... a 9-Essences Paragon!!”

“The bell tolled seven times! That means... that a 9-Essences Paragon is here!!” The people outside of Planet Vast Expanse who understood the significance of the tolling bell were completely shocked. They began to look around, and soon, all eyes came to fall on the flying shuttle, which was the only object in the starry sky that hadn’t been locked in place!

Upon that very flying shuttle, the young man’s eyes were wide, and he was looking around in astonishment at all of the cultivators locked in place. His sister also looked around in shock, but then, began to laugh.

“Little brother, it’s time to act tough. It seems the marriage agreement with the Yun Clan is still in effect. I haven’t even brought out the jade slip yet, and the Vast Expanse School has already noticed and started ringing the bells to welcome us.” Although the young woman’s eyes were open wide with delight, the young man’s legs were trembling.

“Sister, I don’t think that's what’s....” Before the young man could finish speaking, they caught sight of the numerous beams of light shooting out from Planet Vast Expanse, and could sense the terrifying levels of their cultivation bases. The young woman only got more excited.

“Little brother, look, they’re coming to receive us!” she said excitedly, taking a deep breath as the crowd of people drew nearer.

The young man behind her was flummoxed. He was weak, but very intelligent, and could tell that something strange was going on!