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Meng Hao sped along over the surface of the second land ma.s.s, moving so quickly that any observer would only be able to see a blur that left everything rumbling in its wake.

Only he could see the sea of ghosts that surrounded him, endless numbers of them. They radiated obsession, madness, and at the same time, reverence. He was like a king, leading his armies across the lands.

More and more ghosts flew in to join that army, until both land and sky were completely covered by them. The cold was so intense that everything above and below was freezing over.

It was a majestic sight. He pa.s.sed through the central part of the second land ma.s.s completely un.o.bstructed, heading toward the border, and the third land ma.s.s.

His speed increased, and the freezing lands beneath him were like a shadow.

Behind him, Immortal Bai Wuchen was trembling inwardly. Meng Hao was like the blazing sun at noon, and was someone she actually had no desire to provoke. However, it was clear that he was working toward the same goal she was, and therefore, she had no choice but to attempt to stop him. She couldn’t permit anyone to interfere with her opportunity to return home.

Her eyes glittered with killing intent as she pushed herself faster and faster. Behind her was the Sect Leader, then Sha Jiudong and Jin Yunshan in his golden robe. The three of them flew single file through the air, muttering to themselves as they gazed at Bai Wuchen and Meng Hao up ahead.

Rumbling sounds filled Heaven and Earth like the crackle of thunder. The ghosts spun around him as he swept over the land, and when he reached the border, he didn’t pause for even a moment. Countless piercing howls rose up as he charged out into the void toward the third land ma.s.s.

Not too long after Meng Hao and the sea of ghosts pa.s.sed into the third land ma.s.s, Bai Wuchen appeared, gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth. She didn't pause either, summoning a mist that turned her blurry as she also flew out toward the third land ma.s.s.

She was followed by the Sect Leader and the other two peak 9-Essences paragons. They hesitated for a moment, but then unleashed various divine abilities to follow. By this point, it would be impossible for them not to have come to the conclusion that the goal of both Meng Hao and Bai Wuchen lay in the third land ma.s.s.

As for what exactly that goal was, and why it caused the two of them to be so focused, the Sect Leader and the others didn’t know. It might be a bit more possible to rationalize Bai Wuchen’s actions, but as for Meng Hao, he wasn’t even the Ninth Paragon to begin with, and had only been to this place once before. However, in that first time he visited, he had clearly discovered something new.

Time pa.s.sed. Meng Hao was in the lead, increasing his speed the entire time, surrounded by a sea of ghosts. Soon, he was speeding across the surface of the third land ma.s.s itself. He knew Bai Wuchen was behind him, but all he did was snort coldly and completely ignore her as he flew at top speed toward his target destination.

As soon as Meng Hao begin speeding in that particular direction, Bai Wuchen’s pupils constricted. By now, she was certain that Meng Hao was indeed heading to the exact same position as her target.

“Dammit!” she thought, her eyes flickering with killing intent. Gritting her teeth, she even drew on her longevity for more speed and power. She bit down on her tongue and spit up a mouthful of blood, transforming herself into a mist. That mist rapidly became a blood mist, which shot forward with increased speed, and an intense, murderous aura.

Almost immediately, the distance between her and Meng Hao was narrowed down dramatically. Then, she performed a teleportation, and appeared directly ahead of Meng Hao. There, her eyes turned red as she shoved her hand out toward him.

“Get back!” she said, her voice ice cold. At the same time, she unleashed the power of her cultivation base, causing Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering power to converge on her palm. The result was that the mist in front of her took the shape of a gigantic hand that crushed toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao’s eyes were glacially cold. By now, he could tell that Bai Wuchen had ascertained his own goal in this place.

“Does that mean that she came to the necropolis with the same objective in mind?” Even as he reached this point in his train of thought, he snorted coldly and led the ghosts in a charge toward the mist hand. They howled, causing everything to shake as they slammed into the hand.

From a distance, it wasn't possible to see the ghosts, but it was possible to see the hand lurching to a halt, unable to get near Meng Hao. Then, it collapsed, and Immortal Bai Wuchen’s face fell. She quickly retreated, transforming into a mist that vanished from in front of the deadly attack of the sea of ghosts.

Meng Hao turned his head to look at a seemingly empty spot in the air off in the distance, his eyes glittering with killing intent as he said, “Get in my way one more time, and I’ll kill you no matter the price I have to pay.”

With that, he turned and flew away.

It wasn’t that he didn't want to kill Bai Wuchen. Unfortunately, her techniques were far stranger than the golden-robed Jin Yunshan's. There was something very dangerous about her, as far as Meng Hao could sense.

Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to force her hand.

After Meng Hao left, the mist reappeared in the spot where he had been looking, quickly transforming into the form of a woman. It was none other than Immortal Bai Wuchen, her face pale, her expression unyielding. Unfortunately, she was running out of options.

She could sense how Meng Hao seemed to be invincibly powerful, and in fact didn't even need to attack: he could have the ghosts do it for him.

“I've spent years in preparation. I've waited and waited. My chance is finally here. That second mirror shard belongs to me, and anyone who tries to fight me over it will die!” Eyes gleaming with madness, she began to pant. Then, she turned as the Sect Leader and the others approached.

When she saw them, her eyes glittered, and her lips could be seen moving as she transmitted separate messages to all of them.

“You’re serious!?!?”

“What did you just say?!?!”

“That thing is real?!?!”

The Sect Leader and the others all blurted responses at almost the same time. The first response came from the Sect Leader, who immediately began to breathe deeply, his eyes s.h.i.+ning as he stared at Immortal Bai Wuchen.

The second response was from Sha Jiudong. A tremor ran through him, and he almost seemed to change into a different person as he stared at Immortal Bai Wuchen. Although he concealed what he was feeling, his eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be profoundly shocked.

The third response naturally came from Jin Yunshan, who began to pant, his expression one of complete disbelief.

“You three will know shortly whether or not I’m telling the truth.” With that, she waved her hand, causing three jade slips to fly out, each one of which contained different sets of information. The Sect Leader and the others all caught them.

As soon as the jade slip landed in the Sect Leader’s hand, he studied it, and then his face darkened. After a moment, he took a deep breath, and something like a struggle could be seen in his eyes. Then the jade slip faded away, and his expression became very grim.

As for Sha Jiudong, when he finished looking at the jade slip, he didn't say a word. However, his eyes seemed more bloodshot than before, and even radiated a rapturous glow.

Then there was Jin Yunshan, who gripped the jade slip so hard that veins popped out on his hand.

“Fellow Daoists,” Bai Wuchen said, “would the three of you please a.s.sist me? As for all those ghosts he’s called, I have a way to neutralize them for two hours.” Bai Wuchen looked expectantly at the three other Paragons, certain that they would be moved by her offer. She had planned long and hard to get the mirror shard, and had spared no cost in her efforts. Originally, she had prepared those jade slips to prevent them from fighting with her over the mirror shard.

But Meng Hao had changed everything, and she was now forced to do things a bit ahead of schedule.

After finis.h.i.+ng speaking, she clasped hands and bowed. Without waiting for a response from the other three, she turned to leave. In her heart, she was completely and utterly convinced that they would agree to help her deal with Meng Hao.

After she left, Sha Jiudong was the first to take to flight, his eyes bloodshot, his killing intent rising rapidly.

The next was Jin Yunshan, veins still pulsing on his hand, but face expressionless.

Finally was the Sect Leader. He took a deep breath, and the brightness in his eyes faded a bit. His expression turned cold, and he murmured, “Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Meng....”

With that, his energy began to rise, and he flew in pursuit of the others.

The group of three went with Bai Wuchen in pursuit of Meng Hao, who had already caught sight of the location which was his destination, not too far off in the distance.

It was a desert, the sands of which were being whipped into a frenzy by a gusting wind. As he neared, Meng Hao took a deep breath, then waved both of his hands out in front of him, simultaneously unleas.h.i.+ng divine will.

As the countless ghosts began to spread out to lock the area down, the excitement and antic.i.p.ation in Meng Hao’s face grew.

He waved his hand toward the desert, and a boom echoed out. As everything shook, the sand began to churn, slowly gathering together to form a mountain.

As the mountain took shape, the desert itself shrank. The sand mountain reached higher and higher into the sky, touching clouds. Soon, the desert was no more.

Revealed in front of Meng Hao was a stretch of ruins which had been buried underneath the desert. And in the middle of those ruins was a lake!

A closer inspection revealed that it was actually not a lake, but rather... a jagged shard of a mirror. However, it was so huge that at first glance it actually looked like a lake.

Meng Hao’s heart began to pound at the sight of the mirror shard. He thought of the parrot, of the copper mirror, and of many other things. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and made a grasping motion.