Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed when he heard the words.

“Could it be that the things it swallows don’t get digested, but are just collected?”

“Trying to fool me? Quit dreaming. Hmph.” The meat jelly’s tone became sagely, “Child, you’ve walked too far down the path of evil. Repent and be saved.”

“Change into whatever it was that left the most profound impression on you,” Meng Hao said blithely. He was still thinking about what the meat jelly had said just now, and what it meant. He had to figure out a way to trick the meat jelly into coughing up the jade page.

“The most profound impression? There’s no need to even think about it. The thing which had the most profound effect on me in my entire life is this!!” The meat jelly seemed to be gnas.h.i.+ng its teeth. There was a popping sound, and suddenly it transformed into....

A brightly colored parrot! It was about half the size of his arm, glistening as if it were covered with rainwater. It was somewhat emaciated, with a curved beak and triangular eyes. It had a somewhat perverted demeanor, and seemed to be filled with an immoral air.

It stood there in front of Meng Hao, looking at him with its perverted, triangular eyes. It lowered its head and pecked a few times at its body.

Meng Hao gaped at the parrot. In his entire life, he had never seen such a perverted looking bird. Its triangular eyes and the brightly colored feathers which covered its body were especially strange.

The parrot coughed dryly, looking at Meng Hao out of the corner of its eye.

“This is what left the most profound impression on me: that d.a.m.ned bird. In my last life, I just wasn’t able to get it to give in and convert. In this life, I will definitely convert it! That immoral, perverted creature who likes things with fur and feathers!!” The meat jelly sounded like it was gnas.h.i.+ng its teeth. Its appearance and words just now instantly made this form seem even more lifelike.

Seeing the parrot and hearing the words caused Meng Hao to take a deep breath. He thought back to the day he had almost put on the blood-colored mask, and had heard a bird cry come from the copper mirror.

He thought about how fervently the copper mirror would attack furred creatures. His mind spun with various images. He didn’t really understand. Just what was this bird that the meat jelly kept talking about...?

Meng Hao hesitated for a moment before retrieving the copper mirror from his bag of the Cosmos. “You’re talking about this?” he asked. The instant it appeared, the meat jelly parrot let out a squawk. Wings fluttering, it shot forward and grabbed the copper mirror in its claws and began to viciously peck at it.

“Dammit! Yes, this is it. I can sense its aura inside. I’ll peck you to death, you d.a.m.ned ma.s.s-murdering bird! Peck you! Peck you...!” The meat jelly parrot seemed to have gone crazy. Its feathers stood on end as it squawked and pecked at the copper mirror.

Meng Hao watched on in a daze. He recalled the time he had acquired the mirror, and then when he had discovered its ability. From the very beginning, he had always wondered about its fantastical nature, but had never discovered any clues.

Meng Hao felt like he was going to be quickly driven insane by the meat jelly parrot. It was squawking madly and radiated a look of hatred. Meng Hao himself felt like venting a bit. He suddenly had an intense desire to meet the parrot that resided within the copper mirror.

“The parrot must be incredibly extraordinary to be able to make the meat jelly so angry. Maybe when it comes out, it can take care of the meat jelly for me.” Meng Hao’s eyes glittered as he suddenly reached an understanding. “Didn’t the meat jelly say earlier that when I reach Core Formation, the parrot can come out? Perhaps... it’s like the mastiff, a type of Weapon Spirit!”

“Why don’t you fight back? Hmm?” The meat jelly parrot bl.u.s.tered as it pecked at the mirror. “I won’t let you off this time, I’m going to convert you! Hahaha! You can’t come out. You can’t come out! I can p.i.s.s you off as much as I want and you can’t come out.” The meat jelly quivered with excitement. However, it was at this point that the mirror suddenly flickered, and the meat jelly let out a cry. It released its claws and flew away. The copper mirror flew after it, repeatedly sending out invisible attack rays.

Meng Hao watched on contentedly, doing nothing to stop the copper mirror. However, it quickly became apparent that the meat jelly wasn’t being hurt at all. He flicked his sleeve, returning the copper mirror to the bag of the Cosmos.

The meat jelly parrot flapped its wings as it flew back over and landed on Meng Hao’s shoulder. It began to chatter into his ear like usual.

At least this form looked better than a stack of hats. Meng Hao’s desire to reach Core Formation was now even more intense. He took a deep breath. Ignoring the prattle of the meat jelly, he flew into the air and shot off toward the horizon.

“The poison within me is a big problem,” he thought. “I really need to figure a way to infiltrate the Violet Fate Sect and see if I can find a way to become Grandmaster Pill Demon’s disciple. Then I can get rid of the poison once and for all.” His eyes glittered as he proceeded onward. He had considered this the last time he was in a city controlled by the Violet Fate Sect. The Spring and Autumn tree could only alleviate the symptoms of the poison and buy him some time.

The only way to truly dispel the poison was to get into the Violet Fate Sect.

“Besides, if I want to form a Perfect Gold Core, I first need to have a Violet Core. To form a Violet Core requires a suitable technique. That technique is none other than the Violet Fate Sect’s Violet Qi from the East!” Meng Hao frowned. It was a good idea, but he couldn’t think of any way to infiltrate the Violet Fate Sect. He had offended too many people there. There was Wu Dingqiu and Chu Yuyan, as well as the disciples he had met in the State of Zhao, who were surely members of the Inner Sect by now.

“I need to switch ident.i.ties. I need a way to become someone else.” He sighed. Obviously it was all a flight of fancy that should just be forgotten. Suddenly, his expression changed. He looked at the bag of the Cosmos, and his eyes s.h.i.+ned with intelligence.

“The mask.... If I had an appearance-changing mask, then I could do it. As for a mask...I do have one! But who knows if the mask has that power? Furthermore, my Cultivation base needs to be at Core Formation before I can use it. Also, what if the mask just doesn’t work that way....” He slowly turned his head to look at the chattering parrot on his shoulder. His eyes glittered.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” said the meat jelly parrot with surprise, staring at him.

Meng Hao ignored it. He flew down to the ground and sat cross-legged. He smacked the bag of the Cosmos and retrieved the blood-colored mask.

As soon as the meat jelly saw the mask, its eyes went wide and it flapped its wings violently, flying around Meng Hao in a circle and letting out raucous squawks.

“What’s that? What’s that? Heavens! What is that evil thing? Child, you’ve trodden too far down the path of wickedness. Fear not, I can pull you back. I will convert you. Eeeeee? What’s that inside? Why am I seeing an old man? Waaah! This old man looks so miserable. Child, you can’t do this. It’s wrong. It’s immoral. Eee? This old guy has performed possession! Old man, that’s immoral. That’s wrong....”

Meng Hao poured Spiritual Sense into the mask and was immediately able to see the blood-red form of the mastiff. It lay there sleeping, its aura majestic and boundless and growing even stronger. Meng Hao looked at it, and his expression grew soft.

“Hurry up and awaken...” he said with Spiritual Sense. The mastiff’s body twitched, and warmth emanated from it, a reply of sorts. Meng Hao’s smile grew warmer, and he thought back to everything that had happened during the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament.

“I’m waiting for you to wake up,” said Meng Hao softly. His eyes flashed as they fell upon the flag with three streamers. He was fully aware that his Cultivation base was not high enough to use the flag. He could only pour some Spiritual Sense into it and brand it to himself.

“Core Formation.... If I can become a Core Formation expert, then I should be able to use this flag….”

Last, Meng Hao touched the Li Clan Patriarch with his Spiritual Sense. He sat recoiled in the corner, his body illusory and transparent, and his face wan and sallow. It seemed as if at any moment he might dissipate into nothing.

As Meng Hao looked at him, he raised his head and glared back. His gaze was as fierce as ever, sinister to the extreme.

“There’s a question I can’t stop thinking about,” said Meng Hao calmly. “Why did you help Li Daoyi? The first time I saw you was in the sixth matrix, and you were a statue. The second time I saw you, you had become Li Daoyi’s Blood Divinity. Why?”

The Li Clan Patriarch laughed coldly, refusing to respond.

“It turns out you possessed the Blood Divinity. That makes me curious. Before possessing the Blood Divinity... who were you!?” His voice was as calm as ever. However, when the Li Clan Patriarch heard his words, his heart shook. His ident.i.ty was his biggest secret, and no one had any clue about it. Even Meng Hao could only speculate about his relations.h.i.+p to Li Daoyi. Any details would be difficult to ascertain.

The Li Clan Patriarch laughed disdainfully. “You want to know? Beg me for a year, then maybe I’ll think about it.” He didn’t care about anything, not even death. After facing the loneliness of the Blood Immortal Legacy zone for four thousand years, he had incredible strength of will. Even Meng Hao’s previous threatening methods couldn’t really affect him now.

Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever. He glanced one last time at the weak form of the Li Clan Patriarch, and then narrowed his eyes and retracted his Spiritual Sense. He gazed at the surface of the blood-colored mask, and then looked at the meat jelly.

“You like to convert people, right?” asked Meng Hao.

“No,” the meat jelly responded solemnly, “I don’t like to convert people, I like to persuade them. Understand? Persuade.”

Meng Hao sighed. “The old man in this mask lived a life of extreme wickedness. He’s performed the most evil of acts and is completely corrupted by immorality. He loves to bully the weak, and is extremely vile in all ways. I captured him and put him in here out of mercy, because I wanted to admonish him. However, his magic is just too powerful. I just can’t influence him...” Before he could even finish talking, the meat jelly parrot’s eyes grew wide and it began to fume.

“Do you dare!? This type of person should only be converted by me! I hate nothing more than evildoers! I must convert him!” It suddenly looked extremely excited at the prospect of converting a bad guy such as this. Without waiting for a response from Meng Hao, its body flashed and it entered the blood-colored mask.

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This chapter was sponsored by Robert Kunzi, Felix Furmbach, Sandro Žurkin, Joseph Apor, Mikel Alfredo Velázquez Pérez, Tjandra Johannes and Sameer Abdulrabuh