[1]

Meng Hao slapped his bag of holding to retrieve the blood-colored mask. He looked at it for a moment. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to get tangled up with the meat jelly again.

It had reached a terrifying level in terms of being annoying, which Meng Hao had experienced first hand. After a moment of thought, he reached into the mask with Spiritual Sense.

It was dark inside, and as soon as Meng Hao entered, he sensed the mastiff’s aura. It was growing more and more powerful, causing Meng Hao to feel somewhat calm.

The Blood Mastiff was his most powerful and deadly ally. He couldn’t wait for it wake to up and stand at his side like it had when it was a puppy. It would lift its head to the sky and roar.

Next, Meng Hao’s Spiritual Sense moved on, pausing for a moment on the flag of three streamers. After a moment, he moved on. It was obviously a precious treasure, but he couldn’t do anything with it now.

When his Spiritual Sense reached the Li Clan Patriarch, he stared in shock.

The man was more thin and pallid than ever. He was incredibly weak, and it seemed as if his spirit might collapse at any moment. Despair filled his eyes. Meng Hao suddenly got the feeling that he had underestimated the fearsomeness of the meat jelly.

The meat jelly parrot was currently perched on the shoulder of the Li Clan Patriarch, its eyes glowing as it talked. Every few breaths, the Li Clan Patriarch would shudder.

Meng Hao hesitated, then gritted his teeth and slowly approached. The meat jelly suddenly looked up, having sensed Meng Hao’s Spiritual Sense. It cried out.

“Eee? You’re here! Why don’t you join us? The old man and I were just discussing a sunset from seventy thousand years ago. We haven’t finished yet, and he promised to listen until the end.” The meat jelly seemed very excited at the prospect of Meng Hao joining the discussion.

Meng Hao’s heart trembled, but before he could say anything, the Li Clan Patriarch looked over at him. His eyes glistened as if he were looking at a blood relative, and he emitted an excited shout.

It was a shout that seemed to be filled with reckless abandon.

“My name is Li Xuefeng! I’m a Patriarch of the Li Clan from seven thousand years ago. I possessed one of the Divine Watchmen within the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament. I beg you, please take the bird away. I’ll tell you everything. Ask me anything, what do you want to know…? I know techniques from the Li Clan, divine abilities. Whatever you want to do, I can help you. I can tell you anything. Please, take it away, I…”

“Shut your mouth!” said the meat jelly indignantly. “You show no respect for your elders! Am I really so annoying? Y-y-you, you’re too immoral! You’re mine!!” He turned to look solemnly at Meng Hao. “He’s mine! I still haven’t brought him back from the path of wickedness. I still have seventy thousand years of….”

“He’s yours! Yours!” said Meng Hao hurriedly, in a voice which could sever nails and slice iron. Without hesitation he continued, “I guarantee it. He’s definitely yours!”

“Very well, then. You seem to be in a lovely mood, so I won’t permit you to partic.i.p.ate in the current discussion. I need to teach a lesson or two to this old man,” it said angrily. “I can’t believe he tried to tattle on me. I hate tattling, it’s very immoral….” It spoke with fury, but excitement filled its eyes. The sudden introduction of a new conversation topic made it very enthusiastic.

Despair filled the face of the Li Clan Patriarch. He gazed pleadingly at Meng Hao, his eyes filled with regret. Why had he insisted on being so arrogant before? If he had just yielded earlier, he would never have been forced to face the torment of this frightening bird.

His life recently had been a living h.e.l.l, a nightmare worse than death. His entire body suddenly shook.

Meng Hao cleared his throat.

Paying very close attention to his wording, Meng Hao said, “Senior, I was thinking about your ever-changing forms. Soon, Junior will be infiltrating a Sect. Is there any way Senior could possibly lend me some of your power of ever-changing forms?” Even as he spoke, he slowly edged backward.

The meat jelly turned and looked at Meng Hao in surprise.

“What are you going to do? Are you planning some evil deed!?”

“Of course not!” His voice filled with an air of righteousness, Meng Hao said, “You see, there are some extremely wicked people in this Sect. I want to infiltrate them in an attempt to catch the evildoers. Then, Senior can educate them, and help bring them back from the path of wickedness.”

The meat jelly suddenly seemed very excited. “Oh, so that’s your plan! Very well, very well. Meng Hao, you are really doing the right thing. Such evildoers really must be educated by me… although….” Suddenly it seemed hesitant.

Meng Hao’s next words were spoken in a mesmerizing tone. “Senior, how about this: over the next few days, I will go capture some bullies for you to guide and help.”

“Oh?!” The meat jelly seemed even more excited, and its hesitation began to wane.

It was time to strike while the iron was hot! “How about two bullies?” said Meng Hao.

The meat jelly quivered and flapped its wings excitedly. However, it still seemed a bit hesitant.

Gritting his teeth, Meng Hao said, “Five bullies! It will take me a few days, but I can go find five bullies for you.”

The meat jelly let out a delighted squawk. Its entire body shook, and its eyes s.h.i.+ned red with excitement. It stared at Meng Hao, panting. “Bring me three bullies!!” it cried. It looked at Meng Hao nervously, as if it were worried he would disagree.

“Huh? Three?” Meng Hao stared in shock. At first, he had a.s.sumed the meat jelly would try to get even more out of the deal. Instead, it was the opposite.

“Three!” roared the meat jelly. “Bring me three bullies, and I’ll help you. Less than three and the deal’s off!” It seemed it felt it was risking everything in its request.

Meng Hao felt that the whole situation was very strange, but he nodded nonetheless. “Okay, I’ll get you three bullies. Not one less!” With that, he retracted his Spiritual Sense. He took a deep breath as he looked at the blood-colored mask. A strange expression covered his face.

“Could it be that the meat jelly doesn’t know how to count? I offered five, and then it demanded three, and looked like it was going all out….” Mumbling to himself, Meng Hao put the mask away, turned, and left the Immortal’s Cave. The rain had long since ceased. He turned into a white beam of light which shot off into the distance.

Two days later.

On a mountain path walked a muscular man of about thirty years of age. He wore a yellow gown, had small eyes, and a mustache shaped like the character 八. Next to him walked a young man, toward whom he smiled and said, “Junior Brother Meng, it’s not far now. Up ahead is where my older brothers and I reside. Once we’re there, you’ll have to stay for a while. You and I hit it off immediately, didn’t we? We’ll definitely have to become sworn brothers. You know, the Huang Clan Five Immortals are very well-known in these parts. We can really be of some help to you!”

The young man had a bashful expression on his face. His Cultivation base seemed to be at the eighth level of Qi Condensation, one level higher than the yellow-robed Man.

“Thanks, big bro Huang,” the young man said shyly. “This is the first time I ever left the Sect, so I’m very fortunate to have met you.”

“Outside your Sect, you have to rely on friends. It’s really no imposition. My older brothers and I are all very hospitable. Little bro, you’re so young, and yet have such a high Cultivation base. Your future prospects are limitless! I’m sure that you’ll soon be a very famous person in the Southern Domain. You might even be able to outs.h.i.+ne Chosen. You know, my older brothers and I think that making friends is very important, and we’re happy to do so.” The yellow-robed man laughed heartily, then slapped Meng Hao on the shoulder. His eyes, however, glittered with contempt and greed. He glanced conspicuously at Meng Hao’s bag of holding.

He had never seen such a bag of holding before; it was obviously something beyond ordinary.

Of course, a man like him would never have a chance to lay eyes on such a bag of holding. This bag was none other than the bag of the Cosmos. And the young man was obviously Meng Hao.

They had run into each other just this morning out in the wild mountains. The instant the man caught sight of the bag of the Cosmos, he had coveted it. But once he saw the level of Meng Hao’s Cultivation base, he gave up any ideas of trying to steal it. Instead, he had engaged in lively smalltalk for quite some time.

The man smiled at Meng Hao and thought, “Some disciple from a Sect I’ve never heard of goes out on his own for the first time. A disciple like that must surely have some life-saving treasures from his Sect. However, someone like this doesn’t have any experience. Only a few flattering words, and I’ve already won him over.” In the man’s mind, he had already figured everything out about his opponent.

Meng Hao looked more bashful than ever. However, in his heart, he was rejoicing. It had only taken him two days to find some local tyrant Cultivators. Even better, the man was leading him to a place where there would surely be more tyrants of the type that the meat jelly would like.

As they chatted, an Immortal’s cave suddenly appeared up ahead of them at the bottom of a mountain. Its sealed main door was enormous, made from solid limestone. From the look of it, the Immortal’s cave must take up half the inside of the mountain. On either side of the main door were two stone guardian lions, extremely lifelike in appearance. They didn’t seem to fit in with the surroundings, as if they had been transported here from somewhere else.

There were also two towers near the entrance of the Immortal’s Cave. These towers were constructed, not from earth and wood, but from bones. There were bones of both humans and animals, all piled up. It all was very gruesome.

“Here we are, little bro!” said the yellow-robed man, laughing loudly.

Meng Hao frowned. “This place….”

“I know what you’re thinking,” said the man. He continued, his voice firm: “But we’re out in the wilderness. Though we don’t cause problems for others, we do have to take some precautionary methods. Decorations like this only serve to frighten off the thieves and miscreants.”

Meng Hao didn’t respond, but a cold light gleamed in his eyes.

The yellow-robed man didn’t notice Meng Hao’s look. He waved his sleeve, and a flying sword flew out. He jumped on, and transformed into a colorful beam of light which glided through the air toward the Immortal’s Cave.

Meng Hao followed suit, his eyes gleaming coldly.

As the two of them approached the main door of the Immortal’s cave, the yellow-robed man waved his sleeve. A bright beam of light shot out, landing on the door. It rumbled, and then slowly began to open up.

Almost as soon as the door began to open, three Cultivators emerged from within. They were all about forty years old, with Cultivation bases at the ninth level of Qi Condensation. Two had fierce bearings, while the other was lean and haggard, with treacherous eyes. He held a fan in hand. He smiled as his gaze swept over Meng Hao.

The yellow-robed man laughed as he landed next to the three others. He turned and looked at Meng Hao, smiling. “Older brothers, I ran into friend Meng here on the road this morning. This is his first time outside of his sect. I invited him to spend some time with us. Please, join me in welcoming him!”