The woman’s words caused the old man’s face to grow very unsightly. He once again clasped hands to Meng Hao.

“Fellow Daoist, my apprentice doesn’t understand the way of things. Please, don’t take offense. Seahold might be large, but everything there is handled in an open and clear way. Once you go, Fellow Daoist, you will naturally understand.”

The young woman bit her lower lip, and said nothing more. She simply gazed at Meng Hao with a pleading look.

The old man was starting to get a bit worried. “Fellow Daoist,” he continued, “I answered all your questions without holding anything back. My apprentice is merely homesick. However, if we Cultivators wish to make progress, must step out of our comfort zones. That’s why I took her out into the world, to gain some experience.”

Meng Hao looked over the young woman and the old man, and then sighed inwardly.

“In the cultivation world, the law of the jungle prevails. I can’t do anything about that. However,” he said, shaking his head, “when it comes to our actions and decisions, there is an unwritten truth; habitual unjust behavior can prevent you from reaching Spirit Severing.”

“Many thanks for helping me achieve my aim!” said the old man, reaching out to grab the young woman.

“Senior!!” continued the young woman, “when you had a weak Cultivation base, didn't you ever have a benefactor that was willing to help you…?” Before she could finish speaking, the old man’s hand latched onto her, and she immediately became like a puppet, capable only of shedding tears filled with despair and the desire to die.

When Meng Hao heard her words, he suddenly said, “Did I say you could leave?”

The words were simple, but as soon as the old man heard them, his mind trembled. The Nascent Soul inside of him began to tremble, and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He immediately stopped in place and slowly turned around, an expression of disbelief and shock on his face as he looked at Meng Hao.

It was in that instant that he realized that the Cultivation base of the person in front of him far, far exceeded his own.

Meng Hao’s voice was cool as he said, “This young woman has a unique physique suitable for certain dual-party cultivation techniques that extract the Yin to strengthen the Yang…. Your goal is nothing more than to use that power to break through a Cultivation base blockage.” With that, he lifted his right hand, causing ten mid-grade Demon hearts to fly toward the old man.

“Normally I wouldn’t interfere in such a matter,” he continued slowly, “but having encountered this young woman, it seems the two of us are connected by destiny. Thank you for answering my questions just now. Take these Demon hearts and leave.”

The old man struggled inwardly for a moment, but in the end, released the girl and collected up the Demon hearts. With a bitter smile, he clasped hands and bowed to Meng Hao, then hurried off into the distance.

Meng Hao’s Cultivation base was beyond his comprehension, and the gap between the two of them far too large. The old man didn’t even have the nerve to feel resentment, but rather, simply resigned himself to his fate.

As the old man made his way off into the distance, tears flowed ceaselessly down the young woman’s cheeks, and she bowed over and over again to Meng Hao.

“Thank you for your kindness in rescuing me, Senior. I grew up on my own in Seahold, and will spare no effort to aid you.” The grat.i.tude she felt was clearly visible in her eyes. She had just evaded a huge calamity, and as a result, her voice quavered as she spoke. It seemed that all the courage she had shown just now completely vanished, and turned into weakness.

“What’s your name?” asked Meng Hao, looking her over.

“Wei Li…. Junior’s name is Wei Li,” she replied softly, lowering her head to conceal the sorrow she felt because of her name. [1. Wei Li’s name in Chinese is 唯離 Wéi lí. It’s kind of a made up name. Wei means “only.” Li means “leave” or “depart.” The name sounds sad, perhaps to indicate that some sorrowful event occurred in her past]

Meng Hao nodded, but did not ask for any further details. Then, he flicked his sleeve, sweeping up the young woman to fly off into the direction of the Three Sects’ Seahold, which was notated on the map he possessed.

Wei Li hesitated for a moment as she flew alongside Meng Hao. She looked around at the mist that surrounded them, and felt the incredible speed with which they were moving, something she had never experienced before. Her voice soft, she finally said, “Senior… are you… are you a rogue Cultivator?”

“Why do you ask that?” replied Meng Hao calmly.

“In the Third Ring, all the Nascent Soul Cultivators are either rogue Cultivators, or belong to Sects and Clans that provide special flight treasures. Such treasures make it possible to avoid a lot of trouble, and also allow you to meditate and practice cultivation while traveling.”

Wei Li hesitated again, worried that she might somehow offend Meng Hao with her words. “Furthermore, upon entering Seahold, if you have such a flight treasure, you won’t be interrogated.”

“So that’s how it is,” said Meng Hao. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Well, after I get to Seahold, I guess I’ll just have to buy a few.” He realized that he truly didn’t have any sort of special flight treasure. Considering that it was possible to practice cultivation while riding such a treasure, Meng Hao started to feel somewhat excited.

Wei Li’s eyes went wide, and she almost went on to tell Meng Hao that such flight treasures were extremely expensive. However, she didn’t dare to actually open her mouth on the subject. Then she thought about how he had casually produced ten mid-grade Demon hearts, and she realized that he most likely had an incredible social standing.

After a long moment, she looked over Meng Hao’s plain and unadorned robe, and then said, “Senior… you should probably change into a different set of clothing. In Seahold, you can purchase Daoist garments crafted from Sea Demons. According to the rumors, the highest quality garments can even resist an attack from the Spirit Severing level.

“If you prefer simple and unadorned clothing, Seahold has those too. However, regardless of whether it’s in terms of the quality of material, or the defensive capabilities, such garments are unique to the Milky Way Sea. Every year, people come from various outside Sects and Clans to have them custom made.”

Meng Hao looked down at his robes and nodded. He had never really paid much attention to his attire, but after listening to the young woman’s words, he realized that they made sense.

“Hmm, yes. When we get there, I’ll buy a few sets.”

“Senior, there’s also the matter of bags of holding. In the Milky Way Sea, you can get special holding treasures with a capacity a hundred times normal. Some even have other mysterious properties.

“In fact, the highest quality holding items can even store spiritual energy. That way, if you ever run low on magical power, you will have at least one chance to open your bag of holding.”

“Such items exist?” asked Meng Hao. It all sounded so new and interesting to him. He nodded. “Okay, when I get there, I’ll buy a few.”

“Senior, do you have any voice transmission talismans on you? None? You should definitely buy some of the voice transmission talismans available in the Seahold. That way, you can communicate directly with anyone on the outside, no matter where you are in the Milky Way Sea.”

“Alright! I’ll buy several!”

“Senior, considering the level of your Cultivation base, you probably don’t need magical rings, but I still suggest that you buy a few….”

“Excellent. I’ll definitely purchase a handful.”

“Senior, if you plan to stay in the Third Ring for a long time, you might want to buy an Immortal’s cave in the city. Of course, the prices vary depending on the location….”

“I’ll buy the best one!”

As they traveled, Wei Li continued to evaluate Meng Hao from top to bottom. If it were any other situation, Meng Hao wouldn’t really pay attention. However, considering how many Demon hearts he had in his bag of holding, and the number of Spirit Stones he could trade them for, his heart surged with joy.

Filled with the feeling of being rich and imposing, and accompanied by someone describing all the amazing things he could buy, roused his spirit. He flicked his sleeve and decided to buy everything.

Several days later, Meng Hao peered at Seahold from some distance away as they approached. He had already lost track of how many things Wei Li had described to him, nor could he remember exactly what he had said he intended to buy.

However, Wei Li was very professional, and she had long since taken out a jade slip to keep meticulous records.

Up ahead, the Seahold looked matchlessly huge. It was like an ancient sea beast, slumbering upon the surface of the water. At the moment, it was evening, and the city was ablaze with lights. A cursory examination left Meng Hao with the impression that at least 100,000 Cultivators were inside.

The area was surrounded by patrolling Cultivators of the three Sects. Also visible in the middle of the city was a huge tower, adorned with resplendently glowing pearls. They also emanated invisible ripples that no one but Meng Hao could see, which spread out to cover the entire city.

The entire city was surrounded by a towering wall, part of which stretched down below the surface of the water. The wall was completely black, and looked very somber and ominous. Vicious-looking spikes encircled the city, upon which were impaled the dried-up corpses of Sea Demons.

Meng Hao’s eyes glittered. Within Seahold he could sense, at the very least, hundreds of restrictive spell formations. Clearly, if he attempted to charge directly into the city, it would be impossible.

If they were activated, these restrictive spell formations could easily destroy a Spirit Severing Cultivator.

If that were all there were to it, it might not be a big deal. However, Meng Hao could also sense an aura deep within the city that caused his scalp to grow numb. It seemed to be partly the aura of a Cultivator, and partly the aura of a magical item.

It was impossible to distinguish clearly, but Meng Hao was certain that whatever thing emitted this aura… vastly exceeded the power of Spirit Severing.

After glancing the city over, his eyes came to rest on the huge tower in the middle of the city. In that very moment, red-robed Saint Sun Soul sat cross-legged in that very tower, meditating. Suddenly, his eyes opened.

His gaze pa.s.sed out from within the tower until it reached Meng Hao off in the distance. Although Meng Hao had changed his appearance, he still recognized him.

The two of them were separated by quite a difference, but they could both sense each other looking at each other. After a moment, they retracted their gazes.

Seeing that Meng Hao had stopped in mid-air, Wei Li looked at him and said, “Senior?”

After a moment, she continued, “Senior, do you have an ident.i.ty medallion?

“If you do, then you can just enter directly. If you don’t, well, that will be a bit more troublesome….”

Meng Hao frowned. He did not have an ident.i.ty medallion, and currently, they were standing directly in front of the city gate. Inside, three men sat cross-legged, meditating. In front of them stood a dozen or so Cultivators clutching command medallions. Occasionally, they would glance around with cold expressions.

It was already evening, but there was still quite a line of people outside, waiting to enter the Seahold.

When Meng Hao and Wei Li arrived, the three old men all opened their eyes at the same time. In that moment, Meng Hao could sense the fluctuating ripples coming from nearby restrictive spell formations.

He knew that if he showed even the slightest bit of malice, those spell formations would activate.

“Senior,” said Wei Li, “if you have no ident.i.ty medallion, then I can go into the city first to buy one for you. Unfortunately, the price will be quite high. Also, I will only be able to get the most common type of ident.i.ty medallion, which will cause problems later. However….” Even as she was in the middle of speaking, a bright beam of light suddenly flew out from within the city.

Inside was a beautiful woman wearing a pink garment. She was elegant and poised, and as soon as she appeared, the Cultivators in the city gate bent at the waist to bow deeply.

“Respects, Madam Lin!” [2. When addressing a woman as “Madam” in this way, the surname used would be that of the husband. For example, many chapters ago Meng Li was addressed as “Madam Fang.” In this case, it indicates that this woman’s husband is surnamed Lin. When Saint Sun Soul was introduced in chapter 656, we learned that he is also surnamed Lin. From this, it seems pretty obvious that the woman is his wife.]

At the same time, respectful expressions appeared on the faces of the other Cultivators in the area. One after another, they clasped hands and bowed.

“Greetings, Madam Lin!”

The poised and stately woman nodded and smiled. She pa.s.sed through the crowds of people until she reached Meng Hao. As for Wei Li, she nervously backed up. Meng Hao’s expression was completely normal as he watched the woman everyone called ‘Madam Lin’ approaching. She stopped in front of him, and, as everyone watched, gave him a curtseying bow.

She didn’t speak, but she smiled and handed a gold-colored command medallion to Meng Hao.

“Someone asked me to pa.s.s you a message. The alcohol is quite strong.” She smiled and gave Meng Hao a deep look, then turned to leave.

As she walked away, everyone in the crowd turned to look at Meng Hao. Wei Li stared blankly at him, eyes wide.

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This chapter was sponsored by Ahma Tawfiq Ahmad Fuaad, Gorgonzzz, Tjandra Johannes, and Frank Anthony