Meng Hao stood there on the second altar, looking at the man standing on the eighth altar. There were a total of five altars standing between them!

This man was one of the thousand partic.i.p.ants on the Ancient Road of Dao Seeking, and back home, he was a Chosen. That was why he was able to stick out so well on the Ancient Road of Dao Seeking.

Originally, he had believed himself capable of struggling his way into the top ten, but the brutality of the trial by fire had resulted in him sustaining some severe blows to his self-confidence. However, during the three trials of talent, cultivation, and age, he had taken second place in the trial of talent. He had been very excited about that, but then Meng Hao had thrown everything into chaos, the result being that few people had taken note of him.

Jealousy of Meng Hao had taken deep root within him then and there. Then, Meng Hao’s spectacular performance in the other stages had caused that jealousy to transform into bone-deep hatred.

Of course, he was not a witless person. If he was going to attempt to humiliate Meng Hao in full view of everyone, he would definitely have to ensure his own safety. That was why he had put a half-day time limit on his offer.

He did not believe that Meng Hao could possibly make it to him in half a day. After all, Meng Hao had spent roughly four hours to get to the second altar. Half a day contained twelve hours, so therefore, the man was confident that Meng Hao would not be able to reach him.

“If the time pa.s.ses and he still comes, he won’t be able to do anything at all to me. There are rules, after all! If he tries to attack me, the Three Great Daoist Societies will intervene. That he’s a disciple of the Nine Seas G.o.d World... makes no difference!

“Rewards come only with risk. If I humiliate Fang Mu, people will definitely notice me. This is my opportunity to get my name out there to the sects. This is my chance to get noticed!” The man’s eyes flickered, and his mouth turned up into a cold smile.

A bit of a bashful smile tugged at Meng Hao’s lips. He nodded at Li Yan, then turned and headed toward the edge of the altar. When he stepped out into the void, the pressure of the outside once again weighed down on him. Meng Hao was like a rowboat in an angry sea, his robes whipping about. However, he proceeded forward with firm steadfastness, moving ahead one bit at a time.

When he started out toward the next altar, it instantly caused all of the compet.i.tors in the trial by fire to look over. Their eyes glittered as various thoughts ran through their heads.

“Even if Fang Mu does something more spectacular than he already has, I don’t think he can get to that man in half a day.”

“That’s not very smart. He should just have put up with the man’s words and waited to handle the matter after the arena matches.”

“That guy really is malicious. He’s smart though. He actually went out of his way to provoke Fang Mu. If he ends up humiliating him, he’ll really earn a name for himself.”

The remaining compet.i.tors in the trial by fire were intelligent people, and they quickly understood what was going on.

Up in midair, Ling Yunzi looked on with a cool expression. Considering the level of his cultivation base, he wouldn’t pay too much attention to the compet.i.tors jockeying for positions. However, he couldn’t help but feel quite a bit of admiration for Meng Hao, and began to watch, wondering if Meng Hao would be able to reach his destination in less than half a day.

The cultivators out in the Ninth Mountain and Sea looked on with interest, and quite a few of them realized what the middle-aged man was thinking. There were, of course, varying opinions about the matter.

“This Fang Mu is a bit impulsive.”

“He shouldn’t have tried to sell those medicinal pills. He’s just giving his opponents an opportunity and invitation to humiliate him.”

The Patriarchs up in the starry sky palace settled their qi and calmed their minds. The conflicts between the trial by fire compet.i.tors weren’t something they would pay close attention to. However, considering everything that Meng Hao had accomplished, many of them were waiting to see how he would resolve this issue.

“This is actually a test in and of itself,” said the Patriarch from the Church of the Emperor Immortal. “The previous stages all tested internal weaknesses. A person’s response to provocation can reveal a lot about their instincts.” Many others nodded in response.

Time pa.s.sed by. Two hours later, Meng Hao was moving along at a quick pace. He was now between the second and third altars, and the pressure weighing down on him from the surrounding void sent his hair whipping about. However, his expression was calm, and he continued without pause.

The other compet.i.tors were all silently shaking their heads. They knew that the half-day timetable was something Meng Hao couldn’t meet.

The middle-aged man’s facial expression was one of complete complacency. When he’d opened his mouth earlier, it had actually been with some nervousness, but now he was completely calm and even laughing.

“Fang Mu, you only have half a day! If you can’t make it here by then, you can just get the h.e.l.l back to your own altar. After half a day pa.s.ses, even if you offer your medicinal pills to me for free, I won’t take them.”

The arrogance in his tone was extremely apparent.

Meng Hao looked up at the man far off in the distance, and smiled. He proceeded forward, taking about an hour to get to the third altar.

This time he finished the trip an hour faster than the last time, which was of course shocking to many onlookers. However, of the twelve hour time limit, there were now only nine hours left. The middle-aged man looked even more relaxed, and laughingly called out.

“Fang Mu, you have five altars to go, but only nine hours left! You’d best take advantage of your time. I’m curious to see how many altars you can get under your belt before the nine hours is up!”

Meng Hao smiled bashfully, then stepped out into the void once again. The pressure surrounded him, and his energy surged. Boundless light radiated off of him, and he continued onward without pause. Although he was moving slower, and the pressure was increasing, he managed to reach the fourth altar in only two hours.

That gave rise to quite a bit of astonishment among the onlookers. The middle-aged man’s face flickered a bit, but he called out just as arrogantly as before.

“So what? There are still four altars between us, and you only have seven hours! Do you really think you can make it here?”

“I don’t need that much time,” said Meng Hao, his first time speaking to the middle-aged man. Even as he spoke, lightning crackled out around him and he stepped out into the void. Rumbling echoed out because of his incredible speed, almost as if from friction. This time, he used only one hour to set foot onto the fifth altar.

“What!?” Many of the trial by fire compet.i.tors jumped to their feet, their expressions that of astonishment. The spectators out in the Ninth Mountain and Sea were also looking on wide-eyed.

To cross the gap between two of the altars in only one hour required astonis.h.i.+ng speed. That was especially true considering that his first attempt had taken a full four hours.

“Was he intentionally holding back the first time around? Or is he just getting used to the pressure!”

“Is this Fang Mu really going to pull off some kind of miracle?!”

The outside world was in an uproar, and the middle-aged man’s face had fallen. He was panting as he stared at Meng Hao, fully cognizant of the fact that there were only three altars between them.

In terms of the time limit, there were six hours left!

“Impossible!” thought the man. His face was ashen, and his eyes wide as he looked over at Meng Hao charging toward him. There was a shy smile on Meng Hao’s face, and it seemed almost apologetic.

Next, Meng Hao strode out to cross the void. This time, his speed was such that he only needed the time it takes an incense stick to burn before landing with a bang on the sixth altar. He was now very close to the middle-aged man on the eighth altar.

Without even a pause, he proceeded from the sixth altar out into the void toward the seventh altar. This time, he didn’t even need the time it takes an incense stick to burn before he was standing at the edge of the seventh altar, looking at the middle-aged man not too far off in the distance.

The man’s scalp was numb as he rose to his feet, an expression of astonishment on his face.

“Impossible!!” he said, trembling, and edging backward slowly. He now felt incredible regret, and if he had a chance to do things over, he would definitely never have chosen to provoke Fang Mu.

All of the surrounding compet.i.tors were also astonished, especially the cultivators on the seventh altar where Meng Hao currently stood. They quickly rose to their feet and made a path for Meng Hao to walk through, clasping hands and bowing deeply at the same time.

Meng Hao’s might left them all stunned. The cultivators watching from outside in the Ninth Mountain and Sea were equally shocked, especially the Chosen. They stared at Meng Hao on the vortex screens, and by now, had placed him in a very high position mentally.

In the starry sky palace, the Patriarchs had strange looks in their eyes.

Ling Yunzi hovered in midair, smiling slightly and looking at Meng Hao with admiration. His cultivation base was profound, and he had long since seen through the various clues. This was not a case of Meng Hao concealing his cultivation base, but rather, him becoming accustomed to the pressure in the place.

“For him to be able to create Paragon magic, to have the image of the Pāramitā Bridge in his heart, and considering the profundity of his cultivation base, very few types of pressure under Heaven would be able to stop him.”

Now many among the crowds of trial by fire compet.i.tors were looking over mockingly at the middle-aged man. His face was ashen, and he was trembling. Earlier, he had been surrounded by no small amount of fellow compet.i.tors, but now, they had all edged away from him.

“It’s never a good idea to provoke people, and yet this guy chose to provoke Fang Mu.”

The middle-aged man trembled, and his heart was pounding. Roaring filled his mind, and he had no time to think of any more ideas as Meng Hao flew out and crossed the last void in the s.p.a.ce of twenty breaths of time.

Meng Hao looked like an Immortal Divinity as he flew through the void to appear directly in front of the middle-aged man. All of the other compet.i.tors immediately clasped hands and bowed, then backed away.

The man trembled and stared fixedly at Meng Hao. After taking a deep breath, he then let out a cold snort.

“Fellow Daoist Fang, clearly you have a profound cultivation base to be able to come here personally. Fine, I, Zhao, will buy your medicinal pill.” With that, he produced a bag of holding which he tossed over.

“There are 100,000 spirit stones in there. Take them and leave.”

Meng Hao smiled as he caught the bag of holding. Then his expression turned a bit bashful.

“Oh, this won’t do,” he said. “I have a lot of Spirit Refres.h.i.+ng Pills, you know.” With that he patted his old bag of holding to produce… a pill bottle.

He waved the pill bottle in front of the middle-aged man’s face. Inside were dozens of medicinal pills.

The middle-aged man’s eyes went wide, and he began to inch backward.

“You never said how many you had! You….”

“Huh?!” In one moment, Meng Hao had a sincere smile on his face, but the next, it darkened.

“I came here from all the way over there to deliver medicinal pills to you! And now you’re not going to buy them!?” He stepped forward until he was directly in front of the man, and then his hand lashed out.

The man tried to fight back, but how could he possibly be a match for Meng Hao? A boom could be heard, and blood sprayed out of the man’s mouth. Meng Hao grabbed his hair and shoved him down onto the ground.