No one outside could see the things that were happening in the ancestral land.

Neither the Grand Elder nor Fang Wei’s father and grandfather could see anything at all. The Grand Elder hadn’t been lying when he had explained that point. It was literally impossible for anyone to observe what occurred inside.

In the Fang Clan, everything was going along as normal, except that the direct bloodline clan members were very nervous. Fang Xi was in incredibly low spirits, and was very worried about Meng Hao.

The Dao of Alchemy Division had received news of Meng Hao heading into the ancestral land as a trial by fire, and were also extremely anxious. In fact, the eighteen tier 8 alchemists all went in person to speak with the Grand Elder.

A huge argument ensued that ended with the tier 8 alchemists storming off in a fury. Not long after, the Dao of Alchemy Division announced that they wouldn’t concoct pills for the clan until Meng Hao returned safely.

As word of this development spread, the entire clan was shaken. The Grand Elder then personally went to the Dao of Alchemy Division to pay respects to Pill Elder, yet Pill Elder flatly refused to see him.

It was at this point that Fang Wei’s bloodline was starting to realize that Meng Hao had firmly rooted himself within the clan, and had built up such a level of power that even they were beginning to feel fear rising up inside of them.

The Dao of Alchemy Division was definitely Meng Hao’s bastion of reliance within the clan!

The whole matter was a major slip-up on the part of Fang Xiushan. The only thing he could do was spend vast resources to placate the anger and dissatisfaction of the Elders in his own bloodline regarding the losses they had suffered.

However, Fang Xiushan still had hope. As long as Meng Hao died, then the Dao of Alchemy Division wouldn’t fight against the clan over a corpse. Everything would be resolved, and his own son, Fang Wei, would once again be the number one Chosen in the clan, and his bloodline would finally be able to supersede the current direct bloodline!

However, his hope… was rapidly unraveled because of what happened next.

Fang Wei was currently sealed in secluded meditation in his secret chamber. Fang Xiushan sat cross-legged outside, his face a ma.s.s of disbelief as he looked at a crystal he held in his hand.

Within the crystal was an image of the Fang Clan’s Lifeslip Hall. There, countless jade slips that represented the lives of Fang Clan members were on display.

If a clan member died, the jade slip would shatter, immediately notifying the clan, which would then investigate the matter.

Moments ago, Fang Xiushan had been looking at Meng Hao’s jade slip, which rested among all the other countless jade slips.

As soon as Meng Hao had returned to the clan and acquired a jade command medallion, he had also left a lifeslip in the Lifeslip Hall. Currently, it glowed with bright light, and wasn’t even the least bit cracked.

On a higher shelf were the lifeslips of all of the clan’s Ancient Realm clan members. Just now, one of those jade slips had made a cracking sound and then shattered. This instantly attracted a lot of attention, and an investigation had begun.

The shattering of that jade slip caused Fang Xiushan’s heart to begin to pound.

He had paid a heavy price to arrange for nine Ancient Realm Elders to go into the ancestral land and kill Meng Hao.

“What happened in there!?!?” he thought, panting. “An Ancient Realm Elder… actually died? How!?!?

“To top it off, that d.a.m.ned son of a b.i.t.c.h is still alive!” He couldn’t even imagine what possibly might have happened inside the ancestral land.

The clan began a thorough investigation into the Ancient Realm clan member’s death. Fortunately for Fang Xiushan, he had previously arranged for all nine of the experts who entered the ancestral land to make it seem like they had left the planet to carry out clan a.s.signments.

However, that would only delay the clan for so long. The rigorous investigation would eventually turn up clues.

“He probably died because of some dangerous situation in the ancestral land,” thought Fang Xiushan. “This was nothing more than an accident…. It won’t be much longer before that d.a.m.ned son of a b.i.t.c.h is dead in body and spirit!” Killing intent flickered in his eyes, and he couldn’t wait to see Meng Hao’s lifeslip shatter.

“Once the little son of a b.i.t.c.h is dead, and Wei’er makes his breakthrough to true Immortal Ascension, then… it doesn’t matter even if people do discover the truth. By that time, it won’t matter. Fang Hao’s death will be meaningless to the clan!”

Fang Xiushan took a deep breath, and his eyes filled with veins of blood.

Meanwhile, in the Fang Clan ancestral land, the black-robed young man was indignantly cursing Fang Xiushan as he fled in terror.

“How shameless!” he thought. “What a deception! Two months? Dammit! There are still two more months… before this place will open up and I can get out of here. W-what do I do?” The young man’s face was pale white as he fled. Behind him, rumbling sounds echoed out, piercing through his ears into his very heart.

Further back, Meng Hao’s statue was wreathed in flames as it shot after the young man. Meng Hao sat cross-legged atop it, and as they closed in, his eyes flickered with killing intent.

The distance between them narrowed. 30,000 meters. 25,000 meters. 15,000 meters. 10,000 meters….

At that point the black-robed young man was virtually going crazy, and was ready to pull out all the stops. He spun in place, performing an incantation gesture that caused his nine Soul Lamps to rotate rapidly and then shoot toward Meng Hao.

He was attacking with Soul Lamps that contained his own life force. From this, it was possible to see how mad and desperate he was.

When the eight lit and one extinguished Soul Lamps neared Meng Hao, Meng Hao’s statue raised its greatsword, and the explosive aura of a Quasi-Dao Paragon exploded out.

“Leave him alive,” Meng Hao suddenly said.

Instantly, the terracotta soldier switched the great sword from its right hand to its left. Then, it’s right hand shot out to grab the black-robed young man.

Instantly, everything in the area stopped moving, just like before. The black-robed young man was stuck in place, his body stiff and incapable of moving. His consciousness even began to fade.

A power surged out that was impossible to resist or fight against and seemed to envelop the entire sky. In front of the terracotta soldier, the black-robed young man with his one extinguished Soul Lamp was like nothing more than an insect.

When the terracotta soldier’s huge hand reached the nine Soul Lamps, it almost seemed as if it was on a different plane of existence. It pa.s.sed directly through them and, to the astonishment and despair of the black-robed young man, closed around him in the blink of an eye. As the hand tightened, cracking sounds could be heard as many of the young man’s bones were crushed.

After grabbing and retrieving him, the world returned to normal. The air once again moved, and the sounds of the black-robed young man’s screaming echoed out in all directions.

Blood sprayed from his mouth, and intense pain wracked his body. He was completely trapped inside the terracotta soldier’s hand, his cultivation base dissipated and as weak as a mortal. He trembled, and hopelessness filled his eyes, along with the fear of dying.

“Fang Xiushan!” he screamed. “I won’t let you off for this even if I become a ghost!” At the moment, he hated Meng Hao, but he hated Fang Xiushan even more.

“And you, Fang Hao,” he raged, “if it weren’t for our clan’s Dao Guardsman, I’d kill you… it would be as easy as crus.h.i.+ng a chicken to death!” Blood oozed from his mouth, and his eyes shone with hatred for Meng Hao.

“At the moment,” said Meng Hao, his face calm. “I could crush you to death much easier than crus.h.i.+ng a chicken.”

Eyes flickering, he performed a strange incantation gesture with his right hand. Suddenly, numerous magical symbols appeared on his hand.

The magical symbols flickered, some of them white and some of them black. It almost looked like his hand had turned black and white.

A bizarre aura appeared around him, seemingly forming a stream of qi that converged on his hand and then merged with the magical symbols. Soon, everything in the area looked black and white.

Meng Hao’s hand trembled, although no onlooker would be able to tell, not even the Seventh Patriarch up in midair. All he could sense was that the black and white magical symbols on Meng Hao’s right hand contained the aura of some sort of Essence.

This was… the Sixth Demon Sealing Hex!

Meng Hao had acquired it from the sword in the Ruins of Immortality, which contained the aura of the Sixth Hex. He had continuously contemplated enlightenment of the Hex, and was now attempting to use it. However, the magic was too difficult, and although he could complete its casting, he had never successfully used it.

Much of this had to do with his lack of appropriate targets to practice on, and right now, he had just such a living target in front of him.

His eyes shone with a strange light as his right hand suddenly stabilized, and he pointed at the black-robed young man. Instantly, the black and white magical symbols merged together and shot toward him.

The man’s eyes went wide, but he was incapable of resisting. The magical symbols flickered as they slammed into his forehead, and then began to bore into his body.

Meng Hao watched closely for the s.p.a.ce of a few breaths. The black-robed young man’s face distorted, and veins popped out on his forehead. He then let out miserable scream.

The sound of that scream even caused the Seventh Patriarch to wince.

Indescribable pain wracked the young man; it felt like his soul was being consumed and his body was being ripped away. Soon, his screams turned into something that sounded like the shrieks of an animal.

It lasted for the s.p.a.ce of about five breaths before the young man’s body suddenly exploded into a haze of blood and gore. He was dead, in body and in spirit.

Up in midair, the Seventh Patriarch gasped. As his solemn gaze came to rest back on Meng Hao, his eyes gradually began to fill with admiration.

“Quite ruthless,” he thought. In his opinion, Meng Hao’s temper was actually very similar to his own.

Meng Hao frowned and then sighed.

“Another failure. Maybe I’m not using it correctly.” He thought back to the way the Sixth Generation Demon Sealer had used the Life-Death Hex, and how all the people he had hexed suddenly had their control of their own life or death taken away from them. Those people… had essentially become like puppets in the hand of the Sixth Generation Demon Sealer.

In the same moment that the young man died, Fang Xiushan was sitting in his place back in the Fang Clan’s ancestral mansion. His face was pale as he saw… another of the life slips shatter.

“Impossible! This is impossible! The ancestral land is just too perilous!!” Fang Xiushan was trembling, and his eyes were bloodshot.