It happened so suddenly that Meng Hao could only watch with wide eyes as the two Nirvana Fruits shot toward the pill furnace. The one that took the lead was the one which Meng Hao had spent so many spirit stones on, and was on the verge of already being completely restored.
Meng Hao’s mind filled with roaring as he suddenly realized that the seven-colored liquid must have the same function as Spirit Elixir. It wasn’t meant to be consumed, it was meant to be used to restore Nirvana Fruits.
A Yin aura of death could be sensed within the liquid, an aura that represented the lack of life and destruction. The Nirvana Fruits had been withered for eons, and were essentially dead. However, it seemed that when they touched the seven-colored liquid, the Yin death aura would reach a pinnacle in which life force suddenly appeared!
That life force represented the restoration of the Nirvana Fruits.
The violent surge of energy from the seven-colored liquid would replenish the Nirvana Fruits, leading to a rapid increase in life force.
Meng Hao’s mind trembled; the first thought that entered his mind was that he must not under any circ.u.mstances allow the Nirvana Fruit which he had so painstakingly worked on to succeed right now. If it did, the losses he would sustain as a result would be too incredible.
He used all the power he could muster to reach out and grab the Nirvana Fruit, which was just on the verge of touching the seven-colored liquid. Even as he did this, the other Nirvana Fruit that he had ignored all this time melt down into the liquid.
In that instant, blinding beams of seven-colored light stabbed out, and a thick, seven-colored mist spread out to cover the entire pill furnace.
The other Nirvana Fruit, which Meng Hao now held in his hand, seemed to calm down, and ceased moving. Meng Hao quickly tossed it into his bag of holding, and then backed up several paces, his facial expression fluctuating with anxiety.
He looked over at the first generation Patriarch, then back at the seven-colored mist in the pill furnace, and began muttering to himself in uncertainty.
“No one has ever been to this necropolis before…. Therefore, n.o.body knows that the Spirit Extract within the pill furnace can provoke such a reaction from the Nirvana Fruits…. This is the necropolis of the first generation Patriarch, and the Nirvana Fruits belong to him.
“I wonder if, after the fusion is complete, the Nirvana Fruit could be consumed?” Meng Hao hesitated for a moment; currently, he couldn’t see anything in particular inside of the pill furnace’s mist.
“If I can consume it, then it would definitely be a big win for me!” Meng Hao’s eyes shone with bright light.
“Even if I can’t consume it, losing one of the Nirvana Fruits isn’t completely unacceptable.” With that, Meng Hao took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Then, he looked up at the bronze dragon.
This time, it seemed different than before. Its greedy expression had changed into one of fear, and instead of its mouth being open in preparation to consume the pill furnace, it now looked as if someone had violently wrenched its mouth open with the purpose of distilling the essence of its life force.
That essence seemed to be formed from the frenzied terror it had experienced in the moment of death. Then, after it died, the Yin death power formed together… merging to create a drop of liquid filled with boundless Yin death and violence. That drop had then descended onto the jade plate in the pill furnace.
Meng Hao wasn’t sure whether or not he was mistaken, but it seemed that as soon as the Nirvana Fruit merged into the liquid and the dense mist filled the pill furnace, some sort of natural law seemed to have been nullified, which made the bronze dragon’s expression change again. This time, it seemed almost relieved, as if it had experienced a release.
Next, cracks suddenly spread out across the bronze dragon’s body. They rapidly covered its entire body, to the point where the dragon gradually… began to dissipate right before his eyes!
He stared in shock, and took a deep breath as he backed up.
He looked on as the bronze dragon began to fade, transforming into strands of mist that maintained the shape of a dragon as they intertwined with each other and began to swirl around the hall.
When it got close to Meng Hao, the misty dragon head looked at him thoughtfully. Eventually, a gleam of appreciation could be seen in its eyes, after which it shot forward and slammed headfirst into Meng Hao!
It instantly began to fuse into him, transforming into Immortal qi, which then surged into his Immortal meridian.
Meng Hao’s mind trembled, and his Immortal meridian shook violently. It even began to resemble the appearance of a dragon as it madly absorbed the misty dragon’s Immortal qi.
Cracking sounds could be heard as his Immortal meridian solidified even further, and Meng Hao’s true Immortal aura grew stronger and stronger.
A strange gleam appeared in his eyes. His breath came in ragged pants as he experienced the sensation of the true Immortal Realm more strongly than he ever had before. Previously, he had been at the point of needing a hundred days to completely solidify his Immortal meridian, but now it was proceeding much faster than before.
In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, rumbling filled Meng Hao’s body as his Immortal meridian was completely formed!!
Immortal light pulsed out from him, and Immortal qi multiplied rapidly, circulating through his body, causing his Cultivation base to change completely.
He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. His journey had started in the lands of South Heaven, in the moment that he witnessed his master Pill Demon reach true Immortal Ascension. That was when his antic.i.p.ation had begun to build!
From this moment on, he was not a mortal, but an Immortal.
During the Daoist Societies’ trial by fire, Meng Hao had seen the glimmer of hope. After arriving on Planet East Victory, his antic.i.p.ation deepened. Originally, he thought it would take a bit longer, but now, in the ancestral land, within the necropolis, he acquired the vast, heavenly good fortune to complete that final step into true Immortality.
Were Meng Hao not in this necropolis, which was part of the Ruins of Immortality, then Immortal Tribulation would currently be forming up above, and a Door of Immortality would appear.
Only by bas.h.i.+ng open that door would he be able to make the final leap to success by opening the rest of his Immortal meridians.
However at this moment, the Door of Immortality had no way to sense Meng Hao’s aura, no way to realize that he was about to step into the Immortal Realm. Therefore, it did not appear.
Because of that… Meng Hao’s cultivation base had actually reached an indescribably shocking level.
Lucky breaks like this were something incredibly rare. To be able to achieve true Immortal Ascension like this required three criteria; to achieve Immortality without the use of an Immortality Illumination Vine, to be in a place with both a necropolis and a piece of the Ruins of Immortality, and for that place to have sufficient Immortal qi.
Though it seemed that the three stipulations would be a simple matter to meet, it was actually incredibly difficult. Normally speaking, it would be easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than to meet the first requirement, not to mention the other two!!
They were so difficult that, although you couldn’t say they were impossible to meet, they were definitely extremely, extremely unlikely. In fact, in the entire Ninth Mountain and Sea, Meng Hao was the only person who, by a series of chance occurrences, had managed to achieve it!
Perhaps in some of the other Eight Mountains and Seas, there had been other people throughout the years who attempted to do the same thing. However, none of those people could compare to Meng Hao. That was because he had started out with a foundation for true Immortality, which was the Immortal meridian that had been given to him by none other than the bronze lamp!
It was an authentic Immortal meridian, exceeding that of all other Immortals, making him… a true Immortal among true Immortals!
Meng Hao was actually the first person in all of the Nine Mountains and Seas to come across such a lucky break!
However many extra Immortal meridians he had now would remain with him when he underwent his Immortal Tribulation on the outside, and would not superimpose with those Immortal meridians he acquired, but would increase their number!
All souls had three spiritual aspects and seven physical soul aspects, with ten meridians composing each of the ten vessels. Immortals with 100 meridians had three spiritual soul aspects, seven physical soul aspects, and ten soul vessels. People who exceeded 100 meridians were extremely rare in the Nine Mountains and Seas. In fact, such people existed virtually in legend only. Each meridian that exceeded 100 resulted in an additional soul vessel!
Meng Hao’s body filled with rumbling as his first Immortal Meridian was completed. Furthermore, thanks to the misty dragon, a second Immortal meridian was also beginning to take shape. As soon as it appeared, it began to solidify.
Good preparation leads to success. Other Chosen had already prepared themselves to their utmost limits, so, when they stepped into true Immortality, it would be a shocking event. As for Meng Hao, he had taken himself to be well prepared, but now, with this sudden lucky break, he was acc.u.mulating even more potential.
If any outsider became aware of this kind of extra preparation, it would shock the entire Ninth Mountain and Sea.
At the same time that Meng Hao sat there cross-legged, madly absorbing Immortal qi and forming a second Immortal meridian, clouds were forming in the starry sky outside of Planet East Victory. It started as a mist that rapidly formed into Tribulation Clouds alongside a shocking Door of Immortality.
A Door of Immortality had been floating over the Ninth Sea just a short time ago, and now, one materialized over East Victory and was slowly descending toward the planet.
Countless people saw it, and it immediately led to a complete uproar. Fang Clan members looked at it excitedly, especially the clan Elders.
“True Immortal Tribulation!” the Grand Elder gasped, eyes s.h.i.+ning brightly.
The descent of the Door of Immortality was not because of Meng Hao; rather, it was because of… Fang Wei!
Beneath the ancestral mansion, Fang Xiushan awakened from meditation, body trembling, expression one of excitement as he looked over at the stone wall next to him. Suddenly, the stone wall opened up to reveal a tall figure striding out, who was none other than Fang Wei.
His left eye was pitch black, a darkness that seemed to contain death itself. His right eye was completely white, as if it contained the vitality of daytime. His entire person radiated the aura of true Immortality.
His expression was sober and serious as he simultaneously exuded the aura of reincarnation and the icy coldness of the Yellow Springs.
“Wei’er,” said Fang Xiushan excitedly, “you….”
“Dad, I succeeded,” was the reply. Fang Wei immediately blasted a hole in the ceiling of the chamber and then flew out into the air above.
Fang Xiushan tilted his head back and began to laugh loudly. Seeing Fang Wei fly out filled his heart with excitement, and he knew that as of this moment, all of his violations of clan rules were no longer important, and could easily be swept under the rug.
Indeed, it really was true. As Fang Wei shot up into the sky, the Grand Elder caught sight of Fang Xiushan and gave him a deep look, although he didn’t say anything.
At the moment, Fang Wei was the only person flying up in midair. Seeing this from their positions down below, the Elders of his bloodline also flew up to act as Dharma Protectors. At the same time, the Fang Clan’s grand spell formation was also activated, making Fang Wei the center of all attention on Planet East Victory.
Down in the stony cavern beneath the ancestral mansion, the other six Patriarchs stirred and began to observe the scene. Although they didn’t appear in person, their divine senses locked down the whole planet.
As of this moment, Fang Wei was the focus of all eyes!
Fang Xi stood within the crowds, fists clenched, eyes filled with defiance.
“Fang Hao should be the one reaching true Immortal Ascension!
“Fang Hao, Coz, I hope you’re okay, and I hope you know that Fang Wei… succeeded with his Immortal Ascension and is now preparing to attack the Door of Immortality and open his Immortal meridians!”
Rumbling filled the Heavens as the Door of Immortality descended. All of the clans and sects in the Ninth Mountain and Sea were using various methods to observe what was happening on Planet East Victory.
If you didn’t count Pill Demon, Fang Wei was the second person in this generation after Fan Dong’er… to become a true Immortal cultivator!
“Fan Dong’er opened 96 Immortal meridians. I wonder… how many Immortal meridians Fang Wei will open?!” That was the question on the minds of all the people watching throughout the Ninth Mountain and Sea.
Fang Wei looked like a shooting star as he soared up into the sky toward the rumbling Immortal Tribulation. Lightning crashed around him as he roared, eyes filled with determination as he completely ignored the Immortal Tribulation and focused completely on the Door of Immortality within the cloud.
“My goal is to open 98 meridians!” he murmured softly. “After I have my Immortal meridians, Fang Hao… you will be nothing more than an ant to me. Your two Nirvana Fruits will make me, Fang Wei, the number one person within my generation!
“However, I’m still going to crush you to death to sever the Devil in my heart!” Fang Wei’s eyes shone with pride and arrogance as he contemplated his desire to… return to the position he had occupied before the rising of the East Ascension Sun… Prince Wei of the Fang Clan!