Eight Immortal meridians caused intense power to surge through Meng Hao. Immortal qi flowed through him, and he exuded intense pressure. His eyes shone with Immortal light, like two burning lamps that ignited to life within the necropolis.

Everything now looked different to him, clearer. He could even magnify the tiniest speck of dust until he could see the entire structure that composed it.

“This feels… great,” he murmured. Eight Immortal meridians was his limit; there was no more Immortal qi in the area, making it difficult for him to make any further increases.

The mist dragon had completely vanished, having been completely absorbed by Meng Hao. The necropolis was now totally empty and quiet.

He slowly stood up, and cracking sounds could be heard as intense power surged through him.

“As soon as I leave the ancestral land, my Immortal Tribulation will appear!” His eyes shone brightly as he caused more power to explode out in a test to see exactly how much good fortune he had acquired.

Soon after, Meng Hao looked up and then glanced around. He saw that the mist in the pill furnace had already faded away; shockingly, there was now a Nirvana Fruit sitting there on the jade plate, glowing brightly!

It was as translucent as crystal, and incomparably beautiful.

A fragrant aroma began to spread out which contained a great Dao; apparently this Nirvana Fruit was now completely restored.

Meng Hao walked up to the pill furnace and looked at the Nirvana Fruit, eyes glittering. After a moment, his eyes shone with determination; he quickly reached out, picked up the fruit and held it in front of his face.

“Nirvana Fruit… the first generation Patriarch’s Nirvana Fruit.” He looked at the Nirvana Fruit and realized that, as of this moment, he had only two options.

“I’ve waited a long time, just for the sake of a Nirvana Fruit. Well, what is there to hesitate about?” He chuckled to himself silently. Finally, he turned toward the corpse of the first generation Patriarch, clasped hands, and bowed deeply. Then, without any further hesitation, he made up his mind. Now was not the time for further hesitation.

The fact that the Nirvana Fruit had been restored by fully absorbing the seven-colored liquid didn’t bother Meng Hao at all. He hefted the fruit and pushed it hard onto his forehead.

Time to gamble!

Nirvana Fruits were not eaten like other fruits. They were absorbed directly into the body.

As soon as it touched Meng Hao’s forehead, rumbling filled his body, and he felt like he was about to explode. It rapidly fused into his forehead, and disappeared without a trace. He suddenly began to tremble violently.

A ma.s.sive power exploded out within him, filling his entire body and circulating through it in a continuous cycle. It rapidly found many sealed areas within Meng Hao’s body, areas he didn’t even know about, and burst them open!

Blood oozed out of his orifices, and he shook. Pores all over his body opened and expanded.

Intense pain wracked his four limbs, and yet, his eyes shone brightly.

He did not feel any sense of crisis, but rather, sensed that power surged through his body, making him more powerful than before!

His Dharma Idol appeared behind him, and then, shockingly, a second Dharma Idol appeared!

It looked different than Meng Hao’s Dharma Idol, although it was similar. This second Dharma Idol… actually belonged to the first generation Patriarch!

An even more intense power surged through Meng Hao’s body, and he began sweating profusely. However, his eyes shone brightly.

“So… this is what it feels like to use a Nirvana Fruit!

“I can form a second Dharma Idol, and my cultivation base can explode with even more power! And yet… in addition to the extra Dharma Idol, there is actually an even more important function…. It can exponentially increase the power of my Immortal meridians!

“Right now I have eight Immortal meridians. After absorbing the Nirvana Fruit, I can wield power equal to 16 Immortal meridians!

“That is the true purpose of the Nirvana Fruit!” Veins popped out on Meng Hao’s forehead. He currently only had eight Immortal meridians, but the power he was able to wield was twice as much!

“The reason Fang Wei didn’t utilize that power before is most likely because it’s only possible to do so after you reach the Immortal Realm!

“If I open 100 Immortal meridians, and also have this Nirvana Fruit, then I’ll be able to unleash the power of 200 Immortal meridians!

“The other sects and clans presumably have similar secret magics. However, considering how rare Nirvana Fruits are, it’s logical to come to the conclusion that those other secret magics do not measure up!

“Otherwise the Fang Clan wouldn’t have been able to maintain their position as one of the Four Great Clans, especially during times when Nirvana Fruits did not appear!”

Meng Hao trembled as his power only continued to increase. However, he could also sense that he wouldn’t be able to stay in this state of fusion for very long. He struggled to lift his head and then extend his right hand out toward the sphere of light that orbited around the body of the first generation Patriarch.

This time, all he had to do was grab at it, and the sphere began to tremble. A thrumming sound could be heard, and ma.s.sive amounts of light exploded out in all directions. After a moment of what almost seemed to be hesitation, it suddenly transformed into a streak of light that shot toward Meng Hao, transforming into a starstone which came to rest on Meng Hao’s palm.

It sat there, flickering with starlight, beautiful to the extreme.

Meng Hao looked at the starstone for a moment, then closed his hand over it and clenched hard.

In that instant, ripples began to emanate from the starstone, which poured into Meng Hao’s mind and rapidly transformed into an incantation mnemonic composed of multiple verses.

That incantation mnemonic was none other than… the One Thought Stellar Transformation!

“No wonder n.o.body was ever able to acquire One Thought Stellar Transformation! It’s connected to this necropolis, and most importantly… only one person at a time can gain enlightenment of it! Once the legacy is pa.s.sed on, n.o.body else can learn it unless that first person dies!

“That’s because One Thought Stellar Transformation is both a Daoist magic… and also NOT a Daoist magic!

“It’s a magical item… and NOT a magical item!

“It’s a type of magical item which, after being fused with, can temporarily erupt with… a will of invincibility!” Having gained enlightenment, he squeezed down on the starstone again, causing it to melt into a black liquid that covered his hand. It then rapidly spread out to cover his entire body, then bored into him. Moments later, shockingly, speckles of starlight appeared in his left eye!

The speckles of starlight were strange, and as they flickered, it almost seemed as if his left eye had become a starry sky. Frightening ripples appeared as he looked out, and anyone who met his gaze would surely be terrified.

After absorbing the starstone, Meng Hao’s body trembled again, and his eyes widened. More veins popped out on his forehead, and he looked like he was on the verge of exploding. Rumbling sounds emanated out from within him, and gradually, the Nirvana Fruit that he had absorbed started to become visible on his forehead, as if it couldn’t stay inside of him for much longer.

It was in that moment, though, that Meng Hao could clearly sense that the Nirvana Fruit was emanating traces of a Dao.

That type of Dao seemed to contain a boundless starry sky, and innumerable magical techniques and divine abilities. In fact, there were even thoughts that did not belong to Meng Hao himself. As if… they were the memories of someone else, the remnants of someone who had existed in the past!

Ancientness. Remote antiquity.

Images appeared in Meng Hao’s mind of a middle-aged man, his long, white hair whipping around him. Four Nirvana Fruits circled around him, each one emanating an aura that left Meng Hao terrified and undergoing constant transformations. Any one of them was powerful enough to split apart Heaven and Earth, to cause heavenly bodies to collapse.

This man was none other than the first generation Patriarch!

His eyes were filled with a gleam of obsession. He was surrounded by starlight, and was currently forging his way ahead toward an unsurpa.s.sable elevation.

Meng Hao wanted to see more, but couldn’t hold on any longer. His face was ashen as the Nirvana Fruit flew out of his forehead of its own volition. As it landed on the palm of his hand, blood oozed out of his mouth, and he sat down cross-legged to meditate. After a moment of recuperation, his eyes opened, and he was fully recovered and at his peak.

He took a deep breath, calmed his mind and heart, and then began to calculate time.

“Thirty breaths!

“Considering that the first generation Patriarch’s Nirvana Fruit doesn’t belong to me, and also considering the level of my cultivation base, I can only fuse with it for thirty breaths of time! If they were my own Nirvana Fruits, then I could fuse with them… for all eternity!” Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed with a strange light.

“I wonder what place the first generation Patriarch was going to in that vision. I must have been experiencing a memory. A memory that exists inside the Nirvana Fruit.

“Perhaps… there are even further uses for Nirvana Fruits!” When he thought back to the vision, he remembered that the first generation Patriarch was surrounded by four Nirvana Fruits, and that each one of them had emanated an aura that caused even the Heavens to tremble.

“Fang Wei….” After a moment of thought, Meng Hao looked up, and his eyes flashed with viciousness. Finally, he turned and bowed deeply to the first generation Patriarch, then waved his right hand, causing the main door of the necropolis to swing open, after which he strode out.

“It’s time to get out of here!”

Back outside in the Misty Heaven Vault, Meng Hao yet again produced the bronze lamp. Immediately, the surrounding mists began to vibrate, and then recede. Once again, a path opened up in front of him.

He proceeded along with much greater speed than he had upon entering, and it only took a few hours before he flew out from the Misty Heaven Vault. As he did, he saw no trace of Fang Daohong or Fang Linhe.

He could also sense that a huge vortex had appeared in a remote area of the ancestral land.

“The way out has opened!” he thought. He looked off into the distance, unsure of exactly how long the exit had been open. Obviously, Fang Daohong and all the others had already left.

Only the terracotta soldier remained waiting for Meng Hao. As soon as he emerged, its eyes glittered with a brilliant glow. Meng Hao looked back at it, his gaze filled with a reluctance to part.

Earlier, he had picked up on various clues that had led him to a certain conclusion. Now, with his increased cultivation base, he was able to see things even more clearly.

During the vast time in which the terracotta soldier had been waiting for Meng Hao, it had undergone certain transformations. It had been a.s.similated into this ancestral land, and would therefore be able to exist here eternally, at the peak of its power.

However, if it emerged into the outside world for too long without returning, then it would begin to decay, and would age by tens of thousands of years in a relatively short period of time.

“The only way for me to take it away would be if I had a piece of the Ruins of Immortality. If I did, I could take it with me long term.” Meng Hao flew up to sit on the terracotta soldier, after which it yet again changed shape to its enormous form, them employed its top speed to head off toward the exit.

The closer it got to the exit, the stronger the signs of dissipation got. Meng Hao sighed, and, after confirming what was happening, and despite his unwillingness to part with it, he decided that he couldn’t just watch it suffer harm.

He decided to leave it next to the crumbled mountains where he had found it. His voice soft, he said, “Go ahead and change back into a statue. I promise you that one day, I’ll come back here to take you away. It’s too bad that once the ancestral land closes, our connection will break.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the statue’s eyes glittered. It suddenly hefted its greatsword and then swung it through the air, causing a huge rift to open up, almost completely slas.h.i.+ng the entire sky open.

Meng Hao’s eyes sparkled.

“You can slash your way out of here any time you want, huh?” Meng Hao asked. “In other words, you can go anywhere you feel like, right?”

The terracotta soldier nodded, but then shook its head. Finally, it gave Meng Hao a deep look, and for the first time, spoke, in a m.u.f.fled, hoa.r.s.e voice.

“Fang Clan… ancestral land… five hundred kilometers… I protect you.”

As soon as Meng Hao heard the voice, his heart seized. It was a voice he would never forget: Ke Yunhai’s voice.

“Foster father….” In that moment, Meng Hao realized that Ke Yunhai didn’t just use some of his life force from the dragon lamp with the phoenix wick to create the terracotta soldier. He had also used a strand of his soul.

After a very long moment, Meng Hao looked at the terracotta soldier one last time, then turned and headed toward the exit. After packing away the memories deep into his heart, his entire person began to radiate a harsh, murderous aura. He was like an unsheathed sword, s.h.i.+ning coldly!

“Fang Wei, it’s time to finish things between the two of us!”