Chapter 1020: Brushing Past!

　　In an area in the starry sky near the Ruins of Immortality, what appeared to be a huge land mass was cruising along. If you looked closely, you would find that it was in fact no land mass, but rather, a gargantuan turtle.

　　The turtle had a very sullen appearance, and his eyes shone with ferocity. He appeared to be enraged, yet didn’t dare to speak up about it. Instead, he just flew along through the stars.

　　Meng Hao sat cross-legged somewhere on top of the turtle, sipping alcohol. Guyiding Tri-Rain sat next to him, smiling as she kept the pot of alcohol warm.

　　The sweet fragrance of alcohol spread out in all directions, and Meng Hao felt incredibly at ease. When he thought about how he had successfully fled the marriage, he suddenly felt as if the whole world was full of boundless possibilities. Although he had practiced cultivation for many years, this was his personality. Although it might seem unstable, that was how Meng Hao liked it; he didn’t want to settle down in one place. He wanted to do as he pleased. In his view, when it came to the path of cultivation, sitting around doing nothing was completely boring and meaningless.

　　His Dao was the Dao of freedom and independence, which was the same as his personality. Everything he did in life was in accordance with his personality.

　　Patriarch Reliance, on the other hand, was currently so irritated that his gums itched. It was compounded by the condescending parrot, who continually squawked in his ear, trying to get him to agree to be a Younger Brother. That made Patriarch Reliance even more furious.

　　If that were all there were to it, Patriarch Reliance could endure the situation. However, the meat jelly’s nonstop jabbering had pushed him to the brink of collapse. The garrulous chattering was almost like a magical curse, and Patriarch Reliance wondered how Meng Hao could possibly stand to have the thing around all the time. It couldn’t be easy.

　　“Dammit! The Patriarch is always so unlucky!” he thought. “I have to get the little bastard to the Ninth Sea as soon as possible. Then, I’ll completely leave the Ninth Mountain and Sea and never come back!

　　“I refuse to believe that if I hide somewhere outside of this mountain and sea, that the little bastard will be able to find me!”

　　Patriarch Reliance felt quite wronged, and was snarling and raging inwardly.

　　He truly felt that he was being treated unfairly. In his opinion, ever since he ran into the League of Demon Sealers, his life had become as gray as ash.

　　“One of these days,” he blustered inwardly, “ the Patriarch is going to swallow the entire League of Demon Sealers! Fudge! I’ll give those Demon Sealers some good fortune, if you know what I mean!”

　　Perhaps because of his continuous internal cursing, at some point he lost track of which direction he was traveling in, and started to drift toward the Ruins of Immortality again.

　　Meng Hao cleared his throat and then waved his hand toward Patriarch Reliance’s rear end. At the same time, he glared, and cried out, “Whoooa!”

　　Although he actually unleashed the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex, the words that came out of his mouth were the same commands you would use when riding a horse.

　　As soon as the Eighth Hex was utilized, Patriarch Reliance ground to an instant halt. The end result was that Meng Hao truly did appear to be riding Patriarch Reliance just like a horse.

　　Patriarch Reliance’s eyes went wide and he began to tremble. After a few breaths of time, his body returned to normal, and he threw his head back and roared a sullen and bitter roar.

　　He had lived for a very long time, so how could he not understand the meaning of the word “whoa”?

　　“Meng Hao you little bastard, I’m Patriarch Reliance, not some horse, not some beast of burden!!”

　　Meng Hao cleared his throat. Having been raised as a scholar, he knew the command words for riding horses, but had rarely had a chance to actually use them. Now that he was sitting atop Patriarch Reliance, he naturally recalled all of those words. “Fine, then. Giddyup!”

　　As soon as he said the word ‘giddyup,’ Patriarch Reliance started moving forward without even thinking about it. Moments later, he almost exploded with rage as he realized that he was subconsciously cooperating with Meng Hao’s horse-riding commands.

　　“I’m gonna eat you! EAT YOU, you hear!?” Patriarch Reliance raged.

　　Trembling, he was just about to lift his head up when Meng Hao anxiously said, “Easy, now!”

　　At the same time, he tossed out a Fifth Demon Sealing Hex rift to the right side of Patriarch Reliance’s head, scaring him into instantly turning. Yet again, he subconsciously cooperated with Meng Hao’s verbal commands.

　　“Meng Hao!!” Patriarch Reliance threw his head back and roared. The sound echoed out into the starry sky, eventually reaching a location not too far off, where it was heard by Li Ling’er, who was currently fleeing for her life.

　　Blood oozed out of the corners of her mouth, and her beautiful face was as pale as a corpse’s. Her clothing was torn, and her flesh was cut in numerous locations. She almost looked as if she had been forcefully taken advantage of.

　　On her forehead was a jagged wound, from which blood spurted out and dropped down into the starry sky.

　　Her hair was in disarray and her aura weak as she pressed onward.

　　However, her eyes blazed with fury. How could she ever have imagined that after successfully fleeing her clan, she would encounter a terrifying cultivator like this on her path to the Ninth Sea?

　　The young man who called himself Yi Fazi was a complete stranger. Therefore, she was definitely sure that he was not a Chosen from any of the other sects or clans. And yet… she could sense terrifying undulations coming off of him.

　　Despite having a peak Immortal Realm cultivation, Li Ling’er had lasted less than half an incense stick’s worth of time against Yi Fazi’s divine abilities. She had immediately ended up in sore straits. Were it not for some of the life-saving techniques she had up her sleeves, she would already have perished.

　　“Who is this guy?!?!” she thought, biting her lip as a sense of deadly crisis filled her.

　　“You can’t escape,” said Zheng Linfa, licking some blood off of his hand. His eyes shone with a mysterious light, and he wore a slight smile. He was in no hurry. After all, his Dao Protector had said that killing this girl would end his trial by fire. Therefore, he wanted to enjoy himself for as long as possible.

　　Even if things got somewhat out of control in the end, he wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath. His Dao Protector would naturally take care of any difficulties that arose. In fact, as far as he was concerned, his Dao Protector was actually being too cautious about everything.

　　“It doesn’t matter that you’re an Immortal,” Yi Fazi said, laughing. “You should feel honored to be my prey. You can’t even imagine my status where I come from.” As he spoke, he clawed his right hand out in front of him. A boom could be heard as more of Li Ling’er’s clothing was ripped away. The explosion of power was so intense that if she had been slower to avoid it, she would have been seriously injured.

　　Despite avoiding the main blast, she still coughed up a mouthful of blood, and her face paled. Her aura was weakened even further, and her flame of life force seemed to be on the verge of being extinguished.

　　“He’s not a cultivator from the Ninth Mountain and Sea!!” she thought, gritting her teeth. She had already sent a distress signal to the clan via jade slip, and was confident that if she could only hold out for a bit longer, someone would come to rescue her.

　　“What are you running for?” said Yi Fazi. “I remember you. You’re Li Ling’er, right? You’re not just any Immortal, you’re a true Immortal! I’ve been practicing cultivation for years now, and I’ve never had the chance to taste the blood of an Immortal. It turns out to be quite sweet!” Laughing, he inhaled the fragrance of Li Ling’er’s blood, and his eyes shone brightly.

　　“Oh, I get it. You’re trying to buy time. You’re waiting for someone to come from your clan and save you. Well, keep on waiting and see if someone comes. See if anyone got the message from your jade slip.” Yi Fazi waved a finger, causing a violent wind to spring up. Just as it seemed about to crush down onto Li Ling’er, a green light sprang up around her, filled with countless vines that blocked the wind.

　　Rumbling sounds could be heard as the vines were shredded. Once again, Li Ling’er coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her vision swam, and through the pain, her eyes began to shine with despair.

　　Based on how much time had passed, if the clan had received her message, then… someone should have come already. Considering nobody was around, it proved that her opponent had definitely prepared well for this encounter!

　　“Don’t worry,” laughed Yi Fazi. “I’ll be gentle. Before you die, you’ll serve me well, and then… I’ll gently rip your body apart piece by piece. I’ll use your blood… to consecrate my Daoist magic!

　　“Achieve the Dao by murdering an Immortal! Seize your Immortal body to become my foundation!” Laughing, he closed in on Li Ling’er.

　　It was at this point that a powerful roar echoed out through the starry sky, causing ripples to spread about everywhere.

　　“Meng Hao!!”

　　The two words that comprised the roar echoed about, causing Li Ling’er’s eyes to shine brilliantly. Instantly, she headed toward the source of the sound, gritting her teeth as she flew at top speed.

　　She didn’t hold anything back from her cultivation base. She unleashed secret magics and even burned her Immortal meridians to achieve astonishing, temporary speed. In the blink of an eye, she had shot far off into the distance.

　　Yi Fazi’s face darkened. Inwardly, he was actually quite frightened. Although he didn’t care about the words that were being roared, he couldn’t ignore the fact that the roar itself contained an aura that was so frightening it made his scalp feel like it was about to explode.

　　It was at this point that he heard his Dao Protector’s voice in his ear.

　　“I’ve already deployed cloaking magic. No more fooling around. End the battle and kill the Immortal. As soon as your trial by fire baptism is complete, we will leave this Realm!”

　　Yi Fazi’s eyes glittered. He didn’t respond, but did increase his speed dramatically. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a beam of prismatic light that shot in pursuit of Li Ling’er. Shocking killing intent roiled out from him.

　　Gradually, a black, three-headed python appeared behind him. It roared, emanating a fiendish will that was completely different from anything in the Nine Mountains and Seas.

　　That will was like a paramount fiendishness of Heaven and Earth!

　　A whistling sound echoed out, like that of an arrow piercing through the sky. Yi Fazi sped closer and closer to Li Ling’er. After ten breaths of time passed, the distance between him and Li Ling’er was reduced to only 300 meters.

　　It was at this point that Li Ling’er caught sight of that land mass soaring through the stars. It was Patriarch Reliance, with Meng Hao sitting on his head drinking alcohol.

　　“Meng Hao!!” she cried out as soon as she saw him. However, despite her loud cry, Meng Hao appeared to be ignoring her.

　　“He can’t see you,” said Yi Fazi, his voice cold. “If he could, then I wouldn’t mind killing two Immortals today.” He waved his right hand toward Li Ling’er, causing more blood to spray from her mouth. She could also sense that despite the short distance between herself and Meng Hao, they seemed to be separated by some sort of illusory screen, making it impossible for him to see her.

　　“Yi Fazi is too well-prepared to be acting alone. He has to be working with someone. Well, since Meng Hao can’t see me, then I’ll just forget about it. Even if he could see, it would only drag him into this situation. How could I cause trouble for him too?”

　　Despite being filled with bitterness and despair, Li Ling’er’s eyes gleamed with determination. Even as Yi Fazi’s hand strike closed in on her, she chose to detonate her Immortal meridians!

　　Booms could be heard as Immortal meridians emerged from her body and transformed into Immortal dragons, which then exploded. Blood sprayed from her mouth as her as the incredible power of the detonation caused her… to shoot directly toward the Ruins of Immortality!

　　“I’ll have a better chance of surviving in the Ruins of Immortality than in the hands of Yi Fazi!” she thought, flying into the ruins at incredible speed.

　　—–

　　Note from Deathblade: The following is a note Er Gen included in the original release. Obviously, his release schedule back then doesn’t affect the release schedule of the translation.

　　Note from Er Gen: I’d like to request 3 or 4 days off from everyone in the audience. During that time, I’ll probably only be able to post one chapter per day, as I’m taking my daughter to the Beijing Children’s Hospital to see the doctor.

　　Recently, I’ve been very concerned because of my daughter being sick. I haven’t said anything because I didn’t really feel like talking about it. I hope that you can understand, brothers and sisters. Thank you.