Chapter 474: Therefore, You Picked the North

　　“Senior Han Shan….” murmured Meng Hao. He had Han Shan’s sword, Han Shan’s flagon, and on his right arm was a totem tattoo made from Han Shan’s Frigid soil. These were all physical things. However, deep in Meng Hao’s heart existed the image of Han Shan and his wife.

　　That image was not desolate or lonely. There was no confusion, only… a husband and a wife, accompanying each other as they walked off into the distance.

　　“I, Meng Hao, solemnly swear a vow here in the Realm of the Bridge Ruins. If in this life the day arrives in which I can shake this Bridge of Immortal Treading, then I will without fail repay this kindness!” Within the bitterly cold wind, Meng Hao clasped hands, looked back toward the Bridge Slave specters, and bowed deeply.

　　To Meng Hao, his principles demanded that he repay kindness. Kindnesses shown could never be forgotten!

　　Meng Hao continued to meet people who showed kindness to him in life. If he forgot them, then he did not deserve to be a Cultivator. It was the same with enmities…. Enmities must be repaid many times over.

　　I will do everything in my power to repay my benefactors!

　　I will bring tenfold vengeance upon my enemies!

　　If people do not attack me, I will not attack them. But if someone does attack me, that person shall die!

　　This was Meng Hao.

　　In Confucianism, there is a concept of a path of justice that contains two parts. One part involves being kind and tolerating others. The other involves taking action when necessary. After entering the Cultivation world, Meng Hao also had his own path.

　　This path had nothing to do with Cultivation, but rather, personal principles. Meng Hao’s principles also contained the concept of justice, a justice with two parts. One was the law of repaying kindnesses. The other was bringing death in response to attacks!

　　Cultivation is about developing confidence.

　　Cultivation is about learning how to conduct oneself!

　　Meng Hao clasped hands and bowed for a long, long moment. Next to him, Zhixiang suddenly flew away at top speed, emerging from the cold wind and moving off into the distance. She lifted her right hand, causing a red flower to suddenly appear. She was not attacking Meng Hao; instead, her flower transformed into a sea of flowers that enveloped… a butterfly Demon Spirit that happened to be flying in this area!

　　Everything happened in the blink of an eye. She laughed as she collected up the butterfly Demon Spirit, her eyes filled with excitement. Suddenly, another butterfly Demon Spirit appeared not too far off in the distance. As soon as it realized it had been noticed, it seemed to suddenly be frightened. It flitted its wings and flew off.

　　Zhixiang’s eyes glittered as she shot pursuit for a moment, but then stopped. This was because Meng Hao had suddenly exploded with Dancing Sword Qi. The threat of the Sword Qi caused Zhixiang to feel quite annoyed. She looked over at Meng Hao. This was not the first time he had done something like this.

　　She frowned, then suddenly laughed and sped off into the distance away from the butterfly. As she did, her voice drifted back to Meng Hao.

　　“Meng Hao, although our cooperation has come to an end, based on what you now know, if you’re interested, then we can come back to this place in two hundred years to enter the Primordial Immortal Demon Plane!

　　“Perhaps you might even learn of a way to rescue senior Han Shan while you’re there. As for that Demon Spirit, if you want it, I won’t fight you over it.” Her body flickered and then transformed into a red beam of light that disappeared off into the void.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes flickered as he watched Zhixiang leave. He did nothing to stop her, nor did he respond. Instead, he himself shot out into the void toward the Demon Spirit.

　　Far off in the distance, Zhixiang performed a minor teleportation, reappearing in the void far away from Meng Hao’s location. Suddenly, she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her body began to tremble slightly, and suddenly a ghost image of her own face appeared. Shockingly, this image was Zhao Youlan’s soul, struggling to get free!

　　“I have no intention of merging with your soul, precious darling. However, you need to abide by our agreement. I’ll borrow your body for only two hundred years. Two hundred years later, I’ll give it back to you.

　　“Furthermore, I won’t borrow your body without offering repayment. I will ensure that you stay at the great circle of the Nascent Soul stage.” With that she jabbed her finger down onto her forehead.

　　This movement caused Zhao Youlan’s soul to suddenly grow weaker. A look of fear appeared, and it began to shrink back. Eventually it disappeared; there was no ghost image any more.

　　“I was injured by Frost soil, and twice had bitter cold enter my body. Just now, I even circulated quite a bit of my Immortal Essence in my attempt to get that Demon Spirit. This Meng Hao is as crafty as a fox and diabolically cruel.

　　“If I didn’t get out of there, there’s no saying that that the kid wouldn’t actually attack.” Zhixiang’s eyes glittered. She wasn’t sure when, but at some point she had actually come to view Meng Hao as a worthy opponent.

　　“However, the fact that the curse doesn’t affect him will be a great advantage if he helps in the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane two hundred years from now. My plan to acquire a Demon Immortal Body will be much more likely to succeed.” With that, Zhixiang slapped her bag of holding to produce the Five Poisons Tribe Immortality Bridgestone. She crushed it, and instantly, her body began to grow blurry. Before long, she was completely gone.

　　Further back in the void, Meng Hao proceeded along alone. The frigid wind had disappeared completely, and the coldness of the void crushed down onto him. However, to Meng Hao, that coldness actually felt warm.

　　His Earth-type totem was the unparalleled Frost soil. Compared to that, the surrounding coldness could be regarded as boiling hot.

　　After his huge success in acquiring the Earth-type totem tattoo, Meng Hao’s Cultivation base had skyrocketed. His speed was now much faster than before. Furthermore, the void could do nothing to impede him; he was quite used to it now.

　　He chased the butterfly for about an hour before catching it and putting it into his bag of holding. With that, he stopped and began to think.

　　“Two Demon Spirits. One can be used to get the Crow Divinity Tribes into the Black Lands. As for the second… I can decide what do to do with that one in two hundred years when the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane opens!” With that, his eyes filled with determination, and he proceeded onward.

　　As he moved, he pulled out Han Shan’s sword. The sword seemed commonplace, completely ordinary. But Meng Hao had seen this sword slice open Heaven and Earth, chop through the void, and unleash the shocking aura of the spirit of a mountain.

　　“This is an Immortal’s Sword!” He ran his left hand across the smooth blade, causing a drone to echo out. The drone contained feelings of grief, farewell, and the hope to reunite.

　　Hearing the drone caused Meng Hao to think about Han Shan. He sighed.

　　“Compared to senior Han Shan, I am tiny and weak. Right now, I can’t wield you. However, you were gifted to me by him. From now on, you… are my sword!

　　“I promised senior Han Shan that I would save him in the future. Now, I promise you that when I do save him, I will bring you with me. The day that I succeed in rescuing him, I will return you to senior Han Shan.”

　　The droning faded away. The azure sword slowly grew quiet. Then, it transformed into an azure beam of light that flew into the air and shot back toward Meng Hao. He did nothing to stop it. The azure glow hit him, causing a drop of blood to appear on his forehead.

　　The drop of blood touched the azure sword, and instantly Meng Hao could sense a clear connection between the two of them. His eyes glittered and he extended his right hand. Instantly, the azure sword’s aura rose up to the Heavens as it shot off into the distance.

　　It moved so quickly that Meng Hao couldn’t see it clearly. It shot directly toward a three thousand meter wide rock that was approaching. In the blink of an eye, it shattered the rock into pieces. A boom echoed out, and even before the shattered pieces could explode outward, the sword shot back to hover in front of Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao stared in shock and extended his right hand. The sword slowly began to shrink down until it was about the size of a fingernail. Meng Hao swallowed it, causing the sword it to merge into him. This was now one of Meng Hao’s trump cards, something that, if kept in his bag of holding, would strip it of the element of surprise when being used.

　　Even as the shattered remnants of the thousand meter rock shot toward him, Meng Hao pulled out his chunk of Immortality Bridgestone, the one that had transported him here to the Realm of the Bridge Ruins. He crushed it in his hand, and instantly, he faded and disappeared.

　　The North region of the great lands of the Western Desert were rapidly turning into a vast body of water. In the most low-lying of the areas, violet lakes could be seen. The violet rain continued to pour down in buckets. It only continued to grow heavier.

　　The sky was dark, and no sunlight was visible whatsoever, making it seem like dusk. The whole scene turned into an oppressive weight. A coldness spread out everywhere, a coldness that could exterminate life.

　　The mountains were all deathly silent. No signs of life could be seen anywhere. The entire Western Desert North region was now devoid of spiritual energy. Rotting corpses of beasts could be seen scattered about in the rainwater.

　　Off in the distance, a group of people could be seen moving rapidly through the air. This was a group of about four or five thousand people, all in the process of migration. They were silent, their faces sallow. In recent days, migrating groups like this were a common sight in the Western Desert North region.

　　However, it was at this moment that a bright beam of light could be seen off in the distance, along with an oppressive aura. It moved at high speed through the air, causing a loud booming sound. It seemed matchless aggressive.

　　The beam moved with incredible speed toward the group of migrating Tribe members, instantly catching their attention. All of them looked up toward the figure within the beam. The Five Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Tribe instantly looked shocked.

　　“Yi Chenzi!!”

　　“He completely slaughtered seven or eight Tribes in the area recently! He uses the people he kills as blood sacrifices to further his cultivation!”

　　“If Heaven wishes to exterminate our Tribe, then all we can do is be cautious. How come we have to run into this damned Yi Chenzi!”

　　This approaching beam of light was none other than Yi Chenzi, who Meng Hao had chased in the Realm of the Bridge Ruins. In the midst of the chase, the Bridge Slaves showed up, giving rise to a huge tempest. Otherwise, the man would have been killed by Meng Hao.

　　His head was very small, but he was quite tall and looked like a rat. His appearance made it so that others could recognize him instantly. He flew through mid-air, a vicious expression on his face.

　　Half a month earlier, he had returned from the Realm of the Bridge Ruins. When he reappeared, he found himself in the same place where he had left, which was on the border of the Western Desert North region. He was not pleased with his journey into the Realm of the Bridge Ruins, and had been left with a thorough fear of Meng Hao.

　　That was actually the reason he’d come back so early; he could only sigh at his misfortune in running into Meng Hao. Back in the Western Desert, he kept trying to figure out where Meng Hao came from, fearful of running into him again.

　　After much thought, he came to the conclusion that there was no way Meng Hao could possibly be from the North region. After all, the Cultivation base of the Tribes in the North region was the weakest of all. It had been years since someone had appeared who could be considered Chosen of Heaven. Yi Chenzi also figured that the North region would be most severely affected by the Apocalypse, and would have the greatest collection of migrating Tribes. It was quite suitable for him.

　　Therefore, he came to the north.