Chapter 344: The Great Church of the Golden Light!

　　Bitterness filled Big-head’s heart; however, in order to preserve his life, he put on a delighted expression and then obediently retrieved a small jar from his bag of holding.

　　It was about the size of a fist, and a handful of holes could be seen on its surface. When wind blew through the holes, they would emit a mournful whistling. There didn’t seem to be anything special about the sound, and looking at the jar, Meng Hao couldn’t see anything very unique about it. Even his Spiritual Sense didn’t reveal anything special.

　　In fact, had he slain this Patriarch Big-head, upon searching his bag of holding, even if Meng Hao happened to pick up the jar, he would most likely have taken it to be some sort of musical instrument and then paid it no more heed.

　　Apparently fearing some sort of misunderstanding, Patriarch Big-head quickly bit his left index finger, then dropped some blood into nine of the holes which covered the jug, doing so in some specific order.

　　It appeared as if it were some type of locking mechanism that Meng Hao had never seen before. Now that it had been opened by Big-head, the jar began to emit a black glow. There was clearly no wind in the area, and yet the jar continued to make the whimpering noises.

　　Suddenly, streams of magical symbols began to float up from the small jar. They circled around the area, along with a sinister aura.

　　Meng Hao took a deep breath. He lifted a finger on his right hand, causing the black jar to fly over to him. It landed on his palm, whereupon he examined it closely.

　　Gradually, Meng Hao began to get excited. The magical symbols were forming together to make the images of howling souls. Looking at it, he got the profound sense that this was indeed some sort of legacy.

　　“This is a treasure I stumbled upon in some ruins many years ago,” said Patriarch Big-head, choosing his words carefully, and not daring to leave anything out. “I discovered it on the body of a Demonic Cultivator that had two horns on its head. It also had a jade slip, which I read and then destroyed. Recorded within was the method for using this Evil Wind jar. It also said that the Demonic Cultivator came from some place called the Fourth Mountain, and that before dying, needed to pass on the legacy.”

　　If Patriarch Big-head hadn’t mentioned the Fourth Mountain, then Meng Hao might have continued to be suspicious. But after hearing the term, an imperceptible flicker ran through his eyes.

　　Matters regarding the Nine Mountains and Seas were not things that average Cultivators knew about. In Meng Hao’s estimation, people who were aware of such topics were definitely extremely scarce.

　　Without batting an eyelid, he gathered up the small jar and then looked at Patriarch Big-head.

　　The man immediately began to grow more nervous, and quickly said, “Fellow Daoist, when I’m around, the Treasure Pavilions of the three great Sects should be safe. But since the other two Sects know that their respective Patriarchs are dead, it won’t be long before their disciples start dividing up the treasures. Sir, don’t you think we should get there as quickly as possible?”

　　At the moment, hundreds of beams of light were approaching from off in the distance. The impressive sight of so many people made Big-head even more nervous.

　　His fear of Meng Hao couldn’t become any greater. His trepidation reached deep into his heart; if he could go back in time, he definitely wouldn’t ever provoke this inhuman creature.

　　Even if he did provoke him somehow, he definitely wouldn’t do anything to break the man’s spell formation. In fact, to save his own life, he would immediately kill the other Patriarchs from the other two great Sects.

　　Meng Hao could tell what he was thinking with a mere look. After a moment’s thought, he nodded.

　　Big-head let out a sigh of relief, but then suddenly became nervous once again. He really was worried that the disciples of the other two great Sects would divvy up the treasure. Moments later, he and Meng Hao became prismatic beams of light that shot back toward the region of Dongluo City.

　　A few days later, a glowing yellow shield could be seen covering a snowy white mountain which was some distance from Dongluo City. The whiteness of the mountain and the yellow glow mixed together to make a beautiful sight, albeit a bit incongruous.

　　Meng Hao hovered outside of the mountain. He hadn’t personally attacked. No, that had been left up to Big-head and the bald-headed Cultivator who had once been a member of the nine Cultivators from Black Mountain. They, along with the hundreds of other Cultivators following Meng Hao, filled the sky. Booming explosions rang out from all directions.

　　Big-head spared no effort whatsoever. His eyes were bloodshot; he feared that they would be unable to break through the shield to get inside. The bald Cultivator was thinking similar thoughts, and clearly wanted to ingratiate himself to Meng Hao. The two of them almost seemed to be competing as they went all out with various techniques.

　　Beneath the powerful attacks of two people like this, bolstered by hundreds of other Cultivators, this trifling great Sect was only able to hold out for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Then, the shield collapsed into countless fragments of yellow light. As the shield disintegrated, the whiteness of the snowy mountain beneath became visible.

　　No massacre was necessary; after the shield broke, the nearly one hundred Cultivators of the Han River Sect immediately pledged allegiance to Meng Hao.

　　Furthermore, they respectfully handed over the wealth and treasures of their Sect. Meng Hao’s forces now numbered nearly six hundred as they headed toward another of the great Sects.

　　They moved with incredible speed, but this time, they met some resistance. It was a middle-aged man who had three totem tattoos on his body. He was quite tall, and his attacks were accompanied by the illusory image of a mountain and river as well as a writhing Poisonous Flood Dragon. Even as everyone else pledged their allegiance, this man launched a vicious sneak attack. He instantly killed several of the other disciples who had suggested to capitulate, and then attempted to flee.

　　Even as he attempted to break past the sealing spells to escape, Meng Hao’s eyes glittered coldly. He shot forward, and in the blink of an eye was in front of the man. He punched him lightly with one fist.

　　A boom filled the air, and blood sprayed from the man’s mouth. His eyes filled with venomous hatred, but before he could use any magical techniques, Meng Hao punched him again. He didn’t kill him, but instead took control of his Cultivation base and then knocked him out.

　　As for the final Sect, the Talisman Sect, there were no problems there. With Big-head present, there were no defenses to break through, and the hundred or so disciples of the Sect welcomed Meng Hao respectfully.

　　The main gate of the Talisman Sect was located in a wide basin surrounded by mountains. The Sect was quiet and tasteful, constructed in an orderly fashion. Upon seeing it, Meng Hao decided to occupy the place for the time being.

　　A few days later, the parrot and the meat jelly both regained their senses. The parrot was extremely excited to see the roughly seven hundred new followers. It flapped his wings, squawking out orders as it began to train the Cultivators.

　　As for the meat jelly, it lazily flew onto the head of someone who caught its eye, whereupon it continued to deride and criticize the parrot as usual.

　　Meng Hao asked them about the lightning randomly falling down from the sky. However, each time he brought it up, the parrot and meat jelly would glance around quickly and then suddenly disappear.

　　Finally Meng Hao intentionally provoked the parrot. Once its honor was challenged, it blurted out something that caused Meng Hao’s face to look unsightly: “So what!” it said. “Lord Fifth delayed the Heavenly Tribulation. Of course some lightning will slip through every once in a while. It’s not going to kill you, it’s only a bit of lightning!”

　　With that, the parrot flapped its wings and quickly flew off, leaving Meng Hao alone in the secluded meditation chamber that used to belong Big-head.

　　Time flashed by, and soon it was half a month later. During the half month, the name of Patriarch Golden Light had risen to complete prominence in this entire region of the Black Lands. Granted, the name hadn’t traveled too far, but all the local Cultivators knew the name.

　　According to the growing legend, Patriarch Golden Light loved killing Cultivators. He drank alcohol out of Dao Pillars, consumed Cores, and committed any imaginable evil. Such descriptions grew more and more exaggerated, until everyone who talked about him grew pale in the face from fear.

　　Patriarch Golden Light, a fierce Cultivator and leader of a generation. He was now thoroughly entrenched as a power in the area.

　　People in the Black Lands were becoming more anxious. Ten days before, one of the eight remaining Clans of what had once been the Alliance of United Nine Cities, was suddenly attacked by the Black Lands Palace. It was completely exterminated, and overnight, the city changed hands. Then, the Black Lands Palace issued a command throughout the entire Black Lands.

　　It said that the Black Lands Palace was now the only power within the Black Lands. As for the seven other Clans who made up the so-called United Nine, they were to be exterminated.

　　A great war had truly begun!

　　Amidst the chaos and general feeling of nervousness, Meng Hao’s power base suddenly became something of a safe haven. More and more Cultivators joined, including some of the Core Formation stage.

　　During the half month in which all of this happened, Dongluo City grew emptier and emptier. Suddenly, they began to look toward Meng Hao and his force of nearly a thousand people the same way that a tiger eyes its prey.

　　A few days later, the term ‘Church of the Golden Light’ began to spread. Other than the Dongluo Clan itself, it was now the most powerful force in the region of Dongluo City.

　　In this wartime situation, Meng Hao’s force of nearly one thousand men continued to grow. He was thoroughly in command in this area!

　　Actually, Meng Hao wasn’t really aware of a lot of the developments. The parrot and the meat jelly seemed incredibly interested in recruiting more Cultivators. The meat jelly felt that converting a thousand people at once was definitely something it had never done before, and would be an amazing accomplishment regardless of whether you were talking about past, present or future lives.

　　As far as the parrot was concerned, when it heard the voices of roughly a thousand people chanting the words regarding having faith in the Lord Fifth to gain eternal life, all of the feathers on its body would stand on end.

　　It seemed to have already forgotten about how every few days lightning would fall from the sky and shoot toward Meng Hao.