Chapter 263: Ancient Dao Geyser

　　The azure-masked Cultivator’s expression was somber. His eyes radiated coldness, a deep coldness that contained fury. From the moment he had entered the Core Formation stage and cultivated Core Qi, he had been able to sweep with ease across any other Cultivator who lacked Core Qi.

　　But today, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator had disintegrated his Core Qi, injuring him in the process, and then had just as quickly suppressed him. Despite all this, his fury burned as hotly as ever.

　　Even more infuriating was that someone he viewed to be as weak as an ant, had before his very eyes slaughtered all of his white-masked men. Such provocation caused killing intent to rise within his heart. However… even beneath such killing intent, the man had fled.

　　The coldness in the man’s eyes grew even sharper. He knew that if his fellow Sect members learned of this, they would surely ridicule him. After all, the Cultivator who had escaped from his hands was not adept in magic, but alchemy.

　　He couldn’t accept it, nor could he understand what had happened. In fact, among all the Cultivators he knew who were famous for their abilities in magic, he couldn’t think of any who could compare to this alchemist.

　　In terms of decisiveness, fighting skill, and treachery, he couldn’t help but think that this alchemist who had just fled, really seemed like a ruthless Black Lands Cultivator.

　　“How could there be an alchemist like this?!” He stared at the place where Meng Hao had just disappeared from. His Core Qi was now fully restored, but no matter how he cast his senses about, he couldn’t pick up the slightest track to follow.

　　It was clear that his opponent had teleported to somewhere very far way, somewhere he could not sense.

　　After some time passed, the azure-masked Cultivator gave a cold harrumph. “Well, he was injured by the frigid power of my Ten Flood Dragons. He can run away from me, but not from death, even if he is a Furnace Lord. Let’s see whether or not he dies in the end.

　　“He’s looking for death…. Foundation Establishment Cultivator…. No one can live more than ten days after being hit by the frigid power of my Ten Flood Dragons.” Abandoning thoughts of pursuing and killing, he turned and disappeared.

　　In the western region of the great Southern Domain is an area covered with thin mists. Few mountain ranges exist, and many lakes can be seen. Among them is one of the famous three Danger Zones of the Southern Domain, the Primordial Dao Lakes.

　　At a glance, the western regions seem to be covered with a myriad of mirrors placed on the ground. These mirrors are of course the countless lakes.

　　At this moment, above the middle of the one of the lakes, the previously glass-like waters suddenly began to ripple. A massive black hole appeared, and Meng Hao staggered out.

　　The instant he appeared, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. The blood was black, and emitted intense coldness. It splashed into the lake, and disappeared. However, moments later, the surface of the lake was covered in a thin sheet of ice.

　　Meng Hao’s face was pale. He lifted his head and looked around, then transformed into a prismatic beam that shot off into the distance.

　　Several days later, in one of the sparse mountain ranges in this western part of the Southern Domain, Meng Hao sat cross-legged inside of a freshly carved out Immortal’s Cave. He consumed medicinal pills and rotated his Cultivation base as he treated his injuries.

　　Time passed slowly. Soon, a month had gone by. During that time, Meng Hao didn’t step half a pace outside of the Immortal’s Cave. He was focused completely on treating his injuries. The Immortal’s Cave he was in was in a remote location. Considering that few people inhabited this western area, as well as the mists that covered the land, it was very peaceful.

　　Finally one day, Meng Hao’s eyes opened. His face was no longer pale, and his body was now mostly recovered.

　　“Azure-masked Cultivator!” Meng Hao’s eyes glowed with a cold aura. This was the first time he had been injured in five years, and the injury had been quite severe. Were it not for the Violet Pupil Transformation increasing his healing abilities, then he would not have lasted long enough to carve out this Immortal’s Cave.

　　Furthermore, were he not an alchemist, equipped with a variety of medicinal pills, he wouldn’t have been able to last through the month.

　　After all, he had been injured by a Core Formation expert who could wield Core Qi!

　　If the Core Formation expert had faced any Foundation Establishment Cultivator other than Meng Hao, that person would never have been able to flee, and would certainly have been defeated.

　　Meng Hao took a deep breath. His expression was grim as he produced a pill furnace and some medicinal pills, and then began to concoct. His injury was not completely healed. There was still intense coldness within his body.

　　Meng Hao began to concoct a medicinal pill specifically designed for his current circumstances.

　　A few more months passed. Three days after Meng Hao consumed his specially designed medicinal pill, his eyes suddenly opened. He then spat out the last of the icy coldness from within his body. It scattered about the Immortal’s Cave, causing frost to appear, which then turned into ice.

　　After a long moment passed, the cave began to return to normal.

　　If that azure-masked Cultivator was here to observe the scene, he wouldn’t be able to believe his eyes. He had complete faith that no Foundation Establishment Cultivator could survive the frigid power of the Ten Flood Dragons. However… Meng Hao had obviously recovered from his injuries.

　　He took a deep breath, and killing intent grew strong in his eyes. He sat there thoughtfully for a while, and then determination grew in his eyes. He smacked his bag of holding to produce the pill furnace once again.

　　He held it in his hand, lost in thought.

　　“I need to concoct a batch of pills that will help me to surge ahead. I need a medicinal pill that will without fail produce a Dao Pillar, something that exceeds Foundation Establishment Day, and will cause my Cultivation base to soar.” A deeply thoughtful look appeared in his eyes. In his mind, countless pill formulas appeared. Finally, he decided on a formula for a pill known as Stage Charging Pill.

　　“This pill can be used with the Three Mortalities Pill in order to break through from the Foundation Establishment Stage into the Core Formation stage!”

　　After thinking for a while longer, his eyes filled with decisiveness. He immediately produced a large amount of medicinal plants from his bag of holding and began to concoct the Stage Charging Pill. He focused his complete attention on the concoction process. Several days passed. Even while using the Alchemy Dao Transmutation Incantation, he failed several times. It wasn’t until the seventeenth day that he was able to successfully concoct the pill. 1

　　When it appeared, a medicinal aroma emanated out, filling the Immortal’s Cave. If Meng Hao hadn’t already made special preparations to prevent the aroma from seeping out of the Immortal’s Cave, it could very well have attracted unwanted attention.

　　Holding the pill in hand, his eyes glittered. He took out the copper mirror and an accumulation of Spirit Stones, then began to duplicate.

　　One Stage Charging Pill after another appeared, which Meng Hao all placed into pill bottles. Soon, ten full pill bottles were arranged neatly in front of him. He spit out the lightning mist, and sent the wooden swords circling around him. In addition, he activated the Furnace Lord medallion. Having made all of these preparations, he took a deep breath, picked up a Stage Charging Pill, and placed it into his mouth.

　　His seventh Dao pillar was already eighty percent complete. When he placed the pill into his mouth, it transformed into spiritual power which immediately caused his entire body to tremble. The seventh Dao Pillar began to emanate a purple glow, and became even more solid.

　　“Press on to the finish!” he thought, his eyes shining with determination. He then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

　　Time passed slowly. A month later, Meng Hao’s body began to tremble and wither up. He calmly produced a large handful of medicinal pills and began to put them in his mouth one after another.

　　Seven more days passed. A roaring filled his body, and a purple glow emanated out brightly, filling the entire Immortal’s Cave. The seventh Dao Pillar had fully appeared!

　　As soon as it did, Meng Hao’s Cultivation base shot upward. His Spiritual Sense grew stronger, and his battle prowess more formidable. His entire person was like an unsheathed sword, incomparably dangerous.

　　Now, he was no longer in the mid Foundation Establishment stage, but rather the late Foundation Establishment stage!

　　Even someone with a Flawless Foundation would not be able to give rise to the slightest bit of struggle against the suppressive pressure he could emit. As of now, he was without a doubt the number one person in the entire Foundation Establishment stage!

　　However, Meng Hao wasn’t content. Being matchless in the Foundation Establishment stage wasn’t something he had looked forward to. He wanted to fight that azure-masked Cultivator! To do that, his current Cultivation base simply wasn’t sufficient!

　　A bright glow filled his eyes, and he took another deep breath. He retrieved a vast amount of Spirit Stones and began to duplicate medicinal pills. These Spirit Stones included his profits from selling pills in the East Pill Division, as well as what had been gifted to him by the Black Sieve Sect, plus what he had received during his travels with Zhou Dekun as well. It was quite an amount, but every time Meng Hao looked at it, it didn’t seem enough for him.

　　However, if he truly wanted to go the distance today, then he would have to ignore the pain and use them to duplicate medicinal pills. The cultivation he was about to practice was something that no one in the Southern Domain had ever seen before.

　　Even Dao Children would not be able to squander medicinal pills in the way that Meng Hao was right now!

　　Time passed. One month, two months, three months….

　　Meng Hao lost track of the passage of time in his Immortal’s Cave. As he cultivated, his eighth Dao Pillar slowly became visible.

　　Ten percent, twenty percent, thirty percent…. After half a year, his eighth Dao Pillar was now eighty percent complete.

　　Meanwhile, outside in the Southern Domain, a violent windstorm of a commotion had arisen.

　　This storm came from the Black Lands!

　　Black Lands Cultivators were making incursions into the Southern Domain!!

　　More than seventy alchemists mysteriously disappeared!

　　These two events caused a huge commotion in the Southern Domain. The missing alchemists were mostly from the East Pill and World Pill Divisions, although other scattered alchemists were also involved. This unforeseen misfortune caused the fury of the Violet Fate Sect and the Golden Frost Sect to rise to the heavens.

　　These two Sects were the first to take action. Mysterious Patriarchs from both Sects immediately traveled to the Black Lands. According to the rumors, Grandmasters Pill Demon and Eternal Mountain both secretly made the trip themselves.

　　The Black Lands had existed for many years, and was a brutal place, but there was little the Southern Domain could do about it. The details of the affair between the two powers were not made public. The only thing that people knew was that the Golden Frost Sect did not recover any of their alchemists, whereas the Violet Fate Sect managed to bring back all of theirs, with the exception of a Furnace Lord named Zhou Dekun. After the incident, neither Sect brought up the Black Lands ever again.

　　As for the Black Lands, they laid down the flag and stilled the drums, so to speak. Everything seemed to go back to normal in the Southern Domain. No more alchemists went missing, and as for what was happening in the Black Lands, no one knew.

　　After half a year in which the Black Lands’ aggressiveness had been reigned in, a Dao Geyser appeared not far away from the Primordial Dao Lakes, in the western part of the Southern Domain.

　　Within the fountain of water that shot up from the geyser, an illusory image could be seen. It was an image from ancient times, of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator breaking through into the Core Formation stage.

　　The appearance of the geyser immediately caused a huge stir among the great Sects and Clans of the Southern Domain. Veteran old timers from the various Sect went to inspect the geyser, then left. Afterward, Chosen disciples of the Foundation Establishment stage, as well as Dao Children, were dispatched to continue observation of the geyser.

　　A message was sent out by a late Nascent Soul Stage Patriarch from the Solitary Sword Sect:

　　“This geyser contains enlightenment. Gain this enlightenment, and you might enter Core Formation. It is not suitable for us, but rather for you Foundation Establishment Cultivators.”

　　These words caused a huge commotion among all of the Foundation Establishment Chosen within the Southern Domain. From all areas, they began to flock to the western region of the Southern Domain. A month later, Zhou Jie, Dao Child from the Black Sieve Sect, made a breakthrough next to the Dao Geyser, and entered Core Formation. He formed a Green Core, astonishing everyone.

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　　This chapter was sponsored by Joshua Isaacs

　　1. Meng Hao learned the Alchemy Dao Transmutation Incantation in chapter 242