Chapter 260: Five Years Without a Fight!

　　As Meng Hao disappeared off into the moonlight, he looked back and saw Xu Qing standing there on the mountain peak. Memories of the times he had spent with her filled his mind.

　　The first time he handed her a medicinal pill in the Reliance Sect. Outside the Immortal’s cave in the Reliance Sect, when he gave her a Cosmetic Cultivation pill. Her voice underneath the moonlight. Then their time together in the Black Sieve Sect Blessed Land. And now.

　　For some reason, it seemed as if many stories lay therein.

　　Meng Hao wasn’t sure if this was romantic love. The feelings within in him now were things he’d never felt before, never experienced. What he did know was that every time he saw Xu Qing, he felt happiness well up within him that seemed to have been buried deep in his memories.

　　It was a good feeling.

　　In fact, during his five years in the Violet Fate Sect, the thing he found himself thinking about most often was cold Xu Qing, standing under the moonlight, her black hair floating in the wind.

　　“I wonder what it would be like… if the Reliance Sect were still there, if the Black Sieve Sect hadn’t taken Elder Sister Xu away? What if we were still back in the Reliance Sect?” Meng Hao looked forward again. The moonlight shone down onto his back as he proceeded off into the distance. Questions such as that had no answer.

　　He drew further and further away….

　　Two days later, a pair of prismatic beams shot through the air above a path to the teleportation portal which led to the Barren Mountains. They were none other than Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun. Their task having been accomplished, they were now on their way back to the Sect.

　　After leaving the Black Sieve Sect, Zhou Dekun, had cleared his throat and then said, “Aiii. You should get out of the Sect more often and make more friends with these Cultivator Clans. You know what? How about this: I’ll take you to meet some of them while we’re on our way to the teleportation portal.”

　　Looking sorrowful, he had continued, “We’re Furnace Lords, and we spend most of our time holed up in the Sect. You can’t deny that concocting pills takes a lot of resources. What you can earn in the Sect isn’t enough to survive on. So… ah, Fang Mu, whenever you get sent out of the Sect, don’t be in a hurry to get back. Take some time to interact with the outside. They have wealth to spare, and are the perfect companions for alchemists like us.”

　　Meng Hao had nodded approvingly. After the events in the black Sieve Sect, the previous hard feelings between him and Zhou Dekun had disappeared. They now had a relatively good relationship.

　　Thus, Zhou Dekun spent the better part of half a month taking Meng Hao to the various Cultivator Clans in the region, as well as to a mid-sized Sects, where they were received with great ceremony. No matter where they went, they were treated with utmost respect. Seeing the pretentious air with which Zhou Dekun carried himself amongst these Cultivator Clans made Meng Hao smile.

　　Furthermore, whatever needs they had were met; in fact, whenever there were opportunities to sell medicinal pills, the Spirit Stones came flowing into their bags of holding. That caused Meng Hao’s eyes to shine brightly. During the half month, he was able to sell quite a few medicinal pills.

　　Actually, most of the pills he had sold were ones he had acquired from Chen Jiaxi.

　　Finally, half a month later, Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun were nearing the teleportation portal that led to the Barren Mountains

　　The Barren Mountains were located very near to the center of the Southern Domain, an area that could be considered a major intersection between the various Sects and Clans. Because of the location of this teleportation portal, it had eventually turned into a centralized travel hub.

　　In a valley in the east of the Barren Mountains was a location that usually bustled with activity. Now, however, it could only be described as gruesome.

　　The reek of blood filled the air, and the ground was littered with corpses. Searching through the corpses for bags of holding were a few dozen Cultivators who wore black robes and white masks. Occasionally they would encounter someone gasping their last breaths, and would immediately run them through with a sword.

　　Beyond the black-robed Cultivators was a black, iron cage, several meters tall. Considering the cage floated in the air and emanated a mysterious glow, it was obviously a magical item. Inside the cage were two Cultivators.

　　Their faces were pale, and they were both unconscious. They were splattered with blood, and were clearly seriously injured, but not dead. A faint aroma of medicinal pills emanated off of them; they were obviously alchemists. One of them wore a long green robe, which was embroidered with a pill furnace, marking him as an alchemist of the World Pill Division.

　　Not too far away, three Cultivators were locked in magical combat in mid-air. Ripples spread out through the air. This was not the magic of the Nascent Soul stage; however, the level of power made it obvious that they were not Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but rather Core Formation.

　　Of the three Core Formation Cultivators, two wore black clothes and azure masks. Their attacks were vicious; they were only of the early Core Formation stage, but were clearly beyond normal.

　　As they attacked, booms filled the valley.

　　“Who are you?!” roared the besieged Core Formation Cultivator. “I’m from the Golden Frost Sect….” Blood sprayed from his mouth as he shot backward.

　　There was no response to his question. Of the two azure-masked Cultivators, one was pudgy, the other skinny. They advanced forward, their attacks growing even more vicious.

　　It was at this exact moment that suddenly, one of the three teleportation portals in the valley began to glow. As soon as the glow rose up, the group several dozen Cultivators with black robes and white masks began to close in on the portal.

　　The glow of teleportation lasted for the space of a few breaths, and then slowly began to disappear. Two figures appeared: Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun.

　　Zhou Dekun was laughing and saying something to Meng Hao.

　　“I have a good relationship with several of the Cultivator Clans in the Barren Mountains. Next, I’m going to take you to….”

　　Meng Hao was smiling, but in an instant, his expression immediately changed. Even as the teleportation was completing, before he and Zhou Dekun could see anything on the outside, a sense of danger rose up within him.

　　Before he could speak, the sense of danger rose to the heavens. Meng Hao’s face changed. He flicked his left sleeve, and a wild wind sprang up, rippling toward Zhou Dekun and knocking him to the side. Borrowing some of the momentum, Meng Hao’s body snapped like a willow branch off at another angle.

　　Meng Hao and Zhou Dekun flew off into opposite directions. Almost in the same instant that they left the teleportation portal, a boom filled the air as the combined magical might of the dozens of Cultivators slammed down onto it.

　　As the boom echoed out, Meng Hao shot backward nine meters, both hands flashing incantation gestures and then waving out in front of him. Popping sounds rang out as the incoming power of the dozens of Cultivators dissipated.

　　Zhou Dekun’s face flickered. After being pushed off of the teleportation portal by Meng Hao, his right hand flickered in an incantation sign and then slammed into the ground. A great beam of light shot out from his body, blocking the power of the magical attack. Despite being of the late Foundation Establishment stage, blood sprayed from his mouth. His eyes filled with astonishment and fury as he looked at his attackers.

　　Meng Hao’s eyes filled with a cold glow. It had been a long time since he engaged in battle magic with anyone. During his five years in the Violet Fate Sect, he hadn’t made even a single attack against anyone. However, his skill in battle magic, and his ability to kill, had by no means been reduced. In fact, his five years of hibernation had made him even stronger.

　　Some of that had to do with the Dao of alchemy and the Dao of poison. During the past five years, he had concocted no small amount of poisons. Killing intent flickered in his eyes as he looked at the dozen or so Cultivators in black robes and white masks.

　　The instant he saw them, he could sense the intense killing intent radiating off of them. He saw the corpses laying around on the ground, and the two people in the cage. He also could see the battle going on in the air off in the distance.

　　He didn’t hesitate at all. His right hand slapped his bag of holding, and the two wooden swords flew out. Their sword aura flared up; they had been kept in silence for a very long time, and now that they were out, a massive killing intent boiled up. This caused most of the black-robed Cultivators to turn their heads toward Meng Hao.

　　“How dare you!” roared Zhou Dekun. “I’m a Furnace Lord of the East Pill Division. You…” He hadn’t personally engaged in magical combat for a very long time. Ever since becoming a Furnace Lord, he had trodden a path filled with courtesy and respect. Yet just now, even before he could step off of the teleportation platform, he had been the victim of a sneak attack.

　　Before Zhou Dekun could even finish speaking, Meng Hao saw the eyes of the black robed men beginning to glisten as they looked over toward the old man.

　　“Not good,” thought Meng Hao, his eyes flashing. Without a moment’s hesitation, his body flickered, and he shot forward.

　　He moved at incredible speed, the two wooden swords screaming next were like two Sword Dragons that charged directly toward two of the black-robed men. Before the two men could retreat, the wooden swords stabbed through their foreheads, coming out the other sides of their heads in fountains of red and white.

　　Continuing forward, Meng Hao flashed an incantation and then shoved his palm forward. Multiple images of a hand appeared. They began to emit a roaring sound, then fell apart into small attacks which shot toward the black-robed men. The black-robed men instantly fell back.

　　“Senior Zhou,” Meng transmitted to Zhou Dekun, “don’t forget the ability of the robe! Get out of here!” The dozens of Cultivators immediately split into two groups, one of which headed toward Meng Hao, the other toward Zhou Dekun.

　　Everything was happening too quickly. Zhou Dekun was in a panic. However, as soon as Meng Hao reminded him, he stamped his foot onto the ground. His Furnace Lord’s robe began to glow, and suddenly he disappeared.

　　He had just activated the teleportation function of the Furnace Lord robe, which he could only do three times. Seeing Zhou Dekun disappear, a cold snort filled the air. One of the two Core Formation Cultivators, the pudgy one, transformed into a beam of light and shot in pursuit of Zhou Dekun.

　　As he disappeared off into the distance, his voice rang out, “We have some East Pill Division Cultivators delivered right to our doorstep. Brother Yang, I’ll go catch the one that just ran off!”

　　Without a word, the other Core Formation Cultivator, the skinny one, resumed his battle with the man from the Golden Frost Sect, who was clearly seriously injured at this point. From the look of things, he would be slain at any moment.

　　Down on the ground, the dozens of black-robed men turned their attention from Zhou Dekun to Meng Hao.

　　Meng Hao didn’t flee. His eyes glittered with killing intent, and the corners of his mouth turned up into a slight smile. It had been a long time since he had been able to make any sort of attack against anyone. These people in front of him were mere Foundation Establishment Cultivators. In Meng Hao’s eyes, they were already dead.

　　“I haven’t killed anyone in five years. I guess you guys are going to make me break my record of abstinence!” This was the first time in five years in which Meng Hao’s Cultivation Base would explode to its full potential!

　　—–

　　This chapter was sponsored by Hein Haugeberg