Chapter 136: Zhou Daya!

　　Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever as the ten Cultivators passed him up. He continued to fly onward, although not as quickly. Soon, the other Cultivators were much further past him. His eyes flickered slightly. He didn’t leave, but continued to follow them, looking exactly as if he were seeking the source of the Heavenly Tribulation and, like the rest of the others, more Tribulation Lightning.

　　“Why did that Heavenly Tribulation come?” said Meng Hao in the same tone as the others. He looked very thoughtful as he asked, “What is there about this place that provoked it?!”

　　“Good question! I’ve never seen Heavenly Tribulation like that before. Don’t tell me there was a person here transcending Tribulation? No one has done that since ancient times, although you can read about it in the ancient records….”

　　“Yeah, it’s really weird…”

　　It was afternoon by the time the Tribulation clouds began to disperse. The midday sun shone over the land. Nearly a thousand people were scouring the area, but couldn’t find any clues. Eventually though, they found the volcano.

　　Before anyone could enter it, three beams of light appeared overhead, each of them three hundred meters wide. Soon three people appeared. No one could see their faces clearly as they flew directly into the mouth of the volcano.

　　Even though the surrounding Cultivators couldn’t see their faces, they could sense the powerful pressure they radiated. Only late Core Formation Cultivators in the Pseudo Nascent Soul stage could emit pressure like that.

　　Within the large group of people, Meng Hao’s pupils constricted. However, he didn’t bat an eyelid. Moments later, the three people flew out from within the volcano. Their eyes swept over the crowd, which allowed everyone to see their appearances clearly.

　　“It’s the Black Cloud Elders!”

　　“So, it’s them. They’re the honor guard of the Black Sieve Outer Sect….”

　　“This place is within the area controlled by the Black Sieve Sect, so for them to appear is nothing out of the ordinary. Now that they’re here, there’s really no point for us to be here….”

　　The three old Cultivators wore long black robes, upon which were embroidered flowery cloud shapes. After looking around, the three of them seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Then, a voice rang out.

　　“This area is sealed. Leave this place!” They sat cross-legged in mid-air as one of the three produced a jade slip. He flicked his sleeve, and the jade slip transformed into a black mist which rose up into the sky.

　　Meng Hao lowered his head with a resigned look on his face, just like the surrounding crowd, then began to disperse along with them.

　　“So, it turns out this place is close to the Black Sieve Sect….” thought Meng Hao, looking off into the distance. Suddenly, he increased his speed, transforming into a prismatic beam and shooting away. His right hand slapped his bag of the Cosmos, and a jade slip appeared in his hand. He looked at it closely.

　　“Wow, the wind generated by that roc blew all the way to … the Black Sieve Sect…..” Suddenly, an image appeared in his mind of that day back in the Reliance Sect when he had walked along with Elder Sister Xu.

　　“I wonder how Elder Sister Xu is doing?” he thought. He flew along for a few more days. After a while, he suddenly frowned. Spotting a location some distance away, he landed down next to a patch of forest.

　　His right hand slapped his bag of the Cosmos, and Chu Yuyan flew out. Her face was pale, and the instant she appeared, she looked at Meng Hao with cold eyes. She didn’t say a word.

　　His face calm, Meng Hao knelt down and ran his hands across her body. Of course, it was impossible not to feel the litheness of her figure. Her eyes widened and fury covered her face.

　　“What are you doing?!” she cried. But even as the words came out of her mouth, Meng Hao pulled his hand out from deep within the warmth of her robe to reveal four medicinal pills.

　　“These pills belong to me,” he said, tucking them away. He had long since guessed that Chu Yuyan had hidden away some of the Perfect Foundation minor ingredient pills that she had concocted.

　　Seeing him take away the pills, she let out humph. Her Cultivation base was now restored, but being tied up within the black net, she had no way to free herself.

　　“As we agreed, I’m going to let you go.”

　　Meng Hao looked down at her, then waved his right hand. The black net widened, and then flew off of her.

　　“I told you I would get you out of there, and Meng Hao never goes back on his word.”

　　Almost the same instant that Meng Hao took back the black net, Chu Yuyan’s eyes flashed with a strange light. Her Cultivation base was back at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, and now it seemed as if she were about to flash an incantation gesture.

　　Meng Hao looked at her indifferently, as calm as ever. Her heart sank, and she said nothing for a moment. A complicated expression appeared on her face.

　　“The enmity between us is settled,” she said, gritting her teeth. “But when we meet in the future, we will still be enemies. As for everything that happened in the volcano, you can never speak of it to anyone. If you do, I will be forced to kill you!” She hadn’t been awake for long, and didn’t know what had happened regarding the Tribulation or the Blood Immortal Legacy.

　　But as for her feelings toward Meng Hao, they were vastly different than what she had felt when she first met him. He looked like he was still at the early Foundation Establishment stage. But the way he stood there so calmly filled her with a powerful dread.

　　That dread was partly because of what she had experienced during the half year inside the volcano. The other was because of a feeling of imminent danger which rose up from within her heart.

　　She sensed that if she attacked at this moment, she would be doing something she would regret forever.

　　Her cold words having been spoken, she suddenly flew up into the air, transforming into a white beam that shot off into the distance. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to get as far away from him as possible. The events of the past half year in the volcano were now complex memories that would never be forgotten.

　　Meng Hao watched her beautiful, slender form slowly disappear. He also thought back to the half year in the volcano. He thought about when her garment had been in rags, revealing her tender, snow-white skin and graceful figure.

　　He stood there smiling slightly for a moment, before coolly saying, “If you’ve seen enough, you can come out now.”

　　His voice was met with only silence from the surrounding area. He lifted his right hand, and a three hundred meter long Flame Dragon appeared. Instantly, the entire area filled with blistering heat.

　　“No, no, no,” said an alarmed voice. “Fellow Daoist, there’s no need to get excited….” The voice came from the air not too far away. Suddenly, a shimmering figure appeared which then coalesced into a young man. He had a somewhat depraved look to him, and in his hand was a paper talisman. He looked nervously at Meng Hao.

　　The Flame Dragon’s massive head was staring directly at him, its sinister eyes glowing. It seemed to be covering his every path of escape as it approached.

　　His expression as normal as ever, Meng Hao said, “His Excellency has been following me for a while, I’m curious as to his objective.” His eyes flashed coldly, causing deep anxiety to well up in the heart of the depraved-looking Cultivator.

　　His Cultivation base was at the early Foundation Establishment stage. But facing up against Meng Hao, he felt an incredible pressure bearing down on him. This was especially so because of the three hundred meter long Fire Dragon that Meng Hao had summoned. His heart shook. From what he could tell, this Fire Dragon seemed to have the power of a Cultivation base of the late Foundation Establishment stage.

　　The Fire Dragon’s appearance had basically locked down the entire area, forcing him to reveal himself.

　　“Senior, I am Zhou Daya from the Golden Frost Sect,” he said, his face pale. He quickly held out his identification medallion for Meng Hao to see. “Fellow Daoist, please, please do not attack. I have no ill intentions. I just happened to see the flag you used to absorb the Tribulation Lightning. I was very excited, and followed you to see if I could have a chance to trade for it.”

　　Having followed Meng Hao this entire time, of course he’d seen Chu Yuyan. He recognized her, obviously, and was shocked. He knew that Chu Yuyan was a Chosen of the Violet Fate Sect, and also Wang Tengfei’s beloved and fiancé. And yet, he had just observed her wearing mens’ clothing, which obviously belonged to the young man who now stood in front of him.

　　Seeing the complicated look in her eyes, and having heard what she said to Meng Hao, Zhou Daya of course had experienced countless speculations in his heart as to what was going on.

　　In fact, he had come to the conclusion that he must have just witness some form of adultery…. This in turn caused him to feel quite nervous. However, it also caused him to feel extremely excited.

　　“It’s adultery!” he thought. “Two adulterers! If the Little Patriarch knew about this, he would be really happy. In fact, he might even give me some kind of reward.”

　　“The Golden Frost Sect,” said Meng Hao, gazing coldly at the depraved-looking Cultivator. He frowned. “Do you know Li Fugui?”

　　“Li Fugui?” said Zhou Daya, looking surprised. “Uh, you mean Little Patriarch? Of course I know him! Everyone in the Golden Frost Sect knows the Little Patriarch.” From the expression Meng Hao saw when he looked into his eyes, it didn’t seem as if he was lying. Meng Hao felt a tug at his heart.

　　“How could Fatty have become a Little Patriarch?” he thought to himself. After a moment, his eyes fell to the paper talisman that Zhou Daya held in hand.

　　Zhou Daya’s heart flip-flopped. He hated to part with the talisman. But he forced himself to hand it over.

　　“Fellow Daoist, please don’t take offence. I, Zhou Daya, acted crudely today. Please accept my invisibility talisman as a token of apology for my indiscretion.”

　　Meng Hao eyed the invisibility talisman, sweeping it over with his Spiritual Sense. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary about it, he accepted it.

　　“The Golden Frost Sect is based in the State of Frigid Snow,” said Meng Hao coolly, his eyes narrow. “What brings you to this area?”

　　“The Black Sieve Sect didn’t participate in the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament,” he replied carefully. “Therefore, the Sect dispatched orders to myself and a few others to come here and investigate. Actually, we weren’t the only ones. There are people from various other Sects in the area as well. Not long after I arrived, I saw the Tribulation Lightning…” He seemed to be especially emphasizing that he was not alone here in the Black Sieve Sect region.

　　“Did your investigation produce any results?” asked Meng Hao placidly.

　　“This type of thing isn’t easy to investigate. Recently, the Black Sieve Sect has been distributing a lot of treasures to attract rogue Cultivators of the Foundation Establishment stage. After thinking about it for a while, I really think something is wrong with the whole situation.”

　　Meng Hao’s facial expression didn’t change. He looked at Zhou Daya for a moment, then without another word, flicked his sleeve and disappeared in a beam of light.

　　As his figure disappeared over the horizon, Zhou Daya’s heart began to relax. He wiped the sweat from his brow. Standing in front of Meng Hao, he had felt incredible pressure bearing down on him, and had been careful to exercise extreme caution.

　　Now, he was extremely happy, and his eye shone brightly.

　　“Adultery! That guy and Chu Yuyan committed adultery! She was even wearing his clothes. Haha! I have to get back as soon as possible to tell Little Patriarch about it. This news is going to make him super happy.” Back in the Sect, Zhou Daya was somewhat of a gossip and loved to spread news. Having come across what he believed to be an excellent rumour, he immediately flew up into the air, heading back toward the Sect’s established rendezvous point.