Chapter 146: This is Ultimate Vexation! (2/2)
Meng Hao’s eyes flickered as he looked at her.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Fellow Daoist Han.” At this point, the group had flown quite a distance into the fissure. The cliff walls around them were gradually turning black in color. The rocks were now beginning to glitter.
Before Han Bei could respond to him, the surrounding Cultivators began to speak excitedly.
“This is… a crystal cliff!”
“What is this place? There’s so much crystal! It’s even superior to high-grade Spirit Stones!”
Some of the Cultivators flew up and struck the crystal cliff face, clearly intending to dig some out.
However, the instant they struck the cliff wall, blood-curdling screams rang out as their bodies withered up. Their life force, flesh and blood were sucked away in an instant. In the blink of an eye, they were transformed into drifting ash, including their bags of holding. The places where they had touched the cliff walls now seemed to have grown a bit more crystal than before. It twinkled mysteriously.
Seeing this, Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed. The surrounding rogue Cultivators sucked in their breaths. As for the Black Sieve Sect disciples, they didn’t even seem to notice. Apparently, they were already aware of what the crystal cliff wall could do.
“Brother Meng,” said Han Bei with a deep, meaningful smile. “You’re being watched. Please look out for yourself. By the way… are you really surnamed Meng?” Before he could respond, she left his side.
Suddenly, an enormous roaring sound could be heard. It filled the air, causing everything to shake. Then, just as suddenly, it disappeared. Meng Hao frowned as Han Bei flew away from him. Then his gaze fell onto an enormous stone door up ahead, which Patriarch Violet Sieve and the beautiful middle-aged woman had worked together to destroy.
The stone door was refusing to stay in pieces. It seemed to have been congealed by some unusual power that caused it to grow back together.
Past the broken the stone door, Meng Hao saw another group of two hundred cross-legged Cultivators. They stood up. In front of them was a pale-faced young man who held a pearl in his hands. The pearl let off a gentle glow which seemed to be slowing the recovery process of the stone door.
“Junior Liu Wu extends greetings to the Patriarchs.” As he spoke, Patriarch Violet Sieve and the beautiful woman entered through the stone door. They flicked their sleeves, causing the door to repair itself even more slowly.
Next, the group of a thousand Cultivators, including Meng Hao, shot quickly through. It didn’t matter whether or not they wanted to, because behind the group were the three Core Formation eccentrics. With them taking up the rear, no one would dare to retreat backward.
The path beyond the stone door was even stranger. There were four similar doors in total that had to be destroyed, beyond each of which waited more Black Sieve Sect disciples.
As they proceeded, Meng Hao grew more and more cautious. Obviously, the Black Sieve Sect had investigated this area more than once. In fact, they seemed to have done so many times.
“These stone doors are like seals. This place….” Meng Hao looked ahead, his brow furrowed. Suddenly, he stopped moving. He wasn’t the only one; everyone stopped and stared ahead.
There in front of them was a large black door. This door was not made of stone, but rather of some metallic substance. It was inset into both cliff walls, and emitted a black glow. On the surface of the door was an enormous face. The face’s eyes were closed, as if it were sleeping.
As they approached, the eyes suddenly opened, and the face emitted a roar which caused everything to shake. Even Patriarch Violet Sieve couldn’t prevent himself from coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Meng Hao did as well. The blood spit up by the group of people turned into a stream that the giant face sucked in. After gobbling up the blood, it let out a burp.
The face’s voice was like the roar of thunder: “In accordance with the orders of my master, I guard Ultimate Vexation. Without the pendant, you may not enter the… Uh, what are you guys doing here again?”
Patriarch Violet Sieve and the beautiful woman both clasped hands and bowed deeply, reverent looks on their faces. Patriarch Violet Sieve pulled out a bamboo tube, out from which flew a dilapidated hide.
When he saw the hide, Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed. The feeling he got when looking at it was exactly the same as that from the strange figure that night.
As the hide flew out, the indistinct image of an eye appeared. The eye stared at Meng Hao.
Their gazes locked, and Meng Hao’s pupils constricted.
The hide unfurled and came to rest in front of the face.