Chapter 841: The Ancient Road of Trial by Fire is Opened! (1/2)

Chapter 841: The Ancient Road of Trial by Fire is Opened!

“The next time we meet,” murmured Meng Hao, “it will be out in the starry sky.” The departure of Pill Demon, Chu Yuyan, and the others, was too sudden, and left him feeling empty.

He thought back to his hundreds of years of cultivation, and it seemed like there many people who had ended up departing, and were no longer in the lands of South Heaven.

Patriarch Reliance was gone. Xu Qing was gone. Pill Demon was gone. Chu Yuyan was gone….

Thankfully, Fatty, Chen Fan, and the others were still there. There were some people Meng Hao wasn’t sure about; the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch for example, Han Bei from the former Black Sieve Sect, and of course Dong Hu, who had joined the Reliance Sect at the same time as him.

Meng Hao sighed. He did not leave the Southern Domain along with his father. Instead, he went to the Golden Frost Sect. He and Fatty drank together. Fatty sent his more than one hundred beloved concubines away, and he and Meng Hao sat on top of a mountain, drinking and talking about the past.

They talked about the State of Zhao, and about Yunjie County. They talked about the Reliance Sect, and everything that had happened there. Eventually, evening fell, and the stars slowly came out. It was impossible to tell how much exactly they had drunk.

“I’m going to join the disciple recruitment event held by the Three Great Daoist Societies of the Ninth Mountain and Sea!” declared Fatty, tossing aside his alcohol flagon and looking determinedly over at Meng Hao. “I don’t want to be stuck in the lands of South Heaven for the rest of my life. I want to go out into the starry sky!”

Meng Hao looked back at Fatty. He himself had heard from Zhixiang about the Three Great Daoist Societies’ disciple recruitment trial by fire. News about the matter had now spread throughout the entire Ninth Mountain and Sea, even here to Planet South Heaven.

Fatty gazed at Meng Hao with an expression of determination.

“You don’t need to say anything,” Fatty continued. “I know that you won’t stay in the lands of South Heaven for much longer either. Your path exists in the starry sky. Well, we’re brothers, so if you go, then I won’t stay behind! I’m going to give it a shot!”

Meng Hao didn’t respond at first. He simply lifted his wine flagon and took a drink, looked at Fatty, and smiled.

Then he said, “Considering those teeth of yours, you’ll definitely get some good fortune!”

Fatty laughed uproariously, then grabbed a flying sword and began to file at his teeth. The two of them laughed together, and then continued to chat until the sky turned bright. Meng Hao stayed with Fatty for a few days before leaving. The next stop on his journey through the Southern Domain was to visit Chen Fan.

Chen Fan sat as he always did, next to the mountain boulder. Meng Hao meditated silently next to him. Chen Fan no longer drank alcohol, but the stubble of a beard was still visible on his chin. An abstruse gleam could be seen deep in his eyes, but most of his time was spent gazing at the boulder, as if he were immersed in memories.

Meng Hao didn’t interrupt him, but rather sat next to him for an entire night.

When the sky grew bright and the time had come for Meng Hao to leave, Chen Fan suddenly said, “I’ve decided to go to the trial by fire held by the Three Great Daoist Societies.”

Meng Hao nodded and left.

His next stop was the Blood Demon Sect. He saw Wang Youcai, who, much like Fatty and Chen Fan, was interested in the trial by fire.

He also decided to participate, to take a chance for his future.

Meng Hao didn’t see Patriarch Blood Demon. Outside of Patriarch Blood Demon’s Immortal’s cave, Meng Hao could sense a dense aura of death. He stood there for a long time before finally clasping hands and bowing deeply.

“Senior, I will never forget your kindness in helping me to Sever the Devil and Seek the Dao!” He bowed again.

The aura of death was the same as ever as Meng Hao finally turned to leave. Off in the distance, he could see the valley where he and Xu Qing had spent their final days together, as well as the location where they had been married.

It was a mountain, on one side of which were the beautiful memories of Xu Qing, on the other side of which was carnage and battle. That was where he and Xu Qing had been married.

As he gazed at the location, Meng Hao suddenly felt very lonely. After staring for a long moment, he finally left.

Now, he wasn’t sure where to go in these sprawling lands. All he could do was look up into the starry sky.

“Perhaps it’s time for me to leave as well.”

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Meng Hao went to the Milky Way Sea, to the Western Desert, to the Northern Reaches, and finally to the Eastern Lands. Eventually, the day came when the sky began to rumble, and the music of a great Dao spread out in all directions. Three enormous, multi-colored vortexes appeared in the sky.

The three vortexes’ rotation caused a sound to echo out that could be heard by all cultivators in the lands of South Heaven. Be they in the Western Desert or the Southern Domain, in the Northern Reaches or the Eastern Lands, in that instant they could all see the three bizarre vortexes up above.

They looked like they were up in the sky, but actually, they existed in everyone’s eyes.

Regardless of where the cultivators were located, as long as their cultivation bases met the requirements, and they had the desire to seek the Dao and find good fortune, then all they had to do was take a step forward and enter the vortex.

At the same time the vortexes appeared, an archaic voice echoed out from within them. Everything trembled, and no natural law could prevent the voice from echoing out as if from ancient times, striking fear into the hearts of all.

“The trial by fire was founded by the Three Great Daoist Societies, the Five Great Holy Lands, and the Three Churches and Six Sects!

“Anyone in the Ninth Mountain and Sea may participate, regardless of background, regardless of age, as long as the cultivation base requirement is met!

“The three vortexes are for the Nascent Soul stage, the Spirit Severing stage, and the Dao Seeking stage!

“First, walk upon the Ancient Road. The ten thousand people who reach the end the fastest will be able to participate in the honorable trial by fire!

“Of those ten thousand people, seven thousand will be from the Nascent Soul stage, two thousand from Spirit Severing, and one thousand from Dao Seeking! Cultivators of the Ninth Mountain and Sea.... let the trial by fire begin!”