Chapter 842: Just a Misunderstanding. (1/2)
Chapter 842: Just a Misunderstanding….
The vortexes in the sky rotated, sending rumbling sounds echoing out in all directions. In virtually all regions of the Ninth Mountain and Sea, people were flying up into the vortexes. However, many of those people took steps to change their appearance upon entering.
They had various reasons for not wanting others to know who they truly were. After all, a grand event like this would draw the attention of the entire Ninth Mountain and Sea.
As soon as Meng Hao entered, he immediately sent some divine will out to the meat jelly. Moaning and groaning, the meat jelly helped Meng Hao to change his appearance to that of Fang Mu, from back in his days in the Violet Fate Sect.
Meng Hao was attending this event only for the trial by fire, and considering how he had flaunted his abilities in the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple on Planet South Heaven, and was now making his way alone off planet, he figured it would be much more convenient to rely on a second identity.
Furthermore, there would be no better opportunity to become famous under a second identity than this trial by fire hosted by the Three Great Daoist Societies.
“It’s too bad my second true self is temporarily incapacitated because the true Immortal’s soul was damaged by the Immortal Tribulation,” he thought. “But, that’s not such a bad thing.” Meng Hao’s eyes glittered brightly after making the transformation, and he looked out at the pitch blackness surrounding him. He could just barely make out a vortex spinning around him, with faint beams of light occasionally coming into view as they spun around him.
The sensation of being pulled along grew even stronger, and he felt increasing pressure weighing down on him.
After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, a bright light became visible up ahead in the darkness. It grew brighter and brighter, and soon, completely enveloped Meng Hao.
When his vision grew clear once again, Meng Hao found himself looking out at a void, which was densely packed with countless platforms. Some were thirty meters wide, others, three hundred, and some three thousand.
The sizes varied, and in the center of each of the platforms was a stone stele, upon which could be seen a map. Beneath each stone stele was a candle holder. The candles were unlit, leaving the maps on the stone steles cloaked in darkness.
As for how many platforms there were, it was impossible for Meng Hao to count. His divine sense was under incredible pressure, making it impossible to send it out very far. As Meng Hao looked around, more and more people came into view. Much like Meng Hao, they stared out in shock at all the platforms.
All of them had peak Dao Seeking auras, and there were even a few who didn’t quite measure up to the Chosen he had encountered before, but were very close.
They all wore different clothing, and bore different appearances. There were men and women, old and young. Some weren’t even humanoid, but looked like beasts. From what Meng Hao could tell, there were several hundred in his immediate vicinity, with more and more people appearing off in the distance.
It was hard to tell who it was that flew out first, but soon, one of the three-thousand-meter platforms was occupied by a cultivator. After that, all of the cultivators who materialized in the void shot out toward the platforms at full speed. Each person who appeared occupied a single platform. Fighting broke out, but it was controlled. After all, there was no reason to unleash vicious fighting the moment they entered the Ancient Road trial by fire. It wasn’t worth it.
Furthermore, any ownerless platform apparently created a bond to whoever set foot on it first, and the unlit candle would then begin to burn, illuminating the map on the stele.
As such, there wasn’t very much fighting. As the saying goes, first come, first served, so anyone who was beaten to a particular platform would quickly leave in search of another.
Meng Hao’s eyes glittered. The three-hundred-meter and three-thousand-meter platforms were relatively far away from him, and the closest one to him was a thirty-meter platforms, so he quickly made his way toward that one.
However, just when he was about to step foot onto it, someone else nearby apparently had the same idea as he did. It was a tall, hulking man with ripples spreading out from beneath his feet which, if you looked closely, resembled illusory seawater that contained three swimming fish. Overall, it made the hulking man seem incredibly impressive.
He and Meng Hao were both about to step onto the platform at exactly the same time, when the hulking man snorted coldly. Killing intent flickered in his eyes.
“Screw off!” he said.
With that, his right hand made a hurling motion toward Meng Hao. The fish began to swim through the water at incredible speed, and an intense power surged out, transforming into an illusory sea dragon which shot toward Meng Hao, mouth gaping open to consume him.
Meng Hao’s expression was as calm as ever, but he moved with explosive speed as he dodged past the sea dragon and then set foot onto the platform one breath of time before the hulking man.
In that instant, the candle on the platform burned to life, sending light spreading out in all directions. The hulking man’s face was very unsightly as he glared at Meng Hao, and he let out a cold snort as he shot toward another nearby platform.
Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever, and he completely ignored the hulking man as he sat down cross-legged in front of the stone stele to examine the map. The map encompassed a huge area, but roughly ninety percent of it was covered in darkness, leaving only about ten percent clearly visible.
Within that small visible area, he could see numerous narrow roads spreading out, the origin of which was the location he was in now. The end location of all the roads was a place near the dark area on the map.
Out in the void, more and more candles were springing to life; apparently the number of platforms here was equal to the number of people who had arrived. Before long, all of the cultivators had occupied a platform.
Unfortunately, a handful of unlucky cultivators ended up dying in the fighting.
As for the hulking man from earlier, he had managed to secure a platform to the right of Meng Hao. He looked over at Meng Hao occasionally, his eyes glowing with killing intent. The spat between the two of them had obviously left him irritated.
Apparently, Meng Hao didn’t notice the man, and focused intently on studying the map.
After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, everything grew quiet. Finally, an archaic voice boomed out through the void.
“I am Ling Yunzi of the Nine Seas God World. As of now… the Dao gate has opened, and the Ancient Road stretches out. All of you must traverse the road… use it to corroborate your Dao, and to corroborate your destiny! [1. Ling Yunzi’s name in Chinese is 凌云子 líng yún zǐ - Ling is a surname which also means “rise high.” Yun means “cloud,” and Zi means “son” or “child.” Also, 凌云 is a word which means “soar to the skies.” Therefore, his name contains a bit of clever wordplay]