Chapter 1123: Dao-Heaven Retreats! (2/2)

“If not, I should really leave you alive so that you have a chance to meet her!

“Next time we run into each other, though, that will be the day you die!” Laughing, he shot off with incredible speed.

“Pipe down!” Meng Hao said from within the planet, his voice echoing out with incredible pressure. He continued to give chase for another several thousand meters. However, considering Dao-Heaven’s incredible speed, soon there was no trace of him. Meng Hao slowly came to a stop. The planet disappeared, and his human form reappeared.

He looked no different than he usually did. The Nirvana Fruit emerged from his forehead and dropped into his hand. He hovered there in midair, expression cold, looking in the direction Dao-Heaven had fled. Finally, he gave a cold harrumph, turned, and headed off in a different direction.

He took his time leaving, and as for the direction he chose, it was none other than the Third Nation.

Not long after he disappeared over the horizon, a strand of black smoke appeared on the battlefield. It swirled together in midair to reveal an illusory image of Dao-Heaven, frowning. As Meng Hao disappeared in the distance, he let out a sigh.

“So, he wasn't trying to trick me. After fighting me, he actually chose to go to the Third Nation! This Meng Hao... is a formidable opponent.” The illusory figure shook his head, then vanished.

Meanwhile, Meng Hao was calmly making his way across the border of the Fourth Nation and into the Third Nation.

As soon as he entered the Third Nation, he staggered to a stop and coughed up eight successive mouthfuls of blood. With each mouthful of blood, his body wasted away by ten percent. After only a few breaths of time had passed, he was so skinny that he looked like nothing more than a bag of bones. His hair had even turned completely gray.

His expression lackluster, he very nearly fell down to the ground. As he stood there, he smiled bitterly.

He actually had tricked Dao-Heaven. His final decision to enter the Allheaven Immortal Realm came at the price of burning his life force almost to the very limit. In fact, he couldn't have proceeded much further even if he wanted to.

It was only when he reached this point, and was behind the barrier between nations, a place where Dao-Heaven wouldn’t be able to observe him, that he allowed himself to weaken rapidly. As the blood sprayed out of his mouth, he grew weaker and weaker.

“This Dao-Heaven is incredibly powerful!” he murmured. The reason he had covered his face with the Essence of Divine Flame earlier was because he didn’t want Dao-Heaven to realize that he was burning his life force. It was for the same reason that he chose to use the One Thought Stellar Transformation to become a planet in the final chase.

Furthermore, the reason he chose to come to the Third Nation was that, according to his analysis of the situation, the fact that Dao-Heaven had avoided the Third Nation on multiple occasions made it obvious that something was fishy. Picking the Third Nation made it seem like he was far stronger than he actually was.

Fooling Dao-Heaven was not an easy thing. He was incredibly devious and suspicious, and made numerous probing attempts to find out if Meng Hao was trying to trick him. To Meng Hao, it was like walking along the edge of a cliff. Even the slightest misstep could have left him in grave danger.

“What a pity.... If I could fully absorb the second Nirvana Fruit, and truly step into the Allheaven Immortal Realm, then I could definitely kill Dao-Heaven. Right now, though... I’m not a match for him.” Meng Hao frowned. He had to admit that in all the years he had practiced cultivation, and among all the countless Chosen he had encountered, because of all the good fortune he had encountered, there was no one in his generation who was a match for him. He was even capable of sweeping over the Echelon.

Except for the Echelon cultivator from the First Mountain, Dao-Heaven. He was a truly formidable opponent!

After all, although Meng Hao had practiced cultivation for a much shorter time than Dao-Heaven, who had deep and profound resources at his disposal, Meng Hao also had significant good fortune, and was far beyond ordinary. Anyone who got into the Echelon was by default an extraordinary person.

Also, anyone who had a chance of being acknowledged by Xue’er, the successor of Immortal Ancient, could by no means be a weakling.

Meng Hao’s eyes flickered, and he produced some medicinal pills to consume. After a moment, his eyes widened as he suddenly realized something.

“How come I didn't feel any pressure after entering the Third Nation?” Before, every time he passed through border barrier from one nation to another, there would always be pressure weighing down. The only time it hadn’t happened was here in the Third Nation.

“Dao-Heaven always seemed to avoid the Third Nation....

“There must be some mysterious secret about this place.

“However, that’s a good thing for me, since I’ll be able to focus fully on healing myself. Although, I don’t want to stay here for too long. Once I've recovered a bit, I’ll head back to the Ninth Nation.” He flew onward, and before long reached a mountain range, where he found a remote cave. After settling down to meditate, he sealed the cave mouth.

However, in almost the same moment that he began to meditate, his eyes snapped open. A brilliant red light had just begun to shine up from the blood-colored mask inside his bag of holding. Even the bag of holding was incapable of covering it up.

Simultaneously, Meng Hao could sense the aura of the Blood Mastiff. It had been years since the Blood Mastiff had dissipated in the midst of protecting him. Although he had sensed signs that it might awaken on numerous occasions, this was the strongest by far.

Meng Hao was delighted, and immediately took the blood-colored mask out of his bag of holding and sent some divine sense into it. As soon as he felt the Blood Mastiff, he realized that a connection and resonance had sprung up between them.

There was an aura of blood in the area, which was incredibly enticing to the Blood Mastiff. It filled it with desire and was the main reason why it was now waking up.

That blood was coming from the earth! From deep within the earth!