Chapter 1376: The State of Clear Water.... (1/2)

Chapter 1376: The State of Clear Water....

Meng Hao’s eyes glittered as he stared at the green-robed young man. Saying nothing, he walked forward and then appeared on the mountain peak.

“I've been waiting for you for a long time,” the young man murmured. “In fact, it's been so long I've lost track of exactly how much time has passed.... I just vaguely remember that I fought a man once. We had a wager going, and if I lost, I promised to do a favor for him.

“I promised to wait here for someone... to give that person my Hexing magic.”

Meng Hao’s eyes began to shine as he said, “Your excellency is...?”

“I’ve forgotten. This isn’t my true form, it’s only a clone. I forgot what my name was. I only remember... that place.” The young man shook his head and pointed down toward the valley at the base of the mountain.

Meng Hao looked down in the same direction, but didn’t see anything other than the valley itself.

“Can’t see it? Well... that’s nothing unusual. My Hexing magic has many names. Back then, that man I fought told me that he had a similar Hexing magic, although it wasn’t as close to its fundamental Essence as mine.

“He speculated that, years later, someone from among his successors might be able to use his First Hex to unravel the other Hexing magic he had. However, because of the bizarre nature of that particular Hexing magic of his, it seemed unlikely that it could be passed down from generation to generation.

“Therefore, he hoped that I would be able to wait here for the right person, and pass on my Hexing magic to him.”

The young man smiled, looked Meng Hao calmly in the eyes, and said, “After all the years that have passed, you are the first person to ever come to me. Apparently, you are the person I’ve been waiting for.

“Come.”

Meng Hao studied the young man for a moment, then smiled. He felt no fear, nor any reason to defy him. He approached, and as he did, the young man's eyes glowed with praise. After Meng Hao came to stand directly in front of him, the young man said, “Now, take another look.”

Meng Hao turned to look back at the valley at the foot of the mountain. In that very instant, light and color exploded in his eyes.

The once empty valley now had a walled city inside of it. Apparently, it was an entire country, complete with a Forbidden Palace, nobility, and commoners!

The city itself was populated by over a hundred thousand people.

Most shocking of all to Meng Hao was that among all those people, regardless of whether they were young or old, man or woman... from the Emperor down to the common people, everyone had exactly the same aura!

That aura also matched the green-robed young man’s. Perhaps ordinary cultivators wouldn’t notice these phenomena without deep study. However, Meng Hao noticed it, and in that same moment, the ancient Demon Sealing Jade within his bag of holding began to vibrate.

Soon, Meng Hao realized that all of those more than 100,000 people... were clones!!

They were all clones of the young man in the green robe!

Meng Hao took a deep breath as he studied the city down below. The Emperor was studying various reports, the concubines were bickering in the harem, the ministers were enjoying life, the common people were spending time with their families, and the streets were abuzz with activity.

Street peddlers called out, people ate and drank, people argued and fought, people laughed and joked. The voices merged together into a cacophony that made the entire city seem incredibly realistic. In fact, it was almost impossible to believe that the entire place... was actually populated by an entire world of clones.

Furthermore, the name of the city was written above the city gate.

It was three characters long.

State of Clear Water!

“This Hexing magic isn't something that was passed down to me by my Master. I gained enlightenment of it myself. Not even my Junior Brother could use it. Ah, well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll pass it on to you to resolve this bit of Karma. [1. Renegade Immortal info incoming: It seems highly likely that this is a reference to the country of the same name which appears in Renegade Immortal, as early as chapter 105. Furthermore, a person with the same name was a supporting character who viewed MC Wang Lin as his “Junior Brother,” which makes it likely that the Junior Brother mentioned in this passage is Wang Lin. That character hasn’t appeared in the translation yet, but will eventually. If you transliterate “Clear Water” it becomes Qing Shui, which would be that character’s name]

“Whether or not you can master it will depend on your luck.” The young man shook his head and smiled. Paying no more attention to Meng Hao, he turned and floated up into the sky.

“I've already forgotten how many years have passed. Finally, I can live up to the agreement. And now... the time has come for me to leave. I'm only a stream of divine will, really nothing compared to my true form. I've been gone a long time, and I miss some of those old faces from the past.

“Well, I’m off then.” The young man waved his sleeve, and as he floated higher into the air, he gradually began to glow blurry. Soon he turned into countless motes of green light which spread out and then vanished.

Meng Hao looked back down at the valley, and realized that everything was becoming blurry. He immediately sat down cross-legged and focused his mind. He watched as the figures down below began to fade away. The city began to dissipate, and even the words “State of Clear Water” vanished. Soon, the only thing left behind was the valley.

“Hexing magic. Demon Sealing Hexing magic....

“With the exception of the Hexing magic I need to create, I’ve collected all of the others except for the First and the Fourth. Clearly, this isn’t the First, which means that it must be... the Fourth Hex!”

Meng Hao’s mind trembled. Based on his current cultivation base, he actually didn’t need much qi and blood, or energy of Heaven and Earth to step into the bottleneck that would come before a breakthrough. Right now, he actually had two paths available to him. One path was to completely pass through the Ancient Realm.

The other path was to collect all the Hexing magics and then turn them into Essences.

One of those paths involved cultivating the bloodline of the Allheaven Dao Immortal. The other was that of the Hexing magic of the League of Demon Sealers. They were both valid paths, although the first one would take more time, and would require more cultivation base, qi and blood. Yet what all that yielded was merely an increase in the chances of successfully extinguishing his Soul Lamps.