Chapter 1459: Youre Fang Mu! (1/2)

Chapter 1459: You’re Fang Mu!

Dong, dong, dong, dong.... Dong, dong, dong, dong.... Dong, dong, dong, dong.... The sonorous tolling bell represented something holy, something that would attract widespread envy, and yet at the moment the sound was ringing out as though a mortal were simply pounding on a drum... and doing it as many times as he felt like.

To hear the bell tolling in this fashion was something that had never occurred in the history of the Ninth Sect. Throughout all the years, never had it sounded out so many times in such a short period of time....

“What... what... what is happening? What’s going on?! How many people are there causing the bell to toll so many times?”

“But... but how come it seems like it’s actually being caused by one person? Otherwise, it would be far too coincidental.... But if it’s a single person, that would simply be a violation of common sense. It would make more sense for it to be a coincidence than for it to be caused by one person.”

The Ninth Sect was completely and utterly stirred up by what was happening. Virtually all of its cultivators were in flight toward the mountain, whether they were in the Immortal Realm or even the Ancient Realm.

People crowded around, millions of them, even tens of millions. They came from all directions to gather around the Vast Expanse Shrine. Some of them didn’t fly over, but sent divine sense out to lock down onto the mountain.

Up in midair, Yan’er looked on with wide eyes. She heard the bell tolling, and saw countless cultivators flying up into the air, and was a bit taken aback. She almost couldn’t believe that this was being caused by her Master.

Even more shocked than everyone else were the cultivators beneath 10,000 steps in the trial by fire. They were completely and utterly astonished as they stared up the mountain peak, the sound of the bell ringing in their ears. Their minds were total blanks, and the very same types of questions were buzzing in all of their heads.

“Who is this guy?!”

“He seemed familiar, but I can’t seem to place exactly who he is!”

Most people were completely shocked, but there were certain individuals within the Ninth Sect who didn’t have much of a reaction at all. Of course, the Elders and the Dao Realm experts weren’t surprised, but there was an additional group who were similarly ambivalent. They were the blazing suns of the Ninth Sect, the weakest of whom had placed in the top 10,000 names on the Vast Expanse Shrine.

They didn’t care much at all about the commotion. Unless they felt a threat from Fang Mu, to them, it was all just a big ruckus.

“Whether it's a single person, or a group, it doesn’t matter until they pass 50,000 steps. Before then, it’s mostly meaningless.”

“Anyone who passes 50,000 steps can be listed in the top 10,000. Likewise, 80,000 steps puts you in the top 3,000.”

“Mount Vast Expanse itself doesn’t count for much. It’s only when you reach the Vast Expanse Shrine itself that you truly count as Chosen, and can be listed in the top 100!” All of those people had incredible natural talent, and back when they challenged the Vast Expanse Shrine, had caused huge commotions. As such, they took the matter in stride, and in fact, didn't even care.

However, there were a few of them who were slightly curious, so they flew over and began to climb up the mountain. There were actually a few thousand people who did so, their goal being, not to challenge the Vast Expanse Shrine, but to see who exactly it was that was causing the tolling of the bell. Was it a group, or was it... an individual!?

If a group was involved, then it wouldn’t matter much. However, if it was an individual, that would be a different story....

Many of the people who had stepped onto the path just now had previously reached a location somewhere beneath 50,000 steps. In their minds, catching up with either a group or an individual would be a simple task.

Meng Hao was now standing on the 10,000th step, his eyes closed. As the bell tolled out, he experienced a Baptism. To most people, that was a process that would take quite some time, but for him, it only took about ten breaths of time.

After all, he was already equipped with incredible latent talent, so the Baptism was almost like a decoration on something that was already perfect. Although it did benefit him, it wasn’t fundamentally shocking.

“Not bad,” Meng Hao thought. “It seems I underestimated this Vast Expanse Shrine.” His eyes flickered with anticipation regarding the upcoming bell tolls.

“Well, I should probably move a bit faster then.” Smiling, he flickered into motion, this time, each stride took him... 100 steps!!

Ten paces, 1,000 steps. Soon, he reached 11,000 steps. 13,000 steps. 15,000 steps. 18,000 steps. And then... 20,000 steps!

To Meng Hao, 10,000 steps was only 100 paces. However, to the cultivators who were actually participating in that part of the trial by fire, it was like a blast of wind had just swept past them....

When Meng Hao stepped onto the 20,000th step, two bell tolls could be heard. However, they were different than before, deeper, more ancient, more shocking!

As soon as the sound echoed out, people outside the mountain were astounded.

Of the people charging up the mountain to try to catch up and glimpse the person causing the bell to toll, the fastest was still 10,000 steps away from Meng Hao. All of those people were shaken, and their eyes were wide with disbelief.

“20,000... 20,000 steps!!”

“That was faster than it takes an incense stick to burn! That was... a few dozen breaths of time. How could the bell already be tolling for the 20,000th step!?!?!?”