Chapter 1484: Extinguishing Soul Lamps on the Path! (1/2)

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Three years passed.

People in the Vast Expanse School still talked about Fang Mu. As for the mountain he had lived on, only Yan’er occupied it now. It was not open to visitors, and her life was once again peaceful and quiet.

Without Meng Hao there, there was no more playful pouting on her part. Sometimes, she just sat there in a daze, daydreaming about the past.

But there was no avoiding the truth.... Her Master was gone.

Other than practicing cultivation, there was only one thing that she absolutely had to do every day, and that was to visit her Master’s secluded meditation facilities, where she had enshrined his soul fire.

As long as that soul fire burned, her Master was alive.

One day, she came to visit as she always did. She kowtowed to the soul fire, and then began to speak in a murmuring voice.

“Master, you've been gone for three years. That’s not too long....

“Oh, last night when I was practicing cultivation, I finally understood that one magical technique.

“Another thing you don't know about, Master. I heard that yesterday, those jerks from the other sects started making trouble again. Supposedly, they’re going to start challenging the Vast Expanse Shrine once more.

“Master, there’s another thing....” Every time Yan’er came, she would speak to herself in his fashion, as if her Master were standing there in front of her. This time, even as she spoke, a tremor suddenly ran through her, and her voice faltered. Her expression flickered, and the blood drained from her face as she stared in shock at the soul fire.

For three years, the soul fire hadn’t changed at all. But just now, it had faded a bit, as though it might wink out at any moment. The sight caused Yan’er to shake, and her mind to spin. She knew that this was the flame of her Master’s life force, and that if it went out, it meant that he was dead.

Obviously, he must be experiencing some deadly situation on the Transcendence Path.

Her heart filled with bitterness and anxiety, and yet there was nothing she could do to help her Master. She could do nothing to change anything, really.

“Master, I'm so useless....” Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she trembled, still staring at the soul fire.

The truth was that Meng Hao really was facing a deadly test on the Transcendence Path. The pressure he was facing had just increased dramatically.

He had continued to walk for three years, and gradually, had become used to the pressure. He had even reached the point where he could jog for a bit. But today, he crossed into a new region in which the pressure suddenly increased by, not double, but tenfold!

It happened suddenly and without any warning whatsoever. Meng Hao had literally no time to even react before being slammed down onto the ground.

Many of his bones were fractured as he struggled against the pressure, and his flesh was smashed. Cracking sounds could be heard as his skeleton hovered on the brink of being shattered.

A sensation of imminent life-or-death crisis swept through him. On top of it all, his cultivation base was suppressed. He began to tremble, and his eyes were completely shot with blood as he let out a howl. However, at the moment, there was nothing he could do.

Any other person would have been destroyed instantly, but Meng Hao’s true self had created this clone following the pattern laid out by the bronze lamp, making it perfect in every aspect.

It was pure, lacking any impurities or defilements, and possessed the ultimate Immortal aura. In fact, it was even possible to say that this clone was an Immortal body unto itself.

When you added in the terrifying divine will of Meng Hao’s true self, it meant that the clone was just barely able to survive under this sudden tenfold increase in pressure.

Time passed. After fifteen or sixteen hours, Meng Hao's vision was fading. However, beneath the intense, deadly pressure, he was able to extinguish one of his six remaining lit Soul Lamps.

Instantly, life force poured into him, healing his bones and mending his flesh. His cultivation base flourished, and his fading life force once again began to thrive.

Having endured through the deadly crisis, Meng Hao struggled into a sitting position. His face was pale, and he was panting as he looked behind him at the path he had walked. As of this moment, he fully understood how the Transcendence Path worked. The pressure was not something that remained constant, instead, it would increase explosively.

Obviously, the farther one traveled along the path, the more terrifying the pressure got. Furthermore, there was no warning; it would happen in an instant. Life and death were separated by a single step.

As Meng Hao’s life force was restored, Yan’er was there in his secluded meditation facilities in the Ninth Sect of the Vast Expanse School, staring at his soul fire. When the flame began to burn brightly once again, she wiped her tears away, and made a decision.

“Master, I'm going to get strong as quickly as possible. Then... I’ll walk the Transcendence Path with you.” Having made her decision, she took a deep breath and left the secluded meditation facilities.