Chapter 23

Not long after, the entire Black Mountain seemed to boil over, with the roars of monstrous beasts shaking the heavens and earth, rising and falling in waves. Occasionally, piercing screams would echo out, making the dozen or so cultivators at the foot of the mountain, who dared not pursue further, look terrified and unwilling to approach.

"What's happening? Why do the beasts on this mountain seem to be in a rage?"

"How can this be? Even if Senior Brother Yin Tianlong and Senior Brother Zhou Kai are at the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation, it would be hard for them to make so many beasts on this mountain angry and roar. Could they have done something special?"

The crowd at the foot of the mountain speculated, the roars ringing in their ears, deafening them, and their minds racing with guesses.

Compared to their discussions, Yin Tianlong and Zhou Kai were being driven to the brink of madness by Meng Hao's seemingly endless array of tricks. They watched helplessly as Meng Hao and a large number of beasts moved further away, and if the hatred in their eyes could kill, Meng Hao would have died countless times.

But the fatigue and helplessness in their hatred were only known to Yin and Zhou themselves. From the moment they started chasing, Meng Hao continuously provoked various beasts. It was unknown what sorcery he used, but every time he flicked his sleeve, a beast would explode in a burst of blood and madness.

So many beasts made their scalps tingle, and in their madness, these beasts did not just chase Meng Hao. They also attacked Yin and Zhou, forcing the two to flee in a sorry state, only able to watch as Meng Hao slipped away like an eel, always out of reach.

"Damn it, I curse him to die in the belly of a beast!!" Zhou Kai growled, while Yin Tianlong sighed, his expression growing more weary.

As time passed, when another hour arrived, in the darkness, the Dan light once again shone brightly, guiding the direction of Meng Hao's location. Zhou and Yin gritted their teeth and pursued again, but the result was the same. During their pursuit, Meng Hao used some unknown sorcery to provoke a group of beasts, and in the end, they could only watch as he and the beasts disappeared from sight amidst their furious roars.

"How can this person not have died in the mouth of a beast!" Zhou and Yin were already extremely exhausted, while Meng Hao was still lively, making them hate him to the core, their teeth grinding in frustration, yet powerless to do anything.

In fact, Meng Hao was also exhausted. Every time the Dan light flashed, he had to immediately jump up to provoke the beasts. If it weren't for the bronze mirror, which made the fastest pursuing beasts suffer the most, gradually creating a distance for him to hide, he would have long been exhausted and collapsed.

At this moment, he had unknowingly reached the summit of Black Mountain. The summit was cracked, with many fissures, some wide enough for a person to crawl through. Meng Hao sat cross-legged behind a rock, panting to catch his breath. He looked down at the bronze mirror in his hand, which was scorching hot, as if the events of the day had excited it greatly. With a bitter smile, Meng Hao observed his surroundings, faintly seeing a huge fissure at the top of Black Mountain, from which black mist was spreading.

At this moment, a roar that clearly surpassed all the beasts on Black Mountain suddenly erupted from the largest fissure on the summit. The roar was earth-shattering, like thunder, instantly silencing all other beast sounds, as if the entire Black Mountain now only existed in this one roar.

In this roar, Meng Hao's mind was shaken, his internal spirit energy almost dispersing, his face changing. This roar was not unfamiliar; it was the same one he had heard occasionally when he approached Black Mountain, making his blood boil and his mind uneasy.

At the same time, Meng Hao's eyes widened. He saw a mist rolling out of the fissure, spreading thinly, revealing a black python, about two zhang thick and of unknown length, emerging from the fissure with a towering aura of ferocity.

The python's expression was one of pain, its roar earth-shattering. Meng Hao spat out a mouthful of blood, leaping from behind the rock, racing down the mountain, but couldn't resist looking back. In this glance, he noticed some details.

The part of the python's body near the fissure seemed to be peeling, curling up like a second layer of skin, struggling to transform.

"Shedding its skin?" Meng Hao immediately recognized it, taking a deep breath. He knew that the process of shedding skin, before and after, was the weakest time for a python, and it took a considerable amount of time, especially for a python of this size, which could take years.

"No wonder I often hear this python's roar. It must have been shedding its skin for years." As Meng Hao was about to look away, his eyes suddenly narrowed. He saw something embedded in the part of the python's body near the fissure.

Upon closer inspection, Meng Hao was momentarily stunned. It was a flying sword, ancient and unremarkable, but deeply embedded in the python's body, seemingly fused with it, left there many years ago.

The part of the python's body where the sword was embedded was clearly withered, showing the power of the sword when it was first embedded.

"This python's cultivation must surpass Senior Sister Xu's Seventh Level of Qi Condensation, possibly even the Eighth Level, or even the Ninth Level, the limit of Qi Condensation..." Meng Hao's mouth went dry. He could imagine how tough the python's skin must be, making the ancient flying sword even more impressive.

"A flying sword that can pierce through such a beast must be a treasure." Meng Hao's heart raced, but he quickly sighed, knowing that obtaining the sword with his Fourth Level of Qi Condensation was a pipe dream. Even at the Fifth Level, it would still be impossible.

Shaking his head, Meng Hao immediately looked away, heading straight down the mountain without hesitation. He still had important matters to attend to. As the Dan light flashed again, the bronze mirror in his sleeve immediately heated up, and soon more beasts were howling in pursuit.

After several hours, dawn broke, and the twelve-hour limit was almost up. Zhou and Yin were already in despair, watching Meng Hao sitting cross-legged on a tree top in the distance. The three were far apart, looking at each other.

As soon as Zhou and Yin moved, Meng Hao immediately provoked a group of beasts, making it impossible for them to succeed. Instead, they were injured by the beasts, and with their extreme exhaustion, they were now panting, staring at Meng Hao.

"Damn it, you, the general store owner Meng Hao, how can you run so fast!" Zhou Kai panted, shouting helplessly, increasingly finding Meng Hao to be like an eel, elusive in the forest.

"If you have the ability, why don't you stop running and not use that hateful sorcery to provoke the beasts? Let's have a clean and decisive battle!" Not far away, Yin Tianlong was at a loss with Meng Hao, unable to kill or chase him, making him furious. His words were unthinking, filled with hatred.

"My cultivation is not as high as yours, so I cannot fight. If you want to chase, I have no choice." Meng Hao swallowed a pill, panting as he spoke.

Zhou and Yin smiled bitterly. They had never encountered such a stubborn person in their lives. They were now extremely regretful, wishing they had never come to chase and rob the pills.

Seeing the time pass, with the twelve-hour limit of the pills about to end, Yin Tianlong sighed, shaking his head with a bitter smile, wondering what else he could do. Unable to catch him, and with the presence of beasts, the pills were almost depleted, and even two flying swords were broken. How could they continue to rob... especially with Meng Hao's numerous tricks, making it easy to be injured if not careful.

He could only sigh in frustration, stand up, and look deeply at Meng Hao before heading down the mountain, giving up on the robbery.

With his departure, Zhou Kai was also conflicted. When the twelfth hour arrived, the sky was bright, and the seal on the pills in Meng Hao's storage bag disappeared. Zhou Kai stomped his foot in anger, turned around, and left without a word, admitting defeat. He was now wary of Meng Hao, fearing that if he didn't leave, he might end up in a worse situation.

Seeing the two leave, and watching them descend Black Mountain, Meng Hao finally let out a sigh of relief. His entire body was exhausted, as if a flood was about to engulf him. He bit his tongue to stay awake, turned around, and hurriedly moved to a position near the summit, where, despite the presence of the python, it was relatively safer. The python's transformation required time, and its roars could deter all other beasts.

Finding a small crevice in the mountain, Meng Hao immediately sat cross-legged inside, looking down at his storage bag, his heart bleeding.

"Another waste of pills, all of which are spirit stones. Let me calculate... thirty-seven flying swords, over forty beast pills, this... this is one hundred and ninety-eight spirit stones, one hundred and ninety-eight spirit stones."

Meng Hao's body trembled, his heart aching.

"At least I've finally endured the twelve hours, and the Drought Spirit Pill is mine." Meng Hao quickly consoled himself, still pained by the loss of spirit stones, but he forced himself to focus. After ensuring there was no danger, he immediately used the bronze mirror to replicate the Drought Spirit Pill.

By noon, Meng Hao looked at the ten additional Drought Spirit Pills in his hand, finally managing a smile, though it was filled with pain. Replicating the Drought Spirit Pill was very costly in spirit stones, far exceeding the cost of beast pills. Meng Hao had long understood the equivalent exchange of the bronze mirror.

He gritted his teeth, picked up a pill, and swallowed it.

"Fifth Level of Qi Condensation, I must reach the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation!" Meng Hao's eyes were red with determination as he immediately sat in meditation, his cultivation energy surging. The Drought Spirit Pill's vast spiritual energy instantly burst forth, transforming his internal spiritual energy into swirling vortices, rapidly spreading.

Time slowly passed, and several days later, as Meng Hao closed his eyes and pushed for the Fifth Level, the roars from the python at the summit of Black Mountain became more frequent, as if its transformation, like Meng Hao's, had reached a critical point.