Chapter 40

Meng Hao’s face changed. When he suddenly looked over, he immediately saw a figure in tattered robes rushing towards him through the swirling mist, not far away. A powerful killing intent spread out, turning into a ferocious aura. Just as it was about to approach, Meng Hao quickly retreated. This sudden change was too abrupt, and the figure’s speed was so fast that in the blink of an eye, it was already three zhang away from Meng Hao. However, it suddenly paused, staring straight at the Jade Slab in Meng Hao’s hand, showing signs of fear and dread.

Meng Hao’s heart stirred, and he channeled spiritual energy into the Jade Slab. Immediately, the jade emitted a blood-red light, illuminating the figure in tattered robes, allowing Meng Hao to see its appearance clearly. It was a middle-aged man, but his body was withered, like a malevolent ghost.

A scream came from the middle-aged man’s mouth as he rapidly retreated, disappearing into the mist after a few flashes.

Sweat appeared on Meng Hao’s forehead. He took a deep breath. The feeling he got from that middle-aged man was as overwhelming as that of Elder Ouyang.

"Could this be a Foundation Establishment cultivator?" Meng Hao hesitated, his heart on high alert. Following the guidance of the blood light, he cautiously moved forward. After about half an hour, Meng Hao was on edge, seeing figures occasionally appearing in the mist around him. Each of these figures had cultivation comparable to Elder Ouyang, and some even gave Meng Hao a sense of pressure like that of Sect Master Heluohua.

"These… Could they all be puppets?" Meng Hao looked at the figures, gradually realizing that they seemed to lack vitality. Fortunately, they only circled around, not getting closer, as if they were both attracted by and afraid of the Jade Slab.

After another incense stick’s time, the figures around him slowly disappeared. Meng Hao suddenly stopped, staring blankly ahead, his breathing rapid and his eyes wide.

"This… This…" Meng Hao muttered. In front of him was a mountain, over a hundred zhang tall. If it were just a mountain, it wouldn’t have made Meng Hao so shocked, but this was a… Spirit Stone Mountain!

Countless spirit stones were piled together to form a Spirit Stone Mountain!

Meng Hao had never seen so many spirit stones in his life. His mind buzzed, and he instinctively wanted to take them, but he stopped after taking a step. The mountain was gray, as if covered by a layer of mist, which was a restriction, a restriction that could not be touched.

Meng Hao struggled for a long time, wanting to give up but unwilling to do so. When he approached the Spirit Stone Mountain, just twenty zhang away, a strong sense of life and death danger filled his mind, making him stop immediately. He could only look at the Spirit Stone Mountain and sigh, knowing that if he got any closer, he would surely be annihilated both in body and soul.

After hesitating for a while, Meng Hao finally turned back, leaving the Spirit Stone Mountain with a lingering gaze.

Another incense stick’s time passed, and following the guidance of the blood light, a blurry pavilion appeared in front of Meng Hao. The pavilion had a courtyard, which was dry and overgrown with weeds. A stone taller than a person stood there, but this stone was the only one in the area that was not just black and white and not covered by mist, showing other colors.

The Jade Slab floated on the large stone, stopping and immediately shining with blood light.

Meng Hao quickly walked a few steps, came to the large stone, and looked around. He thought to himself that this must be one of the three places for enlightenment, so he sat cross-legged on the stone, gazing at the floating Jade Slab, his eyes filled with contemplation.

"For so many years, many people have entered this place before me, but no one has ever succeeded in enlightenment. When the blood light of the Jade Slab burns out, it means the time for enlightenment has come." Meng Hao frowned. He had a strong desire to obtain the Qi Condensation Scroll, but he also knew that his talent was average. After all, this opportunity originally belonged to Wang Tengfei, and it was unlikely that he would succeed in one attempt.

He didn’t immediately make the Jade Slab burn but looked up at the blood light, his eyes showing a strange light. After a while, Meng Hao gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and grabbed the Jade Slab, his eyes filled with intense determination.

"This time, I must succeed in enlightenment to the Great Spirit Scripture!" Meng Hao’s voice was resolute. He patted his storage bag, and a bronze mirror flew out. He took out many spirit stones, preparing to replicate.

Meng Hao had been an inner disciple for a month, and the spirit stones distributed to inner disciples were much more than those to outer disciples. In addition, during this month, he had been intentionally favored by outer disciples in the outer sect’s general store, so he had accumulated quite a few spirit stones in his storage bag.

However, his face soon turned grim. He found that even all the spirit stones distributed by the sect were not enough to complete the replication. It wasn’t that the bronze mirror had failed, but that the spirit stones were insufficient, even the mid-grade spirit stones were useless.

Meng Hao stared at the Jade Slab. After a while, he suddenly remembered that he had seven or eight special large spirit stones in his storage bag. He was hesitant for a moment, then gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red, and took one out, placing it on the bronze mirror. Before Meng Hao could take out a second one, the bronze mirror suddenly flashed, and in an instant, a dazzling light appeared. Then, fifteen Jade Slabs appeared, which made Meng Hao stunned. He had thought he would need more spirit stones, but one large spirit stone had replicated fifteen blood crystals.

These were blood crystals, formed from the blood of the Mountain Relying Ancestor, but now fifteen had appeared, leaving Meng Hao speechless.

"What… What kind of spirit stone is this?" Meng Hao stood there, and after a while, he thought of the two thousand large spirit stones he had spent, which made him extremely heartbroken.

He strongly felt that these large spirit stones were not ordinary!

But at this moment, the Great Spirit Scripture was the focus for Meng Hao. He gritted his teeth and stopped thinking about the two thousand spirit stones. He took out a blood crystal and made it burn. As it burned, the blood light spread, covering Meng Hao. Faint sounds appeared, like a dream, making Meng Hao immersed and forgetting the passage of time.

At this moment, Xu Qing and Chen Fan were also in their respective areas, their figures surrounded by blood light. Their talents were not ordinary, so the possibility of enlightenment was relatively higher. In fact, in the Mountain Relying Ancestor’s seclusion place, everything depended on talent, and so-called opportunities were also like this.

After an unknown amount of time, the blood light on Meng Hao’s body disappeared, and he woke up, his expression somewhat dazed. After a long time, he recovered, but his mind was empty, with no content of the Great Spirit Scripture.

Meng Hao sighed. He had expected this. He took out a blood crystal and continued to seek enlightenment. Time passed, and even after using fourteen blood crystals, he still did not succeed, which made Meng Hao heartbroken and hesitant. Gritting his teeth, he took out another large spirit stone, replicated more blood crystals, and began to burn them, the blood light covering his body again as he sought enlightenment.

At this time, the blood light on Xu Qing and Chen Fan had long dissipated, but they did not get up. Instead, they continued to meditate, not knowing if they had gained any enlightenment.

But Meng Hao was like a madman, burning one blood crystal after another, seeking enlightenment again and again. If others knew this, they would surely be driven mad with jealousy.

Until the twenty-seventh blood crystal burned out, Meng Hao finally heard a faint voice in the dreamlike world, as if someone was whispering in his ear, but he couldn’t hear clearly, only the first two words.

"Great… Spirit…"

Meng Hao opened his eyes, his eyes filled with determination. Without hesitation, he took out the twenty-eighth blood crystal and sought enlightenment again.

At this moment, Xu Qing and Chen Fan had already returned to the altar, but they didn’t see Meng Hao, which made them somewhat surprised. They didn’t know where Meng Hao had gone and couldn’t accurately find him, so they could only sit cross-legged outside the altar and wait.

This wait lasted for three days, and gradually, the two of them became restless, their expressions showing worry. They didn’t think that Meng Hao might be seeking enlightenment but immediately concluded that Meng Hao must have encountered an accident.

"Could something have happened to Junior Brother Meng?" Chen Fan asked, worried.

Xu Qing didn’t speak, but her eyes also showed concern.

After discussing, the two of them immediately began to search, but considering that puppet figures often appeared around, their search was very slow.

At this moment, Meng Hao was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and he was muttering to himself. If one listened carefully, they could hear that his words were all incoherent, each word expressing his desire for the Great Spirit Scripture. He took out the forty-third blood crystal, enveloping himself in a dense red light. The red light in his area had almost never dissipated, and Meng Hao’s determination made him seek enlightenment without any regard. When he ran out of blood crystals, he replicated more and then sought enlightenment again.

By now, he could hear the voice in his ear clearly, but he couldn’t remember it, so he continued to seek enlightenment.

In the Mountain Relying Ancestor’s seclusion place, neither Chen Fan nor Xu Qing, nor the mad Meng Hao, noticed that after their blood crystals burned out, they would turn into a blood light that they couldn’t see, sinking into the ground and flowing into a secret chamber below the palace.

In the secret chamber, a completely withered corpse sat cross-legged, devoid of life, emitting a deathly aura.

Each time a blood light arrived and merged into the corpse, it seemed to make some changes to the corpse. After the third blood light merged into the corpse, it seemed to bring a hint of life to the corpse.

But this life was very dim, only enough to keep it in a state of lingering, unable to awaken.

He was the Mountain Relying Ancestor, and the blood crystals were formed from his blood, containing his aura. Therefore, after burning, they could return to him, maintaining his lingering state. If the blood didn’t come, he would surely die.

Originally, he would continue to linger until his life force was completely extinguished, and a great hero would die here. Even he himself had already given up hope, and most of his sleeping consciousness would only wake up for a moment and then fall back into sleep, without the strength to do anything else.

As for the Jade Slab, it was something he had left behind long ago. If not for this action, he would have died completely hundreds of years ago.

"These are the last three Jade Slabs…" At this moment, the Mountain Relying Ancestor, with the return of the blood crystals, his consciousness barely awakened, sighed. He was about to fall back into sleep, knowing that he might never wake up again.

But at this moment, suddenly, a fourth blood light silently arrived in the secret chamber, merging into his body. This immediately made the Mountain Relying Ancestor’s consciousness, which was about to fall asleep, wake up again. He was stunned.

"I… I don’t have any more Jade Slabs, did I remember wrong… Hmm?" As the Mountain Relying Ancestor’s consciousness muttered, suddenly, a fifth blood light appeared, merging into his body.

Then, under his stunned gaze, the sixth, seventh, eighth… blood lights appeared one after another over the next three days, sometimes even merging into his body in a continuous stream. The Mountain Relying Ancestor’s heart was stirred, and he was filled with excitement. In this instant, he felt unprecedented hope, and his eyes suddenly opened wide.

"This… Damn it, this isn’t my blood, but it’s my blood crystal. What’s going on? What’s happening?"

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