There were three lines of text on the stele.
“Nine Nethermountains, filled with endless treasures. Each one of these mountains is filled with endless opportunities. Any who challenge the mountains will have the chance to get good fortune and divine abilities!
“They are a deadly trial by fire. For those under the Immortal Realm, half a mountain is your limit. For those under the Ancient Realm, you will be able to proceed through three mountains. If you can pass through all nine mountains, you can acquire the secret magic of the Nethermoon!
“Fang Clan descendants can use their bloodline to open the path through the mountains. Whether you live or die is up to fate!”
The words were not attributed to any person in particular, but they seemed to be filled with an intense pressure, indicating that any person who entered this place would be facing grave danger.
Meng Hao looked at the nine mountains, and an odd expression could be seen on his face. Gradually, his eyes began to shine, and he licked his lips. He glanced down at the terracotta soldier, which then began to shrink rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it was only about three meters tall.
“This ancestral land really is a Blessed Land for me!” To other clan members, it was a place of extreme danger. To him, though, these weren’t nine dangerous mountains, they were nine treasure mountains.
He slapped his bag of holding, producing the bloodline jade slip. After scanning it with divine sense, he smiled.
The seven Ancient Realm Elders had all scattered in different directions. One of them was inside of the Nine Nethermountains. Obviously, he had tried to acquire some of the good fortune therein, but had ended up trapped and unable to extricate himself.
“Well, no need to get anxious. Just wait for me to track you down.” Meng Hao’s eyes began to shine brightly, and he cleared his throat. Immediately, the terracotta soldier began to walk forward into the mountains.
Meng Hao quickly flew up to sit on the statue’s shoulder as it began to charge forward.
“Challenge one mountain at a time, and then clear all nine of them of treasure….” These thoughts immediately filled him with excitement.
As the terracotta soldier sped along, the Seventh Patriarch sighed and looked on helplessly. When he saw the light shining in Meng Hao’s eyes, he began to murmur to himself.
“To him, these really are treasure mountains. The little scoundrel has the Dao Guardsman to protect him, leaving him free to do whatever he wants!
“Now that I think about it, if I had the Dao Guardsman to protect me when I came here for the first time, how could I possibly have left any of the treasures in these mountains to be passed on to anyone else?” There was nothing he could do, so the Seventh Patriarch calmed himself, looked at Meng Hao charging into the mountains with the terracotta soldier, and sighed.
Time passed. Meng Hao sat on the terracotta soldier’s shoulder, which wielded its greatsword the entire way as they charged into the first mountain. When they encountered restrictive spells, they would simply break through them. When they encountered beasts, they would put them down. When they encountered obstacles, they would smash them to pieces.
Nothing could stand in their way and nothing could stop them!
Things weren’t thrown into absolute chaos, but suffice to say, the first mountain was filled with miserable shrieks and roars.
“Whoah! That boulder actually has a carving of a magical technique! Pretty nice! I’m taking it!
“Who could be so immoral as to leave a bunch of Immortal jade laying around in this place! I’m taking it!
“So many spirit stones…. Hey, slow down, Onyx! Let me pick these things up, then we can keep going!”