His right hand opened from a fist into a palm. He made a snatching motion toward Xue’er, using the Star Plucking Magic to grab her. Xue’er’s face fell as she felt herself being dragged toward Meng Hao. She quickly performed an incantation gesture, causing a snowy tempest to appear around her.
Meng Hao’s expression didn’t change at all as he took his sixth step, then his seventh. His energy surged as a huge foot appeared up in the sky, which then stamped down toward Xue’er.
At the same time, Meng Hao shot like lightning toward her.
Xue’er was panting. She had never imagined that Meng Hao, despite being injured, would still be so strong. At the critical moment, she extended her right hand, within which appeared a bell. She quickly rang the bell, causing a tinkling sound to float out. A murderous aura exploded up, and behind her, a gigantic, illusory image appeared.
It was an old man, gigantic, ancient, wearing a Daoist robe. He seemed infinitely wise, and was apparently in the middle of delivering a sermon about the Dao. His lifted his right hand into the air and waved a finger toward the incoming foot.
The Seven God Steps’ gigantic foot collapsed into pieces. Ashen-faced, Xue’er waved her right hand, causing the illusory figure behind her to wave his finger again, this time toward Meng Hao.
The attack struck through the air toward Meng Hao, who trembled in response. However, the figure of the old man then faded a bit, completely astonishing Xue’er.
Seeing that Meng Hao was continuing to advance menacingly, she gritted her teeth. Suddenly a medicinal pill bottle appeared in her hand.
“Here, take these pills as compensation!” she said, throwing the bottle toward him.
Meng Hao’s eyes flickered as he grabbed the bottle.
“That’s an Immortal Pill,” she gushed, “concocted, not from medicinal plants, but from the Essence of a great Dao. Consume that pill, and all of your injuries will be healed; you’ll completely recover. This is a show of good faith! I’m not your enemy.”
“Eee?” he said, looking at the medicinal pill bottle, his eyes glowing with a strange light. He examined it closer for a moment, then opened the top, closed his eyes, and took a whiff. After a long moment, his eyes snapped open.
“A Time Pill!” he murmured.
Xue’er’s face was just starting to look calm again when she heard Meng Hao’s words, and once again appeared to be astonished.
“I never would have thought that your skill in the Dao of Alchemy had reached such a high level, Elder Brother Meng. You’re the first Echelon cultivator… to ever recognize that pill. You’re right, it is indeed a Time Pill. Since you can identify the type of pill it is, then you surely know that such a pill can heal all of your injuries. As you can see, I’m not deceiving you.”
“A medicinal pill that adds at least a year of body transformations is indeed something very rare in modern times.” Meng Hao put the pill bottle away and ceased any aggressions. Then he called the parrot back, although the parrot didn’t seem to be too happy about that. The trembling white crane immediately fled back to Xue’er.
Next, Meng Hao floated over to the Go board, picked up a black game piece, and placed it onto the board.
Xue’er’s eyes glittered, and inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief. This Meng Hao was a handful to deal with, and really pissed her off. However, there was nothing she could do about it. Seeing Meng Hao play a black game piece, caused her to frown slightly. She walked over to the game board, picked up a white game piece, made her move and then waited for Meng Hao to continue.
“I lose,” he said, waving his sleeve. Not giving another glance at the game board, he turned and headed toward the mastiff.
“YOU!” she roared, blue veins popping out on her forehead. She had never, ever met anyone like Meng Hao before. “I’ll have you know that forfeiting the game is also forfeiting the good fortune I have for you!”
“I’m not interested!” he said coolly, completely ignoring her.
Her frown deepened. Balling her hands into fists, she shouted,“ You might not be interested now, but let me tell you, if you win, then you’ll get my help! With my help, your path in the Echelon will be much smoother!”
“It was already easy enough even before meeting you,” he replied. He slapped his bag of holding to produce the medicinal pill bottle. His eyes glittered for a moment, but he quickly put the pill bottle away. He couldn’t quite bring himself to consume the medicinal pill inside before duplicating it.
Unable to hold back from listing all the benefits, Xue’er continued: “Y-you know, other Echelon cultivators all want my help! I’m the successor of Immortal Ancient, and my whole purpose in life is to help the Echelon. If you win, you can even have me as your beloved partner!”
“I’m already married.” Meng Hao turned to look thoughtfully in the direction of the Third Nation. He wasn’t sure how much time Zong Wuya had bought him, nor how