Only the two of them could have such a sympathetic resonance. Only they had experienced such similar things, and such similar complex emotions.
“A son wants to care for his parents, but they aren’t there any more….” Meng Hao closed his eyes. If he didn’t understand the Soul Divergence Incantation, he would believe Ke Jiusi to be dead. However, now that he did understand it, and heard Zhixiang’s story, Meng Hao suddenly had a strange feeling.
He could imagine how Ke Jiusi’s flesh and bones had faded as the years passed. The Demon Immortal Sect became nothing more than corpse-filled ruins. Finally one day, Ke Jiusi’s body slowly formed back together from nothing inside that coffin. He opened his eyes.
He finally saw the sky again, and his Sect. He looked around at all the things that had once been so familiar, only to realize that everything was now different. He was the only person left. He missed his father, and regretted his silkpants lifestyle. That regret then transformed into tears.
He had most assuredly wept for a long time atop the Fourth Peak.
He had most assuredly looked out at everything and felt as if he were living a life filled with pain.
He had most assuredly drunk alcohol in front of his father’s tomb, blabbering like an idiot and knocking his head against the ground as he kowtowed.
He had most assuredly visited all the grounds of the Demon Immortal Sect. He had seen all the corpses, including those belonging to his relatives and friends, the people he had hated and the people he had liked. All of those people had become corpses, and their thoughts were nothing more than wisps on the wind.
After returning to the Fourth Peak and looking out at everything, he had realized that he was the only protector of this world.
Perhaps the most correct thing to say was not that he was the protector of the Demon Immortal Sect, but rather, the protector of his beautiful memories, especially the memories of his father.
As of this moment, Meng Hao understood. He understood Ke Jiusi’s heart, and what he was thinking.
“You’re definitely next to me,” thought Meng Hao, “or perhaps within my soul. You’re watching me live this version of your life, treading a different path than you. Every time I look at father, you are most assuredly using my eyes to look at him too.”
Meng Hao glanced up again at the evening sky for a moment, then closed his eyes again.
Two days later, it was the appointed time to meet Zhixiang. Meng Hao left the Fourth Peak and traveled with her toward the Seventh Peak!
This was the final peak in the First Heaven, and also the most important one.
Behind the Seventh Peak was a vast, hazy forbidden zone. Disciples without the proper authorization were not permitted to step even half a pace inside. In fact, few people actually knew what lay inside the haziness.
After entering it, nothing would be visible. One could only use a command medallion to find one’s way through the mists to the destination.
Zhixiang had such a command medallion, but Meng Hao didn’t.
When the two of them reached the indistinctness, they caught sight of two enormous stone statues that looked like Demons. They had eight arms and four heads, and were fully three hundred meters tall. They glared out fiercely in all directions.
Each of the two statues held a gigantic stone greatsword in hand. They were criss-crossed, stabbed down into the earth to form a door of swords.
The enormous door didn’t seem to offer any hindrance to any who wished to pass through it. However, if anyone attempted to do so without the proper qualifications, they would be instantly killed.
Zhixiang’s face was covered with an expression of piety and awe. She kneeled in front of the statues and used both hands to hold aloft a purple-black jade slip. It was a command medallion that emanated a warm glow as it floated up into the air toward the right-hand statue. As it landed in one of the statue’s hands, the statue’s eyes suddenly flickered and opened. It slowly pulled its sword up out of the ground, revealing a path.