The instant Meng Hao crushed the Violet Furnace Lord medallion, the moment his Violet Furnace Lord robe began to fade away, something happened in the State of Eastern Emergence, Violet Fate Sect, East Pill Division, on Grandmaster Pill Demon’s low mountain.
In one particular building were three racks of jade slips.
On the third rack were nine jade slips. Upon each slip was written a name, and if you looked closely, you would see that they belonged to the nine great Furnace Lords, An Zaihai, Ye Feimu, and the others. These were all of Pill Demon’s novitiates.
There was only one jade slip on the second rack. This one belonged to Chu Yuyan, his Personal Apprentice.
The first rack also contained one jade slip, upon which was written two characters. Fang Mu!
His position was the highest. Legacy Apprentice. This jade slip represented the importance of Meng Hao’s place in the East Pill Division of the Violet Fate Sect. Suddenly, Fang Mu’s jade slip began to tremble. Cracking sounds rang out, and fissures sprang out from the middle of the slip. In an instant… it exploded, transforming into flying ash.
The moment the jade slip collapsed, white-robed Pill Demon was sitting cross-legged on the mountain’s peak, looking off into the distance. A tremor ran through his body. He turned his head, looking down into the room with the jade slips. He held his gaze for a long time. His ancient face suddenly seemed to grow older; more wrinkles appeared.
Meanwhile, in the center of the Southern Domain, in the middle of the territory of the Li Clan, was a location that appeared to be just like the dwelling place of Immortals. Suddenly, a roar filled the air. Along with the roar appeared a figure bristling with rage.
As the figure charged, out, seven or eight others appeared behind him. The man held a shattered jade slip in his hand. It emitted a bright glow, in the middle of which was a face… it was none other than that of Meng Hao!
This was the reflection stored in Li Daoyi’s pupils the moment before he died. Meng Hao’s face.
“Daoyi!!” howled the old man, lifting his head to the sky and letting out a howl. A Dao Child of the Clan had been slain. Such a thing was said to have occurred to the Wang Clan years ago, but it turned out to only be a rumor. Even still, it had shocked the Southern Domain. Now, it really had happened to the Li Clan. This time, it was no falsehood; this Dao Child really had met his death.
“I don’t care who you are,” the old man raged, “you killed a Dao Child of my Li Clan! No matter which Sect you belong to, you shall die!!” He and the eight figures shot off into the distance. Behind them, even more Cultivators of the Li Clan followed, dozens. They transformed into prismatic beams of light that shot toward the Rebirth Cave at such speed it seemed possible they would tear a hole into the sky.
At the same time, in the Wang Clan of the Southern Domain, deep within that endless chain of mountains, was the lava cave of the tenth Patriarch of the Wang Clan. Suddenly, the lid of his coffin shattered into pieces, and the tenth Wang Clan Patriarch slowly rose to his feet.
He walked into the lava, and as he did, it slowly cooled and grew dark, as did the cave.
“As one of the legendary Wang Clan Patriarchs once said, all living things sow Karma. Therefore, Karma must be reaped. With life, comes death…. Today, I will help you. Yes, it’s sowing Karma, but in the future, I will consume you, and that is the reaping of Karma that you must pay. Today, you will not die. However, that merely indicates that in the future, you will belong completely to me.” The tenth Wang Clan Patriarch laughed hoarsely as a red glow surrounded his body.
“I haven’t been out in so long….” he muttered lightly, then disappeared.
———
Near the Rebirth Cave, within the mental realm of the Immortal’s corpse, in the depths of the maze, Meng Hao stood next to Li Daoyi’s corpse, breathing heavily.
From the moment he had revealed his true features, Meng Hao had been in constant deep thought. Li Daoyi had to die. The instant Meng Hao had heard Ji Hongdong’s words, Li Daoyi’s fate had been sealed; he must be killed!
Only dead men can truly keep secrets. 1
Xu Qing had her secret, as did Meng Hao. Were word to get out, Xu Qing would face unspeakable danger to her life…. In fact, her death would be certain.
Therefore, Li Daoyi had to die!
However, there was a polar difference between dying beneath Fang Mu’s hand, and dying beneath Meng Hao’s.
Meng Hao was no longer the ignorant youth he had been when he first entered the Cultivation world. In his years practicing cultivation in the Violet Fate Sect, his understanding of things had grown exponentially. How could he not understand that the death of a Dao Child of any Sect would instantly be made known to that Sect?
Furthermore, they had techniques to be able to reveal the appearance and aura of whoever did the slaying. Even determining the exact location where it had happened would not be d