Meng Hao lowered his hand, causing the Cubic Pearl to fly out of the old man’s hand and into his own. The old man didn’t do anything whatsoever to stop him. As the Flame Dragon engulfed him and the pearl was snatched away, a mysterious light appeared in his eyes, and a slight smile touched the corners of his mouth.
The old man’s archaic voice filled the air. “You obviously realized which path was the correct one to take. Why make this choice?” As the voice echoed out, the golden glow that filled the world was suddenly suppressed. Now, all of the Chosen from the various Sects and Clans could clearly see what was happening on top of the tree.
The sight filled them with shock. Expressions of disbelief covered their faces as they saw the gray-robed old man being engulfed in flames. Meng Hao floated in mid-air. It was impossible for them to miss the fact that he had not picked any of the paths on the treetop, but had instead chosen to kill the old man.
“He dared to attack?!”
“This… this… this Meng Hao chose not to walk one of the paths. He chose to attack?! How could this be?”
“That old man is completely unfathomable…. You can tell from a single glance that he’s beyond ordinary. This place is just too bizzarre. I can’t believe Meng Hao dared to attack! Dammit… how come I didn’t think of that!?!?”
Even as the Chosen beneath the treetop expressed their shock, the Nascent Soul eccentrics up above instantly shot to their feet, their eyes fixed upon Meng Hao.
This was especially true of Patriarch Song Tian. He gasped, and a glow of disbelief radiated from his eyes. A serious expression filled his face.
It wasn’t just him. Eccentric Song, Han Bei, Li Shiqi, Li Daoyi, as well as Song Clan Dao Child Song Yunshu all stared with completely disbelief.
Panting, Song Yunshu stared fixedly at Meng Hao. He had participated in this test and had succeeded on the second try after picking the same path as the first time. However, he had never imagined that you could actually raise a hand against the gray-robed old man.
“How could he do such a thing?” said Song Yunshu said hoarsely. “That’s the Spirit of the tree….”
It was at this moment that everyone heard the old man’s question echoing out from within the flames. It was the exact same question that was running through the heads of all the observers.
Why had he chosen such a path?
“Conforming to convention is emptiness,” replied Meng Hao. “Yielding to and complying with the Heavens is well and good. Unending persistence is fine, too. However, I cannot choose either of those.” Having said this, he shot up into the air!
He would not comply with rules of this place, but would instead create his own path. He was like the Perfect Foundation, not permitted by Heaven and Earth, and the target of extermination by Tribulation Lightning. However, he would continue onward. That was how he differentiated himself from others; his path was not one of inflexible adherence to the rules. As such, why would he follow the rules of this place? Why would he pick the correct path out of the nine?
He had chosen to break through and take the pearl by force, by slaughtering! He knew that he could succeed by persisting in treading the path from before. However, this so-called persistence was actually just a method of following the rules; it was not true persistence!
The old man’s laughter rang out from within the flames. His ancient smile was filled with happiness, as well as anticipation. He gave Meng Hao a deep look, allowing the flames to consume him. Soon, his body was gone.
As the old man disappeared and Meng Hao shot up into the air, the Chosen down below in the tree looked up mutely. They stared at Meng Hao in shock, their hearts in turmoil, incapable of calming down. Meng Hao’s choice had been simple, but not many people were capable of simplicity such as this.g Hao completely bypassed the nine paths to appear directly in front of the old man. He lifted his hand, and his Cultivation base rippled out. Instantly, a six hundred meter long Flame Dragon appeared and then slammed down onto the old man.