After trying seven or eight times, he realized that the Immortal meridian had absorbed too much of the gentle power, and now there wasn’t any emanating out from the stone stele at all. However, the Immortal meridian inside of him had changed from it’s previous illusory state. About ten percent of it had solidified.
This development caused Meng Hao’s heart to pound with wild joy and excitement. He knew that the moment the Immortal Meridian was complete, he would step into true Immortality.
Suppressing his excitement, he plastered an expression of surprise onto his face and then pushed his hand down onto the stele a few more times experimentally. He glanced around, then looked up, apparently frustrated, and called out into the void: “Senior Ling Yunzi, are you there!? This stone stele is broken! Can I have another?
“Actually, sir, it would be best to bring out several, just in case there are any other broken ones. That will save you some frustration in the long run.” He gazed up into the starry sky, an expression of eager anticipation on his face.
Everything was silent. The other cultivators on the Ancient Road of Dao Seeking all looked on silently.
In the starry sky palace, the Patriarchs from the various sects were all frowning. However, they knew that the Ruins of Immortality were veiled in mystery. Even though the Three Great Daoist Societies held control of the three Ancient Roads, there were many things about them that they didn’t understand.
After a long moment, the Patriarch of the Ninth Sea God World said, “Fellow Daoist Ling Yunzi, give him another.”
The voice echoed out into the Ancient Road of Dao Seeking, and Ling Yunzi materialized out of the void. He looked down indifferently at Meng Hao, then waved his sleeve, causing the stone stele in front of him to vanish as if had been teleported away. Moments later, it was replaced by another stone stele.
Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed as he quickly reached his hand out and pushed it down onto the stone stele.
“SHINE!” he bellowed. The gentle power once again entered his body and began to flow about. At the same time, an imperceptible flicker appeared in Meng Hao’s eyes as he used both the meat jelly and the black feather to conceal anything that was happening inside of him.
The Immortal meridian quickly sucked in every last bit of the power, although it didn’t seem to have a very drastic effect on the meridian itself. Meng Hao blinked. Then, as Ling Yunzi looked on wide-eyed, he dramatically inspected the stone stele and tried to place his hand onto it several times. Soon, all the power from the stele was sucked away by the Immortal Meridian.
Ling Yunzi wasn’t the only person who was paying close attention to what was happening. The people in the starry sky palace were also observing closely, and their frowns deepend.
“There’s something wrong!”
“The stone stele isn’t defective. Even though everything seems normal, there’s actually something strange going on inside of his body.”
“He must cultivate some unique Daoist magic….”
As the discussions buzzed in the palace, an old man wearing a long crimson gown suddenly rose to his feet.
“There’s no need for any testing,” he said. “Ladies and Gentleman, Mount Sun would be happy to dispel any doubts for you. I will recruit him to join Mount Sun, and then all disputes will be resolved.” Laughing heartily, he began to walk forward, but then his path was suddenly obstructed.
“There’s no need for the Holy Land of Mount Sun to go to that trouble! The Burning Incense Stick Society is more than willing to take the risk of recruiting him.”
In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere in the palace was completely astir. As they verbally sparred over the matter, Meng Hao stood on his altar on the Ancient Road of Dao Seeking. Sighing, he looked up at the grim-faced Ling Yunzi.
“Senior, this… this one’s broken too! Why don’t you give me a few more…?”
Ling Yunzi stared at him silently for a moment, then waved his hand. Rumbling echoed out as four stone steles with the character ‘talent’ inscribed on them suddenly appeared.
Meng Hao’s heart thumped, and he coughed lightly again and began the assessment.
“Hm, this one’s broken.
“Eee? This one’s broken too! Dammit!
“Heavens! Who would have thought that this one would also be broken!
“I… I can’t believe it! This one’s broken too!” Meng Hao looked up with a sheepish, pained expression, as if the Heavens were playing a cruel joke on him. Ling Yunzi looked back with an extremely unsightly expression.
Of course, inwardly, Meng Hao was extremely excited. Although the five stone steles from just now had not been incredibly effective, they had pushed his Immortal meridian from being ten percent solid to twenty percent.