Within the Ancient Paradise was an enormous, withered tree, whose roots spread throughout the ground. The tree trembled in response to the Dawn Immortal’s call, and its roots retracted back into the body of the tree. When that happened, the tree… surged with shocking energy!
There was another forbidden zone in the Eastern Lands, which some people called the Immortality Temple. It was located in a sprawling mountain range, and was filled with innumerable restrictive spells. Deep in the mountains was an ancient, dilapidated temple.
The statue of whatever divinity it was that the temple had been erected to had long since crumbled, and was impossible to see clearly. However, inside the temple was an oil lamp which had not been lit for uncountable years. As of this moment, that oil lamp blazed with fire, and began to pulse with a divine light.
The light covered the entire ancient temple, as well as the statue of the divinity. Suddenly, a figure appeared, who then sighed.
“Well, she came from here, and is connected to me….” It separated from the image of the divinity, floated up out of the ancient temple, then flew off into the distance.
A total of nine auras surged out, causing rumbling to spread throughout all the lands of South Heaven. The sky turned dark, and the living creatures in the land trembled. All of the cultivators on the battlefield appeared to be on the verge of losing consciousness.
The great sects of the Eastern Lands were completely astonished, and their Patriarchs began to think about the various legends recorded in their ancient records.
In the Ji Clan of the Eastern Lands, the armless young Patriarch stood up, and a strange light gleamed in his eyes.
“The Dawn Immortal is incredible! Even I could never have imagined that she would have set up so many contingencies!
“And it’s no wonder! She has existed for… countless, countless years. If she had focused solely on cultivation, it would be impossible to even speculate what Realm she would be in.”
As the lands of South Heaven trembled, the husband and wife stood there in front of Meng Hao. The woman’s face flickered as she looked around, then she stepped back to stand next to Meng Hao.
Meng Hao’s mind was still spinning, and as he looked at her face, he felt like he was in a trance.
“Are you… really my mom…?” he murmured.
“Hao’er,” she responded. “You’ve suffered many hardships throughout the years.” This woman was none other than Meng Hao’s mother. When she looked at him, her heart stabbed with pain. She reached out to clasp his hand, and her eyes were filled with both love and tears.
“It’s all my fault,” she said. “I’m a bad mother for not being able to take care of you. You were so young back then…. When daddy and I left, you ran out of the house crying and yelling. I saw you fall down, and my heart broke.” 1
It was at this point that the man turned back to look at Meng Hao. It was a gaze that caused Meng Hao’s mind to tremble. It was filled with love and kindness, and it instantly caused tears to begin to stream down Meng Hao’s face.
He never imagined that he would cry at this moment in time. He had never imagined that he would reunite so quickly with his father and mother.
He wasn’t sure what to say, but he couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down.
His mother saw Meng Hao weeping, which caused more tears to flow down her own face.
“Hao’er….” she said, and then embraced him warmly, which made Meng Hao think about the times when he was a boy, and how he hated leaving her side.
“Don’t cry,” said his father, tousling his hair. He was smiling, and the love in his eyes seemed to grow even stronger.
“You’re grown up now….” he said calmly. “You’re already half a step into true Immortality, so it’s time that I pass on some Daoist magic to you. My Dao, is the Dao of the sword…. Watch carefully, I’m going to show you nine sword forms.
“First form!” He extended his left leg and bent it slightly. Then his body sprang into motion. He bent backward gracefully until he looked almost like a taut bow, completely at one with Heaven and Earth. In the next breath, it seemed as if Heaven and Earth were wholly incompatible with him, and yet were helpless to do anything. It was as if he had drawn an incredible burst of power down from the Heavens.
He extended his right hand, within which appeared an ordinary iron sword. 2
The sword… swept toward the Southern Domain’s Ancient Dao Lakes!