“Senior, I will be going into secluded meditation,” said Meng Hao, pushing down the excitement which bubbled up in his heart. He bowed again, then turned to walk off. He didn’t go too far, but rather climbed deep into a half-collapsed building nearby.
Hanxue Bao watched him walk off and sighed again in his heart. He really had taken a liking to Meng Hao, but he knew that he had his own plans and aspirations. Hanxue Bao then looked over toward Hanxue Shan and sighed yet again.
Within a room in the collapsed house, Meng Hao sat cross-legged, breathing deeply. He performed an incantation and then pointed toward the ground, causing Demonic Qi to noiselessly begin to gather. It circulated around him, forming a barrier. Although he was on good terms with the Frigid Snow Clan right now, he still needed to take measures to protect himself.
This was especially true considering that he had just turned down their offer. Covered by the Demonic Qi, Meng Hao produced some medicinal pills, then closed his eyes and began to meditate. After a few hours passed, he opened his eyes again, and they shone brightly. His body was now completely recovered from its weak state. His Spiritual Sense had grown, and his Cultivation base had made significant progress.
Meng Hao was confident that after he transcended the Heavenly Tribulation, he would pass directly into the late Core Formation stage.
With his preparations complete, Meng Hao took out the Frigid Snow Larva. Then, he took out a Mulberry Thunderclap Leaf and placed it in front of the larva. As soon as the leaf appeared, a tremor ran through the Frigid Snow Larva. It appeared to find the leaf incredibly enticing. In the blink of an eye, lightning surrounded the leaf, and it was completely consumed by the Frigid Snow Larva.
Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed as he produced the copper mirror and began to duplicate more Mulberry Thunderclap Leaves. Thankfully, he had quite a collection of Spirit Stones in his bag of holding. Although he hated to see them disappear as the price of duplication, the thought of acquiring the Eyeless Larva caused him to do so without hesitation.
One leaf, two leaves, one hundred leaves…. Meng Hao’s eyes began to grow wide with disbelief that this tiny little Frigid Snow Larva could consume so many Mulberry Thunderclap Leaves. It didn’t seem to show any signs whatsoever of stopping. It appeared capable of eating all of the Mulberry Thunderclap Leaves in existence.
Meng Hao’s heart began to sink a little bit. His information about the larva came from the Black Lands Cultivator he had met in the Southern Domain. After much analysis, he had taken most of the man’s words to be true. Now, however, he was starting to feel a bit of skepticism.
He muttered to himself, his eyes glittering as he decided to go all out. He used all the Spirit Stones available in his bag of holding to continue to duplicate Mulberry Thunderclap Leaves to feed the Frigid Snow Larva.
Time passed by. Soon, it was a day later. By afternoon, Meng Hao’s eyes were bloodshot as he continued to feed one leaf after another to the Frigid Snow Larva. From what he could tell, he had fed enough Mulberry Thunderclap Leaves to create a mountain forest.
And yet, the Frigid Snow Larva showed no signs of being full. However, it did appear to be changing! It was still blue, but now had several white circles on its surface!
The circles looked something like eyes, and if you looked at them, it seemed as if they had the power to suck in your mind. By this point in Meng Hao’s process of feeding the larva, it had accumulated five such circles on its body.
Meng Hao looked at his bag of holding, and his heart filled with pain. He had acquired quite a lot of Spirit Stones after becoming Patriarch Golden Light. However, as of now, they were half gone. Gritting his teeth, Meng Hao continued to feed the Frigid Snow Larva.
Leaf, after leaf, after leaf….
By morning of the third day, Meng Hao’s eyes were completely filled with veins of blood. The Frigid Snow Larva in his hand now had eight circles. By the time the ninth appeared, Meng Hao’s bag of holding would be virtually devoid of Spirit Stones.
Grief filled his face. A few days ago he’d had a vast accumulation of Spirit Stones that left him confident of being able to purchase whatever he wanted, wherever he was.
Now, he had the exact opposite feeling.
“If I can’t create the Eyeless Larva….” Meng Hao clenched his fists and stopped thinking about the matter. He decided to risk it all. Having gone this far, he might as well continue on to the very end.
By night of the third day, Meng Hao’s bag of holding was completely empty. As the Frigid Snow Larva consumed the very last Mulberry Thunder Leaf, a ninth circle finally appeared, causing Meng Hao to gape.