Fang Wei….” After a moment of thought, Meng Hao looked up, and his eyes flashed with viciousness. Finally, he turned and bowed deeply to the first generation Patriarch, then waved his right hand, causing the main door of the necropolis to swing open, after which he strode out.
“It’s time to get out of here!”
Back outside in the Misty Heaven Vault, Meng Hao yet again produced the bronze lamp. Immediately, the surrounding mists began to vibrate, and then recede. Once again, a path opened up in front of him.
He proceeded along with much greater speed than he had upon entering, and it only took a few hours before he flew out from the Misty Heaven Vault. As he did, he saw no trace of Fang Daohong or Fang Linhe.
He could also sense that a huge vortex had appeared in a remote area of the ancestral land.
“The way out has opened!” he thought. He looked off into the distance, unsure of exactly how long the exit had been open. Obviously, Fang Daohong and all the others had already left.
Only the terracotta soldier remained waiting for Meng Hao. As soon as he emerged, its eyes glittered with a brilliant glow. Meng Hao looked back at it, his gaze filled with a reluctance to part.
Earlier, he had picked up on various clues that had led him to a certain conclusion. Now, with his increased cultivation base, he was able to see things even more clearly.
During the vast time in which the terracotta soldier had been waiting for Meng Hao, it had undergone certain transformations. It had been assimilated into this ancestral land, and would therefore be able to exist here eternally, at the peak of its power.
However, if it emerged into the outside world for too long without returning, then it would begin to decay, and would age by tens of thousands of years in a relatively short period of time.
“The only way for me to take it away would be if I had a piece of the Ruins of Immortality. If I did, I could take it with me long term.” Meng Hao flew up to sit on the terracotta soldier, after which it yet again changed shape to its enormous form, them employed its top speed to head off toward the exit.
The closer it got to the exit, the stronger the signs of dissipation got. Meng Hao sighed, and, after confirming what was happening, and despite his unwillingness to part with it, he decided that he couldn’t just watch it suffer harm.
He decided to leave it next to the crumbled mountains where he had found it. His voice soft, he said, “Go ahead and change back into a statue. I promise you that one day, I’ll come back here to take you away. It’s too bad that once the ancestral land closes, our connection will break.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the statue’s eyes glittered. It suddenly hefted its greatsword and then swung it through the air, causing a huge rift to open up, almost completely slashing the entire sky open.
Meng Hao’s eyes sparkled.
“You can slash your way out of here any time you want, huh?” Meng Hao asked. “In other words, you can go anywhere you feel like, right?”
The terracotta soldier nodded, but then shook its head. Finally, it gave Meng Hao a deep look, and for the first time, spoke, in a muffled, hoarse voice.
“Fang Clan… ancestral land… five hundred kilometers… I protect you.”
As soon as Meng Hao heard the voice, his heart seized. It was a voice he would never forget: Ke Yunhai’s voice.
“Foster father….” In that moment, Meng Hao realized that Ke Yunhai didn’t just use some of his life force from the dragon lamp with the phoenix wick to create the terracotta soldier. He had also used a strand of his soul.
After a very long moment, Meng Hao looked at the terracotta soldier one last time, then turned and headed toward the exit. After packing away the memories deep into his heart, his entire person began to radiate a harsh, murderous aura. He was like an unsheathed sword, shining coldly!
“Fang Wei, it’s time to finish things between the two of us!”