Chapter 161: Ultimate Vexation Appears!
It wasn’t just Xie Jie whose attention turned to Meng Hao. Xu Youdao and the gray-robed Cultivator also gave him deep, meaningful looks.
His expression was calm, but inwardly, his mind flashed with understanding. Now he knew why everyone had looked at him so strangely when they had entered the large Cauldron.
The Nine Great Names didn’t include Meng, so once he entered, they must all have reached the conclusion that he was using an assumed name.
Even he was a bit uncertain regarding this revelation. He looked through the sheets of lightning toward the nine massive statues. Sure enough, amongst them could be found faces similar to Xu Youdao, the gray-robed Cultivator, and even Xie Jie.
These statues depicted their ancestors. They had surnames which could be traced back to ancient times, Clans which some people called the Nine Great Families.
“Am I of the Nine Great Families…?” Meng Hao asked himself. Moments later, a smile appeared on his face, although it was a bit cold. He was sure that he was not of the Nine Great Families.
He had remembered how upon entering the enormous cauldron, the copper mirror had grown hot within the bag of the Cosmos. If that was all, it wouldn’t be enough evidence to prove anything. But Meng Hao had also suddenly recalled how the mirror had grown hot during the secret meeting, when Han Bei had produced the information regarding the first volume of the Classic of Time.
“Han Bei must have prepared for this day for a long time,” he thought, “and it wasn’t just one secret meeting she attended. The information she sent out was not restricted just to late Foundation Stage Cultivators, but more importantly, to only bloodline members of the Nine Great Families.” With all this scattered information, he came to the conclusion that it must have something to do with the copper mirror.
“Just what is this mirror exactly? It can agitate the auras of wild beasts to explode, it has an astonishing power of duplication, and apparently has helped me achieve my goals by using underhanded means. Even though I’m not of the Nine Great Families, I was still able to enter this place. All these various thoughts flashed through Meng Hao’s mind in quick succession. Only a moment or two passed between Xie Jie’s question and Meng Hao’s response.
“Whether or not the Nine Great Families include Meng, I don’t really know,” he said coolly. “But the fact that I entered the cauldron and made it to this point raises a very important issue.” The look on his face made it very clear what he was thinking.
Xie Jie’s eyes flickered, and he furrowed his brow. Meng Hao’s words left him speechless. The words were a defense in themselves, even though he neither admitted nor denied anything; or perhaps he had done both. Xie Jie looked at him for a long moment.
The response had been clear; Meng Hao didn’t know. But maybe the reason he was here was because he was indeed of the Nine Great Families.
“Fellow Daoist Meng provided you with his answer,” said Han Bei calmly. “Elder Brother Xie, I know that you have some Green Cloaking Pills on your person that the Sect Leader gave you specifically for use in this place. I know this already, there’s no need for you to confirm or deny it.”
Xie Jie was quiet for a moment. He looked around at the lightning, his face somber. Then he slapped the top of his head and spit out a small green pill the size of a fingernail. As soon as it flew out, it exploded, sending large amounts of green Qi out in all directions. As it did, the lightning began to grow slightly transparent, as if they were being cloaked.
The five of them continued onward several hundreds of meters, with Xu Youdao and the gray-robed Cultivator taking the lead.
A hundred meters later, Xie Jie, his face grim, said, “I only have three Green Cloaking Pills!” He spat out another pill, and they raced forward amidst the indistinct lightning.
With the power of the two Green Cloaking Pills, they were able to reach the location of the nine statues. The statues were awe-inspiring, as was the cauldron in their center, which seemed as if it could contain the Heavens.
An ancient aura circled about the area, brushing against their faces and making them feel as if they had traveled back to a primordial time. It was like they could feel the boundlessness of that era.
Han Bei was incapable of concealing the excitement within her eyes. She panted as she looked up at the statue of her ancestor. Next to her, Xu Youdao, the gray-cloaked man, and even Xie Jie stood by silently, all of them gazing at the statues of their respective ancestors.
Meng Hao had no way to comprehend what was going through their minds. His face was the calmest of the bunch as he looked at the statues one by one. Finally his gaze fell upon the circular cauldron that represented the heavens.