Immortal Bai Wuchen’s countless machinations hadn’t taken into consideration the indescribable level of fear Jin Yunshan felt because of Meng Hao.

Deep within his heart, he didn’t possess even the shred of a desire to provoke Meng Hao the lunatic.

It was as he had just said. If Bai Wuchen had actually offered him a Nine Essences Redistillation Fruit, he would have helped her immediately. However, a mere piece of information, no matter how certain it was, could not make him do anything to offend Meng Hao.

He had hesitated for a moment, a bit earlier. However, Meng Hao’s complete and utter calm despite the sea of ghosts being taken out of action left Jin Yunshan in a dilemma. Gritting his teeth, he had trusted his intuition regarding Meng Hao, and switched sides.

Nobody, not even Immortal Bai Wuchen, would have been able to guess that Meng Hao had frightened Jin Yunshan so deeply that he would do something like this. Meng Hao couldn’t help but look over at him in surprise.

Jin Yunshan looked askance at Meng Hao and said, “What are you looking at? Fellow Daoist Meng, don’t tell me you think I’m the backstabbing type? We had our agreement to cease hostilities, and my word is my bond. Nor will I flip out and lose my temper. When I say I’ll do something, then I’ll do it.”

He seemed quite proud, and he couldn’t conceal the bit of derision that had seeped into his tone.

Immortal Bai Wuchen’s face darkened, and Sha Jiudong sighed. The Sect Leader smiled wryly as he looked at Jin Yunshan.

Jin Yunshan cleared his throat as he continued to look over at Meng Hao.

“Fellow Daoist Meng, if you need direct assistance from me, we can discuss the matter. For the time being, I won’t get in the way of the other Fellow Daoists.” Jin Yunshan laughed heartily, then flew off to the side, acting as though he wouldn’t get involved no matter what happened.

He had chosen to switch sides, but there were different ways to switch sides. As long as he didn’t help Meng Hao fight, then Bai Wuchen and the Sect Leader, and even Sha Jiudong, wouldn’t be able to say anything.

Because of the current situation, he was now vastly more important to Meng Hao than before, and might even be able to determine whether Meng Hao survived the catastrophe which had struck him. Of course, Meng Hao would have to pay a price for that. On the other hand, if Bai Wuchen wanted to avoid a complete failure in her plan, she would also need to pay a price.

According to Jin Yunshan’s calculations, things might even develop in such a way that he wouldn’t help either side at all, but would still end up profiting from both sides. The best part of it all was that he would avoid doing anything whatsoever that Meng Hao might be offended by.

Having reached these conclusions, Jin Yunshan smiled proudly.

Immortal Bai Wuchen snorted coldly, ignoring Jin Yunshan and turning to the Sect Leader and Sha Jiudong.

“Fellow Daoists, as for the promises I made, I can swear a Dao oath that they are true!” As soon as the words left her mouth, the Sect Leader nodded, and Sha Jiudong’s eyes glittered with red light.

The three of them then once again went on the offensive. They shot toward Meng Hao, Bai Wuchen in the lead, with the other two coming from the opposite sides, completely locking him down.

Meng Hao’s expression was calm as he looked at his three attackers. Even as they bore down on him, he pushed his hand out, and numerous mountains began to descend. Even as the mountains blocked his three opponents, Meng Hao’s hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture. The Eighth Hex appeared. Then the Seventh, and the Sixth. They flew out in rapid succession. As Bai Wuchen and the other two dealt with the mountains, Meng Hao unleashed all of the Hexes down to the First.

“Eight Hexes, combine!” he said, eyes flashing. He performed an incantation gesture, and then waved both hands out in front of him. Instantly, the eight Hexing magics combined, transforming into numerous threads which became a huge net. That net then shot toward the group of three.

The Sect Leader frowned, performing a double-handed incantation gesture that caused the sky to grow dark. At the same time, a shocking mountain peak appeared, descending from the Heavens to hover above the Sect Leader’s head.

“Cauldron Mountain Conjury!” he said in his ancient voice. Waving his hands, he caused the mountain to begin to grow rapidly, until it seemed to supercede Heaven and Earth. At the same time, it shot directly toward Meng Hao.

Meanwhile, Sha Jiudong began to spin in place, transforming into a raging sandstorm, inside of which could be seen a two-horned head. The head’s eyes were crimson, and it let out a piercing shriek as it shot toward Meng Hao.

Immortal Bai Wuchen’s eyes flickered. Hands flashing with an incantation gesture, her Essence power erupted out, causing all color in the world to be masked as fog billowed out.

Boundless, endless fog turned the entire world into a place of fog that sought to bore into every pore in Meng Hao’s body.

Three peak 9-Essences cultivators were all attacking simultaneously, a majestic sight that caused Heaven and Earth to shake violently. Meng Hao was powerful, but not even he was a match for three peak 9-Essences experts. Blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth as he staggered backward. Killing intent gleamed in Immortal Bai Wuchen’s eyes as she suddenly reached out and performed an incantation gesture, causing a mirror shard to appear.

The shard flickered dazzlingly, and a piercing beam of light suddenly shot out from it, stabbing through anything and everything as it headed toward Meng Hao.

Rumbling echoed out, and simultaneously, Meng Hao teleported, retreating a significant distance, where he stared at them coldly. At the same time, Jin Yunshan powered up his cultivation base, as if to remind Meng Hao of his presence. As long as both sides were relatively evenly matched, it was to his advantage to remain just as he was.

Meng Hao looked at him with an enigmatic smile, then turned away. From the beginning of the fight down to this moment, he hadn’t shown the slightest sign of being ruffled, as if the battle was something he didn’t even care about.

“I have to say that this is Meng Hao’s first time fighting three peak 9-Essences cultivators at one time,” he said coolly, referring to himself by name for the first time. “What a precious opportunity.” He shook his head. “But now, it’s time to end this farce.”

He looked over at the Sect Leader, no killing intent in his gaze whatsoever; he could tell that the man was holding back. As for Sha Jiudong, however, he seemed to be attacking with as much madness at Immortal Bai Wuchen, and yet there were clues within his magical techniques regarding his true attitude.

Not even he wanted to push things to the extreme in this situation.

Immortal Bai Wuchen laughed coldly. “How arrogant! Let me tell you, if you don’t hand over that mirror shard, you will die beyond the shadow of a doubt!”

Her right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, and the mirror shard glittered again.

“That’s not how to use that mirror shard,” Meng Hao said coolly. It was his second time saying such a thing. The first time, Immortal Bai Wuchen hadn’t paid attention, but to hear him say it a second time left her heart pounding.

She wasn’t the only one. Both the Sect Leader and Sha Jiudong were starting to wonder why Meng Hao was so calm when facing all three of them in battle.

Even Jin Yunshan’s heart was starting to pound.

He waved his sleeve, and his own mirror shard appeared there in his hand. It floated up, radiating scintillating light, as if it were the most precious treasure in the entire world. “Let me show you the correct way to use a shard from the copper mirror.”

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Note from Deathblade:

This chapter was a bit shorter than usual, coming in at around 1,400 words instead of the usual 2,000 or so.