Meng Hao fled at top speed, sighing inwardly at his own bad luck. The fact that the cold woman had completely disregarded him was actually somewhat excessive. However, he was used to such things. Under normal circumstances, he would have just dealt with the situation; it wasn’t really that bad.

After all, it wasn’t intentional on her part. Therefore, it could be forgiven.

Meng Hao knew that as a scholarly person, he should be magnanimous and tolerant.

However, how could he have imagined that he would actually run into Fang Yu? When he thought of her violent disposition, he took a deep breath and pushed himself even faster.

Behind him, he heard a whistling sound nearing him. A mighty whirlwind was approaching, and in the middle of it was the furious Fang Yu.

Fundamentally speaking, Fang Yu had a beautiful voice. To Meng Hao, though, she currently sounded more like an evil poltergeist. “Meng Hao, you stop this instant! Do you really dare to disobey me!? I’m gonna beat you to death, do you hear me!”

Boom!

The ground off to the side suddenly exploded, smashed by a fist blow from Fang Yu. The explosion turned into an attack of its own which instantly slammed into Meng Hao. Without hesitation, he entered the Second Anima, increasing his speed dramatically.

He sighed. “Stop chasing me. There is neither gratitude nor grudge between us. Why are you acting like this? Besides, there’s no guarantee that you could win out over me.”

“What did you just say?!?!” she roared. She suddenly slapped her bag of holding to produce a bottle of medicinal pills. She popped one into her mouth, and her body erupted in flames. At the same time, her speed increased dramatically. Yet again, her fist descended. Although she was furious, this strike was not a deadly one. It slammed through the air in an attempt to get Meng Hao to stop.

However, even as the power of the fist strike descended, Meng Hao entered the Third Anima. As his speed exploded, he transformed into a green smoke and shot off into the distance. Fang Yu’s fist attack struck nothing. She stared for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.

“You little bum. In all the years I haven’t seen you, it seems you really have developed some skill.”

Even as she spoke, she continued to pursue him. They moved with incredible speed. Every time Fang Yu got close, Meng Hao would explode out with even greater speed. It made it impossible for her to actually catch up to him.

However, it also served to allow her temper to cool down. Eventually a happy smile appeared on her face. She would throw out occasional punches, and, seeing Meng Hao increase his speed even more, she finally started laughing.

Fang Yu laughed happily. Meng Hao smiled bitterly.

“Why did I have to end up pissing off a girl like this?” thought Meng Hao. “A hundred years have passed and she’s actually... almost in the Spirit Severing stage!” As far as Meng Hao was concerned, it just didn’t seem fair. He had spent a hundred difficult years in secluded meditation, had transmigrated into the Violet Sea, had formed seven Nascent Souls, had experienced multiple Heavenly Tribulations, and had slowly achieved Perfection.

Even despite all of that, he was still only halfway to Spirit Severing. And yet, Fang Yu... was the same as him.

“Chosen of the great Clans are all like this,” he sighed. Then he realized that even when he saw her more than a hundred years ago, her level of power had been incredible, and things seemed a bit more balanced.

Even as the two of them proceeded along, one pursuing, one fleeing, they began to near the second peak. Suddenly, a beam of green light appeared in mid-air and shot toward Fang Yu.

The speed with which it moved caused Fang Yu’s face to flicker. She immediately turned and punched out with her right hand.

A bang could be heard, and then Fang Yu retreated backward several paces. The green beam of light was sent spinning backward, during which time it transformed into a whip. Simultaneously, a man appeared out of thin air. He was tall and thin, with long hair and a handsome face. A long mark could be seen on his forehead that glittered brightly. It almost looked like lightning.

He wore a green-colored robe, and upon his shoulder perched a crow. The crow was bizarre in appearance; it had three eyes, all of which were staring coldly at Fang Yu.

In addition to the crow, a white-colored wolf stood next to the man, emanating a piercing aura as it stared around coldly.

The instant the man appeared, eight pillars of light suddenly rose around Fang Yu. They shot up with incredible speed, causing the entire sky to fill with colorful lights.

“Eight Point Illumination!” the green-robed man said, his voice cool. The eight pillars of light immediately transformed into a seal, which firmly locked Fang Yu in place.

“Ji Mingfeng!” said Fang Yu, her face falling. A cold snort could be heard from behind her. It was none other than Ji Xiaoxiao, who approached slowly, her phoenix-like eyes flickering with killing intent. [1. Ji Mingfeng’s name in Chinese is 季明风 jì míng fēng - Ji is of course the Ji of the Ji Clan. Ming means “bright” or “clear.” Feng means “wind”]

“Don’t tell me your Fang Clan ancestors neglected to tell you that you can’t simply run around wildly in the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane?” said Ji Xiaoxiao. “Fang Yu, did you really forget that Ji Clan Dao Children are adept at augury arts?

“The fact that we ran into each other was coincidental. If you had left immediately, then I couldn’t have done anything. Instead, though, you gave me a chance to notify Mingfeng. With his skill in augury, pinpointing your position was no problem!”

Meng Hao had stopped moving already, and was observing coldly from off in the distance. Seeing that Fang Yu had been ambushed and sealed, he frowned.

“Do you really dare to hurt me?” replied Fang Yu calmly. There was no anger visible in her eyes; rather, a fearsome aura emanated out from her which continued to grow more and more intense.

“Hurt you? Why?” said Ji Xiaoxiao with a slight smile. “The Fang Clan might be all alone here in the lands of South Heaven, but on Planet East Victory, they are the most illustrious, number one Clan. We don’t need to hurt you, just trap you for three days. Then your path back into ancient times will be cut off. Preventing you from finding a host body is good enough.”

Off to the side, Ji Mingfeng was also smiling. He said nothing, but even from his position off in the distance, Meng Hao could tell that he was much more dangerous than Ji Xiaoxiao.

In fact, when looking at Ji Mingfeng, Meng Hao felt as if there was a needle poking into his back.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Ji Xiaoxiao looked at Fang Yu for another moment and then turned to look at Meng Hao. She smiled broadly and said, “Many thanks, Fellow Daoist. It seems we were fated to meet this day. Unfortunately, there’s no time to properly entertain you today, but if Karma wills it, we will meet again one day.”

Ji Mingfeng glanced over at Meng Hao, smiled and nodded. However, Meng Hao could clearly see the scorn in his gaze.

Fang Yu also looked over at Meng Hao.

He stood there silently for a moment before turning to leave. He had no desire to participate in what was happening. Fang Yu’s being sealed didn’t put her life in danger. Considering she was neither kith nor kin, it would not be worthwhile for him to take any action.

Besides, he wasn’t completely confident in being able to take on two members of the Ji Clan at the same time. That was especially so considering that Ji Mingfeng gave Meng Hao the same sense of danger that Patriarch Huyan had.

As he turned around, the smile on Ji Xiaoxiao’s face grew even wider. Her smile right now made her seem vastly different than the cold version from earlier. When she saw the complex emotions in Fang Yu’s eyes, the despair and the pain, she grew even happier. She looked at Meng Hao walking away, and admiration could be seen in her eyes.

The thought suddenly popped into her mind that in the future, she could use him to continue to provoke Fang Yu.

Meng Hao took three steps, then suddenly looked back at Fang Yu.

He saw the despair and complex emotions in her eyes, as well as the pain. There was nothing romantic about the pain; actually it seemed to be more the type of pain one might feel when being abandoned by a family member. The look caused Meng Hao’s mind to suddenly tremble.

He said nothing, but his eyes suddenly began to shine brightly. For some reason, he couldn’t just brush aside the pain he saw in her eyes. He wasn’t sure why, but in that instant he made a decision. The killing intent inside of him instantly shot up.

Ji Xiaoxiao frowned. Next to her, Ji Mingfeng’s lips turned up in a cold smile.

It was in this moment that Meng Hao entered the Seventh Anima.

BOOM!!

His body instantly swelled. His hair grew longer and his aura rocketed up. Two times, eight times, sixteen times... all the way until his battle prowess was equivalent to sixty-four great circle Nascent Souls. A brief instant was all it took for the explosive power to cause a whirlwind to scream into existence, filling the entire area with clouds of dust.

Meng Hao was now several heads taller. He was taller, and his demeanor was thoroughly that of an Devil Immortal.

Ji Xiaoxiao’s face fell, and Ji Mingfeng’s pupils constricted.

Fang Yu’s eyes began to glow brightly.

A roaring sound exploded out from Meng Hao as he shot forward with all the speed he could muster.

He was upon them in the blink of an eye. Ji Xiaoxiao lifted up her hand and pointed forward, causing an enormous bubble to appear in front of her. It instantly shattered in Meng Hao’s face.

BAM!

The shattering of the bubble caused Meng Hao to tremble, but it didn’t cause him to pause even the least bit. As he pressed forward, Ji Mingfeng casually pointed out, causing the white wolf to lift its head up and howl. As it pounced toward Meng Hao, the mastiff turned into a beam of red light that suddenly appeared at Meng Hao’s side. It lashed out toward the white wolf, which instantly started quivering. Before the wolf could do anything in reaction, crunching sounds could be heard as the mastiff chomped it up into its mouth.

Everything happened so fast that Ji Mingfeng could only gape in astonishment. Next, intense killing intent appeared in his eyes.

Ji Xiaoxiao was flabbergasted; the mastiff’s Spirit Severing aura caused her face to fall immediately.

At the same time, Meng Hao reached the seal which was holding Fang Yu. He glanced at her, and she back at him, and they almost seemed to be communicating. Fang Yu clenched her hand into a fist, and then her aura exploded up as she punched directly toward the seal.

Meng Hao’s fist also slammed down. Their fists simultaneously punched down onto the exact same pillar of light, in exactly the same position!

The pillar immediately began to shake. Cracking sounds echoed out, and in the blink of an eye, the pillar exploded.

In response to the explosion of the first pillar, the other seven pillars began to automatically reinforce themselves. Fang Yu, filled with rage, instantly shot out from within.

She charged toward Ji Xiaoxiao, punching her before she could even react. Ji Xiaoxiao fell back, blood spraying from her mouth. Ji Mingfeng gave Meng Hao a deep glance, then smiled and turned, taking Ji Xiaoxiao with him as he headed off into the distance.

Fang Yu was about to give chase when Meng Hao blocked her way.

She turned to look at him and, her tone one of rebuke, said, “What are you holding me back for?! You have no respect for your elders! And don’t you know that showing off your full power so early will lose you any advantage you have!?”

Meng Hao shook his head and smiled wryly. “Fine, Fellow Daoist Fang. If you want to chase after them, I won’t stop you.”

“Don’t take that tone with me!” she said, glaring at him. “And what kind of address is that!? Call me big sis!”

Meng Hao gave another wry smile. He suddenly had the feeling that rescuing her had been a mistake.

“Not gonna call me big sis?” she said. Her hands clenched into fists, and cracking sounds could be heard. A dangerous glow could be seen coming from her face, as if she might turn into an explosive dragon at any moment.

“Big sis!!” he said with a sigh, backing up a few steps. “Happy...?”

“That’s better. Doesn’t hurt, does it?” As she spoke, her eyes slowly began to fill with gentleness, although her tone of voice still seemed angry. Meng Hao had no idea where that anger came from. “Alright,” she continued, “forget about that for now. How did you end up here? Did you decide which host body you’re going to pick?”

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This chapter was sponsored by Lord Arasur, Chimemerie Uzoma, Ryan Vaterlaus, R Moore, and Nicos Theodorou