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Boom!!

Blood sprayed from Meng Hao’s mouth. He could tell that the minotaur’s punch contained an incredible fleshly body power. Such power and ferocity was something he himself couldn’t withstand.

However, before the blow could land, the qi and blood absorbing suction power in his hand, which was even more astonishing than before, immediately absorbed a batch of power, strengthening his own fleshly body.

Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed brightly.

The minotaur stared in shock and astonishment.

“Well, that worked!!” thought Meng Hao. “The Blood Demon Grand Magic doesn’t just have to be used externally. I can employ it using other methods, for example, fusing it with my fleshly body!” Meng Hao laughed out loud, and his eyes gleamed with the desire to do battle. However, instead of rushing to attack, he fell back into a pattern of retreat just like before.

Every time he dodged or evaded, he would find ways to get close to the minotaur to touch it with his palm.

“Dammit! This is like getting bitten by a mosquito!” roared the minotaur. “I dare you to fight head on!” Meng Hao didn’t respond with a single word. However, his eyes began to glow with increasingly bright light. Every time he touched the minotaur, he would absorb a bit of qi and blood. Gradually, the power of his fleshly body increased, and he grew more powerful.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Meng Hao’s body trembled, and in the instant the next attack was leveled against him, his fleshly body burst out of Spirit Severing into Dao Seeking.

“Wanna fight? Let’s fight!” As he spoke, he ceased retreating, and punched directly toward the minotaur, who was a bit slow to react.

The minotaur actually seemed to be rejoicing, and was laughing wildly as he charged forward.

BOOOOOMMMMMM!!

Meng Hao and the minotaur exchanged blow after blow in mid-air. Each time, Meng Hao would end up tumbling backward, but at the same time, his fleshly body grew more and more powerful.

In contrast, the minotaur grew more and more shocked. His strength was slowly diminishing, and his previous hulking and sturdy body was gradually withering.

“You’re so strong!” he exclaimed. “Don’t tell me you were just going through the motions before? How dare you toy with me!!” Now that it realized something was going on, it went on a rampage, charging Meng Hao relentlessly.

Another incense stick worth of time passed.... Meng Hao could now battle head on, back and forth, with the minotaur and did not need to retreat. The minotaur’s rage continued to intensify.

Yet another incense stick worth of time passed....

“Y-y-you... you’re so powerful! How is it possible!?!?” Now the minotaur was retreating, and was completely struck dumb by Meng Hao’s display of ferocity. He punched and punched, but the result was only increasing weakness.

After enough time passed for three incense sticks to burn, a boom rang out and the minotaur tumbled backward head over heels. He slammed hard onto the surface of the altar, his body withered and incredibly weak. Compared to his previous stalwart frame, he was much weaker, though this still made him far stronger than the average person.

“How come... how come I’m skinny now? AGHHHHHH! I’m skinny!!” The minotaur saw Meng Hao closing in again with another attack, and suddenly gave a start. “Demon magic! You little punk, you’re using Demon magic!!”

The minotaur was now in full retreat, it’s face filled with fury. “Okay, I quit! Dammit! The contest is over! You win, you pass!”

Meng Hao stopped in place. He actually felt a bit bad. Thanks to the minotaur, he had gained a new understanding of yet another unique usage of the Blood Demon Grand Magic. This new technique made the Blood Demon magic even more useful.

“Many thanks, senior,” he said, clasping hands and bowing deeply.

The minotaur gave a cold snort and ignored Meng Hao. He looked down at his body and scowled miserably. “I’m skinny now.... So skinny.... I’m finished. Finished! When I get home, my woman is gonna beat me for sure. What... what if she gets some crazy ideas about what happened? What am I supposed to do?”

Meng Hao felt even more guilty now. He cleared his throat; aware that no explanations could fix the situation, he quickly headed toward the third floor.

On the third floor, he found himself facing a huge, glittering mirror. From within the mirror emerged a person who looked completely like Meng Hao in all aspects. He glanced down at his body, then smiled bashfully and looked back at Meng Hao.

Meng Hao’s eyes flashed, and then thought back to Lu Bai’s warning.

“Fighting myself? Black White Pearls and the Ninth Mountain!”

“Black White Pearls and the Ninth Mountain!” Both people attacked at the same time, and instantly, shocking booms rattled out. Outside the altar, Lu Bai lifted his head and looked up toward the third level, his eyes gleaming.

Meng Hao retreated, as did his doppelgänger.

“Blood Demon Grand Magic!”

“Blood Demon Grand Magic!”

BOOM!

Both attacked with exactly the same divine abilities and magical techniques. After fighting for several hours, Meng Hao’s doppelgänger suddenly changed strategies. No longer did it do exactly the same thing as Meng Hao. Instead, it used Meng Hao’s various techniques and magics to attack in its own unique way.

Rumbling filled the air as Meng Hao saw a gigantic Blood Immortal face appear in front of him, along with a blood-colored vortex that began to spin around him. His face was extremely unsightly. This magical incarnation was incredibly troublesome. A real headache.

All of a sudden, he realized what it must be like for other people to fight him.... What a feeling! That was especially true when he thought of... the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex. His doppelgänger actually utilized the technique perfectly, and Meng Hao had to admit that this opponent... was much better than he was.

Every time the doppelgänger attacked, it would use the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex at just the right time. Meng Hao wanted to bellow in rage.

“So, you can use the technique in THAT way!” he thought. Even in the midst of his frustration, he began to imitate how this magical doppelgänger used his own battle magic.

The Eighth Demon Sealing Hex was incredible!

An incredible booming sounded out as the two of them attacked each other. By now, they had been fighting for close to a day. Every time Meng Hao used the Blood Demon Grand Magic to absorb some of his opponents qi and blood, the same would happen to him.

It seemed that it would be difficult for either party to clinch victory. However, Meng Hao was learning a lot over the course of the fighting.

“At this rate, I won’t be able to wrap things up any time soon!!” He was starting to get anxious. It was at this point that the white-colored overseer up in mid-air suddenly opened its eyes.

“You may not battle for more than a day on any given level. You still have enough time left for an incense stick to burn. After that, if the battle has not been concluded... then it counts as your loss!”

“Why?!” asked Meng Hao, looking up at the white-colored overseer.

“Defeating others is easy and while defeating yourself is difficult.... if you can’t even come up with a method to defeat yourself, then how can your Dao heart be stable? How can you face Immortal Tribulation in the future?!

“In the earliest of times, any foreigner who came here would die. However, the ancient will arrived and my clan had no choice but to enter into the treaty. After that, this place became a location for deadly refinement. According to the treaty, the purpose is to train true Immortals!

“For example, the first level tests your survival capabilities. If you reach true Immortal Ascension, you will face many Tribulations. You must have the power to protect yourself!

“This second level tests your powers of perception and understanding. If you are perceptive enough, you can naturally gain enlightenment regarding various magics that are currently stuck in atrophy. The Dao heart is only one aspect.

“Defeat yourself, strengthen your Dao heart. That is only the first step toward being a true Immortal. If you can’t pass this first step, then of course you fail!”

Meng Hao’s mind reeled.

“Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed that this place is different from the outside?!” continued the overseer.

“Well, forget it. You’re only in the Spirit Severing stage. You are incapable of seeing how extraordinary this place is. Let me tell you, kid... there are no natural laws here!

“The second level is a place with no laws. Here, everything is a blank!

“Therefore, you have even more opportunity to gain enlightenment regarding your magical techniques, and even your Dao. Understand your divine abilities and your path to enlightenment. Because, this place... has no law to interfere with or distort your true heart!”

Meng Hao stared in shock. Before, he hadn’t put too much thought into why this place seemed a bit strange. All he knew was that he felt somehow freer, and his mind clearer.

He had never imagined that this place... lacked natural law?!

“You have the time it takes an incense stick to burn. If you can’t defeat yourself in that time, then you fail!”

Meng Hao’s eyes glittered. Rumbling filled the air as his doppelgänger closed in. The two of them once again began to battle back and forth. Time passed, and soon, half an incense stick had burned.

“What do I do?” thought Meng Hao. “What do I do?! If I fail the first time, the second time will be even harder!

“If I could gain enlightenment into the third level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic and cultivate it successfully, then I could probably slay this doppelgänger!

“Another possibility would be to gain enlightenment into my Third Severing! Or perhaps, if I understood how to use one more of the characters that make up the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao!

“If I could use the soul of the true Immortal to make a second true self, it would definitely be terrifying in the extreme!

“Another option is the Nine Heavens Treasured Body Seal!”

Unfortunately, there was not enough time for any of those things. He only had the time it takes half an incense stick to burn!

Meng Hao’s eyes were shot with blood as he fell into retreat. Suddenly, his doppelgänger utilized the Blood Demon Grand Magic; so Meng Hao did as well.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Instantly, the doppelgänger’s fleshly body began to wither. However, at the same time, he absorbed Meng Hao’s qi and blood, replenishing himself. Such a circumstance had occurred many times throughout their battle.

“The third level of the Blood Demon Grand Magic, the Spirit Meridians stratum! All cultivators have spirit meridians running through their body. Such spirit meridians are essentially the cultivation base. The purpose of the Blood Demon Grand Magic is to stir the spirit meridians. In much the same way that a miner deals with a vein of gold, the spirit meridian is dug up and consumed!

“But, how exactly am I supposed to absorb the spirit meridians?!”

Time was running out!

“Spirit meridians!!” Meng Hao and his doppelgänger ceased using the Blood Demon Grand Magic and began to utilize other divine abilities. Meng Hao’s mind was racing as he tried to come up with a solution. This was a world with no natural law, and his mind was extremely clear. It was in that moment that he suddenly thought of... the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch!

He recalled the scene of the 10th Wang Clan Patriarch absorbing his Perfect Dao foundation.

When he thought back to that time, he remembered the various transformations that occurred in his body. His cultivation base had rotated in reverse, and then collapsed, transforming into an energy which was then sucked out of him. Recalling that feeling suddenly caused a tremor to run through Meng Hao.

“Reversal. I understand now! The key to the third level is reversal! When the vortex of the second level reaches maximum rotation, I can suddenly reverse the flow, which will unleash an incredible power!”

His eyes shone with a bright light.

Boom!

In that moment of enlightenment, he utilized the Blood Demon Grand Magic, then immediately pushed it through from the second level... to the third!

When he entered the third level, energy exploded around him. A strange light glowed in his eyes, and he lifted his hand to point at the doppelgänger. Instantly, a golden vortex appeared around the doppelgänger, which caused it to give a cold snort. It raised its hand and pointed toward Meng Hao as it too once again employed the Blood Demon Grand Magic.

However,at this point, when the golden vortex was rotating at full speed, Meng Hao suddenly reached his hand out and then turned it over.

Immediately, the vortex surrounding the doppelgänger reversed. The doppelgänger’s expression flickered as its cultivation base suddenly collapsed, completely beyond its control. It rushed out through the doppelgänger eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, to shoot toward Meng Hao.

Simultaneously, the doppelgänger’s entire body collapsed, and it disappeared without a trace. The only thing left behind was the glittering mirror.

“In your first tempering, you defeated yourself in less than a day,” said the white-colored overseer, looking deeply at Meng Hao. “As such, it is unnecessary for you to participate in the following floors. Please go directly to the ninth floor. If you can pass the ninth floor, then you may leave this place! In addition, you can acquire one of our clan’s valuable treasures!”