Upon further research he came to the determination that most of the poison had actually been expelled by his body during the flare-ups. Only the poison from the three-colored poison pill remained.
During the half-year, Meng Hao took time to practice with the treasures he had acquired from Patriarch Reliance, for example the Lightning Flag. As of now, he could use it much more effectively than the six months before. Now, he could use it to create a mist thirty meters in diameter. If any creatures approached it, it would shoot lightning bolts at it. Its power was greater than that of Foundation Establishment. He had gotten into the habit of using it to protect himself whenever he rested.
As for the good luck charm, Meng Hao couldn’t find any apparent use for the item.
Another month passed. In front of Meng Hao, a series of mountainous valleys appeared. They were filled with suspension bridges. People wearing rough hemp garments and headgear walked to and fro upon the bridges carrying large wicker baskets on their backs.
Seeing this, Meng Hao’s eyes narrowed. This place was a wilderness, with no signs of habitation anywhere. And yet, suddenly some mortals had appeared.
Their clothing looked different from that worn in the State of Zhao. Meng Hao looked them over, muttering to himself, and was about to leave when suddenly his eyes flickered. He turned to look at one of the seven valleys.
After a moment, the flying sword he was standing on flashed, carrying him directly toward the valley. As he approached, a thick wave of spiritual energy billowed out and hit him in the face. His eyes gleamed. This was the most dense accumulation of spiritual energy that he had seen in the past six months.
The valley was extremely deep and long. Looking down at it from mid-air, Meng Hao couldn’t even see its bottom. The only thing he could see was the dense spiritual energy, which roiled out from the deep within the valley. The spiritual energy caused all the living things nearby to grow abundantly and gave the place an otherworldly look.
“There’s even more spiritual energy here than there was on the East Mountain of the Reliance Sect.” Meng Hao looked down at the misty valley in amazement. It was at this moment that the mist in the valley suddenly roiled. Within Meng Hao’s bag of holding, the Demon Sealing Jade quivered. His eyes flickering, he took out the jade slip.
As soon as he pulled it out, a roaring sound filled his head, and a text appeared in his mind.
“An understanding from ancient times, the smelting of a demon, severed by the hand of a of a Demon Sealer. Such a pity; an inch of joss ash upon which descendants can prostrate.”
The text appeared suddenly, and then disappeared just as quickly, fading into Meng Hao’s mind. Everything returned to normal, but Meng Hao’s eyes shined brightly. He gazed down at the mist within the valley, then back at the Demon Sealing Jade.
“Severed by the hand of a Demon Sealer… The Demon Sealing Sect. The ancient jade. A demon… What secrets does this Demon Sealing Jade contain…?” Meng Hao lifted his head up and looked around. It turned out that many of the mortals on the suspension bridges had caught sight of him. Looks of terror appeared on their faces. One by one, they dropped to their knees and began to kowtow to him.
Suddenly, a piercing whistling sound emerged from one of the other valleys. Two beams of colourful light appeared. Two enormous condors flew out, upon the back of each stood a person.
Each person looked to be about forty years old. They wore robes of complexly interlaced blue and green fabric. Their faces were somewhat dark, and they were very skinny. One of the men had a dark greenish-blue snake coiled around his arm. The little snake’s eyes were ghastly, and when it flicked its forked tongue out, a thin mist blew out of his mouth.
The other man had a centipede on his shoulder, slowly rocking back and forth. It was about a foot long, and very colorful, obviously extremely poisonous.
Of the two men, one was of the ninth level of Qi Condensation, the other was at the peak of the eighth level. They did not look very friendly. They came to a stop about nine hundred meters away from Meng Hao, looking him over with cold eyes.
Meng Hao’s expression was as calm as ever. He put away the Demon Sealing Jade and looked at them. He had seen more than one Cultivator in the State of Zhao with Cultivation bases similar to these people.
As they looked him over, another piercing whistle sounded out. From another of the valleys, a winged, purple toad flew out. It carried a mist along with it as it flew; it seemed this toad had a Cultivation base of the Qi Condensation stage. Sitting cross-legged on its back was an old man.