“I have a lot of acquaintances in the Southern Domain; Elder Sister Xu, Elder Brother Chen, Fatty and… Wang Tengfei!” A smile appeared on his face, a smile filled with stubbornness.
“It’s been many years. Meng Hao is coming!”
Several months later, in an endless strip of barren mountains, atop a tall mountain peak, a thunderous boom rang out. It was a beautiful mountain, dotted with various stockade villages. The mountain peak was connected to surrounding mountains by long iron chains, which seemed to form a huge spell formation.
In the sky above, two people were locked in magical combat. Below, crowds of people looked up in awe.
One of the combatants was a burly man who appeared to be over thirty years of age. Bare-chested, a golden-colored centipede was wrapped around his right hand. His left hand flickered in an incantation, and a gigantic sail appeared. It rippled in the wind, emitting a piercing shrieking sound. The other person was Meng Hao.
He was not using the Lightning Flag, nor had the wooden swords appeared. A simple flying sword circled around him which he used to attack. At the same time, he flashed an incantation gesture, and a howling Flame Python flew forth, over sixty meters in length. Next, multiple spinning Wind Blades appeared, amazing the onlookers.
A massive boom echoed out, and the two of them each shot backward. The burly man laughed and clasped his hands in respect toward Meng Hao.
“Brother Meng, your Cultivation base is extraordinary. I, Shan, truly admire you.”
Meng Hao lifted his hand. The flying sword returned to circle around him. He smiled, and returned the salute.
“Brother Shan is being modest. You only attacked with eighty percent of your power, but I had to use all of my power to defend. I am the one to be doing the admiring.” The words seemed casual, but when he heard them, the burly man’s heart shook.
Two days ago, Meng Hao had arrived here and had asked about being able to use their teleportation portal. This place was unlike the mountain valley Meng Hao had just come from. The chiefs of the stockade villages in the area were all Foundation Establishment Cultivators. They welcomed Meng Hao enthusiastically, treating him to a feast and exchanging tips about Cultivation with him. In order to prove the extent of his power, he had agreed to a sparring match with one of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
“Brother Meng is the one being modest. You attacked casually, and not with your full strength. I’m really curious how much of your power you used?” The man’s eyes shined; the sparring match had been his idea. But as it had proceeded, he had grown more and more apprehensive. Both of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage, but it seemed as if his opponent were only using about half of his power. Furthermore, Meng Hao had been able to tell how much power he was using.
“When might I be able to use your teleportation portal?” said Meng Hao, sidestepping the question. He smiled, although the smile didn’t touch his eyes. He had actually not even used a third of his full strength.
“Oh, that’s simple. You can use it today.” The burly man nodded, muttering to himself.
Soon after, the spell formation within the mountains activated, and Meng Hao’s body disappeared. As the glow faded, the burly man surnamed Shan frowned.
Next to him were two men of the ninth level of Qi condensation. As Meng Hao disappeared, one of them said, “Chief, that guy…”
“I’m not sure where he came from,” said the burly man, his voice deep. “His magic is strange, as is his Foundation Establishment Cultivation base. I felt him out with some attacks and could tell that he’s an experienced fighter. He came here alone, but seemed completely at ease. He must have some unique and special techniques. Yeah, it’s not worth it to provoke him.”
When he had attempted to feel out Meng Hao, he had failed. Meng Hao kept his power sealed up tight. This caused the man’s fear and suspicion to grow stronger. The teleportation portal couldn’t be used by just anyone; if your power is not sufficient, it could take your life, which happened occasionally. Therefore, he let Meng Hao use the portal, to ensure that no calamity befell his village.