Meng Hao and the other rogue Foundation Establishment Cultivators all seemed to be thinking different things. However, one by one, they began to fly, transforming into beams of light and shooting toward the violet Feng Shui Compass.
Among the roughly one hundred rogue Cultivators, most were at the early Foundation Establishment stage, like Meng Hao. There were eighteen of the mid Foundation Establishment stage, and as far as the late Foundation Establishment stage, there were only three.
Of those three, one was the old man whom Meng Hao had arrived with. Another was a fierce-looking man who wore white robes and let off a ghastly air. He had no beard, and even his Adam’s apple was very small. However, he was surrounded by a desolate killing aura.
The last was a woman. Her features were plain, and she was somewhat overweight. However, her late Foundation Establishment Cultivation base rippled, causing everyone around her to treat her very politely. The three of them joined Xie Jie on his Feng Shui Compass. Xie Jie treated them much more respectfully than he did the others, leading them off to the side with him.
At the same time, Meng Hao looked around at the rogue Foundation Establishment Cultivators and caught sight of Lu Tao over in the corner, along with the richly-dressed woman from the secret meeting.
There was another person who caught Meng Hao’s attention; this person appeared to be at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and milled about innocuously in the midst of the crowd. Meng Hao’s eyes passed over him at first; it was a hard to describe Qi that caught his attention. It was like the stench which might roll off of a rotting corpse.
No one else seemed to notice, but after a while, Meng Hao thought about the information from the Demon Sealing Jade. He also thought back to the prickly Qi he had sensed in the Black Sieve Sect.
The Feng Shui compass began to vibrate beneath their feet and then shot forward. Together with the other Black Sieve Sect Feng Shui compasses, they transformed into colorful beams of light as they sped through the air.
The direction they were heading turned out to be the Hundred Mountains of the Black Sieve Sect.
Meng Hao stood there quietly, unmoving. Anyone who looked at him saw a Cultivation base at the early Foundation Establishment stage. He stood in the middle of all the Cultivators. Other than Lu Tao, no one seemed to notice him. Elder Sister Xu didn’t notice him either. Her face was covered with a bitter expression, as if she was pondering her own future.
As the Feng Shui compasses neared the middle of the Hundred Mountains, the tendrils of smoke rising up from the massive incense burner began to twist in the air above the Sect. Layer upon layer, they twisted together to form an enormous ring of smoke.
As the smoke ring formed, the space in the middle began to ripple. Meng Hao watched as the lead Feng Shui compass entered into the smoke ring and then disappeared. His eyes flickered as the violet Feng Shui compass he stood on entered the ring.
Soon all of the Feng Shui compasses and Cultivators had entered, whereupon the smoke ring disappeared and the Black Sieve Sect returned to its normal state. Outside of the Hundred Mountains, a shield appeared. Shields also sprung up around the Thousand Mountains and the Hundred Thousand Mountains. The entire Sect was now sealed up tight; no one could leave or enter.
About the same time that the Black Sieve Sect sealed itself, Divine Sense from multiple locations began to sweep about the State of Clear Skies. This was Divine Sense from various Sects and Clans within the Southern Domain, come to investigate what was happening within the Black Sieve Sect.
Because of different agreements that they had with the Black Sieve Sect, they couldn’t interfere.