In the entire expansive Reliance Sect, only Meng Hao remained, standing alone on the East Mountain. He watched the red light fade away, then lowered his head. The formerly bustling Outer Sect was now empty.
Elder Sister Xu had been taken away. Elder Brother Chen had gone to the Southern Domain. Even Fatty was gone. He had no idea when he would see them again. Would it be months? Years?
His status as an Inner Sect disciple, his three years in the Reliance Sect, they all became memories. The twisting autumn wind hit his face and lifted up his hair, blowing away the dust that had settled there.
He quietly sat down on the boulder. A long time passed, and eventually the stars peeked out one by one. Then dawn came. Meng Hao sighed and lifted his head.
“They’re all gone… and here I am, still in the State of Zhao.” Suddenly, Meng Hao missed home. Even though he had gotten rid of his old ancestral house in Yunjie County, he still missed his old bed and dilapidated bowls. Even more so, he missed Mount Daqing. He missed… he missed his kind, smiling mother, and his father, who had always seemed afraid of his mother.
It was all somewhat vague. Meng Hao shook his head, and as the rays of dawn crept out, he stood up. There was no need to search the Reliance Sect. Everything worth taking was long gone, pillaged by the experts from the State of Zhao. It was all was empty.
Meng Hao patted the dust off his clothes, then changed out of his Inner Sect silver robe, back into the scholar’s gown he had worn all those years ago. It was a spacious robe, but as he put it on, it felt a bit small. He stared at the rising sun and let out a sigh. Deep within him, his golden Core Lake seemed to bubble, and within it, the Demonic Core emitted spiritual power that filled and replenished his body.
“I’m not too far from the seventh level of Qi Condensation. I can feel the bottleneck.” He walked forward, slapping his bag of holding. Two flying swords emerged and floated down to his feet. He glided down the mountain and left the Reliance Sect.
Using this technique with the flying swords granted him the ability of flight. But similar to Elder Sister Xu with her Wind Pennant, it was only temporary flight, nothing long term.
Meng Hao moved ever more swiftly, speeding along throughout the mountain forests. Finally, he was able to leave the Reliance Sect region, a place he hadn’t left for three years. He flew throughout the seemingly endless wild mountains, eventually disappearing over the horizon.
Time passed, and maintaining his original speed, Meng Hao eventually emerged from the mountainous region after two days.
“I’m not sure how long it took Elder Sister Xu to bring me to the Sect,” he muttered to himself, looking back at the mountains. “It was a few days, but I was unconscious. In any case, I think her speed at that time would have been similar to my own now.”
To Cultivators, the State of Zhao is not very large. But to mortals, it is actually quite a vast region. In his studies, he had read about its geography, and though he had never personally travelled about in it, he was nevertheless somewhat familiar with the area.
“As of now I’m in the north of the State of Zhao. I shouldn’t be too far from Yunjie County.” Off in the distance, he could see what looked almost like a mirror laying on the flat land. That would be what was referred to as the North Sea.
“Now that I think about it, with a Wind Pennant, and being at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, Elder Sister Xu could fly temporarily, but it would drain her spiritual power relatively quickly. She couldn’t have flown very far away.” Meng Hao’s eyes flickered with longing. He had been away from Yunjie County for three years, and his desire to return was growing stronger. He knew that after crossing the North Sea, he would be about a half-day’s walk from Mount Daqing.