Chapter 1: Back to the Sect

The skies of Planet South Heaven illuminated with the lights of multiple teleportation beams. In one of those lights was Meng Hao. He was currently elevating towards the stars, when his body trembled. Another light was approaching him. Except that this light… wasn't going up, it was going down! While this was odd, and you wouldn't notice it unless you were close to it. This wasn't what made him tremble. What made him tremble was the ferocious aura that emanated from within the light.

"That's… a Dao Seeking cultivator!" Meng Hao though as the light neared him. It was impossible to evade it, he didn't had any control over the Demon Spirit.

As the two balls of light collided, Meng Hao didn't suffer any damage. All the damage was absorbed by the Demon Spirit, which went back to its previous idle state. It's obvious that it will take some time for it to recover.

"Tsk." Meng Hao rotated his cultivation base as he prepared for the fall. Meng Hao looked down below him. There was the Black Lands. And then… the Southern Domain. The ball of light had impulsed him all the way back to the Southern Domain.

As soon as he landed he sped off towards the Black Lands. He was nervous because the Ji Clan might notice him and come to exterminate him, but he was confident in his ability to escape. He took out the Demon Spirit, and sensed that it will take the time it takes an incense stick to burn for it to activate again. He also had the good luck charm ready to be used. But instead of activating them, he stopped in place, his eyes glittering.

"This is a chance!" A look of joy and surprise appeared on his face. He didn't knew why, but he could sense that the Ji clan could no longer sense him. It was as if… The Ji Clan's influence on the Southern Domain was completely disturbed. Of course, something like this wasn't going to be permanent. But it meant that he was going to be able to stay on the Southern Domain for a few days, before finally going to the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane.

A smile appeared on Meng Hao's face. Even if the State of Zhao was no longer here. This was the closest place he had to a home. He started to remember his friends from the Reliance Sect, Fatty, Xu Qing, Chen Fan, Dong Hu and Wang Youcai. But more important than them was his Master, Pill Demon. He looked in the direction of the Violet Fate Sect. While in truth he wanted to visit everyone, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to meet the rest of them, and the closest to his location was the Violet Fate Sect, so he decided to go there first.

Just as he started to move, two rays of light emerged from his bag of holding and landed on his shoulder.

"Haowie, don't forget that you owe me three bullies. Three!! Wait. Is this… the Southern Domain? I thought we were going to the Demon Immortal Plane. Ah, the Southern Domain, I remember long ago a morning when I…" The Meat Jelly kept talking, but Meng Hao didn't hear anything more.

"Ah, the Southern Domain, last time I was here I left so many concubines… I wonder how are they, my beloved concubines." The parrot started to fly around, seemingly searching an unsuspecting furred beast to do a rear end attack.

Hearing them, Meng Hao's face twisted. He knew that this was going to be a long travel.

In front of a bronze pill cauldron stood an old man. Suddenly, he stopped and his expression chanced. A smile appeared on his face. "So, you are back." He instantly sent his divine will to issue an order, and went back to finish his pill.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Southern Domain. The ground started to tremble as a ball of light arrived. If Meng Hao was here, he will instantly recognize it. It was the same ball of light that he had seen before. From that ball of light, emerged a group of cultivators, all of them emitted shocking auras. The first one to get out of the ball of light was also the strongest. His cultivation base was at the Great Circle of Dao Seeking. But the moment he stepped on the ground, his aura went down to that of a Nascent soul cultivator. Behind him three more cultivators appeared, all of them half a step into the Dao Seeking realm. Just like their leader, their bases also dropped to the level of an early Nascent Soul cultivator. Clearly they didn't want to surpass their leader, even when they were suppressing their bases. Behind them, fifteen more cultivators appeared, all of them where of the First or Second Spirit Severing. They kneeled, as if they were awaiting instructions, five behind each of the three cultivators. Their auras decreased to that of a Core Cultivator.

"That damned Ji Clan." said one of the three sub leaders as he clenched his hand with fury. The moment his hand clenched, a nearby mountain was reduced to rubble, everybody that lived there and all the buildings were destroyed. "They are just a little branch, yet they dare to oppose us!"

"Calm down." the only woman between the leaders said. "They won't be able to notice us for a few days. Let's just get the flame and leave."

"She is right." their leader said. "We paid a great price to get here. If this mission fails because of you, I will personally kill you and shatter your soul. For now, let's go." As soon as he said that, they all disappeared.

Meng Hao looked in front of him. There it was, the Violet Fate Sect. It has been so long since the last time he was there. He stood there for a moment, reminiscent of all the things that he did here. Of all his life as Fang Mu. Of his peaceful life as an alchemist.

Then cries and screams for help interrupted him. But instead of moving to help, he just sighed. No one around him could heard those cries. They were the cries of a group of bandits, that emerged from the blood mask in his bag of holding. On the way here, Meng Hao saw a group of four bandits assaulting and robbing everybody that passed. He killed the luckiest one, and put the other three in the mask. The Meat Jelly didn't have time to thank him before he started to convert them.

Still, this weren't the only cries and screams that he could heard. All around the surrounding forest, the beasts were either crying or running away scared. But it didn't matter how much they ran, it was all pointless.

"Buahahaha. Don't try to escape, my beloved. Being Lord Fifth's lover is a great stroke of luck for you!" After that, a scream could be heard in all the forest. Similar scenes happened countless times during all the way here.

One of the city guards flabbergasted said: "What can be happening in the forest to get all the beasts like that?"

As he heard that, Meng Hao's face twisted and he sighed again. He then stepped into the city.

Meng Hao had long since left the Sect, he had no longer any link with it, so he couldn't go inside. But as soon as he started to think about what to do, a group of Core and Nascent Soul cultivators appeared before him. Bowing, they shouted: "Welcome honored guest, the Grandmaster awaits you!"

Meng Hao looked in the direction of the mountain where his Master lived, and smiled. He was going to meet him soon, after so long.

Everybody who saw this scene was utterly astonished. Just who was this cultivator? Not even Spirit Severing Patriarchs from other sects will have this kind of treatment.

On the way to the mountain where his Master lived, Meng Hao saw many cultivators and alchemists all of them bowed at him with faces full of awe and respect. They didn't recognize him, but based on the way he was escorted, he must be a very important and strong cultivator. For them to not recognize him was completely understandable. After all, 200 years passed, most of them weren't even born the last time Meng Hao was here. And even the few who where, unless they knew Meng Hao very well, they won't recognize him now. He looked completely different than before. Yet, if they heard who he was, they will be in even more awe. Fang Mu had long since became a legendary figure on all the Southern Domain, but specially in the East Pill Division. And of course, by now everybody knew that he was also named Meng Hao.

Meng Hao noticed something familiar in the distance. In the middle of a valley, there was an iron spear stabbed. The spear was sparkling, perfectly straight and it emanated a fearsome aura. Completely different from what he remembered. Last time he saw it, it was bent and rusty. Now it seemed as if people daily took care of it. Many outer disciples were looking at it, as if hoping to gain enlightenment.

As he looked around, various images came to his mind. He saw Bai Yunlai, who always helped him. Chu Yuyan, who was always angry. His days as an apprentice alchemist, then as a master alchemist, and later on as a Furnace Lord, until the day he became Pill Demon's personal apprentice. Then his face twitched. "Master still owes me so many Spirit Stones." He thought.

As he started climbing the mountain where Master lived, he heard a voice.

"Me… Meng Hao?" Said an slender and beautiful girl adorned with Furnace Lord clothes and a strange necklace. As soon as she saw him, her phoenix-like eyes illuminated. A smile appeared on her face. It was Hanxue Shan. When Meng Hao examined her, he noticed that she was now an early Nascent Soul cultivator with a strong pill aroma around her.

"Hi, fellow daoist Shan. Long time no see." Meng Hao didn't knew how to respond, so he just said the first thing that went through his mind.

Hanxue Shan dropped all the herbs she had gathered and ran towards him. The escorts wouldn't just let everybody pass, so they stood in the way. Seeing this Meng Hao signaled to move, so they had to obey.

As soon as they let her pass, Shan jumped to Meng Hao and hugged him, crying. "Ho, you took so long… So long… I thought I will never see you again. But I wanted to see you, I waited for you, for all these years. Even if it rarely snows here, I always thought of you. And I trained so hard. Look. I reached the Nascent Soul stage, and became a Furnace Lord. I missed you so much."

Meng Hao was lost for words. He didn't expected to see her, and much less in this state. He knew that she liked him, but he didn't think it was this much. Then, in the corner of his eyes, he saw another familiar face angrily stomping on the ground and running away. He also recognized her, another fellow disciple of his Master, the Violet Furnace Lord, Chu Yuyan.

"Master awaits, we will talk again later, okay?" Meng Hao finally said. Hanxue Shan nodded while wiping her tears and went back to gather the herbs that were on the ground.

Just a few breathes later, a multicolored bird appeared in the sky, laughing, he was clearly very happy for what he did today. "Hahahaha. Haowie, if you like her, just screw her. That's what I always do!"

Hearing that, Hanxue Shan's face went completely red. And he looked at Meng Hao, a trace of hope in her eyes.

"That's immoral!!!" From Meng Hao's bag of holding the Meat Jelly appeared. "You cannot do that, Haowie! It's immoral!"

"What's immoral, bitch? In the last hundreds of years when have you ever saw Meng Hao screwing anyone, eh?"

"Shut up." Meng Hao's voice was calm, but really loud. They had clearly touched a delicate subject.

After that the Meat Jelly went back to Meng Hao's bag of holding to keep converting the immoral bandits, and the parrot flew around. None of the guards dared to speak about what they just heard. But from that day, on the Violet Fate Sect, rumors about Meng Hao being chaste started to circulate. Still, very few people believed such absurd rumors.

On top of the mountain, Pill Demon stood, a bronze pill cauldron in front of him. "You can leave." He told the guards, who bowed and did as ordered.

"Welcome back, Apprentice." A smile appeared on his face.

"I'm back, Master." He respectfully bowed.

That day, they talked about everything that happened in the last 200 years. About the Black Lands, the Western Desert. When he transmigrated into the Violet Sea. In turn, Pill Demon talked about everything that happened in the Sect and the Southern Domain. But one thing puzzled both of them. What could've happened that recently disrupted the Ji Clan's control over the Southern Domain? That was something that even Pill Demon couldn't answer.

Chapter 2: Cultivators attack

It was clearly night, yet the sky was illuminated by teleportation beams.

Meng Hao bowed again. "I have to leave, Master."

"Don't worry, disciple, I have prepared the best Immortal's Cave for you to sleep. You may not be from the Sect any longer, but you will always be my Apprentice."

"Thank you, Master."

"It's nothing to worry about. And tomorrow I will also open the Celestial Land just for you. So you can grab any rare plant that catches you eye. Hahaha."

"Thanks again, Master." He bowed again. This weren't the only gifts he had received from him, in his bag of holding there were multiple rare pills concocted by his Master that he had just gave him.

The night passed and the morning came. As Meng Hao went outside, he saw a beautiful girl bowing at him.

"Grandmaster Pill Cauldron, can you please look at my pills?" Hanxue Shan respectfully plead him.

It was rare for Meng Hao to see her like that. As far as he remembered, she was always open and friendly as she looked after him.

"Sure." Meng Hao had no reason not to accept such a respectful plead. So he accepted a batch of pills and started examining them. The pills had over seventy percent medicinal strength. Each one of them was made with the utmost effort and care. They were clearly the best pills that she ever made. They all had an unique aura, that reflected Hanxue Shan personality and enlightenment on the Dao of Alchemy.

They went inside the Immortal's Cave. And Meng Hao started to explain her her flaws and ways to improve. Hanxue Shan looked at Meng Hao attentively and committed each word to her heart. After all that, she was confident in her ability to made her first eighty percent supreme pill.

"Does Grandmaster Pill Cauldron have a beloved?" She nervously asked.

Meng Hao smiled, clearly remembering what they talked about before parting. "No, I don't."

"Then… If I make an eighty percent pill, will you accept me as… an assistant?"

For Hanxue Shan being the assistant of Meng Hao was clearly going to help her a lot as a fellow alchemist. Yet it was clear that her intention was just being by his side.

Meng Hao nodded, and a smile appeared on Shan. She took her pills and bowed before leaving. It was clear that she was going to work harder than ever on this pill.

Chu Yuyan went to visit Meng Hao. She was quite sad about her poor temperament yesterday. After all, they both were disciples of Pill Demon. But just when she was about to get there, she saw Hanxue Shan running away from Meng Hao's Immortal's Cave, a huge smile on her reddened face, and Meng Hao looking at her from the distance. "That damnable Meng Hao!!" She thought, clasping her hand with fury. But before she could shout something at him. A series of explosions sounded in the distance.

"What's happening?!" Instantly, everybody went there to see what was happening. Who would dare to attack the Sect?

Meng Hao looked at the entrance of the Sect. There was a group of Core and Nascent Soul cultivators and at their feet the dead bodies of dozens of outer disciples. They wanted to go further into the Sect, but the protective spells didn't let them.

"Hum, it looks like you want to die!" A Spirit Severing Patriarch from the Sect appeared and went to destroy them. Clearly for this group, he was more than enough.

But as soon as he stepped out of the barrier… Boom! His body exploded into pieces. A woman stepped forward and her aura went up to that of a half step Dao Seeking! The auras of those behind her also went up to that of Nascent Soul and Spirit Severing.

"They hid their auras!!" All of the different cultivators ran away, clearly afraid of them. A group of Nascent Soul cultivators was one thing, but a group of Spirit Severings was more than they could handle.

"We demand the Eternal Flame!" The woman shouted.

All of the sect disciples were too afraid to say anything. Meng Hao looked at them, he was too weak to defeat them.

Then a loud voice shouted "Never!!!" It was Pill Demon's. He appeared in front of them, ready to destroy them.

Before he could attack them, a cold snort sounded and a Nascent Soul cultivator took out a strange object and punched out. Yet, that punch… emitted the ripples of someone at the Great Circle of Dao Seeking!

The strange object was destroyed and Pill Demon fell back, powerlessly.

"Heh." He snorted. "That precious treasure won't be able to kill someone like you. But it will make you unable to fight back or to concoct pills for a while. Now, will you give me the Flame?"

"Never!" Pill Demon said angrily. He wasn't willing to give up. Even if the Sect had to pay a huge price, it still had ways to fend off these people.

The Dao Seeking cultivator shook his head while taking out another item. He slammed it in the protective spells, and all of them were destroyed. Behind him, everybody's base went up to the Spirit Seeking level.

"Do it now." As he ordered it, the cultivators divided in three groups, and each of them took out some strange pills. When Meng Hao saw them, he could tell that they were a type of poison pill that he had never seen before, its strength was unimaginable.

"No one below Dao Seeking stage has any chance to survive this poison. And even in the Dao Seeking stage, only a few could hope to survive with heavy injuries. So, are you now willing to give me the flame? Or will you just watch as your Sect gets destroyed because of your stubbornness?" There didn't seem to be any falsehood in his words. If Pill Demon didn't give him the Eternal Flame. He will destroy the Sect.

Pill Demon didn't knew what to say. The Sect may be able to fend them off, but if they truly send out that poison, the Sect was going to be completely destroyed. He may be able to survive, but he wasn't willing to accept having his own Sect wiped out.

He sighed. When he was about to accept, Meng Hao stood forward. "No! We won't accept." Hearing this, everybody's eyes looked furious at Meng Hao. Just what was he saying?! This madman was going to made them destroy the Sect! On the other hand, Pill Demon's eyes flickered and he smiled. "Never!" he shouted. Meng Hao was here, and he had complete faith on his Apprentice.

The entire Sect didn't knew whether to laugh or cry…

The Dao Seeking cultivator sighed. "Fine, let's kill them all. Let's see if that makes them change their mind."

They divided into three groups of six cultivators, with the strongest behind commanding them. The pills on their hands shattered, and with some hand signs, a formation appeared that created a huge green cloud. The cloud started to move towards the Sect. Everybody from the Sect started to run away. Except for Meng Hao, who took a step forward. Boom! Inside him an explosion sounded. Then the Resurrection Lily started to rotate with all its power. He wasn't willing to let another poison defeat him.

The green cloud suddenly stopped, it seemed to want to run away from Meng Hao, but it was also completely controlled by the group of cultivators. Meng Hao took another step forward. The aura of the Resurrection Lily emerged all around him. The cloud started to go back, as if nothing else in Heaven and Earth mattered more than going far away from Meng Hao.

"W-What is happening?" The Dao Seeking cultivator couldn't believe it. He never heard of something like this. He thought that Pill Demon may have the ability to dispel it. But he never thought that the poison cloud would actually ran away. Specially in front a lowly Nascent Soul cultivator. "Damn, use all your power." He extended his hands, previously he wasn't helping them control it, since it was unnecessary. But now it was needed. All of them rotated their cultivation bases at fast as they could.

Their efforts had succeeded, the poison cloud started to move ahead again, towards Meng Hao. Meng Hao frowned, he had never encountered a poison like this before, capable of going against the Resurrection Lily.

He took another step forward and shouted: "Seventh Anima!" He went straight to the Seventh Anima. The aura of the Resurrection Lily enveloped the cloud, pushing it back all the way to where the cultivators were.

"Dispel it!" Instantly shouted the Dao Seeking cultivator. And the cloud instantly disappeared. But it was too late. He fell back and coughed up a blot of purple looking rotting blood. The half step cultivators were at the back, and were the first to move away, so they could escape in time. But everybody else, aside from their leader, was dead. Their leader looked horrendously, but he will survive.

"Time to go back." One of the sub leaders said as he started to move away.

"STOP!" Pill Demon shouted. "Where do you think you are going?" He stood in front of them. He had recovered a bit. Not enough to fight back a Dao Seeking cultivator, but he clearly had ways to deal with a Spirit Severing, even one half a step into Dao Seeking.

"Why did you want the Eternal Flame?" He continued.

"Eh…" They looked at their leader, who was on the ground, not moving at all. Then they sighed. One of them answered. "Well… We are from Planet East Victory. Our Great Patriarch asked us to go get the Eternal Flame, since his only daughter is cold at night and it's too expensive to keep the room warm…" They knew that their reasons were bad, but they had no way of disobeying their Great Patriarch. If they did, their souls will be shattered.

"So, you did all this to warm a girl's bedroom?"

They were out of words. At that moment Meng Hao stepped in. He instantly concocted a pill using the five elements, and showed it to them. "This is a room warming pill. It will help you warm her room. Since you cannot get the Flame, how about getting a few of this?" A strange smile appeared on Meng Hao as he said that. If he let the Sect just kill them, they will also take most of the items and stones. After all this was the Sect territory. So he couldn't let that happen.

Their leader recovered a bit and looked at the pill. He knew about pill concocting, so he could see that this was a very cheap and easy to mass produce pill. Normally a pill like that will cost only one spirit stone. If it was really high quality, it may cost two. He will need dozens to warm the room for a single night. He was afraid of Meng Hao asking too much for them, but he had no way of going back if he didn't buy them. "How much?"

"Don't worry, just two Spirit Stones."

The leader exhaled deeply, he couldn't believe that he would say such a fair price. Seeing the pill in Meng Hao's hand in more detail, it was obvious that it was of really high quality.

He happily produced the two Spirit Stones and handed them to Meng Hao. But Meng Hao frowned. "Two ultra high-grade Spirit Stones."

He coughed out blood. What the heck was this price? This was really excessive. It pained him, but he produced the two ultra high-grade Spirit Stones and took the pill. "Can we go now?"

"Eh? You will buy only one? That won't last you long enough. How many do you want?" He waved his hand, and thousands of those pills appeared.

"A hundred?" He said in agony, as if he was in great pain, and it wasn't because of the poison. But Meng Hao shook his head.

"A… A thousand?" He said dejectedly. But Meng Hao only frowned. The leader looked back at his companions and frowned. "A thousand each!"

The three of them coughed blood. Damn leader, don't lump us together. They didn't knew whether to laugh or cry. In the end, they produced all the ultra high-grade Spirit Stones that they had, and a few thousand high grade ones to make up for the fact that they didn't reach the four thousand required.

Meng Hao gave them pills, and took all the Spirit Stones. "It's a pleasure to make business with you. Come back again."

They just sighed and were leaving, when Pill Demon stopped them. "Were you the ones who disrupted the control of the Ji Clan?" They clearly had the power to do that.

They couldn't help but nod. "Yeah, it will last for three days. Only two days are left." With that they went away.

Chapter 3: Lord Fifth's beloved concubine

"I'm rich!!" Meng Hao counted again and again his Spirit Stones. He hit it big this time. Ultra high-grade Spirit Stones were simply too rare, and he couldn't get that many of those. But this time, his bag of holding was full of them.

Then, Pill Demon told him something that made him even happier. "Come with me, I will now open the Celestial Land just for you." He had told him about this yesterday, but with the battle, Meng Hao had momentarily forgotten it.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He felt the Demon Spirit in his bag of holding shining and moving around. As if it wanted to sent him away to the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane. Still, it was too soon for Meng Hao to go. He wanted to spend this two days in the Violet Fate Sect.

Meng Hao entered the Celestial Land. He was astonished by the sight. He had already came here before, but at that time he was clearly too weak and inexperienced. Only now could he really appreciate a place like this. It looked endless, full of precious plants and herbs, many of which were extinct. Unlike the first time, now Pill Demon let him choose as many as he liked, so he didn't hold back.

He ran around picking everything that caught his eye. His bag of holding was getting fuller of rare and unique herbs. He was incredibly happy. Specially since earlier he got super rich, and now he was getting all the herbs that he wanted.

Pill Demon looked at him from afar. Even if the Celestial Land was getting depleted, he wasn't sad. He was actually really happy to see his Apprentice so cheerful and doing so well.

Hours passed, and at last. Meng Hao stopped. He didn't want to leave the Celestial Land empty. He had some considerations for his Master, after all.

Pill Demon happily laughed. "Hahahaha. Looks like this year's trip to the Celestial Land will have to be canceled."

Meng Hao's face twisted and he did an awkward smile. But he still wasn't willing to give back a single herb.

When they got out, they saw a pill tribulation lightning descend.

"Oh? Who was that? Looks like someone made a very strong pill." said Pill Demon.

Meng Hao looked over, it was in the direction of Hanxue Shan's Cave. Did she really do it?

"Thanks, Master." He bowed to his Master, and instantly went to see.

"Heh. Lucky boy." He clearly knew that the pill was made by Hanxue Shan, and he also knew about the promise they made.

Hanxue Shan went out of her Immortal's Cave smiling. This time she outdid herself. The pill in her hand emitted a strong aura. As soon as she was outside, he saw many curious alchemists approaching. One of them was Meng Hao.

She couldn't help but keep a proud smile on her face. "Look." She looked at Meng Hao as she took out the pill. "It barely qualifies, but… it's a ninety percent consummate pill!!"

All the onlookers were amazed, including Meng Hao. He had never expected her to produce a ninety percent consummate pill. He thought that with a lot of work and concentration she may be able to produce an eighty percent one, but not a ninety percent pill. And he was in fact right, she could only manage to produce a ninety percent pill because of a stroke of luck, together with her unending dedication and her unlimited desire to be close to Meng Hao.

"So, will you accept me as your assistant?" She said smiling. Meng Hao had no way of refusing now. He could had do it if she produced only an eighty percent pill, but with a ninety percent? That was too much.

"How could I refuse you?" Meng Hao went back to his Immortal's Cave. To produce pills together with his beautiful assistant.

The sky was illuminated with the beams of teleportation, and sounds of furred beasts crying because of Lord Fifth. But the cultivators of the Violet Fate Sect already got used to this two events.

After Meng Hao accepted Hanxue Shan as an assistant, another event started to frequently appear in the Sect. Just as common as the cries and screams of furred beasts and the lights in the sky, were the explosions that came from Chu Yuyan's Immortal's Cave. Dozens of pill cauldrons exploded, but they weren't enough to calm her down. Nothing could.

Night came, but the sky didn't darkened either. On the contrary the screams and cries did stop, as a multicolored bird happily came back to the Sect, a bell on his foot.

Hanxue Shan hugged Meng Hao's arm. Even if it was only a single day, since they started working together, they grew more fond and closer to each other. Then she placed a pill on his hand. "Take it. I actually did it for you." It was the consummate pill. As much as Meng Hao wanted, he couldn't just take something that precious.

"I can't. It's yours. It will be a long time before you make another one."

"And that's why I want you to have it. You… are going to leave soon, right?"

"Yeah, I will only stay one day more."

"I will wait for you, it doesn't matter how long it takes you." She smiled. "And when you are back, I will have a lot of other consummate pills for you. But now take it, so at least that way, a part of me is always with you, wherever you go, a part of me will be at your side."

"…" Meng Hao didn't knew what to say. He clearly wasn't used to this.

"That fur was so amazing, it's the best I have ever been with!" The parrot interrupted the moment of awkward silence. Seeing that, Hanxue Shan separated and Meng Hao put the pill in his bag of holding. Which made her smile.

"I told you you shouldn't do that, it's immoral!" The bell said.

"Shut up, bitch! Have you seen that fur? It was worth it!" The parrot then looked at Meng Hao. "Hi Haowie. I'm going to sleep now. You should have seen that fur. She surely was fierce, but totally worth it!" The parrot fell down and started to sleep. It was rare to see him like that, he always had lots of energy, no matter how much he screwed.

The next morning, Meng Hao and Hanxue Shan were concocting pills when Lord Fifth started screaming repeatedly: "My beloved concubine has come to see me!!"

Outside the Sect, a huge number of furred beasts were slamming toward the Sect's barriers. The Sect barriers had partially recovered, but they were far from recovering completely.

Seeing the amount of beasts, Meng Hao looked at the parrot. But the parrot was just circling the air happily screaming about his beloved concubine.

It was a good thing that on this trip the parrot had forgotten about the Mastiff. But it would have been better if the parrot could control itself and didn't provoked such a huge monster.

Lord Fifth's new beloved concubine was a 100 meter tall silver furred beast, which emanated an aura of similar strength to that of a Spirit Severing cultivator. Obeyed by millions of furred beasts, it was a force to be reckon. Or maybe they didn't obey her, and were just angry with the parrot.

From the bag of holding, the Demon Spirit did his best to try to teleport Meng Hao. But he rotated his cultivation base and canceled it. Ever since yesterday, the Demon Spirit has been anxious to go to the Demon Plane. But he wasn't going to abandon the Sect in their time of need. He went to the front, and started to grab beasts and feed them with pills. Each one of them died shortly after, and caused a chain reaction that killed thousands of its type more.

Hanxue Shan's eyes glittered as she saw this, remembering what happened in the war two hundred years ago. When he saw Meng Hao for the first time, and he used similar techniques.

After the time it takes two incense sticks to burn. Almost every single beast was destroyed, decomposed into blood and meat on the ground. The only ones that were still alive, were the giant silver-furred beast and a thousand smaller beasts that looked just like it. The smaller ones emanated auras similar to either that of a Core cultivator or that of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Demon Sealer! You are a Demon Sealer! Damn that League of Demon Sealers. I will destroy you all!" The silver beast roared and used its paw to destroy the barrier. The barrier collapsed by the attack. Then attack again at Meng Hao. It was clearly after his life.

Meng Hao step forward and exploded with the power of his Seventh Anima. His wooden time swords rotated around him, protecting him from the attack. But it was still not enough. He fell back and coughed blood.

When he looked up again, the paw was in front of him, and about to slam him again. Yet, suddenly, it lost all power. The furious gaze in the silver beast transformed to that of pleasure. Meng Hao noticed that in the rear end of the beast was… Lord Fifth! The beast lost itself in pleasure and forgot everything about destroying the League of Demon Sealers.

Pill Demon took the chance created by this moment of weakness to approach Meng Hao. "Apprentice. That is a Silver Mountain Beast. The best way to kill it is to defeat all of its offspring. It shares its life with all of them, every one that dies will hurt it. But you need to be careful, once in its life it can shoot a ray of death. If it hits you, nothing under the Heavens can prevent it from destroying you. Not even Immortals are safe against the Death Ray."

Meng Hao's face twisted. "How can something like that exist?" Now he understood that the other Demon Sealers should had sealed it, and that's why it hated them so much.

"It's connected to the entire Ninth Mountain. Normally, the Ji Clan makes sure to keep it sealed. But since those cultivators disrupted the control of the Ji Clan, it must have escaped."

Meng Hao sighed, at least now he understood his enemy better.

He touched one of the small silver beasts and shouted. "Righteous Bestowal!" But nothing happened, clearly these beasts didn't care about Demonic Qi or to become a demon.

They were unaffected by all poisons and all the demon sealing techniques that he had. The only way to destroy them… was to punch them!

Meng Hao flied around in his Seventh Anima, kicking and punching every beast that he saw. Only blood and gore were left behind everywhere he passed. Pill Demon also commanded the Violet Fate cultivators to help him, destroying many beasts.

Seeing its children being murder, the Silver Mountain Beast ignored the parrot and started to attack Meng Hao once again. One paw attack after another.

Meng Hao defended with all his might. While the beast was weaker than before, it still had the power of a Spirit Severing. Meng Hao wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

He yelled: "Meat Jelly!" The Meat Jelly appeared and expanded, protecting Meng Hao with his almost indestructible skin.

The beast's paws scratched the Meat Jelly again and again. He wasn't able to hold on any longer.

"Damn, you immoral one legged beast!!" the Meat Jelly went back to Meng Hao's bag of holding. He had reached his limit.

Just then an explosion sounded. Meng Hao had kicked the last of its children. Panting, he looked at the Silver Mountain Beast, who was clearly suffering and in a weakened state. Now was the chance!

He rotated his cultivation base and made a punch with all his strength.

Boom! But… the Silver Mountain Beast was intact. Before the punch connected, the parrot had appeared in front of it.

"NO! I won't let you harm my beloved concubine!" Clearly not caring about his life, Lord Fifth appeared in front of his beloved concubine. No one will be able to harm it while he was here.

Meng Hao's face twitched. He really couldn't believe that the parrot would do such a thing.

An idea appeared on his mind. "Sorry." He said, as he retrieved the blood mask from his bag of holding. At his side, the Mastiff appeared. The first thing it did, was lick Meng Hao's face.

Seeing this the parrot was conflicted. He looked at the majestic red fur of the Mastiff. Then at the silver fur of the Silver Mountain Beast. It was clear that both of them were very important in his heart. He couldn't choose! He looked back and forth. And in the end he cried. "Damn you, Meng Hao!" And went to Meng Hao's side, since at Meng Hao's side was the Mastiff, as soon as it neared it went to his rear end.

"Don't be like that! I chose to be with you!" The parrot cried as the Mastiff tried to escape and fought back.

Meng Hao looked at the Silver Mountain Beast, and went forward to end him.

But the the Beast shouted: "Even if I die, I will die together with you, Demon Sealer!" Its body withered and a black light appeared on its mouth. Which then shotted towards Meng Hao. It was the Death Ray.

As soon as Meng Hao saw it, he used the minor teleportation. But it wasn't enough, once the Death Ray had a target, it won't stop until it hits.

Just when Meng Hao was despaired without knowing what to do. A familiar person appeared in front of him. It was Hanxue Shan. Since she is also a Nascent Soul cultivator, she performed a minor teleportation and appeared in front of him, with her arms open, ready to give up her life.

"You saved my life so many times. Now it's time for me to save you." She said as she was crying, the ray hit her and she was starting to disappear. "I enjoyed these last days a lot. They were the best ones of my life. I love you."

Chapter 4: Immortal Pill

When he heard those words, Meng Hao started to tremble. She looked back at him, tears on her face, but smiling happily. She was truly content of having spent her last days with the man she loved, and sacrificing her life to save him.

She reached for her necklace and opened it, clenching the object inside with passion. Even more tears appeared on her face when she saw it. It was clearly the most important thing on her life. And the only thing that she wasn't able to let go, even after her soul shattered. But soon, the disintegration reached her hand, and the object fell. It was a Foundation Establishment Day pill with the character "Snow" on it.

When Meng Hao saw it, he felt a sensation that was hidden deep within him. He knew that no matter what, he couldn't let her die.

"Once it starts, nothing under the Heavens can prevent the Death Ray from destroying its opponent… But if something like that doesn't exists… then I will just create it! If it's impossible, then I will make it possible!"

While saying that, Meng Hao extended his hand towards Hanxue Shan and shouted: "Eight Demon Sealing Hex" The Demonic Qi of the area concentrated around Hanxue Shan, and stopped her from disappearing, but it's only a momentary stop. Meng Hao didn't knew exactly how long it will last. But while it lasted, he wouldn't give up.

Meng Hao took out a black colored cauldron and slammed it into the ground. The spirit inside wanted to leave, but Meng Hao slammed again shouting "SHUT UP!"

He didn't move for a minute. But that didn't mean he was wasting time. He was using his mind like never before, trying to comprehend such a bizarre technique. He gain a moment of sudden enlightenment. "The technique makes it so that the entire Ninth Mountain wants to destroy your existence and disintegrate your body and soul. The only way to prevent it, is to create a body that not even the Will of the Ninth Mountain can destroy it. An immortal soul, that nothing can shatter." Meng Hao started panting. Such a thing… was utterly impossible! That went way beyond heaven defying. But it didn't matter, he had to try it.

He opened the lid and started pouring rare and extinct herbs into it. But his own power wasn't enough. "Seventh Anima!" He went straight to the Seventh Anima. He will need all the power he could muster. The medicinal plants and herbs started to rotate and were infused with Meng Hao's Qi. Plants and herbs from the Nine Mountain couldn't go against the Nine Mountain. The only way to go against it, was to create his own! A miserly one hundred percent perfect pill wasn't going to be enough. If he wanted to do it, he was going to need even more. To go beyond the limits of perfection. To create a truly limitless pill.

Pill Demon started to pant. Others wouldn't understand what Meng Hao was doing, their level on the Dao of Alchemy wasn't high enough, but his was! He could clearly see it. Something impossible and unthinkable was happening. Meng Hao was going to transcend the limits of perfection! But that was only if he was able to succeed. Pill Demon stepped in and went to assist him. He hasn't recovered completely yet, but he couldn't let his Apprentice alone in such a moment.

The sky illuminated by the light of the teleportation beams suddenly darkened. Dark clouds extended as far as the eye could see. It was clear that the Heavens wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. Tribulation lightning started to fall all around the Violet Fate Sect. Most of it aimed at Meng Hao and his pill cauldron.

Seeing this, Meng Hao reached his bag of holding and threw Li Clan Patriarch's Soul into the air. A scream could be heard as countless tribulation lightnings slammed into him.

"Meat Jelly!" Shouted Meng Hao, the Meat Jelly understood and became a tent that protected both, Meng Hao and Grandmaster Pill Demon.

It wasn't that Meng Hao was afraid of tribulation lightning, nothing far from it. But he couldn't be bothered with it right now. This was the most important process in the concocting of this pill. A process that normal concoctions didn't have, to create new, never seen before, plants and herbs with over one hundred percent strength.

Meng Hao's hands were fixated on the lid of the black cauldron. At his side, Pill Demon was doing the same. Both of them circulated every bit of their power into the cauldron. The cauldron seemed to be about to explode. In fact, if it was any other cauldron, it will long since had exploded. But this black cauldron was special, so it could withstand even this.

Meng Hao opened the lid, his first herb was about to finish. As he did it, suddenly the sky cleared, all tribulation lightning stopped. The sky and the stars changed as a beam of light illuminated the entire planet South Heaven. The Great Dao of Alchemy connected with Meng Hao. With each herb he created, the seemingly infinite Great Dao of Alchemy expanded. So, to return the favor, the Great Dao of Alchemy will help him create more.

He took out the mirror and put the new herb inside. He didn't care if they saw him using it, now it wasn't the time to worry about that. Soon, however, he run out of common Spirit Stones. And, as much as it pained him, he took out Ultra high-grade Spirit Stones and began to duplicate the new herb.

While he was doing this, he started to put more and more rare herbs into the cauldron, he planed to create even more new herbs.

Everybody who saw this couldn't believe it. They never saw anything similar on their entire lives. And the concocting haven't even begun! They were all expectant to see it. And paid attention to everything. Ever since the Great Dao of Alchemy descended, the alchemists started to gain enlightenment into it and further improve.

Meng Hao put another pill on his mouth, and circulated his cultivation base to stop the Demon Spirit, it was already half a day since he started making new plants. From the moment that the teleportation beams stopped, the Demon Spirit became crazy wanting to go to the Primordial Demon Immortal Plane. But so far, Meng Hao had managed to suppress it.

Each time Meng Hao created a new plant, the whole planet South Heaven trembled and the light of the Great Dao increased. His bag of holding didn't contained any more Spirit Stones, he used them all to duplicate the plants and herbs. Now it was full of plants, but soon he will have to use them all.

Meng Hao opened the lid one more time, and the last herb appeared in his hand. Now, aside from the ones he created, he was out of herbs and medicinal plants.

Hanxue Shan looked at him, she wasn't able to move at all, not even her face. But she could still see everything that happened. She was moved to heart, even if he failed, she will be able to leave this world happily.

But Meng Hao clearly didn't plan to fail. All of his new made herbs went into the cauldron as he started to concoct the pill. Pill Demon was almost completely recovered by now. Both of them, Master and Apprentice, started to work on the pill together. Putting everything they had on it.

As soon as the pill started to form, the entire Ninth Mountain trembled, and a voice echoed everywhere. "Who is acting against my Ninth Mountain?!" It was Lord Ji. Normally, he wouldn't let such a pill to form in his domain. But currently, the control of the Ji Clan of the Southern Domain was disrupted. He couldn't see or sense where exactly the pill was being made. The only thing he knew was that it was from Planet South Heaven, since the Great Dao of Alchemy illuminated it. But he wouldn't act against it. Destroying the whole planet, specially when it was connected to a Great Dao, was going to cause too much harm to his Mountain.

Meng Hao felt a snowflake on his face. He looked above, and snow was starting to fall. He could sense that in all the Southern Domain it was currently snowing. In fact, it wasn't only on the Southern Domain, but on the entire Planet South Heaven.

Meng Hao started to think about Hanxue Shan. About when they met, at the Holy Snow City. About their days together there. And the last few days that they spent together. About how she acted, how she loved, and how she had sacrificed herself for him. Then, he looked at her, and smiled.

He looked back at the cauldron, it was time to finish this. He suppressed the Demon Spirit once more, activated the Eight Demon Sealing Hex once again. And started to form the complete pill.

The light of the Great Dao of Alchemy began to enter the cauldron and fuse with the pill. And the entire Ninth Mountain trembled again.

For the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the light of the Great Dao kept pouring into the pill, and the Ninth Mountain trembled. But now, it was almost complete. Still, a key ingredient was missing. The pill was complete, but formless. It needed a link, something to connect the pill to whom will consume it and give it a complete form. Generally, something simple, like blood, would suffice, but he couldn't do anything to Hanxue Shan, since she was still being destroyed.

Meng Hao took out a pill and looked at it. "I prefer the real you, to a simple part of you." It was the ninety percent pill that Hanxue Shan concocted earlier. He had promised her that he will keep it, but he was going to use it. The pill possessed all of Hanxue Shan's hard work, luck, enlightenment and emotions.

Once he put it into the cauldron, both pills fused together. It was completed. This was Meng Hao's strongest pill by far. It required everything he had, and much more, it also required the help from his Master and from the entire Great Dao of Alchemy. But now it was complete.

As soon as the pill flew out of the cauldron, thousands of five colored tribulation lightnings fell on it. Now that that the Great Dao dissipated, it couldn't protect the pill any longer. Still, the pill represented a completely indestructible body and soul. So something as trivial as tribulation lightning had no way of harming it at all.

When they saw this, everybody present started to pant heavily. They clearly wanted it, a pill like that could make anyone immortal and indestructible. An Immortal Pill with over a hundred percent medical strength. Something that they never even thought that could exist was in front of their eyes. Some couldn't restrain themselves, and sacrificed their own life force to get it. But Pill Cauldron just snorted and shouted "SCRAM!" and all of them exploded.

Meng Hao sighed. "It was made only for Hanxue Shan, it's connected to her, and only she can consume it."

The Demon Spirit acted like crazy, it's been long since the teleportation beams stopped. And it clearly wanted to go with them. Meng Hao couldn't hold it for much longer.

He neared Hanxue Shan, and gave her the pill. Suddenly her disappearing body reconstructed itself. Now stronger than ever before. Her soul was also indestructible. Her cultivation base was still only at that of an early Nascent Soul, and now she wasn't able to absorb any energy from Heaven and Earth. Only by consuming pills could she had a chance. But that didn't matter for her.

She started to cry, a big smile on her reddened face. She saw everything that happened. Everything that Meng Hao had done for her. She went to his arms and kept crying. "Th-thanks."

Meng Hao looked at her, once again alive, and a huge burden disappeared from his chest. He neared her face and kissed her.

For a few breaths it seemed as if the world had stopped for the two of them. Then, they looked at each other. He couldn't hold back the Demon Spirit any more. If he did, he wouldn't be able to enter the Demon Plane.

"I have to go." He said as the Meat Jelly and the parrot went back to his bag of holding. "Whenever it snows, think of me." He said as his body disappeared as a beam of light.