"This place could collapse at any moment!" said Ye Feimu, his voice weak. "Once it does, we'll be teleported out!" He was speaking, of course, to the Violet Fate Sect disciples, not the Western Desert Cultivators.

His face was pale, and within the paleness could be seen pulsing black lines. It wasn't poison, but rather some sort of parasitic insect, the result of some bizarre magical technique from the Western Desert. After being infected, the result would be either injury and critical Cultivation base loss, or death.

Were it not for this, Ye Feimu wouldn't be in the current state he was, not considering the level of his Cultivation base.

Chu Yuyan clenched her jaw, slapped her bag of holding, and produced some medicinal pills which she swallowed. The whole group wore expressions of resolve. Unfortunately, other than Chu Yuyan, all of them had the strange black lines on their faces; it seemed they had all had been infected by the parasitic insect.

The Cultivation bases of the Western Desert Cultivators were not that much higher than those of Chu Yuyan and the others. They were all in the early Core Formation stage, and not even the peak. Therefore, they hesitated for a moment. The reason they hadn't moved in for the kill already was that they didn't want to provoke too much trouble in the Southern Domain. However, the etchings from just now were a precious treasure; seeing the resolve on the faces of the Violet Fate Sect disciples caused them to exchange glances. Finally, killing intent sprang from their eyes.

"Kill them! Before this place collapses!" Eyes glittered and attacks were begun. The power of their totems manifested, transforming into four enormous beasts which charged toward Chu Yuyan and the others.

It was at this moment of crisis that Meng Hao appeared. Mist covered him, making his features indistinguishable. Before the Western Desert Cultivators could even see him clearly, he was standing in front of Chu Yuyan and the others. He lifted his right hand and waved it forward. Immediately, a violet glow appeared in front of him which transformed into an enormous curved moon shape.

A violet moon, with the power to sever lives. It slammed into the four beasts, sending out a massive explosion. The Western Desert Cultivators looked on in shock, and then retreated one after another. The totem tattoos on two of them immediately began to ripple, incapable of holding up against the power. The attack then slammed into the Cultivators, ripping their bodies to shreds.

As for the other two, one coughed up a mouthful of blood, narrowly managing to avoid the attack. The other was the most powerful of the group, and the one who had put Ye Feimu out of commission. His Cultivation base was at the mid Core Formation stage.

Meng Hao's appearance caused Chu Yuyan to stare in shock. Seeing the appearance of the Violet Gibbous Moon filled her with astonishment.

That was an art only the Violet Fate Sect possessed, and that no outsider could ever master.

"Screw off!" said Meng Hao, glaring coolly at the two unharmed Western Desert Cultivators.

His words were filled with enormous pressure, causing the Cultivator who had avoided the blow to immediately turn to flee. He was a Western Desert Cultivator; to him life was filled with adversity. He had no concept of honor and glory; to him survival was the most important thing. Therefore, since he could clearly see that he had no chance of winning, he chose to retreat.

Before leaving, he clasped hands and bowed to Meng Hao. He respected strength; it didn't matter if Meng Hao had just killed his compatriots.

The other Western Desert Cultivator, the middle-aged man with the mid Core Formation Cultivation base, hesitated for a moment. He looked at Meng Hao, and then at Ye Feimu and the others. Finally, he turned to depart.

"Leave behind the antidote!" said Meng Hao coldly.

The man sighed inwardly, then waved his arm to send a black bottle flying out. Meng Hao wasn't worried about whether or not the man was planning any tricks. The complete collapse of this place was just around the corner; once it did collapse, everyone would be sent out. When that happened, all of the minor problems would be easily solved.

Meng Hao turned back to look through the mist at Chu Yuyan and the others."This place is about to fall apart. All of you… take care of yourselves." His face filled with conflicting emotions, he made his way off into the distance.

"Who are you?" Chu Yuyan suddenly asked.

Meng Hao didn't respond. He made his way off thoughtfully.

Ye Feimu watched him leaving, and then suddenly said, "Fang Mu, what happened?!"

His words instantly sent Chu Yuyan reeling. The other Violet Qi Division disciples all looked off toward Meng Hao.

Meng Hao paused for a moment. He sighed softly, then called back, "From now on, there is no more Fang Mu in the Violet Fate Sect…." Then he continued on his way.

Chu Yuyan and Ye Feimu gaped, their faces filled with astonishment. However, it took only a moment for Chu Yuyan's phoenix-like eyes to suddenly narrow.

"That voice…." Her breathing suddenly grew ragged as she looked off at Meng Hao's retreating form.

Rumbling booms echoed out as the collapse of the surrounding walls continued. The walls in the immediate vicinity were completely toppled, revealing nothingness. Some of the Cultivators began to be sucked out into the nothingness, and then disappear.

Meng Hao looked around with an expression of concentration and cautiousness. He wasn't sure of the exact circumstances outside, but he could guess that there would be extreme danger. He didn't take any sort of reckless action, but instead carefully observed the nothingness beyond the collapse of the walls.

Not much time passed before the roaring grew more intense. Everything was falling apart. Meng Hao's gaze flickered, and he was just about to fly off into the nothingness when suddenly, his expression flickered. He lifted his hand and waved his sleeve; the two indestructible wooden swords flew out, moving to defend Meng Hao's side.

It was at this exact moment that a boom resonated out. The fist of a woman punched through the air toward him, seemingly out of nowhere. The fist smashed into the violet mist which surrounded him, causing it to collapse instantly. The fist didn't pause, instead proceeding directly on toward Meng Hao's swords.

An enormous blast radiated out.

The two swords hummed and shook, spinning back and slamming into Meng Hao's chest. Pain filled his body, and he flopped backward like a kite with its string cut, blood spraying from his mouth.

He looked over to see that the owner of the fist was none other than the young woman surnamed Fang. She wore a long green robe, along with an air of aloof elegance. She slowly approached through the void.

She was beautiful, but she had hit Meng Hao with an astonishing blow from her fist. The power of the fist far exceeded the early Core Formation stage. Physical power such as this was shocking to Meng Hao.

The violet mist roiled around Meng Hao, and as he stared at the woman, his pupils turned violet. His wounds began to rapidly heal, and within the space of a few breaths he was completely back to normal, except for a slightly paler face.

He wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up at the woman, his face grim.

"Such power…" he thought. "Such incredible power! That was far beyond Ji Hongdong; I think that blow just now could easily wipe out a normal early Core Formation stage Cultivator!" His eyes narrowed.

"Running away pretty quickly, I see," she said coolly. "I see you killed that annoying Ji Hongdong who everybody hated. Well, I can kill you easily. Take out the Immortal treasure and give it to me. You can't even use it anyway." She was not proud and arrogant the way Ji Hongdong was, but rather aloof. Clearly, she was much more powerful than him as well.

She also seemed to possess an incredibly domineering air, even a bossiness.

She waited for the space of two breaths and then said, "You don't agree? Fine, then you can just DIE!" She stepped forward at incredible speed, and was instantly directly in front of Meng Hao. She raised her right hand, and the fist descended toward him.

Meng Hao began an incantation with both hands. A five-fingered Blood Palm sprang up; beneath his feet, the glow of the Blood Death World appeared. Blood Clones popped out and seemed to merge with his body. As the fist neared, he struck out with his palm.

A shocking boom filled the air, and massive power shook the ground beneath the two of them, shattering what remained of any nearby walls. A vortex of nothingness appeared and began to suck everything in.

Meng Hao coughed up some blood as he tumbled backward. Violet Qi roiled throughout his body, and his pupils glowed with a blinding violet radiance. His wounds once again healed; however, his face was even paler than before.

This recovery had cost him some of his life force, and life force represented longevity. He retreated, a cold glow emanating from his eyes. He slapped his bag of holding to produce the blood-colored mask.

The young woman took two steps back, a fierce expression filling her eyes.

"You're the first person in the early Core Formation stage that's ever been able to make me fall back!" she said unyieldingly.

"I can make you bleed as well," replied Meng Hao, his eyes filled with as much coldness as hers. He lifted his hand to place the mask on his face, and as he did, the young woman let out a cold snort. The killing intent in her eyes grew even stronger. Her body flickered as she shot toward Meng Hao, raising her fist into the air.

"FANG!" She called out only the one word, but the instant she did, the color of her fist changed into green. Countless green lightning bolts surrounded it, and it emanated a shocking and terrifying Qi that caused Meng Hao's scalp to go numb.

The speed with which the young woman approached caused Meng Hao's heart to fill with an intense sense of crisis. He had not experienced such a feeling even when fighting against Ji Hongdong just now. In fact, it had been a very long time since he had experienced such a crushing pressure from anyone in the same generation as himself.

"DIE!" cried the young woman, her voice echoing out in all directions as she neared Meng Hao.

At this exact moment, Meng Hao's right hand placed the mask onto his face. A Qi of blood and death immediately exploded out from him.

It was also at this exact same moment that the back of the hand he had used to place the mask on his face was suddenly facing the Fang girl. In addition, the green mark which had appeared on the back of his hand when he formed his Core had not disappeared. It suddenly… flickered slightly.

The green mark flashed like a magical symbol, and the young woman saw it. The instant she did, her eyes went wide, and filled with complete disbelief.

Her fist was almost upon Meng Hao. She suddenly let out an exasperated grunt. Risking a recoil of energy, she twisted her attack to the side, causing her fist to slam into the ground next to Meng Hao.

A boom filled the air, and massive cracks filled the ground, revealing nothingness beneath them. Even the nothingness seemed to tremble, threatening to collapse from the power of the fist.

The young woman coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her hair flew about her in disarray, and she turned her head to glare at Meng Hao, her eyes filled with fury and disharmony.

This caused Meng Hao to gape at her openly. He wasn't sure what had happened just now in the critical moment to cause her to change the direction of her fist. She must have known that doing what she had done just now would result in injury to herself.