All cultivators in the lands of South Heaven knew Meng Hao's name. If the Chosen of the sects and clans of the Ninth Mountain and Sea had spent more time there, they would also know the name.

This was their first time hearing it, though, and it would remain in their memories for all eternity.

Meng Hao!

Zhixiang gazed absent-mindedly over at Meng Hao standing there by the main gate of the temple. She seemed to be recalling that young cultivator she had pushed around all those years ago, and then everything that had happened in the ancient Demon Immortal Sect.

Recalling all the memories, she couldn't help but take a deep breath. At the moment, she was the only one who knew that Meng Hao hadn't even been practicing cultivation for five hundred years.

"Not even five hundred years, and he already has Immortal qi…. Furthermore, he's… half a step into true Immortality!

"His Dharma Idol depicts himself. His Immortality… is not false. He walks the path of true Immortality!

"He has high aspirations. Like all of us, he is not willing to become a false Immortal. He wishes to transcend true Immortal tribulation and become a true Immortal!

"I wonder which sect he represents here. Immortality Illumination Vines are quite rare in the Ninth Mountain and Sea. Without one, his only option is to go all-out for Immortal destiny, and then wait for the once-in-10,000-years chance to achieve true Immortal Ascension."

Amidst the rumbling that filled the air, Wang Mu from the Wang Clan of Planet North Reed suddenly said, "How long have you been here?"

Meng Hao looked over at him but didn't respond. He stood there in front of the temple gate, his desire to fight burning as hot as ever.

"He's obviously been here for several days," said Song Luodan, hovering in midair, "and now he wants to prevent us from entering the Daoist rite temple!" Instantly, several Chosen flew out from the crowd, including Taiyang Zi. Multicolored lights flashed, and energy surged as they transformed into eight beams of light that shot toward Meng Hao.

"Get the hell out of the way!" The voices of these eight people were like crackling thunder.

Behind them flew Dao Protectors from their respective sects and clans, who observed the proceedings with flickering eyes. In total, a few dozen people were now closing in on Meng Hao.

Even were Meng Hao more powerful, it would be impossible to do much against so many peak experts. Even Meng Hao's father could never have imagined that going to the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple would end him up in such a trial by fire.

Meng Hao's father had assumed he would end up fighting alongside everyone. He had also assumed that arriving early would provide Meng Hao with some advantages, but he'd never imagined that the primary good fortune of the entire place could be acquired in less than a month.

And yet… Meng Hao had done exactly that.

Right now, he couldn't back down. He couldn't allow people to enter the temple itself. As the dozens of people bore down on him, Meng Hao suddenly slapped his bag of holding to produce several dozen black-peeled pills, which he immediately threw out in front of him. As they banged against each other in the air, they exploded violently.

Any one of those medicinal pills could produce an astonishing level of power, but dozens exploding together caused the ground to quake and the mountains to tremble. A deafening roar filled the air as blood sprayed out of the mouths of everyone near the explosion. There were even two people whose bodies were ripped to pieces.

Bloodcurdling screams filled the air.

"It was him! It was him!" cried Taiyang Zi, his voice shrill. "He's the one who buried all those black-peeled medicinal pills that we encountered!" Taiyang Zi's arm had been completely vaporized in the explosion.

The people who had been injured on the path to the temple looked over at Meng Hao with killing intent flickering in their eyes. They had had their suspicions when Song Luodan's Dao Protector died, but everything had happened so fast that there was no way to confirm the details.

Now, though, they immediately recognized the black-peeled medicinal pills, which were the same as those buried outside. New hatreds piled onto old ones.

Immediately, more people flew into the air to attack Meng Hao.

There were quite a few others, including Fang Yunyi, who flew toward the wall of the temple in an attempt to enter that way. Just before entering, Fang Yunyi was overwhelmed by a terrifying sensation, and stopped in place. The others, however, more than ten of them, unhesitatingly flew through the gaps in the walls.

As soon as they entered the run-down courtyard, they began to tremble, and then screamed miserably. Their bodies instantly began to decay, and in the blink of an eye, they had transformed into pools of black liquid.

Seeing this caused all the onlookers' minds to spin, and their faces to fall. Some of the people who had just died were Dao Protectors, and even they had been powerless to fight back, and been killed instantly.

"You can only get in through the main gate! No other way is permitted!"

"The main gate is the only path!"

"Meng Hao is blocking the main gate, and all the incredible stuff is obviously on the other side! Kill him so we can get in!"

Now that it was revealed that there was only one entrance, the pressure on Meng Hao was even greater. Booms rang out constantly. Even with the powerful black-peeled medicinal pills, Meng Hao would be incapable of holding out for much longer. After all, he didn't have very many pills left.

Killing intent bore down on him from all sides, but Meng Hao didn't retreat. Instead, he stayed as close to the main gate as possible. Zhao Yifan's sword qi surged mightily, and then transformed into the shape of a sword, surrounded by a lake of smaller swords. He then shot toward Meng Hao at top speed, causing everyone else to move to the side to make way for him. As for Meng Hao, he immediately felt an intense sense of deadly crisis.

"This guy is strong!" he thought. Blood oozed out of his mouth, and he was injured in several places. Seeing that this was not the time to make a final stand, Meng Hao glanced at the incoming Zhao Yifan, and then his eyes flickered as he retreated back through the gate.

As soon as Meng Hao entered the temple gate, Zhao Yifan's sword arrived like a blazing sun, sword qi glittering magnificently. Those behind him looked on with gleaming eyes as the temple gate was opened. Immediately, everyone surged forward to enter the temple.

However, in the instant that Meng Hao entered the temple, a monstrously murderous aura exploded up next to him. Killing intent and icy coldness appeared, along with a Devilish will. Writhing black smoke appeared underneath the evening sky.

A figure that looked exactly like Meng Hao suddenly walked out from behind him.

Meng Hao's second true self!

He walked out of the temple gate and waved his hand, causing the Wooden Time Sword to appear. Time power rippled out in all directions as the Time Sword met Zhao Yifan's sword.

A boom echoed out. Zhao Yifan's face flickered and he fell into retreat. The second true self gave a muffled snort as he advanced. Time power spread out, causing looks of shock to appear on all of the onlookers' faces. All of them could clearly sense their longevity withering.

"A Time cultivator!!"

"Dammit, there's two of them, not just one!"

As his second true self stood outside the temple, Meng Hao produced some medicinal pills. After consuming them, he sat cross-legged in meditation for about ten breaths' worth of time. Then he opened his eyes and walked out of the main gate to stand next to this second true self. Booms echoed out as the two of them began to fight. Astonishing power was unleashed as a massive battle unfolded.

The first person to attack his second true self was Fan Dong'er. At the same time, others attempted to charge into the main gate.

Meng Hao growled, and a blood-colored vortex appeared; the Blood Demon Grand Magic was finally completely unleashed. Instantly, everyone's faces fell, and they fell back in retreat.

Meng Hao was really an annoying headache to everyone present. His second true self had monstrous killing intent and sinister coldness. His attacks were ruthless, and he was surrounded by swirling Devilish will, as well as the power of Time. All of it was very hard to deal with.

Meng Hao fought back and forth with Fang Donghan, and explosions filled the air. In any situation where Meng Hao was on the verge of being forced away from his position in front of the gate, he would throw out black-peeled medicinal pills, which always resulted in countless angry curses.

He even used the Lightning Cauldron; whenever any Chosen were on the verge of being able to enter the temple, Meng Hao would quickly switch positions with them.

He switched places with Zhao Yifan, Fan Dong'er, Li Ling'er, Wang Mu, Taiyang Zi, Ji Yin, Fang Xiangshan… virtually all of the Chosen had opportunities to enter the temple, but Meng Hao seemed to be made of eyes, and whenever one of them got close, lighting would crackle and he would use Form Displacement Transposition.

By now, it was getting dark, and a cold wind sprang up. The vine in the courtyard once again drooped down and began to swing back and forth. Black blood dripped onto the ground, and tendrils of green smoke began to rise up from inside the well.

The oil lamp once again began to burn tenuously inside the temple hall, and countless projected images appeared. When all the newcomers saw this, they gasped. As for Meng Hao, he could feel the pulsing cold coming from behind him.

It was at this point that Fan Dong'er's eyes glittered. Suddenly, the image of a door appeared in her pupils.

"In the gap between yin and yang, Ninth Sea God!" Suddenly her entire body appeared to be sucked into her own pupils! She vanished, and when she reappeared, she was inside of the courtyard!

In that instant, Meng Hao's expression flickered. He tried to use Form Displacement Transposition, but for the first time ever, it failed!

Fan Dong'er's expression was one of indifference as she prepared to enter the temple hall. Meng Hao immediately flew toward her, extending his hand in a claw-like gesture. This left the main gate exposed, and his second true self was incapable of holding his position alone. In that short bit of time, one of the Dao Protectors managed to slip into the courtyard.

When that happened, he immediately screamed and vanished into a pool of black liquid.

This sudden turn of events caused everyone on the outside to gasp, and cease any aspirations of entering.

Meng Hao didn't have time to consider what had just happened. He transformed into a huge roc that shot aggressively toward Fan Dong'er.

"Dammit!" he thought. "I forgot whether that crazy old man said to prevent people from entering the temple as a whole, or just the temple hall!!" Furious, he called his second true self to join him in his attack.

His second true self's eyes glittered. Everyone looked on raptly as the second true self entered the main gate without any problem.

Seeing Meng Hao's second true self nearing, Fan Dong'er's face flickered.

"How can he get in here too!?" she said. "Ah, he's not a cultivator, he's your clone!"

Rumbling filled the air. Fan Dong'er's face was as indifferent as ever as she began to fight back and forth with Meng Hao. In the blink of an eye, there were more than a hundred exchanges. Everyone on the outside watched with glittering eyes. A random cultivator tried to use a special magical technique to enter through the main gate, but the result was that he died screaming. By now, everyone understood the situation.

"You can enter during the daytime, but not during nighttime!"

"Dammit, Fan Dong'er realized this earlier, so she didn't use her divine ability until yin and yang transposed, and night replaced day! That's when she entered!"

"She let Meng Hao use Form Displacement Transposition on her a few times before to get him used to thinking it would work on her!"

"Her scheming ability is so profound! I hate those people from the Nine Seas God World!"