"Trying to make a fool of me?" growled Meng Hao, killing intent flickering in his eyes. He lifted his right foot up and kicked down viciously onto the man. Cracking sounds could be heard, and blood sprayed from the man's mouth. Bones were smashed, and the man opened his mouth to say something, but in that moment, a vicious expression appeared on Meng Hao's face and he punched downward.

A boom echoed out. Meng Hao had attacked viciously, immediately prompting a miserable shriek from the middle-aged man. He was now broken and bleeding, miserable to the extreme.

"Misunderstanding! Fellow Daoist Fang, this was just a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstanding my ass!" Meng Hao leapt up into the air and then trampled down onto the man's face. A bloodcurdling scream rang out. The man was now soaked in blood, cradling his head in his arms as Meng Hao thrashed him.

"Wanna buy my stuff? Buy it! Don't wanna buy it? You're gonna buy it anyway!" Meng Hao grabbed the man by the hair, lifted his head up, and then slammed it back down into the ground.

Before the man could even scream, Meng Hao lifted his right leg up and kicked down hard. A crack could be heard as the man's leg was shattered!

This scene of explosive violence, and the rapid change in Meng Hao's facial expression, caused all of the surrounding onlookers to stare in complete, jaw-dropping shock.

The audiences outside in the Ninth Mountain and Sea gasped, and stared blankly at what was happening on the vortex screens. Meng Hao's savagery left them totally astonished.

"This guy is definitely someone you can't provoke!"

"What a brutal personality! He's definitely someone to avoid pissing off!"

"I can't believe that a cultivator with a scholarly aura like that could have such a violent temper!!"

The Chosen from the various sects were also taken aback, some more than others. For example, Sun Hai looked on with wide eyes, panting. He watched blankly as Fang Mu grabbed the middle-aged man's hair, and then Sun Hai began to tremble. He suddenly called to mind something that had happened to him that he would never be able to forget for the rest of his life, a completely humiliating and embarrassing memory.

"This seems… somewhat similar…. But that's not him, is it…?" Sun Hai hesitated for a moment. After recalling that certain person, a tremor ran through him. The whole incident was a nightmare. After returning to the Church of the Emperor Immortal, he had often been jolted out of meditation by the shocking memories. Furthermore, he had shaved his hair, and was now completely bald.

In the starry sky palace, the Patriarchs looked on with wide eyes, staring in shock as Meng Hao violently beat the middle-aged man. At first, they were completely shocked, but then they began to chuckle.

"This Fang Mu's personality is kind of amusing."

"He exacts revenge for the slightest offense, and isn't willing to suffer any losses whatsoever. Well, truth be told, the other man was the one who started the whole thing."

On the Ancient Road of Dao Seeking, Ling Yunzi chuckled and shook his head, pretending as if he hadn't seen what was happening.

The middle-aged man was dripping with blood, and was both screaming miserably and also trying to fight back. However, the more he struggled, the more ruthlessly Meng Hao beat him. More cracking sounds echoed out as another bone was broken.

Of the surrounding trial by fire competitors, one after another gasped, and all of them were looking at Meng Hao with intense terror in their eyes. They were so afraid of Meng Hao that their scalps were numb.

"This guy seemed perfectly normal! How could he be so brutal!?"

"Must not provoke him! Absolutely must not provoke him!"

Meng Hao's eyes flashed with killing intent, and he jabbed two fingers of his right hand toward the middle-aged man's eyes.

The man let out a miserable shriek and then urgently cried out, "Buy! I'll buy!"

The words floated into Meng Hao's ears like a melody of nature. His right hand stopped in place, and the brutal, vicious expression on his face vanished, to be replaced by a bashful smile and a somewhat embarrassed expression.

He cleared his throat and then said, "Well, look at you! Why didn't you speak up earlier?"

He quickly squatted down and, as the trembling middle-aged man looked at him with terror in his eyes, slowly helped him to his feet.

"You don't need to help me up, really…." The simple action of being helped to his feet caused the man to be even more frightened than before, and he began trembling violently. Before he could even finish speaking, though, Meng Hao glared at him, and he didn't dare to say another word.

"This pill bottle is full of Spirit Reviving Pills," said Meng Hao. "Delivery fee included, one pill costs 200,000 spirit stones. There are a total of 15 pills, so that's a total of 3,000,000 spirit stones." He placed the pill bottle into the man's hand and then looked at him expectantly, eyes gleaming.

The man was on the verge of bursting into tears. The single thought that occupied him now was just to get Meng Hao to leave as quickly as possible, lest he find himself in an even more deadly situation.

"Okay, I'll buy them…." The middle-aged man immediately produced a vast quantity of spirit stones.

Meng Hao's eyes gleamed as he caught sight of the huge amount of the spirit stones that were still left in the man's bag of holding. He obviously had quite a few left over even after buying the pills. Meng Hao cursed the fact that he only had one bottle of Spirit Reviving Pills in his bag of holding.

"Look, you're a customer, so I'm responsible for your safety," Meng Hao said solemnly. "Tell me who it was that beat you up, okay? Or, well, never mind. That's not important. The important thing is that you're hurt, and you're going to be participating in the arena matches that begin in two days. But you don't need to worry, Fellow Daoist. I have more medicinal pills!

"These are top-notch injury-treating pills, for only 200,000 per pill. Don't worry, I'm honest and fair with all customers." Meng Hao immediately pulled out seven or eight pill bottles, which he then handed to the middle-aged man.

The man stared in shock. He really and truly wanted to weep now. For a moment, he considered not buying them, but when he looked at Meng Hao and his bashful smile, he began to shiver uncontrollably. Gritting his teeth, he purchased each and every one of the pills.

Meng Hao took a deep breath, then began to stare at the man's bag of holding, his eyes shining brightly. Clearing his throat, he said, "Fellow Daoist, considering the level of your injuries, I don't think those medicinal pills are enough. It seems even your Nascent Divinity was injured."

"What?" The middle-aged man's scalp was going numb. His Nascent Divinity had not, in fact, been injured, but when he saw the look in Meng Hao's eyes, he knew that it very easily could be.

The man scowled miserably, and his heart was filled with intense regret. He was already starting to run out of spirit stones; these were his life savings, including special rewards given to him by his sect.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, let me go, alright?" he pleaded. "It really was my mistake…." Of course, deep inside, his hatred burned, and he wanted to tear Meng Hao into pieces.

Meng Hao smiled, but his eyes were completely cold as he said, "You know, the first person I ever killed was also surnamed Zhao."1

The man trembled, and he felt like a cold breeze was filling his entire body. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out some more spirit stones and bought Meng Hao's new medicinal pills. By now, his bag of holding was completely empty.

Meng Hao nodded in satisfaction, then patted the man on the shoulder.

"If you have any other needs, don't hesitate to call me over."

The middle-aged man trembled and nodded.

Meng Hao turned and stepped back out into the void. This time, his trip all the way back to his original position on the first altar only took about an hour. The entire way, the other trial by fire competitors clasped hands and bowed, making way for him, their eyes filled with fear.

Back on the first altar, Meng Hao sat down cross-legged and began to take inventory of everything he had acquired. Looking at the accumulation of spirit stones inside, he finally felt as if his trip here hadn't been a waste.

"It's too bad that Warrior Pavilion was so stingy, though," he thought. "All I did was take a few magical items, right? I didn't take the floor tiles or the shelving. I didn't even touch the decorative tiles!

"Back in the Bridge of Immortal Treading, I dug up all the floor tiles!" When he thought about how stingy the Warrior Pavilion was, his hatred grew. There was nothing he hated more than stingy people.

"Well, in any case, a lot of small gains can add up to a windfall. As long as I keep going in life, then one of these days, I'm going to be the richest person in the all the Nine Mountains and Seas!" Thinking about his grand aspirations, he took a deep breath. For some reason he felt as if he was now one step closer to fulfilling his dreams.

"When I find Xu Qing, the two of us will always have more than enough money to spend." He sighed emotionally.

Time passed by, and soon the three day rest period had ended. The trial by fire competitors opened their eyes, and bright gleams could be seen. With Meng Hao there, most had no thoughts of trying to take first place; they just hoped to make it into the top 8!

Ling Yunzi materialized out of the void and glanced over the crowds.

"The arena matches will be held in the ancient Dao Tree of the Ruins of Immortality. All of you must keep one point firmly in mind. The location of the Dao Tree cannot be considered the depths of the Ruins of Immortality, but it is still a place of extreme danger. Virtually anything could happen outside of the tree while you participate in the fighting. Remember… you must not, under any circumstances, leave the ancient Dao Tree.

"Only by staying on the tree itself can you guarantee your safety. If you leave the tree… it is impossible to say whether you will survive or not!" Ling Yunzi gazed sternly at the competitors, then waved his hand. Immediately, a red glow sprung up everywhere, and the void trembled. Ripples spread out as everything present, including Meng Hao, flew up into the air. Ling Yunzi suddenly seemed to grow incredibly large, whereupon he swished his sleeve, causing everyone to fly inside of it.

This scene caused Meng Hao's heart to tremble!

"What an extraordinary divine ability!" he thought, panting. After all the trial by fire competitors were pulled into Ling Yunzi's sleeve, they could clearly see the outside world whizzing by, and knew that Ling Yunzi was now moving forward at incredible speed.

The audiences in the outside world watched as similar scenes played out on the Ancient roads of the Nascent Soul and Spirit Severing. The two old men in those locations also flew up, and soon joined Ling Yunzi as they flew off into the distance.

The path they traveled was covered with mist, and occasionally, wails and howls could be heard echoing about, as well as terrifying roars. Gradually, an enormous head became visible, floating there in the mists. Blood oozed out of its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and an enormous centipede could be seen burrowing in and out of its eyes.

When the crowds on the outside saw these things, they gasped and stared at the vortex screens in shock.

"Ruins of Immortality! These are the real Ruins of Immortality!!"

"That giant's head is at least ten thousand meters tall!!"

Inside of Ling Yunzi's sleeve, Meng Hao could see everything that was happening outside. He also saw the giant's head, and he couldn't help but feel shocked as they passed it by.

More time passed. The mists grew thicker, and the wailing undulated endlessly. Eventually, a huge vine appeared up ahead, swinging back and forth. Shockingly, there were countless corpses bound up on the vine, corpses that were ancient and shriveled, and yet who possessed magical items and treasures that were related to bags of holding.

Considering that the items still existed after all these years, it showed that… this vine was incredibly mighty, and would tolerate no incursions.

Several days passed, during which time Meng Hao saw countless bizarre things. He saw an enormous ball of fur the size of a planet. He saw a gigantic bleeding eye. He saw an army of cultivators in tattered clothes, walking slowly through the void with blank looks on their faces.

Each of those cultivators was so powerful that Meng Hao found it difficult to breathe.

Most shocking of all, though, was when Meng Hao saw… a ship, floating slowly through the mists. Meng Hao was not unfamiliar with this ship, and when he saw it, his mind trembled. This was the same ship he had seen in the Milky Way Sea, and just like before, an old man sat at the prow!!