I Shall Seal the Heavens - chapter-98

Time slowly went on. Soon half a month passed. On one particular night,
the full moon was especially bright, outshining most of the stars. It
hung up in the sky, filling the land with gentle silvery, light.

It seemed to shine especially brightly upon the group of valleys,
especially the valley where Meng Hao was located. As it shined down onto
the mist, it began to seethe, slowly spinning into what looked like a
vortex.

Outside the valley, the seven Cultivators were waiting, their eyes
shining. They stared at the mist within the valley, expressions of
anticipation on their faces.

“The hour has arrived….” said the toad geezer, his voice low. Even
as his words issued out from his mouth, a gurgling sound could be heard
from within the mist.

The sound was indistinct, but when it reached the ears, it stabbed to the
heart. Cracking sounds echoed out, and the mist within the valley roiled.

Time passed. The gurgling sound became clearer. Amidst further cracking
sounds, the mist turned and turned until it appeared to be a giant
whirlpool. The edges of the whirlpool of mist seemed to be able to pierce
into the surrounding cliff walls, causing them to melt. Liquified rock
poured down the cliff faces.

At the same, a red rope appeared from within the vortex. It was as thick
as a person’s arm, and was as red as if it had been dyed with the blood
of countless people. A droning sound filled the air as the vortex and the
rope both spun. As soon as the rope appeared, the seven men seemed
vitalized.

The toad geezer’s eyes gleamed. He bit down on his tongue and spit out
some blood, at the same time flickering an incantation and producing a
black metal fragment from within his bag of holding.

The other six men did the same thing, spitting out blood and producing
fragmented pieces of black metal. They seemed familiar with the process,
as if they had done this before.

The blood entered the vortex, and apparently because of this, the vortex
suddenly stopped rotating. The rope, however, did not.

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The black chips from the seven men spun about in the air and then formed
together into a black broadsword.

The sword floated above the valley, pointing down toward the red rope,
which then ceased rotating.

With a low shout, the toad geezer flew forward to grab the red rope with
both hands. He gripped it without hesitation, despite the fact that it
felt wet, as if it was coated with blood. The six other men appeared
behind him, pooling their strength together to pull on the rope.

A thunderous roar filled the area as they did. The rope slowly emerged
thirty meters from within the vortex. As it did, a black-colored Qi
poured out to fill the area. Eventually it reached the point where Meng
Hao’s cave was located it, submerging it.

“At three hundred meters we got the Jade Spirit Stone. Six hundred
meters in we got the toxic miasma. Last time we pulled out nine hundred
meters and got the stone-sealed beast. Today, we will go all out and
reach fifteen hundred meters!”

“Right! According to the ancient records of our Clan, if we can pull
out fifteen hundred meters, it will open the first seal, and the Clan’s
ancestral spirit will awaken. It will form into a Poison Foundation, and
our Cultivation bases can ascend another level!” The eyes of the seven
men gleamed, and they heaved on the rope.

The bottom of the vortex couldn’t be seen; there was nothing but
blackness, making it seem as if the red rope had no end. Every tug on the
rope caused the surrounding valley to quake. The ground rippled, as if
the end of the rope were plugged into the very core of the earth.

Shocking booms sounded out as they continued to pull. More toxic miasma
billowed out as nine hundred meters of rope appeared. Suddenly, a stench
like that of rotten fish poured out from the depths of the vortex.

It seemed this stench had never appeared before; the seven men’s faces
changed. However, the area immediately around the rope seemed to
naturally be protected from the stench and miasma. Their faces pale, the
seven men gritted their teeth and heaved once again on the rope.

Thirteen hundred fifty meters. Thirteen hundred eighty meters. Fourteen
hundred meters!

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The men panted. They had expended seventy to eighty percent of the power
of their Cultivation bases. Without hesitation, they popped medicinal
pills into their mouths and tugged once again on the rope. Five of the
seven men coughed up blood. Soon, only the toad geezer, and the other man
who was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, held out. They gritted
their teeth, unable to stop their bodies from trembling.

“I’m at my limit….” said the toad geezer with a roar. He bit the
tip of his tongue and spit out some more blood. As he did, a black beam
of light shot out from the edge of the valley. It transformed into an
enormous toad, which clamped its mouth down onto the red rope. As it bit
down, its body began to wither, but it held fast and pulled.

Next, a centipede shot out, along with several human-sized spiders,
summoned by the men to pull the rope. Even the huge boulder with the bird
skeleton inside flew out. Its glow seemed to aid in pulling the red rope.

Fourteen-hundred thirty meters. Fourteen hundred sixty meters. Fourteen
hundred ninety meters!

The rotten stench grew stronger, seemingly carrying the stink of a corpse
as it filled the valley. It seemed the rope would soon be pulled out
fifteen hundred meters. A shrill shriek came out of the whirlpool,
piercing the air with wickedness.

The shriek grew more and more intense, seemingly filled with hope.
Except… there were still ten meters to go before the fifteen hundred
meter mark was reached. The poison beasts summoned by the seven men
exploded one by one, unable to keep going. As they died, the faces of the
seven men grew pale. The rope suddenly slipped out of their hands and was
sucked back into the whirlpool. Had they not released it, they would have
been pulled along with it into the vortex.

The men watched silently as the rope was pulled back inside.

“Forget it. We’ll try again next month.”

“Yes. The day will come when we will pull out fifteen hundred meters of
rope. I will be making a breakthrough in my Cultivation base soon. Once I
reach the ninth level of Qi Condensation, we will definitely be able to
succeed.”

“That outsider is of the ninth level….” said one of the men
suddenly.

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“We don’t need to make things more complicated. That outsider is
probably dead already, killed by the miasma. Even if he was at the
Foundation Establishment stage, he couldn’t withstand it unless he was
of our bloodline.”

The seven discussed the matter a bit further, then dispersed.

The mist continued to roil in the valley for three days before finally
settling down. The spiritual energy in the area gradually grew thick
again, and the miasma dissipated.

Within the Immortal’s Cave, Meng Hao watched with cold eyes. Surrounded
by the arcing field of electricity, he had seen clearly everything that
had happened during the three days. As for the miasma, the Lightning Flag
made short work of, and Meng Hao remained safe from any harm.

“They think I’m dead. That’s good.” Meng Hao’s eyes glittered.

“I’m not sure if it’s because of the Sublime Spirit Scripture or
perhaps the Demonic Core… Establishing my Foundation is turning out to
be very difficult.” He lowered his head and picked up another
Foundation Establishment Pill. He frowned. As of now, he was a bit
suspicious. Was the Cultivation method in the Sublime Spirit Scripture
the real method? Or had Patriarch Reliance changed it in according with
his own Demonic Cultivation practices…. There was no way to know. Meng
Hao’s eyes shone with determination as he popped the Foundation
Establishment Pill into his mouth and closed his eyes to meditate.

His Core sea roared violently, seething and churning as it coagulated. It
seemed to be forming a Dao Pillar. But to do so was incredibly difficult.
Even with the Foundation Establishment Pill, he wasn’t able to succeed.

It can be said that Foundation Establishment is the first true hurdle
that must be crossed on the path to real Cultivation. A Foundation
Establishment Pill can only increase the probability of success by about
ten percent.

Even though he had reached the great circle of Qi Condensation, and his
latent talent had been increased, it still was not an easy matter.

Time slipped by. In the blink of an eye, another three months passed.
Each full moon during that time, the seven men again made attempts at
pulling out the red rope. More than a few times, they came to Meng
Hao’s Immortal’s Cave to try to get his corpse.

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But the cave was being protected by Patriarch Reliance’s Lightning
Flag. A few insignificant Qi Condensation Cultivators didn’t have the
slightest chance of getting inside. They started to wonder whether or not
Meng Hao was actually dead.

Another three months passed, half a year of hard work. They hadn’t even
seen a trace of Meng Hao. At this point, they were mostly certain that he
was dead.

As for Meng Hao, even he wasn’t sure how many Foundation Establishment
pills he consumed during the half year. Every time he failed, he would
take another pill. Toward the end, he even tried consuming two pills at
one time.

The poison flared up twice during the half year. Thankfully, Meng Hao was
prepared. He dealt with it, then continued on in his attempts to break
through to Foundation Establishment.

In this excruciating fashion, another month passed. One night, Meng Hao
sat there, a roaring sound rising in his mind. Only Meng Hao could sense
this roaring sound; it sounded like claps of thunder in his mind.

Within his body, his golden Core sea let out an unprecedented roaring
sound, and a gold light filled his body. It seemed as if he himself were
made of gold.

He sat there meditating, his eyes closed. As his Core sea emitted its
thunderous roar, he focused everything on forming the Dao Pillar and
breaking through into Foundation Establishment. Within the Core sea, the
Demonic Core rotated rapidly. It looked as if it might melt.

During the past year, this had happened frequently. Meng Hao had come to
understand clearly that if he didn’t have this Demonic Core inside of
him, it would be much easier to reach Foundation Establishment. It was
the Demonic Core that was making things so difficult. Coupled with the
fact that he had completed the great circle of Qi Condensation, it meant
that achieving Foundation Establishment was much harder for him than
anyone else in the world.

Every time the Dao Pillar was beginning to form, it would be disturbed by
the Demonic Core, and wouldn’t coalesce. At the moment, golden light
shined out from Meng Hao’s Core sea. The waters began to congeal,
slowly solidifying into a massive Dao Pillar. But then, the Demonic Core
began spinning, causing the Core sea, which had just moments before been
calm, to seethe. The Dao Pillar once again began to fall apart.

“Again!” Meng Hao’s eyes burned. Without hesitation, he lifted up
his hand and swallowed three Foundation Establishment Pills.