Chapter 1016: Old Turtle Reliance!
The Dao bell began to toll 27 times, echoing out in the hearts and minds of all members of the Fang Clan on Planet East Victory. The fact that the bell tolled so many times caused everyone’s hearts to fill with towering waves of shock.
Skypalace Sunspirit Pill!
Sea Cleaving Heaven Defying Pill!
Heavenly One Thought Pill!
For countless years, no one had ever been able to concoct all three of the Fang Clan’s legendary medicinal pills. However, on this day… Meng Hao did it in front of everyone, giving birth to what would eventually become a myth!
He also became… the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy! 1
As the majestic sound of the toll rippled out into the Ninth Mountain and Sea, an archaic voice spoke from the bell, and its words could be heard in the hearts of everyone in the Fang Clan.
“All members of the Fang Clan must bow to the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!”
That voice was the will of the Dao bell, the highest form of testimony, which bore witness to the rise of the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy !
All of the alchemists in the Dao of Alchemy Division emerged into the open. All of the apprentice alchemists neared. Even Fang Danyun stepped off of his mountain peak, his expression extremely solemn.
No matter what tier alchemist, everyone approached from all directions and congregated around the Pill Pavilion. All eyes were fixed upon Meng Hao, who stood there above the Pill Pavilion.
“Greetings… Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!!” It was hard to say who spoke the words first, but soon similar words were echoing out from all directions. Everyone in the Dao of Alchemy Division clasped hands and bowed to Meng Hao, from apprentice alchemists on up.
“Greetings, Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!!”
“We offer greetings, Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!!”
Fang Danyun clasped hands and bowed deeply to Meng Hao. Naturally, he was aware that Meng Hao had resorted to a bit of trickery in the end. However, that was not important considering… that the Dao bell approved!
The Dao bell was a magical instrument left behind by the first generation Patriarch of the Fang Clan, and was a signature treasure of the Fang Clan. It had not interfered in the previous upheaval and rebellion, due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the internal strife. Were it not for that, the Dao bell would have intervened long before the first generation Patriarch’s clone ever did.
As of this moment, the Dao bell shone with boundless, majestic light, which was full of numerous mysterious magical symbols. The symbols glowed, forming a sea of light that swirled around the entire Fang Clan.
Because of the brilliant light, the calls of those in the Dao of Alchemy Division became even more intense. They echoed out of the Dao of Alchemy Division in all directions, until even those in the ancestral mansion could hear them.
Countless voices joined together and were transformed into a call that was the unified will of the Dao of Alchemy Division.
The Lord of the Dao of Alchemy…. Only clan members who had concocted the Heavenly One Thought Pill could be bestowed with the title of Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!
Throughout all the years, the only person who had ever been called the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy was the first generation Patriarch. That is, until this day… when another emerged. The second Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!
As of this moment, the Fang Clan was abuzz, and the tolling of the Dao bell caused the clan members’ blood to boil. Furthermore, it caused many of them, regardless of whether or not they were members of the Dao of Alchemy Division, to answer the call of their blood and shout out at the top of their lungs.
“Congratulations to the Dao of Alchemy Division on the arrival of the Alchemy Lord!”
“Congratulations to the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!”
A huge clamor filled the entire Fang Clan, and echoed out to fill roughly half of Planet East Victory. There were even members of the Fang Clan in the Medicine Immortal Sect who stood there trembling, their minds reeling. One by one, they clasped hands and bowed in the direction of the Dao of Alchemy Division.
In that moment, Meng Hao’s glory had reached an unparalleled pinnacle!
Even Fang Yanxu and Fang Shoudao took deep breaths, stepped forward, and then shockingly, appeared in midair above the Dao of Alchemy Division. As for Fang Yanxu, he looked seriously toward Meng Hao, then clasped hands and bowed!
Of course, he was not bowing to Meng Hao’s person, but rather, bowing to what Meng Hao’s new status as the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy represented!
Fang Shoudao hesitated for a moment before finally lowering his gaze and bowing to Meng Hao. He had no other choice but to do so. Despite being a Dao Realm Patriarch, despite being the acting Clan Chief, the will of the Dao bell had spoken, and as such, no member of the Fang Clan could possibly resist!
To resist the Dao bell was to disobey the first generation Patriarch!
Fang Yanxu and Fang Shoudao, as well as the three remaining Ancient Realm cultivators who had extinguished more than ten soul lamps, including the Seventh Patriarch, all appeared and bowed.
As of this moment, the entire Fang Clan was bowing to Meng Hao.
The toll of the bell continued to echo out. 18 times. 19 times…. all the way until it had tolled 27 times, shaking all of Planet East Victory.
Then, the brilliant light shining out from the Dao bell descended onto Meng Hao, surrounding him and causing him to float up into the air toward the bell itself.
This development caused everyone to stare in shock.
Next, an ancient voice spoke out from the Dao bell, which echoed out into the minds of all members of the Fang Clan.
“The Lord of the Dao of Alchemy can ring the Dao bell one time, converging the soul, extending divine sense, and allowing the will of the clan to descend onto the body!”
The voice echoed out into the minds of all of the members of the Fang Clan, whose eyes went wide as they stared at Meng Hao within the light.
Meng Hao’s expression was the same as ever, but his heart was pounding with joy.
“So it’s true! The dying words of the first generation Patriarch weren’t a hoax!
“I was able to find clues in the clan’s ancient records, and they turned out to be true!
“The Dao bell is not limited to chiming autonomously, but…it can be rung by others!
“And the only way to do that is to become the Clan Chief or… the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy!” Meng Hao floated through the light toward the Dao bell.
Countless clan members were looking on, and Fang Shoudao’s heart was starting to pound. He had overlooked the matter of the Dao bell, as well as the fact that either the true Clan Chief or the Lord of the Dao of Alchemy could ring it.
After all, for countless years in the Fang Clan, no true Clan Chief had appeared other than the First generation Patriarch!
If this scene hadn’t revealed itself now, he would never even have even considered that it could happen.
The foreboding sensation continued to grow stronger within Fang Shoudao. All of a sudden, he felt as if things were slipping out of his control. It seemed like something very bad was going to happen, and all of a sudden, he thought about the month that Meng Hao had spent studying the clan’s ancient records.
“Just what is the little hoodlum up to?” he thought, frowning.
All clan members watched as Meng Hao floated up toward the Dao bell, getting nearer and nearer until he was directly in front of it.
It was simply enormous. Because it usually appeared up in the air, with nothing nearby to compare it to, it normally didn’t give people a sense of its stunning size. But now that Meng Hao was right there in front of it, he looked no larger than one of the magical symbols carved on the bell’s surface.
By now, the minds of all the members of the Fang Clan were shaken.
The bad feeling in Fang Shoudao was getting much more intense.
Meng Hao stood in front of the Dao bell, took a deep breath, and then looked down at the lands below. He looked at the ancestral mansion, at the Dao of Alchemy Division, and at Fang Shoudao.
Then, he smirked, lifted his right hand, and waved to Fang Shoudao, almost as if he were saying farewell.
That instantly caused Fang Shoudao’s eyes to grow wide, and his mind to spin.
“Not good!” Fang Shoudao was just about to charge forward when Meng Hao’s hand formed into a fist and he… struck the Dao bell, causing it to ring.
This time the Dao bell did not ring of its own initiative but, rather, it was struck. As soon as Meng Hao’s hand made contact with it, a boom echoed out that was completely different than the previous sound of its tolling. It was sonorous, ancient, filled with endless time. It sounded almost like a sigh, which instantly echoed out in all directions.
All of the members of the Fang Clan, regardless of the level of their cultivation base, as long as the blood of the Fang Clan pumped in their veins, heard a reverberation that caused their minds to go blank.
It didn’t matter that Fang Shoudao had a Dao Realm cultivation base. In that moment, his expression turned vacant as the boundless sound of the tolling Dao bell filled his mind. Simultaneously, brilliant light suddenly surrounded the bodies of all members of the Fang Clan.
Meng Hao’s mind was also trembling, and it felt as if all of his divine sense was being sucked into the Dao bell. Then, as the bell rang, it was dispersed outward in all directions.
It wasn’t just the members of the Fang Clan who were affected. All the lands, the entire world, all of Planet East Victory, was affected. Mortals, plants, animals, all living things heard the toll of the bell, and suddenly, their minds went blank.
Meng Hao’s divine sense flowed out with the tolling of the bell; in the blink of an eye it filled all of Planet East Victory. All of the lands in the whole world suddenly appeared in Meng Hao’s mind, as clear as crystal.
He saw every area of Planet East Victory, every living thing. Considering the level of his cultivation base, it wasn’t something he could normally do. However, with the Divine Soul Nourishment of the power of the Dao bell and its tolling, his divine sense was now able to spread out virtually without limit.
As of this moment, he was the only clear-headed person on the entire planet. All other life forms went blank, even Fang Shoudao, who was now incapable of tracking or holding Meng Hao in place. Furthermore, if Meng Hao could come up with some way of teleporting far enough away, then Fang Shoudao would be incapable of finding any traces of him.
The bell tolled, echoing out in all directions, wiping out any and all traces of what would happen next!
To Meng Hao, the tolling of the Dao bell was also extremely beneficial. This good fortune caused his divine sense to expand quite a bit, and stabilize to an unheard of degree..
He saw the Medicine Immortal Sect, as well as numerous mortal cities. He saw mountains, oceans, and rivers. He saw all of the cultivators on the planet, as well as all of the plants and vegetation.
However, in the same moment that his divine sense spread out across all of Planet East Victory, as everyone else was dazed into immobility, Meng Hao suddenly gaped in shock. What he just saw… was a stretch of ocean some distance away from the Fang Clan on Planet East Victory, where there was an island floating in the water. That island happened to look just like a turtle.
In the moment that his divine sense looked upon it, the island suddenly trembled, and an enormous head appeared.
“Dammit! DAMMIT! Meng Hao, you bastard. Y-y-you…I came here to find my sweetie, not to wait for you, you little bastard! Yet you actually rang that piece of junk bell to try to catch me!?!?” The turtle started to curse and, despite everyone else being stupefied and unable to move, it flew up in exasperation out of the sea towards the sky, dragging the continent on its back as it went.
The land on its back was none other than the State of Zhao. It carried with it Mount Daqing, memories of which sprang to mind anew. Guyiding Tri-Rain was also in the State of Zhao, looking toward Meng Hao and covering her mouth as she laughed.
“Old turtle Reliance!!” Meng Hao stared in shock. He had never imagined that he would once again encounter Patriarch Reliance on Planet East Victory!
1. In past chapters I translated this as “Lord of the Dao of Alchemy Division.” Actually “Lord of the Dao of Alchemy” is more accurate to the Chinese. In my opinion, the meaning of the title has to do with leadership of that part of the Fang Clan, or mastery of the Fang Clan Dao of Alchemy, or both. However, I don’t think it’s supposed to mean “THE Dao of alchemy” as in, ultimate mastery of that Dao. I will go back later to adjust previous chapters