After a long silence, Meng Hao's mind was in turmoil, his eyes blank. In his heart, he still considered himself a scholar from Yunjie County, someone who treated others with reason, who had never been in a fight, let alone killed anyone. These deeply ingrained thoughts and behaviors were hard to change, leaving him silent and struggling internally.
"Confucianism teaches rites, music, benevolence, and righteousness, seeking to reason with others rather than resorting to violence. Yet the sect teaches 'the weak are prey to the strong.' These four simple words—I understand the logic behind them, but actually putting them into practice is a different matter..."
Meng Hao's body trembled. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. After a long while, he let out a soft sigh and silently walked away.
But after barely ten paces, Meng Hao gritted his teeth and abruptly spun around. He returned to Zhao Wugang's corpse, snatched his storage bag, and waved his right hand, instantly summoning a fire snake onto Zhao Wugang's body.
A single fire snake was not enough to completely cremate the corpse. Meng Hao swallowed another Spirit Condensation Pill and shot out three more Fire Snakes in succession. Only then did Zhao Wugang's corpse begin to shrivel up, becoming completely unrecognizable.
After performing breathing exercises for a moment, he gritted his teeth and shot out two more Fire Snakes, finally turning the corpse to ash.
Staring at the copper mirror on the ground, Meng Hao struggled internally for a moment before gritting his teeth, picking it up, and gripping it tightly.
With a mix of complex emotions and fear, Meng Hao hurriedly left the area. Back in his cave dwelling, he sat in a corner, staring blankly. Only after a long while did he remember the storage bag. He opened it instinctively, and as he peered inside, his eyes lit up. The heavy weight of having just killed someone was instantly replaced by the contents of Zhao Wugang's storage bag.
"This guy is loaded!"
Meng Hao took a deep breath. Inside the storage bag were about eight spirit stones and seven Spirit Condensation Pills. To one side lay a piece of bone covered in tiny, cramped writing.
He picked up the bone slip to take a look, but tossed it aside almost immediately. It detailed the cultivation method for demon transformation. He had no desire to touch such a thing, let alone learn this demon transformation, which had been utterly obliterated by his copper mirror.
After tossing the bone slip aside, Meng Hao suddenly remembered the flying sword. He immediately stood up, left his cave dwelling, and searched the grass until he found the small white sword that Zhao Wugang hadn't had time to retrieve. Returning to his cave, he stared at it for a while, a slow shift occurring in his eyes.
The Immortal sects and the Confucian path were diametrically opposed. Meng Hao had no answers, so he simply chose to let the matter rest. Perhaps he would understand it one day in the future, but for now, he had to focus on how to survive within the sect.
A look of determination appeared in Meng Hao's eyes. He lowered his head, caressed each spirit stone, and then took out the copper mirror, staring at it for a long time.
"It was Senior Brother Zhao who provoked me first. I had no choice but to fight back. In a moment of softheartedness, I tried to make peace with him, but he refused... Even though I killed him, reason is on my side. I acted with benevolence and righteousness; he was simply the one who deserved to die!"
Meng Hao muttered, his expression gradually turning resolute.
"Though this mirror is cruel, and in the hands of the wicked it would be a tool for evil, it is different in my hands. My heart holds the benevolence and righteousness of Confucianism. In my hands, this treasure will surely be different..."
Meng Hao looked down at the copper mirror and took a deep breath.
"This thing doesn't just blow up the lower body; it's bloody and brutal no matter where it hits. I must use it with caution in the future!"
Meng Hao pondered for a long time, then raised his head to study the mysterious properties of the copper mirror. Thinking of his previous expectations, he gritted his teeth.
“Whether this succeeds or not depends on this very moment. If it works, from now on, the cultivation of I, Meng Hao, will surely be extraordinary!”
Without further hesitation, Meng Hao took out his only demonic core and placed it on the copper mirror. He then placed half a spirit stone on top of it and sat nervously to the side, watching.
But after waiting for a long time, there was no change on the surface of the mirror. The spirit stone did not disappear, and there was still only one demonic core.
Meng Hao frowned. He stood up, paced around the room, and then looked back at the copper mirror.
“This isn't right. A month ago, it clearly duplicated into two...”
Suddenly, Meng Hao stared at the spirit stone on the mirror, lost in thought. He patted his holding bag, took out another half of a spirit stone, and carefully placed it onto the mirror's surface.
Almost the instant he placed the spirit stone down, a dark light flashed across the mirror. Its surface rippled like a pool of water, and the two half-pieces of spirit stone immediately sank into it. At the same time, the dark light flashed again, condensing onto the demonic core. Then, right next to it, another demonic core appeared, looking exactly like the original.
Meng Hao stared open-mouthed at this bizarre sight. Even though he had prepared himself mentally, he was still deeply shaken. After standing dazed for a long time, he reached out to pick up the two demonic cores. He examined them closely for a moment, his face flushing with excitement.
“It's real! The magic is actually real!”
Meng Hao panted heavily, taking a long time to compose himself. With visions of a grand future shining in his eyes, he took several deep breaths and began to experiment again.
One, two... of his nine spirit stones, only one remained. However, laid out in front of Meng Hao were four demonic cores, making five in total including the original.
Piled together, the demonic cores emitted an even richer fragrance. Meng Hao felt almost intoxicated, a silly grin spreading across his face. This was a level of wealth he had never seen in his entire life. In fact, let alone him, very few of the Outer Sect disciples had ever laid eyes on such a fortune.
His excitement lasted late into the night. Holding a demonic core, Meng Hao swallowed it without the slightest hesitation. A few hours later, he opened his eyes and swallowed another.
He had never indulged in such luxury before. As the dense spiritual energy from the demonic cores surged through him, a rumbling sound echoed from within his body in the early morning light. A large amount of impurities was expelled from his pores, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
“The third level of Qi Condensation!”
Still unsatisfied, Meng Hao looked at the three remaining demonic cores. He swallowed another one. By the following morning, he had consumed them all, bringing his cultivation to the very brink of the peak of the third level of Qi Condensation.
As for the Spirit Condensing Pills, they now had very little effect on him; swallowing them yielded barely any results. After pondering for a long time, he figured this was because of the demonic cores he had consumed. Otherwise, the pills shouldn't have lost their efficacy so quickly. After all, Spirit Condensing Pills were the standard medicinal pills distributed to Outer Sect disciples.
“A small amount is no longer enough. I'd probably have to swallow ten of them at once to feel any effect!”
Meng Hao closed his eyes, carefully sensing the spiritual energy within him. It was no longer a mere trickle of a stream, but had grown into a river. Though not a mighty, roaring river, it was incomparable to the stream from before. As the spiritual energy circulated through his body, it gave Meng Hao a powerful sensation that an astonishing force was now latent within him.
This astonishing power made Meng Hao realize that, compared to yesterday, he had undergone a complete rebirth. He was no longer a low-level cultivator whom anyone could bully. In fact, in the low-level public zone where the upper limit was the fourth level of Qi Condensation, his cultivation base could already be considered at the peak, making him one of the strongest people there.
Filled with excitement, Meng Hao casually waved his right hand. A Fire Snake instantly shot out from his arm with a roar. Its scorching heat filled the cave dwelling. The snake's ferocious appearance, with its flickering tongue and swirling flames, was highly intimidating.
At this moment, if he were to encounter Zhao Wugang again, a single fire snake would leave the man severely wounded, if not dead.