A long while later, the dream finally ended, and Meng Hao opened his eyes. He didn't know how many days had passed, nor how his cultivation had changed, only that the dream had been very, very long.
Although the dream had ended, a few memories still seemed to linger in Meng Hao's mind. These memories were very vague, containing something he couldn't quite grasp, but the desire to fly in the sky suddenly surged into his mind with incredible intensity.
He even clearly felt that if one day he could fly high in the sky, those vague memories in his mind would naturally become clear.
After a long moment, Meng Hao took a deep breath. His eyes gradually returned to normal, his expression steady, and he was stunned as he sensed his cultivation.
"Qi Condensation… sixth level?"
Meng Hao gasped for breath, his eyes wide open. After carefully sensing his cultivation, he was ecstatic, almost to the point of madness. He sensed the pill lake within his body, and could even feel the demon core within the lake, a feeling of deep kinship filling his heart.
"I've reached… the sixth level of Qi Condensation!"
Meng Hao trembled as he stood up, laughing heartily. His laughter echoed through the cave dwelling, creating countless reverberations.
With his mind filled with excitement, Meng Hao once again sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, his ears hearing nothing; even his senses seemed to perceive everything around him as perfectly still. This indescribable excitement filled Meng Hao's spirit with joy, until he heard Fatty's voice from outside the cave dwelling.
"Oh, Meng Hao, your fate was so bitter. You were the one who wanted to take the pill; I didn't harm you. Don't come back to haunt me…"
"Pitiful me, this fatty, my fate is even more bitter than yours. My general store business these past few days is gone, taken by someone else."
Fatty was somewhere outside the cave dwelling, his face dejected, burning joss paper.
"Oh, Meng Hao, even if you've become a ghost, you must help me out a little. Look how much paper I'm burning for you."
Fatty sobbed as he burned the paper.
"Your family is poor, but you have me, this fatty, as a friend. Meng Hao, rest assured, I will burn joss paper for you every day, so that down there, you can achieve your wish of having money and marrying a wife."
"Oh, Meng Hao, how could you just leave like that…"
Fatty cried louder and louder, his face filled with sorrow.
These sounds reached Meng Hao's ears, and his expression immediately turned strange. Still sitting cross-legged, he thought, *This is the first time someone has burned joss paper for me.* Half-laughing, half-crying, he stood up and pressed his right hand against the cave dwelling's door. The door immediately opened, and he slowly stepped out.
As soon as he stepped out, Fatty's mournful cries suddenly ceased. Fatty turned his head in surprise, his eyes blinking as he saw Meng Hao, and suddenly his hair stood on end. Panic filled his eyes, and he immediately jumped up, stunned as he recognized Meng Hao.
Meng Hao's expression was peculiar. He glanced at Fatty, and without rushing to speak, merely coughed once. He walked to the small river and washed his body. Gradually, the dirt was washed away. He then took out a clean set of clothes and changed into them, and used his sword to trim his long hair. After restoring his original appearance, his spirits lifted, and he turned, smiling faintly at Fatty.
The fat man stared blankly at Meng Hao. Suddenly, tears streamed down his face, and he sprang forward, lunging at Meng Hao, crying incessantly.
"—You're not dead, Meng Hao, you're still not dead!"
"—I've been so terrified these past few days! Everyone said you were dead, and I was utterly devastated! You're my only friend; if you died, what would I have done?"
"I was debating whether to flee the mountain; I didn't even have the strength to bicker with anyone. But then I thought, if I ran away now, I'd never be able to avenge you in this lifetime, so I stayed. I swore I would get revenge for you..."
Fatty wept as he spoke, then threw his arms around Meng Hao in a joyful embrace.
Fatty's genuine warmth touched Meng Hao's heart. He offered a few comforting words, which finally managed to soothe Fatty's tears. The two sat down by the riverbank, and Meng Hao gave a brief account of his experiences on Black Mountain, omitting any mention of the Yinglong or Wang Tengfei. Even so, the tale left Fatty utterly terrified. When he finally learned that Meng Hao had reached the sixth level of Qi Condensation, he gasped, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open.
"The sixth level of Qi Condensation... Holy crap, you... you've actually reached the sixth level of Qi Condensation! Back when Senior Sister Xu brought us here, she was only at the seventh level. Meng Hao, you really are an immortal now!"
Fatty was practically shaking with excitement.
"Can you fly?"
Fatty suddenly blurted out, his breathing heavy.
"Fly..."
Meng Hao closed his eyes slightly. The Wind Walking Art from the Qi Condensation manual surfaced in his mind. He could feel that executing it at the sixth level of Qi Condensation was far easier than at the fifth. Even so, it took several attempts before his body slowly hovered off the ground, only to quickly drop back down. Undeterred, Meng Hao tried again. Over the next few attempts, even swallowing a medicinal pill to assist him, he managed to slowly rise about half a foot into the air under Fatty's rapt gaze, leaving the plump youth wide-eyed with awe.
Then, Meng Hao opened his eyes, a faint light gleaming within them. He stood up and glided around like a gust of wind, leaving Fatty gasping in astonishment.
With a few more attempts, Meng Hao grew increasingly proficient. He tapped his storage bag with his right hand, and a glowing flying sword instantly shot out, landing beneath his feet and carrying him up into the sky. Fatty watched the scene unfold, his heart pounding wildly, unable to believe his eyes.
"He's flying..."
Fatty muttered.
High in the air, Meng Hao's heart surged with excitement. Standing atop the flying sword, he felt the caress of the wind. Relying on the Wind Walking Art, his entire body moved in perfect harmony with the sword. This time, he maintained his flight for over thirty breaths before his balance began to waver. Just as he was about to lose control and fall, Meng Hao's mind suddenly shuddered. A set of incantations instantly flashed through his head.
These incantations were not written words but profound, wordless mysteries, like an instinct deeply embedded within his mind. As they manifested, the spiritual energy inside Meng Hao's body immediately began to circulate in a brand-new pattern. He swept his right hand out like a wing, and in an instant, a sharp blade of wind materialized before him.
The moment this wind blade emerged, the flying sword beneath Meng Hao's feet trembled. In an instant, the wind blade shot toward the forest ahead, followed by a series of crashing sounds as three rows of trees toppled one after another. At that moment, Meng Hao's body swayed, and he descended to the ground.
Fatty stood there, completely dumbfounded. It took him a long time to recover, his expression and eyes revealing intense admiration for Meng Hao.
"This is great! From now on, with Meng Hao by my side, let's see who dares to bully me, and who dares to compete with me for business at the general store!"
Fatty thought to himself, a smug smile spreading across his face.
Meng Hao closed his eyes, sensing the wind blade from moments ago. His heart stirred with excitement as he vaguely guessed that the strange dream must be related to the demon core, and even the incantation that had just appeared in his mind earlier was closely connected to it. In a hazy state, the reflection of the Yinglong in the lake appeared in his mind. He instinctively wanted to understand more about this Lord of the Sky, and this thought consumed Meng Hao, but no matter how he tried, he could not succeed.