Chapter 1167: Get Back Here, Meng Hao!
Decorative lanterns and brightly colored banners could be seen everywhere on Planet South Heaven. The members of the Fang Clan flew down from the starry sky into various districts of the Great Tang of the Eastern Land, where they used various magical powers to erect huge temple halls and altars.
Over the course of an entire month, they transformed the Great Tang into a palatial temple complex befitting of the Clan Chief of the Fang Clan. They even created numerous Immortal’s caves for the insurge of cultivators from off of South Heaven.
The Great Tang of the Eastern Lands was where the grand ceremony to appoint the Clan Chief would be held.
Furthermore, because Fang Xiufeng would stay on Planet South Heaven after his coronation, it became the Fang Clan’s second planet. It went without saying that it was now a very important place for the Fang Clan.
Fang Shoudao immediately issued orders that all available clan members participate in the renovation of Planet South Heaven. At the same time, numerous teleportation portals were set up, which connected to the enormous main teleportation portal on Planet East Victory.
You could say that Planet South Heaven was being completely transformed. Not only was the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands mobilized, the other lands were included in the great changes as well, including the Northern Reaches, the Southern Domain and the Western Desert.
Soon, the entire planet was essentially part of the Fang Clan. There wasn’t a single person who could disagree with the matter, because… once Fang Xiufeng officially became the Clan Chief, it meant that the Clan Chief was standing guard over Planet South Heaven. That in turn meant that the entire Fang Clan was standing guard over it as well.
Numerous incredible changes began to occur to the four great continents on Planet South Heaven, especially the Southern Domain. Because of Meng Hao’s connection to the Southern Domain, it would eventually become second in importance only to the Eastern Lands, and the cultivators there would be given an enormous amount of special assistance in terms of cultivation and in various other ways. After all, although most sects there had connections to the larger powers out in the Ninth Mountain and Sea, in the Southern Domain, Meng Hao occupied the highest position!
To the cultivators of the Southern Domain, Meng Hao was more awe-inspiring than even their own sects!
As for the Blood Demon Sect, that was the place where Meng Hao and Xu Qing had been married. In accord with Meng Hao’s wishes, the areas surrounding the Blood Demon Sect had been kept exactly the way they always had.
Beams of colorful light could be seen streaking through the skies of Planet South Heaven constantly as more and more members of the Fang Clan arrived. Their arrival caused the spiritual energy on Planet South Heaven not to lessen, but to grow stronger.
Regarding the Planet South Heaven division of the Ji Clan, they had long since been cowed by Fang Xiufeng. Now, they were forced into an even more subdued position.
As the members of the Fang Clan began fixing up Planet South Heaven, Meng Hao, Fang Shoudao, Fang Yanxu and Fang Xiufeng entered a long session of private talks, during which Meng Hao explained to them everything he knew about Allheaven Clans. That included the source of his own Dao, as well as the effects of the Dao seeds. He explained everything in detail and left nothing out.
Although Fang Shoudao had heard about these things once already, he got excited all the same. As for Fang Yanxu and Fang Xiufeng, both were impassioned by the things they were hearing and coming to understand.
“The Fang Clan is destined to rise to prominence,” Fang Xiufeng said. “We won’t just lord it over the Ninth Mountain and Sea, we will grow beyond it and become the most powerful clan in the entire Mountain and Sea Realm!!
“For now, all these things about Hao’er must remain top secret. Only members of the Dao Realm are qualified to know the truth!” After reaching a decision on the matter, Fang Xiufeng made the suggestion to have Meng Hao stay put on Planet East Victory.
Meng Hao smiled wryly and tactfully refused. Were it anyone else who had made the suggestion, he would have just ignored it. However, since it was his own father, he could only politely make his case from every possible angle, after which Fang Xiufeng frowned, but agreed.
It took a while, but he finally managed to finish persuading his father and then slip away to find his mother. He quickly brought out all of the things he had bought at the bazaar and handed them over. Meng Li was very pleased. To her, it didn’t matter what Meng Hao bought for her, the expression of the feelings in his heart was the most important thing.
“Oh you!” she said warmly, tousling his hair. “You always throw your money away! You need to learn to be frugal! Don’t you remember what I taught you when you were young about saving money? If you have a single copper coin, cut it in two before you spend it. The same principle applies to spirit stones.
“Furthermore, you’re too kind and considerate. Too honest! You’re a smart kid, but you need to remember what I’ve taught you. Never let yourself get the short end of the stick!
“The cultivation world is a dog-eat-dog place, and you have to be on guard at all times. That’s what I worry about the most, you know. You take after me, too kind-hearted and too honest. Not like your sister. She’s a lot more like your father, always suspicious about everything.” Meng Li shook her head, and her eyes filled with concern.
Meng Hao had a strange expression on his face, and as he listened to her talk, his face started to redden. He had to look at her closely to make sure that she wasn’t being sarcastic with him.
“Mom, I… I never get the short end of the stick,” he explained.
“Never get the short end of the stick?” Meng Li responded lovingly. “Look at all these things you got for me. I can tell from a single glance that you must have spent a fortune. Obviously you got conned.”
“I didn’t get conned! I…” Meng Hao quickly explained about everything that happened with Guru Heavencloud. Not wanting to get his mother’s hopes up only to dash them later, he left out the part about the jade command medallion. He would wait until he gathered some more clues about the matter before breaking that news to her. After he finished, Meng Li frowned at him, looking even more worried than before.
“Silly boy, why did you go and do things that way?” she said with a sigh. “You shouldn’t have just straight-up killed Guru Heavencloud. You little dummy, that’s exactly what I’m talking about when I say you get the short end of the stick. Everyone has friends and family, including that Guru Heavencloud. Even I’ve heard of him before. He had lots of rich friends. All you had to do was let him go, and he would have gone to get help from his friends. Then you could have followed him to see who his friends were.
“Then you could have robbed all of them without even having to come up with an excuse why. How great would that have been? Ai. You’re just like me, child. Too honest.” His mother finished with a bitter chuckle.
Meng Hao’s eyes widened, and he stared in shock.
“Oh, there’s another reason you shouldn’t have killed him,” she continued. “Do you know how much Quasi-Dao experts are worth? Take him to the Eighth Mountain and Sea, and you could have gotten a mind-boggling price for him. You’re just too inexperienced. Not far-sighted enough. All you could think about was some crappy bazaar. That place isn’t worth squat.
“See, when you analyze it carefully, you’ll see that you really were conned. Don’t you remember what I taught you when you were young? When you go out and see something valuable, if you don’t pick it up, it’s the same as if you lost it!
“Another thing is that the entire body of a Quasi-Dao expert is a magical treasure unto itself. Even if you killed him, you could have delivered his body over to the Fourth Mountain and Sea and earned a huge profit.
“Also, the bones of a Quasi-Dao expert can fetch a high price in the Seventh Mountain and Sea. After all, those aren’t things you run into all the time. But you went and threw all that away! Ai. Honey, you’re really too honest and straightforward.” By the time Meng Hao’s mother finished speaking, her voice was like droning in Meng Hao’s ears, and he was staring at her in shock.
After a long moment passed, he suddenly slapped his thigh. Looking extremely annoyed, he said, “You’re totally right! Dammit! How come I didn’t think of those things!?” Stabs of pain filled his heart as he thought about the vast amount of spirit stones he had lost out on.
Meng Li sighed and tousled his hair, looking just as worried as before.
“You need to think more. If you keep going on the way you are right now, I’ll constantly be worried about you being out on your own.” Even as she spoke, Meng Hao’s face suddenly twitched, and then an unsightly expression could be seen. Meng Li also seemed to notice whatever it was that Meng Hao had, and a smile broke out on her face.
“Your sister’s back. Honey, this is the first time you’ve come back since you left. You need to be more like your sister. She comes back all the time to visit, and she’s always asking if you’ve been by. Oh right, every time she comes to visit, she brings her little hubby with her.” Meng Li’s eyes suddenly flickered with a crafty gleam. Just as she finished speaking, the front door of the building they were in collapsed inward with a booming crash.
“Meng Hao, you Heaven-damned bastard!! At long last I’ve managed to track you down!” A young woman flew in through the rubble of the door, looking like an explosive dragon. Her cultivation base was profound; apparently she was a stage 5 Immortal. This was none other than Meng Hao’s sister, Fang Yu!
Thanks to Fang Xiufeng’s connections to the Emperor Immortal Sect, she had been given a spot there. After joining, she continued to grow and progress. Although she couldn’t be considered extraordinary among the members of her generation, she ascribed to the notion that slow and steady wins the race. With every breakthrough she made, her foundation grew stronger and more stable.
The blow she had just delivered caused the entire building to shake. A look of astonishment appeared on Meng Li’s face, and then suddenly she flashed off into the distance.
“You two haven’t seen each other for years,” she called out. “Why don’t you take some time to catch up? Hao’er, your sister had a fiery temper, but you’re a big boy, so just grin and bear it, alright!?”
“Grin and bear it, my ass! Get back here Meng Hao!! I promise I won’t beat you to death!! I can’t believe you foisted that bastard Sun Hai on me to get back at me. Y-y-you…. Am I your sister, or is he your sister!?” Rage burning, Fang Yu roared and shot toward Meng Hao.
“YOU’RE my sister! He’s a guy, he couldn’t be my sister even if he wanted to!” Meng Hao shot backward immediately. He actually felt a bit guilty, especially when he saw the fawning, servile baldy Sun Hai following close behind Fang Yu. Meng Hao’s smile grew even more bitter.
Back when he’d collected some interest from Sun Hai, he had loftily explained to him how to win over a girl that you had a crush on. How could Meng Hao have ever known at the time that the girl Sun Hai was talking about was actually his sister?
After finding out, he’d been planning to teach Sun Hai a lesson or two, but other matters had intervened. By the time he’d returned, Sun Hai had been nowhere to be found, which left Meng Hao with a sinking feeling.
From the way Fang Yu was yelling at him, Meng Hao instantly realized that Sun Hai had sold him out.
“Sun Hai!” he roared. He didn’t dare to raise a hand to Fang Yu, but had no such misgivings when it came to Sun Hai. As he closed in, just when he was about to make his move on Sun Hai, Sun Hai suddenly clasped hands and bowed deeply.
“Sun Hai offers greetings, Brother-in-law. I will never forget the kindness you showed to me back in the day.” With that, Sun Hai pulled out a bag of holding.
“Brother-in-law, these are all the spirit stones I owe you from years ago. I’ve even included the interest, sir. Brother-in-law, please kindly accept my payment.” Sun Hai quickly tossed the bag of holding toward the shocked Meng Hao. This was the first time ever in which someone had proactively paid back the money they owed him. Without even thinking about it, he caught the bag.
Sun Hai immediately retreated to stand in front of Meng Li. With a plop, he dropped to his knees in front of her.
“Sun Hai offers greetings and well wishes, madam,” he said, kowtowing repeatedly. “The trip here was made in haste, but I managed to bring a small gift. Please accept it, madam. I hope it brings you eternal beauty and never-ending youthfulness.” With that, Sun Hai rose to his feet and handed a bag of holding to Meng Li.
Meng Li accepted it, looked it over, and then smiled warmly.
“You always bring me gifts when you come to visit, child. In the future, you don’t need to be so courteous!”