10 - Most lethal weakness of human beings: time.

Meng Hao stood still, rigid, literally, a padding in the groin area was not noticed by many but Wang Tengfei did and his eyes wavered as he stared at the area. Suddenly, Meng Hao could feel the gazes of all the disciples who were in the square. The cultivators next to him moved away, creating an open area around Meng Hao.

A strange sensation filled Wang Tengfei's body, as if he had been trapped in the den of a very strong demonic beast. His heart beat slightly faster and louder and a storm churned in his stomach.

Nobody spoke a word. The Outer Sect disciples just stared at Meng Hao. Wang Tengfei was very famous. His words reverberated in everyone's hearts.

No one was surprised by what was happening; news of yesterday's events had spread and many people had already guessed what would happen that day.

The sect elders remained motionless on the high platform, looking at Meng Hao.

"The rules of the sect dictate that what you take belongs to you," said Meng Hao, his words soft and his voice as calm as a garden pond but it reverberated throughout the courtyard. He knew that compared to Wang Tengfei, his voice was ridiculously weak and low to those there, and that he could be attacked. But he still spoke without fear of weak disciples.

He knew that if he took out the jadeite gourd, handed it to Wang Tengfei, and made some tearful supplications, Wang Tengfei would not be able to reject his apology. Not in front of all these people. He might exact some punishments, but it would leave Meng Hao with his cultivation base. Maybe if he begged and bowed, he admitted he was wrong, accepted the humiliation, and even insulted himself, then he would be completely out of danger.

But Meng Hao would never do such a thing! Call him stupid and crazy, but he would never do that!

Even knowing what he was facing and how everything would follow, Meng Hao at that moment realizing the circumstance he was placed in and how that God accepted that his methods were in accordance with his wishes, he would never beg. He would never humiliate himself, never crawl on the floor and beg. Never! Meng Hao was a beast who didn't know his own hunting habitat, but now he does! He knows about every juicy hunt and where all his treasures were!

Meng Hao's voice sounded strange, like a wave of spiritual energy that released another wave. Wang Tengfei, when addressing Meng Hao, released the pressure of his cultivation on Meng Hao's body to bend him to his strength and destroy any source of response but he did not bend but destroyed his pressure with his own cultivation!

"This treasure is mine," Wang Tengfei said with a friendly smile. "It belongs to whoever I give it to. I didn't give it to you, so you have no right to take it." His words sounded friendly, but they were full of threat, clear for all to hear. Smiling, he stepped forward, raising his hand and waving his finger in the direction of Meng Hao, the jadeite gourd was taken by Wang Tengfei.

The winds blew in the square, screaming in circles, making the disciples' clothes sway. Meng Hao stood still, as if the air in the square had become death itself, but even this pressure was not enough to make him falter. He couldn't move a muscle. Suddenly, a pink jade pendant flew out from inside his clothes and hovered in front of him. A pink shield appeared, covering Meng Hao protectively. That pendant was Xu Qing's! A treasure of protection given to him when he said goodbye to her after their first night together.

Wang Tengfei looked as affable as ever. His movements seemed completely casual, and as he took a second step, his finger waved for the second time.

A bang resounded as the movement of the second finger stopped. The shield warped and twisted, flickering three times, then shattered in a deafening explosion. The jade pendant in front of him, the gift given to him by Elder Sister Xu, shattered into pieces.

"I was hoping you would do that." Meng Hao's voice was as cold as an iceberg, and it was so close to Wang Tengfei's ears that he couldn't believe it. How strong is he?! It was his thoughts and the discomfort in his stomach increased as his heart beat even faster like the heart of a newborn, it was how he felt, a child close to Meng Hao and his mysterious power.

"Paralyze your cultivation base. Cut off an arm and a leg. Leave the sect." Wang Tengfei continued to smile, ignoring Meng Hao's previous words and trusting himself, his warm voice reverberating throughout the square, not wavering even when he saw Meng Hao's calmness against his pressure. He extended a finger for the third time, pointing at Meng Hao's chest.

Everything was silent as people watched, their faces full of scorn. Their ridicule seemed to cut him off from the world, pushing him away until he was placed outside of everything.

And yet he still did not submit! What was a little physical pain?

Just as Wang Tengfei's finger was about to fall off again, a sound echoed from a distant mountain peak and a gentle power appeared next to Meng Hao, blocking the crippling finger.

A bang sounded. Wang Tengfei flicked his wide sleeve and looked to the side. An old man stood there, wearing a long gray robe. He had some brown markings on his face, and although he was quite tall and large, he didn't appear to be very powerful. This was the same person who admired Meng Hao during the fights of the 74 Massacre. There was also another time he admired Meng Hao, during the night of love between the Reliance Sect's chosen one, Xu Qing, and when they traveled through the sect as lovers in love. , he saw everything.

"You got the treasure back," said the old man. "Leave the matter aside." With a frown, he looked at Meng Hao standing there silently, blood dripping from his fists. He sighed and looked at Wang Tengfei.

"Since it is Grand Elder Ouyang's intercession, junior will relent." Wang Tengfei smiled, looking indifferent. In the entire time, he only spoke to Meng Hao twice. The sunlight shone down on him, illuminating his elegant figure, his long hair, his perfect demeanor. To him, Meng Hao didn't even compare to an insect. As of this moment, he had already put Meng Hao out of his mind.

Meng Hao, his fists covered in blood, was like an insect facing an elephant, which could crush him with a single step. Meng Hao was ready to fight back! He had everything in mind to tear Wang Tengfei apart! But he felt something stop him.

For Wang Tengfei, the things that just happened were nothing. Not that he felt contempt for Meng Hao. He just didn't care about him at all. With a smile, he returned to the crowd, chatting nonchalantly as if nothing had happened. He began to give tips to the lower-level disciples, emanating cordiality.

A whisper fell from Meng Hao's lips, like a sigh at the beginning of a roar, "I'll love doing all this to you, Tengfei, I'll... I'll break your mind."

For Wang Tengfei, the things that just happened were nothing. Not that he felt contempt for Meng Hao. He just didn't care about him at all. With a smile, he returned to the crowd, chatting nonchalantly as if nothing had happened. He began to give tips to the lower-level disciples, emanating cordiality.

All the disciples seemed obsessed with him. Cultivators viewed him with the greatest respect they could feel in their hearts. Everyone ignored Meng Hao, as if they had already forgotten he existed.

Meng Hao was like the antithesis of Wang Tengfei. Covered in blood, with his clothes in tatters, he cut a truly pitiful figure.

Meng Hao could feel what Wang Tengfei thought of him. It wasn't contempt, it was indifference. When Wang Tengfei left, Meng Hao felt a little more relaxed, he really wanted to destroy the handsome Wang but he needed to follow the damn script, as if nothing could stop him but something was holding him back like a dog on a leash, warning him- that of the dangers that would break the order of events in such a brutal way. He was not Meng Hao scared and still learning about the cruelty of the heavens and men but someone who already knew it and his strength and knowledge were too powerful for that world. Antony felt free from the normal and moral laws of the human world when coming to this place, but now he felt the true meaning of the laws of physics that prevented NASA or a rocket billionaire from exploring the universe: the law of the heavens and their "Perfect" order. Gritting his teeth, he greeted Grand Elder Ouyang with cupped hands.

Without another word, Meng Hao sighed in anger and contempt, clenched his jaw, and slowly left.

"You have greater talent than him, boy, but your rush to climb the ladder of power will end in a fall that takes you to its base again." Old Ouyang's voice contained pity for the humiliation of Meng Hao, a young man so talented but with the most lethal weakness of human beings: time.

After some time while walking back to his immortal's cave, he looked at his hands. Ten broken fingernails protruded from the skin of his palms.

Antony vividly remembered when he was 17 years old. He was a boy, with curly hair completely shaved and eyes brimming with anxiety for his first day in the army. He was still a boy, had a strong body and passed his tests with flying colors and was considered the best in the regiment of recruits. He wanted to know what it was like to wake up early in the morning and survive in the forest around the army base, and he wanted to learn how to care for his new family, how to listen to their complaints and overcome obstacles together. He remembered all those hellish months at the beginning of his mandatory military enlistment and laughed to himself at the memory of when the officers offered him a bottle of Coca-Cola and he drank it all in just a few sips. The officers called him a sweet tooth and sent him to a special sweet tooth training where while he trained, his colleagues ate meat skewers with soda and he would see everything to have a good nutritional education. He hated it at first, he hated it for a few more months and when he understood the punishment he just laughed. He had to share it among his regiment brothers and not take everything at once. When he noticed and looked at his hands with scars from his nails from clenching his fists as he ran and climbed the re-education training obstacles.

Meng Hao looked at his hands, expressionless. After a while, he began to pull the broken nails out of his skin one by one. Blood oozed from his mutilated palms, dripping onto the floor and filling the cave with the smell of gore.

Throughout the entire process, Meng Hao's facial expression did not change. It was as if his hands didn't belong to him. There was a certain cruelty within him that was now clearly visible.

He looked at the ten bloody fingernails. After a while, he gathered them together and placed them next to the bed of the futon he had shared with Xu Qing after that night of love, she was in seclusion and wouldn't appear for a while and he liked that she wasn't there to defend him and harm your journey in this world. As for his nails, he planned to look at them every day as a reminder of the humiliation he had endured.

The day would come when this humiliation would be paid double!

"Thank you very much for the wedding dowry, Wang Tengfei," he said in a deep, old voice, full of revenge and anger. That voice did not belong to Meng Hao but to Antony Monte Fenez.