12 - Why did it have to be me?

The leaves were beginning to change color and the wind was blowing across the mountains and valleys.

Under the bright moon, Meng Hao followed a small path into the wild mountains. Everything was quiet and the only thing that could be heard was the soft rustling of falling leaves as Meng Hao headed towards the North Mountain.

He wanted to go see Fatty. In the entire sect, he was his only friend. And also because he needed allies and Li Fugui was rich, he might have help if his family's business extended into the cultivation world.

The Northern Servant Quarter was silent at this time of night. As he approached, he heard the sounds of snoring filling the air, a special kind of snoring that he had become accustomed to in his four months as a servant.

The horse-faced young man who presided over the Northern Servant Quarter sat cross-legged on the large stone. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Meng Hao, startled for a moment. Then he stood up and greeted Meng Hao with clasped hands.

"Greetings, big brother Meng." Rumors about Meng Hao had abounded recently, and of course, the horse-faced young man heard them.

"There's no need for formality, brother," said Meng Hao. "I'm here to see an old friend." Taking a look at the young man's cultivation base, Meng Hao could see that it was the third level of Qi Condensation. It looked like he had been trapped there for several years.

Big Brother Horseface nodded. After Meng Hao stepped into the Servant Quarter, he sat cross-legged, with a strange expression on his face. With a silent sigh, he closed his eyes again.

Meng Hao entered the courtyard and found the East Seventh House. As he approached, the sounds of Fatty's snoring filled the air. As soon as he entered, a strange expression filled his face, and the feeling of impatience that had filled his heart recently began to dissipate.

Fatty lay on his back, snoring. The other bed in the room had been moved away from the wall, forming a small gap.

There, in the gap, fast asleep, was the big man who called himself Grandpa Tiger. Even in his sleep, his face seemed contorted with fear, as if he had encountered something terrifying in his dreams.

His wooden bed was covered with a multitude of bite marks. In some places, it was chewed all the way through, so much so that it looked like it might fall apart. The wooden table had long since disappeared, and Meng Hao guessed that it must have been completely devoured. Even the walls had bite marks. In sharp contrast, Fatty's bed remained unbitten.

The big man in the corner trembled and then let out a miserable scream. He was obviously in the middle of a nightmare. Given his emaciated appearance and the dark circles under his eyes, it looked like he hadn't been sleeping well lately. Meng Hao could only imagine the miserable circumstances that tormented him in this state.

It seemed that his shout had woken Fatty, who sat up looking irritated, and then he saw Meng Hao. He suddenly became excited.

"Wild hen! Did you bring any wild chickens?

Meng Hao looked at him, unable to contain his smile.

He was as round as ever, apparently not having lost a bit of weight. In fact, he looked a little fatter. His teeth also grew longer, by about half. When he spoke, they glowed brightly.

"I heard that you have reached the first level of Qi Condensation," he said with a smile, "so I came to see you. I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to get a chicken." He sat on the bed next to Gordo, examining his teeth.

Fatty, proud of his cultivation base, began to speak. Meng Hao didn't say much, instead listening to Fatty's chatty conversation. Soon, the moon began to fall and the sun began to rise. Antony didn't understand how, but he knew that the conversations with Fatty and his simplicity as a man were calming to the mind, without taking away from the sex with Xu Qing and how his conversations were about the future and even about children and family, Antony understood what that God said to him when he was swimming in that water, before coming into this world: I like ErGen but it's missing something that it never had! It's a lot of philosophy!

ErGen's philosophy of life is represented in his own life as a human being. When he created Renegade Immortal, his first novel, he was just an unknown and a young author who sought to show the philosophy of challenge and overcoming against the tests of the heavens. In Pursuith of the Truth, his life was more painful and completely chaotic, he had problems with his relationship and was going through a separation process, well, fans said he was, so Su Ming became his philosophy of stoicism , that even with the pain and betrayal of those he loved, Su Ming fought the pain truly and sought his own truth. Meng Hao is simply the recovery of this state, a scholar thrown into the midst of the chaotic world of cultivation and now found himself alone among tigers and dragons, a philosophy of adaptation, discovery and acceptance of oneself. Antony laughed as he understood his why in the world, he was a sad and tired old man, with a few children in the world and a medieval fantasy book to be released and suddenly the old and equally tired heart decides to stop beating. Regrets filled him, he was going to see his firstborn, when he was heading to the airport entrance in search of a taxi, the address of Roeb, his son born when Antony was just 22 years old, was fixed in his cell phone's address book. He just remembers seeing a photo of Roeb, all grown up and with his grandchildren, waiting to see him.

Now he had to adapt, Antony Monte Fenez, retired military man, thrown into a medieval oriental fantasy world, thrown into the confusion that is the life of a cultivator, with a lot of power but with many, many weaknesses. He wasn't cautious, he had more energy than anyone else there but his power was crude, it was like going back to the days of being an army officer and seeing how politicians came and went to guarantee the military's vote in favor of supplies and basic things for the military, such as water and sewage treatment or even the monthly shipment of food to the barracks.

At dawn, Meng Hao left with Fatty. Grandpa Tiger watched them leave, tears streaming down his face. His tears moved Fatty, and before they could leave the courtyard, he ran back, gave him a hug and said something. Whatever he said caused the big man's face to turn pale and his body to tremble.

"What did you say to him?" asked Meng Hao, as they were about to arrive at the Outer Sect, already knowing the terror the man had felt during the nights of being nibbled.

"He is a good person. After you left the Servants' Quarter, he became my friend. He was so upset that I left that I just couldn't take it." A pained expression appeared on his face. "I told him I would definitely come back often to visit. He looks tough," Fatty continued emotionally. "But he's actually a bit of a coward. He always has nightmares when he sleeps. Underdog."

Meng Hao said nothing, nor did he ask anything more about the man. As the two walked through the Outer Sect, people looked at Meng Hao, with strange expressions, as if they were measuring the space so that Meng Hao's attention would not be directed towards them.

"Eh? It looks like you've really shaken things up in the Outer Sect, Meng Hao," Fatty said excitedly. "Everyone's looking at you." In his mind, he imagined that few people would be willing to bully him since he had Meng Hao at his back.

Meng Hao smiled but did not explain. When they were almost at the Treasure Pavilion, Meng Hao stopped walking. He watched Fatty approach the building.

In the time it took for half a stick of incense to burn, Fatty returned excitedly. In his hand he carried a short sword, covered in a layer of fish scales. It was not sharp at all, but rather rough.

"Did you see the treasure I got, Meng Hao? It is truly a great treasure." He waved the sword in the air, and Meng Hao was about to ask what it could be used for when Fatty opened his mouth and began grinding his teeth with it. A harsh sound could be heard, and Meng Hao wasn't sure whether he should laugh or cry. "Try not to sharpen them too much, they can cut your tongue as easily as tearing paper"

"It's great!" said Fatty, looking more and more excited. "My teeth get longer and longer and I'm constantly looking for things to file them down. But everything I find always breaks within a few days. I can use this treasure to archive them forever!"

Meng Hao showed Fatty the Outer Sect. He even offered to let him stay with him in the Immortal's Cave, but Fatty refused. He had lived with a roommate for a long time and was looking forward to having his own place in the Outer Sect. No matter what Meng Hao said, he refused. When they arrived at his house, he seemed completely satisfied.

Meng Hao didn't pressure him. When night fell, he returned to the Immortal's Cave and sat down cross-legged.

Time flew by and soon three months had passed. Two months earlier, Meng Hao had reopened his stall in the Low Level Public Area. Perhaps because of what happened to Wang Tengfei and especially Lu Hong, no one caused him any trouble and soon his business began to grow again.

Soon, he added magical items to his offerings and business grew even more. But now there was more than one person in the company. Next to him was a fat teenager who was constantly filing his teeth with a flying sword. He had good business sense and constantly sold goods in the Public Area. Soon, he became the main force of the business. With the cooperation of Meng Hao, who was unable to enter, they obtained a considerable profit.

One day, when winter had set in and snowflakes filled the air, Meng Hao sat cross-legged on the edge of the plateau, meditating. Suddenly, Fatty let out a scream and grabbed a person, dragging him towards Meng Hao.

"Meng Hao, Meng Hao, look who it is!"

Meng Hao opened his eyes and saw Fatty enthusiastically dragging a young man along. Short, pale and emaciated, he contrasted greatly with the plump and shiny Fatty.

Meng Hao recognized him. He was one of the group that was brought to the Reliance Sect that day and taken along with Wang Youcai to a Servant Quarters on a different mountain.

Back then, he seemed strong and good-natured, but now he seemed gloomy and in bad circumstances. However, there was a certain hardness in his eyes that spoke of some unforgettable experiences in the Outer Sect.

Furthermore, he dared to enter the Public zone only at the first level of Qi Condensation.

"Greetings, big brother Meng," said the young man, looking a little excited. But then it disappeared, and he gave Meng Hao an extremely respectful salute with clasped hands.

"Did you just join the sect?" Meng Hao asked him, recalling his early days with a sigh.

"It's been about a month," he said, lowering his head.

"What about Wang Youcai?"

"He died," said the young man, with a numb expression on his face. After the words left his mouth, an expression of sadness appeared in his eyes.

"Wang Youcai died?" said Fatty in shock. Meng Hao maintained silence.

"In Bairro dos Servos, we were responsible for collecting water," he explained. "Big Brother Youcai thought I was too young, so he helped me a lot. Once on a mountain road, a strong gust of wind hit us and knocked us off a cliff. I searched for his body for two months, but I could only find a few broken bones… he must have been eaten by wild animals."

An expression of sadness appeared on Fatty's face, and Meng Hao let out a sigh. All four arrived at the same time, but in less than a year one was already dead. Meng Hao felt bad and even worse when he remembered that Uncle Wang, the carpenter, only had one son. However, there was also a hint of anger in seeing Dong Hu, he killed Wang Youcai for the sake of a cultivation treasure. If it was the Meng Hao from before, Dong Hu would now be killed by Fatty with his cultivation sponsored by Meng Hao.

"Little Tiger, you stay with us. With Meng Hao around, no one will dare bully you." Fatty emotionally patted the young man on the shoulder.

"No, it's okay, I'm… I'm fine." The young man seemed to hesitate and Meng Hao knew why but he didn't force the invitation, it hurt a lot to share everything with Li Fugui in the beginning, for the convenience of making him rich. In the end, he shook his head and declined Gordo's offer. He greeted them with clasped hands and then walked away from the plateau.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Fatty, still in shock.

"Everyone has secrets," said Meng Hao slowly. "Maybe he had some lucky break that he doesn't want to talk about. Otherwise, why would he only come here at the first level of Qi Condensation?" Meng Hao seemed to be lost in thought as he watched the young man disappear into the distance.

"Even if Little Tiger has some secret, we could still find out on our own if we wanted to. He is looking down on us." Fatty thought. He had an open and direct personality and did not think intriguingly. Offering something in good faith to someone and being rejected in this way obviously aroused his indignation.

In the lower regions of the Nanshan Continent, the winter was short and passed almost instantly. The warmth of spring has arrived and the flowers have bloomed. It was April again. A year had passed since Meng Hao arrived at the Reliance Sect.

With Fatty's help, he had accumulated quite a lot of Low Level Public Zone Spiritual Stones, and even more medicinal pills and magical items. He used to go to the wild mountains to hunt demonic beasts. He even wandered near the black mountain in his search, but he always came back empty-handed, the golden day was coming and his smiles got wider. The roars emanating from the black mountainous region became more and more intense, so Meng Hao guessed what it was.

He had a peak third level Demonic Core that doubled several times with the copper mirror. Eventually, his cultivation base reached the middle of the fourth level. But then, his progress practically ceased. No matter how many medicinal pills he consumed, the only thing it did was make his spiritual energy a little purer.

He had reached a bottleneck and was unable to break through to the fifth level and his much-desired Wind Walking Technique.

With Meng Hao's help, Fatty reached the second level of Qi Condensation, which left him feeling quite awe-inspiring.

that April, all Outer Sect disciples above the fifth level, as well as Senior Sister Xu and Senior Brother Chen, were dispatched out of the sect. Each of them returned with two or three young men who possessed latent talent, who later became servants.

Once a year. This was the rule of the sect. This was the only way to guarantee the continued existence of the sect. Xu Qing also spent several days with Meng Hao and during one of their passionate sex sessions, Meng Hao felt the white sphere take away a part of himself and integrate with Xu Qing as a second white sphere within her as it had in him.

The spring wind blew across the land, carrying the cold with it. The heat returned. Soon autumn arrived and then it was October. During this period, two important things happened in the Reliance Sect. The first was related to one of the sect's Grand Elders. Besides the sect leader, who everyone said had already reached the Core Formation stage, there were two other Grand Elders who had reached Foundation Establishment. One of them, who had reached the end of his longevity, passed away while meditating, around one hundred and fifty years of age. When Meng Hao received the news he felt more anxious about the upcoming events that would initiate the turtle Smaug's awakening.

When Cultivators reach Foundation Establishment, their longevity increases to one hundred and fifty years. It seems like a long time, but it is actually a very intense period. If the Cultivator fails to achieve Core Formation, then in later years, he can only sit in meditation, withering away, his Qi and blood slowly dissipating.

However, after reaching Core Formation, the longevity is doubled to three hundred years. If he didn't reach the next realm, he would die the same way at the end of three hundred years.

Because of the Grand Elder's death during meditation, the Reliance Sect was placed in a bad position. It was already in a weak position in the State of Zhao and was now in even more danger. Suddenly, cultivators from other sects began to appear near the Reliance Sect's borders.

They seemed to be looking for something, so the Reliance Sect created defensive spells around the mountain. Everything within several thousand meters came under his protection. Figurative storm clouds appeared, dark and thick, pressing down on the entire sect.

Most of the Outer Sect disciples had their guesses. Some of them were more informed than others and received snippets of information. The news spread, and soon a rumor emerged that the Cultivation World of the State of Zhao was in turmoil because of Patriarch Reliance, who had been missing for four hundred years.

As for the details, none of the Outer Sect disciples were sure.

During this time, Meng Hao's cultivation base continued to be stuck in the middle of the fourth level. Nothing he did seemed to have any effect, and he finally came to accept that he was stuck in a bottleneck.

He sat cross-legged in the Immortal's cave, frowning. "Elder Sister Xu told me that going from the peak of the fourth level to the fifth level would involve a bottleneck. But why did my bottleneck arrive early… just like in the original but I have a lot of talent, why wasn't this bottleneck crossed? The only answer would be my talent itself, something so abnormal needs abnormal and more powerful materials for constant cultivation and advancement."

"If that's the case, I need some specially designed medicinal pills to break through bottlenecks. Or maybe I need some high-level Demon Cores." He had a large collection of Spiritual Stones, but he did not have the appropriate medicinal pills. He was confident that if he had the right medicinal pills, he could advance to the fifth level of Qi Condensation.

The anxiety in the Reliance Sect was palpable. Many disciples walked back and forth with troubled hearts, trying their best to hide their feelings. Meng Hao also felt nervous, and of course, he was dealing with his own critical matter.

The only person who looked happy was Fatty. He was even more excited about their tent on the plateau than Meng Hao was. Even when Meng Hao didn't feel like going, he himself took the flag there to do business.

Three days later, the bells rang. The day of pill distribution had arrived. When Meng Hao and Fatty arrived at the square, Meng Hao spotted an old man dressed in gold on the platform, behind him were Senior Sister Xu and Senior Brother Chen.

Seeing this, Meng Hao's heart began to pound and a fire burned in his eyes.

"In the past year and a half, Master Uncle Shangguan has only appeared three times, and each time was an individual pill distribution. My cultivation base has been stuck in a bottleneck at the fourth level for almost a year. If there's a pill high-level medicinal medicine…"Other Outer Sect disciples had similar thoughts and soon, conversations buzzed in the air. Of course, some disciples were thinking, "Please don't give it to me."

This was especially true because after what Meng Hao did with his pill back then, the Sect created a new rule that prohibited gifting Individual Distribution medicinal pills to Inner Sect members.

"It… it's a dry spirit pill!"

"That is! A dry spirit pill. There was one distributed last year and now one more. Only one per year! That just shows how valuable it is!"

"If I can get my hands on it, I will definitely have a breakthrough in my cultivation base."

A louder buzz of excited chatter arose as the gold-clothed old man lifted the shiny purple pill into the air.

When the pill appeared, Meng Hao's eyes glowed with the intensity of a hunter just as they had nearly a year ago. He had never wanted a medicinal pill so much. In his eyes, it was not a medicinal pill, but his only hope of reaching the fifth level of Qi Condensation.

He had been a member of the sect for some time, so he was now familiar with the various disciples. The Inner Sect had Senior Sister Xu and Senior Brother Chen, both at the seventh level of Qi Condensation. There were rumors that they would break through to the next level very soon, even more so Xu Qing with Meng Hao's gift that she takes at least 5 times a week.

Below them was Wang Tengfei, who was stuck at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Condensation. To him, a Dry Spirit Pill would be of little use. Besides him, there was one more sixth level disciple, disciple number two, Han Zong.

Meng Hao had seen him twice and found him to be extremely arrogant, someone who considered everyone beneath his notice. If he were here, he wouldn't even take a look at the Dry Spirit Pill, just to show that he had a collection of even better medicinal pills.

As for the disciples of the fifth level of Qi Condensation, there were four in the Outer Sect and they could be considered masters of nothingness, masters of the void and plants in the current scenario of the Reliance Sect. They were rarely seen, as they often secluded themselves in meditation or traveled the wild mountains in training.

There were not many fourth level disciples. Including Meng Hao, there were seven in total. As for those below the fourth level, they can also be considered plants carrying out photosynthesis.

"Alright, everyone calm down." Shangguan Xiu's wrinkled voice reverberated, as surprisingly powerful and suppressive as ever. However, compared to last year, Meng Hao didn't even care. Instead, his eyes shone with determination.

"In the past two years that I have presided over Pill Distribution, I generally prefer to select a new disciple. The reason is that if we can continue to get new disciples, our sect will flourish." He smiled and his eyes roamed the crowd. Just when it seemed like he had made his decision, his eyes fell on Fatty, who was standing next to Meng Hao cutting his teeth with a sword. Her face seemed indifferent.

He looked round like a ball, and anyone who first saw him grinding his teeth would have a hard time deciding whether he was laughing or crying. Shangguan Xiu was surprised and then laughed.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I'll give you the pill." He waved his right hand and a purple light flickered as the Dry Spirit Pill shot towards Fatty. With a shocked expression, he instinctively realized, seeming to not even know what had just happened. Then, his expression changed and he let out a scream. His body began to shake as blood ran from his face. He looked like he was about to cry.

"That… I… shit, why did it have to be me?"