Meng Hao looked at Chu Yuyan for a moment. Then he shoved his hand toward the rocky wall, slashing a wound into his palm. Blood oozed out.

Chu Yuyan gasped. Next, Meng Hao shoved the large Spirit Stone into the wound. As she saw this, Chu Yuyan could almost feel how much it hurt. Meng Hao, however, didn't frown, even in the slightest.

Compared to the pain he felt during the poison flare-ups, this was nothing.

As soon as the Spirit Stone buried into the flesh of his palm, he felt a soaring explosion of spiritual energy enter his body. His eyes flashed as if with lightning.

His suppressed Dao Pillar suddenly shook, sucking up large amounts of spiritual energy, then sent it out, circulating throughout Meng Hao's body.

At the moment, his Second Core sea was nowhere to be seen. Actually, the reason why Chu Yuyan's technique hadn't affected Meng Hao was because of his Second Core sea. He had practiced the Violet Qi to the West technique, but only there in his Second Core sea, where there was no Dao Pillar.

That was why it had taken such a long time. As for Chu Yuyan, she had absorbed only the power of Meng Hao's Second Core sea. Relatively speaking, its power was like that of a firefly.

Now that his Cultivation base was circulating, Meng Hao smacked his bag of holding, summoning the Lightning Flag. It surrounded him with a mist of flickering electricity, which caused Chu Yuyan to back further away, her face pale. She stared dumbly at the mist, her mind a blank.

Protected by the mist, Meng Hao closed his eyes and continued to circulate his Cultivation base. The suppressive force in the area still existed, but Meng Hao was now gradually able to feel the motion of his Cultivation base.

The first level of Qi Condensation, the second, the third... In the end, he was able to exert power similar to that of the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

His eyes flickering, he took in a deep breath. The mist around him rolled inward, condensing into a small flag which he then placed into his mouth. He stood, grabbing up the bag of the Cosmos and retrieving a medicinal pill which he placed into the center of his palm. The wound slowly began to close up, congealing into a scab. As for the large spirit stone, it was still stuck inside the wound. If he took it out, his Cultivation base would once again be suppressed, and he would become like a mortal. At the moment, the most power he could muster was that of the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

Ignoring Chu Yuyan, Meng Ha smacked the bag of the Cosmos again, and a wooden sword flew out. He stepped onto it, and turned into a beam of light that shot upward into the air.

Within the fissure-like cave Chu Yuyan watched in shock as he disappeared, her heart filled with complicated, bitter emotions.

Everything was quiet. This silence contained an unspeakable loneliness which spread out everywhere, submerging Chu Yuyan in its depths. She laughed silently. She was in some undetermined location, at the bottom of a volcano that no one would even think to look for. She was as trapped as a person who had been buried alive in a tomb.

Meng Hao flew along on a wooden sword, his eyes shining. Soon, he left the mists behind. His speed increased, although not too much; he was still only able to wield the power of the seventh level, plus his body was still not in top condition. When the mists disappeared, Meng Hao found himself looking up at a starry sky.

When he caught sight of the stars, a bright look appeared on his face. But then, his eyes narrowed, and he came to a stop. He didn't emerge from the mouth of the volcano, but rather stood there looking up at it.

Had he not been careful just now, he might have overlooked the nearly transparent shield which covered the mouth of the volcano. It was some kind of seal. Meng Hao's eyes flashed as he retrieved a flying sword from the bag of the Cosmos. With the flick of a sleeve, he sent it shooting toward the shield.

The instant it ran into the shield, the sword instantly turned into ash. Not a sound rang out.

Meng Hao watched this happen, a grim look on his face. He spit out the Lightning Flag. It transformed into a mist, which shot toward the shield. It could stand up against the power of Foundation Establishment, but when it ran into the shield, it couldn't push through. It collapsed, and began to show signs that it might be destroyed.

Sucking in a breath, Meng Hao quickly called back the Lightning Flag. In the space of only a few seconds, several cracks had appeared on its surface.

"Could it be that one can enter this place, but not leave it? Even the Lightning Flag can't break through. I wonder what would happen if I ran into the shield..." He frowned. The stars were visible outside the volcano, but this shield was blocking his way.

His eyes flashing, he flew back down on the wooden sword, soon landing on the misty floor of the volcano. He glanced around, then walked over to a section of rock. Moments later, he was flying back up, a brightly colored, three meter long viper in his hand.

The snake writhed, baring its fangs, which dripped with venom. However, Meng Hao held it behind its head so it couldn't bite him.

Back at the shield, he tossed the viper toward it. As soon as the viper hit the shield, its body was turned into a mist of blood and gore. An intact viper skeleton fell back down into the mists.

Meng Hao took a breath and looked at the shield, an apprehensive look in his face. Then, he gave a cold snort and smacked the bag of the Cosmos with his right hand. A vast quantity of flying swords appeared. He flicked his finger, and the swords shot toward the rock wall. Booms rang out as the swords dug a hole into the rock. But as the swords carved inward, a sound rang out like gold striking iron. Meng Hao looked into the deep hole, and then around at the rock walls.

The rock was dark green, and covered with flickering magical symbols; it was obviously under a restrictive spell.

Meng Hao let out a sigh. He tried a few more methods, but the result was always the same. Finally, he dug a small pit into the rock wall and sat down cross-legged. He looked up silently at the shield.

He sat like that for seven days, during which time he tried out various methods of breaking through the shield, but none of them worked. More time passed. Soon, it had been a month.

He was trapped by the shield. But down at the bottom of the volcano, Chu Yuyan didn't know that. She assumed that he was long gone.

On the first day, she sat outside, her arms wrapped languidly around her legs. She looked completely different from the beautiful woman from before. Now she seemed more like a withered flower.

When the third day arrived, she sat looking outside of the cave, frustration in her eyes, her face pale.

The third day, the fifth, the eighth... Soon ten days and then thirteen days had passed. More and more frustration appeared in her eyes, and she was getting more and more hungry. Her body was also starting to grow cold. She felt like she was the only person alive in the entire world. She grew more and more forlorn. When Meng Hao was here, this feeling hadn't existed. Back then, she had just hated him, so much that she wished him to die a miserable death.

But thirteen days after he disappeared, the feeling of loneliness surrounded her like a giant mouth, ready to swallow her up.

She was now completely convinced that absolutely no Qi whatsoever could escape this place. Otherwise, the Violet Fate Sect would have already found her. But, soon it would have been a month, and no one had come for her. There was only one explanation for this.

The twenty-third day passed, then the twenty-sixth. The fear in her heart grew stronger amidst the silence that surrounded her. Her body trembled, and she felt incredibly alone. The depth of the silence made her feel as if she were in some sort of illusion. She had the sensation that there were countless shadows walking to and fro around her; she shivered. At this moment, she was no longer a Chosen of the Violet Fate Sect. She was simply a frail young woman.

She clenched her jaw, not emitting the slightest sound, and refusing to shed tears.

During the month, Meng Hao sat underneath the shield within the protection of the lightning mist. He had used every idea he could think of to break through the shield, but there it was, the same as ever. It seemed even his voice could not pass through it, although that didn't matter because he hadn't seen even a single person in the sky above. Finally one night, black clouds filled the sky, and a torrential downpour began. The rain fell down through the shield onto Meng Hao's lightning mist.

Suddenly, a peal of thunder rang out, along with a bolt of lightning. When this happened, Meng Hao's eyes narrowed. He looked closely at the shield. After a moment, another bolt of lightning descended. Meng Hao's eyes began to shine.

He had noticed that every time lightning struck, the shield would ripple.

"So, lightning bolts can affect it... If lightning strikes it, maybe the shield can be opened." His heart began to thump. A huge group of metal flying swords appeared. He tossed them, hoping to be able to use them to attract some lightning bolts.

However, thunder and rain vanished, and the sky started to grow bright. He hadn't been able to attract any lightning bolts. However, hope now burned in his eyes.

"I can't attract lightning. Maybe that is because of the shield itself. If only there was a way to force the lightning down and blow open the shield... I need something to attract it. I need... hmm..." A light of inspiration shined in his head. He retrieved a piece of turtle shell from the bag of the Cosmos; this was the formula for the Perfect Foundation Pill.

He looked it over closely a few times, and then his eyes began to shine even brighter. They filled with determination.

"Establishing a Perfect Foundation is not permitted by the Heavens, and will provoke Tribulation Lightning..."

He put the turtle shell away and sat there in silent contemplation for a while. After a time, his body flashed toward the mists below. Soon he had reached the bottom of the volcano, and Chu Yuyan.

He looked at her, at her frustrated, pale face.

When she caught sight of him, she reflexively said, "You..."

"You're Grand Master Pill Demon's disciple," said Meng Hao coldly. "Do you know anything about alchemy?"

She nodded silently.

"Do you want out?!" His eyes flashed. As his words entered her ears, Chu Yuyan's body began to tremble. Gradually, life began to seep back into her eyes.