Meng Hao's heart pounded as he stood there. He took a deep breath. As soon as he had stepped foot into the Blood Immortal Legacy tournament, he'd found that his Cultivation base was completely restored. No longer was he stuck at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, but rather, was back at the early Foundation Establishment stage.

After hearing the words spoken by the archaic voice, Meng Hao knew why Chu Yuyan had wanted to enter this place.

"This place can recover your Cultivation base. If it stays that way after leaving, then that was obviously Chu Yuyan's first goal. Furthermore, there must be some tricky ways that she could… alert people on the outside as to her identity, and then figure out a way to lead them to the volcano." His eyes flashed as he looked at the dark green beam of light in front of him.

The dark green light was a formless mass, blurry and indistinct, as if life were brewing inside.

The other seven blurry figures around him seemed to be similarly studying the dark green lights. Soon, one of the figures spit out a mouthful of blood, which was absorbed by the green light. The light turned the color of blood, and then the cry of a phoenix sounded out from within. The clear sound filled the area as a miniature, finger-sized Blood Phoenix flew out and circled around.

When the Blood Phoenix emerged, the Cultivators surrounding the seven Blood Immortal Legacy zones throughout the Southern Domain were instantly shocked.

On the blood screen above each of the seven locations, images appeared… of Meng Hao and the eight others inside the Blood Immortal world.

The Blood Immortal Legacy tournament was very unique; outsiders were able to observe what was going on inside. When the competitors charged into the spell matrixes, people observing would be able to see it clearly. Although they couldn't make out all the details, they would be able to see who succeeded and who didn't.

Anyone with skill would also be able to observe the skill matrixes and learn from them. Everyone heard the archaic voice say that there were no rules; no matter the method used, the first person to pass the ninth spell matrix would be the second generation Blood Immortal.

A Legacy tournament with no rules. In some ways, this revealed the arrogance and power of the Blood Immortal. Any Cultivator in the world could observe and study the nine matrixes, and yet despite that, in tens of thousands of years, and seven tournaments, no one had ever successfully passed the ninth matrix. Anyone who had managed to enter it, had died.

Because of the open nature of the Legacy tournament, anyone who participated came with ample preparations. Many of the people who watched on the outside had heard various rumors about the Legacy of the Blood Immortal. This was why when the Blood Phoenix emerged, many people were surprised.

"So a Blood Phoenix emerged! Among the Blood Divinities, the Blood Phoenix and the Blood Dragon both grow very quickly. I remember reading in the ancient records about the sixth Legacy tournament, when a Blood Phoenix ended up being as powerful as a Nascent Soul eccentric!"

"I wonder which Sect's disciple it was who got so lucky this time…"

A buzz of conversation arose around the seven Legacy tournament zones. Near the fifth zone, Eccentric Song of the Song Clang stood there looking pleased. He said nothing, but based on tiny clues he'd spotted, he knew that the person who had acquired the Blood Phoenix was his fellow Clan member Song Jia.1

"Excellent," he thought. "Maybe there really will be a chance for that Song Jia girl to acquire the Legacy." His eyes shined with anticipation.

Meanwhile back inside the Legacy zone, the second, third and fourth competitors spit heart's blood into the dark green beams. Each of them received different Blood Divinities.

One was a majestic blood-red deer. The second was a Blood Tiger, which let out a roar when it appeared. But these two paled in comparison to the third. The third Blood Divinity was a Blood Dragon!

Its appearance was fierce, and its howls shook the entire area. A commotion instantly broke out in the outside world.

"A Blood Dragon!!"

"Four thousand years ago, in the seventh Blood Immortal Legacy tournament, a Chosen from the Li Clan acquired a Blood Dragon. He was the first person from time immemorial to pass the eighth matrix!!"

Outside of the Legacy zone, the two old members of the Li Clan stood there with expressionless faces. The appearance of the Blood Dragon was not surprising to them at all. The person who had acquired it was none other than one of the Li Clan's Chosen of the current generation, Li Daoyi.1

Before the roaring could die down, the fifth, sixth and seventh Blood Deities appeared within the Legacy zone. One was a Xuanwu turtle, the other a Blood Wolf, and the last was… shockingly… a tiny blood-colored sprite!

The blood-colored sprite looked similar to the Nascent Soul of a Cultivator. Its appearance sent the Cultivators in the outside world reeling in shock. Even the two old members of the Li Clan looked amazed. Every member of every Clan and Sect that was present were mind-blown.

"Since ancient times, there has never been a human-shaped Blood Divinity, not in any of the seven tournaments!"

"It's hard to say what this Blood Divinity will grow into, it's never been seen before. Who knows if it can measure up to the Blood Phoenix and Blood Dragon."

As the buzz of conversation filled the air, the Elder from the most mysterious of the five great Sects, the Blood Demon Sect, sat cross-legged looking at the scene on the blood screen. His eyes were fixed on the blurry figure which had acquired the blood-colored sprite. A moment passed, and he nodded. He knew that this person was none other than his Sect's disciple.

Within the Blood Immortal Legacy Zone, Meng Hao looked at the seven other people and the different Blood Divinities that had emerged to hover around their blurry figures. They all looked beyond ordinary in every way.

"These people must all be various Chosen from the Southern Domain…." Meng Hao looked over them. "I wonder what will emerge for me!?" His eyes glittering, he pushed down on his chest. His Cultivation base shuddered, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The blood was from his Cultivation base, and it was instantly sucked in by the dark green glow. At the moment, it was not just he who was concentrating on the result; the other seven people were watching, as well as everyone in the outside world. There was no more buzz of conversation outside; everyone watched Meng Hao on the giant screen.

The black glow immediately turned the color of blood, whereupon a faint but powerful cry rang out from within. As soon as they heard the sound, the seven people, as well as the tiny deer-shaped Blood Divinity, all began to tremble. Next, the Blood Wolf, the Xuanwu Turtle, and the Blood Tiger all seemed as if they couldn't take the sound, and began to shake.

The Blood Dragon and Blood Phoenix both began to emit looks of hostility, glaring toward Meng Hao. Only the blood-colored sprite looked on expressionlessly, not even moving.

"What will emerge for this person…. It's a tiny little roar, but the Blood Divinities all seem shaken. Even the Blood Dragon and Blood Phoenix appear hostile…."

"Could it be another Blood Divinity that has never before appeared?"

It was at this moment that a roaring filled the air, and the bloody glow in front of Meng Hao began to ripple. An instant later, his Blood Divinity appeared in front of him. It was …. a tiny puppy with glistening eyes, the size of a finger!1

The puppy looked ordinary in every way. There didn't seem to be anything special about it at all. However, as soon as it appeared, the hostility within the Blood Phoenix and Blood Dragon seemed to grow stronger.

"It's a dog!"

"That's definitely never appeared before. I've never even heard of such a thing. From the very first Blood Immortal Legacy tournament to now, there has never been a Blood Divinity which was a dog!"

Around the seven Legacy zones in the Southern Domain, the sound of joking and laughter immediately rose up. Inside, everything was quiet. Meng Hao looked at the puppy floating in front of him, then around at the other Blood Divinities. His brow furrowed.

He lifted up his right hand, and the puppy immediately jumped onto his palm. It seemed to be shivering as if it were cold, and looked frightened. It looked up at Meng Hao with adulation, then lowered its head and licked his palm with its tiny tongue.

At the same time, the seven people stepped forward almost at exactly the same time, disappearing into the first spell matrix.

Meng Hao's eyes flashed. He didn't really know much about this place, so he didn't want to act rashly. After looking around for a moment, he realized that the spiritual energy here was quite thick, much more so than in the outside world. It was almost as thick as the spiritual energy in the valley where he had reached Foundation Establishment.

There were no mountains or seas visible, just emptiness. There were only the nine spell matrixes and the dark green sacrificial altar.

Meng Hao thought back to what the archaic voice had said. "My hopes of acquiring the Legacy all rest on this dog?" He looked down for a moment at the puppy in his palm. Then he looked back up, and without any hesitation, walked forward into the first matrix. When he did, the world dissolved around him, then reformed into a world filled with the Immortal mountains and buildings.

In this world, everything was still and quiet. Looking around, he saw that Immortal mountains stretched out like a forest in every direction, covered with various buildings. This was not a place of mortals, but somewhere to be inhabited by Immortals. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was very dense. In fact, it seemed about ten times as thick as that outside. It was so thick that it formed a thin fog which was visible everywhere.

"Where am I…?" said Meng Hao, looking around in shock. He gazed about with his Spiritual Sense, then took a deep breath and began to absorb the spiritual energy. It poured into him, racing into his Cultivation base, and then his golden Dao Pillar. Some of it leaked back out from the crack in the Dao Pillar.

"Such thick spiritual energy. If my Dao Pillar didn't leak spiritual energy, then practicing Cultivation in here for one day would be like practicing for a month in the outside world." His spirits were roused at this thought. Suddenly, he noticed that the puppy in his palm looked very happy. It appeared to be absorbing the spiritual energy, too. As it did, it's body was gradually growing bigger. Fluffy fur was beginning to appear on its skin, making it look very cute.

Meng Hao watched on for a while, lost in thought.

"This dog will grow up with me. But from the look of its breathing technique, it will do so with the same speed as me. Could it be… that because of absorbing my heart's blood, it has the same level of latent talent as me?" His eyes flashed, and he began to move forward. At his side ran the little puppy, which was now about two finger lengths in size. By straining to its limit, it was just barely able to keep up.

Song Jia's name in Chinese is 宋佳 (sòng jiā) – Song is a family name. Jia means "excellent"Li Daoyi's name in Chinese is 李道一 (lǐ dào yī) – Li is a common family name. Dao is the same character as in The Dao, and means "way" or "path." Yi means "one"If you're interested in the roles of dogs in Chinese mythology, you can check out this article