To the cultivators down below, Meng Hao turning and heading further up into the sky made their impression of him grow even greater. As for the Chosen up in the sky with him, the increasing distance between him and them seemed to represent the vast difference in their levels, a difference that only continued to increase.

Profound sensations of utter defeat and powerlessness appeared in their hearts.

Fan Dong'er watched silently, even defiantly. After a long moment, her eyes glittered.

"He has his road, and I have my path. His road and my path might have different ends, but… the journey is the most important part!"

Zhou Xin's eyes widened as he looked at Meng Hao. He felt incredible pressure that, for some reason, made catching up to Meng Hao become his new primary goal.

Sun Hai, Taiyang Zi, and Song Luodan all watched silently. Deep in their hearts, all of them had a similar feeling; being born in the same age as Meng Hao was both a blessing and a curse. Gradually, they began to form a sympathetic resonance with him, and yet, that resonance quickly shattered and was replaced with looks of determined obsession. This was the case even with Sun Hai.

"This is just a little contest about the sun," he thought. "The path into the future is long; there will be plenty of other chances to outdo him."

Li Ling'er was the only one among the group who understood Meng Hao better than everyone else. Her hands were clenched into fists, and her teeth grated together as she rotated her cultivation base and began to rise up into the sky.

Wang Mu was panting. He stared at Meng Hao getting further and further away, and the desire to fight him burned within his eyes.

Down on the ground, the Grand Elder sat there silently, as did the clan members from the neutral bloodlines. No one viewed Meng Hao with indifference, the way they had previously. Things had changed.

Looking at Meng Hao now made them feel as if they were looking at a future Paragon!

This was even true of the Grand Elder. Now, there was something different flickering in his eyes as he watched Meng Hao.

Of course, there was no need to even mention the members of the direct bloodline, who were boiling with excitement.

The only people who were grim-faced were the members of Fang Wei's bloodline. Their killing intent was strong as they looked at Fang Wei up in midair, coughing up blood. Although there were clan members next to him, healing him, the injuries to his fleshly body were so great that he was incapable of preventing his Dharma Idols from collapsing.

That collapse seemed to contain the power of some sort of natural law, as if something had been indelibly branded onto Fang Wei's soul. He could only watch as two of his three Dharma Idols shattered into countless pieces that were unable to reform.

Fang Wei's father and grandfather even teleported up to him. His grandfather scanned his wounds, and his face grew extremely unsightly.

"What a vicious little son of a bitch," he said, killing intent flickering in his eyes. "This is the power of Karma. That bastard must be connected to the Ji Clan somehow. He's sealed Fang Wei's Dharma Idols!"

Fang Wei's face was ashen, but he remained calm. He even prevented his father from treating his injuries, and hovered there in midair, teetering unsteadily as he looked at Meng Hao far, far up above.

Meng Hao was a beam of light high up in the air, shooting higher and higher. He looked almost like a bird, wreathed in flames. He was not living within those flames, but being consumed by them, an undying phoenix with burning wings that soared high into the sky!

As he soared through the air, the essence of the Flying Rain-Dragon that had existed inside of him for so long suddenly surged into action, causing a gentle power to spread throughout his body.

270,000 meters!

276,000 meters!

282,000 meters!

Even when he reached that position, he continued to go higher. The determination in his eyes increased, and the flames that burned his body raged into a peak of intensity. Even with the healing of his Eternal stratum, he would soon be completely destroyed.

However, the impending failure of his Eternal stratum didn't cause Meng Hao to hesitate. He immediately pulled out… the Skypalace Sunspirit Pill that he had personally concocted!

This would be his first time consuming the pill, and the first time he would rely on its power. As soon as the pill entered his mouth, his body filled with rumbling, and a boundless life force exploded out from within him. It was fiery, and contained a light and heat which stemmed from Heaven and Earth, from plants and vegetation, from the twelve 2-hour time periods in a day. That light and heat then transformed into a flame of life force.

As that flame surged inside of him, it caused his Eternal stratum to suddenly roar to life.

285,000 meters. 291,000 meters. 297,000 meters!

He flew like a phoenix reborn from within the flames, as if he had been born with the will to soar, as if he was a sovereign of the sky, a Flying Rain-Dragon!

As the Skypalace Sunspirit Pill dissolved and spread through his body, not only did it fill him with a boundless life force, it also caused his fleshly body to grow even tougher than before.

It was as if a sun now existed inside of him, a sun that radiated an everburning light and heat. It even made it so that Meng Hao seemed to form a resonance with Heaven and Earth, and with the sun that existed outside of the starry sky.

That resonance caused Meng Hao to suddenly be partially enlightened regarding certain natural laws, although they were vague and he couldn't quite grasp them. He could sense that these natural laws contained the Dao of the sun, a Dao that became clearer the closer one got to the sun itself.

"If I had one more Skypalace Sunspirit Pill…." he thought. His eyes glittered as he used the power of the pill to begin to push himself through the final stretch to reach 300,000 meters!

RUMBLE!

He rose up like a blazing sun, the focus of all attention as he… passed the 300,000 meter mark!

Throughout countless years, and all the generations of Chosen, no one in the Immortal Realm or under had ever reached this height. From his position, Meng Hao could see the vast majority of Planet East Victory.

All of the other Chosen in midair stared with wide eyes. All of the other powerful experts of the Fang Clan were completely silent for a moment before bursting into conversation.

"He… he flew up to 300,000 meters!!"

"From ancient times until now in the Fang Clan, nobody in the Immortal Realm or under has ever reached 300,000 meters! Fang Hao is the first!"

"Unheard-of! This Fang Hao has suppressed all of the other Chosen, even Prince Wei! He's now the complete center of attention!"

As the conversations buzzed in the ancestral mansion, the Elders' eyes filled with strange gleams.

Of course, the Elders were able to keep themselves under control much better than everyone else. Meng Hao really was the first person in the Immortal Realm or under to ever reach 300,000 meters. However, there were in fact a few Ancient Realm cultivators who could accomplish this same thing.

And yet, this trial by fire of fleshly body tempering was good fortune set aside for members of the younger generation. The clan experts of the Ancient Realm held their training sessions in other places.

Fang Wei stared fixedly at Meng Hao's receding figure. Watching him reach a height of 300,000 meters felt like having a massive fist slam ruthlessly into his chest. Blood oozed out of his mouth, and his expression darkened. Inside, he was nearly going mad with defiance.

"I should be up there… not him!"

As everyone was shaken mentally, Meng Hao hovered at 300,000 meters. It was impossible to breathe this high up, but with Meng Hao's cultivation base, he didn't need to breathe. He hovered there like a peerless Paragon.

Because of his Eternal stratum, his fleshly body was very close to that of a true Immortal. Furthermore, he tread a path that was different than everyone else, a path that even exceeded Pill Demon and his true Immortal destiny. His path… was to become a true Immortal among true Immortals!

His was a path in which he relied only on himself. He needed no Immortal destiny. He would move directly into true Immortality. In fact… among the few people who tread such a path, his was unique. He already had an Immortal meridian inside of him, an Immortal meridian… from a primordial Daoist Rite Temple!

All of these things were reasons why he now hovered above 300,000 meters!

Here, the light and heat surrounded Meng Hao in a strange way. He couldn't see the light, or feel the heat… he existed inside of the light, and was being smelted in the heat itself.

He slowly looked up, and began to tremble as his fleshly body was tempered to an even greater degree.

Up ahead of him was the boundless starry sky, and then beyond that, he could see… the actual, true sun!

It was an enormous, crimson sphere, seemingly in the depths of the starry sky, illuminating everything.

When Meng Hao looked at it, he could sense the Dao of the sun, much more clearly than before. However, it still wasn't clear enough. Even flying up 300,000 meters left the sun too far away!

"My fleshly body is just a hair away from a breakthrough!!"

His eyes filled with determination. Everyone believed that he had reached the ends of the sky and could go no further. However, he charged onward, using the power of his cultivation base, his fleshly body, and the sun of the Skypalace Sunspirit Pill to support him as he flew.

303,000 meters. 309,000 meters. 315,000 meters…. His flight speed was not incredible. Time went by, and he continued higher!

Everyone down below was in a complete uproar.

"I can't believe he's still going!!"

"300,000 is an end mark! Going any further vastly increases the danger. At a certain point, he's going to step into the starry sky. That's a place where only Dao Realm experts can enter!"

"What is he doing…?"

Chosen. Clan members. Everyone was astonished.

When he reached 315,000 meters, everyone thought that he was finished. But then…

The constant cyclical interchange between his Eternal stratum and the light and heat caused his fleshly body to begin to emit rumbling sounds. A white light then exploded out from inside of him!

As soon as the light appeared, anyone who could see it gasped. Even the Chosen who felt so separated from him were instantly shocked.

"That white light… it's…."

"That's Immortal light!"

"That's a type of true Immortal light of Heaven and Earth that only appears right before the fleshly body reaches the true Immortal level!"

Fan Dong'er and all the other Chosen felt their minds reeling. The Elders of the Fang Clan, and other members of the clan who could see the light, were all trembling inwardly.

Fang Wei saw the light, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. Even his father and grandfather felt as if they were being struck by lightning, and gaped in shock.

Many people immediately flew out from within the ancestral mansion to look up into the sky. Their expressions were first that of astonishment, then disbelief, and finally, amazement!

"Immortal light…" The Grand Elder was struck speechless, something that rarely happened.