Before charging into the ship, Meng De really didn't have much of a notion as to who Meng Chen was at all. The main thing he remembered was that, of all the clan members who had entered the 33 Hells, he had been the only one to come out alive.

He had also offered up an ancient magical item which had pleased Meng De quite a bit. Because of that, Meng Chen did stick out slightly within his memories.

But now, he was filled with an intense hope that nothing had happened to Meng Chen. He didn't want to be the only living person left on the ship. When he thought about the deadly ordeal he had just been through, he was left trembling. He might be an idiot, but he wasn't so stupid that he was beyond redemption. Despite being a silkpants, he was still able to think for himself.

As a cultivator, he was merely average, but because of the prestige of his bloodline, he had become a Young Lord. However, even that hadn't been his choice; he had been given no options in the matter.

Right now, he wasn't thinking about his status at all. When people have brushes with death, status is usually the last thing they think about. He just wanted someone from his clan to be there with him, someone who could share the burden of this terrifying experience.

Meng De found Meng Hao lying unconscious at the very bottom of the ship. He hurried forward, and when he confirmed that he was unconscious and not dead, Meng De was elated. He didn't spend much time considering why Meng Hao was alive when everyone else was dead; he assumed it was because his cultivation base was so low, and had thus simply been swept aside by the divine sense of the black-robed men. Either they didn't care about him, or had planned to kill him later.

Regardless of the reason, Meng Chen wasn't dead.

Meng De excitedly pulled out some medicinal pills. Normally, he was very stingy when it came to medicinal pills, but in this case he poured them all into Meng Hao's mouth.

"Don't die, Meng Chen," he said, tears streaming down his face. "There's only the two of us now, you can't die...." Picking him up in his arms, he carried him back to the main deck. There, he used the power of his own cultivation base to slowly get the boat to limp along.

He tried over and over again to make contact with the clan, but despite the barrier having been removed, his messages weren't going through for some reason.

Eventually, Meng Hao woke up.

When he did, Meng De approached excitedly, suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of familial connection. He immediately began to recount everything that had occurred, and before long, Meng De started feeling as if he and Meng Chen were friends.

Time passed. In Meng De's mind, the two of them were relying on each other to survive. They took turns steering, cautiously sending the ship in the direction of the Meng Clan, fearful of running into anyone they couldn't afford to provoke.

Meng De had never experienced any dangerous situations like this before in his life. He would frequently pull out a jade slip to try to make contact, but it never worked, so he had no choice but to spend his time with Meng Hao, fearfully flying through space.

They continued to chat to bide the time, and it eventually got to the point where Meng De didn't hold anything back. He talked with Meng Hao about the clan, and about everything else. He even began to give Meng Hao advice.

"Meng Chen, your cultivation base is too weak. That won't do....

"Once we get back to the clan, I'll have them give you some techniques and medicinal pills. You need to get your cultivation base higher, at least to the peak of the Immortal Realm.

"Don't worry, in the future, you can count on me for everything.

"Hey, when do you think we'll get home…? Why can't we make contact with the clan? It hasn't worked this entire time...."

On one particular day as he piloted the ship, Meng De suddenly thought of something. He looked over at Meng Hao, who was sitting there cross-legged, and suddenly asked, "Oh right, Meng Chen, I just thought of something. The first time I saw you, your face was as smooth as a baby's. But the next time, your nose was busted and you had all those scars."

"You don't know what happened?" Meng Hao replied coolly. By this point, they had been drifting in space for almost a month. Because of Meng Hao's vast experience in life, the two of them had reached a state in which Meng Hao actually occupied the superior position. Although he didn't speak much, whenever he did, Meng De paid earnest attention to whatever Meng Hao said.

Meng De was the Young Lord, but if anyone who didn't know them could watch them interact, they would assume that Meng Hao was actually the Young Lord.

"Huh? No, what happened?" Meng De replied, sounding shocked.

Meng Hao looked at him and could see that he really had no idea. From this, it was apparent that it was the butler who had arranged for Meng Chen to wait upon the Young Lord from the Han Clan, and not Meng De. The butler had clearly been acting on his own.

Meng Hao shook his head and didn't say anything more. Meng De scratched his head and thought for a while, but really couldn't think of anything that had happened on the ship. However, he could also sense that Meng Hao had perhaps been on the receiving end of some sort of abuse.

"Meng Chen, uh... you know, I used to be kind of a… nasty person. Well, back then we didn't know each other. Don't worry, from now on, whatever Meng De has also belongs to you!" Meng De slapped his chest and looked proudly at Meng Hao. For some reason, Meng De had come to care a lot about what Meng Hao thought of him.

Meng Hao smiled slightly. His view of things had changed a bit too in recent days. He could see that although Meng De was a silkpants and occasionally acted like an idiot, he wasn't completely beyond redemption.

Two months later, Meng De's continued efforts to contact the clan finally paid off. Meng De was suddenly very excited, as he was finally able to report back and explain everything that had occurred.

A day later, Meng Hao could see five beams of light approaching from off in the distance. In the lead position was an old man with white hair. He looked threatening without being angry, and his cultivation base was in the Dao Realm. Although he only had one Essence, it was still the Dao Realm.

Meng Hao's expression was the same as ever as he stood there next to Meng De.

Behind the old man were three men and a woman. The woman was middle-aged, but had maintained her appearance well and was pretty. However, her brow was furrowed as she flew along, and when she caught site of Meng De and the terrible condition he was in, she began to cry. Immediately, she rushed forward and hugged him.

"Mom... I'm fine," he said, although he was also weeping. Everything that had happened recently had far exceeded his capacity to accept. Without Meng Hao there to help him, he wasn't sure how he would have coped.

"De'er, you poor thing...." his mother said, tousling his hair. There was something different about this version of Meng De. He had lost some of that boisterous silkpants air, and gained a bit of maturity. Although his mother was happy about that, her heart still hurt.

Of the three men who had come with the old Dao Realm expert, one was in the late Ancient Realm, just a hair away from the great circle. He and Meng De looked quite alike, and after looking Meng De over, he embraced him.

"Dad...." Meng De said, sobbing.

The other two men fanned out and began to inspect the ship, occasionally taking note of the things they observed. As for the old Dao Realm expert, he looked softly at Meng De, then glanced over at Meng Hao, his gaze quite intimidating.

"When the master is humiliated, the servants are executed," the old man said coolly. "Considering you managed to successfully keep him alive, you'll be permitted to say some final words." One of the cultivators inspecting the ship turned toward Meng Hao and began to walk in his direction, face stony.

Meng Hao frowned and sighed inwardly. He had overlooked the matter of face. The more people who learned about what had occurred on the ship, the worse it would be for the Meng Clan. He might be a member of the clan, but in this situation, the simplest way to handle the situation would be to eliminate him as a witness.

However, it was at this point that Meng De struggled out of his father's embrace and leaped in front of Meng Hao. Looking pleadingly toward the old Dao Realm cultivator, he said, "Grandpa, this is my Brother!"

The old man looked at Meng Hao silently. As far as the other cultivator, he didn't stop walking, and in fact reached out to grab Meng Hao.

Seeing what was happening, Meng De urgently cried out, "He saved my life! If you kill him, I'll kill myself!" With that, he placed his hand threateningly on top of his own head and glared decisively at his grandfather.

Meng Hao stared in shock, as did Meng De's grandfather. The cultivator reaching out toward Meng Hao stopped in his tracks. As for Meng De's parents, they were equally astonished.

As far as they could remember, Meng De usually acted like a silkpants in public, but was always very compliant around them. Although they weren't too happy about that, there was little to be done about it. But now, Meng De suddenly was losing his temper in front of their Patriarch, and even uttering threats. This actually caused his parents to be very happy.

The old man looked closely at Meng De and the decisiveness in his eyes. He knew his grandson well, and was aware that he had always had a weak personality. In fact, this was the first time he had ever acted like this. After a moment passed, the old man suddenly laughed.

"Alright, it seems you've learned that you should protect your followers, even standing up to me to do it. De'er, you've grown up." The old man swished his sleeve, sending away the cultivator who had been advancing on Meng Hao.

Next, the old man looked at Meng Hao and said, "De'er has a lot of weaknesses, but he also has unique strengths. He was willing to defy me for your sake, so in the future, take good care of yourself." With a final look at Meng Hao, the old man turned and took control of the ship, sending it flying through the starry sky toward the Meng Clan.

Rumbling could be heard as it transformed into a beam of light that shot forward at a speed far beyond what it had been traveling at before. Soon, it vanished.

Two days later, the ship pierced through the starry sky into the area controlled by the Meng Clan.

From a distance, the Meng Clan looked like a huge continent floating out in the middle of the sky.

There were mountains and seas visible, as well as numerous cities. It was even possible to see living creatures that had multiplied over generations and were now everywhere. It emanated brilliant light and powerful ripples, and attached to the main continent were eight smaller continents.

Each of those lands was filled with imposing buildings and structures, all of which formed an enormous spell formation.

This was the Meng Clan!

In the very middle of the central continent could be seen an enormous statue.

Strangest of all was that the statue's face had been scraped clean, and had no facial features.... Even still, it radiated intense power in all directions.

As soon as Meng Hao felt that pressure, he was inwardly shocked.

"Feels like a Dao Sovereign.... No. Wait, that's... the qi flow of the Mountains and Seas!!"