Meng Hao teleported out into the starry sky, where he hovered cross-legged, surrounded by black mist. At the same time, further out in the inky black and beyond the continents of the Meng Clan, a figure hovered a great distance from Meng Hao, gazing at him.

It was a handsome young man in a long black robe. His hair floated around him, and in some respects he almost seemed as if he were a part of the starry sky itself. Few people would ever be able to detect his presence.

It was none other than... Ji Dongyang from the Ninth Mountain and Sea!!

As soon as Meng Hao left for the Eighth Mountain and Sea, he had followed, and now here he was, looking at Meng Hao!

Ji Dongyang seemed a bit hesitant, but his eyes glittered. He had been watching Meng Hao for three days now, and currently, a slight smile could be seen on his face.

"This Meng Hao is one cunning, crafty character. Even if the curse power from the Seventh Mountain and Sea is tough to deal with, it shouldn't have caused him this much of a problem...." Ji Dongyang's eyes gleamed with decisiveness as he backed up and then vanished.

In the moment that he vanished, Meng Hao was hovering cross-legged above the Meng Clan continent, surrounded by black mist. However, his eyes were flickering as he stared in the direction in which Ji Dongyang vanished.

The curse power was not weak, but just as Ji Dongyang had said, it wasn't anything that would cause difficulty for Meng Hao.

Three days ago, just when he had been about to dispel the mist, he had suddenly experienced a sensation of crisis coming from the direction of the starry sky. That sensation was too sudden, and was something he almost hadn't sensed coming. Apparently, the fully-absorbed fourth Nirvana Fruit had bestowed him even keener senses than before.

Meng Hao wasn't sure of the source of the danger, but he had decided to delay in dispelling the curse, all in the hopes of drawing out whoever it was that was a threat. However, that person was too cautious, and after waiting for three days, had given up.

After a moment of thought, Meng Hao waved his right hand, causing the black curse mist to begin to roil. A moment later, it began to converge inside of him. The three days of refinement ensured that it only took the time it takes an incense stick to burn for the black mist to vanish completely.

The only part that remained of it was a tiny black spot on the tip of Meng Hao's finger. Shockingly, that was the refined combination of all of the curse power.

Meng Hao looked at his pitch-black fingertip and thought, "Getting rid of this curse power would be a big waste. I'm sure I can find some way to use it."

After looking out into the starry sky once more, he swished his sleeve and vanished. When he reappeared, he was back down on the Meng Clan continent, where he became a beam of light that shot toward his grandmother's location.

His grandmother had been waiting nervously for days, so when Meng Hao returned, she breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes radiating boundless affection. Meng Hao was her grandson, and although he might not have a strong blood connection to the others, he was still her direct relative and descendant.

After Meng Hao's return, all of his grandmother's people continued to make cultivation base breakthroughs. That was especially true of Meng Hao's two uncles and three aunts, and even moreso his two granduncles. By now, their cultivation bases had returned to their previous peaks!

His granduncles were in the great circle of the Ancient Realm, and although they had not yet stepped into the Dao Realm, they could battle evenly with Quasi-Dao cultivators.

As far as his grandmother, she was also in the great circle of the Ancient Realm, but now that her cultivation base was restored, Meng Hao could sense some unique fluctuations on her. Apparently... that had something to do with the Meng Clan itself.

As of this point, everyone was making preparations... to make a comeback in the clan!

"The time has come to settle things in the Meng Clan," Grandma Meng murmured. "What once was ours, will be ours once more." The gleam in her eyes had been buried for too long. As she stood there with Meng Hao's two granduncles next to her, rumbling sounds began to echo out.

"It's time to leave. We're... going home!" With that, she took a step forward, joined by Meng Hao's two granduncles, two uncles, and three aunts. All of them transformed into beams of light that shot toward the Meng Clan's central continent.

Meng Hao's expression was calm as he followed along at his grandmother's side. As for the other members of the bloodline, they were told to stay behind; even though their cultivation bases were higher than before, they weren't high enough to allow them to participate in the fight that was about to take place.

Rumbling echoed out as Meng Hao and the others shot toward the main continent. It only took a short time before they arrived at the ancestral mansion.

Mixed emotions could be seen on the faces of his grandmother and granduncles, and as for his uncles and aunts, reminiscence could be seen in their eyes. They had been chased away from this place years ago, and had never imagined that they would be able to return. But now... here they were.

The only reason they could do so was because of Meng Hao, and although you couldn't tell by the expressions on their faces when they looked at him, their hearts were filled with infinite gratitude.

The Meng Clan ancestral mansion was surrounded by a shimmering shield, which was the clan's grand protective spell formation. Meng Hao had clashed with the shield before and knew how powerful it was. Just when he was about to advance toward it, his grandmother held out her hand.

"Hao'er," she said softly, "I can handle this spell formation." With that, she waved her finger at the grand spell formation.

That swipe of a finger caused the grand spell formation, which filled even Meng Hao with dread, to suddenly begin to rumble. Then, a fissure spread out across its surface.

One of Meng Hao's two granduncles turned to explain.

"Your grandmother's skill with spell formations is something that few people in the Eighth Mountain and Sea can match. After marrying into the Meng Clan, she was entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining and adjusting the clan's defensive spell formation. Other than the Patriarchs, nobody else in the clan understands it better than her.

"This spell formation... is your grandmother's most powerful precious treasure."

Then his granduncle transformed into a beam of light that shot into the Meng Clan ancestral mansion.

Meng Hao stared in shock for a brief moment, then looked over at his grandmother and smiled as he followed her along.

Their entering the ancestral mansion threw the entire clan into an uproar. The nine bloodlines were already on guard because of what had happened earlier with Meng Hao, and now that the spell formation was rumbling and rippling, numerous people flew out to investigate.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of beams of light were flying directly toward them.

"Meng Chen," someone roared, "just what do you-- huh?" The person speaking stopped in mid-sentence. He wasn't the only shocked one; everyone was staring in astonishment at Grandma Meng and the others.

"Y-you're...."

"They...."

People soon began to recognize who had just arrived, although the only ones who did were old-timers, whose faces were now filled with shock.

"Recognize me?" said one of Meng Hao's granduncles, stepping forward. "Even if you don't, that's fine. I'm Meng Hong!" When his foot descended, everything rumbled violently, and the clouds above roiled. It was as if lightning were striking, and numerous booming explosions echoed out through the ancestral mansion.

Even as the ground quaked, Meng Hao's other granduncle stepped forward, expression cold. His voice was soft like a hissing viper, causing chills to run up the spines of everyone who heard him speak.

"I'm Meng Yan. It's been a few hundred years, but there should be a few of you who remember me."

Gasps could be heard among the hundreds of Meng Clan cultivators up ahead.

"The tenth bloodline. It's the tenth bloodline...."

"It doesn't matter if you call us the tenth bloodline or the first," Grandma Meng said coolly, "Today... we're back." She waved her hand, causing the entire defensive spell formation to rumble loudly. The sound was incredible, and it was bolstered by Grandma Meng's voice until the sound itself whipped around, transforming into a tempest!

It was at this point that rumbling could also be heard from within nine separate districts of the Meng Clan ancestral mansion. Numerous beams of light shot out like lightning, filling the sky above the Meng Clan with over ten thousand beams of light.

Down on the ground were even more members of the Meng Clan, who were looking up into the sky, shocked expressions on their faces as the spell formation rumbled in response to Grandma Meng's voice.

Soon, all eyes converged onto Meng Hao's grandmother. Then the shocked experts of the clan noticed that Meng Hao was standing right behind his grandmother, and they gasped.

Grandma Meng stood there stoically, looking around. To her, it was easy to differentiate between the various factions that were the nine bloodlines. With a cold snort, she began to advance, and no one made a move to interfere.

Right now, nobody wanted to offend the tenth bloodline, especially considering that Meng Hao was with them. His fight with the Meng Clan Patriarchs had struck fear deep into the hearts of all onlookers.

Before Grandma Meng got very far, she suddenly looked down at the ancestral mansion, toward one particular hall that was surrounded by smaller halls and other buildings to form something like a small city.

"This is where Hao'er's mother once lived...." Grandma Meng said coolly, a domineering air radiating off of her. "Whoever is in there now had better scram immediately.... We're taking the place back."

The faction affected was immediately enraged.

"That's pushing things too far!!"

"This is the ancestral home of the seventh bloodline! How dare you!!"

Next, a cold voice rang out from that large hall. "Liu Xiu, this is too much."

A white-haired old man emerged, whose cultivation base was in the great circle of the Ancient Realm.

"So you still recognize little old me," said Grandma Meng, her eyes flickering with killing intent. "Wasn't it you who watched us getting chased away back then, and did nothing to help? Even worse, you were happy to kick us when we were down." Waving her right hand, she caused the Meng Clan grand spell formation to converge above her head.