The words "illicit Master and apprentice romance" immediately caused Yan'er to shiver. Her face was completely ashen as she staggered backward a few steps.

The second half of what the young woman had said, "utterly disgusting", was like a hammer blow to the pit of Yan'er's stomach. Her mind was reeling; it was as if her most secret and hidden feelings had suddenly been dramatically revealed to everyone, as though things which had confused even her were now being proclaimed loudly for everyone to hear. It made Yan'er feel as if Heaven and Earth were suddenly spinning in reverse. She even coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"You...." she said, her vision swimming as she visibly shook. She simply didn't know what to say.

In the instant that the words left the young woman's mouth, a grim expression overtook Meng Hao's face. He rose to his feet, and suddenly, incredible pressure exploded out, engulfing the young woman.

At the same time, Meng Hao took a step forward. When his foot landed, lands shook and mountains were rocked. The Holy Daughter-designate's face fell; she had assumed Meng Hao was a soft and warm person, but in the blink of an eye, he had become like a vicious wild beast. His gaze, his energy, the pressure radiating off of him, made her feel as if she were about to be torn to pieces. Instantly, she began to tremble inwardly, and her scalp felt as if it would explode.

Paragon Streamcloud also frowned, and extended his hand as if to block Meng Hao's way. However, in that exact moment, Meng Hao looked over at him and said, "Do you truly dare to block my way?!"

One gaze and one sentence from the mouth of an Ancient Realm cultivator was being used to threaten a 7-Essences Paragon. Anyone who saw this happening would find it inconceivable. It was an act of utter conceit, of complete audacity. It was like a praying mantis trying to stop a war chariot!

However, in that instant in which Meng Hao looked at him, Paragon Streamcloud felt something strange and mysterious rumbling inside his mind. It was something threatening, although it wasn't coming from Meng Hao's cultivation base. He felt a sensation of deadly crisis that caused all the hair on his body to stand on end, as though Meng Hao's gaze contained some mysterious, unfathomable power. It was the kind of power that one felt when one's superior was staring you in the eye.

It was very natural, completely lacking pretense and affectation, as though the person staring at him truly was the most powerful of experts. Even Streamcloud, a 7-Essences Paragon, felt like a weakling!

Even as his mind was sent reeling by a single glance Meng Hao's words entered his ears. They should be words that could be considered the biggest joke in the world. And yet, although Streamcloud got the feeling that this person was completely mad... he also felt thoroughly shaken.

"How is this even possible!?" he thought. His mind was in chaos, and he felt so ashamed he was about to fly into a rage. Anyone with his position would feel the same way in such circumstances. However, even as his eyes flickered with coldness and he prepared to do something to Meng Hao, the Ninth Sect's 7-Essences Paragon snorted coldly and stepped forward to block his path.

A boom rang out, and the two of them backed away from each other. The Ninth Sect's Paragon then spoke in a coldly sinister voice that echoed out in all directions.

"Fellow Daoist Streamcloud. What exactly did this disciple of your Third Sect mean just now? We're in the Ninth Sect at the moment, so you had better be prepared to give us a good explanation!" The Ninth Sect's Paragon was infuriated. The fact that no marriage alliance had been formed didn't really matter. This disciple couldn't possibly have said what she had said by accident; it was clearly an intentional insult. Whether or not what she said was true, Fang Mu had an illustrious name and position, yet she had openly condemned him, and had used vile and biting words to do so.

The Ninth Sect Paragon's heart burned with rage, and he bitterly regretted taking the initiative to invite Paragon Streamcloud for a visit.

Meanwhile, Meng Hao looked away from Paragon Streamcloud and strode up to the Holy Daughter-designate, who was edging backward. The pressure weighing down on her only continued to grow more intense. With a muffled squeak, she began performing an incantation gesture to try defend herself. As for Meng Hao, his face was extremely grim as he reached his hand back and slapped the girl across the face.

A smacking sound rang out, and the girl screamed. A huge welt rose up on her cheek, and she even flew off the ground from the force of the blow.

Before she could land, Meng Hao's fury at her insult caused him to unleash another slap. Another smacking sound rang out from the other side of the girl's face. Blood sprayed out of her mouth, and she screamed again. By now her face was in a sorry state, and completely spattered in blood.

"Get the hell out of here, NOW!" he roared, eyes flickering with killing intent. Despite how vile the young woman's words were, with his true self out of the sect, Meng Hao knew that if he killed her, it would start a war between the Third and Ninth Sects.

However, it wouldn't do to just let things drop, so even as the words left his mouth, he crushed the young woman's Dao heart, planting a seed of fear inside of her.

Paragon Streamcloud tried to stop it from happening, but the Ninth Sect Paragon prevented him. Their clash caused a huge boom to echo out, after which the Ninth Sect Paragon's face turned very grim, and he echoed Meng Hao's words.

"Get the hell out of here, NOW!"

The Ninth Sect's power had been rising ever since Meng Hao became the Ninth Paragon, and its forces were tougher. A cold gleam could be seen in the eyes of the Ninth Sect Paragon, and he followed up with, "If I hear any word of this spreading, or hear about you defaming the name of the Ninth Sect's qilin son, then our two sects will definitely be having a war."

Paragon Streamcloud could merely chuckle coldly. There was little else to say, considering that everything that had just occurred resulted from an insult on the part of his own clan member.

Glaring spitefully at the young woman, he grabbed her and then shot off in a beam of prismatic light.

After they were gone, things were peaceful and quiet again. The 7-Essences Paragon hesitated for a moment, smiling wryly at Meng Hao. Then he looked over at Yan'er, who stood there head bowed, speechless.

After a moment of thought, he looked back at Meng Hao and said, "Fang Mu, you have an apprentice with a lot of latent potential there. You know, in all my years of cultivation, I've never had my own personal disciple. What do you say if I take the girl as my apprentice?"

His words caused Yan'er to shiver.

Meng Hao shook his head, his gaze resolute. "Many thanks for your good intentions, Paragon."

The Paragon looked at Meng Hao and sighed inwardly. Without another word, he turned and left.

The mountain peak was very quiet now, except for the whispering of the wind. Meng Hao walked over to Yan'er and bopped her head. Expression warm, he said, "Why are you so upset? She ran her mouth and so I slapped her a couple times. It's over now. My murderous aura crushed her Dao heart, and she won't ever dare to make irresponsible remarks ever again. If you still feel like venting, then focus on your cultivation, and you'll be able to go take care of her yourself one day."

Yan'er bowed her head. Placing her hands on her cheeks, she looked up at him through fluttering eyelashes, embarrassed and unsure of what exactly to say.

"Master, I...." She knew that she should say something, she just couldn't find the words.

Meng Hao smiled and bopped her on the head again. "Alright, alright. Why don't you go prepare some spirit fruit, Master is getting a bit hungry."

Then he headed back toward his secluded meditation facilities.

Yan'er stood there for a moment, a blank expression on her face. Finally, she stamped her foot. Rubbing the sore spot where he had bopped her head, she hurried off to prepare some spirit fruit.

Before long, dusk had fallen. Gradually, the light faded from the sky, and the moon rose. Moonlight flowed across the landscape like water, and although everything looked like it usually did, there was a lonely beauty to it that usually wasn't seen.

Yan'er had just arrived at Meng Hao's secluded meditation facilities. When she placed the spirit fruit in front of him, he opened his eyes and smiled at her. Seeing the confused blankness in her expression, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Yan'er," he said softly. She seemed to be in such a daze that she didn't even hear him.

"Yan'er!" he repeated, even louder this time.

"Huh?" she replied, looking up at him.

He sighed again. After a moment of silence, he stood and walked to the doorway, where he looked up at the night sky, and the moon.

"Yan'er," he said softly, "do you remember when you were young, and I brought you here to the sect?"

"I remember...." she said, recalling the scene. She remembered that back then, she had suspected her Master of being a fraud, a belief that had persisted for some time even after arriving in the sect. Now that she thought back to the matter, she couldn't help but smile. As the moonlight fell upon her young face, she seemed even more beautiful than ever.

Meng Hao looked at her, and then said, "Master is going to tell you a story."

His gaze was soft, and seemed to contain many memories, memories from a time long before young Yan'er had even been alive. That was because he was about to tell her a story that came from far, far back in the stream of time.

"Once upon a time, there was a place called the Mountain and Sea Realm, where there was a heavenly body known as Planet South Heaven...."

"On Planet South Heaven there was a place called Mount Daqing...."

".... That young man joined the Reliance Sect, and met a Chosen there named Wang Tengfei."

".... And that was the first time he ever saw her. At that time, she was Wang Tengfei's fiancee."

".... That roc was so huge that when it flew, it filled the sky. It created a huge windstorm that swept her up along with him. They ended up inside a forbidden volcano together...."

"In the Violet Fate Sect, they became fellow disciples...."

"On the day he got married, she stood next to his wife looking at him, thinking that he didn't notice her...."

"Later, she left with her Master Pill Demon, and went to the Kunlun Society...."

"In the Windswept Realm, she damaged her own soul to help him. She paid the ultimate price, and yet had no regrets...."

"He came to the Kunlun Society and saw her corpse. Then he used a timeshift magic to find her soul. On that day, his heart broke...."

"He searched for her in the Eighth Mountain and Sea, but was unable to find her.... However, he knew that he owed her the debt of a lifetime...." Meng Hao told Yan'er the entire story. It took a long, long time. He spoke through the entire night, and it wasn't until the sun began to rise that he finally finished.

At the beginning, Yan'er listened a bit absent-mindedly, but the longer the story went on, the more pain she felt inside, although she wasn't sure why. It was as if there was something slowly awakening in her heart.

When Meng Hao finished the story, she simply sat there with a blank expression on her face. A long time passed....

Then she looked up and quietly asked, "Master, what was the name of the girl in the story?"

Meng Hao looked off into the sunrise and replied, "Her name was... Chu Yuyan."

"Is there more to the story?" Yan'er asked.

Meng Hao sat there quietly for a moment, then nodded. "Do you want to hear it?"

Yan'er shivered, and didn't say anything for a while. However, the confusion gradually faded from her eyes. Soon she looked like she always did, simple and carefree. She finally turned back to him and shook her head. "I don't want to hear it now. But one day... if I do want to hear the rest of the story, will you tell it to me, Master?"

"Of course!"