Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Zhang Ruochen was filled with questions. Why would there be 18 levels of the Gate to h.e.l.l among the stars? Where was h.e.l.l? Who constructed these?
He glanced behind the gates and saw a yellow starry river cut across the universe. It was boundless.
"Can I go through the Gate of h.e.l.l now?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"No, your cultivation is too weak and aren't qualified yet. Even the first level will destroy you."
"How high must my cultivation be?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"At least a Saint King."
Hearing "Saint King," Zhang Ruochen's heart jumped. After all, only cultivators from Kunlun's Field divided the Saint Realm into Half-Saint, Saint, Saint King, and Supreme Saint. Could this mysterious man in the palace be from Kunlun's Field?
"Senior, are you an elder of Kunlun's Field?" he asked.
"You can say that!"
"May I know your name?" Zhang Ruochen bowed respectfully. Someone who could guard the Gate to h.e.l.l couldn't be an average man. He must be an important figure from Kunlun's Field.
"There is no point in speaking of the past."
Since he didn't want to answer, Zhang Ruochen didn't continue asking. Instead, he asked, "Why do you guard the Gate to h.e.l.l? Who constructed it? What is the motive for constructing it? What is h.e.l.l?"
"You are not qualified to know these," the other said.
Zhang Ruochen was frustrated. He was able to counter Saints now and was definitely the top figure of Kunlun's Field. But here, the man looked down on him and wouldn't tell him anything.
He didn't want to leave without accomplis.h.i.+ng anything, so he activated the Man Sword state of the Sword Way. He transformed into a sword to try and break into the Gate to h.e.l.l.
He couldn't even get through the first level? He didn't believe that.
Just as Zhang Ruochen was about to approach the door of light, a large hand more than thousands of miles wide extended from the palace. It slammed down on Zhang Ruochen.
Bang!
His vision went black and the world spun. He didn't know what he'd experienced. When he saw light again, he felt himself plummeting.
He wanted to control his weight and stop falling, but he couldn't.
Boom.
He crashed onto the ground, creating a huge ditch. He lay in the bottom. It felt like his body had fallen apart. Gradually, he recovered his senses. Looking up at the sky, he wondered, Where have I been…slapped to?
"Brother Chen!"
"Zhang Ruochen."
Huang Yanchen and Blackie's voice sounded one after another. Then Zhang Ruochen pushed himself up with difficulty. Ma.s.saging himself, he realized that he wasn't too badly hurt. He looked up at Blackie and Huang Yanchen and asked with confusion, "Am I back on Bai Chang Star?"
Huang Yanchen and Blackie were taken aback. Then Blackie said, "Earlier, we saw a meteorite streak across the sky and crash onto the ground. We came to check and didn't expect that it was you. Did the teleportation fail?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. Shocked confusion filled his eyes. "He slapped me back to Bai Chang Star," he said to himself. "What kind of powerful figure is that?"
Everything that had just happened was like a dream. It was unreal. Zhang Ruochen still found it impossible.
"Brother Chen," Huang Yanchen said. "What did you experience? Did you reach that square sun?"
Zhang Ruochen had thousands of questions. Standing up slowly, he pondered and finally told them everything he'd seen.
"What…Gate to h.e.l.l…"
Huang Yanchen and Blackie were just as shocked as Zhang Ruochen had been. Then Blackie rushed toward the s.p.a.ce Transfer Formation. It wanted to check the Gate to h.e.l.l personally, but Zhang Ruochen stopped him.
"I believe that you shouldn't go," he said seriously. "If that guard is annoyed, the consequences might be unconceivable."
Blackie calmed down. "You're right. He was able to slap you back to Bai Chang Star and you're not even hurt? How can this be possible? Even a Supreme Saint can't be this powerful."
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "I suspect that there's a wormhole that connected the Gate to h.e.l.l with Bai Chang Star. That guard just slapped me into the wormhole instead of straight to Bai Chang Star."
Blackie and Huang Yanchen agreed with his deduction. If someone was really able to slap a man to millions of miles away, then his cultivation must be at some horrifying level.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Blackie. "Blackie, you have a vast knowledge about many things. Have you heard of the Gate to h.e.l.l before?"
Blackie fell into deep thought and then shook his head. "No."
Zhang Ruochen was a bit disappointed. "Saint Monk Xumi was able to create these various s.p.a.ce Transfer Formations all the way to the Gate to h.e.l.l. This means that he must know of its existence. You're from his same era and you never heard of anything?"
Blackie was also thinking about the Gate to h.e.l.l. Like Zhang Ruochen, it had many questions and desperately wanted to know the answer. If it wasn't worried about angering the guard, it would've gone personally.
"Was the Gate to h.e.l.l born naturally?" Huang Yanchen asked. "Did it appear in the universe or is it a pa.s.s that the various Saints of Kunlun's Field built?"
"It would be stranger if the Saints built it," Blackie said. "I suspect that it's a miracle. Only divine beings have the power to be so mysterious. If this door was born spontaneously and has been among the stars since the beginning of time, then I believe there must be some legends."
"What if it has something to do with Saint Monk Xumi?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
When he'd charged toward the Gate to h.e.l.l earlier and almost approached it, he sensed that the spatial structure around the door of light was odd. With the door as the center, the entire starry sky seemed to have been locked by an invisible force.
That was why he suspected Saint Monk Xumi had partic.i.p.ated in building the Gate to h.e.l.l.
"That old donkey is pretty powerful," Blackie said. "It might really have something to do with him."
They continued discussing but couldn't come to a result. In the end, they could only prepare to go back to Kunlun's Field with the questions.
They might be able to find some clues back home.
"Since we can transport to Bai Chang Star according to the spatial coordinates, we should be able to return to Golds.h.i.+ne Void World if we reverse the formation."
Zhang Ruochen had read an explanation about reversing formations in the Time and s.p.a.ce Secret Guide. He started studying closely.
Half a day later, Zhang Ruochen grasped the techniques for formation reversal. He brought Blackie and Huang Yanchen into the transfer formation. They started the way back to Kunlun's Field.
Before activating the formation, Zhang Ruochen looked at the Gate to h.e.l.l and Yellow Spring Star River one last time. It felt like this was a forgotten history. Perhaps, it could be brought back one day.
Whoosh—
The formation was activated. Zhang Ruochen left the Bai Chang Star. When they pa.s.sed by Golds.h.i.+ne Void World, they didn't stop and went back to the star near the Blue Dragon Void World.
Finally coming back to the familiar starry sky, it felt like they'd come back home. Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen both let out a long sigh.
"Next, we have two choices," Zhang Ruochen said. "One, we can go toward the nearest wormhole. We'll go through the turbidity and return to Kunlun's Field through spatial jumps. Two, we an continue reversing the s.p.a.ce Transfer Formation. We might be able to return to Kunlun's Field.
"These two choices are both dangerous. The first one might lead us into a fight by the various forces. For the second one, the other end of the s.p.a.ce Transfer Formation might not be Kunlun's Field. The other end might have been destroyed too.
"Choosing the first one is relatively safer. I can use the Traceless 36 Changes and turn into Gu Linfeng. I might be able to fool them."
"Let's choose the second one!" Huang Yanchen said. "It's dangerous, but if we can find Saint Monk Xumi's starting point, we might find some clues about the Gate to h.e.l.l. There can't be a glowing door deep in the universe for no reason. There must be an answer and I really wish to know."
"I support the second choice too," Blackie said.
Zhang Ruochen thought the same as them, so he activated the s.p.a.ce Transfer Formation without hesitation.
After who-knew-how-long, the light of the formation faded. They were in a cold, pitch black, and quiet world. There was no light anywhere. They couldn't even see their hands before their eyes.
Their cultivations were also restricted. The Holy Qi within them seemed to have been frozen and could only circulate slowly.
"The rules here are completely different from Kunlun's Field," Blackie said, frustrated and with regret. "Oh no, we might've come to an unfamiliar world."
Zhang Ruochen took out a light-element spiritual crystal. Holding it in his hand, he observed the surroundings. Disbelief filled his eyes. "How is this…this is incredible…"
"Brother Chen, what did you discover?" Huang Yanchen asked.
"This is Kunlun's Field," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Kunlun's Field?" Blackie asked. "The laws here are so strange and completely different from Kunlun's Field. How can it be?"
"This is the first gradient of the Bottomless Abyss," Zhang Ruochen answered. "I came here before, but you didn't dare come down, so you obviously don't know."
"The first gradient?" Blackie yelped.
"How can the starting point of the s.p.a.ce Transfer Formation be here?" Zhang Ruochen couldn't figure it out.
Zhang Ruochen had once come to the first gradient to save Saint Lady while investigating the secrets of the blood beasts. He was very familiar with this place and couldn't have mistaken it.
Roar!
There was a deafening roar. Levels of soundwaves swept over like a tide. Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yanchen and Blackie were thrown out.
Kaboom!
A blood beast with two wings and sized like a mountain landed on the ground. Its sharp claws tore up the ground by stepping on it. Many thousand-pound boulders flew out in all directions.
"Who are you? Why did you come to the Bottomless Abyss?" A man clad in black stood on the beast's back. He had a hood on so his features and age were unclear.
Hearing his voice, it sounded familiar. Zhang Ruochen thought back and shock flashed past his eyes.
It was the Hierarch of the Blood G.o.d Sect.
The light from the s.p.a.ce Transfer Formation must have lured him over. However, why was he in the Bottomless Abyss and able to ride a blood beast?
