Chapter 1626: Path to Life
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Retreat!”
A terrifying heat wave spread outward. Although Dao Feng was not afraid of it, he immediately led the group to retreat. Countless Sword Emanations Race beings combusted into flames, lighting up the dark gorge. The group saw Jiang Yi’s body being cut up into pieces and then turned to one another, at a loss as to what was to be done.
“What a character.”
After the flames dissipated, Dao Feng led the group forward. They stood at the edge of the cliff and looked around. Once they were sure that the spatial zone turbulence was real, one of the young masters laughed mirthlessly. “He got away easy. I wanted to grab him and execute him.”
“Let’s go!”
Another young master waved his hand and led the group out where they came from. Now that Jiang Yi was dead, they had one thing struck off their minds. They finally got the revenge they wanted. Time was precious, and they did not want to waste another second here.
“Eh!”
The group walked several steps and realized that Dao Feng was not moving. One of the young mistresses asked, confused, “Young Master Feng, why are you not leaving?”
“Something’s not right… not right…”
Dao Feng frowned and continued staring hard at the cliff. He watched the spatial zone turbulence and then muttered to himself in shock, “I just feel like something is amiss, but I don’t know what exactly is wrong. There just is something wrong here.”
“What’s wrong?”
Everybody was getting confused by Dao Feng’s words. One of the young masters stared at him for a while and said impatiently, “Big Brother Feng, stop thinking so much. Jiang Yi has been diced. Do you think he’ll survive? We saw it with our own eyes. Let’s go, we’ll keep looking for treasures.”
“Diced… diced!”
Dao Feng’s eyes lit up as a realization dawned on him. He exclaimed, “Not dead! Jiang Yi is not dead! We saw an illusion. This cliff is not a dead end. It’s a path to life. What’s more… it could be the way to get to the third level!”
“What?”
“How is this possible?”
“Young Master Feng, why are you talking crazy? We saw Jiang Yi become a mess of flesh and blood. How could be mistaken?”
A few young masters and young mistresses shouted. If only one person had seen it, perhaps they could say he or she was mistaken. Yet, all of them had seen it. How could it be that all of them were mistaken? They were not weak martial artists. Jiang Yi steered two Sword Emanations Race beings into the spatial zone turbulence and became diced into pieces.
“Blood mist. Blood!”
One of the King-Ranked martial artist’s eyes lit up. It dawned on him as well. Nodding, he said, “Young Master Feng is right. Jiang Yi is not dead. He was diced, and you saw blood mist; however, did you smell the stench of blood? No! That means that Jiang Yi is not dead. It was an illusion; he was not diced into pieces. This might be the entrance to the third level.”
“Uh?”
Everyone rubbed their noses as they began to understand as well. That’s right! If someone was turned into a blood mist, how could there be no smell of blood? Even if there was constant turbulence at the cliff, the smell of blood could not have dissipated so quickly, could it?
“Entrance!”
Many people’s eyes lit up. There were very few treasures left on the second level. After more than ten searches, most of the treasures had already been found. There were only some well-hidden treasures left such as the one in the stone peak that He Nongying was attacking. They did not know, but they had no more time to waste. If they spent so much time breaking the restrictions just to find an ordinary treasure inside, they would be at a major disadvantage.
Only a few people had made it to the third level throughout history. However, among these few people, only three had ever emerged. One of them died shortly after emerging; another’s clan was later wiped out, and the last was a person from the He Clan. Since He Nongying did not bring a single person with her this time, it was obvious that she did not want to lead anyone to the third level.
What treasures were hidden in the third level?
Could the Demon-Killing Sword, Demon-Killing Armor, and the core which controls the Demon-Killing Palace all be on the third level? n.o.body knew! However, they were sure that valuable treasures awaited them. Their hearts began to surge with excitement.
However…
Excitement aside, they continued to look at one another, not daring to advance toward the spatial zone turbulence. It was only a guess that this was a path to life. What if it turned out to be a dead end?
Even if it was a path to life, who could guarantee that it was the entrance to the third level? What if they were teleported to a terrifying place? All the young masters and young mistresses had precious lives to protect. No one dared to risk it.
Dao Feng turned to study the spatial zone turbulence and mumbled to himself for a full five minutes. Suddenly, he shouted in a low voice, “I’m going to try my luck! If you see me being diced into pieces and turning into blood mist, that means that it’s absolutely safe. Follow me immediately.”
“Young Master Feng, you cannot!”
One of the King-Ranked martial artists from the Dao Clan immediately shouted in objection. “If you must try, why not let me go and try?”
“No, Uncle Niu!”
Dao Feng shook his head. “I’m wearing Dao Heaven Spiritual Treasure battle armor. Among everyone present, my defense is the most powerful, and I am the fastest. The spatial zone turbulence cannot kill me for sure.”
“Alright! Young Master Feng, if you sense something out of place, immediately turn around and come back.” The elderly slave from the Dao Clan saw that Dao Feng had already made up his mind so he knew better than to try and persuade him to do otherwise. Therefore, he just nodded and gave him encouragement.
Buzz!
Dao Feng’s battle armor lit up, and he charged forward like a dart. Everyone tensed up at once, unable to tear their eyes from Dao Feng.
“Indeed…”
The moment Dao Feng’s body entered, the spatial zone turbulence struck him; and his body was diced into pieces in front of everybody’s eyes. Dao Feng’s expression just before he ‘died’, however, was strangely calm. There was not a single hint of pain in his expression.
“Let’s go!”
Dao Feng had a Dao Heaven Spiritual Treasure on as his battle armor. The spatial zone turbulence could not have killed him so quickly. It was obvious that this turbulence was only an illusion. It was indeed a high-level illusion array.
Everyone immediately charged towards the cliff. One by one, they were ‘diced into pieces’ and transformed into a blood mist as they disappeared into the turbulence.
Buzz!
White light kept flas.h.i.+ng intermittently. Dao Feng and the others appeared in a huge corridor. The corridor was extremely well-lit but very long. What’s more, after turning a corner, they realized they had no idea where else the corridor led to. Everyone’s eyes lit up, their expressions filling with excitement and joy.
The first level was a forest; the second was a desolated mountain range, and the third was this corridor? Every terrain was different. They were sure they had entered the third level.
“Let’s go! Jiang Yi came here much earlier than us. We cannot allow him to get all the treasures.” Dao Feng’s gaze hardened. A snow-white battle sword appeared in his hand as he led the group forward at a crazy speed.
The corridor was extremely safe. They did not feel any restrictions along the way at all. Dao Feng held a white pearl in his hand, which flashed continuously. With this pearl, he did not need to worry at all because it could sense every restriction. As long as he came close to restrictions, the pearl would brighten significantly.
After turning seven or eight times and running for five minutes, the group suddenly stopped. They had arrived at an intersection. The corridor split into nine paths. n.o.body knew where to go next.
“Young Master Feng, what should we do?”
Since the corridor had split into nine, it went without saying that some were dead ends and some were paths to life. Otherwise, they would not have to split up. Dao Feng was the strongest in the group, both in terms of physical strength and in terms of intelligence. All the young masters and young mistresses looked to him for directions.
“What else can we do?”
All nine paths looked exactly the same. There was no clue for them to depend on. He scanned the surroundings and then rushed towards the second pathway. “There must be something wrong with the one in the middle and on the extreme ends. Let’s go and try our luck.”
Dao Feng was rus.h.i.+ng in. Everyone had no choice but to follow him. After all of them disappeared into that path, a soft sound could be heard along the first corridor.
A woman dressed in yellow walked out of the corridor. It was Young Mistress He Nongying. She scanned the various paths, and a handwritten letter appeared in her hand. She glanced at it for a while, nodded, and said, “The second, fourth, and seventh pathways are paths to life. I will go with the fourth one. I wonder if I will have any chance of entering the Demon-Killing Hall this time to win this Demon-Killing Palace over.”