Chapter 672 Surprise
Vern, the Ice Wolf King, frowned.
“What’s going on?
“Why is there no treasure in this dangerous place?
“This is not reasonable!
“Whether it is a relic or a secret place, there will be treasures! There should be more treasures in places like this surrounded by thousands of monsters.”
“Wait! Did someone come earlier than us?”
“Hiss! Emperor Qing and Zhang Hanyang?”
“It must be them. We killed everyone coming in, but all the ice cones were complete. This showed that they had a safe way to get through that place. They came in a lot earlier than us, this…”
The crowd was nervous and angry as they spoke.
They were in a bad mood because they killed all and got nothing.
An aged man with white hair in the crowd reminded them, “I just pa.s.sed by a place with only a few mysterious treasures. A large area there has been excavated.”
His words surprised many people present.
It seemed that Emperor Qing and Zhang Hanyang found lots of treasures.
“I was in the same situation just now.”
“Yes, me too.”
There was silence.
Hearing the discussion, One Eye grinned.
“Who will finally take all those treasures? It depends, as long as they are still here. I suggest that when we see them…”
One Eye made a gesture as if he was cutting someone’s throat.
Everyone present looked at each other, and even Vern fell into silence.
When they came in, Vern arranged Zhang Han and Chen Changqing at the back of the team, where they were safer, in order to return a favor to the Warlord of Chan Clan. Yet, they left and arrived there by a shorter way.
Vern thought he had done enough. An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth. The other seven martial artists at the Divine Realm would hate him if Vern tried to stop them.
What was more, Vern’s Ice Wolf Clan was also in lack of natural precious materials.
As the head of a clan, he must put the interests of the clan above all his personal preferences.
“It’s a pity and you’re greedy.”
Vern didn’t really want to be involved in the joint hunt. Still, Zhang Han and Chen Changqing left nothing to them, which made the rest martial artists extremely angry. Now they just wanted to kill the two guys.
“In that case,” One Eye raised his head, looked forward, and said slowly, “Let’s capture them!”
Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+
Everyone rushed towards the large mountain.
When they got close to the mountain, they found it covered by a layer of ice, just like a large iron tower. Its width was thousands of times that of a tower, and there was no end to be seen on both sides. At first, there was a slope on the mountain. When they reached the mountainside, it went vertically upward, and uneven areas were everywhere.
It was not difficult for all the Divine-Realm martial artists to fly to the mountain top directly.
However…
‘Why? Is gravity increasing?” Vern said seriously, “I feel a lot heavier. The mountain is like a magnet!”
“Wait!”
The other man looked up and flew towards the mountain top.
However hard he tried, he only jumped for more than five meters before he fell.
Bang!
With the loud noise, his feet touched the ground and crushed the stones scattered on the mountain.
“I can’t get into the air.”
The others tried one by one.
They found that at more than five meters, the mountain’s pull on them would multiply, stopping them from flying at will. In this extremely dangerous place, they would face more peril if they were unable to fly.
“We have just reached the very edge of the mountain, and the pull here is so strong. What will happen at the mountain top?”
Everyone got nervous.
This was the last thing they wanted to see. They still had a way to escape from a very powerful enemy, but dealing with this situation was hard for them.
At their feet, the mountain body extended upward at an angle of more than ten degrees. It was full of scattered stones rather than ice and snow.
“There must be a reason why things here are abnormal. We may be in a place of great evil. Let’s go forward to have a look.”
They continued up the mountain. Although the mountain road was not steep, and they felt like stepping on the flat ground rather than climbing the mountain, the alt.i.tude was getting higher and higher.
“The boulders under our feet were just brown and now they are white.” Vern looked carefully at the boulders and then to both sides. The difference between brown and white stones was obvious, as if they had just crossed a watershed.
“Wait!” suddenly, a blue haired man shouted, “My strength has dropped a little.”
His face changed slightly as he looked at the stone in different colors under his feet. He moved back to the brown stone area and raised his eyebrows.
“My strength has not changed on the brown stones, but has been suppressed on the white stones,” he concluded.
He was the weakest of the ten martial artists in the Divine Realm, but he was the best at controlling his spiritual force.
“It’s true.”
Ten minutes later, they moved on with darkened faces.
They found that in the area of white stones, the further upward they went, the more suppressed their strength was.
20 minutes later, the white stones turned blue.
The suppression of their soul sense began.
They did not want to retreat since they were this far. Therefore, they moved cautiously forward for another 20 minutes.
They came to an area strewn with green stones.
The full repression of them began.
“My strength has fallen to that of Grand Master Peak!”
“I have no soul sense now.”
“What shall we do? If our strength is suppressed to the level of ordinary people when we arrive at the top, there is no hope of winning.”
Most of the martial artists were shocked at these words.
They all stopped for fear that they might lose all their strength.
“Both our spiritual force and spiritual sense mind trick were weakened here, which meant it was a Dangerous Land and perhaps all the holy objects are suppressed here. I suggest that we continue to move forward and see what will happen when our strength drops to the level of Grand Master,” Vern said in a low voice.
Vern didn’t tell them the other reason. Even if their strength was suppressed here, he and his two clansmen could turn into werewolves and become the strongest force of the team.
No matter what kind of danger, Vern was confident that he could retreat safely with his clansmen. He didn’t care about the other martial artists.
The one-eyed man at Heaven Stage was also confident. He was able to retreat even if his strength had fallen to that of a Grand Master.
Most importantly, they had arrived there and didn’t want to return empty-handed.
Upon thinking that they hadn’t gotten any treasures yet, they began cursing Emperor Qing and Zhang Hanyang.
They moved on again.
Grand Master Peak, Grand Master Late-stage, Grand Master Middle-stage… When their strength had fallen to that of Grand Master Early-stage, the stones ahead of them turned black.
These black stones were actually very regular stone slabs, like tombstones standing in front of them, which was very frightening.
“Stop!” Vern’s face changed as he stretched out his hand to stop the others.
“What’s the matter?” The others turned their gaze at Vern.
Vern’s eyes were now in the shape of snowflakes. Looking ahead, he said nervously, “There is going to be a crisis ahead. It will be a fierce battle since most of us are at Grand Master Early-stage. It will be very difficult for us to go up the mountain.”
“What can we do?” The others were in a panic.
They had overcome all sorts of difficulties and were unwilling to be forced to retreat.
They would be in danger if they kept going forward, but they didn’t want to make a futile trip.
“Listen! Something is moving there!” Suddenly, the yellow-haired man turned his gaze to the left and listened carefully.
Everyone fell into silence, and they also heard a faint sound.
“They must be Emperor Qing and Zhang Hanyang! Let’s go to meet them!”
They came to an agreement quickly.
The sound on the left side was very loud. It must be Zhang Han and Chen Changqing fighting with unknown things after they had entered the stone tablet forest. The martial artists, led by Vern, felt that they could take the opportunity to pa.s.s through the stone forest and look for an opportunity to kill the two guys.
They rushed to the left side without hesitation.
They did not expect that the area of the mountain was so large that they ran for more than half an hour before they saw the two people in front of them from a distance.
“Hiss!”
They gasped in fear when they saw clearly what was happening.
“I didn’t expect them to get through!”
“A 100-meter straight road, is this what you call a crisis, Vern? It’s too easy!”
Someone began to doubt whether Vern was right. Now that Zhan Han and Chen Changqing could fight a way out with four hands, it must be easy for them to conquer the stone forest.
“Choose a way to go if you want to test your strength,” Vern frowned and fought back with words.
He didn’t want to compromise.
The man was speechless.
Only fools would go to find a way to the mountain top now.
“Let’s go to have a look.”
At the most central place, they set foot on the road opened in the forest of stones.
In front of them a kilometer away, Zhang Han and Emperor Qing were resting on the roadside.
They discovered the group of martial artists at the same time.
The distance between them was soon shortened to one hundred meters.
One Eye grinned in excitement, “Hi, we’ve met again.”
He was eager to kill Zhang Han and Chen Changqing.
Clang!
As soon as One Eye finished shouting, he heard a different sound.
Frightening sword Qi burst out suddenly, which was 100-meters long and lit up the sky.
“Retreat!”
Everyone’s face changed as they rushed back as quick as they could.
Within a minute, the flat ground where they had been was replaced by a several-meter-deep gully.
Their faces darkened. They were unable to afford such a large amount of energy considering their current strength level.
Swish, swish, swis.h.!.+
Looking up, they saw Zhang Han holding his Demon Dancing Sword and looking at them indifferently.
Then they heard his warning, “Get away from the line or die.”
All the new-comers were surprised at his words and got angry.
“What did you say?” One Eye’s expression was ferocious as he summoned a black iron stick. It was a Divine Object, the same as Zhang Han’s Demon Dancing Sword.
Still, Zhang Han could only activate 70% of the Demon Dancing Sword.
“I’ll kill you!” One Eye roared.
He rushed towards the gully and jumped over it.
The nine men behind them looked at each other and then decided to follow him.
Now that they were in a temporary team, they should unite against the enemy.
Besides, they were eager to take back the treasure from Zhang Han and Chen Changqing.
“Haha.” Zhang Han sneered. He didn’t care about their plan at all.
As soon as One Eye jumped over the gully…
Zhang Han made a casting gesture and thrust his right hand forward.
Four Symbols Formation, White Tiger Chopping!
Buzz!
All of a sudden, all the cards surrounding Zhang Han started blinking.
The black cards looked profound now.
It was the first time for the set of cards, which had been upgraded to divine weapons, to launch an attack on Zhang Han’s orders.
White Tiger was the totem of killing. Therefore, the soul of White Tiger helped Zhang Han to make some deadly killing action
His rivals were a group of martial artists, whose strength had been weakened to the same level as that of Grand Master Early-stage.
Puff!
After a dull sound, a three-meter-long card suddenly appeared above One Eye’s head.
“Ow!”
Everyone heard a tiger roar!
The card was pressed down by invisible forces.
“No!” One Eye’s face changed. He tried to raise the divine black stick with his right hand, but it was too late.
Bang!
That black card was like a mountain, and One Eye was. .h.i.t into the three-meter-deep ground.
Clatter!
For everyone behind One Eye, their hearts seemed to miss a beat.
They tried to slow down by any means and finally stopped at the edge of the gully. When they looked up again, there was astonishment and fear in their eyes.
“How could it be possible?”
“His spiritual sense mind trick is so strong! How could it be possible?”
Everyone knew that Zhang Han had made that move with his soul sense, which killed One Eye.
They were scared.
Whoos.h.!.+
Zhang Han withdrew his card and fixed his gaze on Vern for three seconds, as if he was considering his next move.
All the nine martial artists, including Vern, felt cold on their backs under Zhang Han’s gaze.
They were ready to launch their most powerful attack and fight for time to escape.
To their surprise, Zhang Han just looked at them for three seconds.
Then he said, “Get away from the line or die. Go find another way to the mountain top. I’ll kill you all if I see you again.”
Zhang Han looked at Chen Changqing and kept going up the mountain with him.
The other s.h.i.+vering martial artists were left behind.
“Why does he have soul sense? Is he a super martial artist at the Earth Realm?”
“No. Otherwise, he would have killed us at the entrance just now.”
They fell into silence.
Powerful martial artists at the Earth Realm were famous for their changeable mood, just like when they met Grand Masters or Qi Strength Masters. They often killed low-level martial artists at will, so they thought Zhang Han would kill them in the same way if he was really at the Earth Realm.
“Zhang Hanyang is said to be at Grand Master Peak, but why does he have his own soul sense?” the aged martial artist sighed and said, “He has shown his incantation in Hong Kong and Lin Hai City. Now that he has soul sense, it was kind of him to now use his incantation and spare our lives. We should obey his order, keep away from the line, and fight a way forward on our own. There were only one hundred meters left, and we will get through soon.”
The others agreed with him.
They came to one side and began to fight. Two hands suddenly stretched out from under each stone tablet, followed by rotten bodies, who were at Grand Master level or above.
“My gos.h.!.+ How could they blaze that path 100 meters in width?”
Each of them guarded a width of two meters and struggled to keep the total width of 20 meters forward.
They didn’t know the specific reason why Zhang Han had spared their lives.
Zhang Han’s spiritual sense energy had almost run out.
His strength was also weakened there, but the Ten Inches Dantian helped him to maintain his spiritual force and soul sense, which were much more powerful than those of ordinary martial artists. Still, the more he used his spiritual force and soul sense, the less powerful they were, even if he had eaten plenty of medicinal pills to restore them.
Zhang Han and Chen Changqing hadn’t reached the mountain top yet.
“There seems to be no way ahead.” Chen Changqing shook his head, “Shall we climb the mountain? I’ve suppressed my strength to that of Peak Strength in your way.”
“Yes. Your strength will be at the Divine Realm for ten minutes when you stop suppressing them,” Zhang Han nodded and said, “I’m ready too. But I’m not sure if we will be in danger at the mountain top.”
“I don’t care. I’ll enjoy the battle just now. We have taken enough treasures, and it will still be a satisfying trip if we go back now,” Chen Changqing said and laughed.
“It’s not enough.” Zhang Han looked up at the mountain top and shook his head, “Far from enough.”
They took enough treasures, but none of them were needed by Zhang Han or could benefit him much.
“Hope to get a big surprise there,” Zhang Han murmured.
He expected the surprise to be bigger and sudden.
After running for hundreds of meters, they stepped on the mountain and ran up parallel to the ground.
As they ran, they found themselves more and more oppressed.
Zhang Han summoned his Demon Dancing Sword, while Chen Changqing was holding his unpredictable shadow sword in his hand.
Half an hour later, they got into the clouds, and the surroundings were all white.
Through this area, they found that the whole mountain turned into clear water.
Looking up, they found another layer of clouds one thousand meters above them.
“Double sky?” Zhang Han slightly narrowed his eyes, “There must be better treasures.”
“Really? It’s a worthy trip.” Cheng Changqing was excited.
He didn’t care about where to go as long as he was with Zhang Han.
In the process of breaking through the barrier…
Zhang Han held a water spirit stone with his left hand and a flood dragon card with his right hand.
They pa.s.sed the test smoothly.
Yet, for others, the test here was not so simple.
After pa.s.sing through the second cloud, Zhang Han and Chen Changqing suddenly found that the mountain above turned into sand.
There seemed to be numerous small eddies with strong suction.
“Try this.” Chen Changqing took out a brown stone. Zhang Han took it and threw it forward. Suddenly, strands of sand combined into a boat, carrying them forward.
After pa.s.sing through the clouds again, the mountain in front of them turned into ice.
They kept thrusting their swords into the ice and climbing up.
The next part of the mountain turned into fire.
They found it much more difficult.
Zhang Han thought about it and then came up with a plan.
He activated the Black Tortoise card with his strong spiritual sense energy and provided Chen Changqing and himself with a solid defense.
They got through eight layers of clouds and then reached the ninth layer.
Zhang Han whispered, “I’ve seen the real nine layers of the celestial sphere. It is just a mini version here, and our destination is on the ninth layer, where we can find the best opportunity.”
“Let’s go.” Chen Changqing took the lead to rush into the clouds, followed by Zhang Han.
When they got through the final layer of clouds, they saw no road ahead.
They stood up straight to look around, and saw a small fraction of the sun to the right of the clouds.
Under the blue sky, they were now on a large platform with a hole in the center like a chimney. There were many ghost-like figures dancing in the air.
Zhang Han was surprised and then smiled with joy.
“This trip was really worthwhile!”