Chapter 506 A Strange Change in the Back Mountain
Along the way, Ding Hao also found some corpses of human warriors and superiors of the Demon Clan.
They were all scattered on the ground, covered by the thick fog. Some of them had been slashed by sabers or swords, and some of them seemed to have been torn by wild beasts. Those people had died with terrified faces, giving the impression of having been caught off guard. Obviously, they had been fighting against fog condensed attackers for a long time, eventually dying because of their weakness.
Roughly estimating, there were at least a hundred dead bodies.
Ding Hao keenly noticed that about one-tenth of the corpses had died because of strange causes. Their hearts and brains were hollowed out, and all the water in their bodies was removed, just like thousand-year-old mummies. They were exactly the same as the corpses he had seen on the beach at the end of the second part of the Journey to the West Ancient Road.
“Someone is killing the martial artists of the two clans with such cruel means… Why?”
Ding Hao had the faint feeling that the hidden hunter should be the top Martial King Realm expert who tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate him.
As time went by, Ding Hao had unknowingly stayed in that misty world for four days and four nights.
Until then, he had completely adapted to the rhythm of those constant battles.
In the past four days and four nights, no one knew how many fog condensed creatures had been killed by him. Ding Hao’s nerves were like tight bowstrings. As long as there was any pressure, he could instantly make the most correct reaction. Sometimes, his body movements were done even before thinking.
“Kill!”
Ding Hao strode forward.
Blade radiance and sword radiance burst out from the rusted sword and the Wen Qing Saber in his hands in a dazzling display. In a flash, they cut the four or five six-meter-tall ferocious beasts into pieces.
The mist dissipated, and the giant beasts had also disappeared.
However, in the next moment, the fog rolled and immediately turned into a new skeleton or warrior, rus.h.i.+ng up like a ghost.
Ding Hao moved dexterously and carelessly. It seemed as if he had been caught while thinking about something; he was indifferent to everything in the outside world.
However, the saber and sword in his hands seemed to have intelligence. They slightly tilted toward the ground and burst out silver and red lights. The sword Qi and saber Qi were shot out like brilliant rays, which could easily destroy the mist monster.
He could complete all kinds of moves and reactions without any difficulties, all in an instant.
He vaguely felt that he was integrated with the saber and the sword.
Ding Hao consolidated his Qi cultivation at the three-apertured Great Grandmaster Realm.
In the past few days, Ding Hao had comprehended at least more than a third of the more than two hundred saber and sword fighting skills copied from the second floor of the Saber Tower and the Sword Tower. All kinds of saber and sword combating skills seemed to have integrated with Ding Hao’s soul. He not only understood the essence of the moves, but also mastered the use and timing of those movements. He could easily disa.s.semble and combine thousands of saber and sword techniques smoothly.
There were still about two-thirds of the fighting skills from the Sword Tower and the Saber Tower to be grasped.
“It’s time to leave. The mist monsters can no longer help me to increase my strength. They’re not as strong as they were at the beginning. Even the powerful mist monsters can’t threaten me anymore!”
Ding Hao was lost in thought.
During those four days, he pa.s.sed through the entrance of the third section of the ancient road again. The purple whirlpool door kept flas.h.i.+ng. During those experiences, Ding Hao finally found some clues about the misty world—
The closer he got to the entrance of the purple vortex, the lower the strength of the monsters and the attackers condensed with mist.
The ancient road was overall long and narrow. That was to say, the closer to the end of the third section of the ancient road, the higher the strength of the mist monsters. This way, without needing to figure out the direction, he could rush to the place where the most powerful mist monsters existed, then he could reach the end of the third part of the ancient road.
When Ding Hao went to the purple whirlpool door again, he decided to use that method to leave the misty world.
His practice proved that this was a correct method.
After about half a day, Ding Hao finally reached the end of the misty world—the gray fog finally disappeared. He found himself in a gra.s.s field about 50 meters wide. The lush gra.s.s made him feel refreshed. After seeing a lot of gray mist, he became happy as soon as he saw green gra.s.s.
As expected, above the lawn, there was a purple whirlpool entrance.
That was the door leading to the fourth part of the journey.
Like the beach in the second part of the road, Ding Hao found twenty to thirty bodies on the lawn.
They were all experts of the Human and Demon Clans.
Some people struggled to enter the place, only to die of serious injuries, while others seemed to have died after killing each other. The storage tools and weapons have been stripped from them. Some of the beautiful female warriors had even lost their clothes. They were naked with blood on their lower bodies. It was obvious that an extremely tragic thing had happened.
After the death of the demon experts, they basically returned to their original appearance. They were all rare wild beasts whose bodies were undoubtedly decomposed. Their precious parts, such as their Demonic Crystals and hearts, which could be used to make Precious Qi Weapons, were all dug up. That was something that should have been done by human martial artists. After all, for the humans, the body of a demon was full of treasures!
This was a very cruel world.
Especially when entering the Journey to the West Ancient Road, whether it was the Demon Clan or the Human Clan, the morality was discarded. The only thing left between them was flagrant killing and mutual interest. Even a corpse would not get any respect.
Ding Hao sighed and stepped into the fourth part of the Journey to the West Ancient Road.
At the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect
The short summer had pa.s.sed, and it was a cold winter again.
The first snow had already fallen, covering the entire area within a radius of hundreds of kilometers around the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Mountain. The whole world was white. The Snow Province was located in the northernmost part of the Northern Region. The winter was the longest of the year, almost taking up more than half of the time. When winter came, thousands of kilometers were frozen and full of snow.
Li Jianyi stood quietly on the top of the main peak, looking towards the south.
That was where the Green Province was located.
It had been more than three months since the most outstanding disciples of the Sect, such as Ding Hao, entered the Sage Battlefield. It seemed to be only a second, and it also seemed to be very long. Li Jianyi really couldn’t wait for Ding Hao and the others to return.
At the moment, the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect had finally become the highest-ranking sect in Snow Province, gaining the greatest support of the “Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost.” During those days, Li Jianyi had been working hard without any sleep. No one knew how much effort he had put in for the revival of the sect. His long black hair had turned half gray. He seemed to have grown fifty to sixty years older.
Li Jianyi knew very well that this was the last chance for the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect to rise.
If they could not grasp the chance, it would be impossible to surpa.s.s the Tranquility Academy in the future.
For the rise of the Sect, Li Jianyi was willing to pay any price.
Hundreds of years had pa.s.sed, but Li Jianyi still clearly remembered that when he was a core disciple of the Sect, his master, the head of the previous generation, had to endure his injury to returned to the Sect after the Grading Meeting. He vomited blood and was dying. Before pa.s.sing away, he held Li Jianyi’s hand on his sickbed and pa.s.sed the position of head to him in front of dozens of elders and chiefs of the Sect. He was still worried about the revitalization of the Sect…
He remembered that before the previous sect leader died, he swore to G.o.d that he had to make the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect the overlord of Snow Province.
The vows of the past were still ringing in his ears.
A hundred years had pa.s.sed. He, Tang Folei, and others had made great efforts to make the overall arrangement. Finally they saw the opportunity for prosperity. The rise of super geniuses like Ding Hao, Feng Ning, and Xie Jieyu made that opportunity bigger.
It was a pity that the Tranquility Academy had not broken up.
The master of the Tranquility Academy, who had seriously injured the previous leader at the Grading Meeting, was still alive.
“Child Prodigy” Mu Tianyang, such an incredible genius, enabled the Tranquility Academy to still be able to stand in front of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect as an equal, even if it lost in the Grading Meeting.
The Sage Battlefield could be an opportunity.
But it could also be a risk.
“I don’t know how those little guys are doing now. There are endless opportunities and dangers in that strange world. If they are not careful, they may be annihilated.”
Li Jianyi had always been worried about those youths.
Because he knew that those little guys, especially Ding Hao, who caught up with the advanced later, were the real hope for the sect to rise in the future.
“More than twenty people have entered Sage Battlefield. I don’t expect that all of them are able to come back alive, but at least three or five of them can return to the sect…” Looking at the snowflakes all over the sky, Li Jianyi suddenly felt a mixture of feelings and sighed softly.
He used to be the most outstanding genius in the whole Sect, but because of his age, he didn’t enter the Sage Battlefield until he was fifty years old. That was a pity and he lamented it his whole life.
The last time when Sage Battlefield opened was more than forty years before. There was once a genius of the sect with high expectations. The Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect almost exhausted all resources of the sect to escort her into the Sage Battlefield. In the end, the genius gained a great reputation and came back alive from the battlefield, but unfortunately…
It was a pity that the genius abandoned the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect and joined another big sect in the Northern Region.
That betrayal greatly undermined the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect.
Because of it, Li Jianyi blamed himself, reflected on his actions and changed the strategies he used for managing the sect.
“I hope that if someone is able to walk out of the Sage Battlefield alive this time, such a thing doesn’t repeat again. Especially Ding Hao…” Li Jianyi could not help but smile when he thought about that gentle young man.
That young man had to be a gift to the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect.
Even if everything changed, Li Jianyi was certain that Ding Hao would never give up the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect.
“In fact, the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect owes this boy too much. With his qualifications, if he joins other sects or even if he joins the Tranquility Academy, he may get a higher status and more training…”
When Li Jianyi was in deep thought, there was a sudden loud bang in the direction of the cliff in the garbage area of the back mountain. Then a purple light shot up to the skies and hovered in place like a dragon for a long time. The purple light shone in the sky, and bathed the entire mountain gate of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect with a purple s.h.i.+ne.
“What happened?”