Chapter Ninety-Two: The Heavenly Gate Appears
“Can we speak of the treasure map now?”
After the valuables on the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent had been divided among the many powerful figures, the master of the Dark Abyss, Zhao Zihe, suddenly spoke.
The sun hanging high in the sky slowly sank lower, and dusk deepened.
In the valley, everyone wore grim expressions; not one seemed at ease.
Bei Ming Shang and Zhao Zihe both turned to Chi Xiao.
“Sir Chi Xiao, you won’t forbid us from taking part, will you?” Bei Ming Shang said calmly.
Chi Xiao’s expression shifted in uncertainty. Frowning, he stood there and glanced at Xia Xin Yan, then at Zha Ji, clearly wavering.
After Xia Xin Yan took a Heaven-Mending Pill, her body had begun to recover, though it was still far from fully healed.
At a time like this, with two peak-realm experts opposite them, if a battle truly broke out, Chi Xiao and Zha Ji, even at eighty percent strength, would gain nothing from it.
“Bring it out and let us all have a look. We can’t find the entrance to the Heavenly Gate anyway,” Xia Xin Yan said lightly, her brows smooth and untroubled.
“Miss Xia is capable of bending and stretching as the situation demands. Indeed, she is a person fit for great things,” Bei Ming Shang said, nodding. Then he looked at her with grave courtesy. “Miss Xia, my Bei Ming family has come only for the treasure map. We have no wish to make enemies of your Misty Pavilion. After this matter is resolved, whatever the outcome, my family will not cause Misty Pavilion the slightest trouble.”
Xia Xin Yan came from the Endless Sea. Though she was only at the third level of the Hundred Tribulations realm, she could use her martial soul to step directly into the Heavenly realm. A young girl already this formidable—just how immense must the power behind her be?
The warriors of the Endless Sea were deeply feared by Bei Ming Shang. Unless driven to the last extremity, he did not wish to fall out with Xia Xin Yan.
“I am also here for the treasure map,” Xia Xin Yan said, her eyes clear and unwavering. “Once this matter is finished, I will return to the Endless Sea. As long as Misty Pavilion remains safe and sound, we of the Endless Sea have no interest in coming to such a remote place.”
“That would be best,” Bei Ming Shang said.
“I must warn you all,” Xia Xin Yan said after a pause. “The Heavenly Gate may conceal great treasure. But it may also hold dangers beyond anything you can imagine.”
She hesitated slightly, then continued, “In your region, the Heavenly Gate has not yet appeared. Your understanding of it must come only from hearsay. You may know only one side of it and not the other.”
“We would hear the details,” someone said.
Both Bei Ming Shang and Zhao Zihe of the Dark Abyss froze for a moment, then looked at Xia Xin Yan with solemn expressions.
In the Divine Blessing Empire, the Blazing Fire Empire, and the Merchant Alliance, legends of the Heavenly Gate had long circulated. Yet a Heavenly Gate had truly never appeared in those three countries. That was precisely why the treasure map’s emergence had drawn the attention of so many forces.
Chi Xiao, Zha Ji, Han Feng, and the others also looked expectantly toward Xia Xin Yan, the visitor from the Endless Sea, their curiosity about the Heavenly Gate equally intense.
“In the Endless Sea, the Heavenly Gate not only exists, but exists in more than one place. However, every Heavenly Gate conceals immense peril.”
Xia Xin Yan drew a deep breath, her expression rarely so grave. In a low voice she said, “The Heavenly Gate leads to the Divine Domain. The Divine Domain does indeed contain mysteries beyond imagination, but every Divine Domain is also terrifying beyond measure. Once ordinary warriors enter, nine out of ten will never return alive. Whether it is the Fourth Demon Realm, the Sevenfold Netherworld, or the Abyssal Battlefield, none are places for the common man to enter.”
“The Fourth Demon Realm!”
“The Sevenfold Netherworld!”
“The Abyssal Battlefield!”
One name after another, spoken by Xia Xin Yan, described the Divine Domain connected to the Heavenly Gate in the Endless Sea. Each left the people in the valley changing color, secretly startled.
“I came this time only to see what sort of Divine Domain the Heavenly Gate here leads to. Unknown regions may be terrifying secret lands that devour all things. You would be wise to prepare yourselves early,” Xia Xin Yan said, sweeping her gaze across the crowd and speaking coldly. “In the Divine Domains that have appeared in our Endless Sea, there are always beings comparable to the Divine Communion realm—and not just one. If this Divine Domain also contains such existences, then the lot of you rushing in carelessly... hmph. Not one of you will come out alive.”
Her words stirred a storm in everyone’s hearts.
Whether it was Bei Ming Shang or Zhao Zihe, or Chi Xiao and Zha Ji, all of them changed color, horror etched across their faces.
Beings of the Divine Communion realm? And not just one!
What kind of concept was that?
If the Divine Domain behind this Heavenly Gate also held such a level of existence, who in the valley could claim they would come out alive?
The valley fell utterly silent.
“What, are you all frightened now?” Xia Xin Yan said with a cold sneer.
“No matter what, we must go in and take a look,” Zhao Zihe said after a long silence, his lips a little dry. “If we do not go in, how can we know what lies inside? Miss Xia, with only third-level Hundred Tribulations cultivation dares to come, so what have we to fear?”
Once Zhao Zihe said that, the others finally reacted.
Xia Xin Yan had clearly come here intending to enter the Divine Domain as well. Since she knew full well how dangerous it was and still dared to come, could it really be that she had simply come to die?
Thinking of that, everyone felt that perhaps Xia Xin Yan had exaggerated the danger. Maybe the Divine Domain was not so fraught with peril after all.
“I have said all that needs to be said. Decide for yourselves,” Xia Xin Yan said, nodding toward Chi Xiao. “You may bring out the treasure map.”
Chi Xiao also knew there was no way to avoid Bei Ming Shang and Zhao Zihe, and with no better option he could only take the treasure map from inside his robe.
Bei Ming Shang and Zhao Zihe hurried over and bent together to study it.
“The map marks only one point within the Valley of Absolute Yin. That point is on the ground in the valley, but there is nothing there at all,” Zha Ji said with a dark face, his voice cold. “I have already walked around the valley several times, and even used my divine sense to probe beneath the earth. There is truly nothing. Could this map be fake?”
“It is not fake,” Xia Xin Yan said firmly, though she did not explain further.
Everyone knew she came from the Endless Sea, and her understanding of the Heavenly Gate and the Divine Domain was surely superior to their own. Hearing her say so, they all relaxed at once, staring intently at the treasure map, each furrowing his brows in deep thought as they wandered through the Valley of Absolute Yin, seemingly trying to discover the Heavenly Gate’s location.
Shi Yan stood together with Han Feng and Ku Long. He did not join in, only watched coldly as the others reacted, occasionally glancing toward Mu Yu Die and Di Ya Lan.
Mu Yu Die stood with Bei Ming Ce, speaking softly and smiling from time to time with a coy purse of her lips.
Di Ya Lan, meanwhile, remained immersed in delight, clutching the fire-attributed beast crystal tightly in her hand, her face alight with excitement. At her current rate, she looked ready to absorb the crystal’s energy right there and then to nourish her martial soul.
Time passed in a blur.
The many Heavenly realm experts in the valley wore troubled expressions, frowning as they pondered the map’s mystery, yet none could find the Heavenly Gate’s location.
Gradually, daylight slipped away and night descended.
A single cold star, gleaming bright, quietly appeared in the night sky before anyone noticed.
Slowly, more stars emerged overhead...
At last, the entire night sky was filled with glittering stars.
Suddenly, the treasure map gripped in Zha Ji’s hand blazed with light.
Everyone’s expression changed in unison, and countless gazes shot toward it.
The map broke free from Zha Ji’s grasp and rose slowly into the air, flying higher and higher until it hovered above the Valley of Absolute Yin.
A strange power began to ripple outward from it.
The starlight of the heavens seemed drawn by that force. Brilliant rays poured down like rain from beyond the nine heavens, falling in torrents upon the map.
Boom!
The treasure map exploded at once. In the instant it shattered, a crystal beast core, as large as a fist, appeared out of nowhere.
An eerie power spread through the entire valley. The crystal shimmered brilliantly, clear and dazzling like glass.
Within its center sat a dazed little figure, glowing all over, its face twisted in unbearable pain.
“Father!”
Zha Ji screamed suddenly, staring in disbelief at the little figure within the crystal. He roared, “Father! I am Zha Ji! Father!”
“The eighth-grade beast crystal of the Mud-Wallowing Flood Dragon!” Chi Xiao cried out too, his expression horrified.
In the valley, one warrior after another looked up at the sky, all of them pale with fear, none knowing what on earth was happening.
The little figure inside the crystal seemed unable to hear Zha Ji’s voice at all, remaining blank and stupefied within it.
The eighth-grade crystal grew brighter and brighter, and from within it, that strange power rippled outward once more.
“Ah!”
Di Ya Lan cried out in alarm, then shouted sharply, “My beast crystal!”
The crystal of the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent, which she had been clutching tightly in her hand, suddenly flew up and shot into the sky.
At the same moment, the eight newly obtained beast crystals held by Bei Ming Shang, Zhao Zihe, Chi Xiao, Zha Ji, and Xia Xin Yan likewise broke free of their owners’ control and soared upward, circling the eighth-grade crystal that contained the soul of the Mud-Wallowing Flood Dragon.
Multicolored strange light spilled from the ten beast crystals in the sky, bathing the entire Valley of Absolute Yin.
In the valley, the serpent blood that had flowed from the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent suddenly seemed to come alive, transforming into blood rivers that coursed through the valley.
The blood rivers moved like a mysterious brush.
Amid the overwhelming stench of blood, they split into streams and rapidly slithered across the ground like crimson serpents.
Soon, using the Nine-Headed Sky Serpent’s blood as the guiding thread, a bizarre pattern painted in blood magically appeared on the flat ground within the valley.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
All ten beast crystals in the sky exploded together, transforming into ten pillars of light that crashed into the strange pattern in the valley.
The pattern, like a river of stars, suddenly flashed with strange brilliance. Starlight poured down from the heavens and merged into it as well.
At the center of that vast, star-river-like design, the strange radiance rapidly gathered. Tens of thousands of points of light condensed and slowly coalesced into a door of dazzling brilliance.
The Heavenly Gate appeared!