Chapter Ninety-Four: I’m Going!

At the center of the Valley of Utter Yin, a vast cosmic river pattern had been drawn in the blood of a Heavenly Serpent.

At its heart, countless points of light gathered and condensed into a radiant gateway.

Within the valley, many experts stared at the revealed gate, yet none dared be the first to enter.

Shi Yan stood with a calm face beside Han Feng and Ku Long, quietly studying the gate, feeling a fierce thrill in his heart.

He had not received even one of the nine demonic crystals from the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent. Watching them all shatter to pieces, with none claimed by anyone, he could not help feeling secretly pleased.

Still, when he thought of that terrifying power, powerful enough to rip the crystals skyward from Heaven-ranked experts like Chi Xiao and Bei Ming Shang, he was also profoundly astonished, and became all the more cautious.

Zhao Qi looked up at the sky, his expression anguished, and muttered over and over, “Father... Father...”

The shattered eighth-rank demon crystal had belonged to the Mire Dragon Crocodile. A demon crystal from an eighth-rank beast could contain a fragment of its soul; even if the body were utterly destroyed, so long as the crystal remained, the beast still had a chance at rebirth.

Yet the soul within that crystal was dull and inert, clearly having been refined by secret arts into nothing more than an energy source, stripped of independent thought.

The eighth-rank crystal of the Mire Dragon Crocodile was plainly an essential key to opening the Heavenly Gate.

Though Zhao Qi was vicious and cruel, he held deep reverence and worship for the Mire Dragon Crocodile. Seeing his father's final hope of rebirth severed before his eyes, his suffering could well be imagined.

Bei Ming Shang, Chi Xiao, Zuo Zihe, and the others quietly made their way toward the gate, proceeding with utmost caution. Even when their steps touched the mysterious pattern outside the gate, they remained secretly on guard.

“Miss...” Beside Xia Xinyan, the two burly men looked at the mysterious pattern within the valley with expressions that seemed to want to speak but held back.

These two appeared to know something about the pattern’s secret.

Xia Xinyan gently shook her head. Her beautiful eyes glimmered with strange light as she stole a glance at Shi Yan in the distance.

Shi Yan was also silently watching the others. When he saw Xia Xinyan’s gaze, he was startled for a moment, then gave her a slight nod.

A complicated emotion flashed through Xia Xinyan’s eyes. She slowly nodded back, her thoughts unreadable.

“The Heavenly Gate is open. If you truly are not afraid to die, you may enter now.” Xia Xinyan did not move. Seeing Chi Xiao and Bei Ming Shang reach the gate yet hesitate to step through, she could not help but sneer coldly.

“I’ll go!”

To everyone’s surprise, Zhao Qi, sunk in grief, suddenly roared, “I want to see what exactly is inside!”

The moment his words fell, he shot forward like lightning, a moth into a flame, and rushed into the Heavenly Gate, vanishing in a flash of brilliant white light.

His figure disappeared swiftly within the gate. The Heavenly Gate merely twisted once, without any other change, and remained radiant as before, as though waiting for someone else to enter.

“Brother Zuo...” Bei Ming Shang looked toward Zuo Zihe. After a brief pause, he said, “What do you think?”

Zuo Zihe shook his head. “We’ve come this far. If I return empty-handed, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. If one wants wealth and honor, one must take some risks.”

“Indeed.” Bei Ming Shang nodded in agreement. After a hesitation, he said to Bei Ming Ce, “Ce’er, stay outside. Yin Kui and Jiu Shan, watch over Ce’er.”

After a pause, Bei Ming Shang turned to Mu Yudie and Di Yalan, frowning. “What do you two think?”

“I want to go in and take a look.” Though Mu Yudie knew full well that terrible dangers might lurk within the gate, she still did not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance.

“Very well, you may enter.” Bei Ming Shang nodded. “Come with me.”

With that, after Zhao Qi, Bei Ming Shang also entered the Heavenly Gate.

Mu Yudie and Di Yalan exchanged a glance. Both looked resolute, and followed Bei Ming Shang into the gate.

“Mu Hui, let’s go.” Zuo Zihe gave a command to the eerie young man, and together they slipped into the gate.

“Sir Chi Xiao, and you?” Xia Xinyan asked calmly.

“Of course I’m going in too.” Chi Xiao smiled, then looked back at Zuo Shi and Shi Yan. “Little Shi, you stay outside. I’ll just go in and have a look.”

“Master, I want to go look too.” Zuo Shi pouted, unwilling to agree.

“As your teacher, I’ll first see what’s going on. If nothing is amiss, I’ll certainly bring you in next time.” Chi Xiao said sternly, then turned to the three from the Shi family. “What about your Shi family? Will you also send someone to take a look?”

“Young Master, I’ll go.” Ku Long stood up and said to Shi Yan.

“I’ll go!”

Shi Yan’s expression was indifferent, as if he did not know the danger within the gate, and he said in a low voice.

Deep in his bones, he possessed a factor that feared no death. He loved challenging all manner of unknown mysteries, and the reason he had come here in the first place was the exploration of the Blue Cave.

For this exploration of the Heavenly Gate, naturally he would not remain outside and wait.

“Young Master, let Ku Long go instead,” Han Feng said urgently.

“It’s fine. I’ll go.” Shi Yan shook his head and insisted, “I’m very curious about what’s inside the Heavenly Gate. If I don’t go, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life!”

With that, before Han Feng and Ku Long could try again to dissuade him, he immediately rushed toward the gate.

“Young Master!”

Ku Long and Han Feng cried out together, their faces somewhat panicked, and hurried after him. By the time they reached the gate, Shi Yan’s body had already vanished within it.

The two exchanged a glance, and without much hesitation, they too rushed into the Heavenly Gate.

“Take good care of Little Shi.” Chi Xiao turned back and instructed Wu Yunlian and Chu Ping, then swept forward and likewise vanished within the gate.

In just a few minutes, the many experts in the valley had all plunged into the Heavenly Gate. Truly, men die for wealth as birds die for food.

Within the Valley of Utter Yin, only Bei Ming Ce and the pair Yin Kui and Jiu Shan remained on one side, Zuo Shi, Chu Ping, and Wu Yunlian on another, along with Xia Xinyan and the two tower-like burly men.

“Miss, this is a False Heavenly Gate!” one of the burly men said softly again.

Xia Xinyan’s eyes shone with brilliance as she looked at the gate, her expression unchanged.

By now, all Heaven-ranked experts in the valley had entered the gate. Xia Xinyan and the others were separated from the two other groups by some distance, so their quiet conversation could not be overheard.

“There will be no true divine realm inside the False Heavenly Gate. It is merely a small space constructed by a divine expert. Though it cannot possibly contain unimaginable treasures, it should hold relics left behind by that divine expert. Miss, why won’t you go in? Perhaps, perhaps there may be that person’s martial soul inheritance!” one burly man said anxiously.

“Don’t you think that, in the unseen dark, there is an invisible hand controlling everything?” Xia Xinyan gave a cold hum. “He arranged everything on the board long ago. We are all merely pieces, all within his calculations, and none of us have yet broken free of his control. That old fellow has been dead for over a thousand years, and still he refuses to stay quiet!”

“Miss, you mean...”

“The incomplete map fragment from the Shi family should have been obtained by Shi Yan. That fragment and the Black Yin Secret Art must be together! The Black Yin Secret Art is only a common martial skill, the sort low-level martial artists would cultivate. He chose this place, the Valley of Utter Yin, forcing anyone who obtained the art to cultivate it in order to resist the Yin energy of heaven and earth. Once the Black Yin Secret Art is perfected, it naturally swallows the Yin energy here and forms a Yin Pearl. Once the Yin Pearl is formed, the target becomes obvious. If there truly is a Martial Soul Source Seal inside the Heavenly Gate, only someone who possesses a Yin Pearl could obtain it. Is there even any need for us to go in?” Xia Xinyan said bitterly. “That old bastard calculated everything long ago and would never permit anyone to interfere. We have come all this way for nothing.”

“If Shi Yan obtains the Martial Soul Source Seal left by that person, he will surely become one of the Divine Sons of the Three Gods Cult. If he can reach the Endless Sea, the people of the Three Gods Cult will treat him like a priceless treasure! Miss, the Three Gods Cult holds tremendous power in the Endless Sea and is not on friendly terms with us. If he really does obtain that person’s Martial Soul Source Seal, he will surely become a Stellar God of the Three Gods Cult in the future. We had best... had best eliminate him as early as possible!”

“I know what to do,” Xia Xinyan said coldly.

The two burly men nodded and fell silent once more.

...

Within a thick darkness so dense it seemed impossible to disperse, a cool female voice rang out: “All of you, go to the Heavenly Gate! Capture Mu Yudie and assist the Dark Lord in exploring the mysteries within.”

“Yes, Dark Mistress!”

A group of pale-faced Dark Abyss martial artists knelt on one knee outside the darkness, their faces expressionless.

“Go,” the voice from the darkness said again.

Dozens of Dark Abyss warriors immediately set off. Soon they entered the Valley of Utter Yin from outside, not even glancing at the people in the valley, and went straight into the Heavenly Gate.

“People from Dark Abyss!” Bei Ming Ce barked, his face changing slightly. “Dark Abyss should be guarding outside. Why would they suddenly enter the Heavenly Gate?”

Yin Kui and Jiu Shan watched the Dark Abyss warriors filing in one after another, their eyes icy.

“No! We have to go in too, or Grandfather won’t be able to handle it alone inside.” After a moment’s thought, Bei Ming Ce ignored Yin Kui and Jiu Shan’s objections and also rushed into the Heavenly Gate.

Seeing him enter, Yin Kui and Jiu Shan dared not delay. They had no choice but to follow.

...

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