Chapter 257: 257. Chapter 254: Forced Entry into the Open Heaven Battlefield

257. Chapter 254: Forced Entry into the Open Heaven Battlefield

Cen Fengqin's face turned as black as a soot-covered pot.

Because Ding Huan had to give instructions to his sect disciples, Mo Zheng was waiting on the side.

Mo Zheng waiting was fine, but Hu Wuxin and Xin Can also stopped.

How could they treat her like this? Didn't they know she was from the Changyuan Sword Dao of the Ascension Realm? Didn't they know Changyuan Sword Dao had produced Cen Xuan, a Earth Immortal at the peak?

Yet no matter how dissatisfied she felt inside, she could only wait.

The hosts hadn't moved—how could she?

This made her even more dissatisfied with Hu Wuxin.

Fortunately, Ding Huan didn't make them wait long; after finishing his instructions, he signaled Hu Wuxin to lead the way into the city.

Hu Wuxin's face was beaming with smiles, as if he hadn't noticed Cen Fengqin's displeasure.

While leading the way, he casually introduced Cen Fengqin and Ding Huan to the utterly unremarkable Two-Realm City.

Cen Fengqin's displeasure was obvious to Hu Wuxin long ago—so what if he saw it?

He preferred Cen Fengqin to be displeased rather than let Ding Huan be displeased.

Cen Fengqin came from Changyuan Sword Dao; even if she was displeased, he wouldn't offend Changyuan Sword Dao.

As long as he didn't offend Changyuan Sword Dao, he remained safe, even receiving no reprimands.

But offending Ding Huan was no joke—he had offended him once before, and luckily Ding Huan, out of gratitude for the jade slip he'd given, hadn't held it against him.

If he offended Ding Huan again, he feared Ding Huan might kill him at any moment.

The scene of Ding Huan killing Lu Yuan was still fresh in his mind; Cen Fengqin had forcefully intervened, only to be met with silence—and even frightened herself.

He had investigated Ding Huan; when Ding Huan first arrived at the Dao Cultivation World, he was unquestionably an ordinary mortal.

How much time had passed? Now Ding Huan was already at the Void Spirit Realm.

Whether or not Ding Huan was truly at the Void Spirit Realm, at least he wasn't afraid of Void Spirit Realm cultivators.

Give Ding Huan a few more years, and the Ascension Realm? Ha—the Ascension Realm might soon be trampled beneath his feet.

So Hu Wuxin knew clearly what he must do: unconditionally cultivate a bond with Ding Huan.

…

As soon as Ding Huan and the others left, the area around the Ascension Platform erupted into murmurs.

The Ascension Platform was packed every day now; almost everyone had witnessed Ding Huan's forceful slaying of Lu Yuan.

Some had even recorded it with crystal orbs—who wouldn't be excited by such a spectacle?

"The master of Lansheng Sect is truly a model for our generation! I wonder when Lansheng Sect will start accepting disciples—I truly want to join Lansheng Sect."

"Don't say you—I want to join Lansheng Sect too. Did you see those two Foundation Establishment disciples from Lansheng Sect just now? Yes, the ones who've already entered the Ascension Realm."

"They crushed their opponents at the same level; two of them faced four Foundation Establishment cultivators in a circle, killed three, and remained unscathed."

"Lansheng Sect will definitely recruit new disciples by year's end—we should go and try our luck."

"I'm going too. Joining Lansheng Sect might be even more promising than entering the Ascension Realm. This could become the number one sect in the Dao Cultivation World…"

"What do you mean 'could'? It already is the number one sect in the Dao Cultivation World—who dares provoke Lansheng Sect?"

…

The crowd buzzed with chatter; two Qi Condensation disciples, upon hearing this, lowered their heads and instinctively moved farther away from the group.

"Senior Brother Si, do you think we made the wrong choice?" a woman said to the male cultivator beside her, her voice tinged with despair.

These two were Si Baiye and He Xinxin, who had voluntarily left Lansheng Sect.

Si Baiye sighed:

"It's not really about right or wrong—back then, could Lansheng Sect have had any hope? We left Lansheng Sect to save our lives."

After a moment of silence, He Xinxin said:

"Senior Brother Si, do you think we could go back and rejoin Lansheng Sect?"

"Impossible. Lord Ding is clear about grudges and favors—he would never allow us to rejoin Lansheng Sect," Si Baiye replied without hesitation.

"Why not? We didn't do anything wrong!" He Xinxin protested.

Si Baiye said:

"You know why we left Lansheng Sect—to save our lives. Those in the sect, including Qin Qingshan—they all knew staying in Lansheng Sect meant certain death, didn't they?"

In Lord Ding's eyes, they chose to stay despite knowing it was a death path because they were grateful—he saved them all, after all."

Both fell silent.

"You used to be disciples of Lansheng Sect?" A sudden voice interrupted their conversation.

Si Baiye and He Xinxin startled, then saw a man with a pointed face and monkey-like features, grinning at them.

"Disciples Si Baiye and He Xinxin pay their respects to the elder." They bowed quickly.

"I'm asking you a question," the pointed-faced man said again.

"We were originally disciples of Zixia Valley. After Zixia Valley was destroyed, Lord Ding founded Lansheng Sect, and we didn't join Lansheng Sect—we left voluntarily." Si Baiye answered quickly.

The man nodded:

"So you left right when Lansheng Sect was founded, or later?"

"About a year later," Si Baiye replied cautiously, sensing the man's formidable strength.

The man laughed heartily:

"Good. Do you want to go to the Ascension Realm?"

"Of course we do, Elder…" He Xinxin stared at him in delight—had their great fortune arrived?

The man said:

"Wanting to go to the Ascension Realm is simple—just follow my instructions when the time comes."

……

The lord's mansion of Liangjie City was indeed crude, merely a few tents erected, with a simple shielding taboo in place.

"Lord Ding, the reason we invited you here is mainly to discuss the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

Hu Wuxin seemed to understand Ding Huan's personality well—he got straight to the point without any circumlocution.

Ding Huan indeed appreciated this way of speaking.

We're not close enough to be polite; if you have something to say, just say it—who has time to sit here chatting and idle?

"I humbly ask for your guidance," Ding Huan bowed with a fist.

Hu Wuxin said:

"I've attended several assemblies in the Immortal World, and this time the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield has been opened because even if one cultivates to the peak of Earth Immortal in the Third Heaven Star Continent, one still cannot ascend."

Some peak Earth Immortal elders have chosen to enter the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield to seek an opportunity to ascend."

But the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield has always been a forbidden zone of the Third Heaven Star Continent; to this day, no one has ever emerged alive from within."

Elder Yi Qianxing was deeply concerned, so he stepped forward and proposed opening the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

If more people enter the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield, any problems will be discovered in time."

This way, one can help cultivators accumulate cultivation resources, and secondly, determine whether the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield can lead to the Immortal World."

If it can, why? If it cannot, why did this rumor arise?"

Ding Huan's heart stirred, and he immediately asked:

"Lord Hu, you said the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield has many cultivation resources?"

The others froze, but Hu Wuxin remembered Ding Huan came from the Mortal World—he'd only been cultivating for a few years, so it was understandable he didn't know the extraordinary nature of the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

He quickly explained:

"Lord Ding, if you ask which place on the Third Heaven Star Continent yields the most treasures, it's undoubtedly the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

"You've surely heard of the first sect of the Immortal World—the Huangshen Sect?"

At this point, Cen Fengqin suddenly spoke up:

"The Huangshen Sect being the first sect was long ago—it's no longer the first sect now."

Hu Wuxin nodded hastily:

"Lady Cen is right. Now there are several sects on the Third Heaven Star Continent with Earth Immortals; since their sect master Ji Ji Xinting went missing, the Huangshen Sect has produced no Earth Immortal at all, so calling it the first sect is a stretch."

"But the Huangshen Sect's present achievements stem from discovering the Great Wilderness Divine Jade Scripture on the outskirts of the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

"I heard Master Ji Ji Xinting found a post-heaven spiritual treasure inside the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield called the Great Cosmos Pearl."

"By the way, one of the locations in the jade slip I gave you is the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

Ding Huan finally understood—Ji Ji Xinting's Great Cosmos Pearl came from the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield.

So did the Starry Spirit Vein.

He had grown accustomed to cultivating with the Starry Spirit Vein; as his cultivation advanced, his dependence on it grew ever stronger.

"Lord Ding, Lord Hu is telling you this because he hopes we can form teams to enter the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield," Mo Zheng added.

Ding Huan frowned slightly:

"What? Is entering the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield mandatory?"

Hu Wuxin smiled awkwardly:

"It's not mandatory, but the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield is still in its exploration phase. For this first wave, our Daoist sects must send ten Xuanshen-cultivators into the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield."

"Of course, you may choose not to enter. But any Xuanshen cultivator who refuses will be barred from entering the Immortal World."

"If you're already in the Immortal World, you'll be expelled. And you'll be forbidden from entering any auctions, merchant halls, or inns within the Immortal World."

Ding Huan felt deeply displeased upon hearing this.

The Immortal World isn't owned by Immortal World cultivators—it belongs to all cultivators of the Third Heaven Star Continent.

This behavior by certain powerful cultivators and sects in the Immortal World amounts to publicly declaring that the Immortal World is their exclusive domain, and that anyone entering must meet their demands.

Ding Huan knew well that the Immortal World was filled with powerful figures—countless Zhenshen and Renxian—so for now, he could only accept it.

"Is there a time limit?" Ding Huan asked.

In the future, if he gained the strength, he would surely break the barrier between the Immortal World and the Daoist sects.

The barrier between the Mortal World and the Daoist sects had its reason—it at least blocked demonic beasts from entering the Mortal World and slaughtering its people.

But erecting a barrier between the Immortal World and the Daoist sects was going too far.

"There's no strict time limit, but you cannot stay longer than one year," Hu Wuxin said.

"Thank you for the reminder, Lord Hu," Ding Huan bowed.

He realized Hu Wuxin meant well—if Hu Wuxin hadn't warned him,

when he reached Xuanshen, and hadn't entered the Ancient Opening Heaven Battlefield, he might be targeted by Immortal World elites, even used as an excuse to ambush and kill him.

Ding Huan had already seen how unreasonable the Immortal World's powerful ones could be.

He felt no great anger—in this jungle law world, strength alone determines supremacy.

Wouldn't he himself one day want to tear down the barrier blocking the Daoist sects and the Immortal World, once he grew strong enough?

Seeing Ding Huan understood the situation, Hu Wuxin sighed in relief:

"Lady Cen comes from the Changyuan Sword Dao, but she represents the Immortal World—today she has specially brought us Immortal Tokens and wristbands."