Chapter 274: 274. Chapter 271: A Crowd Is Waiting

274. Chapter 271: A Crowd Is Waiting

When Ding Huan entered the Open Heaven Battlefield, he left various marks.

But now it seemed all the marks he had made before had vanished entirely, leaving only faint ripples of Dao resonance from the Great Cosmic Art.

This was likely because the Dao principles of the Great Cosmic Art differed from those of the Threefold Heaven Star Continent, and the Open Heaven Battlefield could not yet assimilate his Great Dao principles.

Of course, given enough time, even these traces of Dao resonance would disappear.

This had nothing to do with the Great Cosmic Art—it was simply due to his insufficient cultivation.

Ding Huan now relied on these ripples to judge direction.

Of course, this was not Ding Huan's only method—he had another way: using the Great Calculation Art.

Unfortunately, in the Open Heaven Battlefield, the Great Calculation Art could not be used; the rules here were shattered, and any calculation became a blur.

But Ding Huan could use the Great Calculation Art to determine which direction held no danger.

The exit path would naturally have no danger.

This idea relied on luck, but it was unlikely to be wrong.

Ding Huan's team, including himself, totaled seventy-five people.

Among them were dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators and seven or eight Qi Refining cultivators, so Ding Huan could not move quickly.

The group walked for over a month.

At first, everyone was somewhat uncertain about Ding Huan.

After a month, they had encountered only low-level soul soldier squads, which made them grow increasingly confident in Ding Huan.

You should know that each of them had faced dangers far greater than this many times over upon entering the Open Heaven Battlefield.

Now they had not even encountered a real threat—could it be that Ding Huan's path was correct?

After a month of rapid travel, Ding Huan finally stopped.

"Lord Ding, is this the way out?" Lady Luo Xuan asked immediately upon seeing Ding Huan halt.

This left Gu Lianghui and Fan Lechang utterly baffled.

They had walked for over a month, yet Lady Luo Xuan—the very woman Ding Huan had nearly killed—was not only the first to propose using a star spirit vein to have Ding Huan guide her out, but also constantly asked him questions along the way.

Fortunately, Ding Huan had not continued attacking.

Lady Luo Xuan's nonstop questioning left them with no sense of security.

The two could only silently beg: Could she please ask fewer questions? What if she angered Ding Huan?

o￠o

"Yes, this is the way out. Let me search a bit more."

Ding Huan was certain this was the spot he had entered, because here lingered a trace of Dao resonance from the Great Cosmic Art.

Though years had passed and the resonance was about to dissipate, Ding Huan could still sense it.

This made Ding Huan realize something—he suspected the teleportation array he had set at the edge of the Fourth Sea would also dissipate after some time.

Should he go retrieve the Void Sand? Otherwise it would be a terrible waste.

But Ding Huan quickly realized: if that teleportation array had already dissolved, going there would be useless.

Ding Huan said he needed to search simply to use the Great Wilderness Eye to scan the surroundings.

Since his advancement to Star Transformation, the Great Wilderness Eye had become far more effective.

Even so, using the Great Wilderness Eye to locate the exit was still difficult.

The array gate outside was supported by spirit veins and would not collapse for now.

But inside, the outer array gate could not be found at all—there was a natural barrier array here.

This was why many who entered the Open Heaven Battlefield could not leave—not all perished from danger, but simply could not find the way out.

To exit from within, one must find this natural barrier array and either break it or open it with array flags.

Half an hour later, Ding Huan stopped beside a giant petrified tree and pulled out array flags, tossing them repeatedly.

In a short time, a passage appeared before them.

Everyone stared at the passage in excitement, sensing this was the way out.

Indeed, once the passage stabilized, Ding Huan said:

"This is the way out. I've taken your spirit veins—form a line and exit one by one."

The cultivators who had paid a spirit vein to be guided out had been inside for many years.

At this moment, no one wished to wait; they surged forward in a frenzy to exit.

What puzzled Ding Huan was that Lady Luo Xuan stayed behind.

"Lord, we're leaving first."

Seeing Lady Luo Xuan seemed to have something to say to Ding Huan, Yan Mei and Mo Xuan quickly bid farewell and followed Hu Wu Xin and Mo Zheng out.

"Lord Ding, may I ask—why do you always carry a bag on your back?"

Ding Huan never expected Lady Luo Xuan had stayed behind just to ask such a pointless question.

Ding Huan replied coolly:

"It has nothing to do with you. If you're not leaving, I am."

Lady Luo Xuan hurriedly added:

"One final request—could you visit our Tiandao Sect?"

Ding Huan glanced coldly at Lady Luo Xuan:

"Your Tiandao Sect cannot even invite me."

With that, he ignored the woman entirely, flickered his body, and shot out.

If Lady Luo Xuan did not leave, the passage would vanish automatically in ten breaths.

Fairy Luo Hua saw Ding Huan leave and immediately rushed out after him.

The moment Ding Huan came out, his heart sank—a group of people were waiting outside.

Everyone who had come out of the Opening Heaven Battlefield was surrounded; clearly, everyone already knew about this.

That was strange. He swept his divine sense over everyone following him, and not a single one had a monitoring bracelet.

Most of them had Ascension Tokens, and Ascension Tokens don't have monitoring array patterns.

Monitoring bracelets are only given to cultivators above Nascent Soul who enter from the Cultivation World—how did these people know they had come out?

From Ding Huan's perception, those present were basically all Human Immortals and Earth Immortals.

If it really came to a fight, he could only run first and worry about the rest later.

"Haha, we've finally created a miracle in the Opening Heaven Battlefield—seventy or eighty people coming out of the Opening Heaven Battlefield in one go!"

A hearty burst of laughter rang out, and Ding Huan saw a white-haired man whose face was full of joy.

Ding Huan didn't recognize this person. Hu Wuxin stood at Ding Huan's side and promptly said:

"This is Senior Xiu Cang, Sect Master of the Questioning Artifact Sect. He commands great respect in the Ascension World."

"What Sect Master Xiu says is true. This time, someone being able to come out of the Opening Heaven Battlefield is absolutely a tremendous piece of good news for our Ascension World.

On behalf of the Ascension World, I invite everyone to attend this council meeting together. If in the future entering and leaving the Opening Heaven Battlefield becomes routine, then I believe the Opening Heaven Battlefield being completely opened is just around the corner.

There may even come a day when we can tread every corner of the Opening Heaven Battlefield."

A handsome, long-haired middle-aged man stepped forward, his tone impassioned and stirring.

Ding Huan almost doubted his own eyes—the man's words gave him the feeling that they came straight from the bottom of his heart.

Could there really be such a selfless, public-spirited person in the Ascension World?

"Ding Huan, this is Senior Yi Geng Qianxing, the Pagoda Immortal. It was Senior Yi who proposed entering the Opening Heaven Battlefield to seek its opportunities." Hu Wuxin once again spoke a word beside Ding Huan.

Yi Geng Qianxing clearly heard Hu Wuxin's words. He turned his head and nodded to Ding Huan and Hu Wuxin.

Ding Huan hadn't extended his divine sense, yet he could clearly feel a cold, sinister gaze fixed on him.

He swept his divine sense once and saw a thin, frail man with a sparse beard staring at him.

Ding Huan withdrew his divine sense. This guy's cultivation probably wasn't much weaker than Yi Geng Qianxing's.

Could this guy be Shi Qiqiu?

The name Ten Thousand Treasure City was really far too tacky, but the conference hall of Ten Thousand Treasure City's Opening Heaven Battlefield Mission Hall was decorated extremely lavishly.

Adding Ding Huan and the other seventy-five cultivators who had come out of the Opening Heaven Battlefield, there were nearly five hundred people in the conference hall.

Besides Yi Geng Qianxing and Xiu Cang, presiding over the meeting was a slender man with a face as fair as polished jade.

Ding Huan didn't use his divine sense—just a glance at this man with his eyes told him this guy was the true powerhouse.

He was probably an Earth Immortal powerhouse.

Yi Geng Qianxing was still very excited. He stood up and said:

"Actually, at the entrance to the Opening Heaven Battlefield, I was eager to know how all of you got out, but I only just now got around to asking.

That's because I know how important this is to our Ascension World… no, I should say, to our Triple Heaven Star Land…"

"Pagoda Immortal Yi, I have something I'd like to say first, if I may." The speaker was a fellow with a sparse beard.

The moment Ding Huan laid eyes on this guy, his stomach turned.

It was this creep who had been staring at him earlier. In his view, this guy was very likely Shi Qiqiu himself.

Yi Geng Qianxing hurriedly said:

"Dean Shi, please speak. I'm actually younger than you; it's only because I guard the Ascension Pagoda that everyone, out of affection, gave me the title of Pagoda Immortal. I truly don't deserve it."

Ding Huan thought to himself, so this creep really is Shi Qiqiu.

His divine sense swept across the entire hall, and once again he saw the woman named Liu Yinyu who had once been hunted by Shi Jiantian.

Her status seemed quite high as well—she was seated in the sect master's seat of a major sect.

Shi Qiqiu stood up, his tone carrying excitement and barely contained emotion:

"Actually, my feelings are the same as Pagoda Immortal Yi's—equally excited, equally eager to know whether our Ascension World entering the Opening Heaven Battlefield can become routine in the future.

But I know that only when we are united within, and root out certain scoundrels, can we venture into the Opening Heaven Battlefield without any worries, can we turn our backs to our fellow cultivators and let them fight with peace of mind."

"Dean Shi, if you have something to say, just get on with it. The matter of entering and leaving the Opening Heaven Battlefield today is the big event." Xiu Cang furrowed his brow and couldn't help cutting off Shi Qiqiu's words.

Clearly, he had always looked down on Shi Qiqiu somewhat.

Shi Qiqiu nodded, seemingly with great magnanimity:

"Fine. Before that, I want to expose a scoundrel who destroyed a life-saving sect, poisoned its elders to death, slaughtered every disciple in the sect, and then brazenly sits here—even becoming a sect master."

Everyone was stunned by Shi Qiqiu's words, and for a moment every gaze fell upon the sect master's seats.

There were at least two hundred sect master's seats in this great hall; although that many sect masters hadn't come, at least over a hundred had.

"Dean Shi, who is this person? I truly never imagined our Ascension World still had such a scoundrel."

Xiu Cang, who had been somewhat annoyed with Shi Qiqiu earlier, was once again the first to step forward and ask.

Clearly, he judged matters on their merits, not by the person.

Although he disliked Shi Qiqiu greatly, he could not tolerate such a thing happening in the Ascension World.

Shi Qiqiu suddenly pointed at Ding Huan, who had been sitting all along, and said:

"It's him. His name is Ding Huan. This man is not from our Ascension World, but from the Cultivation World.

He schemed to wipe out his original sect, Purple Mist Valley, then occupied Purple Mist Valley's territory and established a new sect.

He is the one who poisoned the sect elders to death and usurped the sect master's seat. This man is the absolute pinnacle of shamelessness. If we don't kill this man, when will our Triple Heaven Star Land ever be clean?"