Chapter 288: Nine Yuan

The mid-Earth Immortal woman recalled that Chong Jie had also been injured by a sneak attack earlier, so she hurriedly fled.

When she realized it was only some explosive talismans Ding Huan had set up, she knew she had been tricked.

"Enforcer Wei, they've escaped?" a shrill voice rang out.

The woman turned her head and saw four Earth Immortal experts from Li Yuancheng had already landed beside her.

At this moment she even suspected that Ding Huan and Fu Qijian's escape was not because they feared her, but because they feared these four Earth Immortal guardians of Li Yuancheng.

But how could that be? The experts from Li Yuancheng had come over without her even noticing—how could Ding Huan possibly have known?

Chong Jie had also caught up by now; he was seriously injured, so his movements were rather slow.

The woman did not continue the pursuit, but instead looked toward the location of the Kaitian Battlefield and said:

"We can't catch them. I was set up by them just now and let them get away. They've surely entered the Kaitian Battlefield by now; even if we chase, we won't catch them."

"What cunning ants," Chong Jie said hatefully.

"You head to Li Yuancheng first, the few of us will go to Two Realms City to investigate." That shrill voice rang out again, and the four of them swiftly fled, vanishing in no time.

"Enforcer Wei, when did Guardian Yan and the others arrive?" Chong Jie asked in a low voice.

The woman shook her head: "I don't know, and we don't need to worry about these matters. Once we get to Li Yuancheng and get the full story, we'll just record everything here word for word and bring it back."

The woman was not particularly angry, she merely said one bland sentence.

In her heart, however, she had developed a trace of wariness toward Ding Huan. Just now, it should have been the lower-cultivation cultivator who proposed leaving first.

……

Ding Huan stopped the Aurora Shuttle. Without even using his divine sense, he knew the woman from Li Yuancheng had not caught up.

In fact, even if she chased, she wouldn't be able to catch them.

He stopped because, once they reached this spot, his calculations showed it was very safe.

At the entrance to the Kaitian Battlefield, Ding Huan laid out formation flags as he asked:

"What kind of sect is Li Yuancheng?"

Fu Qijian shook his head:

"Li Yuancheng isn't a sect, it's a planet, called the Li Yuancheng Planet."

Ding Huan was even more astonished. A planet could actually send someone to be the city lord of Li Yuancheng, the most important city on the Third Layer Star Land?

Besides, just hearing the name Li Yuancheng, one could tell it was related to the Li Yuancheng Planet.

Fu Qijian said:

"The Third Layer Star Land actually isn't safe, because the Third Layer Star Land is too vast, and many places can directly interface with the cosmic void.

Cosmic vortices like the Hidden Sword Mountain aren't the only one on the Third Layer Star Land. The downside of this is that it easily attracts the covetous attention of surrounding planets.

On the periphery of the Third Layer Star Land, there are many savage beast planets, demon beast planets, and bug planets. A long time ago, the Third Layer Star Land was once invaded by countless demon bugs from a bug planet.

That time was extremely dangerous. All the cultivators of the Third Layer Star Land united as one, and under the leadership of Luo Bei, the number one figure of the Third Layer Star Land, they crushed the endless demon bugs and saved the Third Layer Star Land.

The people of Li Yuancheng came to the Third Layer Star Land at that time. Under the banner of helping the surrounding brother planets, they came to the Ascension Realm of the Third Layer Star Land and renamed the number one Grand Dao cultivation city Li Yuancheng…"

Fu Qijian sneered as he spoke to this point:

"Back then, plenty of short-sighted people in the Ascension Realm thought Li Yuancheng had come to help the Third Layer, so they tried their best to satisfy whatever Li Yuancheng demanded.

Do you know what the first thing Li Yuancheng did after arriving at the Third Layer Star Land?

They wiped out the then-number-one sect, the Great Tong Academy, and extracted the only half-immortal vein of the Third Layer Star Land, taking away the immortal artifact, the Great Tong Hammer."

Ding Huan asked in astonishment:

"I heard the Great Tong Academy was destroyed because of the Kaitian Battlefield."

Fu Qijian said dismissively:

"Such an absurd excuse can only fool those who don't know the inside story. Back then in the Ascension Realm, with the Great Tong Academy taking the lead, it was basically impossible for any absurd thing to happen.

Like the Changyan Academy wiping out the Yuanyang Tower, and us wiping out the Changyan Academy, and so on."

Once the Great Tong Academy was destroyed, the entire Ascension Realm was thrown into chaos with everyone fighting for themselves, and the number of experts dwindled more and more.

Before, the Earth Immortal experts in the Ascension Realm—without saying there were a thousand, there were at least a hundred or two.

Now, the Earth Immortal experts across the entire Third Layer Star Land, even on the surface, number no more than ten. Where did they go? If they weren't killed, they fled."

"Why flee?" Ding Huan was even more puzzled.

Fu Qijian explained:

"Because Li Yuancheng doesn't want too many experts to emerge from the Third Layer Star Land. If too many experts emerge, their control over the Third Layer Star Land would weaken.

Why did those late-Earth Immortal experts, unable to ascend, rush off to the Kaitian Battlefield? It was actually to avoid Li Yuancheng's experts.

My master told me that Li Yuancheng wants to control the Third Layer Star Land, but why they want to control it, my master didn't understand either.

Apart from wiping out the Great Tong Academy, the leading sect of the Third Layer Star Land, they didn't touch the other sects.

Not only that, every so often, they also recruit talented disciples above the Void God realm in Li Yuancheng City, and bring these disciples to the Li Yuancheng Planet to train them."

"So that's how it is." Ding Huan nodded secretly.

He also understood why the bugs from those planets and Li Yuancheng's experts were able to come to the Third Layer Star Land—it was because the Third Layer Star Land had no protective grand formation.

A planet without a protective grand formation is like a house without a front door; anyone can come in and take things.

"Let's go, we can enter the Kaitian Battlefield now." Ding Huan had already set up the surveillance formation.

"Is someone coming?" Fu Qijian asked, looking into the distance.

Ding Huan smiled:

"Just some unimportant person, she's got a lot on her plate. We should enter the Kaitian Battlefield as soon as possible, otherwise we'll waste another pile of time."

Ding Huan had long since seen who the person coming was—the muddle-headed woman from Tiandao Sect, Fairy Luo Jian.

Doesn't this woman know she has a grudge with him? How is it that he runs into her everywhere?

Fairy Luo Jian had just rushed to the outer perimeter of the Kaitian Battlefield when she saw Ding Huan and Fu Qijian unhurriedly walking into the Kaitian Battlefield.

"Ding Sect Master…" Fairy Luo Xian shouted, but Ding Huan could no longer hear her voice.

"There's a cold, murderous aura here — how could there be so many good things, even an earth-fire vein?"

Fu Qijian could not help voicing his doubt the moment he entered the Opening Heavens Battlefield.

Ding Huan shook his head:

"I don't know the origins of the Opening Heavens Battlefield, but the spirit veins inside here are truly plentiful."

"Where are we headed?" Fu Qijian asked.

Ding Huan said:

"I feel our strength isn't enough. I must advance one more step, and you must step into the Earth Immortal realm."

Originally Ding Huan hadn't felt this way, but after encountering those two Earth Immortal experts from Jiuyuan just now, the feeling grew even stronger.

The two Earth Immortal experts from Jiuyuan were, in terms of cultivation, only middling-to-lower among Earth Immortals. Even if he and Fu Qijian went all out, they could probably only handle two such people.

Once any greater danger appeared, they could only flee.

If he could step into the Star Domain realm and Fu Qijian could step into the Earth Immortal realm, even if they ran into late-stage Earth Immortals, the two of them could handle it with ease.

"I have spirit veins on me — pick a place and continue closed-door cultivation?" Hearing Ding Huan say he wanted to cultivate for a while, Fu Qijian was overjoyed.

Cultivating alone, his progress was extremely slow; once he cultivated together with Ding Huan, his progress would be much faster.

Ding Huan waved a hand: "No need. I know a place that's not bad. Let me set down some imprints first, then we'll head there to cultivate."

What Ding Huan was referring to was the location of those one hundred and eight spirit veins.

It wasn't that he couldn't gather one hundred and eight spirit veins, but that the placement of those one hundred and eight spirit veins was extremely particular.

Ding Huan felt that, at least up to now, he still hadn't figured out how these spirit veins had been laid out.

A day later, Ding Huan had set several Dao-rhyme imprints at the entrance of the Opening Heavens Battlefield, and planted a section of seabed azure crystal bearing his own imprint, before taking Fu Qijian to Spirit Source Valley.

With no Qi Refining cultivators slowing them down this time, the soul soldiers along the way posed no threat whatsoever to Ding Huan and Fu Qijian.

It took only six days before Ding Huan and Fu Qijian stood outside Spirit Source Valley.

"There's nothing special here either?" Fu Qijian asked, puzzled.

Ding Huan frowned slightly, then said: "Something's off. It feels as if something happened here."

Having said that, Ding Huan stepped into Spirit Source Valley first.

"So many high-grade spirit veins?" Fu Qijian stepped into Spirit Source Valley right behind Ding Huan.

From outside nothing could be seen, but the moment one stepped into the heart of this concealment array, the spiritual energy of Spirit Source Valley and those one hundred and eight high-grade spirit veins could be clearly felt.

Looking at the completely empty Spirit Source Valley, Ding Huan was all the more certain that something had happened here.

Half an hour later, Ding Huan picked up a dead insect.

This insect was the size of a fist, with not only a sharp mouthpart but also razor-sharp claws.

"I've seen records of this kind of insect — it seems to be called a Void-Devouring Insect, extremely fearsome. Even a ninth-tier array can be easily bitten open by these insects."

Fu Qijian looked at the insect in Ding Huan's hand, his facial expression turned grave as he spoke.

Ding Huan looked up at those one hundred and eight high-grade spirit veins, then swept his divine sense once more around the valley before saying:

"Earlier there were several hundred people cultivating here; now not a single person remains. I reckon those people are more likely dead than alive. And this insect — it's very likely it escaped from within this seal."

"This is a seal?" Fu Qijian looked up at those one hundred and eight high-grade spirit veins suspended in the air.

Ding Huan nodded:

"Yes, and not just any seal — a top-tier seal. After I left last time, another expert must have come here, and this expert attacked these one hundred and eight veins.

Although he couldn't take the spirit veins either, he seems to have torn apart some of the array foundations.

The array foundations can self-repair, but I'm worried these insects got through the seal and into here before the foundations could mend."

Ding Huan quickly made his decision:

"Qijian, let's cultivate here for a while first. When we leave, I'll seal this place up with a concealment array so it won't be seen by others."

"Alright." Fu Qijian nodded.

He understood Ding Huan's meaning — if experts kept attacking this place, even a seal that could repair itself would eventually be blasted apart.

Their cultivation wouldn't be a problem; the Spirit Source Grand Array laid out by one hundred and eight high-grade spirit veins had almost completely fused with this patch of space.

The spiritual energy they absorbed would quickly be replenished.