Chapter 293

293. Chapter 290: The Valley Master Steps onto the Immortal-Fanqiao

Xun Youshan picked up Zhenghe Yiquan's ring, but instead of keeping it, he handed it to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan waved his hand: "Whoever killed him gets the ring."

Earlier, he and Fu Qijian had destroyed the Changyan Academy, and he had taken all the rings and spiritual veins inside—none of it went to Fu Qijian.

The rings of the several human-immortal cultivators outside the Changyan Academy and the Li Yuancheng city master were taken by Fu Qijian, and he didn't give any to Ding Huan either.

No one ever bothered counting such things.

Ding Huan knew Fu Qijian didn't need resources from him, and Fu Qijian knew that if Ding Huan received the rings he collected, Ding Huan wouldn't accept them.

"Haha, then I'll take the advantage." Xun Youshan put away the ring, his mood greatly lifted.

Zhenghe Yiquan had come from a path no wider than average, but Ding Huan was startled to see, after passing through a defensive array, that both sides of the path were lined with lush trees and low-grade spiritual herbs.

This was the first sign of life since entering the Opening Heaven Battlefield.

The path stretched at least dozens of li, and everywhere was sealed by flight-prohibiting restrictions.

No wonder Zhenghe Yiquan took some time to find them after spotting them.

One, he couldn't fly; two, he knew no one who entered could leave, so he came slowly, unhurried.

"There's a high-grade life-infused artifact here," Shan Beishu said, his gaze fixed on the green trees along the path.

Xun Youshan chuckled: "Just a replica of a Life Disc—the valley master's artifact."

"There's a valley master here?" Ding Huan was surprised.

Xun Youshan said:

"Of course there's a valley master—the valley master is Wu Zhanxia.

He wasn't the first to come here, but his strength became the greatest, and he seized this valley's dao cultivation ground.

Wu Zhanxia sensed this place held divine fortune, so he simply refused to leave and settled down here.

After settling, he felt the life force here was insufficient, so he used his Life Disc to construct the life rules of this place."

"What does that mean?" Ding Huan was even more confused.

He understood what it meant to use a Life Disc to construct life rules.

The life here clearly lacked something indescribable; though the plants' vitality wasn't simulated, it was strictly limited.

What Ding Huan didn't understand was why someone would settle down here.

Once you entered here, you couldn't leave—Xun Youshan implied Wu Zhanxia could leave, yet chose not to?

Xun Youshan understood Ding Huan's meaning and chuckled: "Most who enter can't leave, but some can—they simply don't want to.

Even if I'm wrong, I'm certain one person can leave with absolute certainty."

"Wu Zhanxia?" Ding Huan asked.

Xun Youshan nodded again: "Perhaps by the time we arrived here, Wu Zhanxia already knew—this entire place is covered in surveillance arrays."

Ding Huan didn't care: "He doesn't know."

Xun Youshan froze, then seemed to understand something, and fell silent.

He understood Ding Huan's meaning.

He had witnessed Ding Huan's domain before—it was uniquely formidable.

With such a powerful domain, if Ding Huan also mastered array arts, he could easily shield this place from surveillance arrays.

Their pace was neither fast nor slow.

In just a quarter-hour, they stopped before a restriction.

It was a shielding array, of low rank.

"I have the array control tablet," Xun Youshan said, reaching for Zhenghe Yiquan's ring.

He didn't have a control tablet himself, but Zhenghe Yiquan surely did.

Ding Huan chuckled:

"No need."

He raised his hand and swept it— the shielding array offered no resistance as Ding Huan tore it open.

After tearing open the shielding array, Ding Huan stepped directly through.

"Something's off here…" Shan Beishu stopped, his voice filled with excitement.

Ding Huan felt nothing unusual—he looked at Shan Beishu in confusion; there didn't seem to be danger.

Shan Beishu exclaimed:

"Ding Huan, here you can sense the dao rhythm of the Immortal-Fanqiao! I understand now why these people don't want to leave—they can cultivate the Immortal-Fanqiao's dao rhythm here…"

Ding Huan frowned. Could you sense the Immortal-Fanqiao's dao rhythm in the Fourth Sea's depths? That sounded implausible.

"Old Xun, in all these years here, has anyone ascended to the Immortal World?" Ding Huan asked immediately.

Xun Youshan shook his head:

"No—at least, I've never heard of it. If someone had ascended, word should've spread."

"Then let's just ask," Shan Beishu said, still excited.

At this moment, he even wanted to settle down here—being able to sense the Immortal-Fanqiao's dao rhythm meant he could potentially reach the realm beyond Earth Immortal.

Ding Huan said calmly: "No need to ask—they'll come to us themselves."

While they spoke, a man and a woman rushed over quickly.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense swept the area without restraint.

He hadn't come here to be polite—if that's the case, why be cautious?

He didn't know if this place truly allowed cultivation of the Immortal-Fanqiao, but the spiritual energy here was unquestionably extremely high—an ideal place for seclusion and cultivation.

If Shan Beishu was right—that one could indeed sense the Immortal-Fanqiao's dao rhythm beyond Earth Immortal—even he wanted to settle here and cultivate.

Where Ding Huan's spiritual sense reached, there were small courtyards, above which spiritual energy vortices continuously swirled.

It was clear at a glance that these vortices marked where someone was cultivating.

In Ding Huan's perception, this place had once hosted at least a Superior Starry Spirit Vein and an Ultimate Spirit Vein.

"Ding Huan, have you noticed that here, your spiritual sense isn't restrained?" Fu Qijian said.

Ding Huan retracted his Star Domain, and upon realizing everyone else's spiritual sense could still extend freely, he knew Fu Qijian was right.

If spiritual sense here wasn't restrained, then he had lost his advantage.

"Is that you, kid?" The woman was another person Ding Huan knew—the Crowskin Old Hag.

Last time, it was this Crowskin Old Hag and Zhenghe Yiquan who tried to block him, but Ding Huan slipped away.

This time, Zhenghe Yiquan had already been slain by Xun Youshan, yet the Crowskin Old Hag remained unharmed.

"Hah! Last time you got away. This time you dare enter the valley? I, Chen Xiaomei, will see just how far you can run!"

No sooner had the Crowskin Old Hag finished speaking than she reached out to grab Ding Huan.

Indeed, her attack this time was far stronger than before.

The moment her hand extended, the space seemed entirely locked—Ding Huan, trapped beneath it, felt his breath grow labored.

Ding Huan wasn't even startled; he merely sighed and said:

"Your name's made me unable to eat for days."

Such a Crowskin Old Hag bearing the name Chen Xiaomei seemed absurd.

Chen Xiaomei paid no heed to Ding Huan's words and kept reaching for him.

Xun Youshan still wanted to act, but this time Shan Beishu gave him no chance—he stood firm and punched forward.

Seeing Shan Beishu strike, Ding Huan knew Chen Xiaomei was vastly inferior to him.

That didn't make sense—Chen Xiaomei was also a Ground Immortal of Late Stage.

Even if Shan Beishu's lineage was stronger than Chen Xiaomei's, it shouldn't grant him such overwhelming superiority.

Chen Xiaomei's realm should be Ground Immortal Late Stage; here, her power couldn't have diminished.

Yet Shan Beishu's punch carried clear Dao resonance—his fist shattered Chen Xiaomei's fist-space outright.

Boom!

Shan Beishu's punch struck Chen Xiaomei's fist-space; her space offered no resistance at all and collapsed instantly.

Chen Xiaomei's face changed—she realized she'd underestimated him; now, utterly trapped beneath Shan Beishu's punch, she had no escape.

Ding Huan watched their clash, even more puzzled.

Not only was there no restriction on spiritual sense here, but one could even perceive the Dao resonance of the Immortal-Fanqiao, a realm higher than Ground Immortal. Even a Ground Immortal pig that had dwelled here for years should be stronger than Shan Beishu.

Even granting the worst-case scenario, Chen Xiaomei shouldn't be weaker than Shan Beishu—much less this drastically weaker?

Was there something wrong here?

He hadn't granted Shan Beishu any domain enhancement just now.

As Chen Xiaomei was about to be obliterated by the punch, a massive handprint descended, effortlessly dissolving Shan Beishu's fist-potential.

Shan Beishu's eyes flashed with disbelief; he swiftly retreated several steps and stood beside Ding Huan.

Someone could dissolve his punch with a handprint—this technique was an instant kill.

The moment that handprint appeared, the gap between him and the newcomer was greater than the gap between Chen Xiaomei and him.

Had the newcomer not only ascended to the Immortal-Fanqiao, but even severed his mortal roots?

Not only Shan Beishu, but Xun Youshan and Fu Qijian too stared at the sky in shock.

A gray-robed man stepped down from empty space and landed beside Chen Xiaomei.

After him, five more figures rushed forward and landed beside the gray-robed man.

All five were Ground Immortals.

"We bow to the Valley Master, grateful for your rescue," Chen Xiaomei bowed deeply.

"You've come to my Four-Reach Sea Strait Valley to kill and establish dominance?" the gray-robed man said coolly.

Shan Beishu drew a deep breath—he knew today, none of them might leave alive.

This man was simply too strong.

Ding Huan had been pondering one question: why was Chen Xiaomei so much weaker than Shan Beishu?

Only when the gray-robed man stepped down from empty space, and his handprint stunned Shan Beishu and filled Xun Youshan and Fu Qijian with dread, did Ding Huan finally understand where the problem lay.