Chapter 351: The Secret of the Cold Ghoul

A piercing scream rang out: "I'll tell, I'll tell, I know about the Ascension…"

Ding Huan's flame was a law-flame; Ding Huan himself was a Star River Realm powerhouse, and in terms of strength classification for the Threefold Heaven Starlands, his power surpassed even the Immortal-Fanqiao.

Thrown with such power, this Cold Ghoul could not withstand three breaths—before it could finish a single sentence, it was utterly reduced to ash.

Ding Huan opened his hand, and hundreds of rings fell into his palm—all trophies taken from this Cold Ghoul.

After killing the Cold Ghoul, Ding Huan finally noticed a hidden suppression array here.

His spiritual sense touched it, and it turned out to be a natural suppression array.

Ding Huan raised his hand and tore open this natural suppression array, revealing within a spirit herb he did not recognize.

This spirit herb stood only three feet tall, bearing seven blossoms.

They were called seven blossoms, not seven flowers, because they truly could not be described as "flowers"—each one resembled a six-pointed star.

They resembled flowers in shape, with stamens and petals, yet their form was like fruit.

Since he didn't recognize it, Ding Huan simply transplanted the blossom into his small world.

Though the iron cauldron was also a space, its interior was utterly lifeless, nowhere near as vibrant as the small world he had taken from Lou Yunsheng.

The moment the blossom was transplanted into the small world, Ding Huan saw it begin to wither.

Ding Huan quickly pulled out the yin vein beneath it and planted it beneath the herb.

Indeed, the moment the yin vein was implanted, the herb instantly regained its vitality.

After scanning with his spiritual sense and confirming there was nothing else here, Ding Huan sent his small world into the iron cauldron space.

The iron cauldron had always existed within the Dao Universe of his consciousness, so placing it within the iron cauldron space was the safest option.

As for the ring on his finger, it was merely an ordinary ring.

…

Even Ding Huan himself had not expected that when he arrived at Wanbao City, Qi Gu and the others had not yet arrived.

The iron cauldron was simply too fast, and he had handled affairs in the Great Gorge Canyon with equal speed, arriving ahead of schedule.

"Hah! Master Ding's speed is even faster than ours," came Mu Chengzi's voice from afar.

Immediately, several airships rapidly approached.

If Ding Huan were here, they would all ride his airship; if Ding Huan were not here, each would summon their own flying treasure.

Primarily because Mu Chengzi had made them distrustful.

Ding Huan laughed: "I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. Since everyone has arrived, let's not waste time."

"Master Ding, I also wish to accompany you to the Open Heaven Battlefield," Lin Yuqi said, having hesitated all along, now unable to hold back as Ding Huan prepared to leave.

Ding Huan paused a moment, then said: "Master Lin, your cultivation is Earth Immortal Fourth Layer—I do not recommend you enter the Open Heaven Battlefield…"

He then pulled out a stack of talismans and handed them to Lin Yuqi: "Master Lin, when you reach Earth Immortal Peak, you may enter the Open Heaven Battlefield, then go to the Fourfold Sea Gorge."

"Ding Huan, entering alone makes it hard to escape," Cen Huan couldn't help reminding him.

Ding Huan smiled, pointing to the talismans in Lin Yuqi's hand: "These talismans I gave Master Lin are all teleportation talismans."

"In any location within the Open Heaven Battlefield, one talisman can teleport you out—you won't need to find an exit and activate a gate array like we did before."

Lin Yuqi was stunned by Ding Huan's words, then exclaimed in awe: "Master Ding, these are Level Nine teleportation talismans?"

Only Level Nine teleportation talismans could teleport out of the Open Heaven Battlefield.

Ding Huan nodded: "You could call them Level Nine teleportation talismans, but ordinary Level Nine teleportation talismans cannot achieve what mine can."

Each teleportation talisman he gave Lin Yuqi carried the Great Universe Teleportation Law.

Though he had not yet comprehended Space Law, after stepping into the Star River Realm, he could already apply these laws preliminarily.

"Sigh, I've spent my whole life refining artifacts, yet I've never reached Master Ding's level," Mu Chengzi sighed.

"Thank you, Master Ding. Please rest assured—so long as I live, the Nine Yuan incident will never repeat itself on the Threefold Heaven Starlands," Lin Yuqi bowed deeply.

He guessed Ding Huan's intent—he likely hoped Lin Yuqi would do something for the Threefold Heaven Starlands and keep watch over the Blue Star Sect.

Ding Huan nodded: "Do what can be done; if it cannot be done, then don't do it."

Hearing this, Lin Yuqi felt a deep sense of goodwill toward Ding Huan.

It was not a command to die blindly for the Threefold Heaven Starlands—if one day he truly could not turn the tide, he could leave freely.

Ding Huan hesitated, wondering how to ask Lin Yuqi to guard the Blue Star Sect for a while.

He wasn't certain when Mo Huiping would arrive at the Blue Star Sect—she had incited Old Six to cause trouble and had even taught Qing Yu the Small Universe Art; she was no good person.

Even if she returned to the Blue Star Sect, she would never come alone.

Old Six was no longer on the Threefold Heaven Starlands—he was most likely with Mo Huiping.

At that moment, Yi Qianxing suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

As everyone turned to him, he hurled a crystal ball: "Everyone, the Ascension Ring on the Ascension Tower has reopened."

Yi Qianxing had once been the Tower Immortal of the Ascension Realm—he had watched over the Ascension Tower.

It was precisely because the Ascension Ring on the tower had ceased appearing that Shan Beishu, Cen Huan, Cang Yongqian, and others had successively entered the Open Heaven Battlefield.

He himself had entered the Open Heaven Battlefield only after leaving the Ascension Tower and joining forces with Lin Yuqi.

"Let's go take a look," Ding Huan had always suspected the Ascension Ring, but he had been too busy—mostly either cultivating or traveling.

Now that he had a rare moment of free time, just before heading to the Open Heaven Battlefield, and the Ascension Ring had appeared, he naturally had to investigate.

Almost the instant he finished speaking, he received a message from Liu Yinyu.

Liu Yinyu had also seen the Ascension Ring reappear on the Ascension Tower.

Ding Huan immediately summoned the iron cauldron, and everyone entered it.

Less than an hour later, the iron cauldron halted outside the Ascension Tower.

After Yi Qianxing left the Ascension Tower, the tower had been sealed by a protective array.

Standing outside the Ascension Tower, everyone could clearly see the Ascension Ring upon it.

Even if blocked by the protective array, all could sense a Dao qi surpassing that of a Earth Immortal, and within it, an ethereal Dao rhythm.

"Lord Ding, Elder Ji, Elder Cang, Elder Cen, Elder Qi, Elder Mu, Lord Lin…"

Liu Yinyu was clearly not far away; she arrived just as Ding Huan did. But since her seniority was low, she had to greet each person in turn.

She did not know Ge Baihe, so she did not greet her.

Before ascending to the Star River realm, Ding Huan had only a vague understanding of bloodline laws.

Now that he had ascended to the Star River realm, whenever he saw Liu Yinyu again, he felt even more strongly that she was connected to Liu Yinzhu.

"I'll open the protective array." Geng Qianxing stepped forward first and fully activated the Ascension Tower's protective array.

Ding Huan and the others walked into the Ascension Tower.

The Ascension Tower stood about a hundred zhang tall; at its very top was an Ascension Altar.

Generally speaking, the Ascension Ring appears upon the Ascension Altar.

Ding Huan's group arrived at the outer edge of the Ascension Altar; as they neared the Ascension Ring, they felt an ever-stronger sensation of Dao rhythm cleansing them.

That Dao rhythm, surpassing the Earth Immortal realm, could be clearly sensed even by a cultivator who had just entered the cultivation realm.

"It really is the Ascension Ring," Cen Huan exclaimed excitedly.

She had come here twice, but both times she had failed to encounter the Ascension Ring.

"Now one person may ascend," Mu Chengzi said.

Geng Qianxing nodded: "The Ascension Ring can only allow one person to ascend at a time."

All fell silent. At least six Earth Immortal peak cultivators were present—who would get this slot?

Every gaze fell upon Ding Huan; clearly, who received the slot depended on his decision.

Ding Huan stared at the Ascension Ring for a long while, then suddenly spoke: "What do you all believe is the minimum requirement to ascend from the Dao Cultivation World to the Immortal World?"

"I think it must be the Immortal-Fanqiao realm," came the unexpected answer—Mu Chengzi was the first to respond.

Ding Huan was not at all surprised that Mu Chengzi answered first.

Why had Mu Chengzi followed Wu Zhanxia? Wasn't it because Wu Zhanxia could help him find an Immortal destiny and ascend to the Immortal World?

If so, then whether Mu Chengzi or Wu Zhanxia, they must have long studied the minimum requirement for ascending to the Immortal World: one must reach the Immortal-Fanqiao realm.

Ding Huan smiled: "I agree with Brother Mu—the minimum requirement to ascend to the Immortal World is the Immortal-Fanqiao realm. In my Three Heavens Star Continent, cultivators of the Immortal-Fanqiao realm are exceedingly rare. If that's true, then this Ascension Ring is most peculiar."

Ding Huan suspected the Ascension Ring was connected to him—it appeared right after he killed the Han Ba.

"Ding Huan, are you saying this Ascension Ring is fake?" Cen Huan asked urgently.

She had been the one most desperate to ascend to the Immortal World through the Ascension Ring.

Ding Huan did not directly answer Cen Huan, but said: "Not long ago, I went to a place and killed a Han Ba—a true, solid Level Seven Great Corpse."

As the Han Ba was dying, it said it held a great secret—but before it could finish, I killed it.

Now I understand what secret it meant to reveal.

When Ding Huan killed the Han Ba, it had spoken of a secret involving ascension…

But the Han Ba had only uttered the word "ascension" before he slew it; now he realized, "ascension" very likely referred to this Ascension Ring.

The secret the Han Ba meant to reveal was this—otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? He killed the Han Ba, and right after, the Ascension Ring appeared.