Chapter 354

354. Chapter 351: Returning to the Fourfold Sea Strait Valley

Hearing this, Liu Yinyu looked at Ding Huan in surprise: "You kill people without hesitation—why wait for me to reach Earth Immortal to kill her?"

Ding Huan smiled faintly: "Don't worry—your target is at most a Star Realm cultivator right now."

"Who is it?" Liu Yinyu couldn't help asking.

Ding Huan said: "A traitor has emerged from my Blue Star Sect—her name is Mo Huaping, a disciple of Liu Yinzhu. I suspect that after I left the Blue Star Sect, she would definitely return."

"Liu Zongzhu might be too soft—he'd at most expel her disciple. Since I'm not in the sect, she won't kill Mo Huaping. And this disciple of hers is no easy mark—she'll surely take the chance to ambush Liu Zongzhu."

"I'm afraid that by the time I reach the Blue Star Sect, she won't dare show her face there again," Liu Yinyu said nervously.

Ding Huan laughed heartily: "That's certain—so you must enter the Blue Star Sect as a disciple."

Saying this, Ding Huan handed Liu Yinyu another ring: "This ring contains cultivation resources, a jade token confirming your status as a Blue Star Sect disciple, and a teleportation array talisman to Zangjian Mountain."

"Before you kill Mo Huaping, don't reveal your status as Supreme Elder—you can cultivate at Zangjian Mountain."

Inside the ring Ding Huan gave Liu Yinyu, he left a pile of cultivation resources, various talismans, and several disguise masks.

He chose Liu Yinyu because she must be blood-related to Liu Yinzhu, and she's meticulous in her actions.

If someone else killed Mo Huaping, they might create a rift with Liu Yinzhu.

But Liu Yinyu killing her won't.

Even if Mo Huaping is Liu Yinzhu's disciple, can she be closer than Liu Yinyu?

More importantly, Ding Huan believed Mo Huaping would never go to the Blue Star Sect alone.

Judging from how she manipulated Old Six and used Qing Yu, this woman would bring a powerful ally if she went to the Blue Star Sect.

That ally would likely overpower the strongest cultivator in the Blue Star Sect—probably a Human Immortal.

As for Earth Immortals, Ding Huan was certain Mo Huaping couldn't persuade one to come.

Even if she did, as long as Liu Yinyu held the opponent in check, Liu Yinzhu would have enough time to activate the measures Ding Huan left behind.

Originally, Ding Huan planned to ask Lin Yuqi for help, but then he remembered that the Blue Star Sect was still a symbolic sect of the Third Heaven Star Continent.

If a traitor emerged and they had to hire an outsider to deal with it, that would be too humiliating.

"Zongzhu, rest assured—I guarantee I'll carry out your instructions," Liu Yinyu said firmly.

"Good. I'm entering the Opening Heaven Battlefield. The jade token in your ring for joining the Blue Star Sect isn't just one—it's ten. Your disciple Han Xiaonü is a decent person—you could let her join the Blue Star Sect too."

Ding Huan finally felt at ease.

Hearing Ding Huan mention Han Xiaonü, Liu Yinyu's heart stirred.

Could Ding Huan be interested in this disciple of hers? If he was, it would be a tremendous opportunity for Xiaonü.

It wasn't surprising—after all, Xiaonü was known as the Most Beautiful Woman of the Ascension Realm.

Seeing Ding Huan and Liu Yinyu finish their conversation, Jia Baihe slipped beside Ding Huan and whispered softly:

"Ding Huan, why didn't you kill Mu Chengzi while you had the chance? Why invite him here? After you sent me that message last time, he did come to me."

Ding Huan smiled: "I feel I can't kill him yet—you'll understand the reason later."

"Mm." Jia Baihe didn't ask further.

Ding Huan knew this was the difference between Jia Baihe and Senior Ji Gu and the others.

Even if Senior Ji Gu and the others suspected Mu Chengzi, they wouldn't remind him to kill him—they knew he had his reasons for not doing so.

He indeed had a reason for not killing Mu Chengzi—he had once made a divination.

After he killed Mu Chengzi and led a group into the Fourfold Sea Strait Valley, they couldn't break through Wu Zhanxia's Daoist Realm.

The protective array there was no longer the fragile one he'd torn apart last time.

Whatever guarded Wu Zhanxia's Daoist Realm, his group had attacked it relentlessly for a full month.

After a month, the place hadn't weakened a bit—it had grown even stronger.

Ding Huan suspected only two possibilities: either there was a celestial array beyond the Daoist realm there,

or Wu Zhanxia possessed a top-tier treasure, like his iron pot.

If such a treasure, maintained by someone, protected the Daoist Realm, then yes—they simply couldn't break through.

So he couldn't kill Mu Chengzi now—he needed Mu Chengzi to guide them into the Daoist Realm at the bottom of the Fourfold Sea Strait Valley.

…

Ding Huan didn't know that Liu Yinyu had misinterpreted his words and assumed he was interested in Han Xiaonü.

After giving instructions to Liu Yinyu, he entered the Opening Heaven Battlefield with Cen Xuan, Cang Yongqian, Jia Baihe, Mu Chengzi, Qi Yonghan, and Senior Ji Gu.

"Zongzhu, shall we head straight to the Fourfold Sea?" Mu Chengzi, feeling nervous, quickly asked.

Ding Huan smiled at Mu Chengzi: "No rush to reach the Fourfold Sea. Cen Xuan, lead the way—we'll visit the Sky-Piercing Iron Pillar first."

"Just follow me," Cen Xuan said, then walked ahead.

She clearly remembered the exact location of the Sky-Piercing Iron Pillar—she didn't even need to consult a directional jade slip.

Ding Huan and the others followed closely behind Cen Xuan.

The weakest among them was Ding Huan himself—the rest were all Earth Immortal Peak cultivators.

So as they flew forward, the soul soldiers couldn't even get close, let alone engage in battle.

Cen Xuan and Cang Yongqian led the way; Senior Ji Gu and Qi Yonghan followed in the middle; then came Mu Chengzi and Jia Baihe.

Ding Huan had clearly stated he would stay at the rear, and Jia Baihe insisted on staying with him, leaving Mu Chengzi to walk just ahead of her.

Ever since Ding Huan had subjugated the Ascension Tower, Mu Chengzi had felt a growing unease.

He'd wanted to linger at the back and find a chance to desert the group.

In the Opening Heaven Battlefield, who would find him if he left?

But Ding Huan had insisted on staying at the rear, ruining his plan.

Not to mention Ding Huan—even facing Jia Baihe, he felt a chill in his heart.

Ding Huan stayed behind to keep an eye on Mu Chengzi.

He always felt that after he took the Ascension Tower, Mu Chengzi seemed reluctant to enter the Opening Heaven Battlefield.

Now that he's come in, we must watch him even more closely.

With the speed of Ding Huan and the others, they had rushed for nearly half a month before Cen Huan finally stopped.

Ding Huan saw from afar—it was indeed a colossal iron pillar.

The pillar slanted into the ground, extending upward into the void, where even divine sense could not reach.

The underground portion was equally beyond the reach of divine sense.

The soil within several zhang around the pillar was yellowish-brown, unlike anywhere else.

In the Opening Heaven Battlefield, most soil is gray-brown; yellowish-brown earth is extremely rare.

"This iron pillar—we've attacked it, but it had no effect at all. Divine sense cannot penetrate it," Cen Huan said, pointing to the pillar.

Ding Huan had already constructed a Zhou Tian of the Great Cosmos Art; just one Zhou Tian told him he had no ability to move this pillar.

His Great Cosmos Art Zhou Tian could not touch the pillar in the slightest.

But he always felt he remembered this iron pillar, though no associated events came to mind—many memories in the hide scroll could not be retrieved.

"I have an idea: we set up a grand array, each of us stands on one side, and we all strike the pillar simultaneously with our greatest divine arts. I believe that if we keep going, we'll eventually uncover the pillar's origin."

Mu Chengzi voiced his opinion again.

Ding Huan waved his hand: "No need. This iron pillar is beyond our current ability to move. Let's go to the Fourfold Sea."

This time, Ding Huan summoned his iron pot.

"Lord Ding, flying artifacts probably can't fly here—some areas have spatial dislocations."

Seeing Ding Huan about to fly to the Fourfold Sea, Mu Chengzi hurried to warn him.

He vaguely sensed something was off; he felt Cen Huan and Cang Yongqian were wary of him.

As for Senior Ji Gu, she had always been cold toward him—he didn't care.

But seeing Ding Huan showed him not the slightest suspicion, and since this group followed Ding Huan as their leader, he thought he was imagining things.

How old could Ding Huan possibly be? In his view, Ding Huan's talent was top-tier, and his age certainly didn't exceed fifty.

A cultivator in his fifties was like a sprout in the Daoist world. He didn't believe Ding Huan suspected him—how could he hide it so completely?

"Don't worry. My intuition is good—I won't hit any spatial dislocations."

Ding Huan waved his hand dismissively.

Could this old fellow Mu Chengzi be trying to ditch us? That won't do.

Mu Chengzi came here with a mission—how could he run away?

Ding Huan wasn't boasting: the iron pot flew rapidly through the Opening Heaven Battlefield for four days without encountering any spatial dislocations.

Four days later, they arrived at the Fourfold Sea.

After spending several more days beneath the Fourfold Sea, they reached the edge of the Fourfold Sea Canyon.

"I'll go down first," Mu Chengzi volunteered.

Ding Huan waved his hand: "No need. Everyone, descend on my ship."

Saying this, Ding Huan summoned his ship. Mu Chengzi had no choice—Ding Huan's domain could resist the airspace prohibition here, a universally acknowledged fact.

Less than an hour later, the ship landed at the bottom of the Fourfold Sea Canyon.

"Wu Zhanxia must know we're here," Cang Yongqian said.

"It's normal if he does," Ding Huan said, leading the way toward the narrow path leading into the deeper Daoist district.

The sides of this path teemed with life, utterly unlike the lifeless Opening Heaven Battlefield.

The first time he came here, Ding Huan could only sense that this vitality was simulated—he didn't fully understand how.

Now that he had ascended to the Star River Realm, upon arriving here, he immediately sensed that this vitality was indeed, as Xun Youshan had said, generated by a vitality artifact.

He could even detect the artifact's location—it lay at the deepest point of the Daoist district.

Soon, the group reached the entrance to the protective array of the Daoist district.

"I'll open the array," Mu Chengzi volunteered again.

Ding Huan smiled: "Friend Mu, I'll do it—I opened it last time."

Hearing Ding Huan's words, Mu Chengzi exhaled in relief—if Ding Huan intended to use him, he would never have refused Mu Chengzi opening the array.

Now, apart from him, no one else could actually call this array open.