Chapter 49

Afterwards, Chen Yi He only then knew that this life‑taking bell sound was called the "Thousand‑Layer Bell," but it would never actually ring a thousand times.

"Twenty‑six, twenty‑seven… twenty‑nine, thirty." Chen Yi He counted as he rushed, about thirty beats, roughly thirty seconds.

When he leapt high, stepped on a fake mountain, climbed over an old tree, and landed before the nine‑step white jade staircase, the bell stopped.

That feeling was really like when the class bell finishes, you rush to the classroom door, the teacher is already there, and the students are still outside, and then they will have to stand out there for an entire lesson…

Chen Yi He panted as he climbed the steps, seeing the other nine disciples and seven elders already assembled, he sheepishly rubbed his head, "Sorry…"

"Boom!" The Seventh Elder struck Chen Yi He from afar with a palm; in the elder's view, too much explanation is useless!

Chen Yi He fell back down to the ground below the nine‑step white jade staircase, rolling on the ground as if being fried in oil, looking extremely painful…

"Is this the punishment?" Tie Yi muttered. His question was also that of the other nine disciples.

They had all witnessed Chen Yi He's strength; seeing him curl and roll on the ground, they felt a certain dread, wondering if they could endure such a palm strike themselves.

This pain seemed to emanate from Chen Yi He's very core, spreading through his whole body; although it was only a single palm, it left him unable to stand.

The Seventh Elder slowly walked to the entrance, addressing Chen Yi He outside and the disciples inside, saying, "This is the punishment; next time it won't be just a simple palm." A cold warning.

Chen Yi He, miserable, took a long time to rise; everyone waited as he held the staircase rail, step by step, pulling himself up, "I live so far away…"

"So you think the numbers are useless? The larger the number, the weaker you are, and the harder you must work compared to others." The Seventh Elder looked down on Chen Yi He, as if gazing at a dizzy ant.

Chen Yi He exerted great effort to stand alongside his companions, his tardiness having wasted everyone's time, "Sorry…"

"You're wasting my time." Said the Young Palace Master.

Chen Yi He froze, but couldn't say anything.

The other six elders rose together, standing in a line with the Seventh Elder.

All seven elders simultaneously exerted force, just like yesterday when they released a circular barrier at Guiyan Tower; seven streams of true qi shot toward the outer nine‑step white jade staircase.

"Boom—boom…" Like a movie scene of opening a coffin or tomb, a crack finer than a thread appeared in the middle of the white jade steps, and their true qi rushed into it.

Soon, the crack widened as the true qi filled it, growing larger, and a complex aura surged forth.

Everyone smelled a pungent bloody odor and a grave‑like chill; it was the scent of fresh blood mixed with damp earth! Peering into the crack, inside was pitch black, nothing visible.

Listening closely, one could almost hear ghostly, resentful wails!

Chen Yi He's body trembled involuntarily; who could imagine that beneath the magnificent Thousand‑Layer Gate lay such a thing?

Is this a graveyard? But why can't we see anything below, even the blazing sunlight can't penetrate!

"The first ring of the Thousand‑Layer Bell means you, like those before you, must enter six months of slumber," the Seventh Elder told the ten disciples.

The other six elders sat back down in their own seats.

It seems those before also had to choose slumber; refusing meant death, and even in slumber one could die.

Chen Yi He's chest still ached faintly; he hadn't expected the Seventh Elder to strike so hard, only now realizing the elder was actually young, about the same age as them. Why, at the same age, is he an elder while they are disciples?

Upon hearing this, the ten disciples erupted in shock—six months of slumber?!

Moreover, the key is where to slumber; if it's this unfathomably deep place before us, even deeper than a grave, who would want to sleep? This sleep might mean never waking again.

"Just entering, we don't cultivate anything and must sleep six months? Can you give a reason?" Zhang Bei Hai voiced his opinion for the first time.

"Everything about the Thousand‑Layer Gate is confidential," the Seventh Elder replied.

"Who will guarantee our safety during these six months?" Ouyang Lie also asked.

"The seven elders will protect you completely, of course, but you might very well die in your sleep," the Seventh Elder replied.

"Can I bring alcohol to sleep?" Tie Yi asked, patting his stomach; he'd gone nearly a day without drink, and last night he hadn't had his fill.

"Once inside the Thousand‑Layer Gate, you won't get any alcohol," was still the Seventh Elder's answer.

Tie Yi despaired, "What?!"

"And you have no choice," the Seventh Elder continued, "Do you know how many have died here? This time you are ten; I value you, so I'll say a bit more. If anyone refuses to slumber, I will make them slumber forever!"

The ten disciples had no choice; upon entering the Thousand‑Layer Gate, feeling nothing, they were about to fall into six months of slumber.

"During these six months, we seven elders will spare no effort to clear your meridians and adjust your bones. You are basically at the Substance‑Breakthrough stage and need our help."

"What if we surpass Substance‑Breakthrough?" Wu Rong suddenly asked, his question shocking everyone.

Could it be that Wu Rong has already entered the Fourth Heaven? Since the Fourth Heaven far exceeds the Third, someone at the Third can only speculate about Fourth‑Heaven strength, unable to judge accurately.

This is a kind of looking up.

"I've said it—you have no choice." The Seventh Elder, unusually surprised, pointed at Wu Rong's face; his words were an order! "Once inside the Thousand‑Layer Gate, you must obey the elders!"

Speaking of elders, the Grand Elder seated at the center had vanished again, unnoticed by all.

"We aren't criminals; we don't know how those before us fared, but our fate is in our own hands. If all you can do is clear our meridians or invigorate our blood, we might as well hire a random street‑side quack!"

The Young Palace Master bluntly called the seven elders quacks of the martial world.

The hot‑tempered Fourth Elder flew into a rage and threw a punch straight at the Young Palace Master!

The Young Palace Master flicked her sleeves, sending countless silver needles flying!

"Boom!"

The Young Palace Master stood still, unmoving; the Fourth Elder glared at her, furious.

The Young Palace Master possessed the power to clash with the elders! Behind her lay that huge crack.

"Exactly—no explanation, just let us sleep in a graveyard, what does this mean?!" Chen Yi He didn't know if he'd been dazed by the Seventh Elder's palm, but he found himself siding with the Young Palace Master—and he was the first to do so.

Isn't this opposing the seven elders?

"Making us sleep in a graveyard is going too far!" the Dragon King said more directly, drawing his Azure Dragon Blade.

"You can't just do as you please because you're elders!" Zhang Bei Hai also drew his sword; as head of the Hua Shan Sect, the eldest and most knowledgeable among the ten disciples, making a grand sect leader sleep in a graveyard would be a joke.

Zhou Kai and Xiao Xiao Yu, who'd lived lives of luxury, found it hard to accept coming to the Thousand‑Layer Gate only to muddle through six months of sleep in a grave. Zhou Kai couldn't believe what lay before and behind him: "Could my father have also slept in a grave? If he did, why push me in?"

The Dragon King also refused to believe this, since his father, Long Kui, had once entered the Thousand‑Layer Gate.

However, the Thousand‑Layer Gate is merely a baptism; strong ones can forgo it, such as the Palace Master of the Five Absolutes Palace, Nan Zhongyi of the Southern Heaven Gate, and many mighty figures in history who never entered it.

The Thousand‑Layer Gate is also a symbol; many already possess sufficient strength, entering merely to temper their will, etc., to gild themselves with a layer of the Thousand‑Layer Gate.

If one were to go into a tomb to sleep, then most of the people present would probably want to give up such a baptism, right?

Just entering the Thousandfold Gate leaves only a dead end, with no way back.

……

In a certain darkness, the mysterious Grand Elder, through the bronze mirror before him, watched everything that happened on the main hall of the Thousandfold Gate.

He sneered, mercilessly sneering, knowing that these ten young people had no choice; now they were just playing with words.

Because every ten years it's like this, such a situation will occur, really making things difficult, huh?

The conspiracy of the Thousandfold Gate...