Chapter 601 - The Wrist Guard

The two old monsters exclaimed over the sight.

Ding Hao suppressed the shock in his heart and continued a slow and cautious descent.

The pillars of Qi kept roaring from below like purple dragons soaring up from their nest. The endless bellows resounded in Ding Hao’s ears, as if he had entered a world of dragons. It was the first time that he had seen such a shocking view since his time-traveling.

There were a few times when he couldn’t help reaching out to touch a Qi pillar. The warmth reminded him of a real dragon.

The whole process lasted for an hour, until this spectacular scene gradually disappeared.

Ding Hao roughly estimated that he had gone deep into the abyss, easily beyond the 5,000 meter mark, but he still couldn’t see anything below. The purple mist was getting thicker, and the oxygen in the air was getting thinner. Fortunately, with Ding Hao’s strength, he could live for a long time, even if he didn’t eat or drink.

The Spiritual Qi contained in the purple mist was so condensed that it was almost condensing into liquid.

While Ding Hao was going deeper, he operated the Mind Essential with all his strength and frantically to absorb Spiritual Qi with every pore to nourish his body. The Spiritual Qi flowed along the meridian channels into the acupoints and Qi reservoir, nourishing the Qi seed and enhancing the Qi’s intensity.

Another hour and a half passed.

“Hm? There seems to be something down there… Is it the bottom of the abyss?”

Ding Hao could vaguely see some light below, and his Divine Awareness also felt the existence of a solid substance. Had he finally reached the bottom of the Great Abyss?

With joy in his heart, he speeded up and kept on going deeper.

After all, his confidence had his capability as a foundation. If it were anyone else, they would have never dared to go this deep.

After 30 seconds or so, Ding Hao finally reached the place where the faint light had been—

It wasn’t the bottom of the abyss.

Rather, it was an enormous and mysterious crystal rock suspended in the void. Of a roughly circular shape, its diameter ranged in the thousands of meters. Its dark purple surface was crystal clear but slightly uneven. It floated quietly in the air while giving off a fascinating halo.

Bump!

Ding Hao landed on the massive and mysterious crystal with caution.

It was like an enormous, purple-colored suspended platform, which could accommodate around two thousand people. It was extremely spacious. Walking on top of it was like walking on a hill, save for the missing plants on the surface. Wisps of thick purple Spiritual Qi were overflowing in their place; cultivators could simply absorb them into their bodies by simply breathing.

Ding Hao’s heart skipped a beat.

This was a very peculiar training ground.

One could definitely improve at an insane speed while cultivating on this crystal. This purple Spiritual Qi was pure, and the surface of the crystal seemed to emit a strangely soothing aura. Even if people gulped down the purple Spiritual Qi, they would not die of Qigong Deviation or from their bodies exploding.

Something occurred to Ding Hao. He placed himself on the topmost area of the floating purple crystal and slowly exerted his strength.

The giant crystal did not move at all.

push it down… It’s really strange for such a large crystal weighing thousands of tons to be suspended in the void. Is it the gushing purple Spiritual Qi below holding it up or something else?”

Ding Hao moved to the bottom of the giant purple crystal.

Shrouded in the purple mist was a mountain-like stone colossus. It reminded Ding Hao an iceberg in the sea, like those that he had seen in his previous life. What was exposed above the water was only the tip of the ice mass; the giant dark crystal in front of him was similar in such a sense. The floating platform he had seen before was just the tip of the enormous rock.

“If broken down into pieces, this giant mysterious crystal alone would be enough to supply the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect members for a hundred years!”

Ding Hao felt like a little white rabbit that suddenly found a giant carrot.

Ding Hao thought. “If I could carry it to the surface and crush it into pieces, every member of the sect would get thousands of top-grade mysterious crystals…”

However, he quickly rejected the idea of taking the giant dark crystal to the surface.

Because he gradually realized that this wasn’t an ordinary mysterious crystal, but one with some magical energy, which seemed to generate a mysterious power by interacting with the surrounding environment. It was similar to the initial laws, which were beneficial to the cultivation of martial artists. Once it was destroyed, this power from the initial laws might disappear.

While cultivating in such an environment, even those with the most ordinary aptitude could successfully awaken the Qi seed. Martial artists could face a lower risk of Qi Deviation when they cultivated intensely.

“If we build a practice area on this huge mysterious crystal and bring the most loyal and elite soldiers of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect to practice here…”

Ding Hao was excited over the idea, since it appeared to be quite promising.

The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect had been left with only two masters, Zhang Fan and himself. Many seniors and elders had died during the plight that brought the near extermination of the sect. Although the young disciples had survived, they lacked foundation and accumulation. The sect’s overall strength had inevitably been weakened. If they wanted to dominate Snow Province, they could not rely on just a few individuals; it had to be the drive of the sect as a whole.

With this mysterious cultivation place, everyone could substantially improve their strength in a short period.

Ding Hao told the Saber Master and the Sword Master about this idea; it was well received by the two old monsters.

“I can also set up some formations around the place. After all, there might be unknown threats in the abyss. I have to ensure the safety of all the ordinary disciples.” Ding Hao meticulously planned, trying to make everything work perfectly.

After exploring around the giant mysterious crystal for another while, Ding Hao continued his descent to the depths of the abyss.

Fang Tianyi had mysteriously disappeared in the mine. Ding Hao guessed that he might have fallen into the abyss, so he wanted to check all the way to the bottom, with the slim hope that Fang Tianyi had survived the fall.

Moreover, the abyss was located at the heart of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. It would be a lingering hidden danger if he didn’t figure things out.

It took close to an extra two hours.

Ding Hao was a little worried.

He roughly calculated and found that he had already gone down close to ten thousand meters into the abyss, but he still couldn’t see the bottom. The vigorous purple dragon Qi pillars had appeared a few more times.

The deeper he went, the denser the purple Spiritual Qi became.

Ding Hao felt as if he were swimming in the liquid.

Ding Hao gradually discovered the rules—

They pillars would burst out once every hour with varied intensity. The times they rushed out of the cliff of the crypt to the sky more than a month past was probably related to the times when the purple Dragon Qi pillar was at its most active state. That was why it erupted and reached the surface, catching people’s attention on the ground.

Ding Hao felt very comfortable as he bathed in the pillar of purple Dragon Qi.

However, as he went deeper, the purple Dragon Qi pillar eruptions became more and more frequent and powerful. A surging force held Ding Hao, stopping him from diving any further.

At more than 13 kilometers below the surface, Ding Hao tried dozens of times, but he still couldn’t go any further.

“I’m afraid that I’ll only be able to do deeper when I reach the peak of the Martial Emperor realm…” Ding Hao released his Divine Awareness, which was spread further down like a tide. He could faintly feel that he should have been able to reach the bottom of the abyss if he had continued for another 5,000 meters. However, a strange layer of power had blocked his Divine Awareness, so he could not feel everything with clarity.

“I can only try again next time!”

Ding Hao sighed and decided to return to the surface.

The time was not ripe yet, so he couldn’t force it.

Just when he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly uttered a yelp of surprise. He had found something—

“That is…” A look of ecstasy appeared on Ding Hao’s face.

Holding the rusted sword in his hand, Ding Hao didn’t hesitate to drive it with all his strength and activating the supreme power. He forcibly broke through the immense pressure and dived down another thousand meters. When he located the target, he brandished his sword and used its radiance to pierce through a jagged crystal rock in the abyss cliff.

A beam of golden light and a purple one burst out of the broken rocks. They turned into flowing lights and were about to float away.

With a shout, Ding Hao drove the rusted sword with the last bit of strength and forcibly drew the two beams of flowing light towards him.

The next moment, the rusted sword drained all the Qi in his body. Being powerless, he was shot up a thousand meters high by the terrible lift force before he slowly steadied himself.

Ding Hao floated using the purple Dragon Qi and immediately noticed the object in his right hand.

It was a golden wrist guard.

The wrist guard had been exquisitely crafted, engraved with delicate patterns. Unlike the style that was popular in the North Region, it was simple, vivid, and extremely artistic, obviously the work of a master. It was made of some kind of golden metal, which was neither gold nor iron. It was extremely hard, but as light as feathers; it was virtually weightless.

Somehow, this golden brace was inlaid at the bottom of the mysterious crystal and had been badly weathered over time.

Its former power had long disappeared. It was no different from an ordinary one.

However, Ding Hao trembled with excitement at the sight of this golden wrist guard.

Because he had seen it before.

He had seen it on the vision projected to him by the golden light on the altar of the divine fire in the Fake God City. Ding Shengtan, the powerful eldest prince in golden armor, had worn a bracer on his wrist. It had the same color, and even the inlaid patterns were the same.

The image of Ding Shengtan and Yu Qingcheng was firmly engraved in Ding Hao’s mind, so he also had a clear memory of this wrist guard.

He was sure that it was the same wrist guard.

But why was Ding Shengtan’s wrist guard there?

Could it be that he had been to that place before?

What kind of secret was hidden at the bottom of the abyss?

Were Ding Shengtan and his wife living in seclusion down there?

Could the pillar of purple dragon Qi have something to do with Ding Shengtan?

One by one, questions popped up in Ding Hao’s mind uncontrollably.