Ding Hao took the map and read it carefully. Ai Qing must have drawn it just now. It was kind of rough and lacked expertise. However, he had marked the important spots clearly. Moreover, he also marked where tunnels and guards were. He seemed to really have put effort into it.
Ai Qing pointed at the top of his head. “Your Excellency, I’ve done as you said. Do you think if you can…?”
Ding Hao sneered. “Do you think that’s possible?” He still hadn’t verified the authenticity of the map or rescued his friends from the water dungeon. Removing the limit on Ai Qing’s Tian Que aperture now was courting death.
Ai Qing smiled awkwardly.
He only asked tentatively and did not bear any hope. At that time, if it were him, he would not remove the limit either. After all, in the area of Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect’s control, Ding Hao would have to save a plan B regarding everything.
Ai Qing looked around the tent and felt surprised. Ding Hao’s five followers actually disappeared. He felt even colder in the heart. One must know that in the area, Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect guards patrolled very carefully. Five living weaklings should disappear under everyone’s nose. The young man who was giving off mysterious aura all over his body before Ai Qing must have done it, right?
How did Ding Hao achieve that?
Ding Hao had remembered every mark on the map. His mind ran and then the entire paper turned to mist and vanished into thin air.
The gesture put Ai Qing’s mind at ease a little.
At least, Ding Hao did not save the map to hold it against him again in the future.
Ding Hao waved impatiently and signaled him to get lost. “You go back first. When I finish my things, I’ll remove the limit in your brain. Stay where you are and don’t try to do anything funny. Or… you know the consequences.”
Ai Qing nodded with a flattering smile and sullenly retreated.
Until he completely left, did Ding Hao change into skin-tight leather armor, putting on the funny face bronze mask he hadn’t used in a long time and leaving the tent quietly. Easily slipping past Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect sentry post in the dark, like a wisp of smoke in the night, he walked further into the ancient city troop station.
…
…
Behind the small square and near the center of the ancient city, as expected, Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect guarded more heavily. Public and secret guards guarded everywhere, and capable disciples patrolled publicly or secretly. Also, many hidden inscription formations were set. It was like an iron bucket.
Other ordinary people couldn’t have lurked in without a sound at all.
Luckily, inside the ancient city troop station, the remaining energy of the omnipresent primordial inscriptions suppressed everything too hard. In the beginning, these Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciples were in Martial King Realm, now, being suppressed, they almost all dropped to near Great Martial Mentor realm, unable to release their Divine Awareness. The inscription and sentry post they set had only minimal effect.
On the contrary, Ding Hao’s strength dropped very little. Moreover, after such a long time of adaption, Ding Hao could already expand his Divine Awareness more than 50 meters away from him, which made it easy for him to spot the enemies in advance and even deceive their senses through some Divine Awareness skills. It was like walking into an unguarded area.
In less than 10 minutes, Ding Hao found the entrance of the water dungeon.
It was situated in the shadow of a square main hall.
From the outlook of the main hall, it should be the very center of the ancient city troop station, where the top commander used to live. A 10-meter-tall stone base made the main hall the tallest building in the city. Standing at the entrance of the main hall, one could almost look down upon all the nearby buildings, with a view of the entire city.
Ding Hao felt a strong threat from inside the main hall.
It was an Absolute Superior’s aura.
Obviously, the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect leader of the operation this time was stationed in the main hall. Ding Hao guessed that it might be the famous Scar of Heaven Ning Xiaohu. Ding Hao suddenly had an urge to meet the young genius who was even well-known in the entire Northern Region. However, he managed to fight it.
Now, the top priority was saving people.
Slipping past the guards, Ding Hao easily entered through the opening of the water dungeon.
…
A pungent moldy smell assaulted his nose.
The water dungeon was clearly as old as the city. Various slate gray mosses grew on the walls of the passageway. A light poisonous smell permeated the air; it must have formed after humus had been polluting the air for a long time. If ordinary people inhaled for a second here, they might probably pass out even after leaving here.
The passageway was deep and led to an underground area.
On the stone walls of the passageway, not surprisingly, he saw primordial inscriptions.
Maybe because no wind, rain, or sunshine reached here from the very beginning, inscriptions here were relatively intact. With the help of these primordial inscriptions, normal rocks became harder than well-refined steel, and even experts in the primordial grandmaster realm could not escape from the stone walls.
Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect obviously was very confident with the capability of the dungeon. In the entire passageway, there was no guard.
Ding Hao calculated in the heart and found he almost walked for more than 500 meters. When he was about 200 meters under the ground, the sound of running streams rang in the front. A mass of chilly icing air assaulted his face. He roughly estimated that it was under zero degrees Celsius here.
The passageway also reached its end.
Ding Hao went into a room like a stone parlor.
The room was lit.
A ball of bonfire crackled in the center of the hall. Four young Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciples in fire-red swordsman rope surrounded the bonfire, cultivating with their eyes closed. With their cultivation, they naturally wouldn’t fear icing air here. However, lighting a fire could always give people a sense of safety. Essential Qi was rich in Sage Battlefield. Though they were delegated to guard the prisoners, they wouldn’t waste a second to cultivate.
Like a ghost, Ding Hao entered the hall and blocked his aura with Divine Awareness. None of the four discovered him.
Scanning the four people, Ding Hao found black iron fences in the distance. He saw a few cells built around the stone walls. A black ditch was giving off icing air, and the stream inside flowed past the cells. Chilly streams flowed into the cells and covered the cell grounds. In a cell, some young people were chained by icy iron chains and drenched in water.
Ding Hao quickly spotted a familiar face in the group with one glance.
Ximen Qianxue.
Ximen Qianxue, the previous Spiritual Medicine class instructor in the Eastern Academy of green shirts!
There was indeed Swordsmanship-seeking Sect person here.
However, at that time, Ximen Qianxue was really not in good condition. With only one ragged robe on her, her plump arms and long legs were exposed in the chilly ice water. Chained by the scarlet iron chain, she could only manage to keep her head above the water when her hands and legs were shackled. Water stained her wet, soft, and flaxen hair, and her face already paled very much…
At that instant, uncontrolled anger welled inside Ding Hao.
He felt he was going to explode.
Dashing, Ding Hao almost got into the cell in a blink of an eye. He directly shattered the black iron bars and got near to Ximen Qianxue. He cast a spell. Lines of silver inscriptions shone on the surface of the scarlet chains on Ximen Qianxue. However, it finally broke down under Ding Hao’s terrifying strength. Instantly, they shattered like a lump of mud.
At the same time, he twisted the shackles. Reaching out, Ding Hao directly carried Ximen Qianxue out of water.
Ximen Qianxue had been tortured and now she was in the first stage of a coma. She feebly opened her eyes to take a look. She did not seem to have reacted at that moment, and she fell back asleep. She instinctively felt the warmth from Ding Hao’s body and her uncovered and jade white arms tightly circled around Ding Hao’s shoulders.
Ding Hao was really worried since he cared about her. “Instructor Qianxue? Wake up, Instructor Qianxue…” Feeling the weak breath of the girl in his arms, he really felt startled.
…
At the same time, the four Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciples who had been cultivating with their eyes closed finally woke up. They felt shocked and swooshed up. They looked at Ding Hao and shouted loudly, “Heck… who are you? When did you get in?”
Ding Hao really didn’t have time for the four.
He ran Heaven Fire Qi very gently and pressed one hand against Ximen Qianxue’s back, slowly transferring warm energy into her body. It was at that moment that Ding Hao felt so angry to find they had shattered Ximen Qianxue’s Fighting Qi tunnels; they even nearly shattered the Qi Seed in her dantian.
It was like removing her cultivation.
Such a ruthless method!
What a Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect!
Ding Hao’s anger exploded at that instant like lava in hell.
“Who the hell are you?” How dare you barge into our cells…” A Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciple dashed toward Ding Hao while shouting. The other three all looked alarmed and guarded.
“Die!”
Without so much as a backward glance, Ding Hao struck out four fists once.
The thunderous sound of the air clapping rang. Before the four Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect disciples reacted, they were hit by the transparent fist prints formed by Ding Hao’s punches with terrifying physical energy in the air. On their chests, fist prints visible and shocking to the naked eye appeared, and then they directly collapsed into them.
In a fury, Ding Hao did not save his energy in the least.
The four were originally Martial King Realm superiors. Here, they had dropped in the Great Martial Mentor realm. Luckily, they still had the Martial King Realm body vitality. Therefore, with the hits, Ding Hao failed to directly kill them. Instead, they all instantly passed out.
Ding Hao held Ximen Qianxue tightly and let her cold and weak body stick against his chest. On the other side of the thin and soaked clothes, Ding Hao even could feel the coldness of the girl’s smooth skin.
Ximen Qianxue was already in a fragile state because she had been drenched in chilly ice water in the water dungeon, plus, they had shattered her Qi Seed, and she almost had none of her dense Qi cultivation left. If her body hadn’t reached the primordial grandmaster realm, she might have been frozen to death.
That being said, her body had been severely injured from the cold.
Ding Hao slowly transferred Heaven Fire Qi to heal her injuries.
After a while, the calm girl who had gone through torture finally wake up. Her beautiful and tender eyes slowly opened. Seeing Ding Hao, she was stunned for a moment and then looked confused and shocked in the eye. For a moment, she completely forgot about her condition and the things that happened before she passed out. She just faintly smiled and asked, “Well, Ding Hao, you’re here?”
