Ice rocks weighing several dozen tons turned into rolling stones, tumbling down the steep mountain wall from the summit to the mountainside. No one knew how many wild beasts these rocks had killed, nor how many century-old ancient trees they had smashed.
This horrific turn of events made all the beasts and demons within the several hundred kilometers around White-haired Mountain tremble.
“Meow. Why are you making such an awful din?” Evil Moon, who was bending over catching fish in a pool more than 25 kilometers away, gnashed its teeth furiously when it saw the Xuelong Silver Fish it had almost caught scared away by that explosion. Then, it turned into a stream of flowing light, streaking toward White-haired Mountain.
In the blink of an eye, it had arrived.
“Damn you, meow, the whole mountaintop has been blown away! What the hell’s going on?”
Evil Moon flapped its wings, bewilderment in its eyes.
It could sense a strange aura.
Powerful and mysterious.
Boom!
A massive ice rock weighing several dozen tons was blown away.
Ding Hao was enshrouded in golden and silvery light. With a bellow resembling a dragon’s roar or a tiger’s growl, he flew out of a heap of ice.
At this moment, half of his body was like a god’s, the other half like a devil’s.
Half of it was a crystalline silver like refined mercury, the other half a flaming golden color like cast gold. His entire person was divided into two completely different halves, split down the center from between his eyebrows, as if he were a combination of a god and a devil.
54 vast silvery planets and 54 vast golden planets shimmered inside his body, shooting out brilliant rays of light.
It took a long time before the outward streaming light gradually withdrew into Ding Hao’s body.
He was stark naked, tall and muscular, with every inch of his skin crystal clear like jade, as if carved out of mutton suet or white jade—perfect and filled with an indescribable beauty. His physique was totally flawless, with every aspect in the ideal golden ratio. Under the bright sunshine, he resembled a God of War.
Evil Moon was also deeply shocked by what it was witnessing.
It was as if this young man had concentrated every perfection in the world on his body.
After a few seconds, the fat cat muttered, “Meow, you’re actually streaking? I’m not a female cat, don’t try and seduce me.”
Ding Hao’s forehead darkened. He took out a spare teal robe from his Storage Ring and put it on.
Perhaps it was due to his time in the Eastern Academy of Green Shirts, Ding Hao liked wearing teal robes more and more. Plain teal had become his favorite color. It represented that period of heartfelt camaraderie, as well as his root.
Evil Moon seemed to have discovered something. It looked Ding Hao up and down, flew around him once, and asked, “You’ve… managed to reach the Martial King Realm in one go?”
Ding Hao burst out laughing.
He felt really happy inside.
This breakthrough was due to all his previous accumulation and the perverse properties of his Saintly Being of Saber and Sword. He had breached eight acupoints in one go, and his Hell Ice Qi and Heaven Fire Qi had all reached the one-apertured Martial King Realm.
The dual-meridian, one-apertured Martial King Realm.
It was a qualitative leap for any martial artist to reach the Martial King Realm. His lifespan would extend by nearly 100 years. Unless killed in battle, he could live up to 500 years, immune to heat and cold. His Qi could be condensed into any shape, and he could also try activating the Combat Skills at the Heaven Stage.
An expert at the Martial King Realm could survive even if his body and heart were shattered. Such a warrior would have amazing recovery ability. As long as his brain and soul did not dissipate, even if the other parts of his body were pulverized into powder, he would still have a chance to recover.
Upon reaching the Martial King Realm, one could finally be considered a middle-level presence in this cold, brutal world.
Of course, for Ding Hao, it also meant something else.
When he was at the Great Grandmaster Realm, Ding Hao could already fight a low-level Martial Emperor. Now that he had reached the Martial King Realm, his Qi cultivation had also soared, and he could decipher more mysteries and power within his cosmic body. Now, even if he met a Martial Emperor at the six or seven-apertured Realm, Ding Hao could still fight him without relying on physical strength.
Especially after reaching the Martial King Realm, there seemed to be some inexplicable change in the two dantians within Ding Hao’s body. The two kinds of Qi inside his body had reached a strange equilibrium—he could utilize the power of ice and fire at the same time.
For a long time, Ding Hao’s real combat capability had exceeded his Qi cultivation realm.
Although this was a good thing, he did not have enough Qi. This was not the correct path he should take.
Activating his devil saber and rusted sword still proved to be extremely difficult. The ultimate power of the devil saber and the rusted sword was definitely more than what he could unleash at the present moment. Although he could activate many combat techniques of saber and sword using the Qi of a Great Grandmaster, he still felt their ultimate power beyond his reach.
Now that he had reached the Martial King Realm, Ding Hao felt that he should be able to practice the two combat skills—the 24 Moves of Swordsmanship, and the 24 Moves of the Saber Technique—that he had acquired in the Heaven Saber Peerless Sword Tower in the Sage Battlefield.
“What a perverse prodigy!” Evil Moon muttered.
In three days and three nights, Ding Hao had broken through eight acupoints in one go. It was the record of a demon. Other geniuses could not have taken so short a time, no matter how much Qi they had accumulated.
Ding Hao could feel an endless stream of new power inside his body.
“It’s time to go. I believe that the aftermath of those duels at Yellow Crane Tower must have passed after all this while. The Moonlight Fairy is dead. If I want to understand why the ‘Moke Force’ has appeared in the Land of Infinity, I must continue investigating Miaoyu Bordello and find clues. But since it has existed in the Divine Central Continent for such a long time, I can’t deal with it alone.”
Ding Hao pondered in his heart.
In the end, he decided to leave the Divine Central Continent for a short time, and go to the Southern Region in search of his sister, Ding Ke’er.
Investigating his birth did not concern Ding Hao alone. Finding Ding Ke’er would mean fulfilling his final promise to the former owner of this body. After that, he would help Ding Ke’er, return to the Land of Divine Grace, and locate the vanished Ding Shengtan and Yu Qingcheng. These were the things Ding Hao had to do.
“Let’s go!”
Ding Hao took Evil Moon, turned into a stream of flowing light, and left White-haired Mountain immediately.
It was not until long after they departed, that the creatures hundreds of kilometers around White-haired Mountain slowly recovered from their trepidation, especially of that giant white cat. That cat was simply the nightmare of all wild beasts and demons around this area. They were really scared of it torturing them all this while.
Orchid Province was close to the Southern Wilderness. Its largest city was Huining City, only slightly more than 5,000 kilometers away from the Southern Wilderness.
Compared with the other provinces in the Divine Central Continent, its land was a little impoverished. Since it was near the Southern Wilderness, a primeval forest had covered its terrain for tens of millions of years. Demons overran the province, together with innumerable ancient beasts and other horrible presences. The boundless forest stretched for millions of kilometers. Almost no human expert dared to trek it alone.
Huining City, which had a history of several thousand years, was a city populated by humans, flourishing after the last Holy War.
It was noon.
When Ding Hao arrived at Huining City, he saw a large company of martial artists carrying sharp weapons entering and exiting the city gate. There were so many of them that it felt a little strange. Many looked travel-worn and had obviously come from afar.
As the crowds entered the city, Ding Hao walked unhurriedly toward the city center.
In order to cross into the Southern Frontier, he had to enter the space gate of Huining City, which was one of the reasons why he had come.
The other reason was naturally to collect some information. It had been more than three months since the duels at Yellow Crane Tower. Ding Hao had been in the wilderness all this time, without any contact with the human world. He did not know anything that had happened after that.
The streets were bustling with people, walking hither and thither.
There were many burly martial artists with foreign accents, surrounded by blood-like auras, who were desperados. Banding together in gangs of three or four, they could be seen everywhere. There were also large merchant caravans, mercenary groups, and sects in the city. Almost everyone was looking vigilant, their eyes full of hostility while observing others.
“Something’s not quite right. Why have all these people gathered here?”
Ding Hao could feel the tense, anxious atmosphere in the city.
In the blink of an eye, he had arrived at a multistory building constructed out of green timber.
It was a restaurant called the “Saber and Sword Pavilion”. The tempting aroma of food wafted out. The restaurant was full of customers and doing booming business. Many were obviously attracted by this strange aroma, following their noses in.
Ding Hao’s nose twitched and he also walked into the restaurant.
Although a master at the Martial King Realm could fast for a short time, forgoing food and water, Ding Hao had been cultivating madly all this while. He had not eaten even a grain of rice, other than drinking some mountain spring water brought back by Evil Moon. When he suddenly smelled this aroma, he could not help feeling famished, hungering for food.
Evil Moon kept clamoring to break its fast.
The business of the restaurant was really good. After standing and waiting for 15 minutes, Ding Hao was finally led to a seat by the window.
A waitress came to take his orders. As Evil Moon gazed on expectantly, Ding Hao ordered every dish on the menu.
To his mild surprise, the waitresses of this restaurant were all young girls.
The food was served quickly. In the face of such sumptuous food, the man and the cat started feasting heartily.
The restaurant hall was teeming with people, with many entering and leaving.
Most were martial artists wielding sharp weapons, yelling while engaging in finger-guessing games. From time to time, there would be some small disputes and clashes. Fortunately, since they were after all in a densely-populated city, even the more hot-tempered of these martial artists were still restraining themselves.
“I didn’t expect the mythic ruins of Sacred Hall to be in Orchid Province. Haha, no matter what happens this time, I have to get a share of the loot!”
“That’s right. Legend has it that the Sacred Hall was once among the most powerful Human Sects of the Divine Central Continent, second only to the Super Heaven Pavilion. Due to some unknown reason, it declined and ceased to exist thousands of years ago, vanishing mysteriously from this world. Countless people have been searching for its ruins over the years, and now, it has actually turned up in the Bone-burying Forest! Haha, it’s so close to us this time, we must not let the opportunity slip…”
On a table not far away, five or six burly men were eating and drinking, guffawing excitedly.
Ding Hao’s heart missed a beat.
The Sacred Hall?
