Chapter 546: 547A Fourth Layer
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When the few Sect Elders from Purple Qi Pavilion heard what he had to say their faces changed slightly. The second layer of the Tan Zi Beast Lair was so dangerous. Despite this, Wu Feng wanted to unleash his powers within the lair. Moreover, there would be no Sect Elders protecting him. It was hard to say if anything would go wrong.
“No way, that is too dangerous.” One of the Sect Elders furrowed his brows. Wu Feng was a talented disciple of Purple Qi Pavilion. In future, he would become an ancient martial art practitioner with the intermediate stage of the Golden Elixir realm. It was even possible that he could ascend to the later stage of the Golden Elixir realm. He would be an exceptionally great loss for the sect.
A huge number of ancient martial art practitioners were surging into the Tan Zi Beast Lair. It seemed to have disrupted the order within. Many of the strong monstrous beasts in the Tan Zi Beast Lair had become hypervigilant, meaning the lair would be all the more dangerous.
In normal circumstances, encountering a Snow Leopard King would be unusual. However, not long after they had entered the second layer, they had already encountered such a frightening monstrous beast. Even more seriously, they had even attracted a group of monstrous beasts. Clearly, things were very abnormal.
Those strong and powerful monstrous beasts that were normally asleep in the depths of the lair had seemingly all walked out from within their caves.
“Sect Elder Yu, my purpose for coming to Tan Zi Beast Lair this time is to gain exposure and experience. Master, you had the same intentions as well. Why are you giving up halfway through? Additionally, the talents from other sects are currently training in Tan Zi Beast Lair. As one of the Four Geniuses, how can I retreat? The disciples of Purple Qi Pavilion will not lose out to anyone. I, Wu Feng, certainly will not.”
Wu Feng spoke with a solemn expression. Everyone knew of the possibilities of meeting with danger. However, why were others brave enough to face the dangers and constantly train and explore within the lair? They even conquered layer after layer. If he did not have enough courage, he would be surpassed by others soon and would be left far behind.
If Yin Banshuang and that youth dared to stay and continue bursting through the depths of the lair, he, Wu Feng, would do the same.
Meng Tiantian was the first to express her agreement. “Sect senior brother, I support you; how can my sect senior brother lose to others? However, you absolutely have to take care of yourself and watch out for your safety.” She realized that there was no use in trying to talk her sect senior brother out of it. After all, he was someone who had dared to challenge Jiang Gujian. Although Wu Fung did not necessarily have the capabilities he needed, he still constantly worked towards his goals.
A few of the Purple Qi Pavilion Sect Elders shared glances. They all sighed. They all knew that adversity could only make talents grow stronger. There was no master who had a smooth-sailing path. The Sect Elders did not say anything more. That meant that they had given silent approval for Wu Feng’s decision.
Wu Feng wrapped a palm around his fist to salute at them. “Can our Sect Elders please escort sect junior sister safely back to Cropped Top Mountain?” Then, with a flash of his figure, he disappeared, heading in the direction of Mo Wen and Yin Banshuang.
Mo Wen accompanied Yin Banshuang in blindly exploring the second layer. After an hour, he finally asked a little impatiently, “Have you found the entrance to the third layer yet?”
There were monstrous beasts everywhere. Even though Mo Wen had very strong perception and judgment, and could avoid those strong monstrous beasts from afar, there were simply too many monstrous beasts in the second layer. They were unable to avoid all of them. Along the way, he had already lost count of just how many monstrous beasts they had killed.
“There are many entrances to the third layer. If I point in a direction, would you dare to go?” Yin Banshuang held a map in her hands as she looked at Mo Wen coldly. This lad was not even doing anything. Yet, he had the cheek to look at her so impatiently, as if she had begged him to come along with her.
There were quite a number of passageways linking the second and third layer. However, many of them were heavily guarded by very strong monstrous beasts. There were even huge monstrous beasts around. Going to such areas would be looking for trouble for themselves, even if they did not get killed.
Mo Wen stroked his chin and said, “If you dare, I dare.”
Yin Banshuang let out a cold humph, no longer caring about him. She continued to run on the wasteland. It was clearly an underground area. Yet, it was so vast that it seemed like a world of its own.
After another hour, the two of them finally found a feasible and accessible passageway. It would allow them to travel from the second layer to the third layer.
They emerged into the third layer. Mo Wen had not had the chance to survey his surroundings when a wave of cold air immediately hit the. Even with his cultivation, it had made his hair stand on end. “So cold!” he exclaimed.
“The temperature in Tan Zi Beast Lair is very odd. From the third layer onwards, the temperature will begin to decline. It will get colder on each layer and the fifth layer will be the coldest. However, by the sixth level, there will be a reversal in the temperature, and it will suddenly become very hot. From there, the subsequent layers will only get hotter and hotter. The eighth layer will be the hottest one. It would feel like you have entered an oven. As for the ninth layer, no one has entered that before.”
Yin Banshuang was very calm. Clearly, she had already known about some of the temperature fluctuations within the beast lair. An enshrouding inner Qi began to emanate from her body, locking the cold air out.
The cold in the beast lair was very strange. Even an ancient martial art practitioner found it difficult to completely lock the cold air out. Even an ancient martial art practitioner with the highest of cultivations would feel the cold in the area.
“You’ll just have to cope with it for a while. Once you reach the fifth layer, you will finally know what the meaning of cold is.” Yin Banshuang looked at Mo Wen. If he could not even stand a little bit of cold, he did not have the right to collaborate with her anymore. The cold in the beast lair would not affect ancient martial art practitioners drastically. It would just cause them to feel colder and colder. It was a little like mental torture. As long as one could withstand such a cold, there would generally be no other problems.
The place where Vital Qi could be created was in the fifth layer of the beast lair. That was the coldest area in the entire beast lair. If Mo Wen could not even manage this little bit of cold, they would not be able to continue.
Mo Wen’s lips curled up and he did not say anything. He had experienced the world of Immortal Cultivators. Hence, he was not too shocked by such a place. In fact, such a place was very suitable for ancient martial art practitioners to train. They could train both their willpower and body strength at once.
Many ancient martial art practitioners knew this. However, there were only a few who actually dared to do it. After all, the beast lair was the monstrous beasts’ world. Even an entire ancient martial arts sect could not guarantee that they would survive in such a place.
“Let’s go. We must head immediately to the fourth layer. Right now, there are minor changes happening within the beast lair. If our luck is good, we might face less danger the deeper we go.” Yin Banshuang scanned her surroundings. Then, she led the way, flying purposefully in a certain direction.
The first layer of the beast lair was the vastest and so contained the greatest number of monstrous beasts. The deeper into the beast lair one went, the smaller the area became. Hence, there would be comparatively less monstrous beasts as well. This time, such a large number of ancient martial art practitioners entering the beast lair had caused some unrest within. There were quite a number of strong monstrous beasts that had emerged from the abyss and were currently roaming across the layers.
The closer to ground level Mo Wen and Yin Banshuang were, the more likely they were to encounter powerful monstrous beasts. Conversely, the deeper they were, the likelihood of meeting powerful monstrous beasts was greatly reduced. In fact, because the monstrous beasts had left their post, many of the most dangerous spots had become the safest places.
Of course, that was if their luck was good. There were two possibilities the deeper they went. They would either not meet with any powerful monstrous beasts and enjoy a safe journey; or, if they met with one, it would be a monstrous beast that was beyond frightening and their chances of survival would be very slim.
Mo Wen and Yin Banshuang had enjoyed good luck in the third layer. They had not encountered any particularly powerful monstrous beasts. They had easily found the passageway into the fourth layer and made it through safely.
Because a huge number of powerful monstrous beasts had left their nests, those monstrous beasts guarding outside the passageways had left as well. That way, the deeper they went, there would be an increase in the number of safe passageways that they could use. The two of them had essentially gone through no trouble at all to enter the fourth layer from the third layer.
In the fourth layer, the surroundings were hazy. The light here was far dimmer than it was in both the second and third layers. It was as though there was a great reduction in the number of glowing ores.
A layer of white haze seemed to have descended upon the whole of the fourth layer. From time to time, a cold wind would blow, and the frightening cold air would sweep everything in its way along.
If it had been in the outer world, such a cold air would have been able to freeze the earth and form a glacier that would not melt for a thousand years. However, despite the extreme cold in the fourth layer of the beast lair, not a single bit of ice had formed. Occasionally, they could even see flowing spring water on the ground.
“Such a harsh cold!” A look of surprise flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. Compared to the third layer, the fourth was at least five times colder. It was simply impossible to block out that kind of cold. It was like a normal person going unclothed to stand in the snow at a temperature of minus ten degrees or more. Normal people would not be able to stand such cold.
In this place, there were not many differences between normal people and ancient martial art practitioners. Even an entire ancient martial art sect would find it hard to deal with the cold. A person’s ability to survive was dependent not on their cultivation, but on their perseverance and willpower. Only when their perseverance was far greater than others would they be able to withstand such an environment.
Yin Banshuang had her brows furrowed. The frightening cold air had caused her to be unable to hold back her sigh. However, very quickly, her expression became serene once again. She tilted her head to look at Mo wen and simply nodded her head. Seeing that Mo Wen was still as calm as before, she nodded her head slightly, showing her approval of Mo Wen’s perseverance.
She did not know that in the past Mo Wen had walked the entire world and experienced all kinds of difficulties. He had already been exposed to all kinds of poisons from trying hundreds of herbs. He had long trained himself to have the perseverance of steel.
A pitiful cry suddenly sounded from not too far away. It was a scream that unmistakably had come from a person.
About 500 meters away there were three people currently fighting with a monstrous beast. Their clothes had already been stained red with blood. Clearly, they were all injured.
“I can’t believe that we have just arrived in the fourth layer and we have already met with a human ancient martial art practitioner,” Mo Wen said, feeling a little surprised. By right, the deeper the level, the lower the chance of meeting other human ancient martial art practitioners. After all, there were very few of them who dared to break through into the fourth layer.
“That’s where you’re wrong. The area of the fourth layer is not even one-tenth the size of the first layer. Since this area is so much smaller, the chances of encountering people will be even higher. Also, the ancient martial art practitioners gathered at Cropped Top Mountain are the ones who have their eyes on the treasures in the beast lair. Every one of the sects has dispatched their Sect Elders, Deputy Sect Leader, and even any relatives. It could be deemed a star-studded gathering. Therefore, the ancient martial art practitioners in the fourth layer aren’t necessarily going to be fewer than in the first layer. There’s a huge chance of encountering them.”
Many of the major sects had sent their Sect Elders and Sect Leaders, as well as their normal disciples. They had come for the treasures of the beast lair. Naturally, they would give it their all in continuing on. In fact, the fourth and fifth layers were the most suitable for Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioners to obtain treasures. Hence, those two levels were where the greatest numbers of ancient martial art practitioners were gathered.