Chapter 705 Fishing in Troubled Waters: The Sea of Opulent Buildings
“Hahaha, ‘the suspending pavilions reach the heavens, while the jade mansions almost touch the earth. Such lofty magnificence is absolutely peerless in the human realm.’ This is an ancient poem eulogizing the Sacred Hall. It’s indeed so, from what I can see! Haha, this must be the Sea of Opulent Buildings they mentioned in the legends, haha, the outskirts of Sacred Hall. Haha, so we’ve reached the real Sacred Hall ruins! We’re gonna be rich!”
Uncle Tianshu laughed heartily.
Ding Hao could not help sighing in admiration, so breathtaking was the sight.
Although the ancient opulent buildings before him were covered with dust, they were still enough to overwhelm him, like immortal palaces resided by the gods. One could imagine how magnificent they were in their heyday. The mountain site of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect could not compare with this sight at all—yes, not even Sword City, the headquarters of the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect in the Northern Region. Even that city was far surpassed in magnitude by these ruins before his eyes.
Countless figures could be seen flashing in front of him.
A few thousand meters away, there were at least tens of thousands of warriors gathered outside these opulent buildings, like they were waiting for something.
“Well? It seems that these guys haven’t breached the defensive formation guarding these ruins. Haha, we’re still in time…” Uncle Tianshu laughed excitedly, and then put on a long white robe. His facial muscles contorted strangely, his unkempt and gray hair turning completely snow-white. He had turned into an old Taoist master, with the demeanor of an immortal.
“Hey, lad, what are you waiting for? Hurry and change your looks. We can’t attract everyone’s attention. On such occasions, it’ll be best to fish in troubled waters…” The Taoist-like Tianshu urged Ding Hao.
“This old fella must be afraid I’ll expose the fact he has been selling fake maps, right?”
And he found for himself so many excuses?
Ding Hao expressed his contempt.
With a minor skill taught by the Saber Master, he changed his build and became a gigantic man more than two meters tall. Then, he put on a black iron armor and a helmet. A visor masked his face. Like a black iron tower, he was full of brutal aggression, looking like a killing machine.
It was impossible for anyone standing beside him to recognize this brawny man as Ding Hao, even if that man knew him well.
After changing his appearance, Ding Hao turned to look at Evil Moon.
“Hey! Meow, what are you looking at? ” Evil Moon felt guilty and remembered the tragic experience of being smeared with black mud by Ding Hao. It immediately bent over and jumped up, saying, “Wait, I’ll do it myself…”
Before its voice died away…
Evil Moon trembled like a vibrator. The next moment, it had turned into a stupid-looking fat leopard cat, with gray and white stripes. The angelic wings on its back also disappeared. It no longer looked smart, but stupidly clumsy instead.
The black puppy and its wet nurse, the white tigress, had been with Ding Hao and his companions for only a short time, so there was no need for them to put on a disguise.
After changing their appearances, this strange group crept stealthily into the complex of ancient opulent buildings.
When they got closer, they saw a transparent boundary formation outside these ancient buildings that resembled immortals’ palaces. At least several thousand experts of different races were gathered outside the boundary formation, wearing clothes of different styles and each occupying a spot under different camps. They looked at one another with vigilance, as though waiting for something, glaring like ravening tigers.
There were throngs of people densely packed, full of powerful, brutal auras.
Ding Hao and his companions’ appearances immediately drew the attention of numerous hostile eyes.
Since they were already at the Sacred Hall ruins, anyone who appeared before them might become a stumbling block and their mortal enemy once fights broke out over the treasures. Before breaking down this defensive formation, they had to kill some people to clear the way.
“I’m the Immeasurable Celestial Taoist, Tianshuzi. Nice to meet you, valiant ones.”
Uncle Tianshu had a smile on his face, and there was a cultivated Taoist elegance in his every move. He was really like an enlightened master, bowing slightly to the company before him, greeting everyone with clasped hands.
Ding Hao was secretly amused.
This coarse-looking old man was really good at bullsh*t. He casually invented the name Tianshuzi as soon as he opened his mouth, like it was his real name.
But unexpectedly—
Opposite him, the expressions of a few men suddenly changed. They immediately retracted their hostile eyes, like they were afraid and in awe.
Someone laughed and welcomed him. “So it’s indeed Reverend Tianshuzi. I’ve heard your eminent name for a long time. You’re highly esteemed indeed. Since we parted 10 years ago, we haven’t seen each other. I didn’t expect to meet you again today. It’s a great honor.”
“Reverend Tianshuzi, you’re always so mysterious. I didn’t expect to see your distinguished face today. I feel truly gratified.”
“They say that your Heavenly Divination Skill is unparalleled in the world. It has the ability to know the past and divine the future, fathom the myriad laws of the Yin and the Yang, as well as search the 36 Heavens above and the underworld below. Are you after the Sacred Hall’s divine hoards too?”
Many came forward to greet him with different expressions.
Uncle Tianshu responded to them one by one, without giving himself away. He pointed at Ding Hao and introduced him to the crowd. “This is my guardian bodyguard, Black Iron. The cat, dog and tigers are all pets for my amusement when I’m bored.”
Under the helmet, Ding Hao was speechless and looking embarrassed.
“So there’s really a Tianshuzi, who is rather famous, an expert in fortune-telling, and also an immortal-like Taoist figure! What the hell! So Tianshu’s pretending to be a real big shot? Isn’t he afraid of being found out and clobbered to death?”
As “Tianshuzi” greeted these many experts without breaking a sweat, he did not give himself away at all. He looked really popular.
Ding Hao pretended to be deaf and dumb.
It didn’t take long for Uncle Tianshu to find out the current situation—
It turned out that these experts had gathered here for more than 10 days. Though numerous experts took turns to attack, no one could break through the transparent boundary formation guarding these opulent buildings. They could neither advance nor retreat, and were thinking of a way out. Some top masters of the Human and Demon Clans had reached an agreement—they would join forces to try and break down this defense. Luck and individual abilities would then decide what divine treasures each could get.
“We’ve come at the right time. Haha, after these top masters join hands to break through the boundary formation, we will sneak in after them and take advantage of the chaos. Don’t ever charge in front. They say that the Sect Leader of Sacred Hall had transferred all these opulent buildings here. I’m afraid that those restrictions and killing formations are still in order. If we charge in rashly, we might be killed.”
Tianshu secretly transmitted his voice message to Ding Hao.
Ding Hao nodded and consented without batting an eyelid.
At this stage, there would be dangers lurking everywhere. Even a careless Martial Sage might get killed.
Ding Hao’s eyes constantly swept over the people around him.
He had come here not just for the Sacred Hall ruins, but also hoped to get in touch with the experts of the Southern Wilderness. He was trying his luck to see if he could trace his sister, Ding Ke’er.
Sure enough, Ding Hao soon saw a large company of martial artists, dressed differently from those from the Central Region. They were not in long robes, but strange tight-fitting clothes. Their arms and legs were mostly bare, and some even went barefoot. They wore many gold bangles, silver rings, and other precious jewelry on their bodies—the exotic fashion of a foreign land.
There were both men and women among this company, and their surging auras were shockingly powerful, with strange energy fluctuations that martial artists of the Central and Northern Regions did not have. Some even had strange symbols on their faces. Most of their exposed skin was wheat colored, tattooed with black designs that looked somewhat grotesque and bizarre.
“Are these experts from the Southern Wilderness?”
Ding Hao’s heart skipped a beat, and he began to observe carefully.
Unfortunately, there were just too many of them. Examining them one by one, he did not find anything unusual, nor did he feel any blood kinship or fraternity with them. Ding Ke’er did not seem to be in this company.
Roughly speaking, there must be at least 10,000 of them here. Ding Hao could not observe them all in such a short time.
Other than experts of the Human Clan, there were also a large number of powerful Demon Clan presences. Most had taken on human forms, but others disdained the Humans and appeared in their original forms—bizarrely shaped, ferocious, and grotesque. Some were 150 meters tall, while others were only palm-sized. However, the Demonic Qi emanating from them was almost solid, and extremely powerful.
Even someone at Ding Hao’s strength could only be considered average on such an occasion. There were many at the peak of the Martial Emperor, Martial Grand Emperor, and even the Martial Sage Realms.
All of a sudden, a stentorian voice like booming thunder, broke the silence—
“It’s about time. Let’s attack.”
It was a figure enveloped in purple flames, tall and burly, although his face could not be seen clearly. His Qi was like a vast surging ocean, so powerful that it made the heart palpitate—an absolute master of the Human Clan.
At almost the same time, several other absolute superiors of the Human and Demon Clans, who were equal to him in strength, responded.
Dozens of powerful auras, like peerless suns, burst out with such dazzling brilliance that one had to avert the eyes. They shot up into the sky before the transparent shield, like rays of divine light that could sunder the heaven and earth.
The residual waves spread in all directions. One after another, rays of transparent light radiated out from the void.
This terrifying aura was like a raging ocean in a tempest. The other experts were like ants swept into the ocean by these waves. They had never before felt themselves so tiny and insignificant.
Uncle Tianshu immediately stood behind Ding Hao.
Ding Hao had to stand his ground and grit his teeth, releasing power and forming a light arc in front of him, blocking before Evil Moon and the black puppy, resisting these tempestuous waves.
Boom!
The first beam of light hit the transparent shield, causing the earth to quake like it was going to crack.
The next moment, beams of light bombarded that same spot.
Boundless power burst out, striking the transparent shield continuously like divine stabbing swords, distorting the surrounding space.
The remaining energy waves rebounded on the transparent shield and emanated in all directions. As the spectators gasped in shock, someone was sent flying away like a rice husk in a hurricane, unable to stand his ground. A few weaker ones were directly blown to the square with the Towering Golden Dragon Pillars with the reversed power of the rules, many kilometers away…
Ding Hao’s legs seemed nailed to the ground, and the parts below his knees had already sunk deep into the rock.