Chapter 79: Entrance to Purgatory
"Ye Ancestor!"
"Ye Ancestor, sir?!"
Exclamations arose on the Treasure Ship, as the Sword Qi burned away, leaving petals scattered everywhere. The Sword Intent of the Yang God Realm, even if only a trace remained, exuded an overwhelming pressure hard to approach.
The sword-flower petals fell in pieces with the wind, crimson buds blooming furiously...
This Sword Intent was truly striking.
Ye Qinglian, Jiang Que, and all the Yin Gods on Qin Baihuang's Treasure Ship, all maneuvered Qi to gather closer.
"...Land the ship."
Just as the Sword Qi spread out, an ancient and deep voice echoed between the Great Chu Treasure Ships.
Ye Ancestor stood leaning on his sword, his body drenched in blood.
The aura of this old Valley Master of Baihua Valley was extremely withered, extremely weak... his red robe had been slashed open in countless places, it was hard to imagine what kind of grand battle he had gone through.
"Land the ship?"
Ye Qinglian hesitated, speaking with some concern: "Master... are you sure you want to land the ship?"
The inspectors, hearing this, exchanged glances.
The suction of this Earth Abyss was continuously expanding, turning everything into a mire, and with their strength, escaping was incredibly difficult.
Yet now a Yang God Realm Mountain Peak Cultivator had come.
Still, they could only land the ship?
"Lu Yuzhen has set a heaven and earth net..."
Ye Ancestor shook his head, his voice merely hoarse: "There's no time to explain, those outside are approaching fast. Entering the Secret Realm first will preserve our lives."
His condition was terrible.
His Primordial Energy, Divine Soul, both suffered tremendous harm, his current strength was perhaps not even a tenth of his peak.
Ye Qinglian noticed that the Lifebound Sword "Blaze" which Ye Ancestor leaned upon was riddled with countless cracks, appearing ready to shatter at any moment.
For a Sword Cultivator, the most important thing is the Lifebound Sword.
If the sword breaks, the person dies.
At this moment, the Ancestor... perhaps had only enough strength to speak.
...
...
Ye Ancestor's arrival reignited hope among the Great Chu people.
However, Ye Ancestor's injuries then threw a cold bucket of water on their hearts.
After the Sword Qi descended, a faint red divine glow began to burn on the deck of the Martial Sect Treasure Ship, Ye Ancestor closed his eyes, as if his soul had departed, leaving his severely injured old body in the mortal world, he leaned against the mast, clutching his sword and entering a "Silent Annihilation" state, like a withered stone. Baihua Valley's "Flame Flower Style" is a rare attack and kill technique in the world, this swordsmanship is extremely fierce, and after the sword is released it can harm the soul, but there is a remedy, as long as the "Rejuvenation Technique" is exercised, life-force can quickly be restored.
Uniform low breaths sounded within the ship.
Seeing the Ancestor like this, the disciples of Baihua Valley hurriedly acted as protectors, Ye Qinglian originally wanted to form an array to transfer Primordial Energy... but unfortunately the Earth Abyss was absorbing Primordial Energy, even if an array was formed, it would only benefit the Secret Realm.
"What should we do now? Are we really going to land the ship?"
A Venerable suddenly spoke up.
Half of the Venerables on the Treasure Ship fell into silence.
Tonight's tragic battle was too abrupt, many wanted to leave the South Border...
"Of course, land the ship."
Qin Qianlian, who had not spoken all along, looked up at the Heavenly Peak.
He calmly said: "Evidently, even though the Great Chu Treasure Ship has completed assembly, it is not possible to escape the Earth Abyss... everyone should recognize reality sooner."
Qin Baihuang took a deep breath and concurred: "Second brother... Qianlian is right. We have no choice now, we must land the ship."
The crowd gradually calmed down.
Earlier they hoped for Lord Relegated Immortal...
But now, Lord Relegated Immortal has perished.
They awaited the arrival of Baihua Valley's Ye Ancestor.
Ye Ancestor was also severely injured.
Evidently, hoping to rely on the Yang God to escape the Secret Realm is no longer feasible.
Even if Various Holy Lands resist the Earth Abyss with all their might, ultimately, landing the ship is the only outcome... especially since, according to Ye Ancestor, the pursuers from Three Great Sects and Paperman Sect are likely arriving soon.
"Land the ship!"
Zhou Ceng issued the order directly.
The Martial Sect Treasure Ship ceased its battle against the Earth Abyss, this Suspended Treasure Ship gradually descended with loud rumbling, inch by inch reaching the horizon, ultimately falling into the cracked crevice. Several inspectors, upon seeing this, hesitated no longer and maneuvered their Treasure Ships to shield the Martial Sect's main ship, all descending together... like a group of fish sinking into the deep sea.
Viewed from high above.
The Earth Abyss's crevice was narrow and dark.
Truly plunging into it revealed its vastness.
A dozen or so Treasure Ships fell within, there was more than enough room...
Sinking into the Earth Abyss, like sinking into Purgatory.
Even if the grand array was ignited, the surrounding scene could not be clearly seen, only a murky darkness was visible.
Sucked into the darkness at that moment.
The expressions of several Yin God Realm inspectors became strange, their Divine Souls had always been connected via the Communication Treasure sent by Ren Shou Palace, exchanging continuously, but now the link suddenly broke... meaning they completely lost contact with one another. Fortunately, before entering the Abyss, all of Great Chu's Treasure Ships had gathered closely, not far apart, allowing them to hear clearly if communicating via Primordial Energy voice.
Though they made the "land the ship" decision, the stewards of Various Holy Lands dared not relax even a bit, continuously maintaining the burn of Yuan Stone.
Yet...
The closer they got to the Earth's core, the stronger the suction of this Earth Abyss became, even though the burn speed of Yuan Stone doubled, it could not stop the Treasure Ship's descent from accelerating.
In the end, a Yuan Stone burned out instantly, merely resisting the suction for a moment.
Several dozen breaths later.
The Martial Sect Treasure Ship crash-landed amid violent bumps and impacts, the bottom of this Earth Abyss turned out to be a pitch-black great lake... as it fell, it raised towering water columns dozens of yards high, all the Yuan Stones on the ship were completely drained, even the most basic "Primordial Energy Shield" couldn't be opened, it completely became scrap. The Treasure Ships from other Holy Lands didn't fare much better, even if backed by Yin God Venerable's Tao Realm protection, the impact of the Treasure Ship's fall was still significant.
The water waves surged fiercely.
Quite a few young disciples vomited over the railing.
From this perspective.
Landing the ship indeed was an extremely wise move.
If delayed until the Yuan Stones ran out, being forced to land the ship... ultimately, the Treasure Ship's fall might be a disastrous calamity.
"This... is Bai Ze Secret Realm?"
Qin Baihuang raised his head, his voice hoarse.
He never imagined that beneath the barren desolate South Border lay such a magnificent and extraordinary unparalleled Secret Realm.
When the Earth Abyss first opened, that hanging plaque marked "Bai Ze", he had swept with Divine Thought, noticing nothing special.
But now upon looking up, the plaque was like a great sun.
The words "Bai Ze" stood high above, seeming to contain infinite Magic Power, making it hard to look away once glanced upon.
This Earth Abyss truly resembled the entrance to Purgatory.
Beneath the Heavenly Peak, stood two colossal giant stone sculptures, reaching the sky, serving as gatekeepers, nearly a hundred yards high, the Great Chu Treasure Ship beneath these giants' feet was but a floating plank, insignificant.
The entire great lake, its length, width, depth unknown.
This was merely the entrance.
Just as the Martial Sect's main ship crashed onto the Earth Abyss Lake, the water column it raised, compared to the entire Earth Abyss... was merely a tiny, pitiful wave.