Chapter 169: Gates of Life or Death
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
It was windy today. The waves slapped against the Cliff of Purgatory with water splashing to all directions loudly.
There was a shiny dark cave entrance located in the middle of the Cliff of Purgatory with an intangible shield covering it, which made the entrance all the more mysterious.
It was time. Bai Leng flew to the Iron-armored Ship which was moving slowly towards the entrance. The more than 20 people standing on the deck stared at the entrance and the other Iron-armored Ships approaching from the other three directions excitedly.
Soon, the four Iron-armored Ships were all close enough to the entrance. Lu Li now could see the young masters and young ladies in fabulous clothes with elegant temperament standing on the other three Iron-armored Ships.
"Eh?"
Lu Li saw a familiar figure on the Iron-armored Ship on the left. That was a beautiful lady in a green soft armor with a white jade flute in her hand and a purple flower mark on her neck.
That was Zi Lian, with whom Lu Li had the pleasure of meeting once. She left a deep impression on Lu Li. She was kind enough to remind him of danger that time they met. Lu Li was not aware of the fact that this Young Lady Zi Lian was observing their fight at the Wu Ling County.
"That is Ye Yuhan, the youngest princess of the Ye Family of the Heaven Cold Kingdom. She is leading the team from that side."
"That one over there is Du Ziling, the ninth prince of the Heaven Frigid Kingdom. He is the leader of their team."
"The other one is Zi Lian, the sixth princess of the Zi Family of the Heaven Martial Kingdom. She is also the leader there."
"They all have about more than 20 people in their teams, similar to ours."
Someone was pointing to the three Iron-armored Ships and making an introduction which surprised Lu Li. He didn’t expect that the girl with the jade flute was the princess of the Heaven Martial Kingdom, a talented girl of the Zi Family.
"Three out of the four teams are led by ladies. Are the young men of the Big Families of the Northern Desert so lame?"
Lu Li found it laughable. The competition at the Tomb of the Dragon King clearly was the exchange and match between the geniuses of the young generation of the Northern Desert. The families naturally would send out their best disciples. The ones that could lead a team must be the best out of the best. Since Ye Yuhan and Zi Lian were leading, of course it meant they were the most outstanding among the young generations in their respective kingdoms.
Lu Li’s side was checking the other three, and the other three returned with the same action as well. When Du Ziling saw Bai Xiashuang and Bai Qiuxue, his eyes were so bright that they were glaring. When the twin sisters stood side by side, they were more visually stimulating to the men than Zi Lian or Ye Yuhan.
The Iron-armored Ships moved closer. Finally, they all parked outside the huge dark cave. Bai Leng coldly looked at everyone and ordered, "We have struck a deal with the three parties. You can resort to violence if you have any conflicts in there, but no killing. Understood?"
Bai Qiuxue nodded. She knew that those that came this time were all the favorite in their respective families. Injuries would be okay, but death would lead to a chaotic war between the three Royal Families and the Thousand-island Lake.
"Okay, go in now."
Bai Leng waved his hand and said one last thing, "Treasure hunt is important for sure, but life is even more so. Please take care."
"Go!"
Bai Xiashuang couldn’t wait any longer. She took the lead and flew off the Iron-armored Ship directly toward that dark cave.
Bai Qiuxue was right behind her. Lu Li and the others followed suit. When they were passing through the intangible light shield, a slight light came out which showed there were clearly fluctuations of an Inhibition Formation.
"Move!"
The people from the Thousand-island Lake already went in. The other three forces were not willing to lag behind, so they flew to the cave entrance as well. Soon, all four teams were in and disappeared into the dark and deep tunnel.
After everyone was in, Bai Leng took control of the Iron-armored Ship and flew towards the small island. His responsibility was to ensure the safety of Bai Xiashuang and others while they were outside of the Tomb of the Dragon King. He couldn’t protect them even if he wanted to when they were inside.
…
"So spooky. This is really a place for ghosts. No wonder a dead person is buried here."
As soon as they got in, Lu Li felt cold air assault his senses. It was not the kind of coldness that winter had, more like the cold air from hell…
Bai Xiashuang was the first to enter. She couldn’t move after she got in and her face was pale. After the several young masters of the Bai Family came in, they surrounded Bai Qiuxue and Bai Xiashuang at once. Bai Qiuxue looked better after this. She waved her hand and said, "Go, let’s get in there first."
The six young masters of the Bai Family took the lead. Xuan Energy glared on each one of them. They all took out their weapons and were ready to take action. The other young masters walked on the outside with the young ladies protected in the middle.
Lu Li was at the back of the team. He observed the surroundings while he walked forward. There were black stones the sides and the ground of the tunnel, and there were dim oil lamps on the walls which lit up the tunnel.
"Are those oil lamps Xuan Artifact? Otherwise, how can they be kept in this state for such a long time? The Tomb of the Dragon King has been in existence for more than 10,000 years."
Lu Li was curious. He felt an urge to dig some of the oil lamps out, but since the situation in here was not clear yet, he didn’t have the gut to do something so impulsive.
The tunnel extended far. Someone had been here before so it was certain that there was no risk here. Everyone was walking forward fast. They reached the end of the tunnel in the time for just one incense stick to burn.
Emerged in front of them was a big hall with nothing inside. Even if there were some treasures here, they were probably already taken by the first men here.
The hall was not huge, though, with a length and width of about more than 100 feet. Apart from the oil lamps on the wall, there was nothing else. There were only nine stone gates at the north with big characters written on the gates.
"Life, Death, Life, Death, Life, Death, Life, Death, Life!"
Xu Fangfei read the few words, causing her expression to change in a strange way. What was the meaning of the characters of life and death? Could it mean—entering the gate with the character of death on it, they might die?
All of them stood in the hall, observing, not taking any actions. Not long afterwards, sounds of footsteps came out. Ye Yuhan showed up with her team.
Rustle, rustle, rustle~
Soon enough, Du Ziling and Zi Lian also arrived with their teams. The four teams stood in four arrays in the hall. They glanced over the hall, daring not to do anything impulsive.
The hall had already been checked beforehand. All the Families had already sent someone here. There was no danger in the hall, just some treasures which were taken by the first family who got here. The treasures were the violet gold chariot, the drip of Origin Blood Essence Lu Li had, and a Heaven Grade Xuan Artifact.
As for the nine gates, the disciples that were sent here to have a look-around were not powerful enough to open any gate. So, whether they could get in the gates and got treasures were all dependent on their strength and luck.
"Lady Xiashuang, Lady Qiuxue, which gate should we go into?"
Ding Heng, the young master of the Ding Family asked. Bai Xiashuang randomly pointed to a gate and said, "Go and see if you can open that gate."
Ding Heng and Ding Yang went immediately. They tried to find secret gears on the gate and to the sides of it. The rest three teams each decided to try a gate of Life.
"Gate of Life? Gate of Death!"
Lu Li frowned. His eyes flickered as he engaged in deep thoughts. He had a fuzzy notion on his mind. The Gate of Life represented a way out? The Dragon King was a rare genius. How could he arrange something so idiotic?
The problem was… who would have the courage to pick Gate of Death? What if it was really a way to death behind the gate?
"Boom!"
A warrior from the Heaven Frigid Kingdom hit against a gate with his fist, and a muffled sound came out. Then the gate lit up. A surge of powerful strength spread out. The warrior was sent flying backwards while blood sprung out of his mouth.
"Don’t do anything so stupid!"
Du Ziling was wearing a silver armor and holding a silver sword in his hand. He was quite a handsome looking man. On his neck was a purple mark which showed that he was a Bloodline Warrior of the Seventh Rank. His amorous eyes were distinctive. He looked as seductively charming as a woman.
After his scolding, the men stood in front of the stone gates dared not to act recklessly. They started locating secrete gears. This kind of stone gates could not be busted open by force. If they could not find any secret gears, then there was no way to go in. When they got back without even successfully opening a gate, they would be huge jokes.
One incense stick to burn, two, three!
The four teams all sent men to try with nobody managing to find any secret gears. The four team leaders looked awful. Would they really return with such humiliation?
"Lady Qiuxue."
After he observed for a while, Lu Li walked over and whispered to Bai Qiuxue. She called a disciple of a family over with uncertainty. That young master blinked his eyes and walked to the stone gate.
After he got that, the young master squatted down. He began to push the gate at the bottom forcefully.
"Creak, creak~"
Amidst the numerous shocking looks, that disciple managed to push the gate in easily. The stone gate was lifted like a curtain…