Chapter 544 - The Man in the Bamboo Hat
Chapter 544 The Man in the Bamboo Hat
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Han took the lead to rush toward the mountain top.
The mound-shaped Mount He Snow was nearly 2,000 meters above sea level, and it covered a large area.
There were plenty of plants on the mountain. In the cold winter, all the plants had taken off their spring clothes and were covered with a thin layer of snow, only a faint green could be seen. The snow looked so beautiful.
Under the bright moonlight, the scenery was even more charming.
But the people who came here today were obviously not here to enjoy the scenery.
There was no road up the mountain, so Zhang Han took the lead in walking on the tips of the trees. Every step made the fragile tips vibrate slightly, but his body moved forward dozens of meters.
Mo Chengfeng, Lei Tiannan, and Wang Zhanpeng followed him easily.
As for Zhao Feng, Elder Meng, and other martial artists, every time they stepped on a tree tip, it was like it had been swept by a hurricane with a much larger shaking motion. If Elder Meng didn’t pay attention to it, he would break the tree tips.
This was not because they were not skilled at controlling their strength, but because in the cold winter, the branches became brittle.
The group of more than 20 people was quickly marching along the top of the trees.
Many martial artists running below the trees stopped to watch them.
“Wow, what a spectacle!” This scene reminded many people of an underworld leader in the movies.
At the same time, on top of Mount He Snow…
Mount He Snow covered a wide area, so the top of the mountain was like a corridor, with a width of more than 100 meters.
At this time, there were more than 2,000 martial artists gathered in front of the 30-meter-high mist cluster, but there were only six or seven hundred low-stage martial artists who were said to be able to enter the relic.
Most of the martial artists were from H Province, the northeast, and all over the Hua nation.
It was like a big party.
It was a pity that the gimmick of C-level relics couldn’t attract more people.
If it was a B-level or even an A-level relic, more martial artists would come here, including Ye Longyuan.
The reason why the news didn’t spread and was strictly kept was that as long as the worldlet didn’t appear in the main land, the Gai family would always be the lord in the northeast.
Of the many martial artists present, 80% were from the northeast and 20% were from other places, and most of them were talking about one thing.
“It is said that Merciless Zhang of Hong Kong is here. He suppressed all the big families in Ice City and wanted to challenge Gai Xingkong in the relic. I wonder if they will really have a fight here.”
“I heard that Zhang Hanyang has always kept his promise. Since he said that, he will certainly come here.”
“Not necessarily. I lived in Hong Kong for a month not long ago and witnessed the invincible demeanor of Grand Master Zhang with my own eyes. He was so amazing that he destroyed five powerful martial artists of the Li family in one move, who were ranked on the list of Hong Kong martial artists. As for Grand Master Gai, he is also a legend from the previous generation, who has numerous achievements. Their fight is bound to be very shocking.”
“I’m here especially to witness their battle. And I don’t care about the relic at all.”
“You are merely at the Peak Strength stage and can’t enter the relic. So you don’t need to care about it at all.”
“They are coming! The leader is Zhang Hanyang!” All of a sudden, a voice of surprise rang out among the crowd.
Many people turned their heads immediately.
More than 20 people, including Zhang Han, were flying toward them like a black cloud at the top of the trees.
Everyone turned their gaze to Zhang Han.
Liao Qingguang slightly narrowed his eyes in front of the mist cluster.
Though all the martial arts in the northeast knew that Liao Qingguang was a Divination Master, they didn’t know clearly how powerful he was. The older generation of martial artists always said that he was mysterious, like the Black White Palace, which could not be seen through.
“Zhang Hanyang.”
Liao Qingguang sensed something in Zhang Han, which surprised him.
“A promising young man,” he praised him.
Under everyone’s gaze, Zhang Han and his friends came down from the tip of the trees on the edge of the forest and stepped to the side.
The crowd parted to make a way for them.
They reached the front of the mist cluster directly.
When they arrived, Zhang Han scanned the whole area with his soul sense and found quite a lot of Grand Masters there. But there were few martial artists at the Grand Master Peak stage here, let alone the Divine Realm.
However, Zhang Han’s soul sense scanning failed when it reached the middle-aged man with a beard in front of him.
“That’s interesting.” Zhang Han took a glance at this man.
Now Zhang Han had 2,000 clouds above his soul sense sea, but he still couldn’t assess this strange man’s strength. Obviously, he was not an ordinary person.
The moment Zhang Han’s soul sense reached Liao Qingguang, Liao Qingguang’s eyes began shimmering.
“I guessed right!” he said to himself.
“His psychokinesis has reached the Divine Realm stage.
“But his cultivation is at a lower stage. Is he restraining himself deliberately?”
Though Liao Qingguang didn’t pay much attention to Zhang Hanyang before, he quickly acknowledged the young man as an Invincible Grand Master.
With such a spiritual sense mind trick, Zhang Han could defeat almost all the martial artists at the Grand Master stage, and it would be easy for him to be invincible if he was lucky. Therefore, he deserved the title of Invincible Grand Master.
However, Liao Qingguang didn’t how powerful Zhang Han could be.
Zhang Han looked at Liao Qingguang for a while, then turned his gaze to another place.
Zhang Han felt a little confused. The relic was about to open, but he didn’t see Gai Xingkong.
Right at this moment…
Liao Qingguang glanced at all the people and felt that the time was up. He said in a loud voice, “The relic of Mount He Snow is open. Please enter the relic orderly.”
Then he waved his right hand.
The 30-meter-high mist cluster vibrated for a while.
Then more than 30 people jumped in and disappeared.
“Let’s go.” After all those martial artists near the mist cluster disappeared inside it, Wang Zhanpeng took the lead to enter the mist cluster.
“Whoosh!”
Zhao Feng, Elder Meng, Leng Yue, Lei Tiannan, and Director Bi all followed him.
After confirming the safety of his friends, Zhang Han suddenly expanded his soul sense.
Now he could scan an area in a one-kilometer diameter.
Finding nothing abnormal, Zhang Han entered the mist cluster.
“Zoom!”
Once again, Zhang Han entered a white world, but he realized that there was fog around the white world, and there was a sense of weightlessness that was almost imperceptible.
“Weightlessness?
“How could there be weightlessness in a relic?”
All of a sudden, Zhang Han sensed something unusual.
He faintly sensed that there might be something wrong with the relic.
“Swish!”
Suddenly, the scenery in front of Zhang Han brightened.
He saw a clear sky with a shining sun, and he was now at a mountain top. The mountain seemed to be very high with a white cloud surrounding it below, and there was another mountain of the same height on the side of this mountain top, which was connected to this one by a bridge made of iron chains.
“Whoosh!”
Lei Tiannan and the other martial artists were also looking left and right around Zhang Han. This time, everyone who entered the site was transported to the same place.
The martial artists above the Profound stage were still coming in continuously. Fortunately, the area here was relatively large.
After waiting for a moment, Wang Zhanpeng went up to Zhang Han and asked in a low voice, “Han, have you found something strange here? Why are we in the same place this time? Do we have to cross this bridge to get to the real relic?”
“It may not be the real relic.” Zhang Han narrowed his eyes slightly.
He began expanding his soul sense out in all directions.
At this time, the surrounding environment seemed to be a static picture, and even the clouds and mist below and the iron chain bridge had not moved.
Then Zhang Han really found something strange.
While controlling his soul sense, he found that when it touched the ground, clouds, and chains, it would bounce back.
“Bounce back?
“A special spirit treasure?
“No.”
Zhang Han looked around for a while and finally stopped his gaze at the iron chain bridge.
A Grand Master stepped onto the bridge.
“Nothing strange. It’s quite safe here,” he said loudly to his friend.
However, he frowned nervously after taking five steps forward.
“The bridge is absorbing my spiritual force!”
He kept going on.
“The absorbing speed of the spiritual force is becoming faster and faster.
“It is absorbing not only my spiritual force, but also my blood and Qi.”
Gradually, his steps became slower and slower, and his forehead began to sweat, as if he were tired.
It was like that he was stepping on the tips of knives.
Under so many people’s gaze, he finally crossed the iron chain bridge.
“Whoo…”
He sat down on the ground, took out two medicinal pellets, swallowed them, and then waved his hand.
“80% of my spiritual force, Qi, and blood were absorbed by it.”
Qi and blood represent the pure strength of the body, i.e. the Yin and Yang in the human body. It was easy to replenish the spiritual force after it was used up, but it took more time to replenish Qi and blood with some tonics.
“Swish!”
After hearing this…
The faces of many people present changed.
“That man is at the Grand Master Early-stage, and 80% of his spiritual force, Qi, and blood were absorbed. How can those below the Grand Master stage cross the bridge?”
“Isn’t it said to be a C-level relic?”
Many martial artists exchanged a look with each other.
“Let me try it.” A martial artist at the Grand Master Middle-stage stepped onto the iron chain bridge.
Just like the man before him, every step he took forward was very difficult.
After crossing the bridge, he sat down without hesitation and began eating a medicinal pellet.
“80% of my spiritual force, Qi, and blood were absorbed, too.”
The gap in strength between the Grand Master Early-stage and Middle-Stage was very large, and the real gap represented by this 80% was not small.
“Why?”
Though they were still nervous, many martial artists decided to try the safe iron chain bridge.
The faster they were, the better chance they would have.
“Let me give it a try,” a Heaven-stage Master shouted and rushed toward the iron chain bridge.
After crossing the bridge with great difficulty, he also told the others, “It absorbed 80% of my spiritual force, Qi, and blood.”
“Even a Heaven-stage Master suffered a lot on the bridge.”
“It seems that this iron chain bridge only absorbs spiritual force, Qi, and blood.”
One by one, the martial artists scrambled onto the iron chain bridge.
There were many prudent people following that master who observed for a moment and found no danger. Many of them were outstanding people.
“What’s the principle in this? Why is there such a relic like this?”
Mo Chengfeng observed for a moment, muttered, and returned to the crowd on Zhang Han’s side.
At this time, Lei Tiannan and his men were waiting near Zhang Han. They all knew how knowledgeable Zhang Han was.
Director Bi gave in to his curiosity and crossed the bridge.
“Zhang Han, do you know what is happening on the bridge? Shall we follow them?” Lei Tiannan asked. “We can recover with medicinal pellets when we get past the bridge.”
Yes, the faster they were, the better chance they would have.
People who wanted to explore relics had to be able to maintain their own condition.
There were almost 800 martial artists in the relic now, and the number would soon reach 1,000.
However…
They were all frightened by Zhang Han’s reply. “It is not a relic.”
“What?” Lei Tiannan’s eyes narrowed in fear.
“Where are we if it is not a relic?
“Did we have an accident when we entered the vestige space, and then we deviated from the orbit and entered the turbulence of time and space?
“Is it possible for us to go back?
“Are we now in another world?”
Thinking about it, they felt so frightened.
There were many people waiting for them in their world, and it would be so terrible for them to stay in a new world forever.
Lei Tiannan was stunned, and Zhang Han knew that he had been misled.
So he added, “We are still on Mount He Snow, but not in the relic.”
“Really? I was scared just now.” Lei Tiannan and the others sighed in relief.
So did Mo Chengfeng.
Then they became confused again.
“Why are we on Mount He Snow? Why didn’t we enter the relic?” Wang Zhanpeng asked in curiosity.
“Because someone wants us to come here. As for the reason, we’ll know it when we go out.” Zhang Han’s eyes were fixed, then his body moved and he jumped down to the side of the abyss.
“This…” Lei Tiannan swallowed his saliva and jumped down.
Zhao Feng and Wang Zhanpeng followed them without hesitation.
The other martial artists were stunned.
“Why did they jump down? What’s going on?”
On the way down, Zhang Han was a little surprised.
He hadn’t expected to see a superior formation here, which was at the Innateness stage, and only those with Innateness-stage strength could see through it.
It was called a Phantom Formation, a kind of nearly flawless Heaven-earth Formation. Only by relying on the special mountain tendency and two kinds of fourth-stage spirit treasures could it be set up.
However, there were still some flaws in this formation, otherwise Zhang Han could only see through it after going deeper into it.
Zhang Han found the flaw when he saw the iron chain bridge absorb energy.
“What is the purpose of setting up this formation?
“Only by going out can we find out. That bearded man standing in front of the so-called entrance of relics must know about this formation.”
Liao Qingguang, a mysterious master.
He had set up the formation. As for the reason why…
After Zhang Han and the others came out of the cave on the side of the snow mountain…
“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”
From the north mountainside of Mount He Snow came a series of dull sounds and extremely violent waves.
Some masters were fighting there!
All the martial artists rushed in that direction in excitement.
When Zhao Feng and Elder Meng were about to move, they found themselves left behind.
They forced a smile in the face of such an obvious speed gap.
Soon, Zhang Han and the others reached the north and stopped on the top of the trees at the mountainside.
500 meters in front of them, there was a 300-meter-square open space, surrounded by a glowing, red circle and covered by a layer of red light.
“Dragon-Locking Array.” Zhang Han’s eyes narrowed slightly in surprise. He realized that all the energy gathered by the Phantom Formation was used to maintain this Dragon-Locking Array and lock someone.
“Someone?”
Zhang Han looked at the battlefield and saw someone he had seen before.
A God State Strong Master in a white robe and a bamboo hat.
He was fighting against Gai Xingkong and seven martial artists at the Grand Master Peak stage.
Liao Qingguang was standing not far away watching them, and the waves here had attracted hundreds of people waiting on the top of the mountain.
They were all stunned.
They thought that Zhang Hanyang would fight Gai Xingkong, but what had happened was another battle.
Liao Qingguang was surprised by Zhang Han’s arrival and took a glance at them.
“Wonderful,” he praised Zhang Han again and then turned his gaze to the battlefield.
At this time…
Zhang Han was silent upon seeing this.
He couldn’t avoid being injured in a battle against eight Grand Masters before he got a chance to escape.
“That man in the bamboo hat? Why is he here?” Mo Chengfeng frowned.
“Who is that man in the bamboo hat?” Lei Tiannan asked in confusion.
The others all turned their gaze to Mo Chengfeng.
Mo Chengfeng sighed and said, “He appeared in the Nan Xing Lake relic last time as a God State Strong, and I saw Master Ji fight against him. Master Ji told me that he was Qiao Kun, a former disciple of the Qihuan Sect in Hua nation. He was introverted and secretly in love with the daughter of the sect chief. He once expressed his love and was rejected indifferently. Later, he heard that the daughter of the sect chief would make an engagement with a talent of another sect, which annoyed him. He broke into the girl’s room the night before the date of the engagement…
“He killed that girl and escaped from the worldlet. The Qihuan Sect chief was furious and decided to hunt Qiao Kun down with a secret method activated by his blood, which forced Qiao Kun’s body to send out an orchid fragrance so that he could be found everywhere. However, before the sect chief could avenge his daughter, the sect war broke out.
“He succeeded in escaping, and later obtained the inheritance of a blood prince. He became an evil cultivator relying on human blood, and his strength improved rapidly. He had killed so many martial artists, and everyone in the martial art circle wanted to kill him, so he left Hua nation to go west. Later, he appeared several times, wearing a cape and a bamboo hat, but the peculiar orchid fragrance could not be covered up.
“The Man in the Bamboo Hat was famous many years ago, and you young people may not know him. I don’t know why he is here for a C-level relic and has been ambushed by Gai Xingkong. Wait, I understand it!”
Mo Chengfeng opened his eyes wide and continued, “It is said that many years ago, the Man in the Bamboo Hat had severely damaged the Gai family, and Patriarch Gai died, who should be Gai Xingkong’s father! So it is a deep-seated hatred caused by a blood debt.”