Chapter 336: Entering The Timeless Portal
“Ah, oh, oh! There seems to be... such a thing.” Old Daoist Peng forced out an awkward laugh.
“Why did the Thousand Emperors Gate have four emperors? How did they manage to have four emperors in a row? Your academy dares to say that you do not know?” Li Qiye said with a smile: “In the past, Immortal Emperor Hao Hai once promised that as long as the Thousand Emperors Gate existed, then it would continue to open a path for the academy. There is no need for me to tell you guys about this transaction, correct?”
The old daoist could only awkwardly smile while the other elders started to sigh. Immortal Emperor Hao Hai graduated from the academy and created a miracle that would be difficult to surpass even for many eons. Unfortunately, the Thousand Emperors Gate eventually met Empress Hong Tian!
“We’ll give in to your demand.” Finally, the elders reached an unprecedented consensus and said: “As long as the Realm God can be cured, we will do whatever it takes!”
“Then we shall go and prepare.” Li Qiye nodded his head.
The timeless portal of the academy had always been around, and rumor has it that it was already there even before the academy’s inception. The academy couldn’t tell when the portal would open, but each time, it would surely bring about a storm that carried great opportunities. Numerous wise sages from the academy researched the thing that was known as the portal for millions of years, but they couldn’t come up with a definite answer.
People who had the chance to enter the portal would meet different fortunes. Some would get an ancient scroll or a divine stone while others would obtain immortal items... Of course, there were those who returned empty-handed, and this was the case for the majority.
The specific circumstances were attributed to one’s insight and luck...
Each time the portal opened, everyone would be met by different things, but there would always be great adventures with rich rewards. Of course, the one who obtained the biggest fortune would be the biggest winner.
Since time immemorial, those who obtained the greatest fortune inside the portal all became famous in the future, and the most famous person was Immortal Emperor Hao Hai.
Legends say that he was a student at the academy at that time, and he obtained something great from the portal, but no one knew the exact details. To sum it up, his treasure or adventure must have been extremely amazing.
What happened after this event was known to all. Immortal Emperor Hao Hai accepted the Heaven’s Will and became the ruler of the world! This was not the most illustrious deed; what was even more exceptional — above all else — was the creation of the Thousand Emperors Gate — one sect with four continuous Immortal Emperors. This was a never-seen-before achievement and perhaps, it would never be repeated again!
Regarding the Thousand Emperors Gate’s miracle, many people formulated many different hypotheses. Some said that Immortal Emperor Hao Hai was so great that, with his supreme wisdom as deep as the sea, he erected an eternal foundation for the gate.
Regardless of what others speculated, in short, each time the portal was opened, others would salivate from greed!
This time, the academy relaxed its requirements. Outside of the great powers involved in the alliance, young disciples from any sect were allowed to enter the timeless portal.
This piece of news caused countless cultivators and sects to become excited. All the young people carried a dream to enter the portal, and they all had a desire to become the second Immortal Emperor Hao Hai.
And naturally, the sects wished that their disciples could become the second Hao Hai. No matter if they had peerless talents or pitiful aptitudes, as long as they were young and on time, these sects would let them enter the portal instantly. To them, the more people, the better since this would mean that they would have a better chance at gaining riches. After squeezing so many disciples into the portal, one or two of them must be able to get something good.
Once these young disciples entered the portal, they started to stare in awe at the scene before them. The only things that met these yearning eyes were ruins.
These ruins were extremely vast as they covered hundreds of thousands of miles. Despite their age of countless years, they still continued to exist with many collapsed walls and broken tiles. Although these ruins were tattered beyond words, one could still see that this place was once a gigantic citadel, or rather, it was a divine city. Seeing these broken walls that towered to the clouds and surrounded the vast vicinity, it was apparent how huge this ancient city used to be!
Some people were able to tell that these destroyed walls had been made from a black and extremely precious treasure metal. After so many years had passed, this black treasure metal had turned into scrap metal — the divinity was no longer present.
Even so, the metal still instilled fear in the hearts of others. Who was it that spent so many resources to build such a gigantic city? Could this be a legendary city of gods?
The young cultivators were shocked by the scene after they stepped inside. It took them all a long time before they were able to calm down.
“Great fortunes, here we come!” A youth with his boiling blood shouted as others quickly rushed into these vast ruins.
As they calmed down, they began to spread out. Some went south while others flew to the north. Some stayed behind in these ruins to meticulously explore to see if there were any treasures that remained...
In just a minute, young ones from all over the world scattered to the four directions like the tide. They all had great expectations as they explored this mysterious world.
Once they reached the deeper parts of the ruins, they discovered that this world was much larger than their imagination. There was no end to this endless place.
There were divine mountains that pierced the horizon; they were too high for one’s sight to enjoy. Some were entrenched horizontally in the earth like a coiling dragon, and there were mighty rivers flowing non-stop for a billion miles... [1. The geographic and distance adjectives in this chapter most likely shouldn’t be taken too literally because it consists of the characters for 100 + 1,000, + 10,000, so it is 1,000,000,000 miles. I would take it as a flowery descriptor of a vast distance.]
Moreover, some people found out that there were some unbelievable battles that had occurred at this place. A divine mountain had been slashed in half by someone, and a gigantic peak was seemingly torn off from the earth by someone else. There were cracks in the earth everywhere while some locations were torched into barren deserts...
The more striking matter was that this place had many ruins. This would be fairly common when huge cities became mere vestiges. Judging from the degree of destruction, they became ruins due to the chaos of war!
These young cultivators could not stay calm after they saw this earth. Many of them had huge questions in their hearts. What is this place? What happened here?
No one had an answer, but they were sure that there was an apocalyptic war that took place here.
“I found the first portal!” Efforts were always rewarded, and eventually, someone found a portal.
After hearing this news, many people quickly flocked to the location. An ancient dao platform stood there; although the dao platform was destroyed, the dao portal remained intact. Its color was faint, but it was still able to take someone to a different dimension.
Seeing this broken portal, the group of young cultivators that were the first to find it glanced at each other since they weren’t sure where this would take them.
“Screw it, how can we obtain a great fortune without taking risks!?” A person didn’t care and shouted before they rushed into the portal.
With someone taking the lead, those left behind were unwilling to linger for long so they all soared into the portal as well.
“A dao platform was excavated from the first ruins!” However, the people at the entrance also found something. They engraved refined jades into the dao platform and immediately rushed into the portal without any hesitation.
Very suddenly, many dao platforms were found. They all had unknown destinations, but this didn’t deter the young ones from rushing inside in order to not miss out on any opportunities.
One after another, dao platforms were found. Those who didn’t find any began to frantically dig around, hoping that they could find treasures or a dao platform that led to different secret dimensions.
This place became very rowdy with people digging holes everywhere. These youths were extremely enthusiastic and were anxious to flip over this land!
While these young ones were happily digging in full swing, Li Qiye took his time entering with his group. He didn’t bring too many people; there were only Sikong Toutian, Little Autumn, and Chi Xiaodie.
The truth was that Chi Xiaodao also wanted to go with Li Qiye. However, Li Qiye did not return at that time and Chi Xiaodie didn’t want to decide for Li Qiye, so in the end, Chi Xiaodao and the Lion’s Roar disciples went into the portal with the academy’s Le Yi and some other disciples.
Those who went along with Li Qiye were also amazed by the vast ruins before them.
“What is this place...?” Sikong Toutian looked at the scene ahead and couldn’t help but murmur.
Chi Xiaodie was completely dumbstruck. This scene was completely different from what they expected.