Chapter 314: Chapter 313: The Undercurrent Turbulence!
Translator: 549690339
“Whether I can descend or not mainly depends on whether those guys can identify me…”
Du Gang pulled out a mirror to check his current disguise and was quite satisfied.
From the outside, nobody could tell that he was the Ancient God!
Despite his casual demeanor, the handsome man who had been watching him almost threw up when he saw this.
“He’s so ugly but he has the nerve to primp…”
“And what’s with that satisfied expression in the end?”
The handsome man’s mouth twitched. Throughout his travels, he had never seen such a character.
Du Gang glanced at him, too lazy to engage in a conversation, and continued pondering on his own.
Without paying attention to appearances, the Yin and Yang Five would have to rely on their surveillance methods to locate me.
However, their known surveillance methods could only determine a general direction and couldn’t pinpoint me exactly.
The Gloomy Sun Grass underground was eight hundred meters from the surface.
Du Gang frowned.
He didn’t know if the Yin and Yang Five’s surveillance was planar or three-dimensional.
If it was planar, then even if he went down, his position wouldn’t change much from their point of observation.
He couldn’t harbor such unnecessary hope!
Du Gang quickly warned himself to prepare for the worst in every situation.
Suppose, their surveillance was three-dimensional, then they might detect me from below the ground.
So
I have two choices now.
First, go down now, they can detect my presence among the people below.
But most of the people below are Nine Tribulation Gods, and me, a mere Third Tribulation, would stand out too easily!
It’s different from standing on the surface, where thousands of people have gathered. Many of them are here to watch the fun, not really here to compete for the Gloomy Sun Grass, so the cultivation base is mixed, and he doesn’t stand out among them.
But if he went down, he would definitely become the focus because of his cultivation base.
As soon as the first choice came to mind, Du Gang shook his head in refusal.
Then, the second choice, stay on the surface…
Stay on the surface, wait until the Gloomy Sun Grass is about to mature, then go down and try to fight for it. Regardless of whether I can get it, I will go to the place a kilometer deep into the abyss and enter the Heavenly Court!
As for escaping, he never considered it, because Heavenly Court has already provided a way in at a place one kilometer below the Dragon Dive Abyss.
Since he has to enter the Heavenly Court anyway, it’s no problem to compete for the Gloomy Sun Grass on the way.
“Hey, are you sure you’re not going down?”
Next to him, the handsome man who saw Du Gang had fallen silent began to inquire again.
Hearing his words, Du Gang rolled his eyes.
What was this guy trying to do? He clearly found him annoying but kept trying to make conversation. Was he sick?
He replied impatiently, “Didn’t you see that my cultivation base is low? I came here just to spectate, I’m not going down!”
Your cultivation base is low?
The handsome man was taken aback, frowning, “You’re hiding your cultivation base, right?”
Earlier, in his conversation with Du Gang, he vaguely felt threatened by him.
This was his instinct, a instinct to detect danger.
Among the few thousand people currently staying on the surface, the only ones who could make him feel threatened were few and far between.
Du Gang really didn’t want to chat with him, fearing he might not be able to resist punching him.
So, he went to another uninhabited spot by himself, continuing to watch the edge of the abyss, waiting for others to go down.
Seeing his behavior, the handsome man curled his lips and decided not to bother him anymore.
The Yin and Yang Five moved quickly, entering the platform eight hundred meters below ground without hesitation.
The people on the surface were not surprised at this sight. After all, since their arrival, the five had projected an air of superiority. Their capabilities were to be expected.
“I didn’t expect these kinds of people to be able to go down!” Some were still resentful.
The discussion about the Yin and Yang Five didn’t last long, since it didn’t concern them.
Soon, everyone’s gaze was drawn to the new diver.
“Brother Zou, are you really going down?”
On the edge of the cliff, two young men were staring at each other face to face.
“I’m just a few steps away from becoming a peak powerhouse, and soon I’ll be like the others, looking up at the Human Ranking and halting…”
Zou, the man with the surname, sighed, “Not being in the Human Ranking means you’re just an insignificant figure, even if you dominate a small place…”
He was a straight shooter. As soon as he said this, most people present were speechless.
If someone close to the pinnacle was seen as insignificant, what were they? Worthless?
However, most people didn’t say much. Compared to the harmless verbal slings, they were more eager to see if this man named Zou could go down to eight hundred meters.
“But, just now even the Mo brothers didn’t go down, stopping at two hundred meters. Brother Zou, why don’t you wait a while?” His friend was still a bit worried and suggested he wait and watch what others did.
However, what Zou said next was impressive.
“At this moment, isn’t this a test of one’s mental state?”
He turned around, looked down at the abyss and slowly said, “There are two hours left before the Gloomy Sun Grass matures. At first, I thought I’d wait for others to go down first, so they could scout the way for me. That way I’d have a better idea…”
“But then I asked myself, did the first person to go down eight hundred meters do the same?”
“I think he must have gone down with a determination to win, right?!”
“Except for him, all the other top powerhouses have already gone down, what about them?”
“So, at such a crucial time, I must go down!”
“The path of cultivation is like sailing against the current. If you don’t advance, you’ll retreat. But in fact, cultivation is far more difficult than boating. It’s as difficult as reaching the sky!”
“This time, if I compromise, what about next time? Or the time after that?”
He raised his head, his eyes filled with a certain special thing, and smiled, “Knowing that there are already many people eight hundred meters below, if I still don’t dare to go down, I’d be too incompetent. If I compromise this time and the next, what’s the point of cultivating?”
“Well said!”
At this moment, Zou’s words electrified the entire crowd.
All people started looking at him differently. “I never thought Brother Zou would have such an awareness, remarkable!”
“Brother Zou, you’re a role model for us all!”
People constantly praised him. They admired and aspired to be like him; someone with high self-awareness.
Du Gang, standing in a corner, also paid more attention to Zou.
Such people were indeed rare. However, he silently shook his head, not entirely agreeing with his words.
The top powerhouses in the Human Ranking dared to go down because they had absolute confidence in their abilities and had complete control of the situation.
This was having a well thought out plan, not acting recklessly.
“I hope you’ll succeed!”
As for Zou’s abilities, he couldn’t tell before he made his move, but he could sense some level of his cultivation base.
He had the basis of a Nine Tribulation God. However, Du Gang didn’t know what level of technique he had mastered, how far he had cultivated it, or whether he had any hidden burst abilities.
If none of these worked out, then his chances of going down were quite slim!
“Everyone, Brother Zou will go first and scout the way!”
Having said that, the man surnamed Zou, as if worried about regret, wasted no time and jumped straight down the cliff.
“Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!”
It was as if he was holding a breath in his heart; the moment he jumped down, his legs started moving continuously. As if he were on a flat ground, he briskly proceeded; within a few seconds, he had descended one hundred meters.
“Good!”
“Keep going, Brother Zou!”
Just as the crowd was cheering, an enthusiastic young man quickly said, “Everyone, let’s lower our voices so as not to disturb Brother Zou!”
“No problem!”
“We’ll do just that!”
At once, the onlookers controlled their volume, watching intently and somewhat nervously.
Brother Zou’s word had indeed gained him a lot of goodwill,. Most people present hoped he would be safe; at the moment, all were silently praying for his success.
“Two hundred meters!”
“Three hundred meters!”
“Brother Zou still looks relaxed. He’s likely to succeed!”
Some cheered jubilantly; despite not having met Brother Zou personally, they were deeply moved by his actions.
“Four hundred meters, go on, Brother Zou!”
“Five hundred meters…”
At the edge of the cliff, nearly half of the people, were murmuring, watching the man descending below.
“Six hundred meters… Be careful, Brother Zou!”
Suddenly, at the six-hundred-meter mark, Brother Zou stumbled. He stepped on thin air, causing some loose rocks to fall. His body, following its momentum, quickly descended.
“Brother Zou!”
At this moment, many people’s hearts were in their mouths as if it was their relative who was falling.
“Bump!”
Below, Brother Zou lost control of his body and fell a few meters, but he quickly grabbed and dug his hands into the cliff wall, managing to stop his fall.
“Phew~ He stopped. Excellent!”
Though Brother Zou could not hear the voices from above due to the strong wind, he could imagine their concern. He raised his hand and waved to those on top, indicating he was alright.
“Keep going, Brother Zou!”
“Keep going, Brother Zou!”
So with everyone’s encouragement, Brother Zou kept going down. He finally reached the eight hundred-meter mark and climbed onto a platform, successfully completing his descent.
“Excellent!”
“Brother Zou made it!”
At that moment, everyone on the ground was overjoyed, cheering non-stop.
A few minutes later, when people’s emotions calmed down, several individuals came forward, each choosing a spot, and began their descent.
These individuals had gained some confidence from seeing Brother Zou’s trajectory.
Du Gang watched their steps, frowning gradually.
Earlier, he was observing Brother Zou cumulatively and noticed a small detail.
Brother Zou lost his footing not because of the instability of the cliff, but rather it was the unsteadiness of his feet that made the cliff crumble.
Aside from the time when Brother Zou stumbled, he never showed signs of hesitation at any point and appeared very sturdy.
The wind!
Du Gang suddenly squinted his eyes. If it was indeed unsteadiness caused by Brother Zou’s feet, then it was highly likely caused by strong winds!
This kind of deep abyss wind is completely different from the wind on the outside. It’s invisible and almost undetectable.
Although he is already certain that the most challenging part down there is the intrusion by the strong wind, he still kept his attention on the others who were slowly descending.
These people seem to have learned from Brother Zou’s lesson. They moved with greater stability, and both hands and feet never simultaneously left the cliff.
Can they really come down like this?
Du Gang felt doubtful. He was unsure if such a steady grip would withstand the wind’s disruption.
“Two hundred meters!”
“Three hundred meters!”
Before long, several men below had descended to the three hundred-meter mark.
From their steps and facial expressions, it seemed very easy and problem-free.
“It looks like they should be able to make it!”
“Yeah, they’ve made it here so stably, there shouldn’t be a problem…”
Just as everyone felt that the men below should be able to make it, an accident happened.
“Buzz!”
A sound like wings flapping rang out. Immediately, the rocks under the feet of the men below loosened. At that moment, they all fell. Their bodies, along with the sudden change, plummeted down.
“Ah?!”
“No, don’t!”
On the ground, people were terrified, hoping these men could stabilize themselves like Brother Zou.
But then something that rendered everyone silent happened.
The men who left the cliff, as if seized by some invisible terror, fell straight down.
“No!!”
“Help me!”
One by one, the screams gradually faded in front of everyone’s horrified eyes.
As said earlier, once they left the cliff, the wind became even more forceful, tearing their bodies and divine souls apart.
“Chatter-chatter-chatter!”
On the ground, some inexperienced youths trembled, covered in cold sweat. No doubt, they originally had plans for descending. If not for the people around them stopping them, they might have joined the men who just died.
With the death of these individuals, the venue suddenly became silent.
Everyone was awakened by this brutal reality.
That Brother Zou made it was not due to luck, but rather his strength!
In the next more than an hour, no one dared to attempt the descent again. Of course, this had to do with the fact that the truly strong ones had already gone.
Du Gang, however, started to move when there were only ten-plus minutes left.
He had roughly guessed some rules of this abyss.
Once they left the cliff, the force of the wind doubled. This was discovered early on. In addition, the longer they stayed, the greater the chance of the wind eroding the cliff.
These were conclusions he drew from the varying positions of people, and their occurrence of ‘foot-slips’.
Despite having these hypotheses, he didn’t voice them. In fact, there were also others present who had similar insights, but everyone tacitly refrained from revealing them.
This was due to the limited quantity and location of the Gloomy Sun Grass. All those descending were competitors, and the fewer there were, the greater one’s chances.
So, the faster they descended, the better!
Du Gang gained some confidence and didn’t intentionally wait for the last few minutes to descend. Instead, he slowly went to the cliff when there were still about ten-plus minutes till the arrival of the Gloomy Sun Grass.