Chapter 101: The Great Gate at the Bottom of the Water

  This old woman must have undergone a transformation, Ning Cheng immediately came to this conclusion. An old woman couldn't possibly have wrinkles on her face and extremely aged hands, yet have a wrist as smooth as jade.

  However, Ning City soon calmed down. Whether it was good fortune or bad luck, the misfortune could not be avoided. Regardless of whether the other party was an old woman or a young woman, he was always the weaker side.

  Once he had cast aside his worries, Ning Cheng's mind opened up. Immediately afterwards, he discovered that apart from the increasingly icy coldness, the speed of the Water Boat Technique was actually getting slower and slower as well.

  "Senior, is this what you meant by 'very fast'?" Ning Cheng asked dazedly. Can this speed even be considered the fastest?

  "That's right, it's very fast." The old woman simply answered a sentence, and didn't even bother to explain.

  Ning Cheng could only operate his true yuan to resist the icy coldness around him. His divine sense could only penetrate through the array of the water boat, and he could only check within three to five meters around the water boat. Once he exceeded this range, his divine sense would disappear without a trace.

  Ning Cheng was secretly shocked in his heart. Once the wooden boat broke apart, under such a terrifying icy coldness, could he hold on for even a short while?

  An hour passed, and apart from an increasingly icy chill, Ning Cheng could only feel that the water boat he was on was sinking deeper into the bottom of the water.

  Another period of time passed, and Ning Cheng suddenly heard a clear 'click' sound. He was startled and immediately turned his head to ask the old woman what was going on. Unexpectedly, the old woman took the initiative to say, "I didn't expect that with your mere Condensed True Realm, your True Yuan is so thick and heavy, yet you can still withstand it in this place."

  "Senior, don't distract me anymore, did our watercraft make a sound?" Ning Cheng couldn't care about showing respect to his elders at this time, and there was some blame in his tone.

  The old woman had said that this watercraft could safely take him to the shore, but now it had already cracked open before he even reached the bottom of the water. How would he get back then?

  "That's right, the water boat did indeed crack a seam just now. I didn't think this fourth-level solo dragon turtle was so shoddy, it hasn't even reached its destination yet and it's already starting to crack." The white-haired old woman spoke calmly, without a hint of surprise.

  "But..."

  Ning Cheng had just spoken two words when the white-haired old woman continued, "You don't have to worry, our boat will arrive soon, you won't die."

  Ning Cheng could only shut his mouth, even if the white-haired old woman let him go now, he couldn't leave.

  "Senior, can you tell me what's really in this Cold River? That way I can help out later. Otherwise, when we get to the bottom of the river, I'll just waste more time." Ning Cheng thought that since they were going to know the secret anyway, it was better to let the old woman kill them after they knew more.

  The old woman with white hair did not conceal anything, and her tone became a bit more gentle as she said, "Many years ago, the Han River Forbidden Land was still called the Thunderbolt Scorching River. One day, a terrifying giant axe shadow fell from the sky above the Yi Xing Continent, striking the edge of the Yi Xing Continent. It formed a trench tens of thousands of miles long, and perhaps because this giant axe had an extraordinary origin, all sorts of rare spiritual grasses and heavenly treasures grew wildly inside this trench."

  "Could it be that Senior is referring to Nuè Fǔ Valley?" Ning Cheng had heard of the matter of Nuè Fǔ Valley on the airship earlier, so when this old woman mentioned it, he immediately reacted. However, what he didn't understand was that this place was Hán Hé Jìn Dì (Cold River Forbidden Land), and what connection did it have with Nuè Fǔ Valley?

  The old woman nodded, "That's right, it's Nuè Fǔ Gǔ (Angry Axe Valley). Many people know about Angry Axe Valley, but no one knows that when the giant axe shadow fell, something else also fell. That thing didn't fall in Angry Axe Valley, but rather in Lòu Léi Zhì Hé (River of Thunder and Lightning)."

  "Is senior looking for something else that fell from thin air?" Ning Cheng immediately understood.

  "That's right, I'm looking for something else. Actually, when people first knew that the Thunder River had fallen from the sky, there were a few people who knew about it, but they didn't find anything later and thought it was just a rumor. Because the temperature of the Thunder River dropped lower and lower as things fell from the void, fewer and fewer people could enter the Thunder River. I also learned about the Thunder River by chance." The old woman's tone still carried some self-satisfaction, apparently because she knew something that others didn't.

  The old woman spoke up, "Actually, Angry Axe Valley has many good things too. If you can enter it in the future, it will be beneficial to you for your entire life. Of course, the prerequisite is that you can come out alive."

  "Isn't Nù Fǔ Valley a secret realm? I heard that opening it has time restrictions." Ning City hastily asked.

  An old woman with white hair hummed and said, "In countless years ago, the resources of Yi Xing mainland were rich and strong, and the strong were everywhere. The Huoding cultivators were also seen everywhere, and at that time, Nu Fu Valley was not a secret realm at all. Some strong people entered Nu Fu Valley to find opportunities, because there were too many good things in Nu Fu Valley, resulting in killings among many strong people.

  As more and more powerful cultivators died, all the Huádǐng cultivators finally sat down together. After mutual discussion, they decided that no cultivator above the Yuánjìng stage would be allowed to enter Nùfǔ Valley, and they joined forces to turn Nùfǔ Valley into a secret realm, which could only be entered with a special jade token. Later on, Nùfǔ Valley became a fixed place for cultivators of the Condensing Reality or Gathering Qi stages to go and gain experience.

  When Ning Cheng heard a strange noise, he heard another 'crack' sound. Ning Cheng's face immediately turned ugly, and the quality of this water boat seemed to be no good. He was already thinking that when the water boat explodes, would he have to enter the Xuan Huang Pearl first?

  Ever since he involuntarily entered the Xuan Huang Pearl that one time, he had never attempted to enter it again. Not even Ning Cheng himself knew if he could still get in.

  "We've arrived." The white-haired old woman's voice cut off Ning Cheng's wandering thoughts.

  Before Ning City could say another word, the white-haired old woman had already opened the hatch of the boat and taken out a flag array, throwing it out. The next moment, the old woman grabbed Ning City with one hand and took him out of the boat.

  As soon as Ning Cheng left the Half Moon Water Ship, he felt a chill run down his spine. His true yuan not only had no effect but also couldn't be mobilized at all. Moreover, his divine sense was also unable to move.

  Just as Ning Cheng had this thought, the white-haired old woman had already taken out a fire-red round umbrella. The umbrella completely covered her and Ning Cheng, and after being covered by the umbrella, Ning Cheng's feeling of coldness instantly disappeared.

  The chill disappeared, and Ning Cheng immediately saw a huge water-colored gate. The color of the gate was the same as the water color of the Cold River, if not for Lao Yu saying it and bringing him out, he really wouldn't have looked carefully.

  A faintly ancient aura was immediately sensed by Ning City, and Ning City knew at the first moment that this gate must be extraordinary. The old woman said it right, this is absolutely a treasure among treasures, but unfortunately, this treasure is not his. Even if he got it, in the end, it would still be taken away by the old woman.

  Ning Cheng subconsciously wanted to use his divine sense to scan, and immediately felt that the Purple Mansion was in a state of turmoil, making it impossible for him to send out his divine sense. He looked at the white-haired old woman beside him, but was shocked to discover that she was trembling all over, her face growing even paler. It was clear that the white-haired old woman was also having great difficulty controlling this protective screen.

  "Have you seen what's on that big gate?" The old woman seemed to be completely unaware that she was already very exhausted, and her tone of speaking to Ning Cheng was extremely excited.

  Ning Cheng clearly heard her voice was somewhat distorted and trembling, a distorted voice that was completely different from her usual old voice.

  On the gate there were only six different colored flags, nothing else.

  Ning Cheng was at a loss when he heard the old woman say urgently, "I won't last much longer. This is an array formation foundation. You quickly calculate how many array methods there are."

  Ning City only now discovered that under the six differently colored array flags, there was a row of small words: "Zhu Que Huan Zhuang Basic Variation, six different fantasy array flags, arranged in three flags and two rows variation, can perform several variations."

  There is a blank space in the position, and it's actually a fill-in-the-blank question. The question is extremely simple for Ning City, meaning that six different array flags are arranged in two rows, with three array flags in each row, how many different arrangement methods are there?

  "Senior, this question is so simple. Even if you can't use your divine sense now, after all these years, you should have been able to do it, right?" Ning Cheng looked at the white-haired old woman in doubt, he didn't believe that she still couldn't solve such a question.

  "Idiot, the questions here are different every time, hurry up and calculate." The white-haired old woman shouted in great annoyance.

  Ning Cheng silently said, "It's so simple yet you still have to calculate it, 720 different ways of arranging."

  "Is that so simple?" The old woman looked at Ning City with some disbelief, Ning City didn't even calculate it, and answered directly, making her somewhat suspicious.

  Ning Cheng couldn't be bothered with this old woman, believe it or not.

  The old woman took one look at Ning City's expression and knew that she couldn't expect him to answer her again. She suddenly flashed out of the crimson barrier, and in the empty space below, she forcefully wrote out the number 720.

  With a creak, the large water-colored door slowly opened.

  "Really?" The old woman immediately said to Ning City with a surprised tone, "Without my control, the shield can only last for a limited time. You think of a way to get back to the boat and wait for me, I'm going in..."

  Before she could finish her sentence, the old woman had already rushed into that blue-colored gate. Immediately afterwards, the blue-colored gate creaked and slowly closed again.

  Ning Cheng stared blankly at the azure-colored great door, completely forgetting to despise Lao Yu for not sending him to the Half Moon Ship's Treasure Room. In the moment the great door opened, he felt a kind of unprecedented spiritual energy.

  No, that's absolutely not spiritual energy. To be exact, the aura is many times stronger than spiritual energy. Just by sensing this aura, he felt his cultivation surging rapidly upwards.

  What is this place?

  (Here is the second update, goodnight friends!)

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