The gatehouse was so massive that it made both of them tremble. If it stood on the continent, its entrance would probably disappear into the starry sky.
Above the main gate, ancient black patterns were everywhere. There were no ferocious ghostly faces, but within those endless patterns was a strong aura of death.
Before the gates of hell, endless beings formed an endless ocean, all tightly shut, not daring to utter a sound.
The closer one got to the gates of death, the more intense the aura of death became, like an invisible giant hand gripping the throat, making it hard to breathe.
"The last time I came, I didn't feel this much pressure. It turns out my cultivation level wasn't high enough."
This was Long Chen's second time at the brink of death. Last time, although he felt shocked, he didn't feel so oppressed. It felt like his life was being held in someone else's hands.
Mengqi and the others' faces turned pale. Coming here, it felt as if a strange law controlled life and death, leaving them unable to resist. This feeling was very unpleasant.
Long Chen looked at the other beings and found them even more desperate; some had even started to unleash their attacks.
"Roar..."
Long Chen and the others slowly moved forward. Suddenly, a furious roar came from behind. Long Chen looked and couldn't help but laugh—it was a massive monstrous python.
At this moment, the python's tail was still gone, possibly because of the laws of the underworld preventing it from restoring its body. Upon seeing Long Chen and the others, it roared angrily, opened its huge mouth, and streams of dark power flowed through its mouth.
Yue Zifeng snorted coldly, one hand slowly reaching for the long sword behind his back.
"Pfft"
But before Yue Zifeng could make a move, a huge hand suddenly reached out from above the pitch-black door and slapped the monstrous python to dust.
Everything happened too fast; it felt like it was over before it even happened. A terrifying creature was wiped out before it even understood what had happened.
You have to understand, once you are killed here, your primordial spirit can never return; what remains outside is nothing but a corpse.
That giant hand quickly withdrew after killing the monstrous python, as if nothing had happened.
Long Chen and the others finally understood why the beings here dared not make a sound—the Gate of Hell could actually launch an attack.
The gate to hell was not fully opened, only a crack remained, but that gap was hundreds of miles wide.
But there were simply too many beings here, so they could only slowly pour into the Gate of Hell.
"Why does it feel like we're lining up to be reborn?" Guo Ran looked at these beings, each of them filled with fear, but had no choice but to follow forward, muttering to himself.
"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you talking about? Guo Ran, don't say anything unlucky." Li Qi complained, "This jinx, daring to talk nonsense in the underworld—isn't this just making things harder for others?"
Long Chen smiled slightly and said, "Actually, it's nothing special. The path of cultivation is always a road of no return, just like the road to the Yellow Springs we have walked."
Do you want to turn back? Look at those people behind you—they've already blocked your path. When you turn back, the first person to kill you is the one behind you.
Just like in spiritual practice, we can only move forward, never stop, and certainly not look back.
If we stop cultivating, while our enemies continue to improve every day, the fate awaiting us will be extremely tragic.
Death is not terrifying; what's terrifying is that even you cannot control the time, place, or manner of your own death.
We now strive to cultivate ourselves in order to control our own life and death, transcend everything, and live freely.
The greater a person's ideals, the greater the resistance they face—this ratio never changes. "
Long Chen, when we were at Xuantian Villa, I asked you what your ideal was. Do you still remember?" Tang Wan'er said with a smile.
"Of course I remember. What I want to be is a new 'four-haves' jerk with ideals, manners, integrity, and depth."
Long Chen shook his head and sighed, "It's a pity that after all these years, my ideals, cultivation, and substance remain, but my integrity has been shattered." Mengqi
and the others couldn't help but cover their mouths and stifled laughter. The tense atmosphere was greatly diminished. Some of the surrounding beings glanced at them, their eyes filled with either surprise or mockery, all in unison.
They couldn't understand what Long Chen and the others were saying. While others didn't even dare to breathe, they were still here chatting and laughing. Perhaps some admired Long Chen's courage, but others mocked his ignorance.
"That's strange,"
Chu Yao looked at the main door and suddenly said.
"What?"
Everyone was stunned.
"Look, on the door panel, there should be a door nail there, but it's missing one—so obvious." Chu Yao pointed at the main gate.
Everyone followed Chu Yao's finger and indeed saw that the door panel was densely packed with door studs. The nails were neat, but one was missing, making it look very strange.
"No way... Long
Chen stared at the missing spot, his eyes almost popping out. Wasn't this exactly the place he had torn down from the door back then?
And the location was exactly the same. When Long Chen entered, he found the entrance completely different from last time, thinking the entrance was different from before.
But now, seeing the gate, he was startled. Just moments ago, he was comforting others, but now he himself felt the urge to turn and run.
Last time, Long Chen stole a nail and was chased by that giant hand, chasing him all the way to the entrance, almost killing him.
"What's going on, boss? Do you know what's going on?" Seeing Long Chen's astonished expression, everyone couldn't help but ask.
"No, no, I don't know either. I was just wondering who was so bold as to pull out the nail that closed the gates of hell." Long Chen hurriedly waved his hand.
"Pull it out?" No way, if the boss dared to pull it, I believe anyone else—I absolutely wouldn't believe he had the guts to do so. Guo Ran glanced at the door stud, shaking his head like a rattle drum.
"It's our turn, be careful, don't get distracted." Long Chen said softly.
While everyone was talking, they had already followed the crowd to the crack in the door.
As they approached the crack in the door, white light flickered inside, making it impossible to see what was happening inside. All living beings could only enter the white light with anxious and uneasy hearts.
Once they entered the white light, their figures disappeared. Long Chen took a deep breath. Since there was no turning back, he could only bravely push forward.
"Whoosh"
When Long Chen was enveloped in white light, his vision blurred, and when his vision returned, he found himself inside a palace.
The palace was enormous, and Long Chen felt as small as an ant inside. Directly ahead was a staircase stretching all the way, and at the end of the steps was a magnificent throne.
On that throne stood a personA woman in a black long dress, with a stern face, was looking down at Long Chen coldly.
The woman's long hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her pair of sea-blue eyes were like two sharp blades—cold and merciless, like a deity sitting there.
When Long Chen saw the woman's face, he almost cried out, his hair standing on end.
"You..."
For the first time in his life, Long Chen was so nervous that he stuttered. For the first time in his life, he felt despair.
"You... Return... Okay? "Long Chen felt his throat dry, as if he had been burned by a red-hot branding iron.
That woman was none other than Leng Yueyan. If she were Leng Yueyan, Long Chen wouldn't be afraid—but the key was she wasn't.
She only looks exactly like Leng Yueyan, but in reality, she is a different person. The most terrifying thing is that Leng Yueyan once said she is a deity, and even a Nether God.
At this moment, Long Chen suddenly had a flash of inspiration: Nether God? The god of the underworld? Damn it, I actually came to you myself. If he survived this time, that would truly be defying the heavens.
The Nether God quietly looked at Long Chen, his face expressionless—neither joy nor anger, motionless, not uttering a word, like a statue.
Long Chen looked at the Nether God and met his gaze. Even though Long Chen claimed to be bold beyond words, he still felt his scalp tingle and every strand of hair standing on end.
It's over, it's over, this time he's doomed. This Nether God is sitting there, but Long Chen feels like she is the whole world. With just a thought, she can make him vanish into thin air.
Back on the Tianwu Continent, Long Chen couldn't sense her power, but here, he didn't even have the courage to resist. A god is irresistible.
"Um, I think you're pretty busy too. How about I head back first? Let's talk another day!"
Long Chen stared at the Nether God for a full hour, but in the end, Long Chen was defeated. He couldn't hold on any longer, sweat soaking his clothes from his back. He forced a smile and slowly retreated.
This silent gaze was unbearably painful. Long Chen was mentally under terrifying pressure, a pressure that could drive one mad. Every breath felt as long as a year. This kind of gaze was a torture, making life worse than death.
Long Chen slowly retreated, but the Underworld God remained motionless, not even her gaze showing any emotion. She sat there quietly like a statue.
"Could it be that her soul has already left her body?"
Suddenly, Long Chen had a thought. Leng Yueyan had said that the Nether God had countless clones, and it was her true body's divine sense controlling these clones.
When she controls her clones, her soul attaches to those clones to control them.
With this suspicion, Long Chen suddenly became much bolder. Should he go capture the real person?
But thinking about it, Long Chen shook his head. This joke was going too far. This isn't the Tianwu Continent, it's the Underworld. How could he possibly capture a deity?
Long Chen slowly retreated to the entrance of the main hall. The gate was hundreds of zhang high, made of some unknown metal, simple yet heavy.
Long Chen reached out to push the gate, but it didn't budge an inch, as if it were growing on the earth.
Long Chen gradually tightened his arms, but the gate still wouldn't move. Anxious, Long Chen shouted in his heart and summoned the Dragon Blood Battle Body.
In the Yin-Yang Realm, he could use all his spells, almost no different from those on the continent. Yet even so, the gate didn't even shake.
"Crack!"
Long Chen twisted hard and dislocated his shoulder, causing cold sweat to break out in pain.
"Damn, this is really strange." Long Chen gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath.
"That's right, this is just strange."
At that moment, a cold, emotionless voice came from behind Long Chen, making his hair stand on end.