Chapter 00255: Preparations
# Preparations
Chapter 255
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 255: Preparations
A bracelet?
Ding Huan was slightly taken aback.
He could understand the Ascension Token, but what was the meaning behind giving out bracelets?
Cen Fengqin took out ten Ascension Tokens and ten bracelets, handing them to Hu Wuxin, saying:
"Alliance Leader Hu, these Ascension Tokens are the array tokens for entering the Ascension Realm. Unlike the one-time-use Ascension Tokens from the Ascension Platform, these can be used repeatedly. The bracelets are mandatory for entering the Sky-Opening Battlefield. They serve as the array flags to open the gate to the Sky-Opening Battlefield. They contain directional guidance, so even if you get lost in the Sky-Opening Battlefield, you can rely on the bracelet to find your way out. The truth is, too many people have perished in the Sky-Opening Battlefield. Whether it's Dean Shi or Manor Lord Lin, neither of them wants to see more people fall. That's why they requested a powerful expert to craft these guiding bracelets."
"Who is Dean Shi?" Ding Huan asked.
Cen Fengqin replied coldly, "He is Senior Shi Qiu, the dean of Changyan Academy in the Ascension Realm. He is dedicated to preserving the strength of the Threefold Heaven Star Continent."
Ding Huan sneered inwardly.
So it was that guy.
He had heard about Shi Qiu from Liu Yinyu, who described him as a hypocritical scoundrel.
Although Ding Huan had never met Shi Qiu, he could get a sense of him from Shi Jiantian.
Since it was that guy who crafted the bracelets, he would have to be cautious.
"Does everyone entering the Sky-Opening Battlefield need one?" This question wasn't from Ding Huan but from Mo Zheng.
Cen Fengqin's attitude toward Mo Zheng was much better: "Indeed, everyone needs one. However, those with cultivation below the True Core Realm can receive theirs upon entering the Sky-Opening Battlefield. Their bracelets have limited guidance range. The bracelets I brought are for cultivators at the Virtual God Realm and above. This is to prevent anyone from getting lost in the deeper parts of the Sky-Opening Battlefield. Dean Shi said that there are already few Virtual God Realm cultivators in the Threefold Heaven Star Continent. If more were to perish in the Sky-Opening Battlefield, it would be a great loss."
After saying this, Cen Fengqin stood up: "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Hu Wuxin quickly escorted her out.
"Alliance Leader Ding, when do you plan to head to the Sky-Opening Battlefield?" Mo Zheng asked, finally voicing what he had been thinking after Cen Fengqin left.
Ding Huan's strength was undoubtedly at the peak of the Virtual God Realm.
Mo Zheng secretly wanted to team up with Ding Huan to enter the Sky-Opening Battlefield.
As a mid-stage Virtual God Realm cultivator, Mo Zheng was considered a top-tier existence in the Dao Cultivation World.
But such strength was nothing in the Ascension Realm, not even worthy of carrying the shoes of those powerful experts.
Ding Huan pondered.
What did Hu Wuxin mean by asking this? Was he suggesting they team up?
Seeing Ding Huan's silence, Hu Wuxin thought Ding Huan might be reluctant and quickly added:
"Alliance Leader Ding, with Cen Fengqin here earlier, there were some things I couldn't say. The truth is, entering the Sky-Opening Battlefield is mandatory. If we reach the Virtual God Realm but refuse to go, do you know what the ultimate outcome would be?"
Ding Huan didn't answer, but he had a vague idea.
Sure enough, Hu Wuxin continued: "It's not just being barred from the Ascension Realm. Those powerful experts from the Ascension Realm would kill us. I know their ways all too well. For example, this time they gave ten bracelets and Ascension Tokens for Virtual God Realm cultivators to enter the Sky-Opening Battlefield. On the surface, it seems like only ten Virtual God Realm cultivators from the Dao Cultivation World need to go. But in reality, it's not like that at all. It's because there are fewer than ten Virtual God Realm cultivators in the Dao Cultivation World combined."
Ding Huan nodded.
Even though he hadn't interacted much with those from the Ascension Realm, he agreed with Hu Wuxin's assessment.
"I plan to go to the Ascension Realm in eleven months," Ding Huan said truthfully.
He still had a mid-grade Starry Sky Spirit Vein.
Naturally, he wanted to use this year to maximize his strength.
Another reason was that he felt something was off about the bracelets.
Shi Qiu, whom Liu Yinyu had labeled a hypocrite, wouldn't care about others' lives.
"So late?" Mo Zheng was surprised.
The deadline was a year, and Ding Huan planned to go in the eleventh month?
"Haha, I think it's perfect. I was planning to enter the Sky-Opening Battlefield with Alliance Leader Ding as well," Hu Wuxin laughed.
Mo Zheng quickly added, "In that case, I'll join Alliance Leader Ding and Alliance Leader Hu as well."
"I need to distribute these tokens and bracelets. Alliance Leader Ding, when you head to the Ascension Realm in eleven months, could you call me along? I'll be waiting here for you."
Hu Wuxin said eagerly.
Ding Huan didn't mind: "Of course. In eleven months, when I come here, I'll definitely call Alliance Leader Hu along."
Hu Wuxin chuckled and added: "Alliance Leader Ding, that Cen Fengqin isn't strong, but she loves to tattle. After she returns, she'll definitely report you. You should be a bit careful. There won't be any major issues, but some people might give you a hard time."
Ding Huan didn't care.
He stood up and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Alliance Leader Hu. I'll take my leave now. We'll meet again in eleven months."
...
Ding Huan returned to Hidden Sword Mountain.
If it weren't for that old fool Lu Yuan attacking his protective array, he might have already split his fourth star.
In Ding Huan's estimation, given his cultivation speed, splitting the fourth planet from his main star would take at most two months.
Ding Huan had clearly overestimated himself.
It took him five months to barely split the fourth star.
He couldn't continue cultivating.
No matter how much he tried, he wouldn't be able to split the fifth star in the remaining six months.
Since he was going to enter the Sky-Opening Battlefield, he needed to prepare.
The first thing Ding Huan took out was Lu Yuan's storage ring.
Ding Huan had so many cultivation resources on him now, and he didn't need pills, so he hadn't immediately refined Lu Yuan's ring after returning to Hidden Sword Mountain.
Now that he wasn't cultivating, he finally had time to see what was inside Lu Yuan's ring.
Ding Huan could guess that Lu Yuan's ring would be filled with treasures.
Lu Yuan was the head of the Dao Cultivation World's top merchant guild, the Dao Cultivation Merchant Guild.
It would be strange if someone like him didn't have a wealth of treasures.
In just half an incense stick's time, Ding Huan forcefully broke through the restrictions on Lu Yuan's ring.
When Ding Huan's divine sense entered the ring, he couldn't help but marvel at how rich this guy was.
This wasn't just a ring—it was a small world!
Ding Huan did have a small world himself.
He had obtained a large gourd from Si Tu, which was likely a small world.
But that gourd was incomplete, missing a lid.
Ding Huan hadn't planned to develop that gourd.
He wasn't sure if Lu Yuan's small world was of a higher level than the gourd.
But the contents of the ring were the most abundant Ding Huan had ever seen.
Even the spatial ring of the Immortal Realm expert Shi Jiantian, whom he had killed, didn't compare.
In Lu Yuan's ring, aside from the lack of a top-grade spirit vein, everything else surpassed what was in Shi Jiantian's ring.
There were seventeen high-grade spirit veins, twenty-one mid-grade spirit veins, and fifty-two low-grade spirit veins.
High-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade spirit stones were piled up like mountains.
A rough scan with his divine sense estimated there were at least a billion.
As for spirit herbs, there was an entire herb field.
The Three-Colored Purple Mist Flower, which Elder He of Purple Mist Valley had desperately sought, was here—seven of them.
Ding Huan even saw a bottle of Void Essence.
As for crafting materials, alchemy materials, treasures, divine abilities, and techniques...
The variety was overwhelming.
How many treasures had this guy collected by running the Dao Cultivation Merchant Guild? Had he gathered the entire Dao Cultivation World's resources into his own hands?
Ding Huan didn't hesitate to refine the ring, making it his own.
With such a small world, he could store as much as he wanted.
At the same time, Ding Huan pulled out a flying treasure from the small world—a top-grade spirit artifact shuttle.
This would be his means of transportation from now on.
Lu Yuan had truly been a good man, working hard to establish the Dao Cultivation Merchant Guild and turning it into the top merchant guild in the Dao Cultivation World, even doing business with the Ascension Realm.
After years of hard work and enduring countless criticisms, he had finally accumulated such a wealth of cultivation resources for Ding Huan.
After putting everything away, Ding Huan took out a mushroom-like object from the ring.
At a glance, Ding Huan knew this must be the Purple Garden Heavy Mushroom.
He still didn't fully understand the uses of the Purple Garden Heavy Mushroom, but he would study it slowly later.
Having made such a huge windfall, the frustration of taking five months to split the fourth star had already vanished.
In a relatively good mood, Ding Huan took out the Ascension Token and the bracelet.
When his divine sense swept into the Ascension Token, Ding Huan was shocked to find that it had a seventh-level restriction.
His divine sense swept into the bracelet, and it also had a seventh-level restriction.
Ding Huan felt increasingly uneasy.
Why would the Ascension Token and bracelet have seventh-level restrictions? Were they afraid of damage or something?
Unfortunately, Ding Huan couldn't yet perceive seventh-level restrictions, nor could he understand their principles.
But this didn't stump Ding Huan.
He was now a peak sixth-level array master.
With his current level of array mastery, it shouldn't take long for him to step into the realm of seventh-level array kings.
Six months should be enough.
With this in mind, Ding Huan waved his hand, and piles of materials were brought out, quickly forming a small mountain.
Most of these materials were from Lu Yuan's ring, with some high-grade materials from Shi Jiantian and others from Qi Long and Yi Wandao.
He planned to reach the seventh-level array king within these six months.
In Ding Huan's cultivation system, array mastery, talisman mastery, and artifact mastery were all interconnected.
He wasn't interested in artifact mastery, so now he needed to study talisman mastery.
He had been exposed to talisman mastery earlier than array mastery and had studied both volumes of the Dao Talisman.
Although he hadn't crafted talismans in recent years due to focusing on cultivation, that didn't mean his talisman-crafting skills were low.
Ding Huan grabbed some materials and effortlessly crafted a third-level talisman.
Looking at the third-level fireball talisman in his hand, Ding Huan couldn't help but marvel.
Indeed, with higher cultivation, some things just came naturally.
This third-level fireball talisman hadn't required a talisman brush.
He had crafted it easily using just his true fire.
He took out more materials, and as they transformed in his hands, the aura of the Dao also shifted.
A few minutes later, Ding Huan held a fourth-level gale talisman.
Its grade was slightly low, but that didn't matter.
Ding Huan knew it was because he hadn't practiced enough.
He had piled up a small mountain of materials here precisely to improve his array mastery through talisman crafting.
As the materials dwindled, the pile of talismans beside Ding Huan grew.
From low-grade fourth-level talismans to high-grade fourth-level talismans, then to low-grade fifth-level talismans...
(End of Chapter)