Chapter 553: Stepping Into Hell

In that moment, Huang Xiaolong immediately the ran Asura Tactics, attempting to summon the Gates of Hell according to the secret method stated within the Asura Tactics.

Strands of black-red energy swirled around Huang Xiaolong for a dozen minutes when all of a sudden, the space above him warped, revealing the shadow of a dark black gate.

This dark black gate was three zhang tall and three zhang wide. Wisps of black-red energy similar to the energy around Huang Xiaolong flowed out from the gate and with it an aura of desolate, bleak silence, deathly, frigid, sinister.

"What is this?!" Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi was shocked.

"This is the Gate of Hell." Huang Xiaolong explained in a concise sentence.

When Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi found out that Huang Xiaolong's Asura Tactics could summon a gateway leading to Hell upon reaching the tenth level, Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi was agape with awe.

Wasn't this Asura Tactics breaking the natural order of things, to be able to connect Hell with an inferior world surface?!

Was there such a perverse cultivation technique in this universe? Probably, even the Divine World had never heard of a technique of this nature.

One had to be aware, crossing over between an inferior and higher world surface was equivalent to breaking the law of the universe.

It took quite some time before Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi recovered from his shock, his spiritual sense probed the Gate of Hell that Huang Xiaolong summoned. As an afterthought, he said, "Hell is a higher plane, its natural laws are way more profound and vast compared to our inferior world, and it's bound by much stronger gravity. Entering at your current cultivation, it might be hard for you to adapt. You need to pay attention to it."

Huang Xiaolong was dazed for a second, he had not given any thoughts to all these things.

Subsequently, Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi brought up many other possible issues that Huang Xiaolong may encounter upon venturing into Hell. Although Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi had never been to Hell, he used to be a Highgod Realm master more than a hundred thousand years ago, his scope of knowledge far exceeded Huang Xiaolong's.

Huang Xiaolong listened attentively, committing everything to memory.

One hour later, his silhouette flickered through the gateway.

The moment he passed through the gateway, an extreme frigid Yin energy enveloped him, the piercing cold could be felt deep into the bones.

Alarmed, Huang Xiaolong swiftly circulated his battle qi, shrouding his body. Only then did he feel better.

Huang Xiaolong felt like he had crossed fifty to sixty thousand li through the black space tunnel before he suddenly felt lighter. The scene in front of him changed as he stepped into an endless bleak world.

This world was barren, desolate, gloomy, and cold like all life was sucked out of it.

Before Huang Xiaolong could register his surroundings, an overwhelming pressure rushed toward him from all directions. To Huang Xiaolong, it was like having an insurmountable great mountain fall down on his back, so heavy that he couldn't even stand up straight. Both of his feet were weighted down like they were shackled with a million catties of weight, even lifting a foot was difficult. On top of that, Huang Xiaolong discovered that he could hardly breathe properly.

These feelings resembled a mortal being thrown into the deep seabed.

'This!' Huang Xiaolong was astounded. Despite the fact that Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi had reminded him earlier that the gravity force was greater than the inferior world surface they were on, this pressure far exceeded Huang Xiaolong's estimation. It was more than ten thousand times stronger than the Black Tortoise Galaxy.

For if it was only ten thousand times, based on Huang Xiaolong's current strength at peak late-First Order God Realm, he wouldn't be rendered to this state, failing to stand up straight. Hence, he had no other option but to exert full effort to circulate his battle qi to form a protective vigor barrier to resist the pressure.

Once he was enshrouded within the protective vigor better, Huang Xiaolong felt better and relaxed slightly, finally being able to stand up straight. His eyes surveyed the surroundings, but only sand and boulders entered his sight, gusts of black wind emitting chilling air howled endlessly in the air.

These black gales were a hundred times colder than the Black Tortoise Galaxy's frost tempest. If Huang Xiaolong hadn't broken through to God Realm, if he did not have the True Dragon Physique, one brush of this black gale would instantly turn him into an ice statue.

Although Huang Xiaolong had stepped into the God Realm and possessed the True Dragon Physique, looking at this black wind blowing past, he still felt chilly air drilling into his flesh.

"So, this is Hell?" Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi's curious voice sounded before it turned into a lament, "A higher world surface is truly different, the spiritual energy is so dense, and such high quality!"

Huang Xiaolong nodded. He felt it too, the spiritual energy in Hell was much purer and denser than he could describe in comparison to the Black Tortoise Galaxy. Even the spiritual energy in his Master's manor seemed lacking in comparison, in both density and quality. If the spiritual energy in the Black Tortoise Galaxy was of second grade, then Hell's spiritual energy was definitely divine grade.

In short, the Black Tortoise Galaxy was inferior.

"This is probably one of the smaller surfaces in Hell." Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi stated his opinion.

Hell's most powerful forces were the Asura Plane, Ghost Plane, and Souls Plane. Other than these three planes, there were other planes. Just like the Vientiane Divine Surface that governed the Black Tortoise Galaxy, it was just another surface in the higher Divine World.

Hell and the Divine World were similar in terms of their boundless horizons.

Huang Xiaolong spread out his spiritual sense only to discover that his spiritual sense was met with strong resistance, limiting him to a radius of thirty li. In the Black Tortoise Galaxy, his spiritual sense could extend more than a hundred thousand li in radius.

Then Huang Xiaolong tried to fly up and take a lot around. To his dismay, however, he was unable to fly, his ability to move in the air was lost.

'This..?' His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Hehe, dumbfounded right?" Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi laughed wickedly, "Didn't I tell you? Hell is a higher world surface, its laws are more profound than the world surfaces below. Restrained by the natural laws here, my guess is that you need to be at least a Highgod Realm to be able to reluctantly fly."

"Highgod Realm masters can only reluctantly fly?!" Huang Xiaolong was stunned.

"That's right. You're a peak late-First Order God Realm comparable to an average Third Order God Realm. In the galaxies below, you can be considered an elite existence, but here, in a higher world surface, you're no different than a Houtian warrior from the galaxies below." Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi drew a clear picture for Huang Xiaolong.

A Houtian warrior! Not even a Xiantian realm expert's level!

This damage was a little too big.

Then again, so what if he was a mere Houtian? Determination shone in Huang Xiaolong's eyes. When he was reborn in the Martial Spirit World, didn't he also start from the Houtian level? Cultivating step by step to the top?

Even if he were to reach a higher world surface like Hell in the future, Huang Xiaolong strongly believed he'd be able to climb up to the top, becoming a powerful existence.

He inhaled deeply. Now, however, since he couldn't fly, there was only the most primitive method—walking. Huang Xiaolong lifted his foot and took a step forward.

Displaying a movement skill, Huang Xiaolong's speed wasn't terribly slow, crossing almost a hundred li one hour later.

Still, one hundred li away from the starting point, the scenery did not change. Huang Xiaolong was still surrounded by sand and dust, and nothing else. The whole way, he didn't even come across a plant, not to mention another person.

"We're probably in a desert area. At your speed, we may not even get out of this desert in half a year's time." Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi said, "Forget about others, the purpose you come here for is to borrow the spiritual energy in Hell to cultivate. Cultivating here for a day is more beneficial than cultivating a year in the Black Tortoise Galaxy!"

Huang Xiaolong reluctantly nodded.

At the moment, he needed to put up a protective vigor barrier to protect himself from the pressure coming at him from all around, rapidly depleting his battle qi. Base on his current strength, he could stay here for three hours at most and would need to return to the Black Tortoise Galaxy when the time was up. Thus, every minute and every second was extremely precious to Huang Xiaolong.

Having decided what to do, Huang Xiaolong laid out a simple protection array around him, sitting down at the center, and began running the Asura Tactics, absorbing Hell's spiritual energy.