abcnovels
Chapter 195: 194: Leaving the Ruins!
Chapter 195: 194: Leaving the Ruins!
Chapter 195: 194: Leaving the Ruins!
Translator: 549690339
“Friend, we are from the Yu family. We are unaware of how our people may have offended you. Please express your grievance, and I will ensure justice is served for you,” Yu Shuiyao called out towards the centre where four individuals were gathered.
Upon hearing this, Du Gang sulked his lips and paid no heed.
The detained people had all written IOUs, making it impossible for him to let them go now.
His only objective now was to escape these people.
But before that, he needed to figure out how these four soldiers managed to locate him.
After some reflection, he asked Bala to synthesize electronic sounds that could disguise his original voice and then began, “Are the members of your Yu Family’s hundred-man team really so strong? Capable of seeing-through my
Grand Void Technique…”
“Grand Void Technique?”
Yu Shuiyao became startled. She’d never heard of such a technique. But from its name, she could infer that it was a secret method from the spatial law system and should be extremely valuable.
After all, any space technique which could be learnt at the Sector Lord level would be worth a considerable amount!
She then asked, “Friend, judging from your words, it appears that you are someone of significant status. May I ask why you have captured these children of my Yu family?”
Normally, individuals who achieve Ninth-Rank at the Sector Lord level tend to be older than third or fourth rank people, so her wording wasn’t inappropriate.
After hesitating for two seconds, Du Gang responded, “I was just passing through the void when two children accidentally mentioned something that was taboo to me. Thus, I captured them, intending to give them a mild punishment. Rest assured, I will let them go once they have learned their lesson. I will not take their lives…”
Yu Shuiyao’s eyebrows wrinkled. Dealing with an enemy she couldn’t see was proving to be difficult.
She had secretly utilized several detection methods but wasn’t able to sense any movement. She even used a high-grade space law talisman but still got nothing.
This implied that either the enemy has cultivated his spatial law technique to an extremely high level, or he simply wasn’t using spatial law at all.
But currently, with the fact that the enemy was invisible, aside from using spatial law, she couldn’t think of another possibility.
Simultaneously, she secretly transmitted a message to her four subordinates asking, “How exactly did you sense the presence of the person?”
Without any change in expression, they all replied, “Although we share the same Rank Nine Sector Lord level as you, young lady, we have long been honed through constant battles and practice of joint formations. Not only are our spiritual bodies physically potent, but we also have a sense for things like aura, life, gaze, and so on that surpasses ordinary individuals…”
“Gaze…”
It dawned upon Yu Shuiyao then how these four locked onto the guy in the void.
She continued, “Do you guys have any method to locate him?”
The four responded almost in unison, “It’s extremely difficult. The opponent is hiding in the void. Unless we resort to spatial law techniques, we’ll remain in the dark..”
“And spatial law techniques are usually mastered by those who’ve reached the Eternal level or higher. If it’s simply a void talisman… we don’t think it would be very effective!”
Just like Yu Shuiyao, these four also believed Du Gang’s claim that he was hiding in the void. Although they sensed something, they attributed it to the opponent’s gaze.
“Young lady, what should we do now?”
At this moment, the four didn’t know how to proceed, and the scene grew taut with silence.
Yu Shuiyao pondered for some time before saying, “If I apologize on behalf of the youngsters of my family, could you let them go?”
Du Gang surveyed his surroundings still hemmed in by guards, feeling a headache coming on.
After thinking for a bit, he said, “Apologize? I was only planning to punish them for a few days and then let them go. But since you’ve said so, let me think it over…”
With these words, Yu Shuiyao and the rest immediately sighed a breath of relief.
Who wouldn’t have a lump in their throat knowing there’s an enemy lurking around? If this could be resolved, that would naturally be the best course of action.
The scene suddenly stiffened, neither side made any move.
Similarly, if their few Sector Lord level Ninth Rank powerhouses didn’t speak, the other twenty or so people didn’t dare to speak either.
And especially after hearing about the abduction of their Yu Family members by the expert in the void, they were even more frightened, afraid they would be taken away as well.
Just like that, thirty seconds passed. Yu Shuiyao thought the person hidden in the darkness had left, frequently communicating with the guards to ask about the situation.
Finally, in her anxious waiting, the voice from the darkness surfaced again.
“If reconciliation is what you wish, it can be done. Give me a price. If I’m satisfied, all the people I’ve taken from you will be returned, and we’ll break even. If I’m not satisfied, then I’ll completely hide in the void, not giving you the chance to observe me…”
Du Gang chuckled, “I suppose that your four followers managed to locate me only through my gaze. If I don’t watch this place and just focus on my journey, who could discover me?!!”
With these words, all five Sector Lord level powerhouses present became tense.
Everyone turned their gazes to Yu Shuiyao, waiting for her response.
Yu Shuiyao didn’t rush to name a price. Instead, she contemplated carefully.
After what felt like a length of time required to finish a cup of tea, she slowly said, “One thousand lower-grade Saint Crystals. That’s the highest price we can currently offer!”
Upon hearing this, Du Gang almost leapt up in excitement.
On his journey, he had captured a little over a hundred people, and only managed to gather a little over five hundred lower-grade Saint Crystals. Yet this woman just named the price — one thousand lower-grade Saint Crystals.
His spirit quickly sank into his own Life World. He carefully counted and realized that he had taken four of the Yu Family members.
“These four people only have a total of eight hundred notes. Should I take her one thousand Saint Crystals and let them go?”
Among the four he captured— all were Yu Family members, but all side branches. None of them had even understood the power of the Original Law, hence he set the price at two hundred each.
Partly it was due to their innate value, and partly because he didn’t dare to offend the Yu Family too deeply. After all, they were a top family on par with the Jiang Family and Kong Family.
After some consideration, Du Gang felt he couldn’t just let them go as it might cause trouble later.
He spoke, “One thousand Saint Crystals. Miss Yu’s offer is even higher than what I expected!”
“I thought, since I’ve taken four of Yu’s disciples, two hundred Saint Crystals as a ransom for each of them would be enough. Who knew you’d actually be willing to pay a thousand..
Yu Shuiyao was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding his meaning, but being quick-witted, she soon realized he was worried about the Yu Family seeking revenge.
Having thought it over, she said, “Friend, you joke. The price of two hundred is the ransom price that the Yu Family would pay after they’re freed. I am offering one thousand because if they get out now, they could stay in the ruins for more than half a month. The Saint Crystals the four of them could earn would definitely be more than two hundred. So, I should be the one thanking you…
“In addition, I can represent the Yu Family here in promising you that this incident was triggered by their disrespect towards you. I am compensating you with Saint Crystals for their blabbermouth, once they’re released, the Yu Family will not pursue this matter!”
After hearing what he wanted, Du Gang instantly heaved a sigh of relief.
But he cautiously asked, “Really not going to pursue?”
“Really!”
He continued, “Alright, this entire conversation was recorded by me. If you guys renege, don’t blame me for spreading the recordings everywhere…”
Yu Shuiyao was momentarily speechless, but then nodded, “Okay! ”
Du Gang continued, “Since we’ve reached an agreement, bring out the Saint
Crystals and place them near me. I’ll take them myself.. ‘
Yu Shuiyao quickly complied, taking out a top-grade Saint Crystal and casually throwing it into the middle of the four guards.
Seeing this, Du Gang promptly took it.
He then quickly returned to his internal world and announced, “Four disciples from the Yu Family, come out. Someone has come to redeem you!”
Instantly, the four figures tied to the pillars perked up. However, before they could speak, Du Gang swiftly approached them and knocked each of them out with a slap.
Out of caution, he thought it best to put them to sleep first to prevent any inconvenient chatter.
Taking the four, he directly teleported them away.
Immediately, Yu Shuiyao and the others sensed a faint disturbance in space. Followed by that, four disciples from the Yu Family appeared.
Simultaneously, five people scanned the four, ensuring they were only unconscious. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as the people were unharmed.
At this moment, Du Gang spoke again, “The people are out now, make way!”
Soon, Yu Shuiyao nodded, and the two powerful figures on the edge moved aside.
Then, Du Gang continued, “Oh, I just remembered. What if all of you keep an eye on me, wouldn’t I have waited in vain for a month?”
Yu Shuiyao quickly reassured, “Rest assured, we would absolutely not do that, the most imoortant thing in the ruins is to obtain Saint Crvstals…”
“No, the big families have a lot of people and a lot of influence, what if a few people keep following me, I would feel so uncomfortable…”
He quickly said, “Let’s do this, I’ll keep one person as a hostage. Once I am one hundred kilometers away from here, I will let him go!” Yu Shuiyao’s face instantly hardened.
“Friend, we have shown respect, isn’t this out of line?”
Du Gang laughed, “I’m just trying to avoid trouble. I have taken the money, recorded the conversation as proof, isn’t it all to avoid trouble? Do you think I keep a person to harm them?”
He continued, “Relax, the moment I am a hundred kilometers away, I’ll throw him out immediately!”
With that, one of the four people laying on the ground disappeared, leaving only three people.
Seeing him acting mysteriously, Yu Shuiyao ultimately trusted him.
Seeing this, Du Gang quickly started running in a direction.
The four guards looked at Yu Shuiyao, waiting for her instructions.
Yu Shuiyao hesitated for a long time but finally shook her head, “Don’t chase him. Once he leaves a hundred kilometers, we will go!”
Although she said this, in her heart, she felt deeply unwilling.
Unexpectedly, she, who prided herself on being extremely smart and powerful, actually met a person who could enter the void at the Sector Lord level.
Terrifying!
At the same time, she kept guessing who it could be.
“Kong Xu?”
The first that came to her mind was the Kong Family, as they had the most space secrets and were the best at practicing space laws.
But she quickly shook her head, “Kong Xu couldn’t possibly know the secret of entering the void!”
Just like that, while she was contemplating, a guard quickly informed, “Miss, it should be about the right time. That person should be a hundred kilometers away now! ”
Their senses were flawed and couldn’t reach far, generally only within three or four kilometers. Beyond that range, they couldn’t sense anything.
“Let’s go and see!”
Soon, the group quickly flew over and arrived at a location one hundred kilometers away in no time.
What relieved them was that they indeed found the last disciple of the Yu family lying on the ground with his life force intact and no problems at all.
“Phew–”
As Yu Shuiyao heaved a sigh of relief, she frowned and instructed, “Wake up those four, I want to know what they said that would mention a taboo of the Void People…”
At this moment, thousands of miles away, once Du Gang was sure he had shaken off the enemies after countless twists and turns, he finally relaxed. “Damn, that was close. These people from the big families are too terrifying!”
They couldn’t be seen, but they could sense other people through their aura and gaze, which was truly horrifying.
“Good that I was able to scare them off!”
If those people had attacked indiscriminately, he might have been exposed already.
Du Gang learned his lesson this time, “It seems that from now on, whenever I meet scions of these top families, I should avoid them, especially these members of hundred-strong teams, they are like dogs with noses!” Inside his internal world.
The hundreds of people tied to the pillars were all dumbfounded.
“What’s going on?”
“Why were those four taken away?”
“They said they were redeeming people, could it be that the Yu family has already compromised?”
Everyone felt their minds going numb.
The reason they were able to joke around was mainly because there were so many different people gathered here, all from different families.
With so many people here, they could assure each other that they wouldn’t be killed, and at the same time, it was possible their written IOUs would become null and void.
Because, to get the money from their families, the Ancient God would have to reveal their presence in his internal world.
At that time, if more than a hundred families learned of this and put pressure together, the Ancient God might not be able to bear it and would have to release them unconditionally, he might even have to apologize to them. That’s why they could still joke around while being tied to the pillars.
But now, they saw the news of the Yu family redeeming people.
How could they not collapse?
“That’s the Yu’s family, did they really compromise?”
“If the Yu’s family compromises then what about us…”
At this moment, Du Gang’s spiritual body suddenly walked over.
“What? If the Yu family doesn’t compromise, are you all going to break your promises?”
Du Gang scoffed.
The people around him quickly defended themselves.
“No way!”
“It’s clearly written in black and white, how could we not honor our promises…”
They were not foolish, at the moment they were at the mercy of Du Gang, their lives were not in their control, so naturally, they didn’t dare to offend Du Gang.
But Du Gang precisely knew what they were thinking, very quickly an
Emperor’s Crystal appeared in his hand, he casually smiled and said, “The Yu Family has paid, for four people, they have given a thousand lower-grade Saint Crystals!”
Everyone looked over, only to gasp in surprise, for in his hand was a top-quality Saint Crystal.
Given that a lower-grade Crystal Beast at the level of a Second Rank Sector Lord increases a rank or two with each quality level increase, the Crystal Beast formed from a Superior Saint Crystal should at least be of Seventh or Eighth Rank at the Sector Lord level.
This implies that there really were high-ranking members or direct descendants of the Yu Family who negotiated with Du Gang inside the ruin.
How could this be? The Ancient God was clearly only at the first rank of a Sector Lord!
Everyone present was screaming in disbelief in their hearts, unable to believe what was happening.
Laughing, Du Gang continued: “Even the Yu Family compromised, I don’t believe all of you families dare not compromise…”
He had no other intention, he just felt that these people were too arrogant. Despite being prisoners, they behaved as if they were on vacation, so he wanted to scare them a bit.
Indeed, more than a hundred people present were left speechless, at a loss for words in their gloominess.
“Haha!”
Du Gang laughed. His spirit body went back to the middle to cultivate. Most of his consciousness, however, returned to the outside world.
“There’s only four days until the qualifying contest begins, by then I have to leave!”
Other people, in the face of these ruins, might not necessarily go on to the Cosmic Peak Talents Competition, but he had to.
His betting agreement with the Kong Family required him to win this Peak Genius Race, so he has to leave.
Thinking that he would miss this ruin in four days, Du Gang felt a sense of regret.
“To make up for it, I’ll just need to capture more people!”
Thinking of this, his speed increased by another third, and he started looking for other people.
The place where Du Gang had last dropped Yu Family disciples.
“You’re saying, the person who captured you was Du Gang, the Ancient God?!”
Yu Shuiyao couldn’t believe what she was hearing and stared wide-eyed at the four disciples in shock.
The four nodded and said, “It’s him, no mistake. And he did not only capture us four. Inside his Life World, there were over a hundred people…” “That’s right, he even made us write IOUs!”
One disciple said while pulling out an IOU and handing it over.
Yu Shuiyao took it and confirmed that it was indeed an IOU for two hundred Saint Crystals.
“I have recorded everything that happened inside. Do you want to see it?”
One disciple nervously said.
“Play it!”
Yu Shuiyao quickly collected the IOUs from the four and coldly spat out a word.
Soon, that disciple played back all the events that happened inside Du Gang’s Life World.
This included the video of Jiang Wenbo being killed by Zhou Tai, Du Gang threatening the other family children, and everything else.
After watching, everyone fell silent.
“How dare he?!”
A member of the hundred people team at the Ninth Rank of Sector Lord level sounded somewhat emotional.
“Yes, even though he’s only at the first rank of a Sector Lord, he daringly hunted people comparable to an average Rank Five Sector Lord…”
“That would have been fine, but he even kidnapped people, issued IOUs, and is planning to collect debts when they get out…”
Everyone looked at each other as though they were witnessing something ridiculous.
However, Yu Shuiyao didn’t rush to comment. Her beautiful eyes sparkled continuously. After a moment, she sighed, “A true Ancient God indeed…”
“I underestimated him before, thinking he was just a countryman who luckily received Ancient God’s heritage…”
“I didn’t expect him to be so capable!”
Yu Shuiyao admired, “Think about it, how many measures has this Ancient God come up with?”
“Firstly, his Life World can sustain living people, which means he has a piece of Life Space!”
“Secondly, he can freely enter and exit the void. This indicates that his cultivation of spatial laws has reached a very high level, and he possesses a powerful secret technique!”
“Thirdly, although he is only a Rank One Sector Lord, he has three strands of Original Law and masters at least one yellow rank technique, cultivating it to the first layer!”
“Fourthly, he relied on the Kong Family as his backing and maximized his value. I am certain that even if he kidnaps a few hundred more people, upon exiting, the Kong Family will still protect him. In fact, his value to the Kong Family would only increase!”
“Fifthly, his pricing, negotiation, and other aspects all prove that he is a brave, strategic, and very cautious individual…”
“From the first and second points, one can see the depth of the Ancient God. From the third point, his talent. And from the fourth and fifth points, his intelligence.”
Yu Shuiyao couldn’t help but sigh, “This guy, he really deserves the divine body…”
Suddenly, she paused as if she’d thought of something. Her eyes flicked surprise, exclaiming, “Also, we all forgot something!”
“What?”
Under everyone’s gaze, Yu Shuiyao admiringly said, “This Ancient God, Du Gang, is only 119 years old…”
This statement explains everything.
Among those present, the youngest were four thousand years old, and the oldest were these guards who were a few million years old. This comparison highlighted the terrifying nature of Du Gang.
Four days passed swiftly.
A week had passed since the ruins were opened, and the illusion of fewer people remained in the ruins.
“Maybe they were killed off by each other!”
This was a real concern. Not only was Du Gang hunting, many others were killing and looting madly.
This resulted in a quarter of the people in the ruins disappearing in just a week.
At the same time Du Gang, half an hour before the start of the qualifying contest, left the ruins.
In addition to him, others who prioritized the Cosmic Peak Talents Competition also left.
However, most people remained in the ruins. After all, the ruins would be open for a month…
“They’re out, they’re out!”
There were even more people waiting outside the ruins than before, many of whom had come specifically to watch.
Seeing people coming out, the spectators quickly raised an alarm.
At the same time, a few journalists, like sharks smelling blood, swarmed up to try and learn about the situation inside the ruins.
As everyone was idly chatting, suddenly, a famous person emerged from the ruins.
“The Ancient God is out!”
With this one shout, immediately, everyone’s gaze shifted over.
Indeed, Du Gang, the Ancient God, still wore his signature blood-red armor, expressionlessly landing on the ground.
“He actually made it out safe and sound!”
“He is really lucky. Is it because he didn’t encounter the Jiang family?”
The Jiang family?
Hearing this, Du Gang gave a faint smile. He had also captured quite a few from the Jiang family, just those with the surname Jiang alone were over a dozen. “Balala, help me find out the situation of those families…”
Not long after, Balala quickly responded, “Du Gang, it appears you may have to postpone the exchange for now!”
“What’s wrong?” He was somewhat puzzled.
Balala shrugged and said, “The ruins opened this time. Not only are the young entering, but even the old Sector Lords from various families have all gone in as well. Almost all of the families only have an Eternal Level ancestor guarding the home. Do you still want to negotiate with these guys?
Du Gang was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses. Of course, when such a treasure like the ruins appeared, there was no way that only the young would enter. After all, there were no restrictions for these ruins.
“In that case, won’t I have to wait until the end of the month allotted to the ruins before I can negotiate with the heads of their families?”
Shaking his head, he said, “Fine, it’s just a month. It is three weeks from now anyway. Even if I exchange now, it’s not like there will be a significant increase in strength.”
Upon understanding the situation, he quickly said, “Elder Kong, I wish to go to a safe and quiet place. The Qualifying Contest is about to start!”
At this moment, a figure slowly appeared next to him.
Looking at Du Gang, who was unscathed, Kong Luo said with a smile, “You’re not bad, boy, being able to survive and get out!”
As he spoke, he glanced over at the void and then directly said with a smile,
“Let’s go. I’ll take you back to the headquarters of the virtual company on
Pangu Continent!”
“Swoosh!”
To Du Gang’s surprise, Kong Luo didn’t even use a spaceship. He just grabbed his shoulder and in the blink of an eye, they were already in an unfamiliar place.
“Spatial movement?”
Du Gang was astonished.
Kong Luo replied with a smile, “Kind of. Once you reach the Eternal Level, you can enter and exit the void as long as you cultivate the Laws of Space.”
“Of course, the reason I can take you this far is also because the space here in the Pangu Continent is relatively thin!”
“Thin?”
Du Gang, with his keen sense, caught on to a phrase and immediately asked about it.
Kong Luo laughed and said, “You might not know this, but the farther you move away from the center of the universe, the more the space thins and the region in which you are located becomes more fragile.”
“Do you know why in the Middling Universe Kingdom, the strongest are only at the first rank of the Sector Lord level?”
Following his line of thought, Du Gang ventured a guess, “Is it because the space is too thin that more potent individuals can’t get there?”
Kong Luo nodded his head in approval and said laughingly, “That’s pretty much it. In the Middling Universe Kingdom, only one Eternal Level being can be present at most. Even the Sector Lord level has limits.”
“For Elementary Universe nations, even Eternal Level masters can’t get there.” “This is related to the thinness of space.”
“The more powerful the being, the higher the concentration of space they require to survive. This is, in a way, the universe’s protection of the weak.”
“What?”
Du Gang was taken aback. He quickly asked, “Sir, my family is in the Milky Way, a subset of the Elementary Universe. My home planet is only ten light-years away from the Entropy World. I don’t want to just watch it die. If I want to relocate it here, what should I do?”
“Relocate here?”
Kong Luo was taken aback but quickly began pondering.
“A subset of an Elementary Universe nation, that’s too remote…”
“Forget the Eternal Level, even at the Sector Lord level, it would be quite challenging to get there…”
Du Gang was anxious and hurriedly asked, “Sir, do you mean to say that there’s no way for me to return?”
Looking at his anxious expression, Kong Luo immediately felt a hint of fondness.
He found it a good sign that this Ancient God was sentimental.
He shook his head and said, “It’s not definite. If it were ordinary Sector Lord level masters, they wouldn’t survive in such a place. But you’re different. You are the Ancient God possessing a divine body, and you are known for your physical strength. So, I think you should be able to withstand it.”
“However, you wouldn’t last too long there!”
Kong Luo continued, “If you want to move a planet, any Eternal Level master could do it. But in your case, an Eternal Level master can’t get there…”
“So, there is only one way. At the Sector Lord level, the world within your body should be a Life World conducive to sustaining life. Let the people there live in your internal world! ”
Hearing these words, Du Gang heaved a sigh of relief. This was what he had initially thought of as well, so he didn’t rush. He was only worried when he heard Kong Luo talking about problems related to the thinness of space.
Now that he heard his previous plan was still feasible, he no longer fretted.
What followed was to gradually increase his strength and then expand the range of the life world inside his body. By the time he broke through to the
Eternal Level, he could return to Earth and take all the Earth people with him.
Thinking about this, he quickly asked, “Sir, if I bring the people from my hometown here and they live in my inner world for a long time, will their lifespans increase?”
‘Yes!”
Kong Luo laughed and said, “The world within your body actually exists by relying on you. Wherever you are, it is also there. So, if you’re on Pangu Continent, then the people in your inner world would naturally enjoy the longevity of the people here.”
He shook his head and said, “These issues are not really issues. The real trouble is owning a Life Space at the Sector Lord level and then merging it into your body…”
“The value of a Life Space is incredibly high. It involves many things and is not something an ordinary Eternal Level master can attain. Not to mention the Eternal Level, even at the True God Level, obtaining a shard of Life Space is extremely difficult…”
He continued, “The top families of the Middling Universe Kingdom have produced many Eternal Level masters. But their families still remain in the Middling Universe Kingdom. It’s not that these powerful beings are unwilling to move, but they are genuinely powerless!”
Du Gang understood this point well.
He once casually asked Chen Feng how many people were in their family.
As a result, Chen Feng told him that their family, including the direct and collateral lines, exceeded a hundred million people.
This number stunned him.
However, after careful thought, he could understand. After all, the people here enjoyed long lifespans and abundant resources, making it easy for them to proliferate.
Kong Luo glanced at the time and laughed, “Alright, the qualifying contest is about to start. You better hurry in. Be careful not to be disqualified for being late
Upon hearing this, Du Gang thanked him quickly, then immediately sat cross-legged and entered the virtual universe..