Chapter 1676: Enter The Hell's Gate
"Take them to the court-martial!" Tang Wulin shouted aloud.
What did the military fear the most? The armed forces were most afraid of mutiny. The soldiers before him had actually become emotionally aroused due to his instigation as well as the guidance of his spiritual power.
The few people that had spoken earlier had already left in the direction of the mountain soundlessly. Tang Wulin seized the opportunity to get away from the situation and departed hastily.
He crossed the public market and made his way to the road that led to the mountain at last. He had to pass through another round of inspections before he could breathe a sigh of relief.
The rest of the team had spread out and advanced since earlier. Tang Wulin had instructed everybody to head for the mountain first when he was walking back to the crowd. It was relatively easier for him to get away alone compared to being in a group.
Sima Jinchi and A Ruheng had stayed behind, along with Ling Zichen, who had no fear of getting into trouble. It was they that shouted aloud and voiced their complaints earlier.
A bad thing had turned to their advantage. Their presence would not be discovered so easily thanks to the internal mutiny that had broken out below. Tang Wulin led his companions as they went up the mountain rapidly and headed straight toward the War God Hall's entrance.
As expected, Shen Xing was an expert with computers. She changed the settings of the entire Central Army Corps' internal soul system so that Tang Wulin and his group could advance unobstructed.
The closer they approached the mountaintop, the fewer the detection soul devices. The majority of the Central Army Corps' facilities were set up below while those nearer to the mountaintop belonged to War God Hall. The War God Hall's status was distant in both the military and the Federation.
Finally, they arrived at the West Mountain's highest peak, an altitude of two thousand and five hundred meters above sea level. That altitude was the standard position of the snow line. The terrain was covered in snow from this point all the way to the summit.
Reaching there, Tang Wulin could not help recalling all sorts of memories he had from the Blood God Army. He thought about how she was by his side at the time. He had only been able to meet her occasionally, but he was still able to see her!
"Stop. Your are about to enter War God Hall's territory further. Do you have a reference?" A metal ball suddenly flew down from the sky with a probe-like object attached to it. It stopped right in front of Tang Wulin and the rest.
Tang Wulin smiled calmly. "It's not important to prove our identities if we made it to this point, right? According to the War God Hall's Safe Harbor rule, we have the right to enter for a challenge."
"The rule has been changed!" An electronic voice was heard echoing out from the metal ball, and suddenly, there was the piercing sound of a warning siren.
What was happening? Tang Wulin could not help being stunned for a moment. This was different from what the Heartless Douluo had described! According to the Heartless Douluo, they would be within the War God Hall's boundaries as soon as they stepped past the snow line. They should have been entitled to enter the place and take part in the challenge without any issues. Could it be that they had entered a different situation?
On the other hand, dozens of beams shout out from the Central Army Corps' direction following the sound of the warning siren. The beams were aimed directly at the mountaintop.
The electronic voice was heard echoing out from the metal ball in front of Tang Wulin once again. "In order to save trouble and time, a person without identity reference will need to pass the test from the Central Army Corps first. Then, you must make it to the top of the mountain and enter the War God Hall in order to begin the challenge." Upon saying that, the metal ball abruptly flew straight toward the peak with a 'whoosh'.
The highest peak on Mingdu's West Mountain was about four thousand meters above sea level. In other words, they were still roughly one thousand meters from the summit at the moment. In order to reach the apex, they would need to charge their way up.
"Let's go!" shouted Tang Wulin without the slightest hesitation. He could not let this miscalculation upset him any longer.
The group did not bother to conceal their cultivation bases anymore. They unleashed their soul power and charged straight at the summit like arrowheads.
As he was confronted by the dozens of mechas shooting from below, Tang Wulin scoffed coldly and flew into the sky by swaying his body. Blue-purple electric radiance flashed past his eyes, and he pointed to the sky with his right hand. In an instant, lightning exploded from his body!
It was the Lighting Forest! It was a mighty ranged attack that originated from the Thunderclap Nether Vine.
Based on Tang Wulin's current cultivation base, the radius of the Lightning Forest was large enough to cover the majority of the vast area nearby.
The three leading mechas from the mecha troop that came charging from below were black mechas. However, even the black mechas instantly heard the screech of the warning siren.
The lightning would create massive interference. No matter how precise the pilot's control over their machine, the mecha would be in big trouble as soon as the soul circuit inside it was affected.
As a result, one could clearly see that the dozens of mechas flying from below dispersed and flew in a chaotic manner after the Lightning Forest was unleashed. None of the mechas dared to charge into the range of the lightning.
It was only then when Tang Wulin's silhouette shimmered as he charged toward the summit like a javelin. The distance of over one thousand meters would only take a moment for someone with his cultivation base at full speed.
They arrived at the peak. An enormous metal door was set right into the largest rock on the mountain.
The metal door was completely black with various patterns carved onto its surface. Most of the patterns looked ferocious. Some took the form of soul beasts while others were humanoid.
Tang Wulin knew that this was the Hell's Gate of the War God Hall! They could enter the War God Hall by pushing this enormous door open. That being the case, this massive door served as a test on its own. It was impossible to open without a force of one thousand and five hundred kilograms.
"Let me do it!" A Ruheng burst out laughing. He walked forward and pressed his right hand on the Hell's Gate as if he was opening the door of his house. He pushed it with ease and revealed the space inside.
The group entered one by one before the Central Army Corps' mechas could arrive. They charged into the War God Hall.
"Bang!" The Hell's Gate closed, but Tang Wulin's group had already entered.
At that moment, Central Army Corps' mecha had just flown into the sky and looked down angrily at the summit. There was nothing they could do at this point. They were rendered completely helpless.
Once the Hell's Gate had shut, all of their surroundings were pitch-black without a ray of light to be seen.
"Welcome to eighteen levels of hell." An icy cold voice was heard, and the group felt the ground beneath their feet shake. Judging from the sensation, the ground was sinking.
The group gathered together, with Ling Zichen surrounded in the middle. Tang Wulin unleashed his spiritual power to sense every minute change in their surroundings.
Roughly ten minutes later, there was a deep muffled sound. The ground underneath their feet shook once more and then stabilized.
Suddenly, it felt as if the floor had disappeared. The ground had vanished without warning.
Tang Wulin had come prepared. The group gathered their soul power to control their bodies in unison. They floated down slowly and did not fall instantly.
They descended for about thirty meters and landed on a large net. There was no need to worry about being injured even if someone had fallen straight down. They soon saw a spacious passage.
The passage was twenty meters in width and five meters in height. It stretched ahead as far as the eye could see. In the distance, they could see dark red radiance flickering faintly.
Tang Wulin walked in front with long strides. A large portion of his mission was already completed upon entering the War God Hall.
They walked for one hundred meters before a huge hall appeared before their eyes.
The hall was round in shape with complicated soul circuits engraved into the walls and floor. The flickering red light they saw earlier was being emitted from these soul circuits.
They were all standing in a horizontal line. Coincidentally, there were ten people standing in front of them, and it was apparent that they were waiting for them.
In the eighteen levels of War God Hall, the number of War Gods corresponded to the number of people that entered for the challenge. This was the rule. Moreover, the assigned War God's abilities would be determined by the challenger's cultivation base.
It was an exceedingly rare situation for the War God Hall to receive ten people in one challenge like this. In reality, it was impossible for the War God Hall to send out ten War Gods for the challenge on every level because they did not have sufficient manpower. This was also the reason why Cao Dezhi recommended Tang Wulin take along a group with him. They would gain an advantage this way.