Primordial Star Scripture-Chapter 909 - 859: 9 Big Pits (First Update)

"Search the area thoroughly and see if there's any other way out."

Unable to ascend to the surface of the sea, Ye Chen could only carefully explore the undersea mountain region to find an alternative exit.

The area of the undersea mountain region where Ye Chen and the other seventeen were trapped spanned several hundred miles.

Originally, Ye Chen intended for the eighteen to split up and search for clues to escape, but the other God Kings dared not stray far from Ye Chen and absolutely refused to explore the perilous depths of the Red Light Death Zone alone.

In the end, Ye Chen had no choice but to lead everyone to move together.

After Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and the other sixteen God Kings thoroughly searched the entire mountain region spanning hundreds of miles, they discovered that not only could they not ascend to the surface, but they couldn't exit the mountain range from below either.

Whenever they tried to leave the mountainous zone, an inexplicable force would pull them back inside the mountain region.

Clearly, this hundred-mile range of mountain territory had become a confined domain that restricted all of their movements.

Ye Chen had no idea about the fate of the other challengers who were swept away by purple storms into different regions, but he could imagine that being trapped in the Red Light Death Zone would not make escaping easy. They were likely also confined within other undersea mountain zones.

Eventually, with no other choice, Ye Chen and the seventeen others returned to a specific location within the mountain region.

After scouring hundreds of miles of the undersea mountain range, Ye Chen discovered that most areas of the region were unremarkable, except for the one they had now returned to.

This particular area was located on the midsection of the undersea mountain, and within it lay nine colossal pits.

Each pit was a thousand feet wide.

Earlier, while searching for an exit, they had merely glanced at the nine massive pits, noted their strange nature, and moved on. With no way out now, the eighteen of them decided to carefully study these nine colossal pits.

The rest of the mountain region exhibited no peculiarities, except for the abrupt appearance of the nine enormous pits. Ye Chen had a hunch that if an exit existed, it was likely tied to these pits.

"What do you think? Could the exit be inside these nine colossal pits?"

"Could it be as simple as jumping into one of them to leave?"

One God King gazed at the pits and spoke up.

Heavenly God Mountain was renowned as a unique domain of challenging divine mountains.

Even in the second layer of its Great World, amidst the perilous Sea of Mist, and specifically the hazardous "Red Light Death Zone," everyone still held the belief that there must be a way to leave—it couldn't be entirely inescapable.

"Jump into these nine colossal pits?"

As the suggestion was made, several God Kings immediately shook their heads in disagreement. "These pits are incredibly deep and mysterious. Even our Divine Sense cannot penetrate them. I wouldn't dare jump in!"

The nine colossal pits before them were akin to yawning black holes that swallowed everything. Looking down with the naked eye revealed nothing but darkness; even utilizing Divine Sense yielded only pitch blackness, making it impossible to see the bottom.

Given such circumstances, despite the suspicion of something unusual about these pits, nobody dared to act rashly.

"Then what do we do? Just sit here and wait to die?"

The God King who suggested jumping into the pits was visibly hesitant himself, yet the thought of being stuck here indefinitely gnawed at his pride and will to survive.

Eventually, all eyes turned to Ye Chen. "Ye Chen, you're the strongest among us. What do you think we should do?"

Mu Qingxue also deferred to Ye Chen for leadership. "Ye Chen, have you thought of a way to escape?"

Ye Chen surveyed the underwater mountain terrain with a solemn gaze, then shook his head.

"Whenever we try to leave this mountain, an intense pulling force drags us back inside. Escaping directly is only possible if we can resist this force."

"I've tried my maximum combat strength—it couldn't counteract the pull that drags us back into the mountain. I suspect even reaching Sovereign Realm might not suffice to resist the pull and ascend back to the Sea of Mist's surface."

Ye Chen's words struck hard, leaving everyone else pale with despair.

Even the Sovereign Realm couldn't guarantee escape?

Not to mention they only had three months to explore the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain—achieving Sovereign Realm in three years, thirty years, or even three hundred years seemed equally unattainable.

The notion that even Sovereign Realm cultivators couldn't leave shattered any remaining hope of escaping beyond the mountain boundaries.

Ye Chen continued, "Our only remaining hope likely lies with these nine colossal pits within the mountain."

"However, recklessly jumping in is far too dangerous."

"Unless we're at the very brink of hopelessness, it's better to exhaust other possibilities first."

"For now, having just arrived here, we still have time to investigate the strange nature of this underwater mountain and these nine colossal pits."

"Rather than jumping in directly, we can use 'Combat Puppets,' 'Exploration Artifacts,' and other methods to probe what's inside."

Following Ye Chen's suggestion, the other God Kings were stirred into action.

"Yeah, we can try other methods to explore!"

With a swish, one God King retrieved a pitch-black Combat Puppet.

"This Combat Puppet is Upper God King-level. Let's have it test one of the pits."

Swoosh.

The God King piloted the Combat Puppet and sent it flying toward one of the nine colossal pits.

All the others watched on with nervous anticipation.

But in mere moments, the piloting God King's expression shifted drastically.

"No good!"

"The pits contain some kind of unfathomable force. As soon as my Combat Puppet entered, it was obliterated into nothingness!"

The Combat Puppet carried a faint trace of the God King's Divine Sense.

With the annihilation of the puppet, this trace of Divine Sense also vanished, leaving the God King visibly shaken.

"Let me try!" declared another God King, stepping forward. "I possess a more powerful Combat Puppet—let's see how it fares."

Swoosh.

The new God King sent forth a Combat Puppet at Earth Divine Venerable-level toward the pit.

Moments later, his face fell just as dramatically—his puppet met the same fate, obliterated upon entry into the pit.

"I'll give it a shot!"

"Me too!"

Faced with survival at stake, the rest began deploying all kinds of efforts, ranging from Combat Puppets and exploration tools to Divine Weapons powered by Divine Sense, launching them into the massive pits.

Even Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue joined in the endeavor.

Ye Chen unleashed his strongest combat power by crafting a Sword of Divine Light and fired it into one of the pits.

However, without exception, everything that entered the colossal pits was completely annihilated.

The chilling realization hit all eighteen of them like a wave—they had narrowly avoided their own deaths by not leaping rashly into the pits.

With all resources and methods futile, everyone slumped to the ground in despair.

Some muttered bleakly, "It's over. The Red Light Death Zone truly lives up to its name—we're doomed to remain trapped here forever."

Among the eighteen, only Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue managed to keep their composure.

After exhausting all options for exploring the pits, Ye Chen sat down cross-legged and began cultivating.

"This undersea mountain territory—aside from preventing escape—appears to pose no immediate danger."

"If we can't find a method to leave, then let's focus on cultivation. Let's strengthen ourselves and explore further opportunities!"

"Even if three months here turns into three years, or even three centuries—so long as we don't fall, we'll keep cultivating until we finally break free!"

Ye Chen steeled his resolve, preparing for the worst.

Even if he failed in this challenge of Heavenly God Mountain, he wouldn't succumb to despair. He would persist, growing stronger until even the underwater mountain itself couldn't confine him!

Ye Chen's calm determination had a contagious effect on Mu Qingxue.

Mu Qingxue gazed pensively at the mountainous region before sitting beside Ye Chen, joining his cultivation.

Eventually, following their lead, the other God Kings overcame their despondency. One by one, they rose from their languished state and sat down to cultivate.

Thus began an uninterrupted day of cultivation.

The eighteen initially believed they might remain trapped indefinitely in the mountain domain.

But evidently, the Red Light Death Zone was not meant to remain that quiet—not meant for such serene cultivation!

About two days later, a thunderous explosion shook the domain, forcing all eighteen to snap out of their cultivation.

"It came from the nine colossal pits!"

Hearing the deafening noise originating from the pits, the eighteen immediately became alert and all rose to their feet.

Before they could fully react, a torrent of blinding purple Divine Light erupted from the nine pits, shooting upward and outward in all directions, piercing through the ocean water above.

Ye Chen narrowed his gaze on the spectacle and was taken aback. Amidst the streaks of purple Divine Light were countless "Purple Silver Pearls!"

"Could it be that the Purple Silver Pearls scattered throughout the Sea of Mist originate from pits like these?"

"When we fell into this region a day ago, we encountered Pearl explosions—did the nine pits erupt with Pearls then as well?"

These thoughts raced through Ye Chen's mind.

But there wasn't much time to dwell. Though most of the Purple Silver Pearls were shooting up toward the ocean's surface, many were also hurtling toward the eighteen figures gathered around the pits.

At this close proximity, these Pearls were traveling with deadly speed and destructive force.

If Ye Chen and the others couldn't defend themselves in time, the incoming outburst would surely claim all their lives!