"About two hours," Zhou Hong replied.
"Oh, that's quite far." Zhou Hong knew that helicopters were fast, so two hours meant they had traveled a considerable distance.
Time passed slowly, and soon, two hours were up.
"All personnel, prepare for immediate descent," the voice of the sect leader boomed from the helicopter's intercom.
The helicopter Zhou Hong was on began its descent towards the ground.
A few minutes later, all the helicopters landed safely.
Zhou Hong and the others disembarked.
Zhou Hong's gaze immediately fell upon a massive sinkhole located several hundred meters ahead.
"Huangfu Shanhe, is that huge sinkhole ahead the sealed place?" Zhou Hong asked.
"Yes, the sinkhole ahead is circular, with a radius of about 100 meters. However, its depth reaches nine thousand meters."
"Wow, that deep." Zhou Hong was surprised. (Su Dan Novel Network)
"Indeed. If someone were to fall in accidentally, they would plummet straight to the bottom, nine thousand meters below."
"So, are we going down to the depths now?"
"Of course. However, we won't be jumping directly. Since ancient times, a passage has been opened that leads directly to the underground. It's just that this passage is unknown to most people, and it cannot be opened by ordinary means. One must reach the Wu Zun level of strength to access it."
Zhou Hong nodded. "Your sect leader is at the Wu Zun level, right?"
"Yes, he's approximately at the twelfth stage of Wu Zun."
Just then, the sect leader walked to an open space and struck the ground with a powerful palm.
"Bang, bang, bang!" The sect leader repeatedly struck the ground.
"Huangfu Shanhe? What is the sect leader doing?" Zhou Hong furrowed his brow and asked curiously.
"The sect leader is currently trying to open the passage to the underground. However, it's not easy. Even a Wu Zun level expert would need to exert considerable effort to open it."
"Oh, I see." Zhou Hong nodded and stopped asking questions, quietly watching the sect leader repeatedly strike the ground. The sect leader was panting heavily, making Zhou Hong doubt if he would have any strength left to suppress the energy emanating from the ancient beasts underground by the time the passage was opened.
The sect leader continued to strike the ground for another dozen or twenty times, but the passage still remained closed.
Zhou Hong found it hard to watch any longer.
He then walked forward.
"Sect leader, you're wasting a lot of energy this way," Zhou Hong exclaimed loudly.
An elder standing nearby shouted at Zhou Hong, "No one would think you're mute if you kept quiet. Whose subordinate are you in the Six Doors?"
Zhou Hong blinked in surprise. It turned out everyone assumed he was one of the Six Doors' men.
The sect leader stopped to rest for a moment, then glared at Zhou Hong. "If you think you can do better, then try it. Do you think the underground passage is so easily opened?"
"Alright, I'll try," Zhou Hong said, whether he genuinely didn't understand the sect leader's sarcasm or was pretending not to, he stepped forward and struck the spot where the sect leader had been hitting.
"Boom." In the next second, Zhou Hong's palm cracked open the ground. The ground caved in, and everyone standing at a distance felt the earth tremble. The shaking lasted for several seconds.
Zhou Hong looked closely and saw a passage leading underground appear before him. It was more like an underground staircase than a passage.
The sect leader glanced at Zhou Hong, unsure whether Zhou Hong had opened it or if he himself was on the verge of opening it. After all, he had already struck it for so long, perhaps only one more blow was needed.
An elder beside him said, "Sect leader, how could this brat possibly open this passage? It must be that you had already struck it more than ten times, and only the last effort was needed to open it."
The sect leader nodded, no longer dwelling on the issue. He shouted to everyone, "Everyone, follow me down. Leave two people here to guard the passage and prevent any unauthorized personnel from approaching."
"Yes!" The sect leader led the way, descending the stairs into the underground.
Zhou Hong followed the main group down the underground steps.
These underground steps were like the stairs leading to a basement, spiraling down around the entire sinkhole.
They descended for what felt like a long time, perhaps half an hour, before finally reaching the depths of nine thousand meters.
At this depth, there was almost no light. Looking up, the opening of the sinkhole appeared like a small well, with insufficient light to reach such a depth.
"Rumble!" Suddenly, a tremendous vibration echoed through the air, accompanied by what sounded like ferocious roars.
"Quick, hurry!"
The sect leader immediately took the lead and opened another stone door at the very bottom of the sinkhole. Beyond the stone door was a natural cavern hidden deep underground. The cavern was immense, but it was pitch-black, and everyone could see nothing.
"Everyone, don't move around. This cavern also has a deep pit. If you fall in, even an immortal couldn't save you," the sect leader shouted. Everyone immediately froze, having not expected another deep pit in this dark cavern.
The next second, someone quickly lit many torches.
Only then did Zhou Hong see that the underground cavern was hundreds of meters long and wide. In the center of the cavern was another bottomless pit.
The roaring sounds from earlier had come from this pit.
Zhou Hong had assumed that after descending the sinkhole, they would immediately reach the place where the ancient beasts were sealed. However, it turned out to be more complicated than that.
"Do we still need to go further down this pit?" Zhou Hong asked.
"No," Huangfu Shanhe replied.
"Then where is the sealed ancient beast?"
"It's in the even deeper underground, of course. See that pit? This pit's depth exceeds one million kilometers," Huangfu Shanhe said with a grim expression.
"How is that possible? As far as I know, the Earth's radius is less than ten thousand kilometers. You're saying this pit is over one million kilometers deep? That's more than a hundred times the Earth's radius!" Zhou Hong quickly shook his head. Although he wasn't a native of Earth, he had lived there long enough to know its dimensions.
"Heh heh. Scientists have tested it with instruments, and its depth reached over a million kilometers, with the exact measurement unknown. Although everyone finds it hard to believe, just like you, and wonders how a pit can be so deep when the Earth itself isn't that thick. But the facts are undeniable. So there's only one explanation: this deep pit doesn't lead to the Earth's core, but to... another world!"