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1Chapter 526 – Soaring Red Light
2When the black-clothed girl heard this Giant Demon calling out to her, she pressed her delicate eyebrows together in a frown. A faint aura of infernal energy between her eyebrows almost erupted, but she kept it down.
3‘I wonder where that Muk Gu went…’ Lin Ming only saw the black-clothed girl, and didn’t see Muk Gu nearby.
4“Pretty little girl, why don’t you come and play with me?” Ao Ri provoked again.
5At this time, some of the human martial artists were already quietly retreating. They didn’t want to be caught in Ao Ri’s crosshairs.
6The black-clothed girl’s eyes flashed with a murderous light and she instantly drew her longsword from its sheath. One didn’t see the movement, but one could clearly hear the piercing sound of the sword energy as it passed through the air. The sharp sword light shined, thrusting straight towards Ao Ri’s forehead!
7“Humph!”
8Ao Ri coldly coughed, and smashed that sword light apart with his fist!
9With a ringing explosion, the sword light was broken apart by that fist!
10Deng deng deng!
11Ao Ri drew back three steps, his fist dyed red with blood.
12The black-clothed girl’s expression was surprised underneath her mask. Her opponent had received her sword attack with his bare fist, but he had only been forced three steps back. His fist had been injured, but he was more or less unharmed. This Giant Demon’s strength was no less than her own.
13She had originally wanted to teach this scum a lesson, but she didn’t imagine that his strength would be like this. If they truly fought, then it would be difficult to decide a victor in a short period of time. She also had important matters to attend to and didn’t want to waste her time getting caught up here. She turned around and stepped away. Quickly, her enchanting figure submerged into the crowd, lost.
14“That little bitch!” Ao Ri cursed. But, he didn’t chase her. From that one exchange, he could tell that this little human girl was exceedingly strong. She was most likely a top talent from some sect. Although he didn’t use a weapon, his skill with a weapon wasn’t much better than him using his fists. And yet, not only was his fist injured, but he had also been forced back three steps.
15“What crap luck, I actually met a top human talent here.” Ao Ri was crestfallen. He had just been full-throated bragging that there wasn’t a single human genius that could compare with him. The result of this was that he had been publicly shamed in front of everyone, and by a young girl at that. That little girl was able to stand evenly against him, and she also looked to be just a bit over 20 years old. She was most likely even younger than he was.
16As his heart burned with anger and shame, he swept his eyes across everyone. Immediately, everyone drew back, lest they draw trouble onto themselves.
17With all of the human martial artists bowing or backing away, the calm and confident-looking Lin Ming naturally stood out. Ao Ri’s eyes instantly fell on him. “Hm? This boy, it seems that there is some condensed infernal energy on his body. Is that a Blood Slaughter Token?”
18The 12 Heavenly Demon Cities had a limited number of Blood Slaughter Tokens. Blood Slaughter Tokens were used by martial artists to assist in condensing their infernal energy and forming the Heavenly Demon Tattoo. If one didn’t have a Blood Slaughter Token, then the infernal energy they gain from killing others would slowly disperse. It would take a much greater amount of effort to condense a Heavenly Demon Tattoo.
19Ao Ri had already stayed at in a Heavenly Demon City for over half a year, so he was sensitive to the energy emitted from a Blood Slaughter Token. He was 50 to 60% sure that Lin Ming had a Blood Slaughter Token on him.
20But the question was, how could a mere Xiantian realm boy have gotten a Blood Slaughter Token worth dozens of medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals?
21Although Ao Ri was wealthy, he wasn’t rich enough that he could ignore the temptation of a treasure worth dozens of medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. It had to be known within Polaris City, a life-saving miracle medicine like the Divine Blood Pill was worth 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
22For a Xiantian realm boy to carry around such a valuable treasure… well, it wasn’t Ao Ri’s style to not steal it.
23“Boy! Come over here!” Ao Ri said as he licked his lips. He looked at Lin Ming as if he were some delicious prey.
24Lin Ming frowned. He hadn’t said anything and he was also standing in an inconspicuous location. And he was the one that was eyed among everyone else here?
25“Fuck! Lord Ao Ri is calling for you! Are you deaf!?” Beside Ao Ri, a few of his minions shouted out. To the people of Sun Flood City, anyone that could make a round trip to one of the 12 Heavenly Demon Cities and return safely was absolutely a ruthless monster. It would be advantageous and prestigious to be a minion or someone like this.
26“Haha, boy, what bad luck you have.” Behind Lin Ming, the Divine Blood Pill vendor was enjoying his misfortune. He knew that once Ao Ri had locked onto someone, they wouldn’t escape unscathed. “Go away. Why don’t you go join in the fun?”
27As the minions saw Lin Ming remained unmoved, they all cussed at him, “Fuck, who does he think he is? Let’s go teach him a lesson!”
28As they spoke, they all rushed at Lin Ming. The black-clothed girl’s cultivations had been too high. They hadn’t been her match, so they naturally wouldn’t rush at her so recklessly. But facing Lin Ming, an early Xiantian realm amateur, his realm wasn’t any higher than theirs and he was also a human. This was their opportunity to show off in front of their boss.
29The minions attacked together. They deliberately intended to avoid his vital points and attack his limbs. If they ruined this Xiantian martial artist’s body and crippled his arms and legs, then he would become nothing more than waste.
30Ca!
31A bloody crimson light shot forth. Lin Ming flicked his five fingers, and five Blood Drinking Seals flew out like arrows! The bloody light leapt into the air, filling the skies with a fierce and deadly murderous intent that came falling down, enveloping everyone. All of the surrounding martial artists shuddered in fear.
32One Blood Drinking Seal flew at each of the five Giant Demon minions. bloody lights cut through the void.
33“Ahhh!”
34The five Giant Demons cried out in pain as they grasped onto their right arms. Their right hands were all rolling on the ground; they had been chopped off, with blood crazily spraying everywhere! In an instant, Lin Ming had sliced off their hands, but he hadn’t even moved at all.
35“What!?”
36“What did that boy do? What was that red light? Was that a concealed weapon?”
37“Where is the boy from!?”
38With a single move cutting off the five Giant Demon’s hands, Lin Ming had shown mercy. After all, if he could cut off their right hands then he could also cut off their heads!
39In the square, every martial artist, regardless of race, and all of the various vendors and customers were staring in shock. They had been waiting to see just how miserable Lin Ming would end up. But how could they have expected that this young-looking man was so ruthless?
40In fact, if they knew that Lin Ming’s true age was only 18 years, their chins would probably have hit the ground.
41The crimson light was too quick. It was fast to the point that they hadn’t been able to see what it was. They only felt a thick and vibrant bloody energy in that instant, and a chilling shiver crawl up their backs.
42“Your smelly brat!”
43Ao Ri grimaced.
44Fuck, how could he have such shit luck today? Both of these young humans that he bumped into had been abnormal freaks.
45Ao Ri could also defeat those five minions in an instant. But, he wasn’t sure whether or not this young boy had more cards he was hiding. With such an estimate, the chances of defeating this young man were basically a coin flip.
46Was this little bastard really an early Xiantian powerhouse of humanity? Even a saint level talent of the Fey couldn’t match up!
47Ao Ri grumbled in his heart. In his half year at Polaris City, he hadn’t run into such monstrous human powerhouses. But today, he managed to catch them all.
48He had ridden the tiger and now he couldn’t back down. Within Sun Flood City, Ao Ri was an infamous character. If it was known that he was smacked around by a human Xiantian realm boy and ran away with his tail between his legs, then he would be laughed at in the future by everyone. There was no way to extricate himself from this situation.
49‘Although I’ll lose face against this brat, I’ll still try my best. If I can catch him by surprise, then I’ll be able to gain the upper hand for three to five moves at least. If that happens, I can just back away and consider it as honorably stepping away.’
50As Ao Ri thought of this, he coldly said, “Boy, I admit that I underestimated you a moment ago. You do have some skill. Since you injured my men, I’ll give you a chance. If you can take three moves of mine, then I will let this matter go!”
51Ao Ri shamelessly proclaimed. At this time, he no longer dared to scheme about Lin Ming’s Blood Slaughter Token. All that was in his mind was how to gain the upper hand in these next three moves and avoid losing his hard-earned reputation.
52Lin Ming’s face had a hint of a taunting smile. He’d let this fool bumble about as he wished.
53Ca!
54Ao Ri flourished his weapon. This was the medium-grade earth-step spear that he purchased from the Sun Flood Pavillion at a great price. He hadn’t even taken out his weapon against the black-clothed girl, but against Lin Ming, he had no choice but to go all out.
55“Boy, you won’t use your weapon?” As Ao Ri saw that Lin Ming wasn’t moving, he felt ill. “If you look down on me, then you’re just asking to die!”
56“Demon Tyrant World!”
57Ao Ri loudly shouted and thrust his spear out. Behind Ao Ri, the shade of a Demon King manifested. On the back of this Demon King shade was a great pair of wings.
58As the Demon King shade appeared, Ao Ri’s aura instantly erupted. It was like the heavens and earths were being stirred up by his spear.
59“It’s the Heavenly Demon Tattoo; Ao Ri is serious now.”
60“He condensed the Heavenly Demon Tattoo in Polaris City. It is able to increase the power of demonic martial skills. I’m so jealous of him.”
61Everyone sighed. At this time, Lin Ming attacked. Without a weapon in hand, he took a sudden step forwards and punched out.
62Body Tearing Bone Shattering Fist!
63Vibrating true essence combined with dozens of Blood Drinking Seals as they shot out. The sky filled with flashing red lights, and the winged Heavenly Demon shade was directly cut into pieces by the Blood Drinking Seals. Right after, the vibrating true essence broke it apart, disintegrating it into nothing!
64“What!?”
65Ao Ri’s expression changed. He desperately stimulated all of his bodily demon essence protection to the limit. However, how could mere bodily demon essence stand up to the incomparably sharp Blood Drinking Seals?
66Pu!
67Ao Ri’s protective true essence was torn apart like it was thin paper. He spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backwards, landing unconscious on the floor.
68After winning with a single move, Lin Ming wasn’t moved. With his current strength, there were very few people in the younger generation that were a worthy opponent for him. Not to mention that Ao Ri wasn’t even a top talent of the younger generation. That fellow Muk Gu that he had met before was much more formidable.
69“He’s too strong; Ao Ri isn’t even on his level!”
70“This strength may not be able to sweep away everyone in the outer ward of Polaris City, but it should be enough to rule over a small area! This fellow is only at the early Xiantian realm, but he looks so young. I don’t know which sect raised a talent like this. It’s hard to imagine that a human Xiantian martial artist would be able to cultivate to this degree…”
71As the surrounding martial artists discussed Lin Ming, the Divine Blood Pill vendor behind him turned ashen. In Sun Flood City, although casual murder in the streets didn’t happen often, it did happen. If this young man could defeat Ao Ri so easily, then he could die just as easily. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the scene that would occur. As the vendor thought back to his rude and dismissive behavior towards Lin Ming, he felt chills crawl up his spine. He was terrified…
721000 feet away from the square, a black-clothed youth faintly smiled. “Hoh, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Junior-apprentice Sister, this young man is much stronger than you are.”
73The black-clothed youth who spoke was Muk Gu. Beside him was the black-clothed girl, his junior-apprentice sister Muk Qing.
74“He is truly stronger than I am, but, I believe I will be able to surpass him in the next several years!” Muk Qing said, not too satisfied.
75“Surpass him? That might not be possible. He might even be younger than you.” Muk Gu glanced at Muk Qing and smiled.
76Chapter 527 – Robbers
77Muk Qing was 23 years old. In her sect, she was a rising Saint level talent. It was possible that her future achievements might even surpass Muk Gu’s; she was no worse than someone like Mu Qianyu.
78As she heard Muk Gu say that Lin Ming might be younger than her, Muk Qing’s words caught in her throat. There wasn’t anything she could say. She was used to surpassing others, so that’s why she reflexively said that she had confidence she could pass Lin Ming in several years. But now that she knew that Lin Ming was younger than her, she found this hard to accept.
79“Let’s go. He’s probably going to Polaris City. Most of the martial artists that pass-through Sun Flood City will be going to that Heavenly Demon City. I can’t believe that I told him to be careful of robbers. It’s a bit laughable now that I think back on it. Perhaps at that time, if I had tried to steal from him, I might even have been defeated by his hand…”
80“Senior-apprentice Brother, even you think you’re not his match?” Muk Qing said, surprised.
81“It’s hard to say… it seems that a few years from now, there will be a new super powerhouse in Polaris City.” Muk Gu sighed.
82Those humans that willingly came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes were the most outstanding talents among juniors.
83As for the older generation, most of them were powerful. But, few came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes; they were afraid of the strange and fantastical curse that enveloped the land. Not just that, but it was meaningless to adventure and gain experience with the juniors.
84As for as the weaker amongst the older generation, they didn’t usually come to the Blood Slaughter Steppes either. If they were weak at their age, they most likely wouldn’t have much further enhancements in their achievements. If they came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes, what they risked was death. They might lose their life in vain without even the chance to further their cultivation. The gains simply didn’t match the loss.
85It could be said that the Blood Slaughter Steppes was the Holy Demon Continent’s gathering land for the most superb youths. Here, everyone was a genius. If one could jump ranks to defeat others, then so could everyone else. No matter how strong one was, no one underestimated anyone, even if they were on the same level. Even if their opponent was young or their realm was low, they still had the possibility to kill them.
86Within the Blood Slaughter Steppes, even a tyrannical dragon had to be cautious. Otherwise, who knew whether or not they would provoke an even more powerful foe.
87As Muk Gu finished speaking he returned to the building behind him. Muk Qing grit her teeth, gave Lin Ming one last look, and then turned around to follow.
88“Young Hero, Young Hero, this Divine Blood Pill, I will trade it to you for only 10 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. I just hope that you overlook…” In the square at the Sun Flood Pavillion, the Giant Demon vendor who was selling the Divine Blood Pill turned green with regret as he saw Lin Ming’s terrifying performance. Not only had he missed his chance to befriend such a top talent, but he also became enemies within him. Sun Flood City was not like some normal city. Here, when martial artists had grudges, it was possible that they would act on them even in the streets. This was a completely normal matter. Thus, the Giant Demon was scared witless. In order to not offend Lin Ming any further, he could only offer up this Divine Blood Pill at a discount. If it wasn’t for the fact that he really did need Blood Demon Crystals, he might have directly given the Divine Blood Pill to Lin Ming.
89Hearing the vendor take such an initiative to be friendly, Lin Ming naturally didn’t refuse, “I don’t have any medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. I only have medium-grade true essence stones and low-grade Blood Demon Crystals. You can name your price from that.”
90The vendor was surprised. Just where did the fellow come from? He was so talented yet he didn’t have any medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals? The exchange rate between low-grade Blood Demon Crystals and medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals was 100 to 1. Although this ratio was a bit inflated, it was because low-grade Blood Demon Crystals weren’t all that useful to geniuses, thus the average person wouldn’t be willing to accept them.
91The vendor clenched his teeth and said, “1000 low-grade Blood Demon Crystals, and you’ve got a deal I’ll consider it a discount!”
92As he finished speaking, he helplessly looked at Lin Ming. He only hoped that Lin Ming would overlook the matter from earlier. In the future, he wanted to stay in Sun Flood City without having to look over his shoulder every day.
93Lin Ming didn’t know that the vendor was having such troubles. He didn’t plan on rejecting the Divine Blood Pill either way. “2000 low-grade Blood Demon Crystals, you can count it.”
94Lin Ming tossed over a spatial ring; this ring had belonged to the six Elders of the Silent Green Tribe.
95As soon as the vendor heard 2000 low-grade Blood Demon Crystals, he was instantly happy. It seemed that this human martial artist was still kind enough and wasn’t forcing him to the ledge. But, after he took the spatial ring and looked through it, he was left speechless. The Blood Demon Crystals in this spatial ring could be called garbage. They were literally the discarded Blood Demon Crystal ore that no one would want. 2000 of these so-called Blood Demon Crystals might not even match up to 1000 pure low-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
96Just where had this human come from?
97The vendor was speechless. This sort of Blood Demon Crystal would only be used by common mortal martial artists.
98In this situation, the vendor could only bow his head and grit his teeth. He had no chance to voice his grievance. These were the iron rules of the Blood Slaughter Steppes…
99After Lin Ming left Sun Flood City, he bought a mount and quickly hurried on. He really didn’t have many Blood Demon Crystals on hand. He had to fill in the missing amount with true essence stones in order to purchase a blue-winged bird. It wasn’t too fast at flying, but Lin Ming was mainly using it so he could rest.
100After all, the deeper one went into the Blood Slaughter Steppes, the more dangerous it would be, and the more common murder and death became. Lin Ming needed to always maintain his top fighting form.
101As Lin Ming rode forwards, he encountered several groups of martial artists. Among them were humans, Giant Demons, Fey, and all sorts of other races. As he looked at them, he could see that they had thick and pure true essence, and they were also young.
102“The martial arts cultivation atmosphere of the Holy Demon Continent is much more flourishing than that of the Sky Spill Continent. One reason is because the other races have such outstanding talent and the other is because there are so many different races. They go on adventures every year and constantly fight, so it’s easier for powerhouses to be born here.” Constant fighting was truly an easy way to produce geniuses. During ancient times, Emperor level talents were most likely to appear when war swept over the entire land.
103As Lin Ming approached Polaris City, he saw more and more outstanding youths, enough so that even he was stunned and amazed. Especially the Fey race. Their natural talent was even superior to the Giant Demons. Unfortunately, they were few in number, otherwise they might have already dominated the Holy Demon Continent.
104Along the way, Lin Ming saw two heroic Fey youths that he suspected were Saint level talents.
105“The Holy Demon Continent originally had many geniuses, and the Blood Slaughter Steppes is the gathering point for this massive number of geniuses. It is truly astonishing!” Although Lin Ming sighed as he said this, he was actually feeling excited and thrilled. It was ideal that he would be here alongside those competitors that could offer him challenge. Only like this could his progress become faster. After all, it was impossible to comprehend the essence of martial arts by going into closed-door seclusion.
106It was right that he came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes!
107“We’ve waited such a long time, and now a tiny fat sheep has finally arrived.” Several miles away from Lin Ming, several Impish martial artists had gathered together. They were sizing Lin Ming up like prey.
108“He’s only at the early Xiantian realm and his mount is normal. Do you think he might be too poor?”
109“Mm… although his cultivation is lower, his true essence is incomparably thick. For better or worse, he must also be a talent from a large sect, so he should have a good amount of possessions. For an early Xiantian boy to wander into the Blood Slaughter Steppes… he must really believe in himself. But those that have too much self-confidence are always the ones that die first.
110When many geniuses heard of the Blood Slaughter Steppes, they might rush there because of their arrogance, even if their cultivation was insufficient. In their recklessness, they would finally perish in the wilderness without even reaching the city gates. This was because of the numerous robbers that existed in the wild.
111These robbers were mostly of the Imp race. Within the Holy Demon Continent, the Imps could be called infamous for this behavior. Although the Giant Demons were incredibly brutal and bloodthirsty killers, for better or worse, they also had scruples. In some matters, there were bottom lines that they wouldn’t cross.
112But the Imps were greedy, despicable, sinister, and committed all sorts of crimes with glee. They bullied the weak and feared the strong. They lusted over beauty, and their behavior was abnormal and obscene. Besides the Ferals, they would chase after the beauties of every single other race. If a woman were to fall into the hands of an Imp, they would suffer the most miserable of fates before being tortured to death.
113“Hehe, if we didn’t have such a person, then what would us brothers eat!” The Imp in the front said as he licked his lips.
114“Let’s go. Kill him!”
115All of them rushed out with their full strength. Although these Imps had a cultivation that surpassed Lin Ming, there were also many humans behind him. As they attacked together, it was like dark clouds of demonic energy were roiling in the air!
116Lin Ming sneered. He didn’t even slow down as he crashed directly into the dark clouds.
117‘I’ve already heard that the Blood Slaughter Steppes is filled with murderers and robbers. I’ve come so far into the Blood Slaughter Steppes and this is the first group that I’ve run into. If I consider my low cultivation and the fact that I’m alone, then I could be considered really lucky.’
118Lin Ming laughed in his mind. He didn’t even take out his spear. He flicked ten fingers, and ten Blood Drinking Seals shot out!
119The crimson red lights cut through the void. In the next moment, blood flew out, dyeing the earth red. Seven or eight Imps had been sliced to pieces by Lin Ming’s Blood Drinking Seals! The remaining Imps stood there, stunned, their eyes filled with disbelief.
120Peng peng peng!
121bloody fog exploded from the corpses of the Imps, turning into new Blood Drinking Seals.
122“Mm? Blood Drinking Seals condensed from Imps are also good. They aren’t any worse than those made from Giant Demons.” Lin Ming muttered as he glanced at the glowing crimson symbols in the air. He seemed that humans just had the worst power of vitality, so the Blood Drinking Seals they made were also the weakest.
123“Did you see that!? That blue-clothed boy just raised his hand and sent out several hidden weapons. He instantly killed seven or eight Imps, and those Imps all had a cultivation higher than him!”
124“Mm, these Imps might have disgusting characters, but their strength is still good. They are especially good at escaping. But, they were instantly killed. Just who is that young man? Even a Saint level talent wouldn’t be so terrifying in the Xiantian realm.”
125“Interesting. There hasn’t been a human talent in Polaris City for a long time. Unfortunately, this fellow’s cultivation is too low. Compared to the Giant Demons’ Da Gu or Mo He, the disparity is just too great. Those two have recently maintained a total string of victories. I’ve no idea just how many wings have appeared on their Heavenly Demon Tattoos…”
126From the time that a martial artist reached the 12 Heavenly Demon Cities, they would have a faint Heavenly Demon Tattoo. As they accumulated infernal energy, their tattoo would become increasingly solid and lifelike. When they reached a certain amount of infernal energy, their tattoo would grow wings. It would grow four wings, six wings… all the way to twelve wings.
127And the way to plunder infernal energy was to kill others, or to utterly defeat them.
128In the challenge match stage of the Blood Slaughter Steppes’ Polaris City, the probability of death was over 60%. And, whether one died or was defeated, 50 to 70% of their total accumulated infernal energy would be added onto the winner’s body, while the rest of their infernal energy would dissipate. These were the strange rules that governed the 12 Heavenly Demon Cities.
129“Da Gu… Mo He…” This was the second time that Lin Ming had heard these names. “These two should be the most outstanding of the Giant Demons, I wonder how strong they are. There also seems to be the Imps’ Chi Yan. If they were famous enough for Ao Ri to mention them, they are probably not normal individuals.”
130Chapter 528 – Polaris City
131Before arriving at Polaris City, Lin Ming had already imagined how it would look several times. After he had experienced the magnificence of the Demon God Imperial Palace, Lin Ming believed that even if Polaris City had walls hundreds of feet high or was thousands of miles long like a limitless mountain range that stretched to the horizon, he still wouldn’t be surprised.
132But as he truly saw Polaris City for the first time, Lin Ming was stunned. This was a shock that came from the heart. Polar City was built upon a vertical cliff that rose sixty to seventy thousand feet in the air!
133This cliff seemed as if it had been formed by a God. It was as if a divine being had used a heavenly sword to cut the earth, forming a square piece of land that shot into the sky like a celestial halberd!
134Polaris City was located atop the peak of this cliff that looked like a heaven-supporting pillar. The city walls were hundreds of feet high, but it didn’t stretch as long as Lin Ming had imagined. The walls were the color of dust, and thousands of thick steel wires rose 60 to 70 thousand feet into the air. They were like white strands of silk that connected to the galaxy. Every thread and buckle were as thick as a man’s thigh.
135Lin Ming found it hard to imagine just how heavy these steel wires were, or even how they were attached to the city walls. If the walls could withstand the weight of such heavy cables, then just how solid were they?
136After approaching these thick steel wires, Lin Ming noticed that from beginning to end, for the entire tens of thousands of feet, it was completely engraved with a dense pattern of shimmering symbols!
137These symbols included those from the language of the Giant Demons, the ancient language of the Realm of the Gods, and even the dazzling language of the Fey…even though there were so many symbols and they should have eroded through the years, they still remained incomparably bright and clear.
138Just by touching them, one could feel an energy flowing forth. There was heavy sense of suppression, as if a suffocating wind was blowing out.
139Lin Ming couldn’t imagine just what sort of supernaturally powerful Supreme Elder had opened up the skies and laid down the foundations for this city!
140Polaris Heavenly Demon City. No wonder it had taken this name.
141This height of 60 to 70 thousand feet was truly worthy of the title ‘Polaris’!
142As Lin Ming looked up, he found that there were many martial artists climbing up the thousands of chains, step by step. They were like lonely climbers, slowly, stubbornly, and persistently conquering their path of martial arts, even if they knew that failure meant they would fall to their deaths!
143“Polaris City restricts flight…”
144Lin Ming already found out about the specific laws here. Although they didn’t suppress true essence, they did prevent flight. Let alone him, even if some Life Destruction Supreme Elder arrived here, they might have to honestly climb up, one step at a time.
145These thick chains were the entrance to the city. Otherwise, even if a Xiantian realm martial artist wanted to scale this 60 to 70-thousand-foot-high cliff without the aid of flight, it would be extremely difficult.
146Lin Ming chose a chain and began to slowly make his way up.
147These thick chains were chillingly cold and also slippery. If one’s cultivation wasn’t high enough, then they wouldn’t be able to enter the city. If one were to fall down the cliff from this height, then even a Xiantian realm martial artist would turn into goo.
148Lin Ming used an hour to climb most of the distance in a single go. He turned around and looked down. From far away, the vast crimson plains were endlessly majestic and boundless. Clouds floated underneath his feet. As these thousands of chains rose into the great blue sky, it was as if they were broken. Such a grand picture was splendid enough to leave anyone stunned!
149The martial artists that climbed up to Polaris City were like tiny ants as they made their way up the chains. However, Lin Ming knew that as these martial artists turned to look back, they would have a field of vision like an eagle in the sky. This was the road of a martial artist. The higher they stood, the farther they would see.
150As one finally reached the top off the cliff, a howling gale blew. Such a quick wind was enough to sweep away any common person.
151On the gray rocks of the clifftop, the city walls had stood tall for countless years.
152The front gates were 500 feet high and made of dark gray metal. Every rivet of the gate was as big as a large bowl. At this time, the gate was open; it seemed to be the massive maw of some metallic beast, eating all of the martial artists that entered.
153The words ‘Polaris City’ were written in large characters on a plaque above the gate. The letters were like draconic snakes flying in the air, domineering and vicious.
154As Lin Ming walked into Polaris City, he could see all of the buildings were constructed out of dark gray stone. All of these stones seemed primitive; they hadn’t undergone much polishing or cutting. They retained their edges and corners, giving of a powerful, primal feel.
155The streets were wide enough for several carriages to pass through shoulder to shoulder. At this time, there were numerous heroic geniuses walking along the road. There were even extremely rare Saint level talents here. Although there weren’t too many, they weren’t an uncommon sight.
156“What rich origin energy and infernal energy. Polaris City is great!”
157Lin Ming praised. But, his praise didn’t last for too long. He suddenly heard a scream coming out from an alley in the street, and a spurt of blood shot into the air. A martial artist with a broken hand came crazily careening out of the alley. Four martial artists jumped out afterwards in hot pursuit!
158The martial artists’ hands were wielding different weapons, and they sent sword and halberd energies sizzling through the air, all of them aimed at the vital points of the fleeing martial artist. Obviously, they were planning on killing him.
159This scene immediately reminded Lin Ming that this was the Blood Slaughter Steppes. Here, the massive amount of martial artists almost uniformly walked the killing road. Those martial artists that walked this path could accumulate their formidable aura from killing others, and even use this to help raise the progress of their cultivation. Thus, it wasn’t too strange for these types of people to wantonly kill others.
160In this land, everyone was a possible enemy. As long as one killed other, not only could they enhance their cultivation method and strength, but they could also obtain the massive amount of resources in their spatial ring.
161However, if one wanted to plunder the ‘infernal energy’ of Polar City to complete their Heavenly Demon Tattoo, they had to go to the middle of the city where the concentration of infernal energy was. There, martial artists fought on specialized killing stages.
162Lin Ming didn’t want to arouse trouble. He followed the street to the center of the city, and quickly arrived at the source of the so-called infernal energy.
163Here, the only building was a massive arena battlefield that covered dozens of miles. As long as one stepped into this killing field, they could directly steal the ‘infernal energy’ of others by murdering them, further completing their Heavenly Demon Tattoo.
164“Mm… this is…?”
165Lin Ming hadn’t reached the arena battlefield when he suddenly felt the Blood Slaughter Token he was carrying become scorching hot. A heat flowed out from the Blood Slaughter Token, spreading out and then converging into his meridians.
166A small, faint whirlpool of infernal energy spun around the Blood Slaughter Token.
167Lin Ming’s mind stirred and he immediately understood. This was the natural reaction of the Blood Slaughter Token after entering a source area of infernal energy. A burning fire seemed to sizzle on his right arm. As Lin Ming watched, he saw a faint Heavenly Demon Tattoo slowly forming there.
168This image had two devilish horns, sharp fangs, and even though it was blurry, one could see it had an unusually grim countenance.
169This was the Heavenly Demon Tattoo…
170Chapter 529 – Polar Skysplit Tower
171“Mm?”
172The moment when the Heavenly Demon Tattoo manifested on his arm, Lin Ming found that just in front of him was an Imp with a curved dagger looking at him. His eyes shined, as if he thought Lin Ming were his prey. Beside him were also several other Imps.
173The Imp with the curved dagger giggled and smiled. “Oh, a newcomer and he’s also a human. My favorite are the humans. This newbie’s cultivation is also only at the Xiantian realm… keke, he’s only 20 some years old. He must be quite tasty.”
174As the Imp with the curved dagger spoke, the other Imps surrounding him laughed and whistled at Lin Ming.
175Once the Blood Slaughter Token was activated, it would temporarily merge with the martial artist, helping to form the Heavenly Demon Tattoo.
176If someone were killed outside of the arena battlefield, then they wouldn’t be able to steal away their infernal energy. Thus, none of the Imps attacked Lin Ming.
177Lin Ming glanced at the Imp with the curved dagger. This Imp was particularly short. Most Imps were around six feet tall, but this one was five and a half. His face was full of black, dry folds that were covered with long hairs. It caused anyone who saw him to feel disgusted.
178Lin Ming didn’t bother with them and directly walked over to the arena battlefield.
179Standing at the entrance of the arena battlefield were seven or eight guards. They directly stood in front of Lin Ming, blocking him. “Admission to Polar Skysplit Tower is one medium-grade Blood Demon Crystal.”
180Polar Skysplit Tower?
181The name of this arena battlefield was quite aggressive. But what was really staggering was the expensive price of admission. It had to be said that the cost of the Divine Blood Pill which was sold at Sun Flood City was 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. But, this was only enough for 100 individuals to enter the arena battlefield; this was absolutely squandering resources.
182Although those that came to Polaris City were most often the talents of their sects, they would still feel pain if they frequently passed in and out of the arena battlefield.
183“Low-grade Blood Demon Crystal?” Lin Ming asked.
184The arena guard looked at Lin Ming with contempt and coldly said, “200 low-grade!”
185A medium-grade Blood Demon Crystal was worth around 100 low-grade Blood Demon Crystals. But, this guard had actually opened his loud mouth and said 200, and his attitude was indifferent. Obviously, he preferred not to take low-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
186Lin Ming thought for a moment and then took out some low-grade Blood Demon Crystals from his spatial ring. He hadn’t obtained too many Blood Demon Crystals from the Silent Green Tribe, and their quality wasn’t too high either. After he had killed the six Great Elders, he had gained several thousand low-grade Blood Demon Crystals. To the martial artists of Bewitching Cloud Prairie, this was an obscenely great wealth. However, once he came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes, he was about to run out even though he just used them a few times. The difference between martial artists from one land to another was simply too great.
187Lin Ming took out 300 low-grade Blood Demon Crystals and gave them to the guard.
188The guard impatiently received these 300 low-grade Blood Demon Crystals and then let Lin Ming into the arena battlefield.
189“You’re letting a beggar like that go through?” Another guard asked.
190“Heh, since he wants to go die, then he can go ahead. These people always think that Skysplit Tower is some casual place they can go to adventure in. They will only realize that they are nothing but insignificant fertilizer after entering.” The guard responded with disdain.
191As Lin Ming walked into the main hall of the arena battlefield, he sucked in a deep breath as he was able to see the tall walls that surrounded the area. He finally realized why this place was called the Polar Skysplit Tower. This arena battlefield was thousands upon thousands of feet high. It was originally built atop this 60 to 70-thousand-foot-high cliff. In addition to the central pagoda that was thousands of feet high, it was truly worthy of being called the Skysplit Tower.
192Skysplit tower was thick at the bottom and thin at the top; it was shaped like a cone. The higher floors were hidden in a hazy, disturbing red fog. This fog was condensed from a great amount of infernal energy. Because the higher levels were concealed by the infernal energy, it was impossible to see just how high Skysplit Tower was.
193Lin Ming walked into the first level of Skysplit Tower. He discovered that the internal structure of this arena battlefield was much more complex than he had imagined. As he strolled along, he saw that there were a variety of bars, inns, restaurants, and even brothels.
194Lin Ming had only taken a few steps when a gaudily dressed prostitute slyly winked at him. There were many human and Fey prostitutes, and some of them were even martial artists. These martial artists’ talent was simply too poor, and their cultivation was too low. In their lives, they wouldn’t have any great achievements in the path of martial arts. However, if they engaged in the sex trade, they could still gain some Blood Demon Crystals for their own use.
195It was fine when the human and Fey prostitutes solicited him, but when Lin Ming saw that there were also Giant Demon and Imp prostitutes giving him flirty winks, he almost tripped. His stomach turned. Luckily, he had a solid psychological foundation, otherwise he might have vomited.
196The Giant Demon prostitutes were all taller than Lin Ming by at least a head, and their breasts were like two giant rubber balls hanging on their chests. Their blue skin was smeared in a coat of thick powder. It was quite nauseating. There was no need to mention the Imps. They were short, their faces were full of creases and their skin was dark; they looked no different from granny monsters.
197If Lin Ming had just seen these types of prostitutes, then he would still have been able to reluctantly accept it. After all, there were many Giant Demons and Imps here, and their aesthetic standards might be different.
198However… when Lin Ming watched with his own eyes as a male Fey martial artist pulled a Giant Demon prostitute into a room, he was left speechless.
199“A Fey martial artist… their tastes should run…” Lin Ming mumbled under his breath. He imagined that the life within Polaris City was just too difficult. Coupled with the constant hostility that filled the air and distorted the hearts, it forced others to have to vent out these feelings. For some, it might make them do abnormal things.
200“This Skysplit Tower is too large. It occupies an area over several miles long and there are all sorts of facilities inside. Once I pay the admission fee, I can live here as long as I want. No wonder there were so few people outside.”
201Lin Ming arrived at an arena area of Skysplit Tower’s first floor. He pushed open the door, and a surge of humidity and noise rushed past him.
202Lin Ming had seen a number of martial stages before. The arena was in the center, and it was surrounding by a ring of stands. The audience politely sat in the stands where they could comment on the battle or even cheer. But here, this concept of fighting was completely subverted.
203These were true killing grounds. The air was suffocating and fanatical. The arena was filled with tens of thousands of seats. However, very few of these people were sitting. Most of those there stood on their feet, screaming, laughing bawdily, or even waving around weapons in their hands.
204There was a massive number of individuals here from all races. There were Giant Demons, humans, Fey…
205The Giant Demon martial artists were originally cruel and brutal. This sort of environment naturally suited their disposition. They crazily howled and roared like mad beasts.
206In other areas, there were youthful Fey woman. Their beauty was enough to cause the downfall of a nation; they were fairy princesses that had stepped out of a book. But even they had taken off their coats, exposing their luscious skin and shapely bodies. They held glasses of bright red wine in their hands, and it looked like the corners of their mouths were overflowing with blood. It was strangely beautiful.
207Lin Ming even saw a Giant Demon martial artist push down a Fey woman on the spot and brutally ravage her as the battle onstage was reaching its climax. But, this Fey woman looked as if she was enjoying this as she wantonly screamed.
208On the martial stage, there weren’t just martial artists, but also a massive number of beautiful slaves. They carried drinks and wore little clothing; it wasn’t even enough to wrap up their butts. They delivered wine and water to the stands as they endured the abuse and groping of the martial artists.
209This atmosphere where alcohol and sexual desires mixed together continually provoked the taut nerves of the martial artists present.
210Hong hong hong!
211In the center of the martial stage, a Giant Demon was holding an axe as he recklessly attacked a large human fellow. This human was nine-foot-tall and his arms were thick and around. But, compared to the Giant Demon, he was rather small and his strength was also inferior. He had already been forced back by the Giant Demon several times, and was in increasing danger.
212“Kill! Kill him!”
213“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
214A strong manic sense filled air. With the thick infernal energy here, in addition to the catalyst of alcohol and obscene desires, it was easy for a person to lose their reasoning and fall into madness.
215“Die! Die! Haha!” The Giant Demon roared. He kicked the human onto the floor and then chopped down his axe on him.
216Kacha!
217The human's spine was severed and his heart was cut open from behind. The human martial artist gave a pitiful wail as he died!
218“Yes!”
219“Well fought!”
220“Zha Na, you are too fierce, too brave!” A female Giant Demon screamed. From her zealous expression, it seemed she was about to rush on stage and ravage Zha Na herself.
221Zha Na was obviously this large Giant Demon fellow. At the moment that he killed the human martial artist, a thick dark and bloody energy escaped from the human’s corpse. Some of it dissipated, but the large majority of it was absorbed into Zha Na’s body.
222After absorbing this infernal energy, Zha Na felt like he had smoked a great deal of opium. His entire body felt great, and he couldn’t help but howl out like a wolf.
223“Haha! Awesome! Who wants to come up next!?” Zha Na shouted to the clamoring crowd in the stands.
224A friend of that human martial artist that had died raged in anger to the point where his eyes almost popped out. He wanted to run onstage and tear that Zha Na into pieces, but he held back and didn’t go. He clearly knew that he wasn’t his match. If he went up, then his fate would be the same.
225“All you Feral and human garbage, you are all cowards! None of you dare to come up? Hurry and come up so I can taste your delicious blood! For trash like you lot to die at my hands, that is already your honor! Haha!”
226Zha Na cruelly laughed. As he laughed, so did all the other Giant Demons present, as they enjoyed ridiculing the Ferals and humans together. In Polaris City, only those with strength and power had the qualifications to be respected by others. Otherwise, their fate was only to be trampled and killed by everyone else.
227But whether they were humans or Ferals, they were synonymous with cowards.
228“Fuck, he’s too arrogant!” A human martial artist wanted to go up but he was stopped by his friend. “Don’t be so impulsive. He already has a five-match win streak. Within Skysplit Tower’s first floor, that fellow strength is definitely at the top. He just killed three human martial artists a moment ago, and two Feral martial artists also died under his axe. We aren’t much stronger than those that just went on stage. If we go up, we are just sending ourselves to die.”
229“Fuck!” That human martial artist cursed. Finally, he was able to suppress himself.
230Lin Ming was standing beside this human martial artist and clearly heard their conversation.
231“That person just said that Zha Na’s strength is at the top of Skysplit Tower’s first floor. So, the higher I go in Skysplit Tower, the stronger the martial artists are…” Lin Ming muttered, “I’ll have to pass this first floor as soon as possible. I have to go to a higher level so I can hone my strength.”
232Chapter 530 – First Victory
233 “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
234Skysplit Tower echoed with this thunderous cry. It was easy for the major races to form opposing factions, especially since humans and Giant Demons were mortal enemies; it was normal for them to target each other in the arena. However, in most cases, it was the human side that was defeated.
235This was because the humans in the Heavenly Demon Cities were weak on an individual level, and there were also far fewer of them than the Giant Demons.
236It was true that the population of humans far surpassed all others on the Holy Demon Continent. But among the humans, there were fewer that walked the killing path, and their talent was also relatively lower. Thus, there weren’t too many human martial artists that ventured to Polaris City.
237On the other hand, not only was the Giant Demon race filled with geniuses, but the vast majority of them chose the killing path. Thus, a massive amount of outstanding Giant Demon youths existed in Polaris City.
238Because of these reasons, humans in Polaris City were in a naturally weaker position with no status at all.
239As for the Ferals, they weren’t much better than the humans. They were naturally slow and lacking in perception, so no matter what cultivation method they practiced it was less effective. So, there were fewer Feral talents, and less that walked the killing path.
240It could be said that beside Polaris City, the other Heavenly Demon Cities were all the worlds of the Giant Demons. Besides the Giant Demons, Imps also accounted for a small role. As for the Fey, there were few of them, but by virtue of their formidable individual strength, no one dared to provoke them. Even the arrogant and mouthy Giant Demons didn’t dare to spout nonsense in front of the Fey. A truly powerful Fey was ruthless to the point of eating others without spitting bones.
241“Just too weak.” At this time, several beautiful Fey women were merrily laughing in the stands. It seemed as if they enjoyed this blood and slaughter filled Skysplit Tower.
242Now, even the usually impulsive and hot-tempered Feral martial artists could only patiently endure this insult. None of them jumped onstage to confront Zha Na. Zha Na was among the strongest of the strong of Skysplit Tower’s first level. Although these Ferals had inferior perception, they weren’t stupid. They knew when they could fight and when they couldn’t, otherwise they wouldn’t have lived up to now.
243“Let's go.” Several human martial artists couldn’t withstand the pressure and wanted to leave the arena.
244“Ugh, they really are useless. They can’t even withstand this sort of pressure, and yet they still say they want to walk the killing path? Fuck off and scurry home!” Zha Na loudly ridiculed.
245The group of human martial artists turned red, and they all clenched their fists. A smaller human martial artist in his twenties almost couldn’t stand the repeated insults and was about to jump up onstage himself.
246“Don’t be reckless!” An older, black-clothed martial artist pushed down that smaller martial artist’s hands.
247“Hey, boy, do you have the balls to come up?” Zha Na gloated.
248At this moment, Lin Ming calmly stood up. He said, “I’ll come.”
249The first floor of Skysplit Tower was very ordinary in terms of strength. Lin Ming wanted to pass it quickly, he didn’t want to get caught up here for any longer than he needed. His figure flashed and he flew onstage.
250As the several human martial artists finally saw their fellow comrade enter the stage, they were happy. But, as they discovered Lin Ming’s cultivation, all of them were stunned. That excitement and happiness also sunk into a deep gloominess.
251“Early Xiantian realm…”
252Although they could see that Lin Ming’s true essence was pure and thick, far exceeding that of any other early Xiantian realm martial artist, the fact was that his cultivation was too low. Between humans and Giant Demons, even when humans were at the same realm or a bit higher than a Giant Demon, they would still be weaker. Much less, Lin Ming’s cultivation was lower than his opponent’s.
253“This…” A human martial artist’s complexion turned ugly, he didn’t know what to say. Lin Ming had a good future, but now that he acted this time, he had presented himself to the slaughter. This meaningless death would only allow the Giant Demons to laugh at them more.
254As they expected, as the Giant Demons and Imps saw Lin Ming jump onstage, they were stunned at first and then they all immediately burst into laughter.
255“There aren’t any humans left? They actually let a little baby come up?”
256“Haha, early Xiantian realm, I’m not wrong! He isn’t even enough to use as a toothpick!”
257“Yo! That boy is a sexy little looker! It would be such a pity if he died. Come to big sister here, this big sister will take great care of you.” A curved and charming Fey woman giggled. In Polaris City, even if one were a human martial artist, they would usually be bloodthirsty and vicious; there were very few that were handsome.
258On the stage, Lin Ming turned a deaf ear to these comments.
259Zha Na crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Lin Ming with relish in his eyes. “Hehe, in Polaris City, there are plenty of idiots that bite off more than they can chew, but I haven’t seen someone as stupid as you. An early Xiantian boy thinks that he can challenge me? Is this your first-time out of your sect? Do you think that all the other martial artists here are the same as the garbage in your sect, the type that you can jump realms to defeat?”
260Lin Ming impatiently looked at Zha Na and asked, “Are you here to fight or are you going to continue blabbering?”
261As soon as Zha Na heard Lin Ming’s words, he scowled. His eyes flashed with killing intent as he said to Lin Ming, “Arrogant little boy, you don’t know what it means to die! I’ll deliver you to hell!”
262Zha Na suddenly flourished a large axe and chopped down on Lin Ming.
263The majesty of the axe combined with the roiling demon essence behind it. It was similar to a roaring ancient vicious beast, blowing in the wind. As Lin Ming stood there, he could faintly hear the screeching of countless souls within the demon essence.
264Lin Ming traced his spatial ring, and the Purple Comet Spear appeared. A flashing red thunder crackled atop the spearpoint.
265“Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder!”
266Kacha!
267The red thunder light was like a crimson python that shot towards Zha Na. The power of thunder was particularly potent at annihilating ghosts and demons. After the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder collided with the dark clouds of demon essence, it was like a red-hot iron rod that was inserted into snow. There was a ‘chi chi chi’ sound as the clouds of demon essence rapidly melted away.
268“Mm!?”
269Zha Na was shocked. He thought that he would be able to split Lin Ming in two with a single strike, but he never imagined that he would be the one that was suppressed.
270“Ghost Shadow Cut!”
271As Zha Na saw the massive crimson python rush towards him, his eyes flashed with a grim light. He chopped his axe down at the python’s head.
272Peng!
273Zha Na’s arms were shocked numb. He instantly drew back, the blood in his body swelling. He had barely managed to force back the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder, and at this moment, his mind filled with panic and fear.
274How could this boy possibly be so strong!?
275In that split second, Lin Ming didn’t give Zha Na the chance to recover. He instantly stepped forwards, his momentum exploding. He attacked with the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder again!
276He wanted to stay at the top of Skysplit Tower for a long time. In the future, he would face all sorts of opponents. If his moves were all revealed, then he would naturally be in a much more dangerous situation. Thus, he repeatedly used the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder. The Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder was originally a power of thunder biased towards the demonic path; it was good for supplementing demonic cultivation methods. At this time, it was especially suitable.
277“Fuck off!”
278Zha Na roared. Both of his eyes were red and crazed. He grabbed his axe with two hands, and chopped down at Lin Ming.
279But at this time, Lin Ming’s form trembled and faded away. ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’ was displayed, and he dodged this attack with a speed like ghosts and demons.
280Bang!
281Behind Lin Ming, the gray stone tiles burst apart. Underneath these tiles was a layer of thick Darksteel that was supported by an array formation. As this axe attack cut down, it left shallow marks on the surface.
282“This boy is tough to deal with!”
283After his attack failed, Zha Na’s figure also flashed away. But, he wasn’t able to dodge Lin Ming’s spear.
284The spear light swept out. The Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder chased after Zha Na, shooting towards him.
285Zha Na roared and punched at the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder. There was an explosion as the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder burst apart. But Zha Na’s entire body was paralyzed, and his fist was charred black.
286“Die!”
287Lin Ming’s spear sunk in, directly piercing towards Zha Na’s heart. The Giant Demon race’s demon crystal was located exactly in their heart!
288“Ahhhh!” Zha Na’s eyes were bloodshot. Facing the imminent threat of death, he erupted with 120% of his strength. He savagely bit down on his tongue, using the pain to rid himself of his paralysis. Then, he grabbed onto the Purple Comet Spear, wanting to lock it between his hands.
289But just as he touched the Purple Comet Spear, an azure true essence burst out. The power of vibration was like a tidal wave as it crashed into Zha Na’s arm, directly shattering it!
290Puu!
291The Purple Comet Spear easily pierced through Zha Na’s heart. The spear passed through his body, and blood shot out from his back into the wind!
292As soon as the spear thrust through Zha Na’s vital point, Lin Ming mercilessly finished the job. He twisted the long spear, shattering Zha Na’s demon crystal to pieces!
293Zha Na’s body shook and he glared at Lin Ming. As he looked at Lin Ming with disbelief, the life faded from his bloodshot eyes.
294From the start of the battle until Zha Na’s death, only four or five breaths of time had passed. Currently, all of the Giant Demons and Fey that had been laughing and mocking had frozen in place.
295Zha Na died!?
296Zha Na, whose strength was among the highest of the high within the entire first floor of Skysplit Tower, had died, and he had also died at the hands of an early Xiantian realm human martial artist…
297The entire arena was utterly silent. All of those human martial artists that felt pity and regret for Lin Ming had their mouths fall wide open, to the point where an egg could fit inside. This 20 some year-old youth had actually defeated Zha Na?
298The vast gap that existed between martial artists of humans and Giant Demons had long since been deeply ingrained in these people’s hearts. Although they didn’t want to admit it, they had no choice but to acknowledge the truth.
299They stared at Zha Na’s corpse as it hung on Lin Ming’s spear. From Zha Na’s back, blood still bubbled out…
300Peng!
301A misty fog burst out from Zha Na’s corpse, flying into Lin Ming’s hand where it rapidly condensed into a Blood Drinking Seal, and then immediately vanished.
302As for Zha Na’s corpse, it quickly withered away until it became a desiccated mummy. Then Lin Ming tossed it away like a broken sack.
303‘This Zha Na was truly an outstanding youth amongst the Giant Demons. His blood vitality is incomparably strong, it’s perfect to create a Blood Drinking Seal from.’
304After killing someone and sucking away their blood, there was no change of expression on Lin Ming’s face. He turned, his eyes sweeping the arena as he clearly said, “Who’s next?”
305‘This boy!’
306All of the Giant Demon martial artists’ expressions towards Lin Ming had changed. He had used just four or five breaths of time to defeat Zha Na. Now no one dared to underestimate him anymore.
307The Fey woman that had teased Lin Ming suppressed her stunning smile. “He actually practices a blood absorbing cultivation method. It could be considered the demonic path within demonic paths, the true killing road amongst killing roads. This little fellow looks like a cute harmless animal, but I never imagined he would practice a cruel cultivation method like this! I was almost fooled by his appearance.”
308The Fey woman was a bit scared. If she really did try to tempt Lin Ming so she could suck up his yang essence, then she might have been the one to be eaten without a single bone left.
309 Chapter 531 – Battle
310Lin Ming suddenly felt a burning hot energy surge through his feet, sending his spirit soaring into the heavens.
311After this energy charged into his body, it recklessly rushed through his meridians, spreading in all directions. All sorts of illusions presented themselves in Lin Ming’s mind. It was like a manic power that had long been repressed in his heart began to wildly gallop around. It crashed through his body, causing his blood to boil...
312“This is infernal energy?”
313Lin Ming looked at Zha Na’s corpse; this really was the energy that was dissipating from his body. Before, Lin Ming had been relying on the Blood Slaughter Token to absorb a small amount of infernal energy so he hadn’t noticed it, but now that such a massive amount of infernal energy had entered him, Lin Ming suddenly felt his deepest and most primitive desires aroused. It was as if the darkness lurking in his soul was rising to the surface!
314He wanted blood, he wanted to kill, he wanted to indulge in and ravage beauties!
315At this time, Lin Ming’s mind throbbed with an inexplicable desire and pleasure. He wanted to vent these feelings and lash out like a beast.
316This sudden change caused Lin Ming’s heart to go cold. He quickly calmed his mind and entered the ethereal martial intent, allowing his mood to settle.
317Lin Ming had practiced the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’ for a very long time. In addition to the great power of his spiritual sea, the frantic infernal energy only erupted for an instant before it was suppressed.
318“This infernal energy can really disturb a person’s mind. No wonder the people of Polaris City are so crazy and strange. It’s probably because the infernal energy has seeped into their souls over a long time.”
319As Lin Ming remembered the ecstatic expression that Zha Na had when he absorbed infernal energy, as well his disturbed green eyes, he couldn’t help but let out a loose breath. If he couldn’t manage to suppress the infernal energy, it was possible that he would be controlled by it. In the end, he might even become a zombie that only knew to kill.
320Lin Ming silently closed his eyes. After a few breaths of time, he opened them again. This time, his eyes once again shined with a clear and pure brilliance.
321Atop his arm, the blurry Heavenly Demon Tattoo became a bit more solid, and that hideous demonic face also became fiercer.
322“This boy’s mental strength is really stable.” A Giant Demon said as he stared at Lin Ming, his expression solemn. “This is his first time at the killing arena. When an average person absorbs infernal energy for the first time, they will become irrational and rabid due to the influx of infernal energy. But, this fellow actually just closed his eyes for a moment to recover. He’s not simple at all!”
323“Mm. Zha Na was originally one of the strongest of the strong in Skysplit Tower’s first level. He had accumulated a great deal of infernal energy and that fellow sucked up over half of it. Yet he was still able to maintain his calm. This sort of turbulent infernal energy can cause the desires and impulses of even geniuses to spiral out of control!”
324“Heh… how interesting.” Beside the two Giant Demons that spoke, a Fey woman said. She exuded a thick sexual appeal. She drained the red liquid in her glass, her eyes flashing with excitement as she licked her lips.
325Seeing the Fey woman’s response, the Giant Demon laughed. “Bloodrose, are you thinking of seducing him? Don’t be too confident, or your plan might fail and he’ll be the one to use you.”
326“Haha! I don’t need you to worry about me. As long as they are a man, there is no way they can control their inner desires.” The Fey woman said, her giggle like the tinkling of bells.
327On the arena stage, several male slaves quickly rushed up and dragged away Zha Na’s corpse. But, they left behind Zha Na’s spatial ring. According to the customs of the arena battlefield, all of the deceased’s belongings, including spatial rings, went to the victor. The only thing that Skysplit Tower kept after the death of a participant was the Blood Slaughter Token.
328“Sir, this is yours.” A male slave brought Zha Na’s spatial ring and cautiously handed it to Lin Ming.
329“I have a question for you.” Lin Ming stopped the slave who was putting away the corpse.
330The slave was shocked scared. He quickly said, “What question does sir have?”
331“What are the conditions for entering the second level?”
332The slave respectfully said, “Sir, according to the rules of Skysplit Tower, in order to enter the second level, a contestant must obtain a 12-win streak at the first level, or obtain victory to the point that no one dares to challenge them.”
333“I understand.”
334Lin Ming casually tossed a low-grade Blood Demon Crystal at the slave. A 12-win streak wasn’t too difficult. Presumably, all of the geniuses with higher cultivations directly went to the second level of Skysplit Tower or even higher. Within the first level of Skysplit Tower, there was no one here that made him feel threatened.
335“Will anyone else come up?” Lin Ming asked. His eyes swept over the area where the Giant Demons were.
336The tide could turn at any moment. Before, it was the humans that were being forced back by the Giant Demons. But now it was the Giant Demons that were being forced back by the humans.
337“This boy, he must really think he’s invincible.” In a corner of the arena, a large Giant Demon fellow crushed the glass in his hands. This Giant Demon wore black clothes and carried a nine-foot-long claymore on his back. His strength was also amongst the elites of Skysplit Tower’s first floor.
338Within the first elite group, there were also those that were weaker and stronger. This large Giant Demon fellow was stronger than Zha Na.
339“You want to go up? That boy’s thunder is quite tricky, it has the ability to restrain our cultivation methods. If I’m not wrong, then that thunder should come from a medium-grade earth-step Thunder Soul.”
340“As if I would place a medium-grade earth-step Thunder Soul in my eyes. I just don’t know whether or not that fellow has any other abilities.”
341“Heh, so what if he does? Don’t you also have final resort abilities?”
342“That’s right.” The black-clothe Giant Demon laughed and then stood up. “I’ll fight you!’
343The black-clothed Giant Demon jumped up. He directly leapt over the audience. His ten-foot-tall body carried the weight of a several thousand jin claymore. As he landed onstage, it was like a massive hammer struck the ground, directly breaking apart the tiles where he landed.
344“Ho!” After the black-clothed Giant Demon landed, he let out a savage roar like a wild beast. His shout was deafening. His naked upper body was wrapped with thick steel chains. As he moved, these thick chains struck each other; this Giant Demon looked like he was a massive gorilla.
345Lin Ming looked at the black-clothed Giant Demon. Just from the strength of his aura, he could tell that his opponent far surpassed Zha Na.
346“That is the Carnage Demon Sect’s Claymore King, Gu Yue.” Several people in the stands instantly recognized this black-clothed Giant Demon.
347“The Carnage Demon Sect is a fifth-grade sect, and Gu Yue is a direct disciple. His strength can be ranked in the top ten. This time, that boy is shit out of luck.”
348“Gu Yue, kill him! Kill that boy!”
349All of the Giant Demons in the arena raucously shouted. There were even several Fey women screaming as they took out their bellybands and wildly waved them in the air.
350Gu Yue took out the claymore from his back. He flourished the blade, struck the floor with the tip and caused the tiles to shatter. He crudely smiled and said, “Boy, if that last battle was everything you had, then just sit there and die.”
351“Black Sun shining Sky!”
352The claymore chopped down, and a black light appeared in front of Gu Yue’s blade. At this time, a billowing demon essence formed a massive black sun around Gu Yue’s body. Black flames burned around him, turning the ground into molten lava. 
353Lin Ming’s spear thrust out. Thick arcs of Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder drilled through that black flames, directly piercing through the black sun. However, when crimson lightning wanted to break through the black flames, it was actually caught by the demonic essence.
354“Heh! All you can do is repeat this move? Then go die!” Gu Yue grinned fiendishly. His Black Sun shining Sky wasn’t suppressed by this power of thunder, it was extremely resilient. With the black sun binding the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder, he rushed at Lin Ming.
355Bang!
356A terrifying shockwave surged outwards, lifting all of the tiles of the floor. All of the tiles on the floor melted, and even a shallow section of the Darksteel floor underneath was melted.
357During this explosion, Lin Ming’s figure flew backward. Only his clothes had been slightly burnt.
358“Humph, you’re quite good at running. But, just because you can escape for a moment doesn’t mean you can do it forever!”
359Gu Yue unfolded his arms and thick beams of demonic essence shot out from his body. They rapidly spread all around him, completely surrounding him and Lin Ming. In just several breaths of time, hundreds of beams formed from demonic essence wove together in a tight net that completely enveloped the two.
360Lin Ming calmly looked around. All he saw were countless thick beams of demonic essence wildly waving around, as if they were black pythons dancing in the air.
361“Hehe, Gu Yue has even used his Blacksnake Prison. This fight should be finished soon. It’s said that the Blacksnake Prison is an inescapable net that covers the heavens and earth. Now, this boy can only meet Gu Yue in a frontal collision, and this is what Gu Yue specializes in the most!”
362All of the Giant Demons in the arena grew excited as they saw this. The talent of the Giant Demon race was mostly represented by their strength as well as their defensive and offensive capabilities. But, they were inferior to humans in speed. If Lin Ming’s speed was limited by the Blacksnake Prison, then he could only confront Gu Yue head on. If a human were to attack a Giant Demon in a vicious melee, then that was simply asking to die.
363“Let’s see where you can run now!” Gu Yue howled, “Black Sun shining Sky!”
364Bang!
365A black sun appeared once more around Gu Yue’s claymore. This one was larger than before, and blazed with an even hotter energy. Although Gu Yue was rampant and cruel, he still didn’t underestimate Lin Ming. This strike contained a full 30% of his true essence. He grasped his claymore with both hands and cut down. The black sun was like a flaming black meteor that crashed towards Lin Ming!
366With the Blacksnake Prison all around, there was simply nowhere to run. In this face of this blazing black sun, Lin Ming chuckled as he said. “It looks like all you can do is repeat this move too?”
367“Humph! You’re at death’s door and you're still acting glib! Go die!”
368The nine-foot-long claymore cut down!
369Just as the blazing black sun approached, Lin Ming lightly flicked his finger. Three Thunder Souls gathered as one; the Divine Demon Thunder Soul roared out!
370Pu!
371With a barely audible piercing sound, the Divine Demon Thunder Soul sunk into the blazing black sun and broke out from the other side. With a speed that was almost invisible to the naked eye, it approached Gu Yue’s throat.
372“Screw off!”
373Because of the incredibly compressed energy of the Divine Demon Thunder Soul, Gu Yue thought that this was an ordinary hidden weapon. Without a second thought, he punched out at it. In truth, this weapon was too fast so he couldn’t send out a stronger attack.
374However, even if Gu Yue’s fist had been tempered, or even if it were wrapped in demonic essence, how could it possibly compare with the incomparably sharp Divine Demon Steel Needle?
375Gu Yue’s protective true essence was pierced through by the Divine Demon Steel Needle like it was thin paper, directly slicing through. The Divine Demon Steel Needle didn’t slow at all nor did it change trajectory. Without the least bit of difficulty, it drilled through Gu Yue’s throat!
376Puff!
377Gu Yue’s throat was pierced through, and his neck exploded in a bloody mess. He stared with wide eyes filled with shock. The Divine Demon Steel Needle had been too fast, he hadn’t even been able to properly react in time…
378Chapter 532 – Unchallenged
379In that split second after the Divine Demon Steel Needle pierced Gu Yue’s throat, it instantly returned to Lin Ming. Gu Yue blankly stared at the burning black sun in front of him, his vision beginning to fade away.
380“You… me… let’s die… together…”
381Bang!
382Before he could finish he words, the burning black sun was sliced apart by dozens of streaking red lights. The rest of the impact force was sucked into the swirling vortex formed by the Blood Drinking Seals, and the power of the burning sun was completely suppressed by the crimson light.
383“Sorry, but I have no plans on dying together with you.”
384Lin Ming waved his hand, and all of the Blood Drinking Seals flew back into him, discreetly hiding themselves.
385Gu Yue supported himself with his claymore as his other hand held his throat together. Blood poured out like a waterfall as he stubbornly glared at Lin Ming, his eyes full of unwillingness and despair. “How could you… break it… so easily… how…”
386Gu Yue’s voice was hoarse and choking. The vocal chords in his throat had been torn apart. If a human’s throat was pierced, they would perish in several breaths of time. The bodies of Giant Demons were truly resilient.
387In the arena, the previously shouting crowd collectively gasped. The seductive Fey women that were waving their bellybands around had their hands hanging by their sides. Those Giant Demons that had been convinced that Lin Ming would lose all had their mouths hanging open.
388Gu Yue was also defeated!
389Black Sun shining Sky had been instantly broken. How could this human boy possibly have defeated Gu Yue in a frontal collision? Just what sort of monstrous freak was he!?
390“What was that purple light that pierced Gu Yue’s throat?”
391“It was too fast… I wasn’t able to see it clearly…” In the arena, all of the people of various races discussed this. When they looked at Lin Ming, their eyes held a trace of fear.
392In Polaris City, humans and Ferals were often looked at with contempt. This was because they were weak. But, the truly strong and formidable humans were equally dreaded by all the other races.
393In Polaris City, strength was the highest law.
394Bang!
395Gu Yue fell face down onto the floor, splashing puddle of blood as he fell.
396Lin Ming flicked his finger and the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder flew out. All of Gu Yue’s blood essence was absorbed and slowly turned into a Blood Drinking Seal.
397“That’s it!” A Fey youth’s eyes flashed with light. “Just then, those red seals are what cut open Black Sun shining Sky!”
398Although the Blood Drinking Seals were fast, they couldn’t avoid the eyes of some masters.
399If it was found out then so be it. Lin Ming hadn’t been able to defeat Gu Yue with just the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder; thus, he could only expose his Blood Drinking Seals and Divine Demon Thunder Soul.
400However, all of this was just a tiny portion of Lin Ming’s true strength.
401Lin Ming wasn’t arrogant enough to say that he was invincible within Skysplit Tower. He had to be cautious. The higher he went, the more masters he would encounter.
402In the future, there wouldn’t be any martial artists that would issue a challenge if they knew they were just walking to their deaths. If a martial artist did, they that meant they had the confidence they could win.
403At this time, once all of one’s moves were discovered and the limit of their strength was seen, then their death wouldn’t be too far off.
404After withdrawing the Blood Drinking Seals, Gu Yue’s infernal energy turned into a burning hot heat that sunk into Lin Ming’s body, spreading through all of his meridians. Soon, those maddening and bloodthirsty desires attempted to invade Lin Ming’s mind once again.
405But this time Lin Ming was prepared. He closed his eyes for a time. Once he opened them, his eyes were pure and bright once more.
406Several male slaves scurried over to recover Gu Yue’s corpse. They left behind Gu Yue’s spatial ring for Lin Ming. Lin Ming didn’t even glance at it before putting it away.
407“Next, is there anyone willing to fight?”
408After Lin Ming won another battle, he asked this question again. But no one in the arena dared to answer him.
409“This boy is too arrogant!” A Giant Demon spat out as he clenched his jaws. But, they only spoke. None of them dared to step onstage.
410Gu Yue, who had just died, was stronger than Zha Na. Even amongst the first group he was ranked near the top. However, even this character had been quickly dispatched by Lin Ming. So, who would still dare to challenge Lin Ming?
411Even the usually insidious and avaricious Imps were looking at Lin Ming with fear and hate in their eyes. Some of them felt uncomfortable and quickly left. But there were many Fey women that looked at Lin Ming with interest. There were some that even batted their eyes at him and were sending him flirtatious signals.
412The entire arena had been muted. Of the over 10 thousand martial artists, none of them dared to fight.
413A human martial artist stared at Lin Ming onstage, a complex expression on his face. A stirring emotion filled his heart as he said, “It’s a complete blowout…”
414“Mmm…in Skysplit Tower, it’s been over ten years since a human has caused a complete blowout…”
415This so-called blowout was when no one dared to challenge a martial artist in the arena. This sort of situation usually only happened with the Giant Demons and the Fey.
416Every level of Skysplit Tower had certain requirements for a martial artist’s cultivation. The martial artists that had a higher cultivation had to go to a higher level of Skysplit Tower. Therefore, those martial artists that were able to cause a complete blowout amongst those at their cultivation level had to be the most supreme of talents. To humans, this was far too difficult. Even Saint level talents weren’t enough.
417“This is incredible. I have no idea what sect he’s from. This sort of talent, as long as he doesn’t perish, will absolutely become a Peerless Emperor!”
418‘It’s best if we don’t involve ourselves with this sort of matter. There are martial artists that don’t like to reveal their origin.”
419Time slowly passed. During the pregnant silence of the arena, a formal looking blue-skinned middle-aged man stepped onto the stage. He calmly proclaimed, “In half an incense stick of time, no one has come up to challenge. This is a complete blowout!”
420“Congratulations. With this trial, you have earned the right to enter the second level of Skysplit Tower, an Invincible Glory Emblem, as well as 10 slaughter points.”
421“Invincible Glory Emblem? Slaughter points?” Lin Ming’s eyebrows rose. He knew very few of Skysplit Tower’s rules; this was his first-time hearing about these things.
422The blue-skinned man smiled. He could already tell that Lin Ming was unfamiliar with the customs and rules of Polaris City. Really, just where had this young man come from?
423He continued to explain, “In Skysplit Tower, every martial artist has a corresponding authority. A normal martial artist only has an authority rank of one star. Every time you obtain a Glory Emblem, your authority will rise by another star. The highest is 12 stars. For instance, you currently have a two-star authority rank. On all of Skysplit Tower’s expenses, you may receive a 5% discount. As your authority increases, so will the benefits you receive. There are many areas in Skysplit Tower that you can’t enter if your authority isn’t high enough.”
424“Mm? What sort of places?”
425The blue-skinned man mysteriously smiled and said, “For example, there are special auctions, or special cultivation areas and treasures…”
426“Cultivation areas?” Lin Ming’s mind stirred. After practicing martial arts for so many years, he was fully aware of just how important one’s cultivation place was. Back when he had cultivated at the Seven Profound Martial House, his experience was completely different after using the seven great killing arrays there.
427Of course, the difference between the Seven Profound Martial House and Skysplit Tower was like the heavens and earth. The Skysplit Tower was a source of infernal energy in the Blood Slaughter Steppes, and also contained strange laws that even Emperor level powerhouses weren’t able to break through. The quality of these cultivation areas could be imagined!
428“What sort of Glory Emblems are there?” Lin Ming asked. He was very interested in these cultivation areas.
429“There are many of them. Besides the Invincible Emblem, there is the 100 Victory Emblem, 1000 Killer Emblem, Destructor Emblem, Lord Emblem, and so on…”
430Lin Ming wasn’t clear was the so-called Destructor Emblem and the others were. He asked, “What are slaughter points? What are they used for?”
431“Slaughter points can be used to purchase special things. For instance, when I previously mentioned cultivation spaces, those spaces require not just authority, but one also needs to pay Blood Demon Crystals and slaughter points in order to enter. Also, for certain specialized auction houses, there are certain goods that can only be purchased with slaughter points.” The blue-skinned man patiently explained to Lin Ming.
432“Understood. When I entered Skysplit Tower, I heard that strength was the only rule here. But you just spoke about so many different rules. Were these rules of Skysplit Tower already established since long ago, or were they developed by individuals?”
433The blue-skinned man smiled and said, “Some of these rules were naturally written by others. But, it is exactly because they are strong that they are able to maintain these rules. The reason that these rules still exist is because the one who maintains them is the Ten-Winged Lord.”
434“Ten-Winged Lord? Not twelve wings?”
435“You don’t have to worry about these things. When you arrive at that level, you will know.” The blue-skinned man was silent after he spoke.
436Lin Ming had to give up on his questions. He took the emblem from the blue-skinned man – this was the Glory Emblem. After he thanked the man, he walked down the arena stage steps.
437Wherever Lin Ming walked, the crowd would naturally part in front of him. No one dared to block his path. Several Fey women actually coyly blinked at Lin Ming, but as they saw that he didn’t even look their way, they only gave a snappy humph.
438Lin Ming didn’t bother with them. He walked towards the exit. Now that there wasn’t any problem with him entering the second floor, he just wanted to find a place to rest and refine the infernal energy within his dantian.
439“Greetings, Brother!”
440As Lin Ming reached the exit, a human martial artist called out to him.
441As he turned around, he saw that this martial artist that called out to him was one of the human martial artists that was being forced away by Zha Na.
442As they saw Lin Ming look over to them, they awkwardly smiled. Compared to Lin Ming, they were a bit ashamed by their actions.
443The human martial artist at the front cleared his throat and said, “I thought that fellow brother is not too familiar with Skysplit Tower. If you don’t mind, then you’re welcome to come with us. I’ll take you to find a quiet place where you can stay, and also give you an introduction to Skysplit Tower’s rules. How about it…?”
444Lin Ming thought about it for a moment and then simply agreed. If he had a guide then things would be much easier.
445“Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
446“Haha, Brother is too polite. The ones that should be saying thanks are us. You have really regained the pride of the humans in Skysplit Tower. You might not know, but usually humans don’t come to the arena. If it wasn’t for you appearing today, then we might have been in danger. Even if we left safely, we would still have been humiliated.” The human martial artist sighed from the heart. The arena was truly the world of Giant Demons and Fey. When humans came, they would be under an unimaginable amount of pressure.
447Not just that, but there were many places in Skysplit Tower where killing was not forbidden. In this case, one had to sleep with their eyes open and be on full alert at all times. The burden this placed on a martial artist was immense.
448Chapter 533 – Seven Star Heavenly Demon
449As Lin Ming left the martial arena with these fellows, he learnt their names. The one that was leading them was called Xu Yan, and the one who was barely 20 and was almost provoked to action by Zha Na was called Wang Dong.
450Skysplit Tower was extraordinarily large. This arena that was capable of seating tens of thousands of people was just a very, very tiny part. There were countless stone buildings stacked atop each other, and an inexplicably astonishing amount of people.
451The paths and roads of Skysplit Tower were always square and the corners were sharp and angled. All of the buildings were made of dark gray stone. It was solemn and simple.
452As Lin Ming’s group walked along, he saw many common mortals. There weren’t just humans, but also Fey and Giant Demons.
453These common mortals were mostly young and beautiful women, as well as some handsomely strong men and pretty boys.
454“There are so many mortals, how did they reach Polaris City?” Lin Ming couldn’t help but ask.
455Polar City was built atop a 60 to 70-thousand-foot-tall cliff face, accessible only by the thick chains that connected it. Not even a Pulse Condensation period martial artist would be able to crawl up those chains. A mortal would only be able to arrive if they were carried by a top master. As Lin Ming walked along, he saw hundreds of mortals. These mortals should only have been a miniscule portion of those in Skysplit Tower. In total, there might be at least 100,000 mortals living in Skysplit Tower.
456Xu Yan glanced at the mortals that were bustling about and said, “Skysplit Tower has existed since age immemorial. These mortals were mostly born in Polaris City. Their ancestors were originally slaves who were brought here. Afterwards, they stayed in Polaris City and had children. For generations, it was and still is impossible for these people to leave Polaris City. The only chance they have is if they die. Their ashes will be scattered from the cliff. In a sense, they can return to their lands.”
457“I see…”
458Lin Ming was suddenly aware. Polaris City was vast and required a massive amount of mortal commoners to serve and attend to the basic necessities of the martial artists’ lives. But, these mortals did not understand martial arts so they would never be able to leave Polaris City.
459Polaris City had limited land resources. Normally, the dead would not be given a grave. After death, they would be cremated and their ashes would be scattered from tens of thousands of feet in the air. This could truly be said to be dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
460This was the life of a mortal. And, in Polaris City, the martial artists that died here also shared the same fate…
461Lin Ming asked, “I heard that blue-skinned man mention a Ten-Winged Heavenly Demon Host Lord. What is that?”
462Xu Yan said, “There are a great number of sect geniuses that pass-through Polaris City every year, thus, there is also a great deal of interest here. Wherever there is interest, there will also be greedy individuals that wish to take it. You should have heard this, but since ancient times there have been all sorts of super forces and powerhouses that have tried to take the 12 Heavenly Demon Cities. The end result was that they were all completely killed by the mysterious curse that envelops this land.
463“Afterwards, people discovered that the curse of the Blood Slaughter Steppes only applied to foreign forces. The curse did not affect talents that developed here due to the infernal energy. Therefore, some of the extreme powerhouses gathered together and laid down rules. These powerhouses are mostly Ten Winged Heavenly Demons; the Heavenly Demon Tattoo on their body has condensed ten wings or more.”
464Xu Yan spoke in a breathless and envious tone. Obviously, he greatly wished that he could amass such strength and wealth in Skysplit Tower like those fabled powerhouses.
465Lin Ming understood. He continued to ask, “Of these Ten-Winged Heavenly Demons, most of them are Giant Demons and Fey, with very few humans, right?”
466As this was mentioned, Xu Yan’s originally excited expression became crestfallen. “I’ve also heard some rumors about the Ten-Winged Heavenly Demons. In Polaris City, it seems there aren’t any human Ten-Winged Heavenly Demons, nor are there Ferals. This is another reason why humans and Ferals have such a pathetic status here.”
467“Is the natural talent of humanity really that much worse than that of the Giant Demons? Then, as one goes higher, wouldn’t the disparity be greater?” Lin Ming frowned. He didn’t really care that there weren’t any human Ten-Winged Heavenly Demons in Skysplit Tower. But he did feel sad about the fact that humanity’s talent was so poor. Did this mean the further he cultivated, the more problems he would encounter?
468Xu Yan saw Lin Ming’s expression and guessed what his concerns were. He said with some envy, “Brother Lin, the truth is that the answer to this question isn’t so simple. The reason that humanity’s talent is worse than the Giant Demons’ is because of their bones and meridians. But, after a human martial artist passes through the stages of Life Destruction, their body will be reforged, and they gain a new body as they try to reach the Divine Sea. But, a Giant Demon will not experience this. From a six-star Demon King to Demon Emperor, they will not experience Life Destruction. Thus, when a human reaches the Divine Sea, they won’t necessarily be any worse than a Giant Demon. There are even some Emperor level powerhouses that experienced seven or eight Life Destructions before they stepped into the Divine Sea realm, and their bodies might even be stronger than those of the Giant Demon race’s Demon Emperors!”
469“So that’s how it is…” Lin Ming let out a long sigh of relief. The path of martial arts was truly complex and diverse. The different races also had different corresponding cultivation systems.
470As long as there was a method to overcome the gap in body structures, then Lin Ming had the confidence he could succeed.
471“Brother Lin, with your talent, if there isn’t a problem then you will definitely reach the Divine Sea in the future. You won’t be like me; it would already be a great stroke of luck if I managed to reach the late Revolving Core realm.” Xu Yan sighed.
472It had to be said that when Mu Fengxian was the Saintes of Divine Phoenix Island, she wasn’t any worse than Mu Qianyu. But when she finally reached the first stage of Life Destruction, she couldn’t proceed any further. As for these human martial artists at Skysplit Tower, their talent was inferior to Mu Qianyu’s, so the late Revolving Core realm was already their natural limits.
473Xu Yan said this, but in fact he didn’t even know Lin Ming’s actual age. If he knew Lin Ming was only 18 years old, he would most likely be stunned speechless.
474At this time, on the third floor of Skysplit Tower, there was a great table placed in a large black stone room. The surface of this table was carved with intricate runes. Nearby, there was an array disc with all sorts of complex symbols, and there were even Blood Demon Crystals that flashed on it.
475Above the array, there were phantom images flashing around. When one looked carefully, they could see that these images were a replay of the entire battle between Lin Ming and Gu Yue.
476This sort of special light array was a sort of illusory magic array. The production process for creating one of these was extremely complex. One could record the light and use it to replay the scene from the illusory magic array.
477At this time, there was a young Giant Demon watching this play. He had rough facial features and he wore red armor.
478This was a youth who held the title of Six Star Heavenly Demon in Skysplit Tower, as well as being one of the most illustrious and famous Giant Demons in Polaris City. This was his first-time paying attention to a human youth whose cultivation was only at the early Xiantian realm.
479He had watched this fight three times already.
480At this time, a young and delicate looking Fey girl walked over. Her eyes were ink-black and bright. There were two vibrant scales on the corners of her eyes; she looked exceptionally cute.
481The young Fey girl saw the young Giant Demon and began to giggle, “Da Gu, you’re studying your opponent! You’re always studying your opponent! Aren’t you tired of this!?”
482“Know yourself, know others, and victory will be in your grasp.” After Da Gu spoke, he wholly absorbed himself into watching the moving images. At this time, he was specifically watching the scene where Gu Yue attacked Lin Ming with his demonic essence.
483“Eh? Isn’t that kid Gu Yue? I also know a bit about him; he’s staying on the first level of Skysplit Tower. I can’t believe you have the time to watch these little kids’ fights, how boring could that be? Why are you so concerned about Gu Yue?”
484Da Gu shook his head.
485“You aren’t looking at Gu Yue, but that other boy?” The young Fey girl stroked her chin. “Yo, he’s been surrounding by Gu Yue’s demon essence. That boy is probably going to die…”
486But just as she spoke, the flow of battle suddenly changed. In the flash of an eye, Lin Ming struck Gu Yue with the Divine Demon Thunder Soul and broke open Black Sun shining Sky with the Blood Drinking Seals.
487“Eh?”
488The young Fey Girl was stunned; the change in situation was too fast. Completely contrary to her expectations, Gu Yue died, and the human boy won.
489“I didn’t think that he would defeat Gu Yue. He should have the strength to enter the second floor and even make a bit of a mess there, but he’s still far from fighting us on the third floor.”
490Da Gu didn’t deny the young Fey girl’s words. He only slowly said, “That human’s name is Lin Ming, and his cultivation is only at the early Xiantian realm.”
491“What?” The young Fey girl’s eyes widened. She hadn’t been able to see Lin Ming’s cultivation from the phantom images in the illusory magic array. “He’s only at the early Xiantian realm? Is that a joke? How could a human possibly be so strong?”
492“It’s the truth. Also, he might not be any older than you.”
493“That’s impossible!” The young Fey girl said with disbelief.
494“It’s possible. Humans don’t live as long as you Fey. From his appearance, at most he will be in his early twenties.” Da Gu said as he closed the light image array disc and put it away in his spatial ring. “He’ll be an interesting opponent if he can reach the third floor within the next two years.”
495Many martial artists would stay in Skysplit Tower for several years or even dozens of years at a time. For these high-level martial artists that lived for hundreds of years, several years wasn’t anything at all.
496Moreover, every battle in Skysplit Tower could involve one’s life or death. When a martial artist entered the stage, they would naturally be extremely careful.
497Most people spent a great deal of their time observing fights and figuring out their opponents, or cultivating. They would only challenge others when they believe they had the strength to do so.
498It had to be known that every floor in Skysplit Tower had 10 to 20 thousand martial artists. But, every floor only had a single arena, and several hundred matches occurred in these arenas every day.
499The young Fey girl’s competitive spirit was aroused by Da Gu’s words, but she wasn’t totally convinced yet. She said, “Even if he’s younger than me, that doesn’t mean he will be stronger than me once he reaches my age. At that time, I’ll have advanced even more. He can give up the thought of catching up with me.”
500After listening to the young Fey girl, Da Gu faintly smiled and didn’t say any more.
501The Fey were long-lived; even the common mortal Fey would live up to 200 years. This 20 some year-old Fey girl could only be considered young. Her disposition was the same as a teenager’s.
502Currently, the young Fey girl beside him seemed cute and harmless, but she was also a Seven Star Heavenly Demon. If one looked down on her because of her age, then they would definitely suffer a miserable end.
503“This Lin Ming is truly an amusing opponent. But, that’s only when he grows up. Right now, he is just too tender.”
504Chapter 534 – Remembrance
505Xu Yan brought Lin Ming through several winding streets before he arrived at a luxuriously decorated stone building at the northwest corner of Skysplit Tower.
506Although this stone building was built from gray rock, the gray walls were framed with thick pieces of decorative wood and there was a fragrant scent emitting from the area. There were all sorts of precious silks hung from the entrance, and there were massive peony images embroidered upon them. There were several beautiful young girls standing in front of the screen, wearing enchanting clothes that highlighted their sex appeal. Most of them were humans with a small number of them being Fey.
507“Hehe, this is a great place.” Xu Yan said with a cajoling tone.
508As Lin Ming saw this place, an odd look suddenly crossed his face, “A brothel?”
509“No, but if Brother Lin wishes, it could also have this function…” Xu Yan grinned meaningfully. “Simply put, this is a service lodge for martial artists. It is especially targeted for human martial artists. Here, as long as you have Blood Demon Crystals, you can enjoy all the services you can dream of.
510“The truth is that the martial artist service lodges on the first floor of Skysplit Tower are the worst. At the higher levels, as long as you have the authority, points, and Blood Demon Crystals, you can buy anything you want. There are top treasures, rare and precious materials, powerful contract beats, top cultivation methods, exquisitely beautiful women to cultivate with, and so on. As long as you can think of it, it will be available. Skysplit Tower could be said to be a paradise for the most outstanding of martial artists.”
511As Xu Yan spoke here, a woman approached them from the screen door. This woman was around 30 years old and was charmingly appealing. She wore a long, flowing dress, and welcomed them with a smile. “Did I just hear Sir Xu speaking ill of us? Ahh, we are already the worst.”
512The red-dressed lady had very sensitive ears. Although she managed a business in Skysplit Tower, she still had a cultivation at the Houtian realm.
513Xu Yan chuckled and said, “My words were wrongly spoken, I hope that Madame Wei isn’t offended.”
514“Haha, I’ll have Hui’er punish you later.” The red-dressed lady genially spoke. She waved her slender fingers and then turned to Lin Ming, “Sir Xu has brought a friend today. How should I greet this young man?”
515The red-dressed lady had opened this service lodge specifically for human martial artists. Within Skysplit Tower’s first floor, Xu Yan was considered decently strong amid the human martial artists. Thus, he often came here for the services, and they naturally were well acquainted with each other.
516“Hehe, my friend is surnamed Lin; he is not your average person.” Xu Yan bragged.
517“Of course, he’s not average! If one can come to Skysplit Tower, how could they possibly be average, much less this sir is so young.” The red-dressed lady giggled as she waved her handkerchief at Lin Ming.
518“It’s not as simple as you think.” Xu Yan grasped the red dressed lady’s hand, he didn’t want her silly behavior to bother Lin Ming. “Does Madame Wei know Zha Na and Gu Yue?”
519As Xu Yan mentioned these two names, Madame Wei’s rosy complexion immediately paled. She forcefully laughed and said, “Of course I know them! Why does sir mention them, it’s no fun at all!”
520Opening a business in Skysplit Tower was not simple. Although one had to pay a massive tax and also protection fees, Skysplit Tower only protected the shop from being destroyed and from being robbed. There were many cases when a strong martial artist would go to a store and act excessively. This was behavior that Skysplit Tower did not manage.
521This was particularly true for when humans opened a business; they were extremely vulnerable to bullying. Oftentimes, a Giant Demon would come and not pay for their food, steal away beautiful maids, or even kill someone on the spot. Even if this happened, they could only silently bear it.
522Zha Na and Gu Yue were fierce and illustrious figures within Skysplit Tower, so how could Madame Wei not know them? If she saw these individuals, she might even need to immediately close her business.
523Xu Yan smiled and said, “Just a moment ago, both of these fellows died under Brother Lin’s hand.”
524“Ah?” Madame Wei was frightened and she almost dropped her handkerchief. “You said that Zha Na and Gu Yue died? And they died to…” Madame Wei looked at Lin Ming, her eyes full of disbelief. Estimating his age, at most he was 20 some years old, and he had an exceptionally handsome, delicate, and stoic appearance. He didn’t seem like the ruthless type at all.
525“Everything is absolutely true. And both fights together didn’t even add to ten breaths of time. So, oh, you know…”
526Xu Yan’s words trailed off here, but Madame Wei’s eyes brightened. Skysplit Tower was a land where strength was king. If one didn’t have strength, then they were destined to be bullied and harassed by others. If Lin Ming’s reputation rose in the future and he became a top talent comparable to a Seven Star Heavenly Demon, then as long as he took care of her small store a little, although she couldn’t say that she would be rolling in wealth, at least she wouldn’t be bullied.
527But to Madame Wei, this was far more than enough. Thinking of the possibilities, Madame Wei’s heart ignited with a fire. “Little Apricot, Little Peach, what are you doing? Hurry up and help greet the guests. Bring out the 500-year-old wine from the cellar and bring out the altar. Notify the kitchen and have them prepare a table of the best dishes. Today, all of Sir Lin’s expensive are free!”
528This sort of comprehensive martial artist service lodge had various sorts of service. It was a place for martial artists to relax and decompress from their daily stress. In a situation where a martial artist faced life and death, they would constantly be tense from the great amount of pressure placed on them, and they had no choice but to find a way to vent it.
529However, when a beautiful girl moved towards Lin Ming, she was actually rejected by him.
530“Sir Lin, is this girl not to your satisfaction?” Madame Wei attentively asked.
531Lin Ming shook his head. He said, “A quiet room is good enough for me. Have the food delivered to my room.”
532“This… Sir Lin…” Madame Wei looked at Xu Yan with some embarrassment.
533Xu Yan saw that Lin Ming didn’t have much interest in the festivities. He said, “Don’t worry about it. Prepare a quiet room for Brother Lin and we’ll go and play ourselves.”
534“Well… alright...” Madame Wei nodded. She looked for a beautiful maid and ordered her to escort Lin Ming upstairs.
535The room was very elegant. The floors were dark blue, and the walls were plastered with pleasant decorations. The beds were neat and white, and there was a simple wooden table in the center. There was also a pot of flowers on the table that emitted a refreshing fragrance.
536Lin Ming glanced over at the girl who led him here, “You can leave.”
537“I…” The girl blushed. She fidgeted around and stared at her toes with her clear eyes, embarrassed.
538“What’s wrong?”
539“Mm… if I leave, then Madame Wei will blame me.” The girl mumbled as she bit her lips. Even though she was quiet, these simple uttered words caused her neck to flush red and spread to her ears.
540Lin Ming wasn’t a fool. He instantly understood what this girl meant. As he looked at her more carefully, he was surprised to see that she was actually a virgin.
541The common mortal women of Polaris City had neither freedom nor status. To them, there was no better result than to be taken in by a martial artist as a maid or a concubine.
542As for things such as love, these girls might have never even heard of the word before. After they came of age, their first time would often be given to a special ‘guest’ like Lin Ming.
543Lin Ming unconsciously felt compassion for this girl. “What’s your name? How old are you?”
544“My name is Wan’er, and I am sixteen this year.” The girl adorably replied.
545“Sixteen years old… you’re a year younger than Xingxuan.” Unknowingly, Lin Ming’s thoughts flew back to his days at the Sky Spill Continent, and he recalled Qin Xingxuan and Mu Qianyu.
546“I wonder how Xingxuan is… with Miss Mu watching over her, she should be alright…” Lin Ming muttered to himself. The South Sea was in chaos. When he left, the war between the South Sea Demon Region and Divine Phoenix Island was still ongoing.
547The total strength of the South Sea Demon Region was estimated to be much greater than Divine Phoenix Island’s. The reason that they didn’t launch a full-on assault against Divine Phoenix Island was probably because their goal was the Demon God Imperial Palace.
548Now that the issue with the Demon God Imperial Palace had come to an end, Lin Ming feared that the South Sea Demon Region would continue the invasion with their complete attention and force. Divine Phoenix Island might have been able to join forces with Great Zen Temple to fight for the Nirvana Dragon Root, but it was impossible for them to think of having the Great Zen Temple assist them in dealing with the South Sea Demon Region.
549As for the Five Element Region, those fourth-grade sects might cooperate, but in the end, they would only be motivated by benefits to their own foundations. If they acted, it would be at no small price.
550Divine Phoenix Island might be able to support itself for another year or two. If the war dragged on, they probably wouldn’t be able to afford the rising costs.
551If this continued, the fate of Divine Phoenix Island was worrying.
552As Lin Ming thought of this, he had a heavy heart. He knew that walking away at this moment was very irresponsible and regretful, but if even the slightest rumor of him leaked out, then Divine Phoenix Island would face immediate and total annihilation.
553“Wan’er…” Lin Ming returned from his thoughts. He looked up at the young girl.
554“Mm.” The girl quickly responded. As she looked at Lin Ming, her eyes were complex, and there was a faint tenseness to her.
555“If Madame Wei asks, then tell her it is my decision. She won’t blame you.” Lin Ming didn’t have the time for such things as romantic or flowery thoughts. All he wanted to do was increase his own strength as soon as possible.
556As the girl heard Lin Ming say this, she bit her lips and said, “Mm… Wan’er understands…”
557Lin Ming couldn’t bear to see the disappointment flash in the girl’s eyes. In truth, he knew how difficult a life these girls lived. It was difficult if not impossible to find a powerful martial artist that also had a good character.
558In Skysplit Tower, because of the great pressure that martial artists bore at all times, this often caused them to have abnormal or monstrous dispositions. Because of this, it was common for female slaves to be tortured to death.
559To her presently, Lin Ming was not only strong but also kind. He looked young and was outstandingly handsome. Naturally, he was the best candidate to be her master.
560In this situation, her hopes had been crushed. Wan’er felt a bit of loss. After leaving Lin Ming, she wasn’t sure of just what her fate would be in the future.
561Lin Ming sighed. In the end, he couldn’t bear being too cruel. He said, “Well then, how about you go and wait outside in the hall. When there is some matter then I will call for you. Don’t let anyone else enter.”
562Wan’er’s heart rose with happiness. She quickly nodded and then stepped outside into the hall as she closed the door behind her.
563Lin Ming waited for the door to close and then casually drew a few runes and placed a spell on it. Afterwards, he also placed down a simple array formation to prevent others from monitoring him and took off his shirt. Then, he took out the spatial rings that he had received from Gu Yue and Zha Na…
564Chapter 535 – Threaten
565 “These two were quite wealthy.” Lin Ming muttered to himself as he searched through Gu Yue and Zha Na’s spatial rings.
566Within the two spatial rings, there were several hundred medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. In addition, there were all sorts of pills and treasures. Although they weren’t considered too precious, it was enough so that Lin Ming wouldn’t be in an awkward situation where he didn’t have enough Blood Demon Crystals available.
567“Mm? Is this a high-grade Blood Demon Crystal?”
568Lin Ming took out a rectangular jade box from within Gu Yue’s spatial ring. As he opened it, he saw that there was a bright red crystal inside.
569A high-grade Blood Demon Crystal was equivalent to 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystal. Even Gu Yue only had a single one.
570Blood Demon Crystals and true essence stones were similar: both were stones that contained massive inherent energies and could be used in cultivation. However, true essence stones could only be used to condense true essence and cultivate the dantian. As for Blood Demon Crystals, they contained a vast amount of heaven and earth origin energy as well as infernal blood energy. They could be used to refine and strengthen the body, bolster the soul, as well as many other uses.
571Martial artists that followed the orthodox path also used Blood Demon Crystals. No one ever complained that their blood vitality was too powerful.
572In addition, Blood Demon Crystals were much rarer. All of these factors made the price of Blood Demon Crystals much higher than that of true essence stones.
573Lin Ming placed this high-grade Blood Demon Crystal in his hand and began to absorb the pure energy from within it.
574A high-grade Blood Demon Crystal was worth 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals, but the infernal blood energy within was only equal to 50 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Using a single one was the same as using 50 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
575Of course, cultivating with high-grade Blood Demon Crystals was far more efficient.
576But wasting so much precious energy just for this increase in efficiency was a cost that not even a talent forms a large sect would so easily pay. This was also the reason that Gu Yue had a high-grade Blood Demon Crystal on him.
577Currently, Lin Ming only wished for more efficiency. He could earn more Blood Demon Crystals in the future, but time would not wait for him. All he thought of was the day that he gained the strength to battle with Xuan Wuji and return to the South Horizon Region.
578Because that was his foundation, that was his home.
579The pure power of heaven and earth origin energy and blood energy constantly flowed into Lin Ming. The light of the Blood Demon Crystal also began to gradually dim.
580Within the Blood Slaughter Steppes, fire origin energy was relatively thin. In comparison, there was an incomparably thick infernal blood energy that permeated the land. Here, cultivating the dantian with the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ was far inferior to practicing the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’.
581The pure energy of the Blood Demon Crystal combined with the infernal energy within the Heavenly Demon Tattoo and was then greedily refined by Lin Ming. Those that practiced the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ walked the killing path. Using this infernal blood energy to cultivate it was especially useful.
582Lin Ming felt a burning hot energy rampage through his meridians, making circle after circle before entering into his dantian where it fused with the billowing vortex of true essence within.
583In this process, Lin Ming’s soul and body were both nourished.
584Every cultivation method had its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, for those that followed the righteous path, they would usually focus on cultivating the soul after reaching the Xiantian realm.
585But, those martial artists that followed the demonic path were partial to tempering and refining their bodies after reaching the Xiantian realm.
586If Lin Ming only practiced the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’, then his cultivation would be biased towards fire-attribute true essence, as well as his path being limited to a single essence gathering system. If he reached the Life Destruction realm in the future, then his cultivation method system would be too frail and his strength would correspondingly be limited.
587If he supplemented this with the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ which focused on offensive skills, then this would fill many gaps in the problem.
588The truth was that many people understood this, but there was still nothing they could do. For a large sect, it was already fantastic if they had a single top cultivation method. What sort of sect could be like Lin Ming and choose from numerous cultivation methods that were of the highest level? It had to be said that when Lei Jingtian had been mired in the Revolving Core realm, he had sacrificed his honor and name and colluded with the South Sea Demon Region, all in order to acquire the ancient Devil Tome.
589Lin Ming immersed himself in cultivating and eventually lost track of time. When he next opened his eyes, he saw that the lamp on the table had already been extinguished, and there was a light hazy mist all around. It seemed that the dawn had just broken.
590As Lin Ming stood up, his entire skeleton emitted crackling noises that were crisp and loud. The high-grade Blood Demon Crystal in his hand had already dimmed to nothing; there wasn’t much energy left in it. His body was sticky with sweat and his sweat was tinged with the faint color of blood. The coppery smell of blood wafted out from around him.
591Within his dantian, his early Xiantian cultivation had further consolidated. He was almost at the peak of the early Xiantian realm.
592“I’ve already been stuck at the early Xiantian realm for months. I have no idea how long it will be until I can break through to the middle Xiantian realm; the demonic path cultivation methods are truly quicker than those from the righteous path… if I can reach the Revolving Core realm before I’m 22 years old, then I wonder how strong I will be compared to Life Destruction master…” Lin Ming mumbled to himself, lost in thought. He wanted to take a shower when his mind suddenly stirred. He moved so he was sideways to the door and slowly pushed it open.
593Outside in the hall, there was a pretty and delicate little girl leaning against the door. Her head was nodded down. Apparently, because of her extreme sleepiness, she had fallen asleep where she stood.
594“Wan’er.”
595“Ah!” The little girl was startled. She jumped up, instantly sober. “Sir, I…”
596Wan’er was like a little child who had been caught in the act of doing something wrong.
597“Why are you standing here? Haven’t you gone to sleep?”
598Wan’er hurriedly said, “Sir asked me to keep guard outside in the hall.”
599Lin Ming was speechless. He had only been casually speaking, but he never thought that Wan’er would be guarding the door all day and all night. She was a mortal. If she stood for so long, then her legs would be swollen.
600But this was the fate of a maidservant. There were many maids of wealthy families that had to stand outside of their master’s room. They had to pour water, clean the chamber pot, and instantly rush forwards if they were summoned. In places with stricter rules, even yawning was forbidden and would be punished with slaps. After a maid grew old, they would often be left without support. This was a reason why many maids dreamt of becoming concubines.
601This was the first time that Wan’er stood watch at night. She was afraid of appearing lazy thus she fell into a panic.
602“You go and rest.”
603Lin Ming sighed. He had thought about buying Wan’er’s freedom, but now he considered that matter finished. In Polaris City, even if a mortal commoner had freedom, they were still at the mercy of everyone else. If they had wealth, then that would actually be a dark star that attracted calamity. She might as well stay with Madame Wei where she had a modicum of safety. It was also impossible for Lin Ming to take her. In this dangerous land, Lin Ming simply couldn’t divert any attention to protect her.
604“I…” Wan’er hesitated.
605“Go to sleep.” Lin Ming said in a tone that couldn’t be refused. Wan’er bowed and excused herself.
606Lin Ming hadn’t yet gone to the second floor. He planned to stay at the first floor of Skysplit Tower until he reached the peak of the early Xiantian realm. Currently, he wasn’t too far from this goal.
607Thus, Lin Ming cultivated, ate, and slept at the martial artist service lodge every day.
608His daily care such as washing clothes and changing were all taken care of by Wan’er. In the blink of an eye, 15 days had passed. Lin Ming was now only a tiny step away from reaching the peak of the early Xiantian realm.
609Today, Lin Ming left the service lodge. He wanted to go to the second floor of Skysplit Tower to have a look.
610There was a great gap in strength between the martial artists of Skysplit Tower’s first floor and second floor. Gu Yue, whose strength could be considered at the pinnacle of the first floor, was only at the bottom of the second floor.
611The first floor had tens of thousands of martial artists, but the second floor only had several thousand. The amount was dozens of times less. There were many crouching tigers and hidden dragons amongst these groups of people. Even if a Saint rank talent were to come here, they wouldn’t dare to be arrogant. They wouldn’t even dare to fight with someone at their own level. Who could say that the person they provoked wasn’t a future Peerless Emperor?
612In these last 15 days, Lin Ming had also gained some understanding of Skysplit Tower from Xu Yan. According to the laws of Skysplit Tower, martial artists from the first floor could not enter the second floor. But, martial artists from the second floor could freely enter the first floor. The only prohibition they had was that they couldn’t rashly kill others on the first floor. If they violated this rule, they would be chased by the enforcement team and killed.
613Lin Ming followed Xu Yan’s instructions and walked towards the entrance of the second floor. Because it was early in the morning, there weren’t many people walking the corridors of Skysplit Tower, and there wasn’t a soul in sight at the entrance to the second floor.
614A solitary gray platform appeared in front of Lin Ming. On top of the platform was a small transmission array. As long as one entered with their second level permit pass, they would be able to directly enter the second floor.
615As Lin Ming took out his permit pass from his spatial ring, he suddenly felt a hidden murderous intent lock onto him. His heart chilled, he began to emit thick infernal energy. “Who is it?”
616There was empty silence for a while. Then, a hoarse voice sinisterly laughed and said, “Hehe, boy, you’re quite perceptive.” Right after, the space near Lin Ming began to distort and two men appeared. One was short, one was tall, and both wore black capes.
617The short one with the black cape was an Imp. His face was wrinkled like a dried walnut and his eyes were dim and yellow. It was hard to imagine that this fellow Imp was actually a youth.
618As for that tall man, his skin was dark like ink; he was from the Goliath race. As he looked at Lin Ming, it was as if he were looking at delicious prey.
619Lin Ming was calm as he quietly traced his spatial ring and revolved his true essence. Although he couldn’t tell the cultivation of these two because of the difference in their cultivation systems, he was still able to approximate from their auras.
620These two fellows were absolutely more formidable than Gu Yue.
621“Hehe, you don’t have to worry yourself. We are martial artists from the second floor. Rest assured, we will not kill you. That is because… the rules do not allow it.”
622Lin Ming wasn’t surprised. If these two were more powerful than Gu Yue, then it was normal for them to be from the second floor.
623“What do you two want?”
624“We’re looking for you because we need a little favor.” The black-caped Imp said. The martial artists of the Imp race even had black tongues; when they spoke, it was like a toad flapping its mouth.
625“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested!” Lin Ming coldly declined.
626“Hehe, there’s no need to refuse. Otherwise, you might regret it.” The black-caped man confidently said. As he spoke, he flicked his finger, sending an array disc spinning in the air. As the array disc spun, countless lines of light burst forth, creating images in thin air. As these images moved, Lin Ming could see it was clearly the martial artist service lodge where he stayed.
627“Mm?” Lin Ming was taken aback; this was the first time he had seen such a strange phantom image array disc.
628In the phantom images, Lin Ming could see Wang Dong and Xu Yan. He could see Madame Wei who had just woken up, and he could see Wan’er who was washing his clothes.
629But at this moment, a bizarre gray energy enveloped the entire martial artist service lodge. All of the people within seemed to have lost their souls. Madame Wei and Wan’er immediately slumped to the ground. Xu Yan withstood it for a few breaths of time before he too fell to the ground, unconscious.
630This was a soul attack!
631Lin Ming grimaced. “What do you want?”
632Chapter 536 – Skysplit Tower’s Second Floor
633“I heard that you wanted to enter the second floor, so I waited there in hopes of fighting you. But I didn’t think that you would stay on the first floor of Skysplit Tower and cultivate for half a month…” The black-caped Imp said. As he spoke, the images in the array disc changed yet again. In Wan’er’s room, a several dozen foot long snakes fell down from the rafters. Its body was as thick as a bucket, and it curled itself around the unconscious Wan’er.
634As Lin Ming saw this, his eyes flashed with killing intent. Although Wan’er was only his maid, she had taken care of his daily needs for these past 15 days and her work could be considered meticulous. Lin Ming would not tolerate someone using her to threaten him.
635The black-caped Imp saw Lin Ming’s eyes flash with murder. He giggled, “You really are as I thought you’d be. From these last few days, I could already tell that you have some misplaced, pathetic sympathy towards mortals. Jeje, I really have no idea where you came from. How could someone like you possibly step onto the killing path?”
636“You were spying on me?” Lin Ming was disquieted. He practiced the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’ and also had the Samsara martial intent; he was confident in his own soul defense. His perception was no less than that of a middle Revolving Core realm master. But there had actually been someone spying on him for these last 15 days without him noticing?
637Luckily, he hadn’t taken out the Cosmic Melting Furnace. Otherwise… the consequences would be unimaginable.
638As Lin Ming thought of this, his killing intent thickened even more.
639“Hehe, there are many ways to spy on people. I don’t need to personally appear near you to monitor you. Even… a small snake can become my eyes.” The black-caped Imp said. The Imp had no fear that his method of spying was known by Lin Ming.
640Lin Ming frowned. He didn’t understand the arcane skills of these foreign races so he had ended up suffering a loss. “Why are you paying attention to me?”
641“Hehe, it’s not just you, I’m also interested in everyone new to the second floor. To be frank… I want to fight with you in the arena!”
642Lin Ming’s lips twisted with derision, “So that’s what it is. It seems that you are so weak that you can only pick on newcomers?”
643“Humph! What would you know!?” The black-caped Imp sneered. “You think that you’re so great just because you caused a complete blowout in the first floor? You think you’re great because you killed Gu Yue within ten breaths of time?” The second floor of Skysplit Tower is not something that the first floor could even dream of comparing with. The second floor has practice areas that the first floor doesn’t. If you practice there, your results will astronomical. No matter what race you are from, you will also be influenced by your surroundings. If a group of geniuses gathers together, and you mix in a bunch of powerful opponents, then everyone will become stronger. In the second floor, there are even many monstrous characters that have the strength to go to the third floor but actually choose to hide on the second.”
644“I’m not considered weak on the second floor. But, I have accumulated too much infernal energy so there have been many masters eyeing me, hoping they can obtain my infernal energy to build up their Heavenly Demon Tattoo. Hehe, I won’t let those fellows succeed.”
645“So that’s why you aim for new people? So, all that so-called infernal energy you have is taken from newcomers?” Lin Ming scoffed. He didn’t think that Skysplit Tower would have such wonderful characters, but this method was indeed effective. If one had patience and was willing to resort to any method to accumulate infernal energy, they could then use this infernal energy to practice their devil arts. Their results would soar into the sky.
646“You’re right. After I reached a five-match winning streak on the second floor, I became much more cautious. Now, I’ve reached a 19-match winning streak. It’s a pity but new people that enter the second floor are usually timid. They won’t fight. Instead, they’ll hole themselves in their rooms and cultivate for half a year at time, or they might never leave at all. So… I have no choice but to use some minor methods to draw you out. You can rest assured that I will not kill you. I only want your infernal energy and to increase my winning streak. You can even consider it good luck for me to be your first match! Well, at least others won’t be as soft-hearted as I am. If you meet them, you might not even have a corpse left over.” The black-caped Imp giggled. His voice was gentle but his words were malicious. Just looking at his wrinkly face and disgusting smile made one feel extremely sick to their stomach.
647“So, I should be thanking you?”
648“Right. If you fight with me, you can quickly understand the rules of the second floor better. After this match, I’ll even give you some benefits and tell you some tips about how to survive in the second floor. Don’t look down on these tips, they’ve been earned with the lives of other martial artists.” The black-caped Imp said with a tempting tone.
649“And if I say no?”
650“Hehe, you’re a smart one. There are many ways for you to gain infernal energy, but if you offend me, I have many ways to make you suffer in the second floor, or you might even end up accidently dying. Also, I don’t think you want that young maid of yours to be cruelly tortured to death by some perverted Giant Demon, hahaha!”
651The black-caped Imp brazenly laughed. The rules of Skysplit Tower prevented martial artists from the second floor from killing those from the first floor. But, this only applied to martial artists. Mortal commoners were exempt from this rule.
652Lin Ming suppressed the simmering killing aura in his heart. On the surface, he was neither angry nor disturbed. He said, “Let them go. I agree to fight with you.”
653“Alright.” The black-caped Imp said with a refreshed tone. In truth, he wasn’t afraid that Lin Ming would renege on his promise. In Skysplit Tower, it was difficult to protect a mortal, but killing them was easy. If Lin Ming decided to go back on his word, then he could definitely find some casual opportunity to kill the girl.
654“I’ll wait for you on the second floor. I hope that you don’t have me wait too long!” The black-caped Imp licked his lips. He took out his pass from his spatial ring and inserted it into the transmission array. With a flash of light, he disappeared along with the Goliath youth.
655Lin Ming was expressionless as he turned around. By the time he returned to the martial artist service lodge, everyone who fainted was already beginning to wake up.
656The young girls of the martial artist service lodge were at a loss. They didn’t what had just happened; they only felt as if they had experienced a terrible dream.
657But the martial artists such as Xu Yan actually knew that they had been ambushed by a master with a soul attack.
658A dominant and terrifying power had instantly covered the entire martial artist service lodge. He wasn’t even able to resist for a bit before he fainted, the difference in strength was too great. If the opposite party had wanted to kill them, they could have done so with a thought!
659This sort of person could only be a martial artist from the second floor!
660Xu Yan was alarmed. He didn’t know what this other person’s purpose was, but as soon as he saw Lin Ming come in, his mind stirred. Could it be…
661“Brother Lin, a moment ago…”
662Lin Ming waved his hand. “Brother Xu, today I’ll be going to the second floor. I’ll have to trouble you with taking care of Wan’er.”
663Hearing Lin Ming say that he was heading to the second floor, Xu Yan was even more assured of his guess. “Brother Lin, is someone from the second floor aiming for you?”
664Lin Ming neither denied nor confirmed this. He said, “Whether or not someone is aiming for me, I will still go to the next floor.”
665Xu Yan looked at Lin Ming’s decisive appearance and he sighed. He knew that Lin Ming was a dragon in a pool; it was impossible for him to stay very long on the first floor. The reason he came to Skysplit Tower was obviously to gain experience.
666“Brother Lin, take care.”
667Lin Ming packed up his things and bid farewell to everyone. Then, he walked away from the martial artist service lodge. Wan’er didn’t say a single word as she watched Lin Ming’s fading back. For a long time, she didn’t say anything…
668“Welcome to the second floor of Skysplit Tower.”
669When Lin Ming stepped out of the second-floor transmission array, a sweet voice sounded in his ear. As he turned around, he saw a beautiful Fey girl standing there. Her cultivation was only around the Pulse Condensation period. Obviously, she worked here as a greeter and guide.
670“Sir, may I ask if you would like to go to the martial arena or find a place to practice?” The Fey girl politely asked as she bowed.
671Practice place?
672Lin Ming raised his eyebrows. He had heard about the practice areas of Skysplit Tower’s second floor before. The black-caped Imp said that cultivating there would give one astronomical result.
673Polaris City was an original source of infernal energy and it had an extremely long history. There were countless ancient arrays that were engraved within this place. Lin Ming was looking forward to seeing just what sort of practice places were in Polaris City.
674As Lin Ming thought about this, he asked, “What sort of authority requirements do I need to enter the practice areas?”
675The young Fey girl said, “The second floor has no authority requirements. One only needs to pay the required Blood Demon Crystals depending on the area you wish to go in. A high-quality practice area will require not only Blood Demon Crystals but also slaughter points. For instance, a top practice area will require one slaughter point every ten days. As for more general areas, they usually require one slaughter point per year.”
676“A single slaughter point for ten days… that’s quite expensive…” Lin Ming was secretly stunned speechless. Right now, he only had ten slaughter points that he had acquired at the same time as the Invincible Glory Emblem. For a top-level practice area, that was only enough for 100 days. “Thank you. Bring me to the martial arena first.”
677Lin Ming wanted to settle all his grudges and scores with the black-caped Imp.
678“Good. Then, please follow me.” The young Fey girl’s dulcet voice called out. When she spoke, it was very comfortable.
679Skysplit Tower was wider at the bottom than the top; it tapered the higher it went. The second floor was smaller than the first floor, so the martial arena in the second floor was also smaller. There was only enough space to seat 8000, but this was already more than enough because the second floor only had several thousand martial artists in total.
680When Lin Ming arrived at the martial arena, there were only several hundred people there. The other martial artists were either resting or off cultivating.
681Although there were few people, the entire arena was still wild and filled with a bloody atmosphere.
682“The boy came!” In a corner of the arena, the black-caped Goliath youth saw Lin Ming.
683“Hehe, that stupid little kid is pretty fast. Because of something as stupid as compassion, he actually ruined himself…” The black-caped Imp stroked his wrinkled chin, his eyes flashing with bloodlust.
684“Mm? Are you planning on killing him?” The black-caped Goliath youth asked, surprised.
685“Of course, I’m going to kill him. Although this fellow isn’t too strong right now, his talent is terrifying. If you cut the grass then you have to destroy the roots to eliminate any future problems.”
686“This is… but if word of you killing him spreads out and other newcomers find out, then they will be prepared. It won’t be easy to find new people to fight with us.”
687“It doesn’t matter. I’ve already decided to kill him. Once I do then I’ll have a 20-match winning streak. I’ll obtain two slaughter points and will also be able to form my four-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo. At that time, I’ll go and cultivate for two years. Once I finish, my strength will have greatly increased and I won’t need to target newcomers anymore.”
688As the black-caped Imp spoke to here, his eyes flashed with excitement. He was already looking forwards to this day.
689Chapter 537 – Shattered Soul Domain
690“Lan Xing wins, who will be the next challenger?” On the stage of the martial arena, a black-clothed referee announced after a blue-haired Fey defeated a Goliath youth.
691The black-clothed referee was similar to the blue-skinned man that Lin Ming had met earlier. They had the characteristics of several races; this was typical of hybrid races.
692Within Polaris City, because of the constant number of people being born, there were often many individuals that had the blood of other races within them. Using someone who was a hybrid to be a referee was much fairer to everyone involved.
693“This Lan Xing fellow has already won two in a row. If he wins again, then it will be his third win in a row. How come I’ve never heard of him before?”
694“It’s normal if you haven’t heard of him. In fact, this fellow is new here. I heard that he had a complete blowout just a year ago and gained ten whole slaughter points. After he came up to the second level he chose not to fight. Instead, he holed himself up and cultivated for an entire year. This is the first battle that he’s had since he came out!”
695“He went into seclusion for an entire year? This fellow is quite terrifying, he actually has the patience to wait. Even a two-winged Heavenly Demon master lasted less than 10 breaths of time under his hand. He’s most likely still hiding part of his strength. I guess that his true ability should be near that of a four Winged Heavenly Demon!”
696As the audience discussed the match, Lin Ming was closely listening in. He couldn’t help but pay attention to this Lan Xing a bit more.
697The truth was that ever since he came to Skysplit Tower, he found that because all the different races here had different cultivation systems, it was very inaccurate to compare cultivation realms to find relative strengths. This wasn’t even considering that everyone here was a genius that could jump ranks to fight. A five-star Demon General of Skysplit Tower could probably defeat a one-star Demon King from the outside.
698Because of this, it was much more accurate to differentiate the strength one had with the winged Heavenly Demon Tattoos.
699The stronger a martial artist was, the more wings they would have on their Heavenly Demon Tattoo.
700From two wings, four wings, all the way to ten wings and twelve wings.
701Lin Ming’s own Heavenly Demon Tattoo had quickly condensed two wings. In the future, as he fought in more battles in the arena, his Heavenly Demon Tattoo would also grow.
702“Lan Xing! You’ve only won two games; do you really think you’re invincible with just that?”
703A red-haired big fellow leapt onstage; he was also a Goliath race martial artist. Obviously, he had stepped up with the intention of regaining some honor for his companion. In Skysplit Tower, the races were very conscious about their own groups. When individuals of the same race fought, they wouldn’t kill each other often. But, if individuals of different races fought, then their every move would be ruthless. It was common for someone to die during these situations.
704“With just you? It looks as if I’ll easily obtain my three-win streak!” Lan Xing contemptuously glanced at the red-haired Goliath youth and flourished his sword.
705“This Lan Xing is too arrogant, he’s not even placing Hong Mao in his eyes.”
706“For better or worse, Hong Mao has been on the second floor for less than half a year but his strength is near that of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. It would be unwise for Lan Xing to underestimate his opponent.”
707As everyone saw Lan Xing being so arrogant, public opinion began to turn towards the red-haired Goliath youth.
708As the red-haired big fellow heard Lan Xing’s words, he laughed loudly and extracted a heavy sword from his back. “Easily obtain? It’s already a miracle that someone like you could live in Skysplit Tower until now. But your good luck stops here. Now die!”
709As Hong Mao spoke, his heavy sword cut down at Lan Xing!
710Kacha!
711The floor tiles exploded into pieces as Lan Xing’s figure faded away like an illusion.
712“Great movement technique. What a profound Concept of Wind.”
713Lin Ming could see that Lan Xing had an extremely high understanding of the Concept of Wind; it was even far beyond his own.
714It could be said that the entire Fey race was the beloved of all-natural Laws.
715The talent of the Fey far exceeded that of everyone else in the Holy Demon Continent. In terms of physical strength, they were inferior to the Giant Demons. But they had inborn physiques that placed them in tune with the natural Laws. This allowed them to easily comprehend the power of Concepts and Laws.
716This also caused the cultivation methods of the Fey to be infinitely varied; they were impossible for one to guard against.
717“Sacred Edge – Blade of Wind!”
718In that instant, Lan Xing’s sword disappeared, vanishing into the wind. In that instant, the endless wind of the world had become Lan Xing’s sword. It was everywhere, and impossible to defend against.
719Ding ding ding!
720For a time, it was unknown just how many sword strokes struck the Goliath fellow’s heavy sword. It caused him to nearly drop his weapon.
721True essence recklessly shot out. Hong Mao was startled; his large figure instantly drew back.
722However, Lan Xing’s sword followed him closely; there was no escaping it.
723Hong Mao loudly shouted, about to resort to his master move. But at this time, three sword lights stabbed out.
724Pu pu pu!
725Hong Mao gave a miserable shout and flew backwards. Three bloody holes appeared in his body. As he fell to the ground, a large pool of thick blood formed beneath him.
726“You didn’t die? Then consider yourself lucky!” Lan Xing didn’t even spare a glance at the half-dead Hong Mao before he stepped offstage.
727The entire audience was stupefied. Victory and defeat had been decided in a mere five breaths of time!
728Under the stage, several Goliath youths rushed up, quickly lifting away Hong Mao.
729“Lan Xing, three-win streak!” The black-clothed referee announced.
730“Three-win streak. He went into seclusion for one year, and as soon as he comes out he gains a three-win streak. This Lan Xing absolutely has the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. Looking at him, he only seems to be around 20 some years old. If he doesn’t die, then with enough time he will definitely have the ability to step onto the third floor!
731“It seems another rising star came out. But to put it in perspective, there have been countless rising stars in Skysplit Tower these past years. Yet, there are only a few people with the ability to become ten-winged Heavenly Demons.
732“Mm. The higher you go the more difficult it becomes.”
733People began to discuss just what would happen to Lan Xing after his three-win streak.
734Normally, in Skysplit Tower, a martial artist wouldn’t continue past a three-win streak in a single round. In a high-level fight, one would greatly consume strength and true essence. The only exceptions were if one was too strong. At these times, a five- or ten-win streak would appear.
735“Is there anyone willing to come onstage next?” The black-clothed referee loudly announced from the stage.
736As the referee’s voice fell, the black-caped Imp smiled and stood up. He looked at Lin Ming, his eyes narrowing.
737“Little Brother, let’s go up together.”
738The black-caped Imp’s true essence sound transmission sounded in Lin Ming’s ear.
739“This fellow is such a coward.” Lin Ming thought with disdain. This fellow obviously feared that he wouldn’t follow him up onstage, and that someone else would challenge him. This black-caped Imp didn’t have a single ounce of confidence.
740Lin Ming leapt onstage.
741The black caped Imp closely followed.
742“That’s Blackrat. That fellow is really sad, he’s still bullying the newbies.” Some of the people in the audience recognized the black-caped Imp. He truly was worthy of the name ‘Blackrat’.
743“Heh, you don’t need to say it. That Blackrat’s trick is quite useful. He’s almost a four-winged Heavenly Demon, and he’s about to earn his 20-win streak.”
744“Haha, he might become the weakest four-winged Heavenly Demon!”
745“Don’t look down on that Blackrat fellow, he has quite the ability. It’s just that he is far too cowardly for his own good. These newcomers are just too stupid and naïve. I know that the new boy onstage just had a complete blowout half a month or so ago. These young newcomers are usually arrogant and full of fighting spirit and boiling blood. They have no idea how strong they are or just how deep the waters of Skysplit Tower can be. Sooner or later, they will suffer for it.”
746“Mm. I mean, just look at Lan Xing. He also had a complete blowout, but then he went into seclusion on the second floor for an entire year. Lan Xing’s arrogance isn’t misplaced, he indeed has the qualifications to act like that. Compared to Lan Xing, that boy onstage is just too impulsive…”
747Very few people were optimistic about Lin Ming’s chances. Although it was true that he was very talented, a newbie was still a newbie. Both his age and cultivation were simply not enough; he had to be tempered in the forge of battle. In Skysplit Tower, those that were too bold and careless were also the most likely to die.
748“Hehe, little boy, don’t be so nervous. I’ll go easy on you.” The black-caped Imp rubbed his hands together as he looked Lin Ming up and down. His black and beady eyes were narrowed. With his wrinkly black skin, he really did look like a sad black rat.
749Lin Ming calmly took out the Purple Comet Spear. Thunder flashed on the spear tip.
750Lin Ming’s eyes locked onto the shoulder of the black-caped Imp. He could clearly see the Heavenly Demon Tattoo there. This tattoo had two pairs of wings. The second pair was much blurrier than the first.
751“Four-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo… he has over ten times the infernal energy that I do right now. If I can take his, then it will save me a great deal of effort.”
752As Blackrat thought Lin Ming was his prey, Lin Ming also thought the same of Blackrat.
753“Match, start!” The referee shouted.
754Blackrat took out two curved short sabers from his spatial ring. “Little boy, relax; my attacks won’t be too painful.”
755Blackrat giggled. Suddenly, his beady eyes flashed with a thick killing intent - Shattered Soul Domain!
756Hoo!
757The surrounding environment suddenly changed. On the arena stage, thick infernal energy filled the air. It was as if the arena itself had turned into an Ashura battlefield that surrounded the audience. For a time, everyone heard the endless howls of shrieks of the abyss; they had all entered the illusion.
758“The Shattered Soul Domain is Blackrat’s killing move. Once he uses it, it will void the souls of everyone within a hundred feet. If the damage is light, then the one struck will turn into an idiot. If it’s heavy, then that person will die. This fellow, he really wants to take that newcomer’s life.”
759“Mm, although that newcomer’s cultivation isn’t too high, his talent is just too terrifying. He could actually create a complete blowout at the early Xiantian realm. Blackrat does not want any troubles to appear in the future.”
760“Haha, a human genius is about to die! Great! Awesome!”
761There were countless geniuses that perished in Skysplit Tower, it wasn’t just Lin Ming. Perhaps as soon as tomorrow, everyone here would have forgotten Lin Ming’s face.
762In the stands, as everyone was talking, Lin Ming was standing motionless on the stage without any response.
763“Little boy, if you want to blame someone then blame yourself for having too great a talent. I’m also forced to do this, so don’t blame me when you’re a ghost.” Blackrat giggled. His body was like a ghost as he dashed towards Lin Ming, his curved short sabers aimed towards Lin Ming’s throat.
764But at this time, Lin Ming’s eyes suddenly flashed with a radiant light. The Purple Comet Spear in his hand struck out like a whip!
765Woosh!
766“What!?”
767Blackrat was shocked. He thought that even if Lin Ming’s soul wasn’t destroyed, he still should have fallen into a deep illusion without any ability to resist. He never thought that Lin Ming would be able to counterattack.
768“Shattered Soul Saber!”
769Blackrat’s saber changed angles and shot up. He placed the entire strength of his soul attack in his blade, cutting down on the Purple Comet Spear’s shaft.
770Pa!
771The curved saber was struck out of Blackrat’s hand; Blackrat was sent flying back like a ball by Lin Ming’s spear!
772At the same time, Blackrat’s soul attack spread into Lin Ming’s spiritual sea via the Purple Comet Spear. It rushed into him like a thunderstorm, menacing and dangerous!
773But in the next instant, this soul attack was completely buried with the vast swirling vortex of the Samsara martial intent. Not even the slightest ripple was stirred up.
774Lin Ming already knew that Blackrat excelled at soul attacks. When Blackrat had caused everyone at the martial artist service lodge to faint, this was all due to his soul attack.
775Chapter 538 – Strength of a Four-winged Heavenly Demon
776Bang!
777Blackrat smashed into the floor, crushing all of the tiles beneath him. Half of Blackrat’s body was stuck in the broken stones.
778The hundreds of martial artists that saw this were dumbfounded. They thought that Blackrat would easily win, but the result was beyond their expectations. Lin Ming had thrust out his spear and directly sent Blackrat halfway into the ground.
779Although Blackrat was a coward and his character were wretched, the truth was that he was still a genius from a fifth-grade sect of Imps. Once he used his Shattered Soul Domain, it was nearly impossible for someone to defend against. There were many individuals that had lived on the second floor for a long time that weren’t willing to face Blackrat’s Shattered Soul Domain. They never imagined that a newcomer could actually make such a surprising counterattack.
780“damn, how did that happen!?” Blackrat leapt up from the rubble. His wrinkled face was covered with blood and he was a bit dizzy.
781At this time, a true essence sound transmission from the black-caped Goliath sounded in Blackrat’s ear. “Boss, are you okay?”
782“shit, that boy’s strength is too freakish. Even a Feral on the same level is just trash in front of him.” Blackrat angrily replied with a true essence sound transmission.
783Lin Ming was indeed the strongest of those he had fought. A mere early Xiantian realm boy had easily swept him away with a spear. If Blackrat hadn’t used demon essence to protect his wrist, then that single strike would have broken his hand already.
784“That boy… was he injured? Although my saber strike was sent back, my Shattered Soul Domain entered into his spiritual sea. Even a human Revolving Core powerhouse would have suffered some soul damage!” Blackrat asked the black-caped Goliath as he glared at Lin Ming. When he was sent flying away by the spear, he hadn’t noticed anything. But now that he looked at Lin Ming standing there motionless, he couldn’t tell what sort of damage he managed to do.
785“He must excel in defense against soul attacks. I don’t see that he’s injured…” The black-caped Goliath muttered. After Lin Ming had struck Blackrat, he stood there onstage not moving at all. There was no vacant or stressed light in his eyes either
786Blackrat had truly kicked himself in the foot this time!
787Blackrat complained in his heart. If you stood at the riverside too long, your shoes were bound to get wet. Blackrat kept picking newcomers to challenge, and on this day, he finally fell into this situation. But, if he didn’t choose newcomers it would have been impossible to reach a 20-match winning streak. He would have long since been ruined by others.
788In the end, within Skysplit Tower, people spoke with their strength.
789Here, strength was everything.
790Lin Ming grasped the Purple Comet Spear and walked forwards.
791As he took his first step, everyone in the audience sucked in a cold breath. This steady and robust step proved that there was not a single problem with Lin Ming.
792Blackrat wasn’t considered too strong in the second floor, but that didn’t mean he was easy to handle. There were many veterans here who didn’t dare to withstand Blackrat’s soul attack straight on. But Lin Ming had done so in such manner, it was just too abnormal.
793Blackrat grimaced. The fight had already reached the supernova stage. There was no way he could afford to lose here. Once he lost, his 20-win streak would end. Not only would he not gain slaughter points but he would also lose most of the infernal energy that he had struggled to save over the last three years.
794This was not a setback he could bear!
795“Boy, you’ve forced me to do this!” Blackrat’s face flashed with a fierce light, and all the skin folds of his wrinkled face twisted together.
796“Soul combustion - spiritual sea… open to the limit!”
797Blackrat shouted. Between his eyes, a dark crack appeared. This crack shined with a black light; it was like a third eye.
798“Blackrat combusted his soul. It looks like he’s planning to go all out.”
799Soul combustion was a technique unique to soul attack martial artists, and its cost was much greater than the combustion of blood essence. When one burned blood essence, they could pay a great price to restore it with various methods. But, if one burnt their soul, it was far more difficult to recover from; it would create a permanent loss in their soul force. The only way to recover from this was if one had top soul regenerating medicines. But, these precious medicines were not any less rare than something like the Nirvana Dragon Root.
800After combusting part of his soul force, Blackrat’s aura began to rise. His appearance changed. His wrinkled face became extremely grotesque, and two fangs gleamed at the corners of his mouth. His eyes turned bloodshot. He looked no different from a rabid animal.
801“Soul Storm!”
802Blackrat crazily shouted into the skies. A terrifying vortex of soul force energy formed into a storm. All of the nearby martial artists couldn’t help but retreat, lest they were caught up in the attack. After all, it was no joke if their soul was injured.
803“What an impressive Soul Storm.”
804“Even the shockwaves are terrifying. This feeling reminds me of when I was still a mortal. It’s as if I was standing in the midst of a winter snowstorm without clothes.”
805There were many people that thought Blackrat was weak. But as they saw this tyrannical soul attack, all of them paled. They couldn’t help but wonder: if they stood onstage facing this Soul Storm, could they withstand it?
806The possibilities send chills down their spines.
807Rumble rumble rumble!
808A great purple storm bore down on Lin Ming like a savage beast. Keening howls and shrill shrieks were mixed within; it was like the entire martial arena had turned into an Ashura hell!
809Lin Ming’s figure was enveloped in this storm, completely disappearing.
810Blackrat wielded his two curved short sabers and rushed forwards. Behind him, a massive demonic shadow appeared. This shadow had bright red eyes, two cruel fangs, and sharp rows of shining teeth.
811But as he was halfway to Lin Ming, the Soul Storm suddenly parted in half. A purple light shot forth like a meteor as it tore through the void, directly cutting towards Blackrat!
812After burning away his soul, Blackrat no longer had the ability to dodge. His body suddenly shook!
813Pu!
814A bloody hole appeared on Blackrat’s forehead. This purple light had easily pierced through his head!
815However, the aftermath of the Soul Storm that Blackrat had sent out crashed into Lin Ming. But as it struck him, it passed over him like a gentle spring breeze without the slightest impact.
816Match, end.
817Crash!
818Blackrat slumped to the ground, a large stream of blood flowing out of his forehead.
819“Lin Ming, victory!”
820The referee declared after a brief pause. The audience was stunned silent.
821Blackrat had been killed by a single move from Lin Ming. This wasn’t surprising. After all, Blackrat’s defensive capabilities and close-range combat skills were exceedingly weak.
822But what they couldn’t imagine was just how that terrifying Soul Storm that Blackrat had released hadn’t injured Lin Ming. Did this fellow not have a soul? Or was he completely immune to soul attacks?
823“Could it be that this boy has some sort of special physique? The Imps’ physical strength and body are weaker than the Giant Demons’. In terms of Laws and compatibility with concepts, they are far inferior to the Fey. Even their perception is inferior to humans’. But in terms of soul force, they are second to none within the entire Holy Demon Continent. This Blackrat also specially studied soul attacks, so how could this be the result?”
824“Don’t look down on him. This fellow, even if we put aside his freakish soul defense, still has the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. No wonder he dared to accept Blackrat’s challenge. Blackrat has accumulated a great deal of infernal energy these past three years. This boy has gained a great deal.
825As the surrounding martial artists talked amongst themselves, a great portion of the infernal energy within Blackrat had turned into a warm flow of heat that submerged into Lin Ming.
826Ho!
827From his head to his toes, the infernal energy flooded Lin Ming’s body. This infernal energy was twice as much as before and several times more concentrated. Although Lin Ming had a naturally calm disposition, the flush of infernal energy still stirred his impulsive thoughts. It was like the countless unbidden desires in his heart were being rapidly inflated.
828“What a rich infernal energy!”
829After Lin Ming absorbed the infernal energy he looked at the Heavenly Demon Tattoo on his arm. He saw that the first pair of wings became fully formed, and there was even a vague outline of the second pair. If he could obtain the same amount of infernal energy again, then the second pair of wings would truly manifest. At this time, Lin Ming would be a genuine four-winged Heavenly Demon.
830“With this infernal energy, I can practice the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ with double the result and half the effort.”
831Lin Ming took a deep breath and calmed his restless mind. He flicked his fingers, and a bloody fog exploded from Blackrat’s corpse. It slowly turned into a Blood Drinking Seal before flying into Lin Ming’s hand.
832Even Blackrat’s spatial ring was taken by Lin Ming. Lin Ming was quite looking forwards to Blackrat’s spatial ring; he was very curious about the secret soul cultivation skills that the Imp race practiced.
833“He even used the blood essence of the dead to form a blood seal. This boy’s cultivation method is ruthless enough.”
834“He and that Fey Lan Xing are both the rising stars of today’s martial arena. Both are newcomers, both have extremely high talent, and both have the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. But, Lin Ming is a tad stronger. Lan Xing secluded himself into training for a year after entering the second floor before he had his strength, but Lin Ming hadn’t even practiced at all before reaching here! That is even more terrifying!”
835“Lin Ming is stronger than me? Hehe, how interesting!” After Lan Xing obtained his three-win streak, he didn’t leave the martial arena. Instead, he stayed to watch Lin Ming’s fight. He hadn’t been optimistic about Lin Ming’s odds. He thought that Lin Ming would perish under Blackrat’s hand, but he didn’t think this would be the outcome.
836“They put me on par with Lin Ming. They thought that I took a year off once I reached the second level before I was able to reach Lin Ming’s level. Humph, those fools never realized that I already had the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon a year ago. If this is the case, then isn’t my one year of training just a waste?”
837Lan Xing’s lips curled and his eyes shined with fighting spirit.
838He had decided. He would fight with Lin Ming
839But now, Lin Ming had just finished a fight. It didn’t matter how small his true essence loss was. Lan Xing wanted to defeat Lin Ming under completely fair conditions, so that no one would be able to come up with excuses.
840“My Fey race’s Fey Emperors have all stepped on the bones of countless geniuses in order to ascend the throne of the Emperor. I, Lan Xing, will also become a Fey Emperor in the future. Lin Ming, you will be one of my stepping stones!”
841Lan Xing was genius from a high fifth-grade Fey sect. Normally speaking, a top fifth-grade sect was a Holy Land. A high fifth-grade sect was just a step away from reaching that point. As long as an Emperor level powerhouse appeared in that sect, the sect would be able to take that final step and complete the transformation.
842Lan Xing’s goal was to become a Peerless Emperor. So, he set foot by himself to journey the world and gain experience. His ambitions would not remain low. He would become the reason that his sect would become a Holy Land…
843Chapter 539 – Three Straight Wins
844 “Will anyone else challenge Lin Ming?”
845As Lin Ming stood atop the arena stage, the black-clothed referee loudly asked this question.
846The reaction below the stage wasn’t very energetic. In Lin Ming’s battle against Blackrat, his strength had shot up to the level of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. Not just that, but many presents were puzzled as to the strange immunity that Lin Ming seemed to have to soul attacks. Relative to Lin Ming’s strength, he had a very small amount of infernal energy, just a tad more than a normal two-winged Heavenly Demon would have. To the other masters in the audience, this degree of infernal energy was nothing at all.
847No one knew whether Lin Ming had hidden strengths or not. If they fought with Lin Ming, even if they won they would still be forced to reveal many of their cards. If they exposed their trump cards to others, then that just did more harm than good. The small amount of infernal energy they would obtain was not worth it.
848So, many of the masters present lacked interest in Lin Ming.
849“Golden Light Sect’s Xu Feng wishes to fight!”
850A thin voice sounded out, and a small man leapt onstage.
851This man was actually human martial artist. He looked around 20 some years old. The Heavenly Demon Tattoo on his arm only had two wings, and it was also a bit blurry.
852Lin Ming was startled. This was the first time in Skysplit Tower that he would fight a human martial artist.
853“You aren’t my match.” Lin Ming quickly glanced over Xu Feng’s cultivation. With the imposing aura that this man released, Lin Ming was quickly able to determine the limit of his strength.
854He was probably equal to a mighty half-step Revolving Core martial artist. This strength, relative to Xu Feng’s age, would have been extremely stunning within the South Horizon Region. His talent was comparable to that of the Five Element Region’s Zhan Yunjian, Sunfire Princess, and the other geniuses there. But in Skysplit Tower, this was very, very ordinary.
855“I know.” Xu Feng indifferently said. “I come from a bottom tier fourth-grade sect. I could not find anyone in my sect at my age that could match me, thus I traveled the world hoping to find powerhouses and experience their skill. I want to understand the gap that exists between us. Today, I saw Brother Ling’s battle and now I have gained a deep admiration of Brother Lin’s skills. I hope that I can see the disparity that exists between us. But let me say this first, I am very, very poor. There isn’t much of value on my body, so I hope that Brother Lin will be a bit gentle with me.”
856Xu Feng embarrassedly smiled and flashed the ring on his finger. It was a very ordinary low-grade earth-step spatial ring.
857As Lin Ming heard Xu Feng’s words, he was dumbfounded for a moment before he burst out laughing. It was true. Xu Feng saw that Lin Ming was also a human martial artist and was hoping that if they fought, then Lin Ming would not be as ruthless. This was the only reason that he dared to step onstage. Indeed, someone like Xu Feng would find it difficult to stay on the second floor of Skysplit Tower. Those like him did not seek victory. For them, fighting onstage even once was an extremely rare and precious experience.
858Lin Ming sighed. As the chief disciple of a fourth-grade sect, Xu Feng was invincible among his peers there, but after arriving at Skysplit Tower he was not much at all. The disparity was simply too great.
859Then in the far-off future, if Lin Ming himself ever flew up into the Realm of the Gods, would he himself be in a similar situation?
860If he ever became an all-powerful earth-shaking existence within the Sky Spill Continent and Holy Demon Continent, would he have to be careful within the Realm of the Gods, and tread lightly there?
861Thinking of this, Lin Ming felt an enormous pressure. He had never been complacent about his own strength before. This was because he had seen the terrifying worlds inside of the Magic Cube, and he knew that the whole of the Sky Spill Continent was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
862“Match, start!”
863The referee loudly announced.
864“Sword Wind Void!” Xu Feng shouted. He made the first move, thrusting his sword towards Lin Ming’s chest.
865Lin Ming took a single step back. The Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder flashed on the edge of the Purple Comet Spear, and he easily deflected Xu Feng’s sword.
866“Sword Light Across the World!
867“Sword Shattering Clear Sky!”
868Xu Feng displayed one sword move after another. His sword was extremely fast. All of his moves flowed as one without a single flaw. A weaker person would have found this shining sword light impossible to block. However, Lin Ming only used a single spear thrust to counter this. Although it seemed slow, it contained an inherent might as steady and implacable as a mountain. As Xu Feng’s sword light thrust into this, it was like a spring breeze blowing against a hill; it was unable to cause a single change.
869Ka!
870Xu Feng managed to avoid the spear light of Lin Ming’s attack, but the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder scraped past his side. Blood bloomed on his body, and he drew back several steps.
871As Xu Feng’s balance was unsteady, Lin Ming stepped forwards. The Purple Comet Spear seemed to pass through space itself as it flashed in front of Xu Feng, straight towards his throat.
872A freezing air emanated from the spear tip. Xu Feng felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. In that instant, he thought that he had died.
873“I’ve lost.”
874Xu Feng knew that Lin Ming had stayed his hand, because his strength didn’t match what he had shown in his battle with Blackrat. Lin Ming’s truly formidable strength lay in his powerful killing moves. This sort of spear technique was just child’s play.
875“Well fought.” Lin Ming said as he cupped his fists together.
876“After I grow stronger, I will return to request a match from you.” Xu Feng said before he leapt off the stage. However, the infernal energy in his body remained onstage, slowly converging into Lin Ming’s body.
877It didn’t matter whether one killed their opponent or not. As long as someone was defeated, the winner would obtain over half of the loser’s infernal energy.
878It was just that Xu Feng’s infernal energy, relative to Blackrat’s, couldn’t be considered much at all.
879After Xu Feng was defeated, the referee asked if anyone else wished to continue challenging Lin Ming. Then, another human martial artist stepped onstage.
880This was the third match.
881“This is meaningless!”
882In a corner of the arena, Lan Xing shook his head and turned around to leave. He had originally stayed in order to see just what other cards Lin Ming might have, and whether or not someone could force him to use more of his strength. However, the match he just saw could only be described as disappointing. It seemed as if there wasn’t a master that would step up today.
883“That’s fine. I’ll wait until my battle with you and then I will personally test what sort of strength you have hidden. I hope that you won’t disappoint me.”
884As Lan Xing thought out loud, his lips curved up in a smile. Contrasted with his beautiful face, it was an enchantingly haunting look.
885……………... 
886“Lin Ming wins! Three-win streak! In his Lin Ming’s first appearance he obtains a three-win streak! There have been two newcomers who have managed to obtain a three-win streak in their first battle. What a surprising result!” The black-clothed referee said after Lin Ming defeated his third opponent.
887It wasn’t common for a newcomer to obtain a three-win streak, and especially rare for two to appear in a single day.
888“Will you continue?” The referee asked Lin Ming.
889“No.” Lin Ming shook his head. Increasing one’s strength was a slow process of accumulation. Lin Ming wasn’t worried. He was planning on staying at Skysplit Tower for a long time. After every battle, he would need time to comprehend and digest what he learned.
890Lin Ming stepped out from the battlefield and found the young Fey girl who had originally brought him there. He said, “Please take me to a practice area in Skysplit Tower.”
891“Oh… good… okay…” The young Fey girl was startled for a moment before she quickly nodded.
892Skysplit Tower itself was thousands upon thousands of feet high. Every separate layer was hundreds of feet, and the interior was divided into many smaller, complex structures. There were countless buildings within.
893The young Fey girl brought Lin Ming on a long path. They passed through several floors, and finally they came to a practice area.
894When the young Fey girl pushed open the thick wooden door, Lin Ming was surprised as he saw what was within.
895Behind this wooden door was a vast, deep abyss. The abyss was cylindrical, and it was over 10 miles in diameter. The abyss was completely surrounded by walls of jet-black rock. The walls were smooth, and one could even see that the black rock walls were divided by thin lines. As one looked out from afar, this abyss looked like a crisscrossed honeycomb.
896Lin Ming was at one of these doors. His position was at the middle of this abyss.
897As he looked upwards, he could see the abyss extended thousands of feet high. The infernal energy was rich at the top, and the air was hazy.
898As he looked downwards, his eyes became lost in a dark and endless abyss. He couldn’t tell what was down there, but he could feel an infinitely rich and incomparably thick infernal energy drafting up from down below. The chilling cold winds that blew up felt as if they could freeze the soul. It was like this pitch-black abyss was an entrance to the 18 layers of hell.
899 “The practice area was built in this place.” Lin Ming finally understood. This massive circular abyss must pass through the entire Skysplit Tower. One could imagine this abyss as a titanic pipe in Skysplit Tower. And guessing from how deep it went, this abyss was located square in the center of the towering cliff that Polaris City was located atop.
900The young Fey girl already expected that Lin Ming would be surprised. She faintly smiled and then thoughtfully explained, “This abyss is the source of infernal energy. The infernal energy within Polaris City gushes out from tens of thousands of feet deep within the land. The deeper you go, the richer the infernal energy is. Thus, the deeper the practice area is, the higher the charge.”
901“But, the martial artists of Skysplit Tower’s second floor can at most travel down to a depth of 10,000 feet. Any further and they would die. I would like to remind Sir Lin that even though this abyss looks extremely spacious and empty, the truth is that there are all sorts of traps and secrets formed by array formations and spells. Also, flying is prohibited here. If you want to leave this area and go practice somewhere else then you cannot travel through the abyss. You must go through the paths of Skysplit Tower, otherwise you will encounter an accident.”
902The young Fey girl winked, her bright and beautiful eyes shining.
903One could not travel through the abyss, and there were also a variety of spells and array formations. Then, the security of these practice areas should have some guarantee to them. It wasn’t like the martial artist service lodge where he had been spied on without his knowledge. Just this point alone caused Lin Ming’s heart to move; there were simply too many secrets on his body.
904“Sir Lin, over there is a registration office for the second-floor practice areas. If Sir Lin must stay here, then please register at the registration office.” The young Fey girl closed the thick wooden door to the abyss, and respectfully pointed to a room not too far away.
905Lin Ming looked at the registration office. It was a simply and crude stone building. The exterior was plain, and there was only a single plaque that hung up above the entrance. There were two words written in ink by a strong and steady hand. It said, ‘Martial Pavilion’.
906As Lin Ming pushed open the doors and entered, he paused. The Martial Pavilion was only a small space. A gray-skinned middle-aged man sat behind a table in this room. But, in front of him was a beautifully handsome Fey man. This Fey man was Lan Xing.
907As Lin Ming walked in, Lan Xing only shot him a glance before turning away again.
908“The first practice area, I would like to open a room there for another year.”
909“Mm. Then it will be one slaughter point and 500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.”
910As Lin Ming heard the words ‘500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals’, he sucked in a deep breath, this practice area was really not a normal kind of expensive! It had to be said that when he killed Blackrat, the spatial ring he received had less than 2000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
911This amount was only enough for three years of practice time.
912“Great!” Lan Xing invigoratingly took out a small box of Blood Demon Crystals from his spatial ring. He glanced back at Lin Ming, a faint smile on his lips.
913Chapter 540 – Top Grade Practice Area
914When Lan Xing looked at Lin Ming, although there wasn’t any hostility, there was a slight hint of haughty superiority.
915The middle-aged man opened up the small box. It was stacked to the brim with medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. The light of the crystals was very pressing on the eye.
916As the young Fey girl beside Lin Ming saw this scene, her beautiful large eyes shined. Her own cultivation wasn’t too high, so this box of pure Blood Demon Crystals left a really large impact on her.
917“500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals, no more and no less.” The middle-aged man nodded, satisfied.
918Lan Xing said, “Administration deacon, I would also like to trade in a few new battle array discs.”
919As Lan Xing spoke, he took out four or five array discs from his spatial ring. Lin Ming had seen Blackrat use these array discs before. These were phantom array discs. They could display light images on top and also record scenes.
920The middle-aged man glanced over these array discs and said, “Five array discs, 500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.”
921“Okay!”
922Lan Xing took out another small box that was filled with medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Now he had spent a total of 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
923The young Fey girl gulped. These past years she had experienced a number of fantastic scenes. But, she still couldn’t help but be dazed in wonder at such a large transaction.
924“What is that battle array disc?” Lin Ming couldn’t help but ask. A battle array disc cost 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals and it was only a rental? What was recorded in that array disc that could be so valuable?
925The young Fey girl said, “This is a recording of masters fighting. There are battles between Demon Generals and Fey Generals, there are battles between Demon Kings and Fey Kings, and there are even battles between Demon Emperors and Fey Emperors. This is the wealth of Skysplit Tower, so fees are collected to view them.”
926“Fights of Demon Emperors?” Lin Ming sucked in a deep breath. Until now, although he had frequently heard of Demon Emperors, Fey Emperors, and all sorts of Divine Sea Supreme Elders, he still hadn’t actually seen these honorable figures before. To him, these characters were legendary existences. What sort of scene would a battle between Demon Emperors be like? Lin Ming was truly looking forwards to this.
927“Are there authority requirements to watch the Demon Emperor battle scenes?”
928“Mm…not just that, but it requires slaughter points. I’m not too sure of the exact price and authority requirements, but Lan Xing should be wanting to see battles of four-star Fey Kings and above.”
929A four-star to six-star Fey King was equal to a human Life Destruction powerhouse.
930Normally speaking, a human single stage Life Destruction powerhouse was much weaker than a four-star Fey King. But, there were many stages of human Life Destruction. Could every single layer after layer after layer still be weaker than a four-star Fey King? What about a master at five to six stages of Life Destruction?
931And what’s more, once a master crossed seven or eight stages of Life Destruction, this sort of monstrous genius’ strength would have already reached that of a Divine Sea Supreme Elder. To them, defeating a six-star Fey King would be simple.
932“Four-star to six-star Fey King battles cost 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals to rent one time. This price is expensive enough!”
933In summary, a four to five-star Fey King, was also Xuan Wuji’s level.
934“This is Skysplit Tower, everything here is expensive. All of the food and water here is transported from other lands by Xiantian martial artists with spatial rings. Not just that, but there are many heroic youths here. Not a single one of them can be considered poor, and all of them have great wealth. Where there is a great deal of wealth, prices of resources will naturally rise.” The young Fey girl said with an obvious look.
935In Skysplit Tower, even mortals would have Blood Demon Crystals on them. After all, as long as one encountered a swanky martial artist and served them well, gaining some rewards would also be normal.
936Lan Xing examined these five new battle array discs and placed them in his spatial ring after a nod of satisfaction. His eyes floated onto Lin Ming. He casually glanced at him and said, “I’m quite interested in fighting with you. I hope that in the upcoming days you will appear in the arena, and not try to avoid fighting.”
937Lan Xing’s declaration of war wasn’t out of Lin Ming’s expectations. He had noticed that Lan Xing’s eyes filled with thick fighting intent whenever he saw him. It was just that this Fey youth’s imperious tone made him feel a bit unhappy.
938“Whether I enter the arena or not will all be my own choice. I will not deliberately avoid anyone, but even if I did, it wouldn’t be the likes of you. If you wish to challenge me in the arena, then I will welcome you anytime.” Lin Ming indifferently said as he straightened his sleeves.
939“Ho! Those are some pretty confident words. You should hurry up and choose your practice area. I also want to advise you not to rent a place for too long, otherwise you might find that you’ll have wasted all that extra time.”
940“Oh? So, you want this to be a battle to the death?”
941“Swords are blind. In a battle with life and death on the line, death is par for the course.”
942The words exchanged between the two were edged and barbed. At this time, the administration deacon impatiently said, “If you two want to get all spicy with each other than you can go to the arena. This building is for registration of practice areas. If you want to register then do so now. If you don’t then go outside.”
943The middle-aged man angrily waved his hand.
944“I will register.”
945Lin Ming calmly walked in front of the deacon’s desk and handed over his pass. His information was listed within it.
946The administration deacon looked over Lin Ming’s pass and wrote down some numbers on a piece of paper. He lackadaisically said, “The practice areas of the second floor are separated into five grades. The lowest is the fourth-grade. This area requires 20 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals per year. The third-grade takes 80 Blood Demon Crystals, the second-grade takes 200 Blood Demon Crystals, and the first-grade takes 500 Blood Demon Crystals as well as a single slaughter point…”
947The practice area Lan Xing had chosen a moment ago was a first-grade practice area. It required 500 Blood Demon Crystals as well as a single slaughter point every year.
948“You said the practice areas are divided into five grades. There is also a top-grade area?” Lin Ming asked after he mulled over it.
949“Yes, but… there are only two top-grade practice areas on the entire second floor. It requires 200 Blood Demon Crystals every 10 days as well as a slaughter point.
950The administration deacon glared at Lin Ming, a bit impatient. This top-grade practice area was empty most of the time. After all, the fees were simply too high. He would normally introduce it to famous individuals; otherwise, he wouldn’t bother at all.
951For one year in this top-grade practice area, it would cost 7200 Blood Demon Crystals and 36 slaughter points. There was simply no one who would pay such an extravagant price. When they did, they would rent for 10 days. Even so, there were still very few people that did. It hurt the heart to have to pay such an extravagant price. It was just like a common poor person that couldn’t afford silk. They would rather take the money and buy ten times the amount of cotton instead.
952However, this top-grade practice place was very useful. Cultivating in there for a single day was the same as cultivating in other places for four to five days. Some great figures of the second floor would sometimes pay the price if they were stuck at a bottleneck in their cultivation. They would enter the top-grade practice area for ten days or maybe even twenty, in the hopes that they could make a breakthrough to the next realm.
953Lin Ming had heard of the effectiveness of this top-grade practice place before. He thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll rent it for 50 days.”
954“50 days?” The administration deacon looked at Lin Ming with bewildered eyes. It had to be known that even the famous figures of the second floor would only rent out a top-grade practice area for 10 or 20 days at a time.
955Renting one for 50 days meant it would cost a total of 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals as well as five slaughter points. 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals was already a big deal, but those five slaughter points were especially heartbreaking.
956This was because slaughter points were that difficult to earn! Not just that, but slaughter points had too many uses. At auctions and trade fairs, there were many precious and rare things that required slaughter points to buy. Even a top rank powerhouse would be frugal with their slaughter points.
957“Are you sure?”
958“I’m sure.” Lin Ming nodded. The truth was that he had planned on staying on Skysplit Tower’s second floor for 50 days or so. Afterwards, he planned on attacking the third floor. That was where Lin Ming might stay for a few more years.
959Hearing Lin Ming’s assured tone, the administration deacon clearly warmed up to Lin Ming’s cavalier attitude. If he could rent out this top-grade practice area for 50 whole days, then as the steward of the area, he too would have some benefits. “50 days, great! I’ll register you!”
960The administration deacon had completely wiped away his previously languid manner. He flourished his pen and began to write with great strokes.
961As for that young Fey girl who had come with Lin Ming, she was feeling ill.
9621000 medium-grade blood Demon Crystals and five slaughter points for a mere 50 days of rent…
963Even if one’s practice efficiency was five times higher, so what? That was equal to 250 days at a first-grade practice area. To save a mere 200 days… the cost was unbelievable!
964This was simply a waste, an absolutely self-destructive waste. 
965Lin Ming naturally knew what function slaughter points had. But, he didn’t lack when it came to treasures, pills, or cultivation methods, so he had no need to go to a trade fair or an auction. Secondly, he had complete confidence that he would be able to earn more slaughter points a short time later. As a result, he happily spent as many slaughter points as he needed to.
966As for those 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals, they meant nothing to him. He never cared too much for something as vague as wealth to begin with. As for practice, he only used high-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals were for spending.
967Lin Ming took out two boxes that held a total of 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. These were the wealth that Blackrat had left behind after his death.
968Lan Xing grimaced at the side.
969This boy!
970He was actually showing off his wealth in front of him?
971Lan Xing was naturally proud. He felt uncomfortable that there was someone trying to push him down. He already thought that his own spending was lavish, but as he watched Lin Ming in front of him, even he felt pained by his actions. He didn’t care much about Blood Demon Crystals, but slaughter points were a completely different matter.
972‘This fool, he’ll rue the day he indiscriminately wasted so many slaughter points!’
973Lan Xing darkly thought in his heart.
974“Young Hero, would you like to rent some battle array discs?” The administration deacon’s voice was filled with hospitality. If he managed to rent out a high-level battle array disc, then he would also have some benefits from that.
975Lin Ming hesitated for a moment before slowly asked, “Do I have the authority to rent out an array disc of Emperor level masters?”
976“This… no, it’s not possible. Also, the second floor does not have any. The highest recorded battles we have here are battle array discs with quasi Emperors. They cost 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals and a slaughter point for one month of rental time.
977A quasi Emperor was the realm between a six-star Demon King and Demon Emperor. It was equal to a fifth or sixth stage Life Destruction Supreme Elder, and was at a much higher level than Xuan Wuji.
978“Mm. Then I’ll take one.” Lin Ming had just obtained a Glory Emblem, so he had a two-star authority now. As for Blood Demon Crystals and slaughter points, he didn’t care too much about that. Once he entered the third floor, it would naturally be much easier to obtain slaughter points than on the second.
979As the young Fey girl heard the tone of this conversation that was like Lin Ming was buying cabbage from a street market, she was stunned speechless.
980As for Lan Xing, his eyes flashed and he sneered, “In order to push me down, you still do such pathetic things? Is your head really that swollen? You really are childish. As far as I know, you don’t have any more slaughter points than I do, and yet you’re wasting them like this to get to me. You are such a stupid idiot!”
981Chapter 541 – Enlightenment Once More
982Lan Xing finished his rant, and without any intention of staying at this place any longer, turned around and stomped out.
983Lin Ming didn’t think that Lan Xing would have such an explosive reaction. As he watched Lan Xing stride away, Lin Ming shook his head and said, “How ridiculous.”
984He calmly took out another box of Blood Demon Crystals and set it on the table. “There are 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals here, you can count them.”
985“Mm, alright.” The administration deacon happily smiled and swept over the box with his divine sense. Then, he kindly placed it away. The more this type of guest came back, the greater his profits would be.
986“Do you need any other battle array discs?” The administration deacon enthusiastically asked.
987Lin Ming thought about it for a moment. He said, “I’ll take three battle array discs with three-star Fey Kings and Demon Kings. I don’t need any others.”
988Lin Ming’s interest in Life Destruction level powerhouses was much lower than his interest in Emperor level characters. But, it was also helpful if he understood the different sorts of combat techniques of the Fey and Giant Demon races.
989“Alright. That will be a total of 600 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.”
990So far, Lin Ming had already used up all the medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals that he obtained from Blackrat. But if he combined the Blood Demon Crystals of Zha Na and Gu Yue, then he had more than enough.
991Lin Ming received the key to the practice area as well as seven array discs. He turned to the young Fey girl and said, “Miss, please take me to the practice area.”
992“Okay, great!” The young Fey girl’s eyes filled with eager passion as she looked at Lin Ming. It was rare for anyone to see such a rich master. And even if she did, it might not even be her turn to serve him. That Lan Xing was already extremely opulent.
993The space within Skysplit Tower was immense. Since Lin Ming’s practice area was thousands of feet deep, it was an extremely long walk. Along the entire way the young Fey girl endlessly chattered about the going-ons of Skysplit Tower, whether that information was useful or useless. She even completely informed Lin Ming about everything she knew about the powerhouses of the second level.
994The more the young Fey girl spoke, the closer she approached to Lin Ming. Finally, she was close enough that she was nearly hanging off Lin Ming. Her curvaceous and luscious body melted onto his, and she constantly traced his arms.
995Lin Ming ignored the girl’s advances several times, but this young Fey girl was abnormally blind in her flirting. Lin Ming finally grew impatient. A cold light flashed in his eyes and infernal energy emitted from his body. The young Fey girl shook and scurried away, her eyes filling with fear and worry.
996Within Skysplit Tower, as the lowest level of all martial artists, the young Fey girl was considered slightly better than a senior slave. Those like her could not even dare to provoke the challengers, which was why the young Fey girl was so terrified.
997As Lin Ming saw this, he couldn’t help but think of little Qing He. As he thought about the fate of these pitiful slaves, his heart softened. He said, “Continue speaking. This is for you.”
998As Lin Ming spoke, he tossed over a small bag of Blood Demon Crystals.
999The young Fey girl hesitated for a moment. Then, she bit her lips and slowly took the bag. As she weighed it in her hand, she feared that there were more than a dozen Blood Demon Crystals inside.
1000The young Fey girl continued to warily inform Lin Ming on the situation at Skysplit Tower, but this time she didn’t dare to approach Lin Ming even a bit.
1001As the two reached the practice area, they opened the door, and within was a single transmission array.
1002The young Fey girl said, “Young Hero Lin, I can only bring you here. You can use the key to activate the transmission array. Then, you can enter your room. The room has layers upon layers of spells and array formations covering it; you do not need to worry that others will spy on you, so please rest assured.”
1003“Good.” Lin Ming nodded. He placed his key into the array formation, and with a white flash of light, he was suddenly in a dark room.
1004As he entered this room, the first feeling he felt was cold. There was extreme chilling energy here that made him feel incredibly creeped out.
1005The room was filled with a layer of misty black fog that wafted around. This was a rich infernal energy that had condensed into essence.
1006“To think that the infernal energy in this room is rich to this degree. If a lower level martial artist were to come here, they would lose their mind. Even a Xiantian realm powerhouse would find their heart affected if they stayed here for too long!”
1007The room was only 30 feet by 30 feet. There was a bed made from black rock and the only thing on it was a hard pillow. There weren’t even any bedsheets; it was extremely depressing to see.
1008If an average person had to live in this environment for an entire month, they would probably descend into madness.
1009However, this couldn’t be considered much to Lin Ming. A martial artist’s seclusion was originally a lonely and devout path.
1010Lin Ming took a deep breath and then sat down on the bed. He pulled out the quasi Emperor battle array disc that recorded their battle.
1011He placed a Blood Demon Crystal in the array disc, and a series of phantom illusions beamed into the air.
1012Above the boundless jet-black sea, the waves rolled and storms surged in the air. Two silhouettes were suspended high above the sea.
1013One wore a black cloak, and he held a long spear in his hand. This man was a Giant Demon.
1014As for his opponent, she was an ice-cold beauty. She wore a black veil, and her two-pointed ears peeked out from the sides. Her inky hair fell down like a waterfall, and shiny scales glimmered at the edges of her eyes. She was a Fey beauty.
1015“Two great quasi Emperor masters!”
1016Although Lin Ming couldn’t see their cultivation in these phantom images, for some unknown reason, he actually felt somewhat scared. This was a fear that swelled up from the depths of his being!
1017“A mere illusion can still retain such an aura, what would happen if it was the real person? This is also only at the quasi Emperor level. If it was the true Emperor level, a Divine Sea Supreme Elder that had crossed Life Destruction seven or eight times, then what would that be like?”
1018As Lin Ming thought out loud, he felt his blood boil with passion.
1019Woosh!
1020The Giant Demon was the first to make a move. He stabbed his spear out at the icy Fey beauty. The fierce combat had begun!
1021With Lin Ming’s eyes, he was completely unable to track the movement of the battle. He could only see the sea’s waves crash in massive tides, and the sky permeated with intense demonic essence. Sword and spear energies cut through the heavens and earth, and dark clouds roiled in the skies.
1022The space was disturbed. Visible ripples radiated out in the sky. From high above, it was like black flowers blooming in the air.
1023“Mm? This is…”
1024As Lin Ming glanced at the sea, he saw that the ripples had created a small vortex in the water. A massive amount of seawater was being swallowed up into this vortex and completely disappearing.
1025Was this… a space crack?
1026When Lin Ming had journeyed through the broken world, that entire world had decayed into fragments. That broken world had been flooded by a massive amount of seawater that came from the South Sea, and Lin Ming had also seen a number of similar vortexes there. If a martial artist ran into them, they would be directly ripped in half!
1027These space cracks hadn’t been here before the two quasi Emperor level masters battled. If he wasn’t wrong, then these space cracks were the result of intense true essence shockwaves and energy vortexes that tore apart space.
1028“Just a fight between quasi Emperor level masters can create tears in space? What would happen in a battle between Emperor level masters?”
1029Lin Ming exclaimed out. Over time, he found that these small vortexes in the ocean slowly shrunk until they finally disappeared.
1030“Torn space cracks in a fight of quasi Emperors are only temporary. It seems like stable space has the ability to independently regenerate, unless it was like the disintegrating broken world in which the Demon God Imperial Palace was located. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy for those Life Destruction Supreme Elders to create a space channel.”
1031Lin Ming fully concentrated on the fight again, watching it over and over. No matter how many times he saw it, his current eye speed wasn’t able to keep up with the speed of the two quasi Emperors’ moves. However, these moves and martial skills weren’t important to Lin Ming; what he wanted to experience were the Concepts and Laws!
1032“The quasi Emperor Giant Demon’s Concept seems to contain a desperate and frenetic strength. Just from looking at his spear moves, it feels like my own soul is breaking apart… maybe… is this the Concept of Annihilation?”
1033Lin Ming was secretly surprised. These were just phantoms from a recording, and yet there was such a preeminent aura. If he was actually watching them fight, then he didn’t know what sort of situation he would be in. This Concept of Annihilation was too terrifying. From just a glance, a martial artist with an infirm will would have their very souls destroyed.
1034“The Fey woman seems to be using the Concept of Water and the Concept of Wind. Her moves are too fast; they leave one feeling as if space and time are in upheaval. I fear that her moves also contain the Concept of Time and the Concept of space. The Fey are truly beloved by the natural Laws. This Fey woman understands too many Concepts. And, what is most terrifying Is that her mastery of these Concepts has reached a degree where she can freely use them and fuse them into her attacks. This is simply unbelievable!”
1035This battle did not have an end. As the phantoms reached the white-hot stage, they finally vanished, without showing who won or lost. Lin Ming thought this was a pity, but he had still gained a great deal of benefits from watching this. In particular, that Fey woman. Her understandings of wind, time and space seemed to raise a certain awareness in his heart.
1036This awareness combined with what Lin Ming had experienced as he traveled through the space channel to the Holy Demon Continent. He had a faint sense as if something was almost within reach, but he still couldn’t touch it.
1037The power of space and time within that space channel echoed within Lin Ming’s mind. At this time, time seemed to bend, and even Lin Ming’s thoughts seemed to slow down. It was like a film was slowly playing in his mind.
1038Like this, Lin Ming became lost in thought as he unknowingly entered the ethereal martial intent state.
1039With the support of the ethereal martial intent, spiritual sense’s concentration increased ten times over. Even his breathing seemed to fall into a vague state; there wasn’t even a single sense of perception or leftover thought in his body.
1040A circle of black infernal energy gathered around Lin Ming, forming into a faint black fog. It quietly floated into Lin Ming’s body. Without any external guidance, the infernal energy instinctively revolved in a nearly perfect route through Lin Ming.
1041Lin Ming had unconsciously reentered into a state of enlightenment. As he maintained this state, time seemed to pass by him. Unknown to him, several days passed…
1042……... 
1043Days later, at the second floor’s arena –
1044“Lan Xing, victory!” The black-clothed referee held up Lan Xing’s hand. “This is a seven-win streak as well as Lan Xing’s seventh victory! If he continues winning and reaches a ten-win streak, will these be the first slaughter points that he wins from the second floor? Does anyone else here dare to challenge Lan Xing?”
1045The black-clothed referee’s voice was filled with crazed passion.
1046“This Lan Xing is too fierce. I said that he had the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon before, but it seems I’ve underestimated him. He might even have the strength of a four-winged back section Heavenly Demon!”
1047There was an extremely long path from a four-winged Heavenly Demon to a six-winged Heavenly Demon. Thus, as the sixth set of wings of the Heavenly Demon Tattoo was being formed it would be divided into the front section, middle section, and back section.
1048“It looks like Lan Xing will reach a ten-win streak. The masters of the second floor won’t stop him until he reaches that point.”
1049“Yes, this is what usually happens. It’s rare to be able to raise such a fat sheep. Lan Xing will only be of value to those masters once he earns a ten-win streak and some slaughter points.”
1050Chapter 542 – Another Step Further
1051The rules of Skysplit Tower stated that one could earn a single slaughter point after reaching a ten-win streak. But, this slaughter point could not be immediately used. One had to win again in order to activate this point for use, and if they lost, this slaughter point would be transferred to the victor.
1052These were the rules of Skysplit Tower.
1053Thus, the masters of the second floor were like hunters. They specifically focused on martial artists who had reached a ten-win streak. If they could defeat this sort of martial artist, they would obtain not only infernal energy but also a slaughter point.
1054The martial artists that were targeted were often referred to as fat sheep.
1055A 10-win streak was a hurdle, and a 20-win streak was another hurdle. But, this 20-win streak was a much more difficult and pitiful path, because those that reached this number of victories were more likely to provoke a master.
1056The last time, when Lan Xing had gone onstage for the first time, the great arena had only held several hundred people. But this time there were thousands of individuals, many of them being masters of the second floor.
1057These people were all sizing up Lan Xing, estimating his strength in their hearts. This was because to them, Lan Xing was their prey.
1058Lan Xing sneered in his heart, ‘They really think I am some prey. Humph, when the time comes, let’s see who will become the prey here! The reason that I didn’t step into the martial arena even once after entering the second floor and instead went into seclusion for an entire year was all for you lot!’
1059As Lan Xing was deep in thought, another martial artist jumped onto the arena stage.
1060As the eighth match started, Lan Xing grinned. To him, dealing with this person was simple.
1061……
1062“Eighth match, Lan Xing is victorious!” The referee announced once more.
1063“An eight-win streak! A newcomer has reached an eight-win streak! What an astounding result!” Beneath the stage, all of the martial artists were paying more and more attention to Lan Xing.
1064“I heard that Lan Xing said he wanted to challenge Lin Ming and decide just who was the strongest newcomer of the two. But where has Lin Ming disappeared to these days?”
1065“Could he be in closed-door cultivation? Or he might even be hiding from Lan Xing. Lan Xing is truly too strong. He’s shown a strength even greater than when he achieved his three-win streak; it wouldn’t be strange if Lin Ming thought he couldn’t defeat him. After all, Lan Xing has already cultivated on the second floor for an entire year.”
1066“Mm. Although avoiding a battle might muddy your thoughts, it is necessary for a martial artist to know patience every now and then. Especially in Skysplit Tower. All of the impatient ones have already died off.
1067Within Skysplit Tower, one’s own life came first; avoiding a battle was not disgraceful. On the other hand, rushing headfirst into a battle that one knew they had no chance of winning was an act to be laughed at by everyone.
1068After the eight-win streak, there was a nine-win streak!
1069After achieving three-win streaks in the last three days, Lan Xing was only a single win off from 10!
1070“Today’s three matches are already over. Young Hero Lan, would you like to continue?” The black-clothed referee respectfully asked. No matter where one was, if one had power then one had respect. Not to mention that Lan Xing also had a promising future. In the future, if there wasn’t a problem, he might even become a Fey Emperor. Of course, the basis for this was that he didn’t perish here.
1071“I’m stopping for today. The one I wanted to fight hasn’t appeared yet. Tomorrow, I hope that my opponent will appear in the arena and not let me down!”
1072This opponent was naturally Lin Ming. There were many people that greatly wished to see the battle between these two rising star newcomers. However, after Lin Ming had gone into seclusion, everyone had lost sight of him. It was as if he had simply disappeared.
1073“Lan Xing’s words are the same as a direct challenge!”
1074“Humph, challenging someone is also useless. If Lin Ming could arrive at this point, he’s not an idiot. If I were Lin Ming, then I wouldn’t come out. What would Lan Xing do to me? Rather, I’m looking forwards to Lan Xing’s 11th match tomorrow. I wonder which master will make their move, and whether or not Lan Xing will be able to keep his slaughter points.”
1075“Mm. I’m also looking forward to this. There will definitely be a great number of people coming here tomorrow, and there might be many masters appearing.”
1076…………... 
1077The abyssal practice area. In the flash of an eye, four days had passed.
1078Lin Ming sat motionless on the bed like a sculpted statue. A rich infernal energy covered his body, layering onto him like a thick cocoon.
1079Within Lin Ming’s mind, various chaotic pictures were alternatingly appearing. The journey through time and space, the memories of ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’, the Concepts of space and Time within the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’, and more.
1080These images were becoming increasingly clear within Lin Ming’s mind. After some time, Lin Ming felt as if something suddenly appeared in his heart. A great energy swelled forth from his dantian, spreading through his meridians.
1081If he couldn’t give vent to this energy, then he would go mad!
1082Lin Ming took out the Purple Comet Spear from his spatial ring. A single spear thrust out, and the Purple Comet Spear seemed to escape into the void, disappearing without a trace.
1083Peng!
1084The spear struck the protective arrays of the practice area. The entire array formation shook, and the Purple Comet Spear bent like a crescent moon under the impact.
1085There was a slight pause. In this moment, Lin Ming’s body seemed to completely violate all laws of physics as everything suddenly reversed. Even the Purple Comet Spear appeared back in his spatial ring. It was as if Lin Ming hadn’t even moved at all.
1086In terms of his dantian, Lin Ming’s true essence cyclone had expanded. He was only a step away from reaching the middle Xiantian realm.
1087“My cultivation has already reached the extreme pinnacle of the early Xiantian realm. I have also managed to touch a bit upon the Concepts of Time and space through meditation.”
1088Lin Ming lightly breathed out. It really wasn’t easy perceiving these Laws through meditation.
1089From the point that he had obtained ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’ to when he practiced the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’, these two highest quality cultivation methods had both mentioned the Laws of Time and space. In addition to his journey through space and time via the ultra-long-distance transmission array as well as the battle disc array of the quasi Emperor level battle, this series of opportunities had allowed Lin Ming to understand the smallest fraction of the Laws of space and Time.
1090“Compared to the Fey who are beloved by the natural Laws, my compatibility with Laws is nothing to speak of. If it wasn’t for the support of my ethereal martial intent, I fear that four days would have been nowhere close to enough.” Lin Ming sighed in disappointment. He felt that his perception of the Laws through meditation would always be unsatisfactory.
1091“As for my cultivation, it has been rapidly increasing. At most I am a month away from reaching the middle Xiantian realm. If I have just a bit more time then I’ll be able to make my breakthrough. The Blood Slaughter Steppes truly lives up to its reputation. With top quality cultivation areas and top-quality practice, in addition to the constant life and death battles, it is easy to stimulate a martial artist’s potential. As long as one cultivates for several years without dying in the Blood Slaughter Steppes, their cultivation will inevitably rise a great deal.
1092It could be said that the accelerated pace of progress within the Blood Slaughter Steppes was paid with the deaths of countless heroic youths and geniuses. This was like a group of bees selecting a queen. A competitor would have to kill the rest before taking the position of queen bee. The life and death battles of the Blood Slaughter Steppes were naturally much more effective than the great martial meetings of Sky Spill Continent’s sects. And in return, the price was that much greater.
1093Lin Ming had practiced for four days in a single go. He felt his stomach rumble; these hunger pangs were truly unbearable. His body had also emitted a great deal of sweat so he felt very sticky and uncomfortable.
1094He prepared to take a bath and have a meal.
1095Lin Ming’s top-grade practice area was small, and there was no place to rest either.
1096Lin Ming left through the transmission array in the room. He arrived at a martial artist service lodge on the second floor. A surge of bustling air suddenly blew past him as he entered.
1097Here, as long as one had Blood Demon Crystals, they could enjoy a wide range of services. There was everything that one could want or imagine. Bathing and eating were the simplest services. There were even martial artists that came here to vent their sexual desires on beauties; it wasn’t strange for a martial artist to come here and pick up a dozen beauties to go take a bath together.
1098Lin Ming found a decent-looking restaurant to sit down at. Before he had even ordered food, he found that there were many people looking towards him, their lips moving. Obviously, they were speaking to each other through true essence sound transmissions. As they noticed Lin Ming looking at them, they had a strange light in their eyes.
1099‘Mm? When did I get so much attention?’
1100Lin Ming could be considered a minor celebrity on the second floor. But, this shouldn’t have been enough to capture the attention of so many people.
1101Lin Ming thought for a moment. Then, he took out a sound transmitting talisman and crushed it in his hands, sparking a small fire.
1102After a period of time, a young Fey girl rushed into the restaurant. At this time, Lin Ming was slowly eating some beef with sauce.
1103“Sir Lin.”
1104The young Fey girl bowed. Before, she had left Lin Ming her sound transmission mark so that he could call on her.
1105Lin Ming hadn’t even asked a question when the young Fey girl said with a true essence sound transmission, “Sir Lin, you can’t go to the martial arena. Lan Xing is currently fighting at the martial arena. Before now, he had challenged you by name, but it was just that Sir Lin was in closed-door cultivation so he didn’t have the chance. He’s had a three-win streak every day, and he’s already claimed a nine-win streak. If he wins again, then it will be a 10-win streak. Sir Lin, if you go to the martial arena now, he will absolutely challenge you.”
1106“Oh? Something like that happened?” Lin Ming traced his chin. He also knew the rules of Skysplit Tower. If one reached a ten-win streak then they could obtain a slaughter point. After watching the battle between the quasi Emperor level masters, he had obtained a great deal of benefits from those illusions. Lin Ming had come to a new understanding of slaughter points. They really were a good thing; the more the better.
1107If he could earn more slaughter points, he could trade them for more battle array discs with quasi Emperors that were familiar with the Concepts of space and Time. Or even, once his authority rose again, he could rent out a true Emperor level master’s battle array disc. With this, his understanding of these Laws could reach new heights. Lin Ming would naturally not miss out on such a great advantage.
1108The young Fey girl saw that Lin Ming’s interest had been piqued and she blanched. She began to hastily explain in a panic. “That’s right, Sir Lin, please do not underestimate him. Lan Xing has shown a strength much greater than what he revealed in his first battle. He hadn’t been taking the three-win streak of that first day seriously!”
1109“I understand.” Lin Ming suddenly realized why so many people were staring at him. They were waiting for a good show.
1110Lin Ming took out a medium-grade Blood Demon Crystal from his spatial ring and placed it on the table. He said, “Waiter, I’m done here.”
1111Lin Ming directly stood up.
1112“Sir Lin, what are you planning on doing?” The young Fey girl’s expression changed. Her heart filled with an unlucky foreboding feeling.
1113Lin Ming faintly smiled, “I’m going to the martial arena to have a little look. I want to see what this Lan Xing’s so-called hidden strength is like.”
1114Lin Ming’s voice wasn’t loud, but which martial artist in the restaurant wasn’t a master? They all clearly heard Lin Ming’s words.
1115Suddenly, many of these people revealed an interested look. Lin Ming was well aware that there was a tiger on the mountain and yet he still walked towards its lair!
1116However, there were also many people that shook their head and many that also laughed. Several Giant Demon martial artists looked at Lin Ming with schadenfreude in their eyes. They looked at Lin Ming like he was an idiot. They wanted to see how miserably he would be defeated or how horribly he would die.
1117Chapter 543 – Fey King Battle Body
1118Whether they wanted to watch for the fun or to see how Lin Ming would suffer, everyone stood up in unison to do one thing – pay the bill.
1119For a moment, the waiter was swamped with collecting money. The martial artists all hurried over to the martial arena.
1120“Sir Lin, you…” The young Fey girl was speechless. She had specifically tried to persuade Lin Ming not to go, but it had the opposite effect. The young Fey girl had some good feelings towards Lin Ming. Of course, this wasn’t even the least bit like the romantic feelings between men and women. Rather, it was the thankfulness of a servant that was treated kindly and wasn’t harassed by her master.
1121In the environment of Skysplit Tower, there were very few men that could remain pure of heart and mind without being corrupted by the malevolent influences. Naturally, she didn’t want anything to happen to Lin Ming.
1122She wanted to say something, but Lin Ming had already left the restaurant. He directly shot towards the martial arena.
1123“Haha, how interesting! I’m looking forward to Lin Ming and Lan Xing’s battle. I hope that they do not disappoint me!”
1124“The results are already plain. The young are just too wild and rambunctious, they don’t consider matters too much. Lin Ming hasn’t seen Lan Xing’s battles these past few days. It’s unwise for him to rush out like this.”
1125“Lin Ming isn’t bad, and he most likely has some hidden cards in his hand. But in Skysplit Tower, who here isn’t an outstanding genius amongst their peers, and who doesn’t have hidden strengths? In this case, those who underestimate others are most likely to suffer. If he presumes that his hidden cards are enough to kill the other, then those are the thoughts of an imbecilic fool. This sort of person is most likely to die.”
1126Masters in Skysplit Tower were as numerous as clouds in the sky. Here, there were tigers and dragons lying around every bend. Even masters of this level would have to thoroughly investigate their opponent’s strengths and true limits before making a move. Otherwise it would be extremely dangerous.
1127“I wonder what’s happening at the martial arena right now. Perhaps Lan Xing has already obtained his ten-win streak.”
1128“That’s probably happened.”
1129………………... .
1130At this time, at the martial arena –
1131“Ten-win streak! Lan Xing has finally obtained a ten-win streak!” The black-clothed referee loudly announced.
1132Lan Xing was simply too strong. He had officially manifested a complete four-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo, and there was even a pale outline of a third pair.
1133As the audience expected, Lin Ming hadn’t appeared. Since he didn’t appear, there hadn’t been anyone willing to step up and challenge Lan Xing’s ten-win streak. It was with great difficulty that Lan Xing found a Fey martial artist to step up. This martial artist had no hope to win originally.
1134“The 11th match is the most important!”
1135“Haha, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I have no idea who will step onstage!”
1136“These powerhouses have already come to an agreement according to their strengths. If I remember correctly, it should be time for Huyan Luo to enter the stage!”
1137Every chance to earn slaughter points was incomparably valuable. On the second floor, there were four different methods to earn slaughter points.
1138The first one to obtain winning streaks. 10 wins, 20 wins, 30 wins, 40 wins, and so forth, one could obtain corresponding slaughter points with every set of 10 winning streaks.
1139But in Skysplit Tower, if a high-level martial artist defeated a much weaker martial artist then this win wouldn’t be counted towards their winning streak. Thus, as a winning streak continued towards the end, the matches one faced would become increasingly ferocious.
1140At this time, even a powerhouse had to be careful of when they fought. It also became increasingly difficult to earn slaughter points.
1141The second method to earn slaughter points was nearly the opposite of the first method. It was to end the winning streak of an opponent. For instance, if someone were to end Lan Xing’s ten-win streak, then that slaughter point would go to them.
1142The third method was to obtain a Glory Emblem. Every Glory Emblem gave a certain number of slaughter points.
1143The last method was to gamble on a match. Once two sides made an agreement, they could bet slaughter points. The one who won would obtain these slaughter points.
1144In this situation, the easiest way to earn slaughter points was the second method: to end the winning streaks of others. This was especially for newcomers like Lan Xing; they were looked at as the best to make a move on by the masters.
1145Everyone was envious of these chances. Between the masters of the second floor, they already had an unwritten set of rules in order to divvy up these chances. And this time, it was Huyan Luo’s turn.
1146Huyan Luo was a Giant Demon. He stood 12 feet high, and he was considered tall and powerfully built even for a Giant Demon. His weapon was a massive sledgehammer with a handle as thick as an adult’s arm. Its weight was absolutely in the tens of thousands of jins.
1147Bang!
1148As Huyan Luo jumped onstage, he directly shattered the tiles where he landed, causing the entire arena stage to shake!
1149“Hehe, little baby boy, don’t be too nervous. I’ll go easy on you. Such a talented person like you is the best origin of our slaughter points. I will definitely not harm you, so don’t worry.” Huyan Luo’s eyes shined as he looked Lan Xing up and down, licking his lips in anticipation. His body was over twice as large as Lan Xing’s, it was like comparing an adult to a child.
1150Lan Xing smugly said, “Do you really think I’m some sheep? Do you believe that you can just keep me around and harvest points from me every now and then?”
1151“Haha, your thinking is also quite good! Boy, resign yourself to your fate. Skysplit Tower is a land where strength reigns supreme. If you can gain strength, then you can do the same as me!”
1152“Not bad, I agree with you. But before we begin our battle, I have a suggestion.”
1153“Say it!”
1154“I want to also make this a gambling match with slaughter points. I’ll bet two points. That means if you win, then you will obtain three slaughter points! Of course, if you lose then those points are mine!”
1155Lan Xing’s suggestion stunned Huyan Luo. Huyan Luo suddenly laughed and said, “Good idea, good idea!”
1156He hadn’t expected that such a great gift would deliver itself to his door. This Lan Xing really thought that a single point wasn’t enough and wanted to bet another two!
1157“Hehe, boy, if you thought you could beat me because I said I would go easy on you then you’re dead wrong. I will let you personally experience the strength of a challenger from the upper floor!”
1158As Huyan Luo finished speaking, he gave a loud shout and an imposing aura erupted form his body. Demonic essence surged out and infernal energy soared through the heavens!
1159Lan Xing sneered. The reason he had dared to make this bet with Huyan Luo was that he had already investigated everything about him. He had even researched the sect that Huyan Luo had come from, and had a deep understanding of just what his cultivation method was. He had even looked up battle array discs with Huyan Luo’s battles.
1160Of course, it was inevitable that Huyan Luo had several hidden cards. But even so, Lan Xing estimated he had a 70 to 80% chance of winning. In Skysplit Tower, a 70 to 80% chance was already worth gambling on.
1161Lan Xing’s lips curved up like a cackling fiend. He slowly extracted a longsword from his spatial ring…
1162………... .
1163“The infernal energy at the martial arena is so thick!”
1164“Who is fighting who? It’s reached such a degree!”
1165As Lin Ming shot past the path towards the martial arena, he heard martial artists along the way in heated discussions. Truly, the martial arena was emanating an extremely rich infernal energy; this was proof of just how heated the battle had become.
1166As Lin Ming entered the martial arena, he looked over from far away towards the central stage. A large Giant Demon fellow was standing there, his entire body wet with blood and his hair a mess. A young Fey youth was monstrously smiling at him. This Fey youth’s body was covered in a layer of amethyst armor. There were several deep wounds in his body, but he seemed unaware of this. In fact, this pain seemed to excite him.
1167“Is that Lan Xing?”
1168Lin Ming was surprised. This Fey youth had long blue hair that fell to his ankles and there were many runes etched onto his body in strange patterns. He did look like Lan Xing, but the Fey energy that wrapped around him was even more macabre.
1169“I never thought that Lan Xing would have successfully practiced the Fey King Battle Body! If this continues then Huyan Luo won’t be able to last much longer!”
1170“Mm, no wonder Lan Xing has such outstanding talent. His Ancient Fey bloodline is too rich, he can even use the Fey King Battle Body!”
1171“Ancient Fey bloodline?”
1172Lin Ming’s mind stirred. Before now, he had heard of the Ancient Giant Demon race. That massive glob of blood essence that had shot out of the Cosmic Melting Furnace was the blood essence of the Ancient Giant Demon race. Demonshine had wanted to swallow it in order to strengthen himself, but the end result was that it had been sucked up by the Magic Cube.
1173From the looks of it, it seemed as if the Ancient Fey were similar to the Ancient Giant Demons. Without a doubt, whether they were the Ancient Fey or the Ancient Giant Demons, both of them were races with heaven-defying talent.
1174Perhaps even the Ancient Phoenix Clan was the same.
1175“Sir Lin, that is the Fey King Battle Body!” At this time, the young Fey girl breathlessly gasped from behind Lin Ming. She had been following him this entire time. She sucked in another breath, her voice trembling as she said, “Sir Lin, Lan Xing can use the Fey King Battle Body because he has been recognized by the Ancient Fey. With the Fey King Battle Body, he can increase his strength by 40 to 50%!
1176Increasing one’s strength by 40 to 50% was indeed a considerable amount. An adult at his prime might be 40 to 50% stronger than a young teenager, but this adult might be able to defeat four or five of these teens.
1177As the young Fey girl saw Lin Ming’s uncaring expression, she sighed. There wasn’t anything else she could say to console him, she had said all she could say.
1178Bang!
1179On the arena stage, Huyan Luo’s great sledgehammer was thrown high, rapidly spinning in the air. At the same time, Lan Xing stepped forwards, a fierce wind blowing from his longsword.
1180Woosh woosh woosh!
1181Blood splashed out. Huyan Luo roared like a cornered beast and then punched his fist out at Lan Xing.
1182“Die.”
1183Lan Xing’s voice was icy cold. His figure disappeared into the wind. In the next moment, his cold, shining sword had pierced straight through Huyan Luo’s neck.
1184A single sword to seal the throat!
1185At this time, there was a loud explosion as the sledgehammer that Lan Xing sent flying had finally reversed its course and smashed into the ground. As for Huyan Luo, his eyes were wide with disbelief as he looked at the longsword in his neck, his blood dripping down its blade. Slowly, his eyes glazed over.
1186Pu!
1187Lan Xing shook his sword and sliced off Huyan Luo’s neck. The massive head rolled into the blood, and a column of blood spurted 20 feet straight into the air.
1188“Lan Xing, victory!”
1189With the referee’s announcement, the audience was stunned silent for a moment. Huyan Luo, whose strength was number one within the second tier, had actually died like this.
1190“What a fierce Concept of Wind. In the final strike, Lan Xing used the Concept of Wind to avoid Huyan Luo’s fist and also to make the killing strike!”
1191“For real. This Lan Xing is only 23 or 24 years old. In the future, there’s hope of him becoming a Fey Emperor!”
1192The audience loudly talked amongst themselves. There were indeed many outstanding heroic youths within Skysplit Tower. But, there were truly few potential Peerless Emperor level talents like Lan Xing.
1193Lan Xing ignored the discussion of the crowd. As he slowly raised his head, his eyes passed over to Lin Ming. His smile widened, and it seemed even more wicked than before.
1194Chapter 544 – Measure for Measure
1195Ka ka ka…
1196The amethyst armor that covered Lan Xing’s body began to gradually sink back into his body, and the arcane runes on his face began to fade away until he appeared like the unbearably handsome Fey youth from before. But, blood still stained his face, giving him a fierce look.
1197As Lan Xing looked at Lin Ming, his eyes were filled with pride and an intention to fight.
1198“Young Hero Lan has obtained an 11 win streak. He has officially gained one slaughter point as well as two slaughter points from his gamble with Huyan Luo. Would Young Hero Lan like to continue battling?”
1199“No,” Lan Xing shook his head, “I will rest for two hours before I begin my 12th match.”
1200Everyone had thought that Lan Xing would continue and try for a 12-win streak in a single go. But his words had surprised them.
1201“This boy! From his gamble with Huyan Luo, I had the sense that he was incredibly brazen, but now it seems that he is actually quite calm. He has consumed just a bit of energy but hasn’t gotten carried away by his victories. He actually decided to take a rest for two hours before continuing.”
1202“Mm. It looks like it wasn’t a moment of impulse that caused him to make a bet with Huyan Luo. It’s likely that he investigated Huyan Luo ahead of time and believed he had a high chance of winning.”
1203“Hehe, did you notice that Lin Ming also arrived? Do you think that Lin Ming will dare to stay here for two hours?”
1204“This isn’t a question of whether he dares to but rather if he’s an idiot and will be swayed by his mood. Lin Ming arrived just in time to see Lan Xing’s last fight; that Fey King Battle Body is no joke. Lan Xing’s combat prowess has already reached the first tier of Skysplit Tower’s second floor, and not just that, but he can’t be considered too weak amongst the first tier!”
1205As the audience spoke, many of those present were looking at Lin Ming. They were looking forward to seeing how Lin Ming would respond to this.
1206Under the watchful eyes of the audience, Lin Ming didn’t have much of an expression. Instead, he calmly walked onstage.
1207‘Mm? Lin Ming is stepping onstage?’
1208People had just had this thought when Lin Ming leapt up. Slowly, he fell onto the arena like a dragonfly on a still lake.
1209Lin Ming glanced at the black-clothed referee and calmly said, “I would like to fight.”
1210“Ah!”
1211Many of the audience gasped in surprise and excitement. Lin Ming hadn’t left nor did he meditate to rest. Instead, he had entered the arena stage to fight. Was he trying to prove a point here?
1212Lan Xing was also a bit stunned. He immediately smirked and then closed his eyes, returning to meditation to restore his mind.
1213He didn’t need to look before realizing that Lin Ming wouldn’t encounter any decent opponents. Although there was a great deal of masters that were present today, none of them would make a move against Lin Ming, and this was simply because there was no advantage in doing so.
1214At most, some of the weaker second tier human martial artists would come to challenge Lin Ming. These individuals came to gain experience as well as to challenge the gap between them and others. The martial arena of the second floor was never lacking in these types of martial artists, thus it was never difficult for one to gain a ten-win streak. But, for those above a ten-win streak, there were mighty masters everywhere. This was because they could gain slaughter points by ending someone else’s winning streak.
1215And because the strength of these individuals might be too close, when a heated battle occurred, oftentimes death would accompany it.
1216“White Wind Sect’s Zhou Tianyu kindly requests Sir Lin’s guidance!”
1217A human martial artist jumped onstage. He wasn’t some random nobody. In fact, he had condensed a two-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo; his strength could be considered decent.
1218There were many martial artists on the second floor that would condense a Heavenly Demon Tattoo and then lose a round. They would then have to spend another period of time condensing it again, and repeat this process many times. But as long as they kept their life then failure wasn’t much at all.
1219As the referee announced the start of the match, Zhou Tianyu’s sword flashed towards Lin Ming’s chest like a serpent. His sword strike contained a vague hint of the Concept of Water. His sword energy was long, liquid, and couldn’t be cut.
1220However, this was completely nothing to Lin Ming. As soon as his spear power was displayed, a vibrating wave of true essence erupted. That wave of endless true essence smashed into the sword energy, shattering it into nothing.
1221A spear thrust out, the tip like a bolt of lightning. It seemed to disappear into the void and instantly appeared between Zhou Tianyu’s eyebrows.
1222Chi!
1223Infernal energy suddenly converged on him. Zhou Tianyu felt a chilling cold between his eyebrows, and the hairs on his back began to stand on end. In that moment, he felt as if Lin Ming’s spear would cut through his head.
1224“I… I’ve lost.”
1225Zhou Tianyu was secretly relieved, but he discovered that his back was wet with sweat. Just then, he almost thought that he would die.
1226“Well fought.”
1227Lin Ming withdrew the Purple Comet Spear, and a surge of infernal energy within Zhou Tianyu rolled out and into Lin Ming’s body. Although it wasn’t much, it was still able to make Lin Ming’s Heavenly Demon Tattoo a bit more solid.
1228“Lin Ming, victory!” The referee loudly announced.
1229“What a powerful spear. Whether it’s his spear power or infernal energy, he can freely use them with skill and ease. I wonder if Lin Ming is hiding any more strength.”
1230“Mm. Lin Ming is indeed powerful, but his opponents are too weak. Even if he wins beautifully it doesn’t mean much. If Lin Ming wants to defeat Lan Xing… the chances aren’t too high.”
1231Zhou Tianyu wasn’t even at the same level as Huyan Luo. There were very few people that believed Lin Ming would win.
1232However, in a corner of the martial arena, a white-haired middle-aged man was deep in thought. In that split-second, his sense of space and time seemed to have been mixed up. “Was that an illusion? That seemed like just a casual strike from that boy, but if I were to face it, even I would find it difficult to avoid…”
1233Four-win streak, five-win streak, six-win streak…
1234Lin Ming obtained an eight-win streak in a single go. Every match didn’t exceed three moves. He was like an unstoppable juggernaut that mowed down everyone before him.
1235Although none of Lin Ming’s opponents were masters, every battle was easily won. In all these rounds, Lin Ming’s breathing hadn’t even quickened. This secretly startled some people present.
1236“Eight matches, eight victories. This is Young Hero Lin’s fifth match today. Do you wish to continue with a sixth match?” The black-clothed referee asked.
1237Within Skysplit Tower, a martial artist normally wouldn’t fight more than three battles a day. The truth was that this was for the sake of caution. They wanted to avoid seeming too arrogant and cocky, thus drawing out some masters to suppress them.
1238As Lin Ming was now, he could breeze through these past five matches like nothing.
1239“Perhaps.” Lin Ming glanced over at Lan Xing, thinking about how much time was left. He, like Lan Xing, wouldn’t underestimate his opponent. Lin Ming was looking forwards to seeing just what this Fey King Battle Body was all about.
1240After Lin Ming stepped offstage, everyone’s eyes were on him. They wanted to see whether he would leave or stay in the martial arena.
1241Lin Ming was a pure newcomer, much newer than Lan Xing. Lan Xing had already practiced on the second floor for an entire year. At this time, facing this sort of opponent, it wouldn’t be a shame if Lin Ming avoided battle.
1242However, Lin Ming only silently walked over to a seat and sat down. These several matches hadn’t really tired him, he was only sitting to adjust his mentality.
1243“He sat down! Heh, the newborn calf really doesn’t fear the tiger!”
1244“He’s only treating him equally. He’s already aware that Lan Xing will challenge him yet he doesn’t care. Instead, he calmly welcomes Lan Xing’s challenge.”
1245“This is quite fun to watch!”
1246When masters fought, especially two rising star talents, it often drew a great crowd. The news of the potential battle spread out, and more and more people crowded into the arena. There were constantly people streaming through the entrance of the martial arena. Soon, there were 4000 to 5000 people in the stands. Besides some martial artists that had gone into closed-door seclusion, most of the other martial artists had come. There were even some lower level martial artists that mainly did business on the second floor who also came, hoping to see the fun.
1247The entire martial arena was filled with people. As for the center stage of the martial arena, there actually wasn’t anybody fighting. They were all waiting for Lin Ming and Lan Xing to fight.
1248Time slowly passed. Lin Ming was like a monk as he sat in meditation, and Lan Xing wasn’t in a hurry either.
1249The crowd around the two began to loudly shout in their discussions.
1250In truth, Lan Xing didn’t even need an hour to restore his peak condition. But even so, he still stayed in meditation without any desire to stand up. In this situation, a normal person would inevitably become patient and jump onstage for the waiting audience. But, Lan Xing completely disregarded all of this. Since he said he would rest for two hours, he would rest for two hours.
1251The mental stability was startling.
1252“It’s time.” Two full hours later, Lan Xing opened his eyes from his quiet meditative state. His voice was calm like a placid lake.
1253“What a strong mentality!”
1254Some people in the audience couldn’t help but cry out in acclaim. People with this sort of disposition could maintain their peak battle condition at all times. There were very few external factors that would be able to affect their state of mind. 
1255“This fellow is quite scary. Not only is his strength heaven-defying, but he also has a calm personality.”
1256Lan Xing looked over to Lin Ming, the corners of his lips rising in a grin, “Since you’ve been waiting here for me, it looks like you’ve already decided to fight me. Since that’s the case, let’s go onstage!”
1257Lan Xing’s figure blurred and he appeared on the arena stage. Lin Ming followed, lightly falling onto the stage.
1258“Lin Ming, during my match with Huyan Luo, I made a bet with slaughter points. Do you dare to follow my gamble?” Lan Xing taunted.
1259“How many do you want to bet?” Lin Ming asked.
1260“The same, two. If you can defeat me, not only will you obtain slaughter points from stopping my winning streak, but you can also win two slaughter points from a bet. Of course, this all depends on whether or not you can win.”
1261“Then let’s do it!” Lin Ming readily agreed.
1262“Haha, great! Wonderful! Then I won’t be polite!” As Lan Xing spoke, he extracted a longsword from his spatial ring. The blade began to hum in the wind.
1263This was the achievement of integrating the Concept of Wind into one’s sword skill.
1264In terms of the Concept of Wind, Lan Xing’s understand far surpassed that of Lin Ming.
1265Lin Ming also took out the Purple Comet Spear. A tranquil yet indomitable aura suddenly burst out from him. He was like a towering mountain, unreachable and unattainable.
1266Chi chi chi!
1267The two hadn’t even fought but their auras were already colliding with each other. Compared to Lin Ming’s steady aura, Lan Xing’s aura was like flying arrows, both sharp and penetrating.
1268“Heh! You are truly extraordinary. Then I will see just how much of my strength you will be able to pull out!” As Lan Xing spoke, his expression changed. His eyes flashed like cold stars in the sky, a chilling light emanating from them.
1269“Sword of Wind!”
1270As Lan Xing finished speaking, the sword in his hand disappeared. His sword had fused into the wind. One could only see the wind, but not the sword.
1271In that instant, countless sword lights wove into a net that covered the sky, falling down onto Lin Ming.
1272“Golden Roc Shattering the Void!”
1273Lin Ming instantly vanished. The tiles that were underneath his feet were sliced into pieces by that the sword energy!
1274Chapter 545 – bloody Battle
1275 “Mm? The Concept of Wind?” Lan Xing’s sword slowed for a brief moment. He was extremely sensitive to the Concept of Wind. The movement technique that Lin Ming had just used had contained an inherent touch of the Concept of Wind.
1276“What a pity. Compared to me, the difference in our Concept of Wind is like the heavens and earth. A human’s understanding of Laws is truly revolting. Although your movement ability is adequate, you cannot dodge my blade!”
1277Lan Xing’s sword cut out once more. The speed of his moves made his attack difficult to distinguish; it was as if his body itself seemed to meld into the wind, leaving nothing but a series of fading phantoms. It was almost impossible to tell where he was, he was nowhere and everywhere at once.
1278Sword lights crossed in the air, forming a net of fine lines. There was no gap in this attack; it was unavoidable!
1279The highly compressed true essence combined with the Concept of Wind to a nearly perfect degree. The swiftness and deadliness of such an attack was daunting.
1280Lin Ming repeatedly retreated, but he couldn’t avoid these sword lights. His clothes began to tear apart, and he was surrounded by dangers on all sides.
1281“Lan Xing’s sword is too sharp and the attack angles are tricky. There isn’t any way to follow it. If I had to face this sword light, even I would have a headache. If Lin Ming only tries to dodge, then he will absolutely lose.”
1282“In the end, this is the disparity of Concepts. Lin Ming’s understanding of Concepts is far inferior to Lan Xing’s. If he wants to fight Lan Xing with Concepts, then he is only fooling himself. Attacking the enemy where he is weaker is a fool’s errand!”
1283“True. In terms of Concepts, how can a human compare with a Fey?”
1284In a corner of the arena, two veteran challengers were watching this match. They had very accurate vision and judgment, and were able to approximate the level of Concepts on stage. “Mm? He’s been forced into a corner. Let’s see what he can do!”
1285On the arena stage, Lin Ming had been caught in the middle of dozens of swords lights. There was no place to dodge to anymore. In the stands, there were many Giant Demons whose faces were twisted with pleasure and glee. They wanted to see Lin Ming beg for death. That idiot, trying to compare Concepts with a Fey was just looking for abuse.
1286“A dead end!” Lin Ming frowned. In truth, breaking through Lan Xing’s sword light trap was simple. As long as he used the Primeval Halberd Strike or burst out the hundred some Blood Drinking Seals within him, the following vortex of energy would immediately smash every sword light into nothingness.
1287But Lin Ming didn’t want to do this. The first reason was because he wanted to hide his abilities as much as possible before entering Skysplit Tower’s third floor, and the second reason was that he wanted to experience this Concept and improve his own.
1288The further one walked down the path of martial arts, the more obvious the importance of Concepts became. Compared to a common martial artist, Lin Ming’s comprehension of Concepts far exceeded theirs. But, he wasn’t satisfied with this. This was because his eyes were always trained on the Realm of the Gods. Because of his poor ability to understand Concepts, he hadn’t been able to display the true strength of the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ and ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’.
1289This fight with Lan Xing was an excellent opportunity to sharpen his comprehension of Concepts. How could Lin Ming miss this chance?
1290As Lin Ming saw the endless sword lights cut towards him, he grit his teeth and rushed into those blinding sword lights.
1291“Mm? Has this boy gone mad!?” Lan Xing was startled. Lin Ming actually headed into his sword lights?
1292Everyone’s eyes widened. There wasn’t even enough time to cry out.
1293But at this moment, Lin Ming’s figure and pace seemed to distort, and then, the unbelievable happened. Lin Ming’s body phased through the curtain of sword lights without the slightest injury. His spear thrust towards Lan Xing’s front!
1294“What!?!?”
1295Lan Xing was shocked. But he was still a master and his reactions to all circumstances were extremely fast. His sword cut down on the tip of the Purple Comet Spear!
1296Zi----
1297A flash of lightning snuck into Lan Xing’s body like a hidden snake. It numbed his arm and caused his blood to tumble!
1298Lin Ming raised his spear to stab out again at the moment that Lan Xing’s body was paralyzed. At this critical moment, Lan Xing bit down on the tip of his tongue and rushed backwards, barely dodging Lin Ming’s spear strike.
1299“What happened?” The audience was astonished. Even Lan Xing was alarmed.
1300In that instant, Lin Ming seemed to pass through the void itself. He passed through the dangerous curtain of sword lights, arriving right in front of Lan Xing.
1301“Is… is that the Concept of space?” A veteran challenger gasped out as he suddenly thought of this. The Concept of space was elusive and ephemeral. Even among the Fey, who were loved by the natural Laws, there were very few who could comprehend the Concept of space. This was because… they couldn’t contact it!
1302The Concept of Wind, the Concept of Water… these things could be seen and touched. As long as one frequently came into contact with these Concepts, they would always be able to touch upon their rules and thus comprehend the corresponding Concept.
1303But the existence of space, although it was everywhere, could not be felt. As a result, there were very few powerhouses that were able to comprehend the Concept of space, and even fewer legacies that were passed on. Thus, to the martial artists of the Holy Demon Continent, the Concept of space was a very mysterious and inscrutable existence.
1304“You think that boy comprehended the Concept of space? This…” Another veteran challenger found this hard to accept. After all, Lin Ming was only a human. Humanity’s affinity to the Laws was not any better than the Giant Demons’.
1305“I shouldn’t be wrong. I’ve seen martial artists that have comprehended the Concept of space before. But, I never thought that the humans could produce such a monstrous genius.” A veteran Giant Demon challenger breathed out with emotion. Lin Ming’s talent had completely surpassed the talent of their Giant Demon race’s younger generation.
1306……………... .
1307“So that’s how it is. You really aren’t an opponent that can be easily defeated. You are the strongest junior that I have ever encountered. Even though you are younger than me, you have the strength to threaten me. I really, really want to… hehe, I want to kill you myself!” As Lan Xing spoke here, a cold light flashed in his eyes. “Fey King Battle Body!”
1308Bang!
1309Lan Xing’s aura exploded like a volcano. The surrounding crushed stones were all blown away by this momentum, shooting out like arrows in all directions. An amethyst battle armor suddenly appeared on Lan Xing’s body. His hair grew longer, and all sorts of ancient Fey runes appeared on his body, radiating with a bright light.
1310As Lan Xing displayed the Fey King Battle Body, his entire body began to emit a resplendently evil energy. His dark amber pupils turned blood-red, and his eyes filled with a thick killing intent.
1311“Fey King Battle Body! Lan Xing finally used this move!”
1312“Haha, what can Lin Ming do now?” Under the stage, the Fey martial artists began to seethe with excitement.
1313The Fey King Battle Body was the pride of their Fey race, because this was the brand imprinted in their bones by the ancient Fey bloodline. This was the source of their race’s superiority, and the symbol of their race’s glory. Because of this, they were the paramount race. Because of this, humans were nothing but lowly beasts in their eyes.
1314“This is the true battle. Everything else up until now was just a warm-up. Let’s see just how Lin Ming deals with this.” As all the other races’ martial artists saw Lan Xing’s Fey King Battle Body, they all had looks of envy in their eyes. As they saw the Fey King Battle Body again, they were shocked once more by its terrifying aura.
1315Without a doubt, Lan Xing had the qualifications to become a Fey Emperor. But Lin Ming also had the qualifications to reach the Divine Sea realm. Two heroic youths of this level exchanging moves, even within Skysplit Tower, was a rare event.
1316As Lin Ming looked at Lan Xing, he just felt pity at the turn of events. He had wanted to take this chance to sharpen his comprehension of Concepts, but after Lan Xing displayed the Fey King Battle Body, he clearly wished to compete in a battle of strength.
1317Lin Ming slowly said, “You want to destroy me, but I also want to destroy you. This is Skysplit Tower. Here, it is kill or be killed. People die every moment, there are no innocents here. They have all chosen to walk the killing path. That includes you, and that includes me!”
1318Every person who appeared at Skysplit Tower had hands dyed red with blood. Those that came here, if it wasn’t to kill others, then it was to experience life and death battles and seek breakthroughs on the precipice of annihilation. Otherwise, no one else would come to Skysplit Tower.
1319“Destroy me? Haha… you really think you will have that chance?” After Lan Xing completed the Fey King Battle Body, his mindset began to turn crazed, and even his voice became a guttural bark.
1320“You’ll know whether I have the chance soon enough. I advise you to stop spouting crap, I doubt you can maintain this state much longer.” With just a glance, Lin Ming could see that Lan Xing’s Fey King Battle Armor had similarities to his own Heretical God Force. Both of them were eruptions of true essence from within the body. This condition was bound to fade sooner or later.
1321“You’re looking to die!” Lan Xing’s eyes blazed with heavy killing intent. The stones on the martial arena stage began to blow as the strong winds picked up. Lan Xing held his sword with his right hand and swiped the blade with his left. A beautiful coat of rich red blood was wiped onto the longsword.
1322“Sword of Wind – Bloodstained Sky!”
1323At this moment, Lan Xing’s ankle-length hair shot into the sky, recklessly flapping around. He grasped his longsword with two hands and cut down. A whistling wind rose up, bringing with it a thick, bloody energy and red sword lights filled the sky. This was Lan Xing’s killing path. His murderous aura erupted all at once, filling the heavens and earth with bloody energy!
1324Lin Ming’s eyes flashed with a chilling light. He instantly judged that with his current strength, he would still be able to take this sword strike. But, he would be injured.
1325Within Skysplit Tower, with so many masters lying in wait all around, Lin Ming would not give any of them an opportunity to take advantage of him. Thus, his mind touched the Heretical God Seed, directly releasing the Heretical God Force!
1326Highly compressed true essence erupted like a tidal wave. Lin Ming’s aura instantly climbed to the pinnacle. His true essence was like an unstoppable spear light, slicing into the heavens!
1327This sudden change caught all the martial artists off guard; all of them were stunned. Without even a chance to react, Lin Ming’s spear had already thrust forth!
1328“Primeval Spear Strike!”
1329Over a hundred spinning Blood Drinking Seals danced in the air, revolving around the Purple Comet Spear and forming a massive red vortex. Flashes of thunder twinkled in this vortex. As the spear shot forwards, it seemed to cut apart the void itself.
1330Bang!
1331A terrifying explosion sounded out like a heavenly thunderclap. Countless bits of gravel shot into the air. Everyone’s vision was completely engulfed by a blazing light as a massive true essence shockwave blew out. The Blood Drinking Seals were like saws as they sliced through Lan Xing’s sword potential. Lin Ming’s hands grasped his spear, and he arrived in front of Lan Xing in an instant. His spear moved, thrusting straight towards Lan Xing’s heart!
1332“What!?”
1333Lan Xing was greatly shocked. He absolutely never expected that the sword strike in which he had placed his full and complete strength would be so easily broken.
1334In this life or death moment, Lan Xing no longer had the chance to draw back his sword to defend. He could only form his palm into a sword and cut towards Lin Ming’s throat! “If you want to kill me, then don’t plan on leaving alive!”
1335Lan Xing’s eyes flashed with savagery. But at this moment, the incredible occurred!
1336The Purple Comet Spear in Lin Ming’s hand seemed to penetrate through space and appear right in front of Lan Xing. As for Lan Xing’s palm sword, he had just started his movements.
1337Pu!
1338With a light sound, Lan Xing’s bodily protective true essence shattered. The incomparably sharp Purple Comet Spear pierced his heart!
1339Bright red blood shot into the wind!
1340Chapter 546 – Great Harvest
1341 “You…”
1342The sword energy on Lan Xing’s palm had already faded away. His blood-red eyes were wide as he stared at Lin Ming. He never imagined that he would be defeated so quickly. He still had finishing moves that he hadn’t used yet, but… he no longer had the chance!
1343What a fantastical Concept of space. Before Lan Xing had even brought down his palm sword, the Purple Comet Spear had already seemingly teleported in front of Lan Xing and pierced his heart.
1344“I… never thought… I would lose to a human in Concepts…”
1345Lan Xing clutched the shaft of the Purple Comet Spear and ruefully smiled. As he opened his mouth, he coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. His heart and lungs had shattered, and blood filled his chest, pouring out of his throat.
1346Lin Ming withdrew his spear. Vibrating true essence had already broken apart every single meridian in Lan Xing’s body. With his heart burst apart too, there was absolutely no way for him to leave alive.
1347Ever since he had suffered under Mu Qingshu, Mu Chihuo, and Ouyang Boyan, almost causing those close to him to pay with their lives, Lin Ming had become increasingly decisive and ruthless. He would stamp out the trouble at the source before it was allowed to bloom.
1348A massive amount of blood sprayed out. The tiles under Lan Xing’s feet were stained red. This shocking scene completely silenced every martial artist present.
1349Before now, there was almost no one that believed Lin Ming would win. But not only had he won, he had won so quickly!
1350During the entire fight onstage there had only been several moves exchanged. Lin Ming defeated Lan Xing with overwhelming strength and speed!
1351It could be said that Lan Xing couldn’t dodge the last strike because Lin Ming had a touch of the Concept of space within his spear. But without a doubt, even if Lan Xing was able to dodge this attack, he would still have been defeated in the end!
1352This was because after they had used all their hidden cards, Lin Ming’s aura had already suppressed Lan Xing’s. This was illustrated by Lin Ming breaking apart Lan Xing’s curtain of sword light with his spear potential.
1353“Lan Xing was defeated! This boy!” In the audience, a pale Giant Demon who had been waiting for Lin Ming to lose now had an extremely ugly expression on his face. Over the years, he had already formed an inborn sense of arrogance and racial superiority. There was no way he could accept that a mere human had surpassed all of the heroic youths of his Giant Demon race.
1354“I fear he might have the strength of a peak four-winged Heavenly Demon. This strength could be ranked in the top 10 of the entire second floor of Skysplit Tower.
1355“Unbelievable. A genius like Lan Xing already had the qualifications to become a Fey Emperor in the future. But, this boy actually defeated Lan Xing. Could it be that…”
1356“Humph, one’s aspirations aren’t equal to their own prominence. Lan Xing had the qualifications to ascend to a Fey Emperor, but that is only the qualifications. Above a Saint level talent is an Emperor level talent, but how many Emperor level talents appear every year, and how many of those are truly able to become a Fey Emperor or Demon Emperor? They die halfway, buried, with all their potential gone. Everything they once grasped they will lose. It’s far too early to call this boy Lin Ming a Peerless Emperor!”
1357A Fey martial artist bitterly said. Within the Holy Demon Continent, the humans and Ferals had the lowest number of Emperor level powerhouses. Lin Ming had just killed a Fey genius, and others had said he could become a Peerless Emperor in the future, so he naturally wasn’t feeling too happy about matters.
1358Lin Ming ignored the discussion of the surrounding martial artists. At this moment, he was quietly baptizing himself within a rich infernal energy. Lan Xing had accumulated a great deal of infernal energy, and now over half of it was Lin Ming’s. This flow of energy was extremely suppressing.
1359The dark desires of his heart and his obsessions were rapidly stirred up by the thick infernal energy. They percolated with Lan Xing’s own ambitions…
1360Power, beautiful women, glory, the martial arts boundary of a Fey Emperor… all of this poured into Lin Ming’s spiritual sea.
1361These sudden and intensely strong desires and passions were like demons that rapidly multiplied in Lin Ming’s spiritual sea, trying to take root there.
1362“This Skysplit Tower is truly a paradise of corruption!”
1363Lin Ming’s eyes flashed with a cold light. The black vortex of the Samsara martial intent suddenly appeared, directly sucking up all those desires and obsessions and tearing them to shreds.
1364As Lin Ming’s heart calmed down, he quickly recovered his thinking.
1365‘I already have a strong soul force, but I was still affected by these desires. There are many martial artists present whose soul force is far inferior to mine, and they probably can’t resist this invasion of desires. Although they might not be dominated by these thoughts and turned into slaves of them, their hearts would still be affected. But, the cultivation methods of the demonic path already veer one into doing whatever they please, so losing a bit of their thinking isn’t much at all.’
1366One could look at the fate of the slaves of Skysplit Tower to see just how distorted the personalities of the Skysplit Tower challengers became. Being cruelly ravaged, humiliated, mistreated, or even killed… these slaves suffered everywhere and at all times.
1367Lin Ming took a deep breath and the infernal energy within his body began to revolve within him. On his arm, the Heavenly Demon Tattoo began to condense. After the first pair of wings was completed, the second pair was nourished by the infernal energy, and began to slowly form…
1368Four-winged Heavenly Demon!
1369After killing Lan Xing, Lin Ming had finally reached the realm of a four-winged Heavenly Demon.
1370The realm itself was unimportant to Lin Ming. But, the accumulated infernal energy was greatly advantageous to the cultivation of the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’.
1371Lin Ming took Lan Xing’s spatial ring and glanced at it. Impressively, it was a medium-grade earth-step spatial ring.
1372This was truly the background of a genius from a large sect. The spatial ring was a medium-grade earth-step treasure, and not just that, but a very good one amongst its rank.
1373As for the Blood Drinking Seal, Lin Ming naturally wouldn’t forget about it. But for better or worse, Lan Xing still had an extremely high status within the Fey race. He didn’t cause Lan Xing’s corpse to explode and embarrass the Fey. Instead, he let the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder make a circle within Lan Xing’s corpse, directly sucking up all of his blood essence.
1374After this was all finished, several of Skysplit Tower’s staff came up and carried away Lan Xing’s corpse.
1375Those who killed could end up being killed. Lan Xing, who had been overweening arrogance and swollen with self-importance, also perished here. Every martial artist present knew that they could suffer the same fate someday.
1376“Well… Young Hero Lin, would you like to continue?” The referee’s voice was a bit unnatural. This Lin Ming’s talent was just too terrifying. As long as he didn’t die here, he would inevitably become a high-ranking figure within Skysplit Tower. He might even become his superior.
1377“No, I’ll stop here for today.” Lin Ming refused to continue. After this battle, he had obtained some more insights into the Concept of Wind. He wanted to head back to his room and contemplate on them.
1378“Great. Young Hero Lin, if you will.” The referee’s attitude was exceptionally respectful.
1379Lin Ming turned and stepped off the stage. The martial artists in the audience had a touch of awe and wonder in their eyes as they watched him leave.
1380Lin Ming arrived the martial arena’s exit. The young Fey girl was waiting there. She blankly looked at Lin Ming, unsure what to say.
1381“Sir Lin, you…”
1382Lin Ming tossed the young Fey girl a small box of Blood Demon Crystals and said, “Five days from now, wait for me at Morningdew Inn.”
1383Morningdew Inn was an inn that was near the transmission array that led to Lin Ming’s practice area. Normally speaking, there wasn’t anything inside a martial artist’s practice area. Thus, most martial artists would choose to stay at inns. They would return to their practice area to cultivate.
1384“Ehm… okay… alright…” The young Fey girl quickly replied. If another martial artist wanted to meet her inside an inn, then she would understand what they wanted her to do. But Lin Ming wasn’t someone who was interested in those things, otherwise he would have already done so.
1385“What would Sir Lin like to do?”
1386“I want you to bring me somewhere where I can rent out battle array discs. They only need to be at the quasi Emperor level or above.”
1387Renting out high level quasi Emperor battle array discs required a slaughter point. Even the top geniuses of large sects weren’t willing to watch these more than a few times. But listening to Lin Ming’s meaning, it seemed that he wanted to rent out a great number of these.
1388The young Fey girl gulped and blankly nodded.
1389“Then… I’ll see you five days from now.” Lin Ming left after he finished speaking. He didn’t seem as if he was moving quickly, but the ground beneath his feet seemed to shrink. He only took a few steps, but he had already disappeared around the corner…
1390…………... .
1391Lin Ming sat atop the bed in his practice area. He had completely taken out all of Lan Xing’s possessions from his spatial ring and had looked over them. He was secretly shocked. Killing others and taking their wealth was truly the fastest way to become rich. Lan Xing’s total wealth was several times greater than that of Blackrat.
1392There were tens of thousands of medium-grade true essence stones, and also several dozen high-grade true essence stones.
1393In addition to that, there were countless large and small bottles, jade slips, and treasures.
1394There was no need to look at the medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals, they were all for spending.
1395As for the high-grade Blood Demon Crystals, they were for cultivating. Lin Ming put those away.
1396After carefully inspecting the pills, Lin Ming separated them by different general classifications.
1397All that was left over were the jade slips.
1398Lin Ming was looking forward to the jade slips in Lan Xing’s spatial ring. He immediately immersed his perception in the jade slips, slowly sweeping through them. He patiently took over an entire hour to scan them. Suddenly, Lin Ming’s eyes brightened.
1399This was it!
1400Lin Ming had picked up a common-looking jade slip from among the pile. This jade slip didn’t record cultivation methods or martial skills. Instead, it was the accumulated experiences of Fey masters about the Concept of Wind.
1401Looking at the soul imprints on the jade slip, it obviously didn’t come from a single person. Rather, it was the collected attainments and experiences of a great number of Fey masters. This was absolutely a priceless treasure!
1402This sort of Concept comprehension jade slip was similar to a cultivation method jade slip: the contents could not be duplicated. One could only write down the contents if they had a deep understanding of it. This only served to raise its value. The reason that Lan Xing brought this with him was likely so that he could meditate on it at any time.
1403“The Fey are born beloved by the natural Laws. They have countless masters who have reached Large Success in Concepts. These masters leave behind their legacies, and this continues onwards. As these experiences accumulate, the Fey race’s superiority in Laws and Concepts will also widen.
1404Several generations, dozens of generations, the total accumulation of these people was terrifying. This was also the reason why the more ancient clans had a more profound heritage.
1405“With this jade slip and my original understanding of the Concept of Wind, my own Concept of Wind will inevitably rise to a higher level!”
1406Speed had never been Lin Ming’s strength. If he could further his Concept of Wind, then in addition to a basic understanding of the Concept of space, Lin Ming was confident he could break through to the second layer of ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’. At that time, his strength would rise.
1407Chapter 547 – Enhanced Concepts
1408As Lin Ming immersed his consciousness into the jade slip, not only did he see an introduction to the Concept of Wind, but also a variety of images. Lin Ming watched the swirling breeze images for a long time, perceiving the endless mysteries contained within. The patterns of wind contained within the jade slip seemed to have an infinite variety of changes, as if it could be fused into a spear or step…
1409Lin Ming decided to test it out. In the practice area, he used ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’. Although the practice area was only a few dozen foot wide square room, Lin Ming’s steps were not restricted at all. He was extremely flexible, and he trailed over the ground, up the wall, over the bed, and even on the ceiling.
1410The Concept of Wind constantly fused with the Concept of space. Lin Ming’s understanding of ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’ increasingly deepened. After being stuck at the first layer of ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’ for years, he was finally making great progress towards reaching the second layer.
1411Time passed unconsciously. In his closed-door cultivation, five days passed for Lin Ming.
1412During this time, Lin Ming would often exhaust his true essence to the limit. After emptying most of his true essence, Lin Ming would take out a high-grade Blood Demon Crystal from his spatial ring, and absorb infernal energy from the air, constantly nourishing his own true essence.
1413Compared to the mild true essence stones, Blood Demon Crystals, particularly high-grade Blood Demon Crystals, seemed to contain an implacable will. A common weak-will martial artist would find it impossible to absorb.
1414Lin Ming would first wear down this will before he could smoothly absorb the Blood Demon Crystal’s energy. But, in comparison to true essence stones, the advantages of Blood Demon Crystals were obvious. They were able to nourish a martial artist’s blood vitality whilst also nourishing their soul.
1415Peng!
1416A high-grade Blood Demon Crystal burst apart in Lin Ming’s hand. The warm and dark red hue of the crystal had already disappeared, leaving nothing but a pale gray glow behind. It had spent all of its energy.
1417The infernal blood energy merged into Lin Ming’s body, blending with the Heavenly Demon Tattoo before continuing to Lin Ming’s dantian where it gathered. Under such favorable cultivation conditions, Lin Ming’s ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ could be said to be advancing at a ridiculously rapid pace.
1418“I’ve only cultivated for five days but I’ve used up 10 high-grade Blood Demon Crystals. That’s the equivalent of 1000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. In addition to the cost of the practice area as well as the pills, jade slips, and other resources, this isn’t something that a small sect would be able to afford. All the resources that I have right now were taken from others. None of them could bear to use their wealth so wildly. Not even someone like Lan Xing dared to spend so freely.”
1419There had only been 20 some high-grade Blood Demon Crystals in Lan Xing’s spatial ring. It seems that when he cultivated, he had mostly used medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals with the occasional high-grade Blood Demon Crystal mixed in.
1420The higher realm a martial artist arrived at, the greater the costs were. This was also why common martial artists would forever be inferior to sect martial artists. Likewise, this was also the same reason that martial artists from the mortal worlds would always be inferior to martial artists from the Realm of the Gods.
1421Lin Ming didn’t hesitate to spend any resources. In exchange, the effects on his cultivation were significant. He estimated that it wouldn’t be much longer before he could break through to the middle Xiantian realm. At the same time, with his increasing comprehension of the Concept of Wind, he was nearing the second layer border of ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’.
1422Lin Ming glanced at the large hourglass in his room. It had been a full five days; it was time for him to go out and rent some battle array discs.
1423Lin Ming stepped into the transmission array. With a flash of light, he disappeared from the room. In a few more moments he arrived at Morningdew Inn.
1424This was an old-fashioned inn. The decorations inside weren’t luxurious, but it was simple and elegant. It gave off an extremely pleasant and comfortable feeling. In Skysplit Tower, this sort of style was extremely rare.
1425“Sir Lin.”
1426When Lin Ming entered Morningdew Inn, a beautiful young Fey girl was already quietly standing there. After she had received Lin Ming’s order, she had arrived here before the break of dawn and had been waiting here until the present time. As she saw Lin Ming walk in, she quickly welcomed him. She didn’t dare to be the least bit negligent when it came to the tower challengers, especially one as powerful as Lin Ming.
1427“How is the matter that I asked of you?”
1428“Sir Lin, please rest assured that I have contacted every place possible. A quasi Emperor level battle array disc is almost only rented out by the official Skysplit Tower offices and they do so at proper prices. There should be no issues with authority ranking.”
1429“Great. Bring me there.”
1430…………... 
1431The eastern section of the second floor also held the largest trading market. Not only was there the official Skysplit Tower store, but there were also private shops and stalls held by martial artists.
1432Without exception, everything here was the highest quality goods. After all, everyone that came to Skysplit Tower had a deep background. If anyone dared to pull out some garbage to sell, then no one would buy it. Instead, they would even be ridiculed by others.
1433As Lin Ming and the young Fey girl walked forwards, they saw a greater number of martial artists that had set up stalls in the street. These stalls stretched out as far as the road did.
1434“It’s really lively here.” Lin Ming had been at Skysplit Tower for a while already but he had never come to the public marketplace. It could be said that he had been missing out.
1435“Mm… because of the constant fighting in Skysplit Tower, murder is commonplace here. After someone dies, their property will be taken. There are many things that aren’t needed, thus they are then brought here and sold. This is why the trading market is so busy. Setting up a stall here for just a single day costs 50 medium-grade true essence stones. Also, fighting is restricted here. If anyone dares to stir up trouble, they will be chased down by the enforcement squad, so there isn’t normally a problem with security.”
1436The young Fey girl was very familiar with the workings of the second floor. She patiently explained this all to Lin Ming.
1437“So that’s how it is. Most of those killed are the heroic youths of the largest sects, so naturally they wouldn’t be lacking in possessions. This Skysplit Tower is truly the paradise of the strong. Even if one is broke, they can still loot a great deal of resources from others as long as they have the ability to do so. At the same time, they can also purchase the highest quality materials and pills that Skysplit Tower has to offer as well as receive the treatment of an Emperor.
1438Lin Ming casually glanced over at the stalls. He saw a stall that specialized in selling various jade slips. The cultivation method jade slips were marked at 500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals each.
1439If a single jade slip was worth 500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals, then a dozen or so of those jade slips could be almost 10,000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. The scale of transactions of just this small stall was not something that even a third-grade sect could compare to.
1440But, the stall vendor’s attitude was too wretched. He was dismissive, unhelpful, and unbelievably rude. He shooed away anyone that was only looking.
1441This attitude left one tongue-tied. These martial artists were normally the most arrogant and proud of their generation. Even if they set up a stall and were hawking items, they still wouldn’t lower their heads to others.
1442Lin Ming stopped in front of a stall in a larger area. The vendor was a fat Fey man. A Fey martial artist was usually slim, compact, and graceful. It was rare to see such a fat Fey like this.
1443The fat vendor looked a bit lackadaisical, as if he wasn’t noticing anyone at all. But as he saw Lin Ming walk over, his eyes widened. “Lin Ming?”
1444After Lin Ming’s fight with Lan Xing, he had become infamous. He was already recognized as one of the top ten powerhouses of Skysplit Tower’s second floor.
1445“Haha, Young Hero Lin graces my little store. Is there anything that you need?” The fat vendor grinned as he spoke. Although he was surprised to see Lin Ming here, he wasn’t scared at all. Instead, he had a teasing tone.
1446“I want to exchange for some new Blood Demon Crystals.”
1447In the trading market, the common currency was medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Occasionally, there would be high-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Low-grade Blood Demon Crystals were never used. Besides some that servants were rewarded with, no one ever used them. It was because they were simply too slow to cultivate with.
1448“Oh? Would you like to exchange some medium-grade ones for high-grade?” The fat vendor’s eyes shined as he correctly guessed Lin Ming’s thoughts.
1449“Yes.”
1450The fat vendor blinked and said, “Young Hero Lin is a rich man! Ah, medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals must be too slow for you. If you want to exchange for some high-grade Blood Demon Crystals, then of course you can! If you exchange for at least ten, then I can do a trade with you of one for every 115.”
1451The normal conversion cost was normally 100 to one. But in Skysplit Tower, this price was more appropriate, as high-grade Blood Demon Crystals were much rarer.
1452“Alright!” Lin Ming readily agreed, “I’ll trade for 100.”
1453100 high-grade Blood Demon Crystals were equal to 11,500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. After Lin Ming acquired all of Lan Xing’s wealth, this was a simple amount to produce.
1454“Hey, I only have 30 available right now. I’ll give them to you in advance.” As the fat vendor spoke, he took out a small jade box from his spatial ring. He opened it, revealing rows of incomparably pure high-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
1455A rich blood energy mixed with pure heaven and earth origin energy leaked out into the air. The young Fey girl’s eyes widened. As she saw over 30 high-grade Blood Demon Crystals suddenly presented in front of her, this sight was just too visually shocking.
1456She couldn’t help but take several deep breaths, as if she wanted to suck up all the heaven and earth origin energy that the high-grade Blood Demon Crystals were emanating. This sort of pure origin energy was extremely helpful if she could attract some into her meridians.
1457Truly, comparing between people was ridiculous. These top geniuses already had naturally heaven-defying talents. If they also used this sort of Blood Demon Crystal to cultivate, then the rate of their practice speed could be imagined.
1458The young Fey girl helplessly mused to herself.
1459Lin Ming glanced at the jade box. After he confirmed that there was the correct number, he bluntly handed out 3450 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals and took the jade box.
1460“I’ll come back in a few days for the rest. 100 pieces are too few and 200 pieces are too many.”
1461Lan Xing had more than 30,000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals in his spatial ring. Lin Ming had planned to spend 20,000 of them and use the rest for cultivating.
1462“Okay. I’ll help you raise the rest within ten days.” The fat vendor promised. He wasn’t some nobody from the second floor, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to instantly produce 30 high-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
1463Lin Mind nodded. He turned to the young Fey girl and said, “Let’s go and buy some array discs.”
1464“Ah… alright.”
1465Exchanging for these high-grade Blood Demon Crystals was only a small trip. Lin Ming’s main destination today was the center of the trading market, where the Hundred Treasures Hall was located.
1466Hundred Treasures Hall was a store opened up by a ten-winged High Lord of Skysplit Tower. They only sold the highest quality of all high-quality items.
1467As for battle array discs with quasi Emperor level masters, Hundred Treasures Hall had the most comprehensive collection. It was several times superior to what was at the registration office.
1468Hundred Treasures Hall was nine stories high. The surroundings were all covered and protected by different spells. After Lin Ming stepped inside, he saw that there were only seven or eight martial artists within. These places never had too many people.
1469But of these seven or eight martial artists, Lin Ming actually recognized one.
1470“Mm? It’s you?”
1471Before Lin Ming even said anything, the other party had already spoken.
1472Chapter 548 – Eighth Stage Life Destruction
1473A black-clothed girl stood in front of Lin Ming. She wore a dark veil, and one could faintly make out the edges of her face. In terms of beauty, she did not lose at all to the Fey. She was tall and curved, and she wasn’t much shorter than Lin Ming. A light infernal energy emitted from her body.
1474That symbolized that this beautiful girl also walked the killing path.
1475This girl was named Muk Qing. Lin Ming had encountered her along the road as he was headed to the Blood Slaughter Steppes. Her cultivation had actually increased by a small realm since he had last seen her.
1476Only a mere month had passed. This girl’s growth left Lin Ming speechless. Her talent was probably no less than Mu Qianyu’s.
1477“You’re also on Skysplit Tower’s second floor?” Lin Ming was surprised. With this black-clothed girl’s strength, she barely qualified to reach the second floor.
1478Within Skysplit Tower, one could enter the first level as long as they paid a Blood Demon Crystal. But, if one wished to enter the second floor, they would need a certain level of cultivation or have astonishing strength, enough that they could fight their way from the first floor.
1479Normally, the first floor was commonly referred to as the outer city. The second floor and above was called the inner city. Muk Qing had once evenly fought a Giant Demon in the outer city. Now that her cultivation had increased by a small realm, she barely qualified for the second floor. If she entered the martial arena as she was now, she would probably be eaten alive.
1480“Mm? Is there a problem?” After being completely outdone by Lin Ming in Sun Flood City, Muk Qing had always remained somewhat unconvinced.
1481Lin Ming laughed. “I naturally don’t have a problem. I just think that you…”
1482Lin Ming had wanted to give her a few words of advice. But as he thought about it, it was better if he didn't meddle in another people’s business. Muk Qing’s senior-apprentice brother was obviously a veteran challenger of Skysplit Tower, so he had probably figured this out himself.
1483“Have you stepped onto the martial arena stage yet?” Lin Ming casually asked.
1484“I haven’t. I just arrived at the second floor. My senior-apprentice brother has already rented out a practice area in the second floor for me. He wants me to cultivate for a year before I test myself.” As Muk Qing spoke to here, her lips curled. Apparently, she wasn’t satisfied with Muk Gu’s arrangements.
1485“Haha, practice well first. Skysplit Tower has very good areas to cultivate in. From what I know, there are many heroic youths that come to Skysplit Tower and cultivate for a year or two before they step onto the martial stage.
1486Lin Ming suddenly realized that Muk Gu only allowed Muk Qing to come to the second floor to cultivate. With her talent, she would have the qualifications to challenge the martial arena after she practiced for a year. This was certainly a good idea, but one also had to have the required resources to do so.
1487As he was thinking, a black-clothed man walked through the doors of Hundred Treasures Hall. This person was tall, lofty, and had an imposing appearance. He exuded a faintly haughty attitude. This man was Muk Qing’s senior-apprentice brother, Muk Gu.
1488“To think that it’s you! To think that we’ve met three times already, this must be the hand of fate.” As soon as Muk Gu saw Lin Ming he cupped his fists together. He wasn’t too surprised that he saw Lin Ming in Skysplit Tower. After all, when he saw Lin Ming in Sun Flood City, he had guessed that Lin Ming would most likely come to Polaris City.
1489Muk Gu was naturally happy if he could make friends with such a heroic youth like Lin Ming. If Lin Ming didn’t die in the future, then he had high chances of approaching the Divine Sea realm. If he could become friends with a quasi-Emperor level powerhouse, then the advantages could be imagined.
1490Lin Ming also cupped his fists together, returning the kindness.
1491“My name is Muk Gu. May I know yours?” This was the second time that Muk Gu had introduced himself.
1492Lin Ming had no need to hide his identity. He said, “My name is Lin Ming.”
1493“Lin Ming?” Muk Gu was stunned for a moment before immediately laughing. “So that’s how it is! You’re that human genius I’ve been hearing about that caused a complete blowout and also defeated Lan Xing. This is really too great of a coincidence. In truth, I should have thought about this earlier.”
1494Muk Gu had brought Muk Qing to the second floor of Skysplit Tower while Lin Ming had been in closed-door seclusion. As soon as he arrived at the second floor, he had heard the rumors about Lin Ming. Originally, he assumed that someone with the skill to defeat Lan Xing would be around 24 or 25 years old. That, he could still accept. But he never imagined that Lin Ming was the youth that he had bumped into at the entrance to the Blood Slaughter Steppes. He was even younger than Muk Qing!
1495This was seriously incredible. His previous judgment of Lin Ming had already been extremely high. But now, it seems as if he had underestimated him.
1496With Lin Ming’s talent, as long as he didn’t fall here, then he had over a 90% chance of becoming a Divine Sea powerhouse.
1497As Muk Gu thought of this, his smile became more radiant and welcoming. Even if he couldn’t become good friends with such a person, he could at least leave a good impression so that they didn’t have conflict in the future.
1498“Brother Muk’s praise is too high.” Lin Ming casually replied.
1499Muk Qing, who was standing near Muk Gu, was staring at Lin Ming with disbelief. Her eyeballs were rapidly turning. She had just arrived at the second floor a few days ago, and this fellow was Lin Ming?
1500To Muk Qing, a complete blowout wasn’t much at all. But, defeating a master of the second floor who could rank in the first tier was another matter altogether; it was somewhat hard to believe. She had accompanied Muk Gu to watch some matches in the martial arena, and although they were some of the lower level martial artists, she couldn’t help but admit that if she were the one onstage, she might not be able to defeat them.
1501“Have you come to Hundred Treasures Hall to buy some things?” Muk Gu asked, a bit curious. When he had seen Lin Ming buy a mount at Sun Flood City, he didn’t seem to have any wealth on him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken out such a massive pile of impure low-grade Blood Demon Crystals to buy a second-rate mount.
1502He really didn’t know where this Lin Ming fellow came from.
1503“I’m not here to buy things, I came to rent out some battle array discs.”
1504“Battle array discs? We’re also here to rent some. Hundred Treasures Hall’s battle array discs all record a minimum of late Revolving Core powerhouses battling. There are even sixth stage and seventh stage Life Destruction powerhouses and quasi Emperor masters. The higher-level array discs are all on the upper floors. Let’s go up together.”
1505“Okay.”
1506The four of them made their way up. Hundred Treasures Hall had a total of nine floors. One could casually enter the first few, but the higher ones required necessary qualifications to enter. As they arrived at the fourth floor, a handsome servant blocked them.
1507“Guests, please show proof of identification. Only four-winged Heavenly Demon martial artists or above may enter this floor.”
1508Lin Ming didn’t bother playing around and directly took out his status token. His own Heavenly Demon Tattoo had already surpassed four wings, so there naturally wasn’t a problem. As for Muk Gu, he was close to reaching the realm of six-winged Heavenly Demon.
1509But Muk Qing was lacking; she didn’t even have the first two wings completed on her Heavenly Demon Tattoo. As Lin Ming thought that Muk Qing would be barred from entering, Muk Gu took out a jade slip that looked like a pass token from his spatial ring and handed it over to the servant. The servant glanced over it and then allowed Muk Qing to enter; he even allowed the young Fey girl that accompanied Lin Ming to enter too. The young Fey girl was pleasantly surprised. After all, to a low-level martial artist like her, the higher floors of Hundred Treasures Hall were a legend. She had only heard mysterious stories about this place.
1510Lin Ming glanced at Muk Gu with surprise. He wondered just what sort of background Muk Gu had. But as he looked back at the servant, he found the servant remained calm and not particularly impressed. If Lin Ming didn’t guess wrong, then that jade slip was most likely a special privilege given to the more advanced challengers of Skysplit Tower.
1511Thinking this, Lin Ming didn’t bother inquiring further. The group finally arrived at the fifth floor of Hundred Treasure Hall, and a purple-robed middle-aged man welcomed them with a jovial laugh. He dusted off his clothes and said with a smile, “What do you need?”
1512“I want to rent battle array discs.” Lin Ming said.
1513“What cultivation boundary do you need?”
1514“Quasi Emperor level.”
1515“Oh?” The purple-robed man was startled. A quasi Emperor level battle array disc was expensive to rent. A normal martial artist wouldn’t be able to afford it. “How many would you like?”
1516“Five.” Lin Ming calmly replied.
1517With this answer, not only was the purple-robed man stunned, but even Muk Gu was dazed. He had come here with Muk Qing to rent out battle array discs, but he had only planned to rent out 10 first or second stage Life Destruction master battle array discs.
1518As for the quasi Emperor level disc, because of Muk Qing’s repeated nagging, he finally caved in and decided to bleed a bit of heart blood and rent one for her as an eye opener. Just this was enough to cause Muk Gu to feel a deep painful loss, yet Lin Ming had requested to rent out five in a single go. This was just too extravagant!
1519As he turned to look at Muk Qing, he saw that she had a look of dissatisfaction on her face. Apparently, she was complaining inwardly about what a stingy man he was. Muk Gu could only ruefully smile. This Lin Ming fellow really didn’t care about slaughter points at all.
1520“Please come here.” The purple-robed man immediately respectfully escorted Lin Ming and the group to an elegantly furnished room. This room had a very exquisite layout. There was an antique octagonal table in the center along with four wicker chairs.
1521As two pretty Pulse Condensation period girls saw guests come in, they immediately carried pots of tea and kneeled down, placing cups on the table and pouring the tea.
1522“Several guests, please try this tea. This is Five Color Spirit Tea. It is made from five different special tea leaves and specially processed. Not only is the taste sublime, but it can also nourish the soul.”
1523Lin Ming nodded and took a sip. Really, this tea was very fragrant.
1524“What sort of battle array discs does Young Hero need? Human Life Destruction powerhouses? Giant Demon or Fey quasi Emperors?”
1525Lin Ming said, “The race doesn’t matter. As long as they are a quasi-Emperor level master that is skilled in the Concept of Time, the Concept of space, and the Concept of Wind, then it will do. I need a total of five.”
1526When Lin Ming had caused a complete blowout, he had earned a total of ten slaughter points. Then, he had taken three from Lan Xing, for a total of 13 points. When he rented his practice area, that cost five points, and when he rented the quasi Emperor battle array disc, that had been another. Now he had seven points remaining. He could afford to spend five points to rent some battle array discs.
1527The purple-robed man thought for a moment and then said to a girl, “Go to the first pavilion, third pavilion, seventh pavilion, and bring over all of the battle array discs…”
1528“Yes.”
1529The young girl bowed and left. The purple-robed man said, “If you want to search for a master skilled in the Concepts of Wind, space, and Time, then I’m afraid we might not be able to collect five. We do happen to have a top master that is familiar with the Laws of space and Time, and this would be consistent with Young Hero’s requirements, but it’s only that...”
1530“Only what?”
1531The purple-robed man smiled and said, “This master isn’t a quasi-Emperor. Although his cultivation hasn’t reached the Divine Sea realm, he is actually an eighth stage Life Destruction martial artist. In terms of strength, he is beyond even Demon Emperors and Fey Emperors!”
1532“Mm?” Lin Ming’s mind stirred.
1533Eighth stage Life Destruction!
1534He had heard about human eighth stage Life Destruction powerhouses before, but he had never seen them for himself. He never thought that there would be a battle array disc that recorded an eighth stage Life Destruction master!
1535Chapter 549 – Muk Gu’s Suggestion
1536Lin Ming had long been looking forwards to witnessing an eighth stage Life Destruction master. Ever since he had arrived at the Holy Demon Continent, one fact had constantly been pounded into him. This was that humanity’s talent was mediocre!
1537In terms of bodily strength, humans were inferior to the Giant Demons and Goliaths. In terms of soul force, they were weaker than the Imps. In terms of Law affinity, they could not hold a candle to the Fey.
1538The one small advantage that humans had was in their perception. But, this wasn’t an obvious trait because they weren’t much better than the Fey.
1539In such a situation, how could humans defeat other martial artists of the same level? Along with the Ferals, they were constantly bullied within the Holy Demon Continent.
1540After Lin Ming learned of this, he didn’t feel comfortable. After all, he was also a human. If the talent of humanity was naturally poor, then that meant he would encounter countless difficulties in his future cultivation.
1541It wasn’t until later that he had heard about humanity’s Life Destruction. After Life Destruction, one would be reborn. Slowly, their physical vitality would catch up to that of the Giant Demons. This was especially true of human powerhouses that reached seven or eight stages of Life Destruction. Their physical strength would instead surpass the Giant Demon race’s!
1542An eight stage Life Destruction master would not lose in strength to a Demon Emperor!
1543Thus, to humans, Life Destruction was a special realm associated with Revolving Core. It was a cocoon-like rebirth process. The dangers were obvious, but once passed, one would shatter the cocoon and emerge a butterfly, transforming into a more perfect existence.
1544Giant Demons and Goliaths did not undergo Life Destruction. In terms of strength, a Demon Emperor was on par with a Divine Sea master that had undergone five or six stages of Life Destruction. As for a seven stage Life Destruction Divine Sea Supreme Elder, a Demon Emperor was somewhat weaker. But compared to an eighth stage Life Destruction Divine Sea powerhouse, they were by far inferior.
1545Unfortunately, whether it was the Sky Spill Continent or the Holy Demon Continent, there were very few humans that managed to cross eight stages of Life Destruction. Crossing six stages of Life Destruction was already considered elite. Most martial artists could not withstand the pressure and unimaginable pain of a single Life Destruction, and would perish during their attempt to reach the third or fourth stage.
1546This was also the reason that it was so much more difficult for humans to produce a Divine Sea Supreme Elder than it was for the Giant Demons to produce a Demon Emperor.
1547“I want to rent that array disc, how many slaughter points will it be?” Lin Ming was greatly interested in this quasi Emperor level array disc. Ignoring the fact that the martial artist was an eighth stage Life Destruction master, what was most important was that he was a powerhouse that comprehended the Laws of space and Time!
1548The Laws of space and Time were illusory concepts, it was rare for a human to understand them.
1549At the same time, someone that could survive eight stages of Life Destruction was even rarer.
1550With the two combined, this human powerhouse was undoubtedly a genius amongst geniuses.
1551In the future, perhaps he might even soar into the Realm of the Gods!
1552Towards a battle array disc of such a legendary character, Lin Ming definitely wanted it!
1553The purple-robed man said, “This battle array disc should technically require a three-star authority. But since it’s placed on the second floor, a two-star authority should barely suffice. It will require three slaughter points as well as 3000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.
1554Three slaughter points! 3000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals!
1555Muk Gu, who had been standing near Lin Ming, staggered as he heard this price. This sort of price was completely terrifying! Talk about scary!
1556Lin Ming didn’t hesitate to agree. Being able to look at the phantom battle of this fight was most important. Slaughter points were nice, but they could be earned again. As long as he could further his comprehensions, wasting any amount of slaughter points was worth it.
1557The purple-robed man saw Lin Ming agree and immediately beamed with joy. This time, he didn’t even ask his servant, he personally went into the storage area to retrieve the battle array disc.
1558After the purple-robed man walked away, Muk Gu heard Muk Qing’s true essence sound transmission in his ear, “Senior-apprentice Brother!”
1559Muk Gu’s ear rang. He began to complain in his heart. If he had known about this today, then he wouldn’t have followed Lin Ming up here. Who knew that this Lin Ming fellow actually didn’t care about money at all!
1560“Junior-apprentice Sister, please don’t ask me for that quasi-Emperor level battle array disc. It just isn’t a price that I can afford.”
1561“It’s not that. I just want to… do you think that… after Lin Ming has finished watching the battle array disc, he might let us borrow it?”
1562Muk Gu shook his head, “Even if you want to, he might not let you. And even if he did, do you think that you are the first to think of borrowing others’ battle array discs? Skysplit Tower already has rules in place regarding this. Every battle array disc has spells engraved into it. Only that specific person can watch it, even if others wanted to they wouldn’t be able to. If they forcefully break the spells and violate the rules, then the consequences will be dire.”
1563Muk Gu’s words dashed away Muk Qing’s hopes. But, her heart still itched with want. That was a battle array disc that recorded an eighth stage Life Destruction Master! This sort of character was even rarer than a general Divine Sea Supreme Elder.
1564Let alone an eight stage Life Destruction, even a seven stage Life Destruction was extraordinary. In the entire Holy Demon Continent, there was almost a hundred human Divine Sea Supreme Elders. In comparison, the number of individuals that passed eight stages of Life Destruction could be counted on a single hand!
1565How could Muk Qing not want to see this battle array disc?
1566Muk Gu was naturally able to sense Muk Qing’s thoughts. He said, “Aren’t you convinced yet? In fact, if you can fight for three slaughter points then you can rent that battle array disc. I can help you with the Blood Demon Crystals.”
1567Relative to three slaughter points, 3000 Blood Demon Crystals was nothing.
1568As Muk Qing heard Muk Gu say this, she was suddenly discouraged. Although she was an arrogant and proud talent of her generation, after coming to Skysplit Tower she had been able to see that gap that existed between her and all the other heroic elite youths here. She didn’t think that she would be able to acquire three slaughter points in a year.
1569The purple-robed man quickly came back. He had a cube-shaped box wrapped in yellow silk. He carefully opened the silk, revealing a jade box that was sealed with layers of spells.
1570The fine jade box was carved with exquisite patterns and was warm to the touch. The purple-robed man began to slowly unravel the spells one at a time, before handing over a heavy array disc from within the jade box to Lin Ming.
1571“Young Hero, this is it!”
1572Lin Ming swept over the array disc with his divine sense, finding it hard to quell the beating excitement in his heart. He quickly took out a box of Blood Demon Crystals from his spatial ring and passed it over to the purple-robed man. “Here are 5000 medium-grade blood Demon Crystals. I want this array disc as well at two more quasi Emperor level battle array discs.”
1573“Great! Please wait a moment.” The purple-robed man smiled as he received the Blood Demon Crystals. The reason that he could manage Hundred Treasures Hall was because he had a good relationship with the ten-winged High Lord that owned this store. If Hundred Treasures Hall had great profits, then he would benefit too. It looked like today would be a great deal for him.
1574Soon, Lin Ming chose two array discs with the help of the purple-robed man and the servant. The two array discs were both recordings of quasi Fey Emperors. They were respectively skilled in the Concept of Wind and the Concepts of space and Time.
1575After Lin Ming finished, Muk Qing also found an array disc that she liked. But after being exposed to the eighth stage Life Destruction battle array disc that Lin Ming rented, her originally excited mood was dampened somewhat.
1576“Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, since I’m several years your elder, I’ll call you Junior-apprentice Brother Lin. Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, I have a suggestion for you…”
1577“Oh? Brother Muk, please speak.” Lin Ming turned to listen to Muk Gu after putting away the array discs.
1578“It’s about this. Does Brother Lin remember that after Lan Xing obtained his ten-win streak, he was challenged by a senior powerhouse challenger? I think it was Huyan Luo, right?”
1579“Mm, yes.”
1580Muk Gu said, “The truth is, Skysplit Tower has unspoken rules. After a newcomer obtains a ten-win streak, a veteran challenger will come out for the eleventh battle. This is because after a martial artist’s winning streak is stopped, their slaughter point will be given to the person that can break their winning streak. Thus, everyone wants to fight in the eleventh match and take away that slaughter point.”
1581“There are too many monks and too little meat. Simply put, there just isn’t enough to go around, thus the powerhouses form rules with each other to divvy up these points. Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, your strength is already enough to step into the second floor’s first-tier. You also have the qualifications to fight for such chances.”
1582“Oh? There’s something like this?” Lin Ming swallowed down a cup of tea. This really was a good method to earn slaughter points. Otherwise, just relying on a winning streak to earn slaughter points was extremely limited. This was because the higher one’s winning streak became, the less matches there were to be found.
1583Muk Gu said, “This is the easiest way for martial artists to obtain slaughter points in Skysplit Tower. But, you have to be careful of a few people. One is the Fey woman, her nickname is the Sable Witch, and her fighting style is unpredictable and strange. Another one is a Goliath named Xue Man. His strength is incredible and his nature is extremely bloodthirsty; rarely does anyone survive after meeting him onstage. The last one is the Giant Demon Xing Tian. This person has already stayed on the second floor for three years. Out of all of the martial artists on the second floor, his strength is the most terrifying!”
1584“What? He’s stayed here for three years? In three whole years he hasn’t gone to the third floor?” Lin Ming was surprised. When he was on the first floor, one had to go to the second floor after they reached a 12-win streak or achieved a complete blowout.
1585But on the second floor, it seemed that no one wanted to go to the third floor. Blackrat himself had already obtained a 19-win streak on the second floor.
1586Lin Ming thought for a moment. He asked Muk Gu, “What floor are you at?”
1587Muk Gu said, “I’m on the third floor.”
1588“With your strength, would you easily be in the second floor’s first-tier? It shouldn’t be too difficult to earn slaughter points here.”
1589Muk Gu wryly smiled, “No, I’m already over the age limit; I can only stay on the third floor. In truth, a martial artist only needs to obtain a 20-win streak or surpass a five-star Demon General cultivation level. If they can satisfy any of these conditions then they can enter the third floor. However, there are actually very few martial artists that desire to go to the third floor. They will only go if they arrive at the age limit. This is because it is much easier to gain slaughter points on the second floor, and the martial artists of the third floor are both older and have higher cultivations.
1590“There are many senior martial artists on the second floor that are extremely strong, and have long since gained the qualifications to enter the third floor. But, they actually stay on the second floor for several years. For instance, Xing Tian. He absolutely is a terrifying being. Although I’m on the third floor, I have to admit that I am far from his match. If you negotiate with him, then you have to be careful not to anger him. Although your strength is considered in the first-tier here, the difference in strength between the martial artists of the first-tier are enormous. This Xing Tian has already obtained a Hundred Win Emblem. On the second floor, he is almost a King.”
1591Lin Min nodded. If he accumulated slaughter points on the second floor and exchanged them for a massive amount of resources, then in combination with painstaking cultivation, he would progress at tremendous speeds. If he continued this for three or four years, his strength would be terrifying.
1592Lin Ming said, “I thank Brother Muk for the pointers. I will look for the veteran challengers of the second floor and negotiate for my slaughter points.”
1593“Mm. Us humans are a minor group in Skysplit Tower, so we will receive unfair treatment here. If you have to fight, then fight, but if you can endure, then endure. Adapt to the situation and don’t be too impulsive.” Muk Gu thought for another moment and said these words.
1594Chapter 550 – Xing Tian
1595Deep within the abyss that was the source of all infernal energy, in a deep underground chamber, there was a shimmering dark space. Here, a dim candle shined in the dark. Infernal energy here was rich to the point that it condensed into a thick layer of black fog. The candlelight flickered between the black fog, shadowy and macabre.
1596In the middle of this dark chamber floated a long table. Currently, there were six battle array discs on the table. These battle array discs had already been injected with energy, and phantom images appeared atop the array discs.
1597These floating phantoms were recorded scenes of some fights of Skysplit Tower’s challengers. On one of the array discs, there was even a scene playing of Lin Ming and Lan Xing’s battle.
1598“Brother Shengong, this is the data on the currently listed six individuals. What do you think?”
1599A square-faced, 30 some year-old looking man opened his mouth. On his arm, there was a tattoo of a fierce demon. The size of the tattoo was several times greater than a normal martial artist, and every texture and line of the tattoo was very clear. As one counted, this tattoo had a total of ten wings.
1600A ten-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo was the symbol of Skysplit Tower’s High Lords.
1601“The third floor’s Bai Ling and the second floor’s Lin Ming are too inexperienced; there isn’t any need to fear them.”
1602The one that answered was a Giant Demon martial artist. He also looked to be in his mid-thirties and his body was wrapped in thick chains. There was also a ten-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo on his arm.
1603The square-faced man thought for a moment and said, “Although these two have a low cultivation, their talent is exceptional. If we let them develop, they might be able to threaten our status in the future.”
1604In Polar Skysplit Tower, there was a total of 12 ten-winged Heavenly Demon High Lords. If a new Heavenly Demon High Lord was born, then they would have to split the wealth. Many of the older Heavenly Demon High Lords didn’t want to see this situation occur.
1605In this case, when a martial artist reached an eight-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo, the High Lords would send someone to negotiate with them. If these martial artists were willing to accept their conditions, they could become a demon envoy under their control and both parties could be happy. If the martial artist refused, then the High Lords would use a more forceful approach and cause them to be defeated on the arena stage, causing them to lose a massive amount of infernal energy.
1606“These two can be placed under closer observation. The difficult ones to deal with are the other four, especially that fellow called Da Gu. He’s getting close and closer to becoming a ten-winged Heavenly Demon! Is he not willing to accept our conditions?”
1607The square-faced man said, “Da Gu is very stubborn; he simply doesn’t bother with the messenger that we sent to him. Half a year ago we started to gather together the famous seven-star Heavenly Demons of the third floor, and now we already have five of them. But, it’s just this Da Gu that is refusing to yield. His Heavenly Demon Tattoo has already reached over eight wings. If he defeats some more masters and has a few more chances then he will become a ten-winged Heavenly Demon.”
1608“Humph, his ambitions are quite lofty. To think that he actually wants to become a ten-winged Heavenly Demon. The more and more infernal energy one gathers in their Heavenly Demon Tattoo, the more difficult it becomes to accumulate. However, it can be lost extremely fast. As long as he is defeated, he will lose at least 60 to 70% of his infernal energy.” The Giant Demon surnamed Shengong sneered as he spoke.
1609“That’s fine. But other than Da Gu, we can’t lower our guards against the others either. We have to prepare contingencies for them.”
1610“Mm… we should try to finish the other five as soon as possible. We can leave Bai Ling to Gumu Lang. As for Lin Ming, since he’s on the second floor, we can have Xing Tian handle him…”
1611As the Giant Demon spoke to here, he took out a sound transmitting talisman from his spatial ring. With a wave of his hand, he lit it on fire.
1612…………………………
1613“The High Lord wants me to take care of Lin Ming?” Xing Tian muttered as a bright flame flashed in front of him. He had been cultivating in his secret chamber when the voice of High Lord Shengong sounded in his ears.
1614Skysplit Tower was a collection of contradictions. On one hand, Skysplit Tower put out a great deal of tempting conditions such as pills, cultivation method manuals, battle array discs, and various other resources in order to attract all the geniuses of the Holy Demon Continent to come here and kill each other. Because these geniuses gathered, they brought along their various destinies. After they died, their blood would soak the ground and become the essential fertilizer for Skysplit Tower’s infernal energy.
1615But on the other hand, the High Lords of Skysplit Tower did not wish for the tower challengers to experience true growth. Because if they did, then their interests would be threatened and they would have to divide their power.
1616Simply put, the ideal scenario that the 12 Heavenly Demon High Lords wished for was this: All of the geniuses of the continent would gather at Skysplit Tower. Here, they would endlessly kill each other until there was no one left, bringing and leaving the massive amount of wealth and resources that they had accumulated in their lives, while their blood became the water the nourished Skysplit Tower’s source of infernal energy.
1617Or, if an individual was to grow, then they would obey the 12 High Lords and work as their minion, maintaining the daily operations of Skysplit Tower for them.
1618If this didn’t work, then they could reluctantly accept that this genius would leave Skysplit Tower before becoming a ten-winged Heavenly Demon. Although they would take away a massive amount of infernal energy and wealth with them, they wouldn’t harm the essential infernal energy of Skysplit Tower.
1619It could be said that any genius that wished to become a ten-winged High Lord was their enemy. They would do anything to stop them, even if it meant killing them. Regarding the great sects that lay behind these geniuses, the ten-winged High Lords simply didn’t care, nor were they afraid of any retaliation. This was because the Blood Slaughter Steppes were forbidden grounds for the strong due to the mysterious curse that existed here. Any top powerhouse from the outside would die a miserable death if they came, and even Emperor level powerhouses were no exception.
1620This way, the 12 ten-winged High Lords were the local tyrants of Polaris City. Here, they were Gods.
1621“I didn’t expect that this Lin Ming would have developed his Heavenly Demon Tattoo to such an extent after just arriving at the second floor, at least enough that the High Lord is concerned. If this boy grows up, he could be quite an interesting match. But… since the High Lord has given the command, I will eliminate him.”
1622Xing Tian extinguished the flame with his hand and slowly stood up. If Lin Ming were a Giant Demon, Fey, or even Imp, then the High Lords might be more agreeable to cooperate. But humans would not receive this preferential treatment.
1623At this moment, another flame lit in front of Xing Tian. This was a sound transmitting talisman sent from Sable Witch.
1624As Xing Tian heard the sound transmitting talisman’s message, he smiled, “How fun, this is just too interesting! I didn’t think that this fellow Lin Ming would actually want to see!”
1625Xing Tian revealed a thoughtful look, then lifted his feet to leave his chamber…
1626………………... 
1627The southeast corner of Skysplit Tower’s second floor was the most degenerate and depraved area of Skysplit Tower. It was a derelict area that was spooky to walk through. As one walked down the streets, they could see all sorts of restaurants and brothels. There were even prostitutes standing in the streets naked, exposing their bodies to attract potential customers. There were no taboos here.
1628In the deepest section of this region, there was an extremely luxuriously decorated restaurant. The martial artists referred to this place as the Midnight Gloom Restaurant. This restaurant occupied over one-third of the road.
1629Here were the most beautiful slaves of the entire second floor, and the most exotic singers. There was a cellar filled with thousand-year wine, great treasure, materials, and the tastiest meals.
1630Of course, the cost of patronizing this establishment was staggering. A single glass of wine costing dozens or even hundreds of medium-grade true essence stones was a normal matter.
1631Any non-top powerhouse of the second floor would not have the courage to set foot in here.
1632The Midnight Gloom Restaurant didn’t have many guests; they didn’t even add up to half of the staff.
1633When Lin Ming first entered the restaurant, he felt a jolt in his heart. At the hall of the restaurant, there was a row of 20 to 30 carefully chosen Fey girls. These Fey girls had exceptional appearances even among the Fey. These girls were all 17 or 18 years old, and all of them wore completely transparent clothing, exposing their beautiful curves and the creamy white skin of their thighs.
1634Whenever a guest arrived, these girls would greet them with the sweetest smiles. As for the attendants in the main hall, they all served on their knees. They served food on their knees, poured wine on their knees, and even had to accept the harassment of some guests on their knees.
1635Although these young girls wore clothes that exposed their bodies, most of them were in fact virgins. They had been trained for a long time and were all skilled in a variety of techniques. If one wished to obtain a slave from here, they would have to pay over a thousand Blood Demon Crystals. In the outside world, this was an extreme price that only an idiot would pay.
1636Before arriving, Lin Ming had already become accustomed to the debauched and degenerate lifestyle of Skysplit Tower. But as he saw this scene, he couldn’t help but marvel. In order to satisfy every desire of the guests, the owner of this restaurant pulled out every stop.
1637As he arrived at outside of a reserved room, a Fey slave knelt on the ground and began to help Lin Ming take off his shoes. Then, she held Lin Ming’s feet and pressed them against her full breasts. In the Midnight Gloom Restaurant, it was a custom to warm one’s feet on the milky white breasts of a slave.
1638Lin Ming had no interest in stepping on the chest of a woman who had probably been trampled on all her life. He drew his foot back and coldly said, “You can leave.”
1639“Yes.” The slave was surprised, but respectfully excused herself.
1640Lin Ming lifted his feet and entered the room. As he saw the scene inside, he frowned.
1641Xing Tian was lounging back, surrounding by five exposed Fey girls. Behind him, a girl had placed his head between her creamy breasts as she rubbed his temples. The other four were all massaging his hands and feet. They were beating, kneading, or even rubbing with their breasts. As for Xing Tian himself, he had a very enjoyable expression. His eyes were squinted, and he looked completely indifferent to Lin Ming’s arrival.
1642Lin Ming quietly entered the room, sitting in front of Xing Tian.
1643After a long time, Xing Tian opened his eyes and lazily said, “Why are you looking for me?”
1644Lin Ming put down a glass and emotionlessly said, “In Skysplit Tower, the main method to obtain slaughter points is to end a winning streak. As far as I know, anyone that belongs in the first-tier can obtain these points depending on their own strength, and everyone has a chance to divide the spoils. I want the portion that belongs to me.”
1645After Xing Tian heard Lin Ming’s words, he smiled. His smile grew more and more wide, until finally he began to keel over with laughter. All of the surrounding Fey girls were frightened by his behavior.
1646Lin Ming’s frown deepened. His eyes flashed with a cold light as he said, “Is it so funny?”
1647“Haha, so this is the reason that you’re looking for me. You are so… ridiculously stupid!”