Chapter 175 – Hungry Ghosts
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As the spearhead passed through the blood demons, they would break apart just like bags of blood that were smashed apart. With a single sweep, 3 or 4 blood demons would be demolished by the vibrating force. In only an incense stick of time, nearly 100 blood demons were completely cleared by Lin Ming!
But at this moment, not too far away, a massive cloud of bloody fog began to coalesce into a blood demon that was twice as large as a normal one. This blood demon was different, one could clearly make out its distinct facial features, and it seemed to carry a profound sense of intelligence. Obviously, this blood demon was the most formidable of them all.
As Lin Ming saw this final blood demon, the corners of his mouth tipped upwards in a savage grin. His feet tread the ground, and he burst forward like a bolt of lightning. In that moment, the several dozens of feet distance between them were closed.
The gathered momentum of Lin Ming erupted like a volcano! Flood Dragon Goes to Sea!
Peng!
Lin Ming’s spear pierced through that blood demon’s body, and 5000 vibrating true essence filaments broke into its body, directly exploding it into a fog of blood.
A stream of blood energy flowed into Lin Ming; this blood demon was almost equal to a 500 year old Blood Lingzhi.
In total, Lin Ming had slain 99 normal blood demons and the blood demon leader. This was equivalent to absorbing more than a dozen 500 year old Blood Lingzhi!
The massive amount of blood vitality reverberated within Lin Ming’s body; there was about half that he wouldn’t be able to absorb for now.
If Lin Ming’s vitality had been as energetic as a burning stove, then now, his vitality was like a billowing rocket, soaring into the deep blue sky!
“Awesome!” Lin Ming let out a long breath. He felt as if he was filled to the brim with energy. Although he had just undergone a fierce battle, his current state was much better than before!
“There is still much blood energy within my body that hasn’t been absorbed. Still, the strength of my vitality has been augmented. I can fight all day and I still wouldn’t be tired!”
Lin Ming suddenly remembered something. He took the Heavy Profound Soft Spear and drew a bloody cut along his hand. Then, an unimaginable scene took place. This cut healed at a speed that was visible to the naked eye, and before long it had completely regenerated!
Seeing this, Lin Ming was stunned. Although he knew that his power of blood vitality was able to enhance the healing capabilities of the body, he hadn’t expected it to reach this level.
With such an abnormal restorative ability, he would no longer need to fear injuries on the battlefield. If he could obtain some rare material in the future and supplement his blood vitality even further, then he might really be able to reach the legendary realm of regenerating lost limbs, or even being reborn from a single drop of blood!
“The Hell trial has concluded. Second trial, Hungry Ghost!”
That calmly indifferent voice rang within Lin Ming’s ears again. Suddenly, his surroundings began to change. The bloody lakes and red sky began to turn into a completely dark and gloomy world. Looking up, he could see that the sky was a pale yellow like muddied waters, and there were countless black crows flying everywhere. The unimaginable number of black feathers in the sky obscured any bright sunlight there was.
A surging river emerged from the ground. The greenish-yellow waters of the river roiled in churning, never ending waves. A boundless deathly gas blew through the air. On the riverside, there was an obsidian stone tablet. Two large characters written on it – ‘Yellow Springs’!
“Hungry Ghost! I see, it’s just like Na Yi said. The Sorcerer Pagoda was divided into seven levels; Hell, Hungry Ghost, Animals, Witch Slave, Mortals, Celestial Envoy, and the Word of the Sorcerer. I thought that these names were only because of the religion and superstitions of the Southern Wilderness’ people. I didn’t actually expect it to be true! But these seven trials do not exist in the Sorcerer Pagoda, but instead in the life and death smelting trial! It’s just that an ordinary witch simply has no chance to see them.”
Then, the waves of the Yellow Springs began to violently churn, and massive whirlpools appeared within it. Hungry ghosts began to rush out from the greenish-yellow river waters, ominously howling as they fired towards Lin Ming!
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Outside of the Sorcerer Pagoda, Na Yi and Na Shui were silently waiting.
Na Shui said, “Big Sister, couldn’t you enter the Sorcerer Pagoda with that big brother and go through the Sorcerer’s test?”
Na Yi said, “The power of the Sorcerer within the Sorcerer Pagoda is limited; the effects won’t be as good if two people enter in at the same time. Not only that, but with my current strength, I’ll at most be able to make it to the fourth floor…”
Na Yi had only just reached 15 years of age. It was still too early for her to undergo the trial of the Sorcerer Pagoda.
Na Yi had her own wild ambitions. She wanted to reach the fifth floor of the Sorcerer Pagoda, or even the sixth floor, and gain the Sorcerer’s recognition to restore her Na Tribe!
Since the founding of the Na Tribe, it was already very good if a witch was able to reach the third or fourth level of the Sorcerer Pagoda.
If they passed through the fourth to the fifth, then they were a genius among talents.
If they passed through the fifth to the sixth, then they were a legend.
In the thousand or so years of the Na Tribe’s existence, there had only ever been one person to enter the sixth level!
And that legendary figure was the first Witch Queen of the Na Tribe who had brought her people to travel the land, expanded their territory, and eventually founded the Na Tribe.
“Big Sister, what level do you think that Big Brother Mo is at now?” Na Shui innocently asked.
“He…” Na Yi’s eyebrows knitted together. She looked towards the Sorcerer Pagoda with an anxiously puzzled expression. Before, she had seen Lin Ming rush up the first three levels with incredible speed that was enough to make her gasp in surprise. However, it wasn’t to unexpected. After all, Lin Ming’s strength was at the limit of a Bone Forging powerhouse. With his strength, he should have been able to roll over the first three levels.
But what was strange was that after she had seen Lin Ming pass through the first three levels from outside the pagoda, he had seemingly disappeared. She had been staring at the fourth level of the Sorcerer Pagoda and found that the formation array hadn’t even begun to revolve. This proved that Lin Ming hadn’t entered the fourth level.
“Just what could have happened? With Mo Lin’s strength, it’s impossible that he couldn’t reach the fourth floor. He should easily pass through the fifth and into the sixth. His progress should at least be no less than the first Witch Queen of the Na Tribe.”
“Could Mo Lin have experienced some sort of accident within the Sorcerer Pagoda?” Thinking this, Na Yi felt her heart tighten in distress.
“But… the Sorcerer Pagoda is only an illusory magic array, there shouldn’t be any accidents. Even if it is too difficult…” Na Yi suddenly gasped as she remembered something. In the ancient texts of the witches, there was once a legend that existed…
In that legend, there was once a time long, long ago, when the Sorcerer had founded a Divine Kingdom. The Sorcerer Pagoda was the entrance leading to the Divine Kingdom. If one was selected by the Sorcerer, they would be able to open the door to the Divine Kingdom. Once they returned from that holy land, they would be the king of the Southern Wilderness!
King of the Southern Wilderness…
Na Yi took a deep breath, her heart surging with emotions as goose bumps began to rise on her arms.
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“Bones as thin as firewood, sunken eyes, pupils the color of blood, so these are the hungry ghosts of the Hungry Ghost World.”
Lin Ming watched as the hideous ghosts stumbled towards him. Their bodies were lean to the point of being naught by a pile of bones. Their limbs were short and their heads were grotesquely huge. Their mouths were twisted open, and he could see dense rows of sharp teeth with a long, red tongue hanging out as it unendingly dripped saliva.
“Whether it is hungry ghosts or blood demons, I’ll kill you all the same!”
Lin Ming rushed towards the hungry ghost at the front, striking out with his spear!
Cha!
At this point, the absurd occurred. Lin Ming’s spear hadn’t been blocked and struck the hungry ghost without resistance, but the hungry ghost wasn’t injured even a bit. Unharmed, it rushed towards Lin Ming.
A claw swiped downwards. Lin Ming’s eyes widened and he immediately launched the Golden Roc Shattering the Void movement, instantly disappearing from where he stood and avoiding the dangerous blow.
“Physical damage immunity?”
Lin Ming suddenly understood. The hungry ghost itself was only a ghost; it wasn’t a true corporeal entity.
“I see, so I’ll have to use a martial skill to deal with them, and use the explosive force to scatter their soul. If a martial artist’s martial skills weren’t potent enough, then this trial would be truly bothersome.”
The truth was, Lin Ming belonged in the class of martial artists that didn’t have mighty martial skills. It was just recently that he had accidently created the Thunderfire Annihilation skill.
However, using the Thunderfire Annihilation would sap 40% of Lin Ming’s total true essence reserves; it wasn’t something that he could casually use.
But this didn’t matter. Lin Ming still had his true essence manifestation ability, and he could also use the powers of thunder and flame.
Lin Ming shook his spear, and a purple electric snake began to circle down the Heavy Profound Soft Spear’s shaft, making a sizzling sound as it passed.
Thunder had always been a power that was able to exorcise spirits and demons. Ghosts feared the sunlight, and were even more fearful of thunder. If a ghost was caught out in a thunderstorm, the thunderclap would scatter their wretched soul until it was beyond redemption.
However, in the legends there also existed super ghosts of unimaginable strength that were able to withstand the destructive power of thunder. They would fly into the thunderclouds and use the power of thunder to temper out the impurities of their soul. This was the so-called heavenly tribulation. Once a ghost was able to pass through this trial by thunder, they would be able to produce Pure Yang from within themselves, and eventually construct a Pure Yang body that was no different from a living human.
Of course, these hungry ghosts in front of Lin Ming were nowhere near that level.
Chi!
The electric snake spat out a bolt of lightning that struck a hungry ghost. In that instant, that hungry ghost’s soul was scattered into the wind!
A surge of pure soul energy streamed into Lin Ming’s body; in the next moment, he felt that his soul force had grown.
“Mm? Soul strengthening?”
Lin Ming was slightly stunned, and then he was jubilant. Before reaching the Xiantian realm, it was extremely difficult for one to cultivate soul force. Lin Ming had only done so by depending on the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’ and drawing inscriptions in order to augment his own soul force. However, that progress had been slow.
Although Lin Ming’s current soul force was much stronger than a martial artist at the same cultivation as him, it was still difficult to use that minimal soul force to draw up the body inscription symbol. That was why Lin Ming had barely managed to do so, and why each time after drawing the body inscription symbol, he had fallen into a deep slumber from overtaxing his soul force.
“I didn’t imagine that the power of the hungry ghosts could strengthen one’s soul force. That’s really too rare.”
To an inscription master, soul force was of the utmost importance. Moreover, once one reached the Xiantian realm, they would also have to cultivate the soul. If he was able to build an early solid foundation for when he reached the Xiantian realm, then his future cultivation would inevitably proceed much more smoothly.
Thinking this, Lin Ming’s fighting spirit began to seethe with fervor. The Thunder Soul in his body also seemed to be infected by his zealousness as it rapidly spun around the Heretical God Seed.
A thick bolt of twisting light emerged from Lin Ming’s body. The crackling bright lightning was really shocking!
“Kill!”
The Heavy Profound Soft Spear turned into a flying purple dragon as it twisted in the air. Countless arcs of lightning spun around him, weaving a huge, expansive lightning grid. In such a storm of lightning, the hungry ghosts were like specks of snow within a raging firestorm. They rapidly melted and then evaporated in air.
Their wailing howls lingered in the air. A stream of pure soul energy continuously flowed into Lin Ming’s body, nourishing the soul in his spiritual sea. Lin Ming felt as if his consciousness had never been so clear before. Even the smallest change around him could not escape his perception
At this moment, a shrill and mournful ghostly cry sounded nearby. Lin Ming didn’t even need to turn his head; his soul force had already locked onto the enemy.
This purple colored wraith had the shocking appearance of a beautiful woman. However, this wraith only had a head; it had no body. From far away, one could see that this giant head was dozens of feet wide a it floated air in air like it was embedded within the dimly pale yellow sky. Endlessly long bone-white hair danced in the wind.