Chapter 184 – Reverse Scale Blood
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Lin Ming was ecstatic to the point of finding it difficult to maintain his calm. It was extremely rare in the entire world for someone to be able to comprehend two different martial intents. The difficulty of this was beyond hopeless!
He had never imaged that he would obtain such a lucky chance!
“Since I comprehended this martial intent after living through 100 worlds of Samsara, then I will call this the Samsara martial intent.”
Lin Ming had completely calmed down. The world around him began to slowly disappear like the receding waves of a tide. In a moment, he was returned to the life and death smelting trial. In front of him, space began to ripple, and Yan Mo appeared.
“Congratulations, you have perfectly passed through the seventh level! Ever since the Sorcerer Pagoda was created, you are the first one to pass through the complete smelting trial!” Yan Mo said. Although he spoke words of applause, he still spoke in the same icy monotone voice.
“The trial of the seventh floor has always been an opportunity. I think you have realized his by now.”
“Mm. I understand.” Lin Ming nodded. The World of the Sorcerer had never existed to begin with. This was because the Sorcerer was not a god. There was no god in this world. The Faith of the Sorcerer, and the god known the Sorcerer among mortals merely existed in the hearts of the people. Because god only existed in the hearts of the people, this World of the Sorcerer was in actuality the world of the heart.
After experiencing the 100 Samsaras, Lin Ming’s heart of martial arts had undergone a change in its essential nature. At the beginning, his martial heart had been of perseverance and persistence. Now, his heart of martial arts seemed to have touched a great truth, and he had come closer to understanding the profound secrets behind ‘Martial’ and ‘Dao’.
This change in his heart of martial arts wouldn’t be immediately reflected in his strength, but, it had an invaluable role in the future achievements of Lin Ming!
And even more precious was the Samsara martial intent.
Lin Ming could feel that the Samsara martial intent far outstripped his first ethereal martial intent; it was an absolutely terrifying martial intent.
“According to the agreement, this treasure is yours.” Yan Mo said. The space before him began to ripple, and the red quartz with the crimson filament inside appeared in front of Lin Ming.
Lin Ming took a deep breath. As he touched this red quartz, it felt like water to the touch. Lin Ming asked, “Can you tell me what this is now?”
“Certainly.” Yan Mo said. “This is blood from a reverse scale that Master accidently obtained during a battle within the Realm of the Gods.”
“Blood of the reverse scale?” Lin Ming said, slightly stunned. He patiently continued listening.
Yan Mo said, “All dragons have a reverse scale. Once this scale is breached, they will die. The filament that is sealed within this red quartz is the blood from a True Dragon’s reverse scale. This blood has a soul, and therefore it was sealed within 10,000 year red quartz to prevent its soul from dissipating or running away.”
“True Dragon?”
Lin Ming was taken aback. In the legends, a True Dragon was simply an illusory, unobtainable existence. No one knew just how powerful a True Dragon really was.
In the Sky Spill Continent, there were only flood dragons, and even if it were a flood dragon, that was also an ultimate existence that was never seen.
What most people could see were wurms. These were the lineages of vicious beasts that had the bloodline of the flood dragons mixed within their own, and could only be considered as false dragons.
A flood dragon was said to love mating and was promiscuous to the point that it didn’t discriminate in finding sexual partners. That was why there were so many different vicious beasts that had the blood of dragons within them. Just casually choosing one of these beasts, one could easily find one that was as strong as a Xiantian master, or even stronger!
Before, Lin Ming had eaten a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. The Crimson Gold Dragon was a vicious beast that had part of the bloodline from a wurm within it; it was far inferior to a creature with the bloodline of a flood dragon! Even so, a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill was also priceless.
“What does this reverse scale blood do?” Lin Ming asked, his voice filled with anticipation and expectation.
“Once you absorb this into your body, your true essence will carry a hint of Dragon Yang Qi. In lower levels of cultivation, its use will not be apparent. However, the higher your cultivation is, the more benefits there are that you will discover. As you are now, your cultivation is too low to absorb this or use this reverse scale blood.”
“Dragon Yang Qi?” Lin Ming faintly echoed. Although he didn’t know what its specific function was, but just with it coming from an existence like a True Dragon, Lin Ming knew that this was a great fortuitous opportunity.
Lin Ming asked, “Why didn’t the Sorcerer Senior use this Dragon Yang Qi? Did he already have it?”
Yan Mo said, “Master did not. This reverse scale blood is something that could only be obtained through serendipity; one cannot seek it. Even within the Realm of the Gods, this is a treasure that would fill everyone with absolute jealousy and set off a terrifyingly bloody conflict. Master may not have Dragon Yang Qi, but early in Master’s past, he had found an ancient Ice Frog Pill. He was able to refine this pill with a secret technique and let his body flow with the icy blood of an ancient ice frog. From then on, Master became impervious to ice and poisons, and was also able to use their power. However, because of this, Master’s body became partial to the cold Yin energy, and the cultivation method Master practiced was also like this, so he was never able to absorb the Dragon Yang Qi within him. Otherwise if he did, then the Yang and Yin energies would reject each other, and the Dragon Yang Qi might shatter the Ice Frog blood that he had cultivated. There could only be disadvantages and no benefits to this.”
“So that’s how it was. Didn’t the Sorcerer Senior ever think of trading this reverse scale blood for something else?”
Yan Mo said, “Master’s cultivation had already reached the limit of an extremely high realm. At that time, his lifespan was coming to an end. All worldly possessions became worthless to him. Any valuable material or treasure could not help Master break through to the next realm. Master looked at all the treasures that he had collected in his life and had laid down everything in order to let his mind return to its most fundamental and simplistic nature. He gave up all vices and affectations in order to return to innocence. Only like this would Master have a chance to break through his lifetime’s bottleneck.”
“I see… so did Sorcerer Senior succeed?”
After Lin Ming asked, Yan Mo remained silent. But silence was also a kind of answer.
Lin Ming felt a profound stirring in his heart.
What sort of character was the Sorcerer? For his final closed-door seclusion, he had made so many preparations. He hadn’t even hesitated to return to the mortal world and construct 72 Sorcerer Pagodas for his descendants to complete his karma. Finally, he had even laid down all his worldly possessions and threw away all of his sins and vices in order to return to a pure mentality to attack his bottleneck. Even so, after all this, he had still failed!
The path of cultivating the martial arts was to clash against the will of the heavens, remove oneself from the cycle of Samsara and eternally remain within the world.
There had been so many extremely gifted geniuses and top talents in the world, but ultimately none of them were able to struggle against the vast heavens…
Thinking this, Lin Ming subconsciously clenched his fists. One could not resist the heavens, but he would still continue to fight and struggle until he reached the peak of the martial Dao!
At this time, Yan Mo said, “You cannot swallow the reverse scale blood; it must be directly introduced into your own blood vessels. However, your cultivation is too low, and the reverse scale blood cannot fuse into your body. If you forcefully do so, your body will be unable to withstand the power and you will explode. I will place a ban upon your body to seal the reverse scale blood. When your cultivation is sufficient, you may undo this ban and completely absorb the reverse scale blood. I warn you, absorbing the reverse scale blood is an extremely painful process. In order to neutralize its oppressive power, it is similar to washing the muscles and marrow.”
Lin Ming said, “I understand, thank you Senior Yan Mo.”
“Cut your wrist and introduce the blood inside.”
Listening to Yan Mo’s directions, Lin Ming took out a dagger from his spatial ring. With an effort, he was able to open up an artery on his wrist. It bled profusely.
However, Lin Ming’s regenerative abilities were too astonishing. Even after cutting open his wrist, this wound still healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At this time, the reverse scale blood was suspended above Lin Ming’s hand. With a simply thought from Yan Mo, a splitting sound resounded in the air. Cracks spread like spider webs down the red quartz, and the thin blood filament within tumbled around like a bird that had been unjustly caged within. After being freed, it instantly flew out.
But, as it tried to escape, it was instantly suppressed by an invisible force and pressed into Lin Ming’s blood vessels.
With the support of his formidable blood vitality, the wrist wound quickly healed. Like this, the reverse scale blood was sealed within Lin Ming’s body.
With the reverse scale blood submerged within Lin Ming’s body, Yan Mo closed its giant eye. An invisibly psychic wave radiated from Yan Mo and flowed into Lin Ming.
The space around Lin Ming began to twist and bend. A spatial cage had formed around him, completely locking him inside.
Lin Ming knew that this was a ban that was created by Yan Mo, in order to prevent the reverse scale blood from escaping.
The reverse scale blood was rebellious and violent. It had just left its prison, and had been forced into another prison; how could it be willing to resign itself to this fate? It recklessly crashing within Lin Ming’s body, wanting to break it open and flee outside.
But an invisible force confined it to a small space. This spatial power became increasingly tighter, pushing it towards Lin Ming’s heart.
The reverse scale blood grew increasingly manic, slamming against its bindings time and time again. Lin Ming felt a fierce pain in his chest, this aching feeling was just as if a sharp point was repeatedly stabbing him from the inside.
As Lin Ming probed the reverse scale blood’s movements in his body with his soul force, he could only squeeze out a grim smile. If it was like this, then who knew what year or what month he would finally be able to absorb it…
The Sorcerer had set such a big cake in front of him, and yet he could only look at it, he wasn’t able to eat it.
Yan Mo stood at the side, simultaneously sealing away the reverse scale blood as he said, “I will seal this into your heart, and then teach you the method to undo the ban. Once you reach the limit of the Xiantian realm, you may undo the ban. Remember, do not hastily absorb it, otherwise your life will be threatened.”
“Limit of the Xiantian realm?” Lin Ming was speechless. He still hadn’t even reached the Pulse Condensation Period, so how long would it take for him to reach the Xiantian realm limit? But this wasn’t too surprising. After all, this reverse scale blood was from the bloodline of a True Dragon. Although it was only the smallest amount, he was still not at the point where he could tame it. If there was anyone to blame, he could only blame himself for his cultivation being too low.
Yan Mo could see the crestfallen disappointment on Lin Ming’s face. After obtaining such a powerful strength, he had been told he could not use it; disappointment was simply the natural path of human nature.
Yan Mo said, “Cultivation of the martial path must proceed in an orderly fashion, step-by-step. You already have the power and the body. There are many geniuses that would not even dare to –”
As Yan Mo was speaking words of encouragement, he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. There had been a sudden change with the reverse scale blood within Lin Ming’s body!
As the reverse scale blood approached Lin Ming’s heart, it reacted as if it had just encountered the most horrible thing in the world. It suddenly quieted down, and even showed a deep foreboding fear.
It no longer crashed around; it only thought to flee the confines of Lin Ming’s heart as soon as possible. However, the spatial force that Yan Mo applied was slowly edging the reverse scale blood towards Lin Ming’s heart.
The reverse scale blood was anxious, and it tried to resist this inexorably force with all of its might. But it was only a trace of blood. Even if it was the bloodline of a True Dragon, it still couldn’t resist Yan Mo’s strength.
As it closed in on Lin Ming’s heart, the soul of the reverse scale blood began to shiver in abject fear.
Lin Ming had been following the path of the reverse scale blood with his soul force. He felt the dread of the reverse scale blood, and was slightly surprised. After all, this reverse scale blood originated from the bloodline of a True Dragon. Although it had limited strength, it was still mightily proud just like a True Dragon.
So why was it suddenly so afraid…?
This was…