Chapter 227 – Ling Sen’s Strength
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Liang Long shut his mouth, not even cracking the pine nut between his teeth. As he remembered his own haughty words from earlier, he felt his face heat up. He had said that he also wanted to go on stage and test out Lin Ming’s ability, but presently, if he had gone on stage, he likely would have followed in Jiang Bin’s footsteps. Liang Long was stronger than Jiang Bin, but by how much?
Was this really a peak Bone Forging martial artist? His strength was at least equal to a middle Pulse Condensation period martial artist.
Liang Long gulped. He couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Yu next to him. Zhou Yu’s face had sunk like a rock in water, and his eyes were gloomy. What he was thinking, no one knew.
Qin Ziya nodded from his seat of honor, unable to conceal his jubilant smile. This Lin Ming, after going out adventuring, his strength had increased by far too much upon his return. If it were two months ago when Lin Ming had only been at the Altering Muscle stage, then there was no way he would have been a match for Jiang Bin.
“Hehe, this kid probably has other cards up his sleeve. I’m really looking forward to what happens next.” Sun Youdao stroked his beard, his face full of smiles. To someone of his age and cultivation, it was impossible to make a breakthrough. Thus, he could only pride himself on producing the most excellent and talented of disciples. To Sun Youdao, this was the greatest comfort and gratification he could have.
“Victory to Lin Ming!”
The competition’s referee Elder had also been distracted for a moment before he announced the result of this match. As an Elder of the Seven Profound Martial House’s Inner Circle, he clearly knew very well how strong Jiang Bin was. Although his cultivation was at the peak of Bone Forging, he could definitely fight evenly with a weak Pulse Condensation period martial artist.
But now he had actually been defeated by Lin Ming with a single move; didn’t this mean that Lin Ming could at least instantly kill a weak Pulse Condensation period martial artist? A peak Bone Forging boy that only needed a second to kill a Pulse Condensation period martial artist, what sort of absurd concept was that?
This elder wondered, after Lin Ming reached the Pulse Condensation period, would he also only need a second to kill him?
The referee gave Lin Ming a deep look, and then announced, “Second match, Ling Sen VS Zhao Jifeng!”
The second match was about to start soon. Jiang Bin had entered the loser’s bracket, but looking at the state he was in, there was no point in him doing so; it was impossible for him to be one of the top two contestants.
“It’s your turn to go on stage,” Ta Ku sighed and supportively patted Ling Sen’s shoulder, “It looks like there’s no hope for me to go to the Total Faction Martial Meeting. I cannot defeat you, and now looking at Lin Ming, I know I cannot catch up to a monster like him. Aiyaa, after I graduate, I’ll have to prepare to join the army.”
Although Ta Ku shook his head and sighed, he still had a big friendly smile on his face. He wasn’t particularly sad or heartbroken about this. After Lin Ming had returned, Ta Ku learned that Lin Ming’s cultivation had already reached the peak of Bone Forging. He had a faint suspicion that he wouldn’t be Lin Ming’s match, but he hadn’t thought that the gap between them would be so big.
“Mm. After I graduate I’ll join you and also enter the army. It’s most suitable for me there.” Ling Sen silently withdrew his old heavy sword. He didn’t have a spatial ring, so he carried the heavy sword on his back. Using this method, he had continually honed his connection with this sword, until he reached the realm of becoming one with his blade.
“Old friend Ling, if someone here is going to beat Lin Ming, it’s going to be you. I think you’ll have the best fight,” Ta Ku said to Ling Sen as he looked afar, his gaze falling on Lin Ming.
Ling Sen was quiet. If what Lin Ming had displayed just now was his true strength, then Ling Sen could evenly match with him, and even win. But, could this really be the limit of Lin Ming’s true strength?
Perhaps he had other unknown cards he hadn’t shown.
Simply unfathomable!
This was what Ling Sen felt about Lin Ming.
After Ling Sen walked onto the stage, he immediately attracted the attention of everyone present; this was the Elder Senior-apprentice Brother of the Seven Profound Martial House’s Heavenly Abode. He had quietly occupied this position for several years. Regardless of whether it was Zhang Guanyu or Ta Ku, they were far from his match. It was not clear how strong Ling Sen truly was. The rumors only stated that when he had been at the peak of Altering Muscle, his strength had surpassed the early Pulse Condensation period martial artists.
Now that Ling Sen had broken through to the Bone Forging stage, just what heights had his strength reached?
The hearts of everyone present were filled with fiery expectations, including Lin Ming; he was especially curious. Although Ling Sen’s cultivation progress was slow, he had worked carefully and made steady and even progress, and finally his efforts had paid off.
Ling Sen’s Ashura martial intent didn’t assist in his cultivation. But, in terms of practicing a martial artist’s combat prowess, it was able to achieve the maximum effect.
In this aspect, the ethereal martial intent was absolutely inferior.
“Ling Sen.”
As Ling Sen stood on the martial stage, he silently observed his opponent and reported his name. His voice was filled with an icy and murderous intent; this was the experience he had gained from endless slaughter within his Ashura martial intent.
“Zhao Family, Zhao Jifeng!” Zhao Jifeng’s voice was timid. After his friend had been thoroughly ruined by Lin Ming, Zhou Jifeng had lost his emboldened and haughty attitude. He didn’t feel that he was able to fully grasp Ling Sen.
“Damn, that Lin Ming is such a freak of nature. There is no way that I’m his match. I cannot lose this round to Ling Sen. If I’m defeated, then I will be forced out of the Total Faction Martial Meeting,” Zhao Jifeng thought to himself. His grip around the black saber tightened.
Although he didn’t expect to achieve great results at the Total Faction Martial Meeting, the Zhou Family’s Zhou Yu and the Liang Family’s Liang Long were selected as participants in the Martial Meeting. If he was eliminated, then it would bring shame to his family’s name. Later on, he would lose his standing within his family.
With this in mind, Zhao Jifeng gritted his teeth. Let’s fight!
The referee stepped onto the stage, and loudly announced, “I will not repeat the rules of the competition. The match begins now!
As the referees voice fell, Zhao Jifeng took a single step forwards and dragged his inky black saber outwards. As the saber curved, a black beam of light followed it, over several tens of feet long. This saber light was crescent-shaped. Looking from a distance, it was as if a large black moon had suddenly descended to earth.
“Falling Moon Cut!”
Zhang Jifeng cried out. He tightly grasped the black saber in both hands, and viciously cut at Ling Sen! This saber light was even able to block the sun; it was as if night had fallen!
Ling Sen’s eyes condensed. He wielded the heavy sword in his hands and struck out. His heavy sword was very slow; it was impossible to overtake Zhao Jifeng’s Falling Moon Cut. But in the moment that the saber and sword crossed each other, an incomprehensible scene took place.
Zhao Jifeng’s body suddenly stopped, as Ling Sen’s sword arrived in front of him
Peng!
An incomparably clear sound reverberated through the air; Zhao Jifeng’s Falling Moon Cut suddenly shattered like a piece of glass, breaking into countless tiny black shards!
Zhao Jifeng’s body shook, and he suddenly plopped downwards like a bag of rice that fell from the air, heavily hitting the floor. He hadn’t been cut by Ling Sen’s sword wind, nor was he wounded. He hadn’t even vomited blood. But in that instant, he had tumbled onto the ground and didn’t rise back up.
Ling Sen retracted the heavy sword, placing it back onto his back, and turned around to walk away. He didn’t even spare Zhao Jifeng a backwards glance.
The entire audience was dumbfounded. Obviously Ling Sen’s sword light hadn’t even touched Zhao Jifeng’s body, so why did Zhao Jifeng suddenly hit the floor?
Liang Long, Zhou Yu, and the others didn’t understand.
Lin Ming furrowed his eyebrows. His soul force was powerful, and his sense of perception was far sharper than a normal man. He had faintly felt something. Ling Sen had released some sort of murderous aura that penetrated into Zhao Jifeng’s body, giving him internal injuries!
“Second match, victory to Ling Sen!”
The referee probed Zhao Jifeng’s condition with his perception and found that no permanent damage had been done. He ordered several people to carry Zhao Jifeng down.
After the referee announced the result, the audience flew into an uproar. This….this was a victory? It was finished in a single strike, and Zhao Jifeng hadn’t even been touched. What was going on?
Listening to the excited chatter of the audience, Liang Long and Zhou Yu’s faces were hung with embarrassment. Instead, they were now glad that almost no one knew about them, and didn’t know their identity as martial cultivation family core disciples. Otherwise, they would really need to find a hole to crawl into.
Two matches in a row, two of the four great families’ juniors had been eliminated. And not only that, but they were all defeated in less than a second!
Lin Ming was freakishly fierce, but why was Ling Sen also so abnormal!?!? Both of Liang Long and Zhou Yu’s strengths weren’t much stronger than Zhao Jifeng and Jiang Bin. That is to say, Lin Ming and Ling Sen could also instantly defeat them.
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“This Ling Sen really gave me a pleasant surprise” Qin Ziya remarked as he watched Ling Sen’s back as he left. He was secretly startled. He assumed that Ling Sen would not be Lin Ming’s match. But now it looked as if the two people would have a good fight!
“It should be because of his spirit of slaughter! Ling Sen has no love or desire in his heart, only endless slaughter. This is the demon of his heart of martial arts. But at the same time, it is also a supreme weapon. His murderous intent can substantialize into an essence that be used in a direct attack. The reason that Zhao Jifeng paused was because he was compelled to do so by Ling Sen’s killing aura. This is a strength that can’t be easily seen.”
Sun Youdao had lived for over 100 years. Although his strength as considered at the peak of his level, he had a very rich range of experiences, and was able to discern Ling Sen’s attack methods with just a glance.
Qin Ziya said, “Not only that, but Ling Sen was able to gather and unite all of the murderous aura around him into a condensed form, creating a sort of killing domain. If one’s strength is insufficient, it would be impossible to breakthrough this protection! To be able to create this sort of ability, Ling Sen’s perception is simply terrifying! No wonder his strength grew so quickly! These past years I hadn’t paid much attention to Ling Sen, and now his strength has actually reached this degree!”
“Hehe, this is something to be joyous about. I thought that the match between Lin Ming and Ling Sen would be a one-sided stomp, but this has added greatly to the suspense. Who do you think will win?”
Qin Ziya shook his head, “I don’t know. In these matches, both Ling Sen and Lin Ming didn’t use their full strength; they are still hiding most of their ability. We can only see whose hidden cards are fiercer. This time when we go to the Total Faction, I will petition for Ling Sen to become a core disciple. It’s just too bad. Although Ling Sen is gifted, his martial arts cultivation talent is simply too ordinary. His cultivation speed is too slow…..”
Ling Sen was already 21 years old, and was only at the Bone Forging stage. He would probably reached the Pulse Condensation period at 24 or 25, and would be over 30 before he reached the Houtian realm. When he achieved the peak Houtian realm, he would most likely be 40 or 50 years old. At that time, he would have already missed his best time to attack the Xiantian realm bottleneck.
As Ling Sen’s match concluded, the qualifying competition entered into the second round.
Lin Ming would soon match up against Ling Sen and Ta Ku. As the audience thought of Ling Sen’s overwhelming victory from a moment ago, they all became filled with enthusiastic fervor.
Sky Fortune Kingdom would gain an extreme martial master and the most thrilling about this was that it would be decided in the showdown between Lin Ming and Ling Sen!
This would be a fierce clash between two evenly matched opponents! It really made everyone’s blood boil in excitement!
Even the two Great Generals present were hysterical with excitement. To someone like them, who had experienced countless life and death battles and had been through numerous difficulties in life, there was very little that would be able to fill them with so much ardor.
But now, they had once again run into the wistful passion that had driven them when they were young. In this collision between two top talents, who would come out on top?
State Marshall Qin Xiao was also looking at Lin Ming in a new light. The more he saw of him the more he liked him. If it weren’t for his granddaughter Qin Xingxuan saying that she wanted to reach the Xiantian realm, and refused to consider anything about marriage, then he would definitely try to snatch Lin Ming to become his granddaughter’s husband.