Chapter 245 – A Second to Defeat Wang Mu
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Soul force attacks had especially wonderful results if they were used on an opponent that wasn’t aware of the situation. Under the circumstances where the difference in strength and cultivation wasn’t too great, one could instantly defeat the other in a single second. But, if one had made early preparations and was aware of the incoming soul attack, then the situation would be different.
However, normal martial artists would never practice this sort of martial skill simply because martial artists that used their soul force to launch an attack were too rare. Only when a martial artist has reached the Xiantian realm and began to cultivate their soul and similar techniques would such attacks surface. Before the Xiantian realm, martial artists usually only cultivated their true essence and physical body.
“Hmm, this is a bit interesting. It seems that Wang Mu already has a martial skill prepared to deal with soul force attacks. How will Lin Ming handle this situation?”
“I don’t think that Lin Ming has many other attack methods. Looking at him, he only appears to be 16 or 17 years old. Soul force attacks are too difficult to learn and master. Just cultivating one is enough to occupy all his time; where would he find the energy to study anything else?”
“I hear that Lin Ming was also able to control thunder. I wonder what grade his lightning fusion is at. If it’s high, it might be of some use.”
As people talked, Lin Ming and Wang Mu had already both risen to prominence. They had attracted many viewers; there were even some audience members and martial artists from other stages that came to watch. It was basically determined that Lin Ming and Wang Mu would both qualify. In the future, they might encounter one of these two, so it was better to come watch in advance and have an understanding of their opponents strength.
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In the arena, the match had already begun. But, Wang Mu actually hadn’t moved yet. Instead, he strengthened his defensive turtle shell.
“Now that your soul force attacks no longer work, I wonder how you will fight me!” Wang Mu brutishly spit out.
“I see you crammed your study time in order to learn a soul defense; you seem quite confident.” Lin Ming still hadn’t taken out his spear. Since everyone had assumed that he was a soul force attack genius, then he would just go with the flow. He had already decided that unless he met a master which soul force was useless against, then he would use the Samsara martial intent as his only attack; this wasn’t just to hide his strength. If he constantly uses his Samsara martial intent, then he would be able to deepen the understanding of his Samsara martial intent and gain a higher realm of comprehension.
Lin Ming was becoming closer and closer to the Houtian and Xiantian realm. Sooner or later, Lin Ming would have to cultivate his soul. If he waited until then to ponder and understand how the Samsara martial intent was related to his soul, then it would be too late. So, if he was given an opportunity to practice his Samsara martial intent, of course he wouldn’t miss it.
Wang Mu’s faced flushed red. He coldly snorted, “Even if I don’t have a soul defense, I can still crush you with my cultivation. I’m not afraid of you!”
As his voice fell, Wang Mu took out two swords from his spatial ring. He gripped a longsword in his right hand and a dagger in his left.
“Dual blade user?”
The audience’s eyes lit up. They hadn’t thought that Wang Mu would be a dual blade user. Before this, Wang Mu had only fought with his left hand. To use two blades was much more difficult than a single sword, but once one managed to master this power, then they would be a force to be reckoned with.
“The two blade styles combine and complement each other!”
Wang Mu’s true essence began to rapidly revolve within his body. A deep purple color glimmered around the longsword and the dagger, as light glinted off the tip.
Wang Mu took a fierce step forwards and his long sword thrust out followed with his dagger, a piercing sound breaking through the air.
Seeing Wang Mu’s blades stab out, Lin Ming remained motionless. His eyes suddenly flashed with a black light.
The Samsara martial intent had begun.
Bang!
Wang Mu felt as if his body were struck by a powerful force. The sword wind that was twirling around his blades scattered into nothing with the loss of his soul force supporting it.
Wang Mu paled as he stepped back, his art filled with a surprised anger. His opponents soul force was simply like a sword light. Although it had managed to penetrate his soul force defense, it had been greatly weakened. Even so, it had caused his spiritual sea to tremble. In that instant, he had seen countless illusions and had almost lost himself in that imaginary vortex.
And worst of all, once his spiritual sea was struck then he wouldn’t be able to control his true essence. Any gorgeous or magnificent martial skill that he was using would be wasted.
“I have to strengthen my soul force defense, but my true essence is limited. If I strengthen my soul force defense, then my attack power will naturally weaken along with it. If I don’t have enough true essence, can I still use that move?”
“At this point I don’t have any other choice.” Wang Mu grit his teeth and pushed his true essence to the extreme. The two blades in his hands began to rotate at an astonishing speed.
“Double Blade Vortex!”
True essence formed an air current that began to swirl around the blades. A black vortex emerged from between the two swords, recklessly spinning as it grew larger and larger. A foul evil and cold air began to whisper in the wind, constantly emanating from that vortex.
However, when Wang Mu was about to strike out with this double bladed vortex, he was completely stunned as he watched the audience around him melt into nothingness. The skies evaporated and the ground vanished; he was suddenly a single person standing in an endless empty space. In the sky, there were two massive jet black vortexes that were savagely swirling around. When Wang Mu looked at these vortexes, it was as if he could see the profound void and the endless universe contained within.
Compared to these to titanic black vortexes, his own double sword vortex was absolutely nothing.
In that moment, a glimmer of dread and anguish appeared in Wang Mu’s mind.
In a battle of soul force, a single momentary flaw in the mind would spell instant defeat.
Peng!
Wang Mu’s soul force defense film completely broke apart. Countless shadows and images flooded into Wang Mu’s mind, surging through his spiritual sea, completely cutting off all his contact with the outside world.
Peng!
Peng!
With the sound of metal hitting stone, both of Wang Mu’s blades fell the to the ground. His eyes dilated, his pupils blurred over, his face whitened, he foamed from the mouth, and a moment later, he slumped to the ground.
In this duel, he had been thoroughly defeated.
Seeing Wang Mu’s defeat, Martial House Master Luo’s expression became extremely ugly. Qin Ziya cupped his hands together and smiled as he sent a true essence sound transmission, saying, “Thank you Martial House Master Luo for so generously gifting us with the Seraphic Pond. It was a good game.”
Although the words sounded polite they were actually full of sarcasm, grating on Martial House Master Luo’s ears as he heard them. Wang Mu had been defeated with only having used half a skill! But Lin Ming actually hadn’t moved at all, he had only glanced at Wang Mu twice.
How was this possible? How could a peak Bone Forging boy defeat someone at the middle Pulse Condensation period? Not only that, but Wang Mu wasn’t any ordinary middle Pulse Condensation martial artist. Even in the entire Seven Profound Valleys there weren’t many people that could do this. Just what was this Lin Ming’s soul talent at?
Medium sixth-grade? Or maybe a superior sixth-grade that was only spoken of in the ancient texts?
A sixth-grade soul talent was much rarer than a sixth-grade martial talent. To have a superior-sixth grade soul talent was simply unimaginable!
“Lin Ming, victory!”
The referee promptly announced. After defeating Wang Mu, Lin Ming was already at the front of his group. He was only behind Jiang Lanjian and Bi Tinghua. It was already certain that he would pass the group stages.
“This Lin Ming is simply too terrifying; he was actually able to defeat a middle Pulse Condensation period martial artist with just his soul force. Could he do the same with a late Pulse Condensation period martial artist?”
“Late Pulse Condensation….it should be impossible….even a top-level talent of the Seven Profound Valleys could not do this. Even the direct disciples of the Total Faction would not be able to defeat a late Pulse Condensation period master when only at the peak of Bone Forging.”
“Well, it’s different. After all, he is a soul force attack expert. It simply isn’t the right path to walk to use such skills. Although it has a great effect now, later it will create a very big bottleneck, especially after the Xiantian realm when everyone begins to cultivate their soul. At that time, others’ soul force won’t be much weaker, rendering his soul attacks useless.”
“They would have to reach the Xiantian realm first. How many of the geniuses present would be able to reach the Xiantian realm? 1 out of 20? 1 out of 30? In any case, I’m not prepared to deal with this abnormal freak. If I run into him, I’ll just admit defeat. Since I’m only at the early Pulse Condensation period, chances are, I will also be defeated in a second. I’ll save my strength to deal with someone else.
This thought of the Seven Profound Valley disciple was also what most of the other martial artists were thinking. There were a total of 10 that could leave this group. Most of them weren’t sure that they would be able to deal with Lin Ming, so they could only forfeit their match if they encountered him,.
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In the Profound Sky Mountain’s Great Hall, Mu Qinghong had been watching the entire match from afar.
She had already determined that this soul attack youth was Lin Ming, the young boy that Qianyu had spoken about. Unless Lin Ming hadn’t come to participate in the Seven Profound Valley’s Total Faction Martial Meeting.
“This Lin Ming still hasn’t used a weapon, and neither has he conjured any of his thunder true essence. It seems he’s preparing to reach first place in his group.
Mu Qinghong had seen that there were a few Seven Profound Valley disciples in Lin Ming’s group that were decent. It wouldn’t be easy for Lin Ming to defeat them with his young 16 years of age.
“He’s so young and yet he gives off a mystifying aura, as if I’m looking into a deep well. Even though Qianyu described him, I still don’t know just how many cards he has in his hand….
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At this time, Sky Fortune Kingdom’s Seven Profound Martial House –
The semi-annual Martial House entrance examination had just ended, and a group of lucky fellows had entered the Seven profound martial House. These lucky ones could be described as the favored talents of heaven, flushed with success. As long as nothing went wrong, they would be able to do many great things after they graduated. They could join the army and be a commander, or, if they didn’t want to join the army, they could stay in their respected families and serve as great political figures.
Regardless of what path they chose, they had won glory for their family. Not only that, but they would also have a ridiculously high income. A normal family could struggle for an entire year, performing hard labor and only earn 10 or so gold taels, but these talents would be able to relax and earn several hundred taels of gold per year.
Thinking of their future livelihood full of abundance, these young disciples that had grown up under the aura of being a genius couldn’t restrain their smug smiles.
According to the rules, the new disciples of the Martial House needed to visit the Ten Thousand Killing Array and the Ranking Stone under the guidance of their new instructor. This allowed them to see the top-ranking talents and also motivate them to practice well.
Before they reached the Ranking Stone, they saw that many people had gathered at a temple-like building; it was completely bustling with activity. At the side of this temple, there was also an expensive and well-dressed young man sitting at the side of the building as if he was waiting for something.
“What is that?” A 16 year-old young female disciple asked as she pointed at the weird looking altar in the middle of the temple. The middle of the altar was surrounded with exquisitely beautiful and sparkling crystal stones. “What beautiful crystals.”
The young girl’s eyes shone.
“What crystal? Are you an idiot? That’s a true essence stone. It’s a pure true essence stone worth 1000 gold taels!” Many of the Martial House disciples came from large and respected families so they had extraordinary natural insight into these mysterious objects.
“1000 gold taels…with so many, that has to be several tens of thousands of gold taels! The young girl clutched her gasping mouth. In the ordinary world, a common family only earned 10 gold taels of income per year. But now, there was an astronomical figure of several tens of thousands of gold taels; it was a number she couldn’t understand.
“Mmm….I wonder what sort of array formation will use so many true essence stones. This is just too luxurious…..” The youth who spoke pursed his lips. Although he came from a large family, he was still distressed seeing so many true essence stones used in an array formation.
“It’s a sound transmission array.” At this time, a middle-aged instructor opened his mouth to speak. “It’s a sound transmission array to deliver a message from the Seven Profound Valleys Total Faction. The array is separated by several hundred thousand miles. In order to transmit one message it will consume 36 true essence stones.
“What!? It takes that many true essence stones to send a message?” Even those disciples that came from large families were startled beyond compare. A message that was worth several tens of thousands of gold taels? What a joke!
What sort of news was this? Could only an Emperor listen to it?