Chapter 376 – Pale Youth
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With a mere Bone Forging stage cultivation, Lin Ming had been able to absorb the Purple Flood Dragon Divine Thunder that only a middle Xiantian master should have been able to. If there wasn’t any secret within Lin Ming’s body, Mu Yuhuang would never have been able to believe this. But, if Lin Ming’s bloodline was used as the explanation, she could reluctantly come to terms with it.
After all, the Purple Flood Dragon Divine Thunder contained the brutal will of a Flood Dragon. If it was to encounter a more formidable and ancient bloodline, this Flood Dragon bloodline would be awed into submission. With Yu’er’s help, this could also explain how Lin Ming was able to absorb it.
Mu Qianyu nodded, saying, “This is also the first time disciple has seen the phantom behind Lin Ming. When Senior-apprentice Sister Qinghong returned from the Seven profound Valleys, she described to me what she had seen. It was probably a similar scene… disciple believes that this is an ancient noble bloodline similar to my Divine Phoenix Island’s that Lin Ming managed to obtain through some lucky chance.”
As for Lin Ming’s life and background, they had already been clearly researched by Divine Phoenix Island. The common people of Sky Fortune Kingdom had been mortals for generations, it was impossible for Lin Ming to have this kind of bloodline from his family. Thus, the only other reason was that the heavens had gifted him a lucky miracle.
“Ancient noble bloodline?” Mu Yuhuang hesitated. Perhaps matters weren’t so simple. Just what sort of ancient noble bloodline could cause even the Vermillion Bird bloodline within her to shiver in fear?
Could it be a God Beast?
Mu Yuhuang dared not believe this. A God Beast did not exist in the Sky Spill Continent. It was said that above the Sky Spill Continent was the Realm of the Gods. But, even within the Realm of the Gods, a God Beast was an extremely rare existence. Where did Lin Ming find the blood essence of a God Beast to transplant into his bloodline?
Even if he had gotten that far, how could a mere Bone Forging boy have absorbed such a bloodline?
In any case, it was true that Lin Ming had a secret bloodline within him, and that this bloodline had an extraordinary origin.
However, Mu Yuhuang didn’t wish to pry into his secrets. In truth, lucky chances were also a part of one’s destiny. A great lucky chance came with a correspondingly great destiny. Destiny was the essential truth that an unrivaled talent needed to become a Peerless Emperor. Ever since ancient times, the birth of Peerless Emperors usually resulted from the accumulated destiny of a character that stood at the pinnacle.
If one didn’t have such a destiny but still coveted these things, they would instead attract an unexpected catastrophe upon themselves. History had proven this point again and again throughout the annals of time. These so-called unlucky calamitous treasures were often priceless. However, what was strange was that if one obtained it, they would die as if they had been struck by a curse. If one didn’t have a great destiny as if they were the protagonist of the world, they would not be able to gather such treasures to them.
In order to birth a genius that would become a Peerless Emperor, perhaps not even Divine Phoenix Island had such a destiny. Much less, Mu Yuhuang was just an old lady with a few hundred years of life left in her. This sort of calamitous treasure was not something she would be able to afford. Even if she managed to peacefully obtain it without accident, with her age, it was basically useless.
What Mu Yuhuang most wanted to see now was only that her Divine Phoenix Island would be able to enter an age of prosperity.
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On the martial arts stage, Lin Ming and Xiao Chi fought once more. Both spears clashed. One side was a spear skill genius of Golden Bell Mountain whose every move contained profound principles. But as for the other side, he had a deep comprehension of spear potential. Although his spear skills were simple and lacking, every spear was like a landslide, every spear was like a tsunami, every spear contained the power of endless mountains and rivers. These two were well matched against each other.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
With every strike, a violently raging true essence shockwave erupted, an azure color mixing with a golden color, causing the ground itself to shake. Because of the intense shockwaves in the air, the audience that witnessed this battle scene seemed to be watching it under the twisted ripples of water.
Every spear that Lin Ming thrust out contained an enormous pressure. Even though Xiao Chi’s spear contained a strange power, it was actually forcefully dissolved by Lin Ming’s strength.
The two youths fought for several dozen moves. Lin Ming had consumed a great deal of true essence, but so had Xiao Chi.
This battle was the longest that Lin Ming had ever fought.
With his strength, he could simply have used the Thunder Soul and won with overwhelming force. But, he did not do this.
He needed this battle to see what degree of skill one’s spear play could reach.
Xiao Chi turned, thrusting out his spear. Although this spear skill looked very slow, in just a split-second the spearpoint would instantly arrive in front of you. This sort of strange and confusing spatial skill was nearly impossible to defend against.
Pah!
Even Lin Ming was unable to completely dodge the spear with such a confusing spatial skill. The spearpoint rubbed against Lin Ming’s bodily true essence, and with a ripping sound, an incomparably sharp golden spear had pierced through Lin Ming’s bodily true essence, taking just a touch of blood.
“Mm?”
Xiao Chi was surprised. What was going on? In that attack, he had felt like his spear had stabbed into iron, it simply hadn’t been able to do much damage.
But at the same time, Lin Ming’s spear came smashing down like an avalanche!
Xiao Chi quickly lifted his spear to block.
Clang!
As soon as this blow smashed down, the golden spear in Xiao Chi’s hand curved into a crescent moon. He staggered back, every step creating a deep imprint in the ground. The tiles of the stage that were supported by an array formation were broken by the pressure of his feet, cracks littering the stage.
After retreated 70 to 80 feet, Xiao Chi finally came to a stop. He felt like his right arm was numb, and even his fingers were shaking.
“What a terrifying strength and spear potential!”
Although he managed to block that last attack, he felt the blood within his body roiling and his meridians in crazy disorder.
In the audience, the Golden Bell Mountain elder gasped. “What a terrifying boy. Chi’er used a special technique to unload the force on his body. Lin Ming’s strength and spear potential that he unleashed poured along Chi’er’s muscles and skeleton, entering the ground through his feet. Even though he had let so much strength pass through him, he was still wounded. The power of this spear potential is simply like having a mountain fall on you.”
“Indeed… this boy is truly a spear genius. But it’s such a pity that he doesn’t have a great master that can teach him spear skills. If all he learns is some Foundation Spear Technique skills, then it is truly wasteful…” Another Golden Bell Mountain elder said with some regret, obviously sad that Lin Ming hadn’t joined his Golden Ball Mountain.
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“Haha, what a great fight!” Xiao Chi suddenly put away his spear. His entire forehead was covered with sweat, and his face was flushed red. Blood was surging within his body, and he had obviously consumed a great deal of strength.
“Same here.”
Lin Ming was also panting for breath. After several continuous battles, even with pills to supplement him, he had consumed over 70% of his true essence. Not only that, but within the true essence of his body, there were many complex and strange factors. Lin Ming’s current combat strength was less than half of his optimal condition.
“You’re just a monster. You fought through five straight fierce matches and yet you can still fight to this degree and have energy left over. I admit defeat.” Xiao Chi sighed, lamenting the result. He had been evenly matched with Lin Ming, but it turned out that Lin Ming’s endurance was much greater than his. If they continued, his defeat was simply a matter of time.
“Well fought.” Lin Ming cupped his hands together and bowed. During this match against Xiao Chi, he had learned many things and gained many insights. It seemed that he really needed to look for a spear art manual in order to make up for his deficiencies there.
After Xiao Chi admitted defeat on his own, the entire audience was silent. The strongest direct disciple under the six great chief disciples had actually lost.
“Senior-apprentice Brother Xiao was defeated…”
Even the Five Element Region disciples that were desperately cheering for Xiao Chi were unable to accept this. The truth was, when Lin Ming hadn’t used this power of thunder and fire, yet was still able to fight evenly with Xiao Chi using just his spear play, they had already foreseen the ending that Xiao Chi would lose. It was just that they weren’t willing to accept this truth.
“Senior-apprentice Brother Xiao lost. Above Xiao Chi, there are only the six great direct disciples…”
Although everyone knew that Lin Ming was already spent of all energy, there was no direct disciples that went onstage to challenge him. Lin Ming’s winning streak had left them breathless, and no one had the courage or qualifications to challenge him.
Lin Ming swallowed a pill and propped himself up on the stage using his spear. This time, he did not challenge anyone to battle. He was well aware that if he fought again, it would be against a chief disciple.
Six great chief disciples… it was unknown just how many he could fight.
Lin Ming turned to look at Mu Dingshan and saw that he was preparing. Next would be a contest between chief disciples!
“Dingshan, Xiaoqing, if you fight, try to delay as much as possible so that Lin Ming can have more time to recover.” Mu Dingshan and Mu Xiaoqing simultaneously heard the true essence sound transmission of old lady Yuhuang.
“Yes, Honorable Sect Master.”
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Within the Thundercrest Sect banquet area, the pale youth glanced at Zhou Lie, ordering him to go onstage. “You challenge Lin Ming to draw out Mu Dingshan, I’ll help you take him!”
The pale youth tersely said.
Zhou Lie frowned. He absolutely did not wish to do something so insidious like taking advantage of someone while they were in a vulnerable situation. This was not how a true gentleman acted. With such a large audience present, he couldn’t afford to lose.
“Hehe, what’s the matter? You think you’re taking advantage of someone while they’re down? Alright, we’ll take a break and look for another reason when they lose.”
The pale youth casually spoke, his words carrying an imperious tone that made Zhou Lie feel uneasy.
‘This fellow seems very keen on what he said before, and wants to challenge the direct disciples of Divine Phoenix Island by himself. What does he want from all this?’ Zhou Lie thought, baffled.
At this moment, the pale youth used a true essence sound transmission to communicate with Lei Jingtian. Then, Lei Jingtian stood up and smiled, “High Master Yuhuang, your great island’s Lin Ming is truly a hero that from among the young. However, after he competed against five masters from my Five Element Region, it seems that he has already exhausted himself. How about we have a truce and take a break so that Lin Ming can rest. Afterwards will be the final competition between chief disciples. How about it?”
“Mm? Mu Yuhuang’s willowy eyebrows rose. This fellow, just what did this little weasel want? What was he thinking about? He actually offered to call a momentary truce?
It had to be known that Lin Ming had consumed too much energy. Even if Mu Dingshan and Mu Xiaoqing were able to delay for a few matches so that Lin Ming could rest, he still wouldn’t be able to fully recover in this short time.
After Lei Jingtian spoke, he sat down with a cheerful laugh before waiting for Mu Yuhuang’s answer.
Zhou Lie was confused, just who was this pale youth? It seemed that his master seemed to care about his opinion a great deal.
‘This fellow is shrouded in mystery, he’s just like a frosty snake! Master said that he was a Saint rank talent that he found in the northern domains, but I always felt that this explanation was too farfetched. His martial talent is surprisingly good and he also understands many different cultivation methods. His cultivation is only at the early Houtian realm, yet he can easily defeat me! Not only that, but he seems to know some secrets about Sky Spill Continent, such as the legends of the Saintess…’
There was definitely a problem with this man!
Just who was he?
For some time, Zhou Lie even suspected that the pale fellow was possessed by some ancient monster. Of course, this was something that only existed in fantasy novels; he had no idea if things like possession existed.
As Zhou Lie was daydreaming, Lei Jingtian was exchanging a true essence sound transmission with the pale youth. “We’ll follow everything as you planned. Events should progress smoothly…”
“Mm, very good!”