Chapter 562 – Road of Emperor
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The waitresses of Noblesse Pavilion were all beautiful and young girls. Currently, several of them were serving snacks and wine. As they filled the wine cups, they would respectfully kneel on the floor. Every position and movement they made was learned through rigorous training, and their smiling faces held just the right amount of bashful shyness. Within Skysplit Tower, as long as a martial artist had wealth, they could live like an emperor.
Towards these things, Muk Gu was already long accustomed. But Lin Ming wasn’t too interested. He sipped a cup of tea and waited until the waitress left before slowly asking, “What would Xing Tian’s strength be ranked at on the third floor?”
Muk Gu pondered this for a moment and said, “I can’t say exactly, but I can roughly estimate that he would rank somewhere in the middle. At most, he’d rank in the upper middle reaches. You should already be aware that the martial artists on the third floor are much older than those on the second floor. Although Xing Tian’s talent was good, he didn’t cultivate for as much time as others. Those on the third floor have nearly all surpassed the age limit for staying on the second, and they have no other choice but to go up. The total amount of people on the third floor is also very low; there are just a mere several hundred individuals.”
“Just several hundred people?” Lin Ming thought for a moment and said, “I recall that Skysplit Tower has a Glory Emblem called the Hundred Win Streak Emblem. If the third floor only has several hundred individuals, then obtaining this emblem must be far too difficult!”
It had to be known that Xing Tian only had an 82 win streak. It was extremely difficult for a challenger to accumulate a high winning streak. It wasn’t that a martial artist was too weak, but rather that no one would want to fight them.
For instance, take someone as strong as Xing Tian. If someone knew that fighting him would clearly result in horrible defeat or even death, then who would dare to do so? Thus, Xing Tian hadn’t had a match in over half a year.
Skysplit Tower’s second floor had several thousand martial artists. Xing Tian had stayed there for several years, but all he had was an 82 win streak.
Then on the third floor that only had several hundred martial artists, it might take several years to gain a 20 win streak. How would someone ever win a Hundred Win Streak Glory Emblem?
As Muk Gu heard Lin Ming’s question, his complexion changed. His voice was low and grim as he said, “About that… the third floor has a special rule. On the third floor, if you defeat your opponent and gain a winning streak, then you will gain slaughter points, just like on the second floor. But, what’s different is that on the third floor, if you kill your opponent instead, you will instantly accumulate a 10 win streak.”
“What?” Lin Ming’s heart chilled. “This rule is completely encouraging martial artists to kill each other!”
Muk Gu let out a light breath and said, “That’s right… Skysplit Tower encourages us to kill each other. Do not forget, if you were to accumulate a 10 win streak then you could obtain a slaughter point, but on the third floor, if you kill your opponent, not only would you obtain a 10 win streak, but you’d also obtain a corresponding number of slaughter points. Killing an opponent and not killing them… these are two completely different treatments! Therefore, on the third floor, martial artists will be beyond careful in challenging others. Normally, one won’t do anything rashly, because participating in a fight will often mean a life or death battle. In addition, the number of martial artists there is low, so this means that the martial arena is empty most of the time.”
“This seems…” Lin Ming frowned. It seemed that the high level characters in Skysplit Tower were not any sort of good-hearted individuals. It was as if none of them wished to see a genius grow, but rather they hoped that all the geniuses would instead kill each other within Skysplit Tower.
The several hundred martial artists that were on Skysplit Tower’s third floor were all the most outstanding youthful elites of the entire Holy Demon Continent. In the future, the weakest among them would be a Revolving Core master, and the strongest would reach three or four stages of Life Destruction or a five or six star Demon King. It wouldn’t be strange for them to one day reach the quasi Emperor level!
For such a massive crowd of monstrous geniuses, a single death was an enormous loss!
Lin Ming said, “None of those young heroic elites are stupid. Since the higher ups of Skysplit Tower obviously hope that they can kill each other, why don’t they leave instead of letting matters continue like this? Could it really be that they want to continue to the end of their killing path?”
He understood if those on the first and second floor stayed. After all, they were nearly all cannon fodder. But none of those types of people existed on the third floor. Everyone on the third floor were peerless geniuses of their respective regions. For them to arrive at this point for their killing path, it meant their road had reached an extreme.
Muk Gu said, “Birds die for food, mortals perish for wealth, and martial artists fall from the sky for resources. There’s no other way; a martial artist simply can’t stop their greed from pushing them onwards. Simply put, the reason they go onstage, besides for gaining experience and testing themselves, is mainly for the slaughter points. They want to earn these points in order to use the resources here.”
“Resources? What sort of valuable cultivation resources can there be on the third floor that cause so many martial artists to lose their minds with greed? The lowest of these geniuses come from peak fourth-grade sects. Do they really lack resources?” Lin Ming asked, puzzled.
“Hehe, of course they do not lack things like cultivation methods, pills, Blood Demon Crystals, or true essence stones. But, there are some things that one can only find in Skysplit Tower. For instance, that battle array disc that Brother Lin saw before is one kind, but also not one that’s too important.”
“Oh?” Lin Ming’s eyebrows shot up. The battle array disc had given him great benefits. What other rare resources did Skysplit Tower have?
Muk Gu continued, “The third floor has some very strange things. If you have enough authority you can even go up to the fourth floor where the High Lords cultivate. That floor is filled with wondrous mysteries. If you go there and are able to enjoy the resources there, then your benefits will be endless.
“On Skysplit Tower’s third floor, there have been many martial artists that never had very great talent. This is exactly the reason that they come to Skysplit Tower. If they can fight their way through the Ashura battlefield here, then along with top resources, they can evolve, breaking out of their cocoons and being reborn into butterflies. An ordinary talent can become a Saint level talent, and a Saint level talent can become an Emperor level talent! Therefore, even if they all know that the chances of them dying within Skysplit Tower are high, they cannot resist the temptation and continue to stay here.”
Lin Ming’s interest was piqued by Muk Gu’s words, “What are these strange things you talk about?”
Muk Gu said, “My knowledge of the specifics are limited. I’ve heard some rumors, but they’ve all been extremely bizarre. For instance, on the fourth floor where the High Lords cultivate, there is a mystical path called the Road of Emperor. It’s said that if someone were to reach the very end of this road, then they would become an Emperor level powerhouse.”
“What?” Lin Ming was left speechless. “Reaching the end of this road can allow one to become an Emperor level powerhouse? Is there really something so absurd in this world?”
“It should be true. Both sides of this road are supposedly carved with reliefs of past ancient Emperor level powerhouses. There are countless mysteries and puzzles locked within, and as for what they are, I’m not too sure. I am far from having the authority to enter the Road of Emperor.”
Muk Gu’s simple explanation caused Lin Ming’s heart to shake in shock. He was stunned for a moment, and then took out a plain-looking tome from his spatial ring. He had obtained this ancient-looking tome after killing Xue Man and examining his spatial ring. The contents of this tome were entirely rubbed images, and every single image was an Emperor level powerhouse of the Holy Demon Continent that had existed up to tens of thousands of years ago. There were even drawings of top Emperor level talents!
This included the Netherworld Great Emperor. Impressively, even the Demon Emperor was included among them.
Muk Gu’s eyes jumped as he saw this bound tome of skins.
Lin Ming didn’t speak. He opened the tome. The lifelike rubbings of Emperor level powerhouses from tens of thousands of years ago appeared in front of Muk Gu.
As Muk Gu browsed through the pages, he became increasingly startled. Muk Qing also leaned over to look out of curiosity.
“Where did you get this?”
“I found it in Xue Man’s spatial ring after I killed him. The portraits of these people should be rubbed from those carved reliefs you mentioned. If I’m not wrong, then it’s most likely the Road of Emperor.”
Muk Gu let out a long breath and closed the tome. He said, “You’re right! The reliefs within the Road of Emperor are said to be extremely lifelike and contain numerous different Concepts. Brother Lin’s tome has characters from tens of thousands of years ago; how could a normal person possibly draw them? These images even perfectly encapsulate the arrogance and imposing dignity that they have, eyes that look down at the world with disdain… the contents of this tome should definitely be rubbings of the Road of Emperor’s reliefs!”
Lin Ming nodded. He had two questions simmering inside him. First, just who was it that had carved these reliefs on the Road of Emperor’s walls? Since these reliefs contained all sorts of mysteries and Concepts and they were even used to decorate this Road of Emperor, it was definitely not something that a common person would be able to do. Some reliefs were even from 70,000 to 80,000 years ago. Up until now, during this extremely long span of time when even the Demon Emperor and other Supreme Elders perished in the Realm of the Gods, just who could have such a long life and still be carving reliefs to this day?
Secondly, just why would this tome be in Xue Man’s hands? Xue Man couldn’t be considered a king of the second floor. Arguably he shouldn’t have the qualifications to peek into the Road of Emperor.
Lin Ming felt more and more that Skysplit Tower was filled with great mysteries. It definitely wasn’t as simple as he thought it was.
It was said that the Blood Slaughter Steppes contained a mysterious force that was able to kill top powerhouses. Thus, Emperor level powerhouses and Life Destruction powerhouses did not dare to set foot within the Blood Slaughter Steppes.
Then, there were also the strange rules that governed the Blood Slaughter Steppes. The 12 Heavenly Demon Main Cities were the 12 sources of infernal energy. And within these cities, the source of that infernal energy was a fathomless abyss. These abysses extended up from tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of feet deep within the ground; it was unknown just how far they went.
All in all, this allowed Lin Ming to understand just how vast the mysteries of the Blood Slaughter Steppes were.
“Brother Lin, let me advise you that every martial artist usually stays on the second floor for as long as possible. This is because the pressure is just too great. I don’t need to mention the numerous masters that are there, but Skysplit Tower also has a rule that every martial artist on the third floor must compete in a match every two months. Otherwise, they have to leave Skysplit Tower and leave Polaris City. Once they leave Polaris City, their Heavenly Demon Tattoo will begin to fade over time and they will have to restart from scratch if they wish to reform it.”
Lin Ming nodded. “So if I go into closed-door seclusion for one year, I will have to compete in six matches?”
“Yes. Not just that, but every match is randomly assigned to you based upon your current level of strength; it is completely different from the second floor where you seek your own opponents. So, you have to be very careful in hiding your own strength. If you expose too many of your abilities, then the matches you will be given will be increasingly strong!”
“I understand. Speaking with Brother Muk has really helped a lot.”
“Brother Lin is too humble. We’re both human, so we should help each other when we can. These little things are the best that I can do. If Brother Lin goes to the third floor, then you can find me there.” As Muk Gu spoke he put down a note with his address. This was the location of his residence there.
Lin Ming glanced at it then put it away. “There are some minor matters that I must complete on the second floor. Afterwards, it shouldn’t be too long before I go to the third floor. I’ll have to trouble Brother Muk when I head up.”
“Brother Lin is too polite, feel free to look for me whenever!”