Chapter 574 – Late Xiantian Realm
…
…
…
On Skysplit Tower’s fourth floor, in a luxuriously decorated hall, three robed men stood there. They were watching a battle array disc set in front of them. Above the array disc was repeating the entire fight of Lin Ming and Hong Zhong.
These three people were Skysplit Tower’s High Lords.
In the last battle, Lin Ming had shown Chasing Thunder, using this skill to instantly kill Hong Zhong. Seeing this scene, even these worldly High Lords sucked in a cold breath.
“Hong Zhong also died. His strength can be ranked in Skysplit Tower’s top 30. According to this, Lin Ming’s strength must be ranked at least in the mid-twenties. However, I still feel that he is hiding a part of his strength. If this is true, then his strength must rank in the top 20. This young man is simply too terrifying. For him to have this cultivation and strength at this age, he is absolutely an upper ranking Emperor level talent.”
Among the three 10-winged High Lords, High Lord Shengong was the one speaking. He was the one who had arranged Hong Zhong’s battle against Lin Ming. He had thought that Hong Zhong would be enough to handle him, but he didn’t imagine this would be the result instead.
“We’ve already made our effort. We can’t stop him rising anymore. According to Skysplit Tower’s own rules, it’s impossible for us to arrange someone in the top 10 as his opponent. If so, then we can only wait until Lin Ming develops to the level of the Heavenly Demon Seven Stars and then lay down our cards with him. He can either submit to us, or he can leave Skysplit Tower! He should be smart enough to know what choice to make.”
Skysplit Tower did not stop martial artists if they wanted to leave. In fact, the High Lords very much wanted to see these unstoppable heroes leave. They wanted those young outstanding heroic elites to scurry away as soon as possible. If they stayed in Skysplit Tower, then the High Lords would have trouble sleeping in peace.
“Humph, why would a human pledge themselves to us? His heart and race are completely different from us! This Lin Ming can either leave Skysplit Tower or die!” The one speaking was an Imp High Lord. He was Kai Yang’s boss – High Lord Heian.
“Heian, you better not have some dark thoughts. It’s fine if you kill on the arena stage, but if you dare to assassinate him then you will be in violation of our bottom line. You must know that there are several old monsters that already became 12-winged Heavenly Demons in Skysplit Tower before leaving. After leaving, they even became Peerless Emperors. These people can ignore the strange curse of the Blood Slaughter Steppes and re-enter this land!
“Among them is the Eightfall War Emperor! He is a human! Initially when he crossed the eighth stage of Life Destruction and reached the Divine Sea, he was also someone who comprehended the Laws of Space and Time. Because of this, his combat strength far surpasses a Supreme Elder on his level; this is why he is titled the Eightfall War Emperor! If he decides to return to the Blood Slaughter Steppes, then let alone us, even Polar Skysplit Tower’s Tower Master is nothing in front of him. In fact, even the Steppe Master of the 12 Skysplit Towers is most likely not his match!”
In the Blood Slaughter Steppes, because of a mysterious curse that permeated this land, a martial artists whose strength reached a top level Demon King, or perhaps one or two stages of Life Destruction, would not dare to step foot in the Blood Slaughter Steppes. This was because they feared dying to this curse.
There was no need to mention Demon Emperors or Divine Sea masters. If they came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes, then they would perish without a doubt.
But, there was a single exception. This was a martial artist that became a 12-winged Heavenly Demon within the Blood Slaughter Steppes. These individuals seemed to have obtained the recognition of the mystical strength hidden within the Blood Slaughter Steppes, and thus would have the qualifications to re-enter the Blood Slaughter Steppes.
These past years, Skysplit Tower had been working hard to stop talents from developing. Once a martial artist became an 8-winged Heavenly Demon, they would start paying attention to them. They could either choose to submit, or choose to leave. There was no third choice!
If they chose to submit, then there was a small hope they could become a 10-winged Heavenly Demon. For them, 10 wings were already the limit. To think of gaining 12 wings was nothing but the nonsensical talk of a moron.
Of course, Skysplit Tower also had its bottom line. Off of the stage, they would not secretly assassinate martial artists. They would also not arrange a fatal battle for martial artists.
This was because they feared offending the most ancient large sects and Holy Lands. To these great powers, the machinations of Skysplit Tower were no secret.
For these many years, there were few Holy Lands that would make things difficult for Skysplit Tower. They would send their young disciples to Skysplit Tower in order to gain experience, and once they became an 8-winged Heavenly Demon, or even a 10-winged Heavenly Demon, then these Holy Lands would summon their disciples to depart. This way, everyone knew their role and co-existed in relative harmony.
As for their disciples, if they died in the normal process of adventuring, then they could only be considered as too mediocre. These Holy Lands would not do something as boring or troublesome as taking revenge upon Skysplit Tower or their killers. After all, Skysplit Tower was a battlefield. Life and death here all depended on one’s own abilities. Since they came to the Blood Slaughter Steppes, then they naturally must be mentally prepared for their death.
As the Eightfall War Emperor was mentioned, High Lord Heian’s complexion changed. He was just a mere 10-winged Heavenly Demon. In front of the illustrious Eightfall War Emperor, he was nothing more than an ant. “What are you trying to say, Shengong? Do you think that this boy is related to the Eightfall War Emperor?”
“I didn’t say that, but… he and the Eightfall War Emperor are both upper Emperor level talents, and they both comprehended the Laws of Space and Time. This made me think they might be associated with each other. Not just that, but don’t you think that the final move he used to kill Hong Zhong was extremely ingenious? It seemed like it was created just for Lin Ming. This sort of ability is impossible for Lin Ming to self-create. If so, then he must have an Emperor level powerhouse working behind the scenes for him. I simply cannot believe that there would be such a genius in this world.”
High Lord Shengong languidly said. Normally, only a self-created style or tailored skill was able to display the strongest power. Shengong didn’t think that Lin Ming was able to create his own techniques. This move was definitely tailored for him by someone else.
High Lord Heian quietened. At this time, High Lord Shengong said again, “When Lin Ming was on the second floor, I investigated and discovered that he rented the Eightfall War Emperor’s battle array disc.”
If Lin Ming was really a disciple of the Eightfall War Emperor, then it stood to reason that he didn’t need to see the Eightfall War Emperor’s battle array disc. There was one possibility, and that was that Lin Ming wanted to see his master’s past glorious exploits. However, this still didn’t explain anything.
“I understand.” High Lord Heian was silent for a moment before he slowly said, “That being the case, then I shall let him grow. But, when he becomes an 8-winged Heavenly Demon, he must leave. Otherwise, I will use the rules of Skysplit Tower to kill him! This, too, wouldn’t be difficult. This way, even if he’s related to the Eightfall War Emperor, he still wouldn’t be able to say anything!”
………
………
Practice passed without sense of time. In the practice area of the Concept of Fire, time passed a day at a time. Without knowing it, Lin Ming’s nineteenth birthday had passed.
His cultivation was approaching the breaking point for the late Xiantian realm more and more. As for fusing the Concept of Fire and the Concept of Thunder, that also continued to constantly improve.
“I wonder how long I’ve stayed in the Concept of Fire’s practice area for. My comprehension of the Concept of Fire is profound enough, but now, I feel that my comprehension of the Concept of Thunder is lacking, which is causing a problem with fusing these two Concepts… I should go back to the Concept of Thunder practice area and take a look. Perhaps I might be able to make a breakthrough there.”
As Lin Ming thought this, he left the Concept of Fire practice area and arrived at the practice area registration office.
In the practice area registration office, the middle-aged man glanced at Lin Ming and leisurely said, “Lin Ming, you’ve already stayed at the Concept of Fire practice area for 95 days! Currently, you owe a match. If you continue to go to the practice area, then if you stay in for another 25 days or so, then you will accumulate another match you have to finish. At that time, you’ll have to complete two matches in a row. Think about this carefully!”
“I understand. I choose to continue practicing!”
“Hehe, you’ve got guts, boy.” The middle-aged man took out a token to enter the Concept of Thunder practice area and passed it to Lin Ming. “One slaughter point and 20 high-grade Blood Demon Crystals every 10 days. You still have 15 slaughter points. You can practice for another three months, but afterwards you must come out.”
Lin Ming was secretly dumbfounded. When he was on the second floor he had obtained 40 slaughter points, and after killing Hong Zhong, he gained another 10 for a total of 50 slaughter points.
These 50 slaughter points, when he had cultivated on the third floor for half a year he had spent some of them. After reaching the third floor and practicing for over five months in the Concept practice areas, he had spent more and more.
Currently, he only had 15 left over.
He had earned a great deal of slaughter points but still felt stretched. If so, then the situation of others could be imagined. If others drifted along in Skysplit Tower’s third floor and only fought matches with friends without killing each other, then there was simply no point in staying at Skysplit Tower.
This was because if one were defeated just once, then their winning streak would be ruined and they would also lose a great portion of their Heavenly Demon Tattoo. If this was so, then it would just be better to leave the Blood Slaughter Steppes and go adventuring outside. If one didn’t have slaughter points within Skysplit Tower, then the resources available were useless. This was also a reason why Muk Gu was not willing to sacrifice any slaughter points.
Lin Ming took out 100 high-grade Blood Demon Crystals from his spatial ring and pushed them towards the middle-aged man. This was enough to schedule a practice area for 50 days. After killing others and taking their wealth, Lin Ming did not lack Blood Demon Crystals.
After an incense stick of time, Lin Ming arrived at the Concept of Thunder practice area yet again.
This was a purple dream-like space. Compared to the practice area for the Concept of Fire, the scenery here was much softer and more beautiful.
Countless large and small mountains floated in the air. Different sorts of spiritual plants bloomed through. Underneath the endless vault of the sky, the whimsical blue river of lights seemed incomparably dazzling.
However, behind this beauty was violent and brutal thunder origin energy. That peaceful river of blue lights was actually purely composed of thunder origin energy.
Lin Ming did not take out his spear nor did he attempt to fuse concepts. Instead, with his heart still and his arms opened wide, he hung in the air. His true essence as lead, he stirred the crazy thunder origin energy between the heavens and earth. This energy fell onto Lin Ming’s body in torrents without any breaks.
Because he hadn’t cut his hair for the last year and a half, Lin Ming’s hair hung down to his waist, recklessly dancing in the air under this savage thunderstorm, taking on a bluish-purple color.
At this moment, Lin Ming put aside all distractions. In his heart, he realized the power of thunder; this was his attempt to finally fuse the Concepts of Thunder and Fire.
But now, within Lin Ming’s dantian, the true essence cyclone there also constantly shrank. After a dreamless passage of days, he was finally making that last step past the middle Xiantian realm, striding into the late Xiantian realm.
In many cases, when one went into closed-door seclusion to break through to the next realm, they would often encounter bottlenecks. But unconsciously, through their meditations and all the experiences that they accumulated through time, and all the battles they fought, this would allow them to inadvertently break through their shackles and step into the next stage of their cultivation.
This was the reason why so many martial artists went out to adventure, fight, and seek their own lucky chances.
The true essence cyclone compressed. After reaching the late Xiantian realm, his fusion of the Concepts of Thunder and Fire had also reached the Large Success stage. During this time that Lin Ming went into closed-door seclusion, his strength had risen greatly.