Martial World

by Srtyi

Lin Ming, a talented man for martial arts wanted to audition for Tian Yun Wu Fu with a girl named Lan Yunyue, she was his childhood friend since young and they both have a small crush on each other. But on the day of audition, Lan Yunyue did not come, which left Lin Ming in curiosity. He later found out that a guy who is rich and talented, named Zhu Yan helped Lan Yunyue.

2. 32

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Chapter 32 – Oppress with Others' Power

Zhao Mingshan gaped at Lin Ming. He recalled that Lin Ming had once said the words 'You want to tie me up, but once you do, there won't be a good outcome for you.'

Faced with such a superior backing, Zhao Mingshan had no choice but to lower his head and play as a dog for this boy. Even though this was a heavy loss of face for him, it was nothing in comparison to keeping his own little life.

Zhao Mingshan immediately changed his countenance. His whole face locked up with a forced smile as he said, "It appears that we accidently fished out two dragon kings. These two fellow brothers, today was truly just a silly misunderstanding. I hope you can show some mercy and overlook my transgressions. You people, quickly untie these two fellows!"

Although he hadn't been untied yet, Lin Xiaodong's gag cloth was taken out, and he was a bit perplexed. But Lin Ming had given him all sorts of surprises these days, so he adapted quickly.

Was it that elusive and mysterious master that Lin Ming had spoken of?

To Lin Xiaodong, such a powerful and mighty being was only a foreign concept to him. But in any case, with someone like that backing them up, he had no need to fear these idiots!

"F*ck your whole family, f*ck your mom and your family you little mother fuckers!" Lin Xiaodong let out a string of epithets as the officers struggled to unwind the ropes that bound his large body. They were pushed aside by Lin Xiaodong as he rolled around.

"You think that you tie me up and let me go whenever you want?" Lin Xiaodong had originally suffered a loss of face, but now that he had the upper hand, he naturally would return the favor.

Zhao Mingshan had nothing he could do but to take the words and suffer silently. He smiled and painstakingly said, "Little brothers, I was blind and foolish, would you be merciful and overlook these matters today? I would truly be grateful if you somehow allow us to compensate you…"

Lin Xiaodong crooked his neck. These officers of the Police Department only had a tiny salary with a bit of gold that they scraped up off the books. Lin Xiaodong did not have a liking for any of this money, so what was the point of offering it to him?

At this time, Lin Xiaodong happened to see Wang Yigao off to the side. He was taking advantage of the distraction to make his escape. Lin Xiaodong angrily said, "Stop! Whose mother said to let that kid go! Return here right now!"

Wang Yigao nearly fell off of his horse as he heard these words. The turn of events and frightened him silly. His father was waiting for him to return home for punishment, this was an absolute nightmare.

Now even seeing Lin Ming made his heart shudder with dread. Forget retaliating, if he ever saw Lin Ming again he would make a full effort to scamper away. Not only did Wang Yigao fear Lin Ming, but he also didn't know what kind of backing Lin Ming had. Whatever it was, it was greater than anything he could compare with!

Losing the only advantage he had, Wang Yigao finally realized he was completely inferior to Lin Ming.

"You…what do you want?"

"You want to get away? You think there is anything in this whole world that is that easy?" Lin Xiaodong had a sudden inspiration. He turned to several officers. "You there, beat this guy up."

Wang Yigao trembled as he heard this. Zhao Mingshan grimaced; now he really didn't know if he could preserve his own head. If they hit Wang Yigao any more, he really might die.

Zhao Mingshan looked to Lin Ming with a pleading look.

Lin Ming finally said, "Consider this finished. There's no point dealing with this kind of person."

He looked to Wang Yigao and asked, "I ask you, when you came up to stir trouble, I saw that there were also people spying on me from the blue carriage. Was that Zhu Yan?"

Wang Yigao felt his stomach fall. Did this man have eyes on the back of his head?

He had already thoroughly feared Lin Ming, but now that fear was deepening as terror filled his eyes.

He still didn't speak, so Lin Ming took a single step towards him, and coldly said, "Yes, or no?"

Wang Yigao's heart stopped and he clenched his teeth. He nodded.

"Today's matter was also thought up by Zhu Yan?"

Wang Yigao nodded again.

"Good. You may go."

Lin Ming was already thinking that this was the case. Zhu Yan did not want him to enter the Seven Profound Martial House. Wang Yigao was just a pawn that had been used to prevent him from taking part in the entrance exam; Lin Ming did not want to bother with such a small bit player again. The reason was because Wang Yigao's father was the general. Lin Ming also knew discretion, and he had already left behind some hidden true essence in him that would leave him confined to his bed for a period.

Zhao Mingshao breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Lin Ming. He hurried forward to personally untie them.

Lin Xiaodong flexed his chubby wrists and look at Zhao Mingshan who had jumped off a black maned horse. Lin Xiaodong had a sharp eye for money, and he understood at a glance that this horse was a superior breed. Although they couldn't compare with the snow white horses of the Martial Quarters, their value was no less than 500 gold taels.

"We're fine, you don't need to send us off. Leave behind two horses. That black maned horse is also nice. I'll take it."

Zhao Mingshao's mouth twitched as he heard this. This horse was his beloved and treasured beauty. But he clenched his teeth and said, "If these fellow brothers like my horse, feel free to ride her."

"Haha. Then don't mind me being impolite." Lin Xiaodong said. He leapt up and his pudgy body seated on the black maned horse. "Heh heh, let's go!"

As they left the group, Lin Xiaodong was in an excellent mood. "Sh*t, that was better than getting money! I've never felt so great in my life. Not only did that idiot 'Gao Yiwang' earn his lesson, but even the captain gave me his own horse. Haha, this is what they call the great life!"

Lin Ming smiled and said, "We borrowed others' power and influence today, but anyone can rely on connections to do that. If we really want to feel great, then we must get strong ourselves and depend on our own strength to intimidate the world. Then no one would dare to bother us. That feeling would really be great."

"Intimidate the world? Haha, Brother Lin, I don't have such grand dreams as you; I'm fine with relying on others' power and influence. How about this Brother Lin, when one day your name is known across the world, you cover for me. I'll tell them your name, and frighten them off."

"Okay!" Lin Ming laughed out loud.

The two were originally only brought three or four miles down the road. They galloped on their horses and in a short while arrived back at the square. In the square were still a sea of people; it seemed that the Strength Trial had just begun.

Lin Ming had forgotten about the blue carriage until now; he noticed that it was still sitting there. But now Zhu Yan had disembarked from it. He was holding onto a long sword while staring an ice cold gaze.

"It seems I gave you less credit than was due. You are quite talented." In a moment, Zhu Yan had transmitted his voice to Lin Ming. They were 200 meters away, but it was as if Zhu Yan was speaking right beside him.

This was a message sent with true essence. It required an extremely high degree of control of true essence to achieve. Zhu Yan must have reached the peak of the Third Stage in the last six months.

"Don't think that just because you reached the Second Stage of Body Transformation that you are anything special. Beating up some useless potatoes that are on the same level as you is no accomplishment at all. You said that one day you would surpass me? Good. I will wait for you. I will let you know the true difference between you and I, and you will learn that you are not destined to be an elite of this world.

"An elite of this world?" Lin Ming looked at Zhu Yan and smiled. "Certainly not of this world…"

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Chapter 33 – Strength Trial

The Seven Profound Martial House had a total of twenty stone pillars for the Strength Trial. After the exam begins, the candidates would divide into twenty teams as to reduce the congestion in the square.

The twenty stone pillars were set up in in front of the doors of separate entrances to the Seven Profound Martial House. At the top of each stone pillar was a shining light which was the mark of every candidate's destiny. Whether they would pass this gate or whether they would be tossed aside would all be decided by this one number.

A roughly thirty or forty year old woman stepped in front of the crowd and stood on a platform that had been set up. "Hello everyone. I am one of the supervisors for the Strength Trial. I would like to announce that the Seven Profound Martial House's examination has altogether three parts. For those who manage to qualify through the end, they will be given a official assessment based upon their age, talent, and result. The top ten will obtain an award, and the number one will be rewarded with a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill!"

A Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill! The entire crowd gasped in surprise; even the juniors of the aristocratic families were flabbergasted. Those among them with lower strength were filled with regret. Their faces revealed sorry and depressed expressions as they were destined to never achieve first place. Those that were stronger straightened their backs. Their eyes shone with hope and they twitched around as if they were itching for a fight. They had assumed that this Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill was prepared especially for them.

Lin Ming had read through a medicinal manual before and had a rough sense understanding regarding the properties of the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. This pill was about the size of a grape and was created by mixing a Crimson Gold Dragon's marrow with several species of rare and precious herbs. It would then be boiled and distilled into a pill that would be able to improve the physique, enhance cultivation, and even help break through bottlenecks.

The Crimson Gold Dragon was not a real dragon, it was a descendant that only shared some blood. Nevertheless, creatures that were related to dragons were not weak. Even Houtian experts would not be a match!

Sky Fortune Kingdom did not have many Houtian experts to begin with, and they also didn't have anyone that was capable of refining such a precious pill. Therefore Sky Fortune Kingdom was unable to produce the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill.

Without a doubt this medicine originated from the Seven Profound Valleys. Every year the Seven Profound Valleys would screen talents, and medicines were provided from the main school to attract talented youths to participate.

Perhaps to the Seven Profound Valleys, the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill was not particularly precious, but to those of Sky Fortune Kingdom, it was absolutely a valuable treasure that could not be purchased by money. Even a large aristocratic family would be terribly jealous of anyone who possessed such a treasure.

The beautiful supervisor did not seem excited or unhappy as she continued, "The second, third and fourth placed will receive a Golden Snake Scarlet Pill, and fifth to tenth will receive ten Soul Gathering Pellets!"

The Golden Snake Scarlet Pill was refined from the gallbladder of a hundred year old Golden Scarlet Snake. This kind of gallbladder was named because of its gold-red appearance. It was inferior to the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill, but it was also a rare and precious medicine which most people would never see.

But the fourth through tenth place only received ten Soul Gathering Pellets which were much less rare. Each pellet had a value of 200 gold taels, and ten of them would be equal to 2000 gold taels. But the two medicines given to those that ranked higher were at least 10,000 gold taels. In fact, even if one could pay several times over, they would still not be able to buy one.

The rich rewards made the talented candidates incomparably excited; they were impatient to go on stage and show off their skills. Looking at this eager crowd was a group of young men and women wearing silk clothing. They laughed contemptuously. In the group was a handsome youth wearing a jade belt and smiling.

The youth's entourage smiled and flattered him, "These people really overreach. This Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill is already in young master's pocket, winning is already a foregone conclusion. Do they also think to try and compete? Truly they do not know their place."

The youth faintly smiled and waved his folding fan. He didn't respond. He was a talent of the Yue Lu City's Wang family. He had a fourth grade talent, early Third Stage of Body Transformation cultivation, and had once taken the number one spot in Yue Lu City's elite competition. Yue Lu City was a big city, thus this number one spot held some weight.

On the platform the woman continued, "We will now begin the first round of the entrance exam. Please participate in the exam with your full strength. The light beam on the stone column will signal the strength of your attack. An inch represents 100 jins of strength. As long as you pass 1000 jins then you will pass this round! Each candidate will have three attempts. So long as you qualify once then you will pass. Everyone, we will now have a demonstration. Lin Sen, step forwards."

As the beautiful lady finished speaking, a man walked up on stage. He was tall and gaunt, almost appearing emaciated, with a pale, cold face and harsh eyes.

He wore a black suit and on his back was a three foot long knife. Even though it was broad daylight, when he stepped on stage, the temperature of the crowd plummeted several degrees.

"Is that Ling Sen?"

"Someone from the Heavenly Abode of the Seven Profound Martial House!"

This Ling Sen was obviously famous, but Lin Ming did not know of him. He turned and asked Lin Xiaodong, "Who is this Ling Sen?"

Lin Xiaodong might not be diligent when it came to practicing his martial arts, but he was extremely gossipy and curious about all matters, thus he knew about matters such as these. He said, "Ling Sen is one of the senior apprentices of the Heavenly Abode which is the fiercest department in the Seven Profound Martial House. He is twenty years old and is a fourth grade talent. His cultivation is at the peak of the Fourth Stage, and he just entered the Heavenly Abode last year. On his own initiative he requested to be sent to the warfront for one year, where he slaughtered countless people. Right now his combat ability is difficult to estimate, but people say that he will soon enter the Fifth Stage of Body Transformation.

Twenty years old and Fifth Stage of Body Transformation? Lin Ming was slightly startled. Generally, martial artists were considered extraordinary if they reached the Fifth Stage, the Bone Forging stage, by the time they were thirty. This Ling Sen was also overflowing with killing intent, it seemed he had killed many people in the battlefield. Compared to those with the same level of cultivation, this man was truly a master.

Ling Sen loathed demonstrations like this. However it was a tradition that the apprentices of the Heavenly Abode would show off for the candidates. This was for the sake of letting them know that there was always someone out there who was better, and they should never stop striving to reach the top.

Lin Sen Casually stood before the pillar and without even preparing, he casually waved his right hand. A 'Boom!' sound was heard, and the stone pillar fiercely shook. The light beam jumped high, stabilized, and finally stabilized at four feet and nine inches.

4900 jins!

In the field everyone was full of praise and astonishment. If Ling Sen had used his full strength, he might even surpass 5000 jins!

Seeing this result, Lin Ming's eyes widened. This Ling Sen's strength was almost double his own!

Lin Xiaodong said, "It's not anything surprising. He is one of the top talents in Sky Fortune City's younger generation. It would only be weird if he didn't have a result like this."

Lin Ming said, "One of the younger generation? Could Qin Xingxuan defeat him?"

Lin Xiaodong shrugged. "I don't know Qin Xingxuan's strength, but Qin Xingxuan is well rounded and studies all subjects. Ling Sen only focuses his training on fighting and killing, really he is a man who specializes in life or death battles. I don't think Qin Xingxuan could possibly win if their lives were on the line, but don't forget that Qin Xingxuan is only fifteen years old while Ling Sen is twenty."

Hearing this, Lin Ming nodded slightly.

Body Transformation had a total of six stages. The further you were, the more the gap between the stages increased. The strength of one in the Pulse Condensation stage could reach 8000 jins. Lin Ming was very far away from this state.

"Exam, begin!" At this moment on stage, the beautiful middle aged lady sent out the order to start the Strength Trial.

The young candidates were all very eager, each was itching to get up and test their strength. However when they actually tested their strength on the stone pillar, there were many who failed.

"900 jins, 850 jins, 850 jins, three times failed. Next!"

"950 jins, 900 jins, 900 jins, three times failed. Next!"

Many of the candidates had barely reached the Second Stage of Body Transformation. If they were in peak condition, then they might be able to hit 1000 jins. However they could not be at peak condition for every attempt. In addition, they also suffered from nerves and were unable to show their highest level of strength. These people were naturally eliminated.

"1000 jins, qualified!" Someone in Lin Ming's light passed, and that man shouted happily as he danced around in excitement. The truth was that this man also understood, although he passed and barely qualified, he would most likely be eliminated during the second round. Even so, it was an honor for him to have passed the first round of the Seven Profound Martial House's entrance exam at sixteen years of age.

"1300 jins, qualified!"

"950 jins, failed!"

When a result came out, those that failed would dejectedly leave in low spirits. The ones who succeeded were giddy. And among them were those that showed indifference. To these talents, passing this trial was a given.

A this moment, there was a commotion in front. Lin Ming looked ahead and saw that a youth wearing blue linen clothes was standing in front of the stone pillar, and was gathering his strength.

Lin Ming was curious about who this man was. He heard some people discussing, "That is Sun Ping from East Water City. He is at the Third Stage of Body Transformation. His strength is fierce!

As the discussion was occurring, Sun Ping shot forwards. He hit the stone column with a 'peng', and the light beam began to tremble as it shot upwards. It stopped at two feet and three inches.

"2300 jins!"

This was the first person who had passed 2000 jins. The crowd burst into exclamation.

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Chapter 34 – Dream Trial

"This Sun Ping has already been at the Third Stage of Body Transformation for a period of time, but still only managed to strike out with 2300 jins. He's also only seventeen years old; he isn't a threat to me." Wang Yanfeng said as he waved his fan. He narrowed his eyes as he gauged Sun Ping. The final evaluation of the entrance exam would be dependent on not only the results of the Trial, but of the age and talent grade of those who passed. The younger they were and the higher the talent grade, the higher the evaluation would be. In the many young martial artists and talents that participated in the exam, seventeen years of age was considered a bit old.

"Young master, it's your turn."

"Mm." Wang Yanfeng folded his fan and handed it to his attendant.

As Wang Yanfeng stepped in front of the stone column, many people begin to recognize him.

"It's Wang Yanfeng of Yuelu City!"

As the crowd began to spread the news, the nearby candidates turned their gaze over to him. In this group of candidates, Wang Yanfeng had the greatest chance of competing for first place. Not only was his strength formidable, but he was a youth of fifteen years of age.

And most importantly, Wang Yanfeng's talent was high!

Wang Yanfeng was a grade-four talent, but the truth was that the grade-four talents and above, was also divided into low, medium, and high quality. Wang Yanfeng was of the rare high grade-four talents.

Wang Yanfeng stood before the stone column and let out a single breath. The breath curled into the air like twin snakes; this was a sign of the Third Stage of Body Transformation, Viscera Training.

The surrounding crowd gasped in awe. "Seriously, he has just entered the Third Stage of Body Transformation and yet he can already breathe out the twin snakes, and he is only fifteen years old. This is truly talent that defies the will of Heaven."

"Mm. Martial artists at Viscera Training have true essence protecting their heart and lungs and other five major internal organs. They can protect their frail internal organs from attacks, and moreover, their heart and lungs are strong. They have abnormal vitality and could prolong their breathing. Their muscles would naturally strengthen under these conditions and rise. This Wang Yanfeng already breathes snakes but has just entered the Third Stage, it truly makes one jealous."

As this discussion continued, Wang Yanfeng had already struck out at the stone column. A 'bang' rang through the air and the stone column shook. The beam of light jumped up and finally settled at two feet four inches.

"2400 jins!"

Generally speaking, the average martial artist who had entered the Third Stage of Body Transformation would reach about 2000 jins. But Wang Yanfeng, he had just entered the Third Stage, was only fifteen years old, and yet managed to show a strength of 2400 jins. It really was shocking to all onlookers.

However, before the crowd had recovered their composure, there were cries of alarm and surprise coming from another side. A tall and burly youth had walked in front of a stone column and punched his fist. The light beam rose and fell two feet and four inches. 2400 jins!

Wang Yanfeng's record had just been born but was already rendered average by another youth. Lin Ming looked at that tall and burly youth and was startled to see that he was someone who was also at the Second Stage of cultivation!

It wasn't out of sorts to see someone at the Third Stage of Body Transformation reach 2000 jins, but 2000 jins at only the Second Stage? That was just too excessive.

By now Lin Ming had noticed that although the youth appeared to have a naïve and innocent appearance, his height was higher than those of his peers around him, and his muscled body seemed to be thicker and denser than an adult's.

Was this what they called inborn divine strength?

Those with inborn divine strong were several times stronger than those of their age. Although they were very rare, it appeared that this tall and burly youth was one such type.

Wang Yanfeng also saw that impressive youth and let out a light humph. He didn't give it too much thought. Inborn divine strength? Martial artists fought with not just their strength, but also with their martial arts and skills. Not only that, but the higher one's cultivation, the more important true essence becomes. Those who were born with this divine strength did not necessarily become some fierce martial arts figure.

The trial continued, and several youths past with a strength of 1000 jins that were at the peak the Second Stage.

The Seven Profound Martial House stipulated that the candidate's age must be between fifteen to eighteen years of age. It was easy for those of this age bracket to have had achieved the peak of the Second Stage of Body Transformation.

Occasionally there would also be those youths that had reached the Third Stage of Body Transformation. These youths had managed 2000 jins, and some even reached 2500 jins.

Now, it was finally Lin Ming's turn.

Before Lin Ming arrived at the stone column, he had already realized that this was a more serious situation than he thought. Although he was confident that he wouldn't lose to Wang Yanfeng, his natural talent was also far from his.

It was third grade compared to a high fourth grade. In the final evaluation, Lin Ming would suffer a great penalty!

In every round of this exam, Lin Ming had to put forth his whole heart and soul!

Lin Ming breathed lightly and let his entire body relax. He eliminated all distracting thoughts and sounds. The 'True Primal Chaos Formula' revolved silently in his body. Compared to a martial art at the same cultivation, his true essence was several times thicker in his muscles.

Strength Training's 'flow like silk', the principles of hardness and softness; Lin Ming engraved these thoughts onto his mind as he meditated with the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians.' His vision condensed and his relaxed body suddenly went taut like a longbow. His waist lowered and he thrust forwards with the strength of his thighs like a sleek and mighty leopard.

"Bang!"

The strike hit the center of the stone column. The light beam rose dramatically and crazily bounced up until it settled at 2700 jins.

Lin Ming's strength was 2600 jins, but if he put forth his full effort, 2700 jins was also possible.

"My god, 2700 jins!"

"This boy, this boy is simply a vicious beast in human form! A few hundred more jins and he would have caught up to someone at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation!"

"No, this isn't right, it's just not right. The young fellow is only at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. Is he also someone with inborn divine strength?"

The crowd wildly discussed this, and some people had quickly recognized Lin Ming. "I know that person! Just half an hour ago on the main road he had used his strength of arm to throw off someone on a horse like a windmill! He threw off someone that was also at the Second Stage of Body Transformation and was holding a lance on a horse! The man was thrown but the boy hadn't been moved at all. I thought he was some demon child but it turns out he was also someone with inborn divine strength; no wonder he was capable of that!"

"Wasn't he arrested by the authorities? How did he get back?"

As people buzzed, the tall and burly youth who had beaten Wang Yanfeng and reached 2400 jins also looked at Lin Ming. The youth revealed a friendly expression as he happily smiled at Lin Ming. He had not thought that he would also meet someone with inborn divine strength at this examination, so he was quite sympathetic towards Lin Ming.

Wang Yanfeng looked at Lin Ming and frowned. This boy also had inborn divine strength? It truly was annoying. It was like these rare youths were crawling out of the woodwork like c*ckroaches.

"Brother Feng, this kid came out of nowhere and dared to steal Broth Feng's limelight. Brother Feng truly was robbed." A man at Wang Yanfeng's side said.

Wan Yanfeng said, "It's not anything special. Having this result at the Second Stage of Body Transformation is decent. Battle prowess doesn't depend on just strength. Although those with inborn divine strength are rare, not many of them have great achievements in the future."

Wang Yanfeng said this with a tone of exasperation. Although he had already determined that he would take first during this entrance exam, he was repeatedly overshadowed again and again by these fellow youths which made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"What Brother Feng said is absolutely right. In the future what one will need to focus on is the true essence. The superiority of strength is only useful at the start. This kid will only be happy for a few years." Wang Yanfeng's entourage echoed.

After Lin Ming, it was Lin Xiaodong's turn. As he approached the stone column he began to turn his neck back and forth and wiggle his waist. He continued this for a few minutes until the examination officials appeared to be increasingly annoyed and impatient. Then Lin Xiaodong finally cried out and punch the the stone column.

"Thud." There was a dull thumping sound as the stone column's light beam shook for a bit and then settled.

The examination supervisor frowned as he looked at Lin Xiaodong. "750 jins…but you also have two more opportunities.

The result was really bad considering that anyone less than 900 jins would not dare to register. No one wanted to idle in this huge crowd only to end up embarrassing themselves. But in Lin Xiaodong's point of view this result was very good, and he had this natural shameless capability of ignoring the thoughts of others. He wiggled his waist and stretched his neck again, and then punched out again. 'Peng!'

"700 jins."

Another punch!

"750 jins."

Without a shadow of a doubt, Lin Xiaodong had suffered a miserable defeat.

To Lin Xiaodong, this was a decent result. He was only fifteen years old and his father had decided that only when he was eighteen would he have any possibility of entering the Seven Profound Martial House. Lin Xiaodong had not planned on breaking through the Pulse Condensation period from the start, and his only ideal and wish was to preserve his position within the family.

"I gave you the Golden Deer Pills, did you not take any?" Lin Ming asked as Lin Xiaodong walked back.

"I ate them all; otherwise there was no way I would get past 600 jins." Lin Xiaodong innocently shrugged. He left Lin Ming at a loss for words.

However Lin Ming also thought this was normal. After all, before he practiced the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', his best result was 850 jins. His diligent and tireless training was far above Lin Xiaodong who had only managed 600 jins at the time.

It was difficult for someone with only a grade three talent and no formidable aristocratic background to enter the Seven Profound Martial House at fifteen years of age. Even the first round of the entrance exam was prohibitively difficult to pass.

The Strength Trial finally finished around noon, and the candidates were allowed a short rest before the entrance exam continued.

Because the rest time was too short, Lin Ming simply ate a small meal before sitting back in meditation and then hurrying back to the square.

The second inspection was the Dream Trial. It was a test of a martial artist's heart.

For a martial artist, they needed not only talent and support of their background, but moreover, they had to be someone with an earnest and indefatigable martial heart.

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Chapter 35 – The Lake's Jade Platform

The heart of martial arts was by no means anything that was greatly loyal or virtuous – or even good. Whether it be living buddhas that brimmed with righteousness or demon sect leaders with dark intentions, the truth was that the heart of martial arts judged neither good nor evil. It only resolved to ask whether one had the determination to tread the rocky path.

Practicing martial arts was a daily struggle. One's life would be filled with misery, danger, enticements; if one's mentality was not firm then it was easy to fall from the path of a martial artist and give up, thus wasting all previous efforts.

Some people only practiced martial arts for wealth and sensual pleasures. In the heart of these people they practiced martial arts without truly understanding what it meant. This would not affect them during an early period of cultivation, but as would be an insurmountable roadblock later. The Pulse Condensation Period was enough for one to have a sumptuous and luxurious lifestyle where one could drown in money and beautiful women. Sky Fortune Kingdom had many such warriors. Because Sky Fortune Kingdom would handsomely reward those who reached the Pulse Condensation Period, there were those who would suffer untold hardships to attain this goal, only to halt their path of martial arts because they could not resist the temptation of extravagance.

The Dream Trial did not examine one's cultivation; it perceived one's determination and heart of martial arts. Lin Ming had complete confidence regarding this. Even if he had not obtained the mysterious Magic Cube, he believed he still had a 120% chance to pass.

At this time, more than half of the candidates had failed the first trial, so after they had left the field, the square was much more spacious.

Pitiful and sad Lin Xiaodong had already lost the qualifications to enter so he could only stay on the main road beyond the square.

Lin Ming turned around to look at Lin Xiaodong. Although there were many people in the crowd, he still saw him.

Lin Xiaodong also saw Lin Ming and he gave him a thumbs up. Lin Ming smiled. When he turned his head he saw a figure in the crowd that caught his eye. The girl wore a form fitting daffodil yellow dress. She looked to be an aristocratic junior with a top hat made of swan feathers. She stood in an obscure corner and observed everything.

Lin Ming recognized this girl. She was Lan Yunyue.

Lin Ming quickly turned his eyes from her. He knew that if they saw each other it would only increase Lan Yunyue's embarrassment. It was better to have not seen at all…

In his heart Lin Ming had not blamed Lan Yunyue for anything. After all, there had only been a silent agreement between them, and they had not discussed marriage or anything like that to an extensive degree. Lan Yunyue had made the only choice that an ordinary girl could possibly make in her circumstances.

Lan Yunyue did not know that Lin Ming had already discovered her. Lan Yunyue had struggled in her heart for a long time as to whether to come here today or not. She did not want to see Lin Ming, but in her heart was a faint bit of worry, and she wanted to know whether or not he was well.

She could only remember back to two months ago when Lin Ming had been trying to sell several inferior and poor symbol papers. The scene in front of the shop had made her feel several points of pity.

Supporting one's own martial arts without depending on a wealthy family background, he didn't even have a particularly fearsome talent. He only had meager savings that he could use to rent a room, to buy a meal and some medicines. In these sad circumstances he could probably only afford iron thread grass, and perhaps even not that. And if so, then in his body he would have accumulated several internal injuries.

These thoughts caused Lan Yunyue distress. She liked his strength and his persistence. She remembered when she was a child; he had protected her from a large group of bullies. He had stood in front of her like a brave knight, arms spread wide, and taken the beatings. He had made her feel protected and safe.

But alas, such feelings were in the end unable to replace certain things…

She was an attractive girl and had the makings of an outstanding woman. Her natural talent was good and although she was not from an aristocratic family, her family was well off. Such a girl would inevitably have feelings of superiority, like a noble peacock confined to a playpen with chickens. She was unable to convince herself to settle in her ordinary life. A life where she would eventually marry Lin Ming and become the mistress of a family restaurant, a life where they would love each other and have little kids at twenty, and then he would gradually age and die, and she would be there by herself with even her looks having gone.

She did not want to have such a life. She did not!

Therefor she chose Zhu Yan. Not only because of the relations between the Zhu Family and the Imperial Family, but he could also help her enter the Seven Profound Martial House. He would give rare and precious medicines to Lan Yunyue and help her enter the Pulse Condensation Period. Under the enticement of the Pulse Condensation Period, Lan Yunyue was unable to withstand her desires.

This morning, Lan Yunyue was restless. She did not want to come, but ultimately failed to convince herself. So she had arrived this afternoon. She came thinking that Lin Ming would fail the Strength Trial. As long as Lin Ming failed, he would be able to give up his dreams and go home to a safe life. With this she would be able to relax and lay down all her worries. She did not actually think she would see Lin Ming in the qualifying team. This made her simultaneously surprised and worried.

Surprised because Lin Ming had unexpectedly managed to break through to the Second Stage of Body Transformation at only fifteen years of age and having no family background.

Worried because she could not conceive that Lin Ming could reach this stage safely; she only imagined that on his body were several internal injuries, and that he would be nothing more than a cripple by the time he was thirty….

In the morning, the beautiful lady supervisor of the Strength Trial appeared once again. She stared down at that crowd and saw that there were still many people remaining and thought this result wasn't too shabby. "Everyone follow me. We are now headed to the Sea Jade Platform."

The crowd of about a hundred boys and girls followed the beautiful woman supervisor as she passed through the mighty and intimidating gates of the Seven Profound Martial House.

The Seven Profound Martial House was nestled into the hillsides. There were no tall buildings or massive constructions inside, but endless stretches of land and streams dotted with gorgeously designed pavilions. These pavilions were carefully crafted, with smooth, fine lines and surrounded by a perfect blend of scenery. It really made one exclaim in amazement at the seamless craftsmanship and sense of natural aesthetic that went into its design.

The crowd people walked for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, until they approached a deep green lake. It had a vibrant color like living jade. The surface had no trace of waves and was peacefully quiet. The lake was hedged by weeping willow trees, and even though it was autumn when the leaves of trees would fall, it amazed everyone that not even a single leaf had was floating on the calm lake surface.

In the center of the emerald lake, a jade platform had been carved out of pale white jade. The jade platform was joined to the shore by nine stone bridges. It was like a mystical fairy world come to life.

Lin Ming found that a few dozen meters from the jade platform was a pavilion that was floating in water. In the pavilion was placed a stone table that was covered with tea and dried fruits. Around the table were sitting several old men and a single girl who were looking towards them with great interest.

It was unexpectedly Qin Xingxuan and Mister Muyi.

Lin Ming slightly hesitated; why would they appear here?

Muyi had also discovered Lin Ming looking towards him, and faintly smiled back. Qin Xingxuan also had a friendly smiling face.

Lin Ming returned a smile out of courtesy. He had a faint suspicion that the other people accompanying Muyi were not simple. Among them were several, who it seemed from their breathing and appearance, were not any less strong than Muyi.

These people were masters!

Lin Ming wasn't mistaken. These people were several of Muyi's friends and several officials of the Sky Fortune Kingdom's government. There were also elders from the Seven Profound Martial House. Exams were twice a year, and they would come to observe to see if there were any good seedlings among the candidates.

They were mostly looking for those with sufficient talent and who also had the pure heart of a martial artist. Every year, the candidates had to register their talent and other information in order to enter the entrance exam. Thus the elders did not need to measure as they had already looked through the files.

The candidates this time around were barely satisfactory. The strongest was a high fourth-grade talent.

Having a fifth-grade talent was a once in a decade event and wasn't a usual occurrence. The high fourth-grade talents were also good and the low fourth-grade talents could make do. The third-grade talents were somewhat inferior.

The first round of the exam was not anything important, therefore the Martial House's elders had not made an appearance. They have seen the talent already and this time they came to observe which one of these candidates had an especially strong heart of a martial artist.

"Come up. Defend your mind, sit in meditation, and once you cross the five trials then you will have passed." The beautiful lady supervisor said.

The candidates stepped onto the nine stone bridges one at a time. Their hearts began to drum wildly in their chest. During the first round their hearts had been filled with confidence. They knew the limits of their own strength. Only some of them had thought that they might be nervous and not able to display their full potential, but they knew in their hearts that they did not need to be too anxious about passing. But this time was the Dream Trial, and they were nervous.

Many of the candidates had never attempted the Dream Trial before, so they did not have an idea what sort of scene they would encounter at the end. But they had heard that this was the trial with the highest rate of elimination; it would reach as high as 90%!

In a group of ten, only one would pass!

One had to know that they were these were the most outstanding talents among those of their age. In a small town or small family or even in an entire city, they were the most splendid and majestic of their generation. They had constantly been revered and labeled geniuses since childhood, but even in such a group of people, most would be eliminated within the Dream Trial!

This trial was truly terrifying!

"Sit upon the jade platform. After ten breaths the trial shall begin!" The beautiful lady supervisor said. Even though she was separated by a far distance, her voice was clearly heard within every candidate's ears. This method of passing messages via true essence was even more profound and powerful than Zhu Yan.

Lin Min suspected that this beautiful lady supervisor was a martial artist at the Pulse Condensation Period.

As Ling Ming stepped onto the jade platform, he scanned the distant crowd and discovered that among them was Lan Yunyue. She was leaning against a willow tree at was still gazing at Lin Ming not thinking that she had been sighted by him.

Lin Ming gave a single sigh and no longer looked. He sat cross legged on the jade platform.

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Chapter 36 – Lin Ming's Heart of Martial Arts

After sitting down, Lin Ming discovered that although the jade platform was built from white marble, there was not the slightest chill in the air. Instead, there was an incomparably peaceful warmth that overflowed. Looking carefully, he could see that the jade platform had been engraved with a number of different lines and symbols. These were runes.

This large jade platform was a magic array. It was said these magic arrays were created by the Xiantian masters of the Seven Profound Valleys. In them, one would not even be able to differentiate between reality and illusion.

However Lin Ming did not worry. A dream world was still only just a dream world. As long as he reinforced his mind, even if the dream world was boundless and infinite, he would stand firm on the ground!

As Lin Ming sat on the jade platform, his mind filled with a bright light.

As the tenth breath ended, Lin Ming saw a blinding flash all around him and all the candidates disappeared from his vision, leaving only himself.

An endless prairie appeared before him, extending as far as his eye could see. At this moment a pack of vicious beasts each as tall as a man darted from the high grass and ran straight towards Lin Ming.

The several dozens of beasts were the same first level vicious beasts that Lin Ming had deboned before! As they ran together, the grass and the ground began to vibrate. An imposing force rolled towards him.

Lin Ming did not even blink an eye until the first beast lunged at him.

"Fu!"

The vicious beast pierced straight through his body. Lin Ming stood there still safe and sound. But when that beast had pierced him, Lin Ming felt a very intense shock and pressure. Although he knew it was only a dream, he could not rid himself of this feeling as if it were a fear that originated from his soul.

This was the effect of a magic array? Even though he knew it was an illusion, it was still possible to lose himself in it. And once lost, he would not be able to tell that it was an illusion.

If that happened, then the illusion would turn to reality. If the illusion killed him, then he might even die in this dream.

As Lin Ming safely passed this first round, on the jade stage a dozen bright lights flashed. In an instant, several people disappeared from the jade platform and stumbled onto the store. These people all had bone white expressions and their pale eyelids trembled. They had lost themselves in the dream, and once they were lost, they had fantasized that they had been ripped up and torn apart by the dream beasts and eaten, with even their bones crushed. Their fear had grown more and more intense until their minds had been broken and they passed out into reality.

At the pavilion, the elders of the Seven Profound Martial House slowly shook their head. The first round of the Dream Trial tested courage. The martial arts path was full of danger. If one did not have courage to face it, then what was the point of cultivating the martial path?

"Muyi, do you know how ferocious that boy is? He instantly passed." The man who spoke knew that Muyi had recognized Lin Ming and that they were acquainted with each other. But Muyi did not speak of Lin Ming's achievements in inscription techniques. This was what Lin Ming had asked of him.

Muyi had only said he knew Lin Ming, and he had come to this entrance exam to take a look at his growth.

The beautiful lady supervisor also stood in the pavilion. Because of Lin Ming's outstanding performance in the Strength Trial, she had kept note of him. She saw the Lin Ming had frowned for a brief moment, but had restored his calm and tranquility right after.

But looking at some other people, they had clenched their jaws tightly, and their faces were changing colors. Obviously they had been struck by these vicious beasts in the dream world and were struggling…

In the illusion, the higher one's belief in themselves, the stronger their heart would be. The opposite also held true. These candidates who struggled with the vicious beasts had some courage, but they did not have Lin Ming's dauntless heart. Lin Ming was like an immovable rock that had been tested by the passing of millennia. Whatever vicious or wild beast that jumped at him, he would remain steady and true, and the illusion had thus been broken.

"No wonder you especially came to see this boy, his heart of martial arts is indeed exceptional. It's comparable with Lin Sen." An old man said.

Muyi only smiled. He was not surprised that Lin Ming has passed the first hurdle.

Qin Xingxuan had also been secretly comparing herself. Although Lin Ming's talent was inferior to her by far, his heart of martial arts was surprisingly firm and steady. When she had participated in this trial, during this first round she has spent a period of time, but Lin Ming had only taken a few breaths of time.

At this point, Lin Ming had arrived at the second stage.

In this second trial the scenery shifted before his eyes and changed dramatically. Lin Ming instantly arrived at a battlefield that overflowed with murderous intent. Scenes of battle surrounded him. Mountains of bodies piled up to the sky and seas of blood flowed around him. Broken spears and swords littered the ground with the crushed bones of the dead.

On this battlefield, cries of war suddenly rang through the air. Vast plumes of smoke billowed in the distance. On both sides of Lin Ming suddenly appeared two armies of cavalry. Warriors wearing thick armor and grasping lances approached from his right and left. They had suddenly appeared, and Lin Ming had been stuck in the middle of them.

The two mighty forces rushed towards him. Their horrific war cries filled the air with overwhelming killing intent. Lin Ming remained motionless and focused his mind. During the first experience with the illusion, he had been surprised and his heart had fluctuated a bit. But this time he was prepared and he defended his mind.

As a result, as the armies approached him they turned into floating ashes. The illusion was broken again!

"Mm? Did he break it? Or not break it?" An elder looked at Lin Ming. This kid was weird. His expression had not changed even a bit. If he did not see the beams of light that emitted from the runes, then he would have thought the magic array was defective.

"This boy isn't simple. I don't know if he can continue and break the record. If he could catch up to Ling Sen then it would be a pleasant surprise."

The five hurdles of the Dream Trial. The average person would take an hour to pass them. These past ten years, the one with the best result had been Heaven Abode's Ling Sen. He had spent an incense worth of time to complete the trial. This surprised the elders of the Seven Profound Martial House, because except for Ling Sen, the fastest time was half an hour.

Ling Sen originally had no wants or needs. He was in essence closest to a cold blooded killer. As sayings went, this type of person who cultivated the martial path was truly fearful.

Ling Sen had proved this point. He was only twenty years old and was a medium fourth-grade talent. With this medium fourth-grade talent he had become an elder apprentice brother within Heaven's Abode. Many prodigies with high fourth-grade talent had been left in his dust.

"Now is not the time for flattery. It only becomes hard during the last three hurdles." An old man stroked his beard as he said this, "Ling Sen's record won't be broken so easily."

This time in the illusion, Lin Ming had arrived at the third trial. The thousands of soldiers and scenes of destruction had vanished. He had arrived in a luxuriously decorated tent. The walls and roof were draped with the finest silks, and a smoky, intoxicating fragrance drifted in all directions.

But beyond all the pink silk draping, a dozen impressive young girls danced in the background. Their slim and beautiful bodies were slender and smooth. Their flawless appearance shamed the night moon and the sweetest flowers. As they bounced up and down, they began stripping off their clothes and walking towards Lin Ming. In the next moment, abundant scenery filled Lin Ming's vision. There were boundless amounts of heavy breasts and fragrant buttocks that swayed in front of him. These beautiful women surrendered themselves to Lin Ming and draped themselves around him. Between their every breath, their tempting bodies released a seductive fragrance.

In that moment, Lin Ming felt a dryness and heat from his heart, and a slight stirring in his loins as his bodily blood flow sped up. But he quickly suppressed this heat and guarded his mind yet again.

However these young girls did not immediately vanish. Instead they were not happy, and pouted as they picked up their clothes. Even their anger was charming as they sashayed their buttocks back and forth as they made their way away from Lin Ming. As soon as they left, the surroundings changed again. This time it was a warm and intimate bedroom. Against a wall was propped a mahogany bed. Sitting on the bed was a woman in a scarlet lined cotton jacket and a feathered robe. She had a jade pin in her hair that was shaped like a flower. This woman was about twenty five years old. Even sitting there she released an elegant aura and temperament. Her appearance had changed from what he remembered. Although she had a more mature and seductive charm to her, this was clearly Lan Yunyue!

…Lan Yunyue…

Lin Ming was startled in his mind. Was this Lan Yunyue ten years from now?

"Behave, don't cry…" Lan Yunyue softly hummed a sweet nursery song to a pair of two year old babies on the bed. These babies were a pair of matching twins. These babies' features…were also somewhat similar to Lin Ming…

As if they knew that Lin Ming was looking, the pair of babies opened their wide and beautiful eyes and smiled innocently at him. The cry of innocent children echoed into Lin Ming's ears and directly passed into his stunned heart.

Lan Yunyue also smiled at Lin Ming. Her delicate red lips parted slightly and she said, "Lin Ming, darling, it's very late, you should rest."

At this moment, seeing Lan Yunyue and the twin babies' sweet smiling faces, Lin Ming's heart of martial arts shook. A wife, children, and a rich and warm home…

Had he not once wished for such a life for himself?

Now he had obtained it, he could stop…

As this thought suddenly appeared, Lin Ming woke up. He fiercely bit the tip of his tongue and let the pain restore his state of mind.

The surroundings changed, and Lan Yunyue and the babies disappeared.

Gazing at the empty darkness, Lin Ming's heart palpitated and he was covered in a sheen of cold sweat.

Almost! He had almost lost himself!

Thinking of the dream visions, Lin Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Everything, all of this and all of her were in the past!

Perhaps once in his heart he had held such desires, but those thoughts were in the past….

"In the past?"

An ethereal and faintly recognizable voice sounded from behind him. Lin Ming turned around. A woman stood there wearing an alluring cheongsam. She held a simple long sword in her hand with an imperious and mighty air, and had a brave and valiant appearance that accentuated her heaven gifted beauty.

"Qin Xingxuan?"

Lin Ming was shocked. This woman was clearly Qin Xingxuan, and was only a bit older, around twenty years old.

"Since it's in the past, then how about you cultivate together…with me? We can explore the world of martial arts…together…how about it?" As she said this, Qin Xingxuan's clothes unravelled into threads and vanished, revealing the most perfect and exquisite body that he had ever imagined possible. Lin Ming had a full view of this and his heart almost stopped as his eyes widened like saucers.

She slowly walked towards Lin Ming…

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Chapter 37 – Invulnerable to Ten Thousand Evils

As this beautiful and impossibly exquisite example of womanhood stood before him, this image was unforgettably carved into his mind and he felt the tower of his will tremble in its firmament. His breath became shallow and blood rushed to his head. After all, when it comes to matters between men and women, Lin Ming was still only a young boy.

Qin Xingxuan reached her arms around Lin Ming. She was like a warm and fragrant jade that surrounded him and the delicate fragrance of her virgin body wafted into his nostrils and left a strong impact in Lin Ming's heart.

Fabrication!

Illusion!

Lin Ming squeezed his eyes shut and in his heart he began to revolve the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', He managed to hold down his quickly fleeing sanity.

"Lin Ming, do you not like me?"

This voice was gentle and soft like a spring rain. Lin Ming's eyelids jumped, but he remained unmoved as before.

"Ah…." With a gentle sigh, she let Lin Ming go. Qin Xingxuan stood up, her expression revealing some hidden bitterness, and she slowly departed.

The scene before him began to slowly fade away, and the world returned to tranquility.

The third hurdle had finally been passed.

Lin Ming breathed deeply, his heart still beating rapidly and his palms still wet with sweat.

This third trial was truly fierce! It had managed to find and unearth the moral flaw in his own heart of martial arts. It seems that he had been too naïve. There was no human between heaven and earth that was not without a single weakness.

"Mm. This boy has passed the hurdle. It wasn't a short time; it took around half an incense stick of time." An old man looked to his side where an incense burner stood. A single stick of incense in it had been burnt over halfway.

"This boy is different from Ling Sen. In Ling Sen's trial, he only used several breaths of time, but this boy used half an incense stick. His heart was probably filled with a girl that he liked. However as it stands now, he probably won't be able to break Ling Sen's record." The old man meaningfully smiled with a 'ha-ha' as he said this.

"Heh heh. Valiant heroes have loved beautiful woman since ancient times. This is normal. I like this normal part of a hot-blooded boy full of vigor. That young fellow Ling Sen made me feel overwhelmed; watching him only let me feel cold and uncomfortable."

Several elder teased between themselves, because of the generational difference. Qin Xingxuan had digressed from conversation, and was peacefully sitting there while she looked at Lin Ming. In her heart a strange thought suddenly appeared; who exactly was the girl that had appeared in the dreams of Lin Ming?

The fourth trial. Lin Ming had fallen into the depths of hell. The surroundings were dark and dim. Lin Ming was immersed waist deep in a thick, crimson pool of blood. White skulls were piled high like mountains that emerged from a sea of blood. The overwhelming shrill cries of ghosts and endless devils that blotted out the sky rushed towards Lin Ming.

"Ten thousand ghosts want to stop me?" Lin Ming sneered and revolved the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians'. His whole body began to shine with a brilliant golden light, and an overwhelmingly pure true essence emitted outwards.

'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' originated from the Body Transformation manuals found within the Realm of the Gods. It was said to have been created by a war-god Buddha and represented the purest light and Yang; it could pierce all evils, shatter all illusions, and cut away all demons within the heart.

Lin Ming disregarded these ghosts and demons and continued to revolve the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' to its limit.

'My heart is at peace; not even ten-thousand evils can break me!'

Luminous golden light radiated out and all of the malicious ghosts and devils it touched disintegrated into ash!

"Damn! It's over?"

In the five trials of the dreamland, the first tested courage, the second tested morale, the third tested temptation, the fourth tested one's inner demons, and the fifth tested the will.

The first two trials were rather simple. The latter three were on a different level; how they appeared differed from person to person. Ling Sen had been stuck on the fourth trial that tested the demons in his heart. Perhaps it was because of Ling Sen's bloodthirst, but the demons in his heart had been a terrifyingly difficult trial for him. Therefore he had slaughtered in that blood sea for half an incense stick of time, and only then did he barely cut away his inner demons.

"This Lin Ming; does he not have a single inner demon within his heart?"

"His heart and mind are pure. It is truly rare. Including the first four trials, only half an incense stick of time has passed. This is a good seedling," an old man exclaimed honestly.

As time went on, more and more candidates failed and appeared back on the shores of the lake. The first and second trials were easy, but from the third trial and on, the number of people being kicked out sharply rose, and the jade platform flashed with brilliant lights.

Lan Yunyue had been paying attention to Lin Ming from a distance. Lin Ming had not always been calm, but his expression was firm and did not resemble the other candidates who had fierce fighting expressions, horribly distorted faces, or were bone white.

At this moment, Lan Yunyue had a feeling that she couldn't identify. She somehow knew that Lin Ming had passed, had crossed the trials of the dream realm, and was on the last step before the end.

The last trial of the dream. Lin Ming had still not left hell. He was still soaked in the oozing thick blood, but suddenly the blood sea became scalding hot as it bubbled.

The temperature had suddenly risen! The sanguine sea seethed with a dark fury, each bubbling pocket that burst open showered the air with a crescendo of blood. It was as if the blood sea had turned into a lake of flowing lava.

Lin Ming could distinctly feel the pain that gushed into his body; it was if he was being boiled alive in this sea of blood. Although he knew that it was merely an illusion, this kind of pain was incomparable, it was a throbbing misery that made him almost wish for death so that his suffering would end.

The first four trials were illusions, but he hadn't anticipated that the fifth trial would be true pain. Lin Ming clenched his teeth and desperately clung to his consciousness. When he had practiced with only a tiny amount of iron thread grass to ease his pain, or when he had suffered the agonizing soul tearing pain of fusing with the soul fragment, he had shouldered the pain. This scalding sea of blood was nothing but a light summer day to him!

As Lin Ming thought this, the blood sea suddenly ignited. A combustion of black flames shot to the sky in a hellish inferno!

The flames surged towards Lin Ming. Lin Ming could clearly feel the waves of hot pressure pressing down on him. Seeing this flood of flames, an average person's impulse would have been to feel utter and complete horror.

Lin Ming suddenly gave a ferocious shout!

"My martial arts path is like a moth to the flame, you wish for me to turn to ashes in an ocean of ten thousand flames? I couldn't wish for anything more!"

Flames swallowed Lin Ming. In the next moment, everything turned to nothing, the world became void. Lin Ming stood up and looked around. He had returned to the jade platform. All around him were boys and girls that were grimacing in pain, or had lost all their color.

Seeing Lin Ming suddenly open his eyes and stand up, Muyi was startled. He looked at the incense burner, that incense stick still had a tiny bit left!

Frosty Ling's record had been broken!

Qin Xingxuan was also incomparably surprised. She had experienced the five trials of this dream realm before and knew exactly how fierce and powerful they were. Although her sixth grade talent was unprecedented in Sky Fortune Kingdom, talent was not much help in passing the trials of the dream realm. Qin Xingxuan had used less than half an hour, but Lin Ming had used less than an incense stick of time before he had awoken. Anyone would think this was absolutely impossible to believe.

"Extraordinary! Extraordinary! This is the first time I have seen someone with such a heart of martial arts! Yes, what was his score in the Strength Trial?" An old man asked the beautiful lady supervisor who had been in charge for then.

"2700 jins." Lin Ming had taken the first place in the Strength Trial, the beautiful lady supervisor remembered with certainty.

"Oh?" The old man's moved and he eagerly asked, "What is his talent?"

Listening to the old man, before the lady supervisor had even replied, Muyi had already said, "Grade three medium."

"Only grade three?" The only man was surprised, and he began to shake in disappointment and sighed, "What a pity, what a pity!" A grade three talent wasn't too bad, but it was inferior to the prodigies of the Seven Profound Martial House.

However Muyi said. "Sometimes talent isn't everything. Just you wait and see, that Lin Ming is a dragon among humans."

Muyi said this with confidence. When he had first seen Lin Ming's talent grade, he had been greatly surprised and had thought that there had been some sort of mistake. But he knew that Lin Ming already had a great achievement that many people in their entire lives could not hope to reach. Since that mysterious elder had chosen Lin Ming, then Lin Ming must have extraordinary talents that he could not see!

Though Muyi spoke with confidence, the other man only shook his head. The role that talent played in a martial artist's future was too vital and important. It was pivotal for their future achievements. With a medium grade-three talent, even if this boy had massive financial support backing him, he would only end up stuck at the Pulse Condensation Stage.

As Lin Ming left the stage, Lan Yunyue who had been distantly looking at Lin Ming, had eyes full of complex emotions. She had long known that Lin Ming's will was firm and steady, but did not expect that he would have passed the dream trials so quickly.

She also now knew that for Lin Ming to give up the martial arts path was impossible. His own determination had reached the highest limit.

After Lin Ming left the jade platform, he was led to the resting lounge where he would later be escorted to the final trial – the Exquisite Pagoda.

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Chapter 38 – The Exquisite Pagoda

The Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda was constructed by the masters of the Seven Profound Valleys. The mysterious and unknown materials that made it were from beyond the borders of the Sky Fortune Kingdom, and the light that filtered through it made it glitter like translucent gems in the daylight.

The Exquisite Pagoda had seven floors altogether. Each was engraved with subtle and meticulous formations; these were a magic array.

However this magic array was different than the one on the jade platform. The jade platform's was only an illusion array that provoked harmless dreams, but this Exquisite Pagoda's magic array was a killing one.

The killing array was able to utilize illusions to kill. Those who were trapped in the illusion and died, would truly die.

Of course, the Exquisite Pagoda was only used for the entrance exam, so a death inside was not real. Instead, those that were defeated would only be kicked out from the magic array.

Inside the Exquisite Pagoda, one would not be able to use rare weapons or armor. They would only be able to use ordinary weapons. The trial would depend on one's own ability to pass.

As time passed, the number of candidates on the jade stage began to decrease. Each flash of light that appeared signified that another candidate had failed. Out of the hundred people that had started, sixty or seventy percent had already been eliminated, which even included someone at the Third Stage of Body Transformation.

When he was ejected from dreamland, the Third Stage martial artist slumped his shoulders and looked dejected. This was his third time participating in the Seven Profound Martial House entrance exam, and he had not thought that he would be defeated this time around. He was already eighteen years old; this had been his last and final opportunity.

After less than a half hour had passed, a second person on the jade stage finally opened their eyes. That person exhaled a single long breath, and with a pale face and trembling legs, he stood up. His back was soaked in sweat.

This person was the high fourth-grade talent, Wang Yanfeng.

After he stood up he turned to looked for the tall and burly youth and Lin Ming who had stolen his spotlight during the Strength Trial. However, he only saw the suffering burly youth, and did not see Lin Ming. Wang Yanfeng's lips turned up to form a proud and happy smile.

However, when the staff led him to the lounge, he saw Lin Ming already inside and meditating in silence. His face darkened. He had thought that Lin Ming had already been eliminated, and hadn't thought that Lin Ming could possibly have passed the Dream Trial first.

This guy!

Wang Yanfeng felt a deep crisis in his heart. Without resting, he left the lounge and found his hanger-ons. He whispered to them, "Look up what talent this fellow is."

Lin Ming noticed Wang Yanfeng's hostility towards him. But this was normal. Each candidate was in competition with the others, and there was only one first place reward.

Slowly, the number of people in the lounge increased, and the second trial had reached its conclusion.

In the end, out of the candidates that had participated in the second trial, only 92 remained. Nearly 90% had been eliminated!

The candidates who had just barely managed to pass the Dream Trial were not given time to rest, the last trial would begin immediately.

If they passed this final trial, then they would be a disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House. If they failed, then all of their previous efforts would have gone to waste.

"The third trial – The Exquisite Pagoda."

A loud and forceful voice resounded in the crowd. This time the supervisor for this trial was a tall, thin, middle-aged man. Though he looked ordinary, his body had an imposing manner that made one's heartbeat speed up. Lin Ming only needed a glance to tell that this person was a master, perhaps even someone who was at the Houtian stage.

Lin Ming could not help but sigh. Before coming to Seven Profound Martial House, he had not seen many martial artists who were at the Sixth Stage of Body Transformation – the Pulse Condensation Period. But now he had seen at least five or six Houtian masters.

However this was also normal. In Sky Fortune Kingdom, Houtian masters would usually not be found at the Imperial Palace or even the Martial Quarters. Instead they would be at the Seven Profound Martial House. Here, most Houtian masters came from beyond Sky Fortune Kingdom, most were disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys.

"Follow me." The middle-aged man said, and then turned around and walked away.

The 92 remaining candidates followed after him. Some onlookers also followed after. Not everyone could watch the second trial and third trial. These people following were either nobles or were students of the Seven Profound Martial House.

The middle-aged man's pace seemed slow, but the speed was similar to running. The candidates had to race forwards to keep up.

After a period of time about equal to how long it takes to finish a meal, they arrived in a valley of the Zhou Mountains. In this valley was a large and magnificent building. The building's entrance plaque had four calligraphic characters written with a large brush. 'Seven Profound Martial Pavilion'.

As they entered, they saw a building that was 200 feet high. This was the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

"Really high!"

This was Lin Ming's first thought as he entered. He had never seen a building that high before. It had seven floors, and each floor was about thirty feet high. It would take several men standing on each others' shoulders to reach the ceiling of one floor. The grandest temple of Green Mulberry City could only match up to a single floor of this Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

"Now, you can go in. There is no time limit. As long as you pass through the first floor you have qualified. The second floor is good and the third floor is outstanding. The fourth floor is for geniuses. As for the fifth floor…heh heh…" The middle-aged man slyly smiled and let the anticipating crowd hang onto his word, "It's simply impossible."

Hearing the words of this middle-aged man, some of the youths remained unconvinced. Wang Yanfeng saw these youths and sneered. What a group of idiots. As if the Exquisite Pagoda would be so simple.

The Seven Profound Martial House entrance exam had three trials. The first trial tested the foundation, the second trial tested the heart of a martial artist, and the third round was the most important; it was a practical test of combat prowess and degree of genius!

These genius talents, when compared to their contemporaries, had those with differing levels of combat strength.

The Exquisite Pagoda contained a killing array. The enemies inside came at various levels of strength. The magic array used the age of one's bones to determine which enemies would be faced. The older the bone age, the more difficult the opponent.

Because of this, there had only been one person who had reached the fifth floor. This person was not elder senior brother Ling Sen of the Heavenly Abode, but the girl who seemed to be like gentle water, Qin Xingxuan.

A sixth grade talent, this was not a joke. Many people did not know Qin Xingxuan's cultivation, but Wang Yanfeng knew. She was at the peak of the Fourth Stage of Body Cultivation.

She was similar to Ling Sen in cultivation, but she was younger than him by five years!

Although Wang Yanfeng was an arrogant man, he was not arrogant enough to think that he could match Qin Xingxuan. He would be satisfied with the fourth floor.

Looking at this Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, Wang Yanfeng's heart surged with an overwhelmingly strong fighting spirit. For him, the first and second trials of the exam had been empty and he was unable to show his true strength, so those powerful feelings could go nowhere, but this third trial was a measure of true battle.

Strength, skill, agility, and combat skills were all involved inside. Wang Yanfeng was confident in himself. He would amaze the world with a single brilliant feat and become an overnight sensation in this third trial!

"Go in! The difficulty of the trial will be decided by your age." As soon as the middle-aged man waved his hand, the gate of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda swung open.

Beyond the arched entrance, there was a brilliant light shining from inside. Lin Ming took a deep breath and slowly stepped in.

At this time, Qin Xingxuan had arrived and was watching the scene. She saw Lin Ming's fading back in the distance and kept her gaze on him as he vanished past the seven colored gate.

"Haha, Xingxuan, you are very concerned about Lin Ming."

Rather abruptly asked this question by her teacher, Qin Xingxuan lowered her head as she bashfully blushed. She said, "Xingxuan cannot hold a candle to the inscription technique and achievements of Lin Ming. But if we compare our fighting ability, then Xingxuan is a little confident."

"Mn, concerning fighting strength, Lin Ming is truly inferior to you Xingxuan. What floor do you think Lin Ming will reach?"

"This is…well, according to common sense, a fifteen year old at the Second Stage of Body Transformation would already have a very difficult time. But Lin Ming's strength is much stronger than average…I think he has a possibility to reach the third floor." Qin Xingxuan thought that this was already a very high appraisal of him. If Lin Ming wanted to reach the third layer he would at least need to cultivate to the Third Stage of Body Transformation.

"You're right, but…. I think that Lin Ming might be able to give us a pleasant surprise."

As Muyi and Qin Xingxuan were talking, in an obscure corner of the valley, Lan Yunyue was also distantly looking at Lin Ming's fading back, and her eyes were full of complex emotions.

As a disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House, Lan Yunyue had the authority to enter the valley and observe the entrance exam. This was the last trial of the exam. As long as one passed, they would become an official disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House.

With Lin Ming's current condition, he would probably pass the first floor of the Exquisite Pagoda.

She had not thought that only after half a year, Lin Ming would have such an astonishing growth…

If she had to practice martial arts with Lin Ming in the Martial House, Lan Yunyue didn't know how to feel about this in her heart.

At this moment, Lin Ming could not read the thoughts of others who were thinking about him. He had already arrived at the center of the killing array.

As soon as he entered the Exquisite Pagoda, the other candidates disappeared from his vision, and only he was left.

He appeared in a dark world faded in black. The night sky was carpeted with stars and the ground underneath his foot was hard, black rock. In front of him not too far away, a shadow gray miasma gradually congealed into reality. It became a warrior holding a longstaff.

"This is the enemy?" Lin Ming judged that this shadow warrior's cultivation was around the early Second Stage of Body Transformation.

The middle-aged man had said a moment ago that the strength of the enemy was determined by one's own age. Lin Ming was fifteen years and eight months old. The enemy's cultivation was the early Second Stage, those older candidates would naturally face enemies whose strength was higher.

For a fifteen year old youth, it seemed he had to defeat someone at the Second Stage of Body Transformation in order to pass.

Lin Ming no longer wasted his time. His supple body shot forward like a ferocious and vigorous leopard. The 'True Primal Chaos Formula' revolved in him and true essence pooled in his muscles. The first strike would be a killing one!

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Chapter 39 – Unstoppable Force

There were many floors to pass; Lin Ming could not afford to waste his energy and stamina. He had to rush to the top in a single leap and take the first place reward – the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill!

Seeing Lin Ming flying at him, the shadow warrior raised his staff to block him. But Lin Ming was too fast and before the staff had been raised to his chest, a hard fist had already imprinted itself onto its chest.

"Peng!"

The shadow warrior's chest collapsed and it spat blood, before it fell over dead.

Lin Ming easily passed the first floor. This was natural, as Lin Ming's strength had greatly surpassed those of the same cultivation.

Onto the second floor!

This was still a black space like before, but this time a vicious beast stood in front of Lin Ming.

"A first-level vicious beast!"

A first-level vicious beast was equivalent to a martial artist at the Third Stage of Body Transformation. This beast was a single-horned rhinoceros. Its strength as a first-level vicious beast was relatively poor; it was about as strong as a peak Second Stage martial artist.

Although its strength was rather ordinary, it had superior defensive abilities due to its tough hide. Even if a martial artist greatly exceeded it in strength and cultivation, they must still expend some effort to defeat it.

Lin Ming had to overcome several obstacles and did not want to waste his stamina. His hand turned, and a chilly deboning knife appeared in his palm. In Lin Ming's mind appeared the single-horned rhinoceros' blood vessels and body structure, with each of its weaknesses clear as day.

Lin Ming's advantage was his familiarity with the weaknesses of vicious beasts.

The single-horned rhinoceros suddenly roared, and trampled towards Lin Ming. Although this was an illusionary realm, Lin Ming felt a rumbling vibration in the ground.

An illusion array was not the same as a killing array. In an illusion array, the illusions didn't have the power to kill you, they could also cause you to feel fear. As long as you kept your heart and mind and stood your ground, then the illusion would shatter. But a killing array was different; standing still would only be suicide.

As he watched the single-horned rhinoceros barrel towards him, Lin Ming suddenly leapt to one side. His jumping posture was odd. His body was parallel with the ground and one of his shoulders nearly touched the dirt. In the next moment, the huge body of the single-horned rhinoceros passed by him. Lin Ming slammed his hand against the ground and the force propelled him underneath the beast's abdomen.

He raised his hand and slashed with the knife!

"Puff!"

The boning knife struck just half a foot up from the center of the single-horned rhinoceros' front thigh. This exact spot was the softest patch on the beast's abdomen, and was also where its abdominal aorta was located.

The knife slid in like butter and gouged out the beast. A stream of blood jetted out like a broken pipe and the single-horned rhino let loose a keening anguished howl. The vicious beast trembled fiercely and then fell to the ground.

Seeing the success of his knife strike, Lin Ming was unable to restrain a sigh as he thought of how lifelike and realistic this magic array was. The single-horned rhinoceros phantom had a body structure and weaknesses just like a real single-horned rhinoceros. He thought that perhaps the magic array had a beast spirit of the single-horned rhinoceros sealed inside, thus its potent realism.

After the successful knife strike, Lin Ming pulled back instead of taking another cut. Although killing the single-horned rhinoceros at this point was not difficult anymore, he wanted to save his stamina. There was no resting between the floors of the Exquisite Pagoda.

The aorta had been cut open, and the single-horned rhinoceros was losing more and more blood. Its movements began to slow, but this time Lin Ming waited for another opportunity and slashed his knife down again. There was a 'puff!' sound and the abdominal aorta on the other side of the single-horned rhinoceros was also cut!

The fight has lost its suspense, it was only a matter of waiting now. The single-horned rhinoceros thrashed about as it teetered back and forth on the edge of death, until it unwillingly went still.

Lin Ming had entered the third floor!

"Oh? Someone has entered the third floor!" Outside the Exquisite Pagoda, several elders had seen that the runes and symbols on the third floor began to move and light up. The third floor was activating, but they did not know who it was that had entered.

"It should be Wang Yanfeng. He is strongest in consideration of his age. Lin Ming's strength lies in his martial heart and in his inborn divine strength. In terms of combat prowess, strength is only a small part. Speed, skill, and fighting techniques are not any less important than strength alone."

"Most of the candidates are still stuck on the first floor. That Wang Yanfeng has already rushed up to the third floor is impressive."

As these elders discussed, another person had reached the third floor. This person was only thirty breaths slower than Lin Ming. This person was Wang Yanfeng.

Wang Yanfeng and Lin Ming were similar in age, and the opponents they fought on the second floor were the same; both were first-level vicious beasts that were equal to the peak of the Second Stage of Body Transformation.

Wang Yanfeng was at the early Third Stage of Body Transformation. Not only that, but his combat strength exceeded that of those his age. The vicious beast was not his match, but its skin was coarse and its meat thick and tough. Wang Yanfeng had spent much of his true essence to defeat it.

There was no rest in the Exquisite Pagoda. On the third floor, Wang Yanfeng now came head to head with two dark and shadowy humanoid figures holding two long swords. These shadow warriors were at the early Third Stage of Body Transformation.

Wang Yanfeng gritted his teeth and maintained his dignified demeanor. He could deal with these two warriors, but he also had to think carefully about how to use his true essence, otherwise breaking through to the fourth floor would become increasingly difficult.

He had to make this as quick a victory as possible. He began to revolve the true essence within his entire body, and prepared the display martial skill handed down in his family, the 'Nine Paths of Truth'.

At this time, Lin Ming also confronted two early Third Stage shadow warriors on the third floor.

The Third Stage of Body Transformation was Viscera Training. He hadn't anticipated that he would face something of this level at only the third floor. And there were also two! The difficulty of the fourth and fifth floors could only be imagined and there was no rest allowed between them. No wonder the middle-aged man had so confidently said that the fifth floor was impossible to pass.

While Lin Ming revolved the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', he also cautiously kept the two shadow warriors in his line of sight. For now, the two were motionless. He would be glad to this moment to recover just a bit, although he had not spent that much true essence.

But the two warriors did not give Lin Ming the chance. In a single leap they both reached him, one attacked from the left and one attacked from the right, both with vicious killing intent.

The two warriors were amazingly swift and had teamwork. Their movements seemed to be in harmony with each other like two halves of a whole. One warrior swept the ground with his long sword. Lin Ming jumped to dodge the strike, but the other warrior took advantage of Lin Ming as he was twisting in the air and stabbed his sword towards Lin Ming's chest.

"Ha!"

Lin Ming cried out and suddenly shot his foot out towards the warrior's wrist. "Kacha!" The warrior's wrist broke with a single kick!

However the shadow warriors did not feel any pain. The shadow warrior only shook his wrist and sent an open palm flying towards Lin Ming. Every movement he made left him wide open! These shadow warriors could only aggress; they could not defend or retreat. This was a suicidal form of fighting which wished for both sides to perish!

This moment was where Lin Ming's old strength would have perished, but he had a new strength now. Seeing his opponent fight with such a self-destructive style, he forcefully revolved the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' and forced his true essence to the forefront. A punch went flying out that intersected with the shadow warrior's palm.

"Peng!" The shadow warrior was forced back a few steps and spat out a mouthful of blood.

But Lin Ming's vitality only swelled up. It was easy to force them down and he didn't even have a single injury. Even so, he was secretly surprised. These two shadow warriors may not have been top tier martial artists but they were not weak either. Their close cooperation and kamikaze fighting style were really tricky and difficult to deal with. And this was only the third floor; there was still the fourth and fifth.

Although he was surprised, Lin Ming had not stopped moving for a single half second. He had landed back from the recoil, and while the injured shadow warrior was catching his breath, he slammed his fist straight into the shadow warrior's face.

Now the other shadow warrior rushed to intercept him. He wielded his long sword in his hands and cleaved downwards. This strike was to cut Lin Ming in half.

"Ha! Now it's you! Die!"

Lin Ming's fist was only a feint. He suddenly turned around with the deboning knife in hand and made a horizontal cut on the shadow warrior's blade.

"Boom!" Sparks scattered everywhere as the blades met.

As the knife met the sword, Lin Ming had not been forced back. This was a reflection of his astonishing physical strength!

"Be defeated by me!"

After Lin Ming fended off the long sword, he punched out at the center of the shadow warrior's chest!

"Peng!" There was a dull thud as the opponent's ribs collapsed, took a fatal blow to the heart, and died on the spot.

After defeating one, the other was already injured and no longer a threat. Lin Ming set out several kicks at the last shadow warrior's legs, and then stabbed him with the knife.

The third floor, passed!

Outside the Exquisite Pagoda the elders saw the magic array of the fourth floor light up and they were startled. "My goodness, the fourth floor, and it only took half an incense stick of time!"

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Chapter 40 – Break Through the Fourth Floor

Outside of the Exquisite Pagoda, the elders saw the magic array of the fourth floor light up and they were startled. "My goodness, the fourth floor, and it only took half an incense stick of time!"

"This Wang Yanfeng, he's not simple." These elders had already expected Wang Yanfeng to reach the fourth floor, but hadn't anticipated that he would do it so quickly. "At such speed, perhaps Wang Yanfeng can break through the fourth floor and step into the fifth. Certainly I had thought that the fifth floor was impossible, but he should be proud even with this result."

"I just don't know how Lin Ming and Liang Tieshan will perform. Those two's results weren't too bad. Liang Tieshen was the tall and burly youth who had inborn divine strength. He was also fifteen years old.

Lin Ming and Liang Tieshan were fifteen years old, had cultivation at the Second Stage of Body Transformation, and also had inborn divine strength. This kind of power at their age was definitely impressive.

However in the eyes of the numerous elders, if these two were compared to Wang Yanfeng, there was still a gap.

That Lin Ming had inborn divine strength was not wrong, but he was only at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. Wang Yanfeng was at the Third Stage of Body Transformation. The main characteristic of the Third Stage was infusing true essence into the visceral organs. Viscera Training martial artists' heart and lungs would be empowered. Their breaths would be long and their endurance double that of a Second Stage martial artist.

Without a doubt, Wang Yanfeng also had superior technique and speed. Even looking at strength, Wang Yanfeng's record was only 300 less than Lin Ming; the disparity was not too great.

For this third trial, if there was no accident, then Wang Yanfeng would take first place.

The third trial also accounted for the largest proportion when it came to the final evaluation. If Wang Yanfeng came out first in the third trial, that in addition to his talent would surpass Lin Ming, and the entrance exam's first place would belong to him.

However at this moment, the truth was that Wang Yanfeng was struggling at the third floor. These two martial artists were difficult to deal with, for every few moves they traded, he would encounter one that threatened his life. Wang Yanfeng used a tremendous amount of strength and true essence to defeat one, but had also suffered a minor injury.

"Damnit, how is this so freakish. Even with the 'Nine Paths of Truth' that is passed down in my family I only managed to kill one. It seems that chances of reaching the fourth floor are getting less and less certain." Wang Yanfeng worried; he had already consumed 20% of his inner true essence. In this dreamland he was unable to supplement it with pills or drugs. He could only depend on his Third Stage viscera training to supplement his energy bit by bit.

Wang Yanfeng was anxious over his true essence consumption rate, but Lin Ming was also worrying over the same reason. He was not at Viscera Training, but was only at the Second Stage of Body Transformation, Flesh Training. He did not have excessive vitality and his every move consumed more true essence.

Luckily, Lin Ming had the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' and had achieved the small success of the first stage. This ancient skill revolved within him, it allowed him to supplement his true essence with an unceasing supply. Although he could not use it endlessly, it was still able to alleviate the intense pressure he felt.

This time in front of Lin Ming, the opponents were two first-level vicious beasts – Iron Armor Bears.

There were strong and weak first-level vicious beasts. The Single Horned Rhinoceros was weak; it was only equal to a peak Second Stage martial artist. But this Iron Armor Bear was actually equal to a peak Third Stage martial artist. Not only that, but there were two.

Lin Ming was solemn. Before this he had never fought against an opponent at the peak of the Third Stage. He did not have complete confidence in victory in defeating one, and not to mention this was a pair.

But most importantly was that this battle had two strict conditions. First, he could not use up his limited true essence. Second, he could not receive a single injury.

Lin Ming took a steadying breath as he recalled every detail he knew about the Iron Armor Bear.

The Iron Armor Bear's strength was 5000 jins. Its speed was a bit slow, but the entire body was covered in thick plates of bone armor. A sword or spear would find it hard to penetrate this carapace, and it did not have any specific weakness.

Although he knew that the armor did not have any weaknesses, Lin Ming knew that the Iron Armor Bear itself had a weakness, and that was that between the numerous intersections and crosses of the bone armor were a few small slits.

The slits were located at the joints. They were thin and hard to target; if he wanted to strike at these places in the heat of battle, he must open his eyes to his insight and utilize instantaneous judgement and peerless accuracy to have a chance.

But after practicing the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', Lin Ming's perception had risen to a new level and his judgment and accuracy had been fostered steadily by his years of deboning.

"Zhu Yan should have easily been able to deal with these two Iron Armor Bears half a year ago, not to mention now Zhu Yan must have progressed. I can't lose to him like this."

Lin Ming stared at the two Iron Armor Bears and his fighting spirit began to rise in his heart.

"Hu!"

An Iron Armor Bear suddenly leapt upwards and smashed its thick, heavy paws at Lin Ming.

The Iron Armor Bear weighed over a thousand jins. Coupled with its awesome strength, this strike would have even felled an elephant!

Lin Ming's eyes widened and he did not retreat. Instead, like a graceful bird that flew with grace and poise, he passed by the Iron Armor Bear. His eye's focused onto a point of the bear's abdomen where two bone armor plates joined with each other and struck out with his knife!

It was only a simple deboning knife, but Lin Ming had practiced its strokes tens of thousands of times. The knife accurately slid between the two bone armor plates. The knife was quick, and with only a slight hitch in the thick flesh, it slid through with extreme speed.

As soon as the blow struck, before the time it takes to snap a finger, blood shot into the air.

"Rahh!" The Iron Armor Bear became mad. The knife wound had not been fatal and it rushed crazily at Lin Ming!

"Less than forty people have been eliminated and more than fifty have passed. This is a decent result." A Seven Profound Martial House elder slowly said as he watched the candidates who had been kicked from the Exquisite Pagoda.

The Exquisite Pagoda was completely sealed from the outside. The elders were not Xiantian experts and had no way to see what was happening inside the Exquisite Pagoda. They could only judge how far the candidates had gone by which layer they had been ejected from.

If they were ejected from the first floor then they were eliminated, and if they were ejected from the second then they passed.

A quarter of an hour had passed since the candidates had entered the Exquisite Pagoda, and all of them had long since passed the first floor. Some had arrived on the third floor and some were even challenging the fourth.

"Now only five people have not yet come out." As an elder said this, the symbols began to flash on the Exquisite Pagoda and another two candidates were kicked out. They had been ejected from the third floor, so they had failed at the third floor.

Several martial artists had already ran up and were caring for the unconscious candidates.

These two candidates were at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation and their strength results and been 2300 jins. Unfortunately they were also seventeen and eighteen. They had not been able to break through the third floor of the Exquisite Pagoda, but they were also proud of their results.

When these two people were ejected, Lan Yunyue immediately turned to them and instantly distinguished that they were not Lin Ming.

Out of the 92 candidates that had entered so far, 39 had already been ejected from the Exquisite Pagoda. Lan Yanyue could clearly see that these people did not include Lin Ming. That could only mean that Lin Ming was still within the Exquisite Pagoda!

Lin Ming… Lan Yunyue lightly nipped her lips as he eyes glazed over with memories.

She knew that this meant that Lin Ming had passed, and was at least at the third floor.

The third floor was in truth an enormous glory. In the school records of the Seven Profound Martial House, those that passed the third floor would one day achieve the peak of Body Transformation, the Sixth Stage of Pulse Condensation.

The Royal Government would bestow upon all those martial artists of the Pulse Condensation Period a rank and title within the kingdom. Although it was only a third-class viscount, it was not that different from an official position and was even hereditary.

This was a noble title! In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, this was a symbol of glory and of the aristocracy. Because of a single person's personal glory, their family would enter the lineage of the aristocracy and bring honor to their ancestors.

Just then, another candidate was expelled from the fourth floor.

This meant that Lin Ming had passed the third floor!

This tall and sturdy boy with thick features was the boy with inborn divine strength, Liang Tieshan. He had put forth his utmost effort and after taking a severe wound had broke to the third floor and was defeated nearly upon arrival.

"This Liang Tieshen is a good seedling. He's worth cultivating with resources."

"Mm., he's quite good. Now there are two left, Lin Ming and Wang Yanfeng."

"That Lin Ming can persist even with his present strength is not easy. His strength is greater compared to Liang Tieshan's and he also has a strong heart of martial arts that helps him. But to break through the fourth floor is uncertain…"

"Mmm, let alone Lin Ming, even Wang Yanfeng will not find it easy."

"Poh!" With a single stroke from his knife, blood shot out from the leg of the Iron Armor Bear. Lin Ming tumbled away as the angry Iron Armor Bear pounced on him.

By now, the two Iron Armor Bears had become Blood Bears. They each had several more knife cuts across the weak points between their armor plates. While the wounds were not fatal, loss of blood could quickly become deadly!

The motion of these two Iron Armor Bears had obviously slowed down from excessive blood loss.

Chance!

Lin Ming dodged around the two bears who tried to catch him. Their blood loss and exhaustion exposed openings in their defense, and Lin Ming sprung upwards like a cheetah.

"Roar!" The Iron Armored Bear stood up on its hind legs and threw a strike with its paws. But Lin Ming had already escaped, and while evading at the same time, Lin Ming directly stabbed his deboning knife into the Iron Armor Bear's eye!

Blood splashed from the grisly wound and the Iron Armor Bear let out an angry and painful roar. Lin Ming closed his hand into a fist and punched down on the handle like a jackhammer, and the deboning knife sunk directly into the brains of the beast.

The Iron Armor Bear died!

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Chapter 41 – Fifth Floor of the Exquisite Pagoda

"Half an hour!" A Seven Profound Martial House elder said with surprise as he looked at the hour glass.

"These two have already been in the fourth floor for a period of time."

Outside of the Exquisite Pagoda, the once glowing runes of the first three floors had already been extinguished. Only the fourth floor was left shining with a brilliant light; this was the proof that two people were still challenging the fourth floor.

"This is getting more and more interesting. I had thought only Wang Yanfeng would have this result, but even this Lin Ming can insist for such a long time. It really makes one not believe that he is a mere grade-three talent at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. Even with inborn divine strength, reaching the fourth floor with just this strength is not simple." An elder said as he stroked his long white beard. Lin Ming's battle prowess was peculiar; he could not find a reasonable explanation for it.

By now Muyi opened his mouth and said slowly, "Sometimes, Sir Sun, a person's battle prowess cannot be explained nor extrapolated by mere common sense. The earlier trials cannot measure a person's battle talent and perception."

Muyi did not explain that Lin Ming had an ancient master behind him. The workings of a Xiantian level expert and their legacy skill manuals were far too complicated for him to comprehend.

"Mmm, what Mister Muyi said is not wrong; his fighting talent is truly extraordinary. But his cultivation is shallow and the skill manual he uses is ordinary. He can actually rely on his superior fighting skill and intuition to face a superior enemy, but in this kind of battle, skill and intuition have their eventual limits. As they say, strength can break ten thousand skills, but with just skill alone, the most that can happen is their combat ability is raised a level. The end result will not be good."

Muyi smiled slyly and said, "Sir Sun, please have a good look."

As these elders discussed, Wang Yanfeng was struggling mightily on the fourth floor. His cultivation was at the early Third Stage, but his true strength and battle ability rivaled someone at the peak of the Third Stage. However, what he faced now was two Iron Armor Bears who were also at the peak of the Third Stage.

Although the Iron Armor Bears appeared a bit cute and clumsy, their attack method and strategies were coordinated, and their terrifying strength and near flawless defense were nothing but an incomparable headache.

Even if he were to only be scratched, his fate would be for his muscles to be torn to shreds and his bones to break.

As soon Wang Yanfeng used a secret family skill three times, he finally managed to bring down an Iron Armor Bear. However, his body's true essence had also almost reached its limit, and the remaining Iron Armor Bear's resisting defense was able to block his family's secret skill.

Seeing the last Iron Armor Bear rushing towards him, Wang Yanfeng let out a roar and jumped upwards. His hand grasped his sword and with a thrust he maliciously jabbed it into the bear's gaping maw!

The Iron Armor Bear's entire body was covered with hard iron plates; the only two weaknesses he could see were the eyes and mouth.

Wang Yanfeng's sword pierced the bear's throat, but at the same time his wrist was snapped by the bear's bite.

"Pah!" The Iron Armor Bear angrily struck Wang Yanfeng in the chest with his paw. It felt as if he was struck by a sledgehammer, and his internal organs shook.

Wang Yanfeng was thrown backwards like a falling chicken and slammed against the floor. He was covered in dirt and only barely managed to prop himself up. His entire body was covered in blood, and this blood was mixed with meat. This meat was actually parts of his internal organs.

"Even though I'm at the Viscera Training stage, and my organs are protected by true essence, this single blow was fatal…"

Although Wang Yanfeng was severely injured and on the verge of death, the Iron Armor Bear was not much better off. Its throat was crushed and its life was ebbing; it was only a matter of how long it could last before it died. But it could still kill Wang Yanfeng!

Wang Yanfeng spat a mouthful of blood. "I have to break through this fourth floor… even though I'm number one with my results, if I pass the fourth floor my status within the family will definitely rise. Even if I'm not the eldest son I still have a chance to be the future head of the household. I can also shut up those old codgers and their stupid mouths and they'll stop bothering father to take my resources…"

As Wang Yanfeng thought of these things, his face became grim with a hideous color.

However even as Wang Yanfeng was desperately going all out, he did not know that Lin Ming was using bloodletting tactics and tricks to fight and had already pierced the second Iron Armor Bear's brains.

Fourth floor, passed!

Lin Ming took a deep breath. He had finally reached the fifth floor. This was also the final floor that Qin Xingxuan had reached! The floor that middle-aged examiner had said was impossible to pass…

"I did not think that Lin Ming could go this far…" Outside the Exquisite Pagoda, Qin Xingxuan looked upwards as the runes of the fourth floor glowed, and felt surprise in her heart.

She had guessed that Lin Ming would at most reach the third floor, and that had already been a high appraisal of him. But she didn't actually think that Lin Ming would stay at the fourth floor for such a long time. At this rate, it might even be possible to pass the fourth floor…

"When I first challenged the Exquisite Pagoda, my cultivation had already reached the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation. With cultivation at the Fourth Stage it is naturally not difficult to defeat the inferior beasts of the fourth floor, but with cultivation at the peak of the Second Stage it is impossible to last such a long time at the fourth floor.

Qin Xingxuan secretly compared herself and her achievements with Lin Ming. She had relied on her deep cultivation base to rise to the fifth floor. If she was at the same cultivation he was, she would not be his match.

"It's already been half an hour…" Qin Xingxuan said as she looked to her side at the hourglass.

But as Qin Xingxuan looked at the time, the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda suddenly lit up, and the runes and symbols began to activate one at a time. Heavy and trembling true essence immediately fluctuated in all directions.

Seeing this, Elder Sun's teacup almost fell out of his hands. "The fifth floor!"

"Wang Yanfeng is really so fierce? He's been there less than half an hour. Did Yuelu City's Wang Family finally produce a peerless talent?"

"For the last ten years this result is only matched by lady Xingxuan." The middle-aged man spoke as he looked at Qin Xingxuan. He saw Qin Xingxuan's eyes widen but did not know what it meant.

"Absolutely incredible. This child is not a fish in a small pool. With superior fourth grade talent in addition to the Wang Family's backing, it would be outstanding even within the Seven Profound Martial House and would easily qualify to receive superior martial arts manuals and one day become a Martial House core disciple. Even entering the Seven Profound Valley is a possibility! This Wang Yanfeng, is truly a heaven gifted talent!"

As the elder said this, the rune lights of the Exquisite Pagoda's fourth floor began to tremble with a sudden burst of vibration. A figure was bounced out like a sack.

As soon as Elder Sun saw this, he immediately issued an order, "Lin Ming came out, quickly catch him and don't let him injure himself falling."

It had been less than half an hour. The martial arts catchers of the Exquisite Pagoda were inevitably tired and someone distracted, therefore Elder Sun had spoken a reminder. The Exquisite Pagoda's death was only in the dream realm. If a candidate failed and died, he would be shunted out of the dreamland and out of the pagoda and at that moment that person would have lost their consciousness. Each floor of the Exquisite Pagoda was thirty feet. The fourth floor was ninety feet high. In those conditions, if an unconscious person fell to the ground, even a Pulse Condensation expert would not be able to withstand the impact.

The men responsible for catching the ejected candidates firmly caught the falling figure. They saw that the man had a pale, contorted face covered with cold sweat.

Because the appearance was so twisted, it took a moment for the elders outside the Exquisite Pagoda to identify him. In that instant, they were all dumbfounded.

This… this person was probably…Wang Yanfeng?

Several elders' jaws dropped as they looked up and saw the shining runes of the fifth floor. This… was the one who entered the fifth floor Lin Ming?

The Seven Profound Martial House elders were shaken. They had already felt that Muyi's previous praise of Lin Ming was incredible. Lin Ming's cultivation was only at the peak of the Second Stage; it was worse than Wang Yanfeng! But now he was the only to have reached the fifth floor, and had already stayed there for several dozen breaths of time.

Qin Xingxuan looked at the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda. Her eyes changed with various emotions. Wonder, awe, respect… Lin Ming had surprised her yet again. Would he even slowly overtake her in martial arts cultivation?

At this time, in a corner of the Exquisite Pagoda's mountain valley, Lan Yunyue was shaken as she looked at the glowing fifth floor. She appeared lost and in a daze. "Lin Ming…he entered the fifth floor?"

In the history of the Seven Profound Martial House and the opening of the Exquisite Pagoda, only Qin Xingxuan had successfully passed. There had been those who entered the fifth floor, and this would happen every couple of years. Each one who did was a monstrous talent of their generation, and in the future, their path to reaching the Pulse Condensation Period was only a matter of time.

"Lin Ming…" A thought popped into Lan Yunyue's mind. Even if compared with Zhu Yan, Lin Ming was no worse. Although he did not have a great family supporting him, as long as he reached the Pulse Condensation Period in the future, he as be given a rank and title.

At this time, on the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda, Lin Ming looked at the radical scene in front of him and could only force a smile. The fifth floor unexpectedly had two second-level vicious beasts!

Although they were only the weak species of vicious beast, their strength was equal to a martial artist at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation. Not only that, but these two vicious beasts had eight beastly little brothers surrounding them that were equal to the peak of the Third Stage.

Ten vicious beasts stood in front of him. They had hideous looking bone armor, bright red beastly pupils, and their sharp nails and teeth were stained red with blood. All of this caused a surge of evil presence to soar to the heavens. A martial artist at his cultivation would normally look at this scene and imagine himself being torn to thousands of pieces and lose any will to fight.

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Chapter 42 – The First Place Candidate

Lin Ming was just able to resist the overwhelming evil aura from the vicious beasts, but he also knew that it was impossible to pass this floor.

Let alone the two second-level vicious beats, he could not even deal with the eight little brothers that crowded around them. Even if his physical condition was restored to top shape, the situation would be untenable! And he had even consumed the majority of his true essence.

He knew in his heart that although he had managed to reach the fifth floor, his ability ultimately fell short of that sixth-grade talent Qin Xingxuan. Half a year ago, Qin Xingxuan was able to overcome these ten vicious beasts and attain victory. As he looked at the overwhelming presence that the vicious beasts exuded, Lin Ming sighed with emotion.

She was truly someone who possessed a sixth-grade talent, that worthily beautiful and arrogant girl.

By his conservative estimate, Lin Ming guessed that he needed to increase his cultivation over an entire level, and at least achieve the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation to stand a chance. Only then could he have a possibility of passing, and that was considering a life and death struggle to his life's limit.

But Qin Xingxuan had already passed through this hurdle half a year ago.

No wonder that middle-aged examiner was so confident when he said that it was impossible to pass.

If it truly was impossible to pass, then such being the case, he would kill as many vicious beasts as he could.

Lin Ming would not give up without a fight. This was a rare opportunity to improve and hone his combat ability while dancing on the edge of death, the feeling where his strength and will were pushed to their limits in a life or death situation where any mistake could be fatal. This was a true rare and valuable experience.

"Come on!" Seeing the vicious beasts rush at him, Lin Ming shouted and stabbed his knife outwards at a silver tiger. His mind was clear; he knew that he had no chance of injuring the two second-level vicious beasts, so his goal was their eight little brothers. Some had thick meat and fur that he could not hope to penetrate this late in the game, so he chose those that had high attack power but had an equally low defense, like this silver tiger.

"Pah!" A knife stabbed into the silver tiger's abdomen. At the same time, Lin Ming felt a tremor pass up his arm. The silver tiger's thick flesh held the knife tight and Lin Ming almost let go.

"Damn!"

In a split second, a whip-like tail lashed out at Lin Ming's belly. This was an attack from the two second-level vicious beasts. Its speed was quick like lightning and it was sharp as a knife; a strike from this would bisect any normal martial artist. Lin Ming twisted in the air and barely dodged the tail, but it still scratched his thigh and left him bruised and lacerated.

Lin Ming felt as if someone had branded his thigh with a heated iron bar, it burned with an aching pain. He grimaced. Even a gentle touch felt like his skin was sloughing off.

During this time the eight first-level vicious beasts surrounded Lin Ming. In the blink of an eye, he was in the center of a deadly circle. As long as these vicious beasts attacked together they would instantly tear Lin Ming apart.

"Not good!" Lin Ming was very clear; as long as these vicious beasts pounced on him together, there was nowhere he could run. In that crucial moment, Lin Ming kicked his feet against the ground and thrust his knife at the silver tiger; he who struck the first blow had the advantage!

"Roar!" The silver tiger howled with anger and also rushed at Lin Ming. In this dream land, the wild and vicious beasts here knew not fear within their heart.

"Poh!" The knife jabbed straight into the silver tiger's throat. However Lin Ming was also caught by its claw and drew a gaping hole in his abdomen. His Second Stage Flesh Training's true essence barely protected him from being eviscerated in one strike.

"One down!" Lin Ming clutched his bloody abdomen that was dripping red. He had finally suffered a severe wound now and his true essence was at less than a single percent. He had not thought that the fifth floor would be so difficult; compared to the fourth floor it was at least ten times the trouble.

"A quarter of an hour! Lin Ming has already been on the fifth floor for a quarter hour. This Lin Ming is still persisting on the fifth floor, it's truly unbelievable."

"Mm. Although he could only be running, but he probably does not have much true essence left. Even running for a quarter hour is an achievement."

"There will probably be some great forces that will try to recruit Lin Ming. Muyi, you had talked about him earlier, is your Marshal Quarter's not interested in the boy?"

Muyi smiled but did not say anything. This group of fellows did not know as he did that behind Lin Ming was an incredible master. He probably came here for his own experience. Perhaps this mysterious master of his would soon bring him back to the mountains for painstaking cultivation. How could his Marshal Quarters possibly hope to attract him?

But Muyi did not say these thoughts out loud. By now, an elder surnamed Xu who was playing with two jade balls in his hand slowly said, "Elder Sun, you had a somewhat high opinion of him. I acknowledge that this Lin Ming has done well, but with only a grade-three talent, to achieve this accomplishment so far, he probably had a fortuitous encounter of some kind and ate some rare and precious material and because of this, experienced an increase in his strength. As for his future accomplishments…ha-ha, I don't see much need for flattery."

The elder surnamed Xu heard these words and knew they held some truth. If a person's luck was good, and blessed by the heavens, he might be able to eat some precious and rare object or material and experience an increase in his cultivation or strength. But that sort of superiority by ingesting these things had its limits and would slowly be worn down by time, until it vanished and became not too rare.

The elder surnamed Xu rationally said, "This Lin Ming is good but his cultivation speed will not be able to follow him in the future. He'll be easily overtaken."

Several elders echoed this. Muyi faintly smiled and said, "There's no need to say anything more. Lin Ming's future achievements, everything will be seen in the future."

As Muyi's voice fell, he looked up and saw the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda begin to tremble. The runes flashed and suddenly a person's shadow was ejected and floated downwards like a slip of paper.

"That boy Lin Ming finally came out!"

Lin Ming had killed a silver tiger on the fifth floor and taken a serious wound in exchange. However even on the verge of death, in his dying moment he had brought down a wind wolf and finally killed two first-level vicious beasts.

He was already proud of this result. It had to be known that on the fifth floor, being able to kill two vicious beasts while being surrounded on all sides was incomparably more difficult than the fourth floor.

In the distance, Lan Yunyue looked at Lin Ming as he was caught by people waiting for him underneath the Exquisite Pagoda. In her heart she did now know why she felt a tiny tremble. She pursed her lips, and without a pause, turned around and quietly left…

"Mm? Lin Ming is already awake?"

Death in the dream realm is only the imagination of the mind. The candidate's true body would be shot out of the Exquisite Pagoda upon death, but they would have already thought they were dead, thus they would be unconscious for a period of time. But Lin Ming had unexpectedly awakened so quickly, and his complexion only showed a bit of paleness. This caused the elders of the Seven Profound Martial House to feel a bit startled. Compared to Wang Yanfeng, he had still been unconscious even after a while. This was the disparity that came with such a pure heart of martial arts.

"This Lin Ming should be the first place candidate of this entrance exam." Elder Sun said.

"You say that but the award for first place is a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. You do not think it is wasted on a boy with a mere grade-three talent? How much of it do you think he would be able to absorb? The final assessment does not depend on just the results but also on the candidate's own talent." Elder Xu responded to Elder Sun's proposal in a hoarse voice.

Elder Sun said, "It is true that we must also account for talent, but that is only if there is a close tie in the final results of the exams. This Lin Ming took first place in all three trials, how can his assessment not be first in the final assessment? Otherwise everyone would only think that we are corrupt and unfair. Regarding the waste of the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill, its only use is for the main sect to attract top tier talents to come to the Seven Profound Martial House entrance exams. Can it be that you thought the main sect would create just a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill to enter into the main sect as a core disciple?"

"Moreover, as far as I know, aren't Elder Xu and the head of Yuelu City's Wang Family good old friends?"

As Elder Sun finished his words, Elder Xu's eyes twitched and he let out a cold humph, "Sun Sifan, I was only considering all angles of the exam for the sake of argument. If you wish to guarantee this Lin Ming as the first place candidate, then I have no objections. How about we make a bet? We shall see six months from now who is stronger between Wang Yanfeng and this boy Lin Ming and who will enter the Heavenly Abode. How about it?"

Elder Sun felt shocked by Elder Xu's words and was somewhat speechless. He began to feel an angry stirring in his heart. He was only trying to act impartially for this entrance exam. He did not think much of Elder Xu and did not normally have any dealings with him, He also could not get used to his self-serving nature that only tried to advance his own interests in the guise of helping with this entrance exam, which ultimately led to this struggle.

But even as Elder Xu challenged him, Elder Sun did not dare to meet it. Lin Ming's talent was limited and only at the third-grade. It was a very real possibility that Elder Xu was correct with his guess that Lin Ming had some sort of fortuitous encounter and ingested some rare herb or something of that nature, thus resulting in his accomplishments today. But Wang Yanfeng in comparison was actually a rare person within a hundred thousand people, with a superior fourth-grade talent. In that case, it could really be Lin Ming that would be left in his dust.

Seeing Elder Sun backing down, Elder Xu sneered and said, "How could you not accept? If you really think that this Lin Ming should be first place then we might as well make a bet. I remember that Elder Sun has a treasure of the human-step…"

As Elder Xu mentioned this human-step treasure, Elder Sun's complexion twisted. Human-step treasures were extremely rare and valuable in the Sky Fortune Kingdom; not even with several tens of thousands of gold taels would you be able to purchase one. This was handed down and granted by the Seven Profound Valley, and was also Elder Sun's most valuable belonging. How could he use it in a gamble, much less one with such an uncertain chance of success.

Seeing Elder Sun so dumbfounded, Elder Xu had a smug and arrogant look plastered on his face. He knew that naturally Sun Sifan would not dare to take up this bet, so he said this because he wanted to ruin Sun Sifan's prestige and reputation.

But at this moment, Muyi opened his mouth and said with a smile, "How about I take up that bet with Elder Xu?"

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Chapter 43 – Refusal to Accept

But at this moment, Muyi opened his mouth and said with a smile, "How about I take up that bet with Elder Xu?"

"Mm?" Elder Xu was startled as he heard this. He did not think that Muyi would open his loud mouth and speak such words at that time, moreover with such a smiling expression and happy laugh as if he were filled with confidence.

That moment caused Elder Xu's confidence to shake a little. Was it possible that this boy Lin Ming had some sort of hidden card up his sleeve that he did not know of? But he could not reason out why this mere medium third-grade talent could in any way exceed the superior fourth-grade talent Wang Yanfeng. He had also spoken such high and haughty words in the presence of so many peers. He had already jumped on the tiger, how could he get off now? So Elder Xu could only clench his teeth as he said, "Good, of course, what would Mister Muyi like to bet?"

Muyi smiled and said, "For something of this nature, a casual bet should be alright. It's best not to harm friendly relations; I think a treasure of the human-step should be fine."

Human-step treasure! Could this still be called something casual?

The corners of Elder Xu's mouth twitched. Muyi had been a famous inscription master for so many years that out of everyone present, he was without a doubt the one with the most wealth.

Elder Xu clenched his teeth and said, "Good, then I will bet a low-grade human-step treasure, a spatial ring.

The spatial ring was a type of interspatial storage treasure. You could carry it anywhere on your body and use it to store any type of goods that you wanted. This sort of treasure was very difficult to refine, so its value was also several times higher than something at a similar grade. A human-step low-grade spatial ring would be approximately the same worth as a middle-grade human-step treasure.

"Great." Muyi readily agreed. He laughed casually, giving off a feeling of self-satisfied assurance.

The matter of Lin Ming as the first place candidate was thus decided.

However the inspection had already carried on for most of the day, and it was already a late hour. The results would be announced tomorrow in the afternoon; besides Lin Ming as first place, the second through tenth place spots also had to be assessed. The age, results, and talent of these remaining candidates would have to be discussed between the Seven Profound Martial House elders to decide.

"Xingxuan, let's go greet Lin Ming." Muyi said as he stood up. Although Lin Ming had awoken by now, Muyi was sitting with the Seven Profound Martial House elders, so Lin Ming naturally did not walk towards them.

"Mm." Qin Xingxuan nodded. As the Seven Profound Martial House elders had talked, Qin Xingxuan had shown etiquette and courtesy for her elders and had been sitting silently and peacefully at one side. But the truth was that in terms of status within the Seven Profound Martial House, Qin Xingxuan was on equal footing with these elders.

This was because Qin Xingxuan was the most talented core disciples who, if in the future all things went smoothly with no major accident, would enter the Seven Profound Valleys and become an official disciple.

This was the greatest glory. It must be known that even the Heavenly Abode's number one senior apprentice Ling Sen had no chance of entering the Seven Profound Valleys. The only slight glimmer of hope he had was if he could reach the peak of Body Transformation – the Pulse Condensation boundary, in a short time.

But reaching that distant boundary was easier said than done. Ling Sen was twenty years old and was only at the peak of the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation.

In the evening, Lin Ming and Muyi chatted with each other before Lin Ming returned to his bedroom that the Seven Profound Martial House had prepared for all candidates. He rested in the bedroom and meditated.

A quiet night passed.

It was the afternoon of the second day and the weather was clear and beautiful. In the Seven Profound Martial House contest field, many important figures were gathered. Among them were the 53 candidates who had successfully passed.

Today was the announcement of results.

After an evening of debating, the final results had been decided.

When Lin Ming arrived at the field, the people gathered there sent him frequent looks filled with envy, jealousy, and even some admiration. Lin Ming had become famous after a single night. Reaching the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda, even the senior apprentices of the Heavenly Abode paid attention to him.

"Congratulations." At this time a slightly cold voice sounded. Lin Ming followed it to see Wang Yanfeng standing nearby holding both hands to his chest with a fake smile. "Your luck is truly good. A mere medium third-grade talent could reach the fifth floor, ah, incredible, incredible!"

Wang Yanfeng spoke very loudly, and the people around them heard him. They were surprised that Lin Ming was only a third-grade talent. Although a third-grade talent was a one in a hundred cream of the crop talent, in the Seven Profound Martial House this could be considered only ordinary. They thought that Lin Ming was at least a superior fourth-grade talent; how could it be that he was just a medium third-grade talent?

The surrounding people immediately began talking, and Wang Yanfeng heard this all with a smile on this face. Yesterday he had especially sent his lackeys to look up Lin Ming's talent.

"You, the one called Lin Ming, I do not know when a stray dog like you managed to eat some rare herb in your childhood and nor do I care, but if you think that you can rely on this to pressure me and win against me, then go and daydream some more! You just have a bit of good luck and you think your combat prowess is good? Using inborn divine strength to deal with the clumsy, stupid beasts of the Exquisite Pagoda is easy, but if you want to challenge a real human? Humph, with your stupid little basic skills you probably learnt from some cow, you think you can actually defeat a real person?"

The truth was that yesterday in the Exquisite Pagoda, Wang Yanfeng had also killed the two Iron Armor Bears of the fourth floor, but he had been fatally wounded and thus kicked out. This made Wang Yanfeng feel aggrieved. If only he could have lasted one more breath, he could also have entered the fifth floor.

If only he had entered the fifth floor then he would have had the same result. Wang Yanfeng could not believe that Lin Ming achieved anything on the fifth floor even though he was there for a quarter of an hour. Wang Yanfeng believed he would only have had about 10% of his true essence left and would only have run away like a little dog with his tail between his legs to pass that time.

Wang Yanfeng's fault had been that he was too eager for quick success and to immediately pass the fourth floor. The result was that he had to resort to desperate, all out tactics. If he had slowly taken his time to deal with the two Iron Armor Bears, he would not have been fatally injured.

Moreover the most important part was that in the Exquisite Pagoda, he could not use his rare equipment!

Without his treasures, Wang Yanfeng could not fully utilize the power of his secret family skill, the 'Nine Paths of Truth'. Its might would be greatly reduced which would cause his striking power to fall, resulting in him having such a hard time passing the fourth floor.

But in battles of martial artists, treasures and equipment were not forbidden, just like pills. They were items that belonged to the superiority that one's own family would bring, and were also a part of a martial artist's total strength.

Wang Yanfeng touched his saber and looked at Lin Ming with a face colored with absolute contempt.

"If I could only use the Nine Truth Saber, then killing you would be easier than killing a chicken!" Wang Yanfeng viciously thought in his heart though he did not say these words aloud. "How could I possibly lose to you! Not even in the future, but even now I would win!"

The thick tension in the air was palpable. Lin Ming did not respond to or dispute Wang Yanfeng's words, as he did not want a needless conflict. He was also disinclined to pay any attention to this Wang Yanfeng.

"Stop. My family's son is speaking with you. Are you deaf? Are you stupid? Can you not hear? A lackey bossily said as he stood by Wang Yanfeng's side.

The servant's speech was coarser than the master's. Lin Ming stopped his footsteps, calmly turned around, and gave the man a shiver-inducing glare. "This is the Seven Profound Martial House contest field. How could a little lackey like you who is only at the First Stage of Body Transformation come on?"

"You….!" The scolded lackey turned red in the face with anger and shame. According to regulations, he really did not have the qualifications to enter.

The atmosphere was strained, but at this moment an elder of the Seven Profound Martial House walked up on a stage and said, "Quiet. We will now announce the results of the entrance exam."

The people downstage naturally silenced themselves. Even the lackey could only curse in his heart and he silently stood there.

The elder took out a long list and said, "For this examinations results, candidates were judged on the results of the three trials, their age, and their talent. All three factors were considered and discussed for the final assessment by the elders. Now we will announce the first ten as follows. Tenth place, Zhou Zhenyang, prize: ten Soul Gathering Pellets. Ninth…"

The elder slowly announced the results in an unhurried voice until he reached the second place…

"Second place, Wang Yanfeng, prize: a Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. First place, Lin Ming, prize: a Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. The results have been announced. Congratulations everyone. If there are no objections, then we have invited Elder Sun to hand out the awards."

"Wait a moment! I have an objection!" Wang Yanfeng raised his hand. The Seven Profound Martial House's Elder Xu was his father's good friend, so he had already known the results of the assessment. This time he had objected because of Elder Xu's advice.

"Mm? What objection do you have?" said the elder who had read out the announcement as he frowned.

Wang Yanfeng smiled and stepped out to the front of the square. His voice was clear and resounded as he said, "As far as I know, Lin Ming's talent is only a mere medium third-grade. My talent is superior fourth-grade. The elder earlier said that the results for the final assessment take into account the three trials, age, and talent. The final decision-making is in the elder's hands, but the subjective factor is just too big. I refuse to accept the choice for first place candidate."

To Wang Yanfeng, the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill was something he could absolutely not give up. If he had this pill, he was confident that he could break through the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation before he was eighteen years old, and even reach the peak of the Fourth Stage before he was twenty. With such strength at his disposal, he wouldn't even necessarily lose to the Heavenly Abode's senior apprentice, Ling Sen.

If this happened, then no one in his family would doubt his status anymore.

At this time, Elder Sun stood up and with a cold snort said, "You dare to question the final assessment of the elders?" This cold snort was filled with true essence. As it came out, those in the periphery were shocked with an icy chill as the temperature dropped several degrees. Wang Yanfeng could not bear the brunt of this disdainful pressure and was forced back several steps.

"Sun Sifan, an elder like you is bullying the young?" Elder Xu said as he also stood. He did not originally like Sun Sifan either.

By now Wang Yanfeng said, "Elder Sun, please calm down, I do not dare to question the elders' decisions, but I only think that it is not fair. In the third examination trial I also killed both vicious beasts. It was only because I was too hasty for victory that I became fatally injured and was unable to step into the fifth floor. If I had progressed slowly then I too would have achieved the fifth floor."

"Therefore I cannot do anything else but refuse to accept this result. I do not believe my strength is worse than Lin Ming's!"

"Then what do you want?"

"Simple. I want to fight Lin Ming. If I lose, I will completely admit defeat. But if I win, then I want the first place candidate spot to be turned over to me!" Wang Yanfeng suddenly swiveled to Lin Ming and with provocation in his voice said, "Lin Ming, do you dare!?"

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Chapter 44 – Killing You is Just Right

"Simple. I want to fight Lin Ming. If I lose, I will completely admit defeat. But if I win, then I want the first place candidate spot to be turned over to me!" Wang Yanfeng suddenly swiveled to Lin Ming and with provocation in his voice said, "Lin Ming, do you dare!?"

Before Lin Ming could answer, Elder Xu rose again and said with a smile, "This idea is good. The truth is that the Martial House examination trials vary, but ultimately are looking for the same attributes. The first is combat skill, the second is talent. Wang Yanfeng obviously wins when it comes to talent, but if the actual combat skill is also won by him, then the situation in principle should be his, and the first place candidate should belong to Wang Yanfeng.

The few words Elder Xu said had already blocked Lin Ming's exit and left him with nowhere to retreat to. However Elder Xu felt this was insufficient. He turned to Lin Ming and said with a eerie smile, "Not only must a martial artist cultivate their body, and fortify the mind, the martial artist must have faith that they can overcome obstacles and win against challenges. If they feel fear and do not fight, then their heart will falter. This type of person would have no great future achievements."

Elder Xu's words were not wrong, but he said them with malicious intent. Under this type of situation, once someone lost then they would suffer an enormous blow to their self-confidence and psyche, especially considering that Lin Ming was only fifteen years old. If he at first place lost to the second place candidate and the gap was too large, then he might be unable to psychologically recover in light of this.

Elder Xu had already recognized that Lin Ming had the greatest chance of losing. After all, Wang Yanfeng was ahead of Lin Ming by an entire stage, and in the Exquisite Pagoda he did not have any treasures on him so he was unable to display the true strength of his family skill 'Nine Paths of Truth'. Martial skills greatly increased a martial artist's fighting ability. Sometimes high-level martial skills could let martial artists fight those that were ranks beyond them.

As for Lin Ming's inborn divine strength, it was easy to use against the slow beasts of the Exquisite Pagoda that had high defensive power. But against a real person, brute strength was not so simple a solution.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible for Wang Yanfeng to lose.

Lin Ming turned a cold eye to Elder Xu and took note of him. He then looked to Wang Yanfeng and said, "I could fight with you, but in this competition the only one to suffer a loss would be me. If I fight with you, then as the first place candidate, if I win I am still first place and I do not gain any advantage. But if I lose, then I have to just meekly surrender my spot like that? What do you think about this?"

When Wang Yanfeng heard Lin Ming already intent to compete, his heart immediately blossomed with happiness. 'This little fellow is just bargaining back and forth as if he could win just because he reached the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda. Humph, he really is an idiot. I will let you know how fierce the 'Nine Paths of Truth' really is.'

Wang Yanfeng playfully smiled and asked, "What do you want then?"

Lin Ming responded, "If I win then I want you to give me your Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. If I lose, you can take first place candidate and also the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill. How about it?"

"Good! Since you said it then you meant it!" Wang Yanfeng felt a great happiness in his heart. This way he could have both precious pills for himself! It was really a dream come true. He impatiently said, "Then let us start our competition!"

"Mm. Sure."

Seeing Lin Ming agree so readily and happily, Elder Sun could only shake his head slightly. Lin Ming would most certainly lose, or at least he had more than a fifty percent chance of losing. Undergoing the trials and fighting with a real person was different. This Wang Yanfeng came from an aristocratic family and had a special master in his youth teach him to fight, and he also had martial skills.

This fight was already a foregone conclusion, there was nothing left to say.

As soon as Wang Yanfeng arrived at the center stage of the contest field, he flicked his saber and gave it shake as he roared, "Come up!"

Seeing Wang Yanfeng's long saber, the crowd present were startled, "a rare weapon!"

As long as it was a rare treasure, the value would be several thousand gold taels. Even aristocratic family juniors would only receive one after reaching the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation or even the Fifth Stage. Only then would they have the qualifications to receive a rare treasure like this. They had not thought that this Wang Yanfeng, who was only at the Third Stage of Body Transformation, would have one, and one that had an inscription on it. Obviously this Wang Yanfeng had a high position within his family.

The people looked at Lin Ming to see if he could also put out some equally rare weapon. Thinking of his family background, it was just not possible for him to have any rare treasures.

Although this may not seem fair, but in the Sky Fortune Kingdoms, martial artists' contests had always been like this. It was impossible to trade weapons to momentarily use, and even if possible then they would be unfamiliar with it.

One's family was also a form of strength. If the weapon is unfair, then the pills or other medicines that increase cultivation are also unfair. It would be impossible to prohibit martial artists from assisting their cultivation with pills.

Therefore Lin Ming could only swallow this disadvantage.

"This Lin Ming probably doesn't have any sort of good weapon."

"Mm. There is no way that he would have something worth several thousand gold taels. The average person just doesn't have those advantages. Hopefully Lin Ming doesn't pull out something too inferior and is immediately cut down. This way he might have a chance."

As these people talked, Lin Ming took out a weapon from his pouch. This was his deboning knife that he had used to slice meat at the Great Clarity Pavilion.

Seeing this scrappy deboning knife, everyone's eyes immediately widened. This was… was this… a pig butchering knife?

Though no one had thought that Lin Ming would have a good weapon, they did not think he would pull out such an inferior weapon. It was only a foot in length. As the saying went, one inch longer one inch stronger. This one foot deboning knife compared to a three foot long saber was at a bit more than just a disadvantage. Moreover could a knife used to kill pigs even be sturdy? What would happen if it were to be cut in half by the opposition's sword?

Wang Yanfeng saw this deboning knife and laughed. "You would use that to challenge me? That's just a knife for killing pigs! You really are a daft idiot!"

Lin Ming appeared slightly surprised. He said, "I didn't notice it but it seems you were right, this really is a knife for killing pigs. I usually do use it to kill pigs, so for today, killing you is just right."

Lin Ming's scolding words insinuated that Wang Yanfeng was just a pig. This made Wang Yanfeng furious. He shouted, "You don't know the meaning of death!"

As Lin Ming slowly stepped on stage in the contest field, and Wang Yanfeng had drawn his saber, he had already been using an inscription master's soul force to study the sword's strength and its inscription. In this, Lin Ming was an expert.

Wang Yanfeng's saber looked powerful and impressive, but in Lin Ming's eyes it could only be considered common goods. Even that inscription would not even normally grab his attention. As long as an inscription master knew the proper technique they could use the soul law formula to seep their soul force into the treasure and judge whether its quality was good or bad. Lin Ming had learnt his inscription skills from the memories of an elder who came from the Realm of the Gods, thus he also naturally knew a viewing technique. Although he had only studied this technique a bit, it was already far more than enough to take a look at Wang Yanfeng's saber.

The saber was able to greatly enhance a martial artist's combat strength, but Wang Yanfeng was only at the early Third Stage of Body Transformation and had not reached Altering Muscle or Bone Forging. Thus Lin Ming was not worried, as he could only display a very limited effect of the saber.

Of course, even if Wang Yanfeng could not display the saber's true strength, compared to Lin Ming's deboning knife in hand, it would be immediately cut apart if Lin Ming used it to receive a strike. Although this was a good and trusted knife he had used for countless hours, it was just made of regular iron from an ordinary blacksmith.

But this did not matter to Lin Ming. Lin Ming had not planned on using this deboning knife originally; he would rely on the strength of his own fists. 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' was an unsurpassed almighty Body Transformation skill manual that was the essence of light and Yang. For those that practiced this, their own muscles and bones were themselves the best weapons!

With Lin Ming's peak Second Stage cultivation, his fist strength reached 2700 jins. With this strength he could punch straight through a thick iron wood tree. If this fist directly hit a person's body, even a master at the Altering Muscle or Bone Forging stage could not necessarily withstand it!

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Chapter 45 – Shatter the Nine Paths of Truth

Wang Yanfeng's entire body revolved with an intense aura of true essence. He did not even wait for Lin Ming to finish stepping on stage before he gave a loud shout, and the three foot long saber in his hand began to radiate with bright runes. There were ten runes in total; nine green runes were congealed from Wang Yanfeng's true essence, and the last was from the inscription symbol left behind by the inscription master.

"The 'Nine Paths of Truth' swordsmanship was a family skill that was given to the head of the Wang Family after he performed a great military deed. The first emperor of Sky Fortune Kingdom had bestowed this skill to Yuelu City's Wang Family so that it could be passed down and studied by future generations. This Wang Yanfeng relied on only his early Third Stage of Body Transformation cultivation to already reach the boundary of forming nine runes. Although this is almost the most basic level of green runes, it is still impressive!"

The onlooking elders commented as they watched the fight. They had vast experience and could easily determine Wang Yanfeng's martial skill, as well as its level and origin.

"The 'Nine Paths of Truth' can display its true power if used in conjunction with a rare weapon. The aristocratic family juniors are truly on a different playing field than others. They have martial arts handed down through their family line and also treasures that easily cost several thousand gold taels. Compared to commoner martial artists, they are much better off."

"Lin Ming is in danger. He's just a regular boy. What kind of martial skill could he possibly have to fend off the 'Nine Paths of Truth'?"

On stage, Lin Ming's eyes shined brilliantly as he looked at the green runes on Wang Yanfeng's saber. Before studying inscription techniques, he first had to study the soul law formula, and develop the ability to control his own soul force. Lin Ming had studied the apex level soul law formula, 'Overbearing Soul Tactic'. With this, Lin Ming was extremely sensitive to the flow of true essence within rare treasures or objects. As long as he extended his soul force, he could clearly understand all things.

"I can feel Wang Yanfeng is using some sort of martial skill, but even if I can sense it, I'm not too familiar with martial skills; there is simply no way for me to find out where the flaw is. But when looking at inscription techniques and equipment, there might be no one in the entire Sky Fortune Kingdom who can understand them better than I do. I can clearly identify vulnerability within the flow of true essence…"

As Lin Ming was thinking deeply about this, Wang Yanfeng had already grasped his sword and rushed forwards. He would close the distance and use his family martial skill, the 'Nine Paths of Truth' and in the next several moves, finally solve this problem called Lin Ming, while increasing his own reputation.

True essence gathered in the longsword and it whistled with a sharp, keening sound. This was an advantage of using treasures; once true essence was focused, it would enhance one's imposing image and strength, thereby increasing their momentum. Facing this, along with the aura of power, a martial artist with no treasures would discover that they felt incapable of any resistance, because even if they tried to compete with weapons, their own would likely break off at first contact!

"Lin Ming, prepare to die!"

Wang Yanfeng shouted out as the nine symbols on his saber began to bloom with an incandescent green light. As soon as the long sword cut down, an immense sword pressure struck at Lin Ming's shoulder. Lin Ming's pupils widened and his both his feet suddenly slammed the ground as his body moved like a bolt of lightning.

Bang!

As Wang Yanfeng's saber cut into the ground, explosions scattered broken stone into the air. This blue stone stage was supported by a magic array and was as hard as iron, but still, Wang Yanfeng's blade had cut a hole half a foot deep! The power of this single strike was just too much!

Even though his saber did not hit, Wang Yanfeng did not feel any sadness, but instead laughed. "Lin Ming! You want to compare speed with me!? Not only do you have some small inborn divine strength but it seems your speed isn't too shabby either, but what a pity! You cannot use any movement martial skills!

"Speed!? How can pitiful you even think of comparing with me, Wang Yanfeng!?" As soon as he said this, Wang Yanfeng's footsteps changed. His body had changed to an indistinct, blurry afterimage.

"Seven Despairing Steps! The Wang Family's movement martial skill!"

"This is one of the Wang Family's secret martial skills. In seven steps one can appear and disappear at will, and its speed surpasses the ghosts and gods. The old aristocratic families really make one jealous!"

"The weapon is weaker, the martial skill is weaker, the movement is weaker, how can one even fight like this?"

As they were talking, Wang Yanfeng moved seven steps and instantly appeared at Lin Ming's side. The radiant green line appeared once again as the nine runes shimmered with true essence. The saber cut down at Lin Ming's arm!

It was against the law to kill others during a competition at the Seven Profound Martial House, otherwise they would receive a severe punishment from the school. Therefore Wang Yanfeng had cut at Lin Ming's arm. Although this strike would not be lethal, but it could break his bone and rip apart the tendons of his arm. Even with superior medicines to repair the bone and mend the muscles, the arm would be mostly useless and would greatly inhibit later cultivation.

This was an insidious blade filled with malice!

Wang Yanfeng's mouth traced a sneering grin. 'Are you not some kind of talent? Then I'll cut off the road of talent and see how you dare to ever struggle against me again!'

This was the reason of his blade, and he could not think of the slightest reason that he would lose. However, at this time, Lin Ming shouted, fiercely swiveled on the ball of his foot and thrusted out his fist!

This was a non-flashy, even fist that would bring at least 3000 jins of overbearing might!

Bang!

The center of the first hit the blade edge of Wang Yanfeng's saber. This was the only vulnerability that Lin Ming had discovered in the weapon where the true essence was at its most weak and turbulent point!

With the speed at which Wang Yanfeng wielded his saber, the difficulty of striking this precise spot was inconceivable. If not for the years that Lin Ming had spent deboning and honing the accuracy of his moves until every action became a memory that was ingrained within his muscles, then even If he could grasp the flaw within the inscription symbol, it would only have been useless.

In the space of that brief moment, Wang Yanfeng only felt a sudden chaotic surge in true essence transmit through his body as the flow of energy in the saber was interrupted. If the concentration of true essence in the saber was like a deadly emerald snake, then Lin Ming's first was a hatchet that cut off the snake around the middle, seven inches up its body!

How!?

As soon as flow of true essence stagnated, Wang Yanfeng felt pain wrack his body as his blood dangerously upwelled. Before he could unravel the meaning of what had happened, Lin Ming had let loose a leg and kicked towards Wang Yanfeng's head.

Every day for several years, Lin Ming had been training his leg on tree stumps. The simplistic strength of this strike had been tempered by deeply constant pain that had only been quenched by iron thread grass. This was the terrifying strength that had been cultivated by practicing the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians'; it was no different to an explosion of pure force!

Lin Ming's leg was like a dragon's tail as it kicked out, but Wang Yanfeng also had some capability. Even as his mind reeled, he managed to stiffly raise an arm to block Lin Ming's leg.

However, when Lin Ming's kicked struck Wang Yanfeng's arm, Wang Yanfeng only could feel as if a thick iron rod struck him. His arm immediately lost feeling and he almost passed out from the pressure.

Wang Yanfeng's heart was shocked. What was this abnormal power!?

With a jolt of surprise at the change in the battle's tempo, the hearts of the elders present were equally shocked. That simple fist was not so simple! The candidates who were watching could not notice anything strange, but these were houtian masters, they had easily captured the mystery behind the meaning of that simple fist!

This Lin Ming, how could he possibly do this?

The kick sent Wang Yanfeng flying backwards into the air. Before he had even exhausted a single breath, he could see in his vision the sight of Lin Ming instantly approaching.

Not good!

"Seven Despairing Steps!" Wang Yanfeng pedaled his feet with the 'Seven Despairing Steps' and his body completely violated the rules of physics, as he suddenly swerved sideways and escaped Lin Ming's fist. But with this sudden change in direction, along with the damage he had taken earlier, Wang Yanfeng could no longer control the rampaging true essence that ravaged his body, and spat a mouthful of blood. This time Wang Yanfeng felt panic seep into his heart. Initially he had thought that his strength had been weakened in the Exquisite Pagoda with the decrease in strength of the 'Nine Paths of Truth' and thus was only able to reach the fourth floor and die together with the two vicious beasts. He had thought if only he had his rare saber with him, then he would be completely confident in reaching the fifth floor with ease and even slaughtering many vicious beasts there. Instead, he was now being suppressed so heavily by Lin Ming? At this time, could Lin Ming also kill the vicious beasts of the fifth floor?

The 'Nine Paths of Truth' that he was so proud of and had so arrogantly bragged about had been completely defeated; this made Wang Yanfeng feel a deep and foreboding sense of humiliation. Before he could even think about how to retaliate against the loathsome maggot, that Lin Ming had already rushed forward again. This time Lin Ming used his knife!

"I'll cut your knife!"

Because he had just exhausted a great deal of true essence earlier, he could only use about half of his true essence. Wang Yanfeng did not have any time to utilize the 'Nine Paths of Truth', he could only focus all of the true essence he could muster in the saber and rely on its strength, sharpness, and superior quality to block Lin Ming. He had already concluded that if he blocked with his saber then Lin Ming would have to withdraw his knife, otherwise his knife would be cut apart.

However he did not imagine that Lin Ming would not retract his knife, but even meet the saber head on with just a deboning knife!

Boom!

With a fierce explosion, in the crazy collision of true essence the deboning knife was cut apart!

"Ha!"

Wang Yanfeng did not even have time to be surprised, as Lin Ming already gave a loud shot and the deboning knife exploded into several sharp fragments.

Puff! These fragments were like a concealed weapon that blew up like a bomb that shot out in all directions!

With such a short distance and the immediate surprise of a weapon like this, Wang Yanfeng could not even dodge, even though he possessed the 'Seven Despairing Steps'!

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!!"

Wang Yanfeng cried out pitifully as his shoulder, belly, and thighs were stabbed by the fragments of the deboning knife and blood flew in all directions. A fragment had even directly pierced through his shoulder!

Lin Ming sent a flying kick towards Wang Yanfeng's chest. Wang Yanfeng spat out a mouthful of blood as he was sent reeling backwards; that instant kick had broken his ribs and sent him flying upside down like a broken kite!

"Stop!"

As Lin Ming's kick sent Wang Yanfeng flying, Elder Xu was flew out like a cheetah and the chair he was sitting in was smashed apart by a burst of true essence.

Elder Xu stormed onto the stage like the wind and caught the heavily injured Wang Yanfeng. He immediately took out a medicine bottle from his sleeves and applied it to him. He was old friends with Wang Yanfeng's father, so he naturally had to look after him. With Wang Yanfeng injured to this extent, how could he explain this to his friend?

After applying the precious medicine, Elder Xu looked gloomy as he stared at Lin Ming, "You little boy, so young and yet already your actions are so ruthless!"

As Elder Xu said this, each word was enhanced with true essence and was like a steel ball striking, full of momentum.

Facing the pressure from a Houtian master, Lin Ming's eyes narrowed as he secretly revolved the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' within himself and resisted the pressure. His expression was neutral as he said, "If you say I am vicious, then what is not vicious? Wang Yanfeng tried to cut apart my arm a moment ago, should I just extend it and let him do as he pleases? If I did not retaliate with a fist and my arm was cut off, would you then say Wang Yanfeng is vicious?"

"Good! You dare to talk back!?" Elder Xu suddenly stepped forwards as he flared with murderous intent. It felt as if this Elder Xu was like a tiger that had chosen its victim and was ready to leap out.

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Chapter 46 – Two Top Quality Pills

An ordinary person would be frozen in fear as if they were locked down by chains if they saw a tiger with such a murderous aura approach them in such an imposing manner, much less this vastly more dangerous Elder Xu who looked like he could launch an attack at any time. But Lin Ming had still not revealed a single hint of fear or dread on his face, even though Elder Xu's strength surpassed him by hundreds, if not thousands of times. Lin Ming had seen flying sages and kings in the dreams of the Magic Cube. These ancient elders had parted seas and smashed mountains; compared to these warriors, Elder Xu was just an ant beneath their boot. In addition, if Lin Ming was to act like a fearful ant, then how could he have the qualifications to pursue the peak of the martial artist's path?

Seeing that his imposing manner and murderous intent failed to oppress Lin Ming, Elder Xu became somewhat angry. Before he could step forward again, a shadow flashed, and a man passed Elder Xu like a ghost out of nowhere.

"Xu Fengyuan, are you planning to make a move and bully a little junior? Heh, that really is the superior air of a true master." As Elder Xu's nemesis, Sun Sifan could not let him do as he pleased, and he had already arrived in front of Lin Ming's body.

With such an elder standing in front of him, Lin Ming felt the immense pressure on him being lifted.

From the point when Wang Yanfeng had used his superior martial skills to assault Lin Ming, to the sudden change in fortune, and to when Lin Ming had severely wounded Wang Yanfeng and then the two elders had appeared on stage, the truth was that it had only been a very short period of time. Under the stage, the candidates and other guests that surrounded them were already reacting, and their voices filled the entire with chatter.

This Lin Ming, he had undergone a complete metamorphosis!

However he had managed to simultaneously offended Wang Yanfeng and Elder Xu; his future days would not pass in peace.

The majority of those present came from humble backgrounds, so they had several points of sympathy and compassion for Lin Ming. After all, their families were all similar, and some of them were the talents of their generation. Yet how many of them had suffered losses when faced against aristocratic family juniors that had vastly more resources behind them?

Seeing Sun Sifan defending Lin Ming, Elder Xu gave a cold snort and waved his voluminous sleeves. He signaled the severely injured Wang Yanfeng to follow him off stage. But at this moment, Lin Ming said, "Elder Xu, please stay a moment."

"Mm?" Elder Xu frowned. He didn't think that this Lin Ming would have the guts to call him. Any normal candidate who saw a Houtian elder of the Seven Profound Martial House would be submissive and timid, but this Lin Ming had actually compelled himself to call him out, how stupidly courageous of him. He coldly said, "What do you want to say?"

"Before I and Wang Yanfeng agreed to a duel, we made a bet. If I won, not only would I keep the first place candidate position, but I would also obtain the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill that was the second place prize. Since Elder Xu is bringing Wang Yanfeng away, when the prizes are handed out, I will receive it myself."

Lin Ming said all these things now, as it was a matter that had to be made absolutely clear. Otherwise as soon as Wang Yanfeng left, then the prize would probably not be given to him. Away from the eyes of all those present, it was unlikely that Wang Yanfeng would so easily send him the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill.

Wang Yanfeng had been unconscious until now. This loss of face truly made him wish he hadn't woken up. Hearing these words of Lin Ming almost made him cough up more blood. Exactly how precious and rare was the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill? Yuelu City's Wang Family was an old aristocratic family with massive wealth, deep ties to the country, and a long and storied history. Yet no matter how much money or power they had there was no way they could buy a Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. It just wasn't something that could be purchased by money. Moreover, all these years Wang Yanfeng had used many resources of his family and the council of elders had already been keenly critical of him. If he lost this Golden Snake Scarlet Pill, to Wang Yanfeng this was a truly deadly blow.

"He deserves death!" Wang Yanfeng cursed in his heart. He glared at Lin Ming with unmasked hatred in his eyes. But he had already made a promise, and it had been heard by everyone. In the presence of so many people, it was impossible to renege on a promise.

He spat out several words between clenched teeth. "The Golden Snake Scarlet Pill belongs to you. I wish you good fortune and luck in taking it! I hope nothing wrong goes wrong in the absorption and your veins don't implode, tearing you to shreds!"

Lin Ming heard the naked threat in Wang Yanfeng's words.

"I really have offended too many people. Until now, there is Zhu Yan, Wang Yigao, Wang Yanfeng, and all these people are from aristocratic backgrounds. Even Zhu Yan and Wang Yanfeng are talented martial artists. Wang Yigao is another matter; after last time he probably pissed his pants and would be too afraid to do anything, but Zhu Yan and Wang Yanfeng will also be studying in the Seven Profound Martial House with me and will look for every opportunity to get revenge on me. Not matter what, it seems I can't put an end to all these future troubles.

"I offended so many people and yet could not properly clean up the mess, now it's become a huge omen. But they provoked me, it was just impossible for me to swallow all the insults and let others humiliate me as they pleased, otherwise it would wear away my heart and spirit of martial arts.

"Since it's come to this, what's most important is that I enhance my own strength as soon as possible. I am definitely not Zhu Yan's match. Not even Zhu Yan, but this Wang Yanfeng also luckily underestimated me and I also underestimated him. I thought that because I defeated two vicious beasts on the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda that I was much stronger than him, but I didn't think that his strength would increase so much by combining his rare treasure and family's martial skill. Even if I could see the circulation of true essence in his saber, it was not necessarily my victory. Perhaps I should also go to buy a rare treasure of some sort."

Lin Ming thought about all of these things. Tomorrow he would officially enter the Seven Profound Martial House and most likely encounter Zhu Yan at some point. Half a year ago, Zhu Yan had relied on his peak Third Stage of Body Transformation cultivation to enter the Heavenly Abode, which all of the most talented students would go to. His strength most likely had its own specialty, Lin Ming would not underestimate him.

After seeing Elder Xu walk away, Sun Sifan gave Lin Ming a deep look, as his eyes were traced with surprise and a hint of disbelief.

In that fight a moment ago, if Lin Ming had used some amazing and almighty martial skill to defeat Wang Yanfeng, then he would not have been surprised, but what he used was nothing but an ordinary fist and foot. Using nothing but his own body, he had hit the exact point of the snake-like true essence seven inches up the saber and disrupted Wang Yanfeng's true essence!

To achieve this would require extraordinarily keen judgment and remarkable accuracy. To hit a saber that was being wielded with such speed and on such a precise spot was no less difficult than catching a speeding arrow in mid flight.

It could be said that if one practiced their basic skills enough then they would be able to do this. But how Lin Ming found the weakness in Wang Yanfeng's true essence was unclear.

This could only come from an extremely high soul force strength and a breadth of experience.

This type of experience could only be accumulated by years of actual combat. This boy was only fifteen years old; it was impossible for him to have this kind of experience. Was he some genius talent?

Some martial artists were geniuses at fighting. By virtue of their intuition and godly monstrous perception, they would be able to see any opening on a battlefield. Any sort of great and awe inspiring martial skill, to them, would actually be full of holes. Meeting someone like this and not being able to understand how they would suddenly close in on you, with their sword in your face, this sort of person was truly terrifying.

Is it possible that… this Lin Ming was also this kind of talent?

It was a bit odd…

Elder Sun thought this and looked at Lin Ming, "You, come with me."

"Mm?" Lin Ming found that Elder Sun walked in a direction that was away from where the rewards were being handed out and he had some doubts in his heart.

"Lin Ming, measure your soul talent with me."

"To reach the fifth floor of the Exquisite Pagoda and also defeat Wang Yanfeng…"

In a quiet room patterned with a blue stone tile floor, Zhu Yan stood in the center, on top of a wooden pillar. He was topless, exposing the solid and strong muscles of his upper body. By his side stood a thin, old servant. Although the servant looked a little baggy, his breathe was even and long, which was the culmination of practicing the Third Stage of Body Transformation, Viscera Training.

Zhu Yan's servant and Wang Yigao's servant were like heaven and earth. This was because the Zhu Family were relatives of the emperor and their influence was bigger, and also because of Zhu Yan's status within his family; it was not something that the useless Wang Yigao could possibly compare with.

Although Zhu Yan had not been present to watch Lin Ming's exam, he had sent his old servant to pay attention to the situation. As soon as Lin Ming and Wang Yanfeng's competition ended, the old servant had come back to report the situation to Zhu Yan.

"This little bastard, I hadn't thought he had hidden so many secrets!"

"Bang!" Wang Yanfeng punched out a fist and smashed apart the wooden pillar. This kind of pillar was extremely hard, as it had been soaked in medicines that increased rigidity and density, and was several times more tenacious than normal, but it was actually smashed apart by Zhu Yan's fist. This was a sign that Zhu Yan's fist strength had reached a high stage.

It was absolutely above 4000 jins! Compared to Ling Sen it was just a little bit worse, but not by too much.

"Wang Yanfeng was too arrogant, but he did have some ability. As far as I can tell he had already practiced the 'Nine Paths of Truth' to forming nine green runes, and he also had the 'Seven Despairing Steps' movement skill. Yet he still lost to Lin Ming? Did Lin Ming use some sort of martial skill?"

The old servant said, "Young master, Lin Ming did not use a martial skill, he only used punches and kicks. His movements were straight and basic; there were no flashy moves that he used."

"What? Then how could he possibly win?" Zhu Yan could not believe this.

"This old servant has poor vision and did not see what methods Lin Ming used, but he managed to break that little Wang boy's 'Nine Paths of Truth' and then used a series of moves to gain the upper hand. He relentlessly pursued to the end and defeated the little Wang boy without giving him the slightest opportunity to retaliate."

"He broke the 'Nine Paths of Truth'?" Zhu Yan felt shocked. Each kind of martial art of had weaknesses that could be exploited, but these were absolute secrets that were never divulged. Lin Ming was only a junior of the branch family of the Ling Family. His background was normal, it was impossible for him to know any sort of decent martial skill, how could he possibly have the experience to defeat the 'Nine Paths of Truth'?

Was this a dream?

Zhu Yan was unable to understand the reason why. Then, the old servant said, "Young master, this older servant also discovered that Lin Ming's true essence was very pure. He is unlike a normal martial artist at the Second Stage of Body Transformation."

Zhu Yan responded, "I have already discovered this. There's nothing too strange about it, this boy probably found some valuable material and ate it. In addition to diligent studying and hard work and practice, even a rabid dog could show some degree of success."

"Because he had a fortuitous encounter, his strength suddenly rose to a new level. Because his talent was originally garbage, this will slowly fade away. This sort of happening is too rare; that this Lin Ming could encounter such luck, that boy is truly an eyesore…"

Zhu Yang slowly clenched his first. He did not care at all about Lin Ming, and did not even think he had the qualifications to be remembered by him. He was after all, two years younger and at a lower level of cultivation. It was only because of Lan Yunyue that Zhu Yan felt this Lin Ming was such an eyesore.

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Chapter 47 – Lin Ming's Soul Talent

"This is the soul talent test…" Lin Ming thought, as he was presently standing in front of the large stone tablet. This stone tablet was similar to the one used to measure strength but with one small change, the color was different. The stone tablet to measure strength was a deep obsidian black, but this stone tablet to measure soul force was actually red, a deep crimson red that was somewhat like fresh blood.

Lin Ming was a junior of the Lin Family, and had his soul talent and martial talent grade measured as soon as he was born, and both were at medium third-grade. This talent level was decent; if Lin Ming were born in the Lin Family then he would have been worthy to raise and cultivate, but it was a pity that he had been born in the branch family. This medium third grade soul talent and martial talent was insufficient to make him an exception that was directly added into the line of male family direct descendants.

To a child, between soul talent and martial talent, the cultivation of martial talent was more important, as it directly related to that child's future achievements as a martial artist.

As for soul talent, that was negligible. This sort of talent was mainly related to occupations that needed soul force, such as inscription masters, refiners, apothecaries, alchemists, and so forth. Generally speaking, only an outstanding soul talent, such as a superior fourth grade of fifth grade would be worthy of having massive amounts of money spent by the family to raise into an inscription master, apothecary, or other niche occupations. A decent soul talent and below would be completely neglected.

Lin Ming knew this, that soul talent was completely useless in the Physical Transformation Stage. It would gradually become more useful after one reached Xiantian and began to cultivate their soul.

In Sky Fortune Kingdom, the majority of low level martial artists and warriors would not use their soul force at all.

However some of those who broke through the Pulse Condensation Period might begin to practice inscription. They would then learn soul law formulas, begin to condense their soul force, and become able to see certain things, such as the flow of true essence in treasures and would then be able to define and understand their weaknesses.

Elder Sun suspected that Lin Ming was a genius talent at soul force because of this, and brought him here to examine.

"Although you already said that you had your soul talent measured by your family, I think it might be good to measure again just in case. This sort of soul talent things is usually neglected and most of the time is a formality. Coupled with the fact that stone tablets aren't necessarily accurate, there might be a mistake in the measurement.

As Elder Sun said this, he placed a small true essence stone in the center of the stone tablet. Although it looked somewhat similar, the cost of this small stone was much higher. This small true essence stone was actually a lavish consumable.

Lin Ming placed his hand on the stone tablet and felt the array activate with a flash. In the vast ocean of his mind he suddenly saw countless phantasmal images, a kaleidoscope of world images, and felt a tingling sensation in his innermost soul. This sort of feeling continued for several dozen breaths of time until he heard Elder Sun say, "Measured."

Lin Ming opened his eyes and looked. He saw that the light beam of the stone pillar had risen to the fourth position and overflowed by about one-third. Primary fourth-grade talent?

Lin Ming looked a bit listless. He knew that his own soul talent had been measured at medium third-grade, how could it have randomly increased by so much?

It was just as Elder Sun said, was it a mistake when he had his soul talent measured before?

A sudden thought suddenly rose in Lin Ming's mind.

Is it possible that this talent change was related to the Magic Cube?

Was it because he had swallowed that soul fragment, that his own soul talent had risen from medium third-grade to primary fourth-grade?

Lin Ming didn't know anything about souls, but there was one thing he clearly knew. In the entirety of Sky Spill Continent's knowledge, talent was immutable and unchangeable. This was a fact!

Regardless of if they cultivated their martial talent or soul talent, it would never change again after birth. There were no rare material in the world that could change one's talent.

As for the memories that he had absorbed, they also did not contain any knowledge of any way this could be possible. But because the memories were incomplete, Lin Ming did not dare to affirm this as truth.

Was it possible that his soul talent had been measured incorrectly at birth? If swallowing souls could increase one's soul talent grade, then if those powerful elders of the Realm of the Gods might do so, then would everyone be sixth, seventh, or eighth-grade talents?

As Lin Ming thought this, he subconsciously traced his own chest where he could feel the Magic Cube. After the last time that he swallowed and absorbed a soul fragment, Lin Ming had been unable to enter the dreamland of the Magic Cube again.

Although he did not entertain any hope, if he did have a future opportunity to absorb a soul fragment again, then he would have to measure his soul talent to see if there was no growth.

Elder Sun naturally did not know these circumstances of Lin Ming, and he frowned as he looked at the results of the stone tablet. This primary fourth-grade talent left him feeling unsatisfied.

He originally had a little bit of hope that Lin Ming was a rare soul force talent genius, such as fifth-grade, or even the legendary sixth-grade.

If that was the case then Lin Ming would be sent to study inscription, alchemy, and no amount of effort or resources would be spared to raise them. When that time came, then the Seven Profound Martial House would be able to raise and cultivate Qin Xingxuan and Lin Ming, two genius martial soul talents, and their Seven Profound Martial House would obtain accolades and praise from the main sect. They might even have some hope to obtain precious medicines or elixirs. But now that small hope was dashed.

Elder Sun shook his head and sighed lightly with one small breath. He said to Lin Ming, "Come, I will lead you to receive your rewards."

"These are the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill?"

As he returned to his housing at the Seven Profound Martial House, Lin Ming looked at the two pills in the box on the table. His mood was inevitably excited. The harvest this time was just too great!

Of these two pills, one was refined from the marrow of a Crimson Gold Dragon and the other with the hundred year old gallbladder of a Golden Scarlet Snake. The Crimson Gold Dragon was a vicious beast of the fourth-grade. Even a Houtian expert would not even be a match for one. As for the hundred year old Golden Scarlet Snake, although it was a third-level vicious beast, it lived at the apex of third-level vicious beasts and was also extremely scarce and correspondingly extremely rare.

These two precious pills were objects that had no market price, they could just not be purchased in the entirety of the Sky Fortune Kingdom. Even the Royal Family would be startled and moved by these!

"If I take these two pills, then my strength would increase by leaps and bounds, but…taking such a precious pill like this directly is too much of a waste. The memories of the elder had not only inscription techniques to increase the strength of treasures, but also to increase the effect of pills. He had studied them and learnt the inscription symbol to double the effect of a pill. He would just have to apply it to the pill and then take it…

The Realm of the Gods had unsurpassed inheritances and legacies. Regardless of whether it was Body Transformation, skills of martial arts or weapons, every skill and array had already been developed to the peak of possibility. It was not something that anything or anyone on the entirety the Sky Spill Continent could compare with, and the inscription techniques were also the same.

Inscription techniques in the Realm of the Gods were divided into four general categories; object inscription, medicinal inscription, body inscription, and soul inscription.

Object inscriptions were placed on rare treasure; it was the most simple and obvious.

Medicinal inscriptions were inscriptions for pills, elixirs, and other medicines; it would increase their effect or eliminate their side effects.

Body inscriptions were inscriptions that were placed on the body. It required absolute knowledge and attainments in inscription to use, and could increase the speed of cultivation and practice of a martial artist, and even their combat prowess.

Soul inscriptions were inscriptions of the soul. These techniques belonged to the absolute highest boundary and pinnacle realm of inscription techniques. Even the elder's memories of soul inscription were blank, perhaps they were incomplete, or perhaps he had no experience with them at all.

Sky Fortune Kingdom's inscription techniques were limited to object inscription. The overwhelming number of inscription masters had never given much thought to the idea that inscriptions could also be used in other places.

With Lin Ming's current skill, there was no need for him to even think about body inscription or soul inscription, much less try to attempt them. Medicinal inscription might be possible with more study, but first of all Lin Ming had been busy these days with his martial arts cultivation, and thus didn't have enough time to practice, and second of all, Lin Ming did not have enough money to buy materials so he had shelved that idea for future reference.

But now he had managed to obtain the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. These two pills were miracle medicines; if he could earnestly study his inscription techniques then he would be able to greatly increase their efficacy.

Suddenly Lin Ming heard a knock on his door sound out like lightning. If not for the fact that the Seven Profound Martial House's door quality was very good, Lin Ming suspected that it might even be smashed apart!

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Chapter 48 – Inscription Master Examination

"Brother Lin, Brother Lin, quickly open the door!"

Lin Ming smiled when he heard this voice. It was Lin Xiaodong.

"Holy Crap! Brother Lin is my life's idol! Dude, First place! You're way to amazing!"

Lin Xiaodong had not been able to go to the second trial, therefore he didn't know what sort of situation Lin Ming had been in, and had only just found out the good news.

"Mm. I was able to display some good results yesterday, and my recent progress was quite good, so I was able to attain first place."

"Let's walk, us brothers will drink."

"Mmm, good idea! But now I don't have time to have a meal, we have to go buy some things first."

Lin Ming took out a piece of paper and began to write down the materials he needed for the medicinal inscription symbol. There were a great number and many different kinds of inscription symbols, but Lin Ming had decided on the simplest one, named the 'Lower Spirit Cure Symbol'. This type of medicinal symbol could only be used on lower-grade pills. In the eyes of the ancient elder, the priceless Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and Golden Snake Scarlet Pill that could not be purchased anywhere in the entire Sky Fortune Kingdom could only be considered lower-grade pills.

With Lin Ming's current ability, even drawing this 'Lower Spirit Cure Symbol' was already his limit. Beyond that, the many materials needed for higher quality medicinal symbols, Lin Ming had never heard of at all.

Even this 'Inferior Spirit Cure Symbol' had many materials that were exceedingly rare.

Although Lin Xiaodong did not know much about inscription techniques, as soon as he saw Lin Ming write an entire page of materials, he was able to recognize a few of them, for instance 'fourth-grade vicious beast blood'.

"Brother Lin, you want to buy fourth-grade vicious beast blood? As if!"

It had to be known that the Crimson Gold Dragon was also a fourth-level vicious beast. Fourth-level vicious beasts were at least equal to a Houtian master. Although the rare vicious beast blood was not unable to be purchased in Sky Fortune Kingdom, it would be sold at an absolutely astronomical price. This sort of thing would only be shipped in from abroad, even one or two vials would be a thousand taels of gold.

Lin Ming continued to write, and the increasing numbers of materials made Lin Xiaodong feel increasingly fearful and apprehensive. He finally could not bear it and asked, "Brother Lin, do you have that much money?"

Lin Ming nodded. "Mister Muyi gave me 15,000 gold taels in banknotes a few days ago. It was early payment for future 'Overwhelming Rune' inscriptions. I just need to deliver them to him later.

"1…15,000….heavens!" Lin Xiaodong gulped down his saliva. The last time was 9000 gold taels, this time was 15,000. He suddenly felt numb; it was as if gold had just become a number.

There was one place in Sky Fortune City that sold the most inscription materials. It wasn't the Hundred Treasure Hall nor was it any auction house. It was Sky Fortune City's Inscription Association.

In there were many rare and precious materials that couldn't be bought anywhere else, and the price was also a bit cheaper than the market price.

"What? Such a good place exists?" Lin Xiaodong felt this was inconceivable, even after hearing it straight from Lin Ming's lips. "This is impossible, unless the person in charge of the Inscription Association's trade union was crazy. If I were the one in charge, I would definitely hike the prices up."

Lin Ming shrugged, "This is what I heard."

They spent some time visiting several high-end shops and also the official auction houses, but really didn't find the rare materials that they needed there.

"Then I guess we go to the Inscription Association."

"Mm…seems like that's the only plan left. Lin Ming suspected that shopping that the Inscription Association required the high status of an inscription master. Until his strength and cultivation had caught up to his inscription technique level, Lin Ming did not want to expose the existence of his skill at inscription. This might cause much trouble for himself and even place him in dangerous situations. Although he had Muyi's protection, Lin Ming did not want to trouble him too much.

"Not only do I need an inscription master certificate, but I also need contribution points to purchase any items?" After Lin Ming arrived at the Inscription Association, he had inquired to an elder sister there about how to buy rare and precious materials, and had received this sort of reply.

"I knew it! There was no way such a good deal could exist! Lin Xiaodong crossed his arms in satisfaction. This was normal.

"What are contribution points?" Lin Ming asked.

"Mm…it seems your master is not an inscription master of Sky Fortune Kingdom," said the elder sister who managed the reception desk, as she thought that Lin Ming was here to purchase materials for his master. "Contribution points are from contributions made by inscription masters that are recorded down at our office. For instance, if they completed some tasks, or duties, or missions that the Inscription Association issued, then you could obtain some contribution points. Or, you could hold a post or office such as association president and receive some points too. Certainly you could also give and trade contribution points with other inscription masters. There are also several different ways to obtain contribution points. If you would have a look at the rules of the Inscription Association you can see them. If your master intends to join the Inscription Association, he is welcome to.

The Inscription Association was a loose organization. Many inscription masters were old men who were only interested in learning and knowledge. They were usually recluses who did not have much contact with the outside and lived sheltered lives. If they had not set up a contribution points system, then the Inscription Association's existence would be very dreary, and probably not have many inscription masters that would have joined. Even if they did join, very few would come to the trade market.

Lin Ming flipped through the Inscription Association's rules. As long as he joined the Inscription Association, he would be able to immediately obtain 100 contribution points. There were also many other ways listed to obtain contribution points, such as selling rare and precious materials to the Inscription Association.

"Pfft. If there are rare materials then you would use them, why would you sell them to the Inscription Association." Lin Xiaodong snorted contemptuously.

Lin Ming said, "Sometimes there are too many of some materials and they cannot be all used, and are just sitting around uselessly. In that case, it's better to trade for something useful. But this way of getting contribution points doesn't suit me. The only road possible seems to be completing some sort of mission."

Lin Ming turned to the reception elder sister and asked, "This elder sister, where would I go to complete missions?"

"To find missions to complete, you have to go to the mission hall. But, you can only enter the mission hall if you have an inscription master qualification certificate. If your master has any interest in this, he could personally come to have a look. There are many benefits to joining the Inscription Association." The reception elder sister said with a very warm smile.

Lin Ming thought about it and asked, "Does the Inscription Association keep member identities confidential?"

"This is certainly a possibility. If your master has need of privacy then we can guarantee that we can keep all information pertaining to him secret."

"Mmm. That's good. How is the examination, could you take me to participate?"

"Mm?" The reception elder sister stared at him with wide eyes.

Lin Ming shrugged and said, "I'm the inscription master."

"…." The reception elder sister took a step back and sized Lin Ming up from head to toe. She slowly opened her mouth and asked, "Could I… ask… what your age is?"

"15."

"15 years old…?" The reception elder sister heard this and was left speechless. She guessed that the boy in front of her was under the tutelage of some mighty inscription master and had a certain level of talent, and probably also many achievements. But a 15 year old inscription master was just a bit too exaggerated. In these 80 years of the Sky Fortune Kingdom's records, the youngest had only been 18 years old.

The only ones who had any hope of breaking this record were Qin Xingxuan of the Martial Quarters and Wang Yuhan of the Inscription Association.

"This little brother, if you want to participate in the examination to be an inscription master, you need to prepare the treasure and materials." The reception elder sister had only good intention as she kindly reminded him. Only after creating the inscription symbol could one see its quality and effects. Generally speaking, a new inscription master's inscription symbols would have a very poor effect, and placing it on a rare treasure would be an utter waste of resources. The Inscription Association was wealthy, but they could not afford such a wanton waste of resources and materials. Therefore, the examination required that all examinees bring their own treasures and materials, as they did not want some random half-baked inscription apprentice to come and test his luck. After all, materials for inscription symbols were very pricey.

"Mm. I knew that. If possible I'd like to purchase some good rare treasure for this examination. I can disburse the costs of purchase." As Lin Ming said this, he reached into his clothes and withdrew several shiny gold banknotes, all of which were worth 1000 gold taels.

Seeing Lin Ming casually bring out so many gold banknotes, the reception elder sister was astonished. This was an amount of gold that not even the juniors of aristocratic families would have.

She looked to Lin Ming and saw that he wasn't treating this as some joke. The reception elder sister said, "Since you insist, please come along with me."

Lin Ming followed the elder sister and entered the interior of the Inscription Association. Lin Xiaodong also followed along. As they passed through the halls, they saw all kinds of glowing and complex symbols and runes along the walls; Lin Xiaodong was very excited by everything he saw.

The decoration of the Inscription Association was not luxurious, but it had a very spacious atmosphere. There were no murals or ornaments on the walls. Instead, there were complex and unique runes dotted around everywhere. Each rune was a metal sculpture that was full of texture and seemed as if it had come to life; it gave off a very ancient and mystical feeling.

"We're here." The reception elder sister opened a door and waved them in.

Here was the Inscription Association's inscription room, which also served as the examination space.

"Mmm, thank you elder sister."

As Lin Ming walked in, he saw that the inscription room was about 100 feet long and wide. There were several stone platforms suspended in the room. In the center was a stone platform that was covered with many different materials. Above this one was a young girl of about 15 or 16 years of age who was drawing symbol after symbol in the air.

The young girl's ten slender and jade-like fingers jumped and weaved in the air. The girl's watery eyes were fully focused on each symbol as she traced them, and her full attention was devoted to her work. She simply did not notice Lin Ming and Lin Xiaodong's arrival. The manner in which she drew the inscription symbol was extremely skilled. She was like a superbly skilled musician, and each symbol was a beat in the air that she was nimbly handling.

Near the young girl was also an old man. He sat behind her on a large round-backed wooden chair looking as if he were meditating with his eyes closed. But Lin Ming could see the reality of the situation; the older man's soul force had been placed on the girl's body to assist her, and each rune the girl drew was within the grasp of the old man.

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Chapter 49 – Bright Buddha Plucks the Lotus

"What a strong soul force." Lin Ming thought with a hint of shock. Even Muyi's soul force was inferior to this old man in terms of precision. Muyi was certainly someone who focused the majority of his life's efforts on cultivating the martial path; being an inscription master was only an occupation he had on the side. But this old man was a professional inscription master. To a true lifelong inscription master, cultivating on the martial path was only a means to extend their lifespan and give them more time to study the infinite mysteries of inscription techniques. Such a person is truly awe inspiring in the achievements that they would accomplish in inscription.

Lin Ming stopped watching after a while and turned around to see Lin Xiaodong unblinkingly staring at the young girl. What a piggy little brother! Lin Ming felt a big headache coming as he saw Lin Xiaodong's enraptured appearance. He immediately elbowed Lin Xiaodong. Lin Xiaodong was startled with some embarrassment. He was clever but had a slow mind, and scratched his head innocently.

By now Lin Ming had noticed a change in the fluctuations of the young girl's soul force; there was a glimmer of volatility. The brilliant overlapping inscription symbols in front of her began to spark and smoke. It suddenly exploded into a cascade of colorful lights that shot out everywhere.

The young girl looked spent, and she said with a frustrated sigh, "Grandpa, I failed again."

The old man who had been sitting peacefully as if he were meditating opened his eyes and said with a smile, "Yuhan, you already did very well. If this continues, after another few months or a year, you will be able to attain the certificate to become an inscription master. Before, grandfather here had attained his certificate when he was 18 years old. You will probably be 16, or 17 years old at the latest.

This girl was the Inscription Association's talented inscription genius, Wang Yuhan, and the old man was her grandfather, the President of the Inscription Association, Wang Xuanji.

"Mmm… but compared to Qin Xingxuan, she is half a year younger than me and yet is already equally matched in inscription techniques with me. Also in these past few months there has been a significant reduction in the speed of my inscription progress and I don't know why."

Geniuses and talents would always end up comparing themselves with each other. Wang Yuhan admitted that there was no way she could pass Qin Xingxuan in terms of martial arts cultivation, but inscription was her main occupation and she did not want to lose to her in this.

Seeing Wang Yuhan and Wang Xuanji talking, the reception elder sister respectfully walked over and said, "Association President."

"Mm? What's the matter?"

The reception elder sister hesitated before he turned to Lin Ming and said, "This young man would like to participate in the inscription master examination."

"What's your name? How old are you?" Wang Xuanji asked.

Lin Ming hesitated a moment. He had not thought that this old man would be the Inscription Association's president. In his capacity as president of the Inscription Association, it was unlikely that he would covet anything of Lin Ming's. As long as he didn't reveal his knowledge of medicinal inscription or body inscription that the Sky Fortune Kingdom did not possess, then he should have no problems.

Lin Ming was wary against the gangsters and criminals who would covet possessing him over a few tens of thousands of gold taels. As for Wang Xuanji and Muyi and other characters like them, they would only see Lin Ming as a talented inscription genius of the younger generation.

Thinking this, Lin Ming truthfully said, "Lin Ming, 15 years old."

Hearing 15 years of age, Wang Yuhan's eyes widened as she looked over Lin Ming up and down several times. Was this young boy also a genius? His age was younger than herself and his cultivation was not high; was this young boy just whiling away his time for some entertainment?

However the Inscription Association did not provide the materials or the rare treasure, and people who looked to mess around would not come here, as it would take several thousand gold taels. If they did then they would have to have some serious brain damage.

"You will need to provide your own materials and rare treasure, do you know this?"

"Mm. I know. I would like to purchase them from the Inscription Association." Lin Ming took out a piece of paper with a small list of materials as he said this.

Lin Mind had decided upon the 'Overwhelming Rune', actually a simplified version. The simplified version did not need Sky Worm Silk and was naturally much easier. However, its effect was a bit weaker and it did not have an inscription technique in it.

His goal was only to pass the examination; there was no need to create a scene and shock everyone. The 'Overwhelming Rune' also contained some inscription techniques that had been lost in the Sky Fortune Kingdom, and Lin Ming did not want to expose these.

"If I could purchase these materials, thank you." Lin Ming handed the detailed list to the reception elder sister.

The reception elder sister took the list in hand and received a nod of confirmation from Wang Xuanji. She said, "Very well. May I ask what sort of rare treasure you will use?"

"I want to use a sword. Yes, would the rare treasure belong to me after I place an inscription symbol on it?"

"Certainly. The treasure and the material are originally purchased by you for the examination. Please come and choose a sword with me."

"Mm. Good."

As Lin Ming left, Wang Yuhan was still looking at his back until he vanished, and she muttered, "Grandfather, this youth is only 15 years old and wants to test as an inscription master. If he passes the examination, then I will lose out not only to Qin Xingxuan but to him."

Wang Xuanji replied with a smile, "The examination to be an inscription master is not some easy test. Since this young boy dares to take the test as an inscription master, then he must have his own unique ability, and is probably not someone from the Sky Fortune Kingdom. He might be a disciple of some reclusive master. Since his natural talent is outstanding and he practices diligently, he wishes to take the inscription master examination at 15 years of age and sweep away the younger generation of Sky Fortune City's inscription talent, and create his own legacy and fame. Haha, but this is not that easy."

As Wang Xuanji said this, he lit a sound transmitting talisman and passed a message to the two inscription masters who were usually responsible for the inscription examination, and bid them to come together.

Wang Yuhan bit her lip and whispered, "Mm, I will not lose to him. I will not lose to Qin Xingxuan."

The Inscription Association had rare treasures they specifically kept to use in the examinations. Lin Ming looked at his options until he selected a very good long sword and said, "This one."

This sword was valued at 3600 gold taels and was one of the more expensive treasures in the storehouse. The reception elder sister was a bit surprised; generally those that participated in the inscription master examination would choose a more modest and less expensive treasure. This young boy actually chose something so expensive; it must be that his family was ridiculously wealthy or he was confident in himself.

Lin Ming had his own ideas. Since he had to choose a rare treasure to use, he could not naturally choose something that would be wasted. It was best to choose a superior quality treasure to combine with a good inscription symbol to sell at a high price.

"Our treasures, once sold, cannot be exchanged." The reception elder sister said. She did not want Lin Ming to feel as if he would be cheated, and wanted to make sure that this sword was the one he wanted.

Lin Ming took out four gold banknotes and said with a shy smile, "This I certainly know."

"Mm. Then come along with me."

After the payment had concluded, the reception elder sister brought Lin Ming to return to the examination room before she left.

After re-entering the inscription room, Lin Ming saw that two other people were in the room who looked to be about 40-50 years of age. One was a middle-aged man wearing a long green robe, and the other was a smiling man, who looked somewhat like a perpetually happy, very kind and very fat old man.

These two were the examination officials of the Inscription Association that were responsible for the inscription master examination. Wang Xuanji usually did not join these examinations, but this time had had some interest in staying and observing.

"Are you ready?" Wang Xuanji asked.

"Mm." Lin Ming nodded. He placed the long sword on the inscription stone platform. The materials for this symbol began to unfold one at a time. The Inscription Associations materials had already been processed quite well, and did not require Lin Ming to grind, purify, melt, or do anything else to them.

The middle-aged man who wore a long green gown gave Lin Ming a blank look and said, "The time limit for this examination is two hours. If you have three consecutive failures then you will fail. If the end product has less than a 20% increase in strength, then that is also a fail."

"Understood."

"Good. You may begin." The middle-aged man turned over an hour glass, and the sand within began to silently pass.

Lin Ming sat in repose with his eyes closed for a moment. He revolved the true essence in his body until it reached an optimal condition, and then placed his hands outwards. A few small drops of blue colored juice jumped to his palm as if they were under Lin Ming's control.

This was only a simple gesture, but the people present were able to feel the young man wrap the blue colored juice in a strong soul force.

"This soul force… I'm afraid this young man might be a fifth-grade talent." Wang Xuanji said with surprise.

"No wonder he dares to take the test at only 15 years of age, he has some ability." The middle-aged man said as he slowly nodded.

Wang Yuhan pursed her lips. She naturally also noted Li Ming's soul force and she muttered in her heart. "Fifth-grade soul talent!? That's the same as me. Before now the only rival I had was that Qin Xingxuan, now there is another!"

Fifth-grade talent was very rare. Generally speaking, a martial artist's soul talent and martial talent did not have too large of a difference, but the soul talent was usually lower than the martial talent. Therefore a high grade soul talent was especially rare. If a fifth-grade martial talent was only seen once every decade, then a fifth-grade soul talent would be seen once every two, or even three decades.

Wang Yuhan's martial talent was only fourth-grade, but her soul talent was actually higher than her martial talent. This was likely something that she inherited from her grandfather.

Wang Yuhan's medium fifth-grade talent was absolutely the top tier of inscription talents that was only seen once every several dozen years. In addition, Wang Xuanji had been gently guiding Wang Yuhan since childhood. Now in terms of inscription techniques and talent, she was similar to Qin Xingxuan, but she was also older.

Lin Ming did not have a fifth-grade soul talent, but the soul law formula that he used was the 'Overbearing Soul Tactic', which originated from the Realm of the Gods. Therefore he was able to congeal his soul force well and give the impression that his arms had strings on them.

If that initial movement of Lin Ming's had made Wang Xuanji feel startled, then the following movement made everyone doubt its possibility.

When the blue colored drops reached Lin Ming's fingertips, his fingers moved in a series of movements like a blur. The droplets were gently pulled apart with the stretches of his fingers like they were glimmering azure meteors in the night sky. Faint afterimages followed each movement, like the tails of glistening meteors as they traced through the air.

In the time of a few blinks, a complex symbol had already been completed.

Wang Xuanji inhaled a sharp breath, and the smiling old man's smile also froze.

"Bright Buddha Plucking the Lotus!"

A layman would only watch for fun, but an expert would see the way. Lin Ming's hand movement was like the passing clouds and flowing rivers. There was a special term for this among inscription masters, called the 'Bright Buddha Plucking the Lotus'. The Bright Buddha was an myth of ancient times called the Thousand Finger Buddha. The fable said that the Buddha had ten hands, each with a thousand fingers. Every year in the Bright Buddha's garden, the water lotuses would bloom and he would collect the seeds. In a single move, the Bright Buddha was able to pick out hundreds of water lotus seeds. Therefore the ancient religious texts described this as 'Bright Buddha Plucks the Lotus', and the inscription masters co-opted this word to describe peerless great masters of inscription who would draw inscription symbols so speedily that there would be shadows left behind.

Certainly if they discussed only the speed of drawing, then some inscription masters with a higher cultivation in martial arts would be quicker, but if they wanted to maintain their soul force at such a high speed and not lose any stability or accuracy, then that would be more difficult than ascending to heaven. This sort of shadow that was created, one would only be able to practice it with heaven defying perception and painstaking effort!

This young boy was how old? Even if he started to practice inscription techniques from within his mother's womb, he would not be so adept at such finger speed!

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Chapter 50 – Obtaining the Materials

Wang Xuanji was able to quickly discover that this youth's drawing technique did not originate from any school of learning in the Sky Fortune Kingdom. His techniques looked more complex, and were incomparably smoother.

"This youth's master's sect is not from roots of the Sky Fortune Kingdom!" The middle-aged man said.

"Mmm. And moreover, their school of training is much more progressed than we are."

Colorful lights blossomed together in midair. Their paths interweaved trails of light in the audience's widened irises, leaving a bright and shimmering blur behind. Wang Yuhan held her breath, the soul force in that symbol gave a feeling of the most exquisite and careful changes of energy.

When drawing an inscription symbol, the most difficult task to grasp was to assure that the soul force was carefully calculated for every slight nuance; the smallest inaccuracy could cause complete failure. But in this young man's hand, each small change was as if it were instinctively exact. Under his deft hands, he drew symbol like a painter who was free-hand drawing the flowers and birds, as those small birds were spreading their wings in a wish to fly.

At first, in Wang Yuhan existed a secret fear that she would be surpassed by this young boy. She had hoped that he would not be able to pass this examination. But at this point, she was already thoroughly enraptured in utter admiration and amazement. On the contrary, now in her heart she wished that he would never stop, that this perfection could continue until the end of time and in her heart was not even the tiniest shred of regret

This feeling, it was the same as musicians that longed to hear the sounds of the divine songs of nature and gods in full bloom, or the artist who yearned to see the most marvelous and splendid painting that had been handed down by the greatest painters of the past generations. Only this sort of feeling could cause a human to abandon all distractions and pursue the peak of their craft.

Seeing the dedicated facial expression of this meticulous young man, Wang Yuhan finally was able to understand why the cultivation growth of her inscription technique had come to a standstill. It was exactly because she cared too much about Qin Xingxuan, and feared that the path she walked on would be overtaken by a girl who was half a year younger than she was.

But now, seeing Lin Ming's perfect inscription technique, she was suddenly enlightened with the truth. This land was endless and boundless; there were countless peerless talents and geniuses like herself. Being number one among the youths of Sky Fortune Kingdom in inscription techniques was merely idle vanity. There was no significance in whether she was surpassed by Qin Xingxuan or not.

What she pursued would no longer be Qin Xingxuan's shadow, but beyond her. What she would pursue was not being the number one inscription talent in the Sky Fortune Kingdom, but to reach the pinnacle of inscription.

One minute and one second had passed. In front of Lin Ming, the number of symbols and runes was increasing, as they began overlapping in midair with light and dark twinkles, as if they had a living, breathing rhythm. Lin Ming was already familiar with the 'Overwhelming Rune', and drawing it was easy. The peak of the Second Stage of Body Transformation allowed Lin Ming to have enough true essence to support the entire process; he did not need to suffer hardship like he had a few months ago.

Today, Lin Ming's inscription drawing had gone especially smooth. He had invested his total attention into creating the symbol, and had forgotten that this was an examination. He fully finished the dozens of colorful and brilliant symbols and runes, and then after a flash of light, Lin Ming's soul force brought them all together as one, and they condensed into a square inch of a flame symbol.

This time Lin Ming did not place this symbol onto a piece of symbol paper, but instead took it to the table with the longsword, and with a flick of his finger, the symbol fell onto the longsword with a 'chi chi' and branded itself onto it. Its final appearance was like a raging flame.

Completion.

Seeing that sword in Lin Ming's hand, Wang Xuanji's heart was enraptured and gave endless praise. His eyes fell on the blade of the sword and he could naturally see the potential of that flame symbol as it exuded a sense of nature. He immersed his soul force into it, and felt that the true essence circulated as easily as breathing.

Wang Xuanji was able to affirm that it was a perfect inscription symbol. But the one who drew it was a mere young boy whose true essence was at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. How much could this symbol increase the strength of the weapon?

The inscription symbol's talk of 'increased strength' was not the sharpness of the blade, but the circulation and flow of true essence. If the inscription symbol was on symbol paper, no one would be able to determine how much it would increase the strength. If it was on a rare treasure like a weapon, then an experienced inscription master would be able to pour his true essence into the treasure and see how the flow of true essence was affected by the inscription symbol. They would then be able to tell what percentage of strength the inscription symbol would increase the rare treasure by.

Wang Xuanji raised the long sword in his hand and concentrated his true essence into it. He closed his eyes and let the sensations wash through him. A moment later his eyes opened, and although he had already expected this in his heart, he was still surprised.

The inscription symbol's increased strength amounted to about 32%. This was the standard of a master class inscriptionist!

"32% increased true essence strength……." Wang Xuanji exclaimed.

"Oh?" The middle-aged man's eyebrows rose and he took the long sword in his hand. Generally, the primary beginning inscription master would find even a 20% increase in strength difficult. That this youth could reach 32%… it had it be known that after 20%, every little bit further was much more difficult.

The middle-aged man had worked as an examination official for many years now. When it came to evaluating an inscription symbol, he was faster than Wang Xuanji and could obtain a more precise result. "Between 32% and 33%."

The middle-aged man laid down the long sword on the table and sized up Lin Ming. Where did this kid come from? He just came out of nowhere. Did he have any friends? Companions? Is it possible that he is the disciple of a master from some ancient sect? By why would the disciple of an ancient sect come to a small place like this Inscription Association at Sky Fortune City to apply to become an inscription master?

"Congratulations, Lin Ming. You've thoroughly passed the examination." Wang Xuanji said.

"Thank you, Association President."

"Mm. Are you willing to join our Sky Fortune City Inscription Association?" Wang Xuanji casually asked. In his view, disciples of these ancient clans would not join the Sky Fortune City's Inscription Association. If ten were asked, ten would turn it down. He hadn't imagined Lin Ming would nod and answer, "Yes, I want to."

"Oh?" Wang Xuanji's eyebrows rose. "You want to join our Inscription Association?"

"Mm. I came here to participate in the examination for this reason."

"This…" Wang Xuanji felt strange in his mind, he could not understand Lin Ming's reasons.

"Mm. To tell Association President honestly, I joined the Inscription Association to earn contribution points to buy materials."

Buy materials? If you needed rare and precious materials then you would need contribution points. There were countless ways to use these materials. Was it this boy that wanted them? Or his master?

His master must be some senior of unfathomably high skill. Why would that sort of person look for materials in a small trade union in a small place like Sky Fortune City's?

Wang Xuanji thought about this for a long time, and with a bit of hesitation said, "You, if you sell this sword to the Inscription Association, I will trade you 3000 contribution points to purchase materials."

Lin Ming startled and was immediately overjoyed with happiness. He had worried that he would have to complete a number of missions. He didn't think he would be so lucky that Wang Xuanji would propose to trade this sword for 3000 contribution points. Before, he had looked through the list of precious materials that he needed for his medicinal inscription, and 3000 was not a small amount. It was enough to purchase the materials that he needed.

"This Association President old man probably wanted to buy my sword to study it. But the inscription techniques are complicated and diverse. Even someone well versed in inscription techniques would find it difficult to examine, even if they were careful and spent a lot of time. Perhaps he wanted to unravel some mysteries of the inscription symbol and reproduce it, but even that is impossibly difficult. If he buys this sword, he probably won't be able to find anything." Thinking like this, Lin Ming said, "Thank you Association President, I was sorely lacking contribution points."

"There is no need to be polite. If any day your teacher comes to Sky Fortune City, please welcome him to our Sky Fortune City's Inscription Association as an honored guest." There were two reasons Wang Xuanji gave Lin Ming such favorable conditions at the start. First, he wanted to study the sword, and second, he wanted to win over Lin Ming, and possibly have the opportunity to know the mysterious sect behind Lin Ming.

"Fourth-level vicious beasts blood, 1 jin. 1100 gold taels, 150 contribution points."

"Sky Blue Cloud Flower Seeds, 12. 600 gold taels, 80 contribution points."

"Dragon Bloodroot Juice, 1 jin. 600 gold taels, 60 contribution points."

The one in charge of the sale of rare and precious materials was a 40-50 year old middle-aged woman. She was comparing her supplies as she read down Lin Ming's list, and quoted the price each time it matched. For every match, she would stop and look at Lin Ming. This little boy, he was buying so many rare and precious things, what was he planning on doing with them in the end?

Lin Ming had listed dozens of materials, including several precious and rare ones. For instance, the fourth-level vicious beast blood, a small vial would be able to match up against a rare treasure in price. If he had left the Inscription Association to buy it at market price, it would have been at least 3000 gold taels, and even then he would not necessarily have been able to purchase it.

If this was half a year ago, Lin Ming would not even dare to dream about such things.

The amount of gold required quickly accumulated to 10,000. The contributions points needed also almost reached 2000. As Lin Xiaodong saw the required amount of gold rise, all he could hear was the unceasing drone of the abacus as it made pop pop sounds. Each pop made him feel fearful and apprehensive of the next item, but soon all he felt was numbness. He had finally seen what people called spending money like running water.

"Total price, 10,000 gold taels and 2100 contribution points. Would you like to confirm this purchase?" The middle-aged woman let down her abacus and asked Lin Ming. Even an inscription master of Sky Fortune City who was of great learning and fame, and was also noble, would not buy so many rare and precious materials. Who was this little guy? Where did he come into possession of so many contribution points?

"Mm. Yes, I would like to purchase these." Ling Ming said and he pulled out the gold banknotes from his sleeves and also a points card. This points card had a card number that showed how many contribution points he had in the records.

"Ok…"

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Chapter 51 – Ranking Stone

As he returned to his residence, Lin Ming looked at the piles of materials in his room and his heart filled with anticipation and excitement. These materials would even make an inscription master of the Sky Fortune Kingdom feel like their hand was heavy; they would be very careful in handling these rare materials and would not dare to waste a single bit. To them, an inscription symbol that used a few of these materials was already extraordinary and would be a very complex inscription technique, but Lin Ming wanted to create a medicinal inscription symbol, and that actually required the use of all these materials. Even with Lin Ming's current inscription skill, there was no certainty at all that he would be successful.

"If I can successfully use the 'Lower Spirit Cure Symbol' on the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill, and eat them, my strength would definitely rise tremendously." These two pills were already top quality medicines, in addition to the efficiency of the medicinal inscription symbol and his diligent practice of his Second Stage cultivation, then he might be able to break through into the Third Stage of Body Transformation.

Moreover, if he was successful in creating the medicinal inscription symbol, then his own inscription technique would advance further, and he would be ever closer to being able to create body inscriptions that enhanced speed and combat prowess!

Though Lin Ming was excited in his heart that the prospects seemed so magnificent and wonderful to him, he knew that in order to truly implement all these ideas, it would very difficult and he would have to expend at least twice the effort. Even if Lin Ming had fused the with soul fragment memories, he also needed to constantly practice the coordinations of his body movements and soul.

In order to save materials, Lin Ming used the old method that he had from the very beginning. He only used true essence, and did not expend any materials.

In training such skills, victory was attained by repeated and unrelenting practice. If 1000 times was not good, then he would practice 10,000 times. If 10,000 times was not good, he would practice tens of 10,000s of times.

Repeating these motions tens of thousands of times was tedious and exhausting of soul force. This sort of grueling feeling was like not sleeping for three days and three nights, and was the acknowledgement of support by hard work and stubborn effort.

Lin Ming had been practicing for only two days and his eyes were already bloodshot. He stopped practice to take a rest and didn't even have the strength to lift a cup.

"I used the 'Overbearing Soul Tactic', and I also bought pills that specialize in reducing fatigue and aiding in the restoration of soul force, and yet I still turned out like this. This medicinal inscription symbol's difficulty is without a doubt several times higher than the object inscription symbol."

"Tomorrow will be the admission day for the Seven Profound Martial House. It looks like it will be impossible to complete the medicinal inscription symbol before the admission day."

From the end of the examination to the beginning of the official admission, there were three long days of relaxation in between. Tomorrow, he had to report to the Earth Hall at the Seven Profound Martial House.

The Earth Hall's martial artists had an opportunity to challenge disciples of the Heavenly Abode once they reached the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation, Altering Muscles. Some martial artists who were at the peak of the Third Stage but had special circumstances could also obtain the qualifications to challenge to disciples of the Heavenly Abode.

With Lin Ming's present strength, he was sorely lacking the qualifications to enter the Heavenly Abode.

Next day in the early morning, students of the Earth Hall were gathered in the back mountains. A tall, tanned, topless and red haired man walked in front of everyone with a black saber slung over his shoulder. He looked around at all of the youths present and opened his mouth to say, "Starting today, you lot have officially become disciples of the Seven Profound Martial House's Earth Hall! I am your teacher! My name is Hong Xi, but you may also call me Instructor Hong."

"This time the number of idiots who have passed the examination is 53! But standing here, 20 of you were the ones with the qualifications to actually enter the Earth Hall! Without a doubt, you are all extremely talented geniuses! I hope. But, do you think that just because you entered the Earth Hall that you are destined to become masters of your generation? Powerhouses could die early; peerless talents could fall from the sky. Only by unceasingly crawling upwards and surviving perils will you be able to have your name recorded throughout history!"

"Those of the Earth Hall have some possibility of being won over by forces of Sky Fortune City. Even though they will shower you with money and beautiful women and other sorts of enticements, you have all passed the Dream Trial test and have a heart of martial arts! But! Even a heart of martial arts can slowly be corrupted. These temptations might become the maggots that eat your clothes and gnaw at your will!"

"Remember this! Only strength is the most important! They want to win you over because you have the strength! If you do not have strength, then you have nothing! Come with me."

The red haired man said all these and then led the group to a place deep within the back mountains.

The lands occupied by the Seven Profound Martial House were broad and vast. The entire Zhou Mountain was the land of the Seven Profound Martial House. In the back mountains there were only a few buildings. The path was dotted with beautiful green grass, great mountains stones and ancient trees that seemed to come to life. Occasionally, water springs flowed to life, giving the beautiful image of spring come alive.

After they walked for about the time an incense stick takes to burn, they reached a giant cliff. The cliff was several dozen feet high, and its surface was polished as smooth and shiny as a mirror. On it, was densely engraved numerous names. The name at the top was as big as a bucket. It said: Ling Sen.

The names downwards were smaller, and they were written in lines row after row. Altogether there were 20 rows.

Lin Ming faintly guessed the purpose of this cliff. Hong Xi's words only verified his suspicions. He had said, "You saw the cliff, but the truth is that it is just an illusion. The names above are constantly changing; this is the Seven Profound Martial House's Ranking Stone. The Ranking Stone has the names of everyone from the Earth Hall and the Heavenly Abode. Their names are all listed. There are over 200 individuals, these people are you fellow senior apprentice brothers and senior apprentice sisters."

It really was some sort of ranking system. Lin Ming looked at the strange names and followed downward from Ling Sen. He read them and still did not see Qin Xingxuan.

Why didn't it list Qin Xingxuan? Lin Ming had some doubts; perhaps Qin Xingxuan was not included together with the disciples of the Heavenly Abode.

Lin Ming continued to look, and then after some time his eyes narrowed. He saw an extremely familiar name – Zhu Yan!

Zhu Yan, rank 39.

Heavenly Abode, 39!

Lin Ming took a deep breath. How long would it take for him to achieve this?

He continued downwards and was pleasantly surprised to see his own name. But immediately after him was that man, Wang Yanfeng. The rest of the 20 of them of the Earth Hall were listed. As for the others, their names were not written on the cliff ledge.

The Ranking Stone only showed the names of those in the Heavenly Abode and the Earth Hall.

Hong Xi said, "One way of the martial path is to hack your way through! If you wish to reach higher, then you must step on others underneath your boot! This land has no lack of talent! But do you know why we selected so many of you so called geniuses?

Hong Xi spoke this far, and the disciple were stunned. One disciple said, "Instructor Hong, choosing a talent is naturally to raise them and help them cultivate."

"Raise them?" Hong Xi laughed and laughed again with unbridled impunity. You know how a beast trainer trains a vicious beast? They have the most excellent of systems. The beasts with the best qualifications and potential are chosen, and then reared. They are fed good, hearty meat daily, and trained. Then they put them in a cage and let them fight. Out of the several hundred beasts who began, there would only be one left; that is the king of the beasts."

"You lot are in this cage of beasts. On the path of being a powerhouse you will need to step on countless peerless geniuses and climb over their corpses. Therefore the reason we chose and gathered so many talents is not to raise you, but in order to be raised for battle and slaughter! You are nothing more than stepping stones for the true talents to step on and climb higher!"

"There is no strongest, only stronger. You either step on the corpses and crawl up someone or you face the cruel death and are trampled underneath everyone else. This is the truth!"

Each of Hong Xi's words hit the disciples like a steel ball. It made their hearts plummet into ice. The talents were not gathered together to focus on training, but only to be bodies for powerhouses to climb up and reach higher goals.

Hong Xi's beast cage analogy planted a strong sense of crisis within the disciple. Even Lin Ming felt a surge of emotions.

"The last is the king…" Lin Ming clenched his fists and his eyes filled with thick fighting spirit.

"Good. Here are 20 jade slips. Inside are introductions to the rules and system of the Seven Profound Martial House. Your residence is arranged in the back mountains. Everything is written in the jade slip. Now you are all dismissed. We will officially begin lessons tomorrow."

The red haired man waved his arms and 20 jade slips flew into the students' hands. Lin Ming received one of them and he quickly sunk his soul force into it and saw where his own residence was.

"First I will find my place and settle down. Then I will create the medicinal inscription symbol and use it to raise my strength. The Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill I obtained is a miracle pill, helpful in making breakthroughs through bottlenecks. If I use an inscription symbol on it, it should be enough to break through to the Third Stage of Body Transformation.

Body Transformation had six Stages. Strength Training, Flesh Training, Viscera Training, Altering Muscle, Bone Forging, and Pulse Condensation. These six Stages were far removed from each other; wanting to breakthrough to the next would require a long period of time. Lin Ming had only been in the Second Stage of Body Transformation for over a month. He knew that making a breakthrough in a short period of time was not easy. But since he had the top tier pills, in addition to the power of the medicinal inscription symbol, breaking through was not impossibility.

"Lin Ming!"

As Lin Ming was thinking, he heard a loud voice and turned his head to look. He was surprised to see a young man in white clothing standing ten steps away with a sullen gaze staring at him.

This person was Wang Yanfeng. During the Seven Profound Martial House entrance examination, Wang Yanfeng had hated Lin Ming for snatching away his first place spot and even his Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. This was a huge blow to Wang Yanfeng and to him, the cause and instigator of all this was Lin Ming. This Lin Ming was without a doubt the pain of the flesh, the eternal thorn in his side!

"Those two pills, did you eat them?" Wang Yanfeng said with a cold tone through clenched teeth.

"What if I did, what if I didn't?" Lin Ming answered quietly. These two pills were priceless, but he didn't worry that others would covet them. In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, the Seven Profound Martial House was a supreme existence. They had terrible strength and an immeasurable background. If they gave a reward, then nobody would dare to steal it away.

"I know that you haven't eaten them. Those two pills are strong and dangerous, your body simply cannot withstand them. Lin Ming, you are only a medium third-grade talent, you need to know that with your talent, those two pills – especially the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill – would be wasted. At best you would only absorb 1/10 of it. Being eaten by you is a complete and total waste.

Lin Ming frowned. "What do you want to say?"

"I want to buy your Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill."

Lin Ming smiled. He didn't think that Wang Yanfeng would say such funny words to him. It really made one laugh. "Are you cracking a joke? You think I will sell it to you?"

"Don't reject it. Listen to my terms first."

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Chapter 52 – Juniors of the Lin Family

"I can lend you a jade slip containing my family's handed down martial manual, the 'Nine Paths of Truth', but only for six hours. I can also give you 5000 gold taels! However there is just one condition; you cannot ever mention that I let you look at the 'Nine Paths of Truth' or connect me to it. Otherwise, not only will I have bad luck, the Wang Family may hunt you down and kill you." Wang Yanfeng said these words in a very low sound.

The Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill could not be bought with mere gold, and Wang Yanfeng at most had only a few thousand gold taels that he could trade with. Therefore he offered his family's secret skill the 'Nine Paths of Truth' as a lure. This was a skill manual handed down the generations of the Wang Family; it was very precious and was kept an absolute secret from all outsiders.

Wang Yanfeng guessed that the only thing Lin Ming knew was some heart mantra, and did not know any martial art skills. As long as Lin Ming did not mention anything about this then no one would notice. Wang Yanfeng thought that even this Lin Ming wouldn't be so stupid as to let others discover he had learnt a forbidden Wang Family martial skill and thus bitterly experience the Wang Family chasing him down to kill him. This was why he was willing to take this risk out of desperation.

Wang Yanfeng estimated that with Lin Ming's inferior natural talent, he would not be able to comprehend much with only six hours.

"The 'Nine Paths of Truth'? And I can only look at it for six hours?" Lin Ming sneered. These conditions, he wouldn't even disdain himself to glance at it. Compared to the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', the 'Nine Paths of Truth' was nothing but trash. "I regretfully decline. I have no interest in this."

Wang Yanfeng blushed red like a tomato. "Lin Ming, are you even aware of your own circumstances! With your inferior talent it is impossible to breakthrough to the Third Stage of Body Transformation, even if you eat the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill! But if you practice a bit of the heart mantras of the 'Nine Paths of Truth' your control of your true essence will be enhanced and there will be endless benefits! This rare family martial skill handed down in my Wang Family cannot even be purchased by millions of gold!"

Lin Ming said, "The Seven Profound Martial House has no lack of heart mantras, and they are also much more profound when compared to the 'Nine Paths of Truth' by many fold. Why would I want to look at anything of yours?"

"Humph. The Seven Profound Martial House do have top-tier heart mantras, but these top-tier skills manuals are only passed down to core disciples. You know what a core disciple is? Those are the true disciples chosen for the Seven Profound Valleys. In the future if there are no accidents, then they will be able to go to the Seven Profound Valleys. Even senior apprentice brother Ling Sen of the Heavenly Abode does not have the qualifications to learn them. As far as I know there are only a handful of core disciples. Besides Qin Xingxuan, most aren't even from the Sky Fortune Kingdom but from some mystical cultivating martial family. You think to have any hope?! You're dreaming! Even I didn't expect your audacity!"

The large sects were brutally strict on the inheritance of their skill manuals. This was because they relied on the existence of these skill manuals to be the cornerstone of their power. Even in the Seven Profound Martial House, the majority of disciples could only learn second-tier skill manuals. Wang Yanfeng knew this as a fact.

However, Lin Ming had the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians'. Let alone the top-tier manuals within the Seven Profound Martial House, even the secret arts of the headmaster of a large sect would not make him feel a hint of jealousy.

Lin Ming said, "Just because you don't expect anything doesn't mean I don't have hope. I'm sorry but I'm busy right now. I'm going first."

"You! Good! Very good! You think that just because you managed to barely defeat me last time, you are so outstanding compared to me? You just wait, wait for me to take back everything that you took from me and I will stamp on you beneath my heel. You think that you can become a core disciple just by your own efforts? Don't make me laugh. I'll wait and watch as you become a stepping stone for others. The higher you stand, the more miserably you will fall!"

Ling Mind had completely ignored Wang Yanfeng's indignant cursing. Wang Yanfeng had already been defeated by him. In his mind, he may be weaker than others, he may be weaker than Zhu Yan, Qin Xingxuan, and Ling Sen, but he would never let himself feel inferior to someone he had already defeated. If one day, Lin Ming was beaten by someone he had already defeated, then he would reflect upon his mistakes.

Shortly before noon, Lin Ming moved all his belongings to his new residence. The lands of the Seven Profound Martial House were broad, and they had enough space to give each disciple of the Earth Hall a room of their own.

Lin Ming's room was located at a small secluded space in the back mountains. Its back faced the mountains and there was a deep, clean pool at the side. There were century old trees which formed a huge canopy that shaded the room. Even in the summer it was quiet and refreshing, it was an excellent place to cultivate in peace.

Lin Ming was satisfied with his new room. He sat cross-legged in bed and began to read the contents of the jade slip.

The jade slip explained the rules and systems of the Seven Profound Martial House, including violations, regulations, punishments, challenge rules, class hours, and practice arrangements and so on. He finally reached the end, where there were ranking rewards that were provided by the Seven Profound Martial House.

Seeing these, Lin Ming's interest was piqued. A major portion of the reason he joined the Seven Profound Martial House was for these resources.

The Seven Profound Martial House had many disciples; they were ranked on one's individual achievement in the Ten Thousand Killing Array

Several hundred years ago, the Seven Profound Valley was founded by seven supreme experts. Among them, one excelled in the creation and construction of magic arrays. Over the years, the array methods were handed down generation by generation within the Seven Profound Valleys. In the examination of the sect disciples, they would occasionally use illusionary killing arrays. The Seven Profound Martial House was under the governance of the Seven Profound Valleys; they naturally had advantages and customs associated with them.

The magic array used for ranking was calling the Ten Thousand Killing Array. Once one entered, they would fight countless waves of enemies one after the other. In the midst of these enemies were vicious beasts, and also humans.

Their final ranking would be decided by the total number and cultivation of the enemies they defeated.

Among these enemies, the weakest was equal to a martial artist at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. If they defeated one Second Stage Body Transformation enemy they would receive one point, if they defeated one at the Peak of the Second Stage they would receive 5 points, Third Stage of Body Transformation 10 points, peak of Third Stage 50 points, Fourth Stage of Body Transformation 100 points, peak of Fourth Stage of Body Transformation 500 points, and so on…

The enemies after one first entered the Ten Thousand Killing Array would be at the Second Stage of Body Transformation, and behind them the enemies would become increasingly more difficult to handle. The Fourth Stage of Body Transformation would come one after the other, unceasingly until death.

The final result was the accumulated score one had before death, and this would be demonstrated on the Ranking Stone.

If you had a high ranking, then one could obtain many advantages.. For instance, Soul Gathering Pellets. If you placed after 200, then you would receive a Soul Gathering Pellet every three months. If you placed in the first ten, you would receive 10 Soul Gathering Pellets every month. Ten Soul Gathering Pellets were equal to 2000 gold taels. This was an amount that not even a wealthy junior from an aristocratic family could disregard.

The reality was that the Soul Gathering Pellets were only secondary, after all, this was something that the rich could buy with money. But there were also resources given that not even the very wealthy could purchase, for instance, legacy skill manuals. If one placed in the top 200, then they could choose the most preliminary and basic of skill manuals. If one placed within the top ten, they could freely enter certain secret rooms of the Seven Profound Martial House and choose a skill manual they wanted to learn.

But if one placed in first placed, they could even have a chance to learn the most guarded core skill manuals of the Seven Profound Martial House. These were top quality skill manuals that only core disciples could hope to learn. Even juniors of the Royal Family and the highest ranking families would have no opportunity to ever study these.

Certainly, Lin Ming had not much interest at all in skill manuals, but instead the resources.

The Seven Profound Valleys was a sect that was proficient in creating magic arrays. At the beginning of the establishment of the Seven Profound Martial Houses, the Seven Profound Valley had once sent out Xiantian experts to place these magic arrays in many of the Martial Houses so that the disciples could use them for practice. Using these, one could practice their skills with twice the result and half the effort. But the number of these arrays was limited, and moreover they needed a massive number of true essence stones to activate and maintain. Therefore not everyone could enter these magic killing arrays, the qualifications one needed were similar to the ranking they had.

So in the Seven Profound Martial House, ranking was supreme. With a higher ranking, one would enjoy more resources. The strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. The disciples there were all talents; only by stepping on the corpses of others would they have a chance to bloom.

"I have already officially entered the Seven Profound Martial House. If I want to obtain sufficient resources, then I have first got to get a good ranking from the Ten Thousand Killing Array, but… my medicinal inscription symbol isn't ready. If I start practicing now, I might be able to begin drawing one in half a month. To display the maximum efficiency of the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill, it will be worth it to spend the time doing so."

Lin Ming said to himself, and begun practicing his inscription again…

On the morning of the second day, Lin Ming rose out of bed early and washed himself. Today was the official teaching day of the Seven Profound Martial House.

Teaching did not involve explaining skill manuals. It only involved cultivation tips, elementary basic knowledge, taking care of the body and so forth. In the core curriculum aspects, the Seven Profound Martial House was very loose. There were seven or eight possible courses they could attend and listen to. Each disciple chose based on their own interests and could even attend one at random, or even not even bother attending at all.

For today's lectures, the jade slip had already explained that it would be explanations of the foundation body techniques.

Although Lin Ming had inherited a highest quality skill manual, he was actually still very limited in the understanding of the basics. He had not received any legitimate martial arts training after all, and therefore these classes had a very high significance to him.

The location of this lecture was the Seven Profound Martial House's Martial Lecture Hall. When Lin Ming arrived at the Martial Lecture Hall, he found that it was already packed with people already sitting; there were probably around 70 or 80.

In this group were not only the 53 new disciples, but also some old ones who had come to listen.

The Seven Profound Martial House's Heavenly Abode and Earth Hall had altogether 230 disciples. The Human Hall had almost 400 disciples. Altogether the total number of disciples surpassed 600. Out of these 600 there were several dozen who came through their connections, although even though they did use their connections to enter, that did not mean they would be horrible.

In the Seven Profound Martial House, each martial artist could study for 5 years at most. 5 years later, if they were not yet 22 years old, they could apply to stay another year, and after that must graduate.

If one's strength was high enough, they could apply to graduate ahead of time, but, most students chose to stay the entire full five years, as there were many resources that could not be found outside.

After Lin Ming entered the Martial Lecture Hall he casually strolled around for a place to sit. As he did, he noticed that there were a few people whose gazes drifted towards him.

Lin Ming looked back and saw that these people looking at him had friendly, smiling faces.

Mmm? Did these people know him?

"You are Lin Ming?" A handsome youth in blue clothes asked with a jolly smile.

"Mmm, may I ask who you are?"

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lin Wu, this is my younger sister Lin Fengyuan." The handsome blue clothed youth waved at a delicate young girl at his side.

Lin Wu, Lin Fengyuan, could it be…

Lin Ming was surprised, he opened his mouth to ask, "You are the direct descendant juniors of Green Mulberry City's Lin Family?"

Lin Wu smiled and said, "You're correct, we are all one family."

The Lin Family was a large and respected family in Green Mulberry City. Although they did not have any noble titles that were bestowed to them, their family had several generations of doing business and thus had a very rich heritage. In such a large family, that there would be some outstanding young talents in the Seven Profound Martial House could be considered a normal matter. A few months ago, Lin Ming had borrowed a Pass Card to enter the Zither Hall; this was lent to him by Lin Xiaodong.

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Chapter 53 – Provocation

Although the Lin Family had a very rich heritage, if a family wanted long-term development, they had to concentrate their financial resources. The family business could only be passed onto direct descendants, otherwise the business would become more and more generation fragmented and within a few generations, more or less, the family would exist in name only.

Lin Ming was born within the branch family, and he was also separated by several generations, it was impossible for his family to be given a business; they could only be responsible for management. Since he was born, Lin Ming never had much contact with the direct descendant juniors of the Lin Family, so he simply hadn't recognized this brother-sister pair.

Lin Wu said, "We only found out a few days ago that the number one spot in the Martial House entrance examination was a junior of the Lin Family, it really gave us juniors a huge shock. And rarest of all, you were from the branch family. You managed to achieve this success without the resources and support of the main family; it really makes me feel ashamed and embarrassed.

Lin Fengyuan also interjected, she said, "Young Cousin, the news that you managed to obtain the first place result in the examination has already been passed onto the family; it even alarmed the head of the household! This is a remarkable achievement! The head of the household has already visited Young Cousin's parents and gifted the restaurant to Young Cousin's parents. He thanked the two elders for rearing such a wonderful talent in the Lin Family. When Young Cousin goes back, the Lin Family will go high and low to give you the most welcoming dinner for your reception."

After hearing these two siblings' words, Lin Ming was speechless. He hadn't thought that such a series of events had occurred. Regarding the Lin Family, he had never felt much of a connection or sense of belonging to them, and as for the welcoming reception, he wasn't much interested.

However, what Lin Ming also knew, was that this was his parents' fondest dream and hope that he would obtain glory. For parents, who didn't want their children to enjoy the world and return home with riches and honor?

Moreover, his parents had a very strong sense of tradition, and forever hoped to bring honor to their ancestors and provide an umbrella for their descendants. The honor of being the first place candidate in the Seven Profound Martial House was an honor that would give the Lin Family bragging rights for several generations. The total population of Sky Fortune Kingdom was between 70 to 80 million. To be the first place candidate in the Seven Profound Martial House was equal to being at the forefront of all these people. Even setting a memorial for this occasion would not be an exaggeration.

Aware of this, Lin Ming felt a deep sense of satisfaction. All children naturally wanted to make their parents happy.

Lin Ming smiled and said, "When I first came to the Seven Profound Martial House, I was unfamiliar with the people here and the place here. It's my luck to be able to meet my family's elder brother and sister. Elder Sister was especially kind. Please take care of me in the future."

"Haha! Young Cousin is too polite. If you have any difficulties in the future, just open your mouth and say so. Although my own power is limited and weak, the family will still be able to bring some resources into Sky Fortune City."

"Thank you."

The two boys exchanged Sound Transmitting Talisman contact information. After this, the classroom quieted down. A voice said, "The elder professor has arrived."

Lin Ming looked up and saw an old man wearing a white robe walk into the Martial Lecture Hall. He grasped a thick old tome in his hand as he headed on stage. The fluctuations of his true essence was weaker when compared to Muyi, he was probably at the Pulse Condensation Period.

In Green Mulberry City, Pulse Condensation Period martial artists were quite rare. But after entering the Seven Profound Marital House, he had seen Pulse Condensation Period experts everywhere. It seemed that all the instructors and professors were at least at the Pulse Condensation Period.

The old man placed his old tome on a long and narrow table and slowly said, "From today, I am responsible for lecturing all of you. This will include body techniques, sword techniques, attack skills, defensive skills, escape skills, and the most foundationary true essence and martial arts skills. If there are no further questions, we shall begin."

The old man had a very succinct opening, and he began to delve into the topics he was teaching. He spoke with much knowledge about simple movement abilities and was able to sum up many useful skills, such as how to conserve or restore strength, when to avoid attacks or how to evade. For instance, how to forcefully reverse the body when airborne, or counter attack when being pressed upon by an opponent.

These skills were not in skill manuals, but by utilizing them, a martial artist would greatly increase their combat prowess. This was the difference between a seasoned veteran and a newbie. Of course, one had to actually engage in combat in order to realize the true art and use of these skills.

The old man spoke about these subjects for one hour, tidied up his desk and said, "Class ends here today. All new students may stay and receive your true essence stone."

"True essence stone?" Lin Ming startled. He had heard some things about these true essence stones. They naturally contained true essence and had many uses such as activating magic arrays.

Lin Wu said, "Young Cousin, this true essence stone is a really good resource. It has true essence contained within, it can be used to speed up one's cultivation, and is also very pure, so it is easy to refine."

"Young Cousin, since you are the first place candidate, you can receive 10 true essence stones." Lin Fengyuan also echoed, and in her voice was a twinge of envy.

"Oh? The true essence stone is that precious?"

"Mm. The truth is that the Sky Fortune Kingdom also had a lode of true essence stones to mine, but they have to turn them in to the Seven Profound Valleys. The large sects have many true essence stones, but only some of them trickle down into the general populace. There are very few true essence stones that you can buy in the Sky Fortune Kingdom."

In the entire surrounding area of hundreds of thousands of miles, the Royal Family had to submit to the authority of the Seven Profound Valleys. Strength decided all; this was nothing surprising.

"Young Cousin hurry and go. Later you will be able to rank on the Ranking Stone and might even receive more every month."

Ling Ming walked up and received his 10 true essence stones. The true essence stones looked as if they had many impurities like natural quartz, and were not transparent at all.

A true essence stone weighed about one tael after it passed through the cutting process. Lin Ming sent his soul force inside, and really did feel the pure true essence residing within.

After Lin Ming, Wang Yanfeng also received his true essence stones, but he only received five of them. The following Earth Hall disciples only received two. As for the Human Hall, they received one. Moreover they were told that if they were unable to enter the Earth Hall in the future, they would not receive any more.

Lin Wu said, "Young Cousin, we rarely meet, would you like to drink a cup or two with me?"

Lin Ming slightly hesitated, and then apologized, "I am very sorry but I want to increase my strength as much as possible before the Ranking Stone test begins. As for drinking, I will invite Elder Brother and Sister another day." The inscription technique practice required a massive amount of time. In addition to martial arts practice and attending class, Lin Ming had several things he had to do at the same time, and also needed to practise his breath control during his sleep time.

"Haha, Young Cousin is truly diligent in his cultivation. No wonder you have such high achievements at such a young age. Good, then we will gather again another day."

Lin Ming bid farewell to Lin Wu and his sister. After the lecture, he left the Martial Lecture Hall alone and came to a fork in the road. There he discovered Wang Yanfeng and two similar looking men standing together. Wang Yanfeng was frowning; obviously his relationship with these two was not good at all.

"Hey! Isn't this the amazing genius of the Wang Family, Wang Yanfeng? Haha, alas, Yuelu City's elite tournament first place winner, master of the 'Nine Paths of Truth'. Hehe, I thought you were so amazing and great, but you lost to some little boy at the Second Stage of Body Transformation. It really makes us Yuelu City youths lose face." A young man cynically said. His age looked to be 18-19, and he was at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation. He held a longsword in his arms and had a very haughty appearance.

Wang Yanfeng's complexion immediately sank, "Liu Mingxian, you are just a cheap child of the Liu Family, and yet you also blabber on in front of me! You took so many treasured medicines and yet you couldn't even place in the top ten of the entrance exam! Even a pig that was raised by your Liu Family would do better compared to you!"

"Hey! You say that I am a pig? Very good, then how about we compare? Let's see if you can step on me beneath your foot." Liu Mingxiang said with disdain, a playful smile hung on his face.

Wang Yanfeng stopped speaking and clenched his first. The other was a man who was at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Training, and had also been studying at the Seven Profound Martial House for two years. Compared to him, he would most likely not be able to defeat him.

However, this was how things stood. Wang Yanfeng did not want to retreat, he knew that if he did not accept this challenge today, then this Liu Mingxiang would spread this news in all directions and say he was as timid as a mouse. "The 'Nine Paths of Truth' is famous everywhere. Liu Mingxiang, you really do not know what is what! Your talent is inferior to me so you want to use your age to beat me? An 18 year old against a 15 year old? Good! Very good!"

"What a joke and a half! If you were killed on the battlefield would you also complain that the man who killed you was older? Cut the chit-chat, do you dare have the guts to challenge me?"

"Why would I not dare!" Wang Yanfeng coldly snorted. Although he knew that this guy was stirring up trouble and goading him, with his arrogant disposition he still accepted the challenge. If he retreated then his spirit would be defeated, and it would break his heart of martial arts.

"Good. Then we will duel in accordance with the rules of the Martial House. Since we're battling, then we also must make a little gambling stake. You had just received 5 true essence stones? Use them as your gambling stake."

Gambling stake!

Wang Yanfeng clenched his teeth. He was not dumb, he immediately understood that Liu Mingxiang came today to intentionally provoke him for these 5 true essence stones!

This was a good premeditated plan!

But even if he knew this, Wang Yanfeng could not retreat. He could afford to lose 5 essence stones, and he might not even lose!

"If you want to bet, then let's bet!"

Lin Ming watched the scene from a distance and only shook his head. The other party had obviously grasped the flaw in Wang Yanfeng's character, and had provoked him with his loud mouth. If Wang Yanfeng had been timid and retreated, then his loss would be even greater. If he avoided the fight and swallowed the insult, this would be a dark day for his martial arts cultivation!

Martial arts cultivation involved not only Body Transformation, but also cultivation of the mind. Cultivating the mind involved being true to you nature and living life freely. If one only kept bearing insult after insult, then their cultivation would halt.

Perhaps Wang Yanfeng would lose. These two were experts at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation and had practised at the Seven Profound Martial House for a long period of time. Their battle prowess might be comparable to a martial artist at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation. With this strength, even Lin Ming did not have a shred of confidence.

"This Liu Mingxiang is just too rampant and arrogant, but he is indeed an expert. And that youth standing near him is even more unfathomable. Just with these two random people, I do not have any chance of winning. The Seven Profound Martial House is really a crouching tiger, hidden dragon." Lin Ming thought that this was also normal. Everyone that entered the Seven Profound Martial House was a talent. They were geniuses who were older, and also had enjoyed the many resources of the Martial House. They practiced for such a long time, if they weren't able to defeat a new disciple, then they had truly wasted their efforts.

This matter was irrelevant to Lin Ming. He turned around to leave and had just taken several steps when a voice sounded from behind. He stopped in his tracks. "Yo! Isn't that the first place examination candidate? Lin Ming! What a fortunate meeting, a truly fortunate meeting."

Although the words were pleasant, the provocative meaning behind them was too obvious. Lin Ming frowned. He turned his head to see that the man who spoke was the other youth who had stood beside Liu Mingxiang and Wang Yanfeng, the young man with immeasurably deep strength.

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Chapter 54 – Unfair Gambling Bets

Although the words were pleasant, the provocative meaning behind them was too obvious. Lin Ming frowned. He turned his head to see that the man who spoke was the other youth who had stood beside Liu Mingxiang and Wang Yanfeng, the young man with immeasurably deep strength.

This youth wore an entirely blue outfit, and in his hand he carried a long and narrow saber as wide as three fingers. It had a very short handle and did not have a hand guard, the blade was directly attached to the hilt.

Among martial artists, the number that used sabers was very few compared to the number who used swords. Lin Ming paid attention to this; with such a short hilt it would not be easy to wield. The saber didn't have a handle guard so their hand would be easily injured by the opponent. But, there was a benefit to this. The saber could display the fastest speed possible; it paid the price of sacrificing defense to pursue the limit of rapid attacks. To even dare to do such a rash thing, it proved that this youth's saber was extremely strong.

Perhaps this youth might even be fiercer than Liu Mingxiang. Lin Ming stayed on alert, because even if someone was arrogant, he would never look down on them. He hesitated for a second and then asked, "What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to experience the majesty and grandeur of the first place candidate. Have I misread, is your cultivation only at the Second Stage of Body Transformation?"

"Gee, this year's candidates are just so bad. A Second Stage Body Transformation boy could actually achieve first place. What rank of talent are you?" Liu Mingxiang echoed. The truth was that he had already inquired earlier and knew everything there was to know. Lin Ming was only a medium third-grade talent. This talent may have been decent outside of the Seven Profound Martial House, but in the Seven Profound Martial House, it was the lowest of the low. He had intentionally asked this to provoke Lin Ming.

"What does my rank of talent have to do with you?" Lin Ming coolly replied. He knew that these two boys were just coveting his true essence stones and wanted to provoke his anger into making a gambling match with him as they had with Wang Yanfeng.

In Sky Fortune Kingdom, the authorities would not involve themselves in the scuffles between martial artists, because even if they had the mind to, there was no way they were capable of doing so. Therefore, the solution was a gambling on the martial arts duels. As long as both parties mutually consented, and agreed upon the conditions and prizes of victory, then the loser could not pursue afterwards.

This sort of proposition was very popular; even the Seven Profound Martial House was no exception.

"Hehe, of course it has nothing to do with me, I had only heard some rumors that brother Lin is a medium third-grade. I just felt this to be a bit strange. Although all the candidates of the recent entrance examination are trash, how could a useless, good-for-nothing piece of sh*t like you achieve first place?"

It may have been some hypocritical double talk at first, but these words directly had no consideration for face. In the view of these two youths, Lin Ming was just a small boy, to step on him, they did not even need to bother faking anything.

Lin Ming gave a frosty look and quipped, "You do this sort of thing in the Seven Profound Martial House? You depend on conniving and stealing a new disciple's true essence stones to barely maintain your own pathetic and feeble existence? To do such shameful things, it's best that you leave this place early, you are only losing face for your family."

"Little boy! You're courting death!" The youth's complexion sank, "You are just some third-grade talent trash! Dog sh*t like you only managed to luck your way into the Seven Profound Martial House by eating some rare material! In my eyes, you are even less than dog shit!"

Listening to such vicious words, Lin Ming knit his brows, and felt his heart move to anger, "I originally didn't want to meddle too much, but this is fine. Yes, this is fine. Since you really want to stir things up and make a gambling match with me, then if that's the case…"

"Lin Ming!" At that moment a voice sounded from behind Lin Ming's back. "Don't fall into their trap!"

Lin Ming turned his head around to look and saw Lin Wu and Lin Fengyuan jogging towards him. The man who had spoken up and interrupted him was Lin Wu; his complexion wasn't too good. These two were tricky. Concerning their family, Liu Mingxiang's Liu Family was not inferior to their Lin Family. But when discussing strength, he was simply not a match for these two.

"Lin Wu, if you're smart then you'll immediately get the hell out of the way." The youth with a saber coldly snorted and his entire body exuded a faint murderous intent. The boy's saber was affected by this murderous aura and began to faintly ring.

This young man had already become one with his saber!

Lin Ming remembered, if a martial artist was able to become one with their weapon and communicate with it, that weapon would be able to sense its master's intentions and true essence, and thus have such a response. This kind of boundary needed an extremely high level of talent and perception, as well as carefully cultivating a treasure. This was not something Wang Yanfeng could compare with. Although Wang Yanfeng also had a rare treasure, but when had usually used it, Lin Ming was able to see that it was full of flaws, and thus had been able to break through his martial skill with only a first.

Moreover this person had such a thick murderous intent; he had probably killed many people before. Such a person would not be easy to handle.

Lin Ming frowned. Whether this guy or Lin Mingxiang, they both appeared to be arrogant idiots with no brains, but they were actually hidden masters. He was definitely not their match.

Lin Wu was forced back by this strong murdering intent, and his complexion became increasingly ugly. Although he was also in the Earth Hall, his ranking was far behind these two, and was simply not their opponent. To make conflict with these two youths was absolutely unwise. He pulled Lin Ming sleeve and whispered to him, "Lin Ming, let's go."

"You want to leave? Haha! Lin Wu, you truly are worthy of the title cowardly turtle! I thought it was strange, how could a weak little coward like you infiltrate the Seven Profound Martial Hall's Earth Hall! Is Green Mulberry City's Lin Family a family that specially cultivates turtles? Especially cowardly turtles?"

Lin Wu lost his temper facing this unscrupulous ridicule, especially since it involved his family. He just couldn't bear this! He grasped his sword and stepped forward, but was stopped by Lin Ming. Lin Ming could see that Lin Wu was not this person's match.

"Don't be so impulsive. They came for me. A gambling fight isn't too bad."

"Haha! How straightforward and refreshing! This elder brother may as well be the little brother, heh heh. List the time and place you want." The youth said as he laughed with an arrogant smile.

Lin Wu urgently said, "Lin Ming, don't be tricked by him. The guy came for your true essence stones. His name Zhang Cang, he is at the peak of Viscera Training! And he is also half a step into the Altering Muscle stage. This person's blade work is astonishing. His Ranking Stone place is 109, do you even know what sort of existence the 109th place is? A new disciple at Seven Profound Martial House who can enter above 180 is already rare. Even Ling Sen, Ta Ku, Zhang Guanyu and other characters like them that used to be first place candidates could not go above 130!"

Ling Sen? Ling Ming naturally knew this person. He was the elder senior apprentice of the Heavenly Abode. If he didn't factor in the several core disciples, then Ling Sen would be first place among everyone in the Seven Profound Martial Hall! His battle prowess might even surpass Qin Xingxuan!

Although he hadn't heard of Ta Ku and Zhang Guanyu, he guessed they were the same ruthlessly strong type like Ling Sen, and probably weren't too far off from him.

Lin Wu continued, "This Zhang Cang is the top character among those in the Earth Hall. After some time he will probably enter the Heavenly Abode too, there is just no hope of winning for you."

Lin Ming replied, "Elder brother, I know."

Lin Wu anxiously said, "Why are you so obstinate! You don't know where things stand! I know that you are strong and can fight someone at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation, but which one of the disciples of the Seven Profound Martial House's Earth Hall is not a genius? You can fight others above your rank, and others cannot? With Zhang Cang's strength, outside of the Seven Profound Martial House not even martial artists at the peak of the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation are necessarily his match!"

What Lin Wu said was not wrong. The Seven Profound Martial House was where all the talented geniuses converged and gathered together. Daily battles among them were not uncommon. Although Lin Ming's current physical strength was comparable to someone at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation and the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' was potent, it still was too difficult for Lin Ming to fight a fellow genius who was two stages above him.

As Lin Wu spoke, Zhang Cang crossed his arms over his chest as he watched with a grinning smile.

"Are you done discussing? Are you going to be a little turtle or are you going to bet with me?"

Lin Ming opened his mouth and said, "You don't need provoke me, there is no significance in stirring things up. I only want to know, what sort of gambling stakes will be involved?"

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Chapter 55 – Fight

Lin Ming opened his mouth and said, "You don't need provoke me, there is no significance in stirring things up. I only want to know, what sort of gambling stakes will be involved?"

"Young Cousin, don't promise him anything!" Ling Fengyuan also spoke up, but facing Zhang Cang, her words seemed a little weak.

Lin Ming waved a hand; he knew how things stood.

"Obviously we will be betting true essence stones. If you lose, then you hand those 10 true essence stones you received to me. If I lose, heh heh, then I pay you 20!"

"Good. You said just now that I could choose the time and place. For place, I choose the contest field. For time, we will duel each other one month from now, at a quarter to noon."

"One month?" Zhang Cang asked with a stunned expression. He didn't expect Lin Ming to decide on such a time. No matter how much time he had, it was useless. With his rotten third-grade talent, the longer the time, the more the gap between the two would grow.

"Good. If you want one month then it will be one month. I'll let you live a bit longer." Zhang Cang said as he looked at Lin Ming with some hesitation. He was also a young man and he was impatient to grab the true essence stones for himself.

Zhang Cang and Liu Mingxiang walked away with self-satisfied smiles, leaving Lin Wu behind to sadly shake his head and sigh, "Young Cousin, you were a bit too impulsive. New disciples that come to the Seven Profound Martial House are always full of self-confidence, but all these older disciples are also geniuses, each and every one of them. They have also studied at the Seven Profound Martial House for a long time, especially this Zhang Cang… Yeah, I don't want to say, but these ten true essence stones bought a valuable lesson."

Lin Ming laughed happily, and then said with a bright smile, "Thank you Brother Wu, you raised your head and defended me today. But I could not avoid this fight; otherwise it would weaken my will and disturb my heart, and distract my future cultivation."

Ling Ming had decided to call this elder cousin of his from the family Brother Wu, as he had recognized Lin Wu. Lin Wu was a good person; when hard times had come, he had raised his head and defended him with courage.

As Lin Ming said this, he also noted Wang Yanfeng standing nearby and looking at him.

Seeing that Lin Ming looked back at him, Wang Yanfeng said, "I wish you good luck."

"Haha, you too." Because their situation was identical and they faced a common enemy, the enmity and tension in their relationship had relaxed.

"I won't lose. But even if I lose, I will win in the future! No matter if it's Liu Mingxiang or you!" Wang Yanfeng said these words then turned around and strode away. Lin Wu had also heard Wang Yanfeng's words. He realized that Wang Yanfeng also knew that it was almost impossible for him to defeat Liu Mingxiang.

But this was Wang Yanfeng's path of martial arts. Although he might be defeated, he would not let his heart be lost. It was not in his nature to run away.

"This Wang Yanfeng has a heart which does not concede, and his talent is also good. Later he might make something of himself. But if he wanted to enter a sect, he is still lacking…" The Skill Spill continent was vast and boundless with countless living creatures. If one wished to pursue the pinnacle of martial arts, it was beyond all difficulty!

At this time Lin Ming suddenly remembered something, "Right, Brother Wu, did this sort of gambling fight happen often in the past? This sort of matter, it seems that the new disciple would generally be the one to lose? Does the Martial House not have some sort of regulating system?"

Lin Wu said, "No, the Martial House rules only disallow intentionally disabling the opponent, or killing them. As for all other matters, they let them pass. Therefore in the Seven Profound Martial House there are often outstanding and fierce battles that the Seven Profound Martial House is glad to see happen. However, someone bullying new disciples and taking their true essence stones is pretty rare. It causes a very bad reputation and lowers their prestige. Those that care about their reputation and their family's will not do these things."

"Oh? Is that Liu Mingxiang and Zhang Cang's character that deplorable?"

"Liu Mingxiang has always been a rascal, but Zhang Cang… in truth he is a ruthless man. He stayed in the army for a period and killed many people. It is hard to determine his personality, but he acts recklessly. Betting with you isn't too strange."

"Right… does this Zhang Cang know Zhu Yan?"

"Zhu Yan? As far as I know, Zhu Yan and Zhang Cang are allies. They had joined the army together. Why do you ask this?"

Lin Wu did not know the relationship between Zhu Yan and Lin Ming, so he asked.

"It's nothing…" Lin Ming lightly said. He did not want to discuss these personal matters with Lin Wu.

Lin Ming had thought it was strange that Zhu Yan hadn't acted yet. It seems that this Zhang Cang was one of Zhu Yan's men. There was no way Zhu Yan would let him peacefully enter the Seven Profound Martial House. Zhu Yan had wanted to stop him from entering, but the Seven Profound Martial House was under the governance of the Seven Profound Valleys, whose territory dominated hundreds of thousands of miles and even the many kingdoms. The Seven Profound Martial House was a supreme existence within the Sky Fortune Kingdom, and even the Royal Family would not dare to move a single hair of theirs.

So long as they were within the Seven Profound Martial House, even if Zhu Yan were a Houtian expert, he would not dare to commit murder in this crouching tiger, hidden dragon Seven Profound Martial House. Therefore the only action he could take was through the rules and regulations of the Seven Profound Martial House and look for someone to make a gambling fight with him. Then, under the guise of this, that person would intentionally cause a severe wound and ruin his heart of martial arts.

This person's strength naturally had to be higher by a mile. Zhang Cang of the Earth Hall was the most suitable candidate to crush him.

However, Lin Ming decided he would crush him instead!

Lin Ming took a deep breath and slowly clenched his fists. He hadn't thought that Zhu Yan had already been in the army. No wonder he could enter the Heavenly Abode with the strength of the peak of the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation. Without a doubt, his strength was greater than that of Zhang Cang's!

Good! Only like this would it be interesting.

Lin Wu noticed a slight change in Lin Ming's look, and said, "Brother, do you have some problem with Zhu Yan?"

Lin Ming nodded, "I do."

"This is…" Lin Wu listened with some worry, "Brother, I know somewhat of the reputation of those here. This Zhu Yan was at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation when he defeated a 72nd ranked Heavenly Abode disciple to enter the Heavenly Abode. But that disciple's strength was already at the early Fourth Stage of Body Transformation!"

Lin Ming was slightly stunned. The Fourth Stage martial artists of the Seven Profound Martial House could not be compared with those on the outside. Their strength was definitely number one, but yet they were still defeated by Zhu Yan at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation. Obviously Zhu Yan was powerful.

"The Heavenly Abode has always had 72 students. Generally speaking, those that have strength at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation have the qualifications to enter. The condition is only that they defeat any disciple of the Heavenly Abode, and afterwards they can enter, and that disciple is eliminated. Which one of the Heavenly Abode's students are not peerless geniuses? To be able to defeat them with just the strength of the Third Stage of Body Transformation, this Zhu Yan is a dragon in human form, and is truly unimaginable. Brother, if you oppose him…"

Lin Ming smiled and said, "Thank you for the advice, Brother Wu."

Lin Wu said, "Mm. You should end this conflict as soon as possible. This Zhu Yan also has a high status in the Zhu Family. Although he is not the eldest son of the first wife, his strength is too outstanding and he might be able to inherit the headship of the household. You may not know, but the current head's daughter married into the Royal Palace. A real man can adapt to a situation. For a martial artist, enduring a bit of shame is also very important. When it is necessary, apologizing a bit would not lose you any face. Extending an olive branch can also be a happy resolution."

"Mm. I understand." Lin Ming smiled as he listened. He certainly knew Zhu Yan's status, otherwise he wouldn't have the ability to get Lan Yunyue to join the Seven Profound Martial House. That sort of matter could only be accomplished by his aunt.

"Well, if there is nothing else, then I will leave first." Though they had only known each other for a short period of time, Lin Ming had a good grasp of Lin Wu's personality. He was overcautious and a bit indecisive, and considered every angle in making a decision. This sort of disposition was actually not good to cultivate martial arts, as it would weaken the spirit and make it difficult to have great future achievements. It was no wonder he had such a horrible nickname.

However Lin Wu had a kind and good character; he was worth knowing.

"I have to say one last time Brother, you be careful. Don't fret about those ten true essence stones; our Lin Family is not short on money. Although there are only a few of them, they can also be bought. Brother, the family will have high hopes and expectations of you in the future and will receive you well, losing a few true essence stones is nothing."

Lin Ming laughed in his heart, and nodded with a smile, "I know."

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Chapter 56 – Large Success of the True Essence Formula's First Layer

Chapter title is a minor spoiler so I've made it white, highlight it if you want to read it now, or wait and read it at the bottom of the chapter.

After he bid farewell to Lin Wu, Lin Ming returned to his residence. It felt like he was running out of time these days, as if he were in a constant race against the clock.

That Lin Ming agreed to the gambling match was not on the spur of a moment, in his heart he had already roughly calculated a plan. Lin Wu had said that the likes of Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu, who were all top-tier talents, were unable to pass the 130th rank the first time they had entered the Ten Thousand Killing Array. Zhang Cang was placed 109; it seemed the disparity between them was truly enormous. Lin Ming was not arrogant; he believed that he could achieve a result that was more formidable than when Ling Sen had first entered.

Therefore he calculated that he needed one month.

Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu had reached about rank 130 when they first entered the Martial House, thus, he might not even need one month!

To complete the medicinal inscription symbol would take at least half a month. The other half would be used to slowly absorb the efficacy of the pills and consolidate his strength. The Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill were two precious pills that couldn't be purchased with money. In addition to the increased pill potency provided by the medicinal inscription symbol, then it would absolutely be enough for Lin Ming to break through into the Third Stage of Body Transformation and even help him consolidate his cultivation. Once that happened, Lin Ming and Zhang Cang's cultivation difference would be only a single stage!

If he relied on the Realm of the Gods' top-tier skill manual 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', and was still unable to cross the half boundary to the Third Stage and be unable to at least place in the top 100 of the ranking stone, then he would not feel any injustice at losing the gambling match! If so, then he would have to thoroughly introspect.

Thinking like this, Lin Ming started to practice his medicinal inscription symbol again. In terms of inscription skill, although he had obtained the memories of the elder's soul fragment, he was a junior who was still very shallow in skill. It was too early to talk about any innovation; the only thing he could do was to unceasingly practice the techniques, and allow the body movements to soak into his body like a fish in water.

Today, after Lin Ming practiced revolving his true essence as usual, he began to use materials to practice with.

The start was doomed to failure, so he had chosen the least valuable material.

Squeezing out the juice from a Jade Blue Flower, Lin Ming concentrated and used his soul force to move the juice in midair. He took a deep breath, calmed down and let his mind relax.

"Let's start! A new formula!"

Lin Ming silently hyped himself up and began to move his right hand in a succession of dim, illusory flashes that shone with a rainbow of light.

In comparison to the object inscription symbol, tracing the medicinal inscription symbol was several times more complex! Initially Lin Ming had forcefully drawn up the object inscription symbol with the true essence's strength at the First Stage of Body Transformation. Back then his true essence had been stretched to the limit, but now that he had arrived with great difficulty at the Second Stage of Body Transformation, his true essence had increased and had congealed and thickened. But now in the blink of an eye, he had already used more true essence that it took to draw up an object inscription symbol, and his true essence was still stretched!

Luckily in this situation, Lin Ming did not feel it was too burdensome, instead he welcomingly endured it. Only by pushing oneself to the limit would they be able to progress.

An hour passed by, and Lin Ming's forehead was seeped in small beads of sweat. Each rune that had to be drawn was much difficult than the object inscription rune by several times. He clenched his teeth and persisted through the hardship. Even with the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' supporting him, Ling Ming could not withstand such consumption of true essence and was approaching his limit yet he hadn't even completed half of the 'Lower Spirit Cure Symbol'.

Lin Ming had already encountered this type of situation when he was trying to create the object inscription symbol. It was unrealistic to attempt to increase the amount of true essence in his body in such a short period of time; the only possible way was to reduce the rate of failure, increase his skill at the techniques, and save as much true essence as he could.

He could not support it any longer…

"Peng!"

There was the sound of an explosion, and the numerous inscription symbols in front of Lin Ming loudly detonated like brilliant fireworks. After these fireworks finished flashing, a deep darkness followed.

"Mm? It's evening…" Lin Ming let out a breath and sat up on his bed. The room was very quiet and peaceful, and Lin Ming could hear the sound of his breathing and heartbeat.

He was too tired! Lin Ming sprawled backwards on his bed, too lazy to even move his fingers. The past few months he had practiced inscription techniques, he had constantly taxed his soul force to the limit, yet he had never felt as drained as he did now; he didn't even have the strength to revolve the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' within him. If his true essence was like water in a lake, then this medicinal inscription symbol was a terribly hot and dry desert, where even the last drop of his true essence was sucked clean.

"I want to sleep…."

Although his if he practiced at this time he would have good results, his soul force and true essence consumption was too serious, and it brought a weary tired feeling that made him unable to focus his spirit.

Mm? Right! The true essence stones!

He had unexpectedly forgotten about them. With these, if he used these true essence stones to supplement his true essence, would it not be perfect?

Lin Ming struggled to sit up. He had obtained 10 true essence stones when he had attended lecture. He grabbed one from his bag and began to greedily absorb the pure true essence within.

Rich true essence continuously flowed in a steady stream through the pores in his hand. Because Lin Ming had not yet achieved the Pulse Condensation Period, the tendons of his entire body were blocking his acupuncture points and meridians, and the true essence could only enter along his pores and slowly flow from there.

If comparing the flow of true essence within him, then it was like a muddy swamp. The meridians of the body where energy circulated where just too spacious, it simply was incomparable. That was why a martial artist's breakthrough into the Pulse Condensation Period was such a significant leap.

Along with the true essence endlessly merging into his body, Lin Ming's body was like a dry basin that was being poured into by a bubbling spring. It was an indescribably refreshing and comfortable feeling, and his fatigue completely disappeared. Lin Ming began to revolve the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' and guide the flow of true essence slowly into his body.

Although the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' was a top tier quality true essence method, in this situation, the meridians had not yet opened so the circulation speed of true essence was limited.

As the true essence revolved again and again, it began to accumulate. The circulation in his body began to rapidly quicken; like this, half an hour passed. Lin Ming circulation speed of true essence within his body began to accelerate, until it finally passed the top speed in the past.

"Mmm? How could this be?"

Lin Ming was surprised, and he continued to revolve the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', and the circulation speed continued accelerating.

"Pah!" At the moment with a small sound, the true essence stone Lin Ming's hand cracked open.

"Mm? The true essence stone was used up already?"

Lin Ming was not stingy. He placed down the broken stone and grabbed another true essence stone, and continued to revolve the 'True Primal Chaos Formula'. The massive influx of fresh, pure true essence merged into his body. Lin Ming's true essence circulation speed climbed up even more than before, and the acceleration showed no signs of slowing down.

Half a month ago, if Lin Ming's 'True Primal Chaos Formula' true essence revolution speed was like a baby toddler crawling around, then at present, his true essence's speed was like a teenager running at full blast!

This…This is….

This was the Large Success of the First Layer of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula'!

Lin Ming took a deep breath, and his face revealed an expression wild with joy and ecstacy. He had obsessed over the First Layer of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' for three months, and had finally broken through!

Lin Ming immediately shoved open his door and launched himself outside. He rushed towards the Seven Profound Martial House's strength measuring room. When he had received the jade slip during school admission, it had recorded an introduction about the strength measuring room. Any Seven Profound Martial House disciple could use it the stone tablets inside to measure their strength. After he had reached Large Success of the First Layer of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', Lin Ming was itching to find out how much stronger he had become.

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Chapter 57 – Ranking War

It was already late into the night; the disciples of the Martial House were either cultivating in their own rooms or had gone to sleep, there were only a few stragglers still on the streets. Lin Ming walked as if he was half-flying and quickly arrived at the strength measuring room.

There was no one at the strength measuring room; only an old man who guarded the door with a small flickering lamp near him. He lay exhausted on a flimsy chair, looking a little drowsy.

Lin Ming greeted him, then moved past him into the room. Inside were a row of stone pillars that were used to measure strength. They were all completely unoccupied; a normal person wouldn't idle around here so late at night to test their own strength.

Lin Ming randomly chose a stone pillar and firmly stood in front of it. He shut his eyes, relaxed his body, and let the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' revolve to the extreme. Lin Ming suddenly punched, and his first looked like a shooting star as it fell on the stone pillar.

"Peng!"

The stone pillar wildly shook, and even the ground under Lin Ming's feet trembled a little. The light beam did not stop as it leapt up several times, 2700, 2800, 2900, 3000….

3200!

"3200 jins!" Lin Ming breathed with shining eyes.

500 jins of strength! The 'True Primal Chaos Formula', from the small success to large success, had increased his strength by 500 jins! To an ordinary martial artist, 500 jins was often the gap between stages!

But the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' was in truth only the part of the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' which revolved true essence, it was not everything!

The 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' was truly worthy of being the Realm of the Gods' top tier Body Transformation skill manual. He remembered, that of those in the sects that practiced the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' Body Transformation, there were disciple janitors who swept the floor of the entrance and little children that played near the fireplaces who had several ten thousand jins of strength. If they had reached the Large Success stage of the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', they could even rely on their strength to shatter mountain ranges, part the seas, and shatter the skies.

"Reaching Large Success of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula's' first layer was only his first step, there were also six more layers, each more difficult than the last! Beyond the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' and continuing the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', there was still the Eight Gates of Hidden Celestial Stems and the Palace of Nine Stars. At this point, I'm not even qualified to be a floor sweeping disciple of these ancient sects"

Realizing this, Lin Ming's excitement dissipated by a bit. The road that he wanted to walk on was truly long.

That night, because Lin Ming had just broken through the skill manual, his true essence was smooth and he was not sleepy, so he continued his cultivation.

After Lin Ming consolidated the boundary of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', he spent the rest of the time practicing his inscription technique. Because of the Large Success of the first layer of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', Lin Ming's efficiency of drawing the medicinal inscription was greatly enhanced, and he was able to persist until about 80% of the entire plan.

If he was able to continue like this, then with another seven or eight days, Lin Ming would be able to complete the 'Lower Spirit Cure Symbol'.

The crazy cultivation caused many true essence stones to be consumed. Just that night, Lin Ming had already used up three true essence stones. Although he had agreed with Zhang Cang to use 10 true essence stones as the gambling stake, from the start Lin Ming had never thought he would lose, so there was no way that he would be afraid of using them.

As he looked at the three split stones that had long since lost their true essence luster, Lin Ming touched his nose. This usage was just too fast, but a month later, someone would be kind enough to give him 20 more. If he knew earlier that he would use these true essences stones so quickly, he would have thought a month was too long. Half a month would have been just about right.

Lin Ming greedily smacked his lips. If these thoughts were known by Zhang Cang, there was no way of telling what Zhang Cang would make of it.

It was the morning of the second day and Lin Ming woke up early to attend lecture as usual. He listened to the elder speak on the on the fundamentals. But today he also met an old acquaintance; one who he hadn't wanted to meet in person – Lan Yunyue. Within the Martial House, there were altogether 600 to 700 disciples; meeting her sooner or later was normal.

Lin Ming didn't pay any attention to this as he listened to the elder talk about today's weapon of discussion – 'the spear', its skills and its usage.

Lin Ming listened with rapt attention. At the end of the lecture, after the elder had left, Lin Ming was still immersed in his thoughts; the elder had given him many inspirations.

As he finally snapped back from his trance, the rest of the disciples had already left the Martial Lecture Hall, except Lan Yunyue. She sat in the same seat like she was lost in thought.

Lin Ming began packing up his things and readying to leave, but at this time Lan Yunyue suddenly whispered, "Lin Ming, can you wait for a second?"

Lin Ming's hand movements slowed, he asked, "Can I help you?"

Although the tone was polite, there was a hint of the taste of alienation within Lin Ming's words, causing Lan Yunyue to lightly sigh. She said, "Congratulations on attaining the first place candidate spot."

"Thanks."

"…" After Lan Yunyue finished speaking, there was a long silence, and the atmosphere between the two began to grow a bit awkward.

"I… I heard that in one month you will have a fighting match with Zhang Cang?"

Lin Ming's eyes twitched. He said, "The news spread that fast? Well, yes, I really did make a bet with Zhang Cang." News of the new first place disciple and the old disciple gambling was sure to spread like wildfire. In addition, Zhang Cang and Liu Mingxiang had deliberately publicized it as much as possible.

Lan Yunyue bit her lip, hesitated, then quietly whispered, "Zhang Cang is Zhu Yan's former comrade…"

Lin Ming was shocked; Lan Yunyue was more sensitive and thoughtful about these matters than he had thought. She had already correctly guessed that this matter was driven by Zhu Yan.

"I know." Lin Ming faintly responded.

"Then you…" Lan Yanyue hadn't known how she should open her mouth to say it, but today she had wanted to urge Lin Ming not to take on the gambling match. The words were floating at the tip of her tongue, but yet she feared that Lin Ming would turn a deaf ear to her pleas.

"I know that you aren't willing to listen to me, but… I have already been in the Seven Profound Martial House for half a year, and have seen many of the gambling matches between the new and old disciples. The new disciples almost never win against the old disciples. Although you are the new first place candidate, Zhang Cang is also known as a fierce character within the Earth Hall. And because of Zhu Yan, his hand will be cruel."

Lin Ming smiled, "You said that I may not be willing to listen, do you mean that you do not want me to go to the fighting match? Since I already agreed on the bet, it is impossible for me to now keep this appointment, otherwise I would have already ran away before the battle had begun, and this would go against my martial path."

"But… alright…" Lan Yunyue sighed. She knew that once Lin Ming had made up his mind, it would be very difficult to change.

"Thank you for your advice. I'll go first." Lin Ming said as he picked up his things and left the Martial Lecture Hall.

Leaving Lan Yunyue alone, she silently kept sitting in her seat. At the moment she could not identify the taste in her heart. It was impossible to change Zhu Yan's mind, and it was also impossible to change Lin Ming's mind. They would one day fight, but to Lan Yunyue, regardless of Lin Ming's strength of background, it was all inferior to Zhu Yan. The battle would happen, and there would only be a suffering party…

Time passed like running water, and it was already the fourth day since Lin Ming had arrived at the Seven Profound Martial House. That morning, Lin Ming had been sent a gathering notice, and he arrived early at the Martial House's martial stage.

The new disciples of the Earth Hall had all assembled together. After they had all arrived, a red-haired man carrying a fencing saber showed up at the contest field. This was Lin Ming's first class Earth Hall instructor, Hong Xi.

Hong Xi gave a feeling of a swift, brave, and fiercely overwhelming power. If he was in the army, he would have been an absolute general that bravely killed all enemies, trained his troops strictly, and followed like military's laws like a mountain.

After Hong Xi arrived at the contest field, he glanced and the crowd, and with a steady and powerful voice, said, "Today is the Ranking War! Everybody, come with me!"

"Ranking War?"

They had already known that once they entered the Seven Profound Martial House, sooner or later they would have to participate in the Ten Thousand Killing Array ranking war. It had finally begun!

Of the 20 new disciples of the Earth Hall, which one wasn't a genius of their generation? They had been looking forward to this for a long time; this was their chance to prove themselves. They all thought to attack the ranks of the Ranking Stone and attain more resources.

These geniuses weren't willing to accept an inferior status under others. These people, all of them were youthful kids full of smug ambition. They had been toiling their days away, waiting for this ranking war to amaze the world with a single, brilliant feat.

"Heh heh, it's finally the time of the ranking war. I'm glad I showed up." A youth carrying a long knife said. His chest had scars half a foot long and he was cracking his knuckles together, making 'pop pop' noises.

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Chapter 58 – The Ten Thousand Killing Array

The youth had a long scar from an old knife wound on his face. His name was Wang Mang and he was 18 years old. He had joined the Sky Fortune Kingdom's army as a mercenary when he was 15, and had been sent to the frontier where he killed many people. On the border, he had been stabbed, and at the border, every day for three years he had lived on the edge of death – until he had finally reached the Third Stage of Body Transformation. He had rich combat experience and his strength was high. During the entrance examination, his fist strength at the Strength Trial had reached 2500 jins, and he had also reached the third floor of the Exquisite Pagoda.

"These juniors who got the top three spots really think they can surpass us with their strength. If it wasn't for the Exquisite Pagoda deciding an opponent's strength based on their skeletal age, I would have reached the fifth floor!" said a youth at Wang Mang's side. His name was Li Tie, and he was Wang Mang's ally. His had also tested his fist strength at 2500 jins and had reached the third floor of the Exquisite Pagoda.

Fist strength was not a domain in which mercenaries excelled. Fist strength mainly depended on one's own talent and cultivation based on the skill manual they followed. These mercenaries' skill manuals were very ordinary, and their strength could only be so strong. Their formidable aspects lay in their rich combat experience, skillful blade techniques, and sharp fighting instinct to surprise an enemy and kill them.

Therefore the dreadful nature of these two youths lay in actual combat, in particular life and death situations, and not tests.

"Wang Yanfeng, Lin Ming! These two kids are just little flowers that grew up in a greenhouse. Our fighting ability was learnt at the end of a knife's blade while fighting for our lives, how could they even be our match?"

In the Exquisite Pagoda, they were restricted by their skeletal age and were stopped at the third floor. But the ranking war did not have this limit, and all participants were treated impartially! This was their turn to shine!

The Ten Thousand Killing Array that the Seven Profound Martial House used for the ranking war was in a mountain valley not too far from the Exquisite Pagoda. The mountain valley was covered in sharp bamboo, and the thick, angry bamboo leaves gave off a chilly, withering aura.

In the center of these layers upon layers of bamboo was a clearing, in which there was an ashlar square a thousand steps wide. At the center of the square was a ten by ten foot wide altar. The altar was engraved with a variety of luminescent runes and symbols; this altar was the Ten Thousand Killing Array which was used in the ranking war.

By the time Lin Ming's group had arrived at the ashlar square, there were already many people gathered there.

Because the Ten Thousand Killing Array consumed a colossal number of true essence stones every time it was activated, it would only be opened once a month at an appointed time. At that time, all the martial artists of the Seven Profound Martial House could voluntarily participate in the ranking war, but they also needed to pay a fee of one true essence stone as collateral. If they their ranking was lower than 100 and they rose 5 spots, or if their ranking was higher than 100 and they rose three spots, they would be given back their true essence stone. Otherwise, the Seven Profound Martial House would keep it.

This sort of stipulation was so that disciples who hadn't made any significant progress would not hold the viewpoint that they should come regardless of whether they advanced or not. It would just cause too many disciples to want to be tested, and there wasn't enough time in a day to do that.

Hong Xi said, "New disciples who are participating for the first time in the ranking war do not need to pay a fee of a true essence stone. You only need to use the jade slip that you were issued to participate in the Ten Thousand Killing Array assessment. In the Ten Thousand Killing Array, your true body will not be injured. Once you die in the illusion, the assessment will end and your final ranking will be based upon the score you achieve from killing your enemies."

Hong Xi said this and then dismissed the troop. Lin Ming entered the ashlar square, as he wanted to take a look at this Ten Thousand Killing Array altar. At the same time, he discovered two people he knew; these two people were Liu Mingxiang and Zhang Cang, who had come to provoke him just a few days ago.

Meanwhile, Zhang Cang also discovered Lin Ming. He looked at him with a hint of disdain in his smile.

"Lin Ming? I had forgotten, but it seems that the Ten Thousand Killing Array assessment also allows new disciples to participate. Heh heh, I am highly anticipating your performance. I hope you can enter in the top 180, otherwise it's just too boring."

"You don't need to worry about my ranking. How come Zhu Yan didn't come?" Lin Ming pointed this out, as he knew that the last time Zhang Cang had provoked him was because Zhu Yan was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

However Zhang Cang did not mind; he just didn't care how Lin Ming came to know about this matter.

Zhang Cang sneered and said, "Zhu Yan is a disciple of the Heavenly Abode and his ranking is 39. With that ranking, every rank above it is difficult. How could he come every month? Do you even understand about these boundaries?"

Lin Ming replied, "I'm not interested in you or your crap. After the month ends, we will come to a resolution. At the appointed time, I hope you can still smile afterwards."

"Haha, that was exactly what I was going to say to you."

News of the gambling match between Zhang Cang and Lin Ming had been spread around, and many people knew about it. Some people took pleasure in others' misfortune and wanted to watch the new first place disciple suffer a humiliating loss, but there were also some people who loathed Zhang Cang's actions. Zhang Cang was bullying a new disciple after all, and the despicable action of trying to take his new true essence stones was despised by them.

At this time, Wang Yanfeng bumped into Liu Mingxiang. With Liu Mingxiang's arrogant nature and Wang Yanfeng's proud character, this naturally spelled disaster.

By now, the ashlar square's altar suddenly shot out an abundance of light rays, and each rune and symbol on the altar began to blaze into existence one after the other; the ranking war had started.

In the Ten Thousand Killing Array's altar were 12 positions, 12 people could participate in the assessment at the same time.

After the assessment, the Ten Thousand Killing Array would directly reflect the combined killing score onto the ranking magic array to get the final ranking.

Lin Mingxiang saw the Ten Thousand Killing Array revolve and light up and laughed, "Wang Yanfeng, there is no need to say anything puerile, why don't we try our hand in the Ten Thousand Killing Array and see exactly who is inferior?"

"That's just right for me!" Although Wang Yanfeng had received a setback by Lin Ming, his spirit hadn't dropped. Although he knew that it wasn't possible to win against Liu Mingxiang, he still dared to challenge him.

"The newborn calf does not fear the tiger. This Wang Yanfeng has some guts."

"What use are guts, his age is too small, there is no way for him to win."

"New disciples that could enter past 180 are already rare. 150 is a peerless talent, and 130 could even be said to be a miracle of heaven that is rarely seen even every decade. Ling Sen and Ta Ku were unable to. This Liu Mingxiang is rank 125, and he might even advance this time, what chance does Wang Yanfeng possibly have to win?"

Lin Ming listened to others' comments. His eyes turned to the Ranking Stone and sure enough, Liu Mingxiang was rank 125. He was within the upper middle rankings of the Earth Hall.

In the entirety of the Earth Hall and the Heavenly Abode were 230 disciples. It was a very good result if a new disciple could reach at least rank 200. Wang Yanfeng could easily accomplish this, but he wanted reach a much higher and loftier goal, and Lin Ming was the same. These recent days, he had learnt about these approximate Ranking Stone requirements. If he wanted to rank above 180 he would need at least 100 points. If he wanted to rank above 150 he needed several hundred points. And killing someone that was equal to the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation only gave 50 points.

Twelve disciples stepped onto the altar and firmly stood there. The deacon who was responsible for activating and maintaining the array said, "There is no limit to the assessment duration. If you defeat an enemy at the Second Stage of Body Transformation you will gain 1 point. If you defeat an enemy at the peak of the Second Stage of Body Transformation you will gain 5 points. A Third Stage Body Transformation opponent will give you 10 points, and the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation will give you 50 points. A fourth Stage Body Transformation opponent will give you 100 points, and a peak Fourth Stage Body Transformation opponent will give you 500 points. A Fifth Stage Body Transformation Opponent will give you 1000 points, and a peak Fifth Stage Body Transformation Opponent will give you 5000 points."

"The highest level combatant you will face is at the Pulse Condensation Stage. If you defeat one, you will gain 10,000 points. After entering the magic array, you may use your thoughts to select a weapon to wield. Death results in failure and ejection from the array."

"Now start!"

After the deacon's voice faded, the altar flashed with a bright light. The 12 disciples inside the altar blurred a little as if they were covered by some invisible force.

In the altar, Wang Yang opened his eyes and arrived in a lifeless white world. In front of him was every weapon imaginable; heavy swords, soft swords, longswords, broadswords, short swords, katanas, spears, axes, hammers, and so forth.

"Come to me, long sword." As soon as Wang Yanfeng thought this, a long sword appeared in his hand. In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, 90% of martial artists used a sword, and among those, 80% of them used a longsword. A longsword was a fantastic weapon; it was dynamic and relentless, swift and fierce.

The test finally started, and seven or eight vicious beasts appeared in front of Wang Yanfeng. There were also three or four martial artists whose strength ranged from the early Second Stage of Body Transformation to the early Third Stage of Body Transformation.

Wang Yanfeng coldly gazed at them. He had to defeat these opponents. When the real fight began, Wang Yanfeng found that the assessment was actually very simple. Every time he killed an enemy, a new one would immediately appear to replace it, except that this new opponent's strength was more formidable!

Wang Yanfeng had only killed five or six, when martial artists at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation began to appear.

When he accumulated 110 points, Wang Yanfeng gave a stuffy humph as he received a minor wound. When he gathered up to 180 points, a martial artist managed to pierce a sword into Wang Yanfeng's stomach. In that final moment, Wang Yanfeng sliced off that martial artists head, and at the same time he was stabbed through the heart.

Final score – 190 points.

After dying, Wang Yanfeng was shot out of the Ten Thousand Killing Array. He looked pale, but luckily he had managed not to faint because of his previous experience at the Exquisite Pagoda. Wang Yanfeng had adapted to this sort of illusory killing realm, and his although his entire body was wracked with aching pain, he hadn't truly been injured. These aches were only because of the phantom nerve stimulations from being killed.

As Wang Yanfeng looked around the altar, his complexion sank. He was unexpectedly the first one to be eliminated! Besides him, all 11 other people were still on the altar!

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Chapter 59 – The Gap Between the New and the Old

As Wang Yanfeng looked around the altar, his complexion sank. He was unexpectedly the first one to be eliminated! Beside him, all other 11 people were still on the altar!

"I… how… I was the worst?"

"Don't be discouraged." An indifferently cold voice sounded from nearby Wang Yanfeng's ear. Wang Yanfeng turned around and looked; the one speaking was the Earth Hall instructor, Hong Xi.

"The 11 on the altar are some of the Earth Hall's most outstanding disciples. Your ranking is not too bad." Hong Xi said as he referred to the Ranking Stone to his side. Wang Yanfeng's name was now impressively arranged at rank 168. This result was far off from the top-tier talents of rank 150 and above, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Wang Yanfeng was only 15 years old. If he studied for six years in the Seven Profound Martial House, it was already a settled matter that he would enter the Heavenly Abode. Even making the top ten on the Ranking stone was not impossible in five or six years.

Although Hong Xi said his ranking wasn't terrible, Wang Yanfeng was discontent and dissatisfied with this result. Liu Mingxiang was at rank 125. The disparity was just too big.

He was unable to restrain himself from glancing at Lin Ming. He saw that he seemed indifferent, and was otherwise very calm.

"This fellow is stronger than me, but it's not a ridiculous strength. If I was rank 168, then he could probably rank at 150. Zhang Cang who he has a match with is rank 109, and might even be higher this time, isn't he worried?"

At this time, several more people were shot out by the Ten Thousand Killing Array; their rankings varied from 120 to 150.

Then after a while, a few more people were ejected, Liu Mingxiang impressively among them. His final result was a remarkable rank 122, but he was not able to jump up by 5 ranks.

Liu Mingxiang reached into his clothes and brought out a pill which he took. He recovered a bit, and smiled as he looked to Wang Yanfeng. This result was more or less what he expected.

Wang Yanfeng's face was ugly. He finally understood the gap between a new disciple and an old disciple! The Seven Profound Martial House was a gathering place for talents and geniuses. These disciples of the Earth Hall were the geniuses among geniuses. In addition to the resources provided by the Seven Profound Martial House and the lectures and tutoring by famous instructors, how could they possibly not progress amazingly quickly?

Liu Mingxiang had already been enrolled here for two years; this gap was not the least bit unusual!

Wang Yanfeng clenched his first. He knew perfectly well that in the match between him and Liu Mingxiang, he would undoubtedly be the loser. But he would still fight. Everything he lost, he would get back in the future!

"Rank 168? Heh heh, how tender." Wang Mang taunted with a smile as he saw Wang Yanfeng's ranking.

"This position is about 100 or 200 points. All I have to do is kill four guys at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation and I'll reach it. This father once killed six martial artists on the frontier who had the same cultivation. This time I will absolutely advance to rank 150!" Le Tie rubbed the tip of his nose with his thumb, full of fighting spirit. He was a martial artist whose cultivation was at the peak of the Third Stage of Body Cultivation. Because of his many years as a professional mercenary who constantly flirted with death, his combat prowess was far above a similar martial artist with the same cultivation.

"Us brothers must get at least rank 150 before showing our faces to Lin Ming and Wang Yanfeng again. We will surpass them, otherwise we really are garbage."

"The second round is starting. Step up!"

The magic array began to revolve and activate again. Wang Mang and Le Tie took a spot next to each other, and after standing there, Wang Mang turned and said, "Hey, First Place, aren't you coming up?"

"You first." Lin Ming replied as he glanced at Zhang Tie and Wang Mang. These two had a very heavy murderous air around them; they had obviously killed many people in the past. Generally, such a person would not be weak.

The light rays of the magic array flashed, and Wang Mang and Li Tie entered the Ten Thousand Killing Array.

These two people's weapons were the broadsword. It was a weapon that could kill a large number of enemies in a gathered crowd and had overwhelming power. But these two people soon realized that the Ten Thousand Killing Array was much more difficult than they had first assumed. Although Li Tie had killed six martial artists who were at the peak of the Viscera Stage at the frontier, that had been done one at a time. Now he needed to simultaneously guard and fend off the attacks of ten enemies who all converged on him. Let alone killing someone at the peak of Viscera Training, even someone at early stage of Viscera Training would not be easy. As for the enemies at the Second Stage of Body Transformation, Flesh Training, he managed to fend them off and kill one, but a Viscera Training level opponent instantly replaced him. Even Fourth Stage of Body Transformation, Altering Muscle opponents began to appear. The more they killed, the more dangerous their situation became!

These two martial artists at the peak of the Third Stage could even favorably compare to a martial artist at the early Altering Muscle stage. But now they had to face them while being besieged by enemies on all sides; and after the time it took to burn a stick of incense, they had been defeated.

Final Result. Wang Mang, rank 156. Li Tie, rank 158.

They had not been able to enter the top 150 ranks!

When this pair was shot out by the Ten Thousand Killing Array, they looked at the results on the Ranking Stone and could not help but feel an agonizing sense of frustration. Their prized superior combat strength was not enough to let them reach the top 150!

Moreover, they were already 18 years old and had little room for improvement. Perhaps even when they graduated from the Seven Profound Martial House, they would not be able to reach the top 100.

Lin Ming watched as this disheartened pair departed. In his heart he already knew that to enter the top 150 in the first assessment was to be a top-tier talent. But sometimes even a top-tier talent might not always have a good result. Wang Yanfeng was considered a top-tier talent, but unfortunately it could be said that it was a pity he was too young.

He looked at Zhang Cang. Zhang smiled as he looked back.

"This Zhang Cang is a half-step into the Altering Muscle stage. But if it is just a normal peak Altering Muscle martial artist, they might not be his match. Although I have the 'True Primal Chaos Formula's' Large Success stage, to beat him now is not possible."

"That Liang Tieshan is going on stage. He is the third place among the new disciples." Some people in the crowd recognized Liang Tieshan. This fellow's robust and large physique left a very strong impression.

"Liang Tieshan and Lin Ming both have inborn divine strength. The third place in the entrance exam this time also obtained a Golden Snake Scarlet Pill, looking at this Liang Tieshan's performance, we can just jump up 20 or 30 ranks to guess Lin Ming's performance.

Liang Tieshan was often compared with Lin Ming because the two were similar in age and also had inborn divine strength.

After Liang Tieshan came on stage, he gave a gruff smile and then made long strides towards the Ten Thousand Killing Array. He had already taken the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill long ago, and now he was a half-step into the Viscera Training stage. The breakthrough to the next stage was only a matter of time. His cultivation was not too different from Wang Yanfeng's, and his inborn divine strength definitely covered a large portion of that gap.

Although Liang Tieshan's cultivation was the same with Wang Yanfeng, he still lacked the actual combat experience that Wang Yanfeng had. He also lacked Wang Yanfeng's martial skill, the 'Nine Paths of Truth' and the movement skill, the 'Seven Despairing Steps'. Finally, Liang Tieshan was also shot out a bit earlier than Wang Yanfeng from the Ten Thousand Killing Array. His final ranking was 176, and he had entered the top 180 which was quite rare, but could not be regarded as a top-tier talent.

"Liang Tieshan, rank 176. Wang Yanfeng, rank 168. I wonder what rank this Lin Ming will be able to achieve?"

As the audience talked about, Lin Ming leapt on stage.

"Hey! The number one new disciple has come on stage!"

"I don't know anything about this guy, but I heard he has inborn divine strength and had eaten some rare and precious materials. He might be able to advance into the top 150."

"Do you think it is that easy to enter the top 150 rankings? Except Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu, there haven't been any other 15 year olds who slaughtered their way into the top 150 rankings. He took first place in the entrance exam because he is young and had an advantage rushing up the Exquisite Pagoda. But the Ten Thousand Killing Array is impartial to age." Said a disciple with a hint of jealousy. This disciple was already 19 years old.

"Haha, you envy others age for being young. The Exquisite Pagoda is the fairest stage; no matter your age, it only tests the degree of talent. But with this Ten Thousand Killing Array, the young martial artists truly suffer a great loss. This Lin Ming is only 15 years old, he might be able to enter the top 160 rankings. Even 170 is a top-tier talent! Achieving around 140 or 150 symbolizes a monstrous genius! Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu had all achieved around those rankings when they had their first ranking war. That time was a true convergence of talents, how could the assessment this time even compare?

At the mention of Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu, several present people's expression changed. These three had a great amount of prestige and power which they had acquired over the years, even more so than some core disciples and the elusive Qin Xingxuan. They were almost selected to be core disciples themselves, but still enjoyed a massive amount of resources and did not need to participate in the Ten Thousand Killing Array ranking assessment. Even the lectures they attended, their practice, and their skill manuals were all beyond what an ordinary disciple could possess.

Because of these reasons, to an ordinary disciple, the concept of an existence of a core disciple like Qin Xingxuan was too distant and incomprehensible. She was not like a Martial House disciple at all. Therefore her accumulated prestige and fame was less than that of Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu.

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Chapter 60 – The Tiger Enters a Flock of Sheep

Lin Ming had outstanding aural acuity, and he could hear the comments of these people. He turned his head to look at the Ranking Stone. Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu were all exactly ranked in the top three positions. But of these three people, their ranking and martial talents were actually reversed.

Zhang Guanyu had the highest talent. In the entirety of the Seven Profound Martial House's non-core disciples, he was the only fifth-grade talent.

Ta Ku was next. His talent was a superior fourth-grade, just a bit away from a fifth-grade talent, and he also had extraordinary divine inborn strength.

But Ling Sen was the worst. His talent was only an inferior fourth-grade. There seemed to be something out of place about it.

After Lin Ming learned of Ling Sen's talent grade, he hadn't figured out how Ling Sen could rely on his inferior fourth-grade talent to firmly occupy the first spot on the Ranking Stone.

One's own total strength and ability depended on many factors; talent was only one of them. But talent was actually the most important. Was it possible that Ling Sen also had a fortuitous encounter, had he eaten a valuable material or something to that effect?

Although Lin Ming knew that a pure heart of martial arts was a very big factor in determining strength, Lin Ming did not actually think that a heart of martial arts would have such a tremendous influence.

Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guan Yu, these three people had entered the Seven Profound Martial House during the same entrance exam. It could be said to be a true convergence of talent. In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, every decade or so there would be a generation of talents that could be said to be the strongest. It could be said that Ling Ming's generation wasn't filled with top-tier talents, but once one included the monstrous peerless genius Qin Xingxuan, there wasn't much of a difference.

Lin Ming stood at the altar of the Ten Thousand Killing Array and silently revolved the 'True Primal Chaos Formula'. After he had reached the Large Success stage of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula', he had only measured his fist strength on the stone pillar, and how not tested how far his battle prowess had improved.

This was just the right time to experiment!

The Ten Thousand Killing Array shined with glimmering rays and Lin Ming's whole body was soaked in this glowing light. Under the stage, the audience's eyes were mostly on him.

Zhang Cang's mouth twitched with a little thoughtful smile. He was a half-step into the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation, Altering Muscle, and his combat prowess was enough to defeat an ordinary martial artist who was at the peak of Altering Muscle. This strength gave him the qualifications to despise and feel utter contempt for the cultivation of the peak of Body Transformation's Second Stage, Lin Ming.

The Ten Thousand Killing Array activated, and Lin Ming arrived in the middle of a dazzlingly bright white space. In front of him were a variety of every known weapon; the longsword, the stiletto, the saber, the short sword, it had it all.

Before entering the Seven Profound Martial House, Lin Ming had used the short sword, which was most similar to the deboning knife he had always used. But after he started to practice the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', his strength had increased, his true essence had thickened by several times, and the short sword no longer suited him.

"The 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' tempered my body. Now my fist is my best weapon, and I haven't chosen a new weapon." Lin Ming thought, and these weapons all disappeared into mist.

Meanwhile, in front of Lin Ming, there were more than ten phantom shades that appeared. These phantom creatures included vicious beasts and martial artists. Their strength ranged from the early Second Stage of Body Transformation to the peak of the Third Stage of Body Transformation.

Seeing this enemies rushing with killing intent towards him, Lin Ming hurried and revolved the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' to its limit. With the first layer at the Large Success stage, his whole body's true essence shot up, and it felt as if strength was endlessly pouring from his body.

"Roar!" A first-level tiger-shaped vicious beast roared and rushed at him. This vicious beast's skin was coarse and its flesh was thick. Its body weight was 600 to 700 jins, and its dashing increased its impact strength by several times!

As he faced this vicious beast, Lin Ming tightened his fist, and his knuckles cracked like fierce thunder.

"Die!" Lin Ming yelled. He struck out his fist and it smashed forwards, erupting with all 3200 jins of his strength.

Bang! The center of his fist struck the tiger-like vicious beast in the forehead and its skull fractured with a crashing sound. That 600-700 jin vicious beast that had rushed at Lin Ming was sent soaring backwards to its doom with a single first, but Lin Ming only stepped on the ground, and after the recoil, was steady once again.

The tiger-like vicious beast could not even let out a sorrowful howl as it soared through the air. Its skull was completely shattered into pieces, its brain turned into pulp, and it instantly died as it plummeted to the ground!

With a single fist that struck down his enemy, Lin Ming's fighting spirit rose like a rainbow after a spring shower, and the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' was revolving to its maximum limit. He shot forward and crashed into the middle of his enemies; his fist was like a hurricane, every kick was a tsunami! He was like a fierce tiger that had entered a flock of sheep; his might was overwhelming!

Blood readily splashed everywhere, and the sounds of bones breaking filled the air. The rough fur and thick meat of the beasts could simply not stand up to the devastating strength of Lin Ming's first; the frail phantom martial artists simply melted away with one punch.

"Peak Viscera Training martial artists!" After Lin Ming killed a peak Body Transformation Second Stage martial artist with a fist, a peak Viscera Training martial artist appeared in his stead. When a martial artist reached the boundary of Body Transformation's Third Stage, Viscera Training, their internal organs would be guarded by true essence, and their defensive power would increase. Even Lin Ming would find it difficult to finish off this enemy with his fists, and not only that, but this martial artist's movements were flexible like a reed, and its attacks were swift and fierce; wanting to hit it would not be easy.

"You're 50 points!" When Lin Ming saw this peak Viscera Training martial artist, not only did he not fear, but his fighting spirit instead shot to the sky. After reaching Large Success in the 'True Primal Chaos Formula's' first layer, he needed a decent opponent to test his strength.

"!" The martial artist swung his sword out. Lin Ming lowered his body and flung himself close to the ground, letting the sword fly over his head. With a fluid reflex, he punched out at the martial artist's knee.

After reaching 'True Primal Chaos Formula's' Large Success in the first layer, Lin Ming's true essence had thickened, and his speed had also risen to the heights of another level. The velocity with which this punch shot out was like a hidden dragon that emerged from the depths. The martial artist panicked and tried to avoid this strike, but Lin Ming pushed his hands against the ground and let loose a brutal leg sweep at the martial artist's back.

This leg came out flying out like a whip; the martial artist wasn't able to avoid it, and coughed up a mouthful of blood as he was kicked to the side.

Lin Ming relentlessly continued his attack in hot pursuit. His body sprung upwards and his fists fell like a rainstorm. The martial artist parried, but a fist managed to find a hole in his patterns and punched him. Even though his internal organs were protected by true essence, once hit by the strength of a 3200 jin fist, he took a major wound.

The martial artist vomited more blood, his sternum fractured and all his defenses were laid open. Lin Ming made one last fist and struck the center left of his chest. The martial artist's heart instantly stopped from the sheer force, and this peak Viscera Training martial artist was completely killed by Lin Ming.

In the midst of chaos among all these enemies, he had managed to kill an opponent a full stage above him; this result was enough to make one feel proud, but Lin Ming also knew that this strength was still lacking when compared to Zhang Cang!

"That was another 50 points, now I have more than 200."

"An incense stick of time has passed and this Lin Ming is still fighting in there, and his body is still standing firmly on stage. He really has surpassed Wang Yanfeng."

"He has surpassed Wang Yanfeng, but don't forget, he obtained the first place reward from the entrance exam – the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill, and also Wang Yanfeng's Golden Snake Scarlet Pill. He ate those two rare and precious medicines yet he didn't manage to achieve the Third Stage of Body Transformation, His strength still increased but his medium third-grade talent really despises him.

When the disciples went on stage, those in the audience naturally dispensed their thoughts on them. This time Zhang Cang had crossed his arms across his chest and was looking up with a relaxed, casual demeanor and a sly smile. Lin Ming's strength was as expected, otherwise it would just be no fun.

An incense stick quickly burnt down, and soon, a second incense stick also reached its end.

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Chapter 61 – Spear

Chapter title is a minor spoiler, highlight it to read it now, or see it at the bottom.

"Two sticks of incense have already burnt down." Li Tie and Wang Mang's faces were ugly. They did not think that Lin Ming would been able to persist for so long; it was proof that Lin Ming had already surpassed them, that he was likely to enter the top 150 rankings!

"Big Brother, this Lin Ming is still fighting in there…" Li Tie's mouth twitched. He never thought that they two brothers' talents were inferior to others, but they couldn't even keep up in actual combat!

This all made Li Tie feel depressed.

"Mm… we underestimated the Seven Profound Martial House's youthful talents. When this Lin Ming fought with Wang Yanfeng, he must have hidden his true skills, either that or his progression has been amazingly quick."

At that time, a ray of light shot out as the first person was ejected from the Ten Thousand Killing Array. This person was not Lin Ming, but an old disciple of the Earth Hall. His final result was 147.

"147! My goodness, this Lin Ming is relying on his age of 15 to advance past the 150 top rankings! This is the same result that Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu had achieved!"

Saying that Lin Ming was on par with these three existences, many present people's hearts turned cold. These three men had always been the unshakeable and ineffable existences that occupied the top three ranks of the Ranking Stone. Their strength was a level higher than those of the fourth and fifth rank. And to say that Lin Ming shared this honor with these three people? It didn't matter if he had managed to scrounge around and eat some rare material, or if he had met some sort of fortuitous encounter as a child, as long as he managed to be on par with these three, his future fame would echo in the world.

"Don't draw conclusions so quickly. It's only time that's passed. Maybe this Lin Ming is very slow at killing, and he's just spending most of his time running away. If that's the case then he wouldn't have 200 points yet.

"Mm, that's reasonable. Being in there a long time doesn't mean his score is also high. That old disciple that came out was just rank 147 and had just entered the top 150. Let's wait and see."

In the illusory world of the Ten Thousand Killing Array, even if one fended off enemies and did not kill them, their number would still slowly increase. So even if a person was strong, they could not stay inside for an indefinite period of time. Of course, if their power exceeded that of a Xiantian expert, they could directly break through the barriers, but that was a different matter altogether.

Lin Ming hadn't done any useless dodging. From the moment he started with that first kill to now, he hadn't stopped to take a single breath of rest, the only thought on his mind was to kill, kill, kill!

The 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians' was a Body Transformation skill manual that was the extreme essence of light and Yang. Its every style and move was to march forward and defy all enemies with courage, it wasn't a skill manual that favored dirty dogfights.

Lin Ming's fists were already dripping wet with blood!

Every time an enemy died, a more formidable one took its place. These phantom beings started at the early Third Stage of Body Transformation and became the peak of the Third Stage, and onto even the Four Stage of Body Transformation – Altering Muscle.

There were already three Altering Muscle level enemies that had appeared, and with the Viscera Training level enemies serving as a distraction, even Lin Ming was finding it difficult to keep up.

Fortunately, Lin Ming had support from the first layer's Large Success of the 'True Primal Chaos Formula'. Lin Ming's true essence was rich and lively, and it continued to grow. His physical strength hadn't dropped by much. Even a durable martial artist who had reached the Large Success stage of Viscera Training and could breathe like a serpent would find it hard to compare with his resilience.

The enemies became stronger and stronger, and finally a Body Transformation second-level vicious beast appeared. It was a Crystal Backed Spider! Lin Ming felt an enormous pressure on him when this beast appeared; a Crystal Backed Spider's defensive capabilities were astonishing; it was difficult to wound it even with a sword! It could also launch its spider silk in a long-range attack. The spider's silk was durable like steel wire; once he was entangled by this silk in the midst of all these enemies; he would immediately die.

"This spider is difficult to deal with!" Lin Ming tightly frowned. If this was one-on-one he could wear this spider down until it died, but in his present situation with danger on all sides, he couldn't take this tactic into consideration.

At the same time he had to deal with the attacks of multiple enemies, he also had to dodge this spider's long-range attack. Lin Ming was surrounded by peril.

"Che!"

A sharp sword light flew at him. Lin Ming immediately backed up and the dangerous sword light just barely missed his chest. This sharp sword aura really made one's hairs stand up.

Lin Ming gradually found that his own fists were insufficient weapons.

In it was against a single enemy there would be no problem, but in this midst of a chaotic crowd, he found that he lacked the ability to move as he liked. If he attacked an enemy, especially with a close-range attack, he would be vulnerable to the enemy intercepting.

Maybe he should choose a weapon?

If so, what should he choose? Lin Ming's mind began to race with thoughts and ideas.

Sword?

In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, 90% of martial artists used the sword. The reason was that sword's use was diverse and its attacks were sharp and fierce. Although it was difficult to reach the pinnacle of swordplay, the barrier to entry was not high.

A sword could attack and a sword could defend, and it could be heavy or it could be light. It was a versatile weapon that had gained a top reputation with soldiers among every weapon in the world.

But Lin Ming felt that the sword did not suit him. What he cultivated was the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', the most Yang of all Body Transformation skill manuals. If he reached the Large Success stage, then his aura would be like a billowing tsunami that swept through heaven and earth. If he saw a god then he would kill a god; if he saw a demon, then he would kill a demon!

But a sword master was different. They were known for their agility, ever changing styles, complex moves, and cunning attacks. Their style did not match him.

Then what about the saber?

If 90% of Sky Fortune Kingdom's martial artists used a sword, then of the left over 10%, more than half most likely used a saber. The saber was less dexterous than a sword, but its striking power was strong. Its attacks were relentless and unceasing. In the hands of a powerful martial artist it would be especially dominant. In a battle with many opponents, its endless attacks would be irresistible and unstoppable; in those cases it could be called the tyrant of weapons.

But Lin Ming also felt that the saber did not suit him. Although the saber had overwhelming offensive strength at times, it had few attack methods. Though it could chop and divide with unprecedented aggression, it lacked an impression of irresistible force.

Lin Ming suddenly remembered several days ago when he had met Lan Yunyue in the Martial Lecture Hall. When the elder there had been discussing the basics, he had gone on length about a weapon… the spear!

Very few martial artists used a spear in the Sky Fortune Kingdom. It wasn't because the spear wasn't strong, in fact, it was just the opposite. Every spear's attacks were mighty and indomitable. But spears were difficult to learn, and even harder to master.

A spear took a long time to practice, more than any other weapon. A spear could divide, it could pierce, it could draw, it could push, it could dance like a flower, it could kill an encirclement of enemies. Its imposing aura was unrivaled and its attacks were unstoppable.

To sweep away an army of a thousand, there was only the spear!

The spear was called the king of a hundred soldiers. To be titled this, it was obviously formidable.

But the spear was difficult to practice, and it was also difficult to wield. Even the construction of a spear was many times more complex than a sword or a saber!

For blades like sabers and sword, as long as the steel was fine, then it could be incomparably sharp.

But the spear shaft needed to be rigid, yet flexible like a willow branch. Steel and iron simply didn't have the elastic properties required, and could not be used to make the shaft. But wood and bamboo, although they were flexible, they weren't stiff enough and the weight was also too light, and its lethality would only be ordinary. In a real fight it could easily be chopped in half by a bladed weapon.

Therefore a high quality treasure spear's value eclipsed that of a treasure sword or saber by five to six times, and there weren't many of them!

Lin Ming fought on one hand, and on the other quickly deliberated on a choice of weapon. His mind ran through the elder's lecture on a spear's merits.

However in a life or death fight like this, to be distracted was only inviting disaster. As Lin Ming finally decided, a bolt of spider silk came flying at him like an arrow. Lin Ming jumped into the air, barely evading this danger, but in the moment when he was turning in midair, a sword came madly cutting at him from a tricky angle. Lin Ming only felt pain in his back as his blood shot into the air.

"He's injured!"

Outside the Ten Thousand Killing Array, Lin Ming's main body showed a reaction. There was a stuffy cough, and his face paled.

"This boy cannot last much longer!" The observing martial artists let out a collective breath and relaxed. Most of the martial artists here didn't want to see others doing well. The Seven Profound Martial House already had three holy cows pressing down on them; they did not want another one pressuring them.

"It's already impressive that he lasted this long. Two sticks of incense have been burnt, if he goes any longer than it will go against the will of heaven."

"He's done for. He might be able to reach a ranking around 150."

Also outside the Ten Thousand Killing array, even the dignified and haughty Zhang Cang was showing a change in complexion. Although Lin Ming's ranking now was nothing compared to him, but what rank one could achieve at their first time ranking war symbolized their potential. That a 15 year old could reach above around rank 150 with only a third-grade talent, it really made one alarmed and afraid.

"This Lin Ming definitely ate the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill and that's why he has such strength. Although this is only strength that came from taking pills, I cannot look down on him." Zhang Cang clenched his fist as he felt pressure descending on him.

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Chapter 62 – The Final Grade

"This wound isn't light!" Lin Ming revolved the 'True Primal Chaos Formula' to suppress the injury, but it still bled.

"The wound's bleeding. My strength will slowly fall… it's impossible to wage a battle of attrition. If that is the case…" Lin Ming's eyes were cold as he locked onto an early Altering Muscle martial artist and the Crystal Backed Spider. "You two, I'm going to put my life on the line to kill you both. I will make the most of my remaining strength in the time I have left to obtain the biggest victory I can and try for my highest possible final score."

"Spear, to me!"

As Lin Ming thought this, the rows of weapons that had disappeared before reappeared in front of him. An overlord spear appeared in Lin Ming's hand.

"It turned out to be the overlord spear!"

This overlord spear was crafted with potent darksteel. Such a spear sacrificed its elasticity in exchange for devastatingly destructive power!

The overlord spear's shaft was eight feet in length and the spear head was eight inches long. The barrel was thick as an arm, and because it was made with heavy darksteel, the spear's total weight was 580 jins. With a sweep of the spear, even trees would be smashed apart.

Lin Ming's arm strength was 3200 jins; wielding this heavy spear was just right.

"Good spear!" Lin Ming laughed out loud as soon as he saw it. He tightly gripped the overlord spear and swept outwards in a great arc. A martial artist at the early Third Stage, not realizing the change in circumstances, raised a sword to block the strike, but was only sent flying backwards!

"Hah!" Lin Ming shouted out and his entire body erupted in an imposing aura. A surge of overwhelming Yang aura covered the entire area as it blotted out the sky with killing intent. The group of over ten strong enemies were stunned by this cry, and were unexpectedly so shaken that they dared not step forward.

The floor beneath Lin Ming shattered as he slammed his feet against the ground and shot forward like a beam of light. With an unbelievably imposing aura and a 580 jin overlord spear in hand, he thrust out at the Crystal Backed Spider."

"Hiss!" The Crystal Backed Spider reacted and spat out spider silk straight at Lin Ming's chest. This spider silk could bind a human and it was also keenly sharp! It may not seem like an arrow, but it could pierce through a person's body!

Even a master at the Altering Muscle stage could only evade when facing this spider's silk. But once dodged, the Crystal Backed Spider could also retreat and continue its long-range attack.

Lin Ming did not dodge or evade; he ran at the spider silk and cut towards it with the overlord spear! How slender and thin was the spider's silk? The spearpoint was only a point, hitting it at high speed was easier said than done!

Although Lin Ming didn't know marksmanship, he had spent years delicately working with a deboning knife; with his keen eyes he had accumulated experience and precision. With just this, he had defeated Wang Yanfeng's 'Nine Paths of Truth' with just his fist!

But regardless of whether it was a fist or deboning knife, with this 580 jin overlord spear in hand, it was essentially no different than wielding anything else!

"Break for me!" Lin Ming angrily shouted. The overlord spear hit the spider's silk. The spider silk was quick like an arrow, but its weight was actually like fluttering cotton. The 580 jin overlord spear meeting the spider's silk was like a galloping horse running into a fly.

Its momentum not reducing at all, the overlord spear thrust straight into the Crystal Backed Spider's eight eyes!

The Crystal Backed Spider hadn't expected that its silk would be blocked by a spear. At this moment it was vulnerable to the cold, killing point of the spear!

Speed was not a Crystal Backed Spider's strength. Its true power lay in its armored body, and its defensive abilities were comparable to stone pillars. It usually depended on this amazing defensive power to keep off its enemies.

But even so, how could it block the 580 jins overlord spear that was combined with Lin Ming's 3200 jin strength?

"Pah!" The Crystal Backed Spider had no idea at all as its brain was pierced by Lin Ming's spear!

"Tsee Tsee Tsee!" The spider that was as big as a small cow was nailed to the ground with its eight legs still twitching. A single spear had killed the enemy!

Green mucus liquid shot out as Lin Ming pulled out his spear and rushed towards the other Altering Muscle martial artists to kill them. However at this moment, there was faint sensation at the back of Lin Ming's mind, as if a poisonous viper was preparing to strike at him from behind.

He dodge to the side, and a shining electric light ripped through the ground where he had been.

Martial Skill?!

Lin Ming immediately turned his head. Behind him was a phantom man holding a longsword and wearing a bamboo hat.

"Peak of Altering Muscle!"

This enemy was the one that appeared after he killed the Crystal Backed Spider! Not only did its cultivation reach the peak of Altering Muscle, but it could also use martial skills.

Seeing that his enemy was someone at the peak of Altering Muscle, Lin Ming's heart was filled with a surge of heroic pride. This was the first time he would fight an enemy at the peak of Altering Muscle!

"Wasn't Lin Ming injured? Why hasn't he finished by now?

"This guy is too tough, the third incense stick is already half burned! After he was injured he still managed to last another half stick of incense!"

"There are only six people left on stage. The last person's result was 139. It's incredible that he is continuing to persist in there!" Most of the present audience didn't want others to succeed.

"This Lin Ming is already injured. It's inevitable that his battle prowess will drop. Even if he's managing to stay in there because of his own stubbornness, it's not known how many points he could have gotten."

As these people talked, two people on the altar gave a cough, apparently seriously injured. They were unable to last any longer and were shot out by the altar. One of them was shockingly Lin Ming.

Lin Ming was pale, and his every breath was heavy. Overall his performance this time was not perfect, or he would have been able to advance a few more ranks. But he didn't care. At his final moments he was able to wield a spear to slaughter his enemies, including two enemies at the early Altering Muscle stage. He had immensely benefitted from such a fierce battle.

"Lin Ming finally came out. It took two and a half incense sticks of time; it's not too unreasonable."

"Mmm. Looks like he will be able to enter the top 150 ranks. The Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and Golden Scarlet Snake Pill are truly incomparably wonderful medicines. This boy was similar to Wang Yanfeng just a few days ago, but now after taking these two wonderful medicines he's at this level, yah, it would be great if I could eat it too." The crowd said. Many were envious and could not mentally accept Lin Ming's results.

At this moment the Ranking Stone magic array flashed. The first light was a person who had come out at the same time as Lin Ming. After the flash, his name appeared in the 136th ranking. After the youth saw this result he was utterly ecstatic. He was only 17 years old and had practiced martial arts for two and a half years at the Seven Profound Martial House. To have this result was quite good.

Then, Lin Ming's name flashed, and it suddenly vanished from the original place at the 210 ranking. More than 100 pairs of eyes were staring at the stone tablet as it updated the results.

The Ranking Stone had altogether 23 rows. Each row had ten names. Most people's eyes were looking at the 15th row, as this was the ranking of 140 to 150 and it was where Lin Ming's name would most likely appear.

However this section of the magic array's image was tranquil like water and did not have the slightest change.

"Mmm?"

It was too late for anyone to feel surprise. The Ranking Stone's 13th row actually fluctuated. The 125th rank and 126th rank were pulled apart by an invisible force, and then the two characters 'Lin Ming' impressively appeared among them.

Lin Ming. Rank 126!!

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Chapter 63 – Divine Weapon Hall

"126?!?

"By heaven! He's only 15 years old!"

After the more than 100 disciples saw Lin Ming's position, there was a collective gasp among the audience.

Even Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and Zhang Guanyu did not achieve such an abnormal ranking! During their first ranking war, Ling Sen had been ranked 145, Ta Ku 142, and Zhang Guanyu had destroyed them both and passed through the top 140 rankings to reach the 138th spot, and even that was a far inferior result to Lin Ming's rank of 126. It had to be known that every step up the ranking was increasingly more difficult!

This was truly a monstrous genius!

Some people were still stubbornly staring at the Ranking Stone, as if they did not believe the results shown above. "Is there a problem with the cliff's magic array? It's only been two and half incense sticks worth of time, there is no way he could have reached the 126th rank!"

"The Ranking Stone's inscriptions were drawn by a Xiantian master from the Seven Profound Valleys, how could there be a problem? The result wasn't wrong, if one wanted to advance past the 130 rankings, they would usually need to spend about three incense sticks of time. The only scenario in which they could have gotten more points is if their strength was high, and they didn't engage in an extended melee with the enemy, but instead killed them with only a few moves…" A person slowly said. This person was Lin Ming's instructor, Hong Xi.

Listening to Hong Xi's words, a few people's Adam's apple spasmed as they gulped down dry mouths. Strength that far surpassed the enemy, enough that they could not even retaliate… does this little kid even have such a great power!?

This was too terrifying!

Zhang Cang had an ugly facial expression as he stared at Lin Ming. 126! Although it was far from his current position, this youth was three years younger than him!

"This Lin Ming, I don't know what sort of godly material he's eaten to be powerful to such an extent, but he is only at the peak of the Second Stage of Body Transformation! Was he really able to absorb the so much of the efficacy of the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and Golden Snake Scarlet Pill with only his medium third-grade talent?"

Lin Ming stared back at Zhang Cang, and a hint of fighting spirit glimmered in his eyes. With the rest of a month, surpassing Zhang Cang was not a problem!

"Good… you very good!" A voice resounded in Lin Ming's ear; it was a greeting from Zhang Cang sent by true essence, "You really managed to give me a good surprise. Although you're only a trashy medium third-grade talent, you managed to absorb so much of the efficacy of both the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and Golden Snake Scarlet Pill and achieve rank 126. But you are far too naïve if you think with just this measly performance that you will be able to defeat me in the leftover time you have. You also had some sort of ability to be able to get such wonderful medicines like the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and Golden Snake Scarlet Pill, but your luck ends at me. Even if you got this far, this kind of massive growth brought by the pills only means your true essence is impure. Do you really think you can purify it in the short time you have? You really think you can do that, boy?"

"You will lose!"

Zhang Cang angrily said as he moved towards the Ten Thousand Killing Array. He was unable to recover his calm again.

The last disciple who had participated in the assessment with Lin Ming was finally shot out by the Ten Thousand Killing Array. Although he had been inside the illusion for a very long time, his ranking was actually inferior to Lin Ming's. He had also managed to pass the top 130 ranks, but his was only 129th.

The Ten Thousand Killing Array began to activate again as its symbols and runes lit up. Among the disciples sitting in the 12 spots was Zhang Cang. The assessment would begin!

When the magic array began shining with light, Zhang Cang sat tranquilly on the altar with a calm appearance, motionless and every breath even and long, as if here were in a peaceful meditation.

Although the Ten Thousand Killing Array was a magic array, the illusory world inside was inseparable from reality. Consuming true essence or physical strength would cause one's breath to accelerate and their heart rate to hasten. Even injuries would cause their bodies to pale and ache all over.

With Zhang Cang so relaxed, the enemies he was facing in the Magic Array were not his current match at all.

"This fellow apprentice is Zhang Cang, he is a master at rank 109. Truly a fierce martial artist!

As a new disciple heard this, his eyes filled with excitement and awe; this was the first time he had seen such a high ranking old disciple.

"Yes, I heard that the last time he participated in the ranking war was three months ago. He should have made more progress by now. He might even make it to the top 100…"

Lin Ming watched the incense burn, and soon the second stick of incense was reaching its end.

In the time it took for these two sticks of incense to burn, the Ten Thousand Killing Array had already ejected several disciples. One of them was one of the new disciples of the Earth Hall. His new ranking was 215, which wasn't too terrible a performance for his first ranking war.

The third incense stick began to burn down, and it quickly burnt to half. With this, Zhang Cang had surpassed Lin Ming's time. But with his strength and age, it was natural that he would be able to persist in the dream world longer.

No one present thought this was a mistake, only if Zhang Cang failed here would it be extraordinary.

When the third incense stick completely burnt through, Zhang Cang finally appeared to feel weak.

When the fourth incense stick started to burn, Zhang Cang coughed. He had clearly been injured in the Ten Thousand Killing Array, and when the fourth incense stick was half done, Zhang Cang was ejected from the altar.

Final ranking, 103!

After Zhang Cang emerged from the Ten Thousand Killing array, he glanced at his new ranking and frowned, as if this result wasn't satisfactory. Although he had surpassed his old ranking by more than 5 positions, his original hopes had been to attack the top 100 rankings.

He looked at Lin Ming, and said with voice transmission, "In the decisive battle one month from now, I'll wait for you there."

But Lin Ming had not paid attention to Zhang Can's words, he was thinking of the weapon he had chosen – the spear.

He had to go find a good spear!

The inspection continued through the entire morning. During the morning, most of the martial artists that came to be assessed were at lower level of cultivations, Second Stage and Third Stage of Body Transformation, and their rankings were outside the top 100.

Shortly before noon the more senior disciples finally started to arrive at the Ten Thousand Killing array. These were the masters at the Fourth Stage of Body Transformation, Altering Muscle, and their strength was on a completely different level from the previous disciples. Several of them attained rankings in the top 50.

Many of the new disciples of the Seven Profound Martial House were enthusiasm-filled youths who stayed to observe the ranking war, but Lin Ming instead departed early. If he could actually see these masters fight in combat then he would certainly have stayed, but the only thing he could see at present were all of them sitting on the altar of the Ten Thousand Killing Array, so he wasn't able to glean anything from that and thus had no inclination to stay.

Shortly before noon, Lin Ming made his way through several alleys and streets and arrived at Sky Fortune City's largest and most prestigious weapon shop, the Divine Weapon Hall.

The Divine Weapon Hall was Sky Fortune City's most ancient weapon shop. It had been managed and handed down generation to generation from the previous dynasty; its storied history might even have been more glorious than Sky Fortune Kingdom! 200 years ago the Sky Fortune Kingdom had been founded as a nation, but the Divine Weapon Hall had already been there for at least 100 years.

Lin Ming peered at the Divine Weapon Hall from a distance. The massive pavilion style building had nine decorated stories, and there were soldiers scattered around that gave a feeling of supreme morale. The entrance was wrought with finely fashioned gold gilding. Above the entrance was a wooden banner with dignified characters brushed on with thick, black strokes and hooked by silver chains. Just by catching a glimpse of the entrance, it felt like there was a relentlessly imposing aura that rushed out at him. Without a doubt, the man who wrote the characters was a master of martial arts.

There weren't many guests in the store, but of those there, more than half were martial arts experts, and several of them were powerhouses at the peak of Bone Forging. This made Lin Ming secretly startled. These experts were only a step away from the Pulse Condensation Period, of course, wanting to take that one step forward and reach that realm was an incomparably difficult step.

Before Lin Ming had left the Seven Profound Martial House, he had put on the unique uniform of his school. So even though his age was still young, he managed to attract the sales clerk's attention. He was only a disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House, but their status was still very high.

"Young hero, what sort of weapon would you like to purchase?"

"Spear!" Lin Ming replied.

"Oh?" The sales clerk said, slightly stunned. There weren't many people who came to purchase spears. Even if they did, it would usually be a tall and burly man. 99% of young men and students who came here would come to look at their swords. He hadn't thought that as soon this 15 or 16 year old young man entered, he would open his mouth and ask to buy a spear.

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