Martial World (Web Novel)

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The iron ridge tree had bark that was as hard as metal. Its juices were materials that were used to produce inscription symbols. Lin Ming had once specifically checked for it, and he didn’t find this sort of tree recorded in the records of Sky Spill Continent. He never expected to see them in this broken world.

“Mm? What’s wrong?” Mu Qianyu asked.

“Nothing. I just remembered that this tree is recorded in some ancient texts I once read.” Lin Ming casually found an excuse to dodge the question. He didn’t want to mention the Realm the Gods to Mu Qianyu.

Mu Qianyu nodded, not asking any further.

This stretch of virgin forest was very hot, and the air was thickly humid with water. The leaves on the trees and shrubs stretched out like giant fans, and the green grass was high and thick. There were chunky vines that twined around everyone like a slithering mass of pythons. The large trees pierced straight through the skies.

The air was filled with a slight rotten woody flavor of branches and leaves. Because of the shade from the trees, visibility was very low, and no matter how great one’s perception was, it couldn’t be used, neither could one fly. It was impossible to clearly see any road in front nor to distinguish direction. In this virgin forest, it wasn’t any different from being blind.

“The true essence suppression on the ground is much stronger than in the air. 70% of my true essence is being suppressed.”

When they were high in the sky, their true essence had only been suppressed by 40%. But now that they were on the ground, their true essence was being suppressed by 70%. They had already lost most of their strength.

Lin Ming silently revolved the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’. Without any surprise, he found that his true essence was compressed by 70%.

As he switched to revolving the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’, he held out on some hope that a miracle could occur. However, even this cultivation method that came from the Realm of the Gods was unable to release him from the binding chains of this world’s strange rules. His true essence was still suppressed by around 70%.

However, the ‘Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians’ was a cultivation method that refined one’s body – true essence was only part of the combat efficiency. Lin Ming’s formidable strength also lay in his great physical strength and his flesh and blood body that was as durable as a treasure.

Lin Ming subconsciously clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. ‘The laws of this world are able to suppress true essence, but these tyrannical laws cannot suppress the strength of the body. I have some advantages, but compared to a late Revolving Core powerhouse, it’s nothing worth mentioning. As for Life Destruction masters, there isn’t even a point of thinking about it.’

The gap in strength between the Xiantian and Revolving Core realm was massive. Even a Saint level talent like Mu Qianyu with her extreme Xiantian cultivation was just able to compare to an early Revolving Core powerhouse. As for Lin Ming, his cultivation boundary was just too far away.

A late Revolving Core master, even if his strength was suppressed to 30% of what it usually was, could still instantly kill him.

Couldn’t fly, couldn’t see the path clearly, perception was limited and dulled. In this forest, a martial artist was somewhat similar to a mortal; it was impossible to find out where to go.

Mu Qianyu realized that she had once felt this helpless feeling a long time ago. In a trance, she thought back to when she was at the base of Thundercrash Mountain. That night, she and Lin Ming were together. She had lost the ability to fly and she was also seriously wounded.

They were supposed to walk towards the center of this broken world, but as time passed, they had both become a bit disoriented.

Mu Qianyu subconsciously looked at Lin Ming. Lin Ming hesitated for a moment and then said, “Wait for me here.”

As he spoke, he jumped up, straight onto a big tree. Borrowing leverage on the trunk and branches, Lin Ming jumped again. After he jumped a few times, his figure disappeared into the dense canopy.

It was true that he couldn’t fly in this world. However, to Lin Ming, crawling up trees was as simple as breathing.

As he stood at the crown of the tree, his line of sight was no longer blocked. Lin Ming quickly found that space wall behind him, and was able to discern the approximate direction of the center off this world.

However, this was only a temporary measure. As they went deeper, he wouldn’t be able to see the space wall anymore, and they would become lost again.

Lin Ming looked up to the skies. This world had no sun, yet there was still sunlight. He didn’t know where it came from, only that the sky was the same as the small broken world he had been in before. There were gray rocks that floated in the air, and all sorts of large and small rocks were suspended in longs chains that surrounding the land.

Lin Ming remembered this extremely unique shape of rocks, and quietly waited there. An hour slowly passed. Lin Ming had a great deal of patience. During this hour, the position of these rocks hadn’t changed at all. Lin Ming silently recorded down the position of the rocks in his mind, and then jumped down from the treetop.

“I recognized a figure of rocks in the sky. We can walk in this direction and after every few miles I can jump back up to compare. Although it isn’t too accurate, it’s much better than us wandering aimlessly around.”

Mu Qianyu looked at Lin Ming with surprise and then silently nodded in agreement. Although Mu Qianyu was astoundingly strong, she had zero experience surviving in the outdoors. When she was together with Lin Ming, she always felt a sense of ease in her heart, as if any challenges or problems could be easily solved with Lin Ming.

The shrubs and vines of this forest were very lush and thick. Every so often, Lin Ming and Mu Qianyu would have to cut them apart with their swords and sabers in order to clear a way. These plants were from ancient times. The stems were abnormally tough, and cutting them apart was relatively difficult.

“Mm?”

Lin Ming’s eyes suddenly widened in challenge. He immediately flipped around and punched behind him.

Bang!

Vibrating true essence erupted. A four or five foot long black scorpion had its head burst open by Lin Ming’s fist, and black juices splashed out. However, this scorpion was unbelievably tough. Even though its head had been burst open, its tail still swept over, thrusting straight towards Lin Ming’s eyes.

Ca!

Sword light flashed and the scorpion tail was cut into pieces in midair. Mu Qianyu had only moved slightly, and then her sword was instantly returned to its scabbard. Only the sword light of her move had been seen.

“This is a vicious beast from ancient times.” Lin Ming looked at the twitching scorpion corpse on the ground. The vitality of this scorpion was simply too tenacious.

During the ancient times of Sky Spill Continent, these kinds of vicious beasts that existed were much closer to those from the Realm of the Gods. They were much stronger than the vicious beasts that existed today, and much more dangerous.

The laws of this world were all in a self-contained system, and were completely different from the outside world. After countless tens of thousands of years, the vicious beasts that had been trapped in this main world had multiplied and bred for generations; who knew what sort of changes had been produced.

The scorpion wasn’t too scary. It was just surprising. It was unknown what other dangers existed in the depths of this forest.

As for the entrance into this world, that was 20 to 30 thousand feet in the air. Now that no one could fly any longer and no one could jump that high, the path to the outside world was closed to them. No one could say if they would encounter a lucky chance or walk into their graves as they trudged forwards.

“Let’s hurry and get out of this forest.”

Lin Ming had just spoken when he heard a series of branches breaking in succession. The bushes in front of him violently trembled, as if something was about to rush out.

Lin Ming took out the Purple Comet Spear and Mu Qianyu also readied her longsword, both of them at full alert.

“Roar!”

The bushes were suddenly parted. A long-horned black leopard flew out. Without a word, Mu Qianyu cut down. As her sword sliced down, a visible ripple of compressed fiery sword energy spread out.

Clang!

The leopard was cut by Mu Qianyu, but the strike against its body made a sound as if metal had struck metal. Its speed slowed a bit and a wisp of blood came out. The leopard was angered. It became more manic, crazier, fiercely rushing towards Mu Qianyu.

Mu Qianyu was startled. She hadn’t felt a strong aura from the black leopard a moment ago and thought that she could casually strike to kill it. Although she had harmed it, he had only scratched the black panther. The vicious beasts in this forest had a horrifying defensive power and her true essence was suppressed by too much.

Lin Ming gripped the Purple Comet Spear and stepped forwards, blocking off the black leopard’s attack route.

“Be careful!” Mu Qianyu called out; she feared that Lin Ming would be injured.

Lin Ming gave a loud shout and almost 70% of Tempering Marrow’s strength exploded outwards. Since his true essence was compressed to 30%, it was best if he used attacks based on pure strength.

He held the spear in both hands and mercilessly swept out.

Bang!

With a loud explosive sound, the black leopard was sent flying back by Lin Ming. The black leopard was like an arrow as it shot backwards. It smashed into a series of trees, severing them and letting out waves of sorrowful howls.

The black leopard crawled up from a bed of broken branches and leaves. Its head was soaked wet with blood and it looked at Lin Ming with fear; it was simply horrified by Lin Ming’s abnormal strength. The black leopard turned around, limping as it escaped.

“What strong and good defense!” Lin Ming was astonished. That spear strike felt like he had struck a massive chunk of iron.

Although he was much stronger than the black leopard, if he had taken his own spear attack without true essence protecting his body, his bones would have been broken. However, that leopard that didn’t have any true essence fluctuations in its body was actually able to use its own flesh to withstand such an attack.

Mu Qianyu looked at Lin Ming with surprise. She hadn’t expected that Lin Ming’s attack would be so strong. “Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, the progress of your strength is just too fast these days. Even I can’t see just how far you’ve come.”

Lin Ming shook his head, “It’s not that exaggerated. It’s just that the Body Transformation cultivation method I practice isn’t suppressed as much by the arbitrary laws of this world. But these vicious beasts have such strong bodies and yet they don’t even use true essence.

After Lin Ming spoke, Mu Qianyu noticed the problem. These vicious beasts had an extremely high defense and attack strength, yet their bodies were void of any true essence. They were completely different from the normal vicious beasts that existed on Sky Spill Continent.

“The different laws of this world have also produced different cultivation systems. The creatures in this forest all have extremely formidable bodies. It’s not just the beasts, but even the trees and plants are abnormally tough. I don’t know what we’ll meet as we continue. That black leopard might not even be considered strong. There might even be stronger vicious beasts ahead.” Mu Qianyu’s tone was tinged with concern. She didn’t know how her master and the others were faring.

As she worried, a loud sound came from deep in the forest, followed by a loud voice that echoed through the trees, “All martial artists are welcome to come with me! This forest is very strange, but if we work together we can get out of here and then look for lucky chances!”

No one knew if the one speaking had used a secret skill, but his voice was like rolling waves, spreading out to a very far distance.

In this forest, true essence was suppressed to 30% of what it usually was. Even perception was suppressed and it was difficult to distinguish just what direction they were in. Thus, the martial artists that had been scattered and competing against each other naturally thought to unite.