Martial World (Web Novel)

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“Will anyone else challenge Lin Ming?”

As Lin Ming stood atop the arena stage, the black-clothed referee loudly asked this question.

The reaction below the stage wasn’t very energetic. In Lin Ming’s battle against Blackrat, his strength had shot up to the level of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. Not just that, but many present were puzzled as to the strange immunity that Lin Ming seemed to have to soul attacks. Relative to Lin Ming’s strength, he had a very small amount of infernal energy, just a tad more than a normal two-winged Heavenly Demon would have. To the other masters in the audience, this degree of infernal energy was nothing at all.

No one knew whether Lin Ming had hidden strengths or not. If they fought with Lin Ming, even if they won they would still be forced to reveal many of their cards. If they exposed their trump cards to others, then that just did more harm than good. The small amount of infernal energy they would obtain was not worth it.

So, many of the masters present lacked interest in Lin Ming.

“Golden Light Sect’s Xu Feng wishes to fight!”

A thin voice sounded out, and a small man leapt onstage.

This man was actually human martial artist. He looked around 20 some years old. The Heavenly Demon Tattoo on his arm only had two wings, and it was also a bit blurry.

Lin Ming was startled. This was the first time in Skysplit Tower that he would fight a human martial artist.

“You aren’t my match.” Lin Ming quickly glanced over Xu Feng’s cultivation. With the imposing aura that this man released, Lin Ming was quickly able to determine the limit of his strength.

He was probably equal to a mighty half-step Revolving Core martial artist. This strength, relative to Xu Feng’s age, would have been extremely stunning within the South Horizon Region. His talent was comparable to that of the Five Element Region’s Zhan Yunjian, Sunfire Princess, and the other geniuses there. But in Skysplit Tower, this was very, very ordinary.

“I know.” Xu Feng indifferently said. “I come from a bottom tier fourth-grade sect. I could not find anyone in my sect at my age that could match me, thus I traveled the world hoping to find powerhouses and experience their skill. I want to understand the gap that exists between us. Today, I saw Brother Ling’s battle and now I have gained a deep admiration of Brother Lin’s skills. I hope that I can see the disparity that exists between us. But let me say this first, I am very, very poor. There isn’t much of value on my body, so I hope that Brother Lin will be a bit gentle with me.”

Xu Feng embarrassedly smiled and flashed the ring on his finger. It was a very ordinary low-grade earth-step spatial ring.

As Lin Ming heard Xu Feng’s words, he was dumbfounded for a moment before he burst out laughing. It was true. Xu Feng saw that Lin Ming was also a human martial artist and was hoping that if they fought, then Lin Ming would not be as ruthless. This was the only reason that he dared to step onstage. Indeed, someone like Xu Feng would find it difficult to stay on the second floor of Skysplit Tower. Those like him did not seek victory. For them, fighting onstage even once was an extremely rare and precious experience.

Lin Ming sighed. As the chief disciple of a fourth-grade sect, Xu Feng was invincible among his peers there, but after arriving at Skysplit Tower he was not much at all. The disparity was simply too great.

Then in the far off future, if Lin Ming himself ever flew up into the Realm of the Gods, would he himself be in a similar situation?

If he ever became an all-powerful earth-shaking existence within the Sky Spill Continent and Holy Demon Continent, would he have to be careful within the Realm of the Gods, and tread lightly there?

Thinking of this, Lin Ming felt an enormous pressure. He had never been complacent about his own strength before. This was because he had seen the terrifying worlds inside of the Magic Cube, and he knew that the whole of the Sky Spill Continent was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

“Match, start!”

The referee loudly announced.

“Sword Wind Void!” Xu Feng shouted. He made the first move, thrusting his sword towards Lin Ming’s chest.

Lin Ming took a single step back. The Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder flashed on the edge of the Purple Comet Spear, and he easily deflected Xu Feng’s sword.

“Sword Light Across the World!

“Sword Shattering Clear Sky!”

Xu Feng displayed one sword move after another. His sword was extremely fast. All of his moves flowed as one without a single flaw. A weaker person would have found this shining sword light impossible to block. However, Lin Ming only used a single spear thrust to counter this. Although it seemed slow, it contained an inherent might as steady and implacable as a mountain. As Xu Feng’s sword light thrust into this, it was like a spring breeze blowing against a hill; it was unable to cause a single change.

Ka!

Xu Feng managed to avoid the spear light of Lin Ming’s attack, but the Blood Extinguishing Demon Thunder scraped past his side. Blood bloomed on his body, and he drew back several steps.

As Xu Feng’s balance was unsteady, Lin Ming stepped forwards. The Purple Comet Spear seemed to pass through space itself as it flashed in front of Xu Feng, straight towards his throat.

A freezing air emanated from the spear tip. Xu Feng felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. In that instant, he thought that he had died.

“I’ve lost.”

Xu Feng knew that Lin Ming had stayed his hand, because his strength didn’t match what he had shown in his battle with Blackrat. Lin Ming’s truly formidable strength lay in his powerful killing moves. This sort of spear technique was just child’s play.

“Well fought.” Lin Ming said as he cupped his fists together.

“After I grow stronger, I will return to request a match from you.” Xu Feng said before he leapt off the stage. However, the infernal energy in his body remained onstage, slowly converging into Lin Ming’s body.

It didn’t matter whether one killed their opponent or not. As long as someone was defeated, the winner would obtain over half of the loser’s infernal energy.

It was just that Xu Feng’s infernal energy, relative to Blackrat’s, couldn’t be considered much at all.

After Xu Feng was defeated, the referee asked if anyone else wished to continue challenging Lin Ming. Then, another human martial artist stepped onstage.

This was the third match.

“This is meaningless!”

In a corner of the arena, Lan Xing shook his head and turned around to leave. He had originally stayed in order to see just what other cards Lin Ming might have, and whether or not someone could force him to use more of his strength. However, the match he just saw could only be described as disappointing. It seemed as if there wasn’t a master that would step up today.

“That’s fine. I’ll wait until my battle with you and then I will personally test what sort of strength you have hidden. I hope that you won’t disappoint me.”

As Lan Xing thought out loud, his lips curved up in a smile. Contrasted with his beautiful face, it was an enchantingly haunting look.

……………….

“Lin Ming wins! Three win streak! In his Lin Ming’s first appearance he obtains a three win streak! There have been two newcomers who have managed to obtain a three win streak in their first battle. What a surprising result!” The black-clothed referee said after Lin Ming defeated his third opponent.

It wasn’t common for a newcomer to obtain a three win streak, and especially rare for two to appear in a single day.

“Will you continue?” The referee asked Lin Ming.

“No.” Lin Ming shook his head. Increasing one’s strength was a slow process of accumulation. Lin Ming wasn’t worried. He was planning on staying at Skysplit Tower for a long time. After every battle, he would need time to comprehend and digest what he learned.

Lin Ming stepped out from the battlefield and found the young Fey girl who had originally brought him there. He said, “Please take me to a practice area in Skysplit Tower.”

“Oh… good… okay…” The young Fey girl was startled for a moment before she quickly nodded.

Skysplit Tower itself was thousands upon thousands of feet high. Every separate layer was hundreds of feet, and the interior was divided into many smaller, complex structures. There were countless buildings within.

The young Fey girl brought Lin Ming on a long path. They passed through several floors, and finally they came to a practice area.

When the young Fey girl pushed open the thick wooden door, Lin Ming was surprised as he saw what was within.

Behind this wooden door was a vast, deep abyss. The abyss was cylindrical, and it was over 10 miles in diameter. The abyss was completely surrounded by walls of jet black rock. The walls were smooth, and one could even see that the black rock walls were divided by thin lines. As one looked out from afar, this abyss looked like a crisscrossed honeycomb.

Lin Ming was at one of these doors. His position was at the middle of this abyss.

As he looked upwards, he could see the abyss extended thousands of feet high. The infernal energy was rich at the top, and the air was hazy.

As he looked downwards, his eyes became lost in a dark and endless abyss. He couldn’t tell what was down there, but he could feel an infinitely rich and incomparably thick infernal energy drafting up from down below. The chilling cold winds that blew up felt as if they could freeze the soul. It was like this pitch black abyss was an entrance to the 18 layers of hell.

“The practice area was built in this place.” Lin Ming finally understood. This massive circular abyss must pass through the entire Skysplit Tower. One could imagine this abyss as a titanic pipe in Skysplit Tower. And guessing from how deep it went, this abyss was located square in the center of the towering cliff that Polaris City was located atop.

The young Fey girl already expected that Lin Ming would be surprised. She faintly smiled and then thoughtfully explained, “This abyss is the source of infernal energy. The infernal energy within Polaris City gushes out from tens of thousands of feet deep within the land. The deeper you go, the richer the infernal energy is. Thus, the deeper the practice area is, the higher the charge.”

“But, the martial artists of Skysplit Tower’s second floor can at most travel down to a depth of 10,000 feet. Any further and they would die. I would like to remind Sir Lin that even though this abyss looks extremely spacious and empty, the truth is that there are all sorts of traps and secrets formed by array formations and spells. Also, flying is prohibited here. If you want to leave this area and go practice somewhere else then you cannot travel through the abyss. You must go through the paths of Skysplit Tower, otherwise you will encounter an accident.”

The young Fey girl winked, her bright and beautiful eyes shining.

One could not travel through the abyss, and there were also a variety of spells and array formations. Then, the security of these practice areas should have some guarantee to them. It wasn’t like the martial artist service lodge where he had been spied on without his knowledge. Just this point alone caused Lin Ming’s heart to move; there were simply too many secrets on his body.

“Sir Lin, over there is a registration office for the second floor practice areas. If Sir Lin must stay here, then please register at the registration office.” The young Fey girl closed the thick wooden door to the abyss, and respectfully pointed to a room not too far away.

Lin Ming looked at the registration office. It was a simply and crude stone building. The exterior was plain, and there was only a single plaque that hung up above the entrance. There were two words written in ink by a strong and steady hand. It said, ‘Martial Pavilion’.

As Lin Ming pushed open the doors and entered, he paused. The Martial Pavilion was only a small space. A gray-skinned middle aged man sat behind a table in this room. But, in front of him was a beautifully handsome Fey man. This Fey man was Lan Xing.

As Lin Ming walked in, Lan Xing only shot him a glance before turning away again.

“The first practice area, I would like to open a room there for another year.”

“Mm. Then it will be one slaughter point and 500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.”

As Lin Ming heard the words ‘500 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals’, he sucked in a deep breath, This practice area was really not a normal kind of expensive! It had to be said that when he killed Blackrat, the spatial ring he received had less than 2000 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals.

This amount was only enough for three years of practice time.

“Great!” Lan Xing invigoratingly took out a small box of Blood Demon Crystals from his spatial ring. He glanced back at Lin Ming, a faint smile on his lips.