Martial World (Web Novel)

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“The Heavenly Demon Tattoo is helpful to you?” Lin Ming asked, puzzled.

“Hehehe, this Saint is originally a demonic cultivator and the Heavenly Demon Tattoo can condense infernal energy. The more demon wings there are the more infernal energy there is and the better the effects are. Of course it’s a great help to this Saint. This Saint already woke up a year ago, but because the infernal energy here is so rich, this Saint chose to return to a sleeping state in order to slowly recover my strength. This Saint also has a general understanding of what has happened for the past year. A twelve-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo is absolutely something that you cannot miss out on. This Saint is depending on it to help recover strength! If you run now, then the Heavenly Demon Tattoo will slowly dissipate and all that effort for the last year or two will be completely wasted!”

The two of them were directly communicating using their souls. Although there was a very complex conversation happening between them, all of this happened in just a brief moment. Lin Ming eagerly asked, “What level has your soul force been restored to?”

Demonshine smugly smiled and said, “This Saint’s soul force has been restored to about the standard I was at when I was sucked into the space of the Magic Cube.”

“The same standard as when you were sucked into the Magic Cube’s space?” Lin Ming was startled. This old dog was probably also some character when he still traveled the Realm of the Gods. Although Lin Ming thought of him as just a dog, since Demonshine was able to follow the Demon Emperor, he probably had some skill.

According to the old dog’s own boasting, he used to be a three-headed Demonic Divine Hound with the title of Hallowed Lord Demonshine, even successfully building up an invincible diamond divine body to the Large Success stage. But afterwards, his divine body was destroyed and his soul was sucked into the Divine Crystal Magic Cube. Of his trinity of consciousness, now there was only a single one left over. Three heads had then become one.

Originally Demonshine had been nothing but an incomplete soul, and after being sealed within the Magic Cube for countless years and constantly worn down over time, the weakness of his soul force could be imagined.

But now Demonshine had said that his soul force was restored to the point just before the Magic Cube had destroyed him. Although his soul was still incomplete, it should still be quite terrifying.

“Can you handle Polaris Tower’s Tower Master?” Lin Ming fervently asked. If this was so, then this could really be called seeing a ray of hope after being pushed to a dead end.

Demonshine shook his head, “Nope, not possible.”

“Then you want me to walk to my own death?” Lin Ming was left speechless. This damn old dog kept giving him the impression that he was a lazy boaster that couldn’t be counted on when it mattered. “In the past weren’t you called a Hollowed Lord within the Realm of the Gods? And yet you can’t even deal with some small fry from the mortal world?”

“Humph! This Saint only has an incomplete soul left over without even a mortal body. Where am I supposed to have attacking power from? When this Saint was at his most glorious time, with just a little sneeze from this Saint, the spittle would be able to fill that so-called Tower Master chock full of holes!”

Hearing the old dog’s bluster, Lin Ming almost collapsed on the spot. This fellow still had the mood to speak like this. “Then what should we do now?”

“Hehehe… this Saint may not have a body and may not have any attack power, but I still have a soul. I can still help you out with my soul, for instance… when you sign the soul contract…”

As the old dog spoke to here he evilly giggled twice and said, “After this Saint’s soul force was mostly restored, my soul perception is now much more sensitive than yours. You may not know, but of the 10 High Lords present, two of them have slave seals planted in their bodies. They are under the control of someone else!”

“What?” Lin Ming was immensely shocked.

A slave seal and soul contract were two completely different things.

A soul contract was when both parties would write up their requirements on a special array parchment. Afterwards, both parties would willingly leave behind a drop of blood essence and make an oath on their souls.

This sort of contract normally wouldn’t have requirements that were too excessive. If they were, then no one would sign it. After a martial artist signed this soul contract they could still act according to their own will and move freely about.

Not just that, but a soul contract usually had a time limit placed on it. For instance, Yan Chi and Maha both signed soul contracts for 50 years. After the 50 year deadline passed, the contract would automatically be terminated.

But a slave seal was different!

A slave seal was a special technique of the demonic path. It was a method used by stronger martial artists that had deep cultivations in order to control weaker martial artists. Once a slave seal was planted in their bodies, it would stay there until their master decided to take it back or the master died. Otherwise, the martial artist would be enslaved by this slave seal until the time of their death.

Not only did the enslaved martial artist have no independence but they didn’t even freedom of thought. Normally, they wouldn’t act any different from a normal person, but once the slave seal was activated, the enslaved person would have to completely obey their master’s orders. Even if their master ordered them to die, they would do so with unblinking eyes!

“Who was enslaved?” Lin Ming’s heart chilled. Of the 12 High Lords of Skysplit Tower, two of them actually had a slave seal planted within them!

Not just that, but it seemed that the other High Lords didn’t even know that their companions had been bound with a slave seal.

Who had the ability to quietly plant a slave seal within a High Lord? Could it Polar Skysplit Tower’s Tower Master?

What did he want to do?

To Lin Ming’s amazement and dismay, he discovered that the inner workings of Skysplit Tower were much more complex than he had imagined!

“The ones that are enslaved, one of them is High Lord Bloodfire, and the other is that old Imp that was floating in the air.”

High Lord Bloodfire had a slave seal planted in him?

Lin Ming’s mind went cold. High Lord Bloodfire was the strongest powerhouse of these 10 High Lords.

As for the old Imp, he was actually middle-aged. It was just that Imp martial artists always had wrinkled faces so they appeared older than they were. This Imp wore a domed hat and he was in a sitting position as he floated in the air, no more than five feet tall.

This old Imp looked unsightly, but Lin Ming could actually feel an immeasurably deep strength coming from his body, and his soul force was like a deep ocean, vast and mysterious.

This Imp was also a top master. Even if he was weaker than High Lord Bloodfire, it wouldn’t be by much!

In other words, the strongest of the 10 High Lords had slave seals planted within them!

As for the other High Lords, the reason that they weren’t controlled was most likely because of the limited slave seals one could use.

If this was really done by Polar Skysplit Tower’s Tower Master, then for the past many years, in order to solidify his own status and obtain the maximum amount of benefits, he had planted slave seals in these High Lords. Perhaps he had done so when these High Lords were still challengers.

The Tower Master naturally didn’t dare to move against someone like Feng Shen with such a formidable background, but for those like Yan Chi and Maha, they might have already been controlled!

In the future, he could use these people to explore the Eternal Demon Abyss. Everything that they found from there would all belong to the Tower Master!

He could both consolidate his authority as well as obtain massive benefits. This was truly killing two birds with one stone!

“Lin Ming, if I’m guessing right, then this Tower Master wants to see you in order to control you. He obviously sees the value in your potential, and taking you for himself would be a great boon to his own power. As for you, once you’re controlled then you can forget about ever getting out. The only way would be if your cultivation is higher than his by several realms. But once he finds out that your cultivation is approaching his, he’ll just command you to have your cultivation never exceed his own. Your strength will stagnate from then on, all the way until he dies and you are freed. And even then, before he dies of old age, he might try to hide his secret by killing you and you wouldn’t even be able to resist!”

Demonshine’s words made Lin Ming’s scalp tingle with dread. This sort of ending was absolutely more horrible than death.

Thinking of this, Lin Ming’s heart surged with a rich killing intent. If all of these conjectures were right, then he would have to kill this Tower Master in order to rid himself of all potential future threats!

“Demonshine, can you eliminate the slave seal without being discovered by the Tower Master?”

“Hohoho! Who do you think this Saint is!” Demonshine proudly humphed. “This Saint is the ancestor of the demonic path! All of these demonic methods and cultivation techniques of the Holy Demon Continent are just leftover playthings from when the Demon Emperor was still here. All of these legacies keep growing worse with every generation. It’s true that that Saint doesn’t have any attack power right now, but I have more than enough ability to play around with some soul methods. How could I possibly be found out by a little junior? In the past when this Saint was still all-powerful and shaking the foundations of the Realm of the Gods, that junior's grandfather from a hundred generations back hadn’t even been born yet!”

Black lines formed on Lin Ming’s forehead. He was speechless. No matter how he played it, this old dog just didn’t seem too reliable. But at this point, Lin Ming could only believe him. In this desperate situation, he had to keep trying no matter what!

“Boy, what’s with that look? With this Saint here, I guarantee you that I can lead that Tower Master to run circles. At that time, you can secretly rebel. Just act as if you’ve fallen for his trap and play dumb and no one will suspect you.

“Slowly, that silly fellow will relax his guard around you and even allow you to enter the Road of Emperor! As long as you can wait it out for a year or so, make some great successes in the Road of Emperor and have your cultivation break through to the Revolving Core realm, then you can easily kill that fellow and become a twelve-winged Heavenly Demon! At that point, the Death God martial intent will be yours!

“As long as you have a twelve-winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo then the mystical force of the Blood Slaughter Steppes will not kill you and you can return to Skysplit Tower whenever you want! Wait until the time that your cultivation is high enough, re-enter the Road of Emperor, reach the end in a single go and finally obtain the Prime Emperor martial intent!

“Then, with the complete three major martial intents of Asura, Death God, and Prime Emperor, if you can fuse them, it will become your greatest killing move! Holy shit! How great would that be! Even this Saint would be jealous of you then!”

Demonshine’s depiction had turned the impossible into the possible. At present, Lin Ming was too weak. In a situation where he was surrounded by enemies on all sides, this was the only way to simultaneously obtain all three different martial intents!

Originally, even Lin Ming had believed that it was nearly impossible to obtain the three different forms of martial intents. Now, he could finally see a path opening before him. “Demonshine, if this plan works out, then I swear to you that I will help you reform your mortal body in the future!”

“Hehe, boy, I’m glad to see you still have a conscience. To be honest, this Saint also sees that you have a bit of potential in your future. If I train you well enough then you might be able to reach the lowest standards that this Saint was at back in the day, so of course, I will do my best to raise you. Certainly, in the future, if you really have the ability to help me recover to how I was when my soul was sealed, then that will be enough.”

Lin Ming laughed, no longer caring about Demonshine’s boasts. Different situations called for different measures. Perhaps this might actually be a great lucky chance for him instead!

………….

“Lin Ming, are you going to go or not? Where did all your bluster just now go to? The Tower Master came back to see you, and yet you don’t dare to see him?” High Lord Bloodfire’s taunting voice sounded out in Lin Ming’s ear, interrupting the soul exchange that he was having with Demon Shine. This entire exchange just now had only lasted a mere 10 breaths of time.

Lin Ming deeply looked at High Lord Bloodfire, his eyes now containing a trace of pity and compassion. This High Lord Bloodfire seemed like a normal person, but in truth he was nothing more than a puppet. As long as he was in the presence of the Tower Master, he would be absolutely servile.

Towards this type of person, Lin Ming naturally wouldn’t argue back, or even hold grudges.

“Let’s go, lead the way!”

“Mm?” High Lord Bloodfire looked at Lin Ming with surprise, a tiny, undetectable smile appearing on his lips. This boy was truly stupid to the extreme. But even so, being able to become a servant of Sir Chief High Lord was also a form of honor.