Martial World (Web Novel)

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Right in front of Lin Ming was an incomparably vast and deep valley. Lin Ming stood right on the top of a cliff hundreds of thousands of feet high. The cliff walls were smooth like polished mirrors. If one didn’t have the ability to fly, then perhaps even a Revolving Core martial artist would be unable to climb this.

Looking down from the top of the cliff, he saw an endless mist of hazy clouds, extending off into the distant horizon for thousands of miles. But, within this fog, he could make out several mountains that were hundreds of thousands of feet high, towering into the heavens as if they were pillars supporting the vault of the world.

A magnificent, crimson castle city was nestled within these mountains. Its walls were several hundred feet high, grand and majestic, and above the city massive flaming birds shuttled back and forth. On top of these flaming birds rode riders wearing scarlet sets of armor with lances in their hands.

Besides these fiery birds, there was a massive spirit boat being ferried forwards by ten Golden Crows, their bodies wreathed in flames. Each of these Golden Crows were much larger than the Vermillion Birds of Divine Phoenix Island, their twin wings each extended 200 feet out and their backs wide enough to fit 10 people standing side by side.

At this time, this massive spirit boat headed forwards into that giant, crimson castle city. As Lin Ming stood 100 miles outside, he could clearly hear the resounding cry of phoenixes, a melodious and valiant song that echoed endlessly between the heavens and earth.

“What a great divine city!”

Lin Ming sucked in a deep breath. Although he already knew that outside of the Sky Spill Continent there was the three thousand boundless worlds as well as the even greater and more illusory, unattainable Realm of the Gods, knowing was one matter; seeing with his own eyes was another altogether.

This scene was simply staggeringly breathtaking; it was only inferior to the phantom of the God Beast he had seen in the Eternal Demon Abyss.

As Lin Ming turned around, he saw that the Temple Spirit was following behind him, its form rippling like a water mark. “Trial Challenger, this is Timeworn Phoenix City. It is my Nuyan Family’s king level smelting trial site. You may enter.”

“Timeworn Phoenix City….Nuyan Family…”

Lin Ming’s eyebrows arched upwards. He asked the Temple Spirit, “Sir Temple Spirit, the Nuyan Family is only part of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. So would that mean that the other trial challengers of other clans and families are also converged within Timeworn Phoenix City?”

The Temple Spirit replied, “Yes.”

So it was true…. Lin Ming sucked in a deep breath of cold air. If he wasn’t wrong, then the Sky Spill Continent’s Ancient Phoenix Clan only comprised the Nuyan Family branch. But, within the Realm of the Gods, there was the much greater true Ancient Phoenix Clan. There was even a possibility that the Ancient Phoenix Clan was a Holy Land-rank influence within the Realm of the Gods!

“Come, I shall lead you into the city,” the Temple Spirit said. Then, a blurry light wrapped around Lin Ming and they flew together towards that colossal city.

After half an incense stick of time, Lin Ming arrived at the great castle city. As he reached the city gates, he saw that they were 1000 feet high, and at the very top there were three massive golden words emblazoned on a huge signboard: Timeworn Phoenix City!

These three words emanated an unbelievably inexhaustible and vigorous aura; just looking at it made his mind blur. Even though Lin Ming was confident in the firmness of his own willpower and mind, he still didn’t dare stare for too long.

“This sign…”

The Temple Spirit said, “The above words on that signboard were personally written by the Third Patriarch of the Ancient Phoenix Clan; within it is contained the root Laws of all fire-attribute energies. Normally, if a martial artist looks at it they will feel dazed. Even those who have formed a battle spirit are no exception.”

“I see….” Lin Ming was startled. It wasn’t said which family clan this Ancient Phoenix Clan Third Patriarch came from. It was possible that he was the Third Patriarch of the Ancient Phoenix Clan from the Realm of the Gods. It was hard to imagine just what boundary such a person would have reached.

“Come, let us enter,” the Temple Spirit said before slowly floating forward.

The great road leading to Timeworn Phoenix City was over a mile wide. Along the way, there were a number of martial artists sporadically scattered about, all of them wearing red. In his black clothes, Lin Ming stuck out like a sore thumb.

As Lin Ming sensed the cultivation of those young heroic elites he saw along the way, he was secretly surprised. Nearly all of them were at Revolving Core or even at Life Destruction. There were several who were at the Xiantian realm, but they were obviously under 20 years of age. They didn’t break through to the Xiantian realm any later than Lin Ming.

As Lin Ming arrived at the entrance to Timeworn Phoenix City, a soldier dressed in fiery armor stopped him. “Identify yourselves! Name and origin!”

At this time, the Temple Spirit fluttered down beside Lin Ming. It said without feeling, “Ancient Phoenix Clan, Nuyan Family Protector from Sky Spill Continent. The trial challenger’s name is Nuyan Ming.”

Nuyan Ming?

Lin Ming was startled before relaxing. He was a disciple of Divine Phoenix Island and he had also obtained the inheritance of a single blood drop of the Ancient Phoenix from the Ancient Phoenix Great Temple. He could at least be considered an honorary Nuyan Family member.

“Nuyan Family?” The city gate guardsman showed a thoughtful expression. He took out a jade slip, glanced at it, and then said with some surprise and consternation, “The Nuyan Family has not sent any fellow clansmen to the Royal Family smelting trial for 150,000 years!”

“Yes!” the Temple Spirit replied. Then, a simple token emerged out of thin air in front of it. The front of the token had the design of a phoenix in nirvana, and the back of the token and a single word written in the Realm of the God’s language—Nuyan.

The city gate guardsman looked at Lin Ming strangely. He then took the token and nodded, “You truly are of the Nuyan Family line. You may enter.”

Lin Ming stepped into Timeworn Phoenix City with the Temple Spirit. As Lin Ming formally entered the city, he felt a great vague pressure come pressing down on him. This caused all of the true essence within his body to immediately weaken by at least 20%.

Looking up in the sky, he could see countless red clouds surging in the heavens, constantly forming a variety of mystical patterns that seemed as if they contained the endless profound principles of the universe.

“The fire origin energy here is…too rich, too pure!” Lin Ming gasped. He felt that what he breathed in was not air but the purest and most primal of fire origin energies!

This fire origin energy perhaps shouldn’t be described with the word “rich.” Rather, it was power that was closest to the Law of Fire!

“If I train here, it can’t even be described as twice the result with half the effort….” Lin Ming sighed with emotion. The great sects and Holy Lands of the Realm of the Gods were truly flush with resources, but as to what degree it was, it was hard to consider with just his imagination. Now, seeing it with his own eyes, he could only sigh for the disparity that existed between the mortal world and the Realm of the Gods!

In Timeworn Phoenix City, even if one didn’t train, one would always be undergoing a baptism of fire energy, making the energy within their dantian even purer! If one supplemented this with cultivation, the ease of perceiving the Law of Fire could be imagined.

Especially for the people here; they all had a formidable bloodline power. Their own compatibilities with the Law of Fire were extremely high to begin with!

“Follow me, I shall bring you to the Timeworn Phoenix City Protector. He will guide you to the first stage of the Royal Family smelting trial.”

Lin Ming followed the Temple Spirit to the Temple of Protectors. Along the way, they passed by many red-clothed young men and women. If any one of these people were placed in the Sky Spill Continent, then they would be existences that Duanmu Qun, Feng Shen, and Lan Xin wouldn’t be able to compare with by far.

“These people all come from the Realm of the Gods?” Lin Ming asked.

“No….” The Temple Spirit shook its head. “Most of these people come from similar mortal worlds like the Sky Spill Continent. Only a small portion of them come from the Realm of the Gods.

“The Realm of the Gods is an incomparably broad land. But there are even more people within it. When someone decides to practice martial arts, their lifespan will become longer, and the number of descendants they leave behind will swell in number. After a long time, even the near unlimited resources of the Realm of the Gods would find it hard to support such a great number of people. At times, there will be some branch families of certain sects and clans that will pass through space cracks, entering into the lower mortal realm where they settle down. The Ancient Phoenix Clan within the Sky Spill Continent was in this situation.”

As the Temple Spirit spoke, Lin Ming was suddenly enlightened. So that’s how it was!

Humanity’s ability to multiple was truly terrifying. If a martial artist lived for 10,000 years, they could have dozens or even hundreds of children. These children would have their own children, and then the rate of population would increase exponentially. Quickly, a sect’s spiritual land would not be able to bear this. At that point, it would be a wise choice for a branch of that sect to settle down in the world of mortals.

“So, the Sky Spill Continent Ancient Phoenix Clan’s Nuyan Family was also the same?” Lin Ming had never understood why various ancient ruins from the Realm of the Gods had appeared within the Sky Spill Continent. For instance, the Divine Phoenix Mystic Realm, Road of Emperor, Eternal Demon Abyss, or even the various array formations of the Demon God Imperial palace, all of them came from the Realm of the Gods.

“Yes! Once upon a time, the Sky Spill Continent also had a brilliant and storied past. Although it was not comparable to the Realm of the Gods, it still had its moments of magnificence….” As the Temple Spirit spoke to here, it seemed reluctant to keep talking. Lin Ming also didn’t want to push the subject. He had a faint feeling that 100,000 years ago, a time at which the history of the Sky Spill Continent had been wiped out, it also had something to do with the fall from brilliance that the Temple Spirit had implied in its words.

Lin Ming had long thought something was strange. Although ancient texts could last thousands of years at most, the large sects should have methods to preserve their history. For instance, specially crafted jade slips. It shouldn’t have been possible for everything that happened 100,000 years ago to suddenly vanish.

‘I wonder what the matter with the Eternal Demon Abyss is. There are obviously life forms from the Realm of the Gods that reside there. Above the Eternal Demon Abyss there are also the Road of Emperor, King’s Cage, and the 12 Skysplit Towers; all of that should have been built by those existences within the Eternal Demon Abyss. But why did they do that and why had they retreated to the Eternal Demon Abyss and never left? Is this related to the fall from glory that happened 100,000 years ago?’

Lin Ming remembered that tens of thousands of years ago, there was a massive, beastly claw that emerged from the Eternal Demon Abyss, instantly killing 12 Emperor-level powerhouses. He also remembered that ancient great beast he had seen in the 1000-mile forbidden zone; its body had spanned for thousands of miles. And there was even that goddess in her tomb sleeping, unblemished and undisturbed for all those years. Without a doubt, these were not mysteries that should exist in the Sky Spill Continent or Holy Demon Continent.

What kind of secret was there in the Eternal Demon Abyss? Lin Ming felt that he had just glimpsed the very tip of the iceberg. Well, at least he now knew generally how the Divine Phoenix Mystic Realm and Eternal Demon Abyss had come about.

“We’re here. This is the Hall of Protectors. Trial Challenger, I shall wait for you here until you have completed the first stage of the trial or are eliminated. Perhaps you might even die….” The Temple Spirit finally stopped at a red-domed building that was hundreds of feet high. On the very top of the dome, there was a massive statue of a phoenix, its wings spread out in flight as if it were living creature trapped there in time.

“You may enter.”

“Thank you, Sir Temple Spirit.” Lin Ming took a deep breath and walked into the flame-hued Hall of Protectors. In the deserted corridors, his footsteps echoed loudly.