Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-1328

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The enchantment of darkness created by the black hole seed lasted for a long time. In truth, the reason light was isolated outside was because of the chaotic space and time distortions.

It was only after several dozen breaths of time that people were able to clearly see what was happening on the arena stage.

Lin Ming was propping himself up with the Phoenix Blood Spear. His body was wet with blood; it was clear that he was heavily injured. But in front of Lin Ming, Frost Dream had a veil of gauze covering her face, her long hair wildly dashed about. Her breathing was also weak; it was clear that she too had been injured.

“Frost Dream was injured by Lin Ming!”

“From the start until now, this is the first time that Frost Dream has been injured!

If this were a true life or death battle then this would not be the end. They would be able to sacrifice the very foundation of their bodies as the price to continue fighting.

But this was just a martial arts tournament; there was no need to harm their own cultivation and fires of life just to obtain victory.

“I cannot defeat you.”

Frost Dream gently shook her head, putting away her Dreamsoul Zither.

“Same here… in fact, my wounds are heavier than yours.”

Lin Ming’s injuries were indeed heavier than Frost Dream’s; one could see this from the amount of blood that covered his body. Lin Ming’s bones were broken all throughout his body and his organs were torn in many places.

Although that was so, being suppressed was one matter and obtaining final victory was another. This was because Lin Ming’s endurance and ability to resist attacks were far greater than Frost Dream’s. If he received this level of injuries he could still withstand it, but if Frost Dream were to suffer his injuries, she would collapse.

“You have opened the Gate of Life. If this were a true life or death slaughter, then perhaps you would be the one to persist until the end… let us end this match.”

“I also have this intent.”

His strongest strike couldn’t obtain victory and he had also suffered tremendous injuries. Fighting was no longer necessary.

As the audience saw that Frost Dream and Lin Ming no longer planned to continue fighting, they all looked at each other in dismay, not knowing what to say.

“This is… a draw?”

The last match of the First Martial Meeting, the ultimate peak showdown, actually resulted in a draw.

At this time, many sect Elders and Holy Lord level characters finally returned from their spirit ships. As they flew back to the arena stage and saw the result of the match, all of them were surprised.

“What!? It’s over!?”

“The fight is over!? Is this a joke! I just came back!”

Many Holy Lord level characters were incomparably sad and depressed. These people were characters with fame and glory in their own domains, and some were even overlords of their own worlds. But after obtaining the news of what was happening in the match and hurrying back as soon as possible, they still missed out on all the action!

There were even many others who had ridden spirit ships and left the main continent of Vast Universe World. Even if they were able to tear through space and used void shuttling they still wouldn’t be able to return in time.

“A draw? It’s actually a draw? Lin Ming was able to fight Frost Dream to a draw?”

As these Holy Lords heard that the result was a draw, all of them drowned in regret. If the battle had been a draw, that definitely meant it would have been impossibly intense and fierce. Both sides were geniuses that rarely appeared even in hundreds of millions of years, and yet two of them were fighting here in the same era. Moreover, to see them battle on the same stage was something that one could only come across with luck.

To be able to watch this match was an eternally great honor and joy. And yet, these people had managed to miss this battle that happened just underneath their noses. It was unlikely that they would ever have the opportunity to see such a battle in the future. Wasn’t this just a pity?

As these great figures realized this point, all of them had increasingly ugly complexions! And what was worse was that they had to listen to everyone else in the arena fervently discuss Frost Dream and Lin Ming’s match; this really left them all sad and down in the dumps.

“Someone tell me just what the hell happened! How can Lin Ming suddenly be so fierce?”

“If I knew this earlier I would have just waited in the arena!”

Who would have thought that after sleeping for a year and a half, Lin Ming’s strength could actually increase by such ridiculous proportions? Even in his battle with Frost Dream there was no clear distinction of who was stronger or weaker.

“Battle array discs, are there battle array discs that recorded the match? Take them out so we can see!”

The First Martial Meeting tournament had every match recorded with battle array discs. But, it was impossible for the battle array disc recordings to perfectly capture and reproduce the fluctuations of Laws. Looking through these battle array discs didn’t feel as good as watching the match in person, but it was still better than nothing.

……….

“It’s over.”

Vast Cosmos stepped on the arena stage. As he looked at Lin Ming, his heart was filled with an endless complication of emotions. This young man’s future was incalculable. Without a doubt, Lin Ming would surpass him and even surpass his master.

“Lin Ming, my master has bid you to enter Vast Universe Heavenly Palace. Two hours from now, you may go.”

“Mm.”

Lin Ming wasn’t surprised to be summoned by an Empyrean. When the First Martial Meeting started, it was stated that the top three of the Earth Proclamation would be able to enter Vast Universe Heavenly Palace and obtain the guidance of Vast Cosmos. But now, it was clear that Vast Cosmos was lacking in qualifications. The most he could do was offer direction to geniuses of some Great World King Holy Lands.

The First Martial Meeting had thus thoroughly ended. Even so, the audience was still bubbling with excitement and didn’t leave. Rather, they stayed in the arena, fiercely discussing the match.

There were almost 300 million people still milling about the arena. Those that had been waiting since the beginning were rejoicing from their hearts. As for those that appeared during the middle of the battle, they didn’t regret too much. It was only those that arrived after the match had ended that were wallowing in sadness.

The last round of gambling bets was declared null. All bets for that match were returned.

One hour later.

The final rankings of the First Martial Meeting came out.

Tenth – Ram Saber. This person had reached first place in the second tier and defeated Hua Xuan, who only managed to enter into the first tier due to luck. By defeating Hua Xuan, he successfully entered the top 10.

Ninth – Shiku. He narrowly defeated Ram Saber, saving his spot in ninth place.

Eighth – White King, the Monster Prince – seventh. White King lost to the Monster Prince in battle. Although White King was defeated, this was well within the expectations of everyone else. As for the Monster Prince, he wasn’t weak, but the people in front of him were simply too strong. In this First Martial Meeting, he could only rank seventh.

Sixth – Dragon Fang, Fifth – Jun Bluemoon. The two of them were similar in strength. As for who emerged victorious during their battle, luck had been a major factor.

Fourth – Xiao Moxian. For a young girl with a skeletal age of 26 to stand at this position, in terms of talent only, Xiao Moxian was high enough to look down at the world with disdain!

There were no problems in sorting fourth to tenth place. It was only in the top three that some questions appeared.

If this were according to the rules of the tournament, then Hang Chi, who lost one match and won all others, would have been placed second. As for Lin Ming, he lost one match and tied in another, thus he should have been placed third.

However, if Hang Chi was truly ranked in front of Lin Ming because of the tournament rules, that couldn’t be justified at all. Hang Chi wasn’t willing to accept this either. He was well aware that his victory over Lin Ming in truth shouldn’t have counted.

Hang Chi’s strength had indeed surpassed Lin Ming’s before his deep sleep. But against Lin Ming after his deep sleep, it was clear who was weaker and who was stronger.

Thus, Hang Chi was ranked third.

As for Frost Dream and Lin Ming, both were similar in strength. In the last match, it was impossible to determine victory and defeat. Thus, the results deferred to the tournament rules. Since Frost Dream had one more victory than Lin Ming, she took first place. As for Lin Ming, he took second.

“Patriarch, Lin Ming’s ranking has been passed down. He is second place!”

The Ancient Phoenix Clan had specifically been given battle array discs that recorded all of Lin Ming’s battles as well as a jade slip with all of his results.

To reach second place in the First Martial Meeting was simply a myth, especially in this First Martial Meeting where powerful rivals rose from all over. This First Martial Meeting had far surpassed all previous versions.

Upon hearing about such an exaggerated result, even Huo Violentstone, who was known for being loud and boisterous, wasn’t able to laugh.

He held a jade slip in his hands, unable to regain his composure. It was like everything that happened so far was a dream.

This was the Divine Realm First Martial Meeting, a tournament that gathered all geniuses of the Divine Realm. In the past, the Ancient Phoenix Clan had participated in this event countless times, but let alone second place, they didn’t even dare to have such wild hopes like entering the finals.

The best result of the Ancient Phoenix Clan had been around rank 8000. Even for geniuses like Yan Littlemoon and the others, he had only asked them to try their best to enter the top 100,000 rankings. But compared to second place, that difference was greater than the heavens and earth!

In truth, before the preliminaries started, let alone Huo Violentstone, even Mo Eversnow who had an extremely profound understanding into Lin Ming’s strength still didn’t think he could reach this step.

At that time, Lin Ming indeed didn’t have the capital to stand on the stage of the finals.

When the First Martial Meeting began, Lin Ming had only been at the early Divine Sea realm and he had only reached perfection of the fourth level Fire Laws. He didn’t train in the soul forging system and he certainly didn’t know how to fuse together his essence, energy, and divine.

In this situation, even if Lin Ming were to attend the finals, it would be far too difficult for him to enter the top 10.

However, as he went through the preliminaries, semifinals, and even the finals, Lin Ming made breakthroughs during every stage of the tournament, his strength constantly increasing! Finally, after deeply sleeping for 500 days, he managed to fight Frost Dream to a draw!

Soon, Lin Ming and Frost Dream’s battle was spread out and glorified by the hundreds of millions of people and countless attending influences. In just several days, descriptions of their battle filled the entire Divine Realm.

Now, unless one lived on a desolate planet where there weren’t even any Divine Transformation powerhouses, then even if they were in a small dimension or world, they would still know of Lin Ming’s name.

The battle arrays disc containing Lin Ming and Frost Dream’s battle were also reproduced billions upon billions of times over. If one was a reasonably large influence they could purchase their own copy.

And in the arena of the First Martial Meeting, Vast Universe Heavenly Palace replayed Lin Ming and Frost Dream’s match again. For many people present, this was not their first time watching this replay. And for those that had missed the match, they could only watch these reproductions.

Of course, all of these were events that happened later. At this time, deep within Vast Universe Heavenly Palace, Lin Ming was guided by Vast Cosmos until they reached Empyrean Divine Dream and Empyrean Vast Universe.

Facing a junior like Lin Ming, the two Empyreans restrained their pressure. Even so, Lin Ming could feel a terrifying aura from them that caused his heart to race.

“Lin Ming, do you have any questions you wish to ask me?”

The first to speak was a white-clothed woman. Lin Ming didn’t doubt that she was Empyrean Divine Dream.

There were certainly many questions he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask if he could enter Divine Dream Heavenly Palace to study their transcendent divine might. He wanted to ask what the great calamity 3.6 billion years ago was. And he also wanted to ask what happened 100,000 years ago, why Empyrean Primordius would be at the Sky Spill Planet and why he would wage war with Empyrean Thunder Punishment and finally fall from the skies.