Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-1456

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Precipice Cliff. As the name suggested, it was a precipice on the edge of the Great Desolate.

This precipice was 36 miles high and as smooth as a mirror, without any curve at all.

The only roughness on this precipice were the marks left behind by other powerhouses.

If one wished to leave behind their mark on Precipice Cliff, it required more than cultivation alone. They had to be an outstanding genius amongst all geniuses.

At this time it was the thick of night. The silver moon hung high in the sky, reflecting a crystalline sheen upon the smooth wall of Precipice Cliff, as if the entire land was shrouded in liquid mercury. It was a beautiful sight.

This was an important stop at the Great Desolate because Precipice Cliff itself was a wonderful safe zone. It exuded a faint pressure and aura of a great emperor, making it so that no vicious beasts dared to approach. Because of this, many martial artists came to Precipice Cliff to rest and adjust their condition.

This was one of the few safe zones in the entire Great Desolate.

“Haha, we’ve finally arrived at Precipice Cliff.

Monster Prince Duyu smiled. “This Precipice Cliff is a divine treasure of the Great Desolate; it is said that it is related to the Asura Road Master. If one can leave their mark upon Precipice Cliff then they can obtain the destiny of an emperor; it will be greatly beneficial to your future growth. Junior-apprentice Sister, since we’re here, we must leave our mark upon Precipice Cliff so it can be recorded for all posterity.”

As Monster Prince Duyu spoke, he readied himself to fly up Precipice Cliff. However, he was stopped by Lin Ming.

“Hold on.”

“Mm? What are you doing?” Monster Prince Duyu frowned, looking towards Lin Ming.

“I think it might be better if you change your appearance. Although you said no one knows where you are, this is Precipice Cliff, one of the common trial areas for new young elites in the Asura Road. Don’t you think there might be an ambush here? With so many people around, you might be noticed by some more ambitious individuals.”

Xiao Moxian didn’t tell Lin Ming just why she was being chased by others. Although she didn’t state it, he had already guessed the approximate reason.

“Appearance changing? Have you?”

Xiao Moxian’s thoughts stirred. A sly look entered her large eyes as she glanced over at Lin Ming.

As Lin Ming saw that interest flash through Xiao Moxian’s eyes, he was a bit embarrassed. He knew that Xiao Moxian had some guesses about who he was, or at least suspected it.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lin Ming awkwardly said after Xiao Moxian stared at him for a full ten breaths of time.

Beside Xiao Moxian, Monster Prince Duyu was actually filled with jealousy. Although this junior-apprentice sister of his never disregarded the opposite sex, she had never revealed such interest in anyone. This Lin Lanjian was ordinary in appearance and background, so what qualifications did he have to attract his junior-apprentice sister?

“I’m looking at you because you remind me of someone.”

Xiao Moxian blinked her eyes, her gaze still locked onto Lin Ming’s face.

“Oh? Are they your friend?” Lin Ming abashedly replied. In truth, he didn’t have any deliberate plan to conceal his identity from Xiao Moxian. But, Xiao Moxian didn’t seem to be the most reliable of people, and there was also the hostile Monster Prince Duyu. With him here, he definitely couldn’t reveal himself.

“Not a friend. I wouldn’t mind beating him up if I saw him, but maybe… I wouldn’t be able to beat him.”

Xiao Moxian giggled, revealing her cute little canines.

“Uh…” Lin Ming was dumbfounded. He wasn’t sure if Xiao Moxian was joking or not, but it seemed that she still held her defeat at the First Martial Meeting close to her heart.

Then, there was a small interlude as Lin Ming helped Xiao Moxian and Monster Prince Duyu change their appearance. His Bodily Rebirth Technique was itself a sort of spiritual illusion that could be applied to others. However, when he performed it on others he could only change their appearance and not their soul aura. It wouldn’t be enough to conceal them from a Great World King.

However, Lin Ming also believed that the World King level City Lords wouldn’t personally run out from their cities to lie in ambush for Xiao Moxian.

After reaching the bottom of Precipice Cliff, Lin Ming discovered that there were three or four groups of people already waiting.

The Asura Road was extremely large and yet there was only a single Precipice Cliff. Every day there would be many martial artists coming here in order to try and leave their name.

“It is said that it is common for people to receive missions to leave a name on Precipice Cliff, but there actually aren’t many who can do this.”

A martial artist said from the base of Precipice Cliff.

“Hey, what do you mean it is common? Leaving a name on Precipice Cliff is a rare mission and many people can’t obtain such a mission badge. Those that can are definitely ruthless individuals with considerable abilities. It’s only because the Asura Road is so large that there are people coming here every day, making it seem that this mission is a bit more common.”

“Even outstanding individuals might not be able to leave their name behind.”

As everyone was speaking, they were looking up at the high Precipice Cliff. However, no one actually moved.

After all, they only had a single chance. Once they failed, it was over for them, thus no one would recklessly begin. Once they tried and failed, they would have used their mission badge in vain.

Lin Ming carefully observed the area.

He discovered that the 36 mile high Precipice Cliff had many marks, but the truth was that there were massive differences even between these marks.

Some marks were deep and some marks were shallow. Some people left behind their name and some people left behind runes. Between these marks, the greatest difference was in their heights.

The higher one went up Precipice Cliff, the fewer marks there were. At the very top of Precipice Cliff was a giant purple boulder, and this purple boulder had the least marks of all. However, every mark on it revealed a devastatingly breathtaking aura.

“What is that purple boulder?”

Before Lin Ming could ask Soulwhite this question, the eager and high-spirited Monster Prince Duyu suddenly spoke first.

The ones that were asked seemed a bit annoyed. “That is the Emperor Stone, didn’t you know? The Emperor Stone is at the summit of Precipice Cliff. If you can leave a mark on the Emperor Stone then you can obtain extra rewards, but leaving behind a mark on Precipice Cliff itself is difficult to begin with and trying to leave behind a mark on the Emperor Stone is ten times as difficult. It’s simply impossible for commoners.”

As this random traveler spoke, Lin Ming remembered that the contents of his mission was to leave a name on Precipice Cliff’s Emperor Stone.

The mission had specifically stated the Emperor Stone and not Precipice Cliff. It seemed that the Asura Road really thought highly of him. Could this even still be considered a blue soul level mission?

Lin Ming looked up at the Emperor Stone. There were only several dozen marks on it, including sword marks, saber marks, fist marks, runes, spear holes, and so forth. All of these different marks contained the aura of Laws, and they felt as if they had existed since the most ancient of times.

“Only several dozen marks? In all the endless years of the Asura Road, only several dozen people have been able to leave behind their own marks? That means on average there isn’t even one mark every several hundred million years, right?”

Lin Ming asked Soulwhite. Soulwhite responded, “Master, even the marks left behind on the Emperor Stone will not last forever. They will eventually slowly fade away. Only by leaving by a deep mark will it remain for a long time. For instance, that sword mark at the highest point was left behind 100 million years ago by the ancient Evil Sword Duke using his Evil Divine Sword. When he left behind that sword mark he had a Divine Lord level cultivation.

The sword mark that Soulwhite mentioned was in truth a bit blurry, because 100 million years of time was simply too far off in the distance. There was only a single character carved there – ‘Evil’.

Lin Ming was basking in the concepts left behind in this ‘Evil’ character when he heard some people arguing.

“Fine, then let’s have a little competition. Our Blue Sword Faction isn’t afraid of you at all.”

“Haha, your Blue Sword Faction has already been left breathless these past years by the suppression of the Snow Moon Holy Lands. Do you really think you can defeat our Chalk Family? Let’s see just whose disciples are more amazing.”

As the two sides of people were arguing, someone from the Blue Sword Faction group suddenly flew up. He was like a giant bird as he flew up more than 10,000 feet high. Once he arrived at a blank area on Precipice Cliff, he revolved all the energy within his body and poured it into his sword. Then, with a loud shout, he slashed downwards.

Kacha!

With an echoing sound of metal on stone, some stone chips were cut away by this person.

Then, that person fell back down to the ground. His movements were steady; it was clear he had exhausted a considerable amount of his energy.

Everyone looked up. They saw that 10,000 feet up Precipice Cliff, there was a bowl-sized mark. This was a Law mark left behind by two sword strokes. Because of the lack of strength, the mark wasn’t drawn perfectly so it seemed a bit rough.

“Success!”

“Amazing!”

The youth that dropped to the ground returned to the cheers of his group.

But on the other side, the White Chalk Family group seemed to think little of it. “You weren’t even able to leave behind your name and only a tiny Law mark, so what are you all so happy about? White Shun, it’s your turn.”

With those words, a person from the White Chalk Family flew up. This person also flew up around 10,000 feet, reaching a position several feet above the height that the Blue Sword Faction disciple reached. Then, he carved his own mark right above the mark left behind by the Blue Sword Faction disciple.

The weapon he used was a dagger. This dagger was like a divine brush. With the sound of wind and the chipping of stone, bits of rock fell down. Then, this disciple floated to the ground.

Everyone looked up to see that this White Chalk Family’s White Shun had left behind a character on Precipice Cliff – ‘White’.

A character was certainly much more complex than a two stroke Law mark. In order to carve this into Precipice Cliff it required a far greater amount of strength. It wasn’t something that the average person could hope to accomplish.

Moreover, this ‘White’ character was several feet above the mark left behind by the Blue Sword Faction disciple, making it seem as if the lower mark was suppressed. This caused the Blue Sword Faction disciple to be extremely depressed.

The people from the White Chalk Family began to cheer in abundance.

On the other side, the Blue Sword Faction people had extremely ugly complexions. They were indeed inferior in the first round. “Third Junior-apprentice Brother, it’s your turn.”

The Blue Sword Faction side sent yet another person up.

A competition between two great influences had the other martial artists at the base of Precipice Cliff enjoying the show.

“This is a close struggle between dragons and tigers!”

“They really do have many geniuses. Whether it is the Blue Sword Faction or White Chalk Family, both of them are different from us. It’s already amazing if we have anyone able to leave their mark, but everyone in their groups can do it.”

Not too far away from Lin Ming, some martial artists began to vividly discuss what was happening, their eyes filled with admiration.

But just as they had spoken, a contemptuous voice spoke out. “This is it? How mediocre. Out of those in both their groups there isn’t a single one worth mentioning.”

This person’s voice was loud and martial artists had extremely sharp hearing. The one speaking immediately attracted the gaze of many present.

The one who was speaking was Monster Prince Duyu, who had travelled here with Lin Ming.

Monster Prince Duyu’s arms were folded against his chest. There was a proud and cocky smile gracing his face. In his opinion, this level of ability was really just too pathetic.