Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-1719

Chapter 1719 – Reaping Souls

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“Attack!”

Someone shouted.

Those that were able to arrive on the fifth level were outstanding elites amongst outstanding elites. They were all proud children of heaven of their respective races and were able to accurately gauge the combat situation.

Now that the golden skeletons were weakened by the freezing ice domain released by Sheng Mei, this was undoubtedly the best chance to destroy them all.

A purple-clothed spiritas youth attacked first. In an instant, countless white lights drilled out from his flesh, like endless strands of silk that tore through space. These threads emitted brilliant waves of white light as they whistled through the air, passing over everyone’s heads with staggering momentum.

Some of these white lights crashed onto the metal-hard bodies of the golden skeletons. There was a loud grating sound like metal striking on metal as the golden skeletons weren’t wounded at all. This amazing defensive power proved Sheng Mei’s words.

But there were still some white lights that crashed into the eye sockets of these golden skeletons.

As long as the white lights fell into the eye sockets of the golden skeletons, the ghostly flames within crackled as they were slowly extinguished.

Several golden skeletons that had just risen froze where they were… without the support of soul force, their bodies began to collapse, like brick and stone buildings caving in.

In the crowd, Dragonscar’s aura erupted. Snow-white scales appeared on his body as a billowing origin energy surged through the world, astonishing all.

He wildly dashed around, his body so fast that blazing white flames were produced from the friction between him and the air. Horrifying shock waves reverberated around him as he leapt a hundred feet into the air and came diving back down. A bolt of lightning seemed to flash within his arms as he forcefully shattered the eye sockets of one of the golden skeletons.

There was also a proud son of heaven from the saint race. By relying on his amazing bodily talent, he punched at one of the golden skeletons. Originally, this punch was able to shatter mountains and rivers, but as it struck the golden skeleton he only managed to sink it into the earth, and even his fist had torn apart.

As the golden skeleton began crawling up from the ground once more, the saint youth genius finally learned his lesson. He began to strike at the quiet ghostly fires in the skeleton’s eye sockets…

This battle unfolded like a clash royale. Everyone fought with heated spirits!

“Hahahaha! Feels great!”

“These golden skeletons are too weak! It only takes one step to kill ten!”

At this time, Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian also attacked. Lin Ming shot out spear lights with his fingertips, easily extinguishing the soul fires in the golden skeletons’ eye sockets.

As for Xiao Moxian, she released a mass of black flames that were as thin as willows.

Although these flames seemed small, when they touched a golden skeleton they rapidly inflated as if they would grow to destroy the world. As long as they covered a golden skeleton, the soul fires in their eyes would rapidly be destroyed.

Although these golden skeletons had a formidable combat strength comparable to a middle Holy Lord saint martial artist, their weaknesses were too obvious. They were easily focused down by others.

As Sheng Mei slowly moved forwards, all of the golden skeletons that crawled out from the sandy earth were quickly cut down by the numerous proud children of heaven, not able to create any trouble for the group.

Suddenly, the sandy world before them disappeared.

Thick twisting beams of fires flowed about like a den of pythons, exuding a spectacular heat that gushed out in all directions.

Within this endless sea of flames was a giant mass of phantasmal flames that surged with a strange strength, floating up and down like a lonely island.

But even more than that, it resembled a fire phoenix.

This bizarre mass of flames had dazzling wings and a great body formed from pure fire essence. It was over a thousand feet tall, enough to block out the skies.

The space behind it was completely burnt down by the hot flames, exposing nothing but an endless abyss of darkness.

From time to time, small sparks of fire would shoot out from its body, and large holes would be burnt in space by these small sparks, like someone touching a piece of cloth with a burning torch.

Although the group hadn’t yet approached, they could feel an astonishing pressure exuding from that fire phoenix’s flame-formed body. It was a pressure deep enough to cause their souls to shiver, as if they could be grinded into the ground at any time by the pressure alone.

Strange fire runes seethed around the fire phoenix’s entire body, like layers of flattering stars.

As the runes flickered they released a dreadful conflagration of flames that turned into thick fire tornados on the ground. The fire tornadoes tore through the earth, burning and combusting until they left behind deep rivers of fire.

Space storms howled from the tears in space, wildly spinning around.

Even the freezing ice domain that Soul Empress Sheng Mei released began to evaporate due to the unimaginable power of fire.

Hu – hu – hu –

Within the sea of flames, tiny red bubbles of fire popped out, revealing golden skeletons that came crawling out.

The soul fires that burned within their eyes were far more powerful than those of the golden skeletons that Lin Ming had encountered before. Red light shot out from them, making the heart race.

The color was also far deeper than that of ordinary golden skeletons, and the aura they released was far more dreadful.

Lin Ming scanned his eyes around. There were around 400-500 golden skeletons that had appeared so far, and more and more were slowly crawling out from the sea of flames.

“Undying Inferno!” Someone gasped, panic-stricken as they stared at the fire phoenix composed of pure flames within the sea of fire.

As if it were aroused by this cry, the Undying Inferno that was resting with the roiling flames suddenly opened its eyes.

It was like a sun exploding, a supernova…

Bang –

Two terrifying masses of fire shot out, seeming as if they could penetrate through the world as they hurtled towards the person that had shouted just then!

These flames were incredibly quick. They directly pierced through Sheng Mei’s freezing ice domain and rushed towards that person!

Sheng Mei’s eyebrows pressed together. The attacked speed of the Undying Inferno was far too fast, not giving her enough time to save him. Moreover, she hadn’t laid down the battle array yet so she couldn’t rescue him if she wanted to!

With a light crackling sound, the person’s flesh and blood began to boil and burn, their entire body being scorched away. With a miserable scream, even the earth beneath their feet began to melt into a metallic magma due to the extreme heat.

Rah - !

Suddenly, a golden skeleton rushed out from the husk of the dead martial artist. Its body crackled and it raised its fiery fists as it rushed towards the group.

Then, a person’s figure flashed. It was Dragonscar. He grasped his heavy sword and rushed out. His heavy sword weighed as much as a mountain and in two strikes, the golden skeleton’s soul fires that burned in its eyes were extinguished.

Seeing this flaming golden skeleton on the ground, some people sucked in a cold breath, unable to restrain a feeling of grief in their hearts. Just a moment ago, this person had fought by their side. He seemed to have been a genius of some ancient clan…

If one was killed by the flames of the Undying Inferno they would turn into a golden skeleton. Although Soul Empress Sheng Mei had already informed them of this, with the bloody truth placed in front of them it still left them terrified.

Within her freezing ice domain, a rare earnest expression appeared on Sheng Mei’s face. The ribbon that wrapped around her body began to shimmer with giant runes. Every time these runes shimmered, they would release an indescribably profound aura of Ice Laws.

The aura of these Ice Laws rippled out, spreading through the void for 10,000 feet. Some of these ripples even neared the range of the Undying Inferno.

The freezing cold air directly collided with the strange flames, releasing horrifying energy fluctuations that detonated again and again.

Sheng Mei’s entire body released a peculiar icy aura as her delicate hands repeatedly moved in the air. Unbelievably beautiful wisps of essence energy scattered out all over, floating down like snowflakes.

Then, twining together with the power of Laws released by the strange ribbon, countless seals appeared as Sheng Mei formed an exquisite array formation with her as the center.

Within this array formation, everyone, including Lin Ming, felt the power of ice begin to condense around their bodies, forming a type of armor.

Although the armor had the power of mystic cold within it, its defensive capabilities were extremely high. Those people that were feeling suffocated from the burning heat just now suddenly returned to their normal states.

“This is the Extreme Cold Battle Array that I’ve laid down. Within this array formation, the might of the Undying Inferno’s flames will be greatly weakened. Everyone follow my lead and do not leave this battle array!”

Sheng Mei’s voice was deep and awe-inspiring, ringing out in the hearts of everyone present.

Everyone felt a chill crawl up their backs. None of them dared to neglect her orders – they had already learned from the mistake of that youth who had been scorched into a golden skeleton.

The fire phoenix-shaped Undying Inferno felt the freezing cold energy in the air and seemed to be stimulated by it. Overwhelming flames filled the skies as the Undying Inferno flew in circles. All of space for a million miles turned into a sea of flames, limitless and boundless.

On the ground, massive mountain ranges began to crack apart and disintegrate. Tongues of flame fell down from the void, transforming everything into molten lava flows.

The world was filled with fire and death, as if it were the eve of the apocalypse.

“You dare to anger me!? All of you will die!!”

The Undying Inferno raised its head, a contemptuous look in its eyes.

Its voice crashed into everyone’s minds like a peal of thunder. Then, the Undying Inferno unfurled its wings. From space, a blaze of crimson flames appeared and came crashing down, like a rain of tiny meteors.

A violent storm appeared, racing towards the area where Lin Ming was.

At the same time, more and more golden skeletons shot out from the sea of flames, all of them rushing towards Lin Ming and the others.

However, even though they were extremely fast, as soon as they entered the Extreme Cold Battle Array their movements slowed down as if they were mired in a swamp, becoming extremely slow.

Even so, these golden skeletons were far stronger than the previous ones. Wanting to kill them wasn’t easy at all!

Moreover, there was also the threat of the Undying Inferno. The fiery meteors it released were crashing down from the skies. Although these meteors were wrapped in layers of Ice Laws and slowed down when they entered the Extreme Cold Battle Array, if everyone was forced to deal with these then they would be far too overstretched!

For a time, the trial challengers were caught in a brutal struggle. The battle with the golden skeletons also entered a stalemate!

Minus the youth that had just died, no one had yet been injured. But if this battle were to continue, they would inevitably suffer losses. Moreover, the Undying Inferno had yet to truly attack. As for them, they were constantly wasting a tremendous amount of energy in battle with the golden skeletons. If this were to continue then things would rapidly become more and more dangerous.

If they couldn’t withstand this siege of golden skeletons until the Undying Inferno turned into a phoenix egg, then they would fail. There was even a chance that all of them would be exterminated!

In this situation, Sheng Mei still hadn’t moved. She focused all of her attention on maintaining the Extreme Cold Battle Array as well as guarding against the Undying Inferno’s fatal strike!

“Damn it, these fellows are just endless!”

“Just how many are there? Can we ever finish killing them all…?”

Many trial challengers were in a critical situation. The previous levity and happy atmosphere as they cut down the first golden skeletons had disappeared, replaced by a deep seriousness and even a trace of fear and dread.

And as everyone had fallen into a brutal melee, some people discovered that Lin Ming had separated from the group and had flown ahead with the black-haired girl. They almost neared the edge of the Extreme Cold Battle Array as they floated in the air.

Pitch black mystical runes shot out from Lin Ming’s palm.

“What is he planning on doing?”

Someone asked, startled. But at this time, they couldn’t care about Lin Ming. What was important was saving their own lives.

Suddenly, a black light flashed out from Lin Ming’s fingertips, carrying with it the aura of the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel. This light shot into the air and rapidly expanded into a giant vortex. From within this vortex, all sorts of sad screams and wails spread out.

Faintly, one could even see the outlines and shadows of countless demons and ghosts, hideous and horrifying.

When this vortex appeared, even those near it felt as if their souls would be sucked in.

As this vortex grew larger and larger, the golden skeletons that slowly moved within the Extreme Cold Battle Array began to stir, becoming restless. They all looked up into the air, their ghostly red fire eyes looking at the air in puzzlement.

Bang –

The giant vortex suddenly descended, wrapping all of the hundreds of golden skeletons within. Then, a golden skeleton roared out loud as the strange fires in its eyes flew out and began to stream towards the black vortex.

The Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel excelled in suppressing ghosts, spirits, demons, and souls of dead martial artists. Facing these golden skeletons, summoning the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel to extinguish the soul fires in their eyes was the best possible method!

As for the terrifying defensive power of the golden skeletons, that was all useless before the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel.

For a time, the burning flames within the golden skeletons’ eyes were swept up like candles in a raging storm, crazily inhaled by the black vortex!

Hu hu hu!

As the soul fires within these golden skeletons’ eyes were extinguished, their bodies fell down like waste wood, shattering as they struck the ground.

In an instant, a massive tract of golden skeletons had fallen down, as if they were nothing but stalks of wheat being reaped.

Seeing this scene, many people felt a cold sweat drip down their back. This Lin Ming, just what sort of abnormal cultivation method did he use to kill them? This was just too fast!

“A little bit of suction and they all died. Just what is that black wheel!?”

“How horrifying. Let alone that wheel destroying those golden skeletons, I even felt as if my soul would be sucked in!” A spiritas martial artist said with trepidation. As a spiritas he was highly sensitive to things of the soul.

The trial challengers present originally believed that Lin Ming’s cultivation time was limited and he was far too young, so in terms of Laws and cultivation methods he would be at a disadvantage. But, they never imagined that this single move Lin Ming displayed would leave them all in the dust!

This difference wasn’t minor at all. As they all remembered their thoughts that they would be able to obtain a tiny advantage due to their age, they realized they had been far too naïve.

Because of Lin Ming’s Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel suddenly reducing the pressure on everyone, they were all able to conserve more of their energy.

From a distance, Sheng Mei looked at Lin Ming, a strange light shining in her eyes. Indeed, Lin Ming had not disappointed her. Like this, she could save more of her strength so that she would be able to pour more power into piercing through the phoenix egg that the Undying Inferno would leave behind.