Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-400

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Lin Ming didn’t have a comprehensive understanding of the Realm of the Gods’ language from the memory fragments in his mind. He carefully recalled them, and was then just able to barely understand the meaning of the words.

“Talent is satisfactory for the general level requirement. You may continue onto the final general level smelting trial!”

Final general level smelting trial?

Lin Ming was shocked.

Who was speaking? This Ancient Phoenix Main Hall had existed for tens of thousands of years or even hundreds of thousands of years. Besides some Supreme Elders of the Realm of the Gods who had already thoroughly understood the profound mysteries and principles of life death, no one should be able to live this long. There shouldn’t still be anyone living in the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall; was this a message left behind by the one who created all of this?

This was a indeed a possibility. Of course, there were also some magic array formations that could record sounds and preserve them for an extremely long time.

Just what was the final general level smelting trial?

A light shined down, enveloping Lin Ming. In the next moment, he suddenly felt like he was being warped somewhere else.

After several dozen breaths of time, Lin Ming slowly adapted to the strange and uncomfortable feeling of being spatially warped somewhere. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that he seemed to have been warped away from the Main Hall. Behind him was a cave, and in front of him was an endlessly vast plain. There were no giant glaciers and no rivers of lava, only black, sparse land with scattered rocks and some vegetation.

As Lin Ming looked closer, he could see that there were several broken swords, spears, and other weapons buried in the dirt. There were even incomplete skeletons. But after such a long time, these skeletons were brittle to the point of turning to dust if handled too roughly.

Lin Ming’s mind stirred. He gingerly extracted several bones from the ground and compared them to a human’s anatomy. He wasn’t able to find any differences between them.

“The Ancient Phoenix Clan was from the human race of the Sky Spill Continent?”

Lin Ming couldn’t help but wonder this.

At this moment, a mass of hazy flashing lights appeared in front of Lin Ming. A second later, it merged into a human’s face, just like a ghost.

“Is this also an opponent formed from energy?” Lin Ming subconsciously took out the Purple Comet Spear, true essence circulating through his entire body as he prepared to fight at any moment.

However, what startled Lin Ming was that the human face opened its mouth and actually began to unbelievably speak. “Smelting trial…”

It sounded monotone and cold, without the slightest bit of emotion. The language that it spoke in was shockingly from the Realm of the Gods.

Lin Ming stared in complete confusion. Was this ghostly thing some sort of remnant spiritual body left behind?

But what sort of spiritual body could live so long? Had it been protecting the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall for the last tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years? It could live this long?

“Who are you?” Lin Ming asked. After he recalled the fragmented memories of the Supreme Elders from the Realm of the Gods, he managed to stitch the words together to compose this sentence. This was the first time he had used the cumbersome language of the Realm of the Gods, and his pronunciation was awkward. But, the ghost in front of him seemed to understand this.

“I am the Palace Spirit, the guardian of this land.”

“Palace Spirit? You’re already dead?” Lin Ming asked with a stunned expression. Within the Sky Spill Continent, things such as ghosts, vampires, and zombies weren’t anything new. In fact, there were even some martial artists that were able to separate their soul from their body, to the point where after they died their soul would become a completely separate ghostly martial artist that relied on swallowing the souls of others to cultivate.

“Dead? No, I’ve had this appearance since birth. I am part of the Spirit race. Or to be more accurate, I am of the Stone Spirit race.”

“Stone Spirit?” Lin Ming’s eyebrows arched up; this was the first time that he had heard of the existence of such a race.

“Rocks have souls, mountains have souls, the world has a soul. Once a rock has passed through countless years, it can nurture a ‘spirit’. This is my Stone Spirit race. My race’s life is as long as a rock itself. When we sleep, we slumber among the rocks and can rest for 100,000 years at a time. This is nothing unusual.”

Heavens!

Lin Ming was speechless. Life as long as a rock’s? How long could a rock last? If a rock was placed in a spot, if it didn’t crack or melt, it could weather almost eternity.

A single period of sleep could last 100,000 years. From the very beginning that this Ancient Phoenix Main Hall existed, this fellow could have been sleeping until now.

Lin Ming guessed that this fellow was the same sort as Yan Mo from the Sorcerer Holy Land. It was sent by its master to manage and watch over the smelting trial. Thus, he asked, “I would like to ask, what is the meaning of the final general level smelting trial?”

“The Ancient Phoenix Main Hall is the training grounds of the Ancient Phoenix Clan’s army. Altogether, there are a total of three levels. The king level, general level, and sergeant level. Your companions that followed you in and participated are currently in the sergeant level smelting trial. As for you, you are chosen for the general level smelting trial!”

Lin Ming’s mind was startled. He never imagined that this Ancient Phoenix Main Hall was a training ground for the Ancient Phoenix Race’s army! For this place to exist on such a massive scale, just what kind of army was being trained? What sort of war did they participate in?

The words sergeant level smelting trial meant that it trained soldiers. Thus, Mu Dingshan, Mu Xiaoqing, and the rest could only be considered ordinary soldiers. As for himself, he could be considered a general, or at least a military officer of some kind. And the so-called king? What rank was that?

Lin Ming couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of talent does a king level participant need?”

“A king level doesn’t just need talent, but more importantly needs the bloodline of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. Although you have a small trace of a God Beast bloodline within you, it is not the same bloodline that my Ancient Phoenix Clan possesses.” The Palace Spirit said without a trace of emotion.

Lin Ming was shocked; the reverse scale blood within him had actually been noticed by this Palace Spirit. But, it wasn’t strange. The level of understanding concerning God Beasts that this Ancient Phoenix Clan achieved naturally couldn’t be compared with Divine Phoenix Island.

“What are the details of the final general level smelting trial? Will I die if I lose?”

“The content of the smelting trial is to fight an army. If you are defeated, you may retreat to this cave and try again. But, if you die within the smelting trial, you will truly die. Whether it is the sergeant or general level training trial, both need to undergo a baptism of blood in order to grow. Otherwise, it will be impossible to face the cruelty and brutality of the battlefield. After a period of time, I will return to assess your situation.”

“What is the time period? Is it seven days? What happens if I cannot complete the tasks of the smelting trial within seven days?” Lin Ming couldn’t help but ask. He had heard from Mu Dingshan that the normal time period within the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall was seven days. But after listening to this Palace Spirit, it seemed it would be difficult to complete the general level smelting trial within that seven day time period.

“Seven days is only the period of time laid down within the sergeant level smelting trial. Within the general level smelting trial, it will only end upon completion, or upon your death.”

“Until completion? How much time would that be?”

“The time required is different for every person. If it is a short time, then around two years. If it is a long time, then even 10 years is possible.”

“What!? Ten years!?” Lin Ming was beyond startled. He himself had only lived for 16 years, and had only cultivated for around four years. Yet this Palace Spirit had so casually tossed out a 10 year time period!

If he really cultivated for five or ten years here, just what sort of concept was that!

Lin Ming was left completely speechless. To practice here in this sealed off area for such a long time was absolutely no faster than cultivating outside and experiencing all sorts of other trials, let alone having to do so for such a long time. Maybe even Divine Phoenix Island would think that he had died here. Also, there were his parents that he had to consider; how would they feel if they thought he had died?

“I refuse!”

Lin Ming said without hesitation.

“I apologize, but I am only a messenger and do not have the ability to change how the smelting trial is managed. The array formation has already started. Now, you have choice but to complete the smelting trial; it will not come to an end before you finish. But do not be so hasty in refusing. If you can complete the smelting trial, you will also receive rewards that you cannot imagine. The quicker you complete the smelting trial, the greater the rewards will be.

“What rewards?” Lin Ming couldn’t imagine any reward that would stir his heart and make up for several years of his life. But as he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and he began to run short of breath.

He remembered the story that Mu Fengxian had told him. Divine Phoenix Island used to be a small ordinary sect. But 3000 years ago, because of the rise of Silent Demon Emperor City, they had no choice but to depart for safer lands and relocate themselves within Divine Phoenix Island.

At that time, the founder of Divine Phoenix Island had happened upon an accidental lucky chance, and had entered the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall. There, she had simultaneously obtained both the bloodline of the Vermillion Bird Saint Beast and the Blue Luan Saint Beast. This was the sole reason that Divine Phoenix Island managed to attain 3000 years of glory!

The bloodline of the Vermillion Bird and Blue Luan Saint Beasts could be inherited by future generations. There were many descendants of the founder that had managed to inherit these bloodlines, and there were even descendants that cropped up every couple generations whose bloodline was not diluted. For instance, Mu Qianyu and Mu Bingyun both had the bloodline of a Saint Beast within them, and this was because they had inherited it from the founder of Divine Phoenix Island!

Although Lin Ming had the Vermillion Bird blood essence within him, this was still acquiring the bloodline through forcibly transplanting it. And the transplantation technique was devised by Divine Phoenix Island – it wasn’t necessarily some great technique.

With just a bit of Vermillion Bird blood essence, the bloodline within Lin Ming was very weak. But, if he could obtain the transplantation of these two bloodlines from the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall, and increase his bloodline purity to the level of the Divine Phoenix Island founder, it would be a tremendous help in his cultivation of the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’!

“Blood of the Vermillion Bird! Blood of the Blue Luan! Are these rewards possible?” Lin Ming urgently asked.

“Not just the blood of the Vermillion Bird or the Blue Luan, but even the blood of the Ancient Phoenix is a possible. But, it is unable to be obtained by someone with your talent.” The Palace Spirit blankly said, as if this was a statement of fact.

“Blood of the Ancient Phoenix!” Lin Ming’s mind began to race and his heartbeat quickened, “What is the Ancient Phoenix? A Phoenix God Beast?”

This question may seem silly, but it was very important; there was simply too much at stake. Naturally, Lin Ming had to have complete assurance in this.

“Of course.”

“What are the required conditions?” Lin Ming impatiently asked. He had thought that there would only be the Vermillion Bird and Blue Luan bloodline, he never imagined that he could obtain the blood of a Phoenix God Beast!

Even if it was only a tiny amount of the Ancient Phoenix, like an amount such as the reverse scale blood, it would still enough to give him a massive advantage!

If he had the bloodline of the Ancient Phoenix, what would cultivating the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ be like? Lin Ming simply couldn’t imagine it!

‘The blood of the Ancient Phoenix is usually a reward in the king level smelting trial. Normally, a general level talent would never be able to obtain it. There is one exception, and that is if you can complete the entire smelting trial within one year.”

One year!

Lin Ming took a deep breath. If he fully thought about everything the Palace Spirit had said so far, completing this smelting trial training in one year was a nearly inconceivable matter. But he still couldn’t help but ask, “From when you started guarding the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall, how long has it been? Has there ever been a person who was able to complete the general level smelting trial within a year?”

“My deep sleep has lasted too long, I no longer remember the passage of time. But over the many years, there truly was a person who was able to complete the general level smelting trial in one year. However, he was from the lineage of the Royal Family – it was just that he was relegated to the general level.” The Palace Spirit’s voice was a bit slow. It was as if too much time had passed, and it could no longer clearly remember the events of the past.

“Since someone can do this, it means that I can too!” Lin Ming was confident in himself. This was an opportunity that he had to grasp with everything he had. Moreover, even if it wasn’t because of the blood of the Ancient Phoenix, Lin Ming still had to pass this trial as quickly as possible to leave the Ancient Phoenix Main Hall. According to normal circumstances, he should only be in here for seven days. If he was gone for too long, then Mu Qianyu would probably assume that he had died!