Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-457

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Elder Zhou and everyone else’s reactions were well within Xuan Yuqie’s expectations; who wouldn’t be tempted by something like this?

After she had the Elders hungrily hanging onto her words, she slowly said, “The Nirvana Dragon Root can increase the chances of crossing Life Destruction by 20 to 30%. Not just that, but… the enhancement is permanent!”

20-30% increased chances, permanently!

This so called ‘permanence’ was that after successfully washing the marrow, every time one attempted to cross through the stages of Life Destruction, their chances would increase by 20-30%, all the way until they successfully broke through to the Divine Sea realm!

Elder Zhou felt as if he was going crazy. 20-30% seemed like an astounding exaggeration, not to mention that this was a permanent increase.

Normally, those martial artists that could cultivate to the Life Destruction boundary were all top talents. Of course, even among the top talents there were differences. Those that had a better foundation had a greater chance of crossing Life Destruction. As for those that had a worse foundation, their chances might be just 10-20%.

Elder Zhou wasn’t considered too bad. With his original 40-50% chances, along with the Nirvana Dragon Root and some other precious materials, he would have a near certain chance to cross Life Destruction. It would be blessedly safe.

If he didn’t dare to cross Life Destruction with an over 80% chance of success, then he might as well not practice martial arts and retire, waiting for his life energy to exhaust itself and then die in peace.

“How about it? Is Elder Zhou satisfied with this answer?” The one who spoke was Xuan Wuji. He was the Great Elder of the Demon Region Western Faction and also the previous Demon Region Western Faction Sovereign. He was older than Xuan Yuqie by several hundred years, and he had crossed through the third stage of Life Destruction.

“If this precious medicine is able to increase the chances of successfully passing through the Life Destruction stages, this old man naturally desires it.” Elder Zhou deeply looked at Xuan Wuji. The two of them had never been on the best of terms. But Elder Zhou was aware that with his status in the South Sea Demon Region, he would already be content to obtain a Nirvana Dragon Root.

As for the other treasures, even if it were a heaven-step treasure, Elder Zhou didn’t desire those much. Any treasure paled in comparison to his own life.

“I heard Sovereign Xuan say that besides the medicine garden there was also another treasure. Just what would that be?”

Xuan Yuqie said, “The second couldn’t be considered a treasure, it is the Demon Emperor’s familiar. This familiar is named the Giant Leviathan. When the Demon Emperor flew into the Realm of the Gods, his familiar remained within the mortal world. This Giant Leviathan is an extremely formidable beast, its body contains a vast space. For these past tens of thousands of years, it has been slumbering in perpetuity within the ancient battlefield. If we can summon it, then it will become a part of our war strength!”

“Giant Leviathan?”

Elder Zhou’s mind jolted. In the legends, the Giant Leviathan could grow to thousands of miles, it was an ancient Saint Beast of the past. If the Giant Leviathan floated to the surface, its back would be like an endless mountain range with great gales of wind. Its body was broad like an island, and in the legends, the Giant Leviathan would enter into deep hibernation for tens of thousands of years at a time. During this long period, the Giant Leviathan’s back would be covered with dust and dirt, and even plants would grow there. People would think that this Giant Leviathan was a real island, and they would live upon it for generations.

This legend and all the others were really shocking.

If they could tame this Giant Leviathan, the war strength of the South Sea Demon Region would vastly increase. But, to Elder Zhou, the significance of this wasn’t too great; he only cared about the Nirvana Dragon Root. ‘I don’t know whether or not what Xuan Wuji and Xuan Yuqie say is true, but my request isn’t too high. I just need to obtain a small cut of the Nirvana Dragon Root to assist me through the third stage of Life Destruction. As for other things, I simply do not need them.’

…..

In the broken world, pieces of thick clouds were suspended in the air. Under these ink black clouds, hundreds of martial artists were cautiously walking forwards. There was a massive group of zombie guards in the front. These zombie guards were skinny and their eyes were glazed over. The held treasures in their hands, vacantly waving them around in order to detect any space cracks in the way.

If a treasure weapon was suddenly sheared off, then that would indicate that there was a space crack located there. The zombie guard’s master would then command the zombie guard to leave a mark there.

However, every so often, there would be a small space crack that was as fragile as thin glass. Once it was knocked a bit by a treasure, it would cause this small space crack to collapse, twisting any zombie guard near it into bits and pieces.

There were also some times when there would be a large space crack and it would have a great pulling power. When a zombie guard approached, it would be directly sucked in, and then torn apart by the space storm.

Thus, over half the zombie guards had been ruined so far.

Xuan Chang’s complexion wasn’t too good. They had already touched upon space cracks several times, this meant that the collapsing world wasn’t too big. If it was completely sealed up, then he would simply vomit blood.

“Mm? That is…”

Xuan Chang looked up, his eyes widening. A bit more than 10 miles away, there was a huge altar. This altar was hidden in the hazy fog, so they couldn’t clearly see it.

“Brother Wild Halberd, let us go have a look.” Xuan Chang said from not far behind Lin Ming. Throughout this entire way, Xuan Chang had been exceptionally polite towards Lin Ming, continually referring to Lin Ming as Brother Wild Halberd. Whenever something came up, he would politely discuss it with Lin Ming. Lin Ming simply didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He knew the chances were that Xuan Chang knew who he was, and was a afraid of his status.

The truth was that he couldn’t blame Xuan Chang for being so timid. Seeing was believing. Xuan Chang had fought Lin Ming and had even overdrawn his true essence in his attack. In addition, there was also Nightmare assisting him. Yet, he had been defeated and Nightmare was put into a miserable state. Xuan Chang naturally didn’t dare to become enemies with Lin Ming anymore.

“Let’s take a look!” Xuan Chang said to the South Sea Demon Region martial artists. He immediately ordered those that controlled the zombie guards to head over to the altar.

What was surprising was that as they approached the altar, there were less and less space cracks present. Obviously the space here was relatively more stable.

After they approached, the discovered the this altar was over a hundred feet high, and it was forged from gray rock. On the rock, there were many different kinds of beautiful and exquisite reliefs carved.

As they walked up the stairs, they saw that there was a vast flat space atop the altar. There were many lines traced into the ground; it was incomparably mystical and mesmerizing.

As the several hundred martial artist saw this altar and the relief images etched upon it, they were all keenly interested. But as for Lin Ming, as soon as he saw these lines, his heart stirred – he recognized these.

These lines were runes from the Realm of the Gods. Carved atop this giant altar was actually a massive array formation.

Lin Ming pondered. It seemed as if… in ancient times, the Realm of the Gods was inextricably linked to the Sky Spill Continent.

Whether it was the ancient array formation jade slip that Ancestor Chi Yan had found, or all the different kinds of arrangements within the Divine Phoenix Mystic Realm, and now even this massive altar within the ancient battlefield, they all involved the Realm of the Gods. It was as if the Realm of the Gods had once been present here, but with the changing flow and ebb of time, all the legacies from the Realm of the Gods had been slowly lost.

‘Tens of thousands of years ago, the martial arts world of Sky Spill Continent was much more magnificent and glorious than it is now. All sorts of Emperors had emerged, such as the Southern Wilderness’ Sorcerer and the South Sea’s Demon Emperor. At that time, that was just the South Horizon Region; other areas certainly had characters as strong, if not stronger. I don’t know what happened all those years ago, but it seems as if the once great martial arts world slowly declined, and now within the entire Sky Spill Continent, Emperor level powerhouses rarely appear. There are only a dozen or so known, and with all the ones hidden, there might be around a hundred of them. Not just that, but these Emperor level powerhouses can’t hold a candle to the Sorcerer and Demon Emperor of the past!’

Lin Ming sighed, shaking his head. He no longer thought about this things. Rather, he began to observe the altar, carefully inspecting the array formation. As he glanced over the runes and general pattern, he slowly began to discover that this was an ancient array formation.

Looking at the massive scale of the transmission array as well as the complex array formation inscribed upon it, Lin Ming was unable to restrain a gasp. There were even over 100 slots for true essence stones on the edges of the array formation! ‘I wonder just how far this massive transmission array goes to. It shouldn’t be like those of the South Sea that send one tens of thousands of miles away. This one should work for hundreds of thousands, or even millions of miles!’

What sort of concept was that? Lin Ming simply couldn’t imagine it.

After Lin Ming had absorbed the memories of the Realm of the Gods array master, he had come to understand a great deal about the Realm of the Gods’ array formations. Although he couldn’t arrange his own massive array formation, understanding the principles behind it wasn’t too difficult.

After a quarter hour, Lin Ming finally understood the approximate theory and principle behind this ancient transmission array. For a single use, not only did this transmission array require 72 medium-grade true essence stones, but also 36 high-grade true essence stones! One also had to pay particular attention to placing down these true essence stones. If one didn’t understand the rules of arranging them, they would never open this transmission array.

‘Seventy-two medium-grade true essence stones as well as 36 high-grade true essence stones. A high-grade true essence stone is worth 100 medium-grade true essence stones…’

Lin Ming was secretly flabbergasted. The price to open this transmission array just once was astonishing. If he hadn’t killed so many people at the South Sea Demon Region and taken their belongings, he never would have even come close to being able to activate this. This transmission array was from so long ago, could it still start?

As Lin Ming was calmly thinking about this, he suddenly felt a wetness on his face – a drop of rain had clearly fallen on his cheek.

“Mm?” Lin Ming looked up to the skies and found that the dark clouds were becoming increasingly thick. But he remembered that when he had entered into this broken world, the sky was pitch black but it was clear; he could even see the countless bits of rock suspended in the air. But now, these dark and dense clouds had swallowed up all the suspended rocks.

“Rain? This world also has rain?”

The surviving martial artists also looked up to the skies. In the skies, the dark clouds were growing larger, and countless raindrops pattered onto the floor as they fell in a deluge. It was like they were in the middle of a monsoon.

Even if two people were just a few dozen feet away, they still couldn’t see each other because of the great curtain of rain. One could even see the water gathering on the altar at a visible speed. What sort of rain was like this? It was simply like standing in the midst of a waterfall.

Lin Ming’s mind stirred…

He stretched out his tongue, tasting the rainwater. It had a slight salty taste to it.

It was true!

This wasn’t just rain, but it was seawater that had been sucked up by the swirling gray vortex!

The seawater was shredded by the space storm until it became a fine mist that floated in the air. Eventually, it condensed into dark clouds. Once the dark clouds grew too heavy, they turned into rain that fell down.

If this was true and he wasn’t mistaken, there should be a pathway in the air!

Yes, they had searched the ground all this time, but they had forgotten to search the air.