Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-538

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Bang!

Blackrat smashed into the floor, crushing all of the tiles beneath him. Half of Blackrat’s body was stuck in the broken stones.

The hundreds of martial artists that saw this were dumbfounded. They thought that Blackrat would easily win, but the result was beyond their expectations. Lin Ming had thrust out his spear and directly sent Blackrat halfway into the ground.

Although Blackrat was a coward and his character was wretched, the truth was that he was still a genius from a fifth-grade sect of Imps. Once he used his Shattered Soul Domain, it was nearly impossible for someone to defend against. There were many individuals that had lived on the second floor for a long time that weren’t willing to face Blackrat’s Shattered Soul Domain. They never imagined that a newcomer could actually make such a surprising counterattack.

“Damn, how did that happen!?” Blackrat leapt up from the rubble. His wrinkled face was covered with blood and he was a bit dizzy.

At this time, a true essence sound transmission from the black-caped Goliath sounded in Blackrat’s ear. “Boss, are you okay?”

“Shit, that boy’s strength is too freakish. Even a Feral on the same level is just trash in front of him.” Blackrat angrily replied with a true essence sound transmission.

Lin Ming was indeed the strongest of those he had fought. A mere early Xiantian realm boy had easily swept him away with a spear. If Blackrat hadn’t used demon essence to protect his wrist, then that single strike would have broken his hand already.

“That boy… was he injured? Although my saber strike was sent back, my Shattered Soul Domain entered into his spiritual sea. Even a human Revolving Core powerhouse would have suffered some soul damage!” Blackrat asked the black-caped Goliath as he glared at Lin Ming. When he was sent flying away by the spear, he hadn’t noticed anything. But now that he looked at Lin Ming standing there motionless, he couldn’t tell what sort of damage he managed to do.

“He must excel in defense against soul attacks. I don’t see that he’s injured…” The black-caped Goliath muttered. After Lin Ming had struck Blackrat, he stood there onstage not moving at all. There was no vacant or stressed light in his eyes either

Blackrat had truly kicked himself in the foot this time!

Blackrat complained in his heart. If you stood at the riverside too long, your shoes were bound to get wet. Blackrat kept picking newcomers to challenge, and on this day he finally fell into this situation. But, if he didn’t choose newcomers it would have been impossible to reach a 20 match winning streak. He would have long since been ruined by others.

In the end, within Skysplit Tower, people spoke with their strength.

Here, strength was everything.

Lin Ming grasped the Purple Comet Spear and walked forwards.

As he took his first step, everyone in the audience sucked in a cold breath. This steady and robust step proved that there was not a single problem with Lin Ming.

Blackrat wasn’t considered too strong in the second floor, but that didn’t mean he was easy to handle. There were many veterans here who didn’t dare to withstand Blackrat’s soul attack straight on. But Lin Ming had done so in such manner, it was just too abnormal.

Blackrat grimaced. The fight had already reached the supernova stage. There was no way he could afford to lose here. Once he lost, his 20 win streak would end. Not only would he not gain slaughter points but he would also lose most of the infernal energy that he had struggled to save over the last three years.

This was not a setback he could bear!

“Boy, you’ve forced me to do this!” Blackrat’s face flashed with a fierce light, and all the skin folds of his wrinkled face twisted together.

“Soul combustion - spiritual sea… open to the limit!”

Blackrat shouted. Between his eyes, a dark crack appeared. This crack shined with a black light; it was like a third eye.

“Blackrat combusted his soul. It looks like he’s planning to go all out.”

Soul combustion was a technique unique to soul attack martial artists, and its cost was much greater than the combustion of blood essence. When one burned blood essence, they could pay a great price to restore it with various methods. But, if one burnt their soul, it was far more difficult to recover from; it would create a permanent loss in their soul force. The only way to recover from this was if one had top soul regenerating medicines. But, these precious medicines were not any less rare than something like the Nirvana Dragon Root.

After combusting part of his soul force, Blackrat’s aura began to rise. His appearance changed. His wrinkled face became extremely grotesque, and two fangs gleamed at the corners of his mouth. His eyes turned bloodshot. He looked no different from a rabid animal.

“Soul Storm!”

Blackrat crazily shouted into the skies. A terrifying vortex of soul force energy formed into a storm. All of the nearby martial artists couldn’t help but retreat, lest they were caught up in the attack. After all, it was no joke if their soul was injured.

“What an impressive Soul Storm.”

“Even the shockwaves are terrifying. This feeling reminds me of when I was still a mortal. It’s as if I was standing in the midst of a winter snowstorm without clothes.”

There were many people that thought Blackrat was weak. But as they saw this tyrannical soul attack, all of them paled. They couldn’t help but wonder: if they stood onstage facing this Soul Storm, could they withstand it?

The possibilities send chills down their spines.

Rumble rumble rumble!

A great purple storm bore down on Lin Ming like a savage beast. Keening howls and shrill shrieks were mixed within; it was like the entire martial arena had turned into an Ashura hell!

Lin Ming’s figure was enveloped in this storm, completely disappearing.

Blackrat wielded his two curved short sabers and rushed forwards. Behind him, a massive demonic shadow appeared. This shadow had bright red eyes, two cruel fangs, and sharp rows of shining teeth.

But as he was halfway to Lin Ming, the Soul Storm suddenly parted in half. A purple light shot forth like a meteor as it tore through the void, directly cutting towards Blackrat!

After burning away his soul, Blackrat no longer had the ability to dodge. His body suddenly shook!

Pu!

A bloody hole appeared on Blackrat’s forehead. This purple light had easily pierced through his head!

However, the aftermath of the Soul Storm that Blackrat had sent out crashed into Lin Ming. But as it struck him, it passed over him like a gentle spring breeze without the slightest impact.

Match, end.

Crash!

Blackrat slumped to the ground, a large stream of blood flowing out of his forehead.

“Lin Ming, victory!”

The referee declared after a brief pause. The audience was stunned silent.

Blackrat had been killed by a single move from Lin Ming. This wasn’t surprising. After all, Blackrat’s defensive capabilities and close range combat skills were exceedingly weak.

But what they couldn’t imagine was just how that terrifying Soul Storm that Blackrat had released hadn’t injured Lin Ming. Did this fellow not have a soul? Or was he completely immune to soul attacks?

“Could it be that this boy has some sort of special physique? The Imps’ physical strength and body are weaker than the Giant Demons’. In terms of Laws and compatibility with concepts, they are far inferior to the Fey. Even their perception is inferior to humans’. But in terms of soul force, they are second to none within the entire Holy Demon Continent. This Blackrat also specially studied soul attacks, so how could this be the result?”

“Don’t look down on him. This fellow, even if we put aside his freakish soul defense, still has the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. No wonder he dared to accept Blackrat’s challenge. Blackrat has accumulated a great deal of infernal energy these past three years. This boy has gained a great deal.

As the surrounding martial artists talked amongst themselves, a great portion of the infernal energy within Blackrat had turned into a warm flow of heat that submerged into Lin Ming.

Ho!

From his head to his toes, the infernal energy flooded Lin Ming’s body. This infernal energy was twice as much as before and several times more concentrated. Although Lin Ming had a naturally calm disposition, the flush of infernal energy still stirred his impulsive thoughts. It was like the countless unbidden desires in his heart were being rapidly inflated.

“What a rich infernal energy!”

After Lin Ming absorbed the infernal energy he looked at the Heavenly Demon Tattoo on his arm. He saw that the first pair of wings became fully formed, and there was even a vague outline of the second pair. If he could obtain the same amount of infernal energy again, then the second pair of wings would truly manifest. At this time, Lin Ming would be a genuine four-winged Heavenly Demon.

“With this infernal energy, I can practice the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ with double the result and half the effort.”

Lin Ming took a deep breath and calmed his restless mind. He flicked his fingers, and a bloody fog exploded from Blackrat’s corpse. It slowly turned into a Blood Drinking Seal before flying into Lin Ming’s hand.

Even Blackrat’s spatial ring was taken by Lin Ming. Lin Ming was quite looking forwards to Blackrat’s spatial ring; he was very curious about the secret soul cultivation skills that the Imp race practiced.

“He even used the blood essence of the dead to form a blood seal. This boy’s cultivation method is ruthless enough.”

“He and that Fey Lan Xing are both the rising stars of today’s martial arena. Both are newcomers, both have extremely high talent, and both have the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon. But, Lin Ming is a tad stronger. Lan Xing secluded himself into training for a year after entering the second floor before he had his strength, but Lin Ming hadn’t even practiced at all before reaching here! That is even more terrifying!”

……………

“Lin Ming is stronger than me? Hehe, how interesting!” After Lan Xing obtained his three win streak, he didn’t leave the martial arena. Instead, he stayed to watch Lin Ming’s fight. He hadn’t been optimistic about Lin Ming’s odds. He thought that Lin Ming would perish under Blackrat’s hand, but he didn’t think this would be the outcome.

“They put me on par with Lin Ming. They thought that I took a year off once I reached the second level before I was able to reach Lin Ming’s level. Humph, those fools never realized that I already had the strength of a four-winged Heavenly Demon a year ago. If this is the case, then isn’t my one year of training just a waste?”

Lan Xing’s lips curled and his eyes shined with fighting spirit.

He had decided. He would fight with Lin Ming

But now, Lin Ming had just finished a fight. It didn’t matter how small his true essence loss was. Lan Xing wanted to defeat Lin Ming under completely fair conditions, so that no one would be able to come up with excuses.

“My Fey race’s Fey Emperors have all stepped on the bones of countless geniuses in order to ascend the throne of the Emperor. I, Lan Xing, will also become a Fey Emperor in the future. Lin Ming, you will be one of my stepping stones!”

Lan Xing was genius from a high fifth-grade Fey sect. Normally speaking, a top fifth-grade sect was a Holy Land. A high fifth-grade sect was just a step away from reaching that point. As long as an Emperor level powerhouse appeared in that sect, the sect would be able to take that final step and complete the transformation.

Lan Xing’s goal was to become a Peerless Emperor. So, he set foot by himself to journey the world and gain experience. His ambitions would not remain low. He would become the reason that his sect would become a Holy Land…