Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-865

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Facing Situ Haotian’s question, Old Man Good Fortune said at a moderate pace, “I would like Divine Emperor Haotian to agree to two conditions!”

“Do continue,” Situ Haotian’s complexion was downcast. It was impossible to tell just what he was thinking at the moment.

“Firstly, about the two Saint artifact treasures with Situ Yaoyue, both you and Little Friend Lin Lanjian here will take a step back. Of the two Saint artifacts, Little Friend Lin Lanjian will be able to take his choice of one!”

“What!?”

Old Man Good Fortune hadn’t even finished speaking when Situ Yaoxi cried out in alarm and anger. She really would have liked to shove her middle finger at Old Man Good Fortune’s nose and hurl insults at him, but she didn’t have the courage to do so. “Senior Good Fortune, while I do respect you as a senior, today you have clearly shown favor and bias towards Lin Lanjian! The Demon God Heartguard Mirror and the Great Desolate Blood Halberd are both national treasures of my Asura Divine Kingdom, so why should we give them to him!?”

Old Man Good Fortune chuckled and then slowly said, “Because of ‘principle’!”

“You…” Situ Yaoxi was so angry that she felt her intestines twisting. Old Man Good Fortune had made it clear that her Asura Divine Kingdom was the one being unreasonable and unprincipled.

“Today’s matter, since it is a life or death struggle, then even if the Demon God Heartguard Mirror and Great Desolate Blood Halberd were to be taken by Little Friend Lin Lanjian, then by all rights, there shouldn’t be any problems. You should know when to take a step back and be able to tell the difference between right and wrong.” Although Old Man Good Fortune’s words were spoken calmly, everyone present was able to discern the warning within them.

But how could this possibly convince Situ Yaoxi? Her face was grim as she said, “While I may not be in the right today, strength is always the greatest truth! Why should my noble Divine Kingdom bother speaking about principles with this little bastard?”

As she spoke, all of the martial artists present were flabbergasted. Situ Yaoxi was truly shameless to the point of not caring about face. This had been a life or death struggle fought in front of many of the world’s martial artists! However, upon her loss, not only had she gone back on her promise, she also spoke confidently, as if she were in the right.

At this time, a light laugh echoed out. “Situ Yaoxi, you keep on breaking your promises and yet still dare to act so righteously about things. You have truly opened my mind!”

As everyone heard these words, they were quite startled. Anyone that would dare say such provocative words must undoubtedly be a Divine Sea powerhouse!

There was another Divine Sea powerhouse joining the fray!

Everyone followed the voice to see a beautiful fairy-like woman flying in the wind, her white clothes fluttering about her. She was Fairy Snow Gale, with a handsome young man standing above a golden divine carriage at her side. This young man had a heavenly, jade-like appearance – he was the Nine Furnace Crown Prince, Yang Yun!

“Fairy Snow Gale! Yang Yun!”

“I’ve heard that Fairy Snow Gale has already long since reached the peak of the early Divine Sea realm. Moreover, she’s not too old. She should have a high chance of breaking into the middle Divine Sea realm!”

“Fairy Snow Gale comes from the White Clan, and the White Clan is part of the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom. They had problems with the Asura Divine Kingdom to begin with, so Fairy Snow Gale certainly isn’t afraid of offending Situ Haotian!”

“Fairy Snow Gale is also stepping in, and things are really becoming interesting!” All of the martial artists present had the mindset of watching these entertaining events play out. Out of the four Divine Kingdoms, the Asura Divine Kingdom was the only one that followed the demonic path. They were a nation of people who recklessly followed their most debased natures, and were naturally cruel and violent individuals. It was inevitable that they had managed to offend a great number of influences. Thus, the Asura Divine Kingdom had a very poor reputation around the world. As people saw Old Man Good Fortune, Fairy Snow Gale, and even Yang Yun step forwards, all of them were secretly taking pleasure in the Asura Divine Kingdom’s troubles.

“Strength is indeed the greatest truth. Thus, if you really plan on waging war, do you really believe the Asura Divine Kingdom will occupy the overwhelming advantage?” Fairy Snow Gale slowly said with a tranquil expression. Her words lacked any killing intent, and she spoke as if she were just discussing the weather. However, the implicit meaning in her words left Situ Haotian drenched in cold sweat.

Fairy Snow Gale’s meaning was that once war started, she would join Lin Ming along with Old Man Good Fortune. If that happened, then the Asura Divine Kingdom’s fate could be easily imagined!

No matter how haughty and domineering Situ Yaoxi was, she still didn’t dare to speak up anymore at this point.

In this dimensional realm, the Asura Divine Kingdom was surrounded by countless enemies on all sides. Before, these enemies had been deterred by Situ Haotian’s strength; none had dared to step forwards. They were afraid that if a fight broke out, they would be severely wounded, or even killed by him.

But now that the massive tree of Old Man Good Fortune was sheltering them, these people no longer felt the least bit of pressure in revealing themselves. Moreover, Fairy Snow Gale had thoughts of befriending Lin Ming to begin with, so stepping forwards at this time was also an appropriate matter.

Situ Haotian’s complexion became increasingly dismal. He didn’t even greet Fairy Snow Gale, but instead coldly said to Old Man Good Fortune, “Senior Good Fortune, please speak your second condition.”

Fairy Snow Gale thought little of it. She naturally sauntered near Lin Ming’s side, obviously with the meaning of shielding him.

At such a close distance, Lin Ming could even smell the light and airy fragrance drifting from Fairy Snow Gale’s body. Although he knew perfectly well just why Fairy Snow Gale had stepped up now, she had still helped him. Lin Ming recorded this graciousness in his heart.

“The second condition….” Old Man Good Fortune stroked his grey beard and faintly smiled “That is to place Situ Yaoyue in the Forsaken God Clan’s Realmheart Great Hall for three years. You may send someone to guard her for this time period, but she cannot be allowed to leave the Realmheart Great Hall by even a single step. I believe that the Forsaken God Clan will assure us that Situ Yaoyue will remain absolutely safe.”

“What?” Situ Haotian’s thick eyebrows shot up. This condition basically meant that he wanted to take Situ Yaoyue as a hostage. Even a fool could see that Situ Yaoxi and Situ Bonan would continue to hunt down Lin Ming. If Lin Ming stayed in the Forsaken God Clan, then he would certainly be safe; however, if he went out to adventure, then he would be in grave danger. If the Asura Divine Kingdom finally lost all rationale and reasoning in the end, then they might even truly make war with the Forsaken God Clan!

The reason that Old Man Good Fortune wanted to take Situ Yaoyue as a hostage was to give Lin Ming three years. With Lin Ming’s speed of growth, this was the time that Old Man Good Fortune decided Lin Ming would need in order to gain the strength to preserve his life in front of a Divine Sea powerhouse.

“Absolutely impossible!” Situ Yaoxi barked out like a rabid dog. “Why should I believe the Forsaken God Clan? Why should I imprison Yaoyue here!?”

As Shibai heard Old Man Good Fortune’s second condition, his eyes began to shine. This was indeed a very good method. He stepped forwards and said, “My Forsaken God Clan’s Realmheart Great Hall is the fulcrum that supports the heart of this dimensional realm. Even someone on the level of the highest under the heavens will find it impossible to break through. Situ Yaoyue will have absolute safety within, and you can also have someone sent over to guard her. As for us killing Situ Yaoyue, you don’t have to be an idiot to know that we wouldn’t do something so unreasonable! Situ Yaoxi, your reaction just now was so dramatic, could it be possible that you were already thinking of ways to eliminate Little Brother Lin in these next few years!?”

Facing Shibai’s question, Situ Yaoxi’s eyes revealed a thick killing intent. Indeed, she had been preparing to deal with Lin Ming. Assassination, murder, whatever it took; she would stop at nothing to slaughter him. However, if they controlled Yaoyue’s life then that was the same as holding onto her throat. How could she possibly agree to this?

Old Man Good Fortune didn’t have much of an expression. He looked towards Situ Haotian, ”Divine Emperor Haotian, what do you think?”

Situ Haotian’s originally narrowed eyes slowly opened, a terrifying, breathtaking light suddenly bursting from within. At this moment, Situ Haotian’s aura suddenly surged outwards, causing all of the martial artists present to gasp out loud. It was like an ancient vicious beast had suddenly awoken from a deep slumber!

Situ Haotian had always been hiding his abilities. 2500 years ago, when he was just 90 years old, he had taken his seventh stage Life Destruction cultivation and successfully crossed the Divine Sea. The only aspect in which he was inferior to Situ Yaoyue was her Extreme Violet Dantian. It had already been several hundred years since he had last fought, and it was rumored that he was the top powerhouse amongst all middle Divine Sea martial artists. It was said that he was only weaker than the Nine Furnace Highest Divine Emperor and the Sublime Smelting Imperial Grand Uncle, and that he was stronger that the Seven Star Divine Emperor.

As for where the limits of his true strength lay, no one knew.

“This is…is Situ Haotian planning to fight?”

“What can he do in this situation, is he planning on fighting both Old Man Good Fortune and Fairy Snow Gale? That is impossible!”

“No kidding. Once they begin to fight, then the Asura Divine Kingdom will lose without a doubt!”

Even if Situ Haotian were much stronger than he was now, the solemn dignity and majesty of Old Man Good Fortune was already stamped into everyone’s hearts. He was an unrivalled powerhouse that had already lived for 8000 years, an existence close to being the highest under the heavens.

Moreover, despite the fact that he didn’t come from a sect or family clan, he was still able to reach this level today. In these 8000 years, it was impossible to count how many people he must have killed or how many life or death situations he had survived. Although he looked kind and benign like an old grandfather on the outside, who knew just what sort of terrifying ability he would show once he broke out in anger. That would truly be an earth-shaking scene!

However, the event that no one thought could possibly happen was actually happening!

Situ Haotian suddenly stepped forwards, his eyes blazing as he looked at Old Man Good Fortune. “Senior Good Fortune, as you say, strength is the greatest truth in the martial world! I have always diligently and eagerly tried to increase my own strength. However, for the last 1000 years, although I gained a few faint understandings on my martial road, I am still stranded at the bottleneck between the middle and late Divine Sea realm, and have been unable to make a breakthrough. Now that I am so lucky to see Senior today, I hope that Senior can give me advice on three moves so that I might gain some lucky insights. Senior, what do you think?”

Situ Haotian’s surprising words were stubborn to the point of death. Although his tone was polite, and he had limited this spar to three moves, it still didn’t change the fact that he had challenged Old Man Good Fortune!

Situ Haotian was an absolute madman!

“He’s crazy! Situ Haotian wants to fight Old Man Good Fortune!”

“Stop making such a fuss over nothing. Situ Haotian is an extremely smart person. If he limits himself to three moves, then he might be able to withstand it!”

As people were talking, it was unknown just who was it that said, “Speaking of it, I fear that Old Man Good Fortune is probably reaching the end of his natural life….”

As the martial artists present heard this, all of them were bewildered.

That’s right! A late Divine Sea powerhouse was said to have 10,000 years of life, but the truth was that they often lived to only 8000-9000 years of life. There were many reasons for this. For instance, they might overdraw their life or be wounded in battle, or perish as they explored a mystic realm. Whatever the reasons were, the truth was that very few late Divine Sea powerhouses lived to be 9000 years old.

To a martial artist, time was their most terrifying opponent. The martial arts road could be said to be a daily struggle with the heavens. In the currently known martial arts boundary, no one had ever been able to obtain eternal life. No matter how remarkable or talented you were, and whether you were an unrivalled Emperor or the highest under the heavens, in the end, time would slowly sap away all of your strength. Time would age you until the fires of your life were exhausted, and you finally died.

Old Man Good Fortune was already reaching the end of his natural life. But all reasons given, he shouldn’t have much of his peak strength remaining.

On the other hand, Situ Haotian was only 2600 years old. He was at the age when a middle Divine Sea powerhouse was in their prime, their combat strength having reached its peak!

If they truly fought, then although Situ Haotian might not be able to win, he still might have the strength to protect himself. Also, this was only for three moves!

Situ Haotian only needed to survive three moves and create a draw. That would be enough to have his name shock the world, frightening everyone!

And at that time, Old Man Good Fortune would also be too embarrassed to continue. The reason that Old Man Good Fortune was able to mediate the situation today was because he relied on his strength and status as someone close to the highest under the heavens. But, if he fought Situ Haotian and still couldn’t prevail in three moves, then what basis did he have to stick his nose into their business?

Once Old Man Good Fortune retreated, then Fairy Snow Gale and Yang Yun naturally would have no reason to step forwards anymore.

Thus, this was the reason he had only proposed three moves.