Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)
chapter-695

The surface of the lake surged and rumbled within the quiet great hall. Wave after wave of exceptionally frightening energy fluctuations spread out continuously from the bottom of the lake, causing a fuzzy distortion within the space of the great hall.

At the bottom of the lake, a person quietly seated in the middle of the great array. His Devouring Power had taken the form of a black hole behind him and was slowly rotating. It was akin to a bottomless pit as it devoured the seemingly endless incoming energy like a whale…

Ying Xuanzi was standing at the edge of the lake with his hands behind his back. He occasionally cast his gaze at Lin Dong, who was at the center of the great array, and would nod slightly from time to time.

“As expected of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol. This rate of absorption far exceeds that of an ordinary individual…”

An aged voice suddenly rang out from behind Ying Xuanzi. Instead of turning around, he merely smiled, “The Devouring Ancestral Symbol is undoubtedly a heavenly treasure. However, if it was given to someone else, it would still be extremely difficult to reach this stage given the status of a low rank empire member.”

“Haha, what sect master means is that even though Lin Dong has a godly treasure, he still knew the importance of discretion. For someone at his age, that is quite impressive.”

An old man wearing a blue robe had unknowingly appeared at behind Ying Xuanzi. His eyes were similarly resting on Lin Dong, who was at the bottom of the lake, as he spoke.

“However, that brat’s good fortune will surely incite jealousy. He actually found the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, the most mysterious of the Ancestral Symbols, in a low rank empire…”

Ying Xuanzi lightly nodded his head in approval before he said, “It is reputed that there are eight Ancestral Symbols in the world and they are all incomparably formidable. Even if an elite practitioner encounters them, they can only subdue one Ancestral Symbol. Only the owner of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol can rely on Devouring Power to fuse the power of the other Ancestral Symbols within his body.”

“Haha, this rumour may not be true. However, in this world, other than those Ancestral Symbols that have yet to appear, the remaining Ancestral Symbol owners are all renowned and famed practitioners. I am afraid there aren’t many people who can successfully steal their Ancestral Symbols. “ replied the blue robed old man.

“I remember that the Palace of Darkness master of the Northern Xuan Region possesses one of the eight Ancestral Symbols, the Darkness Ancestral Symbol… it is their sect’s inheritance. With it, the Palace of Darkness has stood strong in the Northern Xuan Region for thousands of years.

Ying Xuanzi faintly nodded his head before proceeding to ask, “In future, our Dao Sect will also give birth to an elite practitioner that possesses an Ancestral Symbol.”

“Sect master believes that this little one can comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture?” asked the blue robed old man in a soft voice.

“This kid has an extremely tough character. He is ruthless and decisive, yet he knows his own limits and is neither heartless nor wicked. Although no one has successfully understood the Great Desolation Scripture in the past hundred years, the feats performed by this little one have dazzled many. Haha, I think that he might have a chance…” replied Ying Xuanzi.

“Of course, we will have to wait until the Great Desolate Tablet opens to find out. Currently, the top disciples of the other three halls have all successfully understood the other three great mysterious scriptures. If the Desolate Hall is still unable to find someone who can comprehend the Great Desolation Mysterious Scripture this year, it will perhaps fall into trouble.”

Although Lin Dong was not bad and would be able to achieve another breakthrough thanks to the Soul Locking Array, the top disciples from the three other halls were all extremely powerful. Coupled with the power of the three other great mysterious scriptures, it might be difficult for Lin Dong to obtain the upper hand. After all, he would not have five Ancient Immortal Yuan Fruits to boost his combat capabilities during the competition…

Upon hearing Ying Xuanzi’s words, the blue robed old man faintly nodded his head and hesitated for a moment before speaking, “ The highest ranker in the hall test will become the leader of all the Dao Sect disciples for the upcoming Great Sect Competition. From the looks of it, Ying Xiaoxiao has the highest chance. Furthermore, she is a steady individual and her reputation amongst the four halls is high, making her the most suitable candidate.”

“The Great Sect Competition…”

When these three words were mentioned, a dark glint flashed past Ying Xuanzi’s eyes. In every Great Sect Competition, numerous conflicts would erupt between the disciples from their Dao Sect and those from the Yuan Gate. Furthermore, when both parties were merciless when they fought. However, over the years, the Yuan Gate disciples were typically stronger, therefore, the Dao Sect would often lose some of their disciples. In the most recent competition, even the Sky Hall’s most outstanding disciple had been surrounded and killed by the Yuan Gate disciples.

“Yuan Gate…you’ve gone too far…” Ying Xuanzi slowly said. His eyes stared far into the distance as a chilling aura gradually filled the air.

The blue robed old man grew silent before finally giving a soft sigh. The competition between the super sects was always brutal. Although the Dao Sect was also a super sect, they were obviously weaker than the Yuan Gate. Hence, there were often forced to give way.

Each of the three great sect masters of the Yuan Gate were as powerful as Ying Xuanzi. Furthermore, there were also a few old monsters that had sealed themselves off from the world. Their foundation was absolutely gigantic and overbearing.

The year when Zhou Tong died, the Dao Sect had almost declared all-out war on the Yuan Gate. However, this notion was thoroughly crushed and oppressed by Ying Xuanzi in the end. This obviously caused many disciples to feel outraged. However, the blue robed old man knew that Ying Xuanzi had secretly struggled with that decision for a long time. After all, Zhou Tong was the disciple that he had been proudest of…

“I hope this little one will be able to comprehend the Great Desolation Mysterious Scripture. If so, we will possess another person who will be able to hold his own in the upcoming Great Sect Competition. It is said that there are quite a few powerful Yuan Gate disciples this time around. Amongst them, is a younger generation member called Liu Hao, and people call him the ‘Little Yuan King’. This younger generation member had exchanged blows with an expert at the Mysterious Life stage and was able to successfully escape, such a feat speaks for itself…”

“There are a quite a few capable individuals that have appeared in the other super sects as well. For example, Ling Qingzhu from the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace. She is extremely powerful and does not lose to Liu Hao at all…”

The blue robed old man went on as a worried light revealed itself in his eyes. When comparing their younger generation members, it was obvious that the Yuan Gate was superior. Obviously, their reputation as the Eastern Xuan Region’s top super sect was well-deserved.

Ying Xuanzi faintly nodded his head. He naturally knew about these details. However, there was nothing that he could do, therefore, he could only sigh at this moment. He turned his head towards the young man resting at the bottom of the lake and thought, “Amongst the younger generation members of the Dao Sect, though Xiaoxiao is quite powerful, one person cannot hold up the sky alone. If Lin Dong can comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture and boost his strength, he will be able to help to shoulder her burden…”

However, if it were only that easy to comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture…

…

Lin Dong’s training lasted for ten whole days. With the seemingly infinite amounts of energy from the ‘Soul Locking Array’, the Yuan Power within his body grew at a frightening speed.

Furthermore, while his Yuan Power grew increasingly powerful, Lin Dong could also sense that the Mental Energy within his Niwan Palace was also climbing at a gratifying speed thanks to this mystical array. It was obvious that Lin Dong’s Yuan Power and Mental Energy had benefitted tremendously.

For Lin Dong, these benefits came at the time when the conditions were ripe. In the previous bloody fight, even though he had used five Ancient Immortal Yuan Fruits, some of their essence and energy had seeped into his body during that intense battle. Hence, with the assistance of the ‘Soul Locking Array’, he was now able to improve rapidly.

Therefore, this quiet training lasted for almost half a month before Lin Dong’s skin started to turn red, as wave after wave of berserk energy started to radiate continuously from his body.

“Is he about to undergo a Nirvana Tribulation…”

At the edge of the lake, Ying Xuanzi immediately discovered the unusual changes around Lin Dong and gave a faint smile. It seemed like Lin Dong had benefitted greatly from this training session.

“Bang Bang!”

Wave after wave of berserk fluctuations continuously radiated from Lin Dong’s body. From a distance away, his scarlet red body looked like red hot coal. Obviously, this was the omen of a Nirvana Tribulation.

However, just as the Nirvana Tribulation was about to erupt, vigourous Mental Energy suddenly started to howl out from Lin Dong’s Niwan Palace. Immediately, storm clouds started to converge in the sky above the great hall.

“Wind and Lightning Tribulation? Dual Tribulation? This kid is truly ambitious.”

Ying Xuanzi felt slightly flabbergasted as he raised his head, before smiling and waving his sleeve. This caused the ceiling of the great hall to unexpectedly crack apart slowly, revealing the boundless sky outside. At this moment, storm clouds had already gathered as silver snakes flashed within. This was the Wind and Lightning Tribulation.

Ying Xuanzi gazed at the surging clouds, before he turned to look at a now scarlet red Lin Dong, who was currently undergoing a Nirvana Tribulation. He did not intend to help Lin Dong. Instead, he observed this scene with interest. After all, he knew that be it the Nirvana Tribulation or the Wind and Lightning Tribulation, both required one to rely on one’s own strength. This was an absolutely necessary step that one has to undergo. Only by undergoing such a trial would one’s strength truly soar.

Wave after wave of red hot and berserk energy erupted like flood waters from Lin Dong’s body. At the same time, scarlet red flames unexpectedly erupted from within Lin Dong’s body with a pop sound before crazily wrapping around him as they frantically burned.

Chi Chi!

Under the roasting of those scarlet red flames, Lin Dong’s skin started to glow with a green light as green scales started to appear one after another. Furthermore, under the roasting of the Nirvana Flames, which were condensed from the Nirvana Qi from his body, Lin Dong could feel the ‘Heavenly Dragon Qi’ Qing Zhi had given him show signs of loosening. Strands of mysterious energies started to radiate out, before assimilating into Lin Dong’s muscles and bones…

“Green Heaven Materialized Dragon Skill huh…”

Ying Xuanzi gazed at the green scales on Lin Dong’s body that were sparkling with green light before he smiled faintly and murmured, “ It is said that when one completely masters this martial art, the practitioner will have a powerful body that can compete with that of a high class dragon race. This little one is truly fortunate…”

“Roar!”

After Ying Xuanzi’s spoke, thunder suddenly boomed in the skies as the storm clouds heaved and surged. An extremely thick lightning snake directly cracked open the horizon and blasted towards Lin Dong.

This lightning snake’s speed was extremely fast. In a flash, it flew into the great hall before it ferociously slammed down on Lin Dong’s head.

Swoosh!

However, just as the lightning snake was about to strike Lin Dong, a circular black hole started to extend from the crown of his head. Like a bottomless pit, it swallowed the berserk lightning snake in a single gulp.

Chi! Chi!

When the lightning snake entered the black hole, Lin Dong body started to tremble violently. Strand after strand of lightning started to jump and leap on the surface of his body. Together with the burning Nirvana flames, it looked both dazzlingly and beautiful.

After the lightning snake rushed into the black hole, Lin Dong’s face started to twitch for a while, before revealing a trace of pain, which was rapidly retrained moments later.

“Boom boom!”

After the first lightning bolt descended, the storm clouds in the billowing storm clouds grew increasingly violent. Soon after, thick lightning bolts started to pour down one after the other in torrents like a thunderstorm with extremely loud rumbling noises.

Ying Xuanzi crossed his hands behind his back as he raised his head and observed the disorderly dance of lightning snakes within the great hall. Those berserk lightning snakes were completely devoured by the black hole above Lin Dong. After undergoing a transformation within it, the resulting energy was sent into Lin Dong’s body.

With his sharp eyes, Ying Xuanzi could tell that this process was very smooth. From the looks of it, Lin Dong was quite proficient in utilizing the Devouring Ancestral Symbol. In fact, it seems like the so-called dual tribulation would hardly pose a threat to Lin Dong…

The descent of crazy lightning snakes from the sky lasted for more than ten minutes before gradually weakening. After the final lightning snake descended, the pervasive storm clouds finally began to scatter. Sunlight started to seep through the gaps and passed through the ceiling of the great hall before landing on Lin Dong’s body.

“Chi!”

Under the illumination of the sunlight, Lin Dong’s scarlet red body started to recover bit by bit. In a flash, his tightly closed eyelids sudden opened as a piercing brilliance shot out from his pupils. Instantly, the water around him exploded, causing huge waves to form.

Huff!

Lin Dong deeply exhaled a ball of white qi with a berserk flavor. With a twist of his body, he directly leapt out from the great array and landed beside Ying Xuanzi, before speaking in a respectful manner, “Many thanks to sect master.”

“You did this with your own abilities. The only thing I did was provide a venue for you…” replied Ying Xuanzi with a casual smile.

Lin Dong also smiled in return. Just as he was about to speak, his complexion suddenly changed faintly. He could sense a sudden transmission of an extremely mysterious and majestic fluctuation from an area in the sky. That direction… the Desolate Hall…

Ying Xuanzi also turned around, looking towards the same direction as he gently smiled.

“The Great Desolate Tablet has finally opened. Look’s like the Dao Sect is going to be lively again…”