Chapter 776 – Sweep Through All
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The sudden change in events stunned all the martial artists present. Heavencraft Feng was embedded in the wall, vomiting out great mouthfuls of blood.
Heavencraft Feng had cultivated to the first stage of Life Destruction; and yet, he had still nearly died a miserable death in just a single exchange with Lin Ming.
Lin Ming’s cultivation was merely at the late Revolving Core realm!
“Just where is this boy from?”
Old man Yan and the other second stage Life Destruction old man felt as if they had been backed into to the edge of a cliff. Those several young martial artists also looked like they had seen a ghost appear in front of them. Lin Ming appeared to be only 20 some years old; in fact, he might even be younger than them.
They were also juniors like him, so how could the disparity in their strength be so great?
“If he defeated a first stage Life Destruction martial artist that easily, then his strength must be at least the peak of the second stage of Life Destruction, or maybe even at the third stage of Life Destruction.”
If Lin Ming’s strength was only at the second stage of Life Destruction, then if they gave it their all, Ling Ming would still be an opponent that they could fight against. However, if he had the strength of a third stage Life Destruction martial artist, then it didn’t matter, even if there were several more of them.
Lin Ming unconsciously exuded a formless killing intent from his body, which was known as the Death God force field.. As old man Yan and the other second stage Life Destruction Elder were enveloped in this killing intent, both of them felt extremely suppressed.
This made them that much more afraid to do anything.
Once they started a fight, then there would be no end to it. If they angered Lin Ming and provoked their own deaths, then that would truly be a miserable way to die.
Old man and the other middle-aged man looked at each other, both seeing the hesitation in the other’s eyes.
Old man Yan hesitated for a moment and then stepped forwards. He said to Lin Ming, “Brat, this old man will fight with you. Victory and defeat will be decided in three moves!
Old man Yan’s cultivation was at the second stage of Life Destruction. He couldn’t see just what the limits of Lin Ming’s strength were; he could only probe them through a fight. He would challenge him in advance to avoid shaming the both of them, and having the matter devolve further. At the very least, there shouldn’t be a life-threatening situation. Old man Yan also put out a limit of three moves because he was also lacking in self confidence. He thought that even if he wasn’t Lin Ming’s match, if he used everything he had in these three moves, then he should still be able to defend himself.
Old man Yan didn’t wait for Lin Ming’s reply. He drew out a soft sword from his spatial ring and cut at Lin Ming’s throat.
“Lotus Heart Sword!”
Old man Yan thrust his sword out, an extremely pure and rich wood-attribute energy constantly emitting from it. Without a doubt, this old man Yan was a wood-attribute martial artist. He also had understanding towards the Concept of Wood that was just taking shape.
The sword light wove into a blue lotus in front of Lin Ming, several dozen blue lotus flower petals spinning around, cutting towards him.
Everyone stared with wide eyes, waiting to see just what the limits of Lin Ming’s strength were. If his strength was similar to old man Yan’s then they wouldn’t need to care too much. They would only need another master or two to come in order to suppress Lin Ming. But, if Lin Ming’s strength far surpassed old man Yan’s, then there wasn’t anything they could do.
“Too weak.”
Lin Ming shook his head. After arriving at this level of cultivation, looking at the entire Sky Spill Continent, there was no longer a young genius anywhere that could stand on par with him. As for those masters of the older generation, none of them were able to make him take them seriously unless their cultivations were at least at the peak of the fourth stage of Life Destruction.
He gently traced his spatial ring and a long red spear leap into his hands. Without using any martial skill or even opening the Heretical God Force, all Lin Ming did was pour a wisp of his battle spirit into his long spear.
With that, a red light flashed out as a harsh grating sound surged forth.
Kacha!
The blue lotus that old man Yan formed was pierced through by Lin Ming’s spear. The lotus completely cracked and the sharp lotus petals turned into scattered wood-attribute energy that faded away.
“This is bad!”
Old man Yan was horrified. He didn’t think that after stepping up, his result would be the exact same as Heavencraft Feng’s. He thought that against this enemy, he should still be able to protect himself within three moves. But now he hadn’t even been able to block a single one!
“Young Hero, show mercy…!”
Old man Yan shouted out these words, but all he received was a cold sneer from Lin Ming. To ask for forgiveness at this time, this old man truly didn’t care for face. Lin Ming was well aware that this old man Yan was probing him. If old man Yan fought Lin Ming to an even standstill, then the other people would have swarmed him, suppressing him through superior numbers. Now, however, this old man Yan had been absolutely defeated by him and all he thought about was begging for forgiveness.
Shameless.
Lin Ming had also heard Xiaoxiao’s argument with this old man Yan. He knew that this old man was nothing but an ungrateful bastard. So, not only did he not forgive him, but his disgust and anger only increased by several points.
Lin Ming didn’t take old man Yan’s life, however. Instead, he deliberately manipulated his true essence to ravage the old man’s meridians, directly tearing all his meridians to pieces!
Old man Yan gave a miserable scream as he flew back dozens of feet, finally crashing into a table and vase, smashing them into bits.
Old man Yan had countless wounds on his body, and nearly all of his meridians and bones were broken. He didn’t even have the strength to move his limbs.
This sort of injury would be impossible to treat without top quality miracle medicines. And, even he did, his wounds would never recover to the same state they were before. Old man Yan wasn’t young anymore and the fires of his life were already simmering low. Even if he used the best medicines available his strength would still drop one or two realms.
“You….” Old man didn’t know just how miserable his current condition was. All he felt was anger and despair in his heart, and that him speaking this word was a result of the mental attack coming from such a heavy wound. Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.
As the other martial artists of Heavencraft Trading Company saw this, all of them began to feel fear. Even a second stage Life Destruction martial artist was not Lin Ming’s match!
Beside Lin Ming, Xiaoxiao was secretly pleased and overjoyed. While she didn’t wish to kill other members of the Heavencraft Family, she also couldn’t bear to see such a wolf that betrayed her father. She wished that all of those traitors martial arts would be wasted. Lin Ming’s actions had vented out some of the anger in her heart.
At this time, the other middle-aged man had an extremely ugly expression. It was just a match of three moves and yet Lin Ming had been so heavy handed in his actions. At this time, he wouldn’t do something so stupid as stir up any trouble with Lin Ming. As the weaker man, all he could do was endure this.
He depressed the angst in his heart and forcefully smiled, “Young Hero’s strength is astounding. May I ask where you come from?”
The middle-aged man asked this because he wanted to investigate Lin Ming’s status.
However, Lin Ming was disinclined to bother him to begin with. He certainly wouldn’t reveal his origin in the South Horizon Region, and there was definitely no need to say anything at all. It would be easy to see through any sort of fabricated identity.
Seeing Lin Ming failing to respond, the middle-aged man didn’t grow angry. Instead, he started speaking to Lin Ming with a true essence sound transmission.
As Heavencraft Xiaoxiao saw this event unfold, she felt her heart unconsciously tighten, and used a hand to tightly grab onto Lin Ming’s arm. She didn’t need to hear the conversation to guess just what was happening. Her great uncle must be asking why Lin Ming would bother helping her, and once the topic of dragonspine grass was to be brought about, her two great uncles might even be able beat her in obtaining the grass for Lin Ming.. They would be able to entice him with benefits that she couldn’t match.
After all, Lin Ming was only someone that she had coincidently met. It was possible he might be tempted by their offer. Once she lost Lin Ming’s backing, she would completely lose all status in the family.
“Not interested.”
Lin Ming suddenly said. The middle-aged man’s expression stiffened. As for Heavencraft Xiaoxiao, she let out a long breath of relief as the part of the tension left her body.
That was a close call.
The middle-aged man didn’t seem willing to accept this answer. He continued to speak, offering Lin Ming many other advantages. However, Lin Ming rejected him all the same.
“Young Hero, since that is the case, then I won’t stay here wasting your time. Let’s go.” The various youths around him picked up the injured and left.
Go?
You think you can just come when you want to, and leave when you want to?
Lin Ming glanced at Heavencraft Xiaoxiao, who revealed a hesitant look in return. However, she still let them leave. Although Lin Ming could completely exterminate each and every one of them here, she simply couldn’t handle the consequences. If she captured all of them, then she would still face pressure from her family, most likely leading her to free them under this pressure. That would be an embarrassing move that would make her lose face and supporters.
She was only in her early twenties, and had truly become an adult just several years ago. With her current foundation in the family, just how many people would be willing to support her?”
“Young Hero Lin, thank you.” Xiaoxiao said with heartfelt admiration after everyone left. “Young Hero Lin, after this matter is settled, not only will I find dragonspine grass for you, I will also pay you 20,000 spirit essence stones in thanks. Additionally, if you have any other materials you need in the future, then please feel free to ask. I will try as hard as I can to find and sell them to you at the lowest price possible.” Xiaoxiao increased her previous reward. She was afraid that Lin Ming would be won over by her great uncles.
As Lin Ming decided to step onto the road to being an alchemist, he naturally wouldn’t reject such great conditions from Xiaoxiao. Instead, he was concerned about whether or not Xiaoxiao would be able to obtain the position of Family Head if this farce continued.
Lin Ming said, “You only had me drive them out and they didn’t suffer any great loss. If this trend continues then you simply won’t be destined to become the Family Head.”
Xiaoxiao certainly knew this too. She said, “Young Hero Lin, my foundation is too shallow in the family, so it’s impossible for me to obtain trust among my family members. However, just awhile ago, I received news that my father’s good friend is headed here. He should be able to catch up to the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom in a dozen days or so. Once he arrives, I should be able to cement my status in the family. Then, once I can shore up the Heavencraft Trading Companies income, I’ll definitely be able to win the support of the Council of Elders.”
“Well, do what you want.”
Lin Ming didn’t have an opinion. Towards these power struggles in the family, there was no convincingly valuable advice that he could give.
……….
“Yan’er! Yan’er!”
Beside Xiaoxiao’s older cousin, Heavencraft Yan, was an extremely distressed middle-aged woman bawling at his bedside. There were several highly skilled medical martial artists that had just assessed Heavencraft Yan’s situation. His injuries were even heavier than old man Yan’s were, and not only were all his meridians torn apart, but even his dantian had completely collapsed. Moreover, these wounds may have even harmed the ability for him to leave behind any future descendants.
To Heavencraft Feng and his wife, this was an immense attack.
“That brat is too ruthless!’ Heavencraft Feng shouted in anger, “Let’s go ask that Sir to help. As long as he does help, he should be able to easily annihilate that brat!”
Heavencraft Feng’s injuries were the lightest of the three injured men. In the end, Lin Ming had showed mercy with the saber, only stabbing through Heavencraft Feng’s right lung. To a Life Destruction martial artist, as long as the heart, meridians, dantian, and spiritual sea weren’t damaged, then all other injuries could be quickly healed.
There was a middle-aged man sitting In front of Heavencraft Feng. The middle-aged man sneered and said, “Look for that Sir? Why not look for his highness the Crown Prince? Although the Crown Prince wishes to subordinate our Heavencraft Trading Company under his control, that is still our good fortune.”
“Compared to the Crown Prince’s plans, however, our Heavencraft Trading Company is only a minor chess piece. Since he handed this matter to us, this is the best chance to prove our ability and worth to him. If we can’t complete this task and have to go ask that Sir to help, then just what use are we?”