Chapter 793 – Sky High Reward
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Three days later, a loud explosion rang out as the stone bed Lin Ming sat on completely collapsed underneath him. All of the top grade true essence stones in the chamber disintegrated, turning into fine powder.
Lin Ming stood up from the heap of rubble and casually dusted his hands and feet. His limbs emitted a crackling ‘ka ka ka’ noise and sounded as if tofu was currently being fried.
He had finally opened the Gate of Wonder!
The Gate of Wonder had the effect of an overall increase in speed and instant acceleration. This differed from the Gate of Healing, which managed endurance and restorative ability, and the Gate of Limit, which handled balance, coordinated strength, and explosive force.
This newly opened gate would be able to increase one’s combat effectiveness far more directly than the first two gates.
Speed was one of the most important factors of a martial artist’s comprehensive combat strength. It was far more straightforward than endurance, recovery ability, or explosive force!
Speed was undoubtedly important in evading and chasing. It would also greatly increase a martial artist’s attack strength.
As the old saying went, speed was insurmountable. A martial artist’s own speed could superimpose on the speed of their own attacks. If their attacks were fast enough, then even a tiny stone rock could easily pierce through the body. If Lin Ming poured his battle spirit into his attacks as the foundation, then the resulting power would be even more terrifying.
Lin Ming left the cave, sealing the entrance on his way out. He then jumped into the sky.
Bang!
The rocks underneath his feet shattered into bits and pieces as he ascended up into the air like a rocket. In an instant, he became an azure beam of light that shot across the endless sky, traversing several miles in the blink of an eye.
Strong heavenly winds bombarded him, sending his hair erratically dancing in the wind. As he felt himself reaching such extreme speeds, Lin Ming was elated beyond measure; the extreme velocity of the Gate of Wonder completely surpassing his imagination. If he was already this fast by only relying on his true essence and the Gate of Wonder, then how fast would he be if he also used his movement technique?
As the thought crossed his mind, Lin Ming stepped upon ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’. His steps became blurry as the space shrank beneath his feet. In a single step, he crossed five or six miles, as the grand mountains that rose thousands of feet into the air were easily crossed over by Lin Ming.
When the Gate of Wonder was combined with ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’, Lin Ming’s speed limit was several times faster than it was before. This speed was so fast even difficult for him to control.
“If I attack in this state…”
Lin Ming’s mind stirred. The red spear appeared in his hands as both the Concepts of Thunder and Fire wove together while he poured his large success bronze battle spirit into his attack.
Penetrating Rainbow!
Woosh!
A brilliant spear light flashed across the skies like a ray of sunlight. Lin Ming had completely fused himself into this light, becoming one with his spear. He then disappeared like a meteor crossing the horizon.
When he reappeared, Lin Ming had already travelled a dozen miles in the void. He came across a massive canyon and thrust his spear into the 10,000 foot high cliffs.
Bang!
Lin Ming pierced the cliffside like tofu, penetrating all the way until he poked out from the other side!
Lin Ming’s spear move was founded on the limits of his speed, along with the dual Concepts of Thunder and Fire, and the keenness of his battle spirit. With such a combination, even the cliff side that had been strengthened by a baptism of being near the Sea of Miracles had been pierced through by Lin Ming’s spear.
Rustle…
After Lin Ming soared out from the hole several feet wide that he had left in the middle of the mountain cliff, a great puff of stone powder plumed from within. Underneath the Concept of Fire’s Law of Annihilation, the crushed stones turned into dust, blowing and dancing into the wind. For a while, the entire cliff canyon was covered in a faint hazy dust cloud.
“My strength has increased yet again after opening the third of the Eight Inner Hidden Gates. If I were to encounter Corpsemancer now, I should be able to defeat him far more easily than in the past!”
As Lin Ming thought this, he flew away from the barren and desolate land that he was currently at and towards the city.
He needed to enter the city to purchase a few heavenly materials in order to continuous practicing and perfecting his alchemy technique. Lin Ming also had to begin making the final preparations to impact the Life Destruction realm.
However, as he thought of purchasing heavenly materials, Lin Ming suddenly thought of a very depressing and dispiriting matter. That was….he didn’t have any spirit essence stones.
Lin Ming had many treasures on him, such as the Cosmic Melting Furnace, his Demon Emperor Armor, the heaven-step Demon God Bone, and the Concept jade slip that Fairy Feng had left to him. However, it was impossible for him to exchange any of those things for spirit essence stones. None of his other remaining possessions were too valuable either.
When Lin Ming killed Xuan Wuji and the Polar Skysplit Tower master, he had managed to accumulate a good deal of wealth. Relative to his current level, however, all of that wealth was close to nothing at all. Besides, he had already spent most of it anyways.
Now, besides a few heaven-strep treasures left on him, all of his other belongings combined wouldn’t even surpass 5000 spirit essence stones.
That was roughly equal to the net worth of an ordinary second stage Life Destruction powerhouse from the four Divine Kingdoms.
All of the spirit essence stones that he once had were completely used up while practicing alchemy without a single return.
Lin Ming considered relying on his alchemy technique to make money, but then decided that it would simply waste too much time. The only reason that he had managed to concoct the Fivefade Void Pill in less than half a year was because he had practiced without caution or care of burning through any of his materials. Only by freely spending all sorts of precious and materials in his practice had he been able to forcefully raise his skill at alchemy.
This sort of practice method would only burn money; it was impossible for him to ever make money.
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Skyflower Province, Blue Cloud City –
Skyflower Province was the smallest of the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom’s nine provinces. However, its prosperity and success was second to only the Central Province. All of the major forces had gathered here within the Skyflower Province’s capital, Blue Cloud City, which was also the headquarters of the Hundred Treasures Auction House. In every square, there were countless treasure pavilions and medicinal pill shops. This city could even be called as being paved with gold.
The majority of the young martial artists strolling down the streets were all outstanding individuals. There were many of them that had reached the Xiantian realm at 20 some years of age and the Revolving Core realm by 30 some years of age.
If this were the South Horizon Region, these individuals could all be called the direct disciples of a large sect.
At the very center of Blue Cloud City was a crowded and bustling restaurant with people flowing in and out. Because this restaurant was close to a large auction house, most of the customers here were martial artists.
Lin Ming wore his wood spirit jade mask and casually sat in a corner of the restaurant as he ordered a few small dishes of various vicious beast meats and spirit vegetables. He lifted the corner of his wood spirit mask and ate at a moderate pace.
At this time, a conversation that several martial artists were having suddenly caught his attention.
“Have you heard of that uproarious news that came out about Lin Lanjian a few days ago?” A 30-40 year old man with a cherry red face said as he took big gulps of wine.
“Who doesn’t know him? With his late Revolving Core cultivation, he was able to kill Corpsemancer and rank on the Destiny Decree. He was named an eternally rare talent!” A big fellow’s words immediately attracted a laugh from all the martial artists around him. He looked back at the drinking man and said, “Are you a foreigner here?”
“Hehe, that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the most recent news to come out.” The drinking man cleared his throat, gathering everyone’s attention to him. Then, with an air of self-importance he said, “Lin Lanjian’s cultivation method was confirmed to have been stolen from the Asura Divine Kingdom. Additionally, the armor he wore is a sacred treasure of the Asura Divine Kingdom. They had thought that it was lost a long time ago, but it had actually fallen into Lin Lanjian’s hands!”
“What!? Lin Lanjian stole his cultivation method from the Asura Divine Kingdom? Are you sure of this?” The surrounding martial artists were shocked. This was a major event. Whether it was a sect or a Divine Kingdom, their most important treasures were their inheritances. Once these inheritances were leaked to the outside world, then this would cause their very foundation to shake!
This was a matter that any Holy Land or Divine Kingdom would absolutely never tolerate. Thus, to any person that stole their cultivation, there was only a single judgment for them.
That was – death!
“This is absolutely true. It’s said that Lin Lanjian or his master killed some important person from the Asura Divine Kingdom and stole away their spatial ring. This spatial ring contained the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ jade slip!”
“So it’s like that!”
All the surrounding martial artists seemed to believe this, even if just a little. Since the Asura Divine Kingdom said that Lin Lanjian’s cultivation method was stolen from them, then there must be some similarities between Lin Lanjian’s cultivation method and their own. It was impossible for them to make up stories about this sort of matter. Otherwise, if Lin Lanjian’s cultivation method was completely different from the Asura Divine Kingdom’s ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’, then these rumors would collapse in on themselves after being proven false.
The ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ was a secret inheritance of the Asura Divine Kingdom. No matter how powerful Lin Lanjian or his master was, it would be impossible for them to break into the vaults of the Asura Divine Kingdom and steal away their inheritance. Thus, the only other explanation was that they killed a direct descendent of the Asura Divine Kingdom and then obtained a jade slip of the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’.
Although many martial artists also wanted to do this, this was simply a disgraceful and shameful matter once exposed. Now, all of the present martial artists felt that there was something questionable about Lin Lanjian’s morals. It was likely that he was a corrupt and underhanded individual.
In fact, the majority of martial artists believed this. At least, most of those in this restaurant believed this.
“What’s the deal with that armor that Lin Lanjian wears?” Another martial artist continued to ask.
“That is the Demon Emperor Armor. The Asura Divine Kingdom already has the Demon Emperor Armor’s heartguard mirror, which happens to completely match with Lin Lanjian’s armor! The armor has already been lost for countless years by now, and to think that it actually appeared with Lin Lanjian! There’s definitely some problem with this Lin Lanjian!”
All of the martial artist’s discussion fell into Lin Ming’s ears. He calmly listened the entire time as he slowly ate his food. The Asura Divine Kingdom’s actions were far more shameless than he had imagined they would be. They had released such rumors in order to galvanize more people into looking for him. Another reason for such rumors was to make up some self-righteous reason to take away his belongings.
The general public was much more likely to believe a Divine Kingdom with a ‘long and glorious inheritance’ than they were to believe a lone and unknown martial artist like Lin Ming. After all, the idea that the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ and the ‘Demon Emperor Armor’ belonged to the Asura Divine Kingdom had already deeply rooted itself into the hearts of the people.
“It looks like the Asura Divine Kingdom has already set their eyes on me. They should have posted some bounty on my head.”
Lin Ming sarcastically smiled as he downed a glass of wine.
The words of the surrounding martial artists indeed confirmed Lin Ming’s suspicious.
“The Asura Divine Kingdom would never tolerate for something like this to continue. That Lin Lanjian is really in for it this time.”
“Of course. The warrant for his arrest had already been sent out; it should be posted any time now. It is said that the Asura Divine Kingdom will reward 100,000 spirit essence stones for anyone that can give them clues to Lin Lanjian’s whereabouts. If one can capture Lin Lanjian alive, then they will give them a sky high reward of 300,000 spirit essence stones, top quality pills, and even a peak medium-grade heaven-step treasure!”
The big fellow’s words sent the hearts of all the martial artists present rapidly fluttering. While it was naturally impossible for them to even think about capturing Lin Lanjian alive, there was a small possibility of providing a clue.
100,000 spirit essence stones! This was an unimaginable amount. It had to be known that a slightly less influential Prince, whose cultivation had yet to reach Life Destruction, would only have a total wealth of 40,000-50,000 spirit essence stones.
If they could obtain this amount of wealth, then they could buy up any amount of pills to boost their cultivation. If they lucked out and managed to break through to the second or third stage of Life Destruction, then they could even enjoy at least two thousand years of life.