Chapter 876 – All Heroes Gathered
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The Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom was the most powerful of the four Divine Kingdoms, and thus their number of geniuses far outstripped that of the Asura Divine Kingdom. Although a talent on the level of Situ Yaoyue was once in a millennium to the Asura Divine Kingdom, in the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom she would have appeared every 300-400 years.
“Crown Prince Your Highness!”
Yang Mu and Qin Yu greeted Yang Yun, but there wasn’t much respect showing on their faces. Qin Yu was already a half-step Divine Sea master, and would become a Divine Sea Supreme Elder in just a few more years, enjoying similar treatment to a High Prince. She naturally didn’t need to bow to the Crown Prince.
As for Yang Mu, he was already 70 years old and had a seventh stage Life Destruction cultivation. In the future there was a chance he would become a top level character like the Nine Furnace Highest Divine Emperor, so he naturally wouldn’t respect someone like Yang Yun who was over 30 years younger than him. In fact, Yang Mu was very unwilling to accept that Yang Yun had inherited the position of Crown Prince. Yang Mu even had faint thoughts of replacing him.
“Elder Brother Mu, Fairy Qin.” Yang Yun faintly smiled as he greeted them. “Tomorrow, the four Divine Kingdoms will remove the blockade and officially enter the Temple of Marvels. This exploration might even reveal the secrets of the Sea of Miracles. It is of great significance. Moreover…”
As Yang Yun spoke to here, he took out a blue jade slip, “My Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom was the first to bring back information about the Temple of Marvels from our probe. As for the Seven Star Divine Kingdom and the Asura Divine Kingdom, all of the puppets and slaves they sent in died, so they have no information. As for the explorer from the Sublime Smelting Divine Kingdom, he didn’t dare to go too deep into the Temple of Marvels, so their information isn’t as detailed as ours! Take a look. This information came at a significant cost, so make sure you keep it absolutely secret.”
As Yang Yun spoke, he tossed the blue jade slip towards Yang Mu and Qin Yu.
After the two looked through it, their expressions changed. Yang Mu’s eyes lit up. “The Temple of Marvels is related to the secrets of the ancient times’ martial artists that ascended?”
“It’s our speculation.” Yang Yun calmly nodded.
The so-called ancient times referred to the period of time 100,000 years ago. That was when the Sky Spill Continent’s martial arts civilization was at its most glorious and prosperous era. Compared to the current times, it seemed as if they were two completely separate worlds.
According to the legends, 100,000 years ago, when a martial artist reached the middle Divine Sea realm, they would have a reasonable chance of ascending into the Divine Realm. As for those unrivalled talents with strength that far surpassed martial artists of their level, they could break through the martial void at the early Divine Sea realm or even eighth stage Life Destruction realm and ascend upwards.
But in the last 100,000 years, there were far too few martial artists that were able to ascend to the Divine Realm. There were only the few widely known and extremely rare martial artists like Emperor Shakya and the Demon Emperor that were known to have ascended. As for some others that were said to have ascended, no one knew if they had succeeded or died in the process.
Moreover, it was a complete riddle just how these people had ascended. It seemed as if once they reached a certain amount of strength, they had formed a phenomenon of the heavens and earth and simply vanished.
Even top level characters like the Sublime Smelting Imperial Grand Uncle and the Nine Furnace Highest Divine Emperor had no idea how to ascend upwards.
After flying into the Divine Realm, there were advantages as well as disadvantages. In the Sky Spill Continent, characters like the Nine Furnace Highest Divine Emperor could be said to control the world in their palms with no one daring to slight them. But once they reached the Divine Realm, they would actually be more miniscule then a nameless peon. If they tried to explore a mystic realm, they would easily die four or five times if someone tried to slap them to death.
Even so, there were many masters that wished to ascend, especially the juniors. Those that were able to reach the Divine Sea could be said to have a devoted heart towards their road of martial arts; it was difficult for them to be tempted by any of the pleasures of the world. To them, only further martial arts breakthroughs would bring them joy and fulfill their obsessions.
The Sky Spill Continent was too limited. Not to mention the resources, but the environment and inheritances there were simply a blank slate. In the Sky Spill Continent, for the inheritances of Concepts and Laws to reach the second or third boundary, that was already first class. As for the seven or eight boundaries behind that, no one in the Sky Spill Continent had even heard of them before.
This sort of martial arts inheritance was accumulated over hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, through the combined effort of countless martial artists. No matter how talented one was, it was impossible for a single person to accomplish all of this.
To stay in the Sky Spill Continent meant that one would be destined to have no luck in reaching a realm above the Divine Sea and also be limited to 10,000 years of life. All of the juniors to have reached this stage were chosen prides of heaven, and all of them were ambitious individuals. Just who was willing to watch the thousands of years pass them by before they slowly turned into bones?
Taking a step back, even if they didn’t manage to accomplish anything in the Divine Realm, it seemed that there was a way to re-enter the lower realms. Although they needed to pay some price, there was hope.
As Yang Mu and Qin Yu thought of this, both of them appeared excited and looked forwards to this jaunt into the Temple of Marvels more and more. This would relate to both of their future achievements.
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After Lin Ming arrived at Port State, he saw Old Man Good Fortune sitting near a table in a courtyard, his appearance still otherworldly and wizened as it had always been. His green ox was grazing underneath a tree. Looking at this scene, it was impossible to imagine that he might be the current top master of the entire Sky Spill Continent.
“Greetings to Senior Good Fortune!”
“Little Friend Lin does not need to be so courteous. During this trip into the Temple of Marvels, I fear that those old fellows Yang Laotian and Ouye Hua will also come. Although old me has confidence to defeat them one on one, if the two of them joined forces then I would definitely lose! Moreover, besides those two fellows, there will also be many masters that have stayed hidden so far, with early and middle Divine Sea martial artists everywhere. The younger generation, including you, should only enter to gain experience. Make sure that you take your own safety as your top priority.”
Old Man Good said in a gentle tone as he sat on a stone stool, his hands leaning on his peach walking stick. The Yang Laotian he referred to was the Nine Furnace Highest Divine Emperor, and Ouye Hua was the Sublime Smelting Imperial Grand Uncle. Both of them were characters that had lived for 5000-6000 years and were unfathomable.
It had already been thousands of years since Old Man Good Fortune fought with Yang Laotian. It was impossible to determine just how strong he had become since then.
“This junior understands.”
Lin Ming nodded. The truth was that while one of the reason he came to the Temple of Marvels was to seek lucky chances, that wasn’t the most important reason. The reason that he would take the risk and journey into the Temple of Marvels was also because he wished to investigate the secret of the Sea of Miracles and the Eternal Demon Abyss. He faintly felt that it was related to the fall of the Sky Spill Continent’s martial arts world 100,000 years ago. He wanted to know just who that Great Emperor was that had left the heart that still kept beating after 100,000 years, and just what the identity of that peerless goddess was.
It was impossible for him to guess what realm that unrivalled Great Emperor was at. But in terms of life alone, a late Divine Sea martial artist could live for 10,000 years.
Taking a step further, at the next great boundary, it stood to reason that one could live for tens of thousands of years.
As for the boundary after that, that should be 100,000 years of life. And as for that unrivalled Great Emperor who had left his heart in the Eternal Demon Abyss, his heart still kept beating after 100,000 years. Moreover, it was filled with rushing blood vitality, every beat being able to move the heavens and earth. If so, just how long was he able to live for? It was simply unimaginable!
Lin Ming had inherited the memories of many Divine Realm powerhouses. Although they were all incomplete memories, he could still approximate just what status that unrivalled Great Emperor had within the Divine Realm. He was definitely a peak, top level character, in no way inferior to the legendary World Kings!
To such a singular and unsurpassed hero, Lin Ming was filled with curiosity and respect towards his majesty and life story.
On the next day, the skies above the 8000 Mile Black Swamp welcomed a crowd of the Sky Spill Continent’s peak powerhouses. The four Divine Kingdoms, Holy Lands, and various hidden masters around the world did not want to miss such a rare opportunity.
There was no need to mention why the young Divine Sea powerhouses came; as long as they could come across some lucky chance, they could walk further down their martial path. As for the older Divine Sea powerhouses, they didn’t have much hope for making further progress, but since their lives were already coming to an end, they might as well take this battle to the death and hope that they could bump into some amazing luck.
In addition, the various heroic young elites of the Divine Kingdoms and Holy Lands had come. They had come here mainly under the shelter of their Elders in order to see the world and open their minds.
For a time, hundreds of Saint Beast mounts, shining gold divine carriages, and jade spirit boats hundreds of feet long appeared in the skies, overflowing with divine light. This truly seemed like an auspicious sign!
Against such a big ruckus, the startled and scared vicious beasts of the 8000 Mile Black Swamp didn’t dare to appear.
However, these vicious beasts were only the ordinary vicious beasts. If the truly terrifying phenomena of the 8000 Mile Black Swamp appeared, then even these great figures would have to make way. For instance, the Yellow Springs River or an ancient beast on the level of the sea serpent dragon.
Thus, even as these great figures seemed proud and haughty, they were in fact spreading their perception in all directions. As long as some type of phenomenon occurred that they weren’t able to contend with, then they would be able to dodge ahead of time. Otherwise, if this strongest lineup of the entire Sky Spill Continent suffered serious losses before they could even reach the entrance to the Temple of Marvels, that would truly be a joke.
All the powerhouses were divided into five different waves. The first four waves were made up of the four Divine Kingdoms and the sects and family clans that followed them.
The last wave was comprised of the lone sects and scattered martial artists. This wave was the smallest and the weakest, with only a few dozen people there. The younger generation of this wave was even more sad; they were simply unable to compare with the four Divine Kingdoms.
“Mm? Old Man Good Fortune!” It wasn’t known which martial artist suddenly shouted this, but as everyone followed his gaze they could see the white-robed Old Man Good Fortune riding a green ox as they floated on a cloud. And behind him was a handsome young man who didn’t even seem like a martial artist, but rather an elegant scholar.
“Old Man Good Fortune! Lin Lanjian!”
Before now, those present didn’t know if these two would come. Even Yang Yun and Ouye Qingfeng weren’t sure.
As these two arrived, even Divine Sea Supreme Elders felt fear in their hearts. Old Man Good Fortune’s fame was too great!
As for Lin Ming, there was no need to mention him. He was an existence that absolutely could not be provoked. One only had to take a look at the Asura Divine Kingdom’s current fate to see what the outcome would be, and this was only the time when Lin Ming hadn’t yet grown. No one knew just what heights he would reach in ten years.
“Old Man Good Fortune, I didn’t think you would really come! You really have appeared too much this past while!” An old voice suddenly sounded out. On the side of the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom, an old man in a purple gold imperial robe suddenly stood up from a golden divine carriage. He was the Nine Furnace Divine Kingdom’s Highest Divine Emperor, Yang Laotian.
Even Yang Laotian didn’t know Old Man Good Fortune’s real name. They only knew the moniker that he went by.
Old Man Good Fortune showed a smile that didn’t seem as if it would change in 10,000 years. “Old me has just finished 800 years of seclusion, so I’ve been feeling a bit restless and wanted to come out and catch some fresh air. Brother Laotian should feel relieved. Old me only wishes to come to this Temple of Marvels to take a look, I’ll make sure I don’t bother Brother Laotian’s little treasure hunt.”
Seclusion for 800 years!?
There was a collective gasp from the surroundings. Many of the young martial artists present weren’t even 80 years old yet. It was nearly impossible for them to imagine closing up for 800 years in one go!
Lin Ming thought this was hilarious. What these people didn’t know was that while Old Man Good Fortune said he had gone into seclusion for 800 years, the truth was that it was only 80 years. He had slowed down the flow of time within his seclusion by ten times, thus 80 years there was equal to 800 years outside.