Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)

After Lin Dong’s deep voice sounded, a warm light shot out from within his body. After which, it transformed into the Ancestor Stone, which was suspended in midair. Yan’s figure also rose from the surface of the stone.

“Have you made up your mind?” Yan looked at Lin Dong, who was seated on a stone platform, before he asked.

“Can I still back down now?” Lin Dong laughed. However, there was not a trace of fear within his smile. Over the years, he had experienced all kinds of danger. If he had chosen to back down, it was likely that he would not be qualified to reach where he was today.

With a look of admiration, Yan nodded. Then, he waved his sleeve before many rays of light shot out from within. Finally, the light rays scattered across the cave, before many Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers appeared. Although those flowers were still sealed, as a large number of them had appeared simultaneously, it caused a dark scent to linger over the place, sending a shiver down one’s spine.

“There are a total of eighty-four Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers here. You should know how powerful these creatures are. With so many of them gathered together, the hallucination formed by them can even trap a peak Samsara stage expert until he dies.” There was a rarely seen solemn glint appearing in his eyes.

“Understood.”

Lin Dong nodded. Back then, just three Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers alone could trap the tribe leader of the Celestial Demon Marten tribe. Hence, he clearly knew just how frightening these creatures were.

“I will use the strength of the Ancestor Stone to purify the demonic nature of the Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers. After which, I will use their strength to construct ‘Purgatory’.”

“Purgatory?”

Lin Dong’s heart tensed when he heard that name.

“That is a place specifically used to train one’s Mental Energy. It was created by my owner in the past. Unfortunately, the ‘Purgatory’ that he created has already vanished. Hence, I will need to borrow the strength of the Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers in order to recreate it.”

“If you can pass the trial within ‘Purgatory’, you should be able to reach the Symbol Grandmaster level.”

“What are the passing requirements?” Lin Dong frowned.

“I do not know.” Yan spread his hands and said in a faint voice, “You will have to look for the answers yourself.”

Lin Dong was speechless.

“Moreover, I can only rely on the strength of the Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers to construct ‘Purgatory’, but I cannot enter it. Once you are inside, you will undergo an extremely painful and bitter training. Moreover, you will be completely isolated from the outside world and even I cannot assist you.”

“In that place, the only person you can rely on is yourself.”

Yan stared intently at Lin Dong, before he said in a low and deep voice, “Do not think that the dreamworld is merely an illusion. If you are unable to clear ‘Purgatory’, you will be stuck there forever until your Mental Energy body is completely shrivelled up. After which, you shall also vanish from this world.”

“Do you still wish to continue?”

Lin Dong clenched his fist tightly. He gently but firmly nodded.

“Haha, very well.”

Yan gave a satisfied smile. Without further ado, he pressed his finger on the empty air. Following which, the many glowing symbols on the Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers gradually disappeared. After the symbols completely disappeared, the air within the entire cave seemed to have solidified.

Buzz buzz!

An unusual sound was stealthily emitted. After which, just like a devil that was set loose, Lin Dong saw waves of dense black hallucation fragrance crazily gushing forth before they whistled across the cave.

As there were far too many Eternal Illusion Demon Flowers here, the density of the hallucination fragrance was as thick as ink. Hence, if a Samsara stage expert was to barge in now, the potent scent would definitely end up killing him.

Warm white light shone on Lin Dong’s body, isolating the hallucination fragrance, which was now as thick as ink. Meanwhile, Yan stood three feet away from him and no hallucination fragrance was present around him.

“The hallucination fragrance will begin to invade your body soon. The light around you will purify the demonic aura within. However, you will still fall into a hallucination and everything else will depend on you.” Yan said in a grave voice.

“Aye.”

Lin Dong nodded slowly. He inhaled a deep breath of air and slowly calmed the ripples stirred within his heart. Following which, he saw that the warm light barrier surrounding him was gradually turning dim.

Immediately, the surrounding black ink-like hallucination fragrance gushed towards him, just like a menacing devil that had just climbed up from the depths of hell.

“Come … Let me see just how powerful you are.”

Lin Dong slowly shut his eyes. There was an excited and heated expression flashing across his face as he did so.

Finally, the black hallucination fragrance gushed into the light barrier and swarmed Lin Dong’s entire body. All sound instantly vanished.

Standing beside him, Yan stood by quietly as he stared at Lin Dong, who had sank into silence. Then, he released a deep breath and muttered to himself, “Now, it’s truly all up to you…”

　　……

Soon after the black hallucination fragrance drowned Lin Dong, the latter began to feel his mind descending into darkness. The darkness was devoid of sound and it was a long while later, before the darkness gradually disappeared. After which, glaring sunlight poured down from the sky, causing Lin Dong’s eyes to narrow involuntarily.

Lin Dong’s hand touched the ground and grabbed it, catching hold of some extremely hot sand. He narrowed his eyes and observed his surroundings. Everything was yellowish and there were hardly any additional colours.

Heat rose within this place and it appeared just like a boiling furnace. Meanwhile, he was just like a grasshopper within a furnace.

It appeared to be a desert.

“Is this Purgatory?”

Lin Dong knitted his brow and stood up. Then, he gently patted the hot sand in his hands before he instinctively began to activate the Yuan Power in his body. However, his body quickly stiffened. That was because he realized that the Yuan Power within his body had disappeared.

“I can’t even use Yuan Power…”

Lin Dong frowned. He probed his current body and realized that he did not have anything now. He neither had his powerful Yuan Power, nor his formidable physical body, nor his overflowing Mental Energy. The only thing that he had, was this extremely weak body, which was what he had when he first started training at Qingyang Town...

Lin Dong was speechless as he lifted his head. The bright sun in the sky was just like a blazing flame and the heat caused his entire body to feel boiling hot. Meanwhile, the sand under his feet also gradually caused his feet to experience piercing pain. With his weakened body, how long could he last in a place like this?

“My current body should have been forged from my Mental Energy. However… isn’t it a little too weak? Additionally, isn’t this Purgatory far too quiet?” Lin Dong lifted his head to look into the distance, before his expression quickly changed. That was because he saw a huge tornado rolling over from afar, while being accompanied by monstrous yellow sand.

“It came so quickly.”

Lin Dong involuntarily cursed upon seeing this. Immediately, he took off running. After all, he knew that with his current body, he would be ripped into pieces if he was caught by that storm.

However, it seems like that storm was actually chasing after him. Hence, his attempt at fleeing was in vain. Instead, he had only ran for a short distance, before the storm, which was accompanied by hot lava-like sand, violently lashed against his body like a whip.

Bang!

A low and deep sound appeared before Lin Dong was sent flying. A terrible pain began to radiate from his shoulder. He turned around and took a look. Blood was currently flowing on his back. Meanwhile, there was a hideous wound that stretched from his shoulder all the way until his waist.

“That really hurts.”

Lin Dong’s body trembled. That terrible pain was even more intense than actual physical pain. In fact, it seemed as though that sand whip had forcefully ripped his body into two.

Big droplets of perspiration dripped from Lin Dong’s forehead. After which, he lifted his head. His eyes shrunk immediately when he saw that the storm was about to hit him again. Meanwhile, there were over a dozen large sand whips dancing within the storm before they crazily lashed at him.

Lin Dong rolled away in a miserable fashion. Two sand whips violently lashed against the ground, causing it to tremble as a result.

Bang bang bang!

However, with the dexterity of his current body, it was clear that Lin Dong could not dodge all the attacks. In the next instant, a couple of sand whips violently lashed against his body.

Bam!

Lin Dong’s body was directly knocked onto the sand by those ferocious whips. In fact, half of his body was covered with blood. Meanwhile, that indescribable intense pain immediately caused a blood red tinge to surge into his eyes.

He finally understood why this place was called “Purgatory”. That was because this place was truly going to whip one to death!

Bang bang bang!

That raging storm did not give Lin Dong any time to think. It raged before many sand whips swung violently. After which, they landed on his bloodied body, which had already sunk into the sand.

Bam bam bam bam!

The clear sound of sand whips landing on Lin Dong’s body continued to reverberate across the desert. Initially, the human figure stuck in the sand would still struggle. However, he ceased moving after awhile and it was as though he had lost all vitality.

The raging storm continued for half a day before it gradually faded. Two hours after it left, a blood covered hand finally extended from the sand while it trembled. Then, a bloodied blurry figure climbed out from the ground with great difficulty.

Woosh woosh.

Lin Dong’s vision was blurry. He continuously panted while a trace of fear continued to linger on his blood covered face. He finally understood just how terrifying “Purgatory” was.

Moreover, he was also well aware that even though this was merely a hallucination, if he lost consciousness in this dreamland, it was likely that he would die…

Lin Dong laid on the sand. He could sense that the intense pain on his body was diminishing a little at a time. Moreover, his weakened body seemed to have became a little stronger as the pain dissipated.

This discovery caused Lin Dong to feel a slight joy in his heart. In that case, after he rested for awhile longer, it was likely going to be easier for him to endure that lashing.

“Huh?”

This thought had just flashed across Lin Dong’s mind, when he suddenly realized that his surrounding temperature had gone down. After which, he slowly lifted his head. Then, he could see that the cold wind in midair had actually transformed into numerous sharp wind blades, which covered the sky.

“No way…”

Lin Dong, who was still in pain, shuddered violently upon seeing this scene.

“Woosh woosh!”

However, reality did not provide Lin Dong with any chances. His voice had just sounded, when the wind blades came raining down from all directions, completely burying Lin Dong in the process.

Sharp and miserable cries once again sounded.