Martial World (Web Novel)

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Lin Ming could not understand. Was it possible that sometime today, someone had tried to ambush him with some secret, arcane ability that was blocked by the blood symbol, and thus the blood symbol disappeared?

That should be impossible. If someone really did have such profound abilities, and they could cause the blood symbol to disappear in a situation without him knowing, then it would have to be someone that was at least of the Xiantian stage. But that kind of person could simply kill him with a flick of their finger, and those major characters weren’t people that Zhu Yan or the Tenth Prince could possibly hope to request.

Lin Ming really couldn’t understand what was going on. Instead, he decided to put away the flexible armor, and then go to bed.

That night, perhaps because of the overconsumption of his soul force and true essence, Lin Ming slept very soundly.

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He blurrily stumbled in an endless realm of jet black space that was incomparably vast. It was as if he was floating in the dark, starry night within the infinite cosmos. Countless fluttering transparent ghosts floated around him, and in these transparent ghosts were countless points of light, as if they were mirrors shining back on him. The points of light varied in size, from smaller than a grain of sand to spheres the size of his palm. They followed a strangely mysterious pattern of movement. At the center of all these bright lights was a orb of luminescent light, a foot in diameter. This orb of light emitted a dim, creamy white halo, which gave off a very warm and soft feeling.

This was… the space within the Magic Cube!

Lin Ming was surprised beyond measure! How did he arrive back at the Magic Cube?

After the first time that he had entered the Magic Cube, the Magic Cube had entered into his body and hidden there. He had been unable to summon it or even touch it again, so why was he suddenly able to enter into it today?

Although this was a dream, after realizing that this was the space within the Magic Cube, Lin Ming’s consciousness instantly sobered, but he was still unable to retreat from the space of the Magic Cube.

Of course, Lin Ming was not prepared to leave now. His gaze fell on the soul fragments that shined like liquid stars. He looked at them with some excitement, and even more solemnity.

At first, it was a soul fragment that had brought him so many opportunities. Had it not been for that soul fragment, then even if he had comprehended an ethereal martial intent, then he would have at most stopped at the Houtian stage, and would have been unable to progress to the Xiantian stage.

Without a doubt, these soul fragments contained an inexhaustible supply of buried legendary treasures. But, they also contained a hidden murderous intent. If he was not careful, then Lin Ming’s consciousness would be swallowed by the soul fragment, and he would forever be beyond redemption.

“Was every soul fragment an ownerless soul? Could there be certain fragments that still contained a spirit mark that hadn’t been erased yet?”

A human’s soul was composed of two parts. One was its memory, and the other was a spirit mark. If the spirit mark was erased, then only the memory would be left over and it would be an ownerless soul. An ownerless soul only had instinct, and didn’t have intelligence.

If the spirit mark was not erased, then the soul fragment would have its own independent consciousness. If he swallowed this kind of soul fragment, then Lin Ming simply had no way to deal with a soul fragment that had a spiritual mark. Even if he managed to suppress it, it might even cause him to have a split personality and be constantly disoriented.

Lin Ming stood among the vast, starry black space for a long time. He was not in a hurry to do anything. He skeptically stared at the palm-sized, shining light fragments, not daring to go near them. As for that large ball of light that was dead center in the middle of all the other light fragments, Lin Ming definitely avoided it. He very much suspected that the large orb of light he saw was formed from that mysterious woman that he saw in the dreamland.

Mm? This is…

As Lin Ming gazed at that large ball of light, he suddenly discovered that there was something unusual about it. On the ball of light suddenly appeared a faint blush, as if it was colored with blood.

Blood?

This sudden idea turned Lin Ming’s mind cold. The blood symbol on the Purple Gold Flexible Armor was also formed by blood. He remembered that when he had worn the flexible armor, the location of where the Magic Cube was sleeping, hidden within him, was over his heart, which was probably the same position as that blood symbol had been!

Was it possible that…

Was the flexible armor’s blood symbol absorbed by the Magic Cube?

The Magic Cube had absorbed the blood essence of a peak Houtian master that had been in the flexible armor?

This sudden dawning caused Lin Ming to feel incredulity.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this absorption of blood that he was able to enter into the space of the Magic Cube once again.

The Magic Cube was able to absorb blood essence?

The discovery made Lin Ming happy and worried at the same time. He was happy because he had discovered some secrets of the Magic Cube. What he worried about was, this secret gave him an ominous and evil feeling. This Magic Cube was obviously not some friendly object.

But anyway, now that he was back in the Magic Cube again, this was a prime opportunity!

Of course, this also meant danger.

Lin Ming stood in the Magic Cube’s ocean of star space for a long time. Which one these soul fragments should he choose?

With so many soul fragments, casually selecting one would just be testing exactly how much luck he had. If he obtained one that was useless, then it would have all been in vain.

Lin Ming watched one soul fragment after another, but he was unable to see what was inside. These countless soul shards were like tens of thousands of jade stones. Some of these jade stones might have the purest quality white jade, and some might have nothing at all. And in some, there might even be a devil lurking inside.

“This soul fragment is too bright, it’s too similar to the stars, I shouldn’t touch it.”

“This one is too small, it’s even tinier than a grain of rice. The first time I was here I chose a soul fragment around this size, but now that my strength has improved, I should be able to choose a larger one… but just how much larger?”

“Why is this red? This gives off a very demonic and evil feeling, as it was stained with blood. It seems full of evil spirits and dark influences. Perhaps this soul fragment’s master… I’m afraid that before his death he was most likely a murderous devil that slaughtered countless people. This type of person has too deep an obsession; I shouldn’t touch this one…”

“Mmm? There’s also a golden red color? What sort of principles would make a soul fragment a golden red color…?”

Facing such an important choice, even the normally resolute Lin Ming became indecisive.

“If I had to choose one then…” Lin Ming finally locked his eyes on a mung bean-sized soul fragment. This soul fragment wasn’t too bright, and it also wasn’t too large or small.

He cautiously approached this soul fragment, and carefully made sure to avoid contact with any other soul fragments. As he approached, Lin Ming suddenly wondered what would happen if he probed the soul fragment with his soul force.

With that in mind, Lin Ming attempted to revolve the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’ and use his soul force to sense the soul fragment.

A martial artist’s soul force and spirit mark were connected. If misused, it would be vulnerable to attack. If a soul was damaged, then it was very difficult to cure. At least, in the entirety of the Sky Fortune Kingdom, Lin Ming hadn’t seen anything that could help repair a soul.

Lin Ming’s idea was to investigate the soul fragment with his soul force, and see if he could obtain some valuable information. It even might be possible to attempt to read some memories, and to take at look at these memories to see if they would be useful before deciding to swallow that soul fragment.

However, as Lin Ming’s soul force came into contact with that soul fragment, that soul fragment suddenly turned into a stream of lightning that flew into Lin Ming’s soul.

Lin Ming simply didn’t have any time to react. With a whish sound, the ownerless soul fragment had already submerged into Lin Ming’s Sea of Consciousness, aimed at Lin Ming’s spirit mark, and launched a violent attack on his psyche.

“Damn!”

Lin Ming hadn’t expected this result. He just felt as if the tip of a knife was repeatedly and maliciously stabbing into his brain without hesitation. This kind of severe, body-gripping pain made his vision go dark, and he almost fainted on the spot.

“My cultivation is already so much stronger than before, but this pain is still so irresistibly overwhelming! It is such a small piece of soul consciousness and yet it’s actually so strong!

The power of a soul had no relations with true essence; it only depended on the soul itself. Lin Ming had used the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’ during the long period in which he had used inscription techniques, and his soul force had naturally grown. But the ownerless soul fragment that he had chosen now was larger and brighter than the first soul fragment he had absorbed.

So to swallow this soul fragment up was ten times as hard!

Lin Ming’s Sea of Consciousness once again became a battlefield. The deep pain within his brain was just like countless insects that were chewing through his mind.

A multitude of complex and confusing scenes emerged in his mind. Lin Ming grasped his head, bore the soul-wrenching pain and revolved the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’, holding fast to his quickly ebbing consciousness.

With his previous experience, Lin Ming was much calmer this time. The head splitting pain also caused him to fall into a dazed stupor, but Lin Ming knew that once he fainted and lost his self-awareness, then he would without a doubt die. As long as he was able to force his way through this period and exhaust that ownerless soul, the he would win.

However, this soul fragment’s inherent soul force was far superior to the last one’s!

Lin Ming clenched his teeth, defending the last pure and bright bastion of his mind.

“The first time I did not know the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’, and only depended on my heart of martial arts to endure. But this second time, my soul force is much stronger and my heart of martial arts is more complete; how can I lose here!!!”

Haaah!!

In Lin Ming Sea of Consciousness, there was a giant storm that was raging as the ownerless soul fragment constantly consumed itself in its battle with Lin Ming’s spirit mark.

Gradually, the shining rays began to dim down.

The aching pain came flooding in like a limitless tsunami. Lin Ming gritted his teeth and could only hang on as this agony coursed through his mind. After an unknown amount of time, this aching feeling finally weakened as it began to slowly die down. By now, Lin Ming’s whole body was soaked in sweat and cold to the touch.

After a long time, that ownerless soul fragment had gradually lost its instinct and turned into complete pure soul energy, and then slowly integrated into Lin Ming’s Sea of Consciousness…

….

Opening his eyes, Lin Ming was surprised to find that he had already left the vast, starry space within the Magic Cube. He was back in his simple log cabin, staring at the wooden ceiling. Seeing such a familiar scene let him feel at ease.

Reviewing the memories in his mind, Lin Ming felt another headache creeping up. This kind of feeling was as if he had gone through several days of sleepless nights, and thus his mind hurt.

“Array formations, array patterns, array diagrams, charms… this was probably an array master…”

After clearly examining these, Lin Ming didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. His luck was just bad; he had actually taken in the memories of an array master.

An array master was truly strong, that was without question. One only needed to look at the Ten Thousand Killing Array, the seven major killing arrays of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning, the Exquisite Pagoda, and the sea jade platform to see just how inconceivably strong an array master was.

One of the seven founders of the Seven Profound Valleys was one who especially studied array methods.

If he was able to create a massive array like the Exquisite Pagoda and sell it to the Sky Fortune Kingdom, its cost would be at least 10 million gold taels!

However, it was impossible for Lin Ming to arrange this array.

The major arrays of the Seven Profound Martial House were created through a collaboration of several Xiantian masters working together. The total quantity of true essence needed was truly terrifying!

But without using such a large array, a normal array only had a very limited benefit.

Although he was slightly frustrated, Lin Ming did not lose heart. This soul fragment had a very rich memory; it was not solely array methods. Moreover, about arrays, it may be temporarily useless to Lin Ming now, but that did not mean that it would be useless in the future.