Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)

The slim lady’s cheeks were flushed due to blushing, while her eyes which were originally as calm as amber were now filled with embarrassment and anger. This rarely seen appearance of hers was extremely soul stirring.

“You…”

Ashamed and angry, Ling Qingzhu stared at Lin Dong. It was obvious that she was somewhat unable to believe that he would actually be so audacious.

After being stared at by Ling Qingzhu in such a manner, Lin Dong finally regained his senses, and could not help but feel extremely awkward. His previous action was rather quick and he did not put much thought into it. Only after he tore off Ling Qingzhu’s veil, did he finally realise what he had done…

However, it was obvious that no explanation would be of any use in this situation. Therefore, Lin Dong could only release a dry laugh.　

The embarrassment and anger on Ling Qingzhu’s face did not last for long. Her willpower was indeed extraordinary, as even in such a situation, she quickly stabilized her mood. Sending a furious glare at Lin Dong, she took back her veil and covered her soul stirringly beautiful face once again.

“If you do this again, don’t think about keeping your hand.” After covering her face with the veil, Ling Qingzhu shot a look at Lin Dong and said with a clear and cold voice.

Lin Dong grinned and laughed. He knew that if another person had tore off Ling Qingzhu’s veil, she would have likely immediately drawn her sword and attacked. Furthermore, her response let him know that the position he had in her heart was somewhat different from the rest.

Of course, this did not mean that Ling Qingzhu fancied him. Lin Dong was no fool and he knew that his charm was not that formidable. Although he was pretty talented, he was not overly dazzling in the eyes of Ling Qingzhu, who was already used to meeting various monsters and geniuses. A large part of this was likely due to the incident that had occurred back then. Other than that, perhaps the changes that occurred to Lin Dong over the past few years had also caused Ling Qingzhu to feel somewhat astonished…

As she gazed at the smile on Lin Dong’s face, Ling Qingzhu gently clenched her pearly white teeth. Just as she was about to speak, she discovered a berserk fluctuation suddenly unfurl from Lin Dong’s body.

“Nirvana Tribulation?”　

When she sensed the familiar fluctuation, Ling Qingzhu was startled for a second, before looking at Lin Dong with a peculiar glint in her eyes. It seems like this fellow had gained quite a bit during this five days of seclusion…

“Has it finally arrived…”

When the fluctuation emerged from within his body, a radiant smile appeared on Lin Dong’s face. Soon after, he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes once again. Green light sparkled continuously on the surface of his body. Indistinctly, a deep muffled roar rang out from his body.

This time around, Lin Dong closed his eye for approximately half an hour. Under the attentive gaze of Ling Qingzhu, Lin Dong opened his eyes again. At this moment, there were small beads of perspiration on his forehead.

“It’s done…” said Lin Dong as he smiled towards Ling Qingzhu.

“Oh.”

Ling Qingzhu faintly nodded her head as she diverted her gaze from Lin Dong’s body, while secretly feeling quite amazed. This was the eighth Nirvana Tribulation and was definitely not a weak one. When she had passed it previously, she had used quite a bit of time. Furthermore, she was nowhere as relaxed as Lin Dong had been.　　

“Finally at the eight Yuan Nirvana stage…” muttered Lin Dong as he stood up. As he clenched his fists, he felt the surging power within his body, causing a happy expression that was hard to conceal to appear in his eyes. The life Qi pill Fen Tian had given him was indeed extremely beneficial to him. Furthermore, after this breakthrough, he could still feel that the life Qi pill existence within his body. The current him was unable to absorb the boundless power within it.

“Looks like you have received most of the benefits from this trip to the Burnng Sky Ancient Stash.” said Ling Qingzhu as her eyes swept across Lin Dong.

Upon hearing this, Lin Dong could not resist and broke out into laughter. It was true after all. Before this, he had heard that the Burning Sky Ancient Stash contained numerous treasures. However, only after entering did he realize that not only were there scarcely any treasures, there was instead a huge problem inside…

After escaping from the Burning Sky Array with great difficulty, he encountered the black fog creature that had been set free. Some unlucky fellows had even lost their lives because of this.

However, after paying such a huge price, everyone who entered had to leave empty handed and were even forced to flee in a miserable manner. At the end of the day, the only one that seemed to have truly profited was Lin Dong. Everyone else could only leave dejected and depressed…

“How long did I cultivate?”asked Lin Dong after turning his head around

“Five days.”

“Five days huh…” muttered Lin Dong as he slowly nodded his head. His gaze turned towards Ling Qingzhu as he smiled and said, “Why didn’t you leave first?”

For these five days, Ling Qingzhu had evidently stayed nearby. She could have left this place earlier, and continue leading the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace disciples instead of wasting her time here…

“There are quite a few artifacts left from ancient times here. I merely wanted to explore.” replied Ling Qingzhu in an indifferent tone as she turned her gaze away.

“Oh…” said Lin Dong with a chuckle. He did not probe any deeper. As his laugh faded, it was followed by another word, “Thanks.”

Although the two of them did not talk about it, Lin Dong knew that Ling Qingzhu had stayed behind because she had the intention of protecting him. Although he would not be disturbed in this place, Lin Dong felt slightly touched by her actions.

Ling Qingzhu declined to comment and replied, “If your cultivation is done, let’s get going.”

Lin Dong nodded his head and stood up. Soon after, his gaze was cast towards Fen Tian, who was sitting like a stone statue, and gave a respectful bow towards him.

“Elder Fen Tian, if this young one is able to reach the level you spoke of, I will definitely save and awaken you!”

As soon as he spoke those words, Lin Dong no longer hesitated. With a turn, he shot off and flew towards the spacial vortex that was still present in the distant sky.

Ling Qingzhu shot a glance at Fen Tian, who had lost all his life force, as a pensive look flashed past her eyes. Soon after, she moved and caught up to Lin Dong before the both of them shot into the spatial vortex at the same time and rapidly disappeared.

Following the departure of the two, the crimson mountain range fell into silence once again. A desolate and ancient feeling stealthily pervaded the air. In the end, it enveloped the entire domain…　

　……

Within the crimson basin, a patch of space suddenly distorted before transforming into a spatial vortex. Two figures stepped out one after another and proceeded to fly away.

Lin Dong floated in mid air while sweeping his gaze across the basin. The vast crowd that was originally here was now no longer present. Looking as far as his eye could see, there were only a few people present, a far cry from the explosive atmosphere that had once filled this place.

“Looks like everyone has left…” after observing this scene, Lin Dong could not help but to smile and remark.

“Yes. There is still over half a month’s worth of journey from here to the Unique Devil Region. Most likely, the disciples of the various sects would have started training again.” replied Ling Qingzhu as she nodded her head.

“ Shouldn’t you head back to take charge of the situation?” asked Lin Dong.

“Wu Qun has some leadership capabilities and he should be able to handle it, while Su Rou is not weak as well. As long as they do not meet with too great a trouble, they should be alright.” replied Ling Qingzhu indifferently.

“I should be directing this question at you instead. Your Dao Sect has a deep grudge with Yuan Gate. Aren’t you afraid that Yuan Gate will take action against your Dao Sect when you’re not around?”

“I believe that Qingtan and Chen Gui should be following senior sister Xiaoxiao and the rest. With Chen Gui around, Yuan Cang would be somewhat restrained. He will likely not act until the final moment. After all, the deeper areas of Unique Devil Region are rather dangerous. If they meet with a formidable demon by chance, it would also be a huge headache for them.” replied Lin Dong.

“Naturally, for safety’s sake, it’s best to return to the group.”

Lin Dong smiled before waving his hand at Ling Qingzhu and asked, “Shall we go together?”

Upon hearing his words Ling Qingzhu slowly shook her head, before shooting a look at another direction within the deeper regions of Unique Devil Region and replied, “You go ahead, I still have something that I need to do.”

“That direction… is the area with the highest concentration of demons within Unique Devil Region. Why do you need to go there?” Lin Dong gazed at the direction Ling Qingzhu had indicated. His eyebrows involuntarily furrowed as he asked.

“According to the information that I’ve acquired from an ancient text, there is a ‘Supreme Purity Celestial Pond’ in the depths of Unique Devil Region. It was left behind by a powerful practitioner from ancient times.”

Ling Qingzhu hesitated for a while before saying in a soft voice, “I’ve trained in the Nine Heavens Celestial Arts of the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace. This martial art is excessively fearsome, which caused me to injure my meridians and internal organs after an accident during my training. Therefore, I need the ‘Supreme Purity Celestial Pond’ to heal my injuries as well as to counterbalance the residual effects of the Nine Heavens Celestial Arts.”

Lin Dong was stunned. He had obviously not realized that Ling Qingzhu was actually suffering from internal injuries.

“Why not bring along the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace disciples? It will not be an easy journey.”asked Lin Dong with a frown.　

“It is exactly because it will not be easy. Even if I bring them along, they would be of no use, and it would instead cause more unnecessary injuries and deaths.” replied Ling Qingzhu indifferently. Soon after, she did not elaborate any further and the green lotus appeared beneath her jadelike feet.

“Let’s separate here. We’ll meet again at the teleportation array at the exit. Take care.”

As her words faded, Ling Qingzhu did not hesitate and immediately transformed into a green ray of light that shot towards the horizon. Moments later, the green ray of light suddenly stopped. She turned her head in astonishment, and noticed a thin youth following closely behind her. A radiant smile had surfaced on his youthful face.

“It doesn’t seem gentlemanly to let a girl go to such a place by herself. Therefore, let’s go together. I might as well take the opportunity to repay your favour?”

The youth looked towards Ling Qingzhu who wore an astonished expression on her face. He spread out his hands in a carefree manner and smiled.