Martial World (Web Novel)

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“I heard that you wanted to enter the second floor, so I waited there in hopes of fighting you. But I didn’t think that you would stay on the first floor of Skysplit Tower and cultivate for half a month…” The black-caped Imp said. As he spoke, the images in the array disc changed yet again. In Wan’er’s room, a several dozen foot long snake fell down from the rafters. Its body was as thick as a bucket, and it curled itself around the unconscious Wan’er.

As Lin Ming saw this, his eyes flashed with killing intent. Although Wan’er was only his maid, she had taken care of his daily needs for these past 15 days and her work could be considered meticulous. Lin Ming would not tolerate someone using her to threaten him.

The black-caped Imp saw Lin Ming’s eyes flash with murder. He giggled, “You really are as I thought you’d be. From these last few days, I could already tell that you have some misplaced, pathetic sympathy towards mortals. Jeje, I really have no idea where you came from. How could someone like you possibly step onto the killing path?”

“You were spying on me?” Lin Ming was disquieted. He practiced the ‘Overbearing Soul Tactic’ and also had the Samsara martial intent; he was confident in his own soul defense. His perception was no less than that of a middle Revolving Core realm master. But there had actually been someone spying on him for these last 15 days without him noticing?

Luckily, he hadn’t taken out the Cosmic Melting Furnace. Otherwise… the consequences would be unimaginable.

As Lin Ming thought of this, his killing intent thickened even more.

“Hehe, there are many ways to spy on people. I don’t need to personally appear near you to monitor you. Even… a small snake can become my eyes.” The black-caped Imp said. The Imp had no fear that his method of spying was known by Lin Ming.

Lin Ming frowned. He didn’t understand the arcane skills of these foreign races so he had ended up suffering a loss. “Why are you paying attention to me?”

“Hehe, it’s not just you, I’m also interested in everyone new to the second floor. To be frank… I want to fight with you in the arena!”

Lin Ming’s lips twisted with derision, “So that’s what it is. It seems that you are so weak that you can only pick on newcomers?”

“Humph! What would you know!?” The black-caped Imp sneered. “You think that you’re so great just because you caused a complete blowout in the first floor? You think you’re great because you killed Gu Yue within ten breaths of time?” The second floor of Skysplit Tower is not something that the first floor could even dream of comparing with. The second floor has practice areas that the first floor doesn’t. If you practice their, your results will astronomical. No matter what race you are from, you will also be influenced by your surroundings. If a group of geniuses gathers together, and you mix in a bunch of powerful opponents, then everyone will become stronger. In the second floor, there are even many monstrous characters that have the strength to go to the third floor but actually choose to hide on the second.”

“I’m not considered weak on the second floor. But, I have accumulated too much infernal energy so there have been many masters eyeing me, hoping they can obtain my infernal energy to build up their Heavenly Demon Tattoo. Hehe, I won’t let those fellows succeed.”

“So that’s why you aim for new people? So all that so-called infernal energy you have is taken from newcomers?” Lin Ming scoffed. He didn’t think that Skysplit Tower would have such wonderful characters, but this method was indeed effective. If one had patience and was willing to resort to any method to accumulate infernal energy, they could then use this infernal energy to practice their devil arts. Their results would soar into the sky.

“You’re right. After I reached a five match winning streak on the second floor, I became much more cautious. Now, I’ve reached a 19 match winning streak. It’s a pity but new people that enter the second floor are usually timid. They won’t fight. Instead, they’ll hole themselves in their rooms and cultivate for half a year at time, or they might never leave at all. So… I have no choice but to use some minor methods to draw you out. You can rest assured that I will not kill you. I only want your infernal energy and to increase my winning streak. You can even consider it good luck for me to be your first match! Well, at least others won’t be as soft-hearted as I am. If you meet them, you might not even have a corpse left over.” The black-caped Imp giggled. His voice was gentle but his words were malicious. Just looking at his wrinkly face and disgusting smile made one feel extremely sick to their stomach.

“So, I should be thanking you?”

“Right. If you fight with me, you can quickly understand the rules of the second floor better. After this match, I’ll even give you some benefits and tell you some tips about how to survive in the second floor. Don’t look down on these tips, they’ve been earned with the lives of other martial artists.” The black-caped Imp said with a tempting tone.

“And if I say no?”

“Hehe, you’re a smart one. There are many ways for you to gain infernal energy, but if you offend me, I have many ways to make you suffer in the second floor, or you might even end up accidently dying. Also, I don’t think you want that young maid of yours to be cruelly tortured to death by some perverted Giant Demon, hahaha!”

The black-caped Imp brazenly laughed. The rules of Skysplit Tower prevented martial artists from the second floor from killing those from the first floor. But, this only applied to martial artists. Mortal commoners were exempt from this rule.

Lin Ming suppressed the simmering killing aura in his heart. On the surface, he was neither angry nor disturbed. He said, “Let them go. I agree to fight with you.”

“Alright.” The black-caped Imp said with a refreshed tone. In truth, he wasn’t afraid that Lin Ming would renege on his promise. In Skysplit Tower, it was difficult to protect a mortal, but killing them was easy. If Lin Ming decided to go back on his word, then he could definitely find some casual opportunity to kill the girl.

“I’ll wait for you on the second floor. I hope that you don’t have me wait too long!” The black-caped Imp licked his lips. He took out his pass from his spatial ring and inserted it into the transmission array. With a flash of light, he disappeared along with the Goliath youth.

Lin Ming was expressionless as he turned around. By the time he returned to the martial artist service lodge, everyone who fainted was already beginning to wake up.

The young girls of the martial artist service lodge were at a loss. They didn’t what had just happened; they only felt as if they had experienced a terrible dream.

But the martial artists such as Xu Yan actually knew that they had been ambushed by a master with a soul attack.

A dominant and terrifying power had instantly covered the entire martial artist service lodge. He wasn’t even able to resist for a bit before he fainted, the difference in strength was too great. If the opposite party had wanted to kill them, they could have done so with a thought!

This sort of person could only be a martial artist from the second floor!

Xu Yan was alarmed. He didn’t know what this other person’s purpose was, but as soon as he saw Lin Ming come in, his mind stirred. Could it be…

“Brother Lin, a moment ago…”

Lin Ming waved his hand. “Brother Xu, today I’ll be going to the second floor. I’ll have to trouble you with taking care of Wan’er.”

Hearing Lin Ming say that he was heading to the second floor, Xu Yan was even more assured of his guess. “Brother Lin, is someone from the second floor aiming for you?”

Lin Ming neither denied nor confirmed this. He said, “Whether or not someone is aiming for me, I will still go to the next floor.”

Xu Yan looked at Lin Ming’s decisive appearance and he sighed. He knew that Lin Ming was a dragon in a pool; it was impossible for him to stay very long on the first floor. The reason he came to Skysplit Tower was obviously to gain experience.

“Brother Lin, take care.”

Lin Ming packed up his things and bid farewell to everyone. Then, he walked away from the martial artist service lodge. Wan’er didn’t say a single word as she watched Lin Ming’s fading back. For a long time, she didn’t say anything…

……………

“Welcome to the second floor of Skysplit Tower.”

When Lin Ming stepped out of the second floor transmission array, a sweet voice sounded in his ear. As he turned around, he saw a beautiful Fey girl standing there. Her cultivation was only around the Pulse Condensation period. Obviously, she worked here as a greeter and guide.

“Sir, may I ask if you would like to go to the martial arena or find a place to practice?” The Fey girl politely asked as she bowed.

Practice place?

Lin Ming raised his eyebrows. He had heard about the practice areas of Skysplit Tower’s second floor before. The black-caped Imp said that cultivating there would give one astronomical results.

Polaris City was an original source of infernal energy and it had an extremely long history. There were countless ancient arrays that were engraved within this place. Lin Ming was looking forward to seeing just what sort of practice places were in Polaris City.

As Lin Ming thought about this, he asked, “What sort of authority requirements do I need to enter the practice areas?”

The young Fey girl said, “The second floor has no authority requirements. One only needs to pay the required Blood Demon Crystals depending on the area you wish to go in. A high quality practice area will require not only Blood Demon Crystals but also slaughter points. For instance, a top practice area will require one slaughter point every ten days. As for more general areas, they usually require one slaughter point per year.”

“A single slaughter point for ten days… that’s quite expensive…” Lin Ming was secretly stunned speechless. Right now he only had ten slaughter points that he had acquired at the same time as the Invincible Glory Emblem. For a top level practice area, that was only enough for 100 days. “Thank you. Bring me to the martial arena first.”

Lin Ming wanted to settle all his grudges and scores with the black-caped Imp.

“Good. Then, please follow me.” The young Fey girl’s dulcet voice called out. When she spoke, it was very comfortable.

………………….

Skysplit Tower was wider at the bottom than the top; it tapered the higher it went. The second floor was smaller than the first floor, so the martial arena in the second floor was also smaller. There was only enough space to seat 8000, but this was already more than enough because the second floor only had several thousand martial artists in total.

When Lin Ming arrived at the martial arena, there were only several hundred people there. The other martial artists were either resting or off cultivating.

Although there were few people, the entire arena was still wild and filled with a bloody atmosphere.

“The boy came!” In a corner of the arena, the black-caped Goliath youth saw Lin Ming.

“Hehe, that stupid little kid is pretty fast. Because of something as stupid as compassion, he actually ruined himself…” The black-caped Imp stroked his wrinkled chin, his eyes flashing with bloodlust.

“Mm? Are you planning on killing him?” The black-caped Goliath youth asked, surprised.

“Of course I’m going to kill him. Although this fellow isn’t too strong right now, his talent is terrifying. If you cut the grass then you have to destroy the roots to eliminate any future problems.”

“This is… but if word of you killing him spreads out and other newcomers find out, then they will be prepared. It won’t be easy to find new people to fight with us.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve already decided to kill him. Once I do then I’ll have a 20 match winning streak. I’ll obtain two slaughter points and will also be able to form my four winged Heavenly Demon Tattoo. At that time, I’ll go and cultivate for two years. Once I finish, my strength will have greatly increased and I won’t need to target newcomers anymore.”

As the black-caped Imp spoke to here, his eyes flashed with excitement. He was already looking forwards to this day.