Martial World (Web Novel)

…

…

…

Two hours and a quarter. That was the same time that Feng Shen lasted in his own smelting trial. Because martial artists had different levels of strength, their trials also had correspondingly different difficulties, thus the results would also be different. How much time passed was only a single factor of many.

Woosh!

A figure shot out from the door of light, stepping onto the ground. This was Lin Ming!

The clothes on Lin Ming’s right hand were torn and dyed red with blood. But, it seemed fine overall. It should have been a minor wound, and in addition there wasn’t a scar. It was just that his clothes were slightly messy and his breath was a bit unsteady. He had clearly over consumed his energy.

Yan Chi’s eyes flashed. If he wasn’t injured too heavily, then that meant his results were decent.

“This boy!” Yan Chi said with a tinge of envy.

As for Feng Shen, his eyes were still calm and detached as he looked at Lin Ming. Then, his eyes turned to the King Tablet.

At the very top of the stone tablet where the heaven-step Asuras were located, the entire stone tablet including the letters themselves were shrouded underneath an opaque golden light. One couldn’t clearly see, but one could approximate the letters slowly forming within this golden light. This name was suspended high, on the top three feet of the King Tablet.

On the King Tablet, the name would form in the air before it fell onto the stone tablet. The letters were magnificent, containing all sorts of exquisite mysteries.

“Heaven-step Asura?”

Yan Chi gripped his fists together. Was the name forming on the stone tablet really a once in 300 years heaven-step Asura?

With Lin Ming’s talent, he had already guessed there was a high probability of him being a heaven-step Asura. But, to see this happen in real life in front of him made Yan Chi feel deeply uncomfortable.

From the very beginning, Feng Shen, who hadn’t had any expression at all, finally had a tinge of emotion on his face. His eyes turned to Lin Ming, giving him a deep look, before turning back to the golden characters forming in the air.

As Lin Ming’s name was formed, everyone thought that these golden characters would now fall onto the King Tablet. As soon as ‘Lin Ming’ appeared, the golden light flashed again and more letters began to appear.

“What!?!?”

Yan Chi’s eyes widened. There were more words!?!?

This is…

Three more words formed in the golden light. These words finally formed…

Evil God Asura.

He had been given the title of Evil God!

Ka!

This line of golden words fell onto the King Tablet. The King Tablet was several dozen feet high and over three feet thick but it still trembled as this name fell onto it, as if it couldn’t bear the weight of this title!

As the golden light faded away, Lin Ming’s name was deeply engraved right underneath the Eightfall Asura.

This was the fourth row – Evil God Asura, Lin Ming!

Yan Chi’s floored expression froze on his face. Even the aloof and indifferent Feng Shen had lost his past calm.

Titled Asura!

Evil God!

The titles that Skysplit Tower bestowed upon certain individuals were not random. It was said that the qualifications smelting trial had a certain ability to predict the future. For instance, Hao Gan was given the title of Eightfall Asura, and after that he really crossed eight stages of Life Destruction before reaching the Divine Sea. Soon after, the world respectfully called him the Eightfall War Emperor!

Then if Lin Ming was given the title of Evil God, what would happen in the future? Would he become an Evil God?

What sort of concept was an Evil God? Just what level powerhouse would that be?

Would it be an existence on the same level as the Eightfall War Emperor?

Da Gu gasped, unable to hide his astonishment.

After being stunned for a moment, he finally recovered. With awe in his eyes, he muttered, “To think that in my life I was able to witness the birth of a Titled Asura. This is… unbelievable!”

Lin Ming glanced at the stone tablet. A Titled Asura was no more than what he expected; he wasn’t too proud of this accomplishment.

There were only three Titled Asuras in the last 10,000 years, but one couldn’t forget that there was more than one Skysplit Tower.

Of course, to the normal person, a Titled Asura was a legendary existence. But to Lin Ming, if he couldn’t obtain this rank, then that really would have been too laughable. At that point, he wouldn’t have had any qualifications to think of going to the Realm of the Gods or pursuing anything like the peak of all martial arts.

“Lin Ming!” Feng Shen called out, finally speaking at last. This was first time he spoke. His voice was calm, but carried a firm edge to it. “Titled Evil God! I will remember, I’m waiting for you!”

With that, Feng Shen no longer idled. He turned and left.

As Yan Chi saw Feng Shen leave, his complexion sunk. He didn’t think that Lin Ming was actually such an abnormal freak of nature. If it was possible, then he didn’t want to become enemies with Lin Ming. But the crux of this was, if he didn’t take Lin Ming as his enemy, would Lin Mink take him as an enemy?

Yan Chi finally snorted coldly and left the practice area. He already decided that he had to fight Lin Ming as soon as possible. If he dawdled around for a year or two, then he absolutely would not be Lin Ming’s match.

“Sir Lin, this is your qualifications token as well as an introductory jade slip to the King’s Cage for Titled Asuras. Please take it.” Deacon Bai respectfully presented a token and jade slip to Lin Ming. His manners were at the most impeccable and humble state they could be. He never thought that for all the years he had managed this area, that he would be the one to bear witness to the birth of a Titled Asura.

“Thank you.” Lin Ming received the qualifications token. After briefly sweeping through the jade slip, he had a general sense as to what the King’s Cage was.

“Haha, Brother Lin, you truly amazed everyone with that dazzling accomplishment!”

After Yan Chi left, Da Gu began to laugh. He was very happy to see Yan Chi’s defeated expression; the two of them had never been on friendly terms to begin with.

“I never expected this…” Xun Ji covered her mouth, her eyes filled with incredulity as she looked at Lin Ming.

“It’s nothing more than destiny.” Lin Ming casually said. In truth, none of the martial artists in Skysplit Tower knew that he was only 19 years old. If they did, then these people would probably fall into a horror-filled panic.

“Brother Lin, after earning your trial qualifications, you can then enter the corresponding level of the King’s Cage. Would Brother Lin like to go and practice or have a drink for now?”

Lin Ming said, “Thank you Brother Da Gu for your kindness, but I would like to practice as soon as possible. After finishing the qualification smelting trial there are some understandings I’ve gained and I wanted to meditate on these faint insights.”

“Alright. Then, I’ll bid farewell first.” Da Gu cupped his fists together.

Lin Ming also cupped his fists together in return.

But at this time, a voice suddenly sounded out nearby. “Sir Lin, would you like to go for a drink? I would like to go, haha.”

“Mm?”

Lin Ming turned around to see an short Imp that barely reached six feet. He wore a loose embroidered robe and smiled as he walked forwards.

“What do you want?” Lin Ming asked.

As Da Gu saw this person he knit his eyebrows together. He said to Lin Ming with a true essence sound transmission, “This person is High Lord Heian’s representative. I estimate that he’s here to make a deal with you. I won’t accompany you then. Brother Lin, weigh the advantages and disadvantages yourself before you come to a decision, and best of luck to you.”

Da Gu said as he left with Xun Ji. As Xun Ji left, she glared at this short Imp man, her eyes filled with obvious disgust and utter loathing.

The Imp man ignored this and said, “Sir Lin, I already have a table reserved at the Ming Teahouse. I wonder if Sir Lin would like to follow me there for a little chat? I have wonderful news to tell Sir Lin.”

“No need. Say what you want here.” Lin Ming indifferently said.

“Hoho…” The Imp man wasn’t embarrassed. He smiled and said, “It seems Sir Lin already knows why I’m here… then I’ll make this brief. Sir High Lord Heian appreciates you very much. If you want, then you may choose to pledge yourself to Sir High Lord and enter into his service for 50 years. During this period, you may use all the practice resources of Skysplit Tower as you wish. This is great news. Skysplit Tower’s practice resources cannot be compared to a Holy Land’s. Without any exaggeration, this is the best land for practice in the entire Holy Demon Continent. I wonder if Sir Lin…”

“Sorry, but I have no intention of doing that.” Lin Ming flatly refused, leaving no room for further discussion.

“Young Hero Lin, this is a fortune that others can’t have no matter how much they wish for it. You don’t know how many people are envious of this position, not to mention that you only need to pledge yourself to 50 years of service. In fact, you don’t even need to stay that long. With Sir Lin’s talent, at most you’ll need to serve a dozen or so years. As long as…”

“Are you done speaking? I have to go practice.” Lin Ming said dismissively.

There was no free lunch in this world. After signing a soul contract and becoming a dog of Skysplit Tower, although he would be able to use practice resources as he wished, he would need to block the growth of budding talents for Skysplit Tower. In other words, he would act as the hand of Skysplit Tower. For instance, this was also Xing Tian’s role on the second floor.

The Imp’s complexion was somewhat ugly. For better or worse, he was still a subordinate of the High Lord, yet he was actually treated this way by Lin Ming.

The Imp’s smile tightened and he coldly said, “Lin Ming. A wise man knows when to retreat. If you continue to remain so stubbornly obstinate, then your only choice is to leave Skysplit Tower, lest you draw a disaster upon yourself!”

These last words were spoken through a true essence sound transmission.

Lin Ming wasn’t stirred by this threat. He calmly said, “I have no interest in Skysplit Tower’s control of benefits or its power struggles. At most I will stay in Skysplit Tower for another two years; I have no intention of taking your High Lords as an enemy. I only wish to peacefully practice. If some people are not relieved by this, then I can guarantee that I will give up on becoming a ten-winged Heavenly Demon and will stay at the peak of eight wings.”

Lin Ming had already spoken out a great deal of concessions. Becoming a twelve-winged Heavenly Demon and obtaining the Heavenly Demon martial intent was without a doubt tempting, but Lin Ming was well aware of just how terrifying Skysplit Tower could be. He did not intend to take the entire Skysplit Tower as an enemy just by himself. Stepping back this far was already a measure of his sincerity.

However, the Imp wasn’t of the same opinion. To him, Lin Ming completely wanted to do things the hard way. The High Lords rarely thought so highly of someone, and yet this person was being so unappreciative of this. “You promise to stop at the peak of eight wings and not take the 12 High Lords as your enemy? That’s quite brave of you. Then should I represent the 12 High Lords and thank you for showing such gracious mercy? Humph!”

The Imp coldly coughed. He wanted to spit out several more ruthless words, but then he casually glimpsed the King Tablet. At the top of the stone tablet, the golden light hadn’t yet dimmed. It still continued to shine softly and silently with a warm gold light as before.

It was this wisp of golden light that caught the Imp’s attention.

That golden light actually shrouded a line of words. These words were…

‘Evil God Asura, Lin Ming’!

The Imp’s eyes instantly widened, and his mouth fell open. All of those rude words he wanted to spit out got stuck in his throat.

Titled Asura!

Heavens! Was he wrong!?

He naturally knew that this was the King Tablet. Those three names on the top had remained unchanged for thousands of years.

But today, another name had appeared. Lin Ming!

He had actually obtained this title!?

The Imp man was completely befuddled.

“Anything else you want to say?” Lin Ming’s voice was extremely cold and desolate.

“Kya!” The Imp was scared silly thus he reacted this way. He reflexively shook his head and said, “I… no… no, never mind.”