Martial World (Web Novel)

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As Lin Ming left the martial arena with these fellows, he learnt their names. The one that was leading them was called Xu Yan, and the one who was barely 20 and was almost provoked to action by Zha Na was called Wang Dong.

Skysplit Tower was extraordinarily large. This arena that was capable of seating tens of thousands of people was just a very, very tiny part. There were countless stone buildings stacked atop each other, and an inexplicably astonishing amount of people.

The paths and roads of Skysplit Tower were always square and the corners were sharp and angled. All of the buildings were made of dark gray stone. It was solemn and simple.

As Lin Ming’s group walked along, he saw many common mortals. There weren’t just humans, but also Fey and Giant Demons.

These common mortals were mostly young and beautiful women, as well as some handsomely strong men and pretty boys.

“There are so many mortals, how did they reach Polaris City?” Lin Ming couldn’t help but ask.

Polar City was built atop a 60 to 70 thousand foot tall cliff face, accessible only by the thick chains that connected it. Not even a Pulse Condensation period martial artist would be able to crawl up those chains. A mortal would only be able to arrive if they were carried by a top master. As Lin Ming walked along, he saw hundreds of mortals. These mortals should only have been a miniscule portion of those in Skysplit Tower. In total, there might be at least 100,000 mortals living in Skysplit Tower.

Xu Yan glanced at the mortals that were bustling about and said, “Skysplit Tower has existed since age immemorial. These mortals were mostly born in Polaris City. Their ancestors were originally slaves who were brought here. Afterwards, they stayed in Polaris City and had children. For generations, it was and still is impossible for these people to leave Polaris City. The only chance they have is if they die. Their ashes will be scattered from the cliff. In a sense, they can return to their lands.”

“I see…”

Lin Ming was suddenly aware. Polaris City was vast and required a massive amount of mortal commoners to serve and attend to the basic necessities of the martial artists’ lives. But, these mortals did not understand martial arts so they would never be able to leave Polaris City.

Polaris City had limited land resources. Normally, the dead would not be given a grave. After death, they would be cremated and their ashes would be scattered from tens of thousands of feet in the air. This could truly be said to be dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

This was the life of a mortal. And, in Polaris City, the martial artists that died here also shared the same fate…

Lin Ming asked, “I heard that blue-skinned man mention a Ten Winged Heavenly Demon Host Lord. What is that?”

Xu Yan said, “There are a great number of sect geniuses that pass through Polaris City every year, thus, there is also a great deal of interest here. Wherever there is interest, there will also be greedy individuals that wish to take it. You should have heard this, but since ancient times there have been all sorts of super forces and powerhouses that have tried to take the 12 Heavenly Demon Cities. The end result was that they were all completely killed by the mysterious curse that envelops this land.

“Afterwards, people discovered that the curse of the Blood Slaughter Steppes only applied to foreign forces. The curse did not affect talents that developed here due to the infernal energy. Therefore, some of the extreme powerhouses gathered together and laid down rules. These powerhouses are mostly Ten Winged Heavenly Demons; the Heavenly Demon Tattoo on their body has condensed ten wings or more.”

Xu Yan spoke in a breathless and envious tone. Obviously, he greatly wished that he could amass such strength and wealth in Skysplit Tower like those fabled powerhouses.

Lin Ming understood. He continued to ask, “Of these Ten Winged Heavenly Demons, most of them are Giant Demons and Fey, with very few humans, right?”

As this was mentioned, Xu Yan’s originally excited expression became crestfallen. “I’ve also heard some rumors about the Ten Winged Heavenly Demons. In Polaris City, it seems there aren’t any human Ten Winged Heavenly Demons, nor are there Ferals. This is another reason why humans and Ferals have such a pathetic status here.”

“Is the natural talent of humanity really that much worse than that of the Giant Demons? Then, as one goes higher, wouldn’t the disparity be greater?” Lin Ming frowned. He didn’t really care that there weren’t any human Ten Winged Heavenly Demons in Skysplit Tower. But he did feel sad about the fact that humanity’s talent was so poor. Did this mean the further he cultivated, the more problems he would encounter?

Xu Yan saw Lin Ming’s expression and guessed what his concerns were. He said with some envy, “Brother Lin, the truth is that the answer to this question isn’t so simple. The reason that humanity’s talent is worse than the Giant Demons’ is because of their bones and meridians. But, after a human martial artist passes through the stages of Life Destruction, their body will be reforged, and they gain a new body as they try to reach the Divine Sea. But, a Giant Demon will not experience this. From a six-star Demon King to Demon Emperor, they will not experience Life Destruction. Thus, when a human reaches the Divine Sea, they won’t necessarily be any worse than a Giant Demon. There are even some Emperor level powerhouses that experienced seven or eight Life Destructions before they stepped into the Divine Sea realm, and their bodies might even be stronger than those of the Giant Demon race’s Demon Emperors!”

“So that’s how it is…” Lin Ming let out a long sigh of relief. The path of martial arts was truly complex and diverse. The different races also had different corresponding cultivation systems.

As long as there was a method to overcome the gap in body structures, then Lin Ming had the confidence he could succeed.

“Brother Lin, with your talent, if there isn’t a problem then you will definitely reach the Divine Sea in the future. You won’t be like me; it would already be a great stroke of luck if I managed to reach the late Revolving Core realm.” Xu Yan sighed.

It had to be said that when Mu Fengxian was the Saintess of Divine Phoenix Island, she wasn’t any worse than Mu Qianyu. But when she finally reached the first stage of Life Destruction, she couldn’t proceed any further. As for these human martial artists at Skysplit Tower, their talent was inferior to Mu Qianyu’s, so the late Revolving Core realm was already their natural limits.

Xu Yan said this, but in fact he didn’t even know Lin Ming’s actual age. If he knew Lin Ming was only 18 years old, he would most likely be stunned speechless.

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At this time, on the third floor of Skysplit Tower, there was a great table placed in a large black stone room. The surface of this table was carved with intricate runes. Nearby, there was an array disc with all sorts of complex symbols, and there were even Blood Demon Crystals that flashed on it.

Above the array, there were phantom images flashing around. When one looked carefully, they could see that these images were a replay of the entire battle between Lin Ming and Gu Yue.

This sort of special light array was a sort of illusory magic array. The production process for creating one of these was extremely complex. One could record the light and use it to replay the scene from the illusory magic array.

At this time, there was a young Giant Demon watching this play. He had rough facial features and he wore red armor.

This was a youth who held the title of Six Star Heavenly Demon in Skysplit Tower, as well as being one of the most illustrious and famous Giant Demons in Polaris City. This was his first time paying attention to a human youth whose cultivation was only at the early Xiantian realm.

He had watched this fight three times already.

At this time, a young and delicate looking Fey girl walked over. Her eyes were ink-black and bright. There were two vibrant scales on the corners of her eyes; she looked exceptionally cute.

The young Fey girl saw the young Giant Demon and began to giggle, “Da Gu, you’re studying your opponent! You’re always studying your opponent! Aren’t you tired of this!?”

“Know yourself, know others, and victory will be in your grasp.” After Da Gu spoke, he wholly absorbed himself into watching the moving images. At this time, he was specifically watching the scene where Gu Yue attacked Lin Ming with his demonic essence.

“Eh? Isn’t that kid Gu Yue? I also know a bit about him; he’s staying on the first level of Skysplit Tower. I can’t believe you have the time to watch these little kids’ fights, how boring could that be? Why are you so concerned about Gu Yue?”

Da Gu shook his head.

“You aren’t looking at Gu Yue, but that other boy?” The young Fey girl stroked her chin. “Yo, he’s been surrounding by Gu Yue’s demon essence. That boy is probably going to die…”

But just as she spoke, the flow of battle suddenly changed. In the flash of an eye, Lin Ming struck Gu Yue wit the Divine Demon Thunder Soul and broke open Black Sun Shining Sky with the Blood Drinking Seals.

“Eh?”

The young Fey Girl was stunned; the change in situation was too fast. Completely contrary to her expectations, Gu Yue died, and the human boy won.

“I didn’t think that he would defeat Gu Yue. He should have the strength to enter the second floor and even make a bit of a mess there, but he’s still far from fighting us on the third floor.”

Da Gu didn’t deny the young Fey girl’s words. He only slowly said, “That human’s name is Lin Ming, and his cultivation is only at the early Xiantian realm.”

“What?” The young Fey girl’s eyes widened. She hadn’t been able to see Lin Ming’s cultivation from the phantom images in the illusory magic array. “He’s only at the early Xiantian realm? Is that a joke? How could a human possibly be so strong?”

“It’s the truth. Also, he might not be any older than you.”

“That’s impossible!” The young Fey girl said with disbelief.

“It’s possible. Humans don’t live as long as you Fey. From his appearance, at most he will be in his early twenties.” Da Gu said as he closed the light image array disc and put it away in his spatial ring. “He’ll be an interesting opponent if he can reach the third floor within the next two years.”

Many martial artists would stay in Skysplit Tower for several years or even dozens of years at a time. For these high level martial artists that lived for hundreds of years, several years wasn’t anything at all.

Moreover, every battle in Skysplit Tower could involve one’s life or death. When a martial artist entered the stage, they would naturally be extremely careful.

Most people spent a great deal of their time observing fights and figuring out their opponents, or cultivating. They would only challenge others when they believe they had the strength to do so.

It had to be known that every floor in Skysplit Tower had 10 to 20 thousand martial artists. But, every floor only had a single arena, and several hundred matches occurred in these arenas every day.

The young Fey girl’s competitive spirit was aroused by Da Gu’s words, but she wasn’t totally convinced yet. She said, “Even if he’s younger than me, that doesn’t mean he will be stronger than me once he reaches my age. At that time, I’ll have advanced even more. He can give up the thought of catching up with me.”

After listening to the young Fey girl, Da Gu faintly smiled and didn’t say any more.

The Fey were long-lived; even the common mortal Fey would live up to 200 years. This 20 some year old Fey girl could only be considered young. Her disposition was the same as a teenager’s.

Currently, the young Fey girl beside him seemed cute and harmless, but she was also a Seven Star Heavenly Demon. If one looked down on her because of her age, then they would definitely suffer a miserable end.

“This Lin Ming is truly an amusing opponent. But, that’s only when he grows up. Right now he is just too tender.”