Chapter 987 - Enhanced Perception
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As Lin Ming realized this, he began to vigorously guard his mind. A silver gray spear-shaped battle spirit shot out from between his eyebrows and smashed into the void!
Peng!
With an explosive sound, countless cracks appeared where the spear-shaped battle spirit struck the void. These cracks spread out at a speed faster than light, spreading through countless galaxies. The entire universe shattered like glass and completely broke apart!
"Ahh!"
Lin Ming screamed out. It felt as if what collapsed in front of him was not the universe but his spiritual sea. It was like his soul and mind shattered alongside the universe as an indescribably pain wracked his very essence. His head felt as if it were splitting apart!
"Was I wrong? Was there a mistake?"
Was that just now not my heart demon, but my spiritual sea that I personally destroyed?
This thought flashed through Lin Ming's mind. For the briefest of moments his heart wavered but he immediately rejected this idea!
"My battle spirit is my will, a spear of will that is bred from within my spiritual sea. My will would only destroy illusions and lies. How could it possibly harm my own spiritual sea?
"Break! Break it all!"
Lin Ming loudly shouted into the void. His spear of will grew endless millions of miles, then came smashing down like a cosmos splitting axe!
Kacha!
The endless space was shattered by the spear of will!
The scenery changed. From the cracks within the space, endless devils, evil spirits, raving ghosts, zombies, cruel demons, yakshas, asuras, and other monsters appeared. They blotted out the heavens as they rushed toward Lin Ming, wanting to swallow him whole.
Each and every single one of these beings were hundreds of feet tall, with some even a thousand feet tall. They gathered together in a line that stretched for infinity. From the distance they resembled an army of ants!
Lin Ming's eyes flashed with a severe light. The spear that was hundreds of millions of miles long suddenly swept out and countless screams filled the air as the trillions of evil creatures were slain by Lin Ming!
At this time, Lin Ming's spear of will had also weakened by a great deal. Although he had a powerful will, it wasn't endless. After killing so many demonic illusions in a single breath, the burden on him was also great.
He focused his heart, continuing to gather and sharpen his will to guard his mind. If he wavered and the Gate of Opening didn't completely open, his consciousness would fall into an illusion and he would be beyond saving.
After the demonic illusions vanished, countless Fey flew through the space cracks. As these Fey flew forward, they changed into exquisite and peerless beauties. They were light and transparent veils and their bodies were half clothed, exposing lusty imagery. Some of them were slender with a bountiful figure, some were young, some were more mature, some were cute and lovable, some were charming and seductive, and some seemed as pure as snow. All of these beautiful women danced and sung as light music filled the air. They had dark eyes that held promises of sweet nights, visions that blurred the eyes and sent one into a drooling stupor.
Even a high monk might find their will shaken by this scene, but Lin Ming's eyes were actually filled with a cold indifference. He swept out with the spear of will once again!
Peng!
All the beautiful Fey women were reduced to ashes!
The spear of will faded further. It was only by relying on the grandmist attribute of the spear that it was able to keep its strength and complete this final slaughter.
At this time, Li Ming felt his own strength suddenly leaving his body. He looked down to see that his hands had aged. His skin was mottled and wrinkled, his eyes were deeply set back in their sockets, his hair was stringy and white, and his fires of life were lowly flickering, as if they were a candle in a storm, ready to fade away at any moment.
Maggots began to crawl out from his old and nearly rotten skin. Beetles began to gnaw on his flesh and dig away at his bones.
Lin Ming coldly snorted. "My will is everlasting and eternal. My flesh can tear off mountains and split apart the earth. My fire of life is like the sun that blazes in the brilliant skies, burning away all!"
Lin Ming roared out and his entire body lit up with flames. The maggots and beetles were all burnt to ashes, and as Lin Ming's body was wreathed in these flames, his rotten old skin was scorched away by the fire and replaced by delicate newborn skin. He was like a phoenix in the flames of nirvana, reborn through a bath of fire!
Bang!
Fire erupted, filling the entire universe. At this moment, Lin Ming's spiritual sea violently trembled. His spiritual sea was filled with raging flames, and the universe around him seemed to fuse into that sea!
Lin Ming stuffily coughed as his eyes suddenly shot open. His complexion was paler than paper and his body was soaked with sweat!
A feeling of infinite exhaustion filled his heart and mind. Lin Ming felt his eyelids weight down like lead and a piercing ache on the side of his head. Moreover, the illusions caused him to have trouble differentiating reality from fantasy.
He looked up to see Fairy Feng sitting in front of him. She was looking at him with a bright smile and nodded appreciatively.
"It's over. I've done it."
Lin Ming took a long breath and slowly sank into a deep sleep.
Opening the Eight Inner Hidden Gate's fifth Gate of Opening was equivalent to opening one's spiritual sea. It caused a terrifying consumption on one's mental strength, divine soul, and will. If one lacked in willpower or soul force, it was possible he'd fail to fully open the Gate of Opening.
There were even some people that would suddenly die. Others would exhaust themselves, allowing their minds to fall into illusions and become vegetables for the rest of their lives.
Lin Ming's sleep was extremely deep, 100% of his being concentrated on his slumber. His heartbeat slowed down and his senses were completely closed off. His brain was closed off and all the pores on his body were relaxed open, spontaneously absorbing heaven and earth origin energy.
During this period, if anyone wanted to kill Lin Ming, he wouldn't have any ability to resist them.
Fairy Feng sat in meditation on the side, keeping track of Lin Ming's condition the entire time.
She was satisfied that Lin Ming was able to reach this step, extremely satisfied. Lin Ming had almost exhausted all of his will and battle spirit in this attempt and the result was that he had perfectly opened the Gate of Opening and had completely developed the potential of his brain.
'In terms of how formidable his will and battle spirit are, I fear that there is no one of his age in the entire Divine Realm that could stand on par with him. The benefits that this powerful willpower will grant him will slowly manifest during his future cultivation. For instance, for him to open the Gate of Opening and also to such a degree, all of that is because of the strength of his will. Moreover, his battle spirit seems to have a strange attribute to it. It is wild and vigorous, and it seems to correspond with the Heavenly Dao. If it weren't for the support of this special attribute, Lin Ming wouldn't have been able to open the Gate of Opening to perfection."
For Lin Ming to open the Gate of Opening to perfection, it would greatly enhance his perception and soul force. The advantages to his future cultivation were obvious!
If each and every martial artist was able to open the Gate of Opening to such a degree, there would likely be many geniuses that wouldn't hesitate to dual cultivate body and energy at all costs just for this Gate of Opening.
But what a pity, that was only a dream.
If one desired to dual cultivate body and energy, they would have to start from a period when their cultivation was at an extremely low point. Otherwise, if they cultivated to Life Destruction and their physical body was transformed into a spirit body, they would be unable to practice body transformation any longer. This was because the bodily matrix would've already changed. When one reached the Divine Transformation realm or the Divine Lord realm, a small world would begin to open within their bodies as their spirit bodies slowly became divine bodies. At that point, there was no need to even raise the question of body transformation.
The opposite was true too. If one managed to cultivate the body transformation technique to some point within the Eight Hidden Inner Gates or even the Nine Stars of The Dao Palace, the physical body would simply become too tough and durable. Wishing to cross Life Destruction at that time would be nothing more than a wild dream!
In both these situations, a martial artist's boundary was destined to be low when they opened the fifth Gate of Opening of the Eight Inner Hidden Gates. If their boundary was low, the boundary of their will wouldn't be higher either, and their will and battle spirit would be correspondingly weak. With a weak will and battle spirit, wasn't wishing to open the Gate of Opening easier said than done?
It was more accurate to say that regardless of failure or success, it would be excellent if they didn't lose their mind to an illusion.
"This child is truly a dragon in a pool. All sorts of destiny have converged onto his body, and as he walks forward on his road of martial arts, every step he takes nears perfection. If he can continue this progress, he'll be a legend in the future, an Empyrean. But the problem is that to have every step reach perfection is far too difficult. Especially during the Divine Transformation realm and Divine Lord realm. At that time, there are many geniuses that will have exhausted their potential. They must seek their own lucky chances in order to further advance."
"Yet even so, within the lower realms with the barren resources that exist there, he was able to cultivate something that required countless resources like the Eight Inner Hidden Gates to such a degree. Moreover, he obtained a 100,000 year medicine garden from somewhere, and this allowed him to continue cultivating. Now he has fully opened the Gate of Opening and completely developed his brain. Perhaps, perhaps he really might have a chance of stepping into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace."
"To my knowledge, no one has managed to step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace for millions or even billions of years. Of course, in the vast and endless Divine Realm, what I know is also limited. There might be some people out there somewhere who have managed to do so, but I simply haven't heard about it at."
The Divine Realm was truly broad and boundless, with countless geniuses everywhere. However, martial artists that dual cultivated body and energy only accounted for a miniscule amount. As for those that were able to step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, those individuals had all but vanished!
If one couldn't step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, the might of their body transformation would be limited. To open the Eight Inner Hidden Gates, that required one to consume a massive amount of resources, and there was also the added difficulties of crossing Life Destruction. This meant a tremendous delay in one's cultivation. If one couldn't open the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, all of that really wasn't worth it. The Eight Inner Hidden Gates would have a much weaker role once one stepped into the Divine Lord realm. And the higher one's cultivation rose, the more diminished it would become.
Lin Ming's sleep continued for a full seven days and seven nights.
Seven days later, Lin Ming finally woke up from his deep slumber. He felt that his mind was refreshed and light and his thoughts were incomparably quick!
As he inspected his own spiritual sea, he was pleased to discover that his spiritual sea had expanded by several times its original size. It faintly felt as though it was becoming a world of its own!
The spear-shaped battle spirit floated high in the skies above his spiritual sea. His battle spirit was wrapped in a thick silver gray mist, but in the deepest layers of that mist, there was actually a faint golden color.
Pale gold! That was the sign of a gold battle spirit!
This meant that after Lin Ming's battle spirit was tempered through opening the Gate of Opening, it had reached the peak of silver perfection! It would soon break through and become a gold battle spirit!
But there still existed a great gap between a silver battle spirit and a gold battle spirit; this was an extremely difficult step to take. After Lin Ming's battle spirit had reached silver perfection, he experienced some lucky chances, but that only made his silver battle spirit approach a gold battle spirit that much more; he hadn't been able to make the breakthrough yet.
"My soul force has become three times as powerful in a single go. Moreover…" Lin Ming's thoughts stirred. He recalled the blue lotus image that Fairy Feng had drawn, and he was pleasantly surprised to discover that many previous areas he didn't understand completely became crystal clear to him.
Of the areas he couldn't understand at all, he touched upon some directions of where to begin. He was confident that as long as he had the time, he would be able to thoroughly perceive the blue lotus image!
Perception. After opening the Gate of Opening, Lin Ming's originally decent perception had undergone a massive leap upward.
Chapter 988 - The Smelting Trial Begins
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"Thank you, honorable master!" Lin Ming happily said, overjoyed. After opening the Gate of Opening, he couldn't wait to perceive the Concept of Fire.
"Lin Ming, for you to open the Gate of Opening to this degree is your lucky chance; grasp it tightly. Your achievements in Concepts and Laws weren't high to begin with. You can rely on the Gate of Opening to make up for that weakness," Fairy Feng slowly said. In truth, Lin Ming's understandings of the Fire Laws could be considered at the pinnacle of the Sky Spill Continent. But in comparison to the geniuses of the Divine Realm's Ancient Phoenix Clan, he was merely ordinary.
"The Ancient Phoenix smelting trial will begin in only half a year. This smelting trial will have many opportunities for you, but the competition will be equally intense. Not only will there be disciples from our Phoenix Cry Palace, but also disciples from Praying Phoenix Palace and Charming Phoenix Palace. At the same time, there will also be Divine Transformation realm disciples that will come out from their seclusion and participate. They have been meditating on the Laws, and their understandings of Fire Laws will have risen to another level. Although your talent is good, it's still impossible for you to obtain first place amongst those Divine Transformation realm disciples. I only hope that you can obtain first place among the younger rising talents. Among those, the highest cultivation is at the early Divine Sea.
From the Divine Sea realm to the Divine Transformation realm, one had to close up for a long time and accumulate Laws of the world. They had to fuse these source Laws into their minor dimension, then condense that into a dimensional realm with its own set of rules.
The process was extremely long and difficult. In the Divine Realm, rising from Life Destruction to the Divine Sea would take a genius around ten years. But for those at the Divine Sea to step into Divine Transformation, that often took dozens of years.
This was because rising into the Divine Transformation realm was filled with all sorts of difficulties, and there were also flaws in the various inheritances, even in the Divine Realm. This was also the reason why the martial artists of the lower realms' Sky Spill Continent never had anyone capable of breaking through to Divine Transformation.
"Yes, honorable master."
Lin Ming bowed and excused himself. He flew back to his own training chamber and began to meditate on the third level of the Fire Laws. After opening the Gate of Opening, many areas that he hadn't understood before suddenly became clear. On the Heretical God Sprout, more and more fragments of Laws were carved into the leaves. The golden red round totem became increasingly mystical and profound.
Cultivation passed without sense of time. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
For the Phoenix Cry Palace disciples, the incomparably important Ancient Phoenix smelting trial had begun.
Before the Ancient Phoenix Smelting Trial began, Firebird Hall, Golden Crow Hall, and Vermillion Bird Hall began a vast and bitterly fierce competition in order to decide who had the qualifications to enter the Ancient Phoenix Smelting Trial.
The qualifications to enter the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial were the same as an immense lucky chance. Even if they couldn't rank in the smelting trial itself, they could still expand their horizons and meditate on the source Concepts. There were all sorts or resources they could enjoy there to help them. This was greatly beneficial to their cultivation.
However, Firebird Hall had nearly a million disciples, Golden Crow Hall had tens of thousands of disciples, and Vermillion Bird Hall had several thousand disciples. If all three halls were combined, the number of disciples was terrifying and the competition was fierce. If one wished to obtain a spot, they would have to suffer through difficulties beyond imagination. In order to obtain a single spot, they put forth every secret they had and utilized every connection and trick, desperately lunging for their chance!
Between the disciples of Phoenix Cry Palace, it wasn't just a competition of talent and strength; it was also a contest of methods and plans. It was just like the harem of a mortal emperor. The competition between the 3000 concubines was bloody and cruel.
However, as the first of the four halls, the disciples of Phoenix Hall didn't need to participate in the competition; they easily obtained the smelting trial qualifications that all the disciples of the different halls longed for in their dreams. This was the advantage of being a Phoenix Hall disciple. However, it was actually ten times more difficult to become a Phoenix Hall disciple than to obtain the qualifications for the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial.
Before the smelting trial began, a spirit boat flew high above the skies of Phoenix Cry Palace. In truth, this could not be called a spirit boat but rather a spirit ship. The ship was tens of thousands of feet long and was thousands of feet high. It could easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of disciples.
"All trial disciples enter the spirit ship!"
A Divine Lord realm powerhouse floated in the sky, pouring true essence into his voice. His voice spread far over the entire planet that was Phoenix Cry Palace.
Lin Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at the sky. What a coincidence. This Divine Lord Elder was exactly the Vice Palace Master of Phoenix Hall, the smiling old man that had received Lin Ming into Phoenix Hall.
Although this person was Sage Jiuyang's person, he hadn't created any difficulties for Lin Ming when he entered Phoenix Hall. Lin Ming's impression toward him wasn't good or bad.
Disciples flew into the sky like a swarm of flies, 7000-8000 people in total. Of these people, the disciples of Phoenix Hall accounted for less than 10%, the disciples of Vermillion Bird Hall accounted for 80%, and the disciples of Golden Crow Hall and Firebird Hall filled in the rest. Golden Crow Hall and Firebird Hall had around a thousand participants. In order to cull these 1000 people from the hundreds of thousands of disciples, the competition had been brutal and cutthroat.
As these 7000-8000 disciples flew into the spirit ship, it wasn't crowded at all. Instead, it was extremely spacious.
Old Man Sun floated high above the spirit ship, taking count of everyone.
"Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, haha, aren't you Junior-apprentice Brother Lin? I'm Protector Liu, the one who will be leading you this time. During this Ancient Phoenix smelting trial you must bring honor to our Phoenix Cry palace. At this Atlas World, there are a total of three Ancient Phoenix Clan branch palaces that will join in; they're our Phoenix Cry Palace, Praying Phoenix Palace, and Charming Phoenix Palace. The three palaces will gather at the same area where the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial is held. In these past years, our Phoenix Cry Palace hasn't really been too outstanding amongst the three palaces. The older generation has Junior-apprentice Brother White Daohong to support them, but for the younger disciples there isn't anyone at all. They're in a miserable state!"
Lin Ming had just stepped onto the spirit ship when someone recognized him. The one who spoke was Protector Liu, the one who would be leading the batch of younger disciples. Protector Liu's cultivation was at the late Divine Transformation realm. Although his strength far surpassed Lin Ming's, his expression was still polite as he spoke to him. This was the respect earned by talent. So long as Lin Ming didn't perish midway, it was already an assured matter that he'd become a Divine Lord in the future. A Divine Lord realm powerhouse was rare even in the massive Phoenix Cry Palace.
"Protector Liu," Lin Ming greeted in return. As for Atlas World, he had already read through the jade slips that Jiang Ziji left behind detailing the various influences of the Divine Realm and he also read through some ancient texts of Phoenix Cry Palace, gaining an approximate understanding of the Divine Realm.
The Divine Realm had 3000 great worlds that were called primary worlds. There were also countless medium and small worlds. Of course, these were only small worlds in comparison to the primary worlds. In truth, these small worlds were all as large as the world the Sky Spill Continent was on, if not larger.
Atlas World was one of the Divine Realm's 3000 great worlds. The world was vast to the point that it was nearly immeasurable. This world held three of the Ancient Phoenix Clan's branch palaces, and the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial was also held here.
After Protector Liu called out to Lin Ming, many disciples turned to look at him. Lin Ming's name was currently at the height of fame within Phoenix Cry Palace. It wasn't just because he had taken the Phoenix Blood Spear, but also because he defeated the four layered heavens Ninefall Huo Yanguang with only a fifth stage Life Destruction cultivation. Moreover, news spread that Lin Ming had also inherited the old Palace Master's source strength from Saint Artifact Pavilion. This was treatment that only the highest disciples of Phoenix Hall could hope to receive. It was rare for this type of genius to emerge even in a hundred years.
At this moment, streaks of light appeared on the horizon, shooting forwards at an extreme speed. There were only around 20 some people, but as these people appeared, all the arrogant and proud talents instantly changed their expressions. Even Protector Liu straightened up, appearing much more respectful than before.
"Is that Senior-apprentice Brother White and the others?"
"Elder senior-apprentice brother has finally come."
The 20 some people were not random people but the Ninefall Divine Transformation realm powerhouses of Phoenix Hall, and the one leading them was the number one disciple of Phoenix Cry Palace, White Daohong.
Phoenix Hall had a total of 29 Ninefall powerhouses, and most of them were Divine Transformation realm martial artists. There were a few Ninefall Divine Sea martial artists, and as for Ninefall Life Destruction martial artists, Huo Yanguang was the only one.
These 20 some people had an extremely high and lofty status within Phoenix Hall. They served as the core of Phoenix Hall and their status was much higher than the Hall Protectors. There were even some outer court Elders that treated them with respect, especially White Daohong. White Daohong was a character who would one day become a Vice Palace Master. That was a status that a common Elder could not compare with.
"So that's White Daohong. His background is indeed deep." Lin Ming looked up to see White Daohong. White Daohong was wearing white clothing and his eyebrows slanted upward like swords. His temperament was otherworldly, as if he were unpolluted by the world.
As Lin Ming looked at him, he could feel something peculiar about him. The heaven and earth origin around him seemed to be in harmony with him. This was something that would happen when one's destiny reached an extremely high boundary. They would become one with the world, forming a phenomenon where the world would resonate with them as though they were a sovereign king of the heavens and earth.
According to Fairy Feng's opinion, if White Daohong relied on only his current achievements, he'd become only the weakest and most inferior of Vice Palace Masters in the future. This was in a situation where he didn't experience some fortuitous encounter. But in truth, a genius like this was highly likely to have many great lucky chances awaiting them. If he managed to experience another great lucky chance after becoming a Divine Lord, it was possible he would become a top ranking figure like Fairy Feng or Sage Jiuyang. At that time, he would be only a step away from being a Palace Master.
For those like White Daohong, it wasn't easy for them to perish. His strength, mentality, and destiny defied common sense, and even if he entered a danger zone where death was a near certainty, it was highly likely he would escape through the heavens and even obtain some benefits.
"Elder Sun," White Daohong greeted Elder Sun. His eyes swept over the new disciples. He stopped on Lin Ming for a brief moment before continuing.
"Haha, Apprentice Nephew White, isn't your 120th birthday arriving soon? This will be your last Ancient Phoenix smelting trial. Do you think you can obtain first place?" Elder Sun nodded, smiling and laughing. In terms of status and identity, he was under White Daohong.
"Perhaps not. Charming Phoenix Palace's Lu Xiaoyuan is 10 years younger than me. Although she was inferior to me in the past, she has actually managed to catch up already. After her senior-apprentice sister reached 120 years of age, she became the new chief disciple of Charming Phoenix Palace." White Daohong casually said.
Although he had taken first place among the older disciples twice in the past, both times had been very tough on him. He had experienced fierce competition and only managed to win with a slight advantage both times.
"Everyone is here. We're embarking!"
Once Elder Sun finished taking count of everyone, the spirit ship shot up into the sky!
The several tens of thousands of feet long ship was like an ancient vicious beast. It's velocity rapidly rose to a terrifying degree. Behind it, the massive buildings of Phoenix Cry Palace shrank until they disappeared from sight altogether. Soon, the entire planet Phoenix Cry Palace was located on was also cast off.
Chapter 989 - Fire Spirit Star
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Bang!
The spirit ship broke through the barriers of the great dimension that Phoenix Cry Palace was located within and arrived in the primary Atlas World. The spirit ship crossed through space and activated the great void shift.
In order to travel through a primary world of the Divine Realm, one had to use the great void shift. If they didn't, it'd take tens of thousands of years or even hundreds of millions of years to fly from one end to another.
The spirit ship flew higher and higher. Quickly, the primary world's hundred thousand feet high mountains and hundred mile wide rivers turned vague, shrinking to little particles of dust. Even so, the primary world's main continent was still endlessly broad. The size of a primary world was difficult to measure even when using trillions of miles as a unit.
Lin Ming stood at a porthole and watched the endless void within the heavens of Atlas World, deeply shocked. Although he had already looked through jade slips for a brief introduction of the Divine Realm, he was still shocked by its vastness as he witnessed it with his own eyes!
The great worlds of the Divine Realm not only included the primary world, but also the greater space that surrounded it as well as the countless celestial bodies in this space.
Before, when the spirit ship underwent a great void shift just now, they had already traveled a trillion miles from the continent they were previously at. Along the way, Lin Ming saw almost limitless tiny shining spots in the sky, each spot representing a celestial star.
In the universe, every celestial star represented a celestial body, coming in nearly infinite forms and shapes.
These celestial stars were large and small. Some were blazing fire stars, some were massive planets, some were giant meteors, and some were even black holes that were known as the closest existence in the universe to grandmist energy.
There were countless celestial stars, and most of them had extremely poor environments with nearly no heaven and earth origin. These were desolate stars, unsuited for the survival of mortals or martial artists.
But there were some celestial stars with had rich heaven and earth origin energy and were full of life, vibrant, with many mortals living on them. The resources they had couldn't compare with those on the primary world, but they were far superior to those of the lower realms. Amid these stars, Divine Sea masters, Divine Transformation masters, and even Divine Lord masters would emerge.
There were even some stars that were developed by martial artists as their personal territories or abodes. These martial artists were often supreme elders of the Divine Realm. They kept themselves secluded from the world. But once they appeared, they would frighten an entire area.
Whether it was ancient or current times, the stars that existed in the skies of a Divine Realm primary world always had martial artists living on them and powerhouses with their own hidden abodes. Naturally, there were countless lucky chances that were passed down through time. On these stars, there were an immeasurable number of rare treasures to obtain. There were caves of ancient vicious beasts and even hidden lairs of God Beasts. If one could fully explore these stars, the wealth they would find would be endless!
Of course, even if a late Divine Lord realm powerhouse were to spend their entire life exploring these stars, they wouldn't even manage to visit 1/100,000 of them.
"Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, are you enjoying the scenery? Come on, this journey will last for 20-30 hours. Let's go to the dining hall and get something to eat." A tall man walked over to Lin Ming. He was Protector Liu who was responsible for the rookie disciples.
Once a martial artist reached Lin Ming's boundary, they could ward off hunger forever by absorbing heaven and earth origin energy for sustenance. Still, eating good meals brought about enjoyment and pleasure, and the food of Phoenix Cry Palace was made from refined heavenly materials. Eating this type of food was very beneficial to a martial artist's cultivation.
As they walked to the dining room, many people recognized Lin Ming along the way. They looked at him with a great deal of respect etched into their expressions, and some even made way for him to pass through. This was proof that Lin Ming's prestige in Phoenix Cry Palace was already firmly established.
The world was like this. If a person suddenly had a great accomplishment, they would often incur the envy and exclusion of others. These jealous people might think that this person's successes were only due to luck, and some people would even want to wrest away his achievements. But if that person were to have an even greater accomplishment once again, then that'd be proof they had strength others could not rival. The other envious people would slowly shut up and their envy would be replaced by respect and awe instead.
Lin Ming defeating Huo Yanguang had undoubtedly consolidated his position.
Of course, there were no absolutes. There were still many people who imaged Lin Ming as their rival and took him as the goal they had to surpass in the future.
"Zhou Fei, the one who passed us just now was Lin Ming. He's the person in Phoenix Hall with the greatest limelight right now. Compared to him, we still have a long way to go." After Lin Ming walked by, a blue robed man spoke to a man in red armor.
"A long way? Yes, that's right, the road I want to walk down is indeed long. But that is only the road to becoming a Palace Master or Holy Lord. As for Lin Ming, I will surpass him sooner or later. When I entered the sect, I only managed to enter into the lowest level Firebird Hall, but that is only because of my background. I'm not like that Lin Ming. I don't have to latch onto the thigh of a Vice Palace master and have her recommend me to directly enter Phoenix Hall. If I want to enter Phoenix Hall, I can only do so by crossing the ninth stage of Life Destruction. Even with everything against me, I was still able to rely on my status as a Firebird Hall disciple to obtain first place amongst the rookie disciples in the qualification tournament!"
As the red armored man spoke, his eyes flashed with a confident light. He had just reached the eighth stage of Life Destruction.
The red armored man's name was Zhou Fei. He came from common mortal origins and was a disciple of Firebird Hall. However, during the qualification tournament for the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial, Zhou Fei won from all his rivals. As a Firebird Hall disciple, he defeated all the other rookie talents of Golden Crow Hall and Vermillion Bird Hall, and managed to obtain first place. He currently enjoyed a very great limelight.
However, what made Zhou Fei uncomfortable was that he thought he would soar into prominence this time and become the focus of the entire Phoenix Cry Palace. He thought that he'd be the next man of the hour after Lin Ming. That the Elders would realize they were blind to talent and would descend to Firebird Hall to wring their hands and praise him.
But reality was not what he expected. He only caused a great stir within Firebird Hall and Golden Crow Hall and the worship of many young disciples there. In the second highest ranking Vermillion Bird Hall, he attracted jealousy and exclusion, and many even insisted he had only been lucky.
As for the highest level Phoenix Hall, everyone there ignored him, no one was concerned about him from the start!
Compared to the limelight that Lin Ming had created, him winning first place in the qualifications tournament was like comparing a tiny wave in front of a vast sea. It was simply insignificant.
Even when he saw disciples of Phoenix Hall and greeted them, none of them had heard of him.
It was impossible for him to reconcile with this! He procured such a great achievement, so where was the honor and glory he deserved?
As he thought this over, Zhou Fei could only come up with a single explanation. The disciple of Phoenix Hall always kept a mentality of being high above others from the start and simply looked down at everyone from the Firebird Hall, Golden Crow Hall, and Vermillion Bird Hall. They must think that all other disciples were nothing but grasshoppers and ants, and even someone who obtained first place would just be a slightly larger ant.
This sort of contempt caused a fire to rage in Zhou Fei's heart!
"Humph, you lot think that us disciples of the three halls are nothing but ants, but what you don't know is that common mortal talents like me simply don't have the chance to enter Phoenix Hall if we don't reach the ninth stage of Life Destruction. But even so, I am far stronger than most of you!"
Zhou Fei took a deep breath, clenching his fists together. He planned to amaze the world in a single feat during this Ancient Phoenix smelting trial. He believed that with such a result, the high-level figures of Phoenix Cry palace would finally take him seriously and give him the attention he deserved. He would become the focus of all eyes!
Lin Ming naturally didn't know he had become the goal that many people were chasing after. As he was eating, the spirit ship underwent the great void shift again and again, shifting dozens of times over.
Finally, the spirit ship came to a stop in front of a flaming red star. From afar, this fire star seemed extremely serene. It was only that the surface of this star was covered with red spots, as if it were the texture of wood. Surrounding this planet was also a massive ring. This ring stretched out for millions of miles, passing through the skies like a beautiful and endless rainbow.
This was the location of the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial-Fire Spirit Star.
This star was only several hundred thousand miles in diameter-it was far smaller than the planet the Sky Spill Continent was on. As the spirit ship entered the atmosphere of Fire Spirit Star, it began to collide with the atmosphere and the fierce friction resulted in endless flames.
Within the atmosphere of Fire Spirit Star, there were terrifying vortexes of fire origin energy everywhere. Strong winds of fire origin energy traveled at thousands of miles per second, ten times the speed of sound. It was more accurate to say that instead of winds, these were actually shock waves. If a mortal were to be hit by such a breeze, they'd be smashed to death.
Even a martial artist couldn't withstand such an impact. This was because what these shock waves blew was not air but extremely wild fire origin energy. Although Fire Spirit Star looked tranquil from the outside, if one looked carefully, they could discover just how terrifying it truly was. Those beautiful red spots one could see from afar were actually formed by the strong winds.
In such a dangerous and brutal environment, it was impossible for any kind of life to form. This was why Fire Spirit Star was classified as a desolate star. Even so, to a high level martial artist, it was actually an excellent smelting trial location.
This Fire Spirit Star was considered the territory of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. The Ancient Phoenix Clan had built many smelting trial locations within it.
"We've arrived. Everyone, disembark the spirit ship!"
Elder Sun yelled out as the leader of the troop.
"Hehe, let's go Junior-apprentice Brother Lin. Fire Spirit Star isn't a place to have fun. You should be careful…" Protector Liu who was responsible for the rookie disciple grinned as he spoke. But just as his voice faded, there were two miserable screams that echoed out. Two rookie disciples of Firebird Hall had their protective true essence blown apart by the strong heavenly winds. They were sent flying backwards by the impact force. Savage and wild fire origin energy broke into their meridians, causing them to vomit a mouthful of blood!
Several Protectors immediately flew out to catch them. One Protector expanded his protective true essence to cover them and another Protector injected true essence into their bodies. Only then were the two disciples able to catch their breath.
Elder Sun's eyes turned chilling. He coldly said, :"What a bunch of pathetic fools. Although I didn't warn you about the dangers of Fire Spirit Star, you should have sensed just how harsh the environment here was while on the spirit ship. Even so, you casually walked out. I really don't know how such idiots managed to pass the qualification test. If people like you two entered into a mystic realm to hunt for treasures with others, the best you'll ever accomplish is being cannon fodder for others, let alone obtaining benefits or lucky chances. Once you leave Firebird Hall, you will likely perish on your road of martial arts. Forget trying to cultivate to higher boundaries. You are both utter disappointments!"
Elder Sun intentionally didn't warn the junior disciples about the dangers of Fire Spirit Star because he wanted to test their powers of observation. The result was that they really were idiots.
The two disciples had already suffered enough misery. After being publicly reprimanded by Elder Sun, their complexions turned white.
"These two idiots really disgrace Firebird Hall. I can't believe that I'm stuck in the same hall with them." Zhou Fei frowned. He was ashamed in his heart that he was in the same group as these people.
"Haha, they truly are disgraces. But for the lower cultivation disciples, even if they know about the strong heavenly winds of Fire Spirit Star beforehand, it's still difficult to withstand even if they put forth their full strength. This is why Phoenix Cry Palace has such a rigorous qualification competition that removes over 99% of the disciples. Just watch, many disciples won't even be able to stand above Fire Spirit Star." The blue-clothed man that accompanied Zhou Fei casually said.
Chapter 987 - Enhanced Perception
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As Lin Ming realized this, he began to vigorously guard his mind. A silver gray spear-shaped battle spirit shot out from between his eyebrows and smashed into the void!
Peng!
With an explosive sound, countless cracks appeared where the spear-shaped battle spirit struck the void. These cracks spread out at a speed faster than light, spreading through countless galaxies. The entire universe shattered like glass and completely broke apart!
"Ahh!"
Lin Ming screamed out. It felt as if what collapsed in front of him was not the universe but his spiritual sea. It was like his soul and mind shattered alongside the universe as an indescribably pain wracked his very essence. His head felt as if it were splitting apart!
"Was I wrong? Was there a mistake?"
Was that just now not my heart demon, but my spiritual sea that I personally destroyed?
This thought flashed through Lin Ming's mind. For the briefest of moments his heart wavered but he immediately rejected this idea!
"My battle spirit is my will, a spear of will that is bred from within my spiritual sea. My will would only destroy illusions and lies. How could it possibly harm my own spiritual sea?
"Break! Break it all!"
Lin Ming loudly shouted into the void. His spear of will grew endless millions of miles, then came smashing down like a cosmos splitting axe!
Kacha!
The endless space was shattered by the spear of will!
The scenery changed. From the cracks within the space, endless devils, evil spirits, raving ghosts, zombies, cruel demons, yakshas, asuras, and other monsters appeared. They blotted out the heavens as they rushed toward Lin Ming, wanting to swallow him whole.
Each and every single one of these beings were hundreds of feet tall, with some even a thousand feet tall. They gathered together in a line that stretched for infinity. From the distance they resembled an army of ants!
Lin Ming's eyes flashed with a severe light. The spear that was hundreds of millions of miles long suddenly swept out and countless screams filled the air as the trillions of evil creatures were slain by Lin Ming!
At this time, Lin Ming's spear of will had also weakened by a great deal. Although he had a powerful will, it wasn't endless. After killing so many demonic illusions in a single breath, the burden on him was also great.
He focused his heart, continuing to gather and sharpen his will to guard his mind. If he wavered and the Gate of Opening didn't completely open, his consciousness would fall into an illusion and he would be beyond saving.
After the demonic illusions vanished, countless Fey flew through the space cracks. As these Fey flew forward, they changed into exquisite and peerless beauties. They were light and transparent veils and their bodies were half clothed, exposing lusty imagery. Some of them were slender with a bountiful figure, some were young, some were more mature, some were cute and lovable, some were charming and seductive, and some seemed as pure as snow. All of these beautiful women danced and sung as light music filled the air. They had dark eyes that held promises of sweet nights, visions that blurred the eyes and sent one into a drooling stupor.
Even a high monk might find their will shaken by this scene, but Lin Ming's eyes were actually filled with a cold indifference. He swept out with the spear of will once again!
Peng!
All the beautiful Fey women were reduced to ashes!
The spear of will faded further. It was only by relying on the grandmist attribute of the spear that it was able to keep its strength and complete this final slaughter.
At this time, Li Ming felt his own strength suddenly leaving his body. He looked down to see that his hands had aged. His skin was mottled and wrinkled, his eyes were deeply set back in their sockets, his hair was stringy and white, and his fires of life were lowly flickering, as if they were a candle in a storm, ready to fade away at any moment.
Maggots began to crawl out from his old and nearly rotten skin. Beetles began to gnaw on his flesh and dig away at his bones.
Lin Ming coldly snorted. "My will is everlasting and eternal. My flesh can tear off mountains and split apart the earth. My fire of life is like the sun that blazes in the brilliant skies, burning away all!"
Lin Ming roared out and his entire body lit up with flames. The maggots and beetles were all burnt to ashes, and as Lin Ming's body was wreathed in these flames, his rotten old skin was scorched away by the fire and replaced by delicate newborn skin. He was like a phoenix in the flames of nirvana, reborn through a bath of fire!
Bang!
Fire erupted, filling the entire universe. At this moment, Lin Ming's spiritual sea violently trembled. His spiritual sea was filled with raging flames, and the universe around him seemed to fuse into that sea!
Lin Ming stuffily coughed as his eyes suddenly shot open. His complexion was paler than paper and his body was soaked with sweat!
A feeling of infinite exhaustion filled his heart and mind. Lin Ming felt his eyelids weight down like lead and a piercing ache on the side of his head. Moreover, the illusions caused him to have trouble differentiating reality from fantasy.
He looked up to see Fairy Feng sitting in front of him. She was looking at him with a bright smile and nodded appreciatively.
"It's over. I've done it."
Lin Ming took a long breath and slowly sank into a deep sleep.
Opening the Eight Inner Hidden Gate's fifth Gate of Opening was equivalent to opening one's spiritual sea. It caused a terrifying consumption on one's mental strength, divine soul, and will. If one lacked in willpower or soul force, it was possible he'd fail to fully open the Gate of Opening.
There were even some people that would suddenly die. Others would exhaust themselves, allowing their minds to fall into illusions and become vegetables for the rest of their lives.
Lin Ming's sleep was extremely deep, 100% of his being concentrated on his slumber. His heartbeat slowed down and his senses were completely closed off. His brain was closed off and all the pores on his body were relaxed open, spontaneously absorbing heaven and earth origin energy.
During this period, if anyone wanted to kill Lin Ming, he wouldn't have any ability to resist them.
Fairy Feng sat in meditation on the side, keeping track of Lin Ming's condition the entire time.
She was satisfied that Lin Ming was able to reach this step, extremely satisfied. Lin Ming had almost exhausted all of his will and battle spirit in this attempt and the result was that he had perfectly opened the Gate of Opening and had completely developed the potential of his brain.
'In terms of how formidable his will and battle spirit are, I fear that there is no one of his age in the entire Divine Realm that could stand on par with him. The benefits that this powerful willpower will grant him will slowly manifest during his future cultivation. For instance, for him to open the Gate of Opening and also to such a degree, all of that is because of the strength of his will. Moreover, his battle spirit seems to have a strange attribute to it. It is wild and vigorous, and it seems to correspond with the Heavenly Dao. If it weren't for the support of this special attribute, Lin Ming wouldn't have been able to open the Gate of Opening to perfection."
For Lin Ming to open the Gate of Opening to perfection, it would greatly enhance his perception and soul force. The advantages to his future cultivation were obvious!
If each and every martial artist was able to open the Gate of Opening to such a degree, there would likely be many geniuses that wouldn't hesitate to dual cultivate body and energy at all costs just for this Gate of Opening.
But what a pity, that was only a dream.
If one desired to dual cultivate body and energy, they would have to start from a period when their cultivation was at an extremely low point. Otherwise, if they cultivated to Life Destruction and their physical body was transformed into a spirit body, they would be unable to practice body transformation any longer. This was because the bodily matrix would've already changed. When one reached the Divine Transformation realm or the Divine Lord realm, a small world would begin to open within their bodies as their spirit bodies slowly became divine bodies. At that point, there was no need to even raise the question of body transformation.
The opposite was true too. If one managed to cultivate the body transformation technique to some point within the Eight Hidden Inner Gates or even the Nine Stars of The Dao Palace, the physical body would simply become too tough and durable. Wishing to cross Life Destruction at that time would be nothing more than a wild dream!
In both these situations, a martial artist's boundary was destined to be low when they opened the fifth Gate of Opening of the Eight Inner Hidden Gates. If their boundary was low, the boundary of their will wouldn't be higher either, and their will and battle spirit would be correspondingly weak. With a weak will and battle spirit, wasn't wishing to open the Gate of Opening easier said than done?
It was more accurate to say that regardless of failure or success, it would be excellent if they didn't lose their mind to an illusion.
"This child is truly a dragon in a pool. All sorts of destiny have converged onto his body, and as he walks forward on his road of martial arts, every step he takes nears perfection. If he can continue this progress, he'll be a legend in the future, an Empyrean. But the problem is that to have every step reach perfection is far too difficult. Especially during the Divine Transformation realm and Divine Lord realm. At that time, there are many geniuses that will have exhausted their potential. They must seek their own lucky chances in order to further advance."
"Yet even so, within the lower realms with the barren resources that exist there, he was able to cultivate something that required countless resources like the Eight Inner Hidden Gates to such a degree. Moreover, he obtained a 100,000 year medicine garden from somewhere, and this allowed him to continue cultivating. Now he has fully opened the Gate of Opening and completely developed his brain. Perhaps, perhaps he really might have a chance of stepping into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace."
"To my knowledge, no one has managed to step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace for millions or even billions of years. Of course, in the vast and endless Divine Realm, what I know is also limited. There might be some people out there somewhere who have managed to do so, but I simply haven't heard about it at."
The Divine Realm was truly broad and boundless, with countless geniuses everywhere. However, martial artists that dual cultivated body and energy only accounted for a miniscule amount. As for those that were able to step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, those individuals had all but vanished!
If one couldn't step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, the might of their body transformation would be limited. To open the Eight Inner Hidden Gates, that required one to consume a massive amount of resources, and there was also the added difficulties of crossing Life Destruction. This meant a tremendous delay in one's cultivation. If one couldn't open the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, all of that really wasn't worth it. The Eight Inner Hidden Gates would have a much weaker role once one stepped into the Divine Lord realm. And the higher one's cultivation rose, the more diminished it would become.
Lin Ming's sleep continued for a full seven days and seven nights.
Seven days later, Lin Ming finally woke up from his deep slumber. He felt that his mind was refreshed and light and his thoughts were incomparably quick!
As he inspected his own spiritual sea, he was pleased to discover that his spiritual sea had expanded by several times its original size. It faintly felt as though it was becoming a world of its own!
The spear-shaped battle spirit floated high in the skies above his spiritual sea. His battle spirit was wrapped in a thick silver gray mist, but in the deepest layers of that mist, there was actually a faint golden color.
Pale gold! That was the sign of a gold battle spirit!
This meant that after Lin Ming's battle spirit was tempered through opening the Gate of Opening, it had reached the peak of silver perfection! It would soon break through and become a gold battle spirit!
But there still existed a great gap between a silver battle spirit and a gold battle spirit; this was an extremely difficult step to take. After Lin Ming's battle spirit had reached silver perfection, he experienced some lucky chances, but that only made his silver battle spirit approach a gold battle spirit that much more; he hadn't been able to make the breakthrough yet.
"My soul force has become three times as powerful in a single go. Moreover…" Lin Ming's thoughts stirred. He recalled the blue lotus image that Fairy Feng had drawn, and he was pleasantly surprised to discover that many previous areas he didn't understand completely became crystal clear to him.
Of the areas he couldn't understand at all, he touched upon some directions of where to begin. He was confident that as long as he had the time, he would be able to thoroughly perceive the blue lotus image!
Perception. After opening the Gate of Opening, Lin Ming's originally decent perception had undergone a massive leap upward.
Chapter 988 - The Smelting Trial Begins
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"Thank you, honorable master!" Lin Ming happily said, overjoyed. After opening the Gate of Opening, he couldn't wait to perceive the Concept of Fire.
"Lin Ming, for you to open the Gate of Opening to this degree is your lucky chance; grasp it tightly. Your achievements in Concepts and Laws weren't high to begin with. You can rely on the Gate of Opening to make up for that weakness," Fairy Feng slowly said. In truth, Lin Ming's understandings of the Fire Laws could be considered at the pinnacle of the Sky Spill Continent. But in comparison to the geniuses of the Divine Realm's Ancient Phoenix Clan, he was merely ordinary.
"The Ancient Phoenix smelting trial will begin in only half a year. This smelting trial will have many opportunities for you, but the competition will be equally intense. Not only will there be disciples from our Phoenix Cry Palace, but also disciples from Praying Phoenix Palace and Charming Phoenix Palace. At the same time, there will also be Divine Transformation realm disciples that will come out from their seclusion and participate. They have been meditating on the Laws, and their understandings of Fire Laws will have risen to another level. Although your talent is good, it's still impossible for you to obtain first place amongst those Divine Transformation realm disciples. I only hope that you can obtain first place among the younger rising talents. Among those, the highest cultivation is at the early Divine Sea.
From the Divine Sea realm to the Divine Transformation realm, one had to close up for a long time and accumulate Laws of the world. They had to fuse these source Laws into their minor dimension, then condense that into a dimensional realm with its own set of rules.
The process was extremely long and difficult. In the Divine Realm, rising from Life Destruction to the Divine Sea would take a genius around ten years. But for those at the Divine Sea to step into Divine Transformation, that often took dozens of years.
This was because rising into the Divine Transformation realm was filled with all sorts of difficulties, and there were also flaws in the various inheritances, even in the Divine Realm. This was also the reason why the martial artists of the lower realms' Sky Spill Continent never had anyone capable of breaking through to Divine Transformation.
"Yes, honorable master."
Lin Ming bowed and excused himself. He flew back to his own training chamber and began to meditate on the third level of the Fire Laws. After opening the Gate of Opening, many areas that he hadn't understood before suddenly became clear. On the Heretical God Sprout, more and more fragments of Laws were carved into the leaves. The golden red round totem became increasingly mystical and profound.
Cultivation passed without sense of time. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
For the Phoenix Cry Palace disciples, the incomparably important Ancient Phoenix smelting trial had begun.
Before the Ancient Phoenix Smelting Trial began, Firebird Hall, Golden Crow Hall, and Vermillion Bird Hall began a vast and bitterly fierce competition in order to decide who had the qualifications to enter the Ancient Phoenix Smelting Trial.
The qualifications to enter the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial were the same as an immense lucky chance. Even if they couldn't rank in the smelting trial itself, they could still expand their horizons and meditate on the source Concepts. There were all sorts or resources they could enjoy there to help them. This was greatly beneficial to their cultivation.
However, Firebird Hall had nearly a million disciples, Golden Crow Hall had tens of thousands of disciples, and Vermillion Bird Hall had several thousand disciples. If all three halls were combined, the number of disciples was terrifying and the competition was fierce. If one wished to obtain a spot, they would have to suffer through difficulties beyond imagination. In order to obtain a single spot, they put forth every secret they had and utilized every connection and trick, desperately lunging for their chance!
Between the disciples of Phoenix Cry Palace, it wasn't just a competition of talent and strength; it was also a contest of methods and plans. It was just like the harem of a mortal emperor. The competition between the 3000 concubines was bloody and cruel.
However, as the first of the four halls, the disciples of Phoenix Hall didn't need to participate in the competition; they easily obtained the smelting trial qualifications that all the disciples of the different halls longed for in their dreams. This was the advantage of being a Phoenix Hall disciple. However, it was actually ten times more difficult to become a Phoenix Hall disciple than to obtain the qualifications for the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial.
Before the smelting trial began, a spirit boat flew high above the skies of Phoenix Cry Palace. In truth, this could not be called a spirit boat but rather a spirit ship. The ship was tens of thousands of feet long and was thousands of feet high. It could easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of disciples.
"All trial disciples enter the spirit ship!"
A Divine Lord realm powerhouse floated in the sky, pouring true essence into his voice. His voice spread far over the entire planet that was Phoenix Cry Palace.
Lin Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at the sky. What a coincidence. This Divine Lord Elder was exactly the Vice Palace Master of Phoenix Hall, the smiling old man that had received Lin Ming into Phoenix Hall.
Although this person was Sage Jiuyang's person, he hadn't created any difficulties for Lin Ming when he entered Phoenix Hall. Lin Ming's impression toward him wasn't good or bad.
Disciples flew into the sky like a swarm of flies, 7000-8000 people in total. Of these people, the disciples of Phoenix Hall accounted for less than 10%, the disciples of Vermillion Bird Hall accounted for 80%, and the disciples of Golden Crow Hall and Firebird Hall filled in the rest. Golden Crow Hall and Firebird Hall had around a thousand participants. In order to cull these 1000 people from the hundreds of thousands of disciples, the competition had been brutal and cutthroat.
As these 7000-8000 disciples flew into the spirit ship, it wasn't crowded at all. Instead, it was extremely spacious.
Old Man Sun floated high above the spirit ship, taking count of everyone.
"Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, haha, aren't you Junior-apprentice Brother Lin? I'm Protector Liu, the one who will be leading you this time. During this Ancient Phoenix smelting trial you must bring honor to our Phoenix Cry palace. At this Atlas World, there are a total of three Ancient Phoenix Clan branch palaces that will join in; they're our Phoenix Cry Palace, Praying Phoenix Palace, and Charming Phoenix Palace. The three palaces will gather at the same area where the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial is held. In these past years, our Phoenix Cry Palace hasn't really been too outstanding amongst the three palaces. The older generation has Junior-apprentice Brother White Daohong to support them, but for the younger disciples there isn't anyone at all. They're in a miserable state!"
Lin Ming had just stepped onto the spirit ship when someone recognized him. The one who spoke was Protector Liu, the one who would be leading the batch of younger disciples. Protector Liu's cultivation was at the late Divine Transformation realm. Although his strength far surpassed Lin Ming's, his expression was still polite as he spoke to him. This was the respect earned by talent. So long as Lin Ming didn't perish midway, it was already an assured matter that he'd become a Divine Lord in the future. A Divine Lord realm powerhouse was rare even in the massive Phoenix Cry Palace.
"Protector Liu," Lin Ming greeted in return. As for Atlas World, he had already read through the jade slips that Jiang Ziji left behind detailing the various influences of the Divine Realm and he also read through some ancient texts of Phoenix Cry Palace, gaining an approximate understanding of the Divine Realm.
The Divine Realm had 3000 great worlds that were called primary worlds. There were also countless medium and small worlds. Of course, these were only small worlds in comparison to the primary worlds. In truth, these small worlds were all as large as the world the Sky Spill Continent was on, if not larger.
Atlas World was one of the Divine Realm's 3000 great worlds. The world was vast to the point that it was nearly immeasurable. This world held three of the Ancient Phoenix Clan's branch palaces, and the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial was also held here.
After Protector Liu called out to Lin Ming, many disciples turned to look at him. Lin Ming's name was currently at the height of fame within Phoenix Cry Palace. It wasn't just because he had taken the Phoenix Blood Spear, but also because he defeated the four layered heavens Ninefall Huo Yanguang with only a fifth stage Life Destruction cultivation. Moreover, news spread that Lin Ming had also inherited the old Palace Master's source strength from Saint Artifact Pavilion. This was treatment that only the highest disciples of Phoenix Hall could hope to receive. It was rare for this type of genius to emerge even in a hundred years.
At this moment, streaks of light appeared on the horizon, shooting forwards at an extreme speed. There were only around 20 some people, but as these people appeared, all the arrogant and proud talents instantly changed their expressions. Even Protector Liu straightened up, appearing much more respectful than before.
"Is that Senior-apprentice Brother White and the others?"
"Elder senior-apprentice brother has finally come."
The 20 some people were not random people but the Ninefall Divine Transformation realm powerhouses of Phoenix Hall, and the one leading them was the number one disciple of Phoenix Cry Palace, White Daohong.
Phoenix Hall had a total of 29 Ninefall powerhouses, and most of them were Divine Transformation realm martial artists. There were a few Ninefall Divine Sea martial artists, and as for Ninefall Life Destruction martial artists, Huo Yanguang was the only one.
These 20 some people had an extremely high and lofty status within Phoenix Hall. They served as the core of Phoenix Hall and their status was much higher than the Hall Protectors. There were even some outer court Elders that treated them with respect, especially White Daohong. White Daohong was a character who would one day become a Vice Palace Master. That was a status that a common Elder could not compare with.
"So that's White Daohong. His background is indeed deep." Lin Ming looked up to see White Daohong. White Daohong was wearing white clothing and his eyebrows slanted upward like swords. His temperament was otherworldly, as if he were unpolluted by the world.
As Lin Ming looked at him, he could feel something peculiar about him. The heaven and earth origin around him seemed to be in harmony with him. This was something that would happen when one's destiny reached an extremely high boundary. They would become one with the world, forming a phenomenon where the world would resonate with them as though they were a sovereign king of the heavens and earth.
According to Fairy Feng's opinion, if White Daohong relied on only his current achievements, he'd become only the weakest and most inferior of Vice Palace Masters in the future. This was in a situation where he didn't experience some fortuitous encounter. But in truth, a genius like this was highly likely to have many great lucky chances awaiting them. If he managed to experience another great lucky chance after becoming a Divine Lord, it was possible he would become a top ranking figure like Fairy Feng or Sage Jiuyang. At that time, he would be only a step away from being a Palace Master.
For those like White Daohong, it wasn't easy for them to perish. His strength, mentality, and destiny defied common sense, and even if he entered a danger zone where death was a near certainty, it was highly likely he would escape through the heavens and even obtain some benefits.
"Elder Sun," White Daohong greeted Elder Sun. His eyes swept over the new disciples. He stopped on Lin Ming for a brief moment before continuing.
"Haha, Apprentice Nephew White, isn't your 120th birthday arriving soon? This will be your last Ancient Phoenix smelting trial. Do you think you can obtain first place?" Elder Sun nodded, smiling and laughing. In terms of status and identity, he was under White Daohong.
"Perhaps not. Charming Phoenix Palace's Lu Xiaoyuan is 10 years younger than me. Although she was inferior to me in the past, she has actually managed to catch up already. After her senior-apprentice sister reached 120 years of age, she became the new chief disciple of Charming Phoenix Palace." White Daohong casually said.
Although he had taken first place among the older disciples twice in the past, both times had been very tough on him. He had experienced fierce competition and only managed to win with a slight advantage both times.
"Everyone is here. We're embarking!"
Once Elder Sun finished taking count of everyone, the spirit ship shot up into the sky!
The several tens of thousands of feet long ship was like an ancient vicious beast. It's velocity rapidly rose to a terrifying degree. Behind it, the massive buildings of Phoenix Cry Palace shrank until they disappeared from sight altogether. Soon, the entire planet Phoenix Cry Palace was located on was also cast off.
Chapter 989 - Fire Spirit Star
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Bang!
The spirit ship broke through the barriers of the great dimension that Phoenix Cry Palace was located within and arrived in the primary Atlas World. The spirit ship crossed through space and activated the great void shift.
In order to travel through a primary world of the Divine Realm, one had to use the great void shift. If they didn't, it'd take tens of thousands of years or even hundreds of millions of years to fly from one end to another.
The spirit ship flew higher and higher. Quickly, the primary world's hundred thousand feet high mountains and hundred mile wide rivers turned vague, shrinking to little particles of dust. Even so, the primary world's main continent was still endlessly broad. The size of a primary world was difficult to measure even when using trillions of miles as a unit.
Lin Ming stood at a porthole and watched the endless void within the heavens of Atlas World, deeply shocked. Although he had already looked through jade slips for a brief introduction of the Divine Realm, he was still shocked by its vastness as he witnessed it with his own eyes!
The great worlds of the Divine Realm not only included the primary world, but also the greater space that surrounded it as well as the countless celestial bodies in this space.
Before, when the spirit ship underwent a great void shift just now, they had already traveled a trillion miles from the continent they were previously at. Along the way, Lin Ming saw almost limitless tiny shining spots in the sky, each spot representing a celestial star.
In the universe, every celestial star represented a celestial body, coming in nearly infinite forms and shapes.
These celestial stars were large and small. Some were blazing fire stars, some were massive planets, some were giant meteors, and some were even black holes that were known as the closest existence in the universe to grandmist energy.
There were countless celestial stars, and most of them had extremely poor environments with nearly no heaven and earth origin. These were desolate stars, unsuited for the survival of mortals or martial artists.
But there were some celestial stars with had rich heaven and earth origin energy and were full of life, vibrant, with many mortals living on them. The resources they had couldn't compare with those on the primary world, but they were far superior to those of the lower realms. Amid these stars, Divine Sea masters, Divine Transformation masters, and even Divine Lord masters would emerge.
There were even some stars that were developed by martial artists as their personal territories or abodes. These martial artists were often supreme elders of the Divine Realm. They kept themselves secluded from the world. But once they appeared, they would frighten an entire area.
Whether it was ancient or current times, the stars that existed in the skies of a Divine Realm primary world always had martial artists living on them and powerhouses with their own hidden abodes. Naturally, there were countless lucky chances that were passed down through time. On these stars, there were an immeasurable number of rare treasures to obtain. There were caves of ancient vicious beasts and even hidden lairs of God Beasts. If one could fully explore these stars, the wealth they would find would be endless!
Of course, even if a late Divine Lord realm powerhouse were to spend their entire life exploring these stars, they wouldn't even manage to visit 1/100,000 of them.
"Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, are you enjoying the scenery? Come on, this journey will last for 20-30 hours. Let's go to the dining hall and get something to eat." A tall man walked over to Lin Ming. He was Protector Liu who was responsible for the rookie disciples.
Once a martial artist reached Lin Ming's boundary, they could ward off hunger forever by absorbing heaven and earth origin energy for sustenance. Still, eating good meals brought about enjoyment and pleasure, and the food of Phoenix Cry Palace was made from refined heavenly materials. Eating this type of food was very beneficial to a martial artist's cultivation.
As they walked to the dining room, many people recognized Lin Ming along the way. They looked at him with a great deal of respect etched into their expressions, and some even made way for him to pass through. This was proof that Lin Ming's prestige in Phoenix Cry Palace was already firmly established.
The world was like this. If a person suddenly had a great accomplishment, they would often incur the envy and exclusion of others. These jealous people might think that this person's successes were only due to luck, and some people would even want to wrest away his achievements. But if that person were to have an even greater accomplishment once again, then that'd be proof they had strength others could not rival. The other envious people would slowly shut up and their envy would be replaced by respect and awe instead.
Lin Ming defeating Huo Yanguang had undoubtedly consolidated his position.
Of course, there were no absolutes. There were still many people who imaged Lin Ming as their rival and took him as the goal they had to surpass in the future.
"Zhou Fei, the one who passed us just now was Lin Ming. He's the person in Phoenix Hall with the greatest limelight right now. Compared to him, we still have a long way to go." After Lin Ming walked by, a blue robed man spoke to a man in red armor.
"A long way? Yes, that's right, the road I want to walk down is indeed long. But that is only the road to becoming a Palace Master or Holy Lord. As for Lin Ming, I will surpass him sooner or later. When I entered the sect, I only managed to enter into the lowest level Firebird Hall, but that is only because of my background. I'm not like that Lin Ming. I don't have to latch onto the thigh of a Vice Palace master and have her recommend me to directly enter Phoenix Hall. If I want to enter Phoenix Hall, I can only do so by crossing the ninth stage of Life Destruction. Even with everything against me, I was still able to rely on my status as a Firebird Hall disciple to obtain first place amongst the rookie disciples in the qualification tournament!"
As the red armored man spoke, his eyes flashed with a confident light. He had just reached the eighth stage of Life Destruction.
The red armored man's name was Zhou Fei. He came from common mortal origins and was a disciple of Firebird Hall. However, during the qualification tournament for the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial, Zhou Fei won from all his rivals. As a Firebird Hall disciple, he defeated all the other rookie talents of Golden Crow Hall and Vermillion Bird Hall, and managed to obtain first place. He currently enjoyed a very great limelight.
However, what made Zhou Fei uncomfortable was that he thought he would soar into prominence this time and become the focus of the entire Phoenix Cry Palace. He thought that he'd be the next man of the hour after Lin Ming. That the Elders would realize they were blind to talent and would descend to Firebird Hall to wring their hands and praise him.
But reality was not what he expected. He only caused a great stir within Firebird Hall and Golden Crow Hall and the worship of many young disciples there. In the second highest ranking Vermillion Bird Hall, he attracted jealousy and exclusion, and many even insisted he had only been lucky.
As for the highest level Phoenix Hall, everyone there ignored him, no one was concerned about him from the start!
Compared to the limelight that Lin Ming had created, him winning first place in the qualifications tournament was like comparing a tiny wave in front of a vast sea. It was simply insignificant.
Even when he saw disciples of Phoenix Hall and greeted them, none of them had heard of him.
It was impossible for him to reconcile with this! He procured such a great achievement, so where was the honor and glory he deserved?
As he thought this over, Zhou Fei could only come up with a single explanation. The disciple of Phoenix Hall always kept a mentality of being high above others from the start and simply looked down at everyone from the Firebird Hall, Golden Crow Hall, and Vermillion Bird Hall. They must think that all other disciples were nothing but grasshoppers and ants, and even someone who obtained first place would just be a slightly larger ant.
This sort of contempt caused a fire to rage in Zhou Fei's heart!
"Humph, you lot think that us disciples of the three halls are nothing but ants, but what you don't know is that common mortal talents like me simply don't have the chance to enter Phoenix Hall if we don't reach the ninth stage of Life Destruction. But even so, I am far stronger than most of you!"
Zhou Fei took a deep breath, clenching his fists together. He planned to amaze the world in a single feat during this Ancient Phoenix smelting trial. He believed that with such a result, the high-level figures of Phoenix Cry palace would finally take him seriously and give him the attention he deserved. He would become the focus of all eyes!
Lin Ming naturally didn't know he had become the goal that many people were chasing after. As he was eating, the spirit ship underwent the great void shift again and again, shifting dozens of times over.
Finally, the spirit ship came to a stop in front of a flaming red star. From afar, this fire star seemed extremely serene. It was only that the surface of this star was covered with red spots, as if it were the texture of wood. Surrounding this planet was also a massive ring. This ring stretched out for millions of miles, passing through the skies like a beautiful and endless rainbow.
This was the location of the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial-Fire Spirit Star.
This star was only several hundred thousand miles in diameter-it was far smaller than the planet the Sky Spill Continent was on. As the spirit ship entered the atmosphere of Fire Spirit Star, it began to collide with the atmosphere and the fierce friction resulted in endless flames.
Within the atmosphere of Fire Spirit Star, there were terrifying vortexes of fire origin energy everywhere. Strong winds of fire origin energy traveled at thousands of miles per second, ten times the speed of sound. It was more accurate to say that instead of winds, these were actually shock waves. If a mortal were to be hit by such a breeze, they'd be smashed to death.
Even a martial artist couldn't withstand such an impact. This was because what these shock waves blew was not air but extremely wild fire origin energy. Although Fire Spirit Star looked tranquil from the outside, if one looked carefully, they could discover just how terrifying it truly was. Those beautiful red spots one could see from afar were actually formed by the strong winds.
In such a dangerous and brutal environment, it was impossible for any kind of life to form. This was why Fire Spirit Star was classified as a desolate star. Even so, to a high level martial artist, it was actually an excellent smelting trial location.
This Fire Spirit Star was considered the territory of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. The Ancient Phoenix Clan had built many smelting trial locations within it.
"We've arrived. Everyone, disembark the spirit ship!"
Elder Sun yelled out as the leader of the troop.
"Hehe, let's go Junior-apprentice Brother Lin. Fire Spirit Star isn't a place to have fun. You should be careful…" Protector Liu who was responsible for the rookie disciple grinned as he spoke. But just as his voice faded, there were two miserable screams that echoed out. Two rookie disciples of Firebird Hall had their protective true essence blown apart by the strong heavenly winds. They were sent flying backwards by the impact force. Savage and wild fire origin energy broke into their meridians, causing them to vomit a mouthful of blood!
Several Protectors immediately flew out to catch them. One Protector expanded his protective true essence to cover them and another Protector injected true essence into their bodies. Only then were the two disciples able to catch their breath.
Elder Sun's eyes turned chilling. He coldly said, :"What a bunch of pathetic fools. Although I didn't warn you about the dangers of Fire Spirit Star, you should have sensed just how harsh the environment here was while on the spirit ship. Even so, you casually walked out. I really don't know how such idiots managed to pass the qualification test. If people like you two entered into a mystic realm to hunt for treasures with others, the best you'll ever accomplish is being cannon fodder for others, let alone obtaining benefits or lucky chances. Once you leave Firebird Hall, you will likely perish on your road of martial arts. Forget trying to cultivate to higher boundaries. You are both utter disappointments!"
Elder Sun intentionally didn't warn the junior disciples about the dangers of Fire Spirit Star because he wanted to test their powers of observation. The result was that they really were idiots.
The two disciples had already suffered enough misery. After being publicly reprimanded by Elder Sun, their complexions turned white.
"These two idiots really disgrace Firebird Hall. I can't believe that I'm stuck in the same hall with them." Zhou Fei frowned. He was ashamed in his heart that he was in the same group as these people.
"Haha, they truly are disgraces. But for the lower cultivation disciples, even if they know about the strong heavenly winds of Fire Spirit Star beforehand, it's still difficult to withstand even if they put forth their full strength. This is why Phoenix Cry Palace has such a rigorous qualification competition that removes over 99% of the disciples. Just watch, many disciples won't even be able to stand above Fire Spirit Star." The blue-clothed man that accompanied Zhou Fei casually said.
