Chapter 161 – Swallowing the Blood Lingzhi
For several days, Lin Ming had been carefully researching and studying the ‘Heretical G.o.d Force’ and had purified the true essence within his body. Although his cultivation hadn’t risen by much, his total strength had actually experienced a dramatic climb!
Before, Lin Ming had been lacking a true martial skill. Although his true essence was amazingly thick and he also had ghostly speed, his attack power was less than ideal. But now that he had inadvertently stumbled upon a method to fuse together the power of thunder and fire from borrowing the concepts behind the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead, he had created his own unique martial skill.
Lin Ming named this move of his – ‘Thunderfire Annihilation’.
“The power of Thunderfire Annihilation is no less than that of the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead. Now, as long as I don’t face a peak Pulse Condensation Period master, I have faith that I will be able to put up a worthwhile struggle. However, it wouldn’t be good if this move were known to others; no one would believe that this ability was something I created myself. If I’m not being pressured to the edge of death, then I shouldn’t use this move so easily.
Although Thunder Annihilation had an overwhelming offensive power, just using it once would consume 40 to 50 percent of the true essence within his body. The consumption of resources was simply too great. If he used it, he would have to be able to guarantee that the strike would kill the enemy in one move; otherwise he would be in an extremely critical situation.
As Lin Ming was planning on how to best utilize this new ability of his, a sound transmitting talisman lit in front of him.
As the purple red flames flashed and dissipated, Lin Ming was surprised to hear the voice; it was Qin Ziya, the Seven Profound Martial House Master.
The message of the sound transmitting talisman was very simple. He wanted to see Lin Ming at the sword bamboo grove in the back mountains.
Lin Ming put away the Heavy Profound Soft Spear, and immediately trekked to the sword bamboo grove.
It was already nightfall. The dim night sky was like an iridescent curtain that fell over the world. Stars sparkled in the sky, and in the sword bamboo grove, there was a chilling wind that rustled the fallen leaves.
As Lin Ming arrived at the edge of the sword bamboo grove, he saw Qin Ziya standing there, carrying a long zither. He was standing straight, and his long beard and blue robe danced in the bustling wind. He had an extraordinary and timeless demeanor.
“Martial House Master.” Lin Ming respectfully bowed.
“Mm. I called you here today because there are a few matters…” Qin Ziya slowly turned. His voice had the same strangely calming quality that it had before, and was very comfortable to listen to.
He flicked his fingers, and a golden light fell into Lin Ming’s hands.
Lin Ming received the golden token and glanced over it. Two words were written on it – ‘Seven Profound’.
Could this be… a Seven Profound Decree?
Lin Ming remembered that when Elder w.a.n.g had pa.s.sed down the Seven Profound Decree to him, he had also held a token similar to this in his hand.
Qin Ziya said, “I’m very satisfied with your current ability. You shall take this Seven Profound Decree and head to Seraphic Pond Mountain within Huoluo Nation. There is a pool of holy water there that is called the Seraphic Pond. The Seraphic Pond contains an extremely pure true essence; it is very beneficial to anyone under the Houtian realm. As long as you can find it, it will help you break through to the Pulse Condensation Period. However, the power of true essence within the Seraphic Pond is limited; only 3 or 4 people can use it every year. I had a very hard time getting this opportunity for you; you should cherish it and strive towards greater realms of cultivation.”
“After some time, the main sect will send down some people to conduct a tournament between the Seven Profound Martial House of Sky Fortune Kingdom and the several surrounding countries. When that time comes, I want you to enter into that tournament and fight for a little face for my Sky Fortune Kingdom’s Martial House.
“Seraphic Pond Mountain?” As Lin Ming heard this he was instantly attentive. He already had some knowledge about Huoluo Nation’s Seraphic Pond. Seraphic Pond Mountain was a rare holy spiritual ground, and the summit where the Seraphic Pond was located was the centre of all the spiritual essence there.
Who knew how many people were aiming for this holy water every year? Huoluo Nation was much larger than Sky Fortune Kingdom, and they also had many more martial artists. If there was a limit of 3 or 4 people that could go to Seraphic Pond Mountain, then how could he have possibly been selected?
Huoluo Nation’s Seven Profound Martial House would undoubtedly be very unwilling to surrender such a precious cultivation resource to the Sky Fortune Kingdom. What sort of method had the Martial House Master used to obtain a spot for him?
Lin Ming bowed with some thanks, and silently thought in his heart that this Qin Ziya was neither his relative or close friend. Wasn’t this kindness just a little bit too over the top?
Was this Inter-Faction Grand Tournament of the Seven Profound Martial Houses really so important to Qin Ziya?
Qin Ziya also said, “Before you leave, go to the Martial House registration office and register than you will be leaving for two months to adventure. Make sure to keep where you are going and what you are doing confidential. Right now you have many enemies. The Seven Profound Martial House can be considered a safe zone, but once you leave the Seven Profound Martial House, you will be in danger, so do not mention to anyone that you are going to the Seraphic Pond. Also don’t tell anyone that you saw me tonight. I will send a master to protect you along the way, so make sure that you maintain a low-key presence and don’t stir up any trouble.”
“This disciple understands.” Lin Ming respectfully said. If a disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House had to leave for a long period of time for things such as completing a mission or going out on an adventure to experience the world, they needed to register at the Martial House’s registration office. Otherwise, if a disciple disappeared for too long without an explanation, then the Seven Profound Martial House would investigate. All of this was to ensure the safety of the Martial House’s disciples.
“In three days go to Travel Peak; there will be someone waiting for you. Remember: keep your location a secret.” Qin Ziya said this, and then drifted away.
“Yes, this disciple will remember.” Lin Ming bowed.
Looking at it, Qin Ziya had done him a very great favor today. However, Lin Ming felt that there was something off about the situation, but he wasn’t able to place his finger on just what was wrong.
“After I get to the Huoluo Nation’s Seraphic Pond Mountain, will they really give me a spot just with this Seven Profound Token? Would they really so kindly and obediently give out a position to others? Could there be some troubles later?”
Thinking this, Lin Ming returned to his cabin.
As Lin Ming sat down in bed and watched the token in his hands, he couldn’t seem to forget this strange lingering feeling in his heart, as if something was off about what happened tonight.
“Martial House Master Qin promised me the treasure and medicines of the Heavy Profound Soft Spear, 500 year old Blood Lingzhi, Blue Miracle Pill, and Body Spiritual Ichor. Just this alone already shows how much concern he has towards me and what he believes my worth is. Now, he also gave me the opportunity to obtain true essence holy water from the Seraphic Pond. However, this Seraphic Pond is a resource that belongs to Huoluo Nation. If the Martial House Master wanted to obtain this opportunity, he must have paid a correspondingly high price…”
“The Martial House Master is not my relative, so why is he looking after me so well? Is it just because he values my future accomplishments? This explanation also seems a bit far-fetched.”
Lin Ming frowned. Qin Ziya’s generosity towards him was just too much. He was very flattered, but at the same time he was unable to suppress suspicions that had been aroused.
“When I leave the premises of the Seven Profound Martial House, I will certainly experience danger at some point. No matter what, I must be as careful as possible and keep my whereabouts a secret, so that they don’t leak out and I find someone chasing after my shadow to a.s.sa.s.sinate me. I’ll have to take these three days to enhance my strength as much as I can. With strength, I will have some confidence that I can protect myself.
Thinking this, Lin Ming pulled out the 500 year old Blood Lingzhi from his spatial ring.
The impurities in his body’s true essence had already been tempered and melted away; the side effects from the two top-tier pills that he had eaten before had been completely cleared. Now it was time to take this 500 year old Blood Lingzhi.
A 500 year old Lingzhi was able to supplement the blood vitality of a martial artist, and increase their strength and martial arts cultivation.
Lin Ming swallowed the Blood Lingzhi. An ordinary Lingzhi would taste like cork, and would also take a long time to chew. However, the 500 year old Blood Lingzhi in his mouth was like fine meat; it was creamy, moist, and slid smoothly down his throat.
As he swallowed it into his stomach, Lin Ming felt a vigorous and exuberant swell of blood energy from his stomach spread out through his meridian lines and throughout his limbs.
A ma.s.sive amount of vigorous and energetic blood flowed up, and Lin Ming felt dizzy. This kind of dizzy feeling was just as if he had stayed in a steam room for too long. Inside, the blood would rush to the surface and it would cause one’s mind to be dizzy. This situation was somewhat similar to that.
Along with the continuous influx of vigorous blood energy, Lin Ming felt the dizziness expand as if his brain was blowing up. His face reddened and his mouth spat out hot steam.
His body began to give off an intense heat, and his skin was becoming more and more red. It looked as if he was oozing blood from a thousand tiny injuries. This was because the vigorous blood inside of him was simply too strong, and it had begun seeping out from all the tiny blood vessels in his body, which finally led to this phenomenon.
Lin Ming began to sweat all over, and even his sweat was tinted red with the overflow of blood. Seeing this, Lin Ming immediately closed all the pores of his body to prevent blood from spilling out. The blood that was flowing out contained the power of the Blood Lingzhi; it would be too pitiful for any to go to waste.
Although Lin Ming was bleeding all over, he did not feel any pain; he only felt a slight dizziness.
In comparison to the Blood Lingzhi, the Crimson Gold Dragon Marrow Pill and the Golden Snake Scarlet Pill were extremely dangerous and potent medicines. While these two medicines were extremely hot and extremely cold, this was because they were used to directly wash the muscles and purify marrow. The Blood Lingzhi had much milder side effects, as it was only used to supplement the blood vitality.
Lin Ming began to revolve the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’, and like this, he sat in meditation for 5 hours until the sun was bright in the sky. The red blush that covered his body had already began to slowly recede. Lin Ming had absorbed about 70 or 80 percent of the Blood Lingzhi’s blood vitality.
As Lin Ming revolved his true essence, he discovered that there was a great deficit of true essence within his body.
This deficit wasn’t because his true essence had been consumed. Rather, it was because Lin Ming’s body had become more powerful, so he was able to accommodate more true essence.
If true essence was compared to water, then the body would be the reservoir that was able to hold the water. From Strength Training to Flesh Training to Viscera Training to Altering Muscle to Bone Forging and finally to Pulse Condensation, as one cultivated to each stage, the reservoir would expand and deepen, thus the amount of true essence once could hold was more.
But now, although Lin Ming’s current cultivation hadn’t risen, the blood vitality in his body was like a robustly burning stove. Because of this, the reservoir in his body was much more broad and deep than those at the same level of cultivation, and so the amount of true essence that he could hold was also more compared to others.
Not only that, but because of the exuberant energy in his blood, his vitality was also stronger. His endurance was greater, and his physical strength also increased.
Although Lin Ming’s cultivation hadn’t yet risen, his strength had just grown by a great deal.
“There are only two days before I must set off. With so little time, it’s not realistic to want to have a great enhancement in my strength, unless I can complete the inscription symbol for my Heavy Profound Soft Spear.
The reason that Lin Ming hadn’t yet placed an inscription symbol on the Heavy Profound Soft Spear from the time he had received it until now was because he had been busy constantly cultivating, and also because the materials were difficult to find.
“A few days ago I sent out a bulletin from the Inscription a.s.sociation. I wonder how many of the materials have been collected so far.”
Lin Ming had only just put out the announcement that he was trading his personal inscription symbols for materials. Since it had only been a few days, he had no hope in expecting that they would be gathered so quickly. However, he hadn’t expected that during the afternoon of that same day, w.a.n.g Yuhan would send him a sound transmitting talisman informing him that the materials he wanted were ready, and Lin Ming could come take them whenever he wanted to.
This caused Lin Ming to be very surprised.
As he arrived at the Inscription a.s.sociation, w.a.n.g Yuhan had already organized all the materials and placed them in a case. On the side of the case was a note that had a list of names detailing where all the materials had come from.
About 20% of the materials were sent by customers. They had delivered the materials in return for an inscription symbol.
As for the other materials, about 40% was sent by the Crown Prince’s messenger, and the last 40% were prepared by Bai Jingyun.
“Sky Fortune City’s Bai Jing… Bai Jingyun?”
Lin Ming was even more surprised than before. The materials needed to create the “Astral’ symbol were not as rare or expensive as the ones needed to draw up the body inscription symbol. However, to collect so many materials in such a short time, one would have to spend a great deal of money, and also call in many favors and connections…