Chapter 1981 – Guardians
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Lin Ming observed these two old men from afar. In truth, Lin Ming had seen similar trial examiners multiple times during the final trial. For instance, the Black Asura or the Asura Road Master phantom.
Yet these two people were nothing but a wisp of divine sense left behind by powerhouses of the past; they were not their true form.
But as for these two old men standing at the top of the Divine Seal Altar, Lin Ming could see that they were true living people.
This left him surprised.
These two people, they wouldn’t be related somehow to the Asura Road Master right? From the ancient era that the Asura Road Master once lived in, there should be no one capable of living for such a long time.
The Divine Seal Altar was several thousand miles from the cliff Lin Ming had been at. He flew through the void and stepped onto the Divine Seal Altar. This was the smallest level of the Divine Seal Altar, but even so it was spacious with an area that was hundreds of miles wide.
The two old men stood a hundred feet away from Lin Ming. Their expressions were kind and gentle and they had wide smiles on their faces. It was hard to tell just what race they came from.
“Junior greets Seniors.”
Lin Ming politely bowed. He discovered that these two old men were surprisingly similar in appearance, as if they were twin brothers.
The two old men didn’t speak. They only looked at Lin Ming and nodded in satisfaction.
“Seniors, is there a preference in how you wish to be called?” Lin Ming looked up. He had too many questions he wanted to ask and didn’t know just where to start from.
“I am called Clear, a single word.” One old man said as he stroked his beard.
“Ink…” The other old man said.
Upon further inspection, Lin Ming could see that there were some differences between these two old men. The old man called Clear had eyes as blue as liquid ice, as clear as a spring lake.
As for the other old man, his eyes were pitch black.
It seemed that their names were related to the color of their eyes.
What puzzled Lin Ming the most was that these two old men were clearly extremely old, and yet their eyes were as bright as a baby’s. It was simply too amazing.
Lin Ming couldn’t help but be curious as to what realm these two old men were at. From first glance, they didn’t seem different from an average person.
“Junior would like to venture a question. May I know who the two seniors are?” Lin Ming asked.
“We are… the guardians of the final trial, as well as the guardians of the Asura Road.”
“Guardians? How long have Seniors been guarding this world?” Lin Ming was shocked. The truth was that he had already guessed this, but when he thought about how long the final trial had existed for, it would be inconceivable for someone to have guarded it this long.
“We’ve been guarding this land for 600 million years. I’m not sure of the exact time…”
Clear smiled as he spoke. Lin Ming’s heart skipped a beat.
600 million years; could even a True Divinity live that long?
Lin Ming didn’t know what the lifespan of a peak True Divinity was. Generally speaking, after breaking through a boundary, one could extend their life by three times what it would have been. This also applied from the Empyrean to the True Divinity realm. If so, then a True Divinity would only be able to live for 300-400 million years. 600 million years was just a tad too unbelievable.
“My race has long lifespans to begin with. Moreover, we have methods that can prolong our lives. Most of the time we are deeply slumbering or awake in a time enchantment…”
Seeing Lin Ming’s confusion, Clear began to explain. However, Lin Ming was also dumbfounded. Humanity’s Three Lives Old Man had also used similar methods to extend his life and he had managed to live for 300 million years. But, aftereffects had still surfaced. Although he had been alive, his entire body exuded death energy, almost as if he were rotting away. These two old men before him were clearly in good health and hardy in spirit.
“It’s better to say that we are… of the temple spirit race. In this world, all things possess a spirit. My race manifests from the spirits of all creation and our lives are much longer than those of humans. Much less humans, my race even lives several times longer than the primal god race. With other methods like time enchantments added on to prolong our continued existence, my race can live for a billion years…
“As for guarding the Asura Road and the final trial, that is the life’s mission of our race. My people have guarded this land through the generations for 10 billion years.”
Clear slowly explained the secrets of the temple spirit race. Although he had explained why they were able to guard the final trial up until now, Lin Ming was still left inexplicably dazed. 10 billion years was just far too long a time. During this period, the 33 Heavens had experienced numerous calamities. During this period, countless races had emerged, prospered, and then gone extinct. As for those sects and various dynasties, their rises and declines were simply uncountable.
But this type of clan had existed for over 10 billion years. Moreover, for 10 billion years they had kept to a singular mission. How could this not shock Lin Ming!?
“Temple spirit… this junior has met them in the past also…”
Lin Ming remembered the temple spirit he encountered at the Ancient Phoenix Clan. But, that temple spirit could not compare to these two old men in strength.
“Haha! Junior, you aren’t bad. Thousands of years ago at the Great Desolate’s Emperor Stone, I saw you carve your name there!”
Ink suddenly spoke up, his voice a bit hoarser than Clear’s. Lin Ming’s heart shook. “The Emperor Stone!?”
He certainly remembered this time. When he first came to the Asura Road he had encountered Xiao Moxian and Monster Prince Duyu. The three of them had gone to the Emperor Stone together to leave behind their mark, and both he had Xiao Moxian had perfectly completed the mission. In the last billion years, there weren’t many people that were able to perfectly leave behind their name.
He never imagined that even at that time, these two old men had noticed him. And what shocked Lin Ming the most was that the him of the past was extremely different from the him of the present, and yet these two old men had been able to immediately recognize him.
“How did two seniors recognize junior?” Lin Ming asked, awed in his heart. When it came to something like this, he had to confirm just how it had happened. Otherwise, if the Good Fortune Saint Sovereign were to recognize him, all that awaited him was death.
“Because of the emperor jades… and the Asura Laws in your body!” Ink pointed towards Lin Ming’s stomach. “You seem to have undergone some experience that changed you and left you reborn anew. If we didn’t carefully distinguish that then we indeed wouldn’t have recognized you. The emperor jades and Asura Laws you possesses in your body shouldn’t be wrong, and it’s impossible for such a coincidence to occur in this world.”
As Ink explained, Lin Ming let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that he hadn’t left behind some flaw in his appearance after he was reborn, and it was the emperor jades and Asura Road Laws that had given him away. These weren’t things that the Good Fortune Saint Sovereign would be able to recognize.
“Come, child. Let me bring you to what you want.”
Clear beckoned with his hand. Together with Lin Ming, they flew off the Divine Seal Altar and deep into the void.
The three people didn’t fly too far. When they came to a certain area in space, Clear reached out his hands and touched the void. The starry space was ripped open and a thick ancient bronze book flew out from the tear.
The title page of this ancient bronze book had several words written on it in the language of the ancient races…
Asura Sutra – Volume Three!
Seeing this ancient book, Lin Ming was overjoyed. This was what he had been looking for all this time, the ‘energy’ section of the Asura Sutra!
After collecting the books of essence, energy, and divine, Lin Ming had now gathered the complete Asura Sutra!
And things had yet to end. Ink suddenly tore open the void again, and from this spatial tear, he took out an ancient coffin as well as a suit of black armor.
The ancient coffin was simple and plain, wrapped with layers of chains. Lin Ming only had to look at it once to guess just what was inside.
This must be the energy avatar that corresponded to the third volume of the Asura Sutra.
After refining this avatar, he would have collected all three avatars. If he could bring the cultivation of these three avatars to large success and then fuse together with them again, then Lin Ming’s Asura Heavenly Dao would reach a whole new level!
As for that armor, Lin Ming felt that it was extremely familiar, as if this armor was faintly resonating with his bloodline.
Ca!
Lin Ming drew out the Black Dragon Spear and compared it to the black armor. He discovered that the two items created a slight resonance with each other, as if they were originally a set.
“Black Dragon Armor. It can be attached to your body, and besides helping to defend, it can directly strengthen you. If you fully refine it and combine it with the Black Dragon Spear then you will be able to display an even greater combat strength.”
Ink slowly explained as he passed the Black Dragon Armor to Lin Ming. Lin Ming received the armor with both hands and solemnly bowed. “Thank you, seniors!”
“Haha, there is no need to thank me. This was all left behind by the High Lord in the past; I have only been protecting them.”
Lin Ming knew that the High Lord Ink referred to was the Asura Road Master.
When it concerned the Asura Road Master, Lin Ming had too many things he wanted to know. He couldn’t help but ask, “Junior has some questions he would like to ask, but I wonder if it would be rude to do so…”
“Ask away…” Clear gently smiled.
Lin Ming took a deep breath. He asked, “Junior would like to know… from 10 billion years ago, the Asura Road Master that once shook the heavens and earth, that controlled the winds and rain, is he still alive in this world? And if Senior is alive, just where is he? And the primal god race seems to be the race Senior came from? His race is near annihilation… and yet Senior…”