Chapter 964 – Saint Spear in Hand
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Lin Ming felt a burning heat in his dantian. The Heretical God Sprout was wildly swallowing up the fragments of the Great Dao that Xiao Daoji left behind. These fragments all contained the comprehension that Xiao Daoji held toward the Great Dao of Fire. For Lin Ming to perceive them was certainly difficult, but for the Heretical God Sprout, there wasn’t any problem at all.
Every fragment was caught in a boiling flow of energy and pulled into the Heretical God Sprout. They formed runes upon the Heretical God Sprout.
The numerous fragments of the Great Dao Laws constantly inscribed new symbols onto the Heretical God Sprout. The symbols slowly creeped together, gathering until a new bud slowly popped up from the crown of the Heretical God Sprout. It slowly grew larger until a young and tender leaf unfurled.
At this point, the Heretical God sprout had five leaves. Three thunder-attribute leaves and two fire-attribute leaves. Every one of them had their own special characteristics. The color and shapes were all completely different from one another.
The first flame leaf was shaped like a crimson heart of fire.
The second thunder leaf was long and narrow, keen like a golden sword.
The third leaf was also a thunder leaf. This leaf was purple and was strangely shaped like a small three-legged furnace, a small lion engraved into it. This was the Purple Lion Thunder Source that was swallowed into the Heretical God Sprout.
The fourth leaf was a thunder leaf. It was formed when Lin Ming ascended to the Divine Realm and absorbed the power of heavenly retribution. This leaf was golden red and shaped like a heavy sword.
The newest, fifth leaf was also very strange in appearance. It was square just like a jade seal stamp. The leaf was also a golden red, and the veins within the leaf formed strange textures, all of them reflecting the Great Dao Fire Laws that Xiao Daoji had comprehended.
In just 10 short breaths of time, Lin Ming managed to absorb half of the Great Dao Laws fragments!
In truth, these fragments were the core seeds of the Laws Xiao Daoji had left behind. They merged with the stone tablet and slowly evolved over time. Of those that were swallowed, it was possible for them to regenerate over time. But after having accumulated these fragments for so many years and now for half of them to be suddenly absorbed by Lin Ming, the artifact spirit felt an unusually rending pain. Moreover, it had no idea what had happened. These Great Dao Laws fragments were extremely esoteric. If one wanted to refine one, they would have to spend a great deal of time. How had this boy managed to absorb so many of them and to do it so easily?
“This brat certainly has some secrets on him. It’s impossible to achieve this level with just perception.” The artifact spirit had an extraordinary level of experience. Even though it couldn’t see the existence of the Heretical God Sprout, it could speculate based on the given information.
“This young man has the life of an Emperor. His potential and talent are both phenomenal. Most geniuses in Phoenix Cry Palace are in a mess when they finish my tests, but this boy not only passed them perfectly, he even obtained a great advantage. This sort of person, once their momentum reaches the limit, has the ability to turn the tables in all situations. A calamity that would annihilate a normal genius would be turned into an opportunity by this youth. This is the so-called destiny of an Emperor! It isn’t that their luck is good, but they have the strength to change dangers into lucky chances and also a confidence etched into their bones that allows them to do so!”
The artifact spirit sighed. A massive face appeared in the world once more. As for that stone tablet, it sunk back into the ground with a rumbling sound.
“Thank you, senior!” Lin Ming was overjoyed.
“I am only doing my duty as written in the rules. Young man, your harvests can be considered great this time. Not only did you obtain the power of Laws left behind by the last Palace Master, you also absorbed half of the Great Dao Fire Laws fragments that have accumulated for the last 20,000 years. Hehehaha!” The artifact spirit’s face twitched as it spoke to here, obviously pained by what had just happened.
“I thank senior for taking care of me.” Lin Ming smirked.
“Humph, what a flowery mouth, your words are quite nice!” The artifact spirit mocked. “I don’t know what method you used to absorb the Great Dao Laws fragments, but it must’ve been some trick of yours. Let me tell you, only the things you comprehend yourself are the most stable and solid. You must try to enhance your perception as much as possible. The further down you travel on the road of martial arts, the more and more important your perception will become. But you dual cultivate body and essence and the Gate of Opening within the Eight Inner Hidden Gates helps in developing the brain. It will allow you to enhance your perception. To you, that will be the most useful of the Eight Inner Hidden Gates.”
“I thank senior for the guidance.” Lin Ming respectfully said. Once one reached the end of the Divine Lord realm, the Eight Inner Hidden Gates would become less and less useful. At that time, he would have to step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace to display the best results. However, perception was different. Perception would always be useful.
“Mm, the Phoenix Blood Spear is yours. I look forward to seeing your growth!” The artifact spirit’s voice echoed between heaven and earth. There were three rounds in this test and it had lasted for an hour. However, only two incense sticks of time had passed outside.
Fifteen minutes was three incense sticks of time. When Huang Yuegong entered into the world of the Sunpierce Sword to take the test, he only managed to last for fifteen minutes.
Now, as Huang Yuegong saw Lin Ming reach two incense sticks of time, his complexion inevitably became ugly.
Although he knew that it was impossible for Lin Ming to succeed in his heart, for Lin Ming to last for two incense sticks of time proved that the brat’s talent was nearly equal to his own!
How could Huang Yuegong be comfortable with this? He became especially gloomy after listening to Jun Yunrue and the other female disciples continuously praise Lin Ming.
“Two incense sticks of time have passed, this is unbelievable. Junior-apprentice Brother Lin is too fierce!” Lin Junzhi praised as she looked at the hourglass, not noticing how grim Huang Yuegong had become.
“This defies the heavens! Two incense sticks of time, that is a level not even the Divine Transformation realm seniors of Phoenix Hall can reach!” A disciple surnamed Zhang praised. But he had a strange, unpleasant feeling in his heart.
Huang Yuegong was a haughty and powerful figure who was the young master of a great clan. As for him, he was only a commoner in the Divine Realm; his background was far surpassed by everyone else. He did not envy the differences in their starting points because the difference was just too great.
But as for Lin Ming, Lin Ming was only a martial artist from the mortal realms, a similar background to his own. But now that Lin Ming managed to accomplish something that this disciple surnamed Zhang never could, he certainly felt envy in his heart.
“The disciples of Phoenix Hall are strong, but that is only in strength; their talent and potential might not be any higher. Junior-apprentice Brother Lin really surpasses all expectations. Honorable Master’s judgment was indeed not wrong.” Jun Yunrue happily said. She was thrilled that Fairy Feng had found another powerful supporter.
Jun Yunrue’s words were like salt that scattered over Huang Yuegong’s wounds.
Huang Yuegong nearly gnashed his teeth. He said, “Junior-apprentice Brother Lin is indeed talented. But two incense sticks of time should be his limit!”
Huang Yuegong maintained the appearance of a magnanimous gentleman even though he crushed the fan in his hands. If this fan weren’t a low-grade saint artifact, it would have already shattered under the pressure.
“Damn it all, how could this happen!?” Huang Yuegong couldn’t accept what was happening. He was a chosen pride of the heavens, a genius even within the Huang Family Clan, one of the three great family clans of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. With his background, he should’ve blossomed into glory in Phoenix Cry Palace. He should be forcing all the countless heroic young elites here underneath him as he slowly climbed up to his position as the top master of Phoenix Cry Palace.
But now, he casually encountered this little commoner, a little martial artist that had ascended from the lower realms and was merely Jun Yunrue’s attendant, and this person that he would normally ignore as nothing more than an ant had actually managed to surpass him in talent! He would only need to last for another incense stick of time to reach his level.
If Lin Ming really managed to last for another incense stick of time and obtain the same result, then where would he have the face to hold his head high? If Lin Ming obtained the same result, that was simply an insult!
“Sir Huang, perhaps the boy fainted in the test.” One of Huang Yuegong’s lackeys said.
“That’s right. I think the most likely scenario is that he couldn’t withstand the terrifying test of a top grade saint artifact, and this caused his spiritual sea to be damaged and for him to faint. There’s no other way this is possible!” Song Baifeng echoed.
However, none of their words were able to alleviate Huang Yuegong’s gloomy complexion. His eyes shone as he stared at the scorching bright sun in the sky. He noticed something and he let out a long sigh of relief. His complexion relaxed and returned to normal as he said, “Junior-apprentice Brother Lin is about to exit.”
As he spoke, the blazing bright Phoenix Blood Spear sun in the sky violently rocked about.
As the two lackeys behind Huang Yuegong saw this, they all let out deep breaths. They praised, “Young master’s eyesight is amazing. Young master said that two incense sticks of time would be Lin Ming’s limit, and now it seems to be true. Two incense sticks and several more breaths of time, young master’s predictions really hit the mark!”
“That’s right, it’s like the words of a prophet” Song Baifeng followed up with more flattery.
As Huang Yuegong heard these words and saw what he expected would happen, he finally restored his calm. He opened his fan and swung it several times. This was his iconic action. Only when he was in a good mood would he wave his fan and play the gentleman.
“This Lin Ming is truly spectacular. He managed to last just a bit more than two-thirds of my time. But this top grade saint artifact test becomes more difficult the further on it goes, especially when nearing the fifteen minutes mark, it is at least 10 times more difficult than before!” Huang Yuegong said. Intentionally or unintentionally, what he said was the truth. The test became more and more difficult the further it progressed, and there was no exaggeration in his words.
His words meant that Lin Ming was still a lot worse than he was. Huang Yuegong was able to accept this.
“That’s right, a little martial artist who ascended from the lower realms is no different from a beggar to us. How could he possibly compare to the dignity and majesty of Sir Huang? Although he managed to last a bit shorter than Sir Huang, because the test rapidly climbs in difficulty near the end, the difference is still like the clouds and mud!”
The lackeys flattered again and again. This caused Jun Yunrue to slightly frown.
At this time, Lin Ming was ejected from the scorching bright sun. He didn’t look awkward and messed up like Huang Yuegong had been. Instead, he gently landed on the ground. Besides his face being flushed a bit red, there was nothing else out of place.
“Mm? How come the boy isn’t injured?”
Huang Yuegong’s eyebrows twisted together. He badly wanted to see Lin Ming vomiting up blood after being grievously wounded.
“Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, are you alright?” Jun Yunrue quickly ran up to him. She probed him for a moment and was relieved to find that there wasn’t any serious damage.
“I’m fine, senior-apprentice sister.” Lin Ming casually replied, his eyes still looking up at the blazing sun in the sky.