Martial Universe

The surface of the lake surged and rumbled within the quiet great hall. Waveafter wave of exceptionally frightening energy fluctuations spread outcontinuously from the bottom of the lake, causing a fuzzy distortion within thespace of the great hall.

At the bottom of the lake, a person quietly seated in the middle of the greatarray. His Devouring Power had taken the form of a black hole behind him andwas slowly rotating. It was akin to a bottomless pit as it devoured theseemingly endless incoming energy like a whale…

Ying Xuanzi was standing at the edge of the lake with his hands behind hisback. He occasionally cast his gaze at Lin Dong, who was at the center of thegreat array, and would nod slightly from time to time.

“As expected of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol. This rate of absorption farexceeds that of an ordinary individual…”

An aged voice suddenly rang out from behind Ying Xuanzi. Instead of turningaround, he merely smiled, “The Devouring Ancestral Symbol is undoubtedly aheavenly treasure. However, if it was given to someone else, it would still beextremely difficult to reach this stage given the status of a low rank empiremember.”

“Haha, what sect master means is that even though Lin Dong has a godlytreasure, he still knew the importance of discretion. For someone at his age,that is quite impressive.”

An old man wearing a blue robe had unknowingly appeared at behind Ying Xuanzi.His eyes were similarly resting on Lin Dong, who was at the bottom of the lake,as he spoke.

“However, that brat’s good fortune will surely incite jealousy. He actuallyfound the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, the most mysterious of the AncestralSymbols, in a low rank empire…”

Ying Xuanzi lightly nodded his head in approval before he said, “It is reputedthat there are eight Ancestral Symbols in the world and they are allincomparably formidable. Even if an elite practitioner encounters them, theycan only subdue one Ancestral Symbol. Only the owner of the Devouring AncestralSymbol can rely on Devouring Power to fuse the power of the other AncestralSymbols within his body.”

“Haha, this rumour may not be true. However, in this world, other than thoseAncestral Symbols that have yet to appear, the remaining Ancestral Symbolowners are all renowned and famed practitioners. I am afraid there aren’t manypeople who can successfully steal their Ancestral Symbols. “ replied the bluerobed old man.

“I remember that the Palace of Darkness master of the Northern Xuan Regionpossesses one of the eight Ancestral Symbols, the Darkness Ancestral Symbol… itis their sect’s inheritance. With it, the Palace of Darkness has stood strongin the Northern Xuan Region for thousands of years.

Ying Xuanzi faintly nodded his head before proceeding to ask, “In future, ourDao Sect will also give birth to an elite practitioner that possesses anAncestral Symbol.”

“Sect master believes that this little one can comprehend the Great DesolationScripture?” asked the blue robed old man in a soft voice.

“This kid has an extremely tough character. He is ruthless and decisive, yethe knows his own limits and is neither heartless nor wicked. Although no onehas successfully understood the Great Desolation Scripture in the past hundredyears, the feats performed by this little one have dazzled many. Haha, I thinkthat he might have a chance…” replied Ying Xuanzi.

“Of course, we will have to wait until the Great Desolate Tablet opens to findout. Currently, the top disciples of the other three halls have allsuccessfully understood the other three great mysterious scriptures. If theDesolate Hall is still unable to find someone who can comprehend the GreatDesolation Mysterious Scripture this year, it will perhaps fall into trouble.”

Although Lin Dong was not bad and would be able to achieve anotherbreakthrough thanks to the Soul Locking Array, the top disciples from the threeother halls were all extremely powerful. Coupled with the power of the threeother great mysterious scriptures, it might be difficult for Lin Dong to obtainthe upper hand. After all, he would not have five Ancient Immortal Yuan Fruitsto boost his combat capabilities during the competition…

Upon hearing Ying Xuanzi’s words, the blue robed old man faintly nodded hishead and hesitated for a moment before speaking, “ The highest ranker in thehall test will become the leader of all the Dao Sect disciples for the upcomingGreat Sect Competition. From the looks of it, Ying Xiaoxiao has the highestchance. Furthermore, she is a steady individual and her reputation amongst thefour halls is high, making her the most suitable candidate.”

“The Great Sect Competition…”

When these three words were mentioned, a dark glint flashed past Ying Xuanzi’seyes. In every Great Sect Competition, numerous conflicts would erupt betweenthe disciples from their Dao Sect and those from the Yuan Gate. Furthermore,when both parties were merciless when they fought. However, over the years, theYuan Gate disciples were typically stronger, therefore, the Dao Sect wouldoften lose some of their disciples. In the most recent competition, even theSky Hall’s most outstanding disciple had been surrounded and killed by the YuanGate disciples.

“Yuan Gate…you’ve gone too far…” Ying Xuanzi slowly said. His eyes stared farinto the distance as a chilling aura gradually filled the air.

The blue robed old man grew silent before finally giving a soft sigh. Thecompetition between the super sects was always brutal. Although the Dao Sectwas also a super sect, they were obviously weaker than the Yuan Gate. Hence,there were often forced to give way.

Each of the three great sect masters of the Yuan Gate were as powerful as YingXuanzi. Furthermore, there were also a few old monsters that had sealedthemselves off from the world. Their foundation was absolutely gigantic andoverbearing.

The year when Zhou Tong died, the Dao Sect had almost declared all-out war onthe Yuan Gate. However, this notion was thoroughly crushed and oppressed byYing Xuanzi in the end. This obviously caused many disciples to feel outraged.However, the blue robed old man knew that Ying Xuanzi had secretly struggledwith that decision for a long time. After all, Zhou Tong was the disciple thathe had been proudest of…

“I hope this little one will be able to comprehend the Great DesolationMysterious Scripture. If so, we will possess another person who will be able tohold his own in the upcoming Great Sect Competition. It is said that there arequite a few powerful Yuan Gate disciples this time around. Amongst them, is ayounger generation member called Liu Hao, and people call him the ‘Little YuanKing’. This younger generation member had exchanged blows with an expert at theMysterious Life stage and was able to successfully escape, such a feat speaksfor itself…”

“There are a quite a few capable individuals that have appeared in the othersuper sects as well. For example, Ling Qingzhu from the Nine Heavens SupremePurity Palace. She is extremely powerful and does not lose to Liu Hao at all…”

The blue robed old man went on as a worried light revealed itself in his eyes.When comparing their younger generation members, it was obvious that the YuanGate was superior. Obviously, their reputation as the Eastern Xuan Region’s topsuper sect was well-deserved.

Ying Xuanzi faintly nodded his head. He naturally knew about these details.However, there was nothing that he could do, therefore, he could only sigh atthis moment. He turned his head towards the young man resting at the bottom ofthe lake and thought, “Amongst the younger generation members of the Dao Sect,though Xiaoxiao is quite powerful, one person cannot hold up the sky alone. IfLin Dong can comprehend the Great Desolation Scripture and boost his strength,he will be able to help to shoulder her burden…”

However, if it were only that easy to comprehend the Great DesolationScripture…

…

Lin Dong’s training lasted for ten whole days. With the seemingly infiniteamounts of energy from the ‘Soul Locking Array’, the Yuan Power within his bodygrew at a frightening speed.

Furthermore, while his Yuan Power grew increasingly powerful, Lin Dong couldalso sense that the Mental Energy within his Niwan Palace was also climbing ata gratifying speed thanks to this mystical array. It was obvious that LinDong’s Yuan Power and Mental Energy had benefitted tremendously.

For Lin Dong, these benefits came at the time when the conditions were ripe.In the previous bloody fight, even though he had used five Ancient ImmortalYuan Fruits, some of their essence and energy had seeped into his body duringthat intense battle. Hence, with the assistance of the ‘Soul Locking Array’, hewas now able to improve rapidly.

Therefore, this quiet training lasted for almost half a month before LinDong’s skin started to turn red, as wave after wave of berserk energy startedto radiate continuously from his body.

“Is he about to undergo a Nirvana Tribulation…”

At the edge of the lake, Ying Xuanzi immediately discovered the unusualchanges around Lin Dong and gave a faint smile. It seemed like Lin Dong hadbenefitted greatly from this training session.

“Bang Bang!”

Wave after wave of berserk fluctuations continuously radiated from Lin Dong’sbody. From a distance away, his scarlet red body looked like red hot coal.Obviously, this was the omen of a Nirvana Tribulation.

However, just as the Nirvana Tribulation was about to erupt, vigourous MentalEnergy suddenly started to howl out from Lin Dong’s Niwan Palace. Immediately,storm clouds started to converge in the sky above the great hall.

“Wind and Lightning Tribulation? Dual Tribulation? This kid is trulyambitious.”

Ying Xuanzi felt slightly flabbergasted as he raised his head, before smilingand waving his sleeve. This caused the ceiling of the great hall tounexpectedly crack apart slowly, revealing the boundless sky outside. At thismoment, storm clouds had already gathered as silver snakes flashed within. Thiswas the Wind and Lightning Tribulation.

Ying Xuanzi gazed at the surging clouds, before he turned to look at a nowscarlet red Lin Dong, who was currently undergoing a Nirvana Tribulation. Hedid not intend to help Lin Dong. Instead, he observed this scene with interest.After all, he knew that be it the Nirvana Tribulation or the Wind and LightningTribulation, both required one to rely on one’s own strength. This was anabsolutely necessary step that one has to undergo. Only by undergoing such atrial would one’s strength truly soar.

Wave after wave of red hot and berserk energy erupted like flood waters fromLin Dong’s body. At the same time, scarlet red flames unexpectedly erupted fromwithin Lin Dong’s body with a pop sound before crazily wrapping around him asthey frantically burned.

Chi Chi!

Under the roasting of those scarlet red flames, Lin Dong’s skin started toglow with a green light as green scales started to appear one after another.Furthermore, under the roasting of the Nirvana Flames, which were condensedfrom the Nirvana Qi from his body, Lin Dong could feel the ‘Heavenly Dragon Qi’Qing Zhi had given him show signs of loosening. Strands of mysterious energiesstarted to radiate out, before assimilating into Lin Dong’s muscles and bones…

“Green Heaven Materialized Dragon Skill huh…”

Ying Xuanzi gazed at the green scales on Lin Dong’s body that were sparklingwith green light before he smiled faintly and murmured, “ It is said that whenone completely masters this martial art, the practitioner will have a powerfulbody that can compete with that of a high class dragon race. This little one istruly fortunate…”

“Roar!”

After Ying Xuanzi’s spoke, thunder suddenly boomed in the skies as the stormclouds heaved and surged. An extremely thick lightning snake directly crackedopen the horizon and blasted towards Lin Dong.

This lightning snake’s speed was extremely fast. In a flash, it flew into thegreat hall before it ferociously slammed down on Lin Dong’s head.

Swoosh!

However, just as the lightning snake was about to strike Lin Dong, a circularblack hole started to extend from the crown of his head. Like a bottomless pit,it swallowed the berserk lightning snake in a single gulp.

Chi! Chi!

When the lightning snake entered the black hole, Lin Dong body started totremble violently. Strand after strand of lightning started to jump and leap onthe surface of his body. Together with the burning Nirvana flames, it lookedboth dazzlingly and beautiful.

After the lightning snake rushed into the black hole, Lin Dong’s face startedto twitch for a while, before revealing a trace of pain, which was rapidlyretrained moments later.

“Boom boom!”

After the first lightning bolt descended, the storm clouds in the billowingstorm clouds grew increasingly violent. Soon after, thick lightning boltsstarted to pour down one after the other in torrents like a thunderstorm withextremely loud rumbling noises.

Ying Xuanzi crossed his hands behind his back as he raised his head andobserved the disorderly dance of lightning snakes within the great hall. Thoseberserk lightning snakes were completely devoured by the black hole above LinDong. After undergoing a transformation within it, the resulting energy wassent into Lin Dong’s body.

With his sharp eyes, Ying Xuanzi could tell that this process was very smooth.From the looks of it, Lin Dong was quite proficient in utilizing the DevouringAncestral Symbol. In fact, it seems like the so-called dual tribulation wouldhardly pose a threat to Lin Dong…

The descent of crazy lightning snakes from the sky lasted for more than tenminutes before gradually weakening. After the final lightning snake descended,the pervasive storm clouds finally began to scatter. Sunlight started to seepthrough the gaps and passed through the ceiling of the great hall beforelanding on Lin Dong’s body.

“Chi!”

Under the illumination of the sunlight, Lin Dong’s scarlet red body started torecover bit by bit. In a flash, his tightly closed eyelids sudden opened as apiercing brilliance shot out from his pupils. Instantly, the water around himexploded, causing huge waves to form.

Huff!

Lin Dong deeply exhaled a ball of white qi with a berserk flavor. With a twistof his body, he directly leapt out from the great array and landed beside YingXuanzi, before speaking in a respectful manner, “Many thanks to sect master.”

“You did this with your own abilities. The only thing I did was provide avenue for you…” replied Ying Xuanzi with a casual smile.

Lin Dong also smiled in return. Just as he was about to speak, his complexionsuddenly changed faintly. He could sense a sudden transmission of an extremelymysterious and majestic fluctuation from an area in the sky. That direction…the Desolate Hall…

Ying Xuanzi also turned around, looking towards the same direction as hegently smiled.

“The Great Desolate Tablet has finally opened. Look’s like the Dao Sect isgoing to be lively again…”