Chapter 1427 – The First Rune
The runes of the Asura Road could only enhance the various strengths of a martial artist within a certain range. They could only play a supporting role and a martial artist’s own strength was the main factor. This was so there wouldn’t be a situation where a Holy Lord would be able to kill an Empyrean.
With this condition as the basis, only then would these runes help in tempering individuals.
As Lin Ming understood all of this, he felt much more relieved.
At this time, the two bandits rushed towards him.
“You are still distracted in a fight? A laughable idiot like you is only courting death! This sword of mine will split apart all of your ribs!”
The two bandits attacked Lin Ming together. Atop their swords, fierce ghostly faces appeared. These souls were distorted in pain, crying out for help.
Hum~ Hum~ Hum~
The haunting cries of 10,000 ghosts radiated outwards. These two people were clearly martial artists of the demonic path.
Facing this aura, Lin Ming sneered. “You can only control me if I’m injured, but what happens if you’re the ones that are injured instead?”
Bang!
After understanding the approximate conditions of the god runes, Lin Ming didn’t need to hold back anymore. His strength erupted from his body like a volcano. Behind him, the phantom of the Heretical God Tree appeared and the manic power of thunder and fire howled forth!
Ka ka ka!
The void trembled. Although Lin Ming couldn’t crush the space within the Asura Road, he could still cause it to violently shake. The two robbers that cockily tried to attack Lin Ming were both shocked!
“What? A move that could cause the void to shake? How is this possible?”
“What a formidable aura, he definitely isn’t an ordinary youth!”
“We’ve kicked ourselves this time, we have to run!”
Without further ado, the two martial artists turned tail to run. The runes from the body of one of the robbers lit up, as if they were about to manifest into some other effect.
A cold light flashed in Lin Ming’s eyes. He didn’t know what those runes were used for but he definitely couldn’t let them activate. Otherwise, if those runes could greatly increase the defenses of those two or even form a defensive barrier around them then that would give them the time to use some other methods to escape.
“The power of thunder and fire, Heavenly Dao Judgment!”
Lin Ming didn’t hold back. The complete power of thunder and fire tribulation erupted!
This was Lin Ming’s self-created transcendent divine might. To use this move to deal with two people that were nearly equal to ordinary human Divine Lord martial artists was like using a giant cleaver to slay a chicken.
But, in order to be cautious against the existence of these god runes, Lin Ming had used this move without hesitation!
Bang!!!
A terrifying detonation lit up the world. Countless crushed stones and waves of sands were sent soaring into the heavens, directly disintegrating and turning into endless clouds of dust. It was like a giant meteor had smashed into the earth, obscuring all vision on the ground within a dazzling red and purple glow!
“Ahhhh!”
The two robbers cried out in pain. One of them was immediately evaporated into ash in the violent explosions.
As for the other, an incomparably brilliant god rune appeared from his chest. This rune shimmered with an intense light as it resisted the power of Heavenly Dao Judgment!
The red and purple divine light was constantly melted away even as the light of the god rune was constantly weakened.
A moment later, there was a faint explosive sound as the god rune was exhausted of all its energy. It crumbled apart within the destructive power of heavenly tribulation.
As for that robber, he fell onto the ground like a dead dog. His entire skeleton was shattered and his skin was burned black. His breath came in halting gasps; he was on the verge of death.
This caused Lin Ming to be extremely surprised.
Heavenly Dao Judgment couldn’t be said to be his complete strength, but it still wasn’t able to kill some demonic path martial artist that was only equal to a weak human Divine Lord in cultivation.
Without a doubt, that god rune had played a crucial role in his survival. It must have greatly strengthened this fellow’s defensive abilities.
If an early Divine Lord martial artist was able to achieve such an effect with such a god rune, then what effects would it display with a Holy Lord or World King?
Lin Ming felt more and more that within the Asura Road, these god runes were considered an extremely important part of a martial artist’s strength.
Of course, a martial artist’s own strength was the first and most important factor. But, if one had enough god runes and enough formidable god runes, then that might allow a martial artist’s strength to rise by a large boundary.
Not just that, but after completing certain smelting trials in the Asura Road, these god runes would transform into true strength within Lin Ming’s body. The mightier the runes that Lin Ming was able to obtain, the more his strength would rise.
It seemed that his first goal after arriving at the Asura Road should be to understand the functions of as many god runes as he could as well as to obtain his own god runes.
“That’s right, didn’t Senior Divine Dream say that there were many god runes I would be able to take from others?”
Lin Ming happily smiled as he thought of this. He glanced over at the two robbers. One had been torn to bits and pieces by the power of thunder and fire and had died on the spot.
As for the other, because of the protection of the god rune, he was still hanging onto one final breath of life. He had just arrived at the Asura Road and Lin Ming hadn’t even gone to steal anyone’s runes, yet some people had already come to deliver their runes right to him. This was like running into a pot of gold. Although these two robbers’ runes were likely not too heaven-defying, it was still better than nothing at all.
Lin Ming walked towards the dead robber and swept through the shredded corpse with his divine sense. He discovered that this robber’s god runes had already disappeared. This caused Lin Ming to sigh with regret. It seemed that upon a martial artist’s death, the god runes they had would disappear. Unfortunately, he hadn’t known of this just now and had wasted many runes in vain.
Then, Lin Ming walked towards the next robber.
This robber was still conscious. He looked at Lin Ming, his lips purple and his face white and cold. His voice shook, “For… forgive me… I… I will give you… my runes…”
The robber rolled over with some difficulty, crawling on the ground. His hand pawed against the rocky sand floor, leaving behind a trail of bright red blood.
“I don’t need you to give me your god runes. I’ll take them myself…”
Lin Ming callously said. He had no sympathy towards someone who murdered others and stole their possessions. The Phoenix Blood Spear in his hands thrust out and stabbed into the robber.
The robber squealed like a pig and almost fainted.
This piece of flesh actually had a rune carved into it. Lin Ming wanted to separate this rune, but he discovered that as soon as he cut it out, although a god rune really did appear, it vanished as soon as it floated upwards.
“No… no…” The robber’s voice continued to tremble, “If you kill me… you…won’t… have anything… if you can make an oath, I… I will give you… all my runes…”
The robber haltingly spoke. However, Lin Ming wouldn’t care about the words of a robber at all. He only thought for a moment as he recalled Empyrean Divine Dream’s words.
She had told him, ‘Of course, there remains the most simple and direct way of obtaining god runes… and that is to take them from others. There are some god runes that you can take for yourself as long as you kill the other party’…
Empyrean Divine Dream had only said ‘some’, which meant that only some runes were able to be taken. As for the others, he likely couldn’t take them even if he killed others. Those runes were likely bound to a martial artist’s body.
“So that’s how it is…”
Lin Ming finally understood. He raised his spear once more and thrust it straight through the robber’s back.
The robber spat out a mouthful of blood, dead.
From his corpse, seven runes appeared. Six of them disappeared, leaving behind a single one that slowly floated towards Lin Ming.
Lin Ming stared at this rune for some time. Then, he slowly reached out his hand and touched this rune with a fingertip.
Woosh!
With a light sound, this rune flitted forth like a little butterfly and entered Lin Ming’s body.
Lin Ming felt heat flow into his flesh, blood, and meridians. After that, a message appeared in his mind.
“God rune: Mournful Spirit’s Right Hand. Grade: silver level. Can be inscribed onto the palm of the right hand to increase the striking power of the right hand. There are a total of seven runes within the Mournful Spirit’s Right Hand, divided into the gold and silver levels. The more that are collected, the greater the strength will be. By collecting all seven, they may be fused into one. The grade of the rune will also enter the blue soul level.”
This small tidbit of information flashed through Lin Ming’s mind.
However, there was far more information than the general attributes of this god rune.
Lin Ming was able to glean many things from what he had learned.
First, there were god runes that came in sets.
Second, by completing a full set, there would be additional rewards. If a trial challenger wished to gain even more strength, they would have to endeavour to collect a complete set.
Third, god runes were divided into different grades, and the cost of different grade god runes were also vastly different. Moreover, it seemed that the classification of this grade system was entirely similar to that of battle spirits. This left Lin Ming a bit surprised. Could it be that the supreme being who created the Asura Road was also human?