Chapter 369 – Battle Marathon
Chen Kun flew back several dozen feet before finally managing to use his staff to ground himself. He kneeled on the floor, panting and taking in great gulps of air. The punch that had struck his chest was too strange; the energy in that attack had spread through his organs, causing his blood to roil.
He stood up, an expression of shock coloring his face. In a battle of masters where both parties were using their full strength, they naturally had to also utilize their utmost concentration. If there was even the slightest mistake, it was possible that they would be defeated. But Lin Ming was actually able to hold a spear in one hand and use his other to attack.
What sort of strange strength was this?
After a martial artist reached the Pulse Condensation period, their bodily strength wouldn’t increase by much. They could only depend on using the true essence to indirectly enhance their strength. But because the Deep Earth Sect martial artists had earth-attribute origin energy, they had a large advantage in the aspect of strength.
But in that moment, Chen Kun had been completely suppressed by Lin Ming’s brute force.
Chen Kun could not accept this.
“I admit defeat.”
Chen Kun clenched his teeth, then turned around and walked offstage.
As he admitted defeat, there was a collective gasp among the banquet audience.
“This Lin Ming, I don’t know, but he must have studied some cultivation method that gave him such a bizarre body strength. He was actually able to withstand Chen Kun’s Earth Opening Staff and retaliate, it’s no injustice that Chen Kun lost.”
“Lin Ming defeated two Deep Earth Sect masters in a row, even the direct disciple Chen Kun lost. After him would be the top four or five ranked direct disciples.”
“It’s impossible for Lin Ming to win. But even so, to win by wearing him down in a battle of attrition would be truly disgraceful. Even after they win, the Five Element Region’s six great sects will still lose face. Just look at the Thunderclap’s complexion.”
At the Thundercrest sect’s banquet table, Zhou Lie had a poor complexion. Ever since Lin Ming had said he would challenge the six great sects of the Five Element Region, he hadn’t been able to relax.
He wasn’t worried that Lin Ming would continuously win. After all, if dozens of Houtian martial artists all challenged a Pulse Condensation period martial artist, he would eventually slip and be defeated. This was inevitable. Let alone Lin Ming, even the Mu Qianyu of the past would not have been able to do this.
What Zhou Lie worried about was the entire situation of the Five Element Region’s Houtian masters waging a protracted war against a Pulse Condensation period junior. Once this matter was made known, it would truly be shameful.
He couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Xiaoling. His little sister was actually still eating at this moment, her head nearly in her bowl. Zhou Lie frowned, “You’re still in the mood to eat?”
“If I don’t eat then what am I going to do here?” Zhou Xiaoling vaguely muttered as she looked at Lei Zhenzi, puzzled. She had a very bored and tired look in her eyes. “Anyway, fights of this level have nothing to do with me, so what about it.”
Zhou Lie was speechless. He sighed as she said, “It’s as you said, Lin Ming really won!”
As Zhou Xiaoling swallowed some food, she said, “It’s not simple for him to lose. Why don’t you go up and finish this yourself then?”
Zhou Lie was exasperated with his little sister. To tell him to go up onstage himself, that was a complete joke.
Mu Dingshan and Mu Xiaoqing still hadn’t moved. Lin Ming had challenged the heroic elites of the Five Element Region, but that didn’t mean that the other disciples of Divine Phoenix Island would just stand there.
Zhou Lie expected that if he or any of the other chief disciples took action, then Mu Dingshan and Mu Xiaoqing would come out to meet them. These two fellows were very difficult to deal with, especially Mu Dingshan. His cultivation was just a step away from reaching the middle Houtian real. Zhou Lie had to admit that his odds of defeating him were less than half.
At that time, things would become a battle between the direct disciples of the sects. Meanwhile, Lin Ming would walk offstage and recover his strength.
This was not what Zhou Lie wished to see.
Even for Zhou Lie, he couldn’t afford to lose or win against this fellow. He could already imagine that if he entered the stage, there would be a rumor spreading throughout the entire Five Element Region and South Horizon Region, that the Five Element Region’s six great sects had collaborated to besiege the 16 year old Divine Phoenix Island Saint rank talent Lin Ming. Even the chief disciple Zhou Lie had to use the strategy of having several others wear Lin Ming down, and then only managing to barely defeat him.
These rumors were unpredictable. Especially because those that spread these rumors would embellish many details to bring more attention to their stories.
Therefore no matter how Zhou Lie won, the end result would be that Lin Ming’s status and influence would rise. As for his own reputation, he would be extremely discredited in the Five Element Region, his face falling to the floor. Zhou Lie didn’t want to place himself in this situation.
At this time on the stage, Lin Ming had taken a pill from his spatial ring and swallowed it. In these two matches, he had consumed a small bit of his strength. Lin Ming’s endurance was amazing. He had an excessively abundant amount of blood vitality, and after he had reached Tempering Marrow where his blood was like gold soup, Lin Ming’s blood vitality was like a massive raging inferno.
Such a martial artist that had an extremely blood vitality, even if they fell into the 10,000 layers of the abyss, no ghost of spirit would dare to approach them, or they would instantly be purified.
After eating up a pill and revolving the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’, Lin Ming rapidly restored the true essence he had consumed.
“Who wants to be next?”
Lin Ming’s arm pressed against the barrel of his spear, the nine foot nine inch Heavy Profound Soft Spear proudly displayed. A man and his spear stood with complete pride in the center of the stage, challenging all martial artists from the six great sects to meet him. At this time, the only way to describe Lin Ming would be that his heroic spirit soared to the skies!
A quarter of an hour ago, the Divine Phoenix Island disciples had been continuously challenged by the Five Element Region disciples. All of the junior disciples had gathered, but they were overwhelmed facing against such an endless enemy.
But now, with just a few words from Lin Ming, they suddenly all filled with a rapturous pride. At this moment, the image of this solitary figure onstage had etched itself into the hearts of many present.
Of course, the reaction of the Five Element Region disciples was the complete opposite.
“F*ck! This kid is too arrogant!”
“He dares to bully my Five Element Region!?”
The youths were easily stirred up. Now, with someone challenging them while looking down on them at the same time, how could they sit still?
A youth carrying a longsword that was sat near Zhan Yunjian stood up. “Senior-apprentice Brother Zhan, I’ll go up and compete against him.”
The youth was already itching to fight. In the last year, his strength had increased by leaps and bounds, and he was looking for a chance to display his newfound strength. Now that Lin Ming had won a series of battles, if he could stop his winning streak, he would surely become famous.
“Mm…” Zhan Yunjian nodded. Since the Five Element Region had already decided to defeat Lin Ming in a battle of attrition, they should double down on this plan. In any case, their reputation had already fallen. Several days from now, this series of events would spread regardless of what happened. Thus it was best to just send a few of the top direct disciples out and end this farce as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, if Lin Ming defeated the next seven or eight challengers, that would truly be an ugly sight to behold.
“He shouldn’t have much strength left, just go up and directly defeat him.” Zhan Yunjian said.
The youth smiled, “This boy is dreaming. Does he really think he can keep winning? Not even a chief disciple can accomplish this. I think that this boy wants to become famous so badly that he’s gone insane. Since I’m going up, I’ll make sure to awaken him from this fanciful dream!”
As the youth spoke, he leapt onstage.
Zhao Yunjian let out a long breath. Even if Lin Ming lost, he would still become famous throughout the entire South Horizon Region and Five Element Region. His reputation might even compare to that of Mu Qianyu and Mu Bingyun; this was not something that the direct disciples of the Five Element Region could compare with.
But in the end, Lin Ming was lacking time – this was as far as he came. Although he was able to defeat Chen Kun, how would he fare against a top direct disciple? He would probably barely be able to win. In the worst case, even if he won, he would still exhaust his strength. If so, how many could he defeat?”
“Storm Valley’s Chu Yunfei, I wish to experience just what ability you have to be confident!” Chu Yunfei pointed between Lin Ming’s eyebrows, the provocation obvious in his voice and actions.
Storm Valley’s Chu Yunfei was the fourth ranked direct disciple. It was worth mentioning that he was less than 19 years old and had an astonishing talent. He was considered one of the top four heroic Storm talents.
Because a fourth ranked direct disciple had entered the stage, after that would be the third and second ranked direct disciples. And after the top direct disciples were the chief disciples, characters like Zhan Yunjian, Bai Aoxuan, Zhou Lie, and others.
However, Lin Ming also knew that the chief direct disciples were proud and haughty, and would not participate in this group siege.
‘Since these chief disciples aren’t going to move, I’ll sweep clean the direct disciples of the six great sects, and use these battles to consolidate my Tempering Marrow boundary and enhance my strength.’
Lin Ming never thought to take the initiative and challenge the six chief disciples. He couldn’t discern the true strength of these individuals. Although Lin Ming had full confidence in a one on one fight, as for fighting several of them in a row, he wasn’t arrogant to such a degree.
As Lin Ming faced Chu Yunfei on the stage, he took out the Heavy Profound Soft Spear.
“Hehe, your winning streak stops here!” Chu Yunfei brightly smiled. Without any action at all, the blue sword that was in the scabbard on his back flew out on its own, into his hand.
Lin Ming was slightly surprised. “This is… the Concept of Wind?”
Lin Ming instantly realized that the sword was pulled out from the scabbard by wind, then sent to Chu Yunfei’s hand. This was a sort of ability that allowed one to control wind. This sort of wind controlling ability was truly eye opening. “The top ranked direct disciples of the Five Element Region really have their own strengths. For the Storm Valley martial artists to comprehend the Concept of Wind also makes sense!”
“Oh? You saw through it? Not bad. My comprehension of the Concept of Wind ranks among the top of Storm Valley’s younger generation!” Chu Yunfei was completely confident in himself. He had broken through to the Houtian realm at 18 years of age, and was also called one of the four heroic Storm talents. Naturally, he had areas he excelled in.
“To be defeated under my hands is not an injustice!”
Chu Yunfei slashed out. His sword speed was fast to the point that only the sword light could be seen.
His knees were slightly bent, his body flying, his movements strange. Strong winds formed a whirling blue vortex around him, his figure turning into a series of images. Every sword light turned into a thin light, hiding in the gaps in the air. This true essence was highly compressed but also had a strange attack pattern; it was virtually impossible to defend against!
Lin Ming’s expression was solemn. He sent out his sense and captured the location of every sword light.
Golden Roc Shattering the Void!
Under the support of the movement technique, Lin Ming’s figure instantly vanished.
Cha cha cha!
The floor tiles were torn apart by the sharp sword energy, the cuts smooth like a mirror.
Lin Ming was like a fish in water. Every sword light was forced apart by Flow like Silk, and he danced within the storm of sword energy, seizing every chance to attack.
“Humph, in terms of speed you cannot compete against me!” Chu Yunfei’s lips arced up. He flicked his wrists, and the sharp lines of sword energy dissolved into fluttering cotton, fusing into the wind.
In that moment, wind swirled up into several vortexes. Several blue tornadoes appeared on the stage, swaying like massive snakes as they closed in on Lin Ming.