Martial World (Web Novel)
Chapter 1020: Seventh Stage Life Destruction

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Blood flooded out from Lin Ming’s cracked body. His skin was roasted black and it fell off his body like old bark. This was a pain worthy of tearing one’s own skin off. At the same time that his flesh and bones were being burnt, his skin was also peeling away! The severe agony of this pain was difficult to imagine. If a martial artist’s will wasn’t firm, then this pain would be enough to wipe out their spiritual sea!

If a mortal were in such a situation then their mind would break and they would turn mad in just a few breaths of time. Even a martial artist, when their body was placed in a burning heat that was hundreds of times the temperature of magma, would find it hard to bear!

However, this was an extremely important aspect of training within the 18 Hells of Flame. The fiery astral winds would press down upon the limits of a martial artist’s strength. In such a violent and torturous state, perceiving the Fire Laws through this method would deepen one’s comprehension towards the Laws!

The longer Lin Ming was able to last in this state, the greater the benefits would be!

In the fire spirit mirror, Monarch Sweetyfox watched with her own eyes as the Law runes on Lin Ming’s bones were melted away by the scorching heat and sunk into his very marrow, truly fusing with his body!

Comprehension of Laws came in several stages. The first stage was to memorize the Laws with the mind. It was easy to forget or misplace memories, and when recalling these memories, there was also a slight delay. In the midst of a heated battle, responding even just a little bit slower would often have fatal consequences.

As for the second stage, that was memorizing Laws with the body. If one remembered the Laws with the body, they would never forget them in their entire life. Also, it would become a conditioned reflex, completely natural to use.

And the third stage was Lin Ming’s current stage. That was to use one’s bones and marrow to store the memories. To deeply inscribe the Laws into one’s bones and burn them into the marrow until those Laws became a part of the body!

From that point on, the body was Laws, and Laws were the body; everything was the same!

For such a person, their body was a totem stone. By killing someone like that, others could pick up their bones and perceive the Laws from them. Every single part of their body would be a priceless treasure.

After reaching such a stage, one could freely drive the Laws, and even one’s bodily movements would arouse the corresponding Laws. This was because the body itself had become a form of the Laws. Every action one took would contain the truth of the Laws, thus it was easy to foment the Laws of the world!

With the light splashing sound of falling water, the fire origin energy around Lin Ming began to condense into various spiritual life forms. There were fire insects, fire birds, fire beasts, and even humans and Fey, all made of fire energy. All of these life forms bowed towards Lin Ming, worshipping him. And underneath his feet, a blue lotus bloomed in radiant splendor before slowly withering. Each lotus was able to bloom for several dozen breaths of time. Slowly, more and more lotuses bloomed until the space underneath Lin Ming’s feet was covered with them like a lush spring.

Lotus Blooming Step by Step!

This was the phenomenon of the Fire Laws. Yan Littlemoon had comprehended it, and now Lin Ming had too!

No one thought this was strange. Lin Ming had broken through to the seventh level of the Hells of Flame in a single attempt. If he wasn’t able to comprehend the Lotus Blooming Step by Step phenomenon then that would be strange instead!

But with Lin Ming’s current achievements, he no longer needed the Lotus Blooming Step by Step phenomenon to prove himself.

Time passed slowly. Soon, half an hour passed. Although the visions of fire appeared beside Lin Ming in an endless stream of visual beauty, Monarch Sweetyfox and a few others knew that Lin Ming was actually withstanding an excruciating pain!

To use the physical body to withstand this burning hot fire that was several hundred times the temperature of magma and still withstand such a pain for half an hour, it made one’s scalp tingle just thinking about it!

“It’s just like a phoenix undergoing nirvana isn’t it? Lin Ming is being reborn, transforming his body in the process. This test was itself a great lucky chance and smelting trial for him. Through this smelting trial, Lin Ming’s boundaries of Laws have reached an unbelievable a degree in a single go. From now on, no one will dare say that Lin Ming is only outstanding in combat and that his comprehension of Laws is lacking. Perhaps from this point on, Lin Ming’s comprehension of Laws will instead become one of his greatest strengths! At this point, I fear that Lin Ming may have no weakness!”

Monarch Sweetyfox said with a solemn expression.

Of the current Lin Ming –

In terms of the energy within him, his true essence was astoundingly deep and his foundation was extremely solid.

In terms of comprehension of Laws, he had fused three levels of Concepts and had even thoroughly melted the Laws into his marrow.

In terms of cultivation methods and martial skills, he possessed two transcendent divine mights and had already started on the road of creating his own martial skills.

In terms of speed and movement techniques, he understood the Thunder Laws’ Concept of Extreme Speed. At the same time, he had the Gate of Wonder to support him.

In terms of defensive power, he was a dual body and energy cultivator and his physical body had been tempered repeatedly over the years.

In terms of willpower, he possessed a gold battle spirit that carried with it the grandmist attribute…

Lin Ming’s strength had almost reached perfection!

“Mm? This is…”

Duke Golden Sword’s eyes shined as he cried out in surprise. He discovered to his fascination that after the glowing red clouds of light energy from the seventh level rushed into Lin Ming’s body, they had repeatedly pushed Lin Ming’s body past the limits that it could bear. His mortal body was now on the verge of disintegrating. This was because the glowing red light of the seventh level had quickened the energy within Lin Ming’s own body, stirring it up and completely breaking down his flesh and bones!

This was the sign that Lin Ming was crossing to the next stage of Life Destruction!

In truth, when Lin Ming had closed up in Totem Tower for an entire year, he had reached the critical point of being able to break through to the seventh stage of Life Destruction many times. But, because the timing wasn’t too good, it had been forcibly suppressed by Lin Ming.

And now, the glowing red light of the seventh level had spurred the energy within his body far past its limits; he could no longer suppress it!

If it could not be suppressed then it must explode!

“Mm? Lin Ming is actually going to cross Life Destruction at this time?”

“Indeed. The power within his body has already been accumulated to its limits. Let’s allow Lin Ming to cross Life Destruction first.”

After Lin Ming entered the seventh level of the Hells of Flame, he had already reached the part of the standard required to obtain the phoenix blood essence. At the same time, Lin Ming had truly reached his limits and it was impossible for him to penetrate any further down; he no longer needed to continue rushing downwards. At this time, crossing the seventh stage of Life Destruction was the most important matter.

“I ask that Senior Ruby Sovereign lends a hand and return Lin Ming to us!” Blackwood, Fire Spirit Star’s guardian, suddenly spoke out. He could not allow such a talented genius like Lin Ming to experience any problems crossing Life Destruction while he was at Fire Spirit Star. Otherwise, he would not be able to bear such a failure. Lin Ming had a high chance of becoming a figure like the Ancient Phoenix Clan Patriarch in the future.

“No need. He will cross Life Destruction in the Hells of Flame’s seventh level and then I shall return him. You punk Golden Sword, pretty lady Sweetyfox, didn’t you each promise Lin Ming some rewards earlier? Take them all out! While Lin Ming crosses Life Destruction, this is the best time for him to fuse the phoenix bloodline within him. Also you, stripling Blackwood, since Lin Ming was able to rush as far as the seventh level of the Hells of Flame, he should have obtained many rewards. From the third level downwards, he should have received a reward for every 5000 miles. I will call the shots for Lin Ming. I have no need for any saint artifacts or fire elementals or pills. I want everything changed into phoenix blood of equivalent value. Don’t be such a scrooge about it. Take it all out!”

“Hahaha! Very well! Since Senior Ruby Sovereign says such, then I naturally cannot be cheap about it!” Duke Golden Sword heartily laughed out loud. “I had said that as long as Lin Ming could slaughter 600 people in the Illusionary God Combat Array, I would bestow him an armor nearing a transcendent saint artifact. But now it seems that such an item wouldn’t be of much use to him. I will put forth five drops of phoenix heart blood instead!”

As the captain of the Disciplinary Enforcement Division, approving the use of five drops of phoenix heart blood was naturally no problem for him.

“Monarch Sweetyfox, you too! You are the steward of the Ancient Phoenix Clan, so don’t be such a miser!” Duke Golden Sword smiled as he looked towards Monarch Sweetyfox. Monarch Sweetyfox had said that if Lin Ming could slaughter 600 people within the Illusionary God Combat Array, she would reward him with three drops of phoenix heart blood. But now it seemed taking something of that amount out wouldn’t be enough.

“Hohoho!” Monarch Sweetyfox brightly laughed. “I, Sweetyfox, represent the Office of Internal Affairs and am responsible for dividing the resources of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. Although I do not have the authority to approve high grade resources, I do have the power to give out ordinary resources. Golden Sword, since you’ve put out five drops of phoenix heart blood, I naturally cannot be a cheapskate. I will put forth two drops of phoenix marrow blood. This is something that I also must follow regulations for if I pass it out, but today’s circumstances are a bit peculiar. If I do some extra work in the future then this shouldn’t be a problem.”

A drop of phoenix marrow blood was almost equal to 10 drops of phoenix heart blood. If used on a martial artist with an extremely high quality phoenix bloodline, a drop of phoenix marrow blood would have an even better effect than 10 drops of phoenix heart blood. Since Monarch Sweetyfox had put forth two drops of phoenix marrow blood, that was the same as 20 drops of phoenix heart blood! If converted into phoenix plume blood, that would be equal to 1000 drops!

When Huo Yanguang had taken out 20 drops of phoenix plume blood in his gambling fight with Lin Ming, that was enough to stir up a massive commotion in the entire Phoenix Cry Palace. From this alone one could see the value of the two drops of phoenix marrow blood that Monarch Sweetyfox put forth. This was a wealth that could more than bankrupt an ordinary Divine Lord powerhouse!

On this point, one could infer the difference from the contents of the bet between Chu Redcloud and Sun Cyprestar. It was simply impossible to compare the wealth of an Elder from one of the Ancient Phoenix Clan’s 72 branch palaces to an envoy from the Ancient Phoenix Clan Headquarters. This was the same difference between a countryside landlord and a noble from the capital!

Following that, there was also Blackwood! As the guardian of Fire Spirit Star, Blackwood was directly in charge of all the rewards that headquarters had left at Fire Spirit Star!

Blackwood didn’t speak. He only flung his hand and tossed out three jade bottles. He didn’t explain what was inside. According to the rules of the Ancient Phoenix Clan, starting from the third level, one could obtain better rewards every 5000 miles they went down in the 18 Hells of Flame. At the sixth level and the seventh level, the rewards were so valuable they could drive saints to madness. The value of those rewards absolutely surpassed that of the two drops of phoenix marrow blood that Monarch Sweetyfox had put forth!

“Hey! Blackwood! What did you just hand over?”

Duke Golden Sword asked as he excitedly licked his lips.

“1200 drops of ordinary Ancient Phoenix blood, 600 drops of phoenix plume blood, 10 drops of phoenix heart blood, a drop of phoenix marrow blood, and a drop of phoenix coronet blood! The phoenix marrow blood and the phoenix coronet blood comprise nearly the complete wealth of rewards that headquarters left for me. I never imagined that such a situation would appear in this smelting trial. I never thought that I would have to bring them out.”

Blackwood casually spoke, but Duke Golden Sword was silently bewildered. Phoenix coronet blood was only inferior to phoenix blood essence, and it was much higher in value than phoenix marrow blood. A drop of phoenix coronet blood was equal to two or three drops of phoenix marrow blood.

Not just that, but the rewards Blackwood took out were of all ranks. There were low level rewards and high level rewards. It wasn’t just high quality phoenix blood like the phoenix marrow blood and phoenix coronet blood, but also lower level phoenix blood like phoenix plume blood and even ordinary Ancient Phoenix blood.

Those low level bloods might have seemed worthless, but the truth was just the opposite. Lin Ming’s phoenix bloodline was extremely faint. If he could use the phoenix plume blood to raise the quality of his bloodline, and then transform it again with the far more precious phoenix marrow blood and phoenix coronet blood, the effects would be far better!

To a genius of the Ancient Phoenix Clan, phoenix marrow blood and phoenix coronet blood were used as the finishing touch. But in order to have a finishing touch, one had to have a base first. Without a base there would be nothing to add a finishing touch to. First, Lin Ming had to add the lower rank phoenix blood into his body, forcibly enhancing his phoenix bloodline. Otherwise, everything else would be wasted.