Martial World (Web Novel)
Chapter 2109: Distribution of Benefits

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In a chamber within the deepest depths of the Ancient Eon Sect, Lin Ming was sitting down.

This space was an independent minor dimension, and left within it were the remnants of countless strong abyssal auras. These auras were all left behind by powerful supreme powerhouses of the Ancient Eon Sect who had gone into seclusion here before.

At this time, wonderful Law stones were spinning in front of Lin Ming, each one like an ancient supreme abyssal slowly spinning around, hovering about him.

When Eon died, he didn’t leave behind just one demon crystal, but many of them.

After feeling Eon’s relic crystals Lin Ming’s demon avatar began to stir, as every inch of its flesh and blood bloomed with the aura of life and its skin began to wriggle.

The strength of Laws emitted by the relic crystals was slowly drawn in like invisible threads, quietly swallowed by Lin Ming’s demon avatar.

The process of comprehending Eon’s relic crystals was long, but also very smooth.

In his life, Lin Ming had perceived far too many Laws.

At the start he began with the simple Concepts of the Five Elements. Then, he progressed to the Space and Time Laws, the Yin and Yang Laws, the power of the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, and even expanded that to the 33 Heavens Laws.

Lin Ming slowly discovered that all the Laws he comprehended before were in actuality branches of the 33 Heavens Laws.

And, the 33 Heavens Laws could be further divided into two parts. One was the Laws of the universe of the world, and the other was the Laws of the universe of the body.

For instance, the Nine Divine Shifts could be summed up as one kind of the world universe Laws. As for the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, that could be considered a kind of the body universe Laws.

Lin Ming cultivated both the Nine Divine Shifts and the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace to large success, and it was then that he saw that outline of the Laws of the world universe and the Laws of the body universe; these were the Heavenly Sutra and Holy Scripture, Laws that were closest to the source of the Great Dao.

However, it was only afterwards Lin Ming learned that although the 33 Heavens’ Great Dao was comprehensive and wide, it wasn’t the only one in this world. In the Dark Abyss,the Laws were not the same.

These were Laws that came from the Dark Abyss and totem level abyssals. If the Asura Road Master’s conjectures about the Dark Abyss were true, then the abyssal Laws were in fact the Laws left behind from the previous universe.

The higher Lin Ming stood, the more he was able to see.

And the more he experienced, the more he was able to further solidify his foundation so that he could climb higher up towards the peak of martial arts.

He faintly felt that if there was ever a person that was capable of thoroughly comprehending the entirety of the Heavenly Dao, then that person would be the heavens, that person would be the word, that person would be all.

That was likely the so-called peak of martial arts.

Time slowly passed. The demon avatar’s induction with the relic crystals continued, and its understandings of Eon’s Laws became increasingly profound.

At the same time, this avatar had a mysterious telepathic connection to Lin Ming. During the process of comprehension Lin Ming also obtained many inspirations.

After an unknown period of time, mystical runes began to appear on the skin, flesh, and blood of the demon avatar.

These runes were like stars shining within the universe, with waves of strength from profound abyssal Laws rippling all around them…

As this strength of Laws appeared around the demon avatar, the other abyssal auras in the chamber began to quiver, consciously avoiding the demon avatar as if they feared its existence.

And at this time, a crystal in front of Lin Ming suddenly flashed and a voice spread into his mind.

This caused Lin Ming to faintly frown. During this period of seclusion he had been silently counting the passing of time. He knew that there was still half a year until the Demon God’s Tomb opened, and according to his original calculations he would still need to go into seclusion for a period of time.

But now the Council of Elders actually wished to summon him.

As the shine of the sound transmission crystal dimmed down, Lin Ming stood up and pushed open the chamber door. His figure flickered and he appeared at the meeting hall of the Elders.

At this time within the hall, the other eight Elders of the Ancient Eon Sect had already gathered in full.

They sat in a circle around a simple wooden table. The atmosphere was somber.

“What is it?”

Lin Ming asked.

Great Elder Eon God narrowed his eyes, sizing up Lin Ming without concealing it. He could faintly feel that Lin Ming’s body surged with strength. It seemed that after a short period of seclusion, Lin Ming had undergone some drastic change.

“We must set out for Deep King Road.” The Great Elder said.

“Mm? So soon?” Lin Ming’s thoughts stirred. According to the information he obtained from the Demon Association’s Elder, there had been half a year until the Demon God’s Tomb opened. It was still too early to go.

The Great Elder continued, “This time, our Ancient Eon Sect will be cooperating with Deep King Road, as well as another influence – Nine Nether Palace. The three influences will form an alliance with Deep King Road as the head. We and Nine Nether Palace will obey the orders of Deep King Road to a certain degree…”

Nine Nether Palace…

Lin Ming had heard of Nine Nether Palace before. It was one of the six great totem level influences, and its totem level abyssal, ‘Nether’, had already died.

Nether seemed to have been severely wounded in the great war 10 billion years ago. Afterwards, its life force slowly passed away until it perished; this was equal to dying from old age.

Because Nether had died, Nine Nether Palace wasn’t too powerful, just a bit stronger than the Ancient Eon Sect. During this venture into the Demon God’s Tomb they would both have to take the stronger Deep King Road as their leader. Like this, it would be easier to preserve their strength and survive, and of course obtain more benefits.

The Great Elder continued, “Deep King Road is the strongest of us three so they are sure to receive the greatest benefits. But, the specific division percentage will be dependent upon the contrast of strength between us three. In other words, this is a comparison of martial strength.”

“Oh? Martial strength?” Lin Ming raised his head. It seemed that heading out to Deep King Road early was so that there would be more time to compare martial strength.

“The specific rules are that we, Nine Nether Palace, and Deep King Road will each choose disciples from the name list of those who wish to enter the Demon God’s Tomb, and these disciples will be the strongest. Us and Nine Nether Palace will choose three people each and Deep King Road will choose six people.

“There will be a total of 12 people. The six people between us and Nine Nether Palace will contend with the six people from Deep King Road. The challenges will be initiated by our side and you can freely choose whoever you wish to challenge among the six people of Deep King Road. You can even repeat challenges. Then, at the end, how we decide on the specific division of benefits will depend on the number of defeats that both sides rack up.”

As the Great Elder spoke, Lin Ming was surprised. The Dark Abyss was truly a world where strength reigned supreme. Even in negotiations within an alliance, division of benefits was based upon who possessed greater martial strength and who possessed lower martial strength.

And looking at these rules alone, Nine Nether Palace and the Ancient Eon Sect were far too weak compared to Deep King Road. The two of them together couldn’t even defeat one.

Deep King Road allowed the Ancient Eon Sect and Nine Nether Palace to initiate challenges, to freely challenge who they wish, and also to repeat challenges. In other words, Deep King Road was highly confident in every single one of the six people they would send out. Amongst the six, none were weak!

As Lin Ming thought of this he developed a sense of vigilance against Deep King Road’s totem level abyssal. If he were to ever meet Deep, he surely wouldn’t be able to escape its grasp.

“During this competition of strength, will Deep appear?”

Lin Ming asked.

The Great Elder chuckled. “Deep hasn’t appeared in billions of years. It seems you still don’t have much understanding into the six totem level influences.”

Lin Ming quietly nodded at the Great Elder’s words. When he obtained the memories of the Demon Association’s Elder, it was impossible for him learn everything. To read through a memory that spanned over hundreds of millions of years would take far too much time, so he only focused on information related to the Demon God’s Tomb.

The Great Elder then said, “You do not need to participate. Our Ancient Eon Sect can only choose three people to fight, so it isn’t your turn yet…”

As the Great Elder spoke, Lin Ming could see traces of disdain on the three younger Elders, as well as some envy.

It was clear that these three Elders would be the three people who represented the Ancient Eon Sect during the competition.

They were the youngest of the eight Elders of the Ancient Eon Sect and their potential was the greatest, thus they were the most likely candidates.

The contemptuous expressions on their faces clearly originated from Lin Ming’s relatively low cultivation.

As for envy, it was naturally because Lin Ming had stumbled onto the Book of Eon and had managed to become an Elder of the Ancient Eon Sect because of this. To be placed on the same level as Lin Ming was something they refused to accept.

Lin Ming didn’t respond, nor did he feel anything about the expressions these three Elders were making towards him. After all, it didn’t matter much to him just how high the division of benefits the Ancient Eon Sect obtained was.

He already knew that these three young Elders had unfriendly intentions towards him. They all wanted to enter the Demon God’s Tomb with the Book of Eon.

“However…” At this time, the Great Elder suddenly changed the conversation. “Although you do not need to fight, there is still something you need to do.

“Currently, our Ancient Eon Sect is still blocking all information concerning the Book of Eon, thus no one knows about it. Do you know what will happen once we announce news that the Book of Eon has been found?”

The Great Elder’s voice was cold and frosty. Without waiting for Lin Ming to reply, he said, “In the Dark Abyss, strength is everything. And if you enter the Demon God’s Tomb it will be impossible for you to hide the Book of Eon. In other words, everyone will know that the book is in your hands, so sooner or later we will have to announce the return of the Book of Eon.

“And at this time Deep King Road will surely try to bargain with us. And, the method they will adopt will surely be to cede some of their benefits to us in exchange for the Book of Eon!”

The Great Elder coldly sneered as he said this. “Although exchanging for some benefits sounds nice, the truth is that it will be an exchange by force. And, it will be difficult for us to reject them. Even if the Book of Eon was ours to begin with, we still cannot refuse them. This is because without strength, we naturally do not have the rights to do so! Even most of the spots to enter the Demon God’s Tomb are in their hands!

“If we are stubborn and refuse to back down then they will threaten to leave the alliance and start pushing us aside, so that only a few of us can enter the Demon God’s Tomb. At that time, while we may still have the Book of Eon when we enter, we shall be surrounded by enemies on all sides. We will have become fish on the chopping block, so how could we possibly keep the Book of Eon?”

The Great Elder slowly said, his words justified and natural, without any falsities.

“And then?” Lin Ming’s eyebrows rose up. He looked at the Great Elder. He could faintly feel that what the Great Elder was about to say was his true goal in summoning him here.