Martial World

As Lin Ming walked before the waterfalls array, a deacon was there waiting, who appeared to be around 20 to 30 years old. The deacon had already been given advance notice. He said to Lin Ming, “Junior Apprentice Lin, you may go in. There is a one hour time limit. The array was especially for new disciples today. The difficulty has already been set at level seven. Are there any questions?”

‘Mmm, what a troublesome fellow senior apprentice!’ Lin Ming thought, but he did not care too much. This seventh level of difficulty corresponded to the ranks 110 to 130. His ranking of 126 was near the bottom of that. He would start from the foundation, and then come back again for a more difficult challenge later.

“You can enter, although you just barely suffice to enter the seventh level of difficulty – your cultivation is limited. If you cannot handle being inside, come out to rest. Generally, one cannot stay inside for too long. If you are in there longer than your body’s limits, you may end up damaging your health.” The deacon senior-apprentice reminded Lin Ming.

“Thank you fellow Senior Apprentice. If I cannot bear it, I will say so.”

“Mmm, good.” The deacon senior apprentice said as he opened the array.

Looking in from the outside, the Icy Pond Waterfall was an ordinary waterfall, just a massive one. But as he made a few strides towards it, the scenery suddenly changed. Lin Ming arrived at a new space, and was unable to sense anything from the outside.

Although the Icy Pond Waterfall was a killing array, it also contained an illusory magic array inside. Because of this, 12 people could practice in the array at the same time and yet not be able to see anyone else. This was because the illusory magic array would isolate one from all 11 other people as they cultivated, after all, no one was willing to cultivate next to others that were watching.

Lin Ming turned around for a moment, and behind him had already become a completely dark, jet-black world. It was as if the waterfall was suspended in the starry night sky. The icy pond of the waterfall was a thousand feet wide and deep blue like glacial ice. Although it wasn’t too far from the waterfall, it was unusually quiet and still, and not a single waterline was seen. There was a dense fog that floated over the surface and covered half of the icy pond.

“Just look, you can feel the chilling cold. This cold air is even frostier than the winter north wind!” Lin Ming took a deep breath, revolved his true essence to the limit, and then plunged into the frigid pond.

“Good cold!”

After jumping into the icy pond, Lin Ming felt the freezing cold. He had no doubt that if this was in the outside world, the water would already have frozen over. But in the Icy Pond Waterfall array, this frigid water actually remained liquid, it was just amazing.

Lin Ming circulated the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ to the extreme. His muscles also continuously trembled, as they were trying to give off a feverish heat in order to resist the cold.

“This water, how does it feel a little like mercury?” Lin Ming began attempting to dive, but found out that the water contained a bewildering resistance. As he splashed some water around, it was just as if he was playing with mercury. The water was obviously much thicker and denser than ordinary water, and also more sticky. If this was a normal pond, then if he exhaled deeply all the air in him, he would naturally sink into the water. But in this icy pond, it easily felt as if as if he were being pulled downwards; even swimming forward was slower.

“It was said that this icy pond was a thousand feet deep. I don’t know who could have possibly measured it. With my current condition, let alone diving a thousand feet, even a few dozen feet would be extremely difficult. The man who could dive all the way down is truly a master!”

The deeper the icy pond was, the colder it would be. The chill felt as if it had a faint spiritual intellect to it. It was as if it were trying to worm its way into his skin through his pores, sneak into his blood, and penetrate to his marrow and freeze it. Lin Ming didn’t doubt that if someone who didn’t know martial arts came in here, they would instantly be frozen to the point where they would be unable to move, their blood would then turn to ice also, and they would die.

“My hands and feet are already starting to freeze, what an amazing fierceness.” Lin Ming had already submerged himself 30 feet down. At that depth, Lin Ming felt countless cold needles stabbing his body. Because the cold here was to the extreme, the cold feeling became an aching pain. He was unable to dive further than here; otherwise he would be in danger.

“Although I cultivate the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ and my true essence is much more condensed than a normal martial artist’s, my cultivation is still too weak. Others that can come to the seventh difficulty level are usually those at the Third Stage of Body Transformation or above.”

“Mmm? Is that a stone platform?” Lin Ming found that several dozen feet away, there was a flat stone outcropping on the wall. He made an effort to swim over, concentrated his true essence, and then stood on the stone platform.

Martial artists could take deep and long breaths. Although Lin Ming had not achieved the Viscera Training stage, with one breath he could stay underwater for about the time it took to burn an incense stick. He sat down cross-legged on the stone platform and began to use his full energy to revolve the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’.

As everything all around him was unusually quiet, it was as if Lin Ming had entered into a separate space and time that had paused. Even as the chilly water of the icy pond flowed past him, Lin Ming could only hear his long and slow rhythmic heartbeat like a pendulum that was swinging back and forth, without a trace of chaos.

At that moment, it seemed as if Lin Ming’s soul had risen from his body. His body had not even the tiniest bit of sensation, he didn’t have a shred of perception, and had completely become absorbed in a trance-like state. Each and every inch of his muscles were resisting the chilly water. His true essence didn’t seem to be completely under his control; it was as if it was revolving by itself. It was like it had fused to the inertia in his body, and the circulation of true essence in his body was running down incomparably exquisite lines. It was far more accurate than Lin Ming’s revolution of true essence and was also several times faster!

Lin Ming had just reached ‘True Primal Chaos Formulas’ first layer’s Large Success stage and the speed at which he could revolve his true essence had increased. But now, it had even hastened more than before. It could be said that this was double the threshold of the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’. It was a pity that this circulation speed was not something that Lin Ming could consciously drive, but was being done automatically which he could not achieve.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Ming suddenly woke up from this trance state. “Mm? What’s the matter with me?”

There was a slight tightness in his chest from holding his breath. Lin Ming exercised his true essence and surfaced from the water, gasping for breath. As he breathed in the icy air, this air was also similarly bone-chilling, and when he breathed in the air, it coated the edges of his mouth with a layer of frost.

Lin Ming recalled the state he had been in a moment ago. That feeling was similar to the feeling of all the tiny units in his body resonating together as was described in the “Body Tearing Bone Shattering Fist’, the marvelous boundary when the breathing of his entire body and all its tiny units would be consistent. If a normal martial artist’s breathing exercises were due to their conscious decisions and thoughts, then Lin Ming’s breathing just down was as if the tiny units in his body had all breathed spontaneously, as if Lin Ming’s consciousness was separate from it. His true essence has deferred to its instinct and revolved completely of its own will, and its revolution route could be called perfect!

Lin Ming returned to that stone platform, as he wanted to reproduce that state. However, he couldn’t realize this state again.

“Mmn!? The ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ seems to have improved further and achieved the Perfect stage! When Lin Ming revolved the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ to resist the cold, he impressively discovered that his true essence circulation speed had increased by 40%. This was the Perfect stage of ‘True Primal Chaos Formulas’ first layer!

Large Success is easy; Perfect is hard! Lin Ming thought that he would achieve the Perfect boundary of the first layer of ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ faster than normal, but he did not think that he would achieve it so quickly!

“Was this because of the state I was in a moment ago?” Lin Ming’s heart jumped crazily.

It was said that sometimes a martial artist would enter a mysterious state, for instance what they called ‘sudden enlightenment’ and so on. The ancient books had recorded that a martial artist would sit under a Bodhi tree, and meditate under a cliff for one night. Overnight their hair would turn white, they would awaken and discover that their cultivation method had reached the Large Success stage, and their cultivation had progressed by leaps and bounds! There were even ancient legends that said one could obtain enlightenments and become an immortal, and break from the mortal void.

Perhaps just now he had entered a similar state to that ‘sudden enlightenment’ or some other marvelous boundary!

Sadly, he had only been in that state for a very short time. Even so, he had obtained enormous benefits from it.

A martial artist’s strange conditions were elusive. It had nothing to do with a martial artist’s talent, only a martial artist’s heart, consciousness, and other mysterious and profound things. Although Lin Ming’s talent was ordinary, but concerning the heart of martial arts, he did not lose to any other talent in the history of Sky Fortune Kingdom!

Since he was unable to enter that state again, Lin Ming continued to use the chilling water of the icy pond to temper his body, along with circulating his true essence. The efficacy of the Soul Gathering Pellet was also stimulated. Lin Ming’s inner true essence gradually flowed from his muscles to the edges of his viscera…

True essence covering viscera was the symbol of the boundary of the Third Stage of Body Transformation, Viscera Training!

Lin Ming had accidently half-stepped into the realm of the Third Stage of Body Transformation. The breakthrough was only a matter of time!

A martial artist that practiced Body Transformation to the Second Stage of Flesh Training would have true essence moisten their muscles and perfuse the surface with it. In the Third Stage, Viscera Training, the true essence would cover the internal organs and protect them. Onwards to the Fourth Stage and Fifth Stage, the true essence would penetrate deeper and deeper into the body, until it would alter muscles and forge bones.

Nevertheless, in practice, it was impossible to cover each and every inch of a martial artist’s flesh and blood with true essence.

Generally, a martial artists would pour true essence into their muscles. This sort of force-feeding mechanism was limited in its ways. A spot of muscle that absorbed too much true essence would arrive at a bottleneck. On the other hand, because of oversight, some muscle areas would not be moistened or exposed to true essence at all. Like this, it would leave behind an ‘empty point’ in the body.

But in actual combat, every ‘empty point’ was also an exploitable weakness. Also, later in the future when one tried to reach the peak of Body Transformation, the Pulse Condensation Period, these ‘empty points’ would become a huge hindrance.

But it was different in the icy pond. The icy pond stimulated each and every inch of the body’s flesh. The cold chill entered through the pores and stimulated the whole body; muscle, blood, and even the marrow!

To deal with this kind of cold, one had to revolve true essence and tremble the muscles to resist. This required that each tiny unit in the body would resist the cold too, and absorb true essence!

Gradually, every inch of blood and flesh would be tempered by true essence, and thus remove the ‘empty point’!

Realizing this, Lin Ming took a deep breath. It was no wonder why all these years the Pulse Condensation Period martial artists of Sky Fortune Kingdom had almost all come from the Seven Profound Martial House. They had such mysterious and profound resources, in addition to outstanding talent and outstanding cultivation methods. To reach the breakthrough to the Pulse Condensation Period was just far easier than it was for a normal martial artist. Not even mentioning the likes of Ling Sen, Ta Ku, and other top-tier talents, even if it was only a third-grade talent, as long as they spared no effort in supporting them with rare and precious medicines, they could also break through to the Pulse Condensation Period!

“Before, if I had chosen to enter the first-level Sky Fortune Martial House, even if I had the ‘Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians’ I still would not be able to train each and every inch of my flesh and blood! Just this icy pond has such miraculous effects. The other cultivation rooms must also have other mysterious effects. These seven major killing arrays are just too precious!”

“I must increase my rank as soon as possible so that I can freely enjoy the resources of the seven major killing arrays!”