Martial World

Today, Qin Xingxuan was wearing an elegant, pure white evening dress. This dress was much simpler than others. The back was not open, nor was it too low; it only exposed her creamy and fragrant shoulders. Although her innocent and beautiful figure was not full, her curves were still outlined. The dress was very long, and it followed behind her like a deep spring flowing recklessly to the ground.

This was Lin Ming’s first time seeing Qin Xingxuan in such splendid attire. He was pleasantly surprised. This girl, she just always seemed to come in different flavors. First he had run into her at the lecture hall of the Zither Department, and she had carried a virtuous air about her as she was surrounded by a gang of fellow female students. Now he saw her at this banquet, and she exuded a natural air of elegance and grace. He wondered if he would see her in the military in the future, and how she would look if she was wearing a military uniform.

Qin Xingxuan’s appearance had immediately attracted the attentions of everyone present. The sensation that she caused was almost as much as Lin Ming had.

However, although the sons of the aristocratic families kept their eyes on Qin Xingxuan at all times, no one overreached their bounds to go over to her. Qin Xingxuan was simply too abstract an existence for them. To take advantage of her; they might as well take advantage of a princess.

“Teacher.” Yang Lin immediately walked up to greet them.

“Haha, I came late.” Muyi said with a faint smile. His eyes swept the crowd. “Hoho, Little Brother Lin, we meet again.”

“Mister Muyi.” Lin Ming felt relieved. He extricated himself from the group and walked over to Muyi, and as a result, those aristocratic young ladies dared not follow him.

Muyi glanced at those young ladies, and meaningfully smiled, “I’m not bothering you am I?”

Lin Ming helplessly said, “Mister Muyi, please don’t tease me.”

“Haha, although the tradition in Sky Fortune Kingdom is to be married at 18, there are plenty of 16 year olds who are fathers. Once a few more months have passed and you are 16 years old, you should consider it, really consider it!”

“Um… I don’t plan on marrying that early.” Since he had bid farewell to Lan Yunyue, Lin Ming had decided to rigidly dedicate himself to pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts. Thus, he had not planned on any early marriage.

Surprisingly, Qin Xingxuan spoke up at this moment with a mischievous smile. She said, “Lin Ming, the words from your mouth don’t match the words of your heart. I remember that when you first passed the Dream Trial, you spent a very long time at the Pass of Desire. I wonder which lucky girl it was that you dreamed of?” Qin Xingxuan unintentionally mentioned this matter. In her opinion, if there was a girl that Lin Ming liked, as long as he proposed, even a princess would joyfully consent.

As Qin Xingxuan asked this, Lin Ming felt a rare blush spread up his face. He almost looked like a tomato.

Dream of which girl?

This… was really too hard to say…

“That’s enough Xingxuan; don’t tease Little Brother Lin too much. Mm, well, after the banquet ends, the Crown Prince would like to see you.”

“Oh. Alright.” Lin Ming did not decline. He had already anticipated this matter. Since he came to this banquet, he had already indicated that he had no plans to reject the Crown Prince’s invitation.

Lin Ming and the two chatted for awhile. Because of Qin Xingxuan’s presence, there was not a single girl who came forwards again. Let alone a common aristocratic young girl, even Murong Zi had lost all of her self confidence in front of the beauty of Qin Xingxuan.

At this time, the herald made a sudden announcement, “The Chief Steward of the Palace, Elder Wang!”

“Elder Wang?” The Crown Prince was slightly stunned. Why would he come here? Elder Wang rarely left the palace. If he left the palace, it was usually to pass on an imperial decree.

Was it that his father the emperor wanted to confer a rank and title to Lin Ming?

As the Crown Prince was wondering, Elder Wang had already entered the hall. He wore a decadent and opulent yellow brocaded robe, and carried a fly whisk in his left hand. His right was raised slightly, and he held a shiny, golden token. There were three characters written on it – Seven Profound Decree.

Seven Profound Decree? Was this a command from the Seven Profound Valleys?

The Crown Prince was surprised; this was a command even higher than an imperial decree.

Although Elder Wang was the head steward of the imperial palace, he was also responsible for some matters of the Seven Profound Martial House. When Elder Wang was six years old, he had entered the palace. Because his martial arts talent was outstanding, he was later sent to the Seven Profound Martial House. He was a eunuch, and thus pure at heart and his martial arts advancement was good. Now, he had already reached the peak Pulse Condensation Period. He was the head eunuch who managed matters at the imperial palace, and at the same time was one of the masters who protected the imperial palace.

Usually when the Seven Profound Valleys handed the Royal Family a decree, it was passed through Elder Wang.

Elder Wang looked at Lin Ming and smiled. He said, “Little Brother Lin is lucky. Yesterday, the Martial House Master requested core disciple status for Little Brother Lin. The Seven Profound Decree was just sent out this morning, and has the conditions for the test in it. The Martial House Master is not at the Martial House, so I am passing on the decree for him. I just found out that Little Brother Lin was attending the banquet at the Crown Prince’s palace, so I hurried over here to catch you. I wonder if little brother Lin has any intention of becoming a core disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House?”

As Elder Wang said this, everyone present was amazed. Core disciple!

Although they had expected Lin Ming to become a core disciple sooner or later, they hadn’t expected it to be so quick!

For someone from the Sky Fortune Kingdom to become a core disciple had great significance! If, in the future, he requested to be sent back as the Martial House Master of the Seven Profound Martial House, or as a Seven Profound envoy, then it was equivalent to being the overlord of the Sky Fortune Kingdom!

However, the core disciple test was not that easy; in the past, even Ling Sen had failed!

And could Lin Ming, whose natural talent was one grade less that Ling Sen succeed? The people present doubted this. Besides natural talent, Lin Ming could be considered a monstrous genius in any other area. However, what the Seven Profound Valleys held in the highest regard was one’s natural talent.

Lin Ming replied without any hesitation, “I want to be a core disciple.”

If Lin Ming wanted to walk on the path towards the pinnacle of martial arts, he had to enter a sect; otherwise he would not obtain the resources he needed. Not to mention things such as the seven major killing arrays, true essence stones, and top-tier quality pills, but to step into the Xiantian stage from the Houtian stage, one had to have the ‘Heaven Opening Pill’ in order to rid the contaminated Houtian Qi from one’s body. Only the largest sects had a miraculous pill such as this. In the mortal world, its value could not be measured in gold.

“Very well,” Elder Wang smiled. He laughed in his high-pitched and melodious voice, and said, “Then I shall announce the contents of the Seven Profound Decree. Lin Ming, listen at command, starting from today, the Martial House core disciple test has officially begun. If Mister Lin can achieve the Peak Altering Muscle stage by the time he is 16, or if he can achieve the Bone Forging stage by the time he is 18, then he may become a core disciple. Otherwise, he will fail the test!

“In addition to these requirements, the Martial House master has agreed to provide Mister Lin with some incentives. Starting from today, if Mister Lin can enter the top 10 rankings of the Ten Thousand Killing Array within three months, they he may obtain the medium-grade human-step treasure long spear, the Heavy Profound Soft Spear.

“If he can defeat Zhang Guanyu within 4 months, then he may obtain one 500 year old Blood Lingzhi.

“If he can defeat Ta Ku within 5 months, then he may obtain one Blue Miracle Pill.

“If he can defeat Ling Sen within 6 months, they he may obtain one bottle of Body Spiritual Ichor.

“The above rewards can all be obtained together. Lin Ming, do you understand?” Elder Wang folded up the Seven Profound Decree and smiled as he asked Lin Ming.

“The medium-grade human-step Heavy Profound Soft Spear, a 500 year old Blood Lingzhi, a Blue Miracle Pill, and the Body Spiritual Ichor!”

Even though those present already knew that the Seven Profound Martial House had a deep and extensive history, after hearing these rewards, they were all still left gasping for breath.

For instance, the medium-grade human-step long spear could not be regarded as the best rewards for the Seven Profound Martial House, but in the Sky Fortune Kingdom, it was actually priceless!

An ordinary medium-grade human-step treasure like a sword or saber was around 10 or 20 thousand gold taels. But this medium-grade human-step treasure spear was worth at least several times that, and most importantly of all, even if you had the money for it, one wouldn’t be able to find one!

Weapons like the spear and the bow needed to be both rigid and elastic. These types of demanding requirements meant that these weapons were the most difficult to create, and even more so to make a treasure weapon. Even most generals would not have a treasure long spear. Instead, they would use a weapon like Lin Ming’s that was made from dark purple elastic iron. There were some generals that did have a treasure long spear. However, the spear shafts did not contain any elasticity, and thus their price was much lower.

Although most people present hadn’t heard the name Heavy Profound Soft Spear before, but solely with the word ‘soft’ in its name, that would mean that it was not a rigid spear, but an elastic one.

For a human-step treasure elastic spear, its worth was unimaginable!

Also that 500 year old Blood Lingzhi. The majority of Blood Lingzhi were 300 years old; if they were not picked at that time then they would wither and die. A 400 year old Blood Lingzhi was already very rare and precious. 500 year old Lingzhi simply couldn’t be found anywhere in the world of mortals. Only the largest sects would know how raise them through their own mysterious and mystical cultivation methods. This kind of Blood Lingzhi was able to supplement the Qi in one’s body and blood, and would make a martial artist’s blood stronger and more vigorous. Even their strength would increase.

These were the wondrous medicines that martial artists who pursued strength dreamed about.

As for the Blue Miracle Pill and the Body Spiritual Ichor, those present weren’t very clear on what they were. But if they arranged above the treasure long spear and the Blood Lingzhi, then they definitely were also priceless treasures.

But… although the rewards were tempting, those present did not actually envy Lin Ming. Because to obtain them was difficult beyond anyone’s imagination!

Reach the top 10 rankings of the Ten Thousand Killing Array within 3 months!

Defeat Zhang Guanyu within 4 months!

Defeat Ta Ku within 5 months!

Defeat Ling Sen within 6 months!

These tasks were as difficult as ascending to heaven. And each was more challenging than the last!

The first task was the most straightforward and simple, but it was already a myth in the eyes of many. Lin Ming had only been at the Seven Profound Martial House for two months. Three months added to two months was five months. To reach the top ten of the Ranking Stone within the first 5 months… if these people had heard someone say this in the past, they definitely would have thought that person was crazy.

It had to be known that the higher one’s rank was, the more arduous it was to climb, and the fiercer the competition was. The top 10 and the top 30 were two entirely different concepts.

Could Lin Ming really do that?

If it was to enter the top 10 rankings in the Ten Thousand Killing Array within three months, then some people might believe that. There were those who had recognized Lin Ming as a great talent that would have grand achievements in the future, so they had a little hope for that.

But, to defeat Zhang Guanyu within 4 months, defeat Ta Ku within 5 months, and defeat Ling Sen within 6 months?

This matter, was simply too preposterous!

The existences of these three were simply on a completely different playing field from the rest of the disciples of the Heavenly Abode. Zhang Guanyu and Ta Ku were powerhouses of the Bone Forging stage. The fourth ranking disciple was only at the peak Altering Muscle stage. Their strength was simply too different to comprehend!

Zhang Guanyu was known as the fastest disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House, and Ta Ku was known as the strongest.

But Ling Sen was the most terrifying; he was versatile and excelled in all aspects of combat. To defeat Ling Sen in half a year was simply impossible!

Those present were not ordinary people; they already had a great deal of information on Ling Sen.

It was not wrong that Lin Ming had a martial intent, but Ling Sen also had a martial intent!