Chapter 988 – The Smelting Trial Begins
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“Thank you, honorable master!” Lin Ming happily said, overjoyed. After opening the Gate of Opening, he couldn’t wait to perceive the Concept of Fire.
“Lin Ming, for you to open the Gate of Opening to this degree is your lucky chance; grasp it tightly. Your achievements in Concepts and Laws weren’t high to begin with. You can rely on the Gate of Opening to make up for that weakness,” Fairy Feng slowly said. In truth, Lin Ming’s understandings of the Fire Laws could be considered at the pinnacle of the Sky Spill Continent. But in comparison to the geniuses of the Divine Realm’s Ancient Phoenix Clan, he was merely ordinary.
“The Ancient Phoenix smelting trial will begin in only half a year. This smelting trial will have many opportunities for you, but the competition will be equally intense. Not only will there be disciples from our Phoenix Cry Palace, but also disciples from Praying Phoenix Palace and Charming Phoenix Palace. At the same time, there will also be Divine Transformation realm disciples that will come out from their seclusion and participate. They have been meditating on the Laws, and their understandings of Fire Laws will have risen to another level. Although your talent is good, it’s still impossible for you to obtain first place amongst those Divine Transformation realm disciples. I only hope that you can obtain first place among the younger rising talents. Among those, the highest cultivation is at the early Divine Sea.
From the Divine Sea realm to the Divine Transformation realm, one had to close up for a long time and accumulate Laws of the world. They had to fuse these source Laws into their minor dimension, then condense that into a dimensional realm with its own set of rules.
The process was extremely long and difficult. In the Divine Realm, rising from Life Destruction to the Divine Sea would take a genius around ten years. But for those at the Divine Sea to step into Divine Transformation, that often took dozens of years.
This was because rising into the Divine Transformation realm was filled with all sorts of difficulties, and there were also flaws in the various inheritances, even in the Divine Realm. This was also the reason why the martial artists of the lower realms’ Sky Spill Continent never had anyone capable of breaking through to Divine Transformation.
“Yes, honorable master.”
Lin Ming bowed and excused himself. He flew back to his own training chamber and began to meditate on the third level of the Fire Laws. After opening the Gate of Opening, many areas that he hadn’t understood before suddenly became clear. On the Heretical God Sprout, more and more fragments of Laws were carved into the leaves. The golden red round totem became increasingly mystical and profound.
Cultivation passed without sense of time. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
For the Phoenix Cry Palace disciples, the incomparably important Ancient Phoenix smelting trial had begun.
Before the Ancient Phoenix Smelting Trial began, Firebird Hall, Golden Crow Hall, and Vermillion Bird Hall began a vast and bitterly fierce competition in order to decide who had the qualifications to enter the Ancient Phoenix Smelting Trial.
The qualifications to enter the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial were the same as an immense lucky chance. Even if they couldn’t rank in the smelting trial itself, they could still expand their horizons and meditate on the source Concepts. There were all sorts or resources they could enjoy there to help them. This was greatly beneficial to their cultivation.
However, Firebird Hall had nearly a million disciples, Golden Crow Hall had tens of thousands of disciples, and Vermillion Bird Hall had several thousand disciples. If all three halls were combined, the number of disciples was terrifying and the competition was fierce. If one wished to obtain a spot, they would have to suffer through difficulties beyond imagination. In order to obtain a single spot, they put forth every secret they had and utilized every connection and trick, desperately lunging for their chance!
Between the disciples of Phoenix Cry Palace, it wasn’t just a competition of talent and strength; it was also a contest of methods and plans. It was just like the harem of a mortal emperor. The competition between the 3000 concubines was bloody and cruel.
However, as the first of the four halls, the disciples of Phoenix Hall didn’t need to participate in the competition; they easily obtained the smelting trial qualifications that all the disciples of the different halls longed for in their dreams. This was the advantage of being a Phoenix Hall disciple. However, it was actually ten times more difficult to become a Phoenix Hall disciple than to obtain the qualifications for the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial.
Before the smelting trial began, a spirit boat flew high above the skies of Phoenix Cry Palace. In truth, this could not be called a spirit boat but rather a spirit ship. The ship was tens of thousands of feet long and was thousands of feet high. It could easily accommodate hundreds of thousands of disciples.
“All trial disciples enter the spirit ship!”
A Divine Lord realm powerhouse floated in the sky, pouring true essence into his voice. His voice spread far over the entire planet that was Phoenix Cry Palace.
Lin Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at the sky. What a coincidence. This Divine Lord Elder was exactly the Vice Palace Master of Phoenix Hall, the smiling old man that had received Lin Ming into Phoenix Hall.
Although this person was Sage Jiuyang’s person, he hadn’t created any difficulties for Lin Ming when he entered Phoenix Hall. Lin Ming’s impression toward him wasn’t good or bad.
Disciples flew into the sky like a swarm of flies, 7000-8000 people in total. Of these people, the disciples of Phoenix Hall accounted for less than 10%, the disciples of Vermillion Bird Hall accounted for 80%, and the disciples of Golden Crow Hall and Firebird Hall filled in the rest. Golden Crow Hall and Firebird Hall had around a thousand participants. In order to cull these 1000 people from the hundreds of thousands of disciples, the competition had been brutal and cutthroat.
As these 7000-8000 disciples flew into the spirit ship, it wasn’t crowded at all. Instead, it was extremely spacious.
Old Man Sun floated high above the spirit ship, taking count of everyone.
“Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, haha, aren’t you Junior-apprentice Brother Lin? I’m Protector Liu, the one who will be leading you this time. During this Ancient Phoenix smelting trial you must bring honor to our Phoenix Cry palace. At this Atlas World, there are a total of three Ancient Phoenix Clan branch palaces that will join in; they’re our Phoenix Cry Palace, Praying Phoenix Palace, and Charming Phoenix Palace. The three palaces will gather at the same area where the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial is held. In these past years, our Phoenix Cry Palace hasn’t really been too outstanding amongst the three palaces. The older generation has Junior-apprentice Brother White Daohong to support them, but for the younger disciples there isn’t anyone at all. They’re in a miserable state!”
Lin Ming had just stepped onto the spirit ship when someone recognized him. The one who spoke was Protector Liu, the one who would be leading the batch of younger disciples. Protector Liu’s cultivation was at the late Divine Transformation realm. Although his strength far surpassed Lin Ming’s, his expression was still polite as he spoke to him. This was the respect earned by talent. So long as Lin Ming didn’t perish midway, it was already an assured matter that he’d become a Divine Lord in the future. A Divine Lord realm powerhouse was rare even in the massive Phoenix Cry Palace.
“Protector Liu,” Lin Ming greeted in return. As for Atlas World, he had already read through the jade slips that Jiang Ziji left behind detailing the various influences of the Divine Realm and he also read through some ancient texts of Phoenix Cry Palace, gaining an approximate understanding of the Divine Realm.
The Divine Realm had 3000 great worlds that were called primary worlds. There were also countless medium and small worlds. Of course, these were only small worlds in comparison to the primary worlds. In truth, these small worlds were all as large as the world the Sky Spill Continent was on, if not larger.
Atlas World was one of the Divine Realm’s 3000 great worlds. The world was vast to the point that it was nearly immeasurable. This world held three of the Ancient Phoenix Clan’s branch palaces, and the Ancient Phoenix smelting trial was also held here.
After Protector Liu called out to Lin Ming, many disciples turned to look at him. Lin Ming’s name was currently at the height of fame within Phoenix Cry Palace. It wasn’t just because he had taken the Phoenix Blood Spear, but also because he defeated the four layered heavens Ninefall Huo Yanguang with only a fifth stage Life Destruction cultivation. Moreover, news spread that Lin Ming had also inherited the old Palace Master’s source strength from Saint Artifact Pavilion. This was treatment that only the highest disciples of Phoenix Hall could hope to receive. It was rare for this type of genius to emerge even in a hundred years.
At this moment, streaks of light appeared on the horizon, shooting forwards at an extreme speed. There were only around 20 some people, but as these people appeared, all the arrogant and proud talents instantly changed their expressions. Even Protector Liu straightened up, appearing much more respectful than before.
“Is that Senior-apprentice Brother White and the others?”
“Elder senior-apprentice brother has finally come.”
The 20 some people were not random people but the Ninefall Divine Transformation realm powerhouses of Phoenix Hall, and the one leading them was the number one disciple of Phoenix Cry Palace, White Daohong.
Phoenix Hall had a total of 29 Ninefall powerhouses, and most of them were Divine Transformation realm martial artists. There were a few Ninefall Divine Sea martial artists, and as for Ninefall Life Destruction martial artists, Huo Yanguang was the only one.
These 20 some people had an extremely high and lofty status within Phoenix Hall. They served as the core of Phoenix Hall and their status was much higher than the Hall Protectors. There were even some outer court Elders that treated them with respect, especially White Daohong. White Daohong was a character who would one day become a Vice Palace Master. That was a status that a common Elder could not compare with.
“So that’s White Daohong. His background is indeed deep.” Lin Ming looked up to see White Daohong. White Daohong was wearing white clothing and his eyebrows slanted upward like swords. His temperament was otherworldly, as if he were unpolluted by the world.
As Lin Ming looked at him, he could feel something peculiar about him. The heaven and earth origin around him seemed to be in harmony with him. This was something that would happen when one’s destiny reached an extremely high boundary. They would become one with the world, forming a phenomenon where the world would resonate with them as though they were a sovereign king of the heavens and earth.
According to Fairy Feng’s opinion, if White Daohong relied on only his current achievements, he’d become only the weakest and most inferior of Vice Palace Masters in the future. This was in a situation where he didn’t experience some fortuitous encounter. But in truth, a genius like this was highly likely to have many great lucky chances awaiting them. If he managed to experience another great lucky chance after becoming a Divine Lord, it was possible he would become a top ranking figure like Fairy Feng or Sage Jiuyang. At that time, he would be only a step away from being a Palace Master.
For those like White Daohong, it wasn’t easy for them to perish. His strength, mentality, and destiny defied common sense, and even if he entered a danger zone where death was a near certainty, it was highly likely he would escape through the heavens and even obtain some benefits.
“Elder Sun,” White Daohong greeted Elder Sun. His eyes swept over the new disciples. He stopped on Lin Ming for a brief moment before continuing.
“Haha, Apprentice Nephew White, isn’t your 120th birthday arriving soon? This will be your last Ancient Phoenix smelting trial. Do you think you can obtain first place?” Elder Sun nodded, smiling and laughing. In terms of status and identity, he was under White Daohong.
“Perhaps not. Charming Phoenix Palace’s Lu Xiaoyuan is 10 years younger than me. Although she was inferior to me in the past, she has actually managed to catch up already. After her senior-apprentice sister reached 120 years of age, she became the new chief disciple of Charming Phoenix Palace.” White Daohong casually said.
Although he had taken first place among the older disciples twice in the past, both times had been very tough on him. He had experienced fierce competition and only managed to win with a slight advantage both times.
“Everyone is here. We’re embarking!”
Once Elder Sun finished taking count of everyone, the spirit ship shot up into the sky!
The several tens of thousands of feet long ship was like an ancient vicious beast. It’s velocity rapidly rose to a terrifying degree. Behind it, the massive buildings of Phoenix Cry Palace shrank until they disappeared from sight altogether. Soon, the entire planet Phoenix Cry Palace was located on was also cast off.