True Martial World - Chapter 25: Self-mutilating Cultivation

Yi Yun spent a whole night refining the desolate bone, but he could not absorb the energy within the desolate bone without inhibitions.

Yi Yun realized that there was a limit to his absorption before he felt a feeling of fullness. Just like when eating a meal, there would be a point where one couldn't eat anymore.

If he carried on absorbing the energy, he would feel a turbulent flow of energy within his body, making his body feel numb.

At this point, Yi Yun felt full of strength, and needed to vent it.

He couldn't wait to go up to the mountains to cultivate!

After arduously waiting till dawn, the day shift came to swap out Yi Yun. Yi Yun raced to the back mountains. He had originally jogged at a slow speed to the mountain entrance, but when there was no one around, he began to run like the wind!

He was like an agile antelope. A simple jump covered five to six meters.

A three-meter high boulder was bypassed with a leap, and a five-meter-tall tree was crossed through the middle.

Yi Yun was not running, but appeared like he was flying while sticking to the ground! The mountain terrain was complex, but under Yi Yun's keen senses, no terrain was an obstacle for Yi Yun.

He ran to the top of the mountain and descended from the other side down a valley to reach the back of the mountain.

During this period, Yi Yun had not rested once. While travelling, he maintained a constant deep breathing pace. His heart was beating at a constant frequency, slow, but strong!

After running for an hour, Yi Yun finally stopped. Even after such a long run, his face hadn't turned red and his pulse was still normal. Running was also a form of cultivation. After running far enough, Yi Yun stopped and enjoyed the sweat from the run.

This location was the furthest away from the village and it was safe. Any further, he would go beyond the protection of the wonderland, and he could encounter behemoths and desolate beasts.

At Yi Yun's present strength, he was doomed if he met a desolate beast.

The vegetation was not rich here. A few patches of black rocks littered the ground.

This was black ironstone. Black ironstone was as heavy as steel, and was several times stronger than normal rocks. Even the, moss which could break rocks, could not sprout on the black ironstone.

The place where Yi Yun was standing was a flat area below a cliff. It was about thirty meters in diameter.

Above the cliff was a waterfall. Numerous droplets of water danced and flew in the air currents, catching the sun and creating rainbows in the mist. This scenery would have been a fascinating tourist attraction on Earth.

The waterfall was not considered wide, but the vertical drop was high. It was more than a hundred meters. The turbulent water flow continued its relentless assault downwards, producing a rumble that could be heard from a distance. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Yi Yun chose this cultivation location previously, precisely for the waterfall.

Yi Yun took a deep breath and circulated the energy within his body. His tough training was about to begin again.

In an isolated mountain wilderness without anyone in a radius that spanned about a dozen kilometers, Yi Yun practiced each "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" stance.

There was no lack of boulders at the back of the mountain. Yi Yun had specifically chosen a flat piece of ground with black ironstone.

Yi Yun stood in front of the black ironstone and started sending punches at it!

How could mere fists made of flesh and blood break apart such lifeless black ironstone?

Yi Yun gritted his teeth.

One punch, two punches, three punches...ten punches, twenty punches!

He used all his strength in every punch!

The first few punches resulted in bruised fists. The pain was heart-wrenching as his fists turned bloody. Finally, as the punches flew, his joints began to rattle.

The pain traveled from his fingers to his heart. It was an indescribable pain but Yi Yun gritted his teeth and endured through it. His face was drenched in sweat. His lips turned white as his face turned pale!

Only when the surface of his fists was nearly reduced to bone did Yi Yun stop.

Following that, he began kicking the boulder. He did so till his legs were covered in bruises, allowing him to barely stand. After a breather, Yi Yun began hitting the boulder with his shoulders and back!

Yi Yun used every possible part he could use, but he was eventually still unable to do anything to the black ironstone; instead, his body was filled with cuts and bruises.

Pain!

Yi Yun rested on the ground. His body was out of strength, and even his vision had blurred.

He focused on his breathing, and followed the theories of the "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" technique to circulate his energy.

This was a self-mutilating cultivation method that Yi Yun did not dare to try previously.

However, a few hours ago, Yi Yun had eaten his fill of the Frost Python's desolate bone energy.

The energy contained within desolate bones was called the Power of Desolates; it was a great gift to any cultivator!

Compared to the Power of Desolates, the herbal essence in the Lian Clan Herb Mountain was trivial.

Even a hundred-year-old herb would be lacking.

With the support from the Power of Desolates, only then did Yi Yun dare to proceed with such self-mutilating practice.

This practice was recorded as the Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist's "Tiger Claws Smite Rocks", a method to train the bones.

Using the boulder to smite his bones was a tremendously painful and difficult process. It was impossible without strong perseverance.

Even with perseverance, he had to have the resources to support it.

If not, one could end up disabled instead of having the bones trained.

Because of limited resources, the members of the warrior preparation camp did not dare to attempt Tiger Claws Smite Rocks.

Only the gifted in the large tribes could withstand such injuries through the consumption of desolate beast meat and soaking in desolate beast blood.

The Power of Desolates rapidly circulated within Yi Yun's body. His wounds began to itch, indicating the recovery of his wounds.

The desolate bones were indeed top notch. Together with the Purple Crystal's purification; the energy used to heal his body was at a tremendous speed, visible to the naked eye!

The method used by "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" to train one's bones, letting the Power of Desolates to heal those wounds was a cultivation method similar to iron forging.

The method of forging swords was to repeatedly hit a steel sword when hot to forge a peerless sword!

Yi Yun's current practice was similar to the forging of a sword.

He treated his body as the raw steel and the black ironstone as the anvil. Through repeated hits, he forged his body as a form of cultivation!

After resting for six hours, Yi Yun felt that he had recovered. There were scabs on his hands, so it did not affect his movements.

Yi Yun wrapped his wounds with cloth, and without any hesitation dived into the waterfalls!

"Splash!"

The water smashed into his body, like a thousand-pound jackhammer!

Under the waterfall was a deep plunge basin!

From the perennial impact from the waterfall, the plunge basin was of an unknown depth. From land, the plunge basin was emerald green in color with no obvious bottom.

This was the deepest water body Yi Yun could find in the vicinity of the Lian tribal clan grounds.

Yi Yun was practicing another stance of the "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist"—"Dragon Dancing in Vast Water"!

In actual fact, "Dragon Dancing in Vast Water" was not cultivated this way. The vast water referred to the ocean, but there was no ocean in the vast wilderness. Yi Yun could only use the plunge basin of a waterfall.

"Dragon Dancing in Vast Water" was a technique to train a body's internal organs.

The more Yi Yun practiced "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist", the more he understood its subtleties.

A warrior's strength and energy was easily cultivated. But it was much harder to cultivate the tendons, bones and internal organs.

In the stances of the "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist", a warrior could cultivate his tendons through "Fierce Tiger Descends the Mountain" by pulling his tendons like a bowstring, strengthening them tremendously.

Using "Tiger Claws Smite Rocks", he could train the bones like steel being forged repeatedly.

As for the cultivation of organs, it was even harder. Organs were incomparable to tendons, as a warrior could not easily control his organs for training.

So the creator of "Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist" had come up with the method of "Dragon Dancing in Vast Water".

"Dragon Dancing in Vast Water" required a practitioner to jump into the ocean and reach a depth of two hundred meters with one breath. The pressure at that depth was extremely high, enough to burst the eardrums and the organs of people!

The water pressure would exert itself on a person's organs. Under prolonged periods of such pressure, a person's organs would become even tougher!

Yi Yun took a deep breath and jumped down into the deep depths of the plunge basin while grabbing a heavy rock!

True Martial World - Chapter 24: Frost Toxin

These cold-blue light dots accounted for a small proportion, but it made Yi Yun feel a mysterious bone-biting chill.

Yi Yun was familiar with this chilling feeling. He had felt it when he passed by the refinement area while descending the mountain. He remembered it clearly because it was just after his breakthrough into the Vigor realm.

The cold-blue light dots floated in the sky like specters.

Occasionally a light dot would leave the cauldron and dance in the air randomly before entering one of the men's bodies.

Just like snowflakes falling into the water, these light dots would then disappear.

Yi Yun could not detect the light dot after that; the light dot had been absorbed by one of the men's body.

Yi Yun's heart skipped a beat. He vaguely understood that the cold-blue light dots were the cause of the typhoid fever epidemic.

He quietly observed for a while and realized that the cold-blue light dots would randomly fly out of the cauldron before entering the bodies of the men. The men were busy chopping wood, and did not notice a thing.

Yi Yun was more assured of his speculation. The purplish-red energy would not fly into the bodies of people. On the contrary, they would remain in the "Li Fire Water".

It was apparent that the desolate bone had two forms of energy, the purplish-red energy was beneficial to a person, causing a person to transform and allowing a person to break through. On the other hand, the cold-blue energy was an invisible killing force!

The energy was toxic. Although it sounded iffy, it wasn't out of the ordinary.

On Earth, there were plenty of energies that had "toxicity". One such example was the Sun. It was only after being filtered through the ozone was the sunlight able to give life to Earth. Humans would have died from the direct sunlight bearing down on them.

On Earth, the most frightening elements had "toxic" energy, such as radioactive Polonium. It killed Arafat, who used to appear often on the news.

If one were to use Polonium to kill, a gram would be sufficient to kill millions. A few hundred grams was enough to kill all life on Earth, making it much stronger than the common "poisonous" items.

In Yi Yun's opinion, the blue light dots were similar in nature to energy, and using "toxic" to describe it may have been inaccurate. However, it was sufficient to understand them as having the capability to kill. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Just like on Earth, being exposed to radiation will cause cancer, ulcers and various illnesses. In the vast wilderness, absorbing the desolate bone's chill toxin would cause "typhoid", resulting in deaths.

"Then wouldn’t I be in danger by being here?" thought Yi Yun. He wasn't guarding a cauldron; he was guarding a nuclear reactor!

Thinking carefully, there were plenty of things that were completely different from Earth, but there were similarities.

In terms of energy, the strongest energy on Earth could create atomic bombs or provide nuclear energy.

But in this world, the strongest energy was used to create the strongest experts!

These experts could topple the mountains and overturn the seas. A flip of hand would destroy a city!

These two forms of energy could result in terrible destruction. If not used properly, it would be toxic to the common people!

Thankfully, Yi Yun controlled the treasure that could harness the energy in this world—Purple Crystal.

"But can the Purple Crystal deal with this energy..." Yi Yun tried using the Purple Crystal to absorb the blue light dots. Since he could see the blue light dots, he should be able to absorb them with the Purple Crystal...

As Yi Yun prepared to absorb the first blue light dot, Yi Yun breathed in deeply and reached out his hand carefully. His heart raced, but he finally rationalized that even if the Purple Crystal could not absorb the form of energy, he wouldn't die immediately from one light dot.

The blue light dot entered Yi Yun's body.

Yi Yun felt it clearly. The light dot flew into his fingertips like an ice crystal, and then entered his bloodstream.

"It's so cold!" This was Yi Yun's first thought. It was like having a huge piece of ice stuffed down his collar during winter.

It was weird that he felt it so profoundly, but the other men did not feel it at all. Their bodies were not as fit as him, so they shouldn't be able to resist the cold as much.

It seems they have slow reactionary speeds, and are not able to feel the biting cold. However, their bodies will not lie, once they are invaded by the frost toxin, they would slowly lose their strength. If not for the red pill that was given to them from the Lian tribal clan’s upper echelon, they would already be dead?

Yi Yun traced the blue light dot that entered his body. It was eventually absorbed and dissolved by the Purple Crystal into energy that mixed into Yi Yun's blood.

When the energy flowed through Yi Yun's body, that biting chill had already disappeared, and it gave Yi Yun a cool refreshing feeling.

It was comfortable as if he was soaking in aquatic springs.

This made Yi Yun more curious. What sort of treasure was the Purple Crystal? It could absorb all forms of energy, even harmful energy like the blue light dots from the desolate bone and the Yuan Qi Lian Chengyu had used on him. The Purple Crystal would reduce those forms of energy to the purest form of energy to nourish his body.

Yi Yun was not aware of the fact that in the vast wilderness, many desolate bones contained toxic energies. The Frost Python desolate bone's toxin was one of the lowest grades. A low level Desolate Heaven Master could easily dissolve the toxicity. Hence, a toxicity of this level was nothing to the Purple Crystal.

After really absorbing it, Yi Yun realized the effect was not significant.

The Purple Crystal could indeed absorb the blue light dots, but the absorbing speed was extremely slow, far more difficult than absorbing the purplish-red light dots.

"Kid, what are you doing!"

Yi Yun was carefully researching the differences between the two types of energy when he heard a man shout at him. In the eyes of others, Yi Yun was just idling.

One of the men who wanted to be the "foreman" of the group naturally could not stand Yi Yun's laziness.

"Uh..." Yi Yun replied with a smile, "Sorry uncle, this axe is too heavy..."

"Hmph!"

With a 'I knew you wouldn't amount to much' look, the man responded, "I really don't know what the top brass were thinking, to send a kid to refine the desolate bone, holding me back! The useless kid I have, Da Tou is about the same age as you. His strength is twice yours!"

Not to mention Yi Yun's age, but even among his peers, the past Yi Yun's body was extremely thin and lacked strength.

In the vast wilderness, the people worshiped the strong. They were proud of the big and tall men who had dark rough skin.

A handsome person like Yi Yun who had smooth skin was considered "ridden with ills". Such a person was not popular.

"I'm really sorry uncle. I didn't only hold you back; I even hit your balls. I'll work hard in the future." Yi Yun was still smiling. The man was good at doing hard labor, but his reaction was slow. He had not realized what Yi Yun had just said. He only grunted before returning to work while swearing.

Yi Yun began to split the firewood at an adequate pace. To avoid trouble, he increased his speed by a tiny bit. It took him five minutes of hard work, amounting to ten chops to split a piece of firewood.

He had to stay in line with his status.

At the same time, no one noticed that the purplish-red energy churning in the cauldron were flying towards Yi Yun.

As for the cold-blue energy, Yi Yun also absorbed as much as he could. He felt that if he could absorb the blue energy, the men around him would not die.

Unfortunately, the Purple Crystal was not highly effective in absorbing the blue energy. Small amounts of energy were still entering the bodies of the men around him.

Yi Yun had mixed feeling seeing this. Although these people weren't pleasant, they did not deserve to die. However, he was unable to save them.

If he revealed the truth, the men would not only disbelieve him, they might even report him as rumor mongering to Lian Chengyu for a reward of bacon.

These people were definitely capable of doing that. Yi Yun's situation would have been terrible if that happened.

In the vast wilderness, the weak had to accept their own suffering. There was no other way around it.

Just like pigs, cattle, and sheep, they did nothing wrong, but were kept in captivity and slaughtered by humans.

The only reason was their weakness. And in the vast wilderness, being weak was a fault! Being weak made you unable to decide your own fate. Being weak allowed you be trampled on...

True Martial World - Chapter 23: Yi Yun’s Elixir Refinement

"So I can refine the desolate bone?" asked Yi Yun.

Lian Chengyu made a silent acknowledgement. It was so pitiful seeing a person live a life where he was so happy to be sent to his death.

"Thank you Young Master." Yi Yun was very happy. This was not faked, for he was truly happy. He had originally thought Lian Chengyu would go crazy and pat him a few more times after seeing him alive to ensure his death.

Although Lian Chengyu's methods would not harm Yi Yun, it would result in many implications.

Lian Chengyu might have mistaken it for an error for failing to kill Yi Yun the first time, but he would realize it if there was a second time. For Yi Yun, that was not good news.

Yi Yun's goal to refine the desolate bone was fulfilled by Lian Chengyu.

Refining the desolate bone gave Yi Yun time to breathe. Yi Yun's strength increased exponentially rates, so things would no longer be the same in two months!

"Yun-er, why aren't you coming home to eat?" Jiang Xiaorou had finished preparing the meal and had come out to look for Yi Yun. But she saw Yi Yun speaking to Lian Chengyu the moment she came out the door.

Jiang Xiaorou instantaneously felt worried. Lian Chengyu had previously harmed Yi Yun grievously, and had almost taken his life!

She walked over quickly, afraid that Lian Chengyu would harm Yi Yun.

Although Jiang Xiaorou hated Lian Chengyu to the bone, she knew she could not lose decorum with him.

"I see, it's Young Master Lian." Jiang Xiaorou smiled wryly after seeing Lian Chengyu as she pulled Yi Yun behind her.

"Oh? Jiang Xiaorou I remember you." Noticing Jiang Xiaorou's actions, Lian Chengyu frowned. This girl was still hostile towards himself!

Lian Chengyu disliked having the poor plebeians of the Lian tribal clan show any disrespect to him. It was a result of an inferiority complex within him under all the larger powers, so he aimed to establish his authority among the poor who could not compare to himself.

But Jiang Xiaorou was considered a woman he admired, so he was more tolerant of her. He would slowly tame her.

Lian Chengyu left. Although he admired Jiang Xiaorou, he did not giver her any attention, nor say one word more to her. He was an elite. He was like an emperor who only visited, but never chased. He just needed to wait for Jiang Xiaorou to reach a desperate situation and get Zhao Tiezhu to deal with her.

Jiang Xiaorou looked at Lian Chengyu's back as she clenched Yi Yun's small hands, "Yun-er what was going on?"

"Nothing, Sis Xiaorou. You don't have to worry," answered Yi Yun.

Yi Yun was the one who told Jiang Xiaorou that Lian Chengyu had hurt him. Since Yi Yun assured her, Jiang Xiaorou eased up. These few days, she began to vaguely feel that her brother was no longer the mere child he was. He had his own ideas.

But Jiang Xiaorou began to think before she felt something amiss, "Yun-er, you can't be thinking of refining the desolate bone? You can't go to that place!"

Yi Yun looked at Jiang Xiaorou in surprise. Jiang Xiaorou's keen intuition was surprising. Though she didn't know what mysteries the refinement process had, she had figured that it was a dangerous job.

Yi Yun thought it over before saying softly, "Sis Xiaorou, I'm not as weak as you think. Having come back from the dead, I think I'm different from the past…Don't you remember me climbing up the twenty-meter-tall cliffs a few days ago?"

With Yi Yun saying that, Jiang Xiaorou recalled. She was astonished at Yi Yun's speed while he climbed up the cliff, but she accepted it because Yi Yun liked to climb and pick herbs since he was young. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Thinking it through, Yi Yun was indeed more agile. He was much better at scaling cliffs than most of the members of the warrior preparation camp.

With that in mind, Jiang Xiaorou felt reassured. Her brother was indeed different.

Sometimes, surviving a fatal situation could result in great fortune. Jiang Xiaorou had heard of people who were struck by lightning, and not only did they not die, they also obtained special abilities.

Could Yun-er be in a similar situation?

That night, Yi Yun as a new hire was brought to the grain-sunning grounds.

Wooden fences surrounded the grain-sunning grounds. Because of the "typhoid" incident, the wooden fences increased, preventing anyone from the outside to see in.

There were about thirty people split into two shifts involved in the refinement of the desolate bone.

Yi Yun was designated the night shift. There were about a dozen people for the night shift. Although these people were not as fit as the men from the warrior preparation camp, they were all large in size. Among them, Yi Yun was like a little chicken among swans. His height only reached their chests.

Seeing Yi Yun, the men were shocked. The reason for the stares was obvious, how did such a thin child get selected to refine the desolate bone?

Besides his strength, his height was so short that even he could not reach the mouth of the cauldron while standing on a stool. How would he be able to add the "Li Fire Water” into the cauldron?

"Lad, are you kidding me? A person like you can refine the bone?"

"What can you do with your little body? Your legs aren't even thicker than the firewood!"

All the men had strong views upon seeing Yi Yun. Yi Yun would be given a piece of bacon for not doing any work. They were unhappy about that.

Yi Yun did not bother speaking, and he sat by the pile of firewood, allowing them to speak as they wished.

"Time for porridge!" A man from the warrior preparation camp brought out a bucket of porridge. There was food provided for those who refined the desolate bone. This was a welfare the upper echelon gave to ensure the smooth refinement of the desolate bone. Only after eating would they have the strength to work.

Upon hearing that the porridge arrived, the men's eyes lit up and ran towards it.

With a brouhaha, the bucket of porridge was wiped empty. With Yi Yun at the back, together with how these people struggled and fought for the food, there was already none left for him.

Yi Yun felt helpless. The phrase—bad surroundings make bad civilians—had its logic. It wasn't because the people in bad surroundings were immoral, but being moral did not ensure their survival.

"Time to work! Work time!" The guys from the warrior preparation camp shouted.

A few men walked towards the big cauldron. It was time to replace the day shift.

Yi Yun straggled at the back. He walked slowly as he stared at the cauldron.

In the eyes of others, Yi Yun looked stunned by the huge bronze cauldron that was being licked by the purple flames. Indeed, the cauldron was huge. Yi Yun's height did not even reach the second handle of the cauldron.

In fact, Yi Yun's vision was filled with faint points of light. It looked like flying fireflies dancing in the night.

Such a mystical power! This was the energy of the desolate bone, and it was the legendary—Power of Desolates!

This endless stream of light dots excited Yi Yun. Previously, the Purple Crystal had absorbed some of the desolate bone’s energy, but he was standing far away, preventing him from absorbing much. It was unlike today, where he was in close contact with the desolate bone.

In comparison, the Purple Jade ginseng and the Black Fungus were incomparable to this. Like a person who was accustomed to eating plain food seeing a lavish meal, Yi Yun was extremely excited.

This was like a thief entering an emperor's tomb, or a weasel sneaking into a chicken coop!

All the energy of the desolate bone belonged to him.

"Kid, what are you idling for? Chop the firewood!" shouted a man before landing an axe in front of Yi Yun.

Yi Yun was awaked from his sluggish state, and happily proceeded to chopping wood.

"This lad has a brain problem!" swore the man. He also began busying himself. He and the others were in charge of chopping the firewood.

The firewood was the key to the fire source. It was extremely strong and heavy. A few strongmen had to work hard before they could cut up the purple firewood.

These men worked hard, because if they did well, they could be promoted to foreman, getting more bacon and food.

Yi Yun, though happy, did not get carried away. He knew the desolate bones refinement had something to do with the "typhoid" break out!

He wanted to investigate the cause of the typhoid breakout thoroughly. If the Purple Crystal could not resolve it, then no matter how great the rewards, Yi Yun would only run.

So as Yi Yun chopped the firewood without much purpose, he was carefully observing the red-hot bronze cauldron.

Slowly, Yi Yun realized the problem.

From the big cauldron flew out two differently colored light dots.

The first was purple in color. It was part of the main stream. It flew around aimlessly, and Yi Yun realized that if he focused, these light dots would fly towards him.

With the Purple Crystal merged with Yi Yun's heart, Yi Yun felt that he could now control the amount the Purple Crystal absorbed ever since he had broken through to the second level of Mortal Blood.

He could choose if he wanted to absorb it or not.

The other light dot was another color, icy blue…

True Martial World - Chapter 22: Recruitment

Early in the morning as the sun shined and mist rose from the woods…

The ancient vast wilderness welcomed a brand new day.

With the herb picking halted, Jiang Xiaorou was preparing breakfast while Yi Yun was chopping wood in the yard.

He did not use a hatchet, but was chopping them with his bare hands!

"Pa!" A clear loud snap rang. A clean cut separated the firewood into two.

Yi Yun looked at the two pieces of firewood and said to himself, "'Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist' when mastered can break a tree trunk into thin chopstick like pieces with bare hands in less than a minute. I wonder if I'll reach that point if I were to practice for another three months."

Yi Yun was deep in thought when he heard a noisy commotion from far.

Listening attentively, Yi Yun heard Zhao Tiezhu's voice: "People of the Lian tribal clan! Listen carefully! The Patriarch has issued an order to recruit ten strong men to refine the desolate bone. Those who are interested can sign up for it. They will be accepted on the basis of merit!"

Oh? Recruiting ten strong men to refine the desolate bone?

Yi Yun thought to himself. He had been thinking about the illness the villagers had contracted from refining the desolate bone for the past few days.

A large number of the sick were healed by a "miracle drug".

Something had to be amiss for them to recruit new strong men for the refinement.

With that thought, Yi Yun threw down his firewood and headed to the grain-sunning ground in the village.

From afar, Yi Yun could see Zhao Tiezhu shouting from an elevated height.

Many villagers were astonishe. The villagers who were responsible for the refinement of the desolate bone had received numerous benefits. Besides the miracle drug and the bacon, they were also given food subsidies.

Because of the desolate bone, there was extremely little food left in the Lian tribal clan. Being able to collect more food was what the villagers dreamed of.

"I'll sign up!"

"I'll sign up too!"

The people rushed towards Zhao Tiezhu to sign up, afraid that they were too late to be in line.

"I, Wang Dahu, is willing to refine the desolate bone! I'm a second tier male!"

A stout but sallow-skinned man due to malnutrition stood in front of Zhao Tiezhu. He looked at Zhao Tiezhu with hope in his eyes

"Second tier male…that would barely do…" Zhao Tiezhu scrutinized Wang Dahu with a picky glare.

Zhao Tiezhu did not know that the refinement process was fatal. It was a top secret in the Lian tribal clan, so to prevent the secret from leaking, only very few members of the upper echelon of the Lian tribal clan knew.

The other members of the warrior preparation camp did not know that the set of desolate bones contained a fatal frost Qi that would seep into their bodies and erode their lives away. Their fates would be eventually sealed when they died from organ failure.

So Zhao Tiezhu thought of the refinement process as a wondrous job.

Being given the authority to pick people to do such a wondrous job made Zhao Tiezhu complacent. The authority vested in him made many people look at him with a fawning look. Compliments rained on him.

Zhao Tiezhu was extremely picky with the people, "Wang Dahu, you stand by the side. You will be considered a substitute; it will be you if there's no one else more suited."

Hearing Zhao Tiezhu's words, Wang Dahu was delighted. He thanked Zhao Tiezhu incessantly before standing aside obediently.

"Oh? Liu Er, you're here to sign up too? For a person with weak legs, a gust of wind would blow you away! You have to know, that the refinement of the desolate bone requires you to chop firewood, man the fire, fan it daily from morning to night. Also the temperature around the cauldron is extremely high. Without sufficient fitness, you will faint straight away!"

Zhao Tiezhu impatiently waved his hand to chase away the scrawny Liu Er.

Lian Chengyu had handed down a mission of picking strong men. Picking weaklings was definitely not wanted.

One by one, the villagers rushed forward to sign up; however, more were chased away than those that remained.

Yi Yun monitored the situation nearby. He felt that there was something wrong with the desolate bone!

But, even if there was a problem, he still had to investigate it thoroughly.

It was because the desolate bone was very important to Yi Yun.

With the Lian Clan Herb Mountain picked dry, he needed plenty of energy and nourishment for his training. The grain porridge was insufficient.

"Oh? It's you!" Just as Yi Yun was thinking about his next step, he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him.

The voice was deep and gentle, but Yi Yun's face changed the moment he heard it!

It was Lian Chengyu!

Wasn't Lian Chengyu in isolation? Based on Zhao Tiezhu's words, he was to be isolated for three months. Why was he out so early?

Yi Yun's original plan was to surpass Lian Chengyu by the time he left isolation three months later. At that point, it was unlikely that he needed to fear Lian Chengyu anymore. But now, Yi Yun had just begun practicing martial arts for seven days, and even if the Purple Crystal could defy fate, Yi Yun would not be able to defeat a Mortal Blood level five Lian Chengyu who had been practicing martial arts for ten years.

Yi Yun thought carefully of the circumstances. They didn't share any deep-seated hatred for each other. Lian Chengyu's attempted murder might have just been a matter of convenience. It was analogous to a person seeing a rat in the house. The person would kill it, but if he missed, he would not tear down his walls to chase it to death.

Yi Yun turned around having calmed his expression before meeting Lian Chengyu's eyes.

But upon seeing Lian Chengyu, he immediately showed fear, unsure of what he had to do.

"Young…Young Master Lian?"

Yi Yun retreated a few steps, as if he had been shocked by Lian Chengyu's sudden appearance.

Lian Chengyu frowned; this kid did not die?

His original attempted murder was indeed a matter of convenience. The main reason was the hatred he felt Yi Yun had for him. Lian Chengyu was afraid that the combination of the lack of food and the increased mortality during the critical stages of the refinement process would increase resentment in the villagers. He had the impression that Yi Yun, who could easily incite the villagers, would cause a riot due to Yi Yun's hatred for himself.

Lian Chengyu was pursuing the highest standards of martial arts, so as to be someone who could lord over millions. With this goal, he had the mentality of an emperor. A person of Yi Yun's stature was negligible. In order to prevent any potential danger; having Yi Yun dead was no big deal. Lian Chengyu had killed numerous after all. Besides, the desolate bone refinement alone would cause many deaths.

Since killing Yi Yun was a small matter, Lian Chengyu did not take it to heart. He had previously not verified Yi Yun's fate. It was only after he left his isolation that he was left puzzled when he discovered Yi Yun alive.

For a lowly poor person to not die under his attack, what could have happened? Were his own skills not enough?

"What are you doing here?" Lian Chengyu asked.

"Young Master, I heard that Lord Zhao was recruiting strong men to refine the desolate bones. I also heard that we could get bacon, so I was thinking of trying."

"Oh?" After hearing Yi Yun's words, Lian Chengyu's eyes burned with contempt. Yi Yun was only twelve, yet his words on the day of the ration distribution were unlike that of a twelve-year-old child. He also had the ability to incite the people to riot, making him an unstable factor in Lian Chengyu's calculations.

But now, Yi Yun looked like a kid. What could a person who only had eyes on bacon do?

Lian Chengyu could not be bothered with Yi Yun except for the mysterious failure to kill him.

"Since you want to refine the desolate bones, why don't you sign up? What are you doing out here?"

"To…To be honest, Lord Zhao only wants people who are at least second tier males, but for me…I…"

Yi Yun's voice lowered once he said that. It was as if he was ashamed of his tiny strength, and he was unable to say anything further.

Lian Chengyu's contempt in his eyes became clearer. This idiot, to think I thought so highly of him. That's right, he's just twelve, what sort of schemes could he have?

Lian Chengyu forgot that he too wasn't that old. He was only seventeen. Among the other seventeen year olds, he was the worldliest, but he was still a bit too young. He could never have dreamed that the twelve year old in front of him had the soul of an adult.

"Since you have the heart, and are willing to give your strength to the Lian tribal clan, I will not forbid it. Seeing how ambitious you are, you are a person worthy of grooming. I'll make an exception and give you a chance." noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

Lian Chengyu gave Yi Yun a few words of "encouragement".

This retard can contribute a bit of strength, although he's a sickly kid, his fitness does not matter when using him to absorb the Frost toxin.

True Martial World - Chapter 21: Lian Chengyu exits Isolation

The Lian tribal clan's elders' compound late at night.

"Peng!" The door to the compound was pushed opened. A young man with a complexion as clear as jade walked out.

"Chengyu, why did you come out?" The Patriarch stood up the moment he saw the young man. Lian Chengyu had previously announced that he wanted to isolate himself till the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's warrior selection began.

Yet it had been less than a month before Lian Chengyu came out of isolation.

"My cultivation encountered some problems..." Lian Chengyu's expression didn't look good. He had planned to use two months to accumulate a strong base before using the desolate bone essence to break through to the Purple Blood realm!

By doing so, his fundamentals would be strong, and having accumulated sufficient strength, he would reach the peak of the beginning stages of the Purple Blood realm when he broke through into the Purple Blood realm. Among the others in the beginning stages of the Purple Blood realm, he would be able to keep his head up, and it would aid him in breaking through to an even higher realm in the future. It would be very beneficial!

Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's warrior selection was particular about a warrior's fundamentals and cumulative progress. If Lian Chengyu could meet all those requirements, he could get the recognition of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom's officers during the warrior selection, and obtain excellent results.

However, the circumstances did not permit so. After picking the Lian Clan Herb Mountain dry, Lian Chengyu's cultivation had a slow development despite all the good herbs!

Lian Chengyu believed that he had met his bottleneck.

In fact, the attitude towards martial arts mattered most when in isolation. With a good attitude, strong confidence and perseverance, it would be easy to break though.

When in self-doubt, thinking that something was wrong with the cultivation process, such as hitting a bottleneck, would inevitably cause a loss in momentum and make breaking through even tougher.

The psychological effect usually did not have significant effects, but Lian Chengyu had originally lacked the resources for his cultivation. Matters were made worse, causing Lian Chengyu's progress to be even slower. In the end, he chose to end his isolation prematurely.

By clearing his mind and taking a break before obtaining the desolate bone essence, he could then re-isolate himself to break through into the Purple Blood realm.

This was Lian Chengyu's plan. It was a reasonable plan. Sometimes it happened that a breakthrough was not possible, but taking a break might result in miraculous insight, allowing him to make a breakthrough unknowingly.

"How has the refinement process of the desolate bone been?" Lian Chengyu asked the question that concerned him the most. This piece of desolate bone was his entire fortune and life!

"Yes, it's still going as planned, but... A few of the poor villagers involved in the refining were poisoned a few days ago. I was originally planning on letting them hang on a few days, but seeing that they were doing badly, I gave them some Blood Thinning Pills. They have all recovered by now and the refinement will not be affected."

Lian Chengyu knitted his eyebrows upon hearing it as he said, "Those soulless trash are really useless. It's just been a few days and they can't take the toxicity from the Frost Python desolate bone! After eating the Blood Thinning Pills, it will overdraw on their vitality. Under such circumstances, they will die before the refinement of the desolate bone is done!"

Lian Chengyu's words were cold and inhumane. The Patriarch felt he was going overboard and said, "Chengyu...You are asking for too much. These people seldom eat a proper meal or wear proper clothes. How would they be able to endure the toxin from the Frost Python? They have already sacrificed themselves for the Lian tribe. In the future when you make your meteoric rise, you must take care of their families." noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Got it," said Lian Chengyu with a straight face. "I'm only worried about the refinement process and fear it will be delayed unnecessarily. If these people end up dying too early, it would affect the refinement process. Grandpa, please send the order down to the tribe to gather more help. The more the merrier. With more people, they can all share in the toxicity of the Frost Python and last longer. Although the Blood Thinning Pill isn't a very expensive drug, with most of our money gone, we have to save every penny."

Lian Chengyu had said those words lightly. The Patriarch sighed hearing this. He knew that for every person recruited, another life was lost.

The pitiful poor even scrambled to join in the refining of the desolate bone for the bacon.

"For the Lian tribe, I guess it has to be so..." exclaimed the Patriarch "It's such a pity. If we had a piece of desolate bone without any toxicity, there wouldn't be so many deaths due to the refinement."

"A piece of desolate bone without toxin?“ Lian Chengyu scoffed. "With the finances of our tribe and that incomplete technique manual, would we have been able to exchange for a piece of desolate bone without toxicity?"

"Besides, the Frost Python desolate bone does not have toxin, it just has a hard to dissipate frost Qi. Once it enters the body, it freezes the organs, causing a person to lose his life. With a Desolate Heaven Master he could easily dissipate the Frost Python's frost Qi. But why would a Desolate Heaven Master be willing to help clear such a low-grade desolate bone's toxicity? There is no chance for them to come to our Lian tribal clan!"

"The only reason I could get my hands on this desolate bone was because of its cheap price: the young masters of big tribes weren't willing to use something of this quality! Just like how a rich family will give the remaining bones to feed the dogs, to the big tribes, I'm like a wild dog waiting to eat their scraps!"

Lian Chengyu self-deprecating last words were said with his lips twitching and fists clenched tightly. His nails were piercing into his flesh.

He hated his circumstances!

The young masters and mistresses of the large tribes could pick from a spread of desolate bones. They would choose not to us those with side effects or low efficacy!

But for him, he had to go through all the trouble and sacrificing his wealth just to obtain a rejected piece of Frost Python desolate bone!

Putting all his hope on a piece of desolate bone, which had immense side effects, and risking his life to consume it was pathetic!

"Chengyu, it has been hard on you all these years. But you have to know even the bright onew in the big tribes are few in number. There are even plenty without the talent in the big tribes, they too don't get much of the desolate beast meat..." The Patriarch felt guilty. He knew Lian Chengyu had great talent, but due to the Lian tribal clan’s poverty, they were unable to nurture him. All these years, the Patriarch had known that Lian Chengyu had a grudge towards the tribe despite him never uttering a word.

It was hard for Lian Chengyu to listen to what the Patriarch had to say. He answered, "Grandpa, don't console me. Heaven is heartless, treating all things as worthless. Since the world is unfair, I will use my own strength to gain that fairness! Sooner or later, I will take control of my life, and will take control of the lives of others! In the future, I will have all the children of the big tribes at my feet!"

"I understand," said the Patriarch with a sigh. "Tomorrow I will pass the order to gather more people to refine the desolate bones. I will not care about the number of deaths. With more people, they can absorb more of the frost Qi...making it safer for you when you consume the desolate bone."

The Patriarch knew that Lian Chengyu would not feel any remorse for the poor who died for him.

Lian Chengyu hated the unfairness of the world. He felt he was extremely unlucky, so how could he be bothered with the unluckiness of others?

To Lian Chengyu, the poor were like ants. Even Lian Chengyu saw himself as a slightly bigger ant.

The survival of the fittest, this was a notion ingrained deep in Lian Chengyu's heart. Only by eating the smaller ants could he keep growing till the point where he could, as a top expert, control his own fate and the fate of others.

Dual Sword God - Chapter 15: The Path of Swords

The 'Path of Swords' was endless an endless sight to behold, stretching far away in the distance, beyond which the eyes can see. There were floating swords scattered about at the sides of varying sizes, with a pressuring sword aura flowing from within them causing the gravity within the pathway to keep growing stronger and stronger at every pace taken further along its course.

Feng Yu felt as if he was walking towards the core of the world, beads of sweat could be seen rolling off his forehead while his veins were fully exposed, with every step taken along the path, there were visible depressions shown on the surface of the solid ground.

"Huff! Huff! The further I go, the stronger it gets, I have to give it my all just to keep standing. I've only just managed to reach the distance of 35 kilometers." looking at the vast stretch of road paved out in front of him he began to complain inwardly.

Feng Yu had currently cleared the requirements for being accepted as a true challenger of the path having crossed the first 10 kilometers. However, due to him not feeling satisfied by having only gain acceptance. He continued to push himself onward in hopes of not only testing his limit but striving to receive the great reward. At his current distance the gravity pressure in the field was already more than ten times its usual amount, even crawling in this phase of the trial itself would be considered a rare feat for someone still at body training realm.

Observing the distant struggling form a strange light could be seen in the transparent forms ancient eyes he muttered to himself "Hmmm... Not bad! Not bad! But, if you want the great surprise. It will take a whole lot more than what you can currently achieve."

******

Time couldn't be told inside the path of swords, as everything within this space seemed to remain in a constant state. Feng Yu has already been struggling onwards for about ten days now, and because of moving for so long, his body was already reaching the point of complete exhaustion. However, his struggling proved not to be in vain as he has traveled a distance of 45 kilometers.

In the distant misty region of the path, there was a vague cyan glowing light in the shape of a sword, as if it was taunting his efforts it hovered silently in the distance. Looking closely, many more swords of its kind were also brightly shining, however, due to their scope, they could hardly be seen.

"Huff! Finally! The first checkpoint is visible, If I can make this point, I would have already cleared the first challenge earning a Fundamental Sword Skill. I've already wasted ten days I can't afford to waste any more time here." wiping the sweat off his forehead Feng Yu was now feeling a bit more excited than depressed, he pushed more energy into his already exhausted body and sped forward struggling to endure the pressure of his surroundings.

After two more days, in front of Feng Yu, the hovering sword glowing in white appeared, standing before the hovering sword Feng Yu pondered. "Hmmm, I wonder what kind of Fundamental Sword Skill this sword will give me."

Shortly the mysterious voice could be heard once again "Oh! Not too bad! To make it here with only 12 days of hard work, while you may not have been the best challenger I've seen to take this challenge. Your talent isn't necessarily too far off from those previous challenger's."

"There were others before me, I wonder, who were those individuals? Could they be...." as Feng Yu heard this he began to reflect inwardly for a while, recalling the corpses of the skeletons seen outside, he felt a bit frightened. Quickly, he cleared his mind of those thoughts and looked towards the floating sword.

"Senior, which technique would I be receiving for traveling this far." Feng Yu feeling curious asked.

"Technique? HAHAHA! No little one, one must learn to walk before they try to run, as a beginner of the sword, you can only start by building a firm foundation of Sword Skills."

Whoooossshhh!!!!

After speaking the figure appeared beside the sword and quickly pointed its finger towards Feng Yu, a rush of energy soon followed from the floating sword and flowed inside of his body, following which a vast collection of knowledge about the 'Fundamental Sword Training Methods' was collected within his sea of consciousness in the form of an Ancient Sword Manual. The information of the sword shown in Feng Yu's mind was enough for an average practitioner to get lost in practice for years upon years. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"The Sword Foundation Tactics, such a profound set of fundamental sword moves, no wonder he said I'm not ready for a True Sword Technique. It would seem that learning the Way of the Sword is an entirely different world of practice when compared to Normal Martial Skills, I wonder how long it would take to master all of these skills?" Feng Yu felt like he had just glanced across a whole new world he was beginning to wonder if he would be able to grasp all of these essential styles successfully.

"No matter, I decided that starting with 'Black Lightning' I will travel with the sword to the peak. " A firm and hard willed light appeared in his eyes as he thought back to his broken sword.

"Em! Good! It's great that you have not given up after seeing its complexity, hardship carves the hero. Now then, young sword novice you can either choose to continue the path of swords Trial or give up and practice before treading the path once again. The next checkpoint is 100 kilometers so long as you reach this distance you will be considered a true candidate for the Path of Sword Trial for Successorship. Remember, you only have three chances, and you are currently on your first chance." observing the look in Feng Yu's eyes the figure felt pleased, he quickly advised Feng Yu about his current options.

Thinking about it for a while, Feng Yu decided to continue his first chance to see how far he could make it "Senor, I will continue on the path first."

"Good! Let the second phase begin." Waving his hand the pressure in the area instantly increased by another five-fold.

BANG!!

Feng Yu crashed on the ground frontwards, both his arms were held out in front of him while his knees where pressed hard against the floor. He couldn't even set himself up straight much less walk.

"Argh! I didn't think it would increase this much if I can't even move properly, how will I even stand a chance?" Feng Yu was once again trusted into a state of peril, he tried his hardest to move only to fumble around on the solid ground giving himself blisters on both his hands and knees.

After struggling for what seemed like forever, finally, he managed to lift himself up and sat in the cross-legged position, Feng Yu sighed in relief while clenching his teeth tightly.

"Sigh, It seems that I'll have to rely on my bloodlines prestige. Hopefully, it would be powerful enough to help me get to the end of this phase." not feeling entirely convinced of his situation Feng Yu began to stimulate his bloodline according to the <Nirvana Flame Cultivation Technique> guideline.

Inside his body, his blood started to shine as it changed from its original red color and took on a golden red hue. Quickly, his muscles began to bulge an compress tightly gathering even more power, as his Aura Pulse also started to pulsate at a higher frequency increasing the essence-energies inside of his body particularly the Flame Essence which has taken on a more sacred nature.

Noticing a change happening within Feng Yu's body the figure floating in the void became surprised.

"Well, are you trying to use your bloodline in this challenge? Haha interesting, let's see how far you can make it with it." the figure smiled while observing Feng Yu's transformation.

After a while Feng Yu's body started to glow as his red hair became a mix of gold and red, his eyes turned golden, and if one were to look underneath his clothing, they would be able to see a series of ancient markings arranged on top of his skin uniquely.

BANG!!!!!!!!!!

An earth-shaking Flame Essence was released from his entire body that while not Aura Energy, it was such so condensed it seemed similar to Aura Energy, sensing that the pressure surrounding him drastically reduced Feng Yu grasped his fist tightly while feeling a bit more confident.

"Much Better! I didn't think I would become so powerful when using my bloodline, hmm, it seems that I can't maintain this state for extended periods at the Body Training Realm. I can at most last for about 50 minutes at my current stage of cultivation."

Feng Yu soon realized that bloodline awakening had its weakness, no longer pondering about it deeply, he decided to press onwards with the remaining time quickly. He took a step forward and started dashing forwards.

Swish! Swish! Swisssh!

It was like he transformed into a blur as he made his way to the depths of the Path of Swords feeling like nothing could stop him.

A smirk could be seen on the floating figures face as it stared at Feng Yu making his way further along the path.

"Hehe, I wonder what the look on his face will be when he finally realizes!"

Soon, after 40 mins of dashing Feng Yu had finally managed to reach a distance 90 kilometers. Currently, however, his entire body was feeling sore despite the powerful physique given to him while using his awakened bloodline form. Within a few moments, it disappeared, and instantly a wave of exhaustion flowed over him. He quickly forced himself into crossed-legged position bearing the heaven burden of the pressure once more as he glanced towards the shining sword a few more kilometers in front of him.

"Huff! Huff! Almost there, just a little bit further and I... Eh? What's going on? Why does the sword seem as if it's the same distance it previously was before I activated my bloodline's battle form." while looking front of him Feng Yu saw that path towards the sword did not get any closer.

"It's as you suspected, as you have used your bloodline the challenge has not only increased, but it has also increased the pressure that you face. However, in your bloodline state, the next checkpoint distance increased from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers with the pressure increased by a fold. Once you recovered from your bloodline state, the path will recover back to the usual distance with the actual distance traversed represented in the ratio of 1:1 instead of 1:2. Like right now, you have only traversed a distance of 53 kilometers out of 100 kilometers." the figure said as it appeared out of nowhere in front of Feng Yu. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Do you wish to continue?" it said while smiling.

"I will continue to end!" Feng Yu shouted while reactivating his phoenix form and swiftly rushing to the point once again.

"I'll have you know once you have cleared halfway of the current phase, the pressure will again increase by tenfold."

Hearing no reply and observing Feng Yu's figure once again struggling the figure showed Feng Yu a glance of respect.

"Interesting! Shall we test your limits once again."

Dual Sword God - Chapter 14: Tydol of the Phantasmal Swords

The atmosphere within the depths of the cavern was a 'boiling' one indeed as heat waves gushed about everywhere. Occasionally, flares of flames would spurt out from the ground crashing unto the walls.

As if some force controlled them, a few of the massive flares abruptly shot out from the lava soaring into the sky before threateningly traveling towards the central platform.

Whoosh!!!!

Noticing the flames rushing towards their location the figure in imperial robes appeared as if it was not worth his attention, with an indifferent expression he casually waved his hand causing the downburst of flames to collapse into sparkles of light that scattered across the platform. A few of the sparkles of light flew across the face of a confused looking young man.

Hearing the name of the figure Feng Yu wasn't shocked or startled but rather puzzled as he had never heard this name before even in his families archive from his memories or at least not in their current archives.

Regarding Feng Yu's expression, Tydol wasn't surprised, as it seemed as if it was the reaction he was expecting. He looked towards the rocky ceiling of the cavern in a daze for a while before starting to speak once more.

"It's natural that you've never heard of me, as I am, after all... only a remnant of an old legend... an old tale of a forgotten man," Tydol said while smiling wearily.

"They once called me the 'Emperor of Man.' Eventually, I became known as the 'Emperor of the World.' The day I found my Supreme Dao I had already ruled the masses of the Greater World for thousands of eras. Soon, I became known throughout time as the one called Tydol, Tydol of the Phantasmal Swords. But, that was countless, years, ago..."

Feng Yu who was listening with interest suddenly began to ponder "Greater World, Supreme Dao, what is he talking about?"

Tydol soon recovered from his dazed state and looked towards Feng Yu. An interested gleam appeared in his eyes as he smiled and said strangely.

"Interesting, you were sent to this 'Planar' by a form of destiny. But strangely, your 'Destiny Star' isn't controlled by fate's workings. Instead, it is guided by a will that exists above fate itself. Now then, who? Or better yet what-----" Sensing something strange Tydol abruptly looked towards the ceiling. It was as if his gaze could pierce through time and space itself as his vision traveled through the skies of True Yuan World arriving at the endless and vast outer void. Deep within a region of the vacuum, a will materialized in the form an eye.

It had a divine profound 'decree' that seemed to declare that it is the only eye that should exist and nothing seen by all lifeforms is rightfully perceived. The iris was green in color, and if one looked very carefully, there were unique runes arrayed together to form multiple complex diagrams. It looked towards Tydol for a moment before vanishing as if it didn't exist. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Interesting! Very Interesting!" Tydol muttered as he scratched his chin with one of his arms while trying to ponder some more details, but soon, he gave up after recalling the previous scene. Rapidly recovering from his state of thought bringing his attention once more towards Feng Yu, only now, the former aloofness he had before was gone as he took on a more interested and expectant gaze towards him.

"Senior Tydol, what do you mean by Destiny Star? How do I..." Feng Yu was now completely confused from the beginning it seemed that nothing that Tydol was saying could be perceived in any particular sense.

Looking back at Feng Yu Tydol replied solemnly, "Little Phoenix, these are things you don't need to concern yourself with, at least, not for now... seeing as you have a budding sword root. I will bestow unto to you a rare chance of fortune, strive to make the best of it now, young one..."

He waved his hand, and the pillar of light surrounding Feng Yu began to shine brightly once more. Shortly, an ancient formation could be seen below Feng Yu's feet.

Shocked by the sudden seen Feng Yu tried to ask for more answers regarding his current situation but it was too late.

PUUUIIIIIII!!!!

A beam of light quickly overcame him, and he was instantly transported to another location.

Looking at the disappeared form of Feng Yu, Tydol smiled while muttering to himself "Little Phoenix tied by a higher fate, since we have met by its will then consider this as my sowing of Karma. If fate wills it let us one day meet again. "

Quickly, his form began to fade away leaving only the corpse with the two holders placed at its side. Stillness returned to the lava platform as if nothing had changed in the beginning.

******

Feng Yu was now in an odd looking graveyard. It was an endless field of swords that spanned across a vast and infinite horizon.

"What am I supposed to do here? I came looking for the exit, Sigh. Now it appears that I've been transferred to an even more complex place." He sighed while feeling complex emotions.

"Challenger! Challenger! Challenger!" a voice said as it resounded throughout the space.

"Welcome to the Sword Graveyard. Here, I have left all the collections of sword skills I have mastered and taken with me to the peak of my strength. If you want to accept my sword arts, then you will have to earn it. Pass my Trial, and you will gain a reward befitting that of your results..."

The voice of mysterious being soon rung out within the void, Feng Yu upon hearing the voice was started, but soon he became at ease, he looked towards the source of the sound.

Floating in the air was a form or rather a silhouette of a transparent being it hovered in the air and seemed ethereal to all things existing within the material plane.

"Senior, what kind of trial is this what would I need to do?" feeling curious about the Trial Feng Yu asked while looking around the space.

"It's simple all you have to do is travel the path of swords, the further you go, the greater your chances of receiving my inheritance. The Pathway is 1000 Kilometres, and the 10-kilometer mark is where it begins, If you can reach 50 kilometers, you would have already proven yourself worthy of being given basic sword foundation skill and 500 kilometers you will be given a sword art, but, if you can make it to 1000 Kilometres, you will receive not only the inheritance but a great surprise. Are you prepared to accept this challenge?"

Thinking about it for a short moment Feng Yu responded "I will accept the challenge!" as a firm light shone brightly within his eyes. He grasped his fist tightly as he stared at the endless graveyard of swords.

"Good! Now then, You will have only three chances to pass this Trial make the best of it. Path of Sword Trial begin..." the voice said soon his voice trailed off into the wind after which was followed by a loud noise.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world started to change once more, and the pathway was soon extended to even broader and lengthier scale. Feng Yu being at the entrance of the path only saw everything around him disappearing from the graveyard leaving just an endless road in front of him.

BUZZZ!!!

THUD!!

Following a loud buzzing sound the pressure in the area instantly increased to about five times the usual gravity. Feng Yu who was not expecting the sudden change in pressure fell to his knees on the floor. noveltranslationweb.blogspot.com

"Darn! Such strong gravity, It looks like this won't be an easy journey." Feng Yu said while picking himself up off the floor looking towards the pathway. He placed himself into running posture and began to dash forward vanishing into the distance leaving only a trace of words.

"The path of adversity is challenged through firm willpower! I will not stop here!"