Chapter 417: Finding A Sparring Partner
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Ling Han kept only a small piece of black rock, whereas he passed the rest over to Small Tower to use to repair the latter. In an instant, the whole black rock was turned to dust, and the Chaos Source inside was completely extracted by Small Tower.
He could not help but think that if Asura Demon Emperor entered the Black Tower, then even if he obtained a humongous piece of the Primal Chaos Source Rock and made it into his body, it would be pointless as it would still be absorbed completely and turned to dust!
Ling Han did not immediately head to where the Crimson Red Chilling Ice Grass was. He was still in the seventh layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier now, so he had to wait some more. He decided to head there after he broke through to the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier.
Even if he went there now, he could only sit and wait, and this did not fit Ling Han's personality.
As a result, he and Hu Niu stolled around the forest. There were still a lot of other Spiritual Herbs here, and since they still had time, why shouldn't they go and find some? Their harvest was quite good, but after a few more days, the majority of the Demonic Qi here had dispersed and more and more people surged into this area. Thus, Ling Han's yield also went on decline.
He rubbed his chin, and ultimately decided that he could not waste any more time. Thus, he carved on the trunk of a tree: " Ding Er Gou 1 , come and chase your Young Master!"
These words were naturally left for Ding Yuan Xin. He still wanted to make use of the latter to improve himself, breaking through to the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier as soon as possible with the man's "help".
As he moved, he kept carving those words here and there. He believed that with Ding Yuan Xin's ability, the latter should be able to find him from the clues he had left behind. Hu Niu followed his example and began carving on the tree trunks as well. However, don't look at how pretty and delicate she was—the letters she carved were all bent and misshapen. But she still proudly crouched down and carved happily, completely unembarrassed about her poor writing.
Only a day passed, and true enough, Ding Yuan Xin had caught up.
"I cannot deny it, you are indeed very courageous!" Ding Yuan Xin said icily, flames of rage burning in his eyes. This young man killed his younger brother and now still dared to actively provoke him. He was really about to die from his towering rage.
"I'm just average, but the second bravest in this world." Ling Han smiled.
"Average, but number one in the world," Hu Niu said without any modesty, patting her tiny chest.
"You two!" Ding Yuan Xin roared in fury. His figure pounced in attack towards Ling Han and Hu Niu. His Spiritual Pedestal shone, surrounding him and making him appear as if he himself was a god.
Ling Han laughed loudly and drew his sword to attack. Instantly, eight flashes of Sword Qi shot out.
When he saw this, Ding Yuan Xin was naturally infuriated. This guy only managed to gain his eighth flash of Sword Qi because of the pressure he had put on him—when he thought of that fact, he felt as if he was burning in flames of fury. Could it be that now that this brat had had a taste of success and once again took him to be a polishing stone for his own power?
However, he stared fixatedly at the Demon Birth Sword. Previously, he only knew that this was a high level Spirit Tool, which gave him a shock that caused his spirit to throb. Yet afterwards, when he saw that this sword was actually capable of causing the Three Lives Corpse Caskets to vibrate, he as well as everyone else present of course knew that the Demon Birth Sword was definitely not something as ordinary as a Level Six or even a Level Seven Spirit Tool.
Who would not covet it?
"This sword is now mine!" He humphed coldly, moving as quick as lightning.
Ling Han tried his utter best and launched a counterattack at Ding Yuan Xin. However, there was too much of a gap between their respective cultivation levels. As a result, Ling Han was very soon riddled with wounds. One could even see the white of bones from some of the deeper wounds.
Thankfully, the Indestructible Heaven Scroll was too mighty, and allowed him to maintain his life force at a shocking state of vigor. It was only when he bled so much that even his sight was beginning to blur that Ling Han finally began to flee.
As he fled, he kept drawing out ginseng and other nutritious medicines and devoured them like crazy. He also used the Indestructible Heaven Scroll to recover his own injuries. As he retreated, he continued to battle; he was not fleeing because he was losing.
He tried his absolute best in this battle, but after three days, he had still reached his limit and had no choice but to duck into the Black Tower. At this point, there was no single patch of unscathed skin on his body. Even with the circulation of the Indestructible Heaven Scroll, the rate at which he suffered injuries far exceeded the rate at which he could heal himself, which forced him to have one foot past the boundary of death.
He quickly circulated a drop of the Indestructible True Fluid to recover. Very quickly, he regrew blood and flesh and had completely recovered from his previous state.
After swallowing a few alchemical pills that were used for cultivation, he crushed a few hundred Origin Crystals. Instantly, an endless amount of Origin Power enveloped him. He greedily absorbed it and his cultivation gradually increased.
He actually cultivated for two whole days and nights, and when he ended his cultivation, he had already quietly broken through to the eighth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier.
"Very good, this sparring partner is not bad. Perhaps, after one more month, I not only will be able to break through to the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier, but even rush up to the peak period of the ninth layer!" Ling Han mumbled, unafraid how depressed and frustrated these words would make Ding Yuan Xin if he heard them.
"Let's go and find my sparring partner." Ling Han continued to leave messages behind, whereas Hu Niu helped to leave messages as well, giggling while damaging this area of the forest with her hideous writing.
Another two days passed, and Ding Yuan Xin had indeed caught up with them again.
"Eighth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier!" Ding Yuan Xin gasped in shock when he swept his eyes over Ling Han, his eyeballs practically popping out of his head. He was frustrated. This brat had really taken him to be a sparring partner. Not only had he formed his eighth flash of Sword Qi from the constant battles, now he had even broken through to the eighth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier.
If he continued to battle with this brat, then wouldn't the latter be able to advance towards the ninth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier at a terrifying rate, or even… directly break through to the Spiritual Pedestal Tier!
He was really a bit scared now. Ling Han's battle prowess was too monstrous. Perhaps, once he entered the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, Ling Han would be able to rival him. How could he bear with the fact that he himself had cultivated an opponent that could kill him?
But this brat killed his younger brother, so how could he spare him?
Kill, he definitely had to kill him. At least for now, this brat's ability was far beneath his!
…Ding Yuan Xin did not know that Ling Han still had the Black Tower and possessed a final trump card to ensure his survival in fatal danger. Otherwise, he would definitely turn around and leave immediately. It was just like battling Rong Huan Xuan. He could always duck and hide himself into the Three Lives Corpse Caskets, and if someone in the Flower Blossom Tier at least delivered a palm strike to this Spirit Tool, he could still kill himself with the strike.
"Do you dare to battle me to the death?" Ding Yuan Xin provoked him.
"Is there something wrong with your head? I'm only in the eighth layer of the Spiritual Ocean Tier and you are in the ninth layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, and you want me to battle you to the death? Idiot!" Ling Han shook his head, yet took the initiative to attack. The Demonl Birth Sword was drawn and Sword Qi shot forwards like rainbows. "Just obediently be my sparring partner!"
"Damn you!" Ding Yuan Xin was unbelievably furious and stepped forward to counter Ling Han's attack. Previously, there were a few times that he had nearly managed to kill Ling Han. Thus, he was still quite confident in himself. If Ling Han was just that slightest bit unlucky, then he would definitely be able to kill the former.
Unfortunately, he was always just that slightest bit away from killing Ling Han.
After battling for three days, Ling Han once again entered the Black Tower in a near-death state. After circulating a drop of the Indestructible True Fluid, he directly passed out. When he woke up, he hurriedly began to cultivate.
His improvement could obviously be seen. He had reached the middle period of the eighth layer, and what was even harder to come by was the fact that because he was so very near to death this time round, this gave him a deeper understanding about life and death.
Life and death—they were opposites, but the end of life was death, and the end of death was life. It was an endless loop, like taiji 2 . This conformed to the Dao of the world, which was Dao begets one, and one begets two.
Order and chaos, life and death, light and darkness; these opposites and cycles could be traced back to the Source. However, Ling Han's current cultivation level was too low; he could only be moved, but was not able to comprehend.
He allocated these stirred up thoughts on the path of the sword, clear which path he wanted to follow.
Sword Qi, Sword Ray, anyone could form these two states. But Sword Heart was different. This was a kind of higher level, which required one to possess his own path.
In his last life, the path that the Sword Emperor took was the path of rulers. The moment he drew his sword, the whole world would crawl before him. The Setting Sun Saber Emperor had taken the path of heartlessness. He could cut down without any bit of hesitation even the source of all life, the sun.
Then what kind of path should he take?