Chapter 899 – Once Again Into the Road of Emperor
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The Heavenly Demon Tattoos were forcefully erased from the five High Lords, greatly reducing their strength. This deprival also diminished their fires of life until they were like the last flickering flame of a candle in the wind. At this time they had been turned into garbage without much of a lifespan left over.
This was the great power of the Death God Force Field – to extinguish all life vitality!
The Asura Force Field. Omnidirectional suppression of an enemy’s physical body, true essence, dantian, and soul.
The Death God Force Field. To cut off the enemy’s source of life.
But as for what the Prime Emperor Force Field was, Lin Ming had no idea. He only faintly knew that it was the strongest of the three force fields. If he could fuse all three together and form the complete Heavenly Demon Force Field, then he would be able to crush and kill Divine Sea Supreme Elders!
The Heavenly Demon Force Field was highly likely to be related to that nameless Great Emperor from the Eternal Demon Abyss. But, that nameless Great Emperor had already reached an unimaginable boundary; it was likely he was a top level existence of the Divine Realm!
After wasting away five High Lords with nothing more than a thought, Lin Ming casually strolled forwards. The present him now had sufficient strength to directly enter the Road of Emperor. All gods that blocked him would die; all buddhas that blocked him would perish!
As Lin Ming walked forwards, the guards who surrounded him were scared to the point that their legs trembled, nearly toppling over like their legs were made from jelly. This youth was able to instantly kill five High Lords.
This… was this even human!?
He was simply like an abyssal demon. Against such a monstrous demon, all of them were terrified they even thought of helping the five High Lords to surround and kill Lin Ming.
After seeing Lin Ming stroll away, none of them were able to summon the courage to flee. Against such an existence, a mere thought was enough to kill them all. No matter if they were 10 times faster or a hundred times faster, they still wouldn’t be able to escape.
Each and every guard was wet with sweat, with limp and shaking limbs. Their faces were ashen and their souls seemed to flee from their backs. They stood there, paralyzed where they were until Lin Ming finally left.
“That… that youth is actually a twelve-winged Heavenly Demon! He is actually a twelve-winged Heavenly Demon!”
A twelve-winged Heavenly Demon was a legendary existence but also a taboo existence. They never imagined that this human who came here today was a twelve-winged Heavenly Demon!
“He must be Lin Ming from five years ago. The great Steppes Master has already issued a warrant for his capture and yet he dares to return to the Blood Slaughter Steppes?”
Lin Ming confidently strode into the fourth floor of the Heavenly Cloud Tower. There was no one here waiting to stop him. After killing five High Lords with nothing more than a glance, at this time no one dared to leap to their deaths. Even if every single master of Heavenly Cloud Tower combined forces to attack Lin Ming, they would simply instantly perish.
The fifth floor! The Road of Emperor was already very close.
At this time, news of Lin Ming’s appearance had reached the Steppes Master.
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Peng!
The Steppes master crushed the arms of this throne to dust. “Lin Ming, he actually dares to return. He probably thought that just because he developed some supernatural power that he would be able to dominate me. How ridiculous. I shall show him just what it means to be a frog in a well!”
When Lin Ming had left the Blood Slaughter Steppes, his cultivation had only been at the early Revolving Core realm. To cross from the early Revolving Core into Life Destruction in just a mere five years, one had to have an eternally rare heaven-gifted talent and foundation, and also must have experienced great lucky chances repeatedly.
The Steppes Master guessed that Lin Ming truly did have a destiny that defied the will of the heavens. With his first stage Life Destruction cultivation and his monstrous talent added on top of that, his true strength likely reached the level of a fifth grade Life Destruction martial artist. To such a top master, instantly killing five High Lords was nothing at all.
After all, in the Blood Slaughter Steppes, all High Lords did not reach Life Destruction, four-star Demon King, or an equivalent rank. Otherwise they would possibly come under the influence of the curse.
The Steppes Master lit a sound transmitting talisman and then left the Blood Slaughter Divine Temple, using a movement technique to fly towards Heavenly Cloud Tower at full speed!
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“What? He wants me to delay for time so that Lin Ming cannot enter the Road of Emperor? How can I delay anything at all!?” After the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master received the Steppes Master’s sound transmission, he nearly flipped over the table he was sitting at.
Although he was far stronger than the 16 High Lords, he absolutely could not reach a degree of strength that could kill five High Lords with a single glance. Facing Lin Ming meant that he would be as good as dead!
“This is stupidly unreasonable and outrageous. What the fuck can I possibly do? If I encounter a monster like Lin Ming then even betting my entire life wouldn’t do anything at all!”
The Heavenly Cloud Tower master was from the Goliath race. He had immense strength and normally wouldn’t even fear the heavens. But, facing such an impossible and ridiculous order, he couldn’t help but curse out loud. The Steppes Master was flying here from the Blood Slaughter Divine Temple and would need at most a quarter hour to arrive. How could he possibly delay Lin Ming for a quarter hour?
“But Tower Master, this is the order of the Steppes Master. If we do not follow it then we will be disposed of.” Beside the Tower Master, an Imp martial artist suddenly spoke up. He was the most trusted friend of the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master.
The Steppes Master was an extremely cruel, violent, and malicious individual. All who dared to disobey his orders would suffer a truly miserable fate.
“Shit, shit, shit, I really hit the shit jackpot this time! I have no idea just how strong this boy’s true strength is. Perhaps he might even be able to contend with a quasi-Emperor powerhouse. How can I even think of delaying him!”
The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master cursed again. He could only brace himself for this crisis and go to the Road of Emperor.
But, just as he reached the Road of Emperor, he heard a massive explosive sound. The spells that sealed away the Road of Emperor had been shattered by Lin Ming’s halberd!
These sealing spells were added to the Skysplit Tower after it was founded, they weren’t part of the original structure. Otherwise, even if Lin Ming had the strength of an unrivalled Emperor he still wouldn’t have been able to force his way through them.
But even so, the toughness and firmness of these spells was staggering. The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master was frightened witless as he saw Lin Ming easily rip them apart.
“Young Hero, please hold on, if there is some matter then we can surely discuss it!” The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master shouted out, making his tone as polite as possible so that he wouldn’t provoke Lin Ming’s ire. However, Lin Ming only swept his eyes over him. The icy cold meaning in them caused the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master’s body to feel cold, as if his soul itself had frozen.
The Death God Force Field was able to cut off all life vitality. Even if Lin Ming wasn’t actively galvanizing it, it still wasn’t a power that the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master was able to resist.
The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master had originally wanted to delay Lin Ming with some nonsense banter. But before he could actually speak, he gulped over and over before sputtering, “You… if you don’t know the law formula to open the Road of Emperor’s array formation, there is no way for you to enter…”
As he spoke, the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master took several steps back until he reached a safe distance. This distance was only for comfort of mind. If Lin Ming wanted to kill him, he would die with nothing more than a thought.
The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master was thinking about how to tell Lin Ming the law formula to open the Road of Emperor and also to switch it a bit so that he wouldn’t be able to open it for a period of time. This would give him time and also satisfy the order of Steppes Master. However, he discovered that Lin Ming simply ignored him. Lin Ming had already began turning the outer runes of the Road of Emperor, and with a ‘ka ka ka’ sound, the array formation was solved by Lin Ming.
“…What?”
The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master gulped, his eyes perfectly round. He was left completely speechless! It seemed as if there was nothing Lin Ming couldn’t do.
The truth was that the outer array formation of the Road of Emperor was only a simple gate. It was like an ordinary gated fence installed outside of mortal palaces; it wasn’t difficult to open at all. Those people that had first discovered the 12 Skysplit Towers were able to solve it, much less someone like Lin Ming.
Thus, in just half an incense stick of time, the gating array formation of the Road of Emperor had been opened by Lin Ming. He calmly stepped onto the crimson altar and sprinkled his blood onto the ground. A red light enveloped him and he was swallowed up by it.
The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master and his trusted High Lord confidante were left behind, flabbergasted. But, they were also helpless. The Road of Emperor only allowed a single person to enter on their own path; no one could follow them. Since Lin Ming had gone in, there was no way of chasing him inside. They could only wait for him to come out.
The Heavenly Cloud Tower Master quickly sent out a sound transmitting talisman to inform the Steppes Master of the sudden turn in events. He could only anxiously wait to bear the anger of the Steppes Master.
A quarter hour later, a sharp sonic boom rang out in the skies, accompanied by a massive explosion outside of the Heavenly Cloud Tower. The Steppes Master had finally arrived at Heavenly Cloud City, and the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master as well as the other 11 surviving High Lords hurriedly ran out to greet him.
The Steppes Master’s eyes flashed with a gloomy killing intent. He was well aware of just what Lin Ming had planned. In fact, he had already approximated Lin Ming’s current strength and didn’t expect that the Heavenly Cloud Tower Master would really be able to delay Lin Ming.
“Lin Ming, do you really think that after entering the Road of Emperor you will be able to become a Peerless Emperor and gain strength that surpasses mine? You are far too naïve!” The Steppes Master sinisterly grinned. “Those that pass through the Road of Emperor can indeed become Peerless Emperors, but do you think that the Road of Emperor can be walked so easily? You were far too impatient. Perhaps if you wanted another 20 years and your cultivation reached the fifth or sixth stage of Life Destruction, nothing would have been able to stop you from passing the Road of Emperor. But now it is simply impossible for you to completely cross it. I shall wait outside and lay down a great array formation for you. You are now nothing more than a pigeon in a cage. Let me see just how you’ll escape this time!”
In the last 10,000 years, beside the Eightfall War Emperor and a few other individuals, no one had been able to walk far down the Road of Emperor. Not even the Steppes Master himself had the strength to reach the end of the Road of Emperor. Moreover, obtaining the recognition of the Road of Emperor was the most important part, or else no one was able to cross it.
The Steppes Master didn’t doubt Lin Ming’s talent. But, his cultivation was far too low. Only five years had passed, and Lin Ming was likely only 24 years old or so.
Even if his talent was recognized by the Road of Emperor, his strength would still be lacking.
“Everyone come and assist in laying down the array formation. The day he emerges from the Road of Emperor is the day he dies!” After the Steppes Master issued this order, he sat down in front of the Road of Emperor’s gate. He closed his eyes, meditating and adjusting his condition to its peak state.
Since Lin Ming had gone in from here, he would sooner or later have to come out from here. The Steppes Master planned on personally killing Lin Ming. He had to do this, no matter what means he was forced to use.
At this time, within the Road of Emperor, Lin Ming stood at an entirely similar crimson altar. There was a 10 foot wide wooden plank road in front of him. This plank road was suspended in the air, ghostly and ethereal, extending into the infinite distance until it disappeared into the darkness. There was no support that held up the plank road, and underneath this road was nothing but an endless abyss! It was impossible to see just what lay at the bottom; it was possible that this abyss even connected to the Eternal Demon Abyss. If he fell here, he would fall to the very center of the world, beyond all salvation.
On the sides of this plank road were lights that floated in the air, around 100 feet away from each other. These lights were all given off by strange lamps carved from black rock. They were held up by some mysterious strength.
This was where Lin Ming had first comprehended his battle spirit, the road of will lights!