Chapter 1526 – Another Breakthrough
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Lin Ming didn’t plan on concealing anything from Xiao Moxian. He held the black bead and truthfully said, “Ji Xian’er, this is a hundred million years’ worth of gathered essence from the Grandmist Spirit Bead.”
“Grandmist Spirit Bead!? You mean the Grandmist Spirit Bead that is in the hands of the Good Fortune Saint Son!?” Xiao Moxian was dumbfounded. As a peak young elite of the Divine Realm, she certainly knew what level of treasure the Grandmist Spirit Bead was and what it meant.
“It is exactly that.”
Xiao Moxian was even more panic-stricken as she heard Lin Ming’s affirmation. “How would you have something like that?”
“Senior Empyrean Primordius passed it down to me.”
The saint race had wrested the Grandmist Spirit Bead from Empyrean Primordius. This was not a secret to the high level figures of the Divine Realm, and even Xiao Moxian knew of this history. In fact, if Lin Ming didn’t say anything, Xiao Moxian would have figured it out after recovering from her shock.
“Empyrean Primordius! I see, so your chaos stone dwelling is also passed down to you from Empyrean Primordius!”
Xiao Moxian said, suddenly aware, She finally knew what sort of lucky chances Lin Ming had experienced.
There were far too many secrets circling around Lin Ming. In Xiao Moxian’s eyes, even if there was a successor who had completely inherited Empyrean Primordius’ legacy, it would still be hard for them to reach Lin Ming’s current lofty heights. Moreover, as a martial artist from the lower realms, it was unimaginable how Lin Ming would have obtained Empyrean Primordius’ approval.
“Yes, Senior Primordius bestowed upon me a great graciousness. The things he left for me have saved my life several times. Just in facing Tian Mingzi, Senior Primordius has already rescued me three times.”
Lin Ming and Tian Mingzi had had several bitter encounters with each other. During his trip to the Sky Spill Continent, Lin Ming had relied upon the secrets within the Eternal Demon Abyss to reverse the situation and slay Tian Mingzi’s avatar.
Now, he had used Primordius Heavenly Palace to prevent Tian Mingzi hunting him down through God Burying Ridge.
“This Grandmist Spirit Bead essence in my hands is condensed from the blood vitality that the Grandmist Spirit Bead absorbed over a hundred million years. It is almost impossible to split apart and if I swallow it directly then I cannot withstand the impact of it. I can only use the Grandmist Heavenly Dao left behind by Empyrean Primordius to divide a small portion of its origin energy and then slowly absorb it. Now, I will draw out a part of its origin energy and you and I will absorb it together.”
“Absorb it together?” Xiao Moxian was well aware of how precious this Grandmist Spirit Bead essence was; it far surpassed a transcendent divine pill! If she could absorb it then it would be of great benefit to her cultivation!
“Mm, when we cultivated together just now, I was able to feel that you were just half a step from the Divine Lord realm. If you absorb the Grandmist Spirit Beat essence then it might be possible for you to break through to the Divine Lord realm!”
Facing Tian Mingzi, Lin Ming didn’t have faith that he would be able to defeat him alone. If he could add on Xiao Moxian, then the two of them would have a much higher chance of success.
Xiao Moxian also trained in the Asura Sutra. Once she broke into the Divine Lord realm, she wouldn’t be much weaker than Lin Ming!
“Divine Lord realm… perhaps I might be able to break through, but even if I do, you and I together might not be Tian Mingzi’s match…”
Xiao Moxian didn’t refuse. At this time, she and Lin Ming were travelling the stormy seas on the same little boat together.
“That’s right… that’s why I have to bet everything on this. In the next several hours, I have to make another breakthrough!”
As Lin Ming spoke, a sharp light exploded in his eyes. Xiao Moxian was shocked to hear this, “Make another breakthrough? How will you make another breakthrough?”
Lin Ming had entered the early Divine Lord realm just several days ago; it would be impossible for him to make another breakthrough.
In many cases, geniuses would intentionally suppress their cultivation in order to further stabilize their foundation, even when they were able to make a breakthrough anytime they wanted. But, this sort of situation only occurred when those geniuses stayed in that boundary for a long enough time and their cultivation had accumulated to a high enough degree.
As for Lin Ming, he had just broken through a large boundary several days ago and he had no accumulations at all. His inner world was completely empty. In this situation, him wanting to make another breakthrough was simply an idiot spouting nonsense.
Lin Ming said, “It is indeed impossible for me to make another breakthrough in the essence gathering system, but there actually lies a chance for me to do so in the body transformation system. I plan to… challenge the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace!”
As Lin Ming spoke the words ‘the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace’ every word he spoke was slow and steady, each word carrying with it a bold courage and deep determination!
Nine Stars of the Dao Palace!
This was a mythical boundary, one that the Heavenly Dao Laws would not abide!
As a proud daughter of the Divine Realm, Xiao Moxian certainly knew just what this boundary meant.
“Lin Ming… are you joking with me… you want to break into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace!?”
Ever since the great calamity 3.6 billion years ago, the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace had become the shackles that bound down all human body transformation system martial artists. They were chains that could not be broken.
In the legends, a million years ago, Empyrean Primordius had broken free from these chains, becoming the first and only person to step into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace since the last great calamity!
However, the reason Empyrean Primordius was able to accomplish this was because of his extreme talent and, more importantly, because he possessed the Grandmist Spirit Bead!
That was the ultimate body transformation treasure in the entire 33 Heavens, and a unique existence that surpassed the Heavenly Dao rules. With Empyrean Primordius’ talent in addition to such a heaven-defying treasure, people could acknowledge that he had broken free from the Heavenly Dao rules and stepped into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace.
As for Lin Ming, he did not possess the Grandmist Spirit Bead!
Lin Ming created miracle after miracle, and even Xiao Moxian believed that there would be a day when he could break into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace. But, this time would only come once he came across some bewildering lucky chance and when all sorts of factors coincided together. When all of that occurred and with the massive destiny upon Lin Ming’s body, only then would he have a chance of success!
It was definitely not like now, where Lin Ming would break into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace just because he said he would!
“Lin Ming, do you have any idea what you are speaking about? The Nine Stars of the Dao Palace are a myth. If you possessed the Grandmist Spirit Bead then perhaps you might be able to do it, but now you only have the Grandmist Spirit Bead essence.”
Xiao Moxian was normally fully confident in Lin Ming, but at this time even she found it hard to believe in him.
Lin Ming gravely said, “From the time I stepped on the road of martial arts I chose to dual cultivate in body and energy, so I certainly know what the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace mean. In fact, I am far clearer than anyone else on how difficult it is!”
Lin Ming’s words left Xiao Moxian speechless. Indeed, Lin Ming had already cultivated the Eight Inner Hidden Gates to the limit. In terms of understanding the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, even an Empyrean was inferior to him. The only reason he dared to say he would break through the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace was because he had carefully considered all variables.
“Do you really have full confidence you can do it?” Xiao Moxian said, disbelief thick in her voice.
“I don’t…” Lin Ming shook his head, “But now I have no other choice. I only have around a 10% chance of succeeding!”
“10%…” Xiao Moxian felt her heart sink into her stomach. Although it was shocking that Lin Ming would say he had even a 10% chance of breaking into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, having only a 10% chance of making a breakthrough in such a critical moment simply seemed far too low.
“If you don’t break into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, is there no way for us to live through this?” Xiao Moxian asked after a moment of silence.
Lin Ming shook his head, “I cannot think of another way for us to survive this. Tian Mingzi’s methods are too sinister and crafty; even I couldn’t imagine that he would be playing the bird as the praying mantis hunted. Although I managed to wound him, I had to pay a deep price to do so. If I had been prepared for him then this would not have been the result. We are currently in Bai Qi’s tomb. If I’m not wrong, as long as Tian Mingzi eliminates the spectral soldiers he will then seal away Primordius Heavenly Palace. It's even likely that he will place layers of seals on the space crack exit to remove any chance that we can escape. Then, he will trap us here and slowly refine us.”
With Tian Mingzi’s normal way of doing things, Lin Ming didn’t expect that he would reveal any flaw that he could exploit to escape.
Xiao Moxian sucked in a deep breath as she heard this. Then, she suddenly laughed. “Well, since you put it that way, it seems this really is what they call nine chances of death and only one chance of survival…”
If they could only wait for death if Lin Ming wasn’t able to break through to the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, then their chance of death had reached 90%.
Lin Ming shook his head, “It might be more than 90%, because even if I make a breakthrough into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, I still have no idea what degree of strength I will reach and whether or not that will allow me to fight Tian Mingzi.”
Tian Mingzi was a peak Great World King. Even if he was completely exhausted, he was likely to have even more cards hidden up his sleeves.
After listening to Lin Ming, for a time, Xiao Moxian didn’t know what sort of feelings were running through her heart.
Besides the fear of death that could arrive at any time, there were also other thoughts on her mind.
She looked at Lin Ming for a long time and then quietly said, “If you were to die with me here, would you regret it?”
“Regret?” Lin Ming was stunned. He found it strange that Xiao Moxian would suddenly ask such a question. If they were really to die here then what use was regret?
“I want to ask you, do you regret coming to the Asura Road, do you regret journeying to the Great Desolate, do you regret rescuing me and entering Tragic Death Valley with me, where we were stranded for nine years and even after we finally came out we still might be buried in this dangerous land…”
Xiao Moxian’s words caused Lin Ming to recall some memories. Although it was easy to say that they were stranded in Tragic Death Valley for nine years, the truth was that those nine years were 3300 days and 3300 nights. He remembered all of this because it was something that left a deep mark in his mind.
He let out a light sigh and said, “If I really die here then of course I will be unwilling, but, in this world there are no second chances for regrets. Since I made my choice I also have to face them. It’s not about regretting or not regretting, because what use is regret in the end?”
Xiao Moxian wrinkled her nose in response, not seeming to like Lin Ming’s answer. She unhappily said, “From what you’re saying, if regret is useful to you then you’ll regret… right?”
Xiao Moxian seemed to tangle this seemingly meaningless question that made no sense at all. Lin Ming didn’t know how to reply. In truth, he faintly understood her thoughts, but now was not the time to dwell on such things.
“At this time what use is there in talking about these sorts of tangled thoughts? Let’s conserve as much time as we can and absorb the Grandmist Spirit Bead essence. Trying to make a breakthrough right now is what we should both be striving for.”
Xiao Moxian glared at Lin Ming, her complexion a bit ugly. “The flow of time has been sped up 500 times here, so how much time could saying some words take? I’m just afraid that if I don’t say them now, I won’t have the chance to later…”
Speaking to here, Xiao Moxian’s voice seemed to carry a hint of sadness.
Lin Ming felt his heart soften. “Then if you have any other words to say, say them…”
“I have a question I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time already…” Xiao Moxian’s lips trembled, her eyes haunting as she looked at Lin Ming. She was silent for a long time, and then, as if she were mustering her determination, she calmly and clearly said, “One day, if you and I become mortal enemies, will you kill me?”