Chapter 315 : Martial God Hall
Chapter 315: Martial God Hall
Chen Ming’s Yang Spirit silently returned to his physical body without alerting anyone. Within the Purple Mansion Secret Volume, there was a record of a divine ability that allowed the Yang Spirit to conceal its traces.
Inside the room, he opened his eyes and spread out his hand, looking at the bead in his palm that emitted a faint purple glow.
He had deliberately investigated the life of the Prince of Linjiang. That legendary figure who had been born in a chaotic era possessed a strange treasure known as the Mystic Soul Pearl.
In the highest-level archives of the Six Doors Authority, there was a record stating that the Prince of Linjiang possessed a supreme treasure called the Mystic Soul Pearl. According to the records, this treasure could control a clone that surpassed the user’s own cultivation realm by an entire major realm.
Because of this, within the Great Jin Dynasty, the Prince of Linjiang’s combat strength had been regarded as the strongest. There were even rumors claiming that his strength was slightly greater than that of the Founding Emperor of Great Jin.
Of course, using such a treasure likely required an enormous price.
Therefore, not long after the founding of the dynasty, the first Prince of Linjiang disappeared and was never seen again. No one knew whether he was dead or alive.
After that, none of the later Princes of Linjiang had ever used this treasure again. Many people believed that the treasure had vanished together with the first Prince of Linjiang.
Unexpectedly, it had actually been hidden all along in the Ancestral Hall of the Prince of Linjiang’s Residence, and for so many years no one had discovered it.
In the end, it had fallen into the hands of him—the current Prince of Linjiang—as though fate had already arranged it.
Chen Ming sighed inwardly for a moment. Using the Controlling Artifact Art, he sent a wisp of his consciousness into the bead. His first impression was that the bead seemed alive and could even communicate with him.
The feeling was extremely mysterious.
It was unlike the artifact spirit of a peerless divine weapon. Instead, it resembled a form of life—something like plants, flowers, or trees.
After a long while, he opened his eyes. There was excitement in his expression, but also a trace of solemnity.
“The Mystic Soul Pearl… so that’s how it is.”
The function of this supreme treasure was very special. Martial artists could not activate it—only a Yang Spirit could unleash its power.
Most likely, no one had imagined that the legendary first Prince of Linjiang, whose bravery was unmatched and who had dominated battlefields with invincible might, had actually been a cultivator.
To use the Mystic Soul Pearl, the first step was to refine it using the Yang Spirit. During this process, the bead would gradually transform into the shape of the user’s Yang Spirit.
Afterward, it had to be nourished with the flesh and blood of powerful beings.
If the flesh and blood of a Divine Repository Realm expert were used, the body it eventually grew would possess the cultivation level of the Divine Repository Realm.
If the flesh and blood of a Fate Palace Realm expert were used, it could grow into a Fate Palace Realm body.
Once the body was fully formed, the Yang Spirit could control it.
In theory, he could even control a Primordial Embryo Realm body—provided that he could cultivate such a body in the first place. However, controlling a body of that level would place an enormous burden on the Yang Spirit. The consumption of its origin would be hundreds or even thousands of times faster.
It had to be said that this supreme treasure was extraordinarily powerful.
Its upper limit of strength was practically limitless. However, obtaining the blood of powerful experts was far from easy.
This step alone would stop the vast majority of people.
Chen Ming could not help wondering how the first Prince of Linjiang had managed to obtain the flesh and blood of a Primordial Embryo Realm expert back then, allowing him to cultivate such a body.
“I’ll refine it first.”
With that thought, Chen Ming absorbed the bead into his Yang Spirit and slowly refined it in this manner.
---
Over the next few days, the delegation continued traveling toward the capital.
Chen Ming also successfully finished refining the Mystic Soul Pearl. The next step was to cultivate a physical body for it.
That night, after dinner, a tall and imposing man walked into the room. He wore dark armor, and an astonishing aura emanated from his entire body.
This man was Xu Tianyu, the guard assigned to the delegation—a peerless expert at the Fifth Layer of the Divine Repository Realm.
He had been sent by the emperor to protect Chen Ming. Even the emperor himself did not have many experts of this level at his disposal.
After entering, Xu Tianyu asked, “Your Highness, why have you summoned this subordinate?”
Chen Ming sat in his seat and stared at the peak-level Divine Repository Realm expert before him. Even though Xu Tianyu had restrained his aura, Chen Ming could still sense the astonishing vitality within his body.
It was like the sun itself. Merely standing near him felt as if one might be burned by his blazing heat.
Chen Ming asked in a deep voice, “Lord Xu, before we departed, His Majesty told me that you are absolutely loyal to him. Is that true?”
Xu Tianyu looked directly into his eyes and calmly said, “What does Your Highness want me to do?”
Chen Ming took out a token bestowed by the emperor.
“Lord Xu, do you recognize this?”
Xu Tianyu lowered his proud head.
“Yes. This is a token granted personally by His Majesty. With this token, no matter what order is given, this subordinate must obey.”
Chen Ming said, “Good. I only need you to do one thing. For the next month, give me one drop of your blood every day.”
After several breaths of silence, Xu Tianyu asked,
“Has Your Highness thought this through? Do you truly want to use that token for this command?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.”
Chen Ming suddenly felt his hand become empty. The token had already appeared in Xu Tianyu’s hand.
Without any visible movement, a drop of blood flew from his fingertip and slowly drifted toward Chen Ming.
Then Xu Tianyu turned and left.
Chen Ming looked at the drop of blood floating before him. Feeling the immense vitality contained within it, he felt delighted. He placed it into a jade bottle and carefully stored it.
Before departure, the emperor had given him a golden token and told him that showing it would allow him to command Xu Tianyu to perform any single task—even assassinating the emperor of Southern Chu.
The emperor had solemnly warned him that the token could only be used once and must be used wisely.
To be honest, Chen Ming had been somewhat doubtful.
Yet Xu Tianyu had actually agreed.
Blood contained a person’s entire life essence. The stronger someone was, the less likely they would ever give their blood to another.
It had to be said that although the Great Jin Dynasty was facing storms and instability, its foundations were still extremely deep.
With Xu Tianyu’s blood, after one month he would be able to use the Mystic Soul Pearl to create a body equivalent to the Fifth Layer of the Divine Repository Realm.
With such a trump card, the number of forces in the world capable of threatening him would become extremely small.
---
The capital of Southern Chu was located at the southernmost edge of the continent.
It was said that when Southern Chu first established the nation, they feared that the powerful Great Jin Dynasty might invade. Therefore, they deliberately built the capital beside the sea. If one day Great Jin’s army reached the city, they could escape through the sea.
As the delegation continued heading south, the cities along the way grew increasingly prosperous.
There were also more and more martial artists traveling along the roads. Many were experts above the Third Grade, and occasionally even Divine Repository Realm experts could be seen.
At first, Chen Ming was shocked, thinking that the proportion of martial artists in Southern Chu was absurdly high.
Later, he overheard conversations between some traveling martial artists with his spiritual awareness and finally learned the reason.
The Martial God Hall was about to open.
For Southern Chu, this was a grand event capable of attracting the nation’s top martial artists.
Chen Ming had heard of the Martial God Hall before.
It was the highest hall of the Martial Academy, a sacred place in the hearts of countless martial artists in Southern Chu. It had been established by the Prime Minister, and it opened once every ten years. All martial artists in Southern Chu could enter the Martial God Hall to challenge its trials.
Those who passed the corresponding stages would obtain precious cultivation methods, martial arts manuals, and even quotas for top-tier secret realms.
The Prime Minister had created the Martial God Hall to break the barriers between sects and families. After two hundred years, it had already achieved remarkable success.
It was said that the Martial God Hall contained more cultivation methods and martial arts manuals than any other force in the world, rivaling even the Martial Vault of the Six Doors Authority.
One had to remember that the Six Doors Authority had inherited the martial vault of the Demon Suppression Division from the previous dynasty. With the accumulations of two dynasties spanning over a thousand years, its collection was vast beyond measure.
Yet the Martial God Hall had managed to reach the same level in only two hundred years—all thanks to the Prime Minister.
Chen Ming was also very curious about it.
It was said that within the Martial God Hall, any martial art demonstrated by a challenger would automatically be recorded and added to the martial vault.
One could also exchange their own cultivation methods and martial techniques for more suitable ones from the hall.
And this was merely the most basic function of the Martial God Hall.
Once every ten years, the hall would truly open. Any martial artist above the Third Grade could enter and challenge opponents inside. After defeating an opponent, they could ascend to the next floor.
The higher the floor one reached, the greater the reward.
This mechanism was somewhat similar to the Tower of Merits used by the imperial family of the Great Jin Dynasty.
The difference was that the Martial God Hall of Southern Chu did not restrict one’s background or origin. As long as one’s cultivation was sufficient, they could participate.
Therefore, whenever the Martial God Hall opened, tens of thousands of martial artists flocked to the capital of Southern Chu to challenge it.
After learning about this, Chen Ming summoned a Southern Chu official and asked,
“I have long heard of the reputation of your nation’s Martial God Hall. May I also enter the hall and attempt its challenges?”
“This…”
The official hesitated, not daring to answer immediately. Although the Martial God Hall did not prohibit foreigners from participating, the person before him was the Prince of Linjiang of Great Jin.
There had never been such a precedent.
He said, “This subordinate truly does not know. If Your Highness is interested, you may raise the matter when you meet His Majesty.”
“Very well.”
---
Half a month later, they finally arrived at the capital of Southern Chu.
This coastal city had no walls. From afar, one could see a black line stretching into the sky—it appeared to be a tower.
The legendary Heaven-Piercing Tower.
It was said to have been built by the Prime Minister in an attempt to connect the tower to the Heavenly Palace.
After entering the capital by carriage, Chen Ming clearly felt the difference between the two nations.
Great Jin was like an old man—conservative, aged, slow, yet possessing profound foundations.
Southern Chu, on the other hand, was vibrant and energetic. Whether it was the architecture or the spirit of the people, everything displayed an ambitious and progressive vitality.
Not only Chen Ming—everyone in the delegation sensed this difference, and their expressions became solemn.
Along the road, the watching crowd pointed and discussed the convoy. There was neither fear nor hatred toward Great Jin in their expressions—only curiosity.
After all, the two nations had barely interacted for over a century.
The people of Southern Chu were just as curious about Great Jin. To them, the empire of the old continent was equally unfamiliar.
Finally, the delegation arrived at the residence arranged by Southern Chu and settled there while waiting for an audience with the emperor.
Chen Ming was not in a hurry.
Based on what he had seen along the way, there was no atmosphere of war at all. Both the borders and the cities were completely normal.
This meant that Southern Chu did not intend to take advantage of Great Jin’s imminent war with the Northern Frontier Nations.
Of course, it was also possible that Southern Chu was waiting for an opportunity—waiting until Great Jin became sufficiently weakened before making a move.
Even so, it was still an opportunity. As long as Great Jin could defeat the coalition army of the Northern Frontier Nations quickly, it would avoid being attacked from both front and rear.
Every day, Chen Ming either entered the Demon-Suppressing Tower to ambush enemies and farm experience points, or used Xu Tianyu’s blood to nourish the Mystic Soul Pearl.
The blood of a Fifth Layer Divine Repository Realm expert contained abundant vitality and power.
Each drop absorbed by the Mystic Soul Pearl caused its aura to grow stronger. Even its color gradually shifted from purple to red.
After twenty days, the aura had become so powerful that even Chen Ming felt uneasy—as if a terrifying demonic embryo was about to hatch inside.
Fortunately, all of this occurred within his Yang Spirit, and none of the aura leaked outside. Otherwise, it would likely have alarmed all the experts in the capital.
On the tenth day after Chen Ming arrived in the capital, the thirtieth drop of Xu Tianyu’s blood fell onto the Mystic Soul Pearl, causing another astonishing change.
The Mystic Soul Pearl cracked open.
From within emerged a tiny figure that looked exactly like Chen Ming.
Its entire body was blood-red, like a miniature version of his Yang Spirit, except its eyes were closed.
“So this is the body cultivated by the Mystic Soul Pearl?”
Chen Ming curiously examined the miniature blood-red version of himself. When he lightly touched it with his finger, he could immediately feel the presence of that body.
The sensation was extremely strange.
It felt as though he had split into two people—four hands, four legs, and two heads…
He withdrew his hand and thought to himself,
“It seems I’ll need to learn how to divide my mind into two.”
Unfortunately, he was currently in a foreign nation and surrounded by spies. Otherwise, he would have loved to test how powerful this body truly was.
After all, it possessed the strength of the Fifth Layer of the Divine Repository Realm.
Suddenly, Chen Ming’s mind stirred. He opened his eyes as someone knocked on the door.
“Enter.”
“Your Highness, the emperor of Southern Chu has finally summoned us.” The person reporting was an official from the Court of Diplomatic Reception, also the deputy envoy of the mission.
A faint smile appeared on Chen Ming’s face.
“So it has finally come. Let’s go and meet the emperor of Southern Chu.”
---
Chen Ming changed into formal attire and, accompanied by several officials, headed toward the imperial palace under the escort of Imperial Guards.
At the palace gate, he saw a group of young men and women waiting there, all wearing identical uniforms.
He asked a Southern Chu official, “Who are those people?”
“They are disciples of the Martial Academy. In our dynasty, His Majesty personally serves as the head of both the Martial Academy and the Literary Academy, so these people are considered the emperor’s direct students. Since the Martial God Hall is about to open, they have come to the palace to pay respects as tradition dictates.”
“I see.”
Chen Ming swept his gaze across the young disciples before briefly pausing on the young man standing at the front.
These Martial Academy disciples were extremely young. Some were still teenagers, and the oldest looked barely in their early twenties.
Yet all of them were above the Third Grade, and several had even reached the First Grade.
Among the younger generation, Southern Chu’s strength had already completely surpassed that of Great Jin.
The leading young man was clearly at the peak of the First Grade—only one step away from the Divine Repository Realm.
At that moment, the young man also looked toward them and spoke.
“Are you the delegation from Northern Jin? Which one of you is the Prince of Linjiang?”