Chapter 247 – Out of the Group Stages and Into the Top 100!

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It was true that Lin Ming was strong. However, the several direct disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys were simply too terrifying. They were all at the peak of Pulse Condensation – an entire realm of cultivation higher than Lin Ming. Not only that, but they were also talents that were able to jump ranks in combat; they were stronger than an ordinary middle Houtian realm master.

No matter how fierce Lin Ming was, it was simply impossible for him to cross almost two realms in order to fight with a middle Houtian realm master. If it was possible, then it would perturb the entire Seven Profound Valleys.

Qin Xingxuan said, “There were 20 candidates that were selected as possible champions. These are almost all of the Seven Profound Valley core disciples, as well as the most popular seeded participants in the 10 groups. Jiang Lanjian is also a choice, and his compensation rate is 1:20. There is also someone from a martial cultivation family who has been selected, Zhang Yanzhao, and his compensation rate is 1:35.

Zhang Yanzhao?

Lin Ming felt that this name was someone familiar. He thought back and recalled that during the ruckus in Desert Flower Hall, one of Ouyang Ziyun’s minions had mentioned this name. Zhang Yanzhao from the Zhang Family had managed to reach the top 20 in the last Total Faction Martial Meeting! But, compared to the top 10 ranking Seven Profound Valley direct disciples, the difference was simply too great. This time he had practiced for three years and hoped to attain success with his hard work.

Ever since the Seven Profound Valleys had started to hold their Total Faction Martial Meeting, the first place champion had always been won by a Seven Profound Valleys core disciple; it had never fallen into the hand of outsiders. It was already quite good that Zhang Yanzhao had been selected as one of the 20 possible champions and could obtain a 1:35 compensation rate.

“Yes….did you say I was selected as a seeded participant?” Lin Ming asked.

“Um….you had just been selected as one of the seeded players in the 36 countries. But, you have to place first within all the disciples of the 36 countries. There are 7 chosen candidates; your compensation rate is 1:6.

“1:6? It seems my compensation rate isn’t that high. I shouldn’t be in the front of the ranks right?”

:Mm. The ones with the highest rank in the 36 countries are the brother sister pair from Grace Venerate Nation. Both of them have a cultivation of the middle Pulse Condensation period, and are about to enter into the late Pulse Condensation period. Both of their odds are 1:2.

“Grace Venerate Nation….” Because their countries were too far away, Lin Ming had never seen this country and had only heard some rumors. Grace Venerate Nation was an extremely mysterious country, and it’s land mass was smaller than the Sky Fortune Kingdom. However, their power was even greater than Huoluo Nation.

Lin Ming recalled this for a moment. He grinned at Qin Xingxuan and said, “Xingxuan, if you want to win some money to eat at Desert Flower Hall, then you can bet on me.”

“Haha….well, the truth is I already placed 20 true essence stones on you…” Qin Xingxuan mumbled, somewhat embarrassed. This was only a scenario that she had speculated would happen. Although Lin Ming might not be able to become the champion, Qin Xingxuan had absolute faith in him that he could easily dispatch the brother and sister pair from Grace Venerate Nation. Up to now, Lin Ming still hadn’t used his spear.

……………….

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

After lunch, the afternoon round of matches would begin. The match schedule had been specifically arranged; there were no lots that were drawn. The reasoning behind this was so that the seeded players did not meet in the group matches, and that martial artists from similar families would be placed as far away from each other as possible.

Each of the 21 individuals in Lin Ming’s group had to fight a total of 15 matches. This was so that the top 30 seeded players would be able to stagger each other.

Lin Ming had managed to not encounter Bi Tinghua, Jiang Lanjian, Ling Sen, or Qin Xingxuan. There were too many forfeits that occurred in the afternoon matches so Lin Ming hadn’t really faced anyone. That was, until his seventh round where Lin Ming encountered a middle Pulse Condensation period martial artist who was his opponent. This was a disciple of the Seven Profound Valleys Refiner Faction, Sun Dong.

Sun Dong’s cultivation was at the middle Pulse Condensation period, and he already had quite good results in the group stage. It shouldn’t be too difficult for him to pass the group stages. Not only that, but as a disciple of the Refiner Faction, he was especially skilled in defend against and restrain soul force attack martial artists.

Sun Dong very confidently walked onto the stage. On top of his head, a three foot large furnace was twirling around.

“You are quite strong, but it won’t be easy to defeat me. Although my Seven Profound Valleys Refiner Faction disciples aren’t that skilled in martial skills and cultivation methods, but in terms of soul force power, our strength is far beyond that of ordinary martial artists! Your soul attacks are simply useless against me!

A refining master and an inscription master were basically the same; both of them needed accurate and precise control of soul force. Sun Dong was a medium fifth-grade soul talent and had also cultivated a soul law formula since he was a child in order to refine and build up his soul force. The power of his soul force could be imagined.

“Haha, I’m really looking forwards to this. Although Sun Dong isn’t too strong, he just happens to be someone that is able to counter Lin Ming. Soul attacks shouldn’t work against him. I wonder what other methods Lin Ming still has.”

“Hehe, it’s time that this Lin Ming will taste the suffering of defeat. I can’t wait to see his winning streak ended.

Lin Ming had swept away and defeated many masters of the Seven Profound Valleys. Since there were many Total Faction disciples in the audience, they naturally hoped that Lin Ming would lose a match; they were simply jealous of someone that could remain undefeated in the group stages. Not to mention, this young upstart youth actually came from the 36 countries. This was just like a poor boy that had climbed on a royal’s head; this made people feel unhappy.

“Let me show you the secrets of our Refiner Faction! Stable Tripod Universe!”

Sun Dong gave a loud shout and the small black furnace above his head began to spin around in the wind. In a blink of an eye it had instantly enlarged by several feet.

After true essence was poured into the furnace, it simply had an unimaginable force. It could even shatter a small hill or mountain top.

Lin Ming didn’t bother paying attention to whatever it was that Sun Dong was doing. Instead, his eyes flashed with a black light; the Samsara martial intent surged outwards.

Peng!

Sun Dong paled as if he had been struck hard. Because the three feet large furnace in the air had lost the support of soul force and true essence, it pounded into the ground and broke apart the tiles.

“Damn, how could this happen. My soul force is so strong, how was he able to injure me?” Sun Dong thought as he gasped for breath, a hand held up against his face to support himself.

“Furnace Shattering 10,000 Voids!” Sun Dong’s eyes flashed, and the black furnace began to wildly spin around again. This time, it had only flown a few feet when it suddenly crashed into the floor.

Lin Ming’s eyes flashed with a black light again. Sun Dong’s body shook once more, then his eyes lost all focus and he slumped onto the ground.

“Lin Ming, victory!”

After the referee’s announcement, the entire audience was stunned silent. Even the Refiner Faction’s Sun Dong had been defeated. Not only that, but he had been defeated so easily. How could this be?

Wang Mu’s defeat was surprising to some, but this was still an acceptable outcome. The reasoning for this was that Lin Ming’s soul force was simply too monstrously abnormal, and was able to equal someone at the middle Pulse Condensation period. But, Sun Dong was a refining master whose attacks used soul force. How could he also suffer a similar fate like Wang Mu?

Just what sort of background did this Lin Ming fellow have?

Many of the Seven Profound Valley disciples that were watching from the audience suddenly felt chills crawl down their spines. Lin Ming had used his soul force to defeat opponents one after another. Regardless of an opponent’s cultivation or how their soul force was, the matches had been resolved within the space of a few breaths. Lin Ming’s soul force attacks gave those watching a completely mystical and unfathomable feeling!

The truth was, although Lin Ming’s Samsara martial intent was approximately a soul attack, it wasn’t only a soul attack.

The Samsara martial intent that he been born out of the will within one’s heart was in itself an attack on a martial artists’ heart of martial arts. If one didn’t have a firm and steady heart of martial arts, then it would be very simple for them to become lost in the 100 Samsaras.

Even though a martial artist could have a powerful soul force, that didn’t imply that their heart was firm.

Therefore one wouldn’t be able to ignore the Samsara martial intent attack just by virtue of a strong soul force.

The Samsara martial intent could only be seen by those it was used against. Only those people would be able to see the mysterious secrets within. Others would find it too difficult to understand the profound secrets and truths hidden within. As for those who had been overwhelmed by the countless visions and images, they had quickly lost consciousness after. In the end, it was difficult to say just what sort of attacks had been used.

However, at this time at the Grand Hall, Mu Qinghong noticed that there was something peculiar about Lin Ming’s soul attack. As for what it was, she would only ever be able to judge it if she personally experienced an attack.

“This youth is becoming more and more interesting. Maybe Qianyu’s talk wasn’t so exaggerated as I thought.

The corners of Mu Qinghong’s lips curved up. She was glad that she hadn’t made this trip in vain.

The group stages were tepid; it was quite boring. There simply weren’t any showdowns between the true heavy weights. In half the matches, the result had been decided just by one’s cultivation.

Finally, Ling Sen and Bi Tinghua’s match was about to happen. It attracted the attention of many people.

Ling Sen, 21 years old, cultivation of early Bone Forging.

Bi Tinghua, 19 years old, cultivation of late Pulse Condensation.

From the very start of the match, Ling Sen activated his Slaughter Domain. He knew quite well that Bi Tinghua would be the strongest opponent that he had faced so far.

Fu!

Bi Tinghua felt a bit dizzy as the scenery around him changed. In the next moment, he had been transported to a blood hell. He saw the endless gray rocks, as well as the countless devils that were climbing out of the ninth layer of the abyss.

Bi Tinghua wickedly smiled.

“Illusion? I am from the Mirage Faction!

Bi Tinghua’s mouth arced in a smile. Bi Tinghua pinched his hands, and suddenly an endless pillar of fire descended from the heavens. With the roaring combustion sound of the flames, these devils had been turned into ashes.

The flame kept growing larger and hotter. Suddenly, the flame began to break the rocks and even set the sky ablaze. This inferno was an illusion formed by Bi Tinghua. In the illusionary world, Bi Tinghua was god!

Peng!

The Slaughter Domain was shattered. Lin Sen’s face whitened to the color of bone.

Bi Tinghua smiled as he looked down on Ling Sen. “You are not my match.”

“Thousand-hand Bright Buddha!”

Bi Tinghua’s palm struck out. Soon, countless images of Bi Tinghua’s hand began to form a series of illusory phantoms. Bi Tinghua’s phantom palms increased until they began to blot out the entire sky.

Ling Sen gave a loud shout and took out his heavy sword. His body’s true essence revolved the utter limit, and he cut down with his sword in a counter attack.

Peng!

The sword wind was shattered. The bricks underneath Ling Sen’s foot had been turned into stone powder. With a stuffy snort, he knelt down as he was. The true essence surrounding his body had been scattered, and he had received a heavy wound.

“Bi Tinghua, victory!”

The referee that announced his also felt that there wasn’t anything unusual about this match; the cultivation of the two had simply been too different. If Ling Sen had been able to win, then that would be the most shocking event in the entire Seven Profound Valleys.

Ling Sen had completely lost. Not only that, but he didn’t even have the qualifications to force Bi Tinghua to use his true ability.

After Ling Sen and Bi Tinghua’s match was over, there were very few matches remaining that were worth paying attention to. Most of Lin Ming’s matches had forfeited. If it continued like this, he would easily pass the group stages.

Bi Tinghua and Jiang Lanjian had qualified with the same undefeated score.

Qin Xingxuan was off by two wins. Her journey in this Martial Meeting was halted in the group stages.

Ling Sen won 12 and lost 3. His results in group six qualified him to cross into the next stages.

Although this result was ordinary, it was quite good if compared to Ling Sen’s low early Bone Forging cultivation. It was only because Ling Sen was 21 and had missed the best times to of his youth to cultivate. His cultivation speed had always been his weakness; it was the limiter that prevented Ling Sen from entering into the top-tier of talents.

…………………………………………….

“It’s sunset. The victory report should be arriving any moment now.

In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, the Seven Profound Valley’s sound transmission array had already opened. There were 36 pure true essence stones splendidly placed on the array disk.

At this time, many important people had arrived around the sound transmission array. There were several Seven Profound Martial House Elders, Ta Ku and other important disciples of the Seven Profound Martial House, and also several nobles of Sky Fortune Kingdom.

Today was the day that the group matches were finished, so they were waiting for the victory report to arrive.