Chapter 616 – Battle of Wills

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Lin Ming followed the Road of Emperor, going forwards one step at a time. Every 100 feet or so, there would be quiet, eerie blue flames that appeared, burning in the air like spectral illusions.

“Gu Yu… 9000 years, he was a peerless heroic youth of the Giant Demon race. A Titled Asura of Fascination Skysplit Tower, he died at 30 years of age.” Every time Lin Ming saw new will lights appear, the name of the martial artist who corresponded to that light would materialize in his mind.

Fascination Skysplit Tower was one of the 12 Skysplit Towers. Thus, it could be seen that this Road of Emperor wasn’t solely just the heroic young elites of Polar Skysplit Tower, but of the 11 other Skysplit Towers also. It was even possible that the Road of Emperor found in the other 11 Skysplit Towers all shared the same path.

The Emperor Will filled every inch of the Road of Emperor. Not just that, but as Lin Ming moved forwards, it became increasingly strong.

Ho---

After Lin Ming passed by Gu Yu’s will light, the light extinguished itself. All the way down, every time Lin Ming passed a light, that light would naturally fade away. So far, he had passed by ten lights, and ten lights had been extinguished.

“Xiao Yu. Three thousand years ago she was a proud heavenly daughter of the Fey. A Titled Asura of Heavenly Cloud Skysplit Tower. At 36 years of age, she perished, her cultivation at the 5-star Fey King realm…” As Lin Ming saw the eleventh will light, some information about Xiao Yu appeared in his mind.

As he passed this light, it also faded away.

Lin Ming found that all of the martial artists he saw so far hadn’t lived to the age of 40. Every single one had died when their cultivation was at most a 5-star or 6-star Fey King.

When Lin Ming had read through the nameless tome, Peerless Emperors had occupied the vast majority of the pages. Were the will lights of the Emperor level powerhouses further back?

Thinking this, Lin Ming continued, slowly and cautiously. He could feel the pressure of the Emperor Will becoming steadily stronger.

“Lin Ming, careful!”

“Mm?”

As Lin Ming passed by another will light, he suddenly heard Demonshine’s voice call out.

Right after, a bright ray of light emitted from a will light and stabbed into Lin Ming!

Bang!

A massive pressure arrived within Lin Ming’s spiritual sea. He grimaced, taking a step back as he immediately revolved the Samsara martial intent to block this pressure.

However at this moment, it seemed as if his body had been separated from his soul.

Fighting spirit filled his heart.

This fighting spirit was not Lin Ming’s, but rather came from that light.

A bloody battlefield. Endless plains of slaughter and death. An armored martial artist fought with every ounce of his being. Within Lin Ming, he could clearly feel the infernal energy of the endless killing grounds.

“This is…”

The feeling suddenly disappeared here. With the sound of a gust of wind passing overhead, the light was extinguished!

It was over?

Lin Ming looked at that light. He had a faint impression of the man that was carved into that relief. His name was Zhang Jun. He was a quasi Emperor powerhouse. In his life, he was a peerless talent of his generation. He died before his time, just a single step away from becoming a true Emperor level powerhouse.

That just now was…

“Lin Ming, what you felt just now was the battle spirit of that this martial artist left behind. All of these lights beside the Road of Emperor contain the will of those powerhouses that died.”

As Lin Ming walked, he had already passed over a dozen lights already. The inherent strength of their will was very small, but just now Zhang Jun’s light had actually contained a vast will that smashed into his spiritual sea. Although he had been able to bear it, he had been forced to take a step back.

“Lin Ming, I remember now. The first half of the Road of Emperor is a test to bear the Emperor Will. Those lights that you first encountered up until now were all from weaker martial artists that hadn’t even formed a complete Emperor Will, thus you were able to easily pass through. But from now on, every step you take will be much harder than the last.

“The Road of Emperor is paved with the immense will of countless Emperor level powerhouses. How deep you can go will all depend on whether or not you can resist their will!”

“I understand.” Lin Ming glanced behind him. It was clear now that after he successfully withstood the will of a martial artist, their will light would naturally extinguish.

The next one…

Lin Ming looked at the light ahead of him and was surprised to see that this light burned several times more vibrantly than the ones before. The flames were already twice as high. To be more precise, after this light, the later lights would continue to become more and more exuberant. This also symbolized that the inherent Emperor Will of these lights was also becoming stronger!

Now, Lin Ming was prepared. He took a deep breath, adjusting his mind to an ethereal state as he simultaneously revolved the Samsara martial intent, and then stepped deeper into the Road of Emperor.

The moment that he passed the next will light, Lin Ming felt another great pressure enveloping him, even more formidable than the one before.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

Lin Ming instantly felt his soul and body separate, his mind arriving in a completely separate dimension. At this moment, a 10 foot tall demon was cutting down at him with a massive axe.

What a superficial move!

Lin Ming coldly snorted. Although this enemy’s attack seemed to be deadly, the truth was that it was full of holes. The speed of it was slow to the point that it simply didn’t enter his eyes.

He took a step back and flourished the Purple Comet Spear. He wanted to use Chasing Thunder to deal with this demon, when at this time, Lin Ming was shocked.

Let alone using Chasing Thunder, but even taking out his spear felt incomparably slow. This feeling was the same as if Lin Ming had returned to the Body Transformation stage. After being used to the limits of his own speed and strength, he found it hard to adapt to suddenly losing all of this.

“What’s going on!?”

Seeing the large axe cut down at him, Lin Ming’s pupils contracted. Golden Roc Shattering the Void!

Lin Ming retreated backwards, but his speed was several dozen times lower than its peak state!

Too slow!

Chi!

Lin Ming could only helplessly watch as that massive blood-red axe cut into his body, right through the middle!

A severe pain seemed to come out from his soul. At this moment, the feeling of death was so real!

Ever since Lin Ming started practicing martial arts, he had faced life or death situations several times, stepping near death’s door during many of these. But, it was only close to death, it had never been like today where he watched as he was cut directly in half!

Fresh blood sprayed out. Lin Ming’s face twisted in pain and a feeling of death spread through his spiritual sea.

Samsara martial intent!

Kacha!

Lin Ming forcefully twisted apart the symbol of that deathly energy.

‘Everything is only an illusion! I have been practicing martial arts for almost eight years now, and my heart of martial arts has been tempered every step of the way. I will not allow some phantom mirage to kill me!’

Lin Ming’s mind flashed with this thought. In that moment, he felt a vivid force swell up within his body, making him feel several times stronger than before!

His body that was cut in half slapped back together, instantly regenerating. Lin Ming grabbed the Purple Comet Spear and thrust out!

“Chasing Thunder!”

Little arcs of electricity sizzled around the Purple Comet Spear. These arcs of electricity were too weak – he was fundamentally unable to use Chasing Thunder.

“My strength has been reduced by 99%!”

Lin Ming had never felt this powerless before. Although his strength had suddenly risen just now, he was still only capable of such a weak strike.

But what surprised Lin Ming was that the great demon in front of him seemed to have consumed every bit of its strength in that last attack. It weakly stood there as Lin Ming’s spear pierced into its body. With a pitiful scream, it melted into a pool of blood and pus.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The illusion disappeared and Lin Ming returned to the Road of Emperor. He was still standing on that lonely plank road, and the will light beside him had now extinguished.

He passed.

Lin Ming felt a cold sweat drip down his back. The illusion he just felt was far too real. There was really a moment where he thought he had died.

Being cut in half had left a deep pain in his soul, as if his soul was being torn in half. Lin Ming was certain that even being physically cut in half like that wouldn’t be so painful.

“Was that just a battle of wills?” Lin Ming asked.

“Yes. It was a battle of wills. You felt your strength weakened by 99% because your will hasn’t yet manifested, let alone condensing into a battle spirit. Thus, in that world of will, you are in fact a weakling!”

“I really am weak!” Lin Ming nodded. That demon he had faced just now was already weak to the point of being a complete mess. His moves were slow and ridiculous, everything that demon did was just for looks. But as for Lin Ming, facing this demon fellow that he would normally be able to kill without even lifting his finger, he had actually been cut in half. If that wasn’t weak then what was?

Demonshine slyly smiled, shaking his head as he said, “I said that you are weak, but that in is only in comparison to a true Emperor Will. In fact, your weak level is already abnormal. You should know that 99% of martial artists first facing an attack of wills would not even be able to make a counterattack; they wouldn’t even be able to move. They could only stare helplessly as their enemy’s attack splits apart their body. And I’m talking about a top genius, there isn’t even mentioning an ordinary martial artist. An ordinary martial artist wouldn’t even have the qualifications to undergo this sort of smelting trial. Their spiritual sea would be instantly crushed to nothing by the Emperor Will!”

“Oh?” Lin Ming was a bit surprised. Indeed, his willpower had always been his most impressive aspect. If Lin Ming’s abilities could be arranged in order, then his willpower would absolutely be first, followed by his perception and then his natural talent.

“Hey hey, boy, this Saint rarely compliments others so how come your reaction is so cold? You are at the extreme Xiantian realm, but other martial artists are at Revolving Core realm, Demon King realm, Fey King realm, and if their perception is poor, then even a Life Destruction martial artist may be beneath you.”

“There is no limit in this world, there is always a higher mountain and a higher heaven.” Lin Ming shook his head. He had experienced a great deal in his journey to the peak of martial arts so far. He was well aware that he was just a frog in a well, but the greatest difference that separated him from those other frogs was that he was aware of just how great the outside world was.

“In that battle just now, I feel like my willpower was tempered, becoming stronger.”

When Lin Ming had broken through the illusion, he felt an influx of strength into his will. Although he had already left the illusion, that strength still remained there, permanently becoming a part of him.

“Of course. This is the terrifying advantage of the Road of Emperor: it is able to temper your will. If you can withstand it then you can even form your own battle spirit!” Demonshine excitedly said, “At that time, you will no longer feel weak within your world of will, in fact, it is possible that you will be even more powerful than in reality!”