Deep within the Arctic ice abyss lay a membrane of the world.
The defense of the earth’s core poison flame and the Nine Yuan cold water was sufficient to ensure that most Grade Six desolate beasts would never return once they approached.
Behind this multi-layered defense, however, was a palace made of crystal-like material.
Boom!
Wu Ming stepped onto the semi-transparent ground with both feet, curiously surveying the structure by the palace’s own luminescence.
“The Palace of the Martial Emperor… These characters are vigorous and powerful, exuding an aura of dominance… They should be personally inscribed by the Martial Emperor himself!”
He looked at the plaque above the palace entrance and affirmed confidently.
After extensive research and exposure to so many authentic works, his understanding of the Martial Emperor was unmatched throughout the Divine Martial World.
“The defenses of this palace are nearly comparable to the crystal wall force…”
One existed outside the world, while the other lay deep within it; both represented solidified world power, a microcosmic and macrocosmic overlap, prompting Wu Ming to contemplate deeply.
Crack!
He arrived at the palace entrance, stretched out both hands, and the palace gates automatically opened, revealing the scene beyond.
An endless plaza stretched out, the ground slightly uneven, with fists and claw marks embedded into the crystal walls.
Wu Ming glanced at his back.
After falling from high altitude and using the Void Shattering ability, he had left only two deep footprints in this place.
“These traces are what Grade Six martial artists leave with full force attacks…”
He sighed, beginning to understand the function of this place.
Clack! Clack!
Footsteps echoed, but the surroundings were deathly silent.
No enemies appeared as expected, nor was there any sign of life, as if everything in this palace were lifeless.
“There is hardly anything to consume here; it seems like a massive meditation and training chamber… Did the Martial Emperor once cultivate here?”
After arriving here, that vague sense of intuition became even stronger.
Wu Ming opened his mind, following this guidance deeper inside, and soon arrived at a secret chamber.
It was a training room, with only a stone platform in the center, and the four walls were densely covered with characters carved deeply into the stone, firm and powerful.
Of course, Wu Ming initially noticed none of this.
His full attention was drawn to one object at the center of the stone platform.
It was a small, square seal, grayish-white throughout, seemingly like an ordinary stone placed at the center of the platform, yet it vibrated slightly, emitting a rumble.
“The Martial Emperor is gone? Yet he left the Enlightenment Seal here?”
Wu Ming felt both delighted and puzzled, his heart filled with complex emotions.
A moment later, he did not rush to collect the artifact but instead started to carefully examine the writings on the stone walls.
“When I was young, I obtained the Enlightenment Seal, used it to deduce martial techniques, and met with unbroken success; thus, I integrated the teachings of various schools, pioneered martial arts, and honored myself as the Martial Emperor…”
…
Initially, the inscriptions were the Martial Emperor’s own account, allowing Wu Ming to confirm that the rise of this figure was indeed inseparable from the artifact.
“After thirty, I was unmatched in the world, entered the realm of the unfathomable and awakened true bloodline… Alas, I found no way forward. After further deduction, I realized martial arts had inherent flaws; what a pity!”
“…I sealed myself here, determined to fight against heaven and man, and find a way to break through!”
…
“Hmm… It seems this Martial Emperor was somehow deceived…”
Wu Ming naturally understood the shortcomings of bloodline-based martial arts. Clearly, after reaching Grade Six, the Martial Emperor also discovered this, but by then it was too late to regret.
“It seems this artifact might be related to its ability to deduce… or perhaps the Martial Emperor never developed other functions…”
He stared at the Enlightenment Seal, his expression peculiar.
A single artifact naturally lacked the unified functions of the main temple; such semi-intelligent assistance was out of the question. The Martial Emperor had spent most of his life exploring and might have only developed a deduction function.
He handed over the inherently flawed martial techniques of the Divine Martial World to the Enlightenment Seal for deduction, and in the end, could only achieve such results.
After all, if the foundation is wrong from the start, even if the high-rise is built tall, it would eventually collapse.
…
“Abandoning all previous skills and rebuilding from scratch, using the Enlightenment Seal as the foundation for new deductions…”
Below, Wu Ming saw the Martial Emperor’s relentless attempts, along with some martial arts formulas and diagrams. Although fragmented, they were all derived from nature, refined through the Enlightenment Seal’s deductions. Each was a legendary martial art, even differing from the bloodline martial artists of the Divine Martial World, bearing a resemblance to Wu Ming’s own Xuan Shui orthodox methods.
The later the entries, the higher the martial arts level became, until finally a secret manual was re-deduced, completely free from the constraints of bloodlines!
“The Tianren Diagram Collection?”
Wu Ming looked at these thirty-six diagrams seemingly containing the ultimate principles of heaven and earth. With his abilities, he could only decipher the first thirty at a glance, while the remaining six required careful deduction.
“With the completion of Tianren, the ability to shatter emerges, and the world rejects me… Forced to leave, this is the final writing of the Martial Emperor!”
On the last diagram of Tianren, Wu Ming also saw a line of small characters, written rather hastily, clearly indicating the Martial Emperor was in a desperate situation at the time.
“This is…”
He couldn’t help but glance at the thirty-sixth diagram once more. The last six were exceptionally profound; the first five were abstract, while the final one became concrete again, depicting a token with an ancient seal of the character “Martial (武)” at its center.
At just a glance, Wu Ming seemed to gain an insight: “Shattering and Ascending? Never thought the Martial Emperor eventually chose a path similar to mine… This diagram is profound; I suspect that after comprehending it, one could break through the barriers of the world and travel across myriad realms…”
He shifted his gaze back to the Enlightenment Seal: “The Martial Emperor must have gained this insight from it! Unfortunately…”
The Main Temple possessed the power of the Great Luo, capable of traversing different dimensional universes and realms.
However, even if the Martial Emperor were a genius beyond compare, from this fragment of the Main Temple, he could only grasp a portion of its abilities.
“If one practices the ‘Tianren Diagram Collection,’ even if one can break through the world’s barriers, it would only be limited to this universe… Even after multiple ascensions, one would merely wander within the same realm of martial cultivation… The Martial Emperor has merely jumped out of a small pond into a larger one…”
Wu Ming sighed, unsure whether he was lamenting for the Martial Emperor or something else.
Without the assistance of the Main Temple’s core, it was like seeing only a part of the whole, and this was the result.
Wu Ming was deeply grateful for his own fortune, having encountered the core of the Main Temple right from the beginning in the Great Zhou.
Otherwise, if he had only obtained a fragment, no matter how wondrous it was, how much mystery he could unravel from it was truly hard to say, and he might have ended up just like the Martial Emperor.
Precisely because of his great fortune, Wu Ming dared not slacken. A light of transcendence surrounded him as he warily stared at the Enlightenment Seal on the stone platform.
“Although the Martial Emperor was immediately expelled by the world after shattering, he should have reacted when taking the Enlightenment Seal. Why leave it here?”
Wu Ming didn’t believe the Martial Emperor intentionally left it for future generations.
The Martial Emperor, having gained such great benefits from it, should have been well aware of the Enlightenment Seal’s power; this was a truly divine artifact!
Even if he ascended to a higher-level world, it would still be useful, a treasure of life and death, how could he abandon it?
Therefore, there was an eighty percent chance he was not willing but was forced to abandon it, even to the point of being caught off guard!
Almost instantly, Wu Ming thought of the “will of heaven” in the Divine Martial World and the previous arrival of Situ Che.
“Although I previously severed the karmic ties and did not fall into its trap, it’s still possible that the world’s will intervened directly…”
Wu Ming’s expression turned solemn, and the shadow of the Main Temple appeared behind him.
“How precious the Main Temple components are! They might even benefit the world’s growth…”
“If I had accepted its favor and harvested a wave of primal energy, the will of the world could now openly emerge and fully block me… Even if I didn’t fall into the trap, it might still secretly interfere… But… all principles and justice are built upon power!”
A cold smile appeared on Wu Ming’s lips.
Boom!
In the next moment, a thunderous roar shook the Divine Martial World, and the crystal barrier system on its periphery shattered completely.
Countless living beings, not only humans but also beasts, insects, and fish, felt an immense terror descend upon them, causing them to look up to the sky involuntarily.
Then, their eyes widened, and their mouths opened in disbelief.
All the living beings in the world saw a palace shadow oppressing all sentient life appear in the sky, growing larger and larger, as if it were about to descend!
“Well then? Divine Martial Will, are you willing to risk the destruction of the world to wage war against me?”
Inside the Main Temple Hall, Wu Ming’s main body’s expression was solemn: “Once this war begins, I have an escape route, but you do not!”
…
Under the Arctic ice abyss.
Wu Ming’s avatar wore a relaxed expression as he stepped forward and grabbed the Enlightenment Seal in one swift motion!
Buzz! Buzz!
In the next instant, he was enveloped by an eternal light and appeared inside the Main Temple.
“Good, you’ve made the right choice!”
Wu Ming waved his hand, and the shadow of the Main Temple slowly dissipated. The entire Divine Martial World quickly returned to calm. Although the martial artists were surprised by the strange phenomena in the sky, such inexplicable events could not be explained, so they continued with their lives, unaware that they had narrowly escaped death.
“Let’s go!”
With a thought, the Main Temple slowly departed from the Divine Martial World.
“The will of this world is still chaotic, or rather, a fusion of the wills of all living beings! Because of this, it will not risk waging war against me at the cost of the world’s destruction!”
“If I had accepted its gift before, there might have been a slight possibility, but now it’s completely safe and there’s absolutely no way the decision to go to war would pass…”
In Wu Ming’s view, this chaotic world will was like a vast parliament, with countless members, all representing the wills of various living beings.
If Wu Ming had fallen into the trap before, it might have had an excuse to rally the parliament for war.
But now, without even an excuse, and with strong opposition, who would be willing to drag the entire world into war?
Therefore, Wu Ming’s avatar easily took the artifact without any interference.
In reality, this was a precise strike by Wu Ming, made possible by his deep understanding of the world, akin to a butcher’s skilled dissection of an ox!
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