Chapter 1665 – Preparation Is the Key to Success … … … Lin Ming clenched his fists together, a divine light shining in his eyes. In order to break through this Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace, Lin Ming had put forth an unimaginable amount of effort. And now, he had finally succeeded! As he felt the strength surging in his body, Lin Ming impatiently wanted to fight. Ever since he left the Marvel Blue Nation he had yet to fight a truly powerful opponent. Closing his eyes deep in meditation, Lin Ming carefully felt the strength of the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace. The first two Dao Palaces of the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace – Heavenly Retribution and Purple Temple. Of them, the function of the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace was to use the body of a martial artist as a medium to commune with the heavens and earth. The body was a microcosm unto itself and could correspond to stars in the universe. In the boundless world, the so-called power of heavenly retribution was ultimately the strength of the Heavenly Dao. After the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace opened, a martial artist could use the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace as a communication medium to allow the body to bear the power of the heavens and earth! No matter how powerful one’s mortal body was, how powerful could it be? Even royal God Beasts could only compare to extreme Empyreans. But the power of the heavens and earth was different. Their power could be described in an infinitely varied number of ways. For instance, when a star exploded and a black hole was formed, this was a strength that would even suck in an Empyrean and turn them into nothing. Of course, with Lin Ming’s current strength wanting to simulate such a strength was far from possible. He still had a long road ahead of him. “Power of the heavens and earth…” Lin Ming gripped his fists, feeling the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace in his body communing with the heavens and earth, absorbing the surging energy within the world. This sort of feeling was the legendary union with the world. To have the heavens and earth stand on the same level as the mortal body; when Lin Ming’s cultivation reached the peak, fighting with him would be tantamount to fighting against the entirety of the heavens and earth! When a martial artist’s body transformation technique stepped from the Eight Inner Hidden Gates into the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, the truth was that this was essentially equal to finishing cultivating the mortal body and instead beginning to cultivate the Laws of the Nine Stars. The Nine Star Laws were one of the 33 Heavenly Dao Laws. If they hadn’t been sealed because of some unknown reason, they wouldn’t be much worse than the saint race’s body transformation technique. They would only be a bit more difficult to cultivate. The origin of the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace’s strength came not from a martial artist’s body but from the momentum of the heavens and earth. Thus, no matter how long a battle was, a martial artist wouldn’t overdraw their physical strength. This was one of the reasons why the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace was so formidable! “Now my body doesn’t need the skills within the Celestial Tyrant Manual to reach 20 billion jins. This is the same as the strength of twin dragons!” Lin Ming felt that just making gestures with his hand could affect the momentum of the world. Astral essence flooded his body like a surging sea, his supernatural strength gushing like a tide! Besides being able to draw support from the momentum of the world, Lin Ming’s mortal body had also become far more intense. The Heavenly Dao true meaning of the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace had fused into his flesh and blood. His body had become terrifying to an amazing degree and his strength had rapidly risen. As he opened his eyes, purple lightning flashed in his pupils. His current strength and aura were extraordinary. “Big Brother Lin, did you already break into the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace? Amazing!” As Lin Ming landed on the largest ancient bronze coffin, Xiao Moxian didn’t know why but she felt a hint of inexplicable sadness. Just then when she watched Lin Ming attack the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace, his body had cracked open and was being torn apart… but she actually wasn’t able to help at all. This made her feel something that she couldn’t define with words. Moreover, Lin Ming had spent these last 30 years working wholeheartedly towards breaking into the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace. He had paid many prices, and Xiao Moxian had seen all of this occur with her own eyes. In the Asura Road, Lin Ming had no one backing him and no large influence supporting him. All of the materials and resources he needed were things that he struggled for a little at a time! At the Divine Rune City Auction, everyone had seen Lin Ming’s blinding halo and had seen him use his exquisite divine runic symbols to suppress the crowd and had even played with Shadow Overflow and the other dark divine runic masters in the palm of his hand. But, which one of them had seen Lin Ming spend years in his divine runic room in order to draw up divine runic symbols? He had not rested for days at a time, exhausted the strength of his divine soul without end and even relied on the Divine Mist Heart Mantra and Soul Recovery Symbols to restore his soul force and continue. He had worked without rest, and oftentimes he would collapse on the ground, his face pale and his eyes bloodshot! All of that work had finally paid off in today’s accomplishments! Everyone guessed that Lin Ming had some secret on his body, and Xiao Moxian also faintly knew what Lin Ming’s secret was. But, if someone thought that just relying on this secret would have allowed Lin Ming to arrive where they were, they would be utterly mistaken. The reason Lin Ming was able to stand where he was today was because his mentality and iron will played a great role. At this time, Lin Ming could be said to be mind-linked with Xiao Moxian. He could vaguely feel just what Xiao Moxian was thinking. He moved forwards, gently cupping her cheek in his palm as he said, “For me to come this far, I’m already very lucky. After this final trial ends, I must return to the Divine Realm to face the great calamity of humanity. The road I need to walk is still long. “As must I…” Xiao Moxian took a deep shuddering breath. The solemn road before her, the calamity of humanity, there were many things she had to face. Not only did she need to face the saint race but also those that might already have turned towards the saint race – the monster race and her grandfather. If this was before, Xiao Moxian would have felt it impossible to resist the decision of her people. But now a deep fighting spirit had ignited in her mind. Only by being powerful would she have the ability to argue with her race and face the great calamity. Moreover, as Lin Ming continued to grow stronger, Xiao Moxian had to hasten her pace and follow him. She would not allow herself to be cast off by him. She would definitely complete her nine nirvanas! When Lin Ming broke into the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace, his body obtained endless benefits. Even just sitting down, he could feel the blood within him surging like a river. There was also a great deal of majestic starlight that had yet to be absorbed. Even some of the medicinal efficacy of the Ravenous Wolf Heaven Pill and nameless ancient pill still remained in his blood and marrow. This made it so that every time he breathed, misty white air would spray out from his nose, filling the air around him with clouds of medicinal fragrance. “There is still a great deal of energy within me that hasn’t been digested… although I broke into the second Dao Palace, I have less than 20 years from the final trial beginning. I absolutely cannot be negligent in my preparations. This Asura Road world is vast and boundless and there are countless geniuses and powerhouses here, yet, when they enter the final trial they all fail. In the last 100 million years, the highest completion percentage has only been slightly more than eighty and there are also many chosen prides of heaven that perish in the final trial…” Lin Ming didn’t underestimate the final trial. This would be the most important battle he would face in the Asura Road and he had to make sure all his preparations were complete. “Then I’ll use this period of time to borrow the spiritual strengths within the Forsaken Mortal Tomb to make another breakthrough!” Lin Ming thought to himself. During this breakthrough into the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace, Lin Ming had come perfectly prepared for all situations. Thus, the difficulty he encountered was far less than when he tried to break into the first Dao Palace. The final trial of the Asura Road could be imagined to have many uncertainties and dangers. From this moment on, he would need to do his best to prepare yet again. “Xian’er, I want to attack the late Divine Lord realm here.” Lin Ming said to Xiao Moxian, his eyes sparkling. Xiao Moxian’s eyes curved up and a smirk appeared on her face. “The final trial will arrive in a dozen plus years. You can calmly cultivate here. As for me, I won’t be idling around either. I will cultivate together with you. I’ll make sure that you won’t be able to leave me behind that much!” “Good, then let’s do this together.” Lin Ming looked at the animated Xiao Moxian, his eyes following her slim and graceful figure as he smiled. Time passed. Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian spent their time cultivating together in this mysterious danger zone. The two were both extremely proud children of heaven. As their bodies twined together, a misty brilliance emerged from them. Lin Ming’s True Dragon aura wove together with Xiao Moxian’s Dark Phoenix aura, soaring into the skies. A resonant dragon’s howl, a clear phoenix’s cry, an aura filled with thunder and fire spread out in all directions, dispersing all shadows. As the two of them dual cultivated longer and longer, the True Dragon phantom and Dark Phoenix phantom in the skies became increasingly realistic. One dragon, one phoenix, they were like the sun and the moon, brilliant and lustrous. Countless dazzling and mystical runes overflowed from their bodies, revolving in wild waves around the two… In the Forsaken Mortal Tomb, days of cultivating were incomparably long. As Lin Ming and Xiao Moxian dual cultivated year after year, the auspicious power of their dragon and phoenix became even more formidable. Three years later – All of the medicinal efficacy within Lin Ming’s body, as well as the starlight glory he harvested after breaking through the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace, was completely fused into him. His body seemed to have returned to its origin, without leaking out even the tiniest amount of strength. As for the strength accumulated in his body, it had reached a terrifying degree. At this time, Lin Ming’s eyes turned towards the death energy around him and the residual will around the ancient bronze coffin. “Essence energy of the heavens and earth, come unto my body!” Lin Ming flicked his finger and shot out a gray rune. The air shook as strange ripples appeared in space. Suddenly wisps of the black turtle death energy began flooding his body. This was a rune of the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎 The Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel could absorb the remnant souls of devils. When Tian Mingzi died in the past, his soul had been sucked into the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel. This time, the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel was absorbing the spiritual energy that filled the entirety of the Forsaken Mortal Tomb; it was simply too wonderful. When Lin Ming cultivated by himself, he would bring out the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel and begin swallowing and refining the black turtle death energy and the residual wills that exuded from the ancient bronze coffins. These residual wills were all muddled and without sense of self. If Lin Ming didn’t have an extremely sharp perception he simply wouldn’t have been able to realize this power existed. As wisps of residual will from the Forsaken Mortals fell onto the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel that was formed by the Asura Heavenly Dao Laws, they were like soldiers meeting a general, immediately becoming calm and docile. The black turtle death energy and the phantoms of gold-armored giants floated in the air. Slowly, Lin Ming absorbed them into the Myriad Demon Karmic Wheel, refining them into the purest form of energy that constantly filled Lin Ming’s body. There was far too much energy within the Forsaken Mortal Tomb. Lin Ming was only able to absorb an extremely limited amount of it. But after accumulating this energy again and again every day, it brought about amazing changes to Lin Ming’s body. These changes were an accumulation of quantity that led to a qualitative change. Without noticing it, Lin Ming’s inner world was flooded to the limit with energy. Lin Ming’s cultivation was already taking great steps towards entering the late Divine Lord realm.