Chapter 1696 – Rudimentary Dao Palace … … … A terrifying strength flooded through Lin Ming’s body. Although the power of the Asura blood had fused into Lin Ming’s flesh and blood, it had yet to be thoroughly absorbed by him. Rather, it should be said that Lin Ming had only absorbed a small part of this Asura blood and there was still a tremendous amount of this energy within him that was still continuously fusing into his meridians, divine soul, and inner world. On Lin Ming’s face and body, those mystical curse seals became deeper in color like blood flowing across his features, shimmering without end. Lin Ming could feel that there was an incredible amount of strength within his body, so vast that he nearly couldn’t contain it and would burst apart at any moment. Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! At this time, the Asura blood that had no place to vent this energy burst into Lin Ming’s spiritual sea and inner world like a storm! Although this drop of blood was originally only the size of a pearl, Lin Ming’s spiritual sea and inner world were actually swept up into a raging red sea! Blood red waves as high as mountains engulfed the world, wildly rampaging about! Within Lin Ming’s spiritual sea, the blue soul battle spirit bore the brunt of this impact. It was completely sucked up in this Asura blood! The spear-shaped battle spirit was soaked in this Asura blood, seething about. The essence of the Asura blood wildly plunged into the spear-shaped battle spirit. Lin Ming felt his spiritual sea shake as a severe pain lit up every inch of his mind! The Asura blood contained the will of the Asura Road Master. Even for Lin Ming, withstanding this will was no easy matter! Hum – The battle spirit shivered, sending out a clarion cry! It was like Lin Ming’s battle spirit was unable to withstand the tempered forging of this will, as if it would crack apart at any moment! Lin Ming grit his teeth, persisting through the pain. He was well aware that his blue soul battle spirit had long reached the peak of small success and was nearing the boundary of large success. If he could absorb the power of the Asura blood and withstand the baptism of the Asura Road Master’s will, his blue soul battle spirit would reach large success at the barest minimum! Perhaps it might even reach blue soul perfection. And as Lin Ming was withstanding the baptism of the Asura will, a gut-wrenching pain transmitted from his dantian. With a cough, he nearly fell down to his knees! Looking into his inner world, Lin Ming’s complexion changed! At this time, massive turbulent waves crashed through the mountain valleys of his inner world and even the lakes and rivers were swallowed up by an unimaginable amount of waves. Up in the sky, the clouds were washed away by this torrential tide of blood energy! This red tide hurtled towards the boundaries of Lin Ming’s inner world, unstoppable. These boundaries were immediately torn asunder by the terrifying energy, forcing Lin Ming’s inner world to constantly develop! In that moment, Lin Ming was panic-stricken! With the rapid development of the boundaries of his inner world, that meant he would soon break through to the next boundary! And looking at this wild and overwhelming momentum, if Lin Ming allowed this to continue then it was possible for him to break through straight into the Holy Lord realm! However, just several years ago Lin Ming had reached the late Divine Lord realm. If he were to directly jump past the half-step Holy Lord realm and into the Holy Lord realm, that would be far too quick. When a martial artist cultivated the martial path, they had to proceed in an orthodox and orderly fashion. This was because in walking down the road of martial arts, it wasn’t just an issue of accumulating cultivation. One also had to perceive the Heavenly Dao Laws and master their martial skills. Many peerless geniuses would intentionally suppress their own cultivation until they couldn’t contain the energy within their bodies any longer. Only then would they make a successful breakthrough and step into the next boundary. Lin Ming had continuously done so. After breaking through Ninefall, entering the Divine Sea, then Divine Transformation, every step he took had been steady and solid, with him consolidating his foundation to the limit. Whether it was in comprehension of laws or martial skills and techniques, he far surpassed all other martial artists of his level! But now, Lin Ming had just broken through to the late Divine Lord realm. If he jumped past the half-step Holy Lord realm and became a Holy Lord this would instead greatly weaken his foundation. Although this would give him a tremendous power boost in combat strength for a short period of time, if he wanted to recover from this in the future he would have to spend an even greater disproportionate amount of time and energy. The gains simply weren’t worth the losses. Thinking of this, Lin Ming grit his teeth. Using all the strength of his body he forcefully suppressed the terrifying energy fluctuations of the Asura blood! Chi chi chi! Within Lin Ming’s inner world, the Heretical God Tree madly grew. Roots radiated outwards, digging down and plunging into the Asura blood, wildly absorbing its essence. The pure source energy also entered into Lin Ming’s inner world, forming ancient and vigorous runes of the Asura Heavenly Dao. These runes reinforced the boundaries of Lin Ming’s inner world even as they sealed away the Asura blood, wanting to suppress the remaining energy. However, the Asura blood was simply far too powerful. Even if Lin Ming used the Heretical God Tree and the power of the Asura Heavenly Dao Laws it was still far too difficult to suppress! The Asura Heavenly Dao could seal away the Asura blood, but in a situation where the disparity in strength was far too great, there was a limit in the amount that Lin Ming could seal away. Peng! With a loud explosive sound, the boundaries of Lin Ming’s inner world began to break down once more! The raging red sea smashed against the barriers of the inner world, rapidly developing the chaotic space and expanding it. If this continued then Lin Ming would reach the Holy Lord realm sooner or later! And such a barbaric method of developing the inner world was the same as razing the land; it would instead ruin Lin Ming’s foundation. In this critical moment, Lin Ming shouted out once more. Above his head, a black void seemed to rip open as a mysterious and radiant starlight fell down like a river of stars, flowing all over Lin Ming’s body. Brilliant stars appeared above Lin Ming’s head, nine of them in total! Lin Ming was well aware that just relying on the essence gathering system was no longer enough to contain the terrifying strength of the Asura blood – he had to use the body transformation system! Humanity’s Nine Stars of the Dao Palace were not permitted by the Heavenly Dao. In order to break through a boundary, each time required a massive volume of energy. Lin Ming summoned the nine stars of the heavens above him because he wanted to use the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace to contain the Asura blood! Since the Asura blood was so incomparably powerful, he would contend with it using the power of the Heavenly Dao! Chi chi chi! Lin Ming’s entire body was bathed in mercurial starlight. His bodily strength began rapidly rising upwards. Without hesitation he opened up the Purple Temple Dao Palace and the Heavenly Retribution Dao Palace. Using the power of the stars, he forcefully sundered apart the sea-like Asura blood! Underneath the quickening of the power of stars, the tumbling red waves turned into nine red columns of water that shot into the air like crimson dragons, rushing out from Lin Ming’s inner world and into his flesh and blood! Nine fluctuations of energy constantly converged into the nine Dao Palaces within Lin Ming’s body! Of these nine Dao Palaces, only the Purple Temple and Heavenly Retribution Dao Palaces had been completely opened. As for the other Dao Palaces, their rudimentary form hadn’t been formed. For a time, from nine points in Lin Ming’s body, a blinding starlight shot out. This starlight fused together with the power of the Asura blood and turned blood red, an enchanting and captivating sight! At this moment it was like Lin Ming’s body had become a star! The Nine Stars of the Dao Palace, especially those seven Dao Palaces that had yet to open, were like fathomless pits that recklessly swallowed the power of the Asura blood. As the raging red sea entered these points, it vanished without a trace! The pressure on Lin Ming’s inner world suddenly lightened. Within Lin Ming’s inner world, the areas where those nine Dao Palaces should be began to shine. The areas of the seven unopened Dao Palaces actually began to faintly form seven bright red rudimentary forms of Dao Palaces. These rudimentary Dao Palaces were ethereal and misty. After fusing together with the terrifying power of the Asura blood, they faintly brought with them the dreadful aura of the Asura Laws… This rate of absorption continued for three days. During this period of time, Lin Ming’s mind was extremely tense. Using the Asura Heavenly Dao Laws and the power of the stars, he guided the terrifying energy within the Asura blood to vitalize the seven Dao Palaces within his body. Moreover, Lin Ming’s battle spirit also continuously withstood a baptism of the Asura will, being tempered and enhanced without end. Without noticing it, Lin Ming’s battle spirit became increasingly radiant, as it shined like blue-green jade. And within his body, the seven rudimentary Dao Palaces became increasingly clear. Looking around, one could see a misty blood fog that contained a horrifying blood energy. When the last dregs of the Asura blood’s strength were absorbed, Lin Ming felt his entire body collapse downwards and his vision blur. His body gently trembled. Then, he lost consciousness as he slumped to the ground. After consuming his strength for three days and three nights, Lin Ming had completely overdrawn the power of his essence, energy, and divine, leaving him in a lethargic and nearly catatonic state. Now, he finally fell into a deep slumber… After sleeping for an unknown period of time, Lin Ming finally opened his eyes. He propped himself upwards and looked at his hands and body. Those mystical curse seals that covered his body were already gone. However, they hadn’t vanished and had instead hidden themselves within Lin Ming’s flesh and blood. As long as Lin Ming summoned the power of Asura, these curse seals would be activated and reappear on Lin Ming’s skin. Through these curse seals, Lin Ming could better utilize the power of the Asura Laws and his combat strength would rise to another level! Lin Ming also returned to his original height and the scales on his body had vanished. Just from looking at his appearance, there wasn’t any difference from before he had absorbed the Asura blood. But, Lin Ming knew that his strength had taken a comprehensive leap upwards! Because Lin Ming had forcefully suppressed his cultivation it had only risen by a small boundary, reaching the half-step Holy Lord realm! From the late Divine Lord realm to half-step Holy Lord, Lin Ming had only used several years. Although this speed was still too quick it was only the difference of a small boundary; wanting to make up for the damage to his foundation wouldn’t be difficult at all. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦 As for his battle spirit, beneath the baptism of the Asura will, it had finally broken through blue soul small success and reached blue soul large success, even approaching blue soul perfection. And above all that, Lin Ming’s greatest harvest was the nine Dao Palaces within his body! The Purple Temple and Heavenly Retribution Dao Palaces had been covered with a faint red light after being nourished by the Asura blood. They were like rubies soaked deep in blood. As for the other seven Dao Palaces, only the rudimentary forms of the Dao Palaces had appeared; they hadn’t truly opened. But in the future, if Lin Ming were to use medicines to open these Dao Palaces it would actually be much easier, and when he opened them, the Dao Palaces would be that much more formidable! Lin Ming took a deep breath and stood up on his feet. He could feel a dreadful strength contained within his body, one that he wanted to hurry up and release! After absorbing the Asura blood, Lin Ming’s strength had completed an evolution upwards. But, because such a terrifying strength had entered into Lin Ming’s spiritual sea, inner world and nine Dao Palaces, his body wasn’t able to adapt to all of these changes any time soon. This caused some disruptions in Lin Ming’s aura. At the same time, it was mixed with the Heretical God Force, grandmist energy, black hole aura, and the Asura Heavenly Dao aura. If Lin Ming wanted to thoroughly master and unite all of these strengths together, the quickest method to do so would be to fight! In a high intensity battle where he tempered his own combat strength, only then would all of these strengths fuse together! Thinking of this, a brilliant flaming fighting spirit burst out from Lin Ming’s eyes. With large steps he walked forwards, heading towards the fourth level of the final trial!