Chapter 535 – Threaten … … … TLN: the Primate race has been changed to the Goliath race “These two were quite wealthy.” Lin Ming muttered to himself as he searched through Gu Yue and Zha Na’s spatial rings. Within the two spatial rings, there were several hundred medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. In addition, there were all sorts of pills and treasures. Although they weren’t considered too precious, it was enough so that Lin Ming wouldn’t be in an awkward situation where he didn’t have enough Blood Demon Crystals available. “Mm? Is this a high-grade Blood Demon Crystal?” Lin Ming took out a rectangular jade box from within Gu Yue’s spatial ring. As he opened it, he saw that there was a bright red crystal inside. A high-grade Blood Demon Crystal was equivalent to 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystal. Even Gu Yue only had a single one. Blood Demon Crystals and true essence stones were similar: both were stones that contained massive inherent energies and could be used in cultivation. However, true essence stones could only be used to condense true essence and cultivate the dantian. As for Blood Demon Crystals, they contained a vast amount of heaven and earth origin energy as well as infernal blood energy. They could be used to refine and strengthen the body, bolster the soul, as well as many other uses. Martial artists that followed the orthodox path also used Blood Demon Crystals. No one ever complained that their blood vitality was too powerful. In addition, Blood Demon Crystals were much rarer. All of these factors made the price of Blood Demon Crystals much higher than that of true essence stones. Lin Ming placed this high-grade Blood Demon Crystal in his hand and began to absorb the pure energy from within it. A high-grade Blood Demon Crystal was worth 100 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals, but the infernal blood energy within was only equal to 50 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Using a single one was the same as using 50 medium-grade Blood Demon Crystals. Of course, cultivating with high-grade Blood Demon Crystals was far more efficient. But wasting so much precious energy just for this increase in efficiency was a cost that not even a talent form a large sect would so easily pay. This was also the reason that Gu Yue had a high-grade Blood Demon Crystal on him. Currently, Lin Ming only wished for more efficiency. He could earn more Blood Demon Crystals in the future, but time would not wait for him. All he thought of was the day that he gained the strength to battle with Xuan Wuji and return to the South Horizon Region. Because that was his foundation, that was his home. The pure power of heaven and earth origin energy and blood energy constantly flowed into Lin Ming. The light of the Blood Demon Crystal also began to gradually dim. Within the Blood Slaughter Steppes, fire origin energy was relatively thin. In comparison, there was an incomparably thick infernal blood energy that permeated the land. Here, cultivating the dantian with the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ was far inferior to practicing the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’. The pure energy of the Blood Demon Crystal combined with the infernal energy within the Heavenly Demon Tattoo and was then greedily refined by Lin Ming. Those that practiced the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ walked the killing path. Using this infernal blood energy to cultivate it was especially useful. Lin Ming felt a burning hot energy rampage through his meridians, making circle after circle before entering into his dantian where it fused with the billowing vortex of true essence within. In this process, Lin Ming’s soul and body were both nourished. Every cultivation method had its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, for those that followed the righteous path, they would usually focus on cultivating the soul after reaching the Xiantian realm. But, those martial artists that followed the demonic path were partial to tempering and refining their bodies after reaching the Xiantian realm. If Lin Ming only practiced the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’, then his cultivation would be biased towards fire-attribute true essence, as well as his path being limited to a single essence gathering system. If he reached the Life Destruction realm in the future, then his cultivation method system would be too frail and his strength would correspondingly be limited. If he supplemented this with the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’ which focused on offensive skills, then this would fill many gaps in the problem. The truth was that many people understood this, but there was still nothing they could do. For a large sect, it was already fantastic if they had a single top cultivation method. What sort of sect could be like Lin Ming and choose from numerous cultivation methods that were of the highest level? It had to be said that when Lei Jingtian had been mired in the Revolving Core realm, he had sacrificed his honor and name and colluded with the South Sea Demon Region, all in order to acquire the ancient Devil Tome. Lin Ming immersed himself in cultivating and eventually lost track of time. When he next opened his eyes, he saw that the lamp on the table had already been extinguished, and there was a light hazy mist all around. It seemed that the dawn had just broken. As Lin Ming stood up, his entire skeleton emitted crackling noises that were crisp and loud. The high-grade Blood Demon Crystal in his hand had already dimmed to nothing; there wasn’t much energy left in it. His body was sticky with sweat and his sweat was tinged with the faint color of blood. The coppery smell of blood wafted out from around him. Within his dantian, his early Xiantian cultivation had further consolidated. He was almost at the peak of the early Xiantian realm. “I’ve already been stuck at the early Xiantian realm for months. I have no idea how long it will be until I can break through to the middle Xiantian realm; the demonic path cultivation methods are truly quicker than those from the righteous path… if I can reach the Revolving Core realm before I’m 22 years old, then I wonder how strong I will be compared to Life Destruction master…” Lin Ming mumbled to himself, lost in thought. He wanted to take a shower when his mind suddenly stirred. He moved so he was sideways to the door and slowly pushed it open. Outside in the hall, there was a pretty and delicate little girl leaning against the door. Her head was nodded down. Apparently, because of her extreme sleepiness, she had fallen asleep where she stood. “Wan’er.” “Ah!” The little girl was startled. She jumped up, instantly sober. “Sir, I…” Wan’er was like a little child who had been caught in the act of doing something wrong. “Why are you standing here? Haven’t you gone to sleep?” Wan’er hurriedly said, “Sir asked me to keep guard outside in the hall.” Lin Ming was speechless. He had only been casually speaking, but he never thought that Wan’er would be guarding the door all day and all night. She was a mortal. If she stood for so long, then her legs would be swollen. But this was the fate of a maidservant. There were many maids of wealthy families that had to stand outside of their master’s room. They had to pour water, clean the chamber pot, and instantly rush forwards if they were summoned. In places with stricter rules, even yawning was forbidden and would be punished with slaps. After a maid grew old, they would often be left without support. This was a reason why many maids dreamt of becoming concubines. This was the first time that Wan’er stood watch at night. She was afraid of appearing lazy thus she fell into a panic. “You go and rest.” Lin Ming sighed. He had thought about buying Wan’er’s freedom, but now he considered that matter finished. In Polaris City, even if a mortal commoner had freedom, they were still at the mercy of everyone else. If they had wealth, then that would actually be a dark star that attracted calamity. She might as well stay with Madame Wei where she had a modicum of safety. It was also impossible for Lin Ming to take her. In this dangerous land, Lin Ming simply couldn’t divert any attention to protect her. “I…”Wan’er hesitated. “Go to sleep.” Lin Ming said in a tone that couldn’t be refused. Wan’er bowed and excused herself. Lin Ming hadn’t yet gone to the second floor. He planned to stay at the first floor of Skysplit Tower until he reached the peak of the early Xiantian realm. Currently, he wasn’t too far from this goal. Thus, Lin Ming cultivated, ate, and slept at the martial artist service lodge every day. His daily care such as washing clothes and changing were all taken care of by Wan’er. In the blink of an eye, 15 days had passed. Lin Ming was now only a tiny step away from reaching the peak of the early Xiantian realm. Today, Lin Ming left the service lodge. He wanted to go to the second floor of Skysplit Tower to have a look. There was a great gap in strength between the martial artists of Skysplit Tower’s first floor and second floor. Gu Yue, whose strength could be considered at the pinnacle of the first floor, was only at the bottom of the second floor. The first floor had tens of thousands of martial artists, but the second floor only had several thousand. The amount was dozens of times less. There were many crouching tigers and hidden dragons amongst these groups of people. Even if a Saint rank talent were to come here, they wouldn’t dare to be arrogant. They wouldn’t even dare to fight with someone at their own level. Who could say that the person they provoked wasn’t a future Peerless Emperor? In these last 15 days, Lin Ming had also gained some understanding of Skysplit Tower from Xu Yan. According to the laws of Skysplit Tower, martial artists from the first floor could not enter the second floor. But, martial artists from the second floor could freely enter the first floor. The only prohibition they had was that they couldn’t rashly kill others on the first floor. If they violated this rule, they would be chased by the enforcement team and killed. Lin Ming followed Xu Yan’s instructions and walked towards the entrance of the second floor. Because it was early in the morning, there weren’t many people walking the corridors of Skysplit Tower, and there wasn’t a soul in sight at the entrance to the second floor. A solitary gray platform appeared in front of Lin Ming. On top of the platform was a small transmission array. As long as one entered with their second level permit pass, they would be able to directly enter the second floor. As Lin Ming took out his permit pass from his spatial ring, he suddenly felt a hidden murderous intent lock onto him. His heart chilled, he began to emit thick infernal energy. “Who is it?” There was empty silence for a while. Then, a hoarse voice sinisterly laughed and said, “Hehe, boy, you’re quite perceptive.” Right after, the space near Lin Ming began to distort and two men appeared. One was short, one was tall, and both wore black capes. The short one with the black cape was an Imp. His face was wrinkled like a dried walnut and his eyes were dim and yellow. It was hard to imagine that this fellow Imp was actually a youth. As for that tall man, his skin was dark like ink; he was from the Goliath race. As he looked at Lin Ming, it was as if he were looking at delicious prey. Lin Ming was calm as he quietly traced his spatial ring and revolved his true essence. Although he couldn’t tell the cultivation of these two because of the difference in their cultivation systems, he was still able to approximate from their auras. These two fellows were absolutely more formidable than Gu Yue. “Hehe, you don’t have to worry yourself. We are martial artists from the second floor. Rest assured, we will not kill you. That is because… the rules do not allow it.” Lin Ming wasn’t surprised. If these two were more powerful than Gu Yue, then it was normal for them to be from the second floor. “What do you two want?” “We’re looking for you because we need a little favor.” The black-caped Imp said. The martial artists of the Imp race even had black tongues; when they spoke, it was like a toad flapping its mouth. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested!” Lin Ming coldly declined. “Hehe, there’s no need to refuse. Otherwise, you might regret it.” The black-caped man confidently said. As he spoke, he flicked his finger, sending an array disc spinning in the air. As the array disc spun, countless lines of light burst forth, creating images in thin air. As these images moved, Lin Ming could see it was clearly the martial artist service lodge where he stayed. “Mm?” Lin Ming was taken aback; this was the first time he had seen such a strange phantom image array disc. In the phantom images, Lin Ming could see Wang Dong and Xu Yan. He could see Madame Wei who had just woken up, and he could see Wan’er who was washing his clothes. But at this moment, a bizarre gray energy enveloped the entire martial artist service lodge. All of the people within seemed to have lost their souls. Madame Wei and Wan’er immediately slumped to the ground. Xu Yan withstood it for a few breaths of time before he too fell to the ground, unconscious. This was a soul attack! Lin Ming grimaced. “What do you want?”