Soul Stone
Li Qiang washed the stone with some water from the river. After hesitating for a bit, he raised an axe placed on the ground and used its blunt end to lightly strike down on the ball shaped stone. The stone remained intact without a single scratch on it.
This was to be expected. The fact that this stone was able to remain intact after the strike was proof of its incredible durability. Li Qiang gradually increased the strength behind his strikes. Eventually, he struck down with all his might resulting in a dent being formed on the axe and the hammering anvil. However, not a single deformity appeared on the stone.
Holy crap[1]!
Li Qiang was stunned. He had expected the stone to be tough, but he could never have expected it to be this tough. How was this item created?
Lin Ming could not come up with an answer. This stone and its shape is too peculiar. Perhaps some refining master created this stone using some highly durable materials. Considering such a possibility, Lin Ming decided to pocket the ball shaped stone. Even if he could not figure out what it is, he could still use it as a form of decoration.
After tidying up the tools, Li Qiang headed towards the room that Immortal weapon pavillion had prepared for him and proceeded to rest.
After practicing his blade skills, he had engaged in refining for two long hours (4 hours). Li Qiang was currently feeling quite tired.
After meditating and adjusting his breath for a while, Li Qiang slumped on the bed without taking off his clothes and fell asleep. The bed that Immortal weapon Pavilion had prepared for its staff was very comfortable. In addition, the second son of the Army Lord could not create any problems for him here.
Having reached this conclusion, Lin Ming was able to sleep soundly. In his sleep, he had a strange dream. He dreamt of a resplendent palace made of jade. Each pavilion was made of jade, its level of artisanship staggeringly high.
Wearing elegant dresses, a group of beautiful and seemingly good-natured beauties shuttled around the palace. Auspicious looking animals roamed the skies, creating the imagery of a world of immortals.
Li Qiang had never seen such a beautiful palace, not even in paintings. At this moment, the scenery suddenly transformed and the resplendent palace collapsed. Countless figures had appeared in the skies above. From amongst the countless figures, streams of light shot out. The streams of light were beautiful to behold; however, when it descended upon the lands, it caused the lands and mountains to be decimated!
The lands were split apart while the skies were covered with demonic flames. A huge spell array covering a surface area of hundreds of li (0.5 km) appeared out of thin air and multitudinous number of mysterious symbols covered the entire sky.
A war on this scale was something that Lin Ming could never have imagined! Masters! These are masters of an unimaginable realm of strength! This level of strength is something that those at the Physical Training Stage and qi condensing Stage could not hope to compete against!
Everyone within this imagery are beings that Li Qiang would never have any chance of even glimpsing upon. However, how is it that so many God-like beings would appear here?
After that, the scene changed and turned into a world of lava and fire. A frightened looking man held onto a ball shaped soul stone, facing off against ten thousand figures standing on the skies.
This man was actually standing just less than three feet from Li Qiang. Even though he understood that this was all an illusion, Li Qiang was able to feel an extremely powerful yet gentle and holy aura radiating from the man's body!
What surprised Li Qiang most was that the stone that the man was holding was the stone that Li Qiang had found within the black iron ore!
The man spoke out a series of words, but the words spoken were vague. Li Qiang could only make out two words – soul stone!
Soul stone?
For some unknown reason, once he heard those words, Lin Ming's mind thought of the stone. Could it be that the stone's name is soul stone?
"Hong!"
An explosion! The space itself was rent apart, the skies were twisted into a raging whirlpool with seemingly infinite power, sweeping up all of Heaven and Land [2]. Everywhere it reached, mountains would collapse and skies would crumble. The icy glacier was instantly transformed into nothingness and the ten thousand figures were reduced into dust. Their souls were fragmented and absorbed into the stone!
As for Li Qiang, he found himself standing in the middle of the whirlpool, witnessing with his own eyes as everything were absorbed into the whirlpool. Everything around him was reduced to ashes while he himself remained unaffected. This feeling was simply indescribable and would likely be an unforgettable experience for Li Qiang!
Li Qiang felt himself drenched in cold sweat. At this moment, he suddenly found that he had arrived at an incredibly large and dark space. Here, various specks of light hovered in suspension, resembling pieces of broken mirror. The various specks were of varying sizes, some big and some small. The bigger ones were as big as a palm, while the smaller ones were only as big as a grain of rice. In the middle of all those specks of light, there was a sphere of light, which emitted a soft glow, a gentle and sacred glow.
Inexplicably, Li Qiang felt that the atmosphere around this sphere of light was very hot where he could not approach it!
Could it be that this sphere of light is the form left by that man?
Li Qiang recalled that the man had turned into a stream of white light and was absorbed into the soul stone right after the explosion happened…
A stream of white light… could it have transformed into this sphere of light? If that were the case, then this would be the space within the soul stone.…
Li Qiang gasped. Could it be that these specks of light were all the fragments of the countless figures that were absorbed by the core of soul stone after they have been crushed by that spatial storm?
Li Qiang was immensely shocked!
As of now, he clearly understood that the vivid scene he had just seen were true. Although he had told himself that he was simply dreaming, he was unable to believe that it was just a dream. Everything he had seen in this dream was too realistic and the image of the spatial whirlpool fragmenting the world was deeply engraved into Li Qiang's mind. As a mere ignorant teenager who had yet to achieve the qi Condensation Stage, how could he have a dream that involved such a great level of power?
Then, all those visions were true? This one stone had actually swallowed countless masters whose strength was at a level where he would have no chance of ever laying eyes upon?
Li Qiang could not imagine which kingdom could possess such a high number of masters whose strength could suffocate him to such an extent. He focused his eyes and peered into the dark space that was littered with countless specks of light. He could see a idol in meditating postures around the corner of the dark space.
Upon contact, the speck of light instantly flowed into Li Qiang's fingertip. Li Qiang had no time to respond at all, as his head felt as though a heavy hammer had suddenly struck down on it viciously. He let out a cry and fell to the ground.
"A a a a!"
Li Qiang tightly gripped his head; he felt as though there was something desperately invading his mind. The piercing pain caused Li Qiang to wish he could crack open his skull and remove whatever was causing the pain!
He could not resist! Li Qiang felt as though he was about to be swallowed up!
Swallowed?
That is it! This must be the soul fragment's instinctive nature; it is trying to devour my sea of consciousness!
"Damn you!"
Realizing this fact, Li Qiang briefly panicked but immediately calmed himself.
Li Qiang suddenly shouted out, clenching his fists, his nails digging deep into his flesh and blood: Preserve my heart and mind! My heart that beats for the Martial Way!
I have sworn to pursue the extremities of the Martial Way, how could I allow my road to end here?
Li Qiang had no clue on how to get rid of that consciousnesses of the idol. All he could do was grit his teeth and hold on with everything he had. Various disorderly images flowed into his sea of consciousness, causing him to undergo an inhuman amount of pain, threatening to render him unconscious. However, he kept gritting his teeth, maintaining his hold onto the vestiges of his consciousness and holding on to his unwavering Martial heart!
After who knew how long, this inhuman torture slowly faded. At last, Li Qiang woke up from his dream. He opened his eyes to see that it was already dawn and that he was drenched in cold sweat; his bed sheets were soaked and his palms were dripping with blood from being gripped too tightly!
Observing all this, Li Qiang was a hundred per cent certain that what had happened was no dream. No nightmare could produce such a kind of effect.
He calmly contemplated and could not help but feel scared. A person's soul consists of two parts: an imprinted consciousness and memories. Once the imprinted consciousness is erased, the soul would become ownerless, it was a near death situation.
The stone is too dangerous!
As Li Qiang was contemplating about the matter, his face suddenly changed: Eh… my sea of consciousness…
There are a lot more things inside!
Alchemy… talisman … Ancient engravings… various bizarre symbols, mysterious characters, plain looking and powerful weapon techniques…
What is all this?
Could this be the memories carried by the idol which absobred some of the soul?
This thought cause Li Qiang to become startled. He was vaguely aware that this set of memories could prove to be an unimaginable mountain of wealth…
Although it had entered Li Qiang's sea of consciousness, the memories were complex. They were not something that Li Qiang could recall as and how he liked. Those memories needed to be further consolidated and integrated.
While doing so, Li Qiang ignored the memories regarding Alchemy and Talisman. These memories were a little fragmented and disorderly. The memories appeared to be about a profession that engraves Talisman onto weapons.
Li Qiang held no interest towards this profession. There was something else that he needed, something he desired for. He kept searching through his sea of consciousness and finally held his breath as he found it: Physical Training Stage Formula – Chaos fury Meridians!
A Heaven Rankig skill! And it's someone's Legacy
What is the reason for the Xuanwu sect to be far below the Coiling dragon sect? The reason is Legacy!