Chapter 3 – Soul With No Master

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Lin Ming 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 cube 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 being swallowed by a Goldback Pangolin was proof of its incredible durability. Lin Ming 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 cube.

The hell!?

Lin Ming 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 cube. 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, Lin Ming headed towards the room that Grand Clarity Pavilion had prepared for him and proceeded to rest.

After practicing his punches, he had engaged in deboning for four hours. Lin Ming was currently feeling quite tired.

After meditating and adjusting his breath for a while, Lin Ming slumped on the bed without taking off his clothes and fell asleep. The bed that Grand Clarity 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.

Lin Ming 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 Primal Assemblage Stage could not hope to compete against!

Everyone within this imagery are beings that Lin Ming 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 snow and ice. A frightened looking woman held onto a one cubic inch cube, facing off against ten thousand figures standing on the skies.

This woman was actually standing just less than three feet from Lin Ming. Even though he understood that this was all an illusion, Lin Ming was able to feel an extremely powerful yet gentle and holy aura radiating from the woman’s body!

What surprised Lin Ming most was that the cube that the woman was holding was the stone that Lin Ming had found within the Goldback Pangolin’s abdomen!

The woman spoke out a series of words, but the words spoken were vague. Lin Ming could only make out two words – Magic Cube!

Magic Cube?

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 Magic Cube?

“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 the heavens and earth. 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 cube!

As for Lin Ming, 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 Lin Ming!

Lin Ming 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, Lin Ming felt that the atmosphere around this sphere of light was very similar to that of the woman he had seen earlier. No, it was exactly the same!

Could it be that this sphere of light is the form left by that woman?

Lin Ming recalled that the woman had turned into a stream of white light and was absorbed into the Magic Cube 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 Magic Cube. That would mean that these specks of light…

Lin Ming gasped. Could it be that these specks of light were all the fragments of the countless figures that were absorbed by the Magic Cube after they have been crushed by that spatial storm?

Lin Ming 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 Lin Ming’s mind. As a mere ignorant teenager who had yet to achieve the Pulse 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 cube had actually swallowed countless masters whose strength was at a level where he would have no chance of ever laying eyes upon?

Lin Ming 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. After hesitating for a long period of time, he extended his hand and gently touched a speck of light which was both the smallest and closest to him.

Upon contact, the speck of light instantly flowed into Lin Ming’s fingertip. Lin Ming 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.

“Aaah!”

Lin Ming tightly gripped his head; he felt as though there was something desperately invading his mind. The piercing pain caused Lin Ming to wish he could crack open his skull and remove whatever was causing the pain!

He could not resist! Lin Ming 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, Lin Ming briefly panicked but immediately calmed himself. The thing threatening him was only a small fragment of a soul. In addition, its master had already perished. How could he lose to a minor consciousness that has no master?

Lin Ming 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?

Lin Ming had no clue on how to get rid of that fragmented consciousness that had no owner. 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, Lin Ming 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, Lin Ming 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. An ownerless soul could only act on instinct. Back then, the soul he had touched was only at half the size of a rice grain, its light dim. And yet, he had nearly been swallowed up by it, how horrifying! If he had touched an even bigger speck, it was likely that he would have turned into a basket case by now!

The cube is too dangerous!

As Lin Ming was contemplating about the matter, his face suddenly changed: Eh… my sea of consciousness…

There are a lot more things inside!

Arrays… inscriptions… engravings… various bizarre symbols, mysterious characters, plain looking and powerful weapon techniques…

What is all this?

Could this be the memories carried by the ownerless soul?

This thought cause Lin Ming 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 Lin Ming’s sea of consciousness, the memories were complex. They were not something that Lin Ming could recall as and how he liked. Those memories needed to be further consolidated and integrated.

While doing so, Lin Ming ignored the memories regarding arrays and inscriptions. These memories were a little fragmented and disorderly. The memories appeared to be about a profession that engraves inscriptions onto weapons.

Lin Ming 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 – Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians!

A Legacy skill!