THE MARTIAL KING - Season 9 Episode 98

Even if he had already predicted Zen’s choice of leaving, Miguel still couldn’t help but show his disappointment when he heard it come straight from him.

In Miguel’s mind, if Zen could stay, he knew he would do greater things and achieve far greater heights than even Amber of the Heavenly Feather Sacred Place could had dreamed of.

One could regard Amber as a savior. Two hundred years ago, the Heavenly Feather Sacred Place was far from the powerful stronghold it was today. Back then, the Flaming Ogre Sacred Place and the Dread Ogre Sacred Place dominated the entire Sea God Continent and no other race dared to go up against them.

There had also been a relatively large race called the Shadow Group which had its own sixth-grade sacred place on the Sea God Continent and was ranked fourth out of the overall races. However, due to a dispute with the ogres, the Shadow Group was quickly annihilated. Such was the power of the ogres back then.

Later Amber had appeared like a dark horse and led the Demon Night race towards the peak, turning their whole situation around. Now, the Heavenly Feather Sacred Place had become a force no weaker than both the Flaming Ogre Sacred Place and the Dread Ogre Sacred Place.

Amber’s name was ranked on the second row on the Talent Tablet, but Zen’s name was even above the first row and had attained the special honor of being the Celestial Position talent. He was also someone who could control the Tower of Sin!

Miguel was undoubtedly confident that Zen’s potential and future achievements would be immeasurable. He just found it a pity that such a talent like Zen did not come from the Purple Heart Sacred Place. Regardless, with the world at Zen’s feet, Miguel knew there was no way he could force the youth to stay.

“Dark Nether Cave?”

Miguel asked. “You plan to enter the Dark Nether Cave this year?”

Zen nodded. “Yes.”

Miguel fiddled with his hands. “Wouldn’t it be a little bit of a rush? Though every race has seats and could send some of their warriors to enter the Dark Nether Cave, most warriors would choose to first attain the level of war lord before going in. There were some races who sent in their war generals to enrich themselves but these war generals could only reach the outer circle and no further. The deeper one ventures into the Dark Nether Cave, the higher the chances of dying!” he said.

Every talent that had gone through the cultivation in the Tower of Sin entered the Dark Nether Cave at some point. In fact, Miguel’s entry to the cave was what changed his life.

Although he was a divine-level talent, Miguel’s name had only remained on the seventh row on the Talent Tablet which wasn’t really an extraordinary feat.

However, despite being ranked low on the talent test, he had risked his life to enter the Dark Nether Cave and brought back a Limitless Sword Array that turned his luck around. Even now, as a powerful master of the Soul Sea Realm, this Limitless Sword Array he had obtained years ago remained his most important trump card!

However, Miguel’s lucky chance of obtaining the Limitless Sword Array was one in a million. Though there were tons of lucky chances in the Dark Nether Cave, the amount of dangers far outweighed opportunities. The existence of the Cursed Land had deprived many powerful Soul Sea Realm masters the chances of entering the Dark Nether Cave but Miguel knew that even if he could go in there and enter the core of the cave, there was a high chance he would perish.

“I don’t have much time,” Zen said.

And it was true. After leaving for so long, Zen had no idea what was happening in the Central Region and this worried him every second of every day.

Seeing Zen’s serious expression, Miguel had truly understood that it was impossible for him to convince the young man to stay. In the end, he could only stand and sigh, “Do you know the origin of the Dark Nether Cave?”

Zen shook his head. In truth, he knew very little about it. The immortal Mist had given him a token but told him nothing else about the Tower of Sin. The rest of Zen’s knowledge was comprised of the bits and pieces of information he had managed to gather while in the tower.

“Although nobody in the Sea God Continent actually knows the origins of both the Dark Nether Cave and the Tower of Sin, years of exploration of the cave yielded the conclusion that this is actually an ancient battlefield,” Miguel said.

Zen’s eyes furrowed. “A battlefield?”

A relic like an ancient battlefield was not rare. There were quite a few of them in Central Region. However, apart from some rotten treasure and ghastly white bones, these kinds of places offered little to no lucky chances.

Miguel nodded in confirmation. “Yes, but the Dark Nether Cave is no ordinary ancient battlefield,” he claimed.

“Currently, we speculate that it is a battlefield where hundreds of supreme masters from the Upper World had fought!”

Zen’s eyes immediately flashed with interest. “Supreme masters of the Upper World?”

The conjecture made some sense.

The power of the Cursed Land was far beyond Zen’s imagination. Even war sages and Soul Sea Realm masters would wither up and die if they entered the Cursed Land.

The conjecture made some sense.

The power of the Cursed Land was far beyond Zen’s imagination. Even war sages and Soul Sea Realm masters would wither up and die if they entered the Cursed Land.

In the past, the immortal Mist had returned to the Central Region from the Upper World. He had reached the end of his lifespan and was entering the Five Aging Processes, but his powerful strength had not weakened one bit. Despite that, he still couldn’t enter the Tower of Sin.

Zen assumed that it was mostly due to the fear of the Cursed Land’s power.

The Cursed Land had existed in the Sea God Continent for many years but its powers showed no signs of fading. It was simply impossible for ordinary creatures of the Upper World to resist the power of the curse.

The strength of the Upper World’s creatures was no joke. Zen had flown into the Genuine Dragon World through the Dragon Soar Arena and could sense the world of difference between common members’ strength and that of the Dragon Abyss Palace’s leader.

However, the cultivation and strength of the supreme masters Miguel spoke of were beyond Zen’s knowledge.

He would simply have to ask the cyan dragon or Lavender about it.

This time, Zen came to Miguel with the purpose of inquiring about the Tower of Sin. Miguel’s experience in entering the Dark Nether Cave once before was something Zen was very much interested in knowing.

“The ancient battlefield is a naturally formed cave. The Tower of Sin’s tip extends all the way to the bottom of the cave. Over the years, numerous top-level war lords have entered the Dark Nether Cave but most of them just wandered around the outer circle and rarely dared to enter the core…”

Miguel was pouring out every single thing he knew. Zen, this young man whom he barely knew, had contributed so much to the Purple Heart Sacred Place, and Miguel was determined to help him as much as he could.

Miguel’s explanations contained vital information regarding the Dark Nether Cave’s structure. It was divided into three layers: the outer circle, the inner circle, and the core.

Generally, top-level war lords who entered the Dark Nether Cave would often bring along with them talents of their races to explore the outer circle.

This initial outer circle was already filled with all sorts of unimaginable dangers and there was a high possibility of death if they were not careful.

The inner circle was the real grave for warriors. Most top-level war lords only had a slim chance of surviving if they entered.

Back then, Miguel had truly gone all out and risked his life when he entered the Dark Nether Cave. He was an ambitious and strong-willed martial artist who shunned mediocrity despite being dictated as ordinary by the Talent Tablet. His gamble had paid off and he was able to obtain that mysterious sword array.

If it weren’t for the sword array and the supreme masters’ relics he had obtained in the cave, it would’ve been impossible for Miguel to become a leading figure of the Purple Heart Sacred Place.

“What about the core?” Zen suddenly asked curiously.

“Has anyone ever been there?”

“Yes!” Miguel replied with a faint smile.
“Well… what happened to them?” Zen asked.

Miguel laughed, “None of them ever came back. They’re as good as dead at this point.”

The Dark Nether Cave’s core was shrouded with a dense fog. If one stood at the edge of the cave, he’d be able to see the fog and within it, a flickering, bloody light.

No one knew what was inside.

“The core?” Zen asked, a wry smile appearing on his face.

The immortal Mist should really have told him more. Zen wondered what held Mist back from telling everything clearly to Zen. Instead, he only gave Zen a Jade Butterfly. He didn’t even say a word about the inheritance…

Then, if Zen entered the Dark Nether Cave, should he search for the inheritance in the outer circle? Maybe he should enter the inner circle? Or was he supposed to venture into the core where he could possibly never return?

Miguel clearly saw the smile on Zen’s face, “Are you planning on entering the core?” he asked before wearing an expression of extreme seriousness. “If you really plan on doing this, then I’ll give you a word of advice: you better give up on that idea!”

Zen shook his head, “I will definitely enter the Dark Nether Cave. As for the core… I have not decided if I need to go there or not.”

Seeing that his resolve wasn’t dampened, Miguel could only warn Zen, “I remember one year when all the races in the Tower of Sin allied themselves with each other. They gathered 76 top-level war lords to explore the Dark Nether Cave’s core together. None of them ever returned.”

“Seventy-six top-level war lords?”

Zen remarked in surprise.

Miguel nodded, “Yes. They were the most outstanding war lords in each race. Although I know you are someone equipped with great destiny, the core isn’t a place one can enter by simply relying on luck. Even if I were to enter the core now, I would have no possibility of returning from there, let alone you!”

A bitter taste rose from Zen’s throat. Miguel’s words were truly hard to swallow.