38: Chapter 38 I'll just become a Martial God, won't that solve everything?

I don't know how much time had passed, but you woke up.

Your head felt a bit dizzy, but you could be certain of one thing: you weren't dead.

Your body still had sensation.

"General Lin is awake."

"General Lin is awake! General Lin is awake!"

Noisy sounds reached your ears.

So annoying.

You slowly opened your eyes.

As soon as you opened your eyes, you were startled.

"Holy crap!"

You felt that you must have opened your eyes the wrong way; Chen Tianxiao was lying right on your chest.

"General Lin!" a Martial Saint beside you said to you.

You recognized him; he was the general who had been waving the military flag.

Successively, a few more generals walked into your room to visit you.

From them, you learned that you had been unconscious for three days.

You asked about the outcome of the war.

Everyone remained silent.

A sense of discomfort filled the air.

Finally, it was a gray-haired Martial Saint from the Zhou Family who told you.

The Extra-territorial Heavenly Demon did not break through.

After you fell unconscious, Master Wu Suanzi manipulated the army Formation and successively slew three Extra-territorial Heavenly Demon Martial Gods.

However, Marshal Ye and the Grand Elder of the Zhou Family were both killed in action; it could be said that you suffered heavy losses.

In the end, the Demon-Sealing Array was repaired, but the repaired array could only be maintained for about five days.

You had been unconscious for three days, does that mean there are only two days left?

"Right, where is my Master?" you asked the people around you.

At this time, he should have gone mad.

When Master Wu Suanzi was mentioned, everyone around fell silent.

You vaguely felt something was wrong.

"The old man... he also died in battle," you said, moving your throat.

Still, no one spoke.

"What do you mean?" you didn't understand. "What exactly happened to my Master?"

"Senior Master Wu Suanzi... he... committed suicide," a Martial Saint said.

You didn't understand what he said.

What do you mean by committed suicide?

My Master, that old man, committed suicide?

How is that possible?

Absolutely impossible.

A Martial Artist took out a letter and a small box and handed them to you.

You opened the letter.

"Kid Lin! Give me a smile, hahaha, hahaha."

Seeing the first paragraph of the letter, you smiled; it was indeed written by your Master.

"Hey! By the time you open this letter, I should already be dead. I committed suicide, so don't think about avenging me."

"I am old and useless now. It won't be long before I go mad. Actually, I should have died five hundred years ago, but I allowed myself to survive until now."

"Alright, kid, I won't talk about this nonsense anymore. The current Demon-Sealing Array can only be maintained for five days. After five days, the Extra-territorial Heavenly Demon will return, and we no longer have any Martial Gods, so what I need you to do is to fully repair it."

"I have taught you Formations, and your talent is extremely high. Kid Lin, believe in yourself. The principles of the Demon-Sealing Array have always been studied by the Grand Elder of the Zhou Family. Now, only the final stage remains. Kid Lin, go and repair it."

"The thing in the box is my Martial God Golden Core; the Extra-territorial Heavenly Demon calls it a Golden Core. The original Demon-Sealing Array used my Master's, and now you must use mine."

"I'm counting on you, Lin Heng!"

"I am glad I took you on as my Disciple in the end!"

Your tears dripped onto the letter paper.

Chen Tianxiao, standing to the side, wiped your tears away like a wife.

You didn't speak, just slowly opened the wooden box.

A Golden Core, lustrous throughout and emitting a faint golden light, lay quietly at the bottom of the box.

Your fingertips brushed over the Golden Core, feeling a chill.

"Master," you said, looking at the Golden Core.

You spent only one morning learning the principles of the Demon-Sealing Array.

That afternoon, you and all the Martial Saints of the Sacred Realm arrived at the outermost perimeter of the Sacred Realm.

Before you was the Demon-Sealing Array.

You took a deep breath and looked at the Martial Saints behind you.

The prototype of the Demon-Sealing Array relied on a Martial God's Golden Core and several Martial Saints as Formation eyes to maintain it, which meant that some of the Martial Saints behind you would have to sacrifice their lives for this Demon-Sealing Array.

As for exactly how many Martial Saints were sacrificed for this Demon-Sealing Array in the beginning, there was no record.

You took a deep breath and looked at the large group of Martial Saints behind you.

"Everyone!" You had just wanted to speak when you were interrupted.

It was an old man from the Dragon Group, a Peak Martial Saint, and he was the oldest among all the Martial Saints: "Kid Lin, we all know... just do it with peace of mind."

He had a wine gourd tucked at his waist, and he clattered as he walked. He walked up to you and patted you: "Don't worry."

You didn't speak, just let your gaze sweep over these Martial Saints.

You took a deep breath and brought out your Master's Golden Core.

The Golden Core slowly flew to the very center of the Formation.

You raised your hand to form a seal, your fingertips flying, and several rays of spiritual light surged from your palms, throwing several banners toward the perimeter of the Formation.

The Golden Core instantly emitted a tremendous light, and the banners also emitted a pale blue light.

You turned to look behind you, your Adam's apple bobbing hard.

You tried your best to keep your voice steady, devoid of any emotion, but your hoarse tone still hid an irrepressible weight.

"The first one!"

The old man from the Dragon Group shook the gourd at his waist and tossed it to a young Martial Saint.

The old man bowed deeply to all the Martial Saints behind him. There was no fear on his face; instead, it carried a hint of relieved laughter. His voice was loud and resounded before the Formation: "I shall take my leave first!"

The blue light on one of the banners slowly turned into gold.

"The second one!"

Another Martial Saint stepped forward.

"Old Man Liu, I'm going first."

"Don't worry, Old Man Li, I'll come find you in a bit, don't go too fast!"

The first banner emitted golden light.

Still not enough, you thought, looking at the first banner.

About three Peak Martial Saints could complete one banner.

There were twelve in total, which would require thirty-six Peak Martial Saints.

But there were only thirty here in total.

Then how many Late Stage Martial Saints would be needed?

You didn't think too much: "The third one!"

...

All the Peak Martial Saints were sacrificed, and ten banners lit up with golden light.

A Martial Saint from Danwang Valley looked behind and smiled: "Looks like it's our turn now!"

"The thirty-first one!"

You felt like a machine without feelings; you wanted to cry, but tears wouldn't fall.

"The thirty-second one!"

Finally, ten Late Stage Martial Saints were needed to make one banner light up.

"There is still one last one left."

You turned to look and saw that ten Late Stage Martial Saints had already lined up and were waiting.

At the very front was an old woman, who appeared to be from the Liehuo Sect.

You took a deep breath: "The forty-first one!"

The old woman looked behind her and slowly walked toward you.

She spoke as she walked.

"Every night at the mountain pass, the wind blows; blood stains the green shirt as before."

"Do not weep as I go today; just watch the banners like embroidery."

"Do you know? Do you know?"

Finally, her gaze fell upon you.

"Still looking at the green mountains as before."

The last banner began to flicker with golden light.

"The forty-second one!"

...

Finally, with the sacrifice of thirty Peak Martial Saints and twenty Late Stage Martial Saints, all twelve banners lit up.

"This isn't right... this isn't right." You looked at the Formation, struggling to accept it; the Formation hadn't activated.

You quickly found the source of the problem.

There was a problem with your Master's Golden Core!

Your Master had said that he was injured and couldn't be cured, which is why he went mad. Now it seemed that the reason for your Master's madness was, to a large extent, the problem with the Golden Core.

But now... this was the only Golden Core.

A Martial Saint saw your predicament; he moved his throat: "General Lin, did we... fail?"

Failed, yes, it had indeed failed now.

Unless another Golden Core could be found.

But... you looked at the Golden Core.

"No... we haven't!" you said decisively.

Master Wu Suanzi's Golden Core returned to your hands once again.

You hadn't acted cool for nearly ten or twenty years.

Thinking about those days of acting cool in your twenties, you found it somewhat amusing.

Now you were going to act cool again.

Since Master Wu Suanzi's didn't work, then you would use yours.

You absorbed that Golden Core of Master Wu Suanzi and stepped into the sky in one stride.

The aura on your body began to climb steadily.

Now a Martial God Golden Core was missing.

Then can't I just become a Martial God!