659 The Desolation Skill

Thud.

Lin Dong slowly walked into the stone tower gently. After experiencing amomentary darkness, his vision brightened up abruptly.

An endlessly vast stone hall appeared in Lin Dong’s line of sight. The hallwas pervaded with a vicissitude aura. Gentle lights were flickering likehovering spirits in the surroundings.

The stone hall was extremely unique and it did not contain any bookshelves.Instead, it was filled with stone tablets that were of different sizes. Eachstone tablet was encircled by a faint glow.

Lin Dong stood at the main door and looked at the seemingly endless number ofmartial art stone tablets. Soon after, he could not help but suck in a breathof air. This is the strength of a super sect. The number of martial arts herewas truly terrifying….

In the stone hall, one could see a few figures who were standing firmly whilestaring at the stone tablets ahead of them with an extremely focusedexpression. There were also some people who were seated cross-legged on thefloor with their eyes fixated on the stone tablets. These people seemed to beengrossed in the world of martial arts.

Lin Dong strode forward lightly. He slowed down his pace and silently walkedthrough the hall that was filled with martial art stone tablets. At the sametime, his gaze was constantly sweeping through those stone tablets. Thosetablets depicted a dazzling lineup of martial arts…

“High-grade Manifestation martial art, Raging Bull Power Skill.”

“High-grade Manifestation martial art, Swimming Dragon Step.”

“Low-grade Manifestation martial art, Water Dragon Blade Technique”

Lin Dong began to get dizzy after sweeping through the stone tablets. Themultitude of martial arts blurred his vision. Clearly, the number of martialarts that this hall contained had reached a terrifying number. If any one ofthese martial arts was to be placed in the Great Yan Empire, it would surelycause a carnage. However, in this place, these martial arts were placedeverywhere for the disciples to study.

“How long will it take to find the one…” As Lin Dong’s eyes swept across themultitude of stone tablets, he shook his head helplessly. If he was to checkthese stone tablets one by one, he would not finish the process even if he tookdays and nights.

“Let’s check out the Desolate Stone first.”

Lin Dong raised his head and looked into the depths of the hall. Soon after,he quickened his pace and walked past the stone tablets one by one. Afterapproximately ten minutes, he suddenly stopped. He was slightly astonished ashe looked at the direction ahead of him.

A few hundred feet ahead, there was an enormous platform. A gigantic greystone, which was roughly a few hundred feet tall, silently stood tall andupright in the middle of the platform.

The huge stone was sphere-shaped and its entire body was dark grey in color.It seemed to be covered with moss as well. Indistinctly, one could see a fewfine cracks on its body. An indescribable energy wave was constantly emittingfrom the huge stone.

While Lin Dong was standing at a distance away from it, the energy wave cameand collided with him. At that moment, his body shivered and even his mind wereslightly dazzled by it. Lin Dong felt as if he was being placed in an ancientdesolate land, where heaven and earth was filled with a bleak emptiness. Afeeling of desolation pervaded his mind. Even the Yuan Power in his body feltthe corrosive effect of the desolation, channelling through his body slower andslower.

Huff!

Lin Dong heaved a breath of air. A solemn look swept across his eyes. Thatenergy wave must be the ‘Desolate Force’ that Wu Dao was talking about.However, the Desolate Force that was emitted from this huge stone was countlesstimes stronger than Tong Chuan’s.

“So this is the Desolate Stone?”

Lin Dong muttered to himself. Then, he shifted his gaze to the platformsurroundings. Around the Desolate Stone, there were numerous disciplesmeditating silently. Traces of ‘Desolate Force’ released by the Desolate Stonewere being absorbed by these disciples.

Lin Dong heaved a sigh and stepped forward. Some of the disciples around theDesolate Stone heard his footsteps and turned over. A surprised look flashedacross their eyes. Apparently, they recognized Lin Dong.

However, Lin Dong ignored their stares and continued walking up the platform.Then, he stopped before a grey-colored stone tablet. On the stone tablet, therewere some ancient characters.

“Desolate Force.”

The two ancient words appeared before Lin Dong’s eyes, making the corners ofhis eyes twitched. Then, he shifted his gaze downward and continued reading therest of the words on the stone tablet.

As Lin Dong’s gaze shifted downward, an astonished look gradually formed onhis face. That was because he discovered that the so-called ‘Desolate Force’was not a kind of pure energy. In fact, it was a kind of technique. This hadcompletely deviated from his expectations.

The description on the stone tablet recorded the technique to practising the‘Desolate Force’. And at the end of the description, Lin Dong saw the real nameof this skill – The Desolation Skill.

“The so-called Desolate Force should be a type of energy that one obtainsafter practising this skill,”

A thought came into Lin Dong’s mind. He could feel the potency of the‘Desolation Skill’. Furthermore, the ‘Desolate Force’ that one could obtain bypractising this skill was rather powerful as well. In his previous fight withTong Chuan, if not for the fact that he possessed the Devouring AncestralSymbol, he would definitely be put in a sorried state by the corrosivepower-filled ‘Desolate Force’.

The stone tablet recorded down the detailed technique to practising the‘Desolation Skill’. According to the description, the Desolation Skill wasdivided into ten levels. It was a skill that must be practised by the directdisciples of the Desolate Hall.

The technique to practising this skill was rather unique. One had to start offby absorbing the ‘Desolate Force’ from the Desolate Stone first. From there, heor she had to form the Desolate Force in his or her body and use Yuan Power tonurture this seedling. As the seedling grew, the Desolate Force that he or shepossessed would become increasingly stronger.

In other words, if one wished to practise this skill, he or she would have torely on the Desolate Stone. Otherwise, even if one knew the technique topractising this skill, he or she would not be able to actually practise itsuccessfully.

“There’s indeed something unique about it…”

Lin Dong’s eyes flickered. Once again, he tried to comprehend all theinformation written on the stone tablet. Then, he raised his head and looked atthe colossal Desolate Stone ahead of him.

Looking at the Desolate Stone from afar, one could sense the ancientness ofit. The numerous marks on the surface of the stone were caused by the agingprocess. Clearly, this artifact must have existed for a long time.

A few hundred feet away from the Desolate Stone, there were several stoneplatforms that only had enough space for one person to sit. These stoneplatforms were filled with Desolate Hall’s disciples, who were absorbing tracesof Desolate Force that were emitted by the Desolate Stone.

“The Desolate Force seems to possess an extremely powerful corrosive power…”Lin Dong discovered as he got closer to the Desolate Stone. The Desolate Forcethat was spiralling around that area was exceptionally strong and thesurrounding disciples did not dare to get close to it. They were seated a fewhundred feet away and were absorbing the Desolate Force that was flowing outfrom the Desolate Stone.

This scene put Lin Dong into a deep thought. He looked at the ground aroundthe Desolate Stone. From what he had seen, the ground was dried up andcracking, giving the impression of a barren land.

“I see…”

Lin Dong muttered to himself softly. Following which, a faint smile appearedon his face. The technique of practising the Desolation Skil began to runthrough his mind once again. After a slight hesitation, he took a forceful stepforward and walked toward the Desolate Stone.

Lin Dong quickly leapt over the disciples. Then, he continued walking aheadwithout stopping. His action quickly led to an outbreak of commotion in thequiet surroundings. Numerous disciples that were meditating widened their eyesin astonishment and looked at Lin Dong.

“Lin Dong, do not get too close to the Desolate Stone. Otherwise, you will becorroded by the Desolate Force till your life force is totally depleted!” Oneof the disciples could not help but shout at Lin Dong.

“Thanks for the reminder.”

Lin Dong turned his head and smiled at that disciple. However, he did not stopin his tracks. Even though the Desolate Force was powerful, his body possessedsomething that was far more powerful and terrifying.

At this moment, the surrounding disciples widened their eyes and pursed theirlips tightly while looking at Lin Dong, who was walking towards the DesolateStone. The fists in their sleeves were tightly clenched. They clearly knew howdeadly was the Desolate Force around the Desolate Stone…

Thud thud.”

The sound of Lin Dong’s footstep was the only sound that could be heard on theentire platform. Everyone’s heart beats were beating to the pace of Lin Dong’sfootsteps, getting increasingly faster.

As silence swept across the platform, a grey-clothed blind old man walked outfrom behind a stone tablet that was not far away. He raised his head while hispupil-less, ash-colored eyes were fixated on Lin Dong. Following which, aslightly surprised look appeared on his wrinkle-filled, aged face.