Chapter 318: Shadow under the Moon!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming rushed into the cave like the wind and charged towards the room where He Feng was fusing with the Wings of the Moon. The moment he arrived before the stone room, a ferocious aura instantly came crashing against him. Su Ming's footsteps came to a halt, and he saw He Feng's body floating in the stone room. A gigantic pair of wings was growing on his back, and that pair of wings… belonged to the Wings of the Moon!
At the center of He Feng's brows was a picture of a ball of flames. It looked as if it was blazing and burning, caught in a state between reality and illusion. When he saw that picture of the ball of fire, Su Ming sucked in a deep breath.
He was not unfamiliar with that picture, it was the symbol of the Fire Berserker Tribe!
The entire stone room was engulfed in a sea of fire. An intense wave of heat spread through the area, but even under that intense heat, Su Ming remained still, as if the fire did not affect him at all. It was the same for He Feng, but growls continuously spilled out of his mouth, and the pained look on his face made it seem as if he was struggling against something.
Every single time the picture of the fire shone, it would cause He Feng to sink into more pain. Veins popped up on his face, but he simply had his eyes closed as he continued bearing through the pain.
The fusion between the Wings of the Moon and He Feng was a test. Su Ming did not know what would happen, but the previous few fusions were successful, and by what he could tell from this final fusion, the amalgamation between He Feng's body and the Wings of the Moon was already close to perfection.
'So the final fusion shouldn't be about the body, but… about memories!'
Su Ming's eyes sparkled and he looked at He Feng, ready to take action at any moment.
Time trickled by. He Feng's growls grew softer and softer, but the picture of the flames still could not be imprinted completely at the center of his brows, as if something was missing.
As time passed by, gradually, more veins popped up on He Feng's face. His new body swelled up, as if he was about to explode at any moment.
His growls had already turned into pained howls. As his body shuddered, the pair of wings on his back started showing signs of being separated from his body. The sea of fire in the stone room became dimmer, as if it was about to be be extinguished at any moment.
If the sea of fire was extinguished and He Feng's wings became separated from his body, then it would mean that the final fusion had failed, He Feng would die, and the souls of the Wings of the Moon would also vanish.
Su Ming would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen, especially when Sky Mist Shaman Hunt was about to begin. This was something he could not accept.
Without hesitation, Su Ming took a step forward into the stone room. The instant his foot landed on the ground of the sea of fire, the dimming sea of fire blazed up as if a barrel of oil had been thrown into it. A large amount of flames surrounded Su Ming as if he was their king and his appearance could make them stronger.
Su Ming walked towards He Feng through the blazing sea of fire and lifted his right hand. The moment He Feng's head swelled up as if it was about to explode, he tapped his finger against the picture of of the ball of fire at the center of He Feng's brows.
The instant Su Ming's finger landed on the picture, a powerful rebound swiftly shot out from it and bounced off Su Ming's finger, forcing him to a few steps back.
Su Ming lifted his head swiftly. He could feel that this rebound was not from the Wings of the Moon but He Feng's will rejecting him!
That rejection could be said to be a repelling force that seemed to be a declaration from He Feng that he did not want Su Ming to do anything. Instead, he wanted to use the moment of success in the final fusion to break free from Su Ming's control!
However, there was in no way that Su Ming was unprepared for this. When he helped He Feng in his previous fusions, he was also observing this. Through those fusions, he had continuously strengthened his methods to control He Feng. After all, he had no idea what would happen once the man succeeded. Su Ming might look forward to it, but the outcome of the fusion was also an unknown entity to him.
When he saw He Feng rejecting him for the first time, Su Ming gave a cold snort and a fiery red light swiftly appeared in his eyes, the faint shadow of the moon appeared in his pupils! It was the burning moon, the fire-red moon!
The moment the blood moon appeared, He Feng lifted his head and roared. Immediately, countless Wings of the Moon surfaced on his skin and let out submissive screeches, worshipping Su Ming.
"He Feng, are you the one who refuses to obey me, or is it the souls of my Wings of the Moon who are doing so..?"
Su Ming stood in the sea of fire and stared at He Feng's pained expression. A bewitching feeling came from the blood moon in his eyes.
"You were the one who wanted to fuse with the Wings of the Moon, are you regretting it now..? If you're regretting it, then I'll release you!"
Su Ming's voice reverberated in the air. The moment he spoke, the blazing roars of the sea of fire around him grew stronger once again. That fire burned everything around them and covered every single corner of the stone room.
The Wings of the Moon on He Feng's skin howled as if they wanted to charge out of He Feng's body.
He Feng trembled even more viciously. He looked as if he wanted to open his eyes, but he did not have the strength to do so. As his lips trembled, couple words spilled out of his mouth.
"Mas… please… don't be… angry…"
Su Ming lifted his right hand, but this time, he did not go straight to tap the center of He Feng's brows. Instead, he bit down on that finger, and when a drop of blood appeared, he pressed his finger at the center of He Feng's brows.
The instant Su Ming's index finger touched the center of He Feng's brows, his blood also touched the picture of the ball of fire. In the blink of an eye, a large amount of veins that looked like a spider's web appeared at the center of He Feng's brows. The color of those veins was blood-red, and they rapidly spread throughout the entire body. Even the ball of fire at the center of the brows turned red.
Once those red veins covered He Feng's entire body, the souls of the Wings of the Moon in his body fused into him once again. As He Feng trembled, he opened his eyes.
Right as he did so, the blood moon appeared in his pupils. He stared at Su Ming, and a conflicted look appeared on his face. Su Ming was also staring at him with a regal look in his eyes.
Their gazes met. After a moment, He Feng closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he slowly knelt down on the ground on one knee. Right till the moment his knee touched the ground, he still made sure the center of his brows was connected to Su Ming's finger.
When he knelt down, He Feng no longer trembled. The sea of fire crackled and surrounded him and Su Ming. He slowly tucked in his spread out wings and had them hang behind his back.
A powerful presence was contained within He Feng's body. That presence was so powerful that Su Ming felt as if he was going up against a powerful Berserker in the Bone Sacrifice Realm!
"I swear by the moon that I will follow you, my Master… With the wings as my honor… I will bring back the scene of the Fire Berserkers burning the skies… I am the Fire Berserker He Feng. Greetings, my King…" He Feng lowered his head.
"I can grant you the power of the Fire Berserkers… and I can also take it back!" Su Ming said calmly, lifting his finger away from the center of He Feng's brows.
The instant he did so, the sea of fire around them immediately surged up as if rejoicing and charged towards He Feng to fuse into his body. Those flames eventually gathered at the center of his brows, causing the picture of fire over there to become a real entity!
However, that color remained a blood-red hue. That red was Su Ming's color, and within it was Su Ming's will!
"The Fire Berserkers worship the moon and treat the moon as their honor. From now on, you will be my shadow. My shadow created under the moon will be your dwelling place."
Su Ming turned around and walked out of the stone room. As he walked out, He Feng's body, which continued kneeling on the ground, gradually faded out, eventually turning into a mere illusion. Once he disappeared, Su Ming's shadow became slightly different.
When Su Ming walked out of his cave, Zi Che looked over from his position not too far away. There was uncertainty in his eyes. Clearly, this was not the first time he had heard He Feng's roars. He already had a few guesses regarding the secrets contained in Su Ming's cave.
Compared to him, the Fire Ape who had been originally squatting outside the cave grooming itself lifted its head once Su Ming walked out of the cave and let out a few growls whilst snarling as it stared at Su Ming's feet.
A wary expression appeared on its face, as if the thing under Su Ming's feet was making all its fur stand on end. It even took a few steps back, the growling sounds becoming louder.
Zi Che immediately looked at Su Ming's feet, but no matter how he looked at it, he could not see anything different. There was nothing under Su Ming's feet besides his shadow created by the moonlight.
"His shadow..?"
Zi Che shuddered, and his gaze immediately fell towards Su Ming's shadow. A shocked look gradually settled on his face. Su Ming's shadow was not of a human but someone with a pair of tucked in wings, and during the instant Zi Che looked over, he seemed to have seen a pair of blood-red eyes staring coldly at him from the shadow.
Zi Che felt shaken, and he quickly moved back.
"Don't look at my shadow," Su Ming stated unhurriedly and sat down on the platform outside his cave before he lifted his head and looked at the moon in the sky.
Zi Che quickly obeyed and took a few steps back. He had his head lowered, but he could not calm down. He had a feeling that his eyes had not been playing tricks on him just now. There was something strange about Su Ming's shadow, especially that pair of blood-red eyes that had looked towards him just now.
Not only did they shake Zi Che to his core, they also gave him a feeling that the distance between him and Su Ming was becoming wider, and that distance between would only continue increasing for an eternity.
Once that distance arrived to a certain point…
'Uncle master will no longer need me to protect his cave…' Zi Che lowered his head quietly, and as he sat there, resolution appeared in his eyes.
'My level of cultivation has been stuck at the same stage for a long time. Am I really unable to break through into the Bone Sacrifice Realm?!'
While Zi Che was occupied by his thoughts, Su Ming looked at the moon in the sky, and the Fire Ape stared at Su Ming's shadow with a hostile look on its face.
Su Ming turned around and looked at it before he spoke softly. "Stay by my side until we go to the land of the Shamans. Let's call you… Xiao Hong… Once we go to the land of the Shamans, I'll return your freedom to you… Remember not to be captured by anyone anymore."
The Fire Ape rolled its eyes and gave Su Ming a stink eye. The words 'I-don't-believe-you' were written blatantly on its face.
There is a saying that goes that the people who are lonely may be different from each other, but all of them stare at the moon. At that moment, there was a girl basking underneath the moonlight in the seventh summit. She had released the red string of straw tying up her black hair, released the braids, and was no longer wearing white clothes.
Neither was there any glittering crystals on her forehead anymore. The bone earrings had also been taken off her ears. She sat on a mountain rock with her chin placed above her hands as she stared blankly at the moon in the sky...
Chapter 319: Lightning at Dawn!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There were still some unshed tears at the corners of Bai Su's eyes. She had no idea who she was crying for… Yet as she was basking under the moonlight, she remembered many things. She remembered the things that had happened when she was young. She remembered everything that had happened once she grew up. She met Si Ma Xin, she met Su Ming…
She had no idea how long she had been looking at the moon in this manner. Eventually, when she wiped away her tears, she heard a sigh behind her.
When she heard that sigh, she shuddered and turned around to see a middle-aged man who seemed to have been born with a stern look on his face. That man was incredibly tall and was like a hill as he stood there dressed in a long grey robe. There was a kind, loving look in his eyes.
"Father…" Bai Su teared up even more. She stood up and hugged the middle-aged man.
"Ever since you grew up, you seldom hug and refuse to let go of your father like this anymore…" the middle-aged man said softly and patted Bai Su's back gently.
Bai Su originally did not want to cry, but the moment she heard his words, she could no longer contain herself and started bawling.
"There now, everything has ended. Come home with me. You're already at the age where you should begin your training after all…" said the middle-aged man softly.
"You're still too young to understand the love in the world." The man sighed and his gaze landed on the ninth summit. A frown appeared between his brows.
"This has nothing to do with anyone. It's my fault. I don't know what I should do, I just don't know…" Bai Su said softly and lifted her head from her father's bosom to wipe away her tears.
"Then don't think about it anymore. I've already sent Si Ma Xin to Freezing Sky Cave. Whether he lives or dies now depends on him. I don't like him." The middle-aged man lifted his hand and wiped away the remaining tears from Bai Su's face.
"I've also suppressed the injuries he sustained from failing to create the Berserker Seed. If he doesn't walk out of Freezing Sky Cave, then he'll die. If he manages to come out, you'll have a servant by your side. It's not a bad thing either."
The middle-aged man looked at Bai Su fondly and a smile appeared on his face.
"But…" Bai Su hesitated for a moment. "I kind of hate him…" she whispered softly.
"I've already punished him." The middle-aged man ruffled Bai Su's hair and took a step forward with her before they gradually disappeared. Before Bai Su vanished, she turned around and cast a glance at the ninth summit with conflict, regret, and well wishes shining in her eyes…
"If I could redo everything…" Bai Su mumbled and averted her gaze bitterly before she vanished into the night from the seventh summit with her father.
At that moment, right underneath the Great Frozen Plains, within the endless layer of ice that no one knew just how deep it went, was a maze like world where moonlight could not shine through.
There was no light in that place, only cold. Yet there was a strange wind in there. That wind should not have existed in that place, but it was there, and it continued blowing endlessly.
In a corner of the maze like world was a person curled up into a ball, shivering.
A weak mumbling voice came from the person's lips, "Freezing Sky Cave… Freezing Sky Cave…"
After a long while, a ripping sound could be heard. The shivering person lifted his right hand and made some unknown signs. Immediately, light appeared before him.
It was from a ball of fire burning on a stone that was about the size of a baby's fist.
As the fire burned and the dark world was lit up by a flickering light, that light illuminated the person's face, and it was a terrifying sight to behold!
It was a rotten face. There were thousands of scars marring that face, rendering that person's appearance completely ruined. Only the light in his eyes showed a faint sign of familiarity to anyone who might catch a glimpse of him.
His entire body was covered in frost. The stone on which the flames were burning was gradually shrinking as the fire continuously heated the surroundings. The moment the stone disappeared, it would mean that there would no longer be any other way for the person to obtain warmth.
Once that time came, all forms of power would not be very useful in the freezing wind…
"Su Ming… Su Ming!" That ugly person gritted his teeth, and as he shivered, he hissed in a voice that was filled with hate so deep it was engraved in his bones.
He… was Si Ma Xin.
Only he himself and Bai Su's father knew exactly what had happened on him. Yet judging by his looks, it was clear that this was a path he was forced to choose…
Moonlight continued shining on the ground. There was also a woman sitting outside her cave abode on the third summit. She was not afraid of the cold. As she breathed, freezing aura blew against her face. An old man sat by her side.
"You've already accumulated enough freezing aura, and your Qi has already changed because of it. You can already Awaken, so why do you continue gathering it..?" the old man asked languidly.
"Master, if I Awaken, I must definitely have more than 990 blood veins!" The woman opened her eyes and a clear light appeared within them. She was Han Fei Zi!
"Must you compete against him?" The old man frowned.
"He's a Divine General, then I too must become a Divine General!" Han Fei Zi nodded her head with a determined face.
"But if you persist, then you won't make it to Sky Mist Shaman Hunt." The old man gave his disciple a look.
"Even if I can't make it to the start, I can still join the battle halfway through." As Han Fei Zi spoke, all her Qi started circulating and blood veins manifested on her body, shining through her robes with a blood-red light while also giving off a shockingly cold air.
"981 blood veins. I can still continue!"
Han Fei Zi took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and continued immersing herself in the process of breathing in freezing aura to stimulate her blood. Her expression was calm, but only she and the old man beside her knew just what sort of intense pain she had to endure by breathing in the freezing aura.
Yet no one could see any signs of that pain on her face. It was as if her entire person had almost turned into… a block of ice!
Night gradually went by. When a hint of light appeared in the horizon in the distance and a new day arrived, Su Ming opened his eyes. He had already recovered from the depletion caused by helping He Feng. Once he returned to normal, he got up and went back into the cave when the day arrived.
Days went by. Su Ming seldom went out of his cave, and during the times he did, he would only get out during the night to look for his second senior brother. Only his second senior brother had the aura of death required to create Spirit Plunder in the ninth summit.
Half a month later, once he had enough aura of death and there was less than a month left until Sky Mist Shaman Hunt, Su Ming left the ninth summit alone at night. He did not bring Zi Che, neither did he bring the Fire Ape. He left alone, only in the company of his shadow born under the moon.
Three days later, above an ice mountain located far away from Freezing Sky Clan, thick clouds collected. Thunder rumbled in the sky and bolts of lightning struck down, causing that mountain to turn into a pool of lightning.
The bolts of lightning continued raining down for several hours before gradually disappearing. When the tribes around the area sent people to check the place, they found nothing.
Three days later, Su Ming returned to Freezing Sky Clan. Lightning swam on his body, and when he stepped on the ice mountain, cracking sounds rang out. His Origin Vessel that was hidden within his body had grown stronger, and he had gained further understanding towards controlling lightning.
When he returned to his cave abode, Su Ming brought out the completed Spirit Plunders. Four Spirit Plunders floated before him, shining with a light that could suck in gazes.
There were only twenty days left until the commencement of Sky Mist Shaman Hunt…
Changes also gradually appeared in the nine continents floating in the air above Freezing Sky Clan. The distance between them shrank, and people could see others moving at each hour.
That strange sight attracted quite a large amount of attention, but most of those who had gone through Sky Mist Shaman Hunt before knew that the war was about to start!
The oppressive feeling that filled Freezing Sky Clan from the upcoming battle reached its peak at that moment. The movement of Heaven Gate also meant one thing - one of Freezing Sky Clan's greatest treasures, Frozen Sky, had appeared!
Frozen Sky was the treasure that the disciples of Freezing Sky Clan were most familiar with among the greatest treasures in the clan, because every single time the battle of Sky Mist was held, the treasure would appear, and it symbolized Freezing Sky Clan!
The number of Shamans who died under its hands could not be counted. Every single time it appeared, it would turn all the ice mountains in Freezing Sky Clan red. That was not because they were dyed red, but they turned red due the light shining on them!
"A part of it will be revealed fifteen days before the battle. Five days before the battle, its full form will show up, and two days before the battle, it would break free from the illusion it was sealed in and descend upon us…
"What we see during the battle of Sky Mist that occurs once a decade is just its projection. It's not the real deal.
"It will only appear in its true form during the great battle that occurs once a century. With it around, those of us from Freezing Sky Clan fighting in the battle will have a much greater chance of survival, and we can experience the life and death crisis in our growth…
"There are a lot of rumors regarding its origins, and the one that is the most widely accepted is about it being created when Freezing Sky Clan was formed. As one of the three greatest treasures of Freezing Sky Clan, it's main function… is to kill!
"Of our three greatest treasures, this is the treasure we use primarily to kill!
"It constantly changes, and from what I can tell, the projection it uses each time it comes in battles every decade is always different from the others. In fact, its form is also different each time it descends upon us with its true form during the battles that occur once a century… It's as if its true form is constantly changing…"
Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the nine continents of Heaven Gate that were moving slowly while Zi Che's pious voice fell into his ears.
"All those who are joining the battle will follow it… and head to Sky Mist City… Uncle master, the war is about to start… Even if it has been a very long time since Sky Mist Barrier's was broken through, but during the great battle that occurs only once a century… well, such a possibility still exists," Zi Che looked at the sky and mumbled.
"I can already imagine ferocious beasts so great in number they cannot be counted gathering under the skies in the land of the Shamans. There's also the matter about those powerful sacred beasts…
"The Shamans are also preparing for it… as if we're fulfilling an ancient promise…" Zi Che closed his eyes.
Su Ming and Zi Che were not the only ones looking at the sky at that moment. Almost all of the people in Freezing Sky Clan, even the superior Heaven Gate disciples living within Heaven Gate, were watching the sky.
Yet then, during that morning, at the top of the ninth summit, Tian Xie Zi, who had his palms flat on the ground while counting something, suddenly shuddered. He lifted his head swiftly, and at that moment, his expression turned incredibly stern as he stared at the sky in the distance.
From that piece of sky, a shooting star with blue and red colors criss-crossing against each other whistled through the air at an unbelievable speed. The size of that shooting star was like a small hill. The blue light symbolized protection, while the red light symbolized murder!
It was a shooting star from Sky Mist City!
It was not alone. There were… nine of them!
When Tian Xie Zi saw the nine shooting stars, his expression changed drastically, its intensity at the level that had never been seen on him before! He was not the only one to react like that. At that moment, dozens of people flew out from Heaven Gate and charged towards the nine shooting stars.
"Five shooting stars mean a great disaster… seven mean that there is a change among the Shamans… eight means that the Berserkers in the Land of South Morning face the threat of total annihilation… nine… nine mean…"
Tian Lan Meng's face was deathly pale as she stood on the seventh summit. The jade bottle in her hands fell to the ground as if she could not hold onto it properly...
Chapter 320: Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With a presence that shocked the sky and earth, the shooting stars from Sky Mist City stirred up a huge gust of wind and brought with them a deafening rumble as they traveled through the sky. This happened while the nine continents of Heaven Gate continued moving, Frozen Sky, the primary killing tool of the three greatest treasures of Freezing Sky Clan, had not fully revealed itself, and the moment when all the people had their gazes trained on the treasure.
The blue and red lights criss-crossed each other in the nine shooting stars in the sky. When they flew over, the sky seemed to be tremble as if it could not withstand the pressure of the nine shooting stars flying on its body.
They also left behind nine long scars that seemed endless. An intense murderous aura spread towards the earth from the nine shooting stars.
Su Ming was stunned. Zi Che was stunned. Almost everyone within Freezing Sky Clan were stunned at that instant. Even the disciples from Heaven Gate were also stunned.
The nine shooting stars appeared too suddenly, and no one was prepared for it. More importantly, Su Ming saw Tian Xie Zi going towards them, saw long arcs flying out from the other summits at shocking speed, and even saw a dozen people quickly walking out of Heaven Gate.
He might not be able to see these people's faces clearly, but when they appeared, an indescribable pressure swiftly enveloped the world around them. Ripples spread out and distorted the space around them. It was as if the sky had turned into the sea and there were huge and fierce waves rocking the sea as of then.
Once the nine shooting stars got closer to Freezing Sky Clan, they came to an abrupt halt, causing ripples to spread through the sky. They floated around Freezing Sky Clan's Heaven Gate. It was as if they had formed a strange, interconnected Rune; the blue and red lights continued shining brilliantly.
Su Ming lifted his head, his eyes were glued to the shooting stars. He had a bad feeling about this. In truth, he was not the only one with that feeling. Almost all the Freezing Sky Clan disciples who were looking at the sky at that moment had the same feeling.
"Nine shooting stars..? Why did they appear? What do they mean..?" Su Ming mumbled and immediately looked towards the seventh summit. He could faintly see Tian Lan Meng over there.
"Perhaps she knows…" Su Ming fell silent.
Yet at that moment, a shrill sound came once again from the sky in the distance, attracting all the eyes of the people,
A rarely seen grim look appeared on Tian Xie Zi's face. Around him, the people who originally had dark expressions on their faces when they arrived became terrified and shocked when they heard that shrill sound.
That shrill sound from the sky in the distance… came from a shooting star!
It was yet another shooting star with red and blue lights criss-crossing each other as it traveled forth. It was… the tenth shooting star!
The instant the tenth shooting star appeared, Tian Lan Meng's face turned stark white where she stood on the seventh summit. Horror gradually appeared on her face. It was an expression that was rarely seen on her, the polar opposite compared to her usual grace. She shuddered as if she could not stand properly. There was terror on her face, and sorrow too appeared in her eyes.
"Ten…" Tian Lan Meng staggered a few steps backwards, then gritted her teeth and flew up, then charged towards the sky.
The moment she flew into the sky, the tenth shooting star had already arrived and joined together with the previous nine shooting stars to form a gigantic circle.
Soon after that shooting star completed the picture of the circle, a deep voice spoke from within the ten shooting stars as if it came through time and space itself.
"Sky…"
The ancient voice echoed in the air. That voice might only have uttered one word, but that one word alone caused the ice on the ground to rumble and the sky to distort. It made Su Ming's ears buzz, and besides that one word, he could hear nothing else.
Su Ming was not the only one who could not hear anything else. Zi Che, who was standing by his side, was the same, even Hu Zi, who was in the ninth summit at that moment, could not hear anything else as well. Their ears were filled with only buzzing sounds.
That buzzing reverberated incessantly in the air. Almost no one from the eighth summit, the seventh summit, and all the nine summits on the Great Frozen Plains could hear anything else after the first word was spoken clearly. All they could hear was the buzzing in their ears.
This was not limited to the disciples in Great Frozen Plains. Those within Heaven Gate were the same. All of the disciples could only hear buzzing sounds and could not hear any other sound clearly. That was a type of subjugation done using the power of cultivation. It was a mystical ability that was used intentionally.
That mystical ability was not harmful. Its only use was to allow only those who were qualified to hear it, and those who were not qualified could not hear the voice!
Those who wanted to hear the voice carried within the ten shooting stars had to be at least at the Berserker Soul Realm. From that alone, it was clear that the message in that voice was an incredibly shocking secret.
There were only around a few dozens of people who could hear that voice in the entire Freezing Sky Clan, and almost all of them were the true powerful Berserkers in Freezing Sky Clan!
Su Ming's ears rang incessantly. He could hear nothing else around him, but his mind was clear. He looked at the dozen people standing around the ten shooting stars and watched as their expressions changed rapidly. Among them was Tian Lan Meng, who was shivering; she was so pale her face was bloodless.
Su Ming knew that something shocking must have happened… A glint appeared in his eyes. Even if his ears could not hear, but perhaps if he used his divine sense, he could.
Without a hint of hesitation, Su Ming spread out his divine sense and shaped it into a thin thread before he stretched it out towards the sky. During the process of him extending his divine sense, Su Ming shuddered. He felt a strong force repelling his divine sense, causing it to be unable to stretch out any further once he arrived at a certain distance.
Nonetheless, even so, he could still hear some faint murmurs in his head.
"...This thing… 3,000 years… Observe…"
The voice was very faint, but Su Ming could indeed hear it. He lifted his right hand quickly and grabbed a few golden stone coins from his bosom before clenching his fist. Those stone coins were immediately crushed, and as they scattered into the wind as dust, a vast amount of spiritual aura surged into the opened path within Su Ming's body. Once he circulated that spiritual aura in his body, his divine sense rushed forth and went further, closer to the stars.
"Others… Will be terrified… But… Alarm…"
Su Ming saw that the expressions of the people in the sky changed once again. Tian Xie Zi's robes even started showing signs of changing. Su Ming's heart trembled, and he quickly brought out more golden stone coins.
No one noticed his actions at that moment. All those who could hear the words were paying full attention to the voice, and those who could not hear had their minds turning blank as their ears continued ringing.
Su Ming brought out a large amount of stone coins, and once he crushed all of them, spiritual aura surged into his body, causing his divine sense to stretch out madly until it got closer to the area covered by the ten shooting stars.
"Western Sea… Freezing Sky… 100 years… Suffering… Land…"
Every single time he heard new words, the uneasiness within Su Ming's heart would grow stronger. He wanted to know the truth! So he lifted his hands, and immediately, a large number of stone coins flew out and surrounded his body. Once they all crumbled into dust, a powerful force was gathered onto Su Ming's divine sense. With a bang, it stretched right into the territory surrounded by the ten shooting stars!
At that instant, for the first time, the ancient voice appeared within Su Ming's mind in its complete form without stopping and without sounding muddled.
"This is the catastrophe of the Land of South Morning, and the only ones who need to know about it are those in the Berserker Soul Realm. The others should remain in the dark about this for their own good… once the ten shooting stars disappear, I will go forth to the land of Shamans for one final check. If it's truly the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands… then you must all quickly decide on whether you are going to move…"
Once that ancient voice spoke the last word, it let out a long sigh. Once it sighed, the ten shooting stars shuddered and shattered into dust before they rushed above the ninth heaven and disappeared without a trace.
Once they disappeared, the buzzing sounds no longer rang in the disciples' ears. Their hearing returned to normal, and all of them looked at the sky confused.
Tian Xie Zi walked back from the sky and went straight back to the top of the ninth summit. The others returned to their own mountains and to Heaven Gate with dark expressions on their faces.
Tian Lan Meng staggered back to the seventh summit with a pale face.
At the same time, an old voice came from Heaven Gate and reverberated in all the ears of Freezing Sky Clan's disciples.
"There is a change within the Shaman Tribe. We will march out before the scheduled date… That was the reason why Sky Mist City sounded the alarm. This is nothing major, do not panic… All those who want to enter the battle, hear me! By tomorrow morning, gather at Frozen Sky, and we will move immediately to defend Sky Mist City!"
That old voice was very calm. As if it contained a calming effect, when the voice spread out and landed in the disciples' ears, it made all of them recover from their shock and stop making assumptions so that they would not think too much.
"The Berserkers have fought many times against the Shaman Tribe. This sort of thing has happened quite a few times in the past. Marching out before the scheduled date is not an uncommon thing during the great battle that only occurs once a century. That is why, all of you who are going forth, you must be careful… You must prevent all the actions of the Shamans, because the land of the Berserkers lies behind you…"
As the old man's voice echoed in the air, the disciples of Freezing Sky Clan fell silent. They were no longer running wild with their thoughts in paranoia, their battle spirits were instead ignited.
"Tomorrow morning, we will go to war!"
Once that old voice shouted out his last words, all those within Freezing Sky Clan who wanted to fight bowed towards the sky together and roared with their strongest voices.
"To war!"
"To war!"
The voices came one after another and turned into a wave of sound that reverberated through Freezing Sky Clan.
Su Ming stood there with a pale face. He might not have heard all the words contained within the ten shooting stars, but he had indeed heard of some secrets here and there. Because of that, he knew that the voice from Heaven Gate was lying!
Or perhaps more accurately, that person was not dwelling on the crux of the matter. He did not tell them the true problem.
"The Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands… what does it mean..?"
Passionate shouts resounded in Su Ming's ears as he looked towards the seventh summit, then at the top of the ninth summit. In his silence, he took a few steps back and returned to his cave abode.
"If Master refuses to say it, he won't tell me even if I go and ask him… Besides, Master is not the only one who can tell me about it. There's also Tian Lan Meng."
Su Ming sat down in his cave. The passionate shouts ringing in his ears had died down somewhat.
"Are we about to go to war now..? But I still have something important I haven't done."
He closed his eyes.
Chapter 321: The Ninth Summit He was Unwilling to part With
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ten shooting stars also appeared within Western Sea Clan. The stars that were sent out by Sky Mist City told both Freezing Sky and Western Sea to prepare for the worst.
During the final night before the battle, compared to the silence within the mountains in Freezing Sky Clan, the sky was rife with rumbling sounds. Those rumbles came from Heaven Gate's nine continents moving.
To many people, this was a sleepless night. Once dawn arrived and the first rays of the morning sun appeared in the sky, many people would leave the land and head to Sky Mist…
What awaited them would perhaps be glory, a step to fame, or perhaps… death in foreign lands.
Most of them could not sleep that night. Even if they were training, quite a lot of them found themselves unable to calm down. Some of them stared at the darkness and let their minds wander, some started wiping their enchanted Vessels, some brought out the items given to them by their families and started praying.
The rumbling sounds continued traveling through the dark world outside. The shift in Heaven Gate and the offset in the placement of the nine continents gradually turned into a spread out picture. There was a distortion right at the middle of the picture. Occasionally, lightning would swim about within, as if it had turned into a mirror. The treasure that was used primarily to kill among the three greatest treasures was slowly appearing from within the distortion.
Su Ming walked out of his cave abode at midnight. The rumbling sounds had become stronger in his ears. In fact, when he lifted his head, he could even vaguely see the shape of Heaven Gate's nine continents in the dark, as well as the faint shape of something coming out slowly as if it was emerging from another world as it came from the swimming lightning.
Su Ming stood there for a long time, and his shadow looked bizarre under the moonlight. He averted his gaze and turned to walk towards the peak of the mountain. As he stepped on the ice covering the ninth summit, a look of reluctance to leave the place appeared in his eyes.
He knew that once he left tomorrow morning, there was no way he could know when he would come back, perhaps… he would not even be able to come back, but there were some things that he must do.
Only in battle could he grow up quickly. If he shied away due to fear, then what right did he have to search for a path to go home? The path to his home was much harder that the battle this time.
However, Su Ming still found it difficult to part with the ninth summit.
He found it hard to leave the plants here, leave Hu Zi's snores, leave his second senior brother's smile, his eldest senior brother's silent but loving care, and his Master's occasional crazy antics.
All of these things he treasured.
What he found himself unwilling to part with the most was the feeling from the ninth summit, the feeling of warmth here. Even if the weather here was freezing cold, but the warmth born within his heart amidst the cold made him value and treasure it even more.
He wanted to stay here. He wanted to stay here forever and not think about Dark Mountain, about the underlying meaning within that 'Destiny', about the years that had gone by when he was within the crack, and about the aloof pair of eyes and those words of disappointment.
He wanted to give up on solving all these mysterious, stop thinking about them, and to just spend the rest of his days here within the ninth summit.
Yet Su Ming was not willing to give up. He could not forget Dark Mountain. He could not forget everything that had happened.
He remained silent as he walked up the ninth summit. Once he reached the top of the mountain, he looked at the dust covered hall and bowed towards it with his fist wrapped in his palm.
"I, Su Ming, would like to meet Master."
His words traveled out, but they were swallowed by the rumbling sounds in the sky and swept away by the cold wind blowing around him, making his voice sound as if it could not exist in the air.
Su Ming stayed in that bowed position, unmoving.
Time trickled by. When the time taken for the burning of an incense stick passed by, a sigh came from beside Su Ming.
"Your third senior brother is not going, your second senior brother is not going, your eldest senior brother, too, is not going back… Are you… really going to leave?" Along with the words came Tian Xie Zi, dressed in long blue robes.
Su Ming straightened his body and turned around to look at Tian Xie Zi. There was uncertainty on his face, but it quickly turned into resolution.
"I have to go. If I don't even dare to go to the land of the Shamans and wait till I become stronger, then some day, even if I manage to reach the Berserker Soul Realm, I still won't dare to step out of the Land of South Morning.
"It's just as you said. It's still incredibly dangerous to leave the Land of South Morning even for the powerful Berserkers within the Berserker Soul Realm…"
The blue robed Tian Xie Zi looked at his disciple, stayed silent for a moment, and a melancholic look appeared on his face.
"This battle will be different from the previous battles… Perhaps you made the correct choice. We can't run away from this battle… Ah, fine. If you want to go, then go. Perhaps you might even run into me and your senior brothers there." Tian Xie Zi shook his head and sighed.
Su Ming hesitated for a moment before he asked softly, "Master, just what happened?"
"Didn't you hear some of what happened?" Tian Xie Zi gave Su Ming a look.
"Not all of it." Su Ming was momentarily stunned, but he still answered.
"That's enough. It's not necessarily a good thing for you to know more of something." Tian Xie Zi was silent for a moment before he cast a conflicted look towards the dark sky and grabbed the air with his right hand. Immediately, a wooden slip appeared in his hands and he handed it to Su Ming.
"The reason you came to me is because of the old xun maker which I brought you to see last time, right? This is the location of his tribe. Take this with you, and once you've traveled three nights on Frozen Sky, you can leave with this thing on you. That spot is the closest to where that person is."
Tian Xie Zi looked at Su Ming deeply before he lifted his hand and patted Su Ming's head. A kind and loving look appeared on his face.
"Walk down the path you desire, just like how I did to prove to my Master that the path I chose is correct. Go and prove that the path you chose is even better than mine." Tian Xie Zi moved past Su Ming and walked into the air before he gradually disappeared.
Su Ming stood there, silent for a long time, before he bowed towards the dust covered hall. He walked down the stairs and returned to his cave abode.
He looked around inside the cave. He did not sit down to meditate but chose to look at everything around him. All of these things were familiar, so familiar, so, so, familiar…
When dawn arrived and the first sliver of light was just about to appear in the horizon, Su Ming finished packing his belongings. He did not take away anything from the cave and let it remain as it was. In a few years, he would still return to this place. He believed it wholeheartedly.
Because this place… was also his home…
Once he was out of the cave, Su Ming suddenly lifted his right hand and pressed it on the ice wall by his side before he dug out an ice block and put it in his storage bag.
'This is a sign of the ninth summit…'
Su Ming stood on the platform and looked at the dark sky. He looked at the gigantic thing that was already mostly revealed in the middle of Heaven Gate, but the space around it was so distorted that its form could not be seen clearly.
He sucked in a deep breath of the ninth summit's air before Su Ming walked down the mountain stairs. When the sky started brightening up slightly, he arrived outside Hu Zi's cave abode. Snores could be heard coming from within the cave. A smile appeared on Su Ming's face and he entered Hu Zi's cave.
Hu Zi was lying sprawled on the ground, in a deep sleep. Drool slipped down the corners of his mouth and gathered into a puddle on the ground. There was a large amount of wine gourds by his side, and many of them had fallen to the side.
Su Ming looked at Hu Zi for a long time before he picked up a gourd that was filled with wine and left.
The sky was beginning to brighten up, but the earth was still in darkness. Su Ming saw his second senior brother wandering about like a ghost on the mountain. He paused in his footsteps momentarily. The moment he stopped, second senior brother floated towards him in the dark. He stopped still before Su Ming and stared at him.
"Second senior brother…" Su Ming opened his mouth and said softly.
"Youngest junior brother, I suspect that Shamans are stealing my plants at night. Once you get there, remember to help me search for the perpetrator and find out who did it," second senior brother said sternly.
Su Ming was momentarily stunned before he nodded his head with a wry smile.
"Bring this with you, and take care…" Second senior brother exuded a chilling presence during night. He took a few steps forward and placed something in Su Ming's hand before he floated past him.
Su Ming dipped his head and looked at his palm. There was a black piece of grass there that was glowing with a dim light.
"This thing grew up with my Phantom aura. It'll turn into Phantom mist once you place it down. It can be anywhere you like… When you're tired, you can rest at ease inside." Second senior brother's cold voice fell into his ears from the distance, but Su Ming did not feel cold. His heart became warm instead.
Morning arrived without anyone's knowledge. The sky brightened up and the darkness in the land was chased away. A large number of people walked out of their cave abodes from the nine summits and lifted their heads to look at the sky.
Heaven Gate's nine continents had positioned themselves into the shape of a ring in the sky. At its center, lightning swam about, and they looked like a web. Within that web was an object that was about 1,000 feet in length.
It was entirely black and its edges were sharp. By the looks of it, it was a giant sword!
That revealed part of the sword was already 1,000 feet in length, and its breadth was about 100 feet, making it look like the top of a mountain! There were complicated runic symbols flashing on it, and every single time they shone, a gigantic amount of pressure would descend upon the land.
Rumbling sounds continued reverberating in the air, and Su Ming saw that gigantic sword rapidly coming out from within the web. As it came out, the rumbling sounds grew stronger.
Soon, when the morning sun shone on the ground with a piercing light, the sky trembled ,and with a loud crash, that sword was now completely out of the web created in the middle of Heaven Gate.
It was a black sword. The length of it was about 1,000 something feet, and it was 100 feet in breadth. It floated in midair with a shocking murderous aura. It would have been fine if that was all there was, but the moment the sword appeared, it started swelling up rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, in a bizarre fashion, a large shadow was formed on the ground!
That sword swelled to several hundred times its size. Its length had become nearly 10,000 feet, and it had turned into a gigantic object floating in the sky like a giant mountain!
It looked like a sword, but if anyone took a closer look, it would then look like a ship!
The gigantic shadow on the ground had practically covered all the nine summits on land. As that sword appeared, an intense pressure fell upon the minds of all those who had lifted their heads to look.
"I am Jing Cheng Rong, the leader of the army!"
Nine people flew out from Heaven Gate's continents. All of the nine wore white robes, and eight of them sat down cross-legged at different corners of the giant sword. Only one of them stood at the tip of the sword. As his gaze swept through the land, he spoke slowly.
"All those who want to fight, step onto Frozen Sky! Once you step on it, you'll be branded, and if you die during battle, that brand will disappear! All you disciples of Freezing Sky, come forth now for the Shaman Hunt!"
Chapter 322: To War!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Come forth now!
Those words stirred up a large amount of echoes that sounded as if there were countless people howling at the same time. That voice spread throughout the entire area, and when those words fell in the people's ears, they could turn into a form of mind control that stirred up an endless amount of battle will within the people's hearts!
In the span of a breath, people started charging forth from the mountains on the ground towards Frozen Sky. The moment they stood on it, they instantly turned into small white dots on that gigantic black sword.
The white dot symbolized their life force, and its position would not change. Once it disappeared, it meant that the person had died.
Soon, more people flew towards Frozen Sky, and as more people landed on the sword, the white dots increased.
An overflowing amount of battle spirit erupted forth within Freezing Sky Clan, twenty days earlier than the promised date.
"The battle of Sky Mist, the Shaman Hunt. This is the pride of all Berserkers. This is the most important battle in our lives. In this battle, we might die, but even if we die, we would die for the Berserker Tribe!
"Perhaps we will not die, but if we don't die, then we will live in glory!" The old man standing at the tip of the sword shouted, and his voice reverberated through the air. That strange power in his voice roused all those who heard his words.
Even more people charged towards Frozen Sky. There were even some who came from Heaven Gate's continents, and the number of disciples from Heaven Gate who stepped onto the gigantic sword wasn't small.
"We already know that the Shaman Tribe will march out before the promised date. We saw the shooting stars from Sky Mist, and I will tell you this! What you saw was not an ill omen! To me, that is the signal of the start of the battle! I will tell you this. I have been waiting for this… for a hundred years!" the old man roared, and his voice reverberated furiously through the air.
Even more people flew towards Frozen Sky and stood on top of the sword to be branded with the mark that symbolized their life force.
"Freezing Sky Clan has not reached 10,000 years of age since its creation, but do you know how many Shamans Freezing Sky Clan has killed over the thousands of years?! I will tell you this! We've killed a countless number of them!
"Freezing Sky Clan has come to its current state from a weak clan. We kill the Shamans to show our power, and now, we are one of the only two great clans in the Land of South Morning!
"That is because we always win!"
The old man's voice echoed in the air once again, and once more, a large number of people charged towards the sword. At that moment, there were thousands of Freezing Sky Clan disciples standing on Frozen Sky.
"There are 100,000 Berserkers in Freezing Sky, and now, the Berserkers in Freezing Sky… will be in Sky Mist!" The old man let out a huge shout, and that shout shook the sky.
Su Ming stood on the ninth summit. Even if he knew some things the others around him did not know, the old man's words still stirred up an endless amount of battle will within his heart. Yet soon, a glint appeared in his eyes and he regained his senses.
"What incredible persuasive abilities…" Su Ming mumbled. If he did not possess divine sense, it would have been difficult for him to recover from being enticed and regain his senses just now.
He took a deep breath and turned around to cast a glance at Zi Che. Zi Che's battle spirits had already been ignited, and he looked as if he just needed one word from Su Ming to immediately rush out.
"Zi Che, since you chose to join the battle, I'll return your freedom to you! You don't have to stay by my side during the battle…" said Su Ming.
Zi Che was stunned, then turned to look at Su Ming as if he wanted to say something.
"I've already made up my mind about this! If you follow me, you'll be exposed to more danger, and if you can't control your own actions during battle, it'll be far too easy for you to die… You're free now," Su Ming said calmly.
"Understood!" Zi Che remained silent for a moment before he bowed respectfully to Su Ming.
Su Ming turned his head back and gave the ninth summit a final look before he turned around. Just when he was about to walk towards Frozen Sky, a gust of black mist suddenly appeared behind him. That black mist appeared too suddenly, and before Su Ming could react to it, it encircled his wrist and turned into a black bracelet!
At the same time, his eldest senior brother's voice echoed in Su Ming's mind.
"Youngest junior brother… Your journey to the land of the Shamans will be perilous. I'll give you a slave of mine… Her name is Fa Zang…"
Su Ming cast a glance at the black bracelet on his wrist before his gaze fell on the glacier underneath the ninth summit. Once he bowed towards that direction with his fist wrapped in his palm, he turned into a long arc and charged into the sky.
Zi Che followed behind him, and the two of them fused into the long arc that was formed by the other people of Freezing Sky Clan. Together with the other people, they stepped on the gigantic sword.
The instant Su Ming's foot landed on the sword, he immediately felt a surge of power fuse into his body through his foot before it swiftly returned to the sword. Soon, even if he could not see the brand that symbolized his life force on the sword, he could clearly feel its existence.
As time passed by, more of those from Freezing Sky Clan came forth and stepped onto Frozen Sky. When there were 10,000 Berserkers gathered on the gigantic blade of the sword, the sword trembled and slowly rose into the sky.
"Send off our warriors!"
An old voice came from within Heaven Gate, and soon, numerous people flew out of Heaven Gate. A large number of people from the nine summits on the land also flew out or stood at the peaks of their mountains and looked towards the gigantic sword and the 10,000 people gathered on it!
These people stood densely packed against each other, and they numbered to several tens of thousands.
"With our first bow, we pray the souls of our Gods of Berserkers will protect our people from Freezing Sky and grant us victory!" As the old voice reverberated in the air, all the people wrapped their fist in their palms and bowed towards the gigantic sword in the sky.
Once they bowed, the 10,000 people on the sword were immediately stirred up. They stared at the ground, at the many familiar faces gathered there, at their clans, and fell silent.
"Once more, we bow to send them off to battle. We pray to our ancestors in Freezing Sky to protect them so that you can all return safely!"
Su Ming stood at the edge of the blade with Zi Che by his side. Besides Zi Che, he did not know anyone else. He looked at the ground, at the ninth summit, and he could see the faint shadow of his Master appearing at the top of the mountain, and Hu Zi waving at him as he drank wine at the side of the mountain, and his second senior brother smiling at him gently as he stood under the sun with the light shining on him.
He also saw Han Cang Zi standing on the seventh summit while staring at him.
And there was also Han Fei Zi standing on the third summit with freezing aura emanating from her. She, too, was looking at him.
Then one particular gaze attracted Su Ming's attention. When he lifted his head to look at one of the continents in Heaven Gate, he saw a girl dressed in white staring at him.
"This is our final bow! All you warriors of Freezing Sky, in this battle, slaughter the Shamans!" That old voice shouted in a low roar that reverberated in the air and stirred up almost all the people on the sword to begin roaring back.
"Slaughter the Shamans!"
"Slaughter the Shamans!"
Su Ming's ears rang with these voices. He stood silently and closed his eyes.
The instant he closed his eyes, the sword that was Frozen Sky trembled once again under his feet and slowly turned its tip in another direction. As the people staying in Freezing Sky Clan roared with the people on the sword, the sword charged swiftly towards the direction of Sky Mist City.
The moment it charged out, a screen of light surrounded the sword and turned into an oval shaped mantle of light. With a piercing whistle and a loud bang, the sword charged into the distant world.
It traveled at a speed so quick that in the blink of an eye, they could no longer see Freezing Sky Clan. In an instant, the ground underneath them was no longer a layer of silvery white snow but was instead covered in green.
Su Ming opened his eyes. He could clearly sense that the sword's speed could almost rival his when he took off half of his ice hoops. And while Su Ming was confident that he could surpass the sword's speed for a short distance once he took off all his ice hoops, but if he had to travel a slightly longer distance, his body would immediately break down because he could not endure it, and he would be unable to compete against the sword.
Since this was one of the greatest treasures of Freezing Sky Clan, with its speed, it could arrive at Sky Mist City just in a few days.
"Are you afraid?!" When they left Freezing Sky Clan and the 10,000 feet sword continued charging forward, the old man standing at the tip of the sword turned his head around and laughed boisterously.
"No!" Someone from among the 10,000 people on the sword immediately roared back.
"You lie! The Shamans are brutal, it's okay for you to be afraid, but once you cut off the heads of those Shamans, you will realize you're not the only ones afraid, those damn bastards are also afraid of you!" The old man's laughter was very spirited and hearty. The previous persuasive tone in his voice was no longer in his voice.
"Also, we have quite a large number of people fighting with us. We might only have 10,000 people on the sword, but those bastards from Western Sea Clan will also have nearly 10,000 people joining the battle, and a large number of Berserkers from all the other tribes will go to Sky Mist City during the next few days!
"At that time, our men will not be few! This is what is meant by a great battle. This is the great battle that occurs only once a century!
"If you don't die in this battle, then through your experiences, you will all transform into powerful Berserkers!" The old man's laughter rang heartily throughout the entire sword.
"Now sit down and meditate. Make sure you are at the peak of your condition. We still need four days before we reach Sky Mist City!" As the old man spoke, gradually, a large number of people chose to sit down and meditate while they waited on the sword whose end could not be seen. Four days later, they would step onto Sky Mist City.
Right till the end, Su Ming never spoke one word. He sat down at edge of the sword, the endless sky right before him. He could see the screen of light that surrounded the sword, and behind the screen were white clouds tumbling about in the clear blue sky.
"What are you looking at?" a delicate voice came from behind Su Ming. He did not turn his head back, because the person who spoke had just sat down by his side.
"I'm looking at just how big the Land of South Morning is…" Su Ming said softly, then turned his head to the side to cast a glance at Tian Lan Meng, who was sitting beside him.
Tian Lan Meng's face was still stark white. She was also looking at the sky beyond the sword, immersed in her own thoughts.
"What did the ten shooting stars mean?" Su Ming suddenly asked in her head.
"It's nothing. Don't ask anymore." Tian Lan Meng then stayed silent, and after a long while, she shook her head.
Su Ming stared at Tian Lan Meng and sent his question to her. "Then… what is the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands?"
Tian Lan Meng's body jolted, she turned her head around, and with shock in her beautiful eyes, she stared at Su Ming.
Chapter 323: Harmonious Morus Alba's Wings!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming looked at Tian Lan Meng calmly. Their gazes met not too far away from each other on the edge of the 10,000 feet sword.
Tian Lan Meng remained silent for a moment before she opened her mouth and said, "I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Why do you find the need to hide it from me?" Su Ming frowned, then turned around to look at the blue sky beyond Frozen Sky.
Tian Lan Meng hesitated for a moment, looking as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
"How did you learn of the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands?" After a long while, her gaze fell on Su Ming's face and she asked him in his mind.
It was not quiet around them. There were low whispers occasionally appearing in the air, but the sword was too huge and there were 10,000 people sitting on it. That's why if the people were further away from each other, they would not be able to hear what the other was saying clearly. The loud whistling sounds from the sword as it sliced through the air also drowned out voices.
"When the ten shooting stars appeared, I heard some of what they said." Su Ming did not hide anything because he had to know the truth. In his mind, this piece of information that was only privy to those in the Berserker Soul Realm was very important. It might even affect some of his actions in the land of the Shamans.
Tian Lan Meng averted her gaze and looked at the sky beyond the sword. After a long while, she spoke gently.
"Have you ever heard… of the legend of the Harmonious Morus Alba..?"
Su Ming was taken aback for a moment then shook his head. He did not speak.
"Harmonious Morus Alba is a butterfly of legend. It will only flap its wings three times in its life… The first time it flaps its wings, it will cause the mountains to crumble and the earth to shatter in the east," said Tian Lan Meng softly, looking at the sky beyond the sword.
"It's just a legend," Su Ming retorted.
"A legend, hmm..? Right now, in our world, no one has ever seen the first God of Berserkers, but could you say that the first God of Berserkers is also a legend? We don't know whether the Harmonious Morus Alba exists…" Tian Lan Meng shook her head.
"Nine shooting stars mean that the Great Patriarch has appeared within the Shaman Tribe. That is an entity that exceeds all life forms, a thing that exceeds what we can understand with our Realms of cultivation."
Tian Lan Meng's voice in Su Ming's head was gentle, but there was a hint of fear within her words. Su Ming could clearly feel her fear as her voice reverberated in his mind.
"Great Patriarch?" Su Ming turned around and looked at Tian Lan Meng.
"You should know that the great Berserkers of the Land of South Morning fought against the Great Patriarch thousands of years ago. The three great Berserkers won in the end, but the Great Patriarch did not die. He simply went into deep sleep.
"He is an indestructible entity… Now, he woke up again. That is why Sky Mist City sent out those nine shooting stars to tell Freezing Sky Clan and Western Sea Clan." Tian Lan Meng bit her bottom lip and spoke gently in his head.
Su Ming's pupils shrank. He remained silent for some time before he asked.
"What about ten shooting stars?"
"In the Land of South Morning, nine shooting stars should have been the limit of what Sky Mist City can send to Freezing Sky and Western Sea. From what I can remember, ever since Sky Mist City was formed, they have never sent out ten shooting stars…
"Today is the first time they did so," Tian Lan Meng's face was stark white as she mumbled under her breath.
"By logic, five shooting stars mean a great disaster, eight shooting stars mean that the Berserkers of the Land of South Morning are faced with the threat of annihilation, nine shooting stars mean that the Shaman Tribe's power has reached its peak… Then ten shooting stars might mean…"
Once Tian Lan Meng spoke to that point, she stopped, and when she put on a look as if she was thinking about how she should phrase her next sentence. Su Ming softly spoke beside her.
"South Morning will fall…" Once Su Ming said those words in her mind, Tian Lan Meng shuddered and her face turned stark white. After a long while, she nodded her head bitterly.
"Just what sort of thing could cause the Land of South Morning to fall?" Su Ming found it a little hard to believe that idea. He simply could not fathom what sort of power could possibly exist in the world that could do such a terrifying thing.
"If the Great Patriarch truly possesses such power, then there's no need to fight in this battle," Su Ming said in her head, his voice low.
"He might have such incredible power that it exceeds our understanding, but… he can't do that. Still, even if he can't do it, it doesn't mean that no one else can. Didn't the battle between the second God of Berserker and the Immortals from the other worlds divide the continents of the land of Berserkers..?" Tian Lan Meng said softly.
"Do you still remember me mentioning the Harmonious Morus Alba..?" Tian Lan Meng looked at Su Ming, and he could clearly see the fear in her eyes.
"The first time the Harmonious Morus Alba flaps her wings, it will cause the mountains to crumble and the earth to shatter in the east…" answered Su Ming.
"The eastern continent is the Eastern Wastelands. Between the five continents belonging to the Berserkers is the endless Dead Sea that is filled with water that looks like an ocean but is not an ocean, looks like ink but is not ink, and looks like blood but is not blood... No one can pass through the Dead Sea.
"Ever since the five continents were separated, we lost all contact with each other. It's as if our messages were intercepted." Tian Lan Meng's voice echoed in Su Ming's head.
"If someday, the Dead Sea extends to our lands like a tidal wave that drowns out the entire Land of South Morning, at that time, how many people would be able to survive…?" Tian Lan Meng dipped her head down.
"Perhaps there would be some who would survive, but when the Land of South Morning is flooded, the mountains crumble and the earth shatter, and the entire Land of South Morning is destroyed… at that time, how many people would survive..? Will the both of us survive?" Tian Lan Meng closed her eyes.
"That's the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands? Is it connected to the Eastern Wastelands?" Su Ming was shocked to the core. His breathing quickened, and a thought that to him was ridiculous gradually appeared in his mind.
"The Dead Sea won't expand without reason. It has existed since forever. It won't change without reason." Tian Lan Meng remained silent for some time before she spoke bitterly.
"Unless there is a power that could move that endless Dead Sea and make its waters surge like the waves in the sea…" Su Ming mumbled.
"You heard the words the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands, but you didn't hear what was spoken before them. My ancestor mentioned that more than 10,000 feet of the area close in the eastern part of South Morning, which belongs to the Shamans, has been flooded by the Dead Sea…
"This is the first time such a thing has happened in the Land of South Morning. It is also precisely this change that prompted the Shamans to panic and attack Sky Mist Barrier before the promised date.
"The Dead Sea won't grow bigger for no reason. It would only grow bigger because the Eastern Wastelands, a continent that is located really far away from the South Morning, is pushing the Dead Sea towards the Land of South Morning… at an inconceivable speed."
Tian Lan Meng finally told Su Ming the secret. The secret from Sky Mist City that was originally only privy to those in the Berserker Soul Realm, and the one they had been forbidden to spread to others!
"Eastern Wastelands and South Morning crashing into each other..." Su Ming sucked in a sharp breath. He understood what was going on now, but he still could not imagine how such a huge continent could move at such a high speed.
"Perhaps it'll take one year, perhaps ten, or perhaps less than that… but eventually, when Eastern Wastelands crashes into the Land of South Morning at that high speed it's traveling now, what do you think will happen to South Morning?
"From what the ancient maps tell us, the mass of land belonging to the Eastern Wastelands is several times the size of South Morning's…" Tian Lan Meng stared at Su Ming, and despair appeared in her eyes.
Su Ming shuddered and closed his eyes. He could somewhat imagine the horrors that would happen the instant two continents of different sizes, one big and the other small, crashed into each other at an indescribable speed.
"First, the edge to the east of the Land of South Morning would instantly shatter, and the impact that caused the land to shatter would continuously spread out. In a very short amount of time, that crack would extend to Sky Mist Barrier…
"Then, Sky Mist Barrier would crumble and the land of Berserkers would be destroyed along with it… Even if we escape to the westernmost part of the land, it'll still be difficult for us to escape the fate of being destroyed.
"When the continent crumbles and tilts to the side, the part of the Dead Sea that came with the Eastern Wastelands will drown out everything… Perhaps some of us will survive. When the land under our feet has turned into pieces, we will continue living on one of the pieces as if it was an island floating in the endless Dead Sea…
"But it's clear that it's very difficult to find such an opportunity when you live close to the borders, and especially once they knock into our land, the Land of South Morning will definitely start moving west… At that time, the west part of South Morning and all its coasts will suffer the worst damage.
"And the Shamans live at the outer parts of South Morning… For the sake of their survival, you can surely imagine just how devastating the Sky Mist Shaman Hunt this time will be…
"The Shamans want to invade Sky Mist Barrier and occupy the center of the Land of South Morning. Only if they stay there can they have a hope that their race can survive through the disaster when it comes.
"But would you be able to let the mortal enemy of generations of your race walk into your home..? Besides, if they move into Sky Mist Barrier, then we have to divide a part of our land to them. The result of us providing a piece of land to the Shamans that might or might not remain safe during the disaster... is us wiping away the lives of the Berserkers who were originally living in those places…
"And it stands that no one can be certain which part of the center of South Morning will remain safe till the end. If the Shamans aren't around, then the Berserkers can spread out, and the possibility of us continuing our line will surely exist, no matter how small, but once we make the wrong choice and give up the safe place to the Shamans…" Tian Lan Meng's voice became weaker until she eventually fell silent.
"The Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands…" Su Ming's face turned pale. All of this surpassed his imaginations. In fact, even if he heard the truth now, he still found it a little hard to believe all of it.
Yet at the same time, he also instantly understood why the information could not be shared with everyone. Once that happened… it would definitely bring about an unimaginable disaster brought by human hands…
"Harmonious Morus Alba." Su Ming committed that name to memory even though he knew that this was a legend, a legend that just might be coincidental to what was happening now.
"You won't be able to hide this for too long. As time passes by, more and more people will know about it." Su Ming sent his message to Tian Lan Meng, and his voice was solemn in her heart.
"During this disaster, many people will die… We live in this day and age, and we have no choice." Tian Lan Meng stood up and went to stand at the edge of the sword as a profound look appeared in her eyes.
"Thank goodness we're not alone…" Tian Lan Meng turned her head to the side and looked at Su Ming with her beautiful eyes. There was a strange light flickering within them.
"Su Ming, do everything possible to increase your power before the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands arrives. If you do, then even if you lose the Land of South Morning, even if you lose everything, as long as you're alive, then you still have your powers to keep you company and support you…"
Su Ming stared at the sky beyond the sword and did not say a word.
Chapter 324: Not Convinced?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"It's not necessarily a good thing for you to know more of something…" Su Ming stood at the edge of the sword and his Master's words before he left appeared in his head.
That was what Tian Xie Zi had said when Su Ming asked him about the ten shooting stars.
Su Ming finally understood what he meant now. It was truly not necessarily a good thing to know more of something. Right then, the one thing that occupied his mind most of the time was the scene the Eastern Wastelands moving the Dead Sea.
In his mind's eye, he saw the continent rapidly traveling forth under the sky. He saw mountain ranges rising and falling. He could even see some tribes, but in the blink of an eye, the mountain ranges before his eyes crumbled. The ground was flipped into the air as if it was lifted up. Plenty of people died and were injured, and at the same time, the black Dead Sea spread out and drowned all signs of life.
Tian Lan Meng sat beside Su Ming, also having fallen silent. She could be thinking about something, but her mind might be blank as well.
Time passed by, and soon, the first night arrived. The sky turned dark, but Su Ming could see a white line in the distance. It was as if it was still bright over at that place.
The disciples of Freezing Sky Clan on the sword started moving about after meditating for an entire day. The people who were close to each other formed groups of three to five. Laughter rang in the air, as if they were using this sort of method to calm their minds before the start of Sky Mist Shaman Hunt.
Laughter appeared on top of Frozen Sky. Looking at them, at the people who did not know the truth, Su Ming could already imagine just what would happen once all these people learned of the truth. Then… how many of them would be able to laugh? How many of them would be able to fight in the coming battle…?
Just as Su Ming looked towards the disciples of Freezing Sky Clan, he also saw some people from Heaven Gate sitting at the edge of the sword, and each of them was distanced quite evenly from each other.
The old man sitting at the tip of the sword had a calm expression on his face, but he would occasionally frown. Su Ming could sense that the old man's mind was perhaps not as calm as his words were and how he presented himself to be.
'He knows the truth… perhaps all nine of them from Heaven Gate know the truth.'
When Su Ming sized up Jing Cheng Rong, who was sitting at the top of the sword, that old man suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards Su Ming with a gaze like lightning.
Su Ming closed his eyes. He could feel the old man's gaze falling onto him like sharp needles. After some time, that feeling slowly went away.
"Is your name Su Ming?"
An old voice suddenly appeared by Su Ming's ears. As Su Ming opened his eyes, he immediately saw that Jing Cheng Rong had still not averted his gaze and was still staring at him, but that piercing gaze was no longer there.
Su Ming nodded his head.
"Come to my side." Jing Cheng Rong looked at Su Ming and his voice echoed by Su Ming's ears. The method in which he sent his voice to Su Ming was different from Tian Lan Meng's, but the effects were similar.
Su Ming hesitated for a moment before he stood up. Tian Lan Meng cast him a glance by his side, but she did not speak.
Su Ming moved forward and walked past the crowd. When he walked past his fellow disciples, he heard their laughter and their voices, some of which sounded close to him, and some far away, he heard the different sounds of breathing coming from those who were meditating, and he continued hearing all these things until he traveled a long distance and arrived at the tip of the giant sword. He had arrived before Jing Cheng Rong.
The distance between them previously was not really far away, or else it would have been difficult for the two of them to see each other. However, Su Ming still needed quite some time to walk over.
"Sit down." Jing Cheng Rong looked at Su Ming and spoke with a raspy voice.
The tip of the sword was positioned right before the space that spanned endlessly before them. It was also the spot where the whistling sounds were the strongest. In fact, as he stood there, Su Ming could even somewhat feel the wind blowing against his face and feel the power of the sword breaking through space with that intense speed.
Jing Cheng Rong was the only person sitting over there, and there was an empty space of about one hundred feet around him. Without being summoned, no one was allowed to go into the area.
Su Ming did not speak and sat down beside the old man. The moment he sat down, a feeling as if a huge gust of wind was blowing against him, causing his breathing to quicken and his body to tear apart appeared within him. That sensation came too suddenly, and Su Ming even had the feeling as if his body was about to be blown away by that huge gust of wind, as if he was about to be blown off the giant sword.
His hair was blown into a mess and fluttered about behind him rapidly. Su Ming could not remain sitting. Once he staggered a few steps backwards, a glint appeared in his eyes, and with one stomp on the sword, he stopped his body from moving away. His face was flushed red as he took a few steps forward once again and returned to the spot where he originally wanted to sit down; he did so slowly.
The moment he sat down, that feeling as if he was being torn apart appeared once again, but this time, Su Ming was prepared. Banging sounds came from within him, and even though he did so slowly, he sat down.
As he sat there, Su Ming's body trembled. All his blood was rapidly circulating in his body, the power of Awakening within him was also activated, and even his divine sense chose to spread out around him. At that moment, his body had automatically started resisting the power of the gust of wind even without his control.
"This is what it means to train your body by refining it!" When Jing Cheng Rong saw Su Ming sit down, praise appeared in his eyes.
"Even if you're wearing twenty incredibly heavy ice hoops, it's at most superficial training." The praise within the old man's eyes disappeared and was replaced with scorn.
Su Ming was having trouble breathing and could not speak, but there was a dubious look in his eyes. This was the method he came up with, and this method had indeed allowed him to endure much faster speeds rapidly. In fact, once he moved at full speed, he could surpass Frozen Sky's speed for a short distance.
"Not convinced? I'll let you have a chance to prove yourself." Jing Cheng Rong let out a cold snort and suddenly lifted his right hand to grab Su Ming's shoulder before he flung him to the side.
The old man's actions were too quick and Su Ming could not dodge them. He only felt his vision blurring, and with that one throw, he was flung off Frozen Sky!!
In fact, the force of that throw not only flung Su Ming off the sword, he was also cast out of the protective screen of light outside the giant sword. It caused him to instantly break away from the sword and be thrown into the darkness, the mad gust of wind whistling towards him.
Only at that moment did someone on the giant sword notice what had happened, and they immediately let out cries of surprise.
The instant Su Ming was flung off Frozen Sky, rumbling sounds immediately rang throughout his entire body. That sword traveled so quickly that in the blink of an eye, it had already covered another distance of 100,000 feet. Once Su Ming could see his surroundings clearly, he saw the sword hilt passing by in a flash, and the gust of wind that appeared as it swept past blew him away, causing him to be unable to stand still.
Anger appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He did not offend that old man, yet he still did such a thing. However, he did not have time to ponder about it. The sword was about to disappear further into the distance. Rumbling sounds immediately begun in Su Ming's body. All the ice hoops instantly shattered at that moment, and his speed reached a terrifying state. He charged towards the departing sword.
With his speed, he could surpass that sword if it was for a short distance. As if he warped through space, he appeared 1,000 feet behind the sword. Wind tore against Su Ming's body, and red appeared in his eyes. He charged forward once again, and when he reappeared once more, he had already caught up to the sword, but he was only at the sword hilt. Blood trickled out of Su Ming's mouth. Then with one step, he moved through the protective layer and landed on the very end of the rapidly flying sword's hilt. The moment he landed, Su Ming coughed out a huge mouthful of blood and his face turned stark white.
He wiped away the blood at the corners of his mouth and walked with huge steps forward. As he passed through, all the gazes of the people looking at him were filled with awe and respect, and they moved away to open up a path for him. Just now, they had seen Su Ming catching up to the sword from behind with their own eyes.
However, the sword was too big, that was why there were only a few who saw the entire process. Su Ming charged forth, and in a moment, he had already traveled 100,000 feet in distance to stand once again at the tip of the sword. Jing Cheng Rong sat there and stared at Su Ming coldly.
"Still not convinced? Do you think you're really great for catching up to the sword?"
"Just what exactly constitutes as body refinement?" Su Ming stared at the old man and let out a long breath.
"Letting your body bear extra weight, then suddenly becoming lighter when you activate your speed is extremely foolish. How does that make you any different from a leaf? Or do you perhaps want to be like a leaf and be blown far away when the wind blows, just like the leaf, because it's light?
"But even a leaf can't last long in the wind. A little longer and it will be torn apart. In fact, once it runs into headwind and these two gusts of wind crash into each other, the leaf will be instantly destroyed, do you believe me? The faster you go, the faster you die, do you believe me?" the old man spat out coldly.
Su Ming lifted his head in shock.
"If it wasn't for Bai Cang Zai, I wouldn't have bothered enlightening you. Come here and sit down!" With a scowl, Jing Cheng Rong shouted at Su Ming.
Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he walked to the old man's side and bowed towards him with his fist wrapped in his palm, then he sat down respectfully beside him.
To the easternmost part at the edge of the Land of South Morning was a cliff that looked like a ladder. Now, a large part of the cliff was already covered by dark seawater. As Jing Cheng Rong taught Su Ming, that seawater was releasing a strange presence. The surface of the sea was not calm. Waves were rising and falling.
There were seven to eight people wearing red robes standing on the only part of the cliff left. These people's faces were pale, and there were very colorful Totems on their faces. One of them crouched down and took a scrutinizing look at the waves slapping against the spot around 100 feet underneath the cliff.
"It just rose by another ten feet… Before long, this cliff will be covered by seawater, and once it is, a large part of the Dead Sea will move into our lands���."
The moment this person spoke softly, immediately, roars came from within the endless and black Dead Sea before them. It was soon followed by the waves increasing in size, and from the sea in the distance, a tail that was about 1,000 feet in size shot out from the sea before slapping the surface of the Dead Sea, causing more waves to appear.
More tails slapping against the sea likes these appeared further away… and they numbered in the hundreds!
The faces of the Shamans over there turned pale. One of the old men who had his eyes closed opened them slowly at that moment.
"I can sense their fear… These Soul Alligators that should be staying at the depths of the Dead Sea were forced to come here due to their fear… The prophecies of the Berserker's Realm Mountain are not an ancient legend. It… came true…" the old man mumbled.
He lifted his right hand and waved it at the sky, and immediately, a speck of light flew out from his palm and charged towards the dark sea. Once it traveled far into the distance, the speck of light exploded, causing an area of several hundreds of thousands of feet within the Dead Sea to instantly brighten up!
"That is…"
The crowd immediately let out cries of surprise, and their expressions changed drastically.