Chapter 1323 - 332 - 338

Chapter 332: Soul Catcher

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The instant he saw the crystal, a smile suddenly appeared on the man's lips.

"That's right, I followed you because of that. It's a pity that the other two useless pieces of trash calling themselves Shamans didn't have it. But since you have it, then it naturally belongs to you, brother Mo.

"Judging by the direction you're going, you should be heading to Sky Mist City. If that's the case, we're going down the same path." Wu Duo wrapped his fist in his palm in a greeting towards Su Ming.

"Don't need."

Su Ming gave Wu Duo a look, then turned around to leave. He could tell that this person was dangerous, and he did not want to waste too much time now that he was about to enter the battle of Sky Mist. Of course, if this person attacked first, then Su Ming would not mind checking out how powerful he himself was now.

"Brother Mo, please wait." Wu Duo took a few steps forward and immediately spoke.

Su Ming came to a halt, and a chilling glint appeared in his eyes.

"Brother Mo, don't misunderstand, I just want to make a deal. You will definitely be interested in it." Wu Duo looked calm and offered a smile, as if he did not notice thee chilling glint in Su Ming's eyes.

Su Ming did not say anything. He simply stared at this Wu Duo coldly.

"Brother Mo, if you can bring some proof of your accomplishments when you go to Sky Mist City alone, once you enter Sky Mist City, your rank will definitely be quite high. Brother Mo, I need your help with something that will definitely net you some credit. Once you succeed, I promise you, you will obtain enough credit to make even Sky Mist City look at you favorably," Wu Duo said slowly, licking his lips.

"Go on." Su Ming kept a calm composure.

"Heh heh, brother Mo, you're a decisive one, I admire you for that. I won't beat around the bush then. I received a tip that some Shamans are sneaking into our land using some special methods now that Sky Mist City is too busy to bother with them.

"The three Shamans you saw previously were the first batch. There should still be some other Shamans who had snuck in. If the two of us work together and manage to kill all of them, then bring their heads to Sky Mist City, we'll definitely be able net a huge achievement under our belts!

"Brother Mo, what do you think?" Wu Duo asked, smiling at Su Ming.

"If they can sneak under the defenses of Sky Mist City then run into our land, then they are definitely not weak. Besides, if they are few in number, we won't gain a lot of credit, but if there are a lot of them, then even if you and I work together, it will still be difficult for us to kill them.

"And more importantly, how do you know about this?" Su Ming's voice was freezing cold as he asked languidly.

"Brother Mo, I suppose you don't know about this, but there is a crack in Sky Mist City's defenses… well, it's not really a crack. Only Fledgling Shamans and those below can pass through it. Medial Shamans would find it hard to enter because their power is too great.

"More importantly, you need to sacrifice a lot of lives to get through that crack. Usually, only those who have made ample preparations are able to find a chance and sneak through during battle.

"There are very few people like that, or else it wouldn't be a secret. I received a tip that there are less than twenty Shamans who have entered our land and are loitering around the area. Besides, these people are at most Fledgling Shamans with the power equivalent to Berserkers at the initial stage of the Bone Sacrifice Realm.

"As for why I know these things… Brother Mo, I would have to ask you to not continue asking. This is my secret," Wu Duo said in a dark voice, his eyes on Su Ming.

"I won't hide from you. Once we kill these people, I will let you have the corpses to claim the credit, but their items have to go to me. As thanks, once this is over, I can tell you what the crystals are for. After all, there are still many chances for us to obtain them during the battle of Sky Mist.

"This is the first time we work together. If all things work out, then we can still continue working together. If you still can't find it in yourself to believe in me, then I will take the first strike each time we run into a Shaman. You will be able to make your decision if that's the case," Wu Duo said in a low voice.

Su Ming remained silent. If this mysterious Wu Duo had mentioned any other deal, he would not have been interested. Yet if he hunted down and killed these Shamans, Su Ming could use this as the perfect excuse for why he could not make it back to Sky Mist City within the allocated time.

"What is a Fledgeling Shaman, and on that note, what is a Medial Shaman?" Su Ming was silent for a moment before he suddenly threw that question out.

Wu Duo was taken aback for a moment before he cast a surprised glance at him.

"Brother Mo, you don't know? Oh well, this isn't a secret anyway. Your clan or tribe might have forgotten to tell you about it."

Wu Duo was slightly thrown off track and found himself slightly unable to figure out Su Ming's origins. All those from slightly bigger tribes would definitely know about the ranking system within the Shaman Tribe, and Su Ming did not give him the feeling that he came from a small tribe.

'Could it be that he's testing me?'

Wu Duo gasped in his heart, but managed to maintain a calm composure and say with a smile, "The Shaman Tribe is different from the Berserker Tribe. You can even say that they are completely different from us. We of the Berserker Tribe divide our levels in a manner similar to us moving up a ladder, which are the divisions of the four great realms, Blood Solidification, Awakening, Bone Sacrifice, and Berserker Soul.

"Each Realm is also divided into four small stages, which are the initial, middle, later, and completion stages.

"But the Shaman Tribe is different. The ranking system in the Shaman Tribe is rather messy, but it can also be said to be rather simple. They have six great Realms. They are divided into Battle Shaman, Spirit Wisdom, Thought Soothsayer, Soul Catcher, Spirit Medium, and Split Dawn.

"These six Realms are seldom divided in a manner where one is superior to the other. You can say that these are six paths each Shaman can choose after their coming of age ceremony. Their Patriarch or Matriarch will hold a test for them to find the most suitable path for their cultivation.

"They have six types of Realms, and each one of them is divided into four stages: Fledgling, Medial, Latter, and End. A Fledgling Shaman is equivalent to those of us in the initial stage of the Bone Sacrifice Realm, and Medial Shaman is about the same as those of us who have attained the great completion of the Bone Sacrifice Realm. Latter Shaman is equivalent to those of us in the initial stage of the Berserker Soul Realm, and End Shaman is equivalent to those of us who have attained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm.

"There is still a legendary stage after the End. It is known as Hollow. Within the six great Realms, anyone who has gone past End can call himself or herself as the Hollow Shaman!

"But the difficulty for a Hollow Shaman to appear is second only to the God of Berserkers appearing among us Berserkers." Wu Duo smiled faintly,explaining in detail.

"Battle Shaman, Spirit Wisdom, Thought Soothsayer, Soul Catcher, Spirit Medium, and Split Dawn."

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. This was the first time he had heard of the rank division among the Shamans. It was completely different from the divisions in the Berserker Tribe. Among these six types, he had seen the Split Dawn and Spirit Medium before, but he had no idea which category the Patriarch of Lizard Shaman Tribe belonged to.

"The simple part of it is due to the four stages, which are the Fledgeling, Medial, Latter, and End stages. The messy part is because these six Realms are all different from each other. The Battle Shamans are the warriors of the Shaman Tribe. They number the highest, and in a way akin to a sacrifice, they will use the power of their bodies along with their sense towards their Totems to gain great power.

"Spirit Wisdoms can control other people's fate after combining their strength with their wisdom. They are very unique in the Shaman Tribe. All of the Patriarchs in the Shaman Tribe are Spirit Wisdoms, and their wisdom is supreme to all others. They can call upon the wind and summon rain, force their own people to sacrifice their lives for their gods."

Once Wu Duo started talking about the Spirit Wisdoms, his voice became much softer, as if he was very wary of these Spirit Wisdoms.

When Su Ming heard about them, he was slightly shaken. He remembered just how strong the Patriarch of Lizard Shaman Tribe was. He was one of the rare, incredibly powerful enemies that Su Ming had run into in his life.

"Thought Soothsayers are chosen among the most handsome men or beautiful women in the tribe. Then their powers in prophesying will be trained. They will observe the stars and govern over the land to become more familiar with maintaining good human relationships. Powerful Thought Soothsayers can arrive at a terrifying state where they can tell when lives return to earth, when earth is affected by the sky, and when sky provides for all.

"Soul Catchers are skilled with the Red Death Spell, the Revival Spell, and the Immortality Spell. You must absolutely not look into their eyes. They are as powerful as the Candle Dragon1... I killed two Fledgling Soul Catchers before, and it is a nightmare fighting against them."

When Wu Duo spoke up to that point, he fell silent for a moment.

"Spirit Mediums govern over the souls of the dead and the living. They pity the dead, but are completely unbothered by the living. A single Spirit Medium might not be strong, but if a powerful one works together with a Soul Catcher, they will bring about disaster to the living.

"The final one are the Split Dawns. They are beautiful, rare, and each pair of Split Dawns can only be fully developed after the Shaman Tribe pours in a large amount of effort into them. They are an existence that is unworldly, an existence that defies reality. It is said that they can imagine anything they like, and all their imaginations will turn into reality! I hate these sort of Shamans, but in truth, it is also the most difficult for Hollow Shamans to appear from this class.

"Once a Hollow Split Dawn appears, then his existence would be the same as a new God of Berserkers appearing among the Berserkers. In fact, he'd be even more powerful than the God of Berserkers!

"That is the Shaman Tribe. Brother Mo, the more you understand them, the higher your chances of survival will be during the battle of Sky Mist. Now then, do you think we have a chance of working together?"

Wu Duo licked his lips and looked at Su Ming.

Su Ming pondered over it for a while, then said resolutely, "If you're this confident, then you must be certain that you can find them. Lead the way."

"Brother Mo, you're a straightforward person. I can indeed find them. As for the reason, well, I can't say it. But don't worry, I'm offering to work together sincerely!" Wu Duo laughed boisterously and stepped onto air before turning into a long arc and charging into the distance.

"Brother Mo, the closest batch of Shamans are somewhere near us if we go straight ahead. Once I attack, please help me!"

Su Ming got up and stepped forward, then right behind Wu Duo, he too turned into a long arc and charged into the sky without a word.

Far off in that direction, there were two Shamans who were cautiously dashing across the plains. One of these two was wearing a leather helmet with bull horns on it. His gaze was ghastly, and there was a scar on his lips, making it seem as if his lips divided into four. It was a terrifying sight to behold.

By his side was a boy. That boy's hair floated behind his head, and he had his eyes closed, but there was an air of ghastliness surrounding him, causing fear and respect to appear on the man's face when he occasionally looked over.

"You're scared." As the two of them moved forward, the boy, who still had his eyes closed, suddenly opened his mouth and spoke. His voice was rather sharp, and it sounded as if it was scraping against the man's soul.

"Lord Soul Catcher…" The man beside him shuddered.

"Don't be afraid. That Wu Duo won't dare to play any tricks. Once we finish the trade, he will become your companion and follow me while enjoying an Undying Shaman Body."

A smile appeared on the boy's lips, and even though his eyes remained closed, there was still a strange black light shining through the slit between his eyelids.

"Yes!" The man's eyes immediately turned blank, and he lowered his head before answering respectfully. There was not a hint of emotion in his words. It was as if he was a dead man talking.

The instant he lowered his head, a maggot crawled out and fell onto the ground from his four parted lips. That man… His body was filled with maggots... He… was a dead man!

烛九阴 (Zhu Jiu Ying) is also known as 燭龍 (Zhu Long), and 烛阴 (Zhu Ying). It is a Chinese mythological creature with the body of a snake and the head of a dragon, and it is recorded in Shan Hai Jing. It controls day and night by opening and closing its eyes, and when it breathes, it changes the seasons.

The word 烛 is torch, and 阴/龍 is dragon. So it's literally "Torch Dragon", but the official Chinese translation for this is Candle Dragon, so Candle Dragon it is.

(Even though I think Torch Dragon sounds cooler than Candle Dragon.)

Chapter 333: Boy!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

On the fifth afternoon since Su Ming left Frozen Ice Sky, the wind blew gently while the sun shone brilliantly, and the clouds spread out in the sky like scales. The sun was bright and illuminated the plains. It was as if the light had fused with the wind itself and was blowing through the grass, causing rustling sounds to fill the air.

Wu Duo was charging forward at an extremely high speed in the form of a long arc. Su Ming was by his side, his robes were fluttering in the wind. His face was the epitome of relaxation, and his thoughts could not be read from his expression.

He did not choose to travel behind Wu Duo. After all, the two of them had just gotten to know each other, and the process in which they got acquainted had not been on good terms. That was why there was no need for him to do anything that would lead to misunderstandings.

This was the reason why while Su Ming and Wu Duo's distance between each other did not seem too far away when anyone lifted their heads and looked up, but in truth, they were about 1,000 feet apart from each other.

As they charged forth, Wu Duo would intentionally lower his speed and observe Su Ming, but no matter how many times he observed him, he could not find any clues. He could not tell where Su Ming came from, so he turned his attention to the Fire Ape, which was also traveling with them right beside Su Ming.

'This Mo Su might not seem old, but his actions are experienced. His words are also very sharp. It's clear that he's not someone who has just left his clan or tribe. He's also a very independent person, and his goals are very clear. If it wasn't because I tempted him by saying he can gain achievements by killing Shamans, he would have definitely not agreed to come with me.

'So, by this alone, it can be said that he's not without weaknesses. This person's desire to gain achievements is great…'

The ape was a new type and was not something Wu Duo knew of. The more he observed it, the more mysterious he found Su Ming. It was not as if there was no malice within Wu Duo's heart, but that malice slowly diminished by a large amount due to his uncertainty towards the mystery surrounding his new travel companion.

Su Ming could see all of Wu Duo's actions. He might not know what the other was thinking of, but he could guess it somewhat. His guesses might not be perfect, but he knew that if he continued keeping his silence, Wu Duo would not dare act recklessly. This could be clearly seen from how he had continued to follow Su Ming, choosing not to attack.

'This person is a skeptic. Perhaps this is his virtue, but it is also his weakness. Unless absolutely certain, a sceptical person will not attack easily.'

Su Ming averted his gaze from Wu Duo, then calmly continued to travel in a long arc that sliced through the sky.

Time slowly passed by as the both of them pondered over their own thoughts. When noon was gone, Wu Duo suddenly came to a halt, and Su Ming also stopped 1,000 feet behind him.

Wu Duo closed his eyes as if he was using some sort of special method to check their surroundings. After some time, he opened them and spoke grimly.

"Brother Mo, there are Shamans right in front of us!"

In truth, Wu Duo had deliberately put on this face. He did not know whether there were any Shamans around the area, but he knew the place which he had set to meet with the Shamans for the trade.

He would receive Shaman Crystals in exchange of providing the method for them to change into Berserkers. That was the original plan, but after he ran into Su Ming, Wu Duo changed his plans.

He did not want to provide them with the method to hide their identities as Shamans, but he also wanted to obtain Shaman Crystals.

"From what I can sense, there is only one person in front. The fluctuations from that person's power aren't strong, so he should be a Fledgeling Battle Shaman. It won't be hard for me to kill him, so to show my sincerity, you can just watch by the side. I will handle this on my own!" Wu Duo stared at Su Ming and a smile appeared on his face, but there was a freezing glint in his eyes.

It was clear that the chilling gaze was not directed towards Su Ming, however.

Once Su Ming heard the words, he nodded, but in his heart, he remained dubious about the mystical ability Wu Duo used to locate Shamans.

Wu Duo's eyes shone with a freezing glint, and he took a swift step forward, charging towards the end of the plains. He was so quick that in the blink of an eye, he had already traveled 1,000 feet. Like a shooting star falling down, he grew increasingly closer to the land.

Su Ming followed behind him with a gaze like lightning as he stared at where Wu Duo was going.

The moment Wu Duo descended on the land, a person suddenly stood up from the grass. That person was incredibly tall, and he wore a leather helmet with bull horns on it. A ghastly presence surrounded that person, and a huge gust of wind rose, following his act of standing up, causing the grass around the area to continuously sway around.

There was a Totem on the man's face, but that Totem was rather dull. It could not be seen clearly. The only thing that was easy to see was the vertical scar on the man's lips, causing them to look as if they had been split into four, making all those who saw the man to be terrified.

The moment the man saw Wu Duo charging towards him from midair, his dull eyes instantly brightened up and he grinned, but it was horrifying to see his lips split apart. There were even a few fat maggots that crawled out of the man's mouth as he grinned, falling out with their bodies twisting.

Wu Duo originally traveled really quickly, but when he got closer and saw the man's lips, along with the maggots inside his mouth, his expression instantly changed.

He came to an abrupt halt. The moment he was about to begin his retreat, the scarred man lifted his head and let out a low growl. That growl was filled with wickedness, and as he growled, he leaped forth and spread his arms wide open to envelop Wu Duo.

Su Ming was standing somewhere far away in midair and had his eyes fixed on the scene. The moment he saw that man, his pupils shrank. That man was filled with a thick aura of death around him, but it did not spill out from within his body before he revealed himself. Clearly, he had concealed it within himself.

But that was not all. Su Ming could even sense the same feeling he got from living corpses coming from that man. It was as if that man was the material he needed to create Spirit Plunders!

Even if Su Ming did not know why that man would be in this condition, but he had a feeling that he would absolutely not misidentify the material he needed to create his Spirit Plunder.

'The only difference if perhaps the living corpse I need to create Spirit Plunder has more aura of death to suppress the faint life force within the body, causing the person to be unable to move. However, their will is still present. It is as if their life force is trapped within and the aura of death has the body enveloped outside!

'But this person has fused the aura of death into his life force and arrived at a strange sort of balance. It's as if his aura of death is trapped within and his life force has his body surrounded. With that, this person can move his body around, able to remain in a half dead but half alive state!'

Su Ming's eyes sparkled. He stared at the man with an interested look.

Contrary to Su Ming, Wu Duo was charging forward swiftly, but the man laughing ferociously while pouncing on him was even faster. It was as if he was a wall that was rapidly closing in on Wu Duo.

With Wu Duo's power, he originally would not have shown this sort of reaction when he saw the man, but the reason behind his drastic change of expression was because he knew that the man's current condition was what the Shamans called an Undying. And the only people who could do this were the Shamans who walk down the path of a Soul Catcher!

Wu Duo had killed Soul Catchers before, and he knew personally just how terrifying these people were. As he was retreating, his gaze swept through the land, trying to find the hidden Soul Catcher. At the same time, the instant the man closed in on him while cackling ferociously, a freezing glint appeared in his eyes, and as he retreated, he lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of the sky.

Craaaack!

With that one grab, a cracking sound came from above Wu Duo, and a colossal deep blue ice mountain appeared out of thin air. As Wu Duo swung his hand down, that ice mountain charged towards the man.

The moment these two people came into contact with each other, shocking rumbling sounds reverberated through the air. The man shuddered, and the ice mountain started cracking apart inch by inch. Those cracks were not caused by the man, but were due to Wu Duo's divine ability.

As the ice mountain cracked apart, the shards turned into numerous sharp blades that pierced through the scarred man's body, causing his arms, legs, head, and body to be ripped into several parts.

No blood flowed out of his wounds, only a large amount of maggots flew into the air.

"Wu Duo, I hope you have been well…"

At that moment, a ghastly and sharp voice abruptly came from below. Right then, suddenly, the scarred man's eyes shone with a dim light from deep in his head, which had been separated from his torn body. In fact, all his torn limbs were also shining with a dim light, and as they fell apart, an absorption force seemed to come out of nowhere, and they swiftly gathered together, reforming into the man's body.

However, there were numerous cracks in many parts of the body, making it seem as if the man was a shredded ragdoll that was sewn together once again. Though, it was inevitable that there were would be some signs of that.

That scarred man grinned viciously and moved, but this time, he did not rush towards the grim looking Wu Duo. Instead, he turned into a long arc filled with the aura of death and charged towards Su Ming.

Clearly, he had just received a new command!

"Ya Ke!"

The moment Wu Duo heard that sharp voice, his face grew even grimmer. Three more deep-blue ice mountains swiftly assembled around his body. Those ice mountains surrounded him and let out a freezing chill under the sun.

A large amount of grass on the plains suddenly started withering away. As it did so, a boy walked out from among the grassland. That boy had his eyes closed and his hands placed behind his back. There was a ghastly smile on his lips.

Without any hesitation, Wu Duo lifted his right hand and pointed downwards. Immediately, those three ice mountains let out a rumble and charged towards the ground, turning into a mighty pressure that caused muffled booms to come from the land.

The boy sneered coldly. He did not dodge, but instead lifted his right hand and pushed forward. Instantly, black light shone on his right palm. The moment that black light spread out, it turned into an oval shaped door of light before the boy.

A low growl came from within that door of light, and it was soon followed by a dried up leg stepping out. The skin on that leg was completely withered away, and there were quite a lot of dull bloodstains on its skin. At the same time as the leg appeared, a completely dried up person that was about ten feet tall came from within.

That person looked like a skeleton at first glance, but his eyes shone with a dim light. Once he appeared, he roared and charged towards the three incoming ice mountains.

Almost the moment the boy casted the unique Spell belonging only to Soul Catchers, the man filled with cracks on his body charged towards Su Ming ferociously. He was so quick that a thick aura of death was stirred up in the air. That aura of death whistled behind him and seemed as if it covered the sky and earth. The man's distance from Su Ming grew smaller.

Su Ming stared at the man closing in on him, and a curious glint appeared in his eyes.

Chapter 334: That Voice…

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

'I wonder if I can use this thing to create Spirit Plunder…' This thought appeared in Su Ming's head, and an intense fascination towards this Undying rose within him.

Almost the moment the man closed in on him, Su Ming started moving backwards. The Undying instantly gave chase, and in the blink of an eye, the two men left Wu Duo and the boy's battlefield.

Wu Duo watched Su Ming leave, but he could do nothing to stop him. As for the boy, even though he had his eyes closed, he could still notice what was happening. However, he did not pay any attention to Su Ming. To him, only Wu Duo was his goal.

Su Ming retreated at a moderate pace and continued baiting the Undying man to chase after him. Once he was some distance away from Wu Duo, a glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes and a green light shone in the center of his brows. The small virescent sword shot out and charged towards the man at an extreme speed.

The man did not even have time to dodge. The sword immediately pierced through the center of his brows, but there was still no blood coming from his wound. The scarred man only staggered slightly, clearly not too affected by the attack. A fierce glint appeared in his eyes, and he pounced on Su Ming with a low growl.

Su Ming narrowed his eyes. The moment the man pounced on him, he naturally sidestepped it. He was too quick, and he left behind an afterimage because of his speed, causing the man to pounce on empty air, though he immediately turned around and roared at Su Ming.

"This unique material isn't really agile. His speed when he charges in a straight line isn't slow, but when his ability to dodge and change direction is lacking far behind.," Su Ming mumbled. He lifted his right hand and the green light fell back, turning into the small sword in his hand. It was held between two of Su Ming's fingers, and he walked towards the man face first.

The man pounced on him once again, roaring. A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. The instant he came into contact with the scarred man's body, the sword between his two fingers sliced through the man's right arm. He appeared behind his opponent, then sliced across his left arm once again. Then, in the span of a breath, he took one step, and reappeared once again behind the man the moment the latter turned around with a low growl.

With one slash, the small sword in Su Ming's hand sliced cleanly through the scarred man's right leg, but the sword did not stop there, it continued on and cut through his left leg.

Once he finished doing that, Su Ming took a few steps back in a relaxed manner. He looked at the man, whose back was turned towards him. The moment the scarred man turned around, Su Ming saw his arms and legs instantly breaking off from his body.

Yet soon after, that bizarre sight appeared once again. The four limbs that Su Ming had cut off shone with a dim light, and instantly, they reattached themselves to the man's body. A large amount of yellowish fluid flowed out of the man's mouth and he pounced on Su Ming once again.

As he closed in, Su Ming drifted backwards, and a curious glint appeared in his eyes. He spread his divine sense, enveloping the man's body. With his divine sense, he could clearly see a brimming ball of life force within the man's body. It was that life force that was allowing the man's body to endlessly gather together.

'Could that life force be the Soul Catcher's secret..? If that's the case, Spirit Plunder might have a special effect on this person.'

Su Ming's eyes sparkled while he continued retreating. Still observing the man, he swiftly lifted the sword in his right hand and swung down. Instantly, a gash appeared on the man's chest, and he was thrown back vertically. A foul stench attacked Su Ming's nostrils, but it was empty inside that gash. There were no organs in his body.

There was only a faint wisp of grey smoke that could be detected solely by Su Ming's divine sense, and that smoke was seeping out from all parts of the man's body.

'It's a pity that while this man's aura of death is thick, it's very easy for that aura to become chaotic. If it wasn't because of that strange life force supporting it, it would have crumbled a long time ago. It's clear that he was just created. Else, if I had run into a person with a more stable aura of death in him, then I could perhaps use him to create Spirit Plunder.' Su Ming shook his head and lost his interest in the man.

The moment the scarred man pounced on him, he lifted his right hand once again, and another item appeared in his palm. That item was a pearl, and it was his Spirit Plunder!

Su Ming's gaze was calm as he threw Spirit Plunder at the man. The instant the pill was tossed out, a dazed look immediately appeared in the man's eyes, but soon, it turned into an empty stare. He stopped moving and stared at the Spirit Plunder floating before him blankly.

Gray wisps of smoke wafted out of his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes, from each part of his body, and those wisps of smoke rushed towards Spirit Plunder at a shocking speed. All of this only lasted for the span of a few breaths, and after those few breaths, the man shuddered and his body gradually fell apart. His limbs broke off, his body shattered, and after a moment, he turned into a large of amount loose flesh that scattered down to the ground.

After absorbing a large amount of gray smoke, Spirit Plunder clearly became slightly different. It was clouded inside, but there was an exuberant ball of life force twirling within. Once Su Ming summoned the pearl back, he held it in his hand and gave it a few looks.

'This strange life force must be the secret of the Soul Catchers.'

Su Ming fell into a brief moment of pensive silence. He listened to the muffled rumbling sounds from the distance. Clearly, Wu Duo's fight against the boy had reached an incredibly critical moment.

Su Ming put away that Spirit Plunder and started walking towards the origin of the sounds. The Fire Ape continued following beside him. As it watched everything that transpired, impatience appeared on its face. In its discomfort, it put down the battle axe and bared its teeth at Su Ming.

Now that it saw Su Ming heading towards the battlefield, the Fire Ape quickly followed behind him. Before long, when Su Ming returned to where Wu Duo was, he narrowed his eyes. There were nine giant ice blocks on the ground, and in each of those ice blocks was a sealed dried up corpse. They were all frozen in the exact same position.

The boy floated in the sky, three patches of black smoke around him. Those three patches had turned into shadows that looked like malicious spirits, and they were all fighting against Wu Duo.

Wu Duo looked rather pathetic. He was wearing a long robe made of beast skins, and he held a bone staff with a snake's skull perched on top in his left hand while his right hand held a knife. As he swung that knife, it looked as if the blade could cut apart space itself. Behind him was a black illusionary tower.

Half of the tower was surrounded by mist. It looked rather blurry, and low growls could be heard from inside. It made the earth tremble, causing all the people who heard it feel shaken to the core.

Su Ming's arrival caused Wu Duo's face to be filled with surprised delight. He originally thought that Su Ming had already run away, and now that he saw him again, Wu Duo immediately shouted at him.

"Brother Mo, help me kill this person! His head is worth much more than all the rest!"

Almost the moment Wu Duo yelled at him, the boy who still had his eyes closed let out a cold harrumph. One of the three black patches of smoke surrounding his body instantly broke off and charged towards Su Ming. It turned into a malicious spirit 1,000 feet before impact and roared, then moved in to devour him.

Su Ming didn't have time to act for the Fire Ape howled and rushed out with the battle axe in its paw. Su Ming released the chain, allowing it to be temporarily free. Dragging the chain behind it, the Fire Ape instantly closed in on the malicious spirit and started fighting against it.

The boy frowned in the distance, but before he could do anything else, Su Ming lifted his right foot and took a step forward. The moment his foot landed, distorted ripples immediately appeared in the space around him. Together with those ripples, he disappeared, his speed instantly reaching an indescribable extent.

His speed was so quick that it was completely unexpected. Wu Duo had not expected it, much less the boy. He only felt the presence of the Berserker which he had locked onto suddenly disappearing, and once he reappeared, he was already right before him.

When Su Ming appeared, he was less than ten feet away from the boy. He swung the small virescent sword in his right hand sideways, and the blade landed on the boy's throat, then with that indescribable speed, the blade cut through it.

The entire process only lasted the blink of an eye. When Su Ming reappeared, he had already returned to his original spot, as if he had never rushed out. He stood there and stared coldly at the boy in the distance.

Blood gushed out from the boy's neck, and his head flew into the air. The black smoke around his body instantly crumbled, along with the two gusts that were fighting against Wu Duo and the one gust that was fighting against the Fire Ape. All of them crumbled and vanished into thin air.

Wu Duo was stunned. He sucked in a sharp breath and turned to look at Su Ming as if this was his first time seeing him. Instantly, the slight bit of malicious intent left within his heart mostly disappeared.

Su Ming gave Wu Duo a calm look. He didn't do this only to kill the boy, but to also scare Wu Duo. If he wanted to continue with this trade, then the two of them would definitely need to establish a relationship in which it was obvious who was the superior and who the inferior one.

Su Ming was not willing to take the inferior position in this relationship, that was why he could only be the superior!

"Brother Mo…" When Wu Duo looked towards Su Ming, he forced out a smile. He was just about to speak when his expression suddenly changed.

"It hasn't ended!"

A piercing howl that came from all around the place traveled forth, eventually turning into a soundless voice. The boy's head that had been thrown into the air when Su Ming cut through his neck previously had not fallen to the ground with the body. The head was instead floating in midair, eyes still closed, and that piercing cry came from its mouth.

As the boy spoke, he opened his eyes!

The instant he opened his eyes, Wu Duo's shouted out, "Don't look into his eyes!"

That pair of eyes did not have pupils, but they were not white. They were instead like an empty void, completely dark, as if they had the power to absorb everything in the world. Those were the eyes belonging to the Candle Dragon - the legendary sacred beast of the Shaman Tribe.

Among the six different Realms within the Shaman Tribe, it was said that the Soul Catchers obtained their power from the Candle Dragon.

When Su Ming saw that pair of eyes, his vision immediately started blurring. It was as if the world before him shattered into pieces and fell into a state of chaos. His mind turned blank.

The voices by his ears gradually faded into the distance. Among those voices were the Fire Ape's roars, the boy's eerie chuckles, muffled rumbles, and also Wu Duo's warnings.

It was as if all those voices were gradually leaving Su Ming's ears, and right when they were about to completely disappear, at that moment, the mysterious black stone hanging against Su Ming's chest, the strange object that he always kept around his neck, let out a cool wave of air that seeped into all parts of his body.

At the same time, while Su Ming was still caught in his daze, a voice that seemed to be coming from the distance spoke in his ears.

"Big brother… Big brother…"

Su Ming shuddered.

Chapter 335: Twelve Ancestral Lunar Shamans

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming had almost forgotten about that voice. It had been a long time since that voice last appeared in his memories.

Yet at that moment, when that voice appeared, Su Ming's body was not the only thing about him that shuddered, his soul was also shaken.

That voice came closer, then went into the distance again. It drifted from place to place, just like when he heard it in the past, but there was also something different about it. That difference lay in the anxiety in that voice. That anxious voice sounded as if she was crying.

"Big brother… it's almost too late now… Big brother…"

"Big brother, hurry up and wake up… wake up…"

"Big brother… he's stopping…"

"Big brother…"

Su Ming opened his eyes swiftly, cold sweat having broken out all over his body. The moment he opened his eyes, all the voices he previously heard returned - the Fire Ape's roars, Wu Duo's words, and the boy's eerie chuckles.

The world in his vision that had previously shattered rapidly recovered right before his eyes. Voices reached his ears, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the Fire Ape rapidly retreating right before his eyes. Before it was an illusionary ball…

...belonging to a head with a person's face but a snake's body. That head was red and about one hundred feet in size. It had its mouth wide open, and a ball of fire could be seen burning within its body, which was illusionary, but it made the Fire Ape continuously retreat, howling.

The Fire Ape's fire red fur was rapidly losing its shine, and there was also a large amount of its fur that fell off. It looked as if it was already very difficult for it to continue fighting, and even the blade of the battle axe in its hands was swiftly melting away as it blocked the human-faced, snake-bodied creature's attacks.

Wu Duo was also fighting against a head of the same composition. Wu Duo's expression was grim, and an innumerable amount of ice swirled around his body swirled, stirring up wind. As the freezing wind whistled, Wu Duo lifted his right hand and made a strange seal.

The instant he made it, all the hair on his right hand fell off at the same time.

"Lives return to earth!"

Wu Duo let out a low growl, and the entire ground rumbled. The grass on the endless mass of land under his feet was instantly blown apart by the wind, and a large ring shape appeared on the land. As blue light shone, an invisible energy erupted forth from below.

When that energy first appeared, it manifested in an incredibly large area, but as it rose into the air, it started shrinking, until it eventually shrank into an entirely blue light that was only about one hundred feet in size. From the distance, it looked like a blue light-pillar shooting off from the ground and penetrating the human-faced, snake-bodied head.

The instant the strange creature's head was destroyed, the boy's head let out a piercing scream and started rapidly withering away.

All of this happened in an instant, and it was the first thing Su Ming saw once he opened his eyes.

The Fire Ape was already unable to continue fighting. Su Ming knew that the slave-turned-bracelet his eldest senior brother had given him would only protect him and not the Fire Ape, while He Feng shared a mutual hate with it. Besides, Su Ming was not in any form of danger, he had ample reason not to attack.

Without any hesitation, Su Ming took a step forward. The moment his foot landed, he had already appeared before the Fire Ape. He fell back slightly, and a gentle energy was transferred into the ape once his back touched it. That energy pushed the Fire Ape backwards, and during that moment, the strange creature's head roared and charged towards Su Ming.

A murderous look appeared in Su Ming's eyes. Once again, he gained a deep understanding of the bizarre nature of the Shaman Tribe's divine abilities. Almost the moment the strange creature pounced on him, Su Ming lifted his right and drew a line at the creature!

That one line was created by Su Ming. It had a beautiful name - Berserker Obliteration!

The moment he casted Berserker Obliteration, the human-faced, snake-bodied head turned into a sheet of paper for him to draw. Su Ming cut apart the creature's body as if he was just normally drawing. With that one line, the weather changed, the wind and clouds tumbled backwards, and the strange creature shuddered violently before letting out a piercing howl.

When the head reached Su Ming, it split into half right before him. Those two parts whistled past him and turned into red gusts of smoke before disappearing into nothing.

Right as the creature died, Su Ming's pupils shrank. He noticed that the body might have disappeared, but one wisp of red smoke had rushed toward him at an incredible speed. It seeped into the strange rod insect-snake hybrid, which Su Ming was keeping and refining, resting within Han Mountain Bell. The insect-snake hybrid sucked in a sharp breath and breathed in the wisp of red smoke before a delighted and excited expression appeared on its face.

A thought appeared in Su Ming's mind, but this was not the moment for him to think further into things. Right when the strange creature died, the boy's head floating in midair let out a piercing scream once again and the speed at which it withered away increased.

This was especially so for his eyes. Black blood flowed out from them. They were now completely destroyed by Su Ming and Wu Duo using different methods.

As the boy's head screamed, he retreated quickly. At the same time, his body, which had fallen to the ground, abruptly stood up and charged into midair as if it wanted to run into the head and fuse with it once again.

"The Twelve Undying Ancestral Lunar Shamans, let the power of the Candle Dragon, which lasted 180 years, scatter!" As the boy's head retreated and was about to get closer to his body, these words came from his mouth.

"180 years? I was wondering why he was so powerful, so he's a Fledgeling Shaman who has arrived at the peak. He has suppressed 180 years of his life to attempt turning into a Medial Soul Catcher!

"He has even turned himself into a puppet so that he could be an Undying. This is a forbidden Spell among the Soul Catchers!"

Wu Duo moved to stand by Su Ming's side, and as lifted his right hand, freezing air immediately spread from his palm. That air instantly turned into numerous ice layers that covered his whole body. Rumbling sounds echoed in the air and those ice layers left Wu Duo's body, spreading rapidly as a single entity to charge towards the boy's head.

As they did so, Wu Duo lifted his head and let out a roar. A large amount of hair fell off his body simultaneously, and even some fine hairs from his brows also joined in.

As his hair was detached from his body, the ice layer that was stretching towards the boy instantly grew bigger by more than ten fold. It also became faster, and the instant the boy's head fused together with the body, a dim light shining from the tear to make it seem as if they were going to be sewn together, the ice layer caught up with them. Rumbling that shook the skies echoed through the air, and the boy's body was instantly covered by the ice, turning him into an ice statue floating in midair.

"Brother Mo, I can only seal him with my ice for a quarter of an hour. Once he fuses his body together once again, he will disperse the power he has stored for 180 years to turn into a Medial Shaman and use it to work with his Undying body, then it'll be very difficult for us to kill him!

"If we let our guard down for even a moment, we will definitely be heavily injured. Even if we kill him, we gain nothing. Why don't we leave this place and search for other Shamans to kill? It'll be much easier and much more efficient!"

The idea of retreat had already appeared within Wu Duo's head. He knew clearly that if they did not give up on some treasures, it would be very difficult for them to kill the Soul Catchers of the Shaman Tribe. In his mind, the value of this was rather low.

As Wu Duo spoke, rumbling sounds rang in the air, and he noticed that cracks had appeared on the ice sealing the boy inside. The boy in the ice slowly lifted his head. His strangely enticing eyes shone with a gray light as he stared at Su Ming and Wu Duo. Hatred appeared on his face, as if he wanted to burn the image of these two people in his head.

"Let's go!" Wu Duo frowned. He was just about to leave the place, but Su Ming did not move. He stared at the boy in the ice and a murderous intent appeared in his eyes.

The Fire Ape was behind Su Ming. Its fur was dull and looked rather shrivelled up. This was something Su Ming could not accept.

"Wait!" Su Ming called out. He just remembered the scene when the man died under the hands of his Spirit Plunder, and he quickly brought out three Spirit Plunders from his bosom with his right hand. He threw them forward at full force, and they rushed quickly towards the ice that had sealed the boy inside.

The three Spirit Plunders let out an explosive boom as they whipped through the air faster than sound. In the blink of an eye, they had already reached the ice and formed an equilateral triangle around the boy's ice sculpture.

The moment those Spirit Plunders appeared, in the distance, Wu Duo's pupils shrank and even his breathing quickened. He stared at them with a look of disbelief on his face.

The other person whose expression changed was the boy in the ice. His face shifted drastically, and he opened his mouth as if a scream was about to escape from his lips, but no sound came out. However, a hint of fear had appeared within his expression and his eyes. From that alone, it could be seen that he recognized what Spirit Plunder was and was terrified of it.

Su Ming could deduce what the boy was thinking after testing it out that he could kill the man with his Spirit Plunder. Once he tested the boy as well by throwing out the pills, he lifted his right hand and pointed at them. Immediately, the three Spirit Plunders let out a powerful dark light. That dark light instantly seeped through the ice and charged towards the boy sealed inside.

The boy started struggling. His face was filled with terror, and as he struggled, the cracks on the ice increased. Muffled rumbling sounds reverberated through the air, and some of the cracks connected with each other, causing the ice to begin crumbling apart.

Yet as violently as the boy struggled, the black mist rushing in from the three Spirit Plunders into the ice was even faster. In a moment, it touched the boy inside and seeped into his body. The boy's expression became twisted, as if he was screaming. He trembled, and a large amount of gray mist started uncontrollably crawling out of his body towards the three Spirit Plunders.

The boy seemed to be in great pain, and with one violent shudder, his body finally could not withstand the burden of the gray mist being torn out from him and most of it exploded, which resulted in only a small portion of his body to remain nearby.

There was no longer any ice left in front of the boy, but the three Spirit Plunders continued floating there, unmoving, causing the boy to let out piercing screams and struggle violently. Yet judging by his looks, the boy's body seemed to be restricted. Despair appeared on his face, along with disbelief and incomprehensibility. It was as if Su Ming bringing out the Spirit Plunders had left him in horrified shock.

"Soul Catcher Pearl?! The Soul Catcher Pearl that only End Shamans can create?!" The boy's voice was shrill but raspy, and the instant it reverberated through the air, Su Ming took a step forward.

His gaze was chilling, and the moment he got closer to the boy, a green light appeared in his hand. The small virescent sword sliced through the boy's chest, causing a huge gash to appear on his chest.

Meanwhile, Wu Duo's face had also turned pale where he stood in the distance. There was confusion on his face. The scene he saw was something he would never forget, and it was also one that made him no longer harbor any malicious thoughts towards Su Ming.

He saw the person called Mo Su slicing apart the frozen boy's chest with a dark expression, and once he cut through the boy who could only struggle but not move, he brought out a large amount of medicinal herbs from his bosom, picked out a few of them, and stuffed them into the boy's wounds. Judging by how smooth his movements were, this was not the first time he did such a thing...

'What… what is he doing…?'

Wu Duo's heart pounded against his chest while Su Ming stuffed the herbs into the boy's wound. Once each of those herbs were placed inside, they would immediately start growing in a bizarre but enticing manner. After a moment, Mo Su brought out a bone with some herbs growing on it, then plucked out those herbs and placed them into the boy's body.

The other person who was similarly terrified was the boy. He was watching Su Ming do all this without a hint of an expression on his face, and as he did so, despair filled with utmost terror appeared on the boy's face.

"You… What are you doing?!" the boy screamed in a shivering voice.

"Creating medicine," Su Ming answered coldly.

Chapter 336: Getting Closer to Sky Mist!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming's answer made the boy's originally bloodless face instantly be filled with red. Soon, a howl filled with anger left his lips.

That howl was piercing to the ears, and it was a show of just how terrified he was in his heart.

In the distance, Wu Duo took in a sharp breath. With a blank stare, he looked at Su Ming calmly ignoring the boy's struggles and screams as he continued stuffing the herbs into his wounds.

As time passed by, Su Ming's speed increased. After the burning of half an incense stick, he placed the final herb into the body, and right after, he lifted his right hand and patted the boy's body in the air. Immediately, strange wiggling bumps appeared bizarrely on the boy's stomach.

"I won't forgive you! Even if I die, I will turn into a vengeful spirit and take revenge on you!" The boy's face was twisted in endless hatred. He glared at Su Ming and let out a piercing shriek.

"You won't turn into a vengeful spirit, because once I finish refining your body, even if your spirit still exists, you will only exist within my medicine." As Su Ming retorted coldly, he lifted his right hand and pointed at the sky. Immediately, lightning arcs began swimming in his palm.

As all those plants started growing on the boy's body, a large amount of aura of death spread from his body and into the area. However, that aura of death was not enough to attract lightning to fall.

Before this, Su Ming had always needed to gather the aura of death to create Spirit Plunder. Even if it was just some time ago, he still needed to ask his second senior brother to bring additional aura of death to aid him. Yet after the last time he created Spirit Plunder and gained some further understanding towards his Origin Lightning, he had mastered a way for him to bring down lightning even without having the aura of death around.

If gathered a large amount of Earthen Lightning on himself, then the invisible Void Lightning would naturally rush towards him. The instant they touched each other, they would turn into a sight of lightning falling on him.

"What if… What if you fail?" Just as Su Ming was about to call upon lightning, Wu Duo, who was standing in the distance, hesitated for a moment before he asked.

"If I fail…" Su Ming lifted his left hand and pressed it against the boy's head, who was glaring at him ferociously. The boy let out a piercing screech, but his shivers betrayed the indescribable terror in his heart.

The instant Su Ming pressed his hand on the boy's head, with his body as the center, the Earthen Lightning that existed everywhere on the land abruptly surged towards the boy from all directions in a manner that no one could see.

"Even if he is a Soul Catcher, there's no possibility of him turning into a vengeful spirit. Because if I fail, his soul would disappear. Everything about him will also be wiped away. It would be better if he was refined into something else." The instant Su Ming replied, a deafening rumble suddenly came from the sky.

The clear sky was suddenly covered by dark clouds, and the bolts of lightning in them turned into a large number of light dragons. They illuminated the cracks between the clouds, and at the same time, with a loud crackle, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, straight towards Su Ming, or more accurately, it charged straight towards the boy beside him!

The loud bang sounded as if it had landed straight on Wu Duo's heart. It made his skin crawl. With his own eyes, he saw the boy trembling violently once he was struck by the lightning. His face instantly shrivelled up. His screams had already turned hoarse, and there was no longer any maliciousness in his eyes, only a monstrous amount of terror. In fact, there was even a faint plea for mercy.

Wu Duo instinctively gulped. His gaze fell on Su Ming, and when he saw how calm he was, a chill rose in his heart.

'This person is cruel and merciless, and he does things resolutely… and his power is not weak to boot! He has a lot of mysterious treasures, and I've never even glimpsed his Arts before. Unless I absolutely have to, I must definitely not bother this sort of person!

'Even if I am forced to, I still have to avoid him. I cannot face him head on.'

Wu Duo's attitude had changed multiple times on the way as he saw the things Su Ming did, and now, his impression of him had taken complete form.

The rumbling continued in the sky. The bolts of lightning seemed to be attracted to the earth, and they crackled and sliced through the air, descending on the boy beside Su Ming.

The rumbling lasted for more than an hour. The bolts of lightning became increasingly stronger as they fell, until eventually, the breadth of each bolt of lightning was about the size of a pail. When they struck down, they looked as if the heavens had become angry and were handing out their punishment.

When one particular bolt of lightning fell, Wu Duo became incredibly shocked. He did not hesitate at all and instantly retreated several thousands of feet away, because this time, the bolt of lightning that struck down was purple!

The purple bolt of lightning contained a mighty presence that seemed to scream that it would destroy the sky and earth as it charged towards the boy.

Su Ming still had his head lifted, looking at the sky. At that moment, he frowned and let out a sigh. He knew that this time, he might not be able to succeed with his refinement. Using this method to create Spirit Plunder was much more difficult.

The purple bolt of lightning closed in on the boy. A violent shudder wracked his body, and as the bolt of lightning struck the boy's chest, his body started crumbling, starting from the chest. The part below it instantly turned into ashes, and the part above was shattering apart, inch by inch.

Just as the cracks reached his neck, Su Ming shook his head. With his left hand, he grabbed the only part that remained of the boy, his head, and his Origin Lightning surged into it through the left hand. As it crashed into the bolts of lightning that were rushing down, cracking sounds rang in the air.

When the dark clouds in the sky cleared out after a while, Su Ming stood in midair with a head in his left hand. That head belonged to the boy, and there was a burnt area around its throat. There was also a bag made of straw in Su Ming's hands. That item had belonged to the boy. Su Ming had picked it beforehand so that it would not be destroyed.

He did not open the straw bag, instead putting it away into his bosom. He turned around and threw the head to the Fire Ape standing by his side, then he looked towards Wu Duo.

"Pity, I failed."

Wu Duo laughed wryly, then looked at Su Ming's bosom. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but eventually chose not to speak. There was an array of mixed feelings and doubts within his heart at that moment.

When he casted the Shaman Tribe's divine ability previously, he had thought that Su Ming was dead for sure, that was why he risked revealing his identity and used the Shaman Tribe's Spell to dissolve the power of the Candle Dragon.

He did not know whether Su Ming had noticed this, but his merciless actions and unknown battle power had increased Wu Duo's wariness of him.

The Fire Ape played around with the boy's head before it tied it around his waist. In fact, just now, even though it looked rather shrivelled up, but it still did not forget to go to the destroyed corpse of the man who had previously fought against Su Ming. Once it found that remaining half of the man's head, it tied the remains around its waist. When it turned around, those five heads whirled around along with its movements, making it look rather frightening.

"Brother Wu, where are the next batch of Shamans?" Su Ming asked Wu Duo calmly, putting away his Spirit Plunders. Green light shone at the center of his brows, and the small sword returned to him.

Wu Duo was silent for a moment. He was originally a rather ambitious person to begin with, so when he heard it, a resolute look appeared on his face. He did not try to hide anything anymore and simply pointed into the distance.

"There are still Shamans about 2,000 lis away from this place. From the information I have, there should be two people there, but perhaps there will also be unexpected situations occurring."

"Then, should we go?" Su Ming smiled faintly.

Wu Duo nodded and wrapped his fist in his palm as a salute towards Su Ming. He traveled before him, and Su Ming followed behind as usual. As for the Fire Ape, it simply continued following behind with the battle axe across its shoulders.

However, its battle axe had already largely melted away when used to block the human-faced, snake-bodied creature's attack just now. Currently, the battle axe's blade was rough and uneven. The staff-shaped handle, however, remained completely unscathed, though no one knew what it was made of.

The Fire Ape followed behind Su Ming. While charging forward, it would occasionally lift up the battle axe and sweep it across its fur as if it was scratching his skin.

At one point, it looked like it was struck by an unknown thought and grabbed the broken axe, biting down on it. The blade seemed to have hurt its teeth slightly. Once the Fire Ape relaxed its bite and lifted its claw, it broke off the blade from the handle, then threw it to the ground. When it did so, it started swinging around the axe handle that was now without a blade.

Thankfully, the axe handle was very long, making it look like a long staff. As the Fire Ape swung it around, it looked like a hero. The staff let out humming sounds as it was swung around, and the ape immediately smiled joyfully because of it. It swung the handle across its shoulders and flew towards Su Ming.

The two men and the ape flew in the sky, and when evening arrived, they were several thousands of lis away. After a brief pause, a thunderous boom accompanied by a shrill scream came from that place. When Su Ming and Wu Duo left, two extra bloody heads were on the Fire Ape's waist.

This continued all along the way. Su Ming and Wu Duo each had their own needs in this trip, and their coordination became increasingly better. Ten days later, with the Fire Ape's help and He Feng's occasional aid, more than twenty heads now hung off the Fire Ape's body.

No one knew how it managed to do it, but none of the heads fell off its body, making it seem as if it was wearing a shirt made of human heads.

Wu Duo was not weak to begin with, and along with Su Ming's battle prowess that surpassed his level of cultivation, their coordination could be said to have stirred up a storm of blood within the area belonging to Sky Mist City.

Eventually, their efficiency reached such a high level that when Wu Duo went out to search, he would also go out of his way to lure the Shamans' attention. Then Su Ming would abruptly charge forward with a speed that made even Wu Duo shocked. At the same time, Wu Duo would also attack.

Most of the time, through this process, one out of a team of three Shamans would die, while the other two would be heavily injured. There were also cases where two would die while the last one got injured. The ones remaining could not even hope to fight back against Su Ming and Wu Duo.

This massacre only stopped half a month later, because Sky Mist City was already not too far away from them.

Su Ming stood on a low hill. If he looked into the distance from that spot, he could see a majestic and awe inspiring wall that spanned from the earth to the sky. That aside, there was also… a magnificent city that would make anyone's breathing quicken the first time they saw it!

"Brother Mo, it has been really delightful working with you during these past few days. We didn't get off to a good start, but I hope that you won't mind." Wu Duo stood with quite a large number of dried up blood patches on his face. He looked rather tired, but his eyes were bright.

"We're now at Sky Mist City. With your speed, you should be able to get there in no time. I still have some things I need to do, so please excuse…"

As Wu Duo spoke, a thrumming suddenly came from Sky Mist City's direction. There was a desolate quality to it, but it also made their hearts race, as if there was a strange power contained within that voice.

Su Ming was rather familiar with that voice…

Wu Duo's expression changed.

Chapter 337: Battle!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As the thrums resounded in the air, a sound wave that was formed from accumulating the voices of several tens of thousands of people spread in all directions like a bolt of lightning traveling horizontally across the land.

"Kill them!"

That shout shook the sky and earth, and even if Su Ming was still a small distance away from Sky Mist City, he could still feel the madness and bloodlust in those voices. If he stood on Sky Mist City, it would definitely be even more shocking.

Those voices did not come from Berserkers…

"It's the shout of the Shamans attacking the city!" Wu Duo took a few steps back instinctively and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Brother Mo, I'll have to take my leave now. If we are ever fated to meet again, then we will surely run into each other… take care!"

Wu Duo lifted his head and cast Su Ming a glance. He and Su Ming originally did not know each other, but the past half a month had indeed been enjoyable for the both of them, and there grew a sort of rapport between them as they worked together.

Su Ming also looked at Wu Duo and wrapped his fist in his palm towards him.

"You take care as well!"

Wu Duo nodded and turned into a long arc that charged in another direction, away from Sky Mist City.

The Fire Ape pursed its lips at Wu Duo leaving them as it stood behind Su Ming. At that moment, it already had nearly 30 heads tied to its body.

It could be said that all the Shamans Wu Duo knew of who entered the land using that special method before this were all hanging off its body.

The battles in the past half a month had made Su Ming's knowledge towards the Shaman Tribe increase by quite a large margin. As he averted his gaze from the departing Wu Duo, a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

He knew of Wu Duo's identity. During the past half a month they had been together, and when he had woken up earlier, when he was under the effects of the boy's mystical ability, to see the skills Wu Duo casted, there was in no way that he would not know that Wu Duo was a Fledgeling Thought Soothsayer of the Shaman Tribe!

Su Ming also had his suspicions that what he saw was not all of Wu Duo's mystical abilities. There was a high possibility that Wu Duo was the same as Su Ming, he also kept some of his abilities a secret.

Yet no matter what, there had only been benefits and not a hint of loss for Su Ming during the half a month they had worked together. They had even grown rather fond of each other after the trip.

Su Ming shook his head and no longer mulled over it. After all, he was not a Berserker of the Land of South Morning, or else, once he learned of Wu Duo's identity, he would have definitely killed him.

However, Su Ming believed that there was a more important reason as to why he should pretend not to know of Wu Duo's identity.

"It doesn't matter whether we are Berserkers or Shamans in the Land of South Morning. When the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands arrives… how many people will survive..?" Su Ming sighed. Compared to the battle at hand, this matter was still rather far away, and now was not the time to think such heavy thoughts.

Once he calmed himself down, muffled rumbles and an endless clatter of battle from the direction of Sky Mist City fell into his ears. A glint appeared in his eyes and he took a leap before charging towards the end of the sky. Standing high in the sky, he looked at Sky Mist City. What he saw shocked him.

Su Ming saw a familiar, endless mountain range that looked like a tall wall had been erected on even ground. As it lay on the land, the mountain range looked like a wall, and that was the reason why it was known as the Barrier by the Berserkers in the Land of South Morning!

Yet from Su Ming's position, that wall was like two black dragons that were using their bodies to form a ring around the land belonging to the Berserkers in the Land of South Morning, protecting it within.

The spot where the two black dragons' heads met was Su Ming's destination. The name for that spot on the wall was… Sky Mist City!

It was a gigantic city that was built right on top of Sky Mist Barrier. Its tall walls were like a huge lock that had locked up Sky Mist Barrier, causing the Shamans to at most be able to get a few people into the land of the Berserkers. Yet for the entire Shaman Tribe, this was a giant gate that could not be crossed over.

The wall was majestic, and the top of it was about hundreds of thousands of feet above the ground. The world around the wall was also filled with distortions, and the distorted ripples were incessantly spreading out. It was as if the sky was using this place as the border. On one side was the sky belonging to the Shamans, and on the other was the sky belonging to the Berserkers. These two connected skies would never be able to fuse together with each other!

Strangely though, the sky of the Berserkers spanning tens of thousands of lis was clear, but the sky belonging to the Shamans was dark, with clouds tumbling about like thick smoke.

Right on top of the city were two gigantic beast heads stretching from the two opposite sides of Sky Mist Barrier, causing the absentminded feeling Su Ming had earlier to start becoming real.

This was an entirely brown city. Perhaps it had been white many years ago, or perhaps it could have even been black. If it had been white, then the brown hue on the city could only mean that it had been dyed by years of dried blood. If it was black, then it was still dyed brown by the same reason. Over the many years, a large amount of blood had seeped through the walls, turning those black walls to brown!

On both sides of the city were three rather small subordinate cities. Together, these seven cities made up most of Sky Mist City!

It only made up most of Sky Mist City because there was another city built 100,000 feet outside Sky Mist Barrier, right in the land of the Shamans!

That city was similarly tall, similarly awe-inspiring, similarly majestic, but this time, its color was completely blood-red!

Right in the middle between the two cities was a city wall about several hundreds of thousands of feet tall connecting them together to form a tunnel. That wall shone with a brilliant light and was incredibly sturdy! But that was not all. There were eighteen towering statues outside Sky Mist City. Each of the statues were hundreds of thousands of feet tall, and all of them looked different from each other as they stood tall on the ground.

No one would believe that the statues in the place were mere decorations. At that moment, right in Su Ming's eyes, he seemed to have seen four of the eighteen statues glowing with a strange dark light before they started moving slowly.

Their large bodies were filled with a presence that could strike terror in people's hearts, especially when they started moving like giants on the ground. With his own eyes, Su Ming saw one of the statues flinging the long whip in its hand. That whip was clearly made of stone, but as it flung out, it moved like a long snake. It let out a snap in the air and brought with it a large amount of blood and flesh.

Besides Sky Mist City, Su Ming also saw a gigantic sword floating in the air not too far from the city, on the land of the Shamans. The pressure formed by the sword made the air in the area twist. On the edge of the sword was a large amount of small white dots. There also seemed to be a gust of chilling air spreading out from the sword.

As he was rather far from the sword, Su Ming could only see that there were a lot of people standing on that sword that was 100,000 feet in size. There were even some who flew off it…

There was also an object that was just as large in another direction beyond Sky Mist City. It was a gigantic mirror. Its surface was turned towards the ground, and there were many people standing on its back.

The air around the mirror was not distorted, but there was an illusionary sea around it that was letting out the sounds of crashing waves.

The sword was Frozen Ice Sky belonging to Freezing Sky Clan, while that mirror… belonged to Western Sea Clan!

This was what Su Ming saw. This was all that belonged to the Berserkers and Sky Mist City!

Yet in his eyes, the distance before him was not occupied only by Berserkers. There were also… a countless number… of Shamans! So numerous and densely packed were they that even if Su Ming stood high in the sky, it was still difficult for him to see the end to them!

He saw Shamans riding on birds with giant wings, charging towards the city from the skies. Shamans like these covered the sky and earth, and they numbered to tens of thousands.

There were also Shamans who stood on long fishes shaped like swords. As they flew forward, their hair floated behind their heads, and they brought with them an arrogance filled with a murderous aura. They, too, numbered to nearly 100,000!

There were several thousands of Shamans standing on gigantic ferocious beasts about thousands of feet in size that could fly in the sky. Their appearances were different, their clothes were different, but they were also filled with an endless amount of brutality towards the Berserkers.

There were also dozens of ferocious beasts about 100,000 feet in size roaring as if they were the rulers of the skies. Every single time they moved forward, they would cause a tear in the air that would recover in the blink of an eye.

And… right at the end, Su Ming saw two of the Shamans' sacred beasts. They were both about 100,000 feet in size. One of them was enveloped in flames and was a gigantic Kirin like beast. There were flames in its eyes as it stared at Sky Mist City. A man with long, flaming-red hair stood on its head. That man had his hands behind his back and simply allowed the wind to mess up his hair as he stared into the distance coldly.

The other sacred beast was a scorpion that was just as large. That scorpion was entirely green, and the area around it was also dyed in green. There was a Shaman standing on its back as well, and it was an old woman!

That was not all. There were a lot more Shamans standing on the ground that numbered to more than 100,000. They rode on ferocious black beasts that bounded through the ground. The creatures looked like leopards but were thin as a stick. However, they did not give others a feeling that they were weak. They simply looked as if they were born that way.

They charged, roaring, towards Sky Mist at high speed.

Behind them, the earth trembled, and there was another type of beast on land that numbered to nearly 100,000, charging forward. Then behind them, Su Ming saw thousands of giants that were several thousands of feet tall. These giants only had one arm that grew out of their chest. They did not have heads, but on the palm attached to their arm was a single eye that sparkled brilliantly.

There was not one but seven to eight Shamans standing on them!

There were many more Shamans that did not possess any ferocious beasts behind those giants. However, their cries for murder shook the skies as they dashed and leaped towards Sky Mist City!

And right at the end, Su Ming saw something that shocked him to the core - another gigantic beast 100,000 feet in size!

That creature did not fly but was sitting on the ground. Its face was that of a giant python and its cold eyes sparkled. A young man sat on top of its head. That young man wore a long robe and had long hair. His face was like that of a woman's. He looked incredibly beautiful, but there was a ghastly smile on his lips.

And even that wasn't all Su Ming saw. Right behind the three beasts that were 100,000 feet in size, as the endless amount of dark clouds tumbled about like a layer of black fog, he saw the Mackerel Pike that had once shocked him to the core!

It used the sky as its sea and leaped onto the shore. Its gargantuan body was hidden within the sea of clouds, and its size could no longer be measured by feet, only by li!

The thrums Su Ming and Wu Duo heard previously, the sound that was familiar to Su Ming, came from that Mackerel Pike.

There was a woman on that fish. The woman's face could not be seen, but when the Mackerel Pike leaped out of the sky, her elegant figure could be seen through the sea of clouds…

Su Ming was shocked by the battlefield right before his eyes. This was the first time he saw such a large scale battle. This sort of shocking impact to his mind made him feel as if he was about to suffocate.

After a long while, a glint appeared in his eyes and he took a step forward, turning into a long arc that charged towards Sky Mist City!

He would join the battle!

Chapter 338: Joining the Fray!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Fire Ape followed right behind Su Ming. As it moved, the dozens of heads on its body started floating about, turning into an incredibly powerful murderous aura that surrounded the area, causing the ape to look as if it had just walked out of hell, making all those who saw it to be terrified.

The man and ape charged towards Sky Mist City. As they got closer, sounds of battle reached their ears from afar and grew increasingly clearer. Su Ming's expression became grim. The shock brought from seeing and hearing the thousands upon thousands of people fighting and killing each other would either crush a person's mind and he'd succumb to terror, or bring about an agitation and hot-bloodedness that could not be controlled within that person.

Su Ming belonged to the former and also the latter.

He was afraid, but his will to fight surpassed his fear. He was not fighting for the Berserkers in the Land of South Morning, not for Sky Mist, much less for Freezing Sky Clan!

He was fighting for the ninth summit, for the road to return home, for becoming stronger. He was… fighting for himself!

Su Ming got closer and the sounds of battle from beyond Sky Mist City fell into his ears clearly; he and the Fire Ape behind him had already arrived at Sky Mist City. Right before them was a winding staircase situated under the majestic city. That staircase was practically stuck to the city walls, allowing people to walk on them.

There was a swarm of Berserkers floating closely to each other in the air, protecting the city.

Su Ming and the Fire Ape's arrival had long since attracted some of the attention from those in Sky Mist City, especially the ones fighting to protect the city in midair.

They belonged to Sky Mist City. When they were not in battle, their duty was to ensure the city's safety. While a large number of them had already gone into the battlefield to fight, but those who had been switched out were still fulfilling their duties perfectly.

When Su Ming got closer, some of those calm looking guards who seemed to have already gotten used to war a long time ago turned their heads around to cast a glance at his approach..

"Stop him and make sure you know which tribe he comes from! We're now at war. We cannot allow anyone invading our land from behind us!" one of them, a person who clearly had higher authority, ordered coldly.

The moment he spoke, two guards immediately wrapped their fists in their palms and voiced their obedience before turning into long arcs that charged towards Su Ming.

"Stranger, stop and tell us your tribe!"

Once the two guards flew into the sky towards the part of Sky Mist City that was located beyond the wall, one of them spoke to the incoming Su Ming with an aloof tone.

Su Ming also saw those two men. Right behind them was the majestic Sky Mist City. The sounds of battle were deafening and lingered in the air, refusing to disappear. When Su Ming was about several hundreds of feet away from the two men, he stopped and wrapped his fist in his palm in a salute to them.

"I am Su Ming, from Freezing Sky Clan!"

When the two guards heard Su Ming's words, they gave him a look, and the person who spoke previously let out a cold harrumph.

"Ridiculous. Freezing Sky Clan arrived half a month ago. If you're really from Freezing Sky Clan, then why didn't you come with them?"

"I was stalled by something on the way, that's why…" Su Ming was about to explain himself, but was interrupted by the Sky Mist guard who had first spoken previously.

"I don't need your explanations and I don't care where you come from. Right now, the Berserkers and Shamans are at war. We will not allow strangers getting near the city. Leave quickly. Once this battle is over and you're really from Freezing Sky Clan, I will report your existence to the authorities and allow you into the city."

The person who spoke was a man in his forties. He wore a blue robe that was stained with blood. He looked rather exhausted, a clear sign that he had just returned from the battlefield.

The other person was about the same age and there was also exhaustion on his face, but his eyes shone with a freezing glint. That cold stare was not aimed at Su Ming but was born due to the battle.

Su Ming fell silent and his gaze moved to the land of the Shamans located in the distance. Over there, the battle had reached a monstrous height. Even with the distance between them, Su Ming could see a Berserker getting beheaded by a Shaman. His head was lifted into the air, and the Shaman howled as he rushed forward.

There were also numerous casualties among the Shamans on the battlefield. Yet those ferocious beasts would usually need several Berserkers launching an attack on all fronts before they could be subdued. The roars from the beasts could be heard echoing on the gigantic battlefield.

Su Ming wanted to join the fray. Only going through multiple encounters with death in this place that was the most suitable for him to train could he arrive at a breakthrough and move into the Bone Sacrifice Realm from the Awakening Realm!

However, he was late. He was a latecomer to this battle, and there was no one who could prove his identity. It would be impossible for him to join the battle now.

Even if someone managed to recognize him, that someone had to be a powerful Berserker belonging to the older generation within Freezing Sky Clan. If it was anyone else, their words would bear no weight, and they would not be able to bring a large effect during this period of war.

"Hmm? Still not leaving?" the man with the blood soaked blue robe hissed darkly, killing intent rising in his eyes.

Due to the two guards spending too much time talking to Su Ming, more people from Sky Mist City looked over. Su Ming sighed and took a few steps back.

Yet right as he retreated, suddenly, a loud bang came from Sky Mist City's direction. That bang shook the sky and earth, and a large crack appeared in the air above Sky Mist City. That crack was not real but was caught in a state of being an illusion and a real entity as it continued shining.

The instant that crack appeared, the expressions of the guards protecting Sky Mist City changed. At the same time, an old voice reverberated through Sky Mist City.

"That is the Imagination Spell cast by an End Split Dawn. They can create a point of relocation connected to the land of the Shamans. This Spell cannot be broken, but even an End Split Dawn would need half a year before he or she could cast it once.

"Once we win against the Shamans who walk out of that crack, within half a year, no other attacks like this would appear again! Brother Chi, my dear friend Ran, little brother Zhou, this is the reason why I kept the three of you here instead of letting you fight on the battlefield."

As the old voice echoed in the air, instantly, four people stepped out of Sky Mist City. Three among the four were white-haired old men, the other was a black-robed middle-aged man. Once the four people walked out, immediately, an incredible pressure spread out from them.

Almost the instant they walked out, rumbling sounds came from within the crack in the sky, and then, it was abruptly torn apart. As the crack was ripped open, a roar came from within and an Aquatic Dragon about several tens of thousands of feet long pushed its head out, and with one bound, rushed out of the crack.

Right behind the Aquatic Dragon came laughter. Three people flew out from within the crack. All three of these people looked identical. They were all thin as bones and there were brilliantly colored pictures drawn on their bodies. Each of them held a bone cane in their hands, and the instant they flew out, a gust of black mist spread out.

The moment the three people and the Aquatic Dragon appeared, the four people out of Sky Mist City closed in on them. Without even a word, as the rumbling sounds echoed in the air, they stood together!

The weather changed. The wind and clouds tumbled backwards. Rumbling sounds shook the land all around them, and at the same time, dozens upon dozens of people shot out from the crack in the sky. All of them were Shamans, and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of Shamans had appeared from within the crack.

All the Shamans that had rushed out possessed extraordinary power.

"Kill them!!" The guards in midair charged forward without any hesitation, immediately engaging in a battle to the death with the Shamans who walked out of the crack.

More people flew up from the ground of Sky Mist City and charged towards the smaller scaled battlefield that was as devastating as the one beyond the wall.

The sounds of battle filled the sky, and the sky and earth darkened as if the sun and moon had lost their light. The two guards who had previously prevented Su Ming from joining the fray could no longer be bothered with him, as their expressions changed and they moved back to charge towards that battlefield.

That battle was happening in a spot less than 50,000 feet away from Su Ming. The level of devastation there was so great that even though the battle had just begun, shrill screams could already be heard. A lot of people had already exploded, and some of them were even torn from limb to limb.

Some of these people were Berserkers, some were Shamans.

This was not a direct conflict between two people. This was a battlefield. All of these people were not facing just one enemy but an innumerable amount of foes that filled the sky and earth. When you killed one person, you would have to be careful of the others' divine abilities, coming from non-Berserkers charging towards you.

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He did not continue retreating, instead, as the Fire Ape bared its teeth and was about to rush out, he lifted his right hand and waved his arm towards the Fire Ape. Immediately, an incredibly hurt look flashed through its face and it was put away into the bag.

This was going to be a gruelling battle. Su Ming was worried about letting the Fire Ape fight. Once the ape killed to a frenzy, it would descend into madness, and it would definitely not be able to protect itself.

When Su Ming put away the Fire Ape, he took a step towards the battlefield that was only 50,000 feet away from him. His body seemed to not have moved after he took that one step, he looked as if he was still making the action of taking a step, but in truth, his speed had already reached its peak.

The guard whose robes were stained with blood and who also happened to be the guard who had spoken to Su Ming among the two sent to block his path had his five fingers lifted to seize the air before himself. Five wisps of mist swirled behind his back and turned into a five-colored spider that rammed into the Shaman closing in on him.

That Shaman was also an extraordinary fighter. The moment he died, he also made the five-colored spider explode. In fact, as his body let out thunderous rumbles signaling his death, he flicked out a fingernail that pierced through the guard's chest, causing blood to seep out of the corners of his lips and forcing him to retreat.

Yet the moment he retreated, a battle axe suddenly appeared by his side. It belonged to a warrior in the Shaman Tribe. With a vicious laugh, the man swung his axe down. The guard's eyes were instantly lit with madness and he looked as if he was about to self-destruct. The instant the thought of that even if he died, he had to kill more people appeared in his head, the space beside him suddenly distorted and the youth from before suddenly showed up.

As Su Ming appeared, green light flashed at the center of his brows. His Divine General Armor swiftly manifested on his body, and the moment the Shaman swung his axe down, he thrust his sword forward.