Chapter 1406 - 927 - 933

Chapter 927: God of Berserkers' Palm

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"…husband-in-name…"

That sentence seemed to last for one thousand years as it echoed in Xu Hui's ears. The words were long, drawn-out, and slow. They rang in her ears as if they were from a different era.

A layer of ripples stirred in Xu Hui's heart, which had gradually fallen into dead stillness… Those ripples were like a blossoming flower that continued spreading outwards. They echoed in her… until they turned into a force which allowed her to open her eyes at that moment.

Her eyes that could be seen through the slit they had opened were dark, without light, and lusterless. Still, they saw things, and they focused on the figure of her husband-in-name standing beyond the crumbling barrier. The pieces from the barrier seemed to be serving as a background, as a foil to his figure, making him into the center of attention.

Su Ming's words echoed far and wide, causing the illusory old man's heart to sink, and the person with the bow standing by his side hoisted the bow in his left hand without hesitation. He swiftly drew the bow with his right hand, then released the bowstring, and a sound of an arrow shooting through the air could be heard. A sharp arrow formed from sand charged towards Su Ming at lightning speed, and within an instant, it appeared in front of him, who was walking through the broken barrier.

The arrow was so quick that its speed was difficult to describe with words. Even if it was still in the distance before a person blinked, it would be at the center of the person's brows when he finished blinking.

Su Ming raised his head and looked towards it coldly. At that moment, he was infinitesimally close to Solar Kalpa Realm, which was due to the power sent to him from his Ecang clone. However, this was not his strongest form before his Ecang clone personally came to this place.

He could… become even stronger!

As he raised his head, he lifted his right hand. He did not retreat, but instead took a step forward once more. Before his foot even landed, he had already seized the air before him, and a powerful force spread up his body from his hand.

That force was like an entire mountain range crashing into him, causing Su Ming's arms to go numb, but as the power was split across his body, he forcefully resolved that great power. At the same time, he completed his sixth step.

Bang!

The ground trembled due to Su Ming's foot, and the sand shivered because his foot had landed on it. Clouds and wind surged up at that instant. As the winds howled, they grew stronger, sweeping up Su Ming's long hair, because of which he looked frightful and aloof. There was also a monstrous sinister air about him.

What he had seized with his right hand was the sand arrow the person with the bow had shot!

That arrow hummed in his hand, but it could not escape from his palm. Su Ming lowered his head and cast a glance at the arrow in his hand. A strange glint slowly appeared in his eyes, and that strange light turned into a sun, a moon, and a star that tumbled backwards in his eyes, as if time itself was flowing backwards there.

Once the person with the bow and the illusory old man saw the strange light in his eyes, their expressions changed, especially that of the illusory old man. He even instinctively took a few steps backwards and cried out shrilly, "Power of time, you-you-you're an apostle of the Temporal Spirit!"

"It's this bow… this arrow…" Su Ming seemed to not have heard the illusory old man's piercing voice. He looked at the arrow in his hand, and various scenes flashed in his eyes. In them were Xu Hui's heroic figure from moments ago and her resistance as well as counterattacks when faced with the arrows.

When Su Ming saw the Eighteen Strikes of the Lake of Phoenix and the person with the bow firing three arrows, the powerful piercing light from the final moment was like a final blast of flames that burned his eyes. The scenes disappeared in the fire, and his eyes returned to normal at that instant.

"… that hurt her."

Su Ming raised his head. With a squeeze, the sand arrow crumbled in his hand, turning into fine sand that fell through the gaps between his fingers. Wind blew past and swept up this sand, turning it into a veil that floated past Su Ming.

"Kill him!"

The illusory old man retreated swiftly as his shrill voice echoed in the air, and the remaining sand giants charged towards Su Ming with a furious roar. At that moment, the person with the bow had an incredibly solemn expression on his face. As he rushed forward, he drew the bow once again, and this time, there were three arrows on the bow.

As the illusory old man retreated, the sand blade in his hand disappeared. A black, illusory skull appeared in his hand, and as he rubbed it, complex chants tumbled out of his mouth.

As they rang in the air, muffled bangs came from up in the sky, as if it had turned into a barrier and there was someone behind it trying to break through.

A cold sneer appeared on Su Ming's lips. He swiftly moved forward and instantly came in front of a sand giant. He then lifted his right hand to press against the center of that sand giant's brows.

His size might seem as insignificant as an ant's compared to that of the giant, but when he pressed his hand between its brows, the sand giant started trembling violently. Despair appeared on its face, and cracks tore through its forehead, then spread through his whole body. Su Ming's strike contained the offensive power that was infinitesimally close to that of Solar Kalpa Realm, and it was definitely not something that a Malicious Sand Spirit with the power equivalent to those in the later stage of World Plane Realm could withstand.

Bang!

The sand giant's body crumbled, disassembled layer by layer. When Su Ming left, it had already turned into a small hill of sand. The creature had lost its spirit and its life force.

At the same time, another sand giant swung its gigantic fist, and like a sandstorm, it swept up Su Ming's robes. At the instant it closed in on him with a furious roar, he turned his head. He did not attack, and neither did he dodge, but in his eyes appeared the shadows of the sun and moon!

Ths was… the Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon. This Art contained a power that existed if one believed in it, and it was something Su Ming had mastered a little in Black Ink Planet.

That power had fused into his Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon. At that moment, it erupted, and the incoming sand giant's body immediately trembled. Its fist came to a swift halt in front of Su Ming, and a dazed look appeared in its eyes. There was also a hint of struggle in them.

Su Ming no longer bothered about the sand giants. With a leap, he stepped onto one's head, then jumped into the air as his long hair danced in the wind and his robes fluttered. His gaze was bitingly cold, and it was not missed by the person with the bow.

At that instant, booms echoed in the air. There were still eight sand giants that were coming towards Su Ming, along with the three arrows from the person with the bow. Whistling, they sliced through the air towards Su Ming, who was airborne.

Before they closed in, a low roar tumbled out of the mouth that belonged to the person with the bow.

"Explode!"

While his voice echoed in the air, loud bangs rang out from the three arrows. They crumbled at once and exploded in midair. These arrows were not used to injure someone, but to use the impact from the explosion to shock the enemy. This was the intention of the person with the bow.

As booming sounds echoed in the air, the person with the bow paused momentarily on the ground. He stabbed the bow into the sand as his body trembled, then pulled the bowstring and let out a roar that shook the skies.

"Murder in a Hundred Arrows!"

As he roared, the sand around him floated up. Within an instant, it turned into a hundred sharp arrows. At the instant the man released the bowstring, the whistles from the one hundred arrows shook the sky and earth. They shot out in one motion and charged towards the airborne Su Ming.

"Long-distance attacks are indeed effective. Are you taking advantage of me for not having such an Art?" Su Ming asked flatly. At that moment, he tapped his storage bag with his right hand, and immediately, a gourd appeared in his palm!

He swept his left hand across the gourd before he released it in the direction in front of himself. Then, he bowed down to the gourd.

"Treasured gourd, please kill!"

Once he said these words, a powerful light erupted from the gourd. That light contained six colors, and as they continued changing, an eye appeared. It locked onto the person with the bow, and a small person with a sharp blade in its hands flew out from the gourd. The little thing did not have eyes, but it still managed to instantly charge towards the person with the bow.

It flew past the hundred arrows as if they weren't even there, which was an incredibly shocking The hundred arrows continued to come for Su Ming, while the treasured gourd came for the person with the bow!

"Murder in a Thousand Arrows!"

The expression of the person with the bow standing on the ground changed, and his pupils shrank. At the instant the treasured gourd was taken out, a sense of danger rose in his heart, especially when the eye on the gourd locked onto him. In fact, this gourd reminded him of a treasure he'd seen in the memories he inherited. That item had made him tremble in the same manner, and it looked very similar.

Under this threat, he executed his most powerful divine ability without hesitation. Once did so, a gigantic vortex appeared around his feet.

Some of the Sand Earthlings who did not manage to escape in time let out shrill screams of pain in the vortex, for their bodies were reduced to pieces of flesh and blood. But at that moment of danger, the person with the bow could no longer care about the Sand Earthlings. Protecting his own life was the most important thing.

Sharp arrows shot out from the gigantic vortex. Thousands of them came out, causing loud bangs that shook the sky and earth as they sliced through the air. The sight that this created was one that would definitely be handed down through generations if it was painted into a picture!

The arrows closed in on Su Ming at an incredibly fast pace, and a glint appeared in his eyes. He lowered his head in midair, ignoring the arrows. Instead, he looked at his own right palm.

He looked at it and at the palm lines there. At the moment the arrows closed in on him, he pushed forward with his right hand.

"God of Berserkers'… Palm!" he said flatly.

Immediately, an illusion that was several tens of thousands of feet tall appeared in the air. That illusion spread around Su Ming, eventually forming a huge palm!

The palm lines on in were the exact same ones as those on Su Ming's right palm. At that moment, the shadow of the sun and moon in his eyes also started flickering.

The palm stood erect when it appeared in the world. When Su Ming pushed forward with his right hand, booming sounds surged into the sky. The palm seeped through his body, then traveled forward with deafening booms. Cracks appeared in space, and fissures tore through the sky. Like a wall, the palm crashed into the thousand arrows.

This was Su Ming executing an Art of the God of Berserkers after his level of cultivation had come infinitesimally close to Solar Kalpa Realm!

Chapter 928: Who… Summoned Me

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

This was not a simple God of Berserkers' Art. It was an Art that was cast after Su Ming had fused the Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon in it, along with the mysterious power that would exist as long as he believed in it.

It could be said that only Su Ming alone could cast this divine ability in the universe. This Art might have started with the base of Second God of Berserkers' Palm, but even the Second God of Berserkers would find it impossible to cast this divine ability to this extent.

This was… Su Ming's Palm!

He believed his palm could break through space. He believed that his palm could destroy all those arrows, and he also believed… that his palm was a barrier that could not be shattered in this battlefield.

The palm grew larger. With a bang, it crashed into the thousand arrows. Booming sounds rose up, shaking the sky and earth. The small human from the gourd had turned into a long arc to charge towards the person with the bow, whose expression changed and who retreated swiftly. He had also seen the scene in the sky, and his heart trembled. He could not help but shout a word, "Transform!"

Right when this word was said, the thousand arrows immediately turned, and an even sharper penetrating force erupted from them. They gathered together with the other one hundred arrows, and all of them turned into one arrow!

Its might exploded, and it was several times greater than before. At this moment, Su Ming smiled.

The power that would exist if he believed in it was fused into Su Ming's divine ability. Its form was derived from the God of Berserkers' Palm, its spirit was from the Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon, and its power… was the Art that would exist as long as he believed in it.

However, even if Su Ming believed in the Art, he would only have executed half of the Art… The other half of the Art could only be completed when another person believed in it as well. Only then would it truly become Su Ming's unique divine ability.

And at that moment when the person with the bow spoke, it was clear… that he believed.

Because of that, Su Ming's gigantic illusory palm was no longer an illusion. It swiftly gained corporeal form, and with a bang, it crashed into the arrow.

Booming sounds surged into the sky. Loud bangs resounded in all directions, causing the empty air to tremble. In the mid of those bangs, an impact that was as great as a windstorm tumbled swiftly through the area before surging backwards.

The one arrow formed by one thousand and one hundred arrows… was disassembled in the sky. Once the arrows separated, they crumbled and exploded, unable to stop Su Ming's palm for even a moment!

The person with the bow on the ground no longer had any time to think. He retreated swiftly, but no matter what, he could not avoid the small person from the gourd slashing his neck!

The treasured gourd murdered a person. It was a murderous gourd!

Blood poured out from the neck of the person with the bow. He staggered, lifted his hands to press on the wound on his neck, but he could not do so… With just one slash from the gourd, his head flew up!

Sand rushed towards him swiftly from the area, as if it wanted to connect his head back to his body. Even with this sort of injury, the person with the bow was still not completely destroyed in terms of body and spirit. There was sand swiftly gathering on his empty neck, and he seemed as if he was about to recover in a moment. His body shrank swiftly, as if he was using the reduction of his body size in exchange for the recovery of his wound.

"I am the Malicious Sand Spirit Warrior! I am a spirit of the sand! I am the 3,691st scion of the Sand Spirits! I will not die here!" The head that had flown up let out a roar that shook the skies.

However, that roar was suppressed by Su Ming's gigantic palm in the sky. That palm had turned several hundreds of thousands of feet big from its initial tens of thousands, and it was fiercely pressing down on the ground, the roaring head, and the now headless person with the bow.

There were nearly ten thousand Sand Earthlings besides the person with the bow in that area of one hundred thousand feet. Their feeble bodies started trembling at that moment, and in the mid of their fear, they started fleeing in all directions.

They were afraid. They believed that the palm that seemed to be able to replace the sky could crush their bodies to pieces. As they believed in it, that palm grew increasingly stronger and more corporeal.

"Don't run! It's fake! Don't run! The more you believe in it, the stronger it will become!" The person's head fell on the ground and started roaring. If he still could not understand how Su Ming's Art worked, then he would have been unworthy of possessing power of Lunar Kalpa Realm!

Further into the distance was the illusory old man. At that moment, his Art had reached its crucial moment. He wanted to warn his people, but he also knew that his warnings in this life-and-death situation would be useless with how terrified his people were and how feeble their hearts were at that moment. That was why his eyes gained a cold edge, and his incantations grew even louder. He raised his arms and started calling to the sky.

The muffled booming sounds in the sky grew increasingly clearer.

"The color of the sand has become slightly duller," Su Ming said softly as he stood in midair.

Bang!

A loud bang reverberated in the air. The ground trembled. Once Su Ming's palm disappeared, a gigantic palm print was left on the ground. The sand chains around Xu Hui's body were gone, and she lay on the ground quietly, completely uninjured, but around her… were nearly ten thousand Sand Earthlings who were reduced to bloody mess. Their bones were completely crushed, and a bloody stench spread out. Their blood dyed the sand, making its color much more brilliant.

Right at the center was the person with the bow. His body had completely shattered, and it was the same for his head. His body and spirit had been destroyed.

Only the gigantic bow remained by his side. It was buried in the sand, with only its tip peeking out. As it quivered, it let out mournful whines.

Su Ming looked at his right index finger. Faint waves of fragrance that belonged to God Ascension Nectar spread out. This was due to him being unable to suppress the nectar with the seal once he brought out all his power into play.

Fortunately, this fragrance only filled the area around him and did not spread out.

With one move, Su Ming landed onto the ground. He passed the places with all the bloody puddles of Sand Earthlings. When he walked up to the place where the bow was buried, he stomped on the ground with his right foot, and the bow shot up from beneath the ground. Su Ming caught it.

At the instant he caught the bow, it started shrinking rapidly. Once it turned into a size Su Ming could use, the whines and shivers from the bow gained a submissive tone.

Su Ming put away the bow and walked towards Xu Hui. He gently picked her up from the ground, with one arm around her waist while letting her head rest against his chest. Waves of faint fragrance from Xu Hui's body wafted into Su Ming's nose, and he sent his life force into her body so that she could recover faster.

"Dao Kong…" Her voice was incredibly faint and weak as she struggled to open her eyes to look at Su Ming.

"Rest well. I'm here," he said softly and raised his head to look at the illusory old man, who was amid the tens of thousands of scattered Sand Earthlings, and who had his arms spread open, looking as if he was summoning something from the sky.

The old man's hair danced in the air, and his body shone as he shouted loudly towards the sky, "Hong Lashen, Suiyun Zhen Changlin [1]!"

As his voice echoed in the air, a roar came from the sky. That roar spread through the entire desert. During that instant, every single grain of sand in the endless desert started trembling.

Near the end of the desert was Dijiu Mo Sha, and he was rushing forward swiftly. He could already see the end and the area beyond the edge of the desert. That was a tranquil galaxy, but at that instant, his expression changed swiftly. He dipped his head down to look at the sand in the desert, and a solemn expression appeared on his face. Once he turned his head around to look back into the distance, he gritted his teeth to charge out of the desert even faster.

He could sense a wave of madness and murderous intent coming from the sand. In fact, as he moved forward, the sand under his feet started moving like flowing water.

He had always been able to move quickly, and at that moment, he even bit the tip of his tongue to cough up a mouthful of blood. His body turned into a blood shadow and he left into the distance. He could sense that the sand in the region was not the only one that moved. Instead, all the sand in the desert had started moving. As it tumbled about, it stirred up a great windstorm. The booming sounds caused by the storm were mixed with moans, and that sound was reverberating through the entire desert.

After a moment, he finally rushed out of the desert and stepped into the tranquil galaxy beyond. Then, he turned his head around to look back… and saw a scene that caused his heart to tremble uncontrollably, because he saw a scene that he would never forget in his life.

He saw… a gigantic face in the sky above the desert!

That face looked as if someone was lying in the sky. At that moment, that someone's body started sinking. After the face, the body also appeared, and that body… was the size of the entire desert!

The hundred thousand feet statue started shivering in the desert. When it started showing signs of rousing from slumber, the old man at the top of its head sat down and meditated on it without moving a single inch. Meanwhile, the black skull he held in his bosom shone with a black light that could bring fear to people's hearts.

"Who… summoned me…?" a voice that reverberated through the entire desert came from the sky.

Su Ming lifted his head swiftly, and his pupils shrank. He saw a huge body in the sky as well as a boundless face. That face belonged to a man whose eyes were shut. A long scar ran from the center of his brows to his neck. There were parts in that scar that had yet to close up completely, and those remaining wounds were ghastly white.

A mighty pressure Su Ming had never sensed before descended from that body at that moment, and Su Ming could sense… that this pressure even surpassed that possessed by the Masters of Fate, Lives, and Death!

This pressure might be unable to compare to Ecang when it was at the peak of its condition, but it was incredibly close to it! This pressure was only slightly weaker than Sui Chen Zi's, but it gave Su Ming a feeling that this person was… a powerful warrior who was in the same Realm as Sui Chen Zi!

The hair of the person who was descending danced in the air, and they looked like dragons moving about the Heavenly Spirits [2]. His skin was incredibly fair, making it look as if he had snow for skin, so all those who saw him will definitely not be unable to forget him.

At the spot where the center of his brows was torn was a cracked and broken mark. That mark… was of a desert, and it was exuding waves of power of Divine Essence that caused Su Ming's heart to tremble!

'Ancestral Spirit? Antecedental Spirit?' His pupils shrank.

"It is I, Long Di, the leader of the Sand Earthlings who have received your protection. I have disturbed your slumber because the Sand Earthlings are facing extermination… This person… this person has killed more than ten thousand of our people. He killed the spirit which you have bestowed upon us!" the illusory old man shouted out in a shrill voice. He had already knelt down on the ground, since the moment the person who was like a God had appeared in the sky.

All the other Sand Earthlings around him had prostrated themselves on the ground as well. The fervent zeal on their faces made it seem as if they were ready to burn their own souls.

Translator's Note:

1. Hong Lashen, Suiyun Zhen Changlin: Just a chant, no meaning. The second part is a name, though, so I like to think of it as "Come forth, Suiyun Zhen Changlin!"

2. Heavenly Spirits (天罡, tian1 gang1): These are actually planets. In Shui Hu Zhuan/Water Margin, there is a thing called 108 Stars of Destiny, and it is believed that a person's destiny is tied to a Star of Destiny. These Stars of Destiny are divided into two groups: 36 Heavenly Spirits and 72 Earthly Fiends.

Chapter 929: Suiyun Zhen Changlin

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming's expression was cold. He held Xu Hui in his arms and lifted his head to look at the gigantic body as well as the pale face in the sky.

A sigh came from the sky. The gigantic person in the sky did not open his eyes, however. He kept them closed, and while he sighed, his words echoed in the air with a boom.

"This is a race I favor… They are my people… Thou… shouldst be buried in the void…"

The fragmented words rang in all directions. They brought with them a great mighty pressure that made it seem as if laws themselves were contained in them. At the instant they spread out, the sand around Su Ming started spinning about swiftly. The gigantic body in the sky then opened his mouth slightly.

An indescribable suction force came out, and the sand on the ground instantly started dancing. It flew up and charged towards the giant's mouth. The sand vortex around Su Ming turned into a whirlwind, sweeping up his body as if it wanted to devour him.

"You're just a broken spirit, and you dare to bury me, Su, as a punishment?!" Su Ming laughed coldly. Xu Hui had already fallen unconscious and was completely unaware of everything around her. She lay in Su Ming's bosom without moving.

Su Ming had his left arm wrapped around Xu Hui. As he raised his right hand, he pushed against the ground, and with it, the ground started rumbling and moving. The vortex around him stopped moving for an instant. At that time, without the suction force moving him, he shot up from the ground and charged towards the giant's mouth in the sky.

When he was in midair, Su Ming formed a seal with his right hand and pointed forward. Immediately, a mountain appeared in front of him!

Most of the mountain was white, and it looked like clouds. Only the edge near the top was black, and that area had the form of a malicious spirit. That creature was half-sprawled out on the mountain while holding a black bat in its right hand.

Naturally, this was… Dao Avenue Mountain, the one Su Ming had obtained from the Yu Family!

This treasure could be used without any need for Divine Essence, and its might was also extraordinary. At that moment, once Su Ming brought it out and pointed forward, Dao Avenue Mountain started growing bigger endlessly while charging at its target.

The giant in the sky still had his eyes closed, but his act of inhaling had very clearly become slightly faster. Yet even if it had only become slightly faster, the power of Divine Essence which had manifested around him burst forth in a magnitude that was stronger by several folds.

The wind seemed to have become sharp blades. As it roared, it charged towards Dao Avenue Mountain, which was rushing at the giant. While that mountain trembled, Su Ming formed a seal with his right hand and pointed forward again.

A roar instantly came from Dao Avenue Mountain. The malicious spirit looked like it had become alive and separated itself. As it roared, the bat in its right hand let out a piercing screech and shot out, turning into a long arc that charged towards the giant in the sky.

At that moment, the gigantic person in the sky finished inhaling, and just like a mortal who needed to breath out once he breathed in, he started swiftly exhaling.

Violent gusts of wind roared. A large amount of cracks instantly appeared on Dao Avenue Mountain, and it started falling backwards like a kite. Even the malicious spirit could not maintain its form. It looked as if its entire body was about to be blown apart. And the bat could not get close, either.

Su Ming felt violent gusts of wind crashing into his face, as if they wanted to batter him until he was reduced to dust and fused with the void. As his body fell backwards, intense pain shot up his body, and even Xu Hui's flesh and bones started showing signs of separating from each other.

Su Ming turned around swiftly, using his back as a barrier to fight against the violent gusts. At the same time, he saw the mockery and the smugness on the illusory old man's face on the ground, and saw the bloodthirst as well as excitement on the faces of the tens of thousands of Sand Earthlings around him.

A bitingly cold glare shone in Su Ming's eyes. He formed a seal with his right hand and even bit the tip of his tongue to cough up a mouthful of blood. Once the blood fused with the seal, it immediately turned into a layer of blood mist. Through that blood mist, a white mountain rock shot out. This treasure that was Peace Arrives When the Elephant is Here swiftly manifested. The mountain rock which was the size of a palm swelled up, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a large elephant that could trample the skies.

At the same time, the gigantic scale also took form. A piercing roar reverberated in the air, and the malicious spirit which had appeared previously seized the scale once it saw it.

Su Ming's hair danced in the air. His robes floated, and the Divine Essence Runic Symbols began to flash with light in his eyes. With each burst, the treasure's might would grow stronger!

"Malicious spirit!" Su Ming roared.

The malicious spirit instantly turned around with the scale in hand, and its body swelled up limitlessly. The scale in its hand also grew bigger; its size and strength would depend on how much Divine Essence Su Ming possessed. If he possessed a sufficient amount of Divine Essence, then it could grow endlessly!

He formed a seal with his hand and said in a cold voice once again, "Weigh the elephant!"

The malicious spirit roared. As its body grew bigger, it lifted the scale, and with a swing, the elephant landed on the scale pan. Dao Avenue Mountain turned into the weight.

"This elephant… weighs eight maces and seven taels!"

After having this malicious spirit weigh the elephant several times, Su Ming could already figure out some patterns in it. When that spirit weighed the elephant, it would be better if it was heavier, because the weight represented the amount of Divine Essence that had accumulated.

However, when it weighed their enemies, it would be better the lighter they weighed, because the weight represented how much of his opponent's strength he could reduce!

At that moment as the malicious spirit weighed the elephant and said those words, the gigantic elephant raised its head and let out a roar. It shot up and, with an indescribable speed, charged towards the giant in the sky.

It was fast. While wind blew against its face, it crashed into the gigantic body with a bang.

Booming sounds shot into the sky, and rumbles echoed in all directions. A large amount of ripples fell backwards in the sky. Su Ming coughed up blood. He fell backwards, and a brilliant light shone in his eyes.

"Divine Essence…" a booming sound said flatly. "Thou art a Succeeding Spirit… Still, thou wilst be buried in the void."

When the giant opened his mouth, while he still did not open his eyes, he lifted his right hand slowly and pushed it swiftly towards Su Ming. It rushed through the air towards him, and his fingers were so big that they gave Su Ming the feeling that he was facing off against a Master of Fate, Lives, and Death!

'Ecang!'

In the face of this life-threatening crisis, Su Ming summoned his Ecang clone without hesitation. He lifted his right hand and swung it forward. As he said that word in his heart, the world immediately roared, and a gigantic shadow manifested behind him.

It was a tree, the projection of Su Ming's Ecang clone!

Once the tree appeared, Su Ming's power increased exponentially. At the same time, the hand of the giant in the sky froze and stopped in midair.

"Ecang!" The giant opened one of his eyes in an instant.

It was a yellow eye with a vertical pupil. Its edge was burning in flames, and the giant glared at Ecang's illusory form behind Su Ming!

Su Ming did not speak. If he wanted to summon the Ecang clone to this place, then he had to first form the clone's projection. Only when the projection appeared could he use his soul as a guide to open a tunnel in space and allow his Ecang clone to come to this place.

At that moment, his projection was swiftly gathering together, but he still needed a dozen something breaths before he could open the tunnel in space.

"Ecang, an Ancestral Spirit who was fortunate enough to obtain eternal life in the ancient ballad… You… have also become so weak… The legend is true… Could it be that the legend is true..?" the giant's left eye stared at Su Ming's Ecang shadow.

"Every single time the cycle of an aeon ends, Old Man Extermination [1] reactivates the power of reincarnation and creates the ballad for all lives once more… In that ballad, the slots for eternal life are given again… All manner of lives in the universe have the possibility of being added to the ballad… They will be sent to the Heavenly Ship and head to the vast sky. Then, when the cycle of an aeon ends… they will not be destroyed.

"You are so weak, and you have existed for much longer… Now… you have reached the end of your life." The gigantic figure in the sky suddenly started laughing loudly. His voice was like thunder, and the right hand which had come to a pause in midair suddenly increased in speed to charge down.

Su Ming's pupils shrank. When he lifted his right hand, he sucked in a deep breath. His Ecang clone needed several more breaths before he could arrive, and the arm of the person in the sky would definitely reach him beforehand.

Su Ming had already made preparations to enter the dimension in the fragment. With the dimension helping him, his Ecang clone could move through space and arrive in this area on time.

The black stone fragment's presence spread out in his soul, faint black ripples traveling out. Right at the instant Su Ming was about to step into the dimension in the fragment, a change suddenly occurred!

At the instant there were ten thousand feet between Su Ming and the right hand, the hand froze once again. In fact, it even shuddered. The giant's right eye flew open to reveal a crimson pupil with windstorms raging around it.

This was the first time he opened both eyes!

Disbelief appeared in these two completely different eyes. The giant's right arm was not the only thing that trembled. His entire body shivered as well, and as it did so, the entire sky seemed to quiver. Ripples traveled outwards, and an excitement that had never appeared on the giant's face before showed up.

"I can sense… Not just Ecang's power… In your body… This is… This is… the Seed of Life Extermination's presence! There is no mistaking this. I have gone to Old Man Extermination around thirty thousand times in the past and offered numerous offerings… but I never obtained a chance for my name to be written in the ballad…

"You are not Ecang… You are the precedent to reactivate Old Man Extermination!" As the giant in the sky trembled, excitement that could not be hidden showed up in his eyes. He pulled back his right hand quickly, and he swiftly turned his body in the sky so that he was no longer lying down, but standing up!

As he stood up, the sky roared. If anyone stood by his feet, they would be unable to tell just how tall he was, because no end of him could be seen… However, he did not stand up completely. Instead, he bent his body slowly… and knelt down before Su Ming to worship him!

"Please forgive my offense. Please give me the right to obtain eternal life once more… Please write down my name in the ballad you will reactivate. I am the Antecedental Spirit of Sand Earthlings, Suiyun Zhen Changlin."

Su Ming was momentarily stunned. He quickly recalled the other name of the black fragment – Seed of Life Extermination. He also remembered the old and broken ship in the galaxy, along with the old man sitting on it, as well as everything he witnessed in the past.

"An ancient ballad…" An old voice seemed to echo in Su Ming's ears.

Translator's Note:

1. Old Man Extermination: Someone who already appeared in ISSTH and RI.

Chapter 930: A Time for a Ballad

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

If the time the song was sung was the total time of a world's birth and subsequent destruction…

… Then when the song ended, it would mark the moment when the world disintegrated… How… would you decide the rhythm for such a song?

If the time the song was sung was the total time of a person's birth and road into death…

… Then when the song ended, it would mark the moment when the person's life ended… Who… would you choose to mention in your song? How would you sing it to yourself?

There was a ballad that rang throughout the existence of a universe, until it was destroyed. During that period of time, the ballad was time itself…

The composer of the ballad could add names into the song so that they would be with the ballad and exist eternally. They would… never rot away and die.

In the ancient past, there were nine lives and four races whose names were mentioned in the song, and they became glorious existences during the cycle of their aeon with the ballad.

At the moment, the ballad had reached its coda. It had not ended, but it was nearing that time. The current moment was also the time for Old Man Extermination to write a new piece.

Su Ming looked at the giant in the sky kneeling in front of him. He looked at his gigantic body, but for some unknown reason, he saw a great wave of aura of death around the giant's body.

This was a living being that was so old he was nearing the end of his life. He was still alive, but at the same time, he was already a candle that had burned to its end. The flames of his life were about to be extinguished.

"Please write my name in your ballad… I am willing to offer you everything in my life…" The giant bowed his head while speaking in anguish.

At the moment he noticed that the person in front of him possessed Old Man Extermination's presence, he gave up all thoughts of attacking Su Ming. The Seed of Life Extermination was something that could not be snatched or wrestled over. If someone wasn't acknowledged by that seed, perhaps another could still snatch it.

But once the Seed of Life Extermination was reactivated and fused with the person it acknowledged… then while all people and all forces could destroy the person who was acknowledged, but they could not destroy the Seed of Life Extermination. They would not be able to fuse with it either.

The person who killed the acknowledged person would also lose the right to be written into the ballad eternally.

This knowledge was something that existed in the giant's memories from the ancient past.

Su Ming fell silent. After a long time, he imitated the actions of the old man he'd seen in the dimension and said in a calm and leisurely manner, "What will you offer?"

When Su Ming said these words, there was an ancient air to his tone. The black fragment in his soul spread out waves of ancient presence. That presence existed in Su Ming's soul. It had been slowly accumulating over time, and now, when it spread out faintly, he… seemed to have become the old man from the past.

The giant raised his head and cast his gaze on the ground. With a flash, the tens of thousands of Sand Earthlings on the ground let out shrill, pained screams. Their bodies instantly melted, and all of them turned into sand, forming sand dunes on the ground.

The illusory old man trembled. This change had occurred too quickly, not giving him a chance to react. In an instant, all his people had died. As he trembled, he wanted to retreat, but when the God of his people fixed his gaze on him, his body turned into sand, and he scattered into the wind.

His physical body, which was located far in the distance on the statue that was one hundred thousand feet, disintegrated as well. The statue, too, disappeared.

At that moment, there was no more life in the desert.

Grains of sand that looked like crystals flew up from the ground. Each grain of sand symbolized one life. They gathered together to turn into a purification vase that came to float in front of Su Ming.

"This is the source of life for the Sand Earthlings. It is my first offering. Please accept it." The giant stared at Su Ming with brightly burning eyes.

Su Ming met his gaze. After a moment, he slowly lifted his right hand to seize the purification vase in front of him. At the instant he did so, a black vortex appeared on his palm.

The vortex was not formed by Su Ming's will, but the black fragment in his soul had manifested it on his palm on its own. Once it devoured the purification vase, it even sent out a black thread.

That black thread instantly charged towards the giant. Once it fused with him, the giant shuddered. Excitement appeared in his eyes. He might have been certain that this person was the one who reactivated the Seed of Life Extermination, but there had still been a hint of uncertainty within him. Yet the moment he saw the black thread he obtained every single time he would get in the ancient past after he made an offering, the uncertainty in his heart disappeared. He became completely certain of the person's identity.

"My life has reached its end, but I can attack thrice for you. This is my second offering… It is also all that I can do now." The sand giant's voice was filled with age. As his words reverberated in the air, he looked as if he was waiting for Su Ming's reply.

"I can promise you that I will write your name into the ballad, but after you attack thrice, you must offer your Divine Essence… as the third offering," Su Ming said calmly.

"If my spirit is preserved, then I will have eternal life. I will fulfill my promise," the giant said in his ancient voice after remaining silent for a moment. His body gradually shrunk down, until he turned into an earth's yellow sand bracelet. It floated over in front of Su Ming. There was an indistinct face on the bracelet, and that was naturally the Sand Spirit.

Su Ming looked at the bracelet. After some time, he picked it up. Once he placed it in his storage bag, he looked at the space around him. As of then, this place was filled with a dead silence.

After remaining silent for a moment, Su Ming rubbed the center of his brows. Everything had happened too fast and too suddenly just then. Many thoughts rushed past his mind at that moment, but he calmed his heart and started thinking about it with calmness.

After a long while, he instinctively touched the space below his neck. There was nothing there, but he seemed to be able to feel the black fragment. Everything about this stone was slowly revealed before him as he gained more experience.

"Seed of Life Extermination… Old Man Extermination's reactivation… composing the ballad…" The experiences he had went through in the dimension in the fragment surfaced in Su Ming's head. The ancient ship should be the Heavenly Ship that the Sand Spirit had mentioned.

After some time, Su Ming took in a deep breath. He no longer thought about the things that that left him confused and lost. He dissipated his Ecang projection and resolved the power he had obtained after fusing with his clones. Then, with the unconscious Xu Hui in his arms, he charged forward.

Several days later, Su Ming reached the end of the desert—now filled with a dead silence—based on the marks he had left in the past. When he stood at the edge, he turned his head around to cast a look at the desert behind him.

He could sense that the desert was moving towards death. There was no longer any life force there, nor any lifeforms.

He kept watching, and suddenly came to understand slightly why the black stone fragment was known as… the Seed of Life Extermination.

He remained silent for a moment before turning his head around and walking out of the desert. In front of him was a galaxy which was incredibly clean. When he cast his gaze on it, he could not see too much dust or rotten matter. It was like a calm swamp. He could vaguely see a planet at the forefront.

This was… a cultivation planet that had been split in two, as if it had been cut in half by someone. There were some parts of it that were still connected together, but when he looked at it, he found that it was a wasteland.

"When you walk out of the desert, what you see in the galaxy… will be my tribe." Dijiu Mo Sha's words before he left echoed in Su Ming's ears. He stared at the broken cultivation planet and walked silently over.

He gradually got closer. In silence, Su Ming stared at the cultivation planet, and his footsteps became faster. He had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually, he closed in.

A decadent air of time filled the galaxy, causing people to be immersed in it, as if they would also become ancient beings from it.

Su Ming walked quietly. As he came even closer to the planet, he saw that there seemed to be endless debris on the left side, and among it was a broken statue.

When he saw the statue from the distance, a sharp stab of pain appeared in Su Ming's heart. With one move, he instantly appeared on that cultivation planet and stood on a piece of black ground. In front of him was an endless stream of debris.

Death existed in the form of a bloody stench that persisted through the passage of time. The ancient air and silence were the only themes in this place.

The statue that stood erect among the debris had lost its right arm, but it was still… gigantic in size and covered head to toe in black fur. Sitting cross-legged on its head was an old man. He was dressed in a robe whose color could not be determined, and he had his head lifted to look into the distance.

He was also a statue.

Su Ming looked at the old man, then put down the still unconscious Xu Hui from his bosom to slowly walk over to the statue. He descended on the top and stood beside the old man, looking at the familiar face. Various memories appeared in his head.

The old man who loved changing his clothes when he ventured out of the ninth summit, the person who brought him to the land of the Shamans so that he could get used to the battlefield, the person who taught him the Art to clear his mind, and also the person who let him find a home in Freezing Sky Clan.

At that moment, he was right before Su Ming.

He stared at the statue with a dazed expression, then tears fell down from his eyes. He quietly knelt down and kowtowed nine times to the statue.

"Master…"

When his tears fell on the statue, they spread out and sank into the fine cracks, leaving behind only a wet mark.

"One thousand years ago, this was the place where I was born…" A deep voice echoed in the air. It came from an abandoned house below the statue, the thin man who was sitting there with a desolate air.

Needless to say, he was Dijiu Mo Sha.

He lowered his head and touched the house beneath him. His voice spread through the wreckage, and his words were filled with grief, nostalgia, and an anguish that could not be wiped away.

"The old man in front of you is our Patriarch. He did not like to speak, and most of the time, he would just look into the distance silently. The place he watched was the sacred mountain, the symbol of our tribe. Our patriarch called it… the ninth mountain.

"The patriarch said that he had five disciples in his life, and all of them made him proud. He believed that his disciples would someday be the center of attention of the entire universe so that their names would spread through the whole world and reach him even here.

"Which disciple of the patriarch are you?"

"My Master only had four disciples, and the mountain is not called the ninth mountain. It's the ninth summit," Su Ming muttered under his breath while staring at the statue.

Dijiu Mo Sha's body trembled in a barely discernible manner. He raised his head slowly and directed his gaze at Su Ming.

"There are five stones in front of you. You can place your hands on them…"

Chapter 931: The Fifth Kiln

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Love.

It is the pillar of support for people as they live their lives. It can be love between friends, love between lovers, familial love, and love born out of kindness. When they are shown to the world, they reveal uniform joy and grief.

Dark Mountain allowed Su Ming to feel the love for home. His elder gave him the love born out of kindness. His companions gave him the love between friends, and the women in his life allowed him to feel affection but not romantic love. All of these were Su Ming's precious memories.

His love for the ninth summit was one between familial love and love born out of kindness. It had dissolved into his blood and was branded into his memories, turning into a form of warmth that was different from his mother's murmurs when he was swathed in darkness.

This love and warmth was the thing that allowed him to continue down his path when he closed his eyes in the darkness. In the end… he was still human. A person with flesh and blood.

Even if he had a limitless amount of divine abilities at his disposal, even if he had lived for many years and was now an ancient existence, even if he had already grown numb to killing, and even if his hands were stained with blood… when he closed his eyes, the things that came up the most often were still those carefree peals of laughter in Dark Mountain as well as the warmth he experienced in the ninth summit when he was protected by his senior brothers and Master.

But reality was harsh. It was as if it had reduced all of his longing into fragments filled with all sorts of twists and turns, and they were stranded in the depths of the swamp known as memories… He could stretch a hand into that swamp, but he would never be able to fish out all of them. He would only be able to drag out bits and pieces of those memories.

He truly wanted to use his divine abilities to freeze those scenes that were gone from his sight in the blink of an eye, but even if he could not freeze them, there would always be one small little stone that would fall into the swamp, causing faint ripples and giving a light tap so that he would remember.

There were so many things that happened in the past, which had now turned into a sigh that echoed in the air as he looked at his Master in this silent wasteland. Su Ming stared at the statue before him and sensed the ancient air about the statue… How could he forget this person?

Su Ming knelt beside the statue, and tears fell from his eyes.

Dijiu Mo Sha's voice entered his ears, then left. Su Ming seemed to not have heard him. He looked at his Master's statue quietly, as if time had stopped because of his stare.

When an unknown amount of time had passed, Su Ming lowered his head and saw five stones the size of his palm by his Master's feet. They were placed there and were connected to the stone statue of the giant. It was as if… they had existed since the statue was created.

Su Ming looked at those stones, and his gaze fell on the fourth stone. That stone had a slight, purple tinge, and it was slightly different from the other four. When Su Ming's gaze fell on it, he had a faint feeling that his soul was being led to it.

"Our patriarch left behind these five stones. He said… that if his disciples arrived someday, they would be able to find their stone among the five. If they can make those stones melt, then there would be no need to suspect them. They are his disciples," Dijiu Mo Sha said in a low voice.

Su Ming stared at the fourth stone. He raised his right hand and slowly placed it on the stone. At the instant he did this, Dijiu Mo Sha focused his eyes on the stone and watched it attentively.

He saw a flash of purple. That purple light instantly surged into the sky and illuminated the entire sky. Su Ming's figure was fused into that purple light. When Dijiu Mo Sha looked over, he found that Su Ming's figure was only barely discernible.

Su Ming shivered. At the instant the purple light spread out, he sensed Tian Xie Zi's presence incredibly clearly. That presence seemed to be just around him, as if it had always existed in this place, just waiting for his disciple to arrive.

After a long while, the purple light dissipated. Su Ming stood beside Tian Xie Zi's statue, and the five stones on the ground had now turned into four.

"I, Dijiu Mo Sha, greet my fourth senior brother!" Once Dijiu Mo Sha witnessed this scene, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to Su Ming without any hesitation.

Su Ming did not speak. His gaze fell on the fifth stone beside the statue before he turned his gaze towards Dijiu Mo Sha.

"What did you call me?" A fierce look appeared in Su Ming's eyes.

"After the patriarch arrived in Divine Essence Star Ocean, I became his disciple in name when he provided enlightenment for the Ninth Tribe. My patriarch told me about the divine abilities his four disciples have. Since you could awaken the fourth stone, then based on what the patriarch said before he left… you must be Su Ming!" Dijiu Mo Sha raised his head to stare at Su Ming.

"Of the four disciples my Master took in, I am the most ordinary of them all. My eldest senior brother is the Lord of Nine Li, my second senior brother is the King of All Phantoms, my third senior brother is above all runes and seals… what right do you have to become our junior brother?" Su Ming's expression was calm, but the fierce tone in his words had a faint, freezing quality to them.

He was no longer the teenager who was immature and who did not have enough experience behind his back. He had gone through far too many things and also had a deep understanding towards the cruelty of the world. He no longer trusted in someone easily.

Even if a person called him his fourth senior brother and was truly Master's fifth disciple, some sort of change might occur.

Besides, this was not something that concerned Su Ming alone. This was something he would have to share with his senior brothers. Acknowledging another junior brother into their mid was no child's play.

Dijiu Mo Sha remained silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I am very ordinary. Even when I was in my tribe, I was ordinary. I don't know why patriarch took me in as his disciple in name. Before he left, he told me his four disciples' names and told me to come to this place often so that I could wait for his disciples, who might come to this place someday."

Su Ming looked into the distance. If the cultivation planet had not shattered, he would have been able to see the ninth summit that was built on the planet from this spot.

"Why did this place fall to desolation?" Su Ming asked calmly after some time.

"The races surrounded and attacked us!" Dijiu Mo Sha's eyes shone with great killing intent and hate as he spat these words through gritted teeth.

"Why did they surround and attack you?" Su Ming asked faintly.

"Because the fifth stone appeared, and because our patriarch obtained it." Dijiu Mo Sha clenched his fists, and his voice echoed in the air.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before finally asking, "Is Master… still around?"

"Around a thousand years ago, our patriarch took the fifth stone and led the four races away for us. We don't… know whether he is alive or dead… However, over the course of years I've spent conducting investigations in secret, I've found some hints. The four races have not obtained the fifth stone, and I believe that the patriarch did not die in the past," Dijiu Mo Sha told everything he knew while looking straight into Su Ming's eyes.

���What is the fifth stone?"

"Once you have that stone, when you are in the fifth ocean located at the core of Divine Essence Star Ocean, you can use it to point you in the direction… of the Fifth True World's key, which has been lost in the passage of time. With it, you can even step into the Fifth True World."

Su Ming fell silent again.

"How do you gain possession of the fifth stone, and how did it appear?" he asked while looking at Dijiu Mo Sha.

"There are two ways to obtain the fifth stone. One of them is to snatch it from the person with it. The other… is to wait for the activation of the fifth kiln.

"It is unknown when the fifth kiln will be activated. Sometimes, it will be activated once a decade. Sometimes, it will be activated once a century. Sometimes, it will need a thousand or ten thousand years or even longer to activate.

"Once the fifth kiln is activated, flames that will spread through the entire Divine Essence Star Ocean will burst forth. This is something that even the galaxies beyond Divine Essence Star Ocean will be able to see.

"The flames will burn continuously for a period of time. During that time, it will be a form of torture and trial for all living beings. We need to avoid the fire, or our bodies and spirits will be destroyed.

"But there are some powerful warriors who can head towards the fire and step right into the fifth kiln. In it, they might be able to obtain a great serendipity. Their bodies will become sanctified, as if they had been refined. They might also be able to obtain Enchanted Treasures. The hardest to obtain among them is the fifth stone.

"However, the possibility of death in there is extremely high.

"It is said that the fifth kiln is not a product of Divine Essence Star Ocean, but an Enchanted Kiln. When it burns, it can create supreme treasures possessing endless spiritual energy for the Fifth True World. It was in the Fifth True World, but once that disappeared, the kiln appeared in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

"No one can use it as their personal Enchanted Treasure. They can only watch it erupt time and again in the passage of time, and there are always people who step into it to search for serendipities.

"By now, this fifth kiln has become one of the four great mysteries in Divine Essence Star Ocean!" Dijiu Mo Sha explained.

"As for the other three mysteries, one of them is the vortices in space that occasionally appear in Divine Essence Star and have been in the galaxy since its birth. Once someone falls in there, there's no way to get out. We call these vortices Divine Essence Star Ocean's swamps. They might lead to another world that is not known to us.

"The second mystery is the endlessness of Divine Essence Star Ocean. Even if you manage to find the core, it doesn't matter for how many years you move away from it, you will never be able to get out of Divine Essence Star Ocean. It's as if this galaxy is the epitome of the word boundless.

"The third mystery is the place where all Ancestral Spirits were born. It is also known as All Spirits Hall. It is said that the secrets of Divine Essence Star Ocean's origins are kept there, but when All Spirits Hall appears, those who are not Masters of Fate, Lives, and Death cannot enter the place, which is why it is very difficult for people to know just what is inside." Dijiu Mo Sha's voice's reverberated in space as he spoke about the secrets in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he asked again, "Do you know where Master has gone?"

"The entrance to the Fifth True World. In fact, there's a high possibility that Master is already in the Fifth True World," Dijiu Mo Sha said without any hesitation.

Su Ming sank into a contemplative silence for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, a piercing whistle suddenly came from within Dijiu Mo Sha's body. This sound contained two long whistles and three short whistles, giving off a very urgent feeling.

At the instant the sound came, Dijiu Mo Sha's expression changed drastically. He turned around and looked into the distance. As anxiety appeared in his eyes, he also let out a bunch of sounds.

They were three short whistles and one long whistle, as if this was some form of language, and he was replying to whoever it was that made the initial whistle.

Once he made this sound, another sound came faintly from his body. This time, it was four long whistles and three short whistles.

Dijiu Mo Sha's expression changed. Without hesitation, he moved forward, but after he took a few steps, he turned around to look at Su Ming. His usually aloof eyes now held a hint of complicated emotions and nostalgia.

"I finished what the patriarch instructed me to do—to come to this place once in a while to wait for his disciples. It doesn't matter to me whether you acknowledge my status or not. I… Dijiu Mo Sha, am the patriarch's disciple, and even if I die… my soul will be the patriarch's disciple!" Once he finished saying this, a determined and resolute look flashed in Dijiu Mo Sha's eyes. He turned his head around, turned into a long arc, and instantly charged into the distance.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment. Then, he looked at his Master's statue before letting out a light sigh. With a swing of his arm, he swept up Xu Hui and took a step forward. His body instantly disappeared. As he had the Duke of Crimson Flame shift, he appeared right next to Dijiu Mo Sha, who was in the distance and was charging forward in a hurry.

"You…" Dijiu Mo Sha was taken aback.

Chapter 932: Common Sense

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"What happened?" Su Ming asked calmly.

Dijiu Mo Sha remained silent for several breaths, then when he looked at Su Ming, his expression was filled with a hint of gratitude.

"The tribe is in danger. It should have been an invasion by the Hearers. After the patriarch shifted the tribe to this place from the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean, we had to keep migrating over the past thousand years. We kept hiding from everyone. The four races might not chase after us anymore, but the minor races affiliated to them kept whittling down the number of people in our tribe ceaselessly," Dijiu Mo Sha said through gritted teeth.

"From a tribe of nearly one hundred thousand people, we were reduced to less than one thousand people…"

"Take me to your tribe," Su Ming said calmly.

Dijiu Mo Sha nodded. He moved, and blood fog erupted from his body, causing his speed to instantly increase by several fold. Su Ming took one step forward by his side, and with it, he had already traveled the distance.

They rushed on their way, and after about two hours, Dijiu Mo Sha came to an abrupt halt. He carefully observed his surroundings, then brought out a stone from his bosom. He crushed it and spread it outwards.

Immediately, in a spot not too far from where they were a vortex the size of a palm took shape. It sucked in the powder from the crushed stone.

"The vortices in Divine Essence Star Ocean might have their own mysterious aspects, but after years of investigation, the people here found that while some of the vortices are endless chasms that lead to unknown destinations, there are some vortices that are connected to others of their king in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

"Once we find these safe vortices, they can be turned into a kind of natural Relocation spot. We can use them to make initially long distances no longer so far away.

"The records of these vortices in each tribe are the most important treasures, and we cannot let any outsiders learn of them. In fact, there are only a few members of a tribe who can have this knowledge.

"The patriarch used some sort of unknown method to discover the Ninth Tribe's Relocation Vortices, and he discovered quite a number of them. The planet where our tribe was built was also shifted from the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean to the periphery in this manner.

"In fact, if it was not because of the existence of these vortex tunnels, it would have been impossible for my tribesmen to continue surviving after being chased ceaselessly for the past thousand years. There are plenty of vortex tunnels the patriarch has uncovered which other tribes do not know of up to this date."

Clearly, Dijiu Mo Sha no longer treated Su Ming as an outsider. As he observed the powder from the stone around him, he provided him with detailed explanations.

"When we return to the tribe, I will tell you all the vortex tunnels that have been recorded. It'll be much more convenient for you to travel around in Divine Essence Star Ocean like this." Dijiu Mo Sha's eyes focused on the spot where the stone powder disappeared, then he raised his right hand to seize the air in that direction.

"Just touching the vortex with your body will be sufficient. When you're being Relocated, do not open your eyes. We will be able to walk out of the other tunnel in about a dozen something breaths."

Dijiu Mo Sha's voice still echoed in space when his body was sucked into the fist-sized vortex. He was pulled inside straight away, as if the edges of that vortex were soft and bouncy, which allowed it to devour all matter.

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes. After a moment of pensive silence, he took a step forward and touched the vortex. At the instant he did so, he felt that he was enveloped in something soft. Right when this feeling appeared, he noticed a powerful suction force that pulled him into the vortex with a bang.

Su Ming did not close his eyes. Instead, he kept them constantly open.

He could sense that his body was being moved by some sort of force leading him forward. Before him, he saw Dijiu Mo Sha, who had his eyes closed.

Aside from him, Su Ming saw… a colorful world. There were countless living beings that were like jellyfishes shining in this world while they floated around the area. When he looked down, he found no bottom. There was only darkness.

When Su Ming saw this, his gaze focused, and he saw six brownish yellow flames suddenly lighting up in a small region of the darkness beneath him.

At the same time, a furious roar came from the darkness. Right when that roar sounded, the colorful jellyfish-like creatures around him dispersed.

Immediately after, Su Ming saw the six flames burn up brighter in the endless darkness beneath him. They swiftly grew bigger, as if they were three living spirits swifty rushing out.

"Close your eyes!" an anxious voice immediately said from a spot not too far away from Su Ming. That voice was belonged to Dijiu Mo Sha, whose body was moving forward due to the force leading him. Once he heard the furious roar, he kept his eyes closed, but anxiety appeared on his face.

Su Ming did not close his eyes. He instead continued looking at the endless darkness beneath him.

The six burning flames came increasingly closer. About six to seven breaths later, the furious roars turned into a powerful impact… and a horse that was entirely black and was stepping on flames appeared before Su Ming's eyes.

The two-headed horse was black and had flames surrounding it. There was murder in its eyes, and the two dragon heads kept tossing about. Enraged roars reverberated in the air and charged towards Su Ming.

A powerful mighty pressure erupted from this foreign creature's body, and it was so strong that Su Ming once again understood that becoming a Master of Fate, Lives, and Death was absolutely not the limit and did not constitute to someone being the strongest!

"Don't look at anything… Ha…" Dijiu Mo Sha's voice turned into a sigh in the end. His figure disappeared from the colorful world, and no trace of him could be found anymore. It was a telling sign that he had been sent out on the other side.

The black horse with two dragon heads drew closer. Its roars shook the air in all directions.

Su Ming could feel that the power drawing him forward was on the verge of collapse due to the tremors. He narrowed his eyes, but he still did not close his eyes.

Su Ming had grown incredibly fond of this horse the moment he saw it. The creature's fierce presence matched well with his own murderous aura. When he saw it stepping on flames while on its way, this appearance coincided with a thought that had blossomed in the depths of his head when he had heard Dijiu Mo Sha's words.

He was also extremely satisfied with its speed. It had only used the span of a few short breaths to reach this place from the seemingly endless darkness. There were no flaws in its cultivation base, either.

Su Ming's eyes were trained on the horse, without any attempt of hiding it, and since his thoughts were revealed in his gaze, the black horse with the two dragon heads felt provoked, which was a rare emotion. It also noticed Su Ming's intent to enslave it.

This caused the beast's roars to become stronger and its speed to become faster!

However, this was just a short Relocation to Su Ming. The period of a dozen something breaths had ended, and his body swiftly disappeared.

"You are mine." At the instant Su Ming disappeared, he said those words. He knew that the black horse would be able to hear his voice and would also be able to understand him.

He did not know whether anyone had said the same words to the black horse before him. If there was, then the effect of Su Ming's words would not be great, but if there was not…

… Then Su Ming's words would turn into a seed that would be planted in the black horse's heart. As long as it remembered that someone had said such words to it, the seed would exist in its heart.

This was Su Ming's Art.

It evolved from the Art that would exist if he believed in it, and it was also a divine ability that surpassed the Great Art of Berserker Seed in terms of standard.

"Roar!"

As the black horse's roars reverberated in the air, Su Ming disappeared from the colorful world. When he appeared, he was standing in the galaxy that belonged to Divine Essence Star Ocean. Before him was Dijiu Mo Sha, who had a wry smile on his face.

"Fourth senior brother, I am to be blamed for not telling you clearly earlier. You are… not supposed to see anything in the world within the vortex. Once you see it and its image is imprinted in your memories, you will be remembered by the strange power in the world within the vortex.

"Once you use them again, the living creatures you saw will not let you leave. Even if you manage to leave by a stroke of luck, if you keep using the vortexes to Relocate, your journeys will become increasingly more dangerous." Dijiu Mo Sha sighed and rushed forward. He was feeling anxious about his tribe's safety, and was also feeling a little sulky about Su Ming's previous actions.

Su Ming took a step forward before he suddenly asked, "Do you know why you are only Master's disciple in name and not his proper disciple?"

Dijiu Mo Sha was momentarily stunned.

"It's because I only have normal potential and am very ordinary…" Dijiu Mo Sha said in a low whisper.

"You're wrong." Su Ming shook his head. "Who told you that you are not allowed to open your eyes in the world within the vortex?"

"There's no need for anyone to tell me about this. It's common sense. It's a general piece of knowledge almost everyone living here knows. Those who open their eyes out of curiosity, before long, they are unable to walk out of some vortex. Too many of such incidents have happened over the years. I've seen more than you did…" Dijiu Mo Sha felt slightly indignant.

"Then has anyone managed to tame the creatures in the vortex and bring them out?" Su Ming asked.

"Never!" Dijiu Mo Sha said without any hesitation.

"You're wrong." Su Ming looked at Dijiu Mo Sha. He stared at this fifth junior brother of his, who he had not admitted verbally, but had already accepted slightly in his heart. "Common sense is just a circle. If you believe in it, then it will exist in your life and limit your steps. It will limit everything about you. While it might be able to protect you… it will also limit your growth.

"It's not because of your potential that Master took you in only as a disciple in name. It's because you lack the courage to challenge common sense, or rather, you don't have the will to shatter common sense in you.

"Have you ever thought why Master would know more of these vortex tunnels than other tribes when he was in this place? Have you ever thought about why the four races are still unable find Master even when they have been pursuing him all this while?

"In fact, I am certain that the black giant Master is sitting upon is a fierce creature that you've never seen before. It's not a creature from Divine Essence Star Ocean, but you've never wondered where it came from," Su Ming said slowly, but when his words fell into Dijiu Mo Sha's ears, they turned into thunderous roars.

He knew full well that the patriarch's fierce black giant was indeed a living creature that he had never seen before…

"That fierce creature should have come from the world in the vortex. Master was able to discover more vortex tunnels than other tribes because he opened his eyes in the world within the vortex… and he even enslaved a creature from there," Su Ming said faintly.

Dijiu Mo Sha's feet came to an abrupt halt. He looked at Su Ming with a dazed look. His voice echoed in his heart, and every single word caused his heart to tremble. Only at this moment did he suddenly understand why, among his four disciples, his patriarch had spoken the most… about this fourth senior brother standing in front of him instead of his eldest senior brother, his second senior brother, or his third senior brother!

Chapter 933: The Flower That Sank into Darkness

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When the fifth kiln appears in the world, its flames fill the entire Divine Essence Star Ocean. The boundless sea of fire burns all those who try to be disrespectful to it.

Only the powerful warriors who have practically eternal lives can charge through the sea of fire, and only they can head into the fifth kiln in the sea of fire to seek death, serendipities… and the legend of the Fifth True World allegedly existing there in fragmented pieces.

If a person could step into the Fifth True World, then all the resources of a true world, all the World Plane power there could be obtained by that person. Then they could turn the power of ten thousand worlds into the power of Kalpa Realm, and with one single move… become a Master of Fate, Lives, and Death.

This legend was about the fifth True World and the fifth kiln.

Yet since the past, every single time the fifth kiln had appeared, there were few who managed to walk through the sea of fire. To be able to do this, a person needed to have a deep understanding towards the original essence of fire. They would need to turn their bodies into fire… or at the very least, they would need to have a ferocious beast that can dance around with fire. Only then… would that person be able to move through the sea of fire.

Su Ming's understanding towards fire had not reached the state where he understood its original essence or was deep enough that he knew all the origins of fire and its full structure, neither did he have an understanding great enough that fire would appear out of nowhere when he breathed.

His understanding towards fire was only slightly greater than that of a normal person. After all… he inherited the legacy of the Fire Berserker, but to the current Su Ming, the Fire Berserker's level was a little too low. This level of understanding towards fire was not enough for him to be able to walk through the sea of fire when the fifth kiln was activated.

That was why he needed a fierce beast that could live even if it was swathed in fire!

This sort of ferocious beast could not be seen anywhere. All the fierce creatures in Su Ming's memories did not fulfill this requirement… but when he saw the black horse in the world in the vortex, its heroic bearing as it moved forward while stepping on fire had given Su Ming a powerful hunch the moment he saw it.

He had a feeling that this… was the creature that could allow him to move through the sea of fire. This was a ferocious beast that could let him look down on fire in the sea of fire!

That was why he wanted to obtain this creature. Before the fifth kiln was activated the next time, he wanted to make this creature his pet!

It would be incredibly difficult…

However, Su Ming had already made his decision. If this matter only concerned Lie Shan Xiu's disappearance, then he might hesitate. Even if he came forth to search for clues regarding the First God of Berserkers and guessed that there was a high possibility that he had entered the Fifth True World, Su Ming might still eventually choose to give up and return to True Morning Dao World.

After all, he still had not prepared himself fully.

However, Tian Xie Zi was now added into the mix, and this became incredibly important in Su Ming's heart. Besides, he also had a mind and heart to return to the Fifth True World and the Abyss Builders' homeland and have a look.

All of these things caused him to make his decision!

He wanted to wait for the fifth kiln to be activated in Divine Essence Star Ocean and obtain the fifth stone in the fifth kiln, then bring this stone to the fifth ocean in the core of Divine Essence Star Ocean, and from there… step into the Fifth True World.

'This is my path… a path that was already set for me when I descended into the Barren Lands of Divine Essence's Crimson Flame Planet… I tried to escape from it, but in the end, my path still led… to the Fifth True World.' Su Ming walked beside Dijiu Mo Sha and looked at the galaxy in the distance with a calm expression on his face.

'I could not escape from it not because there was a will that chose this path for me in the dark, but because I had subconsciously chosen this path for myself.' An ancient presence appeared in Su Ming's eyes. As he grew older, as he experienced more things, as he… He grew used to thinking, grew used to being alone, and grew used to being lonely.

Perhaps his world was not colorful and full of excitement. However, in this world where the strong preyed on the weak, there was a possibility for a rare peace in a person's life.

After all, he was only one person.

If the bald crane had not been with him, Su Ming did not know how he would have turned out by this time. Perhaps he would have gone to the extreme, become obsessive, or perhaps when he closed his eyes, he would have gained a presence akin to a blade, and when he opened them, shadows stained with blood would appear before him.

'Because I am someone from the Fifth True World…' Su Ming shook his head. He did not acknowledge this, but he could not stop that thought and feeling of wanting to take a look at the Fifth True World.

'Perhaps it's because of her…' Su Ming walked through the galaxy. It was dark all around him, bringing back the memory of the woman who had appeared when he was in Western Ring Nebula's foreign land. The woman who gave him an unfamiliar yet familiar feeling, who gave him a cold feeling but also one of warmth… his mother.

'Perhaps it is also for her…' Su Ming remembered the girl who had long since stopped calling out to him… his younger sister.

He had never experienced true love in his life, be it with Bai Ling or with Yu Xuan. Their figures were like willows in his heart. They drifted about in the wind, never able to fall on the ground, and even if they did… they would soon rise once more due to a passing breeze.

Because they were not the only ones who were willows. Even Su Ming himself was a willow without roots. He drifted about without a home and without a place in which he could stay.

If he had to mention one thing, then the only experience he had with love was the experience of having a crush when he was still ignorant towards love.

In the darkness of his emotions, it was a fleeting rainbow. It was akin to a sigh when snow fell from the sky and wind blew past, like snow that could not make a person's hair completely white even if the person continued walking under it… like how he had been unable to fulfill his promise in the past.

Some of his memories were now covered in a light layer of dust from the passage of time, and they were fragmented, no longer connected to each other.

'I… don't understand love, and neither do I… understand affection.'

Su Ming sighed softly. It turned into faint ripples in the galaxy, and sadness was contained in them. They were a blossoming flower that no one could understand as it revealed its loneliness in the quiet darkness.

Su Ming looked at the galaxy. He realized that as he grew older and gained more experience, he always subconsciously immersed himself in his memories, constantly turning his head back to look at all the things he regretted in his life.

"I'm old now… because I always think back on the things that happened when I was young. My young La Su, when a person is old, he starts to feel sentimental about his life, and only then does he start counting all the exciting things that had happened in the past."

In Su Ming's ears, his Elder's words echoed, brimming with mirth, but he had already forgotten the year and the season his elder had said them.

Time trickled by. Four hours later, six piercing whistles came from Dijiu Mo Sha's body, interrupting Su Ming's thoughts.

Those whistles were shrill and piercing to the ear, sounding like a shrill, pained scream. Dijiu Mo Sha's expression changed, and because Su Ming couldn't understanding anything, Dijiu Mo Sha immediately brought out a medicinal core from his bosom. That core was pitch black, but when it appeared in his hand, it instantly started moving.

This was not a medicinal core. It was a black centipede that resembled the shape of a medicinal core after it had curled unto itself. A resolute look appeared in Dijiu Mo Sha's eyes, and with gritted teeth, he swallowed that centipede.

Once he did so, black smoke immediately rose from his face. The faint mark of a centipede appeared on his face, causing him to look incredibly ferocious.

"I'll be rushing forward and burning my life. The tribe is in grave danger. Once you walk past this galaxy, you will see a floating continent. That place… is where my tribe lies." Once he finished saying these words, black smoke immediately spread out from Dijiu Mo Sha's entire body. He lifted his head and roared, then with a speed he had never shown before, he vanished.

Su Ming's eyes focused. He had tried shifting before, but there was something incredibly strange about this galaxy at this particular moment. He could not shift. It was as if there was a natural barrier placed in this area.

At the instant Dijiu Mo Sha disappeared, Su Ming took a step forward and sliced through the galaxy like a bolt of lightning to charge into the distance. Right when he had traveled for about a dozen something breaths, he heard a barely discernible sound from the area in front of him – the seventh whistle!

He did not stop moving but traveled even faster. After the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, he saw a floating continent in the distant galaxy.

There were uneven cracks on that continent, a telling sign that it had been separated from a planet after it had collapsed. On the fragment, he could see shattered mountains, dried up ground, and countless withered and yellowing plants.

He also saw… hundreds of ferocious beasts with blades growing out of their backs floating in the galaxy. They were hundreds of feet tall and had armor. On their backs were tall and lean figures whose earlobes drooped down to their shoulders.

There were thousands of people who had the same appearance around the beasts. There were also a large number of black insects of several dozens of feet big moving about in all directions. They had already formed a sea of insects that was rapidly spreading outwards.

Roars and booming sounds echoed in all directions. This sea of insects was spreading towards a mountain. Around the edge of that mountain were hundreds of people, and on their faces were despair. However, they did not back down and were continuously killing the insects in that sea.

There were also hundreds of people in midair who were casting divine abilities against their enemies in the sky, causing loud bangs.

Old people, young children, as well as sick and disabled could be seen on the mountainside. They were watching the sky and earth in silence with the expressions of people who knew they were about to die.

A loud bang echoed in the area. A crack appeared in the sky, as if it had been torn apart. Dijiu Mo Sha walked out of that crack in one swift step. Black smoke surrounded his body, and it turned into a gigantic ferocious centipede behind him. As it twisted its body, it opened its mouth wide against the sea of insects on the ground, and a vast amount of black fog instantly shot out of its mouth.

As that poisonous fog came out of its body, Dijiu Mo Sha's body immediately withered, but there was not a single change in his expression. The only thing that changed on him was that the killing intent in his eyes had grown stronger.

His appearance immediately caught the attention of the people standing on the ferocious beasts' backs in the distance. Compared to the usual practice of cultivators speaking to each other before they fought, this alien race that survived in Divine Essence Star Ocean did not speak even a single word when they saw Dijiu Mo Sha and recognized him. However, seven people did fly out, and with murderous intent, they charged towards him.

At the same time, the thousands of people in space lifted their hands. As they formed a seal, an innumerable number of black beetles from the sea of insects on the ground went mad. With a purple tint to their bodies, they rushed forward as if they had descended into madness, not caring about the poison fog corroding their bodies.

This scene was reflected in Su Ming's pupils in the form of a miniature image. He moved forward and closed in on the continent.