Chapter 1202: The Truth
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming stared at the old man. He was familiar with him, since he was the lonely old man who had sent him to the Heavenly Spirit Tribe in this place. At that moment, the kindly look on his face was vastly different from the gloomy expression he had in Su Ming's memories.
He understood that he had come to the day before the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe went through his eighth spirit ascension. After that, all the people in Heavenly Spirit Tribe went through a disaster.
Because of it, all those who lived in the tribe would turn into wraiths. They would be killed by their own elder.
In silence, Su Ming lowered his head under the gaze and question of the old man from the ancient past, then chose a spot to sit.
The old man smiled and shook his head. He did not continue questioning Su Ming. Instead, he looked at all the children around him, and the kindly look on his face grew more pronounced. He knew that the people before him was the tribe's future.
"Arid Dao is where the will of heaven resides. It is the root of all manner of beings. For example, all of you are members of Heavenly Spirit Tribe, but in truth, you are also part of Arid Dao.
"The will of Arid Dao is that all of us can become Arid Dao, but not all of us can become Arid Dao. This is its real intent. It is rather complicated, but you do not need to truly understand it. You just need to remember this in your heart. In the future, perhaps one of you will be able to understand just what exactly is Arid Dao," the old man said slowly. With this sort of method, he passed down the inheritance of his tribe.
Su Ming stared at the old man. He could tell with just one glance that the current old man was much weaker than his future self. But even though there was a difference between them, he was still an Antecedental Spirit, and one who had succeeded seven times in the spirit ascension. However, right then, there was joy on his face instead of the loneliness and grief hiding under that apathetic look of his future self.
Time passed, and night fell soon. The old man's lecture about Arid Dao gradually came to an end as well. During the night, torches were lit in the tribe. Under their light, the land was illuminated in such a manner that light and darkness intersected within it.
Su Ming sat in a corner of the tribe. He stared at the stars in the sky and the torches in the tribe. His expression was one of contemplation.
'The one who killed the members of the tribe is clearly the old man. He knows this. The important detail is that when he lost consciousness, he was going through the Arid Disaster…
'He wanted me to come here to tell him in detail about what I saw when I got back. He must have obtained some answers himself, but isn't too certain about them, which is why he wants me to take a look. He wants certainty.
'Just what… is the Arid Disaster? How can it make a person lose consciousness?'
Su Ming had a very thorough idea of why he had been sent over. At that moment, he stared at the starry sky and quietly waited for time to pass.
There was wind at night, causing the torches to let out sizzling sounds. During the night, no one in the tribe went to rest. When midnight drew close, all the members of the tribe went to the center of their land.
There were nearly one hundred thousand people under the huge Spirit Ascension Platform. All of them lifted their heads to stare at it in the dark and watch their elder who was about to go through his eighth spirit ascension.
Su Ming watched quietly from the crowd. He only had two days in the ancient past, and one day had already passed. He knew that the accident… would occur on the second day.
His eyes shone, but he could not see the old man on the Spirit Ascension Platform clearly. He could only see an indistinct silhouette.
Time trickled by, and gradually midnight arrived. Su Ming frowned at that moment. As an Antecedental Spirit, even when he returned to the ancient past, he could sense his own presence, but he could not sense the All Spirits Hall.
A hint of hesitation appeared in Su Ming's eyes. At that moment, a roar suddenly came from the dark Spirit Ascension Platform. Immediately after, zealousness appeared on the face of all the people in Heavenly Spirit Tribe h, and they roared together.
"Heavenly Spirit!"
"Heavenly Spirit!"
Their voices reverberated through the air, fusing together with the old man's roar on the Spirit Ascension Platform. This turned into a loud bang that shook the sky and earth. Bright light instantly appeared in the dark sky, and eight Spirit Descension Halls manifested. When they surrounded the area, the people on the ground let out even more excited cheers. The world roared, and a huge palace slowly appeared.
Su Ming was familiar with its appearance. It was the All Spirits Hall.
When he saw this, the frown between Su Ming's eyebrows slowly disappeared. He stared at the All Spirits Hall and the two thousand something golden figures which appeared one after another. The darkness in the area was chased out, giving way to the light from the All Spirits Hall.
The members of Heavenly Spirit Tribe beside Su Ming stopped cheering. They grew agitated and nervous as they stared at the old man, who stood up at that moment, on the Spirit Ascension Platform. Due to the area surrounded by the light, his face could be seen by his people beneath the platform.
There was confidence on the old man's face, like he knew the order of the eighth spirit ascension. At that moment, he turned into a long arc that charged to a position in the eighth row from the bottom.
Su Ming watched this scene with full attention. He could sense that the old man would definitely succeed in the spirit ascension. Then, the Arid Disaster would descend. The accident would occur at that time, which was why while Su Ming was paying full attention to the matter, he still instinctively cast a glance at the 781st position in the bottommost row. That was the position he had fused with earlier.
When he cast his gaze over, Su Ming's pupils suddenly shrank, and a look of confusion appeared on his face. There was a sense of unfamiliarity about the Ancestral Spirit at the 781st position in the bottommost row. It was as if… it was not the one with which Su Ming had fused.
Even if a long period of time had passed, since Su Ming had fused with an Ancestral Spirit, there would be a thread connecting them. Based on Su Ming's understanding, even time would not be able to destroy that thread between them. Yet at that moment, the Ancestral Spirit in the same position gave Su Ming an unfamiliar feeling…
The instant he noticed it was when the old man approached the Ancestral Spirit in the eighth row from the bottom. A thought instantly arose in Su Ming's head.
'Something's off!!'
His heart trembled, and the feeling that something was off became even stronger. Unless his understanding was wrong and he would be unfamiliar with the Ancestral Spirit with which he had fused if he was in the ancient past… then there was only one answer, an answer that cast Su Ming into disbelief.
'Could it be that the All Spirits Hall that appeared here… is fake?!'
Su Ming could not believe this guess, but the old man had already went to fuse with the Ancestral Spirit in the eighth row from the bottom. During the fusion, golden light covered the area of a hundred thousand feet around him, and he let out a low shout.
All of this looked incredibly real, so Su Ming could not help but be uncertain of his own guesses and conclusions.
The cheers echoed in the air again. All the members of Heavenly Spirit Tribe erupted in joy when they saw their elder clearly succeeding.
Amid the cheers, Su Ming became even more uncertain of his own guess, but that uncertainty only lasted for three more breaths. At that moment, his pupils shrank, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
The golden light in the sky reached one hundred thousand feet, but Su Ming could see pain and shock on the old man's face. It looked like he wanted to open his mouth to say something, but was unable to do so. This scene was soon noticed by all the powerful warriors in the tribe.
At the same time, a loud bang shot up in the sky, and the eight Spirit Descension Halls shook. They turned into eight huge faces full of ferociousness that released a strange cry from their mouths. The seven huge faces made Su Ming's heart tremble since he was familiar with them. They were formed from the Arid Beasts he had seen before!
Soon after, the huge All Spirits Hall shook as well. It turned crimson red, and the entire building changed into a huge red bolt of lightning that charged at the old man with a bang.
But things did not end when the red bolt of lightning hit him. It then split into nearly one hundred thousand portions that descended on the ground. They seeped into the center of everyone's brows, causing all the people to tremble. They threw their heads back and let out a shrill roar.
Su Ming was no exception. Once the bolt of lightning seeped into him, his body shuddered. He could sense a violent energy enter him, but it did not throw his mind into disorder. Instead, he felt as if his body had been Possessed. He could no longer control it.
Soon after, Su Ming saw all the members of the tribe raise from the ground. Their eyes were bloodshot, and with madness in the, all one hundred thousand charged at the old man in the sky.
There were quite a lot of children among the figures, but at that moment, they also had ferocious expressions. With bloodshot eyes, they let out cries like those of wild beasts.
When the one hundred thousand people rushed out, a vast power that was greater than their levels of cultivation erupted from them. They were like one hundred thousand wild beasts who had lost their rationality. They instantly rushed to the old man, and judging by their looks, they wanted to devour him alive.
Countless human faces appeared on the bodies of the one hundred thousand tribe members. They had ferocious expressions and were absorbing the tribe members' flesh, blood, and soul, causing them to wither swiftly. With the blood-red light from their eyes, it looked like there was another life about to be born in their bodies.
This scene caused Su Ming's heart to tremble violently. His body was undergoing the same thing as the others, but he did not pay any attention to this. Instead, he stared at the sky.
The old man opened his eyes and stared at his people with grief on his face.
Chapter 1203: Return to True Morning Dao World
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The old man simply allowed his tribe members to pounce on him and tear at him like wild beasts. They bit down chunks of his flesh and swallowed it, which made the presences that seemed like they were about to be born to become stronger. In fact, excitement even appeared on their faces.
Tears fell from the old man's eyes. He lowered his head and hugged his body. The child biting down on him was a young boy who had naively asked him a few questions during the day, yet now…
The old man threw his head back and let out a roar of extreme grief. His body trembled. A hint of crazed despair and indescribable hate appeared in his eyes. He lifted his right hand and struck the center of his brows swiftly. With it, his gaze immediately became unfocused. His mind scattered due to his power of an Antecedental Spirit, which meant that only instinct remained in his body.
He did this because he could not kill his people while he retained his mind.
When only instinct remained, a dazed look appeared in his eyes. He seized the boy's neck with his right hand, and with it, he turned around and charged towards the tribe members pouncing on him.
A bloody slaughter began at that moment. With the pain of having lost control of their bodies but not their minds, the members of Heavenly Spirit Tribe watched their elder destroy their souls.
As the tribe members died, as the old man's robes gradually turned crimson, as blood filled the ground, and as a thick stench of blood filled the air, the red bolt of lightning in the sky and the eight huge faces watched with aloof expressions. But the slaughter did not last for long.
Su Ming was not the last to die, but even though his body no longer breathed, his soul remained in the body. His eyes after remained open, and he could still see all that happened.
When the old man killed the last tribe member, he shuddered as if he had just woken up. While holding the corpse, he threw his head back and roared at the sky. His tortured cries echoed in the air, and soon, the eight huge faces in the sky vanished. The red bolt of lightning then vanished without a trace as well.
Su Ming vision became indistinct at that instant, and everything before him turned into a huge vortex. It swiftly extracted his soul from the dead body, and in an instant, he was swept away.
When Su Ming's vision cleared up, he felt dizzy, as if the sky and earth had been turned upside down. Everything seemed to have been turned over its head. It did not matter whether it was time, dimensions, or the entire world, everything had turned into a chaotic mess. A huge hand shot out and grabbed his back then. It clutched him tightly, then with a fierce yank, he was forcefully dragged out from the vortex.
The world instantly cleared up when Su Ming's body was pulled out of the crack by the old man. The feeling of his soul returning to his physical body and his mind still moving between the ancient past and the present caused Su Ming to take a few steps back with a pale face. When he sat down, he immediately mediated to stabilize his mind.
When he opened his eyes after a long while, a wave of dizziness washed over him again, but that level of discomfort was something he could bear. It did not matter that red filled his eyes and blood trickled out of his ears. When he lifted his head, he saw the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe staring at him intently.
"What did you see?" the old man asked the moment he saw Su Ming open his eyes.
His expression might have seemed only slightly grave, but in truth, he was incredibly interested in what had happened. He had been waiting for this day for a long time. Over the countless years, he had always wanted to send someone to observe the past to find out what had happened and why everything had ended up the way it did when he woke up.
He could not remember much of the things that had happened during that time. It was as if those memories had been forcefully cut off from him. He did not know who did it, but he longed to know all the answers.
He had tried to make a deal several times before Su Ming, but every single person that came failed their spirit ascension, preventing him from achieving his goal.
Su Ming's arrival, thus, finally allowed him to do it, and it filled him with hope.
It was especially so when Su Ming had even returned from the ancient past. Upon seeing him, the old man longed dearly to know the answer.
Su Ming cast the old man a complicated gaze. He was silent for a moment before he spoke in a low whisper. "Han Di…"
At the instant he said that name, the old man shuddered slightly. A powerful light shone in his eyes.
"I remember this name. He was one of the younger members of Heavenly Spirit Tribe. You…"
Su Ming sucked in a deep breath and stared at the old man while starting his recounting. "My body did not enter the ancient past. When my soul was swept inside, it fused into the body of the teenager called Han Di, and I watched you give a lecture about the will of Arid Dao…
"When you finished your lecture about Arid Dao…
"The All Spirits Hall appeared… you fused with the Ancestral Spirit in the eighth row from the bottom…
"A red bolt of lightning… huge faces formed by gigantic Arid Beasts… lightning descended… one hundred thousand tribe members went mad…"
With a calm tone, Su Ming shared everything he had seen in the ancient past without hiding anything. The old man in front of him shuddered while listening quietly. Pain and nostalgia aroe in his eyes, as if he was forming the memories he had cut off based on Su Ming's words, which resulted in them being connected together to form his past once more.
When Su Ming spoke of lightning creeping into the one hundred thousand tribe members, making all of them charge at the old man, the old man quietly lifted his head to stare at the sky. Tears fell from his eyes. At that moment, he was no longer a powerful cultivator who had successfully had his spirit ascend eight times. Instead, he had become a pitiful old man who had lost his tribe members and family.
"They became part of the Arid Disaster when it descended. I… attacked and killed them, because if they did not die, then when their bodies withered, they would give birth to Arid Beasts…" the old man mumbled under his breath when Su Ming finished speaking. There was grief in his voice, along with great sorrow.
"They had already lost their minds. They were no longer themselves… so I killed them. Before I attacked, I scattered my own mind. I intentionally made myself forget all that happened at that time." The old man's murmurs gradually turned into loud laughter. It was full of grief and madness, along with indescribable grief and despair.
"It's as I expected. It's almost identical to the version of the truth I came up with from my deductions over the years. It's as I expected, or else why would I have had to go through the eighth spirit ascension again ? I knew that this had happened since a long time ago!"
The old man had nearly descended into pure madness. As he mumbled under his breath, Su Ming sighed in his heart.
He did not tell the old man that the tribe members he killed had not lost their minds, but could see and understand that the elder they respected killed all of them.
"It's just as I expected. This is the answer I wanted verified after searching for it for so many years. The Arid Disaster took the form of the All Spirits Hall and lured me into performing the spirit ascension. It planted the Arid Shadow on me and changed my will. What ingenious Arid Disaster!"
The old man threw his head back and laughed in a voice full of madness. When tears streamed down his cheeks, Su Ming understood that the old man had clearly understood everything over the years.
He only needed to verify his own conclusion. He might have already had the answer, but he had wanted to verify it, because he did not want to believe it.
Yet what Su Ming said when he returned completely crushed the last hint of doubt in the old man's heart, proving to him that the answer had always been in his own heart.
As Su Ming stared at the old man, he suddenly understood why the old man had intentionally brought the Arid Disaster on Su Ming. It was because… he wanted to take revenge. He was a person who wanted to challenge the Arid Disaster for his people.
"I will leave this place with you. When your Arid Disaster descends, I will help you fight against it!"
The old man swung his arm and hid away the madness in his eyes. With a hint of resolution and determination, he stared at Su Ming.
The world roared, and a huge vortex appeared in the world in the All Spirits Hall as the old man's words echoed in the air. The vortex spun with loud rumbles. Su Ming could tell that there was a runic symbol in it which he recognized at first glance. It was the Sun Sinking Talisman.
However, Su Ming only saw the back of the runic symbol. Clearly, the front of it faced True Morning Dao World.
If he stepped into the vortex and moved through the runic symbol, he would return to True Morning Dao World from the world in the All Spirits Hall!
Su Ming swept his gaze past the vortex and stared at the old man.
"Senior, why do you do this? You have already successfully had your spirit ascend eight times. With just one more time, you can become an Ancestral Spirit. This is…"
"This is a mental block. Even if I successfully have my spirit ascend nine times, I will not become Wei's Ancestral Spirit, but a spirit belonging to the Arid Disaster. You have not had your spirit ascend many times yet, so you will understand it in the future.
"Whether I end up living or dying because of it, I won't be able to advance until I break this mental block! This is also why I intentionally brought the Arid Disaster on your head."
The old man was silent for a moment before he shook his head and said slowly, "This is unfair to you, but my assistance when fending against the Arid Disaster is an experience you will find incredibly difficult to encounter elsewhere. It will be incredibly helpful to you in the future."
"Let's go. This will be the first time I leave this place in many years!"
The old man cast Su Ming a glance. Su Ming was silent for a moment, then chose to not say a word. Instead, he charged at the vortex in the sky. In an instant, he stepped into it and went towards the Sun Sinking Talisman.
He entered it swiftly and felt as if he had broken through the surface of water. When everything before his eyes became clear, he saw the familiar galaxy of true Morning Dao World!
Moments later, the space beside him distorted. For the first time, the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe who had never walked out of the world in the All Spirits Hall since the ancient past stepped into the outside world.
"So this is your era? The power of the world is thin, and the will of all lives has degenerated. It is also filled with the presence of Great Abyss Tribe's will to make the Abyss grow."
The old man cast a glance at his surroundings before looking at the galaxy in the distance. "There is a war going on over in that direction."
A glint shone in Su Ming's eyes, and he looked in the direction the old man was looking. A cold, fierce glare instantly appeared in his eyes, and a ruthless, murderous look showed up on his face.
Chapter 1204: Six Years
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
During the six years since Su Ming had disappeared, True Morning Dao World's Ninth Summit gradually came to have a new name. It was not given by the cultivators of the Ninth Summit, but were coined by the other two forces of power in True Morning Dao World- the Ninth Sect!
This was the Ninth Summit's name known to the others. It meant an existence with a huge force of nearly one million cultivators within True Morning Dao World. During the six years, this sect located next to a Relocation spot leading to Morning Dao Sect had continued expanding its territory to become more and more awe-inspiring.
Nine mountains that towered into the heavens were the most striking buildings in the Ninth Summit. They were like swords that stood tall in the universe. Even when someone looked at them from a distance, they could sense a murderous air surrounding them. Each one was filled with a sharp presence that made people unable to stare straight at them.
That mighty pressure surrounded the whole area. It turned into white ripples that spread outwards, creating a circular area of one hundred thousand lis which was a forbidden zone for the whirlwind in space.
The cultivators of the Ninth Summit practically idolized the nine mountains. The Great Sect Master known as the malicious fiend was a mysterious person who isolated himself yearlong in the fourth summit. He was also the Ninth Summit's strongest person.
The headless Great Sect Master in the first summit was in charge of handling punishments in the Ninth Sect, and he had monstrous power. His murderous aura was incredibly threatening, and it filled the first summit, where he resided, with a powerful murderous aura at all times.
Compared to the two of them, Hu Zi was the most popular Sect Elder. His simple and honest appearance, his straightforward personality, and his act of leading a large number of cultivators to go to war in the last few years had turned him into a well-known figure. Wherever he went in the Ninth Summit, a large crowd would follow behind him. His surroundings were always very lively.
The one who suffered the most then was Su Ming's second senior brother. Since the Ecang clone and eldest senior brother did not care about being Sect Masters, he had no choice but to accept the status of the Sect Master. During the six years, he could not live freely. He had to think about his actions and his words while he was before other people. It made him feel as if he was bound, but gradually, he grew to like his status as a Sect Master, but only slightly.
Originally, the Ninth Sect's expansion should have continued, but a few years back, they had fought against New Dao Sect, a force of power that had arisen in the northernmost part of True Morning Dao World. That battle caused the Ninth Sect's expansion to stop, and the sect known as New Dao Sect was also contained in a certain area. They could not expand their territory as well.
If anyone traced the origins of this sect, they would find that they were one of the armies of cultivators sent by Morning Dao Sect to fight against the Immortals' Union. However, due to a stroke of luck, their army was survived mostly intact during the disaster. Because of that, they became one of the three forces of power in the True Morning Dao World.
The Sect Master introduced himself as Dao Zong, and he had great power. Needless to say, this was the person who had fought against Su Ming's Ecang clone, which had resulted in both of them being heavily injured.
This was a telling sign of Dao Zong's power. After all, the strength of Su Ming's Ecang clone was definitely nothing ordinary. At the very least, the power of those in Life Realm was required to defeat it, and this Life Realm was not based on the standards of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos towards levels of cultivation. It had to be based on the levels of cultivation similar to those from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier.
If the cultivators were from Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, then if they wanted to defeat Su Ming's Ecang clone or even injure him badly, they had to be in Death Realm!
It was also because of that great battle that the Ninth Sect and New Dao Sect began to regard each other with extreme hostility. There might not have been many large-scale battles between them, but there were countless small-scale ones, and they occurred practically every day where their territories touched.
Compared to New Dao Sect, there was an even larger sect in the southernmost part, beyond the whirlwind formed by the gap in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. If anyone treated the gap in True Morning Dao World as a border, then one side of the border would belong to the Ninth Summit and New Dao Sect, and the other side would be South Union, a sect formed by the remnants of the Immortals' Union!
Since there was no other force of power that could stand up against the South Union on that side, this sect could develop so quickly that it could even be said that they were invincible. They swept through half of True Morning Dao World, causing their accumulated strength to surpass that of the Ninth Summit and New Dao Sect.
However, due to the existence of the whirlwind, South Union hesitated to cross over to the other side, even though it had been regarding the other part of True Morning Dao World with covetous eyes. Thus in time, a fragile balance had formed between the three forces of power in True Morning Dao World.
However, this balance only lasted for a year and six months before it was broken by New Dao Sect suddenly growing in power.
The six months after that had been full of arduous struggle and resistance for the Ninth Summit. After the balance was broken, the cultivators from New Dao Sect had launched a frenzied attack against it.
The Ninth Summit originally did not bother itself with the frenzied attack, since the power between the two sects was almost the same regardless of whether it was their powerhouses or their disciples. If they truly fought against each other, there would be no true winner. In the end, both sides would just be horribly injured.
Yet during the first month of the six months long battle, three cultivators dressed in yellow robes appeared in New Dao Sect. A chilling presence spread out from the, and the bloodthirst in their eyes was incredibly thick. When the three of them attacked once the power balance was brokken, the first powerful warrior from the Ninth Summit to be heavily injured was Su Ming's eldest senior brother!
It was an incredibly devastating fight. Su Ming's eldest senior brother was severely wounded and nearly died. Only when the Ecang clone attacked and killed one of the yellow-robed people that he could save his eldest senior brother.
That battle had caused New Dao Sect's invasion to become even more frenzied. This was because even though Su Ming's Ecang clone killed one of the yellow-robed people, three more soon appeared in the battlefield.
There were a total of five yellow-robed people. Each of them possessed power not weaker than those truly in Fate Realm.
In just one month, the Ninth Summit's territory shrank by a large margin. Then, during the second month, Su Ming's Ecang clone stopped isolating himself and immersed himself war. With the cultivators from the Ninth Summit, he fought back against New Dao Sect based on his second senior brother's plans.
When that battle reached its third month, the Ecang clone was forced to fight against Dao Zong and the five yellow-robed people one day. During that battle, the Ecang clone, who had been wounded to begin with, was heavily injured once more. However, three of the yellow-robed people died under his hands, and even Dao Zong was heavily wounded, but the price for that was the Ecang clone nearly dying.
He might have fled the battle alive, but when he returned to the Ninth Summit, his body turned into a huge tree that was on the verge of shattering.
Yet the war was still raging. New Dao Sect might have lost three of their yellow-robed people, but a month later, when the war entered its fourth month, more yellow-robed people appeared among their cultivators. They had the same level of cultivation, but the increase in their numbers meant that they now had eight of yellow-robed people.
The final battle for the Ninth Summit was launched at that time. Under the lead of more than a dozen powerful warriors from New Dao Sect, hundreds of thousands of cultivators rushed towards the Ninth Summit with the resolution to not stop until one of the sects was dead!
But that was not all. What caused Su Ming's second senior brother to look worn and haggard was a piece of information brought to him by the spies he had sent into the whirlwind to the south when New Dao Sect attacked them en masse. Their news left him silent.
There was a large amount of faint ripples in the whirlwind, and they could only mean one thing—South Union had launched their invasion from the other side of the whirlwind!
This was the first time South Union took action. However, since they had not done anything during the past few years, it was clear that this time, they would definitely strike like a clap of thunder. Fortunately, based on the ripples, they would still need a few months to cross the whirlwind.
If it were the usual times, the Ninth Summit would perhaps be able to make preparations, but at that moment, they had to stand up against New Dao Sect's frenzied attacks and could not spare any resources or man power to a new enemy.
It was also because of this that Hu Zi gave up on trying to crack open the Rune. Based on his judgment, he would need at least another year before he could reactivate it, but a year was an amount of time that the Ninth Summit simply did not possess.
Based on the situation of the war, even if they managed to drag out their battle against New Dao Sect, they would just end up with all their disciples dead. If that wasn't enough, his senior brothers would definitely die as well. Yet more importantly, it was simply impossible for him to have a year's worth of time. Two or three months later, when South Union arrived, everything would end.
Once Hu Zi stopped researching the Rune, he immediately used his talents in Runes to protect the Ninth Summit as if he had gone mad. Once he continuously perfected and made the Runes he placed earlier stronger, he personally fused into the Runes and turned into a Rune Spirit to hold back the hundreds of thousands of cultivators and the dozens of powerful warriors from New Dao Sect for a month and two weeks.
However, this was his limit. When a loud bang shot into space and all the Runes around the Ninth Summit crumbled, Hu Zi coughed up a mouthful of blood. When he staggered backwards, he grabbed his eldest senior brother's battleaxe. His eyes were bloodshot. Even though the destruction of the Runes had injured his soul, he had to fight.
Lying behind him was his heavily wounded eldest senior brother as well as the only clone his youngest junior brother had left behind after he went missing. The clone could not die, since Su Ming might be able to use him as a beacon to find them when he eventually returned. If it could really serve such a purpose, then once the clone died, Hu Zi was afraid that his youngest junior brother would not be able to find his home.
A large number of cultivators from the Ninth Summit had died during the six months of war. By then, there were less than two hundred thousand of them left. They surrounded the Ninth Summit and stared silently at the cultivators from New Dao Sect charging towards them once the Runes in the distance had crumbled. Above them, second senior brother sighed softly.
"The Ninth Sect… will be destroyed today!"
When a cold and sinister voice spoke among the incoming cultivators, several piercing whistles shot into space. A middle-aged man dressed in a purple robe took large strides towards Su Ming's second senior brother. Behind him were eight yellow-robed cultivators. All of them had different appearances, but the cold presence about them as well as the aloof, merciless, and bloodthirsty look in their eyes were identical to one another.
"Destroy our sect? Dream on!" Hu Zi roared.
He lifted his eldest senior brother's battleaxe and rushed out. Behind him, his eldest senior brother moved. His aura was weak and filled with fatigue, but he still charged forward. Second senior brother tore off his robe of a Sect Master, and his face distorted as if there were ferocious faces of Phantoms overlapping on it.
His body filled with the ghastly aura of a Phantom. With a step forward, the fellow brothers turned into three long arcs that charged against the incoming purple-robed man from New Dao Sect.
At that moment, now a tree, Su Ming's Ecang clone swiftly opened its eyes on the trunk. A cold and fierce glare shone in them; it held ruthless and murderousness. It was as if… the clone's body had become different at that moment. The presence of an Antecedental Spirit could be faintly felt around it!
Chapter 1205: The Antecedental Spirit's Will
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"You're just asking for death! Forget the lot of you, even that strongest malicious fiend of yours will not be my opponent!"
The purple-robed man's lips curled into a cold sneer. While taking a step forward, he lifted his right hand, then pointed forward. Immediately, three incense sticks manifested, and when they were lit up, they charged towards Su Ming's senior brothers.
The eight yellow-robed people cackled, and greed appeared on their faces. With one move, they turned into eight yellow lights that charged towards the two hundred thousand cultivators beneath them. It was as if those cultivators were the best supplements to these people.
When the incense sticks formed by the purple-robed man's divine ability closed in on Su Ming's senior brothers and the three of them cast their divine abilities in preparation for a fight to the death, the tree which was Su Ming's Ecang clone suddenly twisted violently and disappeared. When it reappeared, it was right in front of his senior brothers, using its body to fend against the power of the three incense sticks.
A loud bang shot into the air. Su Ming's Ecang clone shuddered, then swept up his senior brothers to flee thousands of feet away. When the purple-robed man moved towards them with a cold sneer and the senior brothers had their auras erupt from their bodies, the Ecang clone suddenly spoke.
"I'm back."
These simple words immediately caused Su Ming's eldest senior brother to shiver. His second senior brother swiftly turned to look at the Ecang clone, while Hu Zi was stunned. Soon though, excitement appeared on his face.
The Ecang clone looked at the three of them, and when he saw that they seemed to need an affirmation, he repeated his words. "I'm back."
When he spoke, he did not even bother casting a glance at the purple-robed man charging towards him. He simply lifted his right hand and seized the space above him. With it, the heavens shuddered. A ripple immediately spread out and charged towards the incoming purple-robed man.
The man smiled coldly. He did not stop but chose to crash into the ripple. It instantly dissipated as if it could not injure him in the slightest.
"Mere child's play. Today, the Ninth Sect will be destroyed, and all of you will return to ashes. Once I destroy South Union, True Morning Dao World will only have New Dao Sect within it."
The purple-robed man rushed forward, but when he was about to close in on the Ecang clone, a calm voice reverberated through space.
"What my clone cast was not mere child's play, but a way for me to get a detailed description of where he is."
The moment the words echoed in the galaxy, the purple-robed man jolted and came to a swift halt. When he lifted his head, he saw two figures walking out of the space above him, at the spot from which the ripple had spread out previously.
One of the figures was a young man and the other an old one. The old man had an apathetic and aloof look on his face. As for the young man, he had a cold and fierce glare in his eyes. While speaking, he walked to his Ecang clone.
When Su Ming looked at his senior brothers, he saw Hu Zi's excitement, second senior brother's smile, and eldest senior brother's relief. Remorse filled his heart then.
"I'm late…" Su Ming said softly.
He lifted his right hand and swung it at his eldest senior brother. Immediately, a gentle power surged into his body. As cracking sounds reverberated through space, eldest senior brother jolted. All his injuries were instantly healed, and an even purer power swiftly erupted from him.
Hu Zi, too, had that same gentle power fuse into his body. When he threw his head and roared, the injuries he had sustained when the Runes broke down were completely healed. On top of that, his soul was also slightly stronger than before.
As for the Ecang clone, when Su Ming cast his gaze on him, the Ecang clone immediately moved towards him. His body overlapped with Su Ming's, and they fused together.
This scene immediately caused the purple-robed man's expression to change. He instinctively took a few steps back, and a grave look that had never showed up on his face before appeared in his eyes. Even the eight yellow-robed cultivators returned to his side in an instant. The bloodthirst in their eyes turned into wariness when they looked at Su Ming.
Compared to them, the remaining cultivators in the Ninth Sect reacted differently. They hearts trembled when they saw the stranger and heard his words. Su Ming had an incredibly unfamiliar face to them, but they saw the malicious fiend fuse with him and heard him mention that he was just a clone!
"Sir, who are you?!" the purple-robed man asked with a dark tone, but the instant he opened his mouth to speak, Su Ming turned his head around and cast him a flat glance.
That one glance alone was enough for a loud rumble to echo in the man's mind. Su Ming's gaze was like a pair of sharp blades that instantly pierced through the man's eyes and stabbed his mind. The man shuddered from it. He coughed up a large mouthful of blood and immediately retreated.
His heart was filled with shock and disbelief. He was a cultivator in Death Realm, but even with his level of cultivation, his heart and mind had been damaged with just one glance. To explain that, there could only be one possible explanation— the newcomer's power surpassed Death Realm!
When he moved back, the purple-robed man remembered Su Ming mentioning that the malicious fiend was just a clone, and his heart sank. In the beginning, he did not believe in it, but at that moment, there was no way he could not believe it. When he thought about how the person who had fought against him during the past few years and whom he treated as his equal was just a clone, he could no longer quell the fear and shock in his heart. Those emotions took over his mind.
Su Ming watched the purple-robed man, whose expression had changed drastically to stark pale, retreat. He did not chase after him, but instead said, "If the heavens desire your death, then you must die."
At the instant he said that, the galaxy began to tremble in a manner as if it had been separated from True Morning Dao World. It no longer belonged to it, but had turned into a world of Su Ming's will.
As an Antecedental Spirit, Su Ming was the will of heaven in this place. His words were spoken slowly, but when they landed in the people's ears, they turned into a thunderous roar in their hearts. His will was so awe-inspiring that no one could fight against it.
His will was the embodiment of the galaxy and the universe's center of attention, and Su Ming's gaze was how all of these had happened. His words were the will of heaven that could replace the thoughts of the universe!
The purple-robed man let out a shrill scream of pain. With a shudder, he noticed that his body was disappearing and his soul was rapidly disintegrating. At that moment, no matter what level of cultivation he possessed or how he circulated his cultivation base, he could not save his body nor soul. Fear the likes of which he had never felt before rose in his heart endlessly, but there was nothing he could do to fight back.
"Just what level of cultivation do you possess?!"
A shrill roar tumbled out of the purple-robed man's mouth in a wretched manner. His body was already semi-transparent, and there was not much left of his soul. When he shouted out those words, everything marking his existence looked like it had been wiped off, and he ceased to exist under the will of heaven in this galaxy.
Yet the purple-robed man's voice still echoed in space. Besides it, there was nothing else. The two hundred thousand cultivators from the Ninth Summit were shuddering, but their gazes when they looked at Su Ming were filled with zealousness and reverence. Together, all of them immediately kneeled down in worship.
Su Ming's eldest senior brother was stunned. In his memories, Su Ming was strong, but he was definitely not strong enough to kill a person in Death Realm with just one sentence, one gaze, and one thought. This… was something not even a Sublime Paragon could do, but everything that he sensed felt so incredibly real that it left him in a state of not daring to believe what he saw.
Su Ming's second senior brother was breathing rapidly. He looked at everything before him with a dumbfounded expression, then cast his gaze at the spot where the purple-robed man had disappeared before beginning mumble under his breath,
"Just now, the galaxy here was made to change. I had the impression that youngest senior brother's presence existed everywhere in this galaxy…"
Hu Zi scratched his head in the honest and simple-minded fashion of his. He did not think too much into it. At that moment, he only stared at Su Ming in excitement. The stronger Su Ming was, the happier Hu Zi would be.
Compared to the crowd of the Ninth Summit, the hundreds of thousands of cultivators who had come charging in after they broke the Rune withdrew in their shock. The scene just then had been too bizarre, so they could not believe what they had seen. Their Sect Master, an old monster in Death Realm… had been wiped out from existence without much trouble.
While the hundreds of thousands of cultivators from New Dao Sect were in shock and fear, great wariness appeared in the eight yellow-robed people's faces. They slowly retreated while staring at Su Ming with disbelief in their eyes.
"An Antecedental Spirit's will! This is an Antecedental Spirit's will!" the eight of them exclaimed almost at the same time.
Both their tones and expressions were all exactly the same. At the instant their voices matched, all eight of them turned around without hesitation, intending to flee in desperation.
Su Ming's will of an Antecedental Spirit had completely shocked and intimidated them. At the same time, it also caused them to sense great fear. It was precisely because they knew of the presence of the Antecedental Spirits that their fear was also laced with despair.
"Damn it, damn it… Didn't they say that there were only a few Antecedental Spirits in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, so why did I run into one?! That's an Antecedental Spirit, for heaven's sake!!"
All eight yellow-robed cultivators fled as if they had gone mad. Upon noticing it, Su Ming cast his gaze on them and let out a cold harrumph.
When it rang in the air, it caused the hearsts of the eight cultivators to tremble. They instantly started bleeding from their ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, and their bodies came to a swift halt. With a loud bang, they collapsed.
When their bodies were reduced to a bloody mess, a loud buzz shot into space. A large number of locusts flew out from each of the cultivator's collapsed body.
Those locusts gathered together in the middle of the loud buzzing to turn into a huge figure formed by locusts. The mighty pressure spreading out from it was great, but even so, the man did not dare to turn his head around. He only fled in a panic.
"So it's you."
When Su Ming said that in a faint voice, he lifted his right hand and unfurled his fist. A ball appeared on his palm. It shuddered before shattering to turn into a swarm of locusts. With a loud buzzing noise, they flew out.
In the distance, the figure formed by the locusts paused for a moment before returning to its fleeing. However, Su Ming's will in the universe swept towards him, and the figure formed by the locusts let out a shrill scream.
"Senior, please spare me! I'm willing to surrender, please spare me!"
Chapter 1206: Black Crystal
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The figure formed by the locusts screamed shrilly and quickly chose to give up on fleeing. Su Ming's will of an Antecedental Spirit had replaced the universe's will. It was a power not even the figure could fight against. This was a suppression formed by beings who belonged to different categories of life forms. Su Ming was already an existence which no one could fight against unless their levels of cultivation far surpassed his.
With a shudder, the figure made of locusts quickly bowed to Su Ming. His pleas for mercy also echoed in space. In his mind, as long as he did not die on that day, he would have a chance to flee later on. As long as Su Ming did not kill him, he would definitely have hope in the future.
More importantly though, he only possessed three-tenths of his strength at that moment. The remaining seven-tenths were part of his clones, and they were in the other True Worlds. So as long as he did not die, then even if he had to temporarily submit to Su Ming, he would have a chance to fight back once his original body recovered to an extent that he could gather together again!
But if his current body was destroyed, then even if his original body recovered in the future, it would be impossible for him to regain his full power. To him, this was the greatest blow he could suffer.
When the figure pleaded for mercy, Su Ming cast him a cold glance with a calm expression. When he did, the figure immediately felt his heart thump against his chest. He felt as if all his thoughts were exposed before Su Ming's eyes. Everything about him seemed to have been laid bare.
This feeling made the figure's heart shudder. He quickly put on a smile, but just when he was about to speak…
"What benefits do I gain for sparing you?" Su Ming asked faintly.
When he said those words, the figure immediately felt his spirits lift. As long as he did not die on that day, he could pay whatever price was necessary for him to survive.
"I can split myself into several portions and help you fight in battles…"
While saying that, the figure saw impatience appear on Su Ming's face. His heart immediately shuddered, and he gritted his teeth. He lifted his right hand and swung it forward. Immediately, a black crystal appeared on his hand.
"This is a treasure whose name I do not know. I obtained it by pure coincidence, so I do not know of its effects. Senior, you have monstrous power. As an Antecedental Spirit, you should know what this is. I wish to use this item… to exchange for your kindness in sparing me."
When the figure finished speaking, his expression immediately changed. His right hand was made to unfurl by an unseen force in space, and the black crystal flew out without his control. It turned into a long arc that charged towards Su Ming.
He lifted his right hand and caught the black crystal. When he swept his gaze across it, a hint of uncertainty rose in his heart. The black crystal appeared unfamiliar, but there was a hint of something that was familiar to Su Ming lying within it. It was as if he had seen it somewhere before.
He put away the black crystal without batting an eyelid, then looked at the figure again and shook his head.
"Still not enough."
The figure was not alarmed, but delighted. Su Ming did not say that he was displeased, but neither did he say that he wanted to kill him. Instead, he said it was not enough, which meant that there was hope. Yet even though it gave him hope, the act of shaking the head caused the figure's heart to clench in pain.
He gritted his teeth again and lifted his right hand to swing it before himself once more. Immediately, a brownish yellow item resembling a medicinal core appeared on his palm. When it appeared, a nice fragrance immediately spread out from it, causing all those who smelled it to feel revitalized.
"This is… a treasure I snatched from a powerful enemy after I killed him. Senior, this is my gift to you. I hope you will like it…"
The figure endured a great pain in his heart for having to part with this particular treasure, but he still pushed the brownish-yellow medicinal core forward. When it floated in front of Su Ming, he swept his gaze past it.
"This should be a Demonic Core. This figure of yours also has a Demonic Core, right?" Su Ming asked flatly.
When he said that, the figure's expression swiftly changed. He did not expect that Su Ming would be able to recognize the object. It was indeed a Demonic Core, and it was something he had retrieved after he killed a powerful enemy of his in Dark Dawn before he descended into Arid Triad. Even among Antecedental Spirits few would be able to recognize it.
"Senior, I've never heard of the thing you just mentioned. Is this a Demonic Core? What is a Demonic Core?"
The figure forced himself to laugh while he instinctively took a few steps back, but at that moment, Su Ming lifted his head. A chilling intent appeared at the corners of his lips, and he took a swift step forward.
"You said you wouldn't kill me!"
Panic appeared on the figure's face. As he screamed shrilly, he moved back swiftly. Yet no matter how fast he was, he was still slower than Su Ming. At the instant Su Ming took a step forward, he appeared right in front of the figure, and without stopping, he rammed himself against it.
A bang shot up into the air, for the figure simply could not dodge. His body instantly fell apart when Su Ming knocked into him, and he turned into many locusts. At that moment, as if Su Ming had shot through the body, he moved past it, and then, a brown Demonic Core appeared in his left hand!
A shrill roar came from the locusts that had appeared once the figure fell apart, but none of them dared approach to Su Ming. Instead, with a bang, they fled in all directions. However, the locusts which belonged to Su Ming and which he had summoned earlier let out a similarly piercing sound at that moment and rushed towards the locusts to fight against them.
If Su Ming was not by their side, the locusts belonging to him would definitely not be an opponent for the original ones. Yet at that moment, Su Ming was by their side. The galaxy in the area had been replaced by him, and its will had turned into the will of an Antecedental Spirit. Because of it, it was impossible for the locusts belonging to him to lose.
They ripped into the escaping locusts and devoured them brutally. The entire process lasted for only about ten breaths before the locusts formed by the figure were completely destroyed. The ones belonging to Su Ming were incredibly energized at that moment. Each of them had devoured quite a number of their own kind, and they had become stronger.
When they surrounded Su Ming, they cast covetous glances at the brown Demonic Core in his hand, but they did not dare to get any closer to it. They could only let out longing shrieks around him.
Su Ming swept his gaze across the brown Demonic Core in his hand, then sent his great divine sense along with his will of an Antecedental Spirit at it. Once he destroyed all forms of sentience within it, he threw it forward, and the locusts around him instantly rushed over with a buzz. They surrounded the Demonic Core and turned into a small ball that was not the same size as it had been when Su Ming had summoned them.
Once he finished doing all of this, Su Ming turned his head to look towards the hundreds of thousands of cultivators from New Dao Sect as well as the dozens of shuddering Almighties standing in front of them.
When Su Ming looked over, all the cultivators from New Dao Sect who met his gaze felt a storm rise up in their hearts, and booming sounds roared ceaselessly in their minds, causing their minds to tremble endlessly.
Everything had happened too quickly. The turn of events also cast them into disbelief. They were originally the invaders and Ninth Summit was supposed to be destroyed, but in the blink of an eye, the moment this person whose presence was akin to that of a nightmare appeared out of the blue… everything changed.
If the fact that just one glance and one cold harrumph was enough for him to instantly kill their Sect Master was difficult for them to accept, then the collapse of the eight yellow-robed cultivators' bodies that turned into a figure made of locusts who ceaselessly begged for mercy until he was destroyed when Su Ming took a step forward as well as the buzzing from the locusts that covered the entire sky… All of these brought an indescribable fear to the cultivators from New Dao Sect, and they trembled.
At that moment, when Su Ming looked towards them, a small part of the hundreds of thousands of cultivators immediately knelt down in worship. Their act soon triggered all the people around them as well. In the blink of an eye, the hundreds of thousands of cultivators knelt down, illustrating Su Ming's might and great presence.
The latter turned into a mighty pressure that made the dozens of Almighties standing in front of the hundreds of thousands of cultivators to quietly lower their heads. They chose to kneel down and submit to Su Ming too.
From the start to the end, Su Ming had not said a single word to them. When they knelt to him, he turned to his senior brothers. Second senior brother smiled softly and walked forward.
"I will handle this, youngest junior brother. Things have yet to come to an end. Besides us, there is another force of power in True Morning Dao World. They call themselves South Union, and they are on the other side of the whirlwind. Several months ago, we noticed that they were moving in our direction through the whirlwind."
"South Union…" Su Ming nodded, then smiled at his second senior brother.
"That's right, it's that South Union or whatever it is they're called. Youngest junior brother, I'll destroy them with you, how does that sound?" Hu Zi smiled in the honest manner of his, then patted his chest with banging sounds.
"Hu Zi, concentrate on cracking the Rune. You do not need to follow him," eldest senior brother said in a slightly imposing voice. Hu Zi immediately pulled a long face, but he did not dare retort. He could only sigh and look at Su Ming.
"Youngest junior brother, do handle the matter concerning South Union. Once you are done… since you have this sort of power, perhaps we should… return to Yin Death Region!"
Eldest senior brother slowly tightened his grip on the battleaxe. A great murderous aura seeped out of his body before it gathered together to turn into determination. This was the first time he mentioned returning to Yin Death Region. He had never done it before because he believed that even if the four of them worked together, they would not be able to fight back… but it was different now.
Su Ming nodded. He wrapped his fist in his palm to bow to his eldest senior brother before casting a glance at his second senior brother, who was smiling at him. Then, he charged into the distance.
Behind him, the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe followed with an apathetic expression. He had been present since the start, but what made Su Ming think was how he had been unable to see the old man's image in the others' eyes even at the moment he left.
It was as if he did not exist.
"They cannot see me," the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said faintly, as if he had guessed Su Ming's puzzlement.
When Su Ming took a step forward, he was already close to the spot beyond the whirlwind where the gap of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was. Once he sat down there, he asked in a languid manner, "Senior, you mentioned that the will to make the Abyss grow is quite abundant in this World. What did you mean by that?"
Chapter 1207: Kindness of Helping him Succeed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Great Abyss Tribe has three great talents: the ability to control time, Possess, and open the World of the Abyss Gate. The will to make the Abyss grow is the foundation to form the World of the Abyss Gate.
"Someone must have activated the Abyssal World Art some years ago, which is why the power of the world in this World is becoming increasingly thinner. It is being slowly transformed.
"Because of it, all the people who died in this World will turn into the Aura of Abyss and become a part of this World's nutrients," the old man said faintly.
When Su Ming heard these words, a barely noticeable glint shone in his eyes.
"Is there a way to neutralize the Art?" he asked while looking at the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe.
"The person who cast this Art only has ordinary power. He isn't at the level of an Antecedental Spirit, but he seems to have inherited a kismet due to his bloodline. He should be a very important person in Great Abyss Tribe.
"But this person's Art is slightly different from the ones I have seen before. I might not understand Great Abyss Tribe's divine abilities and am unable to break them, but changing them is still possible for me."
The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast a glance at his surroundings, then lifted his right hand to seize space. A wisp of green smoke suddenly appeared on his palm and surrounded it. There were hundreds of distorted faces manifesting in it, and they were all letting out shrill, soundless roars.
( NovelFull ) "Senior, could you help me kill this person?" Su Ming suddenly asked.
"I will help you fight the Arid Disaster. In regards to other matters, I will choose whether I want to help you or not, but do not mention anything about killing," the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said calmly.
Su Ming was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "What if someone comes to create trouble for me?"
"Before you run into your Arid Disaster, no one from either Arid Triad, Dark Dawn, or Saint Defier can harm even a single strand of your hair."
The old man turned his head around and looked at the green smoke on his hand. His words were calm, but his tone indicated that he looked down on the entire world. It was an absolute sort of confidence.
With a success in eight spirit ascensions, he could be said to be the strongest cultivator in all of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. While there might be people with the same level of cultivation as his in Dark Dawn or Saint Defier, they would still not offend Tian Bai without a very good reason.
"Thank you, senior. I wonder how you will change the will to make the Abyss grow in this World." Su Ming stood up and bowed deeply to the old man.
"How do you want to change it?" The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a glance.
"Could you make it so that the will to make the Abyss grow is shifted on me so that I can make my own Abyss Gate stronger?" A light signifying ambition appeared in Su Ming's eyes when he calmly said those words.
"Possession of another form. As expected of someone from Great Abyss Tribe. Even if you grew up among those from Great Berserker Tribe, the inherent nature of yours to snatch and steal from others is a quality of your soul that cannot be wiped away.
"But oh well, since you asked, what wrong is there for me to help you?"
The old man stood up, lifted his right hand, and swung it before him. Immediately after, a loud bang rang out in the galaxy, stirring up endless echoes. The whirlwind in the area disintegrated before gathering back to turn into a gust of violent wind that swept outwards. It was as if the galaxy had turned into an ocean, and huge waves were surging into the skies.
With Su Ming and the old man as the center, numerous green wisps appeared in True Morning Dao World. They rampaged in the galaxy, and as the violent gust of wind swept through, countless distorted faces appeared among the green wisps.
Those faces were like vengeful spirits. They were the souls of all the people who had died in True Morning Dao World over the course of tens of thousands of years. Their souls let out soundless howls while distorting. At the instant they circled through the entire True Morning Dao World, the old man beside Su Ming lifted his left hand and pointed at Su Ming.
"With my will, I declare that this World belongs to this child!"
At the instant the old man said those words in a flat voice, invisible ripples spread through every single area within the True Morning Dao World. They were not the old man's cultivation base, but his will of an Antecedental Spirit enveloping the True World.
During that instant… he replaced the will of True Morning Dao World, making himself the will of heaven governing True Morning Dao World. The flames of life dimmed slightly in all living beings in True Morning Dao World…
When the old man lifted his right hand and pointed at Su Ming, the original will within the will to make the Abyss grow in True Morning Dao World was wiped off, and Su Ming's will was forcefully Branded on it.
This sort of thing was already at the level of changing the entire universe. It was something… no other cultivator besides the old man in the entire Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos could do.
Endless roars rose in Su Ming's mind at that instant. He could clearly sense True Morning Dao World's presence in his mind, as if it was in his head.
He could also sense the endless Aura of Abyss from the True World. It was indistinct, but it was everywhere. In fact, Su Ming had a strong feeling that with just one thought, he could absorb all of it into the Abyss Gate in his body.
He saw the Ninth Summit, where his senior brothers were. He saw practically every cultivator in the Ninth Summit, and he also saw New Dao Sect further into the distance, whose existence had already been wiped off.
In fact, Su Ming even saw a hundred something Relocation spots in True Morning Dao World. In each of them was a mark to enter Morning Dao Sect.
He saw Flame Fiends' Progenitor and Zhu You Cai meditating on a planet as well as some of his acquaintances from the War Chamber. He also saw cultivators residing in some rather remote corners of True Morning Dao World.
Su Ming even saw an army of cultivators numbering nearly five hundred thousand in the whirlwind right beyond the gap of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. They were sitting on huge logs which were charging forward towards the Ninth Summit.
Su Ming swept his divine sense past those cultivators. When he was about to avert his attention from them, his divine sense suddenly came to a halt and landed on a woman standing at the head of one of the giant logs.
She was dressed in purple robes, and there was a mark of a scorpion at the center of her brows. At that moment, she was gazing ahead with a provocative look. There was a purple scorpion on her shoulder, and it had its tail upright to rub it against the woman's face.
Behind the woman was a young man with a smug look on his face, but every single time he looked towards the woman, he would become very cautious and would act obsequiously towards her without end.
The moment Su Ming saw the woman and the young man, his heart trembled. Needless to say, the woman was Xu Hui, and the man was De Shun, the person who had appeared on his lotus platform when Su Ming was taking the Dynasts' test to advertise his own items.
With the speed at which they traveled, they would rush out of the whirlwind around Arid Triad's gap and appear before Su Ming in less than half a month.
After a moment, Su Ming sent his divine sense sweeping past the area again. This time, he looked towards the region which belonged to South Union and which was located beyond the whirlwind under Arid Triad's gap. When he swept past that area, he saw… Yin Death Region!
However, right when Su Ming's divine sense approached Yin Death Region, he sensed a powerful repulsive force in there. Its power was so strong that it felt like Yin Death Region was an entity on its own. It did not fit into True Morning Dao World and did not seem to belong to it.
When the unknown force rejected him, Su Ming had his divine sense gather in a nearby area, then swiftly charged in. With the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe around, Su Ming had to seize the opportunity to take action. Otherwise, once the old man went seeking revenge against the Arid Disaster, he would definitely leave Su Ming's side, regardless of whether he lived or died in the end. This meant that Su Ming had to seize the chance while he was around and use it.
At the instant his divine sense touched Yin Death Region, a loud bang rang out. Su Ming then borrowed the old man's will of an Antecedental Spirit and fused it with his own will of an Antecedental Spirit to rush into Yin Death Vortex even as it rejected him.
Right when he rushed in, Su Ming spread out his divine sense, intending to fuse into every dimension within it, but when two-tenths of his divine sense fused with Yin Death Vortex, his mind suddenly trembled. He felt that Yin Death Vortex had not appeared out of the blue, but had been created for some unknown reason.
That reason lay in the depths of the vortex, but Su Ming could not send his divine sense too deep inside. Once two-tenths of his divine sense fused with the vortex, Su Ming saw a scene of a world in crimson, and it shocked him.
His divine sense and his will of an Antecedental Spirit suffered a violent hit from a repulsive force so great that it was terrifying. He fell back and was forced out of Yin Death Region.
'That presence is… Di Tian!'
Su Ming's heart trembled. Once his will left Yin Death Vortex, he immediately went back in without any hesitation, but when he passed by Arid Triad's gap, his divine sense came to a halt and charged towards Arid Triad's gap. When a huge tear at the end of the universe came into his view, he also saw a glimpse of a huge war with more than a hundred million participants fighting right beyond the gap!
It was the war between Saint Defier and Dark Dawn, and it seemed like it was already near its end…
Su Ming retrieved his divine sense and returned from the area near Arid Triad's gap, but when he passed by one of the hundred something Relocation spots beyond Morning Dao Sect, he heard a faint and exhausted voice in his head.
"Who might this old friend be?" Naturally, that voice belonged to the Predecessor of Dao Ocean!
Su Ming did not send out his divine sense. He swiftly retrieved it, and once his divine sense returned to his body, he opened his eyes swiftly.
"Thank you for helping me, senior!"
Su Ming looked at the old man before him, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards him. That action held an unprecedented sincerity from Su Ming, along with extreme gratitude.
He had realized that the old man's actions were not as simple as him transferring the will to make the Abyss grow in the World onto his body. In reality, he had shifted all of Dao Chen's will onto Su Ming. Even though this was what Su Ming had planned to do, the difficulty level would have been incredibly high if he had really decided to go through with it, and he would have also required an extremely long time to do it.
Yet now… with the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe forcefully transferring and changing the will to make the Abyss grow with his own will of an Antecedental Spirit, he had replaced True Morning Dao World's will with that of Su Ming. He had given him a great push forward and cut away the time required for Su Ming to do it himself. This made Su Ming's chances of success increase from their initial, meager state to ones which held absolute certainty.
What Su Ming needed was a sufficient amount of fate from the outside world to gather on him so he could turn it into his own laws of fate, and then, with his will of an Antecedental Spirit… he would Possess True Morning Dao World!
Chapter 1208: The Sacred Vessel, Barren Cauldron
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a glance, but he did not speak. Instead, he sat down by his side and closed his eyes.
Su Ming might have seemed as composed as ever, but in truth, a storm was raging in his heart at that moment. It was not due to Xu Hui, and neither was it because he had snatched the will to make the Abyss grow contained in True Morning Dao World. Instead… it was because he had sensed the presence that belonged to Di Tian in Yin Death Region!
Di Tian had clearly died. Su Ming had seen it with his own eyes. He personally saw the enmity between Su Xuan Yi and Di Tian coming to an end when the gap was torn in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos all those years ago.
But Su Ming was certain that what he sensed just then was true. It was a presence that came from a certain dimension within Yin Death Region. That presence belonged to Di Tian, and it was much stronger than what he had sensed when Su Ming had last seen Di Tian.
'A clone. The Di Tian who died was just a clone!' A barely noticeable glint shone in Su Ming's eyes as he immediately found an explanation.
'Su Xuan Yi thought he won, but in truth, the victor between him and Di Tian still hasn't been decided. The one who died was only Di Tian's clone, so it's clear that Di Tian was just conducting a test. If he succeeded, it would be good for him, while if he failed, he would not lose anything.
'In the meantime however he hid himself in the dark so he could deal a fatal strike to Su Xuan Yi at a critical moment! What a man, Di Tian!'
Killing intent shone in Su Ming's eyes. It did not matter whether it was Su Xuan Yi or Di Tian, Su Ming harbored no good feelings for either of them. Di Tian was a person Su Ming had wanted to kill since a long time ago, and the enmity he harbored was so strong that there could no longer even be any talk about the reason for it.
As for Su Xuan Yi, his repeated use of Su Ming had eventually caused Su Ming to be bitterly disappointed in him, and at the same time, great aversion had arisen in his heart. In time, that feeling had slowly turned into murderous intent.
'To them, Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos is just a playground for a game. They do not care about Saint Defier and Dark Dawn descending, and neither do they care about the gap in Arid Triad. But if they do not even care about this… then what each of them care about must certainly be terrifying!
'I can guess what Su Xuan Yi is aiming for. He's definitely doing this for Abyss Builders, but what… is Di Tian's goal? Where does his confidence that his plans won't fail once Dark Dawn and Saint Defier descend come from?'
Su Ming's eyes sparkled. He could not guess the answer, but he had a speculation that it was definitely connected to Yin Death Region.
When he thought of this, Su Ming suddenly remembered the vague feeling he had when his divine sense rushed into Yin Death Region. That feeling as if Yin Death Region had not appeared out of the blue but had been born from some changes in its depths made Su Ming think that it had a great connection to Di Tian's confidence.
'Just why… is he so confident? Yin Death Region is somewhat connected to Dark Dawn, or else the will in there would not have made me head to the fifth ocean in Divine Essence Star Ocean all those years ago so that I could activate that Relocation Rune similar to the one Saint Defier has in the territory of the Immortals' Union.
'Could it be that Di Tian's confidence comes from Dark Dawn? But this doesn't explain much. After all, Di Tian is the leader of the Immortals' Union, and the Immortals' Union is connected to Saint Defier.
'If that's the case, then Di Tian has secret ties to both Dark Dawn and Saint Defier… What exactly is his goal and where does his confidence come from?'
Su Ming was silent. He could not understand it, but his instincts told him that Di Tian's confidence was largely connected to the strange power that formed the vortex in the depths of Yin Death Region.
With that thought, Su Ming forced down the storm that had come to life in his heart once he learned that Di Tian was still alive. When he lifted his right hand, a black crystal appeared on his palm.
The crystal had been given to him by the figure made of locusts from Dark Dawn's camp when he was pleading for mercy. At that time, Su Ming sensed a hint of familiarity from that black crystal. When he scrutinized it closely, he found that the feeling was still around, even though it was faint.
Su Ming's eyes sparkled brilliantly. His divine sense spread out swiftly and fused into the crystal. The familiar feeling immediately became stronger, but no matter how Su Ming investigated the crystal with his divine sense, he found that it was empty inside. The familiar feeling had come to him in an incredibly baffling manner, and he could not find the cause for it.
After a long while, Su Ming retrieved his divine sense and frowned. His gaze landed on the crystal, and a contemplative expression appeared on his face. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes. He remembered why he found the crystal familiar.
'The Seed of Life Extermination!' Su Ming's heart trembled at that thought. The familiar feeling was due to the Seed of Life Extermination!
"While you are in your God of Berserkers Transformation, try to drop some blood on the crystal."
The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe had opened his eyes at some unknown point in time. He was also staring at the black crystal in Su Ming's hand with a grave expression on his face.
A thought appeared in Su Ming's mind. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them after a moment, he was surrounded by souls. They increased in number, and in the blink of an eye, they could no longer be counted. They formed a vast vortex that spun around him, and the one hundred million Berserker souls in it let out soundless roars before charging into his body to fuse with him.
Countless souls fused into Su Ming's arms, legs, and body, creating a huge body of around one hundred feet. The next moment, Su Ming's cultivation base erupted with a bang. An astonishing presence swelled up swiftly from his body, and Su Ming slashed across his index finger with his right thumb without any hesitation. Immediately, a drop of golden blood fell down and landed on the black crystal.
It immediately let out cracking sounds. When it began to crack, the familiar feeling started to change. Su Ming did not know the cause for it; he only felt a hint of unfamiliarity appeared in that familiar sensation. Both feelings intersected with each other and formed a feeling that he could not put into words.
It was as if he was staring at a person whom he knew very well. Su Ming could remember his name and all that, but certain things suddenly changed in front of him. Some features were taken away and some new ones added, which left him in a daze.
"This is indeed a Spirit Refinement Stone! But it isn't complete. It needs two others to make a whole!" the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said slowly while staring at the black crystal in Su Ming's hand.
"Spirit Refinement Stone is a rare spirit stone from the Ancestral Spirit era. There was only one use for it back in the day—to create the Sacred Vessels of each tribe!
"The more Spirit Refinement Stones were used, the stronger the Sacred Vessels would be. That includes the ring on your finger. It was also created from Spirit Refinement Stones, but less than one hundred were put into it," the old man from Heavenly Spirit Realm explained.
"Why did I previously sense a familiar feeling from this item?"
Su Ming's God of Berserkers Transformation disappeared. When his body returned to normal, he looked at the old man.
"I do not know why you would have a sense of familiarity, but I do know of the three curious aspects of these Spirit Refinement Stones. Perhaps when you understand them, you will have your answer.
"These stones are sentient. Their sentience is the reason why they are used to create the Sacred Vessels of each tribe. If they are given enough time, they might even take life. The life born from that sentience can be remolded. If you know how to use them, you can change them to take the form of what you need.
"The stones might seem like single units, but in truth, during the era of the Ancestral Spirits, all the Spirit Refinement Stones had a strange connection. It's like they are a singular whole. If you a drop of your blood falls on it, you can sense all the other Spirit Refinement Stones with your blood on them.
"This means that you can find the tribe where your blood lies and their Sacred Vessel through a complete Spirit Refinement Stone. It does not matter where the Sacred Vessel is or whether it has shattered, you will be able to find it through this method.
"That is why this is the best item to create a tribe's Sacred Vessel, since it has the characteristic of allowing a legacy to be passed down.
"The second trait is that when you touch a Spirit Refinement Stone, you will have a familiar feeling when you touch another one" The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a glance, then at the Spirit Refinement Stone in his hand.
Su Ming was silent. While he stared at the black crystal in his hand, a strange light appeared in his eyes.
The old man's words echoed in his head. Once he linked his words to the familiar feeling from earlier, Su Ming immediately understood that the black stone fragment, the so-called Seed of Life Extermination that had previously resided in his soul, was a Spirit Refinement Stone!
That was why the Spirit Refinement Stone had that faint feeling of familiarity at the start. It came from the Seed of Life Extermination Su Ming hadowned in the past!
Once he had a drop of blood fall on the stone, the unfamiliarity in that familiar feeling was due to Su Ming's blood on the stone. It was not the blood of an Abyss Builder, but the blood of Su Ming's Berserker Body. It was the blood of a Berserker!
A myriad of thoughts ran through Su Ming's head, and a version of truth based on his deductions gradually formed.
An unknown number of years ago, in the age of Successor Spirits, which was the era after the disaster fell on the Antecedental Spirits, an ancient ship descended from space. The old man on the ship represented Dark Dawn's camp, and he brought a Spirit Refinement Stone with him. Perhaps it was unintentional, or maybe it was, but he found a few other fragments.
Those fragments fused with the Spirit Refinement Stone, making it change. Perhaps that transformation had always been supposed to happen, but what mattered was that those fragments were used to serve as nutrients for Seeds of Life Extermination.
Those fragments came from a Sacred Vessel. Perhaps there were many more of them and the old man had just gathered some of them…
But that Sacred Vessel belonged to Great Berserker Tribe, and it was known as the Barren Cauldron…
The Seeds of Life Extermination were now part of the Barren Cauldron while the other fragments were buried in some unknown corner of the universe… Only those who possessed the blood of Berserkers and have been baptized by the ancient Great Berserker Tribe, or rather, only those with the blood of Great Berserker Tribe's Antecedental Spirits could use the Spirit Refinement Stones to locate their tribe's Sacred Vessel.
"Great Berserker Tribe's Sacred Vessel is a cauldron. Among the tribes in Wei, this item was ranked first along with Great Abyss Tribe's Nine Swords and Heavenly Spirit Tribe's Mountain Lake."
There was a nostalgic look on Tian Bai's face when he said that.
Chapter 1209: South Union
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
While Su Ming and the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe were sitting beyond the whirlwind under Arid Triad's gap in True Morning Dao World, Su Xuan Yi sat in front of an ancient carving in the palace floating in the galaxy within the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
That carving was like a map covering the floor of the palace. It had nine intersecting regions. Right at the center was a round picture resembling a sun, and he was sitting on the picture of the sun.
His eyes were originally shut, but at that moment, he opened them. A hint of hesitation and a sullenness showed up in his eyes, along with skepticism and disbelief
"The connection between me and the will to make the Abyss grow in True Morning Dao World… has been broken…"
Su Xuan Yi's expression grew dark. As he mumbled to himself, he lifted his right hand, then pointed at one of the nine regions on the map. The markings of that region immediately became a blur, as if a vortex had appeared that was about to form a new picture.
Yet soon, the vortex collapsed. The picture that was about to form was torn as well. Cracks immediately showed up on the region of that map as if it wanted to be separated from the carving.
'Who was it that broke my will to make the Abyss grow? Who pulled it away from me?!'
A cold and fierce glare appeared in Su Xuan Yi's eyes. He lifted his head to look into the distance, and it seemed like he could see through the palace and right into True Morning Dao World.
After a long while, Su Xuan Yi composed himself, but the killing intent in his eyes only grew stronger.
"Yin Yun Zi," Su Xuan Yi said languidly
The next moment, the air in front of him distorted, and a middle-aged man walked out. He was dressed in a black robe, and once he appeared, he immediately knelt down on one knee before Su Xuan Yi.
"Take my Enchanted Vessel and head to True Morning Dao World. Search for the will to make the Abyss grow and find out just whose will resides in it."
There was a hint of ghastliness in Su Xuan Yi's words. When he lifted his right hand and swung it, a broken sword stabbed the black-robed middle-aged man.
The weapon exuded a dark, black light, and due to an unknown entity being sealed within it, there was a thick, murderous aura surrounding the sword. The middle-aged man lowered his head and voiced his obedience, then took out the wooden sword and disappeared into the air.
…..
While the army of five hundred thousand cultivators from South Union charged through the powerful whirlwind in True Morning Dao Sect, a figure suddenly appeared at Arid Triad's gap located high above them.
The figure lifted her head to cast a glance at the crazed battle between Saint Defier and Dark Dawn beyond Arid Triad's gap, which had almost concluded, then lowered her head to look at True Morning Dao World, which was clearly unfamiliar to her.
"Big sister, the child who constantly occupied your mind before you passed away has already awakened to the soul of our people. Even though he does not have much of the will of the Ice Dragon, the women of our race are Ice Phoenixes, and our men are Ice Dragons. Even if he only has a bit of our soul in him, he can activate the inborn talents of the Sacred Race.
"It would have been better if his soul did not awaken, but the souls of our people cannot be left lingering around in the world outside. Before he gathers together the form of the Ice Dragon, I will kill him. Do not blame me for this…
"As for the sword you asked me to give him…"
The figure was a woman, and she was the current Progenitor of the Spiritlings, the Sacred Race of Dark Dawn, and the person who was acting as the garrison of the ninth Expanse Cosmos of Dark Dawn!
After mumbling softly under her breath, she lifted her right hand, and a small sword that was only the size of her palm appeared on her hand. It was white and without a dirty spot
"Once I give it to him, I will kill him, all so that I can fulfill your wish."
The woman then fell silent.
Her expression was extremely cold. In fact, even her murmurs sounded like a gust of freezing wind blowing past the area.
Soon, she walked down and disappeared into the whirlwind.
…..
The words of the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe echoed in Su Ming's ears. He lowered his head to stare at the black crystal in his hand. After remaining silent for a moment, the answer he wanted formed in his heart.
The crystal had given Su Ming a sense of familiarity because of the Seed of Life Extermination. The unfamiliar sensation that appeared in that familiar feeling once his blood fell on it then came from the Barren Cauldron.
The black crystal was a Spirit Refinement Stone that could allow Su Ming to search for the Barren Cauldron, but the stone he had was still incomplete. Once it was though, Su Ming would be able to sense the fragments of the Barren Cauldron left behind in Arid Triad's universe.
'That person of locusts must definitely have more Spirit Refinement Stones on him!' Su Ming's expression remained calm, but he had already formed his own thoughts regarding the matter.
After waiting for several days, Su Ming finally saw the army of five hundred thousand cultivators from South Union arrive. At that moment, there were ripples spreading out from within the whirlwind. Booming sounds spread out, and it could be seen that the ripples were tumbling within, as if there were ancient, ferocious beasts roaring in the whirlwind, wanting to charge out.
Su Ming remained composed. He sat still and cast a cold glance at the whirlwind.
About an hour later, an astonishing bang suddenly rose into space, and a huge log of about thousands of feet long as well as hundreds of feet wide shot out from the whirlwind.
The log brought with it a great and mighty pressure, and on it sat nearly one thousand cultivators. At that moment, they stood up and roared simultaneously in excitement. Great killing intent formed a heinous presence that surged into the sky.
Yet the near one thousand cultivators were soon taken aback. Their gazes focused on Su Ming, who was meditating in the distance.
They had thought that the arrival of their sect would cause the forces of power in this place to place a great amount of attention on them, and the best spot to ambush them would clearly be right when they came, but they only saw Su Ming sitting by himself.
As for the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe, if he did not want to, then regardless of whether it were people from Arid Triad, Dark Dawn, or Saint Defier, only a handful of them would be able to see him.
The unusual sight immediately brought weariness to the faces of the near one thousand cultivators on the log. As it rushed forward and farther away from whirlwind, around a dozen cultivators flew up from the log and turned into long arcs that charged towards Su Ming.
This was a test, a test to see just what sort of power Su Ming possessed, since he appeared to have no power within him.
When the ten long arcs looked as if they were about to close in on him, the light from divine abilities and Enchanted Treasures shone. A thick wave of killing intent erupted from the ten people. Their killing intents combined together and formed a mighty pressure that swiftly descended on Su Ming's body.
Yet his expression remained calm. He did not even lift his hand, just said two words coolly, though those words were filled with a chilling intent.
"Get lost."
When he spoke, the galaxy shuddered. The dozen cultivators were swiftly frozen in space by an invisible force. At the instant shock appeared on their faces, their bodies went tumbling backwards as if they had been flung off. They were sent into the whirlwind, and with shrill screams of pain, their bodies were torn to pieces.
This scene immediately shook the hearts of the near one thousand cultivators on the log, but they did not fall back. Instead, they formed seals with their hands and pushed them on the log. It immediately let out a deafening buzz, and its speed swiftly increased as it charged towards Su Ming with a loud bang.
A powerful presence spread out from the log. It was so strong that it reached the power of those in Mastery Realm. When it was about to reach Su Ming, he lifted his right hand and seized the space in the direction of the incoming log before slowly furling his hand into a fist.
When he did it, the giant log cracked, and the near one thousand cultivators on it let out shrill screams of pain. Quite a number of them wanted to fly off the log, but they seemed to be frozen in the galaxy and could not take even half a step to the side.
Booming sounds surged into the heavens, and the log, along with the near one thousand cultivators on it, were crushed to pieces. It looked as if a huge, invisible hand had caught them and crushed them.
When Su Ming unclenched his fist and flung his arm forward, the shattered log and the flesh on it were immediately swept up by a gust of violent wind that charged towards the whirlwind. That gust of wind contained Su Ming's will as well, so the pieces of flesh and wood formed into a huge face.
That face belonged to Su Ming, and it was formed by the crushed flesh and blood of the one thousand cultivators as well as the countless splinters from the log. It looked incredibly hideous when it charged towards the whirlwind.
Booming sounds surged into the heavens. The moment the face containing Su Ming's will of an Antecedental Spirit touched the whirlwind, the wind fell back, and the face rushed in, forcefully chasing away the whirlwind one hundred thousand feet within away from itself. This revealed huge logs of wood, numbering to more than a hundred, and cultivators on them which had initially been hidden in the whirlwind.
"Since you're here, why bother hiding?" Su Ming asked flatly.
He swept his gaze past the logs, then looked behind them. There were still a large number of them hidden in the whirlwind; he could vaguely see shadows of more of them far in the distance.
A white-haired old man dressed in a white robe standing right in front of the one hundred logs immediately stood up on his log and growled at Su Ming. "Sir, who are you?!"
To him, Su Ming was an incredibly strange persona. His cultivation base seemed to be only barely discernible, which made the old man unable to tell precisely what level of cultivation he possessed. This was not the type of power that powerful warriors possessed so that those weaker than them would not be able to find any clues about their strength. It was as if Su Ming's level of cultivation was simply indistinct, making others unable to tell it clearly.
The old man might have extraordinary power and might be an Almighty in Fate Realm, but he did not know that this was a unique state of Antecedental Spirits. Unless the old man was also an Antecedental Spirit, it would be impossible for him to notice that the galaxy around him had already been covered by Su Ming's will of heaven.
While his eyes might have seemed calm, Su Ming could still see the nervousness and wariness in his heart.
"Ninth Summit's Great Sect Elder, Mo Su," Su Ming said flatly.
"Kill him!" the old man who had spoken to Su Ming suddenly growled.
Thirteen figures swiftly flew out of the one hundred logs. They were all Almighties in Fate Realm. When they flew out, the laws in the galaxy around them looked to be avoiding them while changing, but these thirteen people did not charge straight at Su Ming.
Instead, they spread out once they flew out, then threw their heads back and roared. The galaxy immediately changed, and all laws disappeared. It was as if the region had been separated from True Morning Dao World.
At that moment, four figures walked out with a loud bang from the logs. They were four old men, and there was arrogance on their faces. When their cultivation bases spread out, they revealed that they were powerful warriors in the Endless Cycles of Life Realm.
The appearance of these four people immediately caused the presence formed when their cultivation bases gathered together to surge into the heavens. It swept up the four people and allowed them to instantly charge towards Su Ming.