Chapter 1286: You May Stop the Fight!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the face of Dark Dawn and Saint Defier's sudden madness, the time for Ninth Summit and the Berserkers to be tested instantly arrived. This trial was not just a test of their personal power, but also their will to persevere in a prolonged war. They also had to know how to handle cultivators who had been pushed into a corner, just like them.
To a sect and any race, these were all incredibly rare experiences. After all, one mistake in this sort of war would end up in them being destroyed.
Su Ming wanted Ninth Summit and the Berserkers to go through this process, because after that, they might learn how to get through other similar events. That was why, instead of going through it in the future, it was better for them to go through that right then.
After all, only the difficulties of war could make the sweetness of victory unforgettable.
Su Ming also wanted to use this rare opportunity to let his second senior brother test his skills in commanding and see what worked so that he could hone his skills for even more difficult situations in the future.
The Berserkers also had to work on their cooperation with Ninth Summit so that they could reach the same wavelength in this battle and form a connection that was similar to those shared by blood kin, allowing them to work in unity.
Su Ming's second senior brother swiftly sent his orders to each corner of the battlefield, and more cultivators from Ninth Summit and Berserkers joined the battlefield to take over their comrades so that they could launch another large-scale battle on Dark Dawn and Saint Defier.
It was a pity that this situation could not last too long. A loud, astonishing bang reverberated through space. Most of the Rune was torn, causing the gap in Ninth Summit to widen, and most of Ninth Summit was revealed in the galaxy, allowing more cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier to rush inside.
Under the firm orders of second senior brother, the cultivators of Ninth Summit and the Berserkers did not continue to stubbornly defend the gap. Instead, they began withdrawing in an orderly manner, shifting the battlefield from the galaxy to their world.
When Su Ming saw this, the admiration in his eyes grew stronger. He saw Ninth Summit's growth and his senior brothers become stronger. When Su Ming became a will, his heart became something that no longer resembled the heart of a cultivator, but at that moment, the warmth he felt in the past rose in his heart.
Su Ming knew that he had already changed. If his past self was in his place right then, the moment he saw Ninth Summit being attacked on all sides, he would have personally attacked without hesitation and killed all the invaders, but right then, he did not choose to do so.
His thoughts were more focused on whether the sect and race were suited to live in the outside world. If they showed that they were capable, he would make it so that their right to live in the outside world was even greater, but if they were not, then he would choose to let them have five hundred years of peace, at the very least. Then, he would use his full strength to fight so that those five hundred years would turn into an infinite amount of time.
The things he saw at that moment told him that Ninth Summit and the Berserkers could live in the outside world. They had the ability to improve and become stronger on their own. Even if Su Ming was no longer around, as long as there was a certain amount of fairness in the fights they faced, they could rise to power.
And Su Ming could provide them that fairness!
"There is no madness that can last for long. It is the case for one person, one race, and even one sect. If you can crush them while they are in a state of madness, you can completely destroy their beliefs, and you will… be able to achieve complete victory."
When Su Ming said those words faintly, he looked at Ninth Summit, and he saw his second senior brother watching the battlefield with eyes burning with a brilliant light as he continued issuing orders without stop.
From the layout of the battlefield, Su Ming could tell that second senior brother's choice was different from his. He chose to temporarily avoid direct conflict and instead waited until the enemy tired out to strike them with full strength. This method was different from Su Ming's, but it was slightly gentler. If he completed the setup, he could obtain complete victory with less losses.
Right when Su Ming thought he could see the results of the battle and the cultivators of Dark Dawn and Saint Defier were about to show their most crazed and desperate side to charge into Ninth Summit en masse…
A loud roar that shook the sky and earth shot out from Ninth Summit. As it echoed in space, Su Ming narrowed his eyes for the first time since he had arrived.
He saw a floating continent crumble with a bang in Ninth Summit's world. The explosive power formed by the continent's destruction instantly swept through all directions and turned into a huge vortex. At the moment it rotated, booming sounds surged into the heavens, and the second as well as the third continents crumbled.
Soon after, the fourth, fifth… up to the twelfth continents crumbled and exploded!
This was not due to Dark Dawn or Saint Defier. This was due to Ninth Summit themselves, who had been storing this power for this moment!
At the instant the twelve continents crumbled, the destructive power spread through the entire world where Ninth Summit was located, but most of that power was gathered at the gap of the Rune, causing many of the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier to be instantly affected by it. The number of injured and dead was so high that it was simply disastrous for Dark Dawn and Saint Defier, and for a time being, shrill and forlorn howls and wails filled the sky.
This scene caused Su Ming's pupils to constrict, and the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei, who was originally distracted, stood up swiftly. A grave expression appeared on his face, and he fixed his stare on Ninth Summit. If it was not because he had suddenly remembered that existence who made him quiver in his boots, he might have immediately rushed into Ninth Summit.
The crumbling of the continents caused so many cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier to die that the number surpassed one hundred thousand!
Countless Runes and various Enchanted Vessels that could self-destruct and amplify power of explosions had clearly been laid out on the twelve continents beforehand. The twelve of them had been refined, because of which they looked like continents, but in truth, they were huge Enchanted Vessels.
With Ninth Summit's retreat as bait, the moment Dark Dawn and Saint Defier descended into their most crazed state, they would launch a strike with unprecedented power, and with one hit… determine the results of the battle!
Su Ming stood up and threw his head back to laugh; his second senior brother's methods surpassed his expectations. The firm and straightforward strike had crushed the convictions of the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. Amid the loud bangs, practically all of those still alive retreated. Their expressions were filled with shock, and their bodies trembled. There was too much blood, too many deaths. The suppression of the cultivation bases, their enemies' madness fueled by no thought to their actions, and everything else caused them to lose their courage to continue fighting.
At the moment they retreated, Ninth Summit and the Berserkers' rise to power was set in stone. They were destined… to achieve complete victory in this battle!
"Kill them!"
The roars from the cultivators from Ninth Summit reverberated through space at that instant. Together with Berserkers, they launched a full-power pursuit on the retreating cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. For a period of time, the battlefield was in a chaotic state t, but the battle had completely tilted towards Ninth Summit.
Su Ming's laughter echoed in space. With a swing of his arm, he straightened and said, "You may stop the fight now. As for the lot of you… Since you cooperated in this trial, I will not kill you today. Now, get lost!"
Su Ming's voice was like thunder, and it caused the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei's heart to tremble. As his body shivered, he moved without hesitation and turned into a long arc that swiftly left into the distance.
Chapter 1287: Three Things
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the face of absolute power, all other forces of power were nothing.
Su Ming already possessed this power. He watched the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier, who had now broken down and were like a plate of scattered sand, and the cultivators from Ninth Summit and the Berserkers charging out in streams in pursuit, and his lips curled into a smile.
There were deaths in this battle, but the path of cultivation was always a fight over life. It was a rough path, but dying on the way was not frightening. What was frightening was the fear towards death and losing confidence.
Su Ming looked at the galaxy, then took a step forward. When his foot landed, he was already in Ninth Summit, appearing right next to his second senior brother, who was observing all the changes in the battlefield with all his attention, and who had confidence on his face as well as an air of elegance.
"Second senior brother," Su Ming called out softly.
At the moment he spoke, his second senior brother turned his head swiftly. Eldest senior brother, who was sitting not too far away, also seemed to have opened his mind's eye at that moment and directed his attention at him.
Su Ming's figure manifested before second senior brother, and with a smile on his face, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed.
Eldest senior brother did not have a head, but at that moment, his body was brimming with joy. Second senior brother also looked as if his spirits had been lifted, and laughing, he hugged Su Ming.
"I knew you'd be fine." As second senior brother laughed, he pushed his hands on Su Ming's shoulders and observed him closely. There was love between brothers on his face.
"You must have arrived a long time ago. How do you think I performed here?" A smug look appeared on second senior brother's face while he spoke with a smile.
Their eldest senior brother stood up as well and strode over. He lifted his right arm and hugged Su Ming. He did not speak, but all his care and concern were contained in that hug between brothers. There was no need for words.
When he sensed his eldest senior brother's powerful heartbeat, even if Su Ming's level of cultivation had reached an unfathomable stage and his will was so strong that he was only second to Arid Triad, during that moment, he forgot his own power. He only knew that he was the youngest in Ninth Summit, and the youngest junior brother of his senior brothers, who would forever want to protect him.
With a smile on his face, Su Ming looked at his proud second senior brother and said softly, "Second senior brother, you showed off your talents in this battle."
While second senior brother laughed, a long arc charged over from the distance. Before that figure even approached the area, Hu Zi's voice reached their ears like thunder.
"Darn it all, that fight felt really good. Eldest senior brother, second senior brother, did you see how many of those… Huh?" Hu Zi charged forward while speaking, but right at the moment he was about to approach the area, his voice died abruptly—he had noticed Su Ming.
"Youngest junior brother!"
Hu Zi's footsteps came to an abrupt halt. He stared at Su Ming, then walked forward with huge strides and hugged Su Ming.
"Y-y-you… Do you have any idea how many times second senior brother went to the area right outside Yin Death Vortex and watched it in silence? Do you have any idea how many times eldest senior brother worked hard to reach a breakthrough in his level of cultivation without regard for the cost? All of it so that you won't have to be so close to death all the time!
"Do you have any idea how many days I didn't sleep to set up the Runes? Youngest junior brother, if you listen to me, then don't go anymore, now that you're back. Stay in Ninth Summit, and let's make sure that we senior brothers can stay together for eternity!"
As Hu Zi spoke, the excitement in his voice turned into a sob. To the outside world, he was a man with a personality like a tiger. He was a ferocious entity who would not blink even when he killed. When he smiled, there would still be a ferociousness to it, and his entire body exuded a heinous, murderous aura.
But before Su Ming, second senior brother, and eldest senior brother, he was like a child. He was just Hu Zi who loved laughing, crying, and peeking at others.
Second senior brother was silent for a moment before he looked at Su Ming. "Youngest junior brother… are you going to leave again?"
Eldest senior brother might not have said anything, but at that moment, he gave a feeling to the others that he too was waiting for the answer.
Su Ming was silent. He did not speak and only stared at his eldest senior brother, his second senior brother, and Hu Zi. After a long while, he nodded slowly.
"After I finish settling three final matters, I will return to Ninth Summit and not leave for a hundred years."
…..
It was night. During it, Ninth Summit's night sky was filled with stars that reached ten thousand lis. It was brilliant. The battle during the day had ended. At that moment, most of the cultivators were resting and meditating, but there were some who were swiftly mending the Runes so that the gap could be closed
Moonlight shone on the ninth summit. There was a table on it. Eldest senior brother sat at the head of the table, second senior brother to the left, Hu Zi to the right, and Su Ming at the end of the table.
This was a reunion of the brothers under the same Master. There was no distinction of status based on their levels of cultivation, and neither was there a ranking system used by the other summits in Freezing Sky Clan. Their seats were only determined by the time each of the disciples of the ninth summit had spent under their Master's tutelage.
The eldest was like Master. When Master was not around, eldest senior brother was the master of the sect.
Behind Su Ming was Fang Cang Lan, who stayed beside him quietly. Her face was one of composure and elegance. She did not mind Xu Hui's existence on his other side.
Xu Hui had long since returned to Ninth Summit. Su Ming did not ask her about De Shun, and she did not say anything about him either.
"Ninth Summit won this battle, but the reason and the prerequisite for our victory was the overall levels of cultivation of the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier being suppressed. Youngest junior brother… were you the one who did this?" second senior brother said after hesitating for a moment.
He simply could not think of any other answer, and so he said it out loud and looked at his youngest junior brother.
Su Ming had a calm expression on his face while he nodded.
Once he did so, Hu Zi sucked in a sharp breath and stared at him in a daze. Second senior brother's breathing instantly quickened as well. His expression changed swiftly, filling with disbelief.
They clearly knew the significance behind the suppression of the overall levels of cultivation for the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. This allowed them to know that Su Ming probably had the ability to destroy all the cultivators who descended from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier by himself.
Eldest senior brother was silent, but his right hand shivered slightly, a telling sign that a storm had started raging in his heart during that moment.
Among the three of them, eldest senior brother had always been the one with the highest level of cultivation. Second senior brother hadn't noticed the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei's existence, and it was even more difficult for Hu Zi, but eldest senior brother had formed a connection with the Predecessor of Dao Ocean. Wits his help, he could clearly sense that there was an existence who caused him to feel terrified in that battle.
It was… the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei. Eldest senior brother had obtained information regarding that person's statue and reputation from Dark Dawn cultivators on which he had performed Soulseek after capturing them.
To be able to seal six-tenths of the power belonging to the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier with someone like the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei around… This power already surpassed what eldest senior brother could imagine.
Second senior brother remained quiet for a while before he spoke in a serious yet muffled tone. "Youngest junior brother… what is your level of cultivation right now? How is your strength… compared to the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei?"
Su Ming was silent for a while before he answered honestly, "He… does not have the right to be my opponent.
"Right now, besides some of the sleeping ancient monsters, there should be very few cultivators in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos and the four Great True Worlds… who can be my opponents."
When Su Ming said those words, his eldest senior brother fell silent. Second senior brother's breathing became quicker, and Hu Zi gaped, unable to speak for a long while.
They did not doubt Su Ming's words. Excitement and exhilaration immediately appeared on Hu Zi's face. He picked up the wine cup in front of him and took a big gulp from it, allowing the wine to trickle down the corners of his lips.
"Haha! Youngest junior brother, what should we do for our next step? Should we get rid of all the cultivators who descended from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier? Second senior brother, what do you think? Does my idea sound good?"
"Is there something strange about Dark Dawn and Saint Defier?" A contemplative expression appeared on second senior brother's face. He ignored Hu Zi and looked at Su Ming instead. He seemed to be thinking of something.
"Dark Dawn and Saint Defier are also part of Arid Triad. They might seem to be invading us through this war, but they are really just returning. It might seem dangerous, but it is really just the final bout of madness in their lives.
"The people who think they are the players do not know that it had been decided a long time ago that they are chess pieces… Even if we chase them away and kill them, it would make no difference, because the Arid Triad disaster is not now, but five hundred years later."
When Su Ming said those words slowly, he sighed softly. He told them some of the things he had experienced, including the disaster five hundred years in the future, Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, and the ancient monsters who would wake up before the disaster.
As his voice echoed in the air, disbelief appeared on Hu Zi's face while his heart trembled. Second senior brother shuddered, and his eyes sparkled swiftly.
While Hu Zi and second senior brother were silent because they were digesting the shocking truth, eldest senior brother asked in a muffled voice, "Youngest junior brother… you mentioned that you had three things you had to deal with just now. What are they?"
Su Ming raised his head and looked at his eldest senior brother before he said softly, "The first would be going to the Emperor of Abyss' True World. I'm going there to search for a woman and to retrieve my True World. I will return him something… and end a grudge that has tied me down for one thousand years."
"Is it Yu Xuan?" Fang Cang Lan suddenly asked.
Xu Hui had remained silent by the side since the start, but at that moment, she seemed to have remembered something. When she lifted her head, she looked at Su Ming as well.
Su Ming nodded.
Fang Cang Lan did not say anything. Her expression was still as calm as water, but her lashes over her half-lidded eyes quivered ever so slightly.
"The second would be me going to an old haunt that will make me stronger. I will make all preparations for the disaster five hundred years later." When Su Ming spoke, a fierce light appeared in his eyes.
"And this is the third. I will go… to Dark Dawn's camp and find our Master!"
The moment Su Ming said those words, Hu Zi's head snapped up. Second senior brother's expression also immediately filled with shock. Eldest senior brother fell silent, but determination filled him.
"Searching for our Master is something our levels of cultivation will not allow us to do. Only you… can bring Master back. It's been a very long time… since we saw the old man," said eldest senior brother. His voice was deep, and there was longing in his words.
Su Ming did not tell them that besides searching for his Master in Dark Dawn's camp, he had another goal. He wanted to go to the Spiritlings and have a look at his mother's homeland.
"Once I finish doing these three things, I will return to Ninth Summit and will wait for time to pass. I will wait for the day the disaster arrives… I've promised a certain group of people certain things in my life. During the next few hundred years, I will fulfill all those promises."
Chapter 1288: The Strongest in His Eon
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The people to whom Su Ming had made promises before were plenty, such as Chang He, Flame Fiends' Progenitor, the one hundred thousand cultivators in the foreign lands in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, and many more. He never forgot his promises, and he would fulfill all of them.
Su Ming had noticed Chang He and Flame Fiends' Progenitor when he arrived in Ninth Summit earlier. He had no idea when they had joined it, but there were very few who knew of their relationship with him.
"Only five hundred years left, huh?"
Soon after falling silent, second senior brother suddenly smiled. His smile was as gentle as before. However, it was filled with a ferociousness and an unwillingness to give up.
"Since there are only five hundred years left, it doesn't matter whether you will succeed in the end or not. Perhaps during these five hundred years, we should create more exciting battles with the world outside." Second senior brother picked up his wine cup and finished it in one gulp. When he put it down, he threw his head back and laughed.
In silence, Hu Zi picked up another wine cup. When he downed it all in one big gulp, he threw it down the mountain, and a grave look that had never been seen before on his face appeared on him.
"Darn it all. Five hundred years will be enough. During them, I swear I'll find myself a wife!"
Hu Zi's words echoed in space. Second senior brother had been filled with fighting spirit, but when he heard Hu Zi's words, he was left stunned. Once he went over his shock, most of his fighting spirit was cut off by Hu Zi, and he smiled wryly.
The night went by as the four brothers from the ninth summit drank a lot, since it was very rare for them to gather together. They talked about their past, their Master, and the Berserkers of the past.
Fang Cang Lan stayed by Su Ming's side throughout it all. She watched everything with a smile and occasionally handed Su Ming a pot of wine, as if this was the most important thing for her in her life.
As for Xu Hui, she might have stayed by Su Ming's side for the night, but she remained silent, as if there was now a wall between them, as well as a certain amount of distance.
It was especially so when Su Ming said that the disaster would descend in five hundred years. She was clearly stunned for a moment, then she seemed to have remembered something.
Su Ming did not ask anything about it. There were certain things and certain feelings that needed to go through trials. Su Ming did not believe that he was a good partner, because the things pushing down on his heart were too heavy, so heavy that he felt as if he could not put anything else in his heart.
Yet Fang Cang Lan had walked into Su Ming's heart. With one thousand something years of persistence and waiting, she brought out a tenderness in him, and he had no reason to leave her.
Since he had already chosen her, he would stay with her his entire life, regardless of how long it would be.
This was Su Ming's determination. It did not matter whether it was friendship or love, it was the same.
He was very happy that night, and Hu Zi was also very happy. He continued causing a ruckus by saying that he wanted to find a wife and grumbling about his second senior brother being too much of a womanizer and how there were countless women by his side. He spoke his mind, and he showed… that he was jealous, very jealous.
But Hu Zi did not know that his second senior brother's womanizing ways hid the pain and regret left behind by the one and only time he fell in love and persisted with it while in the land of Berserkers.
Su Ming had seen all of it in the past. He had practically witnessed the entire process.
Their eldest senior brother did not like speaking, and it didn't change that night. He did not drink, but a warmth was exuded by his presence that was felt by his brothers. It was a warmth this cold man would definitely not show to other people.
The three people before him were his junior brothers. All of them were people who he would give up his life to protect. He did not need any woman in his life, and perhaps there was no woman in the world who could accept his headless self.
Su Ming's eldest senior brother always believed that it was enough for him to only have the three brothers in his life for the rest of his life!
When morning arrived and the first ray of sunlight appeared in the dimension of Ninth Summit, eldest senior brother left to continue training. Since there were only five hundred years left, he would make himself stronger while he could.
Hu Zi collected a large number of cultivators from Ninth Summit and the Fated Kin of the Berserkers to form a group of ten thousand cultivators to head to the outside world and patrol the area. If they found any remaining cultivators of Dark Dawn or Saint Defier, they would crush them completely.
As for second senior brother, he had many other things to do. He had to manage everything in Ninth Summit, and many of his plans had to change after he learned what would happen five hundred years later. Many new plans formed in his head, and he had to set them up one by one.
Only Su Ming was left in Ninth Summit. He sat there and stared at the blue sky. Fang Cang Lan was by his side and was watching him with a composed expression before she cast her glance at Xu Hui. Then, she lowered her head and turned around to leave. With her intelligence, she could tell that there seemed to be a wall that could not be described with words between her and Su Ming.
A mountain breeze blew towards them and lifted Xu Hui's hair. She sat quietly for a long while, then she sighed softly.
"Are you really not going to ask how I dealt with De Shun?" Xu Hui bit her bottom lip and looked at Su Ming.
He stayed silent. He put down his pot of wine and shook his head.
"If you want to tell me, even if I don't ask, you will still tell. If you don't want to say it, even if I asked, you would not answer."
"I didn't kill him," Xu Hui mumbled after some time.
"I know." There was no way Su Ming would not know everything in True Morning Dao World. Unless he did not want to, he would know everything that he wanted to know.
At that moment, De Shun was on a damaged cultivation planet at the border of the True World near the Emperor of Abyss' True World. He was staring at the heavens, and there was a hint of hatred mixed with some complicated emotions on his face. This scene was something Su Ming could see once he thought about it.
"I…" A dazed look appeared in Xu Hui's eyes. Once she heard Su Ming's words, she instinctively wanted to explain her actions, but when he lifted his hand and touched her hair, her words disappeared.
"I know that you owe him a debt of kindness, and there are blank spots in your memory. I know that," Su Ming said calmly as he caressed Xu Hui's dark locks before he pulled her into his embrace.
When Xu Hui came into contact with Su Ming's chest, she suddenly cried. The feeling of being lost and De Shun's face occasionally appearing in her head had caused her to not know what had happened to her.
But at that moment, when she was in Su Ming's embrace, everything in her mind seemed to be rearranged. The feeling of being lost disappeared, replaced by a deep wave of fatigue. Gradually, she fell asleep.
Five hundred years later, if Su Ming succeeded, then everything would be good, but if he failed, they were bound to disappear because of the disaster. Since they only had five hundred years left, why was there a need for them to make each other suffer? It would be better… to wipe off those memories.
This method was slightly domineering, but there had always been a domineering attitude hidden in Su Ming's character.
Time trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, three months went by. During them, Su Ming stayed in Ninth Summit and accompanied Cang Lan as well as Xu Hui. The three of them went through those days in a rare state of peace while watching the sun rise and set. There was a warm and gentle atmosphere around them, causing Hu Zi to be incredibly envious, and he started scanning the many female cultivators in Ninth Summit like he was in a rut.
During the three months, aside from staying beside Cang Lan and Xu Hui, Su Ming spent every single day drinking with his senior brothers. Amid the laughter born from all of them temporarily forgetting all their troubles, Su Ming used his vast cultivation base and will to give pointers to Hu Zi in his training, second senior brother in his path of cultivation, and eldest senior brother in better understanding the Antecedental Spirits. His fusion with the Predecessor of Dao Ocean also sped up.
The Predecessor of Dao Ocean was willing to participate in this fusion. Su Ming did not ask what happened between the two of them. He only knew that if his eldest senior brother wanted to become stronger, that he would do everything he could to help him.
During the three months, cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier continued descending without stop in the outside world. Their numbers grew, but Ninth Summit became a forbidden ground for them. None of them dared to offend them anymore, and they strictly prohibited their own from getting close to Ninth Summit.
Once they stepped into the area belonging to Ninth Summit, six-tenths of their cultivation bases would be suppressed, which was a warning.
Ninth Summit was still treated as the master of True Morning Dao World. Even if they ventured out and ran into cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier, most of those people chose to retreat in silence.
The battle three months ago had determined the state of affairs in this True World.
Compared to the peace True Morning Dao World enjoyed after it, an intense battle broke out in True Sacred Yin World. The devastation brought with it the destruction of the Rune. While Dark Dawn and Saint Defier suffered a little, to them, who continued sending in a continuous flood of cultivators from their home worlds, this loss was really nothing.
Once the Rune crumbled, the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier surged in, causing True Sacred Yin World… to change masters.
On the other hand, as the Fourth True World continued fighting and resisting, a stalemate was gradually established. It happened because powerful warriors whose names were never heard of would occasionally appear in the Fourth True World to manipulate the situation of the war. As more and more of them appeared, they began to manipulate not just small areas, but the entire battlefield.
Only the Emperor of Abyss' True World remained calm. All the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier who entered the place would fuse into the Emperor of Abyss' True World and disappear without a trace.
…..
Another month passed, and Su Ming ventured out once to go to the True Morning Dao World's All Spirits Hall. Half a month later, when he returned, he appeared to be no different from before, but only Su Ming himself knew that the moment he walked out of the world in All Spirits Hall, a will so great it was shocking gathered on his body. It had felt as if all of Arid Triad had gathered together to turn into an eye to stare at him.
It was the gaze of Arid Triad's will, because when Su Ming walked out of All Spirits Hall, he had already become so strong that he could cause the slumbering Arid Triad's will to instinctively become wary of him.
He went through five complete spirit ascensions, and it equivalent to him going through ten spirit ascensions. This was not something that had never happened when Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos was still one whole entity. After all, Su Ming was not the first to learn of All Spirits Hall, and he was not the first to have entered Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos. The All Spirits Hall had existed for countless aeons.
But Su Ming was definitely the best in this eon, and he was definitely the strongest at the present!
Chapter 1289: You Are a Walking Crystal Mine
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Arid Triad's will gathered on him, Su Ming did not choose to move back. Instead, he met Arid Triad's gaze squarely, and he kept his gaze on him for a long time. He waited for the Antecedental Spirit's disaster to descend on him, which might or might not happen, but before the disaster arrived, the sleeping Arid Triad's will gradually disappeared.
A perplexed look appeared on Su Ming's face. He had never thought to hide himself. Those from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier surely knew about him by then, and it was about time that Arid Triad knew about him as well.
He went back to Ninth Summit, and when another month passed, Su Ming chose to leave. This time, he did not leave quietly, but left with his senior brothers sending him off as well as Fang Cang Lan and Xu Hui quietly watching him as he left. He gradually went into the distance to complete the second thing he wanted to do—resolve the grudge he harbored for one thousand years.
He was also going to break the shadow over his heart brought to him by the scene he saw in the secrets of the universe.
"It's time to put an end to this. Su Xuan Yi… are you truly not going to try and retrieve the fifth kiln, where your wife sleeps? Are you really going to let me have it?"
Su Ming turned his head around and cast a glance at the crowd from Ninth Summit, then turned around and took a step forward, vanishing into thin air while murmuring to himself under his breath.
When he reappeared, Su Ming was already at the border between True Morning Dao World and the Emperor of Abyss' True World. Further away from him was a damaged cultivation planet and De Shun.
Su Ming did not care about this person. He stared at the barrier between the Emperor of Abyss' True World and True Morning Dao World. It was a wall, and behind it was the Emperor of Abyss. It was precisely because of that wall that the four True Worlds had never had any intense battles break out between them.
In the past, Su Ming did not have the right to break the wall, while Yu Xuan had only been able to move from the Emperor of Abyss' True World to Morning Dao because of her Abyss Dragon. She had used its power to move through True Worlds.
As he stared at the True World, Su Ming swung his right arm, and two long arcs immediately flew out of his storage bag. One of them was the Abyss Dragon, and the other was the bald crane.
The Abyss Dragon had mostly recovered from its injuries. When it appeared, it looked as if it wanted to speak, but it immediately had a wing slapped over its mouth by the bald crane standing by its side.
With a resentful look on its face, the bald crane glared at Su Ming. Its resentful look made it look like a bitter wife, and it was complaining about Su Ming not letting it out of his damn storage bag for a long time.
In the past, as long as it wanted to, the bald crane could come out on its own, but as Su Ming grew stronger and his will grew greater, the bald crane could no longer appear at will. It could only wait passively to be summoned. This sort of feeling caused the bald crane to feel that it had become something like a bitter and resentful wife.
Every single day, it had to live through its life counting crystals, sleeping, and hitting the Abyss Dragon, then it was counting the crystals, sleeping, and hitting the Abyss Dragon again, rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Day…
Gradually, the Abyss Dragon could no longer bear with it, and it began to resist and fight back violently, but it was difficult for it to escape from its predestined fate. At that moment, once it came out, the Abyss Dragon wept, but before it could speak, the bald crane had already slapped a wing on its mouth, and the grievance it felt reached its peak.
"SU MING!!!" the bald crane screeched.
If it had feathers, all of them would have been bristling at that moment. It looked ready to fight while full with strong, resentful, angry energy about it. As it seethed, its aura reflected that anger and served as a background to give the bald crane a sense of size.
"Y-y-you… How many days have you locked me up again this time, huh?! Oh heavens! How many days has it been?! I've already forgotten how many days have passed! I can't see sunlight, I can't see the stars! I CAN'T SEE OTHER PEOPLE'S CRYSTALS! This is torture! This is the greatest, biggest, most ultimate torture for me!
"Su Ming, you went overboard this time! I accompanied you through your expeditions over the years, went through many dangers by your side, I-I-I… I even saved you who knows how many times, but you… YOU…"
The bald crane was quivering with rage. As it continued shouting in anger, Su Ming touched his nose, and an awkward look appeared on his face. He had indeed… forgotten about the bald crane.
After all, when he was in Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, he had been stunned by the truth he learned. The series of events he experienced were also all connected together, and it caused him to overlook many other things.
Only when he came to this place and saw the Emperor of Abyss' True World did he remember… that the bald crane… seemed to have been kept in his storage bag for a long time…
"Darn you, you…" While the bald crane continued shouting in rage, Su Ming raised his right hand, and a crystal appeared on his palm.
"… You… Don't even think about using a crystal to tempt me. I am the great bald crane, I'm not going to yield for just one crystal, I…"
At the instant the bald crane saw the crystal in Su Ming's hand, its eyes became fixed on it. This was the first crystal it saw in days that belonged to someone else. There might just be one, but it was someone else's! As long as it was someone else's crystal, the bald crane would never think that the number was few.
That was why when it shouted, its eyes betrayed it. Its fixated stare made it seem that if Su Ming dared to put away the crystal, the bald crane would rush forward and fight for it with its life.
"You… you bully! One crystal, this crystal…"
As the bald crane spoke, great conflict appeared on its face. Its shouts immediately much weaker, and indecision as well as a look that very obviously said there was chaos going on in its mind appeared in its eyes. It was as if its mind had been divided into two portions, and they were fighting fiercely among themselves.
"I'm going to the Emperor of Abyss' True World. I promise you that I'll give you all the crystals in that True World, alright?"
When Su Ming saw that the bald crane was waging war against itself in its mind as if it had not seen another person's crystal for far too long and was about to start doing something stupid as it was in a conflict with itself, he quickly spoketo distract it.
"You… Dream on—Darn you, what did you say?! Did you just say that you'll give me an entire True World's worth of crystals?! I… I… The mighty bald crane will absolutely not yield…"
The bald crane was practically drooling at that point. It took a few instinctive steps forward, and an obsequious look had subconsciously snuck its way on its face, but it forced it down. When it was about to give extra emphasis that it would hold Su Ming's offer in disdain but would agree to it reluctantly, Su Ming sighed.
Upon hearing it, the bald crane immediately felt its heart let out a thump. It panicked, afraid that Su Ming would go back on his word. Just as it was about to pounce on him, it saw something that it would never, ever forget in its whole life. It was a scene that shocked it more than anything else could.
To a True World's will, crystals… were objects that could be born from space if it swept through the True World with a divine thought. It was similar to what mortals said about turning stone into gold with a touch. Su Ming could create crystals with his will!
Su Ming only swept his will through the True World, and countless crystals immediately appeared around them. There were so many of them that they covered a large part of the galaxy.
The sparkling crystals stunned the bald crane. It was completely dumbstruck, and it was especially so because it had clearly seen that Su Ming had not brought out the crystals from his storage bag. After all, the bald crane had an even clearer grasp of how many crystals Su Ming had in his storage bag than he did.
"How… How… How did this happen?" the bald crane instinctively asked in a dumbfounded manner.
"I made them." At the instant Su Ming answered this question, the bald crane screeched and pounced on him to hug his thigh tightly.
"You're a walking crystal mine! From now on, you're MY walking crystal mine! Even if you lock me up for ten thousand years, I'll acknowledge it! I'll absolutely not grumble even a single bit. Walking crystal mine, give me more crystals, please… Say… Can you turn me into a crystal crane?"
Chapter 1290: The Emperor of Abyss' True World Trembles
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The bald crane's eyes sparkled as if it was looking forward to the day it would turn into a crystal crane. When it recalled how Su Ming had created crystal, the bald crane immediately forgot that it was just an illusion and felt its blood boil, somehow. As its body quivered in its excitement, it began howling.
In the bald crane's eyes, the Art Su Ming cast just then definitely took the title of the greatest Art in the universe. The ability to create crystals out of thin air was an Art it dreamed of having. To it, this was the greatest divine ability in the universe.
Even Su Ming himself did not know just how great of an impact it had on the bald crane. It was practically a dream come true that could make the bald crane do everything it could to obtain it and fight for it with its life.
Su Ming let out a dry cough. He had intentionally showed this divine ability to the bald crane to appease it, but when he saw just how excited it became, Su Ming had a vague feeling that he had gone overboard. The bald crane had actually requested that he turn it into a crystal crane…
Hence, he quickly averted his gaze and ignored the crane, choosing to direct his attention on the barrier between True Morning Dao World and the Emperor of Abyss' True World. A piercing light appeared in his eyes.
Su Ming's eyes shone brilliantly. The bald crane immediately noticed this and cast a glance at the barrier. A thought appeared in its head: The time for it to show its abilities to Su Ming had arrived. As long as Su Ming was happy and created crystals for it every day, it would enjoy the greatest bliss in its life. When it thought of this, the bald crane became excited again, but it forced down its excitement and put on an expression of righteous anger.
"That's it? How dare it stop Sir Su Ming's footsteps?! Damn it, how dare it stop the great, the almighty Sir Su Ming who can create crystals?! I… I'll fight it to the death!"
The bald crane put on an expression as if it was livid, and as it roared, it turned its back to Su Ming while sending eye signals to the Abyss Dragon nonstop. Based on its plan, the Abyss Dragon had to show anger as well, which would make the effects of their actions even better. After all, in the bald crane's impression, the Abyss Dragon was its lackey and its partner as the Dual Fiends in the past.
The Abyss Dragon was taken aback, then instinctively asked, "What… does this mean?" As it spoke, the Abyss Dragon winked as well, sending the bald crane's eye signal right back at it.
The Abyss Dragon did not understand what the bald crane meant. It was originally very excited, so why did it suddenly become so angry? The Abyss Dragon shrank back in regard to the bald crane's changes in expression. It felt that the bald crane was very terrifying.
When they were in the storage, the bald crane had beaten it up every single day to pass time, and the more it thought about it, the more it felt that it could not catch up to the bald crane's thoughts.
When the bald crane saw the dumb look on the Abyss Dragon's face, it instantly felt real anger. Just as it was about to shout at the dragon, Su Ming took a step forward and instantly appeared next to the barrier. He lifted his right hand and touched the invisible barrier.
"Shatter."
The moment Su Ming said that word in a flat tone, his right hand touched the barrier. An astonishingly loud bang instantly reverberated through half of True Morning Dao World.
As that sound traveled outwards, the bald crane gave up on the idea of giving the Abyss Dragon a flak. There was a ferocious look on its face, as if Su Ming only needed to point forward, and it would charge forth without looking back. It rushed at the barrier and crashed into it. To show off its talents so that Su Ming could create crystals for it, the bald crane had indeed decided to give it its all.
But when it touched the barrier… or rather, just before it touched the barrier, the barrier between True Morning Dao World and the Emperor of Abyss' True World changed. A trembling membrane that looked like there was light flowing in it showed up. When cracking sounds rang out in space, holes spread out through the membrane, starting from where Su Ming's right hand had touched it.
Su Ming did not move, but his hair fluttered freely. Even his white long robe danced in the wind. His face was indifferent, revealing no emotions.
He calmly watched the cracks spreading through the entire barrier. Soon, it looked like it had turned into a spider's web. Then, a loud bang shot up, and it shattered to pieces, turning into countless fragments that spilled into the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
From a distance, they looked like falling snow. The fragments reflected a brilliant light, and when they were in the galaxy, they looked like starlight. At that moment, they were swept up by the wind and created an image of an ocean of stars.
Since the ancient times, only a fine crack would occasionally appear on the barrier between two True Worlds. Not one of them had ever shattered completely like this. Yet on that day, it happened. And it was not a destruction of a small portion of the barrier, since the entire ring-shaped barrier… had shattered in different spots during that instant.
All of this might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but in truth, it happened in an instant. When the bald crane charged at the barrier, it did not touch it. Instead, it shot right through the barrier since it crumbled and fell back.
"Let's go. I'll give you the same number of crystals you can seize from the Emperor of Abyss' True World."
A smile appeared on Su Ming's face when he cast a glance at the bald crane. The bald crane had supported him for a thousand something years, so it could be said that it had already become a part of his family. Su Ming valued his relationships, and it was the same for the one he shared with the bald crane.
When Su Ming's words reached the bald crane's ears, it became excited again. While shuddering, it screeched a few sentences, and with a single move, it appeared on the Abyss Dragon's body. The Abyss Dragon was so terrified that its heart trembled, but soon, the bald crane whispered something to it, and its eyes instantly sparkled.
The light was not the sparkle of the bald crane's eyes, but was… a light that Su Ming thought gave it a rather sleazy look.
"Boss, is what you just said… real?" the Abyss Dragon was so excited that it trembled when it asked its question.
"Nonsense, of course it's real. When have I ever lied to you?" the bald crane immediately said, as if it was making a promise.
"Are you really going to let me have all the female dragons? Alright! I'll give it my all!" The Abyss Dragon's eyes turned bloodshot. With a roar, it rushed forth with the bald crane, charging straight into the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
The bald crane made a ruckus in its excitement. When it went past Su Ming, it immediately lifted its claw and waved a little.
"You promised you'll give me the exact same number of crystals I can get! Just you wait, if even one crystal will be left in this True World, then I suck."
The bald crane's voice was still echoing in space when it left into the distance with the Abyss Dragon. It intended to leave Su Ming's side and loot the crystals itself since it was afraid of him throwing it into his storage bag again…
Su Ming watched the bald crane leave and smiled faintly. He could tell what the bald crane was thinking with just one glance, but with his current level of cultivation, he could let the bald crane cause as much of a ruckus as it wanted, even if it was the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
Soon, this would no longer be the Emperor of Abyss' True World, but Su Ming's True World.
Su Ming still remembered how his will had appeared in Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos' True Immortal Sect World when he entered it. He took a step forward and walked into the territory belonging to the Emperor of Abyss' True World…
All of the Emperor of Abyss' True World trembled, and countless ripples appeared out of thin air in the galaxy. At the same time, a roar that all lives in the True World could hear reverberated through the True World.
There was a wave of madness in that roar, along with great terror and an unwillingness to admit defeat. It sounded like there was a life form struggling in the most violent manner before it died. It had a powerful Abyss Death Aura contained in its roars.
This aura was different from the aura of death. There was a hint of sentience to it, along with a feeling that it was decaying, as if it could taint all forms of lives, and it caused all of the Emperor of Abyss' True World to tremble violently.
Those tremors caused all the lives in the Emperor of Abyss' True World to feel their hearts tremble. Ferocious beasts unique to only the Emperor of Abyss' True World that lived on its countless planets threw their heads back and let out shrill roars. They prostrated themselves on the ground as if they could sense death approaching them when the True World trembled.
The cultivators felt it even better. No matter what they were doing and no matter what level of cultivation they had, as long as they were lives born in the Emperor of Abyss' True World, all of them felt restless at that moment. Their cultivation bases became chaotic as if even their blood was about to gush out of their bodies.
The higher their cultivation bases were, the stronger this feeling became.
There were no sects in the Emperor of Abyss' True World, but with various families serving as its veins, they formed a ruling system similar to a dynasty.
Among them, the Emperor of Abyss' status was the highest. There were eight Kings of Abyss below him, thirty-six Generals of Abyss, which led countless armored cultivators of the Abyssal World. Each King of Abyss had a family, and it was the same case for the Generals of Abyss.
Above the Emperor of Abyss was the True World's Sublime Paragon. Among the four Great True Worlds, only the Sublime Paragon of the Emperor of Abyss' True World could make the cultivators of his True World worship him, and only in the Emperor of Abyss' True World did the Sublime Paragon have his own Abyss Paragon Palace.
Almost at the same time the True World trembled, all the families in the Emperor of Abyss' True World felt their hearts shudder. There were also quite a large number of powerful warriors who swiftly sent out a powerful presence that swept out in all directions in an attempt to search for the reason behind the True World's tremors.
Within the Emperor of Abyss' Hall was the Emperor of Abyss, who was dressed in an emperor's robe. He was a middle-aged man with an awe-imposing face, and he was staring coldly at some of the cultivators who were mocking each other with their words in his hall. Those people were talking about the large number of cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier who had appeared in the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
As he listened to those people's increasingly obvious words of ridicule, the Emperor of Abyss frowned.
"Enough, this is something the Lord Sublime Paragon has decided. What is the use of even discussing this matter?!" he said coldly. Right when his words appeared, the cultivators further down from his throne looked towards him.
"If you have any opinions about it, you can go and seek an audience with the Lord Sublime Paragon. Do not ruin my mood when I am about to bear witness to my son's marriage!"
The Emperor of Abyss frowned. The person in the hall was his clone while his real body was in the planet serving as the capital of the Emperor of Abyss' True World watching the grand marriage. At that moment, he did not want to waste any time in this place. He stood up, and when his words rang in the air, he made to leave.
But suddenly, his body trembled. The expressions of the cultivators in the hall also changed. Their hearts shook.
The pain in the soundless roar seemed to have spread into each of the lives in the True World.
Chapter 1291: A Wedding
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The tremors were especially felt by the Emperor of Abyss, whose level of cultivation was the highest in the hall. At the moment he stood up, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, and with a swing of his arm, he turned into a long arc that rushed out of the hall.
"What happened?!"
Once he left, the faces of the other cultivators turned pale. Two people even had blood trickle out of the corners of their mouths. The roars of the True World echoing in space had affected their veins, and as their veins trembled, they were injured.
"This… This is the True World's will roaring in pain!" At the instant the Emperor of Abyss looked towards the galaxy, his face turned pale, and he sucked in a sharp breath.
In the Abyss Paragon Palace lived the Sublime Paragon of the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
There was a man dressed in a purple long robe there, with his appearance occasionally changing. A breath ago, he was a teenager, and a breath later, he became an old man. In between breaths, he would occasionally turn into a middle-aged man. This man was currently standing respectfully in the palace, and before him was Su Xuan Yi, sitting and meditating with a calm expression on his face.
Dressed in white robes, Su Xuan Yi sat with indifference on his face. He stared at the chess board in front of him while holding a black chess piece in his right hand. Once he placed it down, he looked at the black-robed middle-aged man sitting across from him.
The man had long hair, and it spilled over his shoulders. There was an air of someone who looked down on the world about him, and there was a powerful, mighty pressure spreading out from him, causing the Sublime Paragon, who was behind Su Xuan Yi, to feel his heart tremble slightly. To him, the black-robed man felt like a tiger crouching in its seat while the Sublime Paragon himself had become a mortal.
"Sovereign of Dawn, it's your turn. Once we finish this round, we should head to my child's wedding. The preparations there should be about ready now."
Su Xuan Yi smiled faintly. The black-robed man before him was naturally… the strongest person who had descended from Dark Dawn's camp—the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei!
The person who had been terrified into leaving from Ninth Summit's premises was his clone. Right then, the one sitting in the palace was his real self, but even so, he knew all about the things that had happened to his clone, and it became the matter he was most wary of in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, though it was buried in the depths of his heart.
And it was precisely that matter that made him to choose to stay in the Emperor of Abyss' True World for a prolonged period of time. Based on what he knew, the terrifying existence in True Morning Dao World only cared about Ninth Summit. As long as he did not provoke Ninth Summit, the terrifying old monster would not come searching for trouble.
Otherwise, his clone would not have been able to escape. Based on this, he could tell that the monster did not want to kill him, but even so, he still felt rather uneasy and anxious. Fortunately, nothing had happened to him over the past few months, and he felt slightly more at ease, but no matter what, he had already made his decision that he absolutely would not return to True Morning Dao World.
Yan Lei smiled. His emotions did not show on his face, and his smile was incredibly faint. He lifted his right hand and placed a white piece on the chess board. Just as he was about to speak, his expression changed.
At that moment, the expression of the Sublime Paragon behind Su Xuan Yi changed. When he raised his head, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, then stumbled a few steps backwards. He coughed up blood again. His injuries were clearly much worse than the Emperor of Abyss', because he was the Sublime Paragon of this True World. He was the only Sublime Paragon here, which was why the damage dealt to him by the will of the Emperor of Abyss' True World when it roared with an unwillingness to admit defeat was the greatest.
As for Su Xuan Yi, he noticed none of this. He was not a member of this True World to begin with. At that moment, he only frowned. He could sense that the True World was trembling, and he had also noticed that the True World's will was roaring because it had run into some accident.
In silence, he closed his eyes. The moment he did so, his will covered an endless distance and went straight into the depths of the Emperor of Abyss' True World. In it, there was a layer of fog resembling a vortex tumbling about.
Seated at the center of the vortex was a figure. He was… also Su Xuan Yi. When his eyes flew open, an ancient and freezing look appeared in them. The person here was his real self, and the person who had been playing against Yan Pei had been his clone.
'The Essence of this True World's will gathered into this vortex once I readjusted it many years ago. A new will can be born in it… My blood is in the vortex, and once this will is born, it will fuse with my body. Damn it, did some accident happen?'
Su Xuan Yi furrowed his brow. His divine sense spread out and swept through the Emperor of Abyss' True World, but he did not find any clues. As for Su Ming… Su Xuan Yi could not see him.
He could only see the Emperor of Abyss' True World roaring and struggling in pain, as if its will was being Possessed, but no matter how Su Xuan Yi searched, he could not find any traces of the True World's will being Possessed.
'Could it be that it's because the will in this vortex formed by its Essence is about to be born? It might have caused the will of the Emperor of Abyss' True World to struggle…'
Deep in thought, Su Xuan Yi let out a cold harrumph and closed his eyes.
At the instant he did so, his other self from Abyss Paragon Palace opened his eyes.
"Some problems have appeared with this True World's will," the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei said faintly.
He had already sent his divine sense out to scan the entire True World, but he did not detect anything wrong. However, he could tell that the will of the Emperor of Abyss' True World was swiftly becoming weaker, as if it was rapidly dying, but even though it was dying quickly, if he factored in time, it would still need around one hundred years before it truly perished.
"It's fine. It's due to something on my side. It isn't connected with the outside world. Lord Yan Pei, this game… hmm?"
Before Su Xuan Yi could finish speaking, a dark look appeared on his face. He looked into the distance, and his gaze seemed to see through space and into the planet serving as the capital of the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
All the preparations for the grand wedding were ready and on standby; everyone was just waiting for his arrival. This was an important part in his plan that Su Xuan Yi had been planning for tens of thousands of years. He could not allow any accidents to occur, but right then… something unforeseen appeared.
"I knew… that he would show signs of betraying me on this day!"
When Su Xuan Yi uttered those words in a cold voice, he stood up and wrapped his fist in his palm towards Yan Pei before bowing.
"A disciple of mine betrayed me, and he has followed me for many years too, hah…" Su Xuan Yi shook his head.
"Alright, I understand what you mean, Fellow Daoist Su. I… will help you kill this person. Treat it as a reward for helping Dark Dawn's camp. As for the Abyss Builders, since I've already made my promise to you, I will definitely not go back on my word. We will not stay for long in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. It is impossible for us to do so in any case. In the future… this place will only belong to the Abyss Builders."
"Thank you, Sovereign of Dawn."
Su Xuan Yi bowed deeply to Yan Pei again, but only he could hear the cold laughter in his own heart. With how ambitious Su Xuan Yi was, there was no way he would be willing to be someone's subordinate. Using Dark Dawn's camp was just a temporary measure and only a branch of his plan, which was necessary for him to mend certain things, because his plan had diverged previously.
They were only using each other. This was something Yan Pei knew as well. He watched Su Xuan Yi bow to him, and he laughed coldly in his heart too. The person before him was just a chess piece, and he was the player. No matter how important a chess piece was, it would not be able to stir up a storm in the player's heart. At most… he would just play another round.
…..
In the planet serving as the capital of the Emperor of Abyss' True World was an incredibly large cultivation planet formed by using a great divine ability to merge nearly one thousand planets together. Even from a distance, it looked incredibly huge, and if anyone stood on the cultivation planet, the feeling as if there was no end to the sky and earth would cause that person to feel as if the sky had been turned into the land.
On the large cultivation planet was a boundless sea. There was a huge ancient tree growing out from its bottom, and there were more than one million cultivators there to send their blessings for the grand wedding held at the tree.
The ancient tree was so large that each leaf was like a field. From a distance, the tree looked so tall that it touched the sky. In fact, there was even a legend surrounding the ancient tree.
It said that the reason behind the merging of nearly one thousand cultivation planets into a single cultivation planet was the discovery of the ancient tree. It was so old that it did not seem like it belonged to this time, but was from an even earlier age. In fact, there was a rumor saying that the tree… was something from a previous aeon. It had somehow avoided dying from the disaster and had survived until then.
Of course, that rumor was not something an ordinary cultivator would know. Only Almighties who had a vague understanding of some of the history of Arid Triad could know something like that and spread the information around. Most of them also believed that this was close to the truth.
A moment ago, there had been one million cultivators gathered on the ancient tree. They were all from the Emperor of Abyss' True World's various families and had come to give their blessings, because the groom in the wedding was the third prince of the Emperor of Abyss' True World.
It did not matter whether it was because of his appearance, his cultivation base in Mastery Realm, or his status, this person had an incredibly noble status in the Emperor of Abyss' True World. When all of these factors were lumped together, his presence was enough to make many people envious of him.
Even though the third prince had some flaws, was once very tyrannical, and even had a ruthless and brutal reputation, all of this was in the past. During the past few years, his personality seemed to have changed. He was no longer tyrannical and overbearing, but had instead become level-headed. In fact, his appearance had also slowly changed, and he had gained quite the awe-inspiring air.
It was as if he had grown up. This was something that was incredibly clear to all who saw him, and it caused many people to slowly take note of it during the last couple years.
He might have seemed to be in Mastery Realm, but all the cultivators in Mastery Realm felt their hearts tremble when they were before him, as if they had been suppressed, and even those in Life Realm were affected. In fact, even the family elders of the eight families belonging to the Kings of Abyss felt suppressed when they stood before the third prince, even if they were in Death Realm.
The bride was not someone unknown to the public either. Her name was Yu Xuan, and she was a direct descendant of a King of Abyss whose family was destroyed in the past, the woman who ran from her marriage but still ended up standing before them.
The place was bustling with activity. The sounds of human chatter were loud. Laughter reverberated through the air. Congratulatory words came from each family, and their voices rose and fell as the preparations for the wedding were completed. It was about to start… but that was something from a moment ago.
At that moment, the will of the Emperor of Abyss' True World roared, causing the hearts of all cultivators in the place to tremble. Then, as if the apocalypse had arrived, everything descended into chaos.
An old man whose face was much older than in the past turned into a long arc without hesitation and charged out while the ancient roar rang in the air. Wherever he went, the world looked as if it was about to be torn apart. He rushed to the center, right where Yu Xuan stood and stared into the distance numbly, like a puppet.
Next to her was the third prince, who watched the chaos around him coldly and whose face was expressionless.
Chapter 1292: Art of Time
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yu Xuan looked numb, as if she had already accepted her fate. She sat like a puppet and watched the chaos before her as well as the changes of expression on everyone's faces. The roars from the will of the Emperor of Abyss' True World did not seem to affect her. It was as if… she was not a part of this True World.
She stared at the gray-robed old man charging towards her from the sky in the form of a long arc. He used the chance of the chaos to close in on her.
The old man had white hair. His expression was filled with sadness, and there was determination on his face. This person… was Mo Sang, Su Ming's elder!
Mo Sang was no longer the young man Su Ming had seen in Morning Dao Sect, but had instead turned into an old man. His appearance was the exact same… as that of the elder in Su Ming's memories!
The third prince of the True World sat calmly and watched Mo Sang approach. A hint of a complicated expression that no one else could see appeared on his face. This complicated emotion ran deep in him, as if it had seeped into his soul.
He sighed in his heart, and the third prince shifted his gaze away, giving up on wanting to lift his hand and choosing instead to close his eyes. At the moment he closed his eyes, Elder Mo Sang approached Yu Xuan.
"Go!"
Elder Mo Sang grabbed Yu Xuan's left hand, and the resolute look in his eyes was reflected in Yu Xuan's own. She lifted her head and stared at him. With the same numb look still on her face, she shook her head.
The sadness in Elder Mo Sang's eyes grew even more prominent. He raised his left hand and patted the center of Yu Xuan's brow. The numb look in her eyes was immediately shaken, as if she had started to struggle against something. At the same time, the elder pulled her into his arms and turned into a long arc that charged to a leaf on the ancient tree in front of him.
There were three men in black robes there. In the face of the chaos around them, they only had cold looks on their faces. The light from a Relocation Rune shone under their feet.
The third prince opened his eyes and watched Mo Sang take Yu Xuan away without saying a word. He watched them approach the leaf with the Relocation Rune during the chaos around them. As the light from the Rune shone, their bodies became indistinct.
He sighed softly, and the third prince mumbled in a tone that only he himself could hear, "The changes in this True World clearly show that he is here…"
Almost the moment the third prince mumbled to himself, Elder Mo Sang and Yu Xuan became nearly transparent from their previous indistinct state while they were on the leaf in the distance. At the instant they were about to be Relocated, a cold harrumph reverberated through the world with thunderous booms.
At the instant the cold harrumph was head, Su Xuan Yi walked out of the sky. Behind him was the Sublime Paragon of the True World. Beside him was the black-robed Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei, who looked cold and arrogant.
The entire place fell silent. The one million cultivators on the ancient tree had pale faces, but their wills no longer broke down because of the chaos in their cultivation bases. Instead, they regained some semblance of thought, though with much difficulty. The entire place felt as if a huge force had pushed down on it.
"Time, reverse!"
A faint voice came from Su Xuan Yi's mouth. There was an unparalleled mighty pressure in his words, as if the laws that came from his mouth had to be enforced, and no one could question them.
At the moment his voice rang in the air, the Relocation Rune where Elder Mo Sang and Yu Xuan were immediately shuddered, and as if time had begun to flow in reverse, their figures gained corporeal form from their previous transparent state. In the blink of an eye, they appeared in the Relocation Rune once more.
In fact, right after appearing on the Relocation Rune, Elder Mo Sang and Yu Xuan began moving backwards. They rushed back to the third prince's side. When Yu Xuan went back to sit in her seat and Su Ming's elder began moving back again to return to the Relocation Rune, Su Xuan Yi lifted his right hand and pointed at Mo Sang while standing in midair.
Immediately, as the time in the entire place reversed, the elder's body stopped moving, as if he was a stone in a river that could not move.
Threads appeared on his body. They bound him, for they were the marks of time.
While time was flowing in reverse, changes also occurred in the one million cultivators in the area. They returned to the state when their faces had filled with pain when the will of the True World roared, but soon, all of this changed. They returned to the state when the wedding was bustling with activity before the True World's will roared.
This divine ability was astonishing. The area in which the time had reversed was not huge, but nearly one million cultivators were involved. The shock brought by this scene was reflected on the face of the Sublime Paragon who stood behind Su Xuan Yi. His breathing quickened, and when he looked at Su Xuan Yi, great fanaticism and respect appeared on his face.
In fact, even the pupils of Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei shrank slightly, but soon, a smile appeared at the corners of his lips. The stronger the chess piece he chose, the greater the benefits it would bring him.
"As expected of the Abyss Builders. There is indeed a reason behind why Great Abyss Tribe was known as one of the three strongest tribes in Ancient Wei and stood on equal power with Great Berserker Tribe as well as Heavenly Spirit Tribe."
Several breaths later, the reversal of time came to a halt, and everything returned to normal, as if the entire world had just been deceived. Su Xuan Yi had used his divine ability to manipulate time to change everything.
"This is a grand wedding, and we will not allow anyone to interrupt it. Today, my daughter will get married. I am very grateful that all of you have come to celebrate this occasion with me, and hence, we shan't let anything destroy our mood."
Su Xuan Yi smiled faintly, then turned around and wrapped his fist in his palm to bow to Yan Pei, who was by his side.
"Sovereign of Dawn, please."
"Today, your daughter will get married. I am just a guest, so I cannot be the first to move. Fellow Daoist Su, you should not care too much about etiquette in this situation," Yan Pei said with a smile while laughing lightly.
Su Xuan Yi had a smile on his face. He did not say much, and once he bowed, he walked with the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei to the third prince and Yu Xuan. They stopped before the two people about to get married.
The third prince's expression was the same. When he stood up, Yu Xuan once more looked like a puppet whose strings were jerked. She got up, and the both of them bowed to Su Xuan Yi as well as the Sovereign of Dawn beside him.
It was quiet all around them. The one million cultivators in the area were stunned by Su Xuan Yi's divine ability, and even the Emperor of Abyss was not exempt from that. The third prince might be his son, but right then, he felt as if he did not have the right to speak or join this occasion.
He wanted to walk over, but when the Sublime Paragon who was behind Su Xuan Yi cast him a flat glance, the Emperor of Abyss instantly felt his heart tremble. He quickly stopped himself and sighed in his heart. To him, this was not his son taking a wife, but Su Xuan Yi forcing his son to marry his daughter.
Su Xuan Yi first cast a glance at Yu Xuan, then at the third prince. A prideful look appeared on his face. When he looked at the third prince before him, a rare expression of affection could be seen within his smile. However, at the instant that look entered his face, he looked at Yu Xuan, making it difficult for others to tell just who that affection was directed to.
"Since I have come to the wedding today, I will use this item to bless the newly wedded couple so they can be together forever." The Sovereign of Dawn smiled faintly. When he lifted his right hand, two bells appeared in his hand, and he placed them on Yu Xuan's palm.
"Thank you, senior," Yu Xuan said softly with a numb expression and curtsied. By her side, the third prince bowed while remaining level-headed and thanked him quietly.
Yan Pei observed Yu Xuan. With his level of cultivation, he could tell with just one glance that there were a lot of seals placed on the woman. In fact, even her thoughts and soul had been sealed. When he shifted his gaze to the third prince, he found the young man's presence rather strange. However, the Sovereign of Dawn was not curious enough to pay any attention to it. With a smile, he looked at the one million cultivators below him, and there was derision as well as scorn hidden beneath his amiable expression.
He lifted his right hand and swung it. Immediately, Elder Mo Sang, who was bound by the threads of time in the distance, was brought to him. The elder's face was calm, but sadness would fill his eyes when he looked at Yu Xuan.
"Do you want to die after you witness this marriage, or right now?" the Sovereign of Dawn asked. His tone made it obvious that he was going to decide the elder's life and death himself.
At the same time, Su Xuan Yi sat down at the top of the hall, right beside the Sovereign of Dawn. He did not even cast a glance at Mo Sang. Instead, he stared at Yu Xuan and the third prince before him. Then, he shifted his gaze to look at the one million cultivators, and a smile appeared on his face.
"The wedding may begin."
When he spoke, the Sublime Paragon took a step forward and walked to the left. He was to officiate the grand wedding.
Beyond the planet serving as the capital of the Emperor of Abyss' True World, the will of the True World was roaring. Its voice filled the entire True World, but the sound could not enter the dimension where the ancient tree and the sea was, because Su Xuan Yi had reversed the flow of time there.
Su Xuan Yi, thus, did not see the long-haired and white-robed Su Ming walking towards that planet. Wherever he went, the Emperor of Abyss' True World would roar in an even shriller manner, but it was already in its dying throes. Su Ming's will was slowly born in the Emperor of Abyss' True World as its will slowly died away, and he gradually gained control.
With Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos' True Sky Hill World in his possession acting as the correspondence for the Emperor of Abyss' True World, it was impossible for the True World's will to fight against its destined destruction.
While going forward, Su Ming saw the bald crane and the Abyss Dragon sneakily leaving a cultivation planet in the Emperor of Abyss' True World. They took away all the crystals in the planet, and even the crystal veins hidden underground could not escape the bald crane's claws.
Feeling pleased and excited, the bald crane headed to another cultivation planet with the Abyss Dragon leading the way.
Su Ming continued to walk forward with a calm expression. With each step he took, he would create an endless expanse of emptiness. His will had gathered in the space behind him, and it was so great that it suppressed the will of the Emperor of Abyss' True World so greatly that it could not fight back. It could only let out the soundless roars while struggling with its last breath.
The level of his cultivation base and will made Su Ming the strongest person in his aeon, which gave him the right to overlook all manner of lives. Regardless of whether it was Dark Dawn, Saint Defier, or Arid Triad, there was no place Su Ming could not step into, and there were few people who could stop him.
In silence, Su Ming stopped walking right outside the planet serving as the capital of the Emperor of Abyss' True World. He stared at the huge cultivation planet formed by one thousand planets before him, and he saw the ocean in it, the ancient tree… as well as the people on the tree.
"I have come…" Su Ming mumbled.
Almost the moment Su Ming directed his gaze on the huge ancient tree, it… hummed and lurched for the first time in the countless years it had existed in that aeon!
Chapter 1293: I Did Not Bear Witness To It!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As a butterfly, Harmonious Morus Alba had been made to stay in the boundless space for all eternity. No one knew just how many worlds had been born and grown to prosperity in it. This matter had been going on for so long that perhaps not even Harmonious Morus Alba itself knew about it.
The repetitions of the aeons, the lives that appeared time and again before they died from disasters were like the snow falling from the sky. Perhaps each snowflake was an aeon and contained all manner of lives. When they landed on the ground, they would be buried in the land, but more would fall from the sky. As there was no end to the snow, there was also no end to all lives.
Even if a person saw one land on the ground with their own eyes, they would never know just how many snowflakes had fallen from the sky in a snowstorm…
It was the same for Harmonious Morus Alba, which was why it did not know how many worlds had prospered on its wings.
There were four eras in the last aeon, and Su Ming was in the fourth era. Perhaps in the future, when people tried to figure out what had happened in the past and looked through the history recordings, they would be able to find some traces of the marks linking to this era. They would contain hints connected to the five Great True Worlds of the fourth era.
The rise and fall of the Fifth True World, the coexistence of the four Great True Worlds, Su Ming's existence, the return of Dark Dawn and Saint Defier… all of these were the marks of the fourth era.
Before the fourth era was the third era, and Su Ming had found the marks of that era. They were the nine Great True Worlds, Sui Chen Zi, Ecang, and Old Man Extermination.
There were only three marks linked to the second era, and they were Shu, Wei, and Wu! It had been an era filled with tribes and plagued by wars and slaughter. It was also the most prosperous era, when there were still Antecedental Spirits. The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe was the tribe elder of Heavenly Spirit Tribe…
That era had been born due to a disaster, and it ended when Shu and Wu left, becoming Saint Defier and Dark Dawn respectively, and when Wei dissipated, the nine Great True Worlds were formed.
The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe was a person from the second era. He was born at the final days of the first era, and he died… at the final days of the fourth era. It could be said that he had nearly lived through every single era in his aeon.
When he was born, he was in the first era, a world in which the Ancestral Spirits existed. They taught all manner of lives everything they knew. As the Ancestral Spirits formed their own camps and divided themselves into three, the era, which was born due to the disaster that descended on the previous aeon, also ended because of a disaster.
However, the disaster that fell on it was not the disaster of the aeon that affected a huge area. It was what remained of the disaster that had wiped out the entire aeon, and it only affected a small area. It destroyed all the people who did not merge with their other selves from Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos from the previous aeon and had managed to escape the Aeonic Disaster with a unique method, since it was regarded as cheating.
They had been wiped out by the remnant of the Aeonic Disaster, and hence, the first era ended. Yet before the people of that time died, they summoned the All Spirits Hall. The legacy of the hall started at that time.
Before that aeon and the first era in which the Ancestral Spirits lived, there were other items that remained for all eternity. They did not fuse with their other selves, but were still not destroyed, possibly because their continued existences were permitted by Harmonious Morus Alba… and there was also a possibility that Arid Triad's will could not bear to see them disappear.
One of them was… a huge tree that had once lived on a planet many aeons ago. There was once a teenage boy under that tree who talked about his grievances, love, friendships, and everything that happened in his life.
Many years later, the tree grew up with the teenager, and with the teenager's help, it became an evergreen. One day, the teenager of the past grew into a middle-aged man, and he whispered a few words quietly under the tree, "I'm leaving. If I fail, then there will surely be others who will come searching for my path and continue down this road. If I succeed… then you will never be destroyed. On the day a will is born within you, you will know that I have succeeded."
That teenager was Arid Triad.
From then on, the tree lived through all Aeonic Disasters and was never destroyed. When its will was born, it watched the sun rise and set, the planets change, the galaxies being replaced, and it knew that the teenager had succeeded, but occasionally, it would remember the past. It would remember the low murmurs of the teenager while sitting against its trunk. When the tree remembered the past, it usually lasted an aeon.
It could sense that the teenager had changed. He had become unfamiliar and terrifying, but his promise that the tree would never be destroyed had never changed.
On that day, while it was reminiscing about the past, the tree suddenly sensed a pair of eyes in the galaxy looking at it. Their gaze made it feel as if it had just seen the teenager of the past, but when it thought about it carefully, it found that this person was not him.
But the two people were very similar. This was not in terms of their spirits, appearances, or their blood. It was… simply a feeling that they were similar.
This familiar feeling came from the two's powerful conviction to become great and do things that no person in the past had done, which came from the heart and the desire to protect people and things they absolutely had to protect.
Su Ming stared at the tree on the cultivation planet. He could see the ancient air about it. In fact, he could sense the great feeling of age. The heaviness of it made Su Ming instantly realize that the tree… was not born in the last aeon.
With a step forward, he stepped into the planet and appeared above the vast ocean. He stood on the waves on the surface of the sea, right under the huge ancient tree, just like how the teenager from the past had stood a long, long time ago to speak of grievances that he could tell no one else.
While standing there quietly, Su Ming could hear the cheers and laughter from the leaves, which were as large as grass fields, on the ancient tree's crown. The cheers were very fake, and the laughter filled with an obsequious tone. Each cultivator wore an invisible mask, and it would naturally change based on all the changes in the world.
The masks of some people were very good. When they changed them, no one could tell the difference. Yet some people were still not very good at using them. When they changed their masks, they were not too adept, making mistakes. But to Su Ming, it was all the same—he only saw a marriage of falsehoods.
The bride had a numb expression on her face, and her entire body was covered in seals. The groom had an aloof face, but there was a complicated expression in his eyes that seemed to be filled with anguish.
The Emperor of Abyss, who was the prince's father, could not even join the wedding. He had to watch quietly from a distance, and the sigh he could not let out turned into a sigh filled with various emotions in his heart.
Even the Sublime Paragon no longer had the dignity of a powerful person. He had willingly lowered his head to become a witness to the absurdity. The father was no longer the father, and the son no longer the son. There was also the Sovereign of Dawn who was watching all of it with a cold, derisive sneer. To Su Ming… all of this was an incredibly hilarious joke.
Only the Elder Mo Sang was a color in the absurd situation that caused Su Ming to feel gentleness in his heart.
Su Ming lifted his right hand and pressed it on the ancient tree. At the instant he came into contact with it, an old voice appeared in his mind. It spoke slowly, with long pauses between each word, which dissolved into lingering echoes in the air.
"What… is… your… name?"
Su Ming was silent for a moment before he said softly, "Su Ming."
"Su Ming… you… give me a feeling… that you are the same as him…" The ancient tree sighed as its murmurs echoed in Su Ming's mind. "He is… Arid Triad… He told me… that when my will is born, I will know… that he has succeeded…"
Su Ming was silent as he looked at the ancient tree. In truth, he had already somewhat guessed its identity before he even came near it. There was definitely a reason behind why the tree could exist for all eternity in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. This reason was clearly not because the tree had fused with its other self, since all such existences were still asleep for the time being. Even if they could temporarily awaken using certain methods, it would be difficult for them to remain awake for all eternity.
It was just like…
Su Ming had been very puzzled in the past as to why Di Tian wanted to hide in Yin Death Vortex and did not come out from it. However, once he learned that there was a certain group of people in the world who had fused with their other selves, which made them indestructible in the face of the disaster but put them to sleep for all time besides a total of two hundred years—one hundred years before the disaster and one hundred years after the disaster that would signal the end of an aeon—Su Ming obtained his answer.
Clearly, Di Tian was not Di Tian, and neither was he the Sublime Paragon of True Morning Dao World. Perhaps a Sublime Paragon was indeed involved in this, but he had been reduced to a soul fragment after he fought against Su Xuan Yi. And that soul fragment might have satisfied certain conditions… which had allowed it become a clone formed by the Di Tian who was not Di Tian.
"Yin Death Vortex is a good place to sleep," Su Ming had said when he turned his head back and cast a scrutinizing glance at Yin Death Vortex before he left it behind and headed to Ninth Summit.
"If… you have the chance to meet him, please remember to tell him… to come and see me… It's been… a long time since… I met him."
The ancient voice of the tree rose and fell in Su Ming's heart as it revealed the sigh hidden within the words.
"He can hear you. Perhaps… before long, he will appear," Su Ming said softly after staying quiet for a moment. He patted the ancient tree and raised his head before taking a step forward to walk towards the wedding on the tree crown.
No one could see his arrival, be it Su Xuan Yi or the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei. If Su Ming did not want them to, no one could notice Su Ming's arrival.
Except… for the third prince.
As the Sublime Paragon of this True World's congratulatory words for the wedding echoed in the air and he laughed, the third prince suddenly lifted his head and stared into the distance. Standing there… he saw Su Ming.
There was a complicated and conflicted look on the third prince's face. When he looked at Su Ming, Su Ming also looked at him.
"Is the Seed of Life Extermination really that important?"
When Su Ming looked at the third prince, he could no longer see the good-for-nothing young man of the past. Instead, he saw a familiar figure. Su Ming was not surprised by that person's existence. He had already learned of everything when he was in Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos.
Before him was his childhood friend, his best friend when he was a teenager… his companion who patted his chest and told Su Ming loudly that he would protect Su Ming his entire life!
Su Ming's voice echoed in the air, but it did not enter other people's ears. Only the third prince could hear him. He was silent, speechless, and filled with mixed emotions, which made him… not know how to answer Su Ming.
After a long while, Lei Chen shook his head and mumbled softly, "You don't understand…"
"I now declare that all the families in the Emperor of Abyss' True World will bear witness to the greatest wedding in our True World. It will also be witnessed by the True World's will…"
The Sublime Paragon of the True World could not see Su Ming, and he was still saying all the congratulatory words with a smile. The one million cultivators present one the leaves could not see Su Ming either, and they were still cheering and laughing. Su Xuan Yi could not see Su Ming, and he was still watching the man and woman before him with an affectionate look on his face.
The man was Su Xuan Yi's son, and the woman was the partner he had chosen for his son. It was… a state of completion when the Seed of Life Extermination received all its nourishment!
The Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei, too, could not see Su Ming. When he smiled, there was contempt in his heart. He lifted his right hand and was about to place it on top of Mo Sang's head to kill him so that red would appear in the wedding, just like how red would always be used in joyous occasions.
But at that moment…
"I will not bear witness to this."
Su Ming's words echoed in the ears of all the living beings on the tree. His voice was faint, but at the instant it was heard, everyone felt like thunder had roared in their hearts, for it was a voice like the will of heaven.