"Su Ming, these are the things that you did not inherit from the statue of the God of Berserkers but they are things that all Berserkers must know and remember! I might not be able to reach the Awakening Realm in my life…"
"The elder in Wind Stream Tribe was not as powerful as I was before he was 20. When he was 34, he was only barely able to keep up with me in a battle. Back then, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know who I was in all the tribes around the area!" The elder spoke slowly and his face flushed. There was even a hint of pride in his eyes.
However, the radiance from his pride was dimmed by something, like it was sealed in a box and covered by a layer of dust…
"At that time, I had already arrived at the ninth level of the Blood Solidification Realm…" The elder sighed as he mumbled bitterly. He spoke as reminisced about the past. The sadness in his eyes grew.
"Su Ming, you must remember. There will always be people who are stronger and more powerful than you. You must never be arrogant…" The elder shook his head, as if he did not want to talk about his past any longer.
"I’ve ventured out of the tribe three times in my life and I’ve experienced a lot of things. I may have lost just as much but I learned a Berserker Art. This isn’t a Berserker Art that Wind Stream Tribe will ever learn. It is also difficult to find this in slightly bigger or medium sized tribes. This is an art left behind by our Berserker ancestors that can only be learned in big tribes…"
"This is the true Berserker’s Awakening Art… You can only use it once in your life, and it is an art used to bless a chosen descendant." The elder narrowed his eyes in concentration and lifted his right hand. Almost immediately, his entire palm was filled with blood and he pressed his palm slowly on Su Ming’s forehead.
"Su Ming, this is the first and only time I will cast the Awakening Art and I will cast it on you. This is my blessing for you. I hope you will one day fulfill my dreams and reach the Awakening Realm for Dark Mountain Tribe again!"
"Activate the Qi in your body and absorb the Berserker Blood I’ve trained for the past 80 years!" The elder’s entire body glowed a bloody red. That color was especially prominent in his right hand, and it looked as if blood was about to fall off his hand. A huge number of blood veins also manifested on his body. Just by looking at it, Su Ming could tell that there there were approximately 700 blood veins!
This was the elder’s true power – a manifestation of more than 700 blood veins. Due to this, he was able to fight a Berserker at the tenth level despite being only at the ninth level of the Blood Solidification Realm!
Su Ming trembled. As he circulated the Qi around his body, a gigantic wave of heat that seemed to be endless flowed from his forehead into his entire body. It caused the flow of Qi in his body to increase drastically. A huge amount of black substance flowed out of Su Ming’s pores and he felt his body slowly becoming free of blockage. With each breath he took, his entire body felt like it simultaneously took in a huge amount of the air around him.
Cracking sounds rang through the air. Su Ming’s body no longer shivered but his face was flushed red as though he had just eaten a very good supplement. Even the blood veins in his body began to change!
The seventh blood vein that was only an illusion earlier had already manifested. Once it did, the eighth blood vein followed suit and manifested as well. The ninth blood vein also appeared as an illusion.
The speed of the Qi flow in Su Ming’s body had increased to a terrifying speed. With each complete circulation, it was as if all the blood in his body had clotted. He even had the false impression that his blood had turned into a sticky substance.
"This is the true meaning of the Blood Solidification Realm! You must solidify and refine your own blood and transform them into Berserker Blood!"
When he was training in the past, he would always feel that he had insufficient blood not long into his training. At that moment, however, the feeling was gone as endless heat traveled into his body from his forehead. He even had the impression that the thought of not having enough blood was just an illusion.
The elder, who was enveloped by a bloody glow looked like he had turned into a giant red ball of light. Su Ming himself was also a bloody red ball of light, but compared to the elder, he was just like a firefly under the moonlight. Yet the firefly was absorbing the light from the moon and growing stronger quickly.
‘This… This is just what the elder told me before. This is the true Berserker’s Awakening in the Berserker Tribe. This is the Berserker Art that only big tribes possess, the ancient Berserker Art!’
The ninth blood vein manifested and the feeling of power enveloped Su Ming’s entire body. The black substance had already been completely dispelled from his body and it was replaced by an indescribable fragrance.
Su Ming sank into a warm and comfortable feeling.
The elder kept his attention on Su Ming’s body. He knew that the purpose of the ancient Berserker Art, the true Berserker’s Awakening was not to increase the chosen descendant’s training but to eliminate all the undesirable substances within the body. It was to create a body suitable for training in the Ways of the Berserker for the chosen descendant. It could make the road to train in the Ways of the Berserker much easier for the chosen descendant.
It was not just a simple banishment of undesirable substances. He had to use his Berserker Blood as a guide to expel the undesirable substances in a manner that he did not understand. It was technique that he could use only once in his life!
If he tried to do it a second time, his body would burst and his soul would shatter.
As the fragrance from Su Ming’s body grew stronger, the elder smiled. Nevertheless, he did not stop. He took a deep breath and raised his left hand, pressing it over his right hand. Soon, an even stronger and greater wave of warmth entered Su Ming’s body.
Su Ming trembled. There was no longer any black substance coming out of his body but as the warmth entered his body, a beating sound reverberated throughout his body. Then, more black substance was secreted from his body right before his eyes.
At the same time, the 10th blood vein in Su Ming’s body quickly manifested to its physical state. The process only lasted for a moment. Even the 11th blood vein was already showing itself faintly on his body!
Once the 11th blood vein manifested itself, Su Ming would become a Berserker at the third level of the Blood Solidification Realm!
However, the manifestation of the 11th blood vein was proving itself to be extremely difficult. Even after Su Ming’s body stopped excreting any black substance and released a nice fragrance, the 11th blood vein was still in an illusionary state.
"Su Ming, I cannot help you by forcefully increasing the state of your training. This will not bring any good to you. But if you’re diligent, you’ll reach the third level naturally before long." The elder’s voice echoed in Su Ming’s ears.
Su Ming took a deep breath and opened his eyes slowly.
The moment he opened his eyes, the world looked slightly different. His sight became much clearer. The details he had never noticed before were now as clear as day.
His world had become different.
Both of his eyes were as clear as water, but if anyone took a closer look, they would see that his eyes were like the abyss. People who looked into them would be unable to look away.
As he looked at the elder, he saw that the elder’s face had aged once again. There were even signs of fatigue in his features. Despite that, there were clear signs of great kindness and affection as the elder gazed upon him.
Su Ming stared at the elder in a dumbfounded state. In his silence, he knelt down and bowed towards the elder.
"Enough. You’re a grown man now. You’re no longer a La Su. I’m a little tired. Go back. Let me rest."
"Elder…" Su Ming bit his lip and gazed deeply at the elder, carving the scene before him into his mind. For all of eternity and his entire life, he would never ever forget that there was a person who accompanied him when he was younger and allowed him to experience familial love. He understood that this was a love that he would never be able to repay for his entire life…
"Come with me to…Wind Stream Tribe next time. We’ll be visiting the elder of Wind Stream Tribe and seeing the Berserkers there. Representatives from Black Mountain Tribe, Dark Dragon Tribe and other smaller tribes will also be going… It will be a good experience for all of you in the younger generation…" Before he left, he heard the elder’s voice echoing in his ears.
"I’ve already concealed the Qi and fragrance from your body. No one will notice unless they are more powerful than I am. Do not tell anyone about the fact that you became a Berserker… We’ll make a decision once I find the traitor."
Su Ming nodded. When he saw the elder sitting down cross-legged with his eyes closed and immersing himself in his training, he quietly left.
He knew that Wind Stream Tribe was the only medium sized tribe around the region and it was considered as the leader of the area. Su Ming had heard rumors of the elder of Wind Stream Tribe being a powerful Berserker who had arrived at the Awakening Realm. Not only did he have a long lifespan, he also had the power to crush heaven and earth.
‘Awakening Realm… I wonder if I’ll be able to arrive at that realm in my life… I wonder if I can even draw my own Berserker Mark…’
Su Ming’s eyes lit up with ambition. The Awakening Realm was like a mere legend to him. It was still too far away from him.
‘So this is the elder’s real strength. I didn’t expect him to be so strong… I heard that the elder from Black Mountain Tribe had some sort of secret… or else they wouldn’t have been able to last so long…’
Su Ming shook his head and refused to continue thinking about the matter.
When Su Ming returned to his house, which had been left barren for the past few months, he calmed down. The place was clean. There was barely any dust around. Su Ming knew that this could only mean that Chen Xin dropped by during the days that he was gone.
Chen Xin was the only girl within Dark Mountain Tribe whom Su Ming had more contact with. She was the tribe leader’s daughter and would only be married to the future tribe leader so that the tribe would continue to prosper and there were no disputes about that within the tribe.
Su Ming knew this since a long time ago and was not offended or saddened by it. Chen Xin was like a little sister to him and he held no other feelings towards her.
He sat down with his legs crossed on the wooden bed. Su Ming touched the stone on his neck as he fell into deep thought.
As nighttime arrived, Lei Chen came to Su Ming’s house puzzled. When he saw Su Ming, he was dumbfounded. The silly look on his face made Su Ming smile.
He took out the herbs he got from the remains of the Berserker from Black Mountain Tribe. Su Ming knew about Sky Stone, of course. It was one of the rarer herbs found in the region. He had only managed to obtain one of them during all the years he went to collect herbs in the mountains. That too, had been only a young shoot. It was unlike the one he had in the present, which was fully grown and had six leaves.
"A Sky Stone with six leaves. I’ll need more of them to make some medication but I can give you a leaf. You might be able to use it to help with your training." Su Ming plucked one of the leaves from the plant and gave it to Lei Chen.
Lei Chen laughed and scratched his head. Then he patted his chest bashfully after he took it from Su Ming’s hands.
"Su Ming, I don’t know about all this stuff. But I already told you since I was young, I will become the tribe leader of Dark Mountain Tribe in the future. As long as I’m around, I’ll always protect you!"
Su Ming laughed heartily and as he spoke to Lei Chen. He noticed that Lei Chen kept looking at the Sky Stone leaf and was unable to concentrate to the conversation. It was obvious that he wanted to eat it and immediately start training.
Hence, he pretended to be tired. When Lei Chen noticed it, he immediately lit up with excitement. He quickly got up and left.
The sky had already darkened and silence gradually fell upon the tribe. Su Ming blocked the door to his house with a chair and sat down with his legs crossed on the bed. He took a deep breath and touched the stone hanging off his neck with his right hand. In his mind, he pictured the strange place he saw that day.
‘I already have an ample supply of Scattering Dust ready… I wonder if I’ll be able obtain something new this time…’
Su Ming closed his eyes. He had long since figured out the method to enter the strange place. What he needed to do was gather all the blood to his chest when he was training. Then he would be able to go to the strange place.
He had already tried it multiple times during his training. It was finally time for him to do it.