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Chapter 495: God of Berserkers, Lie Shan Xiu!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The instant Su Ming stepped into the courtyard of the seventh palace, he found out that there were only five statues standing around. These five had already woken up, and at the instant he came close, they all took a step forward at the same time.
When their feet landed on the ground, the ground shook. Every single one of these five statues contained a power similar to the sixth palace's Ze Long Shen. As they took that step forward, a mighty pressure that felt like the seas were overturned and mountains were toppled over instantly rushed towards Su Ming.
His body suddenly froze. Under that pressure, he had a feeling as if his entire body was going to be crushed into smithereens. Once he coughed out a mouthful of blood, he formed a seal with his right hand and pointed forward. Immediately, bell chimes reverberated in the air and spread out. Han Mountain Bell instantaneously appeared right in between Su Ming and the five powerful statues!
As Su Ming changed the seals in his right hand, Han Mountain Bell grew larger, and when a loud roar rose up and reverberated through the nine heavens, the Nine-Headed Dragon appeared as an illusion in the air above the seventh palace!
At that moment, many of the heads belonging to the nine-headed beast roared and charged towards the five powerful Spirits of Nine Yin.
However, each and every single one of these five Spirits of Nine Yin possessed power equivalent to an End Shaman. The level of their strength was simply unimaginable, and right at the moment the Nine-Headed Dragon appeared, an old spirit walked out of the seventh palace.
That old spirit wore a green robe, and while he looked like a block of dried up wood, he was not tall. In fact, his physique was not that much different compared to Su Ming. He looked incredibly tiny as he stood there, but despite his tiny stature, his gaze gave others a false impression. He looked at Su Ming coldly, and the instant he took a step forward, Su Ming had a feeling as if the earth was shaking and the mountains were trembling. It was as if the world had become dull when the old man appeared.
Su Ming sucked in a deep breath, then lifted his right hand into the air with his palm facing downwards and the back of his hand facing upwards. His left hand was also lifted up, but his palm was facing upwards, and the back of his hand was facing downwards!
"My palms symbolize my past, and the back of my hands represent my future…
"The fusion of the past and present will happen when these two hands come into contact, and the power when the past and future fuse together will bloom.
"I call the power where I fuse the past and future together as… Destiny," Su Ming mumbled.
As he spoke, his left and right hands connected with each other! His body immediately started trembling, and veins popped up on his face. His long hair danced wildly in the air, and an illusory shadow appeared behind him.
The illusory shadow was that of a baby that did not cry nor wail. His eyes were dark and gray, and he looked as if he was dead!
That baby seemed to be looking at the sky as he remained still and unmoving. If anyone took a closer look, they would be able to see that there was resentment burning on his dull face, and it was aimed towards the world!
Almost at the instant that baby appeared, the air before Su Ming distorted, and a purple figure manifested right in front of him. The face of this man with purple hair was filled with grief, as if he contained an endless amount of sorrow within him. He looked at the sky and seemed as if he was mumbling, but no one could hear what he was saying clearly.
"The Fusion of Destiny: First Fusion!"
The instant Su Ming said those words, the man with purple hair before him and the baby with the dull eyes behind him immediately charged towards him and fused into his body. Right at the moment they fused into him, Su Ming's body turned into a gigantic vortex. It began rotating with booming sounds, and all those standing around could not see what was happening within.
However, that rotation did not last for a very long time. Almost the moment the Nine-Headed Dragon began its mad attack while roaring and the green-robed old spirit from the seventh palace walked forth, the vortex suddenly fell apart, spreading in all directions rapidly like a violent gust of wind sweeping through the land.
When the vortex dissipated from midair, a boy with a sickly pale face along with half a head of purple hair and the other half in white appeared right before all the Spirits of Nine Yin!
That boy was only about eight or nine years old. Not only was his face completely void of blood, even his skin had a grayish hue that gave off a dreary air. He had his head lifted to look at the sky, and at that moment, he slowly lowered it to look at the old spirit who had walked out of the seventh palace. Their gazes met.
The old man's feet came to an abrupt halt, and a powerful sense of danger swiftly rose in his heart. He could even sense a feeling of time and age from this person's gaze!
"Only fifteen breaths…" Su Ming, who had turned into a young boy, mumbled. This time, when he turned into Destiny, he could clearly sense his time limit. It was different from when he was in the Undying and Imperishable World, when he executed the fusion outside, he would only have the span of fifteen breaths in this form.
A glint appeared in his eyes. Without a single bit of hesitation, he took a step towards the old spirit from the seventh palace. In the process of taking that one step, while his body looked as if he was still rooted to his original spot, the old spirit that had walked out of the seventh palace lifted his right hand and pushed forward swiftly.
Booming sounds reverberated through the place, and distortions appeared in the air before the old man. Su Ming walked forth without stopping. As he moved towards the old man, he lifted his right hand and seized the air. Immediately, a ray of purple light manifested in his right hand, and then, he pointed towards the old man.
The ray of purple light immediately charged towards the old man. A grim expression appeared on the old man's face, and just when he was about to execute a divine ability to resist that purple light, Su Ming lifted his left hand and swung it in the air.
Immediately, the old man froze, and as if time had turned back on him, he took a step back against his will. The divine ability he was about to cast was also interrupted and cut off. His right hand started moving until he had it lifted up in the air, just like he had held it moments ago. Shock and disbelief appeared in his eyes. He could only watch the ray of purple light close in on him, and when that light enveloped his entire body, a loud bang traveled through the air.
As that bang echoed in the sky, the old man coughed out blood. His body tumbled backwards, but before he could move much further down, Su Ming lifted his right hand and seized the air. Immediately, the direction the old spirit's feet and body were moving changed once again. He took a few steps forward and returned to the spot before he suffered the attack from the ray of purple light.
In fact, even that ray of purple light that had crashed into the old spirit's body moved out from within him, and the scene just then repeated itself. Booming sounds rang out in the air once more.
The process continued repeating itself, and in a short instant, the old spirit had already gone through thirteen cycles of falling backwards and moving forward, as well as thirteen cycles of being attacked and the ray of light flowing out of his body to attack him again. Only when Su Ming walked past him and out of the seventh palace to arrive at the eighth palace did the old spirit's body stop suffering from the barrage of attacks caused by the endless loop between the past and the future.
However, once the cycle stopped, thirteen loud bangs erupted from his body, and a ray of purple light surged into the sky while illuminating the entire area. Once those thirteen bangs ended, the old spirit coughed out a huge mouthful of blood, and as he staggered, he whipped his head around. With a pale face, he looked towards Su Ming in shock!
He could tell clearly, if it was not because this person did not harbor strong killing intent, then if he had to bear through the barrage of attacks caused by the loop between the past and the future a little longer, he would have died!
This sort of attack, this sort of divine ability, and this sort of unbelievable change caused fear to instinctively rise in the old spirit's heart towards Su Ming.
He was not the only one afraid, the other five Spirits of Nine Yin were all the same!
At that moment, Su Ming was not Su Ming. He was… Destiny!
Seven breaths had gone by since Destiny appeared till the moment he walked into the eighth palace. When the eighth breath was over, Su Ming arrived in the eighth palace. There were only three statues in the eighth palace, and at that moment, those three were rapidly recovering. In the blink of an eye, they had already awakened.
At the same time, a cold harrumph came from the eighth palace itself. A foot also took a step outside. The owner of that foot was still largely hidden in the darkness of the palace, and as he moved forward, his figure was gradually revealed.
However, all of this started rapidly changing the moment Su Ming stepped into the eighth palace. As he, with half his hair purple and the other half white, walked forward, the three statues that had already awakened and opened their eyes immediately closed them. Their recovered bodies started turning to stone from their heads, and when Su Ming walked past them, the three powerful statues had fallen asleep once again, as if time had reversed around them.
The cold harrumph that came from the eighth palace also became weaker from the initial strength it had. The one step its owner had taken was also moving backwards slowly, but Su Ming could see that the leg was trembling, as if the owner of that leg was doing his absolute best to struggle against that force!
Nonetheless, as Su Ming continued moving forward, the struggle turned into powerlessness in the end, and that leg retreated back into the palace without appearing again…
Su Ming moved past the eighth palace, and right before him was the mountain that sealed his crimson dragon. At the top of the mountain was the final palace that kept his crimson dragon captive!
The ninth palace in this area!
Su Ming walked past the eighth palace and stepped on the mountain. Right at the instant he stood outside the ninth palace, an illusion surrounded his body. Destiny's body gradually grew up, and in an instant, he regained his original appearance. The boy who was about eight or nine years old was gone.
The color of his hair also returned to normal. However, his face still looked slightly pale. Blood trickled down the corners of his mouth. Clearly, casting the divine ability in the world outside to turn himself into Destiny was also incredibly demanding on Su Ming.
"You… are the fourth outsider over the countless years… who has managed to force his way through the eight palaces and arrive at this place!"
An ancient voice traveled forth from within the ninth palace. The door to the palace opened slowly, causing Su Ming to be able to see the skeleton impaled to the ground right in the middle of the eight statues, along with the picture of the crimson dragon under that skeleton.
The person who said those words was no one else but the skeleton who was impaled to the ground. At that moment, the skeleton lifted his head slowly and looked towards Su Ming!
At the instant he lifted his head and the moment Su Ming saw the skeleton, he immediately recognized that the skeleton's head was the exact same as the head that was hoisted up by that stone pillar in Shaman City all those years ago!
"That divine ability of yours just now is very strong… If you could last in that form for more than the time taken for an incense stick to burn, then you could come and go as you please in our territory, and no one would be able to stop you… Even I would have to pay a huge price to stop you…
"But clearly, you can't." The skeleton looked at Su Ming, and there was infinite wisdom shining in his eyes. There was also an ancient glint that lasted through an unknown amount of years within his gaze.
"As the fourth person who managed to force his way through to this place over the long history we have, you have earned our respect… Go. This soul formed from Earthen Aura is very useful to my people. We won't give it to you."
Su Ming remained. He did not speak, but he did lift his right hand slowly. There was a strand of hair on his finger, and at that moment, it was showing signs of burning.
A mighty pressure that had surpassed Su Ming's by an immeasurable level was slowly spreading out from that strand of hair on his finger. The strength of that pressure instantly covered the entire area, causing the expressions of all the Spirits of Nine Yin to immediately change!
It also made a powerful light appear within the eyes of the skeleton in the palace.
"This presence… This is the presence of the God of Berserkers, Lie Shan Xiu!"
Translator's Notes:
Lie Shan Xiu: Pronounced /lɪɛ/, not /lʌɪ/.
Chapter 496: Then why are You here as Well?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The skeleton in the ninth palace shuddered, pulling at the chains and the spike, making them tremble as well. He also caused the mountain to start shivering faintly. He stared at Su Ming's palm, stared at the strand of hair on his finger. A dim light gradually appeared on his dried up face. As that light spread through his body, life also seemed to have returned to his dried up body.
"Lie Shan Xiu…" Su Ming's expression remained calm, but there was already a huge wave raging in his heart. This was the first time he heard that name, and based on this person's words, this name belonged to the God of Berserkers… the first God of Berserkers!
"I could leave without bringing along the Earthen Aura dragon's soul, but with this power of the God of Berserkers, not only can I just rain death upon you Spirits of Nine Yin, I can destroy this place sealing my crimson dragon. And judging by how it is acting as a seal, this place must also be a very important place to you Spirits of Nine Yin!
"It'd be to my best interests to destroy this place, but if I can't, I can still leave unscathed if I coordinate the power of my cultivation with the power of the God of Berserkers... And from then onwards, I would search for every single one of you Spirits of Nine Yin who strayed off from your kind, and I will not stop until I kill every single one of you!
"You've already seen my divine ability just now. I can do what I just said!" Su Ming quelled the shock in his heart and declared languidly. He possessed the power of the God of Berserkers, and with it, he could even destroy Di Tian's clone. This was also the reason why he was confident he could save the crimson dragon. It was also the reason why he chose to bear through so many difficulties and hardships to arrive at the ninth palace!
If he had revealed the power of the God of Berserkers before he got close, then he would not be able to be as threatening as he was now. Only by showing off his abilities and bringing out this threat could he bring out the best result he desired!
As the skeleton in the palace recovered, the dim light in his eyes grew stronger. He stared at the strand of hair on Su Ming's finger, and a complicated look mixed with nostalgia appeared on his face.
"Lie Shan Xiu was the first person who forced his way through the palaces… That was a very long time ago… This presence does indeed belong to him. I didn't expect him to have taken that step…"
When he finished saying those words, the skeleton let out a long sigh and looked towards Su Ming. He did hear Su Ming's threat clearly, and if he did not possess the power of the God of Berserkers, the skeleton would have just treated it as a joke. However, right at that very moment, what he said was not a joke!
"We can make a deal…" The skeleton had already completely recovered. He stood up from the ground slowly, and as he did, the chains on his body melted, and the spikes stuck to the ground loosened one by one before they disappeared without a trace.
When the skeleton stood up, Su Ming saw that he was not tall. He was just about the same height as him. As he stood there, a yellow robe gradually appeared on his body.
Su Ming did not speak. He only looked at the skeleton.
"I need the Earthen Aura dragon's soul because the power of the Earthen Aura it contains is extremely useful for my people… But now, if you are willing to use the power of the God of Berserkers to help my people, then we will naturally no longer need this puny dragon soul!" The skeleton spoke slowly, and as he spoke, he lifted his right hand and pressed downwards.
Immediately, the crimson dragon's picture on the ground distorted. As a low roar reverberated in the air, the picture melted, and as if a seal had been broken, the crimson dragon's body manifested and flew up from the ground. It looked listless as it charged towards Su Ming.
At the same time, all the Spirits of Nine Yin within the eight palaces under the foot of the mountain stopped attacking, and instead, they started retreating before they returned to being statues. Immediately after, the Poison Corpse charged forth and returned to Su Ming's side. The small snake also rushed towards him. Nascent Divinity returned last with Han Mountain Bell in tow.
During the entire process, the Spirits of Nine Yin did not try to stop them and simply allowed them to return to Su Ming's side.
"This is a show of my sincerity," the skeleton said slowly as he looked towards Su Ming.
"If you agree to this, not only will I allow you to bring the Earthen Aura away, you will also receive our friendship. This friendship will last for eternity."
Without batting an eyelid, Su Ming put away Han Mountain Bell and his Nascent Divinity, then looked towards the skeleton, and spoke in a freezing voice.
"I heard the Shamans had the same friendship with your people in the past."
The skeleton now looked like an ancient old man. Towards Su Ming's words, he only shook his head.
"There is no friendship between us and the Shamans. There is only a promise and a mutually beneficial relationship. They did not keep to the promise and brought this disaster on themselves. It has nothing to do with us Spirits of Nine Yin."
Su Ming frowned. He did not speak.
"Oh well, there's no harm in me telling you this. The promise between my people and the Shamans was that we would help them open up an area of one million lis and allow them to build Shaman City. We would also willingly serve them if they give us what we want so that they can survive here.
"In return, they had to give us what we required once in a while. And every single time my people helped them, they had to give us what we needed! The Shamans couldn't bring too many powerful warriors in a go either…
"But fifteen years ago, the Shamans broke their part of the promise first and caused the land to fall apart," the old man in yellow robes, who had transformed from the skeleton, explained with an ancient voice.
"Once I give you the power of the God of Berserkers, I will no longer have anything to threaten you with. If you go back on your word, I will be in danger," Su Ming's stated slowly with a glint in his eyes.
The old man in yellow robes fell silent, then walked slowly forward until he moved out of the palace. As he stood outside, he looked towards the world outside.
Su Ming took a few steps back and maintained a certain amount of distance between them.
"Everyone… has their own home…" After a long while, the old man suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice.
"You have one, the Shamans have one, and Lie Shan Xiu also had one… Similarly, we Spirits of Nine Yin also have a home… Now, the World of Nine Yin is sealed, and no one from the world outside can enter, and neither can anyone from within leave. Do you want to leave this place?" The old man turned his head around and looked at Su Ming.
Su Ming's heart shuddered. During the past few days, he had been unwilling to think about this. The things that had happened to Fated Kin had moved his heart greatly, but he had a vague hunch that it was going to be incredibly difficult for them to leave the World of Nine Yin.
However, he did not give up hope. Instead, he had decided that once everything had been settled, he would go and search for a chance to leave this place, no matter how slim that hope was.
"If you help us, you will also be helping yourself…" the old man said slowly.
Su Ming remained silent.
"When we worked with the Shamans, we thought about using them to gather the necessary materials we needed because they could go in and out with ease. Over the endless amount of years, we only had one wish… and that was to go back home!
"For this, we worked together with the Shamans. For this, we were willing to serve the Shamans. For this, my people brought that crimson dragon back. All of this was just so that we could go home…
"Our home is not here in the World of Nine Yin. Neither is it in this True Morning Dao World. It is instead a world located in a universe that is very, very far from here - the True Sacred Yin World of the four Great True Worlds!" The old man's voice was low, but the words he said made Su Ming's breathing quicken and a great wave that surged into the skies raged in his heart.
"For this, we could give up on everything… As the evil spirit of my people through the ages, I acted out a show for the Shamans so that they would believe that our people were divided. My head was cut off and placed as an offering in Shaman City. I was turned into the Shamans' war achievement and into the emblem of their glory as they stayed within these one million lis…." the old man mumbled.
'True Sacred Yin World… True Morning Dao World… The four Great True Worlds!' Su Ming remembered the Candle Dragon's words before it had truly died.
"The Shamans did not keep to their promise and set up a Rune in this place fifteen years ago. They wanted to transfer a large amount of Shamans here in one go, but the Shamans didn't know that once they truly did so, then they would bring forth a disaster that would affect the entire World of Nine Yin!
"If too much Yin Death Aura [1] from outsiders came into this place, the World Spirit would definitely activate its defenses and begin destroying all the lives here, even if it was still deep asleep...
"That is why I attacked. Before the World Spirit activated its defenses and began its massacre, I destroyed that threat!" The old man in yellow robes shook his head.
"World Spirit?" Su Ming was momentarily stunned.
"You are a member of Lie Shan Xiu's race. With his power protecting you, you aren't considered an outsider… This World of Nine Yin may seem like a world, but in truth, it is an Enchanted Vessel of the True World belonging to us Spirits of Nine Yin!
"This Enchanted Vessel is incredibly big, and it is used by the Cultivators in the True Sacred Yin World to move back and forth through universes, and only these sort of Enchanted Vessels can obtain the power to break the barrier between worlds so that we can travel between two True Worlds!
"But many years ago, when we Spirits of Nine Yin went out on a mission by the orders of the True Sacred Yin Spirit, we ran into a Celestial Storm of the True World while we were moving between worlds… Our Enchanted Vessel was damaged greatly, and we were forced to come to this place…
"And we stayed… till now." There was nostalgia on the yellow-robed old man's face when he whispered softly.
Su Ming's heart shuddered violently. He instinctively took a few steps backwards, and it was difficult for him to hide the disbelief on his face.
"If that is the case, then why did the Candle Dragon, why…" Su Ming immediately opened his mouth and asked.
"The Candle Dragon, its descendants, one of the nine Sacred beasts… Isn't the creature you see already dead..? The mission we received all those years ago was an order given to us by our Paragon True Sacred Yin Spirit. He told us to go to the other three True Great Worlds and gather the corpses of all the powerful existences in those worlds… What you see now is not even close to the strength the ancestor of my race possessed…" The yellow-robed old man's gaze fell on Su Ming.
'Sacred Bats, Drifting Roamers, Spirits of Nine Yin, Candle Dragons, and these races are just the ones within the one million lis… If what the old man said is true… then no wonder there are so many diverse races here!'
Su Ming's breathing quickened as he quickly processed all that he had heard. He had a vague hunch that this person was not lying.
Su Ming was just about to say something when his heart suddenly leaped in his chest. He suddenly remembered the old man talking about the World Spirit activating its defenses and killing everything, and he mentioned this so called… Yin Death Aura from the outside world!
"What is this Yin Death Aura?"
The old man in yellow robes remained silent for a moment before he cast Su Ming a complicated look. "Over the years, even if we are considered one of the top ten powerful races to the True Sacred Yin Spirit, but… do you really think that my people can remain forever and not die..? It is especially so when we had to suffer the impact of the Enchanted Vessel being damaged, did you think… we would have survived?"
Su Ming was momentarily stunned, then his expression suddenly changed drastically. He suddenly remembered the skeleton in the palace before this old man's life force was restored!
"You… You're already dead?" There were loud, booming noises going off in Su Ming's head.
"You can put it that way." The old man sighed.
"If you're dead, how could you still appear here?! Are you a soul? Or are you a fragment of your will?" Su Ming forced down the shock in his heart. When he remembered the Candle Dragon's will, he found that he could still offer an explanation to this, even though that explanation was very forced.
The old man remained silent and lifted his head to look at the sky. After a long while, he turned towards Su Ming. The complicated look on his face became more prominent with each passing moment.
"Then why are you here as well?"
Translator's Note:
1. Yin Death Aura: A concept derived from another concept that comes in the next chapter. Could have just translated it as sinister death aura instead of giving it such a name, but perhaps you'll understand why I did so in the next chapter.
Chapter 497: The Start of Waking up the World Spirit
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As if a hammer had struck his soul, Su Ming staggered a few steps back. With a dismal expression on his face, three scenes rapidly flashed in his head!
The first scene was of when he saw Bei Ling and Lei Chen [1] on the Chains of Han Mountain in Han Mountain City and the one sentence he had heard at that time.
"You died. I buried you with my own hands…"
This scene disappeared in an instant and was replaced by the moment Hong Luo was disappearing. Su Ming stood on the coffin on the mountain in the land of the Shamans, and right at the instant he touched the coffin, he was plunged into a memory of darkness that felt like a dream.
"There were two babies at that time… She was the one alive, and I was the one dead…"
Soon after, all of these scenes shattered and Di Tian's body occupied all of his memories. That one aloof word echoed repeatedly in Su Ming's mind… and did not disappear even after a long time.
"Destiny!"
Su Ming stood there and looked at the old man in yellow robes, then at the world behind him. After a long while, he asked, burdened with anguish.
"Am I… dead?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not." The old man in yellow robes cast Su Ming a glance and shook his head.
"What do you mean?" Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he asked. He did not find it in himself to be unable to accept what the old man said. In truth, he had already discovered some clues about this many years ago, but he had simply been unable to piece the information together.
"There is a binary opposite that exists in the world. If we say that one side of the binary opposite is being alive, then we can say that the other side of the binary opposite is being dead… but what exactly is death and what exactly is meant by the other side? Who can really say clearly?
"Perhaps we can look at the boundary between these two sides as a mirror. When a person standing outside the mirror looks into the mirror, the person inside the mirror is also looking outside. He will see himself, but at the same time, he might also not be looking at himself.
"Do you understand?" the old man in yellow robes asked.
Su Ming frowned. After some time, he looked towards the world in the distance.
"Do you mean that the people in mirrors have their own lives, and the people outside the mirrors don't know about it, and that you and I are in these mirrors?"
"Your comprehensive abilities aren't too shabby. As the person who is regarded highly by Lie Shan Xiu, you must definitely have something outstanding about you… My home, the True Sacred Yin World, has been examining this binary opposite along with Yin and Yang since a long time ago. The results we obtained are that the universe contains this binary opposite as well!
"We call one side of this binary opposite as Yin Death Void, and the other side as Bright Yang Emptiness[2]." When the old man in yellow robes spoke up to that point, he suddenly stopped speaking and no longer continued. A smile appeared on his lips instead.
Su Ming remained silent, then lifted his right hand and looked at the strand of hair on his finger. After some time, a resolute look appeared on his face.
"How do I help your people return home?"
"This place is created from my people's Enchanted Vessel. It was damaged when the it was weaving through universes, but the spirit of this World, which is the soul of this Enchanted Vessel, is not dead. It is simply deep in slumber!
"It needs a sufficient amount of power to wake up, and only when it wakes up can we reactivate this Enchanted Vessel and return to the True Sacred Yin World based on the path it took all those years ago!
"Over the years, we have gathered quite a large number of materials, but it's still not enough. That's why we worked with the Shamans. That's why we need that Earthen Aura dragon's soul!
"You only need to transfer Lie Shan Xiu's power into the Rune, and you will have done a great favor to us. With Lie Shan Xiu's power, I have a seven tenth certainty that I will be able to make this World Spirit wake up in a short period of time!
"Once the World Spirit wakes up and we reestablish our connection with the World Spirit, we… will be able to go home!" The old man in yellow robes looked rather excited. Once he calmed himself down, he looked towards Su Ming with sincerity shining on his face.
"When the World Spirit wakes up, I will open a Relocation Rune within this Enchanted Vessel. We might not be able to use this Rune too many times due to the power of the Enchanted Vessel, but I can send you and your tribesmen away from this place, return you to your own world!
"I will also tell you the connection between Yin Death Void and Bright Yang Emptiness at that time. I hope it will be of help to you…
"And if you want to see the world as it really is, if you are courageous enough to take the risk, then you can be the last to use the Rune to leave. At that time, you will be able to see the universe and the heavens…" When the old man in yellow robes said these words, he took a few steps back, wrapped his fist in his palm towards Su Ming, and took a deep bow.
"Every single word I've said is true. I hope that you will help us. If the day comes that you are able to leave True Morning Dao World and head to True Sacred Yin World, you can search for Sacred Spirit Continent. That is where we Spirits of Nine Yin are. I hope that we will be able to meet each other in True Sacred Yin World someday!"
Su Ming remained silent as he looked at the old man before him. He nodded his head.
Everything the old man said felt like a dream to Su Ming, but when he connected those words to his own assumptions, he found that the old man was perhaps not speaking nonsense.
Yet no matter what, Su Ming would still agree to this to obtain the answer for the question in his heart. Even if the old man had lied about everything, even if all of this was fake, Su Ming still chose to believe that what the old man said was true.
When he saw him nodding, the old man in yellow robes let out a breath of relief. With a wave of his arm, the palace in the mountain where he was immediately started twisting and distorting before it gradually disappeared. The eight gigantic statues inside also disappeared, as if everything had just been an illusion. Only a gigantic Rune was left behind on the ground where the crimson dragon had been before!
"Please transfer Lie Shan Xiu's power into the Rune!" The old man wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed once again.
In silence, Su Ming walked towards the Rune slowly. When he stood within it, his gaze fell on it. After a long while, he lifted his right hand swiftly, and a strong ray of light instantly burst forth from the strand of hair on his finger, along with a mighty and imposing presence that surged to the skies.
That presence echoed in the air and caused the sky to rumble, the space all around them to seem as if it could not bear with that pressure, and signs of space being torn to start showing. Almost the instant Su Ming's finger came down, he suddenly turned his head around, and swift as lightning, his gaze landed on the yellow-robed old man's face.
He saw excitement, melancholy, nostalgia, and the yearning for home.
"I'll believe you this once!"
Su Ming's right hand was brought down swiftly, and the instant he tapped the Rune, the strand of hair on his finger started burning rapidly. A large wave of power that was simply unimaginable burst forth, and it all surged into the Rune.
At the same time, the mountain where Su Ming stood at the moment started cracking and breaking apart, inch by inch, turning into dust, but the Rune remained. It floated in midair, and the light on it started becoming brighter!
Soon after, all the palaces in the disappeared mountain vanished into thin air in an instant. All of them turned into dust and ashes, and those statues fell to the side to become one with the ground, as if a gust of wind that aimed to vanquish everything had swept past them.
When that windstorm was over and the light from the Rune became so bright that it was piercing to the eyes, there were no longer any mountains or palaces in the area, and there were also only ten of the statues that were transformed from the Spirits of Nine Yin!
These ten statues were all broken and tattered. They gave off a declining, ancient air, as if they had lived through a countless number of years.
The Rune in midair was becoming brighter with each passing moment and eventually turned into a pillar of light that was so bright that it pierced the eyes. That light erupted forth from the Rune and charged straight towards the end of the sky.
The instant the pillar of light shot into the sky, another one shot into the clouds from the distant land. Soon after, pillars of light started appearing one by one without stop in the boundless World of Nine Yin.
Su Ming might not be able to see all of them, but he could sense the world shaking!
There was only a little left of the strand of hair on his finger. When the pillar of light erupted, his body was bounced off by a great power, and he was forced back several thousands of feet. His face turned pale, and he coughed out a mouthful of blood. He looked around him dumbly, and saw the vanishing palaces and the disappearing statues. All of this felt incredibly real to him, which also meant that whatever the old man told him just now was indeed not fake.
"We will remember your kindness!" With an excited look on his face, the old man in yellow robes wrapped his fist in his palm towards Su Ming, then charged straight into the pillar of light in the Rune.
"We will continue activating the Rune, and with all my strength, I will call upon the World Spirit to wake up. If I am quick, it'll take half a month, and if I am slow, then it'll take a month. The World of Nine Yin will be overturned by then, so please gather your tribesmen quickly, our lord benefactor. When the World Spirit wakes up, I will open the passage for all of you!"
Su Ming watched the old man in yellow robes disappear into the pillar of light, and after remaining silent for a moment, he gave up thinking about turning into Destiny once again without care for everything. A melancholic expression appeared on his face instead.
This was the final move he had in case any accidents happened. If everything that the old man had said been false, then Su Ming could use the span of fifteen breaths and revert things slightly.
However… it did not matter whether it was the drastic change around him or the yellow-robed old man's actions, all of them were proof that the person bore no ill will. Based on that alone, the believability of his words had almost reached the level where he was absolutely telling the truth!
This was what Su Ming wanted to know desperately, but also something that he did not want to face.
In silence, he put away his crimson dragon, causing it to turn into a picture on his left arm once again. The dragon had spent too much of its energy and had entered into deep slumber. Su Ming did not know when it would wake up again.
With the Poison Corpse and the small snake, he turned around and headed towards the Fated Kin's valley.
His back looked incredibly desolate, and there was an air of lonely befuddlement about him. Gradually, he left into the distance. Behind him was a pillar of light that surged into the skies. The ground under his feet shook, and the clouds tumbled about in the sky above his head. All of this signified that a change turning the world upside down was happening right at that moment.
"Half a month… A month… I will obtain all of these answers the instant I leave this place," Su Ming mumbled under his breath. A determined light gradually shone in his eyes. It did not matter what sort of answer he would obtain, he would still walk down his path.
It did not matter what that answer signified. Su Ming simply believed that he should know all these things!
His body disappeared into the distance. As he walked in the sky, he spread out his divine sense far and wide. When he saw the ruins of Shaman City in his divine sense, he saw a wandering soul drifting about in the ruins. It was Ahu's soul.
There was also a group of invisible Drifting Roamers wandering about outside the ruins of Shaman City, and among them was a woman that Su Ming was familiar with.
'Did… she not leave all those years ago..?' His footsteps came to a halt as he walked in midair, and he turned around and looked in the direction where the woman was in his divine sense.
Translator���s Notes:
1. Bei Ling and Lei Chen: Su Ming's childhood friends. Bei Ling taught Su Ming how to use the bow when he was younger, grew to resent him later, but during the migration, they reconciled. Lei Chen is Su Ming's best friend.
2. Yin Death Void (陰死之虛, yin1 si3 zhi1 xu1) and Bright Yang Emptiness (皓陽之空, hao4 yang2 zhi1 kong1): This is a concept the Spirits of Nine Yin came up with, as you can tell.
Since these two words exist as a binary opposite, I thought it was only logical to assume that the words 陰 and 陽 were translated based on what was already officially given and accepted, which in itself is already a binary opposite, which is Yin and Yang, which also means negative-positive/life-death.
Next is 死 and 皓. 死 means death, and 皓 means illustrious/brightness/white/vast. Now, given that black and darkness is commonly associated with death, and life filled with vibrant colors, these two words were translated as Death and Bright respectively.
Finally, we have 虛 and 空. These two are not binary opposites, however. 虛 means void, and 空 means emptiness/sky, but 空 is only used as sky when it is written as 天空. So, both sides of the binary opposite are talking about emptiness, though one refers to life, and the other death.
Which is why we have 陰死之虛 → Yin Death Void, and 皓陽之空 → Bright Yang Emptiness.
Yin Death Aura, if you recall from chapter 499, is derived from Yin Death Void, hence the name.
Chapter 498: Your Personal Celestial Maiden
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a fragile soul, a soul that had lost its intelligence and had been floating about the land for many years, lost…
She floated about without any focus in her eyes, and no one knew just where she was headed.
Her body could not be seen with a naked eye, she could only be detected through divine senses. Only then would her beautiful face be seen clearly. Only then would her befuddled eyes be seen clearly…
She wore a white satin dress that was formed from her soul. She drifted about, with many other similar souls by her side. It was as if they could see each other and were just floating about in a group.
She originally did not have any memories and had already forgotten how she died. She forgot how she became this way, only remembering vaguely that she seemed to be searching for something…
Yet she could not remember exactly what she was looking for.
As she moved, she continued floating about, searching for that something, over and over again. Was she searching for her home? Was she searching for the warmth she had when she was alive? Was she searching for where her sect was..?
She… was the Celestial Maiden.
With her status, she should have originally left fifteen years ago during the great change. She was an Immortal, this was not her place. With her status, she should have left the World of Nine Yin with her sect members…
Yet she still appeared within Su Ming's divine sense as a Drifting Roamer.
Su Ming stood there and looked at her, who could not be seen with a naked eye but could be detected clearly among the dozen something Drifting Roamers. He saw her pale face, her floating soul, and the dazed look in her eyes.
At that time, during the treasure gambling event, when Tian Lan Meng had lowered her head, when Wan Qiu had averted her gaze, when no one had spoken for him, this was the one and only person who had been worried about him.
Su Ming really did not have a lot of information about this woman. He had only seen this woman once during the war between the Shamans and Berserkers, and he had heard her call him 'Destiny'...
After that, from Hong Luo's memories, he knew that he had come into brief contact with this woman. They remained without any form of contact after that, and only met each other again in the World of Nine Yin.
Even the woman's name remained incredibly obscure to him.
He only knew that there were people who called her… Celestial Maiden.
This was a very strange title. What did that 'Celestial' mean? Was it somehow related to 'Destiny' [1]? Su Ming looked at her and fell silent.
There were Drifting Roamers floating past Su Ming to arrive before him. They seemed to be unable to see him and treated him as if he did not exist. When eight Drifting Roamers moved past him, the woman in the white satin dress approached him.
With her befuddled gaze, she got closer to Su Ming slowly. At the instant she was about to float past him, she suddenly froze!
She seemed to have noticed something, because she turned around to look at him. Yet in her gaze, she only saw emptiness… However, for some unknown reason, she felt that the spot was incredibly warm, as if… that was the place she was searching for.
She slowly lifted her hand as if she wanted to touch that warmth. Su Ming looked at her and simply allowed her to place her hand on his body and touch his face.
Cold. That was the first thing Su Ming felt.
He looked at the woman's soul. She originally did not have any emotions on her face, but her lips gradually curled up into a faint smile. That smile was incredibly beautiful, and there was a sort of innocence contained within, along with an indefinable attachment.
She touched Su Ming's face and got closer to him slowly before gradually snuggling into his embrace. She closed her eyes, and a contented expression appeared on her face. She looked as if she had been searching for a very long time and had finally found the place she could call home.
She was a Celestial Maiden, and the word Celestial in her title was affiliated with Destiny…
She could have left fifteen years ago, but she did not. She chose to stay. If Destiny was not in the world outside, then she was no longer the Celestial Maiden. She could only stay here. This was where Destiny was. Only when she was here could she be the Celestial Maiden that belonged to Destiny…
When she was still a young girl with a weak personality, her entire life had been changed because of a single name. Even if she was one of the many Celestial Maidens who came to this place, she had come from the land of the Immortals because she had had only one goal in her mind - to see Destiny with her own eyes…
That was why she did not want to go. That was why after searching for several years, she turned into a Drifting Roamer on a rainy night. Yet even though she had turned into a spirit and forgotten everything, even lost her intelligence, she was still searching. She had never stopped searching.
Su Ming looked at the woman's soul before him. In silence, he allowed himself to sense her attachment to him. He stood there. A day went by, then night arrived...
A sentimental feeling that he had never had before appeared faintly in his memories...
In that memory, he saw endless darkness. It was very cold, very, very cold. Loneliness and a sense of isolation became a constant. This was some time after he had lost his little sister's voice, though he had no idea how many years it had been since then.
He still continued lying there. He could sense everything happening in the outside world, but he was already numb to it all, had forgotten about everyone.
Until a voice started whispering softly by his side, bringing with it a hint of naivety and timidity.
"Big brother, hello… My… My family name is Bai, it means white, and my given name is Ling Er… I'm from Hidden Dragon Sect…"
"Big brother, are you Destiny..? What does Destiny mean? Why do all of them call you Destiny?"
"Big brother, I miss home. I don't want to be here. Do you miss home? Where is your home..? Let me tell you. My house is really pretty. I also have a younger brother, but it's been a long while since I've seen him…"
"Big brother, grandpa Mo said I can become a Celestial Maiden now, just like everyone else. But I don't want to be like them. I want to become your personal Celestial Maiden from now on… No matter where you are, I will always be by your side…"
"Big brother, I want to… see you when you're awake. I'll go find you, will you remember me..?"
The darkness in his memories gradually disappeared, and what was revealed before Su Ming was still the chaotic sky above him and the trembling earth beneath him belonging to the World of Nine Yin. It was still night, and he could still see the pillars of light in the distance connecting the sky and earth.
Su Ming dipped his head down and looked at the woman in his bosom. She had her eyes closed as if she was deep in slumber. Happiness radiated from her contented smile.
"Bai… Ling…[2]" Grief gradually filled Su Ming's eyes. Suddenly, he seemed to have come to understand something, but the answer still remained rather fuzzy to him.
After remaining silent for a long while, he let go in anguish, but the woman's soul continued clinging to him. Even if she did not manage to catch him, she did not want to let him go. Su Ming put her away into his storage bag, then moved to the ruins of Shaman City and found Ahu's soul. He did the same thing to Ahu. Then, alone, he walked towards the Fated Kin's valley in the darkness.
When morning arrived, Su Ming returned to the Fated Kin's valley. As he stood in the valley and looked at these hundreds of Fated Kin before him, he suddenly could not tell whether these people were alive or dead…
He sat down, looked at the sky, and felt lost.
The sun rose and set. One day went by, and another day passed as well. Su Ming continued sitting there, but he did not obtain the answer.
'Perhaps I will only obtain all explanations when I eventually leave.' When the third midnight arrived, Su Ming opened his eyes.
'The World Spirit in this world is about to wake up. This place is about to be overturned in the next few days. I still have one place that fills me with questions. Then, before I leave, I have to go there to get my answers… Eternal Li Mountain…'
A sharp, focused look appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He quelled the shock and befuddlement that had arisen within him when he went to the Spirits of Nine Yin, stood up, and looked towards the distance in the night.
After a long while, he turned into a long arc and disappeared into the dark sky. He spread out his divine sense and charged towards the territory of the Sacred Bats.
This place would be his final stop in the World of Nine Yin. He would find out why the burning of blood existed, why the Fire Berserker's Art in his memories existed in this place, and exactly what parts of his memories were wrong.
He also had to find out why Eternal Li Mountain sounded familiar to him. He already had an answer in his heart, and he was going there to prove it right.
Su Ming had spread his divine sense outwards several times as he continued charging in the sky, but he still could not detect Ji Yun Hai's presence. The puppet that was formed from Ji Yun Hai's corpse seemed to have disappeared, and he could not find it.
When first slivers of light arrived at the crack of dawn, the territory of the Sacred Bats appeared before Su Ming, and he still could not find the ripples of aura that belonged to Ji Yun Hai.
Right before Su Ming was a ground filled with countless ravines. All those ravines were so deep that they seemed bottomless. Freezing waves of air spread out and filled the area.
There was one spot in the land that was located in the distance. All the ravines on the ground would meet there. There was no pit there, neither were there a lot of ravines. There was instead a mountain over at that spot!
It was a black mountain that towered into the clouds, and it was exuding waves of eerie, chilling air!
This mountain did not exist fifteen years ago. It was as if it had crawled out of the earth and was now standing tall between the sky and earth!
Almost at the instant Su Ming approached the place, he saw numerous pairs of aloof eyes suddenly appearing within the innumerable ravines on the ground around him.
Those eyes were shining in the darkness, and they were all staring at him. Not only were the ravines filled with these sort of eyes, Su Ming also saw many of these gazes gathering on his person from the towering mountain.
Aloofness, emotionlessness, bloodthirstiness, and other sorts of emotions were contained within those pairs of eyes on the ground. It was enough to shake the hearts of all those who saw them.
However, Su Ming was not affected. He moved silently forward. He only had one goal in his mind, and that was the mountain - the mountain that was known as Eternal Li by these Sacred Bats!
As Su Ming closed in, piercing shrieks shot out from the ground and reverberated in the air. This was not the voice of one Sacred Bat alone, but came from all the Sacred Bats in this place screaming together.
That voice was like a wave of sound containing a presence that could shake the sky and earth. At the moment the wave surged into the air, even the slivers of light lighting up the sky during dawn seemed to have been forced away, but the wave of sound did not manage to cause Su Ming's footsteps to pause even for a single moment.
When the sound reverberated through the air, the flapping of wings also appeared. Right before Su Ming's eyes, those pairs of eyes in the darkness closed in on him with light shining in them, and all of them turned into an endless amount of Sacred Bats!
At the moment these Sacred Bats charged towards Su Ming, an ancient voice suddenly traveled forth slowly from the top of the mountain.
"Sacred Bats, my worshipers… Do not cause a ruckus… This is my guest. I have been waiting for him for a long time… for a very long time…"
As that voice reverberated through the air, the charging Sacred Bats all ceased making any sound. Instead, they returned to the ravine, and the sparkle within their eyes slowly faded away as well, causing the land to be swathed in darkness once again.
Translator's Notes:
1.When I gave her the name Celestial Maiden, I was thinking constellations, and since constellations were related to destinies as well, I decided to stick to this term instead of changing them all to Destiny Maiden. The first characters between Celestial Maiden and Destiny are the same, that's why Su Ming's wondering about it. But if I put Destiny Maiden, I couldn't get away with the play of words. Also, Destiny can only happen when I fuse 宿命 together.
2.The exact same characters as the name of the first Bai Ling that was first introduced to us.
Chapter 499: Path of Life Cultivation!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming continued walking forward. Heplane moved past the ravines on the ground and headed to the core of the territory belonging to the Sacred Bats - the peak of the mountain.
Over there, he saw a stone monument. The stone monument stood high and erect. From the distance, it looked like the peak of the mountain. There were a large amount of words carved on that monument, and at the foot of it was an old man, sitting there with his legs crossed.
The old man's clothes were tattered and shabby. His hair was messy and spilled all over his shoulders. His face could not be seen clearly, because he had his head lowered as if he was meditating.
"Millions of years ago, the God of Berserkers, Lie Shan Xiu had developed the land of the Berserkers and created his own cultivation methods and skills to give to the world, and had thus brought the Berserkers to greatness, had thus built the Great Yu Dynasty, and had made all races and tribes bow down to worship him. All the leaders of these races and tribes had to be acknowledged by the God of Berserkers ere they could taketh their position… Then, to search for his own Plane Timeline, he left our world, leaving behind his legacy among us...
"There wast a man who made a name for himself. His family name was Chi Shan, and he introduced himself as Po. He gained an epiphany from the God of Berserkers' will in Great Yu Dynasty and hath receiveth one half of the legacy, yet not the other… He was known as the second God of Berserkers, Chi Shan Po!
"The Immortals and Evil Immortals found it that they were unable to accept this, and a great calamity fell on us again. The will of Morning Dao itself joined in, causing our land to be torn to pieces. Chi Shan Po was torn limb to limb and was buried in the five continents…"
An ancient voice reverberated through the mountain. Su Ming stood before the old man, who still had his head lowered, and listened to his slow voice.
As the old man spoke, the words on the stone monument behind him started disappearing slowly. The words seemed clear at first glance, but when Su Ming took a closer look, he found that they were actually indistinct, and he had no idea what was written up there.
At that moment, he was already certain that his decision to come to Eternal Li Mountain was correct. He still remembered that he had heard the word 'Eternal' from the Berserker corpse in the Candle Dragon's body. It might only have managed to say one word, but when Su Ming heard about Eternal Li Mountain, he had begun having suspicions.
"Ten thousands years later, I was born in the Eastern Wastelands. Twas writ in mine destiny that I could receive the God of Berserkers' will, and after much trials and hardships, I arrived in Great Yu. I saw him, heard his voice, sensed his will, but… I didst not receive the half of the second God of Berserkers' legacy. I might call myself the third God of Berserkers, but I know that I lack what it doth take to become God… I searched for the signs of mine ancestors and died in the World of Nine Yin…
"I thought I could awaken on this day, but alas, I could not…" That ancient voice gradually faded away. At that moment, the old man sitting under the stone monument lifted his head slowly.
His was a very average looking face. However, the signs of time and his old appearance gave others the impression that time was flowing from him, and that he had gone through many things in his life.
"I knew that I would be able to see thee." The old man looked at Su Ming and spoke calmly.
Su Ming stared at the old man before him. He did not speak.
"It was simply a matter of whether thou wouldst be captured here or whether thou wouldst come on thy own. If't be true thou wast brought back hither captive, then thou art not worthy of receiving the cultivation method of mine people, the Berserkers, for thou lacketh the power to make thy statue of the God of Berserkers!
"It is better for thee to stay hither and become a Berserker soul, then sink and lose thyself forever.
"If't be true that thou can arrive on thy own, then thou shalt receive mine inheritance…" the old man said slowly, and a Berserker Mark gradually appeared on his face. That Mark was at the center of his brows, and it looked like a burning moon!
"After my will scatters hence, return mine soul to Great Yu. When mine soul returns home, I wilt become the catalyst for those in the Berserker Soul Realm to breakthrough and reach a new Realm…
"After the Berserker Soul Realm, our blood wilt change. The cultivation for our blood, bones, and souls is done, and everything from the outermost parts of our body to the innermost of our souls is perfect. From hence, we shalt cultivate our bodies no more, but our Life Matrices!
"We must break our Life Matrices and tread on the path to find what is lacking in our lives. This is called Life Privation!
"We must learn of what we lack in ourselves like we know of the regrets the world possesses and like we understand the changes in the world. This is Life Palace!
"When we have the Life Palace in our hands, then we wilt receive endless glory. We wilt be able to use the power of the World Plane, and this is called the World of Life!
"Life Matrix, Life Privation, Life Palace, World of Life [1], these are all after the Berserker Soul Realm, and it is the path of Life Cultivation that belongs to us Berserkers. If we step onto this path..." The old man looked at Su Ming. His words spread out and his voice echoed in the air. However, Su Ming simply continued standing there, only listening and not speaking.
"I lacked fire in my life, hence I absorbed all manner of fire in my path of Life Cultivation. Yet… in the end, to mine shock, I discovered that the fire I lacked was not of Yang properties, but the flames possessing extreme Yin properties…
"These flames only exist in the moon, hence I worshiped the moon and called myself a Berserker walking down the path of Fire Cultivation!
"But alas, I could not understand the fire of the moon, and neither could I sense the flames that bring about brightness. Mine will was split into two, Yin and Yang. One of them was the Fire Berserker, and the other the God of Berserkers, just as the sky hath night and day. All that was left was my anguish, and I asked the blue sky why it cried…
"I received an innumerable amount of serendipities in mine life, but in the end, I died in the Enchanted Vessel belonging to Sacred Yin. I had been sad, I had grieved, I had felt bitterness, I had been overcome by greed…" the old mumbled as he looked at Su Ming, and his words were filled with endless regrets.
Most of the words on the stone monument behind him had disappeared, and soon, there would be no words left.
"I am the third God of Berserkers, Li Shan Huo. Before mine death, I looked at the sky, and mine eyes remained gazing at it even as I closed mine eyes… If thou art one of the descendants of mine race, then doth not forget mine path… The stone monument behind mine body is the legacy of the first God of Berserkers, yet… it ends at the third…"
When the old man finished speaking, the final line of words on the stone monument behind him turned indistinct and finally disappeared. At that moment, the entire stone monument was empty.
As the words on the stone monument completely disappeared, the face of the old man who had been looking at Su Ming while mumbling began rotting away, and gradually, he crumbled before Su Ming's eyes.
A gentle breeze swept past at that moment and blew away the old man's ashes. It brought them along and floated into the distance. The only things that couldn't be blown away by that gust of wind were three round pearls that remained on the ground where the old man sat. These three pearls were dark, but there was an indefinable mysteriousness about them. They looked as if they could devour light, and were incredibly striking.
The old man had already died a long time ago. What remained of him was perhaps a wisp of his soul or a hint of his will. It might even be another sort of existence, but no matter what, the fact that he had died a long time ago remained.
That was why Su Ming did not speak. He had been able to see since a long time ago that his reflection did not exist in the old man's pupils, even if he was looking at him.
Right at that moment, he understood. What the old man saw was something left behind since an unknown amount of years ago, not Su Ming himself.
Su Ming did not understand this whole concept of gaining consciousness. However, the instant he stood on the mountain and saw the old man, he had only been able to see the three pearls that were left on the ground.
The old man had been an illusion. He was a semi-transparent entity floating above the three pearls, as if he was just an illusory shadow that persisted through time. The only thing he wanted to do was to say those words and pass down the legacy of the God of Berserkers…
At the same time the old man disappeared and the words on the stone monument vanished, the Sacred Bats in the numerous ravines on the ground at the foot of the mountain started shuddering. Gradually, their bodies began degenerating. They started shrinking, and their human forms eventually turned into those of bats. They flew in the sky in circles, and it looked as if they had covered the entire sky. They shrieked, and after a long while, they slowly returned to the ravines on the ground in large crowds, disappearing without a trace.
As they left, the mountain where Su Ming was started trembling and began to sink down slowly. By the looks of it, it wanted to return to the depths of the ground, to the state it was before it rose all those years ago.
Su Ming stood on the mountain, experiencing the mountain sinking down. He closed his eyes.
He might not have obtained the answers he wanted despite having come here, but somewhere in the depths of his mind, he felt as if he had still obtained some form of an answer.
'After the Berserker Soul Realm is Life Matrix, Life Privation, Life Palace, and World of Life. This is known as the path of Life Cultivation…'
Su Ming lifted his right hand and waved his arm, sweeping up the three pearls on the ground and that stone monument. Once he put them into his storage bag, he opened his eyes and cast a glance at the spot where the old man disappeared, then turned around and walked towards the sky.
After he left, the mountain sank down while rumbling, eventually disappearing from the land. The ravines on the ground closed up once again, and gradually, not a single crack could be found on the ground.
Su Ming stood in midair with a rather befuddled look on his face. He only snapped out of his daze after a long while.
He had seen the words and the illusion left behind by the third God of Berserkers before he died. Perhaps the Berserker in the Candle Dragon's body had also heard these words before, but why would he appear in the Candle Dragon's body? Why did he not take away those three pearls belonging to the third God of Berserkers? This was a mystery, and Su Ming could not figure out the answer.
'The first God of Berserkers' legacy will end at the third… This might be the reason why the words on the stone monument disappeared. So he will only pass his legacy up to the third..?'
Su Ming turned around and headed towards the direction of the Fated Kin's valley. As he walked in midair, the heaviness he felt in his heart could be seen from his footsteps.
"It will end at the third…" Su Ming mumbled. He could already somewhat imagine a huge and tall figure bringing the people under his command to move towards the sky as he stood in the air above Great Yu Dynasty, before the land of the Berserkers was torn into five continents. Before he left, he turned his head back and cast a glance at the land.
'It will end at the third!
'When Lie Shan Xiu obtained the power of the first God of Berserkers, his so called Great Yu Dynasty and his people were no longer important. He brought the Berserkers to glory, left behind the God of Berserkers Song for his descendants as a song of praise, but it was impossible for him to protect the Berserkers forever.
'Leaving behind his legacy up to the third God of Berserkers was already his final show of reluctance to part with us. If there is someone who can surpass him among the next two God of Berserkers, then his legacy would continue, but if no one could surpass him, then the Berserkers… would no longer be of his concern.'
Clarity gradually appeared in Su Ming's eyes as he came to a sudden realization - the first God of Berserkers might never return to the Berserkers.
Su Ming shook his head and disappeared into the darkness.
Right at that moment, the Land of South Morning located outside the World of Nine Yin was going through a great disaster that could alarm the skies. This catastrophe could not be hidden away, and over the years, all the Cultivators in the entire continent had learned about it.
The Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands!
This disaster should have fallen on their heads a few years ago, but the Shamans and Berserkers had done everything they could to push it back, yet now, no matter what they did, they could not stop this catastrophe's arrival.
The seawaters raged to the east of South Morning and huge waves surged into the sky. A large amount of seawater had already drowned out a small part of the land of the Shamans. Numerous mountains had already sunk into the sea as that seawater that surged into the sky came upon them. A large amount of lives lost everything in this catastrophe.
The numerous ferocious beasts in the seawater and the giants that had half their heads exposed above the sea walked onto the land belonging to the Shamans as the seawater flooded the place. They started moving forward.
The seawater roared endlessly. If anyone stood at the edge of the continent, right behind the land of the Shamans that had been submerged, and looked ahead, they would be able to see that there was a gigantic, black shadow not too far away. That shadow seemed so big that it seemed to have no end, and it was a gigantic continent, a continent that was known as the Eastern Wastelands!
It was finally here!
What awaited South Morning was a fate that was much worse than seawater spreading to the land, and in fact, the fate of having their land submerged in seawater could not even be compared to this, their true catastrophe… the clash of two continents!
One among the two would definitely crumble and shatter!
Translator's Notes:
1. Life Matrix: 命格 (ming4 ge2), officially translated as birth chart/natal horoscope. It basically means the alignment of stars during your birth, which will affect your future. There are sayings that whatever little thing you do can change your future too, though, so your destiny isn't set in stone.
Now then, I chose to translate it as Life Matrix because I thought that birth chart/natal horoscope gave off the feeling that it only affected you when you were born, which really didn't sound that impactful to me, that is why I chose Life.
The reason why I chose Matrix was because it gave off a feeling that while something has taken shape (your predetermined destiny and your life, in this case), it can still be developed/changed. Chart and horoscope sounded as if they were set in stone, which wasn't really suitable in this novel.
Life Privation: 命缺 (ming4 que4), a term in Fengshui. Usually those Fengshui masters say "Oh, the water/earth/wind/fire/metal element is missing from your life and it's going to affect you yada yada yada, you should do this, and this, and this to balance your life and then you will something something", and then they sell you gemstones for you to wear so that you'll compensate for the element you're missing in your life.
Life Palace: 命宮 (ming4 gong1), the term specially used in a fortune telling style among the Hans called Purple Star Astrology/Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗數). The official translation for this term is Self Palace/Ming Palace. There are twelve palaces in total. It's named Self Palace because this palace/star governs your abilities, talents, how you conduct yourself, your will, your emotions. Basically, it is your 'Self'. But here, the Berserkers don't really just look at themselves. They're understanding how the entire world and themselves work too, hence Life Palace.
World of Life: 命界 (ming4 jie4). This is made up. But since it concerns World Planes, it naturally became World of Life to me.
Chapter 500: The World in the Mirror
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Once the Sacred Bats disappeared, with mixed feelings in his heart, Su Ming went back to the Fated Kin's valley, bringing with him the three pearls that were transformed from the third God of Berserkers.
The rainy season was still not over. The rain in the world was like a curtain of beads that continued falling without stop, causing most of the people living in the valley to meditate quietly at the entrances to their cave abodes while they looked outside.
With the rain falling on him, Su Ming returned to his own cave abode in the valley. Once he sat down inside, he closed his eyes, and the things that happened when he was in the land of the Sacred Bats flashed in his head.
A long while later, he dipped his head down and flipped his right hand over. The three pearls shone with a dark light on his palm and were absorbing the light around the area.
'These three pearls should be the soul the third God of Berserkers mentioned. He also asked me to return this to Great Yu. But… Is Great Yu Dynasty still around?'
In silence, Su Ming clenched his fists. Once he put away the three pearls, he recalled the stone monument that was now void of words.
"The first God of Berserkers' legacy will end at the third... Lie Shan Xiu, what an unrelenting man," Su Ming mumbled. He could somewhat sense how the first God of Berserkers felt when he left all those years ago.
"If that is the case, then it's impossible for the fourth God of Berserkers to appear. We've lost the legacy of the God of Berserkers, now it depends on us Berserkers as to how we'll go on with our future…" Su Ming lowered his head and looked at the strand of hair on his finger. A sparkle suddenly appeared in his eyes.
'Has Lie Shan Xiu really completely washed his hands clean of us Berserkers and cut off all blood ties with us..? If that is the case, then how am I supposed to explain the presence of this strand of hair..?'
'Besides, with how strong Lie Shan Xiu was in the past, how could he not have predicted the crisis that would fall on us Berserkers after he left? If that's the case, even if the legacy he left for us would end at the third God of Berserkers, there's no way I would believe that he didn't leave anything else for us behind!
'He must have had an incredible amount of confidence before he left nonchalantly… Also, the old skeleton from the Spirits of Nine Yin once said that I am the fourth person who managed to pass through the eight palaces and stand before him. The first must have been the first God of Berserkers, Lie Shan Xiu. Perhaps the third is the third God of Berserkers. Then who… is the second?'
Su Ming frowned and immersed himself in his thoughts.
'The third God of Berserkers did not mention the second God of Berserkers coming to the World of Nine Yin in the words he left behind. If that's the case, who could this second person be..? It might be the second God of Berserkers, but it might… also not be!'
Su Ming remained silent for a moment. He did not have a lot of clues about this, and it was difficult for him to discern the truth, which was why he eventually decided to just force down his questions and stop thinking about this matter for the time being.
'The World Spirit the Spirit of Nine Yin mentioned will wake up earliest in half a month, and latest in a month. Several days have gone by now. We don't have much time left…'
As Su Ming remained seated, he spread out his divine sense. When he covered the entire valley in his divine sense, he found Nan Gong Hen meditating, and he told the man about him wanting to leave this place.
Nan Gong Hen opened his eyes swiftly as he was in the midst of his meditation. His breathing instantly quickened, and without a single hint of hesitation, he immediately walked out of his cave abode and ran towards Su Ming's cave.
After a moment, Nan Gong Hen could be found standing respectfully beside Su Ming in his cave abode.
"Keep an eye out on the stars and the sky. A tremendous change is coming. When that moment arrives, I will leave this place, but my journey might be filled with dangers. I might not even be able to come back.
"Tell all the other Fated Kin about this, and then tell me whether you are staying or leaving," Su Ming stated languidly, looking at Nan Gong Hen.
Nan Gong Hen remained silent for a short moment, nodded his head, then turned around and left.
Once he was gone, Su Ming immersed himself in his thoughts for a little longer before he also stood up and left his cave. It was pouring outside. The raindrops that were as large as beans fell on the mountain rocks with light pattering sounds. However, those sounds were very dense and had connected with each other to form a wave of sound, causing it to be difficult to discern just how much rain was falling in an instant from those pattering sounds.
Su Ming walked through the valley in the rain, then along the gorge. He moved towards the deeper parts of the valley. Over there was the altar made of beast bone, and it was also the place that gave birth to Spirit Mediums in the World of Nine Yin.
Since they were about to leave soon, then before Su Ming left, he wanted to go to the beast bone altar and experience the mysteriousness of this place.
When Su Ming moved into the altar's area, the first thing he saw were the graves that filled the entire place under the veil of rain. The names of all those who had died during the past fifteen years were carved on these stone monuments.
As Su Ming walked past these graves, he saw Tie Mu's grave. He stood there in silence for some time before he continued walking forward.
Before long, Su Ming heard a soft voice calling to him as he moved forward. It was not a single voice calling to him, but an entire crowd. It gave him the impression that there was an uncountable amount of people calling out to him. The rain around him poured even harder, causing his view to become even more obscured. There were even wisps of fog seeping out of the ground and floating into midair, filling his vision.
Su Ming came to a halt. Right before him was a gigantic altar. It towered into the sky, and because the view here was obscured, he could not see the top of the altar. He could only see a flight of stairs leading up to it.
The stairs were dark and gave off an air of bloodiness, as if a large amount of blood had been spilled and sunk into the altar over an innumerable amount of years. As it dried up, the blood became one with the altar, causing all the rain that fell on them to also turn into red streams of water. Yet the rain could never wash away the blood stains.
Su Ming looked at the altar and the flight of stairs. After a moment of thought, he took a step onto the stairs. The instant he took the first step, a low roar that reverberated in all directions suddenly rang out by his ears.
"ROAR!"
It was just a sound, but it gave off a feeling that it could shake the sky and earth. It sounded like a clap of thunder as rain fell. It also caused wisps of indistinct souls to instantly appear from all the graves in this place. These souls had all howled at the same time, and their howls had merged together into that roar!
'The birthplace of Spirit Mediums…'
A glint flashed in Su Ming's eyes. He stepped on the second step and continued onward until he stood on the altar. Over there, he saw a bulky, impaled skeleton. It was fixed to the floor at the top of the altar. There was no longer any flesh and blood on the skeleton. Only its bones remained, and it looked as if it had its head lifted with its mouth to shout at the sky.
Su Ming's pupils shrank. The skeleton that was impaled on the ground made him remember the old man in yellow robes that had transformed from the skeleton in the ninth palace located on the mountain belonging to the Spirits of Nine Yin!
Su Ming regarded the skeleton a little longer, then cast his gaze in the distance. When he looked over, a shiver suddenly ran down his spine, and his eyes sparkled with a brilliant light.
This was the first time he stood on this altar, and this was also the first time he looked into the distance from this place. In his field of vision, he saw a numberless amount of altars like the one he was standing upon lining up to form a long dragon, and this dragon continued stretching to an incredibly far distance.
Su Ming could not tell just how many altars there were. Each one of them had a skeleton on top, but Su Ming would not have been so shocked if that had just been the case. Besides these skeletons on the innumerable altars, he also saw a person standing on the altars!
It was a person dressed in white with his hair dancing in the air as he looked into the distance!
He was Su Ming!
After a long while, Su Ming averted his gaze to look towards the path he had taken when he came here. Everything was as usual there. He could see the graves under the stairs, along with the gorge behind the graves and the valley behind it.
Su Ming turned around and looked in the distance before the altar once again. He saw the numerous altars and the countless number of skeletons, along with the endless amounts of himself. He frowned. He believed that this was the effects of an illusion.
He turned into a long arc and charged towards the closest altar in his field of vision. However, almost the instant he moved his body, the figures of him on the countless number of altars before him moved together and headed further away. Within that instant, an innumerable amount of new altars were similarly added to the number of altars that were stretching down endlessly.
When Su Ming stood on the second altar, he frowned even more. He might have already guessed that this was an illusion, but he could form an explanation as to how this illusion came to be. It was as if the road ahead was endless, and he could not move to the deepest parts of this path.
'Is it a Rune..?'
Su Ming moved back, turning into a long arc and returning to the first altar. When he retreated back to the stairs, everything disappeared. Rain continued pouring around him, and the scene he thought was an illusion disappeared.
As Su Ming was immersed in his thoughts with a frown on his face, an ancient voice suddenly spoke beside him. That voice was incredibly weak, and it appeared without a single sign.
"There are still ten days…"
Su Ming turned around, and behind him was a figure that had appeared at some unknown point of time. That figure was the old Spirit of Nine Yin in yellow robes. However, his body was just an illusion. He could be seen through, and he did not seem real.
"Ten days later, the World Spirit will rise from its slumber. You can then take your tribesmen and leave this place. I will also go back home using the path we took in the past once I activate the Enchanted Vessel…" The old man smiled and looked at Su Ming.
"What is this altar?" Su Ming suddenly asked.
"This is a Relocation Rune within the Enchanted Vessel. It is a unique item from the True Sacred Yin World. Over there, we call it… a mirror," the old man answered slowly, looking at the Rune.
"Don't you think it looks like the world we see when we look into a mirror? We see an innumerable amount of ourselves, an endless amount of scenes that are the same. If you move, it will also move. If you don't move, then it will remain still." The old man's voice filled the area and drifted about without a direction.
"Since it is a Relocation Rune, then where does it Relocate?" Su Ming frowned.
"The world in the mirror! There are two sides in the universe and the heavens. This Rune is the line between them. But it's a pity, because it is still incomplete. This is as much as we can do using the power of the True Sacred Yin World. We can't make it completely whole.
The old man looked at Su Ming and asked softly, "Do you want to see the world in the mirror?"
"How do I do it?" A spark appeared in Su Ming's eyes.
"As long as you can surpass the changes in the Rune that are born when you move and you make this last till the moment it is difficult for even all the copies of yourself in the mirror to imitate you, then you will be able to see the world in the mirror.
"This is a hidden rule within the world. We of the Sacred Yin World call it the rule of Man Dun1… In the Sacred Yin World, there are quite a number of powerful warriors who believe that if we manage to examine this rule completely, then we will open the path to the Great Dao," the old man said with a sentimental tone, then cast Su Ming a glance. His body started gradually fading away until he completely disappeared in the end.
"This Rune isn't dangerous, but you can't move back. The moment you move back, you'll have to start over again. I've already activated the Rune for you. You are the first person who has the chance to walk through this Rune in the last countless amount of years. This is a friendly gift from us Spirits of Nine Yin to you."
Translator's Note
Man Dun: 人遁 (ren2 dun4) is actually a part of nine Duns in Qi Men Dun Jia (��門遁甲), a Chinese divination method. Man Dun is its official (?) translation, aside from Ren Dun. 人 is man/human/people, and 遁 actually means to escape, but 遁 in this case is a special word for this divination method, and it has a completely different meaning from the word's usual meaning, so Dun must be used. It basically means to put you in the correct position so that you will maximize your talents.